CELEBRITY SIGHTING!

So Whitney and I were enjoying Chipotle earlier this week. As we were sitting outside on the porch we were disturbed by a national icon. The one and only "Booger" as seen in Revenge of the Nerds came strolling by. I was stopped dead in my tracks as I remembered his extraordinary burping scene in the master narrative of the opus of Revenge of the Nerds. Whitney desperately wanted to get a picture and his autograph, but I contained her excitment as both of us choked on our burrito! May we always remember his brilliance.

Who's yo Daddy?

There was one more quiz to take!

You’re Origen! You do nothing by half-measures. If you’re going to read the Bible, you want to read it in the original languages. If you’re going to teach, you’re going to reach as many souls as possible, through a proliferation of lectures and books. If you’re a guy and you’re going to fight for purity … well, you’d better hide the kitchen shears. Find out which Church Father you are at The Way of the Fathers!

A Conversation Piece

While meandering around the blog of Dr. Chris Spinks, I came across two quizzes that help people to understand the way that they think... The first results tables that I am printing are Whitney's results and the second two results pages are my results. (I had a horrible time with the html, so I apologize that everything isn't well fitting, but I think that you will get the idea.)

Whitney

You scored as John Calvin, Much of what is now called Calvinism had more to do with his followers than Calvin himself, and so you may or may not be committed to TULIP, though God's sovereignty is all important. John Calvin 73% Anselm 67% Jürgen Moltmann 67% Paul Tillich 53% Martin Luther 47% Augustine 33% Karl Barth 33% Friedrich Schleiermacher 27% Charles Finney 27% Jonathan Edwards 20% Which theologian are you? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Emergent/Postmodern, You are Emergent- Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don't think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this. Emergent/Postmodern 75% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 64% Roman Catholic 61% Neo orthodox 54% Charismatic/Pentecostal 39% Classical Liberal 39% Modern Liberal 36% Reformed Evangelical 25% Fundamentalist 25% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

Nick

You scored as Anselm, Anselm is the outstanding theologian of the medieval period.He sees man's primary problem as having failed to render unto God what we owe him, so God becomes man in Christ and gives God what he is due. You should read 'Cur Deus Homo?' Anselm 73% Jürgen Moltmann 67% Augustine 47% Karl Barth 40% John Calvin 33% Charles Finney 27% Martin Luther 27% Jonathan Edwards 20% Paul Tillich 20% Friedrich Schleiermacher 13% Which theologian are you? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Emergent/Postmodern, You are Emergent- Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don't think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this. Emergent/Postmodern 75% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 64% Roman Catholic 61% Neo orthodox 54% Charismatic/Pentecostal 39% Classical Liberal 39% Modern Liberal 36% Reformed Evangelical 25% Fundamentalist 25% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

While some of the results were laughable, the quizzes were still enlightening to take! Just click on the links under the results and you will be taken to the website.

Humble Missional Movements

John Stackhouse Jr. (Author of Humble Apologetics) wrote an article in the May/June edition of Books and Culture entitled a Bigger-and Smaller-View of Mission. While the entire article was engaging, This section on inclusivism especially stood out to me...

"This position (Inclusivism) affirms that without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and the he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6). This assertion comes in the great chapter listing examples of faith from the whole sweep of the Bible. Thus it includes lots of people who apparently had never heard of Jesus Christ, but had encountered the true God, believing that he did exist and that he is trustworthy, that he "rewards those who seek him" with what they cannot do for themselves. This is a fundamental posture of faith, and from this passage, as from many others in the Bible, it is obvious that one does not have to know about Jesus to adopt this posture that results in salvation. Does this mean that other religions are salvific? Certainly not. NO religion is salvific: not Hinduism or Shinto or Islam, but also not Christianity. God is salvific... To confine the scope of salvation to those who have heard certain facts about Jesus and who come to accept him on this basis, therefore, is not necessitated by the Bible, and in fact is not even the best way to understand the Bible."

Luke 15

This is why we are in need of a shepard as found in Luke 15. Watch it four times... I promise it gets funnier every time!

Another Blog

Be sure to check out the newest blog creation...

http://www.kineticfilms.blogspot.com

This blog will monthly display the work of the students that are a part of Kinetic (GPC High School Student Ministry). Earlier I posted our first film that we made. The second film is also posted on that site. The second film is also posted below. This short is an interpretation of the story of the rich man and Lazarus as written in Luke 16.

Nightline Debate

I had a hard time watching Nightline this evening. Beginning a new series, Nightline decided to premier "Face Off" with a debate on the existance of God between Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort versus members of the Rational Response Squad named Brian Sapient and a woman whom calls herself Kelly. As both side spouted cliche after cliche towards one another, Whitney and I shivered with pain. Quotes such as Cameron saying that "proving the existance of God is easier than you think", and that "we (Kirk and Ray) can absolutely prove the existance of God, 100 persent, without the use of faith" filled the airwaves. On the other side Kelly enlightened America that there is no historical evidance that "Jesus was even a man". And believe me... This is only the beginning. The most striking portion of the piece is the pain that is happening after the debate. As of right now 3,768 people have responded to the debate and most comments are full of toxic content... Following in the pattern set by the debaters. I would love to process this debate with people over the nexts days as I am struggling to articulate the ugliness behind the debate. I do recognize a couple of things about the debate. I do not fit on either side of this conversation and most people on both sides of the question that I have had intelligible conversations about this subject handled the material in exponentially more responsible ways also do not fit on either side of this debate. I have posted pieces of the debate below.

A Short

Within Kinetic (at GPC) we will be making short films once a month... This is the very first short that we will be premiering thing Sunday... I hope that you get a laugh out of it!

A Quietdrive Tribute

Jeff, a student at Fuller and my fellow intern at GPC, has a unique connection to a band that seems to be making quite a name for themselves across America. The band is Quietdrive and Jeff has a special connection with the band because his brother is the guitarist for the band. This is there first video that they have made from their single Rise From the Ashes... I have really enjoyed the song and thought that I would throw it out there on my blog...


This video is Quietdrive in concert singing what many like as their favorite Quietdrive song... The song is a cover that most will be familiar with... Time After Time

Family Camp

Whitney and I had a lovely time up at GPC's Family Camp last weekend. We drove 2 hours into the mountains to reflect on community with the people of GPC. Goran Dragolavic, the speaker, a self prclaimed reformed existentialist, gave us a marvelous space to converse about the implications of friendship and assembly. He powerfully noted a recent study that 55 percent of Americans do not have a close friendship with anybody and the 73 percent of evangelicals do not have a close friendship with anybody. Goran attributed this to friendships rooting in need and the truth that many evangelicals wear a mask that makes them look like they don't need anybody. Thus the 73 percent. This is a wide brush stroke of the dialogue of the weekend, but it really was fantastic. Whitney and I spent time with the people of GPC and we really enjoyed their companionship. The weekend gave us a certain energy that we were looking for and we now feel rested in many ways. Oh yeah... And Whitney played paintball. So awesome! A quote from her regrading paintball, "Paintball was my favorite part of the weekend."

Pounding

"Just because one carries a hammer, doesn't mean that everything is a nail." Dr. Dale Ryan

Diplaced People and Boxes

A group of people from Glendale ventured over to the Pomona Fairgrounds this past weekend to support ending the war in Northern Uganda through Invisable Children and the Displace Me Campaign. 5000 people from the area gathered and built cardboard houses, wrote letters to politicians, listened to speakers, prayed, and watched new film reporting on the conditions of Northern Uganda. For a more detailed report be sure to see Rene's site as he did a wonderful job with a lot of teh details of the context of the turmoil in Uganda. (Click on Rene out of the GPC/Fuller peeps)


As Whitney was coming home from work yesterday, police were beginning to put up yellow tape around campus. She had heard that there was a bomb threat, but we didn't put much more thought into it after she made it home. As I then left for class an hour later, I couldn't get into campus as everything had been taped off. I asked a policewoman what was happening and she told me to look at the box that was sitting right on the corner of Walnut and Oakland... I looked and she told me that people thought that the box contained a bomb... I eventually made it to class after walking 8 blocks around all of the commotion. While sitting in class we were startled by an explosion. Our professor sent somebody to go check what it was and it turns out that the bomb squad blew up the box. In doing so they discovered that the box was simply filled with alarm clocks for the office in which it was sent. In light of the Virginia Tech Disaster, this was a pretty scary deal for the Fuller Community. If you close up on the picture, you can actually see the box sitting on the corner.

Male and Female Relationship

Here is another paper that I am working through for that Systematics class at Fuller. (The same class that I posted earlier this month for...) This paper is about the male and female relationship. Again, the first section is the assignment that I had to work within, the second portion is the paper, and the third section is the endnotes... Sorry that the numbers don't show up for the endnotes. Would love feedback and creative thoughts regarding the writing...




An adult Sunday School class of a church in your city is beginning a series entitled “Relationships of Men and Women in the Bible,” and they have asked you to be a guest speaker for the first session. Of course, they want you to talk about Adam and Eve! Your next-door neighbor began attending that church a year ago, and you have noticed some problems developing in their relationship. The wife has become more passive and even depressed, while the husband seems to be caught up with the challenge to be the “godly leader” of “his home.” They have shown interest in this series and you expect that they will attend. In considering the needs of this group, you realize that your first talk could have major implications for their evaluation of subsequent sessions. Taking this opportunity seriously, you decide to write out your view of male/female relationships based upon the biblical account of creation, also relevant texts from the New Testament. Don’t worry that reading your paper to the class may only consume six or seven minutes... you know that the nature of its content will generate lively discussion!






We all come with different ideas regarding the male and female relationship. We all have had different experiences. Our different experiences have included families that have taught us differently, friends that have handled relationships differently, people who have taught us with different approaches to the male/female relationship, and life experiences that have given us different pieces of wisdom. Not all of our ideas are right, and not all of our ideas within the processing of our experiences are wrong. All of our experiences are simply what they are; experiences that are in need of process. With this in mind, we must approach the subject of the male/female relationship with great humility as we process through the Bible with one another.
Beginning the subject of the male/female relationship within the Bible, it seems to be fitting that we begin in the twenty sixth and twenty seventh verses in the first chapter of Genesis. Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created human beings in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God created them male and female in his likeness and in his image. While being made in the likeness of God can also be translated as being made in the similitude of God, we may find it more interesting to look at the deeper implications of what it means to be made in the image of God. To be made in his image also literally means to be cut out of God. As we are cut out of God we receive God’s ontic imprint on our lives, which many believe manifests itself within the human character and the human soul. So when it comes to both males and females being made in the image of God, it will be helpful to remember that both males and females are “cut out” of God and this “cutting out” is represented in who we are called to be as humans.
So who are we called to be as humans? As we continue in the first chapter of Genesis we can see that God has made male and female in his image, and that in between the two statements of being made in his image, we read that we are called to rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, the wild animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground. This seems to be the author’s way of emphasizing that we are called to rule over God’s created order. We must be careful when we intertwine being made in God’s image with ruling over creation. We must remember how God rules and refuse the temptation of ruling as the world views the action of ruling. Jesus says in Matthew 20:28 that he did not come to be served (passive), but rather came to serve (active) and to give his life as a ransom for many. The Greek word for ransom is lutron and means to be an instrument by which deliverance is made possible. Jesus is both the male and female example of what it means to rule, and thus we too are called to rule, or serve, or be a lutron by which deliverance is made possible for creation.
Within the idea of male and female being “cut out” of God, and both male and female being called to rule over the earth, we also have to address the reality of differentiation within our personhood. As humans, we have been differentiated as male and female. Sexually this differentiation is intrinsic to the polarity of the human within the framework of the image of God. It also seems that as individual humans are born, grow and function within a culture, differentiation seems to happen within the level of personality. It seems that God has found it fitting that this differentiation is necessary in order for males and females to rule over the earth. Thus, the “cut out” of the male and the female are different and yet equally important for this ruling over the earth. Within this differentiation of gender and personality , we must seek unity in ruling the created order not as male and female, but as humanity.
Unity within differentiation may sound like a positive idea, but this idealistic unity becomes more difficult as we begin to work our way through the third chapter of Genesis. He (the serpent) said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Gensis 3:1b-5) Essentially, the woman was coerced by the serpent into thinking that she should be God, not the she will be like God. God has already told her that she is like God. In this moment, Eve chose to work at becoming God, and the natural result was a division between humanity and God. Similarly, when sin enters the constructs of differentiation, one person views reality as an individual with an autonomous ego, rather than as a united corporate body, “cut out” of God to rule over the created order with God.
While marriage was instituted before this division happened between humanity and God, it seems that the marriage covenant has been helpful in maximizing the unity of the corporate body of husband and wife as a secondary order of God. Since differentiation is the primary order of God and precedes the order of marriage, we must keep our priorities straight in remembering that marriage is secondary and that marriage is made possible by the primary order of differentiation. Thus, in keeping our priorities in proper order, we must be mindful that marriage serves to achieve unity within differentiation. Thus, marriage seems helpful in aiding within the context of the primary order of differentiation. This responsibility, however, ultimately belongs to the primary order of human beings as differentiated, called to rule with one another in a unified fashion.
In bringing this conversation full circle, we must look at the eschatological dimensions of male and female. Mark shares the words of Jesus in the twenty fifth verse of the twelve chapter of his Gospel. “When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.” This verse seems to imply that as we move deeper into the reality of eternity, we will no longer be male or female. Thus the marriage relationship that we responsibly maintain as a secondary order will no longer apply as heaven and earth converge on one another. The way that these differentiated relationships are handled within the secondary order are temporal and will fade into the new order of the deepest levels of reality as God’s reign fully comes.
This topic is mysterious and must be handled with humility within the context of all of our different experiences. We are created, or “cut out” of God’s image, and a portion of what it means to be created in God’s image is that we are called to rule with God over creation. This ruling, or serving, is to be done in unity within the primary order of the differentiation of male and female. Unity within the ruling is difficult, especially within the construct of a humanity that has chosen to divide itself from God. Marriage is a secondary order that is helpful in pursuing unity within differentiation for supporting the call of humanity in ruling over the created order. While positive relationships within a differentiated humanity is important, these relationships will be temporal as the eschatological implications of eternity seem to point towards a future with no differentiation between male and female as the Kingdom is fully ushered in.


ENDNOTES

I think that the TNIV version of Genesis 1:26,27 is better suited in the English language than a version such as the King James. Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (KJV) One can easily grasp how women have been subject to such disrespect by men in the church through scriptures such as these. TNIV brings about a better understanding of reality through its translation.

Mlx can also mean “something cut out”. This is a vivid picture to in teaching this text to give a picture of what it means to be made in the image of God. In a world where cut and paste are so prominent, the idea of being cut out of God will be very tangible for those who are involved in the 21st century. Accordance Bible Software Version 7.1. Copyright 2006, Oaktree Software Incorporated. www.accordancebible.com.

Anderson gives the three key texts for the imago Dei. He includes Genesis 1:26 and 27, Genesis 5:1, and Genesis 9:6. On page 217 he then goes on to explain Genesis 1:26 and 27 by distinguishing from image and likeness. Anderson writes that the image of God represents the ontic imprint of God on the human character, typically reason or conscience. Likeness, he then contends, is the original state of God likeness that was lost in the fall. Thus Adam could not lose the image of God, but only the likeness. On Being Human: Essays in Theological Anthropology (Pasadena, California: Fuller Seminary Press, 1982 p. 216, 217.)

Baker Commentary 12, this is not much of a jump. The Baker Commentary notes that “man is animal, but is more than animal. Man is godlike, but he is less than God.” The commentary then continues to say than man is to rule over the remainder of the created order. The commentary also notes than this is not a “license to rape” and destroy everything in the environment. “Even here he who would be lord of all must be servant of all.” While I don’t like Hamilton’s comment on being animal but being more than animal, I feel that he finished strong with his comments on servant ruling. Commentary on the Bible: Based on the NIV (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1989 p. 12.)

Matthew 20:28 and Mark 10:45 both touch on the importance of Jesus as the God who came to serve. The natural end of his serving was a reality of ransom. Louw and Nida define ransom as “the means or instrument by which release or deliverance is made possible”. I love the thought that we are to be instruments by which release or deliverance is made possible for creation! Accordance Bible Software Version 7.1. Copyright 2006, Oaktree Software Incorporated. www.accordancebible.com.

This differentiation can be more easily seen as we view both males and females being “cut out” of the image of God. Personally, it is almost a geographical picture of males being cut out of this portion of God and females being cut out of that portion of God. While the theological implications may not be perfect in this instance, I think that this picture will help the learners of the study to get a bigger and better picture of differentiation and imago Dei. On Being Human: Essays in Theological Anthropology (Pasadena, California: Fuller Seminary Press, 1982 p. 105.)

Barth would disagree. For instance, Anderson quotes Barth, “For humans, sexual determination as male and female is the only differentiation.” Through the rest of this essay, one will encounter that I feel as if differentiation goes beyond the sexual On Being Human: Essays in Theological Anthropology (Pasadena, California: Fuller Seminary Press, 1982 p.53.)

Anderson does a lovely job of explaining the effect of sin on the differentiation of humanity. He writes that the result of sin is to pursue the individual ego, rather than the corporate ego. This individual ego also seems to encompass the individual sex, rather than the balanced uniting of both sexes to purse a servant ruling of creation. On Being Human: Essays in Theological Anthropology (Pasadena, California: Fuller Seminary Press, 1982 p. 108.)

While this idea may seem to be too academic for this setting, I think that it is a necessary conclusion to the argument that I am making. This point is the glue that holds this whole argument together. Also, the title of this series that I am introducing is called Relationships of Men and Women in the Bible. People are probably going to be attending that want to hear more about the marriage relationship. Most importantly, my neighbors need to be thinking more about the male and female relationship in light of their current struggles. On Being Human: Essays in Theological Anthropology (Pasadena, California: Fuller Seminary Press, 1982 p. 52.)

Anderson writes that the relationships of husband and wife and of mother and father as we know them are temporal and provisional in light of the eschatological order. Thus, while being responsible in these relationships, we must be mindful that a deeper level of reality is on its way. On Being Human: Essays in Theological Anthropology (Pasadena, California: Fuller Seminary Press, 1982 p. 118.)

A Tribute

This is a tribute to a certain man, who is an elder at a certain church that supports a certain intern from a certain seminary in a certain town in Southern California who certainly doesn't like to beat around the bush. This certain Cuban writes...

Any Jackass can learn. Only leaders can lead.

Some Tigers in the OC

I took the day off yesterday and it was marvelous! Ben Dykhouse and went down to the south side of LA and took in the Tigers/Angels baseball game. We arrived early to watch batting practice and then enjoyed an ugly, but fun baseball game. Here is a picture of Pudge, another one of batting practice, and a video of Magglio's homerun in the 9th. The home run was to give the tigers a lead after a huge 7 run comeback. (It was a blast cheering in front of all the Angels fans!) Unfortunately, Todd Jones couldn't hold the lead in the 9th, and then he lost the game in the tenth.

Bolger on Missional Church

Justin Beck turned me to the presbemergent blog a couple of days ago that included a link to this website. http://www.allelon.org/resources/netcasts/wimc_rbolger.cfm... This link includes an interview with Ryan Bolger regarding his reflections on the missional church.

Continuing With Spiritual Abuse

We continued with our discussion surrounding spiritual abuse in Dr. Dale Ryan's class and I wanted to post some of the notes that I took. This section introduced some characteristics of spiritually abusive communities.


Characteristics of Spiritually Abusive Communities (From Johnson and VanVonderen, The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse.)

-Power Posturing
Leaders spend a lot of time focusing on their own authority and reminding others of it as well.
-Performance Preoccupation
Individual worth contingent on compliance with authority.
-Unspoken Rules
You don’t find out the rules until you have broken them.
-Lack of Balance
Extreme subjectivism or objectivism.
-Paranoia
Others will not understand what we’re all about, so let’s not let them know—that way they won’t be able to ridicule or persecute us.
-Misplaced Loyalty
Loyalty to leadership justified by uniqueness of leaders. Intimidation, humiliation and/or threats to the disloyal
-Secretive
One reason spiritually abusive people are so secret bc they are so image conscious. They can’t live up to their own performance standards, so they have to hide what is real.





A common effect of spiritual abuse is spiritual anorexia... THe following are some characteristic of spiritual anorexia. Dr. Ryan used metaphors that paralleled anorexia as an eating disorder.


-Characteristics of Spiritual Anorexia

-Resistance to spiritual nurture.
Food is the enemy or the problem.
It can be intellectualized as atheism or agnostic.
People who have been giving all their life and therefore unable to receive.
-Distorted self-concept
Just like someone who is anorexic, this person thinks that he or she is worse that he or she really is.
We are beautiful people.
-Control issues
Who controls what goes into my body?
Who controls what my spiritual life is like?






As I have been processing all of this information from this class I have been coming to realize that many of the authors that were the strongest voices in my life prior to coming to California (Brian McLaren, Donald Miller, Rob Bell, Leonard Sweet) all were very senstive to people that had been spiritually abused. All of these authors seem to be advocates for those that have experienced this type of abuse and want the spiritually abused to encounter the reality of God. Also involved in the encounter of God seems to be the process of unlearning the toxic content of the god that was associated with the spiritual abuse that they recieved. MUCH OF THE MINISTRY THAT WILL BE DONE OVER THE NEXT GENERATIONS WITH BE ENCOURAGING THE CIRCULAR PROCESS OF UNLEARNING god AND LEARNING God.

Spiritual Abuse

While attending Dr. Dale Ryan's class regarding abuse this morning, we came across an interesting subject... Spiritual Abuse. This subject fires me up in some unusual ways and I will be working through trying to articulate why I get so fired up about spiritual abuse. It really is amazing to me when I begin to contemplate so many of the things that followers of Christ naturally do without considering the implications of the possibility of abuse. The following is just a brief seven-point paradigm from my notes designed to begin the conversation on how spiritual abuse can manifest within systems of people...

-7 types of Spiritual abuse
-Any kind of abuse can be linked to spiritual abuse.
-Some abuse is spiritual abuse bc it takes place in a spiritual place or done by someone who has spiritual authority.
-The use of spiritual truths or practices to do harm rather than good.
-Some abuse is spiritual abuse because the victim is perceived to be in a position of spiritual authority.
-Coercive spirituality can be spiritual abuse.
-Some abuse is spiritual abuse because it invokes divine authority in order to manipulate people into performing behaviors which meet the needs of the abuser.
-Some abuse is spiritual abuse because it holds our relationship with God hostage to some kind of performance.

Teaching Portfolio

If you are interested in checking out the teaching that I did at Calvin Christian High School during their Spiritual Emphasis week back in March, all teachings are now posted online... See www.nickwarnesteaching.blogspot.com (an online teaching portfolio) for the four part series. I have posted one of the four teachings here as well. Thank you for the support...

The Balance of Words

The Center

I just finished one of four "papers" or letters that I have to write for an Individualized Distance Learning class at Fuller Seminary. The class is called Theological Anthropology and the Revelation of God, which is basically a fancy name for Practical Systematic Theology. I have not proofed the paper yet and would appreciate any feedback that you might be able to give. The first section is the assignement that I was given and the second section is the letter and the third section is the end notes. I would recommend all of the books found in the endnotes. Thanks for reading!!!


3. You teach an adult class in a large church as part of your intern assignment while completing your seminary degree. On one particular Sunday the class discussion focused on the implications of Paul’s statement in Romans 8:28, “ We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.” You explained the verse in terms of our confidence in God’s providence, so that we know that God is always in control even over the power of evil. The following Sunday, Sara Smith, a member of the class handed you a note in which she wrote, “As you know, my husband and I had a child who was born with a severe microcephalic condition, and died 18 months later, after much suffering. I tried to understand this as part of God’s plan and purpose, but have given up. I no longer believe that God is allpowerful and controls every event which takes place. I have found Rabbi Harold Kushner’s book When Bad Things Happen to Good People, to be more helpful. I think that he is right when he says, ‘I can worship a God who hates suffering but cannot eliminate it more than I can worship a God who chooses to make children suffer and die.’” You decide to write a letter to her in response giving her what you consider to be the biblical teaching of God’s sovereignty and the problem of human suffering.



Dear Sara,
I wanted to infrom you that I have finished reading the note that you wrote to me and wanted to thank you for the honesty with which you spoke. Most importantly, I appreciated the honesty with which you shared the difficult circumstances that you and your husband have recently endured with the loss of your child. Please let me know if there is anything that my wife or I could do to help you in your journey through the loss of your child. I also appreciated the honesty with which you wrote regarding your new beliefs and your respect for Harold Kushner and his work. I have heard that his work is encouraging many people and I am also encouraged in hearing that his book has been helpful in your life.
The quote that you included in your letter from Kushner’s work, “I can worship a God who hates suffering but cannot eliminate it more than I can worship a God who chooses to make children suffer and die.” also deeply resonates in my life. I grew up in a church that used the King James Version of the Bible and subsequently had a Christian perspective that ultimately centered incorrectly around Romans 8:28. The TNIV translates Romans 8:28 as…And we know that in all things God works for the food of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. The KJV reads as following… And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. I recognize that the difference in language is minute, but the practical difference between the two is colossal. As I read Romans 8:28 in the KJV as a young man, I didn’t understand how “all things work together as good”, especially in light of contexts similar to you and your husbands with the loss of your child. I especially had trouble wrapping my mind and my heart around Romans 8:28 when looking just a few chapters ahead to Romans 9:12 and Paul’s remarks on hating what is evil. Basically I did not understand how anything could be evil if “all things work together for good”. Yet the tension remained of clearly evil things happening around my life. However, as I looked closer at the original Greek language, I learned that the TNIV is much more correctly translated. This minute difference in translation has been essential to my personal understanding of the sovereignty of God.
Whenever pondering the sovereignty of God I like to remind myself to begin with the central Truth that God is love. As we often ponder God, and neglect to put love at the center, I feel that we miss the deepest reality of the character of God. Never in the Bible does a writer include the fact that control is what it means to be God, or that sovereignty is what it means to be God. Rather 1 John 4:8 says that God is love. John reminds us that love is what it means to be God. Thus, the question now turns into what the sovereignty of God means with the love of God at the center of the reality of God’s character.
I believe that the central and most important expression of God’s love and sovereignty is found in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus was fully God and fully human and therefore gives us the most tangible way to intertwine our lives into the very character of God. I also believe that the primary way that we interact with Jesus is through relationship. Just as the Father and the Son were relationally connected, so we are to be relationally connected with the Father, through the Son. I feel as if many people live as if God was distant, rather than near. Jesus is the way that we know that God is near and the way that we know that we are called into relationship with God.
I also believe that the central portion of the life of Jesus was the cross. While many have found the resurrection of the cross to be central in their view on the love and sovereignty of God, I have often found it helpful to put the “hanging Jesus” as central to the love and sovereignty of God. Since Jesus is the essence that reminds us of the nearness of God, the cross then becomes a place where God’s nearness intertwines within the most difficult of contexts of our lives in a sovereign manner. Mark highlights this thought in Mark 10:45. “For even the Son of Man did not come to serve, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark seemed to pick up on this idea that the central mission of Jesus and the central act of the sovereignty of God, may have included God’s passion to immanently interact with an often suffering humanity through a “suffering servant” in Christ.
There seems to be a balance between the transcendence and the immanence of God within the reality of what it means to be living as a human. Basically, in recent years, I feel as if this balance has fallen too far in the direction of focusing solely on the transcendence of God and has left us with a distorted view on the sovereignty of God. More of balanced view of the immanence and transcendence of God may remind us that God is near, in both good and bad times, entering into the beauty of both with us.
What if God was so powerful that God chose to take on the very nature of a servant in Christ? What if within the beauty of the control of God, God chose to team with humanity in determining the spread of the love of God to the ends of the earth? What if God’s sovereignty includes sharing power, with the very creatures that God created in God’s image, in restoring, redeeming and determining the world? The idea behind these questions seem to leave more room for not only understanding the manifestation of evil within our world but also leaves more room for the immanence of God to suffer with us in the most difficult of times. Recently a quote from one of my favorite authors, Clark Pinnock, has been resonating in my life, especially in light of the letter that you wrote to me. Pinnock writes, “It requires more power to rule over an undetermined world than it would over a determined one.” Essentially, I feel as if more of a healthy balance between the transcendence and the immanence of God within the world will lead to more of a balanced view of the sovereignty of God and will lead to better responses to both beauty and evil with the church.
I never finished remarking on the whole verse of Romans 8:28. The verse finishes with Paul reminding us that God works “the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Your love for God has been very clear to me Sara. Thus, I am encouraged that you have been called according to his purpose. I believe that God’s purpose is to sovereignly bring God’s Kingdom more fully into this world, and I believe that God wants to do this in community with the church. So often, as American followers of Jesus, we try to figure out the big questions and live the difficult times as individuals. I think that this is wrong and that we are purposefully called to live these difficult questions out with one another. Thus, I am excited to continue in conversation with you over the next weeks over these most difficult questions. Let’s be sure to get together for a double date with our spouses over the next couple of weeks to reflect over some of these thoughts. You pick the location and we’ll buy!
Grace and Peace,
Nick Warnes




Endnotes

Craig Blomberg points out the essential differences between the KJV and the NIV. He writes that there are things that are wicked and contrary to God’s purpose but also recognizes that God nevertheless works in them. I felt this was important for me to connect my story to Sara’s story to let her know that I feel where she is coming from. From Pentecost to Patmos: An Introduction to Acts Through Revelation (Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman and Homan Publishers, 2006 p.251)

Richard Rice reminds us that central to the character of God is love. Soon after his work on page 19, he continues by quoting Emil Brunner. “God is love is the most daring statement that had ever been made in the human language.” Rice continues on page 21 by saying that God is not a center of infinite power, who happens to be loving, and that he is loving beyond all else. Overall, I feel that this paragraph is important in light of our mechanical, individualistic, Western influenced biases on who God is and led me to centralize the love of God in this letter. The Openness of God: A Biblical Challenge to the Traditional Understanding of God (Downers Grove, Illinois: Intervarsity Press, 1994 p. 19-21)

Richard Rice introduces reflections on the openness of God on pages 15 and16. This portion of the letter begins to highlight a different approach regarding the understanding of the sovereignty of God and was influenced by Rice’s introductory thoughts on the openness of God. Basically I feel like Rice is pointing us in the direction of putting the love of God at the center of our understanding of whom God is rather than the sovereignty of God as the central component of God’s being. The Openness of God: A Biblical Challenge to the Traditional Understanding of God (Downers Grove, Illinois: Intervarsity Press, 1994 p. 15,16)

Clark Pinnock uses the relational aspects of the trinity to describe God’s relational perfection. The context of the trinity did not fit well in this space, but I did highlight the relationship of the Father and the Son in this portion of the letter. Pinnock goes deeper in saying that this is the opposite of self-sufficiency. Self-sufficiency, especially within the context of the American culture, is something that I address at the end of the letter. The Openness of God: A Biblical Challenge to the Traditional Understanding of God (Downers Grove, Illinois: Intervarsity Press, 1994 p. 108)

Anderson tells the provocative story of the nominally Catholic women who gains hope through learning of a Christological approach to the providence of God via Anderson when he went to visit her on her death bed. Anderson put the dying Jesus at the center of his theology rather than the resurrected Jesus and then pointed towards the piece of art the symbolized the same thing on the women’s wall. This story was in lecture 9 of the lecture series entitled the Providence of God.

George Eldon Ladd Expands on Mark 10:45 extensively and claims Jesus’ death as the messianic mission of the Son of Man in his section called the Suffering Servant. He also goes on to explain the differences and confusions found in the death of Jesus as Son of Man and Jesus as messiah. A Theology of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eeerdmans Publishing Company, 1974 p. 154, 155)

In Clark Pinnock’s wonderful section on systematic theology he goes into a long discourse regarding the balance of the imminence and the transcendence of God and the intimate relationship that these two ideas play on one’s understanding of the sovereignty of God. I love how Pinnock does not take one side or another regarding this issue but focuses on a balance of both. It seems that in Sara’s context, the thought of an imminent God is going to be more powerful, so I pushed this side of the balance a little bit harder.

Philippians 2:7

Stanley J. Grenz goes on to say that God creates our experiences within community and not on an individual level. I feel that a context as complex as Sara’s will need to happen within community in order to be processed well. The leadership of the community also should have some sort of a similar understanding of the sovereignty of God that will empower Sara and her husband, rather than hand cuff them. Revisioning Evangelical Theology: A Fresh Agenda for the 21st Century (Downers Grove, Illinois: Intervarsity Press, 1993 p. 73)

Growing Horizontally

We continue to be blessed with visitors that come from different lands. These past 10 days have been filled with the presence of our friends from Hudsonville, Scott and Allie, and our favorite shaved head person in the world, Caleb. The theme of the week for Scott and Allie was to experience different cultures while here in Los Angeles. The kids did a great job as they ate sushi and Korean BBQ, watched indie films, hung out in Hollywood, an Angels game and all over Pasadena, and still had time for a good ol American burger from IN and Out. Caleb arrived here last Wednesday and just left this afternoon. We golfed 33 holes, drank some nice wine and many conversations in catching up. Here are some pics from the trip...
It will be nice to move back into the rythem of being a student and working at GPC. I have some fun writing and reading to do over the next couple weeks and I will be sure to post some of it.

The Reign Continues

My most recent memories of watching a baseball game include equally cold feet and pilsner, mobs of fans, a promise of future world series tickets for three, the final out in the Tigers only world series win, and a meditative flight home to Los Angeles after a last minute trip to Michigan. And with the first pitch of this season we celebrate not only a new season, filled with high expectations, but we also celebrate the continuing of the movement of life since the last pitch of 2006.

Life has changed since last October.

Things continue to happen. Tears have fallen. Laughs have communicated. Opportunities over the past months have arisen for all. Some have been realized and some have not. Wine has been swallowed. As has water. Love has become more tangible, more real. Love has never felt so far away. The Kingdom has continued to extend through a complex network of communities that vigorously represent the transcendent desire to engage the "priestly" calling of election. Some have been hurt. Some have been healed. Leaders have risen. Leaders have fallen. Relationships have grown deeper and relationships have grown shallow. Friends are coming, friends are going, friends are staying, and friends are leaving. Life has birthed not only out of the womb, but also out of death and death has come only in leading to a deeper sense of the finest realities of life. Decisions have been made. Prayers have risen. Conversations have happened. Words have been read. Words have been heard. Words have been spoken. The process of redemption has moved forward with an ever growing potential and momentum. And finally, "the reign" continues.

The first pitch came today, and I am thankful for the paradigm that baseball gives us to express the beauty of the connection through the past, the present and the future.

IJM

Gary Haugen, President and CEO of International Justice Mission, spoke at Fuller's chapel this morning and did a wonderful job. Please check out what IJM is doing if you get a chance. www.ijm.org.

Spring Reading

What a joy to choose my own reading over the past week and a half. Since class began yesterday I thought that I would update on the reading that I did over break. I read Sex God by Rob Bell over the break and enjoyed it. I especially appreciated his thoughts on human longing for connectedness. I have been observing this over the past week and have really "connected" with his thoughts on "connectedness". The book also made me want to be a better husband and I certainly appreciated that aspect of the read. I then read Brian Mclaren's new book called A Search for What is Real. The book is a remake of a previous title that he printed in 1999 and it showed. While I don't think that I was the targeted demographic for this book, I still feel as though this book may have been a bit forced as it didn't flow as typical Mclaren books flow. I also did do some class reading in finished The Openness of God. It was a great read that reminded us of the constructs that we have used to build our modern theological systems. Calvinists beware... This book makes a wonderful case for free will theism which is basically a balance of Calvinism and Process theology, covering the weaknesses of both in one wide stroke. While the book is not for the faint of heart, it did have a positive impact on my faith. The last book that I am still reading is by Jeffrey Sachs and is called The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time. This book is the winner of the week! It is packed full of tangible information and ideas and I would HIGHLY recommend it to all. While I am sad that choosing my own reading is over for another ten weeks, I am excited about some of the new books that I bought yesterday at the book store for classes. Some of the titles include... Modern Art and the Death of a Culture by H.R. Rookmaaker, Trauma and Recovery by Judith Herman, Image as Insight by Margaret Miles, Healing the Scars of Emotional Abuse by Gregory Jantz and Visual Faith by Willam Dyrness. These titles and many more all look captivating in their own sort of unique way.

Big Bear

I had the pleasure of taking a group of students and leaders up to Big Bear, CA this weekend for a winter trip. Big Bear reminds me of northern Michigan in many ways and I enjoyed the fresh air of moving out of Pasadena! We had a blast as we snowboarded, ate well and discussed some of the deeper realities of what it means to be "connected". It has been such a joy getting to know these various students from Los Angeles. The are a beautiful group of people that have such a heart to see the world become a better place. I've added some pics and a video that may put a smile on your face.

Lost

While many have been "hatin" on Lost over the past months, and I have felt some saddness that its magic may have run its course, I must now say that Lost is officially back in full swing. The last couple of weeks have been remarkable as we continue to live in the questions of the island of Lost. Whitney and I have taken notice that all of the characters, prior to being stranded on the island, have broken relationships with their parents. I am excited to see how all of these relationships work themselves out while on the island. The past couple weeks have captured me and I can't wait to see how this story continues to work itself out. So if you have given up on Lost, I encourage you to give it one more shot, and see if the magic is back!

An Ongoing Celebration

Whitney and I have been in the process of celebrating our two year anniversary over the past week! The celebration culminated with a lovely stay at the Sand and Surf Resort in Laguna Beach. Whitney and I had not yet been to Laguna and we soaked up every second of our time away from Los Angeles. Here are some pics from Laguna. We also had a fire last night in our new fire pit. We hope that this fire pit may bring a new space to celebrate community with friends.

While Biting My Face Off

Another Day, Another Quarter

Well... I just finished my last final of this quarter, and this marks the moment of survival of the past couple of weeks. As soon as Justin and Dawn left LA 11 days ago the craziness began. The beginning of the craziness included a week long speaking engagement at Calvin Christian High School in Escondido. An old friend, Mark Vanderwerf, was gracious enough to invite me to come and speak for their schools Spiritual Emphasis week. While the week, and the two hour drive, was mentally and emotionally exhausting, the experience was memorable. The students and I dialogued all week regarding moving towards a missional mindset. A big subject for mid adolescents. We talked about where abudant life is found, where contentment and discontentment lie, where approach to ministry is balanced and moving past using the word Christian as an adjective. Included in the teaching was a collection of media (as seen earlier on the blog), small groups, and many conversations. I hope that the week was as impactful for the students as it was for me. The craziness continued as this week was full of papers and finals at Fuller. Greek continues to be my favorite as I have been blessed with the beauty of the text as found in the original language. While my work may have finshed a bit shoddy due to the circumstances of the Beck's visit and the speaking engagement, I wouldn't change it for the world. It has been a life altering couple of weeks. So on to a new quarter and with the new quarter comes a new series of thinking about deeper aspects about what it means to authentically follow Christ here in Los Angeles.

Tis Ever Green

In delightful times
Like a crown
Supported by a queen.
Let us take time
And recognize
Our abiding love
Tis ever green.

In the mundane of
Up and down of
Coffee and wine
Of a patterned routine.
Let us take time
And recognize
Our abiding love
Tis ever green.

In the dark of blue
Transcendent times
With spatters of
Black and white
For the first time disagreeing.
Let us take time
And recognize
Our abiding love
Tis ever green.

Connectedness continues
As the story yet unfolds
As commitment calls
To remind us of
Grace unfolding, grace
Invisible is seen.
Let us take time
And recognize
Our abiding love
Tis ever green .
Our abiding love
Tis ever green.

With Friends

Justin and Dawn Beck came to visit this past week. We had a blast. They got to see much of Los Angeles, Pasadena, and the surrounding areas. From the crazies in Santa Monica, to the beauty of Malibu, to Justin teaching my youth group, to Jose Canseco, to waiting in line in the rain at the Price is Right at 4 AM and not getting in, to games, and conversation, dreaming about the future, and good food and many laughs. It is good to be with people who just know you. Who can hear you say one sentence and know where you are coming from.

Calvin Christian Teaching

From An Old Classmate

So I have been involved in facebook world (an online community) and have been enjoying it... Mostly because I get messages like these from random people that I graduated with from high school! Leo, if you are reading this... I can't wait to connect brother!


Message from Leo Chen (Grand Valley State)
Yesterday at 11:34 pm

From: Leo Chen (Grand Valley State)
To: Nick Warnes
Subject:
Message: Wow, you went to seminary school? i'm in complete shock, that's amazing nick! it really is. that's such a God thing....

The History of Sex Rights

We had a lovely conversation today in class regarding the history of marriage. It is really a captivating subject as we begin to ask questions about marriage, wedding, engagement, sex, law, land rights and many more... Here is an outline of the notes on the history and development of marriage. You might find some interesting pieces in here... (I can't maintain the skeleton of the outline so just pay attention to the numbers and roman numerals...)


III. History of the Wedding Rite
A. Our weddings customs today are a strange mix of theology, superstition and law.
B. Jewish antecedents
1. Marriage though sacred was not ritualized in a sacred way, Jewish weddings in the main are primarily secular events
2. One would be betrothed or committed to another and would often begin living together
3. Marriage was the celebration of this promise that was celebrated for days, as people would come in as travel allowed.
C. Roman Antecedents
1. Marriage was simply a promise made by two individuals to each other
2. Often this was done in a ritual context, but it was not necessary
3. One would have a ceremony of betrothal (we now call engagement) which would make promises of future wedding plans along with an exchange of rings
4. The wedding rite began at the home of the bride where the couple would join hand and make vows, offer a sacrifice on the family altar, then would proceed to the home of the new couple for a banquet with a wedding cake, and marriage bed rites (with hopes for male children)
D. Late influences
1. When the feudal realities of life began to creep in, the marriage rite became a nexus of economic and familial exchange, the bonding of tribes through the sharing of property which included the bride (think of Monty Python & Holy Grail)
*Clerical celibacy should be seen as the church's way of doing damage control with the distribution of parish land
2. Here you have the giving away of the bride, fertility rites (rice), veiling the bride and adding bridesmaids to confuse evil spirits (later during the plague the best people would replace the spouse in event of death)
3. Weddings were secular rites, Christians were to use them and to marry other Christians in them but they took place in homes and taverns and not churches
E. Church involvement
1. As the medieval era progressed, legal issues became more essential, particularly proof of marriage
2. For proof of marriage the wealthy had wedding portraits painted, the poor needed simply a written document, and often the only literate person was the clergy (which literally means "learned")
3. By about 1100 the service went something like this:
a. Rite of consent with ring outside of church, at times at the church door
b. Procession into church
c. Nuptial mass with nuptial blessing just before the fraction
d. Blessing of bed in the home
4. The marriage rite was essentially a legal exchange with the vows becoming an irrevocable contract.
F. Elements of Rite
1. Betrothal
2. Bans
3. Vows
4. Nuptial Blessing
5. Relationship between wedding and reception
6. Relationship between wedding and marriage
a. Process not moment
b. Ritualize the process
IV. Interpretation of the practice
A. Anthropology from Aristotle through Augustine to Thomas
B. Women were seen as incomplete men though possessing a rational soul they were created essentially for their womb.
C. For example, Adam was created independent, Eve was dependent.
D. Man is active, woman is passive
E. Adam only needed Eve for procreation, and women are saved through child bearing (1 Tim 2:15)
F. Women were less like God in nature, not a head or leader, hence are excluded from orders
G. Some even suggested that women could not be saved because they were too carnal
*Jewish anthropology
H. Virginity was a woman’s attempt to become more male by attempting to control their desires.
I. Following Greek society Women are domestic, men are social
J. Marriage was essentially a change of state for the woman and not the man
K. In a day and age when women were seriously devalued, they were "queen for a day" at their wedding
L. Theology
1. Marriage as a sacrament has a difficult history as the sacrality of the sacraments is too muddled in the sinful carnage of sex
2. Marriage was seen as a remedy for concupiscence, or diminishing lust
3. In the scholastic period it was often seen in a negative light.
4. Marriage as a natural or physical relation was the consent one gave to have sex with another.
5. Marriage as a sacrament was a consent for sex as well as the union of souls
6. Still, the union was of greater to lesser
M. Today we think of gender differently, yet we preserve many of the same rites and even language (ie: giving the bride away)
N. How much of the tradition do we keep, reject or redeem?

Sex God

I just picked up Rob Bell's new book called Sex God today at Fuller's book store. Rob Bell has been one of the most influencial voices in my life and I enjoyed his first book called Velvet Elvis. While I have not yet read more than a couple pages of the new book, I am anticipating how the mysteriously close connection between God and sexuality will be addressed in his writing. If you get a chance, pick it up. One thing is certain about this text... It will call for conversation.

A Big Winner!

I just recieved a phone call that will forever change the lives of Whitney and I. I couldn't believe that he was calling. I mean, we put our name in the drawing, but I've never heard of anybody really winning a prize like this. I started talking with him and sure enough... Yep... He let me know... I had won free Chipotle for a year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Serisouly... Whitney and I entered a drawing yesterday at lunch at the new Chipotle in Pasadena and we actually won. So free Chipotle all around for anyone who ends up in Los Angeles!