Understanding the Characteristics of God

In your understanding is God omniscient? Omnipresent? Omnipotent?
Also, in your understanding is God sovereign over all creation? Does
he determine every minute detail of your life, including when and how
you will die? Is everything thus predestined?

What is your understanding of the characteristics of God?
Mine have been challenged in a good way in the short period that I
have been in seminary.
I have come to realize that some of the ways I think about who God is
has been entirely comprised of a western way of thought; however, God
is not the product of Greek thinking, so how can I limit my
understanding to Him through this western lens?

What are your thoughts?

Worshiping God with my Time

The way that I use my time can be used to worship God. If I stretch myself out thin by over committing myself to several activities and then I physically, mentally, and spiritually drain myself empty trying to keep up with all of these things, I become a poor steward of my life, and thus am not honoring and worshiping God with my time. However, if I manage my time correctly so that I get the most out of it without killing myself, I thus honor God and worship him with it.

And this is the situation that I currently find myself addressing right now. I am already committed to a full time job, to coaching soccer, and to three graduate courses, all above and beyond my commitment to my wife. I am able to manage my time right now, but I am having difficulties doing it. That, however, is not the problem.

The real problem that I have is that before me lies the opportunity to join junior high ministry at my church once again. However, as you can imagine, it would involve a huge time commitment--more time than I can afford. And so what is the dilemma?

Do I do the event that would qualify me as "spiritual" or "a good Christian" and get involved in ministry with the junior high, thus stretching me beyond my flexible capacity? Or do I say, "No," to the opportunity and be wise with my current commitments?

It might seem strange, but the opportunity to serve in the junior high--the one that could make me look like an outstanding Christian--actually would be the unspiritual thing to do. Ironic? You tell me.

Now off to study I go; I have a lot of homework to do on top of work, soccer, fellowship, and spending time with my wife!

In the Beginning

How do you go about understanding the world's origins? Evolution? Theistic evolution? Creationism? Intelligent design? If you are a Christian, then how do you support your cosmogony, no matter what it is, with the biblical text? If you are not, then why do you hold to your cosmogony and for how long?

If you are a Christian, then do you think that it is possible to believe in evolution and be a Christian at the same time? Why or why not?

Here is a hint to the direction that I lean, and since I am a Christian, it deals with the creation account in Genesis of the Old Testament.

The first words in many english translations of the first verse of Genesis read "In the beginning God created." However, the Hebrew does not have the article, and because the vocabulary does not support the use of the article in the text, it is not an accurate translation. It is better to translate it "When God began creating" or "At first when God created." The truth is we simply don't know exactly how to translate it into english.

This is just the first of several issues I have in the creation account that tell me that this text is not inclined towards an accurate chronological linear account, and therefore the account does not specify anything about cosmogony other than the fact that God did create everything in the world and that it was all very good. Other than that the Bible is open regarding the world's origins.

First Impressions of a Highly Acclaimed Book

The Five Books of Miriam, by Ellen Frankel, seems to be a highly acclaimed book as a commentary on the Torah--the Book of Moses; the Pentateuch; Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Here are my first impressions as I have begun reading this book for my Pentateuch class at Fuller Theological Seminary Sacramento.

I think that this book has some good points. However, it is not documented! No sources are shown! Therefore, this is not a real commentary or at least it is not a scholarly commentary, but nothing more than the author's thoughts and opinions about the text. Clearly the author's presuppositions dominate the way she reads and interprets the text, and especially the way she reads between the lines.

Overall, I think I am not going to like this book so much in terms of its "scholarliness." However, it will most certainly envoke controversy within me, and therefore get me to think quite a bit about the Torah; and for that I can be greatful that I am reading this book.

Cancer Scare

I recently had a bad bout with constipation. I went about 7 days without having a good and healthy defecation. So I went and bought some Philip's milk of magnesia and I took four tablespoons to help naturally enable myself to excrete my feces. Simply put, I have been excreting runny bowels all thoughout the day. This experience, however, reminded me of a past one that is most certainly worth writing about.

When I was a freshman in high school I had to get a sports physical so that I could play soccer. When I went for my physical I was going to see a brand new doctor that I had never had before--it was my first experience with this doctor.

He brought me in and did the physical exam, but I noticed that while examining my abdomen he spent a long time in one particular spot. He moved along and after the exam was over he went back to that spot and lingered there some more. Finally he said, "Well, I think you've got cancer. I don't think I'll tell your mom just yet, but you need to prove to me otherwise. Come back and see me in a week."

With that I left the room utterly downcast. I told my Mom and she tried to comfort me. I did not cry in front of her, but I waited until I was alone to do so. I didn't let her know that I cried until later on either.

She took me to go see The Mask of Zorro, and after that she took me out to dinner, if I remember correctly. Later that day my Dad came home with a used 28' C Class recreational vehicle--not in response to the seemingly deadly news, but because that's just how it worked out, since my parents had already been trying to get one since before my physical. The next day I headed out to Monterey, California, for Spirit West Coast. I basically had jam-packed everything, which helped me to get my mind off of the situation.

When I went back a week later, the doctor asked me if I had gone to the bathroom in a while. I said it had been several days, not thinking anything of it. As a result, he renounced his former claim that I had cancer, rather a tumor on my abdomen, and now clearly understood that I was just constipated and I had a large lump on my abdomen due to having a large clump of excrement still in my intestines. I didn't have cancer; I had constipation!

This story got me thinking--when we don't get our crap out, it can cause serious problems. My doctor told me to get some milk of magnesia to help get my feces out, otherwise it would release deadly poisons into my body. Likewise, when we don't get our own spiritual crap out, we risk it killing us from the inside out. Here is what I mean.

When we sin, we need to confess it before God, and when applicable, before men. Otherwise, guilt eats away at us from the inside out, to the point that we go through serious pain for not getting it out of our system.

When we sin against God, someone else, or even ourself, we need to confess it so that renewal might take place. Otherwise, we allow for the sin to grow inside of us, becoming more dominant and powerful, which takes a drastic toll on our lives.

What crap do you have in your life that you need to get rid of? There is no sin to great for God to cleanse from your system--he is the ultimate spiritual milk of magnesia--so tap into God and allow him to clean you from the inside out!

Tell Tale Truths Reloaded

I have already posted on this topic in my Blogger blog (check it out if you want by clicking here). However, after having gone through 1 John as a whole (as opposed to just the first chapter and a half, which I did on the previous post in my Blogger account), I thought I would add a few more points to the topic.

The whole purpose of 1 John is stated by the author himself: “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 Jn. 5:13, NASB). This is why John wrote the epistle, so that his readers might be able to know if they have eternal life.

At a quick glance I have counted about 59 tell-tale signs to one’s Christian identity. Out of the 105 verses in 1 John, about 50 of them contain at least one tell-tale sign. That means that on average John gives us a tell-tale sign every other verse in the epistle. Out of the some-odd 60 tell-tale signs, 22 are negative--they identify people who are not Christians. This means that the majority of the tell-tale signs are positive--they affirm those who truly are followers of Jesus Christ. John seems to be focusing on how to know if someone is a Christian and that, as a result, he or she will also know that they have eternal life. One cannot know for certain if he has eternal life if he does not know if he is a follower of Christ. The Bible is clear that only those who are true believers--true followers of Christ--have eternal life. Since John wants his readers to know that they do have eternal life, he must first help them to see that they are true Christians. Let’s sum up the signs involved in 1 John, shall we?

✴Christian Tell-Tale Signs

•Having fellowship with God (1:6)

•Having fellowship with one another (1:7)

•Walk or abide in the light (1:6, 7; 2:10)

•Daily confess one’s sins (1:9)

•Keep God’s commandments (2:3, 5; 3:24; 5:2, 3)

•Loving one’s brother or loves the brothers (2:10; 3:14; 4:7, 21; 5:1)

•Abides in love (4:16)

•Confesses the Son (2:23; 4:2, 15)

•Abides in the Son and in the Father (2:24; 3:24)

•Practices righteousness (2:29; 3:7, 10)

•Laying down one’s life for the brothers (3:16)

•The Spirit abides in him/her (3:24; 4:13)

•Listens to Christian leaders (4:6)

•Believes that Jesus is the Christ (5:1, 4, 5, 10)

•Loves God (5:2)

•Has the Son of God--Jesus Christ (5:12)

•Does not lead a lifestyle of sin (5:18)

✴Non-Christian Tell-Tale Signs

•Say, “I have no sin” (1:8)

•Say, “I have not sinned” (1:10)

•Does not keep God’s commandments (2:4)

•Hating one’s brother; not loving one’s brother (2:9, 11; 3:10, 14, 15; 4:8, 20)

•Loving the world or anything in the world (2:15)

•Deserting the brothers (2:19)

•Denies the Father and the Son or does not confess the Son (2:22, 23; 4:3)

•Practices sin/lawlessness or lives a lifestyle of sin (3:4, 6, 8, 9, 10)

•Does not listen to Christian leaders (4:6)

•Does not believe in Jesus (5:10)

•Does not have the Son of God (5:12)


It seems to me that John was focused on enabling his readers to best determine their position relative to Christ: those who stood with him versus those who stood against him. Once he established what it means to stand with or against Christ, he could then make the minds of those who are truly with Him to know without a shadow of a doubt that they have eternal life.

Now let me ask you something. After having read this post, do you know for sure if you have eternal life?