musings and pontifications

Marsh Walk, Plum Island

noreply@blogger.com (matbathome) — Sun, 25 May 2008 02:12:00 +0000

Marsh Walk, Plum Island
Originally uploaded by matbathome

Here is a shot I took on Plum Island, near Newburyport, MA

Plum Island is a national park. The views from it are incredible. It only costs $5 to get in.

Salem, MA

noreply@blogger.com (matbathome) — Mon, 19 May 2008 00:44:00 +0000

Salem, MA
Originally uploaded by matbathome

This is another cool shot with my new camera. I did the black and white in Photoshop.

Photo from Salem, MA trip

noreply@blogger.com (matbathome) — Sun, 18 May 2008 21:51:00 +0000

Boat
Originally uploaded by matbathome

Here is a photo I took from my recent Salem, MA trip. There are a bunch of photos on my Flickr page. These are my first attempts at color photography.

Wallace

noreply@blogger.com (matbathome) — Thu, 15 May 2008 01:54:00 +0000

Wallace
Originally uploaded by matbathome

This is from my new Nikon D40x. I'm going to have fun with this camera.

Dallas Willard: The Spirit of The Disciplines Ch 7

noreply@blogger.com (matbathome) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:03:00 +0000

This chapter is the longest and most philosophical so far. Here Willard talks about the spiritual life of St Paul and how it relates to us. He argues that Paul's spiritual life wasn't allegorical, like it is for many Protestansts. Many Protestants see the whole body/spirit issue as something that isn't rooted in the concrete world. We talk about our own personal "Pilgrim's Progess" and yet it isn't rooted in the every day world of matter. It's only spiritual. Willard would argue that our physical actions play a key role in our spiritual lives. And by physical, he means what we do with our bodies in terms of feeding our spirtual lives, things like fasting, serving, solitude, prayer, etc.

Perhaps the most intriguing thought I ran across in this chapter was that we can allow thoughts to cause us to sin, but only if we dwell on them. It's not that it's bad that we think a certain thought, but that we allow it to linger.

Another thought that was interesting was that we aren't meant for the "fuel" of our old life. We are made for new fuel. This fuel is put in us by our outward actions. Not that these actions earn our salvation, it's that these actions are because of our salvation.

Photo by jam343.

I'm back

noreply@blogger.com (matbathome) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 01:56:00 +0000

I haven't written anything in a while here. A lot has been going on. Perhaps I will finish the book I was blogging through.

But, yes, I'm back.

I just rediscovered some art and photos back from my college years. Here is one of them.

Here is another:

Tozer the Emergent

noreply@blogger.com (matbathome) — Fri, 11 May 2007 13:51:00 +0000

Below, in this quote from Tozer, he calls several Catholics "great saints". He also talks about creation's role in worship. Tozer sounds like many emergents I have heard.

"Some of the great saints, who were great because they took such admonitions seriously and sought to practice them, managed to achieve the sanctification of the secular, or perhaps I should say the abolition of the secular. Their attitude toward life’s common things raised those above the common and imparted to them an aura of divinity. These pure souls broke down the high walls that separated the various areas of their lives from each other and saw all as one; and that one they offered to God as a holy oblation acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

Nicholas Herman (Brother Lawrence) made his most common act one of devotion: “The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer,” he said, “and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament.”

Francis of Assisi accepted the whole creation as his house of worship and called upon everything great and small to join him in adoration of the Godhead. Mother earth, the burning sun, the silver moon, the stars of evening, wind, water, flowers, fruits-all were invited to praise with him their God and King. Hardly a spot was left that could be called secular. The whole world glowed like Moses’ bush with the light of God, and before it the saint kneeled and removed his shoes.

Thomas Traherne, the seventeenth century Christian writer, declared that the children of the King can never enjoy the world aright till every morning they wake up in heaven, see themselves in the Father’s palace, and look upon the skies, the earth and the air as celestial joys, having such a reverent esteem for all as if they were among the angels. "
The Sanctification of the Secular by Tozer

http://www.worldinvisible.com/library/tozer/5j00.0010/5j00.0010.13.htm

Iggy found this quote from Tozer, by the way.

Photo by Bombardier

Dallas Willard: The Spirit of The Disciplines Ch 6

noreply@blogger.com (matbathome) — Thu, 10 May 2007 01:06:00 +0000

It seems that each chapter gets more philosophical as the book goes on. This chapter directly counters that the body is evil.

Willard begins by talking about how we have as a Western culture have tried to suppress the body. He argues that our true body's fulfillment only comes from being in relationship with God, not suppressing the body. Our bodies are the vehicles to interact with the spiritual.

Willard then deals with two specific issues in the "body is evil" argument. Playing is one area that is contested. Many say that any bodily pleasure is bad for our spirits and distracts us from our spiritual life. Willard states that, in fact, everything is spiritual and "rests upon the spiritual realm." We are to have our desires of the flesh in submission to God because the body is fulfilled in it's obedience to God.

The second issue is our "shadow side" as he calls it. Here Willard really says something interesting. When we are not in a proper relationship with God, we often seek out ways to fulfill our desires that are opposed to Him. And when we cut ourselves off from normal, God-pleasing pleasures, we may even end up having difficulty fighting our sinful desires.

To further boost his arguments, Willard states that our bodies are not separate from our spirits and that the two are intrinsically tied together. What I think he is saying here is that things like personality and emotions are displayed with our bodies, for example, in the way we walk, how we smile, how we express our anger. Perhaps our body, in conjunction with our spirit, acts as a team.

He does separate the fallen human nature from the body, pointing out that Adam had flesh and his body was not inherently evil.

There is some good stuff here. I do have difficulty with passages like Roman 7 and Willard's insights are helpful here. I think he would rather, when the word "flesh" appears, replace it with "fallen human nature". And perhaps this would help us deal with some of our sin struggles. We have so many "don't do" lists that we make our lives harder then they ought to be. And perhaps instead we should be seeking ways to enjoy God's creation.

Photo by majorvols

Dallas Willard: The Spirit of The Disciplines Ch 5

noreply@blogger.com (matbathome) — Tue, 08 May 2007 01:48:00 +0000

Willard opens up with a provocative thought, that Jesus' teachings weren't about about we are to do, but they are about how life is supposed to be. I think this could mean something like when Jesus says things like if you hate your brother, you are committing murder in your heart. And he is pointing out that our "natural" life is intended for love.

This relates to his next idea that natural life's primary function is absorption of nutrients and then growth. If animals don't get their proper nutrients, then they cease to grow. And this is like our spiritual life, if we don't spend time with God, we are starving ourselves spiritually.

In addition, this can be abused by humans. When we take without regard to God, others and creation, we end up hurting ourselves and everyone around us. This is sin in our lives and it causes us not to grow properly.

The spiritual life that Willard encourages us to take is one of communion with God. Then we, our total selves, are able to be whom God intended us to be. Not that this is easy, it is really hard work. We forget that the great Christians before us had to got through much pruning before they became what God intended them.

There is a lot to think about in this passage. Especially how our true selves depend on God and we will only grow into our true selves when we commune with him.

Photo by josef.stuefer

Dallas Willard: The Spirit of The Disciplines Ch 4

noreply@blogger.com (matbathome) — Sat, 05 May 2007 15:28:00 +0000

Chapter 4 takes a closer look at our creation and role in the world God has given us. Willard starts off by talking about the contradiction of how we were made a little less then God and yet are made of dust. We aspire to heavenly things. Yet we are trapped in our bodies. We try to make our own identities by our affiliations

One of the fantastic thing about us is that we can have a relationship with God, a God who wants to be in relationship with us and has given us a role. It separates us from the rest of the animals. We are to have dominion over the earth and all it's creatures. We are also called to be in a good relationship with other humans, which gives us the ability to, working together, rule the earth. God created us unlike the animals and he was directly involved and birthed our creation with His breath. It is these factors are part of what make us the Imago Dei, the image of God

Unfortunately, due to the fall, we are no longer in a proper relationship with God, his creation, or other humans. And, as with all creation, we are groaning for restoration. However, since we have his likeness, we are called to use what materials he has given us (our bodies) and with His power, as long as we remain in Him, bring about what He originally called us to be, to be people who are in relationship with Him, others, and his creation.

Now I had never thought about our dominion over the earth as being something that separated us from the animals. I always just stuck with the breath of life part and our conscience as to what it means to be in the image of God. I'm not sure what role our relationship with the animals plays into spiritual disciplines or discipleship. He seemed to imply that using animals for war or food was a bad thing. Not that I am advocating the misuse of animals but even in the old testament, animals were used as food and God didn't see it as misuse.

I was challenged by our need to be in right relationship with others and how we as a community can bring about proper dominion. This is important because believers can get caught up in the whole lone ranger Christian thing. We need each other to bring about God's ultimate glory.

Picture by sandcastlematt

Dallas Willard: The Spirit of The Disciplines Ch 3

noreply@blogger.com (matbathome) — Fri, 04 May 2007 03:20:00 +0000

This chapter is, in my opinion, the most interesting so far. Willard suggests that our body plays a part in our spiritual life. What does he mean by this? Our life is a bodily life and it's a life that interacts with the real world. He is talking about how we act in this world.

Too many times, Christianity is just an interior life. We've prayed the magical prayer that forgives us our sins. But then we don't do anything with it. Or we fill up our lives with religious activities on Sunday but our faith has no impact on Monday-Saturday.

Faith is how we live 24 hours a day and not just our interior lives. It's how our faith is lived out. Willard talks about the whole faith vs works debate but points out that it is impossible to separate faith and works. He would say that faith comes first and empowers us to work.

Willard also addresses the "vile" body theory. While we do have corrupt flesh and our bodies are finite, our bodies our vehicles for our life as Christians.

My one issue with is chapter was that he was rather dismissive towards the death of Christ and substitutionary atonement. His death took place so that God would punish our sins through Him. His resurrection means if we accept him, we have a new life in Him. First we need to repent.

Photo by donnamarijne

Rob Bell and the Bull Horn Guy - The Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (matbathome) — Fri, 04 May 2007 02:14:00 +0000

Fire, the young adults ministry that I'm involved with showed the Nooma video "Bull Horn", from the series by Rob Bell. After the video, the speaker got up and asked if anyone had become a Christian as a result of hearing a street preacher. Out of 150 people there, no one raised there hand.

The challenge is this: tell me your testimony on how a street preacher led you to Christ. I will post any testimony about this that is submitted to me. It has to be your story, not someone else's. I won't offer any opinions. I just want your story.

This is not a debate on pragmatism vs sovereignty of God, predestination vs free will, liberal vs conservative, emerging/emergent vs fundamentalism.

So, send your story. Or, if you know someone who has a story, send them this link.

Photo by xakaxunknownx

Dallas Willard: The Spirit of The Disciplines Ch 2

noreply@blogger.com (matbathome) — Thu, 03 May 2007 01:22:00 +0000

Let me pick up a thought I had about Ch 1. Perhaps some of these "super Christians", who God gifts incredibly, have to really incorporate these spiritual disciplines. They can become like the superstar athletes of today who have so much talent, yet start to slack off when they become successful, either in their private life or their professional lives. I'm thinking of Ted Haggard, who at least had the spiritual gift of leadership. But he didn't maintain his personal life and it eventually destroyed even him.

So, Ch 2 talks about Willard's personal and historical reasons for a return to spiritual disciplines. He talks about the personal tension as he lived in between what he wanted to be as a Christian and what he was. He believed he could be the Christian God wanted him to be, he just didn't know how.

He also talks about the spiritual history of America. He mentions how, for a long time, we wanted to evangelize the whole world, yet we neglected the "make disciples" part. Now, however, we are learning about these spiritual disciplines.

He brings up that we don't do these disciplines to merit God's favor or forgiveness. We do these bodily actions as way of offering up our bodies as living sacrifices. He points out several areas that we thought would bring us peace, like our allegiance to our denominations, our doctrinal correctness, whether we were liberal or conservative, theologically, our views of the Bible, did nothing to make us more like Christ. Our peace with our walk would come from our practicing these disciplines.

Finally, he reminds us that we are saved by grace through faith, not our works. The disciplines are not a substitute for our trust and belief in the One who died for us.

I didn't feel this chapter was quite as insightful as ch 1. Perhaps the academic nature of the historic account of American spirituality made it a little dry. Still, he makes a compelling case for following closer after Jesus.

Photo by wili_hybrid

Who Ken Silva doesn't like...

noreply@blogger.com (matbathome) — Wed, 02 May 2007 21:22:00 +0000

Over at CRNinfo, it's been mostly mostly a light day. Although the list of people Ken Silva doesn't like grew. Ken Silva is pastor at Connecticut River Baptist Church in Claremont, NH. He also is the editor of Christian Research Network and Apprising Ministries.

Anyway, below is an update.

Theologians Ken Doesn’t Like:
Luther: Drank, Swore, Infant Baptism, Anti-Jewish, the Eucharist
Tozer: Mystic
Calvin: Calvinism, Infant Baptism
Spurgeon: Friends with James Hudson Taylor, smoked, drank

Theologians Ken Likes:
Himself
MacArthur

The above is not to make fun of Ken. It is to point out some fallacies that Ken holds. Christians can't know everything and be certain of everything theologically. Some great men of God have had some views that make me cringe. I think we can hold to the creeds and understand the Bible to the best of our ability but then, as The Choir said, "everybody wanders through the forest, everybody wanders through the woods.

Ken needs psychological counsel. From his interviews with Mike Corely, he sounds very unstable and needs prayer.

I've also posted this in case you are looking for info on Ken Silva.

Photo by 123 look at me

Dallas Willard: The Spirit of the Disciplines - Chapter 1

noreply@blogger.com (matbathome) — Wed, 02 May 2007 00:23:00 +0000

I picked up The Spirit of Disciplines by Dallas Willard recently. Instead of just reading it, I've decided that I'm going to blog my way through it. Hopefully I will be able to retain, think about and apply the teachings instead of just forgetting them.

Willard starts off by teaching that the yoke is, in fact, easy and the burden is light. He gives the example of a pro baseball player that younger athletes emulate. The athletes see the way he stands at the plate, catches the ball, what products he wears and uses, and copies him, in hopes that they can be as good as him. Unfortunately, they often neglect to do the things behind the scenes that the pro does. Practice, diet, exercise, etc.

Willard argues that this is the way we mimic Jesus. We see the perfect life that he did and we grit our teeth and do it, or try to anyway. We don't prepare like Jesus did, though. We don't fast, spend time in prayer, fellowship with the Father, etc. We have no preparation. Then we wonder why it is we don't get very far in our faith.

So the secret to the Christian life is preparation, Willard claims.

Some of thoughts here. Christ was fully God and fully man, therefore technically needed no preparation. He was perfect. There are some athletes that are just naturals. Some of us are gifted incredibly with spiritual gifts that God uses abundantly. The rest of us are utility players. We are competent in our Christian life. We won't be Billy Grahams or Jim Elliots.

Still, this does get me excited about Christian walk. Of course the hard work initially might mean even harder work in the field. But the possibilities are exciting.

Photo by pingnews.com

War of Words

noreply@blogger.com (matbathome) — Tue, 01 May 2007 18:48:00 +0000

Things have been heating up in the CRN vs CRNinfo. The big stumbling block lately has been the issue of Christian Yoga. The Fundamentalists say that any mix with Yoga is bad because of it being developed by Hinduists and the Evangelicals say that the Fundamentalists are being legalists.

I emailed my post on Tozer to Mike Ratliff. He sided with Silva but at least he seemed concerned the escalation that has taken place. I have added to the escalation myself, once calling one of the Fundamentalists a racist.

The thing about blogging is that there is no accountability. Anyone can say anything and no one has to take responsibility. I'm not sure Silva has a board of elders who will pull him back when he needs it. That's why CRNinfo exists. CRN posts that Veggietales is Satanic. CRNinfo fights back and posts the truth. CRNinfo defends the truth because there are plenty of gullible people that just believe whatever CRN says.

Have I crossed a line when commenting on CRNinfo? Absolutely. Have I looked for a fight? Yes.

So, what's the solution? Perhaps I need to pull back a little. Perhaps is ok alerting CRNinfo when wacky news stories pop up or an expose like the Tozer stuff. But perhaps, personally speaking, my commenting has only thrown fuel on the fire.

Photo by evobassman

My Name in Japanese

noreply@blogger.com (matbathome) — Tue, 01 May 2007 15:22:00 +0000

Apparently, my name in Japanese means "True Genius." That is kind of disturbing because it hits a part of my pride issues, which some have pointed out. Something for me to work on.

Here's the website you can use to figure out what your name in Japanese means. www.yournameinjapanese.com.

Donald Miller Critique

noreply@blogger.com (matbathome) — Tue, 01 May 2007 04:49:00 +0000

The below link is actually a good critique of Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz. Usually the criticism amounts to "he's a democrat, therefore bad".

http://theconstructivecurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2006/02/blue-like-jazz-deliver-us-from.html

Photo by iBjorn

Donald Miller's Lifeboat Theory

noreply@blogger.com (matbathome) — Tue, 01 May 2007 04:17:00 +0000

I gave my first talk to over 100 people this past December. It was on Donald Miller's Lifeboat Theory and I spoke at Grace Chapel's young adults ministry, Fire. You can download it here.

Now that I have had time to reflect on it, I would change quite a few things. Something like this is never "finished."

Photo by rbrwr

Tozer the Mystic

noreply@blogger.com (matbathome) — Tue, 01 May 2007 02:54:00 +0000

I am a frequent commenter (not a contributer) on Sliced Laodacia/CRNinfo, a blog revealing the truth about Christian Research Network, a fundamentalist web site who pretty much is known for what they hate, rather then who they ought to love, Jesus.

They often quote Tozer. Thanks to Iggy, I was inspired to do a little digging and found this online book by James L Snyder, Tozer's associate and biographer. The statements about Tozer's love of the mystics really damages CRN's credibility, considering their disdain for anything mystical or Catholic. So, here they are:

“For inner nourishment, Tozer turned constantly to these masters of the inner life. He sat long and lovingly at the feet of these saintly teachers drawing water from their wells with reverence and gratitude. He lifted thankful eyes to God for the men and women who taught him to desire the better way: Nicholas Herman of Lorriane, Nicholas of Cusa, Meister Eckhart, Frederick William Faber, Madame Jeanne Guyon. Only two stipulations did Tozer make: that his teachers must know God, as Carlyle said, “otherwise than by hearsay,” and that Christ must be all in all to them.

Nicholas Herman is Brother Lawrence, the author of the CRN "favorite" The Practice of the Presence of God.

Tozer discovered that the companionship of Christ had to be cultivated. That is why he withdrew so often and spent so much time alone. “You can be straight as a gun barrel theologically,” Tozer often remarked, “and as empty as one spiritually.” Perhaps that was why his emphasis was not on systematic theology but on a personal relationship with God. For him it was a relationship so real, so overpowering as to utterly captivate his attention. He longed for what he fondly referred to as a God-conscious soul—a heart aflame for God.”

The above sounds a bit like Donald Miller.

“Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones and I were discussing the mystics over dinner one evening and he related an interesting experience. With his permission I repeat it here.
“‘Dr. Tozer and I shared a conference years ago,’ he said, ‘and I appreciated his ministry and his fellowship very much. One day he said to me, “Lloyd-Jones, you and I hold just about the same position on spiritual matters, but we have come to this position by different routes.” ‘
“‘How do you mean?’ I asked.
“‘Well,’ Tozer replied, ‘you came by way of the Puritans and I came by way of the mystics.’ And, you know, he was right!”
Warren W. Wiersbe
Walking With The Giants

Came by way of the mystics???? Yikes!

I am often asked “Was Dr. Tozer the greatest preacher you ever heard?”
No, but he redeemed the time and hence had an intimacy with God beyond any other man I ever met. He was a modern mystic who had given priority to the lost art of meditation. To enter into Dr. Tozer’s presence was an awe-inspiring event.
- Leonard Ravenhill

Does Ken Silva do any actual research?

In daily life Tozer’s sense of God enveloped him in reverence and adoration. His preoccupation was to practice the presence of God—to borrow a phrase popularized by mystic Brother Lawrence whom Tozer delighted to read Reflecting on his relationship with God, Tozer once wrote, “I have found God to be cordial and generous and in every way easy to live with.” To him, the love and grace of Jesus Christ was a recurring astonishment.

Again, his official biographer talks about his love of Brother Lawrence. Hmmmm....

Not all pastors within The Christian and Missionary Alliance were pleased with Tozer’s openness to those who did not toe the denominational line. They did not like the direction in which he was facing their denominational magazine. They thought it should be more of a house organ, focusing on Alliance activities. They complained that Tozer was speaking to the whole world and not just to The Christian and Missionary Alliance. A few also objected to Tozer’s generous use of the medieval mystics whose writings delighted him so.

Sounds like some wacky fundamentalists from CRN.

After the Bible, he said in an Alliance Life article aimed at new Christians, “the next most valuable book is a good hymnal. Let any new Christian spend a year prayerfully meditating on the hymns of Watts and Wesley alone, and he or she will become a fine theologian.” Then he added, “Afterward, let that person read a balanced diet of the Puritans and the Christian mystics. The results will be more wonderful than he could have dreamed.” This was his personal pattern, year after year.

I agree with Tozer. Let's read from Christians from all walks of life, Catholic or Protestant.

That, my friends, is a pretty sound endorsement for Christian mysticism, if I've ever seen it.

Thoughts on Fasting

noreply@blogger.com (matbathome) — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 19:48:00 +0000

On April 22, I did my second real fast. The first reason: I read Matthew 6 and it says quite clearly, "when you fast". It doesn't say, if you fast. It says WHEN. As if Jesus just assumed you fasted. The second reason is that I had been struggling with the issue of forgiveness. I had been really wronged (or felt I had been wronged), and needed to let God work on me. Do radical surgery, if you will.

It was an interesting experience. I just kept praying about all the stuff that ticked me off. I prayed in my bedroom for a long time. I kept repeating all the stuff that had hurt me. I know, some will say, "didn't you see the part in Matthew 6 about repeating the same prayers?" Yeah, I thought of that. The thing is, I needed to do this. I had too often behaved like Proverbs 26:11 talks about, "As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly." I was repeatedly going back and reliving the hurts. The wacky thing was that I found in the past several months, I thought I was straightened out. Then, without warning, something would return back to the hurt.

I kept praying that God would reach into my grimy heart and work out whatever needed to be worked out. Only He could do it, I had tried to do it myself so long.

The next day I had the worst headache. But the feelings of getting revenge, of despair, of injustice, had been lifted. And it seems like it has stuck.

I read one author say that the reason you fast is to say that the issue you are struggling with is more important then food. Your time with God in this situation needs that kind of attention. I like that thought.

Photo by Laenulfean