Good Reads

Over the past few days as I've been doing a bit of vacationing I've been reading. A couple of good reads:

The Man who Invented Christmas. The book is basically a short biography of Charles Dickens with a strong emphasis on is classic, A Christmas Carol. If you enjoy getting to know great authors and their works in a very readable format this is for you.

How to Break a Terrorist. This great book tells how interrogators in Iraq have used sympathetic techniques to bring down some of the most powerful terrorists. It reads like a Tom Clancy novel while telling a true story. Given all the concerns over torture that have been hitting the press lately, it's well worth the read. You can get a bit of the flavor of the book in an interview by another interrogator who used similar techniques.

Charles Dickens

"How often have we heard from a large class of men wise in their generation, who would really seem to be born and bred for no other purpose than to pass into currency counterfeit and mischievous scraps of wisdom...that a 'little learning is a dangerous thing.' Why a little hanging was considered a dangerous thing, according to the same authorities, with this difference, that, because a little hanging was dangerous, we had a great deal of it; and, because a little learning was dangerous, we were to have none of it at all."

From a Speech given by Dickens on October 5, 1843 at a fund raiser for the Manchester Athenaeum, the industrial capital's primary beacon of arts and enlightenment.

Thought for the Day

Comment Magazine: As a novice, what were your most valuable learning experiences?

DJG: Rarely is anything we do as important as we think. Rarer still are the mistakes we make held against us. If you stay focused and seek to be faithful in life-giving ways to those things that you steward, you will be amazed at how often they succeed, particularly in those institutions that normally do not claim to value what you do. That being said, there is no substitute for being as wily as a serpent and as cunning as a fox.

David J. Goa, Director, Chester Ronning Centre for the Study of Religion and Public Life, University of Alberta

Full Interview here

A Last Word from the Monk of Abu Ghraib

God forgive our lack of faith, our unwillingness
to believe in Your redemption, and our efforts to
conjure our own. We die of self-absorption, convinced
of our own myths of importance. Forgive my
conflicting allegiances and doubt.

A Prayer to begin the day

O Lord and Master of my life, a spirit of idleness, curiosity, ambition, and idle talk give me not.

But a spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love, bestow upon me Thy servant.

Yea, O Lord King, grant me to see mine own failings and not to condemn my brother or sister, for blessed art Thou unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Lenten prayer of St. Ephrem the Syrian

More from the Monk of Abu Ghraib

JULY 15
This place has become my monastery. I remain quiet in the evenings and read incessantly, usually with a heart of sorrow. I attend Protestant chapel when energy permits, but the kind of rejoicing in worship that they attempt to draw out of people is very difficult for me. Silence is
one of the only ways I know to deal with this madness. I just interrogated a man who without
doubt deserves what awaits him in this world and the next. One might think me justified
then in being his accuser. But there is a line in the movie The Cardinal, when Father Stephen tells his archbishop that he feels he cannot be a priest because when people confess to him, it is he who trembles. He understands and loves the law, but he is terrified at being the one who dispenses it.

Reflections from Abu Ghraib

You can get the background in the description below. What caught my attention was his not wanting to talk to Evangelical pastors about his struggles because they were to easily co-opted. One of those things that make you think and reflect a big

THE MONK OF ABU GHRAIB
By Joshua Casteel, from emails he wrote while working as an interrogator at Abu Ghraib prison, in Iraq. In February 2005, he filed an application for conscientious- objector status, which was approved in May 2005. A collection of his emails, Letters from Abu Ghraib, was published in July by Essay Press.

JULY 3
Two big interrogations today, and they went very well. But more challenges with my work.
To put it vaguely, it’s the strategy games I have to play with the man across the table, mixing
and meshing shades of truth and lies to assess his responses and defense mechanisms. It’s all
such a dance: motives, methods, means, and then what you do with what you get, and how
much you trust those who then do what they do with what you give them. It can be paralyzing.
I’m going to see how much of this I can talk over with a Catholic chaplain. I don’t want to
go to the Evangelical pastors. Catholics are usually much more fervent and consistent in not
bowing blindly to the state. (They’ve kind of got their own polis in Rome.)

Strength Finders

I spent three days this week doing Strength Finders training with the Gallup Organization. The basic idea is that we do better pursuing and building our strengths than focusing on our weaknesses.
After three days of training, I'm now officially a Strength Finders Coach. Now I get to find 10 people to coach. Sounds like fun. By the way my top ten (there are 34 possible strengths) are:

• Achiever People who are especially talented in the Achiever theme have a great deal of stamina and work hard. They take great satisfaction from being busy and productive.
• Learner People who are especially talented in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them.
• Intellection People who are especially talented in the Intellection theme are characterized by their intellectual activity. They are introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions.
• Input People who are especially talented in the Input theme have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information.
• Activator People who are especially talented in the Activator theme can make things happen by turning thoughts into action. They are often impatient.
• Connectedness People who are especially talented in the Connectedness theme have faith in the links between all things. They believe there are few coincidences and that almost every event has a reason.
• Ideation People who are especially talented in the Ideation theme are fascinated by ideas. They are able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena.
• Strategic People who are especially talented in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.
• Futuristic People who are especially talented in the Futuristic theme are inspired by the future and what could be. They inspire others with their visions of the future.
• Focus People who are especially talented in the Focus theme can take a direction, follow through, and make the corrections necessary to stay on track. They prioritize, then act.

:(

Mexico’s Crime Spree

By Ken Silverstein

Speaking of crime and violence in Mexico, consider this number: 6,836.

That’s the number of people killed in drug-related violence since 2007, more than the number of American fatalities in the Iraq War.

Is this something we should care about?

Reading Harper's Monthly on my way to Omaha this week I came across an article on U.S. War crimes--particularly as they deal with torture. The Amnesty International Magazine this month also takes a look at the issue of torture in an article that talks about a trial for Donald Rumsfeld. I thought it might be worth at least putting this out there for reflection. I realize this may well stir up some controversy, but as a nation that seeks to be one that is just, we need to ask hard questions of ourselves. The Atlantic Monthly has also just come out with an article. In it you can find a link to the McCain-Levin (U.S. Senate) summary on how prisoners were treated.

Here's a paragraph from the online Harper's article.

War Crimes

By Scott Horton

How often in our nation’s history has a Congressional Committee published a report which concludes that the President is essentially guilty of war crimes? Only once. It happened last week with the release of the Senate Armed Services Committee report on prisoner abuse. Put a sharper point on it: war crimes that produce the death of a detainee are punishable with the death sentence. And in this case we now have more than one hundred deaths potentially linkable to detainee abuse, linked to the President. Yet to the American mainstream media, which has made virtually no effort to comprehend the report, it was a non-event.

this link brings you to the rest of the article

Oh Canada

Is Lincoln Weeping?

Be On The Lookout: Illinois Governors have high propensity for crime

Number of men elected as Illinois governor since 1960: 7

Number who have been charged with criminal conduct: 4

Number who have served time in prison: 3

Number of years served (combined) thus far by three jailed governors: 6 *

(* — George Ryan, Rod Blagojevich’s predecessor, is two years into a 6 1/2 year sentence. Dan Walker went to jail in 1988 for conduct that occurred after his 1973-1977 tenure. He was released in 1989 due to poor health. Staged miraculous recovery after release; now lives in Mexico. Otto Kerner Jr. served time between 1974 and 1975 on bribery charges. He died of cancer soon after winning his early release.)

Joy

The Son of Man Is Given Dominion Daniel 7

13 “I saw in the night visions,

and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.
14 And to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed.

The Picture of Bad Government

With millions enduring severe and worsening hunger, and cholera spilling into neighboring countries, there are rising international calls for Mr. Mugabe to step down after 28 years in power. But he only seems to be digging in and even declared Thursday that the nation’s cholera epidemic had ended, just a day after the World Health Organization warned that the outbreak was grave enough to carry “serious regional implications.”

This ferocious cholera epidemic, spread by water contaminated with human excrement, has stricken more than 16,000 people across Zimbabwe since August and killed more than 780. Health experts are warning that the number of cases could surpass 60,000, and that half the country’s population of 12 million is at risk.

The outbreak is yet more evidence that Zimbabwe’s most fundamental public services — including water and sanitation, public schools and hospitals — are shutting down, much like the organs of a severely dehydrated cholera victim.

From the New York Times

The Picture of a good Government?

I'm reading in the book of Daniel. This morning as I read Daniel 4 I was struck by the picture painted there of the rule of King Nebuchadnezzar. It seemed a good balance to Paul's words in Romans 13 where the government is given the sword to punish the evil doer. Here the picture is one of human flourishing.

10 The visions of my head as I lay in bed were these: I saw, and behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. 11 The tree grew and became strong, and its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth. 12 Its leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, and the birds of the heavens lived in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it. Daniel 4

One of those odd things

What? The Pew Forum's survey of USreligion finds that 20% of atheists believe in God & 57% of evangelicals say most religions lead to heaven

From Leonard Sweet

Long Term Civil Society in a time of Crisis

This week's capital commentary from the Center for Public Justice reminds us of our need to think long term as communities of faith in the face of our present crisis. Below you will find the opening paragraph. You can follow the link for the entire article:

Civic Revival in the Face of Scarcity

December 5, 2008
Four decades ago, the French ethicist Jacques Ellul warned Christians about the dangers of allowing the media to determine which social issues to engage. Ellul's concern was with the short shelf life of the media's attention to certain social problems. When churches become socially active solely because of such media coverage, Ellul reasoned, they drop the issue when the media turns its attention elsewhere. This truncates religiously based social engagement, leaving it incomplete, captive to press interests, and unable to discern its own course of action. In the rush and pressing immediacy of today's events, we are in desperate need of deep and long-term discernment.

Wait a Minute!

As I was doing research for this Sunday's message I was struggling with the fact that life doesn't always give us what we were hoping for. God promises us wonderful things and even promises us the smallest of things (seek first my kingdom and the necessities of life will be given you--see Matthew 6.33), but we don't always get these things. The apostle Paul, for instance, tells us that he didn't always have even the necessities (he was at times cold, hungry, naked). So what do we do with that?

As I was contemplating all of this I remembered Jesus' words about his job being to bring glory to his Father. When I was finding this verse in John 17 I also came across another, about Peter in John 21. It says, John 21:18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” 19 (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.” Jesus tells Peter about the kind of death that was going to come his way--so that God will be glorified through it. My thought, "Wait a minute, you mean to tell me that not only doesn't Peter get the necessities, he dies!" Apparently there is something that trumps getting what we want and even what we need, namely, God's glory. And that glory can be known even in our failing to get what we want.

A theme

In the book of Titus, a mere 3 chapters long, there is a powerful theme. One wonders what is going on in Crete that Paul is emphasizing it so much. Could it be that the tendency of the Cretans to be lazy keeps them from doing what they should? Could it be that they are self-absorbed and so don't see the need for a "greater gospel" proclamation through what they do. Whatever it is (I'm sure if I took the time to do some more background an answer would arise), Paul goes after this theme over and over again. Here it is:

16 They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work. Titus 1 7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, Titus 2 11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Titus 2 3:1 Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work Titus 3 8 The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. Titus 3 14 And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful. Titus 3

For the believers in Crete, good works, are a huge deal. I wonder how big of a deal they are to us and for that matter what do we consider good works. I think that the rest of Titus gives us some pictures of what it looks like to do good works. It's possible that some of those ways have not occurred to us.

China's Future

This week's Comment e-mail contains a "don't miss" article for those who are watching China, its large economy and its future in comparison with the U.S. The article looks at not only the economic capital but also the failing social and religious capital that may spell doom for that nation's economy in the long run. It's worth the read.

How to win friends and influence people

The Apostle Paul could speak in ways that would get us in a world of trouble today. Just one of these that I just came across.

Titus 1.10 For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. 11 They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” 13 This testimony is true.

Try saying that kind of thing about a group of people today and see how people respond.

Short Memories?

I've notice something at a local used car lot in my hometown of Zeeland. During the time of 4 dollar a gallon gas all the SUVs were moved to the back of the lot, apparently unsalable. Smaller cars and just cars in general that got better gas mileage got pride of place in the front row. Now that price are down those SUVs once again line the front row of the lot, ready for sale. The cars now are in the back. Could we really have that short of memories or are we that naive to believe that gas prices will stay at their current levels?

A look inside North Korea

The video is 20 minutes long, but well worth gaining an understanding of the terror that is North Korea. Be warned, some of the footage is hard to see. The video is also another picture of the horror that governments who fail to be about public justice bring on their people.

A Morning (or anytime) Doxology

Paul in the last chapter of 1 Timothy has this amazing doxology that puts into perspective who God is:

[God] who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. 1 Timothy 6.15b-16

The Pain of Unjust Governments

Because of a national cash shortage, Zimbabweans can only withdraw small amounts of money every day - often barely enough buy a loaf of bread.

The country's economic freefall has been accelerating and the latest annual inflation rate was 231,000,000%. Just one adult in five is estimated to have a regular job.

Earlier, the state-owned Herald newspaper reported that water in the capital had been cut because of a shortage of purification chemicals, as authorities try to contain a cholera outbreak.

At least 425 people have died in recent months from the disease, which is spread by contaminated water.

The outbreak has been fuelled by the collapse of Zimbabwe's health and sanitation systems. The disease is easily treatable but hospitals lack medicines and staff.

The health minister said people should stop shaking hands to prevent the disease spreading.

From the BBC News Service

Wizards

Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.

J.R.R. Tolkien

Not every one should lead

Wisdom from Leadership guru Pat Lencioni,

Whenever I hear someone encourage all young people to become leaders, or better yet, when I hear a young person say glibly that he or she wants to be a leader someday, I feel compelled to ask the question “why?”

If the answer is “because I want to make a difference” or “I want to change the world,” I get a little skeptical and have to ask a follow-up question: “Why and in what way do you want to change the world?” If they struggle to answer that question, I discourage them from becoming a leader.

Why? Because a leader who doesn’t know why he or she wants to lead is almost always motivated by self-interest. Whether that manifests itself in terms of fame or money or power, it is a very dangerous thing.

True leadership, the kind that results in the greater good, requires a level of selflessness and vision that most people simply don’t have. We forget the loneliness and sacrifice and great personal risk that George Washington and Abraham Lincoln endured during their times, and that the personal benefits they received for their sacrifices were minimal, if not non-existent. But that is what was—and is—required of any truly great leader, which explains why leadership is a rare trait in society, and always has been.

When people without selflessness become leaders, they often end up exploiting people and leaving them worse off. As long as they escape relatively unscathed, they feel that they have succeeded. And this is not limited to CEOs of big companies or members of Congress, though those cases are both more public and potentially harmful. It applies to small business owners, little league coaches, school principals, and mid-level managers as well.

Perhaps that’s why society has become so cynical about leaders, especially in the world of politics and, more recently, big business. People have come to expect—even accept—that their leaders are motivated by fame and fortune more than real service. Which is a shame because we are starting to get cynical as a society. As a result, the wrong people are being drawn into positions of leadership for all the wrong reasons.

How safe do we need to keep them?

More from the New Yorker on Helicopter parents

As for children’s safety, Honoré makes what will no doubt be the controversial recommendation that we stop fretting about it. He quotes Samuel Butler on the subject: “Young people have a marvelous faculty of either dying or adapting themselves to circumstances.” Allergy rates in children are rising throughout the industrialized world. Honoré blames this on oversanitized environments: “Just look at what happened in Germany. Before unification, allergy rates were much higher in the western part, even though the Communist-run eastern half had much worse pollution and more children living on farms. After the countries reunited, East Germany was cleaned up and urbanized—and allergy rates soared.”

Finally, Honoré takes on domestic psychology, in particular the “self-esteem movement” born of the nineteen-seventies. To him, as to other writers on overparenting, this is a matter of disgust. “Every doodle ends up on the fridge door,” he says. According to the research he’s read, such ego-pumping confers no benefit. A review of thousands of studies found that high self-esteem in children did not boost grades or career prospects, or even resistance to adult alcoholism. If I am not mistaken, however, there is something about the self-esteem movement that strikes Honoré at a level deeper than the question of our children’s competence. Marano, as the title of her book tells us, is worried that we are producing a nation of wimps, people who won’t “make it.” Honoré is worried that the Stepford children produced by overparenting will make it, and turn the world into a rude, heartless, boring place.

Our Failing Economy

A friend of mine published these thoughts on his blog. I thought I'd pass them alone. You can check out his blog.

An Economy that Doesn't Deserving Bailing Out?

I was reviewing the Uni student newspaper where I teach part-time and got very annoyed by a passing headline, "An Economy that Doesn't Deserve Bailing Out". David Brooks - one of my favorite New York Times columnists - summarizes nicely why I think this kind of cold hearted and isolating cynicism is profoundly inappropriate in thinking Christians.

In his piece today on The Formerly Middle Class Brooks aptly notes that some people think recession is good because it means a moral revival - that Americans will learn to live without material extravagance and simplify their lives, rediscovering "home, friends and family".

This is a very naive impression of 'recession', and betrays the fundamental political, economic and cultural illiteracy of Christian moralists. Recessions breed more than Wendell Berry's idealist agrarianism - they breed pessimism. Birthrates drop and suicide rates rise. Recessions are about fear, and diminished expectations.

Brooks argues that it is the recently mobile middle class that will feel it, especially in developing economies where millions of people have climbed out of poverty. This recession is pushing them back down. What kind of form will this disillusionment take? Will it be the populism and nativism of the 1880s and 1890s, with the apocalyptic forebodings and collectivist movements crushing individual rights? Or the cynicism of the 1970s when Bretton Woods fell apart, and the oil shock rocked the global economy? Presciently Brooks asks, "will the Obama administration spend much of its time battling a global protest movement that doesn't even exist yet"?

It will not merely the material deprivations that will bite, but the loss of social identity, networks, status symbols and social order. Naive young undergraduates can have the luxury of bemoaning a consumerist North American capitalism which is "finally getting what it deserves", but my heart breaks when I hear them disassociate themselves from their politics, their culture, and their nation - as though somehow they bear no common responsibility to pursue justice in the public sphere. Real people, with real loves and desires are being hurt, and spiraling into psychological and social cacoons - people are afraid and alone, and we're gloating.

Shame on us.

Helicopter parenting

The New Yorker has an interesting article on Helicopter parenting. Here's a paragraph

While Mother was driving the kid nuts with the eight-hundredth iteration of “This Little Piggy,” she should have been letting him play on his own. Marano assembles her own arsenal of neurological research, guaranteed to scare the pants off any hovering parent. As children explore their environment by themselves—making decisions, taking chances, coping with any attendant anxiety or frustration—their neurological equipment becomes increasingly sophisticated, Marano says. “Dendrites sprout. Synapses form.” If, on the other hand, children are protected from such trial-and-error learning, their nervous systems “literally shrink.”

Engaging

As we get ready for a new president it strikes me as important to hear what he has to say so we can rightly engage in this part of our Christian calling. Here's a link to 60 Minutes' first interview with President Elect Obama

Sunday's Sermon, Flight 90 and Arland Williams

I talked a moment about Arland Williams who sacrficed his life in 1982 to rescue other passengers from the crash of flight 90. One of those rescued was a flight attendant. A friend from EverGreen emailed me the rest of the story.

"She was rescued twice. Two times, two complete strangers made a decision to rescue her, within two days of each other. Not bad, huh? Her name was Kelly Moore which means absolutely nothing to you. You don’t know Kelly Moore but most of you know some of the circumstances about the day that she was rescued, at least the first time. You see Kelly Moore was a flight attendant for Air Florida. The plane she flew on was a Boeing 737. Specifically it was Air Florida Flight 90. On January 13 1982 Kelly Moore began her day just as she always had, never suspecting what the day had in store for her. Two minutes after take off flight 90 began losing altitude and crashed into a Bridge spanning the Potomac River. When Kelly came to she was in the frigid waters of the Potomac clinging to a piece of wreckage with five other survivors.

Remember the story yet?

One of the survivors clinging to that raft helped Kelly and the other four into the rescue harness of a hovering helicopter one by one before succumbing to hypothermia and slipping beneath the surface. And so that was how she was rescued the first time, by a stranger she had never met, who was later identified as Arland Williams.

Two days later Kelly was rescued again, listen to her words. A couple of days later, when I was moved from intensive care to a regular room, I woke to see a nurse standing over me. She smiled, covering my fingers with her warm, gentle hand, and said, "Little girl, I could get in big trouble for telling you this, but God loves you and he saved you from that plane crash for a reason." In response to my eager interest, my nurse risked her job to tell me of Jesus’ love for me. As she spoke of how he died for me, I responded by turning my life over to him. For the first time I felt real peace.

When I prayed to accept Christ, I asked God to show me how I could know more about him. I knew he would answer me.

Not only that but it was by two separate strangers in a course of two days. Why? What qualities did Williams share with other heroes whose stories we read about in the newspapers, you know the ones who save babies from burning buildings, rescue motorists in mangled cars, and plunge into freezing water to save struggling swimmers? Well they are all ordinary people who came to a critical turning point and made an extraordinary decision to rescue someone whose life was in danger. And more often then not they put themselves in peril doing it. Listen again to what Kelly Moore said:

I don’t know why God saved me from the Potomac that day when others died, or why he answered my desperate prayers for contact with him. But I do know God used compassionate, ordinary people to bring his love to me "

Worth a Read

From Steve Garber's article on Proximate Justice. The entire article is worth reading.

In the here-and-now, I vote—but always with a torn heart. I have not yet met a candidate or a political proposal that embodies all that I dream for as one whose deepest loyalties are grounded in the hope of the Kingdom. But I do vote. As William Imboden wrote in the Public Justice Report, “It is clear that the precepts and practice of proximate justice are deficient when judged by the standards of the City of God, but they may be superior to no justice at all.” We take up our responsibility as citizens, realizing that our best efforts are clay-footed, our best insights are flawed. And yet it matters for this earth and the one that it is to come that we work alongside others to establish what Walker Percy called “signposts in a strange land” of what is already real and true and right in the now-but-not-yet of the Kingdom.

What to say?

...whenever I am asked what I think about the so-called ‘other faiths’, which I often am, including on radio shows and the like, one of the things I normally say is that Krishna didn’t die for me, that Buddha didn’t rise again, that Mohammad ruled out as an impossibility what to me is the very centre of my life, that in Jesus Christ the one true God became human and lived, died and rose again for the world’s salvation, and for mine. That is what Solus Christus [Christ alone] must say when faced with relativism.

N.T. Wright

A Prayer to Use in the Morning from Psalm 119

33 Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes;
and I will keep it to the end. [4]
34 Give me understanding, that I may keep your law
and observe it with my whole heart.
35 Lead me in the path of your commandments,
for I delight in it.
36 Incline my heart to your testimonies,
and not to selfish gain!
37 Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;
and give me life in your ways.
38 Confirm to your servant your promise,
that you may be feared.
39 Turn away the reproach that I dread,
for your rules are good.
40 Behold, I long for your precepts;
in your righteousness give me life!

Those Calvinists

"I had rather see coming toward me a whole regiment with drawn swords, than one lone Calvinist convinced that he is doing the will of God."

--words of a 17th century Englishman

Living what we profess 3

Passing affections easily produce words; and words are cheap; ...Christian practice is a costly, laborious thing. The self-denial that is required of Christians, and the narrowness of the way that leads to life, don't consist in words, but in practice. Hypocrites may much more easily be brought to talk like saint, than act like saints.

Jonathan Edwards

Living what we profess 2

Good works are not the cause, but the fruit of righteousness. When we have become righteous, then we are able and willing to do good. The tree makes the apple, the apple does not make the tree.

Martin Luther

Irony

It would seem that the election of Obama actually slowed the move toward gay marriage... From the NY Times:

"Supporters of same-sex marriage in California, where the fight on Tuesday was fiercest, appeared to have been outflanked by the measure’s highly organized backers and, exit polls indicated, hurt by the large turnout among black and Hispanic voters drawn to Senator Barack Obama’s candidacy. Mr. Obama opposes gay marriage. Exit polls in California found that 70 percent of black voters backed the ban. Slightly more than half of Latino voters, who made up almost 20 percent of voters, favored the ban, while 53 percent of whites opposed it."

Living what we profess 1

By opening his heart to the grace of God and by striving to obey God's will, a Christian may acquire the virtues that fit a Christian life and may begin to perform the good works that flow from them. It's not that good works save anybody. It's just that they demonstrate God's saving grace in a person's life. We are not saved by good works, but neither are we saved without them.

Neal Plantinga in Engaging God's World

The Day After

The strong negative response to the election of Barack Obama by some of my friends went through my mind yesterday as I was working on the Luke 6 passage for our weekly dusty Bible study for EverGreen. It seems to me that some see president-elect Obama as truly their enemy. So the quesiton is: "If I'm going to be faithful to Christ in these days, how do I treat my enemies?"

The words of Jesus from Luke may have something to say to this. Although I don't find myself fearful that persecution or any other kind of abuse is going to come, perhaps for those who see Barak Obama as an enemy, it may be wise to take the route Jesus calls us to.

27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. 31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. Luke 6

How well this passage connects to the election may be a bit tenous, but it just might be a good place to start.

The Divide

Watching election returns last night I was struck by a powerful divide that was revealed between African American believers and white believers. As Obama was winning NBC had interviews with black pastors, with black Christians who had been through the civil rights movement and others. Many of these attributed Obama's win to a miracle of God or the working of God to bring about justice after the days of racism. This attitude was a powerful contrast to the last minute emails I received from largely white voters and coalitions. These people and organizations pointed out that McCain was God's choice and that any other choice would reflect a falling away from God by our nation.
As I watched the divide unfold between African American Christians and white Christians it reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend who also happened to be an African American Pastor in the Reformed Church in America. He pointed out to me that the central issues for white Christians were barely on the agenda of Black Christians and the central issues on the agenda for Black Christians, were rarely considered by white Christians.
It all makes me wonder about how we heal this divide and seek the picture of the book of Revelation where people from all nations come and worship.

God's Promises Bigger

I'm in the book of Jeremiah in my OT reading. In Jeremiah 33 it says, 14 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16 In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ 17 “For thus says the Lord: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, 18 and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices forever.” The thing that particularly caught my attention was the double promise: a king on the throne and a priest to offer sacrifices. Who would have imagined in Jeremiah's day that one person would keep both of these promises? The book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is a priest after the order of Melchizedek 6.19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. The book of Revelation and elsewhere shows us that Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords.
But there is another surprise. Not only is Jesus both King and Priest, he is also this for a much larger "nation" than Israel. He is King and Priest for Jew and Gentile alike. God's vision turns out to be so much larger than the vision that people would have assumed from Jeremiah's words. It leaves one to wonder how much larger God's vision is than we assume.

Guidelines for Voting

Jim Skillen of the the Center for Public Justice has been doing election year articles. His last is entitled, "Guidelines for Voting". Dr. Skillen is a thoughtful, balanced, and insightful writer. I encourage you to read this and the other articles in the series.

So I'm not accused of political bias, I'm posting this link without first reading Guidelines for Voting. I trust that Dr. Skillen's work will be helpful to all who read it.

For Rumination

Man is a complex being: he makes deserts bloom - and lakes die.

--From Eco Vista

Deep Thinkers, Good Communicators

Church and society are often misled by people offering simplistic, one-sided answers to the big issues of their time. They pretend to know what they are talking about, even though they lack the necessary expertise. Evangelicalism, especially, with its strong anti-intellectual strain, has often—whether one thinks of eschatology, science, family life, or politics—been badly served by popularizers and activists with simplistic ideas and superficial solutions. Nor will that change unless more people with good scholarly training become effective popularizers and successful activists.

Ron Sider in his article Needed: A Few More Scholars/ Popularizers/Activists: Personal Reflections on my Journey

Good to be an Adult?

The essence of childhood is innocence. The essence of youth is awareness. The essence of adulthood is responsibility.
Andy Crouch in Culture Making

We live in a culture that celebrates youth. It seems to be the best time of life. Filled with fun, laughter, and a certain ease. We are so enamored with youth that most people spend their lives trying to get back to it. But what if the time of youth, while being good, is not the best? What is being a person of responsibility is the best? The kind of person who Andy Crouch speaks of in his book. The kind of person who takes on the task, along with others in the community of faith (and in community) to shape culture so that it reflects the heart of God. If being responsible leads to doing great things for God, even shaping culture for God (think Abraham Kuypers, "There is not one square inch of this world that Christ as King does not delcare, "that belongs to me") isn't it worth growing up? Maybe it's even worth celebrating being an adult.

For more on Andy Crouch's book see two excellent reviews. One by Gideon Strauss and the other by John Seel.

More from Jeremiah

There is a book that talks about the Idols of our Time. It talks about such things as nationalism, trust in weapons and so on. Jeremiah in his eleventh chapter states, 13 For your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah, and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame, altars to make offerings to Baal. Your gods have become as many as your cities. I haven't done research into this one, but my best guess is that Jeremiah is referring to the fact that each city had its own patron deity for protection. It was a fairly regular thing in the Ancient Near East for cities to have their own central god.

It leaves me wondering about the gods that we have, have they become as many as our cities? Certainly we have the overall god of our culture, the god of consumerism. It is a god that right now is dying in the midst of this huge economic downturn, and as our god dies we are terrified. But beyond the big god, what local deities do we have that we worship? John Calvin talks about an idol being anything we trust in alongside of or in the place of God. It's always hard to figure out just what those idols might be. When does something good that we enjoy become an idol? When do sports move from the category of something we enjoy to something that we trust in? Does it have anything to do with time and investment? When we invest more time in such things than we invest in God, have they become idols? Or does it have to do with intent? When we do these things for our glory, for our kids glory rather than for the glory of God, do they become idols? Or one more. When these things take us away from the community of faith where we have promised to care for and be cared for, grow others and be grown by them, does that make them idols? Or when does something important become something we trust in? Like, when does our concern for keeping our children safe make an idol of either our children or of safety?

I'm guessing that most of us, myself included, don't think too deeply about the idols of our times. We are more likely to justify our idols than confront them. We are more likely to rationalize our idols that seeing how they control us. But could it be that Jeremiah's words ring as true today as they did 2600 years ago, "For your gods have become as many as your cities...."

Jeremiah's uncomfortable thoughts...

The book of Jeremiah is filled with the kind of words that make one think deeply. As I made my way through chapters 10-12 there were more than enough thoughts that made me pause. Here ia one for today, another coming tomorrow:
10.21 For the shepherds are stupid and do not inquire of the Lord; therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered.
This verse brings to mind a reality that I'm facing more and more. The need to let the word (Sola Scriptura) be the guide for my life. I know that those in Pentecostal circles speak of visions, dreams, etc. I don't doubt that God graciously speaks to some in that way, but my experience on such things is extremely spotty at best. Each time I am tempted to go down that path it seems that it drives me back to the Scriptures as the only true and solid foundation for life, practice, direction. Shepherds who seek other paths or at the very least don't take their dreams, visions etc. and hold them up against God's word seem to follow the path of those stupid shepherds. By the way, doesn't calling people stupid seem harsh in our context? Yet, what else is a person who doesn't inquire of the Lord?
By the way, inquiring of the Lord in this context is all wrapped up with knowing, understanding, and living out the covenant. To inquire means to find out how God wants you to live in light of the covenant.

Take Five

We're starting a new series at EverGreen this weekend. It's called "Take Five". As we enter into this week where the Protestant Reformation is celebrated (same day as Halloween) we decided to look at the five central teachings to come out of the reformation. They are often called the five solas (Latin for "only" or "alone"). The five solas are: Scripture alone, faith alone, grace alone, Christ alone, and God's glory alone.

As we explore each one of these over the next five weeks, our weekly Bible study "getting dusty" will be tracking both scripture and creeds that teach the five solas. This is a different format than we've used for the past couple of years, but if you are interested in digging deeply into foundational matters of the faith that impact the way we live and the way we love God and our neighbor, this is a great way to dig in. You can download the "getting dusty" at EverGreen's website. Dusty is found under the weekly getting dusty section.

Why we stay at home

There has been a great deal written and even more spoken over the past months about why we don't vote, yet the answers are less likely to be found in current behaviours than they are in the subtleties of post-modern thinking.

We live in a consumer society; one in which the dominant although not exclusive trend is to assess the value of the products we purchase and the activities we engage in by the benefits they bring to us as individuals.

This articulates itself in the reasons for low voter turnout that I hear in the course of my studies and travels across the country.

The most frequent is that "I don't know if I'll vote because I don't agree with everything any of the candidates has to say" or, in other words, there is no single party or candidate that affirms us individually -- at least not at the level required to inspire us to return the favour by going to the polls and affirming the ambitions of one of the candidates.

When we don't see ourselves fully represented in the choices placed before us as consumers, we therefore fail to see sufficient value in the exchange of goods or services and choose not to buy into or participate in the process.

Ray Pennings of Cardus

Why we stay at home

The most common cause cited for irregular church attendance is not lack of faith in God, it is the churches' inability to meet our individual needs.

So, while we once went to church in order to serve and praise God, we are now more inclined to assess the value of church attendance based on the service it provides us.

--Ray Pennings of Cardus

Ray's comments make me wonder about how our new attitude fits in with the words of 1 Peter 2.9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

In Need

The latest World Bank figures for world poverty reveals a higher number of people live in poverty than previously thought. For example, the new poverty line is defined as $1.25 a day. 1.4 billion people live on or below that line. Furthermore, almost half the world—over three billion people—live on less than $2.50 a day and at least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day.

Just the Facts

More on the campaign and when that truth gets stretched...

A Thought

"We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the future of human civilization."

A Funny

The Bible has a way of making jokes that are usually understated. This morning as I was reading in the book of Acts I caught one of those light/funny moments in the midst of a crisis (remember from your English classes how in the midst of tension a writer will often break the tension with a bit of humor?). James has just been killed by Herod. Peter is in prison and the next day is execution. But then an angel shows up. Here's the text: 6 Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. 7 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands. The funny? The angel strikes Peter on the side. Why not a gentle, pastoral nudge? You can see the angel kind of winding up and whacking him. It's a funny picture. Another thing. Which one of us would have been so calm in the face of death to need a good whack to the side to wake up on the night before our execution?

Worst Ideas

Foreign Policy is a leading journal that informs and critiques. Recently they came out with the 10 worst ideas of John McCain and Barch Obama. It is worth a read as we listen to their ideas and especially as we listen to the debates.

Stories that Amaze

Ira D. Sankey was traveling by steamboat up the Delaware River. It was a calm, starlit evening and and there were many passengers gathered on the deck. Mr. Sankey was asked to sing. Somehow he was driven to sing the hymn "Saviour, Like A Shepherd Leads Us."

"Can you remember when you were doing picket duty on a bright moonlight night in 1862?" asked a passenger.

"Yes," answered Mr. Sankey, very much surprised.

"So do I," said the stranger, "but I was serving in the Confederate Army. I saw you raised your eyes to heaven and began to sing. Music has always had a wonderful power over me, and I took my finger off the trigger.

"Let him sing his song to the end, I said to myself, I can shoot him afterwards." "but the song you sang then was the song you just sang now. I heard the words perfectly: "We are Thine, do thou befriend us. be the guardian of our way."

"When you had finished your song, it was impossible for me to take aim at you again. I thought: "the Lord who is able to save that man from certain death must surely be great and might" - and my arm dropped limp by my side.

"Since that time I wandered about far and wide; but when I just now saw you standing there singing just as on that other occasion, I recognized you. Then my heart was wounded by your song. Now I wish that you may help find a cure for my sick soul."

Deeply moved, Mr. Sankey threw his arms about the man who had been his enemy and together they found their way to the Shepherd.

An old joke, no doubt, but still worth a smile

A new pastor was invited by the local Kiwanians to join their club. The membership secretary reminded him, however, that it was the rule of the club to have only one representative from each profession and that they already had one for the category of pastor. The only profession not represented at the moment was that of hog-caller. Would the pastor mind? "Well," was the pastor's reply, "where I come from, I was known as the shepherd, but, of course, you know your group best."

Nothing like a bit of encouragement on a Monday

9 Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun— all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. Ecclesiastes 12.9

Wonderful Juxtapostion

Part of my Old Testament study right now is the book of Proverbs. The writer of Proverbs from time to time tells us the way things are, but then points out the way things are supposed to be. One of the really great juxtapositions in Proverbs talks about the poor: our attitude toward them, and what God wants reality to be.

20 The poor is disliked even by his neighbor,
but the rich has many friends.
21 Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner,
but blessed is he who is generous to the poor. Proverbs 14

Great Lines

I'm reading John's gospel right now. One of the things I enjoy about the gospel is some of the great lines. Here are a couple:

John 7
Jesus is talking to his brothers: "6 Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. "
If you are one of the brothers of Jesus, what do you say to this line? If we didn't know better the words almost sound like Joseph telling his brothers that they will bow down to him one day.

John 8
48 The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?”
Do they really expect Jesus to say "yes"?

The Importance of the Church and Kingdom

Scot McKnight who wrote the Jesus Creed recently posted 8 marks of a robust gospel. In one of those marks he reminds all of us of the importance of being part of the local church. He writes,

8. A robust gospel emerges from and leads others to the church. The little gospel creates individuals who volunteer to attend church on the basis of their preferences in worship, friendships, sermons, and programs. The robust gospel knows that God's work, from the very beginning, has revolved around three words: Israel, Kingdom, and Church. Again, the words of Paul make this abundantly clear: "In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel" (Eph. 3:5–6). The mystery of the gospel is that Gentiles have become fellow heirs with Jews in the promise of Christ Jesus. The gospel's intent, in fact its substance, is the creation of God's new society with Jesus on the throne. The robust gospel emerges out of the church with good news and calls others into that same church.

For 13 years I have been teaching a survey of the Bible at North Park University. I eventually learned that we cannot skip from Genesis 3 to either John 3 or Romans 3. We cannot skip from the Fall to the Cross. God chose, instead of sending his Son to redeem Adam and Eve in Genesis 4, to wait. And what God did between the time of Adam and Eve and Jesus Christ was to work redemption in the form of community. The Old Testament is about Israel; the New Testament is about Jesus and the church. The Bible is about God's people, the community of faith. The church is not an institution that provides benefits for individual Christians so they can carry on their personal relationship with God until that church can no longer provide what they need. Instead, the church is the focus of God's redemptive work on earth in the present age.

So "joining the church" isn't an option for Christians. How often do we preach entering into the community of faith, the church, as inherent to what the gospel work of God is all about? The little gospel gives the new believer the choice about the local church; the robust biblical gospel offers the new believer the church along with its Lord. Because ultimately, only a redeemed community is robust enough to do justice to the problems we confront—and the gospel we proclaim.

Hmm.... What happened to Romans 13?

In Esther 3 there is a very interesting bit of info. Here's the text 3:1 After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, and advanced him and set his throne above all the officials who were with him. 2 And all the king's servants who were at the king's gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage. 3 Then the king's servants who were at the king's gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you transgress the king's command?” 4 And when they spoke to him day after day and he would not listen to them, they told Haman, in order to see whether Mordecai's words would stand, for he had told them that he was a Jew. 5 And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage to him, Haman was filled with fury.
What's so interesting is that there is a direct command from the king and Mordecai ignores it. It doesn't seem like anything will be lost in honoring God (unlike burning incense to the Roman Emperor in the New Testament) if Mordecai bows down to Haman. Granted, Haman is part of an ethnic group that is a deep enemy of Israel--but does that mean that the ruling authorities can be ignored?
The rabbis have long struggled with this. They've come up with a couple of creative solutions, but none with any Biblical backing. One solution is to say that Haman was wearing an idol on a chain around his next, so to bow to Haman was to bow to an idol. Another solution is to say it is only proper to bow down to God. But if this later is the case then there are a lot of folks in the Old Testament who bowed down to kings that are in a world of hurt.
Perhaps a better way of looking at this is to take what Mordecai did at face value: he refused a direct order of the king. Once we've established this and established the Haman is an enemy of the people of God then we begin examining why this would cause Mordecai to refuse to bow. Along with this is the question of how we deal with those who are enemies of God in places of power today. Paul had no problem in Romans 13 telling us to show honor to those who deserve honor and in Timothy telling us to pray for those who rule over us. How do we juxtapose Paul's words with the actions of Mordecai? This could make for a rather fun and perhaps heated discussion.

Thoughts on Civility

It seems that politics and religion can bring out the worst in us. As the Presidential campaign begins to hit more and more negative notes in advertising, speeches, etc. perhaps Christians should show a different way. Here are some rules for civility that were recently published:

1. We Christians should be in the pocket of no political party, but should evaluate both candidates and parties by our biblically-based moral compass.
2. We don't vote on only one issue, but see biblical foundations for our concerns over many issues.
3. We advocate for a consistent ethic of life from womb to tomb, and one that challenges the selective moralities of both the left and the right.
4. We will respect the integrity of our Christian brothers and sisters in their sincere efforts to apply Christian commitments to the important decisions of this election, knowing that people of faith and conscience will be voting both ways in this election year.
5. We will not attack our fellow Christians as Democratic or Republican partisans, but rather will expect and respect the practice of putting our faith first in this election year, even if we reach different conclusions.

By the way, I put the picture in the center just in case anyone wanted to argue about the underlying message of it being on the right or the left. :)

Short and Long Term Commitments

"Sleep is like death, without the long-term commitment."
--Leonard Sweet

Are you smarter than a fifth grader?

This coming Sunday we are starting a new message series at EverGreen. It's from the book of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes, a book of wisdom literature, takes a hard look at the question, "Does life really have meaning?" The "teacher" in the book examines all of life and comes to the conclusion that life is meaningless. The narrator, who contrasts the teacher in the book, concludes that life is alive with meaning.

What makes for the difference between the teacher and the narrator? It's all about from where you start.

The message series will look at two different starting points for looking at life and how we can grab the starting point of the narrator and so find meaning in what can feel like a swirl of meaninglessness.

If you have folks in your life who wonder how life can possibly have meaning this might be the perfect time to invite them in for both the series and for good conversation with you afterwards.

Since the school year is starting and we're dealing with a teacher we've chosen the title "Are you smarter than a fifth grader". If you are part of the EverGreen community look for a school look and put your "thinking caps" on for some fifth grade Q&A at the beginning of each of the services.

Getting to Work

The truth is, the Banner of the Christian Reformed Church has an excellent issue in August. For those of us who have a strong bent toward cultural transformation the article on work is a good reminder and also a good primer. It is something to read and reflect on this Labor Day Weekend.

Culture Matters

The book Culture Matters is a great introduction to understanding how Christians have influenced and built culture over the centuries. I had the honor of reviewing this book for the Work Research Foundation. Check out the review and maybe your taste will be whetted for the whole book.