Immigration, politics, the Constitution, and two parties

back to politics and immigration:

"Illegal Immigration and the Rule of Law" - a fascinating article with some balancing thoughts on the aspects of the debate that get conveniently ignored by both sides

"Why I'm Leaving the GOP" - an article by a fiscal, constitutional conservative who happens to be Muslim and Coloradan, and also happens to be going to the Democratic party because of his basic conservativeness... fascinating as well.

  I didn't agree with portions of both of these articles obviously, but always good to really listen to what's being said.

Sin

A statement on the devastating consequences of sin by one who gives sin its due weight:

"Everyone is a god to themself.
"Thus no-one chooses in the abstract to go to hell, or even to be the kind of person who belongs there.  But their orientation toward self leads them to become the kind of person for whom away-from-God is the only place for which they are suited.  It is a place which they would, in the end, choose for themselves, rather than humble themselves before God and accept who he is."
- Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart 

Waste Land: the documentary

 I just finished seeing the new documentary Waste Land, the documentary about Vik Muniz, renowned Brazilian artist, and his time in the world's largest landfill outside Rio.  It is a story of enablement and assets in a place where neither would seem to be possible.  Very moving, with a lot of (unintentional) Gospel themes... watch it if you get the chance!

a post on the use of the Old Testament

This post speaks of the need to approach the Old Testament on its own grounds as a true and valuable witness to Jesus, the Christ.  I've thought a fair bit about that topic over the last several years, and I think our relative neglect of the OT is a great detriment.  Here are a couple snippets to encourage you to read the post yourself.

There is no overt discrimination against the OT, just a lack of deep engagement with it as meaningful, relevant revelation in its own right.

We don't have to make the ancient Hebrew Scriptures Christian—they already are!

The Priesthood of Believers

  Having grown up as a Baptist, I have long been familiar with both the concept and the term “priesthood of the believer.” However, it was not until I was reading about Martin Luther’s conception of that doctrine in the last few days that I really gave it much thought, from a biblical perspective. I’ve always just considered it to be one of the “Baptist distinctives.”

   According to Justo González in The Story of Christianity, Luther’s understanding of the priesthood of believers was as follows:

“While it is true that all Christians, by virtue of their baptism, are priests, this does not mean—as some later interpreters have said—that one is self-sufficient to approach God for oneself. There is a direct communion with God that all Christians can and should enjoy. But there is also an organic reality within which all communion with God takes place, and that reality is the church. To be priests does not mean primarily that we are our own individual priests, but rather that we are priests for the entire community of belief, and that they are priests for us. Rather than setting aside the need for the community of the church, the doctrine of universal priesthood of the believer strengthens it.” (Vol. 2, pg. 33)

   The thing that immediately struck me about this view of the doctrine was that this was almost exactly the opposite of what I had understood the doctrine to mean: I thought it meant “I can go to God for myself.” And yet, that is not the role of a priest! A priest goes to God for others. So, I started looking at the various biblical passages that speak of the priesthood of believers. Two things are apparent from the passages that talk about believers' priesthood (1 Peter 2:5, 9; Revelation 1:6; 5:10; 20:6). The first is that Luther's community focus of the doctrine is correct: the passages speak of the Church as a priesthood and believers as priests, but they do not individualize the doctrine. So, while the individual believer is a priest, to emphasize that is to miss the point. The second conclusion is that a major function of all priests is to offer sacrifices, and this is made evident in most of the deeper teaching that I found. A practical consequence of this is that believers should be seeking to understand what sacrifices God expects of them.

   So, why have Baptists considered this one of their distinctive doctrines when virtually all Protestants hold to these conclusions? As far as I can tell, the major way in which this doctrine is applied for Baptists is in the defense of congregational church government. The argument is as follows, “Because all believers are priests with access to and communion with God, they are all competent to help lead the church (though some are more competent than others).” While I believe in a form of congregationalism, I am no longer certain that the above argument is valid at all. In fact, I think that is probably a damaging twist on a vital doctrine. If this doctrine is to support congregationalism at all, it should be said that as the community of believers approach God on each other’s behalf, seeking divine wisdom and grace, they may expect to receive such wisdom and grace as a community of God-ordained mediators.

  Please do not simply co-opt this doctrine to further the Western cultural values of individualism and democracy; rather love the doctrine for its biblical truth!  Let us learn to live as a holy and royal priesthood, mediating for our fellow believers and offering acceptable sacrifices to our God.  For we have a High Priest who mediates for us and has offered the Acceptable Sacrifice which allows us access with confidence to the our beloved Father's Throne of Grace.

China vs. America

This article was a very interesting look at the two major political systems thriving in the world today.  It examined both their strengths and their weaknesses - as well as the implications of both.  Will a consumer-driven, populist democracy prove stronger, or will the authoritatian, hampered-enterprise rule triumph?  Good thinking!

Also, an article on China's probable next president...

PBS: "Of God and Caesar"

I got to watch "Of God and Caesar" Episode 6 of PBS's series "God in America" this evening; it was very interesting: How evangelicalism has interacted with her culture and ways in which she has been shaped by it and reacted to it over the course of the last 60 years.

Watch the full episode. See more FRONTLINE.

That it may be well with you - 5th Command

  I have both heard and believed that the child will learn how to deal with God's authority primarily through how they learn to deal with their parental authorities.  Still, I was somewhat surprised to find a very tight connection between the two as I read in Deuteronomy 5 this week.  Verse 16 says:

“‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

While verses 29 and 33 say:

Oh that they had such a mind as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever! ... You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.

This pattern of "well-being and long life in the land that is to be a possession" following obedience to God's commands continues throughout Deuteronomy in 6:2-3, 18; 11:8-9; and 32:46-47. Opposites are found in 4:26 and 30:17-20.

Given these commands and this pattern, it matters a great deal when children disrespect their parents and when parents allow such dishonor to go unchecked.  How will a child learn to fear and obey God if they never have been taught to honor and obey their parents with that healthy belief that one who knows better than them and cares for them is guiding them and must be obeyed?  The One who knows best of all and has pure love for His child ought to be held in an awe which understands His greatness and goodness and yields to every command willingly.  May a deep reverence for God fill us, leading us in glad obedience to the King: whether or not we learned this first from our parents. May God graciously teach us the fear of the Lord which is wisdom and the love of God which brings obedience.  Then it will be well with us and we will live long in the Land which our Lord God will give us.

on the Nothingness of Man

     -  Bernard's Fifth Homily on the Dedication of the Temple, quoted by Calvin (Institutes, pg 371-2)

"What then? man doubtless has been made subject to vanity-man here been reduced to nothing-man is nothing. And yet how is he whom God exalts utterly nothing? How is he nothing to whom a divine heart has been given? Let us breath again, brethren. Although we are nothing in our hearts, perhaps something of us may lurk in the heart of God. O Father of mercies! O Father of the miserable! how plantest though thy heart in us? Where thy heart is, there is thy treasure also. But how are we thy treasure if we are nothing? All nations before thee are as nothing. Observe, before thee; not within thee. Such are they in the judgment of thy truth, but not such in regard to thy affection. Thou callest the things which be not as though they were; and they are not, because thou callest them 'things that be not'; and yet they are because thou callest them. For though they are not of themselves, yet they are with thee according to the declaration of Paul: 'Not of works, but of him that calleth'" (Rom 9:11)."

Meditations on the Fourth Command and the Sabbath

"Observe the Sabbath day... Six days you shall labor and do all your work." (Deut 5:12-13)

 The question of Sabbath rest, the observing of the Sabbath (or Sunday), and the meaning and purpose of such rest has been thoroughly contemplated for millennia.  Thus, these thoughts are not presumed to be original or novel, in fact some of them have been drawn from various portions of Calvin's Institutes. 

  As I've been browsing my way through Deuteronomy, the expression of the Ten Commandments here have been very thought-provoking.  The Fourth Command is particularly interesting since the reason for observing/remembering the Sabbath given here is different from the one in Exodus 20.  In Exodus 20, the meaning of the Sabbath is rooted in the post-Creation rest of God (Gen 2).  In Deuteronomy 5:15, the meaning of the Sabbath is further rooted in God's people's deliverance from Egypt (Ex 1-15).

You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

 Here the reasoning seems to be that those who were enslaved had been freed to serve a better Master. Their former master had no care for their well-being; their new Master cared deeply for them and would provide a rest for them.  They were to use this rest to remember their former wretched condition, the freeing from that burdensome toil, and the fact that they were to trust their new Master for every provision and protection.  Thus, they would observe each Sabbath "to the LORD." Worshipful remembrance...

 Now, for the people of God who live after the fulfilling of the Mosaic Law in Christ, what does the Sabbath mean?  Certainly, given its significance in the Israelites' lives, it cannot be without theological importance for the followers of Jesus.  Paul made a vital point in this discussion regarding the dogmatic observation of days in Romans 14:5-6a:

 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord.

 However, the fact that the observation of (OT, ritual) days is neither required nor forbidden for the NT believer does not answer the question of what the significance of these days is.  What are we to learn from the Sabbath instructions written in former times?

 Calvin considered the Sabbath to be obsolete for the Christian, because Christ is our Rest, our Sabbath.  Thus, he finds the ultimate significance of the Sabbath to be the fact that believers have laid aside their works and they now rest in Jesus' work on their behalf.  While this point does not address the question of whether we should take a day of rest (which Calvin does address), if we combine this observation with the consideration of Deut 5:15, a helpful point emerges.  It will be beneficial, and is actually necessary, in our Christian lives to take time regularly to ponder the miserable condition we formerly were in, the great deliverance that God has given us, and that such deliverance has come with the guarantee that every need will be supplied.  The One who did not spare His Son will never hesitate to give us every good gift!  Will not this provide a rest for our souls? 

*Scripture citations from ESV

Fathers get nursing break?!?!?

The politics of sameness (disguised as "equality) has finally lost it completely.  Spanish dads are now legally entitled to a 1-hour "breastfeeding break" from work every day till the baby's nine months old!  Read about it here.

Wisdom?

Wisdom = obedient acting upon the commands of God, not mere knowledge of them.

Deut 4:5-6 See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’

Thanks, after 26 years

Having completed 26 years of life yesterday, I thought I would give thanks to the Giver of all good things for some of His many blessings upon me.  I have sought to put them in roughly chronological order, though obviously many of them defy chronology.

life
health and strength
a believing family, who loves and serves God first of all
the Word of Truth
faith and repentance
communities of the faithful who have strengthen and edified me across countries and continents
adoption and sanctification
many teachers and much education
a purpose for living
travels that have allowed me to see the Kingdom of God as it is growing and the world He has given to the children of men
constant provision of every need
a godly heritage that extends back four and five generations
many dear companions on the heavenly way
a great diversity of friends
a beloved wife
a job
a baby girl, happy and healthy
Himself: the God who IS, who is Strength and Wisdom, and Justice, and Love, and Joy, and Three-in-One

Soma

I've appreciated a lot of stuff that I've heard from the elders at Soma Communities.  This post by Jeff Vanderstelt was excellent; it addressed the question "What is the Church?" in a very balanced and helpful way.

All the stuff that I have listened to from their training sessions has been very helpful as well.  They have looked deeply at the Gospel and sought to apply it to their lives, individually, as a church, and as a part of a community.  Very helpful, Gospel-saturated material!

Time, Patience, and Waiting

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! (Psalm 37:7)

   And wait patiently for him. Time is nothing to him; let it be nothing to thee. God is worth waiting for. "He never is before his time, he never is too late." In a story we wait for the end to clear up the plot; we ought not to prejudge the great drama of life, but stay till the closing scene, and see to what a finis (sic) the whole arrives. (Spurgeon's Treasury of David)

   It seems that most believers have difficulty in realizing and facing up to the inexorable fact that God does not hurry in His development of our Christian life. He is working from and for eternity! So many feel they are not making progress unless they are swiftly and constantly forging ahead. Now it is true that the new convert often begins and continues for some time at a fast rate. But this will not continue if there is to be healthy growth and ultimate maturity. God himself will modify the pace. (Stanford's Principles of Spiritual Growth)

a pondering on clouds

  The infinite, tender love of God for His own struck me anew as I considered the clouds a few days ago. Recall that God led His people out of Egypt and into a wilderness wasteland. Many hardships had been and continued to be their lot, but moment by moment they had the Cloud above them as a constant reminder that though the God of their Fathers had led them from one difficulty to another, still their Father God was tenderly concerned with their well-being. A pillar of cloud by day, shading and cooling against the hot sun. A pillar of fire by night, brightening, warming and protecting in the coldness that descends at nightfall in desert places. What tender love!

  The cloudy/fiery pillar of the divine Presence was there to lead them both day and night; with such tender love on display, it is hard to imagine that the omniscient One did not accommodate the pace to the slowest and shakiest every step of the way.

  We also have continual tokens of God's abiding love; may we not become so calloused about them that we ignore them and rebel against our loving Father, even when He leads us through a dry wilderness. The clouds must press upon us the personal love of our great Father for His people. Seek the tokens of God in your lives as a church and a believer and trust that even in the wilderness God's love cannot have wavered! 

 - Exodus 13:21-22; Numbers 14:14; Nehemiah 9:12, 19; 1 Corinthians 10:1ff

Worshiping with a Gift

I came across this quote which I originally found for some research I did on the OT sacrifices a number of years ago and it is a helpful thought.

   The worshiper never comes into the presence of God empty-handed.  The sentiment expressed in the hymn ("nothing in my hand I bring") would find little echo in Leviticus.  A worshiper comes either with his gifts of with God's Gift.

(from Victor Hamilton's Handbook on the Pentateuch, 252.)

Talitha Joy

While we have carefully documented the entrance of our new daughter into our lives in other places, I thought that I should at least place a bit of acknowledgement here.  Talitha continues to grow and be a joyful presence in our lives.  She also continues to challenge us in a variety of ways.  I trust in the future I will be able to say of her as a friend said of God's work in his life through his daughter, "She has been the greatest force for sanctification in my life." 

Talitha Joy - 8 days old

"Have we taken the Great Commission and placed it above the Great Command?" - Ted Travis, speaking on Kingdom Living this past Sunday at PBC

"The Gospel is inherently and irreducibly confrontational." - Mark Dever, The Deliberate Church, pg 55.

meditations on James 2:25 and Matthew 1

Byzantine depiction of Mary and Jesus in the Ayasofia (Hagia Sofia) in Istanbul

As I consider  Rahab the prostitute, an example in Hebrews and James of faith that works, I am awed to see the grace of God.  In the perfect plan of God to rescue sinful men who had rejected Him, He placed four "defiled" women in what we would imagine as a "pure" line of ancestors for his Son Jesus. 

Tamar - the Canaanite woman whose prostitution scheme brought about incest with her unfaithful father-in-law which ended with a pair of twins, one of whom carried the Messiah's line

Rahab - the Canaanite prostitute who not only believed the LORD would give her land to Israel, but also reached out to demonstrate this belief in her treatment of the spies, becoming a mother in Israel

Ruth - the Moabite widow who abandoned her culture and gods to follow and care for her Israelite mother-in-law. God blessed her to be the great-grandmother of King David and ancestor of the Messiah.

the wife of Uriah - a girl who was raped by King David and whose husband, a foreigner, was murdered in the cover-up, yet her second son would become king and another ancestor to Messiah

Each of these women show the grace of God in a sinful world.  They demonstrate His purposes for the nations of sinners and His means of salvation in an array of beauty that Mary, the virgin Jewish mother of Jesus, could not show us by herself. 

*Thanks to Brad for the picture.

Dreams from my Father

 This evening, I started reading Dreams from My Father, the autobiographical book by the young lawyer Barack Obama.  It has been startling good so far, and I think it's the best book that I've read dealing with cross-culturedness or TCK's since Third-Culture Kids, which I also loved.  It is a book that is rather frank and very open and reminds me again why the President's story speaks to so many people, even those who disagree with his policies.

 A few brief thought-excerpts that struck me in my personal journey and the journey I see others in:
 "...the fluid state of identity- the  leaps through time, the collision of cultures- that mark our modern life." (vii)
 "... [my past] speaks to those aspects of myself that resist conscious choice and that- on the surface, at least- contradict the world I now occupy." (xiv)
 "I enjoyed such moments [of companionship]- but only in brief.  If the talk began to wander, or cross the border into familiarity, I would soon find reason to excuse myself.  I had grown too comfortable in my solitude, the safest place I knew." (4)

The Broken Ugly

The Broken Ugly or Ugly Beauty

Have you seen the falcon soaring,
 High, majestic in its flight?
Death and pain are in its talons;
 They're rending, tearing limb and life.

Have you seen the glow of sunset?
Have you seen the moon’s bright gleam?
Have you wondered at the mountains
 Or joyed to swim the sparkling stream?

Have you seen the Grecian idols,
 Molded bodies, well-taught minds?
Has the joy of children filled you
 Or wonder at some childish ‘finds’?

Have you felt those bruising muscles?
Have you seen that mind crumbling?
Has the joy now turned to terror?
 Or does the ‘find’ now have a sting?

Have you heard of God’s Creation,
 Beauty shining perfectly?
But man’s rejecting God’s commands,
 Brought about the Broken Ugly.

Have you seen the Curse mar Blessing?
Have you seen God’s “good” shattered?
Have you seen the man and woman,
 Choosing death, deceived and flattered?

Have you heard the Gospel story,
 God forgives, life eternal?
But the cost was Jesus dying,
 Bearing wrath and sin infernal.

Have you seen the Man of Mercy?
Have you heard God on the cross?
Have you heard Him cry in anguish,
 Or welcome home a thief who’s lost?

Have you heard Him shout, “Completed”!?
Have you pondered what it means?
Have you seen His pain and triumph,
 And known for you His blood once streamed?

Have you seen the world in this way?
Has the Gospel dawned on you?
True, it shows sin, pain, and death –
 But grace and love and mercy too.

Theological perspective on immigration - with a link

"We must never deny that illegal immigrants are breaking the law. Yet these immigrants’ law-breaking is no reason for the church to remain uninvolved in North America’s largest mission field today consisting of fifteen to eighteen million people, many of whom tremble in the shadows of our society. Civil law is written on soft paper and constantly evolves. God’s law was chiseled on stone tablets and has remained unchanged." - Alejandro Mandes in "Thinking Theologically About Immigration"

   The Gospel is the only saving power in the world.  Any involvement in politics, philosophy, the arts, or education - in short, any involvement at all in this world - must be an outflow of our belief in and practice of the preaching of the Gospel of the crucified Savior, Jesus Christ.  If it is not, we are wasting our lives on seeking to save the world by our own human means.  But, if it is such a Gospel outflow, we have the opportunity to show the world the Gospel on full display in every area of life, just as God intended, for the Gospel has much to say about these areas of culture. 

   We must be careful never to transfer our trust to the transformative power of politics, the beauty of the arts, the uplifting nature of education or soaring thoughts of philosophy.  Our trust must be in the person of Jesus, the human-God who sacrificed Himself to save us and draw us into eternal fellowship with Him.   This is utterly stupid to the modern mind that values knowledge, and it smacks of impotent weakness to the pre-modern mind which values physical strength.  But, we preach Christ!

For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. (I Cor 1:21)

Too Many Books?

"Since we do--to some degree-- arrange our libraries so that our friends will see our books as we want them to be seen, an easy way to clear them out is to decide which books we'd prefer to, shall we say, hide or banish altogether, so that our friends won't see them at all.  We can throw large numbers of books away just so no one will know you ever took such nonsense seriously."  

-- Orhan Pamuk, Other Colors, 108.

Who Knew?!? The Perpetual Viriginity of Mary is orthodox doctrine...

While talking to a Catholic friend last week, the doctrine of the Perpetual Virginity of Mary came up.  I began explaining what I thought was historic, orthodox Christian doctrine on the topic, mentioning several of the references to Jesus' brothers and sisters.  (Mt 12:46-50; 13:54-58; Jn 2:12; 7:2-10; Acts 1:14; I Cor 9:5; and Gal 1:18-19 are the main ones, along with their cross references.)  But since I didn't have anything conclusive, I decided to do some brief study on it yesterday morning.  After reading the above references, I was fairly convinced that Jesus did have natural (half-)brothers and sisters.

And then, I decided to look up the history of the doctrine, and things got interesting.  Martin Luther, John Calvin (Harmony of the Evangelists, 215), Ulrich Zwingli, and John Wesley (in "to a Roman Catholic") at least held to the perpetual virginity of Mary.  These references do not include the many church fathers who are known or cited as supporting the doctrine.  The explanation of the above passages is that these "brothers and sisters" were either close relatives of Jesus or step-brothers from a previous marriage of Joseph.  Apparently Protestants have, by and large, ceased to hold this doctrine during the last several centuries due to the uncertain Biblical evidence. 

Anyways, I found it very odd that I have never come across this before in my studies.  And while the weight of Scripture seems to rest most naturally with Joseph and Mary having children after Jesus' birth, it certainly would not be unthinkable that they did not.  Indeed, this is not a particularly important issue of faith as long as we accept all that the Bible says.  Nevertheless, it piqued my interest and I thought I'd share it and see if anyone else had come across it before.

Arizona

This post and others on this blog present a constructive view of the immigration law passed in Arizona, for people of faith.

Some of the boycotts going on regarding Arizona are rather ridiculous, but while Arizona certainly has the right to seek to enforce its borders, I do think that everyone else has the right to expresss their dismay about how it does so... that's what we are doing to N. Korea and Iran...

Two burdens of Jesus on the cross

   I was reading this morning in I Timothy 5 about the church's care of widows; as I tried to understand the section better, I read this in John MacArthur's commentary I Timothy.

    "Jesus spoke from the cross to only two individuals.  He forgave the dying thief, and arranged for the care of His widowed mother.  Nothing so clearly reveal the heart of God as that.  While bearing the burden of the world's sins, Jesus' mind was concerned with the salvation of one sinner, and the care of one widow." (emphasis mine)

The Missional Church

In "The Missional Church," Tim Keller speaks to transformation that is needed within the American Church today.  I do not agree with everything said in the article, but much of it is really helpful.  The three paragraphs given below are from different contexts in his 3-page article.  I would note that my biggest disagreement with this article is that I do not think every aspect of the church should revolve around outreach; however, the point is that we must think of our mission even as we worship, disciple, have community, and serve. 

"But the church in the West had not become completely 'missional'--adapting and reformulating absolutely everything it did in worship, discipleship, community, and service--so as to be engaged with the non-Christian society around it. It had not developed a 'missiology of western culture' the way it had done so for other non-believing cultures. ...

In a 'missional' church, the laity needs theological education to 'think Christianly' about everything and work with Christian distinctiveness. They need to know: a) what cultural practices are common grace and to be embraced, b) what practices are antithetical to the gospel and must be rejected, c) what practices can be adapted/revised. ...

In general, a church must be more deeply and practically committed to deeds of compassion and social justice than traditional liberal churches and more deeply and practically committed to evangelism and conversion than traditional fundamentalist churches. This kind of church is profoundly 'counter-intuitive' to American observers. It breaks their ability to categorize (and dismiss) it as liberal or conservative. Only this kind of church has any chance in the non-Christian west. ..."

"By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

NHCLC blog - enlightening

The blog for the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference is an excellent way to educate yourself about the issues facing our Latino brothers and sisters.  These two most recent posts are very enlightening; I haven't gotten to the rest yet.

More info on the NHCLC is available here at their website.

Toward a more Christ-like way of thinking...

Two good posts from Naselli

Andy Naselli's blog has some very helpful stuff on it; as I was getting caught up on some blog-reading tonight, these caught my attention.

How the Bible is Like a Jigsaw Puzzle: this caught my interest because I've recently had a couple discussions about the "mystery" of the Gospel... we don't get all the answers, at least not now.

John MacArthur on How to Serve Christians Who Are Needlessly Restrictive: this is an useful discussion on Christian liberty and Christian restraint, not exhaustive, just helpful

Imagine!

Esau lost his birthright with all its blessings largely through his lack of imagination.

(Alexander Whyte)

May God grant us lively imaginations to see the horizons of faith!

Christians at the Borders, Literal and Metaphorical

   A couple of friends have already blogged about this, but I thought I'd add a few thoughts to the immigration discussion.

 Tonight, I finished Dr. Danny Carroll's book Christians at the Border, which I think can best be described as a quietly reasoned plea for Christians of all origins in the United States to base their thinking on the volatile topic of immigration on the Word of God, not their political, economic, or social backgrounds.

The purpose of the book is not to solve the myriad of real problems found in the immigration discussion; it is to re-orient believers to what the Word says.  Personally, I have long felt instinctively that there was a Gospel way of approaching this topic which was being completely ignored; this book helped throw some light on why I sensed this: the Bible is a book that is completely relevant to the discussion, starting from Genesis 1, not just from Romans 13. 
I would highly recommend the book to anyone seeking to consider this issue as a Christian.

   Finally, I will add a few of my own thoughts on the topic.  Is it ok to break the laws of a nation where you are not a citizen?  If so, why are we concerned about the illegality of Central American citizens crossing into our country?  If not, is it right to smuggle Bibles into countries where that is illegal, or to witness there?  You will say that those are things commanded in the Bible, but I would ask whether it is not commanded in the Bible to feed and protect your family.  Does it not say that the one who does not provide for his own family is worse than an unbeliever (1 Timothy 5:8)?  You will quibble, and I certainly have not made an exact comparison, but maybe you should pause and reconsider.  Are the laws you defend just?  Does God call for you to defend all of the laws of this (or any) country?  As one Latino brother in Christ said, "Do they think we LIKE running across the desert?!" Nay, it is of necessity.  Do not "shut up" your "bowels of compassion" before you have had the opportunity to interact and feel the need and pain of your brothers and sisters!  And especially remember that many of these immigrants are in Christ together with you and me; do not judge rashly for they stand before the same Judge and call Him Father and Savior and Lord!  Search the Scriptures, my friends; and if you desire some aid, read Dr. Carroll's book.

   Incidentally, my previous post concerning The Good Mexican was spawned by a comment Dr. Carroll made in a sermon at Providence Bible Church.

an outsider's view on jungle work

John Crosby was a long time columnist for the New York Herald Tribune. In his book With Love and Loathing he describes meeting, "a white-goateed man, tough as wire, had been missionarying through Africa and South America for thirty years."  I've posted the complete excerpt about this meeting on the family history blog, but below is what I found to be an interesting description of what jungle work is like.

“The upper Amazon teems with missionaries, all of them marvelously resourceful fellows. Along with bringing the word of God, they must know how to take an Evinrude [brand of outboard engine] apart, heal the sick, teach the children, rescue the flooded, speak two or three languages and half a dozen Indian dialects, and do about a million other things only dimly related to the Gospel."

Literature: a window into a nation's soul

There was a time not so many scores of years ago, that reading novels was considered a worthless activity for a serious Christian.  Those who know me well know that I love to read a wide variety of books, including novels.  Thus, I would like to suggest a different reality related to one aspect of reading fiction. 

Why was The DaVinci Code so popular, or The Shack? If we knew the answer to this question, we might understand something about the worldview around us.  {Incidentally, I enjoyed both of these books as novels, but they definitely had some bad theology.}  As a child, I often heard about a grid that we all have: imagine it as a sieve through which we filter all the data we receive.  But each time we deeply interact with a new culture (or sub-culture) there will be strings that are added to or removed from our sieve, creating an adjusted filter.  Now, this ties into literature, because I have found that reading literature from cultures other than my own will reveal to me different aspects of truth as well as deepening my understanding of how other cultures see the world they live in.

This may not be obvious, but it is true: American literature tends to be continually optimistic.  Not all American writings have happy endings; (The Light in the Forest shocked me when it didn't).  However, Americans generally expect hope at the end of even a dark book.  But in reading some foreign novels, I realized that not everyone has this expectation: Ismail Kadare's "The General of the Dead Army," an Albanian novel, and Orhan Pamuk's Turkish novel "Snow" demonstrated this to me.  These are sad, dreary novels that tended to leave almost depressed.  But, they opened for me a window into the thinking of their nation which I might not have gotten so easily in any other format.

Fictional literature tends to tell the reader about the national culture, mentality, and even history.  Thus, some of my favorite authors are British and reflect very similar cultural background to the American one that I am most familiar with: Alistair MacLean, Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, and Jeffrey Archer.  I learned much of ancient thought reading Norse mythology and Homer's Odyssey.

On the other hand, nonfictional works can be just as illuminating about culture equally unintentionally.  Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion, Watchman Nee's The Normal Christian Life, or Marx's The Communist Manifesto each reveal something about the author's national identity.

 Finally, both history and the news are better illuminated from the variety of perspectives that can be provided by other nationalities.  The First and the Last is a fascinating perspective on WWII by a high-ranking Luftwaffe pilot.  Or, Justo González provides a fabulous Story of Christianity from a Cuban background.  The iPINIONS Journal is one of my favorite news sources because of the independent perspective of the author as a lawyer from the Caribbean who lives in the US. 

Due to all this, I am planning to try to enrich my knowledge of some of the cultures that I am interacting with or am planning to by reading their literature, particularly the Turkish, Hispanic, and African-American books.

In closing, a favorite poem by a Polish writer which provides light on his world and which I want to help inform mine:

If china, then only the kind

you wouldn’t miss under the movers’ shoes or the treads of a tank;

if a chair, then one that’s not too comfortable, or you’ll regret getting up and leaving;

if clothes, then only what will fit in one suitcase;

if books, then those you know by heart;

if plans, then the ones you can give up

when it comes time for the next move,

to another street, another continent or epoch or world.

Who told you to settle in?

Who told you this or that would last forever?

Didn’t anyone ever tell you that you’ll never

in the world

feel at home here?

 (I have read all or part of all of the books mentioned in here and would recommend them, though some certainly need a heavy dose of discernment.)

The Good Mexican: a modern parable

Now, there was a certain student and expositor of the Scriptures who wanted to test Jesus and asked, "How do I make sure I gain eternal life?  Can I just love God with all I am, and care for my neighbor's well-being as deeply as I care for my own?"

And the answer was "Yes!"

Suddenly, feeling the weight of his guilt, he queried further, "But who is my neighbor?"

And the answer came: "There was a man traveling from Eastern Suburbia to Western Suburbia through the heart of the City (a place commonly considered dangerous for any Suburbians traveling alone.)  And since he needed a coffee, he stopped at a gas station in City.  As he walked back to his car, he was assailed from behind by a gang that mugged  him and threw him into the shadows, taking his wallet, his keys, and then his car.  A pastor happened to walk by a few minutes later, but when he saw the bloodied and groaning man, he quickly crossed the street and slipped away.  Not long later, a deacon was walking by and after taking a look at the man, continued on his way, on the other side of the street.  But there was a recent Latino immigrant, who upon seeing the man, felt great sorrow and compassion, and so he went and helped the man get up and cared for his bumps and bruises, and took him into his own house and fed him and gave him a place to sleep.  And the next day, the Mexican man again fed the man, gave him a decent set of clothes and gave him bus money to get back to Eastern Suburbia.  All this without telling the Suburbian that he might lose his job for taking the day off or that he had next to no money. 
So, yes, if by neighbors, you mean every one who has the breath of life in them, then yes, by all means, love God and your neighbor and you WILL inherit eternal life.  But if you only desire to love the lovely, comfortable neighbors, then no, loving your neighbors will not take you to heaven."   

on Financing the Gospel minister: thoughts from a far day and a far place

From The Reformed Pastor by Richard Baxter:

"Brethen, if the saving of souls be your end, you will certainly intend it out of the pulpit as well as in it! If it be your end, you will live for it, and contribute all your endeavors to attain it. You will ask concerning the money in your purse, as well as concerning the word of your mouth, ‘In what way shall I lay it out for the greatest good, especially to men’s souls?’ Oh that this were your daily study, how to use your wealth, your friends, and all you have for God, as well as your tongues! Then should we see that fruit of your labors, which is never else like to be seen. ... Spare not for any cost, if it may promote your Master’s work. ... There are no virtues wherein your example will do more, at least to abate men’s prejudice, than humility and meekness and self-denial. ... Stretch your purse to the utmost, and do all the good you can. Think not of being rich; seek not great things for yourselves or your posterity. What if you do impoverish yourselves to do a greater good; will this be loss or gain? ... You lose no great advantage for heaven, by becoming poor: ‘In pursuing one’s way, the lighter one travels the better.'"

 "O what abundance of good might ministers do, if they would but live in contempt of the world, and the riches and glory thereof, and expend all they have in their Master’s service, and pinch their flesh, that they may have wherewith to do good! This would unlock more hearts to the reception of their doctrine, than all their oratory; and, without this, singularity in religion will seem but hypocrisy; and it is likely that it is so." 

(emphases mine)

Related to this are some outstanding thoughts by Conrad Mbewe:

"The common understanding of those who are seriously considering the call to the work of missions is that you need to secure an extra source of income and your retirement package before you commence working for God—otherwise you will bring untold suffering upon your family. The church will only pay you enough to stop you from starving to death. So, issues of clothing and educating your family, and finally having a roof over your head and food in your stomach after retirement must be your own problem to solve.

Thus there are many individuals among us who ought to have been in the mission field aeons ago were it not for these feelings of insecurity. They cannot do so until they have built themselves their retirement homes, which would also bring in that little extra money from rentals. This perception is really worrying. It is disconcerting because, to me, it is a form of practical atheism. It suggests that God may call people into his service but fail to provide for them and their children. Perish the thought!"

"I find this most unfortunate because when Jesus, the Son of God, came to earth, the Bible tells us that he “tabernacle” among us (John 1:14). He did not need to be born in a cow shed. He did not need to get tired and dusty because of travelling on foot in the dusty paths of Palestine. He could have jetted down from heaven on angel wings and continued gliding over everyone’s heads at supersonic speed as he went from town to town preaching the gospel. However, he lived exactly the way in which the people of his day lived—the people among whom he had come to minister. Judas needed to kiss Jesus in order to differentiate him from his disciples when he brought soldiers to arrest him. That was how much Jesus fitted in with the people among whom he ministered!" 

(emphases mine) 

The Snow of Heaven

                      The Snow of Heaven

And the Word of the Lord sifted down on the hearts of the hearers,

Covering the darkness as the snow of winter blankets a city.

And like the snow of heav'n clothes the polluted city in beauty,

His crimson-stained soul was adorned in the white righteousness of Jesus.

And her life, robed in white but spotted black, was washed by truth from God,

Just as the soot of a city is swept to the sea after a storm.

Some Scripture pierced; others' thirst it quenched; and more were turned by its light.

In one, the Word burned as a fire, and in all it performed God's pleasure. 

 MCC - 2/18/10

Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

An Abbreviated History of Love, on the occasion of Valentine's Day 2010

She bounced into my life, and now she's my wife.
The steps in-between are often unseen:
In our busiest days, stuff gets in the way.

She held close my heart as our paths split apart.
Those long days and hours showed hearts’ hidden powers.
Coming back to each other, love had grown stronger.

The touch of her hand or embrace of her man
Spoke the depths of the love we were so conscious of;
And rejoicing in grace, we kept singing His praise.

This marriage thing’s great, these past months – near’ 8.
Love’s growth will not halt: now a baby results!
I love you forever, O dearest of treasures!!!
- MCC

Good works / Social action

Since I've been giving some thought to the Bible's emphasis on the believer and good works, or what we might call social action in this day, I found this quote by Claus Westermann in Creation to be quite interesting. 

"...the Church in her understanding of sin had directed herself too narrowly towards Genesis ch. 3, and had neglected, or at least not considered sufficiently, the social responsibility which is the concern of ch. 4.  This can be seen quite clearly in the influence exercised by the biblical figures.  Adam and Eve walk through the whole history of western thought and art right up to the song hits and jokes of today.  Cain and Abel have always remained shadowy figures." (20)

The Greatest Save

In the run-up to World Cup 2010, I found this video of The Greatest Save of the Century by English goalkeeper Gordon Banks against the great Pele.  It is a truly amazing save!

The Trellis and The Vine

I haven't read the whole book, but The Trellis and The Vine by Marshall and Payne has been highly recommended to me.  I've read the first two chapters here, and it seems like a profitable read, even if the book is telling us things we should know and be practicing.

knowledge AND living...

The aim of no passage of Scripture is that we should simply know what it says without the knowledge translating into discipleship and worship.

- Marcus Honeysett

quote from "A hole in the fuel tank?" a really good article that I was sent...

The Table

The Table

Lord's Communion -

Saint's sweet union.

Flesh that's broken -

One loaf our token.

Blood-remission -

A vine's fruition.

Christ-believing -

Flesh-blood receiving.

Grace invis'ble -

Myst'ry spiritual.

Christ's ordaining -

Christian proclaiming.

Sign and sealing -

Gospel-revealing.

Self perishing -

Brothers cherishing.

Blest sacrament* -

A Church commitment.

MCC - 1/26/10

 

 Lk 22:18-20; Acts 2:42; 1 Cor. 10:16-17, 21; 11:17-34

*For the proper use of the word sacrament, consider Calvin's Institues, book 4, chapter 14.

the curse of Muslim lands according to a grand mufti

“Suicide operations have become a curse of Muslim lands." - Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh

This quote comes from the sermon preached at the hajj in November.  Two interesting articles on the topic: a news article from that day and an opinion article from this month.

A Greater Liberty to Win

A Greater Liberty to Win

“In Flanders fields,” the poem goes,
The poppies grow among the rows;
The souls there laid for freedom died
"Uphold the torch” was what they cried.

In greater cause, my life I’d give:
That souls f’rever in heav’n’d live.
In peace I’ll sleep, for Jesus said,
“My Church I will raise from the dead!”

No failure then can we conceive:
Each sheep in Jesus will believe.
The death of death, sin, and hatred
Yields life eternal and sacred.

On God's own plan we now focus,
Proclaim'ng His eternal purpose.
The vision's His, and not our own:
Nations rejoice before His throne!

MCC – 1/22-23/10

This article was very interersting on the China-Google spat.  It considers the broader issues of the Chinese rise toward superpower status as well as the question of the difference it will make whether China is faced outward or inward.  Interesting...

There is no such thing as a private glory of God! 

He is the God of the nations, and he means for his fame to be spread among the nations. 

- John Piper

quotes from Baxter's "The Reformed Pastor"

"All creatures, as such, are broken syllables; they signify nothing as separated from God."

"Theology must lay the foundation, and lead the way of all our studies."

"To see and admire, to reverence and adore, to love and delight in God, as exhibited in his works - this is the true and only philosophy..."

"It is a most high and noble part of holiness, to search after, behold admire, and love the great Creator in all his works.  ... The book of Job, and the Psalms, may show us that our physics are not so little kin to theology as some suppose."

So far as a man is not emptied of himself, and of his own righteousness and goodness, in whatever form or shape, so far he is of a legal spirit. - Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections

a more beautiful Church

"O Thou True Light of all lights, as Thy grace, through the true faith, has enriched Christians before unbelievers, so they are bound to demonstrate the true faith to unbelievers.... The holy Church, which consists of the souls of just catholic men, would be far more beautiful if there were men acquainted with different languages who would go through the earth, that unrighteous and unbelieving men might hear the praises of Thy glorious Trinity and of Thy blessed humanity and of Thy painful passion.

~Raymond Lull

(found in George Smith's Short History... pg 108.)

Hebrews 10, 1 John 1-2, Confession, and Forgiveness

The past two weeks, two sermons have been preached at Providence that provide a much richer and, I believe, more accurate understanding of 1 John 1:6-2:2 than I have previously heard preached.  The first sermon was based on Hebrews 10 and dealt with the extent of our forgiveness in Christ.  The second was based on 1 John 1-2 and gave the positive message of that passage.  These are very helpful messages, and are available either from provcast.org or from the Provcast podcast on iTunes.

About a month ago, I posted a link to another resource on this topic.  These resources dovetail together rather well.

Calvin on the effectiveness of God's grace opposed to our (in)ability to will good

These are selections from reading I did for our DTS meeting today.  They will come into fuller color if read in their original context (Calvin, Institutes. Book 2, Chap. 5), but I thought they were worth sharing as snippets.

"And yet, as the beneficence and liberality of God are manifold and inexhaustible, the grace which he bestows upon us, inasmuch as he makes it our own, he recompenses as if the virtuous acts were our own."  Wow!  God graces us to live for Him, and then rewards us for doing what He Himself enabled!

"...God does not measure the precepts of his law by human strength, but, after ordering what is right, freely bestows on his elect the power of fulfilling it."  What an amazing truth! God does not require what we can do, rather He gives us the power of doing what He requires!
 
"...God works in his elect in two ways: inwardly, by his Spirit; outwardly by his word.  By his Spirit illuminating their minds, and training their hearts to the practice of righteousness, he makes them new creatures, while, by his word, he stimulates them to long and seek for their renovation."

"In regard to the present question [what is the power of the Law in man?], while [the Law] explains what our duty is, it teaches that the power of obeying it is derived from the goodness of God, and it accordingly urges us to pray that this power be given us." (emphasis added)

"Being taught by precepts what the will of God is, we are reminded of our wretchedness in being so completely at variance with that will, and, at the same time, are stimulated to invoke the aid of the Spirit to guide us into the right path.  But as our indolence is not sufficiently aroused by precepts, promises are added, that they may attract us by their sweetness, and produce a feeling of love for the precept.  The greater our desire of righteousness, the greater will be our earnestness to obtain the grace of God.  And thus it is, that in the protestations 'if we be willing,' 'if thou shalt hearken,' the Lord neither attributes to us full power of willing and hearkening, nor yet mocks us for our impotence." (emphasis added) 

There is NO TIME!

There is NO TIME! is an excellent book by Paul Nyquist. I was given it for Christmas, and I finished it today. Outstanding!

I loved several principles that were laid out (I have rephrased some of them):
-- Divine Serendipity: All appointments are divine appointments.
-- The imminent return of Christ: This has to be a real motivation for us, not just a superficial one.
-- God's Arm is not shortened: God CAN and DESIRES to impact the world today as He did in the days of the apostles.
-- Stewardship: The investment of God's people deserves eternal reward.  Are they receiving eternal glory for the investment that they make today?
--Overt Witness: We share the Gospel of Christ early and often in all our relationships.

 I love the way I can find most of the principles laid out in  There is NO TIME! in the book of Acts. The author did a good job of acknowledging and dealing with differences between the apostolic and modern contexts generally.  With that being said, I would be interested in seeing further clarification on a few points.

- This is not an excuse to flee danger (The premise is that we may not have much time in a nation; but that doesn't mean that we can flee danger simply because we are threatened.  It means that we are very likely to get thrown out no matter our commitment.)
- NT churches were also planted/matured other ways (Many frontier churches in the NT were planted in other ways, e.g. Antioch or Rome.)
- There was a fairly stable NT political scene whereas the fable is based on instability (While Roman politics were turbulent, the empire seems to have been fairly stable in the areas where Paul worked; the situation we are looking at is often quite different... what does that mean?)
- This model lends itself to “single” ministry. (The book gave me new insight into why Paul would want teams that could travel light without the "burden/distraction" of families.)
- More definition of the difference between team and work group would be helpful.  (I just am not sure I have the difference clear in my mind.)
- If done carefully there does not seem to be a need for retraining as you add like-minded team members (e.g. Luke, Timothy).
- Paul ministered in basically one nation for his entire ministry; thus changing nations/people groups might not be the answer at the end of the process.  Applied to today that might look like moving within a nation to different areas or moving within a people group/related people groups.