what’s new

Greetings,
Well, I am returning from my blogging hiatus. After having returned from Spring break and engaging myself in a brutal week of papers, readings, and tests, I have finally returned. Let me briefly get you up to date.

I was on spring break from March 16 until March 26, and honestly, my break just plainly sucked. There are little words that accurately portray the week, but simply “suck.” For one, I was sick the entire time. Two, a blizzard hit Jacksonville on Tuesday night. Thus ended any hopes of catching in sun, breathing low-elevation oxygen, and just going for a nice casual walk. Three, I rarely got to actually be with Christian on any level besides that of her sitting across the room in hopes of not catching my cold (which, by the way, she is sick this week). Four, I did not see many of my friends. But, there are a few positives to report. I got my track time that I will be teaching at Centrifuge: Movies/Media and World Religions/Cults. I will thoroughly enjoy these topics. When I get home in late April/ early May I intend to devote myself to the bible studies and preparation of my track time. For some reason, I really feel this summer is going to be great in terms of me being an official, “minister.” Now, I believe in the priesthood of all believers, but I also see the need for pastors/shepherds/teacher to equip the flock. And for the first time in my life, I am going to be looked to fill this role. I think so much of being a minister can be summed up in sociological terms: role fulfillment. Basically, people will not look to you for a certain position until you have been given the title of that position, or until proper education has been received.

I did get to see John K, Barrett, and John Hume while at home, so that was great. And on a cool note, I got a sweet early birthday gift that came in the form of a sweet Swiss Army backpack. By the way, I will be turing 21 here in less than 9 days, so all of you are more than welcome to send gifts. And by gifts, I just mean cold hard cash.

Andrew Walker
2525 Raywood View
APT 914
Colorado Springs, CO
80920

I have 3 weeks left here in Colorado. At large, my time here has been very rewarding and educational. I will return back to SBU with greater respect for the Bible and a much stronger worldview. But, I am also ready to leave. Here at Focus, we are insanely busy. For instance, they encourage us to grow daily through the reading of God’s word, but then they do not give us enough time to do so. For one, I am tired of all the reading, I am tired of saying goodbye to Christian, and I am tired of a long distance relationship. I am also tired of cramming so much info. I look forward to a time to process all I have learned.

brilliant narrative theology by Bonhoeffer

Tonight’s homework led us to the book, “Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community.” We only read 63 pages of it, but it is necessary to say that Bonhoeffer is very profound, mixing pastoral style with honest evaluation and and a dose of intellectualism. I would like to qoute (at length) a passage I read tonight that speaks explicitly to the journey we find ourselves on or what others may call, “narrative theology.” Narrative theology catches a bad rap because of its propensity to the meta-narrative (a postmodern primer), but I find its influence and personal application very fulfilling. Thus:

“Consecutive reading of Biblical books forces everyone who wants to hear to put himself, or to allow himself to be found, where God has acted once and for all for the salvation of men. We become a part of what once took place for our salvation. Forgetting and losing ourselves, we, too, pass through the Red Sea, through the desert, across the Jordan into the Promised Land. With Israel we fall into doubt and unbelief and through punishment and repentance experience again God’s help and faithfulness. All this is not mere reverie but holy, godly reality. We are torn out of our own existence and set down in the midst of the holy history of God on earth. There God dealt with us, and there He still deals with us, our needs and our sins, in judgement and grace. It is not that God is the spectator and sharer of our present life, howsoever important that is; but rather that we are the reverent listeners and participants in God’s action in the sacred story, the history of the Christ on earth. And only in so far as we are there, is God with us today also. A complete reversal occurs. It is not in our life that God’s help and presence must be proved, but rather God’s presence and help have been demonstrated for us in the life of Jesus Christ. It is in fact more important for us to know what God did to Israel, to His Son Jesus Christ, than to seek what God intends for us today. The fact that Jesus Christ died is more important that the fact that I shall die, and the fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead is the sole ground of my hope that I, too shall be raised on the Last Day. Our salvation is “external to ourselves.” I find no salvation in my life history, but only in the history of Jesus Christ. Only he who allows himself to be found in Jesus Christ, in his incarnation, his Cross, and his resurrection, is with God and God with him. In this light the whole devotional reading of the scriptures becomes daily more meaningful and salutary. What we call our life, our troubles, our guilt, is by no means all of reality; there in the scriptures is our life, our need, our guilt, and our salvation. Because it pleased God to act for us there, it is only there that we shall be saved. ONly in the Holy Scriptures do we learn to know our own history. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the God and Father of Jesus Christ and our Father.

Tonight has been a wonderful night indeed. I found myself at the local coffee shop for some class reading and then some scripture reading. I find it odd how God speaks to us. We so often search, but when we take time to read His Word, there He so is. The Bible speaks to the hole in our lives, hearst, and conscience that so often lusts after God’s will and direction, but does not desire Him for simply being Him (or atleast I find this to be true in my life).

Blessings,
Andrew

Dobson.

Meet

I have been unsatisfied in my personal meeting time with the Lord. Personally, one of the main reasons is that I think too much. I am always concerned that what I perceive as the Spirit may just as well be my emotions. Anyway, on the way to Chic-fil-A tonight, I driving and I asked the Lord what I could do to meet with him. Immediately, the premonition of getting up at 6:30 for personal devotions and prayer came to me, and out of nowhere the song “meet with me.” I have no idea where that song came from, but the lyrics are very prophetic for my own life:

I'm here to meet with youcome and meet with meI'm here to find youreveal yourself to me

As I wait, you make me strongAs I long, draw me to your armsAs I stand and sing your praiseYou come, you come and you fill this placeWon't you come, Won't you come and fill this place

I'm here to meet with youCome and meet with meI'm here to find you,reveal yourself to me

As I wait, you make me strongAs I long, draw me to your armsAs I stand and sing your praiseYou come, you come and you fill this placeWon't you come, Won't you come and fill this place

I'm here to meet with youCome and meet with me

Thus, I think will be getting up at 6:30 from now on to meet with God.

Ramblings

I have come across a couple observations of late that have hit me with a spiritual punch.

When we are wounded, a vast amount of emotions come at us without any regard to our present well-being. Emotions take control and hard to harness. Though expressing these emotions lead us on the path to well-being, the journey to this destination may well sort out what kind of well-being we will encounter. When suffering, we have two options (I wish these were my own ideas, but I got them from the Donald Miller podcast from RELEVANT, and he actually got them from Desmund Tutu). These options are for us to choose to either be arrogant victims or wounded healers. I do not know about you, but I so often find truth in the paradox. In fact, for us to best understand the gospel, I think an explanation of paradoxes is the best manner to do so. Being a wounded healer is a paradox. So often, we feel out of a broken and separated nature that we need to mask ourselves in “spiritual toughness.” You know what I am talking about. The ministers or ministers in training that feel to best hide their brokenness they must disguise themselves in self-made righteousness and/or moral authority. I think the church needs to produce the pastors and disciples that not only openly reveal hurt, weakness, or inability but in fact radically embrace it. The moments where we are weak He is strong. So many postmoderns are in search of authenticy, and I think authenticity is the truth that postmoderns can form a foundation from, and I also believe the more sterile and molded we make ourselves look, the less effective we will be. How have we turned the gospel of love that is shrouded in disappointment, let down, death, suffering, and unfaithfulness and traded it for beautifully capped teeth, Armani suits, and the latest KORG keyboard. I want to introduce an idea I believe that I heard from Brennan Manning: ministering in weakness. Look at the passages below:
2 Cor. (NASB)

9And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness ” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

10Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Cor. 9 (The Message)

9and then he told me,

My grace is enough; it’s all you need.

My strength comes into its own in your weakness.

Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. 10Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size–abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

I know the recovery movement has been hi-jacked by anti-psychology fundamentalists, but what if the Church consisted of a body of believers that came to share their OWN stories in COMMUNITY? Is this possible? Is this perhaps just another paradox; that we reveal and uncover our true identity in community?

Where did we ever conceive of the idea that ministers are spiritual pros more than they are called and equipped to their position. May we embrace the hole in hearts that can only be satisfied by Jesus. May we realize that He is most revealed when we most realize our need, not out of developing a spiritual skin that resembles leather, but acting like the sheep that are so in need of a grace-giving Shepherd.

Grace only,
Andrew

P.S. Think about this. Christians are first called to be peacemakers. But what if the pursuit of peace consisted of justice, accidental injustice, and war? Would we not be pursuing peace if by means it meant possible war? First and foremost before we go any further, I truly believe Christians are never to be discreetly “Pro War” in the sense that we are joy-filled in killing, for every death means the death of a reflection of the image by which we were created. Thoughts?

4 Point

I have been exploring Calvinism lately with my Calvinist roommate Chris. First of all, I would like to proclaim to the nations that I have found for the first time in my theological inquiry a loving and tolerant Calvinist in Christ. Most Calvinist I know are what I affectionately call them, “Calvinazis.” Anyway, I was researching on Wikipedia about Calvinism and found an interesting concept. What do you all think of this?

“Four-point Calvinism”

Main article: Amyraldism

Another revision of Calvinism is called Amyraldism, “hypothetical universalism“, or “four-point Calvinism”, which drops the point on Limited Atonement in favor of an unlimited atonement saying that God has provided Christ’s atonement for all alike, but seeing that none would believe on their own, he then elects those whom he will bring to faith in Christ, thereby preserving the Calvinist doctrine of unconditional election.