Context and Understanding

If you were born blind, and I was given the job of explaining the color red to you, is there really any way that I could do it? I would never be able to explain completely what an apple looks like or how it is related to pink or purple.  You would have no context for understanding what it meant. But if somehow one day, you were to gain your sight, I would only have to say, "See, this is red", and it would make complete sense to you.

If there was a law that you had to interpret, but we stripped away any information on who wrote the law, why the law was created, the judges that had interpreted the law, the precedents that affected the law, as well as any amendments that changed the meaning of the law - would it have any meaning? Would the law be anything more than words on a page? 

It is the same with God. If we strip away what the Bible teaches about God, we can have no true understanding of him. Everything will be guess work at best, or whatever we think he or she should be -  while leaving out all the things that we would never want a god to be, at worst. If I worship a god that is not found in the Bible, I am worshiping a god that I basically made up in my own head and heart.

Huxley / Pascal / McDowell Quotes

"I had motives for not wanting the world to have a meaning; consequently (I) assumed that it had none, and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption. The philosopher who finds no meaning in the world is not concerned exclusively with a problem in pure metaphysics, he is also concerned to prove that there is no valid reason why he personally should not do as he wants to do, or why his friends should not seize political power and govern in the way that they find most advantageous to themselves... For myself, the philosophy of meaningless was essentially an instrument of liberation, sexual and political. - Aldous Huxley, 'Ends and Means', pp. 270 ff.

"The evidence of God's existence and His gift is more than compelling, but those who insist that they have no need of Him or it will always find ways to discount the offer." - Blaise Pascal

"It is the person who disbelieves in the face of strong evidence supporting Christianity who is really intolerant and closed-minded." - Josh McDowell, 'The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict', pg. xl

Likeness and Unlikeness in Marriage

This quote stands well enough without comment...

     "Ideally, the spouse is to be the "help" of similitude, of likeness. (This is only half the "helpfulness"; but understand and rejoice in this half first.) Husband and wife act as living mirrors to one another. When I look at Thanne (his wife), I discover myself, because Thanne is at the same time reacting to me. If she is reacting truthfully - I will find my needs in the sympathy of her chin; my personal characteristics will appear in the expressions of her face, in her posture and her words. I am in Thanne! And she is in me. And where better to view the truth of my self than in one who neither flatters nor scorns me, but knows me well and lovingly? 

     This mirroring is a most practical "help" to all my work, for I will be wise to my strengths and watchful of my weaknesses thereafter. Neither falsely proud nor falsely inferior, I can make realistic efficient decisions.

     When Thanne's eyes, looking upon me are wounded, then I may know that something in me is injurious. When Thanne's eyes, looking upon me, are consoled, then I may know that I am consolation. And when Thanne's eyes merely look upon me, then I may know that I am: the gift of the knowledge of being! (When she calls) "Wally? Wally?" And I answer: "Here I am." This is a "help" most "fit" to me - to me specifically - one no chattel nor slave nor employer could ever be."

- pg 61-62, 'As for Me and My House' - Walter Wangerin, Jr.

"The God Who is There" - Francis A. Schaeffer - quote 2

Schaeffer talks about the concept of apologetics, which to him has a few different facets, but I liked a couple of related quotes.

"The proponents of any position who are alive to their own generation must give a sufficient answer for it when questions are raised about it." (emphasis, mine)

"Such answers are necessary in the first place for myself as a Christian if I am going to maintain my intellectual integrity, and if I am to keep united my personal devotional and intellectual life." (emphasis, mine)

- page 151

I thought that these two quotes were important for my own mind because of the way that I see how much my thinking has been affected by the 'leap of faith'/anti-faith mentality that pervades our culture. (see previous post). When I think of faith, I do not think of it in terms of a leap into the unknown, but as a place to step on facts to connect with God based upon reality. I think of the probability arguments advanced by Josh McDowell, the Lord, liar, lunatic argument put forth by C.S. Lewis, the reliability of the Bible as opposed to the reliability of any other book in history, as well as Schaeffer's own argument that non-personal sources could never create personal beings when I think of compelling reasons for faith in Christ.

I love the statements about having real reasons for faith so that you can 'be alive to (one's own) generation', and giving sufficient (not leap of faith) answers. I know that I fall short of this in many ways, but these are ideals for me to shoot for. I also think that I need to have a unity of mind that values loyalty to Christ above all other things - and that will produce an intellectual and spiritual (Schaeffer calls 'devotional') integrity. It is hard to keep your mind united around one thing/concept/Person, but it is something that I am feeling a greater call to.

A Thought on Atheism

The other day on the way to work I heard someone talking about the merits of atheism. It got me thinking about how atheism can not provide any real moral structure for a society. Any atheist worth his salt will tell you that their highest authority is themselves and that there is no one 'out there' defining what their highest truths should be.  If that is so, that means that the individual, as the highest authority, gets to determine what is right and wrong for themselves. The following strange scenario comes to mind:

Atheist 1: I want your wallet.
Atheist 2: No. I want to keep my wallet.

Atheist 1: Because there is no higher authority in the universe aside from my own desire, I say that I can take your wallet.
Atheist 2: Just because there is no god in the universe doesn't give you the right to take my wallet.

Atheist 1: Actually it does. Because there is no overarching authority determining what is right and wrong for both of us, and, since I am bigger than you and can smack you around until you give me your wallet, I actually can demand your wallet based on my own version of truth - and the might of my arm.
Atheist 2: But I need this money to buy food, pay the rent and take care of my children.

Atheist 1: That is all drama to me - not my problem. As an atheist, you should know that we believe in the survival of the fittest. Because I am stronger than you (and obviously smarter), I am going to take that money, spend it on whatever I want, and won't feel bad about it once.
Atheist 2: That isn't fair! What about my children, not to mention my own dignity?

Atheist 1: Dignity? Fair? Now you sound like those miserable Christians that appeal to a higher authority to make sure that everyone is treated the same, and as you should know, that is a figment of your imagination, and a cultural construct created to make you feel guilty and weak. You are just borrowing from their cultural memory in order to make you feel that there is some type of leveling influence to protect you. Now give me your wallet.

Atheism taken to it's logical conclusions can only create a structure for society that is based on might over right and relative truth in which the strong survive, but the weak are denigrated. This can happen on an individual basis (when an individual - no matter what they profess to believe about the world - takes advantage of another person just because they can; ie: theft, child abuse, rape, murder - they are still living as an atheist, even if they profess to be a Christian), or on a corporate basis (when a country or leader destroys his people based on his own selfishness - examples abound).

I am sure that most atheists would accuse me of gross over simplification. However, I would counter that by saying that they are not being faithful to the simplest presuppositions that atheism has.

"Promises, covenants, and oaths, which are the bonds of human society, can have no hold upon an atheist. The taking away of God, though but even in thought, dissolves all..." - John Locke

Mark and Daddy take their first trip in the Kroger Car

An alternative to 'I told you so'...

"Love imagines a sorrowful yet peaceful alternative to 'I told you so', before it happens." - John Piper

A flower in the weed... or vice versa?

This past summer, I was struck by this image in the front yard. It made me think of my own conflicting desires and commitments. Who can really tell if the flower is in the midst of the weed, or the weed in the midst of the flower? Yet both are fighting for survival. In the end, I carefully pulled the weed, and tried to help the flower survive. I hope the same can be said of how I live my life. 

Desiring God Blog entry...

Gospel-Saturated Dish-Washing and Diaper-Changing

by David Mathis | November 14, 2011

In his new book, Gospel Wakefulness, Jared Wilson talks about how all of life is relevant for mission. From drinking coffee to changing diapers, from cutting the grass to washing dishes — all of life can be lived to the glory of God by those who have been awakened to the gospel of our exhaustively sovereign Savior.

He writes,

One of the attendant aims of missional evangelicalism is to challenge the compartmentalizing of the Christian faith that we see within the Western church. We are fantastic at itemizing our schedules, and even if we don't assign God a very large bracket, we are constantly remorseful that we "haven't made much time for him." While such compartmentalizing — as if "time with God" can or should be hermetically sealed off from everything else — is a natural symptom of our culture and environment, it also reflects a bad theology.

The truth is, the day does not belong to us. It is not our day to do with as we please. We serve a sovereign God. He created the end from the beginning, knows our future exhaustively, and is firmly in control. He made our days and they belong to him. As such, isn't it a bit arrogant to begin with the idea that each day is ours and then worry about fitting God in? Instead, we should work at the humble awe of knowing all of our moments, every millisecond, waking or sleeping, are perfectly accounted for within the economy of heaven.

Let us stake the flag of Christ's kingdom into the soil of our first waking moment. Drink your coffee when you get up, of course, but drink it to the glory of God. Then carry on in this way all day, no matter the task, be it menial or notable, so that each day may be a living prayer that God's will will be done on earth as it is in heaven. This is what it means to live a gospel-saturated life: it means being so conscious of the greatness of the gospel that changing diapers or cutting the grass is as much an act of worship as singing a praise chorus in a church service….

Jesus Christ is Lord over my heart, and he is Lord over my hands, and he is Lord over what I do with these hands, and he is Lord over what I say in my heart while I'm doing it. In submitting to the lordship of Christ, then, I do not treat washing dishes as wasting time I could be spending doing something "meaningful," but rather as a service to those who eat in my home, as a service to those who would have to wash the dishes if I did not, and as an offering of thanksgiving to God that I have food to eat, dishes to eat it on, and running water inside my home to clean with.

To paraphrase C. S. Lewis, there is not a square inch of our lives that is not claimed by God and counterclaimed by ourselves. If we believe God is sovereign, however, we will see all of life as mission and be led to submit the square inches we otherwise hold so tightly to the Maker of inches and hands.

Gospel Wakefulness, (Wheaton: Crossway, 2011), 90–92, paragraphing added.

Baby Dedication at Grace Fellowship Church

We had seven babies dedicated at our church one week, including our tired little one...

From the Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence

That as for the miseries and sins he heard of daily in the world, he was so far from wondering at them, that, on the contrary, he was surprised that there were not more, considering the malice sinners were capable of; that for his part he prayed for them; but knowing that GOD could remedy the mischiefs they did when He pleased, he gave himself no farther trouble.

That he expected after the pleasant days GOD had given him, he should have his turn of pain and suffering; but that he was not uneasy about it , knowing very well, that as he could do nothing of himself, GOD would not fail to give him the strength to bear it.

That when an occasion of practicing some virtue offered, he addressed himself to GOD, saying, LORD, I cannot do this unless Thou enablest me: and that then he received strength more than sufficient.

That when he had failed in his duty, he only confessed his fault, saying to GOD, I shall never do otherwise, if You leave me to myself; it is You who must hinder my falling, and mend what is amiss. That after this, he gave himself no further uneasiness about it.

Thanks Sue J...

Seda and her new friend Sadie

Asia's Hope Retreat

Here are a slew of pics that I took when the Asia's Hope staff went to Sihanoukville with their families this past month... I haven't had much time to get them on the web, but you can see some of the fun that they were having... the pics of Sophang at the end burying himself in the sand and especially funny...

Some days, it just feels like this...

Somedays you are being refreshed by the water, and some days,

you are just sand slipping through the hour glass...

Patches

Well, my good friend and companion Patches passed on this past Saturday... I adopted her from a family that was moving to different parts of the US, and had her for about three years... she had lived with another family for the last 17 months while I have been in Cambodia... she was a great cat... here are some older pics...

Seda and her sister Chantha...

As Seda and I were going out on our date night, we came across her sister selling food...

Date Night...

Seda and I had a date night last week... here are a few pics...

Fun with Riatry...

We had a lot fun laughing with Riatry (Seda's nephew) one night about a week ago... what a card...

29 things I am grateful for in Cambodia

Here is a potpourri of things that have made me grateful lately... I hope that you enjoy it...

- All of the Asia's Hope teams have had a great time here this summer!
- I actually have had a few conversations that were completely in Khmer...
- I am feeling more confident that I can speak this language and that people will understand me, but some of the grammar is killing me!
- The love that orphans show...
- My moto has been working great, and I have not had a significant spill since March
- Seda and I have had our ups and downs, but we keep working to make our relationship better...
- I have never eaten anything here that makes me wish that I was dead
- I have gotten to do a few little guitar duets (I just play the chords) with a student who can play melodies very nicely on this old beat up classical guitar here...
- Teaching the Bible at the orphanages for church services...
- Being able to help people with my computer skills...
- Being able to help the teacher's at the Christian school understand a Christian school Science text book... we are learning all kinds of new words!
- Somehow, Seda has moments where she thinks that I am handsome...
- Every once in a while when I need some American food, I can go to LUCKY BURGER!
- Even though payday is only once a month, it still comes!
- The National Election for Prime Minister is this month, so I get to see a little of the Cambodian political process at work... (Hun Sen has never lost in almost 20 years)... just one more thing to understand (or maybe misunderstand) about this culture...
- I am not in the United States to listen to all of the political mumbo jumbo about the presidential election...
- I am not in the United States to mourn the debacle that is the Cleveland Indians...
- I received a job description from Asia's Hope that excites me...
- I get email from people all the time encouraging me in what I am doing here
- Matt Redman's song "Nothing But the Blood"
- My Khmer teacher, Nara
- All of the Asia's Hope staff here in Cambodia
- talking with my brother and his girlfriend on the phone on his birthday
- a really kind and gracious letter from my father
- The Fernando Ortega album "The Shadow of Your Wings"
- My new apartment... the shower is only cold water, but I am getting used to it... it is actually more like cool pool water...
- Shane Claiborne's book "The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical"
- two new pictures of my nephews that my sister sent to me
- (and this may sound corny), Facebook! It has been really cool to connect with some people that I have not talked to in YEARS!

one of my classes hard at work...