Where is Home: Heaven or Earth?
February 28, 2009 | 2 Comments
Where is Home: Heaven or Earth?
I had some reservations about reading Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright. Any book that announces in its subtitle that it is ‘Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection and the Mission of the Church’ makes me a bit cautious. Rethinking things this essential often means saying something heretical about them. Not to mention the book has a glowing endorsement from Emergent superstar Rob Bell, and I was really thinking this book could be shady.
But when I read it at the end of last year, I found it to be a worthwhile and engaging read. I did not agree with everything in the book, but it seemed to me that there was a lot more wheat than chaff. So now I am re-reading the book again (since, if you read yesterday’s post, I don’t remember enough of what I read).
One of the points that Wright makes early in the book is that the hymns of the Church sometimes advance a view of the final hope of the Christian’s ultimate destiny that is contrary to the Scriptural account. Among others, he cites the great hymn How Great Thou Art as an example. The final verse reads:
When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Wright takes issue specifically with the phrase, ‘When Christ shall come….and take me home…’ This, he says, promotes a significant misunderstanding about what Christ will do at His second coming. As Wright puts it,
“Heaven, in the Bible, is not a future destiny but the other, hidden dimension of our ordinary life — God’s dimension, if you like. God made heaven and earth; at the last he will remake both and join them together forever. And when we come to the picture of the actual end in Revelation 21-22, we find not ransomed souls making their way to a disembodied heaven but rather the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven to earth, uniting the two in a lasting embrace.”
This idea does not seem to be captured by the words of How Great Thou Art, which describes Jesus coming and taking His people out of this world to our home, supposedly somewhere up in the sky with Him. It gives the impression that salvation is found in escape from this present world, not the healing and renewal of it. So Wright suggests that a more biblical way to state the last verse would be to say, ‘When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation/and heal this world, what joy shall fill my heart.’
It’s not as if I expect the words to this great hymn to be changed (although the original Swedish version does not talk about Christ coming to take me home), but I like Wright’s suggested change. I think the re-wording makes a statement about our final salvation and the scope of Christ’s redemptive power demonstrated in His death and resurrection that seems largely absent from our singing and our thinking about God’s final goal and purpose for the world.
Thoughts? Is Wright being over-dramatic here? Is this a matter of semantics and not a really big deal? How do these two different pictures affect your thinking of the final hope of Christianity?
Leave a comment and let me know what you’re thinking about this…
Becoming a Better Reader
February 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Becoming a Better Reader
Last year I read 54 books, probably the most I’ve read in any one year of my life. But what I found in reading that much is that I did a pretty lousy job of retaining what I read. As 2009 came and I thought about setting new reading goals, it dawned on me that I felt like I needed to re-read many of the books that most engaged my thinking last year. I was in such a rush to read a book per week, that I have only a fuzzy idea of the content of many of those books.
So, with the help of John Piper, I have devised a way to be more active when I read and hopefully read books in a way that will profit me for a longer period of time. I have read that when Piper reads a book, he makes notes in the front and back blank pages of the book indicating the page number of quotes and thoughts that were significant. In addition, he breaks the page into tenths to indicate where on the page the quote or idea is found.
For instance, I’m currently (re)reading a book called Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright (yes, I am aware that he has some questionable beliefs; we can still read authors like that, so long as we use biblical discernment!). On page 18 Wright gives a succinct definition of the Kingdom of God. I thought it was worth noting, so in the front of the book I wrote, ‘Kingdom of God defined, 18.6.’ That means I can find that quote on page 18, around 6/10 of the way down the page.
Also, as I finish a chapter I am writing a sentence or a phrase or two in the front of the book so I know what the main theme or idea of that chapter was. Another book I’m reading is Robert Coleman’s The Master Plan of Evangelism. Inside the front cover I have written, ‘Chap. 1 — Jesus invests in a few, not crowds.’ That will now jog my memory as to the content of that chapter.
Whether you find these particular tips helpful or not, I encourage those of you who love reading to think about some specific ways that you can retain what you have read. Because a book with great content isn’t really worth much if you can’t remember anything that you read six months later.
The True Hero of the Story
February 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment
The True Hero of the Story
Abraham is regarded by almost all Bible-believers (Jewish and Christian) to be a great hero of faith. He sure looks heroic in this picture, doesn’t he? Here he is, preparing to sacrifice his own son Isaac in obedience to the Lord’s command.
This month I’ve been reading Genesis, and while Abraham certainly is a notable man of faith, I’ve been noticing that he is not exactly your prototypical hero. The first we really hear of him is in the beginning of Genesis 12, when God comes to him and promises to make a great nation out of his offspring. Indeed, through him, all the nations of the earth would be blessed. What a promise!
And initially Abraham plays the part of hero, leaving his homeland to follow the Lord’s call to go to a land that He would show him. But Abraham’s courage doesn’t last long. Shortly after this extraordinary promise, he basically hands his wife over to be sexually abused by the Egyptians, in order to save his own neck. This is an utterly despicable act, which Abraham repeats just a few chapters later. Hardly the great father of faith!
It seems to me that the dominant point of Abraham’s life is not for us to say, ‘Here is a great man of faith; imitate his example.’ Rather it’s to say, ‘Though Abraham was so full of sin and cowardice, God’s promise comes because of grace, not as a response to human merit.’ In other words, Abraham is not the true hero of this story. Jesus Christ is.
Abraham’s faithlessness is a pointer to the supreme faithfulness of Christ. Abraham abandoned his bride in order to save himself from danger. Jesus descended from Heaven to Earth and gave Himself up to the brutal agony of Calvary in order to save His bride from sin, death and hell.
Jesus, not Abraham, is the true hero of Abraham’s story. In fact, I’m pretty sure that Jesus is the true hero of every story. Let’s not use the Bible simply as an instruction manual. Surely there are instructions, but the main purpose of the Bible is to show us what Christ is like. Only then can we begin to truly follow His instructions.
Barbie and the Spread of Bulimia
February 25, 2009 | 5 Comments
Barbie and the Spread of Bulimia
The latest edition of Newsweek has a story on Barbie turning 50 years old next month. I wish I could celebrate this 50th anniversary as much as I did the anniversary of Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue. But while Kind of Blue seems to me to be a cultural good of great enduring value, I don’t think I can say the same for Barbie.
In the article, Eliza Gray writes,
“In her half century of existence, Barbie has become something of a Rorschach test for views about modern feminine identity. Either she’s a sunny, self-confident, good-time girl—Doris Day in miniature—or, more commonly, she’s the original bimbo, a relic of postwar paternalism that teaches its young owners to worship at the altar of blond hair, peach skin and formidable cleavage atop a waistline the size of a pinkie ring.”
Count me in with the latter view. Where do the Paris Hilton’s and Britney Spears’ of the world find their origin? I wonder if the answer is in the creation of the Barbie Doll, which has shaped little girls into becoming young women who think they need a certain bra size and waistline in order to be considered ‘beautiful’.
It is interesting that some people criticize the Christian faith because of its’ alleged oppressive attitude toward women. Beliefs like the headship of a husband over the wife and the distinction of church elder being a position only for men are said to reduce the value and dignity of women. But I cannot imagine anything more degrading to the innate value and dignity of a woman than to tell her that unless she has ‘blond hair, peach skin and formidable cleavage atop a waistline the size of a pinkie ring’ she is second-class. Yet I fear that’s exactly what is happening every day in this nation. Millions of girls are learning to regard themselves as worthless, primarily because they do not look like the Barbie doll that American culture tells them they should. That’s oppression, if you ask me.
Is it possible that anorexia and bulimia are so prevalent in our society because of the cultural product known as the Barbie doll? Let me not overstep my bounds too much; I am not wanting to make a blanket condemnation of all parents who have ever bought their little girl a Barbie doll. But as a father of two little girls of my own, I want to take extreme caution and be very sensitive to how my girls view themselves based on the toys they play with. Reading this article reminded me that a seemingly innocent doll can make a big impact on the thinking of little girls.
The Unintended Results of Cultural Progress
February 23, 2009 | Leave a Comment
The Unintended Results of Cultural Progress
This morning I read the news that Philadelphia Newspapers LLC, the company that owns the Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com has filed for bankruptcy in an attempt to restructure its $390 million debt load. From the report:
The financial burden from an advertising downturn, rising costs for newsprint, and the migration of readers to the Internet caused Philadelphia Newspapers to fall out of compliance with its loan agreements last year. The same conditions have devastated the broadcast industry.
It is not clear whether any jobs will be lost during this process, as operations are reported to be sound and profitable. But surely there are many other situations which have led and are leading to job loss. This situation, and others like it, is a great sadness, and not what anyone foresaw as being an almost inevitable result of the internet age that we live in.
Reading this story reminded me of something I just read in Andy Crouch’s Culture Making. Crouch writes that one of the difficulties of creating cultural products that serve others is that often the cultural product that is created has negative consequences that the creators of the product never imagined.
He cites the internet as a primary example. The internet is, by all estimations, an amazing product of culture that has greatly increased the horizons of possibility for millions of people. But people did not foresee many of the negative effects of such technological advance: the ease with which our children can be polluted and abused by online pornography, the decimation of the 20th century music industry and the vast loss of jobs that has created, or the increasing irrelevance of the newspaper, as people get their news quicker and cheaper online. Surely this is what led to the Philadelphia Newspaper LLC’s announcement of bankruptcy.
All this increases my longing for the cosmic redemption of all things, which Jesus and the writers of Scripture have promised is yet to come. I am pretty sure that we will, in some way, still be culture makers in our final state of glory. And how sweet will that day be when our cultural creativity will produce one of the unintended, harmful results that often plague the best cultural advancements in this fallen world. In that day, every cultural good really will be good.
Algebra for Parenting
February 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Algebra for Parenting
Those with children in the home might enjoy this post by Taylor Buzzard; it was an encouragement to me. From the conclusion:
“Please, do the math. The math will help you love your children better today. The math will make you take a giant step backwards, away from the difficulties of parenting, to better see the privilege and delight of parenting.”
Enjoying God Everywhere
February 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Enjoying God Everywhere
In Mark Noll’s book, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, Noll calls attention to the regrettable absence of Christian scholars and thinkers in various fields of study like art and science. This is regrettable, according to Noll, because in failing to learn diligently about nature, society and humanity, among other areas of study, we fail to learn about the Creator of all. As Noll says, When we study something, we are of course learning about that thing. But even more, we are learning about the One who made that thing.
Noll draws attention to the famous American theologian Jonathan Edwards. Here is a man who had an insatiable thirst for learning about both God and God’s world. When he was still in his teens, Edwards wrote an extensive description of the shape, construction and purpose of a spider’s web.
There are many true things we can say about the spider’s web, but according to Edwards, the ultimate thing shown by the spider in its spinning is “the exuberant goodness of the Creator, who hath provided for all the necessities, but also for the pleasure and recreation of all sorts of creatures, even the insects.” Edwards understood that the final reason for exercising our intelligence is to know more of God and his loving ways with the world.
Clearly Edwards was a man who did more than read his Bible and preach on heaven and hell (which he did extraordinarily well!). He was zealous to know all that he could about God, by studying carefully both His Word and His world.
May God raise up many such intellectuals who will zealously pursue a greater enjoyment of God through all that He has made.
Atheist Evangelism
February 18, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Atheist Evangelism
I have to admit I got a chuckle out of this headline on the Fox News website:
Italian Bus Boasting Anti-God Ad Breaks Down on First Trip
The article begins:
“The first Italian bus to boast an atheist advertisement rolled out Monday and certainly did not have God on its side.“No sooner had the bus — carrying the message, “The Good News Is There Are Millions of Atheists In Italy; The Excellent News Is They Believe In Freedom Of Expression” –- hit the streets of Genoa when it suffered battery problems and had to go straight back to the depot for repairs, UPI reported.”
Fortunately, a member of the Italian Union of Atheists, Agnostics and Rationalists assures us that the ‘curious problem’ with the batteries happened ‘by pure chance’. Well, that’s a relief!
Now please understand, I don’t see the breakdown of this bus as a great triumph for faith in God! But I do find it interesting that even atheists feel compelled to ‘evangelize’ others. One of the things that I’ve heard non-believers say from time to time is that the world would be a much better place if the different religious believers would just keep their faith to themselves and stop trying to bring it into the public square and convert others to their beliefs.
Yet in this case — and what’s happening in Italy is an offshoot of campaigns already launched in Washington, London and Spain — Atheists themselves are spreading their own version of ‘good news’ in the public square.
Certainly people are entitled to their views, and they are entitled to put their views on buses if they want to shell out the money to do so. Such advertising does not strike me as a threat to my beliefs. But why exactly do Atheists feel compelled to share their non-belief? And how can they engage in this kind of advertising while condemning adherents of other religions for trying to convert others?
Learning to Listen Well
February 18, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Learning to Listen Well
I doubt that many non-Christians who have taken the time to talk with believers would say that Christians are good listeners. For better or worse, we Christians have a reputation for ’shoving truth’ down people’s throats without listening to where they are coming from.
With that in view, I thought this blog post was quite helpful in challenging me to become a better listener, and giving some practical tips on how to do that.
If You Had One Hour…
February 16, 2009 | 1 Comment
If You Had One Hour…
If you could spend one hour with any living person, who would it be?
Implied in the question is that the answer is someone who, for any reason, you don’t have access to spending time with now.
My answer to the question is Dave Matthews. Ten years ago he was probably the closest thing to a savior that I had. When I was gloomy for any reason, his music is what I turned to for comfort and peace. Now that I know THE Savior, I am still fascinated by Dave Matthews and his music. I have done away with the vast majority of my DMB collection, but still have a few songs that I enjoy. Their musical creativity is, I believe, a reflection of the image of God in them, though they do not manifestly give Him the glory for it.
From listening to the songs that he writes and reading some interviews with him, it is clear that Dave Matthews is not a Christian. I am pretty sure he professes agnosticism. But he also has clearly done a good bit of thinking about Jesus and Christianity. He seems to have a kind of respect for Jesus, though Matthews obviously picks and chooses what to like about Him. Some of his insights about the failure of the Church to represent Jesus in the world are spot on, and yet he is certainly responsible for suppressing the truth that God has revealed to him.
So if I had an hour, I’d love to sit down with this man whose extraordinary musical talent has brought joy to so many people. It would be a joy to listen to his objections and difficulties with Christianity, and try to help him see that his objections are not insurmountable to having faith in the Jesus of the Bible. I doubt I’d be able to persuade him to trust Christ in an hour, but I’d still love to explain to him how his talents have made me more in awe of Jesus Christ, the Lord of the universe.
Now I turn it to you: if you had one hour to spend with any living person, who would it be? This requires you, faithful reader, to click on the ‘comments’ icon below this post and write a comment!
Spring’s Around the Corner
February 14, 2009 | 1 Comment
Spring’s Around the Corner
I know this because pitchers and catchers report for spring training today. I’m eager to see my beloved Phils’ try to become the first repeat champions from the National League since the 70’s. But even their recent success doesn’t make me very optimistic that it will actually happen!
Earlier in the week I read an article which said that the Phillies’ payroll increased almost $30 million this off-season. With people all around the nation losing jobs and feeling stress over economic uncertainty, obviously the sports franchises aren’t hurting too badly! I don’t know many companies that are increasing their payroll by $30 million this year.
Do you think that these uncertain economic times make it harder to get excited about supporting athletes and their employers who live in such financial ease?
Let me know…
‘You Will all Likewise Perish’
February 13, 2009 | Leave a Comment
‘You will all likewise Perish’
These are the words of Jesus that came to mind this morning when I heard about the plane crash that happened outside Buffalo last night, killing 5o people.
I first heard about the crash on the radio, and the reporter said something to the effect of, ‘The families of the victims have been gathered together, and chaplains are available for grief counseling.’
That was sobering. I am not a chaplain, but I am a pastor. And I thought to myself, ‘What would I say to the grieving family members in a crisis like this?’ People look to chaplains or pastors, for comfort in the midst of grief. But the comfort we give must be grounded in truth. ‘He’s in a better place,’ is not true for those apart from Christ. So as I thought about this story, I was sobered by the awesome responsibility of being Christ’s ambassadors in a world of such pain and calamity.
I then thought of Jesus’ words in Luke 13:
1 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
Unforeseen, tragic calamities are reminders from God that life is fragile, and all of our fate will one day be the same as those people killed in Buffalo, if we do not surrender to Christ and receive forgiveness of sins through Him.
Of course, one would not say this in these exact words to grieving people. But anyone interested in genuinely loving people who are grieving will not ignore the words of Christ. Life is short, and serious. Without Christ, there is no hope for any of us. Whether in an airplane, a falling tower, or a slow-moving disease, our time is coming. There is no time for false comfort or assurance.
The Redemption of Culture, #1
February 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment
The Redemption of Culture, #1
Last week in writing about Miles Davis’ classic jazz recording Kind of Blue, I hinted at something I want to explore in a couple of more posts. I said that a cultural artifact like Kind of Blue can and does bring delight to the heart of God and may well be enjoyed on the New Earth which will be our eternal home.
What is the basis of my saying such a thing? I’m going to take a few posts to try to explain what I mean. First up is a quote from Anthony Hoekema in his book, The Bible and the Future. I’m only a quarter of the way into this book, but I am enjoying it. In a chapter on the tension between the ‘already’ and the ‘not yet’ of the Kingdom of God (that is, that the Kingdom has already been inaugurated by Christ’s death and resurrection, but has not yet been consummated, which will happen at His second coming), Hoekema writes,
“What about the cultural products of non-Christians? Do we simply write off such products as valueless because they have not been produced by believers and have not been consciously dedicated to the glory of God? Christians who take this attitude fail to appreciate the working of God’s common grace in this present world, whereby even unregenerate men are enabled to make valuable contributions ot the world’s culture.”
Hoekema then quotes John Calvin, who recognized that through the working of the Holy Spirit, non-Christians can and do say things that are true. Hoekema then writes,
“With respect to non-Christian culture, therefore, we must remember that Christ’s sovereign power is so great that He can rule in the midst of His enemies, and cause those who do not know Him to make contributions in art and science which serve His cause. The powers awakened by the resurrection of Jesus Christ are active in the world today! The sovereign rule of Christ over history is so marvelous that He can make even His enemies praise Him, though they do so involuntarily. And when we read in the book of Revelation that the kings and nations of the earth shall bring their glory into the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:24, 26), we conclude that there will be some continuity even between the culture of the present world and that of the world to come.”
What, specifically, does this mean for Kind of Blue? Well, I can’t say for certain, but I do think it points us in the direction that such cultural artifacts may be part of the redeemed culture that will fill the New Earth. The most compelling place in the Bible which leads me in that direction is Isaiah 60.
But this post is getting a little lengthy already. I’ll save that for another time soon!
Yes, There is Real Evil
February 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Yes, There is Real Evil
On Monday I read this article on Fox News about a Polish engineer beheaded by the Taliban in Pakistan. My heart grieves for the victim of this tragedy and his family in mourning. As I thought about this story, I wondered how I as a Christian ought to respond to such a story. Surely many such stories happen every day, not to mention the larger scale acts such as 9/11.
There are many ways for a Christian to respond, but the one that stood out to me as I pondered this story was that affirmation that evil is real and horrible. Just about everyone in our society can see this. Hardly anyone would read a story like this one out of Pakistan and say, ‘Well, those killers were doing what felt right for them, and there is no point in trying to impose our view of morality on them. What they did was right for them.’ No one talks like that! Instead they say, ‘This was a horrible act of evil; it should be stopped, and those men should be punished.’
This is a very important insight to keep in mind as we interact with people who do not share our beliefs and worldview. In our postmodern world it is common to hear people say that moral absolutes are relative, and it is foolish and unloving to try to make someone else conform to our particular view of morality. But the people who say such things do not really live that way. Instead, when a polish man is beheaded in Pakistan, they say ‘This is evil!’
Thus, these grievous, horrible acts of wickedness around the world may actually serve to give us an opportunity to expose to others the shallowness of their worldview when they say things like, ‘It is narrow-minded and bigoted to say that your way of living or your view of truth is the right way.’ If that is true, then nothing evil happened in Pakistan the other day, and nothing evil happened on 9/11.
Let us affirm and impart to others that evil is real and horrible. Because only when we see the horror of evil will we be able to marvel at the glory of Jesus Christ, who will one day heal the world of all its misery, evil and corruption.
From Where Does this Satisfaction Come?
February 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment
From Where Does this Satisfaction Come?
Yesterday I was in the Firehouse (the building next to our church where I do much of my work, for those who read this and don’t attend my church) doing some work. To my right, around fifteen feet away, was a little trash can in the corner of the room.
I had a piece of paper that I no longer needed, so without thinking, I suddenly balled it up as tightly as I could and tossed it toward the trash can…swish. Right in the can, two points!
Very unspectacular, right? But as the ‘ball’ went in to the can, I had around three seconds where I had a strong feeling of satisfaction. I mean Dwayne Wade I’m not, but that was a pretty good shot!
Immediately I began to ponder why in the world I would feel satisfaction about something so small and insignificant. Is this a matter of trivial amusement for a few seconds, or is there something more deep in our hearts that compels us to feel satisfaction in such a moment?
This is not a loaded question; I assure you, I don’t have another post going up later today on why I felt such satisfaction at shooting a paper ball in a trash can.
Maybe I just think too much. But I’m wondering, does anyone else have any thoughts on this? Has anyone else experienced such a phenomenon (not just with a ball of trash, but anything similar)?
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