Fade to Grey

This was my first analysis of a song that I wrote. I have a deep love for this developed from when I went to camp when I was young. I feel that the words of the song define it. Also, it is great practice for exegesis in general.

This song is Fade to Grey by Jars of Clay. Notoriously difficult to understand, I was only able to understand it at all because he gave meaning to a dilemma that a friend of mine was going through. He was going through a bout of self condemnation, and when thinking about this, Fade to Grey came on my playlist, and suddenly made sense to me. Here is my analysis of Fade to Grey, originally published April 21st 2004:

Analysis of Fade to Grey

Verse
Oh its not hard to know what you're thinking, when you look down on me now
Well, what is He thinking, "Yeah that guy's a sinner". This is a statement of someone who is frustrated with a sin they just committed.

Your trance of love is seeking, To turn this world around
God is trying to end sin.

But in my state of blind confusion, No god can pull me out
This is an obvious untrue statement. God can pull him out. But he feels that he is so sinful that there is nothing anyone can do to ever make him righteous.

But then I see Your love is willing, To turn me inside out
The idea that God wants to make such an unworthy vessel righteous is not something that is automatically apparent. It's something that he had to realise.

Bridge
It's in despair that I find faith summons the night to bow down to day
He only truly finds faith when he's at his most desperate points.

When ignorance is bliss won't You save me from myself
Stop me from becoming complacent in my sin, and allowing myself to avoid learning more about You because I'm afraid of what it might do

Chorus
And then i see You there with Your arms opened wide and you try to embrace me
In my most sinful moments, I then see You, and You are still loving me, and trying to get me to come to You

These lonely tears I cry, they keep me in chains and I wish they'd release me
Tears of self-condemnation. This line is the key. When you are crying about your sin, and allowing your recognition of your depravity to overwhelm you, it binds you. It chains you up because it stops you from seeing all of the good that God has done with you, and it blinds you from what God is trying to do with you right now.

Cold is the night but colder still is the heart made of stone turned from clay
Basic line about a hardened heart. If a heart is unwilling to change, then it becomes useless to God. If you constantly look towards who you were, and stay thinking of yourself in terms of your sin, then you have a stone heart, one that cannot be molded. For if you focus on what was, how can you ever see what you can become.

And if you follow Me you'll see all the black, all the white fade to grey
Yes, it is easy for one to recognise that one isn't pure, that they are not white. But one must also realize that after we except Christ, we are no longer black. We are involved in a process of God turning us from black corroded being to being pure and white. We are not either righteous or sinful. We are sinful beings who are becoming righteous, and we must rest in the faith that God will continue that good work in us.

Introduction

Hello, this is my blog. I wanted to explain why I made this blog, and what I am looking for here and what I am not.

My intent with this blog is simply to get out my ideas with feedback. I think by talking and through discussion. Therefore, I do not see this as a mode of converting people to my opinion, but as a mode of thinking. By writing the ideas down, I shape my thoughts better, and if and when people challenge those ideas, I am able to address those challenges, and either correct or improve upon the original thought.

I had one professor in seminary who said that he was afraid that the seminary failed me to some degree by not allowing me to come to my professors in private as often as I needed with my thoughts (Many of the professors also had administrative duties, meaning they didn't have a lot of time to read many of the personal essays I would write). Though I wouldn't have used language that strong, I do agree that I am a person who needs to work out his thoughts with other people, often changing my opinion in conversation, much to the annoyance of my wife.

I would add that it is not my intention to convince other people of my opinions, nor be convinced by yours (though you are welcome to try). I used to debate a lot, and it became way too addictive. Instead, I simply want to get my ideas out there. I'm not opposed to debate mind you. I think there are a lot of important issues there that need to be stood up to. I am simply saying that it is not the purpose of this blog, and if you try to make it so, I may do many things to frustrate you. Also, if I seem stubborn, and unwilling to listen, remember my intent here is to think my own thoughts out, not necessarily to learn from you.

All this said, I do want to be challenged. If I am in error, I want to stop being in error. I also want to see if my ideas actually hold up to scrutiny. If you are willing to bear with this, than I encourage you to challenge me on any topic you will.

Also see:
The Rules on Comments
My Positions on Issues

Some Simple Rules of Engagement

Here are some simple rules that I have when it comes to the comments.

1. No cursing, or inappropriate comments. Such posts will be deleted.
2. No slandering or name calling. Such posts may be deleted or responded to according to the host's discretion.
3. Please no lecturing or elephant hurling. After the 10 day limit of free posting, I retain the right to clip overly verbose or arrogant comments. There isn't a hard or fast rule to this, but simply attempt to keep things conversational. However, before the 10 day limit, I'll just respond in kind.
4. Treat Scripture appropriately. Any employment of the MGH will not be treated with respect. All Scriptural references will be considered in context, not as free floating aphorisms.
5. Please remain on topic. After the 10 day limit, the host retains all rights to clip posts that dodge or deter from the topic at hand. This may refer to either the topic of the original post, or a topic that legitimately came up in the discussion. I will give a warning to get back on topic before clipping though.
6. Don't provide a link as an argument. It's fine to give links, but if you provide one, use it as a source to what you are saying, or as literature that can supplement what you are saying. If you don't at least describe the argument, then you haven't made an argument.

That is really all that I ask. I will do my utmost to warn before deleting or clipping anything. I really do want to have free conversation here. These rules are only in place to ensure fair and clean dialogue.

A List of My Various View Points.

I'll keep this simple and go right into the list. I'll use some big terms. Sorry.

• Religion: I am a believer in Jesus Christ, and a devout Christian. By this, I mean that I believe in the gospel as both spiritual and historical truth, and live out my life according to its implications. Though I believe that there do exist multiple legitimate expressions of Christian faith, and I believe there exists enough human error in the understanding of God to allow differences in opinions in even crucial doctrinal points, I also believe that Christianity is the only legitimate understanding of the nature of the world and reality, and it is only through the truth of the Christian gospel that salvation, redemption, predestination, happiness, and eternal life can be found.
  
  
• God: There is only one God, who is the supreme mover and ruler of the cosmos. This God has revealed Himself to humankind as three persons. Here person is not understood as a separate sentient being, but is understood as a real distinct aspect of the one God through which He interacts with reality and relates with us. The three persons of God are the Father, the Son or Word, and the Spirit.
  
  
• Cosmology: I believe that God created the whole of the cosmos out of nothing. Furthermore, I believe that He brought life into being on this planet through a special creation as recorded in Genesis 1, and not through the means of Darwinian evolution, though a small measure of biological evolution most certainly has operated since. Whether or not the Genesis 1 account demands a universe which is only a few thousand years old is something upon which I remain undecided.
  
  
• Christology: Christ is the Word of God. Word refers to revelation, and understanding. It is through Christ that we see God and understand who He is. God has revealed Himself in Christ, for Christ is God incarnate (Jn 1:14). Because of this, we say that Christ is a singular person (Christ's actions, relations, and decisions are one) but has two distinct natures, human and divine. Some aspects of these natures are completely contradictory, such as ignorance and omniscience, reliance and omnipotence, locality and omnipresence. Furthermore, Christ possessed two sources of understanding and two distinct wills. However, all of these opposing forces within Christ were settled, for Christ's humanity was in perfect submission to the Father, and as such, the human and the divine perfectly acted as one in Christ. Therefore, though Christ's possesses incredibly different opposing forces within Himself, He is able to act and be as one.
  
  
• Soteriology: I am an Arminian. An Arminian is someone who believes that
  1. Human kind is in a state of complete inability to do good of any kind, and cannot approach God without God first approaching them.
  2. That God, in His gracious and unnecessary desire to save the whole world, sent the Son into the world, to die on the cross for the sins of each and every person.
  3. That God has decided to only apply this atonement to those who have faith in His Son.
  4. Because humanity cannot generate faith on their own (see A), God has given a measure of grace to each and every person to enable to them to come to saving faith if they so chose. This same grace also gives them the opportunity and ability to reject God's gracious offer of redemption.
  5. That it is impossible for any spiritual, physical, or social force to over power God and pull us away from Him after we have accepted His Son. However, I confess that God still has the right to forsake us if we turn our backs on Him and the Son.
     
     
• Pneumatology: On the day of Pentecost, God sent His Holy Spirit to all of His people to empower them to do the work of the church, and to guide them in their personal lives. Through the Spirit, we are currently being perfected and reformed into the image of Christ, and possess the perfect guide to life.
  
  
• Supernatural: I believe that it is illogical to believe that He who is omnipotent and has invested the very life of His Son into this world, would cease to act within it. I further believe that it is illogical to think that those movements of God that were needed in the first century church are unnecessary now. Therefore, I believe that the Spirit of God moves and acts in powerful and supernatural signs among those who possess faith in those signs, for the empowering of His saints to proclaim the good news of our Lord.
  
  
• Revelation: It is impossible to say or know anything definite about God without God revealing it. Therefore, God has provided a witness of His revelation of Himself to mankind throughout the ages, as recorded in the canon of Holy Scriptures: what we call the Bible. This is the infallible witness of who God is, and what God's goals and plans are. We also refer to this as "specific revelation" for it is given to a specific people, the Church. But God also reveals Himself through all by what we call "general revelation" which is the testimony of God in nature, and the inner workings of the heart by the Spirit of God in all. However, only the Bible can provide definitive statements about God and His purposes.
  
  
• Hermeneutics: I believe in the basic assumption that all of Scripture is intended to teach us the correct world view. Therefore, I believe that the proper way of approaching a biblical theology is to construct a world view out of the Old Testament text, and then allow the Christ Event as recorded in the four Gospels to invade, challenge, and reshape that world view, with the testimony of the apostles as a guide. I believe in taking in the Bible as a full and continuous witness, and not as a collection of aphorisms.
  
  
• Language: I have a deep passion for language. Language is the medium of thought, and the more mastery of language one possesses, the higher one's thoughts can become. I am also concerned with rhetoric, for the Christian Church has something very important to say, and it is therefore imperative that we learn to say it well.
  
  
• Ecclesiology: The Church is God's chosen people. It is a body set apart from the rest of the world to be God's voice, hands and feet. The Church is not a collection of individual persons who happen to believe in the same thing, but is an entity unto itself. Believers join the Church to join Christ, and when you join Christ, you join the Church. One cannot be a Christian and remain away from His body, anymore than a finger can exist apart from its body.
  There is the true Church, which is the spiritual people of God, which is not defined structures, rules, or systems. Instead it is defined by Christ, and all those who are connected to Him. There is also the Church manifested, which is the structures, rules and systems which we can see and touch. This is a mere reflection of the true Church, and one can belong to one without belonging to another.
  
  
• Tradition: I am paleo-orthodox, following the proposals of Thomas Oden. To that affect, I except only the Bible as an infallible witness to the Almighty God, but I submit myself to the tested wiser saints who have come before me as fallible guides to understanding that witness. The goal of theology is to consider the full history and expression of God's people, and attempt to search for God where those expressions collide.
  
  
• Sacramentology: Though I believe that God moves in power through particular actions, I do not believe it is because of the actions themselves that God grants them power, but because of the faith of the participants. I believe that there exist three particular acts which God has ordained to display His will and nature to the Church, and through which He has intended to act:
  1. Baptism: where one who has confessed Christ both in his/her heart and by his/her word is fully immersed into a body of water, symbolizing the death of the old, and the birth of the new through cleansing water. It is by this act the God intended persons to be initiated into His church, and in this act, when done in faith, God will grant a person a blessing of protection by His Holy Spirit.
  2. Communion: which is a simplified version of Christ's final celebration of the Passover Festival. The regular consumption of the cup and the bread serve as a memorial for the sacrifice of Christ for believers, and when taken in faith, provides spiritual sustenance for the believer.
  3. Marriage: which is a institution for one man and one woman, created by God to demonstrate His love and commitment to His people. It is through a wedding that God enters into a marriage and perfects the union of two imperfect persons, for the provision of godly offspring, and for the edification of each other. Though the persons remain imperfect, the union is perfect as long as it remains centered on Him.
     
     
• The Social and Moral Responsibilities of the Church: The Church possesses two primary responsibilities: providing for those who cannot provide from themselves and bringing salvation to those who are currently walking the path to destruction. First, a Christian who is not concerned about helping the poor and needy is a Christian who has abandoned the heart and confession of God.
  Second, considering the truth of the nature of the gospel, it is immoral for any Christian to withhold its saving power to those around him/her.
  Third, it is important for a Christian to keep evangelism as a higher mental priority than social justice, for what good is it for a man to gain the whole world, but forfeit his soul? Furthermore, because social justice can also be an avenue for evangelism, keeping evangelism as a higher mental priority will keep the two equal in action.
  
  
• Relation of Church and State: I believe that we are to be in the world and not of the world. Therefore, the Church's interaction with the state should be predicated on the nature of the state within which she is found. Considering current America, it is not the role of the Church to pass laws having Americans behave like Christians, but to confess Christ within this country to generate (or regenerate ;-))Americans who want those laws. The policies of this nation are not determined by truth or righteousness, but by the mindset of its people. Therefore, first we convince the people of truth and righteousness, and then truth and righteousness shall be expressed through the law.
  Furthermore, it is wrong for the Church to rely upon and entrust her responsibilities to the government. Though the Church can take advantage of the government's hospitality, it is ultimately impossible for the state to accomplish what the Church was commissioned to do, and when the Church begins to believe otherwise, she becomes lazy.
  
  
• Politics: I am a federalist in the literal sense of the world. By this, I mean that this nation was designed to be a federation, now consisting of 50 independent governments, united under a common army and federal power. It is the role of the states to rule over the people, and it is the role of the federal government to rule over the states (and the states only). Economically I am a Capitalist, not because I believe it to be a good or moral system, but because I believe it to be the only system which actually works due to humanity's fallen state.
  
  
• Culture: Human beings are designed to be shaped by their relationships. This is for the purpose of having us build each other up, and for us to be shaped by our relationship with God. But in our fallen state, this beautiful aspect of our design has been used to oppress one another, and to keep each other bound to a depraved mind. Therefore, God has set aside a holy people, within which He can build a different culture to shape the worldview and morality of His people, and to act as His voice in a fallen world. The Church must always be counter-cultural, for part of its purpose is to act as a different culture.
  
  
• Gender: I believe that there are very real and innate differences between men and women. These differences are there to provide balance within human society and especially within the home. However, these are differences in personalities, not powers and abilities. Therefore, it is improper to deny any occupation, activity, or role to either male or female based upon gender. Instead, we need to base it upon gifts, for if the Spirit gives someone a gift for a ministry, we are not to question the Spirit's wisdom.
  
  
• Abortion: Though I do not know exactly at what point a fetus becomes a human being, I do believe that it is more important to ensure that no human being is allowed to die without just cause. For this reason, I believe that the only presently moral approach to abortion is to only allow it in cases where the mother's very life is also in danger of being lost. In those situations, the fetus should still be treated as a human being, and one should allow the Hippocratic oath to determine the appropriate course of action.
  
  
• Homosexuality: I believe that according to the Bible, the act of having physical intimate relations of someone of the same gender is considered sin. Furthermore, I agree with Paul's belief as expressed in I Corinthians 6:9-11 that homosexuality is among those actions which is both redeemable and can be repented, but is still considered a sin. Though I am aware that there exist those who are drawn to the action, I believe that through the power of God that drawing can be overcome.

Salutation

Hi there. This is the first post of this blog. I'm changing from http://www.xanga.com/jc_freak73 to here because this site allows more comments. So please, feel free to comment. I'm going to slowly be moving articles from my old site to here, editing them as I go. The word "archaic" means that I would not express myself this way anymore, but I felt the original post held value.

So, I'll be keeping both up for a while, moving one over here a day, but posting new stuff on my old site till this one catches up. So let's see how this works.

Just for fun

Ok, saw some of this cool html stuff, decided to put a reference for it here, while showing it off. None of this material is mine, but its cool.

Hmm lets see

Look at me! :(
Haha!

Hmm lets see

:+< P>

Cool, eh?

I'm motion sick! :(

AND THEY'RE OFF!!!!

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RAT#1
+<8#>~~RAT#2
+<8#>~~

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C'monnnnnnnnnn TWO!! .............COME ONNNNNNNN TWO!!!! ..........DADDY NEEDS A NEW PAIR O' SHOES!!!............ATTA BOY TWO!!!!.......KEEP IT UP!!!!.......KEEP IT UP!!!.......YOU GOT IT!!!!..........THAT'S GOOD BOY!!!!!....GO! GO! GO! GO! GO!!!.................................YAYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!! TWO IS A WINNER!!!!! :P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:+

Ahhhh, the shear joy of chaos.

Devotional index

Ephesians:

• Chapter 1
• Verses 1-2
• Verses 3-6
• Verses 7-10
• Verses 7-8
• Verses 9-10
• Verses 11-12
• Verses 13-14