Open the Door

Electronic signals are swarming around my head. Radio signals are flowing through your living room. All sorts of "stuff" is around us. But do we have the ability to receive it?

The apostle Paul says, "he who sows to his flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life" (Gal. 6:8). Paul's analogy is instructive. A farmer is helpless to grow grain; all he can do is provide the right conditions for the growing of grain. He cultivates the ground, he plants the seed, he waters the plants, and then the natural forces of the earth take over and up comes the grain. This is the way it is with the Spiritual Disciplines [meditation, prayer, fasting, study, worship, solitude, service, etc.]--they are a way of sowing to the Spirit. The Disciplines are God's way of getting us into the ground; they put us where he can work within us and transform us. By themselves the Spiritual Disciplines can do nothing; they can only get us to the place where something can be done. They are God's means of grace. The inner righteousness we seek is not something that is poured on our heads. God has ordained the Disciplines of the spiritual life as the means by which we place ourselves where he can bless us. (Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline, 7; emp. mine)

D. A. Carson, you've done it again

I recently told my New Testament professor that I have a theological crush on D. A. Carson. He replied with the story of his meeting with the good Dr., adding, "When you see his blue eyes you may really have a crush on him!"

Nevertheless, here is an excerpt from Carson's commentary on the gospel of John (p. 102) that made me chuckle. Regarding preaching through the book of John (as I plan to do soon), Carson says,

...select a fairly large unit of text as the basis for each sermon. If a preacher takes six weeks to expound the Prologue (1:1-18), and is actually saying anything that has much content, almost inevitably a great deal of later material in John has been dragged in. Far better to deliver one's soul on the Prologue in one sermon, complete ch. 1 the next week, and proceed at a good pace through the text so that while the slower preacher is polishing closing remarks on 1:51 you are already well into the farewell discourse.

Gotta love him. It is little comments like this (though his theological insights are just as profound) that make his writings so rich.

Communion with Jesus

In the ancient Near East, the average Babylonian or Assyrian did not have much contact with his god. Aside from seeing the idol be paraded through town during the New Year's festival, there was no intimacy and communion at all.

What is more interesting is that even the king did not have true communion with the god. He basically got the god's "leftovers." The priests would approach the god's sanctuary with a bowl of water for the god to "wash his hands" and then bring in wine, beer, etc. for him to drink, followed by the meat, the main entree.

When all the food was set for the god, the priests would close the curtain because no one could watch the god eat (they assumed he consumed the food upon looking at it). After the god was finished, all the food would be carried to the king for him to eat. The king was thought to live from the god's table, but he did not eat with the god.

How surprising, then, when Jesus says,

"Take, eat; this is my body." And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom" (Matt. 26:26-29).

Not only do we eat with our Lord, we eat the body of our Lord...

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him (John 6:53-56).

Our Lord eats with us every Sunday. Actually, we eat of Him. The "nip and a sip" may not seem like much, but the Lord is present with His saints.

Not Much of a Nimrod

Genesis 10:9: He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.

Naming a son Nimrod today would be like naming him Dipstick. Who would've thought the original Nimrod was quite resourceful?

The Nimrod of Genesis 10:9 cannot be identified with a historical figure accurately, but it could actually be Naram-Sin, grandson of Sargon of Akkad. He was a great Mesopotamian innovator and administrator in the Early Bronze Age (2230-2100 BC). He institutionalized the "regnal year" (dating method from the beginning of a king's reign), changed the Mesopotamian king's title from geographical-political relationships (lord/king of Sumer, for example) to titles of universal domination ("king of the four corners of the earth").

Doesn't sound like much of a Nimrod.

In the Mail

D.A. Carson, New Testament Commentary Survey (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007), 160 pages.

Man, I'm excited about this book! Preachers like me often wonder which books they should add to their libraries but D.A. Carson provides this helpful survey of the strengths and weaknesses of many New Testament commentaries, both recent and dated.

I may provide a more detailed review in future, but just perusing the pages after opening the package has shown me this is all that I heard it was. Carson is a theological heavyweight and one of my favorite authors (though I by no means agree with all of his conclusions). He is not fearful to offer an honest critique of some of the biggest names in Biblical literature. For example, in his survey of the commentaries on Matthew, Carson offers a brief critique of N.T. Wright's two volume set, saying it is written with "color and verve" but because Wright places so much emphasis on the theme of Jesus bringing Israel out of Exile that he misses other important themes, causing this work to be "an exercise in brilliant reductionism" (p. 56). I love it! I like N.T. Wright's stuff, but what an awesome way of saying, "It's a good book but it misses the point on a lot of stuff."

Carson notes the purpose of these commentaries, whether each is suited for advanced studies or otherwise, their focus (theological, grammatical, Greek, etc.) and many other things. Many times I don't know where to start when I look for commentaries because I don't really have the time and especially not the money to spend on several commentaries. Thus, I expect this survey will be a great help in adding important books to my library.

Coolest. Bookstand. Ever.

I've been toying with the idea of getting a bookstand to use in my office. When studying from several books, I usually have to flip them over and pile them on top of one another while I look at another book. With paperbacks this can get especially tricky. Then I saw a picture of N.T. Wright with a wooden bookstand for his BDAG (the massive go-to Greek lexicon) and thought, "That's what I need." 

A quick Google search yielded surprisingly exciting results. I found another picture of N.T. Wright using a strange bookstand with four stands on the sides and one on top, all of which had what appeared to be a swivel base. AWESOME! You can have five books open at once and all you have to do is swing them around!

THEN I found that this particular bookstand is modeled after one found in Monticello, possibly created by Thomas Jefferson himself! Oh, the goosebumps travel down the nerd's arms! 

The nerd was brought down to earth, however, when the price tag on this puppy in the Monticello Catalog was $613. That's just a few dollars out of my price range, to say the least.

But there is still hope. I found a YouTube video of a guy named David Colarusso who built one of these himself and was generous enough to provide a free PDF of the blueprints to anyone interested! It seems quite complicated and I am anything but a carpenter, but it seems like a worthwhile challenge. It took him about 30 hours to build his, but he only had a picture. He subsequently created the blueprint for the D.I.Y. Jeffersonian Bookstand.

Anyway, this may be a fun project for me this summer. I'll have to look into it some more (my desk may not even be big enough for such a stand), but I'm thinking this would be pretty cool to have.

My Dislike of Pride and Prejudice is neither Proud nor Prejudiced

No, I haven't read the book. But having watched the movie on more than one occasion has solidified my notion that this is one of the most boring stories. Perhaps ever. And as the post title suggests, I am not motivated by ignorant, masculine resistance to all things feminine (I like the Twilight movies); rather, I just don't get it.

What is the story about? I don't even know. Perhaps the meaning is obscured by the quick tempo British accents throughout the movie or maybe I'm just not wired to understand. It's hard enough for me to understand relationship stuff in Southern English (my native tongue)...much less in British.

I love Donald Miller's assessment of the book. He said one of his girlfriends told him that he should read this book if he wanted to understand a girl's heart. He read the book and concluded that a girl's heart is incredibly boring.

Where are the ninjas? Where are the lightsabers? Where are the dwarves with axes and elves with bows and arrows? Where are the cowboys and pistols? What about a damsel in distress? (Wild at Heart is coming to mind...).

Sigh. Maybe it will make sense this time. My wife and I turn choosing a movie into a game--I pick out several DVDs based on genre one of us suggests. Earlier, my wife suggested a "You've Got Mail-like" movie, so I picked out Ever After, An Affair to Remember, You've Got Mail (this DVD is almost wore out at our house;), Juno, First Knight, and reluctantly, Pride and Prejudice. Before you assume I'm a glutton for punishment, remember that the next step in this game involves each of us eliminating a movie until there is only one left. Jessica eliminated Juno. I eliminated Ever After (mainly because it was a VHS which is horrible quality on our flat screen) and went ahead and eliminated Pride and Prejudice while I was at it. In the end we watched You've Got Mail...and now we're watching Pride and Prejudice. 

So while the characters do some kind of British square dance and Kiera Knightley's character (I don't even know her name) spars with Mr. Darcy, I type this snide post in silent (?) protest. Maybe the next movie we watch will be X-Men or Superman Returns.

I can't wait for Netflix to send "For a Few Dollars More." I'll need some Eastwood after this night;-).

The Jewish War

The Jewish War by Flavius Josephus is a historical account that belongs to the category of classical Greek histories because it was written in literary Greek. The account begins with the story of the Maccabees and chronicles significant events leading to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. An Aramaic version supposedly preceded the publication of the Greek version that remains today. Josephus’ purpose in this could have been noble (a gesture to his fellow Jews) but was more likely a tool of propaganda aimed at Jews beyond the Roman Empire (Parthia, perhaps) in order to stifle any potential rebellions. Such propaganda can be expected by this Jewish priest-turned-historian (turned-deserter-turned-opportunist), for he spends undue space describing the Roman army and its general, Titus, who became the sponsor for Josephus’ writings. The Jewish War is generally thought to have been published between A.D. 75 and A.D. 79 in Rome after Josephus had been taken prisoner by the Roman forces

            The works of Josephus (mainly The Jewish War and Antiquities) are quite important for a historical understanding of the world in which Jesus and the early church lived. In fact, the works of Josephus, next to the Bible, is a main source of information for this time period. The Jewish War is incredibly important for Christians because it continues the New Testament, in a sense, by revealing in dramatic detail the destruction of Jerusalem that Jesus prophesied (Matt. 24; Mark 13). It is striking that Christians today (and in the sub-apostolic age) received and used the work of this Jewish priest so readily, but when one considers the wealth of background information to Bible places, names, and event found in The Jewish War, he will recognize the value of the works of Josephus in biblical studies.