Guide me, O thou great Jehovah

Some great old hymns capture the 'promised land' metaphor fantastically. I thought I'd use a few.


Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,
pilgrim through this barren land.
I am weak, but thou art mighty;
hold me with thy powerful hand.
Bread of heaven, bread of heaven,
feed me till I want no more;
feed me till I want no more.

Open now the crystal fountain,
whence the healing stream doth flow;
let the fire and cloudy pillar
lead me all my journey through.
Strong deliverer, strong deliverer,
be thou still my strength and shield;
be thou still my strength and shield.

When I tread the verge of Jordan,
bid my anxious fears subside;
death of death and hell's destruction,
land me safe on Canaan's side.
Songs of praises, songs of praises,
I will ever give to thee;
I will ever give to thee.


Written originally in Welsh by William Williams (1717-1791) then translated into English with the assistance of his brother, Peter Williams. Williams was a deacon in the Established Church of Wales, and though he served as a curate in two parishes, was never Priested. He became involved in the Revivalist movement as an itinerant preacher throughout Wales for 35 years. He wrote a number of Hymns. 'Guide Me' is famous for being sung by Welsh rugby fans to urge the national team on.

stones

Another picture of mine.

Matthew 3:9

"And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. "

Restored

One of my photos.


Psalm 23:2b-3a.

"he leads me beside quiet waters,
he restores my soul."

Remainder

I recently finished this novel given to me by a friend in the publishing industry. It is written by Tom McCarthy who, amoung other things, is the General secretary of the International Necronautical Society (INS). On its website the society's 'Manifesto' contains the following;

"We, the First Committee of the International Necronautical Society, declare the following:-

1.That death is a type of space, which we intend to map, enter, colonise and, eventually, inhabit.

2. That there is no beauty without death, its immanence. We shall sing death's beauty - that is, beauty."*


These declarations already give you an insight into the themes of this interesting novel. It is really a study in existentialism; an absurd insight into the life of a character who becomes obsessed with recreating ("re-enacting") his memories(...are they his?). It is, however, disarming in its capacity to draw you (the reader) into the mind of this character. This inclusion is achieved by first person narration of such simple, honest charm that as a reader one is in the place of a special confidant.

Here are the opening paragraphs;

"About the accident itself I can say very little. Almost nothing. It involved something falling from the sky. Technology. Parts, bits. That's it, really: all I can divulge. Not much, I know.
It's not that I'm being shy. It's just that - well, for one, I don't even remember the event. it's a blank: a white slate, a black hole. I have vague images, half-impressions: of being, or having been - or, more precisely, being about to be - hit; blue light; railings; lights of other colours; being held above some kind of tray or bed. But who's to say these are genuine memories? Who's to say my traumatized mind didn't just make them up, or pull them out from somewhere else, some other slot, and stick them there to plug the gap - the crater - that the accident had blown? Minds are versatile and wily things. Real chancers."**

As a christian (ie. having a vastly different perspective on death to that of the INS), I found myself feeling a great sense of pathos for this (fictitious) person who becomes consumed with creating an eternal present out of his (imagined?) past, such that in so doing the world, and in particular other people, are collapsed into nothing more than props in his narcissitic drama. Is this the essence of sin?
As well as pathos, there was empathy. How often I have wanted other people to do things my way; to fit into my agenda; to control all the things around me so as to make the world perfect for myself.

It reminds me of these words by Iris Murdoch;
“Love is the difficult realization that something other than oneself is real.”





*http://www.necronauts.org/manifesto1.htm
**Tom McCarthy, Remainder. p3. Alma Books, Surrey, UK (2006).

John Piper Friday

"...to put it most simply and starkly: the ultimate reason that suffering exists in the universe is so that Christ might display the greatness of the glory of the grace of God by suffering in himself to overcome our suffering. The suffering of the utterly innocent and infinitely holy Son of God in the place of utterly undeserving sinners to bring us to everlasting joy is the greatest display of the glory of God’s grace that ever was, or ever could be.
In conceiving a universe in which to display the glory of his grace, God did not choose plan b. This was the moment—Good Friday—for which everything in the universe was planned. There could be no greater display of the glory of the grace of God than what happened at Calvary. Everything leading to it and everything flowing from it is explained by it, including all the suffering in the world."*

This assertion by Piper (based upon Revelation 13:8, 2 Timothy 1:9, Ephesians 1:4 and Revelation 5:9-12) leads him to the following challenging conclusion;

"Do you see what this implies about sin and suffering in the universe? According to this divine plan, God permits sin to enter the world. God ordains that what he hates will come to pass. It is not sinful in God to will that there be sin. We do not need to fathom this mystery. We may content ourselves by saying over the sin of Adam and Eve what Joseph said over the sin of his brothers, when they sold him into slavery: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20)."*

Is this true?



*The Suffering of Christ and the Sovereignty of God, 2005 Desiring God National Conference. October 9, 2005.

Phews 11: Wed, 30 May 2001.

THE PRIORITY TO REST>

The sabbath is a difficult concept under the new covenant. Clearly Jesus rebuked the legalism of the pharisees regarding the 'holy day', but it cannot be said that He removed the sabbath concept. In fact, He upheld the importance of the sabbath by claiming that it was made for man, and that He as the Son of Man was Lord of the sabbath.
So where does this leave us? I think it leaves us with christians with a priority to uphold the spirit of the sabbath as it is made for our good, as part of our appropriate operating system, so to speak.
So we return to the creation narrative in Genesis, when God rested on the seventh day. Was God tired? It would be hard to sustain such an argument in the light of the power he has just exercised. No, it seems that His 'rest' - when He reflects on the goodness of His action and rejoices in the work of His hands - is in fact the consummation of His act. The seventh day completes the creation narrative, it is not post-narrative. God rejoices and is satisfied. It is somewhat like a siesta after a great meal... it completes that which is good making it very good.
May we make it a priority to seek joy and satisfaction in the work of God in us by resting and reflecting. How you apply that is your responsibility before God, but I would note that one of the historical applications of this is the church service.

Christs Grace and Your Sufferings

This is the best talk on suffering I think I have heard. It is by a guy called David Powlison. He is involved in christian counselling. It was delivered at the 2005 Desiring God conference and can be downloaded from the desiring God resource library (see below). The other talks from the conference are worth a listen also.



http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/ConferenceMessages/ByDate/1672_Christs_Grace_and_Your_Sufferings/

Seek first

Matthew 6:31-34.

"So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."


These verses have been so central in my life. In particular during my university years, they were like my compass in navigating decisions and choices. I don't necessarily live up to the challenge (see previous 'shaped by scripture' post), but my guide and standard they remain.

Marriage

My younger brother got married a few weeks ago. It was a wonderful day; as perfect as these days can get.

It was a reminder of the great blessings of God bestowed upon us; the blessings of companionship, complementarity and commitment between a man and a woman; the blessings that the two combined (as God's image) impart into the world through wise stewardship of creation, hospitality and concern for neighbour and loving parenthood.
It was also a reminder of the blessing of God bestowed upon fallen humanity in the reconciling work of Jesus. For as a man commits to a woman in love giving sacrificially of himself, so Jesus Christ has committed himself to his people in love by giving his life as a sacrifice for our sin. As a woman responds to a man in love, so we as Jesus people respond to him in love.

We eagerly await the final consummation of Jesus love affair with his people, when the saints from every time and every place are joined with their Lord in perfect union forever.

wines worth trying

For July I have chosen:

Elliot Rocke Estate, Mudgee, NSW.
2005 - Premium Unwooded Chardonnay.

From a great little boutique winery in Mudgee, this fresh, vibrant, sharp unwooded chardonnay is a lovely wine. Unwooded chardonnays, unlike their bigger oaked brothers (which I like, though many avoid), are accessible, and complement a wide variety of foods. I'd try this one with a non-cream based indian curry like Balti.

Sinai

Rembrandt - Moses Smashing the Tablets of the Law, 1659 (left).





Poussin - The adoration of the golden calf, 1634 (right).

Exclusion and Embrace – V

Volf carefully teases out the challenges of seeking justice in this age, and in so doing establishes the necessary injustice of all human attempts at justice. However, he does not deny the necessity of this 'unjust justice' in a world of violence and evil, but argues that, "There can be no justice without the will to embrace".

"... to agree on justice you need to make space in yourself for the perspective of the other, and in order to make space, you need to want to embrace the other. If you insist that others do not belong to you and you to them, that their perspective should not muddle yours, you will have your justice and they will have theirs; your justices will clash and there will be no justice between you. The knowledge of justice depends on the will to embrace. The relationship between justice and embrace goes deeper, however. Embrace is part and parcel of the very definition of justice. I am not talking about soft mercy tampering harsh justice, but about love shaping the very content of justice."*

Volf goes on to emphasise that practicing this kind of justice is grounded in the salvation activities of God in which evil is named, restrained and judged but within the context of gracious forgiveness and the eschatological reality of perfect justice in which the justice of this age will be transcended by freedom and love.



*Miroslav Volf. Exclusion and Embrace: A theological exploration of Identity, Otherness and Reconciliation. p220. Abingdon Press, Nashville (1996).

John Piper Friday (...on saturday)

"Prayer pursues joy in fellowship with Jesus and in the power to share his life with others. And prayer pursues God's glory by treating him as the inexhaustible resevoir of hope and help. In prayer we admit our poverty and God's prosperity, our bankruptcy and his bounty, our misery and his mercy. Therefore, prayer highly exalts and glorifies God precisely by pursuing everything we long for in him and not in ourselves."

Desiring God. p150. Multnomah Press (1989).

Mute

These provocative words sent in by Jill W.
Psalm 115: 2-7

Why do the nations say,
"Where is their God?"
Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever pleases him.
But their idols are silver and gold,
made by the hands of men.
They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but they cannot see;
they have ears, but cannot hear,
noses, but they cannot smell;
they have hands, but cannot feel,
feet, but they cannot walk;
nor can they utter a sound with their throats.

Exclusion and Embrace – IV

Volf expounds the self-sacrifice involved in the new covenant, and so challenges our thinking on the way of seeking reconciliation in relationships.

"The 'blood' in which the new covenant was made is not simply the blood that holds up the threat of breaking the covenant or that portrays common belonging; it is the blood but of self-giving, even self-sacrifice. The one party has broken the covenant, and the other suffers the breach because it will not let the covenant be undone. If such suffering of the innocent party strikes us as unjust, in an important sense it is unjust. Yet the 'injustice' is precisely what it takes to renew the covenant. One of the biggest obstacles to repairing broken covenants is that they invariably entail deep disagreements over what constitutes a breach and who is responsible for it. Partly because of the desire to shirk the responsibilities that acceptance of guilt involves those who break the covenant do not (or will not) recognize that they have broken it. In a world of clashing perspectives and strenuous self-justifications, of crumbling commitments and strong animosities, covenants are kept and renewed because those who, from their perspective, have not broken the covenant are willing to do the hard work of repairing it. Such work is self-sacrificial; something of the individual or communal self dies in performing it. Yet the self by no means perishes, but is renewed in the truly communal self, fashioned in the image of the triune God who will not be without the other."*



*Miroslav Volf. Exclusion and Embrace: A theological exploration of Identity, Otherness and Reconciliation. p155. Abingdon Press, Nashville (1996).