Well, it definitely is a fresh new day in LA. It is actually raining this morning. I really love the rain, I love the fresh smelling air after a rain, the clear sky, the cool reinvigorating air during the rain, and the soft sound of the rain hitting the ground, but wow, in LA does it cause problems. So yes, we woke up to a beautiful light rain, one that we definitely needed, but then in turn, we have car accidents on several of our major freeways. The beauty of the rain, but for a price. I don't really have any other thoughts on rain outside of these, but I do thank God for all of creation, the way that it cares for itself, the way that rain is formed, how it falls, how it brings nourishment to the ground. We have been and are quite concerned with the future of the earth, and I too am quite concerned. I mean, I don't want to waste resources or pollute the air, I think that this is a beautiful world that God has given us, and I want it to stay beautiful. But isn't that a little conceded? I mean first of all, wouldn't God have known in his foreknowledge all of the technology that we would develop, but not only that, but also the effects of that technology would have on the earth. So no real answers, but perhaps some questions/thoughts to consider.
Right now, I am working on a paper for my church history class at Fuller on, John Calvin's doctrine of the Lord's Supper. All I can say is "amazing." Calvin was an incredible theologian. His care for the use of every sentence, of every word, with such great intention into all of its meaning, I mean, I have to reread what he has written three to four times to just begin to understand the incredible point that he is making. I could go on for quite awhile when looking at the awesomeness of the Lord's Supper. So, I will do my best to keep it somewhat short. The catholics are very much believers in the transubstantiation of the bread and the wine. Believing that some how, mysteriously during the mass, the bread and the wine actually in a very physical sense become the body and blood of Christ. Luther believes in the eubiquity of Christ, which means Christ is in all things and that somehow he is even more present in the elements while we participate in the Lord's supper. He would say that in the physical sense, they remain bread and wine, but in a spiritual sense, they become the body and blood of Christ. Calvin on the other hand, believed that the sacraments were fully of mystery. He did believe that the elements changed in any form, but that some how in our participation in the Lord's Supper we are raised up and Christ is lowered down, so that we participate with him in the supper. It is important to also note, that he believes that we are adopted into the family of God in baptism, and that God being our father, loves us so much that he wants to care for us. In that loving care for us, he wants to nourish us and equip us for the life that the scriptures are calling us to live in. It is in light of this, that our Father in heaven feeds our soul through the body of Christ. It is a spiritual meal, that nourishes our soul for the life that we are called to live. In fact as Dutch Reformers, we follow more closely to Zwingli, who strongly believed that Jesus called it a symbol or a sign for a reason. It is just that. Nothing mystical about it, nothing mysterious to it, Jesus was just using an analogy just like he had in all of his parables.
So anyway, my personal belief...there is something more to it than Zwingli says, I don't understand it all, but I do know that my soul feels nourished and strengthened when we participate. Thank you God for the gift of the Lord's supper.
So, I haven't talked recently about Compton and the idea of Tara and I's moving in. I guess Frank and Cheryl have joined in the conversation/staying up on our blogging...welcome. I am sorry to have surprised you like this with some of our talking. We aren't really sure how all of it this is going to come together, and yes we did/do enjoy driving through Compton and thinking about purchasing a home there, we aren't going to be moving forward in this for a little while yet. So, the next question-what defines a little while...that's a great question, and I'm not really sure. It is really hard to determine where God is calling us. We are truly blessed to be a part of the ministry at Emmanuel and we love the opportunity to serve him through this church, but understanding the call that God has on our life can be difficult amidst so many amazing ministry opportunities.
God is working hard to reshape and clean up a lot of my theology and my understandings of him. There are definitely more questions than I have answers right now, and perhaps that will never change. Sometimes to do the best understanding, I have had to tear down some of the things that have held me up in the past and been a great support, and re-examining them, trying to understand what they were rooted in, how the theology was established, and then re-examining the scriptures and theologians of the past and present to help me re-establish my theological understandings. It is definitely a fun journey, most of the time, but one that is taxing on my spirit, and my head.
For the past couple of weeks, I have been struggling with the idea of prayer, how it works, what it does, what our role is in it, and what is God's. Do we have any power in prayer? Are there special words that should or should not be used in prayer? What does my heart look like most of the time while I pray? Why am I praying for this person, out of expectations I have on myself or others have on me, because I know that I should, how much am I praying for all of the people that I say that I am going to be praying for?
It isn't honestly a question as to whether or not God answers prayer. I know that he does. I am not even so much wondering why he chooses the prayers he answers and seems to not hear the ones that he doesn't answer. I mean, these are great things to consider, how egocentric of us to think that our needs are so huge compared to the lives that people across the world are suffering through, yet God hears our prayers-but not only that he answers them...yet children are still sold into slavery....thousands of innocent children die every year, because of decisions that are made outside of them completely, starvation is real, disease is real, brokenness seems to rule so much of the world, and yet God does step in, here and there, it is not that he is completely removed from it, and somehow in the middle of all that, he does hear our prayers too. He provides rain to the desert, he provides a home and the sale of a home to a single mother that desperately needs a change, he provides a good education for a little girl that needs love and support, He gives jobs that support our lives, He is the giver of all that we have.
I wasn't really planning on going into all of this...it is pretty interesting and difficult to wrestle through.
But life is interesting and full of questions most of which don't have answers, but praise God that we know He is in control and that we are just called to follow Him.
grace and peace
ms
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