crookedfingers

It is 2:08 PM Friday afternoon. I am down in the basement reading stuff on the internet. This morning I went out into the world. I first went to Jude3 Christian bookstore to pick up a book titled "Pocket Dictionary of Liturgy & Worship" by Brett Scott Provance. I have in this series the following---

"Pocket History of the Church" by D. Jeffrey Bingham

"Pocket Dictionary of Biblical Studies" by Arthur G. Patzia & Anthony J. Petrotta

"Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms" by Stanley J. Grenz, David Guretzki & Cherith Fee Nordling

After going to Jude3 (while there I talked to one of the manager's about books) I drove to Window on the Water Front to walk Rudy. There was snow on the ground as we walked. It is a cold day here by Lake Michigan. After walking Rudy I went to Lemonjello's and got me a mocha and then went next door to pick up a CD I had ordered (the new Pelican CD) and then went next door to Village Used Books to talk to Ben who works there (a nice gentle young Christian fellow). On the way home I stopped at the library to return some books and while there I checked their used book room. I found these three used books to ADD to my book collection---

"A World Lit Only By Fire: The Medieval Mind And The Renaissance Portrait Of An Age" by William Manchester

"Collapse: How Societies Choose To Fail Or Succeed" by Jared Diamond [Author of "Guns, Germs, and Steel"]

"The Web And The Rock" a novel by Thomas Wolfe

When I got home it was going on 1 o'clock PM so I ate lunch and then came down in the basement to write some words in my blogs.

I did go through for a third time the 12 volume set "The Complete Works Of Thomas Boston" [I bought this set when I was a student at Reformed Bible College back in the 80's.] and located the treatise "A Soliloquy On The Art Of Man-Fishing" pg 5 in Volume 5 written in 1699 [For a pattern to every preacher of the Gospel].

This morning I read some more of the Gospel of Luke. I do not know if I will be finished reading the Bible by the end of the Year 2009. I plan to start over again when I am finished reading the New Testament. I love the Bible the Word of God! As we see the storm clouds gathering in the east we need to keep the Bible pressed closely to our hearts.

It is 2:48 PM I went looking through my books for the book "Guns, Germs, And Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared Diamond [Winner of The Pulitzer Prize] and after much searching found it! I like to keep books by the same author in the same stack.

I will put the book "A World Lit Only By Fire" by William Manchester with my other books on the Medieval and the Renaissance in my history section of my library. I got to keep some kind of order among my books.

Well it is going on 3 o'clock PM. I suppose I should close to rest my brain. I still have not gotten around to what I had hope to write this afternoon. Well it is on to the next page.

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" 2 Tim. 3:16,17

music: Pelican "What We All Come To Need"

Sound the alarm! Let the watchman cry!
“Up! for the day of the Lord is nigh;
Who will escape from the wrath to come?
Who have a place in the soul’s bright home?”

Refrain

Sound the alarm, watchman! Sound the alarm!
For the Lord will come with a conqu’ring arm;
And the hosts of sin, as their ranks advance,
Shall wither and fall at His glance.

Sound the alarm! Let the cry go forth,
Swift as the wind, o’er the realms of earth;
“Flee to the Rock where the soul may hide!
Flee to the Rock! in its cleft abide!”

Refrain

Sound the alarm on the mountain’s brow!
Plead with the lost by the wayside now:
Warn them to come and the truth embrace;
Urge them to come and be saved by grace.

Refrain

Sound the alarm in the youthful ear;
Sound it aloud that the old may hear;
Blow ye the trump while the day-beams last!
Blow ye the trump till the light is past!

Refrain

It is 9:03 AM Friday morning in the flow of existence. I do not remember what time I got up this morning. I have a very short memory. I do remember getting up and getting the morning newspapers off the front of our home. I next warmed up a cup of coffee in the micro wave oven. I then decided to go down in the basement and bring up my lap top. I messed with my lap top in the dining room. I then took the lap down in the basement. When I came up from the basement I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast (I am still full of food from last night). Carol came home from work and has gone to bed for the day. So goes by existence.

It is so cold this morning that it has been snowing a little. Soon will be in the month of December 2009.

Last night I watched television and read the Gospel of Luke along with a book titled "Theology Of The New Testament" by Udo Schnelle Translated by M. Eugene Boring. I like to read New Testament theology.

I have nothing to do today. I will take some books back to our local public library. I will pick up a CD I ordered at the Full Circle music shop this morning. I might get myself a mocha at Lemonjello's coffee house. Time will go by. All I can do is keep praying for the Lord to use me to bring in the Kingdom of God.

Yesterday in talking to our neighbor Ray I told him I never wanted to be anything but a soul winner. "In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry" 2 Tim. 4:1-5.

This morning in the Gospel of Luke I read this: "Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men" Luke 5:10b. This verse reminded me of a treatise by Thomas Boston titled "The Art of Man-fishing" first published in 1773. I have the Works of Thomas Boston in 12 volumes but this little work is not to be found in this set. I do not think I have a copy of this book in my library.

Well I suppose I will close since I lost my train of thought.

"Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" Luke 5:31,32.

"so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God" Ephesians 3:17-19

music: Dark Was The Night: A Red Hot Compilation

It is 8 o'clock PM Thursday evening. Carol just left for work. There is nothing on television worth watching tonight so I came down in the basement to see if I could find something in me to put on paper.

We had a nice thanks giving meal with some of our neighbors Ray and Shelly. Our company arrived at 1 o'clock PM and stayed till 4 o'clock PM. Carol had to take a nap before going to work so our company departed early. Before our guests left their daughter and her boyfriend stopped by. I wanted to show Ray my book collection since he knows I am a book collector. As I was showing Ray some of my books in my main study he noticed my large CD collection. Ray wanted to know who all these music artists were. Then Ray's daughter and her boyfriend started looking at my CD's. So I got into a music rap with our guests. I took the boyfriend down in the basement so he could listen to some music samples of SUNN O))) and Acid Mother's Temple. I asked the young fellow who was his favorite music artist was? He answered Bob Dylan! Weird. I thought the kid would have mentioned some current music artist not someone from the 60's.

So Ray never saw my book collection. I did loan Ray a Black Keys music concert DVD since he was into blues music.

Ray and I did have some good discussions on the mystery of life after the huge meal. Ray has been out of work for about a year and does not know what is going on in his life. In the past Ray and Shelly have made some kind of Christian profession but right now I do not know where they are at? I talked to Ray as if he was still walking with the Lord. I tried to give him some godly counsel. I always seek fellow Christians a biblical perspective on life in this fallen world. "Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal" 2 Corinth. 4:16-18.

Ray when talking to me said he knows life is all vanity but at the same time he wonders what he is to do now. Ray is only 47 years old and can not see is life without work. What is Ray to do now? All is a mystery. Ray is an engineer by profession and his wife is a nurse. I told Ray we must give our lives to God and pray for direction. We must every day do all we can do to make sure we are in the presence of God. The Lord does not forsake His children to wander aimless in this american wasteland. I told Ray to seek to live a holy life. What did the Lord Jesus say in the Sermon of the Mount? "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?. . . Therefore do not worry, saying 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble" Matt. 6:25-34.

I told Ray when it comes to SEEING the true nature of Reality we need a radical change of consciousness. We need to have God the Holy Spirit to open our minds to what is really important in life. We need to SEE the beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to SEE the holiness of the Lord God. We will never SEE the emptiness of the american way of death till we have the mind of Christ.

After our guests left Carol and I cleaned up the mess. Carol went to bed after the mess was cleaned up. I spent the rest of the day writing and reading. I mainly read today "Theology Of The New Testament" by Udo Schnelle.

Well I will close to wait to go to bed. Tomorrow is black Friday.

Today in our local newspaper I read a column by Cal Thomas a spokesman for the extreme Republican Right that I found scary. I was wondering what my readers think of Cal Thomas view of where america is headed. Our we doomed as americans? Are the liberal Democrats leading america to destruction?


U.S.S.A. By Cal Thomas

Tribune Media Services

Not all revolutions begin in the streets with tanks and guns. Some advance slowly, almost imperceptibly, until a nation is transformed and the public realizes too late that their freedoms are gone.

Such is the revolution now taking place in America. The ’60s crowd has emerged from the ideological grave and is about to impose on this country a declaration of dependence in the form of government-run health insurance and treatment. It matters not what facts are known about this “coup,” because to those from the ’60s — whether they lived in that decade or were born later and adopted its ideology — only feelings and intentions matter, not truth and results.

Why would anyone trust government — which has a difficult enough time winning wars — to properly administer health care? What track record does government have in living up to its economic forecasts and competence in running anything?

But this is about none of that. This is about liberal Democrats realizing their decades-old dream of complete control of our lives. Every move you make, every breath you take, they’ll be watching you. Except, of course, when it comes to terrorists who want to destroy America faster than the liberals do. A different standard is applied to them.

Nowhere in the debate over health care “reform” have we heard a single word from liberal Democrats about personal responsibility, self-reliance and freedom. In fact, the message has come through quite clearly that government will penalize anyone who demonstrates such beliefs, as it attempts to spread your wealth around.

This is how I see health care reform working: If you are a doctor who has spent a lot of money and time becoming a responsible and caring physician, the government will tell you how much to charge your patients and, in fact, whether you will be allowed to treat them at all. Bureaucrats, having given themselves the power of God, will decide whether a patient is worth the cost of treatment, thereby deciding who lives and who dies. Despite the Stupak-Pitts Amendment, somewhere down the line taxpayers will be forced to underwrite abortions in violation of the consciences and faith of the majority.

This is the triumph of the humanistic, atheistic worldview. We are all to be regarded as products of evolution in which the fit and the powerful will decide our survival and worth.

When Republicans were in the majority, deficits mattered to Democrats. Now we see that expressed concern was a sham, because if deficits meant something when they were relatively small, they ought to mean something more when we are in hock up to the necks of our Chinese-made clothes.

We’ve only just begun with this. The new breast and ovarian cancer screening guidelines may soon become mandatory as health care rationing kicks in. The unwanted, the inconvenient and the “burdensome” could soon be dispatched with a pill, or through neglect.

Great horrors don’t begin in gas chambers, killing fields, or forced famines. They begin when there is a philosophical shift in a nation’s leadership about the value of human life. Novelist Walker Percy examined the underlying philosophy that led to the Holocaust and wrote: “In a word, certain consequences, perhaps unforeseen, follow upon the acceptance of the principle of the destruction of human life for what may appear to be the most admirable social reasons.”

In our day, the consequences of government seizure of one-sixth of our economy and government’s ability to decide how we run our lives (it won’t stop with health care) are foreseen. They are just being ignored in our continued pursuit of personal peace, affluence and political power.

Opinion polls show a majority of Americans reject this health care “reform” bill. They think haste may waste them in the end. It doesn’t matter. Like members of a cult, whatever the leader says, goes. The facts be damned. The crowd from the ’60s will “seize the time,” in the words of Black Panther radical Bobby Seale, thus sealing our doom as a unique and wonderful nation.

Welcome to the U.S.S.A., the United Socialist States of America.

(Direct all MAIL for Cal Thomas to: Tribune Media Services, 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, N.Y. 14207. Readers may also e-mail Cal Thomas at tmseditors@tribune.com.

(c) 2009 TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

Should I have Been a NT theologian?

Every once in a while one finds oneself in a situation which is so stimulating and profitable that one wishes that he had followed a different course of specialty. I’ve just had one of those moments. Thought I will not be attempting to change tracks at this late stage in the game (to mix metaphors freely!), I’ve just returned from a two and a half hour session on NT theology at SBL. This was not the typical paper-presentation session (which on average at such conferences are often not well read even if they are reasonably well written—and they aren’t always that).

No, this was a “big guns” session focusing on the release of Udo Schnelle’s NTT (Baker, 2009). Schnelle was present from Germany (and, BTW, the final ‘e’ is not silent) to respond to reviews of his work by James Dunn, Frank Matera, and D. A. Carson (often S, D, M, & C below). After each speaker had their 20 minutes we got to the “fun” part—a vigorous, lively discussion/debate between the four—which was quite animated at times. I’ll not attempt to retrace the entire course of the discussion, but I’ve included a few highlights below.

I’ve not yet read Schnelle’s NTT, so I have no firsthand knowledge of it; I did buy it earlier this week, but it was shipped home with Paul on Friday along with other books that I bought so that I’d have more room in my single suitcase for more books! It’s a pretty hefty volume, though thankfully a lot less expensive than a much slimmer volume that I bought from Mohr/Siebeck today!

Dunn led off with comments on four areas in which he disagreed with Schnelle’s approach: the influence of the OT (which S apparently minimizes) on NTT, the influence of Jesus, the experience of the Spirit, and his handling of the new perspective on Paul (for which Dunn claimed to have “a paternal care”).

S’s response included these points—which are not complete or well ordered here (I’m not a good stenographer), and were not contiguous as I’ve presented them here. These “quotes” probably reflect my wording in many instances, but I think they expresses the sentiment fairly well—though obviously you’re getting them without much context. S introduced his comments with the explanation that his presentation was to be done in a “new language”: German-English! (He handled it very well.)

NTT is a discipline which attempts to bridge the ideas of the 1st C Mediterranean world to the 21st C.
Jesus created a “new symbolic universe.”

I’m not asking for the real history or the real Jesus; there is no such thing; there is no “real” Jesus, only the one in the text. [That may bother some people, but his point was that we only have access to Jesus through the text—there is no other way to get past the text to something or someone behind the text.]

We first delineate Jesus’ thought world, then that of the NT writers, so as to present the comprehensive thought world of the authors.

The Gospels are creative transformations in response to crises in later historic times.

There is NO unity in the theology of the NT; it is unhistorical abstraction.

Biblical theology is not possible because the OT is silent regarding Jesus of Nazareth.*

A resurrection from the dead cannot be integrated into any ancient system of meaning.*

[*Both of these statements had been cited by Dunn in his critique—you should find something pretty close to them in the book—and S reaffirmed then with considerable force and deliberateness in his reply.]

Each NT writing is an individual/independent theology; there is not NTT in the singular.

Theological unity is alien to NT authors; that is an aesthetic concept which irons out difficulties.

There is no “no man’s land”/neutral place to start from; we cannot break out of our own history. [i.e., be objective, avoid perspectivalism]

The NT authors present new, attractive pictures of God.

The NT authors DID think that they found Jesus in the OT, but they were not correct. The OT did not speak of Jesus of Nazareth.

Matera (from CUA) spoke more positively (or perhaps I should say “diplomatically”!) of S’s work, though I thought his formal critique was a bit “toothless.” He spent more time summarizing his own approach—which was not hesitant to speak of the unity of the NT. (In the later discussion, however, his critique was much more pointed and effective.)

Carson’s presentation was quite interesting in that he used several highly complimentary descriptions of Schnelle’s NTT (“magisterial,” “extraordinary achievement”), yet also was easily the most “severe” critique of his work. That suggests to me that there is more to S that I would have otherwise guessed from the presentations of the three reviewers. Until I’ve read it, I don’t know why. Carson did not elaborate on either description, but it did not appear to be “vain flattery.” C’s critique ranged over a half dozen or more points, the first several of which compared S to a rather wide ranging sampling of recent NTTs, concluding in each case that regardless of the theological perspective of their authors, that S’s work in each case seemed to be “strikingly out of step.” These areas included the NT’s relationship to the OT, the historical Jesus, and diversity in NTT. S “has made talk of unity [in NTT] pretty challenging.” C also pointed out that although the macro structure of S’s NTT appear to be framed as biblical theology (or at least, NTT), the actual organization of the chapters discussion the various parts of the NT were all arranged in systematic theology fashion, using parallel outlines of theology proper, soteriology, Christology, ecclesiology, etc. Blurring the distinctions of the two disciplines is not helpful. C also observed that S is rather “scathing” on modern agenda-driven theology [which I take to be a compliment by C]. He concluded with two major criticisms: the dismissal of eine gesamtbiblische Theologie is surprising, and there is a conspicuous lack of any exegetical discussion of how NT author’s cite/used the OT.

From the final oral discussion by all 4 speakers:
S: We must start with a hermeneutical theory. *We* are constructing a NTT; it is *our* theory of Paul’s theology. We cannot go back 2000 years and say what they thought.
C pushed S pretty hard on a perceived inconsistency in regard to epistemology: how can you be so absolute/definite on what the NT authors did NOT think/believe, yet so dismissive/skeptical of what they DID believe?
A major question debated is the place of Jesus in NTT. S and D argue that one must begin with a reconstruction of the “pre-Easter Jesus” [i.e., reconstruct this from the Gospels, etc., but figure out what Jesus really said—in contrast to what the Gospel writers put in his mouth]. M says, no, do this from the Gospels themselves, not a reconstruction distinct from the Gospels. [C agrees with M here.] C: the Gospel writers can and do give us info on the historical Jesus and explicitly distinguish between what was understood/known before and after the resurrection.
S: historically Luke was wrong [i.e., to attribute to Jesus the claim that OT prophecies referred to him].
It was quite fascinating to track the discussion at the end, especially when it moved back and forth among the presenters in both English and German, S (& sometimes C—with M and D tracking both, seemingly with equal fluency) shifting back and forth from one sentence to the next in an attempt to communicate carefully the argument being made. S would occasionally consult with C as to the best way to put a German phrase into English, and once calling on Eugene Boring, the translator of S’s NTT, in the audience for help with a particularly tricky one.
Now this potted summary doesn’t do justice to the overall discussion and is surely not entirely accurate. I scribbled as fast as I could, but then I’ve had to read those scribbles… ? I hope to see at least some of the reviews from tonight in print in due time. Carson’s would be particularly helpful in that regard, and Dunn’s as well. It’s a pity that the session was not recorded.
Baker Books, who sponsored the event, is to be thanked for making it possible.

http://ntresources.com/blog/?tag=new-testament-theology

It is 9:49 AM Thursday morning in the flow of existence. I think I got up this morning around 6:45 AM. I do not know what time my wife got up to face existence? She was peeling potatoes when I got up this morning.

I wandered into the living room to wake up. I next cooked breakfast for Carol and I. After breakfast I went down in the basement and messed with my lap top.

I left to take Rudy for a walk at Kollen Park. He would not walk because it was raining lightly, so I left him in the van and went for a walk by myself. I took some pictures of crows in some trees.

When I got home the house was empty because Carol had to church. Now I am down in the basement writing some words.

Last night I read "Theology Of The New Testament" by Udo Schnelle and "Visions Of Cody" by Jack Kerouac.

Carol went to bed early and I watched television till 11 o'clock PM. Now it is another day to live.

This is the day americans give thanks for tanks and bombs to protect our american way of consumption.

Well I should close to read some more of the Gospel of Luke before we have our thanks giving feast.

Carol set the table before going to church this morning. We are having neighbors over for Thanksgiving Day. Carol works with the lady neighbor at the hospital.



music: Magnolia Electric Co. "Josephine"

I forgot to mention this morning in my first blog entry of the day that yesterday afternoon I rearranged some of my books down in the basment and in my study. I put my new books together with these books in my study yesterday (let your mind dilate as you read the titles of these volumes)—

“An Introduction to the New Testament: Context, Methods & Ministry Formation” by David A. DeSilva

“An Old Testament Theology: An Exegetical, Canonical, And Thematic Approach” by Bruce K. Waltke with Charles Yu

“Theology of the New Testament: A Canonical And Synthetic Approach” by Frank Thielman

“Theology Of The New Testament” by Udo Schnelle Translated by M. Eugene Boring

“Apostle Paul: His Life and Theology” by Udo Schnelle Translator M. Eugene Boring

“New Testament Theology: Magnifying God in Christ” by Thomas R. Schreiner

“Paul Apostle Of God’s Glory In Christ: A Pauline Theology” by Thomas R. Schreiner

“Pauline Christology: An Exegetical-Theological Study” by Gordon D. Fee

“The Mission Of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative” by Christopher J. H. Wright

“Old Testament Theology” Volume One “Israel’s Gospel” by John Goldingay

“Old Testament Theology” Volume Two “Israel’s Faith” by John Goldingay

“Old Testament Theology” Volume Three “Israel’s Life” by John Goldingay

“Apostle Of The Crucified Lord: A Theological Introduction To Paul & His Letters” by Michael J. Gorman

“Perspectives Old And New On Paul: The “Lutheran” Paul and His Critics” by Stephen Westerholm

I read the above volumes off and on the day. I like to keep my mind alive.

Carol left to visit her aged mother. I will close to sit in the morning darkness and wait.

music: Panda Bear "Person Pitch"

It is 8:52 AM Wednesday morning in the flow of existence. I got up this morning around 6:30 AM. Carol had gotten up this morning around 4 o’clock AM.

I got myself a cup of coffee and sat in the living room till I felt somewhat awake. I then cooked myself breakfast and then came down in the basement to mess with my lap top.

Carol has been cleaning all morning. Why clean our cage?

Last night I watched television all evening and read “Visions Of Cody” by Jack Kerouac before going to sleep.

It is a cold dark ugly day. I plan to do nothing but wander my cage.

Well I will close to wander. I do not know what Carol plans to do today? I should read my Bible sometimes this morning. I am reading right now in the New Testament the Gospel of Luke.

It is 12:31 PM Tuesday afternoon. Nothing has happened today to blow off my socks. Carol left to get a new rubber belt put on our vaccum cleaner. I have been going downstairs and upstairs. I should go for a walk, but it is too cold to go for a walk this afternoon.

In the mail I received these two books—

“Theology Of The New Testament” by Udo Schelle Translated by M. Eugene Boring

“Old Testament Theology” Volume 3 “Israel’s Life” by John Goldingay

These two books are good to read after eating turkey on Thanksgiving Day a national holy day.

I wrote a couple times today in my private diary and read some more of the book “Visions Of Cody” by Jack Kerouac. My big problem today is staying awake. Yesterday I slept from 1:36 PM till 4 o’clock PM. Carol slept all afternoon yesterday and got up last night around 5 o’clock PM. She went back to bed around 8:30 PM last night.

Nothing pressing on my mind right now. I suppose I will close to wander my cage. Happy hunting (it is deer hunting here in West Michigan).

music: Chavez “Better Days Will Haunt You”

It is 8:54 AM Tuesday morning. I am down in our basement listening to the music of Mouse On Mars and having a cup of tea. Carol is upstairs cleaning our cage.

I got up this morning around 5:54 AM because I was a theological dream. In this dream I was very excited because I was trying very hard to explain the Gospel of God to someone who was busy doing something. In my dream I was yelling (I had my mouth open as I was dreaming). I woke up with these verses on my mind or lips-
"But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, coming into being out of a woman, having come under Law, that He might redeem those under Law, so that we might receive the adoption of sons" Gal. 4:3,4.

I woke up wondering if I should get out and do some soul winning? I have not shared the Gospel of Christ with someone in a long time. I take comfort knowing God will save His people.

When I got up this morning I found Carol reading her Bible in the living room.

We went to the grocery store this morning and was home around 7:35 AM.

Last night I watched television and read "Visions of Cody" by Jack Kerouac. I suppose to get the mail today two new books. Carol is not pleased with me when I get new books in the mail. She does not like me spending her money. Sometimes I wish I had my own source of income. In a couple of years I can start using my investment money which is around $45,000.00 dollars. I do not know when I can get my social security money?

I am still planning to use the $12,000.00 I have set aside to travel to Spain when I am 60 years old. But maybe I will be dead by then. Right now I need to get right with God.

I have nothing to do today. I will go through the day quietly. Time will go by. I will close to feel drained of life force. I should read some more of the Gospel of Luke today. When not reading the Bible I will read "Visions Of Cody" by Jack Kerouac. I should help my wife clean our cage.

music: Mouse On Mars "Radical Connector"

I decided to go for a walk by myself at the Upper Macatawa Natural Area after I wrote in my blogs.

Carol went out for coffee with a neighbor lady this morning. I do not know when I will see her again today? We never know when death will cut down one of our loved ones. Christmas time of the year is when we should expect death to arrive with a holy vengeance.

I took with me on my walk this morning the book "Visions of Cody" by Jack Kerouac. I did not take my Bible on my walk this morning. When I am beat I find it difficult to think deeply.

Well I will close to wander my cage.

It is 1:13 PM Sunday afternoon. I will quote some more from Ben Witherington III's book "The Indelible Image: The Theological and Ethical Thought World of the New Testament" Volume One "The Individual Witnesses"---

"What is especially noteworthy is that Paul, like Jesus, believes that the behavior of the disciple can indeed affect whether he or she will eventually enter, inherit, or obtain the dominion of God. This means that the motivation for ethical behavior is not just gratitude or wishing to please Jesus; it also involves bearing in mind that one must work out one's salvation with fear and trembling, knowing that one will be held accountable for one's behavior at the judgment day by Jesus himself (2 Cor 5:10). There is both an eschatological sanction and an eschatological motivation for behaving in a more Christ-like manner. It can affect the eternal outcome of one's spiritual pilgrimage.

One must go through all three tenses of salvation-I have been saved, I am being saved, and I will be saved-in order to enter the dominion. Apostasy, though perhaps only a remote possibility for most followers of Christ, is not out of the question for a believer and must be avoided at all costs. So Paul says of even himself, "Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:13-14). In Philippians 3:12 Paul honestly says that he has not obtained all this or been made complete/perfect. Paul is talking about being a moral athlete and being rigorous in one's spiritual and ethical disciplines in order that one may win the prize. This is not the language of a person who thinks that he has already "arrived" or that the outcome is inevitable or predetermined.

Paul's understanding of election varies little from what we can tell of Jesus' view of it: election is a corporate thing in Christ and in his community, and individuals can be part of that family of faith or not depending on whether they have entered it in good faith as a genuine follower of Jesus and are striving to do the will of God thereafter (see Mk 3:31-35; cf. Rom 11-12). The law of Christ is the mandate of this community, and it involves following the pattern of Christ's life, adhering to Christ's teaching (especially the Sermon on the Mount, which Paul alludes to), and living by those portions of the Old Testament mandates that have been reaffirmed in Christ as well as by the apostolic imperatives. Of course, there are differences. Both Paul and Jesus use the family language in a spiritual way, and Jesus specifically says that doing the will of God is what makes someone a brother, sister, or mother to him. Paul also talks about the will of God occasionally (see 1 Thess 4:3) in terms of morality, living a sanctified life.

Right standing with God is a gift given at conversion, but righteous behavior is also an expectation and requirement, enabled by the transforming work of the Spirit that begins when one becomes a new creature in Christ, says Paul. Good theology is the basis of good ethics. By this I mean that the work of God in the life of a person becomes the basis of his or her response in faith, involving both true belief and righteous behavior. Did Jesus say anything at odds with this? No, he did not. The Jesus who said that the tax collector in his parable went away justified by throwing himself on the mercy of God for forgiveness of sins is the same Jesus who called the sinful tax collector Zacchaeus to the higher righteousness of making restitution to those whom he had defrauded. Both Jesus and Paul speak of right standing and righteous character and behavior through the grace of God. Both are seen as things involved with the salvation of a person. Indeed, it is Jesus who says, when Zacchaeus repents and behaves better, that salvation has come to that man's house on that day. Righteous behavior is involved in salvation." Ben Witherington III pg. 272,273

music: Aphex Twin "Selected Ambient Works Volume II"

It is 12:33 PM Sunday afternoon in the flow of existence. I am down in our basement writing in my blogs and watching Time go by.

I got up this morning around 7:22 AM. I woke up thinking about the verse in Matthew chapter 24 "He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" Matt. 24:51.

I got the Sunday newspapers off the front porch. There was a layer of frost over everything this morning. It is a cold sunny day today here by Lake Michigan.

Carol got home from work around 8:30 AM. When she walked in the house I was cooking myself breakfast. Carol talked to me and went to bed. Carol is off the next four nights.

This morning I took Rudy for a walk at Kollen Park and then stopped by Lemonjello's for a mocha and to look through the Sunday edition of the New York Times. Lemonjello's was not as busy because Hope College is shut for the Thanksgiving holy day. I also read while at the coffee house some of the Gospel of Luke.

So the morning has gone by and now it is going on 1 o'clock PM. I will close to eat lunch.

"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealously, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God." Galatians 5:19-21

Hope College student pushes for Dustin Lance Black talk
Plans to move banned screening off-campus
By STEPHEN KLOOSTERMAN
The Holland Sentinel
Posted Nov 04, 2009 @ 07:30 AM
Holland, MI —

This autumn has held a series of disappointments for Hope College senior Arin Fisher, who in August chatted with Academy Award-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black about coming to speak at his college.

After negotiations with college administrators, Fisher heard from Dean of Students Richard Frost that his student group wouldn’t be allowed to host a screening of the film “Milk,” for which Black wrote the award-winning screenplay, with Black at a post-screening discussion.

“It was kind of an emotionally-charged meeting — for me, not for him,” Fisher said. “Nobody likes to feel discriminated against.”

Black, who is gay, won an Academy award for “Milk,” a biopic of Harvey Milk, one of the first openly gay men elected to public office. Black is in Holland for his debut as a director, shooting “What’s Wrong with Virginia?”

College officials ruled Black would be allowed to speak to a screenwriting class and English writing majors but not the roundtable discussion.

Frustrated by the decision, Fisher — a creative writing major — left the group.

“Sexuality Roundtable, a forum for gay and straight students,” wasn’t a one-time event but a student group, Fisher said.

“They are not a college-recognized student organization,” said Hope College spokesman Tom Renner. “In accordance with Board of Trustees policy dating back to 1995, the college does not provide official recognition, but the dean of students has worked diligently to maintain a line of communication with the student leadership.”

Renner said that up until the present, the relationship between Frost and the students had been a positive one, with the dean even assisting the group out of his own budget.

In the scuffle over Black’s appearance, Fisher believes his original vision for the meeting has been lost.

“It’s meant to be about Harvey Milk as a historical figure,” he said. “That was the purpose of the event and it was never about gay advocacy, ever.”

But Renner said that the student group had pitched the event to college officials as “a boundary-defeating event for the (lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender) community of Hope and its many straight brothers and sisters.”

In a previous interview with the Sentinel, Frost said that from past experience, strongly-opinionated speakers usually don’t further academic discussions about gay, lesbian or transgender issues. “We had tried to do that in the late ’90s, with little success,” Frost said.

“Students and faculty on either side of the campus felt extremely hurt and marginalized.

“We are willing to do these things, but for the college to do this, we have to be sure it’s educational,” he said. “It’s back-and-forth and educational. It’s not advocacy.”

“The desire to educate people on campus about this very important civil rights person was important to us,” Fisher reiterated. “ I didn’t know anything about him until I saw Lance’s film.”

Shut down by the college, Fisher has tried to organize an off-campus screening of the film that Black could attend.

Shooting of “What’s Wrong With Virginia” wraps Friday, and Black has yet to announce if he’ll be doing post-production work in Holland.

“He says, if he is around, then the event will be possible,” Fisher said.

[I do not agree with the view that homosexuality is a civil rights issue.]

Copyright © 2009 GateHouse Media, Inc. Some Rights Reserved.

Yesterday in our local newspaper the Holland Sentinel was a column by a local minister that I found to be full of garbage. Recently here in Holland there was a big fuss centered around Dustin Lance Black not being allowed to speak at Hope College because he is pro homosexual. Hope College is a private Christian college and does not believe homosexuality is to be practiced by Christians.

What I found wrong with Rev. Idema's article was the statement "The word "homosexuality" for instance, does not appear in the Bible. There is no ancient word for it. . ." I mentioned in my blogs that I have been reading a book titled "The Indelible Image: The Theological and Ethical Thought World of the New Testament" Volume One "The Individual Witnesses" by Ben Witherington III. I read this yesterday in Witherington's book
"In this context we may briefly examine the issue of homosexual and lesbian behavior. Sometimes it is said that Jesus has nothing to say on this issue. This is not true, because the implications of speaking about fidelity in heterosexual marriage and celibacy in singleness are quite clear (Mt 19:1-12), especially in the environment of early Judaism. The man who identified the act of divorcing one person and marrying another as adultery, or of divorcing one's wife as forcing her to commit adultery, or of marrying a divorced woman as adultery (see Mt 5:31-32; 19:3-12 par.) should not be expected to have endorsed any sort of sexual expression outside the context of a normal marriage relationship.

Nor could he have possibly endorsed a redefining of marriage to include relationships that were seen as out of bounds not only under Mosaic law but also under early Jewish teaching. In fact, as Mark 10 and Matthew 19 make quite clear, Jesus strengthened the traditional image and model of marriage with his teaching, which in fact strongly objected to all sorts of sexual immorality.

In this context, and recognizing how closely Paul follows the teaching of Jesus in his own ethics in so many ways, we are not surprised to hear Paul say very clearly in Romans 1:26-27 that sexual activity between people of the same gender, whether women or men, is a sin. It is labeled both as unnatural and an example of God handing people over who are determined to indulge their own lusts. Such behavior is seen as a form of self-judgment.

Paul does not distinguish here or elsewhere between pederasty and the behavior of consenting adults. Nor is he merely talking about prostitution. Indeed, in Romans 1:26-27 he seems primarily focused on consenting adults who freely make their choice to exchange normal for sinful behavior. . ." pg. 269-271

In the article by Rev. Idema he fails to distinguish between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant (Old Testament and the New Testament). I quote Idema "What we must not do is use Scripture as a weapon to marginalize others. Moreover, we must not pick and choose what we interpret literally for psychological or ideological reasons. Does anyone in their right mind today read the 20th chapter of Deuteronomy literally where God sanctions the slaughter of men in battle (Deut. 20:13), and then sanctions taking as booty women, children and livestock (20:14), but then orders the Israelities to spare the trees (Deut. 20:19). Yet such texts have been used to justify violence."

I do not see how Deuteronomy 20 can be used as an argument for allowing Dustin Lance Black who believes it is proper for an individual to practice homosexual acts and be allowed to express that belief at a Christian college? I do agree some Christians have twisted Scripture in ways to justify acts of violence. But that is not the issue being addressed at Hope College a private Christian school.

The Bible clearly (literally) teaches homosexuality is not a normal expression of sexuality. For a Christian college to allow an individual who holds a view contrary to the teachings of Scripture is wrong plain and simple. Now if students at Hope College want to discuss Black's ideas on screen writing off campus fine with me. I am all for the free exchange of ideas. But I do not think Hope College has to allow men or women speak on their campus who reject the authority of God's Word concerning sexual ethics.

We are to go by the teachings of the Bible and not follow the bad examples found in Church history (the history of mankind).

"I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people-not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat." 1 Corinth. 5:9-11

"Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexuals offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." 1 Corinth. 6:9-11

What should reign in a private Christian college is critical biblical thinking.

COLUMN - Scripture and critical thinking By Henry Idema
Holland Sentinel columnist
Posted Nov 20, 2009 @ 08:45 PM
Holland, MI —

Having lived in academic communities much of my life, I was amazed to discover that in our own academic community, Hope College denied a public forum to someone as prominent as Dustin Lance Black, who won an Oscar last February for his screenplay for the 2008 movie, “Milk.” I suspect that the fear of what rich donors might do in response to permitting a gay man to speak publicly is the underlying reason, but I may be wrong.

What I am not wrong about, however, is the lack of critical thinking that exists in all religions, including my own, Christianity. I am also not wrong about what the tragic effects of this failure have been for thousands, even millions of people.

Too many Muslims read the Koran literally as “the word of God,” and then bomb innocent men, women and children. Bin Laden justified 9/11 through his literal reading of Scripture, and perhaps Major Nidal Malik Hasan used the Koran to justify the murders at Fort Hood. Many Christians marginalize homosexuals and justify war through their own literal reading of Scripture. At least Muslims read their Scripture in the original Arabic! Christians, at least in America, read their Scriptures in English, and many argue that the English Bible is the literal word of God. By the way, “God” does not even appear in the original text of the New Testament. “God” is a translation of “theos,” and every time a translation of a Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek word is made, critical thinking must be exercised.

The word “homosexuality,” for instance, does not appear in the Bible. There is no ancient word for it. “Homosexuality” as a sexual orientation emerged from 19th century psychology, and has a completely different meaning than the condemnation of temple prostitution and “heterosexual” men having sex with other “heterosexual” men, which we see in the Bible’s brief discussions of the topic. Of course, “heterosexual” is another modern concept. My point is, all Scriptures in all religions must be read critically in their original languages, then read critically in their translations.
What we must not do is use Scripture as a weapon to marginalize others. Moreover, we must not pick and choose what we interpret literally for psychological or ideological reasons. Does anybody in their right mind today read the 20th chapter of Deuteronomy literally where God sanctions the slaughter of men in battle (20:13), and then sanctions taking as booty women, children and livestock (20:14), but then orders the Israelites to spare the trees: “Are trees in the field human beings that they should come under siege from you?” (20:19). Yet such texts have been used to justify violence.

To understand such texts as Deuteronomy, we must put the rules of war in their ancient context, or else we are worshiping a vengeful bloodthirsty God. But, of course, that is what millions of people all over the world and in all religions are doing today and have always done, which explains much of the violence and wars which have left so much death in their wake.

I hope that a literal reading of Scripture had nothing to do with Hope College’s decision to deny Dustin Lance Black a public forum to discuss screen writing. Critical thinking should reign in academic communities, not fear and scriptural literalism.

Copyright © 2009 GateHouse Media, Inc. Some Rights Reserved.