Augustine as mentor excerpts

Augustine as Mentor is a book I reviewed written by Edward Smithers. Here are some points that really stuck out:

Mentoring or discipleship is the work of one Christian helping another (or group of them) grow in their knowledge and application of the teachings of Jesus and the Scriptures to realize the fullness of their salvation.

Mentoring includes guiding and helping disciples live holy. It gets messy but it is so important.

Sound teaching is a key component to mentoring/discipleship.

This book had some very good and interesting points. Not everyone would enjoy reading it because it reads like a theological/historical thesis's.I will post my review here in the near future.

Christ's Mass

It is cliché to say let’s bring Christ back in Christmas but ironically that is not really the case…

This might be sermon you have heard before if you are a seasoned Christian, especially around the Christ MAS Season. Did you catch that? The word Christmas was originally known as Christ’s Mass. A phrase first recorded in 1038 AD. Which symbolizes Christ’s death as a "death sacrifice." So by saying, "Merry Christmas", we are literally saying "Merry death of Christ!" Although the celebration that looks exactly like the American “Christmas” was celebrated in the same way up to 2000 years BEFORE Christ’s birth!

That is right 2000 years…the traditions of this holiday (the tree, the evergreen, the holly, the mistletoe, the bells, the caroling and even the gift giving and charity) were all traditions of ancient middle eastern/ and early Roman pagan holidays. In fact there is reference to these festivities in Jeremiah 10. I could spend an hour going through all these traditions and explaining how they came about…it is so interesting! I personally spent a lot of hours recently studying these and I think that you would find much of the history fascinating. The main festivity was that of worshiping the sun. Other traditions were added as the years went on Santa Clause for instance was added in the fourth century. There actually was a St. Nicholas who was extremely generous in his gift giving especially t children who had been well-behaved.

Even the date, Dec 25th is not original to Christians. The sun god festivals ere first celebrated from Dec. 17-25. It was not until the fourth Century that Christians also adopted this date to eclipse the pagan festival and give people a good reason to celebrate, that being Jesus.
Otherwise Dec. 25th is a very interesting date to pick. We have to match up the Word of God with reality if we are going to curiously consider this date. The final answer is that God did not lay out a date of Christ’s birth for us to know. We do know that Caesar was collecting taxes and many people were traveling to their hometowns to pay their tribute and be counted while Mary was pregnant. (Prego). Taking this into consideration it is more likely that the Caesar would collect taxes closer to harvest when the weather is nicer and the food supply is more abundant than it is in the colder times of Dec.

We also see that in Luke 2:8 tells us (whatever night it was) that the shepherds were in the field that night and the angel told the m about Christ’s birth. It is not unreasonable for shepherds to be out in the field year round if the weather permitted them to be outside. The winter months can be slightly colder and could potentially offer more precipitation than the summer or fall months. Even still,, the mean December temperatures for Palestine is around 40 degrees. So a warm night in December could potentially be a nice near 50 degrees. So the weather issue could go either way. So in conclusion Dec 25th is not unreasonable. But the main point is that it is not important. My point is to disregard looking for a solid answer to the question of “what day was Jesus born” and instead focus on the reason why WE as Christians are celebrating.

At this point there are several approaches I could go with this sermon and similarly different approaches to looking at Christmas in light of all that has been pointed out. Some people will try and oppose all of the pagan traditions of these holiday times and say that Christmas is a diabolical paradox because it is not focused on Jesus Christ’s birth. In fact, there are some that say that Christmas is a blasphemous holiday and are very much against it because it is more or less mocking Jesus. Then they is the more lenient, liberal approach which suggests that it is not such a bad thing that the Church wanted to bring Christ into a pagan holiday. This blending and mixing of ideas is acceptable and legitimate. That is why the Dec. date was chosen in the first place to compete with and evangelize Jesus despite pagan tradition.

The approach I am taking is a mix of the two. I have grown up in the American materialistic version of the holiday season but I also grow up remembering the reason for the season. I enjoy both giving and receiving presents, decorating the house, singing seasonal songs, and all of those little traditions but I do not let these little things stress me out. I do not make a huge deal of them and above all of these things, I celebrate Jesus Christ as Savior. I thank God that He was born and remember what He did for me. I recall the life of Jesus Christ. It is not so much a “merry bloody death of Christ” – but it is about Christ and on the other hand it is not a huge festivity where I am focused on competing to see how many gifts I get. The traditions are not sinful in themselves. Insomuch as that we remember what Christ’s Mass is all about: It is about Jesus Christ.

At some point in time Jesus Christ was born of a virgin Mary while they were in the town of Bethlehem to pay taxes and be counted for the census. When the couple arrived to the town the inn had no room for them. He realized that she was pregnant and could offer a manger/a stable. After such a long journey to Bethlehem and a wife who is in the most painful final stages of childbirth, Joseph as got to be thinking…”really? This is where my child, one who is to be called Jesus is to be born?” But being a good godly man, he carries Mary to the most comfortable spot, clears away the animals and builds a fire while saying a prayer to the Father! The Christ child is born in the humble manger. Later that evening shepherds would come and worship him directed by an angel.

Still almost two years later, a caravan of wise men would come and bring gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. At this point it is likely that Mary and Joe have moved out of the manger and into a house. These wise men were directed by a star. It is also likely that there were many more than “three” wise men or “kings,” as three wise men carrying three gifts might work logically it is simply not logistically sound because of safety issues and robbery. It is likely that more than three men made the trip in a caravan. These men gave a gift and did not expect or receive any gift in return except to be graced by the presence of Christ as a child.

This is the story of Christ’s birth according to the Word of God. I encourage you to check it out this week despite all the business of the holidays take time and remember Christ! Many of us are too busy planning His party to seek His will or grieve His absence. Let’s enjoy His grace and His presence as we celebrate His birthday. Let’s celebrate Christ this Christ’s mass!

my ridiculous lifestyle

What is wrong with me? I got a seasonal first shift job so I am still making money since UPSF has put me "on call" for the winter. It works perfect when I am not called in but when I do work both jobs my life is ridiculous:

Here is an example:

4:30AM - wake up
- shower, pack lunch, eat breakfast/leftovers, start car,

5-5:45AM drive to work

6AM-2:30PM - Seasonal job

2:30-4:30 - Panera Bread napping and/or School work
(from 3:30-4:30 I am waiting for call from UPSF boss to see if I am working)

4:30-5 - eat dinner somewhere in Columbus ( if I am called into work, and depends on what I want) If not called in drive home

5-5:30 - drive to UPS Freight
If not called-in - eat dinner

6-10PM - work at UPSF
(or school work from 6-9PM if not called in and bed time at 9/9:30PM)

10-10:30PM - drive home

11PM-4:30AM - SLEEP

Monastic living

What about monks? Why did monks like Antony (anchorites) pursue the solitude of the desert? Why did the coenobites like Pachomius prefer community? What monastic principles are helpful for present day non-monks?

Some Christians wanted to escape the contamination and distractions of the church and world so they became monks. The word “monk” derives from the Greek monachos, which means ‘solitary.’ There were two approaches to the pursuit of solitude. Solo monks wished to escape the bad and evilness of the world completely and hide in the desert to pursue holiness with God completely away with God and away from sin and man. The other method was that of the Coenobites who were monks that lived in community with one another. They also sought holiness and desired to be away from the world and its worldliness.

Both approaches do have their flaws. While I respect their purist for holiness I think that the monks miss the mark in other areas. For solo monks like Anthony, where does evangelism come into light? Whom is witnessing your relationship with God? Are we not called to live as ‘salt and light?’ Are we not to live “in but not of the world?’ Where does Jesus say flee this world completely? Yes we are to die to ourselves but not die of our fellow man. Also on that note, are we not also called to have fellowship with the body of Christ? Are we called to ‘continue meeting together? Is not the body of Christ dependent upon the other parts of the body?

For the Coenobites…the same questions that I just scrutinized Anthony with apply except the last two. Instead though I have replacement questions. In light of living amongst other monks, would not pride begin to set in once monks felt that they had arrived at perfection? Once they have gone out of their way to live without evil and sin, there is pride, a sin… Ironic, huh? Also even if this group was a decent group of monks, then all you really have is a group of monks who set themselves apart from the world. Again, aren’t we called to be a light to the world and not hide our light in the darkness of the dessert?
There are some excellent concepts and principles that non-monks, even Western Christians can learn from. While these monks may have error on taking pursuit and holiness too far, we today in America are in error on not having enough purity and holiness. We walk and sometimes enjoy crude Comedy Central humor. We accept half naked people dancing and displaying themselves in our “popular music” We are entertained by rated R movies were cursing, sex and violence are the acceptable norms. I am not trying to offer a solution to all this. I admit I am clustering a lot of things together just to make this simple point, but the point is that we also are called to “be holy, just as I am holy.”

Another principle of monastic living is the idea of surrender. The monks had to give up all their goods and submit to authorities before becoming a monk. They had to die to themselves daily. They had to fast two or three days a week. They had to sacrifice all of their time. They had a lot of surrendering to do. In America, all we think about is what can we achieve? What can we gain/profit? Especially during the holidays/Christmas… American Christians are trained to be materialistic even before they are Christians ( from birth!) So this is another difficult thing we must learn to control.
The concept of time and community of monastic living is something Western Christians really need to consider! The monks had quality fellowship and quality relationships with one-another. They had quality discipleship because they invest a lot of time and effort in their discipleship practices! America is so rushed that we are becoming a Bibleless Christianity. This country is so rushed to be productive and get everything else done that the Bible and spiritual faith is neglected. The early church and the church fathers spent time together in their process of making disciples. Making disciples requires time. When quality time is spent developing a disciple if that time is sent in the Word of God, then Sound doctrine follows. No post-modernism crap!
Another great concept that you do see in great American churches that we also saw in monastic living is the idea of entrusting others with ministry. A ministry is never one person’s, except the Lord’s. Part of discipleship is encouraging and helping others to reach their full potential. They will be able to use their spiritual gifts to continue the ministry.

How do we "do discipleship" with with all people?

I have a heart for certain people and I do not know how "disciple" them. The traditional ways of meeting with them on a regular basis to get into their life, to pray with them and read the Bible together does not seem to be attractive to them....


- People who do not care about spiritual things, who do not want to talk about faith (if they have any at all). How do you evangelize this person?
- Ty
-Dustin
-People who are way too busy.
-People who are not committed.
-People who are annoying and hard to love.
- People who have been rejected by the church before.


Should true discipleship be narrow (Jesus really focused on three and then 12 then the masses. He used "concentric circles" of those who wanted to be disciples....)


I love these people. I want to see them grow their respective faiths. I have tried to show them why getting into the Word together is so important, yet they always have excuses. Maybe they are too busy or have bad priorities but what can we do to help these kinds of people? (And the others mentioned above?)

Seasonal Work

Reasons for the employee to work hard:

Leave a good impression for future FT hirings
It is only for a season, I will get through it
Extra money! (If they like me they will keep me)
Setting a good example, being a good Christian

Reasons for the employee to not care:

It is only a seasonal "second job," I could call it off today...
It does not matter it is only a temporary job...who cares
Extra money! (I get paid by the hour)


Reasons for the boss to treat them poor:

They are just temps, who cares
This is there job, they do what I say no matter how ridiculous! Weekends are mandatory!

Reasons for the boss to treat them well:

They are extra needed help
They like them, want to help them out

working on the Lord's Day

What do you think about working on the Lord's Day?

My brother, who may or may not kill me if he know I was using him as an example, although he never reads my blog anyways, always works for a pizza company on Sunday evenings.

I've never cared for him working on Sundays. I believe in resting and worshiping our risen Savior on Sundays. While my brother does rest and worship at church in the AMs, it is still working on the Lord's Day isn't it?

But then I would also be guilty when I choose to work on school projects and homework on Sunday evening also...right?

What do you think?

My "PC"

Most people who know me, know that I try not to be insensitive, (especially when it comes to race and 'diversity') but but when it comes to my faith and politics, I can be bold and blunt. Although today at work I was very politically correct(PC) and it felt weird...

At work they had "mandatory Saturday and mandatory Sunday." For one thing I was a little angry because when they hired me on, they knew that I worked at UPS Freight on Saturdays and that I go to church every Sunday (yes, one of those guys). Having Sundays off was "not a problem" for the person who hired me. And he made no mention of this "mandatory Saturdays and Sundays." Although apparently there was "limited" communications (hilarious inside job if you know where I am working) between the hiring staff and the actual managers. So I called off of work at UPS Freight so that I could be a good seasonal employee (besides the fact that I made more money and got more hours at the seasonal job.) While these mandatory weekend days are not every weekend, I was still shocked that nobody told me about this in advance!

Anyways..."My PC" event this morning to boss: "I will not be at work tomorrow (Sunday) because I have a leadership role at a spiritual institution that I am committed to...."

Could i have been any more vague? I knew that my boss could not deny a committed spiritual zealot from his service. And if he wanted to challenge the truth to the statement all he has to do is "google" my name - it will appear on my church's website, my blog/facebook - both which show the passion I have for my church.

Anyways in case my boss is reading this post. I will leave it at that. I just needed to reflect and thought that this political correctiveness on my part was entertaining, liberal, odd and not like me at all! I honestly feel weird abut that statement although it is true.

"Light Duty "Irony

If you know of me in real life you know that I recently sprained my right ankle. It is fine now but at work my boss has not let me do any regular work since the doctor has put me on "restrictions."

This has been quite annoying, boring and challenging because the type of work I am doing is boring, annoying, not my regular work and actually painful. You see at UPS Freight, my job description is simple: move skidded freight from one door to another on a forklift as a dockworker.

My boss will not let me move freight while the doctor has me on restrictions so he has been making me sweep the dock, sweep the dock pad, pick up trash, fix the chains, check the fire extinguishers, pick up cardboard and generally clean the dock. In other words I have been on my feet and on my ankle for hours straight. (Instead of being on a forklift for hours.)

I do not blame my doctor really. He is helping my ankle heal by restricting me. I do blame my boss. I understand that he is protecting the company and attempting to obey the doctor's orders. Although hi honestly think he does not know what he is doing because I am on my ankle MORE these past weeks of "light duty" than I have ever walked on the dock at this job! It is ridiculous.

Being on my ankle a lot has been painful.

I have complained about it and told him straight up that I think that he is taking the idea of protecting the company too far and actually hurting my ankle/making it worse than if I was working normally.

My boss will say it is for the good of my ankle but it is not helping.

Baptists, Calvinists, Doctrine of Election (Bibliography and Appendix A)

Appendix A

Arminianism	Calvinism
1. The decree of salvation applies to all who believe on Christ and who persevere in obedience and faith.	1. Total depravity.
2. Christ died for all men.	2. Unconditional election.
3.The Holy Spirit must help men to do things that are truly good (such as having faith in Christ for salvation.)	3. Limited Atonement. (Christ's death for the elect.)
4. God's saving grace is not irresistible It is possible for Christians to fall from grace.	4. Irresistible Grace.
	5. Perseverance of the saints.

From:

Tangelder, Johan D. “The Doctrine of Election.” From the Pastor's Desk. (1989 - 1993). Retrieved from http://www.reformedreflections.ca/pages/pastor-desk-index.html accessed on July 29th, 2009.

Bibliography

Erickson, Millard. Christian Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983.

Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Grand Rapids, Mi: Zonderzan, 1994.

Patton, Michael. “Introduction to Theology – Workbook.” (presented as part of class material at The Theology Program, Frisco, TX, November 2006), Reclaiming the Mind Ministries, http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/content/files/TTP/IT/IntroductiontoTheologyWorkbook-Jul-2006.pdf.

Yarnell III, Malcolm B. “Assessing the ‘TULIP’ of Calvinism.” SBC LIFE. (2009). Baptist Press. Retrieved from http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=22971 accessed on Aug. 1st, 2009.

MacArthur Jr, John. “Is the Doctrine of Election Biblical?” Adapted from The Body Dynamic. (1996.) Christian Art Distributors. Retrieved from http://www.biblebb.com/files/MAC/GTYW02.htm accessed on Aug. 1st, 2009.

Towns, Elmer L. “WHAT SHOULD SOUTHERN BAPTIST DO WITH CALVINIST?” The Baptist Banner, March 2009, Vol. XXII, No.3.

Tangelder, Johan D. “The Doctrine of Election.” From the Pastor's Desk. (1989 - 1993). Retrieved from http://www.reformedreflections.ca/pages/pastor-desk-index.html accessed on July 29th, 2009.

Patterson, Paige. “Happy Southern Baptists and the Tricky Track.”SBC Today. (2005.) Retrieved from sbctoday.com/files/trickytrack.pdf accessed on July 20^th, 2009.

Thompson, Philip E. "Baptists and "Calvinism" : discerning the shape of the question." Baptist History and Heritage, Spring 2004. (April 01, 2004). accessed July 11, 2009.

Hinson, Keith. "Calvinism resurging among SBC's young elites." Christianity Today 41, no. 11. (October 06, 1997): 86. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed August 1, 2009).

Walker, Ken. "TULIP Blooming." Christianity Today 52, no. 2. (February 2008): 19-19. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost(accessed August 2, 2009).

Hansen, Collin. "Young, restless, reformed : Calvinism is making a comeback--and shaking up the church." Christianity Today Sep 2006. (September 01, 2006). Christian Periodical Index, EBSCOhost (accessed August 1, 2009).

Jones, Jim. "Tiptoeing through TULIP." Christianity Today 53, no. 4. (April 2009): 13-13. Religion and Philosophy Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed July 11, 2009).

McKibbens, Thomas R. “Disseminating Biblical Doctrine Through Preaching.” Baptist History and Heritage Spring 1984. (April 1984).Accessed on July 11, 2009.

Weaver, Douglas and Finn, Nathan. “Youth for Calvin: Reformed Theology and Baptist Collegians.” Baptist History and Heritage, Spring 2004.Accessed on July 10, 2009.

Nettles, Thomas. “SOUTHERN BAPTIST IDENTITY: INFLUENCED BY CALVINISM.” Baptist History and Heritage, Oct. 1996.Accessed Aug. 1, 2009.

Wood, Ralph. "What Ever Happened to Baptist Calvinist?” Review and Expositor, 91 (1994).

NASB (New American Standard Bible.) La Habra, CA: Lockman Foundation, 1995.

Sproul, R.C. “Double Predestination.” Ligonier Ministries: renewing Your Mind. Retrieved from http://www.the-highway.com/DoublePredestination_Sproul.html , Accessed on Aug. 10, 2009.

Handy, Robert T. "The Baptist family : a heritage of faith." Review & Expositor 84, no. 4. (Fall 1987): 589-598. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed July 11, 2009).

Secondary:

Richards, Wiley W. “SOUTHERN BAPTIST IDENTITY: MOVING AWAY FROM CALVINISM” W. Baptist History and Heritage, Oct. 1996.Accessed Aug. 1, 2009.

Briggs, John. “The Influence of Calvinism on Seventeenth-Century English Baptists.” Baptist History and Heritage, Spring 2004.Accessed on July 10, 2009.

Elwell, Walter. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. 2^nd ed. Grand Rapids, Mi: Baker Academic, 2001.