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Thursday, October 30, 2008

The Lord's Prayer in Old, Middle and Modern English

A friend showed me today a print out of the Lord's prayer in Old, Middle, King James and Modern English. It's very interesting.

The Lords Prayer in Old English
Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum. Si þin nama gehalgodto becume þin rice gewurþe ðin willa on eorðan swa swa on heofonum. urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us todæg and forgyf us ure gyltas swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendumand ne gelæd þu us on costnunge ac alys us of yfele. Soþlice.´

The Lords Prayer in Middle English:
Oure fadir that art in heuenes, halewid be thi name;thi kyngdoom come to; be thi wille don, in erthe as in heuene. Yyue to vs this dai oure breed ouer othir substaunce, and foryyue to vs oure dettis, as we foryyuen to oure dettouris; and lede vs not in to temptacioun, but delyuere vs fro yuel.Amen.

Another version from 1430:






































King James, 1611:

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Modern, ESV:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be i your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.


Language evolves, cultures evolve, God remains the same.

Monday, October 27, 2008

soccer pics, thanks to matthew!

Caleb played his best game ever this week. He was a good team player, a passer, a scorer and he was aggressive for the first time on the field. It was a lot of fun to watch.



Sunday, October 26, 2008

mea culpa

Something every preacher should know before they teach or preach the first time is that we often need to take a dose of the medicine we dish out - in other words, we often need to hear what we preach.

Tonight I preached (taught - I don't think it was preaching) on the two kingdoms and why we shouldn't confuse the two. I made very strong statements about the church not officially endorsing candidates and keeping the institution of the church out of the political sphere. I believe it and don't think I have ever gotten political from the pulpit, other than to say we shouldn't get political from the pulpit. However, I don't know that I've practiced what I preached so well recently.

I haven't endorsed anyone from the 'pulpit' (we don't even use one at Connexion); however, I recently posted a few articles on the election and some issues, particularly one that is important to me, in which I made it very clear who I was voting for and why. I stand by the content, but repent of posting them. I was posting as a private person believed his blog was read by freinds and family. However, someone today told they had read the posts and questioned whether I should have posted them because I am a pastor. I didn't think I was wearing my pastor's hat when writing those, but that distinction probably wasn't clear to the people who read the blog. When I write on the Connexion site, I am very conscious that I am writing as the pastor, but didn't think I needed to be on my blog. However, I think my friend who suggested that I was blurring a line was probably right. In any case, I have removed those posts and any/every other posting that is remotely political.

I'll do better in the future.

Painfully flawed,
Dan

Friday, October 24, 2008

more from "The Mission of God"

Wright's book is really good. Really, really good. Here's another short quote:
"God's mission is to bless all nations through this people whom he has chosen, redeemed and bound to himself in covenant relationship. But that divine purpose calls for human response. All three pillars of Israel's faith and identity (their election, redemption, and covenant) are connected to God's mission. The ethical challenge to God's people is, first, to recognize the mission of God that provided the heartbeat of their very existence and, the, to respond in ways that express and facilitate it reather than deny and hinder it"
His writing raised another question for me yesterday. This is gonna come as a shock to those of you who know me as a 7 point Calvinist. Israel's election was for the nations - they would be a beacon that would draw others, the nonelect nations, into relationship with God. Wright does a wonderful job of showing how each covenant had a particularizing element to it (choosing Abraham, Israel, David, etc), but alongside this there is a universal elemnt to each one as well (they were chosen to be a blessing to the nations, the whole earth, all peoples, etc.). Just got me thinking about election in terms of service and not salvation. The nations were'nt elect, only Israel. Yet the nations will be saved through the elects witness to God. Need to think more about how this translates to the individual level. Also, even assuming election has more to do with service and not salvation (which I'm not ready to concede), it still wouldn' t necessarily move me far from my 7 points.

hmmm, could it be, the devil?

So this year the Rays dropped the word 'devil' from their team name and are in the world series. I thought I took baseball seriously. Check out the article.

Maybe Duke should consider dropping it too?

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

the eternal life of money?

Change of topic for a while. I read this today in Christopher Wright's excellent book The Mission of God. He quotes Geiko Muller-Fahrenholz at length (Jubilee Challenge, pp. 104-111). I thought it was timely given the financial instability of the past few weeks:
We enjoy time, we are carried along in the flow of time, everything is embedded in its time, sot the very idea of exploiting the flow of time to take interest on money lent seemed preposterous. It does so no more because the sacredness of time has disappeared, even before the sacredness of the land vanished from the memories of our modern societies. Instead capitalist market economies have been elevated to global importance'; they are enshrined with the qualities of omnipotence that border on idolatry. So the question arises: does it make sense to attribute to money qualities that no created thing can ever have, namely eternal growth? Every tree must die, every house must one day crumble, every human being must perish. Why should immaterial goods such as capital - and it's counterpart, debts - not also have their time? The capital knows no natural barriers to its growth. There is no jubilees to put an end to its accumulative power. And so there is no jubilee to put an end to debts and slavery. Money that feeds on money, with no productive or social obligation, represents a vast flood that threatens even large national economies and drowns small countries...But at the heart of this deregulation is the undisputed concept of the eternal life of money.

Friday, October 17, 2008

things I'd like to post about, if I ever finish the mountain of reading

There a truck load of things I'd like to post about, if I find the time. Here's a few:
1. What I'm learning from my readings! One of the things I've been reading about recently is how the NT uses the OT. Sounds boring, and at times it really is. Really. But, my imagination is being stirred to see Jesus in ways, especially in the OT, that my hermeneutic has not freed me to before.
2. My impression of the new ESV study Bible. I think its awesome. But I'll try to say more later.
3. Thoughts on abortion. I know its not the only issue, but it seems like it has been a neglected issue in this election. Honestly, everything but the economy has been, at least of late. I've only heard one question on education.
4. Another thought from the readings I've been doing, especially in Conversion of the Imagination by Richard Hays, that I'd love to reflect on and write about is the ways Paul used rhetoric to convert the imagination. Specifically, he used language to help his readers imagine themselves a part of the OT story of Israel, even though many/most were Gentiles. That has implications of us in that 1) we're also heirs to that story, and 2) we can/should preach in a way to help people feel this, 3) this would have implications for our ethics/morals that is far reaching.

Ok. Now back to reading.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

my reading plan for the day

I have lofty goals for today. Here's the articles I want to tackle:

1. The Messiah: Explorations in the Law and Writings, by Tremper Longman III (for the class I'm taking)
2. How the Bible has been Interpreted in Christian Tradition, by Justo Gonzalez (for the ACG I'm teaching)
3. Some Observations on Paul's Use of the Phrases 'in Christ' and 'with Christ', by AJM Wedderburn (for the class I'm taking)
4. The Puzzle of Pauline Hermeneutics, by Richard Hays (for the class I'm taking)
5. The Bible and the Environment, by FF Bruce (for fun)
6. Chapters 7&8 in 'How to be Evangelical without being Conservative' (for some upcoming messages on politics and faith)
7. Chapters 1-3 in 'How Would Jesus Vote?' (for those same sermons)
8. Chapter 8 in 'The Mission of God', by Christopher Wright (for the class I'm taking)

Don't think you'll care, but now my goals are on paper, kinda.

Friday, October 10, 2008

the food I miss most

I've moved a lot in my life, and I always leave behind favorite restaraunts. I've been reminising with a few friends recently, and it's made miss my favorite place. In case you ever visit Endicott or Upstate New York, Chicago or New Castle, PA, here's a list of the best places.

High School Days:
1. Tony's Pizza, Endicott, NY. The NY style pizza, calzones and baked zitti. Oh my.
2. Lupo's Speedies, Endicott, NY. Unless you're from NY, you just wouldn't understand. Someone just gave me two bottles of special speedie sauce. I can't wait to cook it up.
3. Nirchi's Pizza, Endicott, NY. Owned by a friends famile and with in walking distance of the ZPool, my summer job.
4. Blue Dolphin, Endicott, NY (actually, maybe it was Vestal). I don't remember anything about it except the Bavarian Cheesecake. It was a meal by itself.

College Years:
1. Pontillo's, Batavia, NY. The wings were definitely worth the hour drive from Houghton to Batavia. I'll forever be grateful to Andy Hamm for introducing it to me.
2. The Anchor Bar, Buffalo, NY. Wings again. The birthplace of wings. Again an hour drive, but the atmosphere and wings were worth it.


Chicago
:
1. Lou Malnati's, Chicago, IL. The best of the big three Chicago Pizza chains. Oh, and the chocolate chip pizza. Holy crap that was good.
2. Walker Bro's, Chicago, IL. The best chocolate chip pancakes in the world.
3. Buffalo Joes, Evanston, IL. Great wings, right down there near NorthWestern.
4. Fuddruckers, Deerfield, IL. It's a chain, I know, but the burgers and shakes are hard to beat.


New Castle:

1. Little Johnies, New Castle,PA. The best of both worlds - buffalo chicken wing pizza.
2. Steamers, New Castle, PA. The best coffee shop going. That's where the addiction started I think.

Update: I forgot one. Quaker Steak and Lube, Sharon, PA. That's the original, though there are copies other places. Go for the all you can eat wing night or the lunch buffet!

Thursday, October 09, 2008

books I bought today

Thinking more about the intersection between faith and politics led me to purchase two new books today.

I'm not excited about this book. I know it's so slanted to the right it will make me angry. You can tell just by the endorsements. So why buy it? Just trying to be fair and balanced.





I'm more excited to read this, but from the reviews and endorsements (and title) it seems to slant to the left. It's so hard to sit on the fence without leaning - you have to read two books!





Having already voted, some might wonder why I'd start reading now. Don't worry, I'm also registered to vote in Ohio - 12 times.

Also today, I picked up a copy of Biblical Archaeologist, just to prove what a nerd I am. Actually, I'm quite looking forward to reading about the 'Messiah son of Joseph' inscription which dates possibly as early as 1st century BCE. Cool.

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Voting as an Evangelical

Ok, so the irony is I learned about his book 4 hours after I voted, but I'm still going to buy it. Maybe I'll get some guidance for the message on Nov. 2nd, 'Do Christianity and Politics Mix?' If anyone's already read it, let me know what you thought.

The folks at Koinonia asked Dr. Olson for some prevoting food for thought. Here's what he offered:

5 Questions to consider before voting Republican:

1) What will happen to the poor in a Republican administration?

2) Will a Republican administration pursue world peace?

3) How will a Republican administration promote mercy, compassion and justice for all?

4) Is a Republican administration likely to be unduly influenced by large corporations?

5) Can a Republican administration show respect for every human person's dignity and rights?

5 Questions to consider before voting Democratic:

1) What will happen to the not-yet-born in a Democratic administration?

2) Will a Democratic administration keep America and others safe from terrorism?

3) How will a Democratic administration promote security and safety for Americans and others?

4) Is a Democratic administration likely to be unduly influenced by liberal special interest groups?

5) Can a Democratic administration show respect for traditional family values?

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Great Resource from Covenant Seminary

I thought many of you may benefit from a new ministry of Covenant Seminary called Living Christ 360. It is chalk full of incredible stuff. The daily broadcast is an interview with Bryan Chapel, president of Covenant Seminary, author and incredible preacher. The ‘Living Room’ has daily devotionals (text) as well as resources organized by Scripture Text or Topic (including podcasts, sermons, lecturers, and articles). This is really good stuff. I’m sure you’ll find it helpful.