The Sign of the Deodorant Cross

One might not think that deodorant is central to the story of how I became a Christian. That person would be wrong. It did play an important role. Sometimes my friends and I like to discuss very important issues. Somewhere between politics and theology the topic of deodorant usually comes up. Let’s face it; deodorant is a very important issue. The stuff keeps us smelling nicely! There are many roads that this conversation could go down. A whole evening could be devoted to all the different brands there are on the shelves today. Some other discussions include: stick vs. gel, flavor vs. antiperspirant. Where should deodorant be kept: in the bathroom, or in the bedroom? How should deodorant and aftershave be used effectively together, so that we are not walking stenches that require others to wear oxygen masks? Do you circle around the armpit hair, or go straight through the pit? Not to mention, there is a whole list of sub-topics that could be discussed specific to each brand.

When we arrive at this very import discussion of deodorant, a certain subtopic always seems to come up when I am around. That is, how I used to wear my deodorant in 7^th grade. It has not been the brand that I have changed since then (I am an old faithful to Old Spice: High Endurance), nor has it been the room in which I keep my stick. I have not really changed my stance on not to use a lot of aftershave (I have a beard so I do not get to use it too often), nor have I changed my technique (I still go straight through my armpit, not to “skirt” the issue so to speak).What has changed is where on my body I use my deodorant. I still use it in my armpits, always have and always will, but in 7^th grade, I used to cross myself with it. Much like some Christians traditions do with their hands in church today, I would cross myself with my stick of deodorant. I would start at my lower abdomen and bring the stick up to just below my neck bone, and then I would go strait across from nipple to nipple.

This sounds ridiculous, I know. I admit that on some level, I just wanted to attract some girls because I smelled so good. But why the sign of the cross? If I merely wanted to attract girls, I could have just scribbled on my chest with my deodorant. Why the cross? Because something significant had happened in my life the summer before 7^th grade. I was making the sign of the cross on my chest with my deodorant to remind myself of that significant experience, however silly this act might have been.

The summer before 7^th grade, I was invited by one of my friends to go to Camp Fireside. It is a Christian camp in New Hampshire. I had been raised in the church but the idea of something being church related and really fun sounding blew my mind. I went with my friend that week and had a life changing experience. I realized that I had to decide how I was going to live my life. This was a time when I was becoming my own person. While I was not abandoning my Christian upbringing, I was living life for myself. I had to decide whether I was going to continue on that path, or if I was going to make Christ and living for him THE priority in my life. I chose the latter. For my 7^th grade year, I crossed myself with my deodorant as a reminder of that commitment.

In retrospect, I can see how God orchestrated everything to my benefit, because of what happened the next summer. The day I arrived home from camp for the second year, my parents had some big news to tell me; they were getting a divorce. God had prepared me just enough to handle this situation by relying on him. I had been a committed Christian for 1 year and found myself at another crossroads, requiring another decision. I could reject my faith, give in, and wallow in despair at how bad the world is, or, I could continue in my faith relying on God for my strength to get thorough this difficult situation. In John 6, many of the disciples are leaving Jesus because they said it was hard teaching. When they left, Jesus asked the 12 disciples if they were going too. Peter responded, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Like Peter, I too realized that Jesus is the only one who can offer eternal life, and life to the fullest in this world.

It has been 13 years since I originally made my decision to live for Christ. While I do not cross myself with my deodorant any longer, the commitment behind that act is still going strong. There have definitely been struggles; many ups and downs, but I am continuing in my commitment to Christ.

The Greatest Handful I Have Been Given

The greatest handful I have ever been given was a great gift: it was the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When Lori asked me to write a piece for her radio program on the theme of giving back, my thoughts went immediately to the greatest gift that I have been given: The Gospel. Though this answer sounds cliché, I really could not think of anything more important about which to write. I think that I would be hard-pressed to find a person who would disagree with me, but I think that anyone who has experienced Christ through his Gospel would declare with me that it was the greatest handful that he or she had received also.

What amazes me is how God chose to give out these great handfuls of Jesus. Not many people have experiences like the apostle Paul did one day as he was traveling to Damascus. When, all of a sudden, the risen Jesus appeared in a thunderous great noise, and a flash of light, he was thrown from his horse to the ground, and Jesus persuaded Paul to serve him instead of persecute him (Acts 9). Most people experience Jesus through relationships with others. God chose for people to be agents of his saving grace through faith in Christ. The agent from whom I received Jesus was my youth pastor Matt, in high school.

The greatest thing about Jesus was that, “being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness” (Phil. 2:6-7). In theological terms this event is known as the “incarnation of Jesus.” The gospel writer John describes it this way, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (Jn. 1:14). Part of my undergraduate work is in youth ministries. In the youth ministry world, people often talk about “incarnational theology” as it relates to youth work. What this means is that we act like Jesus in the lives of youth, in a sense we even become Jesus to them. Think of it as “being Jesus with skin on.”

The greatest handful I have received was a handful of Jesus, given to by me youth pastor, Matt. To me he “became Jesus with skin on.” When I say “the greatest handful of Jesus,” I’m not necessarily talking about my specific salvation experience, but all of the ways that Jesus was present in my life through Matt during high school. Through my relationship with Matt, I have been challenged, encouraged, and uplifted. We have experienced joy together, and we have struggled through many of life’s issues together. Even now, after having graduated from college, he still plays a major role in my life. Most recently, Matt performed the ceremony of my wedding!

When Jesus was on the earth, he picked out twelve men, and lived in community with them. They experienced all of life’s twists and turns together in supportive community. During the times when Matt and I lived close together physically, in the same town, we grew close spiritually through the community that was developed. Now, when we do not live near each other we still carry that spiritual bond.

Now to give back! As a result of Matt becoming Jesus in my life, and a few other positive experiences with youth ministry, I chose to study Youth Ministry as a college student desiring for teenagers and young adults to experience the love of Jesus through me. I want today’s youth to experience the same kind of Christian community that I experienced, and the same kind of incarnational role model that I had in my youth pastor Matt. Not only in Youth ministry, but I am also making it my life’s goal to be in constant Christian ministry and education, both formally in churches and schools, and informally through community and relationships with people.

A Jealous God?

This semester I have the privilege of facilitating a small group working through the Truth Project. In the most recent lesson the teacher, Del Tackett was commenting on one of God's names el qanna literally, "jealous God" (Ex. 20:5; Deut. 4:24). Some of our discussion revolved this name for God and what it means. I found this old paper of mine on that very topic. This was written in the fall of 2004 when I was a sophomore at Gordon College for the class Introduction to Biblical Studies.

“Or do you suppose that it is for nothing that the scripture says ‘God yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in us’” (NRSV). When one reads James 4:5 two questions arise: first, what is the scripture that James is quoting, and second, what is the “spirit” living inside of us. The different translations do not offer much assistance because it is either ambiguous in its dealing with the “spirit,” or it concludes that God or the spirit is jealous. A few examples: “the spirit…lusteth to envy” (KJV) “the spirit…envies intensely” (NIV) What spirit? “He’s a fiercely jealous lover” (MSG). There is a split between most translations on the interpretation of this verse. In regard the quotation of the scripture, there is no direct quote from the Old Testament that contains James’ words exactly. Therefore, unless he is citing a text that we do not have, James is most likely paraphrasing various texts of the Old Testament (which was not uncommon among New Testament writers) that communicate a general idea of the “jealous” nature of God to yearn after His people. This is most likely with Ex 20:5 and Deut 4:24 in mind, “giving the gist of such passages” (Burdick, 194). “…for I the LORD your God am a jealous God” (NRSV).

What is the “spirit made to dwell in us” referring to; is it mans’ spirit, the livingness that was breathed into us by God (Gen 2:7) or is it the Holy Spirit also sent from God to live in us? Both arguments are quite compelling and deserve careful consideration but here it will be argued that it is God jealously longing after the human spirit. Next, what is to be done with the jealousy issue when the Greek phthonos which is used here usually means malice, or envy, how can this be attributed to God? Language can do little justice to the attributes of God. James may be using a word here with negative connotations not to show that God is evil, but to show that his longing for us is so intense by the word “jealously” and yet that his longing is truly pure (Ross, 78). Linguistically, this case makes sense, however how the argument truly comes together is when the verse is looked at within James’ thought process in context of chapter 4. James refers to the recipients as “adulterous” (vs 4) which shows that they have been unfaithful, then after urging them to be a friend of God and not of the world, it only makes sense that he would include a statement about the intensity of God’s longing for their faithfulness. Finally, after all of their unfaithfulness he says “but he gives us all the more grace” (vs 6). Also, if James is in fact quoting from a text that we do not have, it very well could say that God has a negative jealousy, and we will never know. However, if James is paraphrasing, then his term usage is not a direct quotation, but is up to his discretion making it an “utterance of the writer” (Ropes, 262).

The hermeneutical points are as such: wherever either argument ends, how amazing is it that God has such an intense longing after each and every one for our individual worship? What is more amazing is that even when we choose to befriend the world and not him, if we return to him with humble hearts, we have all the more grace.

Bibliography:

Burdick, Donald W. James. The Expositors Bible Commentary, vol 12. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981.

Martin, Ralf P., Ed. James. Word Biblical Commentary, vol 48. Waco: Word Book, 1988.

Robertson Nicoll, W., Ed. The Expositors Greek Testament. Grand Rapids: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1974.

Ropes, James Hardy. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle of St. James. International Critical Commentary. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1916.

Ross, Alexander. The Epistles of James and John. New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1974.

Wedding Homily for Shane & Liz's Wedding

This was my "inaugural address" at Shane and Liz's wedding! I thought it would make an excellent blog post!

It is a great honor to be here today to deliver God’s message here at Shane and Liz’s wedding. For those who don’t me, I was Shane’s roommate throughout college. We were very good roommates for each other in terms of our cleanliness.

Actually Shane’s dad and I were reminiscing of Shane and my days at Gordon the other day and he remembered one time freshman year when he walked into our room and saw a carpet of clothes about 2 feet deep from wall to wall. My wife Bethany said, “Well Peter is still the same way.” I guess we will have to wait to see if Shane will also improve his laundry skills by being married.

Shane and Liz actually told me about a week and half ago that I would be speaking at their wedding. My wife commented that it wasn’t a whole lot of time to prepare. Then she thought for a moment and said, “Well even if he had given you a whole year to prepare Shane should know by now, from being your roommate that you wouldn’t start preparing until 4am on that day anyway. This was often the custom for my studies in college with my desk light shining on my roommate’s face unintentionally waking him. Shane certainly knew this custom, and now my wife has also experienced it from time to time.

So Liz, I wish you all the best in getting to know all of Shane’s fascinating roommate habits.

The scriptures that I want to look at today are the verses we just read in Matthew 5. This section of text is called “the beatitudes.” The name comes from the Latin meaning “blessed.” This word “blessed” that is given to each person is a hard word to translate. “Blessed” is really an obscure word in our culture today, we don’t really use it unless someone sneezes. So some translators use the word “happy” but this also is a hard translation to work with because happiness is so subjective in our culture. I think a good translation for each one of these “blesseds” would be “eternally hopeful and joyful” are these people because of the kingdom of God. One scholar has called these beatitudes “sacred paradoxes” meaning that they point to both present realities and future vindication when The Kingdom of God is finally fully established.

This is a hard concept to understand. However, we can find a very great parallel in the meaning of these verses to the marriage that we celebrate today. In the days before Bethany and I got married we pondered when would be the exact moment in time when we would be officially married.

Was it when we said “I do?” Was it our first kiss as a “married” couple? Was it when the pastor declared us husband and wife? Or perhaps like in Lord of the Rings at the very instant when Frodo puts the ring on his finger he turns invisible, we were married right when we put the rings on fingers. Or was it simply when we signed the paper saying we were married.

A case could probably be made for each of these symbolic acts. But in the ancient world, the real moment of a marriage is when the couple would be alone for the first time and “become one flesh” as it says in the book of Genesis. Now if you need clarification on what this means come talk to me at the reception….

Actually it’s from this tradition where we get the term to “consummate a marriage.”

We can speak of in this way. A marriage is inaugurated during the ceremony but it is not consummated until the wedding night. Our beloved couple will experience this today…All through the reception they will be already married, they will already have the rings, already have said “I do,” already have been announced, already signed their marriage papers…but not yet will they have experienced the fullness of the consummation of their marriage.

This is the great parallel to the passage of scripture we read today. Actually we see this parallel all over the New Testament. Scholars actually refer to this as the “already/not yet” tension. What they mean by this is that Jesus Christ has already come to earth, already dealt with the powers of sin and evil. With Christ’s ministry, death, and resurrection the Kingdom of God has already been enacted on the earth. But not yet has it been fully consummated. We are still waiting for the final day when God will fix everything that is wrong in the world. And so Christians today live in the overlap between two ages. The age of fallenness and sin, and the age of the final victory of God.

So to elaborate on some of these beatitudes: blessed (or eternally joyful) are the poor, now, even though they are poor, now, because they will be vindicated in the consummation of the Kingdom of God.

Eternally joyful are those who hunger and thirst for the righteousness of God to finally be demonstrated over the world, for they will be satisfied in the consummation of the Kingdom of God.

Eternally joyful are the peacemakers, those who bring about the reign of God, for they will be called sons of God in the consummation of the Kingdom.

Eternally joyful are those who are persecuted for the righteousness of God they do. for they will be vindicated in the consummation of the Kingdom.

Jesus here paints a very beautiful picture of what the consummation of the Kingdom of God will look like for all who are a part of that kingdom. If anyone here today has not entered into this kingdom, the great message of the whole New Testament is that while we were still sinners, Christ died for our sins. If you believe this and live life accordingly, you can enter into this great kingdom and have access to God.

And now to Shane and Liz, who will soon experience the joy of a consummated marriage, the beatitudes also provide for us an ethic for those living within this Kingdom of God. They all deal with how people relate to God, and how people relate to others. This mirrors what Jesus says are the 2 greatest commandments, summarized as love God, and love others.

“Love.” It is another word we have real trouble with in culture. I love Chinese food, but I would never die for Chinese food. The night before Jesus was crucified he told his disciples.

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” Jn 15:13

This is not only for Shane and Liz but for myself, my wife, and any other married person here. You may not ever need to die physically for the one you love. But everyday you should be self-sacrificing, emulating Christ’s actions for us, and thus helping to issue fourth the coming consummation of the Kingdom of God.

Shane and Liz, I wish you long years filled with health and prosperity, as members of this Kingdom

Yes, many people inquired of my knowledge at the reception!

Money, Its a Gas!

Well it certainly has been too long since my last post. When my sister-in-law in Kenya says “Peter hasn’t updated his blog in while,” it means that I am long overdue. I think this is a timely place for a post though, because right now this year, reminds me of this time last year. And the story of our lives this time last year is a great way to explain one of the links I have up on this blog. This time last year my wife and my sitz im leben though joyful was not very fun. Our son was about two months old, and we were enjoying and getting used to life as parents. Bethany had only been working again for about a month as a massage therapist, and after some job woes the year before, I had been working at CBD for a few months.

Maybe it was everything else on our minds as new parents trying to balance work, school, and child care...for both of our schedules, but I guess we should have been mindful and responsible anyway. The problem was that we had completely run out of money. It was ironic that what happened to us was happening to the whole country at the same time. It happened just as the bill for the fall semester came. We had almost, but not enough to cover the bill. At this point we had to borrow about $250 from my mom so as not to let our bank accounts fall below zero and get overdraft fees. We were so broke we were worried about being able to pay our rent. Thankfully, because we live in campus apartments, the housing office was very generous in giving us grace to pay our rent when we could. And thankfully since then, all of Gabriel’s grandparents have been very helpful and supportive.

I know this decision was reactionary, but at least I did it. When we were completely broke, I took that as an opportunity to start being mindful and proactive about our personal finances. Here is where the explanation of one of the Greater Things links comes in. As I mentioned in the first post, I want this blog to be a free forum, so personal finance is fair game. Also, the Bible talks about money a great deal. Money can be a great tool towards “greater things.” Money can certainly be used as a tool against you too, Jesus was sure to mention that in his ministry. Perhaps the pros and cons of money can be the topic of a future post. What I am trying to get across here is that we should be good stewards of money.

Last year right in the midst of our financial woes, I got a letter from ING Direct saying that if I opened an account, I would get a $25 bonus. I know that amount of money is pocket change, but when you have negative money, $25 is a lot. They also offered this on a checking account. That’s 50 bucks that we would not have had if we did not open ING accounts. Since then we have also opened an account with them called “Gabe’s College Fund.” Opening online accounts is great because of their high interest rates. I know ING does not have the best rate around right now but so far I am happy. For more info on online savings accounts browse the GRS blog.

Finally, to explain the link. Get Rich Slowly was a personal finance blog that I found last year while we were broke. It was so informative, and I read so many posts on many different areas of personal finance. JD, who runs that blog is honest, has a great personal testimony and does a great job with the site. I recommend that everyone who is looking to get personal finance under control, and even thriving, check out that blog.

In the present day the Fitzroy family is doing MUCH better with money. We vowed to ourselves that we would never let that happen again, and with the help from family, and a year’s time, we are no longer drowning.

Why is There Evil in Our World?

Now that my class is over, I think it is time to write my second post. As part of the requirements, I had to have an email conversation with the TA. The question I had to respond to was, “What is the problem of evil?” I thought it would be a good thing to post, but I am hesitant because I realize this might open Pandora’s box. I realize this is an immensely complex issue…but I only had 500 words. Here is my response.

I think this is probably the most asked question. Many non-Christians definitely wrestle with this question and many times it seems to be the sticking point as to why they do not believe in God. However, this question plagues many Christians as well. To answer the question in short form, the problem of evil is this: “If God and evil both exist, either God is loving but is without power to eliminate evil, or he has the power but lacks the good will and love to do it.” (Harold Kushner, When Bad Things Happen to Good People). Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), Kushner, writing from a cynic’s perspective, has flaws in his logic. It sounds good to the ears, and he sets up the illusion of choice: either this or that. However, allowing evil or not having eliminated evil, does not necessarily disprove a loving God, nor does it say anything about God’s power to do so. Suffice to say that the question of evil is not a good starting point in terms of the existence and attributes of God. For a person using the question of evil as a starting point, there can be no satisfactory answer. Assuming, for the sake of this question, that there is a loving God, the question then becomes, “Why has God allowed evil into our world?”

Historically, answers to this question have not really been satisfactory. One idea coming from post-Enlightenment thought would say that, since God cannot be known, it is silly to ask why there is evil. Similarly, the naturalist/atheist answer is that good and evil have no intrinsic values, only what we assign to them. In this view, there is no such thing as good or evil as we know them, hence the question cannot be asked, and the universe just does what it does. The most common answer would be that God has allowed evil as a byproduct of allowing free-will. I think there is a lot of merit to this line of thought but there are also difficulties as well.

As mentioned before, if this is one’s starting point for believing or not believe in a loving God, one will not find a satisfactory answer either way. In our post-Enlightenment world we always want to be able to provide answers and to be able to explain our world perfectly. However, there are some ultimate things that cannot be answered without some kind of revelation from God. For whatever reason, the biblical authors are relatively silent on the issue of why God has allowed evil, suffering, and tragedy. There are, however, some points that the Bible does convey on the subject. Firstly, we should always acknowledge God’s sovereignty in preserving and governing the world. Secondly, for what C.S. Lewis called “complex good,” we do see that God can bring a great deal of good out of something bad. Thirdly, and most importantly, the biblical perspective on this subject is yearning for the end. That is perhaps what is so perplexing about evil and suffering; that there does not seem to be any end in sight for us. But there is. I am convinced that the primary purpose of the New Testament is an eschatological purpose. We are waiting for the final victory, the consummation of the Kingdom of God, when all things will be redeemed, goodness and truth will forever reign, while evil is forever put to death. The question of evil then becomes not “why” but “when.” A proverbial “How long oh Lord?” until you achieve final victory over evil.

Note: C.S. Lewis' The Problem of Pain is a great resource on this topic.

Yes, I Have a Blog! And Here's Why...

I wonder how many blogs actually start like this: "Well, I have finally decided to start a blog..." I know of at least one. Alas, here also am I; starting a blog which I hope will be very fruitful and help me to accomplish certain objectives and goals that I (and I believe God) have for my life. My wife Bethany told me this morning that there is nothing like the need to study, that motivates me to do other things. My blog has actually been created now for about a week, but because of a class that I am taking right now, I haven't had the chance to get the first post up. Since my exam for the class is quickly approaching, I decided that now would be the perfect time to get my initial thoughts about my new blog onto my new blog.

I think that the true purpose of this blog is yet to be seen and will be discovered as time goes on. At the outset, my ambitions for this literary endeavor are both simple yet profound. One of the main reasons I have created this blog is to give potential employers a place where they can see what I am all about. Because of my desired career path, I think that the blog will naturally take on some other qualities (yet to be seen). I want this to be a venue where authentic theological discussion can take place. I don't like how there can be a divide between one's "faith journey," and "real life." Therefore, this forum is not going to be limited to being a "Christian" blog, though most everything will have a certain perspective. This is ok to acknowledge. A perfect way to introduce the title of my blog.

"Greater Things" came to me as an idea for the blogs title when I was brainstorming some different ideas. I settled on this as a title because I saw great potential in these words for what I wanted to accomplish by creating a blog in the first place. For those who don't recognize the phrase it comes from John 14:12. I would very much like to look at more in depth exegesis for this passage in the future. But put simply, Jesus said his followers would do bigger and better things than he did. Another main purpose of this blog will be to explore what this means for daily life today in 2009. This is why this will be a free forum blog, not just limited to the things of theological discourse. This is why I have links like Get Rich Slowly posted to my blog (more on this later). It is always my goal in life to engage the world in which I live with my faith. I try to live out the two slogans that were used frequently at Gordon College "freedom within a framework of faith" and "faith seeking understanding."

So as my first post comes to a completion, I wait with eager anticipation to see what greater things can be accomplished, both on this blog and in real life. I invite anyone and everyone to engage with me in this endeavor as we pursue greater things.