What's the Skinny?

Gossipers Beware

2012-01-02T02:17:00.001-08:00

A note I found from John Piper on gossip:

The New Testament warns against gossiping. The Greek word translated “gossip” means whisper or whisperer. In other words, the focus is not on the falsehood of the word but on the fact that it needs to be surreptitious. It is not open and candid and forthright. It has darkness about it. It does not operate in the light of love. It is not aiming at healing. It strokes the ego’s desire to be seen as right without playing by the rules of love.

From Desiring God

The end of sin: will sin be destroyed?

2011-11-03T23:12:00.001-07:00

Been thinking about eschatology lately. That that is such a volume of texts involved make it vital to be patient and fair when dealing with differing views. One of the issues on my mind is the end of sin in believers.

One of the statements that run around as cliches in the church about the eternal state that "sin will be destroyed". I think the sentiment is true, but the statement is inaccurate (if you believe, as scripture teaches, in eternal punishment). The existence of an eternal hell means there will eternally exist creatures, whether human or angelic, who are in rebellion to God. Thus, sin always will exist, it is not destroyed. Sin is not a thing to be created or destroyed, it is a corruption of conformity to God's nature (thus, Romans 3:23 - "falling short").

Yet, before I get stoned, let me insist that while sin is not destroyed, there will be no sin in heaven.

But nothing unclean will ever enter [the heavenly city], nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. (Revelation 21:27).

Those who sin are outside this city:

Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
(Revelation 22:15)

So in the eternal state, there are two realms, and these do not have influence on each other. But if sin is not destroyed, what distinguishes the ages to come from the beginning of this age? Adam was a perfect being, the Angels were perfect beings, and yet they sinned. I can think of a few reasons why this is different for believers in the age to come.

The memory of salvation history both personal and racial will mean that we have seen the effects of sin in our own life and in our human race's existence. Thus, unlike Adam, the deception of sin with false promises (Genesis 3:5) will have no hold over us, like it did for the first couple and they were deceived.
The transformed nature of resurrected believers (1 Corinthians 15:50-58) indicates that by nature they will be stronger than the first man, Adam. Additionally, those resurrected believers will trace their genes not in Adam, but in Christ, whose glorious resurrection and resurrection body is the firstfruits of this new sinless race (1 Corinthians 15:46-49).
The presence of God and the Lamb (Revelation 21:22-24) is the most powerful reason no more sin in believers during the eternal state. According to the texts there is nowhere in the city that the light of the God and the lamp of the lamb will not shine. Why do believers sin today? Because they are not as consistently close to Jesus as they should be. This problem will be finally solved in eternity, for there will never be a time we do not behold Jesus. Thus, the Apostle John says:
Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2, emphasis added)

Thanks be to God in Jesus, for the victory is in Him!

And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. (1 John 3:3)

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:58)

Empathy in Evangelism

2011-08-09T10:05:00.000-07:00

"As we turn to consider in more detail how we may speak to people of the twentieth century, we must realize first of all that we cannot apply mechanical rules. We, of all people, should realize this, for as Christians we believe that personality really does exist and is important. We can lay down some general principles, but there can be no automatic application. If we are truly personal, as created by God, then each individual will differ from everyone else. Therefore each person must be dealt with as an individual, not as a case or statistic or machine. If we could work with these people, we cannot apply things we have learnt..." "...mechanically. We must look to the Lord in prayer, and to the work of the Holy Spirit, for the effective use of these things."

"Furthermore, we must remember that the person to whom we are talking, however far from the Christian faith he may be, is an image-bearer of God. He has great value, and our communication to him must be in genuine love. Love is not an easy thing; it is not just an emotional urge, but an attempt to move over and sit in the other person's place and see how his problems look to him. Love is a genuine concern for the individual. As Jesus Christ reminds us, we are to love that individual 'as ourselves'. This is the place to begin. Therefore, to be engaged in personal 'witness' as a duty or because our Christian circle exerts a social pressure on us, is to miss the whole point. The reason we do it is that the person before us is an image-bearer of God, and he is an individual who is unique in this world. This kind of communication is not cheap. To understand and speak to sincere but utterly confused twentieth-century people is costly. It is tiring; it will open you to temptations and pressures. Genuine love, in the last analysis, means a willingness to be entirely exposed to the person to whom we are talking."

Francis Shaeffer

Postmodernism

2011-08-03T11:28:00.000-07:00

Though it led to a lack of objectivity, maybe the postmodernist mistake is founded on a right desire for complexity, and a reaction against being simplistic in everything. Even here the issue is complex, because not everything is complex.

"The essence of tyranny is the denial of complexity".
- Jacob Burkhardt

**note: "complex" does not mean "complicated", neither does "simplistic" mean "simple".

Certainty and Biblical Faith

2011-03-05T07:59:00.001-08:00

How can Biblical faith be certain? Isn't this contradiction? Isn't the best we can do probable, not absolute?

Maybe it should be understood this way. Certainty is binary. Probability is a mathematical possibility. The two, while both valid, are not to be conflated. Certainty has to do with matters of being in a time frame. "Is" or "Is not", at this time, never or forever. Probability has to do with prediction "probably will". So the certainty of 2+2 being 4 is constant, not probable, for the entire period which 2 and 4 remain 2 and 4. I think, therefore it is certain that I am. If factors do not change, then certainty remains for the future. If factors change, then probability enters the conversation. Thus, if all things remain equal, if X is Y now, then X will be Y later.

Certainty is different from accuracy. It is certain that "the arrow hit the target". To counter this evident occurrence is to confuse categories by redefining terms and context, and not take the statement on its own terms. How accurately the arrow hit the target is a different discussion, based on establishing a standard of accuracy.

Faith, if defined as the appropriation of (acceptance of, dependence on) the certain, is Biblical faith. Acceptance of the probable as certain is not Biblical faith, but wishful thinking. Once you establish certainty, you can build confidently on it - the irony of Christian faith is that without certainty you cannot believe, Christianity is not a "leap of faith". This is what the case for Christ is all about - and it's not just a certainty based on historic facts, but present, ongoing, certain assurances and realities.

Beloved, Rest in God

2011-02-01T09:44:00.000-08:00

Concerning our lives:

He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, He predestined us (Eph 1:3-5)

Concerning our work:

We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Eph 2:10)

Concerning His Church:

He will build His church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matt 16:18)

To him (will) be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever (Eph 3:21)

Implication:

Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brothers,

1. be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (1 Cor 15:57-58)

2. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (Phil 4:6)

Bible Studies I Would Kill to Have Been At

2011-01-30T17:13:00.000-08:00

Working backwards, and assuming (fairly, I should think) where it does not mention the word "scripture" that given the time spent, scripture was the major content of their teaching...

Paul:

"When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets."
Acts 28:23

And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.
Acts 19:8

And Paul went in [Thessalonica], as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ...
... Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
Acts 17:2-3, 11

Interesting that the Bereans, whom we use as a model of diligent students, actually were eager to study in a very specific way - as Jews, they were checking scriptures to see if the Christ that Paul preached from the Old Testament was really there!

Jesus:

Then he opened their [the disciples] minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
Luke 24:45-47

He presented himself alive to them [the disciples] after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
Acts 1:3

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them [the two men on the road to Emmaus] in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
Luke 24:27

and, of course
"You [Pharisees] search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me..."
John 5:39

The kingdom of God. The person, work and purpose of Christ. Jesus is the Christ. Is it reasonable to say that if they saw the OT this way, so should we. Isn't it also reasonable to say that to the extent we don't use all scripture this way, we're deviating from norm?

And oh, I wouldn't actually kill anyone. Maybe a rabbit.

Faith

2011-01-06T10:48:00.001-08:00

Faith is not a power; it is merely acquiescing to the power of God.
-John Hannah

Sin and Legalism, John Owen

2011-01-03T09:13:00.000-08:00

This might surprise you, but it's helpful. From John Owen's "Mortification of Sin in Believers" (I've tried to simplify the language a little, maybe it helps).

When a man fights against his sin only with arguments from the issue or the punishment due the sin, this is a sign that sin has taken great possession of the will, and that there is a superfluity of naughtiness in the heart. A man that opposes nothing from sin's seduction and lust in his heart except fear of shame among men or hell from God, is sufficiently resolved to do the sin as if there were no punishment for it; which, what is different from living in the practice of sin, I do not know. Those who are Christ's, and are acted in their obedience by Gospel principles, have the death of Christ,the love of God, the detestable nature of sin, the preciousness of communion with God, a grounded hatred of sin as sin, to oppose any seduction of sin, to all the workings, strivings, fightings of lust in their hearts. Joseph did so. "How shall I do this great evil," says he, "and sin against the Lord?" my good and gracious God. And Paul, "The Love of Christ constrains us;" and, "having received these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all pollution of the flesh and spirit," 2 Cor 7:1.

But now if a man is so under the power of his lust that he has nothing but law to oppose it with, if he cannot fight against it with gospel weapons, but deals with it only with hell and judgment, which are the proper arms of the law, it is most evident that sin has possessed itself of his will and affections to a very great prevalence and conquest. Such a person has cast of, with regard to the particular sin, the conduct of renewing grace, and is kept from ruin only by restraining grace; and so far is he fallen from grace, and returned under the power of the law. And can it be thought that this is not a great provocation to Christ, that men should cast of his gentle, easy yoke and rule, and cast themselves under the iron yoke of the law, merely out of indulgence of their lusts?

This truth should affect both how we approach our own sin as well as how we preach to others about sin. From where do we, as regenerate believers, draw motivation for the mortification of sin? From law and judgment, or the renewing grace of the Gospel? Owen 's warning is strong, that if you're motivating or being motivated by fear and judgment, you are "fallen from grace" and have "returned under the power law", the very thing you were redeemed from.

Rather, use gospel weapons: The death of Christ (and the many realities it brings for our relation to sin), the love of God (which, by the Spirit, compels us), the detestable nature of sin (in light of what God did about it), the preciousness of intimacy with God (and sin's hindrance of it) and therefore a deep hatred of sin as sin.

By the way, for all those on the 'new' Gospel-Centrality bandwagon, this was published (written much earlier) in 1658.

Be blessed.

A Checklist for the Soul

2010-12-30T10:02:00.000-08:00

The Puritans spent a lot of time doing "surgery on the soul", exploring sin, its causes, effects and its remedies. One of the chief among them in this regard was John Owen. Here's a helpful list (abridged by me) on what will keep you motivated to mortify (kill) sin. On the flipside, neglect of these will lead to sin overpowering you.

1. The daily exercise of faith on Christ as crucified - This is the great fundamental means of the mortification (killing) of sin in general, and which we ought to apply in every particular instance of sin. What does this effect?

A holy mourning in us (Zech 12:10)
A conformity to Christ in death by overthrowing the reign of sin (Rom 8:8-11)
A communion with Christ in his death by being dead to sin (Rom 6:4-5)

2. Continual Prayer - for these reasons:

By this we obtain spiritual aids and supplies of strength against sin (1 Thess 5:23)
Constant prayer leads to a frame of life that preserves the soul where sin cannot habitually prevail on it.
This is the immediate weapon that the soul possesses against sin's power. Sin unchecked will gradually work out all due regard for prayer, either in the matter or manner of its performance. Here are some ways sin will do this:
- It will produce in the mind an unreadiness for the duty of prayer when we should be in prayer.
- It will add unwillingness to unreadiness, a mind preposessed by sin will be contrary to the interests, dispositions and inclinations of prayer.
- Sin will finally prevail to a total neglect of the duty of prayer. Devotion to one, sin or prayer, will alienate the other.

3. Constant self-abasement, condemnation and abhorrency - Proverbs 10:9, "he that walks humbly walks surely". God regards the broken heart and contrite spirit. Humility in light of sin is the soil where all grace will thrive and flourish. One of the first areas where sin attacks is the humble frame of mind.

*I would add (if I may) that humility and the daily exercise of faith in Christ crucified is a remedy for pride as well. As Paul declared (Rom 12), "In view of the mercies of God" in the Gospel, one develops a "sober judgment" of oneself, not higher than one ought.

[Adapted from "Of the Dominion of Sin and Grace", John Owen, London 1688]

Be blessed!

On Trials & God's Discipline

2010-06-14T09:03:00.000-07:00

Life is like a Bajaj Scooter. It takes a few hard kicks to get it running.

Truth, Knowledge, Sin, The Gospel and New Life.

2010-06-12T10:18:00.000-07:00

“What is Truth?” Pilate asked Jesus. It is the fundamental question to answer when discussing the nature and scope of the theory of knowledge (also called epistemology), because knowledge is meaningless without knowable truth. Truth is the actual state of things. It is absolute, independent, and not determined or affected by subjective interpretation, nor by emotions, culture or perception. Truth exists because God, who is the only self-existent being, exists. In fact, God is truth (1 John 5:6, 20; cf. John 4:24). Truth is knowable only to the extent that God reveals it to those who can know this truth. God is the source of all things and the comprehensive source of knowledge (Ephesians 3:9; Genesis 1:1). Humankind, therefore, as created by God, can only possess knowledge derived from God (Acts 17:28). God has revealed truth to the human race (Deuteronomy 29:29), and though there is a limit to human knowledge (Isaiah 55:8-9), there are certain truths which are common to all people.

Humans are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26, 27; 9:6), and thus derive certain characteristics from God, including the ability to reason (Isaiah 1:18), a sense of morality (Romans 2:14, 15) and a longing for eternity (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Man can know what God has revealed (Romans 1:19; Daniel 2:21, 22; Hebrews 1:1-2; Psalm 19:1-2), and God has revealed certain facts through the created order: men know that God exists and that He is omnipotent (Romans 1:20). However, this knowledge is suppressed by those who refuse to believe (Romans 1:18). In fact, Romans 1:20 assumes that the existence of the physical world is certain (“clearly perceived”) evidence of the existence of God. To deny the existence of absolute certainty is thus as much a lie as denying God. In an epistemic sense, belief is not defined as wishful hope, but as the acceptance of what is true. Knowledge entails this belief, so it follows that refusing to believe that which is true is self-contradictory. This is significant, because not only is God’s existence certain (from natural revelation), God Himself is knowable with certainty through special revelation, God’s revealed Word, which is truth (John 17:17). Knowing God is the highest goal of human existence (John 17:3), and God is knowable through the person of Jesus Christ (John 1:18). This is the heart of Christian belief, based on knowable, objective truth (John 19:35) which is clearly revealed in Scripture. Yet people refuse to believe. Why this self-contradictory behavior, given all the resources of reason and fact? The answer lies within sin and its effects.

Man is hindered from knowing God (Psalm 82:5) because he is a being affected by the Fall (Genesis 3) and sin, and he has been blinded from truth by God as judgment for his rejection of it (Luke 10:21; Romans 1:21-22; 1 Corinthians 1:18-19). Also, humans are affected by satanic blindness which prevents them from understanding the gospel of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:3, 4) without God’s merciful intervention. Internally, man is separated from life and truth by his own sin and hardness of heart (Ephesians 4:17, 18), dead to spiritual truth (Ephesians 2:1-2). Obviously before God can be known, the hindrances to truth need to be removed. This cannot be internally motivated change, because man’s every resource, even his reason itself, is controlled by the blinding effects of the Fall (Jeremiah 13:23).

This is why Jesus presents the necessity of new birth (John 3:3). Comprehending spiritual truth, which entails knowing God in the glories of Christ’s person, requires the work of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:12, 13) who is the agent of regeneration and new birth (John 3:5-8, Romans 8:8-10). The means which the Spirit uses is God-given faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) based on the gospel of Jesus Christ (Romans 10:17) which is the penal substitution of Christ on behalf of the sinner, through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; 2 Corinthians 5:21). The gospel is objective, life-giving truth, centered on Jesus Christ, and revealed in Scripture (John 14:6; John 20:31; 2 Corinthians 5:17). This is why the only solution to man’s absolute disability is to reason through Scripture with a confident hope that God will bring life to the soul (Acts 17:2; 18:4, 18:19; 19:8-9).

Positional realities of the atonement

2010-06-05T09:44:00.000-07:00

Hebrews 10: (esv)
11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

vs 14: has perfected
past tense, his perfection of us is a completed action, accomplished by a single offering. The word "perfected" connotes something that is complete, having nothing missing, having all parts in place. This is how God sees us through Christ.

who are we?
vs14: those who are being sanctified
a. our "perfection" through Christ's atonement is in no way affected by our present sanctification (or more personally, our struggle with being sanctified).
b. our sanctification in this passage is passive - we are being sanctified. We do not ultimately sanctify ourselves.

Reasons this is important for encouragement for those who truly know Christ:
- your status is secure, unaffected your failure to walk perfectly
- your failure is not an ultimate indicator of eternal reality, because you don't sanctify yourself, God does.
- the proof of accomplished perfection is in the struggle, or as Piper puts it, the move from lingering imperfection towards holiness.
Praise God.

Newsflash

2009-10-20T01:21:00.000-07:00

Convicted Hitman Jimmy "Two Shoes" McCarthy confessed today that he was once hired to beat a cow to death in a rice field using only two small porcelain figures. Police admit that this may be the first known case of a Knick-Knack Paddy whack.

Colin Mochrie

Marriage: Still Relevant? Absolutely.

2009-07-06T22:48:00.000-07:00

In light of the recent US marital scandals, a fascinating, insightful article
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1908243-1,00.html

From the article's conclusion:

The fundamental question we must ask ourselves at the beginning of the century is this: What is the purpose of marriage? Is it — given the game-changing realities of birth control, female equality and the fact that motherhood outside of marriage is no longer stigmatized — simply an institution that has the capacity to increase the pleasure of the adults who enter into it? If so, we might as well hold the wake now: there probably aren't many people whose idea of 24-hour-a-day good times consists of being yoked to the same romantic partner, through bouts of stomach flu and depression, financial setbacks and emotional upsets, until after many a long decade, one or the other eventually dies in harness.

Or is marriage an institution that still hews to its old intention and function — to raise the next generation, to protect and teach it, to instill in it the habits of conduct and character that will ensure the generation's own safe passage into adulthood? Think of it this way: the current generation of children, the one watching commitments between adults snap like dry twigs and observing parents who simply can't be bothered to marry each other and who hence drift in and out of their children's lives — that's the generation who will be taking care of us when we are old.

Who is left to ensure that these kids grow up into estimable people once the Mark Sanfords and other marital frauds and casual sadists have jumped ship? The good among us, the ones who are willing to sacrifice the thrill of a love letter for the betterment of their children. "His career is not a concern of mine," says Jenny Sanford. "He'll be worrying about that, and I'll be worrying about my family and the character of my children." What we teach about the true meaning of marriage will determine a great deal about our fate.

Smile, Christian!

2009-06-13T17:41:00.000-07:00

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Phil 4:4-7

To me, here's the long and short of it: When focused on Christ and the Gospel, Thanksgiving looking back keeps you humble. Thanksgiving looking forward keeps you hopeful. Thanksgiving in the present keeps you peaceful.

So give thanks, and for crying out loud, smile!

Stop Talking, Start Listening

2009-05-15T17:32:00.000-07:00

"Listen once in a while. It's amazing what you can hear. On a hot summer day in the country you can hear the corn growing, the crack of a tin roof buckling under the power of the sun. In a real old-fashioned parlor silence so deep you can hear the dust settling on the velveteen settee, you might hear the footsteps of something sinister gaining on you, or a heart-stoppingly beautiful phrase from Mozart you haven't heard since childhood, or the voice of somebody — now gone — whom you loved. Or sometime when you're talking up a storm so brilliant, so charming that you can hardly believe how wonderful you are, pause just a moment and listen to yourself. It's good for the soul to hear yourself as others hear you, and next time maybe, just maybe, you will not talk so much, so loudly, so brilliantly, so charmingly, so utterly shamelessly foolishly."

-Russell Baker, 1995 Connecticut College Commencement Address

Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise;
when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.

-Proverbs 17:28

Addressing Atheism's Difficulty With the Supernatural

2009-03-28T23:42:00.000-07:00

These thoughts came as a response to some friends of mine we've been discussing addressing atheistic/agnostic/new-age ideas and realizing that the proponents of such ideas are not irrational, not always dishonest in their approach, and should be treated with respect, not dismissal. Richard Dawkins, the prominent atheist was one example mentioned. One of their problems is that they just cannot accept the supernatural claims of Christ. I can't remember the exact context that this occurred to me a little while ago. It seems the reason that they look at us in frustration is because they associate our position with "magic". After all, we believe in supernatural things, and that's the same thing in their minds as carriages turning into pumpkins at 12:00. How do we hold to one thing and deny the other?

It's interesting, that when you study the new birth (read Piper's new book, I highly recommend it, "Finally Alive") that it is the, if I can use an evolutionary term, "big bang" of all spiritual life. By it is created a new life, a new nature, a new attitude, a new thinking, new desires, new passions, new pursuits, new understanding, new action, new effects; What is not is made to be, by the word of God. The pattern of creation is repeated in the soul of the one who is regenerated, God speaks life into being.

This is miraculous in the literal sense of the word. It's not like saying, "oh, I got saved from being run over a bus, that was miraculous." That's not literally a miracle, the laws of nature were at work (unless you were saved by teleportation or the like), and it safe to say that how you were saved from that bus can be naturally explained - cause and effect. Of course God was involved, but he didn't need to supersede the laws he created for you to be saved from the bus. The new birth is a technical miracle in the literal sense since the laws of nature cannot account for it. How a rebellious, determined sinner becomes a permanently God-pursuing saint is without satisfactory human explanation. It is, if you want to put it crassly, true magic.

The irony is that the person who reacts against this as "magic" is denying the very thing that he or she needs in order to experience the existence of the thing that he or she denies. Therefore, this is a self-limiting belief system.

I reiterate, it is true that these people are rational, that many of them are attempting an honest pursuit. But their very approach, as I think I have shown, is self-limiting. How do you explain the existence of light to a single blind man but by relating your own experience? If he denies it, because his experience tells him otherwise, you'd call him a fool - but he is undeniably consistent in his own system. But if a million blind men lived together, then all of a sudden their belief that light is a myth takes on a new strength, and becomes a valid belief system. But that doesn't change the truth... no matter how rational their argument. And we should realize the parallel is very much the same. It's just that there are more blind people than light-exposed in the spiritual realm, that is why the power of their belief is so palpable, if misguided.

In this context, it is interesting then, what John says (from John 1):

4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it...
...9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

The light analogy here is vivid. And I'll relate it to my point. They cannot see the light, therefore they reject the light. And why?

3:19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

While rationality cannot be denied of those who reject Christ... it all comes back to one thing... their sin keeps them from Christ.

On one hand, it can be very discouraging. But on the other hand is God, who is outside the system, who supersedes it. He is the only one who can and does intervene, and because He is who He is, and because He is who we are not, it is why we are not cowed in the face of an onslaught by the blind Richard Dawkinses of the world. For we can face the onslaught with a secret smile, knowing, that just by one word by the Lord whom he denies, Richard Dawkins would bow His knee and come to love Jesus, who is the one true Lord and eternal life. It is not for us to cause the change, and this is good news both for both the Richard Dawkinses and those who preach Christ to him.

We don't need to "save" Christ as Deepak Chopra so snarkily puts it. We just preach Him, and He does the saving.

So stand strong, in Christ.

Not too little, not too great

2009-03-21T23:03:00.000-07:00

Hence it is necessary that Christians contend on both sides against the devil and their own flesh. For when they begin to repent and would gladly become different people, then they first feel the devil's influence, how he excites, hinders and controls them, so that they make no progress, but remain in their old state, etc. Again, if they cannot prevent this, and in spite of the devil turn to God and call upon him, he will attack them with weak courage and cowardice. First, he makes sin so very small, and puts them so far beyond the reach of the eyes and hearts of men, that men may despise them and not desire grace, or they put off repentance. Then on the contrary, he makes sin really too great, as he can blow a fire from a spark greater than heaven and earth, so that it will again be difficult to lay hold of forgiveness, or to bring into his heart the words: "God be thou merciful to me!" Thus indeed it is and will continue to be a great art, and we may well take this publican as our example, our teacher and doctor, and learn of him, and call upon God that we may also obtain the end of our faith.

Martin Luther, The Publican & The Pharisee

Amen. All that is left is for me to say, "God be merciful to me, a sinner".

Super Size Me

2009-03-19T16:00:00.001-07:00

Fair or not fair, whether too simplistic or unbalanced, I think some great points are made. This is the entire movie.

[edit: Hulu's only available for viewing in the US]

New insights on poverty and life around the world

2009-03-13T17:44:00.001-07:00

It's hard not to like this guy, and he makes some vivid points using statistics. Hans Rosling is his name. I appreciate his emphasis on the complexities of global development, and the need to stop dividing the world into "developing" and "industriallized" or any such simplistic distinctions.

Stay tuned for a surprise at the end.

The Heavens are Telling the Glory of God

2009-03-08T13:50:00.000-07:00

I'm no physicist by any stock of the imagination, so I'll be the first to admit I can't begin to understand the technicalities of what I'm about to discuss, but even at surface level this "junk" is mind blowing. So please feel free to clarify my understanding.
http://www.cebaf.gov/news/internet/1997/spooky.html
http://www.braungardt.com/Physics/Quantum%20Nonlocality.htm

Since I'm not a scientist (duh), my interest is metaphysical: which is the connection that fascinates me.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/arj/v1/n1/unification-theory
http://www.icr.org/index.php?module=articles&action=view&ID=434

Now string theory and m-theory are still being defined, and so it's not totally valid to postulate connections between those speculative ideas (eg., a ten-dimensional reality) with metaphysics as yet, I would imagine... but the claims of Quantum physics have been repeatedly produced by experiment, therefore a connection to reality has already been demonstrated. Which, as the article points out, means that what we perceive as matter is in fact infinitesimal charges of electric energy and empty space, not just subatomic particles. Yes, this is demonstrable science.

And then the whole issue of Quantum nonlocality. I'm not even going to go into how mind-blowing that is, because its possibility apparently irritated even Einstein, who despised Quantum physics because of it messing with the "rules", enough said. This ties in with teleportation. Yes, this too is demonstrated science.

Makes you wonder. As of today, broadly speaking, science is mostly an atheistic or agnostic curiosity... and the presuppositions are definitely atheistic (you could say anti-theistic implicitly as a suppression of the glory of God). But I wonder, when does Romans 1 emphatically kick in? While general revelation (the universe) does not provide answers that lead to salvation, we know that creation points to a creator. In that sense, I think biblically, speaking for humanity as a group, humanity's pursuit of discovery will lead man to God (whatever the outcome). Am I mistaken to ask - Is that not guaranteed? Will scientists start bridging the (technically non-existent) gap between the "physical" and metaphysical?

Maybe we see some of this already today. For instance: What, technically, is considered a miracle? It's the setting aside of the physical laws of the universe to accomplish something. If you read the dude's section (in the answersingenesis link) on "Zero-point energy field" the very underlying elemental foundations of all matter contradict the classical laws of physics, so that the unexpected is expected. For example, it is postulated that the expansion of the universe means that zero point energy is constantly being created out of nothing (the universe does not become diluted). There's a sense that (and this is my own take) realistically, the very underlying principle of all existence is miraculous (if defined as the setting aside of known laws).

And with these discoveries, questions arise of existence and the impact of the individual on reality, and the connection between the metaphysical and the natural. It seems the deeper science goes, it moves not away from those questions and their answers, but right into the maelstrom of the fundamental questions of spirituality.
As a rank amateur, I'm flabbergasted.

People, Psalm 8.

Economy of Scale

2009-03-06T14:41:00.001-08:00

If you tried to name them, one a second, naming all the stars in our galaxy...I don't mean all the stars in the universe, just this galaxy here...it takes 3000 years. And yet, that's not a very big number. Because if those stars were to drop one dollar bill on the earth during a year, each start dropping one dollar bill, they might take care of the deficit which is suggested for the budget of the United States.

- Richard Feynman, Physicist, from a 1983 interview.

Speaking from a more directly spiritual point of application, think of this scale in terms of a man's faith:

And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
Genesis 15:5,6

This is the account of a 90+ year old man with a wife who was aged and barren. To believe that God would provide a single child is faith enough. But God did not stop there in pushing Abraham beyond the realms of probability. The Lord outlined a plan that was beyond believable, and used a metaphor that even today is incomprehensible - "so (as the number of stars) shall your offspring be".

When Abraham is said to have believed God, it is a synonym for faith (in other words, trust). Faith can be then explained as to come to a point where your mind and heart and soul agree with reality; and reality is that the resources to accomplish God's righteous will are completely outside one's capacity. It is the realization that God alone can accomplish what He wills of you. Therefore, the only right human response is complete abandonment of oneself to God. This is the faith that God counts as righteousness, the opposite of work - absolute dependence.

Skepticism? Supernaturalism? Ambivalence?

2009-02-27T21:46:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking lately about skepticicm vs spiritualism. On the one hand, we have multitudes that are looking for experiential spiritual manifestations, and on the other hand, we have people who believe nothing, because nothing can be proved.

An example: James Randi - he's most certainly not a believer, but I admire his work because it challenges us to be balanced as stewards of the Truth. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOsCnX-TKIY

But we're left in an interesting predicament, because it seems that on one hand, because of the extreme of spiritualism, real experiences of God's work are lost and buried under the inane and banal, in exchange for sensational things like psychic readings and faith healing and talking to the dead. On the other hand, skepticism breeds a closed mind to anything that requires faith, as a reaction to the extremes of spiritual gullibility.

How do we respond? How can we display ourselves as credible? (by "we" I speak of regenerate individuals, people who have placed their trust in the divine person and justifying cross work of Jesus Christ) Well, it is true that the Gospel of Christ speaks for itself - we do not need to defend the Lion of the Word and The Spirit. But consequently, we need to renew our minds with the Word, so that our faith is evidenced as a rational faith.

On the one hand, we are unapologetic supernaturalists - the work of God and the power of God is abundantly clear. Jesus told Nicodemus that the miracle of new birth is like "the wind" - you cannot see the wind, but it exists, because you see the effects of the wind (John 3:8 - "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."). In that sense, we are unapologetic supernaturalists. God has wrought an undeniable change in us when He saved us. The effects of our Justifying faith are evident, and in that sense Sanctifying faith is not at all pie in the sky, because it is based on assured evidential, experiential truths (Heb 11:1 - Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.) That mantra, "by faith", meaning "just believe with no rational reason" is misleading, and can be detrimental to a true biblical faith. But the point is that at root, these are assurances based on the miraculous. A denial of the miraculous (intended or inadvertent) closes the door on the Son of God.

On the other hand, we are skeptic supernaturalists. John later tells us to "test the spirits". (1 John 4:1 - "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.") John is not speaking of an esoteric "spiritual" realm, where all kinds of weirdness is said to happen. In that passage, John recognizes that the spiritual realm is at work, but not in the way we expect. Rather, false spirits support false realities. John continues, "every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. (v3)" In essence, we can say that any claim or practice that undermines the person of Jesus Christ (in the full sense, of His Godhood, His Lordship and His exclusivity for justification) is from the evil one. And it is true that much "supernaturalism" of the day is ultimately a facade (intended or inadvertent) for an assault on the sufficiency of Jesus Christ. Whether the false reality is over-sensationalized supernaturalism or a total denial of any supernatural existence, both then are backed by false spirits.

Let's not be gullible, but measure what we see with the ruler, the guidepost of God's Word. On the other hand, lets not be so skeptical that we become practical agnostics, because God's work escaped our attention. The enemy must love our overreactions, one extreme to the other, because in that yo-yo swing, we're missing the Son. Let's be skeptic supernaturalists, who walk with care but, like the man born blind, when we see the work of God, can respond with absolute unashamed certainty about it - "One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." (John 9:25)

What a deathly blindness it was! What beauty is this sight of the glory of God in the face of Christ!

Worship is Holistic

2009-02-16T15:43:00.000-08:00

"For to worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open up the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God."

William Temple, late Archbishop of Canterbury

Paul Washer on Finding a Mate

2009-02-02T03:09:00.000-08:00

I ran across a random clip today, from a Paul Washer message, not even sure what the message was from. But a friend and I had a conversation and this quote (mostly word-for-word, I was transcribing from audio) from the message got my attention, so I share:

God does not search around to find a mate that's totally compatible with you. Most probably he's going to find you a mate that's incompatible with you.

He's going to give you a mate in all the areas that you need them to be strong so that "you are not tempted more than you can bear" but he's also going to give you a mate who fails in some of the areas that you most do not want them to fail so that you become like Jesus... what does that mean? So that you learn to love someone unconditionally that does not meet the conditions.

Interesting thoughts... and based on an understanding of the fatherly discipline of the Lord and the incisive work of the Holy Spirit, I believe it is biblically consistent, even if humanly we fight the idea (because especially in this case, we're looking for a "soul-mate", not a walking spiritual Bowflex (a workout machine)). No one willingly walks into a situation that promises intense humbling. However, just like the old saying goes, "it's good for you". That sounds stoic, but it's meant to challenge you, measure it up to scripture and then do as you see fit.

A God Who Suffers is a God Who Loves

2009-01-26T02:00:00.000-08:00

I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the Cross. In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it?

I have entered many Buddhist temples in different Asian countries and stood respectfully before the statue of the Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of the world. But each time, after awhile I have had to turn away.

And in imagination I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wretched, brow bleeding from thorn pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in God-forsaken darkness. That is the God for me!

He laid aside His immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings become more manageable in the light of His. There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross of Christ... is God's only self-justification in such a world as ours.

John Stott, "God on the Gallows"

Don't sweat the small stuff, for the sake of the long run.

2009-01-15T23:25:00.000-08:00

You can be mad as a mad dog at the way things went
You can swear and curse the fates;
But when it comes to the end,
You have to let go.
-The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Lessons on Fidelity From... the Ant?

2009-01-10T12:54:00.001-08:00

You don't want to go too far with it, but Time Magazine posted a fascinating article on the mating "habits" of ants... copied below.

First Rule of the Ant Colony: No Hanky Panky

To the long list of reasons you should be glad you're not an ant, add this: You'd have to forget about having sex. You'd also have to forget about even trying. Sneak off for a little insectile assignation and the others members of the colony would know immediately — and attack you for it. Entomologists have long known this was the practice in the ant world, but what they didn't know is the forensic science that allows the community to uncover the crime. Now, thanks to a study in the current issue of Cell Biology, they do.

Ant colonies have good reason to be abstemious places. When you're trying to hold together so complex a society without — let's face it — a lot of brainpower, you want a population made up of the fittest individuals you can get. A queen that has the genetic mettle to crank out lots of good eggs that produce lots of good babies doesn't need any competition from other, lesser females setting up a nest nearby. Even the queen herself is not allowed to fool with the gene pool once it's been set. She mates only once in her life and stores all of the sperm she'll ever need for the thousands of eggs she'll produce. (See TIME's photos of the insect world)

The rules, of course, don't prevent the other ants in the colony — which spend their lives tending eggs, gathering food and digging tunnels — from feeling a little randy now and then (never mind the fact that they're all, genetically speaking, brothers and sisters). But not only are those who give into the procreative urge pounced on by the others, those who are even considering it are often restrained before they can try. The tip-off, as with so many other things in the animal world, appears to be smell.

Earlier studies had shown that a queen that senses potential competition from another fertile female will chemically mark the pretender; that female will then be attacked by lower-ranking females. Biologists Jürgen Liebig and Adrian Smith of Arizona State University suspected that something similar might go on even without the queen's intervention and believed the answer might lie in scent chemicals called cuticular hydrocarbons.

Ants that are capable of reproducing naturally emit hydrocarbon-based odors, and the eggs they produce smell the same way. Ants that can't reproduce emit no such odor. Liebig and Smith produced a synthetic hydrocarbon in the lab that had the same olfactory properties as the natural one, then plucked a few completely innocent ants from a nest and dabbed the chemical on them. When they were returned to the colony they were promptly attacked — never mind that they had essentially been framed.

The sexual environment does sometimes loosen up in ant colonies. While the place may never become a Caligulan free-for-all, collective breeding will resume if the queen dies or is experimentally removed — but only until a new queen establishes herself and the reproductive lockdown resumes.

Complex critters like us might be glad to be part of a species that's free of such Draconian sexual rules, but Liebig doesn't think it's wise to get above ourselves. All manner of lawsuits, divorces and blood feuds have erupted over people breeding when — or with whom — they oughtn't. Often, the methods used to expose the cheaters aren't terribly different from those of the ants: more than one philanderer, after all, has been exposed by a whiff of the wrong perfume on his clothes when he came home. "The idea that social harmony is dependent on strict systems to prevent and punish cheating seems to apply to most successful societies," Liebig explained in a comment released with his paper. Regardless of the genome, in matters of sex, nature still appears to prefer us not to stray.

Thoughts on Tradition

2009-01-08T14:19:00.000-08:00

The irony of holding to "tradition" as some sort of unbreakable golden standard is that at their inception, those very traditions were new, groundbreaking and revolutionary (and sometimes controversial). Music is a great example of this axiom: classical forms, which are today considered by many to be "untouchable", were at their birth sounds or combinations of styles never before heard.

The point: lighten up, people - what is new is not inherently undesirable. In fact, the claim that "this is the way it's always been done" is mostly untenable, there was always a first time.

Learn to judge by innate quality (or lack thereof), not by comparison to a prior tradition, unless comparison is inescapable because of the nature of the form.

Follow up to last post

2009-01-06T14:27:00.000-08:00

So the previous videos were terrible, but you can't mock this. Pity it's only representative of experimentation of 20 years ago and not more recent.

India - An Ancient Musical Culture

2008-12-27T20:40:00.000-08:00

With great emotion, and with welling pride I present the present baton-carriers for an ancient cultural tradition of musical art of high excellence,

In instrumental virtuosity & showmanship

and in vocal excellence

Sniff. My eyes are filled with salt water.

A picture speaks for 200 lives.

2008-12-05T18:28:00.000-08:00

Don't Sleep, There are Snakes.

2008-11-17T10:59:00.000-08:00

Don't Sleep, There are Snakes seems to be an Interesting book, and I think I want to read it. From the review:

Daniel Everett came to the Pirahã as a Christian missionary. Thirty years later, he left an atheist. The indigenous Brazilian tribe had no need for his Jesus, just as they had no need for numbers, colors, rituals, sound sleep, daily meals, permanent shelter, the concept of God or stories about things that happened in the past.

Everett is a professor of linguistics, and his studies in themselves seem to be fascinating. But the question that I want to hear him answer is what led him to reject his profession of faith, not sure he will, but I want to see what the book says about his relationship with Christ before his journey, during his journey... faithlessness is never sudden.

Not of This World

2008-10-27T17:00:00.000-07:00

A great brief exposition by John Piper on 1 Corinthians 7:29-31
He used it to talk about voting, but I like it as it is... so I edited it up to post here.

1. “Let those who have wives live as though they had none.”
This doesn’t mean move out of the house, don’t have sex, and don’t call her Honey. Earlier in this chapter Paul says, “The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights” (1 Corinthians 7:3). He also says to love her the way Christ loved the church, leading and providing and protecting (Ephesians 5:25-30). It means this: Marriage is momentary. It’s over at death, and there is no marriage in the resurrection. Wives and husbands are second priorities, not first. Christ is first. Marriage is for making much of him.

It means: If she is exquisitely desirable, beware of desiring her more than Christ. And if she is deeply disappointing, beware of being hurt too much. This is temporary—only a brief lifetime. Then comes the never-disappointing life which is life indeed.

2. “Let those who mourn [do so] as though they were not mourning.”
Christians mourn with real, deep, painful mourning, especially over losses—loss of those we love, loss of health, loss of a dream. These losses hurt. We cry when we are hurt. But we cry as though not crying. We mourn knowing we have not lost something so valuable we cannot rejoice in our mourning. Our losses do not incapacitate us. They do not blind us to the possibility of a fruitful future serving Christ. The Lord gives and takes away. But he remains blessed. And we remain hopeful in our mourning.

3. “Let those who rejoice [do so] as though they were not rejoicing.”
Christians rejoice in health (James 5:13) and in sickness (James 1:2). There are a thousand good and perfect things that come down from God that call forth the feeling of happiness. Beautiful weather. Good friends who want to spend time with us. Delicious food and someone to share it with. A successful plan. A person helped by our efforts.

But none of these good and beautiful things can satisfy our soul. Even the best cannot replace what we were made for, namely, the full experience of the risen Christ (John 17:24). Even fellowship with him here is not the final and best gift. There is more of him to have after we die (Philippians 1:21-23)—and even more after the resurrection. The best experiences here are foretastes. The best sights of glory are through a mirror dimly. The joy that rises from these previews does not and should not rise to the level of the hope of glory. These pleasures will one day be as though they were not. So we rejoice remembering this joy is a foretaste, and will be replaced by a vastly better joy.

4. “Let those who buy [do so] as though they had no goods.”
Let Christians keep on buying while this age lasts. Christianity is not withdrawal from business. We are involved, but as though not involved. Business simply does not have the weight in our hearts that it has for many. All our getting and all our having in this world is getting and having things that are not ultimately important. Our car, our house, our books, our computers, our heirlooms—we possess them with a loose grip. If they are taken away, we say that in a sense we did not have them. We are not here to possess. We are here to lay up treasures in heaven.

This world matters. But it is not ultimate. It is the stage for living in such a way to show that this world is not our God, but that Christ is our God. It is the stage for using the world to show that Christ is more precious than the world.

5. “Let those who deal with the world [do so] as though they had no dealings with it.”
Christians should deal with the world. This world is here to be used. Dealt with. There is no avoiding it. Not to deal with it is to deal with it that way. Not to weed your garden is to cultivate a weedy garden. Not to wear a coat in Minnesota is to freeze—to deal with the cold that way. Not to stop when the light is red is to spend your money on fines or hospital bills and deal with the world that way. We must deal with the world.

But as we deal with it, we don’t give it our fullest attention. We don’t ascribe to the world the greatest status. There are unseen things that are vastly more precious than the world. We use the world without offering it our whole soul. We may work with all our might when dealing with the world, but the full passions of our heart will be attached to something higher—Godward purposes. We use the world, but not as an end in itself. It is a means. We deal with the world in order to make much of Christ.

Remember: “The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17).

The Gospel In Hindi - "Do Marg"

2008-10-26T20:32:00.000-07:00

This is a Hindi translation of an English message of the Gospel of Christ on Matthew 7:13-14. It is actually a translation of John MacArthur's sermon on the same passage.

Free to share this link.
Audio Here

Hide not Thou Thy face from me

2008-09-20T15:55:00.000-07:00

Who, O Lord, will grant that I may repose in Thee? Who will grant that Thou mayest enter in my heart and inebriate it, that I may forget all my wicked ways and embrace Thee, my only good? What art Thou unto me O Lord? Have mercy on me that I may speak to Thee. Or what am I to Thee, that Thou shouldst command me to love Thee; yea, and be angry and threaten to lay huge miseries upon me if I love Thee not? Is it perhaps of itself no great misery, if I do not love Thee? Woe be unto me. Tell me, even for Thy mercy's sake, O Lord my God, what Thou art unto me. Say unto my soul, "I am thy salvation," but say it so that I may hear Thee. Behold the ears of my heart are set before Thee, open Thou them, O Lord, and say unto my soul, "I am thy salvation." I will run after the sound of that Voice and thereby lay hold on Thee. Hide not Thou Thy face from me; let me die, that I may see it, lest otherwise I die because I see it not.

from The Confessions of St. Augustine, Chapter V

For Orissa

2008-09-15T03:16:00.000-07:00

We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.

This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire...

...To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

From 2 Thessalonians 1:3-8,11-12

Karan Thapar on the VHP's violence against Christians in Orissa

2008-09-08T22:38:00.001-07:00

Karan Thapar is a journalist of renown, a Hindu.
From the Hindustan Times:

Of love, and hope.

2008-07-25T06:46:00.000-07:00

Love is not defined
by the hopelessness of past relationships

Love is not characterized
by the negativity of one's own limited frame of reference

Love is not an uncontrollable temporary passion
that passes when the inferno fades

Love is as hopeful
as the work you are willing to put into it

Love is as strong
as the habits of years

Love is as energetic
as the emotion you invest in it

Love is as long-lasting
as your own humble tenacity with it

Love is as happy
as the joy of serving the object of one's love

Love is as powerful
as the source from Whom true love is experienced

Love has no inevitable collapse,
it needs no optimist's saccharine promise

Love is evidently modeled. Look up.

Unsung Grace

2008-06-18T01:08:00.000-07:00

The hymn's oft-sung, worldwide, but here's a verse from Amazing Grace, which John Newton penned that should be sung often, and isn't at all:

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.

How to fix a leak...

2008-06-13T12:52:00.000-07:00

...a Skittles Leak.

These ads are priceless. The great thing is there are so many out there!

Oprah's on the Downslide. Yay.

2008-06-01T22:54:00.001-07:00

I unashamedly despise what Oprah Winfrey stands for, and I think that what she espouses is an embodiment of the subtle godlessness that media broadcasts so freely (that, and her religion). Call me what you like, It's got nothing to do with my views of women.
Why Is Oprah Sliding? Don't Blame the Other O
From the Article:

Oprah is perhaps the closest thing America has to a secular religious figure (“She was like the pope,” a professor told the New York Times) or even, let’s be honest, a goddess. She inspired worship and devotion. She guided her flock spiritually. She anointed disciples (Rachael Ray, Dr. Phil) and sent them out into the world.

This kind of thing warms me on the soulside.

Fatwa!

2008-05-31T12:55:00.001-07:00

It is human tendency to generalize. I guess when we generalize about someone other than us, it makes it easier to categorize, package, and label them, so that we know why we're not them, and we tell ourselves that's why we're better than them. But it's rarely that simple in reality is it?

Here's a great example. Just saw this news article and it made me chuckle. While strongly differ with the Islamic belief system, I don't have to argue through generalization, that just alienates people. After all it stings when those same kinds of generalizations come back around our way.

Muslims issue fatwa against terrorism.

Cricketer of the Year

2008-05-31T01:04:00.000-07:00

For anyone who's been following the IPL (Indian Premier League) 20-20 cricket series, I have just found the Most Valuable Player of the tournament, as far as I'm concerned.

It's got nothing to do with cricket, and everything to do with having the most creative parents ever. I don't even know if he's actually played an official match yet off the bench. Ladies and gents, I give you... the one, the only...

Napoleon Einstein

No, I don't know if he's related to the Dynamite clan.

Skinny Contemplations on Art

2008-05-24T21:17:00.000-07:00

Is it just me, or does it seem that the more immersed an artist (regardless of field) is in a particular art, the further away from truth about God that artist seems to get?

Maybe I'm generalizing from my own limited experience, but it just seems that eccentricity and moral ambiguity seems to be directly proportionate to serious art, and it makes me wonder...

Edit:
On further thought, I applied this to audio-visual media: entertainment, movies, books, music... and the prognosis isn't good. Art in general does not deal with the righteousness of God. Having realized the secular-humanistic (and therefore godless) perspective of the entertainment industry as a whole, it becomes obvious that the morality present in these art forms will be fatally flawed. Not because it is always necessarily immoral or amoral (as many times is the case) but because even any morality that is sourced in humanism is limited by its very man-centeredness. Holiness is not the measure, and therefore God is not the standard; social relationship is.

In sum, be it the most inane work of art, what is presented about love, about romance, about human relationships, about service, about politics, about violence, about peace, about sexuality, about business, about anything you can think of, even religion, all this is ensconced in a man-centered world-view. Man is the focus of the universe. The godlessness of it all is not explicit, but subtle.

The themes of good vs. evil, or the goodness of man, or the love between human beings all become a facade that subtly encourages the ignorance of God's perspective and ultimately the abandonment of true religion. Morality by itself is damning, a religion that in reality despises God.

All that to say guard your heart. Protect the gates. Know what you watch, read and listen, and don't inform your morality or practice from entertainment or art, ultimately, set God at the center and inform your life with His Word at the center. Let that center inform all pursuit of art.

I will ponder the way that is blameless.
Oh when will you come to me?
I will walk with integrity of heart
within my house;
I will not set before my eyes
anything that is worthless.
I hate the work of those who fall away;
it shall not cling to me.
Psalm 101:2,3

The "Diabolical" Devil

2008-05-20T01:07:00.000-07:00

With reference to Genesis 3, the question arises how Satan could successfully manipulate a perfect human being, untainted by sin and in perfect union with God to willfully fall into disobedience of God’s simply and clear command. In the narrative of Genesis 3 the serpent’s diabolical genius is at work. And from it we learn about why he keeps "getting" us.

First, the serpent gently led Eve to progressive departure from implicit trust in God. Satan did not start with outright denial of God’s Word. Instead, he led her gently into a process of doubting God’s purpose (3:1), to contradicting His Word (3:4) to actually doubting that God had her own interests at heart (3:5).

Second, the serpent aroused in Eve a desire for fulfillment apart from God. Having fractured her trust in God, the serpent implied to her that there was something she lacked, by telling her, “Your eyes will be opened” (3:5b). He then opened to her a potential world of knowledge; again with an indirect statement about God’s supposed secret fear, “you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (3:5c). He had led Eve toward a thought process of obtaining fulfillment apart from God. However, his real genius is seen in his final step in the procedure.

Finally, the serpent stepped back to allow Eve to foment in her own lust. Having done his work in putting the seed of doubt in Eve’s mind and arousing her own desires, the serpent is then interestingly not a part of the further narrative that leads up to and past the fall of Eve and Adam into sin. In 3:6, it is Eve’s thought process alone that led to her sin. The serpent’s work was done, and he shrewdly distanced himself from interfering in her final individual plunge into sin, knowing “each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire” (James 1:14). In fact, the serpent did not make Eve sin, he just encouraged her doubt and made it seem the reasonable course of action. Eve rationalized progressively that “the tree was good for food” (3:6a) – that firstly it would provide bodily nourishment; God indeed desired Adam and Eve’s wellbeing (2:16,17). She then rationalized that the tree was “a delight for the eyes” (3:6b) – God indeed had created trees for this very purpose, “God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food” (2:9), and therefore partaking would fit in with God’s express desire. Finally, she saw that “the tree was to be desired to make one wise” – and such a result would only be in the center of God’s will.

The serpent brought Eve to sin, not by making her choose sin over obedience, but by helping her paint in her own mind her need to think independently of God and thus see what actually was sin as the expedient course of action.

Let this reminder ring a warning bell in our own hearts. Don't try to wrestle with the devil. Resist him.

Welcome to the Brave New World

2008-05-17T18:00:00.000-07:00

As always, it's like something from a comic book, but it's real. A robotic exoskeleton for soldiers. Eventually it will be part of a complete suit unit.

That's crazy.

OK, let's balance the last post

2008-05-12T12:37:00.001-07:00

A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong she is until she's in hot water.
Eleanor Roosevelt

Mother

2008-05-09T13:58:00.000-07:00

This mother's day, a secular, cynical, depressing, non-autobiographical song.

Mother
Pink Floyd

Mother, do you think they'll drop the bomb?
Mother, do you think they'll like this song?
Mother, do you think they'll try to break my b****?
Ooooo mother, should I build a wall?

Mother, should I run for president?
Mother, should I trust the government?
Mother, will they put me in the firing line?
Ooooowaa is it just a waste of time?

Hush, my baby. baby, don't you cry.
Mommas gonna make all of your nightmares come true.
Mommas gonna put all of her fears into you.
Mommas gonna keep you right here under her wing.
She wont let you fly, but she might let you sing.
Mommas gonna keep baby cozy and warm.
Oooo babe.
Oooo babe.
Oooo babe, of course mommas gonna help build a wall.

Mother, do you think shes good enough,
For me?
Mother, do you think shes dangerous,
To me?
Mother will she tear your little boy apart?
Ooooo mother, will she break my heart?

Hush, my baby. baby, don't you cry.
Mommas gonna check out all your girlfriends for you.
Momma wont let anyone dirty get through.
Mommas gonna wait up until you get in.
Momma will always find out where youve been.
Mommas gonna keep baby healthy and clean.
Oooo babe.
Oooo babe.
Oooo babe, you'll always be baby to me.

Mother, did it need to be so high?

Mothers: don't build it too high, I guess.

Missions is about Worship

2008-04-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

Anyone familiar with John Piper's landmark work knows this already... but it's worth a post.

The passion of a missionary-as distinct from that of an evangelist-is to plant a worshiping community of Christians in a people group who has no access to the gospel because of language or cultural barriers. Paul was one of those "frontier" missionaries: "I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named... But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions... I go to Spain" (Rom. 15:20, 23-24)

Then this:

The first great passion of missions, therefore, is to honor the glory of God by restoring the rightful place of God in the hearts of people who presently think, feel and act in ways that dishonor God every day, and in particular, to do this by bringing forth a worshiping people from among all the unreached peoples of the world. If you love the glory of God, you cannot be indifferent to missions. This is the ultimate reason Jesus Christ came into the world. Romans 15:8-9 says, "Christ became a servant to the circumcised... in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy." Christ came to get glory for his Father among the nations. If you love what Jesus Christ came to accomplish, you love missions.

That, right there, is the heart of the book, Let the Nations Be Glad. And if you want to know more, the entire book is his case for every aspect of those statements.

The urgency is such when you study this issue, that individuals and churches who are not in some explicitly involved way (prayer? money? GOING? supporting? encouraging others to go? informing others? studying? networking? All the above?) a part of God's global undertaking are badly missing the point of God's purposes for all of creation. Read Revelation 5 (the last revealed chapter of God's story of redemption) to get some idea. And then get out of your neighborhood, and hop on the global missions bandwagon.

Michael Jackson's got nothing on this

2008-04-11T09:21:00.000-07:00

Babies are thrown off the roof as an exercise in faith.

Surreal, but totally normal... in Martian culture. And I speak as an expert on martial culture.

edit:

Like Hacking a Path Through the Amazon Forest

2008-03-28T19:12:00.000-07:00

What is Indian Red Tape like? A great anecdote from a book I'm in the middle of, made me laugh it's so ridiculous but having lived in the system it's totally believable. As Luce says, it's like hacking a path through the Amazon; by the time we have proceeded a hundred yards, the undergrowth takes over again. The author, Edward Luce, recounts a story from Arun Shourie, minister of administrative reform in New Delhi from 1999 - 2002.

Shourie also provided an example of the farce that sometimes results from efforts to reform a system that will go to great lengths to thwart even the smallest of changes. In April 1999, India's ministry for steel submitted a formal query to Shourie's ministry for administrative reforms. The grave matter, which would take almost a year to resolve and would consume the valuable time of some of India's most senior officials, was about whether civil servants should be allowed to use green or red ink, as opposed to the blue or black normally used to annotate documents.

After several weeks of meetings, consultations and memoranda, the IAS (administrative) officers in Shouries' department concluded that the matter could be resolved only by officials at the bureau of printing. Another three weeks of learned deliberation ensued before the bureau of printing returned the file to the department of administrative reform, but with the recommendation that the ministry of training and personnel be consulted. It took another three weeks for the file to reach the ministry of training, since the diligent mandarins at administrative reform needed time to consider the expertly phrased deliberations of the bureau of printing.

And so this question of state meandered for weeks and months, in meeting after meeting through ministry after ministry, before the following Solomonic compromise was struck: "Initial drafting will be done in black or blue ink. Modifications in the draft at the subsequent levels may be made in green or red ink by the officers so as to distinguish the corrections made," said the new order. Hierarchy also had to be specified. "Only an officer of the level of joint secretary and above may use the green or red ink in rare cases [duly set out, with appropriate caveats]." As Shourie noted: "A good bureaucratic solution: discretion allowed but circumscribed!"
Edward Luce, In Spite of the Gods: The Rise of Modern India

It's interesting to me, but this kind of management (to misuse the word) is visible to some level at every level of Indian practice, whether in the private or governmental sector, religious or secular. Procedure most often trumps common sense, with the result that things move forward arduously but upward (in terms of stacks of paperwork and procedure) most earnestly.

Why I am a Die-Hard Petra Fan

2008-03-09T20:55:00.000-07:00

Enter In
Words by Bob Hartman
Music by Jo, Cooper & John Elefante

Once a year for sacrifice
just one priest could pay the price
And step inside the inner veil to make the people free

Temple stood the same for years till the Nazarene appears
Things will never be the same since 33 A.D.

When He spoke and bowed His head
He who saved the world was dead
Then the earth began to shake
Heaven's wall began to break
Opening the Holy place
The temple veil is torn in two
The way is clear for me and you

We can enter in, enter in
Into Heaven's Holy place
We can enter in, enter in
Boldly by His blood we can approach His throne of grace
We can enter in a new and living Way
By our faith He will receive us when we pray

Now without a second look
we forget what all it took
To be seen as innocent by His Holy eyes
Never thinking foolishly there is something He won't see
For our lack of righteousness there is no disguise

He won't look the other Way
Someone's life will have to pay
Once for all it has been done
Taken out upon His Son
He remembers it no more
Now for us He is the Door
Opened up forevermore

We can enter in, enter in
We can enter in His gates with thankfulness and praise
Into the once forbidden Holy place

We can live in goodness and in mercy all our days
We can enter in a new and living Way
By our faith He will receive us when we pray
We don't have to be afraid to seek His face
We can enter in

Copyright (c) 1995 Petsong Pub.
(Adm. By Word, Inc.)/SESAC/Jimmy Vision Music/Uncle Pitts Music/BMI

Here

Worship and the Work of God

2008-03-08T00:57:00.000-08:00

"I am of the opinion that we should not be concerned about working for God until we have learned the meaning and the delight of worshiping Him. A worshiper can work with eternal quality in his work."

"Christ saves us to make us worshipers and workers. But we evangelicals ignore the first altogether so that we are not producing worshipers in our day. Workers, yes, we're producing workers. Founders, yes, they're a dime a dozen. Promoters, producers artists, entertainers, religious DJs, we've got them by the thousands. Beat a bush and there will be two artists to hop out and a DJ." (Sermon to Youth for Christ, National Convention of YFC in Chicago, 1960)

"To try to get souls saved at the expense of the glory of God is to cheat God of His glory and not get souls saved anyhow. We just make proselytes who aren't Christians but something else." (Sermon, "Prayer," Chicago, 1956)

Tozer on Worship & Entertainment, Compiled by James L. Snyder

Remember...

2008-02-29T16:02:00.000-08:00

To wrer Her into your Haaar.

Proverbs 5

2008-02-16T12:34:00.000-08:00

Babylon, she beckons
broadcasting her glitters of ephemeral joy and
generously hiding from view the hook, the gambit;
offering addiction packaged in satisfaction
glamorous destruction

"That which is collective is desirable"-
an underlying rationale,
the consequences of which one must bear alone;
victim to one's own excesses
imprisoned among glittering shards
of one's own folly.

Wisdom, she cries out to the wise, Truth
values reality precisely:
glamor ≠ advantage
Two paths; one wide and shiny,
one True.

The iniquities of the wicked
ensnare him and he is held fast
in the cords of his sin, he dies.

Jesus, you draw me close, so
that I behold your preciousness, safe
eternal, glorious life far beyond
the passing pleasures of
a fading day

Feb 16th, 2008

For Valentine's Day

2008-02-13T21:59:00.000-08:00

Many a man in love with a dimple makes the mistake of marrying the whole girl.

STEPHEN LEACOCK
humorist and economist

In Honor of the Bearded Genius

2008-02-12T21:45:00.000-08:00

It is apparently the great (loose usage) Charles Darwin's birthday today, the 12th of February. I felt like I had to celebrate, I don't know why.

What better way, than to burn a monkey. Watch at least halfway, will you?

Yes we can WHAT?

2008-02-08T13:15:00.000-08:00

Soap Box time.

I have no issues with Obama... I kind of like the guy and his smoke-mouth. But with this talk of movements and change and revolution and young people excited about politics and whatnot... it gets me thinking there's a bit of overstatement going on about the needs of the moment. Obama echoes language in his talks from the great speeches of past generations, but my issue is that we aren't really facing the same kind of issues at the same level as we did at those times.

Slavery? Genocide of Jews? Racism and Human Rights? When we say Yes we Can with reference to such issues, it rings true. Rallying support looks righteous, not cultist.

But this?

Speaking as an outsider, it's hard to understand why we need to be passionate about this at the level that its being portrayed. The foundation just does not come across as critical enough, especially in the middle of a nation that, all things considered, still is probably the "free-est" place in the world to live in.

To me it seems that it's more about the dynamism of Obama than anything else. And ultimately, that people need hope at a scale that this stuff cannot even begin to touch. That seed of need is unidentified by most, but ever present in the heart and ignited by the slightest whisper of false salvation.

But hope cannot begin by looking inward. The idea of "the Human Spirit" is so subtly Godless that it's hard to catch it, but it takes hold of the heart like a firestorm, and before you know it, we're self sufficient, and Yes We Can.

edit: Glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks this.

Simple in truth, profoundly hard to imbibe.

2008-01-26T13:42:00.001-08:00

In line with what's been on my mind for the past few months, here's parts of a book report that I wrote recently:

Christ is infinite in his fullness – in Him is a boundless abundance of supply for those in great personal, spiritual and emotional need. It does not matter what the misery or bondage is – Christ is sufficient. Christ deals not superficially or symptomatically but with the root of the matter – the human heart.

...it is only when we see Christ in his all-sufficient fullness that we can confidently embrace his power to change lives – whether in emotional issues, broken lives or depression. Any attempt to apply the world’s theories to attempt to solve these problems is an implicit affirmation of Christ’s inability and insufficiency.

True believers are those who have seen and been captivated by Christ – they have experienced the immensity of His gloriousness. A central feature of His glory is the glory of His all-sufficiency (Col 1:19, John 1:16). Christ is supreme in His glory (2 Cor 2:14-4:6) – no other shares His glory. Not only that, His Glory is sufficient. At the center of His glory is his infinite fullness (John 1:14-17). In light of this, the believer can rest in Him in full confidence, that nothing outside of what He provides is necessary for the soul ailments of life.

This morning an old (relatively) song that I knew popped into my head... which sums up the idea simply in its title. It is so easy to understand, yet I am coming to realize that for me this is going to be a lifelong quest in terms of submitting my life to that understanding. I hold on to so much, despite knowing that I can let go, He holds me. It's not that the storm isn't strong. He holds me, and knowing who He is, as the song begs, then why do I sway?

You're All I Need
The Kry

Why do I sway
I can't face the day without You
my heart drifts away
but Your love remains always true

As I'm sailin' away
on the rivers of time
Your love will carry me through
the storms in my life

You're all I need
when the world is closin' in
my strength is runnin' thin
when i'm lost in the storm
You're all I need there's no need to look anywhere
there's nothing that can compare
to the love that You give
You're all I need

Sometimes I wait
until I can't take anymore
You show me the way
You help me sail back to the shore

When I'm drifting away
on the angry tides
I cast out my anchor into
the sea of Your love

You're all I need
when the world is closing in
my strength is running thin
when I'm lost in the storm
You're all I need there's no need to look anywhere
there's nothing that can compare
to the love that You give
You're all I need

You're all I need
You're all that I want
nothing in this world
could give me more

Why do i sway
I can't face the day without You!
all I can say
You're all I need

Who is sufficient for these things?

2008-01-24T23:52:00.000-08:00

I just finished a conversation with one of my closest friends. Who just got saved. Who's resisted during decades of prayer and conversation. Who knew all but rejected it just the same. Now he testifies that God forgave him, changed him, saved him.

And on that basis, as I told him, I am amazed - you just cannot force the hand of God. It is instances like these that reinforce his sovereignty over the human heart, that he will call when he wills. And when he does, the hardest heart turns to flesh and sings his praise.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Romans 1:16,17

And this is why we preach, because faith comes from God. And we trust, because there is never one without hope. And we love Christ, because salvation is found nowhere else.

For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
1 Corinthians 1:17-25

I have been struck again with the lack of human wisdom to save a man - even if that wisdom is based on Truth. Man cannot convince anyone to be saved, even if there is great love in that relationship. We are foolish, powerless on our own - But we preach Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. And he saves to the uttermost, because his salvation is not about words, but actual cleansing and heart regeneration.

Better than I can say myself.

2008-01-16T11:28:00.000-08:00

Epiphanies are so subjective: they mean the world to the person involved but are just run-of-the mill words to most everyone else. With that understanding, I share this anyway.

It's easy to wonder about God's timeline - the "whens" and the "how longs".

Well, I think I'm starting to "get it" in my own life... "when?" "how long?" - "till" I begin to understand just how great God is: how marvelously applicable His Word is - the power of His grace, the effectiveness of his comfort, the marvel of his shepherd's care, the rest that can be found in the goodness of His sovereignty. "till" I rest my joy in these things alone, and "till" I hang on every word.
It's impossible to talk about these truths in abstract anymore! How can I not point people to Him?

I ask myself: were it not for these things he's allowed, would I have even stopped to ponder His purposes or His glories? Oh, but now He has arrested my attention.

So in agreement with the Psalmist, I post this testimony to the treasure that God is: Immensely simple words, yet truer and better than I could ever say myself.

Your testimonies are wonderful;
therefore my soul keeps them.
The unfolding of your words gives light;
it imparts understanding to the simple.

I open my mouth and pant
because I long for your commandments.
Turn to me and be gracious to me,
as is your way with those who love your name.

Keep steady my steps according to your promise,
and let no iniquity get dominion over me.
Redeem me from man's opression,
that I may keep your precepts.

Make your face shine upon your servant,
and teach me your statutes.
My eyes shed streams of tears,
because people do not keep your law.

Psalm 119:129-136

The best of the past

2007-12-11T01:06:00.000-08:00

A faded remnant of past glory, but to misquote a lyric from the era: Wish I was there.

Ees so SillY!

2007-12-01T14:40:00.000-08:00

I would never have thought two silly drunk Mexican crows would give me such joy.

He abla muchacho casa manana grande...

It's unmissable, in my book.

Merrie Melodies - Two Crows From Tacos
Uploaded by Necopodalex

The Beauty of Christ

2007-12-01T11:10:00.000-08:00

Every time I read this it grips me. And I'm reading it over and over again. The Pearl of Great Price, explained like no other can.
I quote:

But Christ Jesus has true excellence and so great excellency, that when they come to see it they look no further, but the mind rests there. It sees a transcendent glory and an ineffable sweetness in him; it sees that till now it has been pursuing shadows, but that now it has found the substance; that before it had been seeking happiness in the stream, but that now it has found the ocean. The excellency of Christ is an object adequate to the natural cravings of the soul, and is sufficient to fill the capacity. It is infinite excellency, such a one as the mind desires, in which it can find no bounds: and the more the mind is used to it, the more excellent it appears. Every new discovery makes this beauty appear more ravishing, and the mind sees no end; here is room enough for the mind to go deeper and deeper, and never come to the bottom. The soul is exceedingly ravished when it first looks on this beauty, and it is never weary of it. The mind never has any satiety, but Christ’s excellency is always fresh and new, and tends as much to delight, after it has been seen a thousand or ten thousand years, as when it was seen the first moment…. The soul that comes to Christ, feeds upon this, and lives upon it; it is that bread which came down from heaven, of which he that eats shall not die: it is angels’ food, it is that wine and milk that is given without money, and without price. This is that fatness in which the believing soul delights itself; here the longing soul may be satisfied, and the hungry soul may be filled with goodness. The delight and contentment that is to be found here, passeth understanding, and is unspeakable and full of glory. It is impossible for those who have tasted of this fountain, and know the sweetness of it, ever to forsake it. The soul has found the river of water of life, and it desires no other drink; it has found the tree of life, and it desires no other fruit.

Jonathan Edwards

Oh. Experientially I'm at the fringes of what he's saying... but even from that point I still know that all this is infinitely true. You see, even just a taste of infinite gloriousness is infinitely satisfying.

What Apocrypha?

2007-11-29T17:34:00.000-08:00

The Apocrypha refers to a group of 11 books commonly tagged on to the Old Testament by the Catholic Church, who claim these as Scripture. Why is it in there? There's a lot of reasons for and against, and I strongly believe it has no place in the Bible. But on what basis? I believe there's a strong argument why not, that's the reason for this post. But I need to set this up clearly. It's worth it, stay with me.

First, some historical background:
The Greek translation of the Old Testament (called the Septuagint or LXX - 'the 70'):

as handed down through Christians contains 14 (or 15 depending how they are grouped) additional books not found in the Hebrew Old Testament. These additional books are know by the Greek term apocrypha, meaning "hidden."
http://www.bibleteachings.org/apocrypha.html

The Catholic Bible contains 11 of these books. It is important to understand that the majority of these writings are certain to have been around during the life of Christ and certainly the Apostles were aware of them (we see their influence in the NT - see Jude for example. NOTE: quotation in scripture does not equal canonicity, Paul quoted from pagan poets.)

Second, regarding the Hebrew Old Testament:
What protestants call the "Old Testament" comes from the Hebrew "Tanakh". The same books occur as are in the Old Testament (sans Apocrypha). But that's not the issue. What is pertinent to our discussion is the order of the books in the Hebrew Tanakh: There are three divisions: The Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. (Stay with me! it gets good.) In the Protestant Old Testament, The Order is Law, Writings, Prophets (the last being Malachi). However, in the Tanakh, it is Law, Prophets, Writings. Which means that The first book is Genesis, but the last book (contained in the writings) is Chronicles.(here for verification.)

Key here is that the Apocrypha was tagged on to the end of the OT.

Finally, lets tie it together:

Matthew 23:35-35
Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.

Jesus is speaking here about the of the historic rejection of the prophets. Then he makes a comprehensive statement - about the blood of all the righteous shed on the earth. And for this he refers to the Hebrew scriptures and starts with the first innocent who was murdered (Abel - from Genesis, the first book). The next name would be the last prophet, we assume. But who's this Zechariah fellow? He's not Zechariah the prophet of the eponymous book that's almost at the end of the OT. It's better than that. You know where I'm going, but you're not sure...

2 Chronicles 24:20-21
Then the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God, ‘Why do you break the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.’” But they conspired against him, and by command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord.

A murdered prophet. To a modern day Bible reader the connection would not have been made. But hopefully it's clear now - Christ was referring to an incident from the last book of the Tanakh! With his sweeping statement, he was referring to all of scripture - from the beginning with Abel, to the end, with Zechariah. And there's no mention of that group of documents which rhymes with "Apocrypha". Seems pretty clear that he didn't consider them at all. So why should we?

[For even more clarity, See also: Luke 24:27,44 "law, prophets, writings". No Apocrypha.]

Remember: they existed in practically their full state at that time. It wasn't like the New Testament, which hadn't been written yet.

We're Despicable.

2007-11-12T16:49:00.000-08:00

There's a parable in here, I'm sure of it.

Edit: This one too!

Bugs Bunny - Rabbit Rampage
Uploaded by Necopodalex

An Inkjet Made My Bladder

2007-11-05T15:00:00.000-08:00

Oh my gosh dang it what the heck freaks me out. Yes, it's the kind of thing that makes me talk like a giddy high schooler.

The title is actually true (except for the "my" part - my bladder is original stock, thank you). They're regenerating organs in a petri dish! If this is not stunning enough, check out the video - the 'how' will floor you.

This is insane. But immensely immensely amazing.
Doctor Anthony Atala heads up this fascinating project.

A Relevant Message

2007-11-01T21:51:00.001-07:00

Paul Washer is a man on fire. I was just introduced to him, but he's famous (or infamous) for a message delivered in 2002 at a Southern Baptist youth convention in Alabama. I recommend taking the time to watch. I don't believe he was invited back.)

He's a missionary as well. And I think the interview below summarizes his ministry well. The Church would benefit greatly from the ministry of more people like him. His sense of urgency is indicative of someone who gets the importance of the task at hand and how far we have drifted from it.

Relevance isn't about preaching what necessarily wants to be heard, but preaching what needs to be heard, even when its not in season.

Acceptable Worship

2007-10-21T21:46:00.000-07:00

One of the great things about getting a theological education is exposure to writers that have been around for literally ages: It's like finding diamonds in the dust. Here's a quote about the role of emotions in worship:

That religion which God requires, and will accept, does not consist in weak, dull, and lifeless wishes, raising up but a little above a state of indifference: God, in His Word, greatly insists upon it, that we be in good earnest, "fervent in spirit," and our hearts vigorously engaged in religion, and our wills and inclinations be not strongly exercised, we are nothing. The things of religion are so great, that there can be no suitableness in the exercises of our hearts...unless they be lively and powerful! In nothing is vigour in the actings of our inclination so requisite as in religion; and in nothing is lukewarmness so odious.
Jonathan Edwards, The Religious Affections

So let's be vigorous. On any given Sunday, with the household of God - leaving the drudgery, the baggage of life behind, let us take our eyes off ourselves and look toward Him: he is the author and benefactor of our faith. In acknowledgment of his all-sufficiency specific to our lives, let us pour out our hearts. Let the response that we give to him in song, in public exaltation, be worthy in some measure, of praise befitting The King.

Watch, weep.

2007-10-17T23:39:00.000-07:00

Some days it's hard to feel patriotic. There's not much to say after

This:

This:

And this:

[Unreported World - India Land of Missing Children]

The End is Here

2007-10-04T09:36:00.000-07:00

There are many things that indicate the coming of the end of this current superpower - prophets of doom have pointed to the rise of the Spice Girls, Britney, and many such fearful cataclysms of the age.

However, I believe that when historians look back at our generation and attempt to pinpoint the one watershed event that started the fall of American Civilization, unanimously this will be it:

How can anyone miss it?

The Evolution of Language

2007-09-20T09:45:00.000-07:00

This is interesting... to some. The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary just released its sixth edition.

Here are 10 of the new words, with their OED definitions:

1. Amp — To make (a person) very excited or energetic (as if) through the consumption of amphetamines or another stimulant. Frequently used with up

2. Beatboxing — The action or practice of imitating the sounds of an electronic drum machine with the voice.

3. Buzzkill — A person who, or thing which, dampens enthusiasm or enjoyment.

4. Chill Pill — An anti-depressant; anything intended to calm a person down (take a chill pill, calm down, relax).

5. Ghetto Fabulous — Pertaining to or favoring an ostentatious style of dress associated with the hip-hop subculture.

6. Monobrow — A pair of eyebrows that meet above the nose, giving the appearance of a single eyebrow; a person with such eyebrows, jocularly — a stupid person.

7. Pimpmobile — A large, flashy car, especially one used by a pimp.

8. Rockism — The theory that traditional rock music is a more authentic form of popular music than pop music.

9. Secret Sauce — A special feature or technique kept secret by an organization and regarded as being the chief factor in its success.

10. Splitsville — The termination of a relationship, especially a romantic one.

Welcome to the new world.

Show Off

2007-09-14T00:50:00.000-07:00

What have I to show for all this time
that you have given me
unassembled pieces, shapeless, here and there
I lay it at your feet, complete
Self-satisfaction; I expect that I deserve
my reward, you have promised
see, they approve, they cheer me on
I must be in your favor

Take me by my hands
guide them to create
something useful, something good, shame me
seeing how I need your perfect skill
Then walk with me, so I grasp clearly
that I am not the cause of all this praise
you shine infinitely bright
You must be all they see

1 Corinthians 1:27-29,31

Auto Humor

2007-09-07T11:23:00.000-07:00

We live in an age of automotive wonder. While it is true (as in most fields) that we're standing on the shoulders of visionary giants, some of them were midgets.

The 50 Worst Cars of All Time.

For world outreach, passion.

2007-08-11T17:06:00.000-07:00

Jan Comenius was a missionary pioneer born in in Moravia in 1592, one of the first to begin developing a world scope for missions. The following is a quote from a short biography, which challenged me.

In 1461 Comenius visited England in the hope of gaining support for one of his more idealistic scheme, an encyclopaedic 'pansophic' college. This would embrace all knowledge, including scientific knowledge and biblical, and would teach the peoples of all nations the truth which would bring an end to war and discord! His optimism knew no bounds though we may feel he was rather naive in his expectations! The programme as he envisaged it would start with Christian nations and go from there to Muslims, pagans, and finally to the Jews, who, as the apostle Paul hoped in His Letter to the Romans, would come to faith in Christ through jealousy, when they saw the gentiles enjoying God's blessings. As he says in The Way of Light:

The result of that light which is promised is the conversion of all peoples to the Church, so that Jehovah shall be king over all the earth... Then the Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole circle of the world, for a witness to all the peoples, before the end shall come... Then the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of God as the sea is covered with waters... And then there will be universal peace over the whole world; hatred and causes of hatred will be done away, and all dissension between men. For there will be no ground for dissenting, when all men have the same Truths clearly presented to their eyes.

And he closes the book with the following paraphrase of the Lord's Prayer:

Our Father who art in heaven, may thy name be hallowed in the whole world! let Thy Kingdom come even now to the whole world! May Thy will be done even now in the whole earth as it is in whole Heaven! through the whole of Europe, of Asia, of Africa, of America, through the Magellanes [the southern parts of present-day Chile and Argentina], and through all the islands of the sea, may Thy kingdom come, may Thy will be done!... Raise up men to write Thy purpose in books, but books such as Thou Thyself mayest write in the hearts of men; make schools to be opened in all parts of the world to nurse Thy children! And do Thou raise up Thine own school in the hearts of all men in the whole world that they may ally themselves together for Thy praise; be Thou Thyself leader of the choir of Thine elect.

Whatever we may think about the viability of Comenius' hopes there is no doubt about his worldwide vision and missionary zeal.

From A Heart For Missions: Five Pioneer Thinkers
Ron Davies

Effective Punishment

2007-08-08T10:38:00.000-07:00

Now this is one way to enforce rule of rules.

60 Years - Mahan? Pareshan? ...Jawan.

2007-08-03T12:58:00.000-07:00

Close to our 60th Independence Day, It's a good time to be an Indian.

It makes more sense now. Sixty years after independence, India is beginning to deliver on its promise. Over the past few years the world's biggest and rowdiest democracy has matched its political freedoms with economic ones, unleashing a torrent of growth and wealth creation that is transforming the lives of millions. India's economic clout is beginning to make itself felt on the international stage, as the nation retakes the place it held as a global-trade giant long before colonial powers ever arrived there.

From A Young Giant Awakes.

Or this, an interesting perspective from William Dalrymple:

In hindsight, what is happening today with the rise of India and China is not some miraculous novelty — as it is usually depicted in the Western press — so much as a return to the traditional pattern of global trade in the medieval and ancient world, where gold drained from West to East in payment for silks and spices and all manner of luxuries undreamed of in the relatively primitive capitals of Europe.
...Extraordinary as it is, the rise of India and China is nothing more than a return to the ancient equilibrium of world trade, with Europeans no longer appearing as gun-toting, gunboat-riding colonial masters but instead reverting to their traditional role: that of eager consumers of the much celebrated manufactures, luxuries and services of the East.

From Why India's Rise is Business as Usual

I have a question that's been bugging me. Is economic prosperity necessarily directly related to God blessing a nation? It's the great claim of many Americans in our day. Or is it just something God allows for a season... like ancient Babylon or Egypt for example? I don't have an intelligent answer, but it doesn't seem to be simple linear "cause and effect".

...to live in Him as the fish lives in the sea...

2007-07-27T22:33:00.000-07:00

If we do not see beyond the visible, if we cannot touch that which is intangible, if we cannot hear that which is inaudible, if we cannot know that which is beyond knowing, then I have serious doubts about the validity of our Christian experience. The Bible tells us:

"eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the hearts of men the things that God has laid up for them that love Him" [1 Cor 2:9]

That is why Paul goes on to remind us that God has revealed these mysteries to us by the Holy Spirit. If we would only stop trying to make the Holy Spirit our servant and begin to live in Him as the fish lives in the sea, we would enter into the riches of glory about which we know nothing now.

Too many want the Holy Spirit in order that they may have the gift of healing. Others want Him for the gift of tongues. Still others seek him so that their testimony may become effective. All of these things, I will grant, are a part of the total pattern of the New Testament. But it is impossible to make God our servant. Let us never pray that we may be filled with the Spirit of God for secondary purposes. God wants to fill us with the Holy Spirit in order that we should know Him first of all and be absorbed in Him. We should enter into the fullness of the Spirit so that God's son may be glorified in us.

A.W. Tozer
From "Faith Beyond Reason"

Sometimes you just need to emote.

2007-05-26T10:58:00.000-07:00

And who better to help than Paco De Lucia.

It's a humbling thing, listening to him, because all I ultimately can do is get caught up in the emotion of the music, because to be honest I find that the subtleties of his style are hard to track with.

[for simple instance, what's with the clapping? it's like the singers prearranged it totally at a tangent from the music just to mess with my head.]

If you don't like it, well then, Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries. Thpppppt!

God's Sovereignty - Not if, but How.

2007-05-23T20:22:00.001-07:00

A friend and I were discussing the issue of whether the fact that God is sovereign over all things means that he actively orchestrates every single event in history, from the dropping of a piece of chalk to our acts of sin.

[We both reject Open Theism. This is just a discussion about the fact of God's sovereign control over all things and specifically HOW it works]

Briefly, these were the thoughts that emerged:

1. We are limited in our ability to understand the infinite. Therefore tread lightly.

2. God's sovereignty is not hands-off : free will is a loaded concept. Any will is always subsidiary and subject to God's purpose.

3. But (and Biblical examples are clear) God's sovereignty is not micro-management. He does allow sin. He does give Satan room to function (Job's case for example).

4. But does it need to be micromanagement? God is omnipotent... in that he has created laws and decrees, both Physical and Spiritual, which will come to pass whatever may try to interfere. Even in the micro, we CAN be out of his WILL (Sin) but never out of his sovereignly ordained PLAN. Can we disobey him? Obviously. But can we defeat his purpose for our lives? Consequently, just because we do something that goes against his command/will, it doesn't necessitate that we are also acting against his sovereignty.

Maybe the issue is that we need to separate the terms Sovereignty and Will. Does God do/force to happen everything he desires? ("he desires all men to be saved") No. But does God accomplish everything according to his purpose? (Eph 1) Clearly.

It boggles the mind. God's power is such that even when in the present all actions are turned against his will, ultimately looking back from a future date [nay, even in the rebellious now!], we can conclude that even though those actions may not have been according to his will; they were according to His intricately plotted out purpose.

Words of comfort to 'some of us' who are prone to wander.

[Now I realise this isn't an in depth study, so please feel free to use scripture to enhance /enlighten this discussion.]

Prayer

2007-05-17T04:40:00.000-07:00

Let me be the evidence of what Your grace can do
To a generation struggling to find themselves in You
May they come to know the love of God,
May their eyes be made to see-
Give me the opportunity to share the truth
that sets them free
And may unity in all things
Be the banner of Your church,
And let revival's fire begin to burn:

This is my prayer,
Lifted to You
Knowing You care so much more than I do
This is my prayer,
In Jesus' name
Your will be done, I humbly pray.

[Bob Hartman - 1990]

Funny of the Day

2007-05-02T23:33:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you just need to smile.

Who Do You Think You Are?

2007-03-21T14:43:00.000-07:00

The beauty of YouTube: You may know of Stephen Fry, the British comedian. In a TV program on the BBC that goes by the title of this Blogpost, we are allowed a very personal glimpse into his journey to discover the story of his ancestry. It sounds boring, I know, but it turns into a very touching tale of hope, dreams, and the significance of every human life. And a reminder that there is a lot to be thankful for, even in a human sense.

If you have the time, it's worth a watch.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7

I forgive you, but...

2007-03-20T04:24:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about forgiveness recently, and surprisingly there's a can of worms where I didn't imagine one to be: On whether forgiveness is conditional.

And so I did a little looking, and am going to make it a blogpost just because it's a place to have it for reference.

A few passages that relate:

Eph 4:32
"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."

Matt 18:21,22-
"Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.""

Luke 17:2-3
Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

Mark 11:25
And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
(look up verse 26, it's a killer)

Dealing with the passages:

Eph 4:32 is a good starting point. Some have used it to say that our forgiveness is modelled on Christ's. Which in a sense is true, but you can take it to far by saying "Christ forgave but on condition of our repentance." I disagree, because the verse seems to be more about the act of forgiveness rather than the method - "God in Christ has forgiven you! You now go and forgive". The passage is not saying "God in Christ forgave you, but it was conditional on your repentance. Therefore, now go and forgive everyone who is truly repentant".

There's more clarity available - Matt 18 and Luke 11 can be used to show that forgivness necessitates repentance. However, when we look at the passage in Mark 11:25, there we find a broader context. And putting the three verses together, this is how it looks:

1. We are to forgive all who sin against us unconditionally. (Mark 11:25). This is the broad circle, as it were.
2. We are therefore (now a smaller circle) required to forgive everyone who asks us for forgiveness. (Matt 18, Luke 17:2-3) The logic is obvious in light of Mark 11.

Some synonyms of words found in the Bible for forgive: "to show grace", "to release", "to deduct". In that light, when we forgive, we would be required to show grace (not hold onto a root of bitterness) to release (from debt) and to deduct (from any losses we might have incurred). That's Biblical forgiveness, and all these attitudes are possible unilaterally.

However, there is a place where a hands on approach is necessary, and Matt 18 and Luke 17:2-3 make that clear - there are times when the type of sin committed necessitates confrontation. Interestingly, the onus is not on the sinner but on the sinned against " If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault". The motive is not vindication but restoration. "If he listens to you, you have gained your brother."

Sometimes we run away from confrontation and "just forgive" but true love sometimes needs to do more to gain our brothers and sisters. And sometimes other people have to be broght into the picture (Matt 18), but that's about Church discipline.

This is therefore where I stand: Christian Forgiveness is unilateral and unconditional, but there are times when restoration is necessary even if forgiveness has been granted by the wronged party - again, a separate but related issue - love seeks the restoration of lost relationship and the repentance that accompanies restoration. Part of what you might need in the process of leaving bitterness behind is to address the issue with the person who has sinned against you.

Duh.

2007-02-28T05:03:00.000-08:00

We live in an age of intensely high levels of wondrous intellectuality.

It took a study to show this.

One more pebble hits the wall.

2007-02-26T20:50:00.000-08:00

TIME Magazine put out an article over the weekend which purports to prove that Jesus is still dead. Normally this kind of stuff I would just ignore, but then I started thinking - about how ironic it is that Christians are accused of intellectual suicide and grabbing at straws of "faith" (apparently faith meaning belief in the non-existent). The intellectual unfairness that takes place in such "findings" gives me the same feeling as having a root canal.

But because a celebrity is taking up this cause, it's going to be more mainstream than it would have been and have more intellectual clout (ironically) than it would have had. A movie review site I read said this about the whole thing-

"It’ll be interesting to see what he’s come up with, but it’ll be just as interesting to see the Christian response. Here’s the thing about the faithful: no matter how much proof you show them, they won’t believe what they don’t want to believe. We’re supposed to respect that sort of inane inflexibility."

How do you respond to statements like that? I don't think we really need to. Compare it to consiracy theories: That man never went into space or landed on the moon (google it, there's plenty of such sites) or that the holocaust never happened. And "proof" is supplied. At the heart of it is incredulity. How do you respond to such ideas? Normal people don't usually waste their time on researching a response.

Conspiracy theorists probably have similar words about their detractors as "inane inflexibility".

It is of note that the issue at stake is foundational: The resurrection of Jesus Christ, of which Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:17-19:

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

He said it not from a standpoint of fear, like the world assumes, but of confidence. Where was his confidence? In his blind "faith"? Not likely. See what he says just prior to the verses above:

1 Cor 15:3-8
"For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. "

Why do we believe that James Cameron has no case? Well, because he's trying to rewrite the facts. That pebble is going to drop to the ground.

Edit: Cameron's Problems Begin
Edit: For Further Reference

Lost in Space

2007-02-24T03:01:00.000-08:00

Spaceships with paying customers touring the far reaches of space... Space entrepreneurs... $20,000 to go on a spaceflight. I'm kind of a sci-fi fan and at first glance these ideas sounds like cheesy middle-of-the-road science fiction.

Except it's coming to a space station near you, say in another 15 years.

I'm not kidding

"Fifteen years from now, every kid will know he can go to orbit in his lifetime."

Cool. I was scared about the potential expenses of sending my kids to college. Now this.

Book your ticket here.

Three Lessons From Lewis, CS.

2007-01-04T21:52:00.000-08:00

John Piper, talking about reading and books that have influenced him, stopped to mention the impact CS Lewis had on his life and his thinking. I thought it was worth mentioning. These are lessons worth thinking about and imbibing.

1) He has made me wary of chronological snobbery. That is, he has shown me that "newness" is no virtue and "oldness" is no fault. Truth and beauty and goodness are not determined by when they exist. Nothing is inferior for being old and nothing is valuable for being modern. This has freed me from the tyranny of novelty and opened for me the wisdom of the ages. He said one: every third book you read should be from outside your own (provincial) century.

2) He demonstrated for me and convinced me that rigorous, precise, penetrating logic is not inimical to deep, soul-stirring feeling and vivid, lively, even playful imagination. He was a "romantic rationalist." He combined what almost everybody today assumes are mutually exclusive: rationalism and poetry, cool logic and warm feeling, disciplined prose and free imagination. In shattering these old stereotypes for me, he freed me to think hard and to write poetry, to argue for the resurrection and compose hymns to Christ, to smash an argument and hug a friend, to demand a definition and use a metaphor.

3) Finally, Lewis has given (and continues to give) me an intense sense of the "realness" of things. This is hard to communicate. To wake up in the morning and to be aware of the firmness of the mattress, the warmth of the sun rays, the sound of the clock ticking, the sheer being of things (quidity as he calls it). He helped me become alive to life. He helped me to see what is there in the world--things which if we didn't have them, we would pay a million dollars to have, but having them, ignore. He convicts me of my insensitivity to beauty. He convicts me of my callous inability to enjoy God's daily gifts. He helps me to awaken my dazing soul so that the realities of life and of God and heaven and hell are seen and felt.

Piper later makes the point that it's not the reading of many books that is important. It is reading good books well... "Meditative reading, reading which stops and ponders, reading which sees deep into reality - that is the kind of reading which profits." With his life and mind as an example... he speaks words we would do well to heed.

Free Food!

2006-12-27T07:10:00.000-08:00

What a concept.

Pay-as-you-can Restaurants!

The first thought that came to me was, this would never work in India. People would take advantage of the non-capitalist altruism inherent in such an idea. Then I thought, maybe I'm being too pessimistic about my people, who I do love.

And then I read further. Oh the irony!

Paying the check by honor system has its risks; there are always those who will exploit the opportunity and eat for free � perhaps more so in big cities. At Babu, an Indian restaurant in New York City, the pay-what-you-feel-is-fair method resulted in too many people getting a free meal. One Friday night, a rowdy group of 10 young Indians walked in and took over the restaurant's large central table. Their response to no prices was to leave no money; not even a tip for the wait staff. Babu now states their prices.

There you go. I'm not just a paranoid pessimist.

Anyway, the point is it's a cool concept - not sure it's profit-making, but a very Christian idea, I'd think.

You're Special!

2006-12-18T05:14:00.000-08:00

Guess what? You made the cover of time magazine! It's true!

Check it out.

Congratulations, you world changer!

Seriously, check out some of the articles in the current issue... it's a fascinating analysis of how our world is changing - for good (and) or bad.

The Marketing of Self

2006-10-30T20:33:00.000-08:00

It's no secret that we live in a world where image is important. But if this article is to be understood as truth, we now seem to be moving into an arena where what people think is the definitive factor in shaping personality.

"Treating our personalities as products reflects an increasingly competitive society in which the best way to stand out is to develop an engaging--and easily defined--image. Companies and celebrities have been doing it for years. Now it's the average guy's turn. 'For a long time, parents discouraged their children from worrying about what others think. They didn't realize how shortsighted and stupid that was,' says Mark Leary, a social psychology professor at Duke University who studies impression management. 'We need other people to think well of us.'"

From Time.com - "It's a Brand-You World"

I have to interpret this from my own bias - In a sense, as a Christian, people do need to think well of me... but on what basis? My personal greatness? And for what reasons? Self glory? For the world, the fear of man has become standard procedure. But listen to the words of Scripture:

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.
[2 Cor 2:14-17]

I love my Country

2006-10-17T22:16:00.000-07:00

Part of our National Pledge (which I used to recite every week in school) goes like this:

"I love my country
and I am proud of it's rich and varied heritage.
I shall always strive to be worthy of it"

Dude, how can I even begin to strive to be worthy of THIS rich heritage? Monkeys!
TIME.com: Monkey See, Monkey Do

Edit: So let me preempt smart comments connecting me and monkeys and India... Danny, you know who you are.

Joke of the Day

2006-10-17T03:37:00.000-07:00

From the British BlackAdder series (the millenium special) starring Rowan Atkinson as BlackAdder:

George: This has to be some kind of practical joke, surely...?

BlackAdder (standing beside his newly constructed "time machine"): Certainly not... when was the last time I played a practical joke?

Darling: Well, there was the time time you said you were dying of kidney failure, and I donated one of my kidneys to save your life, and then you said it was an (sic) April fool and we had to throw my kidney away (holds back sobs)

(all but Darling laugh at the obviously happy memories)

BlackAdder: Well, yes, there has been the odd HILARIOUS practical joke, but not this time...

Jesus Camp

2006-09-20T07:17:00.000-07:00

Don't want to say much - but this video says a lot about many things. And I'm not going to comment.

Joke of the Day

2006-09-14T10:58:00.000-07:00

Humor from that respected comedian of our time, John MacArthur.

Question: "Is there any room for dinosaurs in the Bible?"

Answer (from JM): "I guess it depends on how big your Bible is."

Drumroll please.

Prosperity Gospel hits the mainstream

2006-09-10T07:58:00.000-07:00

TIME.com: Does God Want You to Be Rich? A Holy Controversy

When Time covers something like this, you know it's hit the bigtime. According to the article,

"17% of Christians surveyed said they considered themselves part of such a movement, while a full 61% believed that God wants people to be prosperous. And 31%—a far higher percentage than there are Pentecostals in America—agreed that if you give your money to God, God will bless you with more money."

And what about Jesus' words in the Gospels? Well the article leaves the contradiction between this doctrine and scripture without real answer. Instead:

But for a growing number of Christians like George Adams, the question is better restated, 'Why not gain the whole world plus my soul?' For several decades, a philosophy has been percolating in the 10 million-strong Pentecostal wing of Christianity that seems to turn the Gospels' passage on its head: certainly, it allows, Christians should keep one eye on heaven.

No real surprises about how popular all this is, though I was surprised to see Rick Warren listed as a major detractor to this doctrine.

In trying to be "balanced", the article ends up being vague and clouding the issue... and you end up left with the idea that there is no clarity in scripture on this topic and that the Church has not really addressed the issue clearly. Not true, even in my limited personal experience.

The crisis to me is singular: The view of God that is being propounded here is idolatory. In fact, on probing further it seems that the real God here is self. Maybe it's a reflection on a peculiarly American mindset that "I" is the beginning and end of all things.

Tozer warned his generation that the Church needed a high view of God--So much more urgent is this call today.
Some verses come to mind.

About Christ:
[Colossians 1:16]
For by 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.

From Paul:
[Acts: 20:22-24]
And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

Let's understand who God is as he has revealed himself to us, not as we want him to be, and tailor our lives and purpose in life to a right view of God.

Endless Heavenly Fun

2006-08-31T04:28:00.000-07:00

This site will humor my little peabrain for hours and hours. So many sound clips, so little time. From the site:

Here are 101 versions of the song that doesn't remain the same, depending on whether it's the the Australian music hall version, the Gilligan's Island version, the backwards version, the backwards splice-and-dice quarter note version, the glass harmonica version, the Doors version, the reggae version and on and on (all MP3s). Much of this came from former FMU DJ KBC's CD of the same name, which took much of it's content from this 1992 LP.

The reggae rendering is pretty fascinating actually (Elvis?!)... as is the Doors version... remarkable parody. And the Australian music hall one is plain funny. And DOLLY PARTON? What in the world.

How could you not visit? It's something to do about heaven.
Site Link

You HAVE to be kidding me!

2006-08-28T10:27:00.000-07:00

It seems to me I just posted about Mel Gibson only a few days ago, and called HIM nuts for his drunken ramblings. But Here's something that just takes the cake.

Now I am aware that there is a minority in India who are fascinated by Adolf Hitler, and idolize him as a great man - the niavete and idiocy of the entire thing has always made it seem ridiculous to me. This however, is a whole new level of ridiculous. Gotta admit, we Indians too can be pretty darn nuts.

Link: BBC NEWS | South Asia | Climb down by 'Hitler' restaurant