very good website

zenhabits.net

check it out – its fantastic!

Done & Headed to Iowa

Well, my classes, but one (Hebrew Exegesis on the Psalms) are done.  I finished my communication and preaching practicum today!  I also have to finish a hospital chaplaincy by the end of July.  

This evening I’m headed back to Boone, IA to search for a house.  My parents are coming with, too.  I’m looking at 4 or 5 houses and hope to find one soon to put an offer in within a week.  We’re moving in three weeks, so we need something soon!  Pray for the trip.  

Best,
JB

The shape of the world

Student hopes to go from homeless to Harvard (link)

Boone, IA

Tami and I spent this past weekend in Boone, IA to candidate for a pastoral position at the First Baptist Church of Boone. After I preached the congregation voted and unanimously asked me to be their pastor. With a couple minutes to discuss it Tami and I agreed with their vote and welcomed the invitation. So, on August 4th I’ll start as their pastor.

Ordination Paper: Final Section

The Church

(a) Its nature and mission

The church is the community (ekklesia) of followers of Jesus who live in reconciled fellowship with God and each other. The church is the community that remembers, retells, and embodies the salvation story.
The primary mission of the church is to worship the Triune God (Rev. 4:11). The church exists primarily to encounter and live in communion with God. The encounter is most fully actualized through communal worship. The church assembles to proclaim, remember, embody, and give thanks for God and God’s work (Rom. 16:27; Rev. 4:11).
The secondary mission of the church follows the missio dei, or the mission of God. God’s mission encounters the world through Jesus Christ to make right what is wrong. God is reconciling the world back to Godself (2 Cor. 5:19). Therefore, because we participate in God’s communal life we participate in mission. The church is ontologically missional. The church reaches out to care for the world, promote justice, witness to Christ, and reveal an alternative community. The church is called out to reach out.

(b) The significance of the ordinances

The church has two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which remembers, retells, and enacts the death and resurrection of Jesus. Baptism is the rite of initiation into the community through public profession of faith and immersion in water. The burden of baptism is upon the church, because baptism was given by Jesus to the church to administer (Mt. 3:13, 28:19). The church is the principle actor to ensure that the baptismal candidate confesses Jesus and is serious about his/her belief. The candidate is to be at such an age that he/she can willfully confess Jesus as Lord. The candidate is then to be immersed in water to convey the rich symbolism of death and resurrection.
The Lord’s Supper is the other ordinance instituted by Jesus (Mk. 14:22). It is a corporate meal that nurtures faith, retells the story of Jesus’ death, and points to the future resurrection hope. It also demonstrates God’s providential care for God’s people.
The Lord’s Supper was originally a full meal (agape meal/love feast) (1 Cor. 12), and it would benefit the contemporary church to regain this practice. It would build community, strengthen one’s faith, and provide physical and spiritual sustenance.
Any confessing Christian can administer the ordinances, although special privilege should be given to the local church community for the sake of order.

(c) The meaning of the ministry

Ministry is the task of all believers. It is not reserved for a certain group or person, but is the duty of all who profess faith in Jesus. Jesus commissioned his followers to “make disciples” (Mt. 28:19) and to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt. 22:39). The task of ministry is to reach out genuine love to serve the world and witness to Jesus. Ministry should concern itself with “reaching out to the least of these” (Mt. 25:40) and “loving one another” (Jn. 13:34-35).
The task of the ordained, local church minister is to empower the local congregation to fulfill this mission. The minister is the servant of the congregation.
Authenticity is the mark of any minister (ordained or otherwise). Ministry should naturally flow from one who is authentic in his/her own walk.

(d) Apologetic for local church membership

Church membership consists of regenerate baptized Christians. This type of membership is most evident in the New Testament witness of Acts 2:41. There we see that those who repented and were baptized were “added to their [the church’s] number.” Those “added” to a local church’s “number” are those who repent, are baptized, and confess that Jesus is Lord. Membership into a local church community is a serious matter that should not be taken lightly.

(e) The church & society

The church does not exist in a vacuum, it exits in the world (society). Therefore, the church must respond to the world. Some contend that Christian’s must retreat from the world for fear of being badly influenced (e.g. the Amish), while others see little distinction between the church and culture (e.g. German Christian leaders during the Third Reich). Jesus teaches that neither extreme is good (Mt. 15:11; Lk. 12:30; Jn. 15:19). In line with Jesus Paul says that the church is to be “in the world, but not of the world” (Rom. 12:2). The church must exist somehow in the world. But how?
The church is an alternative and pioneering community that embodies the kingdom message that witnesses to the world of new life in Christ. As John Howard Yoder said, “Not only are there lessons for the outside world from the inner life of the Christian church as a society; a comparable creative impulse should radiate from the church’s service to the larger community. The most obvious examples would be the institutions of the school and the hospital, both of which began in Christian history as services rendered by the church … to the entire society. The witness of the church to the state much be consistent with her own behavior…” (Christian Witness to the State, 19-21). The church is to embody its own message, because it is itself a polis. The church does not coerce society to faith in Jesus, nor it does not exist to establish a theocracy or to make the gospel credible to the world, although it should translate its message, but it is itself the alternative community (society) whose witness should work for the common good. The church witnesses to what is (or should be!).
(Matt. 16:18; Acts 1:18; John 6; Eph. 1:22-23; 5:23-27; 1 Thess. 2:14)

Eschatology

History is the canvas on which God paints the salvation narrative. However, history, as we know it, will end and the narrative will reach fulfillment and God’s people and God shall live in full community.
I believe that Christ will return, this current earth will pass away, the new Jerusalem will descend from heaven (Rev. 21:1-3), God’s people will be raised from the dead, and they and God will live in community for all eternity. I believe “The time is near” (Rev. 22:10), but make no prediction from when this happens. The church is to be ready for Christ’s return at any moment.
Christ’s bodily resurrection was the first fruit of our resurrection. The bodily resurrection is the Christian’s hope for life after death. Our current bodies will be changed into a “spiritual body” (1 Cor. 15:44).
God’s judgment already rests upon those who have rebelled against God (2 Peter 2:4), but there will be a final judgment (Mt. 25:41) in which the church will participate (1 Cor. 6:3). The judgment will vindicate God’s authority and the believer’s faith.
Those who confess Jesus is Lord and live an obedient life will live in the new creation where God is the ruler de facto, and all who dwell there will live in the fullness of a reconciled community among each other and God.

Ordination Paper: Section 4 (and more)

4. Confessional Statement

Revelation & The Triune God
I confess one God, as testified to in Holy Scripture, eternally existing as three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Spirit. The three hypostaseis, or independent realities, share the same will, nature, and ousia, or one essence, yet each possess special properties and have unique activities. God is one in being, power, and essence, but performs different economical functions within the Godhead. There is diversity in the unity. The Trinity is primarily a unified community within and among Godself.

The members of the Trinity are dependent on each other. Each needs the other to perform their specific function. As Pannenberg says, “In the handing over of lordship from the Father to the Son, and its handing back from the Son to the Father, we see a mutuality in their relationship … By handing over lordship to the Son the Father makes his kingship dependent on whether the Son glorifies him and fulfils his lordship by fulfilling his mission.” And together with the Father the Spirit raises the Son. Again, I agree with Pannenberg, “By glorifying the Son, the Spirit also glorifies the Father and their indissoluble fellowship.”

God is known by what God revels of Godself. Therefore, as Tertullian says, “God never will be hidden, never will be wanting; always will be understood, always be heard, always be seen, in such manner as he wishes.” The triune God reveals Godself to the world as God so chooses. God cannot be known outside of God’s self-revelation.

I find the Triune God most clearly revealed in the New Testament in Luke 3:21-22. An intrinsically Trinitarian structure is found with the coming of Jesus to inaugurate the Kingdom of God in the power of the Spirit.

God freely created the world, of things seen and unseen, motivated only by God’s love (Eph. 1:5). All of God’s actions derive from God’s love, because love is God’s fundamental essence.

I confess God is fully above and yet working within the world. As John Calvin says, “God’s eye is not only over history, but God’s hand is on history.” God is completely “other” from the world, but has chosen to interact and sustain the world through history.

The Triune God is what sets Christianity apart from any other religion, and it identifies the specific God for whom Christian’s speak.
(Genesis 1:1, 26; Matthew 3:16-17; John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Galatians 4:6-7; Hebrews 9:14; 11:3; 1 John 2:22-23)

God – Father
I believe God the Father is the end of all things. All things have come into existence because of the Father and all things were created to glorify the Father (1 Cor. 8:6). The Father is the primary creator of the cosmos and everything in it. I confess the Father created the world by unknown means and method yet I trust the Father upholds the world through the consummation of history.

The Father is most clearly identified in the Gospel of John. The Father is the one who sent Jesus (Jn. 5:30), who “has given all things into his hand” (Jn. 3:35, 13:3), and who ultimately receives glory and honor (Jn. 4:23, 15:8). In other New Testament texts the Father is the one to be addressed in prayer and praise (Mt. 6:9), and the Father is the source of and recipient of all glory (Rev. 4:8-11).

The Son Jesus Christ
I confess Jesus Christ is Lord. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He is the incarnate Son of God, Emmanuel, God with us. He is the incarnate Logos of God (Jn. 1:1-14).

I confess he is fully God and fully human sharing the same mission with the Father and the Spirit. In him is the fullest revelation of God, and he is the “image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15). He is also the archetypical human (Rom. 5:12). Everything was created by him, for him, and exists through him (1 Cor. 8:6, Eph. 1:4-5; Col. 1:16). He shares a unity with the Father (Jn. 10:30; 1 Cor. 8:6; Col. 1: 15-18).

Jesus lived a blameless life (sinless) due to his unyielding faithfulness to God the Father (Heb. 4:15, 9:14; 1 John 3:5).

Jesus’ teachings are central to the Gospel message. He provides an ethic for what characterizes one’s life in the Kingdom of God (Mt. 5-7), and he taught that sacrificial living, communal engagement, and obedience to God are central to the disciple’s life.

Jesus Christ heralded and inaugurated the Kingdom of God (Mt. 3:2, 4:14; Mk. 1:15), through his life, death, and resurrection, therefore, fulfilling the Father’s mission.

Jesus’ death and resurrection is the “power of God unto salvation” (Rom. 1:16). It is the act by which God ransomed humanity from the grips of death and the devil thereby reconciling humanity to Godself (Col. 1:19-20; 1 Tim. 2:6), Jesus atoned for the sins of creation by taking humanity’s place and bearing all iniquities (Rom. 3:25; Eph. 1:7; Eph. 5:2; Heb. 2:17), and Jesus gave an example of complete faithfulness to God (1 Pet. 2:21-23). His death was for us (Gal. 1:4) once and for all (1 Pet. 3:18).

I confess Jesus Christ was bodily raised from the dead, in a glorified body, and ascended to the right hand of God the Father where he now reigns as High Priest and advocates on behalf of the church (Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25; 1 John 2:1). Jesus is the Lord of the world and head of the church (Col. 1:18).
(Zech. 14:4-11; Matt. 1:1-3, 20-23; 3:16-17; 28:6-76; Luke 1:35; John 1:1; 14:3; Rom. 3:24-25; 8:34; Heb. 4:15; 7:25; 9:24; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 John 2:13)

The Holy Spirit

I believe in the Holy Spirit. It is the life giving Spirit of God found in the Old Testament idea of ruach, or “wind.” It is the life breath by which God created the world (Gen. 1-2), gave life to creatures (Gen. 2:7), and now sustains life (Ps. 139:7). Death occurs when the Spirit departs (Gen. 6:3). The Holy Spirit is the love between the Father and the Son. The Spirit is sent by the Father to empower and comfort the people of God after the ascension (John 14:26).

In the New Testament the Spirit guides Jesus’ mission (e.g. Mt. 4:1), anoints individuals for specific missions (Lk. 1:35, 4:18-19), and empowers the church’s witness to Jesus’ resurrection (Acts 2:1-4). The Spirit is also the agent who forms the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13). As Stanley Grenz says, “The Spirit teaches, leads, and empowers the church on the Lord’s behalf.”

The Holy Spirit is the supernatural agent of regeneration in the conversion process (Jn. 3:5-8) by calling believers to account for their sin (Jn. 16:8) and equipping them specific ministries (Acts 6:5). The Spirit of God also sustains and edifies the believer to continue in their witness (Acts 4:31).

The Spirit of God also illumines the Holy Scriptures (1 Cor. 2:12-13). The Spirit inspired the writers of the text to record what God so desired either through divine dictation (Ex. 19:3-6) or through experience, witness, and tradition (Luke 1:1-4). The Spirit now illuminates those texts for the reader in order that he/she may hear from God.

The Spirit completes the divine task begun by the Father and fulfilled in the Son. The Spirit sees to it that the eschatological hope found in Christ is carried out through the consummation of history.
(John 14:16-17; 1 Cor. 12:12-14; Eph. 1:13-14; 4:7-13; Gal. 5:16; Rom. 5:5)

The Bible & Biblical Authority

I believe the Bible (its 66 canonical books) is the (common) book for the church. It is the basis for the church’s confession and witness.  The Bible derives authority from the Gospel message itself. As Luther says it is, “the manger in which the Word of God is laid.” It testifies to the grand revelatory acts of God in history, and it is itself revelatory.

The Old Testament declares the beginning of the world and the story of God’s covenant relationship to Israel. The New Testament is the story of God’s redemptive work to all creation in the person of Jesus Christ. It also tells the early history and formation of the church.

The Bible is authoritative in matters regarding God’s revelation (i.e. it testifies accurately to what God has let be known of Godself), church life, confession, and practice.

Inspired people(s) wrote the texts under the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit. They may or may not have considered their writing “sacred Scripture” as it was penned. Regardless, the Spirit takes up the text and illumines it for us today. It speaks to us. It is the open book from which the living Jesus walks.

I accept as true what the Bible says of God and humanity. My faith comes from what I hear testified to in Scripture. (Romans 10:17)
(2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:21)

Humanity & Sin
God created all things, including humanity. Regardless of how humanity came into existence (theistic evolution or spontaneous creation) it was created and is sustained by God.
Of all things created human beings are the pinnacle of creation (Gen. 1-2) and were created in the “image of God” (Gen. 1:27). The goal for humanity is to live in reconciled community among themselves and between God, because humans are created in God’s image which is community (Acts 17:28).
Although humans were created “good” they disobeyed and fell out of full communion with God and each other. Their disobedient act is called sin. Sin is action taken by an individual, community, or social structure that alienates and enslaves. Sin permeates the whole person, and the entire human race (Rom. 1:21).
I believe sin originated with the first humans – Adam and Eve. Their disobedient act placed them outside complete communion with God and brought shame upon them (Gen. 2:25, 3:14-15). Their freedom to choose was not evil in and of itself, but their disobedient act was. Their sin caused death to permeate the world and put subsequent generations under the sting of death. Adam and Eve’s sin was both a historical action that held symbolic significance for all humanity. Therefore, all trapped in the realm of sin.
Although Adam and Eve’s act initiated original sin but it did not cause original guilt, or the sentence of condemnation. If so, then procreation is an act of creating condemned offspring. Rather, guilt is caused by individuals’ actions not their biological disposition (Rom. 5:12-21).
Even though humans are marred by sin, they still bear the image of God. They are still creative, intelligent, and even wise. Yet the condition in which humans find themselves after the fall is not the condition God intended for them. Therefore, God created a means to save them.
(Gen. 1:27; Psalm 51:5; Rom. 1:21-23; 3:23; 5:12-21)

Salvation
Salvation is a gift from God (Philippians 2:11). In God’s grace God freely gave of Godself to reconcile the world back to Godself. It is God who first loved us (1 John 4).
Salvation (reconciliation with God) is possible only through the reconciling work of Jesus Christ actualized in an individual’s life by the prompting of the Holy Spirit at the moment or through the process of conversion. Conversion is a transforming encounter with the Triune God that redirects one from a life of sin – disobedience toward God – to obedience.
Conversion begins with an acknowledgment of one’s sin which leads to repenting before God (Acts 2:38). The individual then comes to faith in the Jesus Christ (Jn. 3:5-6; Rom. 10:9). Faith is a trusting obedience to follow God’s ways that are not always clear. Faith is more than intellectual assent, it is embodying the Gospel message.
I believe the Holy Spirit undergirds the salvation process by making a person aware of his/her sin (Jn. 16:8), prompting him/her to repent, and guiding the convert to Scripture for the renewal of his/her mind (Rom. 12:1).
Conversion is more than a one-time event, it is a life-long process in which one grows in holiness, Christlikeness, and maturity.

Conversion is authenticated when the individual incorporates into a confessional community (Rom. 10:14-15). The convert should actively participate in the church’s missional life as a manifestation of his/her conversion (Philippians 2:12).
(Rom. 3:24-26; 5:9; Eph. 2:8-9; 1 Peter 1:18-21)

Ordination Paper: Section 3

3. ABC/USA Statement & Baptist Distinctive

The ABC is a diverse, Christ-centered, missional, and biblically rooted denomination. It is committed to the Triune God, the local church, and social justice. There is no one specific ABC church, because the denomination is composed of theologically and ethnically diverse congregations located in rural and urban areas, however, through the common confession that “Jesus is Lord” the ABC emerges as a Christian denomination united in its diversity. I find a home in the ABC, because I am evangelical, Baptist, and ecumenical – all traits of the ABC.
The ABC is a distinctively Baptist denomination in that it promotes believer’s baptism, soul competency, local church autonomy, separation of church and state, and religious freedom. Baptists recognize that confession precedes baptism and that the church consists of regenerate members. They also promote soul competency – the “dangerous idea of Christianity” (Alister McGrath) – which contends that individuals can interpret the Bible themselves and are relieved of any outside pressure to confess a specific dogma. Local church autonomy is another distinctive mark of the Baptist church. It contends that God’s mission is manifest through local churches active in their neighborhood, and it is most fully expressed in the “priesthood of all believers,” or when all members of a local church actively participate in that mission (congregationalism). Historically, Baptists have also promoted separation of church and state. This means that the state should not impose specific religious convictions on any religious body, Christian or otherwise, nor should the church seek to establish a theocracy. This distinctive is undergirded by another Baptist distinctive – religious freedom. Individuals are free to voluntarily choose his/her local church. This idea contrasts the “parish model” where Christians of a certain geographical area will automatically belong to his/her closest church. Baptists confess that no government should inhibit an individual from joining a religious movement or church of his/her choosing.
Baptists are also distinctive in that they tend to be broadly evangelical in confession. This means that they tend to be Christocentric, Spirit-led, pietistic, biblical, missional, social justice orientated, and ecumenical.
Although it has taken me seven years to become a Baptist I find that my theological orientation and confession settle well in Baptist convictions.

Ordination Paper: Section 2

2. Reasons for seeking ordination:

Ordination is the act by which the church community calls out, after recognition of God’s call upon his/her life, an individual to the specific task of pasturing a local congregation. With this call comes certain responsibilities of teaching, preaching, worship leadership, embodying a godly life and servant leadership (1 Pet. 5:1-3), and administering the ordinances. Ordination is rooted in the ordination of rabbis (Num. 27:18-23), the call of the twelve and Matthias (Mk. 3:14-15; Acts 1:21-23), the commissioning of the seven (Acts 6:6), and the call from a local congregation (1 Tim. 1:18, 4:14).

Throughout my journey many churches have encouraged me to pursue ordination. They have confirmed God’s call upon my life. Therefore, through their support, the inner prompting of the Holy Spirit, and a passion to walk alongside other believers it is my desire to seek ordination to serve a local church.

Ordination Paper: Section 1

This past Sunday I was ordained into the American Bapist Church.  For the ordination process I had to write a confessional paper.  It has eight parts.  Over the next few days I will post each section.  Today is section one:  A Biographical Sketch

1.  A brief biographical sketch:  

            Born in Sioux Falls, SD on September 18^th, 1983 to Keith and Mareda Bertelson, I grew up in a Christian home which occasionally frequented Sunday school and worship at Hope Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls.  We moved to Hartford, SD, where my father (unsuccessfully) tried his hand at farming, started attending Christ Lutheran Church in order that I might complete the Lutheran confirmation.  I meandered through the process, as any good Lutheran youth is supposed to do, and was confirmed in the eight grade.  Shortly thereafter I began associating with friends who found the pinnacle of social interaction in drinking, and I left the church for a couple years.  However, in the Fall of my sophomore year I inquisitively darkened the door of Christ Lutheran Church to attend youth group.  That particular evening the youth leader, Joe Hellvig, spoke about his past addiction to alcohol and how God helped him overcome it.  I was moved, because a life of alcoholism sounded like where I was headed.  I went home and knew that I needed to change my life, and by the prompting of the Holy Spirit I surrendered my life to Christ.  It was the opening chapter of a very pleasant, yet uncertain book.

I became active in weekly youth group, Sunday school, and church board meetings.  I fell under the mentorship of Joe Hellvig, and he helped me understand my newfound faith.  He encouraged me to pursue further study in order to ground myself in good theology.  His encouragement was an early affirmation of my call to ministry. 

If chapter one, the church’s encouragement, laid the foundation for my call, chapter two built a theological framework for me to articulate it.  By the end of high school I emerged as a distinctively evangelical Christian.  I leaned toward the Free Church tradition, and I subsequently attended the University of Sioux Falls where I majored in theology and philosophy.  At USF I developed a community of friends who were equally encouraging and intellectually stimulating.  I learned what “life together” meant and how to embody the faith.  I discovered the spiritual disciplines and a desire for preaching, and learned a good deal about Baptist life.  My close friends, theology professors (Dr. John Hiigel and Dr. Kimlyn Bender), and campus pastor (Rev. Dennis Thum) stirred in me a passion and excitement for all things theological.  The next logical step after graduation was to attend seminary to further develop my gifts and passion for the pastorate. 

An interlude:  chapter three, however, did not begin with seminary but marriage.  On July 29^th, 2006 I married my beautiful bride, Tami.  We met at a Christian coffeehouse in Sioux Falls, dated for three years, and got engaged in Israel in January 2006.  We participated in ministry together through small group leadership, co-pasturing a youth group, and worship leadership.  When I told her of my desire to attend seminary she not only encouraged me but also decided to attend so we could prepare for the pastoral life together.  Her strength and unyielding faith in my call has pulled me through many times of self-doubt and academic exhaustion. 

Chapter four is “seminariness.”  My wife and I decided to attend a multi-denominational seminary, because we wanted exposure to various theological perspectives and ethnic diversity.  We decided upon Gordon Conwell Seminary, but after one year of study we sensed that we didn’t fit, so we moved to Pasadena, CA to attend Fuller Seminary.  She wanted to attend, but due to the high cost of living in California she’s been selflessly working full-time to pay the bills.  I’ve found a home at Fuller.  It is a wonderful seminary on the cutting edge of all things theological and rich in theological, ethnic, and gender diversity.  It’s a school marked by intellectual openness, an evangelical and Christocentric emphasis, and a missional flavor.  At Fuller I’ve fallen in love with Jesus all over again, I’ve learned the necessity for serious biblical exegesis, and I’m reminded about the centrality of the local church for God’s mission in the world.

            Chapter five is the present.  Currently, I am serving at an American Baptist Church (First Baptist Church of Glendale) while finishing at Fuller.  Through a series of “chance” encounters my wife and I were invited to attend First Baptist Church of Glendale.  We were quickly invited into the community and soon joined the leadership team.  FBC is in a restart phase and it’s been thrilling to be part of its rebirth.  As pastoral intern I have had privilege to preach, teach, and lead small groups. 

            Although the book is unfinished it is apparent to my wife and I that God is calling me to the pastorate.

Leaving for Iowa

Tami and I leave tomorrow for Iowa to candidate at a church. I’ll give an update when we return.