New Blog!

Just in case you haven't heard, this blog is no longer active. But never fear; I am not finished filling your eyes with good words! 

You can check out my new blog at Aspiring Theologian! Also, you can go to the Facebook page, or follow me on Twitter at handles @OfficialATBlog or @bens1031. There's tons of ways to get connected, so there should be no excuse to at least follow one of those links, that is unless you're one of those cotton-headed ninny muggins.  

I Am Not, But You Are

A poem of worship that I wrote after reading Psalm 118.

I praise you from the shallow grave,

I’ve made for myself.

From the depths of my despair,

I’ll exalt your name.

God, You are the one who can save.

Your love knows no bounds or limit,

It will never end.

Searching for my own lost cause,

I’ll never be whole.

You pursue my heart and win it.

A Short Study In Galatians

Galatians acts as a separation between Paul’s longer epistles, such as the Corinthian letters and Romans, and his shorter epistles which starts at Galatians and runs through Philemon.  With Galatians, Paul’s letters become more condensed, upfront, and to-the-point.  This length, or lack of, makes these short Pauline epistles an easy and quick read, and therefore the subject of many modern sermons.  Much like the letter of 2 Corinthians to the church of Corinth, Paul wrote Galatians to defend and describe the gospel of Jesus Christ.

            Just like 2 Corinthians addressed the false gospels that were creeping into the church, Galatians was also written to defend the gospel that Paul preached to the church in Galatia.  Paul wastes no time in covering these issues by beginning in 1:6-9.  Asserting that there is only one revelation of Christ, Paul condemns all those that preach a “gospel contrary to the one we preached to you”.  This gospel is later shown in 1:12 to be made known to Paul through a “revelation of Jesus Christ”.  Because Paul received the gospel of Jesus through a revelation from Jesus himself, the Galatian church needed to hold this gospel at a higher level than any other that was being preached.  Paul’s authority of preaching within the Galatian church was being challenged.

            Even though Paul opens the letter of Galatians with a defense of the gospel of Jesus, most of the ink in Galatians is spilt on describing the gospel.  The crux of the gospel—Jesus death on the cross for the world’s sins—is delivered in 1:4.  The majority of the rest of Galatians describes what impact Jesus’ death has for the Christians in Galatia.  Paul writes that justification lies in faith in Jesus Christ “and not by works of the law” in 1:16.  Going a step further, Paul says that “through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God”, 1:19, thus bridging the gap between the Old Testament covenant and the New Testament covenant.  Paul also recognizes that it is impossible to keep the entire law perfectly, and thus the grace of God enters into humanity to help us in our unrighteousness (1:20, 3:13).

            As people of faith in Jesus’ death—not in the law—Christians are adopted “as sons” and “an heir through God”.  As children of God, Christians receive all the rights an adopted son of God would receive.  Just as the oldest son would receive the inheritance of a father Christians also receive the inheritance of life that God offers.  Paul later encourages the Galatians to live as children and not “submit again to the yoke of salvery” but to “stand firm” in the freedom of Christ.  Later, the Galatians are reminded not to take advantage of their freedom and God’s grace by still remaining under the ways of the sinful flesh, but to “serve one another” through love (5:13).  This command is the climax of Paul’s gospel. Paul goes as far to say that the “whole law is fulfilled in one word:  ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (5:14).  Christians are given the grace they need to love one another only by living in the power of the Spirit.  Paul closes out the book of Galatians by talking about living in the Spirit and not the flesh.

            Even though Paul takes some time to defend the gospel he preached in Galatia, he also wrote Galatians to emphasize the definition of the gospel of Jesus.  The pinnacle of the gospel of Jesus lies in loving one another, which can only be done through the power of the Holy Spirit. The church was struggling with remaining pure to that gospel, and Paul used his apostolic authority to keep Galtia accountable to God and themselves.

Gutter

The past year has been quite a rough year for the metal music scene. It began last November with the untimely death of Suicide Silence vocalist Mitch Lucker. Mitch and his music had stood as an inspiration to many, and his death hit his fans hard. Last month, Deftones bassist Chi Cheng passed away unexpectedly during a slow recovery from a 2008 accident that put him in a coma. Cheng had touched hundreds of thousands of lives between his fans and members of other bands, and his influence within the scene will be greatly missed. At the beginning of May, another musician--Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman--passed away from alcohol abuse. Slayer is one of those bands that has been around since metal began to gain popularity, and Jeff and his impact in music will be remembered. 

Within the last week, the metal music scene was rocked with another blow as Tim Lambesis--lead vocalist for As I Lay Dying--was arrested for soliciting an undercover cop to off his wife. Out of the all the tragedies that have been happening in the metal scene lately, Lambesis' situation hits me the hardest.

I was first introduced to AILD through TVU, a Christian music video TV channel that my friend and I were obsessed with in middle school. In fact, looking back on it, they were one of my "gateway bands"--bands that began to whet my appetite for heavier styles of music. Throughout the years, I've been a moderate fan. As I Lay Dying has never made it on my list of all-time favorite bands, but I own most of their albums and have a huge respect for them. The band is full of phenomenal musicians, and Tim himself was a great lyricist. Plus, my being short made Tim my poster-child for manliness: Loves Jesus, long hair, a beard, huge muscles, and tattoos.

Over the 13 years since the bands founding they have attracted millions of listeners from the entirety of the globe. A look at some social media shows some impressive statistics. They have racked up over 38 million "scrobbles" (track listens) amongst almost 787,000 fans on Last.fm. Almost 2 million people "like" their Facebook band page, they have almost 125,000 followers on Twitter (Lambesis himself has almost 38,000), and their most popular Youtube video has almost 9 million views. As I Laying has influence.

Another fact about the band is their faith. Since their formation, they've been an outspoken band about their faith in Jesus Christ. All the members are devoted Christians, and their religion is seen in their lyrics. Tim Lambesis has talked about his faith in several earlier interviews, one which you can read here. So when I initially saw the news about Tim's arrest earlier this week, naturally I was shocked and taken aback. There had to be a gross misunderstanding somewhere. Unfortunately, this is very real.

I empathize with the rest of Tim's fans. We're hurt. We're confused. We're shocked. How could a Christian man with so much social influence fall so far? One day Tim held the adoration of his fans in the palm of his hand, and he owned an opportunity to use his status to reach and change the lives of millions around the world. A short time later his face is hollow with guilt as those who held him on such a pedestal throw him to the wolves and lose all respect for him. What he could have used for incredible good is gone. Within an instant his life has changed forever.

As I look at this through a Christian, biblical lens, I'm reminded about Israel's greatest human king, David. The beginning of David's reign is full of political and military triumph. He cleaned up the mess that Saul had left, and he acted as a mediator between God and his people. Deeply in love with his Lord, David led the nation of Israel with purity and uprightness of heart. Instead of looking for his own glorification, he always sought to glorify and give thanks and praise to God for who he was and what he was doing. Up until his downfall, God gave David amazing success.

But much like Tim Lambesis, David fell so far down. Starting with the affair with Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11, David began to fail as a king. After sleeping with Bathsheba and having her husband killed (2 Sam. 11), his family and kingdom began falling apart. Amnon, David's son, rapes his sister (13:1-22) before being killed by his brother Absalom (13: 23-33). Absalom then leads a rebellion against David, his father, and forces him out of his capital city before getting himself killed (15-18). Another rebellion against David is later led by Sheba (20). Finally, David makes his final mistake in putting his faith in his military might instead of God. Against better judgment, he takes a census of the nation, but is later punished with a plague of pestilence from God (24). After passing on the kingship to his son Solomon, David died a very different man than how he had started his reign.

Looking at the story of both Tim's and David's failures is a reminder that our faith is not to be in man alone. Humanity is flawed. People are sinful, make mistakes, and betray each other. No matter how great a person may seem, they are never as great as the God in heaven. As I reel in the wake of the arrest of a role model for many, one verse in particular stood out from the Psalms this morning, which coincidentally David wrote. Psalm 40:4 states, "Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie." It can be easy to grab hold of tangible people like Tim and David because of a lot of admirable qualities. To me, Tim represented a true, manly man of God, and I looked up to him in that way. Had my faith been in Tim alone his arrest would have destroyed me.

Thankfully, I have a God who's greater than Tim. My faith is placed in God who is God, and I am not. I put my hope in a Lord who knows the future even when I don't, who acts as a "sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain" (Heb. 6:19). Even though there are assuredly rough times ahead full of grief and pain, loss and heartache, I know that sinful nature has created these and I can cling to a God who feels my pain, empathizes with my weakness, and holds me through the tears and grief of future events. It's of Him that I will not let go because I know he won't let go of me.

"If I walk away with one thing from all of this, it's to never again put my faith in man."--Gideon

James: A Summary

Over the years, James has received a lot of criticism for seemingly contradicting Paul’s justification by faith doctrine. Luther called it an “epistle of straw”, implying that James was less worthy of canonship than Paul’s epistles (Elwell and Yarbrough 353). As a mix of wisdom reminiscent of Proverbs and doctrine, James definitely stands out amongst all other New Testament writings. Taking a closer look at the book reveals that James carries as much weight as the rest of the New Testament. James is a book full of wisdom and imperative commands that speak truth into all times and cultures. The epistle of James is a message to all Christians on how to handle trials that life throws out way.

            James defines the theme of trials right away in 1:1-4. This particular passage in the Bible has proven encouraging to generations after generations of Christian who have found comfort in James’ words. According to James, trials are tests that all go through in life that develop character and lead to being complete and mature. This truth is once again repeated in 1:12-15, but James goes further and addresses temptations that test and build up perseverance.

            Nestled in between these two introductory paragraphs is a small section on wisdom (1:5-8). It is no coincidence that James pairs life’s trials with wisdom, which is pertinent to struggling through hard times. Christians cannot face difficulties in life without Godly wisdom. God’s presence commands a sense of peace that quells the stress of life. Only in that peace will Christians find the strength to stand tall in the darkest of storms.

            James is a book that’s tied very nicely together. Each theme in this book relates perfectly to one another. Godly wisdom, James says, comes through prayer (1:5-6) and is a gift “coming down from the Father of lights” (17). Prayers are to be made in faith and without doubt, “for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind” (1:6). The theme of prayer runs throughout the entirety of James, but its strongest appearance is made at the end of James in 5:13-18. In the midst of difficulties, the righteous person can be assured that his prayers have “great power” (1:16).

            Therefore all of James’ teaching on trials can be summed up by: Trials, temptations, and hardships in life are only faced through Godly wisdom which is granted to Christians through the power of faithful prayer. Instead of stressing out and worrying about what life may bring, Christians can be assured that God’s wisdom will guide them through each and every storm. Also, Christians and non-Christians alike can be comforted in the fact that God does not tempt nor act as the cause of evil (1:13). The great apologetic debate regarding God and evil has been going on for ages. Sin is ultimately the root of all evil, not God.

            James is a tight book that packs a lot into its few pages, and the book focuses on withstanding trials and temptations. James concurs with the rest of the Bible and presents Christ as the answer to difficult times. Unfortunately, during hardships it can be easy to lose sight of God and his care. James is just another constant reminder that, through prayer, God will grant us the wisdom and strength we need to face hard circumstances. 

__________________________________________________________________________ 

WORKS CITED

Elwell, Walter A., and Robert M. Yarbrough. Encountering the New Testament: A Historical and Theological Survey with CDROM. Edition Unstated. Baker Academic, 1998. Print.

Assyria, a short story about Assyrian religion.

Recently did a paper on ancient Assyrian religion and had to write a short creative writing piece on it as well. Here's the creative writing bit:

The knife glinted in the sunlight as it hung suspended in space. The hand wrapped around the hilt was stained crimson, the fingers locked in an unshakable grip. Dirt and a few stray animal hairs clung to the skin held fast by the drying blood. Dormara brought the knife down with a tremendous force, burying it deep into the thick neck of the ox. The billowing of the beast fell on ears that were all too accustomed to the sound. At first the clamor had been eerie and more than a few new priests had their nerves shaken. However, years of the ritual sacrifices had dulled the impact. The ropes holding the animal quivered and stretched, threatening to break underneath the weight of their captive. Only twice in Dormara’s three years of service had an animal broken free from its bonds. Both times had resulted in a gruesomely violent affair as the bleeding animal limbered off in an attempt to escape the priest. The oxen never really got too far before they bled out. But instead of the blood being somewhat collected and confined to one space it was spattered around the stone temple walls and floor creating a macabre scene.

            Dormara finished the ox with a swift upward motion as he severed the spinal cord. The animal shook as it gave up the last ounces of strength before letting out one last breath. The whole process had taken less than a minute, but it was a minute that was painted in red droplets on the bottom of Dormara’s cloak, steadily becoming greater as they descended and finally pooling at his feet. In another matter of minutes he had swiftly gutted the animal and removed the entrails, placing the heap in a large clay bowl that was resting on the floor a few feet away. The first five minutes after death were vital to divination.

At Dormara’s command, one of the guards at the door left to bring the king to the sacrificial courtyard. Dormara closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. It wasn’t necessary for the priests to wait for the king’s presence before starting their ritualistic worship. His mind drained of thought, opening the door for the gods to enter. His hands lifted in an upward motion, palms up and open to offer up his sacrifice and receive instruction. His lips moved in a whispered prayer.

            “Oh, great Ninurta, hear our prayer. Show us the path and light the way for our feet. We need your direction”.

            He finished his prayer with an incantation that had been handed down through generations of priests. His eyes opened and he squinted at the bloody mass of bodily organs that lay before him. As he inspected the stomach he noticed a full belly of wheat and oats. This animal had been well fed and healthy. His probing hand shifted through the pile and his trained eyes darted about, seeking a sign. As he came across the intestine he noticed it had been stretched. Gluttony. This animal had dined well, truly the gods were smiling down. His hand dug deeper searching, searching, searching for another sign to present to the king. His fingers wrapped around something warm and firm. What was this? He lifted his treasure and his eyes widened in surprise. A fetus! This ox had been in the first month of pregnancy. It was rare that a sacrifice was pregnant, but it was an exceptional sign that the gods were favoring the nation.

            The king strode in, his long robes gently swishing along the sunbaked and bloody stone. His height made Dormara’s short stature seem even shorter. Two guards flanked each side, their swords concealed within the folds of their cloaks.

            “Greetings, Oh King Sennacherib. All praise and honor to you for your generous rule over the nation. You are worthy of worship,” Dormara spouted forth the typical Assyrian greeting.

            “Yes, well? What way do the gods direct us to go?”

            “Here, I will show you.” Dormara motioned for the king to approach the altar where he had set aside the full stomach and stretched intestine. Hoping to surprise and gain the favor of the king, he had kept the fetus hidden in the clay pot along with the rest of the discarded organs. Dormara gave him a rundown of his discoveries.

            “As you can see, oh king, we have a fine and full stomach here, albeit it doesn’t smell very appetizing. The oats and the vegetation that fill this animal’s stomach signify a blessing from the gods. They have given us permission to proceed with the conquest as planned.”

            “Mmm. Yes, I see. Very good, priest. Very good.” Sennacherib’s tan brow furrowed as his eyes roved over the altar.

            “Next, oh king, we have an intestine from this ox. Notice the stretching here and here,” Dormara pointed them out. “These signify success from the gods. The conflict will be one of success and all nations on earth will come to fear you through your military prowess.”

            “Good, good, yes, I see.” The king nodded his head and muttered agreement as the priest explained the importance of the two bits of entrails. For the past several months, Sennacherib had been planning an intensive and concentrated invasion of the nation of Israel. Israel controlled some of the best portions of the land, and Assyria had much to gain from eradicating the scum from their midst. Sennacherib knew that a meeting with his military advisors was due next. If the gods were smiling down on them, there was nothing that could stop the power of the Assyrian empire.

            “And this last piece, oh king, I think you’ll be especially pleased about,” Dormara continued. Sennacherib followed the short priest over to the clay bowl that held the mass of entrails that were left over from the sacrifice. A bean-shaped object lay on the top that immediately captured the king’s focus. He knew what it was and the meaning it held.

            “It seems that this sacrifice was unexpectedly pregnant, oh king. I’m sure you know what this means, sire,” Dormara spoke happily as he handed the fetus over to the king.

            “Marvelous! Riches beyond comparison will soon be mine as I wipe that Israelite infestation off of the face of the earth. Their puny Yahweh cannot stand a chance against the all-mighty power of our gods, priest.”

            The king handed the dripping object back to the priest before turning and walking out of the temple courtyard; his guards followed. He walked up the steps of his palace and threw open the door to his council chamber.

            “Call the military commanders and officers. I want them here right away; we have no time to lose.” The messenger standing at attention by the door bowed low and turned to exit.  

            “One more thing. Run by the temple and escort one of the temple prostitutes to my sleeping quarters. The gods need to be worshiped tonight.” The messenger once again bowed low and left the king alone.

            Sennacherib pored over the maps that were flattened on a wooden table. The map bore markings and troop movements of battles and conquests of olden days. His heart burned inside of him with a hatred for the Israelites. This conquest would be something the world had not seen up to this point. Even the acclaimed Israelite king Hezekiah would have no chance of standing up against the mighty power of Sennacherib.

            Pretty soon the military commanders, officials, and Sennacherib’s sons entered the room and amidst the planning and organization a military strategy was set forth that would turn out quite differently than Sennacherib expected.