Who was the first full-time co-worker...

Here's a fascinating perspective on service. It's from a book by Witness Lee, The History of God in His Union With Man. Have a look:

Have you ever realized that the first full-time co-worker was Abel? He raised up sacrifices for God's offering. This was his job, his work. This was also his kind of living. Abel was a person doing nothing on this earth but offering to God. Genesis 4:4 says that God had respect unto Abel and his offering. How good it was that Abel was a full-timer doing nothing but living for God! He was not in the line of good and evil. He was in the line of the tree of life, living for God and living to God.

Those of us who are serving the Lord full time should compare our full-time service with Abel's. When we compare ourselves with Abel, we probably need to say that we are part-timers, not full-timers. Abel was living a life that was absolutely for God. His living was for God, not for food, for eating. His elder brother Cain was the opposite. Cain was living for his daily necessity, for food. 

Abel lived on God in a spiritual sense, and he lived on what God did, on what God provided, in a physical sense. If we are full-timers we should live as Abel did. We should not live on anything worked out by ourselves. Cain was different from Abel because he lived on what he did. He was a farmer producing food for himself. Thus, we can see that it is not too much to say that Abel lived a Christian life. If we live the Christian life merely according to what the New Testament teaches, that is not adequate. We have to come back to the Old Testament to see the first typical full-timer for God—Abel.

A new day has dawned/
The saints are going on.

just think about it...

Early on, Henry Bracton, a thirteenth century jurist and compiler of the first known British legal compendium, The Statute and Common Law of England (in Latin, of course), recognized the revolutionary implications of the Magna Carta. For the first time, the king was explicitly subject to the common law: ‘The king must not be subject to any man, but to God and the law; for the law makes him king.’  

- from a book

All Music Considered

Okay don't judge. I'm on a heavy Michael Nyman trip. Rochester's Farewell is leading charts, and some other creepy stuff.

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notes from the incubator + song of the week

So there was a post some time ago where Turgenev's On the Eve was quoted without context, nor comment for that matter. Some people asked what it means. Well, I think that dialogue sums up the entire book and perhaps it doesn't require explanation. But I'm considering maybe putting something together to explain what I find so moving, and even relevant, about Shubin's timeless question: "will there ever be men among us?"

And that's our last post for tonight. Here's the song of the week, a little thing from Tom Waits. G'night.

"Take a listen."

The Curse of Natural Resources

Pandora's Box in Russia's Transition to a Market Economy

Here's an example of a 10 pager that deserved to be about 3 pages. 

Herman Melville on FTTA

"For the most part, in this tropic whaling life, a sublime uneventfulness invests you; you hear no news; read no gazettes; extras with startling accounts of commonplaces never delude you into unnecessary excitements; you hear of no domestic afflictions; bankrupt securities; fall of stocks; are never troubled with the thought of what you shall have for dinner - for all your meals for three years and more are snugly stowed in casks, and your bill of fare is immutable." 

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)