Asian SBTS Students

Studying theology in your second language is difficult. Very difficult. I know this because I am studying it in my first language. Unlike myself, a group of my fellow students at SBTS labor over reading--not because they are slow readers or the text is particularly challenging. Rather because they have crossed an ocean into another culture and another tongue for theological education.

Recently I walked by an Asian student looking up a word in his pocket electronic dictionary as he read Kate Turabian's 7th edition. He read this volume for about two hours without any apparent break (unless he took on during one of my breaks). Another Asian friend reads with a pencil so he can bracket prepositional phrases, mark verbs, etc. as he reads.

What a testimony these brothers are to the worth of knowing God in Christ!

Clarity on Church Planting

PJ Tibayan posted this excellent quote:

Jeff Vanderstelt has taught me a crucial truth about church planting:

Planting (and planning) services is easy, making disciples (who can make more disciples who can make more disciples) is hard. But planting a church is the latter and not the former.

He talked about this truth in a message called, “Being a Leader who Grow Leaders” and wrote about it in a blog post entitled, “Observations about Church Planting.”

See PJ's blog for more on info on all things church planting. PJ and his family are church planting in LA currently.

Christian Music

Though not all the music labeled Christian coming out these days to bad, much (far too much) is. The twitching and shaking which follow more than a few minutes on most any Christian radio station affirm this. And I'm only referring to the music. The lyrics struggle equally so. For the visual learners among us, note this graph which speaks to the state of lyrics:



(HT: Dan Phillips)

Kevin Bauder

Kevin Bauder is worth reading. And he writes something everyweek. For those who don't know, Kevin Bauder is the President of Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Plymouth, MN. He is a careful Christian thinker on all subjects. Really. I have benefited most from his writings on the liberal arts and culture. But he is a theologian with a clear mind--as his pen atests. If you don't understand fundamentalism or why you should consider the biblical doctine of separation, read Kevin Bauder.** You will benefit from reading a contemporary thelogian who loves what you love and believes what you believe . . . yet who serves in the little known but very real adjacent universe called evangelical fundamentalism.

Kevin Bauder sends out a weekly email called "In the Nick of Time." You can sign up to receive this or view the archives here. I would encourage you to stop reading my blog and read his latest - "Give Attendance to Reading" -- right now. It is excellent.

**For an excellent presentation to his church on fundamentalism and his visit to Beeson, listen to this audio--entitled "Biblical Separation: A Summary and Report."

Book Recommendation: Water of the Word

A week before the wedding I bought Andrew Case's Water of the Word: Intercession for Her.

I would recommend this book to any married guys who desire to pray Scriptural prayers for their wives. It has been a joy to remember my wife in intercession in this way. Case provides just over 225 scripted prayers for one's wife, all rooted in the language of Scripture (the Scripture Index in Appendix B affirms this well). And praying them aloud with Suemi present has been affirming to her of my desire to care for her spiritually.

Just as Mueller noted that Scripture prompted him to pray, Andrew Case uses Scripture to prompt me to pray and to direct these prayers. I have found the early prayers in this volume to reflex the diverse emotions of the Psalms. And I anticipate Case will spend some time in the New Testament as well (the Scripture index confirms this suspicion).

What an accessible tool to encourage the regular practice of exactly what Carson lays out in A Call to Spiritual Reformation and what Paul models to the churches in Asia Minor--all tailored to our wives!

Though I have just begun using this resource, I highly recommend it. Why not avail yourself to this husbands? Let's be men who pray for and with our wives.

Suemi and I's Vows

I had the joy of writing Suemi and I's vows for our wedding ceremony. They are rooted, first, in Piper's marriage sermons (and now books) which I have listened to repeatedly with great benefit. Second, the vows are rooted in thewording of the Book of Common Prayer (aka traditional vows). I have included them below.

I take you Suemi as my wife,
accepting the divine call
to lead you by protecting you and providing for you,
both physically and spiritually, and
by laying down my life for you
even as Christ did for His bride, the church.
I will love you and cherish you in sickness and in health,
in poverty or in wealth, in every season,
until death separates us.
Suemi, to this covenant, I pledge you my faithfulness.

I take you Ross as my husband,
accepting the divine call
to honor and affirm your leadership
by helping you carry it through according to my gifts and
by submitting to you as I submit to God, hoping and trusting in Him,
even as the church does its Bridegroom, Christ.
I will love you and respect you in sickness and in health,
in poverty or in wealth, in every season,
until death separates us.
Ross, to this covenant, I pledge you my faithfulness.


Suemi, I give you this ring as a sign of the marriage vow I am making with you before God and these witnesses.

Ross, I give you this ring as a sign of the marriage vow I am making with you before God and these witnesses.

Finished a busy semester, moved, and married . . .

Since my last post I have finished my second semester at Southern, moved out of the dorms and into Village Manor Apartments, and married Suemi. It has been a busy summer of travel too, having visited my parents in Boston, traveled to Greenville, SC a couple times, and then a 10 days honeymoon to US Virgin Islands.

One result of the above changes is I now live away from internet access (the half dozen wireless signals floating through our apartment are all locked). This has created some challenges and some blessings . . . one challenge being this blog. I trust I will continue to be able to post thoughts from time to time--but we will see.

You or Jesus Christ

"When you stand in the pulpit tonight, you can do one of two things. Either you can show those in the congregation that Jesus Christ is wonderful, or you can try to convince them that [you are] a reasonably intelligent young man. You can’t do both."

--an adapted quote from A Hill on Which to Die by Paul Pressler, p. 152.

Evangelism

As a Christian, the biggest challenge to evangelism can be efficiency. Befriending a non-Christian takes more time.

It is our Story . . . but, praise God, not the end of the story.

I'm still working on a biblical theology of leadership paper. It has been both frustrating and fruitful. Here is an example of the latter. As I am seeking to summarize the verdict which the LORD speaks in 3:14-20, it's implications have struck me again and again--for they could not be any larger. Here is a quote which I couldn't put in my paper, but which I found powerful.

"The snake, the woman, and the man are not depicted as individuals involved in a personal crisis; rather they are representatives. We are left with the impression that this is not their story so much as it is our story, the story of mankind. With great skill the author presents these three participants as the 'heads' of their race. The snake, on the one hand, and the man and the woman, on the other, are as two great nations embarking on a great struggle, a struggle that will find its conclusion only by an act of some distant 'seed' or 'offspring.'"

--Sailhammer on "Genesis", The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Vol. 2, 54-55.

Creation, Election, and Worship

Working on a paper on a biblical theology of worship, I was struct by the link between Genesis 1:26-27, the analogy of the potter and clay in the prophets and Romans 9, and the praise of the elders in Revelation 4:11.

"In creation, God is seen to be a God of action and initiative. Passivity is not found in the opening account. He acts. He takes initiative. God leads in the creation of the world—and of man. Revelation 4:11, at the end of the story, provides explicit teaching regarding an implicit consequence of God as creator—namely God is to be praise. “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” Note the reason God is to be praised. God created all things. The Creator-God thus owns and rules over all things. Isaiah and Jeremiah and then Paul in Romans 9 each build on this reality, using the examples of the potter and clay to teach on the electing rule of God. The clay is rightly shown to be dependent, given purpose and design by the potter. The potter has free will to do with the clay as he chooses—like Rev. 4:11 which ends “by your will they exist and were created. Genesis 1:26-27 is the initial establishment of this reality of ownership and rule on the part of God (the potter) over man (the clay)."

The Confused Rollings of Second Causes

"It is impossible to be submissive and religiously patient if ye stay your thoughts down among the confused rollings and wheels of second causes, as O the place! O the time! O if this had been, this had not followed! O the linking of this accident with this time and place! Look up to the master motion and the first wheel."

--Samuel Rutherford in The Loveliness of Christ

Creed and Conduct

"Mere orthodoxy is not enough; Christians must live out their creed. The gospel of the crucified Messiah must transform not only our beliefs but our behavior."

"Faithful Christian leaders must make the connections between creed and conduct, between the cross and how to live. And they must exemplify this union in their own lives."

--D.A. Carson, Chapter 4 of The Cross and Christian Ministry

Balance

"Paul tells us that if Christ is not the whole of our message, then we are not balanced at all."

--Fred G. Zaspel in 'An Analysis of 1 Corinthians 2:1-5'

Forget About Wallets: 'What's in your ship?'

I find myself returning to this quote more than my life of ease might suggest is necessary. May we be diligently doing the hard work of filling our ships with weighty ballast while the seas of life are calm!

"Pain and loss are bitter providences. Who has lived long in this world of woe without weeping, sometimes until the head throbs and there are no more tears to lubricate the convulsing of our amputated love? But O, the folly of trying to lighten the ship of suffering by throwing God's governance overboard. The very thing the tilting ship needs in the storm is the ballast of God's good sovereignty, not the unburdening of deep and precious truth. What makes the crush of calamity sufferable is not that God shares our shock, but that his bitter providences are laden with the bounty of love."

--John Piper

Evangelism--A Convicting Thought

"There shouldn't be people you know who don't know the gospel."

I am challenged in my verbal witness every time I think of this.

Seeing Christ As Compensation For All These Days of Suspense

"Only pray for strength to be given to me from within and from without, that I may not only speak, but also may be willing, and that I may not merely be called a Christian, but also may be found to be one." --IGNATIUS.

"Eighty-and-six years have I served Him and He never did me any wrong ; how then can I blaspheme my King, my Saviour." --POLYCARP.

"My Lord Jesus Christ was bound with a harder chain than this for my sake ; why then should I be ashamed of this rusty one ? --JOHN HUSS.

"Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle, by God s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out." --LATIMER.

"The pain will soon be over, and oh the sweetness of the welcome above! I cannot imagine the Saviour's welcome. Oh, that will compensate for all these days of suspense!" --LIZZIE ATAVATER.

"We rejoice that we are made partakers of the sufferings of Christ, that when His glory shall be revealed, we may rejoice also with exceeding joy." --W. G. PEAT.

"Many will say, Why did she go ? wasted life. Darling, No.
Trust God does His very best and never makes mistakes." --MAY NATHAN.

--from the opening page of the first chapter in Lost Letters and Further Records of Martyred Missionaries of the China Inland Mission, 26.

Universalism, Inclusivism, and Exclusivism

Universalism -- all saved

Inclusivism -- all who will be saved will be saved through Christ--whether they know Christ or not

Exclusivism -- all who will be saved will be saved by grace alone through faith alone on the basis of Christ alone

As an aside, am I right to say C.S. Lewis held the middle position? Michael Ward, a Lewis expert, explained him this way--if I understood him correctly.

II Corinthians 1:1-7

Here is the conclusion of a paper I wrote for Dr. Pennington on II Cor. 1:1-7 . . . an encouraging passage.

The theological significance of this passage is that Christians should praise God for the comfort they have experienced through Christ in the midst of affliction, particularly affliction for the sake of Christ. They should then also recognize that their role as a loving neighbor may encompass their being used as a means for God’s comfort of others—for God’s extending of comfort which they themselves have received from God outward towards others. This can only be done by Christians as this is only done through Christ. Therefore, the church of Christ should be uniquely marked by loving relationships of comfort in the midst of affliction—which is the result of boldly associating with Christ. Truly, God is to be praised for the comfort he supplies through Christ--by means of those who have been afflicted (and comforted!)--to any saint who is afflicted.

The Regulative Principle

A helpful reminder:

In the history of the church, the regulative principle was viewed as freeing.

Do you view it as such? Is it even within your view?

God Says It

"God says it; that settles it." Not "God says it; I believe it; that settles it."

--Brian Vickers

The Music Guy

The music minister should be an elder. That is, an elder should also serve in part as the music minister (in oversight more than action). The key is 'in part.' He should be doing other things.

When you have a 'music guy' whose sole role is such, there are likely consequences, namely,

(1) he has a sense of entitlement,

(2) he has to do more and more to feel he is doing something,

(3) because this is how he demonstrates his own faithfulness

(4) which can cause a skewed view of duty and service, and

(5) his role creates a place for complaints.

Learning About Early English Baptists

"It is noteworthy that the first half of the eighteenth century had been devoted more to consolidation and organization than to evangelism. This was typical of English dissenters generally. Their preoccupation with theological problems, chiefly Christological and ethical, together with the development of a censorious spirit, did not produce a warm evangelistic ministry. The spiritual awakening so desperately needed by the country came, not from dissenters, but from Anglicans like Whitefield and the Wesleys, beginning about 1738."

This summarizes well both the General and Particular Baptists in England in the 18th century.

--Torbet, A History of the Baptists, p. 71.

Ministry and Politics

It has been observed that . . .

politics -- less of a draw close up, but attractive from afar

ministry -- more of a draw close up, but unattractive from afar

. . . and I've found this so true (particularly concerning ministry).

Darwin and Rome

The Vatican is hosting a conference on Darwin--a man whose works they never condemned. BBC News has a short article on this. It ends with the following quote.

"The design of organisms is not what would be expected from an intelligent engineer, but imperfect and worse," [Prof Francisco Ayala] said. "Defects, dysfunctions, oddities, waste and cruelty pervade the living world".

Prof Francisco Ayala, what about a worldview with creation and sin?

Preaching and the Invitation

The invitation was originally just a call to response, often at the end of sermons. It has become associated with walking the isle, etc.--a tradition many have grown to dislike for its regular abuse. However, even if I don’t like ‘the invitation,’ I must invite sinners to Christ. A call to response is a must and it should be passionate and powerful. We lie about the gospel when we don't.

Unexplainable . . . apart from God?

Is Gamaliel's logic solid in Acts 5? Is a Christianity that does not fail in the face of persecution unexplainable apart from God? I think he is right that if it is from God, none can overthrow it. But is it clearly from God for this reason? Can the Roman Catholic Church (admittedly within Christianity) or Islam or Hinduism or any other ancient religion also claim being 'of God' by reason of its survival through hard times?

What makes true Christianity's survival in the face of persecution unique among religions? How does it magnify God in this?


Just some questions that arose in my mind after reading in Acts this afternoon. I will continue reading for answers.

I find within me a legalist.

C.J. Mahaney has been used by God to point me back to the cross again and again over the last few years. I stumbled across a chapter by him entitled "How to Encourage Husbands to Lead and Wives to Follow" in Pastoral Leadership for Manhood and Womanhood, ed. by Grudem and Rainey. The chapter was excellent. Like most things I have read by those laboring within Sovereign Grace circles, the chapter is a well-worded meditation on the gospel with a consistent application to X . . . and here X is marriage. Thus it is not surprising this chapter on marriage deals with legalism. C.J. writes: "Legalism involves seeking forgiveness from God, justification before God, and acceptance by God through obedience to God."

Here are questions (from C.J.) to ask a husband who you are counseling as indicators of legalism in his life--their application is easily much broader.
1. Is he more aware of his past sin than of the finished work of the cross?
2. Does he think, believe, or feel that God is disappointed with him rather than delighting over him?
3. Does he assume his acceptance before God is dependent upon his obedience?
4. Does he consistently experience condemnation?
5. Does he lack joy?

The first question nails me (as then do the rest). By God's grace, I desire to fight sin. With the help of brothers in Christ, I am fighting sin more and more. I strive to confess my sin to God and where appropriate to others. But these can and often are a recipe for an increased awareness of my sin which I fail to place in the context of a greater awareness of the finished work of the cross. Oh, how I need to start and end with the cross as I seek to uproot sin by God's grace. In short, I find within me a legalist.

Approval - Should it always be sought?

Simply put by Mark: When going to a church, one must understand and accept that "all the people in the church don't need to be in the church in a year."

Intimate Allies

“Marriage is lifelong companionship, a school of sanctification, a man and woman who are intimate allies in helping one another along to the kingdom.” –Dr. Michael Haykin

Caring Is Sharing . . . Time.

We are structured by who we care for.

--Dr. Brian Brock, Lecture at Southern Seminary on Ethics

Asking Questions

If you want to be an expert, you must always play the learner.

--Greg Wills

The Gospel and Missions

Andy (an elder at Capitol Hill), in his missions reading group, leads the group to read books on the gospel, not missions, because . . . understanding the gospel well makes crossing a culture with that gospel less jarring.

Words vs. Propositions: A Search for Meaning

This simple truth must be remembered when preaching, teaching, studying, and perhaps especially when reading devotional Christian books (ie., Love Life for Every Married Couple by Ed Wheat).

"It must be emphasized, therefore, that the most important parts of a text are not the individual words considered in isolation! Words transmit a concrete meaning to us only when they stand within a concrete statement and are considered as an integral part of that proposition. The smallest meaningful building blocks of a text are the individual propositions within it, not the isolated words."

--Scott Hafemann, in the introduction of a handout on diagramming entitled "Translating and Understanding: The Sentence Diagram"

Authority and Marriage

Trusting authorities on all levels is a reflection of trust in God. The trust of imperfect authorities is a constant this side of the fall. The church's authority (through its structure) displays this well. Members are called upon to trust God by trusting their elders.

By implication, I must not assume my future wife should be willing to trust me if I am not willing to trust authorities in my life. A man who is submitting to others (in the church, in seeking wise counsel, etc) will be a husband who is more easily submitted to.

Neighbor

If I am to love my neighbor, I must hate the ease with which I disregard others.

--Dr. Brian Brock, Lecture at Southern Seminary on Ethics

Unworthiness

"When the sinner is held back from the gospel by a sense of unworthiness, his worthiness is the implied ground of his coming to the gospel–his work–not Christ’s. When the Christian longs for a deeper view of sin, and love to Christ, and forgets, that, when attained, he will have the same need as before of the blood and righteousness of Christ–this is again to put spiritual self in the place of Christ" (Charles Bridges The Christian Ministry 366).

I find my self feeling unworthy. This, however, makes my worthiness the grounds for my coming to Christ. I begin to focus on my insufficiencies and beg for mercy. But God resists the proud–and what could be more arrogant than to think I will ever discipline myself into a worthy state. With a fresh view of my sin and with a disciplined life, my need remains the same as before–the blood and righteousness of Christ. I cannot take the place of the one who took my place. In him alone can I stand before a righteous judge and live. May God continue to teach me about the sufficiencies of Christ.

Legalism

Legalism seems inevitable when preaching regularly calls believers to change or obedience without reference to the enabling and motivating power of the gospel.

To strive for the elimination of sin without grace and the gospel is to play the fool and confirm yourself in sin. Legalism flourishes where the outward sins are dealt with apart from inward matters of the heart and the gospel that alone can change it.

Converse Towards Consistency

A faithful church will need to change the way it does things (the things will likely change little) in order to remain consistent and constant in the midst of an ever changing culture. Be constantly having conversations about worship, etc. because of ever changing culture, etc.

Worldviews - Seven Basic Questions

I am taking an Intro to Philosophy class later this month and have found this book by Sire excellently written and a useful introduction to worldviews. I hope to summarize the chapters/worldviews, following largely his points, for easier access in the future. I also plan to post these summaries as I go. Here is 'where he is going' in the book as he asks these seven 'basic' questions of the major worldviews considered. The worldviews are considered in historical/logical/progressive order by Sire.

Seven Basic Questions:

(1) What is prime reality--the really real?

(2) What is the nature of external reality, that is, the world around us?

(3) What is a human being?

(4) What happens to a person at death?

(5) Why is it possible to know anything at all?

(6) How do we know what is right and wrong?

(7) What is the meaning of human reality?

--James W. Sire, The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog (Fourth Ed.), 20.

The Value of Mankind

"God does not love us because we are so valuable; we are valuable because God loves us."

--Helmut Thielicke, Nihilism, 110.

Knowing and Arrogance

Two solid reminders:

Just because I don't know everything,

doesn't mean I don't know anything

and

arrogance is to be uncertain about that which God has spoken.

a little principle

Simple hermeneutical principle: Assume everything is prescriptive unless it is descriptive.

[Frankly not sure of the utility of it, but it seemed profound at the time I noted it.]

Christian Theism in History . . . Clearly Dominent

"In the Western world up to the end of the seventeenth century, . . . [i]f battles were fought, the lines were drawn within the circle of theism."

--James W. Sire, The Universe Next Door, 23.

Evangelicalism (and the Ecumenical Involvement)

While discussing Evangelicalism Divided, I noted from an intern discussion that what Evangelicalism (and the Ecumenical Involvement) is about for (a) Packer is a question of ecclesiology and (b) Murray is the definition of a Christian; thus these men differ concerning their interaction with it.

The Gospel, Its Fruit, and Christian Cultural No-No's

Why do churches allow into their rolls those whom the Bible would not consider Christians? Maybe churches aren’t keeping rolls today. Why then are they allowing those whom the Bible would not consider Christians to attend and consider themselves part of the church? An evangelical church must agree on the gospel. But agreement is not enough.

Christ warns that false prophets are like ferocious wolves in sheep’s clothing. How is the church to discern sheep from wolves who look and even sound like sheep? “By their fruit you will recognize them” (Matt. 7:16). Those who only profess Christ must not be considered Christians. The Bible doesn’t ask us to assume. We don’t need to assume. Rather we need to wait and watch their actions. With numbers being the criteria for success, waiting makes no sense. One who acts like a sheep and cries ‘Lord, Lord’ like a sheep is welcomed into the fold. Patience and wisdom are needed. They are what the Bible expects.

But if wolves act like sheep and the church is to judge sheep by their actions, how are the two to be kept separate? In between his teaching on sheep and wolves and his comment about those who cry ‘Lord, Lord,’ Christ answers this. “Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit” (Matt. 7:17-18). Wolves bear bad fruit. Wolves cannot bear good fruit. It seems so clear, yet I look at churches I’ve been in and people would say, ‘we have no wolves here.’ The church has mistaken ‘Lord, Lord’ with doing the will of the Father.

Even more of a problem, the church has mis-defined fruit. Not watching movies in the theater, attending concerts, listening to ‘bad music,’ smoking, drinking, and a hundred other understood no-no’s has been mis-taken with actually bearing fruit–that is acting like a Christian. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are understood to be needed, but not essential. Faithfulness to Christian cultural norms–the no-no’s–has replaced faithfulness to Christ. Not doing (in the name of Jesus) has replaced bearing.

So one who cries ‘Lord, Lord’ and doesn’t do these understood no-no’s is believed to have found the small gate and the narrow road. I fear the gate they have walked threw and the road they are on feel small and narrow due to exclusive legalism–yet they are wider than they know. Their road will lead to Christ as judge and–at the end–he will say ‘I never knew you.’

The Weight of My Sins

“It is not that you become spiritually paranoid and begin to imagine that you have committed more sins than you had previously realized (though in a sense you do begin to do this). What really happens, as God’s Spirit begins to convict you in this way, is that, as He brings a particular sin to your attention, that particular sin seems more serious than it did before”(9 Marks of a Healthy Church, 100).

I think the first sentence describes life for me–worried over my sin, thinking in terms of the number of my sins. The second sentence describes what I need (and what God works)–a sense of the seriousness of each sin, thinking in terms of the weight of my sins. May God be gracious to me–allowing real conviction towards true repentance.

How do I hear the Word of God? Preparation for Sunday

Here are notes from a favorite sermon by Daniel Davey, who draws heavily from Piper. I try to review these, at least mentally, each Sunday night.

How do I hear the Word of God? Preparation for Sunday
1.Pray for a good and honest heart -Luke 8:15
2.Meditate on portions to cultivate an appitite for God
3.Purify your mind by turning away from worldy entertainment -James 1:21, Phil 4:8
4.Trust in the truth you already have -Luke 8:28
5.Get a good night's rest on Saturday night. It takes more discipline to go to bed on time than to get up on time. 'Take head how you hear.'
6.Forbear one another without grumbling and criticism. 'Humble me and cleanse me.' Ps 106:25
7.Come in a spirit of teachability.
8.Be still as you enter the room and focus your mind's attentinon and heart's affection on the Word of God. 'We come to look out for God and leave to look out for people.'
9.Think earnestly about what is sung, prayed, and preached. Worship engages the mind and then the emotions.
10.Desire the truth of God's Word more than I desire riches and food. Ps 19:10-11 Lk 8:19-21
-Take head how you hear.
-Attentdance doesn't count.
-Ability to hear doesn't count.
-You hear with your heart and you grasp it.

Elders and Statements of Faith

If elders need to hold something not in the statement of faith, then the problem may be with your statement of faith. You may need to change or add to your statement of faith over time.

Making Visible the Spiritual - Thoughts from a Talk by tml

Baptism - incorporation into body union with Christ

getting into

Lord's Supper - ongoing incorporation into body union with Christ

borders/how you remain in

Membership - the thing itself because it is the visible display of the body union with Christ

Dealing with a visible spiritual reality--that is, the body of Christ/union with Christ/the church. Illustrated with a circle (the visible manifestation of spiritual reality) made up of members, inclosed by the Lord's Supper, and entered into by baptism.

Trees

Welch writes on the knowledge of God: If you walk "among giant redwoods, you will never be overwhelmed by the size of a dogwood tree" (119, When People Are Big and God Is Small).

May 2009 be a year in which we find ourselves lost amid redwoods often!