A Letter to my Daughter

    This is a very special letter to the young lady I gave up for adoption 18 years ago... today is her birthday.

     Wow, what to say?  Obviously, I have a lot to say to you... 18 years worth and counting.  The first thing, and hopefully the most meaningful, I must say is I'm sorry for my failure as your father:  I know apologies come cheap in our culture, but let me explain:  as I have grown and matured from the selfish little boy who knocked up your mother, I have come to know that the person most responsible for a child, most obligated to support and protect them, and the person most guilty when a child is neglected is his/her father.  I made the wretched mistake of biting off way more than I could chew by conceiving a child I could not support financially, emotionally, or any other way.  I was not prepared to commit to your mother in marriage, yet selfishly thought I deserved the benefits of such a commitment.  When you think about why you were given up for adoption (probably painfully), why you did not grow up with your biological parents, the person you can and should blame the most is me.  That is why I'm humbly asking for your forgiveness.

     As a result, the best thing your mother and I could do was to find a couple who could raise you, who had wisely prepared themselves for children with a stable marriage and prosperous careers.  We chose the folks you have called Dad and Mom, your parents in every sense of the word but the least important (biologically).  I have watched you from afar:  your parents have been very kind to send many pictures over the years;  you probably would recognize most of them!  From everything I've heard in their letters and seen, you have had a healthy, normal childhood;  this is exactly the outcome your biological mother (her name is Angila Watson) and I hoped for. 
     Assuming you can extend forgiveness to me, I would love to get to know you:  your goals and

dreams, your preferences and quirks, and the person you have become.  One opportunity you now have is meeting a whole new family, people who have loved and prayed for you for a long time.  I understand that many adopted people want to understand where they come from, and that is secondarily why I'm writing:  to give you information about your biological family, so you can know us, and maybe even see yourself in us.  I have greatly benefited from learning about the family history, especially our mistakes, so I can recognize and avoid them. 

    To give you a taste, I can give you my life story in a nutshell:  after high school, I wasted my intellect (which also runs in the family) by dropping out of college, and aimlessly subsisting by working at a grocery store;  if you have any older friends working minimum wage jobs, you have a good idea.  I was more than capable of graduating, but I am by nature very lazy (I hope you're not!);  if I don't have to do something right this second, it's tough to find the motivation to do anything right now.  Years drifted by:  I met the woman who would become my wife, but was not inclined to commit to her, so we aimlessly dated. 
     The single most important event of my life was precipitated by a new coworker;  I had been raised in a religious home and was very knowledgeable about the Bible, but obviously left any semblance of morality behind when I left my parent's home.  I was, oddly enough, attending a church, but a more hypocritical man you couldn't find:  the pretense of religiousness I put forth for a couple hours on Sunday ended the moment I got

back home.  So this new coworker started with us at the grocery store, and there was something drastically different about him:  he said he was a Christian, but he actually lived it out every day.  He was smart, funny, and genuinely cared about people;  he brought his Bible to work and read it during breaks.  His commitment to God characterized his entire outlook on life, and when he screwed up, he acknowledged it and asked for forgiveness.  I quickly realized my claim to being a Christian was false and empty, and about 9 years ago, I believe God changed my heart, the core of who I am, and I turned to Him through Jesus for forgiveness for all the horrible things I had done (like failing as your father) and a new purpose.
     It's been quite a ride since then:  I got married, inherited 2 stepsons, became a bus driver, and had a little girl with my wife.  My family life has been the best way God has taught me about myself and

others, through my many failures and occasional successes.  My daughter especially is such a joy to watch and invest in... I never thought God would give me a second chance to be a father with a little girl, so the chance to get to know you after waiting patiently for so long is really the icing on the cake.
     I don't know how you're feeling, or what you've thought or wondered about your origins;  if you are not interested in connecting with me and my family, I certainly won't pass judgment or think less of you.  As I started with, the person most responsible for the distance between us looks at me in the mirror, so I don't think you're obligated to welcome me with open arms.  I do hope that you can forgive me, and are curious about where you come from;   I will respect any decision you make.

Humbly yours,

Brett Schlee

Meeting an old friend...

     I met a man today I hadn't seen in decades, someone who knew me pretty well in the most rebellious, licentious period of my life prior to conversion.  We traded email addresses and I

Our lives before Christ...

continued my appeal to him to turn to Christ in light of the trainwreck his life since then had become:

     ...As bad as that may be, it reminds me of something I have told my stepson repeatedly (God has given me two stepsons age 18 and 23 and one daughter age 5):

"Pain can be a very good thing;  it tells us that something is wrong, and that we need help desperately."

     The consequences of your sin have cost you much in this life, but the consequences of sin after this life are much worse.  God is holy, and He will judge all sin;  wicked people like you and me have no hope in ourselves to escape God's wrath.  So I think the best way to think of the pain and consequences of prison and drug abuse is like this:  A person in the first stages of cancer will start to have mysterious symptoms (insomnia, pain, lack of appetite, etc.).  He might not connect the dots right away, but the symptoms will get worse and worse, and will eventually force him to go to the doctor.  So the symptoms might be horrible, but if they alert him to the much greater danger of cancer, they serve a good purpose.

     Friend, one of the Scriptural tests of a person's faith is the continual lifestyle they live;  1 John 3:6-10 puts it plainly:

"No one who abides in him (Jesus) keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.  Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he (Jesus) is righteous.  Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.  No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.  By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother."

     So the pattern of a true believer's life is not one of perfection, but a direction towards obedience and greater love for God, evident to everyone they know.  When they sin (and they do sin), God causes them to repent and so they don't "keep on sinning".  Ask yourself honestly... does this sound like you?  Based on how you described the last several years of your life, I would have to say no. 
     You know better than anyone:  I wish someone would have come to me, when we knew each other years ago, and looked at my life and said "Dude, you think you're a Christian?  Why are you sleeping

"Lemme tell you about when I was baptized.... Hic!"

around and getting drunk all the time?  How could a Christian, one "born of God", keep on sinning?"  The symptoms of my life proved that I was sick with a deadly disease, a corruption of the soul that we all are born with (Romans 5:12).  Whatever religious things I experienced in my life at/before that time were worthless;  just as Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23:

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  On that day (the day of judgment) many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name (i.e. all those religious activities that don't change the inner man)?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'

    I hope I've presented the truth of the Bible clearly;  my greatest hope for you is what I myself have experienced:  a true repentance and turning from sin, a 180 degree turn toward God and the forgiveness in Christ's sacrifice on the Cross.

Photos courtesy of chi-ryu, Bob Elderberry

Pro-Choice?

     I was chatting up a friend of a friend the other day, and we started into a discussion on the gospel; 

Calvinism never looked so beautiful!

this guy used the title of "pastor" on his ministry website, and so I was eager to hear his position on man's ability to respond to God.  He took on the tone of voice you'd recognize in a heartbeat, the one people use when laying down their first presupposition in an argument, the one they know no one would question. Are you hearing it in your head?  And what he said was this:

  
"Well, we all have free will!"

     I wasn't sure if we had time for a full exposition of the doctrines of grace, so I let him develop his point;  he cited a classic text to buttress the strength of human choice... Josh 24:15:  "And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve...".   I inwardly grimaced at the fallacy that is so rarely questioned, namely that if God commands us to do a thing, we must have the innate power to do that thing.  I always want to point out to the proponents of this idea: "So if the greatest commandment is to love God supremely, we can do that, right?  Then why did Jesus die, if we can merit heaven by our supreme love of God?"  But I have been reading through Joshua periodically during breaks in the bus and I came to this passage yesterday;  it turns out, Joshua makes my case for me!

     The Israelites make their choice in vs. 16, proclaiming their loyalty to God and their desire to serve Him.  What's Joshua's response?  Does he rejoice in and affirm their free-will choice to follow God? Not in the slightest!  "You are not able to serve the Lord, for He is a holy God."  This seemingly makes no impact on the congregation, and I think they hear what they want to hear, repeating their pledge to serve God.  Surely then Joshua congratulates them?  Maybe the Israelites thought Joshua was testing them, trying to trick them by discouragement.  But sorry... his response only deepens the culpability of the Israelites:  "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD, to serve Him." (vs. 22)  You get the sense that Joshua is shaking his head, hearing his people condemn themselves, knowing what is right, yet lacking the wisdom to see their own evil inclinations (i.e. David in 2 Sam 12:5).  I guess a modern equivalent could be a mortgage loan officer

Racking up debt you can't pay...

(pre 2007, of course!), knowing the folks in front of him can't afford the house they're buying, yet helpless to stop them from signing themselves into bankruptcy.

     What can we say in conclusion?  The reformed position is not that men have no choice, but that we have free will in anything not contradictory to our nature.  So as inveterate God-haters, fallen human beings have no potential in our nature to love God, to choose Him, or to obey Him or His gospel.  Isa 64:6-7 says poignantly:

^"We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.  We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.  There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you..."

     This reality puts the grace of God in its proper, magnificent setting:  God is pleased to save (at the supreme cost of His beloved Son) not His friends, or those in allegiance to Him, or even people who are neutral or undecided... but God chooses and saves people who despise Him with all their hearts, who would spit in His face and kill Him if they had the power.  He changes us from the inside out and grants us a new nature that can choose, obey and love Him, so that "in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace toward us in Christ Jesus." (Eph 2:7)

Photos courtesy of nerdcoregirl, 4thgloryofGod

Could you defend Sola Scriptura?

     Tough question, right?  And that's assuming you could first define Sola Scriptura;  so to put the cookies on the bottom shelf (which I need on a regular basis), we're talking about the Reformation belief that Scripture alone is the final authority that rules and defines our religion and our lives.  The Westminster Confession puts it this way:

"The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man, or church; but wholly upon God (who is truth itself) the author thereof: and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God.... The supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture."  (Ch. 1 Parts 4, 10)

     So I was listening to one of my favorite programs (James White's The Dividing Line) and he featured a Lutheran calling into Catholic Answers, a well-known forum for Roman apologetics.  I only had to listen for about 30 seconds to the caller before wanting to apply my palm directly to my

Would this work if applied directly to the forehead?  You never know...

forehead;  he didn't cite one verse or have one coherent response, and he went right along with the host's categorization of Roman Catholicism as a "Christian denomination".  He just regurgitated the mantras "Well, I believe..." and the worthless "People have been arguing about this for hundreds of years...".  One of the questions used to stymy this man was quite interesting though, and I thought it would be worthy of exposure and discussion:

"Did Jesus write anything down or ever command His apostles to write anything down?"

     I think my first response to hearing this was "Ummm... Well, I believe...!", which is useless.  This question has this effect because we know the answer in the most literal sense:  no, Jesus wasn't an author or didn't directly commission any N.T. books.  The Catholic host built upon this and established the basis for the Roman view of apostolic succession:  since Jesus did commission apostles (under Peter) and give them the keys to the kingdom, they (and their successors in Rome) must be the foundational authority we look to and understand Scripture under.
     After a couple minutes of reflection, a verse occurred to me in a way heretofore not applied, with its appropriate setup question:  why did all those apostles start writing stuff anyway?  Were they bored, or were they counting on those huge book royalties, or was it all to get on the New York Times bestseller list?  2 Peter 1:21 informs us that "...men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."  So the Holy Spirit influenced the N.T. apostles (and their close associates) to write Scripture... but where did they get the Holy Spirit from?  From Jesus (Jn 14:16ff)!  And what does the Spirit tell the apostles and inspire them to write?

"When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come." (Jn 16:13)

     With this one small step, we see that Jesus did speak through the Spirit to the apostles;  as Luke puts it in Acts 1:1 "...I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach".  His 3 year ministry with them and His forty-day seminary course after His resurrection were just the beginning of what Jesus personally, through the Spirit (vs. 2), would teach the 12.  And it would be ludicrous to think that the Holy Spirit, after relaying Jesus's words, independently thought to Himself:  "Yeah, that's pretty good stuff... this guy better write it down so he doesn't forget!"  The command to write and the authority to pen new Scripture came from Christ Himself through the Spirit, and we are blessed with a rock-solid standard to know the truth (instead of popes who contradict themselves).

Photo courtesy of Salfalko

Can we tone down the Gospel?

"And they're off!!!"

    I was on my best behaviour that day:  for some reason, I have a reputation as a theological pit bull and my anonymous sister in Christ had done her level best to put the muzzle on, pleading for my utmost patience with her new friend.  I understand:  we've all been there, introducing people we love and esteem greatly, and it's our greatest hope that they love each other as much as we love them.  We arrange the place, the time, the atmosphere... and if we could borrow God's heart-changing power for just a second, it might be scary how far we would go to make them get along!
     I shook his hand and waited for a good moment to start with some gentle inquiries;  this man professed Christ, but it's tragic that in America in the 21st century, that and $5 will get you a mocha at Starbuck's, but nothing else.  I asked about the gospel and we were off to the races, galloping down the trendiest and most relevant perspectives on what can only loosely be called theology.  Of course, the further we went down that track, the more distant Scripture became in our rear view;  but the lowlight I want to respond to today was one I know you've heard, both in theory and practice:

"If we tell them about sin, judgment and hell, they won't like us and they'll think God is a big meanie!"

     I don't want to immediately dismiss the usual motive behind this approach:  just like my sister-in-Christ, when we speak to the lost, we have two people we love, we introduce them and earnestly desire that they would love each other as much as we love them.  Obviously, this is not a bad motive and one could easily classify this as "love for neighbor" (i.e. the lost individual);  their best interest and greatest good is to know and love Jesus, so how can we not present Jesus in the most winsome way?

     But there's something else that transcends love for neighbor, another law that is the greatest commandment:  "Love the LORD your God with all your heart..." (Mt 22:37).  Our role as messengers of Christ to a lost and dying world is not primarily for them... it's for Him and our love for Christ necessitates that we obey Him (Jn 14:15, 21, 23).  And furthermore, we are not left to guess how we are to promulgate His gospel;  the Scriptures are replete with the essential context of God's message of salvation, namely His sentence upon sin.  From the second chapter of the Bible onward, we learn He must judge and punish all disobedience.  All of God's prophets and messengers start with this clarion call to humanity; so there's an extremely relevant blueprint for evangelism (and a dire warning) tucked away in Ezk 3:16-19:

 

"And at the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.  If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.  But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul."

 

     We have heard a word, the final word, from God in the Person of Jesus Christ (Heb 1:2).  If a person

"He said what?!?"

neglects or spurns Him and His gospel, they do not turn from their wicked way (Jn 3:18) and lie under God's condemnation for sin.  It is required by God that, just like Ezekiel, we warn them and accurately convey His sentence of death upon them for their sin.  That's an inherent part of the job description of "messenger" many seem to have forgotten... they just deliver the message.  They don't get to change it, soften it, edit it or add to it.  The maxim "Don't shoot the messenger!" is predicated on this fact;  when you have to give your boss the bad news of coworker's insubordination, you sure don't want him to blame you for your coworker's words!  

     But if we do take it upon ourselves to polish up the message, their blood will God require at our hand.  So as much as we would desire the objects of our evangelism to love and know Christ, it comes back to the reality that the final outcome of each encounter really isn't up to us;  God has commanded the means of His salvation (the gospel in its full context;  Rom 1:16) and sovereignly planned and effected the result (Jn 1:12,13, 6:44).  His Holy Spirit convicts folks of their sin (Jn 16:8), not us.  In closing, listen to Paul back up Ezekiel with the exact same analogy:

"Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God." (Acts 20:26-27)

May we follow in his footsteps and innocence.

Photos courtesy of Paulo Camera, spotzilla

True humility

If only...right?

     It is the greatest joy to watch an endeavour bear fruit both praiseworthy and good, something you have taken ownership of and invested in at high personal cost, and then say "I wish I could take the credit... but it's all God!"  I believe this joy is only available through the humility of an authentic grasp of the sovereignty of God and the working of His Spirit in us to "will and to work His good pleasure" (Php 2:13).  Or to put it another way, only Calvinists know that "every good gift and every perfect gift comes from above, from the Father of lights..."
     We are so quick to take the credit, aren't we?  The only thing we do faster is shift the blame!  Can you imagine the scene in Eden if eating the fruit did what Eve thought it would?  She would be vindicated as humanity's first feminist, and she would have herself to thank for it (with a shout-out on award night to the serpent!).  But instead, Eden is the prototypical horror story about what happens when we presume to supplement God's wisdom, to esteem our own judgment above His, and when we just want a little bit of the spotlight, darnit!  And that's exactly what a synergistic view of salvation does:  God gets most of the glory... He sent Jesus and all that, but when it came time to walk down to the altar and pray the prayer (or insert your own desired evangelical ritual), that was all me, man!
     No, it really wasn't;  when God irresistibly calls His elect and they first exercise the faith and repentance given to them, they really do choose God... because He chose them first (1 Jn 4:10, 19).  So everything of worth in us, from conversion to glory, has its origin and empowerment from God, and we just ride shotgun, where we occasionally get to pick the radio station.
     Along with this tidbit, I also have a heartbreaking episode to relate:  we were headed home from

"Is the dark side stronger?"  "I've got something strong in my diaper..."

church a couple weeks ago, and we had just finished reviewing my daughter's lesson.  I had returned my full attention to the road (who doesn't multitask?) when I heard from the back seat:  "Dad?  Do you sin?"  I don't think I had grappled with my depravity yet that day (ignorance is bliss, right?), so her question hit me hard:  who doesn't want to be the virtuous paragon of righteousness for their kids?  Isn't it "quicker, easier, more seductive" to set yourself up as their role model;  that way, you get the credit for their successes!   But I gave my little darling the only answer I could:  "Yes honey, I sin... that's why I need Jesus.  I need to be forgiven for my sin, so I repent and believe that Jesus died for me."  That's the best we can do for our kids:  tell them the truth that the only answer to the conflagration of God's judgment is the pressurized, fire-retardant foam of the grace of Jesus Christ.  Luther said to sin boldly, and a big chunk of his main idea was that only sinners can be forgiven, while the self-righteous openly mock the idea they need a Saviour (Mark 2:17).  The most seasoned, mature saints must affirm this...precisely the reason why they're mature!  So sit back on the first day of 2014, and relax in the fact that your moral effort (and subsequent failure) has nothing to do with your standing before God (Heb 4:10):  Christ has done it all and gets all the credit.

Photos courtesy of Biblestuff, chaines106

Biblical universes...

     I invested too much in a email theology question on Matt 24:24, so I had to post it...

"For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect."

God's got it all right there, in His palm

      You (my friend) picked a great verse to hone our interpretive edges on...  I think one of the key points/ideas here is that of potentiality, or possible futures.  God knows all things exhaustively, both actual (that which His will has brought or will bring about) and possible (the alternate courses open to His sovereignty that He wisely rejected). 
     Our verse falls into the latter category:  the persuasive power of the false prophets (ordained by God, of course) is such that without the preservative power of the Spirit, the elect would fall away.  We see at least 2 other examples of potentiality in Matt, the 1st just 2 verses earlier (24:22) and the 2nd in 11:21-24;  God knows exactly what would have happened under different circumstances, which He completely controls.
     So the bottom line:  is it "possible" that the elect would/could fall away during the time of Matt. 24?  Arminians would say so, but when we think about what God has ordained from a 30,000 foot view (the previous paragraph), that assumes no other verses about what God does with the elect.  If God did choose this alternate universe where the elect are deceived, the Scripture given after His creation of this universe would differ from ours.  For example... "What shall separate us from the love of Christ?... those pesky false teachers!"  Or "I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand... except the deceivers at the end of the age." (Jn 10:28)
     No, with what God says elsewhere, it is not possible for the elect to be deceived;  God has promised to keep them in His power (1 Pet 1:5).  Without it, we would fall, and it is this potentiality that Jesus warns us.  These warnings are another means of preserving grace:  Christ's sheep hear the warnings and flee from false christs.  

Photo courtesy of lauroroger

Good = ?

When you've got a hard heart, only one thing will break it...

     I have been struggling with bitterness this week;  I was passed over for a promotion at work.  And even worse, the guy who got it is a good friend and a strong believer!  So, my battle with self-pity and dissatisfaction has been severe and recurrent, like a bad case of gastroenteritis. 
     A few days before the hammer of rejection fell on my head, my wife and I were discussing a relative who has been never been married and would very much like to be.  My wife has strong matchmaking tendencies, and expressed her desire to "just see my relative happy!";  I responded with Ps 84:11 & 85:12:

"For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly...Yes, the LORD will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase."

     What my relative needs to do, I explained to my feisty wife, was change their definition of "good";  if God, in His inexpressible wisdom, has providentially denied us something we want, that thing must be bad for us.  In every society, there is a worldly definition of "good"... so when we are presented with the opportunity for more riches, romance, prestige, entertainment or the physical appearance of a 25 year old, the obvious question is "How can God NOT want me to have that???"  This disconnect between our perspective and God's goes all the way back, of course:  "So when the woman saw that the tree was good..." (Gen 3:6).  What God defined as death, Eve, in her sinful desires, defined as good.  Then there are the instances in Scripture where God gives unbelievers "good" things to blind them and accomplish their damnation (Ps 73:17f, Isa 2:7-12, 10:12, Rev 18:2-8). 
     So in the pit of my self-absorbed dejection, God brought to mind this point and I realized a false

Of course God wants me to have this!

seed of redefining "good" had crept into my heart and was sprouting its poisonous fruit.  No matter how much we want a new job, a new spouse, or new children (especially new children!), God knows exactly what circumstances and/or finances will conform us to the image of His Son.  For Paul, the Great Physician prescribed a full dose of suffering and crushing responsibility for His patient (2 Cor 11:23-28).  If anything, we can be happy that we get a little less!  Whatever toy or temporal pleasure He withholds from us must be, by definition, "bad".  So the next time you're frustrated with the allure of something you can't have, ask yourself:  "Is this good for me?"

Photos courtesy of stebulus, 401(K) 2013

Persecution, anyone?

     Isn't it incredible when you see God's promises come true?  The wonder and renewed certainty of the truth of God in Scripture is one of the many ways He upholds us and nurtures us in the middle of this "la vida loca".  Less than an hour ago, a notable verse came true for me...

 

"Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,..."  (1 Tim 3:12)

 

Our suffering is nothing compared to His...

    No, I wasn't crucified or flogged, nothing that would merit inclusion in Foxe's Book of Martyrs.  But according to our verse, the hatred of the world against God must find expression in some way, so I got a tiny dose of civilized Western persecution today.  Yesterday, I had an extended conversation with a JW at work, the most recent of many.  The last point he made was to ask for one instance in the Bible where Jesus was called Jehovah (or Yahweh).  So I walked him through Isa 6 and its N.T. exposition, Jn 12:41:  in Isa, the glory is explicitly emanating from Jehovah, and John just as explicitly tells us that the Person Isaiah saw was Jesus and he prophesied about Him for us.  My coworker had never seen this connection before, and was a little speechless (he usually gets mad when I stump him).  So today, he asked where I had gone to school (he meant my religious education).  I held up my hand in a big, fat zero, and told him that I had no formal training in theology.  He asked about my mentor, where did he study?  I was able to repeat my gesture, and his response was classic:

 

"Well, that would explain why you're so confused!"

 

     I said nothing, and he quickly told me he was just joking, and so I goodnaturedly chuckled and mentioned that's exactly what they said about someone else:  "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus."  (Acts 4:13)  I too am a common, uneducated man.  But I know Jesus, and His words about the work of the Holy Spirit in the New Covenant ring true:

 

"It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me..." (John 6:45)

 

"When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.  He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you."  (John 16:13-14)

 

     We live in an unparalleled age of information, and we must avail ourselves of this incredible access and bounteous documentation.  But no education, formal or informal, can replace the supernatural Presence of God in His people.  The Holy Spirit is our divine Expositor, so learn to listen to Him as you preach the One who sent Him.

Photo courtesy of Bo Insogna

A Letter to the Senator...

     I have never cared about something enough to write to my legislators... or it could be that I've been deeply pessimistic about liberal legislators listening to a Christian conservative.  But the recent budget battle got me thinking about a political issue that transcends parties and that will quickly reduce us to financial ruin and slavery.  Please consider contacting your elected officials to beg them to take immediate steps to wean us off our national addiction.

 

 October 18, 2013                                                                                        

 

I'm begging you two for some sanity...

Dear Senator Murray,

 

     I am writing to convey my deep concern over our nation's economic path.  I, like most of the country, was unable to avoid the media frenzy surrounding the recent congressional battle to raise the debt ceiling, and I can't help but feel that we are one step closer to the complete ruin of our country;  but my angst is not rooted in the strife between the 2 sides, or the amount of procedure, committees and red tape utilized by our government.  The impending sense of doom I feel is rooted in what was not said, what was not mentioned or even hinted at on one channel, or printed in one article I read in the last 2 weeks.  The Tyrannosaurus Rex in the closet is the obvious reason why we need to raise the debt ceiling:  we spend more than we earn. 

     I am not a CPA, and I don't have a degree in finance, but this is one thing that every teenager getting his first paycheck learns pretty quickly:  you can borrow only so much before your friends get mad at you, the bank repossesses your car and the bankruptcy court forces you to sell your assets/toys.  For decades, we as a nation have elected representatives from both parties that enable us to enjoy a lifestyle significantly more expensive than the one we can afford, a privileged existence buoyed by subsidies, entitlements, legislative pork like the AEP dam project, etc. 

      So like any junkie being confronted by their caring, pleading family, we are faced with a simple choice:  cut back on the flow of destructive, addictive spending and start paying off the mountain of debt we already have, or we will overdose and kill ourselves and our nation.  This is the subtext of the last 2 weeks that has gone unspoken and thus unheard... this is the huge clot in our national artery, unseen and deadly.  No one wants to discuss it, but you of all people can't be ignorant of it.  As Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, you are uniquely positioned and qualified to join the conversation on how we can save our country... I beg you to join me in correctly diagnosing and treating our national disease.

 

Sincerely,

 

Brett Schlee

 

Photo courtesy of orcmid

"Only Evil Continually..."

"...but the way of the wicked shall perish."

     I've always loved the King James Version... I just finished James White's "The King James Only Controversy", and so I freely admit the translation's shortcomings, but will echo him in calling it "venerable".  The title is from Gen 6:5, and describes unrestrained human sin before the time of the Flood.  So God acted justly, and wiped those naughty folks out, right?  And in these enlightened, more wholesome days, we have transcended our origins, completed our 12-step program for sin addiction and cleaned ourselves up.
     Or not... the only difference between the pre-Flood age and ours is that adjective "unrestrained";  since that little shower, God has been pleased to hamper our destructive desires and pursue His plan of redemption, starting with the tower of Babel and running down through history to the preaching of the gospel today.  Which brings us to the point of my post...

"Have you ever prayed that God would protect you... from you?"

     It's an interesting thought, but it's supremely biblical:  when it comes to reasoning and weighing out the enemies of the elect, Satan and the world usually get top billing.  If there is mention of our inner corruption, we often hear terms like "sin nature" or "the flesh".  And while the latter term at least is seen in Scripture, I am concerned that all too often, we deflect the force of what God must overcome to save us... namely, ourselves (Mic 2:1, Matt 12:34-37, Mk 7:20).  I'll explain:  I had the worst dream last night, and the main thing that terrified me about it was the bad guy.  It was me;  I was doing something horrible to someone I loved, without even thinking about it.  Yeah, I know dreams can be hazy and disjointed, just mental leftovers, all mixed together coming out of our subconscious.  Most of my dreams (and likely yours) are like that;  rather benign visions of flying or scenes from home/work that are too good/bad to be true.  

"You've got mail..."

     But it can be very healthy to be reminded of where we come from... sin really isn't something we do, it's who we are and God is actively holding back and protecting every person in the world from what we really want:  to enshrine ourselves and destroy anyone who won't worship us.  I've watched too many post-apocalyptic movies, and so that's how I picture a world without God's handcuffs.  

     So, think about it, and join me in thanking God on your knees that, for some mysterious reason, He decided to stop you in your tracks with His glorious gospel and rescue you from the bad guy... the one you see in the mirror every morning.

Photos courtesy of freefotouk, Rich Man

The Answer to Child Hunger?

Not the kids we're talking about...

     You've probably seen news stories or been handed flyers with the disturbing message "17 MILLION KIDS GO HUNGRY";  my wife encountered this concern at a local store and received a pamphlet with basic items she could purchase to alleviate this problem.  The items she donated would be packaged into backpacks, and then given to needy kids.  I've often wondered:  in a country where the overweight/obesity rate is 61.8%, how could this be?  I wrote a letter to the manager of this program that follows below, but succinctly, the only way to explain kids going hungry in the richest nation in the history of the world, with ample food stamp programs and food banks in every city, is that their parents just don't care about them.  Such people are so obsessed with their own financial gratification that they can't be bothered to feed their kids... and instead of holding them accountable for such inhuman callousness, we do their job for them.  Imagine telling a wife with 2 black eyes from regular beatings from her abusive husband:  "If your husband isn't treating you right, we'll give you a backpack with a first aid kit... you can use it on your black eyes!"  Any sane person would physically drag that woman out of that house and call the cops... exactly what should happen with kids suffering from neglect.

Dear sir,     My wife recently received an appeal when entering a local store for your program (I'm sorry I don't know the name... it's not printed on the handout).  She was told it was for kids, to fill backpacks for weekend meals.  Is this accurate?  Assuming so, I have heard of similar drives and even proposals by the government to ensure that school-age children are adequately fed.
     Obviously, I have no problem with giving food to kids... it's a lot better than handing out pistols or drugs!  But I did want to ask the question if such programs are doing more harm than good.  "How is this possible?" you might ask.  "Ensuring kids get healthy, hearty meals is something we all agree is necessary and essential!"  And I would agree with that basic statement... but who is responsible to feed kids?  Again, assuming you don't hold radical fascist views on child rearing (i.e. that the government should oversee/control parenting), the clear answer is "Their parents."
     We live in a society where most of the population is fabulously wealthy by world standards:  just about everyone has cable TV and a cellphone, to say nothing of daily nutrition.  But for the rare folks at the bottom of the economic ladder, our governmental programs have removed financial inability as an excuse for child hunger;  anyone with children can get ample government assistance for their meals.  I have several members of my extended family who receive such assistance;  I have a good idea of the amounts involved.
     So the only reason that kids, even of the poorest parents, would not be regularly fed is gross neglect by said parents.  Such behavior should be criminal (and is, I think) and their children should be removed from their care.  So with this perspective in mind, I hope you can see my concern:  programs such as yours assume the best thing for kids in this situation is to feed them and enable their parents to continue neglecting them.  It's likely you have never thought about this point of view.  Instead, I believe the best thing we can do expect adults to live up to their responsibilities, and hold them accountable when they fail to do so.  When you look at the history of our country, you see such personal responsibility at the core of our deepest values as a society.  I applaud your concern for kids and your desire to help where you can;  but I would counsel you towards a wiser approach that trains parents to care their children, rather than training them to expect others to do it for them.

Photo courtesy of FMSC

Lemme make it up to you...

     I was recently telling a friend that I could help them in a tangible way... he's been out of work for a

Awww.... isn't that sweet?!?

while and is struggling to make ends meet.  He was grateful and replied "Hey, when I get back on my feet, I'll pay you back!"  I thought about that for a second, and was able to put it this way:

"Imagine if you had just come to faith in Christ and were contemplating the depth of His grace in taking your punishment for you on the Cross.  You were suitably impressed and replied to Him,  "Wow Jesus! Thanks a ton! That's incredible how you helped me out... hey, gimme a while to get back on my feet and then I'll make it up to you.  I'll pay you back and then we'll be square again!"

Can we "help" God?

     Such a person would not understand grace, would not comprehend the debt we owed/owe Him and certainly not realize what God's intentions are for His children post-conversion.  Of course, the meager assistance we can offer our loved ones doesn't measure up to God's grace;  it's pitiful in comparison.  But it should be given in the same spirit:  as an overflow of goodness out of a heart of holiness (Jn 7:38).  Thus the best response to generosity is simple praise and thankfulness to God first, and then our benefactors as we have opportunity.  The reflex of repayment of grace usually stems from a delusion of self-sufficiency and/or a spirit of pride.

Photo courtesy of Marion Doss, Kalexanderson

You let your kids do what???

Okay kids!! Who wants a long one?

     There are some things that are culturally acceptable to leave to parental discretion:  when (or if) to give them a cellphone, clothing guidelines, and what movies to watch.  But there are just as many taboos for the children of those who seek “Good Parent” status:  playing in traffic, handling/throwing sharp objects, and letting your kids listen to/develop a taste for country music (wishful thinking there!).  So there is one thing I must include in the latter list, a parental decision I've heard countless folks talk about as a noble, libertarian step towards growing independent young people capable of free thinking;  but in reality, it is even more dangerous than handing a loaded gun to a little tyke, and if any children do survive it, it is manifest proof of the merciful grace of God.  What is this shocking dereliction of parental duty?  I've heard it put this way...

"Oh yes, we are Christians and believe the Bible, but we don't want to force our religion on our kids.  We permit them to explore other faiths, and when they're old enough, they need to choose what they will believe for themselves."     

      I know you've heard this said, and I must admit that the way it's phrased, it almost seems unAmerican to disagree with this democratic approach.  I mean, the best way to guarantee that kids will hate something is to make them do it, right?  So, a low-key approach to Christianity, to the claims of Jesus and the Bible, is surely the approach with the highest probability of keeping them in the church.

      Yes, I know... playing devil's advocate is a dark gift of mine, one I hope to (but usually fail to) use for good.  So let's explore this idea by seeing what the Scripture says (and if the proponents of the low-key approach truly do "believe the Bible") and then by testing the consistency of "reverse psychology" parenting.

"And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." (Deut. 6:6-9)

      I don't know... sounds kinda pushy to me.  I mean, talking to your kids about God and His word all the time?  They'd be sick of it in a week!  But one inescapable conclusion your kids would be forced to at gunpoint is that you take the Bible seriously, that every decision, event, question and even thought is weighed and judged in light of what God says, and that He is the ultimate Determiner of reality and Judge of morality.  What do kids (and everyone else) hate more:  a person whose actions are explained and are true to what they profess, or someone who doesn't explain why they do what they do and/or says one thing and does another?  One of the most winsome qualities, even to the lost, is a willingness to suffer for conviction... thank God in His wisdom to guarantee us suffering in this life (2 Tim 3:12)!  So to stop beating a dead horse,  God commands us to saturate our children in His truth and to protect them from all deception (2 Tim 2:16, 3:5)... end of discussion.  Obviously, we can't convert them, but kids raised in faithful homes will be forever changed, most often for the better, fulfilling God's general promise to sanctify them (1 Cor 7:14)

      Even more succinctly, the consistency of the laissez-faire attitude to religion can be checked by inserting any other potentially fatal activity into the premise:  

I'm sure they're really nice once you get to know them...

"We're not drug addicts/gang members/cult members on a compound in the middle of nowhere, but we want our kids to make their own decisions, so we let them explore other options..."? 

Or "Yeah, we got vaccinated, but our kids don't like shots very much, so we're letting them decide if they want to risk getting polio/smallpox/tetanus"? 

      Just try dropping that line in conversation, and watch your "Good Parent" status get revoked!  What's really at the heart of religious experimentation is the belief that all religions are basically the same/valid;  if you truly believe something is fatal to your children, you do everything in your power to isolate them from it.  False religion has a 100% fatality rate... and it's extremely contagious.

Photos courtesy of Anonymous9000, One lucky guy

"I can't imagine that God...!"

     Anytime I hear that opening, I cringe;  rather than humbly looking to our Creator to define the

God does what???

good for us, the speaker (usually unconsciously) is basing what God should and shouldn't do on his/her personal morality, which is cultural and highly subjective. A coworker hit me with it recently, and this is my response:

     I want to capture your original thought, and my best recollection of your exact words is:  

 "I can't imagine that the people who faithfully follow other religions, doing good, that they'll get to heaven and Jesus will tell them 'Get out!' "       

     Is that close? So if you'll bear with me, I'd like to show you God's reaction to other religions in the Old Testament and then in the words of Jesus Himself. One of the first, side-by-side contrasts between the distinct faith of Israel and other religious practice was the attempt of what's called syncretism, the combination of elements of 2 faiths. Nadab and Abihu, Aaron the High Priest's sons, must have thought similarly to you, that there was a basic commonality between religions, and that the worship of Israel could be built upon and supplemented by other traditions. So they brought "strange fire" to the altar of the Lord in Leviticus 10:1 "which He commanded them not." Some scholars think this practice was Egyptian or Canaanite, but definitely outside the practice specifically given to them at Mount Sinai... how does God respond?

"And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD." (Lev 10:2)

      Hmmm... well, that was pretty early in the Bible; maybe God hadn't got the memo on acceptance yet. Here's another one: Elijah, a prophet of Israel's God, arranges an "interfaith conference" with the prophets of Baal, a Canaanite storm deity, atop Mount Moriah. But his intent isn't to discuss worship methods, or exchange notes on prayer techniques... he wants to prove to the people, once and for all, which God is the one, true God, the sovereign king that commands their allegiance. Elijah gives his 450 "colleagues" a head start and ample opportunity for their god to demonstrate his power, but nothing happens! Then Elijah prays to his God and fire shoots down from the sky, visible to all and proving that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob alone is genuine. So in a spirit of brotherhood and unity, after the dust settles, Elijah gives all those prophets of Baal a pat on the back and wishes them better luck next time, right?

"And Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape." And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there. " (2 Kings 18:40 

There's plenty of other evidence in the Old Testament of God's utter hatred of all religion save His own (Deut 13:1-18, 18:20, Josh 24:20, 2 Kings 17:7-23, etc.); but surely Jesus, who loves everybody, takes a different approach?  Not so much... operating from the basis already laid down and accepted (that all other gods/idols were false and God hates them), Jesus clearly delineates the only path to acceptance with God, the only way that God will tell people at the pearly gates "Come in!":   Himself.

“All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Matthew 11:28

“Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. “ John 14:6

      Jesus's followers affirm Him completely and also agree precisely with each other on this vital point...

“And there is salvation in no one else [besides Jesus], for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12

“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” 1 Timothy 2:5

      So if you're using the Bible as your authority, as your source of truth, you have to answer the question "Can a person get to God/heaven through Muhammed/Buddha/whoever?" with a resounding "No! Only through Jesus!" My fear for you is that the Bible is not your authority; perhaps you have come to believe that there are genuinely good people in all religions (refuted in Romans 3:10), or that our sins really aren't that bad (not according to Gen 6:5), or as one woman told me “It's God's job to forgive!” (proven wrong in Exo 20:5). I'll leave you with one more verse that defeats universalism all by itself:

“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” (John 3:36)   

Photo courtesy of quinn.anya