Getting Dusty

Ora et Labora

2011-05-05T13:38:00.000-04:00

There is a saying that floats around the Christian community that deals with work and prayer. The saying is “When we work, we work; When we pray, God works”. I’ve been thinking about this statement the last couple of weeks for a number of reasons including the hit that North American churches often take for not being prayerful enough or as someone somewhere said, “It’s amazing what American churches can get done without prayer” (this was not said positively).
So is it true that when we work, we work, but when we pray God works? As far as I can tell this statement is based on faulty theology and faulty piety. The idea that when we work, we work misses completely the truth of the scriptures that when we work it is God who at work through us. Jesus makes this clear in John 15.“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” Paul makes this clear in 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, and Ephesians 4 when he speaks of our being given gifts by the Spirit to carry out the work of God in the world. Romans 10 speaks of the powerful way that God works through people when it insists, “11 As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
God works through us to bring his message to the world, to renew communities in ways that reflect his coming kingdom, and so much more.
Now some may argue that we go off in our own power to do these things, while in prayer we rely on the power of God to do things. It is true we can go off trying to do things in our own power, but Jesus tells us that these things will not bear fruit. Our fruit comes from our connection to God. In another sense we could say something similar about prayer. Our prayers can be just as insincere and focused on accomplishing our goals rather than God’s goals as when we try to get things done on our own.
There is also in the “when we work, we work; when we pray God works” idea a faulty piety. It holds that a truly pious person prays, while the less pious person just works. But no where that I can think of do we find that prayer is held up as a more spiritual position and action than working for the kingdom. Indeed, when one reflects on the life of a pious person a picture of work is often at the forefront. From the “Noble Woman” of Proverbs 31 to the call to “Do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God” to Paul’s words in 1 Timothy 2.9-10, “...likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works...”, we find that a pious person works.
Certainly prayer and piety go together, prayer and godliness go together, but more importantly prayer and work go together. The Latin phrase has it right “Ora et Labora”, pray and work. The two are a package and through them God does his work in the world. To lift prayer (or work) above the other truncates God’s desire for a full-orbed life.

Osama Bin Laden, Love Wins, and the Scandal of Grace

2011-05-02T12:41:00.002-04:00

The news is buzzing with the reports of the death of Osama Bin Laden by U.S. Special forces. The cheers at the new of his death have been loud, the declaration that justice has been done is everywhere.
As I have been reflecting on the death of Bin Laden I couldn’t help but make a connection to Rob Bell’s book Love Wins. Whether or not you agree with Rob (I haven’t read the book yet, only multiple reviews) his basic premise is that there are second chances to accept Christ and end up with him for all eternity. Finally, God’s love will have his way with us.
This all sounds wonderful until we bump into Osama Bin Laden. Here is someone that people want to have rot in Hell for all he has done, they don’t want any second chances. Where is the justice in Bin Laden dying, getting to Hell and 15 minutes later seeing Jesus Christ, his love and wanting it, accepting it and being released from his punishment into an eternity with Christ? “He needs to pay for his crimes” is the cry we might very well hear from the lips of Americans and from the lips of all who suffered from his atrocities. Let good people get a second chance, but not Bin Laden.
However, when you think about it, this is exactly the scandal of grace. That people like Bin Laden, people like you and me are accepted not because we are good, but because Christ took our punishment in his place. If Bin Laden, like the thief on the cross, would have given his life to Christ as the bullet came toward him he would have heard the same words as the thief on the cross, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” This is absolutely scandalous and it is absolutely the hope and wonder of the gospel.
This reality also makes us wonder all the more at the cross and what Christ must have suffered there. We know what people want for someone like Bin Laden, we know the kind of punishment that is deserved, we also know that people like Bin Laden have become followers of Christ and had their sins taken on the shoulders of Christ. What was it like to bear that level of wrath against sin on the cross? What was it like to bear the wrath of God against our sin on the cross? It is good for us to remember that as horrified we are by what Bin Laden did, so what we have done in the eyes of a holy God is also a thing of horror and deserving punishment, a punishment taken by Christ.
The scandal of grace is that another pays for our sins, even the worst of our sins, even the sins of the worst of sinners. So will Bin Laden get a second change to experience this grace? Rob Bell seems to think so, I’m not sure from what I’ve seen of his book that his case has as strong of merit as he wants it to have. But even without that second chance grace remains a scandal--and the only hope we have.

Jude 3: Teaching and Loving

2011-04-22T12:16:00.002-04:00

Jude 3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

Jude 3 brings us up close and personal with Jude’s love for this church. He, like God, loves this group of people and wants the best for them. In this longing for what is best we find echoes of Jesus who when he saw the crowds and their needs met their needs in an unexpected way, namely, he taught them. We read in Mark 6.34 “When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.” What is best for the people is that Jesus teach them truth. They are like sheep without a shepherd. They have no one to guide them in the way of truth (The failure of the leaders of Israel to shepherd the people fills the Old Testament e.g. Ezekiel 34). Jude, like Jesus, wants the best for these people and the best means shepherding them by teaching them so that their faith is deepened (in terms of knowledge and commitment).

This emphasis on teaching is a powerful reminder in our anti-intellectual culture that we need to know the truth of God to live the faith well. N.T. Wright in his book Scripture and the Authority of God points out that one of the central places to gather this truth is in sermon, “...sermons are supposed to be ‘audible sacraments’. They are not simply for the conveying of information, though that is important in a world increasingly ignorant of some of the most basic biblical and theological information. They are not simply for exhortation, still less for entertainment. They are supposed to be one of the moments in regular Christian living when heaven and earth meet. Speaker and hearers alike are called to be people in whom, by the work of the Spirit, God's word is once again audible to the heart as well as to the ears. Preaching is one key way in which God's personal authority, vested in scripture and operative through the work of the Spirit, is played out in the life of the church.” Wright’s words are somewhat surprising. Little did most of us realize that in the preaching of the Word heaven and earth meet. It’s a good reminder for me, whether preaching or listening, to be attentive and prepared to participate in this awesome time when heaven and earth meet."

Wright’s words are somewhat surprising. Little did most of us realize that in the preaching of the Word heaven and earth meet. It’s a good reminder for me, whether preaching or listening, to be attentive and prepared to participate in this awesome time when heaven and earth meet.

What's a Blessing For -- Jude 2

2011-03-11T15:28:00.002-05:00

What gives strength to a person and to a community? Jude is about to enter into a hard conversation with people who have liars, deceivers, and destroyers of community in their midst. Living in this environment they need strength. Jude offers that strength in terms of a blessing:

May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. Jude 2

A blessing of mercy, peace and love. A blessing is a prayer for God to give something to a person or to a people. But it is also much more than that. When done rightly a Biblical blessing is given by one of God’s representatives. This means that no one less than God himself stands behind the blessing. It is God who will bring to fruition the blessing that his spokesperson has pronounced. The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament says, “In general, the blessing is transmitted from the greater to the lesser. Its major function seems to have been to confer (i.e. grant or bestow) abundant and effective life upon something or someone.”
Jude, as God’s representative, is bestowing an abundant life of more and more mercy, peace, and love. Mercy speaks of God’s loyalty and lovingkindness toward his people (in the Old Testament mercy refers to God’s covenant faithfulness). In the New Testament Jesus most often shows mercy by bringing all different kinds of healing into people’s lives. In a situation where the people are struggling God assures them of his loyalty to them and his tenderness toward them. The blessing is one of mercy and peace. Peace is about God giving his people security, safety, prosperity and happiness--it is the promise of a full life. In the Old Testament peace or shalom was pictured as each man under his own vine and fig tree. The New Testament does not shy away from giving a full-orbed picture of God’s shalom (both physical and spiritual fullness), but it always holds that complete peace comes only with the return of Christ and our concern needs to be first with God’s kingdom even if it means we have to sacrifice some physical fullness (see 1 Timothy 6 and Hebrews 10.32ff). But even in this sacrifice we can find the fullest life possible on earth as we live blessed by God’s peace. The blessing is mercy, peace, and love. Love is God’s unfailing giving of himself for his children.
This blessing gives strength to the community Jude writes to and to us. For the blessings we read in the Scripture are blessings that are ours. Ours not only because we read them and take the words in with joy, but because these blessings are spoken over us at the end of worship services. John Calvin once said it was worth going to worship just to hear the blessing given. Sometimes people make a dash for the exits during the last song in a worship service--it is a sad mistake, for they are missing the blessing of God conferred on them and the community. A blessing of mercy, peace, and love.

A little word, A Big Change

2011-03-02T10:06:00.002-05:00

Jude 1.1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ...

When I was in middle school one of my favorite things to do was to play football at night under the lights that illuminated the front area of a local church. My friends and I would play until our fingers were cold and we had done too much damage to that church’s front yard. Somewhere in the midst of our game I was sure to hear the voice of my mom calling me to leave the game behind and head home (we lived next door, a good shout or three would get me home). When I heard that voice I knew (although I would not have put it in these terms in middle school) that I was being called out of one thing and into another. I was moving from playing a game and hanging with my friends to doing homework, getting read for bed, and being with family.

Jude in his tightly packed first verse tells us that we have been called. Like my calling on those cool autumn nights God’s calling calls us out of one place and into another (see also 1 Peter 2.9-10). What we may miss in this concept of call is that God is not simply calling us out of one state into another state, in other words, he is not calling us out of being unforgiven to being forgiven. Instead, God, like my mom, is calling us to a new place. Through the good news of Jesus Christ he is calling us out of our present way of life and into his kingdom, he is calling us out of the people we are presently a part of and into being part of the new people of God.

This calling changes us in dramatic ways. We now begin to live the values of the kingdom. When we are part of this kingdom we see far beyond our own salvation and into the great plan of God to redeem the cosmos. Our lives become part of this overarching goal of God’s redemptive plan. As N.T. Wright reminds us, “...in Scripture itself God’s purpose is not to just save human beings, but to renew the whole world. This is the unfinished story in which readers of Scripture are invited to become actors in their own right.” Not only do we begin to live the values of the kingdom we become part of a new people, the people of God, the church. We become committed to this community where we strive to love, honor, and care for one another. And we discover that our commitment to the community we were called out of calls for our commitment in new ways. We are committed to that community and the people in it to help them see the wonders of God’s kingdom, to serve them in ways that enhance the kingdom, and to invite them to hear God’s call.

“Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called...”

Unexpected Closeness

2011-02-04T12:04:00.002-05:00

Jude 1

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James,

To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ...

The first verse of Jude continues to surprise. If we’ve been reading the Bible for a while we may smooth over the surprises in our minds replacing unexpected words with expected ones, but it is the unexpected that brings new ways of seeing things. Here is another unexpected: Jude tells us that we are “beloved in God the Father”. Our expected reading is, “We are loved by God the Father” (the NIV smooths over this unexpected by translating it that way). What does it mean that we are beloved in God the Father? Most likely Jude is upping the intimacy level between God and the body of believers. Those whom God loves are taken into an intimate fellowship with him, the community is embraced and enfolded by God’s love. This kind of embracing has echoes of Paul describing the church (not individual believers) as the bride of Christ in Ephesians 5.²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, ²⁶ that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, ²⁷ so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. ²⁸ In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, ³⁰ because we are members of his body. ³¹ “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” ³² This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. The profound mystery is not only the unity of husband and wife becoming one flesh, but also how Christ and his bride, the church, are one.

The intimacy of the Father and the church and the intimacy of Christ and the church startle us because of the closeness and because the intimacy speaks to the importance of the church. In our culture the church is seen as an optional, voluntary organization that we join for what benefit we can get and leave when it no longer suits us. But what if being a part of the body of believers means being brought into intimate fellowship with God, that it is in this body that we are embraced and enfolded by God’s love?

On C.S. Lewis, Fairy Tales, and Sarah Palin

2011-02-02T11:49:00.003-05:00

A great article by the head of Walden Media on why C.S. Lewis believed reading fairy tales is absolutely essential for a well-lived life.

Jude, God's Love, and Community

2011-01-26T14:33:00.002-05:00

The book of Jude packs as important message in its few verses. The first verse, as we noticed last week, makes a radical statement about our being servants, but the radical notions of Jude don't end there.

Jude 1
Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James,
To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ...

The words, "To those who are called, beloved in God the Father..." are words that challenge our individualism. The love of God is first of all not for individuals but for a people called out of darkness and into his marvelous light. The words always assume a community of faith, a people who are called out to become part of a new community. There is no notion, understanding, or even room for a person to believe that he/she is a Christian by him/herself. Jude would not comprehend nor condone the idea that as long as I have my relationship with Jesus all is well. God's people are a called out people, a people who are to form and be part of community. What may surprise us even more is that there is only one place in all of the New Testament where we find love individualized: Paul, in the book of Galatians, talks about himself and says that God loved him and gave himself for him. Other than that one time God's love is spoken in the context of community. The reality of the words of Jude and pretty much everywhere else this topic comes up in the New Testament tells us we need to have a strong focus on the community when we speak of God's love (think of Paul's words in Romans 5.8, "--but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us."). We can only imagine what would change in our lives and in our community of faith if we began to speak in ways and believe in ways that reflected "Christ died for us" rather than our overwhelming focus on "Christ died for me".

Babette's Feast

2011-01-20T10:58:00.004-05:00

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Heart of an Artist
Babette's Feast at MOVIECLIPS.com

Jude, that strange book

2011-01-19T06:27:00.000-05:00

Just before the book of Revelation there is one of the shortest books in the Bible: Jude. For being short it is one of the most interesting books in the Bible and leaves one with a lot of questions. I thought it would be worthwhile to take a closer look at this book and discover how it can shape us. For the next weeks I will be doing a once a week post on Jude.

The Opening:

¹ Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James,

To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:

² May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

The very first fun fact in the book of Jude is that his real name (in the Greek) is Judas. In reality this should be the book of Judas but long ago church leaders were concerned about attributing a book to Judas (even though this Jude is obviously not the one who betrayed Jesus) so they shorted the book's name to Jude.

The idea that Jude is a servant of Jesus Christ carries two different and opposite ideas. The first idea is powerfully countercultural. The Greeks valued freedom highly. One book describing this desire for freedom says, "Greeks have a strong sense of freedom. Personal dignity consists of freedom. There is thus a violent aversion to bondage. Service may be rendered to the state, but by free choice. Slavery is scorned and rejected. This explains the fierceness with which the Greeks fought for political independence. The only slavery Plato will allow is to the laws." Jude's willingness to be a servant of Jesus puts him at odds with his culture as he willingly lives under the rule of and for the purposes of another. Since we in our day live in light of what the Greeks considered important we live in a culture that also highly values freedom. To put ourselves in submission or servanthood to Christ is not something that comes easily and to some seems just plain foolish and weak. Second and opposite, to be a servant of Christ is a high honor since one is a servant of the King of kings. This understanding of being God's servant finds its roots in the Old Testament in the life of people such as Moses. When Moses is called God's servant it is a mark of honor.

The question facing us is, "How will we view servanthood?" Is it something that robs us because we live under the rule and for another or do we see it as a mark of honor because we serve the King of kings? How we see servanthood will both shape how we live our lives and the joy we have as we serve.

My Best Gift

2011-01-17T17:59:00.001-05:00

During the Christmas season one of the best gifts I received was a letter from my son Chris. The letter, which a friend helped him write, talks about his response to my biking accident this past summer. Several people who have seen the letter encouraged me to share it with the congregation. So here it is:

Dad,
I love you and appreciate you. It was hard for me when I heard about your accident from mom. Immediately my hands were shaking and I felt sick. Over the next few days I spent my time with Grandma, Grandpa, and friends worrying about your health. I was so excited when I finally saw you in a wheelchair at Mary Free Bed. It scared me, but I was happy that you were alive. I had a balloon, picture, and a “welcome home” sign ready for you when you came home. I was so happy you were home, but scared that you couldn’t walk and that you had the halo on. I still think you looked like a guy from Star Trek. The first time you preached with Tom I was crying and was really happy to see you up on stage. I’m so glad that you are walking today. I know this was a hard summer, but we made it through together.

Love,
Chris

Misdirected

2010-11-29T19:25:00.002-05:00

Chase Bank has a new adversing campaign for its Sapphire credit card. You can watch both the "Holiday Flying" and "Bones" commercials here. The commercials are obviously a spoof of people who should be interested or amazed by one thing (A vacation with Chevy Chase or the discovery of a dinosaur bone) but instead are amazed by something trivial (using airline miles). We all get a smile out of these misdirected folks while at the same time getting the point of the commercial. As I watched these commercials I realized something: we often live exactly like these misdirected folks. We focus our lives on the trivial while ignoring the important--and like the people in the commercial we don't even realize how misdirected we are. In 1 Timothy 4.7-9 we find just one example of this. Paul writes, "Rather train yourself for godliness; 8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 9 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance." Paul tells us that a well-directed life pursues godliness as of first importance, bodily training is a good thing, but at best it is of secondary importance. We flip these two things around focusing much time and effort on bodily training and far less on pursuing godliness--and we think we've got it right, like people who think airline miles are more important than an amazing discovery of a dinosaur bone.

2010-10-15T10:49:00.000-04:00

Learning about our world is an important step to seeing with different eyes. Too often we see only what is close by--a rather safe and easy world--while missing what goes on around us. Here is a video intro to a new movie about Guatemala called "Reparando"

Reparando - Trailer - 01 from Athentikos on Vimeo.

What language do you use?

2010-10-13T10:24:00.002-04:00

Paul mentions "redemption," the great metaphor of emancipation taken from the slave market in Ephesians 1. The costliness of this act is spelled out in the term "through his (Jesus') blood," a reference to his life poured out. In a culture in which a significant proportion of the population was enslaved, this metaphor spoke dynamically about the significance of the salvific act accomplished in the death of Christ. For modern man the metaphor's significance is not readily apparent. For him slavery is a historical phenomenon from the remote past, while redemption is that which is done to green stamps and store coupons. Thus, for him the biblical metaphor has lost its significance. Ironically, however, redemption is one of the terms used most often by the church, usually without explanation, in its proclamation of the Christ-event. Whereas Paul used metaphors from everyday experience to describe the meaning of the Christ-event, we tend to proclaim the metaphors themselves (which modern man has no experiential basis for understanding) as the reality. Instead of proclaiming what is unknown in terms of what is known, we tend to proclaim the unknown in terms unknown, insisting that our hearers first learn our language. In the use of language we have much to learn from Paul.
From: To the Praise of His Glory in Review and Expositor

What the poor need--Law Enforcement

2010-05-09T18:20:00.000-04:00

For a poor person in the developing world, the struggle for human rights is not an abstract fight over political freedoms or over the prosecution of large-scale war crimes but a matter of daily survival. It is the struggle to avoid extortion or abuse by local police, the struggle against being forced into slavery or having land stolen, the struggle to avoid being thrown arbitrarily into an overcrowded, disease-ridden jail with little or no prospect of a fair trial. For women and children, it is the struggle not to be assaulted, raped, molested, or forced into the commercial sex trade.

Efforts by the modern human rights movement over the last 60 years have contributed to the criminalization of such abuses in nearly every country. The problem for the poor, however, is that those laws are rarely enforced. Without functioning public justice systems to deliver the protections of the law to the poor, the legal reforms of the modern human rights movement rarely improve the lives of those who need them most. At the same time, this state of functional lawlessness allows corrupt officials and local criminals to block or steal many of the crucial goods and services provided by the international development community. These abuses are both a moral tragedy and wholly counterproductive to the foreign aid programs of countries in the developed world. Helping construct effective public justice systems in the developing world, therefore, must become the new mandate of the human rights movement in the twenty-first century.

From article by Gary Hagen of International Justice Mission

An Atheist's View of the Bible

2010-05-07T12:21:00.002-04:00

Camille Paglia is an art critic and an atheist. Here's what she says about the Bible,

[T]he Bible is a masterpiece. The Bible is one of the greatest works produced in the world. The people who all they have is the Bible actually are set up for life. Not only do they have a spiritual vision given to them but artistic fulfillment. They don't even recognize just the pleasure of dealing with this epic poetry and drama. Everything is in the Bible.

Curious about the importance of the Bible for building a better culture? Read Culture's Fallow Ground: The Shame of Biblical Illiteracy

What Game are you playing? Part 4

2010-05-05T10:17:00.000-04:00

As a church moves forward those in leadership and in the congregation have to play ball. Last words from Larry Osborne's article:

Play ball!

As a kid I played a variety of sports. I certainly had a favorite. But once a season began, it didn't matter which one I liked the best or which one came most naturally. All that mattered was my ability to adapt to the game we were currently playing.

That was great training for ministry. Some leaders choose their game without considering their church's season, and they keep playing it no matter the results. It's a tough way to do ministry. The odds of success are about the same as Tiger Woods dropping a 15-foot putt with a basketball. Some things just won't happen, no matter how hard we try.

In contrast, successful leaders play the game that's in season. They accept the conditions and the rules. They discern which kind of leadership is needed and they adjust their structures, roles, and relationships accordingly. And they play ball!

What Game are you playing? Part 3

2010-05-03T10:13:00.000-04:00

As the church grows the structures change to deal with new sitution, with the reality that the game has changed. Larry Osborne points out some ways that help us know the game has changed.

How you know it's a whole new game

A star football player and good athlete, Tim decided to go out for the varsity basketball team. He made the team. But whenever it came time to play hard-nosed defense, he reverted to the tactics he'd learned on the football field. He never quite understood that this was a new game with new rules.

What football player Tim called "a little pushing and shoving," the basketball referee called a foul. Soon Tim was on the bench, frustrated that the officials didn't appreciate the tight defense that had won him awards as a cornerback.

While changes are inevitable in a growing church, they are not always easy. Leaders who don't see them coming or don't realize they have already taken place pay a high price in emotions and relationships. So do their teammates and churches.

Besides simply the number of players, here are other signs that the game has changed.

Relational overload.

An increase in time spent massaging relationships is an early sign that the game may have changed.
My preferred style of leadership is relational. I'd rather convince than give directives. I don't do memos (okay, I didn't do memos). Instead, I prefer to pass vision and direction through ad hoc meetings around lunch or the water cooler.
That worked well for a long while. Adding a few staffers and a weekly staff meeting, we easily made the transition from track to golf to basketball. We hit our stride. We hummed along on a long winning streak. It was a blast. Everyone was happy.

But with steady growth in attendance came the need to add new players. Eventually we were no longer an overgrown basketball team. We were a football team. But since the staff came aboard one at a time, I didn't realize the game had changed. I noticed I was suddenly spending a lot of time keeping everyone in the loop.

The ministry team thought we were still playing basketball, so they were upset every time something happened that they didn't know about. I thought we were still playing basketball, so I assumed their complaints were legitimate. Their grievances about relational issues eventually pointed me to structural issues. Only when I realized I was trying to lead a football team like a basketball coach did I find my way out.

Increased miscommunication.

When important messages are chronically missed or misunderstood, it's time to change the way we play the game.
On a golf team, communication is easy and natural, there is seldom a need to set up a special meeting to discuss anything. They probably covered it on the way to the clubhouse.

When our church staff was small, we hardly ever had a scheduled meeting. It felt silly. If we had something to discuss, we did it on the spot. It was fun and fluid, and took little time or planning. But as our staff grew, that style was less effective. Someone was always missing from our discussions. The larger team needs intentional communication.

I've coached my son's basketball teams. Ocasionally, another team will throw a surprise defense our way. Nothing is harder than trying to explain to the kids in the middle of a game what's happening and how to beat it. It seldom works.
The information is not that complicated. But you need a chalk board, about two minutes of explanation, and several walk-throughs. The problem is the number of people who need to grasp it. If just one kid misunderstands or tunes out, we'll turn the ball over, no matter how well the others understand. Usually, we just do the best we can and then deal with it at the next scheduled practice. Larger teams need special meetings, chalk talks, and film sessions to keep everyone on the same page. And if the group grows large enough, you'll have to break it down into smaller groups to facilitate communication.

That's not as easy as it sounds. Expect resistance when shifting between sizes. Duffers who thrive on leisurely fairway talks will feel cheated when you suddenly call an in-bounds play for the last shot. They don't want to substitute rambling conversations with agenda-driven meetings.

For many of them, it's not the game but the relationships that count most. And hoopsters who once knew everything about the game plan aren't usually thrilled with a new structure that leaves them focusing on only part of the picture. For them, knowledge holds the key to power and prestige. Because of this resistance (and the fact that some of us like the old game better than the new game), it's tempting to communicate in the old ways long after they no longer work. That might keep one or two players happy, but the rest of the team will flounder. The coach can either help the team adapt to the new reality, or wait until serious conflict solves the problem by shrinking the group to a more comfortable size.
Conflict over decisions. Many ministry teams are hamstrung when it comes to making decisions. Their structures remain stuck in the past, appropriate for a game they are no longer playing.

More commonly the bottlenecks occur when we try to include too many people in the process. Some years ago we added just one person to a key team. Previously, this tight golf team made great decisions and enjoyed the process. But suddenly things fell apart. A group that once reached consensus quickly started debating every little thing. Coalitions formed, relationships suffered. What were once enjoyable strategy sessions became dreaded staff meetings.
What happened? The game had changed, but the players didn't know it. The problem was not the newest member. The problem was adding one player too many without changing the rules.

Look what happens each time a new person joins the decision-making mix: With two people, you have to maintain just two lines of communication. Adding a third creates six lines. A fourth, 12. A fifth, 20. Add a sixth person and you now have 30 lines of communication to monitor!

No wonder growing leadership teams find their old processes breaking down.

The basic principle: daily operational decisions need to be pushed out to the frontline while decisions about vision and direction are made by an ever-narrowing group at the top. This ensures that those close to the action make good decisions and those who shape vision are not bogged down by relational overload. As a church grows, directional decision-making shifts from congregation to board to staff. At the same time, operational decisions once vested in the solo pastor and a few lay members shift to staff or to specialized team leaders. Unfortunately, it's here that many church leadership teams get stuck. As a result, important decisions become bottlenecked and meetings turn combative. The real issue is not who makes decisions, but that the decision-making architecture remains appropriate to the game. When it no longer fits, we must be willing to change it.

Next Time: Play Ball!

What Game are you playing? Part 2

2010-05-01T10:01:00.000-04:00

As we continue to look at how churches change as they grow one of the things to remember is in the world of church structure the church seeks to be acting one size bigger than it is (or is moving in that direction) so that it is set up for growing to the next size.

What Game are you playing?

2010-04-29T09:48:00.002-04:00

What game are you playing? Larry Osborne of North Coast Church asks that question in relationship to the local church. As the size of a church changes the game also changes. A church of 500 isn’t just a church that has doubled in size from a church of 250. It has become more complex and it has become a different organization.

The leadership of EverGreen after reading the book on church structure entitled One Size Doesn’t fit All recognized this more than a decade ago. In response we decided to become a staff run, council led church. In this system the staff makes the day-to-day decisions while the council is responsible for setting vision and for setting the policies within which the vision and the work of the staff is carried out.

As we are continuing to grow it can be helpful for all of us to see that the decision to be staff run, council led is not simply a different way of carrying out the work of ministry, but one that becomes necessary if the church is going to function well. Larry Osborne sets out a good picture of all of this in his book Sticky Teams. Here is a bit of what he writes using a picture from the world of sports. (I’ll publish this in three parts over the next few days. If you’d like another longer version Tim Keller’s article Leadership and Church Size Dynamics is excellent.)

Track star pastor Small Church about 0-150 in worship

The solo pastor can be compared to a track and field star. That’s where most of us start out, and many choose to stay. On the up side, the single-staff pastorate offers tremendous freedom. On the down side, it can be overwhelming and lonely. Like the sprinter, the solo pastor may work out with others, but he performs alone—often without fanfare and usually before a small crowd peppered with family and friends.

Clubhouse buddies about 150-400 in worship

With growth comes the inevitable addition of a team member or two. Key leaders may be paid staff or lay members. Either way, the small leadership team of two to four resembles players on the golf course. Golf is a highly relational game. So are these teams. Golf is most enjoyable when played with friends. And while it’s preferable that players have similar skills, a stroke a hole is no big deal among pals. The leisurely pace allows for extended conversation and camaraderie. It’s a major part of the game. Afterward, everyone is expected to hang around for a snack and a drink while debriefing that round and planning the next one. For the highly relational pastor, a golf-size leadership team is the most enjoyable stage. The relationships are often deep, the sharing genuine, and the concern for one another goes far beyond the course. Doing what you like with people you like is hard to beat. Next

Time: Basketball teams and Football teams

Cities and Orphans

2010-04-28T18:39:00.002-04:00

It is celebration time at EverGreen, the church where I am honored to be on staff. This is the time of the year when we look back at what God has done and look forward to what God is calling us to do in the coming ministry year. In a couple of weeks we will have our budget listening meeting where people have the opportunity to ask questions about our coming ministry budget.

This year one of the things that we are excited about is a new focus for the money that we use to support gospel movements that renew lives, cities, and cultures. When the budget details are published in about a week you will find some new gospel movements/organizations that we are supporting. There is a particular focus on orphans through the work of Steve and Cara VanderWerf, the work of another couple in the orphanages of Romania, and our on-going work in Colima Mexico. Along with this comes an emphasis on cities--especially large cities. We are placing an emphasis on such urban centers because they are the center of culture change and have a huge influence on the entire world. One of the ways we are diving into the city is through a grant we are giving to Redeemer Presbyterian's City to City initiative. Enjoy watching a bit about that work

Redeemer City to City from Redeemer City to City on Vimeo.

Dealing with Idolatry--ideology

2010-03-30T19:48:00.001-04:00

"...fidelity to the gospel lies not in repeating its slogans but in plunging the prevailing idolatries into its corrosive acids. We must learn to address the spirituality of institutions, as well as their visible manifestations with the ultimate claim of the Ultimate Human." Walter Wink

The Real history of the Church

2010-03-22T14:51:00.002-04:00

Myth and lack of historical fact checking often lead to a misreading and a misunderstanding of history. One of those places we've believed myth over reality is in the crusades. In his book God's Battalions: The Case for the Crusades Rodney Stark takes on the myths that have been passed down through the centuries. Scholar Thomas Madden does a similar debunking in his article on the Inquisition. Here is a bit of the article:

"The Inquisition was not born out of desire to crush diversity or oppress people; it was rather an attempt to stop unjust executions. Yes, you read that correctly. Heresy was a crime against the state. Roman law in the Code of Justinian made it a capital offense. Rulers, whose authority was believed to come from God, had no patience for heretics. Neither did common people, who saw them as dangerous outsiders who would bring down divine wrath. When someone was accused of heresy in the early Middle Ages, they were brought to the local lord for judgment, just as if they had stolen a pig or damaged shrubbery (really, it was a serious crime in England). Yet in contrast to those crimes, it was not so easy to discern whether the accused was really a heretic. For starters, one needed some basic theological training — something most medieval lords sorely lacked. The result is that uncounted thousands across Europe were executed by secular authorities without fair trials or a competent assessment of the validity of the charge.

The Catholic Church's response to this problem was the Inquisition, first instituted by Pope Lucius III in 1184. It was born out of a need to provide fair trials for accused heretics using laws of evidence and presided over by knowledgeable judges. From the perspective of secular authorities, heretics were traitors to God and the king and therefore deserved death. From the perspective of the Church, however, heretics were lost sheep who had strayed from the flock. As shepherds, the pope and bishops had a duty to bring them back into the fold, just as the Good Shepherd had commanded them. So, while medieval secular leaders were trying to safeguard their kingdoms, the Church was trying to save souls. The Inquisition provided a means for heretics to escape death and return to the community."

On Being Safe and Culturally insignficant

2010-03-11T09:12:00.003-05:00

I was looking back at some work I'd done in the book of Proverbs and came across the following words. I don't remember if I wrote them or if they came from another source, nevertheless they reflect a reality that many of us in the Christian community live in.

On the surface, cultural separation masks itself as a form of godliness, but a closer look reveals an enterprise driven more by self-preservation than anything. “We may bemoan a moral decline in the country. Our actual concern, if truth be known, is not to see a vital Christianity flourish, but rather to secure a more orderly and less violent society in which to live out our comfortable and self-satisfied lives.” In other words, we want a safer world. We are not as concerned about the salvation of those in the world as much as we want them to behave better around us for our comfort.

This is where so much of our current attitude and approach to the world differs from God’s will as expressed in the prayer of Jesus in John 17. We want to be safe in a safer world; God wants us safe in an unsafe world. We want to protect ourselves by removing ourselves from danger; God wants to protect us in the middle of danger. These differences may seem insignificant on the surface, but in fact they are huge, involving entirely different worldviews and ramifications.

This theory of safety through removing ourselves from the world could be one of the most dangerous doctrines to invade the church in recent years. It is now thought to be more spiritual to be safe from the world than to interact with it.

What would it look like if we traded in a doctrine of safety for a doctrine of engaging the world? What impact would it have on the way we raise our kids?

America: The Founding Fathers

2010-03-01T09:38:00.002-05:00

There is a debate that seems to rage continually about whether the U.S. was founded by Christians or by secularists who used some Christian language. Both sides of this debate have much invested in their view since if their view wins the day, they can appeal to it to set directions and disenfranchise the other side. I've done some reading on this whole issue and have always been leery of the "Christian America" idea. At the same time it is clear that there some type of religious roots in the founding of the U.S. A recent article by Alissa Wilkinson helped me sort through a lot of the fog.

If this is something you've wondered about or fought for one side or the other it is worth the read.

The good of law

2010-02-15T07:30:00.003-05:00

One of the struggles faced by developing nations is building a base of good laws that are enforced so wealth can be developed. We often miss this as a central ingredient in defeating poverty. A recent article talks about a rather creative way to bring such law to developing nations. Enjoy the read.

What's going on in 1 Corinthians 11

2010-02-09T19:42:00.006-05:00

Every once in a while someone asks me about the passage in 1 Corinthians 11 that deals with the Lord's supper. There is that verse that can is very disquieting, 1Cor. 11:27 "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself." What does one do with this verse and who can dares to take communion in the light of eating and drinking judgment on yourself, after all, even the most committed and faithful of us never gets the faith completely right. Knowing this I've talked to some from very conservative traditions who have never taken communion for fear that they will eat and drink judgment on themselves.

So how do we take these verses? The first is we have to take them in context. The problem in Corinth is that people are coming to the Lord's Supper and focusing only on themselves while ignoring the needs of the body of Christ (the church). The rich are coming, eating, and getting drunk while the poor, who have to work first, come to the worship service hoping to get their one good meal of the week and find the food gone and their "fellow" Christians fully sated. What this tells us is that the people in Corinth are missing out on the body of Christ in two ways. The first way is they are missing the reality that Christ has sacrificed his body, given his body so that they can be reconciled to God. In the supper they come face-to-face with this wonder and it should floor them in such a way that they desire to imitate the sacrificial heart of Christ. As Christ's heart was broken for their need so their hearts should be broken for the needs of those in their community who are poor. As Paul will say in 2 Corinthians 8 concerning the need to give to the poor, 2Cor. 8:9 "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that sthough he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich." The second way they miss the reality of the body of Christ is that the church is the body of Christ and they are dishonoring this body when the rich ignore the needs of the poor in their community.

The important thing to get here is that "not discerning the body of Christ" is not that these people didn't know who Jesus was or didn't understand that the bread represented his body (that's easy to get, a couple of seconds of instruction and a person can tell you the bread represents the body of Christ and the wine the blood of Christ), no the problem is much deeper than that: these people didn't get that bread in their hand was a call to be like Jesus, to act in a Christ-like, self-sacrificing manner for others in the community. We would say that these people didn't get depth of the second greatest commandment, "love your neighbor as yourself" or as John will says in 1 John 4.19 "We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother."

At one level this levels a lot of people who come with confidence to the table and declare they get that the bread is the body of Christ. These people are not discerning the depth of what Paul is after. He's not looking for some intellectual assent (certainly he wants us to believe rightly, but right belief doesn't get us into the core of his desire), he is looking for a people whose hearts are breaking over the poor, the struggling, and broken in their midst. He is looking for people who really to love their neighbor as themselves and as they take the bread are overwhelmed with a God who loved them, so overwhelmed they can't help but bring his love to others, can't help but be those who though they are rich become poor for the sake of others.

Each of us who have come to the table know that we are basically lousy at this becoming poor deal. We are self-absorbed, watching out for ourselves, we want people to care for us because we deserve it. But it is just here that the table does two things: first it confronts us with the body of Christ and we are laid low with our failure to love others; Second, it reminds us that the table is both a place where we see the grace of God in the bread and the cup and a place where the only way we can come it by God's grace. We come asking his forgiveness for failing to discern the body of Christ. For fail to discern it we do, over and over again. The simply truth is that without grace we can't get to the table for our failure to discern the body plagues us. The failure to act in a Christ-like, sacrificial manner walks with us like an unwanted shadow.

But this raises another question. As I mentioned earlier, it is easy to understand that the bread is the body and the wine is the blood of Christ. This concept of the bread is a call to see the sacrifice of Christ and to act in accord with that sacrifice is a harder thing to grasp. It is harder to think through the implications of whether I am loving my neighbor as myself, if my life really does reflect becoming poor so that others may become rich. Given how difficult this can be who can take part in the supper? Can a 30 year old downs syndrome person take part in the supper? Can an 80 year old who has alzheimer's? Can a 50 year old who has never been overly self-reflective come to the table? Can a 10 year old who knows they love Jesus but can't wrap their mind around the fullness of what it means to discern the body?

My take is that the supper is open to all of these people. Open not because they get the fullness of what it means to discern the body (after all, which one of us does, which of us really gets the fullness of Christ's sacrifice and then has it so impact our lives that it shapes and molds every move we make?), but because rightly taught and led they, and indeed all of us, can discern the body at the level of understanding that God has given us at any particular moment in our lives. God does not asks that down's syndrome child or the person with Alzheimer's to be more than they are, only to be what he has made them to be. With a child or a 50 year old we want to help them think more deeply, grow more in discerning the body, but we don't withhold the gift and grace of the supper from them until they get it all right. We withhold the supper only if they don't believe or for a child, if the community and particularly the parents discerns the child is not yet ready--so their faith is a mere mimic of the parent's and doesn't yet have a voice of its own or if it's clear the child wants to take part because taking part looks cool or their faith is childish rather than child-like.

In the Christian Reformed Church, of which I am a part, the way we do this discerning with children and young people is a process called, Profession of Faith. A child or young person stands before the community and declares their faith publicly. We are in the process of asking whether children should be at the supper as a matter of course and not only after they stand before the community and make a public profession. Some hold that a child's inability to discern the body disqualifies them from taking the supper. We don't, after all, want them to eat and drink judgment onto themselves. Wherever this ends up it seems to me that we have less to worry about children failing to discern the body i.e. knowing that because Jesus loves them they need to love others, than we do with adults failing to discern the body since many of us as we have become adults have also put up our guard against loving others and have far less willingness to become poor so that others might become rich.

The bottom line for both children and adults is that we come to the table only by God's grace and each time we hold the bread in our hand we both celebrate that grace and are reminded how much we need it because we look so little like Christ who on the night he was betrayed took bread and said...

Seeing the whole picture

2010-02-08T09:32:00.002-05:00

"...the very point of salvation is the reweaving, enriching, and renewal of creation! The Spirit of God is not only a preacher but also an artist, a gardener, and a banker..."

Tim Keller Pastor and Author

I love this reminder by Keller of the fullness of the work of the Spirit. The Spirit is about the renewal of the cosmos, not only individual souls (and one of the ways he renews the cosmos is by the renewal of individual souls). This reality shapes our own view of our work. When we are involved in the "reweaving, enriching, and renewal of creation" through our work we join with the Spirit in God's grand master plan. The challenge before us is to know how to take part in this rather than just sliding through life assuming it's happening because we are going about our day-to-day tasks. The question before us is, "Who do I have in my life who I think through, struggle with, have honest conversations with about whether how I do all of life reflects the fullness of the work of the Spirit.

Improper Rescues

2010-01-28T16:45:00.002-05:00

I've wandered away from the book of Esther for a time, but I don't want to leave people wondering forever so today Esther makes a reappearance on the blog. So far we've seen a foolish and silly king, while Esther has shown herself to be both the goddess of love and of war (check last post on Esther). As the story continues we also find something else, that Esther's rescue of the people of Israel feels like an improper rescue i.e. it lacks all the clean lines of morality, the proper references to God and more. We like our biblical rescues to be Disneyesque, but a close read of Esther takes it out of Disney and into a movie we wouldn't want our children to go to. Let's take a look:

1. Esther is taken into the king’s harem. Now things get a bit uncomfortable—after all, what is a nice Jewish girl doing in the harem of gentile king? The truth is that some Rabbis have asked basically that question. One Rabbi in the Middle ages wrote, “When Mordecai heard the king’s herald announcing that whoever had a daughter or sister should bring her to the king to have intercourse with an uncircumcised heathen, why did he not risk his life to take her to some deserted place to hide until the danger would pass?.... He should have been killed rather than submit to such an act…. Why did Mordecai not keep righteous Esther from idol worship? Why was he not more careful? Where was his righteousness, his piety, his valor? Esther too should by right have tried to commit suicide before allowing herself to have intercourse with Xerxes. P. 101 NIV Application Commentary There were any number of Rabbis, not to mention Bible translators who have first questioned what Mordecai and Esther did and in the case of the translators, tried to make things look better by adding a verse here or there or getting rid of a verse here of there.

Be that as it may, we’ve got this nice Jewish girl in the harem of a gentile king. Now what—well, God seems to get to work. Mordecai and Esther make their choice and now God works in the context of that choice. Look at Esther 2.When the king’s order and edict had been proclaimed, many girls were brought to the citadel of Susa and put under the care of Hegai. Esther also was taken to the king’s palace and entrusted to Hegai, who had charge of the harem. The girl pleased him and won his favor. Immediately he provided her with her beauty treatments and special food. He assigned to her seven maids selected from the king’s palace and moved her and her maids into the best place in the harem. Esther 2.8-9 NIV Go back to Daniel 1.But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. Now God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel…. Daniel 1.8-9 NIV God at work, at work making the officials favorably disposed toward his kids who find themselves in foreign situations. Now again, most of us are more comfortable with Daniel here, with God stepping up to the plate for Daniel, after all, he’s a good guy, who is determined to stay faithful to God no matter what the cost. Esther on the other had as we are told in Esther 2.10, hides the fact that she is Jewish which probably means that unlike Daniel who struggles to stay pure, that Esther probably eats food she ought not to eat, does things she ought not to do, and doesn’t pray in the manner prescribed, and a bunch of other stuff besides.

Perhaps the greatest irony in this is that back in Israel Ezra is decrying intermarriage (Ezra 9.10-12). While he cries out, Esther is making all the right moves to do what Ezra says shall not be done. And Esther does it at a time when things really are not desperate (they will be, but she doesn't know that). And when times do get desperate Esther tries to get her uncle to find another way to deal with the situation (Es. 4.12-14). Mordecai’s take, relief and deliverance will take place for the Jewish people, I think the best option is for it to come through you as the queen, I think that maybe God has put in you in place for such a time as this—but if God doesn’t use you, he will rescue us in some other way. If that is the case, then why doesn’t God choose another way, why does he continue to work through Mordecai and Esther who have made choices that would make many of us blush?

The answers don't come in the book. Maybe God is just letting us know that he will do his work, even through imperfect people. Maybe God is letting us know that he will do improper rescues that need some forgiveness in the midst of them. Or perhaps God knows and understands that in life choices are not always as easy as we’d like them to be, that life is not as black and white as we’d like it to be and he wants us to know that when we struggle with making the right choices that seek to honor him, to live in a way that brings about his kingdom, that when we do that he can still work through our less than perfect choices. Whatever his reason, an improper rescue is the way of this day and the author never takes the sharpness off and lets us move back into the world of disney.

Did Christianity Cause the Crash

2010-01-03T15:21:00.002-05:00

A recent article in Atlantic Monthly asks if Christianity, and more specifically the prosperity gospel of Joel Olsteen and others like him, caused the crash of our economy. It is as interesting article that is stirring good response and debate. You can find both a link to the article and the debate of top notch Christian thinkers here.

2009-12-29T10:44:00.002-05:00

A Great article on beauty and architecture. Here's the first bit:

Architecture clearly illustrates the social, environmental, economic, and aesthetic costs of ignoring beauty. We are being torn out of ourselves by the loud gestures of people who want to seize our attention but give nothing in return.

The book of Revelation

2009-12-23T13:05:00.002-05:00

From an article by Neal Plantinga,

"John Calvin wrote commentaries on every book of the Bible but one. When he got to the last book of the Bible— the Apocalypse, the Book of Revelation, the book of whores and dragons and clashing empires—he read it and then put his pen back in his drawer."

Perhaps a reminder for all of us to be a bit more humble as we deal not only with advent, but the second advent.

What is Prosperity?

2009-12-22T15:54:00.001-05:00

Deut. 30:9 "The LORD your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. For the LORD will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, 10 when you obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul." The Hebrew for abundantly prosperous is one word which means "to remain over". In the Old Testament abundant prosperity is connected with having being full and still having food left over. We see this in Ruth 2.14 "And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until eshe was satisfied, and she had some left over." What a difference between our understanding of abundant prosperity and the picture of the Old Testament. We could bring this idea into the New Testament as well when Paul says, 1Tim. 6:6 Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.

Esther 4

2009-12-09T11:18:00.001-05:00

The second person in our sitcom is Esther. We find an incompetent king and a beautiful young women whose name is Esther. Again the name is significant, as opposed to an incompetent king we have Esther whose names means either star—which of course carries with it the idea of brightness, a shining light or it could be that Esther is a Hebrew transliteration of Ishtar, the name of the Babylonian goddess of love and war. If Esther does reflect the goddess of love and war in our sitcom, she does it well. Look at chapter 2.17Now the king was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. And the king gave a great banquet, Esther's banquet, for all his nobles and officials. He proclaimed a holiday throughout the provinces and distributed gifts with royal liberality. Couldn’t skip the royal thing…. But catch the thing about Esther, in just one night she pleases the king more than any other, she causes him to fall in love with her, she is the goddess of love. But she is also the goddess of war. Check out chapter 9.11The number of those slain in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king that same day. The king said to Queen Esther, "The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman in the citadel of Susa. What have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? It will also be granted." "If it pleases the king," Esther answered, "give the Jews in Susa permission to carry out this day's edict tomorrow also, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged on gallows." Esther wants the attack to continue, she wants a second day of destruction and she wants a second day to deal with Haman’s ten sons. She is the goddess of war.

But in all of this, what we see is a sharp contrast between an incompetent king and a bright, alluring, capable young woman who gets her way to protect her people. And it carries a kind of smile to the lips thing, even though at times it is a dark humor.

Unexpected Lyrics

2009-12-08T07:49:00.000-05:00

I was listening to the music of 17th century composer Thomas Tomkins and noticed that one of his pieces is entitled: "O Praise the Lord, all ye Heathen". Not exactly the way one speaks of people who don't follow God in the 21st century. We use kinder, gentler language. Heathen sounds quite nasty to our ears for some reason.

But the words of Tomkins (which come from Psalm 117, "Praise the LORD, all nations! Extol him, all peoples!") do remind me that the day is coming when all will praise and extol God. Isaiah speaks of the nations streaming to the mountain of the Lord (Isaiah 2) and Paul says of Christ that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of the Father.

In this season of advent, when we prepare for the coming of the Christ child and look to shepherds and magi worshipping him (those who come from God's people and those who come from the nations), one can't help but wonder what the day will look like when every knee finally does bow. Not only so, but the importance of getting the story out that this day will come: as surely as their was a first advent, so shall there be a second.

Helicopters no more?

2009-12-07T12:35:00.000-05:00

"10 is the new 2. We're infantilizing our kids into incompetence."

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1940395-2,00.html#ixzz0Z1doUWWN

Esther III

2009-12-07T11:10:00.002-05:00

A bit more on our incompetent king and the hope of a real king for the people of Israel in exile.

Xerxes is a king who is a buffoon. In all of his failings, however, none is more devastating than his inability to judge character. He keeps listening to Haman, a guy who wants to kill off a significant group of people in his empire, a killing that’s going to cost the empire a lot.

One last, he doesn’t get it. Remember the story in chapter 1. Queen Vashti—a minor character whose name means beautiful woman or beloved by the way—, Queen Vashti was summoned by the king, ...to bring before him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at. ...she is called in so everybody can take a look at her and go, "wow, what a beautiful woman." Her response, she says, "not coming, not going to do the runway thing". Now catch the punishment for this woman who doesn’t want to see the king and his friends, "Therefore, if it pleases the king, let him issue a royal decree and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media, which cannot be repealed, that Vashti is never again to enter the presence of King Xerxes. Also let the king give her royal position to someone else who is better than she. Now let’s just get this straight—Vashti doesn’t want to hang out with the king, doesn’t want to be in his presence, her punishment is to get exactly what she wants. This king just doesn’t get it.

Enough about our incompetent king—as the Jewish people are hearing the story or reading the story they are getting a good laugh. The kind of laugh that tells them that this king who thinks so much of himself is more of a court jester than anything else. But beyond that they see that where there should be a king there is a vacuum, there is no one doing the royal ruling thing. But even as they laugh the thought does start to occur to them that maybe somewhere behind the scenes there is another king, not a buffoon, not a court jester, but a true king, a king who is at work as they are being threatened by the likes of Haman who gets his way because of a king who doesn’t get it. A true king who still cares and loves them and who is guaranteeing their future. In their laughter their minds turn to this true king, and they see possibilities, they taste hope.

Esther part Deux

2009-12-01T18:44:00.004-05:00

The book of Esther is a 5th century sitcom, a tragic sitcom, but still a sitcom. So here's the first character of the sitcom: King Xerxes. King Xerxes is the only character that is involved from the very beginning of the book to the very end of the book, he is also the character who is singled out as the greatest fool in the book. He is a buffoon, a laughable leader, a joke.

Let’s check it out. First thing is his name. When you interpret his name into Hebrew just saying the name makes you laugh. So any Jewish person—by the way did you know that Jews were first called Jews while in exile in Babylon, they were named for the home of Judah—anyway, any Jewish person who read the opening sentences would already being doing a chuckle and then he’d go into some really great laughter because when you translate King Xerxes into Hebrew, the name means something like King Headache. We’re already getting some laughter going—like you get in Doonesbury Cartoons that make fun of leaders in subtle ways.

In chapter 1.2 we get more insight into this buffoon of a king. At that time King Xerxes reigned from his royal throne in the citadel of Susa… One word in this verse starts setting us up for a kind of silliness. The word is royal—the writer of Esther goes over the top with this whole concept of royal. It is so over the top that it is clear that what the writer is doing is mocking the king’s kingliness, making a joke of it. Kathleen O’Connor summarizes the whole deal for us, “…he serves royal wine and gives royal orders. The king has royal provinces, the royal palace, the royal gate, royal servants, royal laws, royal secretaries, royal governors, royal eunuchs, royal treasuries, a royal crown. He shows royal favor and owns a royal herd. Royal couriers go out on swift royal steeds. Haman (a character we’ll be introduced to in a moment)takes royalty and its trappings over the top. In his hopes to be the man whom the king will honor, he wants to wear the royal robes that the king himself has worn, ride the royal horse the king himself has ridden, and most ridiculously, the royal horse must be wearing a royal crown upon its head. What we see is a court and especially a king who is full of himself, but the truth is he shouldn’t be. After all, he can’t for the life of him make a decision on his own. You’ve seen the type in a sitcom or movie somewhere. The guy at the top who couldn’t make a good decision if his life depended on it. For those of you who remember the movie The Secret of My Success think of the guy at the top of the corporation that Michael J. Fox is taking over—he doesn’t have a clue that he can’t make a decent decision, that his wife is sleeping around, that everything is crumbling around him. We read in Chapter 1.13 Since it was customary for the king to consult experts in matters of law and justice, he spoke with the wise men who understood the times ¹⁴ and were closest to the king-Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena and Memucan, the seven nobles of Persia and Media who had special access to the king and were highest in the kingdom. This sounds like a reasonable thing to do, the queen’s done something he doesn’t like and now he needs some advice on what to do. But when you follow this royal king throughout the book of Esther what you find is that he can’t make a decision for the life of him. He’s always got to have someone else make the decision, always someone else taking the initiative. This guy soon looks like the worst bumbling incompetent one could have ever encountered.

Next time: More on the king

Facebook and Community

2009-11-28T10:15:00.001-05:00

Facebook may be a legitimate means of socialization in our generation; however, the church has never been, nor should it ever be, designed like Facebook. If you want community without depth or commitment, go to Facebook. If you want community with depth and commitment, go to church. For the rest of this article head to Cardus

The book of Esther

2009-11-26T16:12:00.002-05:00

Beth Moore has hit the DVD trail this fall with a new teaching on Esther. I hear that it is popular. I've not seen the study, but I thought I'd throw in my study and work on Esther for those who are interested to learn even more about Esther. I'll be posting on going notes over the next few weeks. So here is part 1.

Background to the book of Esther

The people of Israel are in desperate straights. Decades before they had been sent into exile because of their rebellion against God. It was the punishment that God had promised them in the book of Deuteronomy. He told them that all kinds of curses would come on them if they did not follow his ways and then toward the end of telling them all that would happen to them he said these words, Then the LORD will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods-gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. In the morning you will say, "If only it were evening!" and in the evening, "If only it were morning!"-because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see. Deut. 28.64-67 NIV Now the years had passed and a larger group of people had returned to the land of Israel—but the hopes they had for a great Exodus like the one from Egypt hadn’t happened. It was a long journey back to Israel, but in this journey there was no manna, no rocks giving water, no great miracles. The building of the temple came not at the command of God, but the command of a pagan king who wanted it built not for God’s purposes but for his political purposes. Because of all of this the people had a question—are we still God’s people, are we still his chosen one, are we still to live by the covenant?

And as they asked those questions back in Israel, those who had stayed behind, those who had chosen not to make the journey asked the question with even greater anxiety. After all, they were not even sitting in the land where God said he lived and hung out with his people. They were far from that land. Did God care out them? Were they still part of his covenant even though they didn’t live in the covenant place? But perhaps most of all, would they survive in this place? Or would the intrigues, the dangers, with no God to protect them get the better of them so that they would cease to exist as a people?

To a people who are struggling with such questions comes the story or Esther that will one day become the book of Esther. One of the most surprising things about this book is that it is filled with humor. It is in many ways a modern day sitcom. Next time we'll look at some of the humor of Esther.

The Beauty of Buildings

2009-11-13T15:48:00.005-05:00

I love buildings and cities and sidewalks-- especially well designed, beautiful, community building cities, sidewalks and buildings. There is a great blog post on thinking about what we build and how it impacts community and community building at the Cardus site. Take a read and dream about communitecture

Generation Me

2009-11-10T18:34:00.003-05:00

I'm reading Generation Me. Here is one of many quotes that have caused me to think, wonder, and wonder about how this Generation can be reached with a gospel that calls for sacrifice, commitment to God, and belief that this is God's story and not ours, "Culture Shock! USA, a guidebook to American culture for foreigners explains, 'Often one sees an American engaged in a dialogue with a tiny child. "Do you want to go home now?" says the parent. "No," says an obviously tired, crying child. And so parent and child continue to sit discontentedly in a chilly park. "What's the matter with these people?" says the foreigner to himself, who can see the chid is too young to make such decisions." It's just part of the American culture, the book says: "The child is acquiring both a sense of responsibility for himself and a sense of his own importance." We expect our kids to have individual preferences and would never dream, as earlier generations did, of making every single decision for our children and asking them to be seen and not heard. Not coincidentally, this also teaches our children that their wants are the most important.

God's Majesty

2009-11-09T10:52:00.003-05:00

Man is never sufficiently touched and affected by the awareness of his lowly state until he compares himself with the majesty of God.

John Calvin

Enter the conversation

2009-11-06T13:11:00.002-05:00

My friend, Rob Joustra, has written an insightful and certainly challenging piece well worth reading. It's about the usefulness of fair trade and foreign aid. Enjoy, think, respond.

Explore the Story Discover your Life

2009-10-28T20:26:00.001-04:00

From "Garden to City" blog
From the Garden to the City is not a new concept. It’s not original. And it’s nothing that those in past years have not talked about within the Church and town halls. It’s the thought that all of history is found between two perfect times, a perfect Garden and a perfect City. From a garden we came and to a city we go. Within that we find the Kingdom of God breaking in and changing all areas of life. The quote by Abraham Kuper says it well, “there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!,’” and there is not one square inch that has not been tainted by the effects of sin. In that, we find ourselves in a strange tension, one of fallenness and redemption. In this tension we find our topic and the thrust of our project. In the future months we will be releasing a series of short films around this idea… Follow our blog for future updates on the progress, and some thoughts on Christ’s renewal of all things.

Garden to the City from Garden to the City on Vimeo.

The Bottom Billion

2009-10-24T13:14:00.002-04:00

We hear often about the billion or so people who live on a dollar a day. Many of us try to find ways to help but the truth is that while it is good for us to help, what is needed is structural change. Paul Collier in his book The Bottom Billion talks about structural change. In this talk he gives some practical ways to bring about change. The talk is about 17 minutes long and it takes a willingness to listen, but maybe for the sake of the bottom billion....

A change in Patterns--The new localism

2009-10-23T06:43:00.003-04:00

Newsweek has a great article about American's and their desire not to move. This is a huge shift in how we've normally been a nation that picks and leaves. It it most interesting the place that family, commitment to local community and even the internet are playing in this. Enjoy the read and see what you think of the new localism.

I personally love this trend and look forward to what it will mean for stronger downtowns, local newspapers, the building of community and other institutions.

Parallel?

2009-10-22T10:55:00.002-04:00

I'm working on my message for Sunday morning. Part of the message is a recap of where we have been at EverGreen in reading God's story in Genesis. From the beginning of that story there is the call to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. This command is given first to Adam and Eve and then to Noah. Noah and his descendants are doing a pretty good job of this as we read in Genesis 10, but in Genesis 11 they stop spreading and decide to build a tower (ziggurat) and take control of their own destiny, making God their servant. Rather than allowing them to stop their spread through the earth God comes and confuses their language and compels them to follow his command.

As I read this I couldn't help but remember Jesus command to go to all nations and make disciples of what he says in Acts 1.8 "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” While this is Christ's command, the church seems slow in doing it. They keep themselves centered around Jerusalem. It takes the death of Stephen and the outbreak of persecution to get them to move into the world. (Acts 8.1 And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.) Is it possible that there is a dual connection here. The first connection is that fill the earth is now the command to make disciples of all nations. The second connection is that when we refuse to get out and bring the gospel that God finds ways to compel us to do so.

Bad Day

2009-10-21T12:23:00.001-04:00

I love this cartoon. This past Sunday we did a message on God and the flood. If you're interested in a bit of a different take on the story you can check it out here.

Enjoy a bit of Calvinism

2009-10-14T15:23:00.001-04:00

Smile

Jude's Surprises

2009-10-13T19:57:00.002-04:00

Jude in his short book tosses some words (phrases) our way that we don't expect. Here are a couple of the unexpected

Jude 1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ...

Here are the unexpected:

We are beloved in God the Father (Expected: we are loved by God the Father)

We are kept for Christ (Expected: we are kept by Christ)

We so expect that we are loved by God and kept by Christ that the NIV smooths out our problems with the original Greek by giving this translation, "To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ...."

What does it mean that we are beloved (literally "the ones being loved in God the Father). The first things to notice as we try to understand this is that Jude is addressing not individuals but the community of faith. As I thought about this it struck me that overwhelmingly when we hear of God's love we hear about it in the context of community. There are few times when God's love is spoken of as being for a specific individual. One of those rare occurrences is in Galatians 2.20 where Paul speaking of himself says, that Christ loved him and died for him. The general focus on God's love spoken of in the context of community should remind us of the importance of seeing our faith and God's love for us in that light. It is good to continually remind ourselves as one person has said, "God's love is a love for a community of people wh he has called to be his own. The address of the gospel writers almost everywhere assumes a community of faith."

But beyond that these words by Jude of "the one ones being loved in God the Father" go beyond being love by God as they reflect being brought into intimate fellowship with God, embraced by him. There is an amazing intensity in these few words. To be loved in God the Father is to be in God the Father. It is a great picture.

Since we are in the Father or loved in God the Father he is the one who is keeping us for Jesus. It is not Jesus who keeps us, but God the Father. This seems to reflect the words of Jesus in his high priestly prayer in John 17.11 "And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one." We are being kept for the day when Christ returns. The Greek in Jude indicates the security that God provides, his own will not be lost but will know the eschatological benefits of the New heavens and earth.

Looking from the Outside In

2009-10-08T19:45:00.000-04:00

One of the books I'm presently reading is Beowulf on the Beach. The book is a summary of all the classic books through the ages that we should all read at one time or another. The book is filled with humor, insight, and just in case you never get to read all the classics at least you learn something about them.

On Monday I got to the part of the book that talks about the Bible. The author of Beowulf on the Beach, Jack Murnighan calls people back to reading this text as a very important one. But in the call there is a world of humor. Just a few quotes from the book

"What the Old Testament lacks in conventional reader-friendliness it more than makes up for in diversity and sheer, fascinating, almost incalculable weirdness. Page after page you're blindsided by things you thought you'd never see in a religious book..."

"It's wackier, than wacky, not short on plot, and I can guarantee you'll never read anything like it.

"In reading the Old Testament stories, every time we think, "Why is he sinning? Doesn't he know the Lord will punish him? we are probably supposed to pose ourselves similar questions, Oh, crap, fornication this morning; what was I thinking? That kind of subtle lesson would account for the constant backsliding and repetition in the Old Testament, which does, I admit, get rather exasperating."

What I enjoy about Murnighan's take on the Old Testament is straight reading that causes wonder, confusion, laughter and so much more that many Christians miss because they read the book with a piety that misses the fullness of human life and human screw-ups that are seen. A friend of mine, Tom Kragt, points out that as an alcoholic he couldn't see things in his life that a six year old could tell him were wrong. Sometimes it takes a person from the outside of Christianity to help us see what a six year old could tell us--the Bible is much wilder, crazier and more wonderful than we have noticed or let ourselves see.

Jude--thinking out loud

2009-10-07T19:00:00.002-04:00

I've been working in one of those shorter books of the Bible: Jude. It's a book that is filled with a bunch of interesting teaching and a few surprises. Over the next few weeks I'll be posting some of my thoughts along the way.

The first surprise of the book of Jude is its name. The name of the book is literally Judas (Greek ∆Iou/daß) The book was renamed Jude to distinguish the writer from Judas Iscariot. The second surprise is that Judas is brother of James which means he is also the brother of Jesus. Imagine having a brother whose name was the same as the person who betrays you. But in this we also see something else: Jesus' own family comes to recognize him as the Messiah. This is distinctly different than what we find the gospels. For instance in Mark 3 we read, Mark 3:20 Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. Mark 3:21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”

The change in attitude is seen as well in Jude designating himself as a servant of Jesus Christ (i.e. Jesus the Messiah). Jude/Judas no longer calls himself a brother, but rather a servant. A servant in this context is one who is completely controlled by another. The one who they thought was out of control is now in control of Jude's entire life.

This radical change of attitude reminds me of Joseph and his brothers. Joseph's dreams of his being a ruler and his brothers bowing down to him brought rebuke and hatred. The text says, 9 Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” 11 And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind. (Remember how Mary stores up all of these things in heart in Luke 2?). While the family relationships start out ugly and get worse in the end the brothers do bow down. One wonders if this is a foreshadowing of Jesus and his family.

But the bottom line for me in this is that even Jesus' family recognize him as Messiah and honors him as such. They become completely controlled by him. Jude will make it clear as he writes that such total control of the Messiah in our lives is a must if we are going to live a life that is pleasing to him.

God is Love

2009-10-06T17:55:00.004-04:00

There is a continual theme that pulsates through our culture. The theme is "God is love". The thing that always intrigues me about this idea that God is love is that love gets defined in a way that reflects whatever a person wants. So if I want my god to be loving so that he would never demand anything of me, then that is love. If I want my god to be the kind of god who would never separate someone from him for all eternity, then that is love. If I want the kind of god who just is a feel good, kind, and grandfatherly kind of god, then that is love.

I was reflecting on this while reading the epistle of 1 John a bit ago. This, of course, is the epistle that declares "God is love". I've read the epistle and those words many times before, but for some reason for the first time I stopped and realized that John doesn't just tell us that God is love, but also defines that love. Here's the text:

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 1 John 4

Rather than leaving the definition of what it means to love God up to us, John spells out that God's love reveals itself in sending his Son into the world as a propitiation (see definition below) for our sins. God's love is connected to the sending of his Son into the world. It is a love that compels us to love others, especially those who are fellow believers as John points out.

Love as it turns out is not defined however we desire. Love is always connected to Christ. If someone tries to give definition to "God is Love" without this connection they are not being true to the text. Not only so, but God's love far from freeing us to do whatever we wish actually obligates us to follow God's love by loving others. To divorce "God is love" from this obligation to love also brings a failure to the true definition of God is love.

Maybe the next time someone says, "God is love" it might be an interesting conversation to graciously inquire of them where they get their definition from. Such an inquiry might open up a wonderful conversation.

Propitiation
This means the turning away of wrath by an offering. It is similar to expiation but expiation does not carry the nuances involving wrath. For the Christian the propitiation was the shed blood of Jesus on the cross. It turned away the wrath of God so that He could pass "over the sins previously committed" (Rom. 3:25). It was the Father who sent the Son to be the propitiation (1 John 4:10) for all (1 John 2:2).

Bigger Barns

2009-05-27T06:45:00.000-04:00

1 John 3.1 raises a bunch of interesting questions. The words of the verse are See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. One of the questions is, "When John tells us that God has "given" (or bestowed) the kind of love that makes it so we are called "his children", how do we understand "given" or "bestowed"? The Greek makes it possible to understand the word as a gift that is given or something that is given in response to a request. Did God give us this love as a gift or has he called us his children because we asked for this gift? The answer to that sends us on a theological trek that I don't want to explore right now.

But there is another question I do want to explore. John tells us that the world does not know us because it doesn't know the father. To which my response is "So what?" So the world doesn't know us, what's the big deal? Now we know that because the "world" didn't know Christ that he ended up on the cross. So if that is what John has in mind here, then it is a big deal. The world doesn't know the Father, so it doesn't know us and the result is going to be persecution. That has some possibilities.

However, I wonder if there is another big deal here, especially for North American Christians. In 1 John 2.15 John has told us that we are not to love the world. The world is about the desire of the eyes, the desire of the flesh, and the pride in possessions (esv). Or putting it another way. A person of the world lives a certain kind of lifestyle where they operate on a purely human level and have no interest in spiritual things. They focus on protecting themselves and find security in their stuff rather than in God. The best picture of this in the Bible is Jesus parable of the man who wanted to build bigger barns,

Luke 12.13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Now in all of this, this is what I see. Bigger Barns people are those who have no love of God or spiritual things, who are willing to take from another to gain their own security, these kind of people don’t know followers of Jesus because they don’t know the Father. Here's my punch line: Implied in this is a powerful statement about followers of Jesus. They live a distinct lifestyle where their affections are centered on God, they have a deep love for spiritual things and they have a deep concern for the good of others. The words of John speak as much about our behavior as they do about the world. If our lifestyle distinct enough that instead of looking like bigger barns people, our life looks so odd that the rest of the world can't understand it?

No Teacher Needed

2009-05-25T16:35:00.002-04:00

I am always intrigued by what seem to be conflicts in the Bible between what the Text says in one place and in another. I noted just such a conflict in 1 John 2. The conflict is both an internal and external one. Here are the verses, 1 John 2:26 I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.

Now compare this verse to Acts 2.42: "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching...."

The external conflict seems to be between needing teachers in Acts 2 and not needing anyone to teach us in 1 John. The internal conflict is that as John tells these people they don't need to be taught that John is sending them a letter which teaches them.

So what do we do with this and why is it important? I believe it's important because if we get these conflicts in scripture wrong it can lead us in bad directions. For instance, if I believe that I don't need teachers, then I can start to interpret Scripture on my own (sometimes called Solo Scriptura), rather than listening to the wisdom of those who have come before me and understanding the Scriptures through the lens of the historic and orthodox Christian faith (an understanding called Sola Scriptura).

So what do we do with the conflict of John and Acts? We need to deal with it in two ways. One is the practical. Practically we know from Acts, the writings of Paul, John and all the rest in the New Testament that they take teaching and having teachers very seriously. Since that is the case the words about not having to be taught can't mean dump your teachers. The other way to deal with this passage is in context. John is dealing with false teachers who are destroying the faith. His word about teaching would seem to refer to our not needing a new teaching from these false teachers that leads us away from the truth. What John's audience has already in terms of knowledge about the faith is enough. All that conflicts with it doesn't add to this faith, but destroys it. They have no need for this teaching.

It strikes me that to properly read the scriptures we need at least three things. First, we need to read them through the eyes of the historic Christian faith (the early church called this "the rule of faith", truth that came out of the Scriptures and yet becomes the eyes through which we read the Scriptures, an early rule of faith is the Apostles' Creed). Second we need to see how a text falls into the practice that we find in other parts of scripture. This keeps us from grabbing a text and declaring something that simply doesn't fit what we see going on in other parts of the Bible. Finally, we need to carefully discern context so we see what the text means in the midst of what is going on in a certain time and place.

Education: Time to make it harder

2009-05-21T18:42:00.002-04:00

John Seel continues to be one of my favorite writers. In this article he talks about the state of our educational system. Just a bit of what he writes,
And so it is that the April 2009 McKinsey & Company report, "The Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap in America's Schools," finds American schools wanting. The economic cost of this gap is larger than the US recession of 1981-82. "These educational gaps imposed on the United States the economic equivalent of a permanent national recession." The longer a student spends in an American school the wider the gap becomes. In short, increased exposure to American classrooms makes one increasingly uneducated.

Fearless Faith

2009-04-30T16:57:00.002-04:00

A friend sent me the link to this video. I'm reminded of Jesus' words in the high priestly prayer, 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from evil.

Can we hold on to a nation without God

2009-04-17T18:59:00.001-04:00

A great article, with thoughtful insight. Here's just a bit of it,
If repudiation of its past and its identity is all that Western civilization can offer, it cannot survive: it will give way to whatever future civilization can offer hope and consolation to the young and fulfill their deep-rooted human need for social membership. Citizenship, as I have described it, does not fulfill that need: and that is why so many Muslims reject it, seeking instead that consoling “brotherhood” (ikhwan) that has so often been the goal of Islamic revivals. But citizenship is an achievement that we cannot forgo if the modern world is to survive: we have built our prosperity on it, our peace and our stability, and—even if it does not provide happiness—it defines us. We cannot renounce it without ceasing to be.

What is needed is not to reject citizenship as the foundation of social order but to provide it with a heart. And in seeking that heart, we should turn away from the apologetic multiculturalism that has had such a ruinous effect on Western self-confidence and return to the gifts that we have received from our Judeo-Christian tradition.

Understanding God

2009-04-14T19:12:00.003-04:00

In the gospel of John Jesus consistent tells us that if you know him, you know the Father. If you have seen him, you have seen the Father. One place we get a taste of this is in in John 8.19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, a“You know neither me nor my Father. bIf you knew me, you would know my Father also.” As I consistently come across this truth is has led me to wonder, "How does this truth change the way that we understand God as we encounter him in the Old Testament?" Could it be that when we read the Old Testament and see the face of God in the Old Testament in the mirror of Jesus in the new that we get a different understanding of the Father? Could it be that we may need to reread and reinterpret how we see the Father at some level if we take seriously Jesus' claims about being the true picture of God?

Great Lines from the Bible

2009-04-08T10:00:00.003-04:00

Imagine that Jesus was your pastor, what would you do with this kind of response to a crisis--especially if you knew you were one of his favorites,
John 11:5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

A Song

2009-04-03T11:48:00.003-04:00

I was listen to a compilation of songs today and this is the first I heard. It is called "A Prayer". Words are by Euston Jones. It was not what I expected listening to a song style connected with Lord of the Rings

Lord
I must be strong now
I don't belong now
In this world anymore

I'll say a final prayer for
Those I care for
Who've kept my company

My destiny is clear
I'm dying to have you near
To me

Lord
I don't belong now
If you are waiting
I am not afraid to die

I'm prepared to go
Divide my body and soul
Won't you

Lord
I won't be long now
If you are waiting
I am not afraid to die

Have mercy, Lord
I'm told it's paradise
To have and to hold you

Lord
I must be strong now
I don't belong now
In this world anymore

Lord
I won't be long now
If you are waiting
I am not afraid to die

More Trends

2009-03-19T16:55:00.002-04:00

Who would have thought that one of the top trends is a return to Calvinism. But it's one of the things that TIME says is changing the world right now. Here's a bit of the article

If you really want to follow the development of conservative Christianity, track its musical hits. In the early 1900s you might have heard "The Old Rugged Cross," a celebration of the atonement. By the 1980s you could have shared the Jesus-is-my-buddy intimacy of "Shine, Jesus, Shine." And today, more and more top songs feature a God who is very big, while we are...well, hark the David Crowder Band: "I am full of earth/ You are heaven's worth/ I am stained with dirt/ Prone to depravity."
The link to the rest

Trends

2009-03-17T06:40:00.002-04:00

This week my blog will send you in other directions. TIME Magazine latest issue had 10 ideas that are changing the world right now. They are worth the time to read and reflect on. So for the next few days links to TIME. The first of the 10 ideas that are changing the world: Jobs are the New Assets:

Remember when jobs weren't worth your small talk? Think back a year or two. Picture yourself at a cocktail party or maybe picking up the kids from soccer. How did the conversation go? You talked about your house. A new deck! You talked about your portfolio. Gotta go small cap. Did you mention how much pleasure you derived from bringing home a steady paycheck? Probably not. "Land was valuable, and capital was valuable, and labor — who cared?" says David Ellison, a Boston-based money manager. "The attitude was, As long as I buy a few homes and invest in a hedge fund, I'm done. I can sit in my chair and watch football games."

Read the Rest

Waving Goodbye to organized Faith

2009-03-13T06:10:00.000-04:00

Organized Religions Losing Believers In America
Reported by: Web Producer
Monday, Mar 9, 2009 @05:20am CST
Survey: Organized Religions Losing Believers In America
Americans are exploring a new spirituality according to a new survey.
The American Religious Identification poll is scheduled for release today.
It will say the percentage of Americans who label themselves as Christian has tumbled more than eleven-percent in a single generation.
The ARIS survey says almost all religious denominations have lost members since the poll was first taken in 1990.
"USA Today" quotes survey co-author Barry Kosmin as saying, "more than ever before, people are just making up their own stories of who they are.
They say, I'm everything, I'm nothing. I believe in myself."
Among the survey findings: 15-percent of Americans claim they're affiliated with no organized religion.
While Baptists are represented by nearly 16-percent of the population the number is down from more than 19-percent in 1990.
The Catholic faith is claimed by more than 25-percent of survey respondents, down about one-percent from earlier polls.
Jewish numbers have dropped from one-point-eight-percent in 1990 to one-point-two-percent today.
Bucking the trend is the percentage of people saying they're Muslims.
That's doubled from three-tenths of a percent in 1990 to six-tenths of a percent today.
Some of the shift may be caused by an educational deficit.
Reverend Kendall Harmon, a theologian for the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina says a couple once walked into his office carrying a yellow pad full of questions their teenage son had provided.
Among them: "what is that guy doing hanging up there on the plus sign?"

Love those Rabbis

2009-03-12T14:22:00.002-04:00

In the gospel of John, Jesus heals a blind man during the Feast of Tabernacles [Sukkot]. He does it on the Sabbath by spitting in the dirt, making mud and sending the man to the pool of Siloam to wash his eyes. (The pool of Siloam is where the water is taken for rituals pertaining to the Feast of Tabernacles --Jesus interestingly uses this ritual water to heal.) The fact he heals on the Sabbath causes the usual problems. Is such a healing alright on the Sabbath, is it unnecessary work, etc.? Part of the problem centers around whether it is permissible to anoint your eyes on the Sabbath. Jewish belief relates contrary ideas about anointing an eye on the sabbath. My favorite argument is between Rabbi Jehuda and Rabbi Samuel. R. Jehuda said it was permitted to do so; R. Samuel declared it was not, but when his own eyes gave him trouble he asked the former if it was allowable, and Jehuda said it was so for others, but not for him!. Love those rabbis.

Just wondering

2009-03-11T08:42:00.002-04:00

In John 8 those in the crowd asks Jesus one of those questions that makes you stop and say, "Really, you asked that?" And then you wonder what a really good answer might be. Here's the question, John 8:48 “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?”

In the Midst of Economic crisis, global meltdowns--priorities

2009-03-11T06:37:00.000-04:00

McMeltdown: Cops respond to emergency McNuggets call
From The Smoking Gun:

Angered that her local McDonald’s was out of Chicken McNuggets, a Florida woman called 911 three times to report the fast food “emergency.” Latreasa Goodman, 27, last Saturday called police to complain that a cashier–citing a McDonald’s all sales are final policy–would not give her a refund. When cops responded to the restaurant, Goodman told them, “This is an emergency. If I would have known they didn’t have McNuggets, I wouldn’t have given my money, and now she wants to give me a McDouble, but I don’t want one.”

Goodman noted, “I called 911 because I couldn’t get a refund, and I wanted my McNuggets,” according to the below Fort Pierce Police Department report. That logic, however, did not keep cops from citing Goodman for misusing the 911 system. Even after being issued a misdemeanor citation, Goodman contended, “this is an emergency, my McNuggets are an emergency.”

More of the Fallout

2009-03-10T07:35:00.000-04:00

The New York Times posted an article that points out the pain of other nations as people invest their money in the U.S. as a safe haven in difficult times. The financial crisis continues to have unexpected consequences. It is worth reading the article to get a global perspective and also to remind those of us who have jobs to make sure that some of our giving money makes its way to those who are poor in other lands.

The Man Behind the Stimulus Package

2009-03-09T18:30:00.000-04:00

The real brains behind the stimulus package is not President Obama or his advisors but a man who live in the first part of the 20th century. John Maynard Keynes. Not many of us wandering down the regular paths of life know much about him, but his theories are at the root of the Obama administrations attempt to revive our economy. So for those of you who are wondering what thinking is moving things right now, you can read this article in the New Republic. Be aware that while it gives info on Keynes, it is also biased in its view. I take no responsibility for the bias, but do recommend the article.

For a different take on the Obama economic plan check out my blog from January 31.

Jesus in my Girlfriend

2009-03-08T06:08:00.000-04:00

While reading a friend's blog he mentioned the theology of "Jesus is my girlfriend". A rather interesting and provocative idea. The bottom line is that we more and more are treating Jesus more as our girlfriend or boyfriend (especially in our worship songs) than we treat him as the second person of the trinity, Lord of all creation, the one who is returning to rule over the cosmos. Such a tilt in our theology inevitably impacts our actions. Certainly one treats and pays attention to his girlfriend quite differently than he treats and pays attention to the one who as Paul writes in Colossians, 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by 6 him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. Jesus as my girlfriend or the Jesus of Colossians? For a bit more thinking on this, especially as it relates to music check out Jesus is my Girlfriend.

Restoring Trust as the Markets Crash

2009-03-06T15:28:00.003-05:00

Jim Skillen of the Center for Public Justice recently wrote,

Let me put it more bluntly. People are not just angry about bankers' big bonuses and auto company CEOs' private jets; they are angry that they got taken by "the system"--by banks, by mortgage companies, by investment advisers, and by the government that aided and abetted and gave no warning of the coming collapse. As in a stagecoach robbery, writes Janet Tavakoli, "Wall Street bankers made off with the loot without firing a shot. They were enabled by Washington overseers and financial regulators who--when not beneficiaries of the good times--behaved like ostriches. Meanwhile, news of the fact that no one in the US has been brought to justice has not escaped notice" For more...

Symbols to Die For

2009-03-05T06:38:00.000-05:00

We are leaving behind the crashing kings of 2 Chronicles and beginning a walk with Jesus over the next few weeks at EverGreen. We are going to listen in as he teaches us essential truths about himself using symbols like bread, light, and a sheep gate. One of the wonders of symbols is that they can bring so many things to mind and challenge us to think deeply and differently. When it comes to Jesus the symbols that he uses to describe himself put him in such a place that finally those in power put him to death, thus the title of the series "Symbols to Die For".

The first symbol that Jesus gives us is bread. He tells us "I am the bread of life". The words are connected with Jesus feeding the 5000. They are rich words that connect with God the Father feeding the people manna in the desert and with Moses as the leader. But what lies behind all of the story in John 6 is a deep longing for a political revolution. The people sit on the hillside waiting for Jesus to declare a revolution. His failure to do so and his call to eat his body and drink his blood cause the crowds to abandon him.

One other thing. When Jesus says "I am" (The Greek is ego eimi, and literally says "I, I am") is a declaration by Jesus that he is at the very least connected to Yahweh who's name means "I am".

So enjoy a good read for this week from John 6 and be ready for "Symbols to Die For".

The Importance of Debate

2009-03-04T18:22:00.001-05:00

Global warming has become an accepted reality by many. But this environmental issue along with others are always open to debate, and the truth is good debate makes for better solutions. A recent article digs into this. Here's a snippet

"Garte goes on to argue that excessive pessimism about the environment undermines good scientific investigation and distorts our understanding of important environmental challenges. He displays the frequent naïveté of a scientist observing the political world: "I have never understood why pessimism has for so long been associated with a liberal or progressive political world view." He criticizes anti-technological biases prevalent among environmentalists, but is also skeptical that market forces alone will suffice to continue our environmental progress in the future. He is guardedly optimistic that the creativity and adaptability of the human species will enable us to confront surprises and new problems. "We should pay attention to our successes as much as to our failures," Garte writes, "because in order to know where to go next, it is just as important to know where (and how) we went right as it is to know where we have gone wrong."

What is Love?

2009-03-03T18:04:00.003-05:00

In our age of love we have a sense that love is first of all about feelings. If the feeling of love dies, then love dies as well. In the book of 1 John I'm reminded over and over again that love or perhaps more rightly, the evidence of love is not attached to feelings but to obedience. John writes to his "little children", 2.3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. In the gospel of John chapter 14 Jesus says to his disciples, 23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me. Love, obedience, keeping the words of Christ are all intertwined. You can't proclaim true love for Christ without also living as he calls you to live. Certainly, there is the good news that when we fail to walk that path that there is forgiveness. But if we believe there is no path to walk or that God is indifferent if we follow the way of Christ we are sadly mistaken.

By the way the word "ought" in 1 John 2.6 has a strong sense in this passage. This is not merely an expected outcome it has a strong sense of obligation to it. This is the kind of life that will be lived by a person who belongs to Christ. If this is so, it behooves us to really look at the commands of Christ so we know what they are and how we are supposed to live. It also puts a new emphasis on the great commandment: Make disciples teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

Thanks for Checking

2009-02-26T07:26:00.001-05:00

It is a crazy week. Blog posts will get back up and running next week. I appreciate your checking in.

Say What?

2009-02-19T08:03:00.002-05:00

I'm doing study in 1 John. As I was doing so I was reminded again of how important it is to try to get some sense of the background of what's happening in the community to whom the author is writing. In doing that study I came across this quote in the Word Biblical Commentary: "The writer of 1 John was thus addressing a community, made up of a number of house-churches in and around Ephesus (see on 2 and 3 John), which was split in three ways. It consisted of the following: (a) Johannine Christians who were committed to the apostolic gospel of Jesus as they had received it; (b) heretically inclined members from a Jewish background; (c) heterodox followers from a Hellenistic (and/or pagan) background. The problems relating to the two “heretical” groups, (b) and (c), were primarily theological and (by extension) ethical..." (emphasis added). It's this last part that drew my attention. Our theology impacts our ethics. It is, of course, a truth that rings throughout the Scriptures. Paul's writings for instance typically start out with theology and that leads us into how we are to live. But in our culture we seem to diss theology as basically unimportant, boring, or something for intellectuals (and therefore a bad thing), believing we can act in certain ways without the foundation of theology to hold up those ways.

It's a good reminder that our theology or lack of it really does impact the way we do life.

Lose a wise friend, lose your mind

2009-02-18T20:11:00.003-05:00

How do you go crazy? There are more than a few ways, but one is to lose a wise friend who keeps your mind focused on what matters. King Uzzaih in the book of Chronicles (his story is surprisingly short in the book of 2 Kings) has this stunningly great start to being king. Building projects, battles won, all the things a king loves. In in all he has a friend who keeps him from going crazy (you go crazy when you no longer fear the LORD). It says in 2 Chronicles 26. 5 He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper. Being instructed means that Zechariah taught Uzziah how to be a discerning king, he didn't just have knowledge, he knew how to use the knowledge he had, he knew how to fear the LORD and so how to live a life of wisdom (i.e. how to live in God's good but fallen world).

Somewhere along the line, however, Zechariah disappears. When he disappears, Uzziah heads down the path of crazy. He tries to step in and take over the work of the priests. It's a power move to grab on to all the branches of influence in Judah. The ESV Study Bible helps us see the whole picture, " 2 Chron. 26:16–20 Unfaithful translates Hebrew ma‘al . It carries the sense of affronting God's holiness (as in a violated oath) failing to accord him his due in worship. Uzziah impugned God's holiness by trespassing on the temple, which was for the priests and Levites only, and by seeking to offer incense, a duty reserved for the priests alone."

So Uzziah goes crazy when he loses his friend/mentor. It makes you wonder what crazy you can get in to when you lose a friend who keeps you in the fear of the LORD.

That's just a bit of the thought that's flowing around in my mind as I get ready for this week's message in our series at EverGreen called "Crash". You can read Uzziah's story here and also the New Testament passage that I think helps us to keep from this kind of crash.

The Pain of a City

2009-02-17T06:44:00.001-05:00

Sometimes those of us who live on the west side of the state of Michigan complain about or demean the eastern side of the state--especially the city of Detroit. Looking at recent stats from that city, however, causes one to be deeply saddened by what looks like an increasingly speedy death of our State's largest city unless a way of renewal is found.

Here's some of the latest info:

"No major city in the US today looks more beleaguered than Detroit, where in October the average home price was $18,513 (yes, that's right) and some 45,000 properties were in some form of foreclosure. The city's public schools, facing a $408 million budget deficit, were taken over by the State in December; dozens of schools have been closed since 2005 because of decline in enrollment. Just 10 percent of Detroit's adult residents are college graduates, and in December the jobless rate was 21 percent. ...as its population dips further, the city's struggle to provide services and prevent blight across an ever-emptier landscape will only intensify." From The Atlantic Monthly

For people (Christians, that is) who are called to seek the welfare of the city and to be agents of cultural renewal this looks like it could be one of the big projects in our State over the next 10 years. What a challenge to seek to renew a city or as the word of the song we sang a couple of weeks ago at EverGreen put it,

You're the God of this City
You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation
You are

[Verse 2]
You're the Light in this darkness
You're the Hope to the hopeless
You're the Peace to the restless
You are

There is no one like our God
There is no one like our God

[Chorus]
For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City
Greater thing have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City

A New Star Wars

2009-02-15T12:33:00.000-05:00

It is always amazing (and sometimes hopeful) to see how new technologies hold out hope for keeping soldiers safe. P.W. Singer gives us insight into a world few of us enter. The new world of robots on the battlefield.

"When U.S. forces went into Iraq, the original invasion had no robotic systems on the ground. By the end of 2004, there were 150 robots on the ground in Iraq; a year later there were 2,400; by the end of 2008, there were about 12,000 robots of nearly two dozen varieties operating on the ground in Iraq. As one retired Army officer put it, the “Army of the Grand Robotic” is taking shape."

Singer in his article "Military Robots and the Laws of War" looks at both the robots and the moral repercussions of their presence on the battlefield. Enjoy a good read.

A little valentines day

2009-02-14T08:06:00.000-05:00

You can find out about valentines day and amaze your valentine....or just satisfy your curiosity.

From the History Channel

in this episode of history of the holidays, learn the history of valentine's day. learn about st. valentine, cupid, and why the holiday is celebrated on february 14th. valentine's day brings in about 14 billion dollars annually.

More on Sex and Food

2009-02-13T06:50:00.000-05:00

Mary Eberstadt in her article points out that while we've learned more about eating in a healthy way, we've also learned in the last few decades more about healthy sexual relationships. Sadly, knowledge does not always lead to action... Check out what she says:

...several decades of empirical research — which also did not exist before — have demonstrated that the sexual revolution, too, has had consequences, and that many of them have redounded to the detriment of a sexually liberationist ethic.

Married, monogamous people are more likely to be happy. They live longer. These effects are particularly evident for men. Divorced men in particular and conversely face health risks — including heightened drug use and alcoholism — that married men do not. Married men also work more and save more, and married households not surprisingly trump other households in income. Divorce, by contrast, is often a financial catastrophe for a family, particularly the women and children in it. So is illegitimacy typically a financial disaster.

By any number of measures, moreover, nontraditional sexual morality — and the fallout from it — is detrimental to the well-being of one specifically vulnerable subset: children. Children from broken homes are at risk for all kinds of behavioral, psychological, educational, and other problems that children from intact homes are not. Children from fatherless homes are far more likely to end up in prison than are those who grew up with both biological parents. Girls growing up without a biological father are far more likely to suffer physical or sexual abuse. Girls and boys, numerous sources also show, are adversely affected by family breakup into adulthood, and have higher risks than children from intact homes of repeating the pattern of breakup themselves.

This recital touches only the periphery of the empirical record now being assembled about the costs of laissez-faire sex to American society — a record made all the more interesting by the fact that it could not have been foreseen back when sexual liberationism seemed merely synonymous with the removal of some seemingly inexplicable old stigmas. Today, however, two generations of social science replete with studies, surveys, and regression analyses galore stand between the Moynihan Report and what we know now, and the overall weight of its findings is clear. The sexual revolution — meaning the widespread extension of sex outside of marriage and frequently outside commitment of any kind — has had negative effects on many people, chiefly the most vulnerable; and it has also had clear financial costs to society at large. And this is true not only in the obvious ways, like the spread of aids and other stds, but also in other ways affecting human well-being, beginning but not ending with those enumerated above.

The question raised by this record is not why some people changed their habits and ideas when faced with compelling new facts about food and quality of life. It is rather why more people have not done the same about sex.

Could it be?

2009-02-12T13:17:00.000-05:00

In the book of 2 Chronicles we find that King Asa is all about building strong cities. 6 He built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, for the Lord gave him peace. 7 And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God. We have sought him, and he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered. 2 Chronicles 14

What is intriguing about this is that such building of cities was a way that success was measured in the Ancient Near East. Mesopotamian annals and regnal-year titles regularly comment on the king’s building activities as evidence of his success. The Chronicler uses what other nations consider as success to show the success of a king of Judah. Why? Would it not be better to speak of all his religious accomplishments, his care for the poor, his lack of building projects which would show he was not following the ways of the world? Or could there be something else here that we might be missing? Could it be that all those kings of Mesopotamia were actually doing a godly thing by their building? Could it be that they had implanted in their hearts the cultural mandate and also planted in their hearts, however blurred, the work that God is heading for, "A New City". I love the idea that Asa reflects success not first of all in terms of the surrounding culture, but in terms of God's grand vision of culture building and city building. While other nations may look on and say, "The Chronicler caught our values", the reality is that the nations unwittingly have caught the values of God. Caught them so much that we read in the book of Revelation, 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations Revelation 22

Crash: The Boy King

2009-02-12T07:02:00.002-05:00

Sunday morning we are moving on with our "Crash" series. The message is entitled: "Wrong Turn". It's the story of the boy-king, Joash (he assumes the throne at age 8). Joash begins his reign seemingly committed fully to God and his ways but after his mentor dies, he leaves behind those ways and breaks covenant with God and with those who had earlier rescued him.

A few intriguing things from the text:

In the entire story of the crowning of Joash his name is never used. Instead the focus is on the High Priest Jehoiada. This lack of naming the new king while highlighting Jehoiada shows the power, influence, and impact that this high priest had.
Joash is in conflict with the priests and seems to be in some sort of power struggle with them. This is especially seen in the conflict over the repair of the temple.
While the priests seem to take Joash lightly (even after he's been reigning 23 years), the princes of Judah pay him homage. It's possible that he abandons the ways of Jehoiada in order to wrest power from the priests. To do so he has to find a priestly class he can control and no priests of Yahweh are going to fit that bill.

So here's how the story starts (you can read the rest of the story to get ready for Sunday morning here):

Athaliah Reigns in Judah
10 Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family of the house of Judah. 11 But Jehoshabeath, [1] the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king's sons who were about to be put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of Jehoiada the priest, because she was a sister of Ahaziah, hid him [2] from Athaliah, so that she did not put him to death. 12 And he remained with them six years, hidden in the house of God, while Athaliah reigned over the land. 2 Chronicles 22

Is Food the New Sex?

2009-02-11T06:25:00.000-05:00

An interesting piece by Mary Eberstadt

Here's a snippet,

The rise of a recognizably... morally universalizable code concerning food — beginning with the international vegetarian movement of the last century and proceeding with increasing moral fervor into our own times via macrobiotics, veganism/vegetarianism, and European codes of terroir — has paralleled exactly the waning of a universally accepted sexual code in the Western world during these same years.

Who can doubt that the two trends are related? Unable or unwilling (or both) to impose rules on sex at a time when it is easier to pursue it than ever before, yet equally unwilling to dispense altogether with a universal moral code that he would have bind society against the problems created by exactly that pursuit, modern man (and woman) has apparently performed his own act of transubstantiation. He has taken longstanding morality about sex, and substituted it onto food. The all-you-can-eat buffet is now stigmatized; the sexual smorgasbord is not.

Here's the link to "Is Food the New Sex"

On Any Given Sunday

2009-02-10T14:55:00.003-05:00

A recent survey found that on any given Sunday in the Jenison, Hudsonville area 25,000 people attend worship while 34,000 stay home.

The question which surrounds this truth is, "Who are the 34,000?" Are they believers who just attend church a once or twice a month? So it's a different 34,000 each week? Are there a large group of people who have quit church or don't believe? If it is the first group, why don't they believe worshipping God weekly is important? If it's the second group, what does the church need to do to get to know those who have quit church or don't believe?

Good News

2009-02-07T09:14:00.001-05:00

“God hath yet ever had this island (Earth) under the special indulgent eye of his providence.” John Milton

Gladness and Hunger

2009-02-04T14:11:00.000-05:00

The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet. --Buechner

A little mistake

2009-02-02T15:40:00.001-05:00

BERLIN (Reuters) - Workers at a steel plant near Berlin found 100,000 euros ($128,500) in a safe that a bank had sent to be scrapped -- but they did the decent thing and gave it back.

An employee at Germany's Postbank had failed to take out the cash before sending the safe to the scrapyard. Spokesman Ralf Palm blamed "the carelessness of an employee when a branch office moved in December."

Thinking about the Bailout

2009-01-31T15:41:00.000-05:00

Capital Commentary did a good job this week with some thoughtful reflection on the beginning of the Obama presidency. Here a bit of what was written. You can catch the rest via the link.

"In his inaugural address, President Barack Obama promised to harness old and true values to new instruments in order to face new challenges and remake America. He urged struggle, sacrifice and risk-taking. The speech was short on inspiration and free of acrimony. The president chastised individual villains for their greed but also urged his audience to assume a collective guilt for failing to make “hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.”

The faces of the audience registered exuberance and ambivalence. Eager to celebrate, the speech offered them few invitations to do so. There was much to celebrate as an African-American took the oath, bringing to a climax the long trajectory from slavery to emancipation, through segregation to Brown v Board of Education, and from the dream of Martin Luther King Jr. to the hope symbolized in Barack Obama. But the president let the spectacle speak for itself. He stood at the podium symbolizing the distance his country has traveled but he offered the assembled multitudes only blood, sweat and tears. Surely some racist barriers crumbled, surely the moment redeemed some past agonies, and surely future generations will affirm January 20, 2009 as a seminal moment in America’s remaking. But how does that redemption speak to, let alone face down, the “tyranny of the urgent” presented by the economic crisis?"

The Obama Economic Plan

2009-01-31T13:25:00.002-05:00

As we look at the stimulus package a good place to go to ask questions about the best path to take is an organization called Cardus. Cardus is a thinktank that seeks to ReThink, ReSearch, and ReBuild. The budget analysis they do reflects the Canadian budget, but the themes of both the U.S. and Canadian budgets overlap. So take a look and use the Cardus document for reflection and conversation.

A New City

2009-01-30T15:15:00.003-05:00

In his book Cities of God Rodney Stark gives us a picture into the cities of the Apostle Paul's day. The picture is grim. People die at such an alarming rate that new people from the countryside have to come into the city if cities are going to survive. The cities are dirty places filled with disease and just a general nastiness. Cities are unsafe. No one goes out at night without an armed guard. People in the cities are so often maimed that you described people who had the same name by their deformities so you knew who you were talking about.

Given how horrific cities are (Think the movie Bladerunner) I would assume that like Bladerunner (I know, I'm talking about the "original" ending to the movie) that hope would come in escaping city and finding the pristine wonder of the country and nature. However, the Bible goes in a very unexpected direction. Instead of having people escape the city when the end of time comes, the Bible speaks of a new and renewed city. A place where there are none of the horrors of the present city, but instead a place free from death or crying or mourning or pain.

I can't help but wonder what people who lived in the horrors of the cities thought when those words of Revelation reached them.

I also wonder why God chooses not to return us to the garden of eden (given the nastiness of cities, why not run back to nature as so many want to do in our day). As the old song puts it, "we've got to get back to the garden." Instead of a garden we get a city. Could it be that God loves cities? Could it be that God's word to us is if he can take a place as horrible and nasty as the cities of Paul's day and make them new, then he can do it with anything? Even us.

Simple but profound

2009-01-27T06:44:00.002-05:00

3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. 1 John 2

These words have struck me over and over again. If we are going to say that we belong to Christ we need to walk in the way he walked i.e. to live as he lived. God's love is perfected or made whole in us as we live this kind of life. Simple, but profound.

An unintended funny

2009-01-23T06:50:00.000-05:00

I was doing some study in Ephesians 5 which talks about Jesus making the church without spot. I thought a bit of Greek would be a good thing to figure out just what spot might mean in background, classical usage and so on. When I checked out the word in the Greek I got a bit of a smile. In the accusative case the word from spot in Greek is spilon :)

Lost Luggage

2009-01-22T20:43:00.000-05:00

I thought this was a fun insight from an article in Harpers:

Air travel is like death: everything is taken from you.

Here's the context:

On the day of my flight to Moscow, I was late to the airport. Check-in was already closed. Although I was eventually let onto the plane, my suitcase was not, and it subsequently vanished altogether from the Aeroflot informational system. Air travel is like death: everything is taken from you.

What did you do at the office today?

2009-01-22T06:06:00.000-05:00

For those who follow the world of politics, here's what President Obama did on his first full day in office (apparently he didn't sleep in after all those Inaugural Balls).

1. Halting the military tribunal process at Guantánamo Bay.

2. Phoning Arab leaders to discuss the Mideast situation.

3. Freezing salaries for senior White House staffers and implementing semi-strict guidelines to stop the K Street revolving door.

4. Embracing openness and an end to “secrecy.”

5. Meeting with top military advisers to plan the Iraq drawdown and the reboot of the Afghanistan war.

6. Convening his economic advisers to discuss the stimulus.

Little Children in 1 John

2009-01-21T20:27:00.003-05:00

2.1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but a also for the sins of the whole world.

John’s address to this congregation at Ephesus “My little children”… How many of us would find it OK, to be addressed this way? Esv study says, "1 John 2:1 My little children. John's way of addressing his readers (cf. vv. 12, 28; 3:7, 18; 4:4; 5:21) exemplifies the love to which he summons readers." By the way, this way of speaking is used only by John (seven times) and by Jesus (once) in John 13. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’
It's kind of cool to see John take up a term used by Jesus and use it himself to address his "disciples". Could John's use of a Jesus term show us that he has become like his master and that he has disciples who are loved enough and also who follow Jesus closely enough that they get to be called "little children"?

But there is also something else. Using the endearing term of little children leads us to see the heart of John. He loves the church of Ephesus and so he wants to keep them from sin. While this is a demand, it is a demand that is awash in love.

“May not sin” when we know the truth, then we can live the truth and move away from sin. The Psalmist says, “Teach me your word that I may not sin against you”; the Word of God is a powerful tool to keep us from sin. A good reason to have it infused into our lives. But the reminder of Jesus is important here: the person who hears and doesn’t do is a builder on the sand… (Matthew 7). And Paul tells us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2). We can have the word, but not act on the word. When we act, God empowers us to fulfill his word. This is true in so much of our lives. We have things but we do not use them. I have tools that I don’t use so nothing gets built. I have a bike with snow tires but I haven’t ridden it in a month. It’s one thing to have something, it is a totally different deal to do something with it.

A Certain Class of People

2009-01-20T07:20:00.003-05:00

More from the world of 1 John

1.7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
In thinking on these words it came to me that people of the light are a certain class of people. I love the idea that people of the light are a certain class of people, a certain kind of people. They are of the class that live according to God’s creational norms and work to master the world in God’s ways. This class, from a scriptural point of view, outweighs all other differences and class distinctions. Paul in 2 Corinthians 5 says, 16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! The world looks at all kinds of different class distinctions from race to color to ethnicity. But those who belong to God’s new class of people, those who are in the light, look at only one thing: is this person seeking to live according to God’s creational norms? A life that flows from being a new person in Christ. This is a radically different way of looking at the world.

John makes it clear that while people of the light are of this new class of people, that they are not a perfect people. (Or saying it another way, John recognizes that people of the light are of a certain class of people, not perfect people.) Like a biker might be of the class of people known as bikers and yet make mistakes while riding, so people of the light are people of a class of people, viz. those who are living by God’s creational norms (OT wisdom NT being like Christ who is wisdom), but make mistakes while seeking to live out and understand this way of life. But even here we find that this certain class of people (people of the light) have something different from all others—forgiveness that comes from the blood of Christ.

This forgiveness makes it possible as Luther said, to sin boldly. We can take risks as we seek to live out being people of the light, take some giant leaps not knowing if they will finally reflect being people of the light or they will show how much sin is still in us (think of the way that Christians have tried to evangelize certain populations by destroying their culture and making them western). But even when we try and fail, we find that as people of the light we have one who cleanses us by his blood.

Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

2009-01-19T20:50:00.002-05:00

Fondly do we hope,
Fervently do we pray,
That this mighty scourge of war
May speedily pass away.

From A. Lincoln's second inaugural address. It is considered to be the best inaugural address in history. For more on inaugural history--with some excellent moments of laughter--read Ted Widmer's article in The American Scholar

A Fondness for ignorance

2009-01-19T20:14:00.002-05:00

"What we need to talk about, what someone needs to talk about, particularly now, is our ever-deepening ignorance (of politics, of foreign languages, of history, of science, of current affairs, of pretty much everything) and not just our ignorance but our complacency in the face of it, our growing fondness for it. A generation ago the proof of our foolishness, held up to our faces, might still have elicited some redeeming twinge of shame—no longer. Today, across vast swaths of the republic, it amuses and comforts us. We’re deeply loyal to it. Ignorance gives us a sense of community; it confers citizenship; our representatives either share it or bow down to it or risk our wrath." Mark Slouka in Harpers