Evangelism: en garde?

"And who is he that will harm you, if you be followers of that which is good? But and if you suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are you: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. For it is better, if the will of God be so, that you suffer for well doing, than for evil doing." --I Peter 3:13-17 (KJV)


This passage contains that one "evangelism verse," namely verse 15, which always gets pulled as the purpose of apologetic seminars and local mission work. I have nothing against this; both of these are fully supported by this. But, taking Peter's context into account (his primary audience likely being 1st century Jews-converted-to-Jesus facing Roman persecution), I'd like to provide a brief scenario in this post.
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I always view this verse (perhaps erroneously ungracefully!) as if it is a call to arms. And surely Christian fellowship is one sword sharpening another (Proverbs 27:17 KJV), just as the weapon of the Christian is the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17 KJV). Yet this attitude often leads me precariously off the ledge of grace-filled speech, when I remember mid-debate (and evangelism isn't debate! Gah!) that the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of man. This, I confess, is an improper understanding of evangelism, of this call to readiness of hope-response in I Peter 3, and of the fear of the LORD.

Peter sandwiches this verse (perhaps chiastically, being the highlighted climax between mirroring verses) immediately between instruction on how a Christian ought to be compassionate in living out the gospel of Christ and instruction on a suffering Christian's proper attitude, following the attitude of Christ.

[I chose the King James, because it translates a Greek word (no se cual; pardoname) as "conversation," as opposed to "behavior" (NASB & NIV & ESV).]

Proper evangelism is done both with "meekness" and "fear," knowing that God alone saves and enacts repentance in rebellious men. Proper evangelism is its definition (and more): announcing the gospel, which in turn means good news (and more). The gospel isn't just a new Justin Beiber song, that the "Hunger Games" came out (though Christian critics wouldn't call it "good," persay...), or that the Lakers are doing well. It's not a new skateboard or surfing trick perfected; it's not the A+ on a hard final exam. It's not getting accepted into the college of your choice; it's not the perfection of a musical piece. It's not a new Personal Record in Track, it's not the birth of a firstborn, it's not the increase of a huge stock investment, it's not winning the lottery, and it's not a marriage announcement. The good news of the gospel carries a weightier significance, bringing an international burden to all people: it is the announcement of victory from a lifetime of war; it is the announcement of the birth of a king; it is the toppling of tyranny; it is like the toppling of the statue of Saddam Hussein, it is like the Emancipation Proclamation, it is like the fall of the Berlin Wall; it is a ransom of utmost importance.
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EDIT:
Argh. I forgot to add this-- on verse 17 "For it is better, if the will of God be so, that you suffer for well doing, than for evil doing." This passage is taken with the context of Peter encouraging his fellow Christians to be ready to (meekly and respectfully) present the gospel (which could include a stunning display of apologetics or not) to a world that despises and (ashamedly) mocks the foolishness of the gospel of Christ crucified. A wise man, an elder of Westminster OPC, principal and secretary of my elementary school, and a friend (whose name I'll abbreviate to his nickname LoJoe) once said, "It's often the opposite that's harder. Peter said (for, reader, this verse [I Peter 3:17] is the monthly all-school Bible verse printed on the bulletins) that you ought to suffer quietly for doing good. He said you'd better not be suffering for doing bad things! Not only is that harming the witness of Christ's Spirit in His followers, but it's also just! However, if you aren't praised for doing right things... now that's a hard pill to swallow. Suffer that equally quietly!"
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Lifted gratefully from Listening to the Language of the Bible (Lois Tverberg + Bruce Okkema):
The Hebrew word [pronounced in English as] besorah, which we translate "good news," has exactly the connotation of a nightmare was suddenly over and a new day had come. It is news of national importance: a victory in war, or the rise of a powerful new king. The word was used in relation to the end of the exile (Isaiah 52:7) and the coming of the messianic King (Isaiah 60:1). Often it is news that means enormous life-change for the hearer. 


In Greek there is an equivalent word, euaggelion, [ευαγγελίων!!] which we also translate as "good news," "glad tidings," or "gospel." It also describes historic news of national importance. One place where this term is used is in the story of the angels who bring the news about the birth of Christ:


The angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11)

This announcement has fascinating context. In Jesus' time, there was a yearly announcement of the birthday of Caesar as "the euanggelion to the whole world." The Roman Empire considered it great news to remind the people of the ascendancy of this king and his reign over the known world. In the light of this, we see that the angels were doing the same thing, but in a much greater way--making an official proclamation to all the nations about the birth of the King of kings, and the arrival of a new kingdom on earth*. 


When we learn that the word "evangelize" comes from euaggelizo (related to euaggelion), we can see the true power of the "good news" of the coming of Christ. Victory has been won in the war against Satan; and Christ, the true King, has come into power. The new King has come to extend an invitation to enter his kingdom and live under his reign. Like any regime change, the word "good" is far too bland** to express the impact of this news that brings eternal life to its hearers. May the news of this King spread everywhere on earth!


*I disagree with this; the earth always has been the Lord's, and Christ didn't come to establish a new kingdom in the manner of Pax Romana.
**"Good" derives directly from God. It is far overused and adulterated in English (I'm pretty guilty here...), but it is literally perfect to describe the gospel of God.

The gospel is good news! It's the best news! 

I need you now; hold on to me.

To be completely clear from the start, I'll be taking liberties with the song "I Need You Now" [Lady Antebellum]  in order to present the cry of a desperate saint who feels lost and forgotten by his Lord, like Elijah.
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Righteous royal theses falling all around my hand,
sounding out my judgment: "For whom do idols have t' stand?" 
But I wonder if I ever cross Your mind,
for they have murdered all of Thine.


It's been forty days of fear, I'm all alone, and I need You now!
Said You wouldn't stall, but they all seek my life, and I need You now!
And I don't know how I can be without...
I just need You now!


There's Your silent whisper; can't stop looking at the door--
wishing You'd come sweeping in the way You did before.
And I wonder if I ever stopped to mind
that You are saving all the time.  


It's three hours after noon, they're a little lost, and I need You now.
Said they wouldn't call, but I offered to to show them; I need You now!
And I don't know how I can do without...
I just need You now.
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I'd originally thought about interjecting lines from "Busted Heart (Hold On To Me)" [For King And Country], because it ends its first verse with the words "I've got a busted heart; I need You now. Yeah, I need You now," but I instead chose to let it be. The lyrics of "Busted Heart" seemed (though I had some misconceptions about these lines) to be a different level of struggle than Elijah's, for I thought the two lines in "Busted Heart" that go "My faith is TIRED tonight" and "ENOUGH is never enough" actually were "My faith is DYING tonight" and "YOUR LOVE is never enough," respectively. But they aren't, so this song passes my Calvinism-meter. (By that, I mean it doesn't violate the 5 points of Calvinism, aka doctrines of grace, aka TULIP [Total depravity, Unconditional election, Limited atonement, Irresistible grace, and Perseverance of the Saints] which are biblical derivatives)

Gah. I just found out Control + P = publish.

It's a great song. If you've got the time, reader, listen to it! (Busted Heart (I Need You Now) + lyrics)

Elijah was a godly man who didn't waver. He was faithful in his task. He was a hairy man and he wore a belt made of leather. He was a predecessor to Elisha as John [the Baptist] was to Jesus, and he gets about as much coverage in the Bible as John the Baptist. Yet he is the one Jews still wait for at every Passover, with the promise that Elijah would be sent before the Messiah [the Sun of righteousness, rising with healing in His wings (tassels??)] would come to free His people to trod evil underfoot. He, with Moses, appeared with Jesus at His transfiguration. Elijah the Tishbite was fearless in the face of the LORD's anointed, King Ahab of Israel, who, marrying Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians,,,, failed to see the irony in his remarks that the prophet of the LORD is the cause of trouble and evil in Israel. Elijah ran faster than the king's chariot. Elijah cried aloud before the LORD to raise the son of the widow. He trusted in God's provision in ravens and magical food. He raised up a generation of kings and prophets to be the LORD's agents of judgment and mercy.

However, when Jezebel vowed to murder him by morning, he did ask to cop out, claiming that he wasn't better than his fathers, immediately following his miraculous run and the LORD's amazing showdown before the wavering children of Israel.

WHY, Elijah?!

--These men of faith in the Bible were men of faith, not God Incarnate. Model them as they follow Christ. 

Personal #5: Peace on them, and mercy, even upon the Israel of God.

Dearest Father, You prove Your mercies to be matchless, beautifully prepared, and shockingly relentless. How often do i, o sinful and weak man i still am, seek for the extravagance of Your mercies? Your peace is boundless; Your love: divine. even this mercy was shed for me--that this morning i dared to gripe and complain, o child of doubt i remain, that Your mercy would not suffice the loss of friends who can possibly share my burdens, as if Your love is not strong enough to deliver me from my doubts and troubles. surely You carried my iniquity; You bore my grief.

Father, the movie version of The Hunger Games was a good film, in all its negative violence. and surely these "negatives" can be used as a stark contrast to Your peace and mercy, Father! yet these negatives are not good in themselves, but only because they forcibly turn the mind of mankind to the cross of Christ--otherwise the symbolism is in vain and the imagery of extravagance is wasted, without the effect of the fruit of satire.

resolved: to, if i would write fiction, write satire.


furthermore, Father, this movie was a blessing because You gave the college group of branch of hope a time to come together to enjoy the art of the film, while remembering Christ's cross to which it pointed [or the lack thereof].

and i mourned their loss (yet they're not lost, of course, Father; i'm just a short-sighted fool.) as if i'd never see many of them again. on the contrary, You've provided a lively (albeit small) college group at branch of hope that i'm fully permitted to visit certain saturdays. You even orchestrated my father's weekends to be on the opposite two weekends, Father. You're amazing beyond belief.

and! and, Father! You sent a thorn to take a job as an emt for a local paramedic! i know he wants to serve as a firefighter, and i'm very grateful that he sees that much of that job would be of instances of emergency health-related rescues. thank You for answering my ungrateful prayers! 

Honey pie, you are making me crazy!

--Gah. Enough with the Beatles' song quotes as titles. Aren't you sick of them by now?

Nah. I actually really enjoyed that class. I learned a ton of music theory, music history, and the history behind the Beatles' influential songs, having been influenced by people like Chuck Berry, Elvis, and the African-American girl groups of the '50s.

I've figured out why my computer likes to NOT add a space after the capital "I:" it's got something to do with the impossibility of "Shift"+"Spacebar." Computers don't like that, and don't add a space. Hence, Ido, Isay, Icrazy. Yay!

I still haven't figured out how to revive my Bluetooth machine in my car. Bleghhsdufpdshfg. I've got a week to figure that one out, though.

My bone marrow registration number is 1076-2552-7.

I'm going to rifle through my notes from last quarter (I meant to do this during Christmas break) and post useful things about Criminology, Law & Society, Psychology, Philosophy, and Greek. (and Beatles from this quarter!) Not only is it really cool stuff, it's also a great way for me to review what I've learned.

I met up with an acquaintance of mine to study the Beatles. There's not much we could do besides go over notes; as he forgot his, he took pictures of mine and then went National Treasure on them, zooming in like crazy on his computer. Unfortunately, my short-hand is sometimes less-than-legible. On the upside, whenever he asked me to translate, read, or expound something, it forced me to remember what it is I meant, and what it was the professor was teaching or what we were listening to. This guy's a Catholic and gave up meat for lent. I felt bad for ordering the Denver omelette (What the. How do you spell omelette? Silly red squiggly lines.), but those were quickly given up. After all, this wasn't a Romans 15 moment; it was a temporary fast, for the right reasons one ought to fast-- to intentionally sacrifice to remember and set apart time to honor God.

I love how the little boxes say "fasting" or "non-fasting" on blood test papers.

The Hunger Games is a great series. The movie (which Branch of Hope's college group and I saw tonight) was largely faithful to the book, and the things that were cut were all small (but important) things, as they all had to do with the literary symbolism. But the author had a hand in writing the screenplay, so I guess things are alright.

It's a new birth, this quarter is...I just hope it'll be marked by a more healthy sleep pattern! :)

BOR_Chapter 4: Where did I go to elementary school?

Prompt: Focus on elementary school. Here you will focus on K-6. Be sure to write about friends and things you did together. Talk about school memories. Be sure to include something about your elementary school love. 
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My K-6th grade experience was unlike any other account that I've heard of. [FSAE: I enjoyed ending sentences with prepositions then; I enjoy the same now.] I was the only kid in my grade for the longest time, and I skipped the second grade, because my parents knew I was smart enough. [Uh. I wasn't too conceited; my teachers suggested it.] But let me back up and say I actually started school a year ahead of most kids, because my birthday was on the either-or slope of winter-born babies. [My birthday is November 18. I'm not a winter baby.] Since my birthday is November 18 [Doh.], my parents also decided to send me to school a year earlier than normal. My earliest memories of school were in a tiny room, as large as my present bedroom [~25' x 25'], with a stern old lady [Mrs. Jocilyn Warren] teaching all 10 of the kids from Kindergarten to sixth grade. That lady, Mrs. Warren [I give up. I've forgotten I used to write fairly sporadically short sentences. No more commentary, future self!], only taught me Kindergarten and first grade before a new teacher, Miss Kim, taught me from third to sixth grade.

Miss Kim really expected perfection, like my Asian mother.. They got along quite well, indeed! Looking back, it was her tutelage that inspired the perfectionist streak in me, and her heavy burdens have provoked me to scoff at Valley Christian's workload. I don't know if that's a good thing or not [FSAE: Breaking my rule...it most certainly is a good thing.], but that's how I see things. She was a private tutor before she began teaching at Covenant Christian Academy. Oh, right; that's the name of my school. No, you haven't heard of it. It's located in a tiny alcove in Little Saigon in Westminster. In my year of Kindergarten, it was located in Garden Grove, but the school moved to share space from its endorsing church, Westminster OPC. In front of the church was a wide expanse of open grass, probably about 10,000 square feet, with rolling hills and trees separating the church's parking lot from the street. I remember playing there whenever we were let out on that side of the church, but a retirement home has since bought that land and had finished building its property by the second time I enrolled in sixth grade. Second time, you ask? My parents agreed to compensate for my early age because of my skipping second grade with sending me to sixth grade again, whilst being taught/tutored by Mrs. Sim (Miss Kim got married before my sixth grade [which one, I can't remember!) to Peter Sim, hence the name change.) more extensively in higher levels of education.

Because my school was so tiny (and I live in an area of Long Beach that has mainly older folks), I never really had the typical "childhood crush" like most other kids [FSAE: Not that I regret it.]. However, there was one girl I remember I always competed with, for some reason. Her name is Christine Lehart, and we used to always compete for first place in sprints like kids do. Being fast helped back then! We would rule any kind of game of tag, colors, capture the flag, steal the bacon, or other games involving running (including, if I may, running the mile). [FSAE: Oh. This was after I'd ran cross country, reader, so bear with the silly "runner's high" comments. I'll plead insanity on multiple accounts of endorphins.] We're still friends today, although not quite as close friends as we were, since we've headed separate ways in high school [and now, college].

What a strange childhood I had! But aren't they all? I only got what I needed, as God planned ahead of time. 

And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.

Hello, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band! Goodbye, Sgt. Pepper's! Good morning, good morning, Sun! King, her majesty, Polythene Pam (she's so heavy!) [she] came in through the bathroom window. Tomorrow never knows a day in the life within you; without you, Lucy in the sky with diamonds? Carry that weight, lovely Rita with a little help from my friends. Rain something, paperback writer, being for the benefit of Mt. Kite. Oh! Darling, here comes the sun!

Hey Jude, all you need is love back in the U.S.S.R. You never give me your money, mean Mr. Mustard; taxman, let it be while my guitar gently weeps! Happiness is: a warm gun, golden slumbers, fixing a hole, getting better, strawberry fields forever, the inner light, revolution, helter skelter. Got to get you into my life, Julia Eleanor Rigby; get back the long and winding road Penny Lane. I want you, lady Madonna. Come together octopus's garden, maxwell's silver hammer, glass onion. Because she's leaving home, I am the walrus. Don't let me down when I'm sixty-four.

The ballad of John and Yoko: love you to the end.

Revolution 1!
Revolution 9!

Forgive the title. I know it's theologically fallacious: where does grace fit in? I just lifted it as the only lyric in the Beatles's song "The End," which seems fitting, since I'll be taking the final in 10 hours! Yikes!

Calvin is Complicated: The Redefining of Success (Part 3: Critical Biography)

Calvin is Complicated: The Redefining of Success

John Calvin is known today as the illustrious Swiss reformer of the Christian church of the sixteenth century. However, he did not dream of such high and influential realms of persisting success from an early age. As a young boy, Calvin was far from religious, even though his father worked as a clerk of sorts for the local church, which is a humorous twist on the “clerical” job (Holder). It was not just his father’s affluent job or Calvin’s own innate ambition that stirred his brilliance that brought his lasting fame, but also a matter of sheer luck: that he was born at the beginning of the sixteenth century, the exact time the Christian Reformation in Europe was just getting legs is nothing short of a miracle (“The Reformation”). Malcolm Gladwell would agree that Calvin had “intelligence, personality, [and] ambition,” but more importantly was a “product of particular places and environments” (Gladwell 119). Calvin’s success also owes to the historical fact that Switzerland had quite recently (relative to his birth) formally declared itself to be militarily neutral, lending itself to the advancement of Switzerland as a center of European trade and philosophical-religious ideology which it inhabits to this day. Calvin is also widely recognized today because of the relative novelty of the “movable type” printing press which made possible the mass production of written material. Yet all these historical coincidences afforded to John Calvin and all the Gladwellian advantages inherent of particular places, pedigrees, and pedagogues from which he profited would have been worthless without Calvin’s characteristically modest desire to model a changing paradigm of success: that living life to the fullest is walking humbly before God. Thus, Calvin’s success as a religious (and by extension, philosophical) reformer is not only complicated by the unique circumstances of his life, but also redefined by his lifelong mission of emptying himself to further the gospel and reform the church.

Though there is not much recorded of Calvin’s early life (that is, before his writings began to chronicle his presence), Rev. Ward Holder recounts one story that Calvin’s mother once “[took] him to visit shrines” (Holder). This is surprising that visiting shrines is the extent of young Calvin’s religious experience, especially as his father was employed by the church, and this demonstrates that Calvin was not raised in the tutelage of the church. The next recorded event of John Calvin’s life is of scoring a position in private tutoring from a nearby wealthy family for whom his father worked (Holder). This fact heavily complies with Gladwell’s argument that successful people are geniuses who “don’t do it alone” (Gladwell 119). Had Calvin not been born to a relatively wealthy family in the sixteenth century, all of his great intelligence and ambition would have been fruitless without a proper education from a young age provided for in private tutelage. Holder calls this circumstance of Calvin’s education as being completely dependent on “the good fortune of his father’s professional relationship” to this nearby family of nobility (Holder). Gladwell would call this provision by merit of his father’s occupation one of Calvin’s “hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow [those who emerge successful] to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot” (Gladwell 19). His father’s relatively affluent career and the people in high places he knew gave his son, John Calvin, the means to practice the extraordinary academic talents Calvin demonstrated.

However, this is not to downplay Calvin’s intelligence or drive for excellence: Calvin is next recorded to have distinguished himself in his studies sufficient to gain the “support of a benefice, a church-granted stipend, at the age of 12, so as to support him in his studies” (Holder). Holder is also quick to point out the unusual nature of this benefice: “Although normally benefices were granted as payment for work for the church, either present or in the future, there is no record that Calvin ever performed any duties for this position. Later [in his life] he held two more benefices, for which he also did no work” (Holder). This is immensely important because it reveals the nature of Calvin’s emerging ambition and academic knack for excellence at the age of 12, being paid with a scholarship to continue his studies, as opposed to the normal purpose of a benefice being a wage to pay church workers (Holder). John Calvin was also encouraged onwards in his studies by his father, who willed all of his sons to enter the priesthood (“John Calvin: Biography”). Calvin himself writes in a rare reflective portion of his Commentary on the Psalms, “My father had intended me for theology from my early childhood” (Bouwsma 10). This urging is also important to note, as Calvin aimed to be successful as a priest at this time not because of a desire to reform the church, but as a simple means of acquiring a professional and well-paying job (of the sixteenth century, at any rate) that his father desired him to achieve. Without the availability of financial support of the local church, John Calvin would not have been able to pay the expensive bills of sixteenth century private education.

Calvin was not only lucky to be born of a family with ties to higher places and in the range of a parish that could recognize and support his talent, but he was also lucky to be born in the exact first decade of the sixteenth century. Anticipated by the Bubonic Plague (the “Black Death”) and the Western Schism of the Roman Catholic Church, Martin Luther struck the nail in the coffin when he pounded his hammer against the church door in Wittenberg, Germany, thus starting the Reformation with his Ninety-Five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences in 1517 (Bouwsma 8). John Calvin was born in 1509, was given his benefice in 1521, and finished his first edition of Institutio Christianae religionis (The Institutes of the Christian Religion) in 1536 (Cline). Gladwell would again compare Calvin to Joe Flom, that 

[“the sense of possibility so necessary for success comes not just from inside us or from our parents. It comes from our time: from the particular opportunities that our particular place in history presents us with. For a would-be lawyer, being born in the early 1930s was a magic time, just as being born in 1955 was for a software programmer, or being born in 1835 was for being an entrepreneur” (Gladwell 137). ]

Being born in the early 1500s was a prime time to succeed as a Christian reformer. Martin Luther of Germany is credited with the beginning of the Protestant Reformation when he published his Ninety-five Theses in 1517, just twenty years before Calvin would begin reforming Geneva and his writing of the Institutes of the Christian Religion and numerous commentaries. Had he been born at the end of the fourteenth century, Calvin would have attended college before Luther’s controversial publication, and become a Roman Catholic priest, as Luther’s works “were early [read] during Calvin’s first years at the University” (Bouwsma 13). Had he been born later in the century, Calvin would have continued in his father’s urging to become a humanist lawyer, as he would have missed the opportunity to learn Greek and Latin from the aged masters in the Parisian universities, who died shortly after the 1520s (Bouwsma 12). Calvin’s brilliant skills as a writer, speaker, pastor, and reformer would either be impossible or unnecessary had he been born in a different generation.

The fact that John Calvin was born in Noyon, France is also incredibly lucky. France was not the birthplace of the Renaissance (though it gave a French title to the era), but it was a major hub for the development of science, literature, and art. The universities of Paris were among the best in Europe at the time. Most importantly to Calvin’s eventual success as a writer of the Reformation, Parisian universities were renowned for their excellence in languages. At several Parisian universities, Calvin mastered Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, “the three languages in the scholarly and educational program of Christian reform” (Bouwsma 12). Mathurin Cordier, called “one of Latin’s greatest teachers,” tutored Calvin in the development of his Latin so thoroughly that Calvin would dedicate to Cordier his Commentary on Ephesians (Ganoczy). But the advantages of France did not end with the obvious availability of quality education; when Calvin was exiled from France for being implicated with the controversial Nicolas Cop, he was forced to flee to the nominally-neutral Switzerland. Switzerland had declared its neutrality in 1515, when Calvin was six years old. Though Switzerland continued to belie its neutrality by continuously hiring its fighting forces as mercenaries to other nations such as France and the Austrian territories, this neutrality allowed the sixteenth-century Switzerland to become a safe haven for exiles and strangers alike. As Calvin spent almost half of his lifespan working as a reformer, writer, and pastor in Geneva, the geographic location of his birthplace in France allowed him the formal Parisian education in law and theology, and the ability to evade the violent Counter-Reformation of the Catholic Church beginning in 1545 (Bouwsma 15). Without his formal education in France and the call to reform Geneva, Calvin would not be remembered today as a reformer.

The reason Calvin is still thought of as hugely influential and a primary source in theology, philosophy, and sociology is complicated by the novelty of the moveable type printing press, having been invented only eighty years before Calvin would begin publishing. This style of print allowed for the mass production of (mainly scholastic) books, which allowed ideas and books to travel more widely around the world. Thomas Tahoe et. al., professors at Union County College, state simply that, because of the invention of the moveable type printing press in 1455, “books, and the ideas contained in them, became available to a much wider audience since they no longer had to be laboriously copied by hand. Literacy for the masses became feasible” (Tahoe et al.). However, though Calvin’s success may be complicated by the necessity of the printing press to publish and widely disperse his writings, his style and purpose for writing, as well as his commitment to Scripture being the highest authority over all, are what set him apart from the other writers of the Reformation and Renaissance. Calvin took extraordinary measures to writing solely on the expounding of Scripture and its applications in the constant revisions of his Institutes (Bouwsma 4). This highly academic tone (so far as to seem bereft of human emotion) was produced only as a result of his “aristocratic leanings and [his] education in law” (Anders 5). Unlike Martin Luther, who also wrote extensively on theological topics and Scripture, Calvin did not detail his thought processes nor did he write much in the way of autobiography, which seem to respectively entail a lesser degree of clarity and remembrance (Bouwsma 16). On the contrary, according to William Bouwsma, “Calvin’s place in human history rests largely upon his ideas” (Bouwsma 19). Calvin’s place in the Reformation was spurred by the printing press and driven by the advantages of his origins, but he made his indelible mark on history in the substance of his writing.

Calvin did not, however, pursue scholarship as a reformer for the reasons his father desired him to pursue a profession in the Roman Catholic Church. He “always believed that even his scholarship was justified only by its utility” of serving the church of Christ (Bouwsma 17). This, according to Anders, explains the lack of autobiographical details or any humor in his books. However, this humility was only cultivated at the unbearable anxiety Calvin suffered. Bouwsma records in “John Calvin’s Anxiety” that Calvin’s “anxiety drove him through his career of strenuous and distinguished accomplishment,” but that his anxiety above all else bound him “to his time” (Bouwsma). This anxiety felt almost universally in the sixteenth century could be compared to the angst of the modern twentieth century; both eras were brimming with political and religious tension. Calvin attempted to deal with his fear and trembling by pouring himself into his work, thus “much of what he had to say was consciously intended to soothe a peculiarly anxious generation” (Bouwsma 32). All of his philosophical reasoning and biblical exegesis was committed to the continuous humble assertion of the security of his faith. Calvin trusted the words of Christ, who said “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own life? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his life” (The New Open Bible, Matt.16:24-25)? These words were Calvin’s comfort and pushed him onward to write his commentaries and suffer oppression and opposition for the sake of Christ.

Calvin was successful because he chose to forsake the conventional definition of success. Calvin cleaved to the spirit of renaissance when he was born again and, as a reformer of the Christian church, entered the academic realm of scholastic publishing, made possible by the novelty of the moveable type printing press. He chose to seemingly give up his trainings as both lawyer and priest in order to speak for the truth he found in the Bible, utilizing his unique education in the biblical languages and systematic thought in order to leave behind a legacy of philosophical reform. He grasped the Gladwellian advantages that came before him in the area of his early education, and cultivated his innate intelligence with the benefice of the local parish. But most of all, Calvin pursued humility in the face of history, turning away from the conventional means of success, requesting that his grave remain unmarked so that his written contributions of the reformation would be his only remembrance (Anders). His life’s thesis can be summed up in his unusually passionate declaration: “I offer my heart to You, O Lord, promptly and sincerely” (“John Calvin”). John Calvin, however long and winding the road to his success may be, was following a redefinition of success that those who empty their lives for the sake of Jesus will have found life.

Works Cited:

"John Calvin." Grandpa Pencil. 2011.Web. 3 Feb.

2012.http://www.grandpapencil.net/projects/concepts/calvin.htm


"John Calvin: Biography." Calvin 500. The Standard Theme, 2012.Web. 18 Jan.


2012.http://www.calvin500.com/john-calvin/biography/


The New Open Bible. Ed. Arthur L. Farstad. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990. Print.


"The Reformation: general overview." Swissworld.org. Federal Department of Foreign Affairs,


2012.Web. 11 Mar. 2012. http://www.swissworld.org/en/history/the_reformation/general_overview/


Anders, Albert D. "Prophets from the ranks of shepherds: John Calvin and the challenge of


popular religion (1532-1555)." Dissertation. The University of Iowa,2002. Web.


Accessed March 5, 2012. ProQuest. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=765114221&Fmt=2&clientId=1568&RQT=309&VName=PQD 5 Mar. 2012.


Bouwsma, William J. "Explaining John Calvin." The Wilson Quarterly 13.1 (1989): 68-75. Print.


14 Mar. 2012. JSTOR. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40257444


---. John Calvin: a sixteenth-century portrait. 1st ed. New


York, New York, United States of America: Oxford University Press, 1988. Print.12 Feb. 2012.http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ADdQiBaLW_kC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=John+Calvin+France+1500&ots=NnJOhQzcEZ&sig=qKjnhV


---. "John Calvin's Anxiety." Essay. American Philosophical Society,1984. Print. Accessed


March 14, 2012. Historical Abstracts. 14 Mar. 2012.


Cline, Austin. "John Calvin." About.com. The New York Times Company, 2012.Web. 17 Jan.


2012.http://atheism.about.com/library/glossary/western/bldef_calvinjohn.htm


Ganoczy, Alexandre. "Calvin's life." The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin.


Ed. Donald K. McKimCambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2004. : 3-4. Print. 1 Feb. 2012.


Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: The Story of Success. New York, New York, United States of


America: Little, Brown and Company, 2008. Print.1 Mar. 2012.


Holder, Ward. "John Calvin (1509-1564)." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 17 4. 2001.Web.


19 Jan. 2012. http://www.iep.utm.edu/calvin/


Tahoe, Thomas J., Jose M. Duvall and Harold E. Damerow. "Renaissance."


Faculty Research Pages of Economics, Government, and History. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co., 1997.Web. 21 Feb. 2012.http://faculty.ucc.edu/egh-damerow/renaissance.htm

Wrap-up: the calm before the storm.

The Intro: At Westminster OPC, there are both offering bags and pews. I like these things for different reasons. Offering bags are much easier to be discreet about-- and since I haven't grown up to the point of writing checks (the fact that Idon't have a job or income to support a tithe notwithstanding... P.S.- I'm not sure if I'll ever enjoy writing checks... or are they cheques?), it's sometimes strange to see different values of pieces of paper floating along on a platter. But perhaps an offering plate seems much more like an offering... Eh. I like pews because they are much easier on the set-up and cleaning crews... but that might be because those are only things noticeable with practice. Well, that's not really the main reason I appreciate pews; I'm not that complain-y. I like pews because they are a little bit more flexible than chairs. If another family needs space, a family could squish a little bit. Plus, the pews I've sat in allow for the storage of bibles and hymnals and visitor cards and pencils and communion cups.

The Story: I didn't pass the bag to my mom (she writes a check monthly) or Calvin, because Iwas sitting in the aisle and no one sat beyond my family in our row. Calvin was going to give to the church. Gah. I sit in dust and ashes!

Resolved: to always pass the offering bag/ Lord's Supper (for different reasons), when there is a deacon/elder/under-Dunaway/servant on the other side to receive it.


I got to talk a little with Erin recently about the reasons (which she already knew) why some of her Christian sisters would discourage her from "cool jobs," like doctoring. [HAH. My computer agrees that "doctoring" is a word. No red squiggly lines! :)] I'm not going to discuss our conversation here, but it's crossed my mind that I might be required to sacrifice precious blessings also if I were to be a pastor. As a woman might sacrifice dreams of a career in saving lives or finding a cure to cancer in order to nurture love and protect her children from cancerous sins, so I might have to sacrifice love and protecting children from sin in order to proclaim Christ as the cure for mankind's spiritual cancer, which essentially kills and condemns from conception. I'm not going to discuss Paul's context for I Corinthians 7 here, but Ido not think as Roman Klusak (a Reformed Baptist friend in the Czech Republic), that this is a demand for pastors today, for the Great Commission is not necessarily mutually exclusive to God's first commission-- "Go! Make more of yourselves! Spread the love that created and named you!" (loose Joseph translation of Genesis 1:28 + Matthew 28:19) Regardless, I'll be grateful and loyal to God, for the lines have fallen in good places; my inheritance is good.

Resolved: to never (without permission) take another person's words and place them here without context, in such a way to humiliate or incriminate. 
Resolved: to cultivate tact while remembering that timing must be defined! One cannot push off the inevitable forever.


Greek test tomorrow. safpuweahg. I don't know what I'm going to do for my Spring break. (I hate how "spring break" isn't connected to Easter any longer. Sometimes it's the little things...) The Pollard kitchen table is never filled, yet "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows." It's that fourth chair, that broken chair, that always seems to be used simply as a place to set the cereal, or a bag of chips, or newspapers, which breaks my heart a little bit each morning.

Resolved: to, if I get to raise kids of my own, tell them that I love them often. (Assuming, of course, that I do love them! Mwahahaha.... yeah. That's not really funny.) 
Resolved: to always be available to fostering or adopting children. 


My uncle (Gary Herrema) was in surgery yesterday for a blood infection in his foot, and at least one of his toes was amputated. Please keep him in prayer. 

A short study in biblical threes.

When the woman saw that the tree [of knowledge of good and evil] was 
1. good for food,
2. and that it was a delight to the eyes,
3. and that the tree was desirable to make one wise,
she took from its fruit and ate; 
and she gave also to her husband with her, 
and he ate.
Genesis 3:6


Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan [River] and was led around in the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, 
1. and when they had ended, He became hungry. 
1*And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."
1`And Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Man shall not live on bread alone.'" [Deuteronomy 8:3]
2. And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the inhabited earth in a moment of time.
2*And the devil said to Him, "I will give You all this domain and their glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You bow down before me, it shall all be Yours."
2`Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God and serve Him only.'" [Deuteronomy 6:13]
3. And he led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 
3* and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here; for it is written, 'He will command His angels concerning you to guard you,' and 'on their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"
3`And Jesus answered and said to him, "It is said, 'You shall not put the LORD your God to the test.'" [Deuteronomy 6:16]
When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time. 
Luke 4:1-13


Then Jesus said to His disciples, 
"If anyone wishes to come after Me, 
1. he must deny himself,
2. and take up his cross
3. and follow Me. 
For whoever wishes to save his soul will lose it, but whoever loses his soul for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and 'will then repay every man according to his doings' [probably Septuagint quote from Isaiah 59:18 or Hosea 4:9]. Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."
Matthew 16:24-28 (NASB)


Wherewith shall I come before the LORD and bow myself before the high God?
1. Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?
2. Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
3. Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of thee,
1. but to do justly, 
2. and to love mercy, 
3. and to walk humbly with thy God? 
Micah 6:6-8 KJV

BOR_Chapter 3: What was my earliest religious experience[s]?

Prompt: Write about your earliest religious experiences. Think about the first time you thought about God. Consider church, the first time you prayed alone, or any particularly religious images or experiences that stand out to you. Then, write about how your faith has developed as you've grown. Focus on key events.

I grew up in a Christian home for all my life. [FSAE: Correction-- I grew up in the church, but not a home.] Because I was surrounded by Christians, I suppose it was assumed and inevitable for God to create in me a new heart devoted to Him. My parents never directly talked about faith, Christianity, or God for as long as I can remember, however faithful they were and are to God, which really left a shy disposition in me when talking about such subjects, even in secluded Christian atmospheres like Youth Group and Bible studies, and even Valley Christian.

That introduction being said, I prayed before meals occasionally and prayed before Iwent to bed, but Inever really understood any of the Christianity that Iwould have associated myself with. That is, not until Iwas ten years old, in sixth grade, and Iwas learning about Reformed Christianity under Mrs. Sim [FSAE: then Miss Kim, but that's another story]. When she taught me about the five points of Calvinism, I finally understood what it meant when God interposed His Son for me, a sinner and a  rebellious enemy to the throne of grace. [FSAE: I'm not sure where Istand even now on God's covenant. I tend to lean towards Reformed Baptist, from my own experience and conversion.] Unfortunately, my bottleneck conversion was directly followed by my father sidestepping his role as the head of his household, and I was forced to rapidly mature both emotionally and spiritually. [FSAE: I don't remember exactly how these two events coincided] The night my father left me, I cried so much that my tears crusted over my eyelashes and Ithought Ihad cried myself blind, because I could not see.. Since then, I've learned how to trust in God's love [which opens the eyes of the blind].

Ido not remember really praying before I was converted, but Ido remember my grandparents really healing my broken heart, time after time. They would sing and pray and lead by example. I also learned that school [and education] is a gift and a pleasure from them, rather than a chore and a job. That may seem pretty red herring, but I've gone through Christian private schooling from Kindergarten on their dime, so Ihave had many long years of sheltered guidance, for which Iam exceedingly thankful.

I was baptized at birth, and while of course Iwill not possibly be able to remember that occasion, my grandparents just recently showed me the video they taped of Greg Bahnsen baptizing me, and Greg Bahnsen really spent a long time genuinely praying for me, for my future spiritual walk. [FSAE: If God wills it, this man of faith will see his prayer answered in my ministry.] I became a communicant member of the church on February 22, 2004, and it was not until afterwards that Itruly understood why my pastor [Paul Viggiano of Branch of Hope OPC] always stresses that the fourth and final question asked of church members is so special and controversial--that one would submit themselves to church discipline if found wanting in life or doctrine against that specific church's teachings. Being a communicant member of the church means one is allowed to partake in the Lord's Supper, a remembrance of the Passover meal eaten by Christ and His disciples, and Ilearned some very special lessons about those two elements from Mr. Becksvoort's "The Land, The Culture, and The Book" class (LCB). [FSAE: I still don't really have a good grasp of consubstantiation, but Ifeel like my prior self didn't clarify enough-- the Lord's Supper is more than remembrance, as a tasting of the future Marriage Supper.] The Passover Lamb was chosen from the flocks of Bethlehem three days before the Passover, just as Jesus of Bethlehem made His triumphal entry three days before He made His propitiatory sacrifice for us. About Himself, He then spoke the customary words with which the priest would consecrate the sacrificial Passover lamb, saying "This is My body, given for you; do this in remembrance of Me"(Luke 22:19). He took the cup after the Passover meal, which would have been the third cup of the meal, signifying the "Cup of Redemption," [FSAE: being the 3rd of 4 promises made in Exodus 6:6-7] and drank in remembrance of God's mighty deliverance from bondage of Egypt, and spoke the words customary at the time with which a man would offer to a prospective bride in an engagement ritual, saying "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you"(Luke 22:20). He thus tied the example of deliverance from bondage to the deliverance from sin, showing that His death would be the prophesied true "Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world"(John 1:29). This is what Christianity means to me today: God sent His Son to redeem for His Son a wayward and spiritually dead bride, and it is only by His resuscitation (justification) and guidance (sanctification) that this bride may live to love her Savior [FSAE: and Lord]. What a beautiful love story!

Personal #4: Mercy! O God!

I had a short conversation a while back with  Christopher Locke , a friend of mine in my class at UC Irvine, about how we ought to occupy our thoughts. Should we ever cease from wailing in distress, that there is even 1 soul (and Lord knows there are many more than one) that does not bow his knee to Jesus? That there are many who persecute the church? That those who reject the gospel spit in the face of the LORD? That our voices cannot sing without growing weary? And for that matter, should we ever cease from joy? Should we never stop praising God for His terrible salvation, at the cost of His Son? Should we never be satisfied with our efforts to glorify His Name in the earth, as the waters cover the sea? Should our zeal no respite know, to serve this Master who calls us sons and friends? Should our tears forever flow for the lost sheep, the goats, the tares?

While all our hearts and all our songs 
join to admire the feast
each of us cry, with thankful tongues,
"Lord, why was I a guest?"


There is a reason we cry for joy AND sorrow.

See from His head, His hands, His feet:
sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet
or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Investment

Disclaimer: This post will be haphazard. I've got a little bit of work to finish before sleep tonight, but Ineed to write this before Iforget. Gah. My spacebar refuses to leave room when Icall myself "I." (Hah. Just kidding. Ifleshed things out.)

Random thing:My car's bluetooth system isn't speaking to my phone anymore. I hope they can work things out quickly, because this no longer allows me to stage calls in the car without my hands. Cry more, Joseph. Yeah, well, it happens more often than I'd think-- even if there are only a few people that call me.

Greek word + etymology: κακός = bad, harmful, evil (and probably more things. Why did ancient languages have to be so nuanced? Why not invent more words to fit definitions?) One word English derives from the Greek is the word "cacophony," which is a compound word with the other Greek word "φωνή," which means "voice, sound" and probably more. So cacophony = bad sound.

Which leads me to part of this post's topic.

I adore the architectural design of UC Irvine. It was designed in the '60s in the shape of a circle, with each school scattered around the circumference. This was a rough design, as the medical buildings are a bit farther than the rest, having been annexed later. This design was also relevant of the time, as the architects were instructed to avoid having the library, as customarily the case, be placed in the center of the school, lending itself as a middle point for students of all classifications of gather [and protest, with the spirit of the 1960s filling the air. Or maybe that's marijuana.]. Anyways, around UC Irvine, this circumference is dubbed "Ring Road," and has become infamous for "flyering and tabling," as my friends call the solicitation and fundraising that begins promptly at 9 A.M. and closes around 5 P.M. Many of these clubs or organizations are for great causes; many are not. There is always a Christian bible study selling Korean Barbeque ($5) or Boba ($2) or Tacos ($2 for 1, $3 for 2). A rare treat might consist of waffles or Chipotle burritos or Hawaiian chicken. Ihaven't purchased any of these things, even when the bible study I'm invested in raising funds for foreign missions (to Kenya and China, mainly). There are also always fraternities and sororities out and about, with large cardboard Greek letters and couches, wife-beaters and footballs, short shorts and sunglasses, even when Irvine gets a windy day of rain. Sometimes an occasional Muslim group will rally. There could be an evangelist, shouting from atop a small box, waving his cane around to the scorn and shouting of students. My classmates! And they silence a man who believes he speaks truth... in a way that draws derision. Yeah, maybe street preaching on a humanist religious institution (for that's what secular American colleges are today) is not the best way to win souls. To preach Ezekiel 3:17-21-style, seeking [only] to place a truthful warning in the ears of those trapped by sin, and thus delivering one's self from divinely mandated responsibility, has a time and a place, but it is important to note that Ezekiel's message was not sent to deliver souls, but to condemn them for "having known better," if you will. I'm not suggesting subverting the divisive nature of the gospel, but suggesting tactfulness, if one truly has faith that God can save even the hardest heart.

Interesting thought, which Iwill perform at the next possible opportunity in which Ihave at least 5 minutes: A great many of these solicitors could be used as witnessing opportunities. Bone Marrow Registration agents could be asked why it is that life is valuable, and why compassion and selfless love are praiseworthy. The same could be said of the reasoning behind the financial donations begged for by the Hands-for-Africa agents who accost solitary pedestrians on Ring Road.

But a great many of the persons handing out fliers are for events Iwill never attend, nor are interested in. A flier advertising a part-time work-at-home student-targeted job, promising "$16/hour starting pay"(It's a lie.) are a favorite. Sometimes there are coupons for new restaurants. Sometimes fraternities advertise pledge events. Sometimes there are paintball outings, snowboard club fundraisers, other bible studies, concerts, UCI "away" sporting events, comedy nights.

Maaaaaaan. Idon't want your flier. So Itook it, and Ithrew it on the GROUND! (Lonely Island)


But at the same time, it's a different response that goes through my mind when my bible study flier gets rejected, or ripped, or thrown in the nearest trashcan. It's not like the rest of the events. This is serious business. I can't detach myself from this message like the people who are paid to hand out coupon-books or the silly $16/hour fliers. Of course, Christians aren't the message of the gospel, but Christ is the identity of the church. For me to be so flippant of an evangelist to say, "Your loss, bro," would be an insult to the gravity of Christ's condescension and obedience and atonement, and would propagate the subjective and apathetic mindset towards the gospel that has become normal for our American generation.

Sometimes Ithink I'd like to be a preacher in a different land, just as Isometimes entertain the sinful thoughts of abdicating my responsibilities to my family.

EDIT: Itotally forgot the other part of this post! I helped Long Beach OPC's neighborhood outreach flyering thing yesterday. We got to have many interesting conversations with people from all religious backgrounds, but many doors simply weren't answered, or had "NO SOLICITING" signs that we... sometimes didn't honor, but that's ok! The gospel isn't just an advertisement. Pastor Lim said we shouldn't have done that, for God can use other means if a person He chooses to save is not receptive to door-to-door evangelism.

I have been crucified with Christ;
and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me;
and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 
Galatians 2:20 NASB

Book Suggestion: The Gospel and Personal Evangelism (Pastor Mark Dever) This book has been amazing. It's also given me tips on how to cultivate long-term relationships and to create openings for sharing the gospel. After all, the gospel is good news that Jesus came to take our sins and give us his right standing before God!

Resolved: to stop friending people on Facebook at 700 friends, and to be wise about adding and dropping friendships, knowing that I cannot stretch myself too thin without shortchanging them.

A taste before the third installment of my biography on John Calvin.

1. What is my strongest topic/paragraph and why?
My strongest topic and paragraph is the one that demonstrates how Calvin's success largely supports Malcolm Gladwell's "right time; right place" argument/complication of success. My fourth paragraph details this, using the example of Joe Flom, the Jewish lawyer of New York.

2. What is my weakest topic/paragraph and why?
My weakest paragraph and thought (though it has much potential) is my last body paragraph so far, mainly because it is incomplete and is not fully researched as of yet.

3. What can I do to improve my weakest topic and, by extension, any topics that are not my strongest?
More research and closer attention to transition sentences relating to my thesis will most improve my essay.

4. What is my personal goal for this final essay? Why? What aspects of my writing am I trying to improve?
My personal goal is not just to learn more about research and my topic as a religious source of Calvinistic Christianity, but also simply to be a better historian, seeing links in stories. I'd also like to be able to use this history to demonstrate a new meaning of success, and how John Calvin is defined by this meaning of mine as well as the conventional and Gladwellian means of success.

5. What part of analytical writing comes easiest to me? What part is most difficult?
Writing elegantly and unbiasedly & unashamedly presenting truisms comes naturally to me, while writing transition statements that relate to a single thesis are not always as pressing to my mind.

6. Finally: What part of writing and rhetoric most shakes my confidence? How can I increase my confidence in any rhetorical situation?
Research sometimes seems unbearably large, even for relatively short papers as these. I also seem to be preparing for a dissertation, which is why the great amount of information available on the internet shakes my confidence. My courage is upheld by the promise that my words will last to be useful for my following footsteps.

Things that stick.

piano keys.
keyboards. (especially the spacebar)
doorknobs.
sugary food.
books with character (aka nastiness spilled on them.)
cat claws in denim.
ballpoint pens after you take them apart and surgically remove the spring.
zippers.

I told a friend who was watching the lambs with me in the Czech Republic that I really hate sticky fingers. Apples and citrus-y fruits tend to do that to one's hands, if the fruits aren't consumed carefully. But anyways, I think I'll learn to love the feeling of sticky fingers, if children entail stickiness.

I'll be posting the rest of my "Book of Reflections" that I wrote two years ago when I was a senior in high school for the benefit of my friends and so I'll see just how far God has led me these past two years. I'll also be adding my running commentary, noted with FSAE... though I'll try to not go too bracket-crazy.

ARGH. My spacebar seems to enjoy getting stuck on the word "I." Iwill not go crazy over this.

If you could, reader, pray for my friend  Laura , as she wanders through Great Britain and maybe France! I'm looking forward to seeing pictures of a real Irish St. Patrick's Day celebration :)

I also seem to resist being vertical during the tenth hour of the morning. Idon't know why it's been this way; last quarter I woke up much earlier to fight rush hour to get to nine o'clock classes on time. ARGH. And getting nine hours didn't even help too much-- Ijust ended up feeling rushed and weird. Brunch is cool, but don't make it a usual happening, reader. Your body needs multiple meals, preferably more centered towards the beginning of your day.

My grandfather found a new hiking jacket, so he gave me his old one. I love this thing a little too much. (By the way, my grandmother refers to her husband as "daddy" when she talks to me. A Freudian slip? Iapprove, even if  it makes things a bit confusing--you see, my grandfather is in better physical shape than my father, which directly correlates to the degree a hand-me-down will fit me... you get the picture) This jacket has a pouch directly in the front, between the buttoned-on hood and the single typical sweatshirt pocket one sticks one's hands in. This pouch makes me feel like a kangaroo!

I have a paper due next Thursday at 3 PM. Count on it no sooner than Tuesday, the day of my Greek final exam.

I feel guilty for not volunteering to help Branch of Hope OPC with their neighborhood outreach visitation program, but it is a drive away from Long Beach, where I'd probably be prone to getting myself lost, even with a partner in evangelism. Long Beach OPC is doing a similar thing this weekend, and Ithink it will not only be a great study break, but also a way to spread awareness of the gospel, this cure to our cancerous sin, and one of many faithful churches in my neighborhood. 

BOR_Chapter 2: Who are my relatives?

Prompt: Who are your relatives? Write about mom, dad, brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. Trace your family history. What is it about them that make you who you are?
------------------------------
I come from a broken home. If I poured out my family's history on this single sheet of paper, I would make myself cry, and I don't think that's the purpose of this book.

My mother's father seems to be half of the root of this problem I call my life. [Future self as editor (from now onward, FSAE): No. My life is not a problem; my family is afflicted with problems, yes, but my life is beautifully orchestrated by the hand of God.) After he divorced my grandmother forty years ago, my mother's father immigrated to the United States by way of purchasing a marriage certificate. It is completely immoral and wrong on so many levels, but he made a deal with an American [female] citizen to become his wife so he could get his citizenship quickly in exchange for money. Thinking that a woman would sell her name, her identity, and her honor, even if only temporarily, for pieces of paper still greatly bothers me. So my mother was also raised in a broken home, as her uncle (her father's brother) raised her and her siblings. Her younger brother [now] has severe mental problems. My mother still bears the grief of not having her biological father care for her, as her father continually sought failed marriage after failed marriage to find love. I never learned Korean (something I highly regret today), and I cannot even tell my grandfather that I love him like Jesus loves me. He is currently dying of liver cancer, and my mother cannot find forgiveness in her heart for his current wife. [FSAE: he is dead now.]

My father's parents are a strange case. I have never personally asked them about their heartaches because they have really stepped in and acted as parental mentors to me, always guiding me back to the straight and narrow. My parents are in the process of completing their divorce, and my aunt (my father's sister) had three children with an abusive husband until she petitioned for a divorce of her own. I must interject this for myself for future use: Why do you know more about your aunt's divorce than about your own parents' divorce? [FSAE: To answer my 17-year old self, it is because of my parents' stubborn lips and my grandmother's propensity to loose cats from their bags. She can't, God bless her aged soul, keep a secret; your parents kept you in the dark.] My father's parents I claim as my own, in my heart, because I believe that one's parents are the people that parent, not the people that contribute DNA information; it is by God's grace that the two [often] coordinate and intersect. [FSAE: Wow. You were pretty dumb 2 years ago. Imagine what you think is smart now that you'll laugh about next year! I retract my statement with this-- Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. (Ephesians 6:1 NASB)] So my mother's father is stricken with chronic divorces and my father's parents have seen both [of] their children enter failing relationships, leaving heartbroken grandchildren in their wakes.

Ihave but one brother, and his name is Calvin Gregory Pollard. He was named after the Reformed theologian John Calvin and the renowned minister Gregory Bahnsen. It hurts me to say that I see him as what I would become if I was not constantly revived by the Holy Spirit. [FSAE: O Jesus, what bliss he now claims! I joy that he calls You his!] He was only six years old when my father, if you will, slammed the hammer on the splitter that deepened the schism in his marriage to my mother. (A splitter is the metal bit used for splitting and chopping thick pieces of wood.) [FSAE: Go figure, 17 y.o. Joseph. Btw, your writing kind of sucks. You didn't slack off just because you knew these weren't graded, so... what gives, man? Also, what are you saying about your mother being thick??"] He looks up to me (though he would never admit it now), and Ido a pitiful job of setting an example for him. I am responsible for him. Because he looks up to me, I've had to pray for maturity in order to at least give him another father-figure to follow.

My grandparents have been the prime movers in the way God shaped my life as of yet, and I pray they will have many more years to guide me and show me the love of Christ. However horrible this genealogy may seem, I am reminded that God has forgiveness for all snares Ifall into while clinging to my Redeemer. I will not conform to the pattern of my family, but I will follow my grandparnts' footsteps as they follow the Messiah.

Jesus said, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." (Luke 9:23) I will  shema . 

Oh, the places you'll go!

Humility is a constant struggle. It's worse still when there is seemingly less to degrade one's self over (though degradation is not really humility at all), though there's also a place for praise, even towards people. One of the hours of talk show on the radio station KKLA 99.5 is some guy whose name I've forgotten (he wrote something about 5 main "languages of love") speaking to and answering specific questions about these five love languages: acts of service, words of affirmation, physical [not necessarily sexually related] touch, gift-giving/receiving, and one more. Argh.

Google search is my friend! The guy's name is Gary Chapman, the book is The 5 Love Languages, and the last "tongue" is quality time.

Yeah. Anyways, his main point is that people all share all of these archetypal languages of how to communicate love, but perhaps each person specializes in one or two of these, thus making it easier for a spouse to know how best to communicate love and to know which language to NEVER violate (e.g.- if a wife's primary language is words of affirmation, her husband would hurt her the most by yelling at her. Or cursing. Or perhaps calling her names. Thus, he must never do this, once he knows better, and he would then be enabled to know how best to comfort and love her).

Here's my paragraph (how else can I measure these, O Lord?) of gripage: my mom is a tiger mom, which is a good thing, honestly. Her insistent and selfless patience is paralleled only by my stubborn sinfulness. But this does yield itself in the absence of praise--words of affirmation. She believes that these things are understood, and, since my brother is taking trigonometry, a mathematical given. This is not true, reader--a child does not assume love forever, which is what makes the message of the cross of Christ's love crucified "foolishness." Which brings me sorta back to the topic I'd intended on writing: humility.

Humility is something God prizes. God opposes the proud, the proverb states, but raises the humble. He dwells with the one of the humble and contrite heart. The sacrifices of God are a broken and contrite spirit--these He will not deny. God gives grace to the humble.

Quote from tonight's sermon! "All those God calls will be knocked off their horse like the apostle Paul." (I don't know how covenant children [that is, of those who don't follow the liturgy of apostating (THAT's the word! I'd been striving to remember that word for a week now, to no avail. Apparently it doesn't exist in the gerund. I'm making it be. Also, the circumstances of the apostate are the most pitiable, and my heart is torn daily from tearful prayer.) and then returning to the Lord and Savior of their parents] really play into this. I, at any rate, was knocked off my horse.)

Sidebar: Joseph, stop doing that silly infinite inception-style thought process. That only looks cool to you. It doesn't make things easier to follow, and you probably should learn how to speak in a way that doesn't require this close attention to detail. We're not Greeks.

So how does a Christian deal with the pride that so easily jumps at opportune moments such as rightful praise? I'm not referring to a 100% on a test. I'm saying, "What do you do when someone praises you for holding a door open for women? When you give up your seat on the bus? When you evangelize?! Or what about even modeling fruits of the Spirit?" What do you do then?

But for the grace of God, go I.

"He only, who is reduced to nothing in himself and relies on the mercy of God, is poor in spirit."
"You, Lord, bruise me, but I am abundantly satisfied, since it is from Your hand."
"You must submit to supreme suffering in order to discover the completion of joy."
"A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw God's truth attacked and yet would remain silent."
"I offer my heart to You, Lord, promptly and sincerely."
-John Calvin

I must learn to think of myself less, much less than thinking less of myself; I need to learn to be self-forgetful.

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, (asserted/ utilized)
but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, being made in the likeness of men.
Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death of a cross!
For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus
"every knee will bow," of those who are in heave and on earth and under the earth,
and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 
--Philippians 2:5-11 (NASB. parenthetical is the study note; quote is from Isaiah 45:23)

I'm scotch...tape, I'm so dang clear of anything.

Resolved: to take 1 baby aspirin every day from the day I turn 40 years old.
Resolved: to hum when I ought not whistle.
Resolved: to whistle when I ought not sing.
Resolved: to sing often.
Resolved: to master language, like Humpty Dumpty, and to forever enjoy puns. 
Resolved: to place another soul's confession of sins and subsequent repentance and sanctification as my highest joy.
Resolved: to place another soul's recantation of Christ as my lowest sorrow.
Resolved: to wear belts out.
Resolved: to make my joy centered on Christ and Him crucified and resurrected, and in the proclamation, centering my joy on my neighbor.
Resolved: to never fall in a state of denial when I start losing my hair. 
Resolved: to suit up! in the armor of God, remembering the sackcloth of mournful contrition Christ took from me. 
Resolved: to bleed myself dry, like the Maker.


I'm got an essay to write-- the rough draft of the final installment in the research on John Calvin. So naturally, O reader, besides writing like a Greek, I dropped some brainwaves here in the form of my resolutions.

Also, watch this , if you'd like a good laugh at a good prank. :)

But He loves me.

Father, why? why would you afflict our elder with this heartbreaking abandonment of his son? please bring him back into Your good grace--deliver him from this rebellion! send Your children to minister to him, demonstrating Your sacrificial love, that he might be saved. You know who i speak of--and You know i could very well be in his place. why not me?

you have set eternity in our hearts so that we will never be satisfied with the eighty or ninety years You give us, though You are most blessed for giving them! we barely have a chance to grow old before we're buried again. how ironic! from dust you came; to dust you go. return to dust, o sons of men. blessed be the Name of the LORD.

taste and see that the LORD is good and has sent Jesus to taste death for you, or you will taste death yourself, and cling to that which does not satisfy.

did You predestine this man's son to taste, Father? did You intend for him to condemn himself in the sober taking of Your supper, a small glimpse of heaven's feast? did You mean to incorporate him into Your body, only to reveal himself to not be a proper graft? did You mean to crush his father's heart?

(O, foolish me! for how much greater is Your pain, O Father, for the sheep that wander without being lost, who refuse to seek and refuse to see and refuse to hear Your gospel! help me to be broken for his sake, and bring me zealous grief that moves prayers into action.)

but i am comforted. for i know that You predestined the cross, and that You have all things in control, for our benefit and for Your praise, which is our benefit. this is my comfort--that the cross, the climax of sin, was a triumph and an atonement and a substitute and a scapegoat and justice and mercy and love all wrapped up in swaddling cloths. if i do not trust in Your powerful sovereignty in the cross and resurrection, this dawn of Christ's victory, i will not maintain my sanity, as the people do by sweeping all questions under the rug. but He loves me, and this is enough.

Father, i will not cease praying for this man and his son. 

"...you are always My poetry."

God is a poet. Seriously.

ποιεω: make, create, do. (those are only the definitions my elementary Greek textbook gives; I'm sure this verb means a variety of other related actions)

From this Greek word, we get English words like poem and poet.

"Always" (Switchfoot, Hello Hurricane)  ( listen to it here, or with the  -  alternate bridge version) 

This is the start; this is your heart;
This is the place you were born.
This is the sun; these are your lungs;
This is the day you were born.
And I am always yours.

This is the scar deep in your heart;
This is the place you were born.
This is the hole where most of your soul
Comes ripping out
From the places you've been torn.

And it is always yours...
But I am always yours.
(bridge)

Hallelujah! i'm caving in!

Hallelujah! i'm in love again!

Hallelujah! i'm a wretched man!

Hallelujah! Every breath is a second chance!

And it is always Yours.

And i am always Yours!

(alternate bridge)

you will always have a spark of Me--
the part that shines in your eyes.
you are always My poetry;
you are always Mine.

And I am always yours.

This is one of my favorite Switchfoot songs off that record because of the way it was recorded with different bridges. As always, since I'm a Christian, I'll be listening to and interpreting this song as if a Christian were singing it--which, coincidentally, happens to be the case with Switchfoot. Yay! I only wish they wouldn't work so hard to hide that fact in their lyrics. Ah, well.

The original bridge is the repentant man's praise for redemption, giving "it" (his heart) forever and always to God, who declares the man's heart to be scarred and torn and falling apart. God describes the beginning of this man's heart, then refrains with the faithful "I am always yours." Switchfoot believes in the doctrine of sovereignty and election, eh? I'm assuming God is still the speaker in the refrain before the bridge, because of that word "but," which then brings back the statement of God's faithfulness, even before regenerating this man's heart. Switchfoot describes God as saying this man's heart, torn and scarred and bleeding profusely, is always his, but that God is always his, so it's alright. 

In the original bridge, the man repents, caving in his sinfulness, but seeing that every breath is a second chance. He then pledges himself and his heart to God. 

In the alternate bridge, God continues to narrate, declaring that this man is made in His image, is His craftsmanship, and forever His, though the man (apparently) doesn't know it yet. 

I'm not sure which I like better.

Streams of mercy (never ceasing!) call for songs of loudest praise.

But I am poor and sorrowful: let Thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.
I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving. 

This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that has horns and hoofs. 

The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God. 

Psalm 69:29-32

I once wrote the words: "Will it take my pain to draw your tears, dear friends? Why do my tears not cause you pain?" and I stand by them to this day. Nothing has changed in the heart of these friends during this past year: and worse yet, no change in my heart. These very words condemn me for being negligent in my love--the mark of Christ. 

Without words, what sort of relationship remains? What kind of friends do not talk? Perhaps a perpetual silence (not the occasional pause) is more telling than I think it to be. Yet I would not have these silences changed for my own desires; I cop out and take the low road of saying "Well, that's that: you're not a friend of mine." Beware, reader, of the dangers of taking these easier fixes to problems, which really aren't solutions at all. 

O LORD God of Israel, You are righteous: 

for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day:

behold, 

we are before You in our trespasses:

for we cannot stand before You because of this. 

Ezra 9:15

But whoever has this world's good[s], and sees his brother has need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God dwell in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. 

I John 3:17-18

What does it profit, my brethren, though a man say he has faith, and has not works? can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled;" notwithstanding you give them not those things which are needful to the body; what does it profit? Even so faith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone. Yes, a man may say, "You have faith, and I have works; show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works."

James 2:14-18

Followers of Christ are warned they won't have life pleasantly. Yet I echo the psalmist:

The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; 

indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me. 

Psalm 16:6

Why? Everything in my life seems to add up to bring me to a destination of despair and depression. Here comes the sun--

Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You.

I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord; I have no good besides You."

...

The LORD is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; 

You support my lot.

The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;

Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me. 

I will bless the LORD who has counseled me;

Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.

I have set the LORD continually before me;

Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices;

My flesh also will dwell securely. 

For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol;

Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.

You will make known to me the path of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. 

Psalm 16:1-2, 5-11

I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD

in the land of the living. 

Wait for the LORD;

Be strong and let your heart take courage;

Yes, wait for the LORD.

Psalm 27:13-14

So I will not "lose heart" from doing good, but I will joy in my labor. Reconciliation makes God happy--therefore, I rejoice in reconciliation. 

Furthermore, I will rejoice in my trials for more than the reasons of endurance and the assurance of a stronger, more mature faith that result from endurance. (James 1:2-4) I will rejoice in my trials, because they equip me, making me perfect and complete to minister exactly as God would have me serve, lacking nothing. These struggles produce experience, which equates to a deeper level of empathetic love for people. And so I pray for the testing of my faith, that I would not only grow in my love for God and my neighbor, but also that I would grow in my capacity to love God and my neighbor! 

Deliver us! Deliver us! O Yahweh, hear our cries! And gather us beneath Your wings tonight!

I met (and am praying for!) a freshman whose parents are Catholic, but who says he "doesn't believe all of the Catholic doctrines." This is good, for the doctrines he doesn't necessarily agree with are ones like the need for a human priest mediating for our prayers and confessions. 

Jesus's ascension entails His 1) right to rule, 2) remaining a man, and 3) return. 

Christians are little dynamos. Christians are philosophers who cling to and love Truth/Wisdom, embodied in Christ. Christians are missionaries in a hostile environment. Christians are lambs before the slaughter, whose blood cries out for vengeance. Christians are not meant to live disembodied lives from the Church, called the body of Christ. How long can a finger be wrapped in ice before it cannot be restored to its hand? 

O, to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be.

Let that grace, now like a fetter, bind my wand'ring heart to Thee!

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it: prone to leave the God I love!

Here's my heart, O, take and seal it; seal it for Thy courts above. 

Resolved: to remember all the tragedies of my life as blessings from the hand of God, and to encourage others with my experience.

Resolved: to, in all else, be sympathetic of pains I am not familiar with.

Resolved: to be gracious in my words, treating inferior men as if they are superior men. 

Resolved: to not take pride in humility.

Resolved: to not evangelize for any reason besides a duty of love to God and to my neighbor.

Resolved: to collect books in the hardcover, if possible and affordable.

Resolved: to learn how to shave with a safety razor.

Resolved: to not make checklists of superfluous or superficial things until after crystallizing the essentials. 

Resolved: to do the laundry more often, so I could donate more of my clothing. 

Resolved: to never buy a T-shirt for myself that advertises something contrary to truth.

Resolved: to never fully lock myself alone in a room, ever.

Resolved: to avoid popular movies that feature pornographic scenes. 

Resolved: to never sag. Sag =/= swag. 

Resolved: to value time over money, and to use that time wisely.

Resolved: to avoid monetary debt.

Resolved: to learn before I teach. 

Resolved: to never despair.

Poetry

Poetry is an awesome thing in the hands of a believer, like Mary York, but it turns unbearably sour from the hopelessness of intentional depravity. 

The Necktie
A man intrinsic as the thought
If A then B and so on
Will tie the hours in a knot,
A self-born Laocoon,

And feel them tighten like a noose
The leisure they permit him.
What if a day like something loose
In silk should merely fit him?
-William Wilborn

The Cynic
We who worry along paths
our ancestors took with surer steps,
what is left to us?
Is it to lie reflective on a banqueting couch,
to gaze at the dregs in our krater,
and to ponder some elegant quandary,
as if a well-turned phrase might beguile
the bleakness of the hour,
or bring back the sap to a sick and withered race?

-Paul Gottfried

Line Against Circle1. (a progress rhythm)
Solidity rushes on.
You move in a moving maze.
Vertigo--praise it--alone
Stays. Cling to it tight.
Man is a flare-up of clay;
Shall he wait to be snuffed, shall he run?
"Run!" the windows invite;
"Express, expand while you may."
Man is a skidding of light
Bogging in clouds, a daze
Of longings and fruits, a stone
Thrown by thrower unknown.
Praise elation of flight.
2. (a Tory rhythm)
Solidity rushes on--
Brittle ghost at play--
Onto the window bars.
"Stand, wait!" they invite;
"Compress to the core while you may."
Center and farthest sun,
Thrower and throw are one;
Pattern stays.
Alternate heart-beat of light
Grooms and dishevels stars.
Rest in that heart. Praise
Repose of flight.

Come one, circling in islands.
Came one, striding from shores.
One spell is of silence.
One spell is of words.

Came one, condenser of intensities,
The be, the grow, the deafmute round of trees.
Came one committing lengthwise in his striding,
No ring of hiding, no abiding wall.

The first is perfect peace. But small, but small.
The second dives and falters,
Darer of waters and
Discoverer of everything but peace.

Came one inward in islands.
Came one outreached a wall.
Circle and line, the two and never twin.
Comes one, some day, doing and

Laughing at doing? Free from din
Of silence as of words?
When comes one perfect in islands
And loud and long on shores?
-Peter Viereck

No.

Odds and ends.

Resolved: to only (as long as I can) shave Sunday mornings, to make a point to myself to remember the purpose of shaving--in my case, to not look scruffy and look clean and groomed instead.
Resolved: to use the words that end in -one rather than -body (someone > somebody, no one > nobody), and to remember what each is saying about persons and bodies.
Resolved: to never grow pretentious or arrogant with credential knowledge.

In my Introductory Greek textbook, 

1. the verb "to save, to bring safely (to)" [σωίζω] (pronounced soi'zo"...I couldn't get the iota to subscript) 

2. and the adjective "terrible, dreadful, marvelous, mischievously clever" [δεινός, -η, -ον] (pronounced di'-nos')

are adjacent to one another. Now, I'm sure the author of this textbook did not intend for a student to make this metaphorical connection, but I like doing just that anyways, especially with the words I know will show up in the New Testament. 

God's master plan of salvation is all those definitions of δεινός and more! On a side note, this is another reason I like the King James / American Standard translations of the Bible--that they translate some of these words as "dreadful" or "terrible" instead of the equivalent definition/connotation found in the English Standard / New International-- "wonderful" or "awesome." And truly, our God is awesome and awful, terrible and terrifying, dreadful and wonderful.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear and grace my fears relieved:

how precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed!

"Amazing Grace," John Newton

Dream

I dreamt last night that the beach had suddenly become only a few blocks from my house. It isn't more than a few miles as is, but I dreamt that the sand just began beyond one of the traffic lights that lead to the airport. Instead of the Long Beach airport, beautiful blue water crested along the shore. I knew then that I was dreaming--Long Beach doesn't have waves! Don't ask why the proximity didn't get me. I woke up when the pavement beneath my feet stopped and I stepped onto the sand. 

Paradox. 

Christianity is full of paradoxes. You must lose your life to find it. I just translated a sample Greek sentence for homework, and came across this line: 

καίπερ σου πολλωι  αμεινονος όντος, παρά δόξαν στρατηγος εκριθην. 

Which, when translated, means:

Although you are better (qualified) by far, contrary to expectation I was chosen [to be] general. 

Para + dox literally means "contrary to + common belief / popular opinion." 

--But wait a sec', Joseph. Where does doxology come in? Orthodoxy and heterodoxy fit that bill, but what of doxlogy? 

Doxology came from the 70 OT scholars who translated the OT word "slava," (I don't have a Hebrew transliteration tool! Bah!) which means "glory," by using the Greek word "doxa" in the translation of the Septuagint. This, reader, is much like the Russian word "slava." 

The ultimate paradox is Jesus, God the Son, who "emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:7-8)

Greek class has reminded me of a critical lesson, learned first in grammar, but retains ultimate significance:

The "predicate nominative" means a noun in the predicate of a sentence is being linked in identity to the subject. It actually was the very sentence I translated above that reminded me of this (and so much more!)-- when the book says "I was chosen to be general," general is in the nominative, which means "I = general." This applies to adjectives too. The sentence could have read "I was judged guilty," which also could be said "I = guilty." The second noun (the predicate nominative) IS the indicative identity of the first.

-Big words, Joseph. Stop it. 

Ok. Basically, the small and simple sentence "I was chosen/called/judged/named such-and-such" is neither a command nor a question. It is declarative; the first noun (the subject) passively receives the second noun's (the predicate nominative's) title/attribute/position. 

-Ok, fine. Get to the point.

When God saves a sinner, He declares them righteous. He declares them to be a son or a daughter. He declares them to be a holy priest, able to stand before the throne of the King. He declares them to be "not guilty." He declares them forgiven, their sins washed in the blood of Christ. He declares them regenerate, a new man. 

Which sorta brings me half-way full circle. Doxology! 

Doxa + logos = glory word. 

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!

Praise Him all creatures here below!

Praise Him above you heavenly host!

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!

Amen!