Necessary Righteousness

It is said there is an anonymous inscription on an old slab in the ancient cathedral in Lübeck, Germany, which reads:

Thus Speaketh Christ our Lord:
You call me Master and Obey me not
You call me Light and See me not
You call me Way and Walk me not
You call me Life and Desire me not
You call me Wise and Follow me not
You call me Fair and Love me not
You call me Rich and Ask me not
You call me Eternal and Seek me not
You call me Gracious and Trust me not
You call me Just and Fear me not
If I condemn you, Blame me not.

That is convicting to me, but even more that that, in Matthew 5:20 Jesus said "For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." There are two ways of interpreting this, one easy and one difficult. Jesus could simply be alluding to his righteousness which is imputed to us. This is the easy way. But Jesus could be saying what we may all fear he is really saying: that unless we live more righteously than the scribes and pharisees lived, we will in no way enter the kingdom of God. This is the difficult way, and I'm troubled that it may be the correct one. This only points to the absolute connection Scripture makes between being redeemed and then as a result living a redeemed life, something easily overlooked today.

What is even more troubling though is that I often have difficulty explaining this necessary connection, as much as I know it to be true in my heart and mind. This disconnect is most obvious in my evangelism. Sure, I try to explain the necessity of the new birth. I try to explain how we should be grateful for to Christ for what he has done for us, and how good trees produce good fruit...but I can't shake the feeling that there is something deficient about my understanding. Just one evidence of my deficiency is that I have yet to work into a gospel presentation how we have been purchased by God like a slave, and how we must surrender everything to him for the righteousness he has. Maybe it is just as simple as that.

So how will I come to a fuller understanding? By much prayer and scripture, primarily. The Holy Spirit has also gifted many members of our body as teachers, both living and deceased. I'm grateful for the rich Christian heritage that we have, men like Martin Luther who stood against the forces of darkness in his own day proclaiming that "justification is by faith alone, but not a faith that is alone." So short, so elegant, so powerful. Let us all prayerfully search the Word of God, pray, and consult the collective wisdom of Christ's Church to aid in our understanding!

side by side

last Saturday, Tommy's birthday

Thursday, 5 days later

Robert

7 1/2 months later

Skeptical

Tommy and I had lunch today after church with two couples from our Sunday School class. We were discussing new believers, and I mentioned that after some bad experiences, I am sometimes wary that it might be insincere and not genuine. One of my friends replied that he thinks I'm just a wary and skeptical kind of person. I responded in laughter, that I know, you all find it hard to believe that I can be skeptical. Talk about a quick, enthusiastic agreement from everyone on how skeptical I can be.

Now I do not deny one bit that I often doubt things, and ask lots of questions to make sure a story is believable. But I must admit it was slightly shocking to hear how quick my friends were to recognize this trait in me. I am sure now that I think about it, most all of my friends are thinking Duh! One friend in particular, I can imagine reading this post, and I can almost audibly hear her laughing at how slow I was to pick up on this.

Next on the List

At the end of January Tommy and I put in a housing transfer request to different seminary housing. The new apartment would still be two bedrooms, but nearly 300 more square feet makes it almost 50% bigger than the one we're in now (and only $80 more)! We've always been pretty cozy, and probably wouldn't struggle to fill up a small home with everything we have. We're almost busting the seams of our tiny 675 sq ft apartment with absolutely no room for a baby and all the gear that they require.

So when Tommy put in the request, there were 5 people ahead of us, and we got a projected move in date of May (probably from graduating students leaving). He went by the housing office today to see how things were going and found out that we're next on the list! Holy Cow!

While I'm totally excited and anxious to be in the new place, May was a nice time frame, because then we'd be out of school, and I'd be pregnant enough to get away with not lifting a finger besides to pack and unpack. We still don't have a more specific date, but keep your calendars clear to help us move!

Names

Cecil? Clovis? Rock? Are you serious? We would never name a kid anything close to that! The names Cecil and Clovis are a running joke with Tommy and me, and Rock has been the most requested name.

With a last name like ours, you've gotta be careful what name you curse the child with for life. So far we don't have any names picked out, just several that are ruled out!

My mom says that if it's a girl, we can pick the middle name, but she wants Emily for the first name. While I like the name Emily, it's also the most common baby name in the United States right now...

In other news, at our first appointment, we got to hear the baby's heart beat. Sounded like a little freight train. According to one of my pregnancy books, the baby is the size of a large lime.

If you've got kids, how did you pick the names? Any ideas for us?

Proverbs 22:1 A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.

They tell me this is Normal...

Little unborn baby Hard is quite the adventure.

I have to eat every 3 hours or so, or I start to feel nauseated . My only two cravings, if you call them that, are baked potatoes and tacos. Though I did cave into 3 pints of Ben & Jerry's at Tom Thumb yesterday, but don't worry, we're still working on them. Aside from the ice cream, I have a total aversion to sweets. Those cookies and donuts from the shops at work, no appeal; all the candy we got at Christmas, gross. Fortunately, I have not gained a single pound!! At just under 10 weeks, that really is a good thing. One of my customers today told me about her friend 5'1 - 100 lbs who got pregnant and doubled her weight!!! No way!
My Aunt Beth asked me the other night if I had a bump yet, I just laughed and told her I already had one, but as far as I can tell it hasn't grown.
I talked to my Aunt Melinda today and told her about the dream I had a few weeks back that she was pregnant, (she's 40ish, NO plans for more kids). In the dream I was so excited for her, giving her a big hug! We'd be pregnant together!
Then she proceeds to tell me she had the same dream, except she called me, we weren't in person. Totally excited that we'd be pregnant together. How weird is that?!?!
After I talked to her, my friend Amy called to tell me she's expecting her 3rd!! She's due a few weeks after me. Babies everywhere!!
Also in interesting news, Tommy and I have decided to use a Midwife at a birthing center to have our baby. I'm super excited, she's a Christian lady, who also delivered one of my friend's babies. You can check out the website here. We go tomorrow for our first appointment, where hopefully we can hear the baby's heartbeat.
On the top three for boys names so far we have:
Roc(k)
Cecil
Clovis

California or Bust

Tomorrow, sometime around noon possibly, we will hit the road to California. Our hope is to make it to Albuquerque tomorrow night. Wednesday we plan on stopping at the Grand Canyon, and will arrive in the Bay Area Thursday evening. We fly back to Fort Worth on Monday.
I've only been as far west as New Mexico, and am very excited to venture further. My only regret is that we can't take a few more days getting out there, and then a few more weeks exploring California.
For those of you who don't know, we'll have a stow-a-way on our trip as I am pregnant! So far I've only had nausea and exhaustion, no actual sickness. I do good in the car, the front seat that is, but I can't read or hardly even look at magazines. But I suppose Tommy and I have lots to talk about.
Please pray for our safe travel, a safe move, and a happy, healthy baby which makes for a happy, healthy mommy.

How Should We Then Live: The Decline of Western Thought and Culture

#27 on Jessica's list of 30 things to do by age 30 is to read one book a year of my choosing. I have enjoyed reading a number of books over the last several years, but she may not necessarily enjoy the same things. I want this book to be one that she will learn a lot from and be excited to read. Should it be a historical book? An exposition of Scripture? Perhaps a philosophical/theological work? For 2008, the choice of book is easy.

I've recently finished reading "How Should We Then Live? The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture" by Francis A. Schaeffer. Available as a video series (which I gave to my Dad for Christmas) or a more extensive and thorough book, Schaeffer chronicles the changes in philosophy, art, and science from the Roman times until the recent past (1970's), and how each of those fields influences the others. Well written and enjoyable, I have learned a great deal from it and look forward to one day rereading it as well as reading other Schaeffer books.

Christian thought, grounded in the belief that there is one God who is both rational and knowable, who created and governs the universe, provides the basis for true scientific investigation. Both the Chinese and the Persians made short term advances in science, but did not continue their investigations. The Chinese animists were not convinced that the universe was rational, as they believed in various competing deities who changed the rules governing the universe. The same can be said of the Arab/Persian world, with their commitment to belief in Allah, who they believe is completely unknowable, and is even said to deceive people. Christian men like Sir Isaac Newton were convinced that the God of the Bible, who is rational, made a rational world. Such a commitment provides the incentive to invest energy and thought into understanding the world. Not all men who have made scientific advances are Christians, but Christian thought provides the foundation for those advances. The Reformation saw great advances in architecture(and other art), philosophy, and science.

With the Enlightenment and Rationalism, man saw himself as the measure of truth, and thought that by unaided human reason, man was capable of figuring out ultimate reality. For an example in art, Michelangelo's "David" eschewes this philosophical commitment. "David" is not the David of the Bible, as the statue shows an uncircumcises male. No, this David represents how enlightened thinkers saw themselves: "David"'s overly large hands capable of doing anything, capable of achieving physical and mental perfection.

But over time unaided human reason resulted in pessimism that anything was knowable, and the loss for many of the concept of absolute truth. Life, and everything else in existence, becomes meaningless without reference to absolute, universal truth. In the place of absolute truth is relative truth by consensus, and arbitrary absolutes. Think of Supreme Court arbitrary absolutes on the subject of abortion, and countless other relative "truths" which daily affect us.

The philosophical meaninglessness and absurdity to existence was also carried into art, as can be seen in most modern art, and then to books, plays, TV, and cinema. Art, then, is the vehicle to carry ivory tower philosophies to the average joe on the street. Think of the TV show Seinfeld, and the meaninglessness of relationships, sex, or even having a cogent plot. The movies and television shows we watch all carry some sort of philosophical baggage, but we unknowingly ingest these messages. This aspect of the book really opened my eyes to the fact that I really know very little about the meaning of art and how effective it is in molding society.

There are vast area's of the book I have not touched on, that have greatly aided my understanding of the world in which we live. Ideas have power, and we owe it to ourselves and others to know what those ideas are and how they are continuing to affect every area of our lives and society, and "how we should then live". I hope you all will take my recommendation to read this book.