Book Review: Lord Jesus Christ

 Information about the book

Hurtado, Larry W. Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity.  William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. Grand Rapids, Michigan. 2003  (Amazon)

Summary

From the cover:  This book provides an in-depth historical study of the place of Jesus in the religious life, beliefs, and worship of Christians from the beginnings of the Christian movement down to the late second century.  ... The book speaks authoritatively on everything from early Christian history to themes in biblical studies to New Testament Christology.  .... It is at once significant enough to appeal to a wide range of scholars and accessible enough to benefit general readers interested at all in Christian origins.

This book was optional reading for a class I recently completed called Devotion to Jesus: The Divinity of Christ in Earliest Christianity.  The class is offered as part of a collaboration between BeADisciple online education and Wesley Theological Seminary as part of the Wesley Academy for Advanced Christian Studies. 

The book is 746 pages long, although pages 655 and on are footnotes and indices.  The book moves from the Forces and Factors at play, through Pauline literature, the Gospels, Johannine writings, Apocryphal writing, early diversity in Christianity and proto-orthodox Christianity. 

Impressions

I would highly recommend this book.  If you decide to read it, though, you should know that it is not light reading.  It is long, detailed, and involved.  The author writes well, and because I was interested in the topic, the writing drew me in.  I was fascinated by parts of this book, and interested in all of it. 

The professor of the class I was taking (see above) recommended this book as optional reading, and he provided chapters to read for each week of the class.  I made it my goal to read the recommended chapters before starting that week's work.  It added much time to the classwork, but it was worth it!  What I gained from the class was tremendously enhanced by the book.

If I were to pick three favorite sections, they would be:

1. Chapter 1 - Forces and Factors - This chapter really set the purpose for the book - to explore how and when devotion to Jesus developed in the early Christian church.
2. Chapter 6 - Crises and Christology in Johannine Christianity - This chapter looked at the writings of John in the Gospel and in the John Epistles.  I gained a much greater understanding of these writings from knowing why they were written and to whom they were written.
3. Chapter 7 - Other Early Jesus Books - This chapter explored some of the early books (not including the Gospels) that we hear about, such as Thomas and the infancy Gospels.  I've heard of them; I was glad to learn more about them.

Even though I have highlighted three chapters, I thought all of them were informative and helpful.  Before I worked at the Foundation, I was in medical research.  My graduate work is in biology.  I think those factors contributed to my enjoyment of this book.  Hurtado wrote a very evidence-based book, providing reasons for his conclusions.  I appreciated the attention to detail.

I'm glad I read it for a class with weekly goals (I set for myself) to complete.  The deadlines moved me through the book and the class enhanced the understanding of what I read (and vice-versa).

Worth the time!

Posts about book

Posts about this book will be labeled with the tag Hurtado Christ

Perspectives: Water is Life

Valley Falls State Park

 Both posts this week have been about baptism and have included water images.  Water is life, isn't it?

Baptism Images

During our second session for Come to the Water (an advanced course about baptism on BeADisciple), we read through a large list of scriptures concerning water imagery and stories.  In the lesson material, the leader made a statement that relates Christian baptism to the idea that it is “more about the meaning of the water, and passing safely through the water.” (emphasis mine).  The immediate image in my mind was from Exodus – God bringing the Israelites safely through the water in Egypt.  Safely from slavery to freedom, from their old life to a newly created one.  It was surprising because such an iconic Hebrew Bible image could bring me (an unintended) new understanding of baptism.

 

She also made a connection between baptism and circumcision.  Circumcision was the primary ritual that initiated a Hebrew male into the Covenant (not a ritual bath).  Have you ever considered the idea that baptism is a replacement for circumcision?  I hadn't.  In fact, I read that and thought, “huh?”  I can certainly see the connection through the idea of covenant.  Considering the idea, I like the replacement!  Baptism is open to all – not just to most men.  Baptism, to me, feels like an act of God (not of humans); that may be my United Methodist beliefs coming through.  I compare that to circumcision, which seems to be an act of man.  Paul saw it as adherence to the law (and worked hard to make sure new gentile Christians did not have to adhere to laws such as circumcision.  

 

Course Review: Come to the Waters

Information about the Course

This is an advanced Lay Ministry course offered by BeADisiciple.com called Come to the Waters.  It is taught by Rev. Beth Galbreath, and United Methodist Deacon.  Steve and I completed the course in September of 2022.  It is a two week course with daily assignments for 12 days (Sunday is a sabbath, so no coursework).  It involves some reading (although not an overwhelming amount) and daily contribution  to a Discussion board where you post answers to questions and response to other people's posts.  Completing the course results in credit for an advanced lay ministry course.

Summary

Description from the website:  Deepen your congregation’s experience of baptism, confirmation and reaffirmation of baptism through this wide-ranging study of By Water and the Spirit, Scripture, Church history and United Methodist theology and practice of the sacrament. This course will reference, but go beyond, the official United Methodist teaching document on baptism. The course considers preparation of adults for baptism and the unique challenges of the digital – and pandemic – age.

Impressions

I found the information presented to be very good.  My knowledge base concerning baptism increased because of the course.  I found the study of baptism in the early church to be very interesting.  Discussion with other students was interesting and helpful.

During the time of the course, my mother was spending several days in the hospital.  The pressure of her hospital visit and this course were a difficult combination.  I was very glad to complete the course.  I was also happy that Steve took it with me.  We each completed our work separately and then shared it prior to posting - not to change it, but just to share it. 

Also, it was helpful to complete an advanced course on my own schedule and to be able to choose a topic that particularly interested me.  I like in person classes, but this online course met our needs in a way the current in person ones could not.

Posts about the Class

Posts about the class will have the tag cometowaters

 

Perspectives: Quiet Times

 This was taken one morning when we were at the beach.  I was sitting on our balcony, enjoying the quiet, seeing the light reflecting on the water.  Do you have quiet times?

Never Ending Joy

The desert, with its sharp, blowing sand,

will be kind and full of gladness.

The places that are lost

will bloom with beauty.

They will sing with joy

and receive glory and splendor

like we have never seen before.

The land will see the Glory of the Lord

and will make it known to all.

Hold those who are weak,

Strengthen their hands,

steady their walk.

Assure those who are afraid.

"Be strong.  Put aside your fear.

God is coming.

He brings grace and salvation

in unexpected abundance,

in unprecedented abundance."

If you are blind, you will see.

If you are deaf, you will hear.

If you struggle to walk, you will jump with joy.

If you are speechless, you will sing.

Even in the desert, we will see streams of running, fresh water.

Pools of refreshing coolness.

What has been thirsty will fountain up water to share.

Weeds will turn into wheat,

And we will all find our way.

No one will be lost on it.

No one will be afraid.

There will be nothing to fear.

We will return to Zion, singing of the Lord.

Joy will be forever.

Grief and tears will fade away, and

happiness and gladness will be never ending.

Inspired by Isaiah 35:1-10

 

Are you expecting?

I preached yesterday.  It was a sermon about expectations.  What do we expect from our God?  This was a part of that sermon:

Eighty six years ago, a son was born to an African-American Baptist minister and his wife in Atlanta, Georgia.  He was born into a society that considered discrimination based on the color of skin not only acceptable, but inevitable.  He was born 67 years after Lincoln declared, “that all persons held as slaves within said designated States and parts of States are, and henceforward shall be, free.”  He was born in a time when our country had stated what it believed, but had not yet begun to believe what had been proclaimed.  He was born in a time when I imagine the situation seemed hopeless.  And yet, Martin Luther King, Jr, had expectations of his God.  He believed his God was powerful, loved him with an intensity he could never explain, and would keep his promises.  He believed that his God would turn water into wine, would scatter the proud, bring down the powerful, lift up the lowly, and fill the hungry with good things.  So he stood up, and he said so.  One hundred years after Lincoln had declared freedom, Martin Luther King, Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”  He had expectations of his God.  Later in the speech, he said, “I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.  He said, “This is our hope.”

He stood up, and acted on his hope in God, expecting great change in what was a hopeless situation.  He stood up and declared what he believed, over twenty five hundred times, across more than six million miles.  He stood up, and others stood up with him, protesting the hopeless situation of our country and declaring that it should and must change.   If Martin Luther King, Jr., or any of the thousands of men and women who had stood with him had been asked what great thing they knew, they would have said, “I know my redeemer lives.”  They said it with their voices, and they said it with their actions.

Perspectives: Leading Lines 2

Another Leading Lines image.  This one leads to a lighthouse in Ohio.

Do we lead people to light?

 

Readings Stats 2022

Last year, I reported by reading states for the first time.  Since I still love statistics, here we go again.  I read a total of 35 books in 2022, down from 56 books in 2021.  I'm certain this is because I read many books as I prepared the CLM curriculum for the Conference CLM Class.  I didn't re-read them this year.  

Here are how the stats worked out:

Question 1: What was the format of the book?  Hard copy? Kindle? Audiobook?  Audiobook is clearly the winner, at 91%.  I read a lot as I drive to work, using audiobooks, so this is not surprising.  It's up from last year, because the books I read for the CLM class were not audiobooks.  I read paper books or kindle books for the class.

Question 2: Had I read the book before?  Interestingly, to me, because I feel like I re-read a lot of favorites, 57% of the books were first time reads. This compares to a 50/50 split last year.

Question 3: What was the genre of the books I read?    The winner this year was fantasy, at 40%.  This is different from last year, where 41% of the books were about faith.  I don't expect to read 41% in a normal year, but I have set a goal of at least 4 books this year in the faith category.  

Question 2: When were the books published?  I changed the categories this year, moving all of the '20s to their own grouping.  Forty percent of the books I read were published between 2010 and 2019, but 27% percent were new, published from 2020 to 2022.  That's a high percentage for only three years, when the other categories were 10 years each.  Last year, 59% were published 2010 or later.

This is my Goodreads profile if you are interested in seeing what I've read.  This page is my Blog Library.  I list faith books here (or other books I've blogged about) with links to the posts.

Preparation

 A few weeks ago, I was sitting in my living room, drinking a cup of coffee, relaxing on a Sunday morning.  I hadn't started getting read for church - it was just a quiet time.  I had agreed to read the scripture for the day, and was thinking that I needed to pull it out and prepare it for worship. 

A text arrived from our lay leader.  She said that our pastor was sick and was unable to come to worship.  Would I preach?

I've always said I could do almost anything in worship (not musical) without much warning except preaching.  I have hoped to not be asked to preach on short notice (and this was a little more than 2 hours of notice), and yet that is what was happening.  I told her I would do it. And then I started looking for a sermon.

I wanted to keep the scripture the same.  It was an advent Sunday, and it seemed important to use advent scriptures.  The problem is that I am rarely asked to preach during advent because pastors want that time with their congregations.  Summer sermons, fall sermons - I have those.  But not advent sermons. 

I keep my sermon texts organized on my computer by scripture.  I looked through the directory.  Nothing there.  I pulled out the commentary I often use and started reading - resigned to the idea that I needed to WRITE a sermon in what was now less than 2 hours - and also get ready and drive to church.   I sat down at the laptop and pulled up the blog - would there be anything here that could be developed into a sermon?  I found three posts based on the scriptures we were reading that day - Isaiah 35 and Luke 1.  What was this sermon?  Why had I not found it on my laptop?

I went back to the laptop and search for it by title.  There is was.  Saved with the scripture names Isaiah 25 and Matt 1.  I had not remembered that I had been asked to preach in December of 2019 (three years ago - same lectionary year).  I edited the sermon for my church, got dressed, and went to church. 

This is a long story that I'm telling you in order to make one important point. God prepares us, even when we don't know it.  A few years ago, I would never have had said yes to preaching with 2 hours of notice.  I didn't really even hesitate last month to say yes.  The work we do, the times we agree to ministry, the classes we take, the Christian Conversation, the grace of God all prepares us for what may come next, even when we don't know what that is - can't imagine it.

Are you a bridge?

Are you a Bridge?

John 17:20-26

I’m praying not only for them but also for those who will believe in me because of them and their witness about me.  The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind—just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, so they might be one heart and mind with us.

 

When I was growing up, my Great Aunt Sue lived across the Kanawha River from Glen Ferris.  Below the falls in the river was the creaky old bridge we would cross to drive to her house.  At the far end of the bridge was a small trailer where a man sat to collect tolls.  This was not a toll bridge, but he didn’t care.  To cross the bridge, you had to pay him money.  He was an unnecessary and unauthorized obstruction to reaching the other side.

 

What is the purpose of a bridge? According to the Googler’s friend, Wikipedia, a bridge is “constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually something that is otherwise difficult or impossible to cross.”  A bridge provides a way for us to reach something otherwise unattainable.

 

In today’s scripture from John 17, we are overhearing Jesus’s conversation with God.  Jesus is praying not only for his disciples, but also for those who will believe in Christ because of them.  If you think about it, Jesus, in this passage, is praying for us.  “The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind-just as you, Father are in me, and I in you, so they might be one heart and mind with us.”

 

I think it is more than amazing that Christ prayed for you and for me, for each of us and for all of us over 2000 years ago.  He prayed that we would be evidence to the world that God sent Christ to us and loved us in the same way God has loved Christ.  Did you catch that? He prayed that we would be evidence that God loves us the same way God loves Christ.    We are called to be the bridge so that other people can reach the unattainable conclusion that they are loved by God – beyond measure.

 

What kind of bridge will you be?  Will you be a bridge like Christ – opening the way for others to come to new life? Or will you be the obstacle like the man who collected tolls on the way to my Aunt Sue’s house?

 

Prayer: Loving God, open the way for us to be bridges to the knowledge of your love instead of obstacles.  In your son’s name, Amen.

Note: The above devotional was written by me for the West Virginia Annual Conference Advent devotional ministry. 

Perspective: Leading Lines

This is a fence at Watters Smith Memorial State Park in West Virginia.  I like the image because the fence provides a leading line.  A leading line is a way to create perspective - usually leading your eye to the focus of the image (which this one really doesn't do).  

Are you ever a leading line?

I'm Back

One of my pet peeves is when a person of does YouTube videos on a regular basis just stops doing them.  They pop back in for a bit and tell us all how they needed a break, and how they were prioritizing other things (more important than the YouTube channel), and that they are now determined to be back, posting regularly.  That's not my pet peeve.  My pet peeve is when they say that, but don't follow through with it. (and I need to be less judgmental). 

I would like to say that I deliberately took a break from the blog.  I've taken breaks before, but never one this long.  It wasn't deliberate - it was just falling out of the habit. I just unintentionally stopped posting.  (Makes it sound like it was an accident, doesn't it?).

I do like posting, though.  I like the discipline of it.  I like the inspiration that comes from it.  Often, I'm sitting in worship or in a meeting, and an idea for a post comes to my mind from what I'm hearing.  I jot the kernel of the idea down, and later, I write about it.  Blogging helps me listen to life more.  It helps me sharpen the saw of writing.  It opens ideas for me of God's presence and work in the world.  The blog is a good thing.  And I miss it when I stop.

So, today is December 19, and I'm planning the return to the blog.  My goal is to start posting on January 2 and to continue with the schedule of posts I had for the first part of 2022 - two written posts a week and an image post once a week.  I'm hoping that planning ahead with get me back in the groove of writing.  I like to write posts ahead, so here we go.

Over the past six months, Steve and I took an advanced course called Come to the Water.  I also took an online course called Devotion to Jesus.  I imagine my writing for those courses will influence some of my posts in the next few months. I've registered for another class - this one called Women Speak of God.  I hope that course is beneficial as well.  I'm still teaching a CLM Conference Course - we finish up on January 8.  I'll then start preparing for a third cohort class.  I think my writing is better when there is something else going on that sparks posts.

Third, I bought a keyboard for my iPad, which I hope will make writing more convenient - since I won't have to get out the laptop to do it.

So, there you go - planning, inspiration, and convenience - I hope all three of those combine to get me going and regularly posting on the blog.  And I hope I don't become an example of what bugs me about commitments given - commitment failure (but I can be less judgmental, can't I?).

Poetry 2022

Each year I organize my poetry poets into a single posts with links to each one.  You can ignore this post - it's just for housekeeping purposes.  

• An Ash Wednesday Confession (Verses from Joel 2)
• Look. Listen. (Isaiah 55:1-5)
• Don't you see it? (Isaiah 43:16-21)