Sermon: Choosing Healing

(Click HERE for MP3 sermon audio.)

The sixth in a series on the Lord’s Prayer, this sermon discusses Matthew 6:12, “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

Christmas

Another Christmas has come and is just about gone.

Today was a fairly quiet affair with just family for much of it.  The girls emptied their Christmas stockings in the morning. Then we had a kind of a French toast casserole for breakfast. This was followed by the unwrapping of gifts.

The girls got a number of little trinkets, clothing items, books, and games. A couple of the games were ones I purchased at a bookstore when we were in Juneau. The clerk said they were good, and we were not disappointed. Both girls got new capes from their grandmother in Oregon. Their old ones had long since become too small and worn out.

“I” got Elise a Norwegian sweater. I say “I” because I don’t do clothes shopping. Yesterday, when Elise was out, she found the sweater, half off, and called me saying it would be a gift from me if I wrapped it. Okay, sounds good to me! I also got a little space heater so that she could keep warm in the guest bedroom, which also serves as a sewing room and a nap room.

The neat item that I got was a hydroponics garden kit – AeroGarden – with an add-on kit of Japanese herbs. It’s a good thing I didn’t pick one up for myself or for Amy. I had looked at it and thought about it.

We had a couple from church over for dinner this evening. The menu was…

• Garlic and herb roasted prime rib
• Potato and mushroom gratin
• Braised greens (red chard & mustard greens)
• Dinner rolls
• Spiced cranberry sauce
• Green salad
• Apple-cranberry mocktail
• Deep-dark chocolate cookies
• Apple pie (courtesy of Mrs. Smith)
• Vanilla ice cream

Elise and I baked the cookies two nights ago. I started preparing the prime rib last night. The gratin was done this morning. The rest was put together this afternoon, while the prime rib was roasting in the oven. After that came out and the oven freed, the dinner rolls went in, the pie went in, and the gratin went in for reheating.

Everything came together right on schedule. We had dinner, dessert, and Elise didn’t have to rush too badly to get to work.

CLICK HERE for photos from my birthday, a backyard snow scene, and unwrapping of gifts today.

[Edit: Added 11:20 pm]

I forgot to mention that I used my new filet knife to carve the prime rib. Even though the blade isn’t long enough to be considered a carving knife, it worked very well for getting the meat off the bones. It’s slenderness and sharpness were fantastic.

Recital Video

Here is the video of Shelley’s recital pieces from last night. It is Windows Media Video and 3.5MB in size. For streaming you will need at least 300Kbps bandwidth.

Weekend Events

This weekend I came another year closer to 40… I received a filet knife (brand name: Masahiro – not the same characters though), knife skills book, and a remote control helicopter. We didn’t have the right batteries, so it wasn’t until Sunday (yesterday) that I finally got it flying.

On Sabbath we had our Christmas program. The planning for it was a bit haphazard and last-minute, but it all came together. We had brunch beforehand followed by the program. Here is a link (Windows Media Video) to the whole program. It’s 44MB in size, so be warned. You’ll also need at least 300Kbps to stream and view.

The program consisted of singing, music, stories, and a couple of acts by Mum’s the Word, a drama class/group in which Shelley participates.

Yesterday evening, the same drama group performed one of the acts, a Tableau, at the Bible Church’s Christmas program.

This evening, Shelley has a piano recital.

The weather continues to be cold and dry here. While the Northwest region farther south appears to be snowed in, we’re just cold. Temps have been in the single digits to the low teens for several days. We discovered that the church water had frozen on Sabbath morning. It took a little bit of time and effort to get that thawed out. Our water pipe also froze (where it always does once temps get and stay this low) on two mornings. It looks like we’ll get a little warmer – into the 20’s – after today. Break out the shorts!

Cold, cold, cold

We may not be Fairbanks or Nome, but it’s still cold. The low so far this week, which it just hit, is 8 degrees.

Last night, I finally moved one of the electric heaters to the basement to keep it from completely freezing. That meant our oil heater spent much of its time on during the night.

Today I went out and purchased another oil-filled radiant electric heater to set next to our oil  heater. Even though the electric can’t keep up, it slows down the cooling off so that the oil heater doesn’t come on nearly as often.

I had a dental checkup and cleaning today – fun, fun, fun… Umm… Maybe. The main reason was that a few weeks ago I discovered a wisdom tooth had started to fall apart. There’s no pain or anything, but even so, leaving it alone is probably not a good idea. So late next month I’m scheduled to go in for extractions of both of the wisdom teeth in the upper jaw. Not fun at all… On the plus side, the dentist, new to town, is young and was very professional.

Snow and Sunset

We got a little bit of snow today, less than an inch. It was enough to cover the landscape nicely. The clouds nearly all disappeared by evening and we had a nice sunset.

Continued Cold, now skateable

The spell checker tells me “skateable” is not a word. Whatever…

The cold continues and it’s been cold enough, long enough for the large muskeg pond up at the ballfield to freeze over. The additional condition is that there be no snow when the pond freezes over. Like last year about this time, conditions came together so that the pond was skateable.

I went up there on my bicycle to examine the conditions. When I got there I saw someone skating on the ice. I figured it must be safe, so I called home and told Shelley about it. When I returned from the post office, Shelley and Elise left for the pond.

Elise took the camera and snapped a number of photos. I was quite surprised and impressed that so many of the photos came out since the light was fading and it was getting dark. I looked at the EXIF data and saw that the shutter speed started out at 1/100 but by the end it was down to 1/15.

Anyway, click on the image below to enter the gallery. Indoor rinks are nice and smooth, but the scenery of from our pond beats any indoor rink!

High of 21 Degrees Today

We’ve got a nice bit of arctic air coming down on us. It’s clear and sunny during the day, but gets rather cold at night.

The cold air dropped in on us around Friday. That evening we went over to the Lutheran pastor’s home for a potluck with a few of the other pastors and families. A Lutheran couple from Tanzania is visiting for the month, so that was one of the reasons for the potluck. The other was that the current Lutheran pastor, an interim that has been here for 2 years, will be leaving us at the end of the year. We had a nice time with good food and interesting stories of life in Tanzania.

Last evening we went to see the local dance studio perform their version of Peter Pan and Wendy. Like the Nutcracker from last year, this was less about perfection and much more about entertainment. The performance wasn’t bad in any way. It’s just that when quite a number of the performers are toddlers and preschoolers, well, it’s a lot more entertaining than a professional production. In many ways, I think I’d rather watch our version than one that is “perfect.”

Anyway the cold really hit last night. Our electric space heaters were finally overcome and the oil furnaces had to be used to bring up the indoor temperature. I have to purchase another one or two: one to place down in the basement, and another to carry around to some of the far-flung rooms.

The cold is forecast to stay around for the week at least, and perhaps another one after this. There isn’t much of snow forecast, so at least I probably won’t have to shovel… :)

Sermon: Deliver Us From Fear

(Click HERE for MP3 sermon audio. Click HERE for PowerPoint slides. Click HERE for PowerPoint Viewer.)

The fifth in a series on the Lord’s Prayer, this sermon covers Matthew 6:11, “Give us this day our daily bread.”

Atonement: Christ in Heaven

These are comments on Sabbath School Study Lesson 11, Benefits of Christ’s Atoning Sacrifice.

The Study Guide’s thrust is about the work Christ is described as doing in heaven. The subtitles for each of the day’s lesson focus on the concept of “mediation.” Closely related to the concept of mediation is the idea of intercession.

What does it mean for Christ to be the Mediator and Intercessor, mediating and interceding for us? Is Christ in some way “pleading” our case, so to speak, in a judicial sense, before the court of the Father? Does Christ’s intercession in some way change the scales of judicial inquiry?

Or can the concepts of mediation and intercession be seen in some other way?

The IVP Bible Background Commentary NT (QuickVerse edition) has an interesting note regarding 1 Timothy 2:5. The verse reads,

⁵For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man^£ Christ Jesus… (ESV)

The commentary for this verse reads,

Both Christ’s mission and Paul’s mission testified to God’s purpose, his wish to save all. In Judaism, wisdom, the law or, in a lesser sense, Moses was thought to have mediated divine revelation, but it was ultimately effective only for Israel, not for the Gentiles. Most Gentiles believed in many mediators of revelation, just as they believed in many gods.

So according to this interpretation, the concept of mediation can be seen as bringing revelation and clarity. In other words, when Christ is said to mediate for us, it can be understood as Christ continuing to bring more clarity about the true character of the Father to us through both the work that was done during his time on earth, and now through the Holy Spirit.

On the concept of intercession, Vincent’s Word Studies, Vol. 4: Epistles (QuickVerse edition) gives insight in its commentary on Hebrews 7:25. The verse reads,

²⁵Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. (ESV)

The commentary for this verse includes,

… The idea is not intercession, but intervention. It includes every form of Christ’s identifying himself with human interests…

Thayer’s Greek Definitions (QuickVerse edition) gives definitions for the Greek translated as intercession as,

1. to light upon a person or a thing, fall in with, hit upon, a person or a thing
2. to go to or meet a person, especially for the purpose of conversation, consultation, or supplication
3. to pray, entreat
4. make intercession for any one

There is little, if any, judicial sense to the word. Rather, is is full of relational connotations, of bringing two parties together. Taking both the concept of Christ identifying with the human race, and of the relational idea of intercession, could it be that the common image of Christ somehow pleading with the Father to forgive and to let live those who have accepted him [Christ], be wrong?

What if the intercession for us was just that – that Christ is not interceding with the Father on behalf of us, but rather that Christ is interceding and mediating the Father’s image and nature to and for us? How else could we reconcile what Jesus said in John 16:25-27 with mediation and intercession?

²⁵“I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. ²⁶In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; ²⁷for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. (ESV, italics and emphasis supplied)

My conclusion is that Christ’s mediation and intercession are simply extensions of what he did while upon the earth; that is, to reveal the truth about God. It could be said, in a metaphorical manner, that Christ directs the Holy Spirit’s work from his heavenly headquarters. It is through the Holy Spirit that Christ now works to continue his work of revealing God to the world. When understood in this sense, the concepts of mediation and intercession are not at odds with a God who “first loved us” (1 John 4:19) and a God who sent Jesus, not to condemn, but to save (John 3:17).

Video: Drama presentation

Yesterday afternoon, as part of the Holiday Literary sponsored by the Public Library, the drama class in which Shelley participates presented two acts.

The first was a Reader’s Theatre and the second a mime act.

Click HERE for video.

The video is encoded for 128Kbps connections, Windows Media, and is about 6.5 MB in size.

Sermon: Happily Ever After

(Click HERE for MP3 sermon audio. Click HERE for PowerPoint slides. Click HERE for PowerPoint Viewer.)

The fifth in a series on the Lord’s Prayer, this sermon covers Matthew 6:10.

Cold, Slush, and Tempura

The title sums up the day :)

For much of the week the temperatures have been 30F or lower. Overnight, the temps rose, but clouds came in and things turned to snow. By the morning though, it was even warmer and the snow quickly began turning to slush as the snow turned to rain. The city plows were out doing their work for the first time this season.

Elise had an easy bicycle ride to work last night on the icy streets with the newly installed studded tires. The ride back wasn’t nearly as fun because bicycles (or really, any wheeled vehicle) and slippery slush don’t get along very well.

While returning from Shelley’s piano lesson, she informed me that she was having a friend over for dinner and could I please prepare something Japanese? And so I quickly put together a menu consisting of tempura, inari sushi, and teriyaki shish-ka-bob chicken.

Immediately afterwards I went to the monthly Ministerial Association meeting. We had some soup and bread, and a dessert of apple pie and ice cream. Following that I went to the grocery stores.

While at the store I thought about purchasing bottled teriyaki sauce. I looked at the prices. I looked at the ingredients. I decided it was cheaper to just combine the ingredients and approximate the sauce. I added some orange juice to give it a different flavor.

After a couple of hours of preparation and cooking, the dinner was done. It all turned out quite well (in my opinion). The chicken turned out quite well, and the tempura was good. The inari sushi, well, the wrappers came from a can.

The day was rather busy – unexpectedly so. There still remains a sermon to prepare for this Sabbath.

Atonement: The Cross

I don’t really have any comments of my own to add to this week’s Sabbath School Study, Lesson 10: Atonement at the Cross. I am also feeling rather tired and perhaps a little ill tonight, so instead of trying to formulate my own thoughts to put here, I invite you to take a listen to the lesson discussion led by Jonathan Gallagher, and read his thoughts on the lesson.

Sunny and Frosty

It looks like the first real blast of winter is upon us. The skies cleared up yesterday, meaning things got really cold overnight. We were down in the 20’s and this will continue for a few more days, after which the clouds and rain/snow is forecast with slightly warmer temperatures.

Here’s a snapshot from our bedroom window just now.

Sermon: “May Your Name be Made Holy”

(Click HERE for MP3 sermon audio. Click HERE for PowerPoint slides. Click HERE for PowerPoint Viewer.)

The fourth in a series on the Lord’s Prayer, this sermon covers Matthew 6:9b.

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving was rather ordinary. That is a good thing. I’m not too fond of surprises showing up on a holiday.

The day itself was fairly decent. The rains stopped. This was particularly fortunate because I grill my turkey on an outdoor, charcoal grill. There’s nothing (okay, I’m using a bit of hyperbole here) more miserable than trying to start a fire and tend to grilling in a downpour. This was (if recollection serves me correctly), the fourth time out of five years that I’ve grilled the turkey. Three Thanksgivings ago was the exception because we were in an apartment without a porch, so grilling wasn’t much of an option. Once again, the turkey turned out to perfection. Grilling it also frees up the oven for other things. Not everyone has a double oven.

Elise worked Wed. night, so prior to that she baked the dinner rolls and made the pumpkin pie. The pie recipe came from Cook’s Illustrated. The secret ingredient for the filling was the addition of canned yams (sweet potatoes). I thought the pie was quite good.

After seeing a few suggestions for cranberry sauce bandied about on Facebook, I had Shelley make the sauce with half the sugar, a little bit of orange juice concentrate, some nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and pepper. I think most of us liked how this turned out – not as sweet, much tarter, and some interesting flavors not usually found in cranberry sauce – especially not in the canned ones!

While Shelley was cooking the sauce, I was slicing cranberries for use in a spinach, cranberry, and mandarin orange salad. I accidentally slipped my fingers and sliced into a fingernail with, of all things, a paring knife – albeit a very sharp, Victorinox paring knife.

I also prepared some stuffed mushrooms. I baked it, and then promptly forgot to serve it. Not so with the stuffing. However, the vege-chicken slices suffered the same fate as the mushrooms. Not that we needed the two dishes that were forgotten.

I finally got the baked yams (sweet potatoes) to turn out like I saw in the photo accompanying the recipe. This also came from Cook’s Illustrated. The science behind yams is that the starch converts to sugar near 175F. Above that temperature, the conversion process stops. The trick is to try to keep the yams under that temperature for as long as possible to maximize the sugar content. (No extra sugar needed for candying using this method. It ends up plenty sweet without the added sugar.) Tricks include starting them in a cold oven and keeping them covered for the first half of the cooking time. The trouble I’ve had for four previous attempts was that the yams cooked too much on the surface and burned. What is desirable is browning and caramelization, but not burnt to a black crisp. I finally got the right degree of browning by following the recipe to the letter and tightly sealing the baking pan with the extra-wide, heavy-duty foil. In the past I was using regular width foil, and that didn’t seal the pan sufficiently, allowing too much of the steam to escape during the first part of cooking and allowing in too much dry heat (apparently). Anyway, I’m happy that I finally got it right.

For the dinner itself, we had a couple from our church over. We had a little party with Christmas music playing in the background.

As for today, no Black Friday for us. No malls, no shopping centers… No stores that open at the ridiculous hours of 3 and 4 a.m.! Just downtown Petersburg. I might wander down there later. We’ll see. I have a sermon to prepare.

Atonement: Metaphors

Comments on Sabbath School Study Lesson 9, Metaphors of Salvation.

Why didn’t God just give us a single model that fully explains the Atonement and salvation? Wouldn’t that have saved a lot of trouble and controversy?

Rather what we have are multiple metaphors. Since the reality is that there is no single, comprehensive, complete model of the Atonement and salvation, there must be some reason, hopefully good, for it. There must be a reason why God allowed the different metaphors to be found and developed.

The Study Guide mentions a few: Redemption, Reconciliation, Justification, Expiation, Demonstration. The Good Word site lists a few more: Cleansing, Lost & Found, Love.

Could it be that for different people, different cultures, different experiences, different historical periods, there was and is a metaphor (or perhaps a few metaphors) that work better in understanding the Atonement than some others? Could this be yet another example of how God meets people where they are?

I think it is important to keep in mind that metaphors are just that: metaphors. No single metaphor is a complete, systematic explanation all by itself. I also believe that not every element or detail of a metaphor is applicable to the subject it is trying to explain. I think that attempts to apply non-applicable elements may only result in problems and errors entering into the attempted explanation.

Plenty of paper and ink have been spent over the years arguing for and against one metaphor or another. I think the important point from this week’s lesson is that there is more than one correct way to understand the Atonement; to not be too dogmatic about there being only one, right way to understand the Atonement; to be more charitable to those who don’t find “my” way of seeing the atonement as the “right” one; and to hold on loosely to the metaphors, because after all, they are just metaphors and not the reality.

Plug: PC Vulnerability Scanner

This post is for Windows users. If you use something else, consider yourself fortunate, at least for now. :)

There are some nasty bits of malware (MAL-icious soft-WARE) out there. Even if you keep Windows patched and updated, how about all the other pieces of software that come into use as you browse the web? Or how about all the applications that access the Internet?

Secunia has a free (for personal use) vulnerability scanner that will identify vulnerable apps and help you secure your system. The scan could take a while on older/slower systems. It found quite a few unpatched apps on my XP system and found a couple of my Vista PC.

This app reminds me of work I did a decade ago for Symantec: Norton Systemworks and the LiveUpdate Pro feature. What you see in Secunia’s scanner isn’t really that much different in concept.

Guest speaker today

One of our members’ sons, a pastor out in Michigan, was in town so he spoke today on the 3 prodigal parables of Luke 15.

So nothing from me this week, again.

Atonement: Incarnation

This is commentary on Sabbath School Lesson 8, Born of a Woman—Atonement and the Incarnation.

David Runcorn, professor at Trinity College in Bristol, provides a unique interpretation of the Incarnation. In the first chapter of his book, Choice, Desire, and the Will of God: What More Do You Want?, Runcorn writes [emphases mine]:

… So what do you think the incarnation is all about then?

That’s easy. God made the world good. It has gone badly wrong. God loves it so much he sent his Son, Jesus, to save us from our sins and to bring us back to him.

OK. I believe that too. But are you saying we would have never met Jesus if things had not gone wrong? I mean, for the Creator to become a creature is such an amazing thing to do. Did he only come as a human being to put things right here and then leave again? Is the incarnation like God calling himself out as an earthly repairman?

A body like ours

What the incarnation tells us before anything else is that God is caught up in an unlikely, undying love affair with our humanity. To take flesh has been his hidden desire since before time began. The secret is now out. Rubem Alves puts it even more daringly: “What the doctrine of the incarnation whispers to us is that God, from all eternity, wants a body like ours.”

… We know that Jesus came into the world because of God’s love, but we still actually put the emphasis in the story firmly elsewhere. It is usually told in terms of a divine rescue mission… Through the cross he restores us to fellowship with God our Father.

All of which is wonderfully true. The cross is absolutely central to Christian faith and to salvation. But the story does not begin there. If that is our whole understanding of the incarnation, we are putting the needs of our sinful humanity in the centre instead of God. The coming of Jesus belongs to a much bigger, more mysterious and more glorious vision…

All creation is the work of Christ. The incarnation is the fulfilling of God’s original plan of and for creation. It is not a solution to a problem dreamed up in God’s merciful imagination (“I know, I’ll try this”). It is much more than God taking our humanity. In the end it is about the taking of our humanity in God.¹

Runcorn then goes on to discuss the opening verses of Ephesians chapter 1, vv. 3-10 and cites these as evidence for his opening thesis, which I excerpted above. This is the passage that includes,

“Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ… making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” (4, 5, 9, 10 ESV)

Runcorn’s thesis may be shocking at first, but I think that upon closer reflection, there is merit to it. You may not agree with all of it, and I may not. However, does the idea that God would have been incarnated regardless of sin’s existence, alter or devalue in any way the value of Christ’s death and resurrection? On the other hand, would it, as Runcorn suggests, increase the value placed upon Christ’s incarnated life, as well as his death and resurrection?

If the only thing needed for Atonement was that Christ die, then why did Jesus choose to become a human being; to be born as one, to grow up as one, to work as one, and to die as one? Why couldn’t God simply have come, died, and then gone back to heaven without becoming involved in life as a human? If the only thing needed for Atonement was that Christ die, then life as a human would have no value.

Indirectly then, I believe Runcorn’s assertion and thesis has merit worth consideration. The incarnation wasn’t necessary, but it was God’s desire and God’s choice – it was God’s will for himself. If the Atonement was simply an act in a point in time, then all that was needed was the crucifixion or some other death. But if the Atonement was, is, and will be an ongoing process of bringing humans closer into fellowship with divinity, then the incarnation was something that God had purposed and chosen to accomplish since “before the foundation of the world.” Through the incarnation God identified himself with humankind, and humankind was able to see God in a way that no other way could have revealed him. Even in the perfection of the Garden of Eden, I believe there could have been certain aspects of God that they simply could not see as long as God remained just God. It’s always dangerous to project our preconceived ideas onto what is not absolutely clear. I think it’s important to keep what is ambiguous, ambiguous and allow for multiple interpretations.

A number of evangelistic and witnessing tools portray Jesus as the bridge that crosses the gap between God and humankind. In the past I thought it was a pretty decent illustration, but no longer. This illustration pictures Jesus and God as two distinct entities.

On the other hand, the incarnation tells us that Jesus is God. Jesus did not close the gap. He crossed over the gap to be with us. He chose to identify with us, to become one of us. He brought God over to us, because there was no way we could even begin to cross the gap, even if a bridge was provided. Jesus did not come to bridge the gap, but to close the gap. Through the incarnation, Jesus came “to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” The Atonement brings unity between God and his creation.

---

¹Runcorn, David. Choice, Desire, and the Will of God: What More Do You Want? Hendrickson Publishers, 2003; pp. 1-2.

We have unlimited Internet (finally)

The benefits of fibre optic are finally starting to show up. But in order to get the best deal and the unlimited Internet bandwidth, we had to go with a package that includes TV.  Even with the added cost, it will end up costing less per month than paying for all the bandwidth we’ve been using the last few months. Last month was a whopper, costing us $160. The package runs just over $120/month before taxes and fees.

Shelley can be happy now that she can stream music from our Rhapsody service.  I’m happy that I don’t have to monitor bandwidth usage anymore and try to figure out where each monthly bill might end up. The speed has also gone up to 5M/512K – nowhere near the FiOS speeds (or the price) available in Verizon territory in the Lower 48, but much improved over what we had before.

Fifth and final set of photos posted

The final set of photos have been added to the gallery. This set includes the approach to Petersburg and Petersburg as seen from the ferry.

Here is a sample:

Plug: John Ortberg's Lessons from the Election

“The seven deadly sins of evangelicals in politics.”

I am a political junkie. During a presidential campaign, I will often buy a couple of newspapers a day just to keep up. But it strikes me that presidential campaigns can often bring out the worst as well as the best in us.So I want to propose the “Seven Deadly Sins of Evangelicals and Politics.” You may have a few of your own to add. But the spirit of such lists in the past was not to add to our store of information but to contrition. So feel free to confess while you read.

See the rest at http://blog.christianitytoday.com/outofur/archives/2008/11/john_ortbergs_l.html

Fourth set of photos posted

The fourth set is found at the end of the same gallery. This set includes all the images while sailing within Frederick Sound.

Here is a sample:

Third set of photos posted

Another two-dozen or so photos have been added to the gallery. They’re at the end. You’ll need to scroll to the end. These are photos of Kake, Alaska and its surroundings.

A sample:

Second set of photos posted

Thirty-four more photos have been added to the earlier gallery. You will need to scroll down to see the latest images.

Here is a sample:

First set of photos from last week

Here the gallery link:

At the moment it’s just photos from the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau (and a Petersburg Harbor nighttime image). I’ll be adding the Inside Passage photos from yesterday as I get them processed.

Tired and heading to sleep

The winds last night calmed down somewhat and so that voyage over the waters was actually quite smooth. The lounge in which we were staying wasn’t quite as chilly as the observation deck on the Malaspina on the way over. That meant I was actually able to catch a little bit of sleep during the night. Once daylight came though, as it was so spectacularly beautiful, I was out and about the decks with my camera pretty much non-stop for the remainder of the voyage.

We didn’t have much in the way of quick preparation foods back home. We ended up having spaghetti and sauce. Afterwards it was the big job of unloading, sorting, organizing, and carrying everything to their proper places.

I downloaded all the photos to the computer and weeded out the obviously bad ones – out of focus, blurred, etc. Even with that I now have to go through over 200 images to determine which ones to keep. That will be something I do when I’m not quite as tired and sleepy. And then you’ll get to see what the scenery really looks like. The images from the BlackBerry camera don’t do the scenery justice.

For now, I’m heading off to bed to catch up on some sleep.

Docked in Kake

We're in Kake for a short while. There's not much to see. Here are a few photos of the area.

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Bright dawn

The sun rose above the horizon just a few minutes ago. Where we are sailing it is very windy but no rain. I tried to go to the fore deck but the winds were far too strong.

As the sun was coming up the light and colors changed, moment by moment, on the clouds and landscape. I captured some of them which will be seen here in a few days' time.

The Taku doesn't have WiFi like the Malaspina did. However there must be occasional cell towers because I get weak signal every now and then.

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A stormy voyage?

The wind has really picked up tonight. Rain is falling sideways.

I think the stresses of travel are catching up with me. I didn't sleep well last night, haven't felt that well much of the day, and I couldn't eat dinner because I felt so ill. I'm feeling a little better now as I sit inside the church. In addition to writing this, I'm debating whether or not to eat the dinner that I didn't touch.

If the storm keeps up like this, I wonder what the return voyage will be like. The voyage over to Juneau was quiet and calm. We'll find out in about 6 hours.

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Shopping results

Here's how it looked just before we loaded up.

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Waiting...

We finished up our shopping, filled up the back of our pickup, and are now just waiting around to pass the time until our 3:15 am ferry.

At Costco we came out with a flatbed cart piled high, a regular cart filled high, and another cart filled single layer on the bottom. Total tab was well into 4-digits. Same things purchased back home would likely run twice as much.

While at Fred Meyer we ran into one of the staff at the homeschool district. Their office was nearby so we dropped in, took a look around and picked up a few books.

We made one more stop at a grocery store to pick up a few packages of miso and a few items of food to help tide us over until supper. (Costco samples just weren't enough for a full lunch!)

We then stopped at a music store and got a couple of things there.

Now we are sitting in a mall, watching the clock until it gets late enough to find some supper.
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One more day

Living out of a hotel and suitcases is getting a little old… I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m ready to go back home.

Yesterday I made arrangements to use the Adventist church during the night while we wait to go to the ferry terminal. Our ferry leaves at 3:15 a.m. The church is located on the road heading out to Mendenhall Glacier.

We went out to the glacier and looked at it, walked a bit on the frozen shores of the lake, and took some photos. Amy played with a sheet of ice floating near the shore. The clouds thinned out a bit, so even the light cooperated.

After wandering back near the airport, we found a quilt shop and went in where Elise purchased a piece of fabric. From there we went to Safeway and got some grocery items to take back home. We had lunch at Subway, saving part of the sandwiches for supper. And then we went back into Jo-Ann’s where we spent a rather lengthy time. I found some Christmas decorative items and purchased them. The rest of the family purchased more fabric and sewing patterns.

Today we will hit Costco and fill up our pickup with all sorts of things. And then back home.

Atonement: Metaphors of the Sanctuary

Comments on Sabbath School Study Lesson 7: Atonement in Symbols, Part 2.

The author of Hebrews called the wilderness sanctuary and its services, rituals, and sacrifices a copy and a shadow. His main point is that however good the sanctuary may have been in trying to communicate the message of God’s desire to be with humankind, it is all eclipsed by the Incarnation and the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

A copy and a shadow is far from reality. In some cases, and from certain perspectives, it may bear little resemblance to reality. We might be able to approximate what reality is like from a copy and a shadow, but we can never derive reality from them.

Using the Hebrew sanctuary and its services to try to figure out the reality of salvation and atonement is similar to using copies and shadows to arrive at reality. Yet that’s what I think has been done from time to time.

I think it is best to come alongside the author of Hebrews in this matter. We ought to take the sanctuary as an imperfect metaphor that suggests some of the great themes of atonement that God has been working throughout history. We shouldn’t try to use the details of the sanctuary service, rituals, and symbols to arrive at some obscure points of soteriology. Just because God commanded the details, and Moses happened to preserve them doesn’t necessarily mean they have significance past the immediate historical and cultural period in which they were given. I believe, it is best to stick with the obvious and universal themes.

The main theme of the sanctuary was God’s desire to be with people, and for the people to be with Him. Ultimately, in whatever fashion Atonement played out, that was the purpose – for God and people to be restored into a relationship based upon choice and love, rather than fear and appeasement.

Here and there and all about

On Monday, still in a sleepless daze, we wandered about Costco where I basically walked all the aisles making notes on all the stuff we ought to get before we return. There was no sense in purchasing everything on Monday, and then hauling it about for the rest of the week. Our Costco invasion will take place on Friday.

While still in a daze we stopped at a small (by Lower 48 standards) mall near the airport, less than a mile from our hotel. The anchor store is Jo-Ann’s, if that tells you anything. Only about half the spaces are leased out, so it looks pretty empty. There is a decent book/toy store and a Radio Shack. There’s also a kitchen store.

We drove around to locate the nearest Les Schwab where our pickup would get some work done on Tuesday. With all that accomplished we went to our hotel,  a couple hours before check-in. Elise asked if a room was ready and it was. We unloaded, got to the room, and the three women took nice long naps. I decided to remain awake so as not to confuse my already confused body any more. Later, we went to the Mexican restaurant on the ground floor for dinner. Later in the evening I picked up a rental car for the next day.

Tuesday morning we awoke refreshed, dropped off the pickup, and then went to the downtown area of Juneau. We stopped in a used book store, where the proprietor sat all of us down and brought out a bunch of books. We ended up leaving with over $100 in nearly all used books. We had lunch at a nearby Japanese/Chinese restaurant. We wandered about a little more afterwards, stopping in a candy shop before returning towards the hotel.

We stopped back at Les Schwab to pay for the service and tires. In all, the total came to over $1100 – 4 new tires at $270/each, oil change, and tax. This whole trip and everything purchased is being paid out of our Dividend funds for this year.

We went to a different mall, about the same size as the other, anchored by Gottschalks and a grocery store. I’ve been looking for miso and of the three grocery stores I’ve searched so far, this one is the only one that has any. I’ll need to return here before we head back.

For supper we got a microwave lasagna from Fred Meyer and cooked it in our hotel room. Earlier we also purchased breakfast items. There’s no sense in eating out for every meal at a minimum of $40 per meal. Even with the costs of pre-packaged convenience foods it still comes to $10-20 per meal.

We had no plans today other than for Shelley to go ice skating. We got a late morning start, had an early lunch of calzone in downtown, then went to the skating rink where Shelley skated for around 1-1/2 hours.

On the way back, again we stopped at the first mall where the women spent all of their time in Jo-Ann’s picking up fabric, patterns, and candy corn. I went to the book/toy store and picked up a few items to be used for the children’s Christmas gifts.

We stopped at Fred Meyer and got some microwaveable mac' ‘n cheese and mashed potatoes. That with some leftovers from the Mexican restaurant constituted our supper.

I’ve been having nothing but recurring troubles with the wireless Internet connection at the hotel. They must have gotten tired of me bugging them to reset the access point every couple of hours, or they found something wrong, because when we returned from our outing today, the clerk told me that they were replacing all the routers/access points today. It must have happened sometime this evening because after an outage, all the old access points disappeared and I’m now connected to a new one.

The rain started falling in earnest this afternoon. Until then we’ve had fairly dry (for SE Alaska) weather. I think the new tires do run better than the nearly bald ones I had. I don’t seem to feel much, if any, slipping now. It better work after spending so much on them.

In Juneau

We made it in about 5:30 this morning. The voyage was utterly uneventful. None of us slept much, however, so we are all rather tired.

We drove into the city to see if anything was open at 6 am but nothing was open. We drove out to the airport area and found a restaraunt open. I was pleased to see soy sauce on the table next to the salt, pepper, jam, and tabasco. The establishment appears to be run by Filipinos. The menu contains some unusual items.

After killing some time there, we shopped at Fred Meyer. Then we drove out to Costco where we are still in the parking lot, waiting for 11 am to roll around. Amy is finally sleeping, and it appears Elise is also.

We saw a nice sunrise at about 8 am. This may be the only one as the forecast calls for snow and rain for the rest of the week.
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On the Malaspina

We're off to Juneau. What seems to be new since our voyage 2 years ago is that there is WiFi on board, albeit slow and somewhat unreliable.

I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing...

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Sermon: “Our Father”

(Click HERE for MP3 sermon audio. Click HERE for PowerPoint slides. Click HERE for PowerPoint Viewer.)

This is part 3 of a series on the Lord’s Prayer. The sermon discusses Matthew 6:7-9.

Brrr… Cold

The skies cleared up last night, the moon was clearly visible, and the air got rather cold. The sunset was quite picturesque. I only had my BlackBerry for a camera, so what you see is the best I could do.

We were at another house all day, and by the time we were ready to head home, all the water on the pickup had turned to ice. Now that we’ve been here two years, I’ve developed enough sense to not turn on the windshield wipers without first testing to see if they are frozen to the glass – which they were. It wasn’t too cold, so I got some water and poured it onto the glass to melt the ice and unfreeze the wipers. With that done it was an easy drive home.

We awoke this morning to clear skies and frosty ground. Our outside thermometer read 31. The airport weather station is reporting 27.

We are heading up to Juneau tonight. The ferry leaves this evening and will arrive in Juneau early tomorrow morning. We’ll have to find a place to park – probably at the terminal – for a few hours until things open up.

Atonement: Symbolic Blood

Some comments on Sabbath School Study lesson 6, Atonement in Symbols: Part 1.

This week, the study guide discusses the Old Testament sacrifices and how one could interpret them as pointing to Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death upon the cross. The lesson suggests that because the Old Testament sacrifices were a requirement for the cleansing of ritual impurities, that sacrifice is necessary for the ultimate cleansing of sin.

(For other perspectives on this, you may wish to take a look at the Sabbath School Study site at Pine Knoll, and the commentary at Spectrum.)

I’m going to make the conclusion that Jesus’ sacrificial death and His blood were necessary. But my question is, in what way were they necessary? Another way of asking this is, for whose benefit was Jesus’ death? Did Jesus’ death somehow change the Father’s view of sin and sinful humans? Did Jesus’ death somehow “pay the price” as is frequently (at least in Western Christianity) ascribed? Did Jesus’ death change the human perspective of God? None of the above? Some of the above? All of the above?

Did God require the blood before forgiveness could be offered? An affirmative to this question would seem to contradict the many instances prior to the crucifixion where God and Jesus forgave sins. For that matter, let’s suppose Jesus didn’t go through with the cross nor did he shed his blood: what would happen to Enoch, Moses, and Elijah, who are believed to be with God in heaven? Was the forgiveness and cleansing offered to them contingent upon some future event? Would they have somehow been “sent back” to earth to die?

Or could it be that Jesus’ sacrifice and blood now somehow obligates God to forgive and to save?

In either case, if the sacrifice and blood are required in order for forgiveness to be granted, then forgiveness is a result of some kind of merit, such as Jesus’ super-abundant merit (as some medieval theologians theorized). If forgiveness is due to merit, then it is no longer because of grace. And so I find this line of reasoning highly problematic and contrary to my understanding of grace as found in the Bible.

My belief and position is that Jesus’ death and blood are necessary because we humans are too stupid to understand anything else. God didn’t need either. Forgiveness demands neither. Atonement demands neither. They were simply object lessons for our benefit. It demonstrated that God’s love is much greater than any human can possibly imagine. It demonstrated that God’s love can bridge the gap of sin and defeat even death itself. Many ancients believed that life was in the blood. What better example and demonstration could there be than of God Himself offering His eternal life to replace our finite life? Jesus’ death demonstrated that even God’s hatred of sin could not prevent His love from offering life and forgiveness to sinners. It demonstrated that human conception of God, where God could not approach sinful people until they got their act together, was entirely wrong. God came to reach sinners while they were still in the midst of sin. In this way, it was proof that love is the greatest power in the universe.

God demonstrated that Divine Love transcends law and justice.¹

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¹Aulen, Gustaf. Christus Victor: An Historical Study of the Three Main Types of the Idea of Atonement, WIPF an STOCK Publishers, 2003 edition, Chapter 6, “Luther,” esp. 109, 112-113.

Halloween treats

Well, a few days late, but I thought I should mention it.

If you’ve read my past posts on Halloween, you know that our city defines 6 to 8 p.m. as trick-or-treating time, and the street we’re on is one of the most popular ones. Families drive their kids to our street for the annual fest.

A few months ago, I decided to add something a little different to what we pass out. I purchased 8 dozen glow-in-the-dark pens from CTA (Christian Tools for Affirmation), Inc. I thought that for the price, the quality my be wanting, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that they are of good quality.

On Halloween, Elise and Amy taped and tied a piece of candy to each pen, and then we waited for the kids to come around. There was less candy than pens – about 80 total.

When the kids were told that the pens glowed in the dark, many seemed quite intrigued and excited about them. By the end of the night, almost all of the candy was gone.

The next day when Elise was at work, she heard from one of her coworkers that her child thought the pen was one of the best “treats” of the night.

I thought I’d mention this before it slipped my mind completely, so that if you’re looking to do something a little different next Halloween, this might be an idea.

Sermon: “In Secret”

(Click HERE for MP3 sermon audio. Click HERE for PowerPoint slides. Click HERE for PowerPoint Viewer.)

This is part 2 of the series on the Lord’s Prayer. This week I look at the more immediate context surrounding the Lord’s Prayer: that of piety. I discuss the repeated phrase, “in secret,” that appears throughout Matthew 6:1-18 and how that possibly hold a key to unlocking Jesus’ teachings in this passage.

A Rare Sunny Day

After weeks of cold, wet, windy, stormy weather, and the weather forecast basically saying more of the same, the morning dawned clear and bright. It was rather unexpected.

While running errands, I stopped at a couple places to take a few pictures to remind myself that from time to time we do see something other than gray. There may be a few more photos added to the gallery later today. (Edit: The light wasn’t right this afternoon, so no more photos.)

Atonement: Announced?

Sabbath School Study Lesson 5, Atonment Announced.

Dr. Alden Thompson from Walla Walla University discusses, at length, whether or not the “announcements” of the Atonement were really announcements, and if so, in what way. Because of that, and because my thoughts run along similar paths, rather than rehashing the same thing all over here, I invite you to go to the following pages for Dr. Thompson’s discussions.

• Good Word at Walla Walla University – audio discussion and study notes
• Spectrum Sabbath School discussion – a more in-depth essay that expand upon his notes

I leave you with a point to ponder regarding the Atonement. It is commonly said that “Christ died for us” (see, for example, Romans 5:6-8). Does this mean, “Christ died in our place,” as is often understood? Or could it simply mean what is says, “Christ died for us,” because there was nothing else that would clearly show both the horrible depths of sin and the infinite heights of love? Could it simply mean, “Christ died for us,” because his death and resurrection was proof that love conquers even death and the grave, and because of this victory, Christ’s offer of life is proven to be sure?

Sermon: Reason-able Faith

(Click HERE for MP3 sermon audio.)

We had a few more people this Sabbath than we did last, so I went ahead with the one-week delayed sermon. This is the same one I used for the Presbyterian service last Sunday. The sermon is about Biblical faith; that faith is not blind, but rather is based upon reasonable evidence that can be evaluated and tested.

First Autumn Snow

Even it not officially, for all practical purposes Winter is here. The weather forecast was right for once and we did get some snow overnight. During most of the day yesterday we had a bit of respite from the weeklong storm. I was able to do a little water maintenance on the hot tub water without getting soaked. I also worked on our fleet of bicycles. But when time came around to get the mail, gale-force winds picked up and hail was falling – so much for bicycling to the post office. About an hour later, the sun peaked through.

So here are a couple of shots that record the first snow…

 

Start of winter?

This morning, I saw the first rain with a bit of slush mixed in. The weather forecast for tomorrow includes the word “snow” in it. We’ve been getting pounded by heavy rains and wind for much of the week. If this was happening around Florida, it would be of a tropical storm variety. There is even one offshore that would be of hurricane (I guess Typhoon since we’re on the Pacific) strength, if it was further south.

The ground is absolutely saturated. The basement puddles started to recede today, but by this evening the new round of rain has caused all the puddles to return.

I don’t mind rain, but I’m beginning to get more than a little annoyed with the never-ending storm we’re getting.

Update your Windows PCs

If you’re using a Windows PC, there is a critical security patch that you shouldn’t wait to install. If you have automatic updates turned on, the patch will eventually install, but you shouldn’t wait for that to happen.

If you’re using Windows XP, start Internet Explorer and under the Tools menu there is a Windows Update option. Follow the instructions and install the patch. It will require a restart of the operating system.

If you’re using Vista, open Control Panel, select Check for Updates, and then on the left column, click the Check for Updates to make sure you are getting the latest information. Follow the instructions.

The technical data is available at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS08-067.mspx

Atonement: God’s Initiative

These are comments on Sabbath School Study Lesson 4, Atonement and the Divine Initiative.

The Study Guide offers sufficient Biblical passages to show that the Atonement was certainly something that was in God’s mind prior to the occurrence of sin. The Study Guide covers the material sufficiently, so I really won’t go into that here. Rather I want to explore the question of how much the Atonement encompasses.

As you may know, I’ve been going through Gustaf Aulen’s Christus Victor: An Historical Study of the Three Main Types of the Idea of Atonement. It is fascinating to learn about the history of the ideas behind the Atonement.

Western Christianity, from around the 10th century and up to the present, has associated the Atonement primarily with the crucifixion.¹ However, this is certainly not the only view and perhaps not the best way, and at the very least, an incomplete view of the Atonement. The more complete view is that the Atonement is something that God began as soon as sin entered the world and is something God is still actively working today.² The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ constitutes a climax, though not the end, in the process of Atonement. The cross demonstrated sin’s ultimate result as well as love’s ultimate victory. The process comes to a close when Jesus returns and sin and death will be destroyed.

From beginning to end, it is God’s initiative. The Bible pictures God as coming down to meet with his wayward children, time after time. From Eden to Abraham, to Moses and Sinai, to many of the judges, and to prophets, God comes down to reveal himself to the people in ways and words that they can comprehend and understand. By coming down, God seeks to draw people up to him.

The greatest work Atonement, obviously is the Incarnation of God in Jesus Christ. By entering humanity as a human being, God sought to demonstrate in perfection his nature and character to the world. He came as man because that was the only language that we would understand. When the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus are lifted up, people are either drawn to him, or reject him.

The victory was won at the cross, but it is of no effect unless accepted by each and every person. Thus the promise and offer of Atonement was clearly seen at the cross, but the work of Atonement continues until all have chosen to accept or reject the offer to be reconciled to God and accept the victory over sin that the Atonement provides.

Aulen writes,

The New Testament idea of redemption constitutes in fact a veritable revolution; for it declares that sovereign Divine Love has taken the initiative, broken through the order of justice and merit, triumphed over the powers of evil, and created a new relation between the world and God.³

Again, for additional thoughts and perspectives on this lesson, I recommend Good Word from Walla Walla University.

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¹Aulen, Gustaf. Christus Victor: An Historical Study of the Three Main Types of the Idea of Atonement, WIPF an STOCK Publishers, 2003 edition, Chapter 5, “The Middle Ages.”

²ibid.,  Chapter 3, “The Fathers in East and West” and Chapter 4, “The New Testament.”

³ibid.,  p. 79.

Wildly Windy and Wet

I can’t recall when it started, but it seems like at least a week now where we’ve had heavy rains. Last night was particularly wet as well as windy. There are areas in the basement that are now wet that never got wet during the previous fall and winter. I couldn’t stay asleep this morning, so heading down there I found three boxes that were sitting in puddles. I moved them to higher, drier ground. I don’t think there was anything in those boxes that would be permanently damaged.

I don’t mind the rain. I don’t mind the lack of light. I do mind the concentrated rains that saturate the ground and cause water to rise up into the basement.

The Presbyterian service on Sunday went without too many incidents. There were a couple of times there when I wasn’t exactly sure what was supposed to happen (they have a very fixed order of things). But after a few awkward moments things went on.

Monday evening and yesterday, a couple of the instructors for the school district that supports some of the homeschool families were in town and provided workshops and classes, both for parents and kids. The kids learned a bit about PowerPoint 2007 and about the states during yesterday’s classes. Yesterday evening was a potluck with the families.

An empty church today

I’m not sure if this has happened before, but today it was just our family. Yup, that’s right. So we sat around for a while, then sang for another hour or so as we waited to see if anyone would come. I set down the 15-minutes rule (you know, from college – if the prof doesn’t show up 15 minutes after start of class, you’re free to leave?) at 11:00 a.m. At 11:15 we went back home. Having no one else here is actually better for me than having one or two others because with no one else, I can just use this week’s sermon next week.

After getting home I put a frozen pie in the oven, warmed up the cauliflower + kidney beans curry and had lunch. Later in the afternoon I went to the post office and picked up a few packages that were waiting.

Fall rains are falling

It’s been wet, wet, wet, wet, wet this week. Some of the rain has been quite heavy. The ground is completely saturated, and water is once again rising up into parts of our basement. It doesn’t look like we’ll be seeing any truly dry days over the next two weeks.

We were on the receiving end of proselytizing yesterday. Traveling Mormon missionaries are in Petersburg for a few months. They arrived about a week and a half ago. A week ago they stopped by and wanted to know if they could come back to give their “presentation.” I’m not sure what I was thinking, but I said they could. Thus they returned yesterday afternoon and for an hour they gave their talk while we listened. I threw in some questions and held to my view. Shelly called the whole thing a “debate.” She says that when she goes to the drama/communications class next Tuesday, she can report to the class that she sat through a debate! :) I asked who won, and she didn’t know. Probably like the current political debates, it’s pretty much a draw, not changing anyone’s minds. They left the Book of Mormon so that I could examine it and discuss it next week. I glanced through the chapter they asked me to read (the post-resurrection appearance to the Nephi), and it didn’t take much glancing to see that the Jesus described there isn’t the Jesus found in John 20 and 21 (post-resurrection appearances to the women and disciples).

The really sad thing is that whenever they seemed to get backed into a corner with reasoning and evidence that might suggest that that they believe isn’t reasonable, it came down to, “I believe because I prayed about it and the feeling I got from the prayer tells me it’s true.” Trying to persuade against experience is nearly impossible. It’s the same with any other faith, Christianity included. If a person believes that they’ve experienced a miracle, that becomes reality to them. Or if they believe God has spoken to them, it is nearly impossible to convince them otherwise.

I believe true Christian faith is based on reasonable evidence. Faith is the assurance of things we don’t see, based upon things we do see. Faith is trust in God because the past gives us assurance that God is trustworthy. True faith is not blind faith. Faith rests upon solid evidence.

I was going to preach this weekend (I have both our church and the Presbyterian service) on Part 2 of my Lord’s Prayer series, but I’ve decided instead to preach on Reason-able Faith – faith that is based upon and able to accommodate reason.

I guess the positive to come out of all this is that I’ve experienced the awful side of being the target of proselytism. Let me tell you it was very aggravating, frustrating, and stressful. I felt I was being sold a product I didn’t need nor want. They would say anything to try to get to where I would agree with them. Their offer of help to us and to people we might know in the community just oozed of an ulterior motive.

These are methods to which Christian witness and evangelism must never resort. We are not salespeople trying to sell God to the world. We should not witness with the goal to create more Christian or more church members. Our witness should be simply because we want to show a better way, to show what our God is really like, all without the goal of conversion. The work of conversion is through the Holy Spirit. We do not need to make overt attempts to persuade, because simply stating and showing the evidence for our faith should be persuasive enough. When I read the examples of Jesus, that is how I see him working.

Atonement: The Fall Into Sin

These are comments on Sabbath School Study Lesson 3, The Fall Into Sin.

You’re free to disagree, and I realize many will, with my opinion on the emergence of sin. It is my opinion, held for quite some time now, that from a mathematical, statistical standpoint; in a universe governed through love and liberty; given infinite time and possibly infinite beings; the emergence of sin was inevitable. Inevitable doesn’t mean it is reasonable. Like many of us have probably heard or read in the past, there is no reason for sin, and if reason could be found, sin would be excused. I believe there is no reason for sin, but at the same time my opinion is that it was inevitable.

The one way, in my opinion again, that emergence of sin could have been avoided was if every being clearly understood the nature and consequence of sin. But God, being God, even though he himself had knowledge about sin, could not demonstrate sin to the universe without violating his own nature. To violate his own nature would mean God would no longer be God, and well, the universe would cease to exist. Without a knowledge of sin then, my opinion is that one being, given the infinity of eternity, would eventually choose (God allows that because I believe God places supreme value on liberty, even more than power, safety and security) to try the path contrary to God’s nature of love and liberty. Prior to demonstration of sin, created beings had to trust that God’s way was best.

What is God’s nature of love and liberty? I believe it is the attitude of self-sacrificing love. Self-sacrificing love frees all who practice it from the need to be loved and accepted by someone else. The paradox is that when everyone practices self-sacrificing love, the need for love and acceptance is automatically met. Harmony is disrupted and a wound is introduced when someone chooses to try the path of self-love rather than self-sacrificing love; when someone thinks that they are better able to meet needs on their own, or demand (through force, deception, coercion, etc.) that their needs be met by others.

The big problem (I’m sure there are others, but the one I want to focus on here) with self-love is that it breaks relationships within a community. Since the definition of sin that I favor is a broken relationship, self-love then is sin. Self-love can be manifested in many different ways. The one I focus on is the attempt by one person to meet his or her needs through their own efforts.

In the Garden of Eden I think that this expression of self-love was a cause of the Fall. When the Serpent comes to Eve (and really, the Biblical text strongly implies Adam was right there with her, standing by, doing nothing), the insinuation is that God has only provided partial satisfaction for a relational need; i.e., God has not provided intimacy (“knowledge” is associated with relationships and intimacy) with evil. The Serpent implies that God’s knowledge of good and evil are both intimate, and therefore Eve, too, should strive to be like God in that respect. The Serpent offers Eve a way to correct this deficiency, and Eve accepts, and Adam acquiesces. Adam and Eve choose to distrust God’s goodness and God’s way. The Fall is complete.

What Adam and Eve discover is that indeed they have become intimate with evil, but in the process have lost intimacy with God who is only good. God has knowledge about evil, but God is not intimate with evil; God does not have a relationship with evil. As created beings, the only way for Adam and Eve to really get to know what evil is all about is to experience it. The Serpent was right: they came to know evil, just as it had. They discovered that they had replaced a good relationship with an evil one. In their own power there was no way back.

Because God places supreme value on liberty, the demonstration of sin had to be allowed to run its course. But God, because he is love, could not leave Adam, Eve, and the rest of humankind subject to the ultimate consequences of sin. Thus the plan of restoration, the plan of at-one-ment, was put into action. This plan had always existed, because God knew that sin would eventually emerge.

Space Heater Plug-in Thermostat

I’m “plugging” (pun fully intended) a product here that I recently started using. It’s the Lux WIN100 Smart Temp 5-2 Programmable Outlet Thermostat.

Electric space heaters typically have some kind of the thermostat, but after a year of use I’ve discovered that their settings appear to be relative to the ambient temperature. For instance, our dining room can get quite warm on a sunny day, but the heater continues to run, even though when the ambient temps are lower the heater would have shut off, and the room ends up way too warm.

At one of the weekly coffees with the other ministers I learned that plug-in thermostats are available for around $30-40. I looked it up on Amazon.com and found one that seemed to fit my needs. I ordered three (because I’ve learned that around here it’s often good to have spares of hard-to-replace items) of the units (inexpensive flat shipping for any number of items, direct from the mfg.) and received them last week. I’ve put two in service and they’ve been doing very well at maintaining a constant temperature.

I used to have temperature swings of up to 10-degrees between nights and days, but with this it just sits steady within 1- to 2-degrees. I no longer have to fiddle frequently with the thermostats. I have a feeling this will, in the long run, save some on the heating costs.

The one catch is that the space heater must be able to remain in an On position (most are), or start out On when plugged in. I have one electronically switched unit that defaults to an Off setting so I can’t use the thermostat with this particular heater.

Highly recommended.

Big Celery

Since the latter half of last week was rather busy, I wasn’t able to grocery shop then. I got the chance yesterday afternoon to take in the last part of the 3-day produce sale at the big grocery.

I first went to the downtown grocery and picked up a few items and then drove up to the Post Office to see if there was anything placed there since checking it early Saturday afternoon – just a couple of junk mail pieces. While there I got a call from last week’s deceased’s husband’s daughter asking me to stop by and pick up a few items for the church.

I drove back home, dropped off a couple bags and then drove out the 10 miles or so to the house. I visited for a while, then returned with three boxes of Bibles, commentaries, tapes (cassette and VHS). I dropped those off at the church and then resumed my interrupted, original mission: groceries!

The first thing to greet me just outside the entry doors was a big box of celery, with their tops. I’d never seen that here, and I can’t recall if I’ve ever seen that in regular groceries. I bagged one up and went inside. I picked up six acorn squash, a 5# bag of Granny Smith apples, cans of refried pinto and black beans, and other items that were on sale.

With grocery prices the way they’re going, I try to get as much on sale as I can. I’ve discovered and learned ways to prolong the life of most produce, so that there is less waste. Anyway, at the checkout there was a mother and daughter with two large blocks of meat. The total of that came to over $100. My shopping spree, in six bags, came to just $43. I think it’s getting to the point where a vegetarian diet (though around here, if you personally fish and hunt, you can get your meats quite economically) is much more economical.

Anyway, back to the celery. At the checkout, it was so big it didn’t really fit too well on the scale. And anyway, I think the checker probably didn’t think I was going to use the top, so it was sort of leaning and came to about 2# -- $1.00.

I chopped up the top half, combined with garlic, onions, zucchini, and potatoes for a soup. I’m wondering now why produce in this country (because in Japan, they’re sold tops on) is generally sold tops off? I suspect the tops are often where much of the nutritional value is… And they work really well as greens used in soups and stir frys. Yeah, in the Lower 48 I’m sure you can find whole produce at Farmer’s Markets and such, but here, no such luck. Elise suggested I go find out how the groceries here get their produce and if they get them whole and trim them here, maybe I can get the “discards.”

Whew!

It was a busy few days. Our church member passed away on Wednesday, prepared for the memorial service on Thursday, had it on Friday, and here we are today.

The reason for the rush is to keep costs down. A straight burial within three days is the most cost effective, with anything other treatment having to be done elsewhere. The cemetery is city-owned so anything done on the weekends costs extra.

All this meant that preparing for today’s sermon simply did not happen. Instead all of the time went into preparing the sermon, the life story, and the program for the memorial; and on working out what I would say at the graveside service.

Because of that, this morning, I simply played a videotape of a Sabbath sermon by Dr. Randy Roberts of the Loma Linda University Church. Not only that, but I was rather unprepared to lead the discussion on the Sabbath School lesson. Oh well.

I’m resting up a bit this afternoon, praying and hoping for a less eventful week to come.

A nice rainstorm came in overnight and is drenching us still. Thursday and the first part of Friday seemed pretty nice, at least from the little I saw. The higher hills and mountains are definitely getting whiter.

A bizarre thought experiment

A truly bizarre question just entered my mind…

First off, what follows probably won’t make much sense at all unless you’re familiar with Seventh-day Adventist eschatology and such.

Anyway, my question is based on the following presuppositions:

• That there are other inhabited planets in the universe,
• That after the Second Advent the saved can visit said planets,
• That such travel occurs at the speed of thought,
• That the speed of light in a vacuum is a constant,
• That currently known physical properties of the universe do not change following the Second Advent.

Let’s suppose I am able to instantly go to a planet that is 200 million light years away from planet Earth. If I could see Earth from that planet, what will I see? Will sight itself be able to transcend space-time and thus I’ll see everything in NOW time? Will I have a choice to view things based on more restricted physical properties? If I choose the latter, what will I see back on Earth? The Earth as it was 200 million years ago?

Okay, so maybe it’s time to stop thinking and go to bed.

Atonement: Solution to a Problem

This is commentary on this week’s Sabbath School Study, Lesson 2, Cosmic Crisis: The Disruption of God's Established Order.

The primary problem of this week’s set of lessons is the assumptions on which is based, that there are significant passages in the Bible that provide details of Satan’s fall and how sin came to exist. The two passages discussed in Sunday and Monday’s lessons are Ezekiel 28:14-17 and Isaiah 14:12-14.

For various reasons Seventh-day Adventists have historically taken these two passages as referring to Satan. Here is what the IVP Bible Background Commentary, Old Testament has to say about it:

Ezekiel 28:16-17. Satan Connection. From early on in church history there has been an interpretive tradition understanding his passage as an account of the fall of Satan. Though this same type of interpretation in Isaiah 14 was fervently denied by well-respected exegetes such as John Calvin (who bluntly ridiculed it), it has persisted into modern times. From a background standpoint, it must be noted that Satan is never portrayed as either being a cherub or being with the cherub in the garden in any passage of Scripture. Furthermore, Israel’s understanding of Satan was far more limited than that found in the New Testament. Even in Job [ed., which the lesson brings up in Wednesday’s lesson], Satan is not a personal name but a function (see comment on Job 1:6). “Satan” does not become identified as the personal name of the chief of demons until about the second century B.C., and he does not take up his position as the source and cause of all evil until the unfolding of Christian doctrine. Consequently, the Israelites could not have understood this passage in this way, and no New Testament passage offers a basis for departing from the Israelite understanding of it. In the context, it is a metaphorical description of the high stewardship entrusted to the prince of Tyre (as significant as the cherub’s role in the garden). Rather than treating this sacred trust with reverence and awe, he exploited it to his own benefit – as if the cherub of the garden had opened a roadside fruit stand. He was therefore discharged from his position, relieved of his trust and publicly humiliated.¹

In regards to Job 1:6, the same IVP BBC OT reads

Satan. It is important to note that the term here, satan (literally, “the accuser”), is preceded in Hebrew by the definite article (“the”). Thus, in the context of Job it appears to describe a function rather than serving as a proper name…²

Finally the same IVP BBC OT in the commentary on Isaiah 14 notes that the rebellion described there bears resemblance to a number of Near East stories that probably existed when Isaiah was writing.³ Isaiah, in order to convey his message, may simply have been borrowing themes and words from already existing literature of his time.

Once we get to the New Testament, Jesus’ words and the authors make clear that there is indeed an evil being that is named Satan. It is only towards the very end of the New Testament, in Revelation 12:7-9 where a clear connection is made between Satan and a brief description of how he ended up in this world.

What all this tells me is that details and the origin of the being we know today as Satan is inconclusive, when only Scripture is used. In other words, we ought to be careful that we don’t base any of our teachings and doctrine that requires the myth (I use this term in the proper, literary sense, rather than the pejorative sense) of Lucifer and Satan to be 100% accurate, true, and precise.

Regardless of the origins of Satan and how evil came to be, even if Satan is primarily a designation and representation for sin and evil in the world, the world has a problem: sin. The early church fathers saw the Atonement as the solution to the sin problem. Irenaeus responds to the question: For what purpose did Christ come down from heaven? “That He might destroy sin, overcome death, and give life to man.”⁴

Sin is not just some legal issue. In fact the breaking of any law is the natural consequence of sin that already occurred. Sin is the state of a created being who is no longer in proper relationship to the Creator. Because the Creator is Life, sin is also death. To be redeemed is to experience the at-one-ment, to return to a proper relationship, to be delivered from the state of bondage to sin and death, and back into a state of fellowship and life under love and liberty.⁵

George R. Knight writes, “The Bible pictures SIN as a relational concept. SIN is a way we relate to God. SIN at its most basic level is not some impersonal evil or residual animal behavior or bad trait built into human character. Rather, it is rebellion against the God of the universe…”⁶

I have one other quibble with the study guide. It’s found in Thursday where it begins, “There are two words used by Ezekiel…” and then continues in the next paragraph, “The word translated ‘trade’ also could be rendered ‘slander,’ suggesting that in heaven Lucifer was involved in raising false accusations against God and probably other heavenly beings.”

Now, I don’t read Hebrew, but I can look at concordances and dictionaries. According to what I’ve found, although the words “trade” and “slander” mentioned above are related in the Hebrew language, one is not a direct replacement for the other. The argument given in Thursday’s lesson seems to me to be a bit of a  stretch.

I have two recommendations for additional comments and study on this week’s lesson:

• Spectrum’s Sabbath School discussion
• Walla Walla University’s Good Word discussion

______________________

¹The IVP Bible Background Commentary, Old Testament. InterVarsity Press, 2000. p. 715.

²ibid., p. 495.

³ibid., pp. 603-4.

⁴Quoted in Aulen, Gustaf. Christus Victor: An Historical Study of the Three Main Types of the Idea of Atonement, WIPF an STOCK Publishers, 2003 edition. p. 19.

⁵ibid., pp. 23-25.

⁶Knight, George R. I Used to be Perfect: A Study of Sin and Salvation, 2nd ed., Andrews University Press, 2001. p. 19.

Winter is in sight

While cycling out to the Post Office for mail, the clouds thinned out a bit to allow the peaks of the nearby hills show through. I saw something that I don’t think was there yesterday – white at the tops – snow! I looked behind me to see if Petersburg Mountain (the mountain visible directly across the Narrows from our bedroom windows) also had any snow, and bingo! it did. Even with full finger gloves, my hands were getting quite chilly. Winter is just around the corner.

A busy day

I had quite a full and busy day today. First, I hosted the monthly Ministerial Association meeting at our church. It was supposed to be at the St. Catherine’s Catholic Church, but last week learned that a change of venue had to occur. I asked around to see if anyone else was able to host, but I didn’t get a response so it defaulted to me.

Not every church hosting provides lunch (which is when we meet), but a few of us do provide rather elaborate meals. I couldn’t let people down, so I got to work this morning. The menu was chicken curry, basmati rice, honey-ginger glazed carrots, salad, and milk fudge with dried apricot bits. It all came together quite well, though I forgot to bring out the milk fudge. Oh well, more for me! The Lutheran pastor particularly enjoyed the carrots. I think he must have had half of the bowl.

Much of the meeting was presentation and discussion with the Community Education Director from the medical center. She came by to describe some of what she wants to do and to see in what ways the churches might want to partner. All in all it was a good discussion, letting us know of a community resource and another way for us to get involved with people outside the regular faith communities.

It was mid-afternoon when it was all done. The rain started up again this afternoon, after staying away for a few days in a row. I returned home to put away leftovers and catch up on e-mail and such. Amy told me that Shelley was going to catch a ride home. (Shelley had drama class this afternoon.) I went to the hospital to visit a church member who probably doesn’t have too many more days left in this life. Since she wasn’t ready, I went to get the mail, returned, and then visited (really with her husband). Then I got a call from Shelley wondering where I was… So with a quick prayer, I drove out to pick Shelley up.

Shelley picked up, we returned to town where she withdrew some money, went to the Trading Union, where she got some items and I went across the street to the hardware store to purchase a replacement electrical outlet. The one in the dining room, which I had been using for the heater, was rather loose. This morning I noticed that when the heater was turned up to the full 1500W, the vibrations from the plug being loose was resulting in quite a bit of heat and was melting the plastic. FIRE HAZARD!

Upon returning home I set out to replace the plug. As family and regular readers know, I am NOT a handyman, so even something as simple as replacing the outlet is somewhat daunting for me. I turned off the breaker, checked it with a voltmeter, turned the breaker on, checked it, turned it back off, checked it again (making doubly sure I had the right circuit turned off). Even then, with trepidation I began work on the outlet. I did not injure myself in the process, and everything got hooked back together. I turned on the breaker, checked to make sure I had the hot wire on the right side (which it was), plugged in the heater and waited a while to see if the outlet was still cool to the touch (which it was). Success!

For supper because I still had quite a bit of rice leftover from lunch, because it was getting a little late, and because I didn’t want to prepare another involved dish, I considered using a curry mix from a box. But I decided against it and threw together garlic, ginger, jalapenos, turmeric, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper with some tomatoes and potatoes to put together a potato curry. The jalapeno turned out to be quite a bit hotter than I had expected. Oh well.

That was my rather full day.

First music recording attempt

This evening I completed my first attempt at producing a music recording with my PC-based equipment. In an earlier post I mentioned how the audio interface seemed to produce annoying clicks in the audio stream. I tried all sorts of things to isolate and diagnose the problem. The final conclusion is that it’s actually the USB port or the PC itself. That’s good and bad, because the interface hardware seems to be fine. But it’s much more difficult and costly to replace the PC (which I’m not going to do). I’ve been able to reduce the interference to about once a minute or so, but not completely eliminate it. That is rather annoying because I have to record multiple takes and then replace the offending audio sections with clean ones.

I’d been working on producing MIDI versions of several praise and worship songs contained in a children’s choir collection. I took a set of those, recorded the audio outputs, and then I layered some of my vocals on top.

The final result isn’t spectacular, but I think it’s passable. There are some sections where the audio levels are a bit too high and clipped a bit. It’s not too bad in the original (uncompressed 73MB in size), but in the lower-quality MP3 (1.5MB), the clipping is more noticeable. I still need to get more experience in controlling the input levels, the outgoing mix levels, being more consistent while singing into the microphone, etc. to get a better final result.

Click Here for MP3.