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I leave for Africa tomorrow. If I have a chance to post I will. If not, you’ll have to wait until I get back. I’m uber-excited yet stressed at the same time. But that’s kinda how I live my life.
Orange, I miss you guys.
Beach, see you soon.
Blue and Yellow, keep up the good work. I hear great things.
Brown, you guys set the standard for kids camp ministry.
Holla.
My preaching mentor, Dr. Robert Smith Jr., always says, “you can’t say ‘thus sayeth the Lord’ until you know what sayeth the Lord.” I have been thinking again lately on listening to the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit (being around Neil McClendon can make you do that). I think Doc’s saying speaks directly to what I’ve been thinking about. That’s it. No elaboration. Did I mention it’s 3:30?
Yes. I am back at camp. I’m privileged enough to get to serve with the Orange team for a bit this summer. They’re great. They have been very accepting and encouraging. It’s weird to be doing this again, but is also a lot of fun. We’re in our second camp together and things have been going pretty well.
This week we have Neil McClendon and Monk & Neagle with us. Monk & Neagle have been great. They’re pretty refreshing and cool to work with. Neil has been a challenge to everyone here as always. Tonight he preached a rather succinct but powerful message. There was much emotional and spiritual healing taking place tonight. It was awesome to be able to be a part of. I’ve never wanted to cancel Late Nite so bad. But now that it’s done, I’m glad we didn’t. There were still hundreds of students here who needed a break from things while some of their friends continued to spend time in prayer or talk with their adults elsewhere.
I leave for Africa one week from tomorrow. Don’t get jealous!
I miss Liza and Missy, as well as my friends spread out all over the country right now and my family spread out all over the world. I love you all.
I will close with three interesting quotes from Neil so far:
1. “Boredom is the soul yawning.”
2. “There is a dangerous Jesus on the wild fringes of your imagination.” (This one should get some comments. Preemptively, let me point out that all I said about these quotes was that I found them interesting)
3. “The greatest obstacle to living with authority is affirmation.”
Grace and Blessings.
If you could care less, stay tuned. I’ll post about camp tomorrow.
I agree that exegesis is infinitely more valuable than sarcasm and that levity is not a good replacement for Scripture. I also don’t bank on inspirational trends near as much as the inspired Word of God. Though, I certainly don’t always have it “together.”
Don’t assume that I haven’t scrutinized Christ’s teachings in John 14-16 and specifically the teachings found there concerning the role of the Holy Spirit. In my scrutiny, I have not found that Christ’s teachings in these passages are limited as to only being for the apostles. I certainly agree that it was initially given to them and that the role the Holy Spirit played in their lives was inspiring them to pen the Scriptures, teach with authority, and cause them to remember all that they had physically heard Jesus say. But I don’t limit this passage, nor the others where Jesus is speaking specifically to his disciples, to an interpretation limiting the audience to those initial hearers. Three steps involved in hermeneutics and exegesis are to seek to understand what the original author meant in writing the text, what the text meant to the initial hearers and then what it means for us today. In practicing this discipline one realizes that the entire Word of God is also meant for us as well as the original hearers. I know you don’t disagree with that, but I think you might disagree with some of my specific interpretations of certain passages, like this one, as I disagree with yours. It is an interpretation, after all.
For this reason, I believe that Christ’s teachings on the role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the apostles speaks specifically to His role in our lives today. I believe the Holy Spirit fulfills His role of teaching us all things by equipping us to understand the Word of God. I believe He fulfills His role of bringing to our remembrance all that Christ has said by helping us to remember what the Word of God says.
Now, having said that, this passage does not speak specifically to contemplative prayer, nor does any Scripture that I have found. In fact, I’m not attempting to defend contemplative prayer to you. What I was attempting to do was to explain that in my study of the subject and its practitioners there is a clear distinction between the Christian practice of contemplative prayer and any others from other religions. The distinction is that it is not a goal to listen to a part of one’s own self that is divine or to empty oneself of all things, but to quiet our ever-increasingly busy lives in order to listen to what God might speak to us. I believe that He does still speak. I believe that the Holy Spirit dwells in us and does not speak on His own authority but whatever He hears He speaks. This does open oneself up to being misled by the evil forces at work around us. Thus, we must “test the spirits” as you have said. I don’t value personal experience above the Word of God but do believe that the Truth of Scripture enlightens me to understand my own personal and communal experiences of God.
I see how your logic can lead you to think that my understanding leads to the Bible being useless. I just think your logic is wrong. There is no internal spark of divinity within us other than the truth of God’s Word that the Holy Spirit dwells in us. That is not us but God in us. The Spirit of Truth does not make Bible study a thing of the past because, again, He doesn’t speak on His own authority, but only speaks what He hears, and those things He declares are the things that are Christ’s and the Father’s.
I agree that the apostolic gifts are not universal. We know from Scripture what the gifts of the Holy Spirit are for all believers. Thus, I don’t believe that the Spirit will inspire any more Scripture. I do not believe He equips anyone to teach with authority apart from the Word of God. I do not believe that He will teach anything apart from Christ.
I think it is evident that your intellect is extremely important to you, and I can understand why. You are very intellectually gifted. So, I also understand why a teaching that seeks to bypass the intellect would throw up red flags for you apart from what other concerns you would have about it. However, in my study of some modern contemplatives (I say some because you are certainly right about many, perhaps even most) who are Quakers and Catholics, what I think we are arguing about is a methodology and not a philosophy. Contemplation for some is just a marriage of prayer and meditation, both commanded and taught in Scripture. No, it is not the Lord’s prayer, but can certainly help us pray in that way taught as we are able to quiet what is in us that is not concerned with the things of God.
I don’t seek to “ascend Jacob’s ladder and attain an experience of God.” I do have experiences with God, but you are right in saying that they are made possible through Christ and His descension to us.
Incidentally, three of the four Hebrew words typically translated into English as “meditate” carry with them the literal meaning of “speaking, groaning, and uttering.” So, when the Lord tells Joshua that His Word will not depart from Joshua’s mouth and that Joshua will meditate on it day and night, it literally means that he will always be speaking it, over and over. So, a Biblical understanding of meditation is actually to repeat Bible verses.
After re-reading I think I better understand your confusion over what I meant by “the Way” in my comments about Merton. I understand from your comments about Catholicism that it is your understanding that Merton was never in “the Way” as I think you and I both understand it. If I’m wrong about that please correct me, but I’ll continue for a moment as if that’s the case.
I don’t believe that being a Catholic makes you a Christian. Nor do I think that being one denies that you are a Christian. I believe the same about Baptists, Presbyterians, etc. I guess I do consider Catholicism to be a “denomination.” I know that in all denominations there are those who add to the Gospel, and they are wrong. I also know that in all denominations there are those seeking to correct those wrong teachings. Perhaps the most vivid example of this currently is in the Anglican/Episcopal denomination where there are those having to fight against that denominations electing of gay bishops as well as the newly elected female presiding bishop.
The simple message of the Gospel to me is that all men are sinners and doomed to eternal death but that while we were in that state, enemies to God, He gave His Son on our behalf that whoever believes in Him might not perish but have eternal life. People add to that all the time. Some add works. Some add baptism of the Spirit and tongues. Some add a certain mode of baptism. I don’t believe that those who are believers in those denominations that “add” are not justified. They still have faith in Christ.
Also, I don’t believe that denominations are God’s invention. I believe that He desires unity amongst all believers, but our splintering into an ever-increasing number of groups is an unfortunate negative side effect of the Reformation. With my belief along those lines, I kinda think we’re all Christians in spite of our denominations, not because of it.
So, yes, I will not judge Merton’s heart, regardless of Vatican II.
Also, I expressed my feelings to you not for something specific you said but because of the sense I get from it. This is not the first time you and I have had a discussion like this, though others have been in private. If you were just asking for clarification, I would expect simple questions (since asking involves those) and not diatribes about a position your at least assuming I might adhere to. I get a feeling of aggression from you, maybe even hostile in your defense of what you believe. That could just be my problem, and if it is, that’s fine. I’m the one that has to deal with it. But if you’re to continue engaging me in conversations, even when I’m just commenting to someone else, then I think it is beneficial for you to know how I feel.
Certainly I believe that discussions of the Gospel are beneficial. And you are correct that it is not about us convincing each other but the Truth of the Bible convincing both of us. However, we do have to interpret the Bible and I see that we both certain things differently and both believe strongly in our interpretations and that the Spirit has led us to those interpretations. So, I’m not sure where that leaves us except that I commit to pray for you as you continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling and grow in your knowledge of the Word. I ask that you do the same for me.
On a side note, for future discussions with me, I think it will be beneficial for you to understand some things about me, specifically my theological background, which I find to be very different from yours. I was raised as a Southern Baptist. I came to faith in a Southern Baptist church. My friends asked for prayer for their friends who were Methodists or Pentecostals or Catholics because they needed salvation, not because my friends knew they did not know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, but simply because they went to a different church. I didn’t find support for this in Scripture or in my own experience. This led me to be open to learning about and from other denominations and ultimately contributed to my strong belief in ecumenism. This is perhaps nowhere demonstrated better than in my decision to obtain my MDiv from Beeson, where over thirty denominations were represented amongst the student body and faculty. I learned Greek from a Presbyterian. I took spiritual formation classes from a Methodist. An Anglican taught me Church History. A Southern Baptist female taught me New Testament. A Romanian Free-Will taught me Hebrew and Old Testament. A reformed Baptist taught about the Reformation. Pastoral Counseling was taught by a woman ordained in the African Methodist Episcopalian denomination. My family has become increasingly Charismatic. I have found all this learning from different traditions to be very challenging as well as extremely beneficial. I left having learned how to not approach another with the initial goal of trying to figure out how I disagree with them or disprove them. This influences all my practices in ministry and a life of faith.
There you go.
About a month ago I received my weekly newsletter from the guys down at Relevant Magazine. They were looking for a few people to read and then give a review of a book they were about to publish, Pocket Guide to the Bible: A Little Book About the Big Book by Jason Boyett (available from Relevant Books). I responded that I was interested and received the book this past weekend. So, here it goes.
This is the third in Jason Boyett’s Pocket Guide series. The first two are Pocket Guide to Adulthood and Pocket Guide to the Apocalypse. I have to admit that I haven’t read these previous installments, but was intrigued and interested when I received this latest one.
The book is divided into eight chapters. The first being a “Biblicabulary,” which is an alphabetical listing and defining of some terms familiar to all Christians though not necessarily understood by them as well as being completely foreign and confusing to most not labeled with that particular moniker. The next two chapters focus on characters from the Bible (again in alphabetical order) giving a brief summary of their importance and then the two after that cover “what happens” in a book-by-book synopsis. All of this is well and good. Boyett covers all of the bases and writes with wit as well as reverence. Some passages my give the Believing reader pause (they did me) because of the unique humor Boyett discovers in the midst of the holy, but then you can’t take yourself too seriously. However, for any Bible-reading Christians and people who grew up being read Bible stories, a lot of this is old hack, though it is nice to have it all compiled for you in five easy-to-read chapters.
The next two chapters, though, are worth the price of the book alone. Chapter six is entitled “The Brief History of Holy Writ (A Timeline).” Here, Boyett gives the reader what is a brief though very informative history of how the Canon of the Scriptures came into being. “Versions and Perversions (A Selective Survey of Translations” is the title of chapter seven and does just what it says. It takes some of the most well-known translations and gives a brief description of them along with recommendations for reading and categorizing them into one of three categories of translation style: formal equivalence, dynamic equivalence or paraphrase.
The last chapter consists of a number of humorous lists from various categories. Take it or leave it. Though it would make for interesting trivia and humor at your next Saturday night “Let’s-Get-Biblically-Crunked” party.
This isn’t a book you’ll study at any seminary, divinity school or many Bible studies (which is good since the point of a Bible study is to study a Bible, not the latest [insert popular Christian author's name] book). However, in a day and age when there are many misconceptions about the Bible, when many Christians don’t read it themselves on any kind of regular basis, when Dan Brown sparks more discussion of its canonization than does the thousands of sermons and lessons taught on Sunday mornings, it is refreshing to find a work like Pocket Guide to the Bible to serve as an interesting and informative introduction to God’s Holy Word. Biblical scholars can find it to be fun and a good resource to remember everything they’ve got crammed into their brain about the Good Book, but Biblical ingénues or even illiterates will find a great beginning to discovering what all the fuss has been about for the past few millennia.
Enjoy. Or don’t. Whatever.
My summer reading has gotten off to a bit of a late start. However, my first choice is Telegraph Days, the latest by Pulitzer-Prize-winning author, Larry McMurtry. I’m not far into it, but I like it a lot. Of course, if you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, then you already know that I’m a huge McMurtry fan anyway. However, EW gave it a B+ in its latest issue as well as having Stephen King name McMurtry as the greatest contemporary Western novelist. I would say he’s quite possibly the greatest living American novelist period. King recommends the four-book Berrybender Narratives. I would second this recommendation. These novels capture McMurtry’s style and wit and passion for the West better than anything else he’s written of late. Of course, they’ve added his recent Academy Award win to his bio. I’m glad he won. I wish he had won for something else.
