It's Easy Until It's You

Worldview class last year was spent studying subjects, issues, and perspectives at a distance. I read about them; I watched videos about them. These worldviews were real, but they occured or existed in a place far away from my experience. Our class never met these people. Our textbook quoted them, the speakers spoke of them, but we didn't know them. We studied from a distance.

However, there comes a point where the subject matter breaks from a level of mere intellectual stimulation and floods your personal experience. Its wonderful when this event is thrilling and enjoyable, an experience that makes the content one's poured over for hours tangibly and appealingly evident.

It's not always like that. It’s easy until it's unpleasant. It's easy until it's disappointing. It's easy until its disconcerting. It’s easy to distantly handle the problems with the New Age movement until you come to find out that your grandfather has embraced a "Christianized" form of cosmic humanism. It’s fairly easy to handle the problem of evil and suffering until you or someone close to you faces physical or emotional pain. It's easy to handle agnosticism until a friend you've known for years embraces it and then leaves for California. These truths are relatively easy to handle distantly until they begin to play a sad song on our emotional heartstrings.

That song seems to build a level of deep authenticity behind our intellect because what we know is more than subject matter. Rather, it’s tied to relationship and experience. But also, the heart-wrenching melody seems to try our dedication to what we know to be true. While it's important to experience the content as well as know it, its imperative that we do not lose the content for the sake of how we feel towards it in that moment of true experience. Would I confront my grandfather, or avoid conflict? Would I praise God when life hurts, or despair? Would I labor in prayer for my friend, or distance that uncomfortable twinge? ...Would I allow what I know to penetrate further than head knowledge, or would I try to forget that life is war.

It's easy until it's you. Yet, until its you, it's not nearly as meaningful.

Life's Slogans #1

Just get the mocha.

"Lukewarm and Loving It!" presented by Fancis Chan

You can find it in better resolution here: http://www.cornerstonesimi.com/special/media_player.html (October 1st, 2006)

30 Questions about Colossians 2:1-5

One of my homework assignments in my Bible Study Methods class is to ask 30 questions of a given text. I was assigned Colossians 2:1-5. The questions have given me a lot of material to occupy my thought life for a while. This exercise caused a much more in depth reading of the text than I've ever experienced. I'm not that good at it yet, but I'm rather elated. David's exhortations in Worldview Class about asking questions of Scripture suddenly make an incredible amount of sense.

Colossians 2:1-5 (NAS)
For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument. For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.


30 Questions:

1. What kind of struggle is Paul talking about?
2. Why would Paul’s struggle encourage them?
3. Who are “all those” others who have not personally seen Paul’s face?
4. Where is Colossae?
5. Where is Laodicea in relation to Colossae?
6. Did the Colossians know those individuals in Laodicea?
7. Why didn’t Paul visit them during his journey through Asia Minor?
8. Is the knowledge of Christ considered spiritual “wealth”?
9. Is wisdom and knowledge considered spiritual “wealth”?
10. How do you gain full assurance of understanding?
11. How can wisdom and knowledge result from the knowledge of a mystery?
12. Does “full assurance” of understanding mean that you understand everything?
13. Does “full assurance” of understanding mean that you are confident in what you know?
14. Does “full assurance” of understanding mean that you know enough to be confident?
15. Does “full assurance” of understanding result in the knowledge of Christ?
16. Does “full assurance” of understanding result in wisdom and knowledge?
17. Doesn’t the term “mystery” mean that we don’t understand everything about it?
18. How can you have a true knowledge of a mystery?
19. If you can have “full assurance” in your understanding, then why is Christ called a mystery?
20. Are persuasive arguments bad?
21. What does “good discipline” look like practically?
22. What is the practical application of the “stability of faith” that Paul is observing?
23. What is going on in Colossae that would cause Paul to warn them of deluding arguments?
24. Why does Paul warn them to not be deluded by persuasive argument and then say that he has observed their stable faith?
25. Is being knit together in love a precursor to attaining spiritual wealth?
26. Does being knit together in love result in encouragement?
27. Does spiritual wealth result in the knowledge of Christ?
28. Does the knowledge of Christ result in wisdom and understanding?
29. Is the fact that Christ is a mystery the factor of doubt that would cause the Colossians to be deluded by persuasive argument?
30. Is Paul “with them in spirit” through prayer?

College Life Update #2

... enough said.

Photo Credit: Sarah Miller

Three Weeks into College - Update #1

[Photo: My makeshift desk in my bedroom. The books in the stack on the desk are my textbooks for this semester.]

I'm in college. I finally made it. Praise the Lord.

I have to be honest. I'm rather timid to write about college at the moment. I feel as if I'm smack dab in the middle of a game of dodgeball. It's rather exhilerating, but I spend most of my time trying to successfully navigate my way through the objects flying my direction, all the while apprehensively contemplating the probability of getting smacked good a hard. While I have college assignments to get turned in on time, I'm also involved in life at home, life not-at-home, teaching Speech, teaching Apologetics, and wondering if I'll ever get around to painting my room... probably not. My new comforter will have to sit in the corner for a little while longer.

As soon as I get a break from this game of dodgeball and can sit on the sidelines for a little bit, my perspective will most likely be a bit clearer. At this point, I'm just trying to stay in the game.

But! I did promise dear Shelby Bennett that I'd blog about bible college, so I'll do a more informational report at this point in time. I'm attending Eternity Bible College's Portland Extension Campus. I'm taking Intro to Discipleship Counseling and Bible Study Methods at the extension campus in Tigard, OR and Old Testament Survey through their distance learning program.

My professors are great. Geoff Leatherman is a really easy going professor who handles class in a casual but productive manner. Justin Peterson's authenticity is encouraging, and I can tell he truly desires for us to have a grounded understanding of the Scriptures. Chuck Bomar is the substitute professor for Mr. Leatherman and Mr. Justin, but I haven't seen him much. Scott Newman, my distance learning professor, has graciously allowed me to add his class two weeks late and has answered my abundance of questions. I can tell that they are all great men who are committed to God and the work of His ministry.

More to come... when I get a break from the dodgeball game. Right now, it's back to Exodus.