The Danger of Friendship with Heretics – Thoughts Following T.D. Jakes’ Trinitarian Confession at the Elephant Room 2

Over the course of my relatively short life, I’ve had the opportunity and privilege of being friends or having some level of positive relationship with both men and women who don’t always agree with me (shocking, I know). Almost all of my Christian friends and I would likely disagree on some aspect of doctrine or application. This sort of tolerable and brotherly disagreement is to be expected inside of close friendships and your own local church body, I suppose.

There are other Christian friends of mine whose doctrinal differences are so important, so far reaching to all areas of faith and life that church fellowship is all but impossible. In fact, my oldest and best friend and I likely could not handle going to one another’s home church for too long. He’s a dear brother in Christ, a trustworthy proponent of the gospel message, and a very good friend, but for better or worse, as men of conviction we could not be members of the same local church fellowship.

The above two scenarios are examples of Christian brethren disagreeing on things while still being Christian brothers and sisters. However, there is another scenario where this is not the case, and I have (or have had) several relationships where I would categorically describe my friend as a heretic, apostate, false teacher, or a combination of some or all of those labels. These same friends may make the same categorical characterizations of me too (that’s only fitting, and I’m not offended by that) if they have any room in their theological framework for someone to disagree to the point of being a heretic.

Usually when I have a close friend, or when I am otherwise closely connected to someone who falls into this final category, it has been my desire and obligation to seek to confront the other person with the hope of winning a brother/sister by “snatching them out of the fire” (Jude 23). Direct confrontation with the desire and goal of correction and restoration is the only truly loving action that one can take. As one who has actually confronted friends (who, like me, confesses faith in and salvation from Christ) on issues of such a foundational nature as those doctrines that literally define the Christian faith, I have a little experience and knowledge of what I am writing.

I can think of a few instances where I desired – almost to the point of feeling compelled – to confront someone regarding the core doctrines of the Christian faith. This was, again, not a Christian confronting a professing pagan, Hindu, Muslim or follower of some other world religion. I was confronting a professing Christian. But this same person’s confession of faith was, in my estimation, so sub-bibilcal that it was not actually a Christian faith. Denying doctrines on the same level as the exclusivity of Jesus Christ was what was to be the focus of our discussion. And therefore, I was genuinely concerned for the salvation of these individuals.

Working up to my meeting (usually I was able to have more than one face to face interaction), I attempted to prepare for all of the relevant issues that I wanted to address as well as any issues or rabbit trails that I thought would be brought up by my friend. In every instance, there were the pre-meeting jitters of nervousness – concerning both a desire to not go through with this confrontation as well as a desire to not make a complete fool of myself and so badly represent the faith that I was trying to defend. There were real stakes to these discussions. No quick quips or vacuous slogans would suffice. The friend I was going to meet was, in every instance, intelligent, thoughtful, deliberate, and well read enough to make me feel rather inadequate. Plus, regardless of where or how our relationship began (co-worker, family member, church member, or whatever), I genuinely liked or loved these people.

Shortly after the initial discussion with my friend (and this is the case for almost every time that I’m recalling), I can remember thinking to myself, “is the difference that we have really that significant?” Or I would think, “maybe I was wrong in my estimation of the severity of his/her error.” Or, more to the point, “maybe this isn’t enough to get bent out of shape over.” I believe that in every one of these initial meetings where both myself and my friend had remained convinced of our separate and mutually exclusive conclusions, I left the meeting with some doubt or downplaying of my own concerns.

Upon reflection and further counsel with other believers following these interchanges, the concerns that had initially brought me to the point of confrontation were re-validated and the answers or defenses given by my friend were still seen to be as hollow now as they had been during our meeting. I had not wavered on my concerns because of the argument given by my friend for his side of the argument, but I had still hesitated...for hours or days even…at least on the severity of the situation at hand.

This hesitation didn’t come because there was substantive clarity given to the issue at hand where we both were shown to be on the same page. Even if a cursory statement of belief was made that we both could agree to, that didn’t (or wouldn’t) help. With the larger issue at hand, that cursory statement of faith didn’t help at all to deal with the issue at hand. For instance, if the issue were one of the exclusivity of Jesus Christ for salvation, a simple affirmation by both parties that “Jesus saves” or “Jesus saves the repentant sinner who comes to Him in faith” does not put the issue to rest because it doesn’t address the other issues. For instance, one issue would need to be specifically addressed would be the validity of other methods or means of salvation in other religions (or whatever).

So what was the reason that I hesitated or wavered on my conviction of the eternal importance of our differences? Well, the major one (at least) is that I really, really liked this person. In every instance, I really liked the individual that I talked to. And the confrontation only did more to make me really like this person. He was very nice and friendly and not at all a fire-breathing anti-Christian raving lunatic. He was polite. He and I had a pleasant exchange. We laughed at different times in our conversation when one of us would say something funny. And we found that we agreed on various other important issues – philosophical, social, and theological.

This was dangerous. The danger was in liking my friend and theological combatant too much…or at least more than I valued the truth and integrity of the gospel of Jesus Christ and His revealed Word enough to press forward with a difficult, and often uncomfortable line of questions and discussion. Had I been around a dozen or more men who, like myself, liked my friend and could agree with him on so many other issues, laugh together at funny things, and express simple skin-deep affirmations about the issues at hand, then perhaps even today I would not count that conversation as one that falls into this extreme category where division is heresy.

And here is where maybe, just maybe, I can have an insight into why Mark Driscoll and James MacDonald (and others) gave T.D. Jakes the right hand of fellowship at the Elephant Room Conference and essentially said that the doctrine of the Trinity – while confession is required to have full access to our gathering – is really not definitional of the Christian faith so much so that a denial of it is to deny Christian faith and posses something that is entirely non-Christian. The conversation this surrounded the interchange between Driscoll, MacDonald, and Jakes left me with the distinct impression that oneness theology may be wrong, but it’s no more wrong and no more of a problem than disagreements about whether women can be elders or the method of baptism.

Furthermore, in many of the comments about the Elephant Room 2 written/spoken by the participants or panel members, there was a general attitude of “Man, Bishop Jakes is a really great guy.” He was nice, friendly, personable, and otherwise a person that you can get along with. And I wonder if that level of friendship skewed the opinion of Driscoll, MacDonald, and the rest of the men in the same way that I experienced during my interaction with my heretic friends.

Whether or not T.D. Jakes is a Trinitarian or not – I honestly don’t know. He said “yes” to Mark Driscoll’s line of questions, but even his clarifying comments left me wanting further clarification. I can tell you this, that if a former member (much less a leader, and much much less a Bishop) of an anti-Trinitarian church wanted to speak at or become a member at my local church, there would have been more pointed questions about affirmations of the Trinity and denials of the oneness understanding. Lovingly and firmly asked, to be sure. But they would have been asked.

Throw my 2 cents into the whole discussion…but that’s what it is.

Random thoughts Related to Reverence

“Establish Your Word to Your servant as that which produces reverence for You.” (Psalm 119:38)

One of the objections that I have had in the past regarding worship services is that there seems to be a lack of reverence in the worshipers or in the place of worship. This idea may have come from the laid back atmosphere in many churches where every 3rd person seems to have a cup of starbucks or caribou coffee or is too busy tweeting something to really put all of one’s focus on God.

When I was in college, our choir toured in Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic and visited (and sang in) many cathedrals. It impressed me then, and still does today, that everything - from the design of the building itself to the interior art work - was done intentionally to communicate something about God, the parishioner, or something else important. Comparing that to the large multi-purpose facilities where the worship hall doubles for a basketball court makes for quite a stark contrast.

And while I think that it is a good idea, a very good idea, to ask the question of what our building (the actual structure), the layout of our services, the seating, or whatever says about God, about us, and about what we are doing, I don’t think that we need to burn down our current building and start over (well, not for this reason, anyway). I also don’t think that the answer is that we need to have Cathedral-ish buildings complete with statues and stained glass windows (although, those should make a comeback). Likewise, I don’t want to wholly dismiss or deride the idea of large multi-purpose facilities as houses of corporate worship. We need to be willing to both ask the question and then provide an answer to that question about what the building communicates about who we are, who God is, and what we’re doing. Because whether or not we intend to say anything by what we do or how we do it – we do.

As for reverence, well that is something that no building can instill in a person. A building may be able to the reverence that is already in a person, but I’m not sure how much it would truly detract from that same individual. True reverence comes from the Word as the Lord establishes it in us and to us. And it is that reverence that can transform any building - from a cramped and broken down barn in rural Russia or a Cathedral in the middle of Europe, to a multi-purpose building in the US – into a beautiful and reverential place of corporate worship.

humbled by an (almost) 8-year-old

“1 Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, 2 like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3 if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.” (1 Peter 2:1-3)

In our home, nap time is a critically important time for everyone. With four children under eight (and one on the way), it is no understatement to say that it is almost more important for parental sanity than it is for the demeanor and physical needs of our younger children. A difficult situation presented itself about a year ago when our eldest no longer needed a regular nap in order to make it through the day.

My wife did a few things to augment Micah’s (my eldest child) nap time, one of which was to make sure that he would read his Bible for either a certain length of time or until he finished a full chapter before reading other books, playing Angry Birds on my iPod, or whatever. So this has been his pattern for quite some time. For a while he was trying to read through the Bible in a year, but he found that too big of a challenge for his reading abilities. But rather than get discouraged, he continued to read and usually chose his sections on his own.

I began noticing that he would tell us that he read Psalm 117 quite regularly. It wasn’t until he informed me that Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the whole Bible (only two verses) that I began to get a little suspicious.

“Hey, if I’ve got to read one chapter (even a few times each day), why not make it the shortest one so that I can do other fun stuff.” That was what I imagined his thought process to be – it would likely have been my own in his position. So, one day last week I decided to talk to Micah about it and told him that he should read more than the shortest chapter.

To my shock – and my extreme joy – he said that he’s been memorizing it. So, I opened up his Bible, and asked him to recite it for me. And he did. And he did it almost word for word perfectly. Not for Awana shares, trips to the kids’ prize box, or any other external reward offered to him – but because he wanted to.

Praise the LORD, all nations; Laud Him, all peoples! For His lovingkindness is great toward us, And the truth of the LORD is everlasting. Praise the LORD! (Psalm 117)

And when I asked him about this, he said that he’d already moved on to the next shortest chapter (another Psalm) and was working to memorize it.

What sheer joy this brings to my heart.

As a father, my hope and desire is for my children’s salvation. My hope and desire is that their new birth would be evident by many things, one of which is their desire to know God, His Word, and to serve Him.

I am overjoyed at my son’s initiative, implementation, and continuation of his own devotional plan that fits his personality and his abilities.

I am deeply humbled and challenged by my son’s initiative, implementation, and continuation of his own devotional plan – especially as it comes to memorization – because it shows me just how much better I could be doing.

Soli Deo Gloria

Why Any Church that Has Bono Speak Related to Christianity has Discernment Issues

Falling Out of a Tree & Comfort from Above

Last night my four-year-old was exuberantly climbing a tree in our yard. He was so excited to show me how high he could go and he really wanted me to be proud of him for his accomplishment – and his expectation wasn’t disappointed. I think all fathers who love their children are excited when the children are excited about newfound skills, talents, or knowledge.

Well, getting down was a cinch…the first time. The second time he climbed up and then got down, he slid a bit too fast and received one long thin scrape on his inner forearm. This scrape set the next hour (or so) in motion. The initial crying in pain, the terrified sobbing at not wanting to have the scrape properly washed, the crying in (somewhat) imagined pain at the ever-so-gentle washing of the scrape, and the unstoppable sobbing for now real reason afterward.

It was very difficult to see my son go from excitement and joy to pain and fear. I know from experience that tree-climbing cuts are plentiful and a bit painful, but nothing serious enough to warrant the awe inspiring display that they usually do. I know that the cut hurts, and when you’re a child with a cut – the world seems to come to an end because this is the worst thing that could happen at this time. But I also know that he’ll be okay, that I am here to make sure the cut is properly taken care of, and that this is such a small thing in the scope of his life that to become overly exercised about it is unnecessary.

In the above experience, I was the father and I was able to calm my child because of who I am and because my son loves me, listens to me, and believes in me.

However, I’ve been dealing with my own scrape on the arm, as it were, and I am no less extreme in my reaction to it. The world seems to be closing in and this scrape is causing an internal, yet still somewhat of an all-consuming and hysterical, reaction of stress and anxiety. My heavenly Father has sent His Spirit into the world, and His ministry is present in times like this. Among other things, the Spirit is here to comfort the believer in times of trouble – even when the trouble may be imagined or accentuated because of my own imperfect and sinful response.

I can praise God today for the lesson that He is teaching me in this juxtaposition of my internal struggle and the minor scrape that my son received on his arm. Also, if nothing else, the scrape that my beloved son suffered last night has been used by God for my good and His glory (Rom 8:28) as it is helping to cause my eyes to focus heavenward. My son may never know how his scrape was the event that God used to correct his father’s heart. But the fact that he is unaware of how his painful situation has caused me to praise God and how it has influenced my teaching and leading of him is yet another lesson to me. These lessons are both all the more important as I deal with my own scrapes and cuts as I journey through this life.

Soli Deo Gloria.

I'm a Christian and I'm Not Sorry

As part of the facebook world I am privy to the random thoughts and life updates of over 400 of my closest friends. This morning, I saw a video posted of a young man reciting a poem with the title, “I’m a Christian and I’m sorry”.

I listened to it, and I must say that as shocking as it was to hear the f-bomb twice, I was more shocked at hearing the same Christian bashing lines of thought that you hear anywhere else.

You can find the video on youtube, but I transcribed (as best as I could) the words of the poem so that I could better interact with it (transcript is below). I felt compelled to respond, so I have written this post (not even close to poetry) called, “I’m a Christian, and I’m not sorry” and it is below the transcript the poem.

I am a Christian.
I’m sorry

I’m sorry for the way that I come across
So fair and fake friendly and full on my self so judging your spiritual health by the words that you say and the way that you dress and the things that you do
Or maybe just judging you

I’m sorry for the way I live my life.
So confident of my own beliefs that I would never think to think about thinking about yours

I’m sorry for the wars
Iron clad crusaders mounting steeds and drawing swords with such spirit but the spirit…
[something about the spirit being out and the sword of the spirit was the word]
…but the word was with God and the word was God and they preached this as they marched on the holy land.
Singing and praying
And killing and slaying.
And preaching and healing
And raping and stealing.
It’s ironic that they lined their pockets in the name of God
Just like the priests who lined their pockets in the name of God.
Just like the people you can’t stand because they always raise their hand and spread their faith and hate and judgment in the name of God.
I’m sorry that I take the name of God in vain – or rather I’m sorry that I stain the name of God. Defending my selfish actions and selfless actions pertaining to the will of God.

I’m sorry for being intolerant.
For trying to talk down to you, for trying to talk over you, for not letting you talk.

I’m sorry for not walking the walk. For being a hypocritical critical Christian. Criticizing your lifestyle while my own lifestyle styles itself like the televangelist’s hair. All slick and sly and slippery…(something about a syllable sliding into your ear)…but that’s my greatest fear.
That the steps I take won’t match the words I speak so when I speak all you hear of me is a weak hypocritical critical Christian. Doing one thing and saying another. Loving my friend but hating my brother – it’s a show.

I’m sorry I get drunk on Saturday’s and go to church on Sunday’s to pray for my friends who get drunk on Saturday’s.
And on that note I’m sorry for making the church about the pews and the cross and the steeple, because the building is not the church; the church is the people.

I’m sorry that I hate you because you are gay.
I’m sorry I condemn you to hell because you’re gay instead of loving I junp to hatred. Mouth open and tongue preaching, eyes open but not seeing that you are the same as me just a F****** human being.

I’m sorry that I only hang out with Christian friends and we only do nice Christian things like pot luck dinners and board game nights. While in the night a man beats his girlfriend again. Another homeless man dies again. Is this the that my own pride has been but here I am with my same friends again but see what I always forget is that Jesus didn’t come to hang out with the priests and the lords, no. He hung out with cripples and beggars and whores.

Love.

I’m sorry for history. For native tribes wiped out in the name of the church. Lodges burning. Stomachs churning and yearning for justice as mothers, screaming and bleeding, pleading for their young ones are dragged away to church schools where they were abused.

I’m sorry for the way that I refuse to learn your culture, instead I just came to spread the gospel - and the plague.

I’m sorry that I stand at the front doors of abortion clinics screaming at fifteen-year-old girls as they enter instead of waiting at the back door to hug them as they leave.

I’m sorry for taking my wars and my faith to your lands when historically your lands is where my faith was born. And in the face of the storm I realize that if God is Allah and Allah is God then why are we shooting instead of sharing? Why are we launching instead of learning? Why are we warring instead of walking together? Why are we taking instead of talking together? Why are we bombing instead of breaking bread together? You see I think looks down and He’s sad. And from His right hand throne above, Jesus asks “where is the love?” And if it takes Wil.I.Am and Justin Timberlake asking the same question for us to start asking the same question then where the f*** are we headed?

So I will take this stage to be my chapel and this mic to be my confessional, and in the presence of God and of you, the blessed, I confess I am a Christian. I’m sorry.

- A poem by Chris Tse

I’m a Christian and I’m not sorry.

I’m a Christian and I’m not sorry.

I’m not sorry for the way I come across. When I’m being friendly, I’m not fake – I’m genuine. If you think its fake, I’m sorry, but it’s not.

I’m not sorry that the way you speak communicates something about who you are to anyone who is paying attention. I don’t judge your spiritual health by the way that you dress, but the things that you do and the things that you say communicate a lot about you in the same way that what I do and say tells you a lot about me.

I’m not sorry for the way I live my life or for the tenacity with which I hold my worldview. I’m so confident in my beliefs that I will try to understand the beliefs of others in order to show their deficiency. But more than that I want to tell you of the Perfect Savior and the Holy God who is present nowhere else than the very gospel that other worldviews do not have.

I’m not sorry for Christians in the middle ages. I’ve read Foxes Book of Martyrs and I know how the Christians – the true Christians – were treated by the same Roman system that is responsible for all kinds of evils. I’m just sorry more people either aren’t willing or aren’t able to separate Christians and Christianity from the Roman Catholic Church, the associated monarchical system, and the abuses, perversions, and heresies that were hand in hand with that union.

I’m not sorry for being intolerant…because I’m not. Intolerance doesn’t allow others to speak. And unless I’m living in a parallel universe, those who oppose Christ and Christians have the primary positions on TV, Radio, Hollywood, Broadway, newspapers, and other forms of communication. I don’t seek to shut others down from saying what they believe; I just want the ability to do the same.

I’m not sorry for trying to live and be as Christ wants me to be while failing every day. That is how the Christian life is described in the Scriptures. And there are a great host of Christians who were the same type of “hypocrites” that I am. Look at Paul – he didn’t do what he wanted to do and longed to be free of the body of this death – but he was a true and genuine Christian. I, a Christian, don’t revel in nor seek to not repeat my failures, but I do not deny them or cover them up either.

I’m not sorry about greasy televangelists – I’m righteously angry toward them. They pervert the name of Jesus to line their pockets. I pray that God would have mercy on their souls now so that they can repent of their ill gotten gains, their filthy luker, and their hell-wrought theology. Otherwise they will be judged and condemned by God after they’ve enjoyed their short time on earth.

I’m not sorry that I don’t get drunk. I feel bad for non-Christians who drown themselves in alcohol, and I love and pity them and want them to be set free in Christ from their bondage. I am sorry for people who claim to be Christians but are in an unrepentant cycle of willful sin and very well may truly be non-Christians who are deceived into thinking that they have been forgiven.

I’m not sorry for seeing the importance of gathering together with other believers to hear the Word preached, to worship the Lord in singing, and to find ways to serve one another and others. And I’m not sorry to do that in a building that we try to keep clean and in good repair.

I’m not sorry for telling people that “neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals,” nor those enslaved to “immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Cor 6:9 & Gal 5:19-21). All sinners are human beings, and all human beings are sinners, except Jesus Christ the righteous. And all human beings are wicked and are sure to be condemned by God unless Christ saves them through the power of His gospel. And as much as I don’t like it when what I say makes people upset or frustrated – I’m not sorry if this offends you.

I’m not sorry that I am pro-life and want to stop women from paying others to kill their children. I’m not sorry that I know and love women who have had abortions. I’m not sorry that my church reaches out to women in situations like this to love them and to share the gospel with them.

I’m not sorry for sending missionaries out into the world to spread the gospel. I’m not sorry that Christians are going into hostile lands where men, women, boys, and girls are killed, beat up, abused, and persecuted for the sake of the gospel.

I’m not sorry for distinguishing between the Allah of Islam and the God of the Bible. They are not the same. Believing in one is not believing in the other. I’m not sorry for being clear where the Bible is clear.

I’m a Christian and I’m not sorry.

Did something change with broadcast TV standards when I wasn’t looking?

I try not to watch too much TV, but honestly I watch way too much for all that I’ve got to do on a daily basis. But be that is it may, did I miss something? I had the Superbaal on yesterday while my family and I were cooped up in the house but I noticed that the 3rd Matrix movie was on at the same time. Now, I’ve never seen that movie before. I saw the first one in the theater and may have been the only one that I know who found it unentertaining and I was very thoroughly unimpressed. Well, I don’t know why, but my wife and I ended up getting the 2nd movie on DVD. We watched it once – and only once – and it was worse than the first one. It was at that point that I told my wife that I was not going to waste money to get the third when it came out even though there was a small part of me that wanted to see how the story ends (I’m usually a sucker for sagas). So when I saw that the local Ion Television channel was running this movie during the weekend, I decided to set my PVR to record it and watch it. Hey, it’s free, so I’m not out any money, right?

The movie was horrible, absolutely horrible. I didn’t know if I could like it less than the first two, but I most definitely did. I fast-forwarded through the emotional (anti) climactic scenes of the movie because they were just…unbearable. The death of Neo’s girlfriend, the final stand of the man-robot-guys (seriously…seriously?), and the triple or quadruple fake ending of the final duel between Smith and Neo were so over done and tiring that I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

But my primary concern is not over the worthlessness of the movie, and it was most definitely worthless, or over the fact that it was an absolute life-draining waste of time even though I fast forwarded through some of it. My primary concern was the many times that I heard hard profanity and blasphemy on broadcast TV. I must admit, to my shame, that much of the casual and ordinary blasphemy that so dominates TV and other media now hits a callous point in my mind and heart when it should disturb me greatly enough to turn off whatever program I’m watching. So that is a different issue that I’ve got to look into, but I was totally shocked to hear compound blasphemous swearing on broadcast TV.

In case my terminology befuddles you, a compound blasphemy would be any curse or exclamation that uses the name of God along with another course or curse word. The last time I checked, I thought that these phrases were not allowed on broadcast TV. Whether or not that has changed in the TV standard books, I don’t know, but I was unaware that I would be hearing what I did. I know that cable channels have different standards, but I thought there were still some restrictions on broadcast TV.

Those who know me know that my wife and I very vigilantly monitor the programming that my children watch because we’re very aware of much of the corrosive and cancerous effect that TV (or other) garbage has on the mind and heart, and we desperately want to reduce that whenever possible when it comes to our children. But now, I am seriously reconsidering the radical notion of completely dropping TV. I’ve often wondered about what men did 100 years ago when they were trying to calm a screaming baby? I sit in my comfy chair in front of the tube, turn on something for the light and noise in hopes that it will lull my little guy to sleep, and that’s that. What did they do? I don’t know, but I bet I could tell you what I’d end up doing. A fair more amount of praying for my family and other things, singing to my son more, or so many more things. Sure, I’d probably have to work on my patience during those times, but seriously…what am I giving up and missing out on because of the convenience and seduction of TV?

If I decide to get rid of TV, it wouldn’t be a financial motive because I don’t pay $50 - $100 per month for TV now. It would be a health issue because I don’t want to be more calloused to important things than I already am and I don’t want to miss out on the opportunities for really important things.

I don’t pipe sewer water into my home because I like the feel of cool liquid at times, so why do I bring the TV in? I’m really starting to seriously ask that question again.

Haiti, the economy, and the grace of God.

I cannot imagine the reality of the horrendous devastation, tragedy, and horror for the many people on the ground in Haiti. Even from the little coverage that I have seen and read, the situation is truly one that does not remind me so much of Katrina, but of the Boxing Day Tsunami. I am thankful that I have been emotionally spared from the actual individual stories of survivors who lost their families. I only have to think about what a ruined state I would be propelled into if my wife and children were suddenly and violently taken away from me in order to emotionally identify with those who are actually experiencing this nightmare.

Domestically there are many individuals and families who are in the throws of financial and economic distress. Some people are suffering because of poor choices that they have made (or are continuing to make), some are suffering because of the loss of work, but regardless of the reasons why people are in financial peril, their individual fears and problems are no less real. And even though I have not personally experienced the loss of employment, of savings, of a home, or of other related things, I can easily see how difficult and stressful that situation would be for anyone – much less for a guy who has a wife and four children.

So how does the grace of God relate to these situations? To me?

Personally, I have been spared from these problems. Sure I feel some of the residual effects of them – especially the financial woes of the economy (who doesn’t?), but I have not been directly hit by either of these two things at this time. So for me, personally, God’s grace may well be in play in the fact that I have been spared. But I think God has been even more powerfully gracious to me than simply by keeping me from those problems.

Trying to be a good husband and father I regularly examine my families finances, spending habits, saving habits, and giving habits. I had noticed several months ago that spending had to be dealt with, and so my wife and I really have buckled down and became much more spending conscious. Well, it was in one of these regular self-examinations that I saw all of the same information that I’d been examining for years in a relatively new light. The numbers and percentages were basically the same as the ones that I had been looking at for a long time, but something was different in the way that I was seeing them…and let me tell you, it was not a pleasant view. This realization sent me into a minor tail-spin of calculating, re-calculating, brainstorming, and general stressing out that lasted for about 12 hours. I had (and still have) no answer for some of the dilemmas that I now see, but God is gracious….

By the time it was time to put my children to bed, I asked my four year-old to grab the Bible that we use for our Bible time and give it to my six year-old to find Proverbs 30. Once he found it, my blessed wife, assuming what I wanted to talk to the children about, encouraged him to read the underlined verses. This is what he read,

“⁷ Two things I asked of You, Do not refuse me before I die : ⁸ Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches ; Feed me with the food that is my portion, ⁹ That I not be full and deny You and say, ‘Who is the LORD ?’ Or that I not be in want and steal, And profane the name of my God.” (Prov 30:7-9)

God’s grace is evident by helping me to see the instability of the financial towers made by men and to realize that my trust (to any extent) in them is futile and ultimately a form of idolatry. My little wake-up call helped me to see where I have placed my trust in things and now I am allowed me an opportunity to deal with the heart of the matter – my misplaced faith. I can, and need to, totally trust the LORD in all things as it relates to money, health, natural disasters, or whatever. God’s grace to me in this situation is showing me an area of sin that needs to be dealt with, and then being present to help in my mortifying of it.

God’s grace is also evident in the Haiti earthquake or the financial problems for those who have been most drastically and hardest hit, both for those who are Christians and those who are not. Unless a person’s life has been taken by God’s hand in the disaster in Haiti, this is a time where His grace is being displayed to all. It is not only a display of God’s grace when He spared all those who were not killed in Haiti or that He spared from being crushed by the financial crisis. It is God’s gracious act toward those who have lost homes, loved ones, or livelihoods because God has brought them to a place where they are stripped of all things that they cling to for security and hope and shown them the utter weakness of those things. And a brush with your own mortality (even if you come by it vicariously over the TV) is a gracious act of God. When we contemplate our very existence, we are brought straight back to the questions that the Bible specifically addresses.

"Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.” (Matthew 10:29)

Whether it is the crashing of your bank account or the crashing of the building you’re standing in, nothing happens apart from the plan and will of God. For those who die without Christ, it is an act of judgment. For those who survive without Christ, it is a display of God’s grace. For those in Christ, whether they survive or perish, we know that God works all things together for our good and His glory.

Soli Deo Gloria

the gift of faith

“They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.” (1 John 2:19)

For about the last four years (as I remember my line-in-the-sand in conjunction with the birth of my second son) I have been an ardent advocate of the truth that faith in Christ, true saving faith, is a gift that is given to some, the elect, and not to others. When stated clearly like that, it can be a bit…uncomfortable or controversial inside of the church. But that is where I stand on the basis of Scripture.

And by the grace of God, I have been saved for over 20 years. By the grace of God I have been spared from emotional, physical, and spiritual pitfalls and trouble. The Lord has spared me from certain things and disciplined me out of love for other things when I sinned. The older I get and the more I work with and study in the church, the more I am convinced of the truth and glory of the fact that true saving faith is a gift from God which He imparts to the elect.

I fully and whole-heartedly acknowledge and glorify God in the fact that I am certain that the only reason that I am a faithful, yet constantly warring with sin, disciple of Christ is that God has given me new life and faith to believe in Him. And because it is a gift from God, it will not fail. Because my faith is a gift of God, it will continue and endure forever. For if my faith fails and I deny Christ or deny the true doctrines of salvation for the apostate doctrines of men that mingle human works with the work of Christ, this will begin to show that John’s words would apply to me.

…so why am I blogging this (after months of silence)?

1. I want to get back into writing (published or not) my thoughts and meditations. It is a very helpful tool for my own growth and development that I have missed of late. And let’s face it – life’s not going to get less busy ever, so I gotta kick it into gear now.
2. Sometimes I take things for granted – health, life, faith, house, job, you name it. Well, today I am intentionally not taking the faith that was given to me for granted.

Soli Deo Gloria

What I’ve been up to in recent days…

Other than working, playing with my 3 older children, holding my 6 week old, trying to be a blessing to my tired wife, and studying for Seminary (attempting to, anyway) – including reading a book with an overly heretical view of God in it (well, that’s last post and some upcoming ones)…what have I been doing?

Well, a friend of mine happened to be getting rid of his 55 gallon fish tank at the same time that I was thinking about getting a big one…so I was SUPER blessed to get this tank which came with three bottom feeders and two red tinfoil barbs. Well, in the transition between locations, trying to clean the tank, and figuring out how to put other fish in the tank – one tinfoil barb died and one was donated to a pet store.

So now, we no longer have two enormously large fairly aggressive fish that would have eaten any smaller ones we got…we kind of splurged and got some fun fish. We wanted a fun and multi-colored variety of fish in the tank, and so here is what we have. I hope to figure out how to take pictures of our actual fish in our tank…but there is an art to taking those pictures that I am not in possession of at this time.

Here’s the list of the fish we have:

1 inherited Plecostomus bottom feeder

2 other Catfish bottom feeders we inherited

3 Dalmatian Molly

3 Black Molly








3 Balloon Molly

3 Sunburst Wag Platy

3 Silver Molly
3 Red Velvet Swordtail
3 Electric Glowfish (these are SWEET LOOKING!!!!)








4 Guppies (3 female, 1 male so as not to “tire out the females”)

28 total fish that will hopefully produce more (and not just Guppies, hopefully).

I know that the guppies will multiply like…well, guppies (the rabbits of the sea), but I figure the various omnivore fish that I have will help keep that under control for a while, anyway.

The kids love the fish, and I’m psyched about it because I am (eventually) going to build it into the wall that will separate the study (my office & Steph’s craft area) from the TV area when our basement is finished.

So many things to be thankful for…

***For those of you reading this note in facebook – I make it a point NOT to send out notes to everyone or to invite you to a ton of groups or things, but I really wanted to share this one with you all. God bless you.***

---

Thanksgiving is always a time to look around my life and really take into account what I am blessed with and what I am thankful for. There are so many things that I feel blessed about that it is kind of hard to put them into writing…but I’ll try. So, in no particular order (except saving the best/better for the last), here is my thankfulness list for 2008:

1. I am thankful for my job. Now, because this is #1 doesn’t mean that it is the most important thing in my life. But I must say that God has truly been gracious to me with how my job life has gone. I have had the same job since I graduated from college, and although it is not a glamorous job or something that I even went to school to study for, it has allowed me many blessings. My wife stays home with our lovely children – this is a priceless benefit of any job. But that fact coupled with the fact that I leave my work at work and I work only about 40 hours per week is an immense blessing. I have the energy, time, and the sanity to pour my heart and soul into my family and my ministries. Praise God for the blessing, as long as it lasts, of the job that I have now.

2. In so many ways and for so many reasons, I am thankful for my wife. I am so thankful for her for all of the things that she does and for all of the ways that she contributes to the family. But this year, I am especially thankful for her, in a special way. This year we were able to do something that we have never been able to do before – get away for a weekend without children. I know – married for the better part of a decade is a long time to go without a vacation from the kidos. But it was during our time away that we were able to enjoy coffee without a time limit, dinner without constantly encouraging our children to actually eat their food (novel idea, I know), and hours on end of uninterrupted (even though interruptions can be, and very often are, joyous) conversation. It was so great to enjoy time with my wife just as husband and wife, not as parents, but just as the two of us. And for all of you who may have lamented about a lack of things to talk about other than children on outings like this – I can tell you that we did not suffer that problem. I love our children, but I love my wife most of all. I am so thankful to have been blessed with a lovely and beautiful bride who compliments the best things about me and corrects some of the worst.

3. I am thankful for my little daughter, Hannah. Now, she is only just under 1 ½ years old, but she is coming into her own. It is amazing to see how much of a personality you can really see in such a young child. It is cute to see that she loves to sit in her chair and look at books by herself as much as she loves to chase (to the best of her abilities) her older brothers to play with them. However, in a selfish note, I must say that I am most thankful for the way in which she says good-bye to me as I leave for work and the way in which she says hello to me as I return home. About one month ago she began to join her brothers in their silly dash to give me hugs and kisses both when I leave and arrive from work. She doesn’t much go for kissing anyone, but sure enough, if I ask her for a kiss when I get home…daddy gets a big slobbery kiss from his baby girl.

4. Noah. My sweet, loud, happy, accident-prone, unstoppable (except by stationary objects) freight-train of energy son – I am so thankful for him. So many things about this boy of mine make me smile. It is no small thing to say that he is truly a mini version of myself – in many of the good and bad ways, I might add. But one way that he is truly a blessing, and it is this that I am particularly thankful for today, is his love of all things musical. I suppose that this would be something cute in any child, but the songs that he loves and the songs that he sings are not normal children’s songs. He has been known to start singing, out of the blue, a song while we’re in the car. At night time, my boys and I will read the Bible, tell a Bible story, pray, and sing. To my frustration at times, the favorite thing that my sons like to ask is for me to sing a song that “they’ve never ever heard”. So, after exhausting a lot of songs from my youth, I sang one in particular that he really, really liked. So much so that he requested it for a while thereafter. But a few months later (it must have been) when we hadn’t sung that song with any frequency for quite a while, my son began singing this song at the top of his tone-less lungs while we were in the car. I love the fact that he loves to sing and loves music in general.


5. Micah, my oldest son – what a year have I had in regards to thankfulness with him. Micah has always been our sensitive little guy. He’s always been aware of things seemingly beyond his age. But ever since he was little, we have shared the gospel with him – day and night, in all sorts of activities, venues and opportunities. And it was only a few weeks ago that my son, on his own accord, told me that he wanted to repent of his sins and believe in Jesus. Stephanie and I have labored long and hard in sharing the gospel with him, and I was overjoyed to be able to be with him when he vocalized his desire for salvation. Time will tell of the truth of his profession and the reality of his salvation – but I praise God for his soft heart and his child like desire for salvation.

And it is in this same stream of thought that I must share the final (for this little note) things that I am thankful for:


We took a family picture in early October. It is a great family picture – if I do say so myself. But only a few days ago, Micah painted and drew a picture of our family to give to me to bring to work. That is the next picture you'll see. Now, other than the marks of a perfectionist artist (the two scribbled out characters), you may notice the fact that there are seven people on the right but only five on the left. We found out a few weeks ago that my wife is pregnant with our fifth child – yup, our fifth child. We lost our second while he (I always call that baby “he”) was in the womb. We don’t make a point of drilling that fact into our children’s heads, but whenever someone close to us has lost a child, it may come up. So as far as Micah is concerned (and me too, for that matter) we have a family of seven now; five in the picture on the left, one in heaven, and one in his mommy’s tummy. I am thankful that my son has this personal perspective on life at this age.

6. I am thankful for the blessing of yet another child. May God grant health and safety to my child now, and grant faith and repentance to this child at day in the future.

7. Above all and overflowing to all is my thankfulness to the God and Father of my LORD Jesus Christ, to His Son for His justifying work, and to the Spirit for His sanctifying work. Soli Deo Gloria.

Bearing Unjust Treatment for Christ’s Sake

“¹⁸ Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. ¹⁹ For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. ²⁰ For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. ²¹ For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps,” (1 Peter 2:18 – 21)

This is probably my first “real time” blog entry. What I mean by that is that I am writing my thoughts and reflections about an ongoing situation (however minor this current situation is). My hope is that my meditation on this subject matter will cause me to react rightly, and better than I have already, regarding the outcome of this situation. In all things, I want to reflect the reality that Christ’s righteousness is mine and my life is His, so I need to act and react in ways that honor and glorify my Lord.

Here is the short (and detail-less) version of the story:

Last week I was told by my boss to stay a little late at my job and there was nothing for me to do. When I checked my time card today I found that I was not paid for the extra time that I stayed at work. I didn’t do any work, but I was instructed to stick around for a specific period of time by my boss. I was informed by my scheduling and payroll manager that I would not be paid for this time, regardless of why I stayed late, because I was not doing actual work.

After my initial outburst of frustration following reading the memo from my payroll manager, I went over to discuss the situation with her. She was understanding of the situation, but not optimistic that I would receive payment for the, now disputed, time. I thanked her for continuing to investigate this and then went and “vented” my frustration to a co-worker.

Now, I am back at my desk and I thought of Peter’s words about bearing unjust suffering well as a testimony to my faith in Christ. So, without a doubt, I blew it when I went to find an outlet to complain to my coworker. I sinned in my attitude and in my thoughts, even if my words did not seem foul on the surface.

I now have a choice to make. I need to purpose in my heart and mind to act and react in a Christ like and Christ honoring way to the final decision (whatever it is) regarding whether or not I will be getting paid for this time. If I am paid, glory to God! I will be rightly compensated for what I was requested to do by my employer. And if I am not paid, praise to Christ! I will be wronged by my employer, but I can bear this unjust treatment in a way that displays my “set-apartedness” in Christ.

Steven Curtis Chapman, Cinderella, Tragedy

I was running on my treadmill yesterday when I heard on the news that Steven Curtis Chapman's 5 year-old daughter was accidentally killed by her brother.

I first heard the song "Cinderella" following the birth of my own daughter in the summer of 2007. I remember telling my wife that it was the first song that I ever had that "butterfly kisses" reaction that daddy's get when thinking about their daughters...I was a weeping mess.

Now, hearing the tragedy in his family and finding out that 1/2 of the inspiration for this song was his daughter, Maria, who died on Wednesday.

God's grace is sufficient...it is the only thing that can sustain and encourage a family in this time.

(This video was made well before this tragedy)

a message for all of my peeps with birthdays...

"Good Night" with my boys (AUDIO - LISTEN NOW)

My nightly routine consists of driving home, coming inside the house, and getting mobbed by Noah asking me to play hide-and-seek (“pay hy-deek”). Well, we eat dinner, play, and do various fun things before bed time.

Stephanie normally puts our daughter down and I put the boys to bed. At bedtime, we pray, sing a song, and a set of normal questions are asked and answered (water, food, books, etc). But last night, a great thing happened. You see, sometimes there are breakthroughs or moments that bring so much joy that…it just makes being a dad so much fun. All of it is great, but the part that made my heart sing with proud-fatherly joy was about half way through when I was singing to Noah.

So tonight I did the same thing, only I brought my iPod with the recorder adapter to capture it. You can listen to it and share my joy below.

Now, I must apologize, because for some reason the recording sometimes jumps and skips a few seconds. I’m trying to figure it out, but until I can get a better recording, here’s something that, I hope, will make you smile. So, if you here the skips, it is not because of editing, its because of the recording.

Praise God for little children.

- by the way, the recorder was in the breast-pocket of my shirt...so the kids didn't know what was going on...for most of the time, any way.

A Quiz for the Children Under my Care

Normally I will teach a lesson to the children in Awana each Wednesday evening, but last week I decided to do something a little different. I often wonder how much of what I, or any of the other Christian teachers in their little lives for that matter, am saying actually gets through to them and affects their thinking. So in my first ever attempt to create and facilitate a test, I went to some of the traditional Baptist catechisms for some questions. I also created a few of my own that were specifically targeted for these children based on the lessons that we’ve been going through in the past few years.

I ended up with 13 objective questions, 10 subjective questions, 2 extra objective questions, and an open “ask anything you want answers to” question at the end. I must say that even though I see ways to improve the way in which the test was prepared, presented, and completed, I am grateful for some of the things that this reveals. Specifically, I thought that the answers to four of the objective questions and one of the subjective questions were quite revealing. And I want to look at a few of those and provide my thoughts.

Question: How does God see me (because of Adam’s sin in eating the forbidden fruit as well as my own sins)?

• Correct Answer: Our Condition by Nature, is very bad: it is sinfull; and Cursed - Ephes. 2.1,2,3. Dead in sins. Rom. 5.12. 18. Gal. 3.12 (45%)
• Friend & sad/sinful; good & bad (18%)
• "mad and sad" (9%)
• Misc. Wrong Answer (27%)

First of all, the first answer to the question above (as in the rest of the objective questions) was the answer that I was looking for. In order to answer the question correctly, the children didn’t have to give a long and detailed answer that one would expect from a teacher, theologian, pastor, or other mature Christian. The children just had to show that they had the right idea. For example, if the child answered the question with the word “sinner” or “guilty”, that would be sufficient to be correct.

Even though 100% of the children answered the question of the penalty of sin correctly (i.e. death and hell), I was concerned to see that about 45% of the children don’t have a correct understanding of man’s position in sin. I understand that the children who answered with the idea that God is both mad and sad at our rebellion is pretty close to the right answer, but because of the emphasis that we’ve had for a long time in our lessons, this was close to the right answer, but not close enough. In other words, the 4th – 6th graders have had about one and a half years of teaching focused on this issue. But even if I threw that category into the general “correct answer” pot, there are still close to half of the children who missed it entirely. This means that I will need to address this issue in a different way. Not in a way that provides a different answer, but in a different way that will help the children to understand the correct answer better.

Question: If my sin deserves an eternal punishment in hell, what did God do so that He could forgive me as well as punish the sin that I have committed?

• Correct Answer: Penal Substitution - Jesus Christ Died for my sins, bearing my punishment (9%)
• died / died on the cross ["Jesus" and or "sin" not specificially named] (82%)
• "send His Son" (9%)

Now perhaps I was being a bit too much of a stickler on this one (I don’t think that I was), but an answer that referenced “dying on the cross” without referencing Christ’s name specifically or the reason (i.e. sin or the wrath of God) that He had to endure that were just not acceptable. Some may think that I’m being a bit too harsh, but I don’t think so. The question itself didn’t mention Jesus and the world in which we live in is so devoid of the true meaning of the idea of the crucifixion that an answer by any Christian, child or adult, that leaves out the name of Christ our Lord is not acceptable.

The resolution to this problem may be as simple as making it clear to the children that any answer to this type of question – whether on a test or in person – that leaves out the name of Christ is just not good enough. And even though people assume that the hearer might know that they’re referring to Jesus (especially if this question is in a church context), we must not neglect to forcefully proclaim the name of our savior.

Question: What does God require of me, to redeem me so that I can escape His wrath because of my sin? Hint: Think of what you would tell someone else if they knew that they deserved to go to hell because of their sin and they wanted to be forgiven.

• Correct Answer: Repentance and Faith (10%)
• Faith in God OR Repentance from sin [both not given] (45%)
• Misc. Wrong Answer (45%)

If there is any one subject that we have dealt with more than the fact that the 10 Commandments is the tool that God has given to illuminate our sinfulness and to lead us to Christ, it has been the subject of the gospel. The gospel is clear that man must have a repentant faith in Christ in order to be saved. Both of these elements (repentance and faith) are essential for salvation. Faith without repentance of sin shows that the faith has not permeated the individual with the fruit of a changed life or a willingness and desire to change. Repentance of sin without faith is also fruitless because the individual does not understand that a sinner is saved by grace through faith and not by works. And repentance without faith is essentially an attempt at works righteousness.

Both faith and repentance of sin are gifts from God to believers. And it may better be summarized that the faith that alone saves a man is a repentant faith. And again, to have virtually all of the children answer this incorrectly or incompletely was very disturbing. So much of our Christian lexicon needs to be tightened up. Cliché phrases and concepts such as “Jesus is my personal savior”, “the sinner’s prayer”, and others need to be more clearly explained and understood. Otherwise, like it is in much of the rest of evangelicalism, the true meaning of these phrases or concepts will be lost as will be those who hearken to the wrong understandings of them; lost.

Question: What does it mean to have faith in Jesus Christ? Hint: think of another word that we use to describe what faith in Jesus Christ is.

• Correct Answer: Trust in Him alone (45%)
• Repent of Sin (10%)
• Misc. Wrong Answer (45%)

And if I were to feel better about the previous question, this one here did nothing to help with that. If you ask a child what it means to believe in something, they may answer by saying that you have faith in it. But if you ask what it means to have faith in something, they will usually revert back to answering it by saying that you believe in it. Consequently, I am concerned that so many people don’t understand what it means to have faith as the Bible describes it. For years I have used the analogy of sitting in a chair or walking across a frozen lake.

If I have a chair made up of spaghetti noodles or a lake that has one eighth of an inch of ice covering it, it doesn’t matter if I have all of the faith in the world that these things will support me when I put my weight on them. No matter how much faith I have, when I sit in the chair or attempt to walk across the lake, I will fall. Likewise, if there is a chair made of granite and a lake that has four foot thick ice covering it in its entirety, it doesn’t matter if I have the least amount of faith in the chair or the ice, because when I sit down on the chair or step onto the lake, they will support me and I will not fall.

And in using these examples, the illustration of faith that I have brought out is with the word trust. And in explaining what that means, I have repeatedly said that an example would be that you not only believe that a chair can hold you up if you sit down on it, but you actually sit down on it. That is the example of trust that I use in order to give the children a picture and an idea to associate with the concept of faith. So, when over half of the answers were essentially nothing more than “really believe”, I see that the concept of what true faith is has not yet broken through to many of them.

Question: Do I really want to read the Bible on my own?

1. Yes (36%)
2. No (9%)
3. Kind of (36%)
4. Not Really (18%)

While some of the answers to the objective questions that I asked were frustrating and concerning, none made me sadder than this one. I understand that I am working with young children, but the fact that 27% have really no interest in reading the Bible on their own initiative and 36% “kind of” have a desire to do so just breaks my heart. I understand and believe that a true desire to read the Bible doesn’t always translate into a good solid regular reading time, but if you don’t have that desire it will not translate into a good regular Bible reading time.

I don’t have any way to change this response. My teaching, their parents’ teaching, or a fist-full of sermons and applications will not change this heart desire. The only thing that a father, a teacher, a mother, or anyone else can do is to pray that God would change their little hearts into ones that desire Him and His Word. I pray that I would not neglect this great task before me, as a teacher or as a parent.

May God grant grace to these children and cause them to desire His Word. May God also grant grace to so many adults in our churches who, if they answered this question honestly, would answer in the same way.

No Courage or Creativity: Hostility to Christianity

I am sick and tired of being assaulted and insulted by the writers, producers, actors, and sponsors of NBC’s Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. In the past this show has taken overt shots at Christians in various different ways. From adulterous and incestuous ministers to intolerance to a homosexual child that sets the stage for murdering a homosexual prostitute, there is no lack of portraying Christians as being intolerant, bigoted, racist, and incompetent. But on the Tuesday January 22nd episode, “Inconceivable”, most of these same stereotypical shots were taken.

The story is starts when a case of fertilized eggs are stolen from a fertility clinic. It turns out that masterminds behind the theft were the leaders of a pro-life group, the Justice Defense League. The plan goes wrong and the fertilized eggs are not returned in time and so they all die. In a twist, the leader of the action group is killed by a husband whose dead wife’s eggs were frozen and kept in that container.

The only reason why I paid a little attention to the show is that in the first five minutes, the big case was handed down to the star detectives with a statement that went something like this: “I know that stolen goods do not qualify as the special victims, but if 50 potential babies don’t qualify, then I don’t know what does.” The simple fact that the premise that fertilized embryos are “potential babies” was set out from the beginning really irked me. And other than the Justice Defense League being the primary villains in this episode, they are also charged with being anti-gay and racist. When the issue of adoption of the embryos that are discarded arises, one of the detectives makes the comment that you can’t adopt a child if you’re gay but only if you’re “white and Christian”. It was also no coincidence that this episode aired on the 35th anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in all 50 states.

If the writers of this show wanted to be controversial and provocative as well as to make statements about people who are mistreated and misunderstood, why don’t they write about honor killings? That happens all over the world and it may have even happened in the U.S. Why won’t they? Well, they’re afraid, of course. Cowards are like bullies, and they pick on people who will not fight back with the same kind of tactics (or worse) that they use. If they were to make a TV show that cast fundamental Muslims in a negative light because of honor killings, they’d be afraid for their lives.

No more “Law and Order” for me. They’re cowards and bullies. They are picking on Christians because we won’t fight back, but they are not addressing real abuses that happen daily because they’re afraid of the consequences.

To Treat or not to Treat, That is the Question

The beginning of November marks the transition over into a season of holidays. I am anticipating the fun, fellowship, family, and food of Christmas and Thanksgiving, but before we can ever get to those days, we must pass Halloween. The Halloween tradition that my wife and I have developed for this holiday is that we’ll stay at home, turn out the lights in the house, go to our basement and watch a movie. This tradition was built upon the vast majority of my memories of Halloween from when I was living in my parent’s house. I forget if it was just last year or if it was the year before that marked the first time that we watched the movie Luther (2003), but that is something that I look forward to on every Halloween.¹

Every Halloween, my coworkers, yes adults, dress up and come to work in various costumes to celebrate this very secular holiday. There are great cubicle-decorating contests and prizes that people get most excited about. For whatever reason, this year I decided to pull an old cloak out that my mom made for me in college, and be a Jedi. In the cause of full-disclosure, my mom made this cloak for me for the opening of Star Wars. So I freely admit to being a complete nerd while still attempting to maintain a significant historical separation from the celebration of Halloween. I didn’t really think a lot about it before hand, other than the fact that it would be fun to pull out my robe and be a geek for a day. When I got to work, I stopped by a Christian co-workers desk (for no reason other than to say hi), and he did a double take and remarked that he was surprised that I was participating.

It was at that moment that I stepped back and thought about the situation again. I can’t think of one solid redeeming thing about Halloween, and here I am participating, albeit in a fairly benign way, in it. It was at that moment that I decided to no longer pose as a Jedi, but I would simply pose as Martin Luther, the (soon to be ex) Roman Catholic Priest. And since this was my character now, I printed off the 95 Theses and taped them to the pillar near my desk. Also, during the day I was able to talk a little bit about the reformation with various co-workers. All in all, I went from a complete disaster and forgetting my Halloween traditions to salvaging a little bit of my day.

There were a couple of factors that have only intensified my resolve not to participate in any Halloween activities. The first is that my friend commented that he wasn’t into Wicken, and also wondered if there would be a similar emphasis on the Christmas holiday with decorating contests and such. I bet there will be, but I also imagine that too much mention of Christ on Christmas in any decorations would be frowned upon. This was the factor that jolted me into the present and prompted my change from Jedi to reformer.

The second thing that assisted in the reaffirming of why I don’t participate in Halloween came from a conversation with another co-worker on the day after. He was walking by and in the passing quick conversation he assumed that I had taken my children out trick-or-treating, “You took your kids out for a bit, right?” My response and the defense that followed shocked him.

Halloween, at least as it is celebrated in modern times in America, is primarily a celebration of death. Ghosts, witches, blood, axe-murderers, haunted houses, horror films and many other things serve both to numb our senses to the evil that these things are as well as to pacify our tolerance of such horrid imagery. I do not love death. I do not want to celebrate death. Death is common to man, but it is one of the most unnatural thing that happens to anyone. I don’t know how much of a direct contributing factor much of these culturally accepted things play a role into further sin and vile activities, but I bet there is not that much that separates them. I am a Christian, and I love life because God has given it to us.

My stunned co-worker couldn’t believe that we don’t trick-or-treat in my family and he was even more shocked when I told him that I might have gone trick-or-treating once as a child. My mom took my brothers and I to a handful of houses (relatives and friends) during the early evening, but that was the extent of my trick-or-treating. Do I feel deprived? Not at all. Perhaps it was easier for me because I have never had too much of a love for candy. Sure I’ll have something sweet every once in a while, but I don’t have to have it on a regular basis.

My family and I choose not to trick-or-treat because I have absolutely no desire to participate in a celebration that is so completely focused on evil, death, and the devil. Most people think that I’m being extreme and that a simple costume party and begging for candy is relatively harmless. It is less harmful than many things, but that does not make it a good idea to participate in. I am sure that I will allow and even condone things for my children to do that will cause them difficulties and struggles in their lives. That is not my goal, but I realize that because I am so fallen that my best decisions will result in contradictions and issues that my children will have to wrestle with later on. But I will not knowingly set them up to have their consciences dulled and defenses lowered by participating in such an openly pagan celebration.

---

¹ It was on October 31st, 1517 that Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door of the Wittenberg church which acted as the final catalyst for the great reformation of the Christian faith.

Cowards and Bullies

Today is the sixth anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York by members of an Islamic terrorist organization, and I did something this morning that I rarely do; I went to the news agencies to remember see if there were any 9/11 memorials going on and what was being said about the event as well as to see what is going on in the world. I read a story on Osama Bin Laden, perused a story about the memorial service in New York, and I was about to abandon my current events investigation when another story at the bottom of the page caught my eye with the tag line, “Griffin to Be Censored. In Emmy speech, Kathy Griffin says 'no one had less to do with this award than Jesus'.”¹

She didn’t just stop with announcing that Jesus had nothing to do with her win, but she said “So, all I can say is ‘Suck it, Jesus.’ This award is my god now.”² There are many offensive and blasphemous things about her comments, but perhaps the worst part of it all is that these comments were, most likely, planned out in advance. The type of speech that one gives when receiving an award is planned out, even if you have only a 20% chance of actually winning, you still want to be ready if you are given the award and of having the platform to make comments.

Was this blasphemy? Absolutely, there is no question that this speech mocks God and uses His name in a shocking exclamation. Does her language show that she hates Christ? I can’t think of any reason to conclude otherwise. At best she thinks that He is so worthless and meaningless that she would use His name as the butt of a joke in order to get a few laughs and a bit of publicity. Was this hate speech? In a technically defined way, I guess that it would be, but I am not one who desires to label pointedly offensive speech as hate speech. I don’t want it legally considered as hate speech because there is too much of a craze, now days, for flinging that description around. And the end goal of those in the hate speech movement is to make it illegal, and therefore punishable by law, to speak hate speech.

Why would I be opposed to legislation like this? Once this lion is let loose, there will be no stopping it. I will be legally culpable for making statements about the sinfulness of homosexuality or any other “sacred cow” type of cultural sin. How soon, in our postmodern world, will it be that simply saying that Christ is the only way of salvation and eternal life will be considered hateful speech? Furthermore, in this era of hate speech it may become intolerant to attempt to persuade anyone of their sinfulness because it is such a hateful thing to be confronted with the fact that “I’m a sinner.” I am deeply fearful that the bandwagon of hate speech will lead to the demise of the freedom to proclaim the gospel, among other things, in public.

"The comedian's remarks were condemned Monday by Catholic League President Bill Donohue, who called them a ‘vulgar, in-your-face brand of hate speech.'

The Catholic League, an anti-defamation group, called on the TV academy to ‘denounce Griffin's obscene and blasphemous comment" at Sunday's ceremony.’"³

Further on in their press release, the Catholic League referenced the reaction and the social outrage to Mel Gibson, Michael Richards, Isaiah Washington, Imus, and Jerry Lewis that followed their offensive statements towards a specific segment of the population and contrasted that to the lack of a reaction to Ms. Griffin’s comments. I would hope that the academy as well as society in general would not be pleased or complacent with comments denigrating the Lord Jesus Christ. I truly hope that Ms Griffin would come to understand her sinful condition before an almighty God who is wrathful at her sin, but would be merciful to her if she would but repent of her sin and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. But I don’t want to have people forced, by the government or by a mob, to be conformed in their speech, beliefs, opinions, or religious activity.

I am not sure what is worse; the refusal by Ms. Griffin or the Emmy people to apologize for the offensive nature of Ms. Griffin’s comments on their program or the knee-jerk reaction by the Catholic League to denounce the statements as hate speech and perusing some sort of retribution. The former is an example of the hardness of their hearts when it comes to any respect at all for God, and that is truly horrible. The latter seems to be an example of zeal without wisdom. I want Christ’s name to be defended, but with the political baggage that “hate speech” carries, that is just not the angle to use.

Finally, I want to put this whole issue into a proper perspective, and ironically enough, it is appropriate for today. Just imagine if Kathy Griffin had made the same comments but only changed one word. If she substituted Mohammad’s name in the place of Jesus’ name, there wouldn’t be enough media outlets or reporters to handle the blushing-falling over themselves-apologizing that would come from Kathy and the Emmy group. Furthermore, the entire entertainment industry would castigate her and probably blackball her from any real future in show business.

So many entertainers think that they are being clever, witty, and edgy by mocking Jesus Christ and Christians. But it is really just cowardice. It is cowardice to mock and taunt Christ and Christians who do not have a blood lust and a desire to put infidels to death. They readily accuse and berate Christians for the crimes of the inquisition (and they were crimes, absolutely) but say nothing of honor killings, suicide bombings, or terrorist attacks as it relates to religion. Christians, particularly those who are most concerned with being biblical, are the people who are maligned for being intolerant, bigoted, condemning, and hate filled followers of a religion. How true is that? We are so intolerant, bigoted, hateful, and condemning that we plead, with our words but without violence, for the salvation of the souls of those who hate us, and all the while we do not seek ways in which to expedite any sinner’s personal trip to meet up with the wrath of God.

If you are a militant atheist, as Ms. Griffin has called herself, then don’t just malign the Christians in the west. But also ruffle the feathers of the Muslims in the Middle East and the Hindus in India. If you are consumed with women’s rights, then don’t just berate pro-life Christian causes in the west. But, with the same force and fervor, condemn the habitual practice of honor killings in the Middle East. If you really believe what you believe, then proclaim it in such a way as to confront and offend all who oppose you, and not just those who will write letters to their congressman and to your boss and not to their religious leader appealing for a fatwa or a death warrant to be issued for you. But Hollywood, western entertainers, and humanists, for the most part, are not speaking out against the mob violence in the name of religion in other countries and instead focus on the passive Christians of the west. Like Nero before them, they have found a palatable scapegoat and whipping boy. Where Nero was a psychopath and a lunatic, modern western entertainers and the Hollywood elite are simply cowards afraid of a reprisal showing that they really only hold the ideals that they espouse when it is safe. They are cowards and bullies, hitting people who won’t hit back.

---

¹ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,296382,00.html

² http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/archives/industry_news/2007_Sep_09_emmy_kathy_griffin_planet_earth

³ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,296382,00.html

Caribou & Starbucks Take Over The World

So you think you’ve seen everything (or most everything), but then you see something that makes you pause…look again…and say, “no way!”

Yesterday I was walking in the South side of Kellogg Blvd going from work to my car when I saw just such a thing. I looked and I saw a squirrel on top of a garbage can. The fact that the squirrel was on top of the can is not what was so interesting, it was what I saw on my double take that made me stop and stare.

The squirrel jumped down from the trash can and was carrying a cup from a gourmet coffee shop in its mouth. And it didn’t just drop down from the can with it, but then – to my shock – it started bounding across the lawn toward a tree with the cup still in its mouth.

At this point I had pulled out my phone that has a camera on it, but I knew that I had to get fairly close in order to get a picture where you could actually see the intended subject. Once I started moving toward it, the squirrel began to climb the tree…STILL HOLDING THE COFFEE CUP!!!!

By the time I was able to take my first picture, the frightened squirrel had lost its grip on the cup and it had tumbled to the ground. The squirrel jumped down and attempted to get it a few more times before resigning to get away from me by itself. So, my first picture shows the squirrel with the cup on the ground, and the second is when the cup had fallen and the squirrel is hidden by the tree. With my final picture, I was able to get fairly close to the tree so that you could (somewhat) clearly see the squirrel and the coffee cup.



So, in my endless pursuit to answer the why questions of life, I asked the same question as to why this occurred and I came up with two plausible answers:

1. I was on a serious caffeine buzz and what I saw was merely a hallucination that had the creative power to produce these digital images. You may laugh, but with the post-modern “whatever you believe is true…can be true” kind of thinking, this should not be laughed at. (but in reality, this is a completely stupid and asinine idea, so yes, please laugh away at this idea with me)
2. The consumer concerns for mom & pop coffee shops has come to a full and terrible conclusion…Starbucks and Caribou (combined) have infiltrated and taken over every market possible, and all types of…animals…are flocking to their seductive call.

If I’ve missed some observation of dire importance or a conclusion just must be made, let me know so that we can all learn from each other.

I’ve gotta go, my Caribou Coffee Mocha is getting a bit cold…maybe I need a refill…?