Category: April AtoZ

L is for Laud

On By auntyamoIn April AtoZ, Getting to grips with God stuff4 Comments

LI realised a few years ago that I’d been singing a hymn wrong. The first line is All glory, laud and honour to Thee, Redeemer King.’ I presumed it was a typo in the hymn book and was singing ‘All glory Lord, and honour.’ (I didn’t seem to have a problem with the terrible grammar of that sentence.)

When we changed to projecting hymn words on a screen, the word ‘laud’ was still there. I knew that they would not have carried a typo over from the book. So I went looking for the definition…

Oxforddictionaries.com says this: Laud – Late Middle English: the noun from Old French laude, the verb from Latin laudare, both from Latin laus, laud – ‘praise’

There’s nothing new I can say about praise. Even if you don’t believe in God, you know what praise is – whether it be for a sports team, a musician or your child’s maths homework 🙂 BUT when rummaging around to see how the word ‘laud’ is used, I found some troponyms of the word.

Stay with me now…

A troponym is a way of enacting a verb. It’s different from an adverb – she sang brightly, he walked slowly etc. It is a method by which an action can be carried out. So a troponym of ‘laud’ is simply, a way in which one can ‘laud’ You still with me? 😉 Well one of the troponyms is -to ‘ensky’ which means – to exalt to the skies; lift to the skies or to heaven with praise.

Presuming I haven’t totally confused you, I hope you think that is a fantastic as I do!

In the updated version of the hymn book, they’ve changed the word to ‘praise’. I know that a lot of flowery and unfamiliar language is not always helpful, especially to folks who are new to it all. I just think laud is a better and a fuller word. I’ve been blessed in the exploration what it really means.

Whatever word we use, the important thing is that it all goes to Him.

K is for Koinonia

On By auntyamoIn April AtoZ, Getting to grips with God stuff10 Comments

KWelcome to the half-way mark of the A to Z Challenge  – or just beyond it. This is the start of week three and today’s letter ‘K’ is for another word I love – Koinonia.

GotQuestions.org explains the word like this: Koinonia is a Greek word that occurs 20 times in the Bible. Koinonia’s primary meaning is “fellowship, sharing in common, communion.” The first occurrence of koinonia is Acts 2:42, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Christian fellowship is a key aspect of the Christian life. Believers in Christ are to come together in love, faith, and encouragement. That is the essence of koinonia.

Yesterday evening our pastor preached on 1 Samuel 20, about the covenant that David and Jonathan made with each other. He was speaking about the particular nature of their friendship and the covenant promises they made to one another. After making the agreement (it’s a great story btw, you should go read it), Jonathan says, “remember, the Lord is witness between you and me forever.” Their friendship and promises were in the context of their common relationship with God. During yesterday’s sermon, the pastor noted that this can be a lonely world, and surely all friendships are valuable. It’s not that we should disregard friendships with with those who don’t share our faith – it’s just acknowledging that friendships with other believers are different.

There is ‘koinonia’ 🙂

Have you ever looked around your church on a Sunday and wondered how you managed to end up part of such a motley crew? Oh… so just me then! Nah… I doubt that.

I’ve been in a few different churches over the years, having moved a few times. I’m always amazed at the mixed bunch I end up in. Quite often there are folk who I’d never hang out with in any other context. There’s nothing wrong with them; it’s just that because of different backgrounds, age, personality, likes/dislikes etc our paths would most likely never cross.

In our natural born family it’s a blood tie that keeps us together. Even if a family is not ‘together’ as such, a blood relative will always be one – even if you never see them. In the family of God, the fellowship, the ‘koinonia’ of the followers of Christ has that same sticking power!

If you’re a Christian then I’m your sister in Christ. If I drive you nuts that’s just hard cheese – we’re stuck with each other 🙂 Kinda nice tho’ eh?

J is for Just when you think you know what’s about to happen, something else happens!

On By auntyamoIn April AtoZ, Getting to grips with God stuff, Random Ramblings9 Comments

JOK so strictly speaking, the title of today’s blog post is not a theological term. But then I’ve been trying to take some of these complicated sounding words, and make them more understandable. With this post I’m just doing it the other way around…

You see, today I wasn’t going to write a post at all. I was going to write it tomorrow, or cram two in on Monday. That’s because TODAY I’m supposed to be moving house. We’ve been staying with family since we moved to the UK and a few weeks ago we sorted out an apartment, and TODAY is, correction ‘was’, our moving day. After lunch yesterdat I got a call to say there was a problem, and to make a long story boring, there were numerous phone calls and emails all culminating in us NOT moving into our apt.

So as I type, almost everything I possess is packed away, my bed is stripped of all but a mattress cover (I suppose I should be grateful it hasn’t been taken apart and put in a van). All the stuff that was upstairs is now downstairs filling the hall and the music room of this lovely house we’ve been staying in. And I’ve no idea when we’re moving.

What’s the term for that then? Disaster? Frustration? Pain in the armpit?  It certainly feels like it. I’m trusting and hoping that it’s actually providence and God’s will. Just a bit confusing and seemingly pointless. This is one of those times when I apply the verse that says – “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.” (Isaiah 55:8)
It’s definitely not the way I’d have done this!

My fave verse from the old hymn, God Works in a Mysterious Way, by William Cowper.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

I’m ‘J’ust ‘J’olly as long as He’s still smiling at me 🙂

We take tomorrow off from AtoZ – am hoping to catch up on my reading of other blogs.
See you Monday x

I is for Immanence

On By auntyamoIn April AtoZ, Getting to grips with God stuff2 Comments

II found today’s word on a blog called Rebecca Writes. I’ve spotted some of the terms I’ve done so far on her list.

She quotes from Wayne Grudem’s book Systematic Theology (IMO a great book). Immanence means “remaining in” creation.” Grudem says that, ‘the God of the Bible is no abstract deity removed from, and uninterested in his creation. The Bible is the story of God’s involvement with his creation, and particularly the people in it.’

Many believe that if there is a grand deity in the sky, he is far removed. He wound us up, set us off and then went off to do something else. I find that most of the reasoning for that belief is to do with suffering and natural disasters. If a loving God exists, how come there are tsunamis and terrible diseases?

It’s a fair question and to this day no one I’ve spoken to about it has ever been satisfied with my answer. My answer is probably a poor one – it’s basically built on a trust in God for the things I don’t understand, based on what I do know of him and is character as revealed in the Bible.

You see now why no one likes my answer. 🙂

I heard a better answer recently. We had a guest preacher in our church on Easter Sunday night. He spoke about Stephen Fry’s interview on Irish TV about God, particularly what he would say to God if he turned out to be real. SF responded with a passionate, angry list of things he would say to God. and questions he would ask him about sickness and tragedy.

Our speaker said (important to note that I’m paraphrasing here), atheism’s answer to that stuff is silence. We came from nothing more than slime, we’ll go to nothing. There is no great deity, there is no afterlife, there is only now. There’s no reckoning, no cosmic justice, no great day to come – there’s just nothing.

The Resurrection however, answers those questions. It explains why we have a sense of justice within us that cries ‘How dare you?’ when something terrible happens. It explains why things seem so unfair, why the world is falling apart and why there is sickness and death. The resurrection also says, there IS  a day of reckoning, a day when all accounts will be be settled, when all injustices will be made right, when all pain will be gone, and all tears will stop.

The resurrection is a picture of how everything can look so bleak, cruel, unfair and hopeless – yet something amazing can come from it. And the story’s not over yet – because He, the Risen One, is coming back.

I’m not sure how much justice I’ve done to a brilliant sermon, but I hope you get the gist 🙂

Rebecca Writes also uses these two quotes from the Bible. I’ll leave you with these and see you tomorrow with the ‘J’ post.

Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:23-24, ESV)

 

…one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:6, ESV)

H is for Hypostatic Union.

On By auntyamoIn April AtoZ, Getting to grips with God stuff4 Comments

HAnother day, another phrase you have to look at twice to pronounce properly. Hypostatic Union

An article on the Desiring God website says: ‘“hypostatic union” may sound fancy in English, but it’s a pretty simple term. Hypostatic means personal. The hypostatic union is the personal union of Jesus’ two natures.’

So we are back to another mystery.
Jesus is fully human and fully God. I believe that God tells me the truth in His Word; but how is that possible?

Recently in a number of sermons preached in my church (and not solely in the context of Easter services), the preachers referred to the fact that ‘Jesus learnt obedience.’ (Hebrews 5:8) I know I’m not the only one who struggled a bit with that. Jesus is God, and God put the stars in the sky; so why does he have to learn anything?

I don’t know – but he did! As a baby he couldn’t just get up and walk across the room, he would have taken clumsy first steps like any toddler. The same goes for speaking… John 1 says that Jesus IS the Word, yet he had to learn to say his first words as a little boy. So although being fully human did not remove any of his Godly characteristics, he still had to progress as a human; learning to walk and talk and obey.

By the way in case you’re waiting for me to unravel the mystery and explain it all; you’ll be waiting for a while 🙂 However, I find some help in understanding it earlier in the  letter to the Hebrews, when the writer says, ‘For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet he did not sin.’ Hebrews 4:15

For Jesus to fully understand and ’empathize with our weaknesses,’ surely he would have had to go through the struggle of learning certain things. I’m terrible with numbers, but my sister can count and rearrange them in her head. I do not understand how she does this, and she does not understand how I can’t. God who made all, knows all, IS all… could only truly say he has experienced all we have to go through, if he had to learn the as we have had to learn.

I think… I’m not 100% sure to be honest.

Before I finish… using the CARM website again, they provide an excellent table to show ‘the two natures of Jesus in action.’ I found it very helpful.

More anon x

CARM hu

source: CARM.org

G is for Gap Theory

On By auntyamoIn April AtoZ, Getting to grips with God stuff8 Comments

GToday’s broadcast is brought to you from the Cotswolds! I’m away for a few days with the in-laws, celebrating birthdays 🙂 Yesterday we wandered around Stratford-Upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare. We’d a really great day, and I bought a super-dooper, ye-olde-world-looking notebook. #happywriter

Anyway, on to today’s term, and it is Gap Theory.

I’ve gone back to CARM Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry for this one. They say that “the gap theory is the idea that there is a gap in time between Genesis 1:1 in Genesis 1:2.  The gap lasted for millions of years and accounts for the dinosaurs.”

So if I’m understanding it right, Gen 1:1 says ‘In the beginning God made the heavens and the earth.’ Then the writer of Genesis forgot to, or didn’t bother to, add a note to say, “skip forward a few million years, we pick up the story again here… Gen 1:2 ‘And the earth was formless and void... etc etc’

In fairness, I can see why Gap Theory might be attractive to some. It certainly appears to do away with many questions. It accounts for stuff that can’t be accounted for and anything that doesn’t fit, or that we can’t agree on, can be put down to events during that time period. So rather than answering questions, it suggests a reason why they can’t be answered.

I know that not all Christians agree on the basic 6 day creation story. I personally know Christian scientists who believe in a form of evolution that is governed by God. I’m a 6 day girl myself, but it’s not a deal breaker for me.

I have no problem with mystery, unexplained things or unanswerable questions. In fact it’s what yesterday’s post was all about. I would much prefer a mystery that I can trust God about, than an answer that appeases much but settles nothing.

So Gap Theory gets the thumbs down from me I’m afraid…

See you tomorrow for the ‘H’ instalment. 🙂 x

F is for Fideism

On By auntyamoIn April AtoZ, Getting to grips with God stuff3 Comments

FNow then – here’s your word for today – Fideism.
CARM – Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry, says that ‘Fideism’ is: the philosophical and theological view that some areas of knowledge cannot be sufficiently known through experience and/or reason. Fideism is the complete reliance on faith without evidence and/or reason.

The lack of ‘evidence’ and ‘reason’ seems to cause great frustration for many people who don’t believe in a deity. The fact that Christians believe without tangible evidence irritates and even angers some commentators. We are often sneered at, mocked and insulted because we accept things without evidence. Celebrity atheists call us all sorts of stupid, gullible and crazy. The Bible reminds us however, that God rewards us for believing. Some people saw Jesus and believed – great, but Jesus said that those who believe without seeing are blessed.

There’s a song on this subject that I love. It’s sung by Susan Ashton. the chorus goes

You want to hold the intangible
To fashion the darkness into familiar shape
To see with your eyes, to know with your mind
Oh ye of so little faith
only the heart can hold the intangible.

But my favourite line is this one…

Let’s just suppose. How it would be; to trade all you know for one ounce of true belief.

That line actually thrills me, because I know I wouldn’t do the swap the other way around. I would not give away one ounce of my faith for all the knowledge in the world.

And you can call me what you like; cos Jesus calls me blessed 🙂

E is for Ekklesia

On By auntyamoIn April AtoZ, Getting to grips with God stuff7 Comments

EThanks so much to you all for reading. The AtoZ is always good for the ol’ visitor stats, and I’m enjoying reading other blogs doing the challenge 🙂

Today’s word is one of my favourites -Ekklesia
In grammar terms, it’s a feminine noun. Strong’s Concordance defines it as, “an assembly, congregation, church; the Church, the whole body of Christian believers.” The original greek breaks the word down into ‘ek’ meaning ‘out’ and ‘kaleo’ meaning to ‘call.’ The Ekklesia is a collective term for the ‘called out’ ones. Not a super spiritual holy huddle, not a band of perfect saints. Oh no, not even close 🙂 Just a group of ordinary people who have responded to the call of God to follow Him.

This particular word for ‘church’ is not just as assembly of the gathered throng. It seems to me that you can go to church, without necessarily being part of the ekklesia.

Yesterday morning, Easter Sunday morning, our little part of the worldwide ekklesia gathered in our church building to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and to watch three people being baptised. Three ordinary people who proclaimed publicly the call of God on their lives, and their response to it. One of them, is a young teen I’ve known since she was a born; she’s now my sister in Christ! (Not because she was baptised btw – baptism is an outward sign of an inner change.) Amazing tho.

As Christians, we don’t just go to church – we ARE church.   The whole thing blows my mind to be honest.

More tomoz xx

D is for Death

On By auntyamoIn April AtoZ, Getting to grips with God stuff4 Comments

DToday’s word is not so obscure but I thought,  as it is Holy Saturday (next Saturday is Easter Saturday…) and we’ve a day off tomorrow, that it is the perfect word.

Many Christians take time to remember Good Friday (the Crucifixion of Jesus) and celebrate Easter Sunday (the Resurrection of Jesus), but Easter Saturday is a quieter day. I’ve read a few articles and discussions about it and there is varied opinion on exactly where Jesus was on the Saturday.

The two main sides of the debate based on a) the words that Jesus says to the thief on the Cross, “Truly I ; and tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:43. He says, “It is finished” suggesting that His work was done and that we should do as He did, and rest on Saturday in anticipation of Resurrection Day.

Based on other verses in the New Testament, there is the opinion that b) Jesus ‘descended into the lower regions.’ 1 Peter 3 says that when Jesus died ‘he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison’ Those verses are the reason that Jesus’ descent into hell was added to the Apostle’s Creed.

It’s a great subject to dwell on and put some study time into, however what’s far more significant is the victory achieved by Jesus death. The sinless Lamb, taking on the sin of the world. Whatever conclusion we come to about Saturday, joy comes in the morning. The stone is rolled away and the tomb is empty. Death has been conquered, Jesus lives.

Death is so painful; I’m still recovering from two big losses last year. My mam is gone 10 years – I still feel that loss too. Jesus’ death means that death has not won, it’s not the final word.

Enjoy tomorrow folks. Jesus is risen, He is alive!
xx

C is for Consequentialism

On By auntyamoIn April AtoZ, Getting to grips with God stuff2 Comments

CSo Day 3’s word is ‘Consequentialism’ – the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy explains it like this – “of all the things a person might do at any given moment, the morally right action is the one with the best overall consequences.”

I suppose it’s not a theological term as such, though it does appear on some glossaries. It is however another one of those concepts that I’ve been aware of, even if only vaguely, but didn’t know what it was called.

The action that comes to mind when I think of this word is, lying. I have told so many lies in my life, I can’t count them. I have justified almost all of them and have felt many of them a necessity.

I think of how many times I fobbed my Dad off with lies. It was easier to tell him that my brother’s band were playing in some far off venue. If he knew they were performing just up the road, he’d have been in a taxi on his way to the pub, rather than safely tucked up in his bed where I preferred him to be.

The ‘overall consequences’ of my action helped me to justify the lie; and I freely admit that if he was still alive, I’d still be doing it.

It is something I have and still wrestle with. I don’t have a balanced thought to round this one off with. Only to say that I’m so thankful to God for His mercy and forgiveness for this and many other things I’ve done for the sake of ‘the best overall consequences’ – more commonly known as – ‘an easy life.’