Daily or maybe not so...

The Object of My Affection pt. 3

2008-09-21T20:18:00.001-07:00

My love for God is not dependant on my culture. It is true that there elements of culture that will make things either easier or more difficult to listen to God’s voice and obey, but just because my culture thinks it right to do something or wrong to do something else, doesn’t give an accurate portrait of my love for God.

This is that whole dispute that we are all so familiar with in regards to religion killing. As long as I think that I must show my love for God by following a code of ethics, I make a mockery of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Get it out of your mind that I think that as Christians we don’t have responsibility before God, but my responsibility is built on the cornerstone that immutable and unmovable. The same cornerstone that the builders rejected, that is the cornerstone upon which my works are founded. My works are not done on the foundation of my righteousness, but on Jesus Christ.

It is impossible for me to please God. It was Jesus’ sacrifice that paved the way for my relationship with God. It is in response to my relationship with God that I serve Him and this is the lynchpin of Christianity. In Islam there is a strict adherence to the Koran and to Allah because there is no certainty in regards to eternity. The best one can do is work hard and hope Allah accepts it. In Judaism, there is a need to please God by following the law. If I can show God how zealous I am for Him then He will have compassion on me.

In Christianity however we are suddenly told to stop trying to please God because we can’t and accept the payment that Jesus offered on the Cross. It is as a response to this that I work to please God. Yet now I’m not earning righteousness or acting Christian, I am living out of the Grace of God. It is in Christ that I have life.

It is because of this that we are told not to be men pleasers because if we are trying to please men, then we aren’t loving God. This is crucial. I need my motivation to be service to God not because I owe Him, but because He deserves it. Jesus on His triumphal entry said that if the people didn’t cry out that the rocks would.

It may sound silly, but I assure that if the rocks had happened to cry out, that they wouldn’t be doing it to show which rock was the best rock or which rock had the best voice. The limestone rock would not have been pointing the finger at the basalt rock and laughed at its feeble attempt. There wouldn’t have been any judging there would have been true worship.

So often I find myself losing sight of the Object of my Affection and I worship the action. I mistake the method for the object all of the time. The thing that makes me holy isn’t what I do, but what’s in me. I’m holy because I have been washed by the blood of Christ. It is because of the Object of My Affection that I am holy.

The just, true and awesome Creator of the Universe has deemed me holy. Finally we make it back to the beginning. When Peter was on the roof praying and God told him to rise and eat. God’s response to Peter was, “Don’t call what I have made clean unclean.”

It’s this that we need to get into our heads. God has freed us from all of these religious notions. He has freed us from the foolishness of the god of this age. So if you have been declared clean or holy, then don’t call yourself unclean. Don’t think that you still have something to offer in regards to your salvation or atonement. There is no sacrifice that can be offered outside of Jesus Christ.

In regards to our lives, we need not get caught up in cultural differences or segregation. Paul talks about not getting caught up in which day we esteem above the others and how we differ. The same is true of culture. If I am in the Middle East and they are socially conservative, then I need to not offend them, but my righteousness is not to be judged by their conviction.

My righteousness is determined by God and by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ I have been declared Holy!

The Object of My Affection pt. 2

2008-09-21T20:14:00.000-07:00

It’s so easy for me to feel like a failure in my desire for God because of all of the luxuries that I enjoy. To be in the Middle East and see how poor so many people are and then I go and spend $60 on a rug or even better, when I get home I spend $20 to go see a movie and another $15 on 2 cups of coffee with my wife, that is where my depravity really shows itself. I feel so bad, because I’ve been blessed. I get to the point where I begin to view my blessing as a curse and the world wants me to think that.

The god of this age would have me to think that way. The god of this age wants me to feel like a failure. The god of this age wants me to get overwhelmed and give up. The god of this age wants me to feel like the situation is hopeless therefore I shouldn’t try.

How true is it though? That’s the kicker is that it’s not true at all. Not even a little bit. My salvation is by grace through faith in my risen Saviour Jesus Christ. My salvation is found in the knowledge that I’m a sinner, separated from God, with no way of restoration outside of Jesus Christ. My salvation is found in the acceptance that Jesus did on the cross what I couldn’t do on my own. Jesus restored me to God.

Once I understand that all of my righteousness is like filthy rags before God, the perspective comes in. I have a hard time thinking that it was just my righteous deeds before Christ that were filthy rags, but rather every time I try to please God. Whenever I start to get religious, that’s when I dig out my filthy rags and try to give them to God as an offering. It’s those same rags that don’t please God.

It’s because of this that Jesus was able to say that we are to worship in Spirit and Truth. It’s in my Spirit that I worship. The acts that I give to God are my acts of obedience. He wills in me to do what is right. I need to be careful here not to completely throw off my responsibility as laid out in the Bible, but at the same time, for too long I have been victim of Christian behaviors that have no place in Christianity.

There are many things that I do not understand as far as my works are concerned and what place they have. Scripture indicates that there are righteous works that have been prepared for us before the world was created. I believe that and I would not argue that. I guess what I am getting at deals more with culture.

The Object of My Affection pt. 1

2008-09-21T07:19:00.000-07:00

The following was written earlier in the year:
**********************
So I’m in a bus in Jordan on the way to Petra. The cultural differences between the different people groups that I have seen the past week have been quite different and varied. To go from a Jewish people group to the Muslim people group to some of the Christian people groups is staggering as far as culture shock goes.

In many ways I’m put to shame for my lack of zeal for God. What is it that I am expected to feel? I wear the clothes that I want to wear. I eat what I want to eat. I go where I want to go. There aren’t many things that are held back from me. In the Middle East it is different.

Because of zeal for God the peoples here have many different laws and traditions governing their daily lives that prohibit many of the things that I take for granted. When I think about that, it makes me want to give something up. Maybe for forty or so days, I could not eat meat on Fridays or I could abstain from sex or not eat chocolate. It’s in my nature to want to prove myself to God.

I want God to be happy with me. I want the people around me to see how much I love God. I think that if I were to start giving things up that would get me what I wanted. That way when people looked at me, they could say something along the lines of, “Dan must really love God look at everything that he has given up, he doesn’t even eat bacon anymore.”

That’s what I want. I want the world to see it. Now, in the Middle East it’s very easy to think about how easy it would be to give everything up for God because here I am, I’ve already given it up. I haven’t listened to my iPod in a week and as for television, it was only for like 10 minutes to see the news. Internet surfing has practically ceased because I’ve been so busy. So here I am in the Middle East in love with God.

If one has any question about my zeal they can just read about how much stuff I’ve given up. That’s what it’s about isn’t it? Me showing my zeal by abstaining and giving stuff up? So I’ve done it. Now when I think about going back to the States, it’s easy for me to imagine living a life of surrender because of everything I’ve given up.

Of course, much of what I’ve just said is a sort of tongue in cheek humor but at the same time, there is an air of truth in it. My desire is in truth to love God more deeply and more truly, but I get confused about how that is to play out. Is my love for God dependant on what I give up and how much I “sacrifice” for Him?

This is where the true questions come out. It’s right here, how am I supposed to show my love. Is my love for God dependant upon my culture? If so, then I would need to flee from the States and live the rest of my life as a hermit. At least I should move out to the woods and deny the convenience of modern technology and medicine.

Powerful reading

2006-08-22T04:42:00.000-07:00

Every now and again I'll read something that has such a profound impact on me that I feel the need to share it with everyone I know. The easiest way for me to do that is quite simply to post it here and let you all enjoy it.

The following is from G.K. Chesterton's book The Everlasting Man.

The grinding power of the plain words of the Gospel story is like the power of mill-stones; and those who can read them simply enough will feel as if rocks had been rolled upon them. Criticism is only words about words; and of what use are words about such words as these? What is the use of word-painting about the dark garden filled suddenly with torchlight and furious faces? 'Are you come out with swords and staves as against a robber? All day I sat in your temple teaching, and you took me not.' Can anything be added to the massive and gathered restraint of that irony; like a great wave lifted to the sky and refusing to fall? 'Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me but weep for yourselves and for your children.' As the High Priest asked further need he had of witnesses, we might well ask what further need we have of words. Peter in a panic repudiated him: 'and immediately the cock crew; and Jesus looked upon Peter, and Peter went out and wept bitterly.' Has anyone any further remarks to offer? Just before the murder he prayed for all the murderous race of men, saying, 'They know not what they do'; is there anything to say to that, except that we know as little what we say? Is there any need to repeat and spin out the story of how the tragedy trailed up the Via Dolorosa and how they threw him in haphazard with two thieves in one of the ordinary batches of execution; and how in all that horror and howling wilderness of desertion one voice spoke in homage, a startling voice from the very last place where it was looked for, the gibbet of the criminal; and he said to that nameless ruffian, 'This night shalt thou be with me in Paradise'? Is there anything to put after that but a full-stop? Or is anyone prepared to answer adequately that farewell gesture to all flesh which created for his Mother a new Son?

Coming to Terms with God's Word

2006-07-29T03:59:00.000-07:00

I once heard the example that is to follow and while I don't know who initially came up with it, I am forever indebted.

Imagine that we are sitting down at the table and I show you a picture of a circle. You look at it and we both agree that it is, in fact, a circle. We agree that it is not a triangle or a rectangle or any other angle, but it is a circle.

I then show you another picture. This picture is of a triangle. Once again, we go through the steps of ensuring that the item seen is not something else. After we are both confident of the images that we have seen, I show the item that has been photographed for these pictures.

The item is a cone. Looking at it from the top it is a circle; looking at it from the side it is a triangle; but looking at it with a third dimension, we realize that both statements are equally true.

The context of the example was to explain our limited perspective/dimensionality in light of God's. God refers to Himself as the beginning and the end, the Alpha and Omega. He is the Infinite Creator.

Among physicists today, there is growing belief that there are, in fact, 10 or more dimensions. However, we view the world in which we live in 3.5 dimensions (up, down, left, right, forward, backward, and forward in time). We know that God is outside of these dimensions. Time nor dimensionality holds the Creator God.

It would logically follow, that if adding 1 dimension can turn a circle into a cone and a triangle into a cone and reconcile a seeming contradiction that pictures of a circle and a triangle can both be pictures of the same object, that God can reconcile the ideas of Predestination and Freewill.

When I read the Bible, one of many things that strikes me is that it talks very clearly about each. We are absolutely predetermined and we are absolutely free to choose. (My usage of the word absolute here is in terms of certainty not scope.) Jesus said that we are to follow Him and he said that there are some that are given to Him.

Therefore, it is imperative that we do not discount God's word or try to help Him out by saying that it is one or the other. God's word is clear that it is both. It is not a contradiction, because while we don't understand, we live in a world with limited understanding.

It is not our duty to call "foul" because we don't understand. It only shows naivete and ignorance to try and glaze over the truth of God's word. We will pull up all of the different scriptural references that back up our point of view and then argue to the death that we must be right. Yet it is ironic that by the same token someone can argue just as well to the other side.

The beauty of God is that while He has reached down to touch our lives, He is not limited by our understanding.

Systematic Theology

2006-07-24T10:47:00.000-07:00

It's been about a month since my last post so I figured that it is high time that I post again. In the past month my reasoning for not posting is not that I haven't had anything to write about. There have been numerous topics of interest of which I could post about, yet I didn't really get the sense that it was time to post.

This past month has been one of tremendous growth for me. I have seen God's hand work miraculously in my family and our circumstances. My wife and I are feeling God's call to action on our lives and I've been reading a lot lately.

It's hard to post when I feel that anything I would have to say would be pure vanity. I'm not interested in writing to irritate people or to point the finger. What I'm interested in is a deeper knowledge of my Lord and Saviour. I want to live a surrendered life. It's not rare that I will sit down to write something and realize that it's not time.

One thing that has been impressed upon me lately is how I read the Bible. We have all heard about systematic theology. If you don't know what it is, systematic theology in its barest form is simply a system or mindset through which you view scripture. Covenant theology focuses on the covenants of God. Dispensational theology focuses on God's dispensations. Trinitarian theology focuses on the Trinity.

My problem with the various forms of systematic theology does not lie in the conclusions, but rather the process. If the conclusions are in err it is simply because the approach is off. When we accept a certain system of theology we will then read it into scripture. We will bridge connections and make assertions that while they may be feasible, they are not always accurate.

Never will I subscribe to a system in which the Bible has to fit into a box that I have created. If we take the Bible as the literal Word of God and to be inerrant we should take what it says seriously. The Bible contrary to liberal belief does not contradict itself. What we don't understand, is that we have limited understanding.

I believe in reading God's Word and comparing it to itself to find the meaning. I do not believe in comparing God's Word to my own theology. I've heard it said that John Calvin claimed that the most a man could have right in his theology was 80%. If he had 5 pts to his T.U.L.I.P. which one would be wrong?

Peronally I think that for man to even have 80% of his theology right would be a stretch. We don't need systems of theology, we need to look at scripture and take it for what it says. Luther based the Reformation on scripture. He claimed that he would repent if he could be proven wrong by scripture. Sola Scriptura! He didn't say that he would repent if somebody could explain their doctrine to him.

There's more to come of this thought process. The important thing to remember in all of this is that we are called to be disciples of Jesus Christ not of a systematic theology or even of spiritual giants. Let us not be swayed by the winds of doctrine. Sola Scriptura!

The Postmodern Society and the Emergent Church

2006-06-20T10:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday in the news there was a story about how the new leader of the Episcopal Church in the US has stated that homosexuality is not a sin. When asked about the topic she responded "I don't believe so. I believe that God creates us with different gifts. Each one of us comes into this world with a different collection of things that challenge us and things that give us joy and allow us to bless the world around us." Today, the Presbyterian Church (USA) has stated at their conference, that inclusive language (while it doesn't have to be used) can be used to refer to the Trinity. So now some instead of Father, Son and Holy Ghost, we now have suggested terms like; Mother, Child and Womb or even Rock, Redeemer, Friend.

Episcopal Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori states "Some people come into this world with affections ordered toward other people of the same gender and some people come into this world with affections directed at people of the other gender."

Nancy Olthoff, the legislative committee chair of the PC USA who was reviewing the language states that "This does not alter the church's theological position, but provides an educational resource to enhance the spiritual life of our membership."

2 Timothy 4:3 & 4 says:
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away [their] ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

We, the product of the postmodern era have been raised under the illusion that truth is relative. That while something could have been true 100 years ago, it's not necessarily true today. For example, if I threw an apple into the air 100 years ago, it would have floated around for all of eternity, whereas today, it falls to the ground. Another example is that 2000 years ago, people only believed in God because they were stupid. Now that we have science, we have learned that the order that was given to the universe when it was created is completely random.

The Emergent Church is in error because it has pulled the foundation out from under itself. The Emergent Church is trying to witness to a Postmodern World by adopting the philosophical tenants of postmodernism. Primarily that one cannot know truth and two that our only glimpse of truth is experiential.

Scripture tells us to be in the world and not of the world. Jesus met people where they were, but He didn't become what they were. Jesus when He met the woman at the well who was living in adultery did not participate in adultery Himself so that He could be relevant to her.

How can we as Christians be relevant to those in our lives? Jesus said to love them more than we love ourselves. A question about love, if someone you love is doing something that will hurt them, do you let them keep doing it? If your loved one is participating in a behaviour that will kill them do you let them continue on in their behaviour because they are happy or do you stop them before it goes too far?

Christianity is not about acceptance. Jesus said that His followers would be persecuted. If I am living my life so that those around me will think that I am cool or accepting, am I following Jesus or my own intuitions?

Ode to My Wife!

2006-02-27T18:58:00.000-08:00

Here it is, a little quicker than I initially thought it would be. My wife deserves to know of the respect I have for her. I don't know if guys really think about women as the love machines they really are. By love machine I mean they are capable of loving on so many levels and in so many ways that it stupify's the average Dan. My wife has a way about her that often puts me to shame. She has tenderness and compassion, she is empathetic and insightful, she is graceful and beautiful.
Someone once said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but they were wrong. Beauty is beauty. We say things are beautiful because they are.
Motherhood is beautiful. My wife holding our son is beautiful. When I hold my son it's cute, when she holds him, it's beautiful.
Birth is the most graphically beautiful experience in the world. The pain and screams give way when this new child comes into the world. Nine months worth of miracles unfold into a new child that we can hold.
My wife amazes me not because of what she went through with birth, but because of the grace with which she endured it. Because of the love that she had the whole time. I love my son, I love him dearly, but my love for him does not replace my love for my wife.
When I get home from work, I love holding my son but first I hold my wife. She's my teammate!

Fatherhood 101

2006-02-27T18:36:00.000-08:00

This post is for all my homies out there. New dads and veteran dads, young dads and old dads, brothers unite! Here we are men holding these children that from the first cry, we knew it was love. These kids that came out screaming, wake up screaming and just start screaming at the drop of a hat. Here is to that love that we have for these little ones that we don't understand, but nevertheless we thank God for everyday.
Don't get me wrong men, we are grateful and we love our wives, but that love deserves it's own post. Right now let's talk about our little ankle biters.
First I have a couple pieces of advice:
1: When changing diapers, Cover the junk. I have seen it all, fountain de baby to projectile pooh, and with that insight I can tell you cover them up.
2: Crying is okay. Crying is good for babies. It's their way to communicate. Now friends, let's not get nutty. Pay attention to their crys, follow their cues, but don't get annoyed. If they didn't cry we wouldn't know when to start the checklist of things to do to get baby to stop crying. If Elias is crying I ask myself a couple of questions. When did he eat last? When was he last changed? Does he have gas? Does he miss his mother? Does he miss me? Is he lonely? Is he tired? Does he just need to cry?
3: Crying is exercise. Crying helps babies to stretch their lungs and let out a little of pent up energy. Sometimes they just need to cry. You're not a bad parent if this is what your child is doing. I should take this moment to say that if you child cries incessantly and will not stop for long periods of time, you might want to call the pediatrician.
4: Get your sleep. Don't stay up till all hours of the night. When your child goes to bed, you should be going to bed. Don't stay up when you can be sleeping cause then when you are trying to sleep, your baby will wake up and you will never get any sleep.
I'm sure there are many other points I could run over as far as parenthood or more appropriately fatherhood is concerned (I am not nearly audacious enough to claim I know what's required for motherhood). But these points are the most prevalent to my current situations in life.
Next time we might decide to talk a bit about... Oh I don't know, stayed tuned and we'll see where we end up. Ladies you might want to tune in as well, this next post could be a tribute to you!

A House Divided

2006-02-14T17:36:00.000-08:00

We have all heard it said that, "A house divided, cannot stand." Sometimes we believe this and other times we don't. I'd say that we believe this when it is advantageous to us and we don't when it is not advantageous to us.

For instance, if you were trapped with 5 other people on a desert island that was infested with killer monkeys you would say that everyone needed to work together to fight the monkeys. Or if you were building a house with those same 5 people, everyone would need to work together to build the house cause if everyone decides that they are going to build the roof you aren't going to get very far.

In both situations, you decide on a leader and follow. Kids will tell you the same thing too because even they know better. If you try to play with them but you suddenly start making up your own rules and you stop playing by theirs, it becomes painfully obvious. Why is that kids grasp this point but Al Gore doesn't?

Recently he spoke in Saudi Arabia at the Jeddah Economic Forum and while I have no qualms about him speaking there, I must say that I'm disappointed by his actions. The US whether he chooses to believe it or not is at a crucial point in it's history and it isn't because of Bush. Al Gore talked down on the US and up on Saudi Arabia. That would be great if he were a Saudi or even if he were a pop star, but here we have a former vice-president of the US talking down on the Commander-In-Chief to, for all intent and purposes, an enemy country.

Now don't get me wrong, we aren't at war with Saudi Arabia but what with them being a Muslim country, we will never be completely at peace. The Saudi's don't like the US any more than the other Middle East Countries. How are other countries going to take any American seriously when all we do when we visit them is talk down on our own country. We are a bunch of fools.

Here we have Al Gore talking about how it is wrong for the US to take precautionary measures for the security of it's citizens. Al Gore could care less about the Saudi's and he could care less about America. All he cares about is how he looks. He is a prostitue of public opinion.

I think things might be different if there were more terrorist attacks that actually happened on US soil. Since Bush has been in office we have had 9/11 and that is all. There might have been scares but that's about it. Oh wait, Bush did commission the Hurricane's that hit New Orleans cause he doesn't like black people!?!

How soon we forget the times we are living in. Hey people let's wake up and realize that Islamic Terrorists are not going away. It's in their holy book to fight the infidels and die. After all, Islam does mean to pacify.