The Week in Review

In this edition of "The Week in Review" we conduct some social media M&A work, explore the gospel records of Robert Zimmerman, and journey to a mega-church in Houston. We'll be back right after a short photography break...

Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

This week was monumental. Despite the longstanding acrimony between social media mongols Facebook and Twitter, (eyewitness account here), I conducted a merger whereby my Facebook and Twitter accounts are now linked. Anything posted to twitter should now go indirectly to my facebook page. This is a huge step. Get ready...


In other news, you probably didn't know that Bob Dylan's actual name is Robert Allen Zimmerman. And you may not know that Dylan and I have a very special bond: we are both left-handed, though we both overcame this enormous obstacle and learned to play the guitar right-handed. 


Okay, so did you know that Dylan went on to produced two gospel albums? They are titled Saved and Slow Train Coming. These records are powerful and convicting. Tonight I'm listening to "I Believe in You" and "Gotta Serve Somebody." Dylan's lyrics are gripping, uncompromising, and honest. There is a lot I would like to say about these songs, about these two albums, and about Dylan in general. This may warrant a separate post.


On a different note, God's Man in Texas was hosted on Southern California Public Radio this week. The audio aired on 90.3 KPCV tonight. It was simultaneously both painful and entertaining. The piece chronicles a church pastor who is growing old and becoming disenchanted with his congregation and the pace of new, "industrialized Christianity."  It's an incriminating work of art, poignantly highlighting the issues that have so rapidly impacted the landscape of Christianity in the United States. Take a listen, and see if you wouldn't agree.


All for now...

the rumors are true...

North Campus, The University of Georgia (photo credits: me)

Yes, this week I registered for MAcc classes at the University of Georgia. Classes begin on August 15th. Right now the agenda looks something like this: 

• Tax Policy
• Estate & Gift/Cross-Jurisdictional Tax 
• Special Topics-Int’l Fin Report Stndrds
• Int’l Legal Transactions
• Corporate Tax
• Data Management/Adv Business Applications

This was my last full week at Bibles for America, a local non-profit organization that distributes an awesome free study Bible.  I've been working there on a special project, but coming down to the final stretch. Next week I'll go in a couple of days to wrap things up, and then embark on a cross country trek back to the land of peaches and chickens (Georgia). 

I'm stoked  excited about going back to Athens. One thing I really want to do this year is set a daily Bible reading schedule, and have companions to help keep me accountable. What really helped me in undergrad was getting involved with other christian students at UGA. It was like having a huge family, with people always there to encourage me and strengthen me in my faith. 


p.s. In honor of this momentous step I'm using the "Georgia" font; I'm also scheduled to listen to Georgia music soon, courtesy of Gladys Knight and the Pips, and maybe that classic from Louis Armstrong. 

All for now...

Reflections on the Full Ministry of Christ (pt.1)

Many believers have a historical Christ and a future Jesus. But what is Christ doing today? In a series of posts over the coming months I want to examine this topic and consider its proper, practical application to our Christian living. Contrary to popular belief, Jesus is not a carpenter hammering away to prepare physical mansions for us in heaven. If you've read the gospels you would agree that this notion is a silly non sequitur. We want the revelation that comes from the Word of God, not myths that come from wild imaginations. 

I intend to progressively investigate this topic in three sections:  incarnation, inclusion, and intensification.  With this focus I believe we will gain a panoramic view of Christ’s full ministry. 

Two principles can guide us as we explore this subject. The first is that we desire to "know Christ” (Phil. 3:10). We want a “knowing” of Christ that is neither common nor general, but specific and particular.

And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am Jehovah; and they will be My people, and I will be their God; for they will return to Me with their whole heart. (Jeremiah 24:7)

The second principle is that as we see and know Christ we want also to "gain Christ” (Phil. 3:8). This means that we experience and enjoy Christ in each stage of his ministry. We are here to “learn Christ”  in a way that will revolutionize our Christian life!

From the outset, we have to acknowledge that all Scripture is God-breathed 
(2 Tim 3:16). Accordingly, we would never assume that God’s speaking in the New Testament is limited only to “red letters.” Rather, we want to examine the entire speaking of God.

The facts are that God is not silent, has never been silent. It is the nature of God to speak. The second Person of the Holy Trinity is called the Word.The Bible is the  inevitable outcome of God’s continuous speech. (A.W. TOZER, The Pursuit of God)

Dabbling into Dickens

Everyone knows the heart-gripping, painful conclusion of Tale of Two Cities. And everyone, of course, knows this is one of my favorite and most revered chapters in the narrow sphere of secular literature that I can ever recall reading. Here's a snippet:

I see that I hold a sanctuary in their hearts, and in the hearts of their descendants, generations hence. I see her, an old woman, weeping for me on the anniversary of this day. I see her and her husband, their course done, lying side by side in their last earthly bed, and I know that each was not more honoured and held sacred in the other's soul, than I was in the souls of both...It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.

These to me are perhaps the most powerful lyrics of the entire piece. Yet they pale, fade, wither, etc. when compared to a single phrase uttered by Jesus on the cross, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is interpreted, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" Here is the ultimate sacrifice, the ultimate price, for behind it we find the most meaningful purpose of all creation. Perhaps this is where Dicken's novel is so touching; here, where it climaxes with asymptotic approach the ultimate sacrifice ever known to mankind.

And then we have the classic, epic, (and potentially hackneyed) opening stanza to this book, in which Dickens poetically recounts in the most superfluous fashion:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way -- in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Here it seems as if Dickens was gathering some inspiration from Paul's testimony in 2 Corinthians 6:9-11, where the apostle describes a life of ministry as one who is being poured out on behalf of the souls of those for whom he labored. Where in other places the apostle describes the new covenant ministry (4:1, etc), here he portrays the living of the new covenant ministers:

As unknown and yet well known; as dying and yet behold we live; as being disciplined and yet not being put to death; As made sorrowful yet always rejoicing; as poor yet enriching many; as having nothing and yet possessing all things. Our mouth is opened to you, Corinthians; our heart is enlarged. 

For all the verbosity that is Charles Dickens, what I most appreciate about this chapter is his narrative personification (de rigueur?) of Fate and Death, the Woodman and the Farmer. The harbingers of revolution are bustling about, but they work unceasingly; they work silently. And it is this tantalizing art that makes A Tale of Two Cities into such a classic. So we end here tonight, with an excerpt from what now happens to be my favorite chapter in English literature:

It is likely enough that, rooted in the woods of France and Norway, there were growing trees, when that sufferer was put to death, already marked by the Woodman, Fate, to come down and be sawn into boards, to make a certain movable framework with a sack and a knife in it, terrible in history. It is likely enough that in the rough outhouses of some tillers of the heavy lands adjacent to Paris, there were sheltered from the weather that very day, rude carts, bespattered with rustic mire, snuffed about by pigs, and roosted in by poultry, which the Farmer, Death, had already set apart to be his tumbrels of the Revolution. But that Woodman and that Farmer, though they work unceasingly, work silently, and no one heard them as they went about with muffled tread: the rather, forasmuch as to entertain any suspicion that they were awake, was to be atheistical and traitorous. 

Do you know Leo Tolstoy?

"Have you seen any of my later writings?" Tolstoy inquired of a visitor who came to him as the admirer of "The Cossacks," of "War and Peace," of "Anna Karenina." The question referred to his religious writings. 


When he said no, Tolstoy could only exclaim, "Ah, then you do not know me at all. We must become acquainted." 


- from Ivan Panin's Lectures on Russian Literature.

The Bridge & Channel of God

A brother recommended this book to me during my last semester of college; I read it in three days. If any ministry book played had a significant role in my decision to attend the training, it was this one. I've purchased at least five (maybe six) copies and given many away to college students and fellow trainees. The first four chapters are messages given to college students; the sixth chapter is entitled, "Man Being the Bridge and Channel of God." This is an awesome chapter. Chapters 2 - 4 are Q&A sessions. One very helpful question reads, "What should I do if I have the heart to serve but am still in school and feel that my studies are a distraction?" Another student asks, "What is the difference between our thoughts and God's shining?" The final lines of Witness Lee's response reads:

We must emphasize again that the most important thing is our intention. If my intention is to fear the Lord and seek the Lord's way, even if I make a mistake, it will become right because my desire is to take the Lord's way. In terms of reasoning, this may be wrong, but in terms of principle, it is right...To be right in principle means that in our heart we want only God and that we therefore obey any feeling that comes from God. (p.49).

These words are very encouraging and practical. Here's another paragraph I highlighted:

Every one of us should consider what kind of person we want to be. Do we want to be a half-saved person, a "gray" Christian, or a Christian who loves the Lord absolutely?" Everyone in the world knows that the most absolute ones are the most profitable ones...If we desire to be worldly people, we should be worldly people absolutely; if we desire to be Christians, we should be Christians absolutely. Those who are wishy-washy are the least profitable and the lowest. No matter what we do, we must be absolute in doing it. The only requirement for a Christian is absoluteness. We should either not follow the Lord or follow Him absolutely. To be a Christian we must be absolute. (p.41).

Selah...

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist says...

"For all of life's disparities in talent and wealth, each of us is given exactly the same amount of time in each hour, and in each day, and in each year..." 


From a commencement address to law school graduates, transcribed here. 

"Everything depends on God's mercy"

That is the title of the first message given by Watchman Nee during the resumption of his ministry in September, 1947. I probably need to read this message again....

It can be found here: Collected Works of Watchman Nee, Vol. 57: The Resumption of Watchman Nee's Ministry, ch.1. And is also available online at www.ministrybooks.com.

Verse of the Week

Here is a verse I've enjoyed this week and finally was able to locate today:

"Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours?"

- 2 Chronicles 1:10

This was Solomon's prayer - that he would be proper before the people of God. As we "go out and come in" before God's people, we need to have such a heart. The next verse is encouraging to me (v.11):

"Then God said to Solomon, Because this is on your heart and you have not asked for riches, wealth, or honor, nor for the life of those who hate you, nor have you even asked for long life, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself so that you may judge My people over whom I have made you king;"

The more we know God, the more we will know what is on His heart. Then, rather than asking for material blessing or outward consolation, our heart would be turned to care for the people of God. Eventually, like the sons of Korah in Psalm 84 we could proclaim, "Blessed is the man whose strength is in You; In whose heart are the highways to Zion." 

The Tortoise Wins the Race

A diligent seeker of the Lord could possibly finish the entire New Testament by studying two hours a day for two and a half years. If the church, however, took seven and a half years to get through the entire New Testament this would still be wonderful. Never forget the race between the hare and the tortoise. The tortoise wins the race. If we keep going slowly, we will win the race. All the "running ones" will be defeated, but the working ones will win the race. We need to eat regularly, continuously, and slowly. I advise you not to go too fast, but to go slowly. You will then reach the goal. If we had started this practice ten years ago, we would have finished the entire New Testament already. Even if you get through half of the New Testament, you will see that you are different. Also, if the entire church could get through half of the New Testament, the church would be different.

(Witness Lee, Elders' Training, Book 03: The Way to Carry Out the Vision, Chapter 13)

Quotes of the Week

"It is true that we face difficulties in our work. But whenever we encounter problems and difficulties in the work, such as opposition and rejection, we discover whom we are really serving, what is the center of our service, and for what we serve. This was the problem between Paul and Barnabas. During times of trial, the attraction of the work, the natural human elements, and our own inclinations drop away; our work begins to be purified. Our service must not be based on natural attraction, human affinity, our own inclinations, the attraction of the brothers and sisters, or the work itself. It must be only based on God."

- Watchman Nee

Twitter v. Facebook, round 1

http://www.npr.org/2011/07/16/138160765/twitter-co-founder-biz-stone-plays-not-my-job

Hilarious account of facebook's acquisition talks from twitter co-founder, Biz Stone. Check it out.

Exploring the Triune God

“For many today the Trinity lacks the vibrancy with which it once charged the early church and has become an arcane fundamental arousing little appreciation or even interest.”

(Kerry S. Robichaux, “Axioms of the Trinity,” Affirmation and Critique. 1996)

For proper study of the significance of Christ’s incarnation, I hope firstly that our view and attitude regarding the Trinity would be proper. Though this subject has driven theological debate from the early church to present, we cannot afford to dismiss this as a topic reserved for only for theologians. Any endeavor toward a pellucid understanding of Christ’s incarnation requires a proper view regarding what the Trinity is, and equally important, what it is not. That being said, the scope of this blog does not allow for exhaustive exploration of the Trinity. However, related to our study of the Trinity I would make the following points:  

• Avoid “spiritual myopia” that may develop if you try to understand the Trinity apart from a desire to know God and the purpose of God.  Our God in His very being is Triune; eternally three yet one. With Genesis 1:26, for example, we open a window into the purpose of God that is intimately related to triune nature of God: “And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” This establishes an important principle. So approach any study of the Trinity with a view to see: 
• How is the triune nature of God related to the purpose of God.
• What are the implications of a Triune God in the economy of God’s salvation? Related to this was found the following article from Affirmation and Critique (quoted below) tremendously helpful, and would wholeheartedly commend it to you.

• Beware of “Trinity diagrams” that claim to graphically illustrate the Trinity. We are not obligated to construct tidy diagrams attempting to systematize the Trinity or reconcile the triune nature of God. These endeavors jeopardize the truth and one point the truth. Remember, you are not studying the Krebs’s cycle or some other natural phenomenon that can easily be reduced to a chart or graph. This is the nature of God.

John Calvin’s utterance rings appropriate here: “Finitum non capax infinitum.” It means literally “the finite cannot grasp the infinite.” Pertaining to God’s incomprehensibility this implies that human beings bound by space and time will never have a comprehensive knowledge of God. Yet this surely does not suggest that God is fundamentally unknowable or unintelligible. Surely, we should not shy away from a rich and full realization of the truth regarding the Triune God.

Closing Thoughts:

We need to embrace the entire revelation of the Holy Scriptures. If our attitude regarding the Triune God is shallow and cloudy, our understanding of Christ’s incarnation will consequently be superficial and limited. 

Photo of the Week

Puerto Rico, 2007

What is consecration?

When I was in England I heard of a brother by the name of C. A. Coates. Someone once gave one of his books to the Queen of England. The Queen read the book and was helped by it. However, Coates had written eight books. When I was in England, I asked the British brothers, "Since Coates has eight books, why would he not give the other seven books to the Queen?'' The brothers did not say anything. They acted as if I had said something wrong. Later, I asked some other people and learned that a common English person could not give a book to the Queen. Even if you tried to give her a book, she might not necessarily accept it.

Consecration is God honoring us. It is not a favor we grant to God. Rather, it is God's acceptance of us and of our possessions. Hence, it is God's honor to us. We are not granting Him a favor; He is granting us a favor. For God to accept persons such as we is the greatest privilege He can grant to us. If I kneel before God and He sends a fire to consume the sacrifice, it is His favor to me in accepting my service. Man thinks that he is sacrificing himself by consecrating to God. Little does he realize that God's accepting him is His mercy. Why do we have to calculate so much? We have to learn to push our way through to serve Him, to crawl before Him, and to kneel before Him. A man should learn to humble himself before God. We are not begging you to go to God. Rather, you should beg to go to Him yourself.

(Collected Works of Watchman Nee, The (Set 3) Vol. 57: The Resumption of Watchman Nee's Ministry, Chapter 20, p. 205)

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

"How easy it is for us to make proposals, and how easy it is for us to act without prayer. How easy it is for us to develop confidence apart from God. God had to touch our natural life in a drastic way; He has to break apart our natural life and show us that we can do nothing by ourselves. From that day on, we will be lane men. Being lame does not mean that we cannot walk; rather, it means that every time we walk, we realize our weakness and our lameness. This is a common trait of all men who know God." - Watchman Nee.

Sent from my iPhone

Dana Point Harbor

About the Sea

"Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off- then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can."


"Circumambulate the city of a dreamy Sabbath afternoon. Go from Corlears Hook to Coenties Slip, and from thence, by Whitehall, northward. What do you see?- Posted like silent sentinels all around the town, stand thousands upon thousands of mortal men fixed in ocean reveries. Some leaning against the spiles; some seated upon the pier-heads; some looking over the bulwarks of ships from China; some high aloft in the rigging, as if striving to get a still better seaward peep. But these are all landsmen; of week days pent up in lath and plaster- tied to counters, nailed to benches, clinched to desks. How then is this? Are the green fields gone? What do they here?"


(Moby Dick, chapter 1)

yes these are nachos

Venice Beach, LA

Quote of the Week

"I would like to say a word to the young people who have the heart to serve the Lord full-time. I must tell you that hardships await you and that there is no future for you on earth. You will have nothing earthly on which to rely for your security and for your human living. You may feel that you will be very useful to God, but in the end you will be ashes. Everyone wants to be somebody, but if you would serve the Lord Jesus full-time, you must prepare yourself to be nobody, even to be ashes. Are you willing to be burned? To be burned to ashes is a matter not of enjoyment but of suffering. The destiny of a full-timer is a life of suffering. What is offered to God as a burnt offering must be on the place of burning, not on the place of anything glorious or high. Eventually, the outcome of such a life, a life of suffering, a life without a future and without security, will be a heap of ashes." 

- Witness Lee, Life-study of Leviticus.

The National plays D.C.

Hip and somewhat upbeat, with somber lyrics and Leonard Cohen vocals. This is an old favorite: The National. Take a listen, and tell me what you think about the last piece on the set, it's "About Today."

What is the church?

In the past all the churches tried to invite gifted co-workers to work, preach the gospel, and edify their saints. But I would ask a question: What is the church? The church is where everyone rises up to serve. The church is not just a few people like Witness Lee, Watchman Nee, and Peace Wang. Only when the entire Body rises up is there the church. The church is the Body of Christ, and everyone is useful. We should never think that we have the church as long as we have a wooden table to conduct the Lord's table or that we have the church as long as we have a few strong members. The church involves all the material, that is, all the one-talented ones coming together to serve. Not everyone has to be like Brother Lee before he can be a piece of material. The church is not a conglomeration of five-talented ones; it is not a corporation of two-talented ones. It is a Body composed mainly of one-talented ones. When men like you and I come together to serve, we have the church. When all the one-talented ones are coordinated together, that will be a potent force. Only by serving this way will we have a strong church.

You should not put your hope on better and stronger ones coming to join you. You can gospelize the place where you are with the number you have now. In a strong church a great evangelist would be treated just like one of the brothers. Suppose there is a church with two or three hundred people. There may not be any five-talented and two-talented ones. Perhaps all the saints are one-talented ones. You may think that something is lacking, but if all these so-called "untalented" ones would coordinate together, God would have a way to go on. Never think that you are too short. A person like yourself is more than qualified. I believe that the age of giants is over in the church life. Perhaps in the next generation, the so-called "giants" that we have now will disappear altogether. Today is the end time forgiants. What God wants today is the service of the whole Body. Today God forbids any member from becoming too strong. What He wants is a strong church.

(Collected Works of Watchman Nee, The (Set 3) Vol. 62: Matured Leadings in the Lord's Recovery (2), Chapter 2, Section 4)

Life-study of Hebrews (45)

Have you ever been asked whether your salvation is eternally secure? Today some are theologians are peddling this teaching of an "elevator salvation" which blatantly undermines the pure revelation of the Scripture. Imagine that you could wake up one morning as a called, redeemed, and regenerated person but then loose your salvation by the end of the day? Such an erroneous concept actually exposes a huge cavity of misunderstanding in today's theological circles regarding regeneration (more on this later). Anyway, in this chapter Witness Lee addresses this pernicious teaching and unpacks a few verses (e.g. Eph. 1:5, John 6:39, 1 John 4:10, Rom. 8:38-39, Rom. 1:16-17, Heb. 8:8-13, John 10:28-29, James 1:17, Rom.  8:34) to draw a clear line between dispensational punishment and eternal perdition. I'm not going to be able to summarize the main points, but here are two enjoyable quotes:

Both God's selection and calling, being initiated by Him, not by us, are the security of our salvation.

 Our works may often fail, but God's grace never fails. our salvation is secured not by our works but by God's prevailing grace which comes out of His unchanging love.

(Lee, Witness. Life-study of Hebrews, p.501) 

Bible & Ministry Reading Project

It is likely that this plan is overly-ambitious, but I'm going to attempt a creative Bible & ministry reading schedule. The idea is that each day you read 1 chapter of the Bible, 1 Life-study message, and 1 chapter in a ministry book. So here goes...

I'm currently reading 1 John w/ footnotes; with the help of the Read His Word website. This aspect of the schedule is simple. It involves reading just the verses in the morning, and coming back to read the footnotes later in the day. Whether we do a whole chapter a day or less is insignificant. My main priority is that each morning begin with a nourishing time in the Word. And ReadHisWord.com is helpful because I want to set deadlines and (attempt to) keep them.

For a few months I've been reading through the Life-study of Hebrews, by Witness Lee. Today I'm slated to read message forty-four (that's 44) regarding our coming forward to the Holy of Holies rather than shrinking back to Judaism - which actually is surprisingly relevant to our Christian living today. Anyway, the idea with the Life-study reading is nothing too fancy, just read, highlight, underline, enjoy, etc. The days of outlining Life-study messages (often on a Monday) are now just a treasured memory.

The real highlight of this schedule is the daily ministry reading rotation. This may turn out to be overwhelming, but I consider it nothing more than a solution to a daunting, even life-threatening issue (i.e., which ministry books to read and where to begin). So each day (Monday - *Friday) receives a ministry book assignment based on five, okay, maybe six categories:

1. High Peak books

2. Witness Lee classics

2. God-ordained Way messages

3. Watchman Nee classics

4. Ministry of the Word Magazine

5. Secular reading (give me a break)

6. *Whatever I want to read

Okay sure, there could obviously be overlap between these categories. Strictly speaking they are not mutually exclusive; a book I consider as a "Witness Lee classic" could possibly be a high peak book or a GOW book, but I'm making the rules, not you. 

So each of these categories will correspond to a day of the week. There could possibly be significance to the matching of day and category (like a delicate wine and cheese pairing, if you will). For example, if you select the Ministry Magazine that matches your HWMR it may fit well on Saturday as you begin to compose your prophesy. A GOW book might be fun to read on Friday. You could read it before your home meeting to figure out what to do, or after the home meeting to figure out what you did wrong. Of if you're slick you might just start your week in the GOW.

Obviously these pairings need more consideration and thorough prayer. Each day this week (starting tonight) I'll have a post to introduce the "book of the day" and explain why it was selected. If you are lucky there may even be a frameable (spelling?) quote or tasty excerpt. Stay tuned...


*Saturday is still under consideration,

Ivan Turgenev

Shubin writes from time to time to Uvar Ivanovitch, who alone has remained quite unaltered in all respects. 'Do you remember,' he wrote to him lately, 'what you said to me that night, when poor Elena's marriage was made known, when I was sitting on your bed talking to you? Do you remember I asked you, "Will there ever be men among us?" and you answered "There will be." O primeval force! And now from here in "my poetic distance," I will ask you again: "What do you say, Uvar Ivanovitch, will there be?"'

Uvar Ivanovitch flourished his fingers and fixed his enigmatical stare into the far distance.