Finding answers on Podcast

In preperation for my CPE commute, I have been collecting good podcasts the past couple of days. And already I have found some answers:

Relevant Magazine Podcast:
Pat Robertson claims he can leg press 2000lbs due to his power-protein shake. This means that he has broken the world record set in FSU at 1335lbs. That is amazing that a 75 year-old evanglist can leg press that much. I had been considering getting back into some supplements, and it sounds like this might be the answer.

One Campaign:
At the end of the most recent podcast, Bono's sermon/talk at the Congress' prayer breakfast is attached. It is actually a fairly good talk. I was impressed, but of course anything Bono does impresses me, I admit.

Mosiac:
Erwin McManus's sermons are now available via podcast. And this most recent one ("Leadership") actually helped answer a huge question I have had recently. I have been struggling to understand why/how we can claim God's providence and God's love when even Jesus walked by sick people and decided not to heal them. At the pool of Saloam there were many people there wanting healing, yet Jesus heals only one of them. I tried to understand why and how we could claim that God wants to heal and end suffering, to liberate the oppressed, and save the marganilized when he does not even do that while walking among us.
In McManus' sermon, he mentioned that Jesus not only was here to help, to aid, to liberate, to free and to save, but also to equip. He also equipped Peter and John so that they could heal the blind beggar at the city gates (in Acts 3). Perhaps Jesus could have done that himself--he did heal a bling beggar in John's Gospel--but perhaps the reason that there will "Always be the poor among us" is because we--the church--are equipped to respond, and must respond.

other podcasts I now subscribe to:
Ed Young, ESPN: Dan Patrick, Warehouse242, NBC Nightly News, The Next Level Church, Mars Hill (Driscoll), and Erik Leafblad (@ Princeton Alliance)
And did you know Nassau Presbyterian has a Podcast!
Almost wish my commute was longer.

art: the wanderer

Potential Providential Perspective

"Why, Lord, did you remain silent?" he said, his voice wobbling. "How could you tolerate this?"

     It is fitting the day I am reading about God’s Providence, that I come across this article about the Pope’s visit to Auschwitz. Having been forced into the Hitler Youth, this Pope’s life story creates an interesting backdrop to view providence.
     I believe that deep down, even with all the confessional, scriptural and theological discussions, we still do not understand providence. Rather, we understand what the opposing ideas say:

God is remote: God is removed from our lives, like a watchmaker (deism) allowing his creation to spiral into a war-ravaged mess.
God is All: God is nothing more than creation itself, and therefore the natural order is god.

Neither of this work within Christianity because of the revelation found in Christ Jesus.
     God has chosen to be with and for us. Therefore, God’s providence is the activity meaning, purpose and trajectory of God’s will in all of creation.
     What does this have to do with the Pope at Auschwitz praying today?

1) Prayer is quasi-sacramental because prayer does not initiate God’s activity, but rather is the human expression of God’s presence. The Pope, and each of us, are unable to pray for anything lest God initiates that prayer.
2) And that God was at Auschwitz. The mere fact that a small tribe of people—the Israelites—have survived horrendous persecutions throughout all of history, proves that there is a Covenantal God.

     Like Job, though God remained silent, he was still present in Auschwitz.
…and is in Iraq, Indonesia, Palestine, and Darfur.

Summer Fun

Amidst the brief summer of wes...more like countdown to June 5th and the start of CPE...had a great outing where we got to see Jennifer Aniston (maybe 15feet away), Mets, a fan get tossed for tossing a hotdog, and the nastiest beer ever.

*thanks to the paparazzi for taking the photo, since I left my camera in the car

they came in threes?

I find it very strange, bothersome and artificial that argumentation, especially theological claims, seem to require three points. I am reading the Westminister Confession and keep coming across lists of threes:
1) "The most wise, righteous and gracious God..." (V.5)
3) "those things [in Scripture] are necessary to be known, believed and observed for salvation." (I.7)
2) "Such as [those] truly believe in the Lord Jesus, love him in sincerity, and endeavoring to walk in all good conscience before him..." (XX.1)

This is represenational of the academia requirement that for a point to be strong it should have three proof claims. Suggesting that a singular claim is unsupported, that two claims are wobbly, and that four points show an undeveloped/refined thesis. It is only a three-claim argument that a point stands strong like a tripod.
This can be seen practically in the teaching of three point sermons. If a forth point appears than the congregation will be bored or confused, while only two points show a lack of full exegesis.
It is almost as though our Trinitarian belief has inappropriately influenced our theological argumentation.

Why is God only the most wise, righteous and gracious? Why is God not also beautiful, creative, glorious, powerful, sovereign, etc?
Why can't the things of scripture be "lived" rather than "known, believed and observed?"
Doesn't a follower of Christ need to do more than believe, love and endeavor to follow Jesus?

As the Confession says well, eloquently and [insert a third adverb of your choosing], the Word and Spirit offer us an "understanding of the things of God." (XII.1) Therefore, our attempts to squeeze God into three theological claims suggest an understanding of God, rather than a partial understanding of the things of God."

move aside Calvin...

...there is a new theologian in my camp.

C.H. Spurgeon

September 25, 1874 Christian World

Mr. Spurgeon then gave a very earnest address on the words, "I cried with my whole heart; hear me, O Lord; I will keep Thy statutes. I cried unto Thee; save me, and I shall keep Thy testimonies." (Ps. cxix. 145-6.)
He spoke strongly and plainly upon the necessity of giving up sin, in order to success in prayer for "quickening," and as an evidence of sincerity. Mr. Spurgeon, in concluding his discourse, said, "Now then, perhaps Brother Pentecost will give you the application of that sermon."
Referring to one part of Mr. Spurgeon's sermon, he gave us an interesting bit of personal experience. "Well," said Brother Pentecost, amidst the profound silence and attention of the immense congregation, "what do you think it was that the Lord required of me? He did not touch me in my church, my family, my property, or my passions. But one thing I liked exceedingly—the best cigar which could be bought."
Mr. Spurgeon, whose smoking propensities are pretty well known, instantly rose at the conclusion of Mr. Pentecost's address, and, with a somewhat playful smile, said,

"Well, dear friends, you know that some men can do to the glory of God what to other men would be sin. And notwithstanding what brother Pentecost has said, I intend to smoke a good cigar to the glory of God before I go to bed to-night...The fact is, I have been speaking to you about real sins, not about listening to mere quibbles and scruples. At the same time, I know that what a man believes to be sin becomes a sin to him, and he must give it up. 'Whatsoever is not of faith is sin' [Rom. 14:23], and that is the real point of what my brother Pentecost has been saying.
"Why, a man may think it a sin to have his boots blacked. Well, then, let him give it up, and have them whitewashed. I wish to say that I'm not ashamed of anything whatever that I do, and I don't feel that smoking makes me ashamed, and therefore I mean to smoke to the glory of God."

where have I been?

alas, without a laptop, it is far more difficult to get on here and post. I some ways it has been healthy for me not to have the internet humming away in my lap, as I watch TiVo, read, type, play minesweeper and recatalogue my library simultanously. Perhaps this is why my attention span is getting shorter.

Either way,
here are some updates to the photo albums.

Blue Water Fishing Tournament:
Went to Jacksonville to do some deep sea fishing. Left the house at 1:15am! Went to sea at 3am and dropped our first lines in at 6am in the Gulf Stream. Lines were out by 3pm. In the end as a boat we caught 7 Dolphin (the fish not the mammal type), and 5 baracuda...two billfish "got away," naturally. I was responsible for two Dolphin and two baracuda.


End of the Year Building Dinner:

art: restoration

as promised

I have fixed the broken links to the Photo Albums

Savannah
Costa Rica

New Photos tomorrow of the fishing tournament:

please pray

Please visit and pray for the Zirschky Family.

Work Around Your Schedule

On the way to field ed this morning, I heard an advertisement for New York Seminary (I know nothing about the school, but found the ad alittle funny). They are seeking for 12 students who feel called by God to apply and come study for MDiv, MAs and Doctorate of Ministry's. They emphasized the 12ness because of the 12 disciples.

Now I am used to, and can understand the perspective of small, committed, and dedicated students. But they closed the commercial with "Our classes are nights and weekends, so we can work around your schedule."

This seemed to suddenly diminish the importance of being Called By God. Normally, it seems that God's call is not that convenient (See Isaiah, Amos, Jeremiah, Moses, Jonah, Jospeh, and others). And if you are looking for such a small amount of students who feel called, you would hope that they would being willing to alter their schedules for such an important endeavor.

It makes me wonder how often we try to squeeze God and his call into our predetermined schedules. It is weird for me, because since high school, I have always wanted to come to Princeton Seminary, so the idea of "giving up" or changing my schedule has not really had to occur...yet...

But how open are we to change, to sudden alteration, to challenges, to new schedules, and to a different life trajectory than what we have expected?

And as I went to church today, the sermon was a musical by the children. The video cameras were rolling, the flashes were flying and as I overheard one mother say, "I hope this is only supposed to be an hour show." Hmmm...I think we forgot to mention that this was still a worship service (it had prayers, hymns, and scripture reading). And I also think we were all wondering how long this would be, I know I kept looking at my watch. But it was within the hour limit, and so we all left happy and relieved that our encounter with God was still limited to an hour on Sunday.