Proverbs 8:Preeminence of Wisdom and Rewards

Dang, I've had a crazy couple of days! haha. Some really exciting stuff happen like finding my future apartment for me and my future wife and beginning to move stuff in, and having some sleeping/tiredness/school problems. But, God's got my back, so i'm alright. But those are all the excuses why i haven't blogged in a while, plus i've decided to not blog over the weekends. I totally still read though, and Chapter 5 has been my favorite so far! Quick thought; I find it really cool how Wisdom is being personified in the Proverbs, that maybe it isn't just an idea or concept, but a real being along with the Trinity. Most scholars think so. One scholar Marcus Borg (super liberal theology, but still very helpful) tells us that Wisdom is a feminine persona, translated to Sophia in the Hebrew. "Sophia" is the word for wisdom in Hebrew, but as we all know it's also a name. That's kinda cool

But anyway, on to Chapter 8. The thing that really rocked me this morning was reading verse 22-31.

"The Lord formed me from the beginning, before he created anything else. I was appointed in ages past, at the very first, before the earth began" v.22-23

"I (Wisdom) was the architect at his side. " v.30

This is really evolving my thoughts about Sophia/Wisdom. She isn't just a concept God created along with everything else. She isn't like goodness, or judgement, or faith. No, in fact, Sophia maybe HELPED CREATE those concepts! This Proverb is telling us that Wisdom was the FIRST thing they created, and they created her as a persona kinda like them, whom i'm gonna call Sophia throughout the rest of this blog. This Proverb is basically adding more detail to our view of Creation. In Genesis 1, there definitely is a "we" involved in the creating, but we use to just picture God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. But now we have to add another person to the list, it's God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, and Sophia! Sorry if those last three sentences basically said the same thing over and over again, but it's something i'm trying to fix into my brain. Sophia was there in the beginning, she's seen it all, and that has to mean she had a hand in creating me. Sooooo, if I ever had doubt in the power or cred of Sophia Wisdom Christ (that's my poor attempt at giving her a full name, haha. that wasn't blasphemous was it?) then I betta recognize! She knows what she's talking about. As these first couple chapters have been asking, i just need to humbly submit to her and like a student be taught by her. And the whole thing brought up about fearing the the Lord, that's heavy in my mind as well.

In this chapter i also feel like Solomon listed the rewards of listening to Sophia, i wanted to list them, to kinda get a sense of what i'm striving for in this (verses 12-21):

-good judgement

-knowledge

-discernment

-common sense

-success (the Christ centered kind)

-insight

-strength

-riches (again, the CCK)

-honor

-justice

Dang yo, that janke is tight! I want ALL OF IT! This for me right now, is a total "it's so fluffy i'm gonna die!!!!" moment. I love God, I love Sophia, and i want to make them proud and represent them right in our world. So I continue to pray that as I seek, then i will find them both (there's that paradox again Heather, i feel it!). And i promise, I didn't put that list up there because i think yall are dumb, this honestly is the way that i take notes for my personal memory. If we weren't blog sharing our thoughts, i would of done the same thing in my personal journal. I'm not sure if that's good or bad....haha. Yessssssss Lord

Proverbs 4: Being Teachable

I feel like i'm sensing a kinda pattern to how these Provbers are being written: The first couple verses deal with that chapter's main point, then he talks about how awesome that point is to Wisdom (it's rewards for you), then he warns you about the consequences if you don't adapt his main point, and then finishes with practical things to do or not to do in order to attain the main point. So far i've always felt like the most important verses to me were near the front of the chapters, and i was like "dang, i really am reading these things! Why am i not finding such impacting in the middle!" And this pattern i've thought up is probably wrong, just an observation i believe i've mad.

The main point of Proverbs 4 is the challenge to be a good student of Wisdom, to be teachable, like a son is taught by his father. We believe that some of these Proverbs are Solomon writing directly to his son, giving him words to hold on to for the future so he could also be a God-fearing and hearing king. I don't think it worked out so well, i'm pretty sure that Scripture tells us Solomon's son that takes the throne next turns out to be a really bad dude. But anyway, Solomon says in verse 1 "listen as your father corrects you. Pay attention and learn...for I am giving you good guidance". If i'm not mistaken, in Jewish worship, the scriptures were read aloud in huge chunks at a time, so i believe this call to refocus was good and helpful. Imagine being in church and somebody was reading to you Proverbs 1-5 straight through, not stopping or expounding. I feel like even i would even start to let my mind wonder. But at this point, whoever is reading should be shouting a little at you these words "Listen!......Pay attention!....I am giving you good advice!". Cause it is, obviously. I think we, especially as young people brush off good advice for a lot of different little reasons. Because somebody we don't really like said it, or because we've heard it too many times. None of those things make it any less good and helpful, so we need to refocus on it. I mean, isn't it true that sometimes when your parents give you advice and you'll think it's crazy and not listen, but somebody else could say the exact thing and you'll realize (most often angrily) your parents were right all along, and you just didn't wanna admit it?

So if we are humble enough to be teachable, and be good students in Wisdom class, then we'll be crazily blessed by the Lord (not in the lotta money lotta stuff way, but the Holy Spirit kinda way). I love verse 7, i read the NLT, and it translates that verse as "Getting Wisdom is the wisest thing you can do!", haha! that's an exact quote from my Bible, no lie. How awesome is that?!? Solomon urges us to "take hold of my instructions, don't let them go". Dang yo, not just in Wisdom, but in following Christ as a whole, if we did that...the way God would work through us to impact the world would be intoxicating.

Practical application of this point i believe is just to really be listening and learning from all the "teachers" you have in your life, spiritual ones for sure and the good just life coaches that we have. That could mean parents, pastors, good friends, or even your actual school teachers (yeah right, everybody knows only some college professors are really that cool) ;). I totally believe in the power of tutorship, and being mentored. I am soooo blessed that God has put a dozen different people in my life that i can learn from. I often say that i'm a "student of many rabbis", mostly because i especially need that to grow, but also i guess because Scriptures wisely advices us to. Find a mentor of some sort, make it legit, and follow through and learn from somebody. Amen?!? Amen

Proverbs 3 (and a little 2): My First Tension

I had a crazy Wednesday, so I didn't have time to post my thoughts on chapter 2, but i'll keep it brief. All throughout the chapter it was talking about all the things that Wisdom will save us from; evil people and bad situations basically. And idk if i'm crazy, but this automatically made me think about testimonies. I grew up in the church, and all other church kids like me always say "man, i have a lame testimony". And we all envied the books our youth leaders would make us read about these people who had to hit rock bottom personally before they ever turned to Christ, and then from then onward they lived these exemplary lives. We ignorantly said to each other, "man, their hard times were soooo cool, that's a good testimony". I actually think that Chapter 2 lets us know that God doesn't necessarily want it to get that bad before we turn to him. Not to discredit anybody's spiritual journey, but i think if God had a choice, he would want us walking as closely to him as we can, taking on his Wisdom so we can avoid some of those dark experiences. Church kids will have their own struggles that will build their faith, take pride in your testimonies, they are important to God and to your evangelism later in life. As a psych major, i'm cooking up this analysis of the different cognitive experiences of Christians who have grown up in the church vs. Christians who have not. It could be good, it could be bad. TBD on that one, haha

Now, Proverbs 3. Reading this chapter i experienced some of the tension i was talking about in my first post on Proverbs. So please all yall reading, correct me if i'm wrong. But do verses 1-2 sound a little misleading to yall from our Christian standpoint?:

"My child, never forget the things i have taught you. Store my commands in your heart. If you do this, you will live many years and your life will be satisfying." NLT

Really? Following God will bring me long life and satisfaction? Yeah, it will, but i'm not sure that's necessarily the promise God gives us through Christ. What about Jesus' words in Mark 10:21-22:

"a brother will betray his brother to death, a father will betray his own child, and children will rebel against their parents and cause them to be killed. And all nations will hate you because you are my followers. But everyone who endures to the end will be saved."

That doesn't sound too "satisfying" to me. And didn't almost all of Jesus' disciples suffer young and gruesome deaths? Scripture tells of James being stabbed to death (Acts 12:2) and Stephen being stoned (Acts 7: 59-60). If you wanna see how hard the Apostle Paul's life was, take a look at 2 Timothy. You'll see Paul, the spearhead of the early Jesus movement, sitting in jail awaiting his execution alone, and although full of faith and purpose in our God, a little bummed (2 Timothy 4:9-18 gives you a good intro to his situation).

I know that was a lot of stuff; passages taken a little out of their contexts, and ill formatted, but I put it there to remind us of the suffering that's involved with following Christ. I have no idea what a Korean Christian felt reading that passage in Proverbs, when a dozen of them are huddled together reading one Bible that they all share because Bibles are illegal in their area (or at least one time were, it's been a while since i read about the plight of Korean Christians). And that if ANYONE saw them reading it, they would be shot dead on the spot. Ya know? Of course i'm not saying that Solomon is wrong in his sentiment here, that would be prideful of myself. But i'm asking us ponder how to reconcile verses like Proverbs 3:1-2 and Mark 10:21-22. If we as Christians believe that following God equals "long life and satisfaction", what would that make our Christianity look like?

Instantly the thoughts that came to mind were, well it's just a difference between Jewish and Christian thought. Or maybe it all depends on what you mean by the word "satisfying", because of course giving of yourself and sacrificing for God definitely is satisfying to those who love Jesus. Or maybe i'm thinking too hard, and misreading this point of wisdom. I've thought through a million possibilities already. So I've been and will be thinking all day about how this sentiment from Solomon is applicable in my walk. So yeah, please, tell me....what do you guys think about this?

~Jamal

Proverbs Project: My thoughts on The Proverbs and Proverbs 1

Disclaimer: I'm typing almost exactly what i thought about this morning so i can better remember it, so i'm not going into so much detail cause i think you guys don't know it, i just really wanna remember how i felt this morning! haha

So, whenever i read the Proverbs, i think it's important to remember a couple different contextual things about them to get the life application out of them. Like, they're all written from a Jewish perspective, so i feel like a lot of our important Christian principles of course get left out of the writings (like evangelism, see verses 1:8-19). Also, the words of the Proverbs are conventional wisdom, idealistic wisdom, "wisdom of the perfect world" as i often think of them. And since we don't live in a perfect world, a lot of the time i personally feel a tension when reading the Proverbs. Like "i'm sorry Solomon, i'm not sure what it was like when you were alive, but that's not how things work out for me!", as if i'm really worthy of questioning anything Solomon says, haha. The main mistake i've made in reading the Proverbs is at times i treat them like a formula, that if i do exactly what they say that will automatically lead me straight to a deeper relationship with God, which isn't true. Relationship with God is multi-faceted, similar to relationship with the important people in our lives. But what the Proverbs are is a insight into the life changing wisdom of our God, which if we take seriously in studying and acquiring it amongst other things in our spiritual lives will draw closer to our Creator.

Now, onto what i thought about Proverbs 1. The most striking thing i read in the chapter was right at the beginning where Solomon says that the purpose of these writing is for people to live "disciplined and successful lives" (1:3 NLT). Discipline, it's something that so many of us (including myself) are lacking. Most people get angry about discipline with God, they say things like "you can't make my relationship with God about "obligation". Let it flow!". Now, take that sentiment and apply it to your girlfriend or boyfriend or spouse. "Honey, what's wrong? You mean, I HAVE to call you everyday? I'm obligated to be with and talk with you on a somewhat regular basis? I'm supposed to defend you in a fight? Whoooooaaaaaa, just let it flowwwwwww" Doesn't sound like such a good plan, does it? Whether you are aware of it or not, you have discipline in your close relationships. Don't you have a sort of schedule of meet ups and hang outs with your friends? Do you have a friend who lives in a different city, and you try to talk at least once a week or see each other every other weekend? If we think about it, most of us do. It's not a negative sense, it's just a natural way of keeping close to our loved friends in our crazy hectic lives. So doing the same with God is important, because a lot of the time if we don't then he'll fall to the wayside. There are several different list of spiritual disciplines: the obvious like prayer, solitude, Bible reading. and the more obscure like celebration, strength through suffering, and sexuality. Stephen Poore is doing a really good series on the Spiritual Disciplines, and that's what i've been concentrating on for the past month. Again, it's not to figure out a formula, but just to get familiar enough with my God to where his Spirit can properly and easily move in my life and i'll be aware of it. And it gets me hype that Solomon tells us that discipline is part of the path to wisdom, cause I definitely need some wisdom in my life to help me through life's obstacles.

my "why i deserve this scholarship money!" essay

I am extremely proud to announce that i won $500 of scholarship money this week! Merry early Christmas to me! It's through a student financial aid assistance group called "The College Place", and they have them at several colleges including VCU of course. The solitary essay question to answer was "why do you feel you deserve this scholarship?", which i think is very awkward. "Ok scholarship people, this is why i'm more broke and more charity worthy than the other people applying to this thing...". With the help of Maria, i think came out is a good goals list for the next 5 years of my life,wanna help me keep them? Here is the essay i wrote for the committee:

Dear Last Dollar Scholarship Committee

I would like to be considered for Last Dollars scholarship because my future educational and career pursuits would be greatly enhanced by it. I am planning on becoming a vocational pastor working primarily with inner city students, which requires a lot of tuition dollars that I am unsure of how I will be able to afford. I have already been blessed with several grants and loans , which is aiding me in finishing my undergraduate time at VCU with a double major in Psychology and Religious Studies in the spring of 2012. Immediately after undergrad, I am planning on enrolling in a four year seminary to earn my Master’s of Divinity.

My family works hard to support my educational ambitions and every grant I’ve received has been extremely helpful. Whenever I receive a scholarship we move as much money as we can from the undergraduate funding to the prospective seminary savings. The Last Dollars scholarship will enable me to continue on the path towards my goal of serving others.

This money will be going toward what I believe is much bigger than simply education, but to the encouragement of the next generation to do bigger and better things. Having grown up in inner-city Richmond myself, I am fully aware of the struggles these children have. However, I am also just as aware of their potential. From some people we are encouraged to tap into our talents and passion to create social change for the better, while some pessimistically show us the “reality” of where we come from and who they thing we are. I vividly remember a conversation with my high schools sports director; he told me that black inner city kids would only embarrass themselves playing soccer against the more affluent county teams, he had no real interest in providing the money for us to have acceptable field conditions and equipment. As captain of the team, I shared this news with my teammates. At first we were incredibly discouraged but we decided to do everything in our ability to have a functioning soccer team. We cut our field’s grass ourselves; we paid for our uniforms and necessary practice equipment out of pocket. When we took to the field we impressed and earned more respect before our peers than anyone ever expected to give.

Through Christian ministry I hope to tear down the low expectations put on the inner-city children of the next generation, and help them realize their full potential even greater than me and my high school soccer team did. This scholarship would be a great aid in the pursuit of this dreams, I hope you’ll be a part of it coming true.

Sincerely,

Jamal Jones

Staring the Poor and Jesus in the Face @ VCU

One of my favorite parts about going to VCU is living downtown in an urban environment. I absolutely love the city, Richmond especially, but any city for that matter. Yeah, stars are beautiful. No stars is the major downfall of city living, but the greater person per square mile number and ease of transportation totally makes up for it in my opinion. As i venture and prepare for hopefully a lifetime of ministry, i know/hope that my heart's desire is to do inner city urban ministry.

So as i'm walking from my dorm to my first class this semester, i'm crossing the street and see a familiar site in downtown VCU, a beggar. Once i saw him i said to myself: "oh boy, welcome back on-campus Jamal. You don't have any cash to spare this guy, so just avoid eye contact at all cost and keep walking.". I peaked ahead real quick to read his sign, which said "Hitting hard times, God is good, anything helps". When i actually crossed his path, i did exactly what i said i'd do and passed him with ease.

I'm doing this new thing, where every morning (and all throughout the day) i pray for God to help me love him more. And as i walked by the beggar, it hit me. Wait a second, i'm praying to love God more, right? God thoroughly loves the poor, so in turn that means i should love the poor as well, is how i acted towards that beggar how you treat people you love? Obviously not.

I hear so many people talking about how their either scared of the homeless downtown, or they don't wanna have anything to do with them. I once had a mom (from church mind you) tell me how she didn't want her child going to VCU because she was scared of the poor people and homeless that can walk through campus and endanger her kid (yes, that's a fear, but really?!?!). When i think of that perspective on the poor (or periods when i have it myself), it reminds me of these verses Jesus spoke from the Bible:

"Then these righteous ones will reply, "Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? when did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the King will say "I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!"

-Matthew 25:34-36

So me ignoring that man down on his luck at the corner of Cary and Belvidere (according to Jesus) is like ignoring Jesus Christ himself...wow, i'm a jerk. So to me, that verse means that when we see the poor, or the homeless, if we love Jesus, then we should be compelled to bring some love into their lives. I understand if it's 11 at night, you're a freshmen girl walking home from a friends dorm alone, and you see a homeless man sleeping maybe you don't necessarily want to engage him fully, i get that. But in appropriate situations, we can show love in many varying ways. If you have money to give, then give it, it's not really yours anyway, it's God's (sooo hard for me to remember, btw). If you'd rather not give money, then how about buying them some food from the nearby 7-eleven, or using your dining dollars to get them some Chick-fil-a. If you're feeling so bold get a group of friends to sit down with the man and listen to their story. If you're in a rush, then at the least give them a smile, a wave, and a word of encouragement. Anything to acknowledge them and show love.

This is something that's becoming more and more a desire for me, the more and more i ask God to help me love him more. It's hard to live out, but God will definitely help us do so. Jesus is always with the less thans, the have nots, the outcasts. And if we wanna be where Jesus is, then we should be there too. Right?

~Jamal

Rethinking the Golden Rule

"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."
-Matthew 7:12

Aka the Golden Rule. I've always known this principle to be in the Bible, but i've most often refered to it as a societal principle. So ever since first hearing this as a young child in Sunday school class, i've resorted to it in times of uncertainty. I would say to myself:"when in doubt, think of the thing i would want somebody to do to me in this situation, and do it to them. it can't fail right?" Depending upon who you are, you've either nodded you're head at the computer in agreement or you've laughed out loud at my niavety. I would lump this principle from Jesus as a piece of traditional wisdom (similar to the principles given to us in the book of Proverbs). In a near perfect world, the Golden Rule would work 100% percent of the time; but in our fallen and sinful world, sometimes the Golden Rule doesn't easily apply.

Implimenting the Golden Rule in daily life comes with many assumptions of the person applying it and the person it's being used to deal with, mostly character traits. For example, what if you are a very blunt person, therefore desiring that those around you are brutally honest all the time. What if that person decided to apply the Golden Rule to another brotha or sistah in the faith who doesn't share that same character trait? Well, trust me, i've seen it happen before (aka, i've done it before, haha). And the scene of a well intentioned friend speaking strong words of truth in love to a more fragile homie can end up being a waterworks show filled with crushed feelings. Mix and match the different character traits, and even contexts of each conversation, and you'll probably find many situations where the Golden Rule falls short in it's real world application.

This phenomena mimics the psychological theory of enacted vs percieved support. Enacted support is the giver's perspective of helping out a friend, while percieved support is the reciever's perspective of that help. Psychologists have determined that percieved support is EVERYTHING! It doesn't matter how nice, or good, or honest, or helpful your words are gestures are, if the recipient percieves them as hurtful or dangerous, then you've officially wronged them. Another example maybe; you are cleaning up your dorm room, and while you're at it decide to clean up your roommates side as an act of kindness. But your roommate comes back and is extremely pissed that you moved their stuff around and they can't find anything they need. As you absorb their hysteria, you're wondering to yourself: "how could this be? if i were them, i would of loved the kind gesture from a friend." Enacted support vs. percieved support my brothas and sistahs

Wow, i've come to the end of my thoughts on this topic, and i really don't have much of a solution. Maybe it's the fact that it's 1:11am, or the fact that i feel as though i've written long enough. As people who love Jesus Christ and are praying for Him to begin to change our hearts to love the things He loves and desire the things He desires, how do we effectively avoid the pitfalls of poor human perception and nature to apply the Golden Rule properly in our daily lives? Anybody got any words of practical wisdom for me?

~Jamal