The primacy of love in Christianity —The distinctiveness of Christianity lies not so much in the theoretical discovery or proclamation of the principle of love, either as constitutive in the Divine character or as regulative for human conduct, but rather in the production of forces and motives which give to the principle a new concrete reality in the life of men (cf. Mark 12:32, Luke 10:27, 1 John 2:7, 3:4). Still, even as a subject of teaching, love occupies a prominent place in the apostolic writings. It appears not merely as one important factor among others in the Christian life, but as its chief and most characteristic ingredient, greater even than faith and hope (1 Cor. 13:13).
The Pastoral Epistles utter a warning against the absorption of the religious interest by the false gnosis and its asceticism or impure love to the detriment of true Christian love (1 Tim. 1:5, 5:8, 2 Tim. 2: 22-25, 3:1-4, 10). The primacy of love also finds expression in such passages as Rom. 13:8-10, Eph.1:4, James 2:5, Rev. 2:4.
Source: Geerhardus Vos, ‘Brotherly Love’, Accessed 31 Aug. 2007. Available: http://www.biblicaltheology.org/brotherlylove.pdf
Friday, August 31, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
Building Behemoth
Canada’s Wonderland is adding a new roller coaster for the 2008 season, and the ride was officially announced just a few hours ago. Called Behemoth, the non-looping hypercoaster will rise 230 feet – Canada’s tallest. The cars (called prototype open-air seating) are unusual in that there is a gap between each second row of seats. This will provide an unobstructed view for all riders.
The website (http://attraction.canadaswonderland.com/public/ride/stats.cfm) has plenty of spiffy features including videos, pictures and computer renderings.
I’m not sure why the name Behemoth was chosen, but I like it. Behemoth is a creature mentioned in the book of Job. The Hebrew root is used for ‘cattle’ but the form found in Job 40:15 implies the meaning ‘the beast beyond comparison’, which sounds like a very suitable name for a roller coaster! The section of Job in which Behemoth is referred to, emphasizes God’s power over pride and wickedness. The monsters (Behemoth and Leviathan), according to the editors of the Reformation Study Bible, “probably represent such forces of evil that God can control but before which Job is helpless.”
The ride is scheduled to open in May. I’m already excited!
The website (http://attraction.canadaswonderland.com/public/ride/stats.cfm) has plenty of spiffy features including videos, pictures and computer renderings.
I’m not sure why the name Behemoth was chosen, but I like it. Behemoth is a creature mentioned in the book of Job. The Hebrew root is used for ‘cattle’ but the form found in Job 40:15 implies the meaning ‘the beast beyond comparison’, which sounds like a very suitable name for a roller coaster! The section of Job in which Behemoth is referred to, emphasizes God’s power over pride and wickedness. The monsters (Behemoth and Leviathan), according to the editors of the Reformation Study Bible, “probably represent such forces of evil that God can control but before which Job is helpless.”
The ride is scheduled to open in May. I’m already excited!
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Titus 3:1,2
Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.
Titus 3:1,2 (ESV)
Titus 3:1,2 (ESV)
Friday, August 24, 2007
God's Warriors
I watched the three-part series aired on CNN called God’s Warriors. I enjoyed the documentary – especially the informative explanations and history in the Judaism and Islam segments. I was less impressed with the Christian show.
It was an excellent profile of white American evangelical (Arminian) Protestantism. As for the rest of Christendom, well they (we) were pretty much ignored. If the series were about religion in America, that would be fine, but I got the impression from the first two shows that the documentary was to investigate religious fundamentalism as a worldwide phenomenon. Debates over evolution in public schools and whether large ten commandment monuments should be allowed in public courthouses are distinctly American issues. Predictably, (although regrettably) American politics had a central role in the documentary.
My other initial reaction after watching the programme was that other than white evangelical Protestantism, there was no mention of Roman Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity, Mormonism and Liberal Protestantism. This could be excused if the documentary was meant to be about white evangelical American Protestantism, but the documentary was posited to be a profile of God’s Christian Warriors.
As well, sadly absent were viewpoints from Asian, African-American and Hispanic Christians. This is unfortunate, and only further perpetuates the stereotype among those uninformed about evangelical Christianity that all conservative Christians are of European stock. Indeed, the exact opposite is true.
The documentary was at its best when the people were able to tell their stories. The profile of a homeschooling family, and the segment on Battle Cry (especially the interview with the young woman overcome with emotion) were stellar. It was also a delight to watch the home video of a crowd gathered in rural Kentucky at a high school graduation stand to their feet in triumphant provocation after the graduating class recited the Lord's Prayer, despite a judge 'instructing' them that religion had no place in a public school ceremony.
The documentary hit home that theology matters. A common theme (restrictions placed on women in religious leadership, conservative dress, restrictions on alcohol, dating, tv etc) was (and probably purposely) thread throughout all three documentaries. It’s another superb reminder that what makes us Christian is Christ. We are not Christians because we dress modestly, or that we don’t get drunk. Lots of other people, who have very different opinions about the Messiah, also dress modestly and abstain from alcohol.
Rather, we are Christians because we trust that the guilt and penalty of our sin is accounted to Christ, and His righteousness is reckoned to us.
It was an excellent profile of white American evangelical (Arminian) Protestantism. As for the rest of Christendom, well they (we) were pretty much ignored. If the series were about religion in America, that would be fine, but I got the impression from the first two shows that the documentary was to investigate religious fundamentalism as a worldwide phenomenon. Debates over evolution in public schools and whether large ten commandment monuments should be allowed in public courthouses are distinctly American issues. Predictably, (although regrettably) American politics had a central role in the documentary.
My other initial reaction after watching the programme was that other than white evangelical Protestantism, there was no mention of Roman Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity, Mormonism and Liberal Protestantism. This could be excused if the documentary was meant to be about white evangelical American Protestantism, but the documentary was posited to be a profile of God’s Christian Warriors.
As well, sadly absent were viewpoints from Asian, African-American and Hispanic Christians. This is unfortunate, and only further perpetuates the stereotype among those uninformed about evangelical Christianity that all conservative Christians are of European stock. Indeed, the exact opposite is true.
The documentary was at its best when the people were able to tell their stories. The profile of a homeschooling family, and the segment on Battle Cry (especially the interview with the young woman overcome with emotion) were stellar. It was also a delight to watch the home video of a crowd gathered in rural Kentucky at a high school graduation stand to their feet in triumphant provocation after the graduating class recited the Lord's Prayer, despite a judge 'instructing' them that religion had no place in a public school ceremony.
The documentary hit home that theology matters. A common theme (restrictions placed on women in religious leadership, conservative dress, restrictions on alcohol, dating, tv etc) was (and probably purposely) thread throughout all three documentaries. It’s another superb reminder that what makes us Christian is Christ. We are not Christians because we dress modestly, or that we don’t get drunk. Lots of other people, who have very different opinions about the Messiah, also dress modestly and abstain from alcohol.
Rather, we are Christians because we trust that the guilt and penalty of our sin is accounted to Christ, and His righteousness is reckoned to us.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Baseball Understatement
The Texas Rangers beat the Baltimore Orioles yesterday.
Although ‘beat’ probably isn’t the right verb.
The final score 30-3, which was the first time in 110 years since a major league team scored 30 runs in a game.
I checked out the Orioles website last night during the game.
The headline, “The Orioles are in a hole as they play the opener of a twin bill with Texas,” was certainly an understatement!
Source:
Texas scores 30 runs against Orioles. The Toronto Star. 23 Aug. 2007. Accessed 23 Aug. 2007. Available: http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Baseball/article/249099
Although ‘beat’ probably isn’t the right verb.
The final score 30-3, which was the first time in 110 years since a major league team scored 30 runs in a game.
I checked out the Orioles website last night during the game.
The headline, “The Orioles are in a hole as they play the opener of a twin bill with Texas,” was certainly an understatement!
Source:
Texas scores 30 runs against Orioles. The Toronto Star. 23 Aug. 2007. Accessed 23 Aug. 2007. Available: http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Baseball/article/249099
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
A Puritan Prayer
Compassionate Lord,
Thy mercies have brought me to the dawn of another day,
Vain will be its gift unless I grow in grace,
increase in knowledge,
ripen for spiritual harvest.
Let me this day know thee as thou art,
love thee supremely,
serve thee wholly,
admire thee fully.
Through grace let my will respond to thee,
Knowing that power to obey is not in me, but
that thy free love alone enables me to serve thee.
Here then is my empty heart,
overflow it with thy choicest gifts;
Here is my blind understanding,
chase away its mists of ignorance.
O ever watchful Shepherd,
lead, guide, tend me this day;
Without thy restraining rod I err and stray;
Hedge up my path lest I wander into unwholesome pleasure,
and drink its poisonous streams;
Direct my feet that I be not entangled in Satan’s secret snares,
nor fall into his hidden traps.
Defend me from assailing foes,
from evil circumstances,
from myself.
My adversaries are part and parcel of my nature;
They cling to me as my very skin;
I cannot escape their contact.
In my rising up and sitting down they barnacle me;
They entice with constant baits;
My enemy is within the citadel;
Come with almighty power and cast him out, pierce him to death,
and abolish in me every particle of carnal life this day.
Source:
Arthur Bennett ed,, The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions. East Peoria, IL: Versa Press Inc., 2005, p.117.
Thy mercies have brought me to the dawn of another day,
Vain will be its gift unless I grow in grace,
increase in knowledge,
ripen for spiritual harvest.
Let me this day know thee as thou art,
love thee supremely,
serve thee wholly,
admire thee fully.
Through grace let my will respond to thee,
Knowing that power to obey is not in me, but
that thy free love alone enables me to serve thee.
Here then is my empty heart,
overflow it with thy choicest gifts;
Here is my blind understanding,
chase away its mists of ignorance.
O ever watchful Shepherd,
lead, guide, tend me this day;
Without thy restraining rod I err and stray;
Hedge up my path lest I wander into unwholesome pleasure,
and drink its poisonous streams;
Direct my feet that I be not entangled in Satan’s secret snares,
nor fall into his hidden traps.
Defend me from assailing foes,
from evil circumstances,
from myself.
My adversaries are part and parcel of my nature;
They cling to me as my very skin;
I cannot escape their contact.
In my rising up and sitting down they barnacle me;
They entice with constant baits;
My enemy is within the citadel;
Come with almighty power and cast him out, pierce him to death,
and abolish in me every particle of carnal life this day.
Source:
Arthur Bennett ed,, The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions. East Peoria, IL: Versa Press Inc., 2005, p.117.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Housing Entitlement
The growing worldwide market turmoil sparked in the American real estate market crises was given an interesting human perspective in an article recently published in The Washington Post.
The article, written by a man, who bought a house with a risky interest-only mortgage in 2005 encapsulates why a problem that shouldn’t have happened did. At the root of the difficulty, is greed, both on the part of banks and other financial institutions that issued perilous loans to people who ordinarily wouldn’t qualify, and the homebuyers themselves.
Certainly some sympathy and compassion must be extended to the homebuyers who are facing very difficult decisions. But, there is a reason why banks, up until recently, refused to issue loans to people with bad credit rating, insufficient money, and those who couldn’t afford the down payment.
One such homebuyer is Michael S. Rosenwald, who with his wife bought a house for $459,275.
“Our total interest rate could jump as high as 10.125 percent, according to our mortgage papers, which would be rather unpleasant,” he said. “But that wasn't really on our minds two years ago.”
He continued, “For us, and I suppose others who signed such deals, the lower payments afforded by an interest-only loan helped us buy a house in an expensive county – Montgomery- where we wanted to live and eventually send our children to school.”
And this paragraph explains it all, “Could we have lived farther from the District for less money, perhaps allowing us to get a less risky mortgage? Yes. Could we have continued to rent, waiting, perhaps, for the market to even out and our salaries to increase? Yes. But we already make nice livings. We pay taxes in the highest bracket. Our parents bought homes at our age. It may sound crass, but we deserved a nice home. We did what we had to do to get one.”
Such a contrast to the quotations in the last entry on this blog! Such a contrast.
Source:
Michael S. Rosenwald, “Was the Mortgage a Mistake?” The Washington Post. 19 Aug. 2007. Accessed 19 Aug. 2007. Available: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/18/AR2007081800089.html?hpid=topnews
The article, written by a man, who bought a house with a risky interest-only mortgage in 2005 encapsulates why a problem that shouldn’t have happened did. At the root of the difficulty, is greed, both on the part of banks and other financial institutions that issued perilous loans to people who ordinarily wouldn’t qualify, and the homebuyers themselves.
Certainly some sympathy and compassion must be extended to the homebuyers who are facing very difficult decisions. But, there is a reason why banks, up until recently, refused to issue loans to people with bad credit rating, insufficient money, and those who couldn’t afford the down payment.
One such homebuyer is Michael S. Rosenwald, who with his wife bought a house for $459,275.
“Our total interest rate could jump as high as 10.125 percent, according to our mortgage papers, which would be rather unpleasant,” he said. “But that wasn't really on our minds two years ago.”
He continued, “For us, and I suppose others who signed such deals, the lower payments afforded by an interest-only loan helped us buy a house in an expensive county – Montgomery- where we wanted to live and eventually send our children to school.”
And this paragraph explains it all, “Could we have lived farther from the District for less money, perhaps allowing us to get a less risky mortgage? Yes. Could we have continued to rent, waiting, perhaps, for the market to even out and our salaries to increase? Yes. But we already make nice livings. We pay taxes in the highest bracket. Our parents bought homes at our age. It may sound crass, but we deserved a nice home. We did what we had to do to get one.”
Such a contrast to the quotations in the last entry on this blog! Such a contrast.
Source:
Michael S. Rosenwald, “Was the Mortgage a Mistake?” The Washington Post. 19 Aug. 2007. Accessed 19 Aug. 2007. Available: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/18/AR2007081800089.html?hpid=topnews
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