An Open Letter

Dear Friend,

This past school year has been a good one.  Maybe someday all the things God is teaching me will be collected enough to blog about, but right now they're swimming around and won't be caught and organized.  Until then, here is a passage that ties together themes of identity in Christ and victory over sin.  (And speaking of sin, isn't it wonderful that God still loves us even when we mess up?)  The passage is quoted from the NIV, which isn't what I normally quote, but while working through the Exegesis of Colossians class, I liked the way the NIV handled the passage.  The passage reminds me of the precious truth that when God gives us new life, He sees us for who He re-made us to be instead seeing our sinful flesh

"Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"?  These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings.  Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.  Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.  For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."- Colossians 2:20-3:4, NIV

"If you’re a Christian, here’s the good news: Who you really are has nothing to do with you—how much you can accomplish, who you can become, your behavior (good or bad), your strengths, your weaknesses, your sordid past, your family background, your education, your looks, and so on. Your identity is firmly anchored in Christ’s accomplishment, not yours; his strength, not yours; his performance, not yours; his victory, not yours." - Tullian Tchividjian

Isn't it restful to know that God has given us everything necessary to live the Christian life through our identity in Christ?

Sincerely,

Celeste

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.”

"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?

Bonhoeffer on Patience

"Suffering produces patience." The Greek word for patience literally means to stay underneath, to endure, to bear rather than to cast off one's burden. Today we in the church know far too little about the unique blessing of enduring and bearing - to bear, not to cast off, to bear, but neither to collapse, to bear as Christ bore the cross, to endure beneath it, and there, underneath, to find Christ. When God imposes a burden, those who are patient bend their heads and believe it is good to be humbled thus - to endure beneath this burden. But to endure beneath it! To remain firm, to remain strong as well - that is what the word means, not anemic, giving in, shrinking back, enamored of suffering - but rather to gain strength under that burden as under God's grace, to preserve Go d's peace with unshakable constancy. God's peace is found among the patient."

- "Treasures of Suffering" from Meditations on the Cross

Personal Devotions

Personal devotions are foundational to a walk with God that changes our lives.

As Bible college students, it's easy to get spiritual nourishment from classes, chapel, church, Sunday School, or small group studies. However, not even the Church can substitute for studying God's Word and knowing God through personal devotions. Sadly, in 2000, Gallup released a study that reported that out of the Christians they polled, only 16% said they read their Bible every day.*

If my personal devotions were my only source of spiritual food, how hungry would I be?

The following clip was both helpful and challenging to me. It gives practical suggestions for Bible school students on personal devotions. Technically, the speaker is applying the message to seminary students, but the same principles work for Bible college students:) Featuring D. A. Carson, it is from the Desiring God blog, January 16, 2012. I hope it is a blessing!

Read the Bible Devotionally — and No Less Critically from Desiring God on Vimeo.

* Gallup, Alec and Wendy W. Simmons, "Six in Ten Americans Read Bible at Least Occasionally," The Gallup Organization, http://www.gallup.com, October 20, 2000.

Being Happy

There are many things in life that make Celeste happy…

Chillin’ with friends

Going to concerts

Visiting old churches

The Piano

My Sister

Coffee (preferably from Melinda:)

Books

Studying Being “mischievous” (in a good way, of course!)

The happiest time of my life has been these last 4 years of Bible college – friends, experiences, and “Bible college humor,” but the biggest joy has been the joy God gives in studying His Word. Growing up, I knew that studying God’s Word was supposed to bring happiness, but at Bible school, I experienced that happiness more and more.

January begins the final semester of Bible college, and recently I’ve been thinking about things like The Outside World and A Job and Rent, and other related matters which look more pressing then they did two years ago… (All of you college seniors out there can relate to this:) I realized that I was going to leave Bible school and go into the world and live ordinary life away from Bible classes, Greek, and systematic theology lectures. Scripture would still be the important thing, but I wouldn’t be able to study it 8 hours every day. And slowly, my enthusiasm for serving God in the Great Big Outside World seeped away because I was afraid that I wouldn’t be happy out there…

Then, on Friday evening, Valley of Vision reminded me that Things in Life never make people happy:

Thou who art righteous,

Let me not…seek satisfaction in things that perish.

What makes people happy in Bible school? Is it really Bible school or is it the delighting in God that Bible school taught about? If I’m afraid that I won’t be happy out in The World and Working a Normal Job, then I’m being satisfied by things that perish. May Christ be that which gives me happiness, not just Things.

“In Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” (Ps. 16:11)

God's Words in English

Imagine that God’s Word looked like this:

To over 340 million people, speaking 2,000 languages, God’s Word does look like that.* It is written in a language they cannot understand, and because they cannot understand it, their lives are not changed by its power. This semester of Greek has reminded me how privileged I am to have God’s Word in my own language. Greek is vivid, colorful, and precise, but I didn’t grow up speaking it. I can’t do my devotions in it. Today, because of John Wycliffe’s English translation, I have the privilege of reading this passage in the language I understand naturally:

Thank you, God, for writing Your Words down and allowing people to put them into a language that I can understand. Thank you that Your Word is living and powerful. Thank you for changing my life with it.

*www.wycliffie.org.uk