Upper-Case thoughts from a lower-case world

Liberalism. Inconceivable! (original post 2/27/09)

2010-03-05T19:12:00.003-06:00

Today I attended my first protest rally and it got me thinking. Conservatives—Patriots—have once again become the revolutionaries challenging the ruling class. What were we protesting? In the words of Rush Limbaugh, “The porkulus plan.”
So, I thought, if this is what Conservatives do, what about the other side of the equation? I decided it’s inconceivable!

Liberalism.

Liberalism protests for peace (think about that for even just a minute). Who does it protest against? Those willing to sacrifice everything to defeat tyranny.

Liberalism is "anti-establishment". What does it seek? A governmental nanny state.

Liberalism avows separation of church and state. Where does it turn for aid? To a state that has usurped the gifts of the church.

Liberalism demands tolerance (again, Selah (Hebrew word for, “Pause. And calmly think of that)). When is tolerance applied? Only when people with whom liberalism agrees are speaking.

Liberalism celebrates diversity. What does diversity create? A world where everyone is different making unity impossible.

Peace borrowed from a willful ignorance of an enemy of liberty's actions is false peace and will soon enough demand payment in full with interest. Pretending that a tyrant is not so is like pretending a tiger is a house cat.

"A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have." —Gerald R. Ford. The irony of the anti-establishment crowd seeking to create the largest apparatus of establishment in American history is rich...and very, very impoverished indeed.

Taxes are for infrastructure. For things like roads, schools, parks, law enforcement, and a ready defense. Taxes are not for things like medical care, retirement, after school programs, and food. Those gifts are the church's to give precisely because they are impotent in transforming the life of the recipient without the power of receiving such gifts in the name of Jesus Christ. The government has no moral authority to demand accountability, has no hope of better things (save the assurance that one may stay in his or her condition of need indefinitely), and has no community to offer guidance, correction, and love.

Tolerance defined is essentially agreeing to disagree. But, as revisionist
re-definers are wont to do, the word has been re-tooled to mean, "I will tolerate (agree with) all who do not directly challenge (disagree with) me." All challengers are subject to slander, abuse, and final judgment. By the way, "Judge not lest ye be judged"? Seriously? Right back atchya. And, by the way, love is not a synonym for tolerance. Tolerance perceives error and says "ah well, live and let live." Love sees error and says, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). Real love is ready, willing, and able to do the difficult things. Love never turns a bind eye in favor of comfort, but even so, love “is patient and kind...does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
“Love never fails.” Read that description of love in full in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, then read John 3:16-17. Don’t accept mere tolerance, receive grace.

Diversity is akin to tolerance. Recognizing differences is one thing. Recognizing differences and not having prejudice against someone who is different is still another. But focusing solely on a difference and demanding primary allegiance to that difference—a difference that necessarily makes one group exclusive to another—is something else. And that brand of diversity is at the heart of the disunity and us/them culture we find ourselves in. Only in Christ can all of mankind be united. We may be many things individually, but collectively we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Christ is the only solution to the universal need for redemption and grace. Christ alone has the ability to unify us as He is reconciling all believers to Himself.

Liberalism. Supposedly the bastion of total freedom, love, and acceptance. But, in the words of The Princess Bride’s Inigo Montoya, "I do no think that word mean what you think it mean." It’s inconceivable...if you think about it.

Wash, Rinse, Spin, Repeat (original post 10/8/09)

2010-03-05T19:05:00.005-06:00

First called a “bailout”, then (presumably because it sounds more heroic) a “rescue”, the 700 Billion spent from the taxpayers’ account today is supposed to save paradise. If that’s the case, one wonders if it’s big enough.

I spent $700 BILLION today. What’s new with you?

As October surprises go, this one surely will go down as the most expensive in history. But, as October surprises go, this one will surely go down as the least surprising.

The stunning lack of
A) response to the warnings of many (Conservative/Republican) voices for at least the past four years;
B) accountability of the many (Democrat) perpetrators that caused the crisis and;
C) media interest in reporting on the leftist leadership and interest groups that were the holes of this boat
is nothing short of, well, TWELVE digits.

The feeling of lament I have for my country at this moment brings to mind the Book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 1:8-10:
All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there anything of which one can say,
"Look! This is something new"?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.

Closed ears to ample warning? Check. (see Noah/Ark)
Leadership casting blame and condescending any accusers, all the while pocketing ill-got gain? Check. (see Pharisees)
Greedy philistines doing whatever does themselves good without regard to society? Check and check. (see Merriam-Webster definition: “a person who is guided by materialism and is usually disdainful of intellectual or artistic values” supported by any number of Biblical Philistine encounters)
So, with a heavy sigh, the agonizingly perennial truth comes to bear again today. “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). I have a feeling we are only beginning to see how deeply and broadly this root has taken hold in America.
Lest we simply move on from here only to pass “Go” and collect $700,000,000,000 again—and just in case someone not already in the choir is reading—make note of this , “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless” (Ecclesiastes 5:10).
It’s a mad, mad world because its destiny is repetition. The good news is, in Christ, we are washed, rinsed and released from the cycles of spin and repeat. “Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them” (Hebrews 11:16).

Words mean things. BUT, you complete me.

2010-01-18T12:35:00.002-06:00

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin…" - Martin Luther King Jr. August 28, 1963

I have heard MLK’s quote many times and each time have been inspired by the ideal of humans not being judged by the color of their skin. However, as I sat in the coffee shop with friends this morning talking politics and looking at our favorite blogs, I read The Heritage Foundation’s Morning Bell which included portions of Dr. King’s famous “I have a dream” speech. As I reread the familiar lines, I noticed something. We’ve been led to believe the thesis of King’s statement is that judgment should cease. But that’s because we’ve been fed an incomplete sentence. Dr. King, as a Christian, as a human, as a thinking man, knew that judgement between right and wrong is a necessity of life. If we can’t judge something, what are we dreaming about? That is to say, how would it be possible to judge and condemn those who refused the full rights of United States citizenship to some Americans if judgment itself were in error?

It seems the dreams of some include a total elimination of judgment. That’s in synch with the idea of tolerance I suppose. But, if you think about it, tolerance is a decision to “put up with” any idea or action of another that you judge to be incorrect or in conflict with your own. Tolerance itself requires being judgmental. A beef I’ve had with tolerance ever since it became in vogue during the Clinton-era’s age of political correctness was that it, usually awkwardly, forces a focus on what makes us different as opposed to what makes us the most remarkable “e pluribus unum” history has ever known.

BUT, I digress. My main thought today is emphasizing the completion of King’s. That day in August, 1963 Dr. King did say, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin BUT by the content of their character." (all caps, mine.) King knew his children would be judged—and I suspect he taught them to make wise judgements as well. Otherwise, he would not so willingly put the “content of their character” on the table.
This is the soaring ideal that King dreamed of realizing for the generations to come. But, just as “tolerance” has become the twisted puppet of making the depraved mainstream, “social justice” is becoming its supine battle cry. As the writer of this morning’s Heritage Foundation’s Morning Bell put it,

“Dr. King did not think that the principle of equality meant that everyone should be treated the same. He sought equality of rights and equality before the law, not equality of outcomes or equality as a result. For Dr. King, justice was when a person is judged ‘by the content of their character’ rather than by arbitrary considerations such as skin color. Dr. King did not mean that we should treat people of good character and bad character the same. Actual equality is achieved when arbitrary standards are replaced by meaningful criteria such as talent and virtue. A just country, in Dr. King’s vision, is one in which people are rewarded for acting well.”

We celebrate today a man who was brave enough to stand against those who wanted to alter the vision of our Founding Fathers and the First Principles they established. How fitting, then, in today’s climate of bailouts, handouts, and our massive lurch to the left that Dr. King again reminds us, “the content of [a person’s] character” is the thing to rightly judge.

BUT, all I can hope is that these the words of Dr. King will ring loud and clear today. That he will again inspire America to return to the First Principles—especially Americans who live in Massachusetts and will be voting tomorrow.

Easy, Feel-good, Good-times, Rock'n'Roll Religion

2008-04-02T16:55:00.010-05:00

Since when did feeling good overtake being good? And when did substance begin to pale to polish? When did the gospel start needing labels like "mega", "emergent" or "inclusive" to qualify it as relevant? Why does discriminating no longer mean discernment and sound judgment but instead screams "bigot!" Arriving on the other side of Easter, I wonder...

Coming into Eastertide, I suppose the pain and suffering of Jesus on our behalf is easy to gloss over with so much as a shiny, plastic egg. But, even just a quick glance over my shoulder and I see them there—John and Mary, Christ's mother, with Mary Magdelene holding the giver of life's lifeless form. It's the gruesome reality of the ravages of sin and the gut-wrenching realization that the one who bore it all was, himself, sinless. The depth of the love of Jesus, the supremacy of his power to overcome sin and death, and the offer of his sacrifice as grace to us all is the force of Eastertide. It's the reason we can move beyond the pinned-down hellishness of Good Friday to the uncontainable joy now set before us. It's a very costly freedom, and oh how quickly we forget.

In my observation of the American church of late, it appears we prefer to forget the passion that brought us to the party. We want it all—except for the in the trenches messy stuff. Please don't misunderstand, church is a place to feel good. I have had many moments of deepest comfort and joy in church. But, church is also a place to get your hands dirty. It is the place from which we are sent to both tend the fields and bear fruit in keeping with repentance. I don't know about you, but I have never seen a gardener with clean fingernails.

Not long ago, Tulsa's own Carlton Pearson rebranded his theology with a "Doctrine of Inclusion." Simply put, it cuts the gospel off at the knees to give everyone a free pass into heaven. No muss. No fuss. No repentance necessary. God has not only paid the bill, he's paid the cover charge. Just one question sir, "What, then, is the point?" Pack it up and stay home Mr. Pearson. Spare us the hefty carbon footprint of your facilities, and save the electricity used to broadcast your services on NPR.

But, don't order yet! There's more! In addition to being saved without even really thinking about it, you can have "Your Most Abundant Life Now!" Joel Osteen preaches in an easy, breezy, bff way with just enough "bless me Jesus" to make it sound like a real sermon. Sorry Joel, to single you out. In reality, the name it and claim it crowd has been around for a while. Google "prosperity gospel" and you'll see a roll call of the usual suspects, Creflo Dollar, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyer and don't forget, Paul and Jan Crouch. The premise is that I can will God's abundance to myself, because if I say it and believe it, God is bound to me to do it. Pastor Gary E. Gilley writes of this movement, "In Word Faith religion, the believer is told to use God, whereas the truth of biblical Christianity is just the opposite, God uses the believer. Word Faith or prosperity theology sees the Holy Spirit as a power to put to use for whatever the believer wills. The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is a Person who enables the believer to do God's will."(1)

Don't call just yet! We'll also include a gospel so comfortable, you probably won't even know you're hearing the Word of God. The emergent church has a lot of interesting possibilities, but when I read Donald Miller quoted lauding Ann Lamott for being "...like the only Christian writer who can just drop an F-bomb every few pages, and no one notices"(2) I wonder what the congregation is emerging from (or to) exactly. If you're reading about spiritual regeneration and you don't notice the "f-bomb", perhaps it's because the percussion of the mortar obliterated your discernment. I suppose it's the logical extension of the seeker-friendly movement of the '90s. Now, here in the new century it's all about the seeking and not so much what can be found.

A lack of imagination? A lack of courage? To address our deepest needs we must get past our own wants and remember the Kingdom of God is not an earthly kingdom. I wish I could remember what I was reading to attribute the quote, but I once read, "Our experience on earth is the closest a Christian will ever get to hell. And it's the closest the non-believer will ever come to heaven." Confusion about destination. I think that's a part of the problem. That, and, forgetting that I am not the central figure of the gospel message—Jesus Christ is.

My pastor, Dr. Miller, recently preached from Mark 10. He spoke of James and John making their audacious request in verse 35, "Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. 'Teacher,' they said, 'we want you to do for us whatever we ask.'"

But Jesus, wants them to get specific about their need, "'What do you want me to do for you?' he asked" (Mark 10:36).

The divine vending machine was full of tasty treats but they knew just what they wanted, "They replied, 'Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory'" (Mark 10:37). This response indicates they caught at least a little bit of what Jesus had just said about the event of his suffering that was quickly approaching.

And here it comes (italics mine): "'You don't know what you are asking', Jesus said. 'Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?'" (Mark 10:38).

Turns out, they named it, claimed it—and eventually got it—the part about the cup and baptism that is, "'We can,' they answered. Jesus said to them, 'You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared'" (Mark 10:39-40).

The psalmist wove the opposing forces of pain and joy together in Psalm 51 when he wrote,

"Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

"Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

"Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity." —Psalm 51:7-9

No one wants to be crushed. No one, who is mentally healthy, invites pain. Jesus himself was so burdened by his obedience to the cross that he sweat drops of blood as he pleaded with God for another way. But, our reality is this: we all must be broken by the cross. Mark 20:18 presents the two options available to us, "Everyone who falls on that stone [Jesus] will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed."

There are easier religions. There are easier versions of Christianity. But there is no other way to eternal life in the presence of God than through Jesus.

So we can join the crowd around the cross on Good Friday and shout to Jesus, "Get down from there and we will believe" or "How can you save us if you can't save yourself?" "Save yourself then, and we will follow!" All the while missing the boat entirely. Missing the fact that for Jesus to do what we ask would negate the sacrifice and the power of it. It would be spectacular. And empty.

Emptiness belongs to death and the tomb. Death, that silent bell that no longer rings, its mouth cracked and its clapper gone missing.

No, Jesus stayed. He remained faithful to his Father and his mission and his love. He knew to save us, to generate belief, resurrection, not rebellion was needed and necessary. Surely getting off that cross on Friday would have made Jesus happy. But his eye was on the prize. His eye was on the joy of heaven.

Obedience to Christ might not always feel good (just ask a prophet) but God will always be good.

"For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you." —2 Corinthians 4:5-12

Pouring out

2008-03-20T17:26:00.005-05:00

Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. —John 12:3

No need to put a pint of myrrh (nard) on someone—unless they are dead.

Not only was this anointing a foreshadow of the death-bound tomb Jesus was on the verge of entering, it was a visual allegory of why Jesus had come.

The act was beautiful in its depth of love. It was an expression of sacrifice on Mary's part. She gave something to Jesus that was precious to her, something worth a year's wages, something that represented her identity as a prostitute, something that was earned by the wages of her sin, something she knew only Jesus could bear, something only Jesus could transform, something she didn't want anymore.

The wages of sin is death. Mary poured the sin and death of her life out on Jesus at that banquet table. And he received it. He welcomed it because his perspective was like none other, he was able to see the joy set before him—the joy beyond the grave.

In repentance as we pour out our hearts, each black and sin filled regardless of how beautiful and alabaster white they appear to be on the outside, Christ transforms that stench into sweet perfume before the Father.

The disciples, notably Judas, were shocked by the "waste." And to be sure, pouring one's heart out on anyone or anything else would be waste. Excess given to loss. But, in pouring your heart out to Jesus, repentance is transformed into thanksgiving, shame to honor, and mourning to praise.

As we enter Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, remember Christ and his sacrifice. The act was beautiful in its depth of love. An expression of complete sacrifice. God gave something to us that was precious to him; something worth all eternity; something that represented his own identity, Emmanuel, God with us; something begotten, his own and only son. Only Jesus, through the power of God, can transform death into life.

Gracious Fury

2008-02-01T16:19:00.000-06:00

If God were truly good, then why...?

It's an old question—and a frequently asked one. "How could God allow...?" "Why didn't God punish...?" "How could a loving God permit...?" Almost a year ago, I was asking the question again too.

And God answered me through the book of Job.

Who is this that darkens my counsel
with words without knowledge?

Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you, and you shall answer me (Job 38:2-3).

I was trying to fall asleep with images of a terrible news story in my head. It was a story about the murder of a teenage girl. The convicted man had piles of porn in his home. Not just Hustler trash, it was child pornography depicting horrific abuses to very small children. It sickened me to the point of being physically ill.

The memories have come back to mind because my husband just returned from a photo assignment in Cambodia. He went with a film crew from Christ In Youth who were shooting a documentary and photo essay about the sex slave trade and human trafficking. Girls as young as five years old are being sold for as little as $500 to men who, twisted by lust and self-gratification, take not only their virginity, but their innocence, childhood, and many times their hope of a future as well.

In Romania, where we minister, more and more stories of the same kind are appearing in the press. Children are snatched up or—even worse—sold by their own parents to be used for sex, for begging, or for thieving—whatever will bring in the most money for the "new owner."

Confronted with all of this evil, how can we not ask God that same old question? I mean, after all, we are talking about children here. The innocent ones. The ones with no defenses and no one to defend them.

How does God restrain Himself? I find it hard to understand how the hope of men coming to know Him can hold Him to His throne. Especially as the evidence of our determination toward sin and ever greater degrees of depravity is overwhelming and inescapable.

God spoke into my questions as I read further in Job 38.

Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.

Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?

On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone-

while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?

Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,

when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,

when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,

when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt' (Job 38:4-11)?

Then, starting in verse 22, the Spirit began to help me understand,

Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
or seen the storehouses of the hail,

which I reserve for times of trouble,
for days of war and battle?...

...From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens

when the waters become hard as stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen?

These verses called to mind the passages in Jeremiah and Psalms that speak of the storehouses of lightning, wind and rain. And His whisper of understanding came. Our God is good. Our God is gracious. Our God is a loving God. His anger does burn.

God's anger against these atrocities burns with an intensity and a fury that I can not comprehend. The fire was sparked when satan invented rebellion. The fire grew when other angels followed in the quest to usurp God. And through the ages, the fire has continued to grow as man follows in his sin nature instead of his creator's image.

I had never considered God's holy anger in this way—as the fuel for hell's fire.

In grace, God created a place—far from us—to warehouse His fury against sin. The storehouse of His fury, His perfect judgment and justice, waits with doors shut by grace, until the appropriate time when satan, and all those who choose rebellion, will be finally flung, finally destroyed, finally finished.

The scriptures speak of God's treasuries of snow and hail. They speak of His storehouses of wind, rain, and lightning. I believe now that hell is God's storehouse of His holy anger, burning against sin. And our rebellion continues to fuel it.

Shakespeare wrote, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." But hell is fury. It is God's fury against men who would violate the innocence of children in unspeakable ways. It is God's fury against lusts and greediness, against every fruit of rebellion.

There is some comfort though. Because if we hope, as the Father does, that men will come to know Him, to repent at the cross of Christ, and follow Christ in real discipleship, grace will abound.

The Apostle Paul says that as we repent, God's grace is sufficient to cover a multitude of sin (2 Corinthians 12:9). So, even as God's holy anger is being stored up for that final day, justice is His second choice. God always prefers grace. God never ceases to first love.

This is not to say God's nature is to prefer blindly glossing over sin. He is also faithful. In love He disciplines us to bring us to repentance that we might be brought ever more fully into His grace. And this is the hope that holds Him to His sovereign throne.

Thank you Father, for Your grace. Thank You that You are patient and merciful. Thank You that You will set all things right—including things seemingly left undone—even as you hold out mercy while we have time to grasp it.

Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. —Acts 20:32

New Year 's Revolution

2008-01-16T18:48:00.000-06:00

As in: revolving resolutions that come around every January just like the black-eyed peas I always eat.

The revolving resolution in this case is the "I will consistently journal this year" one.

So, here is the first step. A new post to my lonely blog that was last updated May 07. Typical. I leave journals—never more than a third filled—as breadcrumbs of my life story. Good thing I'll never be famous so that no one will ever have to piece the crumbs together for my biographical tome...which, like this blog, no one would ever read all the way though anyway...Okay Mom and Dad, you're right, except for you.

So, here is the public announcement: This year I resolve to consistently blog. And with that, I make another promise: I don't intend to fill this blog with stuff that doesn't matter (present post excepted). I really do want to use this time and space for thinking about upper case things. So, I won't write unless there's a thought worth writing about. Because, should people actually read this (besides you Mom and Dad), I understand they would be giving me their precious time and I shouldn't ask them to spend it reading tedium like this.

That's it. Oh, and Happy New Year!

The Only True Constant Is Change

2007-05-01T16:33:00.000-05:00

Time for a change. I decided the "Scribe" template was a little too fussy. I'm trying "Minima Ochre" on for size.
So, in obedience to the aphorism in the title of this post, I offer you the exact same blog with a new face.

God the Son

2007-04-23T16:53:00.000-05:00

From a Lenten study of Thoughts on The Creed, by Alister McGrath, Chapter 3: God the Son. I was asked to sum up a small section of the Apostle's Creed, "God the Son," for our small group discussion. The following is my meditation on that portion (I reprinted it here in my blog at my mom's request). The full creed is written at the bottom of this post:

I believe in…Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary…

Out of the void, God, Son, and Holy Spirit place a time line in eternity.

God’s Word begins. “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness” (Gen. 1:3-4). Light into darkness is the beginning of all transformation. It is the starting point of the work of God—it’s the “I Believe.”

So, the big clock of our history begins to be wound by the hand of the Father—and Jesus was there. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning” (John 1:1-2).

God kept winding the clock—through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; through poetry and the prophets. All the while sending the message: “He’s coming,” “My Son is coming,” “the Light is coming.” Prophecy after prophecy gave us the hope to believe. The clock was being wound. “He’s coming.”

Then the winding stops. God’s hand has a new work to do. He places it on the shoulder of Gabriel and gives him a message to deliver “in Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.”

“Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you…You will be with child and give birth to a son.”

Then, Gabriel gets to be the first on this earth to speak the name of the promise that had been wound up in our history…

“and you will give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end.”

The virgin simply asks, “How?”

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:26-34). The triune Godhead comes to earth. “The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world” (John 1:9).

And so God’s hand devotes itself to another task, knitting His own son together in the virgin womb of a young Hebrew girl. My thoughts turned to this son of David and if perhaps God smiled as He was about His work. As He looked through history did He see the genetic characteristics that would one day appear in His begotten Son? Did God remember the heart of David? Did Jesus inherit the smile of Leah as she found the love she longed for was in God alone and gave Him praise at the birth of Judah—from whom a mighty lion was about to come? Did his hands bear a resemblance to Zerubbabel’s who lovingly rebuilt the temple? Did his feet look something like Enoch’s who walked with God to the very throne of heaven?

Matthew’s genealogy gives us Jesus’ legal right to the throne of David through his adoptive father, Joseph. Beth Moore writes, “How awesome of God to purpose that Christ’s royal lineage would come through his adoptive father. In a peculiar kind of way, God the father allowed His son to be ‘adopted’ into a family on earth so that we could be adopted into His family in heaven.” Ephesians 1:5 tells us, “In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.” Indeed, Matthew’s genealogy tells us much about God’s view of adoption as we see the names of Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba folded into the line of Christ.

From the beginning, “He came into that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who receive him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:11-13).

Luke’s gospel also identifies Jesus as a descendant of David, this time through his mother’s side—a true blood heir from the first Adam to the second. “So, the Word became flesh and lived for a while among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son who came from the Father full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

His hands, now wounded, were “…lifted up…and [he] blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven” (Luke 24:50). The right hand of the Father had finished the work and welcomed Jesus back to His side.

The clock is unwinding now and the message is, “He’s coming,” “My Son is coming,” “the Light is about to return!”

The Apostle's Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:

Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended into hell.

The third day He arose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy *catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.

Amen.

*The word "catholic" refers not to the Roman Catholic Church, but to the universal church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Terminal Velocity

2007-04-20T08:54:00.000-05:00

When you trip and fall, you may skin a knee or elbow. When you fall from six feet or so, you could break a bone. When you fall from more than 30 feet, you'll likely do more damage than that. When you fall from grace, you've reached a terminal velocity that destroys not only the body, but also the soul. This week, I found out an old friend fell.

I was in staff devotions on Wednesday morning when his church was named during prayer time as a body in turmoil needing much prayer. Nothing else was mentioned, but because the pastor was my old friend, I was concerned for this flock that he had been shepherding.

Turns out, my friend is the epicenter of the pain quaking through this church. And, even though we haven't had any contact in years, I am quaking too. I am rocked by the shock waves of this sin. I grieve for him because scripture warns those who accept the mantle of leadership, "Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly" (James 1:3). I grieve for his wife and sons. I grieve for his parents. I grieve for this church that trusted him and now has to figure out how to follow both 1 Corinthians 5:9-11,

"I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat,"

and yet, be willing to accept a broken, repentant man back with all of the grace Christ has extended to each of us. And, I grieve for the bride, Christ's church and witness to the world. I grieve for all of those outside her walls that have one more reason to believe that Christ doesn't really transform us and will remain lost and disillusioned. And that makes me angry.

As I've prayed for them all this week, I've come to understand a single scriptural concept more completely.

"What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:21, 23).

The appetites of lust and our flesh are big, but our eyes are always bigger than our stomachs, though we keep eating until we burst. Because, as voracious as our appetites are, sin and death are even hungrier. 1 Peter 5:8 warns, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." Devour. Picture something consuming you until you are nothing but bone, and then even your bones are consumed by the dogs that come after. Death in sin is to be totally devoured.

I've read "the wages of sin is death" and I got it. Sin leads to eternal death, life in Christ leads to eternal life. But, I see now that sin and death are too hungry to wait for the final day when Christ will judge us by our own choices. The wages of sin is death and the dividends are paid immediately. My friend fell and the terminal velocity of his sin has resulted in death. His ministry is dead. His marriage is dead. His family is dead. His relationships are dead. His witness is dead. Even the extramarital affairs that propelled him to this death are dead.

It's now up to him, and those most deeply wounded by this sin, to look to the resurrection of Christ and once again grasp the gift of life-giving grace. Only Jesus can transform death into life. I pray with all my heart that redemption will reign over them all.

Ms. Barbie says, "Thinking is hard."

2007-04-19T10:13:00.000-05:00

I love irony.
Feminazi I'm not. Yet, neither am I sitting quietly in a corner with a doily on my head waiting for my man to tell me what to do. However, of the two postures, it's the first that I find most objectionable...and ironic.

Here's the thing: feminism requires a distinction between male and female, yet demands equality. Can you really burn your bra and wear lace too? (That's a rhetorical question Barbie.)

Think about it. If I can't be comfortable, as a woman, being part of mankind, it must be because I know I'm not man. If I have to say, as a woman, "please refrain from using masculine personal pronouns when generically talking about 'people' (aka male and female humans)" I have to wonder, why the distinction? Shouldn't feminists be trying to erase the use of feminine pronouns instead of creating new ones? (Ms. Barbie, that is not a trick question.)

Inconsistency is nothing new for the shrill. In fact, I think it's kind of their banner, their coat of arms. When linear thinking jumps the track, it's the sound created that becomes important. The less sense their argument makes, the louder their voices get. One sound, however, you're never likely to hear is the application of the brakes.

As I look at the landscape of women in the church today, I find more and more an agenda of feminism that doesn't line up with scripture. (I would suggest these women look to the healthy examples of women in leadership—working in concert with men—in Priscilla, Lydia, Mary Magdelene, and others. I don't think these women were worried about proclaiming and promoting God's feminine side or changing titles from chairman to chairperson.)

As I look at the opportunities for women in the church today, I find men reluctant to share the space. (I would suggest these men prayerfully consider the roles of the women mentioned above and how we are all called joint heirs with Christ and have all become part of the priesthood of believers.)

I'm interested in pursuing graduate studies. I'm feeling called to ministry leadership. I don't know yet what God is preparing me for, but the bottom line is this: I'm man's complement, not his competition. I'm God's creation, HE is my Father and I'm good with that.

A Tale of Two Gardens

2007-04-04T09:09:00.000-05:00

Two gardens. Eden and Gethsemane.
Two millennia separate the scenes of the first sacrifice made to cover sin and the final one.
The first Adam, a man, fell to the temptation of becoming like God. The second Adam, God with us, suffered becoming a man to redeem that fall. One son created, the other begotten. One son rebellious and dying, the other obedient unto death.

Two gardens. Eden and Gethsemane.
In the garden, man was given every cup, save one.
In the garden, Christ wept bitterly over the cup of man's failing. A cup He was about to consume—and that He knew, for a time, would consume Him also.
God sought man in the garden, but man hid from Him instead.
Christ sought God in the garden, but God, instead, hid His face.

Two gardens. Eden and Gethsemane.
Only the ancient serpent is the same. A slithering liar from ages past. His hissing tongue knows no language but hate and falsehood.
He succeeded in Eden. The crunch of an apple reverberated in the din of man's fall.
In Gethsemane, his second victory was nearly in hand. He had this Christ on the ropes. He had this One who had come to save man facing two losses—disobedience in avoiding the cross or death upon it.
This time, however, the sound resonating through the ages would be the crushing of the serpent's own head echoing in the crashing fall of the very gates of death and hades—gates that never again would be allowed to prevail.

Two gardens. Eden and Gethsemane.
Sin entered a perfect world and destroyed it.
Perfection entered a sinful world and redeemed it.

Two gardens. Eden and Gethsemane.
Angels guard the entrance of one with flaming swords so that man may not access the tree of life.
In the other, Angels guard the One who will soon give man access to that tree once more.

Two gardens. Eden and Gethsemane.
We live in the agony of Gethsemane. Yet, because Christ Jesus was obedient unto death, we have on offer the gifts of Eden once more. We have the hope of walking with God in the cool of the day, of being in His presence without the constraints of time.

Christ's passion is for you. It's for your world. It's for the failings of Eden and the joy set before Him of its restoration.

We live in the agony of Gethsemane. But because of Christ's sacrifice we have the hope of Eden in our hearts.

"…we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God" (Romans 5:1b-2).

"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city" (Revelation 22:13-14).

And the Oscar goes to...

2007-02-26T16:33:00.000-06:00

I wrote this essay on February 15, 2007. I post today it in view of the statuette awarded last night to Algore's "An Inconvenient Truth".

Moths on icecaps turning white? No, that’s not it. Polar bears hiding in trees? No, that doesn’t seem right. Could it be moths turning gray on polluted tree bark and polar bears forgetting how to swim when ice melts?

Which is it? It’s none of the above.

The dead, painted moths glued to trees are no different from the polar bears “trapped on a melting-before-our-very-eyes iceberg” in the fact that both are fiction.

The moth deception has come and gone. But, like nature, science abhors a vacuum. So, while one story was manufactured to “prove” evolution, the more recent was crafted to “prove” global warming. Oddly enough, the new story leaves evolution lying dead by the side of the road.

You see, they say it got warmer so the polar bears are smaller and more lean than before. But, they also say this is a bad thing. It seems to me, the bears are simply adapting to environmental changes. However, instead of taking the “I-told-you-so” opportunity that this provided, science sounded the global warming alarm by showing us these “helpless” little bears stranded on a melting iceberg. The fact is, the bears were playing on an ice floe, shaped by the waves of the Artic Ocean. Less than stranded, these playful (and apparently healthy) bears had swum a fair distance to reach the photo op.

After all these years of science’s failure to create the long-promised working model of evolution in the laboratory, one would think scientists the world over would welcome “massive climate change” as an opportunity to finally put evolutionary theory to the test. After all these years of despotic scientific proclamations that refused to hear any voice but their own, they have a golden opportunity to be vindicated. But, instead, they toss their once proud god of evolution by the way side to drink from a more intoxicating fount: global warming.

Or, I guess it could be that science has moved into pantheism. Can they really cast off evolution so quickly or completely? After all, it’s been a good god. Dictating everything yet saying nothing (so as not to confirm or deny its own existence). Evolution is the kind of god most people are looking for. It has been the great, galactic sugar daddy, providing everything and demanding nothing—except rigid lockstep.

I wonder what will come of it, this pantheistic battle between a god that has served science so well and the newer, younger model. The global warming bells and wringing hands tell me evolution may be in its final melt down. Or, maybe (if they are linear at all) when it comes to global warming, nothing adapts. Maybe everything in nature is as fat and lazy as the average mid-day TV watcher. Or, perhaps, deep inside, they know none of us are “the fittest”…

At the end of another record-low February day, the only thing about all of this science that I know for sure, is that none of it is scientific.

Ash Wednesday

2007-02-21T11:15:00.001-06:00

"…from dust you are and to dust you will return" —Genesis 3:19

Today marks the beginning of the Holy season of Lent. A time to remember where we come from and to Whom we belong. A time to trade activity, even ministry, for time to truly dwell in solitude with God.

Ash Wednesday, the day marking 40 days prior to Resurrection Sunday, is set aside for self-denial, sober self-evaluation and spiritual renewal. It's a practice that I began to observe about 5 years ago when my husband and I began attending First Presbyterian Church, Tulsa. I am so grateful to have this tradition in my spiritual practice now. It makes the joy of Resurrection day all the more intense and sweet. After 40 days of confession and naming those things in my life that live in the darkest, most secret places; laying bare my deepest needs in Christ's presence; and observing austerity in my diet make the feast of Resurrection Day more than just another big meal. The day itself becomes a feast. All of my senses are more alive and ready for the resurrection we celebrate. I have come to understand many Christians have lost the ability to truly feast because we never take the time to truly fast.

I encourage you to observe Lent this season. There is no magic formula or set of actions. (It won't make you Catholic.) Really, it's more about stopping than doing. Stop doing something and replace that activity with time to be alone with God. Make time for solitude. That's it.

In addition, you can choose to study or use the time to learn a new spiritual discipline. Commit these 40 days to read through Psalms. Fast from media and read a Christian classic like Orthodoxy by GK Chesterton or Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Read about Christ's baptisim and time in the wilderness (Matthew 3:13-17 and 4:1-11) until you can recite it in your mind's eye. Then, insert yourself as a bystander or as one of the people in the text. Let your imagination and the Holy Spirit take you deeper into Scripture and Christ's experience in the wilderness. Explore the subject of prayer or Lectio Divina. Or, choose a fast.

Tonight, I will join Christian worshipers throughout the world in observance of this holy day. I will confess sin and repent. I will celebrate communion. I will receive a cross of ashes on my forehead. I will pray. I will begin a personal journey with my Master through this season. And I will look forward to Resurrection Day!

The following is a prayer of confession written by one of the pastors from my home church, First Presbyterian Church, Tulsa, OK. It seems a fitting prayer for today.

Merciful Father, we confess that we are a fearful people. Anxious and worried about many things, our lives are constricted, sometimes defined by our fears. Yet you call us by name, promise us Your abiding presence, and declare us to be redeemed.
Alas, our fear often reflects a stubborn lack of trust and faith in You. Forgive us dear LORD, and grant us a fervent embrace of Your promises, that we might live with a reckless confidence and offer faithful and daring service to the Master, even Jesus, our LORD. Amen.

God is Gracious

2006-10-26T14:39:00.000-05:00

On a recent trip to Romania, I was privileged to share my testimony with the village church at Meziad. This was first posted on the blog of our mission website, www.fpcromaniacs.com.
And since this is my first post as an official blogger, I thought my testimony would be an appropriate starting place.

My name is Jenette. Jenette means “God is gracious.” I’m grateful that my parents named me that, because every time I say my name, I get to speak that truth. It’s a truth that I feel I live every day. God’s graciousness has been woven in and through my life story. Without His grace, there would be no story.

I was almost literally born in a church. My parents lived in the parsonage next-door to the small church they served. My name is on the cradle roll that hangs there in the nursery to this day. I was, in fact, born in a nearby town, but attended my first church service at 9 days old.

Though I wasn’t actually born in a church, I was literally raised in one. My father became a campus minister when I was 5 and from that time on, our home was also home to the ministry and the college kids he served. Girls lived on the floor above us, boys on the floor below. Weekly services were held in a large meeting room every Thursday and dinner was always joined by at least one guest.

I had a fairly idyllic childhood, but in the midst of it all, I was desperately lost. My salvation story, like everyone’s, is dramatic and I’m grateful that even now, as promised in Philippians 1:6, God is bringing the good work He began in me to completion.

I can’t remember a time that I didn’t love Jesus. But I can remember times that I didn’t love my neighbor. I can remember times that I was judgmental and cruel. I can remember times that I showed more allegiance to the father of lies than the Father of Light. I lived in darkness by my own design. Light was all around me, but I closed my eyes to it. I didn’t do drugs. I didn’t sleep around. I didn’t do things that were flamboyantly rebellious, but still, I bore rebellion in my heart.

The only thing I didn’t bear was any responsibility for myself. My parents had great faith and I watched them live it every day. I even became annoyed by it and believed them to be self-righteous because agreeing with them meant agreeing with rules that I didn’t want to follow. That the rules came from the Bible only made it worse. I couldn’t see at the time the rules were a guardrail to keep me from falling into a pit—I only saw a fence keeping me out of a garden. I wanted my way. I just didn’t want the blame when the “fun” wore off...or the lies caught up...or someone got hurt.

I remember it clearly; sitting watching a wedding ceremony when I was about 10 years old. Something about watching that bride meet her groom made me think about how Christ is the groom of the church and His desire is for her to be pure and holy and acceptable before the Father. I realized that the home I lived in was clean and full of the Spirit, but the home Christ wanted, my heart, was black and uninhabitable. I couldn’t rely on my parents to clean it. I couldn’t rely on myself. I could only rely on the blood of Christ to cleanse me and save me from my sin. And He did. He is gracious.

My father baptized me in the church where I had watched that wedding. I wish I could say that I have since followed Christ with all my heart and without fail. I can not. I can only say that without the power of His sacrificial death and death-defeating resurrection, I would be hopelessly lost in a sea of meaningless religion. Instead, I am here before you today as a testimony of God’s grace and a witness of Christ’s love. I have had many trials and times of trouble, many disappointments and failures of my own making, but through it all, God is gracious. So, my testimony of Christ concludes in the same way John concluded his gospel,

This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true.

And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.—John 21:24-25

I look forward to that day when I will stand with you again (without an interpreter), in a great cloud of witnesses before the Father and the Son. Until then, may God bless and keep you and be gracious unto you.