It’s been a year, do you recognize me?

It’s been a while (apology for the song reference). I am going to try to revive this thing. I have a new idea that is in the works, that is related to one of my summer projects: book reviews. Let me explain.

This summer I have a goal of reading a book a week. I am dreadfully behind but I have finished 2 with the 3rd on its way. My idea is pretty simple, it will help me to process that information and hopefully synthesize it properly. It will hopefully expose you to books that you may not have read yet and are interested to hear about. Finally it will help me with my writing and thinking.

So, I’m going to try to get this up. It’s been sitting on my desktop for a week or so now and I just need to get it out. I will see you soon!

 

Jeremiah

Meditation - I Peter 1:3

Hello there, I still have not written about 2 adventures I've had here, hopefully I will get to it soon. But until then, I will stick with this. It's shorter, it is only half of a sentence in the ESV, but to do a good job of the whole thing would take at least a whole book, not an hour.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, (1 Peter 1:3 ESV)

After giving his introduction, the apostle goes on and blesses the Lord, "Praise God!" is his cry to heaven. Why does he give so enthusiastic praise? Let us look further and see. Peter answers our puzzlement by telling us-people, good people, bad people, and everyone in between-that according to God's great mercy, we are born again to living hope. A strange thing to say if we were-if mankind were-right with God. But in truth, we as a race are not. We have failed. We have sinned. We have turned every one to his own way. We are vile. The very best of us are capable of doing even the most degrading and vile acts and think the most degrading thoughts and desire the most despicable things. How truly wicked must every man find his own heart. How lustful are his wishes for pleasure! God-just in all-is duty bound to punish eternally our eternal sin against an eternal God. Can a judge free a murder into society? Can a jury let a rapist walk free? Can God let vile sinners into heaven with a holy god? It cannot be! But God, in his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope. Such a great mercy! Milton Vincent-author of the Gospel Primer-writes these words,

"The gospel reminds me first that what I actually deserve from God is a full cup churning with the torments of His wrath. This is the cup that would bee mine to drink if I were given what I deserve each day. With this understanding in mind, I see that to be handed a completely empty cup from God would be cause enough for infinite gratitude. If there were merely the tiniest drop of blessing contained in that otherwise empty cup, I should be blown away by the unbelievable kindness of God toward me. That God, in fact has given me a cup that is full of "every spiritual blessing in Christ," and this without the slightest admixture of wrath, leaves me truly dumbfounded with inexpressible joy. As for my specific earthly circumstances of plenty or what, I can see them always as infinite improvements on the hell I deserve."1

We have a living hope. And that living hope is linked to the resurrection of Christ from the dead. We do not have it through some method, but through our Christ crucified for our sins and resurrected for our justification. This hope is fact. It is not based in something we do or did. It is only in Christ. How can we receive mercy from God, despite our sin? Christ's resurrection. How can we have hope before a just God? Christ's resurrection is the only source. Christ is the source of anything you need. Trust Him. Rely on Him. See and Savior your risen Lord.

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1. Vincent, Milton, A Gospel Primer for Christians: Learning to See the Glories of God's Love. Bemidji, Minnesota: Focus Publishing, 2008, (47-8).

Meditation - I Peter 1:1-2

~ Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:

May grace and peace be multiplied to you. ~

(1 Peter 1:1-2 ESV)

Sometimes the introductions of New Testament books are the easiest things to skip over. I know I do it. A lot. It can be really hard to sit there and read through "Paul, a servant of Jesus, etc" and attempt to understand what it has to say. Yet despite our pickiness about their apparent leanness, the introductions often have real meat to them. They are kind of like the chicken drumstick after you ate the big pieces. Those scraps maybe small but there is always some good meat left.

It really is a big deal for Peter to write "an apostle of Jesus Christ" in his personal introduction. Here is a man who would have walked with Jesus. He ate meals with Jesus, he sat down and talked and watched Jesus in all of his humanity. He lived with him for over 3 years. He watched him be carried away to be crucified. He knew that Jesus was buried. Yet he also witnessed the Transfiguration of Christ into Glory. He saw the results of the resurrection. He witnessed the risen Son. We have an eyewitness1 to the very Jesus Christ, the son of God. He does not need to back up his authority, everyone knew what Peter had done and seen. Peter, the eyewitness to that we now can only see through scripture, writes to us.

Well, he writes to the "elect exiles," a double designation. Not only are they elect (designated, thought out, chosen) of God, but they are exiles. "Temporary residence in the world."2 Peter knew that this world is not their home. Like the refrain in the old song: "This world is not my home I'm just a passin' though, my treasures are laid up, somewhere beyond the blue." These chosen and designated people were strangers in the world, just as they were strangers in their "dispersion." How so fitting a way to describe us now. We do not live in "Pontus" or "Cappadocia" but we are strangers in a world that once the fake politeness is wiped away, utterly hates us, because it hates our Lord. Peter encourages these persecuted people, telling them that they (and all believers) are "according to the foreknowledge of God the Father". It is no accident that they are Christians. They did not make a wrong choice somewhere, it is by God and despite all of their struggles and sufferings God was working thought them, bringing "sanctification of the Spirit." For God has set aside his disciples to be in obedience of Christ. To be set apart holy to Him.

We too are exiles. But likewise, we are elected exiles by God. Who sanctifies us by His Spirit, so that we come into obedience to Christ. Why? We are set apart. We are made holy by the sprinkling of Jesus' blood on us. The things of this world should offer no allure because of our position. Come on, embrace your calling of as an exile from this world. It is the only calling worthy of your life.

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1. I have not chosen to deal with the issues regarding the authorship of I & II Peter. There is plenty of solid internal and external evidence to suggest that the traditional, conservative view of original Petrine authorship. There are books and conservative commentaries that will deal with the issue much better then I can.

2. D Edmond Hiebert - Commentary on I Peter (47).

A not very original thought about the Old Testament

Have you ever wondered why God has treated His people differently throughout the ages? I mean, He does not deal with us in the exact same way He used to. Now, I'm sure there have been many theories and reasoning's presented, many by men far smarter and wiser then I. The reason this is coming up is that I've been reading a blog. You see, there is this man, David Plotz, who earlier this year finished reading through the Bible. Now, David, a nominal Jew, had never read through the entire Old Testament. As he read, he blogged. Somethings delighted him; he found the imagery fascinating and some of the advice profound and changing. Other findings horrified him. He found God in the Bible to be "awful, cruel, and capricious" (http://www.slate.com/id/2212616/pagenum/2). This was not the God he was looking for. I know I also sometimes have wondered why God has treated people differently throughout the ages. Now, I do not claim to know the mind of God, but I do have a theory. What if part of the reason is to show that His way of salvation is best?

What I mean is, what if it's sort of a giant object lesson. Proof for us that there really is only one way to Him (through Jesus Christ on the cross). You see, if we did not have the Israelite wanderings, people might question God's methods. Not that they don't, but by doing what He did with them He proved that Miracles and personally showing His power will not automatically save anyone. You see, people might go "well, if God just proved that He was powerful" or "If He just showed how much sin displeased Him" or "If he just worked one more miracle." No matter how much God did, it was never enough. The Israelites in the OT always turned their back on Him. No matter what God did, mankind ALWAYS rebelled. If He gave mercy, they rebelled; If He punished sin harshly, they rebelled. Whether He promised Judgment (the majority of the prophets) or spoke tenderly (Hosea 11) they were never faithful for long. The OT is in many ways a giant testimony to the Failure of Man and his own inability to earn salvation. Even the best and blessed ultimately fail (David, Samson, etc.). Is it any wonder that God sent His Son to die for us (John 3:16)?

I am not saying that God didn't know what He was doing (Gen 3:15 shows He did know what would happen from the very beginning) but in a way the OT is a one large essay by God. His proof and His way of saying "See, you can't do it on your own!"

Happy 2nd of July!

Hey,


It is officially the second, which of course, means absolutely nothing. Well, it's actually closer to the third by now but anyhoo....

At work today I cleaned the Spanish church. Well to be more precise, I cleaned the floors of the Spanish church with some kind of carpet cleaner. I will have to take a picture of said cleaner sometime soon, but truth is....we don't get along exactly. You see, just when I think I have him figured out, he goes and does something weird. I already have to redo the hallway in the Office building due to some very long and very ugly dark streaks left by yours truly when he thought he was cleaning. Well, I think I have him or it figured out.

You see cleaning the carpet is a multi-step process
1. You have to vacuum the floor area wished to be cleaned. Dyson, I love you!
2. then you have to spray a SMALL area with this special cleaner. It's called Citrus Gel Floor Cleaner or something like that. It comes in a tube about the size of a tube of caulk, and it looks like a wet toothpaste. You dilute it in a ridiculous amount of water and then you clean floors with it. The good news is that it is possibly the best smelling cleaner ever invented. Like a combination between lemons and oranges....but mainly lemons.
2b. You have to becareful not to spray to much. If you do, you leave black streaks. Not good.
3. then you scrub the spots that are really bad. Like coffee
4. Then you run cleaner over the spot. The cleaner is a floor shampooer....it works just like when you wash your hair. It sprays water on the carpet, then it vacuums it up....it's sort of like a combo Shop-Vac and a Sprinkler with a spinning brush. On the first run you put water down. Then you do a second run and try to pick up as much as the water as possible, hopefully loaded with cleaner and dirt.
5. Repeat

And that's how you do it. I did the Spanish church on Tuesday and Today. Half on one side and half on the other. Then I put all of the chairs and stuff back that I moved. Just for the record, Piano's are kinda hard to move by yourself (it was on rollers so it wasn't "too bad" but felt like I was going to break it's legs off. I didn't but they were kind of wobbly.

Have a happy 4th and I will try to write tomorrow!
Jeremiah

For all of those out there who may have been interested in what I've been up to.

To all my faithful readers (or lack there of)

So I realized that the vast majority of people out there probably have no idea what I've been up to. This post is designed to get you all up to date. :-) It won't be horribly detailed. But it might be a good, general update.

I am doing a church internship down in Winter Garden Florida at a Calvary Baptist Church. The Senior pastor's name is T.J. Klapperich (for all you Troy-based Michiganites out there). So far, it's been great. In fact, it's been amazing. I have an office (how cool is that?), and I get to be in sunny Florida for the summer (bonus no. 2!) plus random other perks. I do have responsibilities. Teaching a Sunday School each sunday, helping set things up for Neighborhood Bible Time, and keeping the church clean. I'll be down here untill August sometime.....

Oh! Pictures coming soon! Be patient, I'm still trying to figure this whole "blog" thing out.

Cheers,
J. Petersen

The First Post

Hi!

In all likely hood, you won't know about this post when it's posted. you will look back at all of the posts and then you will see this. I don't really have anything to say other then to kind of describe what I want to do with this blog.

1. I want to let everyone who is interested know what I'm up to.
2. Provide an outlet for any random creative impulses.
3. Give my my brother some competition (he's indisposed right now, so it's not really a fair fight [he's in Alaska, fishing. Salmon do not believe in wireless internet. They obviously do not stay at Best Western]
4. If ever I produce something of any note.....
5. Kinda use it as a devotional diary or something.

ok....that's probably good for a first post. If all goes as planned, you will hear from me again!
JmP