About me
My Photo
Name: mr. c
Location:San Lorenzo, California, United States

I'm currently a Senior pursuing an undergraduate degree in Biblical Studies.

A Comic from My Pile

Links
Previous Posts
Archives

It's been a while

I know I've been slack on this blog.  In fact I've been slack on all my blogs.  Life has been so busy lately that I haven't had much of a chance to blog.  Still I plan on posting a few more papers soon.  Also I'm looking to move this blog to my own domain and start adding computer prgramming posts to the blog as well.  The trick is finding the right blog that lets me take RSS feeds of categories.  I'd like to use on that is using Ruby on Rails, but I'm not totally commited to that.  So far the one that has peaked my interest the most is Typo.

posted by mr. c at 11:57 AM 1 comments

1 Peter 5:1-7 - Leading By Example

When one desires to be a minister they desire a noble thing (1 Tim 3:1). However the pitfalls of ministry are great and perilous. Many who claim the title of minister abuse their power in a fashion that robs their congregation of either their self-will or finances. 1 Peter 5:1-7 addresses these pitfalls and offers a way in which ministers are to conduct themselves. This way describes both the proper attitude and conduct that the minister is to have while executing their office. It also provides a reward and a hope for those who struggle with the things required of them. In this paper I will explore the expectations and rewards waiting for those who assume leadership positions in the church. Petrine authorship of the epistle is assumed and only briefly examined as it pertains to the passage. The emphasis of the examination is on the nature of an elder as described in the passage, and the implications for it has for ministers. As such, the questions about whether there is an office of elder or whether elders are the same as bishops are beyond the scope of this paper.

The paper can be found here:
1 Peter 5:1-7 - Leading By Example

References cited:

Blum, Edwin A. “1 Peter.” In The Expositor's Bible Commentary. Edited by Frank E. Gaebelein. 12. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1981.

Elwell, Walter A. Evangelical Commentary on the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1989.

Eve, Eric. Oxford Bible Commentary. Edited by Barton, John and John Muddiman. vol. 77, 1 Peter. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Everett Falconer Harrison. “The Son of God among the Sons of Men Part 3: Jesus and Simon.” Bibliotheca Sacra 102, no. 407 (1945): 300-310.

Freeman, James M. “1 Peter.” In The New Manners and Customs of the Bible. Edited by Harold J. Chadwick. Gainesville, FL: Bridge-Logos Publishers, 1998.

Hiebert, Edmond D. “Selected Studies from 1 Peter - Part 4: Counsel for Christ's Under-Shepherds: An Exposition of 1 Peter 5:1-4.” Bibliotheca Sacra 139, no. 556 (1982): 331-342.

Lust, Johan, Erik Eynikel, and Katrin Hauspie. p????µ??.” In A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2003.

Michaels, J. Ramsey. Word Biblical Commentary. Edited by Ralph P. Martin. Vol. 49, 1 Peter. Dallas, TX: Word Books, 1988.

Slaughter, James R. “The Importance of Literary Argument for Understanding 1 Peter.” Bibliotheca Sacra 152, no. 605 (1995): 73-92.

Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. ed. Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey William Bromiley and Gerhard Friedrich, vol. 7. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1976.


posted by mr. c at 2:38 PM 3 comments

How not to evangelize



It's amazing how sometimes we change the message of God to suit our own desires, and then we wonder why nobody is interested.


posted by mr. c at 1:34 PM 0 comments

Blogging Explained (really)



I think Pearls before swine has become my new favorite comic.

posted by mr. c at 5:56 PM 0 comments

The dangers of misinterpretation








This comic is classic. So many people associate blessings with apporoval from God. Jesus said the rain falls on the just and the unjust. The measure of truth is not the appearance of blessing alone, it is the very word of God that shows us what is true.




posted by mr. c at 2:45 PM 0 comments

Philosophy of Ministry - update

Upon further refelction I decided that my previous outline was still too abstract to properly deal with the paper, so I decided to create a new one while still holding onto my previous work.  So far this is what I have:
  • Foundations
    • Saved - Christ Centered
      • Called
      • Redeemed
    • Surrendered - Spirit Filled
      • God Dependant
      • God Empowered
    • Servant - God Fearing
      • Worship
      • Discipleship
      • Evangelism
  • Goals
    • Reconcile Men to God
    • Equip the Saints to do the Ministry of God
    • Draw Near to God
      • Practical Personal Reasons
      • Practical Ministry Reasons
  • Methodology
    • Teaching
      • Truth Principles
        • Doctrine
      • Process Principles
        • Hermeneutics
        • Evangelism
          • Personal Evangelism
          • Community Evangelism
          • World Evangelism/Missions

Tags: , ,

posted by mr. c at 9:25 AM 0 comments

Trying to write a philosophy of ministry

Trying to come up with a philosophy of ministry is a very difficult task when you are used to thinking abstractly about theological issues.


It has taken two frustrating hours to finally settle on three major points for my framework:

Biblical ministry is...

  • Christ Centered
  • Spirit Filled
  • God Fearing

Next I have to pull together under this three point umbrela all the things I think are essential to ministry, and present it in a 5-8 page paper.


Tags: , ,

posted by mr. c at 10:01 PM 0 comments

Waward Christian Soldiers

Wayward Christian Soldiers by Charles Marsh


I recently found this article that gives a scathing rebuke to evangelicals for their support of the war in Iraq.  It opens with this quote:


In the past several years, American evangelicals, and I am one of them, have amassed greater political power than at any time in our history. But at what cost to our witness and the integrity of our message?

Working at a Christian "Teaching & Talk" Radio Station, I am exposed to this mind set a lot more than I am comfortable with.  I am frequently bothered by how often the local Christian talk show is about politics and not about spiritual issues.  And not only politics in a generic sense as to try to bring the light of God's truth to the various political issues out there, but rather one that takes liberal Democrats to task and praises the Republican agenda.


Back during the recall election for Gov Gray Davis, I asked a girl at church who she was going to vote for and her answer shocked me.  She said, "I'm voting for Arnold Schwarzenegger because I'm a Christian."  She went on to explain that because he was a Republican he must be ok because the Republican party was essentially the Christian Party.


I've been thinking about picking up God's Politics : Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It because it seems to address this issue of American Evangelicals under the illusion that the Republican Party is God's party:



The only reason I vote Republican is because of issues like abortion & gay marriage.  In every other area I find myself more liberal in my beliefs.  For example I am for taking care of the poor, dealing with racism, preserving the environment, and so on.


But if we are really honest about this when you look at the two parties there is very little difference between the two as both seem to do little more than pay lip service to the real issues facing the country.  I think that is why the liberal activists have shifted their focus to the courts, because it seems the courts are willing to make the hard choices where most politicians won't.


I leave you with the closing quote from the initial article:


What will it take for evangelicals in the United States to recognize our mistaken loyalty? We have increasingly isolated ourselves from the shared faith of the global Church, and there is no denying that our Faustian bargain for access and power has undermined the credibility of our moral and evangelistic witness in the world. The Hebrew prophets might call us to repentance, but repentance is a tough demand for a people utterly convinced of their righteousness.

Tags: ,

posted by mr. c at 10:36 AM 3 comments



A Book From My Library

Daily Passage
Bloglines
Etc.


- Subscribe to my feed

Modified theme from V4NY