Hey guys!
I'm back from my crazy random trip to Toronto, which means I will be blogging more soon. I also kept a log while I was away. It was a really great getaway from this ridiculously stale summer I had been having in Ottawa. It was a chance to just be spontaneous, to relax, to spend time with God. It was also really great to go to the GTA Summit and see so many students excited for what God will be doing this year. I also read Colossians which was great. So, look forward to that.
I'm living in my new house now. I moved in yesterday, and I have had no housemates. I'm supposed to be living with 3 other awesome guys. They were all gone yesterday. > . > Empty houses.......... You know I don't like those.
Frosh week starts tomorrow. I cannot wait!!!! Like, at all. I was on campus today. So many new kids! I want to meet them all. =D But I can't............................. Pray for me. xP We're gonna be surveying all week.. XP
Ttyl.
D.Fa
31.8.14
4.8.14
Works of Grace
!!!!
Context: Luke 15.
!!! What is the younger brother actually asked his dad for the inheritance because he thought he'd never be worthy to deserve it. After seeing how his brother slaved away day and night he realized the money wasn't worth all that toil and labour and on the off-chance that his dad would give it to him if he asked, he did, and somehow got it?!
Is this what self-righteousness does to others?
I'm sorry. I tend to be an overachiever. How does that make others feel? When I boast about how excited I am about what will happen because of all our work and planning, how does that make you feel?
I've been in that place, in the shadow of the over achiever, their names are very clear to me. I would never have been able to live up to their standards, so I set my own and waited until they were out of the picture, allowing the bar to drop so I could be at the top once they had lift-off from this reality.
I'm sorry if that is how I make you feel.
How does this make me feel? The standards of over-achievement are also extremely difficult. Are they necessary? Should I feel guilty when I don't live up to them? Should I have been more realistic?
Grace.
We sang of You and Your great majesty all day. Not because we had to. Not because we needed to, but because we wanted to. May You be blessed.
D.Fa
Context: Luke 15.
!!! What is the younger brother actually asked his dad for the inheritance because he thought he'd never be worthy to deserve it. After seeing how his brother slaved away day and night he realized the money wasn't worth all that toil and labour and on the off-chance that his dad would give it to him if he asked, he did, and somehow got it?!
Is this what self-righteousness does to others?
I'm sorry. I tend to be an overachiever. How does that make others feel? When I boast about how excited I am about what will happen because of all our work and planning, how does that make you feel?
I've been in that place, in the shadow of the over achiever, their names are very clear to me. I would never have been able to live up to their standards, so I set my own and waited until they were out of the picture, allowing the bar to drop so I could be at the top once they had lift-off from this reality.
I'm sorry if that is how I make you feel.
How does this make me feel? The standards of over-achievement are also extremely difficult. Are they necessary? Should I feel guilty when I don't live up to them? Should I have been more realistic?
Grace.
We sang of You and Your great majesty all day. Not because we had to. Not because we needed to, but because we wanted to. May You be blessed.
D.Fa
Images and Incarnation - KG Ch4+5
Yo, within the last two weeks I read two chapters of Knowing God by J.I. Packer.
The fourth chapter was called "The Only True God" and I guess the thing I am still reflecting on a bit is essentially that the chapter was about not idolizing anything, which again lined up with what I had been reading in Romans 1. But then it threw me a screw ball when the chapter quickly switched into talking about images of God. "Idolatry consists not only in the worship of false gods, but also in the worship of the true God by images." (p.44)
o.O
Now, this statement really struck me because I can clearly see many ways that I have been encouraged to praise God by images, or how normal it is. Be it stained glass. Be it pictures in church of Jesus. Be it different "images" of the gospel each capturing a different aspect. Be it watching a film about Jesus' life. Be it a crucifix with Jesus on it. These all present images of God for the benefit of us being able to better focus on all God is and has done.
The chapter goes further to go beyond "molten images" (those that are physical and visible, those made by hands) to the images we get in our head, the "mental images".
"The realization that images and pictures of God affect our thoughts of God points to a further realm in which the prohibition of the second commandment applies. Just as it forbids us to manufacture molten images of God, so it forbids us to dream up mental images of him. Imagining God in our heads can be just as real a breach of the second commandment as imagining him by the works of our hands." (pg47)
Examples include "the great architect", "judge", "Father". And the main reasons all of these images shouldn't be used it that they either present false images of God, or they can obscure his glory. Although he is strong and noble as a golden calf, he is soooooo much more and that gives such a reduced image. Although he is the great creator and made everything beautifully, he is more. Although he is ultimately the righteous judge, and redeemer, and atoned for us, he is so much more. Although he is our heavenly father, he is so much more. No image can properly capture his greatness, some deny facets of his greatness, others even those that imagine a superhuman or more, any image we create, rightfully limits his immeasurable greatness.
"The world by wisdom knew not God" 1Cor1:21 KJV.
"In this light, the positive purpose of the second commandment becomes plain. Negatively, it is a warning against ways of worship and religious practice that lead us to dishonor God and to falsify his truth. Positively it is a summons to us to recognize that God the Creator is transcendent, mysterious and inscrutable, beyond the range of any imagining or philosophical guesswork of which we are capable--and hence a summons to us to humble ourselves, to listen and learn of him, and to let him teach us what he is like and how we should think of him." (pg50) (see also Isa55:8-9 and Rom11:33-34)
Packer encourages us to look to the knowledge of God revealed in His Son Jesus, reflecting on the life and works of God, the very image of God shown in Jesus reflecting the nature and grace of God bodily. With the additional note addressed to concerns of this chapter and images for personal devotion that "some risks are not worth taking".
------------------------
The fifth chapter spoke of miracles and debate on those points as causes of doubt and difficulty, but that the real difficulty, the real stumbling block is that God would become man. Both diving into concepts of the trinity and the union of God and man.
The main passage Packer looks at here is John1 where the Word, who was with God and was God and all things came to be through him, in whom was life, who was the light of men; the Word became flesh. He expounds upon this passage to show the eternity, personality, deity, creating, animating, revealing, incarnate nature expressed in the passage. The baby born was God.
Packer continues and gets into the thoughts about the kenosis theory, the theories based on Phil2:7 where he literally 'emptied himself' as he became man. But holds firm that "The Word had become flesh: a real human baby. He had not ceased to be God; he was no less God then than before; but he had begun to be man. He was not now God minus some elements of his deity, but God plus all that he had made his own by taking manhood to himself." (pg57) After explaining and reviewing thoughts he gives this statement "The impression of Jesus which the Gospels give is not that he was wholly bereft of divine knowledge and power, but that he drew on both intermittently, while being content for much of the time not to do so." (pg61) and the idea that all he did was based on the Father's will, even if not knowing everything at that time was part of that as well.
the finale of the chapter was to restate what the incarnation was all about: God had become poor so that we may become rich through him. He had left his glory to come and be born and ultimately die that we may once again have the ability to know God.
-D.Fa
The fourth chapter was called "The Only True God" and I guess the thing I am still reflecting on a bit is essentially that the chapter was about not idolizing anything, which again lined up with what I had been reading in Romans 1. But then it threw me a screw ball when the chapter quickly switched into talking about images of God. "Idolatry consists not only in the worship of false gods, but also in the worship of the true God by images." (p.44)
o.O
Now, this statement really struck me because I can clearly see many ways that I have been encouraged to praise God by images, or how normal it is. Be it stained glass. Be it pictures in church of Jesus. Be it different "images" of the gospel each capturing a different aspect. Be it watching a film about Jesus' life. Be it a crucifix with Jesus on it. These all present images of God for the benefit of us being able to better focus on all God is and has done.
The chapter goes further to go beyond "molten images" (those that are physical and visible, those made by hands) to the images we get in our head, the "mental images".
"The realization that images and pictures of God affect our thoughts of God points to a further realm in which the prohibition of the second commandment applies. Just as it forbids us to manufacture molten images of God, so it forbids us to dream up mental images of him. Imagining God in our heads can be just as real a breach of the second commandment as imagining him by the works of our hands." (pg47)
Examples include "the great architect", "judge", "Father". And the main reasons all of these images shouldn't be used it that they either present false images of God, or they can obscure his glory. Although he is strong and noble as a golden calf, he is soooooo much more and that gives such a reduced image. Although he is the great creator and made everything beautifully, he is more. Although he is ultimately the righteous judge, and redeemer, and atoned for us, he is so much more. Although he is our heavenly father, he is so much more. No image can properly capture his greatness, some deny facets of his greatness, others even those that imagine a superhuman or more, any image we create, rightfully limits his immeasurable greatness.
"The world by wisdom knew not God" 1Cor1:21 KJV.
"In this light, the positive purpose of the second commandment becomes plain. Negatively, it is a warning against ways of worship and religious practice that lead us to dishonor God and to falsify his truth. Positively it is a summons to us to recognize that God the Creator is transcendent, mysterious and inscrutable, beyond the range of any imagining or philosophical guesswork of which we are capable--and hence a summons to us to humble ourselves, to listen and learn of him, and to let him teach us what he is like and how we should think of him." (pg50) (see also Isa55:8-9 and Rom11:33-34)
Packer encourages us to look to the knowledge of God revealed in His Son Jesus, reflecting on the life and works of God, the very image of God shown in Jesus reflecting the nature and grace of God bodily. With the additional note addressed to concerns of this chapter and images for personal devotion that "some risks are not worth taking".
------------------------
The fifth chapter spoke of miracles and debate on those points as causes of doubt and difficulty, but that the real difficulty, the real stumbling block is that God would become man. Both diving into concepts of the trinity and the union of God and man.
The main passage Packer looks at here is John1 where the Word, who was with God and was God and all things came to be through him, in whom was life, who was the light of men; the Word became flesh. He expounds upon this passage to show the eternity, personality, deity, creating, animating, revealing, incarnate nature expressed in the passage. The baby born was God.
Packer continues and gets into the thoughts about the kenosis theory, the theories based on Phil2:7 where he literally 'emptied himself' as he became man. But holds firm that "The Word had become flesh: a real human baby. He had not ceased to be God; he was no less God then than before; but he had begun to be man. He was not now God minus some elements of his deity, but God plus all that he had made his own by taking manhood to himself." (pg57) After explaining and reviewing thoughts he gives this statement "The impression of Jesus which the Gospels give is not that he was wholly bereft of divine knowledge and power, but that he drew on both intermittently, while being content for much of the time not to do so." (pg61) and the idea that all he did was based on the Father's will, even if not knowing everything at that time was part of that as well.
the finale of the chapter was to restate what the incarnation was all about: God had become poor so that we may become rich through him. He had left his glory to come and be born and ultimately die that we may once again have the ability to know God.
-D.Fa
3.8.14
Nostalgic Impulses
Now here is the thing, I am normally very structured, stick to the rules, try and get others to follow them, and am quick to judge impulsive actions or wasteful spending.
however, I am also someone who will suddenly drift into nostalgia and spend hours if not days doing things because they are nostalgic, I will go to great lengths to achieve the things which aren't very profitable (or sometimes even as enjoyable) because they are nostalgic.
A few weeks ago I just had to watch Death Note. So I started, and it got to that point where the Death Note isn't being used and I just had to watch 8 episodes until it started being used by the main character again. I didn't care / I thought it wasn't that many episodes. So, I ended up watching it in like 3 days. > . >
This last week I wanted to play a game on my Nintendo DS. I had been playing a lot of random flash games online, mostly tower defense, and started missing a game I had for DS, Ninja Town. I never beat it. Also, ninjas. Also, a tower defense game.
I couldn't find my DS. > . > It's gotta be around here somewhere, but I was so sure it was in the box. I don't think I had played it since I had last moved, but idk. Anyways, I quickly moved on to the Nintendo 64 that was living in my parents' basement. All the pieces were here. And a few games. Sooooo, I got to 93% of the Crystal Shards on Kirby in like 3 days. haha. . . My best single play through record yet, but not worth the additional time spent going back (at this time) to find those last pieces without walkthroughs (since I am a completionist, a walkthrough snob (using them is admitting defeat! But you need to get to 100%!!), but also too busy at the moment).
I also ended up on kijiji to get more controllers so we could play Smash Brothers (the original N64 version!! Purposes include YA and inviting other friends to my house) and ended up perusing some of the other N64 wares available. Needless to say, I ended up making a purchase.
I biked about 20 minutes to get the controllers last Tuesday.
I biked 54 km, with another 30 minutes of bus ride, in a round trip to get three games (and a back-up N64).
Now, I really didn't want to bike that far. My bike is falling apart. I've never biked that far. I don't have the time for that. I don't especially have money to spare at the moment. This seems impulsive.
I went.
But it was amazing. haha. It was ~20km East of the Gatineau-Ottawa bridge. It was such a great bike ride along the river for a good 20 minutes, and then a bunch of houses, but it was great. Afterwards, waiting for the cousin of the kijiji person (currently in Alberta without cell service apparently), I got time to spend reading Hebrews, praying, and just relaxing basking in God's creation. So good. My legs did start hurting a bit on the way home, but it wasn't bad. My gear shift broke like a half kilometer from my house (I didn't use it much anyways, but it's a little annoying. haha). It honestly took 6 hours to go, wait, and to get back home. But it was good.
I watched "Yes Man" a couple weeks ago. I feel like it is very suitable to my situation.
I want to make my yes yes and my no no, and to not have so much in between, and so much hesitation. I don't want to be a hypocrite. I want to be a good steward of all that God has given me. I'm glad that taking the time to go wasn't just a waste, but a good chance to see God's creation in a way I never had (I like biking way more now. haha) and to just chill apart from all the busyness in Ottawa.
Ttyl.
D.Fa
PS. I also got a BIG sunburn. lol...... 6 hours outside in the sun will do that. haha
however, I am also someone who will suddenly drift into nostalgia and spend hours if not days doing things because they are nostalgic, I will go to great lengths to achieve the things which aren't very profitable (or sometimes even as enjoyable) because they are nostalgic.
A few weeks ago I just had to watch Death Note. So I started, and it got to that point where the Death Note isn't being used and I just had to watch 8 episodes until it started being used by the main character again. I didn't care / I thought it wasn't that many episodes. So, I ended up watching it in like 3 days. > . >
This last week I wanted to play a game on my Nintendo DS. I had been playing a lot of random flash games online, mostly tower defense, and started missing a game I had for DS, Ninja Town. I never beat it. Also, ninjas. Also, a tower defense game.
I couldn't find my DS. > . > It's gotta be around here somewhere, but I was so sure it was in the box. I don't think I had played it since I had last moved, but idk. Anyways, I quickly moved on to the Nintendo 64 that was living in my parents' basement. All the pieces were here. And a few games. Sooooo, I got to 93% of the Crystal Shards on Kirby in like 3 days. haha. . . My best single play through record yet, but not worth the additional time spent going back (at this time) to find those last pieces without walkthroughs (since I am a completionist, a walkthrough snob (using them is admitting defeat! But you need to get to 100%!!), but also too busy at the moment).
I also ended up on kijiji to get more controllers so we could play Smash Brothers (the original N64 version!! Purposes include YA and inviting other friends to my house) and ended up perusing some of the other N64 wares available. Needless to say, I ended up making a purchase.
I biked about 20 minutes to get the controllers last Tuesday.
I biked 54 km, with another 30 minutes of bus ride, in a round trip to get three games (and a back-up N64).
Now, I really didn't want to bike that far. My bike is falling apart. I've never biked that far. I don't have the time for that. I don't especially have money to spare at the moment. This seems impulsive.
I went.
But it was amazing. haha. It was ~20km East of the Gatineau-Ottawa bridge. It was such a great bike ride along the river for a good 20 minutes, and then a bunch of houses, but it was great. Afterwards, waiting for the cousin of the kijiji person (currently in Alberta without cell service apparently), I got time to spend reading Hebrews, praying, and just relaxing basking in God's creation. So good. My legs did start hurting a bit on the way home, but it wasn't bad. My gear shift broke like a half kilometer from my house (I didn't use it much anyways, but it's a little annoying. haha). It honestly took 6 hours to go, wait, and to get back home. But it was good.
I watched "Yes Man" a couple weeks ago. I feel like it is very suitable to my situation.
I want to make my yes yes and my no no, and to not have so much in between, and so much hesitation. I don't want to be a hypocrite. I want to be a good steward of all that God has given me. I'm glad that taking the time to go wasn't just a waste, but a good chance to see God's creation in a way I never had (I like biking way more now. haha) and to just chill apart from all the busyness in Ottawa.
Ttyl.
D.Fa
PS. I also got a BIG sunburn. lol...... 6 hours outside in the sun will do that. haha
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)