July 10, 2006

• Random thought – what is with the word apologetics? I sure wish we could come up with a better word for sharing our faith – sounds too much like apology.

  
  

  Do you ever read more than one book at the same time? I tend to have a mystery, a Christian study book, the Bible, and Bible study classes which also have books to read. I have a to be read pile that is HUGE, and keeps growing – much the same way as my laundry pile keeps growing (you know, you don’t do laundry for one tiny day and the next time you look it is as if your laundry had reproduced, sigh), for that matter – dishes seem to do this also.

  
  

  Anyway, I have a very bad habit. I read books that often refer to other books, then I look up those books and want to read them too, so many books, so little time. But I guess there are worse ways to wile away one’s time. I also have a lot of UFO’s around the house (Unfinished Objects – crafts and such). This is the year I am trying to tackle these things.

  
  

  Anyway, I wanted to share a few things that I have been reading, before we continue on with Jacob – Hey, last night I got a comment from someone wondering how I would tie eggplant into what I am teaching – it finally came to me – THE SEED. We have Abraham’s seed, Isaac’s seed, Jacob’s seed, and eggplant seed. Well, it is a stretch, but there you go, it’s the best I can do with a random post.

  
  

  This is a relevant quote from Eugene Peterson, A long Obedience in the Same Direction.

  
  

  In this book he seems to talk about how in today’s society we want instant spirituality (probably why the New Age is so popular), and we don’t realize that it is a long walk in spirituality, a long walk in growing more and more into what Christ wants us to be. In real life I tend to be directionally challenged, so I often pray that God guides my steps so I don’t get lost in trivia, or lose His purpose for me.

  
  

  Anyway, Peterson talks about the Psalms that the pilgrims would sing on their trek to Jerusalem to celebrate the feasts – Psalms 120 – 134. And each of these represent a step on the path of discipleship.

  
  

  Peterson says on page 20 “Christians will recognize how appropriately these psalms may be sung between the times: between the time we leave the world’s environment and arrive at the Spirit’s assembly; between the time we leave sin and arrive at holiness; between the time we leave home on Sunday morning and arrive in church with the company of God’s people; between the time we leave the works of the law and arrive at justification by faith. They are songs of transition, brief hymns that provide courage, support and inner direction for getting us to where God is leading us in Jesus Christ.

  
  

  The first Psalm is 120 (it is given in the book in the Message translation, hadn’t read the Psalms in this style before) Peterson mentions regarding this Psalm that dissatisfaction with the world is what gives us the motivation to set out on the Christian path.

  
  

  I sure can relate to that, my life was spiraling down and I knew I needed God in my life. Before that I had been afraid to reach out.

  
  

  He than says on page 27 “Christian consciousness begins in the painful realization that what we assumed was the truth is in fact a lie.”  And he goes on to give some facts of the lies, lies of satan are not those blatant lies, they are often impeccably factual, containing no errors, no distortions, falsified data, but they claim to tell us who we are, and omit everything about our origin in God and our destiny in God.

  
  

  According to Peterson in Psalm 120, the word “God” is only used twice in this psalm, but once God is admitted, He fills the entire horizon. And the first step towards God is a step away from the lies of the world. – in Christian terminology that is repentance – a 180 degree turn from the way we are going. He says that repentance is a decision, not a feeling, not feeling sorry for one’s sin, but a decision to stop doing things your way, and to do them God’s way. As we have discovered on our walks, to say “no” to one way of doing things inevitably causes pain, for we are not comfortable with change. But truth be told, the minimal pain of denying one way, is replaced with the joy of being at peace within and with God.

  
  

  Now here are the paragraphs that link in with our study of Genesis. Page 31-32

  
  

   ”The whole history of Israel is set in motion by two such acts of world-rejection, which freed the people for an affirmation of God: “the rejection of Mesopotamia in the days of Abraham and the rejection of Egypt in the days of Moses.” All the wisdom and strength of the ancient world were in Mesopotamia and Egypt. But Israel said no to them. Despite the prestige, the vaunted and uncontested greatness, there was something foundationally alien and false in those cultures: “I’m all for peace; but the minute I tell them so, they go to war!” Mesopotamian power and Egyptian wisdom were strength and intelligence divorced from God, put to the wrong ends and producing all the wrong results.
      Modern interpretations of history are variations on the lies of the Mesopotamians and Egyptians in which, as Abraham Heschel describes it, “man reigns supreme, with the forces of nature as his only possible adversaries. Man is alone, free, and growing stronger. God is either nonexistent or unconcerned. It is human initiative that makes history, and it is primarily by force that constellations change. Man can attain his own salvation.
       So Israel said no and became a pilgrim people, picking a path of peace and righteousness through the battlefields of falsehood and violence, finding a path to God through the labyrinth of sin.
       We know that Israel, in saying no, did not miraculously return to Eden and live in primitive innocence, or mystically inhabit a heavenly city and live in supernatural ecstasy. They worked and played, suffered and sinned in the world as everyone else did, and as Christians still do. But they were now going someplace—they were going to God.”

  
  

  page 33 “Repentance, the first word in Christian immigration, sets us on the way to traveling in the light. It is a rejection that is also an acceptance, a leaving that develops into an arriving, a no to the world that is a yes to God.

  
  

  ****
  Heather’s note, a funny thing, when I used to reject Christianity, I figured I was so free, and I did not realize that the “no” to Christianity, was a “yes” to something that just led me further and further into bondage. I keep praying that people will find the liberty that comes from trusting God, obeying God, and not leaving us open to lies that tear down and destroy.

  
  

  Have a blessed day!

  
  

  Heather

  • 3:28 pm
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