When doing a little research for my dad in Acts chapter 6 I read the first part through verse 7 where the apostles appointed men to oversee the distribution of bread so that they could concentrate on the service of the word and prayer. This is often said to be where the deaconate was established.

However the word ‘diakonos’, meaning ‘servant’, is never used in this passage. It’s cognates ‘diakonew’ (to serve) and ‘diakonia’ (service) are used. Steven and his pals were to ‘diakoneiv’ the tables (v.2). And the Apostles were to give themselves to the ‘diakonia’ of the word (v.4). Also, in verse one, the service of the tables is called the ‘diakonia’.

So if both the service of tables and the service of the Word are ‘diakoniai’ then why are only the servers of tables called deacons? Why aren’t elders rather called deacons as well and the deaconate split into two branches; physical service and the service of the Word? Both of them do service of intercession.

The separation between Church and State is as firm a doctrine in America as the Trinity is in Christianity. The Church as a visible orginization must surely remain seperate from the State; the two instititions are given entirely different tasks in this world and to mix them ends up weakening one or the other.

However, every Christian has a different application of that principle in daily life and politics. Some understand this principle to mean that a Christian should not be involved in politics. I understand this view point to be a confusion between the church government and the true church. In fact the separation is not between the spiritual church and the State, but between the government of the Church and the government of the State. For the true church is the collective body of all those whose lives are controled by Christ and who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. One cannot separate this sort of pervasive faith from one’s life in politics or anything else.

So why am I studying for finals? Theoretically a test, and especially a final, should be simply a reiteration of what has been taught in class or read in the text book. It is simply a way to determine if a student is progressing academically at a satisfactory rate.

In this case, there should never be cumulative finals. A course grade should be an assesment of the cumulative participation and production of a student throughout the semester.

Whereas in reality a final only shows a students ability to retain information studied the day before in frantic effort to grasp those essential bits of information for the test.

Maybe I should ditch college and get a real education.

In response to Lora

What God wants us to know of his will he has already revealed; what we ask to know concerning our calling he has already given. The problem is that we do not take seriously what he has revealed to be his will, and we often do not recognize the freedom that we have to use what he has given.

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If time only exists insofar as it can be measured, then it is not too difficult to imagine the absence of time. For certainly in eternity there is movement and succession of events.

It is written in Genesis that the heavenly bodies were placed to measure dates and seasons–that is, time. So the absence of time is not something mystical if it simply means that there is no repetition or cycle by which to define it.

All this is but vain speculation.

If time is the succession of physical events, i.e., if all motion should stop then time also would be suspended, then it is not too difficult of a problem to understand that there was no time before creation. For as soon as God commands that something physical ‘be’, and it ‘is’, then time begins. For otherwise there is no physical motion to be time.

IF you’re reading this it must mean that you find some value in the recently discovered pastime of blogging. Personally I never was one to surf the internet in search of random information/entertainment. But the blogging culture seems to have quickly become one of ‘clicks.’ It seems that people have certain blogs they go to, be they about news, or interests, or friends or just plain hot air.

I am incouraged that Americans have again seen the value of a public forum with the free exchange of ideas, but it seems that blogs have become more of a means of exclusivism that open exchange. We go to those blogs that are related to where we are in life, unwittingly bypassing the wealth of information that could help jolt us out of our comfort zone and come face to face with ideas that make us uncomfortable. It in effect blinds us to what is happening in other parts of society. Whereas traditionally when we browse the newspaper we can’t help but come across any range of topics within our society.

Finally, many blogs serve what we seem to have an insatiable desire for: random bits of information and opinion that have very little meaning outside of thier narrow context–often meant purely for entertainment. For this reason on my blog I attempt not to gain a ‘following,’ nor to entertain, but to perhaps provoke a bit of edifying thought on some more universally implicit topics in the midst of a hectic day. A futile endeavor in modern American culture? Perhaps, but I haven’t given up yet.

In response to comments on part 1.

When trying to deal responsibly with our money and seeking a standard for how to handle debt, it takes more (or less?) than a set of new rules: we have to completely revolutionize our perspective.

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