The LORD Reigns!

The LORD reigns,

Let the earth rejoice; 

Let the many coastlands be glad!

Clouds and thick darkness are all around Him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
Fire goes before Him and burns up His adversaries all around.
His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles.
The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, 
before the Lord of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim His righteousness,
and all the peoples see His glory.
All worshipers of images are put to shame,
who make their boast in worthless idols; 
worship Him, all you gods!

Zion hears and is glad,

and the daughters of Judah rejoice,

because of Your judgments, O LORD. 

For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth;

you are exalted far above all gods.

O you who love the LORD, hate evil! 

He preserves the lives of his saints;

He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.

Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous,

and give thanks to His holy name!

Psalm 97

In Luther's Words...

Instead of sharing Luther’s words in a small status, here is a selection in celebration of Reformation Day.  God used Luther, a fallen human being, to accomplish His purposes, which is comforting to me.

God and the Gospel
“We believe that the very beginning and end of salvation, and the sum of Christianity, consists of faith in Christ, who by His blood alone, and not by any works of ours, has put away sin, and destroyed the power of death.”
“This life therefore is not righteousness, but growth in righteousness, not health, but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it, the process is not yet finished, but it is going on, this is not the end, but it is the road. All does not yet gleam in glory, but all is being purified.” 
“This error of free will is a special doctrine of the Antichrist.”
“Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God.”
"He who is well acquainted with the text of Scripture is a distinguished theologian. For a Bible passage or text is of more value than the comments of four authors."

Good Education
“I would advise no one to send his child where the Holy Scriptures are not supreme. Every institution that does not unceasingly pursue the study of God's word becomes corrupt…. I greatly fear that the universities, unless they teach the Holy Scriptures diligently and impress them on the young students, are wide gates to hell.”

Theology and Music
“I firmly believe, nor am I ashamed to assert, that next to theology no art is equal to music; for it is the only one, except theology, which is able to give a quiet and happy mind. This is manifestly proved by the fact that the devil, the author of depressing care and distressing disturbances, almost flees from the sound of music as he does from the word of theology. This is the reason why the prophets practiced music more than any art and did not put their theology into geometry, into arithmetic, or into astronomy, but into music, intimately uniting theology and music, telling the truth in psalms and songs….I place music next to theology and give it the highest praise.”

On Studying Greek and Hebrew
"Do you inquire what use there is in learning the languages ...?  Do you say, 'We can read the Bible very well in German?'
Without languages we could not have received the gospel. Languages are the scabbard that contains the sword of the Spirit; they are the casket which contains the priceless jewels of antique thought; they are the vessel that holds the wine; and as the gospel says, they are the baskets in which the loaves and fishes are kept to feed the multitude.
If we neglect the literature we shall eventually lose the gospel ... No sooner did men cease to cultivate the languages than Christendom declined, even until it fell under the undisputed dominion of the pope. But no sooner was this torch relighted, than this papal owl fled with a shriek into congenial gloom ... In former times the fathers were frequently mistaken, because they were ignorant of the languages and in our days there are some who, like the Waldenses, do not think the languages of any use; but although their doctrine is good, they have often erred in the real meaning of the sacred text; they are without arms against error, and I fear much that their faith will not remain pure.”

From His Own Life
“I am more afraid of my own heart than of the pope and all his cardinals.  I have within me a great pope, Self.”
“You should not believe your conscience and your feelings more than the word which the Lord who receives sinners preaches to you.”
“If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write.” 
“Let the wife make the husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave.”
“I've got so much work to do today, I'd better spend two hours in prayer instead of one.”
“I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess.”

"One Thing Needful"

      May I never suppose I am in Christ unless I am a new creature, never think I am born of the Spirit unless I mind the things of the Spirit, never rest satisfied with professions of belief and outward forms and services, while my heart is not right with Thee.
     May I judge my sincerity in religion by my fear to offend Thee, my concern to know Thy will, my willingness to deny myself.
     May nothing render me forgetful of Thy glory, or turn me aside from Thy commands, or shake my confidence in Thy promises, or offend Thy children.
     Let not my temporal occupations injure my spiritual concerns, or the cares of life make me neglect the one thing needful.
     May I not be inattentive to the design of Thy dealings with me, or insensible under Thy rebukes, or immobile at Thy calls.
      May I learn the holy art of abiding in Thee, or being in the world and not of it, of making everything not only consistent with by conducive to my religion.

- "Sincerity" from Valley of Vision

This semester has been overwhelming.  Between RA responsibilities, working in the admissions department, singing in Evidence, serving in church, and being a full-time seminary student, somehow activities overtook life.  It was bad...I'll just leave it at that.

A number of things helped get life back into proper perspective, but one of them was hiding from campus life in a basement over Fall Break.  There was time to sleep, eat fruits and vegetables, sleep more, read some disappointingly limp fiction, sleep some more, and spend more time than usual in devotions.  The lines from Valley of Vision that were particularly meaningful were, "Let not my temporal occupations injure my spiritual concerns, or the cares of life make me neglect the one thing needful."

The semester had become so full of the "temporal occupations" of memorizing music, various prayer meetings late at night, rushing from meeting to meeting, and squeezing bits of Hebrew homework into cracks in the schedule, that the "one things needful" - resting in Christ's finished work on my behalf - had been pushed out of sight, and when that happens, it is only a matter of time before life falls apart.  

There's still a lot to do.  But I hope that I have learned  not to let "temporal occupations" crowd out the "one thing needful."

One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord

    all the days of my life,

to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord

    and to inquire in His temple.

- Psalm 27:4

God's Power and Us

"'Do you not fear me?' declares the LORD. 'Do you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass over it.'" - Jeremiah 5:22

I found this verse this morning, and it really stuck out to me, so I went and read Jeremiah 5 to make sure it hadn't been taken out of context.  In Jeremiah 5, God uses this image of His greatness to remind His people that He is great enough to judge their wickedness.  Certainly, God' s power should should cause fear for those who are not His people, but what should God's power do to those who are His people?  Here are just a couple of ideas:

• His power should cause us to fear Him, both the respect kind of fear and the afraid kind of fear. 
• His power should create worship towards Him for His mighty acts.
• His power should compel us to tell the people around us about His greatness. 
• His power should strengthen our trust in Him because He is big enough to handle all of our problems.
• His power should re-assure us that we can rest in His sovereignty over us and our lives.

What has God's power done for you?

Reading the Prophets

For the past 9 months, I have been working my way through the prophetic books during my devotions, spacing them with some Psalms and New Testament epistles.  Although in future I will be organizing my Bible reading system differently, it's been interesting to read so many prophets at one time.  The following notes from the post "Some Guidelines for Reading Prophetic Literature" by Julian Freeman crystallized thoughts that have been forming in my mind over the past months.  Some of the comments could be understood in a number of different ways, so this isn't an endorsement of his blog because I haven't read it extensively.  The comments definitely do a good job of summarizing how to study the prophets and will go into my file of "Things to Refer to Later."  

1. Because prophets speak mainly to their own day, we need to make sure we understand their day
2. Don’t be afraid of (good) Study Bibles and commentaries
3. Read a whole prophetic book rather than just sections; main themes and rhetorical strategies are important for interpreting the various parts
4. Use a cross-referencing system to see how the NT interprets / borrows the passages you’re reading
5. In apocalypse, remember the big picture: This world is messed up beyond repair and exists in a state of turmoil until God intervenes by judgement, bringing victory for the good, which ushers in a time of peace, where justice reigns
6. In highly image-driven apocalyptic sections, always remember that the author’s main purpose was to effect change in his contemporaries; if our interpretation doesn’t include a call to holiness in the present, our interpretation is wrong
7. Always look for the persistence of hope: the shining of the light of redemption through the dark clouds of God’s judgement; this is where the nature of our God is magnified—this is where we see the cross
8. Because the prophets write to a people in a different covenantal  relationship, the application is less direct; the application will spring from the heart of God revealed in his dealings with his people
9. Application should always be done through Jesus, the one who lived our righteousness, became sin, and took our curse so that we could know the hope & blessing the prophets extend to the righteous.
10. Prophecies of judgement, showing us the wrath of God toward sin, and what we truly deserve, should always make us more thankful for the cross.

 Freeman cites How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth by Fee & Stuart, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation by Klein, Blomberg, and Hubbard, An Invitation to Biblical Interpretation by Kostenberger and Patterson, and Knowing Scripture by R.C. Sproul.

Church Music: Hark the Herald Angels Sing

Another favorite bit of doctrinal church music is the Christmas hymn "Hark the Herald Angels  Sing."  Being one of those people who listens to Christmas carols anytime between December 1 and September 30, the hymns is a constant reminder of the miracle of the Incarnation.

Charles Wesley published the original words to the hymn in 1739 in a series of 10 stanzas of 4 lines each.  Wesley paired with the words with a stately melody, reflecting the hymn's weighty doctrinal content.  After Wesley's death, George Whitefield altered the language and structure of the stanzas into the form we know today.  He also matched the words with today's familiar melody which he borrowed from a cantata by Felix Mendelssohn.

Compared to other songs, "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" has undergone significant revision, but it still expresses the truth of Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, inseparably united in one Person forever.

Hark, the herald-angels sing
glory to the new-born King,
peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled.
Joyful, all ye nations, rise,
join the triumph of the skies;
with the angelic host proclaim,
'Christ is born in Bethlehem.'
Hark, the herald-angels sing
glory to the new-born King.

Christ, by highest heaven adored,
Christ, the everlasting Lord,
late in time behold him come,
offspring of a Virgin's womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see:
hail, the incarnate Deity,
pleased as man with man to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.
Hark, the herald-angels sing
glory to the new-born King.

Hail, the heaven-born Prince of Peace:
hail, the Sun of Righteousness.
Light and life to all he brings,
risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
born that man no more may die,
born to raise the sons of earth,
born to give them second birth.
Hark, the herald-angels sing
glory to the new-born King.

Come, Desire of nations, come,
fix in us thy humble home;
rise, the woman's conquering seed,
bruise in us the serpent's head;
Adam's likeness now efface
stamp Thine image in its place.
Second Adam from above
reinstate us in Thy love.
Hark, the herald-angels sing
glory to the new-born King.

And, tipping my hat to the carol's British origin, here's a fine performance in St. Paul's Cathedral, London, UK.  (Although, I think it would be uncomfortable to wear one of those white collars, don't you?)

 

Does Greek Give You "Special Knowledge"?

Last weekend, I was sitting at a coffee bar with some friends in a small coffee house in South Dakota.  The owner of the shop asked me what I was doing with my life, and I told him I was working on my masters' degree in biblical languages.  When he heard this, he answered that he he had a friend who studied biblical languages.  "Does studying Greek and Hebrew give you new insight into what the Bible means?" he asked.

It's an interesting question.  Most of the Greek and Hebrew students I know, myself I included, study the languages to help them study the Bible better.  We get pretty excited when we study I John and discover that the present tense is continuous action.  Some of us are thrilled to build an outline out of Greek adverbial markers.  And don't even get us started on the difference between the two primary words for knowledge in the New Testament...!

But does knowing Greek give us any special knowledge (pardon the gnostic reference:)?  "No," I told the man.  "It's kind of like looking at a picture in black and white or color.  There isn't anything added to the picture when you see it in color, but you can see the details better.  You don't need to know Greek to know what the Bible really says.  It says the same thing in Greek that it does in English."

Knowing Greek is a great benefit, but the knowledge of God which gives us everything necessary for live and godliness is available through our accurate English translations.  Why?  Because it is not ultimately us or our accurate translation that causes us to understand the Bible.  It is God's Holy Spirit.

"But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.  None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.  But as it is written, 'What eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him" - these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit.  For the Spirit searches everything even the depths of God....Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God." - 1 Corinthians 2:7-12

The Summer of Weddings

Labor Day indicates the end of the Summer of Weddings, at the beginning of which, I counted ten couples I knew who were getting married.  So here's a post to congratulation them and wish them God's blessings!

Rohn and Bekah

Bekah and I met in sixth grade at VBS, and Rohn and I got to know each other on a CEF missions trip to Boston after a year of having lots of mutual friends.  It's a pleasure to call them CBC neighbors, visit their apartment in Philly Hall, and offer small tips on fighting roaches.  If I do say so myself, my sister Bethany did an excellent job as bridesmaid/train-bearer!  It was a pleasure to play the piano for two such good friends.

Andrew and Renae

Renae and I work together - she taught me everything I know about recruiting students.  It's fun to see Andrew drop into the admissions department a bit more regularly than he used to - and it has nothing to do with registering for classes!  Their marriage ceremony was Christ-centered, highlighting the relationship between Christ and His Church.  My job was to keep the food table full stocked with crackers, cheese, and hummus.

Brent and Elizabeth

Elizabeth and I met at a piano recital in elementary school, and we've been friends since!  It was a pleasure to work with her as her wedding coordinator. The wedding was a lot of fun, from decorating tables for five hundred guests to laughing with the ushers at the back of the auditorium about unity candles.  God's work in Brent and Elizabeth's relationship was a joy to watch.  And, again, my sweet sister was an excellent bridesmaid/mirror-holder.

Alex and Kara

Alex and I attended college together in South Dakota, and after he transferred to Calvary, word came back that he had a girlfriend and she was wonderful.  Reports about Kara were not exaggerated!  Getting to know her through dorm life and church activities has been delightful.  Alex and Kara are very intentional about reaching out and caring for the people God has placed around them.  And since wedding pictures are still coming, here's the happy couple before they were married.

Graham and Jenna

 Graham and Jenna are both great friends from college in South Dakota.  Celebrating their marriage was a mixture of many happy bits, including great music at the ceremony, iced coffee at the reception in the park, a sermon-toast from Mr. G, and, certainly not least, a couple rejoicing in God's sovereign work in their lives.  The ceremony was happily documented by our great friend Clara.  The reception and subsequent after-party were so full of reunions of old friends that we didn't tear ourselves away until 2 in the morning!  FYI, being guest book attendant is one of the greatest jobs in a wedding!

"So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate." - Matthew 19:6

Church Music: May the Mind of Christ My Savior

"May the Mind of Christ My Savior" was often sung at the close of the message at the church in which I grew up.  It's words provide a great response to the ministry of the Word during corporate worship.  We do not know much about the story behind the hymn, but it was written by Kate Barclay Wilkinson.  It's words, composed some time prior to 1912, are based on Philippians ("Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus") and appear to have come out of the author's involvement with the Keswick Conferences.  Although not a huge Keswick fan myself, the words of the hymn challenge me to view God as the ministering agent and myself as the means by which He works.

May the mind of Christ my Savior
Live in me from day to day,
By His love and pow'r controlling
  All I do and say.

May the Word of Christ dwell richly
In my heart from hour to hour,
So that all may see I triumph
  Only through His pow'r.

May the peace of Christ my Savior
Rule my life in everything,
That I may be calm to comfort
  Sick and sorrowing.

May the love of Jesus fill me,
As the waters fill the sea;
Him exalting, self abasing,
  This is victory.

May I run the race before me,
Strong and brave to face the foe,
Looking only unto Jesus
  As I onward go

May His beauty rest upon me

As I seek the lost to win,

And may they forget the channel,
  Seeing only Him.

"To You It Has Been Given to See"

The mornings this week have been delightfully occupied with a low-stress, confidence-boosting Greek translation class.  Armed with our Greek readers’ edition New Testaments and a couple of translation aids, the professor, the other student, and I read selected passages from the New Testament .  By Friday, we will have translated [fut pft act ind] selections from every New Testament author except Jude.  Part of the beauty of the class has been seeing connections between passages I wouldn’t have imaged were connected, such as Matthew 13 and I Peter 1.

Matthew 13:10-17

And the disciples, approaching him, said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"  He answered and said to them, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given….For this reason I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor understand.  And the prophecy of Isaiah has come true in them, saying: ‘Hearing you will hear and never ever understand, and seeing you will see and never ever perceive.  For the hearts of this people are insensitive, their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes are closed: Lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’  But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear.  For truly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous ones longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” [author’s translation]

The parable of the soils and the interpretation of the parable of the soils bracket this paragraph.  The different types of soils represent different kinds of people, some to whom it was given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven and some to whom it was not given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven.  We can see examples of these two types of people in Matthew.  The disciples do not initially understand Christ’s teaching that He will die and rise again, but as He continues to explain His words to them, they understand that He will die for sin and rise again.  They were able to understand Christ’s teaching because God had given them sight and hearing.  In contrast, the Pharisees listened a great deal to Christ’s words, but never saw or heard what He was saying because God had not given them sight or hearing.

Christ uses a play on words with see and hear.  Through most of the paragraph, those who don’t see and hear are not God’s people.  The disciples are different because they are God’s people who see and hear.  However, in the final sentence of the paragraph, Jesus speaks of sight and hearing in a technical sense meaning to see the fulfillment of what was promised in the past.  The prophets did not see the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, not because they did not believe them, but because they did not see it happen during their lifetime.  They believed that God would provide a sacrifice for sin, but they did not see it happen.  The disciples see and hear not only in the sense that they understand mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but also in the sense that they see the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven fulfilled. This kind of sight and hearing was desired but never experienced by God’s people in the Old Testament. 

Roughly 30 years later, one of the seeing and hearing disciples, Peter, wrote these words:

“Concerning which salvation, the  prophets, having prophesied, sought out and inquired concerning the grace which is for you, trying to find out at what time and in what circumstances the spirit of Christ in them was predicting the suffering for Christ and the subsequent glories.  To the prophets it was revealed that they were not serving themselves but you….” [I Peter 1:10-12, author’s translation]

Peter comforts the suffering believers by reminding them of their salvation.  This salvation, he explains, was something that the prophets tried very hard to understand.  They desired to know when and how Christ would suffer and be glorified.  But, in God’s plan, the prophets were ministering to God’s people in the future who would understand.  The prophets longed to see and hear what the disciples saw and heard, the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Here we are: New Covenant believers who are blessed with an understanding of God’s plan that the prophets only dreamed of.  Look what God has opened our eyes to!  See how much of His plan He has shown to us!  Are we not greatly blessed?  And ought we not to praise the Father for opening our eyes?

Church Music: My Jesus Fair

Also on my list of favorite doctrinal church music is the hymn "My Jesus Fair."  I haven't found any information on the story behind its writing, but it's message is great.  Some friends introduced it to me at CYIA several years ago, and it has become a avorite.  Since it might be unfamiliar, I've included a recording at the bottom of the page.  It's a bit "choral," but will an idea of the melody.

 My Jesus, fair, was pierced by thorns,
By thorns grown from the fall.
Thus He who gave the curse was torn
To end that curse for all.

My Jesus, meek, was scorned by men,
By men in blasphemy.
“Father, forgive their senseless sin!”
He prayed, for them, for me.

Chorus:
O love divine, O matchless grace-
That God should die for men!
With joyful grief I lift my praise,
Abhorring all my sin,
Adoring only Him.

My Jesus, kind, was torn by nails,
By nails of cruel men.
And to His cross, as grace prevailed,
God pinned my wretched sin.

My Jesus, pure, was crushed by God,
By God, in judgment just.
The Father grieved, yet turned His rod
On Christ, made sin for us.

My Jesus, strong, shall come to reign,
To reign in majesty.
The Lamb arose, and death is slain.
Lord, come in victory!

Chorus:
O love divine, O matchless grace-
That God should die for men!
With joyful grief I lift my praise,
Abhorring all my sin,
Adoring only Him.

Church Music: "And Can It Be?"

Doctrinal church music expressing proper response to the character of God has been a subject of many thoughts since reading a surprisingly good book on church music which will probably be the subject of a post later in the summer.  Recently, several friends brought to mind some favorite hymns which I wanted to pass on to you.  Most of these hymns are older, but don't think that the only good church music was written prior to 1960...maybe another time I'll look at some great church music composed recently:)

Charles Wesley wrote And Can It Be two days after his conversion in May, 1738.  It was published that same year in his brother John's hymnal.  Originally, the words were set to a melody called "Crucifixion" which was much slower than the melody we sing in church today.  It was not until the mid-1800s that it was set to the melody we know, "Sagina."  The melody's strength and energy parallel the text's marvel over God's sacrifice for sin on the cross applied to the believer.  The text moves from the speaker's wonder at his salvation, to his description of Christ's work, his personal experience of salvation, and the freedom he has to approach the Father because of Christ's work.  May your mind be informed again of the greatness of Christ's forgiveness, and may your affections be awakened to rejoice in the sufficiency of His forgiveness for everything you need. 

And can it be that I should gain
An int'rest in the Savior's blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain?
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

'Tis mystery all! The Immortal dies!
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love Divine!
'Tis mercy all! let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.
'Tis mercy all! let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.

He left His Father's throne above,
So free, so infinite His grace;
Emptied Himself of all but love*,
And bled for Adam's helpless race:
'Tis mercy all, immense and free;
For, O my God, it found out me.
'Tis mercy all, immense and free;
For, O my God, it found out me.

Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature's night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine!
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness Divine,
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross." - Philippians 2:5-8

"Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." - Hebrews 4:16

____________________

* Since one of the purposes of church music is to teach Christian doctrine, it should be noted that Christ did not empty Himself of His Deity as the song stages.  His incarnation added humanity to His Deity, rather than subtracting His Deity to make Him human.  Some congregations substitute the words "Humbled Himself and came in love."

God Made Small Fish

Figaro, my male half-moon betta fish, has lived with me for the last six months.  Neither of these pictures are of him (he would not stay still), but he's virtually identical to both of these.  I am a rather bad fish owner - the whole point of getting a fish as opposed to some other pet was that he would be "low maintenance."  (Actually, there wasn't much option because fish are the only animals allowed in the dorm:)  This afternoon, I googled how I should take care of him and decided change his water more often.
 
Figaro does many interesting things.  As I write, he is playing in his bowl on my desk and has just folded himself in half in a U-shape upside down.  Sometimes, he buries his head in the glass beads at the bottom and stands upside down.  Sometimes, he twitches his fins convulsively and shoots across his bowl.  Often he's after a bit of food that has lodged at the bottom of the bowl.  When I put my finger on his bowl, he comes over and stairs at me, swishing his fins.  Sometimes, he puts his head straight down and dives.


Genesis 1:20-22 says, "And God said, 'Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life...'  And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly...And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas..."  When Figaro flits around his world busily fulfilling the tasks for which God created him, he reminds me of what a wonderful creator God is.  He made such an intricate little fish - a body that is so flexible he can fold himself in half, fins that are so filmy that you can see the tiniest ripple in them, scales that sheen iridescence turquoise or blue depending on the light.  

If you have ever wanted to know more about God's creativity, get a fish and spend time watching it.

Eschetological Living

This post is a follow-up to The Cross in Redemptive History (May 24, 2012).  That post detailed some changes in my thinking regarding the centrality of Christ and the cross not only to salvation and sanctification, but to theology.  The cross was The Fundamental Shift in God's plan for His people.  The changes that took place there were more dramatic than the changes which will take place in the future when our bodies are raised and we enjoy the presence of God in heaven.  The cross began the process of the re-creation of God's people and world.  The cross fulfilled God's promises, some of which we have yet to experience fully.

It seems in Scripture, that the fulfillment of God's promises is tied to what we term eschatology.  Eschatology is defined as the study of last things - and "last things" is generally defined to mean the judgment and end of the world and the return of Christ.  Other terms which can be used synonymously with "last days" are "latter days," "those days," and "the days are coming."  Scripture does use "last days" terminology to refer to the wickedness of the world (2 Timothy 3:1, 2 Peter 3:3), but often, Scripture ties "last days" terminology to the fulfillment of God's promises.

"Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah." (Jeremiah 31:31)
"But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD." (Jeremiah 31:33)
"Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit." (Joel 2:29)
"And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh...even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit and they shall prophesy." (Acts 2:17-18)
"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD" (Hebrews 8:10)
"This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the LORD." (Hebrews 10:16)
"Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son." (Hebrews 1:1-2)

When reading these verses, and others like them, it seems that the New Testament writers meant more by "last days" than simply chronology.  It seems that they saw the "last days" as the time when God fulfills His promises.

Today, we often hear that we are "living in the last days."  This can be presented to mean that we are living chronologically near the end of the world and the return of Christ.  However, the phrase is packed with much greater significance.  To live in the last days means to experience the fulfillment of God's promises.  To live in the last days means to receive revelation from God through the living Word, Jesus Christ as recorded in Scripture.  To live in the last days means to have the permanently indwelling Holy Spirit.  To live in the last days means to enjoy a covenant relationship with God as His people through the salvation provided by the New Covenant.  Much of Christianity views the "last days" as a terrible time of godlessness which believers fear, but in the "last days", God gives to His people such glorious blessings as would have been unimaginable before the cross.

In Celebration of Graduation!

Graduation was 2 months ago, so this blog post is overdue, but sufficient to say, I graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in Advanced Biblical Studies.  They actually gave me the paper and let me out without a heresy trial (!!!).  This post is for all my blogging friends (ahem, Liz and Leah:) who have this idea that blog posts must always be accompanied with pictures, which I fail at dreadfully.  However, my friends Clara and Melinda photographically documented the events, so there are plenty of pictures to share.  The celebrations began when Clara and Jemima, Jenna, and Liz visited the weekend before as a pre-graduation treat.  As you can see from the pictures, the dorm became a place of high entertainment...

The week consisted of frantically finishing up Greek exegeticals, learning Mail Merge for a random computer class, enjoying Voltron-Kara-Jenna-Joel-Paul-Liz-Celeste-Bekah-Clara chill time in the cafeteria, supper at Steak-and Shake, running around the Plaza at night, invading Barns and Noble, and consuming a significant amount of coffee.

Several days later, Melinda flew in and joined the group for many adventures, one of which consisted of a pilgrimage to a library.  The library trip had a number of sub-adventures, including the stone structure overlooking Hwy 670, the river, the train tracks, and the airport.  Another sub-adventures was a small theater inside a vault complete with red velvet curtains and a large round door.  Upon reaching the roof of the library, we finished off with a chess game with life-size chess pieces.  We attempted to take creepy stalker pictures on Melinda's camera while she was away, but she returned and we barely had time to look innocent...:)  On Sunday evening we escaped campus between tornado warnings to go eat Indian food.  If you have never experienced 20+ people all enjoying Indian food together, you should arrange to experience it.  Oh, and the food tastes better if you eat it with your fingers!

Graduation was a very exciting day in the life of Celeste Mamie Franklin...not like I had been working towards it for five years or anything.

The two female traditional BAs

Rebekah and her aunt also graduated.

 The time with Melinda wasn't long enough...

Free, happy graduates partying!

Most of the CBI peeps...all looking quite typical.  

The Lord was good, and graduation was just one more expression of that.  There were several times when I wasn't sure if I would get that little piece of paper, and I thank God often for the strength and wisdom He gave to complete the coursework.  SDG

Shakespeare and Satisfaction

Last weekend, I attended a free production of a Shakespeare play held outdoors.  A big group of friends went, and there are few things in the world so comfortable and happy as spending time with good friends.  Two productions were running: A Midsummer Night's Dream and Antony and Cleopatra.  Not being a big tragedy fan, I planned on seeing Midsummer.  However, the organized side of my personality was pre-occupied with Hebrew and didn't check which show was running that night.  The result was that when we arrived at the park, Antony and Cleopatra was running. 


It was an entertaining show - quite funny on many levels.  I couldn't endorse it and probably won't see it again because it was quite a bit more descriptive than necessary (one of those times when it's not edifying to be familiar with Elizabethan English!).  But the value of seeing it was that it highighted the world's best.  Theater is a high form of art.  Antony and Cleopatra is great literature.  Shakespeare is considered to be the finest expression of love in the English languages.  But after the play, I thought, "Is this it?  Did I really just  spend 2.5 hours watching the highest form of English culture?"  Don't get me wrong, I had a wonderful time and hope to see the next Shakespeare production, but the whole thing had a hollow feeling about it.


Part of the reaction probably comes from not studying Shakespeare, but part of the reaction is similar to Solomon's in Ecclesiastes 2:4-11:

"I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.  I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees.  I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees.  I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem.  I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the children of man.  So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me.  And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil.  Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun."

Solomon recognized that the world's best did not satisfy.  Trying to find satisfaction in landscaping, livestock, wealth, art, relationships, and Shakespeare is empty.  The world's best does not satisfy us because God did not make us to be satisfied by it.  God created man for fellowship with Himself, and nothing less than that will satisfy him.  Man's problem is that he looks for satisfaction in things and people instead of God.


C. S. Lewis wrote in "The Weight of Glory":

"...If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.  We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.  We are far too easily pleased."

When a person has been united with Christ in a saving relationship with God, he is satisfied in that relationship.  Then, he may enjoy the things that Solomon and Lewis mention because he is first satisfied in God.