Deceit

My thoughts have been drawn to think about the word 'deceit'. This has come about because of sin in my heart, which was stirred up by the following passage in 1 Peter. Besides being the current skirmish in my war against sin (up alongside judgmentalism), I have noticed the extent of its influence in the world. I propose that these two sins are fundamental problems in the hearts of those who discuss/debate theological issues in this day and age. But first, a look at the passage in question.

1 Peter 1:22-2:3

22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24 for

“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

2:1 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

A word about Deceit

(Just recently, as I continue to wrestle my brain into studying NT Greek, I read C.S. Lewis' Surprised by Joy, in which he basically said that learning Greek means identifying words with images, ideas, motions, and experiences [which relate to those who would have used it] rather than merely inserting an English equivalent, which in most cases is not an accurate representation. In other words, the word ‘naus’, and 'ship' both refer to a vessel on the water, and an idea, image, or experience should come to mind rather than a simple translation. Now, I need to be careful because I extrapolated a bit on what Lewis said. Nonetheless, this is the kind of perspective I believe is important to have when viewing Greek words. On the other side we need to be careful that they are not over-subjectified, so that any word means anything depending on one's experience. Rather we should look to understand the culture, and time when these words were used so that we are better informed of their meaning. I believe this view is helpful in toning down the super-spiritualization of Greek, or the undervaluing of it. But alas, I have digressed.)

Check out blueletterbible.org for more info on the following Greek.

dolos {dol'-os} = The idea behind this word is seen in the fishing analogy. Picture the fish looking at a worm on a hook. Behind the irresistible worm is a fatal hook. The whole truth is not meant to be understood. To switch analogies, we see it a lot in advertising. A common example of guile or deceit in Canadian culture is our beer commercials. Pleasures of every sort await the people (and this is aimed at University students) who drink, carouse, and involve themselves in alcohol. The flip side, or the deception, is that the commercial is not telling the entire story. The sinfully idealized way in which females are pictured, and the lack of the consequences to the actions alluded to/engaged in, are in serious opposition to God’s word. (As an aside, Alcohol is not a bad thing, but the deceptive way it is advertised is).

Jeremiah 17:9

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Unconscious Deceitfulness and Conscious Deceitfulness

The plague of sin in the heart causes the heart to lack a desire for pure truthfulness. Unconsciously this may manifest itself in conversation by the person elevating one truth over another, refusing to hear the claims of another/understand what they are saying, or in ‘camping’ on one point by continuously returning to it. Consciously, the sin of deceit may appear when a person deliberately withholds information in a discussion, or attempts to ‘bully’ another through a series of ‘leading questions’. In both situations the main problem is that love for God, and for the person in the discussion are absent. The mature and wise man (as proverbs declares over and over) will benefit from reproof, will listen to instruction (even if it is from a fool!), and will change if necessary.

The Internet and Deceit

The internet has been used in many deceitful was, particularly in the area of critique. There is probably evidence of this kind of usage in my own blog, and if there is, I need to repent. The major issue with critique in chat-rooms, discussion boards, blogs, and the like, is a lack of relationship. I must insert that, to a certain extent, truth must be defended whether the defender knows the assailants or not. The major issue today is a lack of love for the people who spout untruth. We shake our heads at the Gay Pride parade, and the pro-Abortionists, and store up hatred in our hearts toward them, forming in our minds five passages of scripture in the shape of spears, with which we might impale them. Worse however is our attitude toward those who call themselves ‘brothers’. Often there is little desire to carefully instruct, and love those who claim to love Jesus. Most of the time great attacks are made from a severe lack of knowledge of God’s word, or the subjects at hand, and if these things are known, there is no love by which they may be made useful (sadly this comes from many who claim to believe the teachings of Calvinism, or the Westminster Confession, or the Puritans, etc…).

Applications

Truth must be fought for; the whole truth. God’s complete sovereign control balanced with man’s responsibly accountable choices. The fullness of God as the second person of the Trinity, in all his glory, authority, and power, with all of his demands, decrees, and wrath, brought together with the fullness of Man in all of his blood, life, death, and example. How about the scandalous cross we romanticize eh? God murdered his son, and mankind murdered him. The gifts of the Spirit right beside the holiness and righteousness of that same Spirit. Hey folks at Trent, lets get it balanced. I love you guys deeply. Stop chasing after miraculous signs at the expense of Christ.

I've begged you for some proof

For my Thomas eyes to see

A slithering staff, a leprous hand

And lions resting lazily

A glimpse of your back-side glory

And this soaked altar going ablaze

But you know I've seen so much

And I explained it away

From:

"Shifting Sand"

By Caedmon's Call

Off the album "40 Acres"

Written by Aaron Tate

The truth is folks, the back-side glory can be seen by reading a book, and falling head-over-heels in love with the one who displayed that glory to Moses. We can know him via a book. A book!

The Ignorant Mr. Anderson

In the last two days I picked up a copy of C.S. Lewis' 'Surprised by Joy'. I had to make one of those cards to put in the back of the book, so that the church would know it was out (it hadn't quite made it to the shelf yet). In any case the book is mind blowing because it is pure Lewis. The entire book is filled with references to books he has read (many classics), and also includes perhaps over 50 inserts of latin/greek/german/french phrases (most of which I did not comprehend). He is constantly saying things like: "This experience was akin to when Euripedes did this with (excuse my memory) So-and-so." And that was one of the really beneficial things about this book. It explained to me quite clearly that I have no right to boast about the books I have read, or the people I know of. C.S. was merely explaining facts about his childhood. I treat some of these names like trophies, even though I have never read them. To have even heard of Homer is nothing compared to someone who translates from the original. So this is good. Secondly, it re-emphasized the fact that spending my time wisely, and fruitfully is something I need to dedicate more energy to. From now on its no longer, "yeah I read Owen, he's pretty good" (having lightninged through Mortification of Sin [which, by the way, means I was probably thinking about something else and skimming/skipping humongous chunks]), but "I need to re-read this because I don't have anywhere near a good grasp on such-an-such an idea".

Be careful what you read folks.

In other news, I wrote a poem. For some reason every time I read Lewis I receive inspiration. I'll post it some other time.

The Night Can Be So Long

I've been listing to Andrew Peterson lately, having received a very timely CD by the mysterious Aunt Deb. I say mysterious because God has gifted her with a very timely ministry to a younger generation, which often involves life-changing directions. Beware of Aunt Deb! In any case, Listenting to Andrew Peterson's Far Country has been refreshing. Sometimes I sit down and just laugh, because he blends earthy metaphors with kingdom glory. In a day and age when exploring Christian music is akin to throwing your CDs at Calvin and Hobbes' duplicator, it is good to hear truth contexted well. The following song is perhaps an echo of the Boltinator's thoughts of late.

All Shall Be Well
from "The Far Country" Words and music by Andrew Peterson

(Matthew 16:18, Matthew 5:16, Luke 15:20-24, Luke 15:4, Isaiah 40:8, Hebrews 12:1)

We touched down on the sound
At the top of the world
In the land of the midnight sun
Where the frozen river melts away
And breaks into a run
Into the sea, into the mighty waves
That waited just to see it
From a long way off that river thawed
And the tide ran out to meet it
“Welcome home, unfrozen river, welcome home”

‘Cause all shall be well, all shall be well
Break the chains of the gates of Hell
Still all manner of things will be well

See the quiet hearts of the children of
The children of this land
They have stayed alive in the day-long night
By the fires that warm their hands
There is a wilderness inside them
It is dark and thick and deep
And beside the fire at the heart of that wood
Is a precious missing sheep
So go on in, hold your torch, let it shine

‘Cause all shall be well, all shall be well
Break the chains of the gates of Hell
Still all manner of things will be well
All shall be well, all shall be well
The Word of God will never fail
And all manner of things will be well

There’s a light in the darkness
There’s an end to the night

I saw the sun go down on a frozen ocean
As the man in the moon was rising
And he rode the night all full and bright
With his face at the far horizon
And the night can be so long, so long You think you’ll never get up again
But listen now, it’s a mighty cloud of Witnesses around you—they say
“Hold on, just hold on Hold on to the end
And all shall be well”

©Andrew Peterson


Well.... That's it for now, but I think I may blog a little more regularily. I'll tell you soon about the happenings in Kitchener. For now, just hold on, because all shall be well.

So I have been catapulted into the Publishing industry. I feel like a foose-ball being kicked around by aggressive, and extravagantly coloured, plastic men. The job arose out of a trip to Toronto Baptist Seminary with the C&C (no not command and conquer) group of Grace Bible Church. After a fascinating time, which included a surprise visit from some close friends, and a call to live a life of worship as described in Romans 12, my wife and I drove back to K/W area with a member of the C&C group. On the way home, Heather fell asleep, and I this woman and I talked about life, interests, her job, my lack of one, etc... The conversation came around to my interests in grammar, english, and whether or not I was a fan of the editing/proofing process. This is me. I'm the kid who drools over linguistics, and fusses exceptionally over the grammar and content of every email I send. God's absolute control over the events of this world is astounding. In any case, Janice asked my if I would be willing to work on a book being published through Joshua Press. 5 Chapters into a book on Wesley and Socialism, I am enjoying it thoroughly. I never realized how many endnotes could exist in one chapter. In any case, God is providing, Heather and I are well, opportunities to spend time with the pastor of Grace are growing, and I am studying John and being fascinated. Oh ya, go immediately to www.desiringgod.org and check out the conference stuff. You trent students, listen to it. There is some interesting insight into our post-modern world. Noah, you remind me of Driscoll.

My time is running short,
peace,

al'Ander

Be Nice to those 411 folk.

So I thought I would try my hand at the call-centre gig, and for the moment (half way through training) I enjoy it. Directory Assistance is one of those bizzarre jobs where you work to provide phone numbers as fast as possible to those who (generally speaking) are either Voice-Automated-Illiterate, thickly-accented, or mumblers. The job itself is sort of like the intellectual side of tree-planting (if there is such a thing) because speed and accuracy are the key elements. Everything about the odd keyboard we use in DA is designed toward that. The hard part is the amount of information which must be known in order to deal with all types of situations. Its a kin to the intense physical rigors of crossing swamps, climbing over trees, and enduring crazy weather systems, only in the brain. So I'll give it a whirl, realizing that I have the better end of the deal because (hopefully) these customers actually want the information I gots. So treat your 411 agents nicely, because you just might get me, and I just might not appreciate the breathing-down-your-neck-and-get-me-your-supervisor kind of angry that exists in this field.

On to bigger and better things however:

I was reading John 2 yesterday, writing out a fair bit of the passage, and suddenly my brain turned sideways, and the whole turning water into wine miracle stunned me. Here are some thoughts and observations which I am currently investigating. This stuff is craziness!

1. The jars Jesus told the servants to fill with water were used for Rites of Purification. He changes that water into great wine. Purification, wine... Something is odd here.

2. What is Jesus talking about when he says to his mom: "Woman, what does this have to do with me, my time has not yet come?" Is he saying, "Hey mom, give me a couple minutes" or is he talking about his death, or what?

In any case, the 1st question pretty much blew my mind, particularily when I looked up in Numbers that they sprinkled water of 'purification' before sacrifices and offerings were given. My take is this: Water of Purification is a physical act of what is supposed to be a heart-felt affection. The Jews tended to (and don't we do this too!) associate these commands as having effectual significance, and over time traditionalized the whole ceremony, so that it was not a true representation of what was going on in their hearts. Purifying our hearts is the issue, the water simply reminds us. Jesus changes the reminder from water into wine. What does wine represent? Joy, Happiness. Read Song of Songs, or many other passages, which talks about Wine being a symbol of a 'full life' or enjoyment. This has definitely strayed from exegesis, but stay with me for a moment. The thing which purifies our hearts is that which also enraptures our hearts. Christ. He is our purification (Heb 1:3) and our desire, our joy, our satisfying drink. Why do we take communion? What is that emblem of wine associating? Joy and Sorrow, Life and Death. Perhaps the cool thing is that Jesus made the best kind of wine, not some crappy vintage. Just like the joy he gives is the best kind of joy, because it originates out of him.

Heather and I are doing well, seeing as we worship King Jesus. I like that title. It reminds me to think of Jesus as our champion warrior, gone out to defeat the enemy's champion on our behalf. All our hopes ride in the strength of his arm, and he has a righteous right hand.

Peace friends

News

Heather and I are coming to Ptown this weekend. She works a bit Saturday, and we hope to go to Braidwood on Sunday. We hope to visit with some of you lovely Peterborough folk, take your books, clothes, and chocolate, and retreat once again to Kitchener. Beware the Andersons!

I finished at 11:40, the time here is lying

Kitchener Poem (or Rant)

Edwards' grave cries out to all this fine day,
broiling and roiling tumble tongue tying sentences
with a God-enflamed heart and brain.
Hedonistic Kristiens claiming Christian-like hedonisms
head to worship their favourite preacher, or do they head to feed on his or HER head.
When society exhausts itself in seeking happiness, in hoarding and goarding
and giga-biga biting their way along,
And the end of a life is perhaps the next step away, and the Christians gobble the idea of this
perhaps hateful word called 'access', not to mention participling it,
So that knowing is laughable, discipline is ancient, and the quiet study of the Word is not so
good as a message 'to go' before work.
Joy is Sorrow, Humility is Victory, and Truth is both Ugly and Beautiful, but never sexy.

-the bard