Al ve Oku

Milestone reached !

2011-05-19T10:48:00.002-04:00

I got to wear the tam and hood a few weeks ago. My college loans are in the process of flipping from income to expenses. And, I have published my dissertation as a mass-market paperback.

How to Repair a Broken World uses both qualitative and quantitative research techniques to examine Nutuk. Since my "day job" is technical writing, I read this overlooked masterpiece and The City of God (by 5th century African writer Augustine) as instruction manuals for those who would repair their cultures.

Click on this link to order your copy!

Substantive thoughts (Prov. 21:5)

2011-03-21T04:30:00.002-04:00

A substantive is a noun based on an adjective. The quality of being hard is -- hardness, for example. Wet and wetness. Weak and weakness. Other examples are less predictable: high, height. Poor, poverty. Happy, happiness. Other languages employ the same technique of adding a suffix or infix to work that magic. The only word of Afrikaans most people instantly recognize adds their usual syllable -heid to the adjective apart (English equivalent, apart) to create the name of their distinctive social system, apartheid.

In Turkish, the syllable used to convert an adjective into a noun comes in four flavors:

-lık-
-lik-
-luk-
-lük-

Don't worry, you'll get used to this quirk of the language fairly early in your studies, and see these four varieties as the same. It's called "vowel harmony," and the appropriate syllable depends on the syllable before it.

Another short syllable with a big meaning comes in two flavors, -la- and -le- and means "with, by means of."

And that brings us to today's proverb:

Proverbs 21:5 Çalışkanın tasarıları hep bollukla, Her türlü acelecilik hep yoklukla sonuçlanır.

Çalışkanın is a word you'll soon master if you study the Book of Proverbs in Turkish, since it is one of the virtues most frequently celebrated in this guide for living well: hazar.com informs us that it means diligent. energetic. industrious. sedulous. studious. hard-working.

My goodness, now THIS is fascinating. The Hebrew word translated into English as the hazy, indistinct and generic word thoughts has a more specialized, specific, and focused word in Turkish: tasarı, which means project. plan. scheme. bill. draught. design. proposal. set-up. bill. draft of a proposed law. written proposal. blueprint for action. draft. projection. schema. Now THAT is a cluster of words dear to a technical writer's heart!

And, let's look at the three substantives in this brief aphorism:

bollukla -- bol = abundant. plentiful. generous. plenty. full. rich. wealthy. loose. hefty. wide. baggy. abounding. affluent. ample. bounteous. bountiful. copious. effusive. exuberant. fecund. flush. handsome. hearty. lavish. liberal. lush. luxuriant. opulent. plenteous.
acelecilik -- hasty. hustler. impatient. slippy. precipitant. rash. precipitate. precipitous. brash. impetuous. headfirst. headforemost. headlong. precipitate.
yoklukla -- yokluk = absence. dearth. exiguity. failure. famine. hardship. lack. neediness. non-appearance. non-existence. nonappearance. nonexistence. nudity. penury. poverty. privation. shortage. strait. tightness. want. straits.

Folks, this is why you all need to sit down, and learn another language, starting today. You can read something in English hundreds of times -- then see new facets, fresh insights, when you examine the same text through another frame of reference, another set of eyes.

Diligent people are paying attention to, and thinking carefully about, what they are doing. They have plans, goals with deadlines. They assume, and operate in terms of, the abundance of opportunities. Small investments, over time, turn into vast fortunes. Five loaves and two fishes placed in the hands of our Lord provide a feast for 5,000. Little things, thoughtfully and carefully done, fill life with lavish wealth. Be kind to your wife, day after day, and you can have a livelier love life in your 50s than you did in your 20s.

In American English, the "get-rich-quick scheme" is a widely-understood term for costly swindles. Folks driven by restless dissatisfaction, or desperate circumstances, can get tempted to cut corners, to max out their credit cards buying sure and easy roads to wealth. When their ship does finally come in, they are at the airport.

Ugly brothers (Prov. 18:9)

2011-03-18T05:17:00.002-04:00

This looks like a verse worth memorizing:

İşini savsaklayan kişi Yıkıcıya kardeştir.

Let's dissect this word by word:

İşini -- To his work (İş -- work, occupation, job. -in- 3rd person singular possessive. -i direct object ending)
savsaklayan -- procrastinating
kişi -- a person
Yıkıcıya -- to a destroyer
kardeştir-- a brother is.

Or, if we visit hazar.com, the longest word is based on the verb savsaklamak, which means, "to put off doing sth continually. to put sb off with an excuse. to neglect sth / to do sth. neglect. to put on the shelf. temporize."

You know what you need to do, and know you'll do it, just as soon as I finish a, b, or c. It takes effort to "seek first the Kingdom of God." As a wise pastor says, "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." None of us sets out to be a derelict with a stack of things we "coulda, shoulda, woulda, done" rather than satisfying achievement. It just kind of happens, as we let our minds run after one little thing after another. I'm reminded of the Pink Floyd song Time:

Time
(Mason, Waters, Wright, Gilmour) 7:06

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way.
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way.

Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain.
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today.
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you.
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.

So you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again.
The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older,
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.

Every year is getting shorter never seem to find the time.
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over,
Thought I'd something more to say.

Ben Franklin wrote, "A young man could never dream that 20 pounds or 20 years could be squandered. If you value life, value time, because time is the stuff of life."

Or, as the KJV translates this verse, "He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster. " The Turkish, I think, is more helpful. The essence of sloth is procrastination.

One self-help guru says, repeat this mantra a thousand times a day: DO IT NOW.

A language made for proverbs

2011-03-16T08:50:00.002-04:00

Turkish continues to delight, with its knack for compressing big meanings into short words. Such as:

Pr. 15:14 Akıllı yürek bilgi arar, Akılsızın ağzıysa ahmaklıkla beslenir.

Let's compare that to the King James Version of the same verse:

P4. 15:14 The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.

A key word here is akıl, which means "mental. reason. intelligence. discretion. wisdom. mind. memory. opinion. thought. advice. apprehension. brain. head. headpiece. intellect. piece of advice. psyche. senses. wit." (thank you, hazar.com!) To this word we can add the suffix -lı, which means -- having all of the above. Or, the suffix -sız, which means, lacking all of the above. Or, you can combine the original noun with other nouns, to create other vivid descriptive terms:

akıl hastanesi -- mental hospital
akıl hastası -- lunatic
akıl defteri -- notebook
akıl hocası -- mentor, spin doctor. (Fans of the Nasrettin Hoca stories recognize that second noun!)

Yürek , of course, is heart, and bilgi is knowledge, understanding, skill. The verb aramak means to search for, and the verb beslenmek means "feed. to feed. to be fed. to be nourished. "

One final noun: ahmaklık means "foolishness. idiocy. stupidity. folly. imbecility. tomfoolery."

Now, this is a proverb very helpful for us wired, digital folks, people who work and play and live with computers and the internet. It takes effort, focus, and disciplined attention to pay attention to what is important. However, we find it all too easy to nibble our way astray, "feeding on" things that attract our attention, then lead it around, and around, and around, by the nose, as we skim the superficial surface to factoids, and watch our minutes and days evaporate, with nothing to show for them.

Better than life (Psalm 63)

2011-03-13T09:04:00.002-04:00

Psalm 63 has long been one of my favorites. Here, David sings of his passion for God, his delight in God's presence, his desire to spend time in worship. One sentence, vs. 3, is a useful example of how Turkish does comparisons:

3 Senin sevgin yaşamdan iyidir, Bu yüzden dudaklarım seni yüceltir.

Senin -- Yours (2nd person singular)
sevgin -- your love
yaşamdan -- than life (-dan is the "from" suffix)
iyidir -- it is good,
Bu -- This
yüzden -- from, because of / reason (-den is the "from" suffix)
dudaklarım -- my lips
seni -- to you
yüceltir -- praised.

What is worth more to us than our own lives?

Day and night (Psalm 42)

2011-03-12T08:10:00.002-05:00

I enjoy using the e-Sword software provided, free, by Rick Meyers. You can have the Bible on your computer desktop in dozens of different translations, most free, some copyrighted versions for a nominal fee. Little tabs let you select the language of interest. The Parallel feature lets you view several versions simultaneously. This has made it much easier for me to read the Turkish version -- a glance over to the English in the left column helps me puzzle out words that may have drifted out of memory. The compact efficiency of Turkish continues to amaze and delight. Consider, for example, Psalm 42:8 --

8 Gündüz RAB sevgisini gösterir, Gece ilahi söyler, dua ederim Yaşamımın Tanrısı'na.

8 Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.

Let's parse these beautiful words:

Gündüz -- Daily
RAB -- the LORD
sevgisini -- His love
gösterir, -- sends
Gece -- By night
ilahi söyler, -- singing psalms, hymns
dua ederim -- praying
Yaşamımın -- of my life
Tanrısı'na. -- to the God

Waking or sleeping, we are steeped in the care and attention of a loving Creator.

Üzülme -- dealing with foes (Psalm 37)

2011-03-08T05:31:00.002-05:00

Jerry Falwell lived a controversial but cheerful life, expiring at his desk at the age of 73. One of his sons, a lawyer, took over Liberty University, the largest Protestant college in the world. The other son, a preacher, inherited the pulpit of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, VA. Jerry had a simple recipe for dealing with the many enemies he'd made with his outspoken conservative positions:

Love them
Forgive them
Outlive them

I read a favorite Psalm today, number 37 in the Protestant numbering scheme (Catholics merge Psalms 23 and 24 together). It has an invisible pattern that explains why the focus seems to jump around abruptly -- the Hebrews enjoyed word games, such as acrostics. Each verse in the original language begins with consecutive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The key word, showing up time and again, is the second-person imperative negative verb:

Üzülme

OK, so what is it that we are emphatically and repeatedly forbidden to do? Let's look at the dictionary definitions of the root, üzülmek.

feel bad about. feel badly about. bother. bother about. deplore. fret. grieve. languish. regret. rue. sadden. sorrow. trouble. be troubled about. worry. worry oneself. bemoan. deplore. droop. grieve. repine.

I'll append the entire psalm below, but let's look at a few key verses now:

3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. 3 Sen RAB'be güven, iyilik yap, Ülkede otur, sadakatle çalış.

4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
4 RAB'den zevk al, O senin içindeki istekleri yerine getirecektir.

5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
5 Her şeyi RAB'be bırak, O'na güven, O gerekeni yapar.

Another definition: getirecektir, the third person future form of the verb getirmek -- bring. get. bring along. bring in. carry. bear. convey. fetch. introduce. take into. usher. work up. pose. produce. to fetch. to bring in. to yield. to give. to put forward. to bring forth.

And, here's a few verses for folks wondering what to do about depressed economic conditions:

18 The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever.
18 RAB yetkinlerin her gününü gözetir, Onların mirası sonsuza dek sürecek.

19 They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
19 Kötü günde utanmayacaklar, Kıtlıkta karınları doyacak.

(Do you notice how much more compact Turkish is than English? Another good reason to study this amazing language -- just to admire how much it is possible to pack into a single word!)

A repeated theme throughout this psalm is the inheritance, the legacy. Jesus quoted verse 11 in his "beatitudes:"

11 But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
11 Ama alçakgönüllüler ülkeyi miras alacak, Derin bir huzurun zevkini tadacak.

And, as promised, here is the entire psalm:

Psa 37:1 Kötülük edenlere kızıp üzülme, Suç işleyenlere özenme!
Psa 37:2 Çünkü onlar ot gibi hemen solacak, Yeşil bitki gibi kuruyup gidecek.
Psa 37:3 Sen RAB'be güven, iyilik yap, Ülkede otur, sadakatle çalış.
Psa 37:4 RAB'den zevk al, O senin içindeki istekleri yerine getirecektir.
Psa 37:5 Her şeyi RAB'be bırak, O'na güven, O gerekeni yapar.
Psa 37:6 O senin doğruluğunu ışık gibi, Hakkını öğle güneşi gibi Aydınlığa çıkarır.
Psa 37:7 RAB'bin önünde sakin dur, sabırla bekle; Kızıp üzülme işi yolunda olanlara, Kötü amaçlarına kavuşanlara.
Psa 37:8 Kızmaktan kaçın, bırak öfkeyi, Üzülme, yalnız kötülüğe sürükler bu seni.
Psa 37:9 Çünkü kötülerin kökü kazınacak, Ama RAB'be umut bağlayanlar ülkeyi miras alacak.
Psa 37:10 Yakında kötünün sonu gelecek, Yerini arasan da bulunmayacak.
Psa 37:11 Ama alçakgönüllüler ülkeyi miras alacak, Derin bir huzurun zevkini tadacak.
Psa 37:12 Kötü insan doğru insana düzen kurar, Diş gıcırdatır.
Psa 37:13 Ama Rab kötüye güler, Çünkü bilir onun sonunun geldiğini.
Psa 37:14 Kılıç çekti kötüler, yaylarını gerdi, Mazlumu, yoksulu yıkmak, Doğru yolda olanları öldürmek için.
Psa 37:15 Ama kılıçları kendi yüreklerine saplanacak, Yayları kırılacak.
Psa 37:16 Doğrunun azıcık varlığı, Pek çok kötünün servetinden iyidir.
Psa 37:17 Çünkü kötülerin gücü kırılacak, Ama doğrulara RAB destek olacak.
Psa 37:18 RAB yetkinlerin her gününü gözetir, Onların mirası sonsuza dek sürecek.
Psa 37:19 Kötü günde utanmayacaklar, Kıtlıkta karınları doyacak.
Psa 37:20 Ama kötüler yıkıma uğrayacak; RAB'bin düşmanları kır çiçekleri gibi kuruyup gidecek, Duman gibi dağılıp yok olacak.
Psa 37:21 Kötüler ödünç alır, geri vermez; Doğrularsa cömertçe verir.
Psa 37:22 RAB'bin kutsadığı insanlar ülkeyi miras alacak, Lanetlediği insanların kökü kazınacak.
Psa 37:23 RAB insana sağlam adım attırır, İnsanın yolundan hoşnut olursa.
Psa 37:24 Düşse bile yıkılmaz insan, Çünkü elinden tutan RAB'dir.
Psa 37:25 Gençtim, ömrüm tükendi, Ama hiç görmedim doğru insanın terk edildiğini, Soyunun ekmek dilendiğini.
Psa 37:26 O hep cömertçe ödünç verir, Soyu kutsanır.
Psa 37:27 Kötülükten kaç, iyilik yap; Sonsuz yaşama kavuşursun.
Psa 37:28 Çünkü RAB doğruyu sever, Sadık kullarını terk etmez. Onlar sonsuza dek korunacak, Kötülerinse kökü kazınacak.
Psa 37:29 Doğrular ülkeyi miras alacak, Orada sonsuza dek yaşayacak.
Psa 37:30 Doğrunun ağzından bilgelik akar, Dilinden adalet damlar.
Psa 37:31 Tanrısı'nın yasası yüreğindedir, Ayakları kaymaz.
Psa 37:32 Kötü, doğruya pusu kurar, Onu öldürmeye çalışır.
Psa 37:33 Ama RAB onu kötünün eline düşürmez, Yargılanırken mahkûm etmez.
Psa 37:34 RAB'be umut bağla, O'nun yolunu tut, Ülkeyi miras almak üzere seni yükseltecektir. Kötülerin kökünün kazındığını göreceksin.
Psa 37:35 Kötü ve acımasız adamı gördüm, İlk dikildiği toprakta yeşeren ağaç gibi Dal budak salıyordu;
Psa 37:36 Geçip gitti, yok oldu, Aradım, bulunmaz oldu.
Psa 37:37 Yetkin adamı gözle, doğru adama bak, Çünkü yarınlar barışseverindir.
Psa 37:38 Ama başkaldıranların hepsi yok olacak, Kötülerin kökü kazınacak.
Psa 37:39 Doğruların kurtuluşu RAB'den gelir, Sıkıntılı günde onlara kale olur.
Psa 37:40 RAB onlara yardım eder, kurtarır onları, Kötülerin elinden alıp özgür kılar, Çünkü kendisine sığınırlar.

And that is good news for all who yearn to please their Creator!

Tadın da görün (Psalm 32)

2011-03-07T05:57:00.002-05:00

A ship in the harbor is safe, the old aphorism asserts, but that is not what ships are made for. A certain amount of trouble is normal in a fallen world. And, for the believer, so, too, is mercy from heaven. According to very old notes that have attached themselves to Psalm 32, David wrote it after one of his many narrow escapes. Let's look at a few verses that are especially relevant to people in trouble, such as economic straits:

Psa 34:8 Tadın da görün, RAB ne iyidir, Ne mutlu O'na sığınan adama!
Psa 34:9 RAB'den korkun, ey O'nun kutsalları, Çünkü O'ndan korkanın eksiği olmaz.
Psa 34:10 Genç aslanlar bile aç ve muhtaç olur; Ama RAB'be yönelenlerden hiçbir iyilik esirgenmez.

Let's look at a few words:

Tadın da görün -- second person imperative form of the verbs tatmak (to taste) and görmek (to see)
RAB ne iyidir -- The Lord, how good He is
Genç aslanlar bile -- Young lions, even, (C S Lewis fans recognize the singular form of the noun)
aç -- hungry. covetous. empty. unfed. esurient. greedy for. hollow. ravenous. starveling.
muhtaç -- needy. in need. dependent. beggarly. destitute. indigent. necessitous. straitened. straitened for. hard up. have a weak chest.
yönelenlerden --
hiçbir iyilik -- not one / good thing
esirgenmez -- will not be stinted, denied, refused

As David wrote elsewhere, RAB çobanımdır, Eksiğim olmaz. The Lord / my shepherd is / lack there is not. The two states are incompatible. My hope is that all who read these words of wit will rejoice in the Shepherd, and not accept poverty as normal.

The world is run by tired people (Prov. 6)

2011-03-06T03:51:00.002-05:00

Let's look at what Proverbs has to tell us about work and sleep. First, an object lesson about work:

Pro 6:6 Ey tembel kişi, git, karıncalara bak, Onların yaşamından bilgelik öğren.
Pro 6:7 Başkanları, önderleri ya da yöneticileri olmadığı halde,
Pro 6:8 Yazın erzaklarını biriktirirler, Yiyeceklerini toplarlar biçim mevsiminde.

Ants stay busy in summer, when resources are easy to come by, and are ready for hard times. The human temptation is to subsistence -- do just enough to get by during the good times, and truly feel the pinch during bad. In cultures ruled by envy, such as many African tribes, people are afraid of working too hard. Afraid of their neighbor's envy. If a man's crop is doing well, he'll sneak into his field and destroy much of it at night, lest his neighbors accuse him of, and lynch him for, witchcraft. After all, the egalitarian says, it "isn't fair" for one person to have more than another. If a tribe barely stays afloat when times are good, starvation is around the corner.

Now, the opposite of work, sleep:

Pro 6:9 Ne zamana dek yatacaksın, ey tembel kişi? Ne zaman kalkacaksın uykundan?
Pro 6:10 "Biraz kestireyim, biraz uyuklayayım, Ellerimi kavuşturup şöyle bir uyuyayım" demeye kalmadan,
Pro 6:11 Yokluk bir haydut gibi, Yoksulluk bir akıncı gibi gelir üzerine.

Productive people have disciplined sleep patterns. Winston Churchill may have had a brief nap every afternoon, but he also staying up until the wee hours of the morning working night after night.

Time and eternity (Prov. 5, Psalm 23)

2011-03-05T04:43:00.002-05:00

The Bible is enthusiastically in favor of marital relations. Prov. 5 starts with admonitions about the non-marital flavor of sex:

Pro 5:1 Oğlum, bilgeliğime dikkat et, Akıllıca sözlerime kulak ver.
Pro 5:2 Böylelikle her zaman sağgörülü olur, Dudaklarınla bilgiyi korursun.
Pro 5:3 Zina eden kadının bal damlar dudaklarından, Ağzı daha yumuşaktır zeytinyağından.
Pro 5:4 Ama sonu pelinotu kadar acı, İki ağızlı kılıç kadar keskindir.

A few words:

Oğlum -- My son,
bilgeliğime -- to my insight
dikkat et -- be cautioned, alert
Zina eden -- adultery-doing
bal -- honey
pelin -- absinthe, wormwood
sonu -- to the end
İki ağızlı kılıç kadar keskindir -- Two / mouthed, edged / sword / like / it cuts

Proverbs can be read as a compilation of texts used to train courtiers and pages for their duties in palaces. Henry Kissinger once said, "Power is an aphrodisiac." Attractive young ladies can be found interning around centers of power. If you value your life, honor, and wealth, flee such temptations!

On the other hand, exuberant delight with one's own spouse should be the norm.

Pro 5:15 Suyu kendi sarnıcından, Kendi kuyunun kaynağından iç.
Pro 5:16 Pınarların sokakları, Akarsuların meydanları mı sulamalı?
Pro 5:17 Yalnız senin olsun onlar, Paylaşma yabancılarla.
Pro 5:18 Çeşmen bereketli olsun Ve gençken evlendiğin karınla mutlu ol.
Pro 5:19 Sevimli bir geyik, zarif bir ceylan gibi, Hep seni doyursun memeleri. Aşkıyla sürekli coş.

People from a desert climate tend to value water.

Su -- water
kendi -- own
sarnıcından -- from your cistern
kuyu -- well
kaynağından -- from your source, spring. A power supply is a güç kaynak.
Pınarların -- your fountains, wells, springs
gençken -- time of youth
karınla -- with your wife
mutlu ol -- blessed be
doyurmak -- appease. content. fill. meet. sate. satiate. satisfy. saturate. suffice. to fill up. to satisfy. to satiate. to saturate.

It is amazing how much mileage you can get out of respect, kindness, and affection, faithfully applied over the course of decades. The need for this kind of intimacy is hard-wired into the human anatomy and psyche. A tee-shirt marketed to mothers of large families has the defiant message, "Yes, we know what causes it, and we rather enjoy it." As this chapter points out, exclusivity matters. Man and wife comprise a closed system, a shared germ pool, a paradise of refreshment for one another.

Yet, this is the second-most important relationship of life. True fulfillment comes as we come to terms with our Creator. A favorite Psalm goes thus:

Psa 23:1 RAB çobanımdır, Eksiğim olmaz.
Psa 23:2 Beni yemyeşil çayırlarda yatırır, Sakin suların kıyısına götürür.
Psa 23:3 İçimi tazeler, Adı uğruna bana doğru yollarda öncülük eder.
Psa 23:4 Karanlık ölüm vadisinden geçsem bile, Kötülükten korkmam. Çünkü sen benimlesin. Çomağın, değneğin güven verir bana.
Psa 23:5 Düşmanlarımın önünde bana sofra kurarsın, Başıma yağ sürersin, Kâsem taşıyor.
Psa 23:6 Ömrüm boyunca yalnız iyilik ve sevgi izleyecek beni, Hep RAB'bin evinde oturacağım.

Vs. 1 -- The LORD / my shepherd is, / my poverty / shall not be.
Vs. 3 -- Darkness / of death / in the valley / if I should wander / even, / evil / I shall not fear. / Because / thou (you, singular, intimate) / are with me.

One who has God, has everything. One who has God, plus an affectionate spouse of many years, is truly to be envied.

Speaking of birds ... (Psalm 11)

2011-03-02T09:45:00.003-05:00

If you lack wisdom, spend some time in the "wisdom literature" of the Bible, especially Psalms and Proverbs. During eras of the spiritual vigor, people of faith have, traditionally, chanted their way through the Psalms once a month. The Book of Common Prayer has a psalter that is based upon the Bible that King James hated, the Geneva Bible. And, there are 31 chapters in proverbs. A man who needed more common sense would do well to read through that book once a month.

Today, I was reading and enjoying Psalm 11:

Psa 11:1 Ben RAB'be sığınırım, Nasıl dersiniz bana, "Kuş gibi kaç dağlara.
Psa 11:2 Bak, kötüler yaylarını geriyor, Temiz yürekli insanları Karanlıkta vurmak için Oklarını kirişine koyuyor.
Psa 11:3 Temeller yıkılırsa, Ne yapabilir doğru insan?"
Psa 11:4 RAB kutsal tapınağındadır, O'nun tahtı göklerdedir, Bütün insanları görür, Herkesi sınar.
Psa 11:5 RAB doğru insanı sınar, Kötüden, zorbalığı sevenden tiksinir.
Psa 11:6 Kötülerin üzerine kızgın korlar ve kükürt yağdıracak, Paylarına düşen kâse kavurucu rüzgar olacak.
Psa 11:7 Çünkü RAB doğrudur, doğruları sever; Dürüst insanlar O'nun yüzünü görecek.

Let's look at the first verse:

Psa 11:1 Ben RAB'be sığınırım, Nasıl dersiniz bana, "Kuş gibi kaç dağlara.

I / to the Lord / ( fall back upon a thing. take refuge in. take shelter in. refuge. harbor. harbour. nestle. defect. take sanctuary. take to. turn to. ) / How / do you instruct, advise / (to) me / "Bird / like / flee / to the mountains.

"Fugue" is a kind of music wherein one theme chases itself. A "fugue state" is a psychological aberration characterized by a flight from an unpleasant reality. It's not unusual for people in stressful situations to "escape" by way of drug, food, or alcohol abuse. Or, by simply daydreaming, and pretending that things are not so bad after all, since an unknown rich uncle might die today, and leave me as his sole heir.

The message of this psalm, however, is that we have invisible means of support, a God who loves us, cares for us, protects our interests, and can be trusted to set things right.

Let's try again

2011-03-01T04:04:00.003-05:00

You want to have a strong finishing kick when running a race. You want to be able to run hard that last lap, even when exhausted, so as to make a good showing in your event.[1] But then what?

A wise man thinks past the fulfillment of a dream.[2] Because, face it, when you finish a big and demanding project, the normal reaction is depression. A gentleman who spent years being captured by German soldiers, and breaking out of their prison camps, reported a sense that all of life was flat when he finally made it home to England. People who work in high-stress occupations, such as air traffic controllers and freight dispatchers, often suffer heart attacks when they take a vacation.

In 1992, I wound up my MS in Communication Studies with a dissertation that is still cited on the first page of a popular google search. A few weeks later, I took a two-week vacation in Ukraine, to observe a society in transition. After several nights of staying up 'til 3:00 am to pack and prepare, I fell asleep on the plane leaving New York around 10:00 pm -- and awoke to full daylight streaming in through the window shortly after midnight. Ukraine is 13 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, but I went through the vacation in a state of excitement that merely postponed the bills. It took more than six months to get back up to speed.

So now, 18+ years later, I've finished my PhD. The last lap took everything I could put into it. My dissertation defense was structured in terms of the patterns of persuasion I'd found in Nutuk and a comparable work, and greatly amused my committee: it sounded like a job interview![3] During that last stretch, I went for 10 weeks without riding my bicycle, gained weight, and kept external commitments to a minimum. As my friends who follow this blog may have noted, I also put less energy into a real source of delight, my Turkish studies. Well, let's look into the Great Book again. Here is a short verse from Proverbs 1:

Pro 1:17 Kuşların gözü önünde ağ sermek boşunadır.

Which being interpreted, reads:

Kuşların -- Of the bird
gözü -- the eyes
önünde -- in front of
ağ -- the net
sermek -- is spread, draped, lay, spread out
boşunadır -- to no purpose.

Evil doers rely on secrecy. Yet, they have less of that than they think. Yes, Solomon warns his sons, it's easy and natural of single young men to clump together in criminal gangs. But they are not as smart as they think they are.

As İsa said in the New Testament, no one gets away with anything. Secrets tend to get revealed -- and we should assume that our furtive, sneaky, "secret" sins will not stay concealed. So, we should be predisposed to face, and repent of, wrongdoing. Nixon was forced out of office for trying to cover up a crime, not for the crime itself.

________________________

[1] I was competing the the two mile run one evening in high school. It was winter, indoor track season, and the track was 220 yards long. That's 1/8 mile, sixteen laps. The umpire lost count, and as I hurled myself at the finish line, he held up a finger -- one more lap.

[2] I had a nightmare in 1995 or 1996. I dreamed that I was joyfully putting the final touches on a dissertation that would bless and encourage thousands of people around the world. This dream was a nightmare because, in that terrible lucidity one sometimes experiences while dreaming, I knew that I was dreaming of, rather than doing, the desired project!

[3] Here is a LINK to the defense, if you are curious.

I Cor. 4 -- you don't know it all

2011-01-25T14:57:00.002-05:00

A sense of how little we know should incline us to deal kindly with one another. As Paul told the Corinthians,

1Co 4:5 Bu nedenle, belirlenen zamandan önce hiçbir şeyi yargılamayın. Rab'bin gelişini bekleyin. O, karanlığın gizlediklerini aydınlığa çıkaracak, yüreklerdeki amaçları açığa vuracaktır. O zaman herkes Tanrı'dan payına düşen övgüyü alacaktır.

Let's look at a few words:

Bu nedenle, -- for this reason,
belirlenen zamandan-- at the time of determination
önce -- before
hiçbir şeyi -- not one thing
yargılamayın -- should you judge.
Rab'bin gelişini bekleyin -- The Lord's coming await.
O, karanlığın gizlediklerini aydınlığa çıkaracak -- He, / out of darkness, / those things which are hidden / to the light / he will bring.

Since we do not know who will ultimately greet us in the next life, we should treat all our neighbors as possible fellow citizens of the world to come -- kindly.

I Cor. 3 -- no limits to achievement

2011-01-02T09:06:00.003-05:00

"There is no limit to what you can achieve, as long as you don't care who gets the credit." The great tyrants of history viewed themselves as the apex of history, demigods astride the earth. Successful leaders, however, view themselves as agents of something far more important than themselves. The Nazi regime evaporated after the death of Hitler. When Alexander died, his empire quickly split into four squabbling parts. The Turkish Republic, by contrast, has outlived its founding father by nearly a century. Kemal Ataturk was not in business for himself. His team took over his vision, and shepherded through the generations to the present.

Paul had a similar vision of participating in something far bigger than himself:

1Co 3:6 Tohumu ben ektim, Apollos suladı. Ama Tanrı büyüttü.
1Co 3:7 Önemli olan, eken ya da sulayan değil, ekileni büyüten Tanrı'dır.
1Co 3:8 Ekenle sulayanın değeri birdir. Her biri kendi emeğinin karşılığını alacaktır.
1Co 3:9 Biz Tanrı'nın emektaşlarıyız. Sizler de Tanrı'nın tarlası, Tanrı'nın binasısınız.
1Co 3:10 Tanrı'nın bana lütfettiği görev uyarınca bilge bir mimar gibi temel attım, başkaları da bu temel üzerine inşa ediyor. Herkes nasıl inşa ettiğine dikkat etsin.

Let's look at a few words in 3:10:

bilge -- wise. learned. erudite. omniscient. polymath. profound. sophisticated. wise person. scholar. luminary. owl. sage. sophisticate.
mimar -- architect. master builder. builder. surveyor.
gibi -- like, as. (one of those interesting Turkish "post-position" words)
temel -- foundation
attım -- I have laid
dikkat etsin -- let him be careful.

Paul had a key role in launching communities of believers in cities throughout the Roman empire. However, he was not alone. Others built upon his work -- and ultimately, God gave the increase. He, like we, was part of something far more important than himself.

I Cor. 2 -- the limits of rhetoric

2010-12-28T08:56:00.006-05:00

"A lawyer with a briefcase can steal more than a hundred men with guns," wrote American novelist Mario Puzo.

As the recent shakedowns of the American public reveal, "banksters" who are considered "too big to fail" are immunized from the consequences of their own cupidity, their own stupidity, by their partners in government who enrich that tiny handful of plutocrats by impoverishing every American taxpayer. The printing presses are smoking, and for the first time in living memory, the American dollar is dropping towards, or below, parity with the Canadian "loony."[1] As the currency is inflated / debased / debauched, the losers are the thrifty, the people who, through systematic self-denial, accrued savings.

Somehow, the "symbol-handlers" dance rings around the "thing-handlers," time after time. People with verbal skills are both respected, and resented. Winston Churchill's silver-tongued oratory might rally a desperate nation to win a desperate struggle -- but after the war, the weary electorate turns him out of office.[2]

We normally think in words,[3] understand the world around us by the stories we tell ourselves, and are influenced by those who can use words effectively. Knowing how easily we can be misled, we are suspicious of the rhetoricians among us. Congressmen are held in lower repute than used-car salesmen, for example.

In the ancient world, skill in rhetoric was the key to political advancement. People who could teach the trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric) made good money. However, when Paul spoke to the Corinthians, he deliberately refused to exploit them with fancy language:

1Co 2:1 Kardeşler, Tanrı'yla ilgili bildiriyi duyurmak için size geldiğimde, söz ustalığıyla ya da üstün bilgelikle gelmedim.
1Co 2:2 Aranızdayken, İsa Mesih'ten ve O'nun çarmıha gerilişinden başka hiçbir şey bilmemeye kararlıydım.
1Co 2:3 Size zayıflık ve korku içinde geldim, tir tir titriyordum!
1Co 2:4 Sözüm ve bildirim, insan bilgeliğinin ikna edici sözlerine değil, Ruh'un kanıtlayıcı gücüne dayanıyordu.
1Co 2:5 Öyle ki, imanınız insan bilgeliğine değil, Tanrı gücüne dayansın.

Let's have some fun with a simple Turkish word that can be expanded in a number of delightful ways:

bilmek -- to know. to be aware. to understand. to learn. to recognize. to assume. to appreciate. ken. savvy
bilge -- wise. learned. erudite. omniscient. polymath. profound. sophisticated. wise person. scholar. luminary. owl. sage. sophisticate.
bildiri -- announcement. assertion. bulletin. communique. declaration. handout. manifesto. notice. notification. paper. report. communiqué.
bildirim -- my announcement. assertion. bulletin. communique. declaration. handout, etc.
bilgelik -- wisdom. erudition. savoir vivre. sagacity.
bilgelikle -- characterized by bilgelkik.

A famous line from one of Shakespeare's plays goes, "The lady protesteth overmuch, methinks." When people try too hard to convince us, we "smell a rat." Paul gave his audience the facts -- the King had arrived. He informed his audience about what they needed to do -- pledge allegiance to the King, and enter the royal service. He demonstrated the benefits of the Kingdom, by working a miraculous healing or three. Maybe an exorcism. Then, he left it up to the audience to make up their own minds.

People tend to "own" decisions they reach on their own initiative, and to disown "decisions" they felt pressured into making -- by slick rhetoric, by abusive social pressure, etc.

_____________

[1] A $1 coin, minted in base metal, with a loon -- an aquatic bird -- on the obverse side.

[2] Kemal Atatürk not only led his people to victory against overwhelming odds, but stayed in office long enough afterwards to preserve the fruits of that victory.

[3] An exception that tests this rule is the autistic folks who can say, as Temple Grandin's book title does, I Think In Pictures. She processes the universe of spoken language by imagining it to be a movie.

I Kor. 1 -- the circular firing squad

2010-12-25T17:53:00.002-05:00

When my son was a lad, I once had to warn him concerning the younger of two brothers he counted among his friends. The younger boy was a catalyst for trouble. He could direct conversations and interactions in such a way as to embarrass his big brother, and cause the older boy to look bad in the eyes of the adults in the room. He could make intensifying actions and reactions go up the scale, while apparently remaining unaffected himself. Big brother would suddenly find himself humiliated, and not know that had come to pass.

Agatha Christie's final Hercule Perot mystery, Curtains, had such a catalyst as a key element. This party could find and push anyone's hot buttons, and took pleasure in provoking a series of murders.

There is a malevolent spirit on the move, Satan (İblis), the enemy of humanity. Much of his evil work is done by catalyzing fitna or discord among people. A house divided against itself is in danger. Consider the situation in the church at Corinth:

1Co 1:10 Kardeşler, Rabbimiz İsa Mesih'in adıyla yalvarıyorum: Hepiniz uyum içinde olun, aranızda bölünmeler olmadan aynı düşünce ve görüşte birleşin.
1Co 1:11 Kardeşlerim, Kloi'nin ev halkından aranızda çekişmeler olduğunu öğrendim.
1Co 1:12 Şunu demek istiyorum: Her biriniz, "Ben Pavlus yanlısıyım", "Ben Apollos yanlısıyım", "Ben Kefas yanlısıyım" ya da "Ben Mesih yanlısıyım" diyormuş.
1Co 1:13 Mesih bölündü mü? Sizin için çarmıha gerilen Pavlus muydu? Pavlus'un adıyla mı vaftiz* edildiniz?

Apparently, the young community of believers was turning into a "circular firing squad." Instead of community, the group was experiencing factions. Some, probably the more Jewish members, claimed to be on the Kefas (Peter) team. Others followed Apollos, an eloquent, learned, and philosophical believer who still wore the name of a Greek pagan deity. Some claimed to be on Paul's side, and to enjoy the best of both worlds, Jewish and Greek. Finally, others claimed smugly to be above such petty strife, and to belong only to Christ.

How much can we achieve for good if we are united in heart and purpose? We have been given skills and resources that can turn the world into a garden spot, or a desert. The trap of Satan is to provoke dissension, and to thus neutralize the servants of the living God, as they turn their tools against one another rather than to the tasks at hand.

Romans 16 -- it pays to stay connected

2010-12-08T11:06:00.002-05:00

Paul mentions 37 or so names in this chapter. Seven are people on his side of the conversation, including the scribe, Tertius, who puts in his $0.02 worth, not knowing that folks would be reading that insertion thousands of years later. One, Phoebe, is the lady deacon who will carry the letter to Rome. Then, there are 28 people who he already knows who live in Rome, a city he's never visited.

It pays to network. Paul had friends in place wherever he wanted to go, and people to stay with. For example, the gentleman who is providing accommodations for him at the moment:

Rom 16:23 Bana ve bütün inanlılar topluluğuna konukseverlik eden Gayus size selam eder. Kent haznedarı Erastus'un ve Kuartus kardeşin size selamları var.

The key word here, konukseverlik, is obviously a compound word, since it jams together front and back vowels in one congenial alliance, to make a point. Konuk = guest, visitor, sojourner. Sever = fondness, affection. Konuksever, accoring to the excellent, and sometimes quaint, dictionary at hazar.com means hospitable, open-doored. A man described as konukseverlik is obviously one whose life is characterized by hospitality. A genial character who loves people, has an open heart, and an open home.

There are people in Rome who have also, in other days and places, enjoyed having Paul as a guest:

Rom 16:13 Rab'bin seçkin kulu olan Rufus'a ve bana da annelik etmiş olan annesine selam edin.

Alexander and Rufus were the sons of Simon of Cyrene, the dark-complexioned farmer who was conscripted to carry the cross of Jesus, when the Romans worried that the condemned might expire ahead of schedule. I like the way Turkish expresses the relationship to the unnamed mother of Rufus: bana da annelik etmiş olan annesine selam edin. To me / also / like a mother / it is said that she was[1] / being / to his mother / peace / be upon.

One last point. Paul enjoyed hospitality, and believed that the faithful of all flavors should be kind to one another. His list of friends includes those with Jewish names, Roman names, Greek names, and barbarian (indigenous people) names. His advice to those he wishes all good things to includes this practical step:

Rom 16:17 Kardeşler, size yalvarırım, aldığınız öğretiye karşı gelerek ayrılıklara ve sapmalara neden olanlara dikkat edin, onlardan sakının.

Notice -- and avoid -- the troublemakers. Every gathering has them. Healthy groups help them find the door.

____________

[1] Turkish has a "narrative / dubatative" tense used for telling stories, or reporting things one has not witnessed first-hand. When you translate a verb containing the tense marker miş or its kin, use some qualifying words like "they say" or "it is said that" or "I heard that..."

Romans 15 -- A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man

2010-12-03T07:22:00.004-05:00

As any fan of The Simpsons recognizes, this is the town motto of Springfield, and embiggens is a perfectly cromulent adjective. And it seems to be one of the motivations Paul recommends to his quarrelsome Roman friends:

Rom 15:1 İmanı güçlü olan bizler, kendimizi hoşnut etmeye değil, güçsüzlerin zayıflıklarını yüklenmeye borçluyuz.
Rom 15:2 Her birimiz komşusunu ruhça geliştirmek için komşusunun iyiliğini gözeterek onu hoşnut etsin.
Rom 15:3 Çünkü Mesih bile kendini hoşnut etmeye çalışmadı. Yazılmış olduğu gibi: "Sana edilen hakaretlere ben uğradım."

Let's look at a few key words:

güçlü -- filled with / characterized by strength. Visit the Turkish version of a computer repair manual, and you'll encounter the phrase güç kaynak -- power supply. Güç seems to be equivalent to the Greek word δυνατοὶ, which is used here as a plural substantive adjective .
güçsüzlerin -- those who are weak. güç - power. süz - lacking. ler - plural. in - are.
komşu -- neighbor.
hoşnut etmek -- to please.

There's an old Latin cliche, noblesse oblige. Nobility obligates. Truly great, truly noble, people do not, like Mel Brooks' Men in Tights "wander through the forest looking for fights."

Gentile saints, be kind to your Jewish fellow guests at God's feast. After all, they spread the table, bringing the Word and Messiah of God into the world. Jewish saints, wake up to the fact that you are not God's ultimate project, but a means to His ends.

And it would do us all good to be kind to each other, rather than looking for arguments to win.

Romans 14 -- table manners towards other guests

2010-11-30T08:16:00.001-05:00

"Never serve booze at a wedding. Although most of the guests might enjoy it, there will always be one who will get drunk, make a fool of himself, and ruin the party for everyone else."

This bit of advice came to mind as I meditated on today's chapter. Let's look at the first few verses:

Rom 14:1 İmanı zayıf olanı aranıza kabul edin, ama tartışmalı konulara girmeyin.
Rom 14:2 Biri her şeyi yiyebileceğine inanır; imanı zayıf olansa yalnız sebze yer.
Rom 14:3 Her şeyi yiyen, yemeyeni hor görmesin. Her şeyi yemeyen, yiyeni yargılamasın. Çünkü Tanrı onu kabul etmiştir.
Rom 14:4 Sen kimsin ki, başkasının kulunu yargılıyorsun? Kulu haklı çıkaran da haksız çıkaran da efendisidir. Kul haklı çıkacaktır. Çünkü Rab'bin onu haklı çıkarmaya gücü vardır.

Let's look at a few key words:

kabul edin -- 2nd person imperative form of verb kabul etmek -- to welcome, to receive.
haklı çıkarmak -- another compound verb, like the only Malay word in common English, which is always combined with the English verb "to run."[2] This Turkish compound word, which pops up in the hazar.com dictionary when you enter , means: excuse. justify. vindicate.
haksız çıkarmak -- Obviously, the opposite of haklı çıkarmak. Turks take their çay either şekerli or şekersiz -- with or without sugar.
hak -- condign. right. justice. claim. benefit. authority. dibs. due. franchise. jus. title. warrant. warranty. The Turkish phrase Hak dini (true, etc. religion) is a synonym for Islam.

The Scotch-Irish inhabitants of the American Appalachian region are famous for their violent, armed, disputes. A century ago, the Hatfield and McCoy clans became synonymous with the ignorant, savage hill billies who deserved to be swindled out of the mineral wealth they lived atop, but lacked the means -- or the will -- to exploit. Last I heard, 85% of West Virginia is owned or controlled by people who do not live in West Virginia. Sophisticated guests in that part of the world are aware of the vast chasm that exists between West Virginia[3], a state that is a byword for backwardness, and western Virginia, an urbane, civilized, region.

Some historians suggest that the internecine disputes among the mountain people were used as propaganda fodder by outside interests intent on strip mining that state.

Be that as it may, the media image of the feuding mountaineers has a basis in fact. Carl Whorley, a Baptist preacher in Roanoke Virginia, comes from that stock. Two families had been fighting for too many generations. To make piece, the elders of the clan chose a Romeo from one, a Juliet from the other, and ordered them to marry each other. Carl was the son of this peaceful, peace-making union.

The Roman church that Paul wrote to, as we saw in the last few chapters, was characterized by an uneasy state of truce between the two major components: those who had been born Jews, and those who had been born as pagans. It was all too easy for the Jewish-heritage believers to sneer at the indiscriminate way that the former pagans chowed down on whatever fair or foul stuff that was set before them. The pagan-legacy Roman Christians, on the other hand, were astonished at how incapable their kin were of seeing the point, and getting with the program. Jesus had set them free to live, and these clowns still insisted on pouring their lives into pointless pageantry, rituals, and religious games.

Paul warns them -- be kind to each other. Be on your best behavior -- because there is an unseen Host presiding over your lives together. And, ultimately,

Hiçbirimiz kendimiz için yaşamayız, hiçbirimiz de kendimiz için ölmeyiz.

Not a one of us / to ourselves / because / may live, / not a one of us / even / to ourselves / because / may die.

We are temporary guests at an eternal table. It becomes us, since we have been invited to such an incredible party, to get along with each other, and not embarrass our Host.

_____________________

[1] Mnemonic for English speakers: "Kabul is not a welcoming city."

[2] The Malay word, which has two correct spellings, is amok or amuck. To "run amok" is to go violently insane.

[3] What is the state flower of West Virginia? The satellite dish.
What is the usual color of cars in West Virginia? Primer.
How can you tell that you are in the Amish part of West Virginia? You see dead horses on cinder blocks in front of the mobile homes.

Romans 13 -- protective coloration

2010-11-28T05:03:00.005-05:00

You need to be careful what you put in writing. For example, if you have wronged someone, and wish to apologize, to try to make things right, do so in person, if at all possible. A written confession can expose you and all you have to legal jeopardy. This reticence and caution applies even more to wired media. A new-hire attending a corporate orientation updated his Facebook account with a contemptuous remark about wasting his time in a boring meeting. He was looking for a new job before that meeting was over.

If you enjoy energetic conversations in public online forums, do not participate under your own name. Choose a screen name, an alias, such as RJR Fan.

And, if you think The Man might be reading your correspondence, a little bribe might be in order. Say something nice about the people in charge. A Pentecostal preacher addressed an audience in Haiti on faith healing. "God can also heal through the hands of dedicated physicians, such as the honorable Doctor Duvalier," he said, speaking of the crazed dictator who then ruled the island. The sermon was being monitored -- and the preacher suddenly found himself with fresh opportunities, new resources, and a wider audience.

Since Paul was writing a newsletter, a missive that would be copied and passed around among many people, it would probably come to the attention of a Roman magistrate at some point, and be examined for subversive content. That, I believe, is one reason for this chapter: a bribe to Nero's team.

Rom 13:1 Herkes, baştaki yönetime bağlı olsun. Çünkü Tanrı'dan olmayan yönetim yoktur. Var olanlar Tanrı tarafından kurulmuştur.
Rom 13:2 Bu nedenle, yönetime karşı direnen, Tanrı buyruğuna karşı gelmiş olur. Karşı gelenler yargılanır.
Rom 13:3 İyilik edenler değil, kötülük edenler yöneticilerden korkmalıdır. Yönetimden korkmamak ister misin, öyleyse iyi olanı yap, yönetimin övgüsünü kazanırsın.
Rom 13:4 Çünkü yönetim, senin iyiliğin için Tanrı'ya hizmet etmektedir. Ama kötü olanı yaparsan, kork! Yönetim, kılıcı boş yere taşımıyor; kötülük yapanın üzerine Tanrı'nın gazabını salan öç alıcı olarak Tanrı'ya hizmet ediyor.
Rom 13:5 Bunun için, yalnız Tanrı'nın gazabı nedeniyle değil, vicdan nedeniyle de yönetime bağlı olmak gerekir.
Rom 13:6 Vergi ödemenizin nedeni de budur. Çünkü yöneticiler Tanrı'nın bu amaç için gayretle çalışan hizmetkârlarıdır.

Let's look at verse 4. The key word is yönetim, which being interpreted means "administration. management. direction. government. oversight. regimen. rule. running. stewardship. superintendency. trusteeship." Ama kötü olanı yaparsan, kork! If / evil / things / if you do, / be afraid!

Christians had additional reasons for loudly shouting, "HEY! We are good, docile, loyal, tax-paying folks who wish the politicians well!" In Acts 18:2, we read about a couple Paul attached himself to who were refugees from Rome:

Act 18:2 Orada Pontus doğumlu, Akvila adında bir Yahudi ile karısı Priskilla'yı buldu. Bunlar, Klavdius'un bütün Yahudiler'in Roma'yı terk etmesi yolundaki buyruğu üzerine, kısa süre önce İtalya'dan gelmişlerdi. Akvila ile Priskilla'nın yanına giden Pavlus, aynı meslekten olduğundan onlarla kalıp çalıştı. Çünkü meslekleri çadırcılıktı.

All of the Jews had been ordered out of Rome, at an earlier point in time. A contemporary pagan historian explains that this was because of "riots concerning the god Chrestus." Time after time, in Paul's ministry, Jewish agitators stirred up mob violence against the gospel. Apparently, it was the message itself which provoked them -- Paul had not had time to get to Rome yet, and already Christians were blamed for making waves.

A generation later, in 112, noted writer Pliny the younger cracked down on this "bad superstition" in his capacity as governor of the Anatolian province of Bithynia. In an effort to be fair, he released any prisoners who formally denied being Christians.

They called upon the gods, and supplicated to your image, which I caused to be brought to me for that purpose, with frankincense and wine; they also cursed Christ; none of which things, it is said, can any of those that are ready Christians be compelled to do.

But what were these curious creatures up to? According to those who claimed to have been Christians --

However, they assured me that the main of their fault, or of their mistake was this:-That they were wont, on a stated day, to meet together before it was light, and to sing a hymn to Christ, as to a god, alternately; and to oblige themselves by a sacrament [or oath], not to do anything that was ill: but that they would commit no theft, or pilfering, or adultery; that they would not break their promises, or deny what was deposited with them, when it was required back again; after which it was their custom to depart, and to meet again at a common but innocent meal, which they had left off upon that edict which I published at your command, and wherein I had forbidden any such conventicles. These examinations made me think it necessary to inquire by torments what the truth was; which I did of two servant maids, who were called Deaconesses: but still I discovered no more than that they were addicted to a bad and to an extravagant superstition.

Bottom line? God may place us under bad leaders, as a chastisement for our sins against Him. However, even leaders have a standard to meet. See verse 3:

İyilik edenler değil, kötülük edenler yöneticilerden korkmalıdır.

Good things / whose who do / not, / evil things / those who do / from the rulers[1] / it is necessary to fear. A ruler who punishes good people (like us obedient, tax-paying, Christians!) while ignoring evildoers, is not living up to his job description.

________________

[1] Korkmak -- to fear -- is one of those minority of Turkish verbs that expects its direct object to be indicated by the -dan/-den/-tan/-ten suffix. Be sure to pronounce the second k when you notice aloud that a Turkish friend fears dogs -- köpekten korkiniz. If you say "köpekten koriniz," you've just told your new friends that they smell like dogs!

Romans 12 -- table manners toward host

2010-11-28T04:33:00.004-05:00

Many of my friends just celebrated the Korban Bayram, the Feast of the Sacrifice, in memory of the day when Abraham passed God's ultimate test of his faith. God provided a substitute for the human sacrifice Abraham was prepared to offer. Millions of Muslims around the world sacrifice a clean animal on Korban Bayram -- a sheep for a family, or a cow can be shared out among four families. The meat is eaten with glad piety on that day, and shared with the poor, with students away from home, and with friends. (yes, we have some in our freezer.)

The meat is good. The Divine Mercy celebrated is even more wonderful.

When invited to a state dinner, you conduct yourself in a manner different from when you raid the buffet at a Golden Corral. At Mr. Wok, the focus is on the food. Delicious, varied, and unlimited servings. If I were sitting at dinner with a head of state, however, I would be paying at least as much attention to the head table as I do to my own. (I may have to recycle this observation when I get to I Cor. 11!)

The first part of the first verse in this chapter sets the tone for all that follows:

Rom 12:1 Öyleyse kardeşlerim, Tanrı'nın merhameti adına size yalvarırım: Bedenlerinizi diri, kutsal, Tanrı'yı hoşnut eden birer kurban olarak sunun. Ruhsal tapınmanız budur.

Therefore / brothers / God's / mercies / in the name of / to you / I implore:

Because of all that God has done for us, a certain deportment on our behalf is appropriate.

Your bodies / living / holy / to God / acceptable / is / as a / sacrifice / is / present. [1] Spiritual / your worship / this is.

Imagine a child begging his mother for money, so he can buy her a present. Everything we have to offer our God consists of what He first gave us. Happy people are grateful people, humble people, people who delight in noting where their blessings come from. As the rest of this chapter will show, such people are also a lot of fun to hang around with.

_____________

[1] Interesting -- in this sentence, we see the two Turkish equivalents of the English "to be" -- etmek and olmak. Maybe when I study a while longer, I'll know when to use each!

Romans 11 -- root stocks

2010-11-21T02:34:00.003-05:00

"Dwarfing rootstocks" are big items in the apple growing business. Dwarf trees give you the same fruit, but on shorter trunks. You get a better ratio of fruit to wood, the harvesting is easier, and the productivity per acre is dramatically better. Dwarf trees are also easier to prune, spray, and otherwise care for. Two big names in the dwarfing rootstock business are Mulling IX and Mulling Merton.

When you buy a dwarf fruit tree, you are actually buying several trees spliced (grafted) together. The root comes from a tree that is naturally petite, but which may not bear a desired variety of fruit.

Grafting is an ancient horticultural practice. In fact, Paul refers to it in this chapter:

Rom 11:16 Hamurun ilk parçası kutsalsa, tümü kutsaldır; kök kutsalsa, dallar da kutsaldır.
Rom 11:17, 18 Ama zeytin ağacının bazı dalları kesildiyse ve sen yabanıl bir zeytin filiziyken onların yerine aşılanıp ağacın semiz köküne ortak oldunsa, o dallara karşı övünme. Eğer övünüyorsan, unutma ki, sen kökü taşımıyorsun, kök seni taşıyor.
Rom 11:19 O zaman, "Ben aşılanayım diye dallar kesildi" diyeceksin.
Rom 11:20 Doğru, onlar imansızlık yüzünden kesildiler. Sense imanla yerinde duruyorsun. Böbürlenme, kork!
Rom 11:21 Çünkü Tanrı asıl dalları esirgemediyse, seni de esirgemeyecektir.

Let's look at a few words here:

zeytin -- olive. A zetinli biscuit -- one baked with an olive inside -- is delicious.
dal -- branch
kök -- root
taşımak -- to bear, support, carry
kesilmek -- to cut off
Doğru, onlar imansızlık yüzünden kesildiler. -- True, / they / unbelief / by reason of / were cut off.
Sense imanla yerinde duruyorsun. -- You, however / by faith / in your place / you stand.
Böbürlenme, kork! -- Do not boast, / be afraid!

Sadly, most of the first-century Jews were cut off. Very few "got with the program" when Jesus walked among them, and the majority aimed their children, for the next 50 generations, towards hell. An elaborate and rich culture grew up around one "prime directive" -- denying the significance of Jesus. That's a kind of feeble prop to lean on, but you have to give them credit for getting a lot of mileage out of one obsession!

Yet, we who walk with God today do so because the Jews gave us the Bible, the Savior, and the invitation to partake of God's covenantal blessings. They served up this glorious meal, then decided not to dine with us. After laying out a table groaning with abundance, most of the Jews walked out of the party, went out into the cold, and sat in the dark chewing on chalk.

If you know a Jew, invite him back in to the party. After all, it started with them.

Romans 10 -- geregtigheid (doğruluk)

2010-11-14T03:47:00.004-05:00

Any time you study a new language, you encounter new sounds. English in particular is rich in phonemes -- more than 40, last time I checked. But that is a small subset out of the myriad of tones and intonations we can produce using throat, lips, and tongue. Try to say geregtigheid -- and the English-speaker has to exert substantial effort to pronounce each g. That Afrikaans throat-clearing phoneme is apparently similar to the gh we still include in the written English, in words like light, dough, through, enough -- but have not actually pronounced for several centuries.

Geregtigheid is also a major concern in this chapter. We are hard-wired to seek it, and people who take God seriously also take geregtigheid seriously. Or should I say δικαιοσύνην. giustizia. iustitiam. doğruluk. Americans who count Turkish Muslims among their friends encounter people who know their lives are lived under divine scrutiny. People who want to live lives that please their Maker. People who, as Jesus said, "hunger and thirst for righteousness."

The sad part is, these wonderful and delightful people, like the Jews Paul wrote about, often confused the means with the end, the effect with the cause:

Rom 10:2 Onlara ilişkin tanıklık ederim ki, Tanrı için gayretlidirler; ama bu bilinçli bir gayret değildir.
Rom 10:3 Tanrı'nın öngördüğü doğruluğu anlamadıkları ve kendi doğruluklarını yerleştirmeye çalıştıkları için Tanrı'nın öngördüğü doğruluğa boyun eğmediler.
Rom 10:4 Oysa her iman edenin aklanması için Mesih, Kutsal Yasa'nın sonudur.

Let's unpack vs. 4:

Oysa -- thus to
her -- every
iman edenin -- one who is believing
aklanması için -- is accounted (on the basis of that faith)
Mesih -- Christ
Kutsal Yasa'nın -- of the Holy Law
sonudur -- the goal is.

As a hero of the faith in America, J. Gresham Machen, wrote early in the last century,

Here is found the most fundamental difference between liberalism and Christianity—liberalism is altogether in the imperative mood, while Christianity begins with a triumphant indicative; liberalism appeals to man's will, while Christianity announces, first, a gracious act of God.

Romans 9 -- gender issues

2010-11-11T04:17:00.004-05:00

We attend a Methodist church on Easter Sunday morning, since my wife grew up in this community of faith. This church is placidly dying. Every year, the median age of the members increases, and young blood is not coming in to replace the bald pates and blue hairs[1] who are on their way to the church yard.[2]

They demonstrate what happens when a "people of the book" refuse to take their own book seriously. For several generations, the official ideology of the United Methodist Church has denigrated the Bible, embraced some alternate Ultimate Authority, and attempted to re-read and re-write the Bible in terms of those "truths" they consider to be truer than this book.[3] Thomas B. Altice, a professor at the Methodist Emory University, for example, got his 15 minutes of fame by reinterpreting Christianity in terms of Martin Heidegger's existentialism. The typical liberal theologian, you see, is a pathetic pantywaist, unable to generate new insights, but only to recycle the garbage that unbelieving philosophers proposed a generation earlier, and are already discarding. Theological liberalism refuses to admit the possibility that Christianity might actually have its own identity. Rather, these precious little pundits pronounce, Christianity is really something else in drag.[4]

Feminism seduces the would-be, with-it, experts of our day. Somehow, the glorious differences between male and female, that reflect something of eternal reality, are a horrible discrimination that must be eliminated. No organization is allowed to have a Chairman any more, only an emasculated Chair. Consider how this pathological hatred of manhood plays out in Psalm 100. As traditionally translated:

¹Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
²Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
³Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
⁴Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
⁵For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

The latest Methodist hymnal would have the church members recite this psalm as follows:

³Know that the Sovereign One is God: it is God that has made us, and not we ourselves; we are God's people, and the sheep of God's pasture.
⁴Enter into God's gates with thanksgiving, and into God's courts with praise: be thankful unto God, and bless God's name.
⁵For the Sovereign One is good; God's mercy is everlasting; and God's truth endureth to all generations.

Those blasphemous and accursed innovators who lay foul and reckless hands upon God's Word find it offensive to apply masculine pronouns (he, his, him) to God. I once heard one such lunatic sweetly lisping the invented word godself to avoid besmirching his lips with the word himself, when speaking of his Maker.

I like the position C S Lewis took. The Creator is so intensely the Initiator and Source of all that the entire universe is feminine by contrast. Which brings us to some thoughts from today's reading in İncil:

Rom 9:14 Öyleyse ne diyelim? Tanrı adaletsizlik mi ediyor? Kesinlikle hayır!
Rom 9:15 Çünkü Musa'ya şöyle diyor: "Merhamet ettiğime merhamet edeceğim, Acıdığıma acıyacağım."
Rom 9:16 Demek ki bu, insanın isteğine ya da çabasına değil, Tanrı'nın merhametine bağlıdır.
Rom 9:17 Tanrı Kutsal Yazı'da firavuna şöyle diyor: "Gücümü senin aracılığınla göstermek Ve adımı bütün dünyada duyurmak için Seni yükselttim."
Rom 9:18 Demek ki Tanrı dilediğine merhamet eder, dilediğinin yüreğini nasırlaştırır.
Rom 9:19 Şimdi bana, "Öyleyse Tanrı insanı neden hâlâ suçlu buluyor? O'nun isteğine kim karşı durabilir?" diyeceksin.
Rom 9:20 Ama, ey insan, sen kimsin ki Tanrı'ya karşılık veriyorsun? "Kendisine biçim verilen, biçim verene, 'Beni niçin böyle yaptın' der mi?"
Rom 9:21 Ya da çömlekçinin aynı kil yığınından bir kabı onurlu iş için, ötekini bayağı iş için yapmaya hakkı yok mu?
Rom 9:22 Eğer Tanrı gazabını göstermek ve gücünü tanıtmak isterken, gazabına hedef olup mahvolmaya hazırlananlara büyük sabırla katlandıysa, ne diyelim?
Rom 9:23 Yüceltmek üzere önceden hazırlayıp merhamet ettiklerine yüceliğinin zenginliğini göstermek için bunu yaptıysa, ne diyelim?
Rom 9:24 Yalnız Yahudiler arasından değil, öteki uluslar arasından da çağırdığı bu insanlar biziz.

Let's look at a few words from verse 20, Ama, ey insan, sen kimsin ki Tanrı'ya karşılık veriyorsun?:

Ama, -- But
ey insan -- O man [5]
sen -- you
kimsin ki -- who might you be that
Tanrı'ya -- to God
karşılık -- back-talk, sass, disagreement
veriyorsun? -- should make?

And, let's look at a concept from vs. 21 (bir kabı onurlu), the vessel of honor / dishonor. Traditional kilns are temperamental tools. It takes a lot of painstaking care to ensure even heat distribution inside a wood- or coal-fired kiln. If you are firing a delicate, elaborate, piece of ceramic work, small fluctuations in temperature can cause the item to break. To protect the costly "vessel of honor," the potter would throw[6] a "vessel of dishonor" -- a larger, cruder, hastily-made pot -- and place it over the kabı onurlu. The two would go through the fire together, and the outer vessel would absorb thermal shocks. When the kiln was opened, the vessel of dishonor was a use-once throw-away item, for nasty or noxious substances.

God, for reasons of His own, makes some people His own -- but even the others serve His purposes.

_________________

[1] Older ladies often apply a treatment to their hair which gives the gray tint a faint shade of blue. The term "Blue Hairs" refers to aged women who are aware of their appearance.

[2] When you bike through rural areas in the USA, you will often see churches with graveyards adjoining them. The older tombstones will often bear names shared by streets and other landmarks in the area. The family name of the gloomy Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard, means church yard / graveyard.

[3] If these people would have the decency to become Muslims, they would at least still believe in God, rather than hide their atheism in order to live on the funds provided by God-fearing Christians!

[4] Homosexual men who wish they were female are "in drag" when they dress up like women.

[5] The English word O is a "vocative" word, an exclamation designed to draw the attention of the party invoked. The English word Oh is a general-purpose exclamation of mild surprise or dismay.

[6] Potters don't make pots on the potter's wheel, they throw them.

Romans 8 -- a man wrapped up in himself ... [1]

2010-11-07T02:42:00.004-05:00

The Baptist church was packed. The deceased, a cousin of my wife's, had been a member for many years. On the morning of the day he was supposed to appear in court, on charges of molesting children on church excursions, "Jim" called 911 to report a gunshot in his back yard.

What can a pastor say to a congregation, and to a family, on such an occasion? As Rev. Mooneyham stepped into the pulpit, the discerning eye could see that he was a good man, a kind man, a wise man, with something to say that was worth listening to. The preacher opened his Bible to Romans 8, and began a message of eternal life given to unworthy people -- like the deceased. Like you. Like me. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus... "

This kind of extravagant hope is one reason why many Christians number Romans 8 among their favorite chapters in the Bible.

As we saw in the last chapter, nobody, not even the best of us, can repose his hopes of eternal life in anything less than God. Yet, despair of ourselves does not equate to despair. I'd like to focus on one Turkish word that seems to provide a fresh perspective on the miracle of redemption.

Rom 8:1 Böylece Mesih İsa'ya ait olanlara artık hiçbir mahkûmiyet yoktur.
Rom 8:2 Çünkü yaşam veren Ruh'un yasası, Mesih İsa sayesinde beni günahın ve ölümün yasasından özgür kıldı.
Rom 8:3 İnsan benliğinden ötürü güçsüz olan Kutsal Yasa'nın yapamadığını Tanrı yaptı. Öz Oğlu'nu günahlı insan benzerliğinde günah sunusu olarak gönderip günahı insan benliğinde yargıladı.
Rom 8:4 Öyle ki, Yasa'nın gereği, benliğe göre değil, Ruh'a göre yaşayan bizlerde yerine gelsin.
Rom 8:5 Benliğe uyanlar benlikle ilgili, Ruh'a uyanlarsa Ruh'la ilgili işleri düşünürler.
Rom 8:6 Benliğe dayanan düşünce ölüm, Ruh'a dayanan düşünceyse yaşam ve esenliktir.
Rom 8:7 Çünkü benliğe dayanan düşünce Tanrı'ya düşmandır; Tanrı'nın Yasası'na boyun eğmez, eğemez de...
Rom 8:8 Benliğin denetiminde olanlar Tanrı'yı hoşnut edemezler.
Rom 8:9 Ne var ki, Tanrı'nın Ruhu içinizde yaşıyorsa, benliğin değil, Ruh'un denetimindesiniz. Ama içinde Mesih'in Ruhu olmayan kişi Mesih'in değildir.

There is one Greek word with noun and adjective forms σάρκα / σαρκὸς , that is translated by several different English words in the King James Version of the Bible: flesh, carnal. This does not mean the literal meat of our bodies, but is a metaphor for that which can be apprehended by the senses. The Turkish word used is benlik / benliğe/ benlikle / benliğinden. Let's look more closely at these various flavors.

ben -- I. ego. First person singular pronoun.
benlik -- That which pertains to ben. ego. conceit. self-respect. egotism. personality.
benliğe -- Direct object form of benlik.
benlikle -- Adverb form of benlik, describing the egotistic, conceited way in which something is done.
benliğinden -- Time-aware form of benlik, describing the time of the egotistic, conceited condition.

It is because we are not our own gods that we have hope. The Eternal One made known to us in and through İsa gives us a hope rooted in God's unlimited resources. Having an anchor in the eternal order gives us stability in time.

And salvation, the delight in God's purposes worked out through our lives, is a gift.

_________

[1] makes a very small package.

Romans 7 -- helpful hopelessness

2010-11-05T04:05:00.002-04:00

Pious Jews would never dream of naming a son Paul. They blame this cosmopolitan man, native of Anatolia, educated in Jerusalem, of inventing an imagined synthesis between Greek culture and Jewish tradition that became Christianity.

Well, Paul did write more than half of the books in the İncil. He did hob-nob with people who had known Jesus personally, and he attracted a retinue of writers and scholars, such as John Mark and Luke, whose careful research led to those biographies of Jesus we call the Gospels. Paul definitely led a life of high adventure, high achievement, and inspired powerful emotions. He had close friends on three continents, and inspired his enemies to paroxysms of insane rage.

But how did this mover and shaker, this thinker and doer, view himself? In this chapter, we get a glimpse at his inner life:

Rom 7:7 Öyleyse ne diyelim? Kutsal Yasa günah mı oldu? Kesinlikle hayır! Ama Yasa olmasaydı, günahın ne olduğunu bilemezdim. Yasa, "Göz dikmeyeceksin" demeseydi, başkasının malına göz dikmenin ne olduğunu bilemezdim.
Rom 7:8 Ne var ki günah, bu buyruğun verdiği fırsatla içimde her türlü açgözlülüğü üretti. Çünkü Kutsal Yasa olmadıkça günah ölüdür.
Rom 7:9, 10 Bir zamanlar, Yasa'nın bilincinde değilken diriydim. Ama buyruğun bilincine vardığımda günah dirildi, bense öldüm. Buyruk da bana yaşam getireceğine, ölüm getirdi.
Rom 7:11 Çünkü günah buyruğun verdiği fırsatla beni aldattı, buyruk aracılığıyla beni öldürdü.
Rom 7:12 İşte böyle, Yasa gerçekten kutsaldır. Buyruk da kutsal, doğru ve iyidir.
Rom 7:13 Öyleyse, iyi olan bana ölüm mü getirdi? Kesinlikle hayır! Ama günah, günah olarak tanınsın diye, iyi olanın aracılığıyla bana ölüm getiriyordu. Öyle ki, buyruk aracılığıyla günahın ne denli günahlı olduğu anlaşılsın.
Rom 7:14 Yasa'nın ruhsal olduğunu biliriz. Bense benliğin denetimindeyim, köle gibi günaha satılmışım.

Let's look at verses 12:

İşte böyle, -- therefore,
Yasa -- the Law
gerçekten -- really. truly. indeed. actually. in deed. sure enough. in the flesh. honestly. literally. positively. quite. simply. sincerely. verily.
kutsaldır. -- is holy.
Buyruk da -- The Commandment also
kutsal, -- holy,
doğru -- straight, correct, right
ve iyidir. -- and good it is.

God's law is straight. The more seriously I take it, the more aware I am of my own crookedness.

And this is good news? Sure is. You see, we were not designed to run under our own power. God's revelation can show us the good way to live -- but the power to live well[1] can only come from God Himself. If we engage in putperest (idolatry, paganism), trusting upon something other than God for our core source of identity and energy, life gets very frustrating very quickly. We can't grab a chunk of something wonderful, something God Himself gave us, and use it as a substitute for Him. Not even the Divine Law can replace the Divine Creator!

________________

[1] In English, good is an adjective, applying to nouns, words that describe a person, place or thing. Well is an adverb, applying to verbs, to action words. In Turkish, the modifier iyi can be used both ways.

Romans 6 -- thoughts on sewage

2010-11-02T08:48:00.003-04:00

People who commit suicide tend to have a strange way of viewing time. They drive through life with their eyes glued to the rear-view mirror. Time after time, their thoughts loop back to depressing moments, bad decisions, horrible experiences, or, perhaps, opportunities missed. The ideal possible spouse, job, or scholarship that got away. [1]

Ever have a nightmare where you are snorkeling in transparent sewage?

Time is designed to move in one direction. In God's eternal plan, the future precedes the past and flows through the present to become the past. When time seems to "back up" on you, it's distressing. And smelly. However, how do we come to terms with the past, in such a way that its power over us is broken?

Well, here the Christian message offers a unique, one-of-a-kind opportunity. We can pretend that those bad things we experienced and did were experienced, and one by, someone else. Someone who's dead, now, so that we can live.

Paul rejoices in the continuous stream of God's goodness that flows into our lives. Some of His blessings are cleverly disguised as trials, but since He is good, these events are all for our good. However, all of us face the temptation to go back into the past, and ruminate[2] over stuff beyond our power to change. Here, the "it's dead, forget it" part of the gospel message comes into play:

Rom 6:1 Öyleyse ne diyelim? Lütuf çoğalsın diye günah işlemeye devam mı edelim?
Rom 6:2 Kesinlikle hayır! Günah karşısında ölmüş olan bizler artık nasıl günah içinde yaşarız?
Rom 6:3 Mesih İsa'ya vaftiz edildiğimizde, hepimizin O'nun ölümüne vaftiz edildiğimizi bilmez misiniz?
Rom 6:4 Baba'nın yüceliği sayesinde Mesih nasıl ölümden dirildiyse, biz de yeni bir yaşam sürmek üzere vaftiz yoluyla O'nunla birlikte ölüme gömüldük.
Rom 6:5 Eğer O'nunkine benzer bir ölümde O'nunla birleştiysek, O'nunkine benzer bir dirilişte de O'nunla birleşeceğiz.
Rom 6:6 Artık günaha kölelik etmeyelim diye, günahlı varlığımızın ortadan kaldırılması için eski yaradılışımızın Mesih'le birlikte çarmıha gerildiğini biliriz.
Rom 6:7 Çünkü ölmüş kişi günahtan özgür kılınmıştır.
Rom 6:8 Mesih'le birlikte ölmüşsek, O'nunla birlikte yaşayacağımıza da inanıyoruz.
Rom 6:9 Çünkü Mesih'in ölümden dirilmiş olduğunu ve bir daha ölmeyeceğini, ölümün artık O'nun üzerinde egemenlik sürmeyeceğini biliyoruz.
Rom 6:10 O'nun ölümü günaha karşılık ilk ve son ölüm olmuştur. Sürmekte olduğu yaşamı ise Tanrı için sürmektedir.
Rom 6:11 Siz de böylece kendinizi günah karşısında ölü, Mesih İsa'da Tanrı karşısında diri sayın.

Let's look at one sentence here:[3]

Mesih İsa'ya vaftiz edildiğimizde, hepimizin O'nun ölümüne vaftiz edildiğimizi bilmez misiniz?

Mesih İsa'ya -- of Jesus Christ
vaftiz edildiğimizde -- we who have been baptized into
hepimizin -- all of us
Onun ölümüne -- His death
vaftiz edildiğimizi -- we have been baptized
bilmez misiniz? -- do you not know?

Now that our past is truly, indeed, and irrevocably past (of course, despite our obsessive thinking, that's always been true!)[4] we can biz de yeni bir yaşam sürmek -- a new life conduct.

In one of his plays, Eugene K. O'Neill wrote, "In Ireland, there is not present or future; only the past, endlessly repeating itself." God has better things in mind for His people.

_____________

[1] This was the idea driving the movie The Big Chill. The only guy who tried to live out the values of that era was destroyed thereby.

[2] This verb refers to the digestive cycle of halel cattle -- sheep, goats, deer, cows. Since these beasts subsist on high-cellulose grasses, they have multiple stomachs. After preliminary processing in the first stomach, the ruminant vomits up the food, re-chews it, and swallows. After a sufficient number of cycles, the food goes on to the next stomach. You'll notice a characteristic, rather pleasant, odor in stables housing ruminating cattle.

[3] I assume that American readers have Bibles close at hand, and Turkish friends need a little more explanation.

[4] The American novel and movie The Great Gatsby is a tragedy concerning a protagonist who attempted to re-invent the past.

Rom. 5 -- access

2010-10-30T07:24:00.003-04:00

A parable comes to mind. I showed up late for an organized bike ride one July 4th. Unloaded my bike, and discovered that I had a flat tire. Purchased and installed a new inner tube, and took off, on my own, 45 minutes after the rest of the happy cyclists. An hour after that, I pulled into the first rest stop -- and all the snacks were gone. "Well," says I to myself, says I, "today is a good day for being a Calvinist!" An understanding of God's sovereignty comforts those who believe in God, and assures them that every trial has its purpose. The universe may not be structured for our comfort, but it is filled with meaning.

This perspective has real-world, and even political, implications.

Although America is reputed to be a Christian nation, filled with Christian people, in reality a different faith covertly hijacked our national existence a century ago. This other religion, which "captured the robes," the judiciary, academia, and churches, is called by some "liberalism," by others "modernism," and more recently "secular humanism." J. Gresham Machen was an early alarmist about this tendency. The church he belonged to had been infiltrated by perjured cynics who did not believe their own ordination vows, but did believe that they could use the religious words and institutions of Christianity as a vehicle for advancing their own agendas.

ANYHOW, Machen had this to say about the contrasts between the faith he forthrightly embraced, and the religion of those who were corrupting his church:

Here is found the most fundamental difference between liberalism and Christianity—liberalism is altogether in the imperative mood, while Christianity begins with a triumphant indicative; liberalism appeals to man's will, while Christianity announces, first, a gracious act of God.

Liberalism is characterized by a grim moralizing, a determination to remake the world for the convenience of the remakers, no matter how much of Europe's young manhood dies in the barb wired trenches, no matter how many millions of Iraqi children starve to death. Liberalism is a messianic hope, that permits the liberals to pretend to the role of messiahs.

The cure begins with awareness: "The emperor has no clothes!" Our would-be saviors are blindly dismantling all that is sweet, noble, wholesome, and good in life. Everything they try to fix, they break. Are they really that stupid? Or just the pawns, the "useful idiots," of malign secret powers? Gotta be careful, here. It's too easy to camp out in this negative mode for decades on end! Some folks study "conspiracy theories" in an attempt to fix the blame for their failures on something other than themselves.

You can't fight something with nothing. Ultimately, the only way to fight a corrupt faith is with a better faith. Let's look at the way Paul expresses this perspective:

Rom 5:1 Böylece imanla aklandığımıza göre, Rabbimiz İsa Mesih sayesinde Tanrı'yla barışmış oluyoruz.
Rom 5:2 İçinde bulunduğumuz bu lütfa Mesih aracılığıyla, imanla kavuştuk ve Tanrı'nın yüceliğine erişmek umuduyla övünüyoruz.
Rom 5:3,4 Yalnız bununla değil, sıkıntılarla da övünüyoruz. Çünkü biliyoruz ki, sıkıntı dayanma gücünü, dayanma gücü Tanrı'nın beğenisini, Tanrı'nın beğenisi de umudu yaratır.
Rom 5:5 Umut düş kırıklığına uğratmaz. Çünkü bize verilen Kutsal Ruh aracılığıyla Tanrı'nın sevgisi yüreklerimize dökülmüştür.

Even our trials make our lives better, by making us better -- as we trust in the One who calibrates each test, each decision point, of our lives.

Romans 4 -- the personal universe

2010-10-26T02:39:00.004-04:00

I'm reading a rather strange novel now, The Dream of Perpetual Motion. Like the classic anime movie Laputa: The Flying Island, this book fits into the "steam punk" genre. Put yourself in the mindset of a Roaring Twenties lad, when amazing new devices created everyday miracles. Suppose progress really had progressed as anticipated -- what kind of new mechanical marvels could have emerged to environ us?

There are people who view the universe as a vast, impersonal mechanism. A favorite sage of mine, G. K. Chesterton, had this to say about them in his masterpiece Orthodoxy:

Take first the more obvious case of materialism. As an explanation of the world, materialism has a sort of insane simplicity. It has just the quality of the madman's argument; we have at once the sense of it covering everything and the sense of it leaving everything out. Contemplate some able and sincere materialist, as, for instance, Mr. McCabe, and you will have exactly this unique sensation. He understands everything, and everything does not seem worth understanding. His cosmos may be complete in every rivet and cog-wheel, but still his cosmos is smaller than our world. Somehow his scheme, like the lucid scheme
of the madman, seems unconscious of the alien energies and the large indifference of the earth; it is not thinking of the real things of the earth, of fighting peoples or proud mothers, or first love or fear upon the sea. The earth is so very large, and the cosmos is so very small. The cosmos is about the smallest hole that a man can hide his head in.

So what is the appeal of the mechanistic universe? Predictability. Push this button, pull that lever, get the expected result. This is also the attraction of the magical world view -- the notion that everything is within the reach of our will. Perform the correct ritual, say the right words in the right order, and invisible forces will trot up and meekly do your bidding. As some would assert, we should exercise, rather than exorcise, the demons around us. But what says the man of faith? Let's look at a few sentences from Chapter 4 of Paul's letter to the Romans:

Rom 4:13 Çünkü İbrahim'e ve soyuna dünyanın mirasçısı olma vaadi Kutsal Yasa yoluyla değil, imandan gelen aklanma yoluyla verildi.
Rom 4:14 Eğer Yasa'ya bağlı olanlar mirasçı olursa, iman boş ve vaat geçersizdir.
Rom 4:15 Yasa, Tanrı'nın gazabına yol açar. Ama yasanın olmadığı yerde yasaya karşı gelmek de söz konusu değildir.
Rom 4:16 Bu nedenle vaat, Tanrı'nın lütfuna dayanmak ve İbrahim'in bütün soyu için güvence altına alınmak üzere imana bağlı kılınmıştır.

If we can, by our rituals, compel God to make things happen, then we are His masters -- a pleasing idea, but dangerous to one's sanity! In a mechanistic universe, we might be in control -- but there is no room for delight. For surprises. For things beyond our wildest imaginations to happen.

It's time to go back to bed, and rest up for the delights and surprises a loving God has planned for me tomorrow.

Romans 3 -- escape clause / Santa Claus

2010-10-24T08:41:00.002-04:00

"The man who pleads his own case at law has a knave for a lawyer, and a fool for a client." So goes the old proverb. It's a strange thing about us humans -- we can reorganize the world with in our own imaginations so easily -- but making ourselves do the things that need to be done can be a major project.

"Know the right and do the right, and you'll be all right." Sounds good in theory. "Looks good on paper," to quote another proverb. In practice, however, the gap between "knowing" and "doing" can be a real problem.

To be above, with saints we love,
now THAT will be the glory,
But here below, with saints we know,
now THAT'S another story!

I'm a technical writer, with a great deal of faith in written directions. I write them for a living, and do it well. It's fun to tell people what to do, to write in the 2nd person imperative. This optimism lasts until I start ordering myself around -- and soon bump into the limits of the doable. This is an issue Paul will discuss over and over again in this letter to the Christians in Rome. And, over and over again, he will celebrate the escape clause, the solution to this quandary:

Rom 3:20 Bu nedenle Yasa'nın gereklerini yapmakla hiç kimse Tanrı katında aklanmayacaktır. Çünkü Yasa sayesinde günahın bilincine varılır.
Rom 3:21 Ama şimdi Yasa'dan bağımsız olarak Tanrı'nın insanı nasıl aklayacağı açıklandı. Yasa ve peygamberler buna tanıklık ediyor.
Rom 3:22 Tanrı insanları İsa Mesih'e olan imanlarıyla aklar. Bunu, iman eden herkes için yapar. Hiç ayrım yoktur.
Rom 3:23 Çünkü herkes günah işledi ve Tanrı'nın yüceliğinden yoksun kaldı.
Rom 3:24 İnsanlar İsa Mesih'te olan kurtuluşla, Tanrı'nın lütfuyla, karşılıksız olarak aklanırlar.
Rom 3:25,26 Tanrı Mesih'i, kanıyla günahları bağışlatan ve imanla benimsenen kurban olarak sundu. Böylece adaletini gösterdi. Çünkü sabredip daha önce işlenmiş günahları cezasız bıraktı. Bunu, adil kalmak ve İsa'ya iman edeni aklamak için şimdiki zamanda kendi adaletini göstermek amacıyla yaptı.

Let's look at a few key phrases:

Çünkü Yasa sayesinde günahın bilincine varılır. Because / the Law / by means of / of sin / the knowledge / there is. God's law gives us a beautiful picture of righteous living, for ourselves, our families, our civic lives together. But is that enough? A Steve Martin joke comes to mind, his easy recipe for becoming a millionaire: "First, get a million dollars."

Çünkü herkes günah işledi ve Tanrı'nın yüceliğinden yoksun kaldı. Because / everyone / sin / does / and / of God / his glory / nothing / attains. So what's new? People in Christian circles wrestle with guilt, with the sense of shame because of the ways we offend God and do harm to one another. In Islam, the issue is cleanliness. Before prayer, you need to wash yourself carefully. One can be rendered unclean by certain foods, or by violating any of many prohibitions.

Read on, though, to savor the escape clause, the "Santa Clause." That which we cannot do for ourselves, God is willing to do for us, and has already done for us, through the life and work of Jesus the Messiah, His "graphic user interface" with the created order. A sacrificed Prophet achieves something that no quantity of animal sacrifices could manage. We have a gift, we can receive it by faith ...

and then, we can "follow the directions." Not to earn God's favor, but because God has favored us.

Romans 2 -- those who should know better

2010-10-20T04:15:00.003-04:00

An issue that bedevils American Christians is -- the "unchurched." These are the people who have no formal relationship with a religious tradition, who do not attend worship services, who do not "belong." We tend to take statistics seriously in this country, and a number of surveys have studied the question of who the unchurched are, and how they got to be that way.

A disturbingly high percentage of those alienated people used to be ours.

The most common reason given for walking away from Omelas[1] is a discrepancy between the actions of professing Christians, and what their faith claims lead us to expect. Quite often, a person of authority once abused the trust of the dropout. Pedophiles among the Catholic clergy, for example, have done great harm to the reputation of that communion.[2]

This is not a new problem. The Christian community in Rome included people from Jewish and pagan families. The Jews took pride in their "chosen" status before God, but did not always live up to their superior claims:

Rom 2:17 Ya sen? Kendine Yahudi diyor, Kutsal Yasa'ya dayanıp Tanrı'yla övünüyorsun.
Rom 2:18 Tanrı'nın isteğini biliyorsun. En üstün değerleri ayırt etmeyi Yasa'dan öğrenmişsin.
Rom 2:19, 20 Kutsal Yasa'da bilginin ve gerçeğin özüne kavuşmuş olarak körlerin kılavuzu, karanlıkta kalanların ışığı, akılsızların eğiticisi, çocukların öğretmeni olduğuna inanmışsın.
Rom 2:21 Öyleyse başkasına öğretirken, kendine de öğretmez misin? Çalmamayı öğütlerken, çalar mısın?
Rom 2:22 "Zina etmeyin" derken, zina eder misin? Putlardan tiksinirken, tapınakları yağmalar mısın?
Rom 2:23 Kutsal Yasa'yla övünürken, Yasa'ya karşı gelerek Tanrı'yı aşağılar mısın?
Rom 2:24 Nitekim şöyle yazılmıştır: "Sizin yüzünüzden uluslar arasında Tanrı'nın adına küfrediliyor."

Let's look at the first and last sentences in this extract:

Ya sen? Kendine Yahudi diyor, Kutsal Yasa'ya dayanıp, Tanrı'yla övünüyorsun.
And you? Yourself a Jew you call, Holy Law you rely upon, in God you boast.

Nitekim şöyle yazılmıştır: "Sizin yüzünüzden uluslar arasında Tanrı'nın adına küfrediliyor."
Nonetheless thus it is written: "You because of the nations surrounding God's name revile."

That's an interesting construction, BTW. Sizin = your and yüzünüzden = from your face. yüz (face) + ünüz (2nd person plural possessive) + den (the "from" ending. In this case, indicates the source of the topic of discussion)

It's the behavior of those who should know better that disgraces the truth they claim to revere. May God grant us the grace to claim less for ourselves, and to live more consistently with what we do know.
______________

[1] Those Who Walk Away from Omelas is a disturbing, unforgettable short story by fantasy novelist Ursula K. LeGuin, a native of Salem, Oregon (spell Salem O. backwards ...). The theme is an idyllic, Utopian, community -- and those who reject it, and why.

[2] The first Australian to be formally recognized by the Catholic church as a "saint" was, as Al Jazeera reports, Mary MacKillop, a 19th-century nun, whose religious order exposed a paedophile priest. The "old boys club" protected its own, and this courageous woman of faith was excommunicated for a while. When the local bishop was on his deathbed, and ready to face the Judge of all, he reversed that decree.

Romans 1 -- an urban strategy

2010-10-15T08:31:00.001-04:00

Cities are place where people go to get away from the obligations of faith and family. It's easier to find anonymity and scope for debauchery in the teeming masses of an urban center. Wealth also tends to flow towards the cities, as do poor people wanting a chunk of that wealth. The people with the wealth keep the poor people at arm's length by tossing them bribes -- panem et cicusem -- bread and circuses. As the last part of this first chapter vividly describes, urban populations experience in compressed and accelerated form the spiral of decadence. You start by ignoring your Creator, and the duties of gratitude towards Him. Once God is hustled off the stage, you fill the vacuum with miscellaneous idols. Having thus blinded oneself to ultimate realities, the degenerate person loses the character and faithfulness you need to maintain human intimate relationships -- with parents, with spouse.[1] The final step is homosexuality -- the words of Lola, a song by The Kinks, come to mind:

Girls will be boys and boys will be girls
It's a mixed up muddled up shook up world except for Lola
Lo-lo-lo-lo Lola

You start by ignoring the differences between sacred and profane, between holy and perverted. You end up denying the glorious differences between male and female.

But what did Paul see? A center of influence. A place to take the Gospel, if you wanted to move a province. Time after time, he and his companions headed for provincial capitals. Now, he has his sights set[2] on the capital of the known world, Rome.

Rom 1:14 Grekler'e ve Grek olmayanlara, bilgelere ve bilgisizlere karşı sorumluluğum var.
Rom 1:15 Bu nedenle Roma'da bulunan sizlere de Müjde'yi elimden geldiğince bildirmek için sabırsızlanıyorum.

Paul has news too good to keep to himself, glad tidings to share with every division of humanity, a blessing that transcends these divisions -- between civilized and barbarian (Grekler'e ve Grek olmayanlara), between learned and unschooled (bilgelere ve bilgisizlere).

______________

[1] Sometimes, the process works the other way. As one of Charles Darwin's early defenders frankly admitted, the advocates of the evolutionary worldview had reasons for resenting a meaningful universe. A world with room for God would limit their sexual freedom.

[2] The word sights in this context refers to gun sights, used for aiming at a target. Many American idioms, such as "Lock, stock, and barrel," refer to firearms.

Acts 28 -- friendly barbarians and a man of peace

2010-10-12T03:15:00.004-04:00

It's easy to define out own kind of people as "the civilized," and others as "the savages." The national languages of modern Europe were developed in the course of forging national identities out of myriad smaller components. A dominant tribe, such as the Tuscans of Italy, would enforce their language as the default standard Italian. As France consolidated, for example, L'Académie française took custody of the language, and worked to suppress les patois, the regional dialects.

In the world of Luke and Paul, civilized people spoke Greek, Latin, or both. Those who were not fluent in one or both of these official languages were, by definition, barbarians (in Greek, οἱ βάρβαροι). This chapter begins with a commendation of kindly barbarians, islanders who came out to help these soaked refugees from the wrecked ship:

Act 28:2 Yerliler bize olağanüstü bir yakınlık gösterdiler.

The local people (yerliler = yer, place + li, characterized by, + ler, plural) to us (bize = biz, us + e, direct object) extraordinary (olağanüstü = olağan, usual. regular. ordinary. normal. common. everyday. commonplace. mediocre. mundane. run-off-the-mill + üstü, above and beyond the ... ) kindness (yakınlık = yakın, closeness, + lık, characterizing) they showed (gösterdiler).

When Jesus gave his disciples directions on carrying the Good News of the Great King to new places, he instructed them to seek out a prominent local citizen, a "man of peace." Work a miracle or two, such as healing the sick. And then, talk about the God who makes all of this possible. Paul soon found himself as a guest of the island's "man of peace," Publius, a landowner and perhaps the governor of the island.

Act 28:7 Bulunduğumuz yerin yakınında adanın baş yetkilisi olan Publius adlı birinin toprakları vardı. Bu adam bizi evine kabul ederek üç gün dostça ağırladı.
Act 28:8 O sırada Publius'un babası kanlı ishale yakalanmış ateşler içinde yatıyordu. Hastanın yanına giren Pavlus dua etti, ellerini üzerine koyup onu iyileştirdi.
Act 28:9 Bu olay üzerine adadaki öbür hastalar da gelip iyileştirildiler.
Act 28:10 Bizi bir sürü armağanla onurlandırdılar; denize açılacağımız zaman gereksindiğimiz malzemeleri gemiye yüklediler.

Paul healed his sick father, then preached, then healed some more sick local people. By the time the three month enforced stay was over, the gospel had taken deep root in Melita, present-day Malta.

Acts 27 -- a man on a mission

2010-10-09T10:09:00.002-04:00

Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson was one of the more colorful figures of the American War Between the States. A pious Presbyterian, he taught a Sunday School for local slaves before the war, affectionately calling them his "colored militia."[0] He was a beloved teacher at Virginia Military Academy, and a demanding leader of his "foot cavalry." Mary Johnston's novel The Long Roll[1] accurately depicts the miseries of the new recruits as they learned to cover incredible distances by forced marches. Jackson defeated armies of aggressors that outnumbered his by several multiples in his beloved Shenandoah Valley by finding, and defeating, one weak spot after another.

General Jackson was a Calvinist, who asserted that this conviction made him a good soldier. Until God's assignment for his life was complete, Jackson said, he was as safe on the battlefield as he was in his own bed.[2]

We see something of this same confident security in today's reading from Acts 27. Paul is on his way to Rome by sea. A violent and prolonged typhoon[3] buffeted the ship, and after nearly two weeks of fighting the elements, people gave themselves up for lost. At this point, Paul has another of his periodic visions, and shares it with his shipmates:

Act 27:22 Şimdi size öğüdüm şu: Cesur olun! Gemi mahvolacak, ama aranızda hiçbir can kaybı olmayacak.
Act 27:23, 24 Çünkü kendisine ait olduğum, kendisine kulluk ettiğim Tanrı'nın bir meleği bu gece yanıma gelip dedi ki, 'Korkma Pavlus, Sezar'ın önüne çıkman gerekiyor. Dahası Tanrı, seninle birlikte yolculuk edenlerin hepsini sana bağışlamıştır.'
Act 27:25 Bunun için efendiler, cesur olun! Tanrı'ya inanıyorum ki, her şey tıpkı bana bildirildiği gibi olacak.

Cesur olun! (Courageous be!) Tanrı'nın bir meleği (Of God an angel) bu gece yanıma (this night by my side)
gelip dedi ki, (came and said) 'Korkma Pavlus, Sezar'ın önüne çıkman gerekiyor. (fear not Paul, Caesar in front of to go it is necessary.) Dahası Tanrı, seninle birlikte yolculuk edenlerin hepsini sana bağışlamıştır.' (What's more, God, those with you together travelers who are all to you will be spared.)

Paul had a task to achieve, a divine assignment to carry out. The protection God gave him on this errand spilled over to shelter those who were traveling with him.

A word of encouragement to an unemployed scholar, seeking to find a job, finish a dissertation, and prosper in an uncertain economy!

____________

[0] After the war, a Second Presbyterian Church, comprised of people of color, took up a collection for a costly stained glass window. The theme? Stonewall Jackson kneeling in prayer.

[1] Mary was the niece of the General Johnston who negotiated the surrender of more than 90,000 southern patriots at Bennett Springs, in Durham North Carolina, several weeks after General Robert E. Lee's more famous surrender at Appomattox. Mary grew up steeped in the tales of valor, hardship, and chaos from that era. It is profoundly disturbing to read realistic battle scenes, set in familiar bucolic landscapes. Since "the winners write the history books," discriminating readers are well advised to read Mary Johnston's account for "the rest of the story."

[2] In fact, he did not die in battle, but was shot by his own sentries when returning from a scouting expedition. "Let us cross over the river, and rest beneath the trees," he said as he died several days later.

[3] Yep, typhoon. That's literally the word used here: τυφωνικὸς .

Acts 26 -- a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down ...

2010-10-06T03:24:00.002-04:00

Robert A. Heinlein was an influential writer of a half-century ago. He turned his back upon the God of his Baptist family at the age of 13, upon discovering Charles Darwin's alternate reality. The character and discipline of the faith he was raised in continued to influence his thinking and writing until the late 1960s, when the restrained perversion and narcissism were finally unleashed.[1] When he wanted to lecture his readers on the libertarian politics of his current wife,[2] he wrote The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. One of the central characters is full of wise aphorisms. When Heinlein wished to expound at length, he put this character in a classroom, giving a lecture.

Someone has argued that the twin books of Luke's Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles comprise a single legal brief, prepared for Paul's trial at Rome. Much of Acts consists of narrative, anecdotes strung together in a carefully chronological order. From time to time, however, Luke inserts a major sermon. This chapter is almost completely taken up with one of those addresses. The stage is set -- visiting dignitaries want to hear this famed and eloquent prisoner. He stands up and delivers his presentation, complete with a challenge to the hearers then, and the readers now:

Act 26:22 Ama bugüne dek Tanrı yardımcım oldu. Bu sayede burada duruyor, büyük küçük herkese tanıklık ediyorum. Benim söylediklerim, peygamberlerin ve Musa'nın önceden haber verdiği olaylardan başka bir şey değildir.
Act 26:23 Onlar, Mesih'in acı çekeceğini ve ölümden dirilenlerin ilki olarak gerek kendi halkına, gerek öteki uluslara ışığın doğuşunu ilan edeceğini bildirmişlerdi."
Act 26:24 Pavlus bu şekilde savunmasını sürdürürken Festus yüksek sesle, "Pavlus, çıldırmışsın sen! Çok okumak seni delirtiyor!" dedi.
Act 26:25 Pavlus, "Sayın Festus" dedi, "Ben çıldırmış değilim. Gerçek ve akla uygun sözler söylüyorum.
Act 26:26 Kral bu konularda bilgili olduğu için kendisiyle çekinmeden konuşuyorum. Bu olaylardan hiçbirinin onun dikkatinden kaçmadığı kanısındayım. Çünkü bunlar ücra bir köşede yapılmış işler değildir.
Act 26:27 Kral Agrippa, sen peygamberlerin sözlerine inanıyor musun? İnandığını biliyorum."
Act 26:28 Agrippa Pavlus'a şöyle dedi: "Bu kadar kısa bir sürede beni ikna edip Mesihçi mi yapacaksın?"
Act 26:29 "İster kısa ister uzun sürede olsun" dedi Pavlus, "Tanrı'dan dilerim ki yalnız sen değil, bugün beni dinleyen herkes, bu zincirler dışında benim gibi olsun!"

Festus, the Roman governor exclaims, "Paul, you're crazy! Too much knowledge has driven you mad!" Paul replies, "Sayın Festus, Ben çıldırmış değilim. Gerçek ve akla uygun sözler söylüyorum. "O noble Festus, I mad am not. True and / conceivable. palatable. reasonable. sensible. (akla uygun) / words I speak."

Paul then turns his attention to the visiting minor king: Kral Agrippa, sen peygamberlerin sözlerine inanıyor musun? King Agrippa, you / of the prophets / the words / believe / do you not?

These events did not, as Paul explained, happen "in a corner." Or, as the Greek has it, ἐν γωνίᾳ: in a corner.[3] The resurrection of Jesus was something everyone in Israel knew about. Most of them tried hard not to think about it. They were a lot like Agrippa. A lot like us.[4]

_____________________

[1] If that sentence were an equation, or perhaps SQL statement, it would have at least three parenthetical expressions: (character + discipline ) ... (thinking + writing ) ... (perversion + narcissism ). In English, we find it easy and natural to use coordinating conjunctions. Lots of and statements. Other languages, such as Greek, prefer to array phrases in elegant hierarchical structures, using subordinating conjunctions.

[2] It was Isaac Asimov who said that Heinlein's politics depended on who he was married to at the moment.

[3] A triangle has three gonia. A dia-gonal line runs through opposite gonia.

[4] If there was a single button in the universe that fallen man could press to shut out the knowledge of God, that is is the one button he would press continuously. So wrote Cornelius Van Til, a grimly realistic American thinker.

Acts 25 -- without a clue

2010-10-04T08:07:00.002-04:00

OK, if you have to explain a joke, it probably isn't very funny -- but at the risk of puzzling my myriad fans, I'm going to start today's essay with a comic SQL[1] dialogue.

SELECT * FROM users WHERE clue > 0;
0 rows returned

How many users have a clue about what's going on? Zero.

Felix kept Paul incarcerated for two years hoping for a bribe. He was a political prisoner, whose captivity served the career goals of a corrupt local politician. When Festus came into office, he tried to please both Jewish prejudice and Roman legalism. As a Roman jurist, he recognized that there was no legal reason for holding Paul captive. So why not give him a Roman show trial -- but have it in Jerusalem, where the restless natives could show and demonstrate to their hearts' content outside the courtroom? Festus, however, did not understand the insane hatred of these restive natives. A Paul sent to Jerusalem would be a Paul sent to his death -- and Paul's reaction was a polite, but firm, "No way Jose!" As a Roman citizen, he appeals to Caesar. And Festus is at a loss. He asks another bureaucrat for advice, someone who is more familiar with Jewish culture. After all, how can I send someone to Caesar's court without an accusation against him?

Act 25:27 Bir tutukluyu İmparator'a gönderirken, kendisine yöneltilen suçlamaları belirtmemek bence anlamsız."

Let's just look at one word (anlamsız), and its variations:

anlam -- meaning. sense. point. explanation. acceptation. construction. content. denotation. effect. hang. import. inference. purport. purview. significance. significancy. signification. sound. strain. tenor.
anlama -- understanding. knowledge. comprehension. apprehension. appreciation. drift. fathom. grasp. grip. insight. intelligence. prehension. realization. sense. uptake.
anlamak -- understand. comprehend. figure out. get a grip. get a grip on. be knowledgeable about. see. get. feel. absorb. accept. appreciate. apprehend. ascertain. catch. catch on. click. compass. conceive. cotton on to. dawn on. deduce. dig. discern. discover.
anlamsız -- devoid of all of the above. Without a clue.

_____________

[1] SQL = Structured Query Language, a simplified way of talking to a database.

Acts 24 -- a little word play

2010-10-01T02:49:00.003-04:00

I use several translations of the İncil. For my first four trips through, I used a loose-leaf version painstakingly downloaded from the web and reformatted, one chapter at a time. I had a special place to sit while I read it, with a footstool, so I could lean back in my chair with the three-ring binder on my lap. A bookshelf with several dictionaries was at my elbow. My library now includes several professionally-printed "real book" versions, which are convenient for taking out on to the front porch and reading while my wife works on a crossword puzzle.

The version I rely upon most heavily, however, is provided free by the marvelous web site http://e-sword.net. One mouse click, and I can read a selected chapter on screen in Turkish, Italian, French, English, or Greek. And, I can copy passages from this electronic version, and paste them in this blog. Such as the following extract:

Act 24:1 Bundan beş gün sonra Başkâhin Hananya, bazı ileri gelenler ve Tertullus adlı bir hatip Sezariye'ye gelip Pavlus'la ilgili şikâyetlerini valiye ilettiler.
Act 24:2, 3 Pavlus çağrılınca Tertullus suçlamalarına başladı. "Ey erdemli Feliks!" dedi. "Senin sayende uzun süredir esenlik içinde yaşamaktayız. Aldığın önlemlerle de bu ulusun yararına olumlu gelişmeler kaydedilmiştir. Yaptıklarını, her zaman ve her yerde büyük bir şükranla anıyoruz.
Act 24:4 Seni fazla yormak istemiyorum; söyleyeceğimiz birkaç sözü hoşgörüyle dinlemeni rica ediyorum.

As Matthew Henry pointed out (yes, e-sword also lets you download and use the complete Bible commentaries from this great scholar), the chief priest Hananya sat as Paul's judge in the previous chapter, and ordered him to be beaten in a court of law. Now, this same "judge" shows up as prosecutor. The trial was rigged, and the verdict given, before Paul even opened his mouth. Paul escaped with his life only by provoking a riot among those who had convened to hear his case.

Today's reading, at least in the on-the-porch translation, provided several opportunities to look at two charming Turkish suffixes:

-ca, -ce, -ça, -çe (this is one suffix, in its four possible flavors.)
-cı, -ci, -çı, -çi, -cu, -cü, -çu, -çü (this is the other suffix)

As I just learned last week, Turkish has a suffix you tack on to the end of a nationality in order to denote the language spoken by members of that nationality. If you are a Türk, you speak Türkçe. If you are İngiliz, you speak İngilizce. Alman, Almanca. Rus, Rusça.

Or, in today's reading, to speak briefly, you speak kısaca. I was disappointed to see that my e-sword version did not employ that exquisite little word, but had the orator speaking of his desire not to fazla yormak (make excessive) his presentation.

The second suffix given above is the "agent ending." Tack it into the end of a noun, and you have the practitioner associated with the noun. A guy who catches fish (balık) is, obviously, a balıkçı. Or, in the passage above, the hatip ( orator. public speaker. a good speaker. preacher. elocutionist. public orator.) could also be, in the other translation, a man of words: sözcü.

Learning a foreign language is like going on a treasure hunt. You never know when you'll encounter a fresh and fascinating way of packaging a thought.

Acts 23 -- mob psychology

2010-10-01T02:34:00.002-04:00

Jesus said, "The time will come when those who kill you will think they are doing God a service." This chapter includes a cameo appearance from the Lord Jesus Christ, and an example of insane fanaticism:

Act 23:11 O gece Rab Pavlus'a görünüp, "Cesur ol" dedi, "Yeruşalim'de benimle ilgili nasıl tanıklık ettinse, Roma'da da öyle tanıklık etmen gerekir."
Act 23:12 Ertesi sabah Yahudiler aralarında gizli bir anlaşma yaptılar. "Pavlus'u öldürmeden bir şey yiyip içersek, bize lanet olsun!" diye ant içtiler.
Act 23:13 Bu anlaşmaya katılanların sayısı kırkı aşıyordu.
Act 23:14 Bunlar başkâhinlerle ileri gelenlerin yanına gidip şöyle dediler: "Biz, 'Pavlus'u öldürmeden ağzımıza bir şey koyarsak, bize lanet olsun!' diye ant içtik.

A few key words:

O gece -- That night
"Cesur ol" -- Brave, courageous / be (imperative)
bir şey -- any thing
yiyip içersek -- eat or drink if we
bize lanet olsun! -- upon us / a curse / be!
ant -- covenant

There's an old cliche: to estimate the intelligence of a mob, divide the average I.Q. by the number of members. Can you see a solitary person talking himself into this extreme commitment? Evidently, something about Paul's message threatened them on a very deep level. Imagine investing your whole life in building, adorning, and defending the scaffolding around a magnificent building. Then along comes this guy who says, "OK, this construction project is over. The scaffolding can come down." The Jewish culture, which Paul simply refused to view as normative, as essential, defined the lives of these maddened plotters. Even as the Jesus who called Paul on the road to Damascus, and encouraged him by night here, defined his life.

Quite often, when people around the world resist the Good News that a great King reigns, what they are resisting is the American culture that defines the lives even of Christian people in this country: a culture characterized by hedonism, easy tolerance of immorality, and a glib superficiality before ultimate mysteries. Even "family-values" Christians are mostly silent on the issue of divorce, for example.

Acts 22 -- and talking dogs

2010-09-28T09:04:00.003-04:00

A Jewish guy from the United States became a devotee of Japanese martial arts. He moved to Japan, and learned to speak their language with native fluency. He had no problems communicating with people on the phone, but had to repeat himself when meeting people in person. "It's like listening to a talking dog," he explained. "You are too surprised by the fact that the dog can talk to understand at first what it is saying!"

Here's an old joke that my Turkish friends appreciate:

If someone who speaks three or more languages is poly-lingual, and
If someone who speaks two languages is bilingual,
What do you call someone who speaks one language?

American

At the top of the steps leading into the Roman garrison fortress, Paul, a Greek-speaking native of Anatolia, begins to speak to the mob that had just been trying to tear him to pieces. And, they listen:

Act 22:1 "Kardeşler ve babalar, size şimdi yapacağım savunmayı dinleyin" dedi.
Act 22:2 Pavlus'un kendilerine İbrani dilinde seslendiğini duyduklarında daha derin bir sessizlik oldu.

A "more deep a silence they made." (daha derin bir sessizlik oldu) In the last chapter, the Roman officer in charge of the garrison had been surprised when Paul addressed him in Greek, the administrative language of that part of the world.

Your language is a very deeply embedded part of your identity. When you make an effort to learn another language, you open the doors to friendship, since you are showing respect for something very near and dear to the other party. Here are some resources you may find helpful:

This newsletter from a friend describes his experience with a crash-course in self-taught Italian. You can do it -- very quickly -- if you simply make it the most important project in your life for an intensely focused season.
This web site, livemocha.com, is a free global community of people who are eager to learn, and eager to help each other learn, additional languages.

Acts 21 -- when in Rome ...

2010-09-26T01:01:00.007-04:00

An old cliche goes, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." It's generally a good idea to conform to local norms. A political maxim holds that members of Congress should "Go along to get along." Vote for your fellow congress critters' raids on the public treasury, and they will help you dip into the pork barrel[1] as well.

Yet, is it always wise to cooperate? You're sitting in a park on a lovely summer night with new friends -- and you value friendship. Then, the bong comes around. Toke? Don't toke? The cop pulls you over, and politely asks, "Mind if I take a look in your car?" Cooperate? Resist? The customs agent asks if the trip you just completed was for "business or pleasure." Answer? Tell him it's none of his business? As this article points out, a cooperative attitude can cost you, big-time, far more than you gain in the short run.

Paul faced that quandary. He shows up in Jerusalem with a hefty chunk of change, collected at great personal effort and expense from gentile churches. He shows up with stirring testimonies of what God has done throughout the known world to bring people into allegiance with the risen King, Jesus. And the leaders of the church say -- "Well, thanks. That's all very nice. But what really matters is ... " And before you know it, Paul gets railroaded into a hare-brained scheme to placate his implacable foes.

Act 21:18 Ertesi gün Pavlus'la birlikte Yakup'u görmeye gittik. İhtiyarların* hepsi orada toplanmıştı.
Act 21:19 Pavlus, onların hal hatırını sorduktan sonra, hizmetinin aracılığıyla Tanrı'nın öteki uluslar arasında yaptıklarını teker teker anlattı.
Act 21:20 Bunları işitince Tanrı'yı yücelttiler. Pavlus'a, "Görüyorsun kardeş, Yahudiler arasında binlerce imanlı var ve hepsi Kutsal Yasa'nın candan savunucusudur" dediler.
Act 21:21 "Ne var ki, duyduklarına göre sen öteki uluslar arasında yaşayan bütün Yahudiler'e, çocuklarını sünnet etmemelerini, törelerimize uymamalarını söylüyor, Musa'nın Yasası'na sırt çevirmeleri gerektiğini öğretiyormuşsun.
Act 21:22 Şimdi ne yapmalı? Senin buraya geldiğini mutlaka duyacaklar.
Act 21:23 Bunun için sana dediğimizi yap. Aramızda adak adamış dört kişi var.
Act 21:24 Bunları yanına al, kendileriyle birlikte arınma törenine katıl. Başlarını tıraş edebilmeleri için kurban masraflarını sen öde. Böylelikle herkes, seninle ilgili duyduklarının asılsız olduğunu, senin de Kutsal Yasa'ya uygun olarak yaşadığını anlasın.
Act 21:25 Öteki uluslardan olan imanlılara gelince, biz onlara, putlara sunulan kurbanların etinden, kandan, boğularak öldürülen hayvanlardan ve fuhuştan sakınmalarını öngören kararımızı yazmıştık."

The 1951 book Christ and Culture by H. Richard Niebuhr considered several perspectives on the relationship between the eternal King of the Ages, and the everyday contemporary culture. Possibilities he described included:

Christ Against Culture
Christ Of Culture
Christ Above Culture
Christ and Culture in Paradox
Christ the Transformer of Culture

This is not a new conundrum. People who had actually spent years in the presence of Jesus, like Jacob, still blundered. Their attempts to appease the passionate devotees of Jewish cultural norms failed, of course, and only brought disaster upon the head of the guy who'd just showed up to do them good.

____________

[1] The Pork Barrel,[2] in American political idioms, is taxpayer money directed to specific projects in the legislator's home district. This game can continue until the currency is destroyed. As Rudyard Kipling's famous poem, The Gods of the Copybook Headings explains,

In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selective Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: 'If you don't work you die.'

The the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew,
And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true
That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four---
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man---
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began:---
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her mire,
And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;

And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!

[2] In the days before refrigeration, meat could be preserved through various techniques that resisted the activity of decomposing bacteria. If you had time, you could hang the meat in a smoke house until it was thoroughly dessicated, or "cured." If you were in a hurry, you could cut up the pig, and pack the pieces in a barrel. Each piece had to be surrounded by salt, top, bottom, and all sides.

Acts 20 -- chiastic turn of events

2010-09-18T03:41:00.005-04:00

The Book of Acts, like many pieces of ancient literature, was meticulously and carefully structured.[1] Today's fancy word, chiastic, refers to the Greek letter chi, which looks like our letter X. Let's say you have two plots going in your story. Character A goes from Point 1 to Point 2, while Character B goes from Point 2 to Point 1.

Luke liked to use geography as a technique for pacing his narratives. As the story moved along, its characters moved from point to point. One of the major moves in the Gospel of Luke was the last voyage Jesus made to Jerusalem, where he suffered, died, and was buried. After that, of course, Jesus rose again from the dead, and ascended to heaven, enthroned beside the Father and governing the universe.

Here, in the course of Paul's restless quest to take the gospel further and further afield, to places where it had not been heard before, we see a turn:

Act 20:16 Pavlus, Asya İli'nde vakit kaybetmemek için Efes'e uğramamaya karar vermişti. Pentikost Günü Yeruşalim'de olabilmek umuduyla acele ediyordu.

Let's look at that second sentence. On the day of Pentecost (Pentikost Günü) in Jerusalem[2] (Yeruşalim'de) to be able to be (olabilmek) with the hope of (umuduyla) diligence, zeal, energy (acele) he exerted (ediyordu).

Jerusalem, it seems, was the place prophets, and dreams, go to die. Like his master, Paul suddenly turns his back upon a successful and purposeful ministry life, to go back to Jerusalem.[3] He knew trouble awaited him, but "set his face like flint" to march directly into adversity. He was taking with him gifts collected from Gentile churches for the Jewish Christians, who were beginning to suffer ostracism and financial penalties for their faith. Perhaps, he hoped to avert irreparable schisms (fitna) between Jewish and Gentile Christians. Or, maybe he wished to strengthen the identity of the Jewish Christians with Christ, and hence with Gentile believers, in a culture that was suicidally and stubbornly insistent on pretending that Jesus had never happened, or in any case did not matter.

__________________

[1] That reminds me -- I took a one-semester course in aesthetics while pursuing a BA. The textbook was James Joyce's Ulysses, a book that maps the Bloomsday life of a Dublin man against Homer's Odyssey. The professor told us to re-read it in a few decades, when so many of our youthful dreams had failed, just to appreciate how robustly funny it is.

[2] I don't know how it happened. Once upon a time, an initial letter i in an English word acquired a little "foot." Somehow, the letter i with a bigger base to stand upon became our letter j, and acquired the same phonetic value as the Turkish letter c. The Latin names Iesus and Ierusalem became the English words Jesus and Jerusalem. I'm sure my Lord heeds those who call upon Him as Jesus today, even if He would not have recognized that name while walking the earth!

[3] The "back to Jerusalem" movement in China consists of Chinese Christians who wish to complete the westward movement of the Gospel by taking this message all the way back to its source. Many are studying Arabic, in the expectation of doing business with some of the intervening people groups ...

Acts 19 -- "Life, the universe, and everything."

2010-09-17T08:58:00.003-04:00

In the farcical fantasy The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe,[1] intelligent beings spend billions of years creating the ultimate computer to answer the ultimate question: "What is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything?" And the ultimate computer gives them the answer: 54. They should have asked what the ultimate question was first, you see.

Does your message sell itself? Does it "have legs?"[2]

Once again, Paul goes to the synagogue, and presents the message of the King, the Messiah who has come. Once again, within a few months envious rivals cause trouble, so he goes somewhere else.

Act 19:9 Ne var ki, bazıları sert bir tutum takınıp ikna olmamakta direndiler ve İsa'nın yolunu halkın önünde kötülemeye başladılar. Bunun üzerine Pavlus onlardan ayrıldı. Öğrencilerini de alıp götürdü ve Tiranus'un dershanesinde her gün tartışmalarını sürdürdü.
Act 19:10 Bu durum iki yıl sürdü. Sonunda Yahudi olsun Grek olsun, Asya İli'nde yaşayan herkes Rab'bin sözünü işitti.

Contemporary records suggest that Paul taught for an hour or two around lunchtime, day after day. Since Ephesus was a commercial and banking center for Anatolia, people who came and heard his message took it elsewhere throughout the subcontinent. Within two years, the Good News of the Great King had reached everyone.

As a communications scholar, I have to wonder what Paul taught for those two years. Did he repeat the same "Four Spiritual Laws" day after day? Expound on John 3:16 every time he got up? Obviously, he didn't preach a long course of study over the course of the two years, since those who heard his message were able to run with it, taking it back home and applying it where they lived. My guess? Paul had a central point that explained everything else in a new and fresh way. King Jesus rules. Therefore ...

People probably came to Efese on business, stayed a few days, and returned home.[3] During this time, those who responded to Paul's message could pledge their allegiance to it, by accepting baptism, and watch Paul's approach to exposition.

I suspect Paul followed a liturgical calendar, a pre-existing series of specified readings from the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms. No need to re-invent the wheel. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.[4] His perspective on these readings, however, was different, now that the divine intervention they pointed to had happened. His new perspective was exciting enough to engage the passions of those who embraced it, and to transform them into ambassadors of the Great King, and agents of His Kingdom.[5]

_____________

[1] This was originally a series of half-hour radio broadcasts, that later became a series of books, losing something in the translation process, and finally audio files of the books being read, losing a bit more. Does anyone know where I can find MP3 files of the original radio series?

[2] Journalists say a story "has legs" if it has enduring interest, beyond the current day's edition or broadcast.

[3] If you travel through a rural area, you will normally find a crossroads village every 10 miles, and a somewhat larger urban center every 30 miles. If a country store is always within a five-mile distance, you can get there on foot and back in the same half of a day. For seasonal items, you can go to the county seat, stay overnight, and come back the next day.

[4] As a gifted Methodist profession rhetorically asked a class of aspiring preachers, "Do you find the text? Or do you let the text find you?" A successful American denomination, Calvary Chapel, has a policy of preaching through the entire Bible. Topical sermons tend to settle down into the half-dozen or so topics that excite a preacher. Expository sermons perpetually bring fresh insights, fresh challenges, to the pulpit.

[5] I love Turkish people, language, food, and culture, and hope to see that nation transformed into a globally significant center of Christianity. I think there are elements in the Turkish heritage that point in that direction. It is a courtly tradition with an imperial heritage. The idea of serving in the court of a majestic King fits both this tradition, and the message of the Bible, better than the American popular notion of Christianity being a religious experience, a nicer gnosis.

Acts 18 -- "May God bless and keep the Czar ... "

2010-09-17T04:13:00.002-04:00

Even a powerhouse like Paul got discouraged from time to time. That may explain why God provided him with an encouraging vision: [1]

Act 18:9 Bir gece Rab bir görümde Pavlus'a, "Korkma" dedi, "Konuş, susma!
Act 18:10 Ben seninle birlikteyim; hiç kimse sana dokunmayacak, kötülük yapmayacak. Çünkü bu kentte benim halkım çoktur."
Act 18:11 Pavlus, orada bir buçuk yıl kaldı ve halka sürekli Tanrı'nın sözünü öğretti.

Let's unpack a few words here:

Bir gece -- one night (bir = one)
Rab -- The Lord (Turkish does not have a definite article, like that single hardest word to use in idiomatic English -- the)
bir görümde -- in a vision (bir also = a)
Pavlus'a -- to Paul
"Korkma" dedi, -- "Do no be afraid,[2] He said,
"Konuş, susma! -- "Speak, do not be silent!
Ben seninle birlikteyim; -- I / with you / I am united.
hiç kimse sana dokunmayacak, -- None / no one / to you / will touch you,
kötülük yapmayacak-- harm will do
Çünkü bu kentte -- Because / this / city in
benim halkım çoktur." -- My / my people / there are many."

This divine promise was fulfilled a year and a half (bir buçuk yıl) later, when Jewish rabble-rousers showed up again, as usual, to make trouble for the Christians. This time, they made the mistake of trying to get the government to do their dirty work for them, rather than just relying upon their own hired thugs:

Act 18:12 Gallio'nun Ahaya Valisi olduğu sıralarda, hep birlikte Pavlus'a karşı gelen Yahudiler onu mahkemeye çıkardılar.
Act 18:13 "Bu adam Yasa'ya aykırı biçimde Tanrı'ya tapınmaları için insanları kandırıyor" dediler.
Act 18:14 Pavlus tam söze başlayacakken Gallio Yahudiler'e şöyle dedi: "Ey Yahudiler, davanız bir haksızlık ya da ciddi bir suçla ilgili olsaydı, sizleri sabırla dinlemem gerekirdi.
Act 18:15 Ama sorun bir öğreti, bazı adlar ve kendi yasanızla ilgili olduğuna göre, bu davaya kendiniz bakın. Ben böyle şeylere yargıçlık etmek istemem."

And Gallio had sense enough to wash his hands of the whole controversy: Ben böyle şeylere yargıçlık etmek istemem. -- I / this / things about / judge / to be / I do not want.

Best-case scenario! I'm reminded of the exchange in the musical Fiddler on a Roof. When asked if there was a blessing for the Czar the village rabbi said there was. And what was it?

"May God bless and keep the Czar -- far away from us!"

In the West, nations with state churches have nations with weak, ineffectual churches, churches that lack influence and credibility and members. The American solution -- make the churches rely upon their own resources -- has generated a profoundly religious society[3].
__________________

[1] Frequently, when a Muslim takes another look at Jesus, it is because of a vivid dream or vision.

[2] Korkma -- do not be afraid -- is the most frequent command in the New Testament, I believe. In a world filled with things to fear, we serve a God who is bigger than our fears.

[3] Don't believe what Hollywood tells you -- most Americans do indeed respect God and love their families. The media magnates who generate popular culture -- many of whom have Jewish roots -- try to conceal this reality from their viewers.

Acts 17 -- the world turned upside down

2010-09-11T08:36:00.002-04:00

When the surrounded British army surrendered to the upstart colonials at Yorktown, Virginia, the imperial Darth Vader was unhappy. Lord Cornwallis -- a strange guy with a harem of boyfriends who sometimes rode horseback through the troops in his altogether -- was mildly put out. Claiming illness, he sent his sword to George Washington by the hand of a servant. As the British forces stacked up their Brown Besses,[1] the musicians played a tune The World Turned Upside Down.[2]

Ah, but where does that phrase come from? Today's chapter of Acts, of course!

Act 17:6 Onları bulamayınca, Yason ile bazı kardeşleri kent yetkililerinin önüne sürüklediler. "Dünyayı altüst eden o adamlar buraya da geldiler" diye bağırıyorlardı.
Act 17:7 "Yason onları evine aldı. Onların hepsi, İsa adında başka bir kral olduğunu söyleyerek Sezar'ın buyruklarına karşı geliyorlar."

Interestingly enough, this riot happens in the birthplace of Kemal Atatürk, the father of modern Turkey, Selanik. Paul and his team show up, and begin teaching at the local synagogue. People are excited by the message. The Jewish leaders are driven insane with jealousy, and haul several of the prominent members of the new faction before the city court. Their charge is intriguing:

Dünyayı -- the world
altüst eden -- they invert
o adamlar -- this men
buraya da geldiler -- here, indeed, they have come
Onların hepsi -- They all
İsa adında -- Jesus by name
başka bir kral -- another a king
olduğunu söyleyerek -- he is they say

There are several different ways to spin this story. A tradition in fundamentalist Protestantism "gets off on"[3] wallowing in guilt. The apostles turned their world upside down, you see, and if we were any kind of Christians, we'd be doing the same. Well, there might be something to that woeful plaint. Jesus assured his disciples that they could expect hostility -- and if life is too good, are we truly living our faith?

As I age, however, I tend to see things more frequently in holistic, whole-system terms. Yes, Paul was a dynamic, charismatic speaker who provoked strong reactions. To put an end to riots, the disciples had to ship Paul out of town, again and again.[4] Yet, would he catalyze such violent turmoil in normal times? The key issue was one of authority. The peace of Rome was brutally instituted, brutally enforced. Yet Caesar did provide a real peace by exterminating brigands on the amazing Roman roads, and pirates on the seas. Underneath this superficial tranquility, however, other trends were in motion. Resentments simmered. A sense that all was not well with the world needed only something concrete to crystallize around. In this case, the proclamation that another King ruled, one to whom even Caesar owed fealty.

It took a few hundred years, but Caesar did eventually bow before Christ. And the message of the gospel -- a Great King sits enthroned in heaven, and rules today -- still resonates with those who seek a better way.

___________________

[1] A .75 caliber gun fires a 3/4-inch diameter bullet. Since F=MA, it took a sizable slug to do the job at the relatively slow acceleration you get with black powder.

[2] Click on the link to enjoy the tune and read the complete ballad. The first verse is as follows:

If buttercups buzz'd after the bee,
If boats were on land, churches on sea,
If ponies rode men and if grass ate the cows,
And cats should be chased into holes by the mouse,
If the mamas sold their babies
To the gypsies for half a crown;
If summer were spring and the other way round,
Then all the world would be upside down.

[3] A little hippy lingo, an idiom that was contemporary 40 years ago. To "get off on" something meant to become affected by it, and usually referred to drug experiences. It might take repeated exposure to pot (marijuana), for example, before the desired effects happened. Before you got off on the drug.

[4] "Sooner or later, you have to shoot the engineers and start production," goes a manufacturing aphorism.

Acts 16 -- guidance by bloody noses

2010-09-10T02:58:00.002-04:00

In the early part of this chapter, we see Paul floundering around Anatolia, looking for his missing mojo[1]:

Act 16:6 Kutsal Ruh'un, Tanrı sözünü Asya İli'nde yaymalarını engellemesi üzerine Pavlus'la arkadaşları Frikya ve Galatya bölgesinden geçtiler.
Act 16:7 Misya sınırına geldiklerinde Bitinya bölgesine geçmek istediler. Ama İsa'nın Ruhu onlara izin vermedi.
Act 16:8 Bunun üzerine Misya'dan geçip Troas Kenti'ne gittiler.
Act 16:9 O gece Pavlus bir görüm gördü. Önünde Makedonyalı bir adam durmuş, ona yalvarıyordu: "Makedonya'ya geçip bize yardım et" diyordu.
Act 16:10 Pavlus'un gördüğü bu görümden sonra hemen Makedonya'ya gitmenin bir yolunu aradık. Çünkü Tanrı'nın bizi, Müjde'yi oradakilere duyurmaya çağırdığı sonucuna varmıştık.

People who communicate the gospel recognize the spooky, supernatural element to the process. For some reason, it's not a job we can do on our own. When we encounter a receptive ear, we bow before the awesome God who has prepared that heart, and that ear, for what we have to share.

And sometimes, people just don't want to hear. Their hearts are either hardened,[2] or not ready to hear. The evangelist gets the sense that God isn't doing His work on the other end of the process, so it's time to move on. Let's look at a few words:

Ama -- But
onlara -- to them
İsa'nın Ruhu -- The Spirit of Jesus (Turkish has a "belt-and-suspenders" way of dealing with possessives. Both the thing possessing, and the thing possessed, have specific endings.)
izin -- license, liberty, freedom
vermedi. -- did not give.

Paul's example here is significant for job hunters and anyone else engaged in a frustrating process. He does not sit still and wait for something to happen. He is on the move, seeking to find the place where stuff is happening. And it is because he is on the move, that he receives supernatural guidance.

An old pastor of ours called this "guidance by bloody noses." You bang into a locked door, get a bloody nose, and pick yourself up to charge at another door. Sooner or later, something will "turn up."

_________

[1] Mojo is an idiomatic American word, derived from voodoo, and refers to personal power, elan, virility.

[2] It is possible for a whole people group to do something so heinous that several generations of their descendants experience a judicial hardening of the heart, and tumble into eternal hell. Hitler came to power by popular vote, and had the approval of the German people for most of his programs, and their willingness to look the other way for the rest. Today, the percentage of Germans with active Christian lives is in the single-digit percentiles. The stuff we do changes the lives of our grandchildren.

Acts 15 -- trouble-shooting problems to their roots

2010-09-08T02:34:00.002-04:00

Paul, the "viewpoint character" of so much of Acts, is back home in Antioch. He has enjoyed great success preaching a streamlined, culturally-sensitive Christian message. Because of what God did in Jesus, Jews and non-Jews alike can rejoice in divine grace and find power to live comely lives. Antioch, however, is too close for comfort to Jerusalem. Jewish Christians, born and steeped in Jewish culture, have a reflex to assume that Jewish ways are the right ways. In time, this love for their traditions will overwhelm their love for Jesus, and lead the vast majority into eternal damnation. That's still down the road. At this point, they are simply making nuisances of themselves:

Act 15:1 Yahudiye'den gelen bazı kişiler Antakya'daki kardeşlere, "Siz Musa'nın töresi uyarınca sünnet olmadıkça kurtulamazsınız" diye öğretiyorlardı.
Act 15:2 Pavlus'la Barnaba bu adamlarla bir hayli çekişip tartıştılar. Sonunda Pavlus'la Barnaba'nın, başka birkaç kardeşle birlikte Yeruşalim'e gidip bu sorunu elçiler ve ihtiyarlarla görüşmesi kararlaştırıldı.

Let's unpack a few words, here.

töre -- law. custom. accepted practice. customs. mores. ethics. morals. jurisprudence.
uyarınca -- in accordance with.
kurtulamazsınız -- you can not be saved. kurtula - to save. maz - subjunctive. a potential condition that exists in the minds of the speakers and listeners. sınız - you all (plural).
çekişmek -- contend. contest. dispute. haggle. quarrel. scramble. strive. vie. to pull in opposite directions. to quarrel. to argue. to compete. to contest. to contend.

This was a complicated moment in history. Jesus, a Jew, came to the Jewish people and preached a message rooted in the Jewish scriptures. He also rudely condemned some of the "bells and whistles"[1] that had entered Jewish life from outside sources. For example the Romans believed that salvation was a function of dutiful law-keeping. Their subject people, the Jews, thought that sounded like a good idea, and came up with a whole structure of "improvements" to God's law that allowed people to save themselves, apart from any need for a Savior. This is just one more appearance of the sin in the garden -- the desire for autonomy.[2] For being one's own law. For determining good and evil for oneself.

Yet, how do you dissect a living culture, determining what's useful, and what's toxic? American "freedom of speech" is wonderful -- but what do you do about pornography?

How do you make the good parts of Jewish culture available to the rest of the world, while leaving out the bad parts? Not an easy task -- many of them failed that test. Many of us fail the unique tests presented by our cultures. However, God gives us tests with the anticipation that we will eventually pass them. Or, serve as spectacular examples of how to get things wrong, so that others get then get things right.

_________________

[1] "Bells and whistles" refers to superfluous features added to a product that have nothing to do with its core purpose. For example, Windows Vista imposed such a heavy load of digital rights management (DRM) "features" that the core purposes of an operating system were overwhelmed. A plausible hypothesis suggests that Microsoft wished to get in bed with content providers -- movie studios, music publishers, etc. -- and shaped Vista to meet their concerns, rather than the needs of the end users. Apple Computers picked up a lot of business as a result, and the culture was enriched by a whole series of "I'm a Mac. I'm a PC" commercials.

[2] Autonomy comes from the Greek words for self (auto) + law (nomos).

Acts 14 -- "they serve me tea."

2010-09-05T09:11:00.002-04:00

What is it about Paul and his message that stirred up such strong feelings? No one seemed to be neutral where he was concerned. And the longer he preached, the more intense the feelings grew:

Act 14:4 Kent halkı ikiye bölündü. Bazıları Yahudiler'in, bazıları da elçilerin tarafını tuttu.
Act 14:5 Yahudiler'le öteki uluslardan olanlar ve bunların yöneticileri, elçileri hırpalayıp taşa tutmak için düzen kurdular.

The city is divided into two parties. To defuse the tensions, the Christians send Paul out of town. He preaches again, works a few miracles, and irritates the Jews again.

Act 14:19 Ne var ki, Antakya ve Konya'dan gelen bazı Yahudiler, halkı kendi taraflarına çekerek Pavlus'u taşladılar; onu ölmüş sanarak kentin dışına sürüklediler.
Act 14:20 Ama öğrenciler çevresinde toplanınca Pavlus ayağa kalkıp kente döndü. Ertesi gün Barnaba'yla birlikte Derbe'ye gitti.

An Australian bishop once said, "Wherever Paul went, they had a riot. Wherever I go, they serve me tea."

What was it about Paul that triggered such powerful antipathy? And profound loyalty?

Acts 13 -- manger dogs

2010-09-01T07:04:00.002-04:00

It must be something in the water.[1] Anatolia seems to breed storytellers. A few centuries before Nasrettin Hoca showed up to delight and instruct, an earlier resident of the area, Aesop, created animal tales with morals. Including the one attributed to him that comes to mind this morning (short form):

There was a dog lying in a manger who did not eat the grain but who nevertheless prevented the horse from being able to eat anything either.

Here's the "dictionary definition," courtesy of Wikipedia: " Interpreted variously over the centuries, it is used now of those who spitefully prevent others from having something that they themselves have no use for."

Well, let's take a look at today's İncil reading:

Act 13:42 Pavlus'la Barnaba havradan çıkarken halk onları, bir sonraki Şabat Günü aynı konular üzerinde konuşmaya çağırdı.
Act 13:43 Havradaki topluluk dağılınca, Yahudiler ve Yahudiliğe dönüp Tanrı'ya tapan yabancılardan birçoğu onların ardından gitti. Pavlus'la Barnaba onlarla konuşarak onları devamlı Tanrı'nın lütfunda yaşamaya özendirdiler.
Act 13:44 Ertesi Şabat Günü kent halkının hemen hemen tümü Rab'bin sözünü dinlemek için toplanmıştı.
Act 13:45 Kalabalığı gören Yahudiler büyük bir kıskançlık içinde, küfürlerle Pavlus'un söylediklerine karşı çıktılar.
Act 13:46 Pavlus'la Barnaba ise cesaretle karşılık verdiler: "Tanrı'nın sözünü ilk önce size bildirmemiz gerekiyordu. Siz onu reddettiğinize ve kendinizi sonsuz yaşama layık görmediğinize göre, biz şimdi öteki uluslara gidiyoruz.
Act 13:47 Çünkü Rab bize şöyle buyurmuştur: 'Yeryüzünün dört bucağına kurtuluş götürmen için Seni uluslara ışık yaptım.'"
Act 13:48 Öteki uluslardan olanlar bunu işitince sevindiler ve Rab'bin sözünü yücelttiler. Sonsuz yaşam için belirlenmiş olanların hepsi iman etti.
Act 13:49 Böylece Rab'bin sözü bütün yörede yayıldı.
Act 13:50 Ne var ki Yahudiler, Tanrı'ya tapan saygın kadınlarla kentin ileri gelen erkeklerini kışkırttılar, Pavlus'la Barnaba'ya karşı bir baskı hareketi başlatıp onları bölge sınırlarının dışına attılar.
Act 13:51 Bunun üzerine Pavlus'la Barnaba, onlara bir uyarı olsun diye ayaklarının tozunu silkerek Konya'ya gittiler.
Act 13:52 Öğrenciler ise sevinç ve Kutsal Ruh'la doluydu.

You won't mind if we take your Messiah, will you? After all, you guys didn't want him.

The Christian message of salvation remains an acute embarrassment to people of the Jewish faith. If Jesus was who he said he was, and did what he said he did (died for our sins, then rose again from the dead) -- then the people who were right there missed the most important event in all of recorded history. They had the first chance to hear and believe, in Israel. Now, in Anatolia, Paul offers them the first opportunity again -- and once again, it is rejected. Let's look at one key sentence:

Tanrı'nın sözünü ilk önce size bildirmemiz gerekiyordu. Siz onu reddettiğinize ve kendinizi sonsuz yaşama layık görmediğinize göre, biz şimdi öteki uluslara gidiyoruz.

And let's take it apart word by word:

Tanrı'nın -- of God
sözünü -- His word
ilk önce -- first, formerly
size -- to you
bildirmemiz -- should be made known
gerekiyordu -- it was proper.
Siz onu -- You (to) it
reddettiğinize -- reject, deny
ve kendinizi -- and of yourselves
sonsuz yaşama -- endless life
layık görmediğinize göre -- worthy that you might not appear
biz şimdi öteki uluslara gidiyoruz -- we / now / other / to nations / we go

Hey, I'd love to see more Jewish people get with the program. After all, Jesus was Jewish, and their nation brought us the Old Testament, and our Savior. In the era described in this book, however, Jewish leaders were ferocious and implacable foes of the Good Tidings of the Great King's reign. They took special umbrage at the thought that this Gospel might let "human swine," the other nations, run to the front of the line they'd been waiting in for so many centuries.

Sadly, too many still wait, for what God has already done.

____________

[1] The idiomatic use of this phrase is more focused. In an office filled with women, you frequently see several pregnancies in progress at the same time. The joke is to attribute the coincidence to "something in the water."

Acts 12 -- peeking over the edges

2010-08-30T07:56:00.002-04:00

Acts 12 is jammed full of action, and colorful personalities. It begins and ends with an angel -- the first visitation liberates Peter, who is in jail awaiting execution. The second time an angel shows up, it is to put an end to Herod, the enemy of Peter and the church, who seeks to curry favor with the quisling ruling class of Israel by acting against the church.

And, in the middle of the chapter, a church that could not believe God had just answered their prayers, and a scatterbrained maid. You have to read the whole chapter for yourself to savor the richly detailed narrative. It sounds so much like reportage of first-person narratives, that the inquiring mind wonders where the information came from.

Well, since you asked, we'll look at the last part of chapter 11, and the first part of chapter 13!

Act 11:28 Bunlardan Hagavos adlı biri ortaya çıkıp bütün dünyada şiddetli bir kıtlık olacağını Ruh aracılığıyla bildirdi. Bu kıtlık, Klavdius'un imparatorluğu sırasında oldu.
Act 11:29 Öğrenciler, her biri kendi gücü oranında, Yahudiye'de yaşayan kardeşlere gönderilmek üzere yardım toplamayı kararlaştırdılar.
Act 11:30 Bu kararı yerine getirip bağışlarını Barnaba ve Saul'un eliyle kilisenin ihtiyarlarına gönderdiler.

Jesus had warned that the last days of Israel would experience wide-spread shortages. That world was running out of gas, running down. The root word here is kıt, which means "insufficient. inadequate. exiguous. penurious. poor. scant. scanty. scarce. spare. sparse. stingy. in short supply."[1] Add the -lık suffix, and you have a condition of all of the above -- a famine.

More germane to this post, however, is the last verse. This gift was taken to Jerusalem by Barnabas and Saul, who apparently were eye-witnesses to the events surrounding Peter's deliverance, and heard the story from his lips.

The chapter ends with Herod's spectacular demise, while in the course of giving a presumptuous oration. OK, so we want to know, who had first-hand knowledge of the doings inside this opulent royal court? Turn the page to Acts 13, and we have a hint:

Act 13:1 Antakya'daki kilisede peygamberler ve öğretmenler vardı: Barnaba, Niger denilen Şimon, Kireneli Lukius, bölge kralı Hirodes'le birlikte büyümüş olan Menahem ve Saul.

Ah. I think we've spotted our source! A guy names Menahem. More specifically, bölge kralı Hirodes'le birlikte büyümüş olan Menahem. Let's look at a few of those words!

bölge -- area. zone. region. district. division. section. belt. circumscription. climate. corner. department. latitude. phase. precinct. quarter. sector. sky. territory. tract. ward. parts.
kralı -- king
Hirodes'le -- with Herod
birlikte -- at one with, together with
büyümüş -- he grew up / he got bigger
olan -- he was
Menahem -- Menahem

Talk about a fascinating leadership team! Saul and Barnabas are there. A black guy names Simon. And a dude who had been raised in the royal court of Herod. And who may very well have been standing there when Herod bit the dust.

___________

[1] Do not confuse this word with kit, which means such things as:

a kitten
a small violin
a large bottle
A wooden tub or pail, smaller at the top than at the bottom; as, a kit of butter, or of mackerel.
A straw or rush basket for fish; also, any kind of basket.
Anything implied by the English word kit

A dot makes a big difference! When you immerse yourself in Turkish for a bit, you'll find yourself wondering whether or not to dot the iii when writing English!

Acts 11 -- crossing picket lines

2010-08-24T01:45:00.003-04:00

The driver was a dork. The chief loader was a charismatic, charming guy who decided he didn't like the driver. "You can teach a chimpanzee to load boxes in 15 minutes," old Spen would say, a big grin on his dark face, "But loading furniture takes real skill." On this night, not much furniture was getting loaded.

And one college boy, with a liberal arts degree that prepared him for low-wage dead-end jobs, had a decision to make. Cooperate with the dorky driver, a stranger? Or with his crew mates? Well, since the furniture van driver is the king of the enterprise, he broke ranks, and crossed that invisible picket line.

Somehow, the house got emptied and the truck got loaded. Last impression that night -- the driver turns to the one loader who'd cooperated with him and asked, "Do you know where I can get some herb?" and pantomimed toking a joint.[1]

The next day, the loader was wearing a different color shirt, and working for the competition across the road. He'd been fired, for getting between the driver and the crew, and between the driver and the customer. This latter offense was intolerable.

ANYHOW: in the last chapter, we saw how Peter had learned through a vivid, disgusting, and unforgettable vision that he was not to disdain any man made in the image of God. He goes, he preaches, they hear, they respond to the message, and God demonstrates His favor and presence upon an occupation soldier's household. This news did not sit very well with the good Jewish folks back in Jerusalem:

Act 11:1 Elçilerle bütün Yahudiye'deki kardeşler, öteki ulusların da Tanrı'nın sözünü kabul ettiklerini duydular.
Act 11:2 Ama Petrus Yeruşalim'e gittiği zaman sünnet yanlıları onu eleştirdiler.
Act 11:3 "Sünnetsiz kişilerin evine gidip yemek yemişsin!" dediler.

People from other nations were hearing the Good News of the Great King -- and the big issue in the home boys' minds was -- "you went into their home and ate with them! With unclean human swine!" Peter repeated his account of God's supernatural guidance through the entire event, and won their grudging acceptance.

Act 11:18 Bunları dinledikten sonra yatıştılar. Tanrı'yı yücelterek şöyle dediler: "Demek ki Tanrı, tövbe etme ve yaşama kavuşma fırsatını öteki uluslara da vermiştir."

Well. So even those folks over there can be saved. That's nice.

This experience had to have left a mark, however. Imagine Peter walking into the naked hostility and cold, accusing glares of the home town crowd, after he "broke taboo." Years later, when Peter was visiting Christians from non-Jewish cultures in the area of Galatia, now a part of Turkey, a delegation came from Jerusalem. They were friends of James, a hard-core advocate of the notion that good Christians had to be good Jews first. These emissaries, or perhaps spies, so intimidated Peter that he began shunning those who had treated him as an honored guest.

The Jewish Christians of that day, perhaps the majority of them, had not gotten the memo. They were betting on the wrong horse. They had hitched their wagon to the wrong star, a falling star, a culture and nation under a pending death sentence.

______________

[1] Sorry, I'm stuck with the idiom I grew up with, with the vocabulary that leaked osmoticly across from the prominent parallel drug culture.

Acts 10 -- cross-cultural excursions

2010-08-18T04:52:00.002-04:00

This story begins with a military man, an officer charged with managing a subjugated and restless province. Somehow, he has come to prefer the God of this conquered people to the mob of gods he grew up with.[1] He surrounds himself with people who also prefer the God of Israel, he prays, but he has not undergone the painful, and somewhat risky, surgical procedure of circumcision. When he goes to the synagogue to hear God's Word read, he is among those who pray "O Lord, God of their fathers ... "

Act 10:1 Sezariye'de Kornelius adında bir adam vardı. "İtalyan" taburunda yüzbaşıydı.
Act 10:2 Dindar bir adamdı. Hem kendisi hem de bütün ev halkı Tanrı'dan korkardı. Halka çok yardımda bulunur, Tanrı'ya sürekli dua ederdi.

One quick note on Turkish grammar. The verb korkmak, to fear, requires you to use the "genitive" case ending to indicate the object of fear, rather than the usual direct-object case ending. To speak of one who feared dogs, you would say köpekten korkardı. To speak of one who feared God, you would say Tanrı'dan korkardı.[2]

Kornelius gets a visitor from a far country indeed, an angel of God:

Act 10:3 Bir gün saat üç sularında, bir görümde Tanrı'nın bir meleğinin kendisine geldiğini açıkça gördü. Melek ona, "Kornelius" diye seslendi.

Of course, Kornelius is terrified. That's the normal human response to angelic visitations. And attentive. He is told to cross an ethnic boundary, and invite a Jewish guy into his house.

So, this Roman invader receives a vision of God's angel. The Jewish guy also has a vision -- of a tablecloth filled with detestable and unclean beasts! And a command to party hearty on buzzards and snakes and lobsters and nasty stuff life that.

Act 10:12 Çarşafın içinde, yeryüzünde yaşayan her türden dört ayaklı hayvanlar, sürüngenler ve kuşlar vardı.
Act 10:13 Bir ses ona, "Kalk Petrus, kes ve ye!" dedi.
Act 10:14 "Asla olmaz, ya Rab!" dedi Petrus. "Hiçbir zaman bayağı ya da murdar herhangi bir şey yemedim."

Vs. 13 has short words. A voice to him, "Rise, Peter, slaughter and eat!" it said. Peter's response to God's command is emphatic.

"No way never, but Lord!" said Peter. "Nothing at any time vulgar or unclean whatsoever on thing did I eat." Dietary restrictions are part of the Jewish identity. When you have Muslim guests over for dinner, kosher food also meets their dietary code. This was, and is, a big deal. One of the books of the in-between testament, the Greek apocrypha, recounts the story of an entire family that chose painful death rather than tasting roast pork.

God replies to Peter's terrified reaction to this vision with a cryptic admonition:

Act 10:15 Ses tekrar, ikinci kez duyuldu; Petrus'a, "Tanrı'nın temiz kıldıklarına sen bayağı deme" dedi.

The voice again, a second time spoke; to Peter, "That which God clean has made you vulgar do not call," it said. Peter saw this vision three times, and was thoroughly puzzled. There was a knock at the door[3] ...

and we'll read the rest of the story in our next post.

__________

[1] I just finished another romp through Augustine's City of God. One man, a porter, can guard a door, since he is a man. The Romans assigned three gods to the same task!

[2] Be sure to remember the k in korkmak, unless you wish to suggest that your Turkish friends smell (like) dogs! The verb kormak means to smell.

[3] A very short horror story goes like this:

The last man on Earth sat alone in his room.
There was a knock on the door ....

Acts 9 -- Şam'a yolda

2010-08-15T09:41:00.009-04:00

A common English idiomatic expression, "a Damascus Road experience," traces back to this chapter. This phrase describes a sudden and inexplicable change in a person's attitudes, allegiances, and actions. Synonyms are conversion,[1] and seeing the light.[2]

Act 9:1,2 Saul ise Rab'bin öğrencilerine karşı hâlâ tehdit ve ölüm soluyordu. Başkâhine gitti, Şam'daki havralara verilmek üzere mektuplar yazmasını istedi. Orada İsa'nın yolunda yürüyen kadın erkek, kimi bulsa tutuklayıp Yeruşalim'e getirmek niyetindeydi.
Act 9:3 Yol alıp Şam'a yaklaştığı sırada, birdenbire gökten gelen bir ışık çevresini aydınlattı.
Act 9:4 Yere yıkılan Saul, bir sesin kendisine, "Saul, Saul, neden bana zulmediyorsun?" dediğini işitti.
Act 9:5 Saul, "Ey Efendim, sen kimsin?" dedi. "Ben senin zulmettiğin İsa'yım" diye yanıt geldi.

Let's look at those highlighted phrases, a question and an answer:

Why, for what reason / to me / persecuting are you?
I / your / persecuting / Jesus am.

One of the most moving books I've read recently is Esra Özüryek's memoir of a nation's mood, Nostalgia for the Modern. In many parts of the world, the 20th century began with eager anticipation, and ended in nostalgia. Some of us, who grew up in the afterglow of "the golden age of science fiction" still feel cheated, since we don't have our household robots, flying cars, or excursions to the moon. Özüryek, however, describes the role played by Kemal Ataturk in the transformation of the Ottoman Empire into the Turkish Republic, and of the national mood of Utopian optimism that memory has imbued that era with.[3]

One thing Özüryek studied was the iconography of the era. The most common photograph of Ataturk, the one displayed in every classroom and public office, is a floating head looking directly at the viewer. This accurately portrays, she writes, the sense the Ataturk is the "head" of the body politic, the visible face of the Turkish corporate identity. He is the head, the nation is his body. A nationalist poem recited by school children goes Atatürk ölmedi yüreğimde yaşıyor – Atatürk didn’t die, he lives within my heart …).

Of late, however, a diminished Ataturk has become a more popular image. Homes are more likely to feature photos of the whole man, in a group, looking at someone else in the photograph.

Time has not, however, diminished the stature of the One who encountered Saul Şam'a yolda -- on the road to Damascus. Jesus viewed Saul's violent assaults upon Christians as a personal attack upon himself. Like many persecutors since, Saul discovered that he had taken on a bigger Adversary than anticipated.

The God of Christianity can destroy the enemies of His people. Sometimes, He destroys enemies by turning them into friends.

___________

[1] Conversions typically have a supernatural component, a sense that one has been apprehended, and transformed, by a reality beyond oneself.

[2] A political maxim: most politicians see the light when they feel the heat (of voter concern).

[3] The Latin language has a phobia about putting propositions at the end of sentences. Since I'm writing English, not Latin, I'll put prepositions where they belong, rather than mangle my sentence in the interests of snobbery.

Acts 8 -- beyond the comfort zone

2010-08-14T07:40:00.002-04:00

Our family owns a Welsh Corgi. Even though the herding instinct has been dialed back for the pet version of the breed, it's still there. Given certain triggers, especially time-related, Pippin erupts in a frenzy of barking, as he seeks to herd the family in the anticipated direction. Suppertime. Reading time. Whenever a time-word, like ready, or now, is uttered by the alpha dog (me). Then, when everyone is where they ought to be, a doggy grin rests on his countenance. All is right with his strange little world.

We all enjoy predictability. However, the God of the Bible is whimsical. We know what He will do -- over generations, reward the faithful and disinherit the wicked and unbelieving. The how, though, is another story. Or actually, a whole life filled with unanticipated events which add up, over time, to high adventure and rich satisfaction.

The Church in Jerusalem got pushed out of their comfort zone:

Act 8:3 Saul ise inanlılar topluluğunu kırıp geçiriyordu. Ev ev dolaşarak, kadın erkek demeden imanlıları dışarı sürüklüyor, hapse atıyordu.
Act 8:4 Bunun sonucu dağılan imanlılar, gittikleri her yerde Tanrı sözünü müjdeliyorlardı.

Ah, here are a few interesting words!

Ev ev -- House to house
dağılmak -- to scatter
her yerde -- at every place

On the one hand, we see a "great disturbance in the force." People are running for their lives. Escaping familiar homes and neighborhoods. Apparently, there's always been a lot of that going on in this fallen world. However, these people are also proclaiming the word of God everywhere they go. A disaster has become an opportunity.

For those with the right attitude, times of transition -- moving to a new city for a new opportunity, taking classes abroad -- are also times that create an intensification of life, and the most memorable pictures in the family scrapbook.

Acts 7 -- Treason is the reason

2010-08-11T04:18:00.002-04:00

In this chapter, Stephen is on trial for his life, charged with "speaking against Moses and the Temple." The people who could not resist his logic now called in the heavy artillery, and leveled false charges of political (Moses) and religious (the Temple) treason against this bold deacon.

Stephen is obviously facing a hostile audience, a kangaroo court. The verdict has already been decided on, but formalities must be observed. Stephen addresses his hearers in Greek, and quotes from the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint. He is obviously a gifted speaker, he engages his audience and holds their attention with one tale of betrayal after another. After all, treason is the reason he's standing before them that day! And there are so many accounts of people who were betrayed by family (like Joseph) and tribe (like Moses) who nevertheless ended up having in the last laugh.

Finally, in a brilliant turn of phrase that turns the tables, Stephen makes it plain who the real traitors are:

Act 7:51 "Ey dik kafalılar, yürekleri ve kulakları sünnet edilmemiş olanlar! Siz tıpkı atalarınıza benziyorsunuz, her zaman Kutsal Ruh'a karşı direniyorsunuz.
Act 7:52,53 Atalarınız peygamberlerin hangisine zulmetmediler ki? Adil Olan'ın geleceğini önceden bildirenleri de öldürdüler. Melekler aracılığıyla buyrulan Yasa'yı alıp da buna uymayan sizler, şimdi de Adil Olan'a ihanet edip O'nu katlettiniz!"

A key term here is dik kafalılar: the obstinate, pigheaded, bull headed, headstrong folks. You are like your fathers, always resisting the Holy Spirit. Your fathers[1], the prophets, which of them did they not persecute? Melekler aracılığıyla -- angels by the means of. buyrulan Yasa'yı alıp da buna uymayan the law you received, but have not kept.

Judges hate it when the defendant puts them on trial, and convicts them so convincingly. We know that Stephen's defense made a powerful impression on at least one hearer, since he remembered the details so clearly, and long enough to convey the whole story to Luke.

____________

[1] In synagogues throughout the Roman Empire, when non-Jewish people came to worship the God of Israel, they addressed the Lord as the "God of their fathers."

Acts 6 -- in a strange land

2010-08-02T06:59:00.001-04:00

Imagine being an American and a party in Sweden. The people around you speak flawless English, an English that is noteworthy for its lack of identifying regional accents. They graciously include you in the festivities. But, when they think you're not listening, among themselves they lapse back into their own foreign, unintelligible language. They don't mean to exclude you -- but it takes an effort on their part to include you, and it's easier to revert to their mother tongue at those moments when you're not "in the loop."

In the first chapter of this verse, we encounter the split that later threatened to destroy the early church. We meet the Grekçe konuşan Yahudiler -- "Greek-speaking Jews." These were the guests, the folks from other countries whose native language was the lingua franca[1] of that half of the Roman world. They were swept up in the excitement surrounding the birth of the church on Pentecost -- but they were starting to overstay their welcome.

Act 6:1 İsa'nın öğrencilerinin sayıca çoğaldığı o günlerde, Grekçe konuşan Yahudiler, günlük yardım dağıtımında kendi dullarına gereken ilginin gösterilmediğini ileri sürerek İbranice konuşan Yahudiler'den yakınmaya başladılar.
Act 6:2 Bunun üzerine Onikiler, bütün öğrencileri bir araya toplayıp şöyle dediler: "Tanrı'nın sözünü yayma işini bırakıp maddi işlerle uğraşmamız doğru olmaz.
Act 6:3 Bu nedenle, kardeşler, aranızdan Ruh'la ve bilgelikle dolu, yedi saygın kişi seçin. Onları bu iş için görevlendirelim.
Act 6:4 Biz ise kendimizi duaya ve Tanrı sözünü yaymaya adayalım."
Act 6:5 Bu öneri bütün topluluğu hoşnut etti. Böylece, iman ve Kutsal Ruh'la dolu biri olan İstefanos'un yanısıra Filipus, Prohoros, Nikanor, Timon, Parmenas ve Yahudiliğe dönen Antakyalı Nikolas'ı seçip elçilerin önüne çıkardılar. Elçiler de dua edip ellerini onların üzerine koydular.

In those days, it was a "no-brainer" for a godly community to take care of widows. The İbranice konuşan Yahudiler (Hebrew-speaking Jews) probably did not intend to neglect the widows from out of town -- but there were communication breakdowns. Perhaps, some of these needy ladies simply did not "get the message" when a charitable distribution was announced.

The inspired solution was to select "deacons," people who used church resources to help out the destitute members of the community. Every one of them was -- a Greek-speaking Jew. Many years later, we see the tide turning, and the Greek-speaking Christians providing aid to a desperate, isolated, and harassed community of Jewish-cultured Christians.

Acts 5 -- a puzzling miracle

2010-08-01T08:09:00.003-04:00

Some ancient Christian writers took the position that Ananias and Sapphira served as good bad examples for the early church, and we can look forward to meeting them in the life to come. It is true that stuff that goes on early in the life of an organism, organization, or family has incredible power to shape future interactions. A former pastor counseled us to do all within our power to keep the wife home for those critical early years. Even if we had to go into debt. After all, parents don't mind borrowing money to send their kids to college, and the first 4 years of a child's life are far more crucial than his college years. Early in our marriage, we promised God and one another that we would not go to bed with unresolved offenses. There were some nights when bedtime came in the wee hours of the morning -- but today, that bed is still a place of refuge and safety.

Perhaps, sins that later Christians could take in stride were more dangerous to the church in its early, vulnerable, first few days. Ananias and Sapphira certainly found themselves on the wrong side of God's justice, when they tried to lay claim to unearned prestige.

Act 5:1,2 Hananya adında bir adam, karısı Safira'nın onayıyla bir mülk sattı, paranın bir kısmını kendine saklayarak gerisini getirip elçilerin buyruğuna verdi. Karısının da olup bitenlerden haberi vardı.
Act 5:3 Petrus ona, "Hananya, nasıl oldu da Şeytan'a uydun, Kutsal Ruh'a yalan söyleyip tarlanın parasının bir kısmını kendine sakladın?" dedi.
Act 5:4 "Tarla satılmadan önce sana ait değil miydi? Sen onu sattıktan sonra da parayı dilediğin gibi kullanamaz mıydın? Neden yüreğinde böyle bir düzen kurdun? Sen insanlara değil, Tanrı'ya yalan söylemiş oldun."
Act 5:5 Hananya bu sözleri işitince yere yıkılıp can verdi. Olanları duyan herkesi büyük bir korku sardı.
Act 5:6 Gençler kalkıp Hananya'nın ölüsünü kefenlediler ve dışarı taşıyıp gömdüler.
Act 5:7 Bundan yaklaşık üç saat sonra Hananya'nın karısı, olanlardan habersiz içeri girdi.
Act 5:8 Petrus, "Söyle bana, tarlayı bu fiyata mı sattınız?" diye sordu. "Evet, bu fiyata" dedi Safira.
Act 5:9 Petrus ona şöyle dedi: "Rab'bin Ruhu'nu sınamak için nasıl oldu da sözbirliği ettiniz? İşte, kocanı gömenlerin ayak sesleri kapıda, seni de dışarı taşıyacaklar."
Act 5:10 Kadın o anda Petrus'un ayakları dibine yıkılıp can verdi. İçeri giren gençler onu ölmüş buldular, onu da dışarı taşıyarak kocasının yanına gömdüler.
Act 5:11 İnanlılar topluluğunun* tümünü ve olayı duyanların hepsini büyük bir korku sardı.

In the previous chapter, we notice how Barnabas, a Levite from Cyprus, sold his farm and donated the proceeds to the church. This was one, of many, reasons that Barnabas received honor and recognition among the leaders. Every one of us has a need for recognition, and faces the temptation to take short-cuts to achieve it. As this notable act of God demonstrates, however, short-cuts can lead to unanticipated dead ends.

Acts 4 -- putting toothpaste back in the tube

2010-07-29T02:21:00.002-04:00

The rulers of Israel are worried. They can't admit that they badly misread the situation, and blundered on a history-making scale, when they got rid of one noisy troublemaker. This troublemaker, however, has friends. And a power to grip allegiances and imaginations. This troublemaker is out of their reach, now that he's dead -- but he's also alive, making more news, making more trouble.

Act 4:15 Kurul üyeleri onlara dışarı çıkmalarını buyurduktan sonra durumu kendi aralarında tartışmaya başladılar.
Act 4:16 "Bu adamları ne yapacağız?" dediler. "Yeruşalim'de yaşayan herkes, bunların eliyle olağanüstü bir belirti gerçekleştirildiğini biliyor. Biz bunu inkâr edemeyiz.
Act 4:17 Ama bu haberin halk arasında daha çok yayılmasını önlemek için onları tehdit edelim ki, bundan böyle İsa'nın adından kimseye söz etmesinler."
Act 4:18 Böylece onları çağırdılar, İsa'nın adını hiç anmamalarını, o adı kullanarak hiçbir şey öğretmemelerini buyurdular.
Act 4:19 Ama Petrus'la Yuhanna şöyle karşılık verdiler: "Tanrı'nın önünde, Tanrı'nın sözünü değil de sizin sözünüzü dinlemek doğru mudur, kendiniz karar verin.
Act 4:20 Biz gördüklerimizi ve işittiklerimizi anlatmadan edemeyiz."

Censorship clamps down. The disciples are threatened (tehdit emek) and told to shut up. To say nothing more about this troublemaker, to do nothing else in his name. The beginning of the West's tradition of political liberty appears in their words: God on the front side of (Tanrı'nın önünde, ), God's word not (Tanrı'nın sözünü değil) but your word to listen to/heed (de sizin sözünüzü dinlemek) is / is not right, (doğru mudur, ) of yourselves a verdict give. (kendiniz karar verin. ) Or, as the King James puts it, "Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. "

The early Christian leaders refused to be silenced. "We, those things that we have seen (gördüklerimizi ) and those things that we have heard (işittiklerimizi ) must be made known.

At the moment, the people of the lie hold the upper hand. It is sad that the lies the Jewish leaders told to protect their own stinking careers closed the doors of paradise to their children for thousands of years.

May God grant us the grace to live in truth, for the sake of those who will come after us.

Acts 3 -- resourceful people

2010-07-22T07:04:00.002-04:00

The best tasks seem humanly impossible, shortly before they are accomplished. I am wondering, for example, how to finish my dissertation within the next few weeks, when time, energy, and focus all seem to be in short supply. Yet, time and again in the Bible, we read of supernatural resourcefulness in the face of apparent lack. For example, when Peter and John encountered a beggar at the door of the temple:

Act 3:4 Petrus'la Yuhanna ona dikkatle baktılar. Sonra Petrus, "Bize bak" dedi.
Act 3:5 Adam, onlardan bir şey alacağını umarak gözlerini onların üzerine dikti.
Act 3:6 Petrus, "Bende altın ve gümüş yok, ama bende olanı sana veriyorum" dedi. "Nasıralı İsa Mesih'in adıyla, yürü!"

Peter with / John / at him / carefully / looked. / Afterward / Peter / "To us / look" / said.

The guy looks at them, hoping to get something.

Peter, "On me / silver / and / gold / there is not (amazing how much mileage you can get out of that three-letter word yok!) / but / on me / that which I have / to you / I give," / he said.

And a miracle happened. The power found in the name of the Nazarene, Jesus, enabled a life-long cripple to leap up and walk. That same power makes us equal to our assigned tasks and opportunities today.

Believing Christians who home-school their kids for a few hundred dollars per year achieve better results than secular schools that pour more than $10,000 / year into each child.

Jesus makes a difference. Scrupulously screen him out of a project, and you get the results America is experiencing. Honor Him from day one, and the world will marvel.

Acts 2, July 20, Tisha B'Av

2010-07-20T07:17:00.003-04:00

Today, observant Jews around the world commemorate the destruction of their two temples on this date, the Ninth of Av. Solomon's temple temple fell beneath the heels of the Babylonians about 2,500 years ago, and Herod's temple fell nearly 2,000 years ago. It's traumatic when the heart of your religious identity and practices is violently desecrated. "That's a hard thing to bounce back from." Every time a Jewish couple marry, the groom breaks a goblet underfoot, as yet another reminder that something bad went down.

I wish these dear people would get the point, and get with the program. I mean, their greatest Prophet, the Lord Jesus Christ, told them ahead of time that their clock was running out.[1] Soon after our Lord's resurrection, Peter explained again what had happened:

Act 2:31 Geleceği görerek Mesih'in ölümden dirilişine ilişkin şunları söyledi: 'O, ölüler diyarına terk edilmedi, bedeni çürümedi.'
Act 2:32 Tanrı, İsa'yı ölümden diriltti ve biz hepimiz bunun tanıklarıyız.
Act 2:33 O, Tanrı'nın sağına yüceltilmiş, vaat edilen Kutsal Ruh'u Baba'dan almış ve şimdi gördüğünüz ve işittiğiniz gibi, bu Ruh'u üzerimize dökmüştür.
Act 2:34,35 Davut, kendisi göklere çıkmadığı halde şöyle der: 'Rab Rabbim'e dedi ki, Ben düşmanlarını Ayaklarının altına serinceye dek, Sağımda otur.'
Act 2:36 "Böylelikle bütün İsrail halkı şunu kesinlikle bilsin: Tanrı, sizin çarmıha gerdiğiniz İsa'yı hem Rab hem Mesih yapmıştır."

Let's unpack one chunk of this message, a quotation from Psalm 110. It's obviously an important point, since this is the Old Testament chapter that is most frequently quoted from, or referred to, in the New Testament.

'Rab Rabbim'e dedi ki, Ben düşmanlarını Ayaklarının altına serinceye dek, Sağımda otur.'

The Lord / to my Lord / said / this, / I / your enemies / your feet / below / placed / until, / by My side / sit.

The people of Israel crucified the Lord of life -- who disagreed with their verdict so passionately that He overturned it by rising from the dead. Jesus was right. The Jews were wrong. And still are, til this day.

So, they do well to mourn the loss of their temple, and to ponder the reasons thereof. May God grant that, as time moves on, an ever-growing number of the Jewish people will find in the Messiah they spurned the true Sacrifice, and the ultimate Temple.

_________

[1] "Running out the clock" is an idiom from American sports. When a game is nearly over, the team that holds the lead sometimes slows down the pace of play, seeks to control the game, and simply prevent the other team from scoring any points.

Acts 1, 2 -- a new catalogue of nations

2010-07-18T08:27:00.002-04:00

In Acts 1, as I've pointed out before, we encounter "the stupidest question in the Bible."

Act 1:6 Elçiler bir araya geldiklerinde İsa'ya şunu sordular: "Ya Rab, İsrail'e egemenliği şimdi mi geri vereceksin?"

Let's see -- Israel had just repudiated God's Kingdom, by orchestrating the brutal murder of the King. Jesus had already told all who would hear what to expect in their immediate future: a destruction so total that "not one stone will be left upon another." Maybe, though, Jesus didn't really mean it this time. After all, Israel was the special nation. The idea that the birth of the new order might require the discarding of the old was just a bit too much to wrap their minds around. Jesus must have sighed at their stubborn unwillingness to face the facts and get with the program. Then, he offered a compassionate answer:

Act 1:7 İsa onlara, "Baba'nın kendi yetkisiyle belirlemiş olduğu zamanları ve tarihleri bilmenize gerek yok" karşılığını verdi.
Act 1:8 "Ama Kutsal Ruh üzerinize inince güç alacaksınız. Yeruşalim'de, bütün Yahudiye ve Samiriye'de ve dünyanın dört bucağında benim tanıklarım olacaksınız."

(a) God knows, you don't, leave that question alone. Let that sleeping dog lie, for now.
(b) Think bigger. Think beyond this city, this nation, and your immediate neighbors. I will equip you to take on the whole world, to all four corners.

On the day of Pentecost, in chapter two, we see a a cinematic trailer, a sneak preview of coming attractions:

Act 2:6 Sesin duyulması üzerine büyük bir kalabalık toplandı. Herkes kendi dilinin konuşulduğunu duyunca şaşakaldı.
Act 2:7 Hayret ve şaşkınlık içinde, "Bakın, bu konuşanların hepsi Celileli değil mi?" diye sordular.
Act 2:8 "Nasıl oluyor da her birimiz kendi ana dilini işitiyor?
Act 2:9-11 Aramızda Partlar, Medler, Elamlılar var. Mezopotamya'da, Yahudiye ve Kapadokya'da, Pontus ve Asya İli'nde*, Frikya ve Pamfilya'da, Mısır ve Libya'nın Kirene'ye yakın bölgelerinde yaşayanlar var. Hem Yahudi hem de Yahudiliğe dönen Romalı konuklar, Giritliler ve Araplar var aramızda. Ama her birimiz Tanrı'nın büyük işlerinin kendi dilimizde konuşulduğunu işitiyoruz."

In Genesis 11, in the account of the Tower of Babel, we see how humanity went in a moment from speaking one language to chattering away at each other in mutually incomprehensible dialects. This chapter goes on to list the founding nations of humanity.

In Acts 2, we see how people from a variety of nations can all, supernaturally, hear the same message of God's greatness. Let's unpack one sentence:

Ama her birimiz Tanrı'nın büyük işlerinin kendi dilimizde konuşulduğunu işitiyoruz."

But / every / one of us / of God's / great / his works / his own / in our own languages / being described / we hear.

Turkish is fun, since it lets you assemble big thoughts from small syllables. dilimizde combines the word for tongue, language (dil) with the first person plural possessive (imiz) and the locative (de -- in, on, at) suffixes.

For many years, the number 1 hymn in the Methodist hymnal was Charles Wesley's "Pentecost Carol." Note how the themes of that event are celebrated in these verses:

O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer’s praise,
The glories of my God and King,
The triumphs of His grace!

My gracious Master and my God,
Assist me to proclaim,
To spread through all the earth abroad
The honors of Thy name.

Jesus! the name that charms our fears,
That bids our sorrows cease;
’Tis music in the sinner’s ears,
’Tis life, and health, and peace.

He breaks the power of canceled sin,
He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean,
His blood availed for me.

He speaks, and, listening to His voice,
New life the dead receive,
The mournful, broken hearts rejoice,
The humble poor believe.

Hear Him, ye deaf; His praise, ye dumb,
Your loosened tongues employ;
Ye blind, behold your Savior come,
And leap, ye lame, for joy.

Glory to God, and praise and love
Be ever, ever given,
By saints below and saints above,
The church in earth and heaven.
Look unto Him, ye nations, own
Your God, ye fallen race;
Look, and be saved through faith alone,
Be justified by grace.

See all your sins on Jesus laid:
The Lamb of God was slain,
His soul was once an offering made
For every soul of man.

Awake from guilty nature’s sleep,
And Christ shall give you light,
Cast all your sins into the deep,
And wash the Æthiop white.

Harlots and publicans and thieves
In holy triumph join!
Saved is the sinner that believes
From crimes as great as mine.

Murderers and all ye hellish crew
In holy triumph join!
Believe the Savior died for you;
For me the Savior died.

With me, your chief, ye then shall know,
Shall feel your sins forgiven;
Anticipate your heaven below,
And own that love is heaven.

John 20 -- things that go bump in the night

2010-07-17T08:38:00.002-04:00

"Things that go bump in the night" is a wry cliche in English. As this site explains, it means "Frightening but imagined supernatural events." Apparently, this phrase comes from an incantation that was well-known in the Cornish region of western England a century ago:

From goulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties
And things that go bump in the night
Good Lord, deliver us!

A 19th century cynic and poet wrote,

From too much love of living, From hope and fear set free,
We thank with brief thanksgiving Whatever gods may be
That no life lives for ever; That dead men rise up never;
That even the weariest river Winds somewhere safe to sea.

Charles Algernon Swinburne does not sound like a happy camper,[1] now, does he? Fortunately for humanity, Swinburne was a pompous fool, and dead wrong about dead men. We know what lies on the other side of the grave, for One has been through death, come back to tell us about it, and lives still to assuage our fear of the final adventure we all must face.

Yet, when we read the gospels, they have nothing in common with the typical ghost story. Jesus does not "go bump in the night." He shows up in broad daylight, solid and exuberant with vibrant life. Catering a breakfast, and enjoying a snack himself. Sounds too good to be true? Thomas thought so:

Joh 20:25 Öbür öğrenciler ona, "Biz Rab'bi gördük!" dediler. Tomas ise, "O'nun ellerinde çivilerin izini görmedikçe, çivilerin izine parmağımla dokunmadıkça ve elimi böğrüne sokmadıkça inanmam" dedi.
Joh 20:26 Sekiz gün sonra İsa'nın öğrencileri yine evdeydiler. Tomas da onlarla birlikteydi. Kapılar kapalıyken İsa gelip ortalarında durdu, "Size esenlik olsun!" dedi.
Joh 20:27 Sonra Tomas'a, "Parmağını uzat" dedi, "Ellerime bak, elini uzat, böğrüme koy. İmansız olma, imanlı ol!"
Joh 20:28 Tomas O'na, "Rabbim ve Tanrım!" diye yanıtladı.
Joh 20:29 İsa, "Beni gördüğün için mi iman ettin?" dedi. "Görmeden iman edenlere ne mutlu!"

The last sentence in the bottom line. Tomas saw and believed -- but how much more blessed are those of us who have not (yet) seen the risen Jesus, but still believe in Him.

___________

[1] "Happy camper" is another sarcastic cliche, and refers to artificial, coerced cheerfulness. The idiom is rooted in summer camps where children would spend a week, or longer, away from their families and sometimes desperately homesick. The adult camp counselors demanded cheerful dispositions, and required their charges to be "happy campers."

John 19 -- Sezar'dan başka kralımız yok!

2010-07-09T04:55:00.003-04:00

This is a key verse for understanding the Kingdom of God, and the plight of Israel. In the book of judges, several times, we read the following explanation for Israel's misbehavior: "There was no king in Israel in those days, and every man did that which was right in his own eyes."

First of all, they refused to have God as their king, and drifted into all kinds of immorality. In the Kingdom of God, we govern ourselves, reign over and rein in[1] our own unruly appetites, leave our neighbors at peace, and sit "every man under his own vine, and under his own fig tree, and none can make them afraid."

As things got dicey, Israel could have repented, and come under God's gentle yoke again. Instead, they opted for Plan B -- "We want to have a (human) king, to rule over us, and to lead us in warfare against our enemies." Samuel warned Israel about the consequences of what they were demanding -- see I Samuel 8. A human king would eventually start demanding more than God Himself requires of us, a tithe on our "increase." God required Israel to kick back and loaf for one year out of every seven. A human king would demand his taxes, seven years out of seven.

Jesus, God's messiah, came along and took up the message John the Baptist: "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand." We can find all that is most wonderful in this life and the next if we start with personal submission to the Heavenly King. The title of today's post reflects Israel's answer then -- and, all too often, today:

Sezar'dan başka kralımız yok!

Caesar than / other / our king / there is not!

We can govern ourselves. Or, we can be ruled by tyrants. As John Wycliffe, an early translator of the Bible into English explained, "This Bible is for the government of the people, by the people, and for the people." An American tyrant, who deliberately provoked the bloodiest war in our nation's history, a war that left 600,000 combatants and innumerable civilians dead, perverted that sentiment in his Gettysburg Address. Forget God. Forget the Bible. We have a new deity -- "This government of the people, by the people, and for the people."

_____________

[1] Reign (to rule) and rein (noun: strap attached to a bit used to control a horse. Verb: to govern, to curb, to control.) both are pronounced like the word rain. Reign has more expansive, positive connotations.

John 18 -- in broad daylight

2010-07-03T16:38:00.002-04:00

I'm a big fan of open-source software. For example, anyone who wants to can download the source code for Linux, and adapt it to his unique situation. The deal, of course, is -- you let other members of the community profit from your work. IBM is a major fan of open source software, and invests, I believe, somewhere north of $250M / year in these kinds of projects. The word has gone out to IBM staff -- use Mozilla Firefox, the open source alternative to Microsoft's proprietary Internet Explorer.

In the open source universe, volunteer coders, testers, and documenters keep the momentum going for continuous improvement. You have fewer concealed flaws popping up later -- "given sufficient eyeballs, all bugs are shallow." If enough people are working on a program, flaws in logic and design are easier to find.

One of the more appealing aspects of Christianity is its open-source convictions. True, every now and then you'll get a Dan Brown trying to beat an old dead horse, and claiming to disclose a secret core to public Christianity, something known only to a relative handful of initiates. Many of the later gnostic "gospels" contained little history, little narrative -- just a collection of saying Jesus allegedly passed on to his inner core of intimates. Freemasonry attracts adherents with its pageantry and ritualism, true. But the main drawing card is the sense of participating in a secret, a select brotherhood with a non-public agenda.

Yet, what did Jesus say, when on trial for his life?

Joh 18:20 İsa onu şöyle yanıtladı: "Ben söylediklerimi dünyaya açıkça söyledim. Her zaman bütün Yahudiler'in toplandıkları havralarda ve tapınakta öğrettim. Gizli hiçbir şey söylemedim.
Joh 18:21 Beni neden sorguya çekiyorsun? Konuştuklarımı işitenlerden sor. Onlar ne söylediğimi biliyorlar."

Gizli hiçbir şey söylemedim. In secret / not one / thing / I never said.

The Latin translation (in occulto locutus sum nihil) has one easily-recognized word, the root of the English word "occult."

Or, in the words Jesus Himself used, ἐν κρυπτῷ ἐλάλησα οὐδέν. κρυπτῷ , of course, is the root of our word "cryptic."

Those who love Jesus are the children of the day, living openly and joyfully in terms of insights they are glad to share. 2B1 ask 1.

John 14 -- comings and goings

2010-06-23T07:01:00.002-04:00

"Mommy, is it true that we were made from dust, and to dust we shall return?"
"Why yes, little Timmy."
"Come quick! Under the bed! Someone's either coming or going!"

This chapter discusses a number of comings and goings, as well as the way to get from Point A to Point B.

First, Jesus is returning to the Father to accomplish a specific task:
oh 14:2 Babam'ın evinde kalacak çok yer var. Öyle olmasa size söylerdim. Çünkü size yer hazırlamaya gidiyorum.

Joh 14:2 Babam'ın evinde kalacak çok yer var. Öyle olmasa size söylerdim. Çünkü size yer hazırlamaya gidiyorum.

My Father / in His house / will remain / many / places / there are. If that were not so, I would have told you. Because for you a place in order to prepare I go.

Thomas then feeds Jesus the perfect straight line:

Joh 14:5 Tomas, "Ya Rab, senin nereye gideceğini bilmiyoruz, yolu nasıl bilebiliriz?" dedi.

But / Lord, / your / where to / going / we do not know, / the road / how / are we able to know? (you can pack a lot into a Turkish verb! English verbs are rather puny by comparison, and need to be escorted with an entourage of "helping" words.)

And Jesus gets right to the bottom line:

Joh 14:6 İsa, "Yol, gerçek ve yaşam Ben'im" dedi. "Benim aracılığım olmadan Baba'ya kimse gelemez.

Jesus, / "The Way, / the truth / and / the life / I am," he said.

Jesus is the only way to get from Point A (where we are) to Point B (where we all, Christian or Muslim, aspire to be). Think about it.

John 13 -- a vivid tableau

2010-06-18T13:00:00.002-04:00

This chapter presents the interactions between Jesus, Judas, and the rest of the disciples. Let's look at the verses that set the stage:

Joh 13:1 Fısıh Bayramı'ndan* önceydi. İsa, bu dünyadan ayrılıp Baba'ya gideceği saatin geldiğini biliyordu. Dünyada kendisine ait olanları hep sevmişti; sonuna kadar da sevdi.
Joh 13:2 Akşam yemeği sırasında İblis, Simun İskariot'un oğlu Yahuda'nın yüreğine İsa'ya ihanet etme isteğini koymuştu bile.

Let's look at a few words:

Dünyada -- in the world
kendisine -- his personal stuff
ait olanları -- those who were his own
hep -- always
sevmişti -- he had loved. This is the "narrative / dubative" form of the verb.
sonuna -- to the end
sevdi -- he loved

On the other hand, İblis (Satan) had already put it in the heart of Yahuda (Judas) to betray Jesus. Judas knows it, Jesus knows it, but no one else is aware of this behind-the-scenes drama. Jesus begins by washing the feet of his disciples -- a menial service, one they were probably waiting for a menial servant to perform. This acted-out parable is even done for Judas. There is a moment of comic dialog between Jesus and Peter, where Jesus insists upon performing this service. "If you do not let me wash your feet, we have nothing to do with each other." "If that's the case, Jesus, wash my head and hands as well!"

Jesus hints at the coming breaking of the fellowship: You are not all clean. He then explains his reason for what he did:

Joh 13:13 "Siz beni Öğretmen ve Rab diye çağırıyorsunuz. Doğru söylüyorsunuz, öyleyim.
Joh 13:14 Ben Rab ve Öğretmen olduğum halde ayaklarınızı yıkadım; öyleyse, sizler de birbirinizin ayaklarını yıkamalısınız.
Joh 13:15 Size yaptığımın aynısını yapmanız için bir örnek gösterdim.
Joh 13:16 Size doğrusunu söyleyeyim, köle efendisinden, elçi de kendisini gönderenden üstün değildir.
Joh 13:17 Bildiğiniz bu şeyleri yaparsanız, ne mutlu size!"

Thus (öyleyse), you all (birbirinizin ) one another's (birbirinizin ) feet (must wash (yıkamalısınız).

Jesus explains again that one of the people sitting at that table is about to betray him. Some immediately react -- "Are you talking about me?" Peter loudly asserts that he, for one, would never dream of doing such a thing -- and is informed that he will deny Jesus three times, before the rooster crows. His curiosity devours him, so Peter asks John, who is sitting a bit closer to Jesus, to find out who the betrayer is. Jesus discretely satisfies his curiosity, then dismisses Judas to hurry up, do what he planned to do, get it over with.

Finally, Jesus explains that, since he is about to exit the world, the disciples needed to take good care of each other:

Joh 13:35 Birbirinize sevginiz olursa, herkes bununla benim öğrencilerim olduğunuzu anlayacaktır."

Real people, having a real meal together, and interacting with each other.[1] The gospels, composed by people with first-hand knowledge of the events, or by those who could interview the actual participants, have that sense of reality about them that competing texts, such as the "gospel" of Judas, lack.

______________

[1] As a contrast to this vividly described real-world, real-time event, consider this meditation on The Jesus of Nazareth vs. the Jesus of Neverland:

Jesus is considered a great prophet by Muslims, but one has to wonder why, seeing as he has almost nothing to do or say in the pages of the Koran. He only speaks on six or seven occasions and then, very briefly, and primarily to deny that he ever claimed to be God. ... Thus, whenever Jesus is mentioned in the Koran, it’s almost always for the purpose of whittling him down in size. ...
The Jesus of the Koran appears mainly in the role of a counter to the Jesus of the Gospels, but “appears” is really too strong a word. This Jesus doesn’t attend weddings, or go fishing with his disciples, or gather children around him. He has practically no human interactions, and what he has to say is formulaic and repetitive. He is more like a disembodied voice than a person. And, to put it bluntly, he lacks personality. The Jesus of the New Testament is a recognizable human being; the Jesus of the Koran is more like a phantom. When did he carry out his ministry? There’s not a hint. Where did he live? Again, there’s no indication. Where was he born? Under a palm tree.

John 12 -- escape from autism

2010-06-16T07:44:00.003-04:00

Someone who is wrapped up in himself is tied up in a very small package. A hero of mine, Dr. Kurt Asperger, coined the term autism (self-ism) a year before the dude who usually gets the credit. Dr. Asperger kept many of his young patients out of Hitler's gas chambers by pointing out to the Nazis that autism is a spectrum disorder, associated with a wide range of abilities and disabilities. Kids with bizarre behavior problems might also have extraordinary intellectual and artistic gifts.[1]

Everybody has their own troubling weakness. A drunk achieves sobriety one day at a time, aware of the constant possibility of "hitting the skids," "falling off the wagon," and losing everything if he gives in to the ever-present temptation. A famous Protestant leader had a secret life, involving specialized massages from other men.

For someone wrestling with autistic-spectrum disorders, the ever-present temptation is the urge to pull the plug, disconnect from the people, the world, and the obligations around him, and hide out inside his own head. It's fun for a while, to suspend sanity and lose oneself in triviality. But the inside of your head is also a very scary place to get lost. Everyone has temptations. But a threshold can be crossed. When the temptation has you, it will "take you where you don't want to go. Keep you longer than you want to stay. Cost you more than you want to pay."

Archimedes said he could move the world if he had a long enough lever. What can offer the autistic Christian the "leverage" he needs to get out of his own head, and into the joys and challenges of real life? I think Jesus provides a key concept in this chapter:

Joh 12:24 "Size doğrusunu söyleyeyim, buğday tanesi toprağa düşüp ölmedikçe yalnız kalır. Ama ölürse çok ürün verir.
Joh 12:25 Canını seven onu yitirir. Ama bu dünyada canını gözden çıkaran onu sonsuz yaşam için koruyacaktır.

Unless a grain of wheat surrenders its own identity, it remains barren, alone. But if it "gives it up," this same grain can bear much fruit (çok ürün verir - much production it gives).

His life / the one who loves / it / loses. (Canını seven onu yitirir.) But the one who writes off his life in this world (sonsuz yaşam için koruyacaktır. ) endless / life / thereby / he will gain.

The only way to overcome a passion is with a greater passion. The only way someone excessively in love with himself can become and act human is by loving something more than himself. Ultimately, only the love of God, and the expectation of an amazing and eternal reward, can motivate the autistic Christian to deny himself, quit piddling with trivia, and get on with his life and assignments.

_________

[1] For further reading on this topic, see Born On A Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant by Daniel Tammet and Look Me In The Eye: My Life with Asperger's by John Elder Robison. If your autistic child is approaching college age, you must download the free, compassionate, and very helpful handbook Towards Success in Tertiary Study: Asperger’s Syndrome published by the University of Melbourne.

John 11 -- Because He loved them, He neglected them

2010-06-14T08:03:00.006-04:00

A friend of mine wrote an article about a 70's book with the intriguing title The Gospel According to Superman. You can click this link to read it. The human characters in the Superman story could always count on the Man of Steel to swoop in to their rescue when summoned. As the book's writer pointed out, however, none of these supporting characters demonstrated any personal growth over the decades of the saga.

Bryan Davis, a software engineer and home-schooling father of seven, launched into a new career as a young-adult fantasy novelist. He offers free writer's workshops around the country for fans and other aspiring wordsmiths. (yes, you can also buy copies of his books from a table in the back!) When you are writing a "hero's quest," Davis explained, the story starts with an aspiring hero, and a mentor. At some point, however, the mentor disappears from the scene. Obi Wan Kenobi dies. Gandalf fails to show up for his appointment. There is a reason for this standard feature: the hero needs to put what he has learned into practice, rather than continuously and thoughtlessly following the mentor's advice.

Bob Mumford, a wise teacher, gave the example of a baby learning to walk. He balances unsteadily on his two feet, looks at a parent holding out an encouraging hand, ponders his options ... then drops to all fours and crawls to the parent, big smile on face, anticipating approval. There are times when we need to grow up, do something new, accept a little more responsibility. Times when the familiar activities no longer suffice.

Sometimes in life, everything is working just as it should. All the pieces are falling into place. Time after time, in an uncanny way, providential encounters move the story along. Man, I could live like this forever!

Then, the sequence of adventures diverges from the anticipated script. The pollock is put in a round room and told to sit in the corner.[1] "Burnout," they say in "the helping professions," happens when prolonged and serious effort fails to bring about the anticipated result, the reward you were doing it all for. The aftermath of this bruising collision with reality can be profound depression -- and a renewed appreciation for John 11:

Joh 11:1 Meryem ile kızkardeşi Marta'nın köyü olan Beytanya'dan Lazar adında bir adam hastalanmıştı.
Joh 11:2 Meryem, Rab'be güzel kokulu yağ sürüp saçlarıyla O'nun ayaklarını silen kadındı. Hasta Lazar ise Meryem'in kardeşiydi.
Joh 11:3 İki kızkardeş İsa'ya, "Rab, sevdiğin kişi hasta" diye haber gönderdiler.
Joh 11:4 İsa bunu işitince, "Bu hastalık ölümle sonuçlanmayacak; Tanrı'nın yüceliğine, Tanrı Oğlu'nun yüceltilmesine hizmet edecek" dedi.
Joh 11:5 İsa Marta'yı, kızkardeşini ve Lazar'ı severdi.
Joh 11:6,7 Bu nedenle, Lazar'ın hasta olduğunu duyunca bulunduğu yerde iki gün daha kaldıktan sonra öğrencilere, "Yahudiye'ye dönelim" dedi.

Two sisters and a brother, probably orphans, were friends of Jesus. He and his entourage enjoyed the hospitality of this home from time to time. As it tells us in 11:5, İsa Marta'yı, kızkardeşini ve Lazar'ı severdi. (Jesus Martha, her sister, and Lazarus loved). For this reason (Bu nedenle,), two days more delay afterward to his disciples, "to Judea I return" he said.

The Turkish word kızkardeşini is interesting. kardeş means brother or sister. Prefix it with kız to indicate female sibling, add the possessive suffix in, and the direct object suffix i, and there it is!

While Jesus was out of the picture, Lazarus died. Those who had expected more of their friend were heartbroken, devastated. The sorrow of his friends was so intense that, when he arrived, İsa ağladı. Yet the end result of all this distress was a greater miracle than anyone expected.

____________

[1] Half my genetics came from Slavic immigrants, so I can use a pollock joke! Actually, it's in the form of a riddle. The question is: "How do you drive a pollock crazy?"

John 10 -- Baa, baa, His sheep

2010-06-13T07:47:00.002-04:00

Sheep are strange animals. They can be affectionate and trusting towards their owners, and nervous around strangers. My mother used to lure the flock to the barn with an empty five-gallon plastic bucket. This bucket was sometimes used to carry sweet feed out to them, you see. Once she had them penned, however, she provided some of the sweet feed the sheep expected. Her conscience would not let her practice deceit, make false promises, even to trusting animals. So they continued to trust her, and come when called.

Sheep are not the brightest animals. Real shepherds hate Psalm 23, since it compares them to the stupid beasts they manage. Once, after the flock was shorn, a loud repeated banging noise came from the pasture. The two rams, who'd lived amicably together, no longer recognized each other without their wool, and were butting heads. One of the rams died soon after.

The Jewish people were descended from a tribe of vagabond herdsmen. They were frequently reminded that they, too, were the domestic cattle of the Lord. The prophet Ezekiel castigated the useless rulers of Israel, calling them bad shepherds, who fed themselves, rather than the flock. Jesus, who, like Ezekiel, called himself "the son of man," probably had this parable in mind. Jesus had just sought out the man he'd healed in chapter 9. This same man had been expelled from the worshiping community of Israel, the synagogue. Let's look at the text:

Joh 10:1 "Size doğrusunu söyleyeyim, koyun ağılına kapıdan girmeyip başka yoldan giren kişi hırsız ve hayduttur.
Joh 10:2 Kapıdan giren ise koyunların çobanıdır.
Joh 10:3 Kapıyı bekleyen ona kapıyı açar. Koyunlar çobanın sesini işitirler, o da kendi koyunlarını adlarıyla çağırır ve onları dışarı götürür.
Joh 10:4 Kendi koyunlarının hepsini dışarı çıkarınca önlerinden gider, koyunlar da onu izler. Çünkü onun sesini tanırlar.
Joh 10:5 Bir yabancının peşinden gitmezler, ondan kaçarlar. Çünkü yabancıların sesini tanımazlar."
Joh 10:6 İsa onlara bu örneği anlattıysa da, ne demek istediğini anlamadılar.
Joh 10:7 Bunun için İsa yine, "Size doğrusunu söyleyeyim" dedi, "Ben koyunların kapısıyım.
Joh 10:8 Benden önce gelenlerin hepsi hırsız ve hayduttu, ama koyunlar onları dinlemedi.
Joh 10:9 Kapı Ben'im. Bir kimse benim aracılığımla içeri girerse kurtulur. Girer, çıkar ve otlak bulur.
Joh 10:10 Hırsız ancak çalıp öldürmek ve yok etmek için gelir. Bense insanlar yaşama, bol yaşama sahip olsunlar diye geldim.
Joh 10:11 Ben iyi çobanım. İyi çoban koyunları uğruna canını verir.
Joh 10:12 Koyunların çobanı ve sahibi olmayan ücretli adam, kurdun geldiğini görünce koyunları bırakıp kaçar. Kurt da onları kapar ve dağıtır.
Joh 10:13 Adam kaçar. Çünkü ücretlidir ve koyunlar için kaygı duymaz.
Joh 10:14 Ben iyi çobanım. Benimkileri tanırım. Baba beni tanıdığı, ben de Baba'yı tanıdığım gibi, benimkiler de beni tanır. Ben koyunlarımın uğruna canımı veririm.

Jesus is the good shepherd, Ben iyi çobanım. He calls his sheep by name, they recognize his voice, and follow him. A stranger after they will not follow, but from him flee (Bir yabancının peşinden gitmezler, ondan kaçarlar.) Somehow, Jesus was telling the corrupt leaders of Israel, the people could see through their mask of piety. Somehow, they lacked the credibility with the common people that he enjoyed.

It gets better. Not only were the Pharisees "strangers," they were all thieves and robbers (hepsi hırsız ve hayduttu). Unreliable mercenaries ( ücretli adam -- the key term here, ücret, means wages) who cut and ran, deserting flock in its moment of need.

A good shepherd gives his life for his flock. He also gives his flock life. This is in contrast to the parasitic leaders of Israel who, like their master the devil, came around only to steal, kill, and destroy (çalıp öldürmek ve yok etmek).

Some things never change. An American proverb / cliche asserts that the most terrifying thing you can hear a stranger say is, "Hello. I'm from The Government, and I'm here to help you!" Meanwhile, millions of grateful believers are not in the market for another savior, since they already have one who died for them, and lives among them today.

John 9 -- seeing and believing

2010-06-10T04:54:00.002-04:00

One of the Marx brothers, famous comedians of 80 years ago, was caught in a compromising situation with a young lady. Said he to the enraged father, "Who are you going to believe? Me, or your lying eyes?"

A Nasreddin Hoca story has a similar punch line:[1] a neighbor wanted to borrow his donkey. Hoca claimed not to have said beast. The donkey brays, the neighbor asks, "If you have no donkey, what did I just hear?" Hoca replies -- "Who are you going to believe? Me, or some stupid animal?"

In John 9, Jesus heals a man who was born blind, to make several points. For example:

Joh 9:2 Öğrencileri İsa'ya, "Rabbî, kim günah işledi de bu adam kör doğdu? Kendisi mi, yoksa annesi babası mı?" diye sordular.
Joh 9:3 İsa şu yanıtı verdi: "Ne kendisi, ne de annesi babası günah işledi. Tanrı'nın işleri onun yaşamında görülsün diye kör doğdu.

Did the man sin in the womb? Or was it the sin of his parents that accounted for his blindness?[2]

"None of the above," Jesus replies. Not him, neither his mother / father evil did. It is not always wise to address a problem by looking for someone to blame. Many challenges in life exist to be fixed. See G K Chesterton's comic nightmare novel The Man Who Was Thursday. Or Johnny Cash's song A Boy Named Sue.

The man is healed, on the wrong day of the week. Thrown out of the fellowship of worshiping Israel. And embraced by Jesus as one of his own. Jesus then declares that the leaders of Israel had excommunicated the wrong party:

Joh 9:39 İsa, "Görmeyenler görsün, görenler kör olsun diye yargıçlık etmek üzere bu dünyaya geldim" dedi.
Joh 9:40 O'nun yanında bulunan bazı Ferisiler bu sözleri işitince, "Yoksa biz de mi körüz?" diye sordular.
Joh 9:41 İsa, "Kör olsaydınız günahınız olmazdı" dedi, "Ama şimdi, 'Görüyoruz' dediğiniz için günahınız duruyor."

"What you talkin' about?" the Pharisees demand. "You sayin' we're also blind?"

"If you were blind, you'd be innocent," Jesus replies. "But because you say, 'we see,' your sin remains."

It's the things we think we know, that ain't so, that get us in trouble!
___________

[1] The "punch line" is the conclusion of a joke, the comic reversal or redirection that makes the story funny.

[2] Gonorrhea, a "social disease," accounts for many cases of blindness in the "third world." Parental sins affect offspring, sometimes in very tangible ways.

John 8 -- witness to truth

2010-06-10T04:32:00.002-04:00

I learned something interesting the other day. Love is an important word in John's writings, occurring more than 90 times. However, so too is the word witness. It shows up more than 80 times. In this chapter, Jesus begins by refusing to participate in a kangaroo court[1] that's none of his business. He did not see the transgression, and had nothing to say about it. So, he called for the witness for the prosecution to step up to the plate,[2] and perform his legal obligation:

Joh 8:7 Durmadan aynı soruyu sormaları üzerine doğruldu ve, "İçinizde kim günahsızsa, ilk taşı o atsın!" dedi.

And, let's unpack some of these words:

İçinizde -- among you (iç -- inside. iniz -- your. de -- locative indicator)
kim -- who
günahsızsa -- sinless
ilk -- first
taşı -- stone
o -- he
atsın! -- show throw!

The legal problem here is, of course, that it's pretty hard to commit adultery by yourself. Those who had arranged to entrap the accused were parties to her crime. This is, by the way, the only time in the gospels when Jesus is shown to be writing something. An old story suggests that he wrote down, one by one, the sins of the crowd, looking at each sinner in turn. The final word -- "Adulterer" -- ended the event.

___________

[1] Source of this metaphor unknown. Informal court, outside the bounds of the legitimate legal system.

[2] Baseball metaphor. The batter steps up to home plate to fulfill his duties.

John 7 -- it's not the lack of information ...

2010-06-04T03:56:00.002-04:00

How do you transform an "is" into an "ought?" How to you go from the indicative (descriptive) mood in a statement to the imperative (command) mood? If you pile up enough facts, do you get wisdom? In one of his brilliant little fables compiled in The Cyberiad, Polish novelist Stanislaw Lem dealt with this question. An interstellar pirate wanted data. The two constructors gave him a machine that spewed an unending stream of random data, and quietly escaped.

Modern education, a wiser man than me once said, places all information in a single file drawer labeled Miscellaneous. [1]

Someone considering the claims of Christ can procrastinate, saying, "I'll make up my mind when I have all the facts." Ain't gonna happen. The issue is something quite different from lack of information:

Joh 7:17 "Eğer bir kimse Tanrı'nın isteğini yerine getirmek istiyorsa, bu öğretinin Tanrı'dan mı olduğunu, yoksa kendiliğimden mi konuştuğumu bilecektir.

The religious leaders of Israel pleaded "insufficient data." Jesus called them on that assertion. Those who wish to please the Father already have the means to evaluate the claims of the Son. There is no conflict, ultimately, between "the True" and "the Good." A love for the Good, for God and for His purposes, hones our instinct for distinguishing truth from its seductive counterfeits.

_______________

[1] Of course, there's also the hidden curriculum. It doesn't matter what kids study, as long as they learn the real lesson of public education: truth is what The State tells you, when The State tells it to you, in the place and time The State provides, and under the direction of a State employee.

John 6 -- addiction to the trivial

2010-05-31T08:15:00.003-04:00

The main thing is -- knowing what the main thing is.

It is so easy to lose ourselves in trivia. Programmers have a term for it -- "Dogwash." When an important project needs to be finished -- and you are up against the deadline -- you suddenly remember other things you could be doing. Like washing the dog.

A wise daughter resists dogwash by telling herself: "Doing this will make me feel worse by the end of the day." A quick game on the computer, for example, can provide a moment's distraction from the anxieties of life. However, if you put too many of those together, great big chunks of your day disappear forever, and you are not much closer to getting where you need to be.

In Norton Juster's minor masterpiece The Phantom Tollbooth, the team is delayed on its mission by an encounter with "the Terrible Trivium." They are set to pointless, endless, tasks. Examine his argument:

Think of all the trouble it saves ... If you only do the easy and useless jobs, you'll never have to worry about the important ones which are so difficult. You just won't have the time. For there's always something to do to keep you from what you really should be doing, and if it weren't' for that dreadful magic staff, you'd never know how much time you were wasting. (Juster, p. 213)

Apparently, fixating on the trivial and ignoring the momentous is a typical human failing. After Jesus fed thousands by blessing and multiplying a small lunch, the crowds wanted to seize him and force him to be their king. He fled to the mountain, spent most of the night in prayer, and took a short cut to the other side of the lake in the wee hours of the morning. The next morning, as he taught in a synagogue, the crowds showed up again with one thing on their mind:

Joh 6:25 O'nu gölün karşı yakasında buldukları zaman, "Rabbî, buraya ne zaman geldin?" diye sordular.
Joh 6:26 İsa şöyle yanıt verdi: "Size doğrusunu söyleyeyim, doğaüstü belirtiler gördüğünüz için değil, ekmeklerden yiyip doyduğunuz için beni arıyorsunuz.
Joh 6:27 Geçici yiyecek için değil, sonsuz yaşam boyunca kalıcı yiyecek için çalışın. Bunu size İnsanoğlu* verecek. Çünkü Baba Tanrı O'na bu onayı vermiştir."
Joh 6:28 Onlar da şunu sordular: "Tanrı'nın istediği işleri yapmak için ne yapmalıyız?"
Joh 6:29 İsa, "Tanrı'nın işi O'nun gönderdiği kişiye iman etmenizdir" diye yanıt verdi.
Joh 6:30 Bunun üzerine, "Görüp sana iman etmemiz için nasıl bir belirti gerçekleştireceksin? Ne yapacaksın?" dediler.
Joh 6:31 "Atalarımız çölde man* yediler. Yazılmış olduğu gibi, 'Yemeleri için onlara gökten ekmek verdi.'"
Joh 6:32 İsa onlara dedi ki, "Size doğrusunu söyleyeyim, gökten ekmeği size Musa vermedi, gökten size gerçek ekmeği Babam verir.
Joh 6:33 Çünkü Tanrı'nın ekmeği, gökten inen ve dünyaya yaşam verendir."
Joh 6:34 Onlar da, "Efendimiz, bizlere her zaman bu ekmeği ver!" dediler.
Joh 6:35 İsa, "Yaşam ekmeği Ben'im. Bana gelen asla acıkmaz, bana iman eden hiçbir zaman susamaz" dedi.

The conversation starts in vs. 25 -- "How did you get here?" And the retort of our Lord gets tot the heart of the matter:

Size doğrusunu söyleyeyim, doğaüstü belirtiler gördüğünüz için değil, ekmeklerden yiyip doyduğunuz için beni arıyorsunuz.

A few words:

Size doğrusunu söyleyeyim -- To you / straight, accurately / I say (Jesus says this frequently in John's gospel)
doğaüstü -- above that which is natural (extraordinary)
belirtiler -- signs
gördüğünüz -- you see
için değil, -- because of not,
ekmeklerden -- meals
için -- because
beni arıyorsunuz -- me / you are seeking

The most important event in world history was going on right in front of them -- and they were obsessed with a free lunch. So much like you and me.

I think, though, that taking Jesus seriously lets us escape from the swamp of dogwash.

John 4 -- where the action is

2010-05-27T08:17:00.002-04:00

John the Baptist shows up again, indirectly, in this chapter. As we learned earlier, John catalyzed a renewal movement that taught the need for personal repentance, in expectation of the end of the age. Messiah was coming, it was time to get ready. Jesus showed up at the event, was recognized as the promised messiah, and began attracting John's followers to his own ministry. When you see a spiritual movement in progress, excitement in the air, the human temptation is to jump in with both feet. In 1992, for example, when the former Soviet bloc was suddenly very interested in the Christian gospel, a lot of "missionary tourism" happened. Americans poured in to hold meetings and plant new churches. Who knows, maybe they even did some good!

In the USA, a lust for passive entertainment, especially when it's disguised as a spiritual renewal, has led to many harmful "dog and pony shows" with bizarre emotional outbreaks. People hear a rumor that God is at work in a new and wonderful way -- at the Toronto Vineyard church, or in Lakeland, Florida -- and caravan to the latest circus to swell the ranks of the rubes and clowns.

Jesus came to launch a new spiritual movement, to found a new Israel, a new people of faith. You would expect him to capitalize on the groundwork John had started, to use John's ministry as a foundation for his own. That's not what happened, though:

Joh 4:1-3 Ferisiler, İsa'nın Yahya'dan daha çok öğrenci edinip vaftiz ettiğini duydular aslında İsa'nın kendisi değil, öğrencileri vaftiz ediyorlardı İsa bunu öğrenince Yahudiye'den ayrılıp yine Celile'ye gitti.

The official religious leaders hear that the followers of John are becoming the followers of Jesus, and baptizing even more people into the snowballing movement. So, Jesus leaves the scene of the ferment, and walks back home to Galilee, with just a handful of disciples in tow. He finds himself in a village of Samaritans.

700 years earlier, when the Assyrians conquered and deported the land of Israel, they had replaced the native inhabitants with population exchanged from other parts of the empire. These people "feared the Lord, but served their own gods." When lions began preying on them, they suspected that they had displeased the local deity in charge of that piece of real estate, and asked their Assyrian overlords to send them Jewish rabbis. They practiced a derivative form of the Jewish religion, but were not regarded as real coreligionists. Yet, Jesus found an audience there. Apparently, his eyes saw opportunities all around, wherever he went. As he told his disciples,

Joh 4:35 "Sizler, 'Ekinleri biçmeye daha dört ay var' demiyor musunuz? İşte, size söylüyorum, başınızı kaldırıp tarlalara bakın. Ekinler sararmış, biçilmeye hazır!

The harvest is already ripe, for those with eyes to see.

John 3 -- dangling conversation

2010-05-26T17:43:00.003-04:00

What can you find to say about this chapter that is fresh? Well, since this is God's own word, something new to think about comes into focus every time you read it. For example, let's look again at the way the conversation got started:

Joh 3:1,2 Yahudiler'in Nikodim adlı bir önderi vardı. Ferisiler'den olan bu adam bir gece İsa'ya gelerek, "Rabbî, senin Tanrı'dan gelmiş bir öğretmen olduğunu biliyoruz. Çünkü Tanrı kendisiyle olmadıkça kimse senin yaptığın bu mucizeleri yapamaz" dedi.
Joh 3:3 İsa ona şu karşılığı verdi: "Sana doğrusunu söyleyeyim, bir kimse yeniden doğmadıkça Tanrı'nın Egemenliği'ni göremez."

A renowned religious scholar sneaks in to see Jesus at night. On the one hand, he's intrigued by the miracles Jesus performs, kindly deeds of supernatural power that obviously had divine origin: "Unless someone comes from God, these miracles he would not do." On the other hand, this visit happens at night. This new teacher did not come up through approved channels, and those who visibly associate with him risk their own reputations. "So, Jesus. We know you're something special. Shall we have a theological discussion?"

The reply is startling: "Unless someone is born anew / from above, he can't even see what's going on." Or, to paraphrase, Jesus is asking, "Is there any point to this conversation?"

The point is not the credibility of Jesus and His claims. The point is the condition of the person considering those claims. God, for reasons of His own, makes some His own. Those who are His own, His elect, get the point. The rest -- don't. As a wise Jesuit once said, "The Gospel is like a joke told to a circle of men. And one man smiles."

Human perceptions are maddening in their complexity. Ask anyone who is suffering from autistic spectrum disorders. Such a person often has incredibly intense focus on some matters -- but is oblivious to other real-world issues. By definition, we can not see our blind spots. Some people consider the life of Jesus, and fall on their knees, knowing that this one man's biography is the key that unlocks the riddles of the universe, and brings the worshiper directly into the presence of the Creator. Other people are indifferent. And only God ultimately knows why.

John 2 -- thoughts on language learning

2010-05-25T08:49:00.003-04:00

When studying a new language, I enjoy using İncil as my textbook. I start with John's gospel, since the vivid imagery, and simple, repetitive poetic language make it the easiest of the Biblical books to read, in any language.

This practice began when I was studying French in college. I'd barely passed 2nd year French, and was looking down the barrel of 3rd year classes. SO, I started reading four chapters a day of Bonnes Nouvelles Au'jourdhui that summer, a pace that got me through the entire New Testament in two months. Rinse and repeat. That senior year in college, I also took Biblical Greek. At the end of the year, I fulfilled a long-held dream, and began reading John's gospel in the same language John had written it in.

Joh 1:1 ᾿Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος, καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν, καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ Λόγος.

OK, so Greek is a bit further away from my native tongue than French, so I budgeted a year to the task. By averaging 2.54 pages per day, I met my goal. The first time through, I understood perhaps 30% of the words, and guessed at the rest. The second time through, perhaps 40% of the words looked familiar. After 10 years, though, I could read the Greek New Testament comfortably and with great pleasure.

After a few months of studying Italian, I downloaded the NT in that language from the internet, and decanted the text, chapter by chapter, into a Microsoft Word document with a two-inch (10 cm) wide left margin, for scribbling in definitions. I now have a loose-leaf Italian NT, that I've read through twice.

I did not attempt reading İncil until after spending several years studying Turkish. For me, the vocabulary is the hard part, since there are so few cognates between the two languages. There's no substitute for brute-force memorization. It took me a bit over 13 months to read it this last time through, since I'm trying to blog more consistently. But, I am now on my fifth pilgrimage through a familiar book in a fascinating, but challenging, language.[1]

For me, however, John 2 will always remind me of the time I read the New Testament in Esperanto. I was wearing a hard hat that December, working at a sheltered industrial workshop. The regular employees suffered from mental and physical impairments, but rejoiced that they had a place to go, something to do, and someone to pay them for it. I was measuring wire out to specified lengths, cutting it, and crimping on electrical connectors. When I had a specified number of coils in a box, I would move it aside and start on the next box. Normally, counting is an inefficient way of keeping track of where you are. So, you convert the numeric information into some other form. For example, stand the electrodes on their open ends in ranks of five. Number becomes length. A visual check lets you know exactly where you are, and how far you have to go.

And, I read this story in John 2:

Joh 2:12 Bundan sonra İsa, annesi, kardeşleri ve öğrencileri Kefarnahum'a gidip orada birkaç gün kaldılar.
Joh 2:13 Yahudiler'in Fısıh Bayramı yakındı. İsa da Yeruşalim'e gitti.
Joh 2:14 Tapınağın avlusunda sığır, koyun ve güvercin satanları, orada oturmuş para bozanları* gördü.
Joh 2:15 İpten bir kamçı yaparak hepsini koyunlar ve sığırlarla birlikte tapınaktan kovdu, para bozanların paralarını döküp masalarını devirdi.

Let's look at two words:

para -- money
masa -- table

When Jesus stormed into that marketplace and hurled over the tables, I saw with newly informed eyes, he disrupted data processing systems, the carefully arranged and positioned stacks of coins that made it possible for the moneychangers to work efficiently.

No wonder they wanted to crucify him! He'd broken their system!
_____________

[1] The Turkic family of languages ranks fifth in the world, behind Chinese, English, Hindi, and Spanish. At least, in terms of the number of speakers.

John 1 -- paradoxical salvation

2010-05-23T07:31:00.003-04:00

Paradox is a wonderful word derived from the Greek, meaning two parallel thoughts, apparently contradictory, yet both true. John frequently used this form of word play, and reports on paradoxes Jesus taught. For example, whose idea is it for men to know and walk with God? Let's look at a few lines from the prologue to John's gospel:

Joh 1:10 O, dünyadaydı, dünya O'nun aracılığıyla var oldu, ama dünya O'nu tanımadı.
Joh 1:11 Kendi yurduna geldi, ama kendi halkı O'nu kabul etmedi.
Joh 1:12 Kendisini kabul edip adına iman edenlerin hepsine Tanrı'nın çocukları olma hakkını verdi.
Joh 1:13 Onlar ne kandan, ne beden ne de insan isteğinden doğdular; tersine, Tanrı'dan doğdular.

The Playwright walks onto the stage of his creation, but the best boys and key grips rudely hustle him to the exit. He knocks on the door of his own relative's house, and they don't know him. But that's all right -- whoever will recognize him can become his kin! Even if they aren't blood relatives, even if they had other things in mind when he showed up.

Salvation -- something we experience as we repent. Repentance -- something we do, something that God gives us. A paradox? Indeed. Since we're not God we can't understand how He works in our lives, let alone why. This little ditty (Deficient Grace) mocks folks who assert that they saved themselves through heroic acts of will. After all, if we are saved, ultimately, by sovereign acts of our divine will, then we can un-save ourselves at a whim. If, however, salvation is a form of conscription, the One who calls us will keep us.
He came to his own country, but his own people did not welcome him.
However, those who did embrace in faith his l\name all were given the authority to become children of God.

Luke 24 -- astonishing gladness

2010-05-20T07:20:00.002-04:00

Quite often, when people from Muslim backgrounds discover the İsa of the Bible, their pilgrimage begins with a vivid dream. A glowing man dressed in white addresses them by name, perhaps. Or, as this young Turkish student dreamed, a grave opened, a man arose from it. Three ladies came to the grave, and were told that the one they sought was no longer there.

Click HERE to hear the story for yourself.

Yuce takes issue with a popular misyoner tactic of telling folks, "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life." In the context of his culture, those who embark upon the Jesus Way are very likely to lose their jobs. Their families. Their friends. And sometimes, their lives. And this is good news of a wonderful divine plan? [1]

Well, what makes it wonderful, Yuce said, is the person of İsa Mesih. The transcendent joy of knowing God in person transforms the attendant trials into part of something truly wonderful.

As German martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, true conversion, true grace, "is costly, as it costs us our lives. It is grace, in that it gives us the only lives worth living."

This blog is motivated by a sincere affection for Turkish people, language, and culture. The resurrection of Jesus meant new life, meaningful life for all who hear His invitation, and come to the party.

______________

[1] Our family just finished reading the marvelous novel Byzantium, by Stephen Lawhead. In the end, the narrator discovers the true power of the Christian message: not deliverance from suffering and death, but fellowship with a God who understands suffering and death, and has Himself suffered and died.

Luke 23 -- who ya gonna believe?

2010-05-18T07:45:00.003-04:00

Nasrettin Hoca, the classical folk-hero of Turkish literature, was asked for the loan of his donkey. "I don't have a donkey," he told the neighbor. At this moment, the beast brayed loudly from the barn. When the neighbor asked what was braying, if he had no donkey, Hoca replied, "Who are you going to believe? Me? Or some donkey?"

Here we have a carefully described death scene, with many witnesses:

Luk 23:46 İsa yüksek sesle, "Baba, ruhumu ellerine bırakıyorum!" diye seslendi. Bunu söyledikten sonra son nefesini verdi.
Luk 23:47 Olanları gören yüzbaşı, "Bu adam gerçekten doğru biriydi" diyerek Tanrı'yı yüceltmeye başladı.
Luk 23:48 Olayı seyretmek için biriken halkın tümü olup bitenleri görünce göğüslerini döve döve geri döndüler.
Luk 23:49 Ama İsa'nın bütün tanıdıkları ve Celile'den O'nun ardından gelen kadınlar uzakta durmuş, olanları seyrediyorlardı.
Luk 23:50 Yüksek Kurul üyelerinden Yusuf adında iyi ve doğru bir adam vardı.
Luk 23:51 Bir Yahudi kenti olan Aramatya'dan olup Tanrı'nın Egemenliği'ni umutla bekleyen Yusuf, Kurul'un kararını ve eylemini onaylamamıştı.
Luk 23:52 Pilatus'a gidip İsa'nın cesedini istedi.
Luk 23:53 Cesedi çarmıhtan indirip keten beze sardı, hiç kimsenin konulmadığı, kayaya oyulmuş bir mezara yatırdı.

In vs. 46, Jesus expires, uttering a Jewish bedtime prayer -- "Baba, ruhumu ellerine bırakıyorum." Father, / my spirit / your hands to / I commit.

In vs. 47, another witness speaks up, a leader of 100 soldiers (centurion, yüzbaşı). "This was a righteous man.

In vs. 48, the crowd who'd showed up for the show (seyretmek için to view / in order to. Seyretmek is the verb you use when watching TV, or a movie. için is another of those wonderful postpositions.)showed grief as they walked away, "Show's over, folks!"

In vs. 49, a gaggle[1] of older ladies who had followed Jesus all the way from Galilee, and supported his ministry financially, watched him die.

Then, a high leader of Israel notes the death of Jesus, and goes to the governor asking for the body. In one of the other gospels, we read that Pilate was surprised to learn that Jesus was already dead, and sent for one of the Roman soldiers just to make sure this was so.

All of these primary sources concurred that Jesus was well, thoroughly, and properly dead. Luke, a careful and meticulous historian, talked to eye witnesses, including many overlooked by the other gospel writers.

So who should we believe about this event that is so critical to our eternal welfare? The folks who were there? Or a poet in another land, more than 500 years later?

________________

[1] Back when folks lived closer to the land, there were many collective nouns for the creatures they shared the land with. A group of larks was an exaltation. A group of crows was a murder. Sheep came in flocks, and cows in herds, and dogs in packs. A popular domestic bird, the goose, was grouped in gaggles.

Luke 22 -- questions of status

2010-05-15T07:45:00.002-04:00

How little we know of ourselves, our place in the order of things. In America, we have things called "job interviews." You show up, make your best case, and hope to be selected. Then sometimes find out afterward that the game was rigged, the chosen candidate already selected before you even stepped in the door. But, forms must be maintained ...

Let's look at two sentences that Luke juxtaposed in his report of the table talk around the Last Supper:

Luk 22:22 İnsanoğlu, belirlenmiş olan yoldan gidiyor. Ama O'na ihanet eden adamın vay haline!"
Luk 22:23 Elçiler, aralarında bunu kimin yapabileceğini tartışmaya başladılar.
Luk 22:24 Ayrıca aralarında hangisinin en üstün sayılacağı konusunda bir çekişme oldu.
Luk 22:25 İsa onlara, "Ulusların kralları, kendi uluslarına egemen kesilirler. İleri gelenleri de kendilerine iyiliksever unvanını yakıştırırlar" dedi.
Luk 22:26 "Ama siz böyle olmayacaksınız. Aranızda en büyük olan, en küçük gibi olsun; yöneten, hizmet eden gibi olsun.

In verse 23, the disciples are arguing about which of them is going to betray Jesus. In the next verse, they are arguing about who among them is going to be most important in the Big Days Ahead.

Then Jesus calls them back to reality. Animals are obsessed with the "pecking order." A family dog will recognize the father as the "alpha dog" -- but will sometimes think it can dispute the youngest child for the position of "omega dog." We of the Royal Household have bigger fish to fry, better things to do with our lives, our energy, our attention. We each have something we can be doing now, some way to serve one another, some way to make life a little bit better for everyone. In a universe hard-wired to do us good, serving a God who has our best at heart, status games are stupid.

At the Last Supper, Jesus was the waiter.

Luke 21 and prison novelists

2010-05-13T08:06:00.002-04:00

Hard times were coming for Israel and its people. This was not welcome news to the disciples of Jesus, who were Jewish, and who yearned to see their nation prosper. Still, as is strangely frequent when the God of the Bible deals with people, there is a word of encouragement in the middle of the bad news.

Luk 21:12 "Ama bütün bu olaylardan önce sizi yakalayıp zulmedecekler. Sizi havralara teslim edecek, zindanlara atacaklar. Benim adımdan ötürü kralların, valilerin önüne çıkarılacaksınız.
Luk 21:13 Bu size tanıklık etme fırsatı olacak.
Luk 21:14 Buna göre kendinizi nasıl savunacağınızı önceden düşünmemekte kararlı olun.
Luk 21:15 Çünkü ben size öyle bir konuşma yeteneği, öyle bir bilgelik vereceğim ki, size karşı çıkanların hiçbiri buna karşı direnemeyecek, bir şey diyemeyecek.

Let's look at a few words:

Bu -- This
size -- to you
tanıklık etmek -- to bear witness to something. to testify. attest. bear evidence. bear testimony. bear witness. to give evidence. to state in evidence. to bear record. to bear testimony.
fırsatı -- opportunity
olacak. -- will become.
direnmek -- resist. stand. stand out against. fight back. refuse. withstand. hold out. hold up. jib. jib at doing. persevere. offer resistance. make a stand for. stand out. stick up to.

"Folks," Jesus was saying, "You'll be excluded from places where you want to be, and confined to places where you would much rather not be. However, this will make you miraculously eloquent."

It's strange how much great literature gets written in prison. Paul, who wrote more than half of the New Testament books, wrote many of his letters from jail. John Bunyan's allegory Pilgrim's Progress begins with a reference to his imprisonment for preaching an unlicensed message:

As I walked through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain place where was a Den, and I laid me down in that place to sleep: and as I slept, I dreamed a dream.

Thomas Malorie's Le Morte d'Arthur was, we believe, written while the author was imprisoned for backing the losing side during England's War of Roses.

My favorite recent example is Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who found faith and a unique voice while spending 13 years in Russian prison camps. One of his many novels one the Nobel Prize for literature. His documentary of the camp system, The Gulag Archipelago, is even more dramatic and vivid than his novels. The power of his words demoralized the ruling class of the Soviet Union. They learned that they were the black hats of history, the bad guys, parasites upon the good and decent folk, rather than heroic midwives of a glorious new age.

My gentle readers, if you are wrestling with a dissertation in the middle of profoundly frustrating circumstances, take heart. God can miraculously make you eloquent and prolific. Something about adversity can catalyze great literary achievement.

Luke 20 -- a paradox

2010-05-11T08:35:00.002-04:00

A paradox lies at the heart of the Christian faith. We adore One who is simultaneously divine and human. Imagine programming a Sim City computer game -- but this one is filled with self-aware Sims.

Now, imagine programming your own self-aware avatar[1] to enter that simulated world, and participate in it. Let's look at today's mind-bending Scripture portion.:

Luk 20:41 İsa onlara şöyle dedi: "Nasıl oluyor da, 'Mesih Davut'un Oğlu'dur' diyorlar?
Luk 20:42,43 Çünkü Davut'un kendisi Mezmurlar Kitabı'nda şöyle diyor: Rab Rabbim'e dedi ki, Ben düşmanlarını Ayaklarının altına serinceye dek Sağımda otur.'
Luk 20:44 Davut O'ndan 'Rab' diye söz ettiğine göre, O nasıl Davut'un Oğlu olur?"

How could the Messiah the people of Israel looked forward to be simultaneously descended from David, and David's pre-existing Lord? Anyone who claims to understand this paradox is lying -- to himself, at least. Those who rejoice in and embrace this paradox have found the key to transcendent, eternal life -- embodied in the Transcendent One who became Immanent -- God with us -- Emmanuel.

_____________

[1] avatar is a Sanskrit word that originally referred to the embodied form of one of their deities. This word is now more popularly used to denote the image one chooses to represent himself in a virtual (computerized) "world."

Luke 19 -- forget the Big Rock Candy Mountain[0]

2010-05-09T07:04:00.003-04:00

Today's extract is rather long, but it says a few very important things about the nature of the Kingdom / Reign of God.

Luk 19:11 Oradakiler bu sözleri dinlerken İsa konuşmasını bir benzetmeyle sürdürdü. Çünkü Yeruşalim'e yaklaşmıştı ve onlar, Tanrı'nın Egemenliği'nin hemen ortaya çıkacağını sanıyorlardı.
Luk 19:12 Bu nedenle İsa şöyle dedi: "Soylu bir adam, kral atanıp dönmek üzere uzak bir ülkeye gitti.
Luk 19:13 Gitmeden önce kölelerinden onunu çağırıp onlara birer mina verdi. 'Ben dönünceye dek bu paraları işletin' dedi.
Luk 19:14 "Ne var ki, ülkesinin halkı adamdan nefret ediyordu. Arkasından temsilciler göndererek, 'Bu adamın üzerimize kral olmasını istemiyoruz' diye haber ilettiler.
Luk 19:15 "Adam kral atanmış olarak geri döndüğünde, parayı vermiş olduğu köleleri çağırtıp ne kazandıklarını öğrenmek istedi.
Luk 19:16 Birincisi geldi, 'Efendimiz' dedi, 'Senin bir minan on mina daha kazandı.'
Luk 19:17 "Efendisi ona, 'Aferin, iyi köle!' dedi. 'En küçük işte güvenilir olduğunu gösterdiğin için on kent üzerinde yetkili olacaksın.'
Luk 19:18 "İkincisi gelip, 'Efendimiz, senin bir minan beş mina daha kazandı' dedi.
Luk 19:19 "Efendisi ona da, 'Sen beş kent üzerinde yetkili olacaksın' dedi.
Luk 19:20 "Başka biri geldi, 'Efendimiz' dedi, 'İşte senin minan! Onu bir mendile sarıp sakladım.
Luk 19:21 Çünkü senden korktum, sert adamsın; kendinden koymadığını alır, ekmediğini biçersin.'
Luk 19:22 "Efendisi ona, 'Ey kötü köle, seni kendi ağzından çıkan sözle yargılayacağım' dedi. 'Kendinden koymadığını alan, ekmediğini biçen sert bir adam olduğumu bildiğine göre,
Luk 19:23 neden paramı faize vermedin? Ben de geldiğimde onu faiziyle geri alırdım.'
Luk 19:24 "Sonra çevrede duranlara, 'Elindeki minayı alın, on minası olana verin' dedi.
Luk 19:25 "Ona, 'Efendimiz' dediler, 'Onun zaten on minası var!'
Luk 19:26 "O da, 'Size şunu söyleyeyim, kimde varsa ona daha çok verilecek. Ama kimde yoksa, kendisinde olan da elinden alınacak' dedi.
Luk 19:27 'Beni kral olarak istemeyen o düşmanlarıma gelince, onları buraya getirin ve gözümün önünde kılıçtan geçirin!'"

They were closing on on Jerusalem, and obviously something big and important was about to happen: Tanrı'nın Egemenliği'nin hemen ortaya çıkacağını sanıyorlardı. The word of interest here is sanmak -- to suppose, to think, to imagine. They supposed/imagined/thought that God's Kingdom was about to materialize. There was a lot of speculation in the air. Was this new Son of David going to step into that military hero's shoes, and lead his people in a glorious war of liberation, a kurtuluş savaş, against the occupying armies of Rome? Or would he do it all by himself, and supernaturally set the world right side up again, with, of course, God's dear chosen people Israel on top?

Well, God's dear chosen people Israel had some unpleasant surprises coming down the pike at them. The light at the end of their tunnel was the headlight of an approaching train. Goaded by venal, corrupt, and flattering leaders, these dear people made their ultimate confession of faith -- "We have no king but Caesar!"[1] -- Ne var ki, ülkesinin halkı adamdan nefret ediyordu. Arkasından temsilciler göndererek, 'Bu adamın üzerimize kral olmasını istemiyoruz' diye haber ilettiler. Nonetheless, his citizens hated him. (apparently, nefret etmek is another one of those transitive verbs that requires its object to take the -dan/-den ending.) After him messengers they sent, 'This man over us king to be we do not want.' ...

The key point Jesus makes in this parable, however, is the connection between what we do today and what we can anticipate later. God's Kingdom is forwarded by boring, routine, small acts of faithful obedience every day. We take what He has entrusted us with, and do a little something with it, consistently, day after day. The exercise of routine faithfulness conditions us, prepares us, equips us, for greater opportunities later.

For example, if a job hunter falls into the trap of dreaming about how great everything is going to be once he gets employed, he sets himself up for failure. If, on the other hand, he finds ways to be productive even while looking for that ideal job, his future looks much brighter. A friend of mine, for example, spent tax season dressed up like the Statue of Liberty.

Bottom line: folks who faithfully work at their assigned tasks are on the fast track to promotion. Folks who "play it safe" and idly wait for the Big Thing to happen are history's losers.

___________

[0] The Big Rock Candy Mountain is an old hobo song about an imaginary state of perfection:

In the Big Rock Candy Mountains there's a land that's fair and bright
Where the handouts grow on bushes and you sleep out every night
Where the boxcars are all empty and the sun shines every day
On the birds and the bees and the cigarette trees
Where the lemonade springs where the bluebird sings
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains

In the Big Rock Candy Mountains all the cops have wooden legs
And the bulldogs all have rubber teeth and the hens lay soft boiled eggs
The farmer's trees are full of fruit and the barns are full of hay
Oh, I'm bound to go where there ain't no snow
Where the rain don't fall and the wind don't blow
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains

[1] To this day, their heirs still imagine that political power is the ultimate saving power -- "if we can but make sure that people like us are the ones in power!"

Luke 18 -- the crooked judge

2010-05-08T07:35:00.002-04:00

So many of the scoundrels in the stories Jesus told talked to themselves. At least, in the parables Luke reported. Consider this little story, that compares God to an unjust judge:

Luk 18:1,2 İsa öğrencilerine, hiç usanmadan, her zaman dua etmeleri gerektiğini belirten şu benzetmeyi anlattı: "Kentin birinde Tanrı'dan korkmayan, insana saygı duymayan bir yargıç vardı.
Luk 18:3 Yine o kentte bir dul kadın vardı. Yargıca sürekli gidip, 'Davacı olduğum kişiden hakkımı al' diyordu.
Luk 18:4,5 "Yargıç bir süre ilgisiz kaldı. Ama sonunda kendi kendine, 'Ben her ne kadar Tanrı'dan korkmaz, insana saygı duymazsam da, bu dul kadın beni rahatsız ettiği için hakkını alacağım. Yoksa sürekli gelip beni canımdan bezdirecek' dedi."
Luk 18:6 Rab şöyle devam etti: "Adaletsiz yargıcın ne söylediğini duydunuz.
Luk 18:7 Tanrı da, gece gündüz kendisine yakaran seçilmişlerinin hakkını almayacak mı? Onları çok bekletecek mi?

Jesus encourages us to be persistent in our prayers. Even a crooked judge will sometimes do the right thing if pestered long enough. And surely God will, as well, if we ask Him. Meanwhile, though, as we continue knocking on heaven's door, our knuckles toughen up, and we acquire the stamina and fortitude we need to live well. Let's look at a brief phrase:

Tanrı'dan korkmayan -- God / he did not fear. Usually, most of the time, the direct object of a verb is indicated with the ı/i/u/ü suffix. A few verbs, especially korkmak (to fear) require the dan/den suffix on the noun they refer to.

Luke 17(b) -- how to surpass 90% of the competition

2010-05-04T07:54:00.002-04:00

An attitude of gratitude will put you ahead of 90% of your competition, I tell my children. This is the story that supports that assertion:

Luk 17:12,13 Köyün birine girerken O'nu cüzamlı on adam karşıladı. Bunlar uzakta durarak, "İsa, Efendimiz, halimize acı!" diye seslendiler.
Luk 17:14 İsa onları görünce, "Gidin, kâhinlere görünün" dedi. Adamlar yolda giderken cüzamdan temizlendiler.
Luk 17:15,16 Onlardan biri, iyileştiğini görünce yüksek sesle Tanrı'yı yücelterek geri döndü, yüzüstü İsa'nın ayaklarına kapanıp O'na teşekkür etti. Bu adam Samiriyeli'ydi.
Luk 17:17 İsa, "İyileşenler on kişi değil miydi?" diye sordu. "Öbür dokuzu nerede?
Luk 17:18 Tanrı'yı yüceltmek için bu yabancıdan başka geri dönen olmadı mı?"
Luk 17:19 Sonra adama, "Ayağa kalk, git" dedi. "İmanın seni kurtardı."

And, the critical three words:

Öbür -- The other
dokuzu -- nine
nerede? -- where are they?

It takes so little effort to thank someone, to encourage someone, that we forget to do so. Yet, the experience is asymmetric. That which costs us so little can mean so much to the person who receives a moment's recognition.

I hope my loyal readers will strive to be among the 10%, the thankful, the happy. Bless those who do you good, and you will be blessed. (then, maybe, we can go on to tackle the more demanding command, to bless those who curse us!)

Luke 17 (a) -- a panaramic view

2010-05-04T07:34:00.002-04:00

Numbered chapters and verses let us zoom in on small chunks of text, and share our insights with one another, using an agreed-upon navigation convention. Yet this coordinate system is not a part of the original text. Sometimes, we need to examine messages that spill over the boundaries of verses and chapters.

As Jesus is going towards an untidy destiny in Jerusalem, the antagonism between him and The Establishment[1] intensifies. The Pharisees nag and natter at Jesus. Jesus pushes back. In Luke 15, they find fault with his followers. He speaks of the value, in God's sight, of the lost lamb, the lost coin, the lost lad. Keep reading, folks.

In Luke 16, Jesus takes the battle to the enemy, comparing the Establishment leaders to a crooked steward who is running out of time, and puts its trust in short-term fixes. The polemic continues. They are like a rich buy with a beggar at the gate, who can expect to see their world in flames, their social order reversed. They lost their bearings because they lost their respect for "Moses and the prophets" (the Word of God). In that terrifying little story, God's spokesman Abraham says that those who disregard God's Word will not be convinced, even if a Lazarus rises from the dead.[2]

Let's keep reading. The Pharisees are an offense to God and man. We all needs to walk more carefully.

Luk 17:1 İsa öğrencilerine şöyle dedi: "İnsanı günaha düşüren tuzakların olması kaçınılmazdır. Ama bu tuzaklara aracılık eden kişinin vay haline!
Luk 17:2 Böyle bir kişi bu küçüklerden birini günaha düşüreceğine, boynuna bir değirmen taşı geçirilip denize atılsa, kendisi için daha iyi olur.
Luk 17:3 Yaşantınıza dikkat edin! Kardeşiniz günah işlerse, onu azarlayın; tövbe ederse, bağışlayın.
Luk 17:4 Günde yedi kez size karşı günah işler ve yedi kez size gelip, 'Tövbe ediyorum' derse, onu bağışlayın."
Luk 17:5 Elçiler Rab'be, "İmanımızı artır!" dediler.

Let's extract one admonition for translation, here.

Yaşantınıza -- about your way of life. Yaşantı (experience. life style. way of living. life.) + -ınız- (your) + -a (direct object)
dikkat -- careful
edin! -- be!

May our God increase our faith, so we can get along with one another, despite living in a world filled with excuses for taking offense!

_________

[1] The Establishment was the contemptuous hippy label assigned to the pillars of the social order, the people in charge. Historically, the "established church" was the sect of Christianity embraced and funded by the political leaders of a nation. Antidisestablishmentarianism is the conviction that such entities are necessary for the health of a society, and much not be disestablished.

[2] Shortly after Jesus gave this parable, a man named Lazarus rose from the dead -- see John 12. The leaders of Israel were not impressed. In fact, they discussed putting Lazarus to death again.

Luke 16 -- dude, the guy's an embezzler !

2010-04-30T07:49:00.004-04:00

This is a parable that has puzzled me, and many other Christians, for quite a while, now. A guy is accused of ripping off his employer. While cleaning out his desk[0], he cooks the books[1] one last time in order to curry favor with other crooks. And the boss commends the rascal for his ingenuity.

And this is the hero of the story? Dude, the guy's an embezzler!

Let's look at the text:

Luk 16:1 İsa öğrencilerine şunları da anlattı: "Zengin bir adamın bir kâhyası vardı. Kâhya, efendisinin mallarını çarçur ediyor diye efendisine ihbar edildi.
Luk 16:2 Efendisi kâhyayı çağırıp ona, 'Nedir bu senin hakkında duyduklarım? Kâhyalığının hesabını ver. Çünkü sen artık kâhyalık edemezsin' dedi.
Luk 16:3 "Kâhya kendi kendine, 'Ne yapacağım ben?' dedi. 'Efendim kâhyalığı elimden alıyor. Toprak kazmaya gücüm yetmez, dilenmekten utanırım.
Luk 16:4 Kâhyalıktan kovulduğum zaman başkaları beni evlerine kabul etsinler diye ne yapacağımı biliyorum.'
Luk 16:5 "Böylelikle efendisine borcu olanların hepsini tek tek yanına çağırdı. Birincisine, 'Efendime ne kadar borcun var?' dedi.
Luk 16:6 "Adam, 'Yüz ölçek zeytinyağı' karşılığını verdi. "Kâhya ona, 'Borç senedini al ve hemen otur, elli ölçek diye yaz' dedi.
Luk 16:7 "Sonra bir başkasına, 'Senin borcun ne kadar?' dedi. "'Yüz ölçek buğday' dedi öteki. "Ona da, 'Borç senedini al, seksen ölçek diye yaz' dedi.
Luk 16:8 "Efendisi, dürüst olmayan kâhyayı, akıllıca davrandığı için övdü. Gerçekten bu çağın insanları, kendilerine benzer kişilerle ilişkilerinde, ışıkta yürüyenlerden daha akıllı oluyorlar.
Luk 16:9 Size şunu söyleyeyim, dünyanın aldatıcı servetini kendinize dost edinmek için kullanın ki, bu servet yok olunca sizi sonsuza dek kalacak konutlara Kabul etsinler."
Luk 16:10 "En küçük işte güvenilir olan kişi, büyük işte de güvenilir olur. En küçük işte dürüst olmayan kişi, büyük işte de dürüst olmaz.
Luk 16:11 Dünyanın aldatıcı serveti konusunda güvenilir değilseniz, gerçek serveti size kim emanet eder?
Luk 16:12 Başkasının malı konusunda güvenilir değilseniz, kendi malınız olmak üzere size kim bir şey verir?
Luk 16:13 "Hiçbir uşak iki efendiye kulluk edemez. Ya birinden nefret edip öbürünü sever, ya da birine bağlanıp öbürünü hor görür. Siz hem Tanrı'ya, hem paraya kulluk edemezsiniz."
Luk 16:14 Parayı seven Ferisiler bütün bu sözleri duyunca İsa'yla alay etmeye başladılar.

I got to thinking the last time I read this story -- viewed in isolation, it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. Should we be ripping off our employers, in order to find better opportunities elsewhere? Should we assume that there is no security in any job, and start looking for another job a month after landing one? Should we regard this life with contempt, and focus solely on feathering our nest in the next life?

Ah, but context. A TEXT without a CONtext is a PREtext. In the last chapter, we saw Jesus reproving the religious leaders of his day for their lack of compassion. They enjoyed the privileges of their positions, but no longer served as compassionate shepherds of their people. [2]

Perhaps, Jesus is saying, the rulers of Israel were caught with their hands in the cookie jar. They were defrauding God. Rather than getting right with God, they embarked upon a strategy of cutting short-term deals with others who were on the wrong side of the ledger with God. But how long will this purchased charity last? Think about it. How long would you be willing to invite a crook, a guy who had betrayed his last employer, into your house?

When Israel's leaders sucked up to Rome, they were able to enjoy their subsidized luxury for a few more decades -- but when the bills came due, they did so with interest.

___________

[0] This humiliating ritual is often performed under the gaze of corporate security personnel. Folks who have just lost their jobs have been known to strike back in damaging ways. There's a whole tradition and ritual for "outplacing" workers. The former president of a major global corporation was called "Neutron Jack." After he toured a company plant, the facilities would still be there, but many of the people would be gone.

[1] to "cook the books" means to illegally adjust a firm's accounting information, as to make it look either more profitable (to possible buyers) or less profitable (to the tax man) than is really the case. It's one of those rhyming cliches that season the English language so charmingly!

[2] This complaint lodged against the self-serving rulers is heard thousands of years before the time of our Lord. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the citizens lay out their complaints against the king's behavior and add rhetorically, "Yet this is the shepherd of the city, wise, comely, and resolute."

Luke 15 -- bad company

2010-04-28T08:54:00.003-04:00

Once again, reading a familiar text in a new language can yield some delightful fresh impressions. For example, look at the first two verses of Luke 15:

Luk 15:1 Bütün vergi görevlileriyle günahkârlar İsa'yı dinlemek için O'na akın ediyordu.
Luk 15:2 Ferisiler'le din bilginleri ise, "Bu adam günahkârları kabul ediyor, onlarla birlikte yemek yiyor" diye söyleniyorlardı.

All the tax collectors and (other) sinners, Jesus to hear in order to, Him rushed upon. Let's look at the dictionary definition of the highlighted word:

akın	raid. foray. rush. afflux. exodus. flow. incursion. inflow. influent. influx. inroad. inrush. invasion. irruption. razzia. spate.
akın	exodus. flow. foray. incursion. influx. inroads. invasion. raid. tide. rush. inroad.
akın	raid. assault. storm. rush. run. incursion. influx. inroad. invasion.

OK, so a guy is known by the company he keeps. After all, as the old English cliche asserts, "Birds of a feather, flock together." So, the upright, uptight, upstanding members of the community justifiably wonder, "Why do those kind of people want to hang around with this so-called preacher?"

You know, that's a good question. Jesus is getting mobbed. People are crowding around him, wanting to get close to him, wanting to soak up something about him. A lot of preachers would love to have that kind of response, and resort to all kinds of (sometimes) underhanded and manipulative techniques to draw a crowd. Maybe these "teachers of the law" are suffering professional jealousy. Jesus doesn't even seem to be trying very hard -- yet his charisma, his magnetic personality, summons up an audience wherever he goes.

So, a case of "sour grapes" sets in. A lot of these folks are the riffraff, the outcasts, the kind of people who would never darken the door of the local synagogue. "If that's the kind of crowd you draw, you're welcome to them."

Jesus, however, sees the value even in these lost and lowest. The remainder of the chapter uses the stories of the lost coin, the lost sheep, and the lost son to describe God's care for all of His own -- even those we are too inclined to write off[1] as unsalvageable.

______________

[1] To "write off" something is a term from the accounting profession. A loan or some other asset is considered to be irretrievably gone. So you subtract its value from the balance sheet, and cease worrying about it. This term also demonstrates the English habit of merging two words to create a totally new verbal unit. One example Mario Pei gave is "call girl."

Luke 14 -- table manners

2010-04-26T07:22:00.003-04:00

Eating together is the theme that dominates this chapter. For example, you show up at a party, and there are no names at the table settings. Where should you sit? At the head table? Near it? How near? Here's what Jesus had to say:

Luk 14:7-9 Yemeğe çağrılanların başköşeleri seçtiğini farkeden İsa, onlara şu benzetmeyi anlattı: "Biri seni düğüne çağırdığı zaman başköşeye kurulma. Belki senden daha saygın birini de çağırmıştır. İkinizi de çağıran gelip, 'Yerini bu adama ver' diyebilir. O zaman utançla kalkıp en arkaya geçersin.
Luk 14:10 Bir yere çağrıldığın zaman git, en arkada otur. Öyle ki, seni çağıran gelince, 'Arkadaşım, daha öne buyurmaz mısın?' desin. O zaman seninle birlikte sofrada oturan herkesin önünde onurlandırılmış olursun.
Luk 14:11 Kendini yücelten herkes alçaltılacak, kendini alçaltan yüceltilecektir."

A few words:

Belki -- lest, perhaps
senden -- than you
daha -- more
saygın -- honor
birini -- one owning
de -- but
çağırmıştır -- has, they say, been invited. (the -mış- syllable is the dubatative or narrative verb indicator, used when telling stories, or reporting something one hasn't seen personally.)

Bottom line: God's people are subjects of the Great King, who makes the whole universe line up and do tricks for their ultimate benefit. When God is making the whole universe conspire to do us good, then demanding our due is unnecessary. Anxious, restless, self-assertion is silly.

Luke 13 -- replacement theology -- fig and mustard

2010-04-24T09:08:00.002-04:00

Some folks tell Jesus about bad things that happened. The vile, violent, Roman governor (who eventually ordered the crucifixion of Jesus) had massacred a batch of pilgrims to Jerusalem. So were the victims of the tantrum bad people, getting what they deserved? Not at all, Jesus said. All of us deserve the worst. "Every day above ground is a bonus," far more than we could ever merit. On the other hand, God's apparent favor can ratchet up the danger of our position. Consider this favored tree:

Luk 13:6 İsa şu benzetmeyi anlattı: "Adamın birinin bağında dikili bir incir ağacı vardı. Adam gelip ağaçta meyve aradı, ama bulamadı.
Luk 13:7 Bağcıya, 'Bak' dedi, 'Ben üç yıldır gelip bu incir ağacında meyve arıyorum, bulamıyorum. Onu kes. Toprağın besinini neden boş yere tüketsin?'
Luk 13:8 "Bağcı, 'Efendim' diye karşılık verdi, 'Ağacı bir yıl daha bırak, bu arada ben çevresini kazıp gübreleyeyim.
Luk 13:9 Gelecek yıl meyve verirse, ne iyi; vermezse, onu kesersin.'"

Let's look at a critical sentence: Adam gelip ağaçta meyve aradı, ama bulamadı.

Adam -- A man
gelip -- came (the -ip ending is the "me, too" suffix. When you have several verbs in a sentence, just trick out one of them with the full regalia of voice, number, person, capability, credibility, etc. suffixes. For the remaining verbs, the -ip suffix will suffice.)
ağaçta -- to the tree
meyve -- fruit
aradı-- he sought
ama -- but
bulamadı -- he did not find.

To whom much is given, much will be required. A vineyard is a capital-intensive project. In those days and in that place, you needed a stone wall around it, to keep out hungry animals. A watchtower, to guard against predatory humans. A winepress, to process the grapes as soon as they were ripe. Now, Mediterranean fig trees don't need a lot of gentle handling. In fact, it's normal to put chunks of concrete and rocks on the ground around the roots, to keep your fig tree from getting too comfortable. This tree was spoiled rotten, in a favored, costly, and protected environment. This tree, of course, represented Israel. A nation on borrowed time, unaware that flaming fingers were already scribing their Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin on the wall of history.

But, there is a "rest of the story."

Luk 13:18 Sonra İsa şunları söyledi: "Tanrı'nın Egemenliği neye benzer, onu neye benzeteyim?
Luk 13:19 Tanrı'nın Egemenliği, bir adamın bahçesine ektiği hardal tanesine benzer. Tane gelişip ağaç olur, kuşlar dallarında barınır."

While Israel struts and preens itself in the glare of the footlights, God launches another project, one with a future. All nations will be invited to know and serve the King, while national Israel will become an envious bystander to the party that's going on without them.

Luke 12 -- strange arithmatic

2010-04-21T09:30:00.003-04:00

Jesus warns his disciples that adversity is in the picture. They can expect to become the targets of ire from high places. Religious and political leaders will take a personal, unfriendly, interest in them. However, they are not to worry. After all, God's arithmetic adds up in their favor:

Luk 12:6 Beş serçe iki meteliğe satılmıyor mu? Ama bunlardan bir teki bile Tanrı katında unutulmuş değildir.
Luk 12:7 Nitekim başınızdaki bütün saçlar bile sayılıdır. Korkmayın, siz birçok serçeden daha değerlisiniz.

Are not five sparrows sold for two tiny coins? Yet God does not forget when one of them falls to the ground. A few Turkish words could use unpacking here:

başınızdaki -- those that are on your head
bütün -- all
saçlar -- hairs
bile -- thus
sayılıdır -- are numbered. Taken into account. The Greek verb used here, ἠρίθμηνται, is the source of the English word arithmetic.

We can face life with boldness, since the One we serve already has all the bases covered. All the angles work out.

I like the way novelist Mark Halprin describes this reality:

Luke 11 -- focus, focus, focus!

2010-04-17T08:24:00.003-04:00

Another thought on the eye, as a parable for the focus of our attention:

Luk 11:34 Bedenin ışığı gözdür. Gözün sağlamsa, bütün bedenin de aydınlık olur. Gözün bozuksa, bedenin de karanlık olur.
Luk 11:35 Öyleyse dikkat et, sendeki 'ışık' karanlık olmasın.
Luk 11:36 Eğer bütün bedenin aydınlık olur ve hiçbir yanı karanlık kalmazsa, kandilin seni ışınlarıyla aydınlattığı zamanki gibi, bedenin tümden aydınlık olur."

When the eye is healthy, the whole body is enlightened. If the eye is bozuk, however -- well, I'll let the first two definitions from hazar.com speak for me:

bozuk	broken. broken down. out-of-action. damaged. disordered. distorted. wrong. imperfect. in bad order. upset. disappointed. bad. bum. dead. deranged. dirty. doric. embroiled. faulty. flyblown. foul. on the fritz. gone. hard-set. haywire. heavy. hipshot.
bozuk	bad. broken. bumpy. corrupt. cranky. dead. dud. foul. impassable. off. rotten. upset. wrong. spoilt. ruined. out of order. out of action. on the blink. on the bum. inactive. faulty. disordered. disarranged. broken. bad. dirty. rotten. tainted. bumpy. depraved. not virgin.

We become like what we behold. Let's look at one sentence a little more carefully:
Öyleyse dikkat et, sendeki 'ışık' karanlık olmasın.

Öyleyse -- Therefore
dikkat -- careful
et -- be (imperative form of the verb "to be")
sendeki -- lest
'ışık' -- (your so-called) light
karanlık -- darkness
olmasın -- might be.

If your life isn't working, if your life is characterized by ugliness and disorder, maybe a goal-evaluation is in order.

Luke 11 -- why pray?

2010-04-15T07:15:00.004-04:00

The fierce nuns who taught my first three grades made made sure we knew about the wicked atheist communists. One story comes to mind some 50 years later. It's a classroom. The children have a new teacher. She asks if the children believe in God. Most do. She tells them to close their eyes, put their heads on their desks, and pray for candy. Nothing happens. She tells them to close their eyes, put their heads on their desks, and ask Karl Marx for candy. This time, they get results.

Yet Jesus tells us that we live in a universe with invisible resources all around us, and a loving God who is waiting to hear from us:

Luk 11:5-7 Sonra söyle dedi: "Sizlerden birinin bir arkadasi olur da gece yarisi ona gidip, 'Arkadas, bana üç ekmek ödünç ver. Bir arkadasim yoldan geldi, önüne koyacak bir seyim yok' derse, öbürü içerden, 'Beni rahatsiz etme! Kapi kilitli, çocuklarim da yanimda yatiyor. Kalkip sana bir sey veremem' der mi hiç?
Luk 11:8 Size sunu söyleyeyim, arkadaslik geregi kalkip ona istedigini vermese bile, adamin yüzsüzlügünden ötürü kalkar, ihtiyaci neyse ona verir.
Luk 11:9 "Ben size sunu söyleyeyim: Dileyin, size verilecek; arayin, bulacaksiniz; kapiyi çalin, size açilacaktir.
Luk 11:10 Çünkü her dileyen alir, arayan bulur, kapi çalana açilir.
Luk 11:11 "Aranizda hangi baba, ekmek isteyen ogluna tas verir? Ya da balik isterse balik yerine yilan verir?
Luk 11:12 Ya da yumurta isterse ona akrep verir?
Luk 11:13 Sizler kötü yürekli oldugunuz halde çocuklariniza güzel armaganlar vermeyi biliyorsaniz, gökteki Baba'nin, kendisinden dileyenlere Kutsal Ruh'u verecegi çok daha kesin degil mi?"

Çünkü her dileyen alir, arayan bulur, kapi çalana açilir : Because everyone who asks receives, who seeks will find, who knocks on the door will see it open.

The proper response to persistent problems -- such as, finding a job in a wounded economy -- is not fatalistic resignation, but active, aggressive, persistent action. Knock and keep on knocking. Seek and keep on seeking. Ask and keep on asking. In the Greek, these verbs are in the present continuous tense, and imply ongoing activity.

Well, a part-time low-paying seasonal job has just ended, so I need to take my own advice!

Luke 10 -- greeting the peace lover

2010-04-13T07:39:00.002-04:00

When Jesus sent out the 70 disciples in this chapter, he gave them the same basic instructions for finding room and board: look for a "man of peace" in the visited community.

Luk 10:5 Hangi eve girerseniz, önce, 'Bu eve esenlik olsun!' deyin.
Luk 10:6 Orada esenliksever biri varsa, dilediğiniz esenlik onun üzerinde kalacak; yoksa, size dönecektir.

It's nice to encounter sentences filled with short, familiar words. Today, let's unpack just one word, esenliksever. It's one of those marvelous compound words that Turkish assembles so nicely. It combines the adjective esen (peaceful) with the syllable used to transform an adjective into a noun ( -lik- ) and sever (lover).

How do you know when you've found the right one? By invoking peace upon his house, when you enter it. If you don't "connect," you know it's time to move on.

One of the most frustrating contracts I ever worked on began with the understanding that it would lead to a full-time job. Well past the time when this was supposed to happen, a honcho from out-of-state let slip the fact that this desired consummation would never come to pass. I almost threw up in the parking lot as I left the job site at the end of the day. In retrospect, I'd never "connected" with my nominal manager. He gave me a few tasks, signed my time sheets, and that was it. Was this an issue on my side? Or on his? Probably a little bit of both. Apparently, I'd neglected something pretty important when I focused on the task at hand, and failed to properly integrate / ingratiate myself in the local company culture. I had neglected the key relationship.

Luke 9 -- a dead man shows up again

2010-04-12T01:54:00.002-04:00

I begin to wonder[1] if Luke was a fan of John the Baptist. We know from chapter 19 of his second book, Acts of the Apostles, that followers of John the Baptist were found in Efese several decades after Jesus rose from the dead. Luke provides a detailed account of the supernatural birth of this forerunner to The Main Event. And, in this chapter, once again people are talking about John the Baptist:

Luk 9:7,8 Bölgenin kralı Hirodes bütün bu olanları duyunca şaşkına döndü. Çünkü bazıları Yahya'nın ölümden dirildiğini, bazıları İlyas'ın göründüğünü, başkaları ise eski peygamberlerden birinin dirildiğini söylüyordu.
Luk 9:9 Hirodes, "Yahya'nın başını ben kestirdim. Şimdi hakkında böyle haberler duyduğum bu adam kim?" diyor ve İsa'yı görmenin bir yolunu arıyordu.
...
Luk 9:18 Bir gün İsa tek başına dua ediyordu, öğrencileri de yanındaydı. İsa onlara, "Halk benim kim olduğumu söylüyor?" diye sordu.
Luk 9:19 Şöyle yanıtladılar: "Vaftizci Yahya diyorlar. Ama kimi İlyas, kimi de eski peygamberlerden biri dirilmiş, diyor."

So even the disciples of Jesus, most of whom knew both him and John, had heard those rumors. The man "left a huge carbon footprint!"

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[1] For my Turkish friends, get a native English speaker to help you with the wonder / wander minimal pair. Actually, most of us rely entirely on context to distinguish the two! Well, you guys have kar / ka^r. A snowplow driver makes a profit out of snow ...

Luke 8 -- the best revenge ...

2010-04-10T18:38:00.002-04:00

is living well.

In Ray Bradbury's memorable dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451, the protagonist suddenly starts talking, and acting, far more thoughtfully, far more wisely, than hitherto. He has become a reader. And, he has a mentor. Montag now wears a "hearing aid," which permits this mentor to listen in on his conversations, and advise him on how to comport himself.

Once again, in this chapter, Jesus is teaching and acting. His Word, he says, has results when the right kind of people hear it:

Luk 8:15 İyi toprağa düşenler ise, sözü işitince onu iyi ve sağlam bir yürekte saklayanlardır. Bunlar sabırla dayanarak ürün verirler."
Luk 8:16 "Hiç kimse kandil yakıp bunu bir kapla örtmez, ya da yatağın altına koymaz. Tersine, içeri girenler ışığı görsünler diye onu kandilliğe koyar.
Luk 8:17 Çünkü açığa çıkarılmayacak gizli hiçbir şey yok; bilinmeyecek, aydınlığa çıkmayacak saklı hiçbir şey yoktur.
Luk 8:18 Bunun için, nasıl dinlediğinize dikkat edin. Kimde varsa, ona daha çok verilecek. Ama kimde yoksa, kendisinde var sandığı bile elinden alınacak."

Let's look at the bottom line:

Bunun için -- for this reason, therefore
nasıl dinlediğinize -- how you hear
dikkat edin -- careful be.
Kimde varsa -- because he who has
ona daha çok verilecek. -- to him more abundance will be given.

Many people listened to Jesus teach. Few, however, heard what he had to say, and took His commands seriously enough to act upon them. Not even his mother and brothers seemed to get the point at this point, since he publicly disowned them in the next few verses.