It's now Saturday night, and we've had a full five days of class work and reflection. We finished up Romans chapter 2 this morning. One of the more interesting issues raised in our study is the doctrine of imputation of Christ's righteousness and what that means. This is a pretty hot topic in certain quarters of Christendom these days. If you'd like to read more about it, you could click here for an overview.
The conversation with fellow pastors continues to be really good. It's been good to see that the "problems" we face aren't all that unusual. I'm also encouraged by the caliber of pastor's here--it's hopeful for the church.
We had some time off tonight and more tomorrow. I ate over at Woodmans in Essex this evening, which is one of the area's best for seafood. I had a plate of fried sea scallops with fries and onion rings. You just can't find places like this in Hardin County!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Spurgeon Sabbatical
I arrived in Boston on Monday to attend the Spurgeon Sabbatical at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (my alma mater). It's Thursday, so I'm at the start of the third full day. We're meeting for worship each morning at 8:45 and then moving into a study of Romans from about 9:30 - noon. So far we've covered about the first 7 verses.
We're working through a lot of the material in Greek and it's been really invigorating and exciting to study at this level again. It's about 30 hours of content altogether, so it's like a full seminary course (but without the grading and papers!).
So far one of the more interesting issues has been how to understand the phrase "obedience of faith" in vs. 5. The theme of obedience creeps up in Romans more than you'd think at first glance. We've been talking a lot about how obedience is an organic expression of our faith.
After class, we meet for lunch and a pastor will take a turn sharing some of his life story and then we pray for him. We have time off in the afternoons then reconvene around 5:30 for dinner followed by more pastoral reflections about issues in our churches. Then we conclude with worship in the evening by about 9:30.
I made it over to Manchester, MA yesterday afternoon, which was where Deb and I lived when we were here. Took a walk on singing beach, which is a great little place to see the ocean here.
The weather however has been typical New England stuff. I haven't seen the sun yet. It's been foggy, drizzly, and cool since I got here. Yesterday, the car was telling me the temperature was 59 as I was driving around.
We're working through a lot of the material in Greek and it's been really invigorating and exciting to study at this level again. It's about 30 hours of content altogether, so it's like a full seminary course (but without the grading and papers!).
So far one of the more interesting issues has been how to understand the phrase "obedience of faith" in vs. 5. The theme of obedience creeps up in Romans more than you'd think at first glance. We've been talking a lot about how obedience is an organic expression of our faith.
After class, we meet for lunch and a pastor will take a turn sharing some of his life story and then we pray for him. We have time off in the afternoons then reconvene around 5:30 for dinner followed by more pastoral reflections about issues in our churches. Then we conclude with worship in the evening by about 9:30.
I made it over to Manchester, MA yesterday afternoon, which was where Deb and I lived when we were here. Took a walk on singing beach, which is a great little place to see the ocean here.
The weather however has been typical New England stuff. I haven't seen the sun yet. It's been foggy, drizzly, and cool since I got here. Yesterday, the car was telling me the temperature was 59 as I was driving around.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Is Teen Rebellion Inevitable?
I recently watched the movie Astronaut Farmer staring Billy Bob Thorton.
Thorton plays an eccentric farmer who builds a rocket in his barn on his rural farm and dreams of flying into space. He has a family, and the amazing thing about the movie is the way his family supports him in his craziness. He has a teenage son who worships him. In nearly every other "family" movie I watch, the teenage children hate their parents or are embarrassed by them. Here, when the father pulls his children out of school to help with the project, they support their dad and want to be part of what he's doing.
The most memorable line in the movie comes from his father-in-law, who complains that when he was growing up, he could barely get his family to eat together, but he (Thorton) has his family dreaming together. The movie has one or two sexual references that may not be appropriate for younger children (but they'd probably go over their heads). It's definitely one of the more pro-family movies I've seen out of Hollywood.
There is a sense, even among Christians, that children will naturally rebel and dislike their parents. It doesn't have to be that way. In fact, the whole teenage experience is a recent social creation. See Mardi Keyes excellent article for more on this point.
Thorton plays an eccentric farmer who builds a rocket in his barn on his rural farm and dreams of flying into space. He has a family, and the amazing thing about the movie is the way his family supports him in his craziness. He has a teenage son who worships him. In nearly every other "family" movie I watch, the teenage children hate their parents or are embarrassed by them. Here, when the father pulls his children out of school to help with the project, they support their dad and want to be part of what he's doing.
The most memorable line in the movie comes from his father-in-law, who complains that when he was growing up, he could barely get his family to eat together, but he (Thorton) has his family dreaming together. The movie has one or two sexual references that may not be appropriate for younger children (but they'd probably go over their heads). It's definitely one of the more pro-family movies I've seen out of Hollywood.
There is a sense, even among Christians, that children will naturally rebel and dislike their parents. It doesn't have to be that way. In fact, the whole teenage experience is a recent social creation. See Mardi Keyes excellent article for more on this point.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
The Examen
In Puritan New England, pastors often connected New Year's Day to a time of self-examination. In the Handbook of Spiritual Disciplines, the following questions are used to help jump start this discipline:
- What was the most life giving part of my day? What was the most life-thwarting part of my day?
- When today did I have the deepest sense of connection with God, others and myself? When today did I have the least sense of connection?
- Where was I aware of living out of the fruit of the Spirit? Where was there an absence of the fruit of the Spirit?
- Where did I experience "desolation"? Where did I experience "consolation"?
David's prayer at the end of Psalm 139 is highly appropriate for the practice of The Examen: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
- What was the most life giving part of my day? What was the most life-thwarting part of my day?
- When today did I have the deepest sense of connection with God, others and myself? When today did I have the least sense of connection?
- Where was I aware of living out of the fruit of the Spirit? Where was there an absence of the fruit of the Spirit?
- Where did I experience "desolation"? Where did I experience "consolation"?
David's prayer at the end of Psalm 139 is highly appropriate for the practice of The Examen: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
A Poem for the Rural Homestead
I came across this poem recently--hope you enjoy it as much as my family did.
Farm Country
by Mary Oliver
I have sharpened my knives, I have
Put on the heavy apron.
Maybe you think life is chicken soup, served
In blue willow-pattern bowls.
I have put on my boots and opened
The kitchen door and stepped out
Into the sunshine. I have crossed the lawn,
I have entered
The hen house.
Farm Country
by Mary Oliver
I have sharpened my knives, I have
Put on the heavy apron.
Maybe you think life is chicken soup, served
In blue willow-pattern bowls.
I have put on my boots and opened
The kitchen door and stepped out
Into the sunshine. I have crossed the lawn,
I have entered
The hen house.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Christians, Churches, and Christmas
For some Christians, the season of Christmas brings about a question of debate: should we celebrate Christmas? After all, we're not commanded in scripture to observe Christmas, Advent, or Easter.
I've often thought that the reason we in the mainline church have "Easter and Christmas Christians" was that in emphasizing these high points of the church year, we in some way diminish the weekly Lord's Day. Why come every Sunday when the big holidays are the times that really count?
Despite these misgivings, I have come back around recently to appreciating a basic church calendar. By remembering the high points of Christ's life on the calendar, the church declares that our faith is rooted in history. We are also reclaiming time for the kingdom of God.
Pastor Gregg Strawbridge wrote an excellent overview of these points in this article on his website at All Saints Presbyterian Church. I encourage you to read it and leave me your comments.
LATE ADDITION: If you have all night and a day, here's another article I came across that defends Christmas celebrations. Happy Holidays!
I've often thought that the reason we in the mainline church have "Easter and Christmas Christians" was that in emphasizing these high points of the church year, we in some way diminish the weekly Lord's Day. Why come every Sunday when the big holidays are the times that really count?
Despite these misgivings, I have come back around recently to appreciating a basic church calendar. By remembering the high points of Christ's life on the calendar, the church declares that our faith is rooted in history. We are also reclaiming time for the kingdom of God.
Pastor Gregg Strawbridge wrote an excellent overview of these points in this article on his website at All Saints Presbyterian Church. I encourage you to read it and leave me your comments.
LATE ADDITION: If you have all night and a day, here's another article I came across that defends Christmas celebrations. Happy Holidays!
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Sermon Leftovers on Stewardship
As I have been writing up the sermon this morning, I have had to leave something out that I just don't have the time to cover, but it is interesting.
When the early church brought money to the apostles for the ministry of the word and to help those in need, Acts 4:35 says that they "put it at the apostle's feet." In other words, they trusted the apostles to distribute the money as they saw fit. No strings attached.
Today some donors leave gifts to the church, but there are many restrictions--use it for the building only. Use it for mission only. Use it for curriculum only. While givers may want to leave money to things they are passionate about, I wonder how the apostles would have received gifts with restrictions?
When the early church brought money to the apostles for the ministry of the word and to help those in need, Acts 4:35 says that they "put it at the apostle's feet." In other words, they trusted the apostles to distribute the money as they saw fit. No strings attached.
Today some donors leave gifts to the church, but there are many restrictions--use it for the building only. Use it for mission only. Use it for curriculum only. While givers may want to leave money to things they are passionate about, I wonder how the apostles would have received gifts with restrictions?
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