Yet another use for this blog...
Hey there, girl, where ya going?
(Humph. These people have no decency. Don’t they know when something’s none of their business?)
Nowhere.
Haha, yeah sometimes it feels like I'm going nowhere too, if ya know what I mean...
No I don't, now if you'll excuse me...
(Sometimes people need a little hint not to bother you).
Oh sorry, didn't mean to bother you.
(Yeah, they got the hint, now will they take it?)
It's just that you seem a little lost.
(Oh I know what I seem...and its not just lost).
Well, I'm not. Now I really need to get going so excuse me.
Ok ok. Be careful, ok?
(Be careful.... now those are familiar words. He means it a little differently than momma though).
And so another adventure for Sally Ann begins.
The abstract: Sally Ann comes from a middle class family who lives in a small town in Kansas. Her family is so proud of her when she begins working at 16 and saves up money for college. Her parents put some money in the bank for her. They give her lots of information on some of their favorite colleges, such as Kansas State, Trinity Bible College, and Central Bible College. So they are shocked to learn she is looking at schools in Minneapolis, New York, and Los Angeles. In fact, they are adamant that she stay away from those big cities. They expound on the terrors of big city life. Sally Ann listens carefully, but with hidden motives. She agrees to look into Kansas State and Trinity. Then when she graduates highschool, she suddenly disappears with her savings. So begins the adventures of Sally Ann.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
What does it mean to walk in the light? Part 1
What does it mean to walk in the light? This can imply a knowing of some kind, an enlightening if you will. The opposite of light is darkness of course. Darkness implies ignorance. Is walking in the light, merely knowing then? And what is it knowing? Many of my readers will already have notions of what it means to walk in the light. One cannot be a Christian without attributing light to Christ. Our answer would then be that walking in the light means knowing Christ. But is it merely that?
Others may think of enlightenment. All this still implies a knowledge that is special because some do not have it. If we say we walk in light, then we imply that some walk in darkness. If we think we walk in light, does that mean we are special? We are in the sense that we are different from others if we truly walk in light that is. If we walk in light and have special knowledge though, should we keep silent? Hmmm.... Maybe sometimes silence seems more kind. We don't want others to feel that we think we are better than them. We don't want them to think that we think they are ignorant. And yet... if our knowledge is of the nature that it would save someone's life, perhaps we should share it. If our knowledge will cure cancer, should we not share? Oh but there is the issue of credibility... Who will believe you if you meet a cancer patient on the street and tell them... Oh listen, I have special knowledge. I have the cure for cancer...
But this patient doesn't have a clue if you are a doctor or a researcher. This patient doesn't know if you are even what you claim to be. If you were their doctor, that would be another story. If they knew you, they might listen. That is... if they knew you really had the background to make such a claim.
Humm. What does this tell Christians about sharing their faith? Does this mean we need a preaching licence or a degree from seminary to share that we have life changing information in our hands that we would like to share? I mean what if Joe Blow really did have the cure for cancer? Should he keep silent since he has no credibility, perhaps hes not even a doctor or researcher? But just maybe He knows someone who has found a cure....someone who has the cure for cancer. Yet people just don't know about Him, and He is not a conventional doctor. Yet Joe Blow knows the cure works, because he was healed. Now wait a minute! Joe Blow was cured of cancer? This is something others with cancer would want to know! Should Joe Blow keep silent about his cure... about the evidence that a cure exists! What if He is afraid that people will not believe him? After all, many of the world's doctors and researchers do not acknowledge that such a cure exists! He may be afraid they won't believe him, but here he is, a living example!
OH... What if Joe Blow tries to tell about the cure itself but he never talks about how the cure works for him and how it has affected his life? Will people want the cure? Will they feel its worth the effort? Maybe the cure seems to hard to recieve. People may just figure its better to live with the illness.
Maybe Joe Blow is a little nervous about how he will be recieved, and it is easier for him to say nothing since everyone seems happy as they are. Maybe he is afraid that someone will try to convince him that he is not really cured, that he was fine before the cure, that nothiing was really ever wrong. Maybe he is afraid they will point out that he is just as healthy as they are. After all he still has weaknesses in his thoughts and his feelings as they do. He still messes up sometimes. Or maybe they will say that his diet from "fun" has not made him more healthy after all. Then what will he say??? What can he say???
You tell me! More to come... Let me have your comments :)
Others may think of enlightenment. All this still implies a knowledge that is special because some do not have it. If we say we walk in light, then we imply that some walk in darkness. If we think we walk in light, does that mean we are special? We are in the sense that we are different from others if we truly walk in light that is. If we walk in light and have special knowledge though, should we keep silent? Hmmm.... Maybe sometimes silence seems more kind. We don't want others to feel that we think we are better than them. We don't want them to think that we think they are ignorant. And yet... if our knowledge is of the nature that it would save someone's life, perhaps we should share it. If our knowledge will cure cancer, should we not share? Oh but there is the issue of credibility... Who will believe you if you meet a cancer patient on the street and tell them... Oh listen, I have special knowledge. I have the cure for cancer...
But this patient doesn't have a clue if you are a doctor or a researcher. This patient doesn't know if you are even what you claim to be. If you were their doctor, that would be another story. If they knew you, they might listen. That is... if they knew you really had the background to make such a claim.
Humm. What does this tell Christians about sharing their faith? Does this mean we need a preaching licence or a degree from seminary to share that we have life changing information in our hands that we would like to share? I mean what if Joe Blow really did have the cure for cancer? Should he keep silent since he has no credibility, perhaps hes not even a doctor or researcher? But just maybe He knows someone who has found a cure....someone who has the cure for cancer. Yet people just don't know about Him, and He is not a conventional doctor. Yet Joe Blow knows the cure works, because he was healed. Now wait a minute! Joe Blow was cured of cancer? This is something others with cancer would want to know! Should Joe Blow keep silent about his cure... about the evidence that a cure exists! What if He is afraid that people will not believe him? After all, many of the world's doctors and researchers do not acknowledge that such a cure exists! He may be afraid they won't believe him, but here he is, a living example!
OH... What if Joe Blow tries to tell about the cure itself but he never talks about how the cure works for him and how it has affected his life? Will people want the cure? Will they feel its worth the effort? Maybe the cure seems to hard to recieve. People may just figure its better to live with the illness.
Maybe Joe Blow is a little nervous about how he will be recieved, and it is easier for him to say nothing since everyone seems happy as they are. Maybe he is afraid that someone will try to convince him that he is not really cured, that he was fine before the cure, that nothiing was really ever wrong. Maybe he is afraid they will point out that he is just as healthy as they are. After all he still has weaknesses in his thoughts and his feelings as they do. He still messes up sometimes. Or maybe they will say that his diet from "fun" has not made him more healthy after all. Then what will he say??? What can he say???
You tell me! More to come... Let me have your comments :)
What this blog will be from now on...
Yes, I am coming back to this blog. I like myspace but it does have its downside. For one thing, I do not want my myspace to be for public viewers. It just has too much information about me in it. For writing blogs of a personal nature, I will probably continue to use myspace. I decided though that I would like a blog where I could log my more scholarly thoughts as I take classes. I saw one persons blog that inspired me in that way. I sometimes enjoy writing book reviews for future reference and I think the internet is a good way to store thoughts. I will be shortly adding to this blog a few book reviews that I have already written and any new thoughts I have. I would still welcome comments. I have a feeling this will be a great place to indulge the intellectual part of me. For yes, I do enjoy learning. I enjoy reading the texts Fuller Seminary has chosen for me and I would love to narrate my thoughts on such texts as well as other texts I may read for fun. I would also like to use this blog to philosophize about God and spirituality and also share what God is teaching me. I may do this at times on myspace, but I am devoting only these mentioned things to this blog from now on. I hope I will have readers with comments of course :)
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