Poetry and Theology, With A Side of Real Spoken Word

January 26, 2012 in Theology with 0 Comments

You’ve probably seen this Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus … poem. Well. He’s been answered. And not awfully.

Allow me to digress for just a moment.

*pulls soap box out of Mary Poppins carpet bag*

I love that this is garnering attention for spoken word. And, fine, loosely defined, it could be spoken word, but if you’ve never really listened to spoken word, don’t let this be your plum line.

It’s a fine poem, and the kid is a fine orator. But a lot of spoken word artists and enthusiasts would tell you that spoken word often mixes poetry and prose, weighs heavily on alliteration, messes with meter and internal rhyme scheme, and is more of a performance than a recital. It’s a good poem, and I’m sure the guy is genuine and passionate. I’m just … gonna continue to call it “a poem.”

On to business.

First, if you haven’t seen it, or haven’t seen the whole thing, start here:

Now, a Catholic priest responds. And he’s a little sassy about it. In a fun way.  Continue Reading…

Allow Me To Explain (47 of 439) – Say My Name

January 25, 2012 in TheyReasoned with 0 Comments

The back-story is here. The collection is here. You can subscribe over there. >>>

47. In whose name is baptism to be performed? Matthew 28:19 vs. Acts 2:38, 8:16, 10:48, 19:5

Aaand we’re back.

Matthew 28:19
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

Acts 2:38
Then Peter said to them, Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 8:16
For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Acts 10:48
And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.

Acts 19:5
When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

I love water baptisms. I didn’t really get it for a while, but once I understood I was next in line and I love it.

Jesus once said that He had come to fulfill the Law. The Old Testament details 600+ commandments necessary to maintain holiness so one can be in the presence of God. Surely – having fulfilled it all at the highest price, established a “new and better covenant,” preached salvation by grace through faith – no one believes that Jesus’ last words to His disciples were … more rules.

Water baptism is a beautiful sacrament that the Lord gave us.

Romans 6 describes it wonderfully,

4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

Water baptism is a public display of faith.

It is a line in the sand, a commitment. When we are submerged, we symbolize our death to the person we used to be and the life we used to live. When we are raised up, we symbolize our union with the resurrected Christ, and commit to living new lives in Him.

Some verses reference the “Lord Jesus,” some just “the Lord.” In Acts 8:38, not referenced by the poster, we’re simply told that Philip baptized a eunuch.

Each is discussing a circumstance, but none are directly quoting the ceremony.

Jesus told His disciples to baptize believers into the fulness of the Godhead: Father, Son and Spirit. All and each are God. If we commit our lives to One, we commit our lives to All.

In Acts 2, when Peter was talking to Jewish-background believers, he clarified that the “Son” is not a Messiah they were still waiting for, but Jesus the Christ whom they had seen and heard. Not to the exclusion of the Father and Spirit, but for the clarity of the people.

Same story in Acts 8 and 19. Non-Jewish people didn’t receive the gospel until Acts 10, so chapter 8 is talking about Jewish believers. Chapter 19 is going on in the Church in Corinth – again: believers clarifying the deity of Christ.

In Acts 10, we’re talking about the first non-Jewish believers, and scripture just says, “Lord.” Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all “Lord.”

Most people call me Lex, but my grandparents usually call me Alexis. I had a great-grandmother for a while who called me Kate. My close family call me Lexi, or Lexi Kate. My mom sometimes calls me Alexis Katherine, and Tony calls me Mrs. Wisniewski. None of them are wrong. None of them are talking to, or about, someone else.

The specific words that came out of anyone’s mouth during a water baptism are never noted, nor are they terribly important.

The Father, Son and Spirit are three Persons in One Godhead. The Son is Jesus who is the Christ and our Lord.

Free John Piper Book: Bloodlines

January 20, 2012 in Resources with 0 Comments

You can download the PDF for free here.

Piper posted the free link at the beginning of the week, saying,

“Bloodlines is one of the most autobiographical books I have written. It tells my story from racism to the path of redemption. I preached on the theme of Bloodlines yesterday to mark Martin Luther King weekend. The title of the message was “From Bloodlines to Bloodline.” I argued that God is calling his people to move from the alienation of many bloodlines to the reconciliation of the single bloodline that began on the cross of Christ.
“I urged my people to read the book. Not because I care about selling books, but because I want them to know my story, to be aware to the global relevance of the issue, and to feel the hope that comes from the power of the gospel.”

Have you read it? Thoughts?

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