CRF: Why Words Matter

1. God created the world with words (Gen. 1:3-2:3). (Words are magic.)

2. God created the world through the Son, who is the Word (Jn. 1:2, Col. 1:16). Words are like people. The created world is words that speak (Ps. 19:1-11) and is upheld by the Word (Heb. 1:3). (Very magic.)

3. God gave man the glorious task of imaging Him in his use of words/naming/ruling (Gen. 2:19-20). (Words are still magic).

4. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (Jn. 1:1, Heb. 1:1-3). This is the proof that God’s Word does not return void (Is. 55:11). (Deep magic.)

5. That same Word is spoken in the words of Scripture by the working of the Spirit, and it is sharp and powerful (Heb. 4:6). This is why the prayer of the righteous man avails much (Js. 5). (Our spell book.)

6. Some warnings about the power of words:
a. Some words pierce like a sword (Pr. 12:18)
b. A wholesome tongue is a tree of life (Pr. 15:4).
c. He who has a perverse tongue falls into evil (Pr. 17:20).
d. Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Pr. 18:21).
e. Guarding the tongue is guarding your soul (Pr. 21:23)
f. Bridling the tongue has everything to do with the central tenets of the faith (Js. 1:26).
g. The tongue is powerful and dangerous (Js. 3:5-8).
h. A good life is does not proceed from an evil tongue or speaking deceit (1 Pet. 3:10).

7. Therefore, put away filthy language (Col. 3:8) and coarse jesting (Eph. 5:4). Let it not even be named among you (Eph. 5:3). We begin speaking the truth and speaking words of healing when we confess our sins (1 Jn. 1:5ff).

8. Ultimately, the way we use our words has everything to do with the gospel. Our words either conform to the Word and His word in Scripture or they are at odds. They are either gospel words of resurrection and forgiveness or they are satanic words of condemnation and accusation. The gospel is the declaration of the Kingdom of the Risen Jesus. Is the resurrection true? Has God invaded this world with the Kingdom of His Mighty Word?

9. Tell good jokes. Love the best stories. Curse like Jesus. And bless those who persecute you.

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Stories that Create Children

Newsom explores the genre of the prose introduction of Job and settles on a "didactic tale," drawing off of elements of fairytale as well as prophetic/parabolic tales.

She interacts with Susan Suleiman's work Authoritarian Fiction, who notes that didactic literature "infantilizes the reader." Newsom explains: "The subject position that didactic narratives offer the reader of whatever age is that of a child."

The genre of fairy tale, parable, or didactic tale as Newsom calls it revels in security and reassurance, a simple and unified vision of the world and morality, and all from the an authoritative voice.

While Jesus is clearly playing with some of these expectations in His parables, it is nevertheless striking to note how in this sense the genre of Jesus' stories assumes and even creates a child audience. If parables have at least on the surface a "paternal" voice, then Jesus is the Word of the Father for the children of Israel. Or in other words, the parables are children's stories only appreciated and loved by those who have "become children" for the Kingdom. Or yet another angle: These stories of Jesus are one of the effective ways that Jesus calls into being and creates a childish people. Listening to the stories of Jesus in faith is the way to become children who may enter the Kingdom. Parables are stories that create children.

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A Porter Tale

My wife is making me blog about our dog. She says I can't go to sleep until I tell a story about him. So here I am with my Corona in hand to do my duty.

So there we are. It's Sunday afternoon. All is pleasant. All is peaceful. All is serene. As we gaze down upon the wide world of Sunday serenity, there's a particularly quiet block of residential homes that occupy the south hill of a smallish town called Potlatch. And along that very block runs a street called Spruce that humbly stretches a short distance a top that southern hill. And if one wanted, one might take a stroll down such a street and pass the goodly neighbors of Goudimel Parish. There's Magnus, Lucy's lion, chewing on the bloody remains of a deer, Mr. Jones is out on his hands and knees talking to his front lawn, trying to convince it to be happy and green, and then there's my house, a small white dwelling built in the 1920s.

So there we are. It's Sunday afternoon. And the Sumpter home is pleasant and peaceful and serene. Then there is a loud bang that echoes through that quiet block of residential homes. What is that loud bang? It is not the sound of the Atwood boys blowing up a small lizard. Nor is it the sound of Nathaniel Rosendahl running his bike into a tree, and no, it is not the sound of Eric Jones drifting asleep and falling off his chair during family reading. No, it is the sound of Porter, our puppy, helping himself to a two layer cake, cooling on the kitchen counter. Sadly, the story doesn't end there. The poor puppy proceeded to pack his little belly with every crump of cake. The little 14lb puppy had a beer-belly to make me jealous. Of course that's not saying much, but believe me, it was big. And my wife says he looked like Templeton from Charlotte's Web. Needless to say, the dog got sick.

The End

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