Tetelestai in Hebrew?

I am now officially finished with my first semester of Hebrew.

Prayer Appreciated

Well I guess the move has finally caught up with us. My grades took a slight hit last week (nothing major, but my lack of study in hebrew was...uhm... apparent). Both Desiree and I are feeling somewhat sick with colds of some sort. So I'm trying to catch up with school work. Desiree's trying to catch up with Premiere. Both of us are starting to gear up for kicking off Apartment Life in this complex next month.

The result of all this is some exhaustion and conflict for both of us. The sort of thing that happens when you're highly focused on other things and don't make time for each other. Anyways, we'd appreciate your prayers for the next week especially.

THE Faith for All Ages?

As all of you know there are many things that get me "riled" up. However, one thing that gets me REALLY riled up is church "elitism." It's the idea some churches have that they are THE church. Not that other churches aren't okay, but that only their church is truly THE church. Other churches are somehow second-rate.

My latest example? I went to hear Frankie Schaffer speak yesterday. His father was Francis Schaffer and he converted to the Orthodox Church 20 years ago. I'll post some further comments on Frankie later. For now, though, I think it's enough to point out that one thing I heard several times from him especially but also from several other speakers at this Orthodox seminar was an elitist attitude. To sum it up in a way they did not say, but implied by their language: "The Orthodox Church is the best and truest form of church and all other forms of church and especially evangelical churches are a distant and inferior second."

This elitist attitude was summed up to me on a brochure handed out that had two things on the cover in large, colored print. "The Orthodox Church" and "The Faith for All Ages." Now, I understand they are making a connection between the historical length of the Orthodox Church and possibly too a connection with the implications of Christianity. HOWEVER, the fact that the two things highlighted on the cover were Orthodoxy and "the Faith" to me makes a strong implied connection to this elitism that just hacks me off.

Orthodoxy is NOT "the Faith." Such a claim is arrogant in and of itself and also ignores the many problems in Orthodoxy itself. The church universal is the receiver of the faith for all ages. This faith is faith in Jesus. No single church or denomination has a lock on this but all true followers of Christ can claim it. So to tie the Orthodox Church so closely with "the faith" is simply a bad idea.

DISCLAIMER: I am not criticizing the Orthodox Church here. I have areas where I really like what they believe and do and areas where I really don't like what they believe and do. I AM criticizing the elitist attitude that I have seen in many churches and most recently saw manifested in this Orthodox Seminar I attended.

The "Roy" Effect

It has been brought up that Roy's postings on this blog may be killing off comments by other faithful readers (see comments under last post).

Is this true? Should I ban Roy from this blog? Is he not only polluting our precious earth (see comments under Global Warming) but also this blog to the point of rendering it unusable?

Name Change Suggestions

Ok. I need a new name for this blog. "Theological Ruminator just isn't going to cut it. Because 1) the name isn't the same as the link 2) the link sounds "pompous" and 3) the name is too much of a mouthful.

So this is the opportunity of all you faithful readers to post your suggestions. I like the idea of wrestling with issues / being in process / spiritual growth since those have pretty much been the driving themes here. What do you think?

Serious suggestions only, of course. :-)

Back in Action

Well we're mostly moved now. The kid's room, the dining room and the bedroom still have miscellaneous articles lying around that need put away. Pictures still need put up. I have a load of stuff to take to Goodwill or Luke's Pantry. But besides that, we're mostly set up. AND we did NOT go insane with this move. AND I have kept my head above water in Hebrew which is very good.

Anyway, this is mostly thanks to Desiree's and my folks who have kept the kids since last Tuesday for us. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! Otherwise I would now be an insane, hebrew flunking guy in a house with boxes everywhere...

On another note this article referencing Global Warming reminds me of how sick I am of conservatives and especially Christians ignoring the issue. It's time for Christians to 1) acknowledge the reality of Global Warming, 2) admit that there is a very good chance that it is the result of human produced pollutants, and 3) step to the forefront in taking care of the world God has intrusted to us and our children.

Bible Numbers

My Hebrew prof. (boy is he good at this) digressed again today on numbers in the Bible and in particular in the OT. He feels that at least some of the numbers are "hyperbole" and not to be taken literally. He gave some obvious examples like where the Bible records David and Saul killing a couple hundred Philistines and then the people say that "Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands." That seems clearly hyperbole for exaggeration.

But then he starts discussing Exodus numbers. Apparently the number of fighting men who are stated to have left Egypt at the Exodus was 685,000. Now add the elderly, women and children to that and you come up with a number between 3-4 million. His point was that this number doesn't match up with (1) what the Bible records elsewhere (such as 300 chariots of Pharoah coming after them - 300 vs. 685k?) and (2) what archeology has uncovered (such as no traces of 4 million people in the desert for 40 years).

In light of this he argues that "we don't know" exactly what's going on with some of these numbers (he lumps the ages of pre-flood people into this category) but there's "something funny going on." I'm not sure exactly what he's thinking but clearly he's arguing against a literal view of some of these numbers.

What do you think?

P.S. We're moving Saturday so don't expect much from here for the next few days!