Miscellaneous Missionary

I learned recently a saying in Portuguese that says "um pau de dois bicos." This means a stick with two beaks or a forked stick. They like to use it to refer to things that require a downside to receive a benefit. That is my sentiment exactly on several trends that are happening right now. I love the fact that I can write this stuff on the internet, and easily share with friends around the world through the internet. I love how travel is getting easier (as long as one does not wear a turban, a burka, or look like a little old granny,sorry for the last bit of sarcasm). However, these things are coming at a significant cost. Since more and more of life is electronic, more and more of life is being recorded and sold to all kinds of people from advertising agencies to government agencies. With more global freedom comes less local control. South America is moving, like Europe toward a unified block. The fight is over external relations (mostly with the USA). Just like the tenth amendment has been basically nullified in the US constitution, this unification "just on economic means" always results in much more.

Add to that the trend of China, still playing games diplomatically here in Europe, and you get a muddled world of commerce. One good example is this. Portugal is trying to privatize many of their traditionally government owned sectors of the economy. They are debating waterworks, but they have already moved forward on healthcare, transportations, banking, and telecommunications. This last one has been the classic example of what can go wrong in globalization. As the government sought to privatize, a company owned by the Spanish government tried to buy out the company. At this point I ask which is worse, commerce owned by a local government or by a private government. Add to that that the Chinese government has begun to expand its holdings in corporations around the world, and that several of the Middle Eastern royal companies (that means government by kings, who own the companies) are doing the same, and we have a situation. Needless to say, I am skeptical of the whole port fiasco on the part of Bush.

But what do we see in the end? Commercial interests (from both private and public coffers) playing games with globalizing and trying to wield power across borders. That is where the real evil comes in. They want to build an environment in which they can control how we the people interact with them and with each other. Inherent in the "war on terror" is a cold war of competing global economic interests that seek to subvert one cause and advance another on an economic basis. I hate to sound like one of those evil premillennial dispensationalists (tongue in cheek) but is there not something in the Bible about commercial interests driving an increasing global economy, which results in a global government? I am not saying that this is it. I am just saying that the trends sure are in an affirmative direction. In the end, I am afraid that the rush for globalization is going to bring more harm than good, and that we may well lose more than we gain by pushing for that ideal.

After God rested, we find a new event in history. We already saw the aspect of time, in that it consists of both relationships between objects in space and progression through history. Furthermore, the history of the Bible is not just there to provide illustrations and stories. Nearly all if not all written material exists to teach the reader ideas, facts, opinions, and understanding of the world. Biblical history has this purpose with a central focus. In other words, God is revealing His plan as it was being unfolded through history.

The next series of events in biblical history are every bit as important to Christian theology as creation. They introduce the fundamental problems of the world we see every day. In Genesis three we see the introduction of a person whose plan is to counteract God's work, we see the beginning of sin, we see the consequences of that sin, and we see the promise of God for the future.

Over the next few weeks, I want to examine these things.

I heard a joke once that went something like this. One can always see a preacher's convention a long way off because of the horrendous mess made by all of the hobby horses on which they rode to the convention. This passage of Scripture is one of those passages, which we like to carry with us when we ride our hobby horses. That is because one of the most important problems in all of the world and in all systems of thought is the relationship between good and evil, or the relationship between a righteous God (who created a pure world) and a sinful creature (and how something created pure can become impure).

My views on this subject will become more evident as we go, but I want to point out something else from the saddlebags on my hobby horse. Here we are studying theology through history. I have looked at some sources outside the predominant text, but the main thrust has been from the text. People tend to study the Bible by jumping from topic to topic and passage to passage. They try to understand a concept by dropping a dump truck full of verses or verse fragments on the table for discussion. What I want to demonstrate is that while using Scripture to interpret Scripture is important, we need to value the structure of Scripture by letting the first things come first, followed by seconds and thirds. In other words, I do not need to preach Genesis to maps every time I open my Bible. By stopping and understanding the arguments or points in Moses' account, we found plenty of theology, cosmology, anthropology, and more. As we get into Genesis three, we find loads of hamartiology, soteriology, and eschatology, among others. I am saying that I believe in teaching through the Scriptures as much as I believe in teaching the Scriptures. Christian theology was first revealed through history, and we do best to study it that way.

This past weekend was a bit hectic, and I apologize for being a bit late on this news. I had a lot of composition assignments to write, plus some special meetings with some folks from church. In addition, a family headed to Senegal with NTM stopped to visit all of us students on Sunday, so that was definitely a full day. It was good to hear how God is working in their lives and fellowship a little.

It was a very good weekend, though a very wet one. The sun is now shining, but everything is still drenched. I had clothes that were soaked (umbrellas did not even function in this weather), and they would not dry. I wanted to wash them, since city rain is usually pretty dirty, but it would have done no good, since they would have only hung out in more rain any way. It is an answer to prayer, though. Last year was very dry here, and the traditional rainy season (now) never brought rain. The farmers are very happy now, and the rivers are getting back toward the usual levels.

Although I am committed to Africa, I want to challenge others to other needs, and Portugal is one of them. This last weekend was a celebration of a national saint as her body was placed in a final memorial to her main source of fame, her vision of Mary. Thousands of people stood out in the pouring rain to honor her and that apparition of Mary. To the left is a picture of that cathedral, though without all the people. The people at the Sunday evening service were very emotional as they saw the devotion of so many of their own people committed to a false system of worship. That is how it is here in Portugal. People are either seeking that type of metaphysical experience or they are functional atheists as a whole. Some small groups of true believers exist, but they do not have a strong voice because the overwhelming majority in Portugal is contrary. Please pray for all who preach the gospel in an increasingly hostile world.