Dear friends,
We would like to inform you about Christ, My Righteousness Ministries’ new email address. From now on, email us at this new address:
christmrm@hotmail.com
Blessings,
Celucien L. Joseph
Founder and President
Christ, My Righteousness Ministries
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My church: First Baptist Arlington is taking a trip to Niger, Africa. There we will teach “Biblical stories to Fulani non-believers and disciple new Fulani believers.” The projected date is set for May 6-16, 2009. The last time I’ve been to Africa was 9 years ago when I was in College. We stayed in Lusaka, Zambia for about four weeks and did missionary works. It was a life -changing experience. At any rate, be praying for this trip to be a successful endeavor and God-glorifying. Also do pray for financial support for me and other people who would love to go . We have a little less than 6 weeks to raise $ 2500.
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I received the following letter from a friend’s name Hubner Soivilien. Mr. Soivilien serves the poor in Haitian through CMDNO and is asking for assistance to reach out to the people living in Haiti. Please read the letter below to find out how you can help.
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FREE BOOKS OFFER
Christ, My Righteousness Ministries is giving away free books (running offer: January 1-31, 2009). Yes totally free! All you have to do is look through the list below and select 1 book. You’ll be responsible to for the shipping. (normally $ 3.99 per book).
Conditions:
1. 1 book per person
2. Pay for the shipping
3. Provide a physical address to mail the book. Drop us an email at cmrm@christmyrighteousness.com. We will not share your information with people. It is totally confidential.
4. Running offer: January 1-31, 2009.
5. Please do not request a book you’re not going to read. Save it for someone else.
*We want to be a blessing to you. If you can’t afford the shipping price, please let us know. We will be pleased to pay for the shipping.
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Christ, My Righteousness Ministries wishes you a blessed and prosperous New Year! May the Lord, our God, make his face shine on you during this new year and for the rest of your life. May he continue protecting and preserving you, and May the Lord of Grace and Light guide and direct your steps for his own sake.
Celucien & Staff
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I open this brief post with two important questions that you and I need to ponder upon. First, what can we learn as Christians on this historic day in the history of the United States of America? Second, what is the relationship between electing the first African -American President and racial reconciliation in the body of Christ?
Below I offer the following thought. What we can learn on this day are many. First, setting apart our differences and preferences to pursue a common cause, a common dream, and a common hope. Second, there’s no issue transcendent we can’t overcome if we so desire. Third, unity fosters hope and gives grace. Fourth, grace is what we need. We need to be gracious to one another. Fifth, hope not despair would effect change in our midst. In all, trust conquers doubts and fears, yet gracious love endures all and triumphs.
Next, we address the second question: what is the relationship between electing the first Africa-American President and Christian racial harmony?
The electing of Barack Obama as the first African-American President should serve as a paradigmatic expression for race relations and racial healing among the people of God. Second, Christians could learn that race is not the measure of things and our values. That the problem of race and racism are nothing but things we’ve created which defer hope, unity, and ultimately change in the body of Christ. We could prevail over these sins if we so aspire. Third, the hope for racial reconciliation and harmony in the body of Christ is not just a dream, but something that could be achieved.
In conclusion, on this historic day, we learned and witnessed that if we so desire to effect racial unity in our midst, we can surely move forward in this direction, by the power of the cross. People of God, if the American people could imagine it, intentionally plan it and ultimately attained it, electing their first African-American President, I assure you we could do it too. We can employ and move onward with our best God-given tools: our hearts, souls and wills toward a more perfect union en route for racial reconciliation. Most importantly, it is the cross of Christ which is the essence, the ultimate example and best illustration of and for racial unity for the people of God.
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And He told them to pray in this way…
“Father, I pray for the men and women serving in our military, not for them only but also for those whom we are fighting against. O holy Father, I pray you’ll protect and preserve the Iraqi and American Troops. I also pray for civilian mothers, pregnant women, for unborn babies victimized by abortion and war, and children living in the state of fear, war, instability both in America and aboard. O righteous Father, keep them in your name, guard them, and care for them. I do not pray for our country only , but also for other countries in the world. O God the Creator of the universe, I pray for all people, for they are all created equally in your image. O God of peace, give us peace, not war. O God of hope, bring us hope, not despair. O God of abundant blessing, bless the world.”
Amen
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In this brief essay, we propose a theocentric reading of the Bible. Giving the Bible this proper function, that is reading (and thus understanding) it with a theocentric and trinitarian eye is faithful to the message of the Bible and will help the reader appreciate better the thought of Biblical writers. First, we discuss a prevalent contentious idea about God and/or Christ pertaining to the discipline of New Testament. Then, we proceed by looking at the place of the Spirit in the debate. Third, we explore common presuppositions and contemporary readings in Christian theology. In conclusion, we make some suggestions for further understanding. We begin by reviewing some previous literature on the subject matter.
Several years ago, Marianne M. Thompson published an exceptional study entitled “The God of the Gospel of John (2001).” In this seminal work, Thompson observes that “God” has been ignored as the proper subject of inquiry and reflection with respect to the substance of NT theology” (1). More pertinently to her focused interest, she advances a similar argument in regard to the fourth Gospel. About thirty-five years ago, prior to Thompson’s piece, Nils A. Dahl made a similar argument when she pinned her influential essay: “The Neglected Factor in New Testament Theology,” in Jesus Christ: The Historical Origins of Christological Doctrine (1975). Dahl insisted that God is/has been the neglected “Factor” in the study of NT theology.
Many NT scholars, in particular, insist that Christ is the conclusion in the thought of NT writers. In other words, the heartbeat of the writings of the NT is not theology but Christology; such dominates contemporary New Testament studies. So the person of God is portrayed as only the “second” important figure in the expense of the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ, in the writing of NT literature. What has been unattended is not so much the subject of God, but a “refocus” from Theocentric to Christocentric, from God to Christ, from the way of God to the way of Christ, in the discipline of New Testament.
On the other hand, one can see analogous parallel conclusions drawn in Christian theology, concerning the Spirit and his performed activity. The Spirit is presented, as in most cases, mutually subservient to Father and Son in that order. He is also depicted precisely after the Son and subsequent to him, the third, to say; both ontologically and functionally. So you end up with a hierarchically-structured deity. Consequently, the concept of a Trinitarian order is inferred—that the Father is the First Person, the Son, the Second, and the Spirit, the Third, in the Triune God.
Looking closely in the most discussed writings of the NT corpus such as in the Gospels of the four Evangelists or the thirteen letters penned by the Apostle Paul; one might come closely to a modified belief. The apostle Paul, in his several letters, emphasizes equally the significant work of Christ and the Spirit. Gordon Fee gives comparable attention and equal treatment to the works of Christ ([Christology] See his most recent “Pauline Christology”) and Spirit ([Pneumatology] See his “God’s Empowering Presence”) in the letters of Paul. Thus Paul’s theology could be properly described as theo-pneumo-christo-centric (or theocentric and pneumo-christocentric =Trinitarian) in this respect. In addition, both Marianne Thompson (“The God of the Gospel of John”) and C.K. Barrett (Christocentric or Theocentric? Observations on the Theological Method of the Fourth Gospel” in Essays in John) argue forcefully for a theocentric reading of the Gospel of John. That the thesis of the fourth Gospel is not Christ but God. In other words, the Gospel according to Johnl is about God (theocentric) and not Christ (Christocentric). In a seminal essay, Barrett observes that “For John… Jesus is central; yet he is not final” (8). Ramond E. Brown, in his penetrating and consummated book on the Gospel of John, gives a similar hearing. He writes, “There is a presupposition that Jesus leads believers to God; Jesus is supremely important because whoever has seen him has the Father (14:9), and the Father and he are one (10:3). Even though others may see Jesus as arrogantly making himself God (10:33) and equal to God…There is no sense in which the Johannine Jesus replaces the God of Israel who has traditionally been confessed as one: “Eternally life consists in this: that they know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ, the one whom you sent” (17:3)… Thus Johannine Christology never replaces theology” (An Introduction to the Gospel of John, 249). Rudolf Bultmann, however, wrote perhaps the most important and engaging commentary on the Fourth Gospel in the twentieth century. In his commentary on John and critical work on New Testament Theology, Bultmann contends that the most important word in the Gospel of John is “Revelation.” According to Bultmann, Jesus “revealed” God and is the “Revealer” of God. Evidence in the fourth Gospel is likely to suggest that the Gospel of John presents a dualistic vision of God: one that is divulged and achieved congruously both by the Son (the visible Revealer of God) and the Spirit (the invisible Revealer of God) in their own distinctive role. As a result, in this essay we suggest that in the fourth Gospel, the salvation of mankind is successfully triumphed in the functions and spheres of the “two” (the Spirit and the Son) as “revealers” of the one true God of Israel. As a result, a theocentric reading of John, in particular, resonates better to the voice of its author. Hence, we contend that the Fourth Gospel is theocentric, rather, christocentric, in its ultimate objective. It could also be construed as a pneumo-christocentric document in describing in parallel the redemptive program of the Son and Spirit to the glory of God the Father. As the Son and Spirit revealed the Father, they do so in their own respective way. The fourth Gospel presents the work of redemption within the mission of the Son and the Spirit congruently. First, the Son revealed the Father visibly and fully (John 1:18) by carrying out his work (John 6:37ff; 17:4, 8, 14, 26) and acted as the Father’s agent (John 12:27; 14:6; 17:4); whereas the Spirit carries on the work of the Son, revealing him to the beholder (14:21) and acts as his personal agent (14: 16-17; 26; 16:3). Retrospectively, as the Son reveals the Father and carries out his will, in the same manner, the Spirit discloses the Son and brings about his plan. For the broader goal is accomplishing the will of the Father.
Moreover, in the Synoptics, we encounter a relative frame of work. Luke, in his two volume (Luke-Acts), chronicling Christian beginnings, for example, accentuates correspondingly the roles of Jesus and the Spirit in salvation history. In the Gospel of Mark, at Jesus’ baptism, it is the Spirit who took upon the symbol of a dove, certifying Jesus’ sonship (1:10-11) and validating his messianic credentials. Matthew stresses greatly the voice of God in the message of Jesus Messiah. For Matthew, Jesus is “Immanuel,” “God with us.” The designation name or title Jesus as “God with us” thus “Immanuel” (1:23) echoes God’s faithful presence with his people in the OT. Yahweh walked, protected, preserved, and saved Israel because he is “God with us.” Hence Matthew prophetically sees Jesus in the footstep of the God of Israel, taking in himself the same responsibility for those he came to save. For Matthew, his Jewish readers should not forget their covenant God; and should remember that Jesus is acting on his behalf, their own God who initiated a covenantal relationship with them in the times of old, and whom they knew personally, and now is invited them in a more intimate relationship with them in Jesus Messiah. Jesus’ disciples will also remember God’s past presences (Gen 26:24; 28:15; Ex 3:12; Josh 1:5, 9; Judg 6:12, 16; 2 Sam 7:3; Is 41: 10; 43:15; Hag 1:13) and unfailing promises (Mt 29:10) as they’re (“all”) now incorporated in one person, when Jesus told them “ I am with you” (“Immanuel;” 28:20). More importantly, for the author of the first Gospel, Jesus is God who is always with his people (28:20).
In conclusion, it is true, Christendon affirms the great doctrine of the Trinity, borrowing Michael Gorman’s (“Reading Paul”) expression The “Three-in- one God;” nonetheless in our theological distinction and expressions we seem to offer undivided attention to the one personality (Jesus Christ), thus orchestrating a “monopolist doctrine” (hence “monopolist Christology”) while demeaning the independent and mutual program of God the Father and God the Spirit and intertrinitarian soteriological activity. In other words, we assign what Christ has succeeded as transcendently “other.” Comparatively, we’ve marked and espoused in our theological understanding the “singularity” of the Son, and count him as “the favored one” in the expense of the other “two” (Father and Spirit).
What a difference would it make if we begin reading Bible theocentrically and trinitarianly! Reading the Bible with this fresh perspective, that is placing the trinity at its forefront and center, will revolutionize our understanding of the Three-in-one God who works supremely for his own glory and the joy of his people. A theocentric and trinitarian (thus a biblical reading) oriented reading of Scriptures, will not discount the salvific aspect of Christ’s achievement on our behalf. Rather, this approach will bring in fruition and totality the operative program (movement) of the Father, Son and the Spirit on an equal scale. By taking such move, we will behold with greater clarity the beauty, glory, majesty and overall accomplishment of God in the persons of the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Spirit in the same way. When we see the work of the Father, Son, and Spirit congruently as partners in salvation history, it will help us understand better the Bible and how God as Father, Son and Spirit has purchased our salvation to the glory of his own name.
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