Review: The Trinity

During the past year I've been exploring the doctrine of the trinity from various practical and theological perspectives. The book that has helped me the most from the theological perspective is The Trinity: Understanding God's love, His plan of salvation, and Christian relationships. I blogged about one of the discoveries I made in this book in my post "Water of Life".

The purpose of The Trinity is to defend the Adventist doctrine of the trinity from attacks from within and without. The book is the result of a collaboration of three professors at the Adventist Theological Seminary. Woodrow Whidden assesses the Biblical evidence for and against the doctrine, John Reeve covers the development on the doctrine from the second through sixteenth centuries, and Jerry Moon traces the doctrine from the reformation to American Protestantism and finally the Adventist church. The book concludes with a short section on practical implications by Whidden.

All four sections of The Trinity make for a compelling read if you are interested in the topic, and the fact that the word "trinity" is never used in the Bible means that most Christians would do well to give this topic some serious, critical thought. I was especially impressed by the section on the Biblical evidence and by the chapter that covered the development of the doctrine in the writings of Ellen White, both of which presented plenty of primary evidence with insightful analysis. I should also say that I've never found early church history as interesting than it was in connection with the doctrine of the trinity.

My only major beef with The Trinity is that I wouldn't be able to give it to anyone who doesn't believe in the trinity. The authors (especially Whidden) use such a confrontational, apologetic tone that the defenses of any anti-Trinitarian would be raised to the place where they would have difficulty maintaining an open mind. This book seems to have been written with the questioning Adventist in mind, yet even I sometimes wondered if there wasn't some angle the authors weren't presenting because it would have been out of line with their doctrinal understanding.

Question of the trinity touches on many other aspects of Christianity (e.g. the atonement, the nature of Christ) that I believe that a solid understanding of it is important for every Christian. I would recommend The Trinity to any Adventist reader seeking a better understanding of the doctrine. The discussion of John 1:1 and of Ellen White's writings on the trinity alone make this book a recommended resource.

Blog: prez update

Ever "wonder what a conference president does"? The president of the Illinois Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Ken Denslow, is blogging to answer that question. He's been at it since the end of November, posting weekly updates of his activities.

Ken is to be commended for his vision and transparency. I think blogging is an excellent way for a leaders in a somewhat removed position to build a sense of closeness or rapport with people you can't possibly meet face to face on a regular basis. I just hope Ken has the courage to "keep it real" during the challenges he is sure to face during his presidency.

Welcome to the blogosphere Ken. And to you other church leaders out there: start a blog!

prez update

First Funeral

I'm doing my first funeral on Monday. It's for an eighty-eight year old man who literally died with his boots on, getting ready to clear a quarter-section of bush with his CAT. He had just driven it up on his truck bed and got in the cab when he up and died in his wife's arms. His only request was to be buried with his boots on.

Every time I get up to preach on Sabbath morning I feel %100 inadequate, and that feeling is twice as bad right now. What can you say in the presence of such profound feelings of grief and loss? The English language hardly seems to equip the preacher to handle the moment. To me, words are almost inappropriate at such a time.

Yet the family is counting on someone to give the man a decent send off, to say some good things about his life and bring to mind the hope of meeting him again. So here I sit, trying to figure out what I'm going to say. I'm confounded by the privilege of the trust they have placed in me, the pastor.

And now I must remind myself that it's not about me. The only good sermons I've preached have been when I humbly told the Holy Spirit that I wasn't up to the task and that He was going to have to take over. Now I'm going to have to pray that prayer twice as hard, so please pray with me.

News: Rice - Torture Treaty Applies Overseas

BBC | US 'shifts' position on torture

Is the Bush administration finally listening? The sad thing is that it's called "shift".

Music Video: Feeling Reserved

I think it's interesting how rap music has been appropriated by diverse people groups to express their oppression. "Feelin' Rezerved" by War Party is an example from my corner of the world (Alberta, Canada). The song has all the strengths of good rap--tight rhyme, word play, beat track--and a positive message. I can't say the same about the production value of the video, but it has some moments. Check it out.

"Feelin' Rezerved" War Party (video)

War Party has tons of their music plus more videos available for free download at their website.

News: 10 Years For First Online Wedding Couple

ANN | First Online Wedding Couple Celebrates 10 Years

And now for something completely different...

Sermon Summary 12.3.05: Dead or Alive?

The message in book of Revelation to the church in Sardis is a spiritual alarm clock for a sleeping church (Rev. 3:1-6). This church is resting on the reputation of their previous accomplishments, sitting on a one point lead with two periods left to play. But God knows that this church is sleepwalking; that they are dead in their sins.

Sardis is in serious need of revival, to live again, and so Jesus comes to them as the one "who has the seven Spirits of God." This is a seven-fold concept of the Holy Spirit that reflects His ability to be wherever He needs to be. The church in Sardis needs the Holy Spirit because only the He is able to give life to a dying church (Eze 37:14).

But the church members in Sardis have their part to play as well. There are some things that only God can do to bring about revival, like pour out the Holy Spirit, but there are also some things that only we can do. So I take the next part of the message as sort of a "how to" manual for revival.

First, they must wake up, engage, and realize that a spiritual war is going on. Second, they must build from their strengths and not let these things slip as well. Finally they must realize that the game isn't over yet, that there is work left to do, otherwise it will be a very unpleasant surprise when the buzzer sounds.

True revival is grounded in Jesus Christ and what He has done for us. Revival does not replace our need of His salvation covering our sins nor our need to follow His example. Instead it seeks, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to live out the eternal life He has promised, making this future reality a present experience.

Review: The Message Remix

I picked up The Message Remix, a thought for thought translation for the Bible by Eugene Peterson, because it was on sale. My wife already had The Message, but I thought Remix would have a new hip-hop, wazzup style or something. It turns out the only difference between The Message and Remix is that Remix has verse numbers in the margins.

Peterson's translation approach was an attempt to capture in every-day English the style and impact of the every-day Hebrew and Greek the writers of the Bible used. The product is a very readable devotional Bible that is acclaimed by many, including U2's Bono. I like it because Peterson's insights into the text come out in his translation using language I wouldn't have anticipated.

The major draw-back of this approach is the assumption that the Bible was written in a single, accessible style. True, some parts were, but there are variations in style between the writers of the Bible, and some of there styles were easier to understand than others. When reading The Message you don't feel like you're reading Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; but just Peterson. I would have preferred that he attempt to reflect in English the different styles of writing in the Bible with the ambiguities that attend them.

But, of course, this isn't the point of a thought for though translation, which attempts to convey and idea and not just language. And, with Peterson is a scholar acting in a pastoral role, explaining the text and smoothing out difficulties. What we have in The Message is a record of how the Word of God has impacted on man's understanding of the Bible.

Here's one example of Peterson's style and (in my opinion) one of his better efforts.

The Word was first,
the Word was present to God,
God was present to the Word.
The Word was God,
in readiness for God from day one.

Everything was created through him,
nothing--not one thing!--
came into being without him.
What came into existence was Life,
and that Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness,
the darkness couldn't put it out....

The Word became flesh and blood,
and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
the one-of-a-kind glory,
like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
true from start to finish.
(John 1:1-5,14 The Message)

Quiz: Middle Earth Race

To which race of Middle Earth do you belong?
brought to you by Quizilla

I knew it! "Hommmm. Hummmm. Let me think about this pooost...[rumble]"

Middle earth is the land imagined by J.R.R. Tolkien in which the stories of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place.

News: Iraq Hostages

BBC NEWS | Fears for Iraq hostages on video

The hostages are members of an organization called Christian Peacemaker Teams, a group of Christian peace activists who go to violent places and get in the way, try to diffuse tensions, and do community work projects. I totally respect these guys and their commitment to peace and reconciliation. I don't agree with total pacifism, but in a prevailing climate of war Christians need to demonstrate the higher path.

I wish the Adventist had an outreach organization like this but since WWI institutional Adventism has shied from activities that directly challenge government policies. Of course, such actions are not with out risk. The BBC reports that the kidnapping was most likely politically motivated and the video is probably the last time we'll be seeing those brave people alive.

Pray for Tom Fox, Norman Kember, James Loney, and Harmeet Singh Sooden--that they will have the strength for what lies ahead and that God may be glorified in this situation.

Ikea

My home has been invaded by Stephan, Mikael, Jules, and Summera. Even though they have Swedish names, they're from the China which is kind of confusing. I guess it explains why they're compact and functional as well as stylish and trendy.

That's what you pay for at Ikea, the supersized, furniture Wal-Mart from Sweden. What you don't pay for is anything you can do yourself, like getting your furniture from the warehouse shelves, transporting it home, and assembling. All this extra labor on your part means nice furniture for low prices.

That's assuming you can get it home, (I had to take the desk out of this box so it would fit in the trunk.) assemble it properly (Read, no study, the manual.), and do it all with out scratching the finish (I'm ordering Ikea stain as I type this.) The other thing that worries me is the "Made in the People's Republic of China" stickers. Is Ikea a sweatshop operation; anyone know?

If you've never been to an Ikea superstore, you should go at least once and experience a new definition of the word 'big'. I literally takes four hours to walk through the monolith of consumerism (with a wife who insists you look at this and that). That's also about as long as it took me to assemble my desk.

Holidays: American Thanksgiving

apokalupto will be on hiatus for a week as I'm taking my holidays. I'll be driving to Edmonton for a concert and the waterpark. Then we head south to the in-laws in Cochrane for some R&R, American Thanksgiving, and possibly skiing. I also plan to do some reading and write an article or two.