The Faith Practices

Adios Amigos

2006-07-22T14:20:00.000-07:00

After 100 blog entries, I am leaving the blogspot world for a simple .com. My friend David Torres is helping me develop a more powerful site, which, Lord willing, will be able to offer a lot more free stuff.

Feel free to check it out: www.faithpractices.com

Thanks for taking time to read; there's no greater gift for a writer. Peace be upon you!

on the end

2006-07-18T06:25:00.000-07:00

The shout that silences every question
is filled with our cries of exhaustion.

on my trip to Cambridge

2006-07-15T12:30:00.000-07:00

I just returned from a week spent in England: two days in London, five studying in the Tyndale House at Cambridge.

In London, I visited an Anglican Church (Holy Trinity Brampton) where the Alpha Course began (see alpha.org). The ministry is thriving: four services, exciting (and perfectly performed) worship, a book store, and a relevant sermon (by Archie Coates)on Moses' encounter with God at the burning bush, entitled "How to Live Confidently". The lead pastor, Nicky Gumbel, was warm, humble, and generous. I especially appreciated the way he took time to pray for the people after communion. His prayer was not pre-formed; he would pause, waiting for direction from the Holy Spirit to offer healing words. The church building was beautiful: stained glass, a salmon-colored ceiling made of wood, and masoned stones. Their target audience is clearly the young professional.

That night I also visited Eden Baptist Church (at Cambridge) where the worship reflected more of a community value. The band was a bit out of sync, but you got the feeling that everyone could participate in the worship service. Genevieve Jennings, a "pastoral worker," offered one of the sweetest, doctrinally-sound prayers I have ever heard. A young man, who is being taught to preach by the lead pastor, Julian Hardyman, offered an exegetically precise sermon on one of the Psalms of Ascent. The church building is plain, but faces out in a mall which, I would assume, is a wonderful means to evangelism. (It is interesting to see the difference between state-funded and independent churches.) Julian related that during the normal term many of the University students attend. Otherwise, the church had no target audience, but reflected quite a diversity of ethnic and social backgrounds. I met my first "knight" there along with people like myself.

Tyndale House is a ministry for doctoral students and visiting scholars. They have a wonderful theological library. Every day at 4:00 p.m. we would break from our study for tea. I had a chance to meet two scholars I cited in my dissertation: Drs. David Instone-Brewer and Peter Head. Both men were gracious and willing to discuss some of the challenges of my research.

Another highlight was having dinner with Pastor John Piper, his wife, Noel, and their daughter, Talitha. He is one of those people that after meeting you want to be become a better man. (Of course, he would disagree with the Pelagianism of that comment.) By God's grace, an operation probably took away his cancer. But as many of you know, he treated his illness as an opportunity to give glory to God. I had fun trying to get him to eat ice cream; he ate none, I ate too much.

Overall, the trip was an undeserved blessing, a blessed opportunity to step outside of my quiet life for a time of reflection. The Spirit has given me fresh wind to teach and preach.

On Jesus and the Church

2006-07-04T07:23:00.000-07:00

It is often claimed, and with some justification, that the Church came into existence at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit came in a definitive way fifty days after the cross. But Jesus talks about the church before Pentecost (Matthew 18). Jesus calls Twelve apostles, who represent the patriarchs of Israel, as well as women and children. He refers to this group as his family.

If there is any significance to this observation, it may be that we should look a little more at the ministry of Jesus to establish the values of church. Here is a short list of claims to begin.

1) We live out the values of the Kingdom in the world, but the church is a place to share these values with one another. We are called to love non-believers, but fellowship is not possible. There are no orphans in the church.

2) The church is a discipleship circle, but Jesus is the only rabbi. We gather to learn more about God as he is revealed through Jesus Christ. We also exhort one another to be like Jesus, and wait upon the power of the Holy Spirit.

3) The church is a bread provider. God wants to multiply blessings for those in need through the church. Jesus is looking at the poor throughout the world, and is saying to us, "What are you going to do about it? I promised that their needs would be met."

4) The church is not a replacement for personal piety. Jesus encouraged his disciples to worship God in private.

5) The church is a place to work out our role in the Kingdom of God. It is the best "bank" to invest our talents.

Would you help me improve, shorten, or enlarge this list?

on following Jesus into ministry

2006-07-02T09:56:00.000-07:00

The impact came in his absence.

on the unseen abuser

2006-06-28T22:04:00.000-07:00

When a child has been hurt by someone outside his world, an abuser without context, he will make sense of the abuse by associating the abuser with someone inside his world. This coping mechanism gives carte blanche to the unseen abuser.

Both must be brought to justice.

on beauty

2006-06-27T09:21:00.000-07:00

I just came from a discussion with an artist friend of mine about the nature of beauty. I surpised myself by having a few convictions on the matter. As a biblicist, I believe artistic witnesses to beauty should do three things: (1) involve the honest perspectives of the artist; (2) point to the Creator of beauty, God; and (3) make moral distinctions between God's beauty and the Satanic counterfeit.

on anger

2006-06-25T15:25:00.000-07:00

Anger is the original drug.

on preaching

2006-06-24T13:29:00.000-07:00

Preaching should take us to the throne of heaven, then turn and storm the gates of hell.

on following Jesus

2006-06-23T07:43:00.000-07:00

We follow Jesus as the Lord,
because it's time to get off the slave block.

We follow Jesus as the Compassionate,
because it's time to embrace those the world throws away.

We follow Jesus as the Bread,
because it's time to put down the McDonalds.

We follow Jesus as the Savior,
because it's time to de-claw the past.

We follow Jesus as the Best of friends,
because it's time to draw near to God.

We follow Jesus as the Way,
because it's time to find a better map.

We follow Jesus as the Last Adam,
because it's time to leave the first.

We follow Jesus as the Truth,
because it's time to walk past science.

We follow Jesus as the Resurrected,
because it's time to awake from death.

We follow Jesus as the King,
because it's time for a new citizenship.

We follow Jesus as the Life,
because it's time to exhale.

We follow Jesus as the Bread,
becuase it's time to feed the world.

We follow Jesus as the Judge,
because it's time to defend the oppressed.

We follow Jesus as the Physician,
because it's time to heal the world.

We follow Jesus as the Hope,
because it's time for the church to dream again.

on truth

2006-06-16T11:33:00.000-07:00

If I were walking under the heat of the sun, but Jesus told me it was night, it would be night.

If this frightens a secularist, then he is not looking at the face of his truth-bearer. On this point, I have no disagreement with Muslims and Buddhists: at the end of the day (or at the root of every belief), we must all stand behind our teacher.

on worship

2006-06-16T08:27:00.000-07:00

Worship brings meaning to the universe. A single praise elicits a billion whispers that only children can hear.

on justice

2006-06-15T08:50:00.000-07:00

My grandfather, whose name was also John, was by most accounts a committed Christian. He pursued a quiet life, cutting meat with his hands. He worked hard six days, then went to church on the seventh. He loved his wife, and trusted Jesus for his salvation.

But, like most of his generation, he was also a racist. To my knoweldge he was never violent or even mean. But he would occasionally say, "I have no problem with the blacks; I just wouldn't have them at my table."

This confession is not intended to tarnish the memory of my grandfather. Rather, God has been stirring my heart to ask a question that probably never occured to him: What injustice am I blinded to?

Whatever gains a Christian generation makes--and my grandfather's generation has been called (with some justification) the "greatest" since it survived the Great Depression and fought the "Good War"--something is still missed. It may be obvious to us today, but not then. Only arrogance ignores the high probability that this generation's grandchildren will have a the same frustration. So what are we missing?

If Jesus were to enlighten the eyes of my heart to see this injustice, what would I do about it? Would I be willing to endure not only the hatred of the world, but most Christians as well? How much would I be willing to sacrifice for the respect of my grandchild? Or what if a prophetic Christian sister or brother enlightened me. Would I at least be willing to repent and live differently?

on love

2006-06-13T11:47:00.000-07:00

A key to loving is imagining a world where everyone values you and your contribution, a world where everyone wants your best. And then being that for the person in front of you, being that in a world that would otherwise care less.

We are able to do this because we believe and experience this love from God. Our love to the other becomes a bridge to this higher love.

on hatred

2006-06-07T08:23:00.000-07:00

I saw hatred go out of a man, grow bones, take on flesh, and become red in tooth and claw.

on death and dawn

2006-06-06T07:33:00.000-07:00

To die at dawn is to find life at dusk.

on prayer at dawn

2006-06-05T06:16:00.000-07:00

We may ask at dawn: "What talent, Abba, will you draw from my heart for others, and whose heart will be poured into mine?"

on value

2006-05-25T07:45:00.000-07:00

Anything of value is worth picking up, unless it takes much time. Then prayer is needed.

on love

2006-05-22T07:26:00.000-07:00

A key to love is realizing our only enemy is Satan.

Practice: Freedom from abuse (and continual victimization) can only happen by knowing one's enemy. Every time you experience anger about a person say, "I have no enemy but Satan." Every time you are tempted to judge a person say, "I have no enemy but Satan." This practice is also essential for Christian fellowship.

Update (June 8): I have chanted this probably a hundred times over the past few weeks, and it has deeply impacted how I approach others.

on the kingdom

2006-05-20T08:29:00.000-07:00

Thou hast conquered, patient Galilean.
The world has grown brittle from thy breath.

on the death of a child

2006-05-19T16:30:00.000-07:00

When a child dies, the sun darkens in every universe but one; the God who cannot cry, weeps; and angels fold their wings. Darkness falls everywhere except here, where a single candle remains lit.

on the kingdom

2006-05-17T14:50:00.000-07:00

It is not that we are preparing the Kingdom for the King, but that the King is preparing the Kingdom through us for whoever is in front of us.

on a blade of grass

2006-05-13T09:23:00.000-07:00

By the Spirit, we will break the mountain with a blade of grass.

on beautiful women

2006-05-01T08:05:00.000-07:00

Elderly women, who pray, are the most beautiful, for their hearts are nearest to Christ.

on formal and informal prayer

2006-04-27T07:31:00.000-07:00

This is my opinion: Formal prayer should lead to informal prayer. We recite under the yoke, but then our Abba invites us to speak freely (like little children who greet their father's return).

The disciple of Jesus may begin with the Shema; but it is better to begin with our Lord's Prayer.

The Lord's Prayer may be offered in the evening, but it is better to pray in the morning "give us our daily bread" and "protect us from temptation." An evening prayer should be one of thanksgiving.

The Lord's disciple may recite his Prayer by itself, especially if there is a crisis (such as our children being sick). But it is better to pause after each line.

on the breath of God

2006-04-23T07:49:00.000-07:00

"The Lord God formed man [adam = dirt] from the dust of the land. He blew into his nostrils the breath [spirit] of life, and man became a living being" (Genesis 2:7).

There is no denying a difference between a corpse and a living body. A corpse stops moving, except for its gradual decomposition (of course, the body is not moving itself, but being acted upon). A living being moves.

Before we get into discussions of the various metaphors to describe this physical, empirically observed difference, such as "spirit," "mind," and "soul," it is important to remember that the Bible begins to explain our humanity this way. Our very animation (movement) is a gift from God, our creator.

God breathes, and we begin to move. A critical element of this movement is brain function. As water passes through channels, moving boats and slapping against banks, so God's breath (spirit) moves us to contemplate, work, make love, eat, worship, and so on. God has created "both ends" of humanity: the power to act, and the proper context for such action.

All things move and stop. It never stops. Hindus and Buddhists explain this reality with a belief in reincarnation. The ancient Stoics believed our animation simply returned to what animates the universe. The Bible assumes our animation returns to God, our creator, who will one day re-animate--that is, cause to move-our corpses.

I am contemplating the possibility that our ultimate salvation, the resurrection, is largely the re-animation of our brains, but now at full (or more likely fuller) capacity. If our so-called "spiritual capacity" is largely a function of our brains, so what--it would only support the central claim of the New Testament that salvation is ultimately the re-animation of our bodies.

Death is divine inhalation; salvation, exhalation.

on Psalm 1:1-3 and 2 Timothy 4:2

2006-04-19T07:16:00.000-07:00

"How blessed is the man, who does not walk [live] by the counsel [teaching] of the wicked; and in the way of sinners, he does not stand; and in the seat of mockers, he does not sit. But rather his delight [pursuit] is in the law ["torah" direction] of the Lord; and on his law [direction for life] he meditates [whispers, repeats] day and night. And he is like a tree being planted [by the Lord] beside streams of waters, [a tree] which yields its fruit in its [proper] season; and its leaf does not dry up."

By drawing out the fuller semantic range of a few Hebrew words we can see the dominant motif of direction. The Lord is calling us back to himself; a part of that call is the nourishing counsel of Scripture. In his final letter, Rabbi Paul counsels his disciple, Timothy, to follow his torah (law, direction), which is based upon the life and teaching of the Great Rabbi, Jesus the Messiah. In this context, he praises Hebrew Scripture as being breathed out by God himself (3:16). He then writes: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season" (4:2). There is a time to preach, and there is a time for the preacher to be nourished by God's Word. When we only preach, the leaf will dry up. For this reason, a daily faith practice must be meditation upon Scripture. All the rabbis teach us, though, that this is largely a practice of vocal repetition. To speak torah is to focus upon torah; to repeat torah is to become torah.

on Satan (or why surrender to God is necessary in ministry)

2006-04-12T08:54:00.000-07:00

Satan is a greasy-haired pedophyle. So why do we allow him into the room with our children?

on reading the ten commandments in worship

2006-04-08T10:46:00.000-07:00

Pliny the Younger tells us that an early church in Bithynia (see 1 Peter 1:1)would read the Ten Commandments together in the morning worship service, then commit with one another to obey them. Perhaps my church could benefit from this practice.

I will put this into practice at my church by reading each commandment, then providing a brief application followed with: "For those willing to obey, say Amen." I will let you know how it goes.

on the old John

2006-04-01T09:46:00.000-08:00

What should I do with you, bad boy? You are nothing but a distraction, a negative nostalgia. My sickeness always begins with you, then spreads. Since you and I, the Christ-I, cannot yet part, this is what I will do--I will coach you to run further, teach you to read better, discipline you to speak less, even though you are nothing but a lost cause. How do you like them apples?

on the observation that the Holy Ones waited an hour before addressing God in prayer

2006-03-31T11:10:00.000-08:00

Abba, make us Jesus. Give your Spirit. Bless our silence.
Amen.

on visions

2006-03-29T08:00:00.000-08:00

Most of the eschatology we find in the New Testament is based upon visions that were experienced by the apostles. In this regard, they stand in the prophetic tradition.

These visions are conveyed through the interpretive lens of the seer. The vision itself and the lens are not the same thing. The latter is necessarily analogical. What is seen is normally unseen, that is, it is not immediately present to our senses. To describe the unseen to the reader, the seer must draw comparisons to the seen, that is, what is near at hand to the reader. The result is a simile or metaphor.

Sometimes the agent of the vision, God, (a presupposition that must be taken on faith, but also by testing within the prophetic tradition) provides commentary, either directly or through an angel. More often, though, no commentary is given. Therefore, in most visions there is a simultaneous revelation and concealment.

The signified, that is, whatever the seer is seeing, though, is never revealed. Its reality has already been cut by the perspective of the seer. This perception of the signified is then given a culturally-bound signifier, that is, a comparison with what is seen in the shared world of the seer and intended reader, and therefore becomes further removed from the signified.

Consequently, every vision is an indirect comparison of an unseen signified. A vision, then, is like an abstract painting that has been repainted to reflect a 'real-life situation.' In other words, the abstraction is unseen outside of the brain of the painter. We choose to believe the painter is "inspired." The painter intuitively senses the abstraction may enlighten our awareness of a mundane signified, such as an apple. So he conforms the abstraction to the shape of an apple. While much has been lost, something is retained--the revealed reality that ultimately puts an apple in context. What is an apple? It is what the painting reflects.

What is retained, from the perspective of New Testament eschatology, is the indirect yet real self-disclosure of God's being and purpose. We are left with the awareness that reality transcends our perception. But we are also profoundly humbled by the limits of our perception. We are left with an encouragement to trust.

on practices toward a Christ-following life

2006-03-21T10:27:00.000-08:00

Jesus focuses upon the following practices that are to occupy his disciples:

(1) Morning and evening retreat and prayer (spending time with our Abba)

(2) Offering (and accepting) immediate forgiveness

(3) Seeking the best for others (love)

(4) Hating the work of Satan (by breaking up his power in our lives and the world around us--or as Jesus' disciple, Paul, puts it, "walking by the Spirit."

on faith practices

2006-03-15T14:01:00.000-08:00

Noam Chomsky: "If I'd asked my grandfather, who was an ultra-orthodox Jew from Eastern Europe, 'Do you believe in God?' he would have looked at me with a blank stare, wouldn't know what I'm talking about. And what you do is you carry out the practices. Of course, you say 'I believe in this and that,' but that's not the core of the religion. The core of the religion is just the practices you carry out."

("Challenging 'false prophets,'" in Science and Theology News, March 2006)

on the great surprise (or why we should be humble about our eschatology)

2006-02-14T17:47:00.000-08:00

When Jesus came the first time, his contemporaries, including those who knew their Bible quite well, were surprised by his claims. He brought new revelation about God's ultimate purpose. Is it possible, then, that those who know their Bible well today will also be suprised and enlightened when Jesus comes again?

on the future

2006-02-06T06:44:00.000-08:00

A key to becoming more like Jesus is embracing the reality that our only future is in him.

On the Bible

2006-02-03T10:29:00.000-08:00

The Bible is like a tree without leaves at the brink of Spring.

on rest

2006-01-31T18:27:00.000-08:00

We see everything move only when we stop.

on biblical theology (part two)

2006-01-18T07:28:00.000-08:00

First, let me thank Josh, Greg, and Brett for their feedback. My primary claim, which is not controversial, is that biblical theology must be theo-centric. We should read Scripture primarily as a witness to the living God. Of course, Scripture is also a manual for living. To this role, I make the following claim: The truth is in the tension.

Finding upper case "Truth" in Scripture requires maintaining a tension between two lower case "truths." For instance, God blesses those who obey him (Deuteronomy), but not always (Job). God is sovereign, but requires us to take responsibility for our actions. The gospel is the simultaneous revelation of God's wrath and love (Romans). There is no more male and female in Christ, but we must be men and women in our present relationships. Jesus may return today or a thousand years from now. We have eternal life and yet we all must die. And so on.

This theological "logic" is not antithesis, antithesis, synthesis (Hegel), nor yin and yang in the sense that such complexity is an eternal reality. We are moving toward a very simple future, the summation of all things in Jesus Christ.

Thus so far on my quest for doing biblical theology, I will seek out (1) the character and promises of the God I worship, and (2) pair lower case "truths" as pointers to the Great Simplicity.

On Scripture and Theology (part one)

2006-01-14T06:38:00.000-08:00

When Paul wrote Romans, he was not making an attempt at theology, but doing his best to overcome problems. From this perspective, this letter and the the other twelve are "occasional." Paul had not been to Rome, but had been alerted that there was division between Jewish- and Gentile-dominated house churches (chs. 12-15). There was also a concern that God had not been faithful to Israel, a response to the reality that most Jews in the city had no interest in the gospel (chs. 9-11).

The irony is that the problems Paul is attempting to overcome, for the most part, are not our problems. Few Christians worry about meat sacrificed to idols.

Are we to read Romans, like Luther and Barth did, in light of our problems? Paul would be giving unintended answers. Is this a problem?

Romans is a part of our Scripture. Shouldn't Scripture, then, speak to our problems? But what if Scripture has a different purpose? I believe Scripture is to be read not so much as a solution, but as a witness to how God treats his children. In Romans, the problems are different from our problems, but God is the same.

He is not pinned to paper like a butterfly, but is leading Paul to write that he has not forgotten his children, Israel. Some may not care about Jews. But if God gave up on them, what makes you think he will not give up on us?

So Romans is not about us or our problems. Today, it is no longer about the problems facing the church in Rome. The letter is not a theological treatise on justification by faith, but a promise concerning God's faithfulness to (all of) us.

On Bad Teachers (part one)

2006-01-13T05:53:00.000-08:00

In 1 Timothy Paul warns his disciple about a group of bad teachers, who teach asceticism or self-sufficiency over the empowerment that comes through the New Covenant. Paul almost makes fun of the all the Greeks and Romans, who went to the local bathhouse to work our every afternoon. He could see their goal: power and respect.
The danger of Physical discipline is that it distracts from our goal, a pure heart. It is easier for me to jog than pray. It is easier for me to act than reflect. Another danger is that physical discipline creates a false sense of accomplishment. If I jog and eat well, I am somehow a better person. As a teacher, and I am trying not to be a bad one!, I should help students be impressed with God, not my own discipline. And yet I must be disciplined to show that God's promises are at work in my life. The answer to this seeming paradox is simple: show my students to beauty of Christ-sufficiency.

2005-12-31T17:58:00.000-08:00

on community

2005-12-25T08:04:00.000-08:00

A seeing, deaf man holds the hand of a blind, hearing woman.
The woman keeps the sounds to herself. A child, who sees and hears
all things, is left alone.

(response to on failure)

2005-12-20T17:09:00.000-08:00

My friend David Malouf wrote: "If a motive is graced to me by the Father, then I will enjoy the product(s) of that motive ("Delight myself in the Lord..."). How can I tell if I am enjoying a motive selfishly or enjoying it as a good gift from the Father? And if this is indeterminable, would that then invalidate the question, the test?"

I don't have an answer to this question. It is actually my inability to splice a motive this way that leads to my (non)claim.

on failure

2005-12-17T17:35:00.000-08:00

If following Jesus requires loving all people, that is, treating each and every person that crosses my path as a child of God, then every exchange, at some level, is a failure to obey. If following Jesus requires a sincere heart, that is, doing everything in life with pure motives, then everything I do, at some level, is a failure. And yet there is beauty. If I obey Jesus as much as I can, then at some level in every exchange and action, there is beauty.

on death

2005-11-04T09:19:00.000-08:00

If the goal of life is communion with God, but such communion is not immediately possible, then death cannot be the end of life (so Augustine through the lens of C. S. Lewis). A Christian does not live for death, but for what must be beyond death. But in a sense he or she lives in death, as a penult reality, the cruciformity of Christ. And we have left this life, the antepenult reality, far behind.

on politicians

2005-10-18T15:20:00.000-07:00

After reading the Gospels, I cannot watch politicians give speeches without hearing clown music in the background.

on the day

2005-10-14T15:19:00.000-07:00

What if a day was a gift that we gave back to God? There would be a mutual enjoyment.

on truthing

2005-10-08T11:22:00.000-07:00

If I make a claim that you accept as true, is the sum--the shared truth--greater than the parts--truthing, or the ways in which we arrive at truth claims?

If I make a claim that every other thinking person accepts--such as, people are able to think about claims--have I found a truth beyond myself (that is, beyond Cogito, ergo sum)?

If I feel the wind and then claim, "I do not understand this feeling," is this not an irrefutable truth?

Truthing begins with the substantial, externally-imposed yet universally-agreed upon conviction that people misunderstand their experience.

I refer to this misunderstanding as the beginning of theology.

on compassion

2005-09-30T12:46:00.000-07:00

Compassion is not natural to the human heart, but must be cultivated by a daily decision and a divine empowerment.

We pray for compassion in the morning, and the Holy Spirit directs our intentions and reveals opportunities throughout the day.

But we also meditate in the following way upon everyone we encounter: (1) Jesus wants us to want their best; (2) their best is God's will for their life; (3) we mourn over how (a) Satan and (b) the person have marred God's will for their life; (4) we mourn but do not judge, because we share the same flaw, regardless of its manifestation; (5) when invited, we offer hope that the damage can be reversed, either in this life or the one to come.

on a bullet (or why solipsists still die)

2005-09-21T10:51:00.000-07:00

A bullet is a bullet no matter how you feel about it.

on a mourning God

2005-09-05T09:47:00.000-07:00

Whatever God mourns over, he will one day make right. Why? Because he has the desire and power to do so. Why not already? Because his children are a part of what is being made right. To demand God's justice would be my own damnation. But to miss an opportunity to do right, especially when it is within our power to do so, is an even greater damnation.

on the Christian life

2005-08-30T17:30:00.000-07:00

Everything beautiful about the Christian life involves a decision and an empowerment.

on the limits of denial

2005-08-29T08:15:00.000-07:00

I can neither affirm nor deny the claims of macro evolution. I probably lack the ability and definitely the time to master the requisite field of knowledge. The same can be said for most ideologies. But I can affirm the resurrection, which makes all opposing claims ultimately inconsequential.

on lust (a second look)

2005-08-25T19:19:00.000-07:00

Quite a while ago I wrote:

Lust is whatever we cannot turn away from, leave behind, forget about, or laugh at.

I was meditating upon the power of lust. Since then, I have been meditating upon the power of the Holy Spirit. I regularly chant .... truths: First, some sin provides partial satisfaction, but no sin provides ultimate satisfaction. We therefore live in famine.

Second, for most of us, we intentionally sin in the darkness or in private; and this is not merely due to cultural constraints. Intuitively, we feel shame because we know our thoughts and actions are ugly. We therefore live in shame.

Third, life is best lived under a smiling God. Our constant quest for self-justification is tiresome and inevitably doomed to failure. Eventually our ancestors made up gods and sacrificed to them. Moderns are foolish to think they have transcended this impulse toward a pure conscience. We therefore live in idolatry.

Fourth, every sin we choose begins to choose us, and divorces are quite rare. We therefore live in slavery.

Fifth, every sin eventually begins to hurt those we love. We therefore live as victimizers.

Sixth, which is really a return to the first: sins robs us of our portion in life. God has given each of us a portion--a certain number of days, meals, relationships, careers, and vacations. If we miss a day or opprotunity, it's lost. This has nothing to do with forgiveness. I believe there is infinite forgiveness at the cross. But a lost day remains a lost day. For this reason, Jesus and Paul exhort us to redeem each day.

on Jesus' center

2005-08-22T17:08:00.000-07:00

To say that Jesus is the center of one's life is to say nothing at all, since Jesus can mean all things to all men. The better goal is to make Jesus' center our center. When we do this, everything is about the Kingdom of God.

on evil

2005-08-13T07:36:00.000-07:00

The New Testament conceptualizes evil two ways: (1) an impinging force and (2) a receptive state. The apostles believe Satan was the origin of the force, who uses demons to fashion ugliness in the world. The Gospels claim Jesus confronted this force by casting out demons, healing "physical" ailments, and even "binding the strong man" (Satan). But Jesus was either unable or (perhaps better) unwilling to force his way into the human heart. According to Jesus, a heart was either soft or hard. A soft heart was receptive to his teaching, and therefore was able to be led by the Holy Spirit. A hard heart was unreceptive to his teaching. But a hard heart is actually quite soft, receptive to the leading of different, ugly spirit.

This leads to a core conviction of the New Testament: We are all victims and victimizers, pawns and players, damned and damnable. But there is also a receptivity to beauty.

on faith

2005-08-10T07:43:00.000-07:00

If I cannot experience the world the way my three-year-old feels it, then there is a part of reality beyond my experience.

Is it possible that God is touching her differently than he is a scientist or philosopher? If this were the case, neither the scientist nor the philosopher would have access to this knowledge.

on atheism

2005-08-05T17:37:00.000-07:00

How does one deny a God who cannot be explained?

on America

2005-07-26T20:26:00.000-07:00

The rest of the world hates America. I wonder, if given the opportunity, they would be any different.

on touch

2005-07-24T15:59:00.000-07:00

What I touch touches everything else. Everything touches me. My ugliness is your ugliness; your ugliness, mine.

on fear

2005-07-23T16:07:00.000-07:00

There is a clichet in cartoons: A rodent is being chased by a larger predator. The rodent finally stops, turns, and faces the enemy. But the predator suddenly screeches to a halt, terrified in front of his would-be prey. The rodent assumes the terror has something to do with his own strength, and begins to poke fun at the would-be predator. But as you have already predicted, a much larger predator stands behind the rodent.

Like all good clichets, this scenario reflects three realities: First, all of us are would-be prey, pursued by a seemingly larger predator. How else can we explain our fears, our running away? Second, eventually all of us are cornered by our fears. For some fear becomes reality: they actually lose their lives in a jet crash or are diagnosed with inoperable cancer. But for must of us nothing happens.

We either stay afraid or begin to forget the first reality--our frail status as prey. We begin to poke fun at our fears, pretending they have no power. By why does nothing happen? Do we live in a world without predators? Are we really at the top of the food chain? Are we so strong as to overcome that which makes our neck hairs stand on end?

And yet we also turn and poke fun at the third reality, waiting in quiet repose, as if he were not a predator himself.

on movement

2005-07-20T19:38:00.000-07:00

In the world all things move and stop.
Nothing stops.

on chaos

2005-07-15T17:01:00.000-07:00

I have seen his chaos,
but also the constant
sway of a tree at twilight.

Both are real,
but where is my
attention?

on a picture of a fly's eye

2005-07-10T14:26:00.000-07:00

They say a fly lives only a few hours. But he doesn't see it that way. Perhaps, while a man on death row spends his final day with family, a fly lives a full life without doing anything wrong.

on the limits of apostolic knowledge

2005-06-11T09:02:00.000-07:00

An important caveat Evangelicals should keep in mind is that the writers of the New Testament were not given the divine attribute of omniscience (at least there is no such claim in the Bible).

While not explicitly stated, it is often assumed (in my opinion) that divine inspiration is equivalent to omniscience. My students are often frustrated when I point out that Paul may have been in the dark about some things. The parts of something gain their significance when seen in the context of the whole. Some theological systems pretend to be just such a context. But Paul was given parts in the hope of one day seeing the whole. His convictions, which I believe are true and binding upon those of us who ackowledge him as an apostle, are nevertheless limited in their explanatory power. If we add up all the pieces of revelation in the Bible, from Moses to the apostle John, it does not add up to the whole. Scripture is a light in the darkness. Evangelicals have embraced the light. Now they must respect the darkness.

Theology (in my opinion) is as much about finding the limits of apostolic knoweldge as it is making truth claims of what they knew to be true.

on the responsibility for evil

2005-05-29T12:03:00.000-07:00

The question is not who or what is responsable for evil,
but who will take responsibility for it.

A 'what' cannot take responsibility for anything.
Are only hope is in a 'who.'

on beggar-kings

2005-05-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

There are beggars, who need to be treated like kings,
and kings, who need to remember they are beggars.

on partnering with God

2005-05-11T09:06:00.000-07:00

Medicine is a helpful analogy in my attempt to understand the concept of covenant, that is, partnering with God to accomplish his purpose in the world. Medicine orginates in God's raw creation. If we imagine sickness as a hole, then we can see medicine as the missing part. But how did one get separated from the other? I cannot answer this question. But it is significant, I think, that God has already provided the source of our healing, but has left it to human beings to seek it out.

on historical context

2005-05-08T09:32:00.000-07:00

One of the paradoxes of Scripture is that its main character, God, cannot be presented in historical context. Polytheism is making a distinction between God-B.C. and A.D.-God. Marcion could pursue this way of thinking only outside of the church.

I was taught to study the Bible in its historical contexts, which has not been a waste of time. Knowing the social worlds and circumstances of the authors has been helpful. But God cannot be studied this way. The history-of-religions school did their best, but never fully explained the origin and essence of Yahweh. They were able to trace the name to another culture, but that is no more significant than when an American speaker says "taco."

Yahweh clouds himself in paradox, from the very beginning. He is a voice that calls all things into existence (Genesis 1), but also a potter who gets his hands dirty forming man from clay (Genesis 2). And then there is the Trinity.

A paradox of reading Scripture is that the same God, who presses his thoughts into the minds of the biblical writers is the same God, who is pressing me, even now as I write. Yes, this is a groundless claim, but in the end, all claims are groundless.

For this reason, reading Scripture in its historical context must always be a point of departure.

on a twig

2005-04-20T08:07:00.000-07:00

Noticing a twig lying on our patio, my daughter asked me how it got there.
I told her I did not know.
She then picked the twig up and threw it onto the lawn.
I was then able to give her an answer.

on interpretation

2005-04-16T15:25:00.000-07:00

There is so little time to feel what must be felt for life to have been meaningful. There is even less time to think. But if we are to cut at the joints of what matters, then we must think then feel, then think again.

on healing

2005-04-09T12:10:00.000-07:00

Since I was a child, the one gift from God I sought more than anything else was the power to heal. A recurring dream is walking into a children's cancer ward and with the faith of a mustard seed willing them into health. A year ago, almost to the day, I watched a precious little boy pass away from a brain tumor, but not before I had gathered two other pastors and prayed with all my being that God would have mercy.

I don't understand why mercy ebbs and flows. I recently asked God why he allows children to suffer. No answer. But he did remind me that the only time Jesus claimed to be a physician it had nothing to do with healing the physically ill, but helping a tax collector find salvation. In the city where I live only a fraction of the people are in hospital beds. They know they are sick. The rest do not.

on complaints

2005-04-07T09:42:00.000-07:00

This morning I went on a walk, and took advantage of the time to voice several complaints to God. I was then reminded that the energy and air required to make the complaints were gifts of the Creator. I was like a guest, who complains to the host while feasting at his table.

on the wind

2005-03-31T11:45:00.000-08:00

This morning, as I was jogging, the wind picked up. I run in a square from a corner. At the beginning and end, I was running against the wind. For a while I was pushed. But half the time I was runnng at cross-hairs with the wind. Neither the wind nor myself was confronted by the other. Neither the wind nor myself was helped by the other.

on easter

2005-03-27T07:57:00.000-08:00

The beauty of Easter, I believe, is its re-definition of fragility. I follow a broken yet resurrected messiah. When something breaks, like a vase or the pretense of human freedom, there is rarely a 'yet.' All things break, some things are fixed, then break again. Some things are broken apart to make something else. So Jesus broke as well. What was broken was not fixed--it will alsways be true that Jesus died. Rather the broken was enveloped by the unbroken and became unbreakable: Jesus, my messiah, the fragile omnipotent.

on a vase

2005-03-26T10:26:00.000-08:00

The immediate fate of what is breakable depends upon its context.
In the hands of a child, a vase will break in minutes.
In a museum, another vase may sit intact for ages.
But eventually even museums fall into the hands of children.

Everything breakable breaks eventually.
What is breakable? Everything.

things I can do

2005-03-23T14:02:00.000-08:00

I can pray, study, and listen.
I can exercise, eat well, and sleep.
I can be filled by the Spirit
I can be obedient to Jesus.

on justice

2005-03-19T08:46:00.000-08:00

If I accuse God, who is left?

If God accuses me, who is left?

on divine (in)action

2005-03-19T08:45:00.000-08:00

If I blame God for the bad, who do I have to thank for the good?

on accomplishment

2005-03-16T07:34:00.000-08:00

A great accomplishment is the afterglow
of the sun's descent.

on trinity

2005-03-06T07:53:00.000-08:00

In the first covenants, God celebrates his unity--a singular spirit and purpose. In the new covenant, we discover why his unity is celebratory--three persons with a singular spirit and purpose.

on love

2005-03-03T20:57:00.000-08:00

Evil men have mothers who love them.

on an apple

2005-02-26T11:41:00.000-08:00

The core has less flavor than the fruit.

a prayer

2005-02-20T11:08:00.000-08:00

Lord, if not now, someday.
If not someday, never.
Amen.

on self-sacrifice

2004-10-31T14:32:00.000-08:00

It is not self-sacrifice when we give our power to serve away. Self-sacrifice requires making choices, saying 'yes' and 'no.' When two or more forces lay claim to the same energy for the day, then everyone is short-changed, especially God who gave us that energy for a particular reason. When we give our power away, it is not self-sacrifice but being a sacrifice for someone else's agenda. Since most people are willing to sacrifice others for their agenda, we are seldom able to do what God calls us to do--to sacrifice ourselves for others. We have nothing left to offer. The vultures have left the bone-yard.

on nihilism

2004-08-20T16:40:00.000-07:00

Today I am learning more about the refreshment that comes after embracing the futility of everything ex cept the hope that God works in our lives.

on the God of Jesus Christ

2004-08-05T18:39:00.000-07:00

The God of Jesus Christ wants to sit with us in prayer. He listens even though he knows our thoughts. He remembers our suffering, so that we can forget. He weeps. He gives everything, withholding only what makes us ugly. He forgives, so that we can forgive. He watches us with fascination and boasts to others, "That's my child." He disciplines, so that we are healed.

The God of Jesus Christ wants to sit with us in prayer. He speaks fresh thoughts of hope. He redeems our suffering, so that nothing is ever lost. He smiles. He asks us to love his other children, giving us what they need. We forgive, so others can be forgiven. We watch him with fascination and boast to ourselves, "That's our heavenly Father." We heal, so that others can find the doctor.

Plugging into Meaning

2004-07-28T11:00:00.000-07:00

People often want to believe that their lives have meaning external to themselves. They do this by plugging into something larger than themselves. An iron worker may walk past a tall building, late in life, quietly happy over his contribution. People in my profession like to write long books with footnotes. If we find our name in the footnotes of other books, we feel important. Of course, we are the only ones reading the books. No one has ever heard of the 'important' people in my profession. In the same way, a great iron worker is seen to be so only by other iron workers.

Significance, then, as the world defines it, is based upon perceived value. What seems to be larger than ourselves is based upon a human definition of 'large.' Whatever 'great' accomplishment I might hope to attain in my profession, will, no doubt, be seen as 'small' by people outside of it.

But more importantly, I must ask: What if God looked at my books and said, "What a waste!" Who could argue with his decision? Since there is no transcendent valuation, God's opinion would be reality. My books would be a waste of time.

Sadly, like myself no one wants just to be perceived as valuable. We want to be valuable. But we are not--at least, as the nihilists tells us, in any objective sense. But what if, despite our perceived worth or worthlessness, we were able to plug into something that is actually larger than ourselves? To the degree we plug into this greater reality, our lives would take on meaning external to ourselves or professions. Indeed, everything we would do would have absolute significance.

According to Jesus, this is the Kingdom of God. What does it mean to plug into the Kingdom of God?

The two ways of truth

2004-07-19T16:23:00.000-07:00

There is a fine line between self-hatred and self-justification. Am I a good or a bad person? If you have a relationship to God, the answer is 'yes.'

Hardly anyone claims to be 'all bad' or 'all good.' Most of us are content to be 'pretty good' or just 'o.k.' But religious people want to be 'all good'--but they just can't quite get there. Since they are quick to judge everyone else for not being 'all good,' hypocrisy becomes their only option. But they end up hating themselves when no one is watching.

People, who are not as 'good' as they should be, make fun of the religious hypocrites and live their lives content to be almost o.k. But who wants to be almost o.k, especially when it hurts the people we care about? I want to be more than that for my wife and daughters.

Unless I meditate on the fine line, I find myself vacilating between self-hatred and self-justification throughout the day--always, of course, for my own convenience. It's o.k. for me to hate myself, but not for anyone else to judge. I can point out my faults, but no one else can. The 'self' is protecting itself either way. And actually self-hatred in the final analysis is self-love.

Both states of mind, self-hatred and self-justification, then are selfish and only produce ugliness.

So how do we get on the fine line? We embrace the two ways of truth. Truth, for it to be grasped, must be perspectival. From a human perspective, I am a sinner always in need of God's grace. There is therefore no need for self-justification. There is no one left to impress. From God's perspective, though, I am his child always being transformed by his grace. So there is no need for self-hatred. To hate God's work is its own sin.

So no longer neeeding either self-hatred or self-justification, I can give up self-protection alltogether (but realistically day by day), and be a blessing for others.

on television

2004-07-14T11:24:00.000-07:00

I often hear people do not have time to do the things they enjoy. They don't have time to eat well or exercise. For some, I am sure this is truly the case. My purpose isn't to make them feel bad.

But I find this claim to be in tension with the fact that Americans spend approximately four hours a day watching t.v. That means after six days we have spent an entire day (24 hours) doing nothing--what I call the Television Sabbath.

I do not mean any disrepect to Judaism with this title, for Jews observe the Sabbath for a purpose--to worship God and enjoy his creation. But a television Sabbath has no purpose--it's just a lost day. If we count these days, we find that we spend approximately two months (52 days) doing nothing over the course of a year, which is quite a vacation.

For most of us, to turn off the t.v. is to give years back to our life. Another benefit is that t.v. is basically crap. A study conducted by The National Insitute of Mental Health (Rockville, Maryland) found that watching t.v. for more than two hours at a stretch often leaves people in worse moods than before they began to watch. According to another study, watching t.v. lowers your metabolism more (16%) than if you were sitting still with the t.v. off! In other words, t.v. is making America fatter and more depressed. While obviously not the only factor, it contributes to more deaths than cigarettes.

To see the pervasive effect of this life-stealing force, take a walk at night. You will see the pale glow in almost every window, and you will probably be the only one on the street.

Here are a few ways to escape the prime time desert:

1. Go for a walk. If your neighborhood is boring, drive somewhere and go for a walk. Are you boring? Actually, as a child of God, you are complex and filled with surprises. Take some time to get know yourself. Sometimes we are our own greatest strangers.

2. Pray. If your God is boring, find a more interesting God. My God is complex and filled with surprises.

3. Call someone. If your friends are boring, then you don't really know your friends. As God's children, they are complex and filled with surprises.

Compliment an elderly woman on her hair.

2004-07-13T13:36:00.000-07:00

Have you noticed that elderly women almost always have perfect hair? I used to consider this an empty vanity, but I am now beginning to learn from them.

There is so little that we can control in this life, especially as we begin to age. An elderly woman is nothing more than a girl, who finds herself trapped in an old body. But most people don't see her that way, if they see her at all.

Since the Greeks, we have equated beauty with youth. (I recently heard an aging actress, who was still very beautiful, complain about not finding work any more. The community, who had once embraced her outer skin had thrown the rest of her away.)

When an elderly woman frequents the salon, it is her DEFIANT NEVERTHELESS. She is not deluding herself, but asserting her dignity as a woman. She is not seeking to change what is beyond her control, but is taking full responsibility for the choices that remain.

When we compliment an elderly woman on her hair, there is no need to patronize her. She is beautiful. We are noticing something the world ignores. And from this sincerity, we can be a profound blessing in her life.

God and the Law of Relationships

2004-07-12T12:16:00.000-07:00

I often hear from very nice people that it does not matter what we believe about God as long as we are sincere in that belief. All religious people are essentially worshipping the same 'thing,' so we would should stop arguing with one another.

While I agree that people of different religions should always be nice to each other, this argument does not make sense to me. It violates the Law of Relationships.

Every significant relationship I have--my parents, wife, daughters, friends, co-workers, whatever--has rules if it is to continue. If I were to walk up to my wife and say,

"During the week I want to stay with my lover. But, don't worry, I'll come home every other weekend. Here's five bucks for the kids..."

I would need to find a new wife, although I doubt any woman would find my definition of marriage intruiging.

My obvious point is that a relationship must respect the will of both persons. In my little scenario, it was marriage on my terms.

For many people their relationship with God is important. But while we all know that we are not free to invent the rules of our other relationships, we seem to not mind doing this with God.

The argument that we are all worhsipping the same thing presupposes that 'god' is an impersonal force, or, like the Deists and the Epicureans before them, that God is not interested in human affairs.

While this may be true, a great many of us (Jews, Muslims, Christians) believe that God is a person, not a human person, but a person all the same. So the question now becomes: "What are the rules of this relationship?"

We could all be wrong, but we cannot all be right. Who says that we get to do religion on our own terms? If I were to say this, I might need to find a new God.

What if we actually helped each other?

2004-07-11T17:19:00.000-07:00

This morning I jogged past a man smoking a cigarette. I am no better than him. But for him to become healthy, he will need to drop a bad habit I don't have. I don't smoke. And I think there are a lot of people, who wished they didn't smoke. But I find the same impulse that makes him smoke in me. It just shows its face differently. So who is really free?

Begin with Needs, then Move to Blessings

2004-07-10T17:02:00.000-07:00

This faith practice is obvious, but like water and air we take the most precious things in life for granted. I believe a lot of people fail to find contentment in life because they do not have to think about what they actually need.

I guess dreams are good, but they obviously have a way of slipping through our fingers. Desire also has its place. But it is only when we give thanks for an immediate need that we can see the potential blessings in our lives.

Of course, we cannot say 'thank you' every time we breathe or drink a glass of water. All I know is that when I take a few minutes in the morning to thank God for needs, anything beyond that becomes a blessing during the day.

I believe every day offers at least one blessing. Of course, there are the 'big blessings' like promotions, graduations, holidays, whatever. But it would be sad if that were all we looked for in life. Because big blessings, at least for me, are few and far between.

But to collect those 'little blessings,' those moments of perfection, actually brings more contentment than the big blessings, because they can be found every day. They are subtle and can only be grasped through gratitude.

on perfection

2004-07-10T15:47:00.000-07:00

Recently I had a moment where my wife and I were sitting on the couch with our two daughters. We were watching cartoons, but that didn't really matter. We were at peace with one another. My two-year old was dancing, the baby, cooing, and my wife, smiling. No matter how painful life might become in the future, I will always have that memory.

These are God's gifts. While we might want more of them, to have even one quiet moment of perfection makes life meaningful.

On whom the world throws away

2004-07-10T10:02:00.000-07:00

Very few of us measure up to the values of the world. However, despite our own shortcomings, we judge others by the same values of power, wealth, and beauty. The effect is that most of us are insecure, and only a few enjoy what we might call 'success.'

The rest of us actually serve this minority. They are successful because we think they are successful. Unless we embrace new values, this will never change. Jesus noticed people the world threw away. He valued the homeless and the prostitute by inviting them to share his food. He did not value them because he saw their 'potential.'

To be honest, most people don't have potential, at least as it's defined by the world. Rather, he valued a prostitute just as he would the President. God put them together and placed them in the precious gift we call life. Jesus could see the fingerprints of the potter.

Like Jesus we can bring glory to our Father in heaven by putting the first of this world last (the humility might save their soul), and the last, first.