Thank you Veteran!

Thank you to our veterans - those who sacrificed their relative safety and comfort to fight to protect our nation and, hopefully, to bring freedom to many unnamed people of the world.

This is to a veteran who was in South Korea in 1950 and 1951. The land was decimated with war and many families were killed or separated. Very few buildings remained in the city of Seoul. The stench of death was prevalent everywhere. When a train of American soldiers rolled in, it was immediately surrounded by hordes of starving orphaned children. Some of the soldiers pushed the children away. You see, there was a Longshoremen strike in San Francisco holding up food and other supplies to the troops, and the soldiers had only their limited supply of C-rations to scarcely nourish themselves. But, some of the soldiers reached out to the children and gave them their last cans of food.

When I prepared for a missions trip to South Korea in 1990, I knew that I was going to a place that was now very modern. I went to share my Christian testimony at eight college campuses. There was a great response, with the attendance at the Seoul meeting numbering over 6,000 students. However, in some cities, I was led away from areas where communists had incited campus riots by some of the young people. And I was sad that it took only one or two generations after the war to forget the history of their nation and the sacrifices that were made for them. Later during the trip, an older Korean man ran up to me and frightened me by wrapping his arms around me. He hugged me tightly, wept and cried out, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” I wondered if, in God’s wonderful providence, this man had been one of those orphaned children, for it seemed that he was showing gratitude to this American in remembrance for another American who unselfishly shared with him the little that he had.

The Bible reflects how forgetful people are. God has loved us by giving us His only Son, Jesus Christ the Lord as sacrifice for our sins. For at the last supper with his disciples, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me" (Lk 22:19). Christ also taught us to honor those deserving honor. As we honor Christ our Savior, let us also remember and honor our veterans with love, respect, and gratitude.

Some call the Korean War “The Forgotten War.” To those who fought for us and showed Christ’s love in the worst of conditions, I write this in remembrance of you and echo the grateful unnamed Korean man. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

-Al-

Webster's Definitive Voter Guide

On October 16, 1758, one of our founding fathers was born. Noah Webster would be made famous, not just in defining words in his dictionary, but in defining a citizen's principles of conduct. See what he says about the public voting responsibility in an excerpt from one of his books below.

"302. Remedy for public evils.—The command of God is, “He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God,” 2 Sam. 23:3. This command prescribes the only effectual remedy for public evils. It is an absurd and impious sentiment, that religious character is not necessary for public officers. So far is this from being true, that it is one of the principal qualifications, for any man making or administering laws.

When the form of government admits men to office by hereditary right, rulers may or may not be good men; the people have no choice, and must submit. But in representative governments, if rulers are bad men, it is generally the fault of the people. The electors may indeed be deceived in regard to the principles of the man they choose; they are sometimes most woefully deceived. But in general, the calamity of having evil counselors, legislators, judges, and ministerial officers, is the fault of the electors. They do not regard the precept, to choose “just men, who will rule in the fear of God.” They choose men, not because they are just men, men of religion and integrity, but soley for the sake of supporting a party. This is a fruitful source of public evils.

But as surely as there is a God in heaven, who exercises a moral government over the affairs of this world, so certainly will the neglect of the divine command, in the choice of rulers, be followed by bad laws and a bad administration; by laws unjust or partial, by corruption, tyranny, impunity of crimes, waste of public money, and a thousand other evils.

Men may devise and adopt new forms of government; they may amend old forms, repair breaches, and punish violators of the constitution; but there is, there can be, no effectual remedy, but obedience to the divine law. "

Noah Webster. Value of the Bible and Excellence of the Christian Religion: For the Use of Families and Schools (1834)

Do the right thing. -AL

A Person's a Person No Matter How Small

These are the words of Dr. Suess' packederm hero, Horton, who saved the people living on a small dust speck from being boiled by the skeptical crowd. Though outnumbered, Horton alone heard the small voices and risked his own life to save theirs.

Unfortunately, this modern parable is lost on the modern day skeptics, they who would trample on the constitutional right to life of our smallest citizens, the unborn aborted children. Unfortunate, still, is that so-called Christians are partnering with a political party whose primary doctrine is to commit infanticide. In an article posted today about "aborting faith", the Family Research Council makes the following report. If you find in this that "you are the man" (2 Samuel 12:7), where you are guilty of this grievace sin of supporting such practices, the time has come for you to repent and receive forgiveness.

In a passionate speech on what it means to be "pro-life," Archbishop Charles Chaput spoke Friday about the disservice done by Christian voters who are abandoning the abortion issue. More churchgoers seem to be twisting faith to fit their politics instead of evaluating candidates through the lens of faith.

Speaking as a private citizen, Chaput talked about the crisis of conscience in this election. "I believe that Senator Obama, whatever his other talents, is the most committed 'abortion-rights' presidential candidate of either major party since the Roe v. Wade abortion decision in 1973. Despite what [others] suggest, the party platform Senator Obama runs on this year is not only aggressively 'pro-choice,' it has also removed any suggestion that killing an unborn child might be a regrettable thing.

To suggest-as some Catholics do-that Senator Obama is this year's 'real' pro-life candidate requires a peculiar kind of self-hypnosis, or moral confusion, or worse." For more, please read Professor Robby George's article at http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/.

Do the right thing. -Al

Truth & the VP Debate

OK. I confess. I've been absent from my blog. I hope you will welcome me back, though.

I watched the Vice Presidential candidates, Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Joe Biden, debate and I have a few comments to post here that I also posted on the Fox News website.

Let me begin with a vocabulary lesson. Assumptive language is a term that should be taught to the rest of the country. It is making statements that sound authoritative, but are not necessarily true. Satan speaks with authority, but Jesus says of him that "there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44). So, let us not be deceived by stereotypes, by name calling, by mockery, and other pejoratives that are prevalent on network TV. If you are a Christian, you should be concerned about truth. Jesus said about himself, "for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me" (John 18:37).

Both candidates spoke authoritatively, but only one spoke with integrity and that was Gov. Palin. I consider her to be the winner of this debate.

Sen. Biden lied when he stated that Sen. Obama did not say that he would meet with certain people without pre-condition. In fact, Sen. Biden had made this a key point when he was running against Sen. Obama. And this was not the only lie. He also accused Sen. McCain of voting against certain energy bills, etc.

Even if he did not mean to lie, his attack was disingenuous. We must understand that congressmen do not vote for every bill that has a nice name and a flowery ribbon tied to it. It may be that they reject a bill that has a very good purpose, but look closely why they might reject a bill. It could be that other things (entitlements, earmarks, "pork") have been added to the bill making the primary issue in the bill impalatable. For instance: Chicken soup is good for you, but if you add poison to it, the soup becomes impalatable.

Let us, therefore, be as "shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves" (Matt 10:16).
-End of the vocabulary and civic lessons for today.-

I love you. Do the right thing. Blessings. -AL

Should Christians seek a Theocracy?

In June of 2008, Dr. Del Tackett was confronted with the accusation that Christians are guilty of seeking a theocratic government in the United States. Dr. Tackett is the founder of the Focus on the Family Truth Project and maintains a blog at http://DelTackett.com. His blog is dedicated to learning to better articulate the Christian biblical worldview, just as mine does.

Does a biblical Christian worldview call us to seek for, or work toward, a “theocracy?” The word theocracy denotes the rule of God. I remember seeing another definition, however, which was better and stated that it is a form of government where the rulers claim to be ruling on behalf of a set of religious ideas, or as direct agents of a deity.

This last definition helps us to better understand the potential abuses of seeking a theocratic form of government. Those claiming to be acting as God’s agents could be, themselves deceived, while they deceive and rule as an oligarchy. Two thousand years ago, Christ criticized the elitist attitudes of the religious leaders calling them hypocrites and blind guides (Matt 23). The Pharisees claimed that they were shepherds of the flock, but only took care of themselves (Ez 34). So, it is understandable that some may be concerned. Is there any modern example of a theocratic government? How about Iran? Based on this modern example, we can further understand the apprehension of those who fear that the U.S. could become a theocracy.

In reading the documents and letters of our Founders, however, we find that they were generally influenced by a biblical Christian worldview when they developed our republican form of government rather than a theocracy. In addition, a historical study of America’s Christian ethics reveals that the country has been generous, even to its enemies, and generally tolerant to other cultures and religions. So, to claim that a biblical worldview in our government is damaging in some way is to misrepresent the truth.

We are in little danger of becoming a theocracy, but that does not mean that religious notions have no place in defining our politics. Right now, it seems that the reigning religious bent of our government is based on the religion of humanism. (Yes. Humanism is a religion!) And those who do not want Christians to have a voice are those of the religion of humanism, which makes their complaint disingenuous.

I, therefore, propose that the biblical Christian worldview does not call for us to seek for a theocracy as a method of public government. Dr. Tackett and Scripture teaches us that God has given us the sphere of the State for that purpose. For Scripture states:

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God (Rom 13:1).

Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account (Heb 13:17).

Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, 14or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right 1 Pet 2:13-14).

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me (Mat 28:18).

Blessings.
Al

Charles Finney on Voting

"The Church must take right ground in regard to politics. . . . [T]he time has come that Christians must vote for honest men and take consistent ground in politics. . . . Christians have been exceedingly guilty in this matter. But the time has come when they must act differently. . . . God cannot sustain this free and blessed country which we love and pray for unless the Church will take right ground. . . . It seems sometimes as if the foundations of the nation are becoming rotten, and Christians seem to act as if they think God does not see what they do in politics. But I tell you He does see it, and He will bless or curse this nation according to the course [Christians] take [in politics]." [1]

One hundred Forty years later, Finney's words still apply. If you are a Christian, vote like you are a God-fearing, Bible-believing Christian. If you are a Christian, you should not be voting with Satan. As the Word of God states:

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked

or stand in the way of sinners

or sit in the seat of mockers. (Ps 1:1)

Between now and the November elections, I'll occasionally be commenting on the importance of voting for Biblical righteousness. This does not mean that I am promoting a theocratic government. (If you have questions about theocracy, go to Del Tackett's Truth Project blog.)

I'd like to hear your reasonable thoughts on this topic of voting like a Christian.

AL

1 Charles G. Finney, Lectures on Revivals of Religion (New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1868, first published in 1835), Lecture XV, pp. 281-282.

What is a Worldview?

What is a worldview? Some of you may not know of this important modern philosophical term. It is an accumulation of knowledge and beliefs by an individual or group which is used to determine the decisions that we make.

Why use the term "worldview"? Other terms have been used in the past, terms like "faith" and "religion." But these terms were too broad and often subject to misapplication and misinterpretation because of their connotive nature. A worldview, then, is the lens or filter through which we interpret the world and every principle of what is right or wrong with all individuals, families, cultures, and nations. For a study of various general worldviews, I recommend that you read The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog by James W. Sire. I'll present some key notions from the book in this article.

Sire states that a worldview can be expressed as answers to the following series of seven questions:
1 What is prime reality? (natural or supernatural)
2 What is the nature of the world around us? (determined (closed system) or free (open system))
3 What is a human being? (made in the image of God or a naked ape or
a machine)
4 What happens to a person at death? (extinction, transformation, or
reincarnation)
5 Why is it possible to know anything at all? (the Bible or social
evolution)
6 How do we know what is right and wrong? (God or human choice)
7 What is the meaning of human history? (finding purpose, making a paradise on earth, preparing for heaven)

Sire first suggests that the place to start in determining our own worldview is from an attitude of humility, by examining how we now live (p245). Socrates also suggested that “the unexamined life is not worth living.” Sire, then, postulates that we can know something. The next step is to answer the seven worldview questions mentioned above with as much detail as possible. How can this data be judged? The answers can be logically analyzed using the three laws of thought, which are used to test worldviews for truthfulness. The first test is succinctly stated “identity,” and checks for inner intellectual coherence. That is, the worldview must not conflict with itself.

The second test of a worldview is that it must “comprehend the data of reality.” This means that historical and scientific fact; as well as human experience, must fit consistently with one’s worldview or must match the reality of what is.

The third and last test of a worldview is that it “should explain what it claims to explain.” For example, in Philippians 3:16, Paul exhorts young Christians to “live up to what they had already attained.” So, for one to have a suitable worldview, one should be able to live with it. This last one is called a "test for tensions."

How do you measure what is true? Do you believe everything you hear on the TV? Strangely, many Americans who profess to be Christians appear to identify with the cynical misrepresentations of truth presented by comedians Letterman and Leno. Are their truth claims valid and verifiable? Perhaps you are willing to compromise the truth for a laugh at someone else's expense.

Some claim that truth is relative. They believe that each person "has a right" to their own concept of reality. If this is so, however, release everyone that has been committed to an asylum or sentenced to prison, because they have only acted upon their own concept of reality. One man in my adult Sunday School class blurted out his agreement with the relativity of truth by saying, "I believe what I believe!" And he was a deacon in the church!

What is the matter with this kind of rationalization? If people only had themselves to rely upon in regard to understanding truth, or acquiring true knowledge, they would never be able to verify the credibility of their beliefs. If one begins and ends in his intellect, he would have to know everything to be certain and right about everything!

My career as a government consultant often led me to operate in the field of engineering, which requires work with scientific data (the seen or natural realm). I have often had to reference sources from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in order to have a reasonably calibrated starting place for measurment. Consider a race where there is no starting line, but the runners can position themselves anywhere along the track. How credible will the results of that race be?

The testing of ideas in the moral realm (unseen) is similar to that of the seen realm. There needs to be a foundation or an absolute from which to examine all thoughts. Absolutes are fixed, unchangeable, and uniform, and offer proper descriptions of reality. God has revealed these absolute moral truths in the Scripture from which we can judge the correctness of ideas and the validity of worldviews. In the final analysis, truth is always a proper description of reality, whether we are discussing moral truth or scientific truth.

Are you ready now to test the validity of your own worldview? And if you find there are parts of your worldview that are not valid, are you willing to repent?

Movie Review: WALL-E

My son, Jeremy, and I went to see the movie WALL-E on Saturday, June 28th. It was a wonderful opportunity to spend time with him and discuss how the events in the movie moved us. There were so many themes introduced that it will take some time to digest them all. I will, therefore, only touch on a few of themes here in this writing.

I have to mention my emotional reaction to the good character WALL-E exemplified. Like the advanced robot, Eve, I fell in love with WALL-E. How do you relate to a trash compactor? You make the machine an anthropomorphic underdog with a lot of personality and the capacity to show love. According to the story, this little robot had carried out his programmed duties for 700 years while others of his kind had long-since broken down. Oh, that we should be so faithful!

WALL-E resourcefully collected and stored away spare parts for himself - a practice of planning ahead for the future that helped him to “resurrect” at the end of the movie. S ee Matthew 6:20 about the importance of storing up treasure in heaven. In the end, WALL-E was a true hero, willing to sacrifice his own life for others. He, therefore, represents a type of Christ.

Finally, allow me to address how people were portrayed. In the story, they had abandoned earth, leaving because all of the natural resources had been used up and the planet was no longer capable of supporting life (with the exception of one lone cockroach). People on this giant spaceship sat in floating deck chairs, watched TV continuously, and were completely attended to by robots, who made sure that people always had a milkshake or soda in their hand. So, it should come as no surprise that the people all looked like fully inflated balloons and unable to stand or walk without great strain.

Reading other blog entries about the movie, I found that some people were insulted that people were represented as indulgent slobs. I think Pixar was actually being kind. Scripture teaches how people are. We all have sinned (Rom 6:23) and the devil has deceived those who are perishing (2 Thes 2:10). In the movie, it was revealed that all the people on the spaceship were deceived by the automatic pilot, who kept them in a type of bondage. It makes me wonder, "Are we in bondage? Have we been deceived?" Personal and patriotic pride leads me to deny these things. In John 8:33, we hear the same response of proud Pharisees who objected that Jesus implied that they were slaves. Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin." Are we ready to hear the truth? Many Americans today have become apathetic by the media negativity, church-goers are intellectually lazy, and we are also guilty of calorie-rich overindulgence.

Over 2000 years ago, our Lord told parables to help make people think and repent. Today, he is using another parable about how a brave little robot named WALL-E shook people back to reality and gave them an example to embrace responsibility for our world. If you've seen the movie, maybe my perspective will help you see it with new eyes.

How many other biblical themes can you find in this story?

- Al -

Foundations of an Ethical House

A fact is something that actually exists. It is reality. It is truth.[1] Why is fact important? Every Spring we celebrate the two most significant events in history: the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. The Apostle Paul valued them as “first importance” (1 Cor 15:3). What was Jesus’ attitude toward truth? On Good Friday, we commemorate that when Jesus stood on trial before Pilate, he stated the significance of truth. He said, “…for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth” (Jn 18:37). Therefore, the weight of truth was of such value that he stepped into humanity’s courtroom to reveal ultimate reality.

We measured the importance of fact as valuable, but let us now discuss “human values, of how we ought to live, and of what constitutes right conduct” [2] “How shall we then live?” is the question that each person must ask. On what basis in truth can we ground our lives upon?

The basis of truth for the ancient Greek Sophists of the fifth century BC was themselves. Of them, Protagoras held that “man is the measure of all things” [3] His moral relativism asserted that whatever is thought right in a particular society is right for that society. Every society needs a set of moral conventions in order to function as a community. In 1967, one of Protagoras’ disciples, Thomas Harris, wrote the book, I'm OK You're OK, which influenced the Boomer generation to have a more tolerant view of a widening global community. Young Ryan Dobson, Dr. James Dobson’s adopted son, counters this thinking with the book whose title says it all, Be Intolerant: Because Some Things Are Just Stupid (2003).

Over history, the secular philosophers pondered the meaning of the value of “good.” Some argued ethical conduct is expressed by what a person is. One person whose name kept popping up in my management courses was Abraham Maslow. His hierarchy of needs pyramid shows self-actualization as our highest goal. He would have clashed with Max Lucado, who wrote, It’s Not About Me (2004).

In another vein, secular ethics can be found in an attempt to please the greatest number of people. This is called teleological ethics. Our U.S. political system appears to function this way as demonstrated by this election year process. However, this ethic can be manipulated and find its basis in lies, which is also demonstrated by this election year process. And what of the ethics of the Cynics and Stoics, whose disciples appear to be Immanuel Kant, David Hume, and G. E. Moore? We have been experimenting with these secular ethics for thousands of years and have discovered that they are not coherent, complete, or consistent.

As a former quality assurance manager for a large government program, my concern was to answer the question of the value for our products and services. The definition was sometimes obscured by unrealistic expectations, but the definition always returned to what the contract and the quality assurance manual stated.

As Christians, our definition of truth and value also come down to basically the same thing. In place of the contract, we have a covenant, and in place of the quality assurance manual, we have the Bible. What kind of foundation do we offer the world? Jesus said, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matt 7:24). How,then, are you building your ethical house?
--Al

1 "fact." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 19 Mar. 2008. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fact>.
2 Richard Norman. The Moral Philosophers: An Introduction to Ethics. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 1.
3 Ibid, 7.

Why is it important to target evangelism?

Most of us have heard the axiom, “he couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn.” It has been used extensively to describe my batting skills in baseball when the umpire screamed, “Strike three! You’re out!” It is quite embarrassing because the broadside of a barn is, well, such a large target.

Since I am such a geek, let me use another illustration. In 1961 (I was 7), President John F. Kennedy spoke before a joint session of Congress and laid down an extraordinary challenge. He said, "... I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth." As I followed the development of Apollo manned space program, I was amazed that the team of project managers, scientists, and engineers calculated the location of the earth in relation to the moon, the required trajectory, and all the required fuel and systems so closely that the Lunar Module, nicknamed “Eagle,” almost ran out of fuel when it touched down in the Sea of Tranquility on July 20, 1969. [1 ] What made that event extra special for me was that I watched it on TV with my WW1 veteran grandfather, Herbert Goff, who saw the event not only as a milestone for human ingenuity, but as another way for God to show his grace on America. When the astronauts safely returned to earth several days later, they could say that they hit their target.

Whether, then, it is used in sending men to the moon, in sports, in a war, in business, or in Christian evangelism, hitting the target is a critical measurement of success or failure.

In his book, The Purpose-Driven Church, Rick Warren says that our churches should know who we are trying to reach for Christ.[2] We should know our target. Who is our target? According to Christ’s Great Commission challenge, it is “all nations” (Matthew 28:19, NIV[3]). That’s a pretty big broadside of a barn for my church of about 400 adult members. How can we accomplish this mission? Like the Apollo’s Saturn V launch vehicle, we need to break this down into stages.

Christ helps us by further stating, “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). In this we have a place to start and the stages of progression. Jerusalem is the city where the disciples began. This was their initial geographic target. In Jerusalem, there were many kinds of people visiting at Pentecost. On that day that the Holy Spirit came on him, Peter segmented the crowd into a particular demographic target by saying, “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say” (Acts 2:14).

Bowie is the city where my church can begin by breaking down its many sections[4] and its streets to geographic targets. I want to know what streets are closest both to my house and to the church. Those are the people I want to attract first. We can further narrow down the target by demographic type (age, race, married with children, income, etc.) so we know who and how to address their particular needs with methods that will best reach them with the gospel.

Paul used a sports illustration about the importance of targeting when he said, “Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air” (1 Cor 9:26). An aimless man doesn’t know what direction to run, and a fighter whose punch only beats the air will soon wear himself down and be knocked out. This is not the way of the church. We are in this game to win—win the lost to Christ. And, we can do it if we train to focus on the target.

--AL

1 NASA, Apollo 30th Anniversary, (Online) http://history.nasa.gov/ap11ann/introduction.htm, Last updated Sept. 20, 2002.
2 Rick Warren, The Purpose-Driven Church (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995), 156.
3 Unless otherwise specified, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (NIV) of the Holy Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984).
4 Most of the City of Bowie is divided into sections with street names beginning with particular letters of the alphabet.

Not Just Another Programming Language

You might be familiar with PASCAL as a computer programming language, but did you know about the Christian man from which this language was named?

Blaise Pascal was a French mathematician, physicist, and theological philosopher from the 17th century. Under the direct tutelage of his father, Pascal thrived intellectually and showed a penchant for theoretical and practical science. He is attributed with the invention of 0ne of the first mechanical calculators and with the laws of hydraulics.

Following a near-death experience in late 1654, where Pascal and several friends escaped plunging over a bridge in a coach, he had a vision from God. He left mathematics and physics and devoted himself to studying scripture and writing apologetics. What is apologetics?

"Apologetics attempts to render the Christian faith persuasive to the contemporary individual.

• For unbelievers: it is belief forming. It helps to establish Christianity as credible by giving intellectual support to the explanatory value of a biblical world view.



• For believers: it is belief sustaining. It nurtures Christian faith by calling believers to love the Lord with their minds (Matt 22:37)."[1]

His two most famous works date from this period: the Lettres Provinciales (The Provincial Letters) and the Pensées.[2] The Provincial Letters was a critique of religious and political leadership of his time. The Pensées is actually a collection of notes Pascal made for a book he planned to title "The Defense of the Christian Religion," but was not completed due to his untimely death in 1662.

Pascal’s primary concern was focused on the church and combating the ignorance of those who professed to be a Christian without displaying Christian virtues. J.G. Stackhouse says, “Blaise Pascal and Soren Kierkegaard are only the most famous of a long line of apologists who tried to wake up a sleepwalking culture that comfortably thought itself Christian.”[3] Though a Catholic, Pascal criticized the Catholic church for being “too Calvinistic.”[4]

Pascal’s greatness in apologetics was not to deify his personal interests of mathematics and science, like so many of his contemporaries. Rather, he chose to honestly dismiss limited human reason and accepted both the obvious ambiguity of knowledge of God and the Scriptural view of man’s fallen state. He states:

But for those in whom this light is extinguished … find only obscurity and darkness; to tell them that they have only to look at the smallest things which surround them, and they will see God openly, to give them, as a complete proof of this great and important matter, the course of the moon and planets, and to claim to have concluded the proof with such an argument, is to give them ground for believing that the proofs of our religion are very weak. And I see by reason and experience that nothing is more calculated to arouse their contempt. It is not after this manner that Scripture speaks, which has a better knowledge of the things that are of God.[5]

Though dead, his ideas fit in with modern teleological arguments. It appears that Pascal’s war against the identity crisis and apathy of Christians has continued into the 21st Century, where there seems to be little if no difference in the lifestyles between those who profess “Jesus is Lord!” and those who profess their allegiance to secular humanism. In addition, many of our modern churches that are "too Calvinistic" seem to be less concerned with working with other "less Calvinistic" churches. What does Christ have to say to this? "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another"(Jn 13:35). Love, therfore, is our primary apologetic. If this is so, then can the inverse be also true? Can you demonstrate that you are not Jesus' disciple by hate and indifference? John was called the apostle of love, but his words are quite direct and stern on the matter. He says, "Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness" (1 Jn 2:9).

A programming language is a set of instructions for the computer. A computer that has no capacity to translate those instructions and do what is expected no longer serves the purpose of its human master. People, however, are not computers - and we are far more valuable to our heavenly master. He has given us instructions by giving us the Bible which lines up with our primary mission to glorify Him. Christ said, "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven" (Matt 5:16). Does the way you think and act line up with the commands of Christ? Churches: are you communicating and collaborating in such a way that the unbelievers in your community want to join your fellowship? Are you celebrating your similarities in Christ or are you accentuating your differences? Is the Christian faith you profess persuasive to the world?

AL

1 Walter Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 2nd Ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2001), 82.
2 "Blaise Pascal." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 2005. Answers.com 21 Oct. 2006. http://www.answers.com/topic/blaise-pascal (accessed October 21, 2006).
3 J.G. Stackhouse, Humble Apologetics: Defending the Faith Today (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), 44.
4 Ibid., 167.
5 Wikisource contributors, "Pensées/IV-242," Wikisource, The Free Library, http://en.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=Pens%C3%A9es/IV&oldid=212972 (accessed October 21, 2006).

6 Image. Augustin Pajou (1730-1809). Blaise Pascal (1785, Paris, Musйe du Louvre)
http://nibiryukov.narod.ru/nb_pinacoteca/nbe_pinacoteca_artists_p.htm

Seeker-Sensitive to Sinner-Sensitive

Both Warren and Schwarz address being a seeker sensitive church in their respective books, The Purpose-Driven Church (1995) and Natural Church Development (1996). Is it important to be seeker-sensitive? Yes!

I have heard and read opinions from those who think it is a bad thing because it tends to compromise the order and respectability of what they think a church service should be. Their attitude is that visitors need to come in a behave themselves. If they behave, they must be Christians. If they don’t behave, they are going to hell and they do not belong in church. This is the seeker insensitive model, which is grounded in centuries of tradition. The Pharisees and scribes did church this way two thousand years ago.

Then came Jesus, who drew quite a crowd. The Jewish leaders growled, "He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends" (Lk 15:1, MSG). Perhaps they complained that Jesus is too “sinner-sensitive.” According to Warren, it is important to be seeker-sensitive like Jesus. He said:

At Saddleback Church we do not expect unbelievers to act like believers until they are. We do not expect visitors in the crowd to act like members of the congregation. We expect very little from the seeker who is investigating the claims of Christ. We simply say, as Jesus did in his first encounter with the disciples, "Come and see!” (Warren, 54)

The seeker-service is perceived by the visitor that, not only is this church a safe place to attend without feeling judged or being hassled by pushy, zealous members, it is a place that they can come to find out more about God. After all, if fellowship was the only criteria of the visitor, the local sports bar or Starbucks, might do as well.

Though Schwarz posits that being seeker sensitive is not a church growth principle, he does find that there is indeed “a strong correlation between an inspiring worship experience and a church's quality and quantity” (Schwarz, 31). He further states, "it can be demonstrated that there is a significant connection between laughter in the church and that church's qualitative and numerical growth" (Schwarz, 36). In other words, being seeker sensitive impacts the environment that is attractive to the visitor. And Warren states, “No one becomes a church member without first being a visitor” (Warren, 253).

Can we be seeker-sensitive and not quench the operation of the Spirit? Again, there may be a preconception that for the Spirit to transform, the environment has to be quiet and somber. This is truly a misconception. God works when our hearts are open and receptive to his word, as the good soil was in the parable of the sower (Matt 13:3-8; Mk 4:3-20; Luke 8:5-8). A seeker sensitive service provides that environment. Is there possibility for church growth? Look at the result of the good soil. Jesus said, “Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown” (Matt 13:8).

--Al

Look at Your Life through Heaven's Eyes

In the 1998 movie, The Prince of Egypt, Jethro sings:

“So how can you see what your life is worth, Or where your value lies?
You can never see through the eyes of man, You must look at your life,
Look at your life through heaven's eyes.” 1

I found it compelling that Gordon McDonald used the same phrase as a chapter title in his book, Order Your Private World. He used the phrase to talk about prayer. What are the reasons why we have trouble praying? McDonald suggests that there are three reasons.

First, he states that our designed desire to be in communion with God have been dulled by sin, and therefore, have become an unnatural act.2 I have found this to be true in my life. Although I casually talk to God throughout the course of the day, when it comes down to giving him my undivided attention to approach him in worship and intercession, I have to force myself to close out the noise of the world to listen to him. It truly is not a natural thing to do.

McDonald’s second reason we have trouble praying is that we are not willing to recognize our weakness and our total dependence on him.3 What an awful realization this is for a Christian! When I give thanksgiving over the meal, I’m not sure I am truly giving thanks, or just performing something that is expected of me. Do I truly believe God supplied the means to the meal, or is it a ruse to my believing that I worked for the money that paid for the food? What a hypocrite I am! It is God who gives me breath and my next heart beat. It is God who gives me the mind to think and the hands to work. It is God who sent the rain that watered the fields so that the produce for my future meal could grow. I could supply none of these things. I am wholly dependent on God's grace.

Lastly, McDonald suggests that we have trouble praying because we do not recognize the answers to our prayers when they come.4 The Lord answers prayers; but I often do not recognize the answer and attribute seemingly unanswered prayer to God's unfaithfulness rather than my own spiritual blindness and unbelief. I think I believe that Jesus’ promises are true. But, when He says, “I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven” (Matt 18:19, NIV), I have to confess that I have been disappointed. In fact, I have been disappointed enough to stop praying.

What would have happened if Daniel had stopped praying after 20 days, when it took 21 days for the angel to make a "breakthough" against the evil spirit that detained him? (Daniel 10:12-13) He would have been like the Israelites, who came right to the edge of the Promised Land, but were not allowed in because of their unbelief. James tells that we must be single-minded and stable when we pray. He says:

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. (James 1:5-7)

Therefore, when we pray, we must be ready to receive by watching and expecting God's answer in whatever form He chooses. Indeed, we must look at our prayer life through heaven's eyes.

--AL

1 Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz vocals by Brian Stokes Mitchell. The Prince of Egypt (UNI/DreamWorks, 1998)
2 Gordon McDonald, Order Your Private World (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2003), 174.
3 Ibid, 175.
4 Ibid, 176.

Driven or Called?

What is the difference between a driven person and a called person? Gordon McDonald offers the answer in several chapters of his book, Ordering Your Private World (2003). For instance, the driven are “preoccupied with symbols of accomplishment”1, only finding satisfaction when this need is met, and with an insatiable desire for more. Lacking integrity and people skills, they are often highly competitive, express fits of rage, and always seem to need to load their lives with activity. In short, the driven live to glorify self because there is no one else great enough (in their own mind) to please.

Called people, on the other hand, possess strength from within, a quality of perseverance and power that are impervious to the blows from without. A called person is a steward, because he knows who he is, because he is purposeful-anticipates the day when it is time to step back and let go.

To deal with drivenness, one must begin to ruthlessly appraise one's own motives and values, just as Peter was forced to do in his periodic confrontations with Jesus. The person seeking relief from drivenness will find it wise to listen to mentors and critics who speak Christ's words to us today. He may have some humbling acts of renunciation, some disciplined gestures of surrender of things-things that are not necessarily bad, but that have been important for all the wrong reasons. Perhaps the driven person will have to grant forgiveness to some of those who in the past never offered the proper kind of affection and affirmation. And all of that may be just the beginning. 2

Over the years I tried to live as one called, but often inherited or "caught" the drivenness of others around me. What is my condition now? I can still stand up in front of a “Drivenness Anonymous” meeting and introduce myself as driven. There, however, are signs of recovery. I do not need to work in a high-visibility job any more. I am more appreciative of the little things: knowing my neighbors by name, spending time with my family, and enjoying watching an old musical on DVD. Am I driven or called?

I believe that Paul summarized the difference between drivenness and called when he stated:

To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. (Rom 2:7, 8, NIV)

-- Al

1 Gordon McDonald, Ordering Your Private World (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2003), 34.
2 Ibid, 54.

A QUESTION OF LIGHT – Part 2

In this article we will further investigate the metaphor found in Matthew 5:14, where Christ proclaimed, “You are the light of the world.”

JESUS CHRIST IS THE SOURCE OF LIGHT

Luke recorded that Joseph and Mary brought the child Jesus to be circumcised at the temple in Jerusalem. There, a man named Simeon, who had been waiting for the coming of the Messiah, took Jesus in his arms saying: “For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel” (Lk 2:30-32). William Barclay, writing that the Christian’s source of light was from Christ, stated: “The light with which the nation or the man of God shone was a borrowed light. It must be so with the Christian . . . . The radiance which shines from the Christian comes from the presence of Christ within the Christian's heart.”[9]

In the Gospel of John, the apostle summarizes thematic references to the Light of Christ as existing from eternity past, its relationship to creation, and its manifested battle with the powers of darkness with the words: “In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:4-5). It is possible that the darkness symbolizes the enemies of mankind: the devil, spiritual ignorance, sin, and death. Christ came to break the power of the devil (Gen 3:15, Acts 10:38), to testify to the truth (John 18:37), to save his people from their sins (Mat 1:21), and to destroy the sting of death (1 Cor 15:56-57).

It can be imagined that Jesus was teaching in Jerusalem during one of the Jewish feasts, when he looked up at the light shining from the temple mount and announced: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 12). This statement not only links himself as the fulfillment of the previously discussed priestly mission of Israel, but with the mission to defeat the enemies of mankind, which only the Son of God had the power to fulfill. In addition, Jesus’ statement provides an invitation and a promise to “whoever follows” him.

The clause “Whoever follows me” is an important distinction for those who would receive Jesus’ words just as the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount passage distinguishes the crowd and the disciples. It says, “Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them...” (Mt 5:1-2). The passage opens with Jesus cordially receiving the crowd, but teaching his disciples. This appears to be the dilemma of the preacher. He must speak to those who are committed followers and to those who are uncommitted spectators. It is to his disciples that Jesus said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them” (Mt 13:11).

THE ROLE OF CHRISTIANS

In verses 13-16, Jesus used the metaphors of salt and light to represent his disciples’ influence for good in the world. Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men” (Mt 5:13). Salt was used both to provide taste and as a preservative. So, people would cure their meats in salt to help keep it from spoiling. How might this be applied in the area of influencing the world?

Christians are called to resist corruption. What happens if Christians don’t stand up against corruption? You then become good for nothing, except to “be thrown out and trampled by men” (Mt 5:13). Peter gives a clue what this compromise might cost by saying: “If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning” (2 Pet 2:20).

Our key verse provides a similar meaning. When Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden” (Mt 5:14), he was calling Christians into action.

A movie about William Wilberforce’s struggle to abolish slavery in Britain has recently been released. The story is about a man who changes the world for good because of the teachings of the Bible and his faith in Christ. In his 1797 book, Real Christianity, Wilberforce challenges those who would claim to be lights with these words: “Some might say that one’s faith is a private matter and should not be spoken of so publicly. They might assert this in public, but what do they really think in their hearts?”[10] We might likewise ask a similar question. Are we living as the light of the world?

There are a number of reasons why Christians may not be living up to their calling as a light of the world. Maybe those who call themselves Christian may not be Christian at all. They have not become a new creation (2 Cor 5:17). Trying to live the Christian life without Christ living in them are unable to be lights of the world because they are unplugged from the source of power and light (John 1:4). Using another metaphor in relation our discussion, Christ says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). Plant a seed and water it in the Spring. If the seed has life in it and it is healthy, it will grow. In evaluating salvation, we must ask, “Are we growing? Are we bearing fruit?”

There is such a thing as a fruitless Christian. According to Richard De Hann’s booklet, The Way Back [11], the light of faith that once burned so brightly has flickered and grown dim. They have no interest in Christian fellowship or church attendance, no personal devotions or prayer time, no concern for others, and no spiritual sensitivity.

What can one do who realizes they are either fallen or fruitless? The cross is still available for them. We must turn from our sin and ask Jesus Christ into our heart, for scripture promises “that if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Seek out a fellowship of Christians where you can learn and practice spiritual disciplines of prayer, care, and share. As you imitate Jesus, your light will glow brighter and affect those around you. The result is that you will grow to reflect Christ’s image and then you will indeed be the light of the world.

--AL

9 William Barclay. The Gospel of Matthew. Vol. 1, The Daily Study Bible Series. (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975), 122.
10 William Wilberforce. Real Christianity. Revised and updated by Bob Beltz. (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 2006).
11 Richard De Hann. The Way Back-The Marks of a Backslider. (Grand Rapids: RBC Ministries, 2002), 2.

A QUESTION OF LIGHT – Part 1

In this article we will investigate the metaphor found in Matthew 5:14, where Christ proclaimed, “You are the light of the world.” We will further explore the biblical definition of light. The metaphor is located in, what is known as, the Sermon on the Mount. John Stott wrote that the Sermon on the Mount is “the best-known part of the teaching of Jesus,” the “least understood,” and the “least obeyed.”[1] This is an indication that perhaps Christians are experiencing an identity crisis. We would, therefore, do well to use this essay to assist in self-assessment and seek opportunities to repent.

We may, during the course of this essay, interchange the term Christian with disciple. The Sermon on the Mount contrasts a disciple’s life compared to life in the world. According to Jesus’ teaching, the two are mutually exclusive. Christians should be countercultural; but most of all, Christians should be like Jesus (John 13:15, Phil 2:5).[2]

A WORLD IN NEED OF LIGHT

On Christmas Eve, 1968, while orbiting the moon for the first time in history, the crew of the Apollo 8 broadcasted words from the creation story of the Bible. They read:

. . . . And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. (Gen 1:1-5)

One thing that was needed in 1968 was light. A pall of darkness had fallen on the world. North Korea seized the U.S. Navy ship Pueblo; the North Vietnamese launched the Tet Offensive, a turning point in the Vietnam War; and American soldiers massacred 347 civilians at My Lai. Two major American leaders, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Senator Robert Kennedy, were shot and killed.[3]

The three astronauts, Borman, Lovell, and Anders, were pictured on the cover TIME Magazine.[4] They were chosen as Men of the Year for 1968, recognizing them as the most influential people of the preceding year. Their successful mission represented hope, like the rising of the brightly lit earth they had photographed peering over the horizon of the desolate lunar landscape. In the 21st Century, times seem just as dark and we long for relief. The world is weary of the media persistently reporting on war, of natural calamities, and of death. Like the Psalmist of Scriptures, many are asking, “Who can show us any good?” (Ps 4:6a).

AN HISTORICAL REFERENCE TO LIGHT

After the Flood, God chose Abraham to light the world. Abraham was chosen so that all peoples on earth would be blessed through him (Gen 12:2-3). When Abraham was feeling small and helpless because he had “not yet received the things promised” (Heb 11:3), God took him outside to show him a night sky filled with stars. God said to him, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them. . . . So shall your offspring be” (Gen 15:5). It was not the black background that Abraham focused on, but the thousand points of light that bolstered his faith. At that moment, he no longer depended on his own human abilities, but he believed God (Gen 15:6) who had placed all the stars in the sky (Ps 136:7).

In his 1989 inaugural speech, President George H.W. Bush encouraged a new age of volunteerism and hope with a similar metaphor, saying, “I have spoken of a thousand points of light, of all the community organizations that are spread like stars throughout the nation, doing good.”[5]

Throughout their history, Israel struggled to believe the promise given to Abraham. Their unbelief and disobedience to the covenant often led them into darkness. But, God sent prophets to them to call them to repentance and bring them hope for a better day. Such was the case when Isaiah spoke not only for their present time, but for a time hundreds of years into their future, when he said:

Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. . . . The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. (Isa 9:1-2)

What did Isaiah mean by alluding to a light? Obviously, it can mean little else but a reference to the Messiah. Several verses later, Isaiah makes this clear when he declares, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6). It is, therefore, through this Messiah that God fulfilled his covenant to Abraham that “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Gen 12:3).

The Hebrew Scriptures tell the story of how God chose Israel to teach the rest of the world about Him. He called them a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Ex 19:6). Why would God call them priests? What is significant about this title? A priest does not live for himself. Instead, he lives purposefully as an intercessor between God and man. Paul reminded the Church of Rome of his priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God to the Gentiles (Rom 15:16). The duty of a priest is defined in Hebrews where it states: “Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins” (5.1). It follows, then, that a kingdom of priests would have the distinction of making God known to the other nations for the purpose of establishing a relationship between them. In one sense, God chose Israel to bring the world spiritual light. Peter extended this notion to the church when he told them: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Pet 2:9).

The nation of Israel arose from a small nomadic tribe to settle into Canaan, the land promised to Abraham’s descendants. Their location was significant to their mission. They stood along the major trade routes between the northeastern civilizations of Assyria, Persia, and Babylon, to the north, and the south western empire of Egypt. Although the Arabian Desert was on their eastern border, the Mediterranean offered them nautical access to the continents of Europe and Africa. Ray Vander Laan suggests that Israel was on the “crossroads of the world.”[6]

Israel was on display for all to see. When they sinned, the nations observed that God punished them. When Israel lived in holy obedience, the nations observed how God blessed them. Representative of their holiness was the temple worship in Jerusalem. In a pilgrim’s song, it reads: “Jerusalem, well-built city, built as a place for worship! The city to which the tribes ascend, all God's tribes go up to worship, To give thanks to the name of God—this is what it means to be Israel” (Ps 122:3-4, Msg). The Midrash is a compilation of commentaries on the Tanakh (the Old Testament). It states: “Jerusalem is the light of the world. And who is the light of Jerusalem? The Holy One, blessed be He” (Breishith Rabba 59:8).[7]

The contents of the temple were even more significant than Jerusalem or the temple itself. It contained the Ark of the Covenant, which in turn, contained the stones on which the Ten Commandments (the Word of God) were carved. The Ark represented God’s presence, or glory (doxa), and so it was positioned in the most holy place in the temple. Besides other contents, there was a lamp stand (menorah). According to J.D. Douglas, “The lamp stand often symbolically represents God's perfect leadership in showing his people their way. It also represents the Holy Spirit.”[8] It might be suggested that these two things, the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, residing in the Christian, are the sources that make the Christian the light of the world that Jesus refers to in Matthew 5:14. Moreover, the allusion to the City of Jerusalem might represent the observable positioning of Christians as a “city on a hill.”

See Part 2 of this article.

1 John R. Stott. The Message of the Sermon on the Mount. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1978), 15.
2 Unless otherwise specified, all Scripture references are from the New International Version of the Bible.
3 "1968." Year by Year. Fact Monster. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, publishing as Fact Monster, 2000–2007), 24 Feb 2007 <http://www.factmonster.com/year/1968.html>
4 “Men of the Year.” TIME Magazine. 3 January 1978.
5 Inaugural Address of George Bush January 20, 1989. The Avalon Project at Yale Law School. (21 February 2007) <http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/bush.htm>.
6 Raynard Vander Lann. That the World May Know: Teacher’s/Leader’s Guide for Faith Lessons 1-5. (Colorado Springs: Focus on the Family, 1995), 11.
7 Samuel Rapaport, tr. Tales and Maxims from the Midrash. (New York: E.P. Dutton, 1907) Scanned at sacred-texts.com, January 2003. J.B. Hare redactor. 63.
8 J.D. Douglas. “Light.” New International Encyclopedia of Bible Words. Revised ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999).