kidjohnlee

[kidjohnlee]

Calvin on the image of God from Institutes III.7.6

We are not to consider that men merit of themselves but to look upon the image of God in all men, to which we owe all honor and love. ... Therefore, whatever man you meet who needs your aid, you have no reason to refuse to help him.... Say, "he is contemptible and worthless"; but the Lord shows him to be one to whom he has deigned to give the beauty of his image. ... Say that he does not deserve even your least effort for his sake; but the image of God, which recommends him to you, is worthy of your giving yourself and all your possessions.

Interesting..

[kidjohnlee]

"When we are concerned with the name of the Lord, we’re less concerned about building a name for ourselves. Missions becomes less about the apparent success of our organization and more about people, enamored by the fragrance of Christ, who become willing to travel to any length, at any cost, to build something beautiful for Jesus. They go that His name may be worshipped forever."

[kidjohnlee]

Bonhoeffer wrote of how if we would like to learn to have faith then we must live completely in this world. Only by completely living in this world does one have faith. Living life with all of it's duties, problems, and perlexities is the way one learns to live by faith. Christianity was never meant to give us immunity from the realities of this world. And so, the world must not be prematurely written off. The christian is to have a profound and constant awareness of the world they live in and in doing so develop faith.

[kidjohnlee]

When Charles Peace (a convicted thief and murderer) was being escorted to the gallows, he was accompanied by a clergyman reading from The Consolations of Religion about the “flames never quenched.” Peace was a known criminal for whom the public had no sympathy; no one can say with confidence the prison chaplain was reading without a sneer. Nevertheless, some of the last words this man heard on earth detailed the waiting wrath for unrepentant traitors of the Most High.

Incredulous, Peace turned to the chaplain and exclaimed: "Sir, if I believed what you and the church of God say that you believe, even if England were covered with broken glass from coast to coast, I would walk over it, if need be, on hands and knees and think it worthwhile living, just to save one soul from an eternal hell like that!”

[kidjohnlee]

“Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Abraham was going to have uncountable offspring. He was going to possess the land. He was going to be a blessing for the whole world.

What did Abraham actually see in his life? He had one son. And not a foot of land.

God gives us great promises. But the circumstances in our lives can turn in a way that may cause us to distrust God.

But remember Abraham. Abraham had great promises, but they weren't fulfilled in the way and in the timing he expected. Abraham trusted God in the midst of that.

[kidjohnlee]

Here in this world, those that are above others are the objects of envy because that others conceive of them as being lifted up with it. But in heaven it will not be so, but those saints in heaven who excel in happiness will also in holiness, and consequently in humility. The saints in heaven are more humble than the saints on earth and still the higher we go among them, the greater humility there is. The highest orders of saints, who know most of God, see most of the distinction between God and themselves, and consequently are comparatively least in their own eyes, and so are most humble.

Edwards

wow

[kidjohnlee]

Edwards

The enjoyment of [God] is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows; but God is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are but streams. But God is the ocean.

[kidjohnlee]

It’s also in this sermon that Bonhoeffer talks about “out there.” He says, “Out there”—in the streets of London—“they are all running after the latest sensations, the excitement of evening in the big city, never knowing that the real sensation, something infinitely more exciting, is happening in here: here, where eternity and time meet, where the immortal God receives mortal human beings.” Bonhoeffer asks, “Why is this the case?” Why is it that folks are out there on the London city streets and think what’s out there is more sensational than what’s being preached in the Word of God here within these walls of a church? He answers, “It is because we ourselves have made the church, and keep on making it, into something which it is not. It is because we talk too much about the false, trivial human things and ideas in the church and too little about God. It is because we make the church into a playground for all sorts of feelings of ours, instead of a place where God’s word is obediently received and believed.”

[kidjohnlee]

Long ago, before we were married, she was haunted all one morning as she went about her work with the obscure sense of God (so to speak) “at her elbow,” demanding her attention. And of course, not being a perfected saint, she had the feeling that it would be a question, as it usually is, of some unrepented sin or tedious duty. At last she gave in — I know how one puts it off — and faced Him. But the message was, “I want to give you something,” and instantly she entered into joy. (A Grief Observed, 46–47)

[kidjohnlee]

Memphis. 50th anniversary of King's assassination.

[kidjohnlee]

I'm reading a book about the history of christianity and at one point because of controversy regarding the trinity in the fourth-century, trinitarianism/arianism becomes a big conversation topic in the city of Constantinople. Gregory of Nyssa wrote the following:

"If you ask any one in Constantinople for change, he will start discussing with you whether the Son is begotten or unbegotten. If you ask about the quality of bread, you will get the answer: 'The Father is greater, the Son is less.' If you suggest taking a bath you will be told: 'There was nothing before the Son was created.'"

LOL

[kidjohnlee]

I had the pleasure of attending the Evangelicals for Life 2018 conference last weekend and wanted to quickly put down some thoughts in light of everything I learned and witnessed.

Do not despise weakness. This is an area I’ve been thinking a lot about recently and something I’m still trying to work out and understand properly. I am using the word “weakness” very broadly. What I mean by weakness is physical weakness, mental weakness, emotional weakness, pain, and suffering. This includes the unborn, those with disabilities or chronic pain, those who are finding it difficult to emotionally cope with their circumstances, etc. In some areas, it is ok to be weak but not ok to remain weak if it can be helped. If it is possible to be healed of a disease or disability, or grow stronger mentally or emotionally, then one should seek to develop strength in those areas. Yet at the same time we should not despise those who are in a position of weakness and may be in one indefinitely. In fact, there is a sense in which we should all be weak. In 2 Cor 12 Paul pleads with God that he may take away his thorn in the flesh (probably some kind of physical ailment?) but discovers that this weakness of his is actually good for him. It causes him to rest upon the grace of God and operate not out of self-sufficiency but out of the strength that God provides. Weakness helps us to see that we need God. More than this, the incarnation of Christ and his death on a cross show that God himself was willing to embrace weakness in his loving pursuit of us. (On a side note, Jesus’ example shows us that it is important to be willing to lay aside power. This becomes obvious when the fear of losing power leads to the maintaining of power through violence.) So there is nothing wrong with weakness. In some areas, one can not help but be weak (unborn, born with a disability, etc). In some areas, it is okay to be weak but it is not okay to remain weak (dealing with a disease that can be overcome, learning to deal with loss and disappointment, etc). In some areas, we are called to operate out of weakness (doing ministry not out of one’s strength but out of a place of need for God to move). In all cases, we are not to despise those with weakness of any kind. We are to love the weak. Specifically in regards to the pro-life movements, it seems that there are at least three areas where this understanding of weakness is especially applicable. Let us love the unborn by voicing the sanctity of their lives. Let us love pregnant mothers by lovingly and gently reminding them that they are strong enough to love their baby. Let us love the disabled by valuing their lives by the way we interact and invest in them.

Maintain sexual purity. I loved what Russell Moore said about this during the conference. “A culture of life can not co-exist with a culture of porn and abuse. A pro-life witness will not flourish where women are not prized and valued.” Amen! There are so many reasons why this is true. One obvious reason is that when women are not respected and cherished, human life is not respected and cherished. Their personhood is disregarded and this leads to a culture that does not cherish life. 

What emerges in my mind from reflecting on the importance of loving the weak and maintaining sexual purity is that it is absolutely necessary to recognize the inherent worth and value of every person because they are made in the image of God. Recognizing this in people leads to the cherishing of all people.

Pursue, believe, and proclaim truth. Ah there’s too much to talk about here. One quick thing that I want to remind myself is that God can free us from a guilty conscience and superstition. Very abstractly, a guilty conscience and belief in superstition causes us to operate in a mode of being that is counter to what is desirable. Put more simply, when you have a guilty conscience and a belief in superstition, you won’t behave properly. I’m still trying to work out what that means.

There are devastating consequences when men and women abuse their power, unleash their sexual appetite, and do not find peace of conscience through reconciliation with God. A distorted view of power, sex, and religion leads to violence. This is one of the reasons why abortion is so prevalent. Once stated, it is not hard to see why.

Father, help us to have a proper view of power, sex, and religion. Help us to love the unborn, the disabled, the hurt, the sick, the distressed, the orphan, and the elderly. Help us to care about endangered immigrant communities, poverty, and racial injustice. Help us to be informed, think clearly, and take action. Above all, may our good works point people to Jesus so that you will be known, loved, enjoyed, and exalted.

[kidjohnlee]

Spent an evening with Ray and we ended up bboying. It was really fun! Here is some random footage..

[kidjohnlee]

Ray loses his glasses in every shot lol 

bboy is life..

[kidjohnlee]

throwback - flight 93 memorial w Derek

[kidjohnlee]

throwback - Miller Gallery w Grace

[kidjohnlee]

a summary of Jordan Peterson’s explanation of the development of the bible and the idea of God:

Humans have articulated knowledge. This articulated knowledge is embedded in something like a dream. And the dream is informed in a complex way by the way we act. We act out things we don’t understand all the time. We’re not completely transparent to ourselves; we’re much more complicated than we understand. This means that the way we act contains more information than our articulated knowledge.

[I’m not entirely sure by what Peterson means by the “dream.” But from what I can gather, it seems to be enough to define the dream as the subconscious part of human beings that is doing its best to express a reality that is still outside of articulated knowledge.]

Ok so what does it mean that the dream is informed in a complex way by the way we act?

The dream is informed by the way humans act. We watch the patterns that everyone acts out. We’ve watched that forever. Humans have been watching each other behave and have been telling stories about it for thousands and thousands and thousands of years. We’ve extracted our patterns of behavior that characterize humanity and tried to represent them through drama and mythology and literature and art. These representations of patterns have become embedded in stories. They are canonical patterns of being for people. And they deeply affect us because they represent what it is we will act out in the world. The stories are important because they represent what we’re like so that we can understand what we’re like.

So basically we’ve been studying each other for a long time and abstracted what we are up to. Why? Because we want the answers to the fundamental questions of life. What should we be up to? How should we live in the world?

This process of understanding if what is unfolding at least in part in the biblical stories. In them can be seen the struggle of humanity to rise above its animal forbearers and to be conscious of what it means to be human. (And that’s a very difficult thing because we don’t know who we are, what we are, or where we came from.) A set of stories we’ve been telling for 3000 years seems to have something to offer about who we are. The bible stories exist half into the dream and half into articulated knowledge. Studying them can aid in our self-understanding. Without the cornerstone that that understanding provides, we are lost.

So how did we get to the idea of God?

We’ve been trying to figure out the core of the guiding principle. We’ve observed each other for millions of years. We turned those observations into a representation of a pattern of being. The abstracted ideal of that representation becomes God. It’s put in a personified form because what we are trying to get at is the essence of what it means to be a properly functioning, properly social, and properly competent individual. So essentially, God is the embodiment of an abstracted ideal that we can act out so that we understand what it means to properly be human.