I Peter 1:10-12 The Longing of Angels

It is fascinating to me that Peter comments on the longings of angels and that they are intently interested in what is going to happen in the cosmic story of mankind. It is the salvation of man that they are they are watching so that they might understand what the times and circumstances are leading up to. God has made a promise to man in the presence of all his creation, including the angels and now they are intent on finding out how He will bring this promise to fruition. But my heart in comparison yawns again at the gospel, knowing that my salvation is sure and that Christ has saved me. Why, being the one that is actually being saved, am I not intently looking into the ways of Christ each and everyday? My heart is dull towards the gospel and I should take a lesson from the angels.

Peter also says that the prophets were all pointing towards this moment when Christ would provide a way of salvation. They all look forward, seeking out the Messiah, and trying to understand the greater plan of God. Many of them were confused, as was Peter, thinking that the rule of Christ would be a physical Kingship similar to King David. But Christ was save all through the sacrifice of Himself on the Cross, something that no one saw coming, although all the OT imagery pointed to it. We, as modern day Christians, are so hard on Peter and others for not understanding, but we would have made the same mistakes, if not more, if we were in their shoes.

It was not until the sending of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles that they were truly able to understand what happened to Christ and why it had to happen. The power of the Holy Spirit is not primarily healing, tongues, or miracles. The power of the Spirit is knowledge and understanding. Peter was given this knowledge, a simple fisherman, and his first sermon 3,000 were saved. We as Christians should be seeking after knowledge of what Christ has done and live in response to that. Instead we are often seeking after an experience of power from the Spirit that starts with emotions. Peter's main message here is "READ!" The angels longed to see these things, the prophets always were searching after these things, and you have it written down in a beautiful leather bound book. Stop searching for an emotional experience and begin to search Scripture through intense study and the emotions will flow from the promises found within the Scripture.

I Peter 1:1-9 Where's my Inheritance?

The more I read these first few verses of I Peter, the more I am struck by the profound depth of meaning found within them. I think that as a Christian of many years my eyes moved over these first words with little effort, acknowledging my salvation is from the Lord and that we, as Christians are looking forward to heaven. But I did not allow my self to really soak up the message that Peter is conveying in these opening words. I must remember, he is writing these words within the midst of persecution, and he is declaring that we have an inheritance found in heaven that worth more than any treasure found on this earth. My heart is so consistently over whelmed by material wants and needs. I constantly complain about not having enough of this or that and the stuff I have is not good if it is not new.

But yet Peter telling us that what we have here on this earth is nothing compared to that inheritance found in heaven. What is this inheritance? It is the salvation of our soul from the judgment and condemnation we deserve. My heart is no longer excited about this Truth as it once was. It is taken for granted that a way of salvation has been made clear for me through Jesus. And so I make other things more important that God Himself. Peter goes so far as to say that suffering is a part of this world and as Christians we should expect that persecution because it is a testing ground for our faith. So I should look forward to the suffering that will come my way as a Christian.

The Theology of Peter seems to fly in the face of our current theological leaders of today. The mentality in the church today is that we can find our "Best Life Now". But is certainly not what Peter is promising. Our Best Life is yet to Come and during this life the Best might look like a lot of suffering for making the right choices that acknowledge God as Savior.

The Courage to Be Protestant

When I presented the summer reading books for my teachers, I told them that the first one, The Dumbest Generation, presented a problem, but gave no real answers. This is true as you can see in my previous post, but what is the answer to our cultural issues that we face with education? That is why I submitted the second book for our teachers to read called The Courage to Be Protestant. In this book, I believe we find an answer to our cultural deterioration. That deterioration does not come from the culture of 15-25 year olds but it comes from a deeper source, found in the roots of our nation's spirituality.

America has consistently been termed as a Christian Nation. It has Christian values embedded within the founding documents and to a degree the nation was founded on universal moral laws, agreed upon by the community and taught throughout the educational process to citizens. This objective view of truth, morality, and law have changed through post-modern influences and this can be most readily seen in the church. David Wells identifies the same issues in the church that are in the greater culture. The church today must market itself under the guise of entertainment and consumer preferences. What gets lost in this process is the Truth, or at least an objective view of the Truth.

This is what we are here to fight against in the education of children. At our school we seek to provide that universal, objective understanding of Truth in light of God. Morality flows from the very attributes of God's character and we are not submitting to the cultural pressure to be entertaining. Truth is not always something that we want to hear and therefore we must have courage to preach this Truth to our students. That Truth is the Gospel in all areas of our life.

The Dumbest Generation

I was looking through the Dumbest Generation book again and I am continually taken by how true the thoughts are in the second chapter entitled "Biliophobes." In this chapter the author speaks about how many of our current culture in the 15-25 year old range hate to read books. Especially books with actual pages instead of information found on the Internet. I can see this in myself, as I am only 31 years old, and I would not consider myself a good reader. I have never really embraced reading in a scholarly way and often give up on reading, preferring the ease and entertainment of a movie. But I am beginning to see that it is my heart that is too easily entertained and my mind remains at lower levels of mental processing because it is unexercised.

I am not sure what leads us to disdain the reading of books, but I do know the benefit. As you can see from my blog, I have read all the summer reading books that were assigned to our 7th through 9th graders this summer. In the midst of doing this reading there a few times were I did not enjoy it, but now that I have completed the task, I see the benefit of it. The more I read the quicker I become at it, and the more enjoyable it becomes. It is much like lifting weights. I always hate the first day of working out, and I hate the second day even more. But when I have been consistently working out my muscles for two to three weeks, I find that I somehow look forward to the pain and soreness of a good workout because I know it benefits me in the long run. I sacrifice short-term happiness for a long-term healthiness.

It is same way with reading. Reading is that turn-key subject that allows you to access all others levels of education. If we read well, beyond the elementary levels of reading, then we have the benefit of a sharper mind, a quicker analytical skill, and enjoyment of seeking the deeper meaning in life. These are things that the entertainment of a movie simply do not supply. I say do not supply because movies could do this if they wanted to. But unfortunately, the movies sell what the consumer desires. Our hearts to do not desire to be pushed or prodded to think. We simply want to remain where we are at and be entertained. But our hearts are dazzled by inferior things, rather than what is true, good, and beautiful. The irony, as Os Guinness puts it, is that we have fit bodies and fat minds. We consume mental junk food, without thought, in the movies and television that we watch. But we need to get up off the couch and exercise our mind. That is the true benefit of reading.

The Nine Tailors

It is difficult to write a review of this book without ruining the mystery for you, and I really do not want to reveal the ending. This book was a definite page turner for me as the author keep me guessing throughout the story. There are several elements of the story that are significant for the reader and I will touch on just a few of those thoughts here, but this book could lead to several other conversations.

I think that the most intriguing part of the book is the character development. The time that the author spends on describing the main characters brings depth to the reading itself. For Lord Wimsey all of these characters are new acquaintances as well, so he is discovering these people as well. As he encounters each new character, Sayers takes a great deal of time describing who the person is and their mannerism that define them as people. I find this to be very interesting and unique. It is the little details and descriptions that make a story interesting and clever.

I also enjoyed the use of Logic throughout the novel. In any good murder mystery there is application of deductive logic in which the detective eliminates possible alternatives through logical investigation. After having taught logic for a year it certainly becomes more visible to me when I read any book as to the authors logical patterns. In the modern murder mystery the detective is more or less lead by a hunch, or a feeling. Not so in this story as Lord Wimsey let's rationality be his guide in determining the outcome.

I was also intrigued by the church in the social setting. The church and particularly the church bells, were the center of the community. Everyone came to the church and the priest for help with any situation, not just spiritual. It seems that we have lost this structure in our world today. The church is now a private sector of someone's life and is more of a consumer choice, much like going to Wal-mart and picking out a new shirt. But the church was the focal point in this cultural setting and everyone's life was somehow intertwined with the work of the church. It would seem they had a better connection with the church life than we do today in our cultural settings.

The Dragon and the Raven

The Dragon and the Raven was a fascinating book about the Medeval culture. We are often taken by the tales of this time period as men were faced with the protection of their homes and families. In this story the young earl name Edmund is faced with taking up leadership of a group of people at a very yound age. His heroism protected the way of life for many Saxons from Christians homes.

The most striking feature of this story is the contrast between the barbarism of the Northmen and the Christian values of the Saxon Christians. There is an interesting dialogue about halfway through the book when Edmund has a chance to kill one of the leaders of the invading armies. He spares the life of this man and his daughter is forever grateful to him but also confused by the act mercy. To heroism was to be sought after in a man but mercy was equated with weakness. For the first time she saw mercy in this act of compassion for her father and she is changed by the experience. Later in the story we find that Edmund is captured by the enemy and the man he had spared worked a deal to save his life.

In the end what we see from this story is one barbaric nation seeking to take over another, but through the interactions of the barbaric culture with Christianity, their barbaric ways begin to be conquered. All throughout Medeval culture we see this theme as it repeats. The gospel has gone forth to bring peace to many nations and brings civilization with it. The Christian values of the people allow them to form civilized mankind that is based on the universal moral laws. This will be a major theme throughout our study in Omnibus II.

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch is an amazing story of a man, Nathanial Bowditch, who educated himself throughout his life. As a boy of 12 years old his father was forced to have him work as an indentured servant in the local chanlary until he was 21. During this time he was not allowed to go to school and was forced to work. He had always dreamed of attending school and someone sought to go to Harvard. Since he was unable to attend school he decided that he would learn the subjects on his own. He taught himself Latin, French and Spanish but was incredibly gifted in mathmatics. His skills in math enabled him to learn the charts that guided sailors through the sea and he discovered several errors in the mathmatical computations of the charts which in turn saved several ships from making navagational mistakes.

The moral that lies beneath this story is that anyone can learn when they apply themselves to the subject matter. Mr. Bowditch had the ability to teach himself and the character to perservere when learning became difficult. His desire was to gain knowledge and teach others what he had learned. For the reader it is clear that we tend to take education for granted. Often we disdain the educational process and we merely endure learning so that we can jump through the right hoops that the teacher provides so that we can graduate and move on to college or the work force. Mr. Bowditch took learning to an entirely different level. Education was a part of his life in the sense that his desire to attain knowledge was wedded to his identity as a person. He wanted to learn more to become a better person, and you saw this process take place in his sailors.

While at sea he often taught his men how to take a lunar reading, which was a skill that only a few men had mastered. Through this he was able to teach these men several other things that would enable them to do better in their future positions aboard other ships. The captian under which Bowditch sailed commetted that he had never had so few problems with his men as when they were being taught by him. When they returned to port, these men were able to get higher positions on other vessels as first or second mates. It goes to show that when a man is willing he can really learn anything he would like. It just takes a lot of hard work.

And so that is moral for us as well. How hard are we willing to work and for what purpose? Does our school work go beyond that grade or parental approval? Are we simply enduring school? My hope is that as we enter another school year we will come with a passion for knowledge that goes beyond the classroom expectations. My hope is that we place personal expectations upon ourselves that moves from our lest effort to our very best in glorification of the Lord.

The Last Battle

In the final story of the Chronicles of Narnia, for the first time we see the people of Narnia summon the help of the children from our world. Never before in the stories of Narnia have the kings called out for help but here at the end of the story the last king of Narnia calls out for help from Aslan. Aslan allows him to summon the help of all the people that had entered Narnia. Only the youngest of the group is allowed to go into Narnia, but the truly interesting part of this story is that at the end we see all those who had entered into Narnia as children, are in the end found in the Land of Aslan. It would seem that heaven was a place for many "realities" as we know them, both our world and Narnia.

This book is truly about the end, as C.S. Lewis is bringing his world to it's final chapter. In the end he judges all people, animals and creatures. In this final judgment some are taken to the Land of Aslan and others are swallowed up and destroyed. Aslan then proceeds to destroy the world of Narnia in the reverse order that we see creation occur in the first chapters of Genesis. This is truly an interesting scence for the reader to observe because when Aslan is done, the world of Narnia is only darkness. But as the children that had witnessed the end of the world of Narnia enter into the Land of Aslan they move further up and further in they realize that it is exactly like the Narnia they had always known but it seem to be more vibrant and real. And this seems to be a continuing theme in C.S. Lewis' work. The world in which we find Christ is more real than the reality in which we exist.

Seeing the bookends of this work with the Magician's Nephew at the beginning and The Last Battle at the end reminds me that we are still in the middle of our story that ends with the final judgment with Christ. We are in that stage of remembering the work that Christ has promised to do and it seems that we ought to live with a realization that end will come with our final salvation. You see we are saved in our justification, being saved in our sanctification and we will be saved on that final day in our glorification. We are saved before time, within time and at the end of time. What a blessing!

The Silver Chair

Again we see in the work of C.S. Lewis this theme of forgetting and remembering. It would seem that his purpose for writing is to provide entertaining stories so that we might remember our salvation. In the Silver Chair, the rightful prince of Narnia has been lost for ten years. Aslan has sent Eustace and his friend Jill, to help find where Prince Rilian has gone. As the story goes on we see that Prince Rilian has been under an enchantment of an evil witch that does not allow him to remember who he is and imprisons him to the underworld. There is a silver chair which he is bound to one hour a day during which time his normal mind returns to him. All other times he is completely under the power of the witch, who has the plan to conquer Narnia and rule with the Prince.

In the beginning of the story Eustace and Jill are given signs to follow. Jill is told to memorize these signs and follow them so that they are able to rescue the Prince. Throughout the story they consistently mess up these signs and do not follow the guidance that Aslan gave them at the beginning of the story. Subsequently they fall into many troubles and close calls, but it would seem that Aslan is still guiding their steps as they escape. Finally, in the end they are able to remember the final sign that Aslan gave them and this allows them to save Prince Rilian from the spell of the witch.

Remembering what we are suppose to be doing is key to the Christian life as well. We consistently find that we dull, drift and harden our hearts to the Word of God. In Hebrews we find that the Lord says we should be past these elementary elements of the faith but still we need spiritual basics for the Christian life. The encouragement from this story is that Aslan was always aware of the steps his children were taking. In much the same way we must remember and realize the salvation of our great Creator. When we truly realize the nature of grace given to us in Christ, obedience follows. The act of remembering and realizing is always before us in our walk with God.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Out of all the Chronicle of Narnia books, the Voyage of the Dawn Treader has to be my favorite. I am not sure if it is because I am a sailor at heart, or if I simply resonate with the character of Eustace Clarence Scrubb, but I have since my childhood dearly loved this story. As I have re-read these books this summer, I have been surprised as to how many parts of the books I had forgotten. But not this one. I remembered every chapter as it occurred and it is obvious that this story impacted me as a 5th grader.

I love the first lines of this classic work, "There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it. His parents called him Eustace Clarence and masters (teachers) called him Scrubb. I can't tell you how his friends spoke to him, for he had none." This character has been so intriguing to me as a child because I could relate to the personality he portrayed. He was a nuisance and sought to annoy people for his amusement. Being a little brother, as I am, I could see myself in him, although I told myself I could not be as bad as Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and I had a lot nicer name.

But throughout the story we see this young man change. It is a slow change and he, in some ways, never really conquers all of his faults, but everyone could tell by the end of the story that he was a better young man that when they started. And that gave me hope to change as well. Eustace had changed so much that by the end of the story he was jumping into the battle with a sea serpent and, although he could not use a sword in any functional way, he tried to fight. He tried, which is something that he was never really known for doing before.

What enabled this transformation of Eustace Clarence? I think that the main picture we see of this transformation comes through the process of becoming undragoned. You see Eustace had found a treasure on Dragon Island and watched the last dragon die. He thought he could have all the gold and proceeded to put a gold ring around his arm in the triumph of his "victory". But he fell asleep in the dragon cave and when he awoke, he was a dragon. This was the first time he had a self-reflection of his true nature. You could say that he saw on the outside what had always been on the inside. Those things that others see in us but for some reason we have trouble seeing ourselves. He returned to the crew and they were horrified but it was Lucy that figured out that the dragon was not there to hurt them, but that he was Eustace.

As the story goes on we see that Eustace began to help the crew in his dragon form and did many things to get the ship back in order. He wanted to change and started to act differently because of that desire. But then he encountered Aslan, the Christ figure. He was told by Aslan to undragon himself. So Eustace tried to tear the scales from himself. He was unsuccessful, although he was commanded to do it and tried several times. Then Aslan said to him, "I must do it". And the Lion tore at him with his great claws to rip away the dragon scales. Eustace was never quite the same after this experience with Aslan.

For the Christian, the message is quite clear. The dragon scales represent our sinful nature and we are commanded to undragon ourselves, although we are not capable to fully accomplish it. Christ Himself must do the work of sanctification in the hearts of believers.

Prince Caspian

It is interesting that in every story that C.S. Lewis has written about Narnia, it is the adults of mankind who have forgotten the stories of Old Narnia. It is as if he wrote children's stories for adults to remember and be awoken from their adult concerns that there is another world that is more real than this one in which we exist. In the story of Prince Caspian it is the evil Uncle Miraz that has forgotten or refuses to remember the Old Narnia that once existed with talking animals and magical creatures. He takes all effort of suppress this thinking in the minds of those he rules in the Land of Narnia. I think that C.S. Lewis is pressing the issue here that what we have learned as children about God, our Father, has been forgotten, or rather suppressed by the culture in which we live. This story is about remembering and reviving the old ways and it is as relevant to us today as it was when he wrote it.

Prince Caspian has heard the old stories from those who have cared for him when he was young in his education. Something inside of him stirs when he hears the stories of the Old Kings and Queens of Narnia and of the Deep Magic within the Lion, Himself. So it is with us that believe in Christ. We often feel that movement within our hearts when we really take time to realize the depth to which the cosmic drama of Christ's death on the cross as gone for our salvation. We are moved to outside of ourselves that no longer seek our selfish ways.

As Prince Caspian escapes the castle and his evil uncle, he finds that there are others of Old Narnia that have been in hiding deep in the forest. There are others that believe and desire to see Aslan move once again the way that once did. It had been a long time since anyone had heard from the great Lion, and it is here that I most resonate with the writing of C.S. Lewis. You see, we are in that time frame right now. The great encouragment of these stories is that Aslan always shows up to save the day and do his will. It is never the way we expect nor the timing we desire. And often our part of the story is done by stumbling our way through life, but Aslan always arrives. We are in that moment of the story where people are not sure they believe. Some are moved to believe what they can not see because they trust the old stories.

Do we trust the old stories we find in Scripture? Are we skeptical about the truth of great Savior that once did miracles and rose from the dead? We can not let the reason of our day overwhelm us with disbelief. We must believe the old stories and trust that Christ will come again when the timing is right. The difference with Narnia is that they did not have a Word written down for them from Aslan. We, however, have the very thoughts of God written out for us.

Ofcourse, in this story Aslan returns and sets all things right with the heroes of our story, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. They are the instruments of Aslan to bring about his will and then they are returned to their world. In what way could we be used today for the will of God?

The Horse and His Boy

The Horse and His Boy is the story of an orphan who discovers his true identity as a prince with a twin brother. Clearly the message for us, as Christians, when we read this story is to relate to this theme of being an orphan without a true sense of who we are in Christ. When we try to live without Christ in our life we certainly act in the ways that orphan would. And when we realize who our true Father is, it changes the way we act. We are children of God who have been cared for and loved.

Within this story, Shasta, the orphan, and Bree, a talking horse that had been kidnapped from Narnia as a young colt, flee to the north in order to escape their owners. In their adventure they meet up with two others that are trying to escape to the land of Narnia, Arivis, a daughter promised to be married to a man she did not know or love, and her horse, Hwin, another talking horse stolen from Narnia. It is no coincidence that they found each other in this adventure as Aslan arranged the entire meeting through his chase he gave them in the woods.

As they pursued their goal of freedom in Narnia it was clear that Aslan had a greater purpose for them and especially for Shasta. He would be the one that continued on in the journey alone to warn the Kings and Queens of Narnia that war was coming. Shasta, through this adventure, came to realize that his father was the King of Archenland, and he was a part of the royal family. His new status was almost unbelieveable to a young man who thought he was an orphan his whole life.

It is clear that C.S. Lewis had a underlying theme for us to pay special attention to. As a Christian, we often start our Christian walk looking for personal freedom from the things that we have been enslaved by, but God has shown us, through the process of sanctification, that our freedom or salvation is not the end goal of our walk with God. We have a greater purpose in the battle, just like Shasta. He was given his freedom in Narnia, and given his royal status in Archenland, but given purpose by Aslan. His status as a child belonging to Aslan lead him to greater purpose than a personal desire to be free. Rather he wanted to do the will of the one who had freed him. It is same for us in our Christian walk. We are not saved for freedom so that we can do what we want. We are saved for the purpose of obedience and showing glory to God our Father and His will to be done in us.

The Magician's Nephew

The Magician's Nephew has a very simple message that is good for us all to reminded about on a regular basis. When we are told not to do something there is something about human nature that wants to do it. In this story Digory knew that he should not ring the bell that would release the Witch, but he did it anyway. Why did he do it? I think that C.S. Lewis was implying that curiosity got the best of him but I think that he was motivated by a deeper reason. For some reason human nature is drawn into doing that which is prohibited. We somehow enjoy it simply because it is the wrong thing to do.

I am reminded of the Confessions in which Augustine reflected on his stealing of pears from his neighbors house with his friends. He said that they had a pear tree in their back yard that yeilded better tasting pears but they were drawn into the act of stealing which made the eating of the pears more enticing. They reveled in their sinful behavior and took joy in the process.

Upon reflection and much change in the life of Augustine he no longer takes joy in sinful actions and this is really what sanctification does to us. In the story Digory has a transformation and he only desires to do the will of Aslan. He no longer looks to those things that he was curious about or enjoyed. His purpose was obedience.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

My goal this summer is to read all the summer reading books that the students have been assigned and to write a one-page reflection about them. It seems only fair that as I have assigned these books for reading that I submit myself to the assignment as well. It has been a joy to re-read these classic books and to see the depth to which C.S. Lewis went to bring meaning to his stories.

In the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe the images are clear as we see Aslan, the famous Lion and Christ figure of the stories, sacrifice Himself for the people of Narnia. We should all be reminded that we have a Savior who has gone to great lengths to sacrifice Himself for us so that we might enjoy a right relationship with Him. But another underlying theme of the story that is not often talked about would be the encouragement that Aslan continued to give the children throughout the fighting. His instruction to Peter and Edmund was to step up and the be the men that they will become. They had a distinct purpose for the salvation that was granted to them and that purpose was to fight.

I believe that C.S. Lewis is providing for us the same encouragment in the life we lead while on earth. Only our fight is not with swords and shields but for obedience and love towards others. Our weapons are the knowledge of God and the Holy Spirit which enables our good actions. It is clear that we are not to remain children in our understanding of the Lord but to become mature in our faith so that we might act like Kings and Queens, which are ambassadors of the Lord.

The Dumbest Generation

It is difficult to know where to begin with this book. There are so many directions we could go with the conversation about the cultural impact this book reflects. My initial thoughts are focused on defining the primary issues that our students face as consumers of entertainment and technology. It would seem that we need to identify to what degree our students are utilizing the social networking features of the internet to communicate with friends and the impact that creates on thier educational habits of mind.

My first question for you as teachers is to discuss the way we should go about establishing our culture at the school to address the use or abuse of technology. How can we provide a counter cultural message in the midst of what the author defines as students who are basically antithetical to reading and school work? How do we inspire the educational process in students that are non-reflective consumers of culture?

As a teacher we must determine the ways we will address the heart issues of motivation within the students. Let me know what you think.

Matthew 5:17-20

Christ came to fulfill the Law, and with His death He satisfied the wrath of God for all who believe. What a blessing it is to us that He has already paid the penalty for our sins so that we might enjoy a right relationship to the Father. Verse 17 is fairly easy to understand and comprehend but it is followed by some strange thoughts that need further investigation. What does God mean that whoever breaks these commandments will be least in the kingdom of heaven. I did not know there would be hierarchy of perfection in heaven. The outcomes of disobedience for those who believe seems to be an area of Scripture that is not clear.

What is clear however, is the command to be righteous and love righteousness. And that seems to be the theme of the whole sermon. It is a connection to the Beattitude, Blessed are those who thirst and hunger for righteousness, for they will be filled. We do not gain access to God through our righteousness because we would not measure up, but our hearts, once we find Christ, should love righteousness. If we do not love righteousness, then we should reflect on what grace and salvation really are, because maybe we do not realize the fullness of our salvation.

The Aeneid

In my classes I have had the joy of teaching some of the greatest works of literature from Western Civilization. One of my favorites is the epic poem, The Aeneid, in which Aeneas escapes the burning city of Troy in order to found a new Troy, which became the mighty power of Rome. The peom is extremely engaging on several levels, but I believe it is most important to understand the purpose of Virgil in writing the poem, especially in our culture today. The main purpose of writing the Aeneid was to validate the current leadership of the Roman empire and to envoke partriotism in the Roman citizen. These are two concepts that desprately need to be instilled in our young people today.

The undercurrent of the poem which drew out the other purpose of the book was to display the virtuous character of Aeneas as he put all other distractions aside in the name of destiniy and duty. There are really two parts to the poem in which we see Aeneas transform from a man of distraction and worldly concerns to a man of purpose, intensity, and courage. Throughout the first five books we see Aeneas distracted by the circumstances of his situation at sea, the downfall of his great city Troy, the distraction of meeting a woman Dido, the joy of playing games and competition, but all of these things kept him from the main purpose of his destiny. In Book six we see Aeneas enter the underworld to visit is father and there is able to see the future of the Roman empire. From then on he is driven to fulfill the destiny he had before him without the distraction of circumstances, girls, and games.

As he enters the shores of Italy, the gods intervene and provide for him the advantage to overcome the Latin adversaries led by Turnus. He is given a great sheild and armor that is stronger than any other metal known to man. In this act it is clear that the gods wanted the empire of Rome to be set in motion. In the end there is nothing that can prevent Aeneas from realizing his goal of founding the great city of Rome.

There are many messages that can be gleaned from this ancient story to apply to the lives of young people today. First, how about putting off those distraction of circumstances, girls and games in the name of calling and purpose? Our culture is certianly saturated with the entertainment and escape from reality, rather than being devoted to duty and to country. Second, having the sense that there is a divine purpose for the country in which we live, or even that there is a God with a plan at all in mind. This is important for young people today to have confidence that the sovereign Creator had a plan from the beginning of time that was greater than simply their experience of salvation. Third, and most importantly, that we can learn pietas from Aeneas. He was devoted to a task because he had a clear vision of something larger than himself. That is what we need to cast before our young people today. There is a larger purpose to life than the latest movie, coolest clothes, or romanitic interest. This book opens them to this larger world of purpose.

The Courage to Be Protestant

A Book Review in Progress

The Dumbest Generation

A Book Review in Progress

Matthew 5:13-16

This passage is common in the pulpit and is typically preached as an exhortation to share the gospel with others. However, I wonder if more is going on than first appears. I have heard the phrase in my seminary class that the imperative is always based on the indicative, meaning that what I do is always based on who I am, or who I have been declared to be. In this passage we could say that we have been made salt, and we have been declared the light. Now since we are these things, what is purpose of being made or declared these things? It is clear that salt and light have a purpose. That purpose should be embraced as a person.

As Christians we are declared righteous for a purpose. We have a distinct calling in life that revolves around proclaiming Christ. The subtle difference is not declaring I am this special light or special salt but that it is not about me whatsoever. God is using me to fulfill His divine plan. I am therefore, called to purposeful life that revolves around following His calling.

Matthew 5:1-12

Once Jesus gained the following of some many people He began to teach them. In Chapter five we see the clear essence of His ministry teaching through the sermon on the mount. The Beattitudes are the focal point of the entire sermon and set the tone and disposition a believer should display. In my studies I have often moved quickly through the first 11 verses to get to the "practical stuff" of Jesus' teaching, but it has become clear to me through this reading that I must slow down and concentrate on the reading of verses 1-11. They form the heart of His message for the church in having a proper self-awareness.

His first statment has been misuderstood and often ignored because of that misunderstanding. Blessed are the poor in spirit means that we have a proper understanding of ourself in relation to the world. It is difficult for a hyper-individualistic society in which the educational system has worked endlessly to build up the self esteem, to understand that a person must be poor in spirit, meaning they have a good understanding of humility.

His second statment is Blessed are those who mourn, meaning that those who are poor in spirit, that have a proper understanding of thier inward disposition of sin, are repentent about it. They have the proper response to the sinfulness they see in their hearts.

His third statment is Blessed are the meek, meaning that those who understand their condition, are repentent of their condition, understand that the remedy for their condition did not come from their abilities, rather it came from the work of Christ. Meekness is the proper attitude of listening to others before you speak into a situation.

These three Beattitudes form the core of what a Christian should look like internally and as I am reflecting on my own life I see a major gap in my disposition from what is mentioned in Scripture. I am typically first to speak, cut other off, declare my point of view, push my agenda, and I think I am a pretty good person. This is not the proper place that my heart should be in relation to God.

All other parts of the Sermon on the Mount must be seen in the proper understanding of the Beattitudes, or else the autonomous self will seek to use the words of Christ to their advantage.

Matthew 4:23-25

I often wonder what it would have been like had Jesus been ministering in our day and age. How would we have responded to a person declaring that they could heal, cast out demons, and teach the truth of Old Testament Scriptures? I think we would have held a large degree of skepticism towards this in our modern worldview of Science and Emperical truth. But not so the 1st Century AD. Jesus was known as the Great Physician and consistently healed people of various diseases. Our response would not have been faith, but these people followed Jesus because of His ability to heal.

Although Jesus did many miracles, this was not the main emphais of His ministry to the people. These might have been the felt needs of the people - immediate concerns that caught their attention- but it allowed Him to gain a following to hear the need of their real needs - meaning the spiritual needs of the unregenate heart.

So often I know that Jesus still works in me the same way, only I take the provision of my needs in a very unflective manner. I am consistently taking credit for the standard of living I enjoy, and I am confident in my abilities to maintain a good job. This is, however, allowed by the grace of God and I should respond as such in my life. I am so very thankful that God has allowed me to have both my felt needs and spiritual needs addressed through Christ.

Matthew 4:12-22

Once Jesus was baptized He began His earthly ministry to people. He preached the same message as John the Baptist which was, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near." We see this message throughout the New Testament ministry of Jesus and it is key for our understanding of Salvation. His message is simple yet profound in the thought that the Kingdom of Heaven is near, which begs the question, was it far off before? Who or what is he referring to this passage is the Kingdom of Heaven. It would seem from this study that this is one of the main questions we want to answer.

Also in this section we see the chosing of the 12 disciples. It has always amazed me that these men just left their nets on the beach to follow Jesus. Was this a literal leaving of the craft of fishing or was it simply a response to someone saying, "Hey, come over here for a minute." It would seem that these men responded to a greater calling without hesitation to become a part of the ministry of Christ to the people.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

One of the most enjoyable books I have read this semester has been Uncle Tom's Cabin. Harriat Beecher Stowe wrote an incredibly engaging story that depicted the life of Slaves and Slave Owners in the South during the 1800's. The main character of this book, Uncle Tom, has clear correlations with the character of Christ as a suffering servant in this world. I was moved by several aspects of the story and in a day and age which has forgotten the history of just a few hundred years ago, I understand more clearly the injustice that our society incurred the story of this great nation of America. I am inspired as an American that the leaders of our country overcame a immoral system of the cruel treatment of human life. It gives me hope that in the future of this great country we can overcome other moral injustice that does not align with the Law of God.

A few parts of the book that I enjoyed...

Christian Symbolism
Throughout the book it is obvious that the author intended to lead the reader to Scripture. Uncle Tom is a clear Christ figure that clearly followed God in all his ways. He was consistently leading others to interpret their experience with an eternal perspective that focused on the truth that God would right the wrongs of an oppressed people. The most clear picture of this that we see is when he was beaten by the other two lead men of the oppresive slave owner, he prayed for their forgiveness. And right before he died these two men, who were fellow slaves, asked Uncle Tom to pray for their salvation. On his deathbed he is proclaiming forgiveness and Christ. It is shadowing of the picture we see when Jesus is crucified between two theives on the cross.

Character Development

Spectrum of Theological Belief Towards Slavery

The Example of a New Perspective

Matthew 4:1-11

The tempting of Jesus is in the 4th chapter of Matthew contains consistent parallels to the temptation of Eve in Genesis. It seems that Satan is always trying to get us to prove something. Each temptation that he throws out to Jesus starts with "If you are the Son of God". Did Satan not know this? Was he trying to get Jesus to prove something, and if so, who was he trying to prove it to? In the Garden of Eden Satan tempts Eve by asking the question, "Did God really say?" In essence, Satan simply calls into question the Truth of reality.

The great difference in these two passages is that Adam was not able to combat the temptation of Satan, whereas Jesus was able to overcome the temptation of Satan. This passage of Scripture shows clearly that Jesus was able to do something that our first Father was not able to do. Jesus has been tempted in every way but was blameless and sinless. And now, when I confess faith in Christ, I am relying on His perfection displayed in the life He lived. He was without sin, but He took on my sins, and paid the for the punishment I deserved. What a wonderful blessing.

Matthew 3:13-17

We do not often see this in Scripture but the Baptism of Jesus is one time that we experience all three persons of the Trinity together. We have Jesus beign baptized, the Holy Spirit descends on Him in the form of a dove, and we hear the voice of God the Father. It is amazing to see this picture and I am sure that John was afraid for His life to be performing this baptism as a feeble man. He knew who this baptism was for, but he did not know what it would represent.

The baptism of Jesus was to fulfill all righteousness, meaning that Jesus was doing this as an example to his people for the sake of obedience. We also should follow that process of obedience and fulfill all righteousness in the eyes of God.

Matthew 3:1-12

In Scripture we see this process of preparation for the coming of Christ. It can be argued that God had been sending a type of Christ to the people that foreshadowed the actual Messiah through Judges, Kings, and Leaders. But here we see a picture of the one that cleared the way for earthly ministry for Jesus. John the Baptist had a particular job of preparing the people to see clearly the Messiah.

His message was simple and should be admonished by us as believers today. Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is near. What exactly does this phrase mean and why is it important for us to show that proper response of repentance? I have three thoughts in reponse to the message of John the Baptist.

First, there was a proper fear associated with the message of John. In today's world it is out of fashion to preach from a "doom and gloom" perspective as people today want to be inspired, uplifted, and fulfilled. To them God is that all powerful geni that will make all our dreams come true. John did not see God that way. He understood Him to be all powerful, holy, and worthy of our worship. We should worship Him rather than the other way around.

Second, John preached repentance, which implies that this holy God is filled with mercy. The prayer of repentance in the context of appropriate fear is what we call humility. The message of John is simple in that it declares we are to humble ourselves before the Lord. We see this clearly as he says Himself that someone is coming that he is unable to carry His shoes because the Lord is holy. Our repentance should have that heart of humilty.

Third, John preached that judgment was coming. He says the ax is already at the root of the tree. What a great picture to illustrate the judgment of God! It is clear that the coming judgment is just about to be executed and what even John does not understand is that Christ is going to take that judgment upon Himself. The ax he portrays is the judgment that we as sinners deserve, but we know that Christ took those death blows that we deserved.

The promise and hope by which we live is that this judgment of death did not hold Christ. He rose again from the dead and He is alive. Because of that I follow the preaching of John - Repent! for the Kingdom of God is Near and is He closer to us than we realize.

Matthew 2:13-23

Not only was Christ worshipped as a child but he was also hunted. I have often wondered why Christ had to be born in such a humble and reliant way. On several occasions early in his life his parents moved in order to protect him. Obviously, God the Father had planned out the ultimate protection by providing Joseph with warnings through his dreams, but why did God not allow Jesus to come to earth fully grown, able to protect himself, and wisdom to make good choices? Christ, as a child, was completely reliant on two fallen parents, who were trying to protect thier son from the evil King Herod.

It would seem that God wanted to sympathize with his people in every way, understanding the full meaning of reliance, respect, honor, and obedience. Hebrews 4:15 states that "we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may recieve mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

Christ walked through his life just as we have done except he did so without sin. I would have hated to be Jesus' younger brother. I am sure Joseph and Mary said on several occasions, why can't you be more like Jesus. But it seems clear from this passage that we are now able to rely on the finished obedience of Christ as our representative of righteousness before the Lord. We can not be any closer to God than we are right now because of his work. Now our consistent response is obedience in all areas of life.

Matthew 2:1-12

What is the purpose in Scripture of the Wise Men from the East? It seems like a bizarre story found on Christmas Cards and displayed in ornaments, but what a random way acknowledge that Christ had been born. These men came from the East and no where does it mention that there are three of them, but it seems they come out of nowhere. But they are seeking Christ. They are following the signs of their time and for some reason they are overwhlemed by a desire to worship Him as King. They brought Him gifts and they bowed down.

What drove these men to pursue such and extrodinary trip? It was the star and that star represents the way in which our sovereign Lord moved in their hearts to take action in worshipping Christ. The inward testimony of the Spirit enabled them to take this trip and to be remembered as an example of our experience of the Christian life. We too are following a star, but we know the Savior we follow and we know His revealed words to us found in Scripture. What an incredible blessing and are we not without excuse to seek after our Lord?

Matthew 1:18-25

In this section of Scripture the angel of the Lord refered to Jesus as Immanuel, meaning God with us. Out of all the religions in the world we rarley see an almighty God humbling Himself to become part of his people in order to save them. These should be shocking words to us and should stir in us several questions. However, in our popular culture today these thoughts are given very little attention and accepted because we do not fully comprehend the holiness of God.

Our Sovereign Lord displays all attributes of holiness for us his people who are far from holy. We are not able to participate in a right relationship with God because our fallen nature prevents us from entering into His presence. We can not save ourselves and therefore we needed a mediator to stand between our fallen nature and the holy wrath of God. Therefore, God sent Christ.

But the question that should stir our inward being is how can God be human yet not sinful. Is not human nature equated with sinfulness and selfishness? How can Jesus keep the law, yet be a man? He is able to do something that our first father could not: obey. Our obedience has been secured for us through Christ. Only the God/Man could fulfill such a perfection. So the question is not whether Jesus was God or Man, or some mixture, but to identify Him as something altogether different: he was fully God and fully Man. This is why in Romans God can call Himself Just (Holy) and the Justifier (Our Savior).

It is so encourages me that we have a faith that God has done the work of Salvation. When I realize this fully my obedience flows with gratitude towards my Savior.

Matthew 1:1-17

It is always amazing to me to trace the lineage of Jesus through the line of David and all the way back to the Patriarch Abraham. There is a distinct plan that has unfold especially when Matthew reiterates in verse 17 that there were fourteen generations from Abraham to David, from David to the Exile, and from the exile to Christ. Christ was the completion of a promise given some 42 generations previous when God told Abraham that he would be the Father of many nations. The cross reference to the passage is Genesis 22:18 in which God says to Abraham during his testing "and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

Abraham really did not understand the fullness of this statement and we live in a great time of life in which we can look back easily through God's Word to see the fruition of prophetic sayings. Most people skip over geneologies but I find that the record stated in the first chapter of Matthew points to the sovereign power and plan of God. He brought His promises to completion through line of Abraham and David. What a blessing that is to us as believers.

The Emmaus Road

In my Christian Life I have certianly related to the story of the disciples on the Emmaus Road. In Luke 24:13-35 this amazing story is recorded in which after the death and ressurection of Jesus Christ, two his disciples were walking towards a village called Emmaus. During this time Jesus appeared to them and walked with them but they did not recognize him as the Christ. They were discussing the life of Jesus and his death on the cross when this stranger who was Jesus began to explain to them the meaning of Old Testament prophets in regards to the fulfillment of prophecy. The disciples invited the man to eat with them that evening and during the dinner Jesus broke the bread to give thanks. Immediately the eyes of the disciples were opened and Jesus vanished.

I am convinced that this story is within Scripture to teach us how Christ will reveal himself to us each day. As I am actively trying to understand the meaning of his life and death, Jesus has come alongside of me to bring knowledge through his revealed word and confidence in his ressurection, forgiveness of sins, and peace through the renewing of my mind.

This blog is a record of my walk with the Lord. It is not so much for anyone else, as much as it is for my growth and encouragement, but I hope that if someone might stumble across it you might join in the discussion during our walk on the road to Emmaus.