Balaam's *ss

Just a reminder

2008-05-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

I'm blogging over at exurbanleague.com now.

One more at-bat

2006-07-12T10:01:00.000-07:00

A surprisingly symapthetic tale of Billy Graham, coming out of retirement for one last message.

I've made it known far and wide I respect the heck out of Billy. He's got his priorities right on the battle between culture and religion.

Ahhhhh! Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

2006-06-27T08:57:00.000-07:00

Hollywoodjesus.com.

That's right: Hollywood. Jesus.

Sigh.
Somehow, this doesn't doesn't jibe with

"Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not."

Via Crunchy Con.

Rated PG for Christian Content

2006-06-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

Ok, while I'll admit that parts of the Old Testament are at best a "Hard R", rating "Facing the Giants" as a PG film because "... the movie was heavily laden with messages from one religion and that this might offend people from other religion" seems more than a bit off.

Is Little Bhudda a PG movie for this reason, too?

Sooner or later,

2006-05-18T14:40:00.000-07:00

it all comes down to C.S. Lewis.

And in Mere Christianity, there's a passage that speaks directly to the controversy around The DaVinci Code's claims that Christ was human and not divine.

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of thing Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic -- on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg -- or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

Full commitment

2006-05-13T12:19:00.000-07:00

Via the Crunchy Con blog is this wonderful refutation of those who would claim the DaVinci Code has revealed some ancient truth that overturns the Gospel of Christ.

"From the very beginnings of the Church the faithful were tortured and put to death because they believed the Gospel was true and because they refused to deny this truth, and the same witness has been given throughout the history of the Church up to and including the present day. Gnosticism, by contrast, never produced martyrs, and was somewhat embarrassed by its collaborationist tendency already in the time of Valerian. Today's Gnostics are no different. When someone assures you he thinks the The Da Vinci Code tells the real story of Jesus, ask him: 'Would you go to your death for the belief that Dan Brown has it right?' If he says no, the conclusion is obvious: 'Ah, I see. You weren't talking about truth. You meant to say that life would easier for you if the Catholic Church were wrong.'"

Reminds me of the story of a pig and chicken discussing what faith in action really meant. They passed by a restaurant offering a special on bacon eggs. "Look", said the pig, "this is what I'm talking about. Your contribution to that breakfast is a sacrifice. To me, it means total commitment!"

Sigh.

2006-05-11T13:59:00.000-07:00

In the old days, the Church gave out salvation based on the amount of money they donated.

Now, we give out iPods to get them to come to church.

I give you: The Reverse Indulgence.

The Church of the State

2006-05-10T09:41:00.000-07:00

Via the Crunchy Con blog (mmmn, granola) comes a fascinating and painful article on the "Protestant Deformation", a devastating analysis of what began as a good and righteous attempt to remove the barriers between God and Man has now become a political, rather than spiritual, movement.

"The Protestant Reformation was thus giving birth to what by the early 20th century would become the American Creed. The fundamental elements of that secular creed - liberal democracy, free markets, constitutionalism and the rule of law - were already fully in place in the United States in the early 19th century. This spread of the Protestant rejection of hierarchy and community from the arena of salvation to the arenas of economics and politics was driven by a particular inner dynamic, or rather decline, within the Protestant faith itself."

My old pastor once remarked after seeing a half-time show at the Alamo Bowl that stated the Conquistadores came to America for "Gold, Glory and God" that is was a shame that the eternal beauty of the Gospel of Christ was lumped in with two other things so temporal and crass. We have the wonderful, beautiful gift of a faith that crosses cultures with ease and is a beacon of light to all the world, yet we insist on wrapping it in the filthy rags of this world. May God be merciful on us for our failings.

Can this be true?

2006-04-28T11:49:00.000-07:00

29% of mainline Christian pastors (!) and only 9% (!!!!) of "Born Again Christians" believe that:

- Absolute moral truth is revealed in the Bible
- Jesus was without sin
- Satan literally exists
- God is both omnipotent and omniscient
- Christians must evangelize

I hope not. In fact, my experience tells me maybe not.

Maybe.

The demagogue who isn't there

2006-04-11T16:03:00.000-07:00

I really liked this article on Christ's political teachings (and lack thereof). (Free registration is required if you're not using Mozilla and BugMeNot). So many people on the right and left are trying to co-opt Christ's teachings for their own gain, rather than doing the much more difficult job of molding ourselves to what God demands of us. As my pastor said recently, the problem with living sacrifices is they tend to crawl down off the altar...

Same ol' same old

2006-04-07T10:19:00.000-07:00

Yes, I've seen the news reports on the "new" Gospel of Judas, and no, my feathers aren't ruffled over it. Gnostic "gospels" have been around the church since there's been a church, and Paul, Peter, John and others have written at length on it.

Mark Daniels has a wonderful post on the history of gnoticism in the church, including this great quote:

"Gnosticism appeals to our egos. Orthodox Christian belief affirms that "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9) But gnosticism says, "Not so. You need to know this or that." It thus establishes a law the obedience or mastery of which brings salvation."

Gnosticism appeals to our egos, which is why it's so appealling. Christ demands we give up ourselves just as he gave up himself, which is both the easiest and hardest thing we'll ever have to do.

Update: Here's another good review/critique.

"Suppose that sometime around the year 3,800 A.D., someone wrote a newspaper that began: 'According to a recently-discovered document, which appears to have been written sometime before 1926, Benedict Arnold did not attempt to betray George Washington and the American cause, as is commonly believed. Rather, Benedict Arnold was acting at the request of George Washington, because Washington wanted Arnold to help him create a dictatorship of the proletariat and the abolition of private property.'

A reader who knew her ancient history would recognize that the newly-discovered 'Arnold document' was almost certainly not a historically accurate account of the relationship between George Washington and Benedict Arnold. "

It's always nice to get a second opinion

2006-03-21T12:27:00.000-07:00

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard."

Ditto.

Long overdue

2006-03-03T12:41:00.000-07:00

The National Religious Broadcaster's association has kicked out Pat Robertson.

'Bout time.

Look, when Christianity Today rakes you over the coals, you know you've left the mainstream of the faith.

Synergistic religion

2006-01-03T21:59:00.000-07:00

Stuck in the middle of a fascinating list of The World's Most Dangerous Questions (questions scientists worry about being right, because of their implications) is this little gem:

(And of course, the scientist on the same page right below him says "Get rid of religions. All of them." Sigh...)

SCOTT ATRAN
Anthropologist, University of Michigan; Author, In God's We Trust

Science encourages religion in the long run (and vice versa)

"Ever since Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, scientists and secularly-minded scholars have been predicting the ultimate demise of religion. But, if anything, religious fervor is increasing across the world, including in the United States, the world's most economically powerful and scientifically advanced society. An underlying reason is that science treats humans and intentions only as incidental elements in the universe, whereas for religion they are central. Science is not particularly well-suited to deal with people's existential anxieties, including death, deception, sudden catastrophe, loneliness or longing for love or justice. It cannot tell us what we ought to do, only what we can do. Religion thrives because it addresses people's deepest emotional yearnings and society's foundational moral needs, perhaps even more so in complex and mobile societies that are increasingly divorced from nurturing family settings and long familiar environments.

From a scientific perspective of the overall structure and design of the physical universe:

1. Human beings are accidental and incidental products of the material development of the universe, almost wholly irrelevant and readily ignored in any general description of its functioning.

Beyond Earth, there is no intelligence — however alien or like our own — that is watching out for us or cares. We are alone.

2. Human intelligence and reason, which searches for the hidden traps and causes in our surroundings, evolved and will always remain leashed to our animal passions — in the struggle for survival, the quest for love, the yearning for social standing and belonging.

This intelligence does not easily suffer loneliness, anymore than it abides the looming prospect of death, whether individual or collective.

Religion is the hope that science is missing (something more in the endeavor to miss nothing).

But doesn't religion impede science, and vice versa? Not necessarily. Leaving aside the sociopolitical stakes in the opposition between science and religion (which vary widely are not constitutive of science or religion per se — Calvin considered obedience to tyrants as exhibiting trust in God, Franklin wanted the motto of the American Republic to be "rebellion against tyranny is obedience to God"), a crucial difference between science and religion is that factual knowledge as such is not a principal aim of religious devotion, but plays only a supporting role. Only in the last decade has the Catholic Church reluctantly acknowledged the factual plausibility of Copernicus, Galileo and Darwin. Earlier religious rejection of their theories stemmed from challenges posed to a cosmic order unifying the moral and material worlds. Separating out the core of the material world would be like draining the pond where a water lily grows. A long lag time was necessary to refurbish and remake the moral and material connections in such a way that would permit faith in a unified cosmology to survive."

Read the whole list.

Ummn,

2005-11-06T22:12:00.000-07:00

I'm a Methodist?

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists.

Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan

89%

Reformed Evangelical

68%

Neo orthodox

64%

Fundamentalist

61%

Emergent/Postmodern

50%

Classical Liberal

43%

Charismatic/Pentecostal

36%

Modern Liberal

32%

Roman Catholic

21%

What's your theological worldview?
created with QuizFarm.com

Could be worse. I could have been Mennonite... :-) (If you didn't go to school here, you won't get it.).

Ummn, okay.

2005-10-31T15:00:00.000-07:00

Using pumpkin carving as a bible study?

Faith-based candy?

Well, I guess it's better than what some churches do at Halloween.

I. Like. This.

2005-10-12T22:38:00.000-07:00

Fred Phelps of "God Hates Fags" infamy and his gang of misinformed wretches show up at a miltary funeral to loudly proclaim 9-11 as God's righteous judgement on the U.S.

Except they're drowned out by 100 VFW bikers at the funeral

I'll look at the noise the Harleys on my street make in a whole new light now.

My pastor's a Harley rider, and his oldest son is a full-time Harley mechanic (and sleeved up with tats on both arms. Makes it interesting when he sits next to his dad in church...). I'm not a fan myself, but I now know they're good for one thing at least.

Still lazy after all these years

2005-09-13T18:48:00.000-07:00

Jake sent along an excellent article from Harper's magazine (online excrept here) asking a simple, yet (literally) damning question: If so many Americans profess faith in Christ, why do so few live like it?

The author never comes out as to why such a paradox exists, but the answer is simple. We're human, and we look at our faith as just another aspect of our culture. And this problem is not one that's unique to the church in the U.S. It's not even unique to this millenium.

One of the first crisised followers of The Way faced was how to mix their faith with their cultural customs of circumsion and keeping kosher (Having to choose between ceviche con camarones and Christ is one decision I'm glad I don't need to make. ;-) ). And before that, Christ blasted those who expected him to be a cultural and political Messiah, not a spiritual one. And I won't go into the shameful history of Christians who used violence as a means to spread the Gospel.

Given the troubles we believers have had with mixing the temporal aspects of our culture with the eternal truth of Christ, it's (literally) a miracle that our faith has spread like it has. Further proof it's not our cleverness that spreads this truth, it's God's power. We are blessed beyond measure with a faith that, when allowed by it's adherents to do such, can easily jump the artificial boundaries of culture and language.

How important is that mission? If your best friend was leaving for a long time, you'd expect his/hers last words to you to be important, the essence of your friendship. Here are Christ's last words to us, his followers:

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

May God continue to grant us the strength to do just that.

If God Didn't Do it, Who Did?

2005-09-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

I really can't add anything more to this.

Towards Tradition.org

The who?

2005-09-12T07:57:00.000-07:00

Maybe letting my subscription to Christianity Today lapse wasn't a good idea, if it means I'm out of touch with news like this "wildly successful 10 week program of discussions on Christian faith."

Sounds interesting, though.

Update: Chatted with my folks about it, who are over in Blimey working for a mission, and they say it's all the rage over there among the church.

Good on 'em, I say.

Relief

2005-09-06T06:24:00.000-07:00

Psalm 69:1 - Save me, O God, For the waters have threatened my life.

It started with one family with a trailer wanting to do whatever they could to help the people affected by Hurricane Katrina. It ended with 19 people, 6 cars, and 1 trailer full of supplies leaving the Light of Christ Church in Illinois on Saturday evening bound for Mississippi.

The trailer was set up outside the local Jewel supermarket on Saturday to collect donations. From reports from those that left, the response was overwhelming with people purchasing armloads of supplies to load into the truck. Even the competing chain across the street, when some members stopped in to get a few things that were sale priced, sent them back with cases and cases of water.

My wife, having worked extensively with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, helped arrange for $1600 in funds specifically for this trip. The team bought chainsaws with this money as they were very much in need in the area around Jackson that they were headed. A local church there had been contacted and would be a distribution point for these supplies.

Their journey is filled with stories of compassion and love. They ran into many people travelling the same road of hope to help those in need including 60 Chicago Police in dozens of squad cars. They drove from open skies and clear roads to National Guard escorts and rationed gasoline. They worried about the diesel fuel the truck took when diesel became hard to find. They drove all night to arrive at the church in Jackson on Sunday. Disappointment loomed when the church was unprepared to accept their supplies and basically turned them away.

But through their travels, they had learned of a Methodist church in the area and took their equipment there. They were greeted at the door and when they told the man in charge that they were from Illinois and had 6 vehicles full of supplies, he turned and yelled at the top of his lungs: "We need to unload!". Almost immediately dozens upon dozens of workers streamed from the church. Before our team could even speak, the man was asking them what they needed: showers, rooms, food? These good people, who our team had driven miles and miles to help, were offering them help instead. God's love was indeed at work in this church. In minutes the supplies had been moved via assembly line from their vehicles to the waiting semi-trucks being loaded for trips further into the devestation.

I could not be more proud of our church for their response. The Evangelical Lutheran Church is responding as well with 100% of donations going to relief. I was glad to see the trip was made to Mississippi where many communities are looking for help since much of the aid effort was being focused elsewhere. The only thing that has made me more proud has been the response from my kids who have given their piggybanks full of quarters to school for donations and this weekend, packed up 6 huge Hefty bags full of stuffed animals and toys which I hope to get to the evacuees being brought to the Chicago area today.

It has to be said,

2005-08-23T13:10:00.000-07:00

I have to say some things about Pat Robertson's comments about Venezuela's President, Hugo Chavez. Ever since Pat's connection to Charles Taylor was exposed, he's been even further outside the Christian mainstream, and that connection, which involved supporting a brutal dictator because an investment in gold mining, makes me wonder if Pat has a stake in the potential departure of Chavez as well. The minute the motives of any minister are mixed in with financial gain is the minute their ministry dies. And it's not like we weren't warned about it...

And that's just one of the many ways that Robertson's comments are outside of what's acceptable for a believer. He calls for the death of a ruler of another country for spreading Communism and Islam. I'll leave the inanity of combining atheist oppression with theological fascism as a common threat for others, instead, I'll issue a challenge to Robertson and his supporters: Show me a passage in the New Testament where we are to pray for the death of our enemies, or call on God to kill them, or anything other than ask God to do His will. And no, Revelations doesn't count, unless you believe we're in the midst of the Tribulation as we speak. If anything, we should be praying for something else.

I look at Robertson, Bakker, Falwell and the rest of the Christian leaders who've ran afoul of either the law or common standards of acceptable behaviour, and they have one thing in common: They are all leading according to mankind's standard, from the front, where they can be seen and receive the glory for their actions. When we're specifically told not to do that. Sure, to us, that makes sense and *seems* the right thing to do. But we're told, again and again and again, that God's ways are not our ways.

Letting others, especially God, take the accolades is not something we, because of our sinful nature, are able to do.

Fortunately, I don't have to do it by myself. I have someone to help me.

Just a thought...

2005-08-10T10:21:00.000-07:00

Christians take a lot of flak for the idea of "hate the sin, love the sinner", that somehow that dichotomy is impossible to maintain.

If that's true, then hating war (the action) and yet supporting the troops (the persons doing the action) is impossible, too.

Something to think about.

The nature of worship

2005-08-09T06:38:00.000-07:00

It is not often, it seems, that a sermon come along that strikes you so deeply as one that I heard this past Sunday. More often it is a collection of wit and brevity that mesh with your beliefs. This past Sunday we got a lesson on Kierkegaard. From his book, Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing, Kierkegaard comments on the roles of worship. He likens worship to theater for the configuration is often the same. An audience watches as an actor plays out the drama while a prompter gives the actor their cues. In the commonly held view, the audience are the worshipers, the prompter is God and the actors are the pastors and priests of our churches. Kierkegaard, however, believes this to be counter-productive to worship:

Alas, in regard to things spiritual, the foolishness of many is this, that they in the secular sense look upon the speaker as an actor, and the listeners as theatergoers who are to pass judgment upon the artist. But the speaker is not the actor -- not in the remotest sense. No, the speaker is the prompter. There are no mere theatergoers present, for each listener will be looking into his own heart. The stage is eternity, and the listener, if he is the true listener (and if he is not, he is at fault) stands before God during the talk. The prompter whispers to the actor what he is to say, but the actor’s repetition of it is the main concern -- is the solemn charm of the art. The speaker whispers the word to the listeners. But the main concern is earnestness: that the listeners by themselves, with themselves, and to themselves, in the silence before God, may speak with the help of this address.

The address is not given for the speaker’s sake, in order that men may praise or blame him. The listener’s repetition of it is what is aimed at. If the speaker has the responsibility for what he whispers, then the listener has an equally great responsibility not to fall short in his task. In the theater, the play is staged before an audience who are called theatergoers; but at the devotional address, God himself is present. In the most earnest sense, God is the critical theatergoer, who looks on to see how the lines are spoken and how they are listened to: hence here the customary audience is wanting. The speaker is then the prompter, and the listener stands openly before God. The listener, if I may say so, is the actor, who in all truth acts before God.

So, to his view, God is the audience of one while we, the worshipers are the actors and our pastors are the promptors, guiding us when we falter in our words. They are the gentle reminder of our path while God is the attentive listener.

It impressed me how simple an idea can change how you view your role in worship.

Got one.

2005-08-08T08:42:00.000-07:00

"Now the tax collectors and 'sinners' were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, 'This man welcomes sinners and eats with them'."

"Then Jesus told them this parable: 'Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."

Start rejoicing, all you angels

Oh, look, we're a target market

2005-07-18T14:19:00.000-07:00

So Hollywood is hiring specialists to market to the "Christian market", as part of what they see as the "rising religiosity in American culture".

Memo to Hollywood media types:
We're not on the rise, we've been here all along. It's just that we tend not to be seen cruising down Sunset or finding new lows in debauchary at Prey, so we're not on your radar screens.

And btw, why do you think we're any less media-savvy than other people these days? Has it occured to you that one of the reasons we went to see The Passion Of The Christ was because we know it's the product of a fellow believer, and not a focus group? Or maybe we'll see movies based on their value as, well, *movies*. Left Behind had all the promotional hype of The Passion, and it flopped. Why? Because we got to see it on DVD first, and realized it sucked. There's no way I'd see that in a theatre, even with the free tickets that were handed out with the DVD.

Chew on that before you hire another marketing wiz, Hollywood. First make it good. Then make it Christian.

(Update.)

Wait, I'm asking Hollywood to think before it spews out crap?

Nevermind.

"What profiteth a man to gain the whole world..."

2005-06-27T18:07:00.000-07:00

"... and lose his soul?"

John Walton, son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, died today. Was he a believer? Dunno. Man sees the outside, God sees the heart.

But what good does all that money do him now?

"A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?"

Sounds about right.

A moment to reflect

2005-06-25T20:32:00.000-07:00

I'm not one to stay in the doldrums for any longer than needed, and I like to stop every once in a while and take stock of all the ways that God has blessed me, as a way to remind myself of all I owe him. And right now, Keith Green said it better than I ever could,

Well, I pledge my head to heaven for the Gospel,
And I ask no man on Earth to fill my needs.
Like the sparrow up above, I am enveloped in His love,
And I trust Him like those little ones, He feeds.

Well I pledge my wife to heaven, for the Gospel,
Though our love each passing day just seems to grow.
As I told her when we wed, I'd surely rather be found dead,
Than to love her more than the one who saved my soul.

I'm your child, and I want to be in your family forever.
I'm your child, and I'm going to follow you,
No matter whatever the cost, I'm gonna count all things lost.

Well I pledge my son to heaven for the gospel.
Though he's kicked and beaten, ridiculed and scorn.
I will teach him to rejoice, and life a thankful praising voice,
And to be like Him who bore the nails and crown of thorns.

I'm your child, and I want to be in your family forever.
I'm your child, and I'm going to follow you,
No matter whatever the cost, I'm gonna count all things lost.
Oh no matter whatever the cost, I'm gonna count all things lost.

Well I've had the chance to gain the world, and to live just like a king,
But without your love, it doesn't mean a thing.

Oh no matter whatever the cost, I'm gonna count all things lost,
Oh no matter whatever the cost, I'm gonna count all things lost.

Well I pledge my son, I pledge my wife, I pledge my head to heaven,
I pledge my son, I pledge my wife, I pledge my head to heaven, for the gospel.

./~ Middle-aged Wasteland, oh yeah, it's only middle-aged wasteland ./~

2005-06-14T23:15:00.000-07:00

/me air-guitars a perfect Pete Townsend windmill, using the iBook as my axe.

Okay, maybe you didn't need that visual...

Philthy's post about contemporary Christian radio (CCR for short) has been rattling around inside my skull for a while (Heaven knows there's nothing up there to prevent that...).

Maybe I've been a bit too hard on CCR as of late, because I realized aside from the occasional foray into the 70's/80's funk/old school station that comes in poorly to my home, I really don't listen to any music on the radio anymore, it's either my iPod or sports talk radio. There used to be some great alternative stations here, on either AM or low-power FM, but they're long gone, and Clear Channel's "Best Of The 80's, 90's and Today!" station here doesn't even begin to play The Pixies, The Jam or any music from R.E.M. before Green, so my tastes aren't that commercial anyways, no matter the genre.

So I'll give CCR a pass. Sure, it sucks. But no more than any other radio format. I don't expect to hear The Stone Roses on a Clear Channel station, so why do I expect to hear Glenn Kaiser on a CCR station?

Hopefully, with podcasting, better 'net promoting and alternative buying outlets like Amazon or iTunes, we'll see more ways for the good cutting-edge bands of all genres to break thru the wall of blandness. Until then, I'll be in the corner, listening to Larry Norman's "In Another Land", and looking at my old New Order album covers.

You kids and your music these days.

Because He did it first

2005-06-14T21:55:00.000-07:00

I made a huge mistake today.

I went to the website for Fred Phelps, the "God Hates Fags" minister of Westboro Baptist Church.
(No, no link. Why give him anymore attention than he deserves?)

The hatred he spews is unfathomable. I just sat there, stunned by the power of his vicious rancor. I couldn't believe that someone could use the words of the God I love so much in such a way: it was almost like I was reading a fatwah from Osama. How could such hatred flourish, and be done in the name of the God I follow?

But then I realized that my God was even more powerful than what I was reading, and the tears started running down my face. My God. What a wonderful phrase. I try very hard to make sure my prejudices aren't mistaken for God's commands, so I'm not completely comfortable with the idea of mixing my emotions with my faith.

But still, there's that phrase, "my God." Why does it affect me so? It shouldn't, my all-time favorite line from a hymn is all possessive nouns: "Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend."

It's still surprising. Always will be. It's not that I can claim him for my own, it's that He claims me. The God that made the entire freakin' universe cares enough about this slug that He sacrificed Himself for me. My righteouness doesn't even cover the comic books I stole in tenth grade (Didn't know about THAT, did you, Mom? :-) ). God's righteousness covers that, and every other sin I've done, am doing or will do. And not because I earned it, worked for it, demanded it or acquired it. It's a gift, unmerited favour from above.

Amazing Grace. How truly sweet the sound. Because it's a sound that cannot be heard from the lips of mankind, it can only come from the mouth of God.

Fred, there's a God out there waiting who can forgive sins, who can allow you to love those you hate, and even allow those whom you hate to love you. He'll be waiting as long as it takes, but He won't wait forever. Whenever you want to talk to him, He's listening.

The lines are blurier

2005-06-10T18:12:00.000-07:00

I was noticing a trend lately. First my friend in MN was telling me about how another friend Evan was complaining that Christian radio would play U2 songs covered by Christian artists (which aren't nearly as good as the original) but they won't play any songs by U2 themselves. Also I was reading on a post that some CCM band did a remake of Heaven by the Los Lonely Boys (which was also crappy) but not the original. And the list goes on. Let's face it you have to be sanctified by CCM to be part of the group. It doesn't matter if you are a christian or if your song is about your relationship with God. To get in you have to be part of the country club.
Honestly the most moving songs about God never got played on CCM. For example the song "Come to Jesus" by Mindy Smith never got a nod from CCM but it was the #1 song for 2004 on a very popular AAA station out of Nashville. And more people who don't care about God are listening to this song than anything by Third Day. Now tell me who is actually going out into the world with out being part of the world.
Anyway the Evangelical Ghetto has proven that it is doing more harm to the gospel than helping it not only by ignoring good God-honoring art but by putting out fluff.
Luckily there are followers of Jesus that don't care about pleasing the pulpit but care about pleasing God.
Ouch I trip coming done from by soapbox.

Oh, crap.

2005-05-31T14:24:00.000-07:00

I missed it.

Unless less *this* is The New Earth promised in the Book Of Revelations.

Naw, in heaven, there is no designated hitter rule.

We could learn from this.

2005-05-20T08:49:00.000-07:00

Look, I'm not asking we destroy all our churches and convert to Unitarianism, but this article in the OpinionJournal (email registration required. That is, if you don't have Mozilla and BugMeNot) could be used as a template for learning how to combine unshakable core values with respect for others.

That's doesn't mean we don't show Christ's love for people, nor does it mean we ease up on our commitment to evangelize the world.

It means we do it in a way that treats the people around us as valued potential recipients of Christ's love, and see them as our equals. Each of us, after all, is "only a sinner, saved by grace".

Lileks is so close

2005-05-10T22:45:00.000-07:00

in this description of hell, it's almost scary.

"If pressed on the issue, I’d define hell as a different sort of torment: the absolute certain knowledge of God’s existence and grace, followed by utter banishment from its manifestations. Eternity with your nose pressed up against the glass." (From today's Bleat).

James, Hell is exactly that. And you need to realize it, fast.

Please, Dear God,

2005-05-05T16:30:00.000-07:00

Make it stop.
I haven't watched this miniseries, mainy for blood-pressure reasons, as the promos were enough to get me riled up.
Christ returning to Earth as a child, born of a virgin, again?

Nope.

Christ himself describes his second coming to Earth somewhat differently.
That whole chapter, along with the next one, are two of my favourites in all of the Gospels.

Allright

2005-04-30T13:15:00.000-07:00

Allright I am contributing. Now that I know I have a job I might as well get along with my life, or what is left of it. For refrence, here is the chrisitan community (notice I didn't say church) I plan to be part of while I am in Visalia. www.newhopechurch.org.
I guess the way I look at is that since I love being in the country and my career pretty much guarentees me a rural setting, I plan on helping develop a rural emerging church at some point in my life, since I am one of the few of the hick postmodern christians. But one way I am looking at my move to CA is that a: it helps with my career and earn good money but also b: I actually get to be part of an emerging church rather than visit one. I hope to pick up a lot from the community and learn how to take it back with me once I get back in the Midwest. And also maybe I will find a wife there, God willing, cause I really need his help in that department.

Okay, Jake,

2005-04-28T12:47:00.000-07:00

I bought it. I'll let you know what I think of it later.

I bought it at the local Border's Books during lunch, and I guess the good news is that there was a large, well-stocked Christian book section.
The bad news is, most of the books seemed to be at about this level. No A.W. Tozer. No Francis Schaeffer. No C.S. Lewis. But lots of Robert Schuller.

Christian music and a blatant shill

2005-04-25T16:07:00.000-07:00

Count me amongst those Christians who enjoys music and the art of song craftsmanship. Period. While I may have my own perspective on the world, I enjoy the alternate perspectives on life brought to the forefront by those who have been blessed with musical and lyrical talent--whether "Christian" or not.

I am well aware that the "Christian" music industry is undergoing massive growth nationwide--the fastest-growing segment of modern music, I believe. But quality-wise, while the "Christian" music industry has improved immensely since the days of Carmen, '2nd Chapter of Acts' and Amy Grant, there's still a long way to go before artists with a spiritual or Christian-specific bent step apart from the shadow of their secular siblings.

All that leads up to this--this is a general criticism. As with most things, there are exceptions to the rule. One exception, and one that I highly recommend to people who both love music and like their music with a spiritual bent, is a wonderful new group called Mute Math. Take equal parts hip hop, rock, jazz and blues in a blender, hit puree and you've got their sound nailed. 'Reset' is a great EP, and their forthcoming full album this summer is a must-purchase for me. I hope you check them out and enjoy them as much as I.

Ahead of the curve

2005-04-20T10:59:00.000-07:00

My church makes its sermons available in cassette and CD format.

Good idea, for 1992.

How about using iPodder to make them easily available in a format that people actually use? Or at the very least, make them available as mp3's for download on their website?

Love Matters...

2005-04-20T07:21:00.000-07:00

Ah, my first godblog post. *marks milestone*

So I've been thinking some about love lately. No, not the romantic lovey-dovey kind of love that we all talk about ad nauseum. And no, not the love that I have for Minnesota sports teams either (thus proving how similar love is to insanity). I'm talking about real love--expressed love. Call it beyond-compassionate love, irregardless love--true Christian love. The type of love that is shown to a total stranger, for no reason outside of a called duty and desire to serve others without regard for self. The love shown by a young man who volunteers at a local homeless shelter or soup kitchen. The type of love exhibited by a woman volunteering at an AIDS clinic. The type of love that leads a Catholic nun to set up shop in Calcutta, treating those who are shunned and cast out. The type of love that occurs when we go past compassionate feelings, and turn them into action. The type of love that can change the world, if it is true.

We Christians talk a lot about love. And we should. Loving others should be one of the main tenets of our faith. In the early days, it was clearly so--the book of Acts recalls the early days of the church, which added numbers and thrived, largely in part due to the way they put their love for God into action by loving others--sharing food, caring for widows and others in need, spending time together in joy. Jesus said that loving others is second only to loving God, and that showing people love through our actions is the same as loving him. James picks up on this idea and confirms that our Christian faith should be shown through our actions--without action, faith is useless. The apostle John says tells Christians that we should be known by our love.

How are Christians known now? Is it by our love? Are we known by that type of selfless love of which Jesus and the apostles spoke? Do we love, regardless? Or is our love sadly conditional? Is it based not on a person's inherent worth as a child of God, but on that person's worth as we perceive it? Do we use our love as we would currency, giving it to those who we feel deserve it, but withholding it from others? Is our love a commodity?

I do think that Christians do not love as we should, or as we are commanded to. Of course, it is inappropriate to paint an entire community as one, and there are certainly many exceptions. But on the whole, we have de-emphasized the idea of love. In general, I think Christians do a wonderful job of feeling compassionate for others--"those poor dears"--and we confuse that for actual, genuine love (for some people, depending on our personal view of that person's acts and behavior, we forego even the compassion--"they deserve what they got"). But compassionate love is simply not good enough. James is right--just as faith without works is dead, so is love without loving action. We need to do a better job. We need to get beyond the idea that just because a person appears unworthy of love to us, that somehow that makes them unworthy of our love. We are called to something higher than that. A person's race does not matter, their income level does not matter, their politics does not matter, their beliefs do not matter. The only thing that matters is that they are loved by God, and therefore they must be loved by us. The early church understood this, and largely as a result of this unconditional love, they changed the world.

Sadly, I am just as guilty of this as other Christians. My whole life is marked with occasions where I chose not to love another person--or chose to feel compassion, but not put that love to work. Historically, this is because I am either too lazy or too prideful or too selfish to take the time to love, and in that, I have been dead wrong. Perhaps even sinful. I am learning, and it is hard. I recognize the problem within me, however, and I suppose that is a first step. Just as I need to change my way of thinking and put my love into action, so do many other Christians. We are not known by our love anymore, and that is a tragedy. Not only because it marginalizes our message of Jesus as the way to a true relationship with God, but also because it shows how unlike Jesus we are acting. This needs to change. For my part, I need to change. I must love as Jesus would.

And now for something completely different.

2005-04-19T21:14:00.000-07:00

Alright, the last couple of posts were spent trashing my fellow believers. Now, it's time to talk about something we're doing right.

My church, Bethany Community Church, is one of many that now have a service dedicated to those who are seeking God, but are uncomfortable in a traditional church setting. Sunday evenings are dedicated to unconventional worship in more of a concert setting than a service.

And that's a good thing.

30+ years ago, the church turned it's back on the "Jesus people". They looked weird, we said. They didn't act like church people, and they were determined to worship in a way that was foreign to most believers.

And the church, for the most part, turned aside their honest quest for truth. We couldn't look past the outside to see the hurt and pain inside.

Fortunately, it looks like we've learned from our mistakes. How often does that happen, really?

Sure, there's "Gap Culture" Christians out there who think that listening to Audio Adrenaline is more important that a broken spirit. And most likely, they're the majority of Christians in the Church today.

But there is a minority out there, whose gospel isn't rooted in culture, who try to see people as God sees them. And that minority, and the people they touch, are the future of church.

Our faith has survived Gnosticism, the Crusades, the Inquisition and Amy Semple Macpherson. It will survive those today who still confuse culture and religion, just like it has in the past.

...the only army that shoots it's own wounded.

2005-04-19T08:20:00.000-07:00

You're a DJ on a Christian radio station.

You comment, on air, that a person must be "born again" (see: John 3) to be able able to enter heaven.

So how does station management react to this "controversial" statement?

They Fire you.

Reason #3421 why "christian radio" sucks.

And this coming from someone who, at one time, was a missionary for HCJB.

Would Christ be a spammer?

2005-04-18T20:49:00.000-07:00

I don't think so.

Doesn't stop some people, though.

Found this festering in my Inbox today:

Final Events of Bible Prophecy DVD
Brand new just released - The Final Events of Bible Prophecy DVD.
What is the Mark of The Beast? What is the Beast? What is 666? Who is the
Antichrist? Is it Damien? Find out now the answers to these questions and
more.
Visit now www.finalevents.co.uk

(BTW, I haven't gone to their site to check them out. Why? 'Cause I know they're wrong.)

Reminds me of that classic modern parable ("classic modern"??), The Gospel Blimp, where a group of well-meaning Christians get so carried away by the medium that they forget the message.

I like how St. Francis of Assissi put it: "Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary, use words."

Is it just me,

2005-04-16T20:25:00.000-07:00

Or is U2's new album, "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb", their most spiritual since "War"?

You be the judge. "War" ended with "40", based off Psalm 40:

I waited patiently for the Lord
He inclined and heard my cry
He brought me up out of the pit
Out of the miry clay

I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song

How long to sing this song
How long to sing this song
How long...how long...how long...
How long...to sing this song

He set my feet upon a rock
And made my footsteps firm
Many will see
Many will see and fear

I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song

How long to sing this song
How long to sing this song
How long...how long...how long...
How long...to sing this song

And "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" ends with "Yahweh" (in english, "Jehovah"), which is the most holy name in the Old Testament for God.

Take these shoes
Click clacking down some dead end street
Take these shoes
And make them fit
Take this shirt
Polyester white trash made in nowhere
Take this shirt
And make it clean, clean
Take this soul
Stranded in some skin and bones
Take this soul
And make it sing

Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, Yahweh
Still I'm waiting for the dawn

Take these hands
Teach them what to carry
Take these hands
Don't make a fist
Take this mouth
So quick to criticise
Take this mouth
Give it a kiss

Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, Yahweh
Still I'm waiting for the dawn

Still waiting for the dawn, the sun is coming up
The sun is coming up on the ocean
This love is like a drop in the ocean
This love is like a drop in the ocean

Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, tell me now
Why the dark before the dawn?

Take this city
A city should be shining on a hill
Take this city
If it be your will
What no man can own, no man can take
Take this heart
Take this heart
Take this heart
And make it break

Looks like it. And that's a darn good thing. U2 was always best when they turned away from themselves and embraced Higher causes. I remember how popular they were in Christian circles in the early 80's, as they were a "Christian" band that was really, really good (which implies, of course, that my friends liked a lot of Christian bands that sucked. And they did.). If they've found a balance between a success and their faith, I can't wait to hear more results.