Month: May 2007

I was discussing matters with a friend tonight on how we treat different people groups. I started thinking then more about the scandal of Christ. I heard about a professor once at my old college who when asked about where Jesus would be if he came today replied, “He’d be in the old city during happy hour.”

I grew up in a society that was quite legalistic. Part of that is what led to intense depression when I was a teenager and which eventually got me into this field. I have since then become far more “scandalous” as some would say in my behavior. It is a practice of Christian liberty far greater than I had before.

Yet I thought that there are some people that today, I still sadly find myself looking down my nose at and sometimes thinking I’m much better than they are. There are some actions that I can still see people doing and just think “Well, if they’re Christians, they don’t take it seriously.” I’m still a work in progress.

Yet as I thought about this, I thought about the scandal that Christ would leave behind today.  If Christ dwelt among us today, I am sure he would be absolutely shocking to the huge majority of us Christians. It is doubtful that many of us would recognize him if we saw the way he acted.

Why shouldn’t we be surprised? If you told a first-century Jew that YHWH was dwelling in their midst as a human, if he even accepted your claim, it is not likely that he would think that YHWH would be dining with prostitutes and tax collectors. Obviously, YHWH would be with the most holy among the people.

It must be said that when Christ dwelt among the people, he was not approving the sins that they committed. Christ dining with a prostitute is not an endorsement of prostitution. However, Christ had a unique love for the person who was the prostitute without endorsing what she did.

Christ would rock our world today like he did the world of first century Palestine then. When God comes and dwells in your midst, there is no telling what might happen. The things you might rack yourself with guilt over, he might embrace laughingly and tell you that you’ve been worrying about nothing. The things you consider innocent he might condemn as wicked.

What’s the solution then to being on the right side? It is to learn to walk as Jesus walked. It is in learning to enjoy that which God enjoys and love that which he loves. It is in realizing that all that you value is ultimately to find its focal point in him. Why value your spouse? Because relationality and sexuality and creation of life are good things. Where are those found? They are found in the nature of God.

King Solomon prayed at the dedication of the temple, “Will God dwell among men?” He did, and the world was not ready. Today though, we are his body, and we are to walk as he did. Let’s be sure that we are.

I’m sure there were a lot of readers who watched the debate done with Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort last night. I was not one of them. I worked late and I didn’t really have much interest in this one. From what I’ve heard, it was probably a good thing I did miss it. If I can, I will try to track down the questions posed and answer them here. From what I understand though, this was one of the more popular ones.

There was a lady who complained about God being a megalomaniac who creates us to worship him and essentially, stroke his ego, and that she would rather burn in Hell before she would spend eternity with a God like that. How can anyone not see this as cruel and tyrannous?

My first response naturally is, “By what standard does she condemn this action?” I do realize though that beyond that, there are several Christian theists who might wonder about this question. Is God being a megalomaniac? Does he create us and say “Worship me or burn?” (For the record, while I believe in Hell, I do not subscribe to the fiery furnace view.)

The problem is that we view God as being exactly like ourselves too often. We think that it’s always wrong to want glory and honor. Is it though? Do we condemn a sports superstar who rightfully deserves the praise given? Don’t we have ceremonies in many areas and places honoring those who stand out above the rest?

Indeed, giving someone glory is not always a bad thing, especially if they deserve it. I also don’t think it’s wrong to seek honor. In fact, Aquinas considered honor as one of the things that is the greatest good in life, the sunnum bonum. He rejected it ultimately, but he did consider it and he did say it is a good thing. Would it be better to say “I really want to be hated in my field someday!”

However, what if we reversed things? What if we realized that God doesn’t do this for his benefit because he has all already. How can he be bettered? What can I give God that will make him better than he was? It is imperative to realize this grace of God in that we come to him and give him nothing and he gives us everything.

Man was made to glorify God for man was made to reflect God and in reflecting God not only do we glorify him, but we become more ourselves as well. Humble yourself before the Lord and he will lift you up. Whoever humbles himself, will be exalted. Rest assured, if you exalt yourself, you will be humbled. If both come either way, it is best to choose the former.

God is not bettered by our worship. The Trinity lived in happy and loving unity long before we ever came along. Instead, it is we who are benefited. By worshiping, we become more human than we were before and we become more that which reflects his nature. It is the due glory that we give God as well. It’s what he deserves simply because of who he is.

So no, it is not megalomaniacal, which cannot be condemned anyway in moral relativism. It is a just response from a creature who realizes the truth. If the truth is that God created us and loves us and we are bettered for exalting him, then let us exalt him. If it is the truth, we should believe it, regardless of rather or not we like it.

Unfortunately, many will probably be like this lady and say they would rather go to Hell. No doubt, some will. I can only pray that maybe for writing this, maybe one less person will go.

Sorry faithful readers, but the net wasn’t too kind last night and when I finished writing my blog, it just wouldn’t load. Thus, I’m here up early in the morning before leaving for work to write the blog. I see no reason at the moment why there won’t be a blog tonight though so let’s get back on schedule.

Yesterday at work, I see that there is a TV on with a minister speaking and I start paying close attention. Before too long, I see that he’s selling what he calls “Blood of Jesus Oil” along with a packet of 100 emergency Scripture passages. An example was used of a girl who was said to be demon-possessed (Although the only evidence I saw was that she felt like she was) and how the oil delivered her. I was thinking she only traded one magic for another kind.

Of course, the gospel is not magic. However, to use an item like that and expect the supernatural must respond is. In many ways, it seems like Scripture has then become a spell book of sorts. You’re not feeling happy today? Quote passage X of the Scriptures and watch your troubles flee. Counselors know better. A lot of Christians have been hurt by well meaning others who just say “Go read your Bible and pray.”

Another account came later of a man who was said to have been blind and then at the age of 75, he now has his driver’s license. I’m skeptical of this one as well, but let us get to the main point. Let’s suppose for the sake of argument that this is really a miracle and he has been healed by supernatural power.

So what?

Some people are shocked that I’d say that. I’m thankful it’d give evidence of the supernatural, but I don’t see any reason to heed such an event. If I’m looking at a ministry that is claiming miracles, I think it’s best to look at what they teach first. Does it match that which I find in Scripture?

Scripture warns me enough times to be on the lookout for those who perform miracles but are not in the truth. Christ warns us to be on the look out for false signs and false Christs. He also tells us that many will claim to have done miracles and wonders but in the end, they never knew him. Naturally, I can’t speak for the salvation of anyone in the account I saw, but it is a warning to consider.

Miracles are not the sign that God is working. He can work through miracles, but they are not the proof. What is the best sign of God working? Simple. It’s Christlikeness. When the church gets to where it starts walking and living more like Christ, then we can be sure that God is working.

Our enemy is said to be able to produce false signs and wonders. There is one thing though that he cannot produce. He cannot produce saints. When Christians start being the saints that they already are, then we can be sure that it is God working in their lives. It is not miracles that will impress the world to the degree of faith. It is walking as Jesus did. Those who followed the miracles of Christ left when it got hard. Those who followed him stayed.

So do I need to go out and buy some oil that’s mass-produced in a factory somewhere and given a spiritual name to sell? No. Neither do you. You and I have the Scriptures and the example of Christ and the fellowship of one another. This is all we need in order to start our goal of Christlikeness.

I’ll take that over miracle oil any day.

It’s been my day off, so my day starts off with being on my computer and since I like gameshows, I watch The Price Is Right and I usually watch Montel before that. Lo and behold, today on Montel they have a couple on there that is a playboy couple. They both have affairs outside of their relationship. (I say relationship. They’re not married yet.)

Someone in the audience decides to speak. I admire this guy’s passion, but he needs zeal according to knowledge. He immediately starts off by telling them that they’re living in sin and the Bible says that the soul that sins it will die. Yes. I agree with the message. However, I think most in the world today cast aside that message.

The guy in the relationship on stage responded though saying he was a Catholic and gave two passages with Jesus speaking telling where they were located. (Conveniently he leaves out those passages about sexual immorality.) I heard the remark of “I have a relationship with the Lord, and I’m glad you’re not his spokesperson.” (Apparently, this man was claiming a correct interpretation though to know the other man’s was wrong. I look back and note he never denied it was sin. It was simply, “Don’t judge.”)

Later today, I stop at a gas station to get gas. I’m paying and I put my book on the counter that I have with me. It’s J. Budziszewski’s work “Written on the Heart: The Case For Natural Law.” The girl at the counter asks me if that’s interesting. I tell her that it is and I decide to toss something out to see how far it will go and say “It’s about how man has some basic ideas of morality and how some things are absolutely right and some things are absolutely wrong and we all know it.”

She smiles and tells me that that’s true. Really good sign I think. So I say “It’s amazing how many people deny that though. I’ve had some people tell me that we can’t really call the VTech shootings evil for instance. They just didn’t like them.” I get the response then of “Yeah. We can’t really judge that though. That belongs to one person.”

I’m stunned. I want to scream and wonder if this lady recognizes the contradiction. If some things are absolutely right and some absolutely wrong and we know that, then surely we can have some distinctions. If what happened at VTech wasn’t evil, then could someone please tell me what is?

I got in my car with my friend and told him my lament. We in America have lost the idea of judgment. Tolerance has become the main virtue. The F word has been replaced to be Fundy and the S word has been replaced to be Sin. The only crime today is to not be tolerant. The only judging that is allowable is that of judging judgmentalism.

We have a right to judge, and we need to get back to that judging. Now I can’t judge some things such as motives of people unless I know them, but I can sure judge their actions. I can judge that what the VTech shooter did was evil. I can judge that a mother taking care of her child instead of aborting it is right.

If we can’t make these simple moral decisions, is it any wonder that our world today exists in such moral chaos? Is it any wonder we fudge on abortion and homosexuality and other issues? Is it any wonder that we become a people who live only by feelings and seeking the next best feeling?

This girl I spoke to was a theist seeing as she says judgment belonged to one person. But what is God judging? He’s judging good and he’s judging evil. If he is judging such, then they must exist. If they exist, then is there any reason we cannot know what they are? Especially since he tells us to pursue one and shun the other, surely he expects us to know the difference.

What do I say? Pray first. We need to pray the prayer of boldness that we will be willing to act and to speak. Act. That’s the second thing. We need to act. John 3:16 used to be the most quoted Bible verse. Today, it’s “Judge not.” We have switched from the love of God being the gospel to “Be nice to one another and don’t hurt their feelings” being the gospel.

It’s a disgrace to the gospel and it’s a disgrace to our neighbor. It is neither loving God nor our neighbor and it needs to be changed.

I was discussing with some co-workers today matters of theology and specifically Christology. We were discussing the response to Christ and someone said that the Jews tend to see Jesus as a good person. A lot of them do, but I pointed out that the Talmud was not too keen on Jesus and there are even writings I recall of seeing pieces of where Jesus burns in Hell in excrement.

I thought about what I had just said then. Of course, I disagree with it, but I also thought “That’s a very real response though.” I thought about how we might not be taking Jesus seriously in his claims and recalled the trilemma of C.S. Lewis. A good man would not go around claiming to be God.

It seems we have gone a long way when Jesus’s words no longer shock us. As Lewis reminds us, they were the most shocking words ever uttered by human lips, yet on the lips of Jesus, they seem appropriate. Of course, his opponents didn’t think so, but there were several who did.

Who is the one who really responds to Jesus then? Well, the proper response of course is to fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but I actually think a closer response today is to revile him as wicked and evil. I think such people are closer to the truth than the ones who merely see him as a good man. The latter ones do not even understand his claims so they do not understand him. The former at least understand the claims. They just disagree. It is simply a matter of changing the position on the claims.

To see him as a good man is to easily dismiss all that he said. It is to make Jesus being merely one who teaches us that we ought to love one another. The Pharisees and Sadducees knew better. None of them walked around saying “This Jesus is a wicked and evil soul, but I sure love his ethics!” Or “He is insane, but he has such a loving attitude!”

No. We cannot agree with how they handled it, but let us be sure of one thing, they took him seriously. It is a shame that we in the modern church do not do such. We hardly stop to think “Wait a second! This guy claimed to be God! What does that mean?” The truth of the earthquake of the gospel should still send us aftershocks and I think a good question to ask would be “Why doesn’t it?”

Indeed, it’s time we read the gospels and looked serious at what was said. The most amazing event ever happened. God came down. However, today, we treat it as if it’s a nice bedtime story. Sure. Read it to your kids at night and tell them the truth, but never think this is just kid stuff. This is stuff that is meant to change everything.

And if it doesn’t change everything for you, then something’s wrong.

I was in a debate tonight and we got to the topic of morality. Why does God allow X? What about the morality of such and such a situation? I think these are interesting debates, but I would encourage someone to go along one path when in this debate because it’s easy to discuss secondary issues before primary ones.

When discussing morality, it is often easy to talk past your opponent. I believe the first thing to settle is your opponent’s view of morality. You simply ask by what standard you differentiate between good and evil. This gets us to the first level of the topic and once that gets settled, you can discuss the secondary issues.

In fact, this is a great way to deflate a lot of atheistic arguments as I have yet to see an objective standard of morality in atheism. They may have a system of ethics, but I see no reason why I should follow such a system. It is best to take it back to the bare bones before discussing the OT slaughters and such.

I’ve written little tonight, but I was a bit inconvenienced tonight and just wanted to leave a quick apologetics tip. I hope to write more tomorrow night.

After talking to a friend last night, I went to bed with a lot to think about. I thought about how I want only the blessings of God. (Or should at least.) I thought about how the world can offer so much. For instance, if I wanted to and I mean really wanted to, I could go out on the streets tonight and lose my virginity.

I thought then about living in the path God has set for us. This is the way. Walk ye in it. Do not move either to the right or to the left. That’s so hard for us. We find it hard to trust God. He says that when we walk through the waters, they will not sweep over us, and when we walk through the fires, they will not burn us. It’s easy to say when you’re not suffering, but when you are, that’s a hard promise to believe.

So last night, I went to bed with this prayer. It’s not exact, but this is generally what I prayed.

I would rather have misery with God than happiness with Satan.

I would rather have poverty with God than wealth with evil.

I would rather be alone with God than in the company of several beautiful ladies in darkness.

I would rather be a fool with God than a genius apart from him.

I would rather agonize with Christ than thrive without him.

This makes me think about the temptation. All that Christ was tempted with were really good things, but he refused them. Why? He had to stay on the path. What does he do? He calls me to walk in that same path. He calls me to take his hand and go with him in trust. I am not to seek the easy way out. I am to walk.

I am to see life as it truly is. As the hymn says “This is my Father’s world.” If it is his world, why should I fear? I can either have the fear of the Lord or the fear of the world, and it would be better to have the fear of the Lord, for the Lord is greater than the world that he created.

Am I against the good things? Not at all! God created all things richly for our enjoyment as 1 Tim. 6:17 says. However, I would rather not have them and have God than have all of them and not have God. What does it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his soul?

Thus, I continue my goal to seek him more. Seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness. He then gives me the blessing that all of these things will be added to me. God knows what I need and he knows what I want. Why not simply trust him with those by walking in the path that he has prescribed?

There’s no better place to be after all.

I was going to write on something else tonight, I developed a headache as the night went on and I really don’t want to do a lot of research at this point, so I’m writing on another topic. It came to me as I was listening to a modern scholar audio series on my car on the way home. (For the record, Modern Scholar is awesome and I find my drives have been far more constructive since listening to them.)

I’ve been listening to one called “He said/She said” and it’s on the way men and women tend to communicate differently. I find the topic fascinating and as an example, the professor used a scene from a documentary on the Loud family. Now I wasn’t around when this documentary was shot and I’ve never seen it, but I’m sure several have. It was just your typical family where they filmed their daily lives and made a story out of it.

I listened and I was intrigued and then realized that I was being intrigued by a simple conversation. This conversation was no different than one that might happen in many other househoulds. In fact, it might have happened in yours. However, I was an outsider looking in this time and got to see it from a new experience.

I thought about that and wondered about the shows we see on TV today. How many of our lives at home and at work could be turned into a sitcom if we wanted because real life itself is funny and we say and do amusing things? Your situations may not be exactly the same as those on a sitcom, but surely some similarities can be found.

Smallville is my show to watch. Now our lives most likely don’t involve supervillains and saving the world and stopping bad guys in town, but do our lives not have drama? Do we not have cliffhangers be they a doctor’s note or a possible job loss or a financial burden? Maybe from time to time, we do deal with a villain also be it a physical threat or maybe someone who is just insulting to us.

Perchance if we could see our lives from that perspective, we might see what is interesting and exciting. No doubt, our lives aren’t going to be perfect here, but they can be interesting and exciting. In fact, if we are believers in Christ, we should see that life is the great adventure he’s placed us in and to live it is a gift.

So what if you could see that video tape? What if the cameras were rolling? You might change some bad habits and such. We all probably would. However, you might sit back some and laugh at yourself. You might think that maybe your life is more interesting than you thought it was.

Take this to the next level also. Imagine viewing your life in Heaven and this time, getting to see all the ways God was working and you didn’t even know it. Consider the book of Esther. God is never mentioned once, but is it a mere coincidence that the king was troubled by insomnia?

Friend. Your life is interesting. Why? God is in control, and God is an author who enjoys his work. Look for the good. Correct the bad, but enjoy the good as well.

When I was in church Sunday, my mind wandered some. It’s amazing where your mind can go to, but my mind went back several years to the original Ninja Turtles game on my computer. I remember playing that with friends and seeing this stage with the goal of rescuing Splinter and every time a message came from April O’Neil, she’d end it and say “You have my support.”

My friends and I in our youthful ignorance laughed at that. Yeah. We’re here risking our lives while April is back safe, but don’t worry. We have her support. That’s a real comfort. It doesn’t matter that we could die out here, but April just always wants to say that as if it makes a difference.

It was ignorance indeed.

I look to where I am now and I realize what a blessing it would be. I’ve mentioned before the joy I have in receiving an IM or a message from someone saying “You know, I really liked that thing that you said.” It means a lot more to know now that someone says they’re praying for me. I think of my single life and a friend who said “I’m going to start praying every night that God send you a great wife.”

We sometimes tell people we’re praying for them and then follow that with “It’s the least I can do.” Nonsense. It’s the most that we can do. Of course, this does not deny that we should act on our own. We should. However, prayer is incredibly important. I find this is an area I lack in my own life as well.

Someone once told me that what I do can often be a thankless job. In many ways, it can be, but then you get that message from someone and you realize it isn’t. Would that we all did that? I went out for ice cream Sunday night with my Sunday School director. We just had a great conversation about the church and the class. In the end, my emotional problems I’d been going through seemed to have evaporated. I phoned immediately when I got home just to thank him for the conversation.

Does your shepherd need that? How hard is it for any of us, myself included, to go to someone we appreciate and let them know that we do. I sometimes try to end conversations with friends by saying “Thanks for being a friend.” I don’t do it everyday so that it will seem trite, but I try to remember it and when I pray at night, I try to remember each of my friends I spoke to during the day and ask God to bless them.

April O’Neil. You were right back then. It’s a shame that in our youthful ignorance, my friends and I missed it. Today, I give my great thanks for it.

There are two things that has been said that man ought to know. Man ought to know God and man ought to know himself. A couple of nights ago I thought about that. What does it mean to know God? Have you ever stopped to ask the question, “Who are you Lord?” Who is this one that we say our prayers to?

I thought about how we are to know God. God is just so far out and transcendent. He is the distant one. He has revealed himself I agree in creation and in Scripture and in the moral law, yet if God is so transcendent, how is it that we can get to know him personally? (Astute theologians who are thinking one thing, please wait as I will bring that point out.)

So I thought about knowing something local. What else but myself? Then I thought, if God is too far out for me to know, I’m too close for me to know. How can I look at myself and know what it means to be a human? So much of myself I don’t understand. I can understand why a lot of people do what they do, but I have the hardest time figuring out why I do what I do.

This then brings me to that great revelation of the Christian faith that I did not mention earlier. That revelation of Christ. In Christ, we do have deity as it is. Christ shows us who God is by his nature. If you want to know what God is like, you look to Christ and you will see no contradiction.

However, he also shows us humanity. If you want to know what humanity is like, you look to Christ. Christ is the unity that brings together the deity and the humanity. In Christ, we get to see what both are look. The deity comes close to us so we can see deity as it is and know it, and the humanity comes away from us so we can see how we are meant to be.

This strikes me as the miracle of the incarnation. Athanasius once said that God became man so that man might become God. God took on the human nature so that man could take on divine nature. Readers of my blog know that this means that I believe that we are to fully reflect the nature of God.

By the incarnation, God came near. Islam has always had the problem of a God who is fully other. The Greek philosophers were just grasping in the dark trying to find God, despite them saying a lot of awesome things. We can’t blame them. They didn’t really have the greater light.

Even the Hebrews did not want God to come near. They told Moses that they wanted him to speak to God. If God spoke to them, they would surely die. Is it any shock that when they saw God with skin on, they didn’t expect him to act like he did. We really should look at the shock that God came and did not come to condemn the world but to save the world. Why would John tell us such unless it was to counter what we would naturally think? (We’ve become so familiar with the gospel that this seems outlandish to think otherwise.)

Look at the God they saw on the mountain and imagine their terror if they had heard, “That God will dwell among you one day.” It doesn’t change after Christ even in the NT? What does the writer of Hebrews say? Our God is a consuming fire. This view of God was still true despite the coming of Christ! That same Christ who came is a consuming fire who will shake the Heavens and the Earth.

Dare we not take this God lightly! This God does punish sin! Let’s not take this God in the exact opposite way though, for he does not punish sin because he enjoys punishing sin. He gets no pleasure out of the death of the wicked. He would rather heal us. We should take our sin seriously, but we should not take it more seriously than his grace.

And how do we know we can take that grace seriously? He showed us. He did what is not done in any other religion. He lived among us and suffered the most humiliating death of all on a cross. In doing so, he showed his love, but he also showed how humanity was to be in that we are meant to love one another. Of course, this does not deny the penal substitution of Christ for our sins.

Dear friend, when you pray, remember who you pray to. He may seem distant, but he is near. He is all around you. Not in a pantheistic sense, but in a sense of immanence. He is there all around you. This God came near. See him as he is.