CYPRESSWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST
December 27, 2009
25424 Aldine-Westfield, Spring, TX. 77373
www.blakehart.com/cypresswoodbulletin.htm
PRAYERS AND PETITIONS:
God’s will for our congregation Various friends, relatives, and co-workers
Our nation, leaders, and military Those in economic difficulties
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
COMINGS AND GOINGS
“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day” (2 Peter 3:8).
Well another year has come and gone. For some of us, it has been a year of mixed blessings. The economy has certainly affected most of us. Let’s pray that those who are struggling through these difficult times will find what they need. Of course, we are all rich in God’s blessings (see Ephesians 1:3).
I have tried to accomplish a number of things in the bulletin articles over this past year and hope to continue it into the new one, Lord willing. I started last year with the goal of examining scripture and various aspects of it throughout the year. What I wanted to do was look at what I see as three major emphases in theology today. The first is the use of the Old Testament in the New. What I tried to do in a number of articles was to look at how the church of the first century used their Bible, the Old Testament, to teach about God and His activity. For instance, we looked briefly at the use of Isaiah in the Gospels and Acts and Moses in the Gospel of John. Lord willing, we will continue to explore this.
The second area is that of the Jewish culture of Jesus and Paul and how it informed their teachings. Their Jewish backgrounds influenced their message. Just look at the parables of Jesus. Those listening were familiar with the illustrations, then Jesus did the unexpected in drawing out lessons within the parable. Paul took a combined Jewish and Gentile culture into the Greek and Roman world. How did the use of the Hebrew scriptures influence Gentile churches, unless of course, that was their Bible? How did Paul use culture to proclaim the good news?
Today, we live in a changing culture. We have gone from modernism, which many of us who are older grew up with, to a postmodern culture that has yet to settle. Some think that postmodernism is a fad that will eventually settle into something yet to be seen. But there is still the problem of communicating with the two aspects of culture. One effort is what is being called the emerging church. The idea is that there needs to be a different way to connect with the postmodern culture that is not responding to the old way. There are a number of streams of thought in this, the most extreme moving into the old social gospel theology of the early 1900s. They are moving away from doctrine in order to attract people, but like the old theology, they might find themselves rejecting scripture as well. As the Teacher said, there is nothing new under the sun.
Now do not misunderstand, not all emergents are headed in this direction. In fact some are questioning this emphasis among the emergent and are moving away from them. Among those are Scot McKnight. He understands the need to communicate to the postmodern generation, especially since he is a college professor. His idea is to bring people into the narrative of Jesus, to participate with and among the poor for instance; or to say it another way, to practice what Jesus did rather than to just speak what our traditions say. Another person, who is not an emergent but concerned with communicating to both moderns and postmoderns, is Timothy Keller (1). He stated that there has to be a way to reach both generations without giving up doctrine. He approaches this by emphasizing what people put their trust in, and when it disappoints them, what happens then? Who or what is our god? It is a interesting and effect approach.
The third area that we have, and will, look at is that of the political influences of the Roman and Jewish world. Politics is a part of life, like it or not. Many of us are contented that if most politicians will just be sensible, and will leave us alone, we can get along just fine. It is when they begin interfering in our lives that we can get riled up. How was Paul’s preaching of the gospel, that Jesus is Lord, responded or reacted to by those who listened? Lord willing, we will continue to look at these.
One web site that I have found extremely interesting is that of Patrick Mead (http://patrickmead.net). He is doing an on and off series on hidden people and hidden history. I have mentioned it in the past but he continues to come up with fascinating information which is certainly worth thinking about. For instance, there is a rock in New Mexico that has the Ten Commandments etched on it and that, according to the Indians, had been there before they were. It is also called the Phoenician Inscription Rock, the Mystery Stone, and the Decalogue Stone (2). Another is about the search for petroglyphs, writings of Indians in the Big Bend region of Texas. A couple found some clay tablets, took pictures of them, and took them to the Park Service. The pictures reveal a style of writing that relates to the Zoroastrians who come from India and the Persian area of the world (3). Take a look and enjoy this exciting series.
Archaeology in Israel continues to reveal interesting things such as coins, Herodian temples, and other buildings. An inscription with David’s name has been found. Artifacts with written information on it reveal life in the ancient world. I recently watch a report on Masada. Found in the area was a Roman paper that gives further insight into the 10th Legion which attack Masada. The conquest of Masada, say those who examined it for this report, stated that it probably took the Romans about two months to complete the ramp up to the walls of Masada. The Romans used part of the area that was only three hundred feet below those walls. They had also found wood in the ramp and think that there were more trees at that time, a period of wetter weather than we now have. Another aspect to this was that the Romans were securing the trade route to En Gedi that was known for its valuable perfume.
It is an exciting time in Biblical scholarship and research. Enjoy the journey.
George B. Mearns
(1) Several of his books include The Reason for God and Counterfeit Gods.
(2) http://patrickmead.net copied on 9/10/2009.
(3) ibid., copied on 9/7/2009.