Yup that is right, almpst 23 years old and I am off to prom... Jail bait you say? WRONG. I didn't even go to my prom come to think of it. But actually I am off to go help photograph a local prom tonight. So here's to getting dressed up so people think I am more important than I really am.
Zach
Well yesterday, I got the call regarding the recruiting job with my Alma Mater. And the Votes are in, I will begin my training next Saturday! This is very exciting because I enjoyed being a recruiter in the past, have always loved my school, and the best part... It is a salaried position! This means I can actually have a budget to work with! Now I just need to make sure I can survive until the 15th when I get my 1st check. But yay! New Job, Better Income, Benefits, weekends free! Life could not be better right now.
Also, a dream of mine is coming true, I have found someone who is willing to rent out a 4 bed 3 bath house to myself and 3 other guys. Which means I will be living in a Christiany Peer Community. The House is beautiful, has some finish work to the renovations to happen, door knobs, window cleaning, etc, but I look forward to sharing this house with you in picture form soon. So I have to say right now that I have been in a continual series of praising God because he has been doing so much for me. Hallelujah.
Zach
I have been reading David Crowder's "Praise Habit" and this week was on Psalm 8.
So I thought I would share my thought on it. Enjoy
God is so infinitely present. He is spoken everyday by the entirety of His creation, and humanity is the only one that keeps him at arm's length. Perhaps this is because we are the only ones who feel self-conscious regarding him. The grasses of the fields sway with the wind, His breath. The waters take the time to mirror their twin creation, the heavens. Mountains reach out and share with the clouds. Animals how at night, and not that I am an Animist by any means, but nature follows its natural course, doing what God designed it to do, Humanity sees God, and rather than naturally turning to praise Him, elevates Him yet further, and then sets themselves infinitely apart from Him.
In the larger world view, we make ourselves seem so small. We play ourselves as insignificant, but thinking of Christ's words with God providing for the birds in the sky, He does the same for us. God touches out lives daily, but because we are too busy walking with our heads down, moping about , telling the sidewalk about our insignificance. God is shouting at us to look up and meet the rest of his creation eye to eye and see how everything else looks up to praise Him for making them. But not us, the most elaborate of all his creation, be come vain in our vanity, we stop praising, because we are too busy criticizing ourselves. We simple need to stop, look up, and we what is natural... PRAISE.
I hope you readers enjoyed the short series on "Complements and Catalysts." Those were some off the cuff theology, and today I am going to bring you something different, and something also not entirely new. During my senior year at Simpson University I wrote a research paper on "A Theology of Discpline." Unfortunately upon reading through the paper I decided I pitied my professor for having to read such a poorly written paper. However, I do still believe the topic and content were very worthwhile, so I now provide you with the newly revised series on "A Theology of Discipline." This will be broken up into smaller portions, so today will be something of an introduction and overview of what the rest of the series will be covering. Enjoy!
A Theology of Discipline
“Vengeance as reaction to covenant violation is not retribution for retribution’s sake, but is discipline to restoration…” H.G.L. Peels
Introduction
Of the many theologically binding themes to be found in the Old Testament the covenantal relationship between God and Israel as Father and Child stands in firm resolve. As a child grows, the means of disciplining the child evolve. This is no different in the case of God acting as the Father of Israel. Israel’s progression as child maturing begins with their birth as God’s chosen people with Abraham, ending with their return as a prodigal young adult from Babylonian exile. This article seeks to detail out the various forms and degrees of discipline that are evident in the Old Testament following a chronological time line of Israel’s development, the process following that of an infant, a toddler, a youth, a teen, and finally as an adult.
It is necessary at this point in time to first point out that I am not seeking to equate discipline with punishment. These are two similar yet distinctly different actions. The Encarta dictionary definition for punishment is: “a penalty that is imposed on somebody for wrongdoing” whereas a definition of discipline is: “to teach somebody to obey rules or to behave in an ordered or controlled way” This is to say that if one is to see that God punishes Israel it is simply a part of the overall action of discipline. Where in His effort to help them as His children they must first learn to follow their Father’s rules which will lead to a more harmonious living as par his creation intent. In other words, punishment is the action taken while discipline is the foundation of purpose that it is acted out from.
Built atop this is the fact that God is the father and creator of humanity and the specific representative God of Israel whom He loves. It is a great to put in that Claus Westermann speaks to the Hebrew word mhr, which means “mother’s womb” as word that defines in a sense God’s love for Israel in a familiar sort. So as a father His love for his children will cause Him to take rather severe actions in order that His children may learn to grow and become righteous before Him.
So I have been lacking in my updating on my grandpa's health. Well they have took him off ventilation and much to the amazement of all (but not God) he could breathe one his own. More than that his Viral Pneumonia is subsiding, and with a proper diet his congestive heart failure can be held off. And finally for his kidneys, he will be in Dialysis for about 4 hours each day, 3 days a week. Not too bad. Which means, he has some years ahead of him yet, Praise God.
The road trip back was fun, it passed very quickly and Karina and I had plenty of time to meet and chat with her folks. We had left mid-day after having breakfast with my mom. The big news of everything though was that Tuesday morning, we both had interviews with two different prospective employers. Hers was with a debt collection agency to work in their Legal Department, and mine was to work as an Admissions Counselor for my Alma Mater in the Adult Degree Completion Program. And both interviews went very well.
As a matter of fact, just this morning I got a call from Karina, and she has gotten the job with the legal department for the debt collection agency! Praise God again because he has delivered her from "The Man" of Starbucks where her work-life was becoming less and less enjoyable.
Next, I have also received a call, and I am set to meet with one of the VP's for the school for my second interview tomorrow. Which means for the time being I am sidelining finishing my AFLAC exams in hopes of landing this job. So if tomorrow around 3:30 my readers could be praying for me, I am currently not employed, and really desire to take this job.
And I don't mean this job as a "job" but as a career move. I desire to help people improve their lives by making choices to making them more qualified in the work force. These people who will be entering the program had a dream to get a degree and then it got sidelined, I want them back on track.
So all that to say, God is Good, All the Time.
Zach
Complements and Catalysts: (Christ and the New Testament)
Of the present, the faith I speak of, Christianity, is founded upon the concrete process started by God's call in Abraham, and the development of the children, Israel. But the movement from Judaism to Christianity comes when a new catalyst enters the fray and a new complement attached to God's people for eternity.
Catalyst
This new catalyst was something akin to adding a small slow stream of vinegar to a bucket of baking soda. To those who are looking, there are things happening, but to those looking for something utterly dramatic it will be almost invisible. This new catalyst came in the form of a man who was also utterly God, Jesus Christ.
For 30 some years this man walked the earth maturing and growing but leaving God's fingerprints everywhere he went. But unless you were looking for him, he was just another person. For 30 years others would declare his coming and for these years people were still oblivious, but still he poured himself out. The reactions became more evident, the blind could see, the mute could speak, the possessed were freed, and the dead would rise. Here and there small eruptions came, but still some would doubt, and they would heap more of their own baking soda, their "law" to smother these eruptions. It would not be till they did smother Christ, would they see the full outpouring of the catalyst, and ironically, it would be his last drink, vinegar, before He poured himself out, in mass.
At the peak or climax of this catalyst's effect is the crucifixion and death of Christ, and for three days this catalyst would show its effect on both the mortal and the eternal. For when in three days Christs blood covered humanities sin, and his descent into hell just to come back, defeating death and its effects would consume and transform law into grace, maintaining yet changing it, adding to it.
This catalyst would blast open the gates and make heaven available to all who decide to accept the gift of grace offered upon the cross. Faith as the world knew it, dependent upon acts of service, following rules, and needing priests to act as go-betweens was shattered into a million pieces, but the road to righteousness was just beginning.
Complement
During his time of ministry, those three years Christ gathered and taught his disciples, it was He, God, who worked signs and wonders, but at his command he also empowered the disciples, but it would appear that the disciples lacked the faith to do similar acts. It must have been difficult to think that one could perform the same as God, when God Himself, broke bread with you in the day and you attempting to perform His miraculous wonders as an ordinary man.
However, when Christ ascended into heaven he also sent down His Spirit to join mankind, empowering, and yet more importantly driving and giving us conviction towards a Christ-like way of life, to become one with Christ within us.
Speaking from experience here, growing up before living with Christ within me, I feared "sinning" however, I got a thrill, a rush of adrenaline from "sinning." But after Christ and the Holy Spirit took resident within, committing sin would go so much against who I was, and am, that would make me feel physically ill to challenge the purity that Christ desires for me. This same Spirit dwells within all of us whom take up our identity in Christ. It's desire is to lead us down this well paved road towards a better life. And when in our peripheral vision we see that shiny, sparking glint of sin in the jungle, the Spirit warns, even begs us not to go after it. But we separate from the Spirit and pursue what would seem treasure and turn out to be nothing more than trash, a broken mirror laughing at us as we observe our broken image, dirty and torn up in the pursuit of ungodliness. But the Spirit continues to call after us, and when we decide to let the Spirit come help us, he leads us back to the pavement, machete in hand, cutting down all that would seek to harm us. It was simply waiting for the call for help from us, and the act of repentance.
As we continue down this road we come to the crests of hills, and we see the glory of God's majesty ahead of us, and the perilous valleys ahead are made for more starkly obvious. But knowing of the things ahead, we can trust the spirit when we enter the fens, the marshes, the steep sided gorges, and we trust that the Spirit knows the way to God, and we simply follow in those footsteps. And when more shiny things catch our eye, we must turn away, and watch for where the Spirit has set itself and follow forth. There are other things as well that the complement offers. The Spirit is here to empower, and teach us what great things we can do in God, to heal, prophecy, provide wisdom, cast out demons, all these things. Take refuge in the complement, look forward to the kingdom ahead.
Zach
So yesterday my grandpa was taken off the ventilator in the early afternoon. And praise be to God, he could breath, albeit not terribly well, but it was a start. However as said before he will be staying in the ICU for a few days, he needs to show that he does not need to be on the ventilator anymore. If can this is very good news, and I am praying so. However, there still remains the question of what kind of Dialysis he will need in the future and the situation of his heart. Continue to pray for him please.
Great-Grandma is going back and forth in her condition, but overall it is still a downhill slide, her good days she slides a little slower. She is still under hospice care for the time being and has been taken off all her meds except one that keeps her calm. Please also continue to keep her in your prayers.
Zach
So yesterday, Karina and I drove to Eugene and visited my grandpa in the hospital. I briefly got to reconnect with some family I have not seen in a while before I headed to the ICU to see my grandpa. It was a bit of a eye-opening experience to see my grandpa really sedated, intubated, a bit distended, he did not look like the grandpa I have spent so much time with. I held his hand, told him that I loved him, told him that he was strong, because he is, it takes a strong man to fight against congestive heart failure, viral pneumonia, and failing kidneys.
Today at some point, the doctors are going to remove his breathing tube to see if he can breathe on his own. If he cannot, they will give him the decision between living off a machine for the sake of breathing, or to pass on as comfortably as possible. If he can breathe, then they will give him 3 days to prove it and there is a chance he may live on for a while yet. The other thing is his kidneys, he has had dialysis once at least, but there is potential for him to have it a few times a week for the rest of his life, once again depending on a machine to live.
This is a very hard time for my family, please continue to keep us in your prayers as we live out a very hard week.
Zach
Readers,
Tomorrow (Monday, March 12, 2007) I will be leaving at 3pm to head to Oregon. This trip was originally planned to leave a few days later and under happier circumstances. However, urgency has ushered me into leaving sooner than anticipated. I will be departing because my grandpa, Thomas, is in the ICU unit suffering Kidney Failure, Congestive Heart Failure, and Pneumonia, he is not slated to last very long. He has been amazing grandpa to me thus far, and I do not hesitate to believe that the artist inside of me that I embrace is because of his influence in my life. On my trip I will be taking some pictures of the paintings he has done to share them with you.
Also my great-grandma, Faith, is also nearing the end of quite the journey for her. To her I accredit my belief in faith. She has never hesitated to show me love both as a grandma, but also echoing the love of Christ. She is 96, and has lived a long fruitful life, and hey, she even got to meet Kevin Costner, when they used her ranch for a portion of the filming of "The Postman."
I love both of these people very dearly, and knowing that they are passing on soon is tearing me apart. But I take a certain peace in knowing that they both love the Lord, and will be going on to something so much better.
I will update you when I can.
Please be praying for myself and my family as we prepare for all that is to come this weekend.
Zach
Of Complements and Catalysts (God and the Old Testament)
Yesterday I visited the way various people influence our everyday life, speaking of those who are complements, people who are with us constantly perfecting and tempering us, as well as catalysts who are there to cause internal revolution in our very beings, both very good.
Now though, we look at a different paradigm. The all encompassing nature regarding God, and His presence in the Old Testament.
Catalyst
It is impossible to start with the complement portion when we approach the Old Testament, or even New Testament when we see God acting. He acts first as a catalyst, then presides over as a complement. For the purpose of this blog, I am going to fast forward past the creation and flood accounts, moving directly to Abraham. The world God had created has perhaps truly hit the rock bottom of its fall point, we like to think it is now, but really when God has to start all over again by picking a seemingly random patriarch of a seemingly random tribe, we are really scraping. God calls Abraham out, out of Ur, and He commands Abraham to follow. This is the initial catalyst moment of humanity as we know it today. God has begun the process of rebuilding humanity into right position with Him. The foundation of the very faith we live by is set, smoothed, and God's hand is imprinted in our development forever.
Complement
I know, short catalyst segment, but really that is the space of time catalysts normally do take, short, but severe portions of time. The development lies in the complement phase. Which is what we see happen when Abraham chooses to make God the complement to for him and his family, and through the blessings and covenants all of those following Abraham. And the more Abraham trusts in his relationship with God, and loves God, and relishes his presence, the more God helps protect and begin perfecting humanity, a still unfinished process in some aspects. This is an interesting relationship as well, because unlike human complements where we mutually act as the iron sharpening one another, in no way does humanity ever sharpen God, this is a one way relationship. Perhaps this is why the effort takes so long, not because we can't sharpen God, but because we cannot accept the fact that we cannot do anything for God.
Granted there phases as God's children enter into slavery that God acts again as a catalyst inside his complementing nature, freeing his people so that they may again begin to fully rely on him. We observe the transition process as Israel learns that God really is present in the form of pillars of smoke and fire, parting seas, and defeating enemies. They are a confused people nonetheless, needing direction from their leader, Moses the voice of God's words. God never stops the process where he continues to build up and perfect Israel. Israel in the meantime tries to give God a hand by creating idols for themselves, prompting disciplinary efforts from God. This will become quite the pattern for a God who never gives up, and perhaps a blog series of its own at a later time.
God's direct supervision is his complementing in the Old Testament. His use of judges, prophets, and kings are His tools for this process. His judges help represent God in the faces of adversity when others come to harm Israel from the outside, the prophets go to represent God to the people of Israel when they turn against God, and the king represents all the people before God, taking responsibility for there actions and also there protection as a judge himself. Nothing compares though, to God's direct interaction with his people, sending them into exile, and bringing them back to remind them of who they are in Him. This process is what sets up the core of the faith. That we in our identity need to be with God, need to be reliant on his provision, and accepting him as our Complement.
In the next portion of this series we will look at how the Complement and Catalyst concept is made more evident in the New Testament, and its impact today.
Thanks for Reading,
Zach
Complement
com·ple·ment n
1. something that completes or perfects something else
2. either of two things that form a unit
I believe that there are times in life when we receive a complement or two. Those of course that abide by the definition above, and not to be confused with a compliment or two, you know, nice words. These complements never leave us, there affects are continual, and reside with us forever, at least, in order for them to be effective. Should a complement be removed, we find ourselves, lacking, and well imperfect.
I think, since I cannot know, yet, that those who are married to the one whom they truly love, have found their total complement. That one that balances them, that tempers, and perfects them. This relationship is actually mutually complementing, since the perfecting, balancing, tempering goes both ways. I wish I could say more, but I am not married, yet.
This though, can also be said to be found to a lesser degree in the "best friend." Since there are times when we receive someone in our lives, who we are not intended to marry, and yet still they have a profound impact on the way our lives go, the way we develop, mature, and contribute to our own and others lives. I have one of these, he is named for the purpose of this blog "Ben" and well, we have been friends since I followed him home on his first day at my school in the 3rd grade. Over time he has been a complement to me, walking alongside me yet also pushing me to toughen up here and there, stand up for myself, and teaching me how to take a jab physically and emotionally. I think it is safe to say that I became outgoing because Ben started the process to make me so, and has remained a steadfast friend to this day.
Then there are something totally different a...
Catalyst
cat·a·lyst n
1. a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any change
2. somebody or something that makes a change happen or brings about an event
Catalysts appear throughout our lives, we don't really realize what they are doing till well after the fact normally. These can be found in the people who only appear for a short time for one reason or another, but who have tremendous impact on the lives, so tremendous it can be called "life-changing." I would say every person receives a lot of these people. I think I can say that I have had close to 20 catalysts in my life of varying degrees of influence. These are called... School Teachers.
But even greater than them (no disrespect, I loved my teachers) are those who reach into us on a personal level. Who very words and actions ingrain themselves into the core of our being, not just affecting the way we think about life, but the very way we experience it. For the purpose of this blog, I will refer to one such catalyst by the name of "Sarah." This catalyst has broken through barriers that I placed both high and thick regarding issues of spirituality. They have forced me to take on a new perspective and embrace things I never would have expected. Sarah brought me past looking at the "Gifts of the Holy Spirit" and "Walking in Power" as only for those who God occasionally gifts with magnificent displays of glory to the concept that we can walk in both of these on a more subtle level, embracing them as a part of being the host of Christ within. A difficult style of thinking for a young man who grew up in a very conservative non-"signs and wonders" church. This thinking has gotten me to a place where I feel comfortable in my own "spiritual" skin. Not shedding it to be safe from my fears, but to live in the risk of partaking in glory.
This is the Catalyst.
See the next Blog for a further dive into the world of Catalysts and Complements.
Okay so here is the deal. I have hated my old '99 Saturn SL1 since the day I received it. Why? Because it replaced my beloved 1990 Camry. That thing was amazing till it received a hole in its oil pan on a trip down I-5 and threw a rod at the Siskiyou Summit, 120 miles from my school. Anyways yeah, hated the car even more when a 4 point buck ran in front of me and started a long chain of bad things happening to the car. So this weekend, with the advent of me working for a Duck that sells Insurance, I decided I needed a car that would look good when I pull up in front of businesses to get them started up with insurance. So I went out and bought one.
With no further ado, my 2004 Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V
It is 6 Speeds of Joy, a fun and sporty ride, and is just plain slick looking. I love it.
Zach
Prophets, Kings, and the New Testament
In my theological wonderings and conversations I recently got to talk to an amazingly good friend about some of the stuff I come in contact with, and have had to deal with internally. You see I grew up in a very conservative very non-charismatic church, never seen a person healed, never heard a prophecy, never even heard tongues till I was in college. And when I did get to college I had some guy tell me that if I didn't speak in tongues I didn't have the Holy Spirit. I knew he was wrong, but that did cause me to research my own personal theology regarding tongues, and thus opened myself up to begin to understand the concept of "walking in power." This being that I was trying to understand how to show all those things that Christ called us to do in Matthew 10:8. Honestly to this day I have prayed many times to heal people and it has never happened. But others have told great testimony to this happening, and I know it to be true. But it does not happen for me. But what if there are other ways that the spirit is evident, even to the extent of that of what is found in the Old Testament.
I would say that after the passing of Moses, and perhaps even past the judges, we see two models of those who were filled with God's blessing and power. For generalizing purposes I will label these the "prophet" and the "king." One walked in mighty power, making sure that the true supernatural powers of God evident and unmistakeable, the other was filled with the wisdom, and strength, and charisma of God. This is not to say that the prophets did not, but there is a reason for these divisions I promise. For the most part in the book of the prophets, the key figures are those who are proclaiming amazing feats, and God supports those with their corresponding actions, however they are a person, whom Israel does not want to listen to. Israel puts up their blinders because what amazing things these people have to share is too much from someone who is not their leader. The Prophets are amazing people, I cannot emphasize this enough and God does amazing miracles through them, but alas they are almost despised by their people.
Then there are the kings. Those bound with having to maintain the very people who so do not want responsibility for their way of life. The king must hear the word of God and distribute it with authority, and in a way that the people accept. A serious burden for sure. But these people are not out raising the dead, instead they are trying to keep a people from extinction. They are attempting to trust God for wisdom beyond their ability. They are those that the people listen to. The king is bound to not lose the sight of the people and their trust. When the prophets end up speaking to the king, it is later in private. For the king, he must hear those words, pray that God will give him the wisdom to make sense of it so he can apply it towards his people. I am sure the king wishes he could just go about healing, raising the dead, and casting out demons. But perhaps he cannot? And maintain the respoect of his people?
These are all conjectures, I don't know. But I do know that both these types were in touch with God. They both carried around the authority of God, but sometimes I believe that those who cannot do, well teach. Perhaps if those of us have not had the pleasure of God healing someone through our prayers must continue to teach others to go out and do so. To make sure that others remember that all people should be going out in power.
I hope this was interest, sparked thoughts, and who knows maybe you will gather around the local watering hole and discuss this. I am not sayign that those who have not healed will never heal, I am just saying until then that they can take a certain comfort in the ways that God has given them until they have such an opportunity.
Theology Thursday over and out
Zach
