If You Love It, You Will Learn About It

I am a seminary student. The degree I am pursuing is called a Master of Divinity (insert joke from Jim Strutz about being a "divine master" here). One of the the most surprising things that happened to me when I announced that I would be pursing a theology degree was the push back that I got from well-meaning Christians. They were concerned that studying theology would ruin my walk with God, that my study would turn my relationship into a merely intellectual exercise. I was surprised, because it was an aspect of study that had never crossed my mind.

When I stopped to think about it, the concern was actually valid. I have actually experienced something like this firsthand before. When I was pursing my undergrad degree in music, I can remember many weekends where I expressed a sentiment similar to the following: "If I never see another piece of music again, it will be too soon." My intensive study, practicing, rehearsing, and playing almost ruined my love and appreciation for music. Many of the other students in my class are not working or earning a living in a music-related field; many of them are not even playing music at all!

However valid this concern in, I don't think it should scare us away from studying or learning about who God is, His nature, His character, and His attributes. I have heard people say "I don't want to know about God, I just want to know God," or "I don't want to just read the owner's manual, I want to drive the car!" This sentiment is understandable, but unfortunately shortsighted. I would propose this: if you love something, you will invariably study it out. Michael Patton from Credo House Ministries explains it well:

It’s popular today to think our learning about God will stifle our passion for God. I’ve even heard people say, “I’d rather be led instead of read.” This is simply not true from human experience. Anyone passionate in any subject will eventually seek to learn more and more about the subject. The person passionate about wine becomes a student of wine. They learn about the art of wine making, differing varieties in differing climates, soil nutrients, fermentation, barreling, pairing, and proper tasting techniques. They love the taste, but the taste is now greatly enhanced by their knowledge.

The person passionate about NASCAR becomes a student of NASCAR. They can tell you about the history of certain race tracks, they will tell you about some of the great drivers from the past, they’ll educate you about fuel conservation during a race, driver and fan safety, getting the most out of the tires, and driver G-forces.

If you’re reading this there’s a strong chance the King of all Kings has adopted you into His family. Your eternal destiny has been altered by a Savior who lived, died and rose in your place. He invites you to take your heavy burden in exchange for His light yoke. Your God is with you every day and is leading you safely to your eternal home. Yet so many people will go months, years or even a lifetime without taking the initiative to grow as a learner. We won’t follow the command of Jesus to make not just converts but disciples. Somehow we think if we know Him we won’t love Him. This is simply not true.

There are many other analogies that could be used - football and other sports, music, cinema, American history - but you see how this works. If you love something, you will learn about it. I appreciate the valid concern that too much study can turn something you love into a frustration, but I think that the vast majority of us are far from that problem. Most of us are in danger of running off the road on the other side, not knowing enough about the God that we worship. I encourage you: study, learn, grow in understanding. As Peter charges us in 2nd Peter 3, "Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." It's a both/and thing. We need to grow in our experience of God's grace while we grow in the knowledge of who God is. May we all increase in both.


Michael Patton and the Credo House Ministries blog can be visited here: http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/

Things We Don't See In English Bibles

For one of my classes, I am doing some extensive research on the Old Testament book of Micah. Micah is my favorite of the OT prophetic books. I stumbled across some research into the Hebrew language that only deepened my appreciation for the Scriptures in general and the book of Micah in particular.

In 1:10-1:16, Micah rattles of a list of cities that will be affected by the impending judgment of God. Before continuing further, take a minute and read through it here. This passage sounds like the typical judgment language that is used throughout the Old Testament prophetic books. These prophecies came at a very dark time in the history of Israel/Judah, and the language can be harsh-sounding to our modern ears. Most of these prophetic books were written for 3 main purposes: 1) to encourage God's people to stop continuing further in sin, 2) to explain why judgment and calamity has come upon them, and 3) to offer future hope and salvation. *side note: these #3 passages are often where we find the predictions about Jesus prior to his advent.

What we don't see in our English translations is how the words of judgment are related to the names of the cities themselves. Many commentators and Hebrew scholars have been astounded at the wordplay at work in these verses. Aside from the fact that this is divinely inspired scripture, the literary genius is truly remarkable:

City, Meaning of Name, Related Activity
1. Gath sounds like Hebrew for "tears" or "crying." The verse says to "weep not at all."
2. Beth-le-aphrah means "City of Dust." The verse says to "roll yourselves in the dust."
3. Shaphir sounds like Heb. for "beautiful." This city will be left "in nakedness and shame."
4. Zaanan sounds like Heb. for "moving around" or "coming out." The verse says that they won't come out.
5. Beth-ezel means "House of Taking Away." The song of weeping about this city will be so sad it will "take away" their ability even to stand.
6. Maroth sounds like Heb. for "bitter." This city is said to be waiting "anxiously for good" in the middle of this bitter disaster.
7. Lachish sounds like Heb. for "horses." The inhabitants of the city are encouraged to flee on horses and "chariots."
8. Moresheth-gath is related to the Heb. word me'orasah which means "one who is betrothed." The idea of "parting gifts" is related to the idea of a dowry that would go to a bride.
9. Achzib sound like Heb. for "deceptive." In turn, this city will be deceptive to the "rulers of Israel."
10. Mareshah sounds like Heb. for "conqueror." Now another "conqueror" will come to this city.
11. Adullam does not seem to have any apparent wordplay in place.

What an interesting literary device! This really brings home the emotion connection to these judgment verses. I'm trying to think of what this would look like if it was given to American cities:

...ships will flee from Anchorage.
...no angels will be found in Los Angeles.
...Fort Worth will be left utterly worthless.
...people in Nashville will grind their teeth.
...God will destroy the sorcerers in Wichita.

OK, so I'm obviously no Micah, but you get the idea. The main point is that when we read a little bit deeper into the texts of the scripture, it is amazing the layers that start to appear. I am left with little choice but to be amazed all over again at God's handiwork through these human authors that gave us the scriptures.

What Kind of Religion is This?

“In a sermon Dick Lucas once preached, he recounted an imaginary conversation between an early Christian and her neighbor in Rome.

“Ah,” the neighbor says. “I hear you are religious! Great! Religion is a good thing. Where is your temple or holy place?”

“We don’t have a temple,” replies the Christian. “Jesus is our temple.”

“No temple? But where do your priests work and do their ritual?”

“We don’t have priests to mediate the presence of God,” replies the Christian. “Jesus is our priest.”

“No priests? But where do you offer your sacrifices to acquire the favor of your God?”

“We don’t need a sacrifice,” replies the Christian. “Jesus is our sacrifice.”

“What kind of religion is this?” sputters the pagan neighbor.

And the answer is, it’s no kind of religion at all.”
—Tim Keller, King’s Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus, p. 48.

Moving To Seattle

I will try to keep this post as brief as possible, but I wanted to fill people in on what led my wife and I to decide to move to Seattle. Many of my family and closest friends have heard the full story unfold over the last few weeks and months, but to many others, this was definitely a bit of a surprise. Here is a numbered list (my signature information delivery method) outlining what I know for sure.

1. Difficult Decision
Please rest assured that this was not an easy decision for us to make. As of this last August, I have lived in Anchorage for 20 years; I feel a sense of ownership of this city. I have family and friends galore. I love City Church, the leadership and the people with all of my heart. There is certainly excitement in my heart about this new season, but it is not without a great deal of bittersweet emotion.

2. Sense of Call
In the last 20 years of living in Anchorage, I witnessed hundreds of people leave the state because they were "tired of the cold" or "sick of Alaska" or even "just needing a change." I have been the most anti-gotta-leave-Alaska person I know. We are not moving out of a sense of boredom. We are not moving out of reaction against something. We are not moving out of a sense of dissatisfaction with our lives. We ARE moving because of a sense of call from God that this is what the next season of our lives looks like (more on this call below).

3. Temporary Absence
As far as my wife and I can tell, this move is not meant to be permanent. She grew up in Washington state and has often longed to spend a longer time back home than we get in our family vacations. We will not be selling our house, we will be renting it out. This serves as a bit of an anchor for us to return in a few years (it also makes better financial sense, related to the rental market, interest rates, market instability, etc.). Of course, nothing is guaranteed, and God can always give new or clearer direction, but as far we can tell from what God has laid on our hearts, we will be back to Anchorage in a few short years.

4. Future Ministry
Part of the call that I am experiencing is that of a church planter. This is something that I have been wrestling with for approx. 2 years now, and have finally come to the conclusion that God has put that special type of craziness in my heart and my head. My pastors have been very supportive, encouraging and frank with me over the last 6 months or so as I have been reluctantly vocalizing what it is that I believe God is calling me to. I cannot even begin to express how appreciative I am for the leaders that God has placed over me at City Church.
*I have much more that I could say along these lines, but I won't now because much of it is speculation about the future. I will say that I am keenly aware of how my presence will be missed at City Church, and that I have full confidence in the leadership as they move forward.

5. Training/School
It's been no secret that I have been deeply impacted by the ministry of Mars Hill in Seattle (Mark Driscoll's church, not Rob Bell's. Different discussion for a different day...). I feel very compatible with them in terms of theology, ministry style, etc. They have a very high priority on church planting, and as such have a school of ministry through the Resurgence that I will be applying for. In addition, the Acts 29 church planting network is affiliated with MHC in Seattle. Also, I am currently working on a master's degree through Multnomah Seminary in Portland. Living in Seattle will enable me to be a little more directly focused on my degree for a while. The education/school/training component is probably the #1 reason that we decided to move to Seattle.

Again, there is a lot more that I could say about this decision and transition. I have been supported through and through by my family, friends, and fellow ministers as all this has come to light. I recognize that there may be some who will feel hurt, frustrated, or even abandoned by this decision. My hope and prayer is that you will know that I love you, and this decision was not something made flippantly or casually. I am hurting and grieving along with you, but I am excited by the call and direction that I have received from God. I ask that you would keep my family in your prayers. Thanks.

Hipsters Love Grace 'Cause It Means They Don't Have To Work

Today's blog post is from guest blogger Josh Briggs. His blog can be found at http://brigg-a-mortis.tumblr.com/. I hope you enjoy this journey down Christian Hipster lane. He, of all people, is qualified to give this definition of what one is.

What is a hipster? It’s hard to give one solid definition. A hipster can come in various forms, but there are however a few key things that unite all hipsters. They love fair trade coffee shops (that aren’t Starbucks), irony, obscure bands/artist, books, and Grace. You might be asking “So what does all this have to do with the reformed church?” If you are a full-blown Christian Hipster or at least partly one, then you know what I’m talking about. For everyone else, keep on reading.

When I’m talking about the reformed church today, I’m talking about churches led by pastors like Mark Driscoll (Mars Hill), Matt Chandler (The Village Church), Tim Keller (Redeemer), and John Piper (Bethlehem Baptist Church). I know there are more but these are a few of my favorites and popular amongst all Christian Hipsters. The reformed church allows a Christian Hipster to partake in all the things they love.

The church usually has an awesome coffee stand serving up the finest locally brewed coffee. If your church doesn’t then it means it’s in its hipster infancy stage. Or maybe the congregation is already too hyper. Or maybe they simply don’t love you.

Hipsters love irony and there is nothing more ironic than ironic than the work of the cross! Pick up D.A. Carson’s Scandalous for a wonderful breakdown of this. He points out how the man who is mocked as king is the king, the man who is utterly powerless is powerful, the man who can’t save himself saves others, the man who cries out in despair trusts God.

Hipsters love obscure artists, bands, and books. Hipster love to talk about the newest band they are listening to and Christian Hipsters are no different. Whether it’s Mumford and Sons, the Avett Brothers, Future of Forestry, Page CXVI, The Autumn Film, Ascend the Hill, Underoath, Norma Jean, Lecrae, Trip Lee, we love talking about who we are listening to and will push it on anyone in ear shot… or blog shot.

Hipsters also love obscure pastors. Some of you knew every one of the pastors that I mentioned above and said “I can’t believe he left out __________”. Others had no idea who any of them are. I think we are days away from having a pitchfork.com type site for christians to discuss the newest “underground” sermons they’ve been listening to. “Have you listened to Driscoll’s Trial series?” Seriously, though, have you? It’s super good.

Hipsters love to read. I don’t know if it’s because of the “mainstream’s” lack of interest in reading or what, but hipsters love to read. You won’t see them with Joel Osteen or Joyce Meyers (unless they are going for serious levels of irony). You’ll see them reading the aforementioned pastors as well as Spurgeon, Owen, Augustine, and many others. The reformed church encourages reading in general and specifically reading of dead guys. Check out theresurgence.com if you don’t believe me. It kind of proves my point.

Lastly, Hipsters love the reformed church because it teaches the biblical truth that you don’t have to work for your salvation. And, we all know how much hipsters hate work. They are all about the doctrine of Grace. Most will stay in school until they are 70 to avoid getting a job. The secular hipster will say “I’m just finding myself” but the Christian Hipster will say “I’m just waiting on the Lord’s Call”. Thank God we have Grace and do not have to work for salvation! We’d all surely fail but most of us would die before we started. The doctrine of Grace is also why you won’t find many Christian Hipsters at an Armenian church.

She's Only Mostly Dead?

One of my absolutely favorite Bible teachers and preachers is Tim Keller. The following is his commenting on a story found in Mark 5, where Jesus raises a little girl from the dead:

Tim Keller, King’s Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus, pp. 67-69, commenting on Mark 5:38-42:

Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement.

---

Do you think it is odd that when Jesus arrives at Jairus’s house he says that the girl is just sleeping? The parallel account of this story in Matthew and Luke’s Gospels make it clear that Jesus understands she’s dead. She’s not mostly dead; she’s all dead. Then why does he make that reference to sleep?

The answer is in what Jesus does next.

Remember, Jesus sits down beside the girl, takes her by the hand, and says two things to her.

The first is talitha. Literally, it means “little girl,” but that does not get across the sense of what he’s saying. This is a pet name, a diminutive term of endearment. Since this is a diminutive that a mother would use with a little girl, probably the best translation is “honey.”

The second thing Jesus says to her is koum, which means “arise.” Not “be resurrected”: it just means “get up.” Jesus is doing exactly what this child’s parents might do on a sunny morning. He sits down, takes her hand, and says, “Honey, it’s time to get up.” And she does.

Jesus is facing facing the most implacable, inexorable enemy of the human race and such is his power that he holds this child by the hand and gently lifts her right up through it. “Honey, get up.”

Jesus is saying by his actions, “If I have you by the hand, death itself is nothing but sleep.” . . .

. . . There’s nothing more frightening for a little child than to lose the hand of the parent in a crowd or in the dark, but that is nothing compared with Jesus’s own loss.

He lost his Father’s hand on the cross.

He went into the tomb so we can be raised out of it.

He lost hold of his Father’s hand so we could know that once he has us by the hand, he will never, ever forsake us.

Book Review: The Liturgical Year

A while ago, I signed up for a program through which I receive free books in exchange for a fair review. As of yet, I haven't really enjoyed any of the books that I've reviewed. Until now. The Liturgical Year is another installment in The Ancient Practices series overseen by emergent-ecumenical-ancient-modern-guru Phyllis Tickle. The author, Sister Joan Chittister, does a great job as a Catholic in introducing an ignorant Protestant like me to the almost 2,000 years of church year tradition. Having been raised in more non-denominational & charismatic circles, our focus is always on "the new" or "the fresh thing." While there is nothing inherently wrong with that focus, I can't help but feel like we've lost a bit of our roots.

This book serves as an excellent introduction not just to the what or how of the church year, but to the why. As Chittister puts it,

We do not develop a liturgical life to look good to other people. We do not develop a liturgical spirituality to affect a kind of spiritual dimension to our lives. And we certainly do not go to Mass regularly to avoid hell. We live a liturgical life to learn to think like He thinks. To do what He would do. To mak Him the center of our lives - not our work or our money or our status...Liturgical spirituality is about learning to live an ordinary life extraordinarily well.

The author does a good job as a Catholic to be welcoming and inviting to Protestants through her writing. With the exception of the very last chapter on the Marian feasts - which I found to be a incongruent with what I know of Catholic doctrine - there was almost nothing that I had any significant theological quibbles with. I appreciated her focus on the major issues without getting bogged down into Catholic dogma.

The first few chapters felt a little repetitive and unnecessarily touchy-feely, but much like the church year itself, the book picks up steam and gets more and more exciting as we head toward the ending chapters on Resurrection Sunday. The writing style is accessible and is an easy read. 5 stars from this non-liturgical Protestant for this book.