Tuesday, July 30, 2024

Book: Who God Is: Meditations on the Character of Our God

 

I'll open this with the lie preachers consistently tell: "I'll be brief."

Now to see if I can deliver while I talk about Ben Witherington III's Who God Is: Meditations on the Character of Our God.

This is a small book, published in 2020. You can get it on Kindle or in a pocket-sized hardcover that comes in around 100 pages.

Witherington's stated goal is to address the nouns used in Scripture to identify God. The introduction points out that many of our studies of God are based on the adjectives used to describe Him in Scripture: all-powerful, all-knowing, etc., or on words that capture what He has done: Redeemer, Creator.

He wanted to put forward a short look at the who God says He is. 

You get this short book. There are six chapters, five of them addressing a specific word: Love, Light, Life, Spirit, (you thought he'd alliterate, didn't you?) and One. The concluding chapter addresses God's character overall. 

The first chapter, God is Love, is longer than the others, but in it Witherington has provided a good deal of background that helps the other chapters run a touch shorter. 

It is a good devotional read. My own theological views hold more strongly to the idea of "eternal security" than Witherington does, so there are a few spaces I would take issue with. 

However, we all grow better by being challenged from time-to-time, so I think it's not a bad thing for us to read people outside of our traditions. And much of what Witherington has presented here is a good reminder of the love and grace of our God.


So go visit your favorite book shop and get a copy of this one.

Monday, July 29, 2024

Sermon Recap for July 28 2024

 Here is what you’ll find: there is an audio player with the sermon audios built-in to it, just click to find the one you want. You’ll also find the embedded YouTube videos of each sermon.

If you’d like, you can subscribe to the audio feed here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/DougHibbardPodcast
The video is linked on my personal YouTube Page here: https://www.youtube.com/user/dheagle93
Sermons are stockpiled here: http://www.doughibbard.com/search/label/Sermons





Monday, July 22, 2024

Sermon Recap for July 21 2024

Another week, another sermon. We're still working through Ephesians on Sunday nights, but that's a discussion group and it does not video well. Plus, knowing there's a camera on can be dampening to folks who are reserved in expressing their thoughts. And I want to encourage better participation in that discussion. 

Here is what you’ll find: there is an audio player with the sermon audios built-in to it, just click to find the one you want. You’ll also find the embedded YouTube videos of each sermon.
If you’d like, you can subscribe to the audio feed here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/DougHibbardPodcast
The video is linked on my personal YouTube Page here: https://www.youtube.com/user/dheagle93
Sermons are stockpiled here: http://www.doughibbard.com/search/label/Sermons






So, playing with technology, I made a QR code for the audible link: 
If you scan that, you should go straight to the sermon feed page.

Tuesday, July 16, 2024

Book: Worship in an Age of Anxiety

 

This week, I'm wrapping up reading J. Michael Jordan's Worship in an Age of Anxiety. This isn't an assigned review, but a book I've had on hand for a month or two and wanted to read for personal growth.

It's part of a series from IVP called on the Dynamics of Christian Worship. There are six entries in the series, this being the most recent. Jordan is a Wesleyan Pastor and the Dean of the Chapel at Houghton College. That makes his primary work with college-age students, though he also works pastorally with his church and the community he lives in.

The "age of anxiety" reference in the title launches from W. H. Auden's poem "The Age of Anxiety," which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1948. Auden's poem is worth reading; it deals with seeking meaning in the industrialized world. However, we're not going to look at the poem here. I'm not great with poetry reviews--my high school English grades show that to be very true.


Instead, I want to point you to this book. Jordan opens with a good description and discussion of what anxiety looks like. As well as any other book I've read that tries to bridge the gap between the more academic concepts of mental health and the popular level of mental health discussions (without dipping into the social media definitions which are almost always wrong), he provides an overview of what "anxiety" is in contrast to "worry" or "stress." The intro chapters alone were worth the time.

From there, we are treated to an examination of the deliberate uses of 'anxiety' in evangelical worship through the past couple of centuries. This includes reflecting on the practices of revivalists in the 19th century. Jordan does not pass judgment on those methods, but simply notes their usage.

Jordan then presents some basics of how anxiety can dreep into the methods and understandings of worship planning now. He suggests that evangelical circles would benefit from the grounding of historic liturgical practices, though noting the need to ensure they are presented in a way congruent with the theology that evangelicals embrace. 

In all, I'm finding this read a good challenge in how we think about worship and the value of alleviating the anxiety that comes in the door, rather than simply acting as if it does not exist.

Which is, I think, the bigger and more useful lesson here: do not ignore the reality of the people who have come to worship. Folks come in with anxieties, even as they are more current-era anxieties that rise higher on the classic "hierarchy of needs" than food and shelter. These anxieties are more nebulous and, therefore, harder to both measure and address. They are not any less real, though.

And drawing near to God in honest, church-wide worship must not ignore them, even as it is the keystone in helping to address them.


Monday, July 15, 2024

Sermon Recap for July 14 2024

 Good morning! After being at Praiseworks Arkansas last week, I'm back. 

Here is yesterday's sermon, where I am proud of myself for not making any "have fun stormin' the castle" references even though it was Bastille Day. Given that a bystander was killed during an attempted assassination of a presidential candidate, it just felt wrong to try and make jokes about revolutions and such.

Believe me, Billy Crystal as Miracle Max is always funny. It just wasn't the time for it.

We continued in our series in 1 Samuel with 1 Samuel 3.


You can "subscribe" to the video here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJBGluSoaJgYn6PbIklwKaw

And to the audio here: 

If you’d like, you can subscribe to the audio feed here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/DougHibbardPodcast
Audible Link is here: https://www.audible.com/podcast/Doug-Hibbard-Sermons-and-Thoughts/B08JJND2RP





Monday, July 8, 2024

Sermon Recap for July 7 2024

 I'm headed to Praiseworks with our youth this week, so the rest of the blog schedule may go "splat." However, here's the sermon from yesterday:







Thursday, July 4, 2024

Fourth of July

 Okay, first of all:


The Continental Congress voted to declare independence on July 2nd. However, the long-standing convention is to remember and celebrate the 4th, when the Declaration of Independence itself was ready for its first readings and signatures. Not everybody signed that day.

And, honestly, not everybody received their independence that day. We've been slowly in-progress ever since to see true liberty and justice for all in this nation. I think one can make a strong case that philosophical influence from where we started in 1776 has enabled progress, however slow it is, in a way that would not have happened otherwise. I also think that influence spans national boundaries and the philosophical development in the US leads to other nations having thinkers who say, "Okay, but why stop there?"

Also worth noting: yes, there are historical examples of cultures where tribes, cities, or small regions saw better equality than the US sees now. Factors to compare: size of population, size of territory, and diversity of population. It is pretty uncommon to see cultures where a diversity of origins results in a unified nation with equality for all. Again, we're not there yet here but that is the goal: to fulfill the promise of America, that is what we must become. So, yes, there was once a remote village that was idyllic and perfect. We're trying to be a whole nation. It's harder than it looks.

All that context being noted, here is the Declaration of Independence, as found in the National Archives: 






IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776.



The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,



When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, —That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.—Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.


  He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.


  He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.


  He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. 


  He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. 


  He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.


  He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.


  He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.


  He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.


  He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.


  He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.


  He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.


  He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.


  He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:


  For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:


  For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:


  For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:


  For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: 


  For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:


  For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences


  For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:


  For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:


  For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.


  He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.


  He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 


  He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.


  He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. 


  He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.


In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.


Wednesday, July 3, 2024

Sermon Addendum for June 30 2024

 What got left out of the sermon this past Sunday?

Lots of things:

First, background on 1 Samuel: It's a long work, and as best can be told, our 1 and 2 Samuel were 1 work, divided at the "this scroll is too big" line. We do not know who wrote it, but it covers too long of an era to likely have a single author. At the very least, the author works from records passed forward to his time frame. (Yes, given the source culture it is reasonable to assume a male author.) Some traditions put everything from 1 Samuel through the end of 2 Kings as compiled in their final form by one author working from the official court records of Israel, then Israel and Judah. 

We do see him anticipate the installation of kings over Israel as well as the inauguration of the Temple. The references to both of these institutions at the beginning suggest that the author is familiar with them, and some scholars think the authorship fits post-Exile, meaning he's perhaps even pining for them.

Speaking of things being "post-Exile," it's a good time to remind you of the general outline of Old Testament History:

You start with: Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Moses. 

Then you take the people into the Promised Land with Joshua, have the time of the Judges and Ruth.

After which comes the United Kingdom, Israel, has three kings: Saul, David, and Solomon, and it falls apart into two kingdoms. The Northern Kingdom is called "Israel" and has all bad kings. The Southern Kingdom is called "Judah" and some good, but mostly bad, kings. Israel is destroyed by Assyria in 722 BC, Judah is destroyed by the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 586 BC. 

The destructions resulted in exile and resettlement, but under the Medo-Persian Empire, the Israelites return to the land under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah.

1 Samuel covers the development from the Judges to the United Monarchy.

Second, textual info in 1 Samuel: 1 and 2 Samuel pose some of the bigger challenges in Old Testament textual criticism--that is, the science of discerning the original document from the extant sources. I'm not an expert in the field, so we won't really delve into it. I would recommend a good technical commentary on 1 & 2 Samuel to help examine what is happening here. There are some significant differences that will come up between the Masoretic Text (the Hebrew text most English Bibles are based on), the Septuagint (the Greek text made around 200 BC), and the Dead Sea Scrolls (both their Hebrew and other language versions of this text). 

The main points of doctrine and even of history are the same, but some of the details develop a bit differently.

Finally, left out of Sunday's sermon was a strong critique of a society that valued women primarily for childbirth. Why? While it may seem appropriate to note that women should not be limited to only one future and not be counted worthwhile without meeting that one target, it's not present in this text. We do not see anyone say to Hannah: "No, you are valid and worthwhile without children and everyone needs to straighten up."

Instead, we see God answer her prayer. Over the course of all Scripture, I think we can see the critique of the "moms are better than anything else" point of view, but it's not here. We should be careful not to press a viewpoint into the text if it is not there.

On top of that: where does the situation go, if Hannah is not used by God to bring Samuel into this world? What happens then?


Also left out, because I would not likely have chased it anyway: the attempt to read this narrative downward from the definite work of God to it being just another "hero story" like many ancient cultures, beginning with the "heroic birth" of the special child. First, I think that downplays the uniqueness of the Bible. Second, arguably, the "hero" of 1-2 Samuel is David. Samuel, Saul, Hannah, Eli, are all part of the setup. I don't buy it, but my presupposition is that the text of the Bible says what the truthful God wants it to say. Interpretations that start from a perspective of "God's not particular about being honest" are outside what I will consider, normally.

Tuesday, July 2, 2024

Books: Why read?

I know, I know, I'm doing two things today that are a bit...wrong.

First, I'm going to use a blog post to encourage you to read materials that are longer than blogposts.

Second, I'm going to use the Internet and electronic communications to encourage you to read "dead-tree" books. 

You are correct: there's a bit of hypocrisy going on here. Log off, go read a book for an hour and then come back and tell me.

First, why read long form? After all, there are plenty of soundbites, short posts, even the news is broken down into fairly short stories. 

Realize this: I'm not saying you should never read shorter things. A newspaper article. A Twitter thread. Your friend's Facebook post about their trip to Aruba and Jamaica. However, your attention span and mental processing becomes tuned to the average what you normally read.

So if you normally are reading news articles and then sprinkling that with Tweets, telegraphs, or bumper stickers, your abilities will stretch as far as that requires. Much like your biceps may become excellent at picking up 12 pounds if you pick up 12 pounds every day, but struggle with 20, if you read 5-minute snippets daily, you'll be good at 5 minutes. 

And multiple "reps" are more about toning than about building up--reading 12 5-minute items (or worse, 60 1-minutes!) does not have the same mental strengthening effect that reading 1 30-minute item would have. In truth, it helps your brain learn to shallow switch back and forth through many things, and you do not learn to discern what matters are important and what matters are not--everything bounces through so quickly you miss that understanding. 

Neil Postman hits on this very well in Amusing Ourselves to Death. It's a book worth reading ;)

Want a quick test for whether or not you are sliding into that trap? How do you feel when the news puts too many murders, wars, and disasters between you and the sports and culture events? Are you hitting the website looking for Taylor Swift and annoyed to see Ukraine in the way? You might be trending toward a problem. Oh, and if you always avoid news sites so that you can always miss the "bad stuff," you have probably gone even farther.

Reading long-form helps train your brain to discern what is, and is not important. Further, it helps you distill information as you read it. I have (and like!) some of the shortened versions of books. I have a *lot* from Optimize.me that takes some of the bigger books in productivity, etc., and distills them into 6 pages (3, front and back). It's a speedy way to consume information, but it does not help you retain it better. And, you're assuming the distiller got the right parts. Basically, the TL;DR helps of the current era are just like the Cliff's Notes they're patterned after: better than nothing but often like taking a prime steak and grinding it up to make a quick hamburger. You're losing a lot.

So make the time to read long-form.

Second, make the effort to amass, and read, actual printed books. Yes, get a Kindle. Read on e-ink. Get Logos Bible Software, read/research through those tools. For that matter, get all the books digitized and uploaded in PDFs so that researchers throughout the years can access them. (I mean, seriously, let's get old newspaper archives digitized from microfilm and accessible; there is equipment for that and student workers who need hours and digital tools to help with it. There is no reason to limit historical research to those wealthy enough to travel to large libraries and spend all day reading microfiche.)

But at the same time, you should still acquire and read the printed word. Why? Well, take this blog as an example. It's digital. I can go back and edit it at any time. And, sure, if you know how to parse the metadata, you can see whether or not I backdated that prediction of a Trump win in 2016 (I did NOT make any predictions) or if I added a post or even use Wayback to, perhaps, find one I deleted. 

If you don't, though, or if the other tools do not support seeing behind-the-curtain, what do you do when someone is changing the information? How do you even know?

This is why I would argue for digitization of historical materials, like newspapers and such, through PDFs. These are not impossible to change, but they are harder to change.

Plus, it's far easier to see the footnotes, the references, the linking between information. 

Generally, for me, if I am looking at non-fiction material, I would rather have several editions of a print book than an evolving e-book or website without a chain of reference of what changed and when. Additionally, yes, it costs more to create the print book. Which should result in a stronger effort to get it right.

There are some notable exceptions--at least 4 biographies I've seen in the last decade or so were not only shaded by political and theological agenda, but also missed important points of accuracy. This happens when the author does not bother to engage the primary sources himself.

(Which he could have done without visiting the relevant archives if those sources had been digitized, but they are not. And he did not.)

Now, fiction, generally, I'm more okay with digital but even then, you want books with reference copies available in print. Many of the great works of literature are fiction, after all--can you imagine if you could not determine the original text of 1984 or A Handmaid's Tale? Or Moby Dick? You could do a find and replace and make the whole thing about Moby Duck.


It's always better to read than to not read, but I think you would do well to make sure most of your reading is long-form and at least some of it is coming from printed, dead-tree books. 


PS: Audiobooks? Yes, if you are constantly on the go and can listen, do so. If at all possible, find a way to make space in your life to also read with your eyes if physically able. Again, read what you can, some approaches are better than others but even a cheeseburger has more nutrition than a cardboard box. 

Sermon Extension: Joy

 This past Sunday, the focus of the sermon was on JOY! I wanted us to start off the Advent season looking at embracing the glad tidings of g...