More Luke Puzzling (Luke 12-14)

Luke 12:10
First of all, the idea of something not being forgivable is pretty scary.  Second, assuming that 'speaking a word against' and 'blaspheming against' mean the same thing (is this a reasonable assumption?), then the distinction between forgivable and unforgivable must lie in the difference between the Son of Man and the Holy Spirit.  What differences between the two would account for such an act being forgivable or not?


Luke 12:22-31
This is quite a charge from God.  What do most people spend their entire adult lives doing?  Working feverishly to sustain themselves.  Here God is challenging us to make Him our number one priority, and leave everything else to fall in place according to His plans for us.  It's definitely not easy to release control of our most basic needs, like what we're gonna eat tomorrow.

The challenge that follows in verse 33 is just as epic yet incredibly simple: sell all your stuff and give to those who don't have what they need.  God doesn't make any distinctions here.  He dosen't say, "Ok, everyone making more than $100,000 annually, give away 1/2 of your things; everyone making $50,000 to $100,000, give away 1/3 of your things; and if you make under $50,000, just don't worry about it."  No, He is talking to everyone.  How many people do you see living this way?  Hmm, almost none.  Is this another case of Christians taking what they like from the Bible and ignoring or justifying the things they don't?  It's easy to forget (or intentionally put aside) the fact the Christianity is a messy thing.  I think Audio Adrenaline puts it nicely. (listen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V64PUT0ix4o)


Tired of being clean
sick of being proper
I want to live among the beggers
and dig out in the dirt
step outside the walls we built to protect us
don't be afraid to get some mud on your face
come on come on everybody
come on come on and serve some one
Let's get dirty! let's get used,
no matter where you come from,
if your beatten up or brused,
let's get foolish, let's get free,
free to be the one thing, you were meant to be,
let's get dirty!
You might get a bruse
or some blisters on your fingers
you might start to question
or wonder what it's worth
you might slip and fall from the burdens that you carry
but you can't have this treasure till you dig it from the dirt.


Luke 12:49-53
This is one of those verses that, at first glance, makes you go "Uh...what the...".  Then you flip the Bible upside-down and see if it makes mor sense that way.  Here's an interesting sermon on the topic: http://www.sanfranciscoucc.org/Sermon13.htm


Luke 13:5
Asking for forgiveness is not enough.  Repentence is also required...not an option! 


Luke 14:5
The phrasing here is pretty amusing...almost seems to put the son and the ox at the same level of importance :)


Luke 14:25-33
The cost of discipleship is pretty high.  Sort of reminds you of selling all your stuff and giving to the poor, no?  Are you sensing a theme here with the poor?  Seems to be pretty important to me!


Luke 14:34
As a chemist, this verse is somewhat troublesome.  How can salt (assuming we're talking about sodium chlroide salt here) lose its taste if it is but a single compound?  There is nothing in salt to give it its taste.  The taste is simply a consequence of its existence.  Ok ok, I'm just being difficult here.  Sorry :)

Cudgle your brain in Luke!

For reference, now and in the future, all comments will be referring to the English Standard Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.  It's my favorite right now.


Luke 9:44-45
The concept of meaning being concealed from some, while being made known to others comes up quite often.  Why would God intentionally cause somone to be unable to understand something that he has allowed them to hear, especially when it concerns the truth of Christ?


Luke 9:51-56
I find it funny that the disciples would ask Jesus, the very one who granted them authority in the first place, if they should destroy the Samaritan village for rejecting Jesus.  Jesus was right there with them...if he wanted it done he could have easily done it himself.  It's almost as if the disciples were beginning to take joy in their power and wanted every excuse to exercise it...as if they were disappointed in the mercy of Jesus on the town and hoped to sway him in his decision.  But of course Jesus rebukes them (what a great word "rebuke" is) and puts them in their place.  One more thing: does this passage imply that the disciples had in fact previously called down fire upon a village?  Yikes.  I don't remember that authority being given in the first part of the chapter. 


Luke 10:1
Who are these seventy two and how are they different than the twelve (given authority and sent out in Luke 9:1-6)?  What is the significance of two disticnt groups accomplishing seemily identical goals?  Jesus instructs both groups similarly as to how they are to travel and where they should stay.  He also gives them both authority to cast out demons, however, the disciples are able to heal and no mention is made of the 72 having such authority.  I'm too lazy to look now, but perhaps the other gospels provide more insight.


Luke 11:24-26
This passage is just plain eerie and uncomfortable.  What is it trying to convey and how does that apply to our lives now?  It could simply be describing the constant nagging of sins we've overcome (or thus far managed to resist), and the doubling of efforts by the enemy.  For such a simple concept though, there is a lot of specific description given to the travels of the unclean spirit.  What's the significance here?


Luke 11:29-32
I won't get into it here, but the sign of Jonah is pretty interesting.  Look it up on google and see what sort of articles come up.  If you happen to start reading something about how the sign of Jonah disproves Christ's claims in the Bible, then you're in for some good reading.  Follow up by finding the counter to that argument...even better reading :)

A question for established bloggers:

You may have noticed a lack of activity here the past couple weeks.  While there are no new posts (aside from this one now), I have been working on and saving some drafts of future posts (including one on humbleness and one on entertainment).  Is this typical in the blog world?  I would think most bloggers blog in a "type what comes to mind" sort of way, instead of attempting to  devise calculated, thoroughly established thoughts.  Please correct me if I'm wrong.


And to not disappoint, I will in fact, as alluded to in my first post, make mention of zombies.  If you didn't notice Keith's comment, he found a wonderful picture while searching for this blog.

The title of this blog actually comes from a song I wrote awhile back and is in no way related to zombies.  However, the fact that google associates the two is wonderful beyond belief.  

I've discovered that I can't listen to music and do anything useful at the same time.

Example A: I spent yesterday morning baking sweet rolls (an unusual activity for me, I assure you).  However, the music that I had blaring during my baking seemed to invoke more dancing and singing from me than mixing of ingredients. 

Example B: I've spent the past hour attempting to write this first post, all the while listening to some Audio Adrenaline.  In that hour I wrote a grand total of 0 words.  Now, five minutes after I turned off the music, I am this far.  Direct correlation?  I think so.

Example C: Katrina would probably tell you that I often drift in and out of conversation anytime music is present.

I had every intention of not starting this blog with any sort of introduction, but rather diving straight into the gory details of my heart's brains.  However, it does seem a very fitting introduction; the relationship between Music and myself.  Where to begin....

We've been dating for about 20 years now...and yes, we've had our ups and downs. For example, there was a time when I just had no desire to practice the piano anymore.  Lack of preparation made lessons painful, and I only wanted to play what I wanted to play.  More recently, I've been having a hard time finding creative ways to communicate with Music...my fingers seem to play the same riffs every time I pick up the guitar, and when I open my mouth the same meaningless phrases come out.  But working through times like these provides immense opportunity for growth.  I know I learned a lot about our relationship during that time, though I can't speak for the piano....or the guitar.  Music and I have actually talked about marriage, but honestly, she demands a rather unusual and rigorous lifestyle so I've put that idea to rest (no pun intended, ok maybe it was) for the time being.  However, we've been on an upswing the past few weeks, so who knows where we'll end up.  

All this to say that music has been and will always be (provided that God is OK with that) a central part of my life.  I can't remember a time of my life that didn't revolve around music in some way, whether it was playing at church, accompanying choruses, writing silly songs for classes, or recording albums with a band.  I find it to be the easiest way to express myself, whether by listening to it or by making it.  And speaking of making it, keep an eye out on the music player on the right side of the blog.  That will have any new recordings I find the time to make.

For not having wanted to write an introduction, I've managed to ramble quite a bit.  Do not expect my next post to be anything like this.  In fact, expect the next post to be a short list of verses from Matthew and possibly II Corinthians each with accompanying questions/comments.  That is, in fact, my true intention for this blog.  It's a way for me to focus my thoughts as I read the through the Bible and to glean insight from the wisdom and experience of others.  Having said that, open discussion via comments is greatly encouraged.  Think of it like an interactive web based Bible study. 

Be warned, however, that despite the intention of the blog, I will likely be unable to resist occasional commentaries regarding chemistry, audio, or things even more bizarre like giant squid or zombies (the real ones, not those lighting fast, moderately intelligent infected creatures from 21 Days Later...although they're cool too).

Guten Nacht