Dark Times

Dark times loom ahead.

Well maybe I'm overstating it by saying "dark times", but definitely "difficult times." I'm confused and desperately lack direction.

Seminary was supposed to clear that up for me, but perhaps that was rather naive thinking on my part.

Spiritual Discernment Class

Today was the first day of class for the Spiritual Discernment course, an intensive course that will go on daily for the next two weeks. It's one of the last courses I'm scheduled to take at Regent, and as such, the timing is right. There is essentially one question that I hope to answer as a result of this course:

What is my vocational call?

In other words, after I graduate with a Master in Divinity, what next?

Lord have mercy on me as I discern which steps are next.

Bjork

Tonight Bjork (excuse the lack of umlauts on the 'o' .. I can't copy them from an open office doc to this Firefox webrowser) played at Deer Lake in Burnaby. It was an awesome concert. I think she's the greatest.

But she didn't play her best song: Human Behaviour. :(

She did play some other kick-a$$ songs though, including Army of Me, Pagan Poetry, Unison, All is full of Love, and Bachlorette.

She also played Pluto which I hate on the cd, but was quite good live.

I was also struck by the humanist message she preaches in her songs. My friend Rob thinks she sees herself as the philosophical uebermensch (again, excuse the lack of umlauts) that Hegel spoke of a couple centuries ago, the idea that humanity is working itself towards some kind of utopia. Hmmmmm .. I think he's onto something.

Too bad she's not.

But, I still love her music.

Systematic B Final Exam

Today was my final exam for Systematic B Theology: "Christology, Soteriology, and Anthropology". I wrote the final exam at Regent mid-afternoon. I had 2 hours to write 4 essays: essentially, 30 minutes per essay.

I chose to write on the following questions:
1- What does it mean to be made in God's image?
2- Are human being free agents or slaves to sin?
3- Discuss the nature of Jesus Christ.
4- What are the ways Jesus' work on the cross have been described?

I think I did ok on the exam.

Incidentally, Connie, a good friend of mine, accepted my exam once I was finished. I handed it in 7 minutes late, and she marked it (down) on the exam. If I get any marks deducted because of going 7 minutes over the time-limit, I'm gonna have to have a word with her. It seems that my method of selecting friends is not very good and may need some revamping.....

Advising Committee

Today was the first time I participated in the advisory committee meeting for "Out of the Cold" (OOC), an initiative by GCBC. I think it's a great initiative (that's been running for 10+ years!) that brings Christians from throughout the city together every Thursday night in order to cook and serve a meal to the homeless of Vancouver. I've volunteered for OOC for over a year now, and have been repeatedly blessed and challenged by my experiences there.

I'm blessed by the resilience and strength of the poor, and challenged to see Jesus in their faces.

I look forward to learn from some of the leaders there. Furthermore, I'd like to take what I learn there and implement some of their ideals in our church. Our church needs to have a higher social conscience, and so I think we have lots to learn from OOC and GCBC.

Clau To Bolivia

This morning I got up early, 5am, to drive Clau to Seattle. She's travelling to Bolivia for a month, to visit her home, her family and friends. We left around 6am, and arrived there around 9:30. Her flight didn't leave until noon, so we had a good 1.5 hours to hang out together. We went to a coffee shop at the airport and had a coffee and muffin there.

I really enjoyed my time with her.

My drive home alone was actually kinda sad. I know I'll miss her over the next 5 weeks.

Fear Not: A Prayer

"Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades" (Revelation 1:17b-18).

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God,
You are the first, and the last, and the living one.
You died, and behold, you are alive forevermore.
You have the keys to Death and Hades.

Thank you for the vision of grandeur and majesty that we received this evening;
thank you for your surpassing glory, Lord Jesus;
we give you thanks,
we give you praise,
for you are the Alpha,
you are the Omega,
you are the Almighty.

We confess that we do not always live according to this great and wonderful truth.
We are selfish and seek our own glory.
Forgive us, Father, for the sake of your Son Jesus,
who lived, and died, and rose,
and who sits beside you
on your right hand.

Restore us, Father,
and grant that out of this vision of your Son Jesus,
his power and authority would grow in our hearts and minds,
and that our commitment to being His disciples would strengthen.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer!

We pray that Christ would be celebrated all over the world.
We pray especially for our dear brothers and sisters in the Upper Shire, Malawi,
that they would celebrate the glory and majesty of your Son Jesus.
We are grateful for the mighty works you have done among the Malawi people,
and we pray that you would continue strengthening these our brothers and sisters.

May your church there grow in faith and in number,
and may your church continue the good works that you have prepared for them.
We pray for more godly leaders,
who are willing to preach the good news in difficult circumstances.
Give wisdom and insight,
as your people seek to alleviate the effects of poverty and the HIV crisis.

Grant our church here in Vancouver a soft heart,
to serve, edify, and encourage our brothers and sisters there.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer!

Heavenly Father, we pray for our church here in Vancouver.
Thank you for David, Dan, Neil, and Jim,
and for the many others who serve you here at St. John's.
Bless each one according to your goodness!

We pray for our bishop here in New Westminster,
that you would embrace him with the love of your Son Jesus.

We pray for the unity of your church,
especially the Anglican Communion worldwide,
teach us to love,
teach us to love the truth.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer!

Finally, we lift up the following in the quietness of our hearts:
coworkers or school colleagues;
friends and family members;
we lift up those in our lives who do not know the name of Jesus;
and we pray for the poor, the hungry, the homeless, and the jobless in Vancouver.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer!

And now, as our Saviour Christ has taught us, let us pray together:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever, Amen.
_____

Evening Service Prayer at St. John's Shaughnessy Anglican Church. Prayer is based on Revelation 1:9-20.

Resurrection of the Body

Now that the sermon's done, I can focus on doing research for my next paper on the bodily resurrection. I have 2 weeks do research and write my paper. Then I have a week to study for my final exam for Systematic B.

The purpose of writing this paper is to lay out the theology of the physical resurrection, but in particular, to indicate that the physical resurrection points to God's approval of the material world, and in particular, the human body. I believe there will be continuity (as well as discontinuity) to both, the physical world and our physical resurrection bodies.

The new heavens and the new earth do not imply that the "old" earth will be obliterated. It will be made new, yes, but made new does not mean that the old will be "burnt". Transformed, refined, renewed, yes, but not destroyed. Heaven will be "otherworldly", to be sure, but it will still consist of materiality - perfected, imperishable - much like what we see and touch in our world today.

The resurrection of Jesus is the anchor of our hope in not only our own physical resurrection, but also in the perfected physicality of heaven.

I. Corinthians 15 will serve as a good foundation for the paper.

Question/Implication: if we will have a physical body in heaven, and if heaven will consist of matter, does that impact the way we treat our bodies here now? Does it impact the way we treat the earth now? I think there are some serious implications.....