Pride-Shattering Prose

Philippians 2:17

ἀλλὰ εἰ καὶ σπένδομαι ἐπὶ τῇ θυσίᾳ καὶ λειτουργίᾳ τῆς πίστεως ὑμῶν χαίρω καὶ συγχαίρω πᾶσιν ὑμῖν


But even if I am poured out as a drink-offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I myself rejoice and I rejoice with every one of you.

In the past few days God has been centering me on his Potter's wheel. Corners of my soul where there have been rebel outposts of self-centered pride and man-exalting fear have been targets of a counter-insurgency by the gracious spirit of God to place me humbly before his sculpting hands. I can't exactly say that it has been entirely fun, but the awareness of God's love to be at work in me is as rewarding as it is uncomfortable. 

The passage above is a beautiful example of how God arrests our prideful focus for observable results with examples of people who have had a willingness to sacrifice themselves before the Lord and let that be enough. Paul wanted the Philippians to shine, holding forth the word of life and living together without murmuring and disputes for the glory of God's gospel. But if they did not, he would rejoice that he was able to pour himself out as a drink-offering (maybe like David did with the water) before the Lord. He was Content to know that his life was a sweet display of worship for God's rejoicing.  So, again I find myself guilty of loving myself and the praise of others too much, and loving my God too little. I am a deeper sinner than I thought, but thanks be to Go Jesus is a greater Savior than I thought as well.

 

Bolt

The theme of this blog is Bolt, yes bolt.

Bolt Bus is a great idea. Once you actually get to the bus and boarding is complete it is quit possibly the best way to travel between DC-NY-BOS. Why? First of all, free wi-fi. I have enjoyed the ability to send/receive e-mail, blog, check the news, and even communicate with Carol to rearrange my pick-up in Springfield. The seats are leather and comfortable and th driver is quite pleasant. The cost is $20 and I do not think you can beat it. There are multiple trips daily and I highly recommend you give it a try.

While receiving e-mail on Bolt Bus I got a picture ofme making a Bolt for the finishing line at the 10K the other night. Thanks David.

You can see it here. www.hlaup.is/myndir/Midnaeturhlaup2008/MID2008_A_9km_fyrri_hluti/target114.html

Stranger in a Strange Land: NY City with Luggage

I learned this morning how hard it is to be a stranger in a strange land. Yesterday I left the familiarity of Reykjavik, Iceland for the jungle of New York City. I have been to NY on severl occassions, but never without a car and cell phone. It is amazing how hard adjusting is when you do not have these two beautiful modern conveniences.

Last night I picked up a cab from JFK airport to my hotel. The cab driver had never heard of my hotel and did not know the street information I gave him. We eventually made it, but it was my first dive into the Abyss of dependency on public transport, and I was already feeling like fish out of water (or a land mammal under water).

This morning was ridiculous. I left myself 1.5 hours to make it to my 9:30 AM Bus (Bolt Bus NY2DC) on 33rd St. in Manhattan and missed it by 20 minutes. It sounded simple, "Bus Q20a to the Long Island Railroad #7 train and switch the #2 at Times Square until you get to 34th St. " I could do it again in much quicker time but the first of everything is always a strange adventure. I missed the Q20a twice as I discovered first that I was at the wrong bus stop, and second that the bus does not take dollar bills or a credit card. I had a very similiar experience a the train station as the automated fare center rejected all of my credit cards and I had to find an ATM to get cash for the cash only walk-up fare center. When I finally got to the #7 train they had shut down the express train which skips 2/3 of the stops and goes directly to Times Square and had to board the train making every local stop.

So instead of taking the 9:30 am bus to DC I am taking the 11:30 am bus. Not that big of a deal, but you must understand that I had my luggage from my Iceland trip with me the entire way. I told Annie Tuesday that it would be an adventure getting around NY when I returned and that I was looking forward to it. Except for the fear that I would get back too late to pick Annie up from the airport I manage not to worry a whole lot about the unfortunate morning run around. I had been equipped a few days earlier by Kristen Marks' blog about bad days blog and found myself trying to think of all the ways that God is in the midst of this crazy experience.

Iceland for a Week

It has been a full week. Here are some of the things I have been up to:

- On Friday I tried to recover from the flight and arrival. I woke up and then spent the day getting some things in order (like minutes for my telephone) and contacting people I needed to see while I was here. I began my house search, met with our past landlady, and then in the evening I met Jon and Marissa's Bible study group(Dagny, Katrinn, Wilborg, Jon Kristinn, Thorra and one other of whom I can't remember how to say her name) for dinner and a trip to the Icelandic Gospel Fest (a first time event that has been a collaborative effort from different groups).

- Saturday morning I did a talk on Prince Caspian and the Themes of C.S. Lewis as a part of the seminar series connected with the gospel fest. The talk was at 10:00 am so it was quite a difficult wake up for me at 8:45 local time (4:45AM EST). Afterward I met with Kjartan Jonson, one of the leaders of SALT Christian Fellowship, followed by a nap, some car shopping, an evening run (6 miles along the bay) and some prep for my next talk the following morning.

- Sunday at 10 AM I was scheduled to speak again for one of the events connected to the gospel fest, so I had to wake up again at 8:45 local time. All went well and was followed by some music prep with Siggy for an evening worship service with SALT. I saw some friends Andres and Lilja for the first time and enjoyed talking with them. The gospel fest had some offsite music events in restaurants as a way to promote the bigger festival. When someone dropped off the schedule I was asked to play a few songs at The Perlan (Pearle) a rather expensive restaurant and dandy tourist attraction. For those that have been, I was on the top floor and then at the very top in this little circle setup. It is the highest point inside the building and I was awestruck by the view of the city the entire time, especially becuse the entire room rotates one full time an hour (see picture above). It was at 8 PM and I met some nice people who were also doing some music. One of the guys was from Charlotte, so that was nice to talk with him. I was especially flattered when one of the waiters came up to the top of the place where we were playing and said, "some of our guest would like to know who you are? What is your name?"

- Monday I met with Sveinbjorn to get some things in order before my visit to immigration. I had never met him before this trip, but he is the father a vey good friend David. It was very helpful and set me up for success at UTL(immigration). When I left immigration at 1:15PM I felt like I had all the answers necessary to finish our application packet. I then followed up on a lead for an apartment by visiting the owner of Antikhusid in downtown. Sure enough she had an apartment and we spent some time talking and made plans to arrange a visit with the current inhabitants. Following that it was off to Andres and Lilja's so they could help me read the auto ads in Icelandic. It was nice to visit there new place and see there wedding pictures and I can now navigate through the Icelandic auto website (very important skill). I was near David's workplace so I stopped by to see one of the coolest buildings in the city. In the evening I had dinner with Hermann, Lars, an Kjartan and participated in the race that is mentioned in a previous post.

-Tuesday I woke up a little later and spent some time reading and refreshing in the morning. The visit to the aforementioned apartment was had after a return call from the resident. Whn I walked in I was so impressed I didn't know what to say. It is a great place and I think I will recommend it as my first choice. It is cheaper than most furnished places, has a nice open kitchen and living area, and two bedrooms. It was the nicest place I saw all week. By happenstance in the afternoon I stumbled upon an Icelandic language school after taking in afternoon coffee with Bing, Ying-Zi, and Brian Allen Smith III. After speaking with the teacher I was ready to sell all and take up language training. The man named Olygur was so passionate about teaching Icelandic well that I wanted to start immediately. After that I met with the ownr of the earlier mentioned apartment to talk terms. By then it was about 7:45PM and time to go to Jon and Marissa's for burgers. It was nice to relax and talk with them and Thorra.

Through the entire trip there has been intermixed visits to car lots and other apartments of no consequence, but as you can see it has been a hefty week. Tomorrow I return to the States for an NY city adventure and return to VA. I haven't decided, but I think I am going to take the bolt bus home to DC and then beg someone for a ride. So you might get a call.

Reykjavik Miðnæturhlaup á Jónsmessu 2008

Maybe tomorrow night I will post about what I have been up to the last couple of days (busier than I expected), but tonight was a purely recreational event with David, Fjola, and Molle. The Midnight Run 3k, 5k and 10k. David ran the 5k, and I ran the 10k. A few things about the midnight run:

1. It was not at midnight, but 10:10 PM local time. 

2. It was beautiful and sunny the entire race. 

3. The race ends at the largest public hot pool in Reykjavik

It was really a fun event and I was amazed at how big of a crowd came out for the race. I must say that racing at 10:00 is much better than the 7 AM start. I really enjoyed the time afterward sitting in the pool with David and Fjola and soaking my weary legs. I felt good the entire race and came in at an unofficial time of 45:45. I was very pleased and I even got a little medal for finishing.

Midnight Daylight

I landed in Iceland at 11:20pm local time. Thanks to the fine David Sveinbjornson I made it to the place I am staying for the next few days at about 12:45 AM (8:45 EST). The craziest thing is that it is still light outside even as I post. It has the appearance of 8:00 PM on the east coast and does not seem to be fading. 

The flight was uneventful. I watched The Pursuit of Happyness which was a pretty moving film. I think there is something about the love of the main character for his son that just gripped me. I also finished reading C.S. Lewis' Out of the Silent Planet and a literary analysis of Prince Caspian by Gene Veith called The Soul of Prince Caspian. I'm gearing up for my talk on C.S. Lewis and Prince Caspian on Saturday Morning at 10:00 AM.

As we landed and drove up the coast to Reykjavik I was aware of two powerful thoughts.

1. I'm not a big fan of traveling alone. I have not done it much, but it is not the most comfortable type of experience for me. It caused me to really pray and open my heart up to how God wants to use this time of solitude (it won't be all solitude, but more than usual) in my life.

2. I was humbled before the challenge of the bigger mission of living in Iceland for two years to serve the Lord and further his kingdom. I felt like one of the small insignificant animals in Prince Caspian that seemingly could do very little in a great war. It has also caused me to pray and ponder the work that God wants to do in me and ultimately through our family.

JFK to KEF

So I'm sitting at my gate waiting for my flight Reykjavik. Last night after church Bobb-o Keilan and I drove to Newark to stay at a hotel outside of the Big Apple. They dropped me off and are headed for some sightseeing and then back to VA. A couple of highlights...

Keilan brought his Guitar even though there was no time to play it. It took up much of the backseat he was sitting in.

Newark is other worldly, especially at 1:30 AM. It feels like a scary other planet where robot industrial monsters have created a bad imitation of the sun that shines all night.

We stayed at the Extended stay America. When I went to the front desk to get blankets I walked in on an FBI sting operation. I heard one of the 10 agents say, "We'll talk to housekeeping after it's all over." Then the crew headed down the hallway to do whatever it was they were there for.

Late this morning Bobby and I left Keilan in the car on 57th in Manhattan so that we could "park" to get som coffee and brunch and bring it back. When we returned he was curled up in the backseat with all the doors locked. Either way we made it to the airport.

If anyone is out there please post when you know of Bobby and Keilan's safe return to VA.

Annie, I do not have a phone number for you in Coon Valley, WI. Could you please send it to my e-mail.

Schaumst

Found at theologica: OT Law and the Christian

Here is a paragraph of this post found at the Between Two Worlds Blog. I would encourage you to check it out. It is a good presentation of the view that I have been suggesting.

What role does the Mosaic law play in the lives of Christians today?

Having suggested that the Mosaic law in its entirety be removed from the backs of Christians in one sense, I would propose that the corpus be placed back into their hands in another sense: the entire corpus—not just the “moral” laws but all 613—moral, ceremonial, civil. If on the one hand the evidence strongly suggests that the corpus is no longer legally binding upon Christians, there is equally strong evidence in the NT that all 613 laws are profoundly binding upon Christians in a revelatory and pedagogical sense.

Covenant: God Pursues by Mark Driscoll

Here is a solid message on how important and pervasive the idea of covenant i in understanding Christian doctrine. I have listened to some of the other messages in the series as well and would recommend them.

The New Covenant in My Blood

I remember the first time I made the connection between what Jesus was saying in his last nigh with the disciples and the Old Testament concept of a covenant. It clarified so many important theological ideas that I could not believe it was not one of the firs thing any Bible teacher would have taught me. Before I continue with this let me remind us of a few core ideas.

1. In the OT the genre of law is used to express aspects of God's relationship to his chosen people of promise. They are not just a chosen people, but a people literally born out of the covenant between God and Abraham. 

2. The covenant promises and the expressed purpose for God's choosing work are expressed after the Exodus through Moses at Mt. Sinai. In connection with the covenant are stipulations that define the relationship. God chose them to glorify himself by raising up a kingdom of priests and he had very specific way they were to live to accomplish the task. The Mosaic Law Code is the group of stipulations that define the covenant relationship.

3. I am suggesting then, that stipulations mean nothing outside the context of the covenant relationship. Jesus is the mediator of a new and better covenant that gives fulfillment to the one that came before, and the stipulations of the new covenant come to us as commands to Love God and Love One Another. The reality of what that looks like is filled in through his teaching and the teaching of the Apostles and those that wrote on their behalf (The New Testament). It is authoritative and calls us to a life of holiness and righteousness.

Now in my Biblical Worldview class, I taught the students that Biblical Ethics are rooted in the character of God, such that murder is wrong not just because God says it is, but because it violates his character. In the same way I do not believe murder is wrong because there is an Old Testament Law that says so. The Old Testament law gives expression to the character of God. What is to govern our lives is the Holy character of God. Scripture, covenants, history, and nature reveal His character and call us to obedience. The Old Testament is not full of outdated information that Jesus set aside, but valuable displays of God's character and faithfulness for us to learn from. 

So, I do not follow Old Testament Law in the strictest sense of the term because it is culturally situated for the covenant faithfulness of Israel. I do seek to live in the freedom of the new covenant to add to my faith virtue and character like unto Christ. The command to Israel was "live in the land and be separate for my glory and namesake". The command to the church is to go into all the world, and I believe because of the difference of the mission in the different economy of God's plan he has set us free from any cultural hangups, and called us to live holy lives in the culture which he places us. It is very different from what he had for Israel, but flows out of the same heart. Thoughts?

Guilt and Shame -Satan's Devices and Gospel Cures

A couple of weeks ago I did some posts on the concept of covenant. In my busyness I let them behind - with all good intention -and failed to finish the race well. I then began to cycle into guilt, and as time moved on shame about my failure as a blogger. Once these two walls are up we often do not scale the wall to return because we must first humbly admit that we set out to accomplish something and did not. I will not make any empty excuses like, "Im too busy", but instead recognize that I lacked the resolve to give the mental energy necessary to putting up substantive posts.

This week I realized that many times in the past I would do the same thing with serious prayer and Bible Study. I would set out with grand aspirations and then when I was not able to hold up the cycle of guilt and shame would keep me from returning at all to receive the blessings of study and prayer before God. If we are not careful, in these moments we will lose hope and give up on a practice that requires diligence and yields great reward. Last week, The Preacher Bill Jessup reminded the congregation that the parable of the sower is first and foremost about the abundant power of the Word of God. One of the implications is that we are to be regular "hearers of the word" (listening to teaching, personal study and reading) so that the seed of the gospel can be brought to harvest in our life.  The cure for the guilt and shame is, of course, the gospel which reminds us that in grace by faith we have come and through the same we will persist. So with that said, I am longing to be diligent in two areas. My, "hearing of the Word" coupled with prayer and blogging of the covenant posts. For this I pray for God's grace.