Well I got to get some blessings and give some blessings, thus the title Mutual Blessings. I meet some guys tonight. They are biking from Indiana to Tennessee. I saw one of the guys while I was on my way to the grocery. I thought that he might be on a pilgrimage. He had something an over shirt that looked like a stole. Well it was not really not a stole I found out later. I thought while a the store that I should get him some bread. Not that he needed it but that I could help him on his journey. So after I left the store I saw him again. I took him and his friend the bread that I got. Turns out they felt like having some bread. I talked to them for a while and turns out they are Christians. They have everything they own on their bikes with them. So that was pretty cool it really helped encourage me on my own pilgrimage. So they also gave me some literature that I have been reading. It is mainly on contentment, selflessness, and something that is kinda like a gospel track for Jewish people.
We mainly talked about how most people are too caught up in their own riches and what they want to do. It was just really nice to meet them.
It was really nice to see God at work in our lives. To see how he provided for them and helped to encourage me in my own path and life. Well that is about all that I wanted to say.
Well my friend Bryan did this on his blog and I am going to do it here too. Although on another topic. This topic will be about Satan and what you all think about hasatan, the devil, and Satan. What do you all think about this “evil” figure. I mainly want to know what is going on with the idea of the New Testament Satan and his development from there. Mainly how did hasatan, the advisory change from an angel that did a job for God turn in to the enemy of God? I don’t really have much else to say now. I look forward to your comments. I will also be posting this on my other blog so I can reach a wider audience.
Okay so this weekend has been full of 10 AM surprises. These surprises have tested my obedience.
The first surprise started when I came home from the bank yesterday morning. My mom more or less was having a conversation without me and decided that she would let me into it half way through. So when I get home I am told to take my car to her friend’s house and pick up this truck. I was like did I miss something here? What are you talking about? I found out that I was to take my car to her house and drop it off and pick up this truck. To my surprise I was going to be leaving my car there all weekend. So the time when I should be able to hang out with friends and go and do what I want to do. I have to stay at the house and wait till my mom calls me to have her help move her office again. So I did not really get to do much yesterday which kinda stunk.
Then today at about 10 when I woke up and got out of bed my mom tells me that she needs me to help her move the office. Thankfully there was not much to move but it was still not fun and I did not really want to do it. But we got it done pretty quick but as I was leaving the new office, I tried to set the alarm and it went off! Not fun so I called my mom to see how to shut it off and she did not know. So I spent about 15 minutes on the phone with the security company they could not shut it off and they ended up calling the police. They did not show up within 15 minutes so I went on and left since the alarm stopped sounding. So all in all it has been a very interesting day.
The one good thing about the alarm going off was that I got to disrupt a Jehovah’s witness service since they were next door. I thought that was kinda funny.
But all of that was to say that it really seemed like a test of my obedience. Could I get along without my car if was asked to give it up. Would I be willing to give up my self will and follow some one else’s will? I think I did alright with it. I just would like to know what is going on a little bit before it happens. Well that is what has been going on with me.
Well I just back from Bible Study. I heard about this movie Jesus Camp and kinda what it was about so I am now watching it. With in the first nine minutes the church (note the lower case “c” because these people are not really acting like a Church) where these people are at are already breaking one of the rules that Paul gave the Church in Corinth. That no more then three people should speak in tongues. They have almost 500 people “speaking in tongues.” We should remember that speaking in tongues builds up the person not the Church. They are also breaking another rule, which is they do not have anyone interpreting the tongues. My advice “SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!!! UNLESS YOU CAN DO IT IN AN ORDERLY MANNER AND HAVE SOME ONE INTERPRET IT!!!” Isn’t it just fun and easy to skip over parts of the Bible you don’t like? Or just ignore them all together.
Oh and lest I forget that Islam has been bashed twice in the first 10 to 11 minutes. There is no need for that kind of action. I do not believe in what Islam teaches but I will not bash or discredit their religion. I don’t believe it but if that is how they feel they can connect with God, then so be it. It’s not for me and I believe that Jesus was and is the Lord the Son of the Living God, blessed be he, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
Let me ask a question what does politics have to do with being Christian? Christianity has nothing to do with politics. Christians should have their mind set on other things and realize they have another and larger Master. Our kingdom is not of this world. Kyle had a good post on this the other day. A woman in the movie just asked “Where is my country?” As I stated above we may live in the USA but it is not our country. We don’t really have a country we have a kingdom. The guy on the radio is making sense. Some people he was talking about do not care about ecology at all. More or less saying cut down our trees, take our oil, burn green house gases. Do they not remember that we are to represent God to the rest of creation. We are responsible for the earth. So what if God is going to re-make it or renew it. We still were given a job and we need to do that job.
One family just plegded alliance to the Christian flag and to the Holy Bible. What the heck?! No! They should be saying a creed or something like that. And since when the Bible become part of the Trinity? or a quadrinity? ( new word I made up for the unity of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Bible.) God is not a president or world leader he does not need pledges like that, he wants faith and belief and commitment but not like what they were doing.
They are more or less scaring these kids into the faith. They are not showing the love and kindness of Jesus Christ. They need to remember that his yoke is light and his burden easy. They don’t need to be scared into it. I up until about last week thought that most of the fire and brimstone churches had died out. But I see that I am wrong. Why is that? It might make people believe but why do they believe? It is because Jesus died and rose or because they don’t want to go to hell.
In fact I don’t think I have heard one word about the Resurrection in this whole movie. Which is weird since because without that there is no Christianity. Without the Resurrection Jesus is just another failed Messiah.
This little girl is bashing liturgical Churches. She saying that a dead church sings 3 songs and listen to a sermon. She said that God wants to be a church where people are jumping up and down and yelling. What who are we to say what God wants to do? God is present everywhere that is the power of our God. It’s called omnipresence.
Well it is late and I have to get to bed. I will finish the movie tomorrow.
Well today and yesterday I made about 3,000 copies of stuff at work. During that time I was able to renew my membership to the SBL and Register for the Annual Meeting in San Diego. My friend James and I are still looking for one or two people to go with us so that we each only have to pay for one night in the hotel each. I am trying to get Kyle to go but he seems unable to answer his phone. So I will have to talk to him soon. I also got to look up airfare and hotel prices. All in all if I can get two other guys to go it should only end up taking about $500 for the entire trip. That price of course does not include all the books I am going to buy or the food that I will eat or gas to the airport. But those are things that I cannot calculate with any certainty right now.
Well I spend most of the day driving to The Breaks State Park on the Kentucky Virgina board Sunday. My mom’s family had a reunion. I will just say that it was interesting. I did not hang out with the family much since most of them are 50 years older then me or more and I do not know them at all, because I see them maybe once a year. This year my grandfather for some reason, that was not shared with me, had me take his place and ask for the blessing over the food. So I did a mixture of impute prayer and one from the BCP. It went alright.
Before I ate and after I ate I decided that I would take a walk in the woods around our shelter. It was nice. I read some of the desert fathers while walking. (Not always good to read and walk along a wooded path, you should keep your eyes watching where you are going. But with God’s help I did not fall or hurt my self in any way.) I also read some psalms and repeated the Jesus prayer and the Lord’s Prayer to myself. After going about 3/4s of a mile after lunch God proved me with a good walking stick, I thanked him for it and continued on my way. After going about 2 miles I came to a large rock that over looked the valley between the two hills, I think they were (they I don’t think were large enough to be mountains.) So I climbed up the rock and read some more stuff in the BCP and then did a Lectio Divine on James 1:4. It was nice then I walked back to the shelter, with out getting lost a good thing too because I could not remember exactly what trail I had taken since I had taken a few. Before leaving the trail I took out my pocket knife and cut a cross into the walking stick and let it propped up against a tree near the beginning of the trail for some other pilgrim to use.
When I got back to the shelter it was time to go. So we had to wait another 20 minute for my aunt who lives in Huston to say bye to everyone. So it was not really time to go. But that is the way my family works. Take what time you are suppose to be some where or leave somewhere and add at least 15 minutes to it (if you are lucky). The drive back was fine and peaceful. Then I went to dinner and then to bed.
Well it has been awhile since I posted something so I think that I should post something. Sorry, I am not a very interesting person so because of that the blog cannot be updated a lot because nothing is going on. So here’s what’s up. I went to the wedding and Kevin and Kaylen liked the Icon. Note for next time, let someone that can paint paint it. I think that the painting really took something away from the carving. I think it was hard to tell that it had been carved unless you felt it or really looked closely at it. Also the black was not a very good paint, because it was really ink and it did not act like paint so it, went everywhere the brush went and soaked into the wood really fast and spread out. Also it took a lot of it to do even the smallest things. So that is by critic of the carving. But I think the carving really turned out good especially since it was only my second time carving something.
Well I have had more to do a work and I have slowed down some, so that is going good.
I am still reading the desert fathers and really enjoying it. It seemed at first that they were all about doing and taking things to the extreme. But as I have gone on it looks like they are moving towards the middle road. Mainly with stuff like fasting. Some of them would say do not worry about long fasts just eat a little less then what would fill you up everyday. One disciple talked about doing penance for three years. One of the Fathers said this is a long time. The young man said maybe a year, then. Again, the Father said that is a long time. Another young monk suggested 40 days. The Father said, that is still a long time; if a man is truly repentant then I think that after 3 days of penance would be sufficient. In this middle road kind of idea the Fathers remind me of Anglicanism. In that they are both not going to either extreme.
Other random or funny thoughts/things I found:
1. Eusebius was fighting against people like Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins in his day and others were before him. Here is the quote from The History of the Church : “He says that after the resurrection of the dead there will be a period of a thousand years, when Christ’s kingdom will be set upon this earth in material form. I suppose he got these notions by misinterpreting the apostolic accounts and failing to grasp what they had said in mystic and symbolic language. For he seems to have been a man of very small intelligence, to judge from his books” (Book 3, 39.20) Haha, suck it disponsitionalists!
2. I cannot find where it was in the book but I know it was there, it was a great quote/statement. Eusebius says that most of the people in the Roman Church even the Bishop, I believe, did not believe that Paul wrote Hebrews. Funny because now the Roman Catholic church says that Paul did write Hebrews. Which one is it?
Well that is all I have time for now my lunch hour is up and I have to get back to work. Have a great day. Peace.
As I mentioned in my last blog I have been working on an icon for my friends’ Kevin and Kaylen’s wedding. So here are some photos of it hope you enjoy.
So I think my boss wants me to not work so fast. Mainly because I run out of things to do during the day. But that is the problem with office work, it is so mindless it seems that I do not have to think of what I am doing I just do it. I also think that I am working fast because I remember that I am to work as working for the Lord. I do not think that I can slow down when I think that Jesus is my boss. I guess if my boss is suppose to represent Christ, then I will have to slow down. To make sure that I am obedient. I think that if it took more thought then I would not do it so fast. Or if it required more detail then it would not be so mindless and fast. But since everything is already to typed out in form letters it makes it easy to copy make new letters and stuff.
I have also been carving an icon for my friends’ Kevin and Kaylen’s wedding present. I have had to go slow on it. One reason is because it is only the second time I have carved something. Two is that it is a slow process, because not only am I depicting our Lord, Christ. But also because it takes a long time to try and get everything even. Lastly, because I am not an artist and it is really hard for me. I really enjoy being able to create something with my hands. I do not think that I could do it as a profession but it would be nice to do it more often. If I do become a monk I think that I will be doing this a lot in my “free time.”
Well other then reading a lot of stuff and trying to find out what classes I am going to take and working that is about all that is going on with me. Hope you all have a great day and may the God of Peace have mercy on you and bless you. Shalom.
There is not as many fathers that talk about quietness as there were on perfection. That maybe because of the book or it maybe because not as many emphasized it as much. Arsenius had a lot to say about it. It was very insightful. He seems to want people to leave the world through quietness. In one saying he said that if you could hear the voice of a bird then you do not have quietness in your heart. A very interesting idea. I do not know that I could do it but I am sure that it would take a lot of time to learn this skill.
There was one really good quote from Matrona he said, “Many solitaries living in the desert have been lost because they lived like people in the world. It is better to live in a crowd and want to live a solitary life then to live in solitude and be longing all the time for company.” This really hit me; and this is why I do not think that I could be a hermit. At least not now, because even though I do not like large crowds, I do like small groups. I do not want to give up all communication with people either. I want to be able to share what I have learned in my life and possibly be able to help others with that information. Even though I could do this in writing, it seems that something always gets lost when you go from saying something to reading it. Since from what I have heard and have been told, body language and tone are things that people pick up on the most and not the words.
This idea of being totally alone is also not a great one for me. That is why I think the Rule of St Benedict is good. He wants the monks to have some relationship with each other. They are not there to learn from some ‘holy man.’ They can and will learn a lot, if not more from each other then the abbot. I think this kinda life would work. A happy medium between total solitude and the everyday world that I am in now.
Many of the Fathers split their teaching on progressing in perfection and on how to please God in two three things that their followers should do.
Anthony says “wherever you go, keep God in mind; whatever you do, follow the example of holy Scripture; wherever you are, stay there and do not move away in a hurry.”
Gregory said, “God asks three things of anyone who is baptized: to keep the true faith with all his soul and all his might; to control his tongue; to be chaste in his body.”
There are many other examples of three things to do, or three things you should do. One thing that I found to be very inspiring. An unnamed hermit said it, “whatever you find you are drawn to in following God’s will, do it and let your heart be at peace.” I thought that this was very comforting since I also feel that God is calling me to teach. I am reading a book now, called Seeking God: The Way of St. Benedict, it is about living the Rule of St Benedict in an everyday life. I think that this book goes along very well with what the hermit said. I can still follow the Rule and do work as a professor. So the question is do I go off and live as a monk in a monastery or do I live as a monk in the world? Or is there a monastic order that allows their monks to work at a job other then the usual kind at the monastery and still live there?
Well this gives me some stuff to think about. I will be posting some more stuff on the desert fathers as I read more of their sayings. Well may the God of peace have mercy on you.
