What?!?! Someone please help!!!

I started reading "The Pleasures of God", by John Piper, last night as I was travelling from Champaign to Chicago to Seattle. Good stuff, I have to say.

But then I stumbled upon something which caught me off guard. In trying to explain how God has been perfectly content and exuberantly happy with Himself and His own Godhead Trinity since before the creation of time and all worlds, Piper calls upon the writing of Jonathan Edwards ("An Essay on the Trinity") to help explain this point:

If a man could have an absolutely perfect idea of all that pass'd in his mind, all the series of ideas and exercies in every respect perfect as to order, degree, circumstance etc. for any particular space of time past, suppose the last hour, he would really, to all intents and purpose, be over again what he was that last hour. And if it were possible for a man by reflection perfectly to contemplate all that is in his own mind in a hour, as it is and at the same time that it is here, in its first and direct exitstence; if a man, that is, had a perfect reflex or contemplative idea of every exercise at and during the same time that that exercise was, and so through a whole hour, a man would really be two during that time, he would be indeed double, he would be twice at once. The idea he has of himself would be himself again.

Therfore as God with perfect clearness, fullness and strength, understands Himself, views his own essence (in which there is no distinction of substance and act but which is wholly substance and wholly act), that idea which God hath of Himself is absolutely Himself. This representation of the Divine nature and essence is the Divine nature and essence again: so that by God's thinking of the deity, [deity] must certainly be generated.

Hereby there is another person begotten, there is another infinite eternal almightly and most holy and the same God, the very same divine nature. And this person is the second person of the Trinity, the only begotten and dearly beloved Son of God; He is the eternal, neceessary, perfect, substantial and personal idea which God hath of Himself; and that it is so seems to me to be abundantly confirmed by the word of God.

What?!

Jesus is the essence of God's perfect understanding of Himself?! Can someone please help me understand how this is biblical and not just philosophical musings?!

It was just a footnote in Piper's book, so the biblical references (which so "abundantly confirm" Edwards's stance) are not given in support of this idea. Someone please help! I've never heard this idea put forth before, and would like to know more about it.

God's Irony

Well, one thing that I can't say about God is that He doesn't possess a sense of irony.

If you didn't already know this, I would encourage you to never try to put the Creator of the Universe in a box that you have made for Him... It's completely futile!

It's like trying to secure a bull with a length of dental floss, or trying to contain the fury of a tornado inside a paper bag. It will only break... and with power like you wouldn't believe!

And God's irony is often humbling. He thinks outside my boxes when I fall short of doing so. Praise be to our Lord and Creator, for He is sovereign! And He is good.

Utmost Importance

Well, today was my day for the blog fast... which does not mean that I fasted from blogging. It meant that I used today to fast, pray, and read Scripture, and am now blogging about it.

I wasn't completely aware that the point of this fast was to pray about a specific organization, so I went about the last couple of days trying to think about organizations that I feel strongly about that I could support through this experience. I kept coming back over and over in my thoughts to missionaries that I know from back in Washington, and various people I know who are seeking support so that they can fulfill the purpose that God has set apart for them to do.

"But that's silly," I thought. "There's nothing special about that. Every church has missionaries that it supports, or at least can get people in touch with missionaries if they want to support somebody!"

And that's when it hit me. The "organization" that I was seeking was right there: the global mission field.

I read through the first half of the book of Acts today, and was amazed once again with the fervor which which the early Church spread the good news of Jesus' resurrection and atonement for sin... as well as the recipients' intensity in hearing this news, and the utter joy that they expressed upon receiving the Holy Spirit and the knowledge of their justification.

But I was also struck, once again, by the generosity of the early Church. Everybody sold their possessions, and pooled together their resources, distributing wealth where need was felt. I believe that God enabling this abundant generosity was what made the missionaries' work possible.

If we believe that the Gospel is truly good news, and that the spreading of it is of utmost importance, we must not only do our part to obey Jesus' commission, but we must be willing to help support those who have made this end their life's work.

If you are reading this, I would encourage you to not only consider supporting a missionary, not only look at your check book to determine your capabilities, not only discuss the matter with your spouse (I say not only because these things are surely important!)... but to devote time in your daily prayers to intercede for these men and women, and to ask God if He would reveal to you your role in this matter of utmost importance.

And it starts...

If you haven't noticed (well, I guess those of you who still read this blog!), I haven't been writing much lately...

School's back soon, and so is the busy life that comes with it. This means that I will be writing much less often, unfortunately.

I will, however, be writing a new post tomorrow, as participation in the 40 day blog fast. No food for the stomach, but much food for the soul!

Stay tuned!

It may be my last one for a bit...

Some nighttime encouragement from the Maker of the stars

I am a thinker. I think a lot. Perhaps I think too much. Or perhaps I just think I think too much.

Regardless, last night I was thinking about my life and my future, as I often do. I have been troubled with this lately, and have been crying out to God for help. Last night was one of those times: I was on my knees, reading through, and praying through, the holy scriptures. It was a sweet time, even though I was troubled. God loves to hear His children's prayers, even if they come to Him out of distress.

When I finished reading and spending time speaking with my Father, I thought to myself, "I'm not done here. God has more for me."

So I did the same thing that I do from time to time after a long period in the Word and in prayer: I took a walk. I walked down to a nearby park, to sit on a bench. I wasn't sure what I was expecting out of this time; I was only sure that I wasn't done with God... or rather that He wasn't done with me.

I sat on a bench, and watched people talking in the distance for awhile. I examined cars driving by. I listened to the insects in the trees, and water splashing in the nearby fountain. Then I looked up into the sky, and saw a single, solitary star...

In an instant, upon seeing this star, my memories were brought back to a similar night from four or five years ago:

It was another night when I was thinking, perhaps too much, and filled with pain about a specific situation and the uncertainty of my future. I spent time hearing from God in His Word, as well as time crying out to Him in prayer. When I was done, I went for a walk. A long walk. I ended up down at the bay, at a local park, and I sat on a rock and watched the stars. I said to God, "Father, I do not want to test You; forgive me if I am. But I will stay here on this rock until I hear from You. Anything, Lord. Any word at all. I need to know that You are listening."

I do not recommend that you test the Lord in this way; for we are man, and He is God. He is the Potter, and we are His clay. However, God was most gracious in responding to me that night...

After sitting on that rock for about half an hour, late at night, in a park far from my house, my silence was broken by an audible voice which came from behind me. No, it was not the voice of God. It was the voice of friend who was in the Bible study that I was leading that year:

"Hey, it's our Corefa!"

This was the name given to the study leaders. He was with another friend from the study, as well as some other friends of mine. The two young men sat down near me, and were genuinely excited to come across their study leader out so late in this random park.

Immediately, I was filled with peace (which truly did surpass all of my own understanding!), and it was as if God was saying to me, "Chris, do not worry about tomorrow. For today, I have given you this work to do. Feed My sheep. Strengthen your brethren. The plans I have for you are plans to give you hope and a future. I am a most faithful God: lean on Me, and not on your own understanding."

It was such an amazing outpouring of grace in my life, and yet it took another walk to remember it. I am grateful to God for not only speaking into my life once to give me peace, but again years later to speak the same message. My faith is like shifting sand, but I serve a God who is a sure foundation, a strong cornerstone. He is perfectly loving, and is faithful to fulfill His promises... and He has promised to give me hope and a future. I will wait on Him in faith.

Are we but very old sons and daughters?

(This post has much to do with the previous one, but again, I wanted to split them up so as to not make the reading seem too daunting.)

Just as we, as adults, often take for granted the beauty of the created things that fill our lives, things that we brush by everyday without thinking of the completely astounding nature of their very existence, we also often ignore the beauty of monotony.

Again, I quote here G.K. Chesterton, from his work Orthodoxy:

[Children] always say, "Do it again"; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again" to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again" to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that he has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.

I often hear of children who are said to possess short attention spans, but maybe we should ask ourselves if it is, in fact, adults who have this problem. I am apt to wonder if the reason why I took for granted the breathtaking loveliness of the ocean that was so much a part of my daily life was simply that very fact: it was so much a part of my daily life.

I have an addictive nature. Much of this may stem from the fact that there is alcoholism in my family. My grandparents were alcoholics, and my mom, in a wise attempt to break the cycle which is so common to many families, decided to be extremely judicious in her use of alcohol while I was growing up. Nevertheless, I still struggle with alcoholism from time to time, and occasionally need to abstain for a period of time from any alcoholic beverage so that I can judge whether I am experiencing any difficulty with its absence.

That being said, this causes addictive tendencies which I believe stretch to other areas of my life. When I am fixated on something, there is scarcely anything else that I can think of. I have watched stereo equipment, video games, art, photography, relationships, and even theological study (for the sake of knowledge), take over much of my life at one point in time. And yet, no matter how much I get of any one thing, I can never have enough of it (this, by the way, can be a mark of an idol). I cannot seem to find joy in any particular source, and am constantly jumping from one addiction to another.

This is because I have misplaced my source of joy.

God finds joy in the day in, day out, subtleties of controlling the universe. To put it another way, God finds joy in just being God. Have we grown so very much older than our Father, that we can no longer find joy in the things that bring Him joy? Have we lost our child-like nature which allows us to jump up and down at the sight of an amazing act of creation... simply because we've "seen it all before"? Do we look at a sunrise, and say to ourselves, "Oh great... another day to get through"? Or are we rather, in looking at a sunrise, filled with praises for the joy of creation, and say to God, "O Lord! Thank you for this new day that have You given us!"

I pray that our Creator would once again fill us with the "appetite of infancy".

A Child's Heart

(So, this topic will be split into two posts, because I thought that one post would be too long, and that nobody would want to read it!)

This post is not intended to stray from more serious theological matters, to dip into the pool of touchy and feely and cutesy and warm and cuddly (for, though it looks cuddly on the surface, it is of utmost importance); but since I'm looking forward very much to beginning to teach Sunday school for some of the little ones at my church, reading the excerpt for this post struck me more than I think it would otherwise.

Our Lord has revealed in three of the four written gospels (Matthew 18:3-4, 19:14; Mark 10:15; Luke 18:16-17) that we are to enter the kingdom of God as children. But what exactly does this mean? It is clear that this includes, at the least, humbling ourselves as children, not looking to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:4). But is there more than this that we can gain from looking at the lives of children, and at their response to the world around them?

G.K. Chesteron, in his book Orthodoxy, begins, I believe, to uncover the wonders of the simplicity of a child's world view:

When we are very young children we don't need fairy tales: we only need tales. Mere life is interesting enough. A child of seven is excited by being told that Tommy opened a door and saw a dragon. But a child of three is excited by being told that Tommy opened a door. Boys like romantic tales; but babies like realistic tales - because they find them romantic.... This proves that even nursery tales only echo an almost pre-natal leap of interest and amazement. These tales say that apples are golden only to refresh the forgotten moment when we found that they were green. They make rivers run with wine only to make us remember, for one wild moment, that they run with water.

How sad it is when we realize that we, as adults (or even as older children), take for granted all of the things that once sparked joy in our young souls!

I have had some small experience of this in my short life. Growing up in Washington state, I was always surrounded by vast mountain ranges, endless valleys and hills blanketed by the green of trees, and more water than I could ever imagine swimming in. These were all aspects which helped make up the whole of my life: they were what I knew of the world. Then a few years ago, I studied in France for a semester; it was the first time that I had ever lived away from water. During spring break, I traveled with a friend throughout Italy. On one of the first nights, we had unloaded our stuff in the hostel room in Sorrento, and decided to take a walk down at the docks.

I will never forget that night.

I could not see the water, because of the dark of night. However, the smell of the ocean and the sound of the waves gently lapping up against the rocks sent a feeling through me that made me stop to rejoice in the grand artistry of God's creation.

Since that night, I always try to remember the beauty of water whenever I look at it. Why must I try to remember? Because the feeling that I had in Sorrento that night was a feeling that I had never experienced before, even though I had lived my entire life around water. I try to remember the beauty of the water because if I don't I will take it for granted.

I am making a new resolution. I will try to do the same for all of God's creation as I have chosen to do with water: namely, I will not take it for granted. When I walk by a tree on my way to school, I will think not only of the sovereign process that the Creator has set in place to nourish and grow and sustain this tree, but also of all of the ways that it helps sustain the life of other creatures in this world. When I see a squirrel cross my path as I walk to my office, I will think upon the complex nature of the makeup of this little organism, and of all of the care that God has put into making something so small, a creature that is not even made after His own image.

I pray that God might change not only my heart, that I might have the humbleness of a child, but my eyes as well, that I might be able to be fascinated once again by the marvelous creation that surrounds me every day.