Not all are Soapboxes

"Your future looks better than the past if you are present with the man." - Fabolous

In this case the man being Jesus not Fabolous. 

Hip Hop recording artist Fabolous shares a great truth about Christ...when it is fashioned for Christ, which it wasn't, but I am doing it now.

This is a true statement as it is applied to Jesus. The only way our present is stable is if we are with Jesus. This ensures our future as we look to him.  

Jesus reminds his disciples that he is present with them when he gives the great commission in Mathew 28.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Remembering he is present with us while we wait for his appearing and the glorious future is our blessed hope.1 Corinthians 15.

51Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

We look forward to his coming, to take us with him. John 14:6

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

And this again as Fabolous has taught is better than our past as Paul says in Ephesians 4.

assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, ²² to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, ²³ and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

This is our hope and as the Bible says hope does not disappoint from Romans 5.

And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

In the past we were hopeless without Christ. In the present we are secure because of Christ and in the future we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is.  

So breathe..

thanks

With Respect to the Comedian (This is not That)

The timing of this couldn't be better or worse depending on how you think about it. The tragedy in France over a cartoon of Mohamed. Lives lost. This is not that. A Christian will not attack you if you mock Christ. But a Christian may respond, this is that. This was not inspired from France but the comparison is obvious at this point, so why not just get it out there.

Open scene from My Blue Heaven 1990.

(Barney tells a joke and everybody laughs except Hannah)
Hannah Stubbs: I see that it's funny. I have a sense of humor.
Barney: Of course you have a sense of humor. Everyone thinks they do, even people who don't.

I think this situation above is true, so as ironic as it is I wanted to say that I have a great sense of humor. Furthermore Christians have a sense of humor as well; we recognize that the Bible contains many humorous things. Some of those are simply because of the distance of time and culture that they sound funny to us. So sure some things are funny in the Bible. But there is a difference from that, and outright mocking the content and the people who do believe in the Bible.

It's the whole laughing with or laughing at thing. So I do admit I get annoyed when people attack Christianity when there is nobody to defend or at least respond in kind. Especially when it is done from a major platform. So I will respond with the small platform that an insignificant blog allows me...

I recently was watching a comedy bit on Netflix which I do not usually do. But I did and then I shut it off. The host was basically commenting on verses and pointing out how weird and stupid they sound to a modern audience. Now it is a very easy thing to read passages out of context and then comment about how horrible it is or how oppressing it was and how God is a...

I won't go into the specifics because the problem is a fundamental misunderstanding of the text. We didn't even get out of the gate with this one. 

I know an obvious response is it was a joke..but humor does influence, and even jokes communicate a way of viewing the world. A worldview that communicates that to believe in the Bible is ridiculous. While people are free to believe this, I am also free to point out that their understanding about the Bible may be flawed. They can choose not to believe it all day long, but most people are not simply choosing to not believe, they are looking for justifications for not having to choose. My job is then to challenge those justifications and leave them in a place of only personal volition and not excuses. As 2 Corinthians 10:5 says:

⁵ We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ

So make your jokes but I will make my reply, so...

As I said it is too easy to anachronistically scrutinize and criticize the Bible. What is not easy to do is actually study it.  To actually learn what it is communicating to the audience when it was written.  For us today we are 3rd party readers and we have to take the time to understand not only the literary context but the world view it is communicating and also the world in which it was communicating to.

I am not saying do not ask questions, please do.

Because it is too easy to judge it on our standards. We have to understand that it was not written to 21st century post Christan America, nor for that matter was it written to 20th century Christian America.  It benefits readers outside of the ancient near east as they approach it humbly and let it speak across time as it is meant to be heard.  That is not to say it does not have some hard things to say to us, it does.  But we cannot simply find offensive verses and then come to conclusions when we are ignorant of the world when it was written and the worldview it is creating.

I say creating because without a doubt the Bible has literally shaped the world.  It happened because it challenged and inspired and caused people to grow.  It drew people into relationship with God.  That is the point.  It may sound archaic to us, but it changes lives for the better. The Bible is God's revelation, so in one sense it isn't going to completely satisfy man, because it is completely other. It is God condescending to our level to communicate something to beings that he created. It is like what Paul reminds his readers in Roman 9 of their place in relation to the maker.

But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay?...

Job had a similar epiphany when he wanted answers from God in Job 38.

 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? 3  Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. 4  “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. 5  Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? 6  On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, 7  when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? 

Now obviously there is the issue of competing worldviews.  The comedian has one, but we must understand the Bible is establishing quite another. God is not simply a character of the Bible, he is God, all powerful, all knowing, all loving. But the Bible gets to define how these work. If you aren't willing to engage the worldview the Bible is communicating then please refrain from commenting. If you want to challenge its view then at least attempt to be credible when you do so, learn its preface.  

Feel free to disagree all you want, but first remember Proverbs 18:13.
He who gives an answer before he hears, It is folly and shame to him.
This is a true statement whether you believe the bible or not. 

Next time you reach for an easy mark such as an out of context passage from the Old Testament just because it sounds crazy, ask yourself "Do I understand what I am reading?" As Luke records the Ethiopian Eunuch did in Acts 8. Maybe even pick up a commentary to see if that means what you think it means. Because perhaps as Inigo reminded Vizzini "I don't think it means what you think it means".  Now obviously fact checking is more work, and you are not doing this for theology, this for a bit, so you are not going to worry about fact checking.   

But then I am not going to laugh. Cheap shots are easy but informed humor is clever. 

So yes comedian the Bible is an easy target, and nobody will threaten your life for it, but please study before you speak it will make your comedy better. As it is you sound like a kid who wants to fit in with the cool group, the one that has decided Christianity is out this season. And while it may be true that Christianity is out this season, the conversation still needs to happen among thoughtful individuals.  

Christians welcome comedy but this was not that.

thanks

Antiques and Signatures

So with another year it is always good to try to get on some sort of bible reading plan.  I have started reading Evertte Fox's The Five Books of Moses, his translation of the Pentateuch.  It is very good, with much more vivid and colorful word pictures than a standard bible, but still quite accurate.

But for me, once again it is difficult to read the the opening pages of Genesis without thinking about how sad it is that some Christians do not believe in a literal creation as penned. Some will not see God's signature at the end of the seven days. I know this post may be a bit polarizing but the Bible is quite polarizing anyway so why not at least be on the right side of the hermeneutic.

The earth is old, but how old?  Is it an antique or not?  Did a skilled designer leave his signature or was this a cosmic knockoff?

In answering these questions it seems to me that Christians are simply afraid of the Galileo problem. They don't want to come down dogmatic on an issue that some scientists are actively turning their heads from. Fear of being on the wrong side of history is a bugbear these days. In the 1600's Galileo proved the Earth to circle the Sun and not the other way around, but at that time the church was convinced that it wasn't, the Pope specifically. So there definitely was some egg on the face with that one. But I think biblically speaking, creation is a whole other animal completely, Roarrrr!  But one that is after it's own kind.

Some have tried to use the poetic nature of the opening verses of Genesis to try and hide the fact that the Bible is making the creation account into history. But Genesis is not simply a clever way to communicate a completely different theological truth. If it were, it would undermine the theological truth it is communicating.  The Bible teaches that God is a creator, so why discount its creative narrative? The Bible teaches that man is accountable to God, so why discount that man was created as a direct action on God's part? Moses would be silly to use a metaphorical origin story and then proceed to build actual truth on it. Just because something sounds memorable or poetic does not mean it lacks truth, this is especially true in the Bible. Genre affects how it is read for sure but genre does not change the truthfulness of the passage.

A recent book about the people of the ancient near east illuminated how they were more interested in converting chaos into order and this has convinced many that this was all Genesis was trying to do. While this provides useful background it doesn't mean that order into chaos discounts a creative narrative. The Bible hinges too much of its own account for this to be the case with the creation narrative.

But to shorten the argument considerably it is enough to say that too much theology rests on the bedrock of God the creator. And it is not simply that he did create but the way he created has many implications for biblical truth. A mere metaphor cannot buttress the important doctrines that are built on it. Sin rests in the man Adam whose accountability to God resides in the creation narrative. Redemption and the promise of rescue from the pollution of sin are meaningless without the garden account. If Adam was not the first man then he is not representative for mankind and Jesus coming to die for mankind makes little sense if mankind has not fallen.  So Adam does represent us but he is not representative for another account, else the subsequent acts of the story would crumble under it's own pretense.  

Not to mention Jesus and Paul would be quite wrong in continuing in the biblical tradition to build theological truth on Adam and Eve as actual people.

If God can raise up sons of Abraham from stones why can he not raise up mankind from dirt?  If you want to believe evolution as a Christian then answer the question what other biblical truths are you prepared to lay down for scientists?  I say scientists because I don't believe the Bible and science are at odds.  

The origins account has always been a theological question because we can not go back and observe the phenomena for science to dogmatically say. This is why this debate remains in the theoretical realm. To say evolution is more than a theory is to venture into the area of faith, and that is where the Christian is anyway.

It really feels like some Christian leaders don't want to made fun of. But if we are really prepared to go down that road, at what intersection will we concede to "scientific consensus" that dead men cannot rise again.

Similarly if we are out antique shopping, we should realize it is not for us to try and change the authenticating signature or defining marks to make the item into something more tenable. We simply decide whether or not to buy the thing. Be an informed shopper sure, but stand by your purchase. We are the ones who have to live with whether it looks good in the den or not.

The Bible is never asking for your approval, but it is asking for your decision.

thanks

  

The Eagles Come at the End

I recently watched the third part of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.

At the end of the movie the Eagles show up and decimate the Uruk forces.  In the same way the Eagles show up at the end of the Lord of Rings to save the day.

I have always thought "Why didn't they just show up earlier and save everyone a lot of pain and suffering?" Or "Why didn't Frodo and Sam just ride them to Mount Doom in the first place?" 

Aside from trying to find plot holes in movies, we tend to have this type of thinking in our own lives.  Why doesn't God make this a little easier?

In similar thinking, after the last supper in the garden of Gethsemane, the disciples understandably try to save Jesus from the trouble of being captured and arrested.  Who wouldn't try to rescue Jesus from pain and torture?  Jesus responds to them with more understanding of the situation.
Mathew 26
⁵³ Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? ⁵⁴ But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” ⁵⁵ "

This verse always makes my the hair on the back of my neck stand up. In this statement is such a display of restrained power.

Jesus is saying look guys I am God, I can easily get out of this situation, but this situation is important to the biblical narrative. This is a pivotal moment in history that cannot simply be circumvented.  Jesus came not to simply show us a way out of problems but for us to encounter God himself.  This is a process, a journey.  Encountering God is not something that can be rushed.  It is not something that can simply be added to what we are doing at the moment.  It is a process.  

Developing a relationship with God takes time. This is one reason why we are all not immediately carried away to be with God the moment of conversion.  This is also why deliverance doesn't always immediately arrive. Of course God could do something in this situation but he must have another plan in mind. Yielding to and waiting for his plan and not our own is one of the hardest parts of faith in God.

The solution may seem obvious to us but we do not have all the information. We think we can see the end result and we wonder why we can't just go over to it now.  It is like a solider trying to win a war by acting unilaterally. Soldiers are trained for battle and they act at the commands of officers. The commanding officers have the information and tell the soldiers where to go and what to accomplish next. The soldiers do not always see the big picture but have to deal with what is commanded of them.

With human nature we would naturally want to take the path of least resistance. We want the reward as quickly as possible.  We want the pain ended as soon as possible.  But stories are not told in this way or else there would be little to read.  Without a little adversity characters would not develop and grow. There would be no inspiration for the reader. No story to retell down through the ages. There wouldn't be anything to teach with the story or learn from the narrative or even reason to retell the experience.  People do not remember the routine and mundane.

God may have a relationship in mind that he is developing with me. God may have a journey planned that I need taking. The problem is it may not look like what we would like, or may take longer than we were hoping it would take.  

Isaiah 40:31
But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Maybe Tolkien had this verse in mind when writing about the eagles. Waiting on the Lord happens while we are on the path. It is as we walk, that the help comes so we won't grow faint. It is after we are already running that the strength is given to not become weary. Waiting is not idling. The eagles are a reward for our faithfulness it seems, not a way to get around problems.

So...plot hole, or plot device? 

As much as we may want it, if in the beginning the Eagles always showed up to make life easier, we would learn very little. It wood also make a crap movie.

thanks

A Return to Innocence

A new year. Time for a. C.S. Lewis quote.

“Faith, in the sense in which I am here using the word, is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods ... That is why Faith is such a necessary virtue: unless you teach your moods ‘where they get off,’ you can never be either a sound Christian or even a sound atheist.”

Things my reason has once accepted. In spite of changing moods.  This is so fantastic, who doesn't have changing moods? Sometimes I get distracted by my moods. Sometimes that distraction can temporarily make me forget my previously accepted reasons.

However somtimes my moods may be informing me that my held reasonsings may need adjusting. For example, perhaps I struggle with bad moods caused from my always needing to be right. This becomes overwhelming and causes my relationships to suffer. Maybe I need to alter my reasoning.

This is how we grow. 

But, as C.S.Lewis points out this does not carry over to faith in God or even in struggles with the Word. There are certain certainties that need to be established. You don't tamper with anchors or cornerstones. Certain weights are meant to weigh us down and that is a good thing.

Now having these weights are great, but Lewis also reminds us that moods need to be trained. We need to train ourselves to come back from changing moods, to not dwell on them, especially on matters of faith.

This is what renewing our minds is about, I have to renew my mind when it falls out of faith. Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Giving into my changing moods based on my rocky experiences is what the world does.  Training our minds to respond to God's truth is what a disciple does, it is what a Christian does.

With a New Year here many of us are taking resolutions looking for fresh starts or hitting reset.  This year I want to reset my thinking.  I have been bogged down with what wasn't and what failed to come to pass. 
I have to remember that:
“In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.”  Proverbs 16:9

I need to reset and return to a time when my thinking was more innocent. A time when my thinking wasn't overwhelmed with the many ways one can feel disappointment in a year. I say overwhelmed and not informed because I would not want to lose the actual experiences. If I did then I would not be where I am today and I would not have grown.  This is how we change.    

It is very easy to stay where we are but I want to move forward into 2015 with new vision and new hope. A new vision of Christ draws us after him.  So I want to remember this:

“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 3:13-14

As God determines our steps let's renew our minds and return to the innocence of trusting him. This should always take us back to our accepted reasons and if reasonable those things should hold in the face of our shifting emotions.  So this year read your bible, find your anchors (It's Christ), and hold on for the storms that may come. 

thanks