Well everyone, since I know that the New Year is already upon us...

I thought perhaps there might be some bold New Year's resolutions in the arena of spiritual growth.

Since, after all, this blog is intended to be of some help in that very arena, it seems proper to offer some manageable ideas.

Why would I emphasize "manageable"? The reason for this is fairly simple. I myself have had the experience of trying to set unrealistic goals for my own devotional time and reading, prayer time, etc. I have talked to many who share the same frustration. To use the analogy of driving..haven't you ever noticed that the single greatest gear shift a car to make is the leap from 0 mph (standing still) to 1 mph (moving forward). It is best to take it slowly and carefully. Soon enough you'll be cruising along just fine.

At any rate, below are some modest proposals:

  • Start a daily devotional...it's easiest for beginners to purchase one and let it guide you rather than leaving it all up to you, your Bible, and the Holy Spirit. Need ideas? I will likely post some soon. From Bible reading plans to through the year devotionals, etc. there are a ton of resources out there.


  • Start a journal. At the church which I serve, I recently heard a pastor give this simple suggestion. What should you write about? Prayers are good, goals, memories, etc. He simply suggested this: Starting out, you can simply answer a question: "Today, what did I say, see, or 'step into'(do)?"


  • Forgive. There are so many people who live lives of bitterness, refusing to forgive someone who has hurt them. The holidays may bring these pains especially close to home. Isn't this the year to let it go? After all, choosing not to forgive really hurts ourselves more than anyone else.


  • Prioritize. Cut and paste, delete, insert. What are the things you need to cut out? What do you need to give your time to? Where can you be most effective? How can you bring God the most glory with your time? Biblically and responsibly managing our time is one of the most important things we can do after we have become a Christian.


  • Make New Year's every day. This may sound strange, but it is a biblical practice. Here's why: In our popular culture it is always thought that we all make New Year's resolutions around New Year's. It is the annual time for people to set goals for themselves and TRY to change if they can...sometimes they don't even have the desire to make the change, it is just that New Years comes and we HAVE to come up with some resolutions!

    For the Christian, this practice of evaluating the way we live our lives, praying about what we need to do or undo, setting goals and reshaping our priorities, asking God to show us where we need to change, etc. is supposed to be as regular as inhaling and exhaling. This is how an eighty year old Christian can be as young at heart, as shapeable, as vibrant, and renewed as a twenty-something! With Christ, every day is a new chance to be transformed.




Have a thought, response, or comment, or a topic idea? Let me know with a comment or an email!

-RCW
Christmas Eve
12/22/2008 | Author: RCW
Have you ever thought about how much irony (or perhaps a better word is mystery) there is in Christian beliefs?

  • We worship the One and Only Triune God. He is One and still being one, He is three.


  • We believe that Jesus was 100% God and simultaneously 100% man. To sacrifice either one (His divinity or humanity) amounts to something non-Christian.


  • We believe that mankind are created in the image of God, but somehow that image was "defaced but not erased" when mankind first sinned. Thus, humans--while being precious to God--are also deeply corrupt and innately capable of the most heinous evils.


  • God in His sovereignty is distant, remote, unreachable, unfathomable, otherly, sitting high upon His throne. (Theologians call this His transcendence.) Yet He is also close, near, reachable, revealed, intimately acquainted with us, involved in our every day affairs. (Theologians call this His imminence.)


  • And these are just the tip of the iceberg.


The pinnacle of ironies is truly this last one -- That God Himself, Almighty Sovereign of the universe with all power, all knowledge, and all wisdom would stoop down to live among us and reveal Himself to us. He could have simply appeared in all His glory and conquered the entire world. Indeed, this is the type of earthly king that some of His closest contemporaries expected Him to be. He could have "Lorded His authority over us" as most human leaders and rulers do. Why, if God had seen fit, He could have been a wealthy 21st century executive living in a swanky New York condo!

This of course was not the plan. Instead, God Himself took on human flesh (the concept theologians call the Incarnation). He came to earth in one of the most destitute lands at one of the more primitive times in history. Nobody had room for His parents to even bring Him into the world, so the birth that was announced to mere shepherds and foretold by the prophets instead took place in a stable for livestock. His mother laid Him in a feeding trough. Then the family fled to Egypt so that He wouldn't be killed.

A beautiful irony, it is Jesus' birth we celebrate - most precious of gifts, most holy of Kings.

-RCW
An Advent Scripture Reading List
12/16/2008 | Author: RCW
I came across a link the other day that took me to gospel.com (A site worth checking out if you are a new believer or have never heard of it). I began reading some articles and saw a link to an Advent Scripture Reading List put out by Mars Hill Bible Church. Here is a link to it.

As for Advent, if you are unfamiliar with the term, I can let Mars Hill give you their description below as well (though don't be mistaken and believe that I am entirely on board the Mars Hill Bible Church bandwagon altogether).

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ADVENT

The word means arrival.

In the traditional Church calendar, "Advent" is a time for celebrating the coming of Jesus: both remembering his birth and anticipating his future arrival, the restoration of all things.

From the beginning, this has been a story of unexpected contrast. Supreme Peace born under the rule of Roman brutality. Ultimate Love wrapped up in the crude, human cage of an infant’s ribs. Joy enough to carry all of life, small enough to be carried in the crook of an arm. Hope born into a struggling, battling world—into a barn. For all of us.

This year we're celebrating Advent in a number of ways: through weekly Advent services at Mars Hill, daily Bible readings, and an artists' blog.

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For the curious, what I mean by my above "bandwagon" comments is that while their pastor and leader Rob Bell may be a fellow Wheaton Alumni and he is definitely doing some very cool and effective things for God's Kingdom, it seems I have an element of caution. I really enjoy what they do, I am thrilled at their creativity, etc. The word of caution is due to the fact that it seems some have forgotten what we must always remember...that we worship Jesus Christ and not simply a ministry, a church, or a philosophy of ministry. Do we love the Jesus Christ that a particular teacher or ministry paints or do we love more the Jesus Christ of the Scriptures? The two may be identical, but as believers we must rid ourselves of the dependency upon JUST one source of inspiration, JUST one preacher we can listen to, JUST one ministry we get excited about, etc. Instead, we should find ultimate sufficiency in the One and Only Jesus Christ...the Reason for this season.


-RCW
Kenosis (kin-'oh-sis) and Christmas
12/09/2008 | Author: RCW
It's hard to describe all the different things that changed about me while I was away at college. As a high school student, I had enjoyed math and excelled at it, but loathed literature and reading. After sensing a call to ministry during my junior year of high school, I went to my youth minister at the time and he said that one of the first things that I should need to do if I was indeed experiencing God's call to ministry was that I should become a reader. I took his advice and have been one since. Yet the transition was one that would continue.

Evidently someone in higher education knew the sensibility and soundness of my youth minister's advice. For I went off to Dallas Baptist University and wanting to study for ministry, I chose to major in Biblical Studies. It wasn't until I began to map out which courses I would take when that I began to realize that studying for ministry must have included a healthy dose of reading for sure...I was required to take 4 English / Literature courses and 4 philosophy courses.

After beginning such courses, I found that I enjoyed them so immensely that I would use my electives to take 3 more of each and thereby earn minors in each as well! Part of the blame surely falls on some great teachers. A philosophy professor named Dr. Naugle kindled within me a love for learning and desire to love the Lord my God with all my mind...to think critically and prayerfully about things which most people take for granted. A semester or two later, I had a remarkable English professor, Dr. Mitchell who showed me that Christ was the holder and giver of all wisdom and that I could see Him and find Him in the world of literature, poetry, and books! He further kindled my love for learning and reinforced that I should love the Lord my God with all my mind as well.

The point of this blog, however, is not biographical in nature. Instead, it is spiritual. The season of Christmas reminds me that our God is so very different than others. He is True and Real surely, but what I am speaking of is that He chose to draw near to us and dwell among us.

John 1 speaks of Jesus, the "word" and "wisdom" of God, in this way:

"the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Other religions focus on how men might ascend to God. Christianity tells how God came and made His way to us.

Philippians 2:6-8 is known by theologians as "the kenosis passage" (kin-'oh-sis). Kenosis simply means "emptying". Jesus Christ, being equal to God, "emptied" Himself, made Himself nothing, took on human flesh, and came to earth to suffer and die as a man.

It is this "Kenosis" passage that my English professor whom I just spoke of wrote about when He composed the following:



KENOSIS

Psalm 46:10: "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
Philippians 2:6-8:

Who, being in very nature God
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death --
even death on a cross!


What happens when our words cannot express the complete truth? What do we do when our attempts to formulate an answer end in contradictions? What do we say when our every attempt to put the experience on paper fails? What are we then left with?

How can we understand the kenosis of Christ, the self-emptying of God, for our sakes? What nouns and verbs can do justice to this most profound of mysteries, that God made himself nothing?

Is there any way to sum up the deep wisdom of God in suffering? Why does his creativity seem to overflow through us when we are at our weakest and most wordless? Where may we go to better know that Christ suffered on our behalf? How can we adequately express our thanks for such a complete outpouring of himself?

How do we endure the silence of our literature when it falters in its attempts to name what is there, when it loses its moorings and contradicts itself, when it seems so full of holes and spaces? How can we explain what needs to be said once the words end? Is there any clear way to suggest that God was broken because we in word and deed are broken?

Why has God chosen to leave some things silent and unsaid?

* * * * *

Central Insight: Christ's kenosis reminds us that God was willing to be with us in our doubts and limits, including the limits of language and literature.

Suggestions for Application: Examine a particular passage that shows the limits, contradictions, or unanswered questions of a text. Draw an analogy between this and Christ's kenosis.

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This "kenosis" entry from Dr. Mitchell was copied over from his own website: www.dbu.edu/mitchell. Browse it freely if you like!


-RCW
December is Here!
12/03/2008 | Author: RCW
Alright, you people, it's December... or as the RHHS's (Ridiculously Hostile Holiday Shoppers) would say - the month of "Dismember."

I'm sure you'd love to see a meaningful post about Christmas. That may yet come. For now (since I have but little time to write), here's a cool Christmas poem from one of my favorite poets John Donne:

"Nativity"
by John Donne
(1572-1631)


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Immensity cloistered in thy dear womb,
Now leaves His well-belov'd imprisonment,
There He hath made Himself to His intent
Weak enough, now into the world to come;
But O, for thee, for Him, hath the inn no room?
Yet lay Him in this stall, and from the Orient,
Stars and wise men will travel to prevent
The effect of Herod's jealous general doom.
Seest thou, my soul, with thy faith's eyes, how He
Which fills all place, yet none holds Him, doth lie?
Was not His pity towards thee wondrous high,
That would have need to be pitied by thee?
Kiss Him, and with Him into Egypt go,
With His kind mother, who partakes thy woe.

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-RCW