Official post after 5 months of silence

This is really just a test of my sweet iPhone interface. I think I might like it.

on Scripture

So over the last week or so I should have been reading and writing for my seminary classes, but, instead, have had nothing but the importance and truth of the inspiration, validity, and necessity of Scripture. I have a great friend who is struggling and rolling over in his mind whether or not the Bible is in fact the Truth of God handed down by His Holy Spirit to the minds of ordinary men over the course of a few thousand years and penned by them in complete inerrancy and held constant by His Divine Will over the course of time. I wish I had the time to deal with this as thoroughly as I would like (as this is a significantly important doctrine to believe and sustain). However, I have, instead, been forced to throw out a line here or there as I have had time to offer. I am sufficiently concerned and troubled by the entire discussion as I am not able to offer my best reasoning and argumentation to defend the Truth of Scripture but can only hope that the Spirit of God will illumine my mind, his, or both in due time. My main concern is that I have not in any distinguishable way adulterated the Truth or misrepresented the Triune God in any way.

Yo tambien

Not much has changed since my last post. I'm still trying to figure out how to juggle work and school. I'm tired most of the time and I don't quite have the motivation to exercise very much. The main problem is that I'm getting too old to just lay around without getting fat. I need to get into a routine but as yet that has not happened. Instead I'm tired all the time and I'm tired of being tired. I don't study the Bible like I should and I'm not involved in ministry like I want to be. All together I need to change something.

Hair cuts and mothballs

Friends come and go but the one's that stick around when you're a complete idiot are the one's that are truly your friend. I've realized that in the last year. I have only a few people that I know I could call at any point and they would be there for me. They are people who have entered my life at extremely different points. One at 9 yrs old; a couple at 16; and recently several from the last four years of my life. I don't know what that means about my friendship skills. Perhaps I'm a better friend-maker; perhaps people are just more tolerant of my annoying tendencies; maybe a little of both. Probably not the former. Anyway, I'm almost done with my first semester of seminary and it's been a difficult task trying to juggle a practically full-time job while taking three classes. I need a wife. Or someone who will just work for me and let me go to school. However that has to happen....

On Being Relevant

The God of creation has not changed His game plan for thousands of years. He doesn't change based on culture. Historically, culture has changed based on the character an work of God. God is not trendy. He IS the trend.

Breaking the Silence: A Call to Repent

This probably won't mean a whole lot to whoever reads this thing, but it certainly stunned me.

I was reading through some study notes and it referenced the message of John the Baptist as the voice that shattered the silence between the prophets of the Old Testament, namely Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, and the writers of the Gospels (not that they were necessarily the first to write, but chronologically they continue the story of God's redemptive work in history). After the last words of Malachi, which references a coming Elijah who will preach in order to prevent God from striking "the land with a decree of utter destruction" (Mal. 4:6), the Bible stands still for some 400 years. Then, in the course of history, God breaks the silence with the mouth of John the Baptizer, who begins his ministry with this word: "Repent." I find it no small coincidence that this word should break the silence of such a span. The call to repent is one of the most trascendent calls of the whole Bible. It is a word seldom used in the church these days. I saw Pat Robertson on TV a few days ago leading his viewers in the "sinner's prayer." Not once did he lead them to repent for their sins. He never mentioned sin. The modern church fails to preach the full counsel of Scripture, neither thematically nor Biblically. A church without repentance might be seen as no church at all. I can't back that up with a list of Scripture references or scholarly works, but I believe I would be standing in good graces to say so.

I've Been Everywhere, Man

I have some really great friends. The kind that allows months to pass without any form of communication, yet at a moment's notice a phone call, email, lunch meeting, etc. can allow the bond of friendship to rekindle without hesitation. These are the relationships that carry even the most pressed and stretched through to brighter days and calmer seas. Those who attempt to persevere without the cords of friendship often find their reserve dry and their eyes hollow, their hearts in shambles.
It is in this light that Jesus' words find new inspiration: "No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you." (Jn. 15:15)
Though elsewhere Paul openly proclaims to be a servant, here Christ makes the bold and stunning claim that we can join in the bonds of friendship with the Son of Man, the Redeemer of lost souls. The ultimate Comforter for the downcast and broken interrupts our tearful moments; we can look to the Creator of the universe for ultimate rest. We see tiny glimpses of this potential in the joy a phone call or email can bring on a bad day, yet the full force of Comfort transcends these miniscule moments of happiness because true Source is the One who has revealed the Father to us. He has not left us to our own demise, though we sprint toward the gates of hell unless He snatches us from the flames.
The question is, are we HIS friend:"You are my friends if you do what I command you" (v. 14)?