Jeff Purswell

"No one should never leave one of your messages more aware of what they need to do than what Jesus has done."

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Neutral euphemisms commonly used for sin

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The Youngs Visit!

1. Jacob faking it
   
2. The Youngs
   
3. Jenny singing to me!
4. Jenny and Michelle
   
5. Jace and Jacob... being Jace and Jacob
6. Jace making Jacob give him a fist punch
7. Jace enthusiastically endorsing Jacob
8. Jace and Jacob

Thanks for visiting!

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Why study Greek?

The New Testament was originally written in Greek (mostly). I'm currently studying Greek in school, and am beginning to appreciate the need to understand the original language. Here's an example we looked at in class today.

Philippians 3:8 (ESV)  Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.

Rubbish? Let's look this word up.

American Heritage Dictionary: refuse, garbage, foolish discourse, nonsense

Digging deeper --

Thayer’s Greek Lexicon:  Any refuse as the excrement of animals. Worthless and detestable.

Friberg Lexicon:  [The Greek for "rubbish" is] anything that is to be treated as worthless and thrown out; translated according to the context: dung, rubbish, garbage, offscourings.

And even deeper --

New Theological Dictionary of the New Testament:

The Greek World: 
  -  “dung,” muck, both as excrement and also as “fodder that has gone bad.”
  -  Sometimes used to denote things that have gone bad, ex a half eaten corpse.

Use in Hellenistic Judaism: 
  -  In writings used to tell how the inhabitants of the city besieged by Titus had to search sewers and dung for something to eat.

Use in The New Testament: 
  -  “I count them all as dung” Phil 3:8
  -  The choice of the vulgar term stresses the force of totality of this renunciation. 
  -  To the degree that the law is used in self justification, it serves the flesh and is not just worthless but noxious and even abhorrent.

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To take the soul to task

“It were an easy thing to be a Christian, if religion stood only in a few outward works and duties, but to take the soul to task, and to deal roundly with our own hearts, and to let conscience have its full work, and to bring the soul into spiritual subjection unto God, this is not so easy a matter, because the soul out of self-love is loath to enter into itself, lest it should have other thoughts of itself than it would have.”  –Richard Sibbes

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Get at the HEART

Taken from PC Class on Biblical Fellowship, with Kenneth Maresco, on getting at the heart in group meetings:

It’s common for group members to want to move toward practical help or superficial change without addressing the heart’s response to their circumstances.     

 

>> Example <<

Concern: “They’ve been making some big layoffs at work lately and I’m pretty sure my department is next.  I find myself preoccupied with losing my job and wondering how I’m going to pay my mortgage.”

 

Superficial response #1: “My company has been hiring lately, and I think they’ll have need for people with your background.”  (This may be helpful at a later time, but it does not address the heart.)

 

Superficial response #2: “Are you reading your Bible before you go to work in the morning?  I read through the Bible every year, and I find that making this my daily practice really helps me with the stress of the job.”  (A wonderful practice, but it does not adequately apply the Word to this specific situation and the response of the heart to it.)

 

Superficial response #3: “The Bible says, ‘My God shall provide all your needs…’  You just have to trust him.”  (Again, true and good, but to find this trust, we have to dig deeper into who God is, how we fail to believe him, how we need to discard our false beliefs and then lay hold of his marvelous promises.)

 

Getting to the heart:  “What exactly do you fear?…Who is the Lord in this situation?…How does your fear reflect on your functional belief about God?” (This is the best help a group can give in that it gets to the heart, helps root out fear that may grow from pride and a denial of who God is, and cultivates faith in the character and promises of God.)

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The American Prosperity Gospel

John Pipers view on the prosperity gospel:

<p>John Piper's view on The Prosperity Gospel from Jared Duba on Vimeo.</p>

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WSJ: The Stimulus Didn't Work

The Wall Street Journal claims that the $787 billion stimulus package hasn't worked (at least thus far). Their research appears compelling.

They include a helpful graph (above).
- DPI: Disposable Personal Income (total amount of income people have left to spend after they pay taxes and receive transfers from the government)
- PCE: Personal Consumption Expenditures (comprehensive measure of how much consumers)

Conclusion:

"Incoming data will reveal more in coming months, but the data available so far tell us that the government transfers and rebates have not stimulated consumption at all, and that the resilience of the private sector following the fall 2008 panic--not the fiscal stimulus program--deserves the lion's share of the credit for the impressive growth improvement from the first to the second quarter. As the economic recovery takes hold, it is important to continue assessing the role played by the stimulus package and other factors. These assessments can be a valuable guide to future policy makers in designing effective policy responses to economic downturns."

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The cross dominates everything

James Denney:

Scripture converges on the doctrine of the atonement... The cross dominates everything. It interprets everything. It puts all things in their true relations to each other.

 

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The Voyage of Life

On our visit to the National Gallery of Art, Jenny and I were struck by a narrative exhibit of Thomas Cole's The Voyage of Life. Wikipedia offers a good explanation of this work:

The Voyage of Life series, painted by Thomas Cole in 1840, is a series of paintings that represent an allegory of the four stages of human life: childhood, youth, manhood, and old age. The paintings follow a voyager who travels in a boat on a river through the mid-1800s American wilderness. In each painting, accompanied by a guardian angel, the voyager rides the boat on the River of Life. The landscape, corresponding to the seasons of the year, plays a major role in telling the story. In each picture, the boat's direction of travel is reversed from the previous picture. In childhood, the infant glides from a dark cave into a rich, green landscape. As a youth, the boy takes control of the boat and aims for a shining castle in the sky. In manhood, the adult relies on prayer and religious faith to sustain him through rough waters and a threatening landscape. Finally, the man becomes old and the angel guides him to heaven across the waters of eternity.

Every detail in these four paintings is there for a purpose: the lighting of the scene, the location of the guardian angel, the shape or condition of the boat, the movement of the river, the scenery of the landscape, etc. Enjoy viewing Cole's allegory:

1. The Voyage of Life: Childhood
   
2. The Voyage of Life: Youth
3. The Voyage of Life: Manhood
4. The Voyage of Life: Old Age

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Burger Time?

Jenny use to love playing Intellivision.

Jenny use to be obsessed with the game Burger Time.

Click here if you want to play Burger Time (for free)!

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$100,000,000 Date

Jenny and I recently visited The National Gallery of Art, in downtown D.C. As we toured the beautiful building and saw all kinds of treasures, we found ourselves back in some tucked away corner of the West Building. There was a small crowd of people in a little room, gathered closely around a few small paintings. As we approached, a guard proudly informed us that we were looking at four of only thirty-five paintings of the famous Johannes Vermeer. The guard then told us, nearly in a whisper, that just one of these paintings was worth somewhere close to $100,000,000!! Imagine our surprise - no, shock! In that tiny room, we were standing amidst multiple hundreds of millions of dollars!

We crowded close to see, and what we saw was indeed beautiful (apparently Vermeer was a master with his use of light), but could it be worth all that much? We pretended what it would be like if the museum decided to just give us one of the paintings. What would we do with it? Hang it somewhere in our basement apartment? Display for all to see? It would make such a conversation starter. "Oh yes, why that painting is from Bed, Bath and Beyond, we paid $50 for it! But over here, you'll find an actual 18th century masterpiece; a Vermeer original!" No, that wouldn't do. We figured the most beneficial thing to do (for us, the painting, and the public at large) would be to sell it to a museum (maybe for a discounted price).

1. National Gallery of Art
2. Vermeer - Girl with the Red Hat  
3. Vermeer - Girl with a Flute
   
4. Vermeer - Women Holding a Balance 
   
5. Vermeer - A Lady Writing   
6. Rearing Horse and Mounted Warrior - attributed to Da Vinci
   

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Sean & Candice Visit!

1. Sean and Candice on the Metro to DC
2. Jenny preaching in the Metro (... well, not really)
3. Close up of Jace Jr.
4. Sean & Candice in front of Congress (right before Sean went in and told them how to do their jobs - thanks Sean!)
5. Mr. & Mrs. Cool 
6. Sweet picture
7. In front of the Washington Monument
8. Hello President Obama (we waved)
9. Bobby's Crabcakes
   
10. Oh so good!

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A date to Old City Arlington

Last week, Jenny and I made our way down to Arlington, VA to visit their Old City district. It was beautiful and a wonderful day! Here are a few highlight pictures.

1. Lunch at Bilbo Baggin's ("One Cafe to Rule Them All!")
2. Inside Bilbo's
3. The Christmas Attic; a year round Christmas shop (they didn't have the one snow-globe I'm hunting for)
4. Pregnant Jenny, taking a breather
   
5. Christ Church, where George Washington and Robert E. Lee once worshiped (we sat in Washington's pew)
6. Inside Christ Church (what a pulpit!)
7. A huge monument to George Washington
   
8. Surprise!!! (I totally caught Jenny off guard with this shot!)

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Let us wonder...

Let us wonder; grace and justice join and point to mercy's store;
When through grace in Christ our trust is, justice smiles and asks no more!

- John Newton 1774

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Dave Harvey Quote

"What I'm a part of is bigger than the part I play.”

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First week of classes

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PC Class of 2010

This past Sunday, our PC class was introduced at Covenant Life Church. This church is absolutely amazing! We have been so warmly received. They go out of their way to make us feel at home and to demonstrate their support. I don't know what this year would be like if all these saints were not fiercely committed to praying for us.

Jenny and I are just so grateful.

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