Learning to See

"Winning" Patriots shirts -- World Vision delivers

2008-02-16T10:12:00.002-05:00

You know how they print those "2008 Super Bowl Winners - New England Patriots" shirts for the game, and then the Patriots lose? What happens to the shirts.

World Vision picks them up and delivers them to kids who need shirts.

More here.

God at Work in Turkey!

2008-02-13T22:19:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone,

I wanted to pass along an incredible article about what God is doing in Turkey. Turkey is pretty much entirely Muslim, but God is doing incredible things for the past 20 years. Lisa went on a short-term missions trip there in '94, and I went in '95, and have been praying for it since then, but honestly, haven't seen much detailed coverage of what's been happening since that time. But praise God! He has been working in wonderful ways, and the church's rate of growth is higher than I thought it would be. I often wondered if it would be "better" if Turkey was not as free, because sometimes where there is persecution, growth is more rapid (such as we hear about from inside Iran). I am ashamed to say that sometimes in praying for Turkey I felt like I was "tossing" prayers up in the air, with little to no hope. I know that discouragement caused me to lose heart and not pray as much. Often a lot of time would go by before I prayed for Turkey again.

But after reading this, I am really encouraged! Never give up in prayer! And keep praying!

It may interest you to know I've been to Besiktas Protestant Church (mentioned in this article), sitting in the smoky foyer while a Turkish brother and ministry worker met a new convert and gave him some very important follow-up. I also have met Carlos Madrigal, the Spanish missionary mentioned in the middle of the article. One of my Turkish friends mentioned that they thought his Turkish was either "as good as" or "even better" than some Turks'! (I can't remember which.) I think I might also have met Turgay, the guy mentioned throughout this article, and Lisa probably did too.

"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." (John 1:5, ESV)

Pray, pray, pray! A good day to pray for Muslim-majority countries is Friday, which is the day mosques have worship services.

Cedarville should have let Claiborne speak

2008-02-13T16:01:00.002-05:00

Cedarville University had invited Shane Claiborne (whose book we have been interacting with in this blog) to speak, but has now un-invited him, thanks to bloggers who think this is a sanctioning of liberal theology. The story's here. My question is: isn't Cedarville a university? Universities are supposed to feature speakers (and ideas!) from everywhere on the spectrum. Claiborne makes a good point in the article when he says that his critics should be talking to him directly and cites Matthew 18.

Blogging "The Irresistible Revolution" -- Chapter 2

2008-02-08T13:56:00.000-05:00

Continuing to put my thoughts down about this book, a book which has only begun to make its impact upon Generations X and Y -- (see the first parts below):

In Chapter 2, Shane Claiborne relates the story of St. Edward's cathedral in North Philadelphia. What happens here becomes the seminal moment for him, and apparently for other students at Eastern. The chapter is called "Resurrecting Church", and it may be more appropriate to say that it's about how the church became relevant... for him. I dont' say that disrespectfully, but rather acknowledging that there's a certain subjectivity to our relationship with God that is essentially related to what it is God is calling us to do (our vocation). Until we find that, we are restless, by design.

Here's what happens: homeless families (largely moms and children) have taken refuge in St. Edward's, an abandoned Catholic cathedral in North Philly. The archdiocese wants to evict the families. Claiborne and the rest of the student friends go to St. Ed's to see what they can do. Here's how he describes what happens next:

"Then they invited us in. And we would never be the same again... They poured out their hearts to us, their struggles and their dreams. They reminded us that we all need each other and assured us that if we all shared with one another, there would be enough for everyone." (page 57)

That last sentence essentially becomes The Message Claiborne has for us and for the world. To be fair, he understands that message to be subordinate to the lordship of Jesus Christ - that Jesus really is Lord, and that God reconciles people to Himself through Christ. But what comes next? What is the end result? Dependence on God and interdependence with one another. Indeed, this is the essence of Christian community. But were the homeless at St. Ed's first reconciled to God in Christ? We can perhaps assume so in that they have communion, hold services, identify as such... but assuming is dangerous. We must first be forgiven, and the Gospel is first and foremost one of "repentance and forgiveness of sins" (see the Great Commission as Luke, who focuses on Jesus' ministry to the poor, has it in Luke 24:46,47).

I agree that as Christians, we MUST identify with the poor, whether we have limited resources or not. How that happens will be different from Christian to Christian, and we'll talk about this later. But first we must be committed to making sure that all are reconciled to God through Christ. Then, yes, Christian action - building God's community - must come next.

What is the principle hallmark of that community? Love. Love for God and love for people. We cannot neglect either. "Love for God" starts with believing on His name, receiving Jesus (John 1:12) and worshipping Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).

Love for others must also happen, and let there be no doubt, LOVE is a verb. Put it into action! Intentions are useless; love in action counts (see 1 John 4). Sharing resources is one crucial aspect; is it pre-eminent though? That is perhaps the question of the book.

Claiborne and the other students then pool resources to share with the homeless families. Other resources come their way, even from the Mafia! Claiborne is disappointed that the mafia out-gives one wealthy congregation.

This is not the focus of this chapter, though, although it is important. The aspect of "love in action" that is the centerpiece of this chapter is the students' standing with the homeless in defying the archdiocese' eviction. This is civil disobedience in the name of social justice, in the name of Christ. Claiborne is honest in expressing some uncertainty, but ultimately is convinced that this is God's will:

"It felt like nothing could stop us, as if God really was on our side. I wasn't really sure how God felt about taking sides in difficult situations like this, but we had a real sense that even if we were being pursued by every department in the city, somehow the sea would split open and swallow them up (in the most loving way) in order to protect the families." (pages 61-62)

I'm inclined to agree, but we must always weigh our motives when we balance Acts 4 (our pattern for civil disobedience; Peter saying 'we must obey God rather than men') and Romans 13 (Paul: 'Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established'). What is going on? Where is God directing? Again, the New Testament gives broad principles but God's glory must be paramount.

Finally, Claiborne entitles this chapter "Resurrecting Church". Claiborne, upset that more Christians did not assist with the St. Edward's situation, and says:

"I think I've lost hope in the church," I confessed, brokenhearted, to a friend. I will never forget her response. "No, you haven't lost hope in the church. You may have lost hope in Christianity or Christendom or all the institutions, but you have not lost hope in the church. This {italics here} is the church." At that moment, we decided to stop complaining about the church we saw, and we set our hearts on becoming the church we dreamed of.
"We dreamed ancient visions of a church like the one in Acts, in which 'there were no needy persons among them' because everyone shared their possessions, not claiming anything as their own but 'sharing everything they had.' We knew we could end poverty. The early church did, and the homeless families were doing it. We thirsted for the kingdom of God, and we knew that it would come 'on earth as it is in heaven,' as Jesus said. We were not interested in a Christianity that offered these families only mansions and streets of gold in heaven when all they wanted was a bed for their kids now. And many Christians had an extra one."

That's rather unfair. It's true that the evangelical church has been unbalanced away from social action ever since the "social gospel"/fundamentalist controversies of 100 years ago. We are at the beginning of a move back toward balance. But it is very safe to say that the church has been at the forefront of social action and compassion ministries for a long time now. What this lament really reveals is Claiborne's lack of exposure (up to the St. Ed's situation) to Christian ministries of all stripe sacrificing for - AND living among -"the least of these". They are out there, there are many, and most are quiet. Granted, he will mention some of these later in the book.

One more thing: Acts is not about ending poverty. Disciples do form communities, and when those communities are Spirit-led, brothers and sisters share with each other. But their unity comes from a common purpose, and that purpose is to bring as many people into a relationship with Christ, experiencing His forgiveness, healing, and wonder-working power for living, and into a relationship with His community. Well, this is rough... but I'm feeling pressure to end this note. Needless to say, we'll revisit this in later chapters. Shane, I'm with you, I appreciate your love for the Lord and for people, and I continue to be reassured and challenged by your words. But the whole picture of what Christ's community is to be in the world, what it is to be about, may be a point of small but important differences between us. Matthew 5:14-16 IS true, amen.

Let us not conflate our mission with politics!

2008-01-14T23:30:00.000-05:00

Of course, I'm not the only one saying this, but I still find it necessary to be clear about this. I've been saying this here and there, but I'm not very articulate. I found an excellent article at USA Today (via Yahoo!) from David Gushee that articulates it much better than I could.

It's worth a read as a thoughtful, gentle note of warning.

The effect of a Mormon president on the Gospel's spread

2007-12-07T10:38:00.000-05:00

This blog deliberately stays away from politics, and we will continue to avoid public policy questions on this forum. This blog is concerned with issues of Christian faith, practice, and ethics (as well as the occasional "fun stuff"). However, one of the key directives Jesus gave us was to spread the Good News of the Kingdom (see Matthew 28:18-20, "The Great Commission"). As a Christian & Missionary Alliance church, the worldwide spread of the Gospel is a foremost concern.

Citizens of the United States are given the opportunity to popularly elect their leaders. Christians who are citizens can spend a whole lifetime reflecting on how to participate in this system. We must face a constant temptation to let politics become a distraction that robs of us our energy to love God, others, and witness. As we know, too many Christian leaders and people give in to the "siren song" of political involvement, and get way over their heads. But as someone else once said (I forget who): "When you mix faith and politics, you get politics."

So I don't want to discuss politics or policies. I want to discuss a practical implication of a vote for one of the particular candidates for this election.

Former Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate Mitt Romney is a Mormon, and a devout one who served his 2 years in missionary service as a young man and remains committed to the tenets of his sect. I realize that he gave a speech yesterday in which he said he will not be dictated to by church leaders as president. Again, I do not want to discuss policies or heirarchy. But we must consider Mormonism against the true Christian faith and the spread of the Gospel.

Mormonism is by no measure 'historic Christianity'; actually, it is quite demonstrably an invented religion that sets its own bogus writings alongside those of the Old and New Testament. Its founder, Joseph Smith, was a dynamic and forceful leader who developed a toxic cult of personality around himself. Women who caught his attention became his wives, even if they originally were married to others. Mormonism is rather conservative and orderly now; originally, it was birthed in lies, pride, lust, and violence. It is a cult that now looks respectable, but still teaches heresy regarding Jesus Christ and the idea that you too can become a God. All of this is easily demonstrable from history(I'm just not putting the links here now because I'm lazy).

I only want to speak from a pragmatic standpoint, I don't want to say anything about the personal faith, character, record, or policy ideas of Mitt Romney. They may all be fine; he could be the next Abraham Lincoln or Teddy Roosevelt as far as those are concerned. My huge concern here is pragmatic - the worldwide spread of the Gospel.

Mormons are incredibly energetic when it comes to spreading their false Christianity. They are all over the world, they are sincere, and they are financially well-supported. They are listened to - because they pose as Christians. Of course, once they have a foot in the door, they then subvert true Christianity and sell their false Christ to those with very little knowledge of the true Jesus. I have heard anecdotes of how they have entered countries, gone to churches that Christian missionaries have started, and then subvert that young indigenous church with their beliefs and practices. Mormonism in Denmark is a sad story I encourage Christians to be aware of.

Now imagine the impact our misled Mormon friends will have in unreached countries in 2009 when they start talking to an Indonesian, a Tajik, a Bengali, and say, "Do you want to know more about our faith? Did you know that the American president is a member of our church?"

Consider the pragmatic implications of electing a Mormon president. Like it or not, if Romney becomes president, the Mormon cult will gain legitimacy in the eyes of many who have not heard of Jesus worldwide, and many may be tragically misled.

Let's pray for God to bring Mormons into the right understanding of God's love as revealed in Jesus Christ, and that salvation comes through faith in Him alone.

Blogging the "Irresistible Revolution": Chapter 1, "When Christianity Was Still Safe"

2007-11-28T21:44:00.000-05:00

Continuing my series responding to Shane Claiborne's The Irresistible Revolution...

Chapter 1 chronicles Claiborne's personal discovery of Jesus at work -from jaded Southern Methodist teen to Christian college student experiencing God in the streets of Philly. This arc involves some significant 'awakenings' or turning points for Claiborne, and also sheds some light on his personality as well.

Claiborne first narrates his early teen conversion experience, which is similar to the experience of many. However, he notes that "I came to realize that preachers were telling me to lay my life at the foot fo the cross and weren't giving me anything to pick up." Unfortunately, for him as well as many, after conversion, nobody offered the young convert the path of the spiritual disciplines - just do's and don'ts. Nobody explained that communing with God and becoming like Jesus takes training and mentorship, at least not apparently.

So, then Claiborne, like all to many Christians experienced what he calls (rightly) "spiritual bulimia" - gorging on Christian material then regurgitating it all back up but not really experiencing the truths in redemptive living. His point is well-taken here, and often made these days - the Christian life is not about inputting, or even absorbing, information. It's about LIVING the life of faith in Jesus. Claiborne gets jaded - until he meets the charismatics.

He calls this the "Jesus Freak" period, and it's a turn for the better, but unfortunately, going deeper into the faith in this context meant that he became a salesman-style evangelist (eh, not so good) and a stauncher Republican partisan (not good). He says, "Sometimes when we evangelized, I felt like I was selling Jesus like a used-car salesman, like people's salvation depended on how well I articulated thaings. And that's a lot of pressure... But I wasn't sure I was selling them the real thing." Well, no, the Gospel is so much more. It is not only the individual receiving forgiveness of sins, it's transformation with societal impact, it must result in a community of God living out His love. Claiborne's book rests on this (or a similar) premise; we can agree on this. But it still does start with awareness of sin, repentance, and trust in Jesus - remember what Jesus' first words (called the Gospel) in Mark are: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe..." (Mark 1:15, ESV). My question to Claiborne is this: can we agree that it does start there? (Or rather with God's initative - Rom. 5:8.)

Claiborne goes to Eastern College and, getting involved with everything, finds that he is experiecning the reality of God's love and power among the homeless and destitute of Philadelphia. His point (or rather his professor's point) that we don't experience miracles because "we no longer live with such reckless faith that we need them" is well-taken, and a good word to anyone who wants to follow Jesus. Finally, he sees humans giving grace to each other, even when they have little, and he understands Mother Teresa to be true when she says, "In the poor we meet Jesus in his most distressing disguises." The arc is essenitally complete; now Claiborne is truly awake (perhaps now truly "born again"?).

I think about two things: 1) Claiborne definitely is a 'cutting edge' guy... he's not just extremely smart but he also has a drive to be on the very edge. When he does something, he's "all in." I admire people who can live like that; I'm more cautious by nature. However, this tendency can manifest itself in a bit of "I'm the farthest the fastest": he had a drive to be cool, then to be successful financially, then to be a zealous soul-winner, and now he's driven to be radical, totally "on the edge". No doubt this drive is now tempered by wisdom, understanding, compassion, and humility -- that really is apparent as we keep reading. However, it puts me at a distance; I'm slower-paced by nature and have a hard time relating to "grab the bull by the horns" types (but with God's help, I can take the risks he' calling me to take, I hope).

2) The other thing I think about is this: what if Claiborne had grown up in central New Hampshire, like I did - in a climate where it was NOT cool to be a Christian and to go to church, where simply holding on to the faith could not be taken for granted? It's true that believing churches in such a climate tend to get insular, but it's still not necessarily "safe". How would that experience have shaped him? Granted, our churches still were not trained in disciple-making, but the Campus Cruade movement at UNH (my alma mater) was. Christianity was most certainly not safe there. My guess is he would have ended up in the same place, doing the same thing, but it might have taken longer, as us "Yankee" secular-environment Christians have to fight upstream a lot. (And he acknowledges us that we are different, that we mess with Southerner minds, but that maybe that's a good thing.)

Blogging "The Irresistible Revolution": Author's Note

2007-11-27T10:01:00.000-05:00

Claiborne announces his purpose simply and directly in his author's note, but first he says that writing a book was not easy given "the tension between living authentically small and evangelically large." This is a bit of a false dichotomy, as I think can be demonstrated later, but on his point I will say that living small is practically always the right choice. It is the apostles' counsel to Christians (1 Thess 4:11), and I think God only calls a very few to a life and ministry of notoriety (of the apostles, only Peter, John, Paul, and James had any fame).

He then says that that his point "is not to give you all of the answers but to stir up some of the right questions." We will see if he is more inquisitive or provocative rather than didactic. He states his goal "is to speak the truth in love." From what I've read so far, the tone is irenic (with a side of sardonic). He makes some other important notes but closes his note by noting that he's giving away all of the proceeds from the book "as the only thing that makes sense to me." Given some of what I've read later in the book, I am positive he is telling the truth. He says he mentions this "for the sake of transparency." He then says, "This book has emerged from a movement of communities of faith and struggle, inspired by local revolutions and ordinary radicals, anchored in life among the poor and marginalized. So it is not only a responsibility but a joy and honor to share the profits with all of them." The first sentence is particularly valuable; it provides the context of the book.

Let us carry on then with the book, and hopefully I will be regular in posting.

Blogging "The Irresistible Revolution"

2007-11-16T22:49:00.000-05:00

In September, I was at the Royal Oak public library and seemingly randomly picked up and checked out The Irresistible Revolution, by Shane Claiborne, who's 2 years younger than me. I hadn't heard of the book before, but have seen its impact on others since, which always makes one start to realize something's happening.

And something is happening. Claiborne's book throws down the gauntlet for young evangelicals to... well, I'm only about four chapters in, so I can't put it concisely yet. But what I aim to do here is look at it - in community. This book is impacting our generation and it's wise for us Alliance folk to interact with it. If you already have and have written about it somewhere, let me know. My aim is to listen to Claiborne, interact, and you can jump in or follow along as you like.

One more thing: I am sympathetic to a major concern of his- living as neighbors with "the least of these". Lisa and I got involved with an inner-city church in a diverse and struggling neighborhood of Chicago, moved into the area, and started a family there. We knew we needed to be neighbors in order to serve. I can't say enough about the heart for the lost and the needy Pastor Jim and Sharon Larkin have; we had (and I'm sure they're still doing this without us) a soup kitchen ministry every Sunday night, and still felt like we needed to do more. We worked teaching Enlgish to refugees and immigrants, doing what we could to help peoples' material needs and sharing the Jesus story along the way. Life was busy but not complete struggleville compared to many of our friends there. 5.5 years in the city, and we still just felt like we scratched the surface, and really, that's all we did. My living and giving wasn't as extensive or as sacrificial as Claiborne's, I'm sure. And Albany Park isn't as 'urban abandoned' as Kensington, Philly sounds. So let's just say I can visualize the context and can empathize with at least a little bit of experience. So that's where I'm coming from.

I'd like to go chapter-by-chapter. Author's note and Chapter 1 either tomorrow or Sunday, God willing.

2nd Vision - English congregation; Chinese church

2007-09-06T12:51:00.000-04:00

What is 2nd Vision?

2nd Vision is Metro Detroit Chinese Alliance Church's English-language congregation. As the English-speaking gathering of a Chinese church, we have an Asian-American context but seek to be used by God to make disciples of Jesus from all nations. We are called 2nd Vision, because when God transforms a human life, he gives the new follower of Jesus a new vision, a "second vision", away from self and onto Jesus, the Holy One of God, and our only True Hope.

"They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, 'Do you see anything?' He looked up and said, 'I see people; they look like trees walking around.' Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly." (Mark 8:22-25, NIV)

Please pray for us as we ask God to help us clarify and focus on making disciples, and as we revise our vision statement to better express what God has placed us here to do.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

2007-08-25T11:10:00.000-04:00

Ted Haggard is back in the news again.

(Associated Press) COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The Rev. Ted Haggard, who left the megachurch he founded after admitting to "sexual immorality," has asked supporters for financial assistance while he and his wife pursue their studies.
...
"It looks as though it will take two years for us to have adequate earning power again, so we are looking for people who will help us monthly for two years," the e-mail said. "During that time we will continue as full-time students, and then, when I graduate, we won't need outside support any longer."
Haggard left the 10,000-member New Life Church late last year and resigned as head of the National Association of Evangelicals after a former male escort accused Haggard of paying him for sex.
Mike Ware, an overseer for New Life Church, told The Gazette of Colorado Springs on Friday that it was premature of Haggard to release the statement without first consulting the overseers.
Haggard received a salary of $115,000 for the 10 months he worked in 2006 and an $85,000 anniversary bonus before the scandal broke, The Gazette reported. Haggard's severance package included a year's salary of $138,000, and he collects royalties on his book titles, the newspaper reported.
El Paso County records show Haggard's home, which has been up for sale, has a market value of $715,051.

I have no words. I know what Galatians 6:1 says, but I also know what 1 Corinthians 9:27 says. I admit I'm not privy to New Life's discipline and restoration process, and it sounds like Ted Haggard isn't exactly respecting that process, but how can he ask brothers and sisters for money at all, especially so soon after the mess? Isn't it obvious how the world will see this? Where is the glory for Jesus?

Men of my generation ('65-'82)... how many are we losing to addictive PC games?

2007-08-23T16:04:00.000-04:00

I came across this article, which struck me as one of the saddest commentaries on North American life that I've seen in a long time. Of course, I feel terrible for the "gamer widows" themselves... they're being cheated out of the meaningful family life that God intended for them. The husbands are depriving themselves too, but can't see it. I can't help but think: How many Generation X (and Y) men are we losing to online, multi-player games such as "World of Warcraft"?

As people who want to see God's zone of authority expand through all of society and over the whole earth, we need to look at our generation and find ways to address this. How many men are essentially "out of commission" in our churches and communities because of this? Sure, let's acknowledge that the games' fantastic realms are a tribute to imagination. We also must understand a man's need for adventure. But I suggest we confront it for the horrible waste that it is. Ultimately there is no impact!

Ten years ago, I was taking a "year off" from graduate studies and started playing Sid Meier's Civilization 2. Engrossing game. Although I didn't play it when Lisa was home, I regret the 2 hours or so I used to play it after getting home from work, before she got home. I quit after a few months when my friend Ken Cleaver (now a prof at Liberty University) once told me he avoided PC games as a "waste of time" (he put it directly, but softly and gently in the spirit of Christ, what a great guy), and I knew that it was. I wasn't an addict on the level of the guys in the article, but I still regret the ultimate loss of that time.

I know that there are teen ministries that use Halo and the like to bond with their students... I recognize that, I'm sure in many contexts, that's fine with careful judgment. But let's be vigilant against any addiction other than addiction to Jesus (thanks Brennan Manning). Guys in their 20s and 30s need to be in the real world, though (again, unless you're using it as a ministry tool and EVEN THEN I'd say severely limit your time with this).

Spirit, enable us to show the men of our generation that there is no greater adventure than fighting for God's Kingdom! Let our own lives sing it!

Hey Rob, What's Cooking?

2007-08-09T21:43:00.000-04:00

Well, that picture is from last year at the Oasis 4th of July picnic down in Westland. That's kafta we're grilling, and I was basically serving as Haytham's apprentice on that day.

But this summer is my time to get some grill skills and the kdis got me a great "How To Grill" book, so I've been learning my craft with charcoal. Tonight was sausages over a low fire, with some fine sauerkraut that Pastor Daivd brought back from Germany. A little celery salt on top... YUM YUM!

Fantastic Video on Loving Muslims into the Kingdom

2007-08-03T11:18:00.000-04:00

I'm not a guy who always puts up a YouTube video that "you just have to watch this!" But this is an inspiring, moving, concise explanation and appeal to American Christians on understanding and loving Muslims, by Ergun Caner, ex-Muslim: here.

Understanding Iraq

2007-07-07T10:57:00.000-04:00

I get the feeling most people are confused by the situation in Iraq - what is the fighting about, why do we hear about Iran, is it all just a hopeless internal conflict within Islam?

Well, I just found a great 5-10 minute interactive presentation on MSNBC by Richard Engel. What is great is he gives you the historical and larger political perspective (and this is largely a political conflict).

This also helps explain why you saw big demonstrations in Dearborn SUPPORTING the invasion... the huge majority of the Iraqis (as well as the Lebanese) in Dearborn are Shi'ites. Pray for us as we seek to be God's hands of love to them.

A soundtrack of three symphonies...

2007-06-01T21:24:00.000-04:00

Besides the usual mixture of Delirious?, Third Day, Vigilantes Of Love, Bruce Cockburn, and Anouar Brahem, I've been playing a lot of classical recently. I've been a fan of the genre for about 20 years and like a lot of stuff all over the spectrum, but I guess I gravitate towards the early 20th century stuff. Here's the three I've been listening to (click the link for more info on each - gotta love Wikipedia), usually as I work on the computer or do dishes. Sometimes when I fast, I also fast from music, as a good piece or album feels like a feast to me, and "going without" helps me focus on Him. But on those occasions when I can enjoy, this is what I'm listening to now:

Vaughan Williams' Pastoral Sympony (No. 3). This symphony is gorgeous, rich with broad melodies, and it's both calm and intensely brooding. Many have noted that it's something of a requiem to the Allied soldiers who died in World War I and it is quite evocative of rolling green hills marked with white crosses. I'm listening to the Bernard Haitink/London Philharmonic version; sounds great.

Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 6. Quite different from the Pastoral Symphony. The first movement is aggressive, energetic, and later quite stirring. The second movement shifts keys and is immediately disturbing, plodding, and warlike. It is very reminiscent of "Mars" from Holst's "The Planets" suite. The third movement is fast, chaotic, and at times evocative of decadence. Then everything quiets down into a fourth movement that is super-soft all the way through. There are hints of structure, but it's like looking at ruins. A great city was here, but everyone is gone. Are there ghosts here? Bernard Haitink/LPO again.

Shostakovich's Symphony No. 8. Many feel that this is Shostakovich's true view of either the Soviet system's effect on the populace, while the Soviet "official" version was that it was in memory to the fallen (particularly at Stalingrad). That the average Joe was put through an incredible amount of fear, strain, tragedy, and grief while working in the Soviet war machine during World War II is undeniable from this symphony. The first and last movements are ponderous, mostly quiet but at key times loud and shrill. Hope? What's that? The second movement is interesting but I can't find the words to describe it other than a scherzo. The third movement is an amazing, horrifying picture of the "war machine" at work, grinding its foes and its laborers into the ground. The fourth is a funeral song over a repeating bass line; moving. At the risk of seeming like a fan of just one guy, I've also been listening to Haitink conduct the Royal Concertgebouw. Are you interested in this? I also have Andre Previn conducting the London Symphony Orchestra in this work; drop me a comment with your address and I'll send it to you and it will be yours.

UPDATE on June 9, 9:20 AM:

Nobody seems interested, so I think I'm going to trade it away on lala.

What I Think About Evolution

2007-05-31T12:33:00.000-04:00

I'm not really a big fan of Kansas Senator Sam Brownback, but he has a small editorial piece in today's New York Times that captures perfectly the thoughtful Christian's perspective on evolution. You may have to register to the Times to read it, but it's free and it's a good read.

Augustine, a famous Christian thinker of 1500 years ago, once said "Credo ut intelligum" (I believe so I can understand). Brownback uses that principle to highlight the relationship between faith and reason. Basically, both work together to lead us to Truth. His comment that faith "seeks to purify reason so that we might be able to see more clearly, not less," is right on the money.

Brownback doesn't go into detail about what he precisely believes. This is appropriate, and he would probably tell you (as I would, too) that I don't know for certain and that I'm still learning. That is humility with regard to the mysteries of God. But he is careful to say about what kind of things we must take definite stands on. He is careful to say that he believes God created and sustains our natural order, and that humans are His masterpiece. In his final few lines, he says:

"Man was not an accident and reflects an image and likeness unique in the created order. Those aspects of evolutionary theory compatible with this truth are a welcome addition to human knowledge. Aspects of these theories that undermine this truth, however, should be firmly rejected as an atheistic theology posing as science."

Jesus' anger

2007-05-23T16:56:00.000-04:00

Two good quotes about the confusion we often experience about anger when we read the Bible.

"Hey, God gets angry. Jesus gets angry. And 'in your anger, do not sin' is from the Letters, so that assumes that sometimes we can get angry but it's not sin! But Jesus tells us not to be angry in Matthew 5:21!"

Well, here are two excellent quotes to give us God's perspective on this.

The first is from Max Lucado, from his book In The Grip Of Grace. Pam Owens pointed it out and it's true:

"Many don't understand God's anger because they confuse the wrath of God with the wrath of man. The two have little in common. Human anger is typically self-driven and prone to explosions of temper and violent deeds. We get ticked off because we've been overlooked, neglected, or cheated. This is anger of man. It is not, however, the anger of God.
God doesn't get angry because He doesn't get His way. He gets angry because disobedience always results in self-destruction. What kind of father sits by and watches his child hurt himself?"

Another one is from Dallas Willard, who I've quoted in these past two sermons. It's from his magnum opus, The Divine Conspiracy:

"Although [Jesus] certainly let his condemnation fall upon self-righteous and deeply corrupted leaders (Matt. 23; Luke 11:29-54), we never see it in other contexts. And we can trust him to express it appropriately toward such people, though we ourselves could rarely if ever do so. Anger and condemnation, like vengeance, are safely left to God. We must beware of believing that it is okay for us to condemn as long as we are condemning the right things. It is not so simple as all that. I can trust Jesus to go into the temple and drive out those who were profiting from religion, beating them with a rope. I cannot trust myself to do so." (pages 220-221)

There will only very RARELY be any occasion where it is appropriate for you to lash out or hold anger. Give it to God, let Him take care of it.

"Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.' " (Romans 12:19)

Books that promote a healthy, Christian sexuality

2007-05-21T16:23:00.000-04:00

As someone has so aptly put it, "The world treats sexuality as if using a Stradivarius violin to pound in nails" (I think it was a fellow Amazon.com reviewer).

Here are some great "down to earth" books I highly recommend in appreciating God's gift to you - your sexuality - and learning how to use it to best glorify Him, the giver of every "good and perfect gift" (James 1:17 -- and that verse occurs in James 1, where James deals with the issue of temptation).

1. Sex Is Not The Problem (Lust Is). Another book by Joshua Harris, who wrote I Kissed Dating Goodbye. This one comes with very high recommendations, and Harris is a big fan of John Piper and C.J. Mahaney (and I think those guys get it right much more often than not).

2. Every Young Man's Battle. And not just "young men"! From all I have heard, this book is better than the original, Every Man's Battle, by the same authors. I have combed through this and recommend it very strongly. The authors are frank with men about thought life, media, and masturbation, but let's face it, in this arena, frankness helps. All the same, I don't know if I would give it to anyone under 14. But at that age, or older, this book is probably going to be a big help. I have not read it, but Every Young Woman's Battle is probably good too.

3. Sex, Romance, and the Glory of God: What Every Christian Husband Needs to Know. Well, the title says it all. This is a short book; you probably could get through it in a week's worth of reading in bed for 10 - 15 minutes. If you're married, I highly recommend it. Mahaney has a God-centric perspective, which is so helpful... guys, it's not about what we want!

4. Intended for Pleasure. I higly recommend this. Every married couple can profit from this on your shelf, particularly if you're having difficulty relating sexually.

May God Bless You

Safeguard your heart and mind

2007-05-16T21:44:00.000-04:00

This is essentially the point of Matthew 5:27-28.

Let's look at sexuality from God's perspective. He wanted to create a powerful, intense union between a man and a woman (marriage) after the pattern of the relationship between His Son and His Church. This union needed to be more than just the male and female body copulating -- after all, that's all animals really have. And it IS so much more, or should be, just read Genesis 2. It is a relational, spiritual union between two hearts. Song of Solomon is incredibly erotic, but its power comes from its foundation -- the intense love between the man and the woman has as its foundation an unconditional, covenant love (look at Song of Solomon 8:6-7).

To have this kind of love is so much more than body. It is a love that demands loyalty of the heart, and a passion of the mind. The intensely devoted and passionate sexuality that God wants all married people to have means it is exclusive -- one man, one woman, no others.

Imagining sex with others, "erotic" fantasy relationships with fantasy men or fantasy women, is betraying your spouse, rebellion against a loving God, and cheating yourself horribly. There are only two places it can go: a dead end of frustration (because our spouse won't match up to our foolish fantasy person or situation), selfishness, and misery (because now we're saying God is not good)... OR it ends up in actual adultery -- which puts the body where the brain and the heart have already gone and breaks the bond between man and wife, often beyond repair.

How utterly sad.

Jesus really does know what's best for us. He knows well God's plan for wonderful sexuality between man and woman. He tells all who want to live as Citizens of Heaven to "lock up" their hearts and minds, with regard to sex. Give the keys to your spouse, and to God.

This is the way a disciple lives -- thanking God for his goodness, and having the faith in His goodness that leads to faithfulness.

Why We Make "Every Effort" Against Sin...

2007-05-14T22:10:00.000-04:00

On Sunday, I mentioned how the Sermon on the Mount is best thought of NOT as a new set of laws, but as a "vision trip" to God's Kingdom, so that we can truly be "the light of the world" that Jesus says we are (Matthew 5:14).

I regret we did not explore this concept even more. I wish I had spent even more time commending the beauty of the heart that is "tuned to God".

Why? Because setting our hearts on God's "zone of authority" (or what we call the Kingdom of God) is THE motivation for choosing the path of discipleship. "Your Kingdom come; your will be done" we pray in the Lord's Prayer, and if we really, REALLY want that -- then it is THAT desire that is the right motive for why "work and love and sing and pray", as Christian singer Rich Mullins so poetically put it (the song "My One Thing").

Why oh why should we do what really HURTS and remove our "right eye" or "right hand" as Jesus tells us to in Matthew 5:29,30. Why oh WHY do such radical spiritual surgery? If we fight against lust and greed in our hearts to that painful extent it will not last if we are just trying to fill a "law" and our hearts are not in it.

But our heart has to want what God wants - because it is GOOD - because we have been compelled by a vision of God's goodness - or because we "trust and obey", knowing He is Good.

Consider Dallas Willard's words - as he finishes his explanation of the passage against lust (Matthew 5:27-30) that we looked at last Sunday:

"The goodness of the kingdom heart... is the positive love of God and of those around us that fills it and crowds out the many forms of evil. From that goodness come deeds and respect and purity that characterize a sexuality as it was meant by God to be." (The Divine Conspiracy, p. 168, HarperCollins).

More on this, this week...

Eliminating the Sins of Craving by Wanting... MORE

2007-05-08T10:16:00.000-04:00

In these weeks, we have been looking at how God can overcome selfish desire, because He offers so much more. Particularly, we have been looking at how Greed makes people slaves, but how He offers freedom - even to give sacrificially. Last week, we looked how Indulgence (or Gluttony) makes people addicts, but how He offers true satisfaction. This week, we will look at how Lust consumes and alienates people, but how God offers communion and community.

These are the sins of appetite. Our normal needs to acquire those things we need daily, to enjoy those things, and to experience intimacy -- these needs God created us with get warped by the lies from the Enemy and so common in our world's thinking and advertising into the sin traps of Greed, Gluttony, and Lust. And so we crave - to such an unhealthy extent that they become "little gods" that we worship. Our "wanting, wanting, wanting" (as Eugene Peterson puts it) takes us away from God - and He is the Only One who can offer TRUE fulfillment.

Well, what's the answer? How can we get control of our sin-influenced appetites? How can we be the master of our cravings?

I know we talked about this Sunday, but I want to reinforce what I see God saying to us from the pages of the Bible. Remember, He loves us - He wants the best, the very best, for us.

So, again, HOW can we get control of our crazy craving, craving, craving?

1. Well, the world says, "Why bother? Give in! Go on, you deserve it!! Come on, it can't hurt. You want it, go ahead. Obey your thirst! Feed your crave! Get the best in fashion! You want it, go get it! That's the drive of progress!"

We have already seen where this goes: to destruction. The Bible is clear that "giving in" to our wanting, over and over again, makes us slaves to money and addicts to our appetites. This is not the way to LIFE.

2. What if we eliminate desire? Many philosophers over the centuries have claimed that this is the way to true fulfillment, or more accurately, enlightenment or awareness. Some say Buddhism and Stoicism essentially teach this.

Does it work? If we don't want, maybe then we can be happy?

I don't think it works. When God says in Genesis 2, "it is not good for man to be alone", He recognizes that this human He has created has a need - in fact, I believe the Scriptures teach that man has several key emotional needs. And all of those needs can be fulfilled in a passionate pursuit of God Himself, together with other followers of Jesus. "You will seek me and find me when you seek with all your heart," says God (Jeremiah 29:13).

Remember, Jesus doesn't just say "Deny yourself". He says "Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me" (Mark 8:34, paraphrase). When we follow Him, when we seek Him, He gives us the wonder and joy of closeness with God. And then adds everything else!

3. Which leads to what is God's way. Check out these Bible verses:

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:33, NIV)

"Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4, NIV)

Jesus, quoting Moses, tells us to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love our neighbor as much as ourself? Why? So we could turn into bored and boring people? He wants to give us so much wonder and joy we can't possibly imagine it! But we MUST put Him first - first in our day, first in our home, our job, our play.

He has so much for us! We usually don't want "the good stuff" enough.

Jo and Lisa both love this quote from C.S. Lewis, and I quote it here, because it speaks to the typical situation of our heart:

"Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

When we want Him, and really seek Him as our delight, the other craves fall away to their proper place, and He takes care of us. He really does. The more we seek Him, the more we will KNOW that HE IS GOOD.

Praying "According To His Will" & Abishag

2007-04-27T21:52:00.000-04:00

I recently re-read the story of King Solomon, his scheming older brother Adonijah, and the young virgin Abishag (who served as a "body pillow" for David in his geriatric years, and nothing more). Last time I read the story was two years ago, and I read it in the standard way, trying to understand the political context: Abishag was David's concubine in law (de jure), even if they actually never had sex. Therefore, Adonijah's sneaky request - going through Solomon's mother - to have Abishag as his wife was almost certainly a "power ploy". In other words, if Adonijah had married Abishag, it would have been seen as taking David's place by assuming what had belonged to David (in the ways kings operated in the ancient world). So, Solomon was right to not only deny his request but to punish Adonijah and his co-conspirators.

All of this is probably true. Solomon showed a lot of political smarts by taking control of the situation by perceiving a sneaky threat and crushing it before a rebellion and war started. In contrast, David was not as "smart" when he let Absalom get a big following.

From a salvation history point of view, God was faithful to establish David's kingdom through Solomon - in other words, He kept His promise. And in time, "one greater than Solomon" came to take David's throne and set up his Ultimate Kingdom (see Matthew 12:42).

But I'm also thinking about how Adonijah approached Solomon's mother, and then how she then talked with her son King Solomon as he sat on his throne.

Adonijah comes and says: "Please ask King Solomon - he will not refuse you - to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife" (1 Kings 2:17, ESV). Solomon's mother, Bathsheba, simply believes he wants the young virgin as his wife. But the key is this: Adonijah asks Solomon's mother because he KNOWS Solomon can't refuse his mother (polygamous societies often witness children forming very strong bonds with their mother, as rivals against the other wives and children). She goes to King Solomon, he bows to her, he sits on his throne, and then has a special chair brought for her (all these details are important - she is no servant who is shaking with fear in front of the king. This is Special Mom and Special Son time).

Then, notice what Solomon and his mom say to each other: Then she [Bathsheba] said, "I have one small request to make of you; do not refuse me." And the king said to her, "Make your request, for I will not refuse you" (1 Kings 2:20, ESV).

Well, if you know the story, you know what happens - she asks him to give Abishag (who was probably living a secluded life with David's other concubines) to Adonijah as his wife. Solomon sees what Adonijah was trying to do - that sneaky rat - and blows up!

Solomon had just told his mom that he would do whatever she asked! But did he? NO WAY! Because he knew that her request, if he let it happen, would destroy his kingdom!

Jesus tells his disciples: "And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith." (Matthew 21:22, ESV) Is this a "blank check"? Is this a ticket to whatever we want? 1 John 5:14-15 (not to mention James) gives us correction:

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him." (NIV)

Fellow Christians - we have a special relationship with God, the way Bathsheba did with Solomon, in fact, even closer. We can come to him and experience closeness. We can ask him anything we want. Of course, James tells us that if we ask with wrong motives - like to gain money or power over other people - we won't get it (James 4:3).

But even if we don't understand the whole story - just as Bathsheba was clueless as to Adonijah's sneaky plot - let's not be surprised when we hear God answer, "NO."

He will not do ANYTHING that would undermine His Kingdom and His plan for humanity. He wants them to go forward, not backward. We don't know the whole picture, but He's got our best interests at heart and He loves us (Romans 8:28).

Father, Your Kingdom come.
Your will be done -
On Earth, as it is in Heaven.
AMEN! (Matthew 6:10)

Pray for VT campus ministries

2007-04-25T13:02:00.000-04:00

One thing we can do to see God bring something good out of the VT tragedy is to pray for the campus ministries: Campus Crusade, InterVarsity, Chi Alpha, etc. One of my prayers has been that they would be a blessing to the campus. We can particularly pray for them too - I heard last night and confirmed today that 4 of the victims were involved with Campus Crusade (or its sister ministry, Valor).

Also, it appears that Crusade's Korean chapter at VT really tried to reach Cho.

More details here.

Spring is here

2007-04-24T10:47:00.000-04:00

It seems like I haven't seen many daffodils this year. I'm not a big "flower guy" but daffodils always cheer me up, because they're usually the first flowers you see after the snow. So here's some daffodils.

Photo by Nick Pye

The "5 & 1" Challenge

2007-04-24T10:20:00.000-04:00

The only way to become the kind of person God has created us to be is to have a relationship with God, where we talk to Him, listen to Him, obey Him, and become like Him. Through Jesus we know God, we love God, we "hang out" with God.

As we do this, we will often easily reject sinful, selfish, nasty attitudes of envy, pride, etc. When you are really absorbed in a relationship with another person, "in love", you naturally want to make them happy and you naturally avoid those things that are going to hurt them!

The key to loving God - and to being transformed by His love - is developing a thankful heart.

So the challenge set out this past Sunday was this:

Start your day being thankful for 5 things. Make them 5 things you can say "Thank You God" for. For example:

"Lord, I'm thankful for my car. You use it to get me around.
Lord, thank you for Jesus - I love to read the stories about Him and His love.
Lord, thank you for my parents. They're not perfect, but you used them to teach me about life.
Lord, thank you for my job. You use it to provide for me.
Lord, thank you for saving my life when I was in that accident 7 years ago."

And then pray for 1 person whom you are tempted to envy. Pray for them! I guarantee you they have problems, as we all do in life. Pray for them, that God would be close to them and reveal the love of Jesus to them.

Take the "5 & 1" challenge. Even just try it for a week, if you're not used to it. Take it.

And then watch - just WATCH - as God transforms your attitudes and your whole person - to be the "lamp in the house" (Matthew 5:14-16) you were MADE to be.

Envy & Cho Seung-Hui

2007-04-19T16:18:00.000-04:00

We mourn with the families of those who were killed at Virginia Tech on Monday. I am sorry that the darkness took away your young relatives, before they had an opportunity to begin careers and homes of their own. I also offer my sympathies to the Korean-American community - Cho does not represent you.

While there were many destructive forces at work in Cho's life, I am convinced envy - one of the seven deadly sins, in old Christian thought - was one of the more powerful ones. If you have the stomach, read this story about Cho's writings.

Notice what he says at one point:

"You had everything you wanted. Your Mercedes wasn't enough, you brats. Your golden necklaces weren't enough, you snobs. Your trust fund wasn't enough. Your vodka and cognac weren't enough. All your debaucheries weren't enough. Those weren't enough to fulfill your hedonistic needs. You had everything," MSNBC.com quoted Cho as saying.

But Cho is not a self-righteous moralizer, a wacked-out fundamentalist. No, he wanted in on the action, as the first page of his "manifesto" makes clear:

"Oh the happiness I could have had mingling among you hedonists, being counted as one of you, if only you didn't {edited} out of me... You could have been great. I could have been great."

And that's really just a quick sifting of his writings - the day of the shooting. Yes, he was a psychopath. Yes, he hated and his anger consumed him. Where did at least some of that come from? From being picked on as a kid? Yeah, some. Being picked on is a painful experience, and particularly if you feel like you'll never "fit in". But Cho stoked the fire of envy, and it became a roaring bonfire that fed his violent psychosis.

Envy, carefully defined, is "pain at the good fortune of others." (Aristotle, Rhetoric, Bk II, Chapter 10, from the entry at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

This too: "[Envy] aims, at least in terms of one's wishes, at destroying others' good fortune." (Immanuel Kant, The Metaphysics of Morals 6:459, from the entry at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

At least in part, it appears that Cho allowed society to tell him that "the good life" is money, alcohol, and sexual promiscuity. His sense of rejection, of being denied that "good life", fueled a violent psychosis.

How sad, how tragic that he did not (and could not) understand the unconditional love and compassion of God in Jesus Christ. The Christian thinkers of the Middle Ages believed kindness was the Good that could fix envy. Had Cho been transformed by God's love, and had he opened himself to RECEIVING and then GIVING kindness, then...

...well, then, this horrible tragedy would not have happened.

Putting Pride Behind

2007-04-18T16:49:00.000-04:00

Our teaching this Sunday was on how "pride sets up" (that is, it sets you up for a fall) and that "God lifts up". Choosing what God offers is the best thing. When we humble ourselves in front of him, choosing to reject sin and prideful attitudes towards others --

- and then our lives show it, in our loving actions and sincere worship -

then God's honor, God's FAVOR is sure to follow.

It may not be what we expect. It probably won't. We may not see it until we die and meet the Lord.

But there is NO SUBSTITUTE for his favor.

On Sunday, I mentioned a devotional by Elizabeth Marks. Here's a link to it: http://thinkonitdevotions.wordpress.com/2007/04/02/never-underestimate-pride/

At the end of her devotional she cites Saddleback Church's notes from a few Sundays ago - action points on getting rid of pride:

Admit our sins honestly. (Proverbs 28:13)
Evaluate our strengths realistically. (Romans 12:3, Galatians 6:4)
Enjoy our success gratefully. (1 Corinthians 4:7)
Serve others unselfishly. (Philippians 2:3-5)
Depend on Jesus continually. (Psalm 10:4, Proverbs 22: 4)

I wish I had mentioned SERVING on Sunday. To serve others unselfishly is the humble lifestyle of a follower of Jesus. Do you serve others - without thinking of yourself?

Jesus said, in Mark 10: "The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many."

If you're a Christian, you have already experienced the sadness when you realize how much selfishness you had, and you felt small. But right after, you realized that Jesus lifted you up. Now, as a child of God and friend of Jesus, you felt more special than ever - that you were special because God created you and loves you. It's still true! That grace, that favor is available to those who humble themselves in front of the Creator, our Loving Father.

Lord, humble us and keep us humble, so we can feel your smile and serve others with joy!

Wisdom For Serving

2007-04-11T15:55:00.000-04:00

A prayer point for us this summer is knowing exactly how we can serve the community and be a blessing, both locally and globally.

We have the short term missions trip in Dearborn - please pray that God will give us wisdom to know the most effective things we can do to show God's love. Pray also for us as we seek wisdom to reach out effectively to our student friends and our neighborhood. Many things are good, and there's a lot of 'good' things we can do, but what is God directing us toward? We need wisdom on this point.

A symphony that's been stuck in my head...

2007-03-23T16:26:00.000-04:00

I've been listening to Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 6 a lot recently. By "a lot" I mean about 8 or 9 times over the past month. It's about half an hour long, so it makes good listening while I do the dishes or drive to Dearborn. (Music, praying, listening to NPR are great activities for that drive - although recently I've been listening to an ordination book because it's CRUNCH TIME! Praying is probably the best thing for that drive but it's hard to drive and pray on 10 Mile or Southfield even. But I should because I'm either going to or coming from the Arab Ministry Center).

It is intense! The first movement is a long "slow movement". It's about 17 + minutes. It's also very brooding and dark. But then the second and third movements are incredibly sunny - the second movement is fast and changes from light to meditative and back again, it's a great 'middle'. Then the third and final movement is a 5 minute gallop! It's bombastic and crazy!

I can't quite figure it out, and I don't know if anybody has, even the Russians who first heard it. It's never been a popular symphony, and if the composer was using it to protest Soviet oppression, he certainly never said anything.

But I love it.

Good Friday Outreach

2007-03-23T16:05:00.000-04:00

Wondering what you can do on Good Friday? Do you have the day off and don't know what you're going to do? Why is it called "Good Friday" anyway?

Many people - even many "unchurched" people - have heard about Good Friday, and want to know what it's about. Here is a great event to invite your friends or family to!! Come watch "The Miracle Maker", a very dramatic movie about Jesus, as seen through the eyes of a young girl, suitable for all ages (in Lisa's words, "it's good for children, but it's NOT childish"). This will be followed by a potluck dinner - please bring a dish to share. We will have an object lesson on the meaning of Easter. Plus there will be an Easter egg hunt and crafts for children!

This will all be on Good Friday, April 6, from 4 - 8 PM at the church Fellowship Hall.

What are 'worship activities'?

2007-03-15T12:29:00.000-04:00

Here is a great quote from James Packer on what worship is. His idea of worship containing 6 distinct activities is cool, and especially the way he describes them as "Lord, you are wonderful"; "Thank you, Lord"; "Please Lord"; "Take this, Lord"; "Yes, Lord"; "Listen everybody!". Here is the whole quote:

To worship God is to recognize his worth or worthiness; to look God-ward, and to acknowledge in all appropriate ways the value of what we see. The Bible calls this activity "glorifying God" or "giving glory to God," and views it as the ultimate end, and from one point of view, the whole duty of man (Ps. 29:2; 96:6; 1 Cor. 10:31).
Scripture views the glorifying of God as a sixfold activity: praising God for all that he is and all his achievements; thanking him for his gifts and his goodness to us; asking him to meet our own and others' needs; offering him our gifts, our service, and ourselves; learning of him from his word, read and preached, and obeying his voice; telling others of his worth, both by public confession and testimony to what he has done for us. Thus we might say that the basic formulas of worship are these: "Lord, you are wonderful"; "Thank you, Lord"; "Please Lord"; "Take this, Lord"; "Yes, Lord"; "Listen everybody!"
This then is worship in its largest sense: petition as well as praise, preaching as well as prayer, hearing as well as speaking, actions as well as words, obeying as well as offering, loving people as well as loving God. However, the primary acts of worship are those which focus on God directly -- and we must not imagine that work for God in the world is a substitute for direct fellowship with him in praise and prayer and devotion.
(from: James Packer, Your Father Loves You, Harold Shaw Publishers, July 1986, P. 15.)

How are we doing in our loving?

2007-03-13T12:57:00.000-04:00

Two Sundays ago we looked at 1 John 2:7-11. God's command to us, the goal of the Gospel, is to bring us in line with love. We heard from John that LOVE is both an old command, part of what we first heard when we listened to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and also a new command.

We saw that John doesn't take a "gray areas" philosophy. You either live with an attitude of love and helpfulness toward other people, or you go through life indifferent to others, which 99.9% of the time means you're looking to help - you.

At the end of our teaching time, I asked us to write a prayer to God: "God, help me to love ___."

We were challenged by the Scripture - and I believe by the Spirit - to be active in our love and helpfulness towards others, and particularly one person, you might find annoying.

How's it going? Are we praying that prayer during the day: "God, help me to love X"? Are we finding new ways to love this person?

I was doing well at the beginning of the week, and overall, some of my active love continues, but I haven't been praying the prayer recently, and I need to. I need to make it part of my morning prayer time. It's not a long prayer - what - half a second?

How are you doing?

Being a light of love... (Mother Teresa quote)

2007-03-04T20:04:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone... here is the Mother Teresa quote near the end of today's sermon...

"Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own house. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next door neighbor... Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting."

And here's 1 John 2:8, may God use it to inspire you this week to greater acts of love:

"Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining." (NIV)

Is the light of Jesus' love seen in you?

Fasting & Prayer suggestions

2007-03-02T22:29:00.000-05:00

What is the best way to do a day of fasting & prayer?
As we go through our "40 Days of Fasting & Prayer" for the lost, I really want to leave the answer up to the individual.
1) Most of us won't get a spare day to be able to go to a park or library, do a prayer walk, sit and pray some, write in a journal, or simply meditate. I've signed up for 6 days in this 40 days period - but I will probably spend the whole day like that only 1 time (maybe 2).
However, if you can, that's a great thing to do. A whole day talking to God, reading the Bible or other devotional material, taking a prayer/meditation walk can do wonders for the soul. God will often show you something you would not normally have thought of in the rush.

2) Simply fast for a 24 hour period, and any chance you get, you spend time praying and meditating. That's what I did on Wednesday, breaking the fast in the evening. On that day, I did a lot of driving (to Sterling Heights, back home, to Ann Arbor, back home) and spent that time praying or worshipping in song.

3) Fast for a meal and use the time you would be preparing food and eating it to pray. That's an easy way to do it, and you really grab the purpose of a fast - to pray when you would normally only care about food. It shows God - even for a meal - that you want and need Him more than any food. I suggest doing a time limit; for example, if you fast over lunch, promise yourself you won't eat between 9 and 4. That way, you're not skipping lunch but pigging out on fruit or chips at 2 PM.

There are other ways. I only mention these to provide everybody with some ideas. I'm sure you can come up with some of your own.

May God meet you in this time of praying for those who don't know Him -yet!

When is it sin?

2007-02-28T08:24:00.000-05:00

After one of our recent teachings on 1 John, Lisa felt it might have been profitable to be clear, to elaborate, on those kinds of things that are sin. Where are the boundaries?

Of course, the Bible is a good place to look to find God's guidelines - particularly Matthew 5-7 (also known as The Sermon on The Mount). We could make a list.

But I find the graphic above to be most helpful. (Click on it to get a larger version.) Why? Because it reminds us that the MOST IMPORTANT thing is NOT having some mental list of rights and wrongs in our heads, no! The MOST IMPORTANT thing is our relationship with God. Are we close to Him? If we are, we will do those things He values and not want to damage our relationship by going outside of his good boundaries for our lives.

Also, this graphic shows us that essentially - as humans - God created us GOOD. These tendencies are good.

But we always take things beyond what we should - don't we?

This graphic was done by an Alliance pastor of many years - David Mitchell.

Jesus had a big family and they're all buried in a rich man's tomb? Uh, no.

2007-02-27T10:55:00.000-05:00

You may have heard about this... James Cameron, who directed the "Titanic", says he's found where Jesus was maybe buried. Not only Jesus, but his whole family. Apparently, according to this idea, Jesus married Mary Magdalene and the two of them, with their children, are all buried in a tomb that was discovered 27 years ago.

Archaeologists aren't buying it. Basically, it looks like a wealthy family's tomb. Even a lot of people who don't believe in Jesus' resurrection find this ridiculous.

And needless to say, theologians don't buy it.

Neither should you.

News story

Hiding Place

2007-02-23T13:08:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday we sang an older worship song called "You Are My Hiding Place". Now it's easy for us to think of playing "Hide and Seek" as kids, but really the song (as well as the Bible verses it's based on) is talking about where we go when we're stressed.

People often think about a favorite place when they're stressed. If they can just get there, they can unwind, they can relax. Sometimes it's a vacation spot, or maybe a favorite spot to go on the weekends, or maybe it's a comfortable chair at home. "If I can get there, I can leave my problems behind." Sometimes it's an activity that we use to 'escape' - like shopping at an expesnive mall, fishing, playing a video game, or watching an action/adventure or romance movie (they're called "escapist" movies). If we can just get there, and 'ensconce' ourselves (this means to be totally surrounded by comfort), THEN we can find peace and leave the disturbing things and the fears and the stresses behind.

But as I was fasting and praying on Wednesday, I was thinking:

There is no perfect place. Development, crime, bad weather, and unexpected accidents all conspire to ensure this. However, if that "secret place" we can go to is simply to be in God's presence, with Him - then we have a perfect place. A spiritual "hiding place" that is sure, and that will refresh us.

See, this is yet another advantage believers in Jesus have over other people. They have no sure retreat. Their comfortable diversions won't satisfy them - not for long.

So non-believers fight (like wild cats) to protect earthly things (including their vacation spots and their backyards) that make them comfortable, even those things are temporary and someone else will get them when they die (See Luke 12:13-21). As Bob Dylan sings: "Funny, how the things you have the hardest time parting with/ Are the things you need the least".

The biggest danger of becoming wealthy is anxiety. Will your little kingdom crumble?

Yet, David sang of his confidence in God at those times he had nothing and was running away from evil kings with big armies hunting for him. (See Psalm 16.)

Those who know their God have no need to fear. He is their hiding place.

(By the way, the picture at the top is from Cappadocia, a place where Christians hid from Roman emperors who were killing Christians. It's in central Turkey.)

You Can't Do It!

2007-02-22T12:45:00.000-05:00

Thinking about our last teaching at 2nd Vision, and the importance of "walking as Jesus did"... asking ourselves "What Would Jesus Do?"... and being "little Christs" in our workplaces, in our shopping, and at home...

It is a tall task. Jesus tells us "be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48, NIV) And when he says that, he's wrapping up a talk on loving your enemies. Man, how on earth do you do that?

On our own, we cannot do it.

However, when you made Jesus yours by trusting in Him, by surrendering to Him, you also got a Helper.

I want to quote Jack Taylor in The Key to Triumphant Living (page 41):

There is a simple secret to the Christian life. It is, in fact, so simple
that millions miss it. There is a dynamic so mighty that no life can
remain the same after discovering it. Paul called it a "mystery which hath
been hid from ages and from generations, ut now is manifest to his saints" (Col.
1:26). It is THE SECRET, THE KEY, THE SUPREME DYNAMIC, THE GLORIOUS SECRET of the Christian life. I bless the day I began to see it!
True Christianity is simply, "Christ-in-you-ity" and "Chrsit-in-me-ity."

How do we access that power of Christ in us for living?

Do we really know that "I think I can" is not good enough? Are we really ready to turn over the control of our lives to Jesus? "Jesus, I'm yours. Teach me. My time is yours. My stuff is yours." And then are ready to respond to Him by doing what He's showing us to do? (I gotta give the credit to Dann Spader & Gary Mayes - this is basically the process they outline at the end of their helpful book Growing A Healthy Church - KNOW, YIELD, and RESPOND.)

May God bless you as you day-by-day ask Him for His help.

Daily Dirt

2007-02-16T17:23:00.000-05:00

When I was a middle-schooler, I remember seeing reruns of an old TV sitcom called "Carter Country". I can hardly remember anything about the show, but I do remember a vigorous debate between the police chief and his sergeant about whether it was better to take a shower in the evening or in the morning. The sergeant (like me) was arguing that the morning shower was best.

The chief had a great response, though: "So you take all your daily dirt to bed with you?" Or words to that effect, but I won't forget the phrase "daily dirt".

Confession of sins is so important to maintaining a right relationship with God, which is why we've talked about it for the past two sermons. We must keep "short accounts" with God, to use other words. I spend much of my daily prayer time confessing sins - typically I go through each of what the Christian scholars from the Middle Ages called "The Seven Deadly Sins", that is, pride, greed, gluttony, lust, envy, wrath, and sloth, and ask God to wash me clean of instances of each. Often I am not aware of sins I have done - but God knows that.

We want our relationship with the living and loving God to be close, don't we? Then let us spend time every day -- and any time we are aware of doing something wrong or selfish -- to confess our sins before His feet, and receive the washing and cleaning only He can do in our lives.

In fact, doing this before bed is probably a good idea... who wants to take their "daily dirt" to bed?

Reviving the Blog

2007-02-14T15:33:00.000-05:00

Ed has encouraged me to get the blog going again, which I'm glad for, because it's nice to know somebody wants to read it! I was beginning to think I was typing into the void of space!

Anyway, I have three blog posts kicking around in my head and hope to get them out later this week. All of them have to do with different aspects of living Christianly despite the real presence of sin in our world (reflections on our studies in 1 John).

God is good,

Rob

Reflections on Caroling

2006-12-13T09:17:00.000-05:00

We had a good time caroling last Saturday night, but this was a 'first time' for a few things.

1. We were actually in Detroit (the Warrendale neighborhood), not in Dearborn. I think this was signficant. Although Warrendale and Dearborn look kind of like interlocking parts on the map, they are different. Dearborn, even East Dearborn, really is a suburb. It's an old neigbhorhood, and Arabs dominate the landscape, but it does have a suburban character. Warrendale is definitely Detroit.

The main implication of this is that people were very reluctant to open doors to us on Saturday night. Other groups, going to random houses in Dearborn, found houses opening up to them as they were singing. People in Detroit are probably guarded about opening their door at night.

2. Because of #1, we should have gone to select houses, probably contacts we made from the ministry center.

3. The guy who actually was WAVING US AWAY was a Chinese guy! He surely must have seen the faces of most of our group. As far as I'm aware, there are hardly any Chinese in Warrendale. He's the first Chinese person I've seen there. I guess I expected a warmer welcome - even if he was strongly Buddhist (which is what he said).

4. We got gift bags to Arab families who are usually not reached. Please pray for God to use those materials to really show people the love of Jesus Christ!

True worship

2006-11-22T16:17:00.000-05:00

When we compare the half-hearted worship of Cain with the whole-hearted worship of Abel, I think we see the two choices that stand in front of us as Christians.

Abel realized all that he had was from God, and trusting that God would provide more lambs, offered to God the firstborn. Abel offered the very best parts and I'm sure I would have been tempted to take those choice parts and grill them up on my BBQ.

Cain was all about himself. It says he offered to God "some" of his fruits and veggies to God. When warned by God, Cain chose to ignore Him, get bitter, plot murder against his brother, and lie to God afterward.

Yes, in the beginning, Cain showed up to "do his religious duty" and make an offering. But in the end, he was alienated from God and from his family. He had children, and his grandkids were skilled. But the society he founded was sensual, violent, and selfish. Can you imagine the emptiness of his life after God exiled him? Here was a whole society that had no clue about right and wrong; kids who said "it's all about me". That's what his great-great-grandkid Lamech was like! "You young punk! You scratched my arm!" BANG! BANG! Sound familiar?

As Jesus tells us in John 4, God the Father is seeking worshippers who will worship Him in spirit and truth. God is seeking worshippers who will worship like Abel, and like Abel's baby brother Seth.

Next time you give to God's work, serve at church, pray for that person, or help someone in need (see James 1:26-27), REMEMBER how God has been to you, and GIVE with your WHOLE heart! God is good and He is so worthy of our very best! Let us please Him with true worship!

(picture by bacon pola)

When you just don't "get" that strange verse...

2006-11-10T13:47:00.000-05:00

Dan Phillips at the Christian blog Pyromaniacs has a great post about hitting a verse you just can't understand. What do you do when you hit those weird 'bumps in the road'? Dan reviews the options available to as Christians.

This is fresh for me - I recently finished Zechariah, and folks, I am stumped. I love all the crazy images and pictures, but how do I make sense of them? Are they for the future, or were they fulfilled when Jesus first came? Both? Help!

This is why we need to be reading our Bible in a prayerful state... "Lord help me to live according to this truth, even though I don't understand it."

(Thanks to ThinkChristian.net, where I first found the link to this.)

Rob's Album of the Week

2006-10-06T13:32:00.000-04:00

Artist: Aradhna
Album: Deep Jale (2000)

At our September regional network meeting (of local Alliance pastors), I was asking the Tamil church planter if he had a CD of his songs I could borrow, with the traditional Indian sound. Pastor Brent piped up and said he had one too. Later that day, he introduced me to the music of this album. It's incredible.

Aradhna (Hindi for "adoration") is essentially 3 Anglo guys who were either born or grew up in India (my bet is that they're MKs) and were drawn to the traditional styles of Indian music. They are often supported by Indian friends on instruments such as the tabla (a traditional drum native to the Middle East and South India). Chris Hale, who sings in Hindi (he's fluent in Hindi and Nepali), plays sitar and has obviously become quite adept at it. The other two have excellent musical instincts as well, and their music is carefully crafted and very high quality.

What do they sing? They sing worship songs composed mostly by Indian brothers and sisters in Christ. They've adapted the melodies, so you hear sitar, guitar, and bass as well as violin. The final product is gorgeous and worshipful. Here's Chris Hale explaining the kind of songs they sing:

"The path (marga) of Bhakti is one of loving devotion and complete surrender to God. In this ancient tradition, music and worship play a fundamental role in the expressions of the bhakta (devotee). These devotees might be a few people gathered around a dholak drum player in a camphor-lit temple, professional singers in a concert hall, or simply a family gathered in the home. Their songs are called Bhajans (songs of devotion). Bhajans can be heard sung late into the night or in early morning hours all over the world wherever there are bhaktas.

"Over the last few centuries some poet-singers of the Bhakti tradition in India have become followers of Christ. In keeping with their cultural heritage, they began to compose bhajans to Yeshu Krist. Though the majority of Indian Christians have chosen to embrace the worship style of the West, there are an increasing number of Indians as well as westerners that are discovering the depth of worship and devotion expressed in bhajans."

I particularly find their slower songs wonderful. They're meditative and have drawn me into a deeper devotion and love for Jesus. Check out their website (which has some mp3s you can listen to).

Rob's Album of the Week

2006-09-27T19:38:00.000-04:00

Artist: Bruce Cockburn
Album: Stealing Fire (1984)

When you first hear this album, you'll probably notice that you "know" a few songs --some continue to get airplay in stores today (I heard "Lovers in a Dangerous Time" at Oakland Mall several months ago). The next thing you'll say is, "Whoa, 80s!" The sound is very dated, I know, and musically, it's probably one of the weaker albums in Bruce Cockburn's prolific career. But some of the lyrics are dynamite, and there's a couple of lines that continue to inspire me even today.

For example, "Lovers in a Dangerous Time" (which really could be titled "Christians in a Dangerous Time" because the lovers he's talking about are those who serve others, presumably in faith). Check out this line:

"When you're lovers in a dangerous time
Sometimes you're made to feel as if your love's a crime --
But nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight --
Got to kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight"

Man, I love that last line. It continues to inspire me to trust in God that "our work in the Lord is not in vain."

There's other great songs. "Maybe the Poet" is about how those with ideas, those who plead for our common humanity, are the ultimate revolutionaries. In a sense, as we can see from Revelation, the poet or in this case the apostle, shows us the true nature of dictators and what is really true. Here's the chorus:

"Don't let the system fool you
All it wants to do is rule you
Pay attention to the poet
You need him and you know it"

"Peggy's Kitchen Wall" is somewhat lighthearted in its style, but its lyrics are very true to urban neighborhood life despite the fun chorus. This also was something of a popular song in its day.

The final three songs are his "Central America" trilogy. He was in Central America with Oxfam, a charity organization. He makes observations about the peoples' daily life in the face of political turmoil. "If I Had A Rocket Launcher" is a very well-known angry song in this group of songs. Bruce is something of a pacifist Christian, so this song caught people by surprise. But it's hard not to feel anger at the sight of precious souls being treated so callously by violent armies.

Here's Bruce's comment on all the politics in the album (thanks to brucecockburn.net):

"Some of them got a little nervous when I started talking about politics," he adds, "because you're not supposed to do that if you're a certain type of Christian -- especially if you're a songwriter. I got a lot of letters from people, especially after the album 'Stealing Fire,' and there were a lot of people in the Christian scene who found 'If I had a Rocket Launcher' very difficult. Because they weren't used to thinking about those things. "There were a lot of Christians who did understand it, the more liberal, for want of a better word, turn of mind," he points out. Nonetheless, "A lot of people wrote letters urging me, exhorting me, not to lose the way. At no point was I threatened with excommunication, but there was definitely a kind of standing back and going, 'What is this?' on the part of a lot of people."

-- from "The Social Commentaries of Bruce Cockburn" by J.D. Considine, Sun Pop Music Critic, Baltimore Sun, 18 March 1988. Submitted by Nigel Parry.

Pray for Norman

2006-09-26T16:53:00.000-04:00

Just a reminder, Norman's surgery is tomorrow: Sept. 27. As I mentioned before, that's four surgeons and 12 - 16 hours. There is major reconstructive work that needs to be done, and that's also where we need to concentrate our prayer "firepower". The guys of the Spiritual Disciplines class have decided to fast for Norman; some are fasting today, some are fasting tomorrow. I would also urge you to fast for Norman if you can and use the time in prayer for him and his family. Pray that the skin that will be grafted onto his face will live and thrive with blood so that it can be restored.

And expect God to answer. He is faithful!

About those precious stones...

2006-09-20T16:27:00.000-04:00

What significance are the twelve different stones that make up the foundation of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21:19-20? In case you were wondering...

First of all, there are twelve. Remember, twelve is the number of God's people.

But as to the stones themselves... see Exodus 28:15-21. In that passage, God commands Moses to make a very special breastpiece for the High Priest of the people. That breastpiece has 12 stones - in 4 rows of 3. Each one represents one of the 12 tribes of Israel -- the number of God's people is complete.

I think this also reflects that God loves our diversity -- He created it! Then he gathers that diversity into 1 breastpiece, into 1 Ultimate Community, into 1 holy people that finds its UNITY as priests and kings -- in the worship of the One True God!

Very exciting.

(The stone in the picture is a carnelian, one of the 12 John sees...)

Update on Norman

2006-09-15T22:22:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone,

Just a quick update on Norman --

The date for his surgery is set: Sept. 27. Four surgeons; 12 - 16 hours. There is major reconstructive work that needs to be done, and that's also where we need to concentrate our prayer "firepower". Either the skin graft will work and carry the blood necessary to restore his face, or it won't, the skin will die, and Norman will have a hole there. He is still preparing himself mentally. Please pray for him and for the family at this time.

Rob's Album of the Week

2006-09-14T13:41:00.000-04:00

Artist: Anouar Brahem
Album: Le Voyage de Sahar (2006)

Anouar Brahem is a Tunisian musician who plays the oud, which is the Arabic fretless lute. He's well grounded in the Arabic traditions, but currently he really loves improvising with Turkish and European musicians to create a kind of music that bridges East and West. It's a mixture of Middle East modes, free jazz, and chamber music; it's gorgeous, reflective, and spiritual.

On this album, his latest, he works with two French guys - one on piano and the other on accordion. Trust me, it works. This is "thinking" music for me.

Here's the link to Amazon, where you can hear sound samples.

Prayer

2006-09-13T22:19:00.000-04:00

Great prayer meeting tonight.

Something I read last night came to mind again at the start of the prayer meeting. Martin Luther wrote about the Canaanite woman's story. (See Matthew 15:21-28 if you can't quite remember the story.)

Here's what Luther says about this story, and why it's in the Bible:

"This is written for our comfort and instruction that we may know how deeply God hides his grace from us and that we must not think of him according to our ideas and feeling, but only according to his Word. Here we see that though Christ speaks harshly he does not give a final judgment, an absolute 'no'... The 'no' sounds stronger than the 'yes,' but nevertheless ther was more there of 'yes' than of 'no', a pure 'yes', deep and secret."

"This shows the state of our heart when sore pressed. Christ in this story behaves the way the heart feels, for it thinks the answer is 'no' when in reality it is not. Therefore the heart must turn away from its feeling and lay hold of the deep, secret 'yes' under the 'no', with firm faith in God's Word, as did this woman." (emphasis is mine)

from The Book of Jesus, edited by Calvin Miller, page 278 ($10 at Barnes 7 Noble; what a deal!)

I'm still processing this. I can't help but feel Luther's right, but it's still hard for me to comprehend. God truly does act in mysterious but wonderful ways.

Jury Duty Tomorrow

2006-09-12T18:26:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone,

Well, tomorrow is Jury Duty for me. Luckily it's the district court here in Royal Oak, so I'll walk to it. If it's anything like my two Chicago experiences, I'll go there wait for a few hours, do some reading and writing, and go home. A good chance to get some work done!

However, just one of these times I'd like to actually be picked and serve on a jury. I'd like to see and be part of the process!

Probably won't happen.

Anybody got any good jury duty stories?

UPDATE at 11:56 AM, 9/13:

The defendant was charged with domestic violence, second offense and at the last minute, decided to plead "no contest", which means no need for a jury trial. So we were dismissed at 10:10 or so.

I'm a bit disappointed because I wanted to be part of the process, but also happy because I've got stuff to do!

ThinkChristian: Genesis is different

2006-09-08T16:12:00.000-04:00

One of the neatest Christian blogs is ThinkChristian.net. They've got a number of contributors over there who must surf a lot and find all sorts of inspiring or thought-provoking things.

Anyways, they have a recent blog entry called "Genesis is different". It is a link over to a guy who briefly compares the creation account in Genesis with other ancient creation stories, and the differences are important. The main thing the author brings out is that Genesis doesn't exalt any one particular race or city, as most ancient creation accounts seem to do.

This reminds me of what Craig Smith, a Native American Christian who now witnesses to other Native Americans, likes to tell people. He tells people that he's from the Ojibwa tribe, the name of his tribe means "THE people". His wife is Navajo and Navajo (in that language) means "THE people". And apparently almost every tribe's name for themselves means that. A natural human tendency is to glorify our tribe.

But again we see God's truth reflected in Genesis: a creation story that glorifies nobody -- except God Himself.

He alone is worthy.

Rob's Album of the Week

2006-09-07T18:38:00.000-04:00

Let me know how this feature works out... if nobody wants to hear about what I listen to, I'll can this... but I thought about sharing what I'm listening to. As most of you know, I'm a big music fan, and I love sharing my music with others.

Artist: Delirious?
Album: The Mission Bell (2005)

Delirious? is one of the few Christian artists I really enjoy. Most Christian music is pretty cookie-cutter with predictable ballad-type music and straightforward (and often shallow) lyrics. That stuff I can't listen to, but Delirious? has gone beyond and makes real music, with their own definite, intense sound. Frankly, they can hold their own with U2, but they'll never get the same huge audience because their lyrics are explicitly "Jesus freak" Christian -- which is a great thing.

Delirious? started out as a church's worship band in England during the early 90s, and some of their songs have become worship music standards, for example, "I Could Sing of Your Love Forever", "What a Friend I've Found", and "Did you feel the mountains tremble?" You can catch most of these 'classics' on a double album, "The Cutting Edge".

Since that time, though, they've been making rock records and have gotten quite popular in Great Britain even among non-Christians. "The Mission Bell" is their latest effort. I've heard it said that it has a Coldplay sound. I don't know them; what I do know is that this is an 'in your face' Christian album. "Solid Rock" takes the old hymn and gives it a great new spin. "All This Time" is an intense song about keeping the faith despite public pressure. "Paint the Town Red" is a mission song about our mission as believers. "Take Off My Shoes" is about experiencing the immediate presence of God -- are you ready ofr that? Our hearts will be both purified and excited beyond our imagination on that day we see Him.

Listen to it loud!

Update schedule

2006-09-06T14:31:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone,

I didn't get to follow up my thoughts last week the next day... and now I think I've forgotten some. I wrote down some notes though.

I'm posting here to let you know that the sermon should be at the Archive by Wednesday (around noon) of every week. I also hope to post on this blog daily, perhaps around lunch time would be best.

Please enjoy this picture of wonderful waves as summer turns to fall...

Should we talk about the "lake of fire"?

2006-08-31T16:14:00.000-04:00

Particularly when trying to share our Christian faith with others?

I thought of this because I realize that it's a question that I didn't really address and answer in the sermon on Sunday. If we believe in eternal conscious punishment for those who have rejected the Creator, then we need to warn people about it, right?

My recommendation is to be very careful here... generally, I think we should stick to speaking about the basics of how God has shown His love through Jesus Christ, and that through faith in Him we are forgiven, rescued from slavery to sin and Satan. I don't believe the church's mission is to talk about the lake of fire -- the mission of the church is to talk about Jesus!

Let me support my case here by pointing to how Jesus' first disciples shared their faith -- they talked about the resurrection! Look through Acts -- Peter, Philip, and Paul all point to Jesus' resurrection as the urgent reason why people should put their faith in Jesus! It is often not necessary to elaborate on the punishment people face if they reject Jesus because the Gospel message contains within it the idea that rejecting Jesus means you're saying "NO" to the only hope you're going to have. Consider the famous verse John 3:16:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (NIV)

You usually don't have to go beyond this. But if you're sensing the Spirit's leading, or they ask you about the cost of rejecting Jesus, go on to the next 2 verses!

"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." -- John 3:17-18

Above all, pray that the person you are sharing your Christian faith with would see the person of Jesus and that a personal encounter with the Lord Himself would change their heart. In John 16, Jesus tells us that the work of the Holy Spirit is to convince people of the judgment (particularly that Satan has already been judged and is now awaiting his final execution). Jesus talked about hell more than anyone else; if you must talk about hell, it's good to show them His words about it.

I've got more thoughts on this... I'll post tomorrow...

Overwhelmed by Chicago... but confident in an unseen God

2006-08-22T17:04:00.000-04:00

I wanted to post about some thoughts I had on our recent trip to Chicago for the Alliance's New Official Worker Forum, held in Wheaton. We came into the city on Amtrak and went out to Wheaton by commuter rail. Travelling by train (especially one moving slowly) removes my feeling of control, which probably started these thoughts I'm about to share.

First of all, the downtown overwhelmed me in a way that never happened when we lived in the city. Probably that means we've gotten used to the smaller city feeling of Detroit. Detroit's big, no doubt, but Chicago is massive and its downtown is booming and construction continues. There seems to be more skyscrapers, and they're bigger too.

I'm not sure why, but I started thinking, "Big Money continues to call the shots... all of these people I can see are dominated by big corporations... the rich get richer and everybody else treads water, and the vast majority of people either ignore God or treat him as a hobby... there are so few who REALLY want to be disciples of Christ... "

Needless to say, I began to doubt whether the church was having any effect on society, particularly in a proud city like Chicago. My thoughts remained stuck there and I didn't talk to Lisa at all except to say I was thinking and didn't want to share.

When we arrived at Wheaton, we still had a ways to walk with our suitcases. I finally started to share with Lisa what I was thinking... and as I was talking, I realized that I had to simply TRUST Jesus that HE was doing His work, no matter what things looked like. Of course, this is one of the major truths of Revelation, but I really think being stuck on slow trains and staring out the windows was starting to mess with my mind... or I was allowing it to, anyway.

But as we were waling through Wheaton, I remembered that His Kingdom is invisible, and thank God that it is. It's bigger than our eyes can see, and it is only grasped, it's only understood by FAITH.

And then John Meyer's favorite verse came to me (he's pastor of the Alliance church plant down in Hamtramck):

"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." -- 1 Corinthians 15:58

And that's the deal -- no matter what we see, even when we observe a world obsessed with money, power, and instant gratification. Our PRIMARY reward for doing the Lord's work is not going to be something we see here.

This encourages me to always serve the Lord first, no matter who my earthly boss is, or even if I'm unemployed or retired. He is our Master; what a blessing to work for His INVISIBLE Kingdom.

Because one day, everything that's invisible is going to come out into the open.

mp3 Converter - found!

2006-08-17T14:14:00.000-04:00

Ed found a good one from download.com, and I'm going to set to work converting the sermon files to mp3s -- which will be much more download friendly! Praise God! Thanks Ed.

Update on Norman

2006-08-16T17:49:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone,

I talked to May today and she gave me the news on Norman -- they've talked to their case manager at Henry Ford Hospital and Norman's surgery will probably be in late September. There are two reasons for the delay:

1. Norman needs to donate blood twice in the next six weeks (once for every three week interval until the surgery) that will be stored to use for the surgery. Why not use donor blood? Donor blood is typically used for accident victims or those needing emergency surgery.

2. Norman's surgery is going to be a 12-16 hour event. (Wow) Accordingly, the case manager needs to find a day that all FIVE doctors (four surgeons and a trauma doctor) can be present for the surgery.

Norman is enduring the pain and trying not to become addicted to the pain killing medicine he is taking in the meantime. Pray that God would sustain him and give him relief. Also pray for May and Winston as they do all the things they need to do around the house and especially in supporting Norman. Also pray for them that God would guide the arrangements that face them in the next few weeks, for the surgery and also for the long-term disability paperwork.

Beware the Brew of the False Prophet

2006-08-11T20:22:00.000-04:00

When we looked at Revelation 17 and 18, we saw God's warning to His people: that we must reject the seductive charms of materialism. Satan uses Big Money to seduce and trap people into the addictions of luxury. And as we all know, the "System" is horribly oppressive to those who serve it, as well as those who reject it.

The False Prophet of Revelation, also called the "beast from the earth", isn't known as well. When we looked at him in Revelation 13, and talked about briefly last week, is that he exists to bring glory to the Beast -- which is the Evil Empire, the political and military system Satan and his forces use to enslave the world and oppress God's people.

How does he do this? He does it by getting people to worship the government. This happened in Rome's day, it goes on today, and it will be very much the case in the last days. How can we spot it? We can see it in those governments that whip up their people to huge amounts of nationalism, the obsessive devotion to country that Satan uses to lead people to worship something other than God.

For fun, I've been reading Josef Joffe's Uberpower: The Imperial Temptation of America at bedtime. He is a German newspaper editor, and Jewish I believe, so I wasn't expecting any theological insight. After discussing the current situation in China, he gets philosophical and calls nationalism "the most powerful political glue ever invented." (page 199) My eyes popped out of my head as I kept reading:

"Its promise is the deceptive equality delivered by the one political good that comes with an inexhaustible supply: national idenity, pride, and exceptionialism. Power and wealth are by definition limited assets; what I acquire, you cannot. Not so nationalism, a bottomless well that will never run dry. All can drink from it without clashing over who gets what and how much - there is more than enough from all. Even better, as they gulp down the intoxicating liquid, all persons are alike. Whether rich or poor, mighty or meek, they are one another's equals in the community of fate that is the nation... The promise of community on the cheap explains... how eagerly such a heady brew is lapped up by a people tortured by deepening rifts of income and status." (page 199-200)

This is the cup the False Prophet offers!

Paul and Peter tell us in the New Testament that we are to respect our leaders, and generally submit and obey the laws of the government. Jesus tells us that we should "give to Caesar what is Caesar's." I think the Bible wants us to have a healhy patriotism that supports our country, pays taxes, and serves our nation. We live in a great country that allows us to criticize it as part of our civic duty.

But nationalism, or obsessive devotion, to a flag or a government is a dangerous force in our world today. Let us pray for those who are seduced to worshipping their country, and let us beware of it ourselves.

(Photo by Oliver Gruner)

PRAY FOR THIS MAN!

2006-08-10T10:47:00.000-04:00

Take the "drug trafficking" charges with a big grain of salt, folks.

August 8 (Compass Direct News) – Seven years after Issa Motamedi Mojdehi converted from Islam to Christianity, Iranian secret police have jailed him for abandoning Islam but officially charged him with illegal drug trafficking.

Authorities formally charged the 31-year-old Christian with drug trafficking when he was arrested two weeks ago. But Savama (secret police) officials have told Motamedi Mojdehi that his real offense, said to be recorded in his confidential legal file, is abandoning Islam. Unless he renounces his Christian faith and returns to Islam, officials told him, he will remain in jail and possibly face execution.

Read the whole story at Compass Direct here.

Issa has a wife, 8 year old daughter, and an infant son. Pray for them too. May God bring to justice all of the regimes that hurt His Church!

Hearing God

2006-08-04T15:42:00.000-04:00

I might have mentioned before that our District Superintendent, Rev. Jeff Brown, who oversees our church as well as the other Alliance Churches in the Lower Peninsula and around Toledo, has asked that each pastor set aside a day for prayer and fasting. I did this on Tuesday evening into Wednesday and, as part of the day, spent some time reading a book I had ordered last year but hadn't found the time to do any reading in -- Hearing God; Developing a Conversational Relationship with God by Dallas Willard.

I may have mentioned that phrase before, "conversational relationship". I'm convinced it is key to experiencing all that God has for us in our life.

In the book, Willard's task is dealing "with hearing God as it bears upon a whole life in the will of God - upon the question of who God wants us to be as well as (where appropriate) of what he wants us to do." (page 12) Rick Warren, if I'm remembering right, mentions this in The Purpose Driven Life as well.

The issue I'm really excited about though -- in reading this book -- is developing a lifestyle of continually communicating with God. We may have talked about this in Discipleship Group when we discussed the discipline of prayer. It is important that we have a daily time with God, but also important that we realize that our relationship with him isn't just limited to that morning (or bedtime, or whatever and whenever it is for you) "transaction".

"The biblical record always presents the relationship between God and the believer as more like a friendship or family tie than like merely one person's arranging to take care of the needs of another." (page 23)

How exciting!

Bye Bye Babylon...

2006-08-04T15:04:00.000-04:00

I saw an insight earlier this week, and I wanted to share it because one of the core issues when we consider our place in this world is TRUST.

"When Babylon perishes, the economic chaos is complete; the world of the unbeliever, on which he has pinned his hopes and built his trust, collapses! This is true with respect to the fall of every Babylon -- whether it is literal Babylon, or Nineveh, or Rome." -- William Hendriksen, one of the best interpreters of Revelation, as quoted in Revelation: 4 Views, edited by Steve Gregg

I would add our current global capitalism to the mix. It too, shall pass, which is what Gene always says. So don't trust it!

Our true Home is somewhere else - it's Someone else - we will see Him face to face one day...

2006-07-26T10:27:00.000-04:00

We're back... and off to the All Church Retreat

2006-07-20T11:03:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone,

We're back from the New Official Workers' Forum this past weekend. Monday and Tuesday was packed with informative sessions on the Alliance network and situation, as well as important words from God on depending on Him in ministry. We took Amtrak to and from Chicago which was comfortable but rather late in arriving. We are more excited than ever on beginning a new initiative to minister to international students. Please pray over the next couple of weeks that God would really guide us as August - as that is a critical month for starting a strong intl student outreach.

We have the All Church Retreat THIS weekend! If you haven't registered yet, that's OK. You can show up at the retreat the day off. All of you should have gotten registration forms back in June. This gives you direction information. See you there!

Where were we on July 4?

2006-07-14T12:37:00.000-04:00

I'm posting a picture for two reasons: to see if I can, and also show you a picture of me at the grill with my teammates in the Dearborn area: Pastor Haytham and Douglas Bennett. We have these kind of picnics at every holiday, if you're interested in attending, and have Arab or Muslim friends you'd like to invite, let me know! We'll make sure we let you know when the next one is! These are great times to be involved in the friendship-building (and party) aspect of this ministry!

By the way, that's kafta we're cooking. Gene can tell you how yummy it is...

Buying stuff and selling our souls

2006-07-13T14:20:00.000-04:00

This past Sunday, we talked about the persuasive power of the world, and God's grace which sets us free to realize that our value comes from a right relationship with our Creator.

I wanted to clarify, though, that I am NOT against buying nice things. There are definitely times and places (anniversaries, graduations, special occasions) where a gift of a 'nice thing' can be a special and touching thing, and that it is nice to occasionally purchase a 'nice thing'.

But the question is - and it's always this:

Whom do you serve?
Who's your Master?

If you just 'gotta go shopping'... if you can't imagine not having your premium cable package... if you're feeling like your neighbors have the nicest stuff... then it's time to stop and think:

Who's my master?

The world's Big Business wants us to think that when we've got $, then we're empowered, and that it's THEN that we've made it, that we're our own boss, and we can call the shots, if we want it, we can buy it! The world sells this, but God tells us not to buy it. Don't fall for the prostitute's promise of good feelings, don't become the world's tool.

Why not?

Because there is only one who is the "Lover of Our Souls" and He is waiting to transform us into all that we were made to be! This world, with all of its stuff, and all the TV ads that sell that stuff, is passing away and it won't last. And no sacrifice we make for His sake can compare to daily experiencing His grace in our lives.

For more on this subject, here is a great article in Christianity Today by fellow Alliance pastor Skye Jethani:
"We find ourselves in a culture that defines our relationships and actions primarily through a matrix of consumption. As the philosopher Baudrillard explains, "Consumption is a system of meaning." We assign value to ourselves and others based on the goods we purchase. One's identity is now constructed by the clothes you wear, the vehicle you drive, and the music on your iPod.
"In short, you are what you consume.
"This explains why shopping is the number one leisure activity of Americans. It occupies a role in society that once belonged only to religion—the power to give meaning and construct identity."

Skye's last word is great, though:

"After all, in a consumer culture the customer, not Christ, is king."

"With her [Bablyon, the world's Big Business] the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries." (Revelation 17:2, NIV)

Don't be seduced by Babylon's wine, dear friends. Make Christ the King of your life -- including your wallet.

Prayer Request: Louise's foot

2006-07-06T17:33:00.000-04:00

I've been swapping emails with Dan and he reports that Louise had her surgery on Monday. She is now recovering, and the kids are helping, but pray that she would recover well.

Independence Day Thoughts

2006-07-04T15:02:00.000-04:00

Happy 4th of July. God has indeed been gracious to the United States, and I'm grateful for it. Sure, there's plenty of things about our foreign and domestic policies that I don't like. But I'm happy to call this country my home; a country which values human dignity and holds itself and its leaders accountable through checks and balances. Sure, there are flaws; sometimes there are scandals. But by and large, this country values truth and compassion - and this is God's grace, for humans by nature are deceitful and selfish. There is still much work to do; let us pray that God will continue to be gracious to us and help us to do this work. The home of the Christian is heaven, first and foremost, and we must not forget this.

But today, let's honor this country we call our current home. Happy 4th of July.

UPDATE at July 5, 2006, 6:13 PM:

I tried to get the image of an American flag on here and couldn't quite do it.

Up and Running....

2006-07-02T22:04:00.000-04:00

Well, there's still some tweaks to make and features to expand but the new 2nd Vision website is up and running -- www.2ndvision.org. A new banner will be needed (calling all artists!). Somewhere to put photos -- any ideas? I need to put the rest of the links on the side here. And if you've got any ideas for daily or weekly features of the blog, let us know.

2nd Vision's Blog

2006-04-13T12:17:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone,

The intent of this blog is to be somewhere 2nd Vision leadership can post devotional thoughts, prayer requests, announcements, cool websites or pages they've found, and random musings! Hopefully this can be a great communication tool for us!