Announcement

First, the update, then the announcement:

Things have been pretty standard here. Trying to scrape together a bit of money to help the processing plant process our chickens (we delivered 4,000 this week).

Wednesday, my friendly Jehovah's Witness came in to have another chat with me. So we discussed theology for the better part of an hour. There's nothing like a debate with someone who believes something completely different than you do. Mainly, it reminds you how little you know about the Bible. So we basically went back and forth flipping through his Bible. My general approach to Biblical interpretation is to attempt to understand a text in the light of (a) the author's message to the original audience, and (b) the larger picture we get of God, Christ, and redemption. But because of major differences in religious outlook and/or culture, I was stuck using proof texts.

Areas of disagreement we went over:
1) The deity of Christ. I claim he is fully God; creator, not creation. This is the position of all major Christian churches (mainline protestant, Roman Catholic, Orthodox) and is firmly established in the Nicene Creed: "begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father." He claimed Christ was the first creation (using references to him as the "firstborn") and asked me to explain what it meant for Christ to empty himself.

2) Timeline of history. He wanted me to believe that America is the earthly kingdom that will pass away in order for God's kingdom to be established. I kept questioning his timeline, which he's going to bring next time. But he was utilizing the latter half of Daniel, which I cannot claim to interpret well. I mainly claimed that if Christ didn't know the date of his return, it seems arrogant of us to presume that we can know it.

Anyway, it was a good exercise and something I haven't done in a while.

And my announcement. I'm going to be away from Swaziland for the next week. I'll be leaving on Sunday and getting back late next Tuesday (the 22nd). I'll be travelling to northern Mozambique with a group from the US (including Kim Dooyema from my church), and I'll be checking out the massive operations they've got going on there. I'm sure I'll have a lot to write about when I get back, but it is unlikely that I'll post anything while I'm there.

-Ben