Sabbatical

Posted on October 31, 2010 by Jay F Guin

I’ll shortly be leaving for my mother-in-law’s funeral, which is as good a time as any to declare a pause in the blog. I’ve been going at it for over 3 1/2 years, and the fun has worn off. I don’t know if that’s a sign from God or from old age or just because my wife has barely been home in weeks. Either way, it’s time for a break.

And there’s stuff at church that needs some thought, and stuff at work, and other stuff. So I don’t know how long this will be. Maybe a week. Maybe longer. Maybe forever. Probably not forever. But that’s not my call.

For the first three years, I felt a sense of profound calling. Sometimes I posted two or three times a day. It was fun building a readership and helping to think through and hopefully re-invent Church of Christ theology. But my brain is fried and the energy is gone.

Anyway, I’ve got two or three posts already in the can. And then that’s it. Oh … and the New Wineskins material is written and will post over the next several days over there. Then that will be it for a while. Maybe a short while. Maybe not.

Please join me in prayer as I seek God’s will for whether to continue, quit, slow down, speed up, change directions, or whatever.

Posted in Uncategorized | 34 Comments

The Fork in the Road: The Man or the Plan, Part 11 (Further on Why Faith?)

Posted on October 31, 2010 by Jay F Guin

Paul declares in Gal 5:6 that for Christians, nothing counts for anything other than love and faith in Jesus. We’ve considered why love is so important — it’s because God is working through Jesus to restore us to his image — to make us like God. And God is love — indeed, God is a self-sacrificing, self-emptying love.

And we’ve considered that faith is actually also faithfulness. And we are saved not only through our faith but by the faith/faithfulness of Jesus. Jesus was faithful to God, and so our faith in Jesus matters because it makes us like Jesus, who is the very image of God. To be like Jesus is to be like God is to be restored to God’s image.

But how does Jesus’ faith/faithfulness make him like God? Well, it’s because of God’s righteousness, as I’ll explain. Continue reading →

Posted in Fork in the Road, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

New Wineskins: Two More Articles Posted, by Clyde Symonette and Danny Corbitt

Posted on October 30, 2010 by Jay F Guin

WineskinsbannerThe first six articles in the New Wineskins series on instrumental music have now been posted.

The complete list is —

Introduction — The Instrumental Music Issue, by Jay Guin

On God’s Salvation, Galatians, and the Instrument, by Jay Guin

“Thy Kingdom Come” and the Instrument, by Jay Guin

The Early Church on Christian Music, by Danny Corbitt

Reconsidering Ephesians 5:19, by Clyde Symonette

Psallo: Lost in the Translation, by Danny Corbitt

Reflective or Regulative, by Al Maxey

An Afternoon with Rick Atchley and Chris Seidman, Part 1

An Afternoon with Rick Atchley and Chris Seidman, Part 2

An Afternoon with Rick Atchley and Chris Seidman, Part 3

An Afternoon with Rick Atchley and Chris Seidman, Part 4

Reflections on My Interview with Rick Atchley and Chris Seidman, by Jay Guin

David’s Psalms in the New Testament Church, by Clyde Symonnette

Beyond the Pitch Pipe, by Ryan Christian

And so, In Conclusion, by Jay Guin

Clyde does a great job showing a better, more scriptural understanding of Eph 5:19, and Danny destroy the old psallo argument.

Please make a point of helping to spread the word about this series — among all factions of the Churches of Christ. These articles won’t do much good unless they’re widely read. Post notes in appropriate forums and on your own blogs and otherwise help be sure these articles are noticed. As the next few posts will show, this won’t be just a rehash of the old canned arguments.

Posted in Instrumental Music, New Wineskins Magazine, Uncategorized | 12 Comments

The Fork in the Road: The Man or the Plan, Part 10 (Why Faith?)

Posted on October 29, 2010 by Jay F Guin

It’s not hard to see how learning to love helps us become more like Jesus, which helps us become more like God — and so helps restore us to God’s image, helping to set the world right. Doing it is hard, but the theory should be clear enough. Understanding the centrality of faith, however, is harder. After all, how could Jesus have faith when he’d come from heaven and had seen God himself? How does the idea of faith even come into play when applied to Jesus?

But the scriptures speak repeatedly of the faith of Jesus. Consider —

(Rom 3:21-22a ESV)  21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it — 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

Notice how the English is redundant: “through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.” The Greek is presents an even larger puzzle. “Faith in Jesus Christ” translates  ??????? ????? ???????, that is, “faith of Jesus Christ.” Iesou Christou is plainly “of Jesus Christ.” Literally, the translation should be “the righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ for all who believe.” Indeed, the KJV says,

(Rom 3:22a KJV) Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe:

The KJV translators weren’t idiots. That’s true to the Greek. As were the translators of the Geneva Bible, Tyndale, and Young’s Literal Translation. In fact, the Net Bible translates — Continue reading →

Posted in Fork in the Road, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

In Reply To Matt Dabbs re My “New Wineskins” Post

Posted on October 27, 2010 by Jay F Guin

WineskinsbannerBackground

For readers unfamiliar with the discussion, this begins with an article I posted at New Wineskins: “On God’s Salvation, Galatians, and the Instrument,” in which I wrote —

It’s often been said, by both sides, that the dispute is ultimately all about hermeneutics, and indeed , it is. But the fork in the road is not where we normally say. It’s not really about what the early Christian bishops wrote, nor about the meaning of psall?, nor about how to read the silences of the scriptures. Not really. Of course, those arguments matter and need to be addressed, but they aren’t the core of the disagreement.

It’s really about who God is and his eternal plan for his people. Did God send Jesus to save us to worship a cappella? Or did he have entirely different purposes in mind? That’s the question.

And it’s the most important question in the entire debate. You see, once we decide that God is the sort of God who might damn over a piano, we begin to worry about whether he might also damn over how we use the church treasury, whether women wear hats to church, or whether elders are re-affirmed. Once you envision a God who damns over such things, there’s really no end to the rules that your God might damn you over.

For any student of Restoration Movement history, the fruit of our teaching is seen in our countless divisions. Of course, we aren’t alone. The Baptists and many other denominations are severely divided as well. But that hardly excuses our behavior. Rather, it just tells us that we aren’t alone in our failure to understand who God really is.

Matt Dabbs recently posted an article as his blog “Kingdom Living” stating, Continue reading →

Posted in Instrumental Music, New Wineskins Magazine, Uncategorized | 196 Comments

The Fork in the Road: The Man or the Plan, Part 9 (Why Love?)

Posted on October 27, 2010 by Jay F Guin

To understand God, we must first understand Jesus. And to understand Jesus, we need to consider one of the central passages that explain his work on earth —

(Phi 2:5-11 ESV) 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

This is one of the most important Christological passages in the Bible, because it explains so much of what Jesus is about. It deserves a very extensive treatment. I covered it in some depth in the “Cruciform God” series. And that’s a very, very important series. If you ever feel the urge to read old blog posts, read that series first. It’s powerfully changed my thinking in many areas, and I’m still working to conform my theology to the insights gained in that study. Continue reading →

Posted in Fork in the Road, Uncategorized | 13 Comments

New Wineskins: Another Article Posted: “The Early Church on Christian Music,” by Danny Corbitt

Posted on October 26, 2010 by Jay F Guin

WineskinsbannerThe first four articles in the New Wineskins series on instrumental music have now been posted.

The complete list is —

Introduction — The Instrumental Music Issue, by Jay Guin

On God’s Salvation, Galatians, and the Instrument, by Jay Guin

“Thy Kingdom Come” and the Instrument, by Jay Guin

The Early Church on Christian Music, by Danny Corbitt

Reconsidering Ephesians 5:19, by Clyde Symonette

Psallo: Lost in the Translation, by Danny Corbitt

Reflective or Regulative, by Al Maxey

An Afternoon with Rick Atchley and Chris Seidman, Part 1

An Afternoon with Rick Atchley and Chris Seidman, Part 2

An Afternoon with Rick Atchley and Chris Seidman, Part 3

An Afternoon with Rick Atchley and Chris Seidman, Part 4

Reflections on My Interview with Rick Atchley and Chris Seidman, by Jay Guin

David’s Psalms in the New Testament Church, by Clyde Symonnette

Beyond the Pitch Pipe, by Ryan Christian

And so, In Conclusion, by Jay Guin

I think you’ll agree with me that Danny’s work is extraordinary. I can’t wait to see whether there are any thoughtful counter-arguments. I think his work devastates the historical argument.

Please make a point of helping to spread the word about this series — among all factions of the Churches of Christ. These articles won’t do much good unless they’re widely read. Post notes in appropriate forums and on your own blogs and otherwise help be sure these articles are noticed. As the next few posts will show, this won’t be just a rehash of the old canned arguments.

Posted in Instrumental Music, New Wineskins Magazine, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

The Fork in the Road: The Man or the Plan, Part 8 (Why Faith and Love?)

Posted on October 25, 2010 by Jay F Guin

Well, I’m back from the Smokies. I’m scared to weigh, because I’ve probably gained a mountain’s worth of weight, as the trip was mainly about enjoying East Tennessee cuisine — breakfast especially. Oh, and to watch the UT football game. (Impressive stadium. Great crowd. Very enjoyable fans to hang around with. Tough first half.)

I’ve not had but a moment here or there to log in and check the site and comments. By and large, the discussion has been great. Thanks for the excellent comments — especially in my absence.

I need to dig a bit more into the faith-works issue and the baptism issue, but it’s not time yet. You see, we have to discover a few deep things about the scriptures and God’s redemptive plan so that we’re better equipped to have those discussions. Let me just state what ought to be obvious —

* I’ve read the many passages that speak of the importance of Christian good works. They are inspired, true, and ought to be obeyed. That’s not in dispute. Rather, the hard question is fitting them into a theology that keeps us from building a humanistic, self-centered religion on them. We’re heading there.

* I’ve read the many passages that speak of the importance of Christian baptism. They are inspired, true, and ought to be obeyed. That’s not in dispute. Rather, the hard question is fitting them into a theology that keeps us from building a humanistic, self-centered religion on them. We’re heading there. Continue reading →

Posted in Fork in the Road, Uncategorized | 9 Comments

On Pronouncing “Guin”

Posted on October 24, 2010 by Jay F Guin

Guin Saga Vol. 1 in French.I’ve had a reader ask me how to pronounce “Guin.” Well, just like it’s spelled. The “u” is long. The “i” is really a schwa — symbolized with that upside-down e thingy. I’m trying to find a font set that let’s me show this. Try this: GY?-?n or GYOO-en.

It’s not hard to pronounce, or wouldn’t be except for the fact the GYOO sound is rarely used in English. We do FYOO as in “few.” So the use of a consonant followed by a “y” sound is common enough, but not with a “g.”

It’s not GWIN as in Guinn, Gwin, or Gwinn. Nor is it GOO-en, which sounds too, you know, gooey.

We actually have a family branch that spells it Gewin, in hopes of avoiding the inevitable mispronunciations. The theory, I suppose, is that the similarities of the “Gew-” to “few” would make it obvious. Bad theory.

Around here (West Alabama), it’s a fairly common name. There’s a town called Guin (I’m not from there) and a neighboring town called Gu-Win — because it’s between Guin and Winfield. Really. Gu-Win is pronounced GYOO – WIN. It’s all very confusing.

The origin of the name is lost to history. I have some relatives who are amateur genealogists, and they think it’s contracted from a French name, like maybe Gauguin. Which doesn’t remotely explain the pronunciation.

PS — I just discovered the Guin Sagas. It’s a Japanese anime series. I suspect that Japanese pronounce it quite another way entirely — but it’s a cool picture. (Just hope the Japanese words aren’t profane or anything.)

Posted in Uncategorized | 8 Comments

New Wineskins: Another Article Posted: “They Kingdom Come and the Instrument” by Jay Guin

Posted on October 24, 2010 by Jay F Guin

WineskinsbannerThe first three articles in the New Wineskins series on instrumental music have now been posted.

The complete list is —

Introduction — The Instrumental Music Issue, by Jay Guin

On God’s Salvation, Galatians, and the Instrument, by Jay Guin

“Thy Kingdom Come” and the Instrument, by Jay Guin

The Early Church on Christian Music, by Danny Corbitt

Reconsidering Ephesians 5:19, by Clyde Symonette

Psallo: Lost in the Translation, by Danny Corbitt

Reflective or Regulative, by Al Maxey

An Afternoon with Rick Atchley and Chris Seidman, Part 1

An Afternoon with Rick Atchley and Chris Seidman, Part 2

An Afternoon with Rick Atchley and Chris Seidman, Part 3

An Afternoon with Rick Atchley and Chris Seidman, Part 4

Reflections on My Interview with Rick Atchley and Chris Seidman, by Jay Guin

David’s Psalms in the New Testament Church, by Clyde Symonnette

Beyond the Pitch Pipe, by Ryan Christian

And so, In Conclusion, by Jay Guin

You be pleased to know that the next several articles will be by other authors. I think I’ll likely skip posting here on the days a New Wineskins article shows up, to give the readers time to focus on the new material over there.

Please make a point of helping to spread the word about this series — among all factions of the Churches of Christ. These articles won’t do much good unless they’re widely read. Post notes in appropriate forums and on your own blogs and otherwise help be sure these articles are noticed. As the next few posts will show, this won’t be just a rehash of the old canned arguments.

Posted in Instrumental Music, New Wineskins Magazine, Uncategorized | 1 Comment