In Amusing Ourselves To Death, Neil Postman makes the case the televising certain things is inherently bad because of one simple thing: "If it's on TV, it's entertainment." Televised education makes children see learning as entertainment, and as a result, they have a hard time in school because it's not designed as entertainment. Death and violence are entertainment in all news stations, and as a result the general public grows numb to violent images and dialogue.
And this isn't necessarily the fault of the producers of the shows. They're just buying into a system where if you're involved in TV, you have to have your product be entertaining. That's just the way it is. I got the impression that Neil Postman wasn't making the case to throw out TV altogether, but just to keep the things that ought not to be entertainment off TV. I'm not sure if that was the case he was trying to make, that was my take on it. But in this post I want to focus on something more specific under the genus of things that aren't entertainment: The Bible.
Come on people. There's a show that can be found on The Game Show Network, called The American Bible Challenge, a trivia show that tests little-known knowledge of God's holy revelation to mankind.
To begin with, some people probably support this show with the argument, "But having the Bible proclaimed in public in any way is a good thing, you heathen!" Not true. Having the Holy Word of God under the "Entertainment" label will give every new Christian and non-believer totally the wrong impression about it. Should the word of the triune, infinite, and omnipotent God really be on the same level with Newlywed Game, High Stakes Poker, and Love Triangle?
Proclaiming the Bible with, "How long will you who are simple love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? Repent at my rebuke! Then I will pour out my thoughts to you..", is just a little different from, "Now you can play the game on Facebook, Android, and iPhone!"
"Well at least it gets people to look in their Bibles..." Sure. And I'm sure that because of this trivia show they'll undoubtedly be looking in their Bibles for undeniable truths, guidance, and wisdom from the Lord! If they read their Bibles at all because of this show it will only be in the light of entertainment, about on the same level with a quick Google search for how many babies a given actress had in one year. That's totally the way Christians should want people to think about the Bible.
In the light of unbelievers, who might join Christianity because of this show (supposing that there are any) they'll probably only come with the mindset of "I'm becoming a Christian because it's fun!".... Do I even need to go into detail about why that's bad? (Seriously though, if I do then just comment.)
And one more thing: They had a team called "Team Victorious Secret". No comment, no comment at all: moving on.
So I'm condemning The American Bible Challenge, not because it's someone in public talking about the Bible, or because knowing things about the Bible isn't good, but because as it presents the Bible wrong way, and in doing so, puts it on the same level as that which is empty, shallow, and dramatically-disguised. And I can't even talk about Christian quality, tele-pastors, cuteness in Christianity, or the whole concept behind "Tebowing". Those are discussions for other posts. ;)
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Showing posts with label Christianity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christianity. Show all posts
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Saturday, September 1, 2012
New Saint Andrew's Celebratio!
I have been privileged and blessed enough to be able to attend the New Saint Andrew's Celebratio and Grace Agenda, September 14th-17th. This is an event for prospective students, as well as current students and adults. I think I'll be attending the following events:
Future Makers
Douglas Wilson
Love Makers
Justin Holcomb
Man Makers
Ben Merkle
Peace Makers
Toby Sumpter
Trouble Makers
N.D. Wilson
Do Gay Rights Conflict With Conservative Christian Values?
A debate between Douglas Wilson and R. Clarke Cooper
Sit-In On NSA Class
Crisis of Masculinity
Douglas Wilson
Douglas Wilson interviews Ben Merkle and N.D. Wilson
I'll try to take notes on each session, and I'll be sure to post any notes and pictures I get. I hope ya'll enjoy them!
Nota Bene: I got the picture for this post directly from the NSA homepage.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Not all rigor is mortis.
Not all rigor is mortis. Though, to be honest, most of our best teachers are dead.
Augustine, Calvin, Ambrose, T.S. Eliot, Flannery O'Connor, Chesterton. All dead.
The Liberal Arts are a bloody business. And people aren't the only casualties. Languages have died. Cities- gone. Libraries- burned by insecure bearded invaders. Don't even ask about the arts. Or Byzantium.
But the history of the Western world isn't over. We're standing in it. Standing on it. The same ancient wars are being waged and the same enemies are entrenched outside the walls of the City of God. They're even wearing the same face paint. This is no time to mourn or go wobbly.
We're not dad yet. We're in the thick of it. Rigor vitae. Break out the bread. Pour the wine. And when we do join the saints beyond the fray, we'll have left others behind, trained, eager, laughing, ready for their turn.
-New Saint Andrews College (And I'd bet my life that it was N. D. Wilson that wrote it for them.)
Augustine, Calvin, Ambrose, T.S. Eliot, Flannery O'Connor, Chesterton. All dead.
The Liberal Arts are a bloody business. And people aren't the only casualties. Languages have died. Cities- gone. Libraries- burned by insecure bearded invaders. Don't even ask about the arts. Or Byzantium.
But the history of the Western world isn't over. We're standing in it. Standing on it. The same ancient wars are being waged and the same enemies are entrenched outside the walls of the City of God. They're even wearing the same face paint. This is no time to mourn or go wobbly.
We're not dad yet. We're in the thick of it. Rigor vitae. Break out the bread. Pour the wine. And when we do join the saints beyond the fray, we'll have left others behind, trained, eager, laughing, ready for their turn.
-New Saint Andrews College (And I'd bet my life that it was N. D. Wilson that wrote it for them.)
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Chick-fil-A Gay Marriage Contraversy: Explanation and Timeline
There's been a lot of contraversy about Chick-fil-A recently, and it's made a lot of headlines. Some of the factual information was taken from the Go Sanangelo blog.
July 16th, 2012: Dan Cathy (head of all Chick-fil-A's everywhere) commented to Baptist Press, that they as a company are "guilty as charged" with their support of, traditional, biblical, heterosexual marriage.
August 1st, 2012: (Unofficial) Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day, as organized by Mike Huckabee.
August 3rd, 2012: Gay/Lesbian Kiss-In. A gay/lesbian couple is just supposed to go to a Chick-fil-A and take a picture of them kissing.
-As far as Cathy's comment goes this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. The whole first part of the interview is about how Christianly-oriented Chick-fil-A is. There are many who love, and many who hate Chick-fil-A and Cathy for this. There are many different reasons on both sides.
-Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day was a smashing success. No one expected the amazing turn-out that we had. Our building was packed the whole day. It literally changed the definition of busy. We ran out of chicken by 9:00 or so that night and we made 50% more than a normal day. It was actually our busiest day, topping even our grand opening.
-The Aug, 3rd Kiss-In wasn't too bad for our restaurant-- after all we're basically the buckle of the Bible-belt. There was only one gay couple, even though many more RSPV'd on Facebook. I suppose that some Chick-fil-A's in places like California and New York were hit pretty badly.
At first I didn't realize that Cathy had been asked about his views on marriage, so I didn't think that it was a very good business move. I thought he had just published one day "I stand for traditional marriage!". But now that I know it was an interview in which he had to make a choice I support his decision and the way he made it. I must say that I also support it partially because in the grand scheme of things, he is my boss and I'm at least partially obligated to support what he says. Uniformity of the company and all.
Barnabas Piper wrote a thought-provoking article for a World Magazine site. He brings up the issue that it will be harder for Christians and others to minister to and convert gays and lesbians and those who support and condone if we further divide ourselves. Others countered this by bringing up that we as Christians are called to fight against certain things.
This again whole issue begs the question in my mind of what exactly does it mean to refuse to being supportive or apathetic to the sin, but to be able to minister to these people. It's obviously wrong and against what the Bible says to be gay or lesbian. But how can we love the sinner while still hating the sin? Well I'm still trying to figure this out. I think that it would be to be open to talking and forming relationships with gays/lesbians, but if asked for our opinions on what the right kind of marriage is, to solidly stand for Biblical marriage (while still trying not too offend the person).
July 16th, 2012: Dan Cathy (head of all Chick-fil-A's everywhere) commented to Baptist Press, that they as a company are "guilty as charged" with their support of, traditional, biblical, heterosexual marriage.
August 1st, 2012: (Unofficial) Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day, as organized by Mike Huckabee.
August 3rd, 2012: Gay/Lesbian Kiss-In. A gay/lesbian couple is just supposed to go to a Chick-fil-A and take a picture of them kissing.
-As far as Cathy's comment goes this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. The whole first part of the interview is about how Christianly-oriented Chick-fil-A is. There are many who love, and many who hate Chick-fil-A and Cathy for this. There are many different reasons on both sides.
-Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day was a smashing success. No one expected the amazing turn-out that we had. Our building was packed the whole day. It literally changed the definition of busy. We ran out of chicken by 9:00 or so that night and we made 50% more than a normal day. It was actually our busiest day, topping even our grand opening.
-The Aug, 3rd Kiss-In wasn't too bad for our restaurant-- after all we're basically the buckle of the Bible-belt. There was only one gay couple, even though many more RSPV'd on Facebook. I suppose that some Chick-fil-A's in places like California and New York were hit pretty badly.
At first I didn't realize that Cathy had been asked about his views on marriage, so I didn't think that it was a very good business move. I thought he had just published one day "I stand for traditional marriage!". But now that I know it was an interview in which he had to make a choice I support his decision and the way he made it. I must say that I also support it partially because in the grand scheme of things, he is my boss and I'm at least partially obligated to support what he says. Uniformity of the company and all.
Barnabas Piper wrote a thought-provoking article for a World Magazine site. He brings up the issue that it will be harder for Christians and others to minister to and convert gays and lesbians and those who support and condone if we further divide ourselves. Others countered this by bringing up that we as Christians are called to fight against certain things.
This again whole issue begs the question in my mind of what exactly does it mean to refuse to being supportive or apathetic to the sin, but to be able to minister to these people. It's obviously wrong and against what the Bible says to be gay or lesbian. But how can we love the sinner while still hating the sin? Well I'm still trying to figure this out. I think that it would be to be open to talking and forming relationships with gays/lesbians, but if asked for our opinions on what the right kind of marriage is, to solidly stand for Biblical marriage (while still trying not too offend the person).
Friday, August 3, 2012
G.K. Chesterton (Omnibus V Textbook) Douglas Wilson
This is something that I didn't write, it's totally worth passing on because it's well written, it's about G.K. Chesterton, and it was written by Douglas Wilson.
"G.K. Chesterton was a prolific writer of the early twentieth century. After a short period of unbelief in his youth, he lived most of his life as a very public Christian, converting to Roman Catholicism in 1922. He was born in 1874 and died in 1936, which means that almost all of his literary work was conducted in the early twentieth century. He wrote hundreds of poems, thousands of essays, hundreds of short stories, and eighty books. His output was enormous, but his span was equally staggering. He wrote about philosophy, he wrote biographies, he dealt with economics, he was a journalist, he was a Christian apologist, he wrote detective fiction, and he wrote fantasy. In short he was a torrent of literary output.
He was a large man, with a much larger imagination. He was almost 300 pounds and was 6' 4" tall. He has accurately been described as "the prince of paradox." He once said that a paradox is truth standing on its head to get attention. His wit was memorable, and he is one of the most quoted figures of the twentieth century. He was a friendly adversary to George Bernard Shaw, who once patted his stomach and asked what they were going to name the baby. Without missing a beat, Chesterton replied that if it was a girl, they would name her Mary, if a boy John. But if it turned out to be only gas, they would name it George Bernard Shaw.
Chesterton was an apostle of bracing, good sense. Someone once said of C.S. Lewis that he "made righteousness readable." This is a quality that he shared with Chesterton, and not surprisingly Chesterton was a significant influence on Lewis:
"It was here that I first read a volume of Chesterton's essays. I had never heard of him and had no idea of what he stood for; nor can I quite understand why he made such an immediate conquest of me....Liking an author may be as involuntary and improbable as falling in love. I was by now a sufficiently experienced reader to distinguish liking from agreement. I did not need to accept what Chesterton said in order to enjoy it.... I liked him for his goodness."
If Lewis is father to many hundreds of thousands, we may consider Chesterton in some way to be their grandfather. Chesterton was significant for the generations that followed him because of the influential people he influenced. He helped to shape and form those who were to be enormously influential. Chesterton was truly a great man.
But he was also significant in his own day, in his own generation. Just as the Evangelical Awakening, ed by men like Whitefield and Wesley, was a part of the reason England was spared a bloodbath like the French Revolution, so also the sunny disposition and common sense faith exhibited by Chesterton was a very real antidote to the fashionable intellectual currents steering Europe towards war. In the aftermath of World War II, it is often hard for us to see how au courant fascism was- not just in Italy and Germany, but also in England and America. Chesterton stood courageously (and winsomely) against many of the popular political idols of the age."
-Douglas Wilson
"G.K. Chesterton was a prolific writer of the early twentieth century. After a short period of unbelief in his youth, he lived most of his life as a very public Christian, converting to Roman Catholicism in 1922. He was born in 1874 and died in 1936, which means that almost all of his literary work was conducted in the early twentieth century. He wrote hundreds of poems, thousands of essays, hundreds of short stories, and eighty books. His output was enormous, but his span was equally staggering. He wrote about philosophy, he wrote biographies, he dealt with economics, he was a journalist, he was a Christian apologist, he wrote detective fiction, and he wrote fantasy. In short he was a torrent of literary output.
He was a large man, with a much larger imagination. He was almost 300 pounds and was 6' 4" tall. He has accurately been described as "the prince of paradox." He once said that a paradox is truth standing on its head to get attention. His wit was memorable, and he is one of the most quoted figures of the twentieth century. He was a friendly adversary to George Bernard Shaw, who once patted his stomach and asked what they were going to name the baby. Without missing a beat, Chesterton replied that if it was a girl, they would name her Mary, if a boy John. But if it turned out to be only gas, they would name it George Bernard Shaw.
Chesterton was an apostle of bracing, good sense. Someone once said of C.S. Lewis that he "made righteousness readable." This is a quality that he shared with Chesterton, and not surprisingly Chesterton was a significant influence on Lewis:
"It was here that I first read a volume of Chesterton's essays. I had never heard of him and had no idea of what he stood for; nor can I quite understand why he made such an immediate conquest of me....Liking an author may be as involuntary and improbable as falling in love. I was by now a sufficiently experienced reader to distinguish liking from agreement. I did not need to accept what Chesterton said in order to enjoy it.... I liked him for his goodness."
If Lewis is father to many hundreds of thousands, we may consider Chesterton in some way to be their grandfather. Chesterton was significant for the generations that followed him because of the influential people he influenced. He helped to shape and form those who were to be enormously influential. Chesterton was truly a great man.
But he was also significant in his own day, in his own generation. Just as the Evangelical Awakening, ed by men like Whitefield and Wesley, was a part of the reason England was spared a bloodbath like the French Revolution, so also the sunny disposition and common sense faith exhibited by Chesterton was a very real antidote to the fashionable intellectual currents steering Europe towards war. In the aftermath of World War II, it is often hard for us to see how au courant fascism was- not just in Italy and Germany, but also in England and America. Chesterton stood courageously (and winsomely) against many of the popular political idols of the age."
-Douglas Wilson
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing Analysis
My favorite hymn of all time is "Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing". Here's a line-by line analysis with some grammatical explanations, just to keep things clear. ¡Enjoy!
Come, thou fount of every blessing,
This line compares God to a fountain that is continually pouring forth blessings and goodness.
Tune my heart to sing thy grace (praise);
This line shows a willing heart to worship God, but admits that I am still a fallen human. In the version that uses grace is also says specifically that I want to praise God's grace.
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Another water analogy, now using a river or a stream. Have you ever noticed that streams really do seem unending? The water just keeps coming and coming, with gallons upon gallons rushing past. A fitting analogy for God's mercy. Note that it uses the word mercy instead of grace now.
NOTE: The difference between mercy and grace: You are given mercy when you don't receive a punishment that you fully deserve. You are given grace when you are given a good thing that you don't deserve. When your mom doesn't ground you for disobeying her, that's mercy. When she gives you cookies right after you've been disrespectful to her that's grace. ¿Got it? Good. :)
Call for songs of loudest praise.
This is actually a continuation of the last line, but even so it shows that God's mercy merits the maximum amount of praise because of its greatness.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
This line shows again that I am a sinner, unable to glorify God as He deserves.
Sung by flaming tongues above.
This phrase modifies the word sonnet. Duh, but I want to be clear. This lines says that I want to be as good at worshiping as the very ones who are in God's presence.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it,
A comparison of God's love to a mountain, unmoving, unchangeable, and stable. This line reiterates, one, that God's love is immovable, and two, that I am an object of His love. Also, this line shows that God's love is not dependent on anything that we do. The thing that His love is compared to is not something that we can hold, or even reject.
Mount of God's (thy) redeeming (unchanging) love.
This phrase clarifies the mount that I'm praising. There are a couple other variations that I've heard, but the differences are slight. Changing "God's" to "Thy" would only change the person to whom the song is being sung, though both are good. It is necessary for Christians to not only address God directly, but also to affirm their worship to others.
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
I had no idea what this was supposed to mean so I Googled it. Here's the link if you would like to read the full article, which is written by Apologetics Press. I would highly suggest it. It won't take too long. :) Taken from the article:
"An Ebenezer, then, is simply a monumental stone set up to signify the great help that God granted the one raising the stone. In Robinson’s poem, it figuratively meant that the writer—and all who subsequently sing the song—acknowledge God’s bountiful blessings and help in their lives."
And this again affirms the blessings and assistance in the life of a fallen human like me.
Hither by Thy help I've come;
This line again references the story in 1 Samuel 7. Read the by Apologetics Press for more info. But also this line and the following can be taken apart from that reference. They can be taken to remind how God guides us through all the walks of life....
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.
...until our travels end safe and secure with Him. This also reiterates that I am one of the ones who is saved. I really appreciate that.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
This line not only admits that we are fallen and wandering from God, but it also reminds us of how Christ pursued us in the midst of our sin.
Wandering from the fold of God;
This line modifies what I was doing as a stranger: Being outside of the blessings of God.
He, to rescue me from danger, interposed His precious blood.
interpose: (verb) 1. place or insert between one thing and another.
2. intervene between parties
In taking the punishment for our sins Jesus literally shielded us all from the righteous wrath of God with His own body. He inserted Himself between us and out infinite punishment, and when God sees us, it's as though He doesn't see our failures. Instead He sees Christ's blood and righteousness, because that too is interposed.
In taking our punishment Christ also interposes by intervening on our behalf to God the Father. Some people take this to mean that God The Father is the bad guy who is just out to get us all, but Christ disobeyed Him by being crucified. This is a bunch of liberal nonsense. There is perfect unity in the Trinity.
O to grace how great a debtor
This is one of my favorite lines. It reminds me how much I have sinned and how really in debt I am to God's grace.
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Not only am I greatly indebted to God's grace, but I am literally indebted every single day of my life. Therefore I should be constantly thanking and praising God for it.
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
This line and the next ask God to literally chain me to Him through His goodness. Not only does this line again reiterate God's goodness, but through it I request God to make it so that I can never leave Him.
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
What I get out of this line is that I admit that I am a wandering sinner, but I still want to be with God, and that I love Him.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
I'm a wrongdoer, it's true....
Prone to leave the God I love;
...but I still love my Lord...
Here's my heart, o take and seal it,
...so I want God to make it so that we will never be apart.
It really resinated with me when I heard this line because one of my mentors, teachers, pastors, and friends, Pastor Lotzer, had taught me that there are two meanings to the word seal.
The first is that sealing of preservation. If you seal something in a can or a ziploc bag it's thoroughly protected from things that would make it go bad or things that would do it harm. By being asked to be sealed I ask God for protection from without and from within.
The second meaning of the word seal is that of validation. This kind of seal is the seal that is found pressed in wax on letters, and the seal that's found on the floor of the capitol building. It's a seal that says "This comes from us: it's official. You'd better respect it." This kind of seal says exactly that from God.
Seal it for Thy courts above.
Keep me protected until I am in Your courts with you, and declare me to be Yours until then as well.
It took me a little while to figure out exactly why I like this song so much, but I narrowed it down to a few main reasons: I can really relate to songs that have archaic words and phrases, this song constantly reminds me of how much God blesses us and how good He is, it has a strong emphasis on grace (Grace is seriously the most amazing thing ever), it reminds me that I am still a sinner, but it shows that I still love God.
I'll talk about this last point for a little bit. I had been struggling theologically with one thing for a few months now. I had heard from Jamey, out youth pastor, and a few other people that "Faith without works is dead. If you don't have good works then you should inspect yourself and see if you really do have faith." Well this reasoning seemed to imply to me that I didn't have faith because I wasn't perfect. It worried me and I didn't like thinking about it.
But I was at MFUGE camp at Glorietta, NM last week and the speaker, Ben, said something that really helped: (Paraphrased) "Faith without works is dead, but this doesn't mean that if you sin you're not saved. It just means that as a whole you'll start getting better. As you move on in your life you'll gradually get better and better, closer and closer to God. Of course you're going to fall down, but as a whole you'll be improving."
This hit the nail right on the head for me. And this song admits that I fall down and fail, but by the grace of God I'm moving forward, and because of all this I can join Paul in saying "I run thus: not with uncertainty."
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
I had no idea what this was supposed to mean so I Googled it. Here's the link if you would like to read the full article, which is written by Apologetics Press. I would highly suggest it. It won't take too long. :) Taken from the article:
"An Ebenezer, then, is simply a monumental stone set up to signify the great help that God granted the one raising the stone. In Robinson’s poem, it figuratively meant that the writer—and all who subsequently sing the song—acknowledge God’s bountiful blessings and help in their lives."
And this again affirms the blessings and assistance in the life of a fallen human like me.
Hither by Thy help I've come;
This line again references the story in 1 Samuel 7. Read the by Apologetics Press for more info. But also this line and the following can be taken apart from that reference. They can be taken to remind how God guides us through all the walks of life....
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.
...until our travels end safe and secure with Him. This also reiterates that I am one of the ones who is saved. I really appreciate that.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
This line not only admits that we are fallen and wandering from God, but it also reminds us of how Christ pursued us in the midst of our sin.
Wandering from the fold of God;
This line modifies what I was doing as a stranger: Being outside of the blessings of God.
He, to rescue me from danger, interposed His precious blood.
interpose: (verb) 1. place or insert between one thing and another.
2. intervene between parties
In taking the punishment for our sins Jesus literally shielded us all from the righteous wrath of God with His own body. He inserted Himself between us and out infinite punishment, and when God sees us, it's as though He doesn't see our failures. Instead He sees Christ's blood and righteousness, because that too is interposed.
In taking our punishment Christ also interposes by intervening on our behalf to God the Father. Some people take this to mean that God The Father is the bad guy who is just out to get us all, but Christ disobeyed Him by being crucified. This is a bunch of liberal nonsense. There is perfect unity in the Trinity.
O to grace how great a debtor
This is one of my favorite lines. It reminds me how much I have sinned and how really in debt I am to God's grace.
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Not only am I greatly indebted to God's grace, but I am literally indebted every single day of my life. Therefore I should be constantly thanking and praising God for it.
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
This line and the next ask God to literally chain me to Him through His goodness. Not only does this line again reiterate God's goodness, but through it I request God to make it so that I can never leave Him.
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
What I get out of this line is that I admit that I am a wandering sinner, but I still want to be with God, and that I love Him.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
I'm a wrongdoer, it's true....
Prone to leave the God I love;
...but I still love my Lord...
Here's my heart, o take and seal it,
...so I want God to make it so that we will never be apart.
It really resinated with me when I heard this line because one of my mentors, teachers, pastors, and friends, Pastor Lotzer, had taught me that there are two meanings to the word seal.
The first is that sealing of preservation. If you seal something in a can or a ziploc bag it's thoroughly protected from things that would make it go bad or things that would do it harm. By being asked to be sealed I ask God for protection from without and from within.
The second meaning of the word seal is that of validation. This kind of seal is the seal that is found pressed in wax on letters, and the seal that's found on the floor of the capitol building. It's a seal that says "This comes from us: it's official. You'd better respect it." This kind of seal says exactly that from God.
Seal it for Thy courts above.
Keep me protected until I am in Your courts with you, and declare me to be Yours until then as well.
It took me a little while to figure out exactly why I like this song so much, but I narrowed it down to a few main reasons: I can really relate to songs that have archaic words and phrases, this song constantly reminds me of how much God blesses us and how good He is, it has a strong emphasis on grace (Grace is seriously the most amazing thing ever), it reminds me that I am still a sinner, but it shows that I still love God.
I'll talk about this last point for a little bit. I had been struggling theologically with one thing for a few months now. I had heard from Jamey, out youth pastor, and a few other people that "Faith without works is dead. If you don't have good works then you should inspect yourself and see if you really do have faith." Well this reasoning seemed to imply to me that I didn't have faith because I wasn't perfect. It worried me and I didn't like thinking about it.
But I was at MFUGE camp at Glorietta, NM last week and the speaker, Ben, said something that really helped: (Paraphrased) "Faith without works is dead, but this doesn't mean that if you sin you're not saved. It just means that as a whole you'll start getting better. As you move on in your life you'll gradually get better and better, closer and closer to God. Of course you're going to fall down, but as a whole you'll be improving."
This hit the nail right on the head for me. And this song admits that I fall down and fail, but by the grace of God I'm moving forward, and because of all this I can join Paul in saying "I run thus: not with uncertainty."
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
My Lord and my God
In The Screwtape Letters Lewis warns against Christian using the phrase "My God" in the wrong way. In one of his letters Screwtape informs his nephew Wormwood that he should try to make the phrases "My dog," and "My shoes," synonymous to the phrase "My God." Of course in doing so Lewis warns against this. If we think of "Our God" in the same way as our personal belongings then we will have totally the wrong view of God's sovereignty over us. We will begin to think that God is at our beck-and-call, ready to give us the things we pray to Him for, ready to smite all our enemies whenever they get annoying, ready to send His son for our sins etcetera, etcetera ad nauseum.
The phrase "My God" is not even, for us Americans, like the phrase "My country." As Americans we view our country as something that is ours, that we own, invest in, and have freedoms in. This might be the correct way to think of a country (Maybe. I'm not getting into that political discussion), but it's still not the way to think of "Our God."
The phrase that is most synonymous to "My God"--in its correct usage-- is "My King." If I had a king, I would be on his side, and he would be on mine, but he would be the one totally in control of me. I have no say in what he does, and my life basically belongs to him. I would live for him and serve him, and he would be mine, but not mine. The real meaning of this phrase says that "I AM HIS."
"Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God."
The phrase "My God" is not even, for us Americans, like the phrase "My country." As Americans we view our country as something that is ours, that we own, invest in, and have freedoms in. This might be the correct way to think of a country (Maybe. I'm not getting into that political discussion), but it's still not the way to think of "Our God."
The phrase that is most synonymous to "My God"--in its correct usage-- is "My King." If I had a king, I would be on his side, and he would be on mine, but he would be the one totally in control of me. I have no say in what he does, and my life basically belongs to him. I would live for him and serve him, and he would be mine, but not mine. The real meaning of this phrase says that "I AM HIS."
"Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God."
Forgotten Attributes- God's Judgement
This is the first post in a series that I will be giving about something that has been bothering me for quite some time, namely, the attributes of God that we modern Christians are often guilty of forgetting.
In modern times many Christians have forgotten certain attributes of God, and even those of us who remember them do not take them as seriously as we ought. The first attribute of God that I am going to address is the attribute of judgment.
Definition (New Oxford Dictionary):
Bible verses:
Exodus 12:12 (KJV)-For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.
Ezra 7:26 (KJV)- And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.
Psalms 7:6 (KJV)- Arise, O LORD, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded.
Psalms 9:8 (KJV)- And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.
Psalms 9:16 (KJV)- The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands.
Psalms 37:28 (KJV)- For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.
Ecclesiastes 11:19 (KJV)- Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.
Isaiah 4:4 (KJV)- When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.
Isaiah 42:1 (KJV)- Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
Matthew 5:21 (KJV)- Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment
Matthew 10:15 (KJV)- Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.
John 12:31 (KJV)- Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
Romans 1:32 (KJV)- Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
Romans 2:3 (KJV)- And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
Alright, now that there are verses on the table, what do these verses say about that God's judgment? Well you'll have to actually read those verses, but they make it clear that:
1. God does pass judgment on the wicked.
2. That God's judgment is righteous.
Both of these things should be fairly obvious. The Bible makes it clear that God cannot stand wickedness and will not have it in His presence, so it makes sense that He eradicates those who are wicked.
It also makes sense that all of God's judgments are righteous. God is omnibenevolent, so all the things that God does are good. Judgment is one of the things God does, therefore judgment is good.
Why, if these two things are so obvious, do many modern Christians forget, water-down, or ignore the judgement of God? There are a few reasons, and one of them is that we as humans are uncomfortable with the idea of judgment. If we recognize our depravity then the knowledge that we will be punished is very disturbing to us.
But many modern Christians go entirely the wrong way after this. Instead of being convicted and repenting some Christians just decide that God doesn't punish us as a way of comforting themselves. The end result of this is that they ignore the perversion, immorality, and obscenity of sin.
One off-shoot of ignoring the wickedness of sin is that when evangelizing we emphasize God's forgiveness and love, and (sometimes very intentionally) ignore God's wrath and judgment. This leads to a very unbalanced view of God, especially for someone who's newly entering the Faith.
There is a website that argues that God actually does not punish us as Christians. It clearly says (in big, blue letters might I add) that "We do not see a God who punishes, but rather a God that seeks to restore us to our full humanity."
Oh goodness. Where do I begin? First of all- Mr. Simmons is absolutely right. God doesn't punish anyone for sin. It's not as though anybody had to die in order to restore our wrecked relationship with God (please note the sarcasm). Second- How can God "restore us to our full humanity" without abolishing our sinful, former selves? In order to unite us (fallen, depraved, disgusting as we are) with Himself, God *has* to deal out punishment for the nauseating sins that we have committed. And Christ was the one who took that punishment for us, though many Christians today take that to mean that there was not punishment.
"Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."
In modern times many Christians have forgotten certain attributes of God, and even those of us who remember them do not take them as seriously as we ought. The first attribute of God that I am going to address is the attribute of judgment.
Definition (New Oxford Dictionary):
judgment: "a misfortune or calamity viewed as a divine punishment"
Please note that there are many verses which use the word "judgment" according the the more general definition, "the ability to make considered decisions or come to sensible conclusions." This is not what I'm talking about. The word judgment in this post is synonymous to the word "punishment".
Bible verses:
Exodus 12:12 (KJV)-For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.
Ezra 7:26 (KJV)- And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.
Psalms 7:6 (KJV)- Arise, O LORD, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded.
Psalms 9:8 (KJV)- And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.
Psalms 9:16 (KJV)- The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands.
Psalms 37:28 (KJV)- For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.
Ecclesiastes 11:19 (KJV)- Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.
Isaiah 4:4 (KJV)- When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.
Isaiah 42:1 (KJV)- Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
Matthew 5:21 (KJV)- Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment
Matthew 10:15 (KJV)- Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.
John 12:31 (KJV)- Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
Romans 1:32 (KJV)- Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
Romans 2:3 (KJV)- And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
Alright, now that there are verses on the table, what do these verses say about that God's judgment? Well you'll have to actually read those verses, but they make it clear that:
1. God does pass judgment on the wicked.
2. That God's judgment is righteous.
Both of these things should be fairly obvious. The Bible makes it clear that God cannot stand wickedness and will not have it in His presence, so it makes sense that He eradicates those who are wicked.
It also makes sense that all of God's judgments are righteous. God is omnibenevolent, so all the things that God does are good. Judgment is one of the things God does, therefore judgment is good.
Why, if these two things are so obvious, do many modern Christians forget, water-down, or ignore the judgement of God? There are a few reasons, and one of them is that we as humans are uncomfortable with the idea of judgment. If we recognize our depravity then the knowledge that we will be punished is very disturbing to us.
But many modern Christians go entirely the wrong way after this. Instead of being convicted and repenting some Christians just decide that God doesn't punish us as a way of comforting themselves. The end result of this is that they ignore the perversion, immorality, and obscenity of sin.
One off-shoot of ignoring the wickedness of sin is that when evangelizing we emphasize God's forgiveness and love, and (sometimes very intentionally) ignore God's wrath and judgment. This leads to a very unbalanced view of God, especially for someone who's newly entering the Faith.
There is a website that argues that God actually does not punish us as Christians. It clearly says (in big, blue letters might I add) that "We do not see a God who punishes, but rather a God that seeks to restore us to our full humanity."
Oh goodness. Where do I begin? First of all- Mr. Simmons is absolutely right. God doesn't punish anyone for sin. It's not as though anybody had to die in order to restore our wrecked relationship with God (please note the sarcasm). Second- How can God "restore us to our full humanity" without abolishing our sinful, former selves? In order to unite us (fallen, depraved, disgusting as we are) with Himself, God *has* to deal out punishment for the nauseating sins that we have committed. And Christ was the one who took that punishment for us, though many Christians today take that to mean that there was not punishment.
"Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
What beliefs I hold
What beliefs I hold (according to what I said on Facebook):
"I beleive in one God the Father, Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth, and in Jesus Christ His only begotten Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontious Pilot, was crucified to cleanse us of our sins, died and was buried. The third day He rose again form the dead, he later ascended into Heaven, where He sits at the right hand of the Father, waiting for the day which He will return to judge both the living and the dead. I beleive in one holy, and apostalic church. I beleive in the communion of the saints. I believe in the forgiveness of sins. I beleive that we can ONLY come to God through Christ because we as humans are desperately fallen and wicked. I beleive that evolution is a lie, that the liberal world-veiw (that denies miracles and resurrection from the dead) is not even Christian. I beleive that there is a place called Hell, that God will send all who do not put faith in Jesus Christ as their only salvation there for eternity. I beleive that God is just and loving."Here I stand. I can do no other."
I think I posted this during my year of Omnibus III, and some of the things we talked about where bogus religious beliefs. I wanted to be very clear about my faith, and still do. This whole thing is loosely based on The Apostle's Creed.
"I beleive in one God the Father, Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth, and in Jesus Christ His only begotten Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontious Pilot, was crucified to cleanse us of our sins, died and was buried. The third day He rose again form the dead, he later ascended into Heaven, where He sits at the right hand of the Father, waiting for the day which He will return to judge both the living and the dead. I beleive in one holy, and apostalic church. I beleive in the communion of the saints. I believe in the forgiveness of sins. I beleive that we can ONLY come to God through Christ because we as humans are desperately fallen and wicked. I beleive that evolution is a lie, that the liberal world-veiw (that denies miracles and resurrection from the dead) is not even Christian. I beleive that there is a place called Hell, that God will send all who do not put faith in Jesus Christ as their only salvation there for eternity. I beleive that God is just and loving."Here I stand. I can do no other."
I think I posted this during my year of Omnibus III, and some of the things we talked about where bogus religious beliefs. I wanted to be very clear about my faith, and still do. This whole thing is loosely based on The Apostle's Creed.
Monday, November 14, 2011
In enemy territory
I am a Christian first and foremost. Anything that I come into contact with will first be examined by that standard. If it isn't in accordance with the Bible I will not examine it with the air of person coming to hear an argument, thinking about the idea of joining that side. I will examine it like a scientist examines a cancerous cell or a flu virus; hating it and being disgusted by it and only enough contact to understand how to destroy it.
Some Christians would say that if it doesn't fit with the Bible-"Don't handle it at all." "It's obviously sinful-It will tempt those who come close to it," they'll say. These are the ones who raise their children making sure that they never talk about pagan views. The ones who make sure that their children never read books that have "bad characters" in them. The ones who dictate who make sure that their children don't have any non-Christian friends. These are the ones who will be shocked to find their children leaving the Christian faith for some new religion. But it should come as no surprise: The people raised like this have no immune system.
But going to the other extreme isn't the right choice either. Having a 5-year-old totally exposed to the ideas of Buddhism with-out Christian protection is obviously a bad idea. Christians have to learn how sin will fight so that in battle they'll actually be prepared to destroy it. Consider the Bible. The Bible is full of references to sinful people doing sinful things, and yet it's all viewed through a lens of Christianity-namely that the evil people get punished for wicked actions.
Some Christians would say that if it doesn't fit with the Bible-"Don't handle it at all." "It's obviously sinful-It will tempt those who come close to it," they'll say. These are the ones who raise their children making sure that they never talk about pagan views. The ones who make sure that their children never read books that have "bad characters" in them. The ones who dictate who make sure that their children don't have any non-Christian friends. These are the ones who will be shocked to find their children leaving the Christian faith for some new religion. But it should come as no surprise: The people raised like this have no immune system.
But going to the other extreme isn't the right choice either. Having a 5-year-old totally exposed to the ideas of Buddhism with-out Christian protection is obviously a bad idea. Christians have to learn how sin will fight so that in battle they'll actually be prepared to destroy it. Consider the Bible. The Bible is full of references to sinful people doing sinful things, and yet it's all viewed through a lens of Christianity-namely that the evil people get punished for wicked actions.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Women, Children, History and Christianity
I was listening to an NPR interview of a woman about her recently published book. She said that women were often not recognized in history, and specifically in the area of battle and war. I'm not surprised that she reached this conclusion, because usually in ancient times women were not valued as they should be. Men were the ones who went out and did the "important" things that end out in history books, namely fighting wars. This is an unfortunate failure among most pagan cultures. Women are to valued, and Christianity definitely does this.
Along with women, children were often undervalued in pagan cultures. The Romans had an appalling tradition that dis-valued children. After a child was born he or she was laid at the fathers feet, and the father had the choice of whether or not to keep the baby. Often the child would be rejected if it had physical defects or simply if it was female (Again-not valuing a female because they weren't as "useful"). If the father chose not to keep the baby, he was brought to a designated place and left to die of exposure.
Christianity was (and presumably still is) different from other religions on both of these points because it openly values both women and children, even though they are physically weaker then men. Many of the Proverbs are about children and how to raise them. This obviously shows that children are worth the effort to train. Another example would be that one can specifically see love of children in the life of Jesus:
Matthew 19:13,"Some people brought children to Jesus so that he would place his hands on them and pray. But the disciples scolded them. “Allow the children to come to me,” Jesus said. “Don’t forbid them, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to people like these children.” Then he blessed the children and went away from there."
In this passage the disciples didn't understand how precious children are, so they rebuked the people who brought the children. And Jesus rebukes the disciples because he knows that children really are precious.
Next, Christianity openly values women. Mary Magdelin was commended for worshipping Jesus with the expensive perfume, while most of the disciples were slow to realize the worthiness of what she did. Also, who were the first people to witness Christ resurrected from the dead? Women, even though the testimony of women was not held of much account in the courts of that time.
The Christian God is a God that values and protects the weak; 1 Corinthians 1:27;" ...God chose what the world considers weak to shame the strong."
Solo Deo Gloria.
Along with women, children were often undervalued in pagan cultures. The Romans had an appalling tradition that dis-valued children. After a child was born he or she was laid at the fathers feet, and the father had the choice of whether or not to keep the baby. Often the child would be rejected if it had physical defects or simply if it was female (Again-not valuing a female because they weren't as "useful"). If the father chose not to keep the baby, he was brought to a designated place and left to die of exposure.
Christianity was (and presumably still is) different from other religions on both of these points because it openly values both women and children, even though they are physically weaker then men. Many of the Proverbs are about children and how to raise them. This obviously shows that children are worth the effort to train. Another example would be that one can specifically see love of children in the life of Jesus:
Matthew 19:13,"Some people brought children to Jesus so that he would place his hands on them and pray. But the disciples scolded them. “Allow the children to come to me,” Jesus said. “Don’t forbid them, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to people like these children.” Then he blessed the children and went away from there."
In this passage the disciples didn't understand how precious children are, so they rebuked the people who brought the children. And Jesus rebukes the disciples because he knows that children really are precious.
Next, Christianity openly values women. Mary Magdelin was commended for worshipping Jesus with the expensive perfume, while most of the disciples were slow to realize the worthiness of what she did. Also, who were the first people to witness Christ resurrected from the dead? Women, even though the testimony of women was not held of much account in the courts of that time.
The Christian God is a God that values and protects the weak; 1 Corinthians 1:27;" ...God chose what the world considers weak to shame the strong."
Solo Deo Gloria.
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