“Knowing” – Disappointment

The other night I watched Knowing with Nicolas Cage. I was so looking forward to watching this and by the end of the movie was highly disappointed with where it went. I was disappointed because it had bad theology and bad biblical interpretation. I don’t want to say anything more because if you haven’t saw it, I don’t want to ruin it for you.

Vacation, but Not How You Think

As I get more into my thesis and start to be at home with my two boys three days a week (while my wife works) I know that it will be hard to maintain a consistent posting to this blog. I am not abandoning it, but I am going to take a vacation from updating this blog. I hope to start posting at least once a week starting in August, but for now will be taking the month of July off from this blog. I will be updating my “personal” one, Chronicles of a Stay at Home Dad, so keep up with me there. Have a great 4th of July.

Identity

Currently my Lead Pastor is leading a sermon series through the book of 1 Peter. Hope has been his main topic through the first three sermons as he works in chapter one. Hope is a great word and I have enjoyed the reminder of what biblical hope is and what my hope is in. However, what has stuck with me the most is the idea of identity and hope. Our hope shapes our identity and what we hope in will shape our identity.

If someone hopes in money, then money begins to shape the identity of the person. The person becomes concerned with what they drive, where they live, what clothes they wear or how much money is saved. My pastor, in quoting someone said it is best to see our identity as “Disciples of Jesus Christ cleverly disguised as a ________.” Instead of our identity being in something or something we do, it is tied to someone, that someone being Jesus. My identity is given to me by God through Jesus Christ mediated by the Holy Spirit.

So, for me I am a disciple of Jesus Christ cleverly disguised as a stay-at-home-dad and theology student. What is your identity? How do you tell the world what your identity is? I like this way of thinking, now I just have to get it from head to my heart.

Theological Reflection on Mark 2:5

Mark 2 starts off with the story of Jesus healing and forgiving a paralyzed man. If you spent years in Sunday School like me you know this story forwards and backwards, but yet I missed something. Here is a quick recap. Paralyzed man has four friends who take him to Jesus. The house is crowded so they go up on the roof, break through the roof and lower their friend to Jesus to be healed. Jesus forgives the man of his sins, some teachers of the law had an issue with that, so Jesus healed the man after a brief teaching moment. What I missed is found in verse 5 all these years.

I always assumed it was the paralyzed man’s faith that got him healed, but no it was the man’s friends’ faith that made Jesus respond. This leads me to ask a couple questions:

1. How does the faith of others play into my own life?
2. How does my faith play in the life of others?

I know I could be reading too much here, but is there a sense where in American Christianity we have become to individualized in our faith that we forgot how much others faith can play a role in our own lives. Maybe when I don’t have faith, it is the faith of others “carrying me” that brings me to a point I could have some faith of my own. I don’t know, but I wonder what it would take to get back to a corporate idea of faith in our lives, along with an individual idea of faith (I think both are needed for a holistic understanding of faith).

Theological Reflection on Mark 1:15

“The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”Mark 1:15 (TNIV)

What I love about this passage is that Jesus shows that God’s kingdom is both a present reality and future conclusion. What I mean by this is that the kingdom of God is not just some future event where Jesus comes back to set up rule, but the kingdom of God is a present reality now. Jesus is calling his followers to live a life that is in step with the kingdom of God. How we live our lives is a direct reflection of which kingdom we follow.

Now, as Americans it can be hard to understand the kingdom idea, but for Mark’s readers they knew all too well about this. But, if you think about it a kingdom will look and act just like the king. Our country is the same way. When as a Christian we decide to follow Christ we are saying that we are going to live under his rule, believing that as King he knows what is best, no matter what the situation. And that even if crap happens he is the king we want in charge of our lives.

Anyway, this is just a short post on the fact that I love to be reminded that God’s kingdom came near and it didn’t leave when Jesus left, he sent the Holy Spirit to continue to help with the kingdom work. We are to be apart of kingdom work and kingdom work is not just saving souls but as one author I read said, ”bringing heaven to earth” or bringing the kingdom of God to the hear and now (I don’t recall who wrote what is in quotes). 

Theological Thoughts on Toy Story

When Toy Story came out over 14 years ago (1995) I saw the movie, had the VHS tape of it and probably seen it hundreds of times. It is a fun movie. Now that I’m a dad I had it sent via Netflix for my oldest son to watch, which he loved it and keeps asking for it (side note: thought about getting it off ebay, people are asking way too much for it, so if you have a DVD of it and want to sell it to me, that would be awesome). But, as I was watching this movie, this thought struck me: there is no dad in the movie. There is no mention of a dad, there is no on screen presence of a dad in the life of Andy. The only dad in the whole movie comes at Sid’s house where he is in his room where no one is allowed and he is completely unaware of what his son is doing. But being a dad it hit me that for this movie a dad was not considered crucial enough for the movie.

Now, I am not going to make assumptions that Disney and Pixar are trying to make a theological, cultural or any other statement about having no fathers play a crucial role in the movie. The movie is not about father-son relationships, but about a boy and his toys. More-so, it is about how a favorite toy become second fiddle to a better toy. Even more it is about old versus new. The movie shows that in the end new is not always better, it just is new. And as the movie shows something else will come along that will be better or be new or be more preferred for a time. I like how the movie shows that in the end the little boy loves both the old and the new and it is about the relationship with his toys and not what they can or can not do.

But back to the idea of the fatherless movie. It doesn’t bother me but I do want to be different than what society, as a whole, thinks about dads. In the news you rarely hear about the good dads. You hear about the dads that are absent, bums who don’t support their children, abusive dads. You hear about how dads who are there are really not there because all they care about is work. I am starting to wonder if all the negative news has a worst affect on our society than if we didn’t get so much negative news?!

Anyway, another rabbit trail. All of this to say is that I want to be a dad that is there. And not just be there but active in my sons’ lives. As my wife pointed out in one of her blog posts, a father should mentor his kids and that is what I want to do. I want to be the kind of dad that molds and shapes my sons to become men of God, helping them learn how to make wise choices. If Toy Story taught me one thing, it was too be a good dad.

New blogging site

In my drive home today from school I thought that I would start another blog site chronicling my life as a stay at home dad. I know there are more of us these days, but it is a very different experience than being a stay at home mom. Dads just do things differently and I am sure that there will be funny happenings along the way. So, check it out at http://homebounddad.wordpress.com. I will continue to manage this blog as well, just might limit the amount of posts.

Theological Reflection: Mark 1:22

“The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.”

This one verse jumps out at me. First, what a knock on the teachers of that day and second I would love to have heard Jesus preach. This got me thinking though, how does a good sermon make you feel?

Currently I am at a good church with a good teaching pastor. However a few years ago I was at a church who did not have a good teaching or preaching pastor (don’t ask me the difference but all my seminary friends insist that there is a difference between preaching and teaching a sermon). When I hear a good preacher/teacher I always think about the people who don’t preach and teach well. Sometimes I am amazed when I hear someone that I have the wrong idea on.

Now, one can argue that Jesus is God and so he has an edge, but I wonder if there is more. You see the teachers of the law were to be the spiritual leaders and shapers of that day. But they weren’t doing the job they were supposed be doing. Jesus comes on the scene and brings about a revival, he is a breath of fresh spiritual air in the lives of the Jewish people. Shouldn’t that be what pastors or all Christians should be like? Shouldn’t churches be a breath of spiritual fresh air?

Luckily I am at a church like that, but for many they aren’t. I wonder if this passage shouldn’t be a kick in the pants for churches and denominations to wake up and remove ineffective pastors who can’t preach a sermon (I’m only talking of Senior, Teaching or Lead pastors here). In my mind that is what they are called to do and no matter what else they do well, if they can’t preach well then I think they need to be let go. Maybe they can become an associate pastor and do what they are good at, but if a pastor is in the pulpit he better be able to preach. I guess that is why I don’t think I was called to be a Lead/Senior/Teaching pastor…I know I’m not that good of a preacher/teacher in the pulpit.

I think our churches need to have this verse up in the pastor’s office and what would it be like if people are amazed at our pastor’s teachings? That is the thought I leave you with?

Theological Reflection: 1 Kings 6

Solomon builds the temple for the Lord. That is what chapter 6 of 1 Kings recalls. As I was reading this chapter it amazed me at the awe, respect and honor that is given to the temple mount before the building is even completed. No iron tool, hammer or chisel was used where the temple was being built. God’s holiness and that of which he demands from his people is seen as they build a temple. For many of us we might have glossed right over that, but for the Israelites this was a very important part of the process of building God’s temple.

The temple was to finally bring God’s dwelling among man and especially the Israelites. However, God’s presence was once again conditional on living a life pleasing to him.

Not much else being taken away from this chapter, but I hope that if you read it you will see that the building of the temple was more than just a building to worship in, but was the dwelling place of God.

Theological Reflections: Mark 1:9-13

A week ago I decided to start reading one of the gospels while I go through 1 Kings, you know, kind of mix in some NT with my OT reading. After a week of reading and reflecting, without blogging, I wanted to start sharing some thoughts and reflections on what I learn, remember and such on the Gospel of Mark. I may not reflect in order of chapters and verses, but will most likely jump around with whatever sticks out most in my thoughts.

Today, I want to recall the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. Mainly the verses that have been at the center of some theological debates throughout Christian history. You see, evangelicals believe that God is one, but also three. Most say the math doesn’t work and so Christians really worship three gods and yet I believe, along with evangelicals, that I worship ONE God. The baptism of Jesus has been used to prove his deity, disprove his deity and an assortment of other things centered on whether or not Jesus is God. It has also been used to prove that the Trinity exists.

So, why bring this passage up. First, I think it is always helpful when speaking of the Trinity theologically to remind ourselves that theologians and therefore theology do not always have to be clean and clear. Sometimes the best theology is mysterious, faith-based not logic-based (If I can ever become famous I think I would write a book on Faith Based Theology, if one hasn’t already been written). Often theology attempts to use philosophical arguments to prove things, which is not a bad thing and I truly believe these are good things. However, most everyday Christians get lost in the philosophical discussions on theological topics.

So, here is what I see in this passage. Jesus Christ, the Son has a dynamic relationship with the Father and the Spirit. There seems to be a connectedness that is not found anywhere else. Jesus comes out of the water and is called “my Son” which may have a OT connection to Israel being called out of Egypt and coming out of the Red Sea (baptism of Moses?). Some theologians see the life of Jesus reliving Israelite history and maybe so, I am more concerned with the Trinity aspect here.

Now you can’t base a doctrine on one passage, but you also can’t disprove one either. Here we see that there is this Father-Son connection with God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son. This says a lot. There is identification in the term son. Even today, a son carries the family name into the next generation. Thinking biologically a child is formed when 1 part of dad and a part of mom join to form a new person. The child will always be genetically made up of dad. There is an association there to be called someones son. Does this make sense?

This connection with Jesus and the Father continues to get played out in the Gospel of John, but for our purpose here, there is a start in Mark to show that Jesus is no ordinary man, he is not just some new religious ruler or leader, but he is more. As Mark recalls this part of Jesus life he is setting up the rest of the story about this unique God-Man named Jesus, who came to preach good news.

There is a lot that is going on here, but for me right now is to see that Jesus was/is/will always be a unique and amazing God-Man, whose life changed the course of history and it started at his baptism. What are your thoughts?