In the next few weeks I have the tremendous honor of writing a paper on the purpose statement of Romans. The trouble is that there isn't any consensus among scholars as to the purpose of Romans. It has been widely accepted for Centuries that perhaps Paul intended to write a summary of his theology, or a compendium. I even remember my days at Central Bible College where this is exactly what I was taught. More recently scholars have diverted their attention away from a compendium of Paul's theology to other purposes as primary for Romans. Some have asserted that Paul's purpose in writing Romans is found in the upcoming trip to Jerusalem. Perhaps Paul was "practicing" on the Romans what he would say to the church in Jerusalem. Others have stated that Paul was eliciting support from the church at Rome for his Spanish Mission, either through financial support, or fellow missionaries to partner with him, or both. There have also been claims that Paul insisted on providing the church at Rome an Apostolic Foundation, to make it a "true church" since it was likely founded not by any apostle, but by believing Jews who brought the message to Rome. Some say Paul wanted to exert his apostolic muscles and prove to that he truly was the apostle to the gentiles, and unless he addressed, either in person or through letter, the center of the gentile world, he would have difficulty proving his resume to both gentiles, and the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. Most scholars have had a difficult time pinpointing a specific situation that would necessitate a letter from Paul, like is the case with Galatians, Corinthians, etc, leaving them gravitate toward the theological treatise theory. Still, there is another thought that supposed Paul was urging two separate communities of faith, the Jewish believers and the Gentile believers, to stop segregating their worship and meet together. Honestly, this one is close, but there are still issues with this theory. Lastly, there is a major group that outlines the tension between the "strong" and the "weak" over Mosaic customs. Hopefully, you can see how difficult it is to find a specific and unifying theme to the book of Romans. I hope to discover weaknesses in each of the purported purpose statements of Romans, piggybacking off of the hard work of many scholars, and through that effort develop a purpose statement that I can defend. The purpose statement that I will use as a launching point is as follows: To show that "no distinction" exists in the "impartial" judicial administration of God-all believing ones (whether Jew or Gentile) are justified by faith through the Gospel (Romans 1-11). This lack of distinction should provoke in us an acceptance of one another-Jew and Gentile believer-in the church (Romans 12-16), care of Dr. Tomlinson, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

I've found myself without a true sense of the divine for some time now. I think the pressures of life and the reality of the harshness of it have given a sobering glimpse into the secrets of what remains in my heart when all the faking has been given in the offering of saving face. I'm amazed again at the ease in which repentance gives way to pretending, exposing the pride of self-vindication to be nothing more than failed attempts to prove to others that redemption happened. Honesty is the enemy when the truth doesn't line up with the image and the lie becomes the closest companion. Appearance is the cousin to first impressions and must be maintained with spotless perfection, in order to stay strong. I'm finding that people work harder at looking right than being right, when being right is a free gift of grace that can't be earned no matter how hard it's worked for. The path to right standing with God isn't something that needs our legalistic and guilt-ridden practices to be maintained, and by thinking righteousness needs our help we only perpetuate the cycle of guilt and legalism that lead to faking. I'm not saying that righteousness doesn't produce righteous actions, because obviously right actions will be birthed from righteousness. What I am saying is that righteous acts don't guarantee righteousness. There is only one righteous deed that matters: Christ offering his sinless life in our place to make us righteous. I think I'm getting closer to the point in my life with Christ that I'm beginning to trust His righteousness given to me more than I am my ability to work for it, or even maintain it. I'm tired of guilt being used as a motivation for righteousness. I want Christ's unbelievable love that was displayed to us while we were still sinners to be the motivation for accepting his grace and living a life pleasing to Him. I'm tired of legalism being pushed on people more than people being taught to accept Christ's work for their righteousness. I want to experience all that God has for me, and in that desire I have no problem sacrificing certain things, to focus my attention and my affections. If I feel God leading me to not watch television and instead devote myself to prayer or Bible reading, I'll do it to His glory, but I won't dare criticize someone for watching TV. Get my point? It's my opinion that God doesn't receive any glory from a hard-legalist. Their "righteousness" is their reward and God is left somewhere out of the equation. The whole point I wanted to make with this rant is that I'm tired of being forced into pretending when all I want to do is repent! I blame the system that makes us think we have to earn favor with God for giving us the false sense that we have to choose between faking and fixing. As Christ followers, we must trust His work and quit adding things that make our salvation conditional and weak. Simple Application: Are you working too hard on your image, rather than trusting in Christ's gift of righteousness to you?

Here are some updates from my life in the past two months of hiatus from the wonderful world of blogging. 1. Shannon's great-grandma, after suffering heart-failure in the living room and a subsequent 2 month stay in the hospital, was released and is now home. 2. We purchased a Dodge Durango. Why? I don't know. We like to buy gas I suppose. 3. We moved into a loft downtown for approximately 7 days, and then moved back in with the in-laws. Explanation to follow. 4. I lost my job. 5. I had an interview at Target. I "wasn't what they were looking for." Really? What exactly are they looking for, incompetency? 6. I'm considering Chaplaincy in the Air Force, and have talked to a recruiter. 7. Adulthood has officially lost its "cool" factor and I wish I was a kid again. 8. I found out that I'm partially color blind. 9. I bought new Phat Farm glasses without realizing it, and I look good! 10. I'm probably going to lose my mind in the next few days.