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

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?

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

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

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?

"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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

Smile

Jude's Surprises

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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".