hidden treasure in my bookshelf.

My book collection is not anywhere close where I want it to be. I had to leave a lot of books behind in Tennessee when I moved out west. I had to make a lot of tough decisions so the one hundred books or so that did make it are somewhat important. Even though I haven’t read all of them I know them pretty well. Lets just say I know what I have on my shelves. Last night before going to sleep and saving the life of a mouse from an angry Latino I was looking at my books. This is something I do quite often but last night I picked up a book that I have seen plenty of times but I never really knew what it was. Once I started reading about the author and the topic I realized that I had just found a treasure hidden with in my collection.

Dorothy Sayers, Letters to a Diminished Church is a collection of essays arguing for the relevance of Christian doctrine. Sayers was a member of the famous “Inklings,” a group that met in a pub called the Eagle and Child in Oxford, England. This group’s members included C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams. I was shocked and excited to learn that a woman was in the “Inklings”. As I started to read through the first chapter before bead I realized I was going to really enjoy her writing.

“Official Christianity, of late years, has been having what is known as a bad press. We are constantly assured that the churches are empty because preachers insist too much upon doctrine-dull dogma as people call it. The fact is the precise opposite. It is the neglect of dogma that makes for dullness. The Christian faith is the most exciting drama that ever staggered the imagination of man-and the dogma is the drama… The plot pivots upon a single character, and the whole action is the answer to a single central problem: What think ye of Christ?” – Dorothy L. Sayers

May we never be bored but constantly amazed by the supremacy of Christ and the story that we find ourselves in.

I put doors in your trees

If you are searching for a natural way to combat acid reflux all you need is a gallon of Aloe Vera juice! Don’t worry it only tastes like battery acid and bear urine!

So today I am thinking about the Bible as symbolic poetry?
I am mostly thinking about it with a profound since of disappointment.

I just got done reading and writing a book review for, In the Shadow of the Galilean by Gerd Theissen. Theissen goal in writing this book is to create a fictional narrative in which the reader will gain a better understanding of the historical context of Jesus’ life and ministry. He tells the story through the eyes of a Jewish upper class merchant who finds himself in the middle of Rome and the Jewish Zealots and meets Jesus somewhere in the middle. Gerd Theissen is a well respected New Testament scholar and I guess writing a fictional story about someone in the time of Jesus isn’t necessarily a career builder. So he is very careful to differentiate between historical fact and fiction. Which he does well and I respect. What disappointed me was the way he diminished the divinity and miraculous nature of Jesus and the events surrounding Him. For instance there is a scene in the book where Andreas is watching the crucifixion of Christ from afar and his servant says this,
“If the sun could see and feel as we do, it would go dark for grief. If the earth could feel, it would quake with anger.”

And then Theissen goes on to say,
“But the sun did not go dark, and the earth remained at rest. It was a normal day and the darkness was only in me. Only in me did the foundations of life shake.”

The Gospel of Matthew puts it this way:

“From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"… At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.”

Do we loose anything if this only poetical symbolism?

Maybe we don’t loose anything or maybe we loose everything.
I’m certainly not content with this being symbolic.

Theissen said that it was just a normal day. Maybe it was but I doubt it.

Little did they know that it was anything but a normal day. It was the day that was sealed before the foundation of the world. Jesus was never plan B. He was always the way.

“Even more astonishing and confirming of the truth of this is that in the Jewish Scriptures 700 years before the crucifixion of Jesus, the death of Jesus is described like this: "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:5-6). His death was punishment for sin. But not his own. The crucifixion of Jesus is precious to those who believe, because by that death we are ransomed from sin and guilt and condemnation and hell, and given eternal life. This is what Jesus came to accomplish: eternal life for all who believe. This is why he was crucified. It was public, painful, planned, punishment (for us!) and precious.” –John Piper

I choose to believe that these things happened the way the writers of the Gospels said they happened. I am sure to be thought a fool for taking the scripture so literal. All I can do is trust in the supremacy of Christ and His Holy Word.

I am currently reading Water ship down by Richard Adams. It seriously has potential to be my new favorite book. Lets just say that I am excited to see the 1978 movie:

Land of no return

It’s raining here in Los Angeles. That doesn’t happen to often around these parts. I find myself once again in the middle of a transition. Transitions are hard and as far as I am concerned they certainly aren’t fun. Though I have a pretty strong feeling that I am not alone on this one and that someone is behind it all. I started by writing about my experiences out here so far; a page or two into I decided to delete it. I am note sure why but I didn’t like what I was writing. I am beginning to establish a life here and it’s strange. I am often tempted to compare it with my old life but then I have to stop and remind myself that these new experiences are not going to be like my old ones. It doesn’t mean that they will be any better or worse but they will be different.

I no longer live with two of my best friends in a house on Gary Street in Tennessee with my two other best friends down the road. Now I live with a Latino guy from Chicago named Marcos, a black brother named Brycen, and a Guatemalan who doesn’t speak English named Boanettus! I am now affectionately referred to as the white brother.

I have been offered two student pastor positions at churches but have turned them both down for no other reason than I didn’t feel like that is where God wanted me. Those were hard decisions but the ones that had to be made.

I am starting to feel more grown up but at the same time I am beginning to feel young again.

2008 was a very strange year.
I started it by moving to Cambridge, England. In those three months I discovered out quite a bit about myself. I spent most of my time there thinking about a girl.

I came back to Tennessee only to fall for that girl and then to have my heart broken again, my fault of course. I took a class on the spirit and then I graduated college.

I moved to Portland, Oregon with my new friend from Cambridge. I started graduate school where I soon discovered I don’t care much for physcology. I got to journey with my roommate through some difficult questions. Mine were answered. He is still waiting.
I met and loved many people in Oregon but in the end I needed to leave.

I moved to Los Angeles where I am now studying Theology. My roommate moved to Ireland where he is now gardening.

Things I learned in 2008:
God is in control. Sovereign. good.
I am not as strong as I thought.
I am much stronger than I thought.
I love my Family.
I miss my friends.
I want to be a pastor more than ever.
I do not want to be a counselor.
And its ok to doubt and worry about it all.

I dreamed a lot this year. More than usual. I have strange scary dreams, dreams that make my heart hurt in a good way, dreams about my grandfather, reoccurring dreams about a girl named Sarah. I barely know her and I dream about at least once every other week.

Important Music of 2008:
Ray Lamontagne
Wild Sweet Orange
James Taylor
The weepies
The Fleet Foxes
Bon Iver
Jon Foreman
Denison Witmer
Kings of Leon

Important voices in my life in 2008:
Mom and Dad
John Piper
Rob Bell
Mark Driscoll
Kay Bruce
Gerry Breshears
Jonathan Davenport
Brandon Brown
Chris Sloan
Chris Morris
Brian haitz

I don’t know what the next year has in store. No idea. Scars me like nothing else. But I know that’s ok now. I trust in the God who is in control of everything and everybody.

Lamentations 3:25
The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.

Grace and Peace,
Jesse P.

Secret of the easy yoke

I hadn’t heard this song in a long time and then a cover of it came on my Pandora radio application. It always makes me sad. Mostly because it paints such an accurate picture of so many peoples experiences in church. I think I will be praying for Dave Bazan.

Pretending to be Rich... or am I?

So after church this past Sunday I decided to hangout downtown and grab some lunch. I ended up in the mall just walking around. It’s one of those malls where only rich people actually buy anything. One of those malls that looks down on stores like the Gap… Well after I ate my Chinese food I wanted something sweet. Right about that time I walked by Godiva Chocolate and they were dipping macaroons the size of my fist into chocolate. So I obviously had to go in! I knew I couldn’t afford any of the boxes of chocolate but they sell the individual truffles so I thought yeah that’s in my price range. So I acted like I often bought chocolate from there and picked out three beautiful truffles. So the nice lady ringed me up. My total was almost eight dollars! That was more than my lunch cost. I was thinking like a three dollars or something! I honestly thought about running out of the store but I didn’t so I handed over my debit card. I am not above it though. (I walked into a restaurant the other day and their food looked terrible so I acted like I got a phone call and walked out) I then walked around Saks Fifth avenue and looked at Gucci pants while eating my Godiva truffles. I pretended I was rich for fifteen minutes. Then I walked to my car and past twelve homeless people.


For the first time in my life I am beginning to engage Theology. I mean I have been studying it for the past three years and now I am in Seminary but for the first time I am doing it on my own accord. I have been praying for the past few months that God would give me a desire for his Word and Theology. It’s happening. How about that? God answered a prayer. To bad it wasn’t the one about that money or that girl back in Tennessee. This is pretty good too.

Coming out of the School of Religion at Lee University still believing in God is quite an accomplishment. I don’t mean to make an overstatement here but I know a lot of people who started the program who really loved and followed Jesus but now they don’t believe it anymore. It makes me sad and even more than that it scares me. I am okay with my faith being challenged and shaped by my study but I refuse to let the deeper knowledge and study of my God push me away from the thing I am endeavoring to understand. I was reading one of the early church fathers on the Trinity the other day and Gregory of Nazianzus said this:

“Theology, while employing the mind, also involves the heart. A pure heart, one grounded in the worship of the church and a life of prayer, will produce clear and fruitful theological reflection. A murky heart and a dark mind, on the other hand, will produce a sick, thorny theology; it will offer no nourishment, only harm.”

That’s what I want, a pure heart that is grounded in a life of prayer and a life of worship. A high and holy task. May God give us peace and Clarity.

Grace & Peace

Currently Listening: Taylor Swift – Fearless (one of the best albums of 2008)
Ray LaMontagne – Gossip in the Grain
Viva La Hova – Jay-z and Coldplay
Currently Reading: The Mystery and Wonder of the Trinity – Christopher A. Hall

Plundering the Cause

A pastor I like a lot asked a question the other day in an interview, “What do you do when your institution is known for a bunch of things that you don’t want to be known for?”

The Christian faith is one established on Love of God and others. Why then is Christianity in America viewed as?

• Unforgiving
• Hypocritical
• Homophobic
• Fear mongering
• Consumerism
• Bigotry

Because of or in spite of these stereotypes a new Christianity, or should I say an old Christianity, is emerging. A people seeking to reestablish the authority of the Church not through power or riches but by joining the God of the oppressed, joining those on the other side of power. I heard it described like a Eucharist (the act of communion) that we will be broken and poured out in love simply because Jesus said so.


The second most famous Buddhist in the world is Richard Gere, second to the Dalai Lama, said about a year ago, “I keep having this image that Jesus Christ is here and now among us and he is watching what is being done and he is appalled.”

With every action we are communicating whether or not we believe the tomb is empty.
The resurrection is a way of life.

May we proclaim this truth with every word and every deed.

Truth.

“The Kingdom of God is truth and it plunders any cause. Truth belongs to God. The Kingdom of God is anywhere the rule and reign of God is expanding on earth. Embrace the Kingdom.”



I miss my friends tonight. I wish I were at that coffee shop on Inman Street sitting with them. It isn’t possible today and that will have to be ok for right now. But until then I will dream that we are together tonight. I am proud of them.