Hey y'all! My name, if you haven't figured out, is Luke Jennings. I am originally from Iowa, but moved to South Carolina when I was nine, moved to Brazil for 18 month in 6th and 7th grade, then moved back here! This summer I will once again be leaving, but this time for Texas! I love my family, my friends, and, most of all Jesus Christ, my Savior. I am an avid runner and musician. I have played guitar for about 10 years and, just recently, began working in a new field of music. At this time, I am part of a Christian rap group called N-63 (Nehemiah 6:3) and our goal is to make great music that points our audience to the Father and our hope, Jesus Christ! We just released our first album "Day By Day" and would love it if you would check us out on iTunes or Spotify and leave us an iTunes review!
ALL FOR HIS GLORY. Reader Response for February 26th:
In the beginning, God spoke and there was light. In the beginning, God spoke and there was dry ground. In the beginning, God spoke and there were beasts of the field... Incredible. God displays His magnificent power in even the first chapter of the story of Earth as He speaks the world from a state of non-existence into a state of being... Amazing. And yet, God did not stop there. The Bible says that He then, "formed man from the dust of the the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." Read that and take joy in it! God, the creator of the universe, did not choose to stand back and simply speak man, us, into being; rather, He chose to form us in His own image with His own hands and breathe His own breath into our nostrils! How special we are to Him! ...Understanding that, I believe His love for us as His most special creation is one facet of the reason He chose to spare the human race after Adam and Eve sinned. Adam and Eve, and with them humankind, deserved to die immediately after eating the fruit as they had sinned against God, the definition of perfection and holiness; however God did not strike them dead immediately. There were definite consequences for their actions, but God, in just glimpse of His mercy, allowed them to live physically temporally. The beauty of the fall is that, even at the darkest point in human history, God had a plan to use it to His glory as He would use the sin and destruction it brought into the world to reveal Himself fully to His creation on the cross where His mercy and His wrath would meet, His justice and His grace would kiss, and His love of His creation and His hatred of sin would collide upon Himself incarnate in Jesus Christ.
Praise Him! Partner Response (February 25th)
I completely agree with you, Luke. Knowing that God is so powerful that He can create the existence of this world with just a few words is beyond the imaginable, but it's so true. Knowing that He took His time to mold us into His own image is just... breath-taking. None of us deserve this life that He has given us; we all deserve to die for all of our sin and fleshly thoughts. But He loved us so much that He let us continue walking this earth for His glory, and His alone. We don't even deserve the air we breathe, which He breathed into us. We should praise Him always and show Him our unrequited love. We belong to Him - He is our master, our creator, the potter of our lives, and so much more. He could've started over when Adam and Eve first sinned, but knowing that He forgives us for our sins, even though it is against Him, just shows how great and merciful His love is to us. I completely, one hundred percent, agree with what you said, "The beauty of the fall..." I never saw it that way, but reading it makes me understand so much more. Our God is amazing. GOD IS GOOD. You have put this into a wonderful explanation. I can't wait to read what you have next. ~ Sarah
Reader Response for March 4th:
In each of these texts, it appears that the authors suggest that it would be better for man to live without true consciousness of his surroundings than for him to live in a situation in which he is completely aware and uncomfortable. Essentially, the moral of each story was that, for man, ignorance is bliss. From the selection by Kleist, he claims that gracefulness in "the dance" stems from infinite unconsciousness or infinite consciousness. The best for man would be infinite unconsciousness because if a man had infinite consciousness he would no longer be a man, but a god. In the selection by Plato, Plato seems to say that, though the men when they are released from prison are more aware and conscious of their surroundings, they are unhappy, even after their eyes adjust to the differences, because they do not understand what they are seeing. They would prefer their former bondage in the cave because at least there it was predictable and they knew all that they saw... It is interesting, this reminds me of a sermon I heard preached just a few weeks ago... God offers us freedom in Him. Freedom from the bondage of our flesh, sin, and, ultimately, death, through faith in Jesus. Sounds fantastic, right? Well it is, but it is also unpredictable. When God led the Israelites from Egypt, they grew scared in the desert as the Egyptians were chasing them, wanting to bring them back into bondage. They began to question God and started to want to go back to bondage because at least there they knew what would happen to them... God would not let them go and, in the end, He delivered them. God's freedom, much like the freedom in Plato's story, can be uncomfortable and unsettling as we are no longer in complete control and understanding of our surroundings. Our challenge as Christians is to, by the power of the Holy Spirit, trust God-- to find joy, unlike the men in Plato's story, in the uncertainty knowing that God knows what is coming, even when we do not, and know that He has a plan for our live for our good as we are His sons and daughters and for His glory as He does everything to bring glory to Himself. Partner Response (March 11th):
I loved reading your response, Luke. I see now what you meant by a man's conciousness that you mentioned in response to my writing. In most of a man's life, yes, ignorance is bliss. But it's not always bliss. Like you said about the Isrealites wanting to go back to Egypt because they knew what was going to happen to them there - they were scared of the unknown that the desert brought them. That's what gets me because while we don't want to know a lot of things in life, there are still times that we do want to know for the sake of not having to worry about unwanted surprises. While we want to be confident, we are also scared about anything we don't know. Especially when it comes to our own lives and what the future may hold. And that's where God comes in. By putting our faith in Him, we don't have to be scared. We won't have to know what's coming our way and we can still rejoice in our confidence. God brings us comfort, and by trusting in Him, we can leave our unknowns with the one who has no unknowns.
(Sorry this is so late!) Reader Response for March 12th:
Well, after reading Book 1 of Paradise Lost, or at least the portion of it Mr. Alexander gave us to read, I have to say that, in my opinion, Milton uses a lot of unnecessary lines in the poem! However, once you realize what the meat of the text is saying, the story is interesting. One of the things I found most interesting was how Milton really emphasized in the text Satan’s unrepentant pride and sheer desire for power, inadvertently pointing out the root of all sin. These traits are most clearly shown in lines 263-265 as Satan speaks to Beelzebub. He says, “Here we may reign secure, and in my choice to reign is worth ambition though in Hell: better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heaven.” This idea is just mind blowing to me: one would rather reign with power in for a short time but be eternally separated from God, all that is good, than serve Him eternally and enjoy paradise forever. When phrased this way, Satan’s decision seems ridiculous; however, we decide the same way many times, though not as consciously. At the root of Satan’s fall was idolatry. His god was power manifested in himself: he decided that temporary power was more desirable than God and eternal His glory. When we put things before God (power, pleasure, success, intelligence, etc.), we make the same decision: our temporal desire is more important than God and His eternal glory. In Paradise Lost, Milton does an excellent job in pointing out why it is so easy for us to fall into this trap of idolatry (which is at the heart of all sin) in lines 162-165. In these lines, Satan says, “If then his Providence, out of our evil seek to bring forth good, our labor must be to pervert that end, and out of good still to find means of evil.” Misery loves company and Satan will stop at nothing to cause us, tools designed to bring God glory, to fall into the same trap he did: the trap of vain worship. Partner Response (March 13th)
Wow... just, wow. What you were able to derive from this reading is just incredible to read. I never really saw this, but now that you've pointed it out, I agree with it. Satan does see his power whenever he sees us fall, and we can't let him do that. The Bible does explain how following God will not be easy, but it's worth it all in the long run - He's worth it all. What I'm getting from your response is that Satan is always trying to convince us that by not taking the "hard" road with God, we could have power in Hell and not have to follow anyone. But to turn away from, as you said, "serv [ing] Him eternally and enjoy [ing] paradise forever."? That doesn't make any sense. A question popped in my mind halfway through your response. I read, "...we decide the same way many times, though not as consciously." In what situations have we decided that way? I'm not saying that we don't, I just want to know some situations that may come to mind when thinking this way. All in all, I think this is a well-written response. Reader Response for March 21
Having just completed the excerpt from Book IV, I can honestly say that my first reaction is shock at Satan's monologue... While in past conversations Satan had admitted to some remorse (always quickly covered by fierce indignation), in this passage he does not make any attempt to defend himself. He even goes as far to glorify (though not in a joyful way) God as the "matchless King". Satan also comes to recognize all that God had given him in Heaven, undeserved, which leads to Satan admitting that his service to God was completely in order-- it was not to be some tyrannical obligation forced upon him. It is here that I begin to see Satan touch on what is to be our response to the God and His gospel. Satan, in lines 55-58, says, "And understood not that a grateful mind by owing owes not, but still pays, at once indebted and discharged—what burden then?" God has given us grace abundantly by giving us His righteousness freely through Jesus. Accepting and believing in Him and His undeserved gift, our lives should look vastly different than they did before being saved. Why? We are "at once, indebted and discharged". Because of what Jesus did on the cross, we are eternally discharged from our sin and eternally indebted to Him for our salvation for which we can never repay Him (which is why it is called grace). For this, our gratitude toward Him should compel us to live lives that honor and serve Him. As Satan said, "What could be less than to afford him praise, the easiest recompense, and pay him thanks. How due?" I love that question "How due?" because it is so true! How due is God our praise and honor forever for who He is and all that He has done? So, why do we fail to give Him that which He so rightfully deserves? According to Satan in the passage, it is when we are "forgetful what from him [we] have recieved." Partner Response - March 24th, 2013
To be honest, I did not read Book IV before last class period (miscommunication on my part) so all I know about it is what we discussed in class. But other than that, I definitely agree with your response about why can't we honor and serve Him as much as he deserves. Going back to the fact that I didn't read the Book, it surprised me during class and while reading your response that Satan would feel that much remorse. And never would I have thought that he would say what he did about God being the "matchless King." That to me is a lot different than I would have thought that Milton would write. Other than that, I don't really have much more to say except that this was a great response (sorry about that!). See you in class Tuesday! - Sarah
Reader Response for March 28th
I know this is VERY late, but, oh well, better late than never. Besides, right now I am traveling through Louisiana... what else do I have to do? Anyway, this is my reaction to Books 9-12. The first thing I found interesting in these books was how Milton personified Reason and Will. Milton says that Reason is that which directs the Will. Reason seeks that which is good because it was made good; however, Milton makes a certain distinction: though Reason is good and seeks good, it can be misinformed— led astray. This distinction provides an explanation for why Adam and Eve, though made good, could fall to Satan's enticements. Reason was misinformed by Satan through his deceit and, thus, misdirected the Will into sin. Another interesting thing I noticed in the text was Milton's speech concerning companionship through Adam. Though they were spoken to his wife, the reasons Adam gives for needing companionship are many of the same reasons God gives to Christians for needing brothers and sister in Christ to walk with. Essentially he says, "You watch my back and I will watch yours. Together, when one of us begins to stumble, the other can come along to help." Though it may show Adam's weakness, he understands that humans are created to do life and worship the Creator together. The final thing I noticed in the text was the Romeo and Juliet move Adam pulls after Eve eats the fruit. At first, it appears to be a romantic gesture by Adam, but then I thought: by eating the fruit to be with Eve, he puts his relationship with Eve over his relationship with God. Eve had become Adam's god; he had deemed her necessary for life and happiness. This is a very important thing to notice as it is a problem that is very prominent among teenagers. Too many teenagers put too much emphasis on a certain boy or girl and believe they cannot live without him or her. First, this leads to idolatry (which is very bad) as he or she takes the place of God on the throne of the teenager's heart. Second, this can lead to a dangerous situation as the teenager may stay in an unhealthy relationship simply because they cannot bear to leave. As Adam will learn, seeking satisfaction in another human being, no matter how perfect, will lead to nothing but frustration and brokenness.
Hey y'all! My name, if you haven't figured out, is Luke Jennings. I am originally from Iowa, but moved to South Carolina when I was nine, moved to Brazil for 18 month in 6th and 7th grade, then moved back here! This summer I will once again be leaving, but this time for Texas! I love my family, my friends, and, most of all Jesus Christ, my Savior. I am an avid runner and musician. I have played guitar for about 10 years and, just recently, began working in a new field of music. At this time, I am part of a Christian rap group called N-63 (Nehemiah 6:3) and our goal is to make great music that points our audience to the Father and our hope, Jesus Christ! We just released our first album "Day By Day" and would love it if you would check us out on iTunes or Spotify and leave us an iTunes review!
ALL FOR HIS GLORY.
Reader Response for February 26th:
In the beginning, God spoke and there was light. In the beginning, God spoke and there was dry ground. In the beginning, God spoke and there were beasts of the field... Incredible. God displays His magnificent power in even the first chapter of the story of Earth as He speaks the world from a state of non-existence into a state of being... Amazing. And yet, God did not stop there. The Bible says that He then, "formed man from the dust of the the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." Read that and take joy in it! God, the creator of the universe, did not choose to stand back and simply speak man, us, into being; rather, He chose to form us in His own image with His own hands and breathe His own breath into our nostrils! How special we are to Him! ...Understanding that, I believe His love for us as His most special creation is one facet of the reason He chose to spare the human race after Adam and Eve sinned. Adam and Eve, and with them humankind, deserved to die immediately after eating the fruit as they had sinned against God, the definition of perfection and holiness; however God did not strike them dead immediately. There were definite consequences for their actions, but God, in just glimpse of His mercy, allowed them to live physically temporally. The beauty of the fall is that, even at the darkest point in human history, God had a plan to use it to His glory as He would use the sin and destruction it brought into the world to reveal Himself fully to His creation on the cross where His mercy and His wrath would meet, His justice and His grace would kiss, and His love of His creation and His hatred of sin would collide upon Himself incarnate in Jesus Christ.
Praise Him!
Partner Response (February 25th)
I completely agree with you, Luke. Knowing that God is so powerful that He can create the existence of this world with just a few words is beyond the imaginable, but it's so true. Knowing that He took His time to mold us into His own image is just... breath-taking. None of us deserve this life that He has given us; we all deserve to die for all of our sin and fleshly thoughts. But He loved us so much that He let us continue walking this earth for His glory, and His alone. We don't even deserve the air we breathe, which He breathed into us. We should praise Him always and show Him our unrequited love. We belong to Him - He is our master, our creator, the potter of our lives, and so much more. He could've started over when Adam and Eve first sinned, but knowing that He forgives us for our sins, even though it is against Him, just shows how great and merciful His love is to us. I completely, one hundred percent, agree with what you said, "The beauty of the fall..." I never saw it that way, but reading it makes me understand so much more. Our God is amazing. GOD IS GOOD. You have put this into a wonderful explanation. I can't wait to read what you have next. ~ Sarah
Reader Response for March 4th:
In each of these texts, it appears that the authors suggest that it would be better for man to live without true consciousness of his surroundings than for him to live in a situation in which he is completely aware and uncomfortable. Essentially, the moral of each story was that, for man, ignorance is bliss. From the selection by Kleist, he claims that gracefulness in "the dance" stems from infinite unconsciousness or infinite consciousness. The best for man would be infinite unconsciousness because if a man had infinite consciousness he would no longer be a man, but a god. In the selection by Plato, Plato seems to say that, though the men when they are released from prison are more aware and conscious of their surroundings, they are unhappy, even after their eyes adjust to the differences, because they do not understand what they are seeing. They would prefer their former bondage in the cave because at least there it was predictable and they knew all that they saw... It is interesting, this reminds me of a sermon I heard preached just a few weeks ago... God offers us freedom in Him. Freedom from the bondage of our flesh, sin, and, ultimately, death, through faith in Jesus. Sounds fantastic, right? Well it is, but it is also unpredictable. When God led the Israelites from Egypt, they grew scared in the desert as the Egyptians were chasing them, wanting to bring them back into bondage. They began to question God and started to want to go back to bondage because at least there they knew what would happen to them... God would not let them go and, in the end, He delivered them. God's freedom, much like the freedom in Plato's story, can be uncomfortable and unsettling as we are no longer in complete control and understanding of our surroundings. Our challenge as Christians is to, by the power of the Holy Spirit, trust God-- to find joy, unlike the men in Plato's story, in the uncertainty knowing that God knows what is coming, even when we do not, and know that He has a plan for our live for our good as we are His sons and daughters and for His glory as He does everything to bring glory to Himself.
Partner Response (March 11th):
I loved reading your response, Luke. I see now what you meant by a man's conciousness that you mentioned in response to my writing. In most of a man's life, yes, ignorance is bliss. But it's not always bliss. Like you said about the Isrealites wanting to go back to Egypt because they knew what was going to happen to them there - they were scared of the unknown that the desert brought them. That's what gets me because while we don't want to know a lot of things in life, there are still times that we do want to know for the sake of not having to worry about unwanted surprises. While we want to be confident, we are also scared about anything we don't know. Especially when it comes to our own lives and what the future may hold. And that's where God comes in. By putting our faith in Him, we don't have to be scared. We won't have to know what's coming our way and we can still rejoice in our confidence. God brings us comfort, and by trusting in Him, we can leave our unknowns with the one who has no unknowns.
(Sorry this is so late!)
Reader Response for March 12th:
Well, after reading Book 1 of Paradise Lost, or at least the portion of it Mr. Alexander gave us to read, I have to say that, in my opinion, Milton uses a lot of unnecessary lines in the poem! However, once you realize what the meat of the text is saying, the story is interesting. One of the things I found most interesting was how Milton really emphasized in the text Satan’s unrepentant pride and sheer desire for power, inadvertently pointing out the root of all sin. These traits are most clearly shown in lines 263-265 as Satan speaks to Beelzebub. He says, “Here we may reign secure, and in my choice to reign is worth ambition though in Hell: better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heaven.” This idea is just mind blowing to me: one would rather reign with power in for a short time but be eternally separated from God, all that is good, than serve Him eternally and enjoy paradise forever. When phrased this way, Satan’s decision seems ridiculous; however, we decide the same way many times, though not as consciously. At the root of Satan’s fall was idolatry. His god was power manifested in himself: he decided that temporary power was more desirable than God and eternal His glory. When we put things before God (power, pleasure, success, intelligence, etc.), we make the same decision: our temporal desire is more important than God and His eternal glory. In Paradise Lost, Milton does an excellent job in pointing out why it is so easy for us to fall into this trap of idolatry (which is at the heart of all sin) in lines 162-165. In these lines, Satan says, “If then his Providence, out of our evil seek to bring forth good, our labor must be to pervert that end, and out of good still to find means of evil.” Misery loves company and Satan will stop at nothing to cause us, tools designed to bring God glory, to fall into the same trap he did: the trap of vain worship.
Partner Response (March 13th)
Wow... just, wow. What you were able to derive from this reading is just incredible to read. I never really saw this, but now that you've pointed it out, I agree with it. Satan does see his power whenever he sees us fall, and we can't let him do that. The Bible does explain how following God will not be easy, but it's worth it all in the long run - He's worth it all. What I'm getting from your response is that Satan is always trying to convince us that by not taking the "hard" road with God, we could have power in Hell and not have to follow anyone. But to turn away from, as you said, "serv [ing] Him eternally and enjoy [ing] paradise forever."? That doesn't make any sense. A question popped in my mind halfway through your response. I read, "...we decide the same way many times, though not as consciously." In what situations have we decided that way? I'm not saying that we don't, I just want to know some situations that may come to mind when thinking this way. All in all, I think this is a well-written response.
Reader Response for March 21
Having just completed the excerpt from Book IV, I can honestly say that my first reaction is shock at Satan's monologue... While in past conversations Satan had admitted to some remorse (always quickly covered by fierce indignation), in this passage he does not make any attempt to defend himself. He even goes as far to glorify (though not in a joyful way) God as the "matchless King". Satan also comes to recognize all that God had given him in Heaven, undeserved, which leads to Satan admitting that his service to God was completely in order-- it was not to be some tyrannical obligation forced upon him. It is here that I begin to see Satan touch on what is to be our response to the God and His gospel. Satan, in lines 55-58, says, "And understood not that a grateful mind by owing owes not, but still pays, at once indebted and discharged—what burden then?" God has given us grace abundantly by giving us His righteousness freely through Jesus. Accepting and believing in Him and His undeserved gift, our lives should look vastly different than they did before being saved. Why? We are "at once, indebted and discharged". Because of what Jesus did on the cross, we are eternally discharged from our sin and eternally indebted to Him for our salvation for which we can never repay Him (which is why it is called grace). For this, our gratitude toward Him should compel us to live lives that honor and serve Him. As Satan said, "What could be less than to afford him praise, the easiest recompense, and pay him thanks. How due?" I love that question "How due?" because it is so true! How due is God our praise and honor forever for who He is and all that He has done? So, why do we fail to give Him that which He so rightfully deserves? According to Satan in the passage, it is when we are "forgetful what from him [we] have recieved."
Partner Response - March 24th, 2013
To be honest, I did not read Book IV before last class period (miscommunication on my part) so all I know about it is what we discussed in class. But other than that, I definitely agree with your response about why can't we honor and serve Him as much as he deserves. Going back to the fact that I didn't read the Book, it surprised me during class and while reading your response that Satan would feel that much remorse. And never would I have thought that he would say what he did about God being the "matchless King." That to me is a lot different than I would have thought that Milton would write. Other than that, I don't really have much more to say except that this was a great response (sorry about that!). See you in class Tuesday! - Sarah
Reader Response for March 28th
I know this is VERY late, but, oh well, better late than never. Besides, right now I am traveling through Louisiana... what else do I have to do? Anyway, this is my reaction to Books 9-12. The first thing I found interesting in these books was how Milton personified Reason and Will. Milton says that Reason is that which directs the Will. Reason seeks that which is good because it was made good; however, Milton makes a certain distinction: though Reason is good and seeks good, it can be misinformed— led astray. This distinction provides an explanation for why Adam and Eve, though made good, could fall to Satan's enticements. Reason was misinformed by Satan through his deceit and, thus, misdirected the Will into sin. Another interesting thing I noticed in the text was Milton's speech concerning companionship through Adam. Though they were spoken to his wife, the reasons Adam gives for needing companionship are many of the same reasons God gives to Christians for needing brothers and sister in Christ to walk with. Essentially he says, "You watch my back and I will watch yours. Together, when one of us begins to stumble, the other can come along to help." Though it may show Adam's weakness, he understands that humans are created to do life and worship the Creator together. The final thing I noticed in the text was the Romeo and Juliet move Adam pulls after Eve eats the fruit. At first, it appears to be a romantic gesture by Adam, but then I thought: by eating the fruit to be with Eve, he puts his relationship with Eve over his relationship with God. Eve had become Adam's god; he had deemed her necessary for life and happiness. This is a very important thing to notice as it is a problem that is very prominent among teenagers. Too many teenagers put too much emphasis on a certain boy or girl and believe they cannot live without him or her. First, this leads to idolatry (which is very bad) as he or she takes the place of God on the throne of the teenager's heart. Second, this can lead to a dangerous situation as the teenager may stay in an unhealthy relationship simply because they cannot bear to leave. As Adam will learn, seeking satisfaction in another human being, no matter how perfect, will lead to nothing but frustration and brokenness.