Sunday, October 28, 2007
An education itself...
"God is no fonder of intellectual slackers than of any other slackers. If you are thinking of becoming a Christian, I warn you you are embarking on something which is going to take the whole of you, brains and all. But, fortunately, it works the other way round. Anyone who is honestly trying to be a Christian will soon find his intelligence being sharpened: one of the reasons why it needs no special education to be a Christian is that Christianity is an education itself. That is why an uneducated believer like Bunyan was able to write a book that astonished the whole world." - C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Lesson on Philosophy & Ethics
I attended the long awaited session two of the Truth Project last night titled "Philosophy & Ethics: Says Who?" I was very excited as the degree I am pursuing has a partial concentration in philosophy.
The program started out referencing 2 Tim 2:24-26, "And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will." The instructor asked the question, "Have you been taken captive?"
He went on to speak about the warning given in Colossians 2:8, "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ."
The example he used for hollow & deceptive philosophy was from Carl Sagan and his "The Cosmos is all there is, or ever was, or ever will be" and how "we are made of start-stuff" (who believes this crap??? Oh, the lengths that man will go to in order to escape the God of the Bible!). He went on to talk about assumptive language- a powerful and dangerous form of knowledge.
He described the Cosmic Cube which is a naturalistic worldview that says there is nothing outside the cosmos; reality is a closed box and all truth must be materially perceived. He compared this to a Biblical worldview which presupposes that God is and that He has revealed himself to us (general revelation through our world and specific revelation through his word). This God is transcendent and immanent- meaning He is above and works within the box. The instructor pointed out that when man feels a spiritual void in his life he adds a god. It is interesting to note that this god is almost always a god who is inside the box.
The instructor started to talk about what philosophy is. Noah Webster in 1828 said, "The objects of philosophy are to ascertain facts or truth, and the causes of things or their phenomena; to enlarge our view of God and his works..." Strangely enough Mr. Webster today says philosophy is, "a search for the underlying causes and principles of reality" with no reference to God. Hmmm, I wonder what changed his mind...
One of my favorite parts of this presentation was when the instructor talked about the Universals and the Particulars. The Universals are the big questions of life. Philosophers thought if they could put all the particulars together they would know the universal truths. They in fact had it backwards because they refuse to acknowledge that God has given us the universals so we could make sense of all the particulars around us. As an example of this the instructor talked about the life of Da Vinci who believed he could find the universals in math, then science, then art. He ended up empty and died a despondent and depressed man with no hope.
The instructor went on to talk about the ethical implications of postmodernism. What is right? What is wrong? Who makes the rules? There is no basis for ethical standards in a naturalistic worldview. This will lead to "might is right" and people will become oppressed. In this section Sproul talked about statistical ethics where a culture, who has denied God and now has no basis to determine ethical standards, determines ethics through normalcy and survey data (sound like where the US is heading?). With the condition of the human heart we know where this will lead society!
The instructor showed a clip of a debate between Phillip Johnson and William Provine where Provine, the antitheist, openly admitted the implications of a naturalistic worldview are:
A worldview is the set of individual truth claims that you have embraced so deeply that you believe they reflect what is really real, and therefore they drive what you think, how you act and what you feel.
What is your worldview?
The solution to this is found in Rom. 12:2, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." The word "transformed" in the Greek is "Metamorphoo" which is where we get our English word "metamorphosis." What comes to mind when you hear the word metamorphosis? A BUTTERFLY- because it means to change into a different physical form. As Christians, God changes us as we renew our minds by saturating ourselves in his word daily. But just as it is a difficult and gruelling process for an ugly cocoon to be transformed into a beautiful butterfly so it is with us. The instructor also pointed out how "metamorphoo" is used in only two other passages in Scripture.
"After 6 days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up to a high mountain where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them." -Mark 9:2
"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." -2 Corinthians 3:18
Seeing it in these other passages really put it into perspective for me. How amazing!
As Christians we must fill our minds with the truth of God's word so we are able to recognize the hollow and deceptive philosophies and not be taken captive by them. As we are faithful to renew our minds God will transform us!
The program started out referencing 2 Tim 2:24-26, "And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will." The instructor asked the question, "Have you been taken captive?"
He went on to speak about the warning given in Colossians 2:8, "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ."
The example he used for hollow & deceptive philosophy was from Carl Sagan and his "The Cosmos is all there is, or ever was, or ever will be" and how "we are made of start-stuff" (who believes this crap??? Oh, the lengths that man will go to in order to escape the God of the Bible!). He went on to talk about assumptive language- a powerful and dangerous form of knowledge.
He described the Cosmic Cube which is a naturalistic worldview that says there is nothing outside the cosmos; reality is a closed box and all truth must be materially perceived. He compared this to a Biblical worldview which presupposes that God is and that He has revealed himself to us (general revelation through our world and specific revelation through his word). This God is transcendent and immanent- meaning He is above and works within the box. The instructor pointed out that when man feels a spiritual void in his life he adds a god. It is interesting to note that this god is almost always a god who is inside the box.
The instructor started to talk about what philosophy is. Noah Webster in 1828 said, "The objects of philosophy are to ascertain facts or truth, and the causes of things or their phenomena; to enlarge our view of God and his works..." Strangely enough Mr. Webster today says philosophy is, "a search for the underlying causes and principles of reality" with no reference to God. Hmmm, I wonder what changed his mind...
One of my favorite parts of this presentation was when the instructor talked about the Universals and the Particulars. The Universals are the big questions of life. Philosophers thought if they could put all the particulars together they would know the universal truths. They in fact had it backwards because they refuse to acknowledge that God has given us the universals so we could make sense of all the particulars around us. As an example of this the instructor talked about the life of Da Vinci who believed he could find the universals in math, then science, then art. He ended up empty and died a despondent and depressed man with no hope.
The instructor went on to talk about the ethical implications of postmodernism. What is right? What is wrong? Who makes the rules? There is no basis for ethical standards in a naturalistic worldview. This will lead to "might is right" and people will become oppressed. In this section Sproul talked about statistical ethics where a culture, who has denied God and now has no basis to determine ethical standards, determines ethics through normalcy and survey data (sound like where the US is heading?). With the condition of the human heart we know where this will lead society!
The instructor showed a clip of a debate between Phillip Johnson and William Provine where Provine, the antitheist, openly admitted the implications of a naturalistic worldview are:
- No gods or purposive forces
- No ultimate foundation for ethics
- No free will
- No life after death
- No ultimate meaning in life
A worldview is the set of individual truth claims that you have embraced so deeply that you believe they reflect what is really real, and therefore they drive what you think, how you act and what you feel.
What is your worldview?
- False religions
- Secular humanism
- Marxism
- Postmodernism
- Pagan Mysticism
- New Age
- Naturalism
- Christianity
- Materialism- matter is the only reality
- ldealism- ideas are the only reality
- Empiricism-knowledge comes from experience
- Rationalism- knowledge is gained by reason without experience
- Naturalism- true knowledge only comes from scientific study
- Determinism- there really is no knowledge, you only react to stimuli
- Relativism- there are no absolutes
- Mentalism- mind is the true reality and objects exist only as an aspect of the mind's awareness
- Mechanism- everything can be explained in terms of physical or biological causes
- Solipsism- self is all you need to know
- Subjectivism- knowledge is dependant on and limited by your own subjective experiences
- Intuitionism- knowledge comes primarily from some kind of inner sense
- Hedonism- pleasure is good, pain is evil; if it feels good, it is
The solution to this is found in Rom. 12:2, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." The word "transformed" in the Greek is "Metamorphoo" which is where we get our English word "metamorphosis." What comes to mind when you hear the word metamorphosis? A BUTTERFLY- because it means to change into a different physical form. As Christians, God changes us as we renew our minds by saturating ourselves in his word daily. But just as it is a difficult and gruelling process for an ugly cocoon to be transformed into a beautiful butterfly so it is with us. The instructor also pointed out how "metamorphoo" is used in only two other passages in Scripture.
"After 6 days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up to a high mountain where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them." -Mark 9:2
"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." -2 Corinthians 3:18
Seeing it in these other passages really put it into perspective for me. How amazing!
As Christians we must fill our minds with the truth of God's word so we are able to recognize the hollow and deceptive philosophies and not be taken captive by them. As we are faithful to renew our minds God will transform us!
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
First Visitors and Trips
We are so excited to be joined by our first visitors next month, the Policans- Ryan and Yunuen! Why do we lovingly refer to them as the Policans you ask? Because Ryan is Polish (and ridiculously proud of it) and Yunuen is mi amiga Mexicana. They are leaving the desert to join us in the Emerald Isle for 12 days. We will be taking our first trip with them while the are here. We will be spending three nights in the enchanting city of Edinburgh, Scotland. We are terribly excited to see them and to go to Scotland since it is Matt's people and all!
We have also recently planned a trip for New Years Eve. Matt's dad will be joining us in Dublin for a few days and then it is off to the city I have wanted to see most- Rome! I can hardly wait to see the Colosseum and all the sweet ruins. On all of Samantha Brown's Passport to Europe shows Italy always seems to have the coolest architecture. I can't wait to see it.
Aside from looking for hotels endlessly I have just been doing my homework. I am in the middle of my first class, Survey of the Old Testament, and it is OUTSTANDING!!!
We have also recently planned a trip for New Years Eve. Matt's dad will be joining us in Dublin for a few days and then it is off to the city I have wanted to see most- Rome! I can hardly wait to see the Colosseum and all the sweet ruins. On all of Samantha Brown's Passport to Europe shows Italy always seems to have the coolest architecture. I can't wait to see it.
Aside from looking for hotels endlessly I have just been doing my homework. I am in the middle of my first class, Survey of the Old Testament, and it is OUTSTANDING!!!
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
More USA Booty!
Another package of USA booty arrived today from Matt's dad, Bill and his wife, Yoli. We knew they were planning on sending a care package but we didn't know what was in it or that it would arrive so soon. What a wonderful surprise! We have the best families ever!
The package included black beans, pinto beans, salsas, pita chips, Hershey's brownie mix and the biggest tortillas I have ever seen.
Thanks a mil to the McReynolds clan and doxies!
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Our Hood
The long awaited pictures of our flat and neighborhood. Sorry it took so long. Hope to see you soon for a visit!
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
BOOTY from the USA!
Yippee for the gifts sent to me by my wonderful family! Spices, chai tea, Hershey's syrup, chips of all flavors and PINTO BEANS!!!! Well, I'm off to make cookies. THANKS, FAMILY!
Friday, October 05, 2007
Lesson on Veritology
I attended the first study of the Truth Project the other night at church and found it very thought provoking and good. The first lesson was "Veritology:What is Truth?" Among the things discussed were...
-Why did Christ come into the world?
-The Scriptural emphasis on truth.
-The connection of sanctification and salvation to truth.
-The battle between Spirit of Truth and Spirit of Falsehood- Reality verses illusion.
-Connection between sin, lies, and deceit- every sin can be traced back to belief in a lie.
-How to deal with unbelievers who are captives- as we once were.
-Battle of worldviews- opposition between God's truth and the lies of the world, flesh and the devil.
-What is truth?
-Equating an idol to a lie- lies are powerful and lead us to insane notions.
-What is insanity?
-Our actions reflect what we believe to be really real.
The presentation was excellent. Several different people from all walks of life were asked what truth is. The best answer was given by a 12 year old boy and the worst was given by a female unitarian pastor. People could not define truth- it was so sad. Clips were shown from Ravi Zacharias, Os Guinness, and RC Sproul to define truth. The first session was chock full of Scripture and engaging questions. It answered the questions it raised- Jesus came into the world to testify to the truth (John 8:37), truth is conformity to to fact or reality, insanity is losing touch with reality -which society seriously suffer from! The session ended with this important question: Do you really believe, that what you believe is really real? If the answer to that question is truly "yes" then we- as Chrisitans- ought to turn the world upsidedown!
-Why did Christ come into the world?
-The Scriptural emphasis on truth.
-The connection of sanctification and salvation to truth.
-The battle between Spirit of Truth and Spirit of Falsehood- Reality verses illusion.
-Connection between sin, lies, and deceit- every sin can be traced back to belief in a lie.
-How to deal with unbelievers who are captives- as we once were.
-Battle of worldviews- opposition between God's truth and the lies of the world, flesh and the devil.
-What is truth?
-Equating an idol to a lie- lies are powerful and lead us to insane notions.
-What is insanity?
-Our actions reflect what we believe to be really real.
The presentation was excellent. Several different people from all walks of life were asked what truth is. The best answer was given by a 12 year old boy and the worst was given by a female unitarian pastor. People could not define truth- it was so sad. Clips were shown from Ravi Zacharias, Os Guinness, and RC Sproul to define truth. The first session was chock full of Scripture and engaging questions. It answered the questions it raised- Jesus came into the world to testify to the truth (John 8:37), truth is conformity to to fact or reality, insanity is losing touch with reality -which society seriously suffer from! The session ended with this important question: Do you really believe, that what you believe is really real? If the answer to that question is truly "yes" then we- as Chrisitans- ought to turn the world upsidedown!
Monday, October 01, 2007
This is the stuff I LOVE!
God is so faithful to answer prayer. Just a few weeks in our new city and I feel I have found the right church already. I am enjoying my time at Grosvenor Road Baptist Church very much. The preaching is very good and the people are friendly. This week the Pastor will be starting a class that will run every Wednesday night for several weeks. The curriculumn is from the Truth Project which is teaching on Christian Worlview put together by Focus on the Family. It looks AWESOME and I am so excited to go. When I saw the trailer at church I could have jumped out of my seat- this is the stuff I LOVE!
For more information on the Truth Project go to www.thetruthproject.org
You can see teasers of all the different lessons from the curriculumn at this site if you go to the downloads and look at videos.
For more information on the Truth Project go to www.thetruthproject.org
You can see teasers of all the different lessons from the curriculumn at this site if you go to the downloads and look at videos.
Piper and Mac Together
My family attended the 2007 National Desiring God conference this weekend in Minneapolis where the key note speaker was John MacArthur. This years subject was endurance. All the lectures are on the Desiring God website for free download. I put a number of them on my pod and am excited to listen to them. I just finished watching "A Conversation with John Piper and John MacArthur" which was a special treat for me because those two are my favorite Bible teachers. I loved the part near the end where the moderator asks each of them how they deal with discouragement. They each give completely different answers. I definitely fall in line more with MacArthur's stoicalness but I love Piper's answer.
Click here to watch or listen:
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/ConferenceMessages/ByConference/37/
Click here to watch or listen:
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/ConferenceMessages/ByConference/37/
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