The Reason for the Return

                                   

     First off let me apologize to you if you have read my previous posts and wondered why I stopped. Blogging is a lot different than I originally thought it would be. It is a task that very much can get in your head and mess with you. Let me explain.

     When I started blogging I did it because I love writing and thought this would be a great platform to share my writings with others. It began that way but quickly I learned that it can be hard coming up with new material regularly and you basically have to give yourself a due date and come what may you better have something posted. Then I began over thinking it when I saw all the shiny toys for counting people and everything I read said "Grow your blog so you can make money" and I didn't know how to market, so I felt like I was doing it wrong.  Then after  I read these things I would get on and see how I wrote all these posts and I couldn't see any results from what I was achieving and I kept struggling with "how should I make my blog better?"  It honestly got to the point that what I thought was expected of me (and all bloggers for that matter) was something I was not willing to go through. I was not ready to make my blog a store front to peddle wares and since I couldn't do that I felt there was no point to continue. Maybe one day I will be less cynical about, but that day is not today.

     Well, time has now past and I have had a chance to work through some things. My wife, Marsha, and I have been reading a book together called Quitter by John Acuff and it talks about a guy who was a serial quitter from jobs. He hated his day jobs and wished he was doing his dream job. His dream job was to be a writer and he talks about the true struggles of doing what you love. Between timing fixing me and my thinking being corrected by things like Quitter I have realized that what I really want to do is to start writing here again. Not with expectations, but with an understanding that writing sometimes gets hard.  Really though, is a dream worth doing if it isn't hard?

-Jason

                      Why We Keep Training Our Leaders

    One night this year as  I was working the church's children ministry program, one of the kids came up to me and said sorry for an event that had occurred earlier that night. The problem had already been fixed, I wasn't concerned about it happening again, and  so my response to the sorry was "Okay." and I didn't think anything else about it. However, one of the other leaders told me that was an incorrect response. He said there was a formula for what to say and I should have said "I forgive you!" Well, if your anything like me you don't like textbook answers, but as I thought about it I began to understand something.

     Nobody can read my mind. The kids, the staff, even my friends and family can't know what I mean.  "Okay" to them can just as easily mean I don't forgive you or I don't care about you. It is only when we know why we use textbook answers that we can begin to deviate from that path. It is not an attempt to sound forced or calloused, it is simply a formula for not messing up taught by someone who has probably learned that lesson the hard way.  This is just an example of the importance of why if you are a leader you must not stop learning on the job. You can never see a problem from too many ways, or have too much good training. Remember that we don't become leaders to please ourselves. It is actually a form of serving....albeit from the front.

-Jason

                                   Sachem: The Bird Prince

     When the English first began encountering the Native Americans in New England there were a multitude of tribes. Many of the tribes in this area were ruled by princes they called Sachems. Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, said this term referred to certain small birds. "A small bird is called a sachem...because of its 'sachem' or princelike courage and command over greater birds, that a man shall often see this small bird pursue and vanquish and put to flight the crow and other birds far bigger than itself." The idea was that a smaller bird (or person) could defeat his opponent who was overpowering due to his boldness and confidence.

     If you live in a part of the world that is anything like mine (Louisiana) you have seen these small birds chase bigger birds off. They have no reason to expect to win, they just take charge with courage and tenacity. Take a moment to think about when you have acted like a prince before, not cocky or arrogant, but just bold. Maybe you have heard the old adage; when you don't know what to do, just act like you do.  This is the same concept. Writers and thinkers through out time have preached principles such as "Fortune favors the bold" and apparently this is how the Native Americans of Massachusetts saw their world too.

     Sometimes you just need to step out of your comfort zone and act like a prince. Be bold and go get what you want in life.


-Jason

A sachem (mockingbird) chasing off a crow.

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                              Why We Know Anything About Assyria

     Sometime around 770 BC the Lord came to a man named Jonah. This man was a prophet, and the Lord told him to go to Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrians. Once he was there, he was to tell them they had 40 days to repent or the Lord would destroy them.  Now, 40 is a symbolic number in Hebrew literature that signifies a time of transition, so effectively the Lord said he would give them a small amount of time to correct their ways, and if not they would be destroyed.  Assyria, by this time was already known for being wicked and there was no reason to think they would repent...but they did!

     According to the ultimatum the Lord allowed Nineveh and the Assyrians to keep on going. This simple fact is what brings us to our point.  There were all sorts of small insignificant nations in the ancient world and the Old Testament that we know practically nothing about. We don't know about the Edomites or the Aramites, or other tribes mentioned except for names and maybe a few kings, but Assyria is different.  It's different because it went on to have many strong kings who built an amazingly advanced empire. A large empire from modern day Iraq all the way to Egypt.

     The really interesting part is this; If Nineveh didn't repent in 770 BC, all of the great kings, the empire, the advanced civilization they created would have been destroyed during its infancy. Most likely when someone said Assyria, you would think exclusively of the Bible stories, and maybe one day an archaeologist would have dug up the city, not been very impressed and just jotted it down on a map.  The Assyrians were given a choice and they had 2 possible responses: 1) except God 2) be destroyed   Their choice of listening to God resulted in the Assyrian Empire lasting for approximately 160 more years and giving us a vastly greater amount of records about them. 

-Jason

A painting of what Nineveh may have looked like.
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Citizenship of Heaven

                                                     

 " For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; ²¹ who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself." 

-Phillipians 3:20-21

      Chapter 3 of Philippians is a passage where the Apostle Paul is talking to the church in Phillippi about the goal of the Christian life and how we should press on despite our struggles.In this same chapter we get the passage quoted at the top. This passage by itself has relevance, but it has no background.

Phillipi is located north of Greece in Macedonia. It was founded by Phillip II, Alexander the Great's father and consequently bears his name.

      You may have previously read the blog post Ides of March where Julius Caesar was discussed, and how on March 15th 44BC he was brutally assassinated. This assassination left the Roman world in chaos, but by November of the next year (43 BC) the 2nd Triumvirate (rule of three men) had come to power. Mark Antony was the senior leader, Augustus was next, and also a man named Marcus Lepidus. One of the first things these men did was hunt down the assassins of Julius Caesar. They caught up with them in northern Greece and they had a battle at Phillipi where Brutus and Cassius, the 2 generals of the opposing force were killed.


    Later, when Augustus had taken full power and became Rome's first Emperor he set up Phillipi as a monumental city to remember the defeat of the Assassins. William John Conybeare in his book The Life and Epistles of St. Paul says Phillipi was "gifted by Augustus with the privileges of colonia (colony). It thus became at once a border garrison of the province of Macedonia and a perpetual memorial of his victory over Brutus".  The accolades the city got from the Emperor and the citizenship they received were very important and made them proud. Citizenship in the Roman world was a big deal and not something to be treated lightly. Often men would serve over 20 years in the army for a piece of land and the right to call themselves citizens.


    The Apostle's point was clear to the audience he was speaking to. Yes, Roman citizenship is highly sought after, but being a Christian means we are a citizen of heaven. That is something we should treasure!


-Jason

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                               The Liar's Paradox in the Bible

      When you read the books written by the Apostle Paul you realize you are reading a very well educated man. He was a Pharisee trained under Gamaliel, one of the most famous Jewish Rabbis.  He also knew Greek and was obviously familiar with Greek writings as well. One of these examples is found in the book of Titus. Titus was a younger disciple, who was sent to Crete and here Paul is teaching him through a letter. Suddenly in the text we get this weird passage.

 ¹⁰ "For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, ¹¹ who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain. ¹² One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, 'Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.' ¹³ This testimony is true. For this reason reprove them severely so that they may be sound in the faith". (Titus 1:10-13)

This is a map that shows where Crete is. An island found right off the coast of Greece and Turkey.

     The reason this is called the Liar's Paradox is because if a man is from Crete and says that all men from Crete are liars; how can you know if he is telling the truth or not? A paradox simply means 1 of 2 things:       1) The statement is false because it is impossible 2) It seems contradictory, but in reality expresses a truth that is not easy to see or understand.

     Let's begin with Paul. Is he showing his true colors as a racist here? Would he dump a whole group of people together as all good-for-nothings? No of course not! If we are to understand what is going on, we must make an attempt to figure out what he is talking about when he says "One of themselves, a prophet of their own said 'Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.' "  (By the way, yes....if you are from Crete you are by definition a Cretan. I know you were wondering about that.) Now back to our story.
Who was this guy Paul came up with to quote?

     Somewhere around 600 BC there was a man named Epimenides. He was supposed to have been a prophet, a miracle worker, a vision seer, and a poet. This poet part is the most important here because it is why the Apostle quotes him. How exactly does a man get away with saying his entire country is full of liars however? According to A.P. Staff in an article at the Apologetics Press website

"The first step in understanding this alleged contradiction is to realize that Epimenides was a poet. Poets, playwrights, and other writers sometimes use a literary technique known as hyperbole, which is a deliberate exaggeration used to make a point. To say that “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons,” is to say that the Cretan society as a whole was immoral and decadent, not necessarily that every single individual in that society was a liar, evil beast, or lazy glutton."

      It is not a new phenomenon in the history of the world to think the time we live in is the most corrupt time ever. People often refer to ideas of how their childhood was better or how the up and coming generation is worse. The truth is that there have always been people who say this. People over the ages may live in a different world, but the traits of what makes man a human are always basically the same. When someone says something to the effect of "Young people today don't respect their elders" they do not mean every single individual, but use these terms as blankets to generalize the whole group.

     Now that we have found out what the poet meant, lets look at the social impact of statements like this. If you tell someone something over and over again it becomes very hard to fight it. In a way it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. If a man sees his entire country and everyone in it as liars, why should he be anything else? After all it is expected of him.  This was the challenge Titus faced. How should he deal with a people that have been told there whole lives they are liars and no good? What should he do to overcome a national stereo-type they had created?

     The next verse in Titus is Paul telling him to "reprove them severely, so that they may be sound in the faith."   This is a concept Christians should be familiar with. When you reprove someone you are not criticizing to be mean, but to help them grow.  It means be tough with someone who is harsh with themselves, but do it in a way they know you love them. I would call it "Tough Love." Being the good guy isn't always fun!

-Jason


picture 1 source     picture 2 source

                                   Finding the Beginning of the Alphabet

     Every time you write a word you are practicing the skill of writing. This skill is based on words that transfer thoughts from the writer to the reader, but the question is.....where did we get this alphabet that helps us communicate in the written word?

    Most European languages such as English, French, Spanish etc. all have the same or very similar letters. The reason for this is because they come directly from Latin. The Latins developed this form of the alphabet sometimes around the 5th century BC and spread it from Italy throughout the Mediterranean world as far England in the west to modern day Iraq in the east.  However, the alphabet itself is far older. When we go back as far as we can, we find the earliest form of the alphabet we use being practiced by a group of people called the Phoenicians.  These people were sea-faring merchants (related to the Canaanites of the Bible) who used the alphabet to keep records of their goods. As they expanded across the Mediterranean Sea they came into contact with the Greeks. Now the Greeks were interested in this language but they had a problem with it. There were no vowels. A Phoenician would just know where the vowels belong because he grew up speaking it, but it didn't work the same when the alphabet was used by another language. For example: "Whr d th vwls blng n ths sntnc?"  Makes for a head ache. Even if you can figure it out, it still causes issues like "should this be an 'a' or an 'e' here?"

     The Greeks then took this alphabet and added vowels to the 22 Phoenician letters and merged some of the others into a 24 letter system. Also as a consequence of the Greek tinkering the first two letters "Alpha" and "Beta" were used to name the "Alpha-bet(a)". [ If you were wondering, the Hebrew alphabet is actually called the "Alefbet" after its first two letters "Alef" and "Bet".]   From there a people from northern Italy called the Etruscans took the alphabet and changed it a little more and passed it on to the Romans who set the modern day alphabet into its primary form.

 This is the Greek alphabet, notice the similarities between it and English are there despite the odd looking letters.

     Keep in mind that Arabic does not follow this pattern. Arabic's roots come out of the Semitic languages, such as Hebrew, Phoenician and Canaanite etc. While our alphabet was making its way through the Greek and Latin languages, Arabic and Hebrew were on a completely different path.This shows us that alphabets that look as different as English and Arabic can in fact have the same basis.  Finally another path to consider is Russian. While the Russian alphabet also went from Phoenician into Greek it never made its way through Rome. Somewhere in the 900s A.D. the Christian church in Constantinople sent a missionary named Cyrus to Russia. There he found the people had no written language and he wanted to teach them the Bible in their own tongue. To accomplish this Cyrus formed a new alphabet based on Greek that was its own unique style. This was later dubbed the Cyrillic Alphabet and it explains why Russian looks so foreign to western eyes, but in reality it is pretty close to Greek.

 This is the Hebrew alphabet, which is very close to what the ancient Phoenician would have been like, although languages do tend to change over 4,000 years. Also, the reason the A is on the right is because Hebrew is read from right to left.

I hope you enjoyed our little tour of the alphabet, I have opened up the comments section where anyone can post now as long as you tell the drop down menu "Anonymous". Don't use that as an excuse to not leave your name however. Also feel free to leave questions or thoughts as well.

-Jason
Picture 1 Source      Picture 2 Source