Cultural Relevance You Can Sink Your Teeth Into

Overheard Last Night in a Certain Discipleship Group

"When I use the Bible to dismantle my own bullshit, it works really well. When I use it to demolish others', it doesn't work well at all."

Not Sure How to Vote? The Bible Has the Answer.

The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left.

- Ecclesiastes 10.2

Spurgeon On: Predestination and Free Will

I recently came across these quotes from Spurgeon and think they represent a good balance regarding a paradoxical issue:

"That God predestines, and that man is responsible, are two things that few can see. They are believed to be inconsistent and contradictory; but they are not. It is just the fault of our weak judgment. Two truths cannot be contradictory to each other. If, then, I find taught in one place [in Scripture] that everything is fore-ordained, that is true; and if I find in another place that man is responsible for all his actions, that is true; and it is my folly that leads me to imagine that two truths can ever contradict each other. These two truths, I do not believe, can ever be welded into one upon any human anvil, but one they shall be in eternity: they are two lines that are so nearly parallel, that the mind that shall pursue them farthest, will never discover
that they converge; but they do converge, and they will meet somewhere in eternity, close to the throne of God, whence all truth doth spring." (New Park Street Pulpit, 4:337)

"Men who are morbidly anxious to possess a self-consistent creed, a creed which will put together and form a square like a Chinese puzzle, are very apt to narrow their souls. Those who will only believe what they can reconcile will necessarily disbelieve much of divine revelation. Those who receive by faith anything which they find in the Bible will receive two things, twenty things, ay, or twenty thousand things, though they cannot construct a theory which harmonizes them all." ("Faith," Sword and Trowel, 1872)

- C.H. Spurgeon, 1834-1892

Thanks to Derek at theoparadox.blogspot.com

Sunday Bible Trivia (#1 in a Nonexistent Series)

Just when I thought I knew everything, someone comes along to humble me. Here's the question: How many "birthdays" are mentioned in the Bible? Not in the sense of people being born, but "birthday" in the sense of observance or celebration of one's birth, as we use the word today.



Think of a number.



Ready?



No cheating.



Page down a bit for your answer.

Two. Pharaoh in the OT (Genesis 40) and Herod in the NT (Matthew 14.3-12 & Mark 6.21-29).

Pharaoh celebrates by hanging his baker, and Herod celebrates by decapitating John the Baptist. A good reason to avoid attending birthday parties.

News You May Have Missed: Oh, those silly, ignorant, myth-making Bible fabricators . . . Oops, never mind.

So far, only the British media have picked up on this story. So you heard it here first (maybe).

It appears a Sumerian astronomer in 3123 B.C. may have recorded the event that destryed Sodom with fire and brimstone (and no, it's not April Fool's): It may have been hot gas blowback from an asteroid that crashed in Austria.

Here's the article in the Times of London, a longer version in The Register, and a third version in the Daily Mail.

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I love it when news stories such as this show up. True, they don't prove anything. They could be wrong. And I don't need them to validate my faith. But it's nice to see some evidence in the secular press every now and then that maybe the Bible isn't as fanciful as some claim.

Kneeling on the Outside, Standing on the Inside

Last Sunday, my Bible reading plan brought me to Mark 10.17-34, the story of the so-called "rich young ruler" (I put the title in quotes, because it doesn't seem to occur anywhere that I can find in the Bible). If you've read the Bible, you know the story. If you haven't, here's the part that relates to today's post:

As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'"

"Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."

Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

What struck me as I read this is that this man ran up and knelt before Jesus. This was obviously a sign of respect and submission. He starts the discussion with Jesus kneeling. But he ends it by walking away.



This story makes me uncomfortable. The "rich young ruler" submitted much of himself to Jesus, maybe even most of himself to Jesus. But submitting most of oneself ultimately may be no different from submitting none of oneself. Jesus wants it all.



Later that same evening, I was at church, and, ironically enough, we were singing this song:

I'm falling on my knees, offering all of me.
Jesus, You're all this heart is living for.

Hmmm. Easy to say (or sing) . . . as a concept. It reminds me of how the Israelites said, "We will do all that God commands," before they fully understood exactly what He wanted from them [Exodus 19.8, et al.]. It's easy to say in ignorance. It's easy to sing on Sunday. But after Sunday comes Monday.



I like to sing the song. I like the song on Sunday. I don't like it so much Monday through Saturday. Sometimes I wonder if the rich young ruler had more integrity than I do.

Rodney's Adventure

Sometimes, being in the center of God's will doesn't turn out the way we expect. And prayers may get answered in surprising ways. Courtesy of the Wittenburg Door:

Rodney's Adventure

Rodney was a handsome bighorn sheep who spent his days wandering through the mountains of Moriah. He was well known to all the other sheep, and a good friend to the other animals who lived on the mountain. He allowed the sparrows to ride on his magnificent horns, and sang with the owls in the moonlight, and was always careful not to trample the rabbits under his mighty hooves.

One morning he decided to climb higher up the mountain than he had ever been before. He made his way slowly up the mountainside, putting one hoof carefully in front of the other as his father and grandfather had taught him.

But when he got to the top of the mountain, he lost his footing and tumbled into a bramble patch. The burrs grabbed and tugged at his wool, and no matter which way he turned, he could not find his way out.

"Oh, dear," thought Rodney. "I seem to be trapped in this thicket!"

Now it so happened that a man and his son were approaching, and Rodney bleated and called for their assistance as loud as he could.

"If only they hear me," thought Rodney, "they will set me free! Sir! Sir! Over here!"

But the man and his son paid no attention. They talked quietly for a while, and the man seemed very serious indeed about building something in the clearing on top of the mountain. Rodney cried and shouted until he was hoarse, but it was no use at all.

Then an Angel of the Lord appeared, and said: "Dearest Rodney! I have been watching you for a long while. I am so sorry you have been caught in this thicket. I shall set you free, so that you may fulfill God's plan for your future."

And with a wave of his hand, the Angel caused the thicket to vanish into thin air!

Rodney sprang forth, and shook himself, and his beautiful black eyes glistened in the sun with joy and relief.And then the man set upon him, and caught him up, and sacrificed him to the Lord.When all was said and done, it was a pretty poor excuse for an adventure.

Luther On: Promises

"God does not deal, nor has he ever dealt, with man otherwise than through a Word of promise. We in turn cannot deal with God otherwise than through faith in the Word of his promise. He does not desire works, nor has he need of them; … But God has need of this: that we consider him faithful in his promises [Heb. 10:23], and patiently persist in this belief … [P]romise and faith must necessarily go together. For without the promise there is nothing to be believed; while without faith the promise is useless, since it is established and fulfilled through faith."

Martin Luther, The Babylonian Captivity of the Church

In Europe, God is (Not) Dead

So says the Wall Street Journal, July 14-15, 2007. Check it out, and as you do, notice, among other things, the benefit of the separation of church and state, and the value of competition (even in the church world):

Late last year, a Swedish hotel guest named Stefan Jansson grew upset when he found a Bible in his room. He fired off an email to the hotel chain, saying the presence of the Christian scriptures was “boring and stupefying.” This spring, the Scandic chain, Scandinavia’s biggest, ordered the New Testaments removed.

In a country where barely 3% of the population goes to church each week, the affair seemed just another step in Christian Europe’s long march toward secularism. Then something odd happened: A national furor erupted. A conservative bishop announced a boycott. A leftist radical who became a devout Christian and talk-show host denounced the biblical purge in newspaper columns and on television. A young evangelical Christian organized an electronic letter-writing campaign, asking Scandic: Why are you removing Bibles but not pay-porn on your TVs?

Scandic, which had started keeping its Bibles behind the front desk, put the New Testament back in guest rooms.

“Sweden is not as secular as we thought,” says Christer Sturmark, head of Sweden’s Humanist Association, a noisy assembly of nonbelievers to which the Bible-protesting hotel guest belongs.

After decades of secularization, religion in Europe has slowed its slide toward what had seemed inevitable oblivion. There are even nascent signs of a modest comeback. Most church pews are still empty. But belief in heaven, hell and concepts such as the soul has risen in parts of Europe, especially among the young, according to surveys. Religion, once a dead issue, now figures prominently in public discourse.

God’s tentative return to Europe has scholars and theologians debating a hot question: Why?

...Some scholars and Christian activists, however, are pushing a more controversial explanation: the laws of economics. As centuries-old churches long favored by the state lose their monopoly grip, Europe’s highly regulated market for religion is opening up to leaner, more-aggressive religious “firms.” The result, they say, is a supply-side stimulus to faith.

“Monopoly churches get lazy,” says Eva Hamberg, a professor at Lund University’s Centre for Theology and Religious Studies and co-author of academic articles that, based on Swedish data, suggest a correlation between an increase in religious competition and a rise in church-going. Europeans are deserting established churches, she says, “but this does not mean they are not religious.”

...Most scholars used to believe that modernization would extinguish religion in the long run. But that view always had trouble explaining why America, a nation in the vanguard of modernity, is so religious.

...Now even Europe, the heartland of secularization, is raising questions about whether God really is dead. The enemy of faith, say the supply-siders, is not modernity but state-regulated markets that shield big, established churches from competition. In America, where church and state stand apart, more than 50% of the population worships at least once a month. In Europe, where the state has often supported — but also controlled — the church with money and favors, the rate in many countries is 20% or less. “The state undermined the church from within,” says Stefan Swärd, a leader of Sweden’s small but growing evangelical movement.

...Just a few blocks away, Passion Church, an eight-month-old evangelical outfit, fizzed with fervor. Nearly 100 young Swedes rocked to a high-decibel band: “It’s like adrenaline running through my blood,” they sang in English. “We’re talking about Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.”

Passion, set up by Andreas Nielsen, a 32-year-old Swede who found God in Florida, gets no money from the state. It holds its service in a small, low-ceilinged hall rented from Stockholm’s Casino Theatre, a drama company. Church, says Mr. Nielson, should be “the most kick-ass place in the world.”

There's more where that came from. To read
the entire article, you can go here.

Let's Hope the Pope is More Mature Than His Flock

When President Bush visited Pope Benedict in Rome on June 9, he presented the Pope with a walking stick carved by a formerly homeless artist in Texas. On the stick are the 10 Commandments.

Now it turns out that certain shorts-in-a-knot Catholics, including a professor in St. Louis, are going on record as offended that the 10 Commandments are presented in the "Protestant" version, not the "Catholic" one. Equal to this transgression - and maybe worse - the President at least once called the Pope "sir" rather than "Your Holiness." You can read all about these faux pas and the backlash here.

To which I say, BFD. And to which I add, "Grow up and get a life."

If you didn't know, Catholics, Jews, and Protestants all agree that Exodus 20 has a list of "the 10 commandments," also known as the Decalogue. They all agree on the words of the commandments, but they group the phrases/commands in the list slightly differently - still always ending up with 10.

Bush is accused of a "religious offense" for handing over the Protestant version. Apparently, some Catholics think the Pope should only be exposed to Catholic art. I'd like to think he's robust enough to be exposed to American folk art without forsaking his faith. And for the record, if the Pope would like to give me an illuminated Bible from the Middle Ages, I'll be happy to receive it, even if it contains the Apocryphal books - even if it's only the Apocryphal books. I promise not to be offended.

As for the misplaced honorific, get over it. I doubt the Pope stayed awake that night mumbling to himself, "Sir!? I can't believe he called me sir!" Nor do I think he's going to start a holy war over this. I prefer to think he secretly wishes people would call him Joey, and I hope there's a person or two in his life who does just that.

Hitchens vs. Hitchens

Peter Hitchens is Christopher's brother, and in this article from The Daily Mail, he reviews his atheist brother's book. In short, he thinks Christopher is out to lunch.



Sibling rivalry can be ugly, but in this case it's kind of fun.

Is Donald Miller a Prophet, or Just Odd?

If you're a fan of Donald Miller - or just don't get why he's so popular - you'll find this profile/interview on the Christianity Today website well worth reading.

Miller, of course, is the author of Blue Like Jazz, Searching for God Knows What, Through Painted Deserts, and To Own a Dragon.

As one who tends to think propositionally, always looking for outlines, principles, and "truths," I appreciate the balance that Miller brings in reminding me that the Gospel is first and foremost a story of God's passionate love for the world. That story has had its ups and downs, but it started with a beginning and it will finish with an end. For now, we're in the confusing middle, and there's no shortage of drama.

I think Miller is a good representation of what the "emergent church" movement would be if it were actually faithful to the Scriptures and its Author. Maybe they'll swing back that direction, when they eventually realize that it's OK to change the packaging, but not the Truth.

"The Bible Says . . ."

"It was my eyes that read these words but my soul that knew their meaning." Augustine, Confessions, IX.4

Proof-texting occurs when we look for words that back up our pre-formed conclusions. It happens in religion, of course, all the time. It happens in politics - pay attention to the ads that will play during the upcoming election year, and you'll hear quotes from the candidates that, while accurate, are misleading as to what they were really saying. "You took me out of context," the aggrieved party will rightfully say.

I can't help but think that God says that to us several million times a day. "You took me out of context." Now, don't take me out of context. I do believe that the Bible is God-breathed, that we can trust it fully, and that God's promises apply to us today. But I don't believe that our interpretations and conclusions are equally God-breathed.

I'm all for memorizing individual Scripture verses and studying individual verses, passages, or chapters. I do it regularly. But in the midst of all this, we need to seek out the heart of God and the logic of God behind the words.

For example, there's a verse that says I can divorce my spouse if he/she commits adultery. But what's God's heart behind the matter? I could probably find some verse to support whatever position I have about immigration policy, but what does God really think about how we treat the "foreigner" and protect our jobs, etc.?

"He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel" (Psalm 103.7). It's good to know what God has done. It's even better when we know why He did it [though not everything will be revealed or even comprehensible to us, of course - "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever" (Deut. 29.29)].

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"'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts'" (Isaiah 55.8). We need to learn His ways and His thoughts. This can only come as we steep ourselves in His word (all of it, not just the favorite passages) and ask him to form us through prayer. The Bible is not a reference book, and God is not the "answer man." It's too deep, too rich for all that.

"The Bible says..."? Sure. But what does God mean? As with Augustine, our eyes must read, but our soul must learn.

Potato, Potahto, Tomato, Tomahto. Let's Call The Whole Thing Off (?)

Apropos our discussion of marriage, here a story of an evangelical marriage that is lasting, and even doing pretty well, albeit with a twist . . .

What happens when the leader of an anti-Mormon ministry is married to a Mormon? Not what you'd probably think.

Read the article from the St Petersburg (FL) Times here. It's too long to paste in this entry, but it's worth the read.

Although I'd strongly discourage a follower of Christ from marrying someone who isn't (and that's what I believe the Bible teaches, as well), it appears that this was a case of two nonbelievers marrying, then one of them later coming to faith in Christ. The article doesn't state that explicitly, but that's the way it looks to me. In which case, this article portrays a "mixed" marriage that's actually pretty attractive. Check out the husband's comment about what he considers his role in the marriage to be. No wonder they get along.
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(You might also want to check out the husband's web site: WhatMormonsDontTell.com . You can learn some good things about Mormon beliefs there.)
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(And the lyrics in the title come from George and Ira Gershwin's song here. If you haven't heard the version recorded by Ella and Louis, your life isn't complete: Disc 2, Track 5.)

Why All Theologies are Limited (Though Some Are Useful)

"It is impossible for theology to have precisely the same 'emphasis' as Scripture does. To do that, theology would have to simply repeat Scripture from Genesis to
Revelation."

• John Frame, The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God, p. 182

Bible, Bach, and . . . Well, I Guess That's All You Need

Did you hear the story on NPR's "All Things Considered" last night? It was a feature on the annual Bach festival in Bethlehem, PA. It's worth a listen to this 8-minute piece, which you can do here, or you can access it at this link, which provides additional info and sound samples.

I got tears in my eyes toward the end of the story. But then, I'm a sensitive guy, as all my friends know. Anyone who can listen to this and think that Bach is boring, stuffy, or irrelevant is either a cretin or dead. No, I take it back. Only cretins think that - the dead know how great Bach is, because he provides the music in Heaven (with Robert Shaw as assistant conductor, but that's another story).

OK, I exaggerate (slightly). Nevertheless, I hope you'll take the time to listen to the story. Maybe it'll increase your desire to hear more Bach. Take especial note of the lady who says of Bach's music, "It's there to help us when we have times in our life when we need comfort, or when you just want to burst for joy. It's all there for me, it really is." Maybe that's idolatry, but there are worse ways to sin.

How Islam Helps Us Understand Donald Trump (or is it the other way around?)

Saturday morning, I was streaming the BBC while shaving and heard a thought-provoking interview/discussion between John Humphrys and Tarik Ramadan. Humphrys is a reporter and news anchor. A former theist, he's doing interviews with a Christian, a Muslim, and a Jew and inviting them to convert him back to belief in God. Ramadan is a Muslim academic and theologian. We would probably call him a "moderate."

The interview itself (which you can listen to here) was fairly predictable, but it got more interesting when they discussed the question of who goes to Heaven. It's conceivable to Ramadan that the 9/11 hijackers may have gone to Heaven, because no one knows what thoughts might have gone through their minds in the last two minutes before their planes crashed (Ramadan does not, however, seem to endorse their violence). Asked whether he, himself, would go to Heaven, Ramadan answered, "I hope so." He explained that, as a sincere Muslim, you can only do your best and hope for the best. At the end of your life, God will make the determination where you go, based on how you've lived your life. You can hope for mercy.

These statements help me understand Muslim extremism and terrorism. If you can never be sure whether you're saved, you may feel the incessant need to demonstrate your zeal in the service of God. To bring His kingdom to earth by any means necessary. To fight evil relentlessly. Especially if your holy scriptures seem to encourage such behavior.

It reminds me of that piece-of-**** show, The Apprentice. I'll save my rants about the show until later (or never), but the relevant part is this: You work and work and work, and try and try and try, and at the end, you go to the Judgment Chamber and hope for the best while fearing the worst. In Islam, you "compete" against yourself, not against others, and more than one "winner" can ultimately enter Heaven, so the parallel isn't perfect. But the lack of assurance is there, as is not knowing your destiny until the last moment. (For the Muslim, however, there is one sure way into Heaven, and that is dying as a martyr. Isn't that encouraging.)

As for me, I'm thankful for Jesus, who opens the door, shows us the way, and gives us life (John 14.6). For the One who promises not to cast out those who come to Him (John 6.37) and who's committed to preserving His "sheep" through this life and into the next (John 10.28, 29). He is the martyr, not we (John 10.18). And because of all the above, we don't have to wait until the final judgment to know whether we belong to Him (1 John 5.11-15).

Our final point of encouragement? The confident assurance that when we see Jesus, whatever He may look like, he won't be sporting a Donald Trump comb-over.

Between Friday and Sunday

Tombs and Wombs

While at the concert last week of Bach’s St. John Passion, I had a new thought – new for me, that is. The text from the book of John says that Jesus was laid in “a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid” (John 19.41). For some reason, it struck me that this is a parallel with his birth. He was born from a virgin womb, and He was buried in (and rose from) a virgin tomb. If there’s any theological significance to this, I haven’t yet figured out what it is. But it is a nice symmetry.


News You May Have Missed: Ahmadinejad, The Press, and Easter

When the 15 British sailors were released from Iran a couple days ago, the press uniformly reported that President Ahmadinejad said he was releasing his prisoners as an Easter gift. For example, the New York Times ran this AP version: "Irans's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said he had pardoned the sailors as an Easter holiday gift to the British people.”

That caught my eye, because I wouldn’t expect the president of Iran to care much about a Christian holiday.

What did he really say? MSNBC ran a longer version of his remarks, and they’re informative:

“Ahmadinejad said he had pardoned the sailors as a gift to the British people and to mark the birthday of Islam's Prophet Muhammed and Easter. On the occasion of the birthday of the great prophet (Muhammad) ... and for the occasion of the passing of Christ, I say the Islamic Republic government and the Iranian people -- with all powers and legal right to put the soldiers on trial -- forgave those 15."

“The occasion of the passing of Christ.” Would somebody please tell the press that the death of Jesus isn’t the definition of Easter?

(More about this story at GetReligion.org.)