Closing & Moving
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And also, we're moving to BrianJLund.com
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See you over at the new site!
Labels: bio, blogging, WtTS Stuff
Labels: bio, blogging, WtTS Stuff
1:11 PM | Permalink
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Reading: Murray, John Redemption Accomplished and Applied
This passage should make us deeply ashamed. First, because we are so unused to the voice of our Shepherd that hardly anyone listens to it without indifference. And then because we are so slow and lazy to follow him. I am speaking of the good, or at least of the passable, for most of those who claim to be Christ’s disciples openly rebel against him. Lastly as soon as we hear the voice of any stranger, we are carried unstably here and there, and this unsteadiness and levity shows just how little we have advanced in the faith so far. But although the number of believers is less than we would want, and many of this small number continually fall away, faithful teachers have the consolation of knowing that they are heard by God’s elect, who are Christ’s “sheep.” It is our job to work hard and to strive in every way to bring, if possible, the whole world to agreement in the unity of the faith. Meanwhile, we must be content with our number.The pressures of reforming the Church and the seeming apathy and disobedience of Europe must have been taxing on the consciences of the Reformers. However, it is especially comforting to know that, despite the shortcomings and weaknesses of this preacher, "God's true sheep will hear God's pure word" (emphasis mine).
8:08 PM | Permalink
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Reading: Ordained Servant
In this view, Christian rulers are the leading laity and thus the natural church members to hold the public offices of moral oversight, education, and relief for the poor. For example, among Lutherans and the Zwingli Reformed, the ministry of Word and sacraments was the only clearly ecclesiastical office. Oversight of Christians' morals and care for their daily lives were happily left to the Christian prince or explicitly assigned to the Christian magistrate. Neither tradition made conscious provision for a situation in which the civil ruler was not Christian, an important factor for the development of diakonia in the post-Reformation age.[1]
[1]McKee, Elsie Anne. Diakonia in the Classical Reformed Tradition and Today (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Press, 1989) p. 38.Back
Labels: Art | Culture, City of Man, theology
8:58 PM | Permalink
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Reading: Kromminga, Man Before God's Face in Calvin's Preaching
Labels: Art | Culture, blogging, theology
1:29 PM | Permalink
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Is covenant close to the center of theology for Barth? “...God's Word spoken both in the relation of the history of Israel to the history of Jesus Christ and the relation of the history of Jesus Christ to the history of Israel..."
11:57 PM | Permalink
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Reading: Waltke's new OT Theology
You’re St. Melito of Sardis! You have a great love of history and liturgy. You’re attached to the traditions of the ancients, yet you recognize that the old world — great as it was — is passing away. You are loyal to the customs of your family, though you do not hesitate to call family members to account for their sins. Find out which Church Father you are at The Way of the Fathers! |
I think this may disqualify me for my licensure...
Labels: bio, blogging, Events, theology, WtTS Stuff
11:37 PM | Permalink
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EverNote is available free for download for today (Thursday, 11/15) only! Reaching near cult status in some circles, this app is note taker, project manager, and more all wrapped into one. From the Give Away of the Day site, this is perhaps one of their best offers yet.
Labels: downloads, GTD, Technology
6:40 AM | Permalink
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In other news on culture, evangelicals, politics, theology, movies, and other news...
In the books, Lyra is the new Eve, but an Eve who brings humanity to its full realization by eating the fruit. The climax of the trilogy comes when Lyra, the 12-year-old heroine, shares a red fruit with her friend Will. They kiss and Pullman draws a discrete curtain over the rest: "Around them there was nothing but silence, as if all the world were holding its breath" is as explicit as he gets.No doubt Dr. Peter Jones would have a field day with this, but the ironies abound. Pullman, like so much of the hedonism characterizing the current culture, is vainly struggling to realize human sexuality. In the Christian "mythos," however, Adam and Eve are created naked, are told to fruitfully procreate - i.e., they are given divine fiat to engage in sexual intercourse - and all of this nudity and sex is "very good" in the eyes of God. Contra Pullman, humanity doesn't become aware of sexuality at the Fall, rather their once beautiful nudity becomes shame to them. Where Pullman wants his prototypical Adam and Eve to attract attention with their bodies, our first parents were created to serve one another and, ultimately, their Overlord, Elohim. Pullman, like all of us sinners, would sooner get what he wanted if he would quit kicking against the goads and find his hopes already graciously promised and answered in biblical witness to Jesus Christ, who has come to restore and redeem all the problems already in this world, problems created by visions of humanity and reality like that of Pullman's.
Pullman told Rosin that this Eden-reversal scene is crucial to his effort to unravel Christian mythology: "They become aware of sexuality, of the power the body has to attract attention from someone else. This is not only natural, but a wonderful thing! To be celebrated! Why the Christian Church has spent 2,000 years condemning this glorious moment, well, that's a mystery. I want to confront that, I suppose, by telling a story that this so-called original sin is anything but. It's the thing that makes us fully human."
Labels: Art | Culture, blogging, City of Man, GTD, Technology, theology, WtTS Stuff
10:46 PM | Permalink
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