Faith's Dialectic

Dealing with Irreverence

2006-02-06T12:00:00.000-07:00

Have you been following the uproar over the Muhammad cartoons published in Danish newspapers? Here is a quote from msnb.com

"Iran cut off trade ties with Denmark and Iranians pelted the Austrian Embassy with Molotov cocktails and stones on Monday in the latest protest over the publication of satirical cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in European newspapers."

I was surprised at the level of anger and violence that the caricatures illicited.

Your love has expired? Part 2

2006-01-30T07:20:00.000-07:00

I mentioned some Italian research a month or so ago that suggested the chemical reaction in our bodies that happens when we fall in love has an expiration date. The cover story of this months National Geographic talks about love in scientific terms. Research suggests that there may be scientific reasons we fall in love with the specific people we fall in love with. It may be bust to hip ratio (which is proven to have an effect on fertility), it may be a guy's BO (which might give a girl a clue to his genetic makeup), or any number of other factors.

A couple people I've talked to find it a bit unsettling, even offensive, to suggest that love might not just happen "magically." Personally, because all of the scientific stuff is subconscious anyway, I don't really care if there might be a biological or genetic reason I fall in love with one girl rather than another. I'm just glad that it happens.

Some Kind of Zombie

2006-01-23T07:23:00.000-07:00

Do any of you remember the Disney boycott of the Southern Baptists? How many southern Baptists do you think went and watched The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe?

Yeah. A lot of them. I think this example of bandwagon Christianity really exemplifies my biggest pet peeve that is common in churches: the lack of critical thinking skills. If I was not already a Christian, boycotts and movie tie-ins would not entice me towards belief.

I bet that we as Christians often look like a bunch of mindless followers, and not followers of Jesus. Some people seem to ask “What should we think?” instead of “What do I think?” Part of Isaiah leads me to believe that boycotts are unscriptural. We can refuse to buy something or support someone, but it should be as thinking individuals and not as part of a church mob mentality. Mobs are easily manipulated. A thinking individual is harder to deceive.

Please, Christians, make your own choices based on your understanding of God. Think!

Diversity

2006-01-19T11:22:00.000-07:00

There is a wonderful beauty in diversity and difference. Why don’t we celebrate our differences, especially in the context of church? Why do we try to make everyone more the same rather than more profoundly unique? I believe our desire to conform people who are different stems from insecurity and fear.

When you meet someone who claims to be a Christian but has very different standards than you (in certain cases that are not clearly scriptural issues) your first instinct is probably judgment or rejection. It is important to understand that I am talking about the grey areas where our standards are not defined by scripture, but by personal convictions. Let’s take eating habits as an example. One person feels convinced that they should be a strict vegetarian and only eat organic foods because that is the moral thing to do. Another person feels that eating pork chops from Wal-Mart is morally neutral. Often it is our instinct to judge those with looser standards than ourselves as thoughtless or overindulgent. Those with stricter standards are often seen as puritanical or self-righteous. Why?

We often forget that we are all very different from one another. Then, when we are confronted with differences, we are a bit shocked and place too much emphasis on the difference, rather than the commonalities we share. Difference does not mean inequality. Difference does not imply greater or lesser value. Difference should not lead to separation because of difference, but greater fellowship in the one thing we claim to have in common. We claim that all people are the children of God. In this we are all equal, and no difference can destroy that link between us.

When friends, spouses, families, or churches split over petty arguments it is a resounding message to those around us about what we really believe. When churches split over music or other human traditions it tells everyone that hears about it how superficial that church’s belief in the importance of the equality God has created us with and demanded that we protect. Isn’t it arrogant to think that we “take God’s side” in disputes when ultimately He sent his son to create unity? “God’s side” is not on the side of contemporary worship or traditional hymns. It is not on the side of the conservative or liberal. Those who take God’s side are those who humble themselves and become the servant of their enemies.

Furthermore the unity we have in the mutual Lordship of Jesus in not a unity of sameness and conforming to each other. It is a unity that underlies and supersedes our difference. Unity through whitewashing difference is doomed to fail; unity celebrating difference as inconsequential to the depths of our brotherhood is unshakeable.

Word Power

2006-01-11T07:17:00.000-07:00

We began reading the Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkein in one of my classes yesterday. Iluvitar spoke the world into existence in much the same way that God spoke light into existence. This made me think about the power of our words.

It seems to me that when we speak something for the first time, it is almost like something new is spoken into existence. I'm not saying that if you walk into the garage and say "Ferarri Enzo" a new car will appear. It is more like that something that already exists is given the permission to exist. This is hard to explain so I will try using an example.

Two people could be in love and know that they are in love without ever telling each other, yet once he tells her of his love, that love becomes almost tangible. It moves from the inwardly known to the outwardly declared.

The love already existed silently inside, but when it was expressed verbally it seems to me that it started to exist on another level, an almost phenomenal level.

What's my point? Good question. I'm not really sure either, except to say this. Are you sure your words are not more powerful than you think?

Syllogism

2005-12-20T12:11:00.000-07:00

Religion is not a syllogism but a poem.
H. L. Mencken, "Holy Writ"

I stole that quote of Pilgrimage of Faith, Matt's blog. Being a philosophy major made this quote even more pertinent I think. Simply because religion sometimes cannot be reconciled with agnostic logic, it is dismissed as unreasonable.

A syllogism is a formal logical argument with two premises and a conclusion. An example is, "I am human. All humans are mortal. Therefor I am mortal." Religion cannot be reduced like a fraction to a lowest common denominator. It cannot be sifted through to distill out nice little compact forms or methods. When we try to reduce religion to a set of rules or logical formulas, we corrupt its value. We probably all know people whose religion consists entirely of dogmatically obeying a certain set of rules. That kind of religion only has appeal as a form of structure for life, but lacks appeal as a spiritual force.

In one of my old posts I talked about the meaning of the word religion from the latin roots. It is about a bond between finite man and infinite God. The requirements that finite man must meet to enter that bond are set forth by the infinite God. I'm pretty sure all religions have lists of do's and don'ts, but religion also holds something greater than just those rules. Obedience binds us to God. Disobedience weakens or breaks that bond. The important thing is not the rules, it is the bond.

Let us use poetry as an illustration. Most poems follow a form. A sonnet is a very strict poetical structure, but within that structure the content is limitless. The beauty in a sonnet is not from its form but from the words within that form, yet without the form the words would not be as powerful. Words communicate meaning, form gives the meaning power.

Be Intolerant of Intolerance

2005-12-08T09:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday a man who is going through some difficult times talked about his problems in one of my classes. To help begin resolve his problems, he said, he went to his spiritual advisor. He explained briefly the seven Chakras of the body (energy vortexes). His spiritual advisor hypnotized him and pulled his fears out of his seventh chakra (the top of the head). Then his advisor hypnotized him and he listened as his higher self expressed his fears and his lower self listened. Under hypnosis he had a vision of Mary of Guadalupe.

I want you to take note of what you are thinking of this man right now.

As this man expressed his search for healing and comfort through these means, a Christian turned to me and said, "Sounds like it is time for an exorcism." That struck me as a horribly rude and unmerciful thing to say. As I thought more about it, I came to this conclusion.

The same Christain that made that comment showed me a quote by Kierkegaard saying something to this effect: As a Christian, it is not your job to defend Christianity against the Muslim or Buddhist, as a Christian it is your job to defend yourself against the idea of Islam and Buddhism. Stand for and in the truth, but don't be like Job's friends. Don't try and belittle someones pain by saying it must be a result of their unrighteousness and don't try and defend Christianity or God. If I learned anything from Job it is that God is big enough to defend himself. Jesus did not defend himself, but humble served thos who hated him. In the same way I believe he wants us to gently instruct and encourage the hurting and weak.

We followers of Christ should be the most tolerant of other spiritual and religious beliefs. Why should we be so tolerant of ideas we consider untrue and ungodly? I am convinced that we should be able to listen and understand the methods people use to search for peace, comfort, hope, and other spiritual things better than anyone else because we were not always Christians. Muslims are born Muslims. They do not know any other way of life. We were not born Christians, but chose to become followers of Christ. We know what it is to search. We know what it means to feel lost. We know hopelessness and fear and we know that the peace that passes all understanding and a hope that is an anchor firm and secure is found only through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Savior.

When someone expresses pain to you, do not try and tell them how they should feel, that the paths they are searching are wrong or Satanic. Show them mercy and love. Encourage them to try prayer and reading the Bible. Do not rebuke them, encourage them. Do not try to convert them, encourage them to seek truth in God and let God the Father work His conversion.

In my own life, when I seek comfort in sinful things, Jesus doesn't stand there and scream at me or tell me I am a filthy worldy no-good worthless loser. He calls to me. He doesn't tell me I'm taking the wrong way, he tells me that he is the way, the truth and the life. Don't be intolerant of worldy ideas; rather rejoice that you know the truth. Don't rebuke the lost man who believes a lie; instead gently encourage him to search for truth.

Now what do you think of the man who was searching?

Your love has expired?

2005-11-30T11:59:00.000-07:00

I saw a thing on Yahoo News that said Italian researchers have found that when you fall in love a chemical is released into your blood stream. After a year that chemical returns to normal levels. Scary thought huh? Something to keep in mind for us single or dating folk.

It also makes me wonder something else. Have you ever seen people who have been married for 20 years and you can still tell they are in love? What sort of love do you have when the chemicals wear off?

Are You Determined?

2005-11-17T10:26:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not talking about determined in the sense of being focused on something, I mean has some outside force determined who you are and the choices you make? Consider these two definitions of the word determined

1. To limit in scope or extent

2. To cause (someone) to come to a conclusion or resolution

There are more definitions, but these two are enough to go on. Are we limited in scope or extent by outside forces? By God? By material things or our economic situation as Marx thought? By the knowledge and reason of our age as Hegel thought? By ourselves as the existentialists think? Christians tend to overlook philosophical sources of determinism. Philosophers overlook metaphysical sources of determinism. I think to some extent we are limited in scope and extent by all these things. To some extent I am limited by the abilities God has given me, by the amount of money I have and am able to earn, by the philosophy and attitude of my age and culture, and also by my own will and choices. All of these things are limiting factors. They are negative. They do not produce or spur on, they hold back.

What forces cause me to come to a conclusion or resolution? All the same forces. The postmodern or modern attitude I adopt causes me to draw different conclusions and to interpret my world differently. Faith in God or disbelief also alters my views. Here is where personal choice comes in. If I know both the postmodern and modern attitude I can choose which to adopt. I can choose between faith and unbelief. My list of choices is limited only by my knowledge of possible choices. The more choices I see the less narrow-minded I will be.

As for the nature of God and the predeterminism vs. free choice argument, I don’t claim to know the answers. I would challenge you to think about this: Is predeterminism God limiting the scope or extent of people to choose or is it God foreknowingly causing someone to come to a conclusion? The first case would be like God saying, “I will let Bob into heaven, but I will not allow Gary in. I will limit him to life and death.” The second case is more like God saying, “I will let Bob and Gary both choose to believe or not, but I will convince Gary to believe.”

To keep the post shorter I will stop there. Please, do not be narrow-minded in your life, either in Christianity or normal life. To acknowledge the limits of your knowledge and understanding is far more wise than to foolishly advocate a view held without knowledge or understanding. I will probably post on this subject again soon.

Uncle Nate!

2005-11-17T08:18:00.000-07:00

My sister and her husband had their first baby today! The baby's name is Emily Grace and she weighs 8 pounds 2 ounces. Congratulations Kirstin and Marc!

Reverent Submission

2005-11-16T07:18:00.000-07:00

In Hebrews Chapter 5 it says that God heard Christ's prayers and petitions because of his reverent submission. I was thinking about my own prayers and wondering if I prayed reverently and in submission. Often I still pray selfishly or without really being reverent.

I was also thinking about the way power corrupts. We are reading Marx in one of my classes and he saw the room for corruption and injustice in capitalism. What he didn’t see was the way power tends to twist people the more they have it. Very few people who hold a lot of power seem to serve only the interests of others (including the ones they may have been elected to represent). When your power tends to give you an avenue to help your own interests it is tempting to use your power for your own interests. Then I thought about Jesus. More powerful than anyone else. After fasting for forty days Satan tempted him to use his power to turn stones to bread. Satan whispered (I imagine), “Serve yourself for once. You are so hungry and there are so many stones. No one will miss these. Use your power to abate your hunger.” Yet Jesus, even though hungry, still kept his focus on God. His reply (from scriptures) was, “Man does not live by bread alone.” He was reverently submitted to God.

His power was not his for his own sake. Even though he had power to conquer, he submitted. Even though he had the power to exalt himself on earth, he humbled himself to death on a human cross. Even though he had the power to establish himself an earthly kingdom, he reverently obeyed God and was established over an eternal kingdom. In all things he humbled himself, submitted himself, and obeyed. In return God conquered his enemies, exalted his name above all names, and established his kingdom. Everything he could have done for himself he did not do and in return God did even greater things for and through him.

Are you reverently submitted?

A Body and a Bride

2005-11-09T10:38:00.000-07:00

A couple friends and I had a discussion about postmodernism. One point of discussion was how postmoderns point out problems but don’t offer any solutions. I probably advocate change without giving an idea of what to change to. To remedy that I offer this simple thought.

When I think of the word church I think of establishment. I think of things like democracy, government, or some sort of social hierarchy. I don’t think people right away. I don’t think Jesus right away. I think of buildings. I think of arbitrary divisions of people. The two things I don’t think about are what church should make me think about and the two things I do think about are meaningless.

The Bible gives to illustrations of church: marriage and a body. The church is compared to a body made up of many parts in several passages. The image is used to show a whole made up of many interdependent parts. If instead of calling the gathering of believers church, we called it The Body we might think more about the relationship and purpose of people within the group more. We might also remember who is the Head. The second illustration is that of the bride. This illustration is one of a woman preparing herself for her bridegroom who is on his way to come marry her. Every bride I have ever heard of makes herself beautiful for her husband. Every bride looks forward to her wedding day. Her friends are excited for her. If we called the gathering of believers The Bride of Christ, maybe we would remember who it is that is coming for us and would prepare for him. Changing how we talk about our gathering together might help us to change the form of our gatherings.

You’re probably saying “Nate, its all semantics.” I disagree. Any public speaker or writer knows how to use word choice to change the impact of his or her speech. Most speakers realize that you can manipulate listeners by the choice of words. I don’t think changing terms will manipulate us. It will hopefully begin to change the very way we understand what God instituted The Church to be. Not just a Church, but a Church to be the Body and Bride of his son Christ. I mentioned earlier that I think of church as buildings and arbitrary divisions of people. I think of sedentary things. No sedentary body will remain healthy and strong. No sedentary bride will be prepared when her bridegroom arrives. The two images God gave us of the church involve unity and action. If we change the way we speak about the gathering of believers (which is itself a more descriptive term than church) will we change the focus of our gathering? Maybe. Maybe not. I happen to think that this change would at least be a first small step towards greater things. This step would only begin to change the way we think, but once we start thinking differently we will be able to think outside of the limited terms of today’s church. Once that happens, who knows what Christ might be able to accomplish in his church to unite and beautify his beloved church? How would the world see us then? As archiac or as alluring?

Journal

2005-11-07T07:22:00.000-07:00

I journal sporadically and I was rereading my journal from the past year and a half. Sometimes I'm surprised by what I wrote. I tend to write a lot and then write one really good (in my opinion) sentence. This is one sentence from my journal that I have been thinking about a lot the past week.

"I would rather suffer with purpose than rejoice without direction."

Poetry

2005-11-03T10:39:00.000-07:00

Here is a poem I wrote this week. It isn't very good so I'll also post Holy Sonnet X by John Donne after it.

Oh God, grant me death
that my sin would also die.
Death will not kill me
but heal and free my
soul which part loves
you and in part defies.
Death will not end me
but end the little deaths
I die every day;
I die in every breath
apart from you in lust,
in greed, in wrath.
Death is not my doom,
it is my liberty.

Holy Sonnet X

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so ;
For those, whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy picture[s] be,
Much pleasure, then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou'rt slave to Fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy, or charms can make us sleep as well,
And better than thy stroke ; why swell'st thou then ?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And Death shall be no more ; Death, thou shalt die.
-John Donne

Galatians says that it is for freedom that Christ has set us free, but if we are free why does sin still seem like such a powerful fetter? The bible says we are free from the law of sin and death. In another place it says that we are free from the fear of death. Death is not the end for a follower of Christ, it is the final emancipation of the believer. Through Jesus God stole away the power of Satan's greatest tool. How awesome is our God!

Religion

2005-11-01T07:22:00.000-07:00

Do you know what religion means in latin? One of my professors told us that it comes from the two latin words re and legare. Re means again and legare means ligament. Webster’s offers this etymology:

Etymology: Middle English religioun, from Latin religion-, religio supernatural constraint, sanction, religious practice, perhaps from religare to restrain, tie back -- more at RELY

From the way the professor described the root of the term religion, I came to understand another meaning. Ligaments bind bones together. To re bind could mean to restrain or to rebind what was a broken bond. Religion is about being re-bound to God. This made the whole “relationship vs. religion” argument seem stupid. Religion is about right relationship. Religion has always been about the status of man in the eyes of the various gods and what man must do to be right with those gods or to please those gods. In a sense it is the things a person does to put him or herself in right relation to a god as a god defines right relation. As a Christian it goes a bit further. Religion not only puts us in right relation to God but opens the door for us to have a relationship with Him. First it puts us where we belong, shows us how God sees us, then through faith, we can approach God and know God. I think we are wrong to emphasize relationship with God through Christ outside of religion because I believe that relationship can only develop through religion. Relationship is not separate from, but should follow from religion.

This is only a thought. I could be wrong. Feel free to comment and either support or refute my argument. If any of my thoughts make you think, please return the favor!

Comments

2005-10-27T09:45:00.000-06:00

I just realized my comments settings were set to members only. Now anyone can comment. Please do! Half the time I think I am only writing to myself anyway. Let me know what you think.

The Tools of Truth

2005-10-27T09:25:00.000-06:00

Last night I spent a couple hours writing about the use of reason in searching for truth. In western philosophy reason is the great tool for finding and/or creating truth. Western philosophy has, to a great extent, ignored other tools such as the aesthetic. I think another tool in the search for moral truth that is very hard to comprehend is faith. Reason, the aesthetic, and faith are all tools used in the search for truth. There might be more that I haven't considered and if you think of any, please leave a comment.

Our society leans on reason. Some societies try and lose themselves in the aesthetic. Only an individual can find truth through faith. Faith cannot be given to the masses, but only found by an individual. A man of faith may glimmer in the eyes of a man searching for truth. The man of faith will glimmer as he reflects the truth he seeks and as the truth begins to infuse him. If you use reason to search for truth, you will not find it. If you use reason while you seek by faith your search will yield more quickly. If you care about morality, if right and wrong are important to you, please don't trust in reason alone and please do not discard it. Reason could not set me free from my moral weakness and imperfection. I decided to trust that God had provided an escape from the penalty of my immorality by faith. The Bible says that our immoral actions deserve punishment by death, but God provided the payment for us by allowing Jesus, the only morally perfect man, to die and pay that penalty. When we decided to accept that payment by faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection the truth becomes real and alive. In my life Jesus is the only hope I have found to live a moral and satisfied life. I have not abandoned reason, only let it be superseded. If you have any questions about faith or Jesus or God please post a comment.

A Trophy Wife

2005-10-24T12:06:00.000-06:00

I was talking with a friend yesterday and this thought struck me. Has the church become a trophy wife? Is it more worried about looking pretty than having character and substance? This thought came from the passage of scripture (1 Peter 3 I believe) telling wives that their beauty should not come from braided hair or pretty jewelry, but from their character. That is a good principle for the church in America to consider today. Do we use pretty buildings and hip programs to attract people, or do we attract people with the substance of our lifestyle and involvement in the community?

Stop trying to make church appealing in a cultural manner. Please. Just for once try and make church draw me by showing me my spiritual need and the love that you offer. I don't care about powerpoint, three point sermons, the amperage of the worship band, or the latest and greatest “Christian” “self-help” book. I care about finding a place where I can find healing for my hurts, comfort for my loneliness and pain, and love in spite of my sin. Which of the last two sentences do you think Jesus cares more about? He died so we could experience true life. He suffered so that he could sympathize with our suffering. He preformed miracles through God’s strength so that we might know that we can trust in his strength.

The church is a spiritual institution. The church is not a physical, cultural, intellectual, emotional, or monetary institution so let’s stop treating it like it is any of those. It is a spiritual institution created to meet physical needs in order to show a desire to help with spiritual needs. It is a spiritual institution to teach us to govern our emotional, intellectual and financial lives with a supernatural focus. It is a spiritual institution that is above all culture in order to reach all cultures. In the church we need to focus on Christ and his teaching, the rest will follow.

Best Interests

2005-10-21T07:34:00.000-06:00

Christ did not die to serve our self-interests. He died for us to save us, not to please our desires. Sometimes people say that God has our best interests in mind. He does, I believe, but not what I consider my best interests. He did not send his son to die so that Jesus could become my slave; Christ died so that I could become his servant and friend.

We call Jesus our King. A king can demand anything of his servants. We have no power to make demands of him. He has every right to ask anything of us, even to lay aside our deepest desires or give up our most precious posession for his sake, yet if we call him King our only response is to say "Yes, Lord." Salvation was my greatest interest which Christ fulfilled for me. When I accepted that salvation I vowed to serve his interests.

We serve a loving God. He does not demand more than we can give, only everything we have to give. He does not ask of us to harm us, but to teach and discipline us. Even in giving up what we most dearly want, he can set us free from internal bondages. All my righteousness, all my desires, all my dreams are rubbish compared with knowing Christ.

"What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead"
-Phillipians 3:8-11

There is pain in submission sometimes, but the goal of obedience is much greater than the loss.

A Thought From Kierkegaard

2005-10-20T10:04:00.000-06:00

Morality is character, character is that which is engraved; but the sand and the sea have no character and neither has abstract intelligence, for character is really inwardness. Immorality, as energy, is also character; but neither moral nor immoral is merely ambiguous, and ambiguity enters into life when the qualitative distinctions are weakened by a gnawing reflection.
-Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)

Pretty interesting thought. "Morality is character, character is that which is engraved." What are you engraving in your life? Anything? Or are you content to be like shifting sand and sea which change too much to have character?

Can you leave it behind?

2005-10-19T12:17:00.000-06:00

If I asked you what your most precious wish, dream, or desire was what would you say? What if God asked you to give that up, to consider it dead? Are you willing to leave whatever he says to behind? It is hard. It takes a lot of trust and a lot of pain to surrender the things you most dearly desire or care about. I think God is asking me to lay aside things I have always taken for granted. I'm praying that he would reaffirm his desire, if it is his desire. One of the authors of the new testament said he considered it, "all a loss compared to knowing Christ." Loss can hurt, but it is worth what it costs if it is the price of following Jesus.

Random Poems

2005-10-18T09:30:00.000-06:00

9/8/05
My life is but a shadow
That only shortly darkens your eyes.
It is a shadow,
A thing of no substance,
Known not for what it is composed of
But defined by what it lacks:
Light.
Yes I am but a passing darkness.

9/1/05
Where is the warrior you see?
I see only a boy.
Who do you call your saint,
When I feel only a wicked devil.
I admit that I am blind
And I know you see.
So I will close my eyes to myself.

2/2/05
What food can fill me
When my spirit hungers for you?
What tastes sweet
When my soul is bitter?

The sound of my breath
Is unworthy to be heard by you.
My tongue holds only evil.

If for all eternity
You allowed me only to abide by your gate
This would be too much for me,
A grace to noble for me.

How can I smile
When I have no respect for myself?
Where is my joy
When I have wandered from your Word?

It is in You.

It is in your character
Your Grace
Your Justice
Your Judgment
Your Mercy

In your Promise
Your Sovereignty
Your Faithfulness
Your Fatherhood
In You.
I am as nothing before you.

Sin Sucks

2005-10-17T07:19:00.000-06:00

I hate sin. I hate that i sin, but the odd thing is that I hate sin in a wrong manner. I hate sin because it makes me dirty and I want to be clean. I want my righteousness to shine like a beacon so that people say "look what a good guy Nate is." I hate sin self-righteously. When I hate sin this way I stumble all the time. Sin becomes more powerful and sin-hate turns to self-hate.

When I hate sin for my sake it produces no strength to stop sinning. When I hate sin the way God hates sin, his power helps me when sin looks enticing. There are two things that help fight sin.

First I must love God more than I hate sin.

Second I must hate sin the way God hates sin.

Loving God produces the desire to be pure, to be holy as He is holy. It is not a self-righteousness you pursue; it is God's holiness and sanctification you pursue. Loving God entices you away from sin.

Hating sin the way God hates sin means not seeing sin as a danger to your reputation, it means seeing sin as shackles, slavery. That is all that I have time to write. I hope this gives you something to think about in your own life.

Justice before Grace

2005-10-14T08:02:00.000-06:00

We speak often of Grace, and rightfully so, yet Justice is forgotten. We speak of Mercy, but what about the Law? Grace and mercy mean much to those who know they need it, but what about those who don’t understand their need? I don’t see a need for grace if I see no transgression or standard to transgress.

Grace is incomplete without justice. Without the law, mercy is meaningless.

In God’s law an adulterer or adulteress were to be stoned. Murderers also suffered the penalty of death. When Jesus said that anger in our hearts was equal to murder and that lust was as wicked as adultery he was also saying, in a sense, that they deserved equal punishment. There is a distinction though. Physical adultery merited physical death. Spiritual adultery harbored in our hearts and minds deserves spiritual death. If this is the standard of the lay, justice must make sure the penalty is enforced. Without justice the law is not to be feared.

Consider human lay. If we are driving too fast and see the lights of a policeman our stomachs turn over and we are afraid of the penalty we know we deserve. We accept that we are under the law and its penalty. The policeman, because he has been instituted by the law, has the authority to hand down punishment. We do not question our wrongdoing or his authority to hand out punishment when we know the law and know that we have transgressed it. Yet what of the times we see the policeman’s lights and we can see nothing that we have done wrong? We are bewildered. The policeman gives us a ticket for something we didn’t know was illegal. We become angry. We are angry at the policeman for punishing us for something we didn’t know was wrong, we reject this stupid, silly law, and we are angry at society for not teaching us the law. We are angry with everyone but ourselves, yet we are still guilty. We did not educate ourselves to the law. Even though we didn’t know the law, we are still worthy of the policeman’s punishment, still under his authority.

When we know the law we blame ourselves for transgression. When we face justice without knowing the law we blame everyone else. If we know the law we fear justice. If we don’t know the law we despise justice.

The world needs to hear God’s law so that they understand that the penalty of their transgressions fall upon themselves. They need to understand his justice in order to desire his grace.

The Bride of Christ

2005-10-13T09:02:00.000-06:00

The Church as an institution has become almost loathsome to me. The only fond feelings I have when I think of church are the thoughts of people. Ironically we all say, “Yes, yes. Of course the church is the people,” but we are satisfied with leaving the church in a state where it is totally repulsive to people, both Christian and otherwise. Church is the people, but many people want no part of it.

From Ephesians chapter five I have gained this metaphor of marriage. Why am I bringing up marriage? One of the illustrations that God uses throughout the New Testament is that the church is the bride of Christ. By better understanding the way he instituted marriage we can better understand our role as his bride. Here is the passage:

22Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing[b] her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30for we are members of his body. 31"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."[c] 32This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. (Ephesians 5:22-33 NIV)

From this passage I have come to see my future role as a husband differently. The responsibility for husbands is very great. Wives must submit to their husband as the head, yet, as the head, the husband must care for his wife as if she were his own body. My job is to love my wife so much that I give up myself in order to make her more holy and beautiful. I see a good husband as a good gardener and a wife as a beautiful plant. Usually the plant is self sufficient, but it is my duty to make sure that the flower gets the water and sunlight it needs to grow. I have to make sure it is sheltered in bad weather so that its beauty is preserved. My job is to make my wife more beautiful. Where did I come up with this image? From the way Christ treated the church in this passage of scripture.

Jesus gave everything for his bride. What have we done with what he has given us? Have we closed our bloom to hide it from the world, to selfishly keep its beauty focused inward on itself? Are we constantly more beautiful because of what Christ is doing among us and through us? Or have we become something else?

Let us consider my wife as a flower again. Every time you repot a plant, the plant goes through a shock. You have to make sure the change will be worth that initial pain. Will moving the plant give it more room to grow, more sun and water to consume? The same is true with my wife in a sense. If I wanted to move to a different city I would have to consider (a) will this change open up new opportunities for my wife, (b) will it be a better place to find what she needs, and (c) is the overall change worth the adjustment we will have to go through? This is where the metaphor breaks down. A plant has no way to resist the gardener’s plan; a wife can refuse the will of her husband. This is part of the reason that scripture says that wives should be submissive to their husbands. If, as a husband, I love my wife as Christ loves his bride, submitting to my will should be easier. If I love my wife as Christ loves the church my wife will know I am seeking her benefit. Surely my wife will not want to leave her friends behind to move to a new city but if she trusts me and moves to the new city things will ultimately get better than they were before. But maybe she will not look towards the end result and will refuse to move simply because she doesn’t want to go through the pain. By her refusal she will be stealing from herself. She will be stealing from herself a chance to become better, to thrive. Like a plant in too small a pot, she will slowly be stifled, but by her own will. Her beauty will become stagnant.

These two metaphors are for us as a church. As it is with a human bride, so it is with the bride of Christ. We either submit to his will no matter what the pain as we trust in his foresight and judgment or we are slowly stifled by our selfish inwardness. The question that faces each of us as individuals and ultimately as the body of Christ is whether we need a new pot for our flower or new home for the church. Christ has told us he has gone to heaven to prepare a place for us. Are we preparing ourselves for him? Are we preparing ourselves as a bride prepares for her husband? Are we submissive to his will?

Picture Links!!

2005-10-12T12:09:00.000-06:00

I'm going to try and link to my webshots account so you can check out all of my pictures.

A Million Faces

2005-10-11T16:20:00.000-06:00

9/26/05

A million faces passing by,
a million faces, but not an eye
that counts me worth a look.
A million tongues for idle speech,
a million mouths that always speak,
but not a word of comfort.
Passing by a million ears,
a million passing but none to hear
my tormented cry.
A tumult of steps and voices.
A deluge of thoughts and choices,
but none toward me direct.
Far away a crowd I spy,
a smaller crowd heard to cry;
they know my pain.
A few women wailing, shrieking,
fewer men standing, weeping,
in the middle three men hanging.
Three men of life bereaved;
of three men, two thieves
and one I read a King.

Three nails to hold him down
on two planks with one crown
pressed into his scalp.
With two arms stretched wide
his two eyes meet mine
And he says, “I know.”

“A million sins of yours I bear,
a million sins and all your cares
die with me today.”

I say, “Even with this done,
you leave and I’m alone
still dead inside.”

“One thief hates and dies.
The other loves and in paradise
He gains a throne.”

One cry, one sponge of gall
one drink, then last of all
he cries out again.

“For a corpse, what good a throne?
For the dead, what good a home?”
asks my bitter heart.
Three nights I did not sleep,
three lifetimes’ tears upon my cheek
I waited for an end.
“Dear God take this life.
End the pain, the loss, the strife,”
I screamed at him.

“I hear. I see. I always did.
But I had to show,” he said,
“A chance for hope.”

I see pierced hand and side
and see my Hope, my King alive.
And I believe.

“The millions heard you not,
but I heard, I saw and long I sought
your presence with me.
I suffered death, once for all
who would hear my call,
‘Repent know peace.’”

Oh Lord, I do hear and turn
to your presence which I yearn
for in my spirit.

The million still ignores,
Still scorns, still abhors
My precious life.
But their love, life’s not in it
It’s in one Lord, one Spirit,
And one Savior.

Introduction

2005-10-11T16:11:00.000-06:00

So. This is the beginning. Probably not the start of anything great or world changing, just an expression of ideas. My posts will be a pretty eclectic mix of stuff revolving mostly around the idea of faith. Feel free to check it out once in a while and read.