This morning the news of a friend thrust me into refection. I was contemplating life – more so ones life story and the grand intersection where life has its happenings. You all know it, where sovereignty st. and independence ave. meet. On that corner, at a little coffee shop in my mind, I pondered “all things considered” as much as finite creatures can ponder such things. I did little pondering. For we know, Man’s thoughts can rise no higher than the mental mountains our creator has made for them to tread. Yet I took to the task of climbing – a little work of self-transcendence, my guiding road map and a heart needing to pray, led me to a peak where I could go no farther but could see farther still. From my mental mountain’s view I gained a little “perspective.” Now back in the valley of my thoughts I am glad to say I saw a desire I thought I had lost. It was resting in the meadow of forgotten things along with my love for Rembrandt and the Beatles white album. The nature of this particular desire is akin to the joy of free falling or rock climbing without ropes. It is a desire for edge living. Desires are often hard to explain so I will use a guiding metaphor to lead the way. But such a metaphor from my conjuring are of a certain type, that is they are often pop-culture in reference, descriptive of my heart and well very Dawson (thus a little Odd). This is no exception. I will ask you bear with me and enjoy the musing of a geek.
Desiring to Leap because He is Worthy!
Have you ever seen the show Quantum Leap? I was devoted to it in the 90’s much like I am now with Heros… Hmm ? (I will psychoanalyze than latter). It is a show about Sam Becket, a scientist who becomes a time traveler that can’t stop traveling, He goes from date to date doing good and making things right. He is helped in each task before him by a friend from his own time in the hopes that the next leap will be his leap home. But with each leap there is always a new problem to make right. Sam is caught up in something bigger than himself. The last episode has always been haunting to me. At the end, he finds out that God was behind it all. God had made him to be a time-leaper and that this was what he was made for. He was God’s time traveling do-Good-er. In the end he is told he is not going back to what he thought was home. His mission is bigger than that and beyond his the bounds of his life but he must choose it. In the end he does choose to be what he was created to be. As Sam leaps on to the next tasks the narrator says, “ Sam Becket was never heard from again…” and the show ends…
It moves me – deep things are shifted like the cords of my soul had found harmony with the created order of life. This desire is a pioneer spirit and I believe this story is telling of a pioneer spirit. Apioneer spirit is willing to Be unknown, do things unknown, and dwell in unknown lands. This is the glory of making a Quantum leap for God! One who goes as God calls and does good where God places. The fame of recognition, the celebrity of faithfulness so common in today’s church is leaped beyond. They dwell in unknown lands. There feet never to feel the acceptance of familiar soil. The pioneer spirit wars for souls of many; they are warriors of the cross on the cutting edge of God’s glory.
They are the unknown. A pioneer spirit is a person unknown. One that is lost in God, found in grace, unknown to most, respected by angels, and Pleasing to GOD! The home town folks may ask, “What ever happened to so and so.. they just disappeared …God could have used such a soul??” Those in the know smile and say “God’s eyes are on them.” “They move in lands uncharted, worlds unknown” “Last time I saw him HE was burning…. And smiling all the way.” I am reminded of the Moravian unknowns…
“Two young Moravians heard of an island in the West Indies where an atheist British owner had 2000 to 3000 slaves. And the owner had said, "No preacher, no clergyman, will ever stay on this island. If he’s shipwrecked we’ll keep him in a separate house until he has to leave; but he’s never going to talk to any of us about God. I’m through with all that nonsense." Three thousand salves from the jungles of Africa brought to an island in the Atlantic and there to live and die without hearing of Christ.”
“When the Two young Moravians heard about it. They sold themselves to the British planter and used the money they received from their sale, for he paid no more than he would for any slave, to pay their passage out to his island for he wouldn’t even transport them. As the ship left it’s pier in the river at Hamburg and was going out into the North Sea, carried with the tide, the Moravians had come from Herrenhut to see these two lads off, in their early twenties. Never to return again, for this wasn’t a four year term; they sold themselves into life-time slavery. Simply, that as slaves, they could be as Christians where these others were. The families were there weeping, for they knew they would never see them again. And they wondered why they were going and questioned the wisdom of it. As the gap widened and the housings had been cast off and were being curled up there on the pier, and the young boys saw the widening gap, one lad with his arm linked through the arm of his fellow, raised his hand and shouted across the gap the last words that were heard from them, they were these: "MAY THE LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN, RECEIVE THE REWARD OF HIS SUFFERING!" This became the call of Moravian missions. And this is the only reason for being, That the Lamb that was slain, may receive the reward of His suffering.” 1
Hear me “unknown”, WE FORGET NOT!
My heart and my prayers go out to the “unknowns” your courage and passion inspires me to leap when ever he calls. Your secret victories, God’s great triumphs lost to all but the angels and God, I wish to know them all story by story line by line and eternity will be long enough to declare His glory in each of them! I await you, today is no in vain! My brother, my sister, I will know you and our joy will be increased. In the age to come it will be my joy to hear all the grand stories untold for their glory though clothed in earthly sod was far more brilliant than this life could bear. I remind myself sometimes that you breathe as we breathe and move as we move in the same time in a different space. I remind myself no matter the distance no matter the time I am with you and you me for we are one in Christ.
To ALL unknowns feeling alone
To my brothers in the “birth place of the gospel” your praise raises high, beauty in his ears, he hears your cries and sees your tears. Remember, I love you and Honor you for yours is the kingdom, and His is the Praise! Nothing can separate you for the Love of God!
Postscripts of a life spent
To my friend, to you who have fallen – You who lived as one burning! You who died without the sting of death.. You are now known - you have received your reward! Faithful is the man that overcomes – for you I write this your eulogy. And your words echoes in my heart as clear as the day you told me. "MAY THE LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN, RECEIVE THE REWARD OF HIS SUFFERING!" You made that your epitaph and I now remember the desire it kindled to live unknown. I honor you for teaching me. I honor you in your honor of the one worthy. I never told you so now I do – thank you for giving me my epitaph too. May I live as worthy of it as you have.
You will be missed, my friend.
God’s speed you on, Kammal,
They may kill your body but they can't kill your soul, and they can't stop your message!
“seni seviyorum!”
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1. From Ten Shekels and a Shirt a sermon by Paris Reidhead, First read to me by a friend which I write this blog for http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php
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Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Monday, February 05, 2007
Propositional truth as a bag of seeds.
A bag of seeds
Belief is more than a mental assent to a propositional statement valued as true but it begins in this form. I like to think of a propositional truth like one would a seed. A seed differs from other seeds by way of kind. The seed reproduces after its kind. Seeds from an oak tree become Oak trees, a pine tree seed grows to be a pine tree. A propositional truth is like this in that it differs from other from of truth in kind. The truth, Jesus is God, is not the same kind of truth as, bricks are red or math is hard. All three statements are propositional but only one is eternal. The truth that Jesus is God is a spiritual reality. That makes it ontological in nature and universal in scope and adherence. The other two are not. (There are excerptions to the statement, like bricks can be grey and some people find math easy, [the last one is hard to believe I know])
Second, this seed principle also states that all propositional truths of spiritual reality are like seeds in that they do not start in the mind as great truths. They start as seeds. An oak tree seed holds within it the potential of an Oak tree. But it will not be an Oak tree till it has two things: Opportunity and a place to grow. If we give ourselves to this task of “truthing” our self (mind and heart), flowers of beauty and the fresh aroma of goodness will cover the pathways of our thoughts. It is a secret Garden known only to those griped by the gospel. Looking deeper, when I say place I do mean the mind. God created the mind with its emotions and passions, logic and coherence. It is good to remember that it is a sinner’s nature to separate facts and the fire. All were to run smoothly in the direction of God. This is a process of spiritual growth in the intellect. Faith grounded in facts, Facts driving the fire, fires filling the soul. The movement of such a soul is a God honoring activity: A wholly burning humanity living caught up in the fact of God. God smiles at his creation in proper response to his divine initiatives of created reality.
Before all this can happen the seed must be planted. We must think and understand the truth. I will extend the seed metaphor, Clarity is equal to the degree of depth a seed is planted. There are two dangers in this planting process. One if you plaint it to deep the seed will die from what I call “deep thoughts that goes nowhere”. There is a way of thinking about truth that never connects it to reality and heart. Some call it ivory tower faith or frontal lobe faith I call it stupid. It is when a person thinks of truth from a mental distance. Jesus is God is looked at as factual, logical, even scriptural but never looked at as real, actual, or truth for me, that is to say it never becomes truth trusted. The energy of that truth is never tapped into and let loose to corset through your mental catacombs. The different between a soul that lives truth trusted and a soul that just knows truth is dramatic. For the latter truth is before them, they can define it, fight over it, explain it from every angle and even teach it in seminary. For the former, they do not have truth, truth has them. They also can define it, fight over it, explain it and teach it in seminary but it is something that owns them and they do not own it. They are in truth and not merely mentally looking at it.
The second danger is planting the seed to shallow. That is truth never gets rooted because of sinking thinking. That is we glance at truth and say,” Jesus is God” wow! That is great. I can trust that truth! It is real to me! Now what new can I learn!” Or “I need not learn anymore.” When we only look at truth on a surface level we seldom see the beauty and are captured by the power of truths depths. The value we place on a propositional truth is constant with the time we spend with it. Take time to be with a truth, talk to it, hear it talks back. Tell it –“you can’t be true!” Hear it declare “I AM!!” Look at it and let it look back at you. We must remember every truth of God pears deeper into our souls than we can see into it. Thinking when your trusting truth makes the objective affective. Our subjective is bent about the objective and we are reformed into the image of truth trusted. “Jesus is God” is escorted in by this process to his rightful place at the soul’s center. From this reformed center it is a powerful point of worship. It confirms loyalty as the gravity of the soul. In short, truth leads a revolution of the heart and revision of the mind’s eye. Values are changed and perception is shifted. The place truth grows is the mind and heart. The opportunity is in life itself. Any time is a good time. Time set aside is a better time. Though out the day, I give myself daily Gospel quizzes. Not to be confused with the moral quizzes of the moralist that seeks to establish a beachhead of self-righteousness and thus strip life of the gospel. Rather my type quizzes seek to see life envisioned through the gospel and values centered in the person of the gospel.
Belief is more than a mental assent to a propositional statement valued as true but it begins in this form. I like to think of a propositional truth like one would a seed. A seed differs from other seeds by way of kind. The seed reproduces after its kind. Seeds from an oak tree become Oak trees, a pine tree seed grows to be a pine tree. A propositional truth is like this in that it differs from other from of truth in kind. The truth, Jesus is God, is not the same kind of truth as, bricks are red or math is hard. All three statements are propositional but only one is eternal. The truth that Jesus is God is a spiritual reality. That makes it ontological in nature and universal in scope and adherence. The other two are not. (There are excerptions to the statement, like bricks can be grey and some people find math easy, [the last one is hard to believe I know])
Second, this seed principle also states that all propositional truths of spiritual reality are like seeds in that they do not start in the mind as great truths. They start as seeds. An oak tree seed holds within it the potential of an Oak tree. But it will not be an Oak tree till it has two things: Opportunity and a place to grow. If we give ourselves to this task of “truthing” our self (mind and heart), flowers of beauty and the fresh aroma of goodness will cover the pathways of our thoughts. It is a secret Garden known only to those griped by the gospel. Looking deeper, when I say place I do mean the mind. God created the mind with its emotions and passions, logic and coherence. It is good to remember that it is a sinner’s nature to separate facts and the fire. All were to run smoothly in the direction of God. This is a process of spiritual growth in the intellect. Faith grounded in facts, Facts driving the fire, fires filling the soul. The movement of such a soul is a God honoring activity: A wholly burning humanity living caught up in the fact of God. God smiles at his creation in proper response to his divine initiatives of created reality.
Before all this can happen the seed must be planted. We must think and understand the truth. I will extend the seed metaphor, Clarity is equal to the degree of depth a seed is planted. There are two dangers in this planting process. One if you plaint it to deep the seed will die from what I call “deep thoughts that goes nowhere”. There is a way of thinking about truth that never connects it to reality and heart. Some call it ivory tower faith or frontal lobe faith I call it stupid. It is when a person thinks of truth from a mental distance. Jesus is God is looked at as factual, logical, even scriptural but never looked at as real, actual, or truth for me, that is to say it never becomes truth trusted. The energy of that truth is never tapped into and let loose to corset through your mental catacombs. The different between a soul that lives truth trusted and a soul that just knows truth is dramatic. For the latter truth is before them, they can define it, fight over it, explain it from every angle and even teach it in seminary. For the former, they do not have truth, truth has them. They also can define it, fight over it, explain it and teach it in seminary but it is something that owns them and they do not own it. They are in truth and not merely mentally looking at it.
The second danger is planting the seed to shallow. That is truth never gets rooted because of sinking thinking. That is we glance at truth and say,” Jesus is God” wow! That is great. I can trust that truth! It is real to me! Now what new can I learn!” Or “I need not learn anymore.” When we only look at truth on a surface level we seldom see the beauty and are captured by the power of truths depths. The value we place on a propositional truth is constant with the time we spend with it. Take time to be with a truth, talk to it, hear it talks back. Tell it –“you can’t be true!” Hear it declare “I AM!!” Look at it and let it look back at you. We must remember every truth of God pears deeper into our souls than we can see into it. Thinking when your trusting truth makes the objective affective. Our subjective is bent about the objective and we are reformed into the image of truth trusted. “Jesus is God” is escorted in by this process to his rightful place at the soul’s center. From this reformed center it is a powerful point of worship. It confirms loyalty as the gravity of the soul. In short, truth leads a revolution of the heart and revision of the mind’s eye. Values are changed and perception is shifted. The place truth grows is the mind and heart. The opportunity is in life itself. Any time is a good time. Time set aside is a better time. Though out the day, I give myself daily Gospel quizzes. Not to be confused with the moral quizzes of the moralist that seeks to establish a beachhead of self-righteousness and thus strip life of the gospel. Rather my type quizzes seek to see life envisioned through the gospel and values centered in the person of the gospel.
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