Welcome to our study. This blog gives us some interaction beyond Barron County. At this point we are "leaving the doors open" for any who want to post comments.
I plan to use some study guide material from Piper's website and my own observations as we work our way through this book. If you have asked me for DWYL but do not have it yet, you can read it online.
Chapter one gives us some of Piper's background (and dates him), but also lays the foundation of the book. Simple "trolling" question to get us started:
Considering the C.S. Lewis quote on page 20, what in your opinion are some specific examples of things in our world that need to be "seen through" and what is "real"?
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14 comments:
Excellent... I am looking forward to going through this book again with some other people's takes on it. The first time I read DWYL it turned my Christian world upside down - my focus changed from myself to God and His glory. This will be good.
I think this is going to be a mini version of Desiring God. We watched the DVD in the Adult Bible Fellowship on Sunday. It was an excellent introduction for people who have never picked a up a paragraph of Pastor Piper:)
In the DWYL study last week we discussed what it means to not be one's own, but to be in full submission to Christ. The following is an exerpt from an Oswald Chambers sermon:
"...The first thing that happens after we have realized our election to God in Jesus Christ is the destruction of our prejudices and our parochial notions and our patriotisms; we are turned into servants of God's own purpose. The whole human race was created to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Sin has switched the human race on to another track, but it has not altered God's purpose to the tiniest degree; and when we are born again we are brought into the realization of God's great purpose for the human race, viz., I am created for God, He made me. This realization of the election of God is the most joyful realization on earth...We have to maintain our soul open to the fact of God's creative purposes, and not to muddle it with our own intentions. If we do, God will have to crush our intentions on one side however much it may hurt...When once we realize that through the salvation of Jesus Christ we are made perfectly fit for God, we shall understand why Jesus Christ is so ruthless in His demands. He demands absolute rectitude from his servants, because He has put them in the very nature of God. Beware lest you forget God's purpose for you life."
-From the book My Utmost for His Highest By Oswald Chambers
Good thoughts, Meghan (and Ozzie). Since we may not arrive at chapter two for awhile, I'll propose the rest of my chapter one questions in the comments section.
Some of you may have noticed how the things you have read and the people with whom you have associated have influenced you away from a biblical worldview. Books like this one slap us around. We are forced to see our selfishness. Our self-serving attitudes reveal that we have been trying to create a universe that revolves around us (my friends, my music, my advancement).
Remember that no one has yet tackled the posted question, but here is another one: What do you notice about the worldview difference between the "Nowhere Man" lyrics and Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" lyrics?
I haven't gotten a chance to really think on the questions yet...I do a lot of thinking in all my classes--a very good thing, but as soon as I get a chanve I will share some of my thoughts...
plus, I wanted to see if this would work to post.
Hi, I was invited by Betsy.
Nowhere man seems so empty, so devoid of purpose, and at the same time it in a way invites a person to stay in that purposeless state. Blowin in the wind however, seems to be a sort of plea to Dylan's generation to shake off the old ideas and embrace meaning and purpose and absolute truth.
Welcome, David and Betsy. In a book our men's group is reading I came across an interesting exchange from a few years ago between Oprah Winfrey and Michael Jackson. Jackson may not be adored much anymore, but his statement is representative of the prevaling attitude in our culture. Oprah asked him if he knew anything for certain. He said, "I can't say I know anything for sure. I really believe that."
Uncle Stive-
We need to see through everything on this world. 2 Cor. 4:16-18:
"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory behond all comparison, as we look not to the things which are seen, but to the things that are unseen. *For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."
This was the driving force of all of Lewis' thought. This is the blazing sunrise that took Piper's breath away. This is realism. See Lewis' essay, "The Weight of Glory" and his other essay, "Transposition" for a better idea of Lewis' worldview.
I think it is great that there is a return to a kind of realism. I see this evidenced by the growth of God-honoring Calvinism like Piper's. But is it possible that we're still not seeing Reality? Perhaps this isn't the place to bring this up, but God is not only true and soveriegn and mighty, but He is also Beautiful. I think Lewis' Realism hasn't been taken far enough. How should this influence our ideas about aesthetics- music and art?
er...steve
I think the discussion of the beauty of God is well within our boundaries, particularly as we consider the art gallery metaphor in this week's reading.
Should we then decide whether or not a universal beauty exists, cause without a set standard how is one too judge music or art.
Are we now in our present age, even capable of creating things that are beautiful?
I do not think the noetic effects of the fall have left man incapable of reasoning or creating beauty. I would say that these are part of God's general revelation. This plays into our apologetics and our use of the arts because we also know that smarts and arts do not bring men to repentance.
Agreed, we are capable of beauty. So what is true beauty, and does that limit what art, music or literature we should listen too or see? For if there is something that is beautiful there must also be something that is ugly. God is beautiful and so we should strive for beauty. Listening or seeing something ugly then cannot be living up to the standard in which God (who has bought us with a price) rightfully sets.
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