Deeper Waters

I love the church. I just love it too much to leave it the way it is. I don’t think my church I attend is much different in this respect from a lot of other churches and that is what concerns me the most.

I thought about my Sunday School lesson today. We had a lesson on the battle of Jericho and on the sin of Achan. It was alright, but unfortunately, the main point stressed was obedience to the commandments of God.

Don’t get me wrong. We should be obedient to the commandments of God. However, when Joshua was being written, while that was part of the intention, I think the obedience to God was based on a much larger idea.

What did Jericho teach? It taught that God is in control. He was fulfilling his promises to Abraham. He was showing the new generation that he would be with them as they conquered the land. The sin of Achan shows that he is absolutely holy and that is to be treated seriously.

Our churches though seem to skip to application immediately of the text. The Scriptures are described as a revelation. A revelation of what? An ethical system. Ethics are good and the Bible teaches ethics, but you can find great ethics in the Greek philosophers and even in several secular humanist writings.

No. The Bible’s uniqueness is that it is a revelation of God. Thus, when we read the Bible, we should try to find something about God. We should come to see how he is revealing himself and then say “Based on that, how ought I to live my life?”

Yet is it any wonder I grew up seeing Christianity as simply a teaching on being good to your fellow man? I don’t remember hearing anything about what the doctrine of the Trinity was. In fact, I don’t hear Trinity sermons today at all.

How are we to live then? We are given commandments with nothing to base them on. God says not to have pre-marital sex. Why? Hmmm. I don’t know and I’m on this couch here with this girl and she’s really good-looking and I’m sweating bullets and I want this so badly……

If someone is in such a situation, then it could be that a few verses from Paul won’t stop the onslaught of hormones. We sadly know that our emotions can override our logical reasoning at times. Many of us have in some ways given in to lust, anger, pride, etc.

Christianity is more than ethics. Christianity is a belief about the whole of the universe. Maybe this is why we don’t live the Christian life. We’ve made it a set of rules instead of a whole way of seeing the world.

We are about more than fixing people. We are about truth. Yes. The church is to help you with your problems, but they are to be a bastion for truth also and to stand strong against the force of darkness.

I urge the church to fix itself. We need to get back to the teaching of truth and then to application. I do not believe we can hope to change the world if we do not return to the essential and orthodox doctrines of the faith.

When I had a friend up to stay with me recently, he bought a copy of a PS2 game called Bully. This was made by RockStar which is the same company that gave us the Grand Theft Auto games. I was a bit suspicious at first, but I found as he played this game and as I did some as well, that I quite enjoyed it.

Bully is the story of a young teenage boy named Jimmy Hopkins. At the start, one sees that he lives in a dysfunctional family where he can’t stand his step-dad and is pleased to say so. He is sent off to the school where the game takes place in order to be trasnformed from a punk kid to a fine and upstanding member of society.

<>The school is filled with several other toughs though and others that aren’t so tough as well as several lovely young ladies.  Jimmy is the newcomer on campus and as such, he’s the outsider. Several groups just want to beat him up and the ladies don’t want to give him the time of day. His goal is to become the big man on campus.

<>Along the way though, he does have to attend classes. I found many of these quite enjoyable, especially the English classes. He must work to earn money to buy the things that he needs and must help out fellow students at times.  All of this while still maintaining the school curfew. Like any action such as fighting, you get in trouble and if your trouble meter is active and a prefect finds you, you’ll be in trouble.

Not everything he does is commendable and the game can be crude at times, but I am still amazed by it. I find the simple adventures of school life taking on new meaning. Each good deed that Jimmy does is a mission and he must succeed at it. I found as I went on in the game that I did develop more empathy for the kid and I think I understood where he was coming from and saw how such a person could be transformed.

However, I also looked at my own life. Am I not on the same path? Am I not the one from the fallen family of man seeking to be transformed? Am I viewing my life as excitement despite a lot of the trials that go on? Am I pleased with my achievements as well like Jimmy is? Is there any adventure in my life.

I hope that there is, and I hope there is for you as well. Today, I suggest you open your eyes up to seeing the world as a place to explore in wonder.

I was getting ready to sign off last night when I saw something and decided I needed to talk to a friend. I IMed this friend to ask if everything was okay. While doing so, another friend I had told good night to IMed me to tell me to go on to bed, so I explained that someone else needed my help. I was told that I’d always be ready to defend the faith eh?

<> This one wasn’t defending really. This was affirming the truth we already know. I think we all need that. I need it. You need it. We all need to be reminded of the truth of the gospel. Martin Luther once said that he was just another beggar telling other beggars where he found bread.

I told this friend that this is my work. I got a surprised response to that since I don’t professionally work in that area. My answer is that ministry that I do is not just a thing you do from time to time. It’s not just something I do at church or on the internet. Ministry is a life.

I am always ready to minister at any time.  If someone needs a listening ear, I am there. If someone needs an answer, I am there. If someone is attacking the faith and needs to be stopped, I am there. This is the way it is. This is also the only way I would have it to be. I am simply doing what I can to change the world one soul at a time.

I sometimes think many of us have secret identities we carry around with us. I try to see my life as an adventure. Then I’ll see some evil taking place or someone in need of some comfort or some objection being raised against the faith and realize that it’s time to step up and fight.

Do I hope to enter a professional minstry position someday? Of course I do. However, until that day comes, I am still a fighter for this cause. I am still one who is always ready to give help. I was even thinking last night of all the situations in which I would give help if I had to. How far would I go?

I thought an example might one day be that I could be on my honeymoon with a beautiful lady. Now rest assured, we all know how couples want to spend it. We’d be in some city walking around and then wanting to head back to our room when something would happen and I’d realize someone was in need. As much as I know what I’d want then, I really hope I’d stop and say, “We can’t do nothing. This person needs our help.”

In Israel, from what I understand, the nation’s army can be ready for war in two hours. I believe we are in a far more important war and should be ready at any time. There are several casualties taking place. Listen to that person talking to you. They may be in a harder spot than you realize.

And friends, do remember that while I am glad to minister, there will be many times I need to be ministered to. There can be many nights when I think I have given of myself and need a recharge.  I would say this is true of anyone in ministry. Be thankful for these people and be there. You don’t know how much it means to be ministered to by someone when you are in ministry.

Ministry is, however, my life’s work. I may not be paid, but no matter where I am, I am to minister, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I’ve said in my blog that I have been going through Final Fantasy VI Advance. I had had a good conversation today and I felt energized as I went out into the world for my evening shopping.

A surprising fact struck me as I went into the grocery store. In Final Fantasy VI, when a new character is introduced that will be part of the party, you get a brief snippet poetically describing that character.

I thought about that seeing different people in the store. Maybe that girl standing at the counter watching the world go by will play a part. Maybe that father walking down the aisle with his son will play a part in my story. Maybe that lady in the cereal aisle has a role to play.

I thought about this as I thought about the adventure of life. Music played in my head the whole time of wandering towns in different games I’ve played picturing myself as part of an epic story that was taking place.

Indeed, that is what is going on. It may be a simple trip down the street, but adventure is taking place. When I checked out even, I looked at the name tags of the people ringing me up. These aren’t faceless individuals. These people have names. They have a story going on as well.

Now I only know my own story internally, but it is not separate from your story. Your story exists just as much as mine does. Our stories are all being connected. A great author is working on them.

With the rise of the internet, the author seems to be connecting more and more of us. Books connect me to authors all around the world that I could never meet in person. Across time as well I am connected with Plato and Boethius and Augustine and so many others.

Then I look on my life and wonder what difference I’ll make. I might seem like just a spot in the space-time continuum now, but if multiple spots of light unite, the whole world could be lit.

Go ahead. Live the adventure, and join with others. Let’s go on this journey together!

I don’t know for sure how it got to that point at work today, but before too long, we were talking about the way ideas are treated in the media and I started thinking about these situations I’ve heard about where people are reprimanded for speaking out against Islam.

I started thinking about this documentary of James Cameron’s on the “tomb of Jesus.” I wondered what would happen instead if he was coming out with a documentary on “The Dark Life of Mohammad” or something along those lines. Would he have any chance today?

Not at all! However, it’s just fine to say what you want against Christianity. (Keep in mind, these are the same people that are always pushing tolerance. The only thing not to be tolerated is Christianity.) Islam gets a free pass and we’re even encouraged to study Islam to see where they are coming from.

Please understand this. I have no problem with someone studying Islam. If someone is really seeking truth, by all means I invite them to check out the Qu’ran. I invite them to check out the Qu’ran if they are willing to give the Christian side equal hearing.

In fact, my point in this is not even about the truth claims of each religion. Let’s say for the sake of argument that Islam was even true and Christianity was false. Would that make the situation any different? No. Each side should still be given a hearing.

I’m not even against James Cameron’s presentation. In fact, I’m quite grateful for it. I think like the Da Vinci Code, this will be a good chance for people to stand up and speak about the real truth and study their history a little bit more. Anything that makes us ground ourselves in the faith a little bit more is a good thing. 

If James Cameron has a case, let him bring it forth and argue it. That’s not the concern. The concern is that one religion gets a free pass and the other one doesn’t. One religion you dare not criticize in the media, and the Christian religion is open game.

Friends. The marketplace needs to be a place where all ideas are discussed and investigated. Unfortunately, we are already stacking the deck in favor of at least one worldview and against one worldview specifically.

What to do? Simple. James Cameron isn’t afraid to stand up and speak his views. The Muslims aren’t afraid to stand up and say their views. Now it’s time Christians learn that same lesson as well.

I wrote a bit that was personal in my blog last night and I think I’d like to do the same again. Those who know me know that one thing I do deplore is the singles life and many who know me well say “Why is a guy like you single?” I would say the main answer is that I lack confidence.

So, I’m at work today and I notice an attractive young lady walking around. Immediately, I’m eager to find her. Unfortunately, I miss her and think that it was a sad loss and time to get back to work.

Before too long, she comes up to me and says “Do you have this movie in?” Where I work, we’ve kept them behind the counter so I smile and say “I think we do.” She smiles back. Yep. I’m definitely intrigued.

I go up to the counter and pull out a copy to see her smile again. Very attractive indeed. I ring up the order and she’s still smiling and I’m smiling and I’m looking into her eyes and for a moment I fear I glance away to check on something with the order. In reality though, I ponder it was more likely I was about to burst.

I get her receipt and I’m just still smiling and so is she as if she was holding me captive by her smile and forcing me to do what she was doing. I give her her receipt and she thanks me and heads out the door.

I noticed around that time that I was even sweating a little bit for it is rarely that something like that happens to me. I looked back and thought “Why didn’t you say anything at all? Ask her for her phone number or find out something about her? Anything?!”

Instead, I froze and for a long time, I was kicking myself and honestly, I still am in some ways. Before too long, I was letting this spill over into every other area of my life. Towards the end of the day after reading some, I was feeling a bit better. Still, it was there.

Why do I say this? I want you all to know that sometimes this will happen in ministry as well. There are times that I do get caught off guard and don’t know what to say immediately and only think of it later. (I’m comforted to know I’m not alone as Greg Koukl of STR has described such times as well.)

So what do you do? Listen to your momentary feelings? No. That will only be negative then and don’t be shocked that negative input gives negative results. Instead, I say use it as a chance to get determined. Next time, I’m gonna talk to the girl. Next time, I’ll know what to say to that question.

Any experience can be learned from and it’s best to learn as much as you can from each experience. It’s also good to learn from the experiences of other people. No one is going to bat 100 in any area. We’re all going to make mistakes from time to time.

The choice is ours though whether we will live in them or not.

I was talking to a friend last night and a theme seemed to come up on what’s going on inside. Now my friend on the outside seems to be an outstanding guy.

However, as we dialogued, I found a world of pain inside. It’s not the kind of thing I was expecting, yet I wondered why I should have been surprised.

You see, I am utterly stunned when people come to me and say “I’d like to thank you because the things you write and say are such a blessing and encouragement to me.” That kind of thing happens out of the blue and I’m always surprised by it.

I am one of those people who I am my own worst critic and these remarks come out of the blue, but they are most helpful when they come. I know the pain of my friend though and I know many of us do have a hidden world we wish others knew.

Listen to what Joy Williams sings about in her song “We” as she describes two different people.

She’s independent and beautiful
Wish I could be like her
She’s got the girls and the boys
So wrapped around her finger
Rumor is she’s some kind of dream
Nobody knows she cries herself to sleep

 And the second one is,

He’s on the top of the social scene
He’s stylish cool and clever
He’s got a cool attitude that screams
He’s got it all together

You’d think he’s addicted to himself
But he wishes he could be someone else

This isn’t just in Christian music. Listen to what Britney Spears says in her song “Lucky.” This is the chorus and one wonders if she’s describing herself.

She’s so lucky, she’s a star
But she cry, cry, cries in her lonely heart, thinking
If there’s nothing missing in my life
Then why do these tears come at night?

How many of us long for that though throughout the day? How many of us might during the day want to collapse and scream out, “Do you understand what is going on in my world?” Does this not fit with our common need that we all seem to want to be loved for who we are?

I have heard that Plato once said “Be kind, because everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.” I don’t recall reading that in Plato, but I do like that.

I know I sometimes wonder if people look at me and see a guy who has it all together and who isn’t dented by anything. If you think that, it’s not true. I know some might think I have a dynamic spiritual life where I just pray and manna falls down from Heaven and I see a thuosand insights every time I read the Bible. That’s not true either.

There are days that it seems the Heavens are distant and silent here. There are days that I do not believe myself capable of handling the challenges. There are days when I don’t really want to read the Scriptures and study and there are days when it seems my path has been lost entirely.

What do I do on those days? I keep fighting. What else is there to do? I just say this because chances are, you have those days also. Maybe we need to be more honest about those days. Maybe we need to let other people know we’re not invincible. If you cut us, we will bleed just as well.

We’re all in this together after all.

My friend who visited last week and I have a mutual friend who is a Xena fan. My first friend happens to enjoy the series and while we were at the used bookstore, he bought season 1 on DVD. I had never seen an episode so he said that before he left, I would need to see one episode. Heh. Why not? Thus, one night we sat down to watch one episode of Xena.

I honestly have no desire to get interested in another TV show at this point, but I could honestly understand why someone would enjoy watching Xena. I happen to enjoy a lot of action when I watch something. My father is more into Westerns, but if I can, I want to see the hand-to-hand action. I don’t mind melee weaponry of course and I like projectile weapons that really require skill. Anyone can shoot a gun, but I like to see a bow and arrow in action.

<> The action is definitely worth it along with the comic twists. I enjoyed seeing Xena jump on the men on horseback who were following her and silently dispatching them one by one until she got up to the leader. The final battle in this episode is incredible as well and I will leave it for the viewer to get to watch it.I grew up reading Greek mythology, so I was familiar with a lot of the references even if I had never seen the show before. I  recognized also the name of the hometown of Amphipolis. This is a city mentioned just once I believe in Scripture. Paul went there on one of his missionary journeys. This kind of talk in the series immediately made me feel at home with my interest in biblical studies and my interest in Greek history, particularly the philosophical thought.

<>I have been told that Xena is the story of redemption also and I can see that. I felt the pain of her going home to her mother and being told that her mother has no daughter. The one who comes home is an outcast and has no haven. True, you may be a warrior who can beat anyone that comes across your path, but what comfort is that to you if you wander the world alone?

While Xena wins the battle then, the greatest victory no doubt would be that she gets accepted at home again. Even though she hits the road again on the path of greater adventures, she does have a place that she can call home. In many ways, isn’t that what the story of redemption is?

Aren’t we all looking for a home? Aren’t we all looking for someone who will accept us as we are? Do we not all have as the episode is titled “Sins of the Past” that we would like to see forgotten? I seriously doubt anyone would disagree with that? Is there anyone who looks back on life and says “I am proud of everything I’ve done and if I had it to do again, I’d do it all again!”

Even as I write that, I look back on my life and see many mistakes and think that I would love to change them. I’m the kind of person also that many times I’ll recover another memory somehow that adds to the pile and I want to throw it all away. When I think about the so-called problem of evil, it is not the evil that happened to me that troubles me the most. It is the evil I’ve committed in the past that troubles me the most.

Xena’s story gives hope. What she did in the past isn’t explained entirely in the first episode, but it is told that it involved the death of several people as one man says he buried two sons because of Xena. How does it end though? Xena fights for those who will not accept her who are her own hometown even, and in the end she is welcomed back and her mother hugs her. What a powerful scene!

Xena overcomes her past. I don’t know how the series ends, but I know if the beginning is any indication, there is hope. However, this is a TV show and we must remember that we have something Xena doesn’t have. We have Christ. How much more can we look forward to the future with him?

One question that had been asked last night was on why we were here. I wanted to save that for tonight, because I believe there is so much to that that cannot easily be expressed in a paragraph or two. I wanted that to have its own writing. My answer was that we are here to worship and glorify God.

That is seen as egotistical, but that is a misunderstanding. God is to be worshipped not because he wants it but because he deserves it. It is not egotistical for a general in the army to expect to be saluted by his troops because since he has that rank, he deserves it. God deserves the worship not just for rank though, but for who he is, the most perfect being of all.

In fact, God is not the beneficiary in worship. It is we who are benefited. When we worship God, we are then acknowledging that he is who he is and in fact, we are who we are. We are realizing our place in the universe and reflecting his glory.  God is not diminished if we refuse to worship him. We are the ones who miss out though if we fail to live the way we were meant to.

Yet an interesting rejoinder came in. I work with another who is in ministry training and my friend last night said that this other said that we are here for more than worship. If it wasn’t so, there wouldn’t be other things that God put on Earth for us to do. I can understand how someone would think that, but I think it reflects a misunderstanding of what worship is.

<> We often think worship is what we do on a Sunday morning or evening when we go to the worship service. There are times reserved for that kind of worship, but worship is not an action performed at a specific time. Worship is a way of life. The way you live is making you to praise the things of God or to abhor them.

So does God give us several things to enjoy? Yes. That is an act of worship as well though. As I write this, I am enjoying a nice can of Sprite and I consider that an act of worship. My typing on this computer can be considered an act of worship as I try to live in service to him. A man working hard at his job and doing it well is doing an act of worship.

This includes other areas of your life as well. How you treat your family is an act of worship. A husband and wife celebrating their love intimately for the first time on their honeymoon is an act of worship. Admiring artwork and beauty in all of its forms is an act of worship. Learning the truth about Christ and all he’s done is worship.

This must be learned by us and even myself. All that we do is worship, or rather, is supposed to be. An act of sin can hardly be considered an act of worship. If we rest and trust in Christ instead of worrying about the things of this world, then we are worshipping him.

Just think about it. What could be more of a life of worship to God than just trust in him and what he has done and believing on his promises? Could this be why our anxiety with our problems vanishes when we are truly in worship? We are recognizing him for who he is at that point and we for who we are and we submit to him in joy and realize that we can trust his leadership.

I also think truth is quite essential to this. We can’t say worship is an emotional high. Worship is done in spirit and in truth. You have to know who you are worshipping. Of course, we cannot know him exhaustively, but what we know had better be known about the God who is there.

Thus, I conclude that my other ministerial friend is incorrect on this point, but it’s a tragic one to be incorrect on. Worship does not fit into life. Your life is to fit into worship.

I had a magical evening tonight. I find it so fascinating as I think about it while I now blog. When I first started, I honestly wondered if I’d come up with something every night. Now, I have too many things I want to write about and it’s getting them all in. Tonight though was such a night that I had to write about.

I had a co-worker come to me and suddenly start asking the hard questions. Now I don’t really see them as hard, but they are interesting questions. The questions along the lines of “Isn’t it egotistical for God to make us to worship him?”  “Are we really here to worship him?” “Why is there so much suffering in the world?” “Why do we all suffer because one person ate the fruit?”

<> An interesting point in this was the time I started talking about morality and someone else joined in. This was someone who actually said that if I took a live baby and cut it up for the fun of it, then I have done nothing wrong. I took the advice of Greg Koukl at this point and said “Get help.” I was later told Hitler did nothing wrong.

Yes friends. Moral relativism is out there and this is the fruit it is producing.

It is my prayer that my co-worker will really consider all that was said, but I thoroughly enjoyed it as we got to other topics later on of directed panspermia and such. Friends. This is also why apologetics is so important! You can’t just say “have faith and believe.” There are questions that NEED to be answered. Some people do have honest questions that are holding them back. The gospel is never meant to be ignorance of the facts. It is to fully accept all the facts.

What are you going to do when the co-worker has a hard question? Ignore it and tell him to just believe? No. He needs an answer. If you don’t have one, then be honest. A line of “That’s a good question and I really don’t know, but I’ll look it up and do some study and get back to you,” can go a long way. After that, do so, and be sure to return.

<> Friends. Souls are on the line. I know a lot of you may look up to me, but I’m not the only one fighting this battle. You’re fighting it as well. Be prepared.