...thoughts expressed here are not necessarily final.

March 29, 2005 Report from the Birthday Road

Yes, it was a happy one- I get to be in my forties for another year. I was on the road returning from Easter at my Mom's house just outside Louisville, Kentucky. She is widowed too, and in some ways not doing as well as my Mother in Law who had the broken hip. Though she is twenty five years younger than my Mother in law, in some ways I am more concerned about her. Thank you so much for your prayers.

I have good news. Good things are happening with my pending move to Louisville.

I attribute these good things to the fact that people are praying for us, so thanks to all who have been praying- you know who you are!

Has it ever been thus?

It seems, from observation, that Pastor's today are being forced to minister to crisis at unprecedented rates. Their time is spent in keeping everything at an even keel- often in families who do not actually participate in the body but expect the pastor to be there for every crisis or wedding or funeral. In this circumstance, expository teaching from the pulpit has to take a hit. It takes time to craft a sermon, and one cannot apply a righteous effort on this front while putting out fires. The tyranny of the urgent is felt by pastors in greater proportions than by any other demographic.

I have never seen hubris operating at the level that exists where I am now living. People ask me for prayer to have God fix their lives while they are not at home, working two jobs, hanging on by a tenuous thread. They have bought the great lie that life is about property maintenance and creature comforts. They even think this is evidence of the favor of God, which is reduced and trivialized to whether one gets the best parking place at the mall. I thought perhaps the next generation would weary of the unreal, but it seems there are as many cultural hedonists in the next generation as what we have seen since World War 2.

Basketball Woes, Rants, and Vents

Kentucky lost in a double overtime effort complete with thrills and chills. I am mad at Tubby for now. It should not have been that close. Michigan State is not that good a team, they are playing with heart though, so they could go far. That is what it takes at this level. The weekend messed up my brackets - I had picked 13 of the sweet 16 correctly which I was pretty happy about.

My alma mater, Louisville, won and Duke got beat, which is a bit of consolation for me. As an alumnus, I want Louisville to beat Illinois which would be an upset. I was really looking forward to a Kentucky-Louisville final with a repeat of this year's win. North Carolina is only there on the basis of a bad call from the refs I think the refereeing has hit an alltime low this tournament. Just one man's opinion.

There might be something to the charge that Tubby can only get to the big dance with a Pitino built team, not a 100 percent Tubbyteam. I cannot see how shuttling people in and out like he does can let anyone get into the rhythm of the game. Oh well, I feel better now. The good news is most of our guys are back next year-if we can find a leader like Hayes, we'll be OK. The team floundered any time he was out of the game. And by the way, I think Morris needs to go to forward and put Orbjutz at center.

One last observation: Kentucky has more armchair coaches than most any team in the nation, I would surmise,..

Thoughts on Resurrection and Redemption

I've been reading Bavinck again and his writings on Ordo Salutis- here are some thoughts:

Calvin expressed the insight that "our whole salvation and all its parts are comprehended in Christ" (Institutes II.xvi.19). He added the observation that "as long as Christ remains outside us, and we are separated from him, all that he has suffered and done for the salvation of the human race remains useless and of no value for us" (Institutes III.i.1)

It follows that there is a basic, organic unity between Christ’s resurrection and the resurrection of believers. Union with Christ underlies every redemptive blessing in the covenant of grace. To enter by faith into union with Christ involves concurrent possession of every redemptive benefit available in this age and the age to come. Therefore we receive no benefit apart from union with Christ in his death and resurrection.

Of course, this does not undermine the judicial, declarative, imputational nature of justification, or the renovative and transformative character of sanctification. The distinct benefits of justification and sanctification accrue simultaneously but are not confused or collapsed into one another.

The biblical witness is that all of the parts of our salvation are to be taken together. there is only an order of salvation in the finite view of man's logical, linear apprehension of it. Our redemption is in accordance with our justification and our justification is in accordance with the imputation of Christ's righteousness. The resurrection secures all the promised of our salvation but it is also a part of that salvation.

Wrote this after a rainy Sunday Easter Sunrise service. We had hoped to partake of this at Bernheim Forest's Arboretum, but it was moved to vine Hill BC due to rain.

Easter People

Now it begins again and again- The hallelujah's ring
We live the resurrection life as the redeemed all sing
"In Christ there is no hopelessness- He lifts us from the pit
He raised us up to live in Him so in heavenly places we sit!"

Since we have been raised up Set your minds on things above
We died and are hid with Christ in God As partakers of His love
We will come with Him in Glory when the Lord appears
And we know the One who ever lives changes the things we hold dear

We are the Easter People with a sense of wonder we ache
We are the Easter People Who tremble as we partake
Of life with the resurrection people Redeemed by the blood of the lamb
The people of promise and passion Who belong to the Great I am.

So now that we are lifted up On heaven fix our thoughts
And let it dominate our lives Proclaim the price by which we were bought
Because of His great love for us It's height and depth and length
We'll find power for living exerted In mystery and strength

Graced to live forever Graced to live in the light
Seated in heavenly realms Redeemed and then made right.
Standing in the tabernacle Within throneroom of grace.
Dwelling in the presence most blessed In the secret holy place.

We are the Easter People with a sense of wonder we ache
We are the Easter People Who live for Jesus' sake.
All our salvation in all of its parts Are comprehended in Christ
A living Hope to rend the night, A Living fire to bear the light.

Anthony Foster March 27, 2005

March 29, 2005

Christians and Jedi Masters by Dick Staub

From the Product description:

"Written by award-winning radio personality Dick Staub, this compelling book is filled with anecdotes from the Star Wars films that serve as a launching pad into rediscovering authentic Christianity. Christian Wisdom of the Jedi Masters also contains quotes from revered "Jedi Christians" such as Thomas Merton, Teresa of Avila, the Apostle Paul, G. K. Chesterton, and other theologians, mystics, writers, and philosophers. The author sheds new light on the struggles and challenges of living faithfully in postmodern life and offers a reintroduction to what C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien called the "one true myth," Christianity. "

AF: I'll have to read this to determine if this author has a true understanding of Lewis and Tolkien. He seems to find Christianity in the Hinduism/Dualism of Star Wars...

Church at the Flap Jack Shack by John Fischer

This is getting to be fun. Ever since my devotional about church at St. Arbucks, I have been receiving reports from so many of you who are experiencing "church" somewhere in the public arena, and by that I mean fellowship, praise, study of the Bible, prayer and the related accountability that comes from being in a small group -- all of this carried out somewhere in a restaurant, coffee bistro or common area where a public normally gathers. And these groups all have names. Iıve heard about Hallelujah Hardees, Praise the Lord Perkins, St. Paneras, St. Barnies, and one group on the island of Barbados doesnıt have a name, they just meet on the boardwalk. "Bajans, (as we are called) are very picky eaters," a member of that group wrote, "and most of the international restaurant chains haven't lasted long [here]."

Read the rest of the devotional at Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotionals.

John Fischer is the Senior Writer for Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotionals. He resides in Southern California with his wife, Marti and son, Chandler. They also have two adult children, Christopher and Anne. John is a published author and popular speaker.  

Narnia on Tour

"The foremost Christian author of the 20th century is neither a theologian nor a preacher but a layman and a teacher named Clive Staples (Jack) Lewis."

Check out the source of these quotes at http://www.narniaontour.com/

"C. S. Lewis was not ashamed of the Gospel. Like every other Christian living in obedience to the Great Commission, he regarded himself as an evangelist."

Three dates on the tour

I see that Bruce Edwards is involved with the Tour.

St Louis, MO Echoes of Eden in C.S Lewis's The Lion Witch and the Wardrobe
JERRAM BARRS Francis Schaeffer Institute, Covenant Theological Seminary

Dallas, TX C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien: Companions and Combatants
RALPH WOOD Professor of Theology and Literature at Baylor University and author of The Gospel According to Tolkien: Visions of the Kingdom in Middle-earth (Westminster John Knox Press, October 2003

Louisville, KY Frozen to Thawed: How to Best Read, Understand and Enjoy The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe PERRY BRAMLETT Director of C.S. Lewis for the Local Church

Let the Church Say Amen

A documentary on an urban storefront church, airing on PBS tonight, highlights the power of faith to improve lives.

Nazi camp ashes to be buried

Story here. A 5-foot-thick layer unearthed in memorial construction.Tens of thousands of prisoners died at Sachsenhausen. The ashes of thousands of victims of the Nazis' Sachsenhausen concentration camp were to be buried Tuesday in a ceremony near the World War II camp.

Lack of Sleep

Americans are getting less and less sleep one survey says. I sleep pretty well, though the challenges come. i keep thinking about getting up earlier to write, read etc, but looks like the time is better spent asleep. Now I have an excuse at least!

Madonna and hubby show up at a Purim celebration as a nun and the Pope.

Death Penalty Tossed Over Jury's Bible Study

The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday threw out the death penalty in a rape-and-murder case because jurors had studied Bible verses such as "eye for eye, tooth for tooth" during deliberations.

Learning as war

Thermostats compare reality with it’s preset conditions. In some ways this is a good metaphor for how people learn.

Man is an adaptive organism. He evaluates the gap existing between two situations and develops a process that allows for the closing of that gap. Needs, emotions, attitudes and beliefs, also known as affects are set alongside cognition which compares concepts, propositions, episodes, procedures and problem solving to represent knowledge. From that knowledge flows function. We act accordingly to use knowledge to accomplish tasks, to establish competencies and to acquire those competencies.

So learning is war. There is either conflict resolution or destruction to choose from. Man perceives a gap in needs, emotions, attitudes or beliefs and reality. The solution is to change reality or change the affections. We take our ground and defend it. Challenges come from the cosmos and we lose or win our ground- it is established or disestablished. Then we must retake our ground or find new ground. We establish strategies for holding or taking ground accordingly.

The biggest disconnect and crisis in life comes when man tries to bridge a gap that is infinite in nature- the gap between the creature and the creator. There is only ONE bridge, Jesus Christ, who can accomplish that. We still need an intercessor, a Great High Priest. There is none who is found worthy on the earth to break the seven seals of Revelation 5. Only the lamb who was slain and who stands up is worthy to unfold the scroll of redemptive history and to bring it to its consummation. Try as he might, man has forfeited that ability in Adam, and until one is placed in the second adam, the lamb of god, there can be no access to God.

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From the personal weblog of Anthony Foster @http://anthonyfoster.com/blog/