999 Challenge – Ticker

Nahum

1. God’s wrath against Nineveh for coming against Israel
2. Destruction of Nineveh
3. Woe to Nineveh

Micah

1. Samaria, the high places, will be destroyed
2. Woe to the oppressors – it is harmful to refuse to preach the truth
3. Rulers and prophets shall know Justice
4. The mountain of the Lord shall be established for the remnant
5. The ruler, who shall be peace to His people, shall be born in Bethlehem
6. The Lord requires that we do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God
7. Wait for salvation from the hand of the Lord – it will get dark and evil

The Road to Yesterday

L.M. Montgomery

A collection of short stories of people who live near Gilbert and Anne Blythe. Good story-telling techniques using gossip, other people’s thoughts, different perspectives. The truth is subtle at times. She’s so good at putting people in situations where they could make a poor decision for “good” reasons but usually she has them make good decisions, wake up to reality, or otherwise fall in love with the right person.

Just Courage

by Gary Haugen, with IJM.

This is the ChristianAudio book this month.

He starts talking about how Christians say such wonderful things but don’t really believe them. He was struck by reading John Stuart Mill who made this observation.

His analogy is that we stay in the safe and comfortable Visitor’s Center so we go on the trip but miss the adventure.

Mother Teresa said she couldn’t do her work 30 minutes without praying. Do I do that? If I can do my work without praying every 30 minutes either I am not doing my work right or I’m not doing work that God needs done for his Kingdom.

He talks about IJM and other people who are living lives that require so much from them that they have to acknowledge and live their need and dependency on God.

We haven’t been saved just to be saved, but to then be part of saving the world. A light to the world. God’s ambassadors.

Why don’t people do it?

1. ignorance of the need and suffering
2. despair at being able to make a difference in so broken a world
3. fear – this is the main issue

God has a way, we need to follow it.

Isaiah 58:6-12

⁶“Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
⁷Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
⁸Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you;
the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
⁹Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;
you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away the yoke from your midst,
the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
¹⁰if you pour yourself out for the hungry
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
and your gloom be as the noonday.
¹¹And the LORD will guide you continually
and satisfy your desire in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail.
¹²And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to dwell in.

Next:

Jesus showed Hope is a virtue. Before that it was seen as a weakness, but Jesus showed it was a fruit of the Spirit. We must not despair or be passive because it’s too much. We must show the world that they can hope.

We can’t be brave AND safe. God wants us to choose to be brave. Christ warned that his disciples would suffer for following him. But isn’t it better to suffer for doing good than to suffer for doing evil?

Willing to give up comfort, security, control, success in order to get miracles, faith, deep knowledge of Jesus?

Being brave isn’t safe. We must act what we believe, and as the time to act arrives that is when our fears are revealed.

Sees story of rich young ruler as the story of a young man who adores Jesus and knows that following the traditions he’s been taught isn’t enough. Jesus cuts right to his fears.

Affluenza

recommended by Dave Ramsey. By John De Graaf, David Wann, Thomas H. Naylor.

More of a skim than a detailed read. Very interesting and to the point. The book was published in 2001.

The book does approach the issue of free market and capitalism vs some forms of regulatory or moral controls.

Really good points about how we work more and more and have less of what really matters. Introduces the topic of voluntary simplicity. I think we are headed that way in many ways.

The Story Girl

LM Montgomery

Story of a group of children living on 3 farms, one of whom has a magical way of telling stories that enchants even the adults (she becomes an actress and appears before kings and queens it seems). Nice story, just covers the one year without telling how the story ends for each of the children. The language is wonderful and I love seeing the world through the children’s eyes.

The Girl in the Orange Dress

by Margot Starbuck.

Bookclub read, recommended by Krista. Could have been a bio read as well, it is her story as an adopted child as she went through life, eventually realizing the rejection that had become part of her and the hard shell covering her heart, and the final break through of God’s love.

Good stuff – highly recommended.

The Aeneid – 29-19 BC

by Virgil

Books 1-6 tell the tale of Troy and the travels  to Italy.

Aeneas escapes from Troy with his son, father, and other refugees. They build ships and set sale for Rome as prophecy says he will found that fine city. Aeneas has the enmity of Juno because his descendants will destroy Carthage. She gets Aeolus to send winds and a storm to wreck them. Neptune doesn’t care for that interference in his realm so he stops the wind and saves them. Venus, the mother of Aeneas, intercedes with Jupiter for her son and the others.

Aeneas ends up in Carthage, where Dido is queen. She had run from a cruel brother who murdered her husband. Venus doesn’t trust that Dido will do enough for Aeneas on her own so she sends Cupid to make her fall madly in love with Aeneas.

Aeneas tells Dido the tale of how they got to Carthage. Of the destruction of Troy by the treacherous Greeks in the horse. The death of his wife during the escape. Of their other stops along the way: made landfall at various locations in the Mediterranean, notably Aenea in Thrace, Pergamea in Crete, and Buthrotum in Epirus. This last had been built in an attempt to replicate Troy. In Buthrotum, Aeneas met Andromache, the widow of Hector. She still laments for the loss of her valiant husband and beloved child. There, too, Aeneas saw and met Helenus, one of Priam’s sons, who had the gift of prophecy. Through him, Aeneas learned the destiny laid out for him: he was divinely advised to seek out the land of Italy (also known as Ausonia or Hesperia), where his descendants would not only prosper, but in time rule the entire known world. In addition, Helenus also bade him go to the Sibyl in Cumae. Heading out into the open sea, Aeneas left Buthrotum, first making landfall in Italy at Castrum Minervae, but continuing on towards the west coast of the peninsula. While in the open sea, Anchises, the father of Aeneas, peacefully died. The fleet had rounded Sicily and was making for the mainland, when Juno raised up the storm which drove it back across the sea to Carthage.

They pass Scylla and Charybdis battering rocks. They meet a man forgotten by Ulysses when they ran from the Cyclops.

Dido has sworn to marry no one and love only her dead husband. But she recognizes the feelings she has for Aeneas. Juno makes a deal with Venus (without consulting Jupiter) to have them married. Not a formal, official marriage, just a tryst in a cave that they continue through the winter months as lovers. Jupiter wants his Rome built so he sends Mercury to remind Aeneas of his destiny. Aeneas leaves and Dido commits suicide, hence ensuring eternal enmity between Rome and Carthage which will lead to the destruction of Carthage by Rome many years later, exactly what has Juno so upset.

Aeneas leaves with the smoke from the pyre in Carthage. Winds blow them back to Sicily where his father was buried a year ago. They hold games in his honor. Juno whips the women into a frenzy and they set fire to the ships. It’s been 7 years since they left Troy. Aeneas takes what the remaining ships can hold and the other Trojans stay on Sicily. Venus asks Neptune to make sure Aeneas and his ships reach the Tiber.

Aeneas reaches Cumae on the mainland of Italy and approaches a Sibyl of Apollo. After hearing her prophecy of wars and battles to be fought, he asks to go to the Underworld to see his father, in Elysium. There his father points his descendants waiting to return to earth. Many are the illustrious rulers of Rome, such as Julius Caesar and Caesar Augustus. He also mentions that Aeneas will marry Lavinia.

King of Latium is told a foreigner will come to his land and should marry his daughter so his people will rise to greatness. He recognizes Aeneas as this man and proposes peace and marriage. His wife had wanted a local, Turnus, to marry her daughter instead. Juno enlists a Fury to whip up a frenzy. She starts with Lavinia’s mother who takes Lavinia into the forest and fires up the other mothers in Latium. Then she goes to Turnus and whips him up. She causes one of Aeneas’s men to kill a pet stag of a local lord who then attacks the Trojans. Others join from all sides until a full war is engaged.

Aeneas heads upriver to find Arcadian allies. Turnus attacks the Trojan fort and a night mission to get to Aeneas is foiled by the shine off booty taken while sneaking through the camp. The remaining ships turned into sprites and while heading upstream the run into Aeneas and warn him of what awaits below. Full battle is engaged and many die. Juno spirits Turnus away, much to his chagrin, as he longs to finish the battle and fight with his men.

The Trojans win that battle, although Evander’s son Pallas is killed. After a truce of 12 days the natives won’t make peace, but Turnus pushes for war. Aeneas marches against the city. The Trojans win again and Turnus agrees to hand-to-hand combat with Aeneas to settle the issue. The gods work up the Latium folk to engage in battle before the one-on-one begins. Again the Trojans rout them and eventually Turnus faces Aeneas and loses.

Unpacking Forgiveness

by Chris Brauns

Read on the Hawaii trip – very good

We should be determined to unpack forgiveness because it will glorify God and maximize our joy.

God works in and through us as we cooperate in his gracious work in our lives. It is still hard work, but it is not futile hard work. p 31

We are to forgive as we are forgiven. God’s forgiveness is conditional on repentance and faith.

God’s forgiveness is a commitment by the one true God to pardon graciously those who repent and believe so that they are reconciled to him, although not all consequences are eliminated.

p 57. Four promises that Christians make when they forgive another:

1. I will not dwell on this incident
2. I will not bring up this incident again or use it against you
3. I will not talk to others about this incident
4. I will not let this incident stand between us or hinder our personal relationship

Other points:

• Christian forgiveness is a commitment to the repentant. It is not automatic.
• Biblically, to repent means to change behavior as a result of a complete change of thinking and attitude.
• Christians must always forgive the repentant.
• Forgiveness is inextricably linked to reconciliation. p. 58
• forgiveness does not mean the elimination of all consequences. p. 58

Christian forgiveness is a commitment by the offended to pardon graciously the repentant from moral liability and to be reconciled to that person, although not all consequences are necessarily eliminated.

He argues against therapeutic forgiveness because:

• it distorts people’s understanding of true forgiveness – if it’s unconditional, then it’s hard to recognize authentic forgiveness as special
• it attempts to redefine how people understand God’s forgiveness – is that now unconditional too?
• it suggests that some people may even need to forgive God – God is perfect and holy, we can’t treat him that way
• it results in “cheap grace” and a reluctance to identify and name evil
• it discourages healing in Christian community
• it may make individuals feel licensed to avoid dealing with their own sin
• it does not prepare us for the persecution and evil we may face

How do we do this? Requires humility and dependence on God.  p. 79-80

Pride is any way of putting self into central focus. If I complain about myself I am still prideful. p. 81

Matthew 18:4-14 says we must forgive with urgency. p. 93

Some things should just be dropped and repair the relationship. How to decide if should drop. p. 99

1. Before confronting, ask, “Have I examined myself yet?”
2. Before confronting, ask, “How sure am I that I am right?”
3. Before confronting, ask, “How important is this?”
4. Before confronting, ask, “Does this person show a pattern of this kind of behavior?”
5. Before confronting, ask, “What do wise people counsel me to do?”
6. Before confronting, ask, “What else is going on in the other person’s world?

Dropping it doesn’t mean talking to everyone else about it.

If it should be approached and dealt with:

Go and talk

• Keep the circle small (doesn’t need to be the entire Session)
• Be gracious
• No revenge, not even a little
• Listen first, and be prepared to ask forgiveness yourself
• Take the other person at his word
• Choose the time and place carefully
• Choose your words carefully
• Be patient and have modest expectations

If necessary – take one or two others with you

• Again – keep that circle small.

If appropriate, pursue church discipline

He has a chapter on how to face not being able to forgive and why it is crucial.

Then how to respond to the unrepentant

1. Resolve not to take revenge.
2. Proactively show love – be creative about finding ways to do this, think on this rather than on plotting the perfect confrontation
3. Don’t forgive the unrepentant but leave room for the wrath of God

Question of bitterness should be answered by the responding pity and love that we should feel knowing they are facing the wrath of God.

How to beat bitterness:

1. Wait for God’s justice, and trust his providence
2. Listen to wise people
3. Pursue God’s blessing for yourself and those close to you
4. Call bitterness what it is and decide not to sin

The mental gerbil wheel is a great name for how we keep thinking about it even when we’ve said we won’t think about it any more.

1. Burn into your mind what the Bible teaches about forgiveness – must be willing to forgive and trust God’s justice
2. Take a long look at Christ in his Word
3. Pray, pray, pray
4. Say and do the right things – what you say and what you do are formative
5. Participate in the God-given means of grace – hear the word preached, take communion, study his word, worship

What if we cannot agree?

1. Impasses do happen
2. Fix your eyes on Jesus and continue forward
3. Say less: without gossip a quarrel dies down
4. Submit: respect God-ordained authority structures
5. Be hopeful and wait: time heals what reason and emotions cannot
6. Soften: there will always be something to admit

A very good book, showing biblical answers to the need for and definition of forgiveness as well as the methods for getting there. I needed so many of these reminders and distinctions.

The Trial

by Franz Kafka

I didn’t finish this. I read chapter 1 and decided I don’t want to spend my time reading this book.

Josef K wakes one morning to find he is under arrest but no one can tell him what the charges are and he is allowed, after a confusing morning, to go to work and continue at home. He has some weird heated encounter with a neighbor that night while apologizing for the use of her rooms by the police that morning.

According to wikipedia it doesn’t get any better. He never learns the charges, his advocate/lawyer is no help, things seem staged to impress upon him the seriousness of a charge that no one can explain. A year later he is executed because he cannot kill himself as expected.