"Happy Thanksgiving Back"

I am thankful that I'm not dead yet, a fact that I take to be a sign that God has further purposes for me.
I am thankful for an incredible wife and partner.
I am thankful for a healthy, happy son.
I am thankful for family who trust in Jesus.
I am thankful for so many marvelous friends (yeah, you).
I am thankful for the Word and the Spirit of God, by which I understand life and godliness.
I am thankful for music.
I am thankful for legs that work even when cars don't.
I am thankful for a break.
I am thankful.

New Journal

Don't let the price tag scare you off.  If you buy this for me, then I'll know that you really love me!
Epica presents the world's largest Italian Distressed Leather Journal.  22 inches by 30 inches.  *ah* love...true love...for little more than $1,450.00 (plus shipping and handling).

Ramblings on Rap

Nathan Pitchford is a man after my own heart, whose interests range as wide as Biblical Hebrew, Poetry, Cowboy attire and Rap. I had the pleasure of studying alongside him (if one could be so generous as to call it studying) for a few semesters of college. Here he takes on Rap Music from a historical and poetic perspective. Read the entire piece. You'll be instructed, encouraged, and emboldened to defend truth with innovations.

Waiulaula

In case any of you come into some money, perhaps you'd like to purchase this little sea side retreat as a pastoral getaway or something.  If this isn't to your tastes, then browse around.  I'm sure you'll find something.  Hey, 'tis the season.

Biblical Theology: twelve jars

And [Elijah] said, "Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood." And he said, "Do it a second time." And they did it a second time. And he said, "Do it a third time." And they did it a third time. And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water. (1 Kings 18:33-35)

So there's been a two year famine in Israel: no dew, no rain. And yet when Elijah squares off against the 450 prophets of Ba'al, he asks for 12 jugs of water to be poured over his sacrifice. I don't know that it means anything much. Perhaps it points to Elijah's faith. But I couldn't help but wonder what "all the people" (v. 30) thought when they saw this hairy nut job pouring gallons and gallons of precious water on his dead cow.

We could talk about how this sort of lavish offering is re-imaged when "a sinner" pours expensive perfume on Jesus' feet (Luke 7:37). But more than likely we are simply seeing how God loves to act in a flamboyantly counterintuitive manner, baffling His competition, "wasting" resources, stacking the deck against Himself. And then... *ka-pow!*... three days later our dead Messiah-wannabe steps out. Put that in your jars and smoke it.

On the Side

Scott McKnight on writing on the side:

In other words, writing is a lifestyle, a way of life, a way of being,
a modus operandi, a way of breathing and eating and drinking. Better
yet, writing is a way of learning, a way of coming to know what someone
wants to know, a way of discovering.

Full Post
(HT: Faith and Theology)

Sufjan

Cawley keeps yammering on about Sufjan Stevens.  Cawley's good people, so I mind him, I suppose.  Plus, Troy Deshano, in some ways my musical mentor (mostly through Forbes), raved him up.  And he's from Michigan.
So I'm digging him.  We've begun with Seven Swans.  I kick off each day lately, with Sufjans folksie, happy-blues.  Sufjan is very...artistic (contra Mark Driscoll), as this video demonstrates.  Very.  But we love him all the same.  Go Blue!

Biblical Theology: Peter Meant It

The servant girl at the door said to Peter, "You also are not one of this man's disciples, are you?" He said, "I am not." (John 18:17)

What was Peter thinking when he said, "I am not"? Did he mean that? What hints might there be to Peter's frame of mind?
1. Peter was willing to die for Jesus. Luke 22:33, Peter said to him, "Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death."
2. Peter was willing to kill for Jesus. John 18:10, "Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear." No one aims for ears; they aim for heads.
3. Jesus rebuked Peter. (John 18:11) Have you ever done something that you thought was exactly what your friend wanted you to do, and instead of them congratulating you they rebuke you in front of all your friends and some hostile strangers too?
4. Peter was confused about Jesus' Kingship. Numerous examples could be given to show that Peter misunderstood a lot of what Jesus said. Famously, "Get behind me, Satan" (Mat 16:23).

Conclusion: There is much to warrant a reading that interprets Peter's denials as legitimate. He wasn't just saving his skin, he was really and honestly denying Jesus. Hear the girl's tone as one of familiarity and disgust. So, "(I know you and see you around, good grief,) you also are not one of this man's disciples, are you"? Instead of, "(I'm looking out for other disciples of this man so I can alert authorities about them)..."? Peter denies Jesus in anger and disgust. He was Jesus' disciple, but he is no longer.

5. Peter wept bitterly. (Mat 26:75) It is probable that the weight of Peter's response points to the gravity of his offense: he really denied Jesus, not out of fear but out of anger and pain.

Application: There is room in Jesus' foreknowledge and in His love for our severe emotions towards Him. Just come back to him. Just come back...

Biblical Theology: Introduction

Here and there I'll post some reflections that have to do with the bible (wonder of wonders). These reflections will demonstrate where my understanding of how to do Biblical Theology is at. To begin I'll sketch out whatever process lay beneath my mental skin.
Go back there. My first goal is to put myself in their shoes: Audience, Author, Actors. So, when I read Galatians 2 I want to understand Paul, Peter, the Jews from James, James himself through them, the Galatians, and other first century readers. To do this, I need to increasingly become...
Conversant with their stories. We are the sum total of our parts, plus a little extra magic from above. We are genes, history, place, education, experiences, friends, tastes, food, habits, goals, and fears all burrito-ed up. So have been all people. Befriend them as you would yourself. In addition, I see another hand moving through these stories, experiences, and dreams, so I must...
Go up there. My labors ought to steer me, as a switch-back trail, upward to perceive threads joining threads, shadows meeting shapes, meaning filling messes. Biblical Theology gazes on the beauty of the Lord, seeking Him in His temple. I am not content with an empathetic reading of history; I want to see where it's going. I want to be...
Conversant with His story. Where are all these threads heading? In this picture of His Son, is there a place for me? The tapestry is not finished. God's threads continue to stream through our lives.

So that's a post-modern variation on your typical Literature, History, Theology divisions. Variation, not departure, mind.

Gnarls Barkley, Remixes, Mash Ups, and other evidence that I'm an apostate

I've been meaning to write an extensive post on the virtues of remixed music. But instead I'll write this one.
I just checked out Gnarls Barkley's St. Elsewhere from the library. This album's been hot on iTunes for a while. When it came out it was top, numero uno. I would love to rave about it. I want to. But my reaction was, "This from the fabeled DJ Danger Mouse? You're kidding." But they're not.
Skip St. Elsewhere. If you want excellence in remixes (and who doesn't) then examine Linkin Park's Reanimation, or Moby's Play.
Why should you care about remixes? Remixing is about creativity, about creation. These image bearers take the clay, sticks, and stones we've been left with in the aftermath of being booted from Eden and assemble moved and moving pieces of art that bear their own image: sin and glory mixed together. Remix is Redemption.
Mash together, amplify, suppress, feed, kill, whisper, scream: sound like sanctification?
I've been sitting on this article for nearly a year: "Let's Do the Mash." I liked it.
Also, I'd like to describe in seed form why I like Linkin Park and Moby. My wife thinks I'm nuts, so you might be in good company.
Linkin Park works hard to be as creative as they can be; they keep their lyrics profanity and obscenity free; they honestly assess and represent many of modern man's issues; they donate funds to charities.
Moby is a multi-faceted postmodern man whose creativity and entrepreneurial gifts he tries to connect with God, albeit after his image instead of the other way around. He had a brief run in with Christianity. Typical.
What if the church embraced the most creative artists out there, instead of worrying them? These honest and artful musicians frequently sing about their painful experiences with religion and hypocrisy. What if we said, "Hey, you guys are doing an excellent job showing God's glory (even though you don't realize it). We'd love to help you in whatever way we can and hope that we can become friends."
That is, Say Yes, not No.
Affirm first; enter their lives; then bring the sting: that whole process is Christ and Christ-like.
Time for a remix, O ye saints of God.

The Voice comes to BBC

Rap, meet John Piper. John Piper, meet Rap.
HT: Between Two Worlds

Israel and the Church and Dispensationalism

A good friend asked me for my thoughts on the above subjects...

Dispensationalism does recognize some important biblical theological markers and shifts (i.e. dispensations). That said, I disagree with them on their understanding of the OT and thus the way they would view Israel and the Church.
In a nutshell, whereas dispensationalism sees Israel and the Church in sharp discontinuity, I see them in perfect continuity, but only after I alter some definitions. They view Israel as always corporate or national Israel. But Israel is only the "true Israel" spoken of by Paul in Romans 9. National Israel has never been true Israel. When Paul says, "not all Israel is Israel," or, "not all national Israel is truly Israel, in the sense that Israel is God's chosen people," he is saying, "true Israel is a part of national Israel." We can go further. Since he uses examples that cover the entire Old Testament history of Israel we can say that Israel has never been truly and completely the people of God, or true Israel.
Look closer. This is more true than you may immediately think. Israel NEVER believed God or received his prophets or His words. NEVER. From Abraham to Moses to the Exodus to the Conquest to the Judges, the Kings, the Exiles, the Prophets, the silent years, the Christ, Israel as a people continually rejected God and His word from being over them, even in the midst of unprecedented acts of God. Israel IS NOT Israel. Jews are not the people of God, but rather, again with Paul, "The remnant shall be saved."
Promises to "Israel" are to the God-fearing remnant inside of national Israel. Again, this makes sense upon immediate reflection. Only the God-fearing remnant was obedient and could receive the promises! Israel will never receive the promises because the nation is not true Israel.
To go even further, not only is Israel not true Israel, but Jesus is true Israel. He is the seed of Abraham, the seed of the Woman, the seed of David and Solomon. He is the suffering servant. HE IS TRUE ISRAEL, so then we are true Israel, in Him.
Prophetically speaking then, all the promises to true Israel in the OT have been or will be fulfilled in or by true Israel, Jesus, including the church.
These prophecies have been or will be fulfilled in a manner consistent with the original author's intent, which even a cursory reading can see is probably not "literal." In fact, Dispensationalists use contradictory criteria when they attempt to read apocalyptic literature both "normally" and "literally." In this case, at least, it is one or the other.
With Christ at the center, the Old Testament stops being about the nation of Israel and starts being the story of God's people, true Jews, within the nation, who looked for and longed after the Christ, whom we learn is Jesus.