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.

Commencement Address

Well, Thursday I gave my first ever commencement address. Yes, I was the commencement speaker for the Grace Prep Class of 2008. Some of the graduates were students in my Biblical Worldview Class that I taught over the past year. The theme was "Turning the Page" and I shared some thoughts about what is waiting for the students beyond the doors. Here is my favorite part:

A New Kind of Freedom – As Americans we love freedom and rightfully so. It is invigorating. For many of you, you may live away from home and its parental controls for the first time this coming year. You quite possibly may be looking forward to not having to give an answer for where you have been and what you have been doing. I want to caution you with what I think is a bit of Biblical advice about what it means to be free.

 

The most sriking lesson about freedom I have ever learned came through Alexander Dumas’ classic story The Count of Montechristo. If you remember, the story is about a young man named Edmond who is rising in his career as a sailor and about to b married to his fiancé Mercedes when he is unjustly accused of treason and throne into the forgotten prison Chateu d’If. He is incensed with anger and spends many days plotting the revenge he would take if he is released. More so than the physical confines he is confined by a deep hatred and desire for vengeance on the people who stole his life. In a strange occurrence a Wise Priest who is digging a tunnel to escape form the prison takes a wrong turn and digs into Edmonds cell. Through the love and wisdom of the old man the prisoner finds an impressive contentment and peace as he learns a variety of subjects from the Educated Priest. In his new life and friendship with the priest he forgets his anger and thirst for vengeance. As the priest dies he tells Edmond of a secret fortune and Edmond finds an opportunity for escape by taking the priests place in the body bag.

 

Once he escapes, Edmond’s passion for revenge is renewed and the next years of his life are caught up in repaying the evil that had been done to him. His life is totally consumed by his one desire of vengeance. Now if you have never read the story or seen the movie I will not ruin it, but one of the most important questions it raises is What does it mean to be free? When Edmond is in prison and has spent a significant time with his friend the priest he is able to move past his hatred for the injustice done to him. He is free to love and learn wisdom and virtue. When he escapes prison he is enslaved to lustful and hateful passions that consume the rest of his life. Freedom awaits you, but what kind of freedom will it be. Will it be the freedom to live a life of virtue and service to God and others or a sort of bondage to individual lusts and sinful passions that will only be further intoxicated by your newfound liberties to choose. In one manner or the other you wil experience some new freedoms