On the blog again....

Wow it has been almost 3 months since my last post... now wonder no one looks at it much. But here is a quick update. We are now living in Centennial (east of Cherry Creek Resevoir, the worst fishing lake I have ever met...). I have started a new semester at Horizon College Denver teaching Theology. Vicki and I are working and planning on a trip to Africa in November so getting ourselves prepared for that. Life in the city is not so bad (but at times I sure miss the mountains.) Send me a note and let me know what is going on and what I can pray for, for you. By the way, we should be grandparents today... Tara and Ryan are at the hospital as I type this.

response from World Religions Conference ONLY ONE GOD?

Last weekend I attended the World Religions Conference at Horizon Christian Fellowship in Denver. It was a good day and well worth the investment. The speakers included Bill Honsberger of  Haven Ministry, Dr. Darrell Ferguson of Summit Ministries Int'l,  Bill McKeever of Mormonism Research Ministry and Sammy Tanagho a converted Muslim. Each of these men are worth hearing and well educated in their area of expertise. They detailed for us clearly many of the tenents of the particular religion or belief system. Mark these guys to memory. 
However, as I sat there I felt that a basic pre-amble or pre-requisite was missing from the seminar. For in our modern world rift with its post-modern world view and pluralism, what seemed lacking was a discussion of the very nature of divinity, the very basic concepts of any deity that would garner our attention. For any discussion other than atheism, that posits a divine being shouldn't there be some basic principles that are understood for any discussion? Let me clarify, it is my contention that there can be only ONE GOD. There cannot be 2 COMPETING GODS. This immediately smacks against any post-modernist understanding whereby they hold competing views even contradictory opinions as equally valid, thus making my case... can there truly be any discussion about a supreme being without explaining the basic definition of "SUPREME". So let me state for the record and for discussion this precept:

"GOD BY DEFINITION CAN ONLY BE ONE".

In other words you cannot have a god of one religion and a god of another and both exists in reality. We are not choosing whom to worship by vote of one candidate over another. We are asking whether the God we are choosing to "believe in" or "worship" is truly an existent being at all, and secondly worth our devotion or worship? For a moment let me unpack my statement that God can ONLY BE ONE.
God: the discussion of any eternal being, a supreme being, any being outside of our selves that we must recon with.
by definition: here is the critical juncture, to define God as any of you might, as stated above as something "outside of ourselves" must be defined in terms of greatness. For God to be anything like a God we would define, he must be outside of, greater than, different than, older, wiser etc than us. When you begin to define God with those concepts he/she/it becomes to some degree greater than us. Greater begs the question to be qualified as greatest. An Illustration: If someone where to ask you who is a great something... say Basketball player, the answer wouldn't really matter much because great is nothing unless compared to a lesser or greater But if someone asked you who was the greatest...wouldn't you by natural cause begin to compare attributes of various players until you arrive at an answer you feel is satisfactory? Wouldn't it seem strange to say well "all basketball players are the greatest"? Or even the following five players are the greatest... Wouldn't you ask again that they further define their answer to come up with the greatest? Someone might say well Jordan was the greatest shooter and Abdul Jabar the greatest rebounder, but that changes the question. I did not ask which was the greatest shooter or rebounder. I asked for your opinion of the greatest basketball player ever. 
So if we are going to speak of a god, any god, are we not asking which is the greatest? To worship a lesser god knowing that there is a greater, would be foolishness. For sake of argument lets say that there could be more than one god, there are two. We will call them Bill and Bob. In our considerations of these two beings wouldn't we want to worship the one who is greater? but let's say that Bob is good at loving and Bill is the most powerful. Which attribute do you consider more worthy of worship and being called the "supreme" being the "weak lover" or the "unloving power"? Scary to think about isn't it. We desire a God that is greatest at everything and has no limits. Well at least that is what I would worship. More next time.  (if there is only one what is He like?) Give me some feed back!

could we move that far East?

Hey Team,
 I promised an update. Here it is. We are looking very strongly at the east side of town near Piney Creek. I would never had thought that we would consider moving that far east, but the prices are good and the homes are functional and lovely. Keep praying that we make a good decision that will honor our Lord. Maybe the "eastern peoples" need some ministering too. Hey I will be updating you all soon on a possible trip to Sierra Leone, Africa in November. Save your pennies I will need to raise a lot of money.

Absent again?

Hey team,
Just a quick note about where I have been. I have been to Kansas and back helping my mother-in-law move to Colorado. Sorry I have not posted recently. Hopefully, I will be able to a get back at it. Hey we are getting close to making a decision on a house to buy in Denver sooo Please PRAY. more tomorrow

two types of "evil, bad, or suffering"

When we discuss the problem of evil, we must determine what kind of evil are we talking about. For there is one kind of evil we call "moral evil" in that it comes from the moral choice of human beings usually upon other human beings, but may also be exercised upon plants animals and the natural world. Moral evil then is from humans toward things or people outside of themselves, and at times against themselves.
There is a second kind of evil as well we call "natural evil" It is that suffering or evil that is not prompted by the will moral choice of humans but comes as a consequence of living on a broken earth. This would include all kinds of sicknesses, natural disasters (e.g. hurricanes, tsunamis etc) accidents etc. These "troubles" find no source in the moral choice of mankind but in random external events. They may find their source in the course of weather patterns. They may  find their source in a stronger being (God) acting upon this finite world. The distinction is that you cannot trace the end of the matter to some willful act of man.
Now when we discuss the problem of evil and our all powerful, loving God we will discuss it from these two different angles.
As we have been looking at the life of Job and the Book of Job, we will need to first of all determine into which of these categories the problem or troubles that Job faces are suffering from the Moral or Natural category. I vie for the later. What about you?

some important definitions

As we tackle the problem of evil and suffering we will need to define some terms. Namely because they are often confused categories:
EVIL: 

· The absence of what ought to be…

· It is a lack in good things…

· “It is in the will, the choice, the intent, the movement of the soul, which puts a wrong order into the physical world of things and acts…” Handbook of Christian Apologetics, pg 132

TYPES OF EVIL:

 For a proper understanding of evil we must make a distinction between types of evil. .

“

  the evil we are not.” Handbook of Christian Apologetics, pg .132

SUFFERING:

Experience or be subjected to (something bad or unpleasant)

- he'd suffered intense pain

- he'd suffered a great deal since his arrest

Be affected by or subject to (an illness or ailment)

- his daughter suffered from agoraphobia

Become or appear worse in quality 

-his relationship with Anne did suffer

Undergo martyrdom or execution

Tolerate

- France will no longer suffer the existing government

Allow (someone) to do something

- my conscience would not suffer me to accept any more

Tomorrow we will discuss the 2 kinds of evil (as mentioned above) MORAL & NATURAL.

So how do we view the idea of Suffering? (part 1)

Let me begin by asking you the same question that I have to ask myself. How do I view the world in which I live?

• (1) Is it a world where suffering should not exist and if it does; it is out of order... ( a perfect world gone bad)?
• (2) Or do I live in a world in which suffering and evil exists normally and when it doesn't that seems out of order (a bad world experiencing temporary good) ?

Why is this question necessary? Because it establishes our worldview and how we will not only approach the problem of suffering and evil but how we will interpret the data. I am convinced that those of us who have been raised in the "secure west' will approach the question from the first position. Because of faith in progress, medicine, military and money we have been promised that eventually we can rid ourselves of all injustices, suffering and evil. While I can only speculate on this point I think that parts of the world racked with suffering, hunger, evil and pain might approach the problem from the second position stated above. Our presuppositions on this are very important. It determines how we state the question of suffering and evil. It determines how we go about solving it.
How would you think that Job views the world? would he choose option 1 or 2 above? Because he was so wealthy, satisfied etc. wouldn't he naturally view it from view 1? Does this effect the way you interpret this ancient book?
Let me give you two possible hints that Job may have viewed the world from position 2, (contrary to his station in life.)

• Job 1:5 "Perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God..." Here Job seems to very realistic about the nature of sin in the world and in the human heart. His "perfect" world did not shield him or his children from sinful acts or destruction.
• Job 1:21 "Naked I came from my mothers womb and naked I shall return there." Naked is not a biological or physical description only here. It also refers to how pitiful is our basic station in life is at the beginning and ending of life.

Enough to chew on for one day. Tomorrow we will define some terms because I have already made too many assumptions with the terms used. 
Tell your friends to visit that blog and let's see what they think!
Scott