pinakidion.*

I watched a special on TV about the work of Dr. Vivien Thomas. I realize that parts of the story may have been dramatized for effect, but watching it has moved my heart and my mind in a direction that I want to explore.

It is no secret that I have no trust of all things ICC related and even less trust for those that purport themselves as teachers and advisors to the former congregations. I feel like some have taken advantage of a system that promoted co-dependency to elevate their own positions and attend to the comforts of themselves and their families. I believe that the time for any major change has come and gone with results that are quite underwhelming. I have looked up to a group of people that were long ignored or sidelined only to see them urge caution when action was demanded. I see and hear of injustice, nepotism, crony-ism, and financial mismanagement at the highest levels, and yet there is no one, not even me, that will take it on for more than a brief time. In short, I have hoped and dreamed for a day that I do not see coming soon.

In the movie, Dr. Thomas resigned when others were given credit for his accomplishments. He was right about the state of the US and the effects of segregation. He was right to expect a simple “thank you”. He was truly denied what he deserved on every side. So, for the sake of dignity, he resigned.

The next scene was at his father’s house. The family was talking about the rights and equality and all kinds of things. Upon reflection later, Dr. Thomas noted that something had changed about his brother and that he missed his brother. To the parents, it was a waste that he fought for the right to get equal pay as a teacher, only to resign from teaching a short time later. At the time, Dr. Thomas defended his brother remarking that good was done, but that his brother had to do what he loved to do.

His wife joined him in his quiet reflection and noted that she missed her husband, too. She encouraged him to do what he loved, but he responded that he couldn’t just go back in Johns Hopkins. It was then that he realized, that it wasn’t about Johns Hopkins, injustice, the state of racial relations, or the segregation that still existed at the time: it was about loving what he did.

All of this has struck my heart and mind with a similar thought. I love to teach. I have done it since I was a child. My mother called me ‘homework hotline’ and encouraged me to spend time outside instead of spending it on the phone. I became a trainer at Kinko’s. I became a schoolteacher and spent almost two years trying to get a teaching license. I worked as a computer instructor for five years and recently worked on a Help Desk. I enjoyed all the teaching aspects of my jobs through the years. Recently, I have wanted to take a part-time job to bring in some extra money. The only job I considered was teaching non-credit courses at the local comunity college. My heart tells me that I should be teaching something, because it is what I enjoy. Unfortunately, I stopped teaching some time ago.

I went to a meeting today with all the people that dared to form a ministry over a year ago. We had folks that formed prayer groups, encouragement groups, fitness groups, shepherding groups and all kinds of other ministries. They had all fizzled for one reason or another, but a chance to get others involved is coming shortly. The minister and others were energized at the thought that they could do what they love and inspire others to do the same.

That is, everyone except me.

Today, I was tired. I had a talk with a friend today that included the subject of looking for a church to attend. I had all kinds of thoughts about a business partnership with a good friend. I also had thoughts about the irration of the 40 Days campaign and the embarassment that so many things trigger painful memories of the ICC. (I have been all over the US and even to Rome to talk to the folks I had issues with, doesn’t confronting the pain help it to heal?) I have worked really hard all weekend to do so much, but the website, the recording equipment, and other things I do for church seem to keep breaking. All of it together added up to feeling heartbroken and burned out. I just wanted to sleep.

I think about the scene where Dr. Thomas goes back to John Hopkins and Dr. Blaylock informs him that nothing has changed. Dr. Thomas replied that it wasn’t about it wasn’t about him or the lack of change, it was simply that he enjoyed the work. Ecclesiastes 3:22 is still true, there truly is nothing better than to enjoy your work.

At the heart of the matter is this: I enjoy teaching and I have not been teaching for several months. At the Omaha Church of Christ, I have a chance to teach and I am serving as the head of the teaching ministry. It certainly isn’t because I am an organized man. It is because at the tale end of a meeting right before we were going home, I decided to say, “Why don’t we have a class on the book, Reading the Bible for All It’s Worth?” From that moment to this, I have been respected and honored for doing nothing more than following my heart.

I am accustomed to demanding what it right and fighting for one cause or another. I am not accustomed to receiving honor and praise. Being in that situation now gives me a sense of humility and self-respect. I do not feel worthy of what I have been given. However, I do not feel ashamed because I am not the perfect example of what a teacher should be. Again, all I know is that I sorely miss having a small group of folks, a Bible, and a few stories to tell.

So I think about my past and a feeling that nothing will really change. I still believe that men with important positions are going unpunished. I still believe that our former leader needs medical attention. I still believe that peace is sought at the price of justice. Maybe I am guilty of this as well.

What I know is that I have a chance to teach and that I enjoy the work. If I am offered a chance to teach elsewhere, I will. For now, though, I simply want to teach again and that is exactly what I plan to do.

I’ve been trying to take advantage of my day off as a time to take care of the church website. Well, it appears that the folks at domainavenue.com are having more spam attacks.

Lovely.

In any case, I use a software called Xoops, but I’ve never gotten it to look like I want it. However, I found today another church website that uses Xoops and I decided to use what they have.

I may not be around for awhile - I know some of my friends have been wondering what I think of 40 Days of Purpose. Short form: I still don’t like it because of the ‘marketing’ feel, the completely awful exegesis, and what I took to be an emotional threat about evangelism (from Rick Warren, not anyone I know!) But I decided that I can’t really knock it until Day 41. Besides it is a resource from outside the ICC and it spends a lot of time focusing on things the ICC never focused on. We’ll see - tune in for day 41.

Again, using Jay Allen’s list and adding my own entries, it was updated Feb 21, at 3:28pm Central Time.

And I’ve disabled trackbacks.

As I said before, I hate spam.

As an addition to what I posted about create a resource for handling different learning styles in a Christian context, I have a place to submit material.

http://www.pinakidion.us/CWiki

It’s pretty intuitive to use, but I am still getting used to it myself.

Let me know what you think

I wrote a quick thought down the other day and then added to it after some questions from slaguod. I decided that instead of continuing to add on to one post that I would put the complete idea here and then have comments go back and forth.

What I envision is a handbook that provides a wealth of resources to someone that wants to teach the Bible to someone else. There would be topical studies, word studies, book studies and thematic studies. There would be all kinds of How To’s. (How to meditate, How to pray, How to read the Bible, etc.) Maybe even a passable dictionary (what is Reformed Theology?).

However, the first section I wanted to work on was a set of bible studies that teach someone How to Become a Christian. For the purposes of this How to, I want to use a lesson plan that helps a person think about all the different types of learners and how to make the material more accesible. For example, have pictures for those that learn visually. Have little role-playing scripts for those that understand by example.

Sound big? It is and it may never get finished.
Sound like you can’t help? That’s not true. You don’t have to be someone with degrees in teaching to come up with this stuff. All you have to do is think of what helps you. That’s it. There are other people that can take an illustration and translate it into picutres, plays, theoretical proofs, etc.

For example, if you want to teach someone about God’s Love, you may use the parable of the persistent widow. Some people get it quickly because they learn best through stories. Some need a picture, so you may use a picture that makes you think of God’s love (or made someone else think of God’s love). Maybe you’ll use the same story, but reason through what is happening. I want to compile the different methods together in order to equip a person to use something meaningful to them and to the person they are teaching.

First thing first, though. First thing is to get a set a Scriptures that speak for themselves about a topic. Once those are settled, then the other examples can be added in.

First question: How do you explain the love of God to someone else?
Feel free to use Scriptures and whatever illustration that you like.

I do not like it in the light,
I do not like it late at night
I do not like it slight or trite, I do not want it on my site.

(Apologies to Dr. Seuss)

If you have the MT-Blacklist plugin, I have a copy of my blacklist at

www.pinakidion.us/comment_spam/blacklist2.txt

I use the WordPress version of this plugin available from Farook
I have 123 more entries than the main list, but I may have some redundancies.

I’ve been thinking about the Study Series again and I wanted to find a way to use this lesson plan to create the studies. It looks scary to me sometimes, but I think it would be good to have a comprehensive study tool to take advantage of a person’s learning style.

The drawback is that an individual would think that they could never lead a study with someone else. It might be too much information. Then again, I just want to make it available, not mandate that it all has to be used.

Now this would require a huge group effort to pull off, but I have no problem creating space to post the results here. Anyone up for it?

**Added after comment**

The idea behind the outline is to address the needs of different types of learners. It comes from my background as a systems trainer and school teacher. There are different things that ‘click’ with people when processing information.

For example, some people understand reasoning through others understand pictures. I envision something like:

If your friend seems to enjoy pictures and art, use the following visual image to explain the love of God.
Try to reason through the scriptures, if your friend doesn’t seem to understand you, don’t get frustrated, try acting out the following scene:…

I want to create a REAL teaching tool that has learning theory and good teaching practice behind it.

Just my .02

Some time ago, I posted 40 Theses with issues addressed by Henry Kriete in his letter, Honest to God. I asked if anything had changed, I mean really changed. A part of me would cringe when the answer would come back, “I don’t see scripture there, just opinions. Have you not read Romans 14:1?” It’s not a bad request at all to ask to see scriptures to back them up. It takes more time to explain it and work through it and that is what can be aggravating. However, the Bereans were praised for their noble character (Acts 17:11) in searching the scriptures - being accurate with the Bible is important!

It reminds me of an article I read thatasked, “Can we hold each other accountable with any degree of expediency if all our communication requires chapter, verse and cross-reference?” My response is, “where in the Bible does it say that God strives for expediency?” I read that we are to be patient with one another (Eph 4:2, 1 Thess 5:14). There are reasons that we should be ’slow to speak’ and ‘quick to listen’ (James 1:19). One of them is that we should speak with reverence as if we were speaking the words of God (1 Peter 4:11).

So, largely based on a list used in Los Angelos, here are twenty-six questions:

• Do we live as if the ICoC is the One True Church (improper study and usage between the ICOC as an organization and the universal church) (Luke 17:20-19) (Mark 9:38-41)
• Are we going to acknowledge doctrines where we twisted the Scriptures in order to be unique or ‘more radical’ than other churches? (2nd Peter 3:14-18)
• Will we honestly address the situations that happened in Indianapolis and Milan? (Romans 16:17-18) (3rd John 1:9-10)
• Will we continue to ask members to be unified as the answer to asking questions about church issues? (Acts 17:10-11)
• Will leaders still demand respect and trust instead of earn it? (Proverbs 10:9)
• Will the pulpit still be used to demonize those that ask questions? (3rd John 9-10)
• Will we address the deeper issues of heirarchal command or will we revert back to it? (John 13:12-17) (Luke 20:
  5-47)
• Do we still believe that all members must be ‘discipled’ by someone after they become Christians? (Acts 8: 26-40)
• Will our leadership continue to live in the best neighborhoods and earn disproportionate salaries compared to the members? (1st Corinthians 5:11) (Luke 12:15)
• Will we ignore the one to minister to the ninety-nine? (Luke 15: 1-7)
• Will we continue to worship each other instead of God? (Hosea 4:5-14)
• M. Self anointing (Jeremiah 23: 16-32)
• Will we acknowledge and unteach our doctrinal errors? (Ezekiel 34: 1-24)
• Will we continue to minimize the sins of the leadership? Will we continue to minimize the sins of other members? (3rd John 9-10)
• P. God’s Modern Day Movement=God’s Modern Day Pharisees (Philippians 3:1-11)
• Will we baptize people according to when it will ‘encourage the church’ instead of when a person wants to be saved? (Acts 11: 15-17)
• Will we continue to withhold restoring someone to membership because they do not appear to be ‘broken’? (1st Corinthians 3:6-7) (2nd Corinthians 2:5-11)
• Will we expect maturity among church members? (Hosea 4:5-14)
• Will we continue to condemn other denominations without knowledge? (James 4:11-12)
• Will we continue to value some spiritual gifts (like leadership, or singing ability) above others (like serving, helping, or encouraging)? (Ephesians 4:30) (1st Thessalonians 5:19)
• Will we ever promote sound exegesis as a model for all members? (Proverbs 1:23)
• Will there continue to be different standards of repentance depending on position in leadership? (Luke 12:41-48)
• Will elders ever be publicly rebuked? (1st Timothy 5: 17-20)
• Z. Fear of men instead of fearing The Lord (John 9: 20-23)

From the column Greek Thoughts on studylight.org: www.studylight.org/col/gt/

NOUS - mind, thought, understanding, spiritual perception - PART 1

In this series, we have studied three words describing the thinking processes of the Christian mind. The frequent use of these words and the important teachings embodied within them give insight into an aspect of life in which the Lord works when one is born of the Spirit of God. We understand that once a person has received Christ, his spirit is filled with the Spirit of Christ and is sealed by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). This new Christian begins to grow through the inward working of God’s indwelling Spirit. By now, we also understand that this growth process takes place in the arena of the mind. To further our understanding of the Christian maturation process, we are going to start a series of studies on the word nouÙv (Strong’s #3563) which refers specifically to the ability and capacity of perception. In Romans 12:1-2Paul presents the way a Christian is to function after being saved and the process that a believer goes through to reach the stage of maturity wherein he is able to perceive the way of the Lord.

Romans 12:1-2: Literal Translation

1)
Therefore I encourage you, brothers, through the mercies of God, that you should present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, well-pleasing to God, which is your reasoning-process service.

2)
And do not be continually fashioned with this age, but be continually transformed through the renewing of your mind (nouÙv), so that you might prove what is the will of God which is good and well pleasing, and complete.

[Technical Notes: Verse 1: the literal translation of parasthÙsai, the infinitive of purpose, is naÈ parasth/shte, "that you should present." The antecedent of the implied hìtiv eiänai (which is) is qusi/an, sacrifice. LogikhÈn is variously translated "reasonable" or "spiritual." Its literal meaning is "the reasoning process." Verse 2: Two present (continuous) imperatives (commands) express two simultaneous processes in which a believer is to be involved. The first command, mh/ susxhmati/zesqe, expresses what the believer is not to be participating with. The compound word "susxhmati/zesqe" is made up of the preposition su/n, meaning "with" (not "by"), and sxhmati/zw, meaning "to be fashioned" or "shaped." The second command is from the verb metamorfo/w which is made up of the preposition meta/, used in compound words denoting transition, and morfo/w, "to change form," or "to transform." The instrumental dative thöÙ aÌnakainw/sei, expressing the means by which the transformation is to take place, is translated by diaÈ thÙv aÌnakaini/sewv, "through the renewing..." The purpose clause of the preposition with the articular infinitive eiÌv toÈ dokima/zein, is translated naÈ dokima/zhte, "that you might prove." The second article to/ in the long form of the attributive position is translated by pou ei/nai, "which is".]

Paul begins Romans 12:1 by encouraging believers to respond to the Lord’s mercy and provision by voluntarily presenting their lives as living sacrifices to the Lord. At the end of verse 1, Paul explains what he means by a living sacrifice: the believer is to reason issues out and make decisions in obedience to the Lord and His will. In verse 2, Paul explains how we are to arrive at the place where we have the ability to know what the Lord’s will is.

At the beginning of verse 2, Paul uses two present passive imperative verbs to express that a believer is to be obeying two commands continuously and simultaneously. The first command expresses what the follower of Christ is not to do. He is not to be continuously fashioned and shaped (susxhmati/zw Strong’s #4964) with the age in which he lives. This compound verb describes a forming and shaping of one’s person – his attitude, speech, and the way he dresses - from the outward influences of the age in which he lives. The second command, metamorfo/w (Strong’s #3339), denotes an inward transformation. Both of these commands are in the passive voice indicating that the believer is the recipient of the action. Therefore, Paul is teaching that the believer is to continually resist being shaped and formed with this age, while he is simultaneously and continually in the process of being transformed by the indwelling Spirit of God.

Paul also indicates in verse 2 the agent or instrument through which the believer is transformed –the renewing of the mind. The word for mind is nouÙv (Strong’s #3563), the focus of our study. A believer is to have the perceptive ability of his mind renewed, in order to be able to prove what God’s will is. The word for “prove” is dokima/zw (Strong’s #1381) which means to prove something is genuine by putting it to the test.

In summary, Paul is teaching in Romans 12:1-2 that after a person has received Christ, he is to submit to God’s process of transforming his mind (his ability to spiritually perceive) so that he can test various thoughts and prove what the will of the Lord is. As a living sacrifice, the believer serves the Lord from out of his reasoning process, which is being matured to enable him, both to perceive and to obey the Lord. This is the highest form of worship (see John 4:24).

Our next study will be taken from Ephesians 4:23 where Paul again teaches about the renewing of the mind.

Written by by Bill Klein for the week of Feb 14 - Feb 19.

Copyright Statement:
‘Greek Thoughts’ Copyright 2005 © Bill Klein. ” articles may be reproduced in whole under the following provisions: 1) A proper credit must be given to the author at the end of each article, along with a link to www.studylight.org/col/gt/ 2) ‘Greek Thoughts’ content may not be arranged or “mirrored” as a competitive online service.

Ted Kooser is our country’s 13th poet laureate. In typical midwestern demeanor, he has regarded this honor as the reason he no longer publishes poetry. He lamented last night that even the worst of his poetry would be published.

He is the first native of the Great Plains to be appointed and I believe that to be a good thing. The East Coast can sometimes become consumed with being too sophisticated (my poetry demonstrates this very well). I am not qualified enough to generalize the other coast’s poetry, though I imagine it to be pretenious by comparison.

Ted said last night that his poem generally take a simple object and uses only one metaphor. You can read some samples here. Like all good poets, he can evoke emotions ranging from bemusement to sadness. Unlike others I have read, he does this without describing his feelings at all. I especially liked two poems last night. One was called Urine Sample, a humourous look at going to the doctor and another about telling his mother’s cousin, Vera, about his mother’s passing. I wish I could remember the title of the latter. I don’t want to say too much about the former because describing it would basically ruin it. The latter, however, is long enough that I can mention a cetral image that doesn’t spoil enjoying it.

Basically, Vera is seeing people that she knows are not there. She is 91 and in poor health, but otherwise mentally sound. These people are going through the house cataloging her things. I thought it was an odd image, but apparently it is a common ocurence. Ted’s friend, a psychologist in NY said that Vera was not psychotic because she knew that they weren’t real. The psychologist said that it frequently happens among the elderly that are close to death - the phantoms seem to somehow prepare them for it. In any case, it was something to think about.

Ted believes that poetry has been ruined by schools that used dense poems where the teacher had the only right intepretation. To get people interested in poetry, he encourages sharing more accessible poems. I get the sense that he believes it should be a part of life, but not the center of life. It’s a sentiment that I share, though I am not in a position to promote poetry beyond my circle of friends and they already love poetry.

Anywho, just wanted to ramble a bit about that. I neglect my writing sometimes - not in the sense of essays, but in poetry and stories. It feels good to think about poetry again.

This weekend began with a memorial service for someone I cared about greatly. I had not known him for very long, but he was a person that helped me and even my marriage on occasion. He loved the study of the Bible and could put his thoughts into words very well. I wish that he had blogged his bible studies, I would love to have them in soft copy form.

He worked as a chaplain at a truck stop here in town. He was part of the Transport for Christ organization that made it happen. He used to knock on trucker’s doors on Sunday morning just to let them know that a service was going on if they wanted to join in. Some truckers did not appreciate being awakened, some really did. I think about the impact he had on others and it amazes me.

As a part of his memorial service, I heard about his conversion from the person that baptized him. I met Harold and spoke to him briefly. He is sending me the study series he used. I also heard about his wife’s conversion and the prayers for his children. His oldest is a little younger than me - I had met him once before. He played a violin solo for his father to his memory.

The last part of the service was the communion service he gave on September 26. At that point, he knew that things were looking grim. I spoke to him afterwards and he confided in me some hopes for his family. Having met them again, I believe that most of them have been realized. It’s not because of me at all - it’s because of the families that welcomed he and his wife with open arms and visited him. Sadly, I never made it to his home.

Joel pulled me aside and told me that I had helped him feel a part of the church in a big way. I cried when I heard it, mostly because I do not believe it entirely. I cried a lot on Saturday, but it was a very good thing. I believe that he is awaiting the resurrection, like me, but that in the meantime, he is in a good place. As Harold and other family members have shared, we imagine that he is asking a lot of questions and really excited to know the answers.

If you read blogs from where you are, TJ, look up my friend Malcolm Ryan. He’s around there somewhere either playing a sax or playing spades.

“To not want to be a leader is to not want to help other people: that’s selfish. That’s pretty selfish.” - Quote

Titus 1:5
Later came a section about how things could be worked out if there were ‘overseeing evangelists’ to straighten things out. The solution was to have someone with ’some authority’ to help out.

Story about family vacation to Hanoi…

A story was told about some church that used to be large, but now is small. The caller pleaded for help saying that no one would help them - but he wouldn’t give the name.

A story was told about how Ron Drabot in Charlotte feels powerless.
personal note: I hope that Ron talked to the elders about this, otherwise, he is breaking his own standard of openness.

Visions of replanting churches were mentioned and stated directly.

A call was made to be more radical than the “Buddhists and the Muslims”.

Another call was made to rededicate yourself to be a mighty man or woman of God. (Good point)

The Douglas/Sarpy County Colon Cancer Task Force has found a way to bring an interactive exhibit to raise awareness of colorectal cancer: The Colossial Colon. You have to scroll down to Feburary 10 after following this link.

From the description:

The “Colossial Colon”, a 40 foot long crawl through replica, will make its first appearance in Omaha at the Westroads Mall

The radio report mentions sections demonstrating healthy tissue and cancerous tissue.

There was something else going on in local news today, but I can’t seem to remember what it is. I’m sure that it will come to me eventually.

A good idea.

Basically, Poetry is response to Science. How cool is that.

http://www.globalideasbank.org/site/bank/idea.php?ideaId=4573