partsofspeaking

Hebrews 7:24-26   - “but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them . Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.” This passage is clear enough, without my commentary.   So what are the take-aways? Pray like Jesus prayed, for what Jesus prayed for.   Intercede not because of any authority of our own, but because He is interceding.   We are to pray for healing (James 5:15, as well as many Biblical examples); for our daily sustenance and care; for spiritual knowledge, growth, wisdom, enlightenment (Ephesians 1) for ourselves and others; for political and church leaders; for travel; for those who persecute you; for all the Lord’s people; for those who give the gospel to do it clearly, fearle...

--> Jesus is interceding by the act of the cross, but also by the words on the cross.   Most notably he says of those who crucified him, the Romans, in Luke 23:24, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”   In eternity I am going to ask about this verse.   First, because my edition notes that it may be an addition later and not in the original text, although it parallels what Stephen says as the first martyr and is connected to psalms that prefigure the crucifixion. Second, because in some ways it flies in the face of reason—the Romans did know what they were doing, and were experts at the torture, but they did not know the full ramifications of what they were doing.   Third, because it probably highlight the tension between free will and sovereignty as much as any verse.   They may not have known what they were doing, but they need forgiveness because it was still sin.   They hated this Jew and had no qualms about making him su...

--> John 17 is not the first place where we have a record of Jesus praying and that for his disciples, but it is the most explicit.   It is early morning before the cross, and understandably prayer is all He can do.   John does not record His torment in the Garden of Gethsemane, but the prayer in John 17 refers to it obliquely.   In verses 1-5 Jesus prays for Himself, but not that the cross will be any easier or shorter.   He prays about what will be accomplished by it—the glorification of the Father and of He Himself, the Son, and the ultimate salvation of those who believe.   All the significances of the cross (and John Piper has written a wonderful book on this subject) must start and end with this: that God is glorified.   A Christian without a God-centered world view has missed the point. In verses 6-18 He prays for the eleven disciples, and I would imagine the other two who would come.   Since it is so clearly for the disciples, w...

The third Old Testament example is the prophet Samuel, who speaks at length to the people of Israel when Saul is crowned king despite the warnings that a king could become despotic and enslave the people.   They wanted a king to be like everyone else.   This please sounds so much like politics today that I feel like using the abbreviation SMH!   “We want Bernie Sanders the socialist so we can be like the European countries.”   “We want Donald Trump so we can make America great again.”   In all three cases it seems that personal and corporate responsibility   for the future outcomes is being rejected to allow someone else to take care of the crowd.   A democratic republic demands the knowledge, responsibility,   and involvement of all citizens to work.   In Samuel’s case, he says in I Samuel 12:22-24 some of the sweetest words in the Bible:   “For the LORD will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, beca...

In Numbers 14 we read of Moses being an intercessor, again imperfectly, when the spies return from the promised land and the nation decides that no, they won’t be going into the promised land, and not only that, they start to whine about coming out of Egypt.   We have here an interesting part of the debate of human free will and God’s sovereignty.   They chose to leave, didn’t they?   Why are they blaming Moses and God for their choice?   Of course, staying in Egypt would probably have been a rough go after the ten plagues visited on the country by the Hebrew deity.   Moses attempts to intercede.   On a superficial level in the English it sounds as if Moses is saying it would be a bad PR move for God to punish them all, and that he is flattering God.   Moses’ intercession is partly successful—the rejectors will never see the Promised Land, will never have a homeland on this earth, but their children will, as will the faithful Caleb...

I went to see this at the second run theater last night, a gift to myself. I really don't like going to movies alone, but some are best seen alone, and this one perhaps.  It is an emotional roller-coaster, and sometimes you just need the freedom to be alone and tear up. The film is about home, what it means, where we find it.  While some of the main character's choices in the second half of the film may seem odd to some, maybe even enough to disqualify her as a "sympathetic hero," I didn't feel that way.  I felt that she was working through the grief and confusion of losing her sister, guilt for having left her to what turned out to be a blessed life in New York, responsibility toward her mother, and doubt that she should have married someone from a different culture so quickly.  Sure, she shouldn't have gotten close to the Irish fellow, but she could be seen as being in a trance, a dream, remembering the good of her homeland now with different eyes, living ...

My “Life group” a church has been studying from a small book on prayer, designed for a woman’s group, and it is quite good.   However, this week’s topic/chapter was on intercessory prayer and I felt the particular chapter fell short, especially since it is Holy Week, so I went my own way with it, which I often do. I will post a series of shorter posts that constitute my lesson today.   Writing on the Internet must by nature be short and focused.  To intercede literally means “to come between.”   Interceding and intercession are key themes in the Bible, with Christ being the perfect intercessor or mediator.   The Old Testament gives examples of imperfect intercessors, and we see in the New Testament that Christ interceding before, during, and after the cross.   In Genesis 18 we read the account of Abraham’s “negotiating” with God about Sodom.   God announced that He would destroy Sodom for its depravity (which, yes, involv...

Of course, Robinson's three books of Gilead, Home, and Lila are not a trilogy in the traditional sense but a set of interconnected books around two families of ministers in a small Iowa town.  I recently finished Home, and consider it the best (to me) of the three.  It is a retooling of the Prodigal Son but so much more.  Reading it just before my mother-in-law's death leads me to connect it to an emotional occurrence in my own life, so that may be why I hold it in the highest esteem, although of course the other two are excellent in different ways.  I am not sure that the books can be read separately, though!  Lila really won't make much sense if you don't know "the old man," John Ames, a Congregationalist minister, whom she marries after a life of privation as a migrant worker.  These are not popular fiction books, though.  Her style is such (and I admire this because I reveal things too quickly in my writing, I fear) that you know what you need ...

I continue to be appalled, almost to the point of despair, by this election and the ascendancy of Trump.  Has anyone every had a more ironically appropriate name?  He has trumped good sense, civility, democracy, Republican ideals, and Christian faith. This article in CT says it all http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/march-web-only/theology-of-donald-trump.html?start=1 During WWII, the Confessing Church had to separate itself from the church that supported Hitler.  I don't equate those two characters (that's out of line), but. . . I do feel that a separation is necessary between "evangelicals" who would succumb to Trumpism and those of us who stand in amazement and horror at the devotion to Trump held by so many so-called Christians and evangelicals we thought we had something in common with.  

I have now watched this documentary twice, once after coming across it on Netflix and a second time after inviting an artist friend over.  She had been trying to see the film for over two years, so I was glad to oblige. I was immediately drawn to the photographs more than the mystery, although that soon pulled me in.  I thought the film was well constructed to parallel both Maloof's uncovering of the life of Maier along with the chronology of her life and work. I have read reviews that dismissed Maloof as 1.  being too prevalent in the film (I did not find it so, and he was clear that it was the story of his detective work and 2. an opportunist trying to make money off of Maier's work (I find this sour grapes from people who wished they had found the negatives; Maier also spent years and lots and lots of money to do this work and get the materials, so he is just getting his investment.) and 3. a dilletante who doesn't know good photography and is trying to foist her w...

Maybe some of us just need to shut up. This coming from a woman who blogs and has posted all kind of videos and memes mocking Donald Trump. I just was surprised by a certain preacher of a HUGE church in Atlanta (son of the pastor of another HUGE church in Atlanta) having to walk back some stupid comments from the pulpit.  And by the endorsement of another pastor in TX of above mentioned candidate.  (He should be disciplined by his body or denomination for violating the tax exemption thing and getting them embroiled in politics).  Think twice, speak -- well, maybe not.  Think three times before blogging, or more.  And so I will end my blogging for a while.  I asked on Facebook for people to explain to me why they were supporting Trump.  No one did.  No one gave me a reason.  Interesting--out of 700 or more people. I have several writing projects but writing something long term seems like a prison. 

Well, I did it.  Even though I kept telling myself I wasn't going to watch the Edwardian version of Dynasty one more season, I did.  Sigh.  Like many I had become increasingly annoyed with the plots but kept coming back, and now I feel something will be missing in my life. The plotlines were annoying because they would set up a potential tragedy and then everything just worked out.  No long term problems.  Everyone happy.  Barrow tries to commit suicide.  Later in the program he's ok.  Carson has Parkinson's--it's ok, Barrow will take his job.  The only people who suffer are the non-main characters.  Lord Merton has leukemia--oh, no he doesn't!  The Drews have to leave their home because Edith can't get a grip on the fact that her child was raised by the woman.  The Crawleys can be magnanimous with their servants when it fits the plot but are really not nice people.  And in the end, everybody (except the gay guy) has a b...

I am slowly working through The Cost of Discipleship (TCOD) , a provocative read.  My original plan was to write a series of posts responding to it, and while I will from time to time, I think I would do better to just encourage anyone with the slightest interest in Bonhoeffer and who he was to just read the book. But it is not a book you just sit down and read; it's not a murder mystery or a self-help book.  It is one you should read with the Bible beside it, checking his references, using your concordance, and reading S-L-O-W-L-Y, and art we have lost because there is so much to read and there is FOMO:  Fear of missing out on something (which leaves one disappointed both ways). TCOD is one of those few books of all that are written, a small fraction of the published world, that is worth reading slowly.  I do not mean by that that everything in it is "correct," whatever that means.  I wouldn't venture to say whether it was or not.  I mean that everything...

We had a death in the family of a close family member last week, so my blogging has been curtailed.  At some point in the future I will resume.  For now, work and family dominate. Please go back and read some of my past posts--they go back ten years.  I would love comments.  God bless, and friends don't let friends vote for Trump.