Fresno State Bulldogs: Champs

Congrat's to the Fresno State Bulldogs champions of the College World Series.

Fresno: City of Dreams, from Armpit of CA to Cinderella of the nation.

Recap here.

(Image Source)

10 More Thoughts on Oaxaca

1. Affection. It's a big deal here. The way people greet with a kiss on the cheek. As I mentioned before, the making out in the streets. The touching when talking. America is much more reserved in affection and emotion.

2. Siestas. Naps are nice. Many times I feel like I'm not getting enough done with a nap back home and rarely take them, however, here you stay up late so really naps don't minus one's productive time.

3. Taxi's. We've had some good drivers lately and they were cheaper as well. The more expensive the driver the more dangerous the driver. At least that's my experience. Flying at 50 mph on tight streets with uncontrolled intersections is a bit tense. Even the 65 on the main drag is crazy. They honk to let the intersections know they are coming. Honking is a constant theme here. It means: "get out of my way", "move", and "i'm coming." Did I mention no seatbelts? Yes, no seatbelts. Safety isn't primary here in Oaxaca. In the US it is, which has its benefits, but it also serves us as a good capitalistic enterprise.

4. Nightlife. People are out late. Holding hands. Laying down in parks. Eating dinner at 9-10 pm. Drinking Mezcal. Dancing. Playing music. Begging for money.

5. Soccer. As you probably know soccer is a big deal. I saw a great goal the other day. The perfect spin. The quick kick. The goalie's attempt. The passing in soccer is unbelievable. How they control the ball with such precision blows my mind. Those flying head-butts through the air --amazing. How the head can be used as such a precise guiding tool is a human feat. Head control: I don't think I have much.

6. Demandars. One guy came into the cafe and was more than begging for money or some item worthwhile he was demanding. We said "no gracias" and he was not pleased. Thankfully, he moved to another table. After hearing a commottion in the back I knew it wasn't goin well. Soon he walked past with a lighter in hand and what seemed to be a european looking man following him upset. A rotund and young mexican police-man kindly grabbed the lighter and gave it back to the european. Who said mexican police were corrupt?

7. Toilets. Yes, no t.p. in the tank. Some have lids, some don't. Sometimes there is t.p. and sometimes there is not. Flushing is optional and it doesn't always complete the job. Oh, and let's just say verde isn't just the color of salsa here.

8. Wildlife. Dogs being walked. Dog's as pets. Dog's on the streets. Lots' of dogs. Bugs too. The bugs could be classified as wildlife because they are so big.

9. Single moms. Divorce according to our family is just as much of an issue here as in the US. Single moms are prevalent. Again, I am reminded that the need for godly men is not just a US issue. Thankfully, this particular marriage of Rosita and Enrique Padre is one that is 38 years. Makes my 3 year anniversary celebrated yesterday seem small, and reminds me that the way to 38 is by reaching 3 and then celebrating our anniversary again next year and again and again...

10. Jesus and sex. I saw this art store with a big painting of Jesus' face with the crown of thorns on his glowing head. It was prominently displayed. Right behind it on the floor was a large photo of a naked white bombshell laying down with grande chi chi's barely covered. Reminds me of what is often the case, Jesus in front and lust in the back corner. Also, reminds me that both Jesus and sex sell, and sell well. Jesus may even sell more than sex. In reality though Jesus is never to be sold. He made that clear when he took the whip to those salesmen in his Father's house.

The Consummate Moment of the Church

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Rev. 21:1-4

The church is seen in this picture in Revelation in three metaphors: city, bride, and temple. This is the consummate moment that each and every local church awaits. The time when there is no longer two city's--the local church (God's people) in a local city (the world)--but One. The time when there is no longer giving in marriage between people made in the image of God, but God's restored people as His own Bride. The mystery of marriage reaches it's goal when the wedding of the Lamb takes place. The time when the temple, the dwelling place of God, is fully established. This temple full of God's kingdom of priests, every believing man and woman, under the great High Priest Jesus. The presence of the King encompassing all. The temple in many ways becomes all things for the presence of God permeates His land and His people. The tabernacle is not a built structure but all of creation. No more curse. No more tears. No more death. No more pain. The former is gone, the latter has come. The church, that was made known to the principalities and powers on earth, then reigns triumphing over all indwelled fully by the living Triune God as all that is evil burns in the lake of fire.

Therefore the church now is to live as God's City, separate from the world's system yet in the world's city being ambassadors of the City within the city; God's Bride, fully devoted to the Husband-King, being intimate with no idol only God; and God's Temple, proclaiming and living in the sacrifice of the Lamb, receiving God's Word, and dwelling with one another in love and mutual edification as God dwells in his church. The triple metaphors like parts of a diamond each edge gleaming a piece of the consummate moment yet none fulfilling all that the church is in her glory and that glory being illumined by the indwelling God.

Sacrifice and Stars on Monte Alban

Some of the oldest remains of civilization in the world are found on a mountain-peak in Oaxaca called Monte Alban. There people of old studied the stars, built accordingly, and sacrificed animals and humans to the gods. Looking up skyward on that peak it is not a surprise that a culture would look at all that surround in the immense sky and study and even worship. The sadness is the worship--the study and the sacrifice--was false.

The stars would have been unbelievable beautiful and captivating as they would seemingly envelop all. Sadly, I rarely give them notice in this modern world, but God purposed it that way and then used stars to point men to Jesus. Stars were always meant to shine for and to something else...they are never an end in themselves.

Sacrifice also points to Jesus. Blood needs to be shed. The image of God in us knows this. We just distort it. We offer our hearts to something else, be it the literal hearts offered by the Zapotec's or the deep places in ourselves. Hearts are still offered to gods/God and the stars are still worshiped.

We are not so modern after all.

Our Hobby

"You are your own favorite hobby."

Chuck Palahniuk, Rant, p. 67.

Oaxacan Thoughts

1. Celebrations in the streets. Oaxacan's dancing, musical instruments blaring, laughing, and clapping. Can you imagine this happening in the US? I grab a bunch of friends and we all go down the streets with drums, horns, maybe dress up in a 20' tall paper-mache looking person and march. It would be a bit odd. Here it is normal. Communal celebration is not an oddity. We do it around NFL televised football games and scream...they do it in the streets together....well, and watching soccer around the TV.

3. The streets are bustling with people. Cars have no regard for humanity. The right-of-way is never a pedestrian right. The streets are tight and constricted. Making out is common on the side of the road and buildings as well as selling in the streets. Love and marketing.

4. Mexican men like there woman busty and beautiful. Forget the skinny, anorexic models of the US. Women are women here, rather than white toothpicks.

5. I feel like Yao Ming does in the US towering over all who pass by.

6. Don't drink the water.

7. With Kate anyplace is the place to be.

More later....

Matthew 28

In Mexico, thinking about Jesus.

Couple thoughts on Matthew 28:

1. "new day": When Jesus rose from the dead the dawn of a new era began. Life can never be looked at the same when the Son of God forgives sin, defeats Satan, and triumphs over death. This tri-fold forgiveness, defeat, and triumph in the resurrection of Jesus is essential to any Gospel formulation. Every day is a new day for those who are in Jesus.

2. "this story has been spread": The Gospel writers plugged in the fact that people had different ideas of what happened. I love that Matthew does not ignore the fact that there are others saying other things. He includes the critics in the story. The critics of course pay money to invent new narratives, sadly, people take the Gospel narrative and use it for money.

3. "the eleven": Sad. The reminder of betrayal is still in the story. One is gone. Dead. The reprobate.

4. "all nations": The Gospel is for all. Discipleship is for every tribe an tongue. My brief time in Mexico reminds me of the interconnectedness of humanity. We are all from the same lump. Jesus comes for all. There are no borders for the Gospel. Jesus isn't the white-man's god, nor is he simply the Jewish Messiah, of which He is, He is Lord of all.

5. "worshiped him": The disciples finally recognize the true nature of Jesus--the Godman. The revelation of the Son in the glory of the death and consummate resurrection. The secret is no longer hidden. Jesus is the Messiah. God's Son. Worship belongs to him. This is implicitly trinitarian. So Jesus again let's the secret out even more "baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." The Gospel of John isn't the only Gospel of the Trinity.

Mi Chica Guapa

Be sure to be checking out my wife's blog.

She is blogging her adventure in Oaxaca, Mexico.

I will join mi chica guapa very soon...hasten the day!

The Power of Words and the Wonder of God

Desiring God has put together another wing-dinger of a conference. This one on a matter so very practical: words. The words we speak that give either life or death. Kudos to DG for the solid video as well. Maybe someday I'll get to go to Minneapolis for one of these...

Lessons from the Syringe

I got vaccinated today. I am not a huge fan of "shots" and got like four today...

However, I am quite thankful for them. This is a great example of God's grace to us, to me. I pay a little amount of money to ensure that I am blocked from much physical suffering.

Thanks to God for the wisdom He has given in vaccinations. I have much to be thankful for.

It is a good example of how sometimes life has pains that preserve us from much greater pains had we not experienced the smaller pain. The sting of a syringe is better then the lifetime and deathbed of a horrid disease.

All the stings of life God brings to His people are always meant for their good--always!

Live-Blogging the Kingdom Paper

I'm writing a paper on the kingdom of God today. The following blog I will update off and on throughout the day on my writing and other's writings on this wonderful subject:

• Noon-ish: George Eldon Ladd writes, "The Kingdom of God is His kingship, His rule, His authority." (p. 21, TGK)

• Two-ish: I state: "Instead of subduing the earth and reigning as God’s good agent in creation, Adam rebelled and God subjected the earth to futility and the power of Satan, sin, and death entered God’s good world. However this subjection by God the King and Creator was not one of ultimate rejection. At the same time of sin came the promise, the protoevangelion, from the Creator that the offspring of woman would bruise the head of the serpent."

• Three-ish: Me again: "The kingdom of God is for God’s glory, and if this is obfuscated the kingdom is stripped of its meaning and its proclamation loses its very center and can become something else altogether. This is why Jesus consistently preached the kingdom in the power of Holy Spirit as a part His vocation and mission to give glory to His Father, and by fulfilling the Father’s mission Jesus—God’s Son and Son of man—was killed and resurrected by God and vindicated as Lord of the world and King of Kings. This God-centered and Jesus-centered nature of the kingdom is not simply an assumption but its pinnacle and its clear and radical proclamation is the responsibility of the ambassadors of the King’s kingdom."

• 4:48: The Apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 15:24: "...Then comes the end, when [Jesus] delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and authority and power." Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus.

• 6:00: I write: "The error of a ecclesiological triumphalism can occur in those that insist that all blessings of God’s new age are always available now at the whim of the human will cloaked within the guise of an overly spiritualized “anointing”, and in contrast, the greater error, is seen in the rejection of God’s Messiah Jesus as not being the fulfillment of the promises and as bearer of God’s kingdom “now” presence—Immanuel."

• 6:30: Written earlier: "The church now, as Jesus did, proclaims the kingdom of God and does so in its connection to Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. Just as the blessings of the “not-yet” kingdom came into the “already” by the historical Jesus, so now in the church does the future blessings of the coming consummated kingdom come into the present by the power of the Holy Spirit—who is the Spirit of Jesus."

• 7:00: Yes, me again: "As Jesus willingly went to His death, He knew that without the laying down of His life (the cross) and taking it back again (the resurrection) his vocation as inaugurator of the kingdom would not be fulfilled. Just because the cross-resurrection events of Jesus are at the end of the Gospels do not mean they are footnotes to the concept of kingdom, quite to the contrary,—they are indeed the consummation of what He inaugurated during His earthly ministry."

Time To Say Goodbye

Yes, I like this song. And, yes, the fact that I post this late Friday night must say something about my Friday night.

Luca & Me

One of my favorite peep's kids...Luca bringin' down da' hizzzouse!

Yes, I need too live vicariously through this rather small little man 'cause I am too old to dunk.

Holm & Francisco

It was Keith Green a few blog posts ago, now I have some other classics for you. I can still remember these songs echoing through my house as a kid, while the family dressed for church. If you are not old enough to be my dad who "got saved" in the Jesus Freak era or a child of dad's who did during that time this will mean nothing to you. If it is may the nostalgia begin:

Dallas Holm



Don Francisco

Listen to John Stott. If not, read him!

Ever wanted to listen to John Stott? There are plenty of sermons over at the church he preached at for years: All Souls Church, Langham Place. This is another gifted man whom God has given to the church, and his influence on the last few generations of pastors, missionaries, professors, and laypersons is far and wide. His writing is more well known then his preaching, and if you'd rather start there The Cross of Christ is the place to begin.

Knowledge Surpassing Love

Knowing Christ's love that surpasses knowledge is a good thing to pray for. Paul prays it. We should it pray it for others and for ourselves:

"...to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." Eph. 3:19

Isn't it interesting that we should pray that we know what surpasses knowing...