The following was written a little bit before blogs were invented. But I think these words apply quite well to how we should conduct ourselves when discussing things under "comments". Please read the following as applying directly to how we talk to each other online:

We no more give honors to fools than pray for snow in summer or rain during harvest.

You have as little to fear from an undeserved curse as from the dart of a wren or the swoop of a swallow.

A whip for the racehorse, a tiller for the sailboat— and a stick for the back of fools!

Don't respond to the stupidity of a fool; you'll only look foolish yourself.

Answer a fool in simple terms so he doesn't get a swelled head.

You're only asking for trouble when you send a message by a fool.

A proverb quoted by fools is limp as a wet noodle.

Putting a fool in a place of honor is like setting a mud brick on a marble column.

To ask a moron to quote a proverb is like putting a scalpel in the hands of a drunk.

As a dog eats its own vomit, so fools recycle silliness.

See that man who thinks he's so smart? You can expect far more from a fool than from him.

Like Glaze on Cracked Pottery, Dreamers fantasize their self-importance; they think they are smarter than a whole college faculty.

You grab a mad dog by the ears when you butt into a quarrel that's none of your business.

People who shrug off deliberate deceptions, saying, "I didn't mean it, I was only joking," are worse than careless campers who walk away from smoldering campfires.

When you run out of wood, the fire goes out; when the gossip ends, the quarrel dies down.

A quarrelsome person in a dispute is like kerosene thrown on a fire.

Listening to gossip is like eating cheap candy; do you want junk like that in your belly?

Smooth talk from an evil heart is like glaze on cracked pottery.

Your enemy shakes hands and greets you like an old friend, all the while conniving against you. When he speaks warmly to you, don't believe him for a minute; he's just waiting for the chance to rip you off. No matter how cunningly he conceals his malice, eventually his evil will be exposed in public.

Malice backfires; spite boomerangs.

Liars hate their victims; flatterers sabotage trust.

The above was written by Solomon and translated by Eugene Peterson. (Proverbs 26)

Wise advice for bloggers, eh?

It’s all about Jesus. Really, it is. A few recent best-selling Christian books have been telling people, “It’s not about you.” That’s true actually. We don’t like to hear that. But it’s true. If all of history isn’t about me or you, then what is it about?

Jesus.

“He said to them, ‘How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (Luke 24:25-27 NIV).

The Old Testament is all about Jesus. The New Testament is all about Jesus. I also believe that all of history is about Jesus. (I like to think of history as HIS story.) And so I also believe that the story of your family, the story of your church, the story of YOU, is all about Jesus.

Jesus should be on our lips, our minds and our hearts. He should be a part of all we say, do, think, and plan. But not just a part. He should be the basis for all that we do.

Every now and then a new Christian book or Christian teacher takes the churches by storm. (Just a few names I've observed: C.S. Lewis, Francis Schaeffer, Hal Lindsey, Billy Graham, Max Lucado, Henry Blackaby, Bruce Wilkinson, John Eldredge, Joel Osteen, Rick Warren) When one of these authors gets influential we hear Christians saying their name a lot or quoting their books. What a certain author thinks will be cited in committee meetings and Sunday School classes. There’s nothing wrong with learning from another Christian or quoting an author but every time it happens, I wonder if we shouldn’t be more influenced by Jesus. We should be referring to Jesus, saying his name, talking about what he would think and quoting him.

How can we do that more? I think it happens not only by loving him, but by admiring him, respecting him, and thinking that he is the smartest, most wonderful person you’ve ever known.

“Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!” (Romans 5:7-9).

What a wonderful savior! My prayer for you is that your life would be all about Jesus. May all that you do, say and live point to and glorify our Savior.

“To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen” (Jude 24-25).

We are two messages into a series on Habakkuk at Element right now, and while we are focusing on four connected requirements it gives us for living the Christian life -- brokenness, repentance, worship, and faith -- the prevailing theme of the short three chapters of the book is the sovereignty of God. Habakkuk's conversation with God says one thing most clearly: "God is in charge."
Or, as in Habakkuk 2:20, "But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him."

There are obvious shades of "Who are you, o man, to say to God . . .?" and not so subtle shades of "Keep your fool mouth shut," but as it comes at the end of stanzas pronouncing woes on all the ways the Chaldeans (and everybody else) pursue their own glory, I think what it really means is, "God is the one who is in charge; better get with the program."

God has an agenda and it is not only not ours, it frequently and constantly interferes with and opposes ours. We are used to thinking in terms of God helping us in our life, that our life is "our story" and we invite God to participate in it, and that is so bass ackwards. It is God's story, God's world, God's life, and we get to participate in it.
This is never more vivid in Habakkuk than in the way God answers Habakkuk's complaints. He does so completely outside of Habakkuk's assumptions and preferences and expectations. In a nutshell, the conversation kinda goes like this:

Habakkuk: God, there is so much sin and injustice in Israel, why aren't you doing something about it? Where are you and why aren't you listening to me?

God: I'm here. I'm about to do something awesome about it.

Habakkuk: Sweet!

God: I'm raising up idolaters to come destroy you.

Habakkuk: Um . . .

God: Seriously.

Habakkuk: But why would you use wicked people to judge good people?

(Jared's Note of Irony: Notice that Habakkuk takes this tack right after saying Israel was wicked and God should do something about it.)

God: Oh, I'm going to destroy them too.

I'm trying to be humorous with that nutshell summation, and Habakkuk's faith is actually remarkable in that he continues to faithfully acknowledge God's goodness and holiness and righteousness even in the expectation of pain and suffering, but that is really the gist. God has an agenda, and it is not ours.

Last week we focused on Habakkuk 2, and I colored the point of the woes over man seeking worldly pleasures and satisfactions as a call to repent of our glory and turn toward God's. That is what repentance really is; it's not going from being a bad person to being a "good person," because being a good person is impossible and doesn't work. Repentance, rather, is trusting God and submitting to God's agenda for His own glory, even when it means hardship and suffering and self-denial.

This is why corporate worship tainted with how good, faithful, strong, whatever we are is a dangerous, dangerous path. We should not gather to sing even for one second our own praises.

The worship God is seeking relies completely on His initiative, knowing that the only true expression of worship is through the abandonment of all our agendas for His, as we trust in His sovereign power and unlimited grace. It is from this heart posture that true liturgy flows, that music and arts find their highest calling and that the light of a worshipping community shines as a beacon of hope to a suffering and searching world.
-- David Ruis

(HT for the quote: Joe Byler)

(Cross-posted at The Gospel-Driven Church)

Why am I endlessly fascinated by stuff like this?

Send me any Texe Marrs books you have laying around too.

(HT: BHT)

James Cone is the founder and still the main proponent. He is professor at Union Theolgical Seminary in New York, which is one the most liberal seminaries in the U.S.

Black Liberation Theology is Liberation Theology applied to the opression experienced by African-Americans.

Cone wrote: “Black history is recovering a past deliberately destroyed by slave masters, an attempt to revive old survival symbols and create new ones. Black power is an attempt to shape our persent economic, social and political existence according to those actions that destroy the oppressor’s hold on black flesh. Black theology places our past and present actions toward black liberation in a theological context, seeking to destroy alien gods and to create value-structures according to the God of black freedom” (Black Theology and Black Liberation, “1085)

If Liberation Theology defines itself as the oppressor vs. the oppressed, and God is on the side of the oppressed, then Black Liberation Theology defines itself as White Vs. Black, and God is on the side of the Blacks. Yes, it is a Christian version of the Black Power movement of the 1960's.

Black theology is theology committed to liberating black people and defines itself as locked into a battle with white racism. Our religion, what we call orthodoxy, black liberation theologians call “white religion” or “whitianity” or “Christianity”. - Evangelical Dictionary of Theology edited by Walter Elwell

This view of Christianity as inherently racist may explain to you some of Jeremiah Wright's response to Hannity in the video clip I posted at the Liberation Theology post.

They certainly have some evidence in their favor. Early slave owners did distort Christianity so that the existing relationship between slave and master would not be challenged. Many racists used the Bible to justify their evil.
And in the church, blacks found the only place that they could define themselves, rather than being defined by society. Even now Cone points to all the portayals of Jesus as white, and says, "If they can do that, why can't we?"
The Black Muslim movement with emphasis on black pride and black power had a lot of influence in the 1960's. And so James Cone invented and developed "Black Liberation Theology."

Background and Beliefs
Like Liberation Theology, Black Liberation Theology teaches that God acts in history to save people, and that salvation means far more than just spiritual, but it must also include economic, physical, political and social liberation. They look at the Exodus as the model of how God works, and of God's mission on earth. Jesus' "failure" on the cross is seen as God identifying with blacks. Cone says that in order to understand the cross, we must understand the lynching of blacks.

Cone quotes Karl Barth “God always takes his stand unconditionally and passionately on this side alone, against those who already enjoy right and privilege and on behalf of those who are denied it and deprived of it.” (Black Theology and Black Power, 45)

Cone finds suport in Psalm 10:17-18

You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.

And also in Psalm 72:12

For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help.

And because he sees blacks as the oppressed and the whites as the oppressors, Cone is able to say, "God is black."

Like Liberation Theology, Luke 4:18 is the foundational scripture.

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed...

Cone also points to Matthew 11:19 where he says that Jesus knows how to identify with the Black experience because he too has been falsely accused and villified.

The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ' But wisdom is proved right by her actions."

And of course there is also Luke 7:22 -

So he replied to the messengers, "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy[a] are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.

And so Black Liberation Theologians see Jesus' mission as one of liberation. Because God is identified with liberating the poor and the oppressed, then in the 20th century he would be identified with blackness. That is where God is today, they say. And obedience to God requires identification with the poor and oppressed, i.e. blackness.

The Great Satan – from an article sympathetic to Black theology

“Black Liberation Theology teaches that In the New Testament, Jesus comes into the world to destroy the works of Satan. If the preceding identification of the struggle of Jesus and that of African-Americans seeking liberation is true, then there must also be a Satan in the contemporary picture. Black Theology does not get bogged down in quaint personifications of Satan but sees him at work in the powers and principalities of this world that would enslave and demean human beings. And the most demonic of these powers in the black experience is that of racism.

Cone writes: "Theologically, Malcolm X was not far wrong when he called the white man 'the devil.' The white structure of this American society, personified in every racist, must be at least part of what the New Testament meant by demonic forces...Ironically, the man who enslaves another enslaves himself...To be free to do what I will in relation to another is to be in bondage to the law of least resistance. This is the bondage of racism. Racism is that bondage in which whites are free to beat, rape, or kill blacks. About thirty years ago it was acceptable to lynch a black man by hanging him from a tree; but today whites destroy him by crowding him into a ghetto and letting filth and despair put the final touches on death." http://www.wfu.edu/~matthetl/perspectives/twentyseven.html

In his article, "An Investigation of Black Liberation Theology," Dr. H. Wayne House wrote, "black theology (and liberation theology in general) seeks to speak to 'this-world' problems, rather than 'other-world' issues; to concrete circumstances, rather than abstract thought; to the sinfulness of man's plight in a ghetto rather than sin in man's heart; and to a savior who delivers man from earthly slavery, rather than a Savior who saves man from spiritual bondage. This is black liberation theology in a word."

(Note: Dr. House's article originally appeared in Bibliotheca Sacra, the theological journal of Dallas Theological Seminary. I first found the article when doing research on this last week. Since then it has been taken down. Numerous other bloggers have linked to it, but now their links are dead. If you can find it, read it, and tell me where to find it again! It's Excellent.)

(Further Note: More posts on this subject will be coming...)

Sean Hannity didn't know last year, and neither did the rest of America, even though Jeremiah Wright tried to explain it.



What really bugs me about this clip is that Hannity never seems to listen. And he certainly doesn't answer Rev. Wright's question. Why didn't he just say, "No, I don't know what Liberation Theology is, and neither does the rest of America. Could you please explain it?" What a missed opportunity!

Now we're paying attention a year later because of some clips from his sermons show up on youtube and the news stations and commentators went nuts over Rev. Wright's "controversial" statements.

But how many of us really understand where his preaching and beliefs come from? He tried to tell us. So let's belatedly, give him a hearing. Let's do as he says and learn what Liberation Theology is, in order to better understand where he's coming from.

To understand Black Liberation Theology, you have to understand Liberation Theology.

Liberation Theology (One of my main sources was the "Evangelical Dictionary of Theology" by Walter Elwell)

It is more of a movement than a systematic theology. Since its origin in Latin America in the mid-20th century it has been applied to blacks, feminists, asians, hispanics and Native Americans.

It was born in Latin America, and what came from there is the origin and model for all versions of Liberation Theology. It was primarily articulated by a man named Gustavo Gutierrez. It was heavily influenced by Marxism, and some have even said that it is a Christianized form of Marxism.

After Vatican II in 1965, Latin American Roman Catholic leaders turned to Liberation theology. Latin American Liberation theologians say that their continent has been victimized by colonialism, imperialism and multinational corporations. They say that Latin America is dependent on economic decisions made in capitalist countries like the U.S. and the U.K. So to perpetuate this economic exploitation, liberation theologians argue that powerful capitalist countries, give military and economic support to certain political regimes supportive of the economic status quo. They read history in a certain way. They read their newspapers in a certain way.

Liberation Theology was originally Latin American and Roman Catholic. Their views were rooted in history and culture. They saw what we call orthodoxy as being too individualistic. What about Social Injustice? What about Poverty? These are the questions they asked. They see a message of salvation that doesn't also include economic, social, and physical salvation as incomplete.

Method- defined by Gutierez as “critical reflection on historical praxis” Liberation Theologians say that theology should be immersed in your own intellectual and sociopolitical history. To them, Theology is not a system of timeless truths, but a changing exercise in social analysis. So new theological truth comes out of a given historical situatuion.

Marxism had a heavy influence on Liberation Theology with its teachings of class warfare. History, and the world, and the Bible are viewed as the chronic struggle of the Opressor v. The Oppressed. And of course, God is on the side of the oppressed. So that's where theology should be.

Liberation theology turns to the Bible. They point to Scriptures that show God identifying with the poor. And so communion with God is equated with fighting for the poor, identifying with them and sharing their fate. God is identified with the suffering.

Based on Luke 4:16-21 – which is based on Isaiah 61:1.

16He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

20Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

This is Jesus announcing his ministry. Liberation Theologians see this as the foundational text of the whole Bible and their theology. These verses are the lense through which they read the rest of Scripture.

To them salvation means rescuing the poor. And sin is oppressing them.

So Liberation theologians teach that orthodox theology manipulates God in favor of Capitalistic social structure. What you and I call Orthodox Christianity, they call the religion of the oppressor designed to keep the oppressed down.

They emphasize God’s immanence over transecendence. To them God is worthless if he is not immersed in the fate of the oppressed. God is found in history. God is a crucified and suffering God who identifies with the poor.

The cross is primarily seen as the event in which God identifies with those who suffer and are "crucified" everyday.

So salvation is equated with the process of liberation from oppression and injustice.

Sin is defined in terms of man’s inhumanity to man.

Liberation theology equates loving your neighbor with loving God. They are virtually indistinguishable in liberation theology.

Israels’ liberation from Egypt is the prototypes for the contemporary struggle for liberation.

To the Liberation Theologian, Church and the world can’t be segregated.

Jesus’ death is not seen as a vicarious offering on behalf of mankind. Rather he exemplifies the suffering God experiences when anyone is oppressed.

As is typical in false teaching, they have some good points, but they go too far. Sin is real. And we need to be saved from it. They see only the oppressed as needing a savior. The Bible does not teach that the poor are the embodiment of God in today’s world. The Bible teaches that God is transcendent. And while he cares about the poor, that life with God does not only mean whether or not your poor. They seem to miss all of Jesus' emphasis on eternal life, on storing your treasures for the next life.

It politicizes the gospel. It is a social gospel. But it is not the Gospel.

For those of you who wonder how so many liberal churches can preach politics, there it is. To them religion is politics. Because Jesus came to save the oppressed now.

Later I'll show you how these ideas were applied to the Black experience in America, and resulted in something called "Black Liberation Theology".

Over at The Gate, Steve asks, What are some symptoms or indicators that we’ve started thinking the Christian life, and/or the Bible, is more about ourselves and what we do than it is about Jesus?

My contribution:

Ever heard “The Bible is God’s love letter to you”? There’s truth in that. Heck, on the face of it, it is true. God is love, and His word is revelation for the purpose of His being revealed to us. But somehow we take the revelation of His love for us and mistake that for us being especially lovable, when the really amazing thing about it is that He loves us unfailingly despite our being especially unlovable. It becomes about us, not Him.

I think one symptom or indicator that we’ve started thinking the Christian life is more about us than Jesus is when we actually start treating Scripture as insufficient. I do believe the Spirit speaks to us, but the primary way He does that is in illuminating written revelation to us. We all believe this, but most of us, myself included, conveniently forget it in daily life.

I’ve sat in Bible studies where person after person laments that “God isn’t speaking to me” and we all have Bibles open not six inches from our noses. I think that’s an indication we are not satisfied with all that God has given us to be complete for every good work; we still want something special, something just for us, something that validates our self-interest.

And as anybody who spends any time in the Bible should know, the Scriptures are pretty much the antidote for self-interest.

Two reversals of stories you've probably heard from the pulpit at some point in time but are actually not true.

1. Myth: Sincere Means "Without Wax"

[T]he most wide-spread story is that Roman potters would fill cracks in defective pots with wax the same color as the pot and sell the pots as perfect. To convince a customer that a pot was perfect, the potter had to convince him that it was sin cera “without wax”. That has long been established as either an urban myth (or an old wives’ tale, depending on your age and slang generation). Of course, sincere does not mean “without wax” or even “perfect” so the semantic side of this proposed derivation never worked.

Sincere comes to English from Latin sincerus “sound, whole, pure, genuine” via French. Its origin is simply unknown. A possible source would be a Proto-Indo-European compound sem-kero-s “of one growth” based on sem- “same, one” + kero- “to grow”. Although semantics troubles this purely speculative derivation, too, I sincerely believe it is the most likely historical scenario for the development of sincere.

2. Myth: Jesus Talked About Hell ____ Times More Than He Talked About Heaven

Nope. Jesus talked about heaven more. Or, at least, the word "heaven" appears in more of his teaching on the kingdom and eternal life than "hell" (or Hades or whatever) does.
That one is easily verifiable just looking in a concordance or checking Bible Gateway, but the Jollyblogger did a piece on it 2 years ago.

The catch on that one is that Jesus did reference hell (or some form of conscious torment/punishment for unrepentance) quite a bit, and that alone is quite shocking to those who think of Jesus as the anti-judge.

So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

- Matthew 5:23-24

This passage from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount always trips me up a bit. In fact, I've misquoted it a number of times. The "logical" reading of this passage for me is this:

"So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that you have something against your brother . . ." [emphasis mine]

Having something against someone else seems more controllable, doesn't it? If I'm going to church and realize I'm mad at Bob because he was a jerk to me yesterday . . . *sigh*, well, I guess I better go have a talk with him. I can tell him how he hurt me, get it off my chest, and maybe he'll see the error of his ways.

But the passage doesn't say that I need to leave my gift at the altar if someone's done something to offend me, and go be reconciled (although I think that can be inferred). As with all things from the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus takes us one rung higher on the high-dive of obedience.

"if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you . . ."

Are there any Greek scholars out there? Does this say what it seems to be saying? Because someone can have something against me, even if I don't think I did anything wrong to them. Have you ever had to approach someone to be reconciled for a wrong that doesn't seem all that wrong to you? Were you able to do it without the mealy-mouthed "If I've offended you . . ." speech? It's hard. It's humbling.

I think what Jesus is saying here is "blessed are the peacemakers". Imagine living in a family, or a work environment, or a church, where problems are taken care of immediately. Where people who have hurt you are coming to you and seeking to make things right.

Can you imagine that? You and I can begin building that culture today.

I do believe there is a practical limit to what Jesus is saying here - at least I hope there is. He says "be reconciled to your brother", but there may be instances where your brother refuses to reconcile. I don't believe this passage supports the idea of suspending all worship until the unsolvable gets solved. Although, ironically, there are churches where all worship has, in effect, been suspended due to hard-hearted people who refuse to be reconciled, even when approached in good faith, and who poison the atmosphere of the church due to their lack of forgiveness and high sense of offense.

I do think it supports the idea of attacking relationship problems quickly, and going above and beyond what's normal for us to achieve reconciliation.

"If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men." - Romans 12:18.

Is there anyone in your life for which some gift-leaving and reconciliation is called?

As I write this there is still more voting to come and pundits are still speculating. (I've even done my share. :) This particular election cycle seems to have been a little more stressful and intense. Even though there were no elections in Bible times, the timeless wisdom of the Bible still has a lot to say. A few thoughts...

First, don’t worry. No matter what happens Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The person you really want may not be on the ballot, and you may feel like you are having to settle. But in the vast scheme of things, a politician’s term is only a blip in time. Remember that God is in control of all of history.

Second, remember those who vote differently than you are still your neighbors.

Third, remember that whoever the civil authority is should be respected and honored.

“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to the governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. …Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone; Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king” (I Peter 2:13-14, 16-17).

We show we are Christians by how we respond even when things don’t go our way. We must continue to be good citizens and give those in authority respect, no matter who holds those positions.

The Apostle Paul echoes the words of Peter.

“Everyone must submit himself to the governing authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves… Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him; If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor” (Romans 13:1-3, 5-7).

When Paul and Peter spoke of Government being servants of God, their ruler was a dictator! The government was pagan, and not at all friendly to Christianity. Yet, as Christians, we are to respect authority as a sign that we know where all authority ultimately comes from. Will you join me in committing to pray for our future president, whoever that is, and future local political leaders? Let’s pray that they will govern wisely and justly. Let’s pray that they will resist political pressure and do what is right. Let’s pray for their health, their families and their well-being.

Finally, remember that all human government is ultimately temporary.

“The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations” (Psalm 33:10-11).

Don’t worry. No government or nation can thwart God’s purposes. In Him alone do we trust.

Moses was on psychedelic drugs when he heard God deliver the Ten Commandments, an Israeli researcher claimed in a study published this week.

Such mind-altering substances formed an integral part of the religious rites of Israelites in biblical times, Benny Shanon, a professor of cognitive psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem wrote in the Time and Mind journal of philosophy.

"As far Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned, it was either a supernatural cosmic event, which I don't believe, or a legend, which I don't believe either, or finally, and this is very probable, an event that joined Moses and the people of Israel under the effect of narcotics," Shanon told Israeli public radio on Tuesday.

Moses was probably also on drugs when he saw the "burning bush," suggested Shanon, who said he himself has dabbled with such substances . . .

Hahaha. "It couldn't be what the Bible says, because I don't believe that. So it must be . . ." Hilarious.

And that ark of the covenant? You can put your weeeeed in there, man. :-)

Stroke's post on Light is brilliant.

John tells us to walk in the Light. not to dabble in it. not to sit in it. not to lay stagnant in it, and not to put your right hand in, put your right hand out and do the hokey pokey in it. he tells us to walk in it. as we go. as we move forward. to stay in the light.

i realized a crucial aspect of this passage as i thought about my own life and the lives of those i am priveleged to minister to. when we walk in the Light as opposed to darkness, we need full exposure. it's not enough to keep any part of our sin or who we are in the darkness and only expose some of ourselves to the Light. that's a weakened view of the Gospel and power of Christ. that's a false empowerment of sin in our lives.

when we talk about our sins and refer to them as mere "issues", that's not full exposure.

when we only say "impure thoughts" but mean "p0rnography", that's not full exposure.

when we only say "unhealthy relationship" with our boyfriend/girlfriend but mean "going too far physically", that's not full exposure.

when we only say "strained interaction" with our family but mean "hate and unforgiveness", that's not full exposure.

when we only say that we "lack self control" but mean we're "addicted to drugs/alcohol", that's not full exposure.

when we only say we have "dark/bad thoughts" but mean "suicidal thoughts", that's not full exposure.

as we soften the terms and labels we use to explain or describe our sins, we're holding tightly to them with a fear that they cannot be overcome. we're trying to manage and control them on our own. if we sugarcoat our sins to the point that it's comfortable to talk about them, we remove the need for the power of Christ over them. i see this in myself and others like me who HATE to show weakness. who HATE being vulnerable. who HATE being wrong and needing help. but as our sin weakens us, it should point us to the only one capable of victory.

when we reduce our sins to "struggles" and keep the full weight of our depravity hidden in the darkness, we lose sight of our need for a Savior. it's often more comfortable to struggle in darkness than to expose ourselves fully to the Light of the world. walking in the Light means putting ourselves out there and keeping ourselves out there. it's not a "one and done" moment in the spotlight of Jesus. it's a lifelong walk in the Light. walking in the Light reminds us that the power of sin was obliterated on the cross. and the sin that is ultimately powerless against us can be named without fear as we expose it and the rest of our selves to the Light that is Jesus Christ. i don't write this as someone who has cornered the market in this arena, either. my flesh fears full exposure. i don't want it, but i need it. we all do.

Someone recently asked me, "If God isn’t going to answer all of my prayers, does that mean that some of my prayers are wasted?"

It’s a legitimate question. Especially in light of James 4:3:

“When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

The Bible makes it clear that when we pray, that we should pray for God’s will. But at the same time, we are commanded to pray for everything. “Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6). “Everything” is a pretty broad category. This tells me that no prayer is wasted. God wants us to ask for everything. Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you” (Matthew 7:7). Prayer does make a difference.

Jesus said,

"Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.' Then the one inside answers, 'Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed…’ yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs. So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke 11:5-13).

Although we don’t always get what we want, we are promised to get what we need. Of course, the Christian also has something else. We have the real hope of the resurrection. Jesus actually died, and actually rose again and promises that we will too, and not just in a spiritual sense. Even if we “lose” in this life, we win in Christ. “Where O death is your victory? Where O death is your sting?” (I Corinthians 15:55).

When we cry out to Jesus as believers, God hears us as his children, and the Holy Spirit presents those prayers on our behalf, submitting them to God’s will. (Romans 8:26-27). Jesus himself earnestly prayed, “Take this cup from me.” Was that wasting his prayer, since it was God’s will that he die on the cross? I don’t think so. Part of relationship is honest communication. Prayer changes things. Perhaps most importantly, it changes us.

“God helps those who help themselves.” Quick, what book does that come from? Give up? It’s not in the Bible. But you can find it in “Poor Richards Almanac” (1757) by Benjamin Franklin. Benjamin Franklin is not the only one who said something like that. There are various older writings in English literature where the sentiment can be found, but it is not in the Bible. If you believe that the Bible is your authority for faith and life, that may bring you some relief…or puzzlement. Many of us have been taught this all of our lives.

The Bible actually teaches something quite different. “He who trusts in himself is a fool...” (Proverbs 28:26). We are totally dependent on God for every breath. (Acts 17:25) In fact, the Bible tells us that “every perfect gift comes from above” (James 1:17). Yet, we tell people “God helps those who help themselves!” What is that supposed to mean anyway?

To some it means “Stop whining about your situation and go do something about it.” That can be a necessary corrective. God certainly doesn’t intend for us to sit around and do nothing. We do have responsibilities as humans to work hard and do right. “We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: ‘If a man will not work, he shall not eat.’ We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat. And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right” (2 Thessalonians 3:7-13).

However, some people have used this saying as an excuse not to help others. This is contrary to Scripture. The Bible commands us quite clearly to help others. “If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered” (Proverbs 21:13).

The biggest problem with this saying is that God does not command us to “help ourselves”. We need God’s help. A man drowning cannot "pull himself out" with his own hand. “Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me?” (Job 6:13) God helps the helpless! "For you have been a defense for the helpless, a defense for the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat..." (Isaiah 25:4). We NEED rescuing. Especially from our sins! Romans 5:6 tells us, "For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly." God helps those who can’t help themselves, and I’m so thankful for that.

An insightful post from Caleb Kolstad:

The syrup I have grown accustomed to is imitation “light” syrup. As a matter of fact I really don’t enjoy “regular” syrup anymore. It is too sweet for my liking. I would even choose light syrup over tree-tapped genuine Vermont maple syrup.

Sadly, I realized that many people are wired the same way when it comes to preaching. Many Christians have become so accustomed to shallow evangelical principalizing that when real expository preaching is tasted it’s rejected (at least initially) . . .

The problem is that many people want so many illustrations, stories, or application points that no time is left for true exposition. Who wants to hear about the historical background of Romans when in that time 3 or 4 stories, illustrations, or jokes could be shared? Now most people wouldn’t say that aloud but that is in fact what they’re thinking.

Those who most gifted in oratory are often most prone to this extreme. It’s what I call shallow evangelical principalizing. I noticed this response over 10 years when I was a student at the Master’s College. During a school sponsored Bible conference three gifted men brought the Word. All were great communicators but one was especially humorous and “relatable”. Unfortunately his sermons were also the lightest of the three. His preaching was thoroughly evangelical but not truly expositional or deep. Still most of the students I talked with in the dorms during and after the conference thought his sermons were the “best.”

Engaging oratory and great communication is not synonymous with a great sermon. In our preaching we should seek both light and heat. I’m not calling for dry, lifeless, preaching here. Passionate, clear, text-driven preaching is what our people most desperately need. Just don’t be surprised if you bring that type of syrup to your people if they initially reject it in favor of the “light” stuff.

I listened to a sermon this month that began with a 10-minute illustration, transitioned to 2 minutes of connecting the illustration to "spiritual truth," and then transitioned to another 5-minute personal story. Yes, I was timing. 17 minutes before any Scripture was referenced or cited, much less explicated. It was a 30 minute message, and the remaining 13 minutes included more illustrations.

I was bored.

But I'm a nerd, I admit. I'm also thirsty for Jesus and hungry for the manna of Scripture, and I've been starving lately. Light beer isn't cutting it. I want a straight shot of homiletical whiskey. :-)

(HT: Transforming Sermons)

Cross-posted at The Gospel-Driven Church

My latest snarky political post not withstanding . . .

Some perspective on the relative importance of current political events:

Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
and are accounted as the dust on the scales;
behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust.
Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,
nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering.
All the nations are as nothing before him,
they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.

To whom then will you liken God,
or what likeness compare with him?
An idol! A craftsman casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and casts for it silver chains.
He who is too impoverished for an offering
chooses wood that will not rot;
he seeks out a skillful craftsman
to set up an idol that will not move.

Do you not know? Do you not hear?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
who brings princes to nothing,
and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.

Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows on them, and they wither,
and the tempest carries them off like stubble.

To whom then will you compare me,
that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
calling them all by name,
by the greatness of his might,
and because he is strong in power
not one is missing.

Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

- Isaiah 40:15-31 (ESV)

Some great insight from PreachingTodaySermons.com:

Our greatest challenge in training motives is to change the believer's orbit. Under the full control of their sinful nature, people are self-centered. They have the planetary mass of Jupiter, with God and other people orbiting around them like tiny moons. When people turn to Christ in faith, God begins the revolutionary process of transforming them to be other-centered and God-centered. They begin to see themselves in proper relation to the value of others and the greatness of God. Increasingly they orbit the massive, glorious sun of God's will.

I think the "orbit" metaphor is fantastic. I hope to remember it.

It causes me to reflect upon the "orbits" in my own life.

[Hat tip: Transforming Sermons via Bob]

Our pastor is currently teaching on the Beatitudes, This week the text was Matthew 5:6.

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied."

He made a great point: we hunger and thirst for so many things. Even in our relationship with God, we hunger for blessings, we thirst for great experiences. We want revival. We want emotional stirrings. We want great worship. We want to feel God's presence. We want God's will for our lives to be laid out before us. We want wisdom to make good choices. We want all of our physical needs (and wants) to be met. We are not easily satisfied.

Notice the promise above. The promise is for satisfaction. Now notice who it is directed at: the recipients are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

I'm not sure I've ever really noticed that, as many times as I've read that passage, or fully considered what it means. But as I chew on this, pieces of the puzzle are beginning to click together.

"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." - Matthew 6:33

Have you ever had a "moment" when a beautiful truth crashes in on you?

I just had a moment. The background of this moment is two-fold: first, I was pondering today all the onslaughts against faith in our culture. When it comes to the promotion of the anti-God mindset, there are scads of books being written, music published, and movie and TV portrayals that serve to agitate us, as our faith is attacked again and again. If it's not The Da Vinci Code it's The Golden Compass. Or it's the writings of a Harris, a Dawkins, or a Hitchens. I read a glowing tribute to the movie It's a Wonderful Life a while ago (and that's one of my favorite movies), and, apropos of almost nothing, the author of the tribute said that he believed people would be watching that movie long after Christianity is forgotten.

Stuff like that.

Second, tonight I read this, as I studied for the lesson I'm teaching tomorrow:

"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." - John 1:5

This is, of course, in the context of John's soaring, epic, beautiful first chapter in which he speaks of the great Word of God, Jesus Christ, our light and our life. I've read that verse 1,000 times, but tonight I read it anew.

The Light shines. It still shines! It will always shine. What have we to fear? This Light is Jesus. This is Jesus we're talking about here. The darkness does not understand Him and is opposed to Him, but it will never overcome Him.

The gates of hell will not stand, there is no blasphemy that will prevail, and all predictions of the Light's imminent demise are grossly exaggerated.

Jesus is the Lord. He is the Victor. He is our life, and He will always be so. And there's nothing anyone can do about that. Selah and Amen times a million.

This moment of mine reminded me of a paragraph from one of the greatest works of fiction of all time. I'll leave it with you here, because I think the author of this passage also was thinking of the true Light, which will never be defeated:

Then, at last, to keep himself awake, he crawled from the hiding-place and looked out. The land seemed full of creaking and cracking and sly noises, but there was no sound of voice or of foot. Far above the Ephel Duath in the West the night-sky was still dim and pale. There, peeking among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach. His song in the Tower had been defiance rather than hope; for then he was thinking of himself. Now, for a moment, his own fate, and even his master's, ceased to trouble him. He crawled back into the brambles and laid himself by Frodo's side, and putting away all fear he cast himself into a deep untroubled sleep.

- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King

Question for those of you who have young children:

What version of the Bible do you use for their scripture memorization?