Cultivating Epiphanies

I’ve been spending time recently reading, thinking and praying through a collection of Puritan prayers and devotions called The Valley of Vision. The Puritans were thorough in their study, which spilled over into their prayers. Second only to the Psalms, these prayers are a great means of stretching our own verbage as we petition the throne of grace. Below is a personal favorite:

PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING

O MY GOD,

Thou fairest, greatest, first of all objects,

my heart admires, adores, loves thee,

for my little vessel is as full as it can be,

and I would pour out all that fullness before thee in ceaseless flow.

When I think upon and converse with thee

ten thousand delightful thoughts spring up,

ten thousand sources of pleasure are unsealed,

ten thousand refreshing joys spread over my heart,

crowding into every moment of happiness.

I bless thee for the soul thou has created,

for adorning it, sanctifying it, though it is fixed in barren soil;

for the body though has given me,

for preserving its strength and vigour,

for providing senses to enjoy delights,

for the ease and freedom of my limbs,

for hands, eyes, ears that do thy bidding;

for thy royal bounty providing my daily support,

for a full table and overflowing cup,

for appetite, taste, sweetness,

for social joys of relatives and friends,

for ability to serve others,

for a heart that feels sorrows and necessities,

for a mind to care for my fellow-men,

for opportunities of spreading happiness around,

for loved ones in the joys of heaven,

for my own expectation of seeing thee clearly.

I love thee above the powers of language to express, for what thou art to they creatures

Increase my love, O my God, through time and eternity.

There can be something maddening about all the “friendly” debates seminarians find themselves pulled into. Perhaps one of the most prevalent is the Calvinism vs. Armenianism debate. I once mentioned I was a Calvinist in a seminary class and my professor jokingly responded, “Come on Andrew, let’s take the Bible seriously.” I laughed. But it is interesting how we discuss and joke about these issues in theological circles. Christians have their labels, but above all we should work towards unity in Christ. We need to learn how to discuss and engage issues we agree on, not merely the ones on which we disagree.

I was recently forwarded the following blog post. I find it witty and fairly accurate.

Check it our here:

Help! I’m Going Hyper!

“Jesus has to be and become ever more the center of my life. It is not enough that Jesus is my teacher, my guide, my source of inspiration. It is not even enough that he is my companion on they journey, my friend and my brother. Jesus must become the heart of my heart, the fire of my life, the love of my soul, the bridegroom of my spirit. He must become my only thought, my only concern, my only desire.”

Many have probably already heard about the cyclone which devastated Myanmar this past weekend. Today, their government finally started letting international aid into the country. 22,000 people perished and entered eternity, ready or not (2,752 died in the 9/11 attacks). Here are specific ways to be praying for these people in the months to come:

Pray for the million people who are now homeless.

Pray for the 6.5 million residents of Yangoon currently without electricity.

Pray for those with the lack of food, water, and shelter.

Pray for peace; there is currently little military presence.

Pray for opportunities for the Gospel to be spread among the suffering. Pray for the national Christians there that they would be bold witnesses and compassionate servants for Christ.

Pray more countries around the world would respond.

Pray for the international church’s teachers and leaders as they place these events in perspective of who God is and what he does.

Pray that if and when such a catastrophe might hit you and your loved ones that your faith would be strong enough to glorify God through it.

Good question. here’s the latest from ABC News…

Monday, 3/17/08 UPDATE: IRS Finally Releases Mailing Dates

If you file your return on time and request that your federal income tax refund is directly deposited, the stimulus payments will directly go into your bank account by May 2 if the last two digits of your Social Security number are 00-20.

If the last two digits are 21-75, the date to remember is May 9.

If the last two digits are 76-99, you’d get that money by May 16.

But if you do not use direct deposit to get your federal income tax refund – or you are paying taxes owed when you file that 2007 return – you’re going to get your tax rebate check later. The rollout times are more complicated, too.

If your last two digits of your Social Security number are 00-09, you could expect that rebate check to be mailed by May 16.

It’s by May 23 if the last two digits are 10-18.

It’s May 30 if the digits are 19-25.

It’s June 6 if the digits are 26-38.

It’s June 13 if the digits are 39-51.

It’s June 20 if the digits are 52-63.

It’s June 27 if the digits are 64-75.

It’s July 4 if the digits are 76-87.

It’s by July 11 if the digits are 88 -99 and the person did not use direct deposit of a refund this year – or if you wrote a check to cover money owed for the 2007 tax year.

Note: an email going around for several weeks gave the dates in an August - October range. The email was incorrect.

I wasn’t in seminary very long before I came in contact with the writings and thoughts of N.T. Wright. His article in TIME magazine last month is a powerful reminder about what Christians should hope for:
Christians Wrong About Heaven, Says Bishop

Everyone in the field of nutrition science stands on the shoulders of Dr. Campbell, who is one of the giants in the field. This is one of the most important books about nutrition ever written - reading it may save your life. ~Dean Ornish, MD

…a well-documented analysis of the fallacies of the modern diet, lifestyle and medicine… ~Sushma Palmer, PhD

…the most important book on nutrition and health to come out in the last seventy-five years. ~David Klein

…Colin studies the relationship between diet and disease, and his conclusions are startling. ~Robert C. Richardson, PhD

The science is clear. The results are unmistakable. Change your diet and dramatically reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity.

Dr. Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, has been one of the great defenders of the sanctity of life and traditional marriage in our time. One of his students, Sherif Gergis, a 2008 Princeton Graduate and Rhodes Scholar, has written a powerful letter to U.S. Senator Barack Obama on the subject of the protection of unborn human life:

The Audacity of Hope: A Second-Generational Query

Can we provide every member of the human family equal protection under the law? Your record as a legislator gives a resounding answer: No, we can’t. That is the answer the Confederacy gave the Union, the answer segregationists gave young children, the answer a complacent bus driver once gave a defiant Rosa Parks. But a different answer brought your father from Kenya so many years ago; a different answer brought my family from Egypt some years later. Now is your chance, Senator Obama, to make good on the spontaneous slogan of your campaign, to adopt the more American and more humane answer to the question of whether we can secure liberty and justice for all: Yes, we can.

Last night, I realized my Ipod earbuds weren’t working properly. The part that I put in my ear was detaching from the rest. I took them into the local Apple store this morning to see if they could be repaired. The guy took one look at them and just gave me a new pair: “See if these work better for you.” What was amazing was they didn’t ask me a billion questions. Just saw they were broke and replaced them.

Apple claims to make things that “just work” which has been my general experience. It’s nice to know when something does break, they will do what they can to make it right. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, “I will never willingly buy another PC.”

Renowned NT scholar Craig Blomberg quoted another renowned NT scholar, D.A. Carson, in my Epistles & Revelation class last Thursday.   I thought it was thought provoking:

Unless we think about suffering from the perspective of at least 50 trillion years into eternity, we have not even begun to think Christianly.

There is something very powerful and purifying about thinking about your life in terms of 50 trillion years into eternity.  Not only does it add significance to present sufferings, but it reveals the foolishness of certain forms of entertainment and leisure our culture lauds.  I don’t think we’ll spend time in eternity debating with friends which season of the Office was funniest, but I’m prone to just that here and now.

It takes great faith to honestly view our lives in reference to eternity, but what rich rewards await those who do.