As Haiti continues to struggle to dig out and rebuild after the earthquake, World Vision continues to serve the people there. You can read about all that is being done and how you can help by going here.
Fear and Love
In the song, “I Will Follow You Into the Dark,” Death Cab for Cutie sings about death and following a lover “into the dark.” It’s a song with that sees death as an unknown. There are many folks who see death and life after death that way. I’m not going to discuss that here though.
What struck me (and broke my heart) were the following lines:
In Catholic school as vicious as Roman rule
I got my knuckles bruised by a lady in black
And I held my tongue as she told me
“Son fear is the heart of love”
So I never went back
I never went to Catholic school, but I did grow up in a religious culture that was fear based. We were told early in life that we needed to accept Jesus as our personal Savior so we could avoid going to hell. Lurid descriptions of hell, some going beyond what Scripture says, were part and parcel of the “gospel.” Movies like “Thief in the Night,” and stories of holes drilled deep into the earth and the screams of the damned coming from those holes, were designed to scare people into “making a decision” for Christ. Today, churches use things like “Judgment House,” and “Helloween” to do the same thing.
There was also an emphasis on “living right,” which of course meant following a certain set of rules and regulations. The motives for doing right included not wanting to lose rewards in heaven, not wanting to damage our “testimony,” and not wanting to be “taken home” early because of our sin. We tried to live right because of fear of the consequences if we didn’t. Even those of us who rebelled tried to make sure that we asked forgiveness before we went to bed, in case we died in the middle of the night.
While there are warnings throughout Scripture about judgment, and I do believe that there will be some sort of judgment when Jesus comes again, I think the more prevalent theme throughout the Bible is love. The Israelites were told that God was leading them in his love. They were commanded to love God with their entire being, and to love their neighbors as themselves.
God presented himself to Moses as the God who is, “slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.” All through the Old Testament, the people of God were reminded of his love for them and of their responsibility to love God and to love others.
In the New Testament, Jesus states that all of God’s Law can be kept by loving God with our entire being and loving all others as ourselves. He said that the way others would know that we belong to him is our love for each other. In John’s first letter, he writes about the importance of love. 1 John 4:18 is the verse that puts to rest any notion that “fear is the heart of love.” This verse sums it up:
“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
TGIF
This week, like most others, has gone quickly. I have a rare Friday night and Saturday off. There is supposed to be some sort of winter storm hitting the area tonight so our basketball game tonight was postponed and tomorrow’s practice has been canceled. So far, our town has received exactly zero inches of precipitation. 🙂
On to the good stuff:
Communities or churches?
Getting out of the insurance business.
Two weeks.
How to pursue justice without losing your soul.
Here is an update from iMonk.
The 20th Century’s biggest change in evangelicalism. A change for the better, in my opinion.
The only doc. (HT: Scot McKnight)
Doubters, arise!
Life vs. news.
Legalism? Good?
When good motives go bad.
Learning to dance in the rain.
Like clouds and wind.
Losing Jesus?
What are you chosen to suffer for?
Brother Maynard prognosticates.
Have a restful weekend.
No Explanations
This was posted on Brian McLaren’s site. The picture was taken by Mike Todd at a church next to the Garden of Gethsemane. It’s a pretty funny picture, and the wording is possibly due to the difficulties of translating from one language into another.
As I occasionally do when I see things like this, I began to think. I thought about how we in the church often come together. Before we gather, we put on our masks in order to appear as if we have it all together. We dress up, or down as the case might be, in order to look spiritual. (We either “put on our best for God,” or we show that we “know that God cares about what’s in our heart, not what’s on the outside.”)
If we’re one of those who don’t do everything perfectly, who sometimes royally screw up, (I like to call these people “humans”) we come armed with explanations for the things we have done or said. We feel that we have to justify ourselves in the eyes of others because we don’t want anyone to think that we don’t measure up. Maybe we have experienced the judgement of those who condemn others in order to make themselves look and feel good. Maybe we can’t forgive ourselves for something we’ve done in the past. Maybe we just don’t think we’re worthy of anyone’s love and acceptance. For whatever reason, we think of a “Yes, but,” to tack on in order to explain ourselves.
Sometimes we even try to explain things to God when we come to him in prayer. When you stop and think about it, trying to make excuses for something that the Creator knows everything about is pretty foolish. Yet, we continue to do it.
We all need to realize that we don’t need explanations. The Father knows all about us, even more than we know, and he loves and accepts us anyway. We may try to explain ourselves, but his response is, “It doesn’t matter. It’s taken care of. Just let me love you. Trust me.” We shouldn’t need explanations in the church either. We’re told in Romans 14 that we are to accept those whom God has accepted. We have no right to judge those who are forgiven by God, and they don’t owe us any explanation for being human and acting like it.
Let’s take off the masks, and accept ourselves and our brothers and sisters as who we are – frail humans who still sin, but who are accepted in the Beloved and are righteous in the Father’s sight. Please: No explanations inside the church.
World Vision Wednesday
Children all over the world are being exploited for a number of reasons. This often includes the children being bought and sold like any commodity. One of the areas where World Vision is working to end child trafficking is Eastern Europe.
Here is an account from a World Vision staff member who spent time visiting child protection programs in that part of the world.
The Existence of God
A friend on theooze.com posted a link to this essay. It’s an excellent piece on “proving” the existence of God. I would suggest you read the entire essay.
A few paragraphs struck me as significant:
“The existence of God is a profound matter, and never something that should be treated perfunctorily. That “I believe God exists” and that “I know Him” are among the deepest things that a Christian can say, and are a confession of the grace of God. We have been given something that is consonant with purity of heart, and should thus confess it with extreme humility.”
“We are living in a time of history in which saints are required. We have long passed the time in which rational arguments will carry the day. Nothing less than lives which manifest the existence of God will do. The world has heard centuries of arguments – has been subjected to crass persecutions and atrocities in the name of God (even if these were largely not the result of Orthodox actions). We have survived a century of extremes (Bolshevism, Nazism, etc.). That the world is hungry is beyond doubt. But the world is not hungry for a new and winning argument.
The world hungers for God (whether it knows this or not).”
“The proper Christian answer to the hunger of the world is to be found only in the manifestation of God. Thus the challenge of a modern atheist should not be met with an anxious rejoinder from our panoply of arguments – but with the urgency of prayer that we might ourselves become an answer through the reality of the presence of God in our lives.”
“As witnesses of the God who exists – we should strive in our small ways – to become persons whose lives are themselves an argument for the existence of God – a God whose existence is indeed beyond all existence.”
“It is a tall order. Nothing less than life in the image of the resurrection of Christ will do. Nothing less than that has been promised us in Christ.”
May we be people who live in the reality and power of the resurrection.
Spring Fever
I know it’s only January 25, but I’m already feeling a touch of the malady known as spring fever. Basketball season is winding down, and even though I am enjoying coaching more than I have in a few years, the long days and the traveling are beginning to wear a bit thin. I’m also getting tired of winter. I know, we really don’t have winter here in the sunny South, but I’m tired of it nonetheless.
Around this time of year, I begin looking around to see if maybe God wants me to do something else to earn a living. It’s not that I’m totally unhappy where I am, although the job is more stressful than I would prefer. It’s just that I try to keep my eyes open for opportunities that may be out there. Of course, there’s not a whole lot out there this year. Not too many jobs are coming open, so I’m definitely grateful I do have a job.
There are some changes on the horizon. Some we know about, some will make themselves known later. Jennie has been promoted at the company where she works, and it sounds like a great move for her. Josh will graduate in May, and will then have to go out and find a job. Hopefully the economy will improve to the point that architectural firms will be hiring. Jan and I will celebrate our thirtieth anniversary this summer, and we hope to do something special.
St. Thomas Community Church is looking at a future that has uncertainties ahead and decisions to be made. We are very close to outgrowing the space where we meet, and we’re not sure what the next step will be. There are many advantages to meeting in a bagel shop. We pay no rent, so any money that is given can go to help those in need. The setting is intimate so there can be good discussion during the teaching time. Right now, we’re small enough that we can begin to know each other more than just on a Sunday morning. We’re in the middle of the marketplace instead of being sequestered behind closed doors in “our place.” We’ve had a couple of the shop employees express an interest in checking us out.
We’ve never had anyone show up and then leave because we were too crowded, that we know of. The possibility exists that we will have to move, but for now we’re going to stay put until we have a clear indication from God where we’re supposed to go. Yesterday we talked about Abram in Genesis 12, and how God told him to go. Abram went, and there is no record that God told him specifically where to go, but that God simply led him. We feel like we’re kind of in that situation as a community. God has called us to be where we are, and to bless those around us. He is leading us step by step, and calling us to simply walk with him and be ready to do what he wants us to do. There is no five year plan (heck, we don’t even have a five week plan). There is no building program, and no plans to build a huge “ministry.” There’s just a day by day, week by week dependence on the Spirit, trying to listen to the still small voice of our Father.
A Son
It was a Sunday morning in January, 1983. Just the day before, the Washington Redskins had won the NFC championship and were headed to the Super Bowl. I was in the shower, getting ready for church. It seemed like a normal day. Little did we know that our lives were about to be forever changed.
My morning routine was interrupted by the news that it was time to go to the hospital. You see, Jan was in her final days of her first pregnancy, and it was time for this child to come into the world. This first child was a son, someone to carry on the family name. We named him Joshua.
Within the first few months of this son’s life, we moved to the Cincinnati area. During his time there, we began to get a hint of the person this son would become. From asking us to put money in a box set up to collect for a ministry to the poor to expressing concern for homeless people we would see when visiting DC, his concern for the least of these was evident early on.
We learned very quickly that this boy was very intelligent, and our challenge became helping him to develop that intellect. Fortunately he loved to read, and regular trips to the library became our ally. We found out though, that keeping him challenged in school would be more difficult. Although we never really had to worry very much about grade, we did have to nudge him a couple of times in middle school after we had moved to South Carolina. One thing we learned about this son during these years is that while he loved to learn, and was interested in a wide range of subjects, things like grades and class ranks didn’t really interest him.
When he went away to college, we missed him. We knew that going away would be good for him, and for us. He was in a place where his faith would be both challenged and strengthened, where he could grow into the person God wanted him to be. He graduated ready to take on the world.
God had other plans though, and he went through a couple of years of temporary jobs and economic difficulty. As time went on, he came to feel drawn in a different direction. Deciding on a career in architecture, he made the hard decision to leave his friends and the city he had come to love and come back home to pursue a graduate degree. It has been difficult at times for him.
In four months, he will graduate. Then it’s out into the real world. Jobs are scarce, but we are confident that God has something out there for him. One thing that has not changed is the heart for the poor and downtrodden that was there when he was a child. It will be exciting to see how God will combine that heart with the art and science of architecture.
Little did we know what the last twenty seven years would bring. We are extremely gratefully to the Father for the privilege of parenting this special son. Josh, we love you and are very proud of you. You have brought, and continue to bring, great joy to us. We pray for God’s continued blessing on you, and for his guidance as you step into your future.
Happy birthday, Josh. We love you.
TGIF
This week has seen a terrible disaster hit the nation of Haiti, and the tremendous response of many governments, organizations, and individuals. More help will be needed, as the earthquake exposed and exacerbated the problems already there. Please continue to pray and help in whatever way you can.
Here are the links:
Dan Edelen has a vital warning for charismatics.
First hand info from Haiti. (HT: Annedroid)
One story of preventing child trafficking.
An update from iMonk.
Who is my neighbor?
A reminder that the earth is the Lord’s.
I found this to be interesting.
A gentle tension. (HT: Scot McKnight)
Economic indicator? (HT: also McKnight)
Christian joy.
Kansas Bob on Scott Brown.
Jeff McQ wonders what to do now.
Mark Scandrette is living in the questions.
Christianity beyond belief.
No matter which side we’re on, it’s always good to seek to understand those on the other side.
A good question.
Haiti, poverty, and Christianity.
More from Alan Knox on edifying others.
Matt on the B-I-B-L-E.
A missional way for the pro-life passion.
Have a great weekend.
World Vision Wednesday
Just this morning, I read that an aftershock with a magnitude of 6.1 has struck Haiti. World Vision is already there, serving those affected by the original earthquake. You can go here to read about a portion of their efforts.
Please continue to pray for Haiti, and consider how you can help.