GOD's covenant and circumcision. (part 1)

circumcision.
here i go.


let's start in Genesis 12. GOD calls Abram to leave all he knows. the LORD said to Abram:
"I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you;
I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse,
and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
so Abram goes.

Genesis 15. GOD reminds Abram that he is with him. Abram is confused because he doesn't have any kids, and he cant understand how he is going to be made "into a great nation." GOD tells Abram that he will provide a son for him, a son from his own body.

Genesis 17. GOD goes to Abram and says:
"I am GOD Almighty, walk before me and be blameless.
I will confirm my covenant between me
and you and will greatly increase your numbers."
Abram is 99 now. At this point GOD changes Abram's name to Abraham. (there are many cool things going on with GOD changing Abram's name, but now isn't the time to discuss them.) GOD then tells Abraham that he is going to confirm the covenant with circumcision. Circumcision become the sign of the covenant (but it is not the covenant). GOD tells Abraham that he must be circumcised and for the generations that follow every male must be circumcised whether they are born in his household or a foreigner.

I thought I would offer a definition of circumcision for the sake any confusion. This comes from dictionary.com.

cir‧cum‧cise  /ˈsɜrkəmˌsaɪz/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[sur-kuhm-sahyz]
–verb (used with object), -cised, -cis‧ing.

1.	to remove the prepuce of (a male), esp. as a religious rite.

2.	to remove the clitoris, prepuce, or labia of (a female).

3.	to purify spiritually.

If you want some more info, check this page.

Now that that's out of the way we can get down to business.
However, I'm about to get kicked out of Kind Coffee.
So I guess you'll have to stay tuned.
Good night.

blast you, luther!

in the midst of formulating some thoughts about circumcision and the law i've come across this quote:

The glory of God, which is in itself more excellent than the salvation of men, ought to receive from us a higher degree of esteem and regard. Believers earnestly desirous that the glory of God should be promoted, forget men, and forget the world, and would rather choose that the whole world should perish, than that the smallest portion of the glory of God should be withdrawn.

-Martin Luther

how am i supposed to just let this thought pass by?

It's coming.

I've been working on a post that involves some thoughts on a "contemporary" application of the Law. Be patient, it's coming.

blessed on a fall eve.

how can you paint
with a brush so big,
on a canvas so vast
that i might see.
the colors appear
and colors fade,
from west to east
against the clouds
and darkening sky.

oh, who am i
to see,
to feel,
to capture the beauty
you display,
you showcase
for such a brief moment in time.
then gone.

.:thoughts and questions to come:.

for most of the day my mind has been racing. thoughts fly through my head faster than i'm able to capture them. yet in sharp contrast, there have been moments when my mind has seemingly stood still, unable to create even a simple thought. i came to the conclusion that if i make a few notes for myself i might be able to come back to a few bloggable thoughts.

• i still have thoughts and questions about the struggling with what the law represents to believers today. as i read through the new testament and find writers urging people to not be bound by the law, how do i translate that into my life today? i have never been bound by the law that was established for the Jewish nation. should this be a symbol for something in my life?

• i have been having a really rough day today. i couldn't put words to why it was that i was feeling the way i was. this was especially hard as my fiancé was trying to help but couldn't do anything for me because i didn't know what i needed. late in the morning i laid back down to attempt a nap, but was still very restless. as i laid there a thought came to mind that could give me reason for feeling the way i had been. GOD wasn't speaking to me. It made sense to me. i had awoke twice during the night, last night, and ask GOD what he wanted. this has become a common practice for me. if i wake up in the middle of the night i ask GOD why he's waking me up, and he brings to mind people to pray for or sins to confess. but last night was different. i was woken up twice and received no response from GOD. and to top it off, i spent yesterday starting preparation for the next 2 months of messages for Satellite, and as i look back on my day it seems as though GOD wasn't speaking to me then either. i still don't feel as if GOD has started speaking to me again. what am i suppose to do? do i continue to prepare for a message this week and the weeks to come without hearing GOD's voice?

• it's been increasingly hard to feel like the people closest to me in proximity are not those closest to me emotionally. maybe i can put this in a different way. i've been struggling with the position as a coordinator (or pastor or overseer or whatever) within regards to how close i let myself get to people. i want to be available for people to talk with and share my life with them, but is that appropriate? should i allow myself to open up to everyone in the Satellite community when so much of my life is wrapped up in "church stuff?" i feel like there are so many times when i want to expose the struggles i'm going through but i don't because i don't think it's necessary for people to know all of what's going on. this is one of my biggest frustrations as i'm learning what it means to be "on staff," in a pastoral role, for a church. there is community forming all around me, and i'm blessed to see it happen, but there is a longing within me to be apart of it. should i look for community outside of the church i work at as a way to balance all of this?

i'll leave this list at three things; though there are probably three more. i'd love some suggestions on which of this to try to tackle first. maybe this weekend i'll sit and write.

if you pray, please pray for me. these last two things weigh very heavy on my heart.

"keep me in your pocket if you have one,
keep me in your heart if you have no pocket."
-Thomas Merton

the law and me (part 1...probably)

i've given myself the goal of reading Paul's letter to the Galatian church each day this month. the goal was initiated because for the next 2 months at Satellite i'll be teaching through Galatians 5. i'm sure there will be more posts on this as i study and find questions, but for now my question comes from a broad reading of the whole letter.

is there anything comparable to "the law" in our day and age? i find it so difficult to read Paul talking about people "returning to the law" because i don't know the law. i guess i should say that i don't know what it's like to live under the law. i know about the law that is being discussed, but i don't think i've ever felt bondage to it. my quick answer is that "the law" isn't about a physical law that was established but rather a bondage to something that cannot empart salvation. although this is my quick answer it doesn't seemed to be one that will last for very long.

Paul was writing to the church in Galatia to those in the church knew "the law." they had grown up under it's teaching; it was their life. does "the law" transfer into our lives as the same "law" that Paul was writing, or is there somthing in our daily lives that was can call "the law?"

let me know what you think. i'd love some conversation.

one LOVE

question about conversation...

i was listening to a podcast yesterday (ekklesiaphx: An emerging converation on Christian spirituality) on a topic that i like to engage in: the emergent church. one of the uniqunesses within the emergent conversation is the ability to disagree with whom you are talking to and still be fully involved in the conversation. it's accepted and encouraged to have conversations with people who have different opinions. we as a Church, as a group of people seeking after Christ, need this. it's a fresh breath of air to the stale lungs of tradition for traditions sake.

as i was listening to this perticular podcast the host used himself as an authority for a definition for words or phrases. he would say things like, "this is my definition of..." i realize that this can be used as a method of restating the definition, but i guess i need some clarification. if, in conversation we continue to refer to ourselves as the authority or source, then what benifit is the conversation? if we just simply sat that we believe something and "that's that," then what's the point. how does that benifit the person we might be talking to? it seems that this question is asked and answered within the realm of sports, but it's unacceptable for theology. if sports were approached like postmodern theological conversation i think it might look like this:

bro: i'm a bears fan.
dude: good for you, i'm a broncos fan.
bro: wow, that's great. they are having a great year, aren't they?
dude: yep, they're the best.
bro: they're having a good year, but they aren't better then my bears.
dude: silly boy, of course they are. they're undefeated and on course to set 15 records.
bro: i think i've missed something, because i thought that they've lost a game or two.
dude: nope, perfect season.
bro: i think you might be mistaken.
dude: nope, they're the best team in the league, by my definition, of course.


anyone overhearing this conversation would think that gabe is loosing it because it's obvious that dude's broncos aren't doing as good as bro's bears. there is an element of personal opinion that comes into play, but by dude saying that the broncos have never lost is a fact that cannot be argued. if dude said that the broncos are his favorite team because he likes their colors, that would be different.

one of the hardest elements of the postmodern conversation for me to be apart of is pluralism. there must be something that is absolute, something foundational. somewhere in the mix something is going to contridict itself. what i struggle with is where the foundation starts. even saying that the foundation is the Word of GOD is difficult because the interpretation of scripture has been debated since scripture has been scripture. what do we do with this? the only thing i can think of is that our understand of something can be held as true until it contridicts something, then we must evaluate which of the two things is true. this approach, then would most likely lead us to continually reevaluate what our foundation for truth is, rather than throw truth out all together.

what do you think?

when it smells like home.

there's something about the sound of rain that brings peace to my soul. it might help that i spent some time sitting on the porch and reading my favorite T.S. Eliot and Elizabeth Barrett Browning poems. here's a few for you, too:

Mr. Eliot from choruses from 'The Rock'
What life have you if you have not life together?
There is no life that is not in community,
And no community not lifed in praise of GOD.
Even the anchorite who meditates alone,
For whom the days and nights repeat the praise of GOD,
Prays for the Church, the Body of Chirst incarnate.
And now you live dispersed on ribbon roads,
And no man knows or cares who is his neighbor
Unless hes neighbour makes too much disturbance,
But all dash to and fro in motor cars,
Familiar with the roads and settled nowhere.
Nor does the family even move about together,
But every son would have his motor cycle,
And daughters ride away on casual pillions.


Mrs. Barrett Browning from Sonnets Form the Portuguese:
A heavy heart, Beloved, have I borne
From year to year until I saw thy face,
and sorrow after sorrow took the place
Of all those natural joys as lightly worn
As the stringed pearls, each lifted in its turn
By a beating heart at dance-time. Hopes apace
Were changed to long despairs, till God's own grace
Could scarcely lift above the world forlorn
My heavy heart. Then thou didst bid me bring
And let it drop adown thy calmly great
Deep being! Fast it sinketh, as a thing
Which its own nature doth precipitate,
While thine doth close above it, mediating
Betwixt the stars and the unaccomplished fate.



maybe one of these days i'll post something original here. it might have to rain a bit more for that to happen, though.

i still suck at blogging.

i found this old blog i had a while ago.
i thought i'll try to resurrect it.
be patient.