The prophet Isaiah said, "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, 'Your God reigns!'" (52:7). The gospel, peace and the reality of God's reign are inseparable themes in this prophetic declaration. Reading this prophetic message, I could not avoid thinking about man's current quest for peace apart from the gospel. Is it really possible? Is it really possible to have peace without believing that God is still on his throne? Is it really possible to have peace when the ruling ideology in the academe is one of atheism, humanism, statism and antinomianism? Is God reigning in religion and theology? Isn't the trend now one of inclusivism and denial of the exclusivity of Christianity? How about in economics and monetary policy? Isn't the dominant monetary policy for so long one of dishonesty and currency debasement that wars against savings and robs workers of the fruit of their labors? How about the family? Isn't the idea of the family now under attack and the state has redefined its meaning that even same sex marriage is considered legal? Similar thing is happening in other spheres. How can genuine peace exists when the entire world is declaring an all-out war against God and His word?
Sabado, Agosto 10, 2013
Huwebes, Mayo 2, 2013
Nothing is Certain
Below are the questions that come to my mind while reading Bahnsen's critique of Bertrand Russell's intellectual position:
If nothing is certain, how can you be certain that God does not really exist? If nothing is certain, why are you arguing that Christianity is false and human autonomy is true? If nothing is certain, is there meaning in arguing against the belief of another?
If nothing is certain, how can you say that Jesus is inferior to both Socrates and Buddha? If nothing is certain, how come you are so sure that Christianity is the primary obstacle to the moral progress of humanity? If nothing is certain, how can you say that progress is even possible? On what basis are you saying all of these?
Do you have any objective moral standard to make your personal judgment of Christianity? If none, but your own, then anyone on the basis of your intellectual system has the right to dismiss your moral judgment as anything but certain.
Sabado, Abril 27, 2013
Christian Fasting
"Half of Christian fasting is that our physical appetite is lost because our homesickness for God is so intense. The other half is that our homesickness for God is threatened because our physical appetites are so intense. In the first half, appetite is lost. In the second half, appetite is resisted. In the first, we yield to the higher hunger that is. In the second, we fight for the higher hunger that isn’t. Christian fasting is not only the spontaneous effect of a superior satisfaction in God; it is also a chosen weapon against every force in the world that would take that satisfaction away" (John Piper, Hunger for God, 1997, p. 14).
Isn't the satisfaction of my needs - food, sex, intellect and emotion - the reason for the cessation of my practice of fasting? Aren't these things diminish my appetite for God?
"The greatest adversary of love to God is not his enemies but his gifts. And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable, and almost incurable" (ibid.).
“ 'The pleasures of this life' and 'the desires for other things' —these are not evil in themselves. These are not vices. These are gifts of God. They are your basic meat and potatoes and coffee and gardening and reading and decorating and traveling and investing and TV-watching and Internet-surfing and shopping and exercising and collecting and talking. And all of them can become deadly substitutes for God" (p. 15).
"I’m behind this. I think God is in it. It doesn’t work for me on Wednesday. I’m with people over lunch every day. So I have a couple of things I believe are from the Spirit that may be more of a fast for some than food. I thought not watching television for a week, or for a month, or a night of the week when I normally watch it, might be more of a fast than food. Instead of watching my favorite program, I might spend the time talking and listening to God. I wonder if there might be others for whom this would be a fast and would be a focused time of prayer to them" (pp.15-16).
This is a note received by John Piper after announcing about fasting in the church.
"Fasting if we conceive of it truly, must not . . . be confined to the question of food and drink; fasting should really be made to include abstinence from anything which is legitimate in and of itself for the sake of some special spiritual purpose. There are many bodily functions which are right and normal and perfectly legitimate, but which for special
peculiar reasons in certain circumstances should be controlled. That is fasting" (p.16).
John Piper quoting D.M. Lloyd Jones on fasting.
"My assumption so far has been that good things can do great damage. Oxen and fields and marriage can keep you out of the kingdom of heaven...Anything can stand in the way of true discipleship—not just evil, and not just food, but anything. Nor should it be surprising that the greatest competitors for our devotion and affection for God would be some of his most precious gifts" (pp.16-17).
If this is true, I am thinking, maybe this is reason why my marriage was destroyed. She's God's gift to me, but I made an idol out of her. As long as she occupies such prominent place in my heart, I cannot love God with my all. I must experience the pain of losing her for me to experience the joy of gaining God.
"Now here was a radical kind of fast: the sacrifice of a son. God did not call for this “fast” because Isaac was evil. On the contrary, it was because in Abraham’s eyes he was so good. Indeed he seemed indispensable for the fulfillment of God’s promise. Fasting is not the forfeit of evil but of good" (p.17).
"God wills to know the actual, lived-out reality of our preference for him over all things. And he wills that we have the testimony of our own authenticity through acts of actual preference of God over his gifts...God wills that he have an experiential-knowing, an actual seeing-knowing, a watching-knowing. A real lived-out human act of preference for God over his gifts is the actual lived-out glorification of God’s excellence for which he created the world. Fasting is not the only way, or the main way, that we glorify God in preferring him above his gifts. But it is one way. And it is a way that can serve all the others" (p.18).
“ 'For the most part, the human mind cannot attain to self-knowledge otherwise than by making trial of its powers through temptation, by some kind of experimental and not merely verbal self-interrogation.' In other words, we easily deceive ourselves that we love God unless our love is frequently put to the test, and we must show our preferences not merely with words but with sacrifice. Admittedly the sacrifice of a son says more than the sacrifice of a sandwich. But the principle is the same. And many small acts of preferring fellowship with God above food can form a habit of communion and contentment that makes one ready for the ultimate sacrifice. This is one way that fasting serves all our acts of love to God. It keeps the preferring faculty on alert and sharp. It does not let the issue rest. It forces us to ask repeatedly: do I really hunger for God? Do I miss him? Do I long for him? Or have I begun to be content with his gifts?" (pp.18-19).
"Christian fasting is a test to see what desires control us. What are our bottom-line passions? In his chapter on fasting in The Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster says, 'More than any other discipline, fasting reveals the things that control us. This is a wonderful benefit to the true disciple who longs to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. We cover up what is inside of us with food and other things.' Psychologically, that sort of thing is spoken of a lot today, especially in regard to people who have much pain in their lives. We would say they 'medicate' their pain with food. They anesthetize themselves to the hurt inside by eating. But this is not some rare, technical syndrome. All of us do it. Everybody. No exceptions. We all ease our discomfort using food and cover our unhappiness by setting our eyes on dinnertime. Which is why fasting exposes all of us—our pain, our pride, our anger. Foster continues: 'If pride controls us, it will be revealed almost immediately. David said, 'I humbled my soul with fasting' [Psalm 35:13]. Anger, bitterness, jealousy, strife, fear—if they are within us, they will surface during fasting. At first, we will rationalize that our anger is due to our hunger. And then, we know that we are angry because the spirit of anger is within us. We can rejoice in this knowledge because we know that healing is available through the power of Christ" (p. 19).
So far, what are the things that control me that I must fast from?
1. Lust
2. Social networking - Facebook, Tagged,
3. Computer
4. Her
5. My kids
6. Study, reading, research - Austrian school of economics, libertarian political economy,
7. Blogging
8. Theological forum
9. Physical health and attractiveness
10. Wealth, money
"One of the reasons for fasting is to know what is in us—just as Abraham showed what was in him. In fasting it will come out. You will see it. And you will have to deal with it or quickly smother it again" (p.20).
So I do not know what is in me?
"Humbly and quietly, with scarcely a movement, she brings up out of the dark places of my soul the dissatisfactions in relationships, the frustrations of the ministry, the fears of failure, the emptiness of wasted time" (ibid.).
"Fasting reveals the measure of food’s mastery over us—or television or computers or whatever we submit to again and again to conceal the weakness of our hunger for God" (ibid.).
"But man is not the center of the universe, God is. And everything, as Paul says, is 'from him and through him and to him' (Romans 11:36). 'To him' means everything exists to call attention to him and to bring admiration to him. In Colossians 1:16, Paul says more specifically that 'all things were created by [Christ] and for [Christ].' Therefore bread was created for the glory of Christ. Hunger and thirst were created for the glory of Christ. And fasting was created for the glory of Christ" (p.21).
"Which means that bread magnifies Christ in two ways: by being eaten with gratitude for his goodness, and by being forfeited out of hunger for God himself. When we eat, we taste the emblem of our heavenly food—the Bread of Life. And when we fast we say, 'I love the Reality above the emblem.' In the heart of the saint both eating and fasting are worship. Both magnify Christ. Both send the heart—grateful and yearning—to the Giver. Each has its appointed place, and each has its danger. The danger of eating is that we fall in love with the gift; the danger of fasting is that we belittle the gift and glory in our willpower" (ibid.).
"...this book has an inward and an outward thrust. It’s about the inward war with our own appetites that compete with hunger for God. And it’s about the outward war of revival and reformation and world evangelization and social justice and cultural engagement" (p.22).
"The more deeply you walk with Christ, the hungrier you get for Christ . . . the more homesick you get for heaven . . . the more you want 'all the fullness of God' . . . the more you want to be done with sin . . . the more you want the Bridegroom to come again . . . the more you want the Church revived and purified with the beauty of Jesus . . . the more you want a great awakening to God’s reality in the cities . . . the more you want to see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ penetrate the darkness of all the unreached peoples of the world . . . the more you want to see false worldviews yield to the force of Truth . . . the more you want to see pain relieved and tears wiped away and death destroyed . . . the more you long for every wrong to be made right and the justice and grace of God to fill the earth like the waters cover the sea" (p.23).
"If you don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great. God did not create you for this. There is an appetite for God. And it can be awakened. I invite you to turn from the dulling effects of food and the dangers of idolatry, and to say with some simple fast: 'This much, O God, I want you.' ” (ibid.).
"The greatest adversary of love to God is not his enemies but his gifts. And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable, and almost incurable" (ibid.).
“ 'The pleasures of this life' and 'the desires for other things' —these are not evil in themselves. These are not vices. These are gifts of God. They are your basic meat and potatoes and coffee and gardening and reading and decorating and traveling and investing and TV-watching and Internet-surfing and shopping and exercising and collecting and talking. And all of them can become deadly substitutes for God" (p. 15).
"I’m behind this. I think God is in it. It doesn’t work for me on Wednesday. I’m with people over lunch every day. So I have a couple of things I believe are from the Spirit that may be more of a fast for some than food. I thought not watching television for a week, or for a month, or a night of the week when I normally watch it, might be more of a fast than food. Instead of watching my favorite program, I might spend the time talking and listening to God. I wonder if there might be others for whom this would be a fast and would be a focused time of prayer to them" (pp.15-16).
This is a note received by John Piper after announcing about fasting in the church.
"Fasting if we conceive of it truly, must not . . . be confined to the question of food and drink; fasting should really be made to include abstinence from anything which is legitimate in and of itself for the sake of some special spiritual purpose. There are many bodily functions which are right and normal and perfectly legitimate, but which for special
peculiar reasons in certain circumstances should be controlled. That is fasting" (p.16).
John Piper quoting D.M. Lloyd Jones on fasting.
"My assumption so far has been that good things can do great damage. Oxen and fields and marriage can keep you out of the kingdom of heaven...Anything can stand in the way of true discipleship—not just evil, and not just food, but anything. Nor should it be surprising that the greatest competitors for our devotion and affection for God would be some of his most precious gifts" (pp.16-17).
If this is true, I am thinking, maybe this is reason why my marriage was destroyed. She's God's gift to me, but I made an idol out of her. As long as she occupies such prominent place in my heart, I cannot love God with my all. I must experience the pain of losing her for me to experience the joy of gaining God.
"Now here was a radical kind of fast: the sacrifice of a son. God did not call for this “fast” because Isaac was evil. On the contrary, it was because in Abraham’s eyes he was so good. Indeed he seemed indispensable for the fulfillment of God’s promise. Fasting is not the forfeit of evil but of good" (p.17).
"God wills to know the actual, lived-out reality of our preference for him over all things. And he wills that we have the testimony of our own authenticity through acts of actual preference of God over his gifts...God wills that he have an experiential-knowing, an actual seeing-knowing, a watching-knowing. A real lived-out human act of preference for God over his gifts is the actual lived-out glorification of God’s excellence for which he created the world. Fasting is not the only way, or the main way, that we glorify God in preferring him above his gifts. But it is one way. And it is a way that can serve all the others" (p.18).
“ 'For the most part, the human mind cannot attain to self-knowledge otherwise than by making trial of its powers through temptation, by some kind of experimental and not merely verbal self-interrogation.' In other words, we easily deceive ourselves that we love God unless our love is frequently put to the test, and we must show our preferences not merely with words but with sacrifice. Admittedly the sacrifice of a son says more than the sacrifice of a sandwich. But the principle is the same. And many small acts of preferring fellowship with God above food can form a habit of communion and contentment that makes one ready for the ultimate sacrifice. This is one way that fasting serves all our acts of love to God. It keeps the preferring faculty on alert and sharp. It does not let the issue rest. It forces us to ask repeatedly: do I really hunger for God? Do I miss him? Do I long for him? Or have I begun to be content with his gifts?" (pp.18-19).
"Christian fasting is a test to see what desires control us. What are our bottom-line passions? In his chapter on fasting in The Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster says, 'More than any other discipline, fasting reveals the things that control us. This is a wonderful benefit to the true disciple who longs to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. We cover up what is inside of us with food and other things.' Psychologically, that sort of thing is spoken of a lot today, especially in regard to people who have much pain in their lives. We would say they 'medicate' their pain with food. They anesthetize themselves to the hurt inside by eating. But this is not some rare, technical syndrome. All of us do it. Everybody. No exceptions. We all ease our discomfort using food and cover our unhappiness by setting our eyes on dinnertime. Which is why fasting exposes all of us—our pain, our pride, our anger. Foster continues: 'If pride controls us, it will be revealed almost immediately. David said, 'I humbled my soul with fasting' [Psalm 35:13]. Anger, bitterness, jealousy, strife, fear—if they are within us, they will surface during fasting. At first, we will rationalize that our anger is due to our hunger. And then, we know that we are angry because the spirit of anger is within us. We can rejoice in this knowledge because we know that healing is available through the power of Christ" (p. 19).
So far, what are the things that control me that I must fast from?
1. Lust
2. Social networking - Facebook, Tagged,
3. Computer
4. Her
5. My kids
6. Study, reading, research - Austrian school of economics, libertarian political economy,
7. Blogging
8. Theological forum
9. Physical health and attractiveness
10. Wealth, money
"One of the reasons for fasting is to know what is in us—just as Abraham showed what was in him. In fasting it will come out. You will see it. And you will have to deal with it or quickly smother it again" (p.20).
So I do not know what is in me?
"Humbly and quietly, with scarcely a movement, she brings up out of the dark places of my soul the dissatisfactions in relationships, the frustrations of the ministry, the fears of failure, the emptiness of wasted time" (ibid.).
"Fasting reveals the measure of food’s mastery over us—or television or computers or whatever we submit to again and again to conceal the weakness of our hunger for God" (ibid.).
"But man is not the center of the universe, God is. And everything, as Paul says, is 'from him and through him and to him' (Romans 11:36). 'To him' means everything exists to call attention to him and to bring admiration to him. In Colossians 1:16, Paul says more specifically that 'all things were created by [Christ] and for [Christ].' Therefore bread was created for the glory of Christ. Hunger and thirst were created for the glory of Christ. And fasting was created for the glory of Christ" (p.21).
"Which means that bread magnifies Christ in two ways: by being eaten with gratitude for his goodness, and by being forfeited out of hunger for God himself. When we eat, we taste the emblem of our heavenly food—the Bread of Life. And when we fast we say, 'I love the Reality above the emblem.' In the heart of the saint both eating and fasting are worship. Both magnify Christ. Both send the heart—grateful and yearning—to the Giver. Each has its appointed place, and each has its danger. The danger of eating is that we fall in love with the gift; the danger of fasting is that we belittle the gift and glory in our willpower" (ibid.).
"...this book has an inward and an outward thrust. It’s about the inward war with our own appetites that compete with hunger for God. And it’s about the outward war of revival and reformation and world evangelization and social justice and cultural engagement" (p.22).
"The more deeply you walk with Christ, the hungrier you get for Christ . . . the more homesick you get for heaven . . . the more you want 'all the fullness of God' . . . the more you want to be done with sin . . . the more you want the Bridegroom to come again . . . the more you want the Church revived and purified with the beauty of Jesus . . . the more you want a great awakening to God’s reality in the cities . . . the more you want to see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ penetrate the darkness of all the unreached peoples of the world . . . the more you want to see false worldviews yield to the force of Truth . . . the more you want to see pain relieved and tears wiped away and death destroyed . . . the more you long for every wrong to be made right and the justice and grace of God to fill the earth like the waters cover the sea" (p.23).
"If you don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great. God did not create you for this. There is an appetite for God. And it can be awakened. I invite you to turn from the dulling effects of food and the dangers of idolatry, and to say with some simple fast: 'This much, O God, I want you.' ” (ibid.).
Linggo, Abril 7, 2013
The Death of Rick Warren's Son
I could not believe reading the news about the death of Rick Warren's son. He is a great man of God and I was surprised knowing that he has been struggling with his son's illness for so long. Even though I do not know the Warren family personally, I feel affected by their misery. Their "misfortune" reminds me of reality of pain in this life. Life is really short and unstable. If there is one lesson I cannot forget from this sad event, I think it is the fact that no level of greatness in the ministry can make a person exempted from the ugly realities of life. This truth reminds me of the need for empathy and not to be judgmental of others. Somehow, it comforts me in my misery knowing that all of us are vulnerable to the pains of life. Such vulnerability leads us to appreciate more the beauty and richness of God's grace and to aspire for a better life with God where there is no pain and misery.
Sabado, Abril 6, 2013
Bitcoin and Ron Paul Curriculum
I mark April 6, 2013 as an important due to two important events. One is personal and the other is global.
The personal is related to my appreciation of the importance of Bitcoin. After several days of struggling to restore my reading activity, I found Bitcoin an interesting subject to write about.
The personal is related to my appreciation of the importance of Bitcoin. After several days of struggling to restore my reading activity, I found Bitcoin an interesting subject to write about.
The global is related to education. I consider it a landmark not only in libertarian history, but in the future of humanity. I am referring to the introduction of Ron Paul curriculum.
Hearing this news, makes me happy. I am glad to see that my personal project has received confirmation. Even though I am not that knowledgeable in libertarian political economy, Austrian economics and Christian economics, I am happy to know that the former US libertarian Congressman has come up with a new type of education, which is badly needed by the present generation.
Ron Paul curriculum contains four basic components (Gary North):
Hearing this news, makes me happy. I am glad to see that my personal project has received confirmation. Even though I am not that knowledgeable in libertarian political economy, Austrian economics and Christian economics, I am happy to know that the former US libertarian Congressman has come up with a new type of education, which is badly needed by the present generation.
Ron Paul curriculum contains four basic components (Gary North):
1. Biblical Principles of Self-Government and Personal Responsibility. This serves as the basis of the free enterprise.
2. Detailed study of the history of liberty and its rivals,
3. Austrian school of economics, and
4. Academically rigorous curriculum tied to primary sources.
Martes, Abril 2, 2013
Sense of Relief and Satisfaction
At last, I am done with that essay, 'The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Inflation". I have a feeling of relief and satisfaction. I started my day with too many disappointments beginning with my newly purchased cell phone not working, inability to bring money for my breakfast, absence of key to open our office and my laptop not able to connect to Internet.
After teaching a 6 year old boy and writing that essay, I have a sense of accomplishment this day. I am now waiting for three Korean fathers for our English lesson. We are now on Chapter 11 and I think I now have to prepare for our class.
Grace and peace!
The Intelligent Woman’s Guide to Inflation
This is a 44 year old essay. It was written in 1969 when Nixon was the president of the United States. It amazes me to think how times have changed, but the relevance of the essay remains. It was unfortunate that President Nixon was not able to read it, and even if he did, perhaps he would not be persuaded by the soundness of the arguments of the writer due to possible practical changes he had to make in his economic policies.
This essay was written when the price of gold was $41 and US national debt was $353 billion. After 44 years, gold now costs $1,598 per ounce and US national debt is closed to $17 trillion. I just wonder if Gary North’s essay is correct, how come his predicted “economic collapse” is not yet taking place? Instead, we have been hearing from mainstream news that 2008 economic crisis has already been solved! Or maybe, “the day of reckoning” has just been extended due to Federal Reserve’s commitment to indefinite QEs.
You will find my summary of the mentioned essay here.
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