Wow, I’m in a bad mood. Stayed up till 2:10 AM before I
\nsuccumbed to sleep only to be awakened at 2:35 by my wife asking if I
\nwas going to go up to bed. I would normally have had my daughter
\ndown in the crib by 12:30 to 1:20 or so, but we’re at my in-laws and
\nthe bedroom is up about two flights of stairs. The girl wakes up at the
\nslightest sense of transference from human arms so by 2:00 she was
\nstill fussy. Be that as it may, she finally did go into the crib, but
\nthen the next hours were loaded with fitful sleep as my wife spent the
\nrest of the night leaving the room dry heaving. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
If anyone should be in a bad mood, it should be her. At 7 years old,
\nafter being accused by (bad) doctors that she was making herself
\nregurgitate she was finally diagnosed by Johns Hopkins with having
\ngastrointestinal issues and severe motility problems. With weight
\nplummeting and things looking grim, that 7 year old had several
\noperations, one of which insured that she would be able to eat food
\nwithout ever being able to regurgitate again. Over the years she has
\nstruggled with different foods that would ignite her stomach acids in
\nprotest bringing those fits of regurgitation without bringing up food.
\nThis is painful to say the least and no doubt the intense fires that
\nmolded her high threshold for pain—although what molded her dealing
\nwith the “fact of pain” is completely different. <\/p>\n
There she sits. Actually smiling, hasn’t slept more than an hour
\nlast night and taking care of my daughter while I sit and type in a
\nblack funk. Say it: “men are babies”. <\/p>\n
What molds us? What makes us change? I look at my friend MCF<\/a> and A short time ago my family and I were invited to go to a picnic that I was talking to Brother Russ via e-mail and he illustrated how the The more I think about it, the more I realize that the language When Brother Doug<\/a> Brother Mike, dispensationalist who defines himself as a modified I’ve said it often enough and I keep hitting myself with this: It’s Whose words carry more weight? Whose words should carry more weight? Turn back to my wife. Constantly reading the word as a duty to her You will know them by their—not gift but —fruit. <\/p>\n -r-<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Wow, I’m in a bad mood. Stayed up till 2:10 AM before I succumbed to sleep only to be awakened at 2:35 by my wife asking if I was going to go up to bed. I would normally have had my daughter down in the crib by 12:30 to 1:20 or so, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nhear his stories of abuse at the hands of other people and am amazed
\nwhen he doesn’t realize how his social perceptions are directly
\nattributed to that. Perceptions…we all have them and don’t notice we’re
\nlooking through them. <\/p>\n
\nwas also a surprise birthday party for the host. A time of food and
\nenjoyment culminated in the guests sitting around a table while
\nlaughing. In my mind thoughts of “this is how the Lord’s Supper at
\nchurch should be” bounced around my head until one of the youths
\nstopped everything to have everyone say good things about the host. It
\ncreeped me out when people solemnly got up and spoke because it had
\nbecome a “Lord’s Supper” for a man. Here they were praising the man as
\nif he had accomplished what the Holy Spirit was already doing. I bit my
\ntongue within the group only sharing how I felt with my wife, but here
\nwas a situation where my own perceptions were directly influenced by my
\nown private studies. <\/p>\n
\nnew school of Christian thought ‘does theology’ vs. the establishment.
\nRuss was saying that the new school is like Linux and the old school is
\nlike Windows: two different operating systems with similar words that
\nmean completely different things in context of their own systems. <\/p>\n
\nisn’t so much about different operating systems but different
\napproaches to the same computer that everyone is trying to figure out
\nthe OS. The only one who fully understands the Operating System (to
\ncontinue using the common\/vulgar analogy) is God. He designed the whole
\nthing and knows every in and out fully. The ones constantly picking up
\nthe instructions and re-reading, relying on the Helper to instruct are
\nbelievers. We each start to follow a train of instruction and we grip
\nonto it and it skews our perception of the whole system. But how
\nimportant is our studying the operating system and understanding hor
\nour perception works if we don’t use the computer? <\/p>\n
\nand I have had discussions via email he has said that when we get to
\nheaven we’ll find out how far off all of our theologies fell short of
\nthe reality. Calvinist, not sure of his eschatological mindset although
\nhe may eventually skew Covenantal and he’s outright honest about this,
\npraise God. He constantly reiterates…how does it affect us? <\/p>\n
\nCalvinist (with 2 of 5 points changed and his other points needing
\nfurther review) is honest about his leanings throughout his site and
\nhas often stated that God could teach him by whatever means. Very
\nhonest approach and one that I applaud although it strikes me as odd
\nwhen he gets into a discussion like the one with his veterinarian friend<\/a> and his current commentor<\/a>.
\nBasically the gyst of the conversation is that just as you rely on a
\nlawyer’s perception of the law more than you do Common Joe you should
\nrely on a theologian’s perception of theology more than you do Common
\nChristian Joe. His point has some merit when the theologian spends all
\nhis time studying the word while Common Christian Joe studies on his
\ndown-time as a hobby—but his point is horrid if Theologian spends his
\ntime in study and never affected in his life and character and Common
\nChristian Joe is one who is constantly being changed in heart and
\nattitude and mind. <\/p>\n
\nnot how much you know. It’s not how much you can explain to others.
\nIt’s not even your assessment that you’re a good exegete (something
\nthat I see thirty year olds graduates saying about themselves much too
\noften). I’ve been around theologians who have had no problem cursing up
\na storm and slamming down some beers. I’ve been around seminarians that
\nembraced pride as a way of life. Conversely, I know a brother who
\npreaches the gospel to children at night and in prisons during the
\nday—studying at the five a.m hour and I’ve seen God use them greatly. <\/p>\n
\nWith the computer analogy you can take your studies from whoever knows
\nhow to use the thing…even if they only know how to use it for hacking
\ngovernment sites for downloading porn or for doing their taxes…but the
\nHoly Spirit isn’t like that. The Holy Spirit is not like learning Law
\nor becoming a veterinarian either. If the Light of the Life was not
\naffecting one’s actions then I steer clear! <\/p>\n
\nchildren and home and yet not ignoring the time that she is mandated to
\ndevote to them by locking leaving them to study. This woman reads and
\nshe understands and she holds conversations with me and at the same
\ntime her life exhibits the fruit of her studies and the growth in
\ncharacter and the steadiness of heart. She would stay up hours and if
\nshe were in a foul mood she would have every right to revel in it but
\nshe does not as a duty to her family, as a model for her children and
\nas an encouragement to her husband beneath the Light of Life, which is
\nthe Lord Jesus Christ. I’ve seen her walk. I’ve seen her studies. When
\nI hear her words I take them into a deeper consideration (albeit with
\npricked pride) than I would any long-term scholar and exegete whose
\nfruits I have not witnessed. That is not to say that I can’t taste
\nfruit in their writing, but I will always lean towards character over
\ngift. <\/p>\n