Artifacts of a Life Once Lived

What can we (you, I, or anyone) say about God? Plenty of us claim to know what God is like, how God is to behave, and what we must do to please God. Yet what is the source of this insider information? Mostly holy books, mystical visions, dreams, despots, religious figures, hallucinations, near death experiences, unique existential encounters, a still, small voice, a burning in the bosom, and many other non-replicable spiritual technologies. This is not to say that these modes of revelation are not within the realm of possibility to be used as means to the knowledge of the divine, the point is that they seem to be modes of revelation that have no universal content, instead only particularized content. For instance, The God of Israel is localized within the Ancient Near East’s religious culture so that this God is very much and in many ways like the gods of that time and culture. God is contextualized. And before I go too far in making hasty generalizations, I will simply say that God se...

July 6, 2018 Over the course of the past several days I have been thrown headlong into the pages of Thomas Merton’s Seven Storey Mountain . My heart has melded with every word on the written page as the mixing of two metals into an alloy. I cannot say what Mr. Merton has done for me in language fit for the right expression on pixelated canvas. As of late, my life has in many ways wandered in a desert of my own making because of my uneasiness with, what was, back then, my present circumstance. All this to say that for some time now after having wandered and lingered in the badlands of spiritual despair, existential unrest, and mental confusion I feel the great weight of this experience lifting as the promise of a fulfilling and hopeful happiness pours into my soul through the spiritual wisdom of Mr. Merton’s story and his pressing call to the life of contemplation.   Today I read something quite moving because of how it related to my thirst for a life of depth and meaning and purpos...

  Kevin,                                                               At this time I believe it is necessary that I inform you of what is going on internally. As a high school boys soccer coach I learned that you want team captains who are fully dedicated to the team’s success. If they aren’t, the entire team struggles to reach its goals.  While I am part of the FBBC team, I believe I am lacking in this desired leadership quality myself.  After seven full months in my current position, I do not believe my passions are managing money for the church. As a result I do not have internal peace about the longevity of my current position. I believe there are better people for this role. I believe FBBC would be a stronger organization if a person more suited for this role were here. I c...

The Question of Complexity Some are bold enough even to suggest sudden appearance of complex organisms. Stuart Kauffman explains in his book At Home in the Universe said, "I hope to persuade you that life is a natural property of complex chemical systems, that when the number of different kinds of molecules in a chemical soup passes a certain threshold, a self-sustaining network of reactions—an autocatalytic metabolism—will suddenly appear. Life emerged, I suggest, not simple, but complex and whole, and has remained complex and whole ever since… The secret of life, the wellspring of reproduction, is not to be found in the beauty of Watson-Crick pairing, but in the achievement of catalytic closure." (Quoted from http://biologicinstitute.org/2010/02/06/explaining-life-by-explaining-it-away/ Accessed April 19, 2010).This is not a scientific statement, but a metaphysical statement robed in scientific garb. How do we know that evolutionary explanations (there are various theories...

The question is not one of proof, but of credibility. Which story is more credible: the old story or the new story? So the new story goes like this. Scientists who build upon the philosophical tradition of naturalism (aka materialism) assume that all that exists is matter, or “stuff”. Scientific materialists assume that because all there is is matter, there is nothing else. Belief in anything requiring faith, doctrine, or mystery is illogical and irrational because all that exists can be observed by the human senses. There is no invisible realm, no supernatural, only superstitious people who create primitive and irrational schemes to control people. Science claims that it is the purest form of knowledge, and though science is incomplete at the moment, science will one day produce a "Theory of Everything" to explain all reality in terms of physical characteristics. Once the grand "theory of everything" is established religion and all of its friends will wither away u...

What about the Canon of Scripture? Introduction: Everyone hold up their Bible, please? Do you believe this entire book bares the weight of divine revelation and hence divine authority? Yes? Well, turn to the Table of Contents. Is this page divine, inspired, and hence authoritative? Well, no, technically the Table of Contents is not inspired (nor are the commentary notes or the cross-references!). You say this is just semantics. Well, no, it’s not. This list tells you what belongs in your bible thus determining what does not belong in your Bible. Did you know there are Christians who’s Bibles have a different list? Well, then, how do we know which books belong in this list and which do not? This is the question at hand, thus this is necessarily a matter epistemology.  I. Approach  How we approach the canon (the nature of our attitude) must first be established before we ask, “How do we know” what belongs in the canon? Two predominant approaches divide the task of how we go ...

God has a sense of humor. God has sent one into my life who is the prototype of a zealot, and everything that eerks me in fundamentalism. This one believes that God gives them "special insight" into the Bible (i.e. God showed me this truth). This one approached me to "ask" what I thought about Calvinism. (Apparently there is a rising group of heretic calvanists in our church. Really what is meant is that this one is finding out that there are calvanists amongst us and that displeases the person greatly. They are "heretics" because they do not believe what this one believes, and since God "shows" all things to this person there is no error!) I began to talk, because I was asked my opinion, but immediately I was interrupted. I could see that this one really came to talk rather than listen to my opinion. I was even informed by this one that part of the goal was to make sure I was not a heretic, and if I was they wanted to know so they could pray for...

Garrett has a little something to say on this post too... MY RESPONSE to the this . This is a great conversation, and I wish I could respond in detail to much of it, but unfortunately my hands are tied to many other things that I must think about. I am in agreement: 1) Scholars are misleading when they tell us they are getting closer to "finding the originals." However, not all of TC can be brushed away simply because it is not as "certain" a science as, say, mathematics. They are no surer today than they were 100 years ago. However, again, that does not mean I can simply bury my head in the sands of fideism. The bible does not exist in a vacuum. It is subject to the hands of men and has been for thousands of years. Some are faithful some are apostate. God knows. I am in disagreement: 1) I can personally attest to the idea that the awkwardness of the KJV translation is NOT in accordance with keeping with the text. For example: "God forbid!" in the KJV in...

DTS (and most NT Scholarship) certainly does take for granted that the TR is an "inferior text." It's blatantly obvious in Sproul's Knowing Scripture . Nonetheless, DTS cannot be criticized for not having alternative positions. Zane Hodges tried for many years at DTS to espouse his Majority Text position, which is very different in philosophy from the Critical Text position (UBS4 / NA27), as well as the TR position. The Majority Text (MT) position will practice textual criticism, but only within the MT or Byzantine Textual Tradition. The MT text position "counts" rather than "weighs" the manuscripts. The majority wins. Nonetheless, the Critical Text people take issue. Two prominent arguments are geneological and geographical solidarity. The Critical text argues that the MT only has limited geographical solidarity (Turkey) whereas the Critical Text enjoys much more geographical solidarity (Egypt, Turkey, Italy, Jerusalem, etc.) The critical text als...

The other day I was having a brief conversation with a young man who is typical of the eccentric "fundy" zealot. I try very hard to be friendly and encouraging with this guy so as to help him move along in his christian maturity. Sometimes this is very, very difficult. Our conversation stayed primarily at the level of cordial exchanges as is common to small talk. He proceeded to ask of my "studying". As a former zealot of the sort I knew exactly his intent. He wanted two things: first, to make sure that I was "in the word", and two, to share what he was studying and what "new" things he was "taught" in his bible reading. So I obliged as is tactful of christian brotherhood and told him of my studying in Matthew. At which point he stopped me and shared what God had "laid" on his heart. Somehow I get the feeling he just wanted to talk, but that is neither here nor there. God had burdened him with the people of Rochester. This is ...

Oh, how I wish I weren't so silly. Can you place love under a microscope? Can you tell love that it is not welcomed when it does not knock on your door? When it wasn't asking permission? Likewise love does not need a welcome when it does knock. Sometimes it comes right in without taking her shoes off and then sits on your couch in her wet rain coat. Love finds a way into your heart and it will not be interviewed, nor does it think much of polls or surveys. Love is and love does not ask permission. Who am I to question her? I will not be rude.

Books Read :

Well, I made a plan and is typical I didn't stick to it completely. A while back I decided that I would first pay off all of my school debt and then reward myself by sponsoring a Compassion International child. Patrick, I have not followed the plan and I apologize. Yesterday I got my sponsorship package in the mail. I learned then name of my sponsor today. Her name is Witness Juma Semle. She is 10 years old and she lives in Tanzania in an HIV/AIDS devastated area. It is still my goal to pay of my school debt within a year, but I didn't think delaying helping a child in need because of my debt was very Christian. It might make financial sense to put the money toward the debt, but then again Jesus told us to sell all that we have and give to the poor. So Jesus' financial decisions don't make very good financial sense either. So I am in good company. Any way, the plan is still to pay off the debt asap, however I am OK if its takes longer, because I know that Witness will b...

God, Is it proper to approach you first with a heavy heart? Or rather should I come confessing your goodness and love and holiness even if I don't feel like it? When I come with such a desperate heaviness it is hard to confess with my lips what I know to be true of you in my heart. I have read about your every-day-new-mercy, but I have also read your servant David and have seen how you accepted his groanings when he lay on the floor in despair over the heaviness in his soul. From where my heaviness arises I cannot with full confidence say, though I know my sin and its subsequent guilt are ever-present before my eyes. Though I rest in your forgiveness I tremble when I think of my hearts willful disobedience to what is righteous, to what pertains to wholeness. I know my heart and its vileness and evil, I know what hides in the shadows from the eyes of my friends. But here is my despair: that I yearn yet I do not know what for. There is a strange and dark cloud alive over me with a mi...

Went to Christ Church last night with Ms. Scheer to observe the Order of Compline . I was doing morning reading in Acts and came across the a verse where the Christians gathered in devotion to their faith. Last night was a gathering of the devoted to hear the Scriptures put to beautiful sacred music. It's a welcomed change from "Beautiful One" which we sing three times every Sunday twenty-five times through.

The Bible Believer's Bible: by yours truly, Peter Ruckman www.biblebelievers.com

Here is a brief report of life: So far the time back in Rochester has been stimulating. The summer prior to the start of the school year was a welcomed break from the annoying monotony of working 9-5 at some pointless job so I can pay the rent bill at the end of the month. Don't get me wrong, I am thankful for the job and how it provided what was necessary, but nonetheless my feeling of self-worth while working was hovering just above one. Did I mention the scale was out of one hundred? I definitely don't miss that silliness, but the time spent with friends is irreplaceable. People ask me, "Do you miss Dallas?" I always so no, because I don't. I don't miss sitting in traffic on 75 and I don't miss the yuppiness of people and the shallowness of affluent American culture. Any way, I don't miss Dallas, but I always say I miss my friends. I do. But alas, life is train, and we have to get off when we reach our platform. I am certainly glad we got to ride in...

In 140 characters or less: You may not realize what we're doing to ourselves, but we're sound-biting our selves to our own inevitable starvation of thought.

What are these frustrations? What are these anxieties? What are these disappointments? From where do they arise, From whence are they born, From whose heart are they given?

What may conquer the spirit of a man? Not war. Not famine. Not disease. Not death. No, only starvation of love may conquer the spirit of a man. It is not good for a man to be alone. Would it then be safe to say that it is an evil for a man to be alone. Countless stanzas of love starved sonnets line the folios in the shelves of the human soul. Thousands upon thousands of beating hearts can be heard, even in the distant past, as the army of romantics march on into the greatest battle the human soul. Some march into hopeful victory and some march into merciless defeat. Myriads of love songs litter the soul literature of every great and small, past and present, barbaric and cultured civilization. A man deprived of love is as a starved and abandoned infant. Left on the doorstep of some unbeknownst stranger .   H elpless to feed itself, a neglected infant lies in wait for some conscience-bound soul to pity its unfortunate circumstances. Yet, where a child cries in the ...