Even Bigger than Cincinnati?

Last Sunday my mother-in-law gave me an early father's day present. She allowed me the opportunity to take in some twilight golf. The barometer peaked at about 95 degrees and the humidity was wet enough that a five minute walk in a casual white shirt turned into something you might catch on Cinnemax after dark. The up side was that the sun was blocked most of the time by the ginormous thunderheads moving through. This brings me to my story.

I decided to take Ethan, my four 1/2 year old boy, with me golfing. This summer, he has taken an interest in the sport and I figured we could use some guy time. He did wonderful. As I would tee up, he would stand behind me with his hands on his hips watching my ball with an eagle eye. Then, I would drive the ball and ask if he saw where it went, only to hear him say, "It went that way."

The highlight of the day came on the fourth hole. So far my game was going great. I was driving well, my irons were cooperating, and my putting was dead on. Being that things were going so well, I decided to be a little conservative on the fourth hole. The fourth hole is a par four that doglegs to the right. It is about 350 yards. I usually drive the ball, get as close as I can, and pitch it on the green. Typically when I have done this I slice the ball into a ravine on the right side of the fairway, and have to use an eight iron on a slope. Nevertheless, I used a three wood and drove straight on the fairway. This set me up with an easy 9 iron shot to the green.

As we were walking down the fairway we were confronted with a towering thunderhead. It seemed as though it stretched ten thousand feet high and a thousand feet wide. I almost had to lean back to take it all in; enough to get a neck cramp just looking at it. It curled and rippled in a gleaming white and purple haze. It was an amazing sight to see.

Seeing this thunderheads' majestic display of power, I asked Ethan who made the clouds. He replied, "God does." I answered back, "Even that one" pointing at the thunderhead? He said, "Yep." I then asked, "Is God bigger than that thunderhead up there?" He said, "I guess so." Hearing the hesitation in his voice, I began to explain that "the heavens declare the glory of God and that the sky above proclaims his handy work. Day unto day pours out speech and night unto night reveals knowledge."(Psalm 19:1-2) I also said that if God were to appear in the sky that every single square inch would not be enough to contain Him. Ethan replied, "Wow!" My sentiments exactly.

Of course this sparked his imagination and opened a discourse on what things God is bigger than; trees, birds, buildings, etc. I pitched my ball on the green while listening to Ethan tell all the things God is bigger than. After I said, "Wow Ethan, God is bigger than a lot of stuff." He said, "Ya, God is even bigger that Cincinnati." I chuckled and agreed. It was not as random as you think.

To understand the comment you must know that Ethan recently visited Cincinnati. I took him to a Reds game with a friend of ours. Needless to say he was impressed with the city.

I love to golf. And I am finding I love to golf with my children. I have taken both Naomi and Ethan out on the course. Every time, if I am paying attention, God always presents an opportunity to talk about him with the children. I pray that my eyes are open to more opportunities like this. Not only does it strengthen the faith of my children, but it reminds me of how great of a God I serve. One that is even bigger than Cincinnati. :)

Other Highlights of the Night

I parred three holes that day. A feat in itself for me.

I sunk a 38 foot putt on one of my pars. I gave Ethan about six high fives as I was making a fool of myself. Later on, an older man who witnessed me dancing with Ethan, said that he loved it and made him wish that he would have golfed with his children when they were younger.

I came within 4 feet of sinking a hole in one. One of my best drives of the year.

Ethan dropped his pants to his ankles on the 7th hole to use go number one. In his defense, he told me he had to use the bathroom. Being that it was late and I thought (was mistaken-see second comment) no one was around, I told him to go by some trees. I guess I was not clear enough. He went by some trees... about twenty feet away-out in the open. It was a teaching moment to say the least.

Son of God Son of Man

"That which is from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we beheld and touched with our hands concerning the word of life." 1 John 1:1 JPSV

Son of God

You can feel the thrust of his argument in the heart of those who would deny that Jesus was God's Son who came in the flesh and that his death was sufficient for the salvation of men. He captures the essence of Christ's deity calling him the "Word of Life," just has he does in the prologue of his gospel (John 1:1-14). In this text, "life" speaks of a condition that transcends physical life (cf Matt 7:14; Matt 18:8; Mark 10:30). It could be possibly rendered the "word of eternal life. Again, looking over to John's prologue in his gospel, we see that Jesus is the word who was with God and was God and became flesh-word of eternal life. "That which is from the beginning" is also an indicator of Jesus' deity. This phrase is used many times in the Septuagint connoting the idea of what extends back before time exists ( Wis 6:22; 9:8; Sir 16:26; Isaiah 43:13).

Son of Man

John validates Jesus' humanness by verifying that his eyes beheld Jesus and his hands touched him. This use of sensory language almost tastes of when Jesus invites Thomas to see his hands and touch his side after he was resurrected (Luke 24:39). Jesus came in the flesh and lived as a man. When the sun beat on his brow he grew thirsty and drank. When walking on the dirt roads covered with rocks and pebbles, his feet were worn with calluses. His stomach growled when he was hungry and his eyes grew weary when he was tired. In essence, he was a man.

Jesus was the Son of God and the Son of Man. He was both God and man at the same time. Those whom John was opposing in this epistle was denying this truth. They could not fathom how God, who is holy and righteous, come down as flesh, sinful and death ridden. In fact, they could not grasp the incarnation. To some degree, I can relate to them.

Why is the incarnation important?

Why is the doctrine of the incarnation so important? There is a long answer to this that I cannot really explain. So, I will not try to go that route. However, off the cuff I would say that the incarnation is important because without it we would not have the Atonement nor the Resurrection. And without the both of these we do not have the Christian faith.

Another reason the incarnation is important is that Christ had to do what Adam and Israel did not do, overcome the wilderness. When Adam and Eve sinned against God, they were kicked out of the garden and into the world (a wilderness if you will). Israel wondered 40 years in the wilderness for their rebellion against God at Mt Sinai. Christ came in the flesh (wilderness) lived a perfect life, died on the cross, and conquered death in the Resurrection. We see a foreshadow of this when Christ, at the beginning of his ministry, was drawn into the desert to be tempted. He overcame the temptation in the wilderness and crossed the Jordan back into Jerusalem to bring in the kingdom of God (Mark 1:1-15). Christ could not do this unless he came and lived and died and rose as a man.

These are my thoughts. So much for being concise :). I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter.

Hello Again!

I know, it has been over three months since I have last written. It has been a crazy three months. Aside from having my fourth child, the demands of seminary and two jobs have taken their toll. Nevertheless, I am back and hope to write more over the summer.

This last semester I had the privilege of translating 1 John from Greek to English. I also had to write an expositional paper on 1 John 5:16-17: "The Sin That Leads To Death." Both of these have taught me a great deal, not to mention two important truths. First, translation takes a lot of work and practice. There are so many questions that must be answered and thought through for each verse. Add to that, every time you translate, you loose something from the original. Therefore, a good translator will try keep his losses at a minimal. Needless to say, translating is an art.

The second thing I have learned is that my writing needs to become more clear and concise. I have a lot of ideas floating around in my head. And sometimes I like to put them all down in one setting, regardless if they fit or not. This makes things lengthy and meandering. I need to work on laying hold of one idea and sticking with it all the way through, in as short of space as possible.

Therefore, at least over the summer, I am going to practice translating my Greek one verse at a time and writing my reflections on it. This will be more on the spot thinking and writing. I do not plan to consult my resources for information or ideas. I am going to try to organize my thoughts and put them down in a paragraph or two. I hope by doing so that I will become a better translator and writer.

As always, you thoughts and comments are welcome. I may write something that you agree or disagree with. You are free to say what you like. Moreover, you may see something that I missed in my thought process and correct it or present a case for it. Feel free. I am open to the dialogue.

I hope all is well.