The first few verses provide the dedication of this Gospel to Theophilus, Luke's sponsor. He then launches directly into the story of John the Baptist as the forerunner to the Messiah. The narrative seems to assume a rather limited idea of Israel and Judaism, along with some vague knowledge of Hebrew History. An educated reader can glean a great deal from the clues provided, and this Gospel clearly assumes such a reader. It also assumes a passing acquaintance with contemporary events from the viewpoint of a Roman official. Thus, the beginning is placed in the reign of Herod the Great.
There is a wealth of meaning here for someone more familiar with Jewish history and culture, but Luke wastes little time on such. Rather, he gives the pertinent facts to clarify just who Jesus is by telling about the birth and calling of His cousin, John. John's parents were of the priestly tribe, aged and childless, obviously an embarrassment. These were decent people, committed to living faithfully the best they knew of God's commands. The priestly service in Judaism was inherited, and by this time so many living priests could expect to serve as priest only rarely. In this case, during the course of service for his clan, this Zacharias drew the lot to offer incense in the Temple. This was a regular ritual with a large crowd in attendance in the Temple courtyard.
While inside, this man saw an angel. This was alarming to Zacharias. We get the feeling he expected this to signal something truly bad, perhaps a judgment from God. On the contrary, said the angel, this was a happy occasion. For Zacharias, it was to announce God was about the grant his request for a child. Better, it was to be a son, who must be named John. For Israel, whom Zacharias as priest represented in this ritual prayer by offering incense, this son was to be a catalyst for bringing repentance. Special ritual precautions were required for his upbringing, because from the very start this boy would be operating under the guidance of God's Spirit. Further, this son would be a fresh Elijah, the legendary prophet of old promised to return as herald of the Christ.
Zacharias would sound to Gentile ears a typical contentious Jewish man. This all sounded quite unlikely in his mind, and even to this angel he dared ask for some further proof. The angel revealed his identity as God's chief herald. Since Zacharias would not readily hear the promise of God, he would not be allowed to speak for a time.
All of this was taking quite a bit more time than the usual offering of incense, and the crowd in attendance at the prayer service were getting worried. When Zacharias finally came out, he couldn't offer the usual benediction. He couldn't speak at all, but was clearly agitated and making lots of hand signs. Eventually it was clear the old priest had seen some vision inside the Temple. When his term of service was completed, the man headed home in the hilly region of Southern Judea. Apparently he had faith enough in the message of this vision, because shortly after returning home, his wife became pregnant. She decided to keep it secret, savoring privately her maternal triumph, unlike the typical bragging Jewish woman. Time enough for others to find out when she could no longer hide it.
Six months later, this same angel showed up in another humble Jewish life. A good ways to the north, in a tiny village called Nazareth, a young woman was waiting for her espoused husband to claim her as his bride. It was well known Jewish custom provided a man would seal the deal for a wife well before he was in a position to live with her. She was legally bound in marriage to him, and must remain chaste. Meanwhile, the typical delay was the man went away to build a home for her and the future family. So this Mary was biding her time in her parent's home while waiting for her husband Joseph to proclaim a wedding feast in their new house.
It becomes critical here to note Scripture makes very little of Mary's virginity. The thrust of Isaiah's prophecy was more about the time it would take for a virgin to get married, bear a child, and wean it. Paul hardly says much about it, and the other Gospels give it far less space than Luke does. In this account, Luke emphasizes not Mary's estate, but the central involvement of the Holy Spirit. Frankly, nobody much is going to believe her claim, and it exposes her to public shame to accept this role. The Bible says it bluntly; we are obliged to believe it. However, it is hardly a central tenet of the teaching. It won't somehow destroy the grace of God if we refrain from making that fact a part of every mention of Jesus.
Mary is hailed as the select woman of her nation for a special task. There is nothing here about Mary's greatness, but of the greatness of that task. Naturally, a young virgin who had not yet left her parents' home could hardly comprehend what she might do that would be so important to God. Gabriel tells her she's going to do the same thing just about every woman has done, having a child, but this one would be special. He would be named Jesus, be called "Son of God," and would take the legendary Throne of David permanently -- indeed, forever. Even for a Gentile, this echoes of ancient legends and promised saviors common to many cultures. It was a common motif in various national legends.
Mary's only question was what she needed to do to get pregnant, since she could not legitimately bear anybody's child just yet. Gabriel's answer was not descriptive, but a reassurance God would handle the details. Luke's point here is simple: God did it, not man. Further, this was connected to other miraculous events. Mary's own cousin, Elizabeth was already six months pregnant with her first child, much to the joy and relief of all. God can do anything He wants, obviously. This was good enough for Mary, and she bowed herself readily to God's will.
People looking for things to paint "sacred" will find much here to satisfy their lusts. Meanwhile, they will completely miss the thrust of Luke's writing. God didn't suddenly decided He loved Nazareth more than His Temple in Jerusalem. Both were just places on the ground, and on maps drawn by men. The place didn't matter, and the people involved weren't somehow superior to others in that time and place. One priest out of thousands, chosen on the basis of God's purpose, was poorly qualified enough he had to be struck dumb for awhile because he argued with an angel, of all things. His very averageness was critical to the story. The same goes for the young gal in Nazareth. Her primary virtue was willingness to suffer embarrassment for something she hardly understood, except as shadowy prophecies from centuries before. These were ordinary people pulled into the pivotal moment in God's plans. It was the presence and work of the Holy Spirit which made it all so extraordinary.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Life of Christ: Introduction to Luke
This Gospel serves as Part I to the sequel we call Acts. Both are quite obviously written by the same hand. The author is well educated, has an analytical mind, and gives a great deal of emphasis to what can be known legitimately of the subject matter on a human level. However, the obvious intent is to point the reader to a much higher plane. The writings are dedicated to some sponsor named Theophilus. We can easily envision a commission from a wealthy new believer who seeks to know more details of this whole story of Jesus and His Apostles, and the message they all taught. Whoever wrote this Gospel obviously visited Palestine and spoke at length with eye witnesses.
Luke does not name himself in his writings. We identify him based primarily on tradition, but historical and contextual evidence serves to dismiss most doubts. He appears in Acts about the same time he begins using personal pronouns in the narrative. A Gentile physician would have the appropriate education, and the stories include far too many details of the human condition as a doctor might see it. He takes much from Mark's account, and would have been a close associate of his, both working with Paul. It also reflects an awareness of Matthew's Gospel. Perhaps Theophilus had read them both and wanted more. Because his purpose and outlook are different, he adds a great deal more material. All of this serves as a very high intellectual approach to understanding who Jesus was, and why He matters. It's hard to make sense of all this work unless we see Doctor Luke as the writer.
As a devoted attendant of Paul, we can easily find Luke spending several years in Palestine during Paul's imprisonment in Caesarea, beginning around AD 58. The grim possibilities of that time would certainly help explain why Luke might begin his research, and then set about composing an account from it. It would be best to have a working document in hand should Paul, his primary source up to then, be executed soon. The book was quite obviously published before the destruction of Jerusalem, for that event is conspicuous by its absence. Luke serves as the best path for Western minds to approach what is essentially an Eastern Mystical Semitic religion. He offers a strong emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit, appealing to the Western mind to look for something not obvious to the senses. This grasp explains how Luke was able to remain with Paul as the last of his long time friends when the end came. It explains to the unknown Theophilus and other Western Christians the unique and absolute claims of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
We cannot help but expect many pious and exaggerated stories were floating about in Luke's time, as reflected by some spurious "Gospels" which appeared later. The story of Jesus was easy prey for those given to wild tales, and we struggle with that even today. Luke portrays Jesus as a real man, rather ordinary among His own people, but altogether extraordinary in what He taught. He wasn't some divine apparition simply holding human shape, but a regular Jewish man who happened to really know the Creator of all things. He displayed this knowledge by His power over the created world. Yet His power was always tied strictly to the higher purpose, pointing to how it was available to anyone else in this world who was seized by a commitment to truth. This truth often bore little resemblance to what all the great minds had struggled to formulate. Rather, it was a truth on a spiritual plane, incomprehensible in one sense, yet with obvious implications on this plane of our existence. Even while He was the very living God of Creation, Jesus Himself demonstrated the only significant difference between Him and any other man was this spiritual focus, not some inherent perfection which could be found in the flesh, and which all the Gentile intelligentsia sought to define. Jesus' divinity did not manifest in His daily life, but in His death and resurrection. Thus, the unique spiritual focus He taught and demonstrated in His daily life on earth was made available to anyone.
Luke does not name himself in his writings. We identify him based primarily on tradition, but historical and contextual evidence serves to dismiss most doubts. He appears in Acts about the same time he begins using personal pronouns in the narrative. A Gentile physician would have the appropriate education, and the stories include far too many details of the human condition as a doctor might see it. He takes much from Mark's account, and would have been a close associate of his, both working with Paul. It also reflects an awareness of Matthew's Gospel. Perhaps Theophilus had read them both and wanted more. Because his purpose and outlook are different, he adds a great deal more material. All of this serves as a very high intellectual approach to understanding who Jesus was, and why He matters. It's hard to make sense of all this work unless we see Doctor Luke as the writer.
As a devoted attendant of Paul, we can easily find Luke spending several years in Palestine during Paul's imprisonment in Caesarea, beginning around AD 58. The grim possibilities of that time would certainly help explain why Luke might begin his research, and then set about composing an account from it. It would be best to have a working document in hand should Paul, his primary source up to then, be executed soon. The book was quite obviously published before the destruction of Jerusalem, for that event is conspicuous by its absence. Luke serves as the best path for Western minds to approach what is essentially an Eastern Mystical Semitic religion. He offers a strong emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit, appealing to the Western mind to look for something not obvious to the senses. This grasp explains how Luke was able to remain with Paul as the last of his long time friends when the end came. It explains to the unknown Theophilus and other Western Christians the unique and absolute claims of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
We cannot help but expect many pious and exaggerated stories were floating about in Luke's time, as reflected by some spurious "Gospels" which appeared later. The story of Jesus was easy prey for those given to wild tales, and we struggle with that even today. Luke portrays Jesus as a real man, rather ordinary among His own people, but altogether extraordinary in what He taught. He wasn't some divine apparition simply holding human shape, but a regular Jewish man who happened to really know the Creator of all things. He displayed this knowledge by His power over the created world. Yet His power was always tied strictly to the higher purpose, pointing to how it was available to anyone else in this world who was seized by a commitment to truth. This truth often bore little resemblance to what all the great minds had struggled to formulate. Rather, it was a truth on a spiritual plane, incomprehensible in one sense, yet with obvious implications on this plane of our existence. Even while He was the very living God of Creation, Jesus Himself demonstrated the only significant difference between Him and any other man was this spiritual focus, not some inherent perfection which could be found in the flesh, and which all the Gentile intelligentsia sought to define. Jesus' divinity did not manifest in His daily life, but in His death and resurrection. Thus, the unique spiritual focus He taught and demonstrated in His daily life on earth was made available to anyone.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Not Celebrating Just Yet
The verdict is in, but I'm not celebrating until those children are back in their homes at the YFZ ranch. I'm looking for CPS truculence to delay and delay and delay. If those FLDS folks have any brains, a bunch of them will be living somewhere else very soon.
Update: We are hardly surprised neither CPS nor Judge Walther will obey the law. We are hardly surprised they expect the FLDS families to abide by some paper agreement when the CPS and Judge Walther have proven themselves liars without conscience. The paper agreement, by the way, subjects the FLDS families to restrictions and conditions which you and I would experience as a fresh crucifixion of Christ.
For those of us in Christ, never forget this is the true nature of the State, any state. When you give hearty support to human politics because it happens to be the right philosophical flavor, you empower the Beast. Never, ever trust the State to do the work of God. It will always be the work of Satan.
Think I'm extreme? I'm being downright restrained compared to others.
Update: We are hardly surprised neither CPS nor Judge Walther will obey the law. We are hardly surprised they expect the FLDS families to abide by some paper agreement when the CPS and Judge Walther have proven themselves liars without conscience. The paper agreement, by the way, subjects the FLDS families to restrictions and conditions which you and I would experience as a fresh crucifixion of Christ.
For those of us in Christ, never forget this is the true nature of the State, any state. When you give hearty support to human politics because it happens to be the right philosophical flavor, you empower the Beast. Never, ever trust the State to do the work of God. It will always be the work of Satan.
Think I'm extreme? I'm being downright restrained compared to others.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
More of My Brain-dead Predictions
Don't take me seriously; I don't.
1. Barring unforeseen interdictions, we will go to war against Iran about August. Not only will we have to re-institute the military draft, but it will take on a whole new character, with people totally unfit to serve being forced to accept contracts to serve as civilian support personnel.
2. Obama will be knocked out of the race. Either some new "revelation" will catch fire or something more sneaky will cause him to bail out on his own.
3. Most likely tied to these two events, we will have martial law declared in at least some parts of the US. Even if people aren't really in the mood to get rowdy, it will be provoked and staged just as an excuse to crack down. This has been in the works for quite some time, so TPTB (The Powers that Be) can't afford to let this part of their plans fall through.
4. Israel is gonna attack one or two enemies, and it probably won't work out too well.
5. All of this idiocy will stir Russia to act in support of their interests in the region. Whether it actually brings us into war with them is hard to say, but I suspect there will be some level of open conflict with them. The bigger the war, the better, bankers will say.
6. The drain on resources will mean serious deprivation everywhere. Folks starving in poor countries? You ain't seen nothing yet. Wait until you see government raids on your tomato and onion patch in the back yard.
7. Worst of all, some folks living and breathing here today in the good old US of A are planning this for us, knowing full well how much it will hurt you and I, and really not at all concerned about it. Some of them we have elected.
No, not a word of this should be taken as prophecy. I'm just guessing, based on my limited education and fevered imagination. Of course, there are an awful lot of folks who agree with me about these things. What matters most is we obey Matthew 10:16 in the broader sense Jesus meant it, as a general principle of the Kingdom. We have serious work to do just getting a clear view of the gospel and getting that out. The rest is just noise.
1. Barring unforeseen interdictions, we will go to war against Iran about August. Not only will we have to re-institute the military draft, but it will take on a whole new character, with people totally unfit to serve being forced to accept contracts to serve as civilian support personnel.
2. Obama will be knocked out of the race. Either some new "revelation" will catch fire or something more sneaky will cause him to bail out on his own.
3. Most likely tied to these two events, we will have martial law declared in at least some parts of the US. Even if people aren't really in the mood to get rowdy, it will be provoked and staged just as an excuse to crack down. This has been in the works for quite some time, so TPTB (The Powers that Be) can't afford to let this part of their plans fall through.
4. Israel is gonna attack one or two enemies, and it probably won't work out too well.
5. All of this idiocy will stir Russia to act in support of their interests in the region. Whether it actually brings us into war with them is hard to say, but I suspect there will be some level of open conflict with them. The bigger the war, the better, bankers will say.
6. The drain on resources will mean serious deprivation everywhere. Folks starving in poor countries? You ain't seen nothing yet. Wait until you see government raids on your tomato and onion patch in the back yard.
7. Worst of all, some folks living and breathing here today in the good old US of A are planning this for us, knowing full well how much it will hurt you and I, and really not at all concerned about it. Some of them we have elected.
No, not a word of this should be taken as prophecy. I'm just guessing, based on my limited education and fevered imagination. Of course, there are an awful lot of folks who agree with me about these things. What matters most is we obey Matthew 10:16 in the broader sense Jesus meant it, as a general principle of the Kingdom. We have serious work to do just getting a clear view of the gospel and getting that out. The rest is just noise.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Not Being, Not Doing, But Commitment
Human rational minds seek to abstract and define the essence of something. The question is, "What is it's nature?" Yet, the popular human memory of things is based on what something does, or has done.
So on the one hand, we have psychoanalysis and theories of human personality seeking to know the heart of a man. Most people are content to know what he has done so far, though it has of late become far too popular to fear what he might do, based on the manipulative provocation of visceral distrust. So we have church people, solid long-term members, who won't let a certain adult man play with their kids, even under their own supervision in the church house, because they see him enjoying it too much. Never mind it's a big blessing to their kids, it's "just not natural" -- as if they even know.
First, let's address the reality, not the hype. As a function of fallen human nature, a certain percentage of kids each year will be preyed upon by child molesters. That's awful, but God has not yet seen fit to end sin in the world by divine fiat, so we live with it. Are you still so thick-headed and lacking in faith you doubt His divine protection? And should -- God forbid -- your child stumble into being a victim, does it somehow end life? Are you ready to scream at me right now through your computer screen wondering how I could suggest you might want to prepare your heart for dealing with such a disaster? If so, go away. I'm not interested in jousting with corrupt minds who make no room for seeing the sins of this world as simply background noise, as if somehow God must exempt them and their children from reality. You aren't ready for truth.
If, on the other hand, you realize God is still loving and sovereign even if your kids are sodomized by some filthy scum who fooled you all, there's hope for you. Because it's only a crazy fallen mind which cannot somehow reconcile "God is good" with "Bad stuff happens to God's people." Christ coming into your life could alter some worldly circumstances in your favor, but Jesus pointedly warned not to expect that. Not only does life in this fallen world really stink, but it tends to get worse for us when we embrace the revelation of Our Creator. Your kids are innocent victims, but they happen to be victims of your sins, too. Or are you going to pretend you are perfect? How many true believers in history saw awful things happen to their beloved innocent children specifically because of their professed faith in Christ? Fine, but God had to watch His Son die for your sins, so don't get huffy.
I have little patience for prissy middle-class families who pretend they can somehow create an almighty cocoon around their children. Even homeschooling has its limits, folks, and I'm the first to get in line to tell you homeschooling today is the one best way to obey God's calling as parents. Let's say you are member of a congregation which happens to include a man gloriously saved by God from once running a child-porn ring. Do you so doubt God's power and grace you won't let the man so much as lay eyes on your kids? Will you leave that congregation in a self-righteous huff that they don't make that fellow worship with some other group -- any other group but yours?
At what point do we have to say we have seen the Fruit of the Spirit and trust Him?
Don't talk to me about your nature, nor your actions, until you tell me about your commitments. In the true Hebraic understanding of the world, we realize we cannot know a man's essence, not even our own. And we learn actions will ever be imperfect, but that through the Spirit of God we can discern -- not whether this or that person is to be trusted, but God is to be trusted regardless of the circumstances. If you run away from people whom God has redeemed from obvious sin, better turn away from the mirror and the person whom God has redeemed from all the sins you must inevitably commit tomorrow, because you aren't perfect.
Sure, celebrate that ex-gay, attend his live concerts, and buy his music CDs. But if you get nervous when your teenage son wants his autograph, you aren't Christ yet.
Addenda: I managed to delete a very pertinent comment from Robin, so I'll make it part of the post --
Thanks, Robin. The church needs to prepare now for things far worse than we imagined have happened in other places.
So on the one hand, we have psychoanalysis and theories of human personality seeking to know the heart of a man. Most people are content to know what he has done so far, though it has of late become far too popular to fear what he might do, based on the manipulative provocation of visceral distrust. So we have church people, solid long-term members, who won't let a certain adult man play with their kids, even under their own supervision in the church house, because they see him enjoying it too much. Never mind it's a big blessing to their kids, it's "just not natural" -- as if they even know.
First, let's address the reality, not the hype. As a function of fallen human nature, a certain percentage of kids each year will be preyed upon by child molesters. That's awful, but God has not yet seen fit to end sin in the world by divine fiat, so we live with it. Are you still so thick-headed and lacking in faith you doubt His divine protection? And should -- God forbid -- your child stumble into being a victim, does it somehow end life? Are you ready to scream at me right now through your computer screen wondering how I could suggest you might want to prepare your heart for dealing with such a disaster? If so, go away. I'm not interested in jousting with corrupt minds who make no room for seeing the sins of this world as simply background noise, as if somehow God must exempt them and their children from reality. You aren't ready for truth.
If, on the other hand, you realize God is still loving and sovereign even if your kids are sodomized by some filthy scum who fooled you all, there's hope for you. Because it's only a crazy fallen mind which cannot somehow reconcile "God is good" with "Bad stuff happens to God's people." Christ coming into your life could alter some worldly circumstances in your favor, but Jesus pointedly warned not to expect that. Not only does life in this fallen world really stink, but it tends to get worse for us when we embrace the revelation of Our Creator. Your kids are innocent victims, but they happen to be victims of your sins, too. Or are you going to pretend you are perfect? How many true believers in history saw awful things happen to their beloved innocent children specifically because of their professed faith in Christ? Fine, but God had to watch His Son die for your sins, so don't get huffy.
I have little patience for prissy middle-class families who pretend they can somehow create an almighty cocoon around their children. Even homeschooling has its limits, folks, and I'm the first to get in line to tell you homeschooling today is the one best way to obey God's calling as parents. Let's say you are member of a congregation which happens to include a man gloriously saved by God from once running a child-porn ring. Do you so doubt God's power and grace you won't let the man so much as lay eyes on your kids? Will you leave that congregation in a self-righteous huff that they don't make that fellow worship with some other group -- any other group but yours?
At what point do we have to say we have seen the Fruit of the Spirit and trust Him?
Don't talk to me about your nature, nor your actions, until you tell me about your commitments. In the true Hebraic understanding of the world, we realize we cannot know a man's essence, not even our own. And we learn actions will ever be imperfect, but that through the Spirit of God we can discern -- not whether this or that person is to be trusted, but God is to be trusted regardless of the circumstances. If you run away from people whom God has redeemed from obvious sin, better turn away from the mirror and the person whom God has redeemed from all the sins you must inevitably commit tomorrow, because you aren't perfect.
Sure, celebrate that ex-gay, attend his live concerts, and buy his music CDs. But if you get nervous when your teenage son wants his autograph, you aren't Christ yet.
Addenda: I managed to delete a very pertinent comment from Robin, so I'll make it part of the post --
Much to ponder here. On the matter of Christians provoking evil treatment of their children as a result of godly living, I'm reminded of an anecdote given by Richard Wurmbrand:
A Romanian Christian was imprisoned by his government and told to either renounce Christ or see his son killed. The jailers brought the son into the cell (he was a teenager). Knowing the choice the state had put before his dad, the son said, "Father, don't ever renounce the Lord. If they kill me, I will die with the words on my lips: Jesus and my fatherland." At which point the guards beat the young man to death.
How does it read? "All who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution".
Thanks, Robin. The church needs to prepare now for things far worse than we imagined have happened in other places.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Isaiah 2
In the symbolic logic of Hebrew language and culture, the fundamental viewpoint of Scripture itself, there is no one-to-one relationship between symbols and things symbolized. That would be mere typology or allegory, common to Western cultures. Rather, the spiritual logic of Scripture is far more flexible, something with which we are often uncomfortable. Yet this is not to say you can make of Isaiah's words willy-nilly what you wish to see, but that you can't simply put a straight jacket around truth and confine it to boundaries of mere human logic. Insofar as we cannot confine God to our limited understanding, so His truth is somewhat above simple rational definition.
The first paragraph here cannot be taken literally. That would be to commit ourselves to the basic error of Judaism, a Hellenized corruption of Hebrew faith and religion. False Messianic Expectations were loaded with literal renderings of this passage. Rather, Isaiah sees a vision of God's Kingdom, a reality from above. As such, symbolic visions as parables are the only way to convey the content. The Nation of Israel was never meant to hoard the revelation of God to themselves, but share it with all nations. They failed this miserably, replacing an evangelistic zeal with racism and smug superiority. Judaism saw in this passage the promise all the world of Gentiles would willingly become slaves of Israel.
In the broader context of Scripture, within a pure Hebraic culture, we see rather the original plan of God to make Himself known to all His Creation. This is not simply some vision of a Millennium, for that, too, is too literal. Rather, this is how God thinks and acts. Such truth will, indeed, find a manifestation within this world, but we can hardly imagine how it would look. Rather, we are called to a higher place, not the mere pedestrian list of features, but something much more. His revelation will take prominence in all the world. Nothing else will matter by comparison. No race or ethnic group will resist the call of truth, but the Kingdom of Heaven will be drawn from the full scope of humanity. Their whole focus in life will be more and better understanding of God's ways. People who once served as weapons of the will of human governments will become implements of the harvest of souls and spiritual fruit. In His presence, violence has no place. Isaiah pointedly invites his nation to participate, to commit themselves now, before it's too late.
God has forsaken Israel already. They have bought into the groundless silly mysticism of the Far East. They are infatuated with exotic women. Everybody chases worldly wealth and worldly military might. They bow down to things they have made with their own hands. God rightly does not forgive such foolishness. When judgment comes, there will be no place to hide. Offering a glimpse of the peculiar Hebraic sense of humor, Isaiah notes they have spent so long trumpeting their worldly greatness from the tops of the mountains, they won't be able to find a way down to hide from God's wrath. They'll still be stuck on top, exposed to the fullness of His fury. They've stolen His throne, and will be crushed when He comes to take His seat.
The fleshly way of things, admiring tall trees, trusting in oak beams and fortresses unapproachable, or ships which are fitted to cross open seas (instead of hugging the shore as most sailors did) -- everything man thinks really matters will be nothing. Human reckoning invariably gets things backwards. By the time Israel figures this out, it will be too late. Their faces will shine with shame as they try to hide their idols. There will be no place to hide. It would be better for such people if God simply ignored them and destroyed them along with the fallen world.
The first paragraph here cannot be taken literally. That would be to commit ourselves to the basic error of Judaism, a Hellenized corruption of Hebrew faith and religion. False Messianic Expectations were loaded with literal renderings of this passage. Rather, Isaiah sees a vision of God's Kingdom, a reality from above. As such, symbolic visions as parables are the only way to convey the content. The Nation of Israel was never meant to hoard the revelation of God to themselves, but share it with all nations. They failed this miserably, replacing an evangelistic zeal with racism and smug superiority. Judaism saw in this passage the promise all the world of Gentiles would willingly become slaves of Israel.
In the broader context of Scripture, within a pure Hebraic culture, we see rather the original plan of God to make Himself known to all His Creation. This is not simply some vision of a Millennium, for that, too, is too literal. Rather, this is how God thinks and acts. Such truth will, indeed, find a manifestation within this world, but we can hardly imagine how it would look. Rather, we are called to a higher place, not the mere pedestrian list of features, but something much more. His revelation will take prominence in all the world. Nothing else will matter by comparison. No race or ethnic group will resist the call of truth, but the Kingdom of Heaven will be drawn from the full scope of humanity. Their whole focus in life will be more and better understanding of God's ways. People who once served as weapons of the will of human governments will become implements of the harvest of souls and spiritual fruit. In His presence, violence has no place. Isaiah pointedly invites his nation to participate, to commit themselves now, before it's too late.
God has forsaken Israel already. They have bought into the groundless silly mysticism of the Far East. They are infatuated with exotic women. Everybody chases worldly wealth and worldly military might. They bow down to things they have made with their own hands. God rightly does not forgive such foolishness. When judgment comes, there will be no place to hide. Offering a glimpse of the peculiar Hebraic sense of humor, Isaiah notes they have spent so long trumpeting their worldly greatness from the tops of the mountains, they won't be able to find a way down to hide from God's wrath. They'll still be stuck on top, exposed to the fullness of His fury. They've stolen His throne, and will be crushed when He comes to take His seat.
The fleshly way of things, admiring tall trees, trusting in oak beams and fortresses unapproachable, or ships which are fitted to cross open seas (instead of hugging the shore as most sailors did) -- everything man thinks really matters will be nothing. Human reckoning invariably gets things backwards. By the time Israel figures this out, it will be too late. Their faces will shine with shame as they try to hide their idols. There will be no place to hide. It would be better for such people if God simply ignored them and destroyed them along with the fallen world.
Just Circumstances
We Calvinists believe in God's sovereignty. What is not in our hands is in His, which means an awful lot of events in our lives are controlled by God. Perhaps a few understand this is not so much a statement about literal reality, but a matter of how we trust God for things we can't control. Frankly, how God operates will remain a mystery for so long as mankind remains fallen, redeemed or otherwise.
Still, far, far too many of us act as if God's control of circumstances means we are supposed to read His will from them. Wrong. We read His will from convictions as understood best we can in light of His Word. A change in circumstances does not signal a change in God's will. It will, at most, signal a difference in what God wants to put you through on the way to greater sanctification.
If we allow circumstances any part in steering our choices, we understand far too little how the Kingdom operates. It is about spirit, not about this world. Are you "trapped" in a bad marriage? Don't pray to get out of it; pray to live righteously within it. Pray for the power to walk by your convictions regardless of the terror and torment such obedience provokes. What happens after that is just circumstance, regardless of what the other half does.
In the Kingdom of Heaven, all your dreams and desires for a happy life are nailed to the Cross. Since death itself is but a circumstance, we dare not allow anything on this earth to steer our choices in Christ. The things we do will often make no sense at all to this world. So, for example, I have all this management experience plus my education in organizational theory. Is it going to waste because I don't work in some corporate or government office and make big bucks? Maybe it is by a human standard, but by the Kingdom standard it simply ensures I'll never be deceived by marketing lies. It ensures I'll never surrender to the siren call of corporate church structure because I know God is not in that.
Don't let "fate" steer your life. Press ahead into the face of sheer impossibility on the basis of faith which will not let you go. Walk by the spirit, not by the flesh.
Update: I wrote this after having considered for over a week whether to quit my job. Dumb as it sounds on the human level, it was necessary to do so. In order to walk in clear conscience according to my convictions, I had to let it go. I'll miss the money, no doubt, but will miss the people even more. It was the most fun I've had earning pay. However, it was not where I belonged.
Still, far, far too many of us act as if God's control of circumstances means we are supposed to read His will from them. Wrong. We read His will from convictions as understood best we can in light of His Word. A change in circumstances does not signal a change in God's will. It will, at most, signal a difference in what God wants to put you through on the way to greater sanctification.
If we allow circumstances any part in steering our choices, we understand far too little how the Kingdom operates. It is about spirit, not about this world. Are you "trapped" in a bad marriage? Don't pray to get out of it; pray to live righteously within it. Pray for the power to walk by your convictions regardless of the terror and torment such obedience provokes. What happens after that is just circumstance, regardless of what the other half does.
In the Kingdom of Heaven, all your dreams and desires for a happy life are nailed to the Cross. Since death itself is but a circumstance, we dare not allow anything on this earth to steer our choices in Christ. The things we do will often make no sense at all to this world. So, for example, I have all this management experience plus my education in organizational theory. Is it going to waste because I don't work in some corporate or government office and make big bucks? Maybe it is by a human standard, but by the Kingdom standard it simply ensures I'll never be deceived by marketing lies. It ensures I'll never surrender to the siren call of corporate church structure because I know God is not in that.
Don't let "fate" steer your life. Press ahead into the face of sheer impossibility on the basis of faith which will not let you go. Walk by the spirit, not by the flesh.
Update: I wrote this after having considered for over a week whether to quit my job. Dumb as it sounds on the human level, it was necessary to do so. In order to walk in clear conscience according to my convictions, I had to let it go. I'll miss the money, no doubt, but will miss the people even more. It was the most fun I've had earning pay. However, it was not where I belonged.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Memorial Day 2008
I suppose if anybody has "earned the right to speak," I am one of them. While hardly a hero, I am a disabled veteran, losing a part of my body's functions as a direct result of my military service. For now, the rating stands at 50%.
But if you have ever paid a single dime of taxes to the federal government, you have a right to speak. If you have blood or marriage relations to anyone who has ever served, you have paid a price. If you live in the same town with anyone who has died in military service, you have paid a price.
Speak.
Here's mine: Thousands die every year -- thousands of our own people -- for a hideous lie. The people of Iraq and Afghanistan never did anything to us before we attacked. There were all more dangerous to themselves than to anyone else. Now we are spilling our blood in those places for nothing. Worse, we are spilling the blood of countless innocent civilians in the process. We sin.
You see, for the reasons you should speak, you are also sharing in the guilt for the sin of unjust invasions of other countries. Maybe you didn't speak enough. Will you remain silent when we invade Iran, too?
But if you have ever paid a single dime of taxes to the federal government, you have a right to speak. If you have blood or marriage relations to anyone who has ever served, you have paid a price. If you live in the same town with anyone who has died in military service, you have paid a price.
Speak.
Here's mine: Thousands die every year -- thousands of our own people -- for a hideous lie. The people of Iraq and Afghanistan never did anything to us before we attacked. There were all more dangerous to themselves than to anyone else. Now we are spilling our blood in those places for nothing. Worse, we are spilling the blood of countless innocent civilians in the process. We sin.
You see, for the reasons you should speak, you are also sharing in the guilt for the sin of unjust invasions of other countries. Maybe you didn't speak enough. Will you remain silent when we invade Iran, too?
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Sometimes It's Too Hard
I'm torn.
Chasing the philosophical framework of Scripture, the peculiar mental ground of the Bible itself, I find I am quickly drawing farther and farther away from the people around me. I am moved to a greater compassion and motivation to be involved. That in itself makes me foreign, but I find explaining the truth puts me in danger of being utterly discounted for being so different.
I do not fear the infamy of fallen men; I rather expect it. Jesus warned us the world hated Him before it hated any of us seeking to follow Him. I'm torn because I know something I want to write may come too soon for some, as they consider whether my witness is true. I don't want to drive them away by demands too high for them.
Our common cultural assumptions are miles and miles away from those of the Bible. The very path of reasoning we use often brings us to the wrong place. This is one of Satan's greatest victories. We read the Bible through Western eye-glasses, and cannot see the truth because we cannot step outside the mental assumptions we have about what makes something "true."
So, we might understand child molestation as a horrific sin, but we hardly understand the spiritual dynamics of why it matters so much. It's not a matter of innocence stolen, the exercise of dominance, nor even perverted lust. It's about taking a mental path, adopting an assumption about the world itself, an assumption which plays into Satan's hands. It's not about the children, but about the idolatry of something which doesn't exist. God can certainly heal the children who are victims of such, but we don't even talk about that, because we fear it will excuse somewhat the lust to use them. We become distracted from the real danger, the danger of seeing in this sickness anything except what God sees.
Sex is about a oneness otherwise impossible in this fallen world. That brief moment when the fallen ego boundaries are cast aside, we have a symbol of what God can do when the Redeemed come together in His love. Instead, we make a deity of that moment when the ego boundaries are dropped. We even have a clinical term for it: cathexis.
In Scripture, the idea there is only One God was quite revolutionary when Moses said it. The Nation of Israel never took to that notion very well, until after the Exile in Babylon. Of course, by then, they didn't know their One True God, so they still had a false god. In Scripture, there is only one person granted by God as your mate (so long as that one lives); the only exception is when you are called to no mate at all. This does not excuse the silly notion of a quest to find that one true love of your life. You can build that love by a conscious choice, provided you are sensible in choosing a mate. Since we seldom are, it works out quite well when people who know us and love us choose a mate for us. Once chosen, the path of spiritual truth is to build a home of the united souls, of a united and single path of serving the Kingdom. The two become one, and the marriage bed is undefiled, just as the union with Christ can't be shared with other gods.
So we make of this some great crime against persons and against society, but we ignore the sin element of idolatry. We allow the fallen world to define what sin is, and make it a measure of spirituality. Chasing cathexis is addictive. Addiction is just another word for spiritual adultery, idolatry. It matters not a whit which path you prefer for false cathexis -- paedophilia, homosexuality, adultery, pornography. Each is wrong, but are merely flavors of the same basic sin: idolatry. God says there's only one way to get your cathexis, and that's His way. Even then, it's not about the means and methods, but about following Him and His choice for you.
Chasing the philosophical framework of Scripture, the peculiar mental ground of the Bible itself, I find I am quickly drawing farther and farther away from the people around me. I am moved to a greater compassion and motivation to be involved. That in itself makes me foreign, but I find explaining the truth puts me in danger of being utterly discounted for being so different.
I do not fear the infamy of fallen men; I rather expect it. Jesus warned us the world hated Him before it hated any of us seeking to follow Him. I'm torn because I know something I want to write may come too soon for some, as they consider whether my witness is true. I don't want to drive them away by demands too high for them.
Our common cultural assumptions are miles and miles away from those of the Bible. The very path of reasoning we use often brings us to the wrong place. This is one of Satan's greatest victories. We read the Bible through Western eye-glasses, and cannot see the truth because we cannot step outside the mental assumptions we have about what makes something "true."
So, we might understand child molestation as a horrific sin, but we hardly understand the spiritual dynamics of why it matters so much. It's not a matter of innocence stolen, the exercise of dominance, nor even perverted lust. It's about taking a mental path, adopting an assumption about the world itself, an assumption which plays into Satan's hands. It's not about the children, but about the idolatry of something which doesn't exist. God can certainly heal the children who are victims of such, but we don't even talk about that, because we fear it will excuse somewhat the lust to use them. We become distracted from the real danger, the danger of seeing in this sickness anything except what God sees.
Sex is about a oneness otherwise impossible in this fallen world. That brief moment when the fallen ego boundaries are cast aside, we have a symbol of what God can do when the Redeemed come together in His love. Instead, we make a deity of that moment when the ego boundaries are dropped. We even have a clinical term for it: cathexis.
In Scripture, the idea there is only One God was quite revolutionary when Moses said it. The Nation of Israel never took to that notion very well, until after the Exile in Babylon. Of course, by then, they didn't know their One True God, so they still had a false god. In Scripture, there is only one person granted by God as your mate (so long as that one lives); the only exception is when you are called to no mate at all. This does not excuse the silly notion of a quest to find that one true love of your life. You can build that love by a conscious choice, provided you are sensible in choosing a mate. Since we seldom are, it works out quite well when people who know us and love us choose a mate for us. Once chosen, the path of spiritual truth is to build a home of the united souls, of a united and single path of serving the Kingdom. The two become one, and the marriage bed is undefiled, just as the union with Christ can't be shared with other gods.
So we make of this some great crime against persons and against society, but we ignore the sin element of idolatry. We allow the fallen world to define what sin is, and make it a measure of spirituality. Chasing cathexis is addictive. Addiction is just another word for spiritual adultery, idolatry. It matters not a whit which path you prefer for false cathexis -- paedophilia, homosexuality, adultery, pornography. Each is wrong, but are merely flavors of the same basic sin: idolatry. God says there's only one way to get your cathexis, and that's His way. Even then, it's not about the means and methods, but about following Him and His choice for you.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Life of Christ: Mark 16
Mark doesn't bother to offer extensive proofs of our Lord's resurrection. He explains simply how the news got back to the men Jesus chose as His closest disciples, and how everyone was so slow to believe. More so, they were slow to grasp something He had explained repeatedly.
The same three women mentioned before as viewing the execution and the burial, are now on their way back to the tomb. They arise before dawn bringing highly scented anointing oils to pour on Jesus' body. By the time they got there, the sun had just risen. They could see clearly. On they way they had been wondering how they would access the body, since the tomb had been sealed with a very large stone. Upon seeing the stone already gone, they stepped inside. Mark describes what they saw. Everyone knows this was an angel, but the Romans lacked the Jewish heritage of having dealt with angels so often.
The women were stunned. The angel announces Jesus is risen, and points out the linen casing, now empty and collapsed in upon itself, in which Jesus' body had been wrapped. He commissions them to tell the other disciples, pointedly naming Peter. By ancient tradition, Peter's denial three times was sufficient to exclude him from any further service, but the Spirit Realm operates by God's Law. Even the soldiers who had crucified Jesus could be forgiven, so the senior man of the Twelve was still included, in spite of himself. The angel noted they would all meet Jesus again -- alive -- in Galilee, as He had promised. The women fled the tomb, as much out of sheer agitation as in obedience. They ran to the place where they had been staying, too dumbstruck to say anything to anyone.
At this point, Mark shifts to a different mode, offering a summary of the well known narrative. His point is to show the process of how the disciples went from completely dejected and fearful, to the bold teachers of the gospel message. The first person to see His resurrected body was Mary Magdalene. It was she who brought word to the disciples. Being as yet men without the Spirit, they didn't believe her. Two others reported that evening they had seen Jesus as they were traveling away from Jerusalem. Eventually Jesus Himself came to His disciples during a meal. Among other things, He addressed the issue of their unbelief. Had He not told them repeatedly how this was all going to work out?
Then Jesus gave them the commission to carry on the ministry they had during His previous days on earth. Mark pointedly mentions this has changed to a message for the whole world, not just Jews. People who are changed by this message and immerse themselves in it will be saved. Mark records this in Greek, using the word equivalent to a sinking ship. The one who drowns will be saved, but the one who draws back is doomed.
Those who are saved will be marked by a spiritual power, a power which passes through every attempt to stop the message they carry. Demons will be driven out. Whatever is necessary to speak the message to every ear will be given them, including new tongues. Should they be bitten by poisonous serpents, they would be safe. Even drinking poison will not stop them. Instead, their miraculous health will be contagious, and others will be healed. These signs and wonders would be native to the Spiritual Kingdom, which carries a far higher authority than anything based on earth.
Finally, Jesus visibly rose into Heaven, the place where His Kingdom was based. There, He took His place at the Father's right hand. The symbol was not lost on anyone reading this. Jesus lives to execute the will of the Father, His Right-hand Man. Thus, these remaining eleven men went out, along with others, and began spreading the message of this Kingdom all over the world. When necessary for the purpose of the Kingdom and message, all manner of miracles took place.
Throughout his Gospel, Mark emphasizes Jesus was a worthy King. Indeed, more worthy than any ruler among humans, for His Kingdom was of the Spirit. All this world and its sorrows are just a circumstance, the background against which the authority and purpose of the Kingdom of Heaven demonstrates its power, its call, and its unique spiritual nature. Mark took pains to emphasize how very different this was from what everyone expected, most certainly the disciples. In the end, they finally got it. They finally understood the thing which held them, and their teaching was trustworthy, for they had been chosen by the King Himself.
The same three women mentioned before as viewing the execution and the burial, are now on their way back to the tomb. They arise before dawn bringing highly scented anointing oils to pour on Jesus' body. By the time they got there, the sun had just risen. They could see clearly. On they way they had been wondering how they would access the body, since the tomb had been sealed with a very large stone. Upon seeing the stone already gone, they stepped inside. Mark describes what they saw. Everyone knows this was an angel, but the Romans lacked the Jewish heritage of having dealt with angels so often.
The women were stunned. The angel announces Jesus is risen, and points out the linen casing, now empty and collapsed in upon itself, in which Jesus' body had been wrapped. He commissions them to tell the other disciples, pointedly naming Peter. By ancient tradition, Peter's denial three times was sufficient to exclude him from any further service, but the Spirit Realm operates by God's Law. Even the soldiers who had crucified Jesus could be forgiven, so the senior man of the Twelve was still included, in spite of himself. The angel noted they would all meet Jesus again -- alive -- in Galilee, as He had promised. The women fled the tomb, as much out of sheer agitation as in obedience. They ran to the place where they had been staying, too dumbstruck to say anything to anyone.
At this point, Mark shifts to a different mode, offering a summary of the well known narrative. His point is to show the process of how the disciples went from completely dejected and fearful, to the bold teachers of the gospel message. The first person to see His resurrected body was Mary Magdalene. It was she who brought word to the disciples. Being as yet men without the Spirit, they didn't believe her. Two others reported that evening they had seen Jesus as they were traveling away from Jerusalem. Eventually Jesus Himself came to His disciples during a meal. Among other things, He addressed the issue of their unbelief. Had He not told them repeatedly how this was all going to work out?
Then Jesus gave them the commission to carry on the ministry they had during His previous days on earth. Mark pointedly mentions this has changed to a message for the whole world, not just Jews. People who are changed by this message and immerse themselves in it will be saved. Mark records this in Greek, using the word equivalent to a sinking ship. The one who drowns will be saved, but the one who draws back is doomed.
Those who are saved will be marked by a spiritual power, a power which passes through every attempt to stop the message they carry. Demons will be driven out. Whatever is necessary to speak the message to every ear will be given them, including new tongues. Should they be bitten by poisonous serpents, they would be safe. Even drinking poison will not stop them. Instead, their miraculous health will be contagious, and others will be healed. These signs and wonders would be native to the Spiritual Kingdom, which carries a far higher authority than anything based on earth.
Finally, Jesus visibly rose into Heaven, the place where His Kingdom was based. There, He took His place at the Father's right hand. The symbol was not lost on anyone reading this. Jesus lives to execute the will of the Father, His Right-hand Man. Thus, these remaining eleven men went out, along with others, and began spreading the message of this Kingdom all over the world. When necessary for the purpose of the Kingdom and message, all manner of miracles took place.
Throughout his Gospel, Mark emphasizes Jesus was a worthy King. Indeed, more worthy than any ruler among humans, for His Kingdom was of the Spirit. All this world and its sorrows are just a circumstance, the background against which the authority and purpose of the Kingdom of Heaven demonstrates its power, its call, and its unique spiritual nature. Mark took pains to emphasize how very different this was from what everyone expected, most certainly the disciples. In the end, they finally got it. They finally understood the thing which held them, and their teaching was trustworthy, for they had been chosen by the King Himself.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Trouble in Computer Paradise
It's no doubt in part due to my constant tweaking and experimenting, but yesterday I had some pretty serious trouble with my FreeBSD installation. At a time like this when I really need to have reliable encryption available for some rather private communication, I couldn't get GNUPG (an Open Source implementation of PGP) to work. I had even gone to the trouble of creating a fresh pair of encryption keys, and it still failed to recognize them.
There are times when I just can't afford the effort to dig through the various bug reports and technical details to find out what to do about it. This was one of them. I suppose it says something of importance to note there was a fallback plan which did not fail: installing openSUSE again.
Yes, it found the imported keys immediately and promptly used them. Everything is a trade-off in the computer world. Perhaps not as radically secure as FreeBSD, SuSE is far more convenient to run from a user standpoint. I'm confident the firewall and so forth are adequate.
There are times when I just can't afford the effort to dig through the various bug reports and technical details to find out what to do about it. This was one of them. I suppose it says something of importance to note there was a fallback plan which did not fail: installing openSUSE again.
Yes, it found the imported keys immediately and promptly used them. Everything is a trade-off in the computer world. Perhaps not as radically secure as FreeBSD, SuSE is far more convenient to run from a user standpoint. I'm confident the firewall and so forth are adequate.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Warning to Readers: Be Aware of Surveillance
This is not meant to be melodramatic and improve my "oppressed Christian" profile. It's real, it's pretty common these days, has already affected many of us without our knowledge. I just happen to be in a position to detect it, sometimes. I believe I've already mentioned I've been under federal surveillance before. It's rather odd, since they are so poor at hiding it. You know, really obvious stuff, like clean cut young men, entirely too well dressed, asking about me in a hick town in South Central Texas. Those questions got me kicked out of my job as church music director there. Real subtle, no?
After my rant regarding child welfare agencies, it started again. Since I live in an urban setting, some of it might be a little harder to detect. However, this time I noticed a sudden change in my email services. Yeah, all of them except one, a service based in Europe. For the rest of my addresses, all my email took at least a half-day to deliver in or out. Bear in mind, I'm connected via AT&T with some of the fattest pipes just on the other end of my phone line, and a major server farm inside the Metro area where I live. I typically get messages between my various boxes in seconds.
Yeah, there are times when this or that network is gonna hiccup. I allowed for that. Several messages to me from key individuals were delayed at different addresses by a half-day. Several messages I sent to key recipients were delayed the same way. These different correspondents are all over the world. The pattern was quite distinct and noticeable. My mail is being heavily filtered right now, so be aware of that. I can only assume that means my posts here are now being heavily monitored, most likely automated. Chances are good your visit to this blog is being logged.
Now, since I rather expect that sort of harassment, I simply deal with it. There are ways when it really matters, and geeks know them. For example, I run FreeBSD, which is notoriously hard to crack, even by government spooks. Not impossible, but hard. For yourself, you may simply not care. That's your choice. However, I felt it was my moral responsibility to let you know.
After my rant regarding child welfare agencies, it started again. Since I live in an urban setting, some of it might be a little harder to detect. However, this time I noticed a sudden change in my email services. Yeah, all of them except one, a service based in Europe. For the rest of my addresses, all my email took at least a half-day to deliver in or out. Bear in mind, I'm connected via AT&T with some of the fattest pipes just on the other end of my phone line, and a major server farm inside the Metro area where I live. I typically get messages between my various boxes in seconds.
Yeah, there are times when this or that network is gonna hiccup. I allowed for that. Several messages to me from key individuals were delayed at different addresses by a half-day. Several messages I sent to key recipients were delayed the same way. These different correspondents are all over the world. The pattern was quite distinct and noticeable. My mail is being heavily filtered right now, so be aware of that. I can only assume that means my posts here are now being heavily monitored, most likely automated. Chances are good your visit to this blog is being logged.
Now, since I rather expect that sort of harassment, I simply deal with it. There are ways when it really matters, and geeks know them. For example, I run FreeBSD, which is notoriously hard to crack, even by government spooks. Not impossible, but hard. For yourself, you may simply not care. That's your choice. However, I felt it was my moral responsibility to let you know.
Imaginary Speech, Imaginary Crowd
Today I stand here as your instructor. I am leader only in the sense of being just a few steps down the same road ahead of you. Some of you will catch me and bypass me. I'm looking forward to it, so you can take this spot next year. Plenty of what I am about to discuss with you can be done better, but I'm offering you a place to start.
We gather here today simply to discuss worship in the home, popularly referred to as "house church." We have found the institutional church wanting, a failure in providing us a place of service, a means to bringing to life the Lord Jesus in our own bodies. Those organizations are too deeply invested in things we cannot do in clear conscience, so we have departed. We wish them well; we pray they continue in the grace of God. We are fairly certain they will not, unless they disband and go underground, as we have. Those which survive as they are will have to sacrifice far too much to the demands of this fallen world.
A few years ago, I was a radical in my departure. People who knew me well sincerely wondered if I could serve Christ outside the mainstream structures. It felt to them I was somehow abandoning God's good work in this land. Don't get me wrong: I felt that way myself. But the fortunes of circumstance forbade me coming back, so I made the most of it on my own. I learned immediately it was not about my leadership, but about the truth I was teaching. There was then, and is today, no place in any organized religious institution for what I am driven to teach.
No one is required to adopt my teaching. I don't organize around some new set of distinctives. I'm not seeking a following, but merely involvement. Can you read my stuff and do a better job of teaching? Please do. I'll shut and listen to you. Or perhaps I'll leave it with you and find some other place needing to hear my teaching. This teaching is all I know. Take from it what you can, what seems to pass cleanly through the Holy Spirit residing in you. What you do with it is between you and your Lord. Yet "doing" is precisely the key. Don't tell me what your theological boundaries are. Tell me what you feel compelled to do, what role you play.
Now you see the body of understanding which fires me to research simple church fellowship structures. It's not about we, the Body of Christ, but about Him. Since that phrase is so popular with some who use it to silence discussion, let me add: this is about confronting this world with a spiritual claim which makes no sense, unless you are led by the Spirit. The heart and soul of what our Savior taught and commanded can't be grasped, much less obeyed, without that divine presence. All your best organization and skills and talents and work mean nothing without Him. With Him, our worst and more embarrassing failures are victory.
We don't need real estate; we don't need facilities; we don't need structure in the traditional sense; we don't need organization with rolls, budgets, incorporation documents, government approval... We need only the power of God. Yes, that power will bring about a sense of structure, but it will be His, not ours. It's insane. It can't possibly work unless His Word is true. We do not filter His Word through our understanding, but we bend and reshape ourselves to His Word. We renovate our understanding until it is fit for His use.
That so many restrictions have come into being in these past few months only forces us to rely on that same miracle power to keep us faithful and effective. Should those restrictions find us all cast into prison, or out in some horrific work camp, it is merely a new circumstance with in which we serve Him. Because they have not yet found a way to kill Him once and for all, it follows naturally they can't destroy our communion with Him and with each other. It will happen -- it must happen. It cannot be prevented. Even we ourselves cannot really stop it, nor could we consider wishing it.
Take the next few moments to pray and discuss quietly amongst yourselves the meaning of what we have so far. In a short while, we will begin discussing actual methods and structure....
We gather here today simply to discuss worship in the home, popularly referred to as "house church." We have found the institutional church wanting, a failure in providing us a place of service, a means to bringing to life the Lord Jesus in our own bodies. Those organizations are too deeply invested in things we cannot do in clear conscience, so we have departed. We wish them well; we pray they continue in the grace of God. We are fairly certain they will not, unless they disband and go underground, as we have. Those which survive as they are will have to sacrifice far too much to the demands of this fallen world.
A few years ago, I was a radical in my departure. People who knew me well sincerely wondered if I could serve Christ outside the mainstream structures. It felt to them I was somehow abandoning God's good work in this land. Don't get me wrong: I felt that way myself. But the fortunes of circumstance forbade me coming back, so I made the most of it on my own. I learned immediately it was not about my leadership, but about the truth I was teaching. There was then, and is today, no place in any organized religious institution for what I am driven to teach.
No one is required to adopt my teaching. I don't organize around some new set of distinctives. I'm not seeking a following, but merely involvement. Can you read my stuff and do a better job of teaching? Please do. I'll shut and listen to you. Or perhaps I'll leave it with you and find some other place needing to hear my teaching. This teaching is all I know. Take from it what you can, what seems to pass cleanly through the Holy Spirit residing in you. What you do with it is between you and your Lord. Yet "doing" is precisely the key. Don't tell me what your theological boundaries are. Tell me what you feel compelled to do, what role you play.
Now you see the body of understanding which fires me to research simple church fellowship structures. It's not about we, the Body of Christ, but about Him. Since that phrase is so popular with some who use it to silence discussion, let me add: this is about confronting this world with a spiritual claim which makes no sense, unless you are led by the Spirit. The heart and soul of what our Savior taught and commanded can't be grasped, much less obeyed, without that divine presence. All your best organization and skills and talents and work mean nothing without Him. With Him, our worst and more embarrassing failures are victory.
We don't need real estate; we don't need facilities; we don't need structure in the traditional sense; we don't need organization with rolls, budgets, incorporation documents, government approval... We need only the power of God. Yes, that power will bring about a sense of structure, but it will be His, not ours. It's insane. It can't possibly work unless His Word is true. We do not filter His Word through our understanding, but we bend and reshape ourselves to His Word. We renovate our understanding until it is fit for His use.
That so many restrictions have come into being in these past few months only forces us to rely on that same miracle power to keep us faithful and effective. Should those restrictions find us all cast into prison, or out in some horrific work camp, it is merely a new circumstance with in which we serve Him. Because they have not yet found a way to kill Him once and for all, it follows naturally they can't destroy our communion with Him and with each other. It will happen -- it must happen. It cannot be prevented. Even we ourselves cannot really stop it, nor could we consider wishing it.
Take the next few moments to pray and discuss quietly amongst yourselves the meaning of what we have so far. In a short while, we will begin discussing actual methods and structure....
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Isaiah 1
It would be so easy to dawdle rapturously over every detail of Isaiah's imagery. So rich and full of symbolism, it would take days to squeeze all the juice from any one chapter. That so very many commentaries seek to do so would mean a waste to echo that here. Our aim is to grab an overview, to become biblically literate in the wide view so details make more sense.
In this first chapter, Isaiah lays out the essential charge against Israel. As a nation, she stands under a covenant with Jehovah. That covenant was entered freely, as a gift from God. He was the one who invested so very much into it, bore the entire risk, and kept it vital and living through the centuries. Having carried them into Canaan Land, then safely hiding them in Egypt while He weakened those living there with devastating famine, He destroyed the nation which held them slaves, enriching Israel at their expense. He even went the extra mile by carefully pointing out the entire Egyptian pantheon was subject to His will. Where was their pride in Him as the God over all other gods? He marched them through the desert where far smaller groups had died. They grew fat. He kept their enemies weak enough to destroy at every encounter. Then, having shown them His intent, and the abundance of care He was prepared to lavish on them, He asked them simply to say they would accept His covenant.
They did accept it, then promptly reneged. He kept calling them back, kept laying out huge costs to go and win them back, and they kept running away. All nature could recognize the injustice of this. What child ever failed to love their parents? What stupid ox turned ever turned on the one who fed it? It is the child-ox-donkey named Israel.
In Hebrew thinking, the heart was the seat of the will. Understand, it made no difference what you claimed to be, nor what you were in your inner being. What mattered beyond all things was what you decided to do. You might well fail, but if your heart was determined to do the right thing, that was what mattered. Israel's heart was sick, completely untrustworthy, and their minds were so twisted, they could hardly see what was right and wrong, in the first place. To spank their bodies was pointless, because God had hit them all over. Not once did they turn to Him for healing, but kept running away.
For that reason, pagan invaders were eating their crops. At harvest time, they simply moved in and devoured whatever Israel had labored all growing season to produce. About the only safe place was the actual city of Jerusalem. Only because the Lord intended yet again to revive the nation did He not bother to crush them under volcanic ash as He had Sodom and Gomorrah. So now there was a new Sodom and Gomorrah, for the last city of refuge where the Temple stood was no less sinful than those unspeakable cities. For that reason, all their ritual observances meant nothing. For what reason did they dirty the Temple carpets with their feet? It certainly was not to seek God's face. They were unfit to enter His presence, having never bothered to so much as take a bath, as it were.
God called them to stand before His judgment, but not for condemnation. Let them come and simply acknowledge there sins, and He would be quick to forgive, to cleanse, to restore all they once had. Should they continue to reject His judgment, then they deserved what happened to wives who became harlots. Brazen in their sins, all they call their best and brightest is worthy of the sewers. They remain proud as they smear themselves with feces. Has anyone ever seen such a grand perversion? They have no concept for what "good" and "just" means.
Still, God cannot forsake His own. So, He will simply do it all Himself. Whether they like it or not, Israel will be dragged kicking and screaming back into righteousness. Those among the nobles and priests leading the nation astray would be removed. They will be replaced with people who understand God's ways. If necessary, the whole nation will be replaced with one that will serve Him. All those who promote and fund pagan idolatry will be removed, just as their shrines will be removed. The lushest glades of pagan idolatry will be dried up and blown away, and the trunks burned into the ground, as will the lives of those who lavished so much work and money on them.
The Lord lays out His charges, and begins making His case before the watching world of all Creation. He calls on the entire universe to realize the one most privileged part of Creation is the also the most rebellious and undeserving.
In this first chapter, Isaiah lays out the essential charge against Israel. As a nation, she stands under a covenant with Jehovah. That covenant was entered freely, as a gift from God. He was the one who invested so very much into it, bore the entire risk, and kept it vital and living through the centuries. Having carried them into Canaan Land, then safely hiding them in Egypt while He weakened those living there with devastating famine, He destroyed the nation which held them slaves, enriching Israel at their expense. He even went the extra mile by carefully pointing out the entire Egyptian pantheon was subject to His will. Where was their pride in Him as the God over all other gods? He marched them through the desert where far smaller groups had died. They grew fat. He kept their enemies weak enough to destroy at every encounter. Then, having shown them His intent, and the abundance of care He was prepared to lavish on them, He asked them simply to say they would accept His covenant.
They did accept it, then promptly reneged. He kept calling them back, kept laying out huge costs to go and win them back, and they kept running away. All nature could recognize the injustice of this. What child ever failed to love their parents? What stupid ox turned ever turned on the one who fed it? It is the child-ox-donkey named Israel.
In Hebrew thinking, the heart was the seat of the will. Understand, it made no difference what you claimed to be, nor what you were in your inner being. What mattered beyond all things was what you decided to do. You might well fail, but if your heart was determined to do the right thing, that was what mattered. Israel's heart was sick, completely untrustworthy, and their minds were so twisted, they could hardly see what was right and wrong, in the first place. To spank their bodies was pointless, because God had hit them all over. Not once did they turn to Him for healing, but kept running away.
For that reason, pagan invaders were eating their crops. At harvest time, they simply moved in and devoured whatever Israel had labored all growing season to produce. About the only safe place was the actual city of Jerusalem. Only because the Lord intended yet again to revive the nation did He not bother to crush them under volcanic ash as He had Sodom and Gomorrah. So now there was a new Sodom and Gomorrah, for the last city of refuge where the Temple stood was no less sinful than those unspeakable cities. For that reason, all their ritual observances meant nothing. For what reason did they dirty the Temple carpets with their feet? It certainly was not to seek God's face. They were unfit to enter His presence, having never bothered to so much as take a bath, as it were.
God called them to stand before His judgment, but not for condemnation. Let them come and simply acknowledge there sins, and He would be quick to forgive, to cleanse, to restore all they once had. Should they continue to reject His judgment, then they deserved what happened to wives who became harlots. Brazen in their sins, all they call their best and brightest is worthy of the sewers. They remain proud as they smear themselves with feces. Has anyone ever seen such a grand perversion? They have no concept for what "good" and "just" means.
Still, God cannot forsake His own. So, He will simply do it all Himself. Whether they like it or not, Israel will be dragged kicking and screaming back into righteousness. Those among the nobles and priests leading the nation astray would be removed. They will be replaced with people who understand God's ways. If necessary, the whole nation will be replaced with one that will serve Him. All those who promote and fund pagan idolatry will be removed, just as their shrines will be removed. The lushest glades of pagan idolatry will be dried up and blown away, and the trunks burned into the ground, as will the lives of those who lavished so much work and money on them.
The Lord lays out His charges, and begins making His case before the watching world of all Creation. He calls on the entire universe to realize the one most privileged part of Creation is the also the most rebellious and undeserving.
Monday, May 19, 2008
The One Example
The State of Texas has proven beyond all shadow of doubt they will harm children in state custody. In Western logical/legal terms, the likelihood of rape and abuse is so high, any parent who yields their children to state custody is directly guilty of abusing that child by neglect.
In purely biblical terms, in accordance with what we learn from the Covenant of Noah, as demonstrated in the Covenant of Moses, the proper means for handling issues of dangerous parenting is not with the armed state, but the local community -- the average citizens who live in direct daily contact with the sorry parents. The sword-wielding members of the state have no valid interest in such matters. The members of the community are not permitted to cowardly contract out their obligation from God to take appropriate action. If they are unwilling to take direct action against social issues in their community, they stand condemned.
The FLDS -- weird, pagan, cultic -- are by biblical definition a community. If, within the confines of their community apart, they choose to marry a little earlier than most Americans, there is no biblical basis for stopping them. To put it bluntly, interfering with such lifestyle is a sin. You can't find a single Bible verse to back up any move to force them to change. That puts the entire State of Texas in defiance of God (not to mention the entire US). No Christian can support what's going on right now. If you support it, call yourself something else, because "Christian" ain't it. As it is, there is zero proof any girls were married and impregnated younger than state laws allow.
Folks, I've already said it once, very clearly: The one area of life where violence against government agents is always justified is in child custody issues. I seldom counsel violence, don't train for it, don't expect to have to use it any time soon. I don't stand with those who plot together tactics and multitude reasons for armed revolt against any government. Such delusions are founded on Enlightenment rationalism, not the Bible. I don't hold to any idealistic belief in some constitution or Natural Law. If you want to stand before God with a clear conscience regarding participation in armed resistance of government agents, you'll have to find some other basis in Scripture to proceed. However, protecting your children from "Child Welfare" seizure is one time you don't have to ask. Run, hide your children. If that route is denied you, don't hesitate to resist with deadly force.
Yes, you and I both know how that will turn out. If you are blessed and skillful, you might be able to use the armed encounter as an opportunity to get away and disappear. You will remain under arrest warrants for the rest of your lives. When you flee, make sure they don't find you, even if it means leaving the jurisdiction of US law. Any where else you go may be as bad or worse. Chances are good you will be caught and prosecuted, because the state recognizes no Law of God. Indeed, when CPS comes to your door with cops, you have waited far too long. If your commitment to your children does not justify ruining your plans for a normal life, you don't love them enough, and don't know the ways of God.
In case you haven't been paying attention, this may be the new "normal" for Christians, anyway. Our national and state governments are increasingly fascist, and every day that passes brings us closer to complete police-state oppression, when just stepping out of line can get you shot. For the most part, the Bible teaches you are to flee to another land, or buckle your seatbelt for a rough ride. The one and only place where there is no question you should resist with violence is in regards to your children. Frankly, that resistance is simply a means to buying time to flee, unless you feel compelled by conscience to make some valiant "statement" and face the music.
I grow weary, not of Will Grigg's articles, but on the constant parade of brazen lies and outrageous injustices this case with with the FLDS is producing. If the system itself does not correct this massive criminal fraud, it really is a signal to all and sundry: Since it's going to be a disaster either way, you might as well go down fighting, and take some of the enemy with you.
Addenda: In response to a question -- We ought to be fully aware there comes a time when the heart and mind of the individual child is no longer in your hands. We can debate whether that should equate to a chronological age, or a particular stage of human development, etc. The point is, if you don't recognize it, and neglect to plan for it, you sin. Much depends on your spiritual perception and efforts during early childhood. If you packed them off to public school, you have already lost. As Vox Day worded it, "Render not your children unto Caesar."
Folks, we are far, far off the biblical model in so many ways, it's hard to know where to start. Let's get one thing straight: The State has no valid interest in family life. That means no welfare support, either. We seem to be living by some unstated communist doctrine which makes the individual person a property of the state as some "economic unit of production." We have long ago failed to live by the biblical division between community and state. The latter is pretty much limited to defense and keeping order by the Covenant of Noah. The former is responsible for all the social issues. Whole books could be written on what that looks like and what sensible methods are, and so forth. Marriage is no business of the state, and neither are the children produced by marriage, nor children which arrive by any other means.
The state should neither support their welfare nor interfere with relations on any level. The community is required by God to be directly involved, not by using hired goons, but by hands-on personal involvement. They are required to act with wisdom and restraint, and be pretty doggone nosy. If you aren't aware of what your neighbor eats for breakfast, you are wrong. If you allow a culture to develop which prevents you being that close to your neighbor, you have sinned. Until we clean out the leaven of horrific bad culture and community life, along with prostituting the sword to micro-management, we cannot expect God's favor.
In purely biblical terms, in accordance with what we learn from the Covenant of Noah, as demonstrated in the Covenant of Moses, the proper means for handling issues of dangerous parenting is not with the armed state, but the local community -- the average citizens who live in direct daily contact with the sorry parents. The sword-wielding members of the state have no valid interest in such matters. The members of the community are not permitted to cowardly contract out their obligation from God to take appropriate action. If they are unwilling to take direct action against social issues in their community, they stand condemned.
The FLDS -- weird, pagan, cultic -- are by biblical definition a community. If, within the confines of their community apart, they choose to marry a little earlier than most Americans, there is no biblical basis for stopping them. To put it bluntly, interfering with such lifestyle is a sin. You can't find a single Bible verse to back up any move to force them to change. That puts the entire State of Texas in defiance of God (not to mention the entire US). No Christian can support what's going on right now. If you support it, call yourself something else, because "Christian" ain't it. As it is, there is zero proof any girls were married and impregnated younger than state laws allow.
Folks, I've already said it once, very clearly: The one area of life where violence against government agents is always justified is in child custody issues. I seldom counsel violence, don't train for it, don't expect to have to use it any time soon. I don't stand with those who plot together tactics and multitude reasons for armed revolt against any government. Such delusions are founded on Enlightenment rationalism, not the Bible. I don't hold to any idealistic belief in some constitution or Natural Law. If you want to stand before God with a clear conscience regarding participation in armed resistance of government agents, you'll have to find some other basis in Scripture to proceed. However, protecting your children from "Child Welfare" seizure is one time you don't have to ask. Run, hide your children. If that route is denied you, don't hesitate to resist with deadly force.
Yes, you and I both know how that will turn out. If you are blessed and skillful, you might be able to use the armed encounter as an opportunity to get away and disappear. You will remain under arrest warrants for the rest of your lives. When you flee, make sure they don't find you, even if it means leaving the jurisdiction of US law. Any where else you go may be as bad or worse. Chances are good you will be caught and prosecuted, because the state recognizes no Law of God. Indeed, when CPS comes to your door with cops, you have waited far too long. If your commitment to your children does not justify ruining your plans for a normal life, you don't love them enough, and don't know the ways of God.
In case you haven't been paying attention, this may be the new "normal" for Christians, anyway. Our national and state governments are increasingly fascist, and every day that passes brings us closer to complete police-state oppression, when just stepping out of line can get you shot. For the most part, the Bible teaches you are to flee to another land, or buckle your seatbelt for a rough ride. The one and only place where there is no question you should resist with violence is in regards to your children. Frankly, that resistance is simply a means to buying time to flee, unless you feel compelled by conscience to make some valiant "statement" and face the music.
I grow weary, not of Will Grigg's articles, but on the constant parade of brazen lies and outrageous injustices this case with with the FLDS is producing. If the system itself does not correct this massive criminal fraud, it really is a signal to all and sundry: Since it's going to be a disaster either way, you might as well go down fighting, and take some of the enemy with you.
Addenda: In response to a question -- We ought to be fully aware there comes a time when the heart and mind of the individual child is no longer in your hands. We can debate whether that should equate to a chronological age, or a particular stage of human development, etc. The point is, if you don't recognize it, and neglect to plan for it, you sin. Much depends on your spiritual perception and efforts during early childhood. If you packed them off to public school, you have already lost. As Vox Day worded it, "Render not your children unto Caesar."
Folks, we are far, far off the biblical model in so many ways, it's hard to know where to start. Let's get one thing straight: The State has no valid interest in family life. That means no welfare support, either. We seem to be living by some unstated communist doctrine which makes the individual person a property of the state as some "economic unit of production." We have long ago failed to live by the biblical division between community and state. The latter is pretty much limited to defense and keeping order by the Covenant of Noah. The former is responsible for all the social issues. Whole books could be written on what that looks like and what sensible methods are, and so forth. Marriage is no business of the state, and neither are the children produced by marriage, nor children which arrive by any other means.
The state should neither support their welfare nor interfere with relations on any level. The community is required by God to be directly involved, not by using hired goons, but by hands-on personal involvement. They are required to act with wisdom and restraint, and be pretty doggone nosy. If you aren't aware of what your neighbor eats for breakfast, you are wrong. If you allow a culture to develop which prevents you being that close to your neighbor, you have sinned. Until we clean out the leaven of horrific bad culture and community life, along with prostituting the sword to micro-management, we cannot expect God's favor.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Music of the Soul
We rise and we fall. On any given day we may well pass through the most exquisite spiritual highs, only to find ourselves a very short time later in the deepest depths of sin and sorrow. Until we shake off this mortal flesh, so it will be. On rare occasions, we happen upon individuals who apparently suffer less of this than we do, and certainly less than others we know. Oddly, precious few of these people ever hit the limelight. I would venture to say it seems those in the limelight are most unlikely to be this way. Not only are they hot targets for spiritual attack, but what puts them in the spotlight are talents, not spiritual gifts. Many undoubtedly possess spiritual gifts, but that is seldom what brought them prominence.
This is the way of our world. Most of the time, things work out okay. However, as the number of people involved rises, the likelihood of moral failure rises almost geometrically. Every big shot I've ever known -- and it's been quite a few -- have betrayed in my presence some horrendous flaw. Often they just barely kept it in check, but the much celebrated failures of big-name Christian personalities shows how easy it is to fall. We follow people who lead, which is seldom the person who also happens to be the most spiritual. It's a paradox of the Kingdom. Worse, we as Christians magnify our sins by somehow expecting these people to be better than us common followers. This is utterly foolish, yet so common we are shocked when someone in the spotlight turns out no better than we are. Since we tend not to admit our own flaws honestly to ourselves, we can only keep our false faces in place by attacking the leaders who show they are human.
Is it any different with popular Christian music acts? Such a big business it is! Fortunes are made on the talents of a select few. I suppose most of us know too often the business end of things gets in the way, and many are promoted solely on the basis of talent, but even worse, on mere marketability. Confused with this is the silly habit we have in the West of confusing emotional stirring with spiritual stirring. Manipulating emotions is so very easy, since the presentation of the show is such a tiny snapshot out of the lives of performers. Yet, because of the silly cultural veneer we allow to stand in the Christian music business, we set them up for a far greater fall when they prove to be all too human. At the same time, we stubbornly cling to those with talent who have pleased us so much in the past, and who simply brazen their way through the discovery of their sins. We reward the worst, and the penitent we cast aside. Is that not upside down?
Yes, it is great gift of God Almighty when some write such moving and soulful music, all the more so when it reflects accurately scriptural truth. It is a wonderful grant of Jehovah when some are able to perform such wonderful music, lifting us above our daily cares. Surely it brings us closer to God, and heals a great many wounds. It is still a business, and the profit motive demands spiritual issues take a backseat. If a particular performer or composer can't be made profitable, they will be cast aside. That says something about those of us who consume this stuff and make it profitable, because we don't purchase on the basis for true spiritual value, but whether or not it moves us according to some mere matter of taste. Very little recorded music manages to be timeless enough to capture a buying audience across multiple generations. For example, how many today are buying the albums from the hottest acts of the 1970s? How many have even heard of, say, Keith Green? How often do you hear songs written by Gary S. Paxton? Both are still dearly loved by many alive now, and there's little debate about their spiritual impact, but the business of selling Christian music won't remember them. It's all about the dollars.
It would be easy to enter into an extended analysis of cultural and social factors, but the point is clear: When money gets involved, it's about serving Mammon, not Christ. I can't count the number of professional musicians who would rather do only Christian music, but they can't bear the hideous face of the Christian music business. So very many have said it's worse than the secular music business. How many performing acts have retired, simply because they can't get enough money to keep the road show going? Why does it cost so much in the first place? It was never about Christ, except incidentally. It has always been about compromising with the "necessities" of business. Some of the finest people in the world are involved in the Christian music business. Not all of them love Jesus, any more than you would expect every soul in the pews on Sunday to be born-again. Failing to realize the whole thing must of necessity be a compromise, and holding up Christian performers as somehow better than average believers who lack such talents, is truly one of the greatest sins of Western Christianity.
Worse, after having sated ourselves on such powerful performances, we often have no idea how to find the Holy Spirit in lesser performances which lack the massive and expensive production and showmanship. We fail to worship because we are spoiled.
This is the way of our world. Most of the time, things work out okay. However, as the number of people involved rises, the likelihood of moral failure rises almost geometrically. Every big shot I've ever known -- and it's been quite a few -- have betrayed in my presence some horrendous flaw. Often they just barely kept it in check, but the much celebrated failures of big-name Christian personalities shows how easy it is to fall. We follow people who lead, which is seldom the person who also happens to be the most spiritual. It's a paradox of the Kingdom. Worse, we as Christians magnify our sins by somehow expecting these people to be better than us common followers. This is utterly foolish, yet so common we are shocked when someone in the spotlight turns out no better than we are. Since we tend not to admit our own flaws honestly to ourselves, we can only keep our false faces in place by attacking the leaders who show they are human.
Is it any different with popular Christian music acts? Such a big business it is! Fortunes are made on the talents of a select few. I suppose most of us know too often the business end of things gets in the way, and many are promoted solely on the basis of talent, but even worse, on mere marketability. Confused with this is the silly habit we have in the West of confusing emotional stirring with spiritual stirring. Manipulating emotions is so very easy, since the presentation of the show is such a tiny snapshot out of the lives of performers. Yet, because of the silly cultural veneer we allow to stand in the Christian music business, we set them up for a far greater fall when they prove to be all too human. At the same time, we stubbornly cling to those with talent who have pleased us so much in the past, and who simply brazen their way through the discovery of their sins. We reward the worst, and the penitent we cast aside. Is that not upside down?
Yes, it is great gift of God Almighty when some write such moving and soulful music, all the more so when it reflects accurately scriptural truth. It is a wonderful grant of Jehovah when some are able to perform such wonderful music, lifting us above our daily cares. Surely it brings us closer to God, and heals a great many wounds. It is still a business, and the profit motive demands spiritual issues take a backseat. If a particular performer or composer can't be made profitable, they will be cast aside. That says something about those of us who consume this stuff and make it profitable, because we don't purchase on the basis for true spiritual value, but whether or not it moves us according to some mere matter of taste. Very little recorded music manages to be timeless enough to capture a buying audience across multiple generations. For example, how many today are buying the albums from the hottest acts of the 1970s? How many have even heard of, say, Keith Green? How often do you hear songs written by Gary S. Paxton? Both are still dearly loved by many alive now, and there's little debate about their spiritual impact, but the business of selling Christian music won't remember them. It's all about the dollars.
It would be easy to enter into an extended analysis of cultural and social factors, but the point is clear: When money gets involved, it's about serving Mammon, not Christ. I can't count the number of professional musicians who would rather do only Christian music, but they can't bear the hideous face of the Christian music business. So very many have said it's worse than the secular music business. How many performing acts have retired, simply because they can't get enough money to keep the road show going? Why does it cost so much in the first place? It was never about Christ, except incidentally. It has always been about compromising with the "necessities" of business. Some of the finest people in the world are involved in the Christian music business. Not all of them love Jesus, any more than you would expect every soul in the pews on Sunday to be born-again. Failing to realize the whole thing must of necessity be a compromise, and holding up Christian performers as somehow better than average believers who lack such talents, is truly one of the greatest sins of Western Christianity.
Worse, after having sated ourselves on such powerful performances, we often have no idea how to find the Holy Spirit in lesser performances which lack the massive and expensive production and showmanship. We fail to worship because we are spoiled.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Short Note: The Dell Arrived in Paraguay
The Dell Latitude I bought back at the end of last year proved quite useful until I was able to get an office and my large desktop machine. Then the laptop was just about useless. So I decided to send it to a brother in Paraguay who hardly had any computer at all worth mention. This man does far more with computers than I ever will.
He told me just a few minutes ago it arrived safely and is in his hands. This is an answer to prayer, considering the risks involved in customs, pilferage, damage, etc. Rejoice with me!
He told me just a few minutes ago it arrived safely and is in his hands. This is an answer to prayer, considering the risks involved in customs, pilferage, damage, etc. Rejoice with me!
Life of Christ: Mark 15
Ancient peoples were in many ways more sensible than we are today. What we now dismissively call "fatalism" was in those days simply a matter of observing and accepting the obvious. They would think of us as silly and whiny, pickling ourselves and the whole world in our personal sorrow. All the more so do we fall far short of the spiritual view, which notes death is just a circumstance. Jesus predicted His death repeatedly, along with numerous details about who was plotting and how they would go about it. For Him, death was a station on the path to ultimate victory.
Mark does not waste too much ink on details of Jesus' death. Rather, he recites the basic outline of events, perhaps to correct some silly legends, more than anything else. The focus of attention is showing by the sequence of events the narrative support for basic teachings the Roman Christians had received.
Second act of the Sanhedrin was to reconvene at dawn to reconfirm their sentence on Jesus. He was bound and turned over the Roman custody. While Pilate would not normally be in town, since his official residence was in Caesarea, it seemed during festivals trouble was most likely to happen in Jerusalem, as it had so often in the past. Mark sticks with the basic facts, showing Pilate asked Jesus if He claimed to be King of the Jews. Jesus' answer was idiomatic for "yes." While this was officially sufficient to find Jesus guilty of treason, it's obvious Pilate was certain Jesus was hardly a threat to Roman authority. As Mark had pointed out repeatedly, Jesus was too obviously a spiritual king, with no interest in human politics.
It was obvious to everyone this was not going as planned, and the representatives of the Sanhedrin lined up to make radical accusations against Jesus. That Jesus calmly absorbed this without reaction rather surprised Pilate. This fellow had no fear for His life. Mark backtracks just a bit to note in this context the Roman governor had a tradition of releasing a prisoner back to the Jews as a gesture of good will. Some of the folks in this crowd of spectators would have quickly called for the release of Jesus, but the Sanhedrin were expecting that. They had planted agents in the crowd to make it seem the multitude would prefer Barabbas. This latter was a notorious revolutionary, probably a likely hero to the multitude. Any hope of calling for Jesus' release died quickly.
Pilate had no legal grounds to charge Jesus, so took advantage of the moment, hoping the crowd might at least relent, since he had granted their wish to release Barabbas. Again, the Sanhedrin had come prepared, and immediately their agents began shouting raucously for Jesus to be crucified. It looked very much like a riot in the making, so Pilate resigned himself to executing this harmless rabbi. He had Jesus publicly flogged. Mark spares no relish for gruesome details, but mentions it in passing. His readers knew exactly what that meant, and needed no elaboration: the victim tied to a post, hands above his head, the lictor facing him and wrapping the cat-o-nine-tails around the victim and yanking it back. Utterly messy and painful beyond words, the lictor was trained to stop before the accused died.
It was probably another part of the ritual to allow the soldiers to afflict the condemned a little more. We know most Roman soldiers quartered in the city were Syrian conscripts, and there was mutual despite between the them and the Jews. For a man who had just survived a vicious beating with a whip, the physical abuse wouldn't have mattered much, but it's hard to ignore the sorrow of the mocking. The prospect of execution would come somewhat as a relief, as He was led away. By now He was simply too weak to carry the crossbeam, and a man who happened to be the only one walking against the flow of traffic for this procession was ordered to carry the load. Mark names the man: Simon of Cyrene. The best explanation is he was known to the readers because at least one of his sons, Rufus, lived in Rome. Romans would also recognize the common practice of forcing someone to bear a burden "for the Empire."
Mark translates the name of the place of execution, which had to be high ground near a well-traveled road. Such a spectacle was the Roman idea of deterrence. Jesus refused the drugged potion offered, a cruel joke which dulled the victim's pain, but also prolonged the suffering. In a bare sketch, Mark notes Jesus was crucified and the soldiers chosen for this extra duty were allowed to divide whatever property the condemned carried with them. Noting the execution began at 9AM, Mark mentions the charge against Jesus, which amounted to treason. It is noteworthy for being so senseless. He also mentions the other two victims, which fulfills the prophecy the Messiah would be counted as a common criminal. We note the tone of this narrative is simply noting this is the way human governments do things. The most significant event in human history, before and after, and it was just a routine matter hardly noted.
The mockery never let up. It seems the people intentionally misunderstood Jesus' teachings. The Sanhedrin were celebrating with similar comments. Even the two robbers beside Him mocked Jesus. The moral darkness was matched by literal darkness. By noon, the sun was hidden completely from this scene. Another three hours, and we are told Jesus was utterly alone, for even His Father in Heaven turned away. In the context, we should realize this was the worst part of the whole thing for Jesus. With such severed dehydration, it was hard to be sure exactly what Jesus was saying in His native Aramaic, so someone offered Him a drink of the cheap wine provided Roman soldiers in their rations. This was what Jesus needed physically to enable what He had to do last. He cried out, but Mark doesn't bother with words which didn't mean anything to his Roman readers. Rather, he notes Jesus simply and forcefully breathed His last, and died. Much more important it was to reveal the Temple veil was torn open from above. The secretive inner sanctuary separating God and Man was opened, and Judaism died, having no longer any purpose.
Oddly, it was a pagan Roman commander who realized dying this way had meaning. The officer realized the man in the middle was divine. How many times had he commanded a detachment to execute criminals in this manner? The lingered on for at least a day, and usually two. This fellow simply commanded his body to die after only six hours. No authority on earth could match that. Of course, members of Jesus' entourage were there, the women. Mark names the ones known to his readers, noting there were several others. The men were in hiding.
The term "evening" should be read like our "late afternoon." Mark notes it was approaching the day of preparation before the Sabbath that week. Jews could do nothing, even burying their dead, on the Sabbath. Joseph of Arimathea, described as one of the few members of the Sanhedrin who actually believed in God and His promises, mustered enough courage to come forth and bury Jesus. Mark describes how Pilate seemed surprised Jesus had succumbed so quickly. However, it is confirmed, so he signs a release and the body is taken down from the cross. Mark notes the Jewish burial practice in passing, of wrapping the dead in long linen strips, rather like we think of mummies in Egypt. The body was placed in an extravagantly expensive tomb, and sealed with a rolling stone. Mark mentions at least two of the women saw the location of this tomb.
We can't really say Mark treats Pilate with any sympathy, so much as he lays the blame squarely on the Jewish leaders. Pilate was simply an intelligent part of the impersonal Roman machinery, doing what government does best. Hardly an ogre, Pilate is simply doing his job. Squeezing from the crucifixion story every last juicy detail is foreign to the biblical point of view. After consistently pointing out Jesus was teaching a spiritual understanding, building a spiritual kingdom, and in every way emphasizing the spiritual nature of true faith in a spiritual God, it becomes a mockery people would ever claim to seek splinters from a "sacred Cross," as if tangible objects could somehow have any inherent power. Jesus' own clothing was dismissed in a sentence, because the garment of true holiness was what mattered. At every point, He criticized the Jewish fascination with tangible objects of their false religion. The death of Our Savior was unjust, brutal and messy, but absolutely necessary. Like anything else, this life and this world, even death itself, is merely a tool used in service to the Kingdom.
Mark does not waste too much ink on details of Jesus' death. Rather, he recites the basic outline of events, perhaps to correct some silly legends, more than anything else. The focus of attention is showing by the sequence of events the narrative support for basic teachings the Roman Christians had received.
Second act of the Sanhedrin was to reconvene at dawn to reconfirm their sentence on Jesus. He was bound and turned over the Roman custody. While Pilate would not normally be in town, since his official residence was in Caesarea, it seemed during festivals trouble was most likely to happen in Jerusalem, as it had so often in the past. Mark sticks with the basic facts, showing Pilate asked Jesus if He claimed to be King of the Jews. Jesus' answer was idiomatic for "yes." While this was officially sufficient to find Jesus guilty of treason, it's obvious Pilate was certain Jesus was hardly a threat to Roman authority. As Mark had pointed out repeatedly, Jesus was too obviously a spiritual king, with no interest in human politics.
It was obvious to everyone this was not going as planned, and the representatives of the Sanhedrin lined up to make radical accusations against Jesus. That Jesus calmly absorbed this without reaction rather surprised Pilate. This fellow had no fear for His life. Mark backtracks just a bit to note in this context the Roman governor had a tradition of releasing a prisoner back to the Jews as a gesture of good will. Some of the folks in this crowd of spectators would have quickly called for the release of Jesus, but the Sanhedrin were expecting that. They had planted agents in the crowd to make it seem the multitude would prefer Barabbas. This latter was a notorious revolutionary, probably a likely hero to the multitude. Any hope of calling for Jesus' release died quickly.
Pilate had no legal grounds to charge Jesus, so took advantage of the moment, hoping the crowd might at least relent, since he had granted their wish to release Barabbas. Again, the Sanhedrin had come prepared, and immediately their agents began shouting raucously for Jesus to be crucified. It looked very much like a riot in the making, so Pilate resigned himself to executing this harmless rabbi. He had Jesus publicly flogged. Mark spares no relish for gruesome details, but mentions it in passing. His readers knew exactly what that meant, and needed no elaboration: the victim tied to a post, hands above his head, the lictor facing him and wrapping the cat-o-nine-tails around the victim and yanking it back. Utterly messy and painful beyond words, the lictor was trained to stop before the accused died.
It was probably another part of the ritual to allow the soldiers to afflict the condemned a little more. We know most Roman soldiers quartered in the city were Syrian conscripts, and there was mutual despite between the them and the Jews. For a man who had just survived a vicious beating with a whip, the physical abuse wouldn't have mattered much, but it's hard to ignore the sorrow of the mocking. The prospect of execution would come somewhat as a relief, as He was led away. By now He was simply too weak to carry the crossbeam, and a man who happened to be the only one walking against the flow of traffic for this procession was ordered to carry the load. Mark names the man: Simon of Cyrene. The best explanation is he was known to the readers because at least one of his sons, Rufus, lived in Rome. Romans would also recognize the common practice of forcing someone to bear a burden "for the Empire."
Mark translates the name of the place of execution, which had to be high ground near a well-traveled road. Such a spectacle was the Roman idea of deterrence. Jesus refused the drugged potion offered, a cruel joke which dulled the victim's pain, but also prolonged the suffering. In a bare sketch, Mark notes Jesus was crucified and the soldiers chosen for this extra duty were allowed to divide whatever property the condemned carried with them. Noting the execution began at 9AM, Mark mentions the charge against Jesus, which amounted to treason. It is noteworthy for being so senseless. He also mentions the other two victims, which fulfills the prophecy the Messiah would be counted as a common criminal. We note the tone of this narrative is simply noting this is the way human governments do things. The most significant event in human history, before and after, and it was just a routine matter hardly noted.
The mockery never let up. It seems the people intentionally misunderstood Jesus' teachings. The Sanhedrin were celebrating with similar comments. Even the two robbers beside Him mocked Jesus. The moral darkness was matched by literal darkness. By noon, the sun was hidden completely from this scene. Another three hours, and we are told Jesus was utterly alone, for even His Father in Heaven turned away. In the context, we should realize this was the worst part of the whole thing for Jesus. With such severed dehydration, it was hard to be sure exactly what Jesus was saying in His native Aramaic, so someone offered Him a drink of the cheap wine provided Roman soldiers in their rations. This was what Jesus needed physically to enable what He had to do last. He cried out, but Mark doesn't bother with words which didn't mean anything to his Roman readers. Rather, he notes Jesus simply and forcefully breathed His last, and died. Much more important it was to reveal the Temple veil was torn open from above. The secretive inner sanctuary separating God and Man was opened, and Judaism died, having no longer any purpose.
Oddly, it was a pagan Roman commander who realized dying this way had meaning. The officer realized the man in the middle was divine. How many times had he commanded a detachment to execute criminals in this manner? The lingered on for at least a day, and usually two. This fellow simply commanded his body to die after only six hours. No authority on earth could match that. Of course, members of Jesus' entourage were there, the women. Mark names the ones known to his readers, noting there were several others. The men were in hiding.
The term "evening" should be read like our "late afternoon." Mark notes it was approaching the day of preparation before the Sabbath that week. Jews could do nothing, even burying their dead, on the Sabbath. Joseph of Arimathea, described as one of the few members of the Sanhedrin who actually believed in God and His promises, mustered enough courage to come forth and bury Jesus. Mark describes how Pilate seemed surprised Jesus had succumbed so quickly. However, it is confirmed, so he signs a release and the body is taken down from the cross. Mark notes the Jewish burial practice in passing, of wrapping the dead in long linen strips, rather like we think of mummies in Egypt. The body was placed in an extravagantly expensive tomb, and sealed with a rolling stone. Mark mentions at least two of the women saw the location of this tomb.
We can't really say Mark treats Pilate with any sympathy, so much as he lays the blame squarely on the Jewish leaders. Pilate was simply an intelligent part of the impersonal Roman machinery, doing what government does best. Hardly an ogre, Pilate is simply doing his job. Squeezing from the crucifixion story every last juicy detail is foreign to the biblical point of view. After consistently pointing out Jesus was teaching a spiritual understanding, building a spiritual kingdom, and in every way emphasizing the spiritual nature of true faith in a spiritual God, it becomes a mockery people would ever claim to seek splinters from a "sacred Cross," as if tangible objects could somehow have any inherent power. Jesus' own clothing was dismissed in a sentence, because the garment of true holiness was what mattered. At every point, He criticized the Jewish fascination with tangible objects of their false religion. The death of Our Savior was unjust, brutal and messy, but absolutely necessary. Like anything else, this life and this world, even death itself, is merely a tool used in service to the Kingdom.
Fundies Not Welcome in US Army
Just a short item to mark something well known in the military but usually not published. If chaplains preach and teach a rather fundamentalist view of Christian faith, they will be harassed, and their services shut down. This has been going on for a long time. Liberal chaplains from mainstream liturgical denominations usually get the promotions and the power, and do their best to crush the fundies. While I am actually not of the fundies, I'd be treated like one were I serving, primarily because I typically pray in Jesus' name.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Elitism Is A Sin
No matter how you slice it, elitism is a sin. It operates from the assumption you are special, and need not accept limitations everyone else has. It's all too obviously wrong on a global scale. People deciding how the rest of the world should live, and whether they should live, on a scale impossible to imagine.
Yet we can see it every day in churches across the land. Way back when I was first serving in a church internship, the pastor asked me what I would teach about prayer. I started working from the angle prayer is reaching into the Spirit Realm, getting hold of God and changing things. That's about as far as I got, when he told me I can't teach that to the average church member, because they aren't ready for stuff like that. I was appalled.
Over the next few decades, I was confronted all the time with that elitist attitude. "You can't tell them the whole story." There was always that bright shining line drawn between clergy and laity. When a fundamental teaching of the denomination is the priesthood of the common believer, such a bogus attitude got under my skin. I never did get a real staff position during the time I held ordination as a Southern Baptist. When I played footsie with a few other denominations, I kept running into even harder barriers, and I liked it even less. At least some of them had the excuse it was written in their organizational documents. But elitism is a sin, regardless of the excuse.
The people deserve the whole truth. The only difference between me and someone "in the pew" is a spiritual calling, not a vocation. If they are willing to keep me from having to make tents, great. If not, that's not my problem. I do what God leads me to do, and the funding is His department. Either way, the only difference in spiritual calling is a matter of emphasis. I know I have to teach. If no one wants to listen, I'll confine myself to writing. Again, it's not my problem. Either way, I'm not a cut above the rest, I'm not due some special privilege, I'm not due any unusual respect, and I really don't much care for titles. Just call me "Ed" and let's see what God wants from us today.
You can be sure if someone out there is better at sharing my material than me, they need to be teaching it. If they have better ideas on how to organize it and use it, let them run with it. That's because it's not my truth. Go ahead, steal all my work. I'd be so thrilled just to know other people are seeing what I see, I'd rejoice and pass into obscurity shouting praises. I have nothing -- nothing -- to lose when someone goes me one better on the same material. Whatever you do, don't name this stuff after me. Okay, give me academic credit if your conscience demands it, but just use it, please.
Don't follow me. Walk beside me and let's see if we can make the Kingdom more obvious to someone else.
Yet we can see it every day in churches across the land. Way back when I was first serving in a church internship, the pastor asked me what I would teach about prayer. I started working from the angle prayer is reaching into the Spirit Realm, getting hold of God and changing things. That's about as far as I got, when he told me I can't teach that to the average church member, because they aren't ready for stuff like that. I was appalled.
Over the next few decades, I was confronted all the time with that elitist attitude. "You can't tell them the whole story." There was always that bright shining line drawn between clergy and laity. When a fundamental teaching of the denomination is the priesthood of the common believer, such a bogus attitude got under my skin. I never did get a real staff position during the time I held ordination as a Southern Baptist. When I played footsie with a few other denominations, I kept running into even harder barriers, and I liked it even less. At least some of them had the excuse it was written in their organizational documents. But elitism is a sin, regardless of the excuse.
The people deserve the whole truth. The only difference between me and someone "in the pew" is a spiritual calling, not a vocation. If they are willing to keep me from having to make tents, great. If not, that's not my problem. I do what God leads me to do, and the funding is His department. Either way, the only difference in spiritual calling is a matter of emphasis. I know I have to teach. If no one wants to listen, I'll confine myself to writing. Again, it's not my problem. Either way, I'm not a cut above the rest, I'm not due some special privilege, I'm not due any unusual respect, and I really don't much care for titles. Just call me "Ed" and let's see what God wants from us today.
You can be sure if someone out there is better at sharing my material than me, they need to be teaching it. If they have better ideas on how to organize it and use it, let them run with it. That's because it's not my truth. Go ahead, steal all my work. I'd be so thrilled just to know other people are seeing what I see, I'd rejoice and pass into obscurity shouting praises. I have nothing -- nothing -- to lose when someone goes me one better on the same material. Whatever you do, don't name this stuff after me. Okay, give me academic credit if your conscience demands it, but just use it, please.
Don't follow me. Walk beside me and let's see if we can make the Kingdom more obvious to someone else.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Lest We Forget
Scattered across parts of Texas tonight, hundreds of mothers and children remain separated by illegal custody. If you like having a fascist government take ownership of your children, lie to you about every step of the process, threaten you every minute for daring to love your family, in every way making Auschwitz a fresh reality in this world, then you'll love Texas.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
I'm Torn
First, I need to say I already know what my faith and convictions demand. That does not make it any easier, nor should we expect it.
I reiterate I love my job. I help veterans with poor vision understand how to get the most from their computers using screen reader software. I make it a point to teach them only what they really want to know. That is, I assess what they want to do, then show them the various ways to do it. At least one or another method and set of habits appear. I train them to play to the strength of what they already know. The other half of my job is setting up the equipment for them, to include these big magnifying readers -- a camera mounted above a moving book rest, which casts the image magnified on a large TV screen. The device can change black on white text to any number of other color mixtures based on common sight problems, and can reverse those colors, too. It really is a joy to help these people discover how disabled they aren't.
God has seen fit to grant us some time ago a vehicle which now sports some 235,000 miles. The engine burns and leaks oil, and I cannot find the source of the leak. Further, the valve train is starting to make a lot of noise, especially on longer trips. So I no longer make those distant runs to veterans out in the country, at least not in my old pickup. I've told my manager I can't take those long-distance assignments. That means she has to get them when she has time, usually much later. The people end up waiting a long time for help.
I don't like that. I also don't like the idea of breaking down 100 miles from home. You might think the answer is obvious, but I cannot in clear conscience borrow any amount of money from a commercial lender. God has made that clear in our lives, long ago. I also cannot directly ask anyone to help. I have no trouble explaining the situation to someone who asks, but I'm not going to take up an offering for another vehicle. Again, God has warned me against it.
While a friend of mine has offered to let me use his car for one or two such trips, it's not a real solution. He can't afford to do this very much, even if I buy the gas. Sure, it's his to choose, in that sense. Still, I will get too many of those calls and the wear and tear on his best car is just too much to ask. You see, my manager is a human, too. If she can toss out these assignments with reckless abandon, she will. She's pretty busy. Further, my friend is required by his insurance company to ride along with me, or the car is not covered. He has a life, too.
As I noted above, I already know I can't do what I can't do. God is keeping His plans secret from me, for now. So I've told my manager the truth, and I'm making her take time to think about it. Sorry, Boss. In the back of my mind, I have doubts the government funding for this program will go on forever. I have doubts I'll even be available for this work in the coming months, as the hand of God keeps moving things around in my world -- big things, big moves.
So I do what I can, planning a few days at a time. I'm praying God resolves the impasse His way, in His time. The tension is unpleasant. This is real life in the service of the Kingdom.
I reiterate I love my job. I help veterans with poor vision understand how to get the most from their computers using screen reader software. I make it a point to teach them only what they really want to know. That is, I assess what they want to do, then show them the various ways to do it. At least one or another method and set of habits appear. I train them to play to the strength of what they already know. The other half of my job is setting up the equipment for them, to include these big magnifying readers -- a camera mounted above a moving book rest, which casts the image magnified on a large TV screen. The device can change black on white text to any number of other color mixtures based on common sight problems, and can reverse those colors, too. It really is a joy to help these people discover how disabled they aren't.
God has seen fit to grant us some time ago a vehicle which now sports some 235,000 miles. The engine burns and leaks oil, and I cannot find the source of the leak. Further, the valve train is starting to make a lot of noise, especially on longer trips. So I no longer make those distant runs to veterans out in the country, at least not in my old pickup. I've told my manager I can't take those long-distance assignments. That means she has to get them when she has time, usually much later. The people end up waiting a long time for help.
I don't like that. I also don't like the idea of breaking down 100 miles from home. You might think the answer is obvious, but I cannot in clear conscience borrow any amount of money from a commercial lender. God has made that clear in our lives, long ago. I also cannot directly ask anyone to help. I have no trouble explaining the situation to someone who asks, but I'm not going to take up an offering for another vehicle. Again, God has warned me against it.
While a friend of mine has offered to let me use his car for one or two such trips, it's not a real solution. He can't afford to do this very much, even if I buy the gas. Sure, it's his to choose, in that sense. Still, I will get too many of those calls and the wear and tear on his best car is just too much to ask. You see, my manager is a human, too. If she can toss out these assignments with reckless abandon, she will. She's pretty busy. Further, my friend is required by his insurance company to ride along with me, or the car is not covered. He has a life, too.
As I noted above, I already know I can't do what I can't do. God is keeping His plans secret from me, for now. So I've told my manager the truth, and I'm making her take time to think about it. Sorry, Boss. In the back of my mind, I have doubts the government funding for this program will go on forever. I have doubts I'll even be available for this work in the coming months, as the hand of God keeps moving things around in my world -- big things, big moves.
So I do what I can, planning a few days at a time. I'm praying God resolves the impasse His way, in His time. The tension is unpleasant. This is real life in the service of the Kingdom.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Isaiah: Introduction
Likely born in the royal family, Isaiah represents the epitome of Hebrew writing during the Monarchy and Divided Kingdom Periods. He appears first as Court Secretary of King Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26:22). While we cannot ascertain when his service began, we know Uzziah died in 740 BC. Afterwards, Isaiah may have performed other services in the royal court, but was known as the chief prophet to the Court. Tradition says he was executed by Mannaseh, yet it would seem that king would not have taken that step until his co-regency with his father Hezekiah ended at the latter's death in 687 BC. Thus, at a minimum, we can see his ministry lasting 53 years, and probably closer to 60.
His service put him in a unique place among the prophets, for he could not avoid knowing the business of kings and nations. His ministry followed the Southern Kingdom from near its highest point under Uzziah, down through deep troubles under Ahaz. Suffering tremendous losses from external forces -- chiefly Assyria -- we might say Jerusalem was about all she controlled at one point. He watched Assyria destroy Samaria and carry the Northern Kingdom away to exile in 722 BC. Eventually, Hezekiah regains much of what was lost, but handed it to his notorious son, whose awful sins brought down on the nation the final destruction by Babylon.
Indeed, Babylon sent emissaries to Jerusalem during Isaiah's service, and he prophesied they would destroy the kingdom. The nature of his prophetic ministry was to relay to the nation God's accusations of unfaithfulness. The first five chapters take the literary form of a charge read in a court of law. Woven through the next 34 chapters is the prophecies and events Isaiah saw himself. The last 27 chapters are a grand prophecy of things to come, in particular Messianic prophecies, but includes images of what would be during the Babylonian Captivity. His grasp of culture, history and Hebrew language remains the best example of high literary achievement for that part of Hebrew History. The impact of his work is seen in numerous quotations, particularly in the New Testament. All the more so do we see Christ referring to Isaiah often.
As the quintessential expression of Hebrew thought and writing, we find Isaiah pays little attention to chronicity unless it becomes the major point of what must be said. We do well to allow Isaiah to show us what it means to think Hebrew, to absorb it simply, rather than attempt to use any Western analytical skills to abstract principles. Isaiah himself would probably denounce any such analysis, as we shall see.
His service put him in a unique place among the prophets, for he could not avoid knowing the business of kings and nations. His ministry followed the Southern Kingdom from near its highest point under Uzziah, down through deep troubles under Ahaz. Suffering tremendous losses from external forces -- chiefly Assyria -- we might say Jerusalem was about all she controlled at one point. He watched Assyria destroy Samaria and carry the Northern Kingdom away to exile in 722 BC. Eventually, Hezekiah regains much of what was lost, but handed it to his notorious son, whose awful sins brought down on the nation the final destruction by Babylon.
Indeed, Babylon sent emissaries to Jerusalem during Isaiah's service, and he prophesied they would destroy the kingdom. The nature of his prophetic ministry was to relay to the nation God's accusations of unfaithfulness. The first five chapters take the literary form of a charge read in a court of law. Woven through the next 34 chapters is the prophecies and events Isaiah saw himself. The last 27 chapters are a grand prophecy of things to come, in particular Messianic prophecies, but includes images of what would be during the Babylonian Captivity. His grasp of culture, history and Hebrew language remains the best example of high literary achievement for that part of Hebrew History. The impact of his work is seen in numerous quotations, particularly in the New Testament. All the more so do we see Christ referring to Isaiah often.
As the quintessential expression of Hebrew thought and writing, we find Isaiah pays little attention to chronicity unless it becomes the major point of what must be said. We do well to allow Isaiah to show us what it means to think Hebrew, to absorb it simply, rather than attempt to use any Western analytical skills to abstract principles. Isaiah himself would probably denounce any such analysis, as we shall see.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Next Up: The Prophecy of Isaiah
Hopefully tomorrow's post will begin our next study in the Book of Isaiah. I've already done some of the background work helping a friend prepare studies in Isaiah for a class he teaches at his church.
Naturally, readers should expect me to continue my trademark style of attempting to read through Hebraic eyes. Naturally, this puts me at variance with more popular analyses in some passages.
Naturally, readers should expect me to continue my trademark style of attempting to read through Hebraic eyes. Naturally, this puts me at variance with more popular analyses in some passages.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Kids Are People, Too
I never forgot what it felt like, when I realized as a child someone I trusted had lied to me. It's a cultural bias we have, arising mostly from the Victorian Era, that children must be protected from reality until they are old enough to face it. Problem is, that "protection" has inevitably meant lying to them, covering up the truth with a substitute sugar-coated false reality.
I never told my kids there was a Santa Clause, nor Easter Bunny, nor any of the other cultural legends we somehow think are precious. Every one of them counters the truth of Jesus Christ; every one of them represents a challenge to the Bible narrative regarding some particular seasonal celebration. It is a sick world which hides its own sin with make believe and fantasy. Those holiday legends and figures were all created by sinners and pagans, many of whom openly resisted the gospel message.
While I tolerate festive decorations, even ones rooted in paganism, because they no longer hold such meaning, I take issue with the lies. Tell the legends as legends, not as truth. Let the children know they live in a world full of idiots who want to use and abuse them to make an extra buck. Inform them fully within the limits of their intellectual grasp, but don't ever feed them lies to pacify them. The real world, even in its fallen state, retains yet enough wonder and joy without making up extra crap to confuse them.
At the same time, we do them no service when we stick them in horrific prison-like warehouses with almost no other influence in their lives aside from more kids the same age. That is not the real world. At no other time in their lives will they face an atmosphere where they find only their own peers. The real world is richly populated with all ages. Kids today find some insane virtue in restricting their daily interactions with only their age mates. They may not be rude to older people, but they will simply have no equipment for dealing with them.
Take children seriously. It's amazing how they'll blossom in the light of an adult discussing things frankly with them. If you say something they don't understand, they'll tell you. Otherwise, offer them adult conversation -- speak to them as if they were any other person. Condescension, regardless how disguised, is still a sin. No, they aren't little adults, but they'll usually know when something is beyond their reach. Do we not make a virtue of letting adults decide for themselves when something is not right for them? Give children the same respect. Yes, there are moments when we must force them to take the challenge, but so we do with adults. In the Spirit of God, it's pretty simple to decide which is which.
It amazes me how we protect youngsters from things they should face, and make them face things they don't understand. What a truly corrupt and hateful culture we live in today.
I never told my kids there was a Santa Clause, nor Easter Bunny, nor any of the other cultural legends we somehow think are precious. Every one of them counters the truth of Jesus Christ; every one of them represents a challenge to the Bible narrative regarding some particular seasonal celebration. It is a sick world which hides its own sin with make believe and fantasy. Those holiday legends and figures were all created by sinners and pagans, many of whom openly resisted the gospel message.
While I tolerate festive decorations, even ones rooted in paganism, because they no longer hold such meaning, I take issue with the lies. Tell the legends as legends, not as truth. Let the children know they live in a world full of idiots who want to use and abuse them to make an extra buck. Inform them fully within the limits of their intellectual grasp, but don't ever feed them lies to pacify them. The real world, even in its fallen state, retains yet enough wonder and joy without making up extra crap to confuse them.
At the same time, we do them no service when we stick them in horrific prison-like warehouses with almost no other influence in their lives aside from more kids the same age. That is not the real world. At no other time in their lives will they face an atmosphere where they find only their own peers. The real world is richly populated with all ages. Kids today find some insane virtue in restricting their daily interactions with only their age mates. They may not be rude to older people, but they will simply have no equipment for dealing with them.
Take children seriously. It's amazing how they'll blossom in the light of an adult discussing things frankly with them. If you say something they don't understand, they'll tell you. Otherwise, offer them adult conversation -- speak to them as if they were any other person. Condescension, regardless how disguised, is still a sin. No, they aren't little adults, but they'll usually know when something is beyond their reach. Do we not make a virtue of letting adults decide for themselves when something is not right for them? Give children the same respect. Yes, there are moments when we must force them to take the challenge, but so we do with adults. In the Spirit of God, it's pretty simple to decide which is which.
It amazes me how we protect youngsters from things they should face, and make them face things they don't understand. What a truly corrupt and hateful culture we live in today.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Life of Christ: Mark 14
While there were surely Jewish Christians in Mark's audience for this Gospel, he emphasized the elements of the narrative which Romans would understand. As the life of Jesus climaxes, we see the themes of spiritual blindness, treachery and injustice contrasted with a single example of someone with spiritual insight, bravery not of faith but flesh, and Jesus' complete composure during the whole mess.
The initial plan of the conspiring Sanhedrin was to manufacture an excuse to arrest Jesus after the Passover. Without a strong accusation, or barring Jesus implicating Himself publicly, it would be very difficult to arrest Him at what should have been His greatest exposure, on the Temple grounds ruled by the Sanhedrin. They knew their case was weak, and it was important to wait for the holiday traffic to leave the city. The jaded residents of Jerusalem were far less likely to react to something so purely political.
Meanwhile, mentioning figures surely known to his Roman readers, Mark tells of the one person -- a woman -- who understand what Jesus had said about His impending death. While dining in some supporter's home, this unnamed woman comes to Jesus with a delicate jar. It was long, tapered to a thin neck with a seal stronger than the material of the jar. It was meant to be an extravagance, because the only way to open it was to break it. Normally this meant snapping its thin neck. The entire contents were poured on Jesus' head, a very expensive perfume. The whole thing typically represented a year's wages for the average peasant. When His disciples complained of the waste, that it was better to have given that amount to the poor, Jesus shut them up by pointing out she, at least, paid attention to His warnings about dying very soon. To the last moment, the Twelve never seemed to understand or believe this warning.
Mark seems to connect Jesus' rebuke with the timing of Judas deciding this was over. Using the nickname which marked him as the complete political radical, a member of the assassins who chose Romans and their collaborators as targets, Mark tells us Judas went to the Sanhedrin to arrange a quiet and easy arrest of Jesus. If they would keep an arresting party on hand, he would come to them the first moment Jesus could be taken into custody without a crowd watching. This, in exchange for a mere pittance.
Mark then explains the origin of the Christian Communion celebration. It was based on Jewish Passover, of which most Romans had some vague ideas about sacrificial sheep. It was to be a private celebration of Jesus and His disciples. Obviously, Jesus had prearranged this, and told His men to look for, of all things, a man carrying a water jug, typically a task only for women. The pair found things as He told them, and set about obtaining and cooking the meal. They gathered that evening, which most people knew the whole Near East regarded as the beginning of the next day. During this ritual celebration, Jesus identified two elements as marking a new covenant, symbolic of His life and teaching, and His coming sacrifice. It's unlikely anyone in Mark's audience would have missed Jesus associating His sacrifice with that of the Passover lambs. He told them bluntly this was the last wine He would taste until the Kingdom was brought literally to the earth, meaning He was about to leave earth.
He had warned them earlier there was a traitor in their group, one of those who had been with Him from the start. It seemed impossible. Apparently the immediacy of all this was lost on them. They sang a hymn and left. He warned them as they walked in the evening between houses of solemn celebration that the Scripture prophesied they would desert Him that very night. However, all would be well, and He would rise and wait for them in Galilee, where they had spent so much time together. They all insisted this was not so. Were they not about to take over the city and revive David's monarchy? Peter the more so, as he had prepared himself for duty as Jesus' bodyguard, carrying an illegal weapon. Jesus asserted Peter would disavow Him completely, three times, before dawn. Peter insisted he was ready to die with Jesus.
The cool night air and hike would have kept them awake. Once they settled into the warmer valley garden, with the heavy meal and wine settling in their stomachs, only some trauma could keep them awake at that hour. Apparently Jesus was the only one aware of the awful doom approaching. He left the nine and took His closest trio with Him farther into the garden. His instructions were they should pray as He was praying, that they might rise to a more spiritual level, because human flesh was untrustworthy in the difficulty to come. Three times Jesus went off privately, falling face down on the ground, praying He not have to be executed, yet willing to face it if there was no other way. Each time, He returned to find them sleeping. They just did not sense the spiritual turmoil, but existed entirely in the flesh. All His teaching about His death as the Passover Lamb had passed over their heads. They didn't even have sense enough to be excited about what they thought was coming next: victory over the Jewish leadership.
Instead, Jesus announced His traitor had arrived. Keeping his bargain with the Sanhedrin, Judas led a large and heavily armed arrest party to Jesus. Greeting his rabbi in the typical expressive Eastern fashion, Judas identified Jesus in the darkness. As the mixed group of Temple Guards and Roman soldiers took Him into custody, Jesus loudly noted how silly it was they cowardly arrested Him this way at night, when it would have been pretty easy to do so during His daily teaching sessions right in front of them on the Temple grounds. He never once threatened them, and the elderly priests could have taken Him themselves. Jesus knew it was to fulfill the Scriptures implicating His nation as deep in sin to the very end. The token resistance of Peter amounted to nothing, and the Twelve ran away.
Mark betrays his presence at the event by a brief mention of something about a young man following Jesus and His disciples that night. We envision a young fellow, possibly a member of the family which hosted their Passover celebration that night, who slipped out of the house behind them. Having heard some of the talk that night, it was obvious something exciting was ahead, and perhaps he could catch some of it. When the arrest party began marching Jesus back toward the city, this young man was following a little too closely, and was nearly taken himself by zealous members of the Sanhedrin's group. This young man escaped, as the Greeks say it, in his gymnasium suit -- not necessarily nude, but embarrassingly close to it, at least.
Without bogging down in the details of the Jewish justice system, Mark makes it plain to anyone this whole thing was unjust from the start. The trial was at night to avoid public participation or observation, the Sanhedrin couldn't even buy consistent testimony against Jesus, and the best they could do was some wild story about threatening to destroy the Temple building. In exasperation, the Chief Judge demanded the accused condemn Himself. Jesus willingly complied, frankly stating He was the Messiah. Further, He warned they would someday see Him in His full power judging them. This gave them at least a charge of blasphemy, for which their laws required a death penalty. Then the Jews themselves -- since Romans weren't allowed inside the High Priest's courtyard -- began abusing Him. Every detail was a complete failure of justice by any civilized standard.
Perhaps he hoped yet to redeem himself in some way, for Peter had followed somewhat behind all this, entering the High Priest's courtyard and hanging out with the milling crowd of guards and servants. Three different times he was identified as one of the Twelve, and each time Peter denied it. Nothing here should be taken as Peter using foul language, but as calling curses upon himself as an oath to back his denial. This was typical of Eastern men arguing with someone else. In the end, Peter was already standing in the ornate gateway, trying to avoid any further discussion of his identity, and was hit with it one last time. Obviously this was fear rising in the place of dying bravado of the flesh. When Peter realized the rooster had crowed twice, and he had denied Jesus three times, both as he was warned, his living death was complete. Whatever Peter had been before, there was nothing left but tears.
The Roman audience would have felt a mixture of contempt and pity for Peter. This was Jesus at His hour of greatest need, the last chance when even a futile gesture might be made. The Messianic dreams of kicking out the oppressive Jewish rulers, perhaps the Romans too, and reviving the purity and glory of ancient Israel, all gone. Peter could not so much as acknowledge Jesus was His best friend, much less his Master. Nor could Peter witness to these servants what great things Jesus had done for him, nor all the mighty miracles he had seen, or done himself. Failure of the flesh could not have been more complete. The ultimate failure of virtue, justice and truth were still ahead.
The initial plan of the conspiring Sanhedrin was to manufacture an excuse to arrest Jesus after the Passover. Without a strong accusation, or barring Jesus implicating Himself publicly, it would be very difficult to arrest Him at what should have been His greatest exposure, on the Temple grounds ruled by the Sanhedrin. They knew their case was weak, and it was important to wait for the holiday traffic to leave the city. The jaded residents of Jerusalem were far less likely to react to something so purely political.
Meanwhile, mentioning figures surely known to his Roman readers, Mark tells of the one person -- a woman -- who understand what Jesus had said about His impending death. While dining in some supporter's home, this unnamed woman comes to Jesus with a delicate jar. It was long, tapered to a thin neck with a seal stronger than the material of the jar. It was meant to be an extravagance, because the only way to open it was to break it. Normally this meant snapping its thin neck. The entire contents were poured on Jesus' head, a very expensive perfume. The whole thing typically represented a year's wages for the average peasant. When His disciples complained of the waste, that it was better to have given that amount to the poor, Jesus shut them up by pointing out she, at least, paid attention to His warnings about dying very soon. To the last moment, the Twelve never seemed to understand or believe this warning.
Mark seems to connect Jesus' rebuke with the timing of Judas deciding this was over. Using the nickname which marked him as the complete political radical, a member of the assassins who chose Romans and their collaborators as targets, Mark tells us Judas went to the Sanhedrin to arrange a quiet and easy arrest of Jesus. If they would keep an arresting party on hand, he would come to them the first moment Jesus could be taken into custody without a crowd watching. This, in exchange for a mere pittance.
Mark then explains the origin of the Christian Communion celebration. It was based on Jewish Passover, of which most Romans had some vague ideas about sacrificial sheep. It was to be a private celebration of Jesus and His disciples. Obviously, Jesus had prearranged this, and told His men to look for, of all things, a man carrying a water jug, typically a task only for women. The pair found things as He told them, and set about obtaining and cooking the meal. They gathered that evening, which most people knew the whole Near East regarded as the beginning of the next day. During this ritual celebration, Jesus identified two elements as marking a new covenant, symbolic of His life and teaching, and His coming sacrifice. It's unlikely anyone in Mark's audience would have missed Jesus associating His sacrifice with that of the Passover lambs. He told them bluntly this was the last wine He would taste until the Kingdom was brought literally to the earth, meaning He was about to leave earth.
He had warned them earlier there was a traitor in their group, one of those who had been with Him from the start. It seemed impossible. Apparently the immediacy of all this was lost on them. They sang a hymn and left. He warned them as they walked in the evening between houses of solemn celebration that the Scripture prophesied they would desert Him that very night. However, all would be well, and He would rise and wait for them in Galilee, where they had spent so much time together. They all insisted this was not so. Were they not about to take over the city and revive David's monarchy? Peter the more so, as he had prepared himself for duty as Jesus' bodyguard, carrying an illegal weapon. Jesus asserted Peter would disavow Him completely, three times, before dawn. Peter insisted he was ready to die with Jesus.
The cool night air and hike would have kept them awake. Once they settled into the warmer valley garden, with the heavy meal and wine settling in their stomachs, only some trauma could keep them awake at that hour. Apparently Jesus was the only one aware of the awful doom approaching. He left the nine and took His closest trio with Him farther into the garden. His instructions were they should pray as He was praying, that they might rise to a more spiritual level, because human flesh was untrustworthy in the difficulty to come. Three times Jesus went off privately, falling face down on the ground, praying He not have to be executed, yet willing to face it if there was no other way. Each time, He returned to find them sleeping. They just did not sense the spiritual turmoil, but existed entirely in the flesh. All His teaching about His death as the Passover Lamb had passed over their heads. They didn't even have sense enough to be excited about what they thought was coming next: victory over the Jewish leadership.
Instead, Jesus announced His traitor had arrived. Keeping his bargain with the Sanhedrin, Judas led a large and heavily armed arrest party to Jesus. Greeting his rabbi in the typical expressive Eastern fashion, Judas identified Jesus in the darkness. As the mixed group of Temple Guards and Roman soldiers took Him into custody, Jesus loudly noted how silly it was they cowardly arrested Him this way at night, when it would have been pretty easy to do so during His daily teaching sessions right in front of them on the Temple grounds. He never once threatened them, and the elderly priests could have taken Him themselves. Jesus knew it was to fulfill the Scriptures implicating His nation as deep in sin to the very end. The token resistance of Peter amounted to nothing, and the Twelve ran away.
Mark betrays his presence at the event by a brief mention of something about a young man following Jesus and His disciples that night. We envision a young fellow, possibly a member of the family which hosted their Passover celebration that night, who slipped out of the house behind them. Having heard some of the talk that night, it was obvious something exciting was ahead, and perhaps he could catch some of it. When the arrest party began marching Jesus back toward the city, this young man was following a little too closely, and was nearly taken himself by zealous members of the Sanhedrin's group. This young man escaped, as the Greeks say it, in his gymnasium suit -- not necessarily nude, but embarrassingly close to it, at least.
Without bogging down in the details of the Jewish justice system, Mark makes it plain to anyone this whole thing was unjust from the start. The trial was at night to avoid public participation or observation, the Sanhedrin couldn't even buy consistent testimony against Jesus, and the best they could do was some wild story about threatening to destroy the Temple building. In exasperation, the Chief Judge demanded the accused condemn Himself. Jesus willingly complied, frankly stating He was the Messiah. Further, He warned they would someday see Him in His full power judging them. This gave them at least a charge of blasphemy, for which their laws required a death penalty. Then the Jews themselves -- since Romans weren't allowed inside the High Priest's courtyard -- began abusing Him. Every detail was a complete failure of justice by any civilized standard.
Perhaps he hoped yet to redeem himself in some way, for Peter had followed somewhat behind all this, entering the High Priest's courtyard and hanging out with the milling crowd of guards and servants. Three different times he was identified as one of the Twelve, and each time Peter denied it. Nothing here should be taken as Peter using foul language, but as calling curses upon himself as an oath to back his denial. This was typical of Eastern men arguing with someone else. In the end, Peter was already standing in the ornate gateway, trying to avoid any further discussion of his identity, and was hit with it one last time. Obviously this was fear rising in the place of dying bravado of the flesh. When Peter realized the rooster had crowed twice, and he had denied Jesus three times, both as he was warned, his living death was complete. Whatever Peter had been before, there was nothing left but tears.
The Roman audience would have felt a mixture of contempt and pity for Peter. This was Jesus at His hour of greatest need, the last chance when even a futile gesture might be made. The Messianic dreams of kicking out the oppressive Jewish rulers, perhaps the Romans too, and reviving the purity and glory of ancient Israel, all gone. Peter could not so much as acknowledge Jesus was His best friend, much less his Master. Nor could Peter witness to these servants what great things Jesus had done for him, nor all the mighty miracles he had seen, or done himself. Failure of the flesh could not have been more complete. The ultimate failure of virtue, justice and truth were still ahead.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Ride, Eat and Sleep
We received our so-called "economic stimulus check" today. Actually, it was directly deposited because the government these days won't do business any other way. At any rate, we purchased some things we really had use for: a new mattress and box-springs, a new heavy duty food mixer and a mountain bike.
The new bed should be obvious. We haven't had a good one in years, so we went to Sam's Club and got the medium grade stuff to fit our bed frame. Nothing replaces good sleep.
The heavy duty mixer was my wife's wish. Most of the ones we've seen were $250+. We stumbled across one on close-out for $175 and grabbed it off the shelf. My wife has been wanting one for a very long time. She already has been making bread and such, and this will make it easier.
The mountain bike is to keep me in shape. It's not so obvious, given I had a cross-fit bike for the past four years. However, no bike shop will stock proper parts, and the thing has slowly morphed into a road bike. I don't like road bikes. I'm too much of a kid, and like to ride in rough terrain. So I got a better grade of cheap kid's mountain bike from Schwinn. Naturally, Wal-Mart knows nothing about bicycle setup, so I had to readjust everything on it. I expected that. It seems to work well enough to suit my needs, so the old one will go into storage until I can find someone who wants it. I note my knees and bad hip have been giving more trouble lately, and riding is the one thing which doesn't hurt.
What did you do with yours?
The new bed should be obvious. We haven't had a good one in years, so we went to Sam's Club and got the medium grade stuff to fit our bed frame. Nothing replaces good sleep.
The heavy duty mixer was my wife's wish. Most of the ones we've seen were $250+. We stumbled across one on close-out for $175 and grabbed it off the shelf. My wife has been wanting one for a very long time. She already has been making bread and such, and this will make it easier.
The mountain bike is to keep me in shape. It's not so obvious, given I had a cross-fit bike for the past four years. However, no bike shop will stock proper parts, and the thing has slowly morphed into a road bike. I don't like road bikes. I'm too much of a kid, and like to ride in rough terrain. So I got a better grade of cheap kid's mountain bike from Schwinn. Naturally, Wal-Mart knows nothing about bicycle setup, so I had to readjust everything on it. I expected that. It seems to work well enough to suit my needs, so the old one will go into storage until I can find someone who wants it. I note my knees and bad hip have been giving more trouble lately, and riding is the one thing which doesn't hurt.
What did you do with yours?
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Being Matters Not
A particular Western sin is the hubris of imagining the human mind can discern the nature of a thing. I found myself quite amused by discussions of Plato and lectures which exemplified his writings by talking about "chair-ness" or what makes a chair fit for the label "chair." In the biblical mind, a chair is what a chair does. For the moment upon which I rest my derriere upon any object, that thing is a chair. It matters little what it was before or after.
When we discuss individuals and groups, it is a biblical mandate we pay attention to what they do. We know, for example, ancient Israel kept disobeying God as a whole, by refusing to act according to role He assigned them. Eventually, they were given one final revelation of His will in the Messiah. They rejected that revelation, thus rejecting their God one last time. Their Temple was destroyed along with their ancient capitol. The nation was driven out of their land, and God stopped dealing with them as a people. They virtually disappeared from history.
Today, we have a large number of people who claim the legacy of what Israel once was. However, the majority of them are not the least little bit actually Hebrew. Further, it's not hard to prove what little religion and culture any of them hold as the legacy of Moses is totally false. It is a Westernized caricature of Moses, utterly lacking in Hebraic cultural grounding. Calling them "Jews" is almost a joke, and a bad one at that. However, they do have a lot in common with the folks Jesus debated during His lifetime, which people are typically called "Jews" in English translations. Still, what matters is not who or what they are, but what they do.
Today there is a land called Israel whose citizens aren't generally aware of what their government is doing. Not so much that it's secret, but they just don't pay attention, any more than our citizens here do to the ruling regime. The official government there isn't exactly the same as the people actually calling the shots, any more than ours is, but there is an overlap. The actual ruling elite there have a large number of people very actively serving their interests. Many of those servants serve in our government, and the ruling elite here are in many ways the same people ruling there. Calling them "Jews" won't serve any useful purpose, though terms like "Zionist" and "neo-cons" seem to accurately reflect something about their behavior.
These folks have long controlled what comes out of Hollywood and what appears in printed newspapers of note, along with just about all TV and radio news. That's not a conspiracy theory, but a fact. It's most notable in what is not reported, events which most people would consider altogether newsworthy. However, because of the Internet and it's root nature as a voluntary network of computers, we have sources of news which will report things buried by the mainstream press.
Of late, these neo-cons have taken measure to gain control of the Internet. Not total control, but just enough to prevent news they don't like getting attention. Note, they won't even try to censor everyone they don't like, just those who get much attention. Thus, while my readership remains small enough to fly under their radar, I have gotten away with talking about them. I'm doing it now, and I'm not being nice to them.
How do they propose to do this? It involves multiple measures in depth. I'm hardly expert enough to detect all of it. What I have seen is this: Certain software and hardware companies based in Israel have gained a monopoly market on phone switching computers used in the US. These companies sell our government all the software used to conduct surveillance and phone tapping, along with all the software used to encrypt government traffic. They own several computer security software companies offering products used in both US government and a huge portion of privately owned machines. Ever heard of "ZoneAlarm" security software? Further, they have assembled teams of lawyers and various pressure groups, along with very insistent Internet activists to hammer the big companies they don't own, or companies over which their influence is less than complete.
For example, Google has this recurring tendency to stop indexing certain sites. No, Google does not own the Internet, but they do exert a level of influence which compares favorably with the dominance of Microsoft and their dominance of the computer OS market. It's a matter of degree -- if these pressure groups can convince Google to stop indexing these targeted sites, then most humans on the earth, who might be persuaded to give attention to a viewpoint not favorable to the modern state of Israel, are unlikely to read such viewpoints. The average Joe and Jane aren't going to read how Israel behaves from any viewpoint but Israel's.
Now, I'm just a complete nobody. I don't take myself that seriously. If you were to write bad stuff about me, chances are I won't even know. If I do know, you can bet I am unlikely to care much. Anything I might hope to gain by shutting you up will be lost in doing so. I would completely lose my ability to write what I really believe is important for folks to read, because I'd be too busy fighting others. They aren't my problem. God is my witness, and it won't matter much what folks think if He doesn't shape their minds to accept what I write. If He fails to support my writing, it's because I'm not writing what He wants. Pretty simple, no?
Just what are these elite folks so afraid of?
When we discuss individuals and groups, it is a biblical mandate we pay attention to what they do. We know, for example, ancient Israel kept disobeying God as a whole, by refusing to act according to role He assigned them. Eventually, they were given one final revelation of His will in the Messiah. They rejected that revelation, thus rejecting their God one last time. Their Temple was destroyed along with their ancient capitol. The nation was driven out of their land, and God stopped dealing with them as a people. They virtually disappeared from history.
Today, we have a large number of people who claim the legacy of what Israel once was. However, the majority of them are not the least little bit actually Hebrew. Further, it's not hard to prove what little religion and culture any of them hold as the legacy of Moses is totally false. It is a Westernized caricature of Moses, utterly lacking in Hebraic cultural grounding. Calling them "Jews" is almost a joke, and a bad one at that. However, they do have a lot in common with the folks Jesus debated during His lifetime, which people are typically called "Jews" in English translations. Still, what matters is not who or what they are, but what they do.
Today there is a land called Israel whose citizens aren't generally aware of what their government is doing. Not so much that it's secret, but they just don't pay attention, any more than our citizens here do to the ruling regime. The official government there isn't exactly the same as the people actually calling the shots, any more than ours is, but there is an overlap. The actual ruling elite there have a large number of people very actively serving their interests. Many of those servants serve in our government, and the ruling elite here are in many ways the same people ruling there. Calling them "Jews" won't serve any useful purpose, though terms like "Zionist" and "neo-cons" seem to accurately reflect something about their behavior.
These folks have long controlled what comes out of Hollywood and what appears in printed newspapers of note, along with just about all TV and radio news. That's not a conspiracy theory, but a fact. It's most notable in what is not reported, events which most people would consider altogether newsworthy. However, because of the Internet and it's root nature as a voluntary network of computers, we have sources of news which will report things buried by the mainstream press.
Of late, these neo-cons have taken measure to gain control of the Internet. Not total control, but just enough to prevent news they don't like getting attention. Note, they won't even try to censor everyone they don't like, just those who get much attention. Thus, while my readership remains small enough to fly under their radar, I have gotten away with talking about them. I'm doing it now, and I'm not being nice to them.
How do they propose to do this? It involves multiple measures in depth. I'm hardly expert enough to detect all of it. What I have seen is this: Certain software and hardware companies based in Israel have gained a monopoly market on phone switching computers used in the US. These companies sell our government all the software used to conduct surveillance and phone tapping, along with all the software used to encrypt government traffic. They own several computer security software companies offering products used in both US government and a huge portion of privately owned machines. Ever heard of "ZoneAlarm" security software? Further, they have assembled teams of lawyers and various pressure groups, along with very insistent Internet activists to hammer the big companies they don't own, or companies over which their influence is less than complete.
For example, Google has this recurring tendency to stop indexing certain sites. No, Google does not own the Internet, but they do exert a level of influence which compares favorably with the dominance of Microsoft and their dominance of the computer OS market. It's a matter of degree -- if these pressure groups can convince Google to stop indexing these targeted sites, then most humans on the earth, who might be persuaded to give attention to a viewpoint not favorable to the modern state of Israel, are unlikely to read such viewpoints. The average Joe and Jane aren't going to read how Israel behaves from any viewpoint but Israel's.
Now, I'm just a complete nobody. I don't take myself that seriously. If you were to write bad stuff about me, chances are I won't even know. If I do know, you can bet I am unlikely to care much. Anything I might hope to gain by shutting you up will be lost in doing so. I would completely lose my ability to write what I really believe is important for folks to read, because I'd be too busy fighting others. They aren't my problem. God is my witness, and it won't matter much what folks think if He doesn't shape their minds to accept what I write. If He fails to support my writing, it's because I'm not writing what He wants. Pretty simple, no?
Just what are these elite folks so afraid of?
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Tribulation Report #012: No Whining
Though we note it's celebration time in Hell, this is hardly a problem for believers. That is, it's nothing new. We realize times of tribulation come and go. You will note the emphasis on letters to the persecuted (Revelation, Hebrews, etc.) always offer: "Never fear what mere men can do."
In the School of Holy Cynicism, our motto remains: Mankind is fallen. Sinners will sin. The implication is we should hardly be surprised when people do stupid, mean, evil deeds. Thus, we are hardly surprised when the demons of Hell are in party mode. There is always plenty of food and drink. It's just we note at this moment in history, the supply is especially abundant.
That's because sins usually hidden from sight will become plain as day. There is a certain boldness in our leaders to throw off the restraints of civility and reason, and plunge ahead without the slightest embarrassment into criminal acts. The nation refuses to consider rising up against it, but consciously prefers to repeat known lies to excuse going along with it today only. But it's always "today" and tomorrow never comes, so they never act. These, too, fail the Covenant of Noah, for by allowing a criminal government to act, they do not uphold God's requirement for maintaining civilization.
As servants of Christ, we have limited options. We can flee oppression, but we are generally not allowed to resist simply for our own sakes. It's a very murky mess to decide at what point we must stand up for the defenseless, and what in particular we may do on their behalf. In the case of our own family, it's pretty obvious: We are forbidden ever cooperating with the removal of God's gift of children by the pagan state. Render not your children to Caesar, for they are not his. What measures you take in that are between you and God.
For the most part, we face the loss of property and comfort cheerfully. If further suffering is a direct result of our commitment to Christ, we celebrate that, as well. General suffering along with most other innocent victims is simply a matter of showing God's power over circumstances. Indeed, in the Kingdom of God, death is just a circumstance. Nothing has really changed.
These are all good words coming from a fellow who hasn't really suffered all that much for Christ. I've had conflicts with the state, surely, but they have been mostly a matter of time and place. That I dared to suggest to the state she was being needlessly difficult only brought more trouble. Still, it hasn't been that bad, and can't be tied directly to my faith, except to the degree official statements have ridiculed my faith. That's pretty easy to bear, given I find the source of such ridicule contemptible in the first place.
No one can guarantee they'll stand fearless and faithful to the end. Our ruling regime has in recent history shown a powerful facility for torture with no particular purpose other than sheer meanness, so any of us could face that. The promise of Our Savior is we can know how to face such things in the hour they come, but only if we are of a mind to ask Him about it.
In the School of Holy Cynicism, our motto remains: Mankind is fallen. Sinners will sin. The implication is we should hardly be surprised when people do stupid, mean, evil deeds. Thus, we are hardly surprised when the demons of Hell are in party mode. There is always plenty of food and drink. It's just we note at this moment in history, the supply is especially abundant.
That's because sins usually hidden from sight will become plain as day. There is a certain boldness in our leaders to throw off the restraints of civility and reason, and plunge ahead without the slightest embarrassment into criminal acts. The nation refuses to consider rising up against it, but consciously prefers to repeat known lies to excuse going along with it today only. But it's always "today" and tomorrow never comes, so they never act. These, too, fail the Covenant of Noah, for by allowing a criminal government to act, they do not uphold God's requirement for maintaining civilization.
As servants of Christ, we have limited options. We can flee oppression, but we are generally not allowed to resist simply for our own sakes. It's a very murky mess to decide at what point we must stand up for the defenseless, and what in particular we may do on their behalf. In the case of our own family, it's pretty obvious: We are forbidden ever cooperating with the removal of God's gift of children by the pagan state. Render not your children to Caesar, for they are not his. What measures you take in that are between you and God.
For the most part, we face the loss of property and comfort cheerfully. If further suffering is a direct result of our commitment to Christ, we celebrate that, as well. General suffering along with most other innocent victims is simply a matter of showing God's power over circumstances. Indeed, in the Kingdom of God, death is just a circumstance. Nothing has really changed.
These are all good words coming from a fellow who hasn't really suffered all that much for Christ. I've had conflicts with the state, surely, but they have been mostly a matter of time and place. That I dared to suggest to the state she was being needlessly difficult only brought more trouble. Still, it hasn't been that bad, and can't be tied directly to my faith, except to the degree official statements have ridiculed my faith. That's pretty easy to bear, given I find the source of such ridicule contemptible in the first place.
No one can guarantee they'll stand fearless and faithful to the end. Our ruling regime has in recent history shown a powerful facility for torture with no particular purpose other than sheer meanness, so any of us could face that. The promise of Our Savior is we can know how to face such things in the hour they come, but only if we are of a mind to ask Him about it.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Somewhere in the Dark
It's probably something very small, almost routine. Somewhere in a dreary government office a piece of paper moves from one pile to another. Quite routine, you know. However, that office feeds into hundreds of others, each processing that little piece of paper in their own way. Or maybe it's just a phone call, or an email. Somewhere, some decision has crossed the line, and it will snowball.
If some years from now, should we be permitted to look back and trace all the threads, we may never really know what was the pivotal moment. Yet, that moment has passed. Deep in the heart of Sin's darkest corners in our government, something has moved. That something will bring an apocalyptic scale of terror to this land, to match what we've done to other lands. Except here, it will be our own government.
The unseen line has been crossed. The demons have been loosed. Can you not sense it in your spirit? They cannot be called back. Satan is smiling today.
Weep, Christian. The world you have known will pass away quickly. The Day of Tribulation is upon us. Lord, have mercy.
If some years from now, should we be permitted to look back and trace all the threads, we may never really know what was the pivotal moment. Yet, that moment has passed. Deep in the heart of Sin's darkest corners in our government, something has moved. That something will bring an apocalyptic scale of terror to this land, to match what we've done to other lands. Except here, it will be our own government.
The unseen line has been crossed. The demons have been loosed. Can you not sense it in your spirit? They cannot be called back. Satan is smiling today.
Weep, Christian. The world you have known will pass away quickly. The Day of Tribulation is upon us. Lord, have mercy.
Hebrews 13
A short time after this letter to Jewish Christians in Rome was published, Rome destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem and killed over a million Jewish people. As a discrete political entity, the Kingdom of Israel ceased to exist. All that remained was a cultural identity, a very dilute ethnic identity, and a dead religion. Our writer shows clearly there was no need to mourn the loss, for the one thing worth having had already been offered by Jesus -- an eternal identity as Child of God. Nothing else matters. After the Resurrection, God's plans for earthly Israel ended once and for all. His Son had completed the failed mission of Israel, had become Israel, and the only meaning in God's eyes to the name "Israel" was to be found in Christ. There was nothing left to which these Christians could return. The final chapter rehearses certain pragmatic examples of what it meant to be "Israel" in Christ.
Brotherly love was a quintessential Hebrew faith commitment to each other. While loving sinners might be quite difficult at times, there was no excuse for not loving a fellow servant of Christ. Prodding his Jewish readers, the writer reminds them of Abraham, whom they claimed as their father. That man offered proper Semitic hospitality to visitors, who turned out later to be angels. You never know whom some stranger may turn out to be, but if there is reason to claim them as a fellow Christian, that's all you need to know. Indeed, that bond is stronger than any other on this earth. If your brother is in prison, it matters not why he's there; he remains your brother, an object of sacrificial support. We are all in prison on this earth, longing for the release to our heavenly life. Yet, this love must remain fully virtuous, not as pigs sharing a good wallow in moral sewage. Christ's love is pure love.
We love the King and His Kingdom. We do not love things of this earth. Material gain is not your god. Our Father provides what we need, and what He provides is all we need. If other people take your stuff, take your peace and comfort in the flesh -- even if they take your life -- they can't really do anything to change your standing before God. Is there anything else that matters? And if you can tolerate unjust government by sinners, can you not peacefully serve under Christian leaders who actually love you? Nobody said they were perfect, so love them and support them. If you have any objections, express them in love. These people seek the same thing you do: manifesting the unchanging Christ in a world of chaos. That chaos has no place in the fellowship of believers.
You are foreign to Judaism, and its ways are foreign to Christ. Stop carping over kosher laws as if they mattered to God. Your eternal soul is built up by grace, not by observing dietary restrictions which are merely a matter of the flesh. The priests in Jerusalem, with all their grave ritual fastidiousness, are unfit to partake of our spiritual food in Heaven. Have you ever noticed the most sacred offerings were burned outside the camp? That only their blood was brought into the Tabernacle? Jesus was the most sacred offering of all, and He was sacrificed outside the City of Jerusalem, as if He were somehow unfit to die inside the walls. God's own Son offered Himself as the ultimate sacrifice Moses could ever demand, yet died outside the Law. We must leave the Law to come to Him. If we do not take up His shame and bear it in this life we now have left, we cannot stand before God Almighty. Whatever other Jews do to you is nothing compared to what they did to God's own Son, so you can surely afford to bear a little of their contempt.
The Eternal City of God does not stand anywhere on this earth. If all your hope stands with that pile of rocks in Palestine, you have no hope. The only offering God accepts now must come through Christ. It begins with your bold praising of Him, singing hymns to His Name. You give your stuff to Him by sharing willingly with fellow believers in need. You obey God's Law by yielding to the leaders in your Christian fellowship. These people aren't leading you astray when they teach leaving Moses, but are shepherding your souls into the Heaven. By giving them grief, you only harm yourselves.
The writer ends with a few personal notes. He misses them, and longs to be back in their company. In his benediction, he uses terms which reminds them one last time the Kingdom of Christ is far, far above anything symbolizing it in Moses. The way to the God of Israel is through Christ alone, and it is His standard of conduct which fulfills God's commands. That conduct includes letting preachers and teachers remind them of these things, because letters such as this can hardly fulfill their spiritual needs.
The writer notes Timothy has been released from custody, presumably related to whatever happened to Paul. The writer is waiting for Timothy to join him so they can travel together to Rome and fellowship once again with the readers. Until then, let the leaders on hand have the same respect as they hold for the writer. The residents from Rome there, wherever the writer sits, send their greetings, too. If there is anything we all need, it's grace.
Brotherly love was a quintessential Hebrew faith commitment to each other. While loving sinners might be quite difficult at times, there was no excuse for not loving a fellow servant of Christ. Prodding his Jewish readers, the writer reminds them of Abraham, whom they claimed as their father. That man offered proper Semitic hospitality to visitors, who turned out later to be angels. You never know whom some stranger may turn out to be, but if there is reason to claim them as a fellow Christian, that's all you need to know. Indeed, that bond is stronger than any other on this earth. If your brother is in prison, it matters not why he's there; he remains your brother, an object of sacrificial support. We are all in prison on this earth, longing for the release to our heavenly life. Yet, this love must remain fully virtuous, not as pigs sharing a good wallow in moral sewage. Christ's love is pure love.
We love the King and His Kingdom. We do not love things of this earth. Material gain is not your god. Our Father provides what we need, and what He provides is all we need. If other people take your stuff, take your peace and comfort in the flesh -- even if they take your life -- they can't really do anything to change your standing before God. Is there anything else that matters? And if you can tolerate unjust government by sinners, can you not peacefully serve under Christian leaders who actually love you? Nobody said they were perfect, so love them and support them. If you have any objections, express them in love. These people seek the same thing you do: manifesting the unchanging Christ in a world of chaos. That chaos has no place in the fellowship of believers.
You are foreign to Judaism, and its ways are foreign to Christ. Stop carping over kosher laws as if they mattered to God. Your eternal soul is built up by grace, not by observing dietary restrictions which are merely a matter of the flesh. The priests in Jerusalem, with all their grave ritual fastidiousness, are unfit to partake of our spiritual food in Heaven. Have you ever noticed the most sacred offerings were burned outside the camp? That only their blood was brought into the Tabernacle? Jesus was the most sacred offering of all, and He was sacrificed outside the City of Jerusalem, as if He were somehow unfit to die inside the walls. God's own Son offered Himself as the ultimate sacrifice Moses could ever demand, yet died outside the Law. We must leave the Law to come to Him. If we do not take up His shame and bear it in this life we now have left, we cannot stand before God Almighty. Whatever other Jews do to you is nothing compared to what they did to God's own Son, so you can surely afford to bear a little of their contempt.
The Eternal City of God does not stand anywhere on this earth. If all your hope stands with that pile of rocks in Palestine, you have no hope. The only offering God accepts now must come through Christ. It begins with your bold praising of Him, singing hymns to His Name. You give your stuff to Him by sharing willingly with fellow believers in need. You obey God's Law by yielding to the leaders in your Christian fellowship. These people aren't leading you astray when they teach leaving Moses, but are shepherding your souls into the Heaven. By giving them grief, you only harm yourselves.
The writer ends with a few personal notes. He misses them, and longs to be back in their company. In his benediction, he uses terms which reminds them one last time the Kingdom of Christ is far, far above anything symbolizing it in Moses. The way to the God of Israel is through Christ alone, and it is His standard of conduct which fulfills God's commands. That conduct includes letting preachers and teachers remind them of these things, because letters such as this can hardly fulfill their spiritual needs.
The writer notes Timothy has been released from custody, presumably related to whatever happened to Paul. The writer is waiting for Timothy to join him so they can travel together to Rome and fellowship once again with the readers. Until then, let the leaders on hand have the same respect as they hold for the writer. The residents from Rome there, wherever the writer sits, send their greetings, too. If there is anything we all need, it's grace.
We Win Again
The USA has now won the race to the bottom. Thanks to all the voters and general public, but worst of all, the Christians who have steadfastly supported our ruling regime. You have been serving Satan.
There is no threat on this earth which can justify supporting such a thing. America is damned.
An American Gulag
There is no threat on this earth which can justify supporting such a thing. America is damned.
Monday, May 5, 2008
There Was A Time...
There was a time I would have thought it was sacrilegious, but I can't resist sharing this with my readers. Matt Taibbi, writing for RollingStone.com, went underground at Hagee's church. In an excerpt from his book about the experience, you'll find his account of a retreat hosted by the church.
While you may know I am no friend of Hagee, there are parts of this I find gratuitous slander. Still, Taibbi is very perceptive about mainstream religious experience.
Far, far too many churches have bought into the way of the world. I suppose they simply assume this is how humans work, so why not do it with the grace of God? The problem is, this is not how grace works. Modern self-help psychology is hardly a reflection of biblical healing. God's true work hardly needs our help. When we try so hard to do it for Him, we end up with this:
Long before I left the institutional church, I had come to despair of changing the habits and patterns of training to get away from creating still-born souls. That is, people who may well have been reborn, but likely not. They had all the earmarks of cultic conversion psychology, but horrific sinful instincts about things which can only be changed by the Holy Spirit.
Taibbi describes mainstream Christian religion in ways not dramatically different from my own descriptions. Even sinners can see through the tissue of lies. Taibbi would not have said it this way, but we can see fixing this problem will require a miracle from God.
I had been attending the Cornerstone Church for weeks, but this was really my first day of school. I had joined Cornerstone -- a megachurch in the Texas Hill Country -- to get a look inside the evangelical mind-set that gave the country eight years of George W. Bush. The church's pastor, John Hagee, is one of the most influential evangelical preachers in the country -- not because his ministry is so very large (although he claims up to 4.5 million viewers a week for his Sunday sermons) but because of his near-absolute conquest of a very trendy niche in the market: Christian Zionism.
While you may know I am no friend of Hagee, there are parts of this I find gratuitous slander. Still, Taibbi is very perceptive about mainstream religious experience.
But as far as I could see, in the early going, most of what we were doing was simple pop-psych self-examination using New Age-y diagnostic tools of the Deepak Chopra school: Identify your problems, face your oppressors, visualize your obstacles. Be your dream job. With a little rhetorical tweaking and much better food, this could easily have been Tony Robbins instructing a bunch of Upper East Side housewives to "find your wounds" ("My husband hid my Saks card!") at a chic resort in Miami Beach or the Hamptons.
Far, far too many churches have bought into the way of the world. I suppose they simply assume this is how humans work, so why not do it with the grace of God? The problem is, this is not how grace works. Modern self-help psychology is hardly a reflection of biblical healing. God's true work hardly needs our help. When we try so hard to do it for Him, we end up with this:
Here I have a confession to make. It's not something that's easy to explain, but here goes. After two days of nearly constant religious instruction, songs, worship and praise -- two days that for me meant an unending regimen of forced and fake responses -- a funny thing started to happen to my head. There is a transformational quality in these external demonstrations of faith and belief. The more you shout out praising the Lord, singing along to those awful acoustic tunes, telling people how blessed you feel and so on, the more a sort of mechanical Christian skin starts to grow all over your real self. Even if you're a degenerate Rolling Stone reporter inwardly chuckling and busting on the whole scene -- even if you're intellectually enraged by the ignorance and arrogant prejudice flowing from the mouth of a terminal-ambition case like Phil Fortenberry -- outwardly you're swaying to the gospel and singing and praising and acting the part, and those outward ministrations assume a kind of sincerity in themselves. And at the same time, that "inner you" begins to get tired of the whole spectacle and sometimes forgets to protest -- in my case checking out into baseball reveries and other daydreams while the outer me did the "work" of singing and praising. At any given moment, which one is the real you?
Long before I left the institutional church, I had come to despair of changing the habits and patterns of training to get away from creating still-born souls. That is, people who may well have been reborn, but likely not. They had all the earmarks of cultic conversion psychology, but horrific sinful instincts about things which can only be changed by the Holy Spirit.
By the end of the weekend I realized how quaint was the mere suggestion that Christians of this type should learn to "be rational" or "set aside your religion" about such things as the Iraq War or other policy matters. Once you've made a journey like this -- once you've gone this far -- you are beyond suggestible. It's not merely the informational indoctrination, the constant belittling of homosexuals and atheists and Muslims and pacifists, etc., that's the issue. It's that once you've gotten to this place, you've left behind the mental process that a person would need to form an independent opinion about such things. You make this journey precisely to experience the ecstasy of beating to the same big gristly heart with a roomful of like-minded folks. Once you reach that place with them, you're thinking with muscles, not neurons.
Taibbi describes mainstream Christian religion in ways not dramatically different from my own descriptions. Even sinners can see through the tissue of lies. Taibbi would not have said it this way, but we can see fixing this problem will require a miracle from God.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Statement of Loyalty
I am first and foremost a follower of Christ. This need not be taken as flowing from anyone else's particular definition of "Christian," and is quite likely to conflict with most such definitions to some degree. Thus, the import of such a statement is to characterize the root nature of the commitment, not its earmarks.
Certain defining adjectives will, however, be widely recognized. I derive my understanding of following Christ from a devotion to the Biblical narrative as fully authoritative. No document from history is fully self-contained, and Scripture is no different. The historical, linguistic and cultural matrix from which the Bible arises must be taken into account. It is well established I find myself differing from many in the mainstream of Western Christian institutions on just what that means. It is fair to regard my understanding of Christ as emphasizing the Ancient Near Eastern Semitic mystical and other-worldly viewpoint as against typical Western rational assumptions. The latter is consciously rejected as a framework for understanding the root nature of faith and spiritual matters as portrayed in Scripture. The essence of spiritual logic is symbolic, and central truths are inevitably transmitted in parabolic form, for the obvious reason Ultimate Truth cannot be perceived by the human mind, but only in the reborn spirit. Just as the Kingdom of Heaven is in Heaven, but is manifested on earth, so the revelation of God is manifested in the mind from someplace deeper in the soul. It typically manifests as conviction -- a commitment to principle which does not yield to logic, but is built from faith. Faith is not fundamentally counter to logic, but is simply far above it.
My primary commitment to Christ overrides any human loyalties. My citizenship is with the Kingdom of Heaven. Any other claims on my person and conduct on this earth are entirely circumstantial. Human governments historically recognize, at best only briefly, such higher loyalties. As Christ taught, we should expect conflict with governments and social structures in which we abide day to day. Such conflict is unavoidable, and taken for granted, as every human community must by its nature demand things contrary to the teachings of Christ. Even faith communities will be fundamentally flawed, and cannot be granted any position of respect on par with the Kingdom of Heaven itself. We must always be willing to part company when our convictions demand choices unacceptable to any other human or group of humans. No power on earth composed of human officers can claim to speak for God with any significant degree of finality. The final decision falls to the individual seeking to serve Christ.
Much more so do I deny the possibility any secular human government can claim my full loyalty. This is not to lay a ground for defying such human government, but simply to ignore their edicts when they conflict with conviction. Knowing the cost of defying human institutions which bear the sword has no bearing on whether to obey them. Such government has its place, and its work makes no reference to the Kingdom of Heaven; just so, our work makes no reference to theirs. Conflict is inevitable, and every follower of Christ must first nail their human dreams to the Cross. The likelihood of conflict will vary with time, place and conditions, and many individually escape serious conflict for their entire lives. They are not thereby less loyal to the Kingdom, but in the wisdom of God are granted a different service than martyrs. Martyrdom is in the hands of God.
A change of human government is simply background noise. The best any human government can ever do is avoid harm. The very fact of governing more than two souls makes this impossible. Good government, then, strives to harm the fewest in protecting the greater number. The very act of preferring one over another dehumanizes the one unfavored. This violates the conscience of a Christian, for whom ever living soul is precious. All government activity is inherently evil from the viewpoint of Kingdom service, because it cannot proceed from any other basis but a fallen, sin-stained mind and purpose. However, such is the divine commission in the Covenant of Noah: sinners keeping other sinners on a leash. Bad civil order is better, in that sense, than none. But it remains clear no government is "good;" no government merits Christian loyalty. Rather, governments are to varying degrees useful.
No law is inherently good by Kingdom standards, because the Kingdom runs on spirit, not legislation. This brings us to the fundamental flaw in common reasoning about Christian faith. While absolutes clearly exist in the Kingdom of Heaven, it is utterly impossible to apply them absolutely in this fallen world. Bringing in the secular sword defiles the principle of spiritual freedom. It is not possible to so state any spiritual principle as to make it fully propositional without somehow binding God to a human limitation. The best any Christian can hope for is to decide what he will or will not support in terms of serving along side another Christian. To involve ourselves in secular legislative processes is to compromise the purity of our calling. Even more so do we sin if we involve ourselves in civil enforcement, for we cannot avoid violating the calling and service of another Christian. Enforcement requires giving allegiance to the state, of a kind and quality which guarantees we will sin against a brother or sister by not providing what they truly need to flee their own sins. We would not be permitted to consider their needs, but only those of the state.
Forces which act to destabilize the state also cannot be wholly good or evil. In our service, we remain neutral to rebellion and revolt, except where it harms the civil stability. To blind ourselves to the possibility the state itself can harm civil stability is a sin. Even worse is to assume the state is ever closely identified to the citizens. Despite lofty assertions to the contrary, no government has ever been "by the people." The mere act of assuming vestments of power separates one from the citizenry. The interests of citizens and government will never coincide much, and with the increasing scale of what is governed, the separation grows exponentially. Thus, it will in reality always been "us versus them." Any level of control over other humans is "government" by definition, and exerting power contrary to the plans of the official state is simply a matter of governments fighting it out. Legitimacy simply does not exist in the real world, but remains a logical construct built on lies and arrogant presumption.
This does not mean there is no blueprint of reasonable government available. Scripture declares the Law of Moses was, in theory, a grand fulfillment of the Covenant of Noah. That is, under the discrete circumstances of the people, place and time, it exemplified what God required of human government. Abstracting principles from the Law of Moses yields a fairly reasonable form of human justice, but we must guard against cultural filters getting in the way of clear understanding. If the Christian is to perceive any call to conditional loyalty to a human government, he is bound by the requirement to select the one which best represents the abstracted principles of Mosaic Law. Human governments are historically fluid, as necessitated by changing conditions in nature and technology, but most have simply always tended to greater evil in the long run. Thus, in very real terms, no human state merits undying loyalty from servants of Christ.
We are to be wise as serpents, harmless as doves. We choose consciously a path of peace with others, knowing our choices will not always produce peace. Peace is relative, and the only peace which matters is peace with God. With eyes of clarity we see clearly the government of the USA is walking down the path of fascism. Resisting this drift for its own sake is sinful. Rather, we should restrict ourselves to principled resistance to things we have been commanded to defend: our own families, and the defenseless. This, too, is subject to the move of the Spirit when the moment comes.
I will stand respectfully for the US flag, but I will not salute it. The US flag is a battle flag, and has never truly been a symbol of the citizens living in the USA. The Stars and Stripes symbolize merely the government and it's military power. Thus, I dearly love the people, including the troops, of this land, but hardly bear strong feelings about the government. I offer neither fealty nor animosity. That government will, in due time, fall as all governments do. It is quite likely to come in my lifetime, and what replaces it will be more of the same, probably worse. I estimate we are yet some decades before a general collapse of several governments, a collapse sufficient to give birth to a fresh start anywhere. It would seem Western Civilization itself will have to collapse first, and that is coming due all too soon.
Certain defining adjectives will, however, be widely recognized. I derive my understanding of following Christ from a devotion to the Biblical narrative as fully authoritative. No document from history is fully self-contained, and Scripture is no different. The historical, linguistic and cultural matrix from which the Bible arises must be taken into account. It is well established I find myself differing from many in the mainstream of Western Christian institutions on just what that means. It is fair to regard my understanding of Christ as emphasizing the Ancient Near Eastern Semitic mystical and other-worldly viewpoint as against typical Western rational assumptions. The latter is consciously rejected as a framework for understanding the root nature of faith and spiritual matters as portrayed in Scripture. The essence of spiritual logic is symbolic, and central truths are inevitably transmitted in parabolic form, for the obvious reason Ultimate Truth cannot be perceived by the human mind, but only in the reborn spirit. Just as the Kingdom of Heaven is in Heaven, but is manifested on earth, so the revelation of God is manifested in the mind from someplace deeper in the soul. It typically manifests as conviction -- a commitment to principle which does not yield to logic, but is built from faith. Faith is not fundamentally counter to logic, but is simply far above it.
My primary commitment to Christ overrides any human loyalties. My citizenship is with the Kingdom of Heaven. Any other claims on my person and conduct on this earth are entirely circumstantial. Human governments historically recognize, at best only briefly, such higher loyalties. As Christ taught, we should expect conflict with governments and social structures in which we abide day to day. Such conflict is unavoidable, and taken for granted, as every human community must by its nature demand things contrary to the teachings of Christ. Even faith communities will be fundamentally flawed, and cannot be granted any position of respect on par with the Kingdom of Heaven itself. We must always be willing to part company when our convictions demand choices unacceptable to any other human or group of humans. No power on earth composed of human officers can claim to speak for God with any significant degree of finality. The final decision falls to the individual seeking to serve Christ.
Much more so do I deny the possibility any secular human government can claim my full loyalty. This is not to lay a ground for defying such human government, but simply to ignore their edicts when they conflict with conviction. Knowing the cost of defying human institutions which bear the sword has no bearing on whether to obey them. Such government has its place, and its work makes no reference to the Kingdom of Heaven; just so, our work makes no reference to theirs. Conflict is inevitable, and every follower of Christ must first nail their human dreams to the Cross. The likelihood of conflict will vary with time, place and conditions, and many individually escape serious conflict for their entire lives. They are not thereby less loyal to the Kingdom, but in the wisdom of God are granted a different service than martyrs. Martyrdom is in the hands of God.
A change of human government is simply background noise. The best any human government can ever do is avoid harm. The very fact of governing more than two souls makes this impossible. Good government, then, strives to harm the fewest in protecting the greater number. The very act of preferring one over another dehumanizes the one unfavored. This violates the conscience of a Christian, for whom ever living soul is precious. All government activity is inherently evil from the viewpoint of Kingdom service, because it cannot proceed from any other basis but a fallen, sin-stained mind and purpose. However, such is the divine commission in the Covenant of Noah: sinners keeping other sinners on a leash. Bad civil order is better, in that sense, than none. But it remains clear no government is "good;" no government merits Christian loyalty. Rather, governments are to varying degrees useful.
No law is inherently good by Kingdom standards, because the Kingdom runs on spirit, not legislation. This brings us to the fundamental flaw in common reasoning about Christian faith. While absolutes clearly exist in the Kingdom of Heaven, it is utterly impossible to apply them absolutely in this fallen world. Bringing in the secular sword defiles the principle of spiritual freedom. It is not possible to so state any spiritual principle as to make it fully propositional without somehow binding God to a human limitation. The best any Christian can hope for is to decide what he will or will not support in terms of serving along side another Christian. To involve ourselves in secular legislative processes is to compromise the purity of our calling. Even more so do we sin if we involve ourselves in civil enforcement, for we cannot avoid violating the calling and service of another Christian. Enforcement requires giving allegiance to the state, of a kind and quality which guarantees we will sin against a brother or sister by not providing what they truly need to flee their own sins. We would not be permitted to consider their needs, but only those of the state.
Forces which act to destabilize the state also cannot be wholly good or evil. In our service, we remain neutral to rebellion and revolt, except where it harms the civil stability. To blind ourselves to the possibility the state itself can harm civil stability is a sin. Even worse is to assume the state is ever closely identified to the citizens. Despite lofty assertions to the contrary, no government has ever been "by the people." The mere act of assuming vestments of power separates one from the citizenry. The interests of citizens and government will never coincide much, and with the increasing scale of what is governed, the separation grows exponentially. Thus, it will in reality always been "us versus them." Any level of control over other humans is "government" by definition, and exerting power contrary to the plans of the official state is simply a matter of governments fighting it out. Legitimacy simply does not exist in the real world, but remains a logical construct built on lies and arrogant presumption.
This does not mean there is no blueprint of reasonable government available. Scripture declares the Law of Moses was, in theory, a grand fulfillment of the Covenant of Noah. That is, under the discrete circumstances of the people, place and time, it exemplified what God required of human government. Abstracting principles from the Law of Moses yields a fairly reasonable form of human justice, but we must guard against cultural filters getting in the way of clear understanding. If the Christian is to perceive any call to conditional loyalty to a human government, he is bound by the requirement to select the one which best represents the abstracted principles of Mosaic Law. Human governments are historically fluid, as necessitated by changing conditions in nature and technology, but most have simply always tended to greater evil in the long run. Thus, in very real terms, no human state merits undying loyalty from servants of Christ.
We are to be wise as serpents, harmless as doves. We choose consciously a path of peace with others, knowing our choices will not always produce peace. Peace is relative, and the only peace which matters is peace with God. With eyes of clarity we see clearly the government of the USA is walking down the path of fascism. Resisting this drift for its own sake is sinful. Rather, we should restrict ourselves to principled resistance to things we have been commanded to defend: our own families, and the defenseless. This, too, is subject to the move of the Spirit when the moment comes.
I will stand respectfully for the US flag, but I will not salute it. The US flag is a battle flag, and has never truly been a symbol of the citizens living in the USA. The Stars and Stripes symbolize merely the government and it's military power. Thus, I dearly love the people, including the troops, of this land, but hardly bear strong feelings about the government. I offer neither fealty nor animosity. That government will, in due time, fall as all governments do. It is quite likely to come in my lifetime, and what replaces it will be more of the same, probably worse. I estimate we are yet some decades before a general collapse of several governments, a collapse sufficient to give birth to a fresh start anywhere. It would seem Western Civilization itself will have to collapse first, and that is coming due all too soon.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Life of Christ: Mark 13
Mark continues to emphasize Jesus' teaching His Kingdom would be spiritual in nature. Earthly Israel, the Temple, and the Covenant of Moses would all be put away. God's dealings with mankind would become entirely without reference to national, ethnic, tribal or cultural identity. Instead, this Kingdom will operate on a totally different plane, and it would certainly put them in conflict with those who continue to think such things matter.
As they were leaving the Temple complex, the disciples were remarking on the clever engineering of Herod the Great, which brought such massive stones into the city for the Temple renovation. Apparently the huge blocks were first cut as cylinders, rolled into place, then chipped square. The Twelve were impressed by the size of the stones. Jesus remarked the whole thing would be dismantled down to the ground very soon. In the Kingdom to Come, the Temple would be merely a pile of rocks, and of no importance in God's revelation.
This must have shocked them, for they could not envision a Messianic future without the Temple. If that massive structure was not a part of their plans, what should they expect? As they crossed the Kidron Valley, and climbed up the slope on the far side, they must have discussed this some. Jesus brought them to a vantage point on the Mount of Olives where they could see the Temple backlit by the setting sun. The top four members of the disciples asked Jesus privately what He meant, and when they should expect to see such a catastrophe. Would that be the End of Time? What signs should they expect as this approaches? Would such destruction be a part of their future, serving under Jesus? Was He going to miraculously dismantle the thing because Herod was involved in it? Maybe He would raise up a newer, better, purer Temple. Their question was based still on the assumptions of an earthly Davidic Kingdom, an expectation Jesus would throw down the corrupt leadership of the Jews, and take over running the Nation of Israel.
Jesus carefully picked apart this faulty vision. First, He explained what was not part of His Kingdom signs. Deception was fundamental to the Enemy, so don't be suckers. Frauds would claim to be the Messiah. They would talk about wars, maybe stir up some conflicts, but this has nothing to do with the Kingdom. They are simply typical of normal fallen human behavior. Earthly kingdoms come and go; pay no attention because God is in control. The same goes for natural disasters. Worse things could happen. Don't try to read significance into them, because you are called to focus on higher things. You'll have all you can do to consider how you'll face persecution. Every arrest is just an opportunity to speak the gospel message to an audience you won't normally see. Look for ways to carry this message to all the world.
You can't really prepare for such things mentally. Know the Truth in your spirits, and let your mind be informed by God what you should do. Rely on Him. Whatever you need to say to meet the spiritual needs of the hearers will be provided by the time you open your mouth. Don't rehearse pretty speeches and don't get wrapped up in legal minutiae. Indeed, when evil acts it ignores all law and custom, anyway. Family bonds will mean nothing. Indeed, don't be surprised if it seems the whole world is after your blood. Remain faithful in the face of death. Stay focussed on Eternity.
However, the destruction of the Temple is not a threat to the Twelve directly. Mark appeals to his readers to understand: Daniel had two separate visions regarding desecration of the Temple. The first (Daniel 11:13) came in the time of the Seleucid rulers (168 BC), but the second (Daniel 12:11) was yet to come. It would be the final end of the Temple, when God's wrath against Israel for her sins would finally end, and the period of Eternal Jubilee would begin. However, just as the first desecration came with turmoil and tribulation, the second would be even worse. So when that sign came around again, and someone desecrated the Temple built by Herod, it was time to leave Jerusalem, even Judea itself. In fact, it would be almost too late. He warned them not to get hung up on material possessions, because this would be the most horrific event in human history. Everything before or after would pale by comparison. Yet, the Father would be merciful, if only for the sake of His chosen servants.
This destruction of the Temple, of Jerusalem, and the end of the earthly Nation of Israel, was not the end of the world. It was only the beginning of the Kingdom of Heaven. So the idea Christ had returned during such tribulation would be utterly false. Showing miracles, teaching huge crowds and drawing nice charts about how this just has to be the End of Time all mean nothing. It could be pretty bad, but it was not the End.
No, the End of Time would be far more catastrophic. Not just the end of one city or nation, but the end of everything. The very heavens themselves will come apart, not to mention the earth. Indeed, the heavens will open and the Son of God will return physically -- not secretly, but painfully public will it be. He will dispatch His angels throughout the whole earth to gather His chosen servants to Him. They will become the only Kingdom on earth, and everyone else will be gone. He will rule directly in person. There's no reason to confuse the end of the Temple with the End of Time.
The context is still a discussion of the Temple destruction. Thus, Jesus recalls the fig tree in the Kidron Valley. It had foliage on it, so clearly summer was not far away. So when crazy stuff starts happening and Rome starts sending more soldiers, it's time to leave the country. Indeed, those within the sound of Jesus' voice would be alive when it came. This was no joke. All the earth could come apart before Jesus' teachings and prophesies failed. Out of kindness, Jesus was helping them see the utter lack of importance of the earthly political situation. The current Jewish nation pass into history as any other human political entity.
However, getting back to that End of Time, Jesus warned there would be no signs for that. No being but the Father alone knew the timing of that, and He wasn't telling, not even Jesus. He warned them to fix in their minds and in their teaching -- you cannot know. There would be no signs, no warnings. Jesus told a parable to illustrate the principle. He would be like a lord leaving His affairs to His servants while He went off to Heaven for a time. The interval was completely unknown, since the business on the other end of the journey was indeterminate. Every servant of Christ has a mission, and completion was not so important as faithfulness. The Kingdom principle was not completion of tasks as men understand it, but a focus on doing as faithfulness and love for God. The job would never be finished as such, but would be stopped when God said.
Jesus' Return will be convenient for no man. It will serve the purpose of Almighty God. We must serve that purpose, focus on doing faithfully what we know best to do.
As they were leaving the Temple complex, the disciples were remarking on the clever engineering of Herod the Great, which brought such massive stones into the city for the Temple renovation. Apparently the huge blocks were first cut as cylinders, rolled into place, then chipped square. The Twelve were impressed by the size of the stones. Jesus remarked the whole thing would be dismantled down to the ground very soon. In the Kingdom to Come, the Temple would be merely a pile of rocks, and of no importance in God's revelation.
This must have shocked them, for they could not envision a Messianic future without the Temple. If that massive structure was not a part of their plans, what should they expect? As they crossed the Kidron Valley, and climbed up the slope on the far side, they must have discussed this some. Jesus brought them to a vantage point on the Mount of Olives where they could see the Temple backlit by the setting sun. The top four members of the disciples asked Jesus privately what He meant, and when they should expect to see such a catastrophe. Would that be the End of Time? What signs should they expect as this approaches? Would such destruction be a part of their future, serving under Jesus? Was He going to miraculously dismantle the thing because Herod was involved in it? Maybe He would raise up a newer, better, purer Temple. Their question was based still on the assumptions of an earthly Davidic Kingdom, an expectation Jesus would throw down the corrupt leadership of the Jews, and take over running the Nation of Israel.
Jesus carefully picked apart this faulty vision. First, He explained what was not part of His Kingdom signs. Deception was fundamental to the Enemy, so don't be suckers. Frauds would claim to be the Messiah. They would talk about wars, maybe stir up some conflicts, but this has nothing to do with the Kingdom. They are simply typical of normal fallen human behavior. Earthly kingdoms come and go; pay no attention because God is in control. The same goes for natural disasters. Worse things could happen. Don't try to read significance into them, because you are called to focus on higher things. You'll have all you can do to consider how you'll face persecution. Every arrest is just an opportunity to speak the gospel message to an audience you won't normally see. Look for ways to carry this message to all the world.
You can't really prepare for such things mentally. Know the Truth in your spirits, and let your mind be informed by God what you should do. Rely on Him. Whatever you need to say to meet the spiritual needs of the hearers will be provided by the time you open your mouth. Don't rehearse pretty speeches and don't get wrapped up in legal minutiae. Indeed, when evil acts it ignores all law and custom, anyway. Family bonds will mean nothing. Indeed, don't be surprised if it seems the whole world is after your blood. Remain faithful in the face of death. Stay focussed on Eternity.
However, the destruction of the Temple is not a threat to the Twelve directly. Mark appeals to his readers to understand: Daniel had two separate visions regarding desecration of the Temple. The first (Daniel 11:13) came in the time of the Seleucid rulers (168 BC), but the second (Daniel 12:11) was yet to come. It would be the final end of the Temple, when God's wrath against Israel for her sins would finally end, and the period of Eternal Jubilee would begin. However, just as the first desecration came with turmoil and tribulation, the second would be even worse. So when that sign came around again, and someone desecrated the Temple built by Herod, it was time to leave Jerusalem, even Judea itself. In fact, it would be almost too late. He warned them not to get hung up on material possessions, because this would be the most horrific event in human history. Everything before or after would pale by comparison. Yet, the Father would be merciful, if only for the sake of His chosen servants.
This destruction of the Temple, of Jerusalem, and the end of the earthly Nation of Israel, was not the end of the world. It was only the beginning of the Kingdom of Heaven. So the idea Christ had returned during such tribulation would be utterly false. Showing miracles, teaching huge crowds and drawing nice charts about how this just has to be the End of Time all mean nothing. It could be pretty bad, but it was not the End.
No, the End of Time would be far more catastrophic. Not just the end of one city or nation, but the end of everything. The very heavens themselves will come apart, not to mention the earth. Indeed, the heavens will open and the Son of God will return physically -- not secretly, but painfully public will it be. He will dispatch His angels throughout the whole earth to gather His chosen servants to Him. They will become the only Kingdom on earth, and everyone else will be gone. He will rule directly in person. There's no reason to confuse the end of the Temple with the End of Time.
The context is still a discussion of the Temple destruction. Thus, Jesus recalls the fig tree in the Kidron Valley. It had foliage on it, so clearly summer was not far away. So when crazy stuff starts happening and Rome starts sending more soldiers, it's time to leave the country. Indeed, those within the sound of Jesus' voice would be alive when it came. This was no joke. All the earth could come apart before Jesus' teachings and prophesies failed. Out of kindness, Jesus was helping them see the utter lack of importance of the earthly political situation. The current Jewish nation pass into history as any other human political entity.
However, getting back to that End of Time, Jesus warned there would be no signs for that. No being but the Father alone knew the timing of that, and He wasn't telling, not even Jesus. He warned them to fix in their minds and in their teaching -- you cannot know. There would be no signs, no warnings. Jesus told a parable to illustrate the principle. He would be like a lord leaving His affairs to His servants while He went off to Heaven for a time. The interval was completely unknown, since the business on the other end of the journey was indeterminate. Every servant of Christ has a mission, and completion was not so important as faithfulness. The Kingdom principle was not completion of tasks as men understand it, but a focus on doing as faithfulness and love for God. The job would never be finished as such, but would be stopped when God said.
Jesus' Return will be convenient for no man. It will serve the purpose of Almighty God. We must serve that purpose, focus on doing faithfully what we know best to do.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Hebrews 12
The Jewish readers living in Rome would have quickly recognized the imagery of athletic competition. When competing before a home crowd, most athletes perform better. Having just reviewed the legends of faith from Israeli history, the writer speaks of them as spectators in the stands. Let them see you do well! The event is living by faith. It requires setting aside this world and all its cares, stripping down the bare essentials of walking by The Spirit. All the more must they commit for the long haul, since this is an endurance event.
The finish line is coming face to face with Jesus Christ. Don't get lost in the details of the race conditions, but keep your eyes on the point of it all: Jesus incarnated in us. He raced with gusto, enjoying His life because He didn't get tangled up things which didn't matter. Having in His path the Cross hardly slowed Him. That it was all so shameful from a human perspective was of no concern. His own finish line was taking His place at the Father's right hand, the place held by the Executive Officer, the one who exercised the ruler's power. As with many retired champions, He is now the referee of participants. How did He win? You must emulate His style in facing sin, or you will fail. He allowed nothing to dissuade Him from His course of obedience.
The Jewish Christians in Rome had not yet faced significant violence, it seems. They mistook social and economic pressures for real persecution. The writer reminds them they had hardly paid in blood for following Christ. The reason was because they weren't trying hard enough. Not in the sense of provoking needless bloodshed, but paying no heed to that price in the drive to obey His teaching and follow His example. If they were to be crucified, it's only just they suffer for their very real sins what Christ suffered for none of His own. Don't look upon the hatred of sinners as injustice. Look upon it as the switch hand of the Father, removing from them sinful habits (Proverbs 3:11-12). If you aren't suffering with Christ, how can you claim to be a fellow heir of the Son? We would consider it scandalous if any man failed to spank his children for misbehavior. Yet in our hearts we know human parents often err in their discipline, simply doing the best they know. God Our Father never errs in correcting His children.
Only madmen enjoy pain. We don't go out of our way looking for misery; there's nothing virtuous in suffering itself. When our pain reflects the efforts of God to refine our conduct, to make us more like Jesus, we should celebrate His loving care! It makes us stronger, able to negotiate the obstacles of sin in our path. So don't go looking for trouble; it will find you soon enough. Do your best to be loving and peaceful with all people. You don't have to be confrontational to make it clear what sin is. Set your eyes on Heaven; become other-worldly about this awful world. Don't use the inevitability of sinful people around you as an excuse to bog your life down with their sins. Would you rather end up like Esau? Jews typically spat at the mention of his name. He tossed away his eternal spiritual inheritance in exchange for a single meal. Nothing he did could revoke that choice.
This is not like the Exodus, camping at the foot of Mount Sinai. We aren't called to follow precise rules of conduct, for which failing means execution. Nor does the revelation of God's will come to us in voices we cannot bear to hear, or in terms demanding too much of us. No, we live in the shadow of Mount Zion, the real Zion in Heaven. We are called to keep our eyes on the Spirit Realm, the only thing which matters. Angels are there to strengthen us, and that crowd of faithful souls which went before us, all sharing in one spiritual existence, as our feet remain rooted here in this fallen world. Jesus is there, with His Blood sacrifice having made us fit to stand there in our spirits. If the blood of Abel cried out to God from the earth, witnessing to a great sin, how much louder and more insistent is the voice of Jesus' Blood crying out for our redemption, for mercy and grace?
If the Law of Moses could take your temporal life, do you not see how the Law of Christ could take your eternal soul? That same Blood of Jesus cries out your name, calling you to remain faithful to the Covenant of Christ. We know the voice of God shook the earth at Mount Sinai, but He has promised He will shake it just one more time. Quoting a Messianic Promise from Haggai 2:6, our writer warns this latter shaking will shake all the earth, and Heaven, too. Haggai's point was to show the latter shaking would be a clear departure from the previous. Not simply shaking to get our attention, but shaking to remove anything which cannot stand before God Almighty. Fallen Creation cannot bear the presence of a holy God, and He withdrew a distance by sending mere symbols of His divine presence. In His real presence in Heaven, we must leave behind anything which can be shaken, and only what is eternal will go there. If your composure is so easily shaken, it is founded on the wrong thing. Build your life on the grace of God, not something which was designed for mere temporary use, as was the Covenant of Moses.
The Kingdom of Heaven is built in purity, holy from the start. If you are part of that, there is nothing left of Moses to which you can return. All of that will burn up in the fire of God's wrath. If that is where you heart is, you will be consumed, as well. The fire of God purifies, and the persecution faced by Jewish Christians in Rome was designed to pull them farther away from Moses, farther into Christ. If they turn back now, Christ was no part of them in the first place.
The finish line is coming face to face with Jesus Christ. Don't get lost in the details of the race conditions, but keep your eyes on the point of it all: Jesus incarnated in us. He raced with gusto, enjoying His life because He didn't get tangled up things which didn't matter. Having in His path the Cross hardly slowed Him. That it was all so shameful from a human perspective was of no concern. His own finish line was taking His place at the Father's right hand, the place held by the Executive Officer, the one who exercised the ruler's power. As with many retired champions, He is now the referee of participants. How did He win? You must emulate His style in facing sin, or you will fail. He allowed nothing to dissuade Him from His course of obedience.
The Jewish Christians in Rome had not yet faced significant violence, it seems. They mistook social and economic pressures for real persecution. The writer reminds them they had hardly paid in blood for following Christ. The reason was because they weren't trying hard enough. Not in the sense of provoking needless bloodshed, but paying no heed to that price in the drive to obey His teaching and follow His example. If they were to be crucified, it's only just they suffer for their very real sins what Christ suffered for none of His own. Don't look upon the hatred of sinners as injustice. Look upon it as the switch hand of the Father, removing from them sinful habits (Proverbs 3:11-12). If you aren't suffering with Christ, how can you claim to be a fellow heir of the Son? We would consider it scandalous if any man failed to spank his children for misbehavior. Yet in our hearts we know human parents often err in their discipline, simply doing the best they know. God Our Father never errs in correcting His children.
Only madmen enjoy pain. We don't go out of our way looking for misery; there's nothing virtuous in suffering itself. When our pain reflects the efforts of God to refine our conduct, to make us more like Jesus, we should celebrate His loving care! It makes us stronger, able to negotiate the obstacles of sin in our path. So don't go looking for trouble; it will find you soon enough. Do your best to be loving and peaceful with all people. You don't have to be confrontational to make it clear what sin is. Set your eyes on Heaven; become other-worldly about this awful world. Don't use the inevitability of sinful people around you as an excuse to bog your life down with their sins. Would you rather end up like Esau? Jews typically spat at the mention of his name. He tossed away his eternal spiritual inheritance in exchange for a single meal. Nothing he did could revoke that choice.
This is not like the Exodus, camping at the foot of Mount Sinai. We aren't called to follow precise rules of conduct, for which failing means execution. Nor does the revelation of God's will come to us in voices we cannot bear to hear, or in terms demanding too much of us. No, we live in the shadow of Mount Zion, the real Zion in Heaven. We are called to keep our eyes on the Spirit Realm, the only thing which matters. Angels are there to strengthen us, and that crowd of faithful souls which went before us, all sharing in one spiritual existence, as our feet remain rooted here in this fallen world. Jesus is there, with His Blood sacrifice having made us fit to stand there in our spirits. If the blood of Abel cried out to God from the earth, witnessing to a great sin, how much louder and more insistent is the voice of Jesus' Blood crying out for our redemption, for mercy and grace?
If the Law of Moses could take your temporal life, do you not see how the Law of Christ could take your eternal soul? That same Blood of Jesus cries out your name, calling you to remain faithful to the Covenant of Christ. We know the voice of God shook the earth at Mount Sinai, but He has promised He will shake it just one more time. Quoting a Messianic Promise from Haggai 2:6, our writer warns this latter shaking will shake all the earth, and Heaven, too. Haggai's point was to show the latter shaking would be a clear departure from the previous. Not simply shaking to get our attention, but shaking to remove anything which cannot stand before God Almighty. Fallen Creation cannot bear the presence of a holy God, and He withdrew a distance by sending mere symbols of His divine presence. In His real presence in Heaven, we must leave behind anything which can be shaken, and only what is eternal will go there. If your composure is so easily shaken, it is founded on the wrong thing. Build your life on the grace of God, not something which was designed for mere temporary use, as was the Covenant of Moses.
The Kingdom of Heaven is built in purity, holy from the start. If you are part of that, there is nothing left of Moses to which you can return. All of that will burn up in the fire of God's wrath. If that is where you heart is, you will be consumed, as well. The fire of God purifies, and the persecution faced by Jewish Christians in Rome was designed to pull them farther away from Moses, farther into Christ. If they turn back now, Christ was no part of them in the first place.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Muzzled Ox
I've often been told I'm a clumsy ox. I miscalculate a lot of things in relation to where my body is, and its parts. It's my "normal" to break things now and then. It limits the kinds of things I can pretend I should be doing, things at which I am good enough to try and get a job. Operating under high pressure with skillful hands ain't gonna happen. Pressure is fine, and I can be skillful with my hands, but I can't do both.
Much as I love the work I'm doing with helping disabled veterans understand computers and the Internet, I would much rather be making my living from the ministry of the Word. This is something for which I have longed all my adult life. On occasions it has paid nicely, but never more than a gift here and there. I'm not much concerned about the numbers, only that it's enough to keep serving. It also hardly matters where or under what conditions.
For now, I suppose that is on hold. Still, it's the thing I long for, the thing I keep asking God to perform. In His time....
Much as I love the work I'm doing with helping disabled veterans understand computers and the Internet, I would much rather be making my living from the ministry of the Word. This is something for which I have longed all my adult life. On occasions it has paid nicely, but never more than a gift here and there. I'm not much concerned about the numbers, only that it's enough to keep serving. It also hardly matters where or under what conditions.
For now, I suppose that is on hold. Still, it's the thing I long for, the thing I keep asking God to perform. In His time....
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