Beyond the Dream (Team)

Obviously it is not news that Kobe and LeBron have both said that the 2012 USA Olympic mens basketball team could beat the 1992 'Dream Team.' Obviously it is also not news that Jordan and Barkley have ridiculed the notion. Frankly, it is ridiculous!

I am a casual basketball fan at best, but when I can glance at the names on THE Dream Team and know of all but one of them (Chris Mullin), and he's still a Hall of Famer, that was a stacked roster. Beyond that, not only was the Team itself inducted into the Hall of Fame, everyone on it except the single college player (Christian Laettner) was individually inducted into it. It seems ludicrously absurd to suggest that the current US team will come even close to having 11 of 12 members in the HOF, much less being inducted in as a team. I think, Kobe is the only one on the team that is a lock for the HOF...

Having said all that, there is one similarity between the two teams, Coach K...

... and now, this casual fan will return to rooting for the USA and hoping for another gold medal by the mens basketball team!

Between Two Fires - evangelical Palestinian followers of Jesus

  Today I finished reading Between Two Fires: The Untold Story of Palestinian Christians.  I suppose it would be as surprising to most Western Christians as it was to me to find out that there are Gospel-believing and -obeying Christians, assembled as churches, ministering in the various sections of Palestine.  In all my reading and conversations, this has gone almost completely unmentioned.  (I came across this book while reading an excellent book by Nabeel Jabbour.)

  The testimonies of those who sacrifice and serve daily to share the good news of Jesus in words and works to those around them will be a source of encouragement and exhortation to any believer.  As the marginalized witness to a marginalized people, these brothers and sisters demonstrate what it looks like to love the Lord God first and then to love their neighbors (often, enemies) as themselves.  This is seen in the grime and the dirt of real struggles and failures and growth.  The book is mediocre in style and format but stellar in content.  I'd strongly recommend Between Two Fires to all those who love to see the Body of Christ in action and those who care deeply for the lost around the world.

 Technical details: It's a relatively short read at approximately 127 pages.  There's an excellent addendum at the end.

High and Low: Man and God

  Reading in Isaiah 5 this morning, I noticed an interesting comparison in verses 15 and 16.  The context is God's condemnation and judgment upon His people.  He says that this judgment will result in those with lofty, proud (literally 'high') eyes being brought low.  Then, He says that He, their God, will be exalted (literally 'high') when this happens.

  This is fascinating since the normal expectation when a god's people are crushed by another people is for that god to be humbled, brought low.  So, how is it that this God is exalted in His people's humbling?  

  The Lord of the Armies is exalted even when His people receive defeat and humiliation at the hands of others because He sent the defeat and humiliation.  He is the God of justice and righteousness, not some territorial god who is personally threatened by the success or failure of His worshipers.  Instead, He demands that His people be holy and obedient and clean, seeking to be as He is.

  And this was utterly impossible.

  

  And so, God Himself was humbled and exalted...

  ...so that His people might be people of justice and righteousness and humility, till the day He exalted them under His own exalted lordship.  He suffered judgment so that He might bless and heal them.

(images from here and here)

The Mountain of the Lord - an eschatological speculation

  I read the beginning of Isaiah 2 this morning and was struck by the way the God's temple is described: it is described as if it could literally be a Temple Mountain or a Mountain Temple... as if this great temple from which God will teach and judge the nations might literally be built into a mountain or carved from a mountain, a temple that would be by earthly measures worthy of the God worshipped there and the King served there!

 So, I looked around to see what the best mountain temples currently look like.  None fit the image in my mind, although some are impressive.  I'd love to see someone draw a magnificent imagined Mountain Temple.  But for now, here are the best mountain temples I could find...

Temple in China

Another in China

Final Chinese example

Temple of Hatshepsut - Egypt

Legendary Hindu temple

Honorable Mentions:

Monastery at Petra

(Petra's temple wasn't built into the mountain apparently.)

Monastery in Turkey

Aztec Temple

Hidden in My Heart

  While I frequently recommend authors, books or poems, I don't believe I've recommended a music cd on here before.  I've even posted thoughts on what the New Testament says about music.  But today is a good time to recommend a set of excellent cds.  We were given the first Hidden in My Heart right before our first daughter was born.  We loved it!  Calming truths of Scripture put to lullaby music.  

 Well, this week we found out that just as we are expecting our second daughter, they have released a second volume.  So, now we are finding out if we will love this one as much as we loved the first one.

You can listen through the cds on their pages, Scripture as poem and lullaby...

Book culture - an occidental phenomenon

   In Is That a Fish in Your Ear?, David Bellos provides some fascinating insight into the nature of literary translation and the languages and culture which accompany it.  Citing UNESCO's database of the top 13 most popular source languages for translation, only Swahili (and English) are not most frequently translated into English.  Swahili is translated most often into Russian, and then English second.
   75% of all translations are either from (65%) or into (10%) English.
   47% of all translated books were published in either English, French, or German.

   Bellos makes this poignant comment which should influence our thinking concerning how to spread the Gospel:

Culture is not the prerogative of any part or place in the world, but book culture [...] is heavily concentrated in Britain, the United States, France, and Germany. (pg 210)

   If you are thinking of ministering outside of those four countries, think through non-literary approaches and concentrate on them. Even though literature (particularly the Word of God) will be vital for the growth of the work of God, it may not be vital for the beginning of that work in many places.  Consider whether this was not true in earliest Christian times.

Blame-shifting the source of our sin

The source of sin lies closer to home than you or I may want to admit.  It's easy to blame God or the devil for our struggles, but the primary source of our sin lies within our own hearts.  Explaining temptation by saying, "God is testing me" or "Satan is attacking me" positions "me" either as the victim, if I am defeated, or the hero, if I prevail.  But confessing that "My heart is desperately wicked" provides no such comforts.  It heads off all attempts to shift blame, and cuts down all the pretensions of spiritual pride.

~ Colin Smith, Jonah: Navigating a God-Centered Life

(recently given to me by friends, and it's pretty rich so far.)

Only Sacred Places

There are no unsacred places only sacred places and desecrated places.

~ Wendell Berry

  A thoroughly Christian sentiment, though I'd never heard of Wendell Berry before reading this quote this afternoon, and I have no reason to think he would see it as such.  May we seek to restore the sacredness to the places that have been desecrated.

Thy Kingdom come...