I don't know if anyone will really be interested in reading this but I thought I would post it just in case. This is a paper I just finished for my Philosophy class on the argument of God relation to time.

What is time? Is it the ticking of your Grandmothers clock intermixed with an interjecting bird disturbing my peaceful sleep every hour? Or rather the stopwatch that timed me as I sprinted towards a glorious victory in the hundred yard dash in grade school. Better yet, maybe time is what seemed like eternity while I waited in the train station for a problem to be fixed when they clearly told me the train would “be ready in no time.” You can see that we are beings so weaved into the fabric of time that we can’t escape it finding its way into our language. In my last example the words; “seemed like eternity,” and “in no time” are rather ambiguous and trivial when we sit back and look at them. Something can’t really seem like eternity, because well, only eternity is eternity. Also for someone to have the audacity to say that something will be done in no time is just plain mad. Who do they think they are, thinking they can’t cheat time and finish something without time passing by?
Since time began philosophers, theologians, and common folk alike have all wrestled with the idea of time. When it’s all said and done, two main views emerge out of the clutter of debate and shed light on this ever so unwieldy of issues. Those views are that of God’s timelessness outside of the confines of time, and God’s temporal eternity inside the confines of time. I believe that time is a construct that is beyond anything that we can tangibly grasp. Time is ever fleeting from our mortal perspective, however the almighty God of the universe is sitting outside the bounds of time orchestrating it all. When addressing the question of time, we need to first discuss a few issues to provide clarity throughout the argument that will be presented.
When we look at time, some don’t want to bother with it because they know that they will just end in an array of confusion. C.S. Lewis notices this in “Mere Christianity” and tells his readers that, “they may find this to be an unnecessary complication”. He then advises them to “skip to the next chapter” if they feel that way. Most see the study of time as a pursuit at knowledge, and a lofty one at that, but at the same time there are others who take a different approach to the topic. St. Augustine says this in the opening of book eleven of his confessions; “Lord why do I set out in order before you this account of so many deeds? In truth, it is not that you may learn to know these matters from me, but that I may rouse up toward you my own affections, and those of other men who read this, so that all of us may say: “The Lord is great and exceedingly to be praised.” I feel that Augustines ideology about addressing the issue of time is the right way to pursue things. We as believers should do so in a humble manner knowing that at best, our conclusion will bring us to a better understanding of our Father and his divine attributes. Giving us as believers all the more reason to praise Him.
Some may see time as a silly thing to discuss. Why would we even question the definition of time? When I speak to you about it, you understand me, and vise versa. So what is the real debate? There seems to me to be a mutual understanding here. Let us break down what time itself really consists of. We’ll start with the present because that is really what holds us, that is the true thing that keeps us in existence. The present is now, it is the moment that we are living in, it is an instant that passes by us without thought without even stopping to say hello. We will talk more about the now of things in a bit. The question we are left with is that once this present passes where does it go? After the present has left us without a blink of an eye, time would then continually be fleeing into the past. In the past, time or a moment would then progressively be distancing itself further and further away from our future as the present moment keeps moving into the past? What is the past then? Can the past truly exist? If we were to say that the past exists it would only be in memory because the moment that left the present and made its way into the past is forever gone, never to be reclaimed. Where then does this time come from? If time makes its way through the present in an instant and then cascades into the past where was it before? The answer to this would be similar to where the past is. The future is time that has not yet arrived to the present and thus, like that of the past, would not be in existence. The only existence of future time relies in that of our expectation of time that is to come into our present. So we have the past, which is the non existence stock hold of moments that were lost in the present. We too have the future, which are non existent moments that are in line waiting to exist only to later pass back into the non existent past. The present then is the only thing that hold’s existence, but even it can’t be measured because it contains no duration and extends across no period of space. So what is time? Let us address another topic before we attempt to come to a conclusion.
When we discuss time we usually put it in context of a day, hour, minute, or maybe a second. So what do these measurements mean? We also say words like yesterday, tomorrow, a week ago and so on. How do we measure these lengths? One would say that these lengths are decided based on the movement of the earths rotation, and the sun passing by it from the East to the West and then reappearing in the East, thus concluding a day. I would have to state that this is a valid argument and would conclude that this is how we dictate the measurement of a day, hour, or minute. However, is that really time itself? If we open our Bibles to Joshua chapter ten it says something a bit different. In verses twelve and thirteen it states; “At that time Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, "Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon." And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day.” If we were to state that the sun passing by the earth in one complete rotation constitutes a day, then did time not continue for Joshua and his army? Even though the sun stopped moving and God held it in its place, time still took place as the Israelites defeated their enemy. Joshua the author of the this even shows that he had knowledge, as we do, of what constitutes of a day passing when he says; “The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day.” Knowing what we know about a day it would consist of the sun being present for approximately twelve hours and then passing and reappearing twelve hours later. By Joshua stating that the sun didn’t set for about a whole day, then we can assume that he is implying that the sun held daylight for a period of around twenty-four hours. So we can conclude that the sun’s passing over the earth is a part of time in our mind, and can give us an approximate by which to gauge the passing of a day, however the sun’s passing doesn’t contain the essence of what time really is.
What then of measuring movements from this place to that place, is that time? For we often dictate time based on comparison from one objects movement to that of another. For if we move from one place to another we could very well say that it took a certain amount of time. Then if we were to repeat this process we could say that it took half, or twice the amount of time. But is that movement time itself, or is it just a distinction that we have given to make a tangible account of a passing amount of time? If movement were to dictate time then what are we to say of a object sitting still, not being effected by movement? This object is still very much so within the bounds of time.
How can I then sit here and type this paper and understandably be within the bounds of time, while at the same time be coming to this conclusion? I have understood what time meant to me and how it effected my day to day activities, surely I knew what time was, right? The truth that I’ve found is that time can’t really be pinned down and be given a tangible explanation for us to fully understand. Augustine put it this way; “I confess to you, O Lord, that I do not yet know what time is, and again I confess to you, O Lord, that I know that I say these things in time, and that I have now spoken at length of time, and that that very length of time is not long except by a period of time. How, then, do I know this, when I do not know that time is? Or perhaps I do not know how to express what it is that I know.” When trying to come to a conclusion on what time itself is, the best answer I could find is this; “It is an activity of the mind, whereby the mind is not merely extended into the past, as in memory, or into the future as in anticipation, but is distended, so as to hold things present.”
So now that we have attempted to define time in a reasonably tangible way, and have come to the conclusion that time, loosely spoken, is a construct of our human minds. How then does God, the divine creator of the universe relate to this ever so complex problem. I will be addressing this issue coming from the belief that God exists outside the bounds and constraints of time and he dwells in the eternal now.
Before stretching our minds on this topic, I think it best to see what the word of God itself has to say about this issue. Psalms 90:1-2 says; “Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”
When thinking about time and God’s relation to it some would then ponder on the question, what was happening before God created the universe and everything in it? Was he just merely sitting around twiddling his thumbs thinking about what he could do? Or as Augustine jokingly puts it; “What was God doing before he made the world? He was busy creating Hell for overly curious people like you!” It makes logically sense for one to ask this question. Come to think of it, if God is eternal, then he had an eternity to think about what he would do when he created this earth. The problem with this discussion is that we are thinking about God and ourselves on the same plane. We are looking at God as if he is held or contained by our time. We need to shift our perceptive and hold a view that there is nothing before Creation. God has no beginning and no end, he is the essence of eternality. Boethius define eternity as; “ The all at once whole and perfect realization of unending life.” Did God then create time for us? Was this thing that has been so engrained into our minds and our vocabulary something that God divinely created for us, and if so why? When seeking an answer to the question of whether God created time for us, I think it better to look at the conclusion of God’s story. Why are we here, what is this place in which we are living? We have been told that we are citizens of another world, and that we are to be sojourners in this land. “We are those who live in time as the ones who belong to eternity. The Christian attitude toward time is neither panic nor indifference, but hope, the hope that radiates from a messy manger, a ruddy tree, and a tomb no longer filled. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ mean that God takes time, and has time for us. Because of this, we can see time not as a threat but as a gift, a precious gift created by God, willed by God, and given by God for us.” So time is a “thing” created by God not merely to help us in our day to day activities, but as a way to draw closer to him and stand in awe of His majesty. It is a construct that places everything in it’s place and gives the universe and everything that functions within it existence and understanding, or maybe confusion... no we’ll stick with understanding.
Now, as we press further into the issue of God’s relation with time we’ll discuss what the past present and future are to him. Some view God’s relation to time from an Arminian perspective, where God is living and experiencing each moment in succession to the next. They would say that God is eternal, however each moment that we are living God is living at that very same moment. This would then place God within the bounds of time. To me if we go this direction then I no longer see time as something that God created, and I almost see time as something that God is bound to or that is a equal to him. I don’t believe this to be true, so I would then vouch for the alternative. Coming from a more Calvinist perspective would be the view that God is outside of time and rather than living each individual moment as we live, then God would be living every moment past, present, and future as NOW. C.S. Lewis put it this way; “Suppose God is outside and above the Time-line. In that case, what we call ‘tomorrow’ is visible to Him in just the same way as what we call ‘today.’ All the days are ‘Now’ for Him. He does not remember you doing things yesterday; He simply see’s you doing them, because though you have lost yesterday, He has not. He does not ‘foresee’ you doing things tomorrow; He simply sees you doing them: because, though tomorrow is not yet there for you, it is for Him.” 2 Peter 3:8 helps us understand God’s relationship to us a little more clearly, it says; “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” What Peter is saying is that God is outside our relationship to time and space. He is not bound by the constriction of their grasp. Lewis uses an analogy to explain this better, and describes a novelist who sits down to write a story. The novelist writes the first part of the story and describes the woman setting down to her work. Now being constrained by time she can’t do anything else until the novelist tells what happens after she sets down her work. In the mean time the novelist can do whatever he pleases cause he is not constrained to the bounds that have been issued to the character in his novel. Now given this analogy is a bit broken seeing that this disproves my earlier notion that for God everything is living in the instantaneous now. But the point is to explain that for God this is how being outside time and not contained by its limitations works. To put a nail in the coffin when describing God’s timelessness I’ll quote Anselm who I believe has given us a beautiful layout when explaining God’s eternal now. “Thou was not, then, yesterday, nor wilt thou be tomorrow; but yesterday today and tomorrow thou art; or, rather, neither yesterday; nor today nor tomorrow thou art; but, simply, thou art, outside all time. For yesterday and today and tomorrow have no existence, except in time; but thou, although nothing exists without thee, nevertheless dost not exist in space or time, but all things exist in thee.
So what out of all this mess have we concluded? First we came to the conclusion that time to us is just a construct of of minds. Our past is a non-existent memory that can never be reclaimed. The past only holds existence when we in the present recollect on the it. Our future is not yet existent and cannot be so until it passes into the present. The future only holds existence when we look at it with expectation in the present. Our present then is ever fleeting and can never be pinned down because it doesn’t contain any space. We have given time a measurement and a place in this world so that we can dictate and compare one length of time to the another. We arrived at this conclusion by deciding that time is something created by God for us, as both a tool and a message of hope for us to be expecting. In the closing of book eleven of Augustines Confessions he writes this; “Lord, creator of the universe, creator of souls and bodies, far be it that in such wise you should know future and past. Far, far more wonderfully, far more deeply do you know them! It is not as emotions are changed or senses filled up by expectation of words to come and memory of those past in one who sings well-known psalms or hears a familiar psalm. not so does it befall you who are unchangeably eternal, that is, truly eternal, the creator of minds. Therefore, just as in the beginning you have know heaven and earth without change in your knowledge, so too “in the beginning you made heaven and earth” without any difference in your activity.”
In conclusion it may be impossible to come to a definite conclusion on God’s relationship to time. The scriptures themselves are vague at best when it comes to explaining the complexity of God about this issue. One thing that we need to recognize is that taking a stance on either side of the argument doesn’t quite matter. One may make more logical sense to you than the other but really your still a Christian regardless of what you believe. The only argument I would make to try to convince other to think about the issue would be out of devotion to learning more about the divine attributes of the Father. Thinking about these thing has given me a greater appreciation the vastness, or rather the plain fact of Him being the great I AM.

Holy *@#&

This is a response to a recent question that came up in our mass comm class. The question was: Is swearing ever permissible in film, and if so why?

The one thing in some of these posts that have me confused is use of the term stumbling block. It's been said that "the use of swearing in film is a stumbling block for some"... "swearing cause's some to stumble in their faith" and so on....... HOW?....... Me personally, if I'm around a friend that swears regularly and is angry and say's "F' this F' that". This doesn't really cause me to stumble and if it did what is it exactly that I'm stumbling on or over for that matter? I respect some of you who think that it's offensive and you have the right to feel that way. From what I understand stumbling block to mean in this context is, that hearing someone else swear would then cause me to swear and fall into sin. If that's what stumbling block means then I hope the people that were around don't go around shooting people cause gosh..... then all hell would break loose!!

The use of language in film needs to be used in a majority of stories. If we're going to delve into the darkness of life and the depravity of this fallen world. Swearing is kind of a necessity. When you have the antagonist the villain the character that represents evil within a story you need to show that. Really I don't care about your understanding or beliefs in right or wrong when it comes to swearing in film. When you have a drug dealer, a mob boss, a disgruntle cop, an alcoholic father, when you have people that are lost, put into a situation in which they are pissed off about life or a situation in the plot. It has nothing to do with appealing to the audience or making the plot relevant to our culture. What is boils down to is, people like this swear, they are lost, they are sinful and they get angry and swear.

Can swearing be used inappropriately... of course, can film go without swearing when dealing with hostile situations interlaced into the plot... at times yes. Always and I mean always there has to be something present where the swearing has a purpose and there is an intention behind it. If the plot uses dialog that contains swearing and then doesn't go anywhere with it or doesn't use it to emphasize that this is the fallen state of our character then I would deem that inappropriate. However to deny that the use of swearing in film is necessary in many situations is ignorant, and to put it in plain terms your just shielding your eyes and ears from the fallen state that we live in.

Nothing Else

Your heart and nothing else matters. Your heart is the only thing that can change anything. Everything without the heart is dead, worthless, meaningless. Nothing but the heart matters. Not this computer, not my phone, not your building, not your music, not what your going to do with your life, not your ministry, but your heart. All these things are worthless if your heart is dead empty and hollow. Your heart has to be full to grant any meaning. Otherwise time is wasted and your worthless.

Thoughts

Just the other day I finished a series of documentaries on the 101st airborne's easy company. I have thought alot about war, killing, hate, violence, and death over the last year, and have formed many conclusions about how I feel. My questions were about how to justify war, any war for that matter. After watching the lives of these men and the things they did over there. To think that any war can't be justified is just foolish. It would be an insult to those men as well.
After watching the first four discs I realized that the men in the 101st didn't know a thing about what was happening to the Jewish people in Germany. When they walked up to that concentration camp and liberated it all my thoughts suddenly shifted. I still have tons of questions and unfulfilled assumptions about many things but to look at some war and say it was wrong, I feel ashamed of myself.
Detrich Bonhoeffer had these very same questions during WWII when a group was preparing to assassinate Adolf Hitler. He was a self proclaimed, and practicing pacifist and even studied the practices of Mohandas Gandhi. When discussing the decision he made he stated that there are some causes that pacifism should be implemented, but when faced with the Nazi regime pacifism needs to be put aside. Bonhoeffer's decision affected him deeply, and he resigned from his position as a preacher so not to taint the Christian church.
This is never a decision us as Christians like to make and it will never feel right but I now believe that when such evil is confronting the world we need to rise up against it.

I never thought I would be writing this a year ago. However I believe I am moving forward.

Homesick

When i can't sleep its usually cause my mind is wandering. Tonight is no exception. I want to be home right now. I want to see familiar faces and spend some wonderful time with wonderful people. I'm not sure who all reads this but I love you. You really don't know the extent of this at times and at times I don't express it the way I should. However I love you all so much. It's you that make me feel this way. It's the people that you are and the times we've spent together. It's sitting up on new years eve watching your friend sit in a chair and look really creepy in a white bed sheet. It's dancing like a bunch of little girls together while listening to predatory wasp. It's coffee with conversation about the ways God is screwing up our lives. I want to give you all hugs and never let go. (my roommate just feel asleep on his computer while doing Greek) :) I love life more than most but it times like these make me appreciate you more than I sometimes do. So please understand that you have made me so happy over the times that I've been with you. Understand that every person that I have the chance to impact from here on out, you had a part in. Your friendship has influenced so much in my life. So Nick, JC, Amanda, Phil, Emily, and whoever else reads this I love you. I hope that one day I'll be the friend to you that you are to me.

There you are Monday

So yesterday I woke up to another dreadful Monday morning. My alarm goes off at 5 AM and I know that its not gonnna go well. I expected a few things out of the day. One to go to work at 6 am and do absolutely nothing. Two to attend my church and its doctrines class and have the teacher tell me that I got a 0 out of 90 on an exam. Three that the three page paper I wrote got a bad grade cause I did it incorrectly. Finally I really just expected the rest of the day to be slow boring and cruel, like all the rest of my Monday's had been this semester. This Monday however had some tricks up its sleeve. I retook the exam and got a 80 -90 the paper scored a 18-20 and the classes were really fascinating. I was pretty happy with the way everything was going. Then the area where nothing was suppose to happen. The area were things were going well. The area where everything was presumably normal, just completely kicked me in the face unaware. I embraced it and said "There you are Monday."

I Love My Dads

First off its 2:13 in the morning and I have a massive day tomorrow and I'm full aware that I will be dead tired tomorrow in classes but I think that reflecting on things that God is doing in your life in a place where surprisingly enough thats hard to find is more important.  

First off I want to state that I am the most prideful people I know.  I promised myself that I would be honest in my blogs and not be afraid to share anything, so I'm gonna do just that.  I write most of my blogs for the comments that people leave me, sure these thoughts of mine are things that God really is showing me but in all honesty there for me not him.  I really can't even tell you right now if I writing this for me or him but my heart is trying to find the right place to be.  The best way that I think I can go into this blog is letting you know that I'm broken and am in need of repair.  I can't convince you that this blog is the most prideful thing I've ever written, but there is really nothing I can do about that except pray that God will change the state of my heart.  Really the only thing that I ask of you is not to comment on this blog.  

Now that I got that off my chest I can try to explain the format of this blog.  Its really going to be different than anything I've ever written, but if you know me God usually speaks to me when he gets into my mind and doesn't let me sleep , which is precisely why I'm up right now at two in the morning.  Now this blog is a narrative of sorts that is both fiction and non fiction. I don't know if thats possible but you'll understand after you read it. Now the thing is what I'm writing here is in the story, and all the things I feel about my dad. (thats the non-fiction) Then the whole scenario thing.  (thats the fiction part) One thing you should know is that most of the time I think about things that haven't yet happened, or I play out scenarios that haven't happened.  Its good for me to dialog these things out b/c usually they bring me to insight and thoughts that would have gone undiscovered.  Tonight for some reason I just got to thinking about my dad and thats where this is gonna head.

I talked with him yesterday and it was a really good conversation.  It really just got me thinking tonight about my dad and my grandpa for that matter.  I just realized that my dad was young when his dad died.  Then today my mom commented on the fact that this December is my dads fiftieth birthday.  This brought up the scenario of my dad death.  Now I know your probably thinking "Jerod out of all the scenarios you could of chosen why that one."  My only response to that would be that I really don't think that I chose these.  I think that God lets me think on what I need to think on, but just go with me.  

I was thinking about how all this would play out and the rest is my narrative.  My mom called me and said those dreadful words "Jerod dad died."  I left for home and be in complete and total confusion, not even stopping to tell anybody at school that I even left, b/c I really didn't want their sympathy.  I got home and just embraced my family and really was in total and utter confusion until the day of his funeral.  The day came and I was hurt broken and battered.  I was such a physical and emotional mess that when ask to talk at the funeral I declined.  Then as the service progressed I got up and went to say some words about Dad.  "I didn't know my dad.  During the last two months though I discovered a deeper side of him that I never fully experienced.  Something happens to a man when his first born son leaves.  You see a softer side of him.  The way he looks at you, speaks to you, hugs you, and just his demeanor is completely different.  You really see into him and see how much he loves you.  Reflecting on this know it helps me gain a new understanding of how much I love my family.  There are things that I never got to tell my dad, like "Dad this is why I want to be a pastor", or "Dad did you know I blog", or "Dad I miss you."  There is a side that we all hide from each other and really I don't know why.  This side is so beautiful.  This side, is the side that my dad never saw.  The funny thing is that the past two nights I sat up in bed at Moody thinking about this funeral.  I didn't know why at that point but now I get emotional just thinking about it.  Two days before my dad death my God was there preparing me to get though this!  Thats my God! My Dad is gone, this hurts beyond any pain I'll ever have to feel.  My dad won't be there when I graduate, my dad won't be there when I get married, my kids won't have a grandpa, and I won't have a Dad.  This hurts.  But God is enough.  If you don't believe that God prepared me two days ago for what I'm going through right now.  If you don't believe that my God prepared me to think about how much my Dad really meant to me two days ago then you need to. Even though my dad won't be there for all these events in my life and the lives of my kids I know that know where he is.  I know that there will be a place and time to mourn with my family, and I know that thats not today.  You see today I joyful b/c I loved my dad, and I fully realized that two days ago.  If this hadn't of happen I would be at a state right now where I am in complete depression, and am questioning God to no end.  But no I'm not at that place.  To quote a section in Elie Wiesel's book Night.  In Auschwitz there was a day when three people were being hung.  Two men and a boy.  They had apparently done something that went against the guards rules.  So to make a point about how serious they took rebellion they brought everyone out to witness these executions.  The then preceded to kick the chairs out from under the mens feet, and forced everyone in the camp to walk by them while they were dying.  When Elie reached the gallows the two men weight had caused there necks to break, but since the young boy was so light he hung there gasping for air turning blue in the face. The two men in front of Elie stated.  "Wheres our God now." and "There no God, what God would allow this to happen."  Then Elie under his breath staring into the eyes of that young boy as the life was fading from them in utter panic uttered these word.  "God is there, God is right there hanging on the gallows with that boy."  God is with us as we suffer and even though were going through the deepest pain we could imagine, when were in total confusion about why God is doing this to us, and where both mad and angry at him.  Where is he?  He right there with us holding us in his arms as tight as he can coddling his child.  Thats where I am right now.  I remember my dad and he was great.  Everyone here will account to that, and I loved him.  Right now I can say God is enough for me.  Don't get me wrong this pain I feel is real but my God is holding me.  I am comfortable in the loving arms of my God that through everything he is holding me tightly and loving me unconditionally.  

I Love My Dad.  I Love My Family.  I Love My God.

That only took an hour.