Lent 33: Looking for information

We're attending an academic conference this weekend. W presents his findings on a difficult passage on women speaking in church (1 Corinthians 14). I'm reading a paper on the effect of Spirit baptism on women who were early Pentecostal missionaries. Such different topics, such different interests.

We love scripture and enjoy studying how it's changed the world. He's the theologian. I'm the connector (interested in stories and resources - hence history.)

We read all kinds of books, stay up on international news, listen to speakers, and think about the effect of Good News on people, culture, and policy. Our sources inform and influence our thinking.

What are you reading or learning today? Whom do you consult when you want information or help?

Read more:
*When they say to you, "Consult the mediums and the spiritists," should not a people consult their God? Isaiah 8:19 (NASB)

*When God had disarmed the rulers and authorities, he made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Christ. Colossians 2:15 (NASB)

Moravian Prayer: Thank you, gracious God, for all you have done for us. You have given us life, your love, and Jesus, your Son. May everything that we do and say this day be a pleasing gift to you, in grateful response. Amen.

God the Artist

Monster whales. Northern Lights. Animal "art."

Everywhere we look, God sculpts, plasters, paints, and draws beauty. From the deepest oceans to the remotest corners of land and sky, God's artwork shows off his creativity.

What fun to read about new discoveries! People devote their lives to exploring the intricacies and vastness of the universe. We call them scientists, artists, and writers.

It seems easier for me to believe that a personal Artist designed it all, than to fathom how such splendor inched from nothingness to spectacular displays––in all their minute and astronomical proportions. What do you think?

What make me smile today, acknowledging God as infinitely generous, is that he gave humans senses and intelligence so we could observe and enjoy our surroundings.

An added bonus? He gifted some of us as researchers and artists, to reflect how differently we see and understand God's bounty. Lucky us!

Read more:

*Bezalel made the bronze washbasin and its bronze stand from bronze mirrors donated by the women who served at the entrance of the Tabernacle. Exodus 38:8 NLT

*I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:14-16 NIV

*More majestic than the thunders of mighty waters, more majestic than the waves of the sea, majestic on high is the Lord! Psalm 93:4

*Jesus woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. Mark 4:39

Moravian Prayer: Lord of heaven and earth, you are high above all creation. You continue to provide for us the sustenance needed to sustain our lives. May we live lives worthy of the peace that Jesus brings to all humankind! Amen.

The weight of words

Scholars love words. Some researches prefer words to people.


But I'm finding there is a heavy weight in words. When I started my dissertation and wrote the first paper on it, I couldn't find information on early Pentecostal missionary women. Meanwhile, a friend wrote a fantastic dissertation on the rhetoric of early Pentecostal women (Joy Qualls, Regent University) and there are more papers coming down the pipeline all the time.


I'm drowning in all the information I'm supposed to know as "background" for my own findings. As I'm rewriting an article (to be defended in place of tutorial exams), I've begun rereading the print-outs, books, and pages I've assembled in my file cabinet. I feel strangled by the weight of words pressing on me. And I still have two big phases of defense and writing left, though I'm hoping to finish with them this year.

If I don't get through this year, I'm taking the summer off to breathe before tackling the beast again in the fall. My worry is that so many of us are writing at the same time: if I don't get my work approved, who knows if someone else's work will make mine moot. Argh. Even in the last five years, the topic seems to be covered better and better. Another year? I might have to toss my work out altogether.


Barbara Cavaness, who kicked off Assemblies of God research on their female missionaries with her groundbreaking dissertation on single female missionaries, gave me access to her file cabinet. She has neatly sorted articles and copies and papers on all kinds of studies done about missionaries, especially single women. And she hasn't had the time or heart to pass them on since she wrote almost a decade ago.

I'm afraid that may happen to me as well. Many scholars get so attached to all the things we've collected that it wraps itself around us. I suspect that I'm going to be happy to let everything go, though. This process has become a burden, boring me with its minucia, fiddles with editing, and the sheer volume of sameness. Though I want to focus, I'm like the little boy in the picture, lifting what doesn't feel real. After a while, it seems like I'm going backwards rather than forwards. It's like shopping in 101 malls, all of which have the same stores with slightly different displays.


Oh Lord, help! Let me not be wasting my time and yours as I bench press through the weight of scholars before me!


What's weighing you down or causing you to put life on hold?


Read more:

*Then Moses climbed the mountain to appear before God. The LORD called to him from the mountain and said, "Give these instructions to the family of Jacob; announce it to the descendants of Israel: 'You have seen what I did to the Egyptians. You know how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me. And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.' This is the message you must give to the people of Israel." Exodus 19:3–6 NLT

*I call with all my heart; answer me, O LORD, and I will obey your decrees. I call out to you; save me and I will keep your statutes. I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word. Psalm 119:145-147 NIV

*"And don't address anyone here on earth as 'Father,' for only God in heaven is your spiritual Father. And don't let anyone call you 'Teacher,' for you have only one teacher, the Messiah. The greatest among you must be a servant. But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." Matthew 23:9–12 NLT