Christotypism

i may have already mentioned my sermon series on Lamentations, thankfully the moose is up. it's done, done, done.

i had a squiz at the Perspective website (a resource set up by a bunch of pastors with helpful tips for preachers)

for interest's sake i had a look, and they gave three ways of looking at the OT, and specifically the book of Lamentations;

1/ A Christotelic Approach - Jesus the fulfillment of the OT. OT sets up the problem, Jesus is sent by God as the solution to them.

2/ A Christotypic Approach - the OT provides the shadow, Jesus is the epitome.

3/ An Exemplary Approach - look at the examples of good and bad. learn from it.

(this was from Bryson Smith's outline - not to be confused with Byron Smith)


i think there are places for all three of these approaches.

my previous post refers to a group who may use 3/ a whole heap, i'm not sure of the extent of the other two.

in our church's series on the story of life used 1/ a heap more.

going through Lamentations, a few years ago i would definitely have used 1/ and 3/. but this time around it was 2/ all the way.


it was hard, it felt almost wrong to say that Jerusalem was a "type" of Christ. the language is of Jerusalem being the annointed one, God's holy one, almost messianic. [like the (relatively) new Jewish reading of Isaiah 52-53.]

Jesus came as Jerusalem, was punished as Jerusalem.

and thinking through the atonement after having read Lamentations in a Christotypic way made it a whole lot clearer.

and i pray this was also true for the fellow-travellers.

active listening

i was challenged yesterday by my (non-Christian) flatmate about Christians' inability to discuss.
he said that whenever Christians talk to him, there's never the sense of equal footing, that there is give and take, that they may be willing to concede their shortcomings in understanding and reasoning.

this really stumped me.

how do you discuss with someone you are convinced is wrong in a way that is open, without compromising yourself?

we want to say, "yeah, we listen, we're good listeners," but my flatmate just says, "no you're not, you're crap. you don't listen, you just want to convince me the whole time. and that's no discussion."

and at a certain point i have agree. there are things i won't compromise on. there are things that are so central to who i am as a person, that to compromise would negate who i am as a person; if i'm going to give ground on those things, there must be a pretty sound argument to do so.

but this still doesn't make for the 'open dialogue' my flatmate believes he will never get from a Christian.

Hillsong loves a cheerful tither

on my day off yesterday, before auditioning for ready steady cook, i was watching whatever the channel 7 morning show is (the one with larry), and they were interviewing some Hillsongers

having several people in my faculty at uni from hillsong, and other denominations i'm not 100% on the same page as, i've often tried to pin down why i'm uncomfortable with a lot of what they say.

there are many areas of agreement, but it's not good enough to say "i like some of your stuff, but not this," as there must be an underlying thing behind it.

and i think larry's question on tithing might have triggered the answer.

the atheist society at UNSW had a sign up saying, "Hillsong: God's ATM Machine (sic.)"

larry's question was along these lines, and the answer was, "tithing is a biblical principal. I give 10%."

and i think i've got it
it's all about biblical theology.
the way they read the bible, beginning to end, is fundamentally different. questions i have from Hillsong members, and other AOG* churches, betray a lack of understanding in the cohesiveness of the whole bible. a superficiality of understanding, of Jesus' fulfillment of the Law.

so Paul's exhortation to give generously, with a joyful heart, supplying others' need out of your riches; has been summed up in the Law - give 10%, as opposed to the other way around, where 10% was a number, due to the hardness of people's hearts.

i hope this is the sympathetic reading i've been searching for.

* Assemblies of God, the bigger denomination Hillsong comes under

bullies and facebook

pop quiz:
should i be facebook "friends" with a guy who unrepentantly used to beat the crap out of me at school for most of highschool?

and to top it all off, he asked me!

maybe i should link up with him at hatebook?

sabre-tooths and memes

me and my self-psycho-analysing ways have come up with a new hypothesis regarding men, women and singleness

anecdotally, it seems women can get along well with, and are supported well by, their female friends
perhaps an evolutionary sociologist would work this out along "meme" theory, where the men were more likely to die in battle, or by being ravaged by a sabre-toothed tiger; the women would support one another in a widows' fellowship
it seems this as a default position, whilst not preferable, may at least be tolerated

men, however are by their nature more solitary, or with 1-2 close friends. when one, and then both of these friends get hooked up, or move, or meet with the menacing Smilodon, the default mode is not to join a men's support network, but to become solitary. the loss of their few confidants is pretty much the end of it for them

the evolutionary sociologist, again, might leap into gear again, this meme being part of the "leader-of-the-pack" ideology, where it's lonely up the top. (tho, again, my hypothesis is that this is due more to necessity than desire)

men, therefore, need that female companionship in some ways more than do the women., as their default position will not be to seek male companionship, but solitude.

perhaps this helps explain why some women can find commitment to a bloke tough - the default position isn't so bad, and this compared with the perceived uncertainty of marriage, the default is immensely more preferable.


the maniacal ramblings of a jilted man, or a profound philosophical treatise. i'll be the judge, thanks.

the cordial of judgement

this week's sermon title will be "Lamentations :: Judgement and Lament"

however, i realised this morning that judgement is perhaps one of those "churchy" words, that are confusing to the non-churched, and glossed over by the churched

so i'm trying to come up with an analogy, and i'm currently like the dog doing its circles over its bed before it sits down, with cordial

(was this too obtuse a way to say i've almost come to a definitive decision?)


so if you say "i'm going to make a glass of cordial," the assumption is, you're going to pick the cordial flavour (red or yellow - yes, they are flavours), then you're going to put the the liquid in a glass, add water (never the other way around, unless you're COMPLETELY insane), and then drink the darn thing

likewise for judgement:
God evaluates the situation, makes his decision, and then completes the appropriate action, be this blessing or cursing

judgement isn't just weighing up, it's not just handing down a verdict, but all of these, along with the execution

how many thumbs up does this get - or is it redundant, do people already widely get the idea of God's Judgement?

the philosophy of politics

i found this fascinating interview from Jon Stewart's Newshour, linked here by way of Swords to Plowshares, which i found via Faith and Theology which i usually look at via Nothing New Under the Sun!

it's a really insightful look at what it means to live life out, if all of life was politics!
for example, do you say what is right, or what will win? the answer, for one who lives life as if it were all politics, is obviously the latter.
it's how to win friends and influence people taken to the extreme.

i guess it might win you friends - but what kind of friends?

new bible translation!

i was trying to find some hints on some specific rendering decisions on Lamentations, for my up-coming sermon series at Wild St

and lo and behold, i came upon a new, post-modern Bible translation project - the International Standard Version!

the idea is, they had a crack at a new translation, got lots of feedback, and instead of just declaring it the final version (despite its name!), they have actually decided to invite feedback.

from their website:

all ISV readers are invited to comment on how specific passages of the current release of the ISV can be rendered clearer and even more insightful in the next version.

they want people to:

Send us a suggestion on improving a specific verse

Report a typo error in the current edition of the ISV text

Ask us a question about why we rendered a specific passage the way we did.

it's good to note that Final decisions on acceptance of textual suggestions will remain with the Committee on Translation so we can maintain scholarly standards set by the ISV Foundation.

you can even get listed as a contributing editor, provided you help out enough (however much that may be)

i believe you can get paper editions, but for a while at least, and particularly until they've finished Genesis, Leviticus, Numbers, 1 & 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, Job, Isaiah, and Ezekiel, if you want to use it you'll have to use either a PDA, or bring your laptop to church with you!

t-shirt talk

been thinking about t-shirts
youth group want some - something about sense of identity
found this one via larknews.com
i don't have many christian t-shirts, mainly coz they're tacky and stupid (i found one at vinnie's once, with "www.jesus.come". yup.

however i do like kurt's "i am not the messiah",
as well as threadless's arminianism v calvinism (h/t to elsie), on the front (as i remember), "i chose this t-shirt", the back with "this t-shirt chose me".

book list

i've had to compile two different book lists in the last week,
1/ for my college application form, listing "at least 5" Christian books that have influenced me, and
2/ for CBS Core, a suggested reading list, as the students start building Christian libraries for themselves

so what are the top 5 Christian books that have influenced you?

mine are:

1. The Myths of Science (ed. by Kirsten Birkett)
   
2. Knowing God (JI Packer)
   
3. Holiness (JC Ryle)
   
4. Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God (JI Packer)
   
5. Answers in Genesis - (tho this was remarkable for my early Christian growth, i look back now with sorrow as i see how they manage to pigeon-hole the creation v evolution debate)

the sword & the spirit

this morning i preached at St Bede's, Drummoyne.

i imagine the conversation between the archdeacon and my pastor went a little like this:
AD "hi. i need someone to fill in for me this sunday"
P "oh, right"
AD "yeah, so, who's your best man?"
P "sorry, he's preaching"
AD "well, you then?"
P "nah, i really need to be here"
AD "well, who's next on your list?"
P "yeah, he's busy too"
AD "you got anyone who can string two words together?"
P "um... i'll get back to you"

and then i get the phone call.

it was nice to speak to a different group of people, but, just as when i speak to our 8:30am congregation i always feel under-qualified to be speaking to people who've been Christians 2-3x longer than i've been alive!

it's always encouraging, therefore, to chat afterwards, as they share how the Word of God has been opened up anew to their ears.

i heard a great quote that makes sense of this, tho i am unaware who spake it;

the word without the spirit is powerless,
and the spirit without the word is weaponless.

a great encouragement indeed!

wishing for mercy

1/ apologies for absence of posting

2/ what place is there for critiquing the theology of the Bible?
FOR, we get our theology FROM the Bible, so when it says something we don't like, at what point are we able to say, "no, that's not how God is," without

for example, Jonah:
now, i've always read Jonah 2 as a great poem, expressing noble truths about God's character.
UNTIL, that is, i heard it critiqued, saying that Jonah was an arrogant man, presuming upon God, he had NO right to pray as he did, to just ASSUME that God was gonnaget him out of the lurch.

3/ so then, what do we say when reading, for example Lamentations (c/f many Psalms), which wishes atrocities upon atrocities, upon their enemies and neighbours for their nonintervention?

i would like to say, "that's wrong, you should be wishing them mercy, just as you desire mercy from God," because this attitude isn't so much redeemed in Jesus as refuted.

indeed, neither does Paul agree with this view, in Romans 14:10-12;

Why do you pass judgment on your brother?
Or you, why do you despise your brother?
For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God;
for it is written,
As I live, says the Lord,
every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall confess to God.
So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

it all seems very log-in-the-eye to me.

greenies or goodies

with the australian federal election ever closer (despite howard refusing to officially call it - maybe he will, maybe he won't - what fun he must be having), i just thought i'd re-open the ole can-o-worms, Christians and the Greens.

i picked up a handy little "policy snapshots" brochure (from June 2007), and out of the 131 different policy agendas, there were only TWO that i thought were outright wrong. morally, i would have to disagree with those two points.

but, my friends, that leaves 129 points, where i am at a level of agreement, between 6-10 out of 10.

why am i saying this?
am i spruiking for the greens now? No.
am i going to vote for them in both houses? Couldn't say.

then why?
because i am sick and tired of uninformed self-appointed representatives of some imaginary "Christian community" writing off every single policy, again, 129/131 of which i think are quite reasonable, because of fear.

thankfully, that is not the way democracy works - the mainstream policies, especially for a minority party such as the greens, are the ones where they may gain any ground.

AND the policies i object to are not the ones they push. they are not the ones in the one page summary.
the things in the summary are crazy things such as,

no nuclear power in australia (they want to invest in green energy, the very thing the federal government has removed funding to in quantities that just aren't funny any more),

no new coal mines,

cutting carbon emissions by a substantial (not tokenistic) amount,

conservation of old-growth forests,

public dental care,

bridging the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous australians.


the list goes on. with more of the same outrageous statements.

perhaps were it not for the climate of fear, australia would not be in the state it is today.

keep praying for our politicians. and one another.

seriously, john

i found this pic at crikey.com.au and was a little underwhelmed.

for, while the sentiments are true, honour, where honour is due, should always be the call of the day.
so, attending the anti-APEC rally on saturday, my friend dave's sign expressed our sentiments exactly:

"Howard, you're pathetic."

a roman emperor, let alone great senator of the republic, howard is not.
nor will he be remembered as such.

for those interested, i just wore my usual THE GOV'T LIES. t-shirt (which i've worn at my uni graduation, as well as once, completely by accident, whilst praying particularly for the government at church!).

my sincerest apologies

now truly in the dizzying heights of blog-stardom, i've been tagged by Byron to participate in a meme, started off by a site called Christians Confess. The directions are as follows:

Apologize for three things that Christians have often got wrong. Your apologies should be directed towards those who don’t view themselves as part of the Christian community. Alternatively, apologize for things you personally have done wrong towards those outside of the church.

Post a comment at the originating post so others can keep track of the apologies.

Tag five people to participate in the meme.

If desired, send an email with the link to your blog post at the Christians Confess site, giving permission for your apologies to be added to the website.

here goes (deep breath):

1. I'm sorry that Christians are at once too different, yet at the same time not different enough
   
   
2. I'm sorry for disunity upon schism upon rift upon anathema upon persecution, among earthly representatives of Christ's Church
   
   
3. I'm sorry, when it comes to the things that matter, that Christians are overwhelming the world with timidity, and deafening it with silence.
   

i tag Sam, Kurt, Elsie, Hayley and Mark (get back on the horse buddy!)