Blogger's Funny SpellChecker

Blogger's spell checker is humorous. It doesn't even recognize "blog" as a word, suggesting "bloc" in its place. But when I use my blogpeer's handle "Vache Folle" I get the suggested replacement words, "vague folly." Blogger said it, not me.

God Gave Guinness

History has it that St. Patrick explained the Holy Trinity to the king of Ireland using the three leafs of a shamrock. This is reason enough to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with one of my favorite pastimes. Drinking a pint of Guinness Stout; room temperature, of course. Not only did Mrs. Scott buy me a six pack, but my mom is cooking a special corned beef and cabbage dish using the hearty dark brown fluid in the recipe. Looking forward to a special day that will result no doubt in thankful praise and worship.

Newly Tagged Blogger

I'm deciding to "tag" Bruce Gerencser (aka the Hungarian Luddite) with the blog chain because of his comment (and because I only tagged two of my four). In a positive way, of course. Bruce, you're under no obligation, especially in tagging others, but it would be interesting to see your answers to this list. If I'm out of line in my electing you, please let me know.

Tag, You're It!

James Wilson at Independent Country has tagged me with a chain-post, "Memes of Fours." I'm not familiar with this in a blog setting, but since this chain is free of the usual "pass this along and you'll have some great thing happen; failure to do so will result in everybody you know dying" or some such nonsense, I think it'll be fun. Here goes next-to-nothing:

Four jobs I’ve had:

1. car smasher at a wrecking yard (by far the most fun job I've ever had!)
2. department store stockroom temp (where I met my wife the first time)
3. pizza delivery dude
4. architect

Four movies I can watch over and over:

1. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
2. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
3. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
4. Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Four places I’ve lived: (yawn)

1. Concord, CA
2. Berkeley, CA
3. Pleasant Hill, CA
4. Walnut Creek, CA

Four (screw it...FIVE) TV shows I love [the fifth slot was Wally Conger's addition]:

It doesn't say whether these are current or all-time. I don't watch much TV on my own anymore, but usually only watch what my wife watches when I'm in the room., so I'll answer with my all-time faves.

1. Monty Python's Flying Circus
2. Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show
3. Barney Miller
4. Carol Burnett Show
5. Cheers

Four highly regarded and recommended TV shows I haven’t seen (much of):

1. Friends
2. Will and Grace
3. 24
4. Lost

Four places I’ve vacationed:

1. San Diego, CA
2. Denver, CO
3. Phoenix, AZ
4. my wife's kitchen (remodel)

Four of my favorite dishes:

1. my wife's lemon chicken
2. my mom's cornish pasties
3. chicken enchilada special from El Tapatio/La Tapatia
4. lamb vindaloo

Four sites I visit daily:

1. Independent Country
2. St George Blog
3. Center for Cultural Leadership
4. John H Armstrong

Four places I’d rather be right now:

1. Little Italy district of downtown San Diego with my wife
2. ballgame at Fenway Park in Boston (I've never been there)
3. Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, NY
4. wouldn't you like to know?

Four new bloggers I’m tagging:

(I don't think four even read my blog to know they're tagged) Is this blogspam lite?

1. Vache Folle
2. KDNY
3. Bruce Gerencser (Hungarian Luddite) - added March 7th
4.

Kitchen in the Dining Room

My posting rate has declined in the last two months. A major do-it-yourself kitchen remodel has taken much of my time. The fridge, minus ice maker, is in the dining room along with boxes of dishes and cooking items. Less blogging and a better kitchen... all to the delight of Mrs. Scott.

Power to the People

In response to my last post on the kindgom vs. the church, Vache Folle comments that the idea of the kingdom is revolutionary:

It seems to me that pastors, theologians and seminaries have vested interests in the church from which they derive sustenance and authority, whereas the idea of the kingdom undermines authority and is revolutionary.

The idea of the kingdom gives maximum freedom to individuals. It was for freedom, after all, that Christ set us free. We have the freedom to use our own gifts to the benefit of others, without permission from any clergy or self appointed overlord. We have the freedom of association, freedom to marry or make ourselves eunuchs, to have children, to read God's word, to interpret it for ourselves, to put it into action. We have a relationship to God that on one level is nobody else's business. Our marching orders come from Christ and are not mediated through human agents. If we acted on the authority already delegated us in Christ and didn't abdicate that authority to ecclesiocrats, they would disappear from the landscape.

Many, oh so many, Christians talk much about Christian liberty. If they only knew.

Where Was Saul of Tarsus?

About a year ago something struck me that I've never heard addressed by anybody. Where was Saul of Tarsus during Jesus' ministry and eventual crucifixion? The apostle-to-be was first introduced in Scripture as an affirming witness to Stephen's stoning at the end of Acts 7. I'm almost sure that this event occurred within only a few months of Christ's death, maybe a year.

Saul was a violent persecutor of the church, so he must have known much about Christ, and he had done great persecution to the saints in Jerusalem, yet he is not mentioned in the gospels or by Paul himself in the epistles. If he were in Jerusalem at the time of Christ and if he were a pharisee, would he have ever met Christ? He certainly would have been old enough.

This is pure speculation (and please don't start a cult with this), but I've wondered if he could have been the rich young ruler spoken of in the gospels. I wonder if we'll ever know about Saul's earlier days.

[Update: This topic is continued further here.]

Happy New Year

Last week I added a post to my blog with the unaccompanied title, "Merry Christmas." This day is in reference to Christ's birth. "Happy New Year" is also in reference to Christ's birth, the year 2006 being the approximate number of years since. Now, more of the world than ever, through using His birth as starting point for their calendar, is using Christ's life as the centerpoint of all history. That's because it is.

Merry Christmas

King David: Blues Singer

Ever notice how many of the Psalms were written when the author was in anguish over life's terrific problems? The old addage, "you can't sing the blues unless you've lived the blues" applies here. Since the Psalms were all set to music, that would make King David (and maybe Asaph as backup vocals) a blues singer.

The Law Written on the Heart

According to all I've been taught, non-believers have God's law written on their heart. So they have no excuse. And when God saves a sinner, He writes His law on that person's heart.

Why the redundancy? What purpose would writing the same thing have? But Romans says that natural man has the work of the law written on his heart. I'd have to say that the law and the work of the law are two different things. Maybe?

Owe No Man Anything?

This verse in Romans 13 is commonly used as a teaching against Christians being in monetary debt. This teaching is fairly common, but one notable exception seems to be the largest debt one may ever incur, that of the mortgaging of a home. Interesting how that happens.

Use Your Gifts!

"Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly..." Romans 12:6 (NASB)

Let this be an encouragement to exercise your gifts. And since this exhortation is directly from the Scriptures to the believers, no human mediator is necessary to give you permission; whether from pastors, missions boards or church committees.

Amen!

Still Protesting?

Protestants get their name from their alignment with a group of men who protested against some abuses and doctrinal errors in the medieval Roman Catholic church some 400 years ago. Yet many today act as if our 21st century American culture were still dominated by the medieval Roman mindset.

But consider that the American heritage is largely Protestant. The Pilgrims were largely Reformed, Protestant Puritans, and our idea of government is largely influenced by their thought. Most of our presidents have been affiliated with Protestant churches (JFK is a notable exception), as is the case with Congress. The Southern Baptists make up our largest church denomination. Our education was largely founded by Protestants (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc.) as were our public schools. The "Christian Right" is mostly evangelical Protestant as is the "Bible Belt." Our history is full of "hellfire and brimstone" preachers (Protestants). The Roman church has changed much in the last 400 years, and many modern American Catholics disagree with the pope on a number of issues. Our present culture doesn't even have a clue as to what Rome was doing 400 years ago.

Yet, our Reformed preachers continue to preach the doctrine of "justification by faith alone" and other Reformed doctrine just as if we were living 400 years ago. This one doctrine has been equated with the gospel itself more times than I can remember, and it is widely viewed as the central message of the New Testament. Understanding this doctrine is used as a litmus test for orthodoxy, spirituality and even salvation. No, as true as this doctrine might be, and I believe it to be so, the Lordship of Jesus Christ over every thought, word and act of every man, woman, child, atom and molecule is the central message of the Bible.

Ironically, a large point in Reformed preaching is how the church is ineffective in the culture around us. Maybe we could listen to this while simultaneously looking in the mirror. We won't win an ignorant culture over to our side when we continue to protest against things that no longer have rule over us.

The Music is Reversible

At the heart of the debate between the Covenantal and Dispensational views of the covenant(s) is the argument of continuity or discontinuity from Old to New Covenant. Covenant theology stresses continuity and dispansationalism stresses discontinuity.

Yet, in the area of music in the church, they quite often switch positions. The hard core covenanters often hold a "biblical" position limited to the singing of psalms alone, a cappella, completely ignoring both the instruments used in the psalms themselves and the "continuity" that would invite their heavy use today. Dispensationalists on the other hand often sing only "spiritual songs", citing the New Testament reference as replacing the Old way, yet use every instrument that makes a sound (without reference in the NT for validation).

So much for systematic theology...

A Hard Saying

"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life." John 5:39-40.

Harsh words from our Lord to those want to know all about Him, but not know Him. Yikes, I better read my bible more.

Dangers in being Reformed

I've come to realize that there are some dangers in being "Reformed," and that these dangers are quite widespread. One pitfall can be found in the term "Reformed" itself. The word is in the past tense. It also indicates completion. And quite a few Reformed folk act that way, me included of course.

You see, this is the attitude that says, "all doctrine that we ever need to know was already figured out by a bunch of 400 year old dead guys. Oh, and we've arrived." We can be stuck in the past with blinders on as to the present... and to the future as well. Of course, everything and everybody can be judged in black and white by that completed knowledge. We wrench the Protestant Reformation, and its reactionary doctrines (they're not necessarily a bad thing), out of its medieval context and apply it equally to all times and all cultures. Not Reformed? Well, then, you're a suspect.

It seems that of all the doctrines "recovered", revealed or invented during the Reformation, the doctrine of semper reformanda, that is, "always reforming", is one of the most neglected in today's Reformed church. The Reformers themselves were humble enough (in this area at least) to realize that they didn't have the final word on everything. To think that they had reached finality in doctrine would have been to become as the very Rome they protested against.

The church needs to move forward in its doctrine and practice. To fail in this is like wrapping your talent in a hankercheif and burying it in the ground. And we all know what Jesus had to say about that.

Theology - Likes & Dislikes

Here are some of my likes & dislikes (or beliefs & disbeliefs):

Likes: The priesthood of all believers, decentralization of church government, the Berean spirit, private interpretation of Scripture (clarification: the duty to privately interpret the truth from Scripture as opposed to coming up with a private interpretation), 24/7/365 Christianity, moderation in consumption of alcohol etc.

Dislikes: Legalism, lording it over the sheep, institutionalization of the church, "corporate mindedness" within the church, pessimistic view of Christ's kingdom, hyper-spirituality.

These are some of the things that will form the basis for my blogging here on "From the Pew."

Why "From the Pew"?

Well, I'm in. Just getting my toes wet. My first blog post.

So why have I named this blog "From the Pew"? I'm not a pastor, seminary graduate or professional theologian, and am not currently a church leader or office holder. Just a regular dude sitting in the pew... with plenty of opinions about how we moderns "do church."

It seems that the ones "in control" make, and have always made, all the rules, biblical or not, and maybe it's time for a change. I seem to read my bible a bit differently than those systematically trained in who knows what.

My aim is to get Christians thinking about what they do and why. So, here's some theology "From the Pew."