In His Big Grip

New Blog

2006-04-27T21:14:00.000-05:00

If you're looking for a new post here, you're in the wrong place. Update your bookmarks, please. Go here:

Faith 2.0

Special Showing of The Movie

2006-04-26T14:26:00.000-05:00

I have been asked by an organization here in Atlanta to participate in a really great event. They are going to rent out a theatre for a private showing of THE DA VINCI CODE on Wednesday, May 24, and I am going to speak immediately afterwards for about 40 minutes. Those of you in the Atlanta area who are interested can register here:

http://www.priorityassociates.org/Atlanta/web/L2.asp?SID=1&CID=117

Space is limited to (I think) the first 250 folks, so you might want to register soon.

The Movie Is Coming! The Movie Is Coming!

2006-04-26T13:46:00.000-05:00

Are you ready?

The Da Vinci Code movie opens in three weeks, and some churches are trying to get folks ready for the watercooler conversations that are sure to happen on Monday, May 22.

I'm interested. Is your church doing anything? Sermon series? Small groups? Classes? Resource center?

Let me know.

Christ Among the Shepherds

2006-04-25T20:23:00.000-05:00

In the story of Jesus' trial and crucifixion, several key characters play the roles of prophet, priest and king. But they were just acting. They weren't really shepherds; they simply played that role for their own benefit.

First, Jesus was taken to the house of Annas the priest. Here's a great example of a shepherd who neglected God and God's agenda for the sake of his own personal agenda. The Bazaars of Annas in the temples were infamous for their ridiculous exchange rates -- bordering on extortion, really. There was one place in the temple where Gentiles could come and pray to YHWH, the God of the Israelites. This was where Annas placed his Bazaars -- keeping the temple from being "a house of prayer for all the nations" as God had commanded.

The position of high priest seems to have been kept in a tight family circle, and at this time, the position was held by Annas' son-in-law: Caiaphas. When Jesus stood before Caiaphas, surrounded by elders and teachers, this shepherd of Israel stood by while God Incarnate was slapped and spat upon. He had been given the task of leading people in the worship of God; instead, he led them into violence against God.

So, Jesus was sent from the priest to the king -- a man named Herod. Here's a king who abused his power by ordering the execution of John the Baptist (a true prophet). Herod responded to the word of God, as it was faithfully delivered by the prophet of God, more like a butcher than a shepherd. He was supposed to defent and protect God's people from their pagan enemies; instead, he offered Jesus up to the Roman governor: Pilate.

As the governor of the land, Pilate's responsibility was to establish truth and administer justice. Though he wasn't a prophet, he did receive a revelation from God -- in a dream to his wife. But when Pilate spoke with Jesus, he knew his decision would have little to do with truth and more to do with popularity and pragmatism. His decision about Jesus wasn't based on justice but on the prevailing mood of the people. Pilate washed his hands and went with the popular vote.

So, as we said yesterday, the Good Shepherd became like a sheep and was "led like a lamb to the slaughter". He sufffered under the shepherds who abused their power, compromised the truth and neglected the Lord. And on the cross he became the sacrificial lamb who would take away the sins of the world.

But on the third day....

Are there any better words than that?

On the third day he rose from the dead. Death is like a dark valley, and Jesus has travelled through it. It may still be a dark place, but it is now a safe place for all who will trust and follow the Good Shepherd through the valley of death. We fear no evil, for he is with us and has promised to see us through to the other side.

Still More Shameless Promotion

2006-04-25T17:31:00.000-05:00

Two things today, and I'll probably post something more about Israel's shepherds in the time of Jesus later.

First, Chuck Colson's Breaktpoint Commentary featured our book today. You can read it here:

http://www.breakpoint.org/listingarticle.asp?ID=2171

I actually saw the book in a bookstore this afternoon. It's pretty exciting to see it like that!

Second, the website is almost all the way up now. Go check it out, and let me know what you think:

http://www.faith20.org

There's A New Shepherd in Town

2006-04-24T11:41:00.001-05:00

God gave very low marks to the shepherds of Israel. He looked at their work and saw terrible abuse of power, a deliberate compromise of truth and a blatant neglect of God. God's flock was malnourished, uncared for and unprotected. The situation was so intolerable that God decided to intervene. But he did so in a very unexpected way. God told Ezekiel, "I myself will tend my sheep" (Ezekiel 34:15).

Ezekiel must have thought, "That sounds great and all, but how exactly is that going to happen? God is way up there beyond the azure blue, and we're stuck down here by the Kebar River."

Roll the clock forward 600 years.

When Jesus was teaching the sheep of Israel, they were still living under the kind of religions leadership that abused its power, compromised the truth and neglected the heart of God. At one point, Jesus looked at the people and saw that they were "like sheep without a shepherd" (Matthew 9:36).

A little while later, Jesus blasted the shepherds of Israel. He said, "All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers" (John 10:8). They used their authority to pursue their own agendas. Then Jesus identified himself as the Shepherd spoken of through the prophet Ezekiel: "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" (John 10:11).

As the Good Shepherd, Jesus would do a number of things for the sheep. First, he would feed the sheep with God's truth. Second, he would seek out the lost sheep. Third, he would lead the sheep and protect them from their enemies.

He went on to say, "I am the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:6).

But the shepherds in Israel didn't really like what he had to say about them or about himself. They did not like the truth he taught, the way he led or the life he offered. So, they treated him like a sheep. They abused him, compromised the truth about him and rejected him.

And the most amazing thing is: He took it. He let it happen. The Good Shepherd became like one of his sheep, and like a sheep he was led to slaughter.

The Shepherds' Performance Review

2006-04-21T08:35:00.000-05:00

God grades out the shepherds of Israel through his prophet Ezekiel. And they do not receive favorable marks.

"The word of the Lord came to me: 'Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: "This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not the shepherds take care of the flock?"'" (Ezekiel 34:1-2).

Ezekiel was serving a community of 10,000 people who had been uprooted from their home in Jerusalem and marched 700 miles away. They were living as exiles near the Kebar River near Babylon, and they must have wondered, "What did we do that was so bad? Why did we get taken away while others got to stay home? Why not previous generations? Were we that bad?"

God wants them to understand that this punishment is not for the sins of one generation. There has been a pattern of disobedience, disloyalty and dishonor. And, as the old saying goes, the fish stinks from the head down. God had trusted the shepherds of Israel with the tremendous responsibility of leading his people, and they had done a terrible job. Disaster came upon the people of God because of a massive failure in their leadership.

Specifically, God brings three charges against the shepherds of Israel: (1) the abuse of power; (2) the compromise of truth; (3) the neglect of God.

I think it's interesting that he chose those three charges. The leaders of Israel were certainly guilty of a number of violations -- multiple wives, blatant immorality and sinful behavior. Why do you think God would focus in on these three charges?

More Shameless Self-Promotion...And Embarrassment

2006-04-20T14:40:00.000-05:00

The people who published my book THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE DA VINCI CODE wrote a nice article about it here:

"New B&H Book Sets Record Straight on Worldview Behind The DaVinci Code"

And thanks to all the folks who ordered pre-release copies, they have had to print more. But that's what they do, right?

Also, here's my first embarrassing story about being an author. I've had several people ask me to autograph copies of the book for them. And, like most Christian authors, I figured I was supposed to sign my name and write some Bible verse under my name. Very classy.

The problem is there are two books in the Bible I always confuse: 1 & 2 Peter. I honestly cannot tell one from the other -- it's a mental block or something. So, the verse I wanted to write under my name is the verse where Peter says, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect" (1 Peter 3:15). I figured that would be a good fit for this particular book.

Unfortunately, what I actually wrote under my name was not 1 Peter 3:15 but 2 Peter 3:15.

I imagine there were several confused people who went home and looked up the following: "Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him."

Prophets and Priests and Kings...And Shepherds?

2006-04-20T08:37:00.000-05:00

In the Bible, all three of these leadership roles (prophet, priest and king) come together in one word-picture that encompasses all three dimensions of biblical leadership: Shepherd.

A shepherd feeds sheep -- that's the role of a prophet, to feed the people of God a healthy diet of the Word of God.

A shepherd seeks sheep -- that's the role of a priest, to find sheep who have wandered off or are injured.

A shepherd leads sheep -- that's the role of a king, to give direction and protection to the flock.

So, when God talks about shepherds, he's speaking about all three dimensions of leadership together -- revealing, reconciling and ruling; preaching, pastoring and leading -- everything that is involved in leadership among the people of God. He is probably not thinking of one person filling all three roles. Few people in history have ever been able to fill more than one at any given time (Moses, Deborah, Samuel, David, Solomon, Elijah -- anyone else in the Old Testament?).

The shepherds of Israel would have included some who were prophets, some who were priests and some who were kings. Together they provided leadership for God's people. And, as we shall see tomorrow, they did a pretty lousy job of it.

For today, let's think about these three distinct roles and try to apply them to our churches. Most churches expect one person to fill all three roles at once (even though they'll only pay him for one role at a time). Or they want one person to fill the first two roles while a group of men fills that third role and act as if they are "above the law". If the "kings" of a local church don't like what the "prophet" has been saying (or how well he has balanced his prophetic duties with his priestly ones), they fire him and get someone else who is foolish enough to sign up for two jobs' worth of responsibility with no job's worth of authority.

Hmmm...I've stared at that last paragraph now for about five minutes trying to figure out whether that's appropriate for publishing or not. I think that is an unfortunately accurate assessment of many churches I've encountered. I know there are churches out there who have a healthy balance of all three roles in place. Thank God for those churches. But the majority of churches I know are struggling with this. So, I'm going to keep that paragraph as is, and I eagerly await the avalanche of email I'll get about this one.

Understanding these three roles, and the balance they provide, allows a church to ask itself some helpful diagnostic questions:

Is there a good, healthy diet of teaching here? Does some of the teaching we hear make us uncomfortable? Does it merely re-affirm what we already believe or tickle our ears with what we want to hear? Does it make sense biblically? Does it help us live more Christlike lives? Are people being spoken to on behalf of God?

Is there a place where people can bring their needs and have them lifted up to God? Are lost people being sought? Are wounded people being helped and healed? Is prayer a vital part of our church's life? Is God being spoken to on behalf of people?

Is there clarity of purpose? Are things well-structured and organized and administrated? Is our church practicing good stewardship? Are people being protected and guarded? Is the whole church pursuing the purposes of God?

Prophets and Priests and Kings...Oh My!

2006-04-19T10:51:00.000-05:00

By way of background as we look at another theme in the Book of Ezekiel (God's scolding of Israel's shepherds in Ezekiel 34), there are three distinct leadership roles in the Old Testament. First, there was the role of the prophet -- someone who would receive the Word of God and communicate it to the people. Prophets gave leadership in the realm of truth.

Second, there was the role of the priest -- someone who would bring people into the presence of God by offering prayers and sacrifices. Priests were the mirror image of prophets. Prophets spoke to people on behalf of God; priests spoke to God on behalf of people.

Third, there was the role of the king -- someone who would lead the people into battle and protect them from their enemies. He was also responsible for leading the people in the right paths.

These three leadership roles are woven through the entire Bible story. The prophet brought God's truth to the people. The priest brought the people of God into the presence of God. The king was supposed to lead the people in the right way of living. You could say the prophet was about revealing, the priest was about reconciling and the king was about ruling. These three functions, when properly combined, reveal God's plan for stable leadership.

Ideally, these three roles provided a system of checks and balances for Israel. The king ruled, but the prophet spoke the Word of God -- sometimes confrontationally -- to the king. Nathan is a good example of this with David. Elijah spoke this way with Ahab (with decidedly different results). Same with Jeremiah and King Zedekiah. Prophets were supposed to hold kings accountable.

Also, the king ruled from the palace, but when he came to the temple, he was not allowed to offer a sacrifice. Only a priest could do that. So, a king could not enter the presence of God without the help of a priest.

By the way, God's people still need balance in these three areas of leadership today.

Bigger and Better

2006-04-18T09:22:00.000-05:00

Twenty years after Ezekiel's first vision of God's glory, he was still stuck 700 miles from home working among a group of 10,000 exiles. He was 50 years old when God spoke to him again (Ezekiel 40), giving him a vision of a massive temple. Its measurements were not in feet or yards but in miles, and the description of it goes into great detail about the dimension of each wall and gate. It was gigantic.

Then Ezekiel sees "the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east" (43:2). The east, of course, was the direction in which the glory of God had headed 20 years earlier when God had abandoned the temple and focused his redeeming work on the community of his people by the Kebar River.

What he saw next must have overwhelmed Ezekiel with joy: "The glory of the Lord entered the temple through the gate facing east...and the glory of the Lord filled the temple" (43:4-5).

Got the picture? Ezekiel was a desperate, confused and discouraged person who must have wondered what God was doing in his life. But he saw the glory of God and realized that there was no place God could not go and nothing that God does not see.

Then God showed Ezekiel that the focus of his redemptive work for the next 70 years would not be exclusively on the temple in Jerusalem. Certainly, it was still in Jerusalem. Jeremiah shows us that in his Lamentations. But it was also on the 10,000 people near the Kebar River, and it was in the city of Babylon with Daniel and his friends. God is pretty good at multi-tasking.

And God would not abandon his temple forever. There would come a time when his presence would return to the great city, and his glory would fill a new temple. But this new temple would not be like the old one that had been destroyed. It would be massive, beyond any city's ability to contain it, beyond any scale of engineering or imagination. It would be so large that it would become a center of worship for people from every tribe and nation who would turn from their idols and seek the true and living God.

At the risk of making this post too long for most people to read all the way through, if you understand the story of Ezekiel, you'll understand the story of the whole Bible.

The Bible story begins in a garden -- God's place. A man and a woman enjoy the presence and blessings of God there, but they choose to reject him. As a result, they are thrown out of God's place -- east of it, in fact -- just like God's people were thrown out of the city of Jerusalem. And God's place was destroyed; the Garden of Eden is nowhere to be found today. But God was not content to stay in his place and wait for his people to return to him. Rather, he took the initiative and went looking for them. Most of the Bible is a record of God's relentless pursuit of his people.

The story of Jesus is the ultimate example of God coming to this strange and sometimes hostile place in which we live so that those who seek him are able to find him. Six hundred years after Ezekiel's crazy visions, Jerusalem had been rebuilt and a new temple had taken the place of the old one. Jesus of Nazareth -- the one the writer of Hebrews calls "the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being" (Hebrews 1:3) -- came to visit a group of discouraged and confused people who lived under foreign oppression.

One day the radiance of God's glory went to the temple, but he was rejected there. So, the glory of God left the temple, not on a flying platform, but bound and escorted by guards with swords and clubs. The glory of God left Jerusalem, bearing a cross to a place outside the city wall. There he hovered on top of a hill for several hours, drawing people from every nation and tribe to himself.

Of course, on the third day, he arose from the dead. For 40 days he talked to his followers about God's kingdom, and then he went to a mountain east of the city, called the Mount of Olives. He stood on the very spot where Ezekiel had seen the glory of God hovering as the platform left the temple, and then -- as the disciples watched -- he ascended into the presence of the Father.

The glory of God appeared. The glory departed from the city as he was rejected and crucified outside Jerusalem. The glory has returned to the throne in heaven, and the glory of God will come again. That's where the whole story is headed.

And God promises to bring his people back -- not to the Garden of Eden, but to a new creation -- bigger and better than the original ever was. The Bible story points forward to the time when the great exile of human history will be over and God's people will be brought to God's place to enjoy his presence forever. On that day, we'll go one better than Ezekiel. He saw the Lord descend in a vision for a few moments; we'll ascend to meet him in the air and be with him forever.

No matter how great you think that might be, it's sure to be bigger and better than you can even imagine!

Study Bibles and Daily Devotionals

2006-04-17T14:08:00.000-05:00

I'm working on a new book proposal right now -- actually I have several ideas bouncing around in my head, but I thought I'd get some input from all of you. So, here's my question:

What kind of materials do you find helpful in study Bibles and daily devotionals?

I'm working on an idea that might combine the two -- a study Bible that is also your daily devotional. If you were to use something like that, what topics and information would you like to see covered?

He Is Risen

2006-04-16T00:11:00.000-05:00

It's Easter. I'm a theologian. I should say something.

But it's Easter. Any good theologian knows that there are no words.

There is simply an empty cross, an empty tomb and a heart full of gratitude.

There Is No Thing God Does Not See

2006-04-14T09:06:00.000-05:00

The wheels in Ezekiel's vision are covered with eyes. That tells us that there is nothing God does not see.

When I was growing up, our church would sing a hymn that creeped me out. Actually, there were a few, but the one I'm thinking of here went like this:

All along on the road to the soul's true abode,
There's an Eye watching you.
Every step that you take this great Eye is awake,
There's an Eye watching you.
Watching you, watching you,
Everyday mind the course you pursue;
Watching you, watching you,
There's an all-seeing Eye watching you.

Cue the scary music. We're being watched.

The story goes the songwriter (J.M. Henson) was at a revival meeting where he heard the revival leader tell a group of boys who had misbehaved the previous night, "We're expecting order here and you had better be careful, because there's an all-seeing eye watching you tonight."

The revival leader meant the county sheriff whom he had invited personally to the revival. Henson saw God as the ultimate sheriff and wrote the lyric above.

Usually when we tell people, "God is watching you!" we're trying to scare or intimidate them into behaving well. And there's probably a place for that. But when Ezekiel -- turning 30 and living 700 miles from home near the Kebar River -- finds out that there is nothing God does not see -- it means something more.

God does see all of our bad behavior. But he also sees every hurt, every frustration. He sees the rejection and the confusion. He notices every time one of his servants does for others without getting anything in return. He sees your motives and intentions, and he knows what you would do if you could. He sees the suffering of his people in prison and in orphanages and in hospitals. He sees people who continue to do the right thing even when they are not rewarded for it. He sees everything. For a lot of folks, there's more comfort in that thought than there is warning.

The first lesson of Ezekiel's crazy vision is this: There is no place God cannot go.

The second lesson is this: There is no thing God does not see.

There Is No Place God Cannot Go

2006-04-13T10:12:00.000-05:00

"As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces. This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like chrysolite, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel. As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faces; the wheels did not turn around as the creatures went. Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around. When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose" (Ezekiel 1:15-19).

There is it. Right in the Bible. Proof of UFOs!

Believe it or not, I've actually heard that. I heard it again last night.

Except it's not real. This didn't really happen; it's a vision.

So, what does the vision mean? I've heard lots of weird explanations. There's even a song most of us are familiar with -- an old negro spiritual. I have no clue how we got the idea that "the little wheel turned by faith, and the big wheel turned by the grace of God." There is no little or big wheel. It's a wheel intersected by another wheel, enabling the platform the four living creatures are carrying -- upon which sits the throne of God -- to travel in any direction (which would make parallel parking a snap!). Oh, and it can lift off the ground like a helicopter.

The first message of the vision is this: The wheels mean there is no place God cannot go.

This would be news to the folks in Ezekiel's day (and some of us as well). They believed that God lived in a particular room in a particular building in a particular city. God lived in the holy of holies in the temple in Jerusalem. He lived there, and he did not live by the Kebar River.

Sometimes we think we've got God all figured out. He lives in certain buildings in certain cities. He does not live in other buildings in those same cities. He lives among people who look and live a certain way. He does not live among other people.

This is good news for some. For the folks at the Kebar River, they would be overjoyed to find out that they've not missing out on having a relationship with God and enjoying his protection and provision just because they're not in Jerusalem. This was good news, indeed.

This is bad news for others. For the folks who were left behind in Jerusalem, they believed they were special -- that God has preserved them because they were better than the others who had been shipped off to other parts of the world. They believed they had a special status because they lived in the right city and were able to visit the right building. They thought they could have hearts full of worms and decay as long as they lived in the right city and went to the right building to do the right rituals. They were in for some bad news, indeed.

Lesson 1 from Ezekiel's vision: There is no place God cannot go.

The Gospel of Judas

2006-04-12T09:37:00.000-05:00

I've had a number of people ask me about the recently unveiled document The Gospel of Judas. I'll offer some brief observations here, but I don't pretend to be an expert in this arena. There are others -- far more capable than I -- who are busily tearing the document to shreds. I refer you to them for anything in more detail than you find here.

First, it's important to remember that the document never claims to have been written by Judas or anyone else who lived in the first century. The document they found dates back to the fourth century A.D. and is supposed to be a translation from an earlier document -- though there is some speculation about that. If it is the same document, it probably dates back to the middle of the second century.

There was a fairly common practice among Gnostic heretics of the second and third centuries that I've talked about before. The Christian movement was generating momentum and many people wanted to jump on the bandwagon. Some even wanted to derail the whole project for their own philosophical, religious and political agendas. One easy way to do this was to write a fictitious story about Jesus and slap the name of one of the early disciples on it. There were dozens of these floating around by the middle of the fourth century (though there were never 80 of them as Dan Brown claims in THE DA VINCI CODE). The Gospel of Judas is old; it's just not old enough.

Second, the things Jesus says in this document don't match much that you'll find in the four canonical Gospels. There's a fair amount of anti-Semitism, and Jesus basically tells Judas, "You have to help me shed this outer shell of a body so I can become who I am truly supposed to be." That's a paraphrase, but that's the general idea. It's a far cry from the traditional Hebraic view that creation is inherently good and will ultimately be redeemed by God rather than done away with. It's typical of Gnostic texts to demean anything physical in favor of the spiritual. It's a shame that this thinking has crept into mainstream Christianity as much as it has. It sure ain't biblical.

Third, the timing of all this is interesting. I do not think National Geographic is part of some giant plot to overturn historic, orthodox Christianity, so I'm not accusing them of anything here. But I do think it's more than coincidence that all of this has happened during the days leading up to Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter. There is an enemy -- a person who commands the forces of darkness and is intent on prying people away from God. This enemy has used persecution, poverty and the seductive force of political power in the past. He is certainly not opposed to using this document to create more doubt in the minds of people who so desperately need to hear the life-changing message of the true gospel.

The Gospel According to the Da Vinci Code

2006-04-11T12:51:00.000-05:00

The UPS man brought me an advance copy of The Gospel According to the Da Vinci Code today. That means it's ready to ship for those of you who have ordered copies online. I understand that they're being shipped to bookstores this week, so look for them to hit the shelves soon.

Also, Lifeway has published an excerpt from the Introduction on their website so you can get a better understanding of what we're trying to accomplish with the book.

I'm taking speaking invitations now but am booking up pretty quickly. If you're interested, contact me through this website for now. Soon we'll be moving everything over to the Faith 2.0 website (probably the blog too).

I'm pretty overwhelmed at the response I've received so far. It's pretty amazing, and it's confirmation that I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing for now.

The Four Gospels in Ezekiel

2006-04-11T10:00:00.000-05:00

Ezekiel saw "an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light (1:4). It was probably like staring through smoke into a blazing fire. As Ezekiel looked into this cloud, he could see four living creatures. Later, we'll find out that they're cherubim (10:1, 9-10), but here they're described in heavily symbolic language.

Each of them had four faces and four wings (1:6). Their faces represent the pinnnacles of God's creation, the face of a lion, an ox, an eagle and the face of a man. In symbolic language, a lion represents nobility and authority, an ox represents service and power, an eagle* represents deity and compassion, a man represents wisdom and character.

These four faces show up again in Revelation 4. Same faces.

Traditionally, the church has matched each of these faces with one of the four Gospels. Matthew goes with the lion because Jesus is the Lion of Judah -- strong and noble. Mark goes with the ox because Jesus is portrayed in that Gospel as strong and energetic -- constantly on the move. Luke goes with the man because Luke was showing Jesus to a Greek audience who were constantly in search of the perfect man -- one who could relate well to diverse people. John goes with the eagle because Jesus is there seen as God incarnate come to die for the sins of the world because of his great love and compassion*.

These verses and symbols were used early in the Church's history to establish the idea that four Gospels were sufficient. The symbols were often carved into the four corners of pulpits and placed in stained glass windows portraying scenes from the life of Jesus.

None of this really has anything to do with the story of Ezekiel, but it's one of my favorite pieces of trivia.

* Eagles were also used as a symbol for prophets who could see things from God's perspective.

Ezekiel Turns 30

2006-04-10T11:56:00.000-05:00

I remember when I turned 30. We were living in Maryland. I was serving a church there. We had just had our first daughter, Anabel. Life was pretty good.

I think most people look forward to their 30th birthday. It's not like they're starting out -- just turning 21 or something. But they're not turning 40 or 50 with all the cultural and sociatal baggage that accompanies those years. Usually, you're established in your career and your family. Turning 30 is usually a joyous occassion.

But not for the prophet Ezekiel. His 30th birthday may have been the hardest day of his life.

Ezekiel had spent his entire life getting ready to serve in the Temple, but when he was 25, war broke out and he was carted off as a prisoner to the Kebar River. That probably seemed like the other side of the world for him. Five years later, he turned 30, and he must have been consumed with thoughts of what might have been.

A priest's 30th birthday was the day on which his official service in the Temple could begin. If Ezekiel had been back home, it would have been a great day for him -- the culmination of years of preparation. But he's not home. He's 700 miles away from the Temple.

The whole situation must have felt like a mistake. This wasn't how his life was supposed to end up. This wasn't where he belonged. This wasn't what he was supposed to be doing. He was a man with dashed hopes and shattered dreams. If only he'd lived during another period of history! If only he'd been allowed to stay behind! If only the Babylonians hadn't invaded when they did! If only...!

But now his way was lost. He lived among a group of confused and discouraged people in a backwater town far from everything familiar.

It's easy for some of us to relate to Ezekiel. High hopes. Big dreams. At one time it looked like a wonderful future was in store, but something happened and sidetracked the entire project. Never in your wildest imagination did you ever think you'd wind up where you are now. It's easy to wonder, "What in the world is God doing?"

That's where Ezekiel was. And then something amazing happened:

"In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God" (Ezekiel 1:1).

God met this displaced and disappointed guy. And in his encounter with God, Ezekiel discovered something better than serving in the Temple of the Lord. He discovered the Lord of the Temple. When Ezekiel encountered God, he was able to move ahead instead of looking behind.

In times of confusion, when circumstances are difficult to understand, when we find ourselves in situations we never thought would be ours, the greatest need we have is to see God. When we allow him to meet us where we are, we find we are right where he wants us to be. And we find the direction he wants us to take.

Faith 2.0

2006-04-06T12:27:00.000-05:00

Thanks for all the kind comments and email I've gotten about this new ministry venture. It's pretty exciting and more than a little scary to do this. As much as people may disagree with this: I am a traditionalist and do not readily embrace risky things like starting a new non-profit ministry.

I listen to jazz. I prefer baseball. I do not own any Bible software. I read George F. Will and Peggy Noonan, and I think they mostly make sense.

But I do own a laptop (Mac). I even own an iPod. I have a cellphone. I value innovation. I enjoy technology. I know that living a life of faith involves a certain amount of risk and am willing to get out of the boat if that's the only way to walk on water.

So, Faith 2.0 is the next step in this journey of discipleship for me. Soon, you'll be able to visit that website and do several things.

You'll be able to download .mp3 files of lessons I've taught. Since my time at the Tulsa Workshop a couple of weeks ago, I've had quite a few people ask me if I'm available to come and speak in the summer and fall. You'll be able to request speaking engagements from the website. I've got several different seminars I'm developing, and you'll be able to find information about those.

We're still open on some of the content we'll provide, so you tell me: What would you like to find on the website? What would be helpful for you?

Junkle All Alan

2006-04-04T10:02:00.000-05:00

I'm spending some time this week in northern California with my sister, brother-in-law and nephew. For people who live in the techno-savvy world that is the San Francisco Bay Area, I was alarmed to find out that they do not have wireless internet in their house.

So, I'm going through a little internet withdrawal. I cannot check my email every five minutes like I normally do. I'm not hanging out online, chatting with friends, reading the news, googling every idea that pops into my head.

It's a little scary.

And a little liberating.

Please don't be offended if I don't respond to your emails promptly this week. I won't be online very often.

Instead, I've been hanging out with my four-year-old nephew. His name is Gabriel, and he is energy in a human body. He loves to run and jump and crash into things and take things apart. And he wants to share everything with me. I'm like his new toy this week.

The best part is that he calls me "Junkle All Alan" -- that's "Uncle John Alan" for those who don't understand kidspeak.

The Next Chapter

2006-04-01T10:54:00.000-05:00

I'm starting my own non-profit ministry organization. I'm calling it Faith 2.0, and our mission is, "Helping people live better lives by re-examining what they really believe."

I'll be providing all my Wednesday night classes in downloadable .mp3 files.

This is also how you can book me for speaking engagements and get the latest news on book projects and stuff like that.

Here's the website: http://www.faith20.org.

Comfortable Living In A Time of War

2006-03-30T12:11:00.000-05:00

Evil is a real thing; it is not an illusion. The forces of evil are powerful and clever, and they are intent on prying people away from God. There is a war going on, and it is not pretty.

And here's the reason why this is so important:

Most of the people reading this blog have never really known poverty. Few of us will ever have to worry about being thrown in prison and tortured for our beliefs. We live in relative comfort and ease -- an age of unprecedented wealth and affluence. Certainly, this is a blessing in many ways. Many of us live in nice homes and eat good food, have drinkable water and access to good medical care.

But times and conditions like these are abnormal in human history. Only recently has comfort and ease become part of an average person's lifestyle. And, as much of a blessing as this has been, it is also something of a curse as well. It's made us soft. It's made us forget that there are people -- even people in our world today -- who do not have it so good. More people have been murdered for their faith in Jesus in the last 100 years than ever before. There is a war going on still. Persecution is not a thing of the past. Neither is it something that will happen one day during "the tribulation". It goes on today in places like the Sudan, Indonesia, China, Afghanistan.

Being a Christian does not mean everything will go well for us in this life. Because of our current living situations, we often plug away with what we think is a vital faith. But when something bad happens with our health or our job or a relationship, we're tempted to have that faith shaken to its core and wonder why God is not keeping up his end of the bargain.

Daniel's vision tells us: Expect trouble. There is a war going on, and the goal of that war is to pry people away from God. It went on in Daniel's time. It's going on in our time as well. It will continue until Jesus returns.

So here's the challenge for us: Stop taking your comfortable lifestyle for granted. Receive it as a gift from God, but don't expect it to last forever. Don't feel guilty for having nice things and making good money. Realize that you're called to use that wealth to further God's purposes in this world. Remember those who are still persecuted for their faith. Pray for those who go to bed hungry tonight or imprisoned. If you're interested in doing more than sending happy thoughts, you might want to go visit a couple of websites and get some information on how you can roll up your sleeves and get involved in working for justice in this time of war:

Voice of the Martyrs: www.persecution.com
Compassion International: www.compassion.com

The Forecast Calls For Trouble

2006-03-29T08:49:00.000-05:00

Keith Brenton is the only one who ventured a guess at what Daniel 7 is about. He says it's all about God's sovereignty, and in some sense it is. But first, the text mentions all these wild beasts with wings and horns, multiple heads and dental problems. What's up with that imagery?

I think these are images of evil. A beast with parts of another beast stuck between its teeth might be translated: evil is violent or evil feeds on evil. A beast with four wings might mean that evil travels swiftly. A beast with four heads might mean that evil is shrewd. A beast with horns might mean that evil is powerful.

So, the message I get from this part of Daniel is this: expect trouble. Evil is a real thing, and its effects are felt universally. If you live in this world, expect trouble. Don't be taken by surprise when bad things happen. Sometimes God's people get defeated and taken away in chains. Sometimes the ruling powers of this world make you choose between idolatry and death. Sometimes good people get thrown into bad places for doing the right thing.

There is a spiritual war going on, and we shouldn't expect life to be comfortable. The fact that most of the people reading this (including the guy writing it) live in unprecedented luxury is abnormal in human history. It's abnormal in contemporary society. The notion that once you come to Christ, you'll never have to face difficulties, sickness, loss of job, poverty, depression, divorce, the death of a child or persecution for your faith is absurd.

Jesus himself said, "In this world you will have trouble" (John 16:33). In fact, in the Sermon on the Mount, he says, "Don't worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (Matthew 6:34).

That's it? Trouble today and trouble tomorrow? Thanks a lot, Jesus.

No. That's not it. But that's part of it. And we cannot skip over it and jump to the happy ending just yet.

This Is The End?

2006-03-28T10:40:00.000-05:00

"In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he was lying on his bed. He wrote down the substance of his dream.

"Daniel said: 'In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea.

"'The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a man, and the heart of a man was given to it.

"'And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, "Get up and eat your fill of flesh!"

"'After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule.

"'After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast -- terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.

"'While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth that spoke boastfully'" (Daniel 7:1-8).

Okay, we've been working our way through Daniel, and it's been great so far. We've touched on a lot of very familiar stories, but now we've come to the last part of the Book of Daniel -- the part no one ever reads (except for those prophecy guys on TV). What are we supposed to do with all this? I mean, read those eight verses again.

A lion whose wings get torn off? A bear with ribs between its teeth? A leopard with four wings like a bird? Do birds have four wings? Four heads? What the...?

As confusing as this all is, I believe people usually take the wrong approach when it comes to deciphering it. I do not think it is wise to play a matching game with current nations or organizations. Ten horns...hmmm...there are ten seats on my local school board. You don't think...?

There have been people trying for centuries to play that matching game, and they've always been wrong. Every time we find out that Kissinger isn't the anti-Christ or the USSR isn't the bear with ribs in its teeth the Church gets a black eye and it gets a little bit harder to proclaim the gospel.

I know lots of good Christian people have different views on how things are going to end, but I think it would be very helpful if we'd all just stop the matching game.

So, if the point of this portion of Daniel is not to figure out who is which beast, what is the point?

Family Reunion

2006-03-26T22:06:00.000-05:00

I spent the last few days in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Every year for the last three decades, that city has hosted the largest gathering of people from the Churches of Christ in the world. The numbers have declined somewhat in recent years, but -- for those of us who grew up making the annual pilgrimage -- it is like a family reunion. We never even had to use the whole title (Tulsa International Soul Winning Workshop); we simply said "Tulsa". People knew what you meant.

I saw people I hadn't seen in years. Jeff Walling. Lynn Anderson. Marvin Phillips. Rubel Shelly. Mike Cope. Max Lucado. These are the rock stars of the Church of Christ. John Dobbs. Wade Hodges. Tim Spivey. Jon Mullican. These are, in my opinion, some of the rising stars.

This was an important year, historically speaking. One hundred years ago, a division that had been forming for several years was formally acknowledged between Restoration Movement churches that chose to use instruments and churches that chose not to. To some of my Evangelical friends, this division seems to be much ado about nothing. To those of us who grew up with it, it was huge.

This year, that division was acknowledged by thousands of people as having been wrong -- sinful even. It was fascinating to watch Max Lucado and Bob Russell share the platform. It was heartwarming to hear the cry for reconciliation and cooperation echoed with such force. Unity is important to God, and it is becoming important to Christians now.

I must admit, I was expecting some sort of fireworks. I know that people in the Churches of Christ can be fiesty, and I wondered if someone might see this as an opportunity to voice their disagreement. But nothing like that happened at all. As one friend said, "All the mean people stayed home."

Who knows what the future holds? How much longer will a gathering like this continue to be viable? How many more unified events will we see? What will it lead to? God only knows.

One thing's for sure: these are interesting times to be alive. God is on the loose, and his kingdom has broken into our world.

One other thing's for sure: family reunions bring mixed emotions. They remind us of what things were like -- good, bad and ugly. They hint to us of how things might be -- more good, bad and ugly. They cause us to reflect, and (hopefully) they cause us to project as well.

One final thing's for sure: there is coming a family reunion to end all family reunions. It will be interesting. The mere thought of it brings about mixed emotions in me. I want it to come tonight, but I want it to hold off a while longer, too.

Word Three: Broken

2006-03-22T14:57:00.000-05:00

"Your kingdom is broken and taken away from you."

That's God's final word to King Belshazzar, shattering his final illusion that the circumstances of his life would be ultimately under his own control.

It's absolutely baffling to me how we can live our entire lives with the idea that we're in control of everything. Certainly, there are some things that are in my control, but most of life happens to me rather than through me. And, in the end, I know I'm going to die. I have one life, and I have no idea how long it will last. But I do know that when it's over, I'm going to be asked to give an account for what I did with it.

I have no idea how many days I have left, but when it's over I hope the words that describe my life are not these three: numbered; weighed; broken.

I guess when I look at those words, though, they do describe me to some extent. They describe each of us. We've all been numbered; we've all been weighed; we're all broken. I suppose that's why Jesus came.

Now the question becomes: What are you going to do about all this?

Second Word: Weighed

2006-03-21T12:34:00.000-05:00

The cautionary tale of King Belshazzar continues as Daniel reveals the second word God personally wrote on the wall.

"Tekel: You have been weighed in the balance and found wanting."

With this word, God is puncturing the illusion that a person can get away with doing wrong. For some reason, most of us believe that getting caught is for other people. Over and over again, you can ask people who have tripped up by scandal, and they'll tell you: "I never thought I'd get caught."

Ask Pete Rose. Ask Barry Bonds (after he comes out of denial). Ask Jim Bakker. Jimmy Swaggart. Bill Clinton. Martha Stewart.

We tend to think that we're too clever to get caught. We know what we're doing. We're not like those other people. We'll get away with it.

Several years ago, when we lived in Texas, Anabel was old enough for us to take the railing off her baby bed. She thought this gave her permission to get up and roam around the house after bedtime. She'd sneak up on me while I was working on my laptop in the living room or watching baseball late at night, and I'd usher her back to her room.

After a while, she figured that maybe if she couldn't see me, I wouldn't be able to see her. So, she dumped the books out of a basket we had in her room and put the basket on her head like a helmet. She would stumble out of her room, groping around with her hands and be shocked when we would discover her! It was hysterical, and my wife and I would collapse on the floor laughing at her. We even have a picture of her with the basket on her head standing in the middle of our kitchen (looking for cookies probably!).

It's a good thing we grow out of that kind of thing, right?

Or maybe we don't.

I still know people who think that if they can't see others, others can't see them. We do that at church, don't we? If you didn't see me looking at pornography, maybe I didn't really look at pornography. If I can't see you getting high, maybe you never did get high. If no one sees you fix that expense report, maybe you really did spend that money legitimately.

The bottom line is: It doesn't matter if anyone you know sees you or finds out. There is a God who sees everything. Belshazzar was just as out of touch with reality as Anabel was -- closing your eyes doesn't make you invisible. It makes you naive.

God comes to the king and says, "You've been weighed. And if you think there's anything I don't see, if you think you're more clever than I am, if you think you're going to get away with defying me -- you've got another thought coming."

God sees everything. He hears every word and knows every thought. He weighs us each on the scales of his judgment, and we all come up short. You can close your eyes all you want, but there is no end-run around responsibility.

Word One: Numbered

2006-03-20T13:01:00.000-05:00

King Belshazzar's party came to an abrupt halt when a mysterious hand appeared and wrote three words on the wall. No one could figure out what they meant until the Queen remembered Daniel and his ability to solve problems like this. Daniel told the king the meaning of the three words, and each word punctures an illusion that propped up the life of King Belshazzar.

The first word was "mene", which means "numbered".

Many of us, like King Belshazzar, live with the illusion that our life is our life. My life belongs to me, and I am only accountable to myself for what I do with it.

God comes to the king and says, "I've numbered your days, Belshazzar. I've already decided how many days to give you. Your life is not just yours; it is on loan from me. You are where you are because of me; you have what you have because I gave it to you. I created you and gifted you and presented you with opportunities to do things in the brief time you have on this earth. And, in the end, you will be held accountable to me."

When Daniel walked into the room, he saw the gold and silver goblets that had been taken from the Temple in Jerusalem. These were sacred objects reserved for use in the worship of God. Obviously, he would have been horrified to see them used in such profane ways.

But the most sacred object the king was perverting was his life. God sees each of us as a golden vessel set apart for his purposes. When we spend our life only on ourselves -- gratifying our every appetite and never being used in service to others -- God sees us the way Daniel saw those objects that day: profaned.

You've been given one life, and one day you'll stand before your Maker and give an account for what you did with it. And God knows when that day will be. Do you?

"Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12).

What Daniel Said

2006-03-17T13:24:00.000-05:00

Daniel has been summoned out of retirement to help this bratty king Belshazzar. He walks into the room to see that the king has been engaged in a drunken orgy and has been using sacred goblets stolen from the Temple in Jerusalem in his festivities. Then the king has the audacity to ask Daniel for a favor -- even offering him rewards if he does his job well.

One habit that Daniel has demonstrated is his willingness to tell hard truth when that's appropriate. Perhaps this was one of the reasons the new king has put Daniel out to pasture. Refusing the king's rewards, Daniel delivers the following message:

"O king, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor. Because of the high position he gave him, all the peoples and nations and men of every language dreaded and feared him. Those the king wanted to put to death, he put to death; those he wanted to spare, he spared; those he wanted to promote, he promoted; and those he wanted to humble, he humbled. But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like cattle; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and sets over them anyone he wishes.

"But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hands your life and all your ways" (Daniel 5:18-23).

The king has not asked for any of this. He just wanted to know what the writing means. This has all been Daniel's opinion.

The phrase that Daniel delivers that is hardest for my ears is this one: "You knew".

It's bad enough to do stupid things like the king has done, but the worst part is that he knew better.

What about you? Any areas in your life where you're behaving foolishly even though you know better? There are plenty of those areas in my life, but the thought that someone like Daniel might one day stick his finger in my chest and say, "You did all of this, even though you knew better" is devastating to me!

Let's all take this weekend and let Daniel say that to us anyway. Conviction like that is a difficult but necessary part of the process of growing up into the people God wants us to become.

What Daniel Saw

2006-03-16T12:28:00.000-05:00

Daniel had been King Nebuchadnezzar's right-hand man for a long time. He was a high-ranking official put in charge of an entire province -- over all the other wise men.

But now Daniel has been put out to pasture. He's an old man now, past his prime. The new king doesn't even know who he is...until the new king has a problem.

In the middle of his drunken party, a hand appears and writes a strange message on the wall. Then, as mysteriously as the hand appeared, it disappears. The king's first instinct was probably to switch to coffee, but soon he realizes that this wasn't a hallucination; it was real.

He calls all his wise men and asks them to decipher the message, but they cannot. Then the Queen (probably King Belshazzar's mother) remembers Daniel. He used to be good at this kind of thing. Maybe he could do it again.

So, they send for Daniel.

What does Daniel see when he walks in? Obviously, he's going to see the writing on the wall. He's also going to see the new king -- the one who discarded him in his old age. He sees the aftermath of a huge drunken orgy. But what may have caught his attention more than anything else were those goblets from Jerusalem. They were made of gold and silver and stood as a reminder of what worship used to be like in the Temple.

How long had it been since Daniel had seen them? What was going through his mind and heart when it occurred to him what they've been used for here?

Not only has the new king insulted Daniel; he's insulted Daniel's God. And now this impudent king says to Daniel, "Do me a favor and tell me what that scribbling up there means. I'll make it worth your while."

If I was Daniel, I'd say, "Figure it out yourself."

But that's not Daniel's style. Once again, my character has a long way to go before I respond like Daniel.

One other thing that Daniel may have seen: opportunity. The king is offering to restore Daniel to prominence. This had to be tempting for him. It may have even tempted Daniel to shrink away from telling the king the whole truth.

That's not Daniel, though, because -- more than anything -- what Daniel saw was one more chance to serve God by making a stand. Just like he did in chapter 1 with the king's food. Just like he did in chapter 2 with the king's dream about the statue. Just like he did in chapter 4 with the king's second dream about the tree. Daniel has demonstrated a clear pattern of integrity that he has no intention of violating now.

What Daniel saw in the writing and in the new king and in the old goblets was the hand of God moving steadily -- sometimes visibly -- most often invisibly -- to bring about his purposes.

Under the Influence

2006-03-15T15:47:00.000-05:00

In Daniel 5 there's a new king. Nebuchadnezzar has been dead for quite some time, and his son Belshazzar has taken over, and here's what we learn of his character right off the bat:

"King Belshazzar gave a great banquest for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them. While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzarr his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone" (Daniel 5:1-4).

Read back through that and see if you can find the one verb that's repeated several times for emphasis.

{waiting}

Find it? King Belshazzar apparently likes to drink, doesn't he? The writer mentions it five times in four sentences.

The church in which I grew up did not condone drinking at all -- not even wine with dinner. In fact, I remember the scandal that erupted when one of the girls in our youth group let it slip that her parents enjoyed a little vino every now and again. Drinking was universally understood by everyone in our church as out of bounds. It was one of the ways you knew someone was serious about their faith. If they had any alcohol in the house, they were nominal Christians -- people you wouldn't trust with your kids with. That person was automatically disqualified from a leadership position at church.

So, we didn't talk much about some parts of the Bible. For example, the Psalmist says that God makes "wine that gladdens the heart of man" (Ps. 104:15a). We didn't read that psalm during our Sunday morning assembly. Or Deuteronomy 14 -- where it says that if you live so far away from the Tabernacle or Temple that you cannot carry your tithe, "Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice" (Deut. 14:26).

We didn't talk much about those places in the Bible, and we explained away the whole notion of wine being wine. It was grape juice. I've actually got books in my library that jump through amazing hoops to explain how wine didn't have any alcohol in it back then -- even though people could somehow get drunk on it. Maybe it was some kind of sugar buzz.

The Bible does not say it is sinful to drink wine. But the Bible does warn people very strongly about the dangers of drinking too much wine.

In Daniel 5:2 we read, "While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them."

That first phrase could be translated, "While he was under the influence of wine...." The implication being that alcohol prompted him to do something he wouldn't have done otherwise.

I'm not going to say that Belshazzar's problems started with his alcohol consumption. I think it's pretty clear that there was a larger pattern at work here, which we'll see in the next few days.

But the booze didn't help.

I don't know everyone who reads my blog. But statistically speaking, someone who reads my blog has a drinking problem. I don't know who, but that person probably does. If that's you, get some help. Too often, Christians and churches don't talk openly about this, and I know folks who have suffered quietly in fear. Don't let your fear keep you from getting the help you need. There's help available for you if you want to crawl out from under the influence.

When You Finally Bottom Out

2006-03-14T09:25:00.000-05:00

Big, bad Nebuchadnezzar. He's flirted so many times with bending his knee to the one, true God. Eventually, God comes to him and warns him about the judgment he is bringing upon himself. God even lets him know what he could do to avoid it. But Nebuchadnezzar decides to ignore the warning. And God humbles him the hard way.

But there is a turning point to the story -- a turning point and a happy ending.

"At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven" (Daniel 4:34a).

Obviously, this doesn't mean he just looked up at the sky. The king had spent his entire life looking down on other people. God had brought him down so low that there was no one to look down upon. Now, in his despair, he finally had to look up, and, when he did, he saw the One he had been avoiding his whole life. Now he goes to God because he has nowhere else to go. And that's all God was waiting for.

All Nebuchadnezzar had to do was turn his gaze towards heaven, and he discovered a God who loved him with an all-consuming love -- a love that will discipline if necessary. A love that waits for prodigal little boys and girls to come home.

We all go through times of pain and difficulty. We all find ourselves at low points. But what do you do when you finally bottom out? My answer is: look up.

One of the things you'll find when you look up is that life isn't all about you. Nebuchadnezzar learns this. Here's the most powerful man in the world -- the guy who built the greatest city in the world. He's been disgraced, broken, humiliated, homeless, insane. If that happened to me, I wouldn't want anyone to know about it. But Nebuchadnezzar wrote this story; this is his testimony. And he sends it, "To the peoples, nations and men of every language, who live in all the world" (v. 1).

It no longer matters what people think about him. It only matters that they know about this amazing God who patiently warns and waits and disciplines when necessary but only disciplines as long as it takes. This God who is so humble will allow us to bottom out if that's what it takes to get us to look up and see him.

God's Extraordinary Sense of Timing

2006-03-13T08:57:00.000-05:00

Nebuchadnezzar has been told what is going to happen to him and what he might be able to do to avoid it.

And, then, God waits.

"Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, he said, 'Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?'" (Daniel 4:29-30).

God waits for a full year before he does anything. He plants a seed in the king's heart and waits to see if it will take root and sprout a little. But at the end of a year, Nebuchadnezzar seems even more arrogant than before!

Think about Nebuchadnezzar during that year. What did he do? He knew what was coming. He knew what he could do to avoid it. He did nothing.

Did he think God was bluffing?

Did he think he could figure out a way around the whole mess?

I bet he avoided Daniel during that year.

Here's the thing about being convicted by God: if you fail to act on that conviction, it's easy to slip back into your old habits and patters. But God will still hold you accountable.

"The words were still on his lips when a voice came from heaven, 'This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes.'

"Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled" (Daniel 4:31-33a).

"The words were still on his lips...." God wants Nebuchadnezzar to make the connection between what is about to happen to him and what he has just said. Excellent timing on God's part.

"Seven times will pass...." Some people think this means seven years, but, in the Bible, the number seven stands for "a lot". Remember the king had the furnace heated "seven times hotter" than it was. And the Book of Proverbs says, "Though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again" (Proverbs 24:16a).

Q: So, how long was Nebuchadnezzar insane?

A: As long as it took.

God is so amazingly patient. He waits to see if we'll take his warnings seriously. He waits patiently, hopefully, expectantly. He gives us sufficient time to make the necessary changes. When he decides to act, he can move very quickly, and his discipline lasts as long as it takes to make its point.

Why God Doesn't Like Pride

2006-03-09T09:44:00.000-05:00

I've heard some people say that God doesn't want us to be proud because only he can be proud. I even read an article once on why God can be selfish and proud while we cannot. The main thrust of the argument went like this: He's God and can do as he likes.

While I appreciate the focus on God and his sovereignty, I must say I find that argument philosophically and theologically shallow.

Plato wondered how it was decided that certain things were virtuous and other things were sinful. He asked if God (or the gods) just decided on a whim to prefer honesty over deceit, declaring, "Humans must be honest because we say so" -- or is there something inherent within honesty that made God (or the gods) say, "We acknowledge honesty to be superior to deceit"?

My answer is: neither. Honesty is superior to deceit because it more accurately reflects the character and nature of God. That is why we are told to be honest; honesty is godly.

It is the same with humility. God is not opposed to pride because it is something only he can possess; God is opposed to pride because pride is unlike him.

For a brief time, God came to earth in the flesh -- in the person of Jesus. One of the few times Jesus actually described himself, he used words like "meek", "humble", "lowly". Not words we typically associate with God -- perhaps because we have crafted God in our own image and imagined how we would be if we had access to his power and resources.

This is why pride is so insidious: it gets in the way of me serving others; it resists the building of true community; it hinders the process of being transformed from within into a more godly person.

When seen in that light, God's not the only one who doesn't like pride; I don't like it very much either.

What God Really Wants From Nebuchadnezzar

2006-03-08T09:37:00.000-05:00

I must admit that if I found myself in Daniel's shoes, I'd actually want Nebuchadnezzar to be humiliated. It would fill me with great joy to know that he was going to be removed from power and made to live like a wild animal for a season. I'd actually want to see that happen.

Not Daniel. Daniel actually warns Nebuchadnezzar and gives him an idea that may potentiall spare him from the humiliation to come. Daniel has compassion and mercy; I struggle with those virtues.

But, as often as I've heard this passage taught, I've never seen what God really wants from Nebuchadnezzar until recently. Here's the specific statement: "Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed."

Did you catch that? It may help to look at the statement through the lens of parallelism. In Hebrew writings (especially poetry), it was common to repeat an idea with different language as a way of emphasis. That's what this sentence is: one idea stated twice in two different phrases.

Renounce your sins by doing what is right,
and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed.

"Sins" and "wickedness" are the same.

"Doing what is right" and "being kind to the opressed" are the same.

Every time I've heard this passage discussed, it's been about Nebuchadnezzar switching loyalty to the right God. Certainly, that's part of it, but it's more specific and tangible than that, too. God wants Nebuchadnezzar to stop oppressing people. That's specifically how God wants him to do what is right.

Nebuchadnezzar lives in opulence and comfort while others barely survive. He builds his great statues and hanging gardens with slave labor. He gazes at the magnificent walls of his city and overlooks the marginalized people who live within them. Withholding kindness to these people is wickedness and sinful in the eyes of God.

God is never just interested in our attitude towards him; he is most keenly interested in how we treat others.

Answering A Fool

2006-03-07T11:48:00.000-05:00

This is out of context for our look at Nebuchadnezzar, but I've got some proverbs rolling around in my head and felt like I needed to put this out here.

In one verse, the Bible says, "Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself" (Proverbs 26:4).

In the very next verse we read, "Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes" (Proverbs 26:5).

These two verses are often used to disprove the inspiration of the Bible. After all, it would appear to be a blatant contradiction. In one verse it says we should not answer a fool; the very next sentence tells us we should answer a fool. Which is it?

I've read a few different answers to this -- many good thoughts. The best explanation I've found is that there is simply no winning with a fool. If you allow yourself to be drawn into an argument with a fool, you may be brought down to his level. Fools tend to use anger and rudeness in their arguments. They speak without thinking first. They have no humility and are not concerned with truth as much as they are concerned with vindication. To use such tactics is foolish, and arguing with a fool prompts me to respond in kind. I cannot afford to fall into the fool's trap.

However, we are told in the next proverb to answer a fool in order to prevent him from thinking he is wise when he is not. A fool believes that your silence is an admission of defeat -- thus confirming him in his folly. Unfortunately, when that happens, his behavior has been reinforced and others may follow suit.

The problem is, when you try to correct a fool, he will not receive your correction. The writer goes on to say: "Like a lame man's legs that hang limp is a proverb in the mouth of a fool" (v. 7). A fool does not know what to do with wisdom. It is no use giving it to him. The best thing may be to leave him to God, for only God can break through his folly.

There is something worse than a fool: a man who is certain of his own wisdom. "Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him" (v. 12).

I want so badly to be wise, but I am too often a fool. God, keep me from being wise in my own eyes, and grant me the wisdom that only you can provide.

We Can Do This the Easy Way Or the Hard Way

2006-03-06T09:01:00.000-05:00

I have three kids (ages: six, four-and-a-half and two), and it's sometimes difficult to get everything done that needs to get done. Sometimes kids don't want to cooperate but would rather do things their way -- or not do them at all. Sometimes we need to get the girls in the van so we can go someplace, but they seem to think it's optional. Sometimes we need one of the girls to take medicine, but she doesn't understand that the medicine is mandatory. Tell me we're not the only parents who have trouble getting our kids to do what they have to do.

So, we've adopted a saying around here when we need the girls to participate but they seem unwilling. I say (in my "Daddy" voice), "Girls, we can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way. Which do you choose?"

In other words, you will take the medicine. You will get in the van. These things are not open for debate. The only question is how these things will happen. Will they happen with easy cooperation, or is there going to be a struggle and tears and other unpleasant things? We're going to do this. We can do it the easy way or the hard way.

So far, we've only had one girl choose the hard way one time.

God comes to Nebuchadnezzar in a dream and through its interpretation and says, "Nebuchadnezzar, you're going to humble yourself before me. We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way."

Nebuchadnezzar chose the hard way. That's the story of Daniel 4. That's also the story of my life and yours.

See, the Bible promises that one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (see Philippians 2). For some, that confession will come as a relief, a statement laced with joy and peace. For others, that confession will come as a realization, a statement laced with regret and fear.

The last sentence in Daniel 4 reminds us: "Those who walk in pride he is able to humble." Your pride will be removed, and you will see just how big God is and, by comparison, how small you are. Your knee will buckle, and your sense of importance will shatter. You will acknowledge God as both the center and circumference of existence. These things will happen. We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way. Which do you choose?

The Importance of Honest Friends

2006-03-02T15:01:00.000-05:00

I've really been thinking about how to answer Jenn (and thank you to Steven for your bravery in sharing). Here's what I've come up with as I've looked at the question and at the text of Daniel 4.

Nebuchadnezzar struggles with pride, but he doesn't know it. He says, "I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home in my palace, contented and prosperous" (Daniel 4:4). He thinks he's got it all together and doesn't realize how close he is to losing it all.

But God knows.

And God wants Nebuchadnezzar to know, too. So, the king has a bad dream and is troubled by it. He can't figure out what it means, but he feels pretty certain that it's important. No one can help him until Daniel comes along.

Now, Daniel knows that the dream is not good news for the king. And this is frightening to Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar does not have a good track record of dealing with bad news. Daniel is probably afraid that bad news for the king equals bad news for Daniel. So, he hesitates.

But the king tells him, "It's okay. Go ahead and tell me the truth" (v. 19 -- my paraphrase).

And Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar the truth. The king is not wise enough at this point to act on the truth, but he has it in his possession and that is eventually what saves him.

The king could have told Daniel, "I don't want to hear it if it's not good." But he didn't say that. He was willing to hear the truth, and that -- in the long run -- was his salvation.

So, Jenn, I can't say whether you struggle with pride or not. I know you pretty well, and you don't strike me as a prideful person. But I'm not really in community with you. I don't go through life with you day in and day out, so I can't really say.

Here's the question for you (and the rest of us as well): Do you have a Daniel in your life? Someone who knows you well enough to tell you the truth even if it's bad news?

If not, maybe you could ask God to bring you a Daniel. If you have someone like that, have you ever done what Nebuchadnezzar does here and given that person permission to tell you the truth with no consequences?

There's nothing in the world like a good friend who will tell you the truth.

Blind to Pride

2006-03-01T11:23:00.000-05:00

It's always been interesting to me that pride is one of the words songwriters love to us. It rhymes with lots of stuff and fits into lovesongs -- especially break-up songs -- very well. But it's almost always coupled with a particular word. Pride is never immature or unreasonable; pride is always "foolish pride".

I wonder where that lyric originated.

The truth is pride is foolish and immature and unreasonable and universal. C.S. Lewis says that pride is the one vice everyone struggles with. He says it's loathed when seen in others, but hardly anyone ever thinks they are guilty of. Christians in prior centuries proclaimed pride as one of the Seven Deadly Sins. In fact, most went farther than that; they said that pride is probably the most deadly -- the one from which all other sins spring.

I think what makes pride most dangerous is its ability to blind us to our own faults.

In the comments section of yesterday's post, Jenn writes:

"If I'm asking the question, 'Am I prideful?' does that indicate that I'm not, or that I am very self-deceived? I truly have a difficult time knowing. When I feel good about something I did, I don't know if that's prideful or if that's an indicator of healthy self-esteem. How do you know before it gets out of control?"

Great question. In my experience, most of the people who struggle with pride have no idea it's a problem. Look at Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4. Does he think he's got a problem? No. But God does.

I'm interested: how would you answer Jenn?

The Madness of King Nebuchadnezzar: Intro

2006-02-28T15:19:00.000-05:00

God does not like pride. In fact, the Bible says, "The Lord detests all the proud of heart" (Proverbs 16:5a). This is not just a one-time statement against pride; the Bible says over and over again how much God does not like pride. In the New Testament, James says, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6).

God actually opposes people who are proud.

I'm not talking about taking pride in your work or having a healthy self-esteem. I'm talking about conceit, the quality of having an excessively high opinion of oneself or one's importance -- the sin of pride.

God detests this.

And that's kind of strange because, in our world, that kind of pride is seen as maybe annoying but hardly something that might be a fatal character flaw. Visit your local bookstore and browse through the self-help section. See how many books you can find that will help you develop the quality of humility.

I've seen people disciplined by their church for sexual misconduct or financial misdeeds. I've never seen anyone called on the carpet by their church leaders for having a prideful spirit.

And yet...which causes more problems in the church: financial impropriety or pride? Pride is absolutely lethal to having a thriving relationship with God.

Godliness and pride are mutually exclusive.

I say all of this to set us up to look at what happens to King Nebuchadnezzar beginning in Daniel 4. The king goes mad. God actually drives him out of his castle and basically says, "If you're going to act like an animal, go all the way with that act!" And all of this happens for one reason. That reason is given in the final sentence of the chapter:

"Those who walk in pride he is able to humble" (Daniel 4:37b).

Meeting God in the Furnace

2006-02-27T09:02:00.000-05:00

One other thought on this whole furnace business of Daniel 3: Do you ever wonder what they did while they were in there?

They were tied up so that they had to be carried to the furnace, but when King Nebuchadnezzar looked in there, they were walking around. And there was a fourth person in there -- probably Jesus.

I wonder what he said to them. I bet he called them by their old names -- the Jewish ones. I wonder if he told them how everyone up in heaven had been watching to see what they were going to do. I wonder if he told them how proud their Father was of them. I wonder if he told them that 2,500 years later some guy on the other side of the world would be writing about them on his blog.

I wonder if they asked him, "What's a blog?"

I wonder if he told them that followers of God who face persecution because of their beliefs would remember them and be encouraged just thinking of their strength of character.

I bet I know what they said to him: "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Anne Lamott says there are really only two kinds of prayer that she really knows: (1) Help me! Help me! Help me! and (2) Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

I wonder if they gathered together on the anniversary of the event, built a little bonfire and remembered their experience together. I wonder if they told their grandkids the story. I wonder if they ever pulled those clothes out and tried them on -- moth-eaten, full of holes and several sizes too small to fit anymore.

I wonder if, when the King called them to come out of the fire, there was any desire to stay right where they were.

And I wonder what life would be like for all of us if we stopped asking God to deliver us from the furnace and started asking him to meet us there.

The Safest Place on Earth

2006-02-24T05:00:00.000-05:00

Odd, isn't it?

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego want to be delivered from the furnace.

But once they get in there, they find out it's the safest place on earth for them to be.

How many divine encounters have I missed out on because I avoided the discomfort and pain of a place where God was waiting to meet me?

More Than a Vending Machine

2006-02-23T09:33:00.000-05:00

The danger -- especially for those of us who live in these times of unprecedented affluence and wealth -- is that we might make God into some kind of cosmic vending machine. If we put our quarter in (in the form of prayer, Bible study, church attendance, etc.), the candy bar better come out (in the form of answered prayer, blessings, etc.). If it does not, I'm liable to kick the machine to bits and walk away in a huff.

So, the question I must ask myself in light of this story in Daniel 3 is: I'm I putting the quarter in just to get the candy bar? Is the whole thing set up as a vending machine in the first place?

Relationships don't tend to work very well when they are approached in this way.

But Even If He Does Not....

2006-02-21T21:06:00.000-05:00

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego make a tremendous statement of faith in Daniel 3. They affirm that the God we serve is able to do amazing things -- beyond anything we can ask or imagine.

But what they say next is arguably one of the greatest statements in the Bible. It reveals a depth of trust that I wish I had and hope to achieve one day. Here's what they say:

"But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up" (Daniel 3:18).

Even if he does not. We know he can; that's not even a question. Of course he can. He has before. But even if he does not....

We all have dreams, hopes and aspirations. There are things about which we've all said to God, "Okay, God, I'm stuck here. You've got to help me. I know you can, so anytime you're ready...."

But what if he doesn't?

Is my devotion to God tied to what he will do for me?

If he doesn't deliver the way I thought he would, will my devotion to him dry up?

Have you ever thought through THAT situation -- you know the one -- and said to God, "I know you can do this, but even if you don't, I want you to know that I'm not going to leave this faith, I'm not going to bow my knee to something else"?

Can you say with Job, "Even if he kills me, I'll still trust him"?

Wow, that's a hard call. I want to focus on his ability to do great things for me. I don't want to think that it might serve some higher purpose for him not to come to my rescue.

Several hundred years after Daniel and his friends, another man found himself in a life-or-death situation. And he, like Daniel and his friends, prayed to God. He said, "Surely, there's got to be a way out of this. There's got to be another way, an easier way."

He prayed that prayer so fervently that his sweat came like blood.

But he finished that prayer by saying, "God, I know you're able to come up with another way, but even if you don't -- I won't walk away from you or my commitment to do your will."

And later that day, he joined with Job in saying, "Even if he kills me, I'll still trust him."

I know God is able. I think most people reading this blog believe God is able. That's not the question.

The question is: Have you ever thought through your worst case scenario and said, "Even if he doesn't..."?

The God We Serve Is Able

2006-02-20T16:49:00.000-05:00

Most of the people who frequent this blog could tell you a story about a time when the odds were long and the forecast was dark. It didn't look good. In fact, it looked downright awful.

And then God mysteriously and miraculously came through!

The doctors were baffled. Your neighbors couldn't explain it. Your friends and relatives just laughed and hugged and danced and cried. It was amazing how God came through with just what was needed at exactly the right time.

We love stories like that. We ought to celebrate those kinds of stories, repeating them over and over to our children and our grandchildren. Stories of God's deliverance produce in us the kind of faith we need to survive life on this earth. They remind us that the God we serve is able to do exceedingly, abundantly more than all we can ask or even imagine.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego make this tremendous statement of faith in the face of considerable odds. The King has just summoned them and makes it very clear to them that they must obey his will or be killed. Their response is classic:

"O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king" (Daniel 3:16b-17).

I do not think it is possible for us to meditate on this statement enough: "The God we serve is able".

The God we serve is the God who gave a child to a barren couple who trusted him.
The God we serve is the God who brought 10 plagues down on the Egyptians.
The God we serve is the God who split the Red Sea in two.
The God we serve is the God who provided manna in the wilderness.
The God we serve is the God who crushed the walls of Jericho.
The God we serve is the God who did all these things and more, and he has not lost one ounce of strength.

He is able to heal, deliver, restore, repair, forgive, redeem and do all sorts of things we cannot even imagine.

Today, let this be your statement: The God we serve is able!

Pack A Lunch

2006-02-20T12:29:00.000-05:00

I have technology that allows me to see when someone lands on my website. I can see where they've come from and what they do while they're here. I can even tell where their Internet Provider is. It gives me a general picture, though not a specific one.

So, I could see it coming. I knew what was going on. Someone typed my name in a search engine. They didn't spell it correctly, but the internet is very forgiving when it comes to spelling. They found my blog and began to read every single entry I've ever posted.

Talk about someone with a lot of time on their hands!

And then they started searching for specific things. They searched my blog for the word "baptism". Then they searched for "community church".

Okay, I can see where this is going.

But then it got personal; they searched the word "father".

I thought this guy was trying to dig up dirt on me (and maybe he was), but when he typed that word in I started to wonder if this wasn't about me but was about my dad.

My father is Dr. J.J. Turner for those of you who don't know. He is a man of God, a man I respect greatly, a man of learning and a man of integrity. He has been the greatest single influence on my life, and I would do just about anything for him. So, when you pick a fight with him, you've got one with me, too.

Well, "jc" finally found a couple of things objectionable enough to comment on. And this was his comment: "What does your Daddy think about all of this? Isn't he a known Gospel preacher for the Church of Christ? jc".

This comment was made in response to my belief that closed- or circular-scholarship has bred a fair amount of cult-like practices among some people in the Churches of Christ. I made that statement along with the idea that this is not the case among most members or leaders in the Churches of Christ. And I applauded the efforts of men like Rubel Shelly, Mike Cope and Randy Harris.

So, "jc" wants to know what my Daddy thinks about this.

JC, whoever you are, I actually called my dad and talked to him about this. He is a grown man, and so am I. He is a man of faith, and so am I. He is a student of the Bible, and so am I. We agree on many, many things -- most matters theological. We disagree over a few things and have agreed that none of the things over which we disagree amount to salvation issues.

His suggestion was that if you have questions about what he thinks, go ask him.

My suggestion is that if you do muster up the courage to have that conversation -- pack a lunch.

You Just Never Know

2006-02-16T17:36:00.000-05:00

Last year I was speaking at a retreat and found myself without a book to read. That is a very terrible thing indeed for me, because I am not always good at meeting new people and mingling with them. I much prefer to hole up with a book and come out when it's time to speak.

So, I was a little unnerved at the thought of having to go a full weekend without the comfort I find in books. And that's when God miraculously intervened, and I found a book on my nightstand. It was titled THE WORST-CASE SCENARIO SURVIVAL HANDBOOK by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht.

This little book contains the most bizarre advice ever assembled: How to escape from quick-sand; how to hot-wire a car; how to fend off a shark; how to escape from a mountain lion; how to jump from a building into a dumpster; how to deliver a baby in a taxicab; how to survive if your parachute fails to open. Bizarre and fascinating, this book contains actual lists of what you can and should do if you ever find yourself in a life-or-death situation. Here's what the author says in the Preface:

"The principle behind this book is a simple one: You just never know.

"You never really know what curves life will throw at you, what is lurking around the corner, what is hovering above, what is swimming beneath the surface. You never know when you might be called upon to perform an act of extreme bravery and to choose life or death with your own actions.

"But when you are called, we want to be sure that you know what to do. And that is why we wrote this book."

You just never know.

A young college graduate gets sick and can't seem to shake it. He starts experiencing double-vision and night-sweats, goes to the doctor and discovers that he has Hodgkin's Disease. You just never know.

A wife and mother comes home to find her furniture out on the lawn and her husband in the back of a police squad car -- he's been arrested for embezzling money from his company, and they've been evicted from their home. You just never know.

Fifty years ago last month, a team of missionaries decided to take the gospel to a group of people in the jungle of eastern Ecuador. After several friendly encounters, five of the missionaries were found hacked to death by the very people they were trying to reach. You just never know.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had no idea what life was going to throw at them. They probably thought life was going to be a certain way, but it didn't turn out the way they thought it would. Things seemed to be going pretty well. They'd been promoted and enjoyed some measure of influence and power in their world.

And then things changed all of a sudden, and they found themselves in the middle of a Worst-Case Scenario.

What do you do when life throws you a curveball? When the parachute fails to open, and your worst nightmare turns into a reality?

You never know when you might be called to do something heroic or sacrificial. But when you are called, God wants to be sure that you know what to do. And that is why he wrote his book.

Knowing the Bible Too Well

2006-02-15T09:39:00.000-05:00

It may sound odd for someone like me to say, but sometimes I think we may know the Bible too well.

Here's what I mean: when we know the stories ultimately have a happy ending, we tend to rush to that happy ending -- skipping over the important bits in the middle. Abraham and Isaac. David and Goliath. Esther, Mordechai and Haman. Paul and Silas in the Philippian jail.

Certainly, this is the case with Daniel 3 -- the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

The problem with reading these stories now is that most of us know how they end, and we want to speed our way through them to get to that happy ending. God delivers; his people are delivered; start the party.

But life doesn't happen like that. In life, you can only go one verse at a time, and you don't always know how this particular episode is going to turn out.

I Am Not...But I Know I AM

2006-02-14T10:25:00.000-05:00

That's the title of Louie Giglio's latest book: I Am Not...But I Know I AM. And it's a fitting caption for what happens in the last half of Daniel 2.

The King has had a bad dream, and he's ordered his advisors to tell him what the dream was and what it meant. They reply that such a request is hopeless -- no one can do something like that except the gods. And, unfortunately, the gods don't live down here on earth where we can ask them.

Daniel and his friends pray to God, and God reveals the dream and its meaning to Daniel sometime during the night.

Daniel goes to the king, and the king asks, "Can you tell me my dream and its meaning?"

Daniel -- believe it or not -- says, "No."

Actually, what he says is better than that:

"Daniel replied, 'No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries" (Daniel 2:27-28a).

Later on, he'll say, "This mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than other living men" (v. 30).

Well, if Daniel didn't get the revelation because he's smarter or wiser than the other guys, why did he get it? I think he got it because he asked.

See, the king said, "I am in charge. I am the center of the universe. I am unable to sleep."

The other wise men said, "No one can do this except the gods, and they don't live around here. So, it's no use asking."

Daniel said, "I am not smart enought to figure this out, but I know the one who is."

Here's what the back of Louie's book says:

I am not but God knows my name.
I am not but he has pursued me in his love.
I am not but I know the creator of the universe.
I am not but I have been invited into his story.
I am not but I know I AM.

Why We Lose Hope

2006-02-13T10:59:00.000-05:00

Nebuchadnezzar has had a bad dream and can't sleep. So, he calls his advisors and asks them to tell him what his dream meant. Actually, he asks them to tell him what his dream WAS and then tell him what it meant.

Their response is sad:

"The astrologers answered the king, 'There is not a man on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer. What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among men'" (Daniel 2:10-11).

If Nebuchadnezzar's problems stem from the fact that he thinks he's God. The advisors have a different problem. They know they're not God (or "the gods"). Their problem is that they have no access to whoever can help them.

That's a hopeless situation, indeed! They're unable to do something. They know there is someone out there would could do it, but there's no way to get that someone involved in their situation.

Hopeless.

When I find myself living without hope, it's usually not because I think God's unable; it's usually because I forget that he's come to live among us.

Why We Burnout

2006-02-10T12:51:00.000-05:00

I get to travel to a different church almost every weekend. This year, I've visited with churches in Virginia, Maryland, Colorado and Washington. Next week, I'll go to North Carolina -- the week after that Ohio -- the week after that Louisiana. I've been doing this for a while now, and there is one thing I find more than I like to think about: burnout.

Ministers burnout. Pastors burnout. Volunteers burnout. People burnout.

Symptoms of burnout include:

Frustration
Interpersonal problems
Aggression
Irritability
Hostile or suspicious behavior
Fear
Anxiety

That's a partial list, but it's probably enough to have some of you thinking, "Yikes! That list feels familiar!"

In Daniel 2, King Nebuchadnezzar has a bad dream and can't sleep. He calls in his advisors and commands them, "Tell me what my dream meant!"

His advisors say, "Okay, tell us what your dream was, and we'll tell you what it means."

The King says, "No, I'm not giving any hints. Tell me what the dream was AND what it means! And if you don't tell me, I'll have you all cut into tiny pieces and your houses turned into public latrines!"

"But, sir," his advisors say, "we'll be glad to help you figure out what it means if you'll just tell us what it was."

"I see what you're all up to! You're just trying to confuse me! You're all against me!"

"But, sir, no one on earth can do what you're asking us to do. No one's ever asked anyone to do anything like this before. Only the gods could figure this out, and they, unfortunately, don't live here on earth."

Here, I'll stop paraphrasing and let the text speak for itself: "This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men in Babylon" (Daniel 2:12).

Frustration. Interpersonal problems. Aggression. Irritability. Hostile or suspicious behavior. Fear. Anxiety.

Looks like burnout to me.

Here's my take on burnout: I don't think burnout has as much to do with workload as we have thought. I think it has more to do with trying to do something you're not gifted to do. You can fake it for a while, but sooner or later it catches up with you. The longer you try to occupy a role you're not meant to occupy, the more likely you are to experience some of the symptoms of burnout.

Nebuchadnezzar thinks he's God. He tries to make everything revolve around him. But Nebuchadnezzar isn't designed to live like that. That's not a role he's equipped to play.

What would happen if you decided to resign from being the center of the universe?

Why We Can't Sleep

2006-02-09T08:22:00.000-05:00

I have trouble sometimes with insomnia. It's something I've struggled with since I was an adolescent. My brain sometimes starts going, and I cannot shut it down. It hardly happens anymore, but when it does I spend the next day walking around like a zombie.

"In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep" (Daniel 2:1).

According to the National Sleep Foundation, 62% of Americans have some trouble sleeping at nights. In a report filed yesterday, NBC News says Americans are turning more and more to sleeping pills like Ambien or Lunestra -- nearly 42 million prescriptions for some kind of sleep aid were filled in 2005.

There are often medical and psychological conditions that prevent someone from sleeping. For me (and for Nebuchadnezzar), there was something else keeping me awake -- it was neither medical nor psychological -- it was spiritual.

Don Finto once told me he had struggles with sleep, too. But he found that if he would just pray about whatever was bothering him, he'd drift off to sleep in no time. It sounds simplistic, but it worked for me. And I think there's something in that simple sleep aid that relates to what I wrote yesterday.

It's normal to take your problems to God, right? But when I forget that I'm not God, I take my problems to me and keep myself awake with them.

God never sleeps. That's by choice. There's a categorical difference between "not sleeping" and "can't sleep".

If there is a God who is not me -- a God more competent by far than me -- then I can take whatever's bothering me and leave it with him. He'll stay awake, and I can sleep.

I Am Not God

2006-02-08T00:31:00.000-05:00

I've talked a few times on this blog about ontological dualism. I love writing and saying that phrase because it sounds so academic. And sometimes people from universities type that phrase into a search engine and land on my crazy blog.

Incidentally, when I was teaching through the life of Solomon last year, I did a three part series: Extreme Wisdom; Extreme Foolishness; and Extreme Sex. I blogged about those three lessons, and I still have people who "google" the phrase "extreme sex" and end up here reading about Song of Solomon. I find that pretty funny.

What was I talking about? Oh yeah...ontological dualism.

Basically, it means that there are two categories of things. Christians believe this, but they usually draw the line in the wrong place. Usually, we think of spiritual things and non-spiritual things. That's not Christianity. That's gnosticism -- or at least neo-gnosticism.

Christianity says there are two categories of things: God and not-God.

Nearly 15 years ago, Ernest Kurtz wrote the definitive history of Alcoholics Anonymous. It was titled NOT GOD. In the book he says that the first (and hardest) thing for an addict to accept is that he or she is not God. Here's a quote from the Introduction:

"...the fundamental and first message of Alcoholics Anonymous to its members is that they are not infinite, not absolute, not God. Every alcoholic's problem had first been, according to this insight, claiming God-like powers, especially that of control. But the alcoholic at least, the message insists, is not in control, even of himself; and the first step towards recovery from alcoholism must be admission and acceptance of this fact that is so blatantly obvious to others but so tenaciously denied by the obsessive-compulsive drinker. Historically, it has been the concept of divinity, the notion of the deity, that includes the idea of absolute control. The program of Alcoholics Anonymous, then, teaches first and foremost that the alcoholic is not God....

"But Alcoholics Anonymous is fellowship as well as program, and thus there is a second side to its message of not-God-ness. Because the alcoholic is not God, not absolute, not infinite, he or she is essentially limited. Yet from this very limitation -- from the alcoholic's acceptance of personal limitation -- arises the beginning of healing and wholeness."*

That message is not just for alcoholics; it's for me. All too often, I forget that I'm not God and try to control things that aren't in my power to control. It makes me fearful and anxious. It drives wedges between me and others. It sets me up for failure and frustration.

That's Nebuchadnezzar's problem in Daniel 2. He thinks he's God.

That's John Alan Turner's problem in 2006. I keep on forgetting the one thing that is most obvious to everyone else around me: I am not God.

*Ernest Kurtz, NOT GOD: A HISTORY OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1979), pp. 3-4.

Resilient People

2006-02-06T09:25:00.000-05:00

Al Siebert has spent nearly 30 years trying to figure out why some people go through hardships and come out withered up people while others endure those same hardships and actually come out better than they were before. He has studied POWs, kidnapping victims and hostages. He finds what we all know is true: some people go through those terrible times and never recover; others go through the same terrible times and not only live to tell about it but end up turning it all to their advantage. Some people remain victims for the rest of their lives; others see themselves as survivors.

He labels the second category of people: Resilient.

From studying resilient people, Siebert has noticed several common traits among them. Daniel exhibits a number of those traits in Daniel 1. It might help you to read through the chapter before we go on. It's short. I'll wait.

{waiting}

Okay, Daniel does a number of things that reveal how resilient he is. First, he determines to live out his core values without compromise. In other words, resilient people are people of integrity. They do not allow others to determine their behavior. They avoid victimization and control what is in their power to control.

When Daniel decides not to defile himself with the king's food (Daniel 1:8-10), he makes that decision on his own. That verse is an interesting turning point in the story. Up until that point, the Babylonians had made all the decisions. They had decided where Daniel would live, what he would do and what his name would be. But Daniel makes a decision to control what is in his power to control -- even if all he can control is what goes in and comes out of his mouth.

Next, he figures out how the system works. Daniel goes to the guy in charge and tells him what he wants to do (that's another trait -- the ability to express yourself openly and honestly). The guy in charge likes Daniel (another trait is the ability to read other people) and tells him that he's afraid of what the King might do if Daniel goes through with the plan and doesn't look as good as the others.

Daniel basically says, "Well, he didn't say 'yes' but he didn't say 'no' either." So, he goes to the guy who is second in command and works out a plan (vv. 11-14). Another one of those traits of resilient people is the ability to adapt quickly.

Also notice that while Daniel is clearly the leader, he's not doing this alone. He's got four buddies going through all of this with him. Resilient people will go to ridiculous lengths to live in healthy community with others. Julius Segal has documented some of the ways POWs learned to communicate with each other to keep morale up during the most horrible conditions. It's striking to me that when it's forbidden, people will move heaven and earth to gain even a glimpse of community; but when it's encouraged, we expect it to just happen on its own.

We live in Babylon, and in Babylon we will not survive without deep relationships.

The final trait we see in Daniel is his optimistic outlook. He expects his plan to work (vv. 12-13). The whole chapter gives us a good reason to share his optimistic outlook. If you look at vv. 2, 9 and 17, you'll see what I'm talking about. Who's active through this whole chapter? God is working the way he so often works -- in hidden and unseen ways. God delivered them into the hands of their enemies to begin with (v. 2). God caused the official to show Daniel favor and sympathy (v. 9). Eventually, God gave Daniel and his friends knowledge and understanding (v. 17).

Optimism only makes sense if God is at work -- even in difficult times.

God calls us to do more than endure; God calls us to be resilient. He doesn't just want us to hold on and grit our teeth until we die. He wants us to grow through our hardships and know that something good can come out of something bad.

What if Christians lived like that? What if Christians demonstrated more resiliency?

What if we decided to stop acting like victims and determine our boundaries and behavior for ourselves?

What if we decided to stop having superficial relationships and determined to live in authentic and healthy ways with others?

What if we decided to stop being so panicky and lived out of a sense of vital optimism?

What if we lived as if there really is a God who is always at work -- perhaps hidden from our view -- but steadily moving forward with his plan to build a people who are rightly related to him and rightly relating to each other?

That's a group I want to be part of.

Resident Aliens

2006-02-02T10:32:00.000-05:00

Karen Smith teaches Kindergarten at a Christian School just outside of Chicago, IL. A few years ago, during a presidential election, her class was talking about how important it is to vote. The kids asked Miss Karen who she voted for, and she told them that she is not allowed to vote here in the US because she is from England. She went on to tell them that a person from another country is called a "resident alien".

It's interesting what sticks in the minds of children. Later that day, during a prayer, one of her students prayed, "Dear God, please help people to stop being mean to Miss Karen by calling her an 'alien'."*

We are fascinated with aliens. Television shows like My Favorite Martian, The X-Files or Third Rock From the Sun -- movies like E.T. or K-Pax -- we love stories about aliens.

I think one reason we love these stories is because there are times when we all feel like aliens. The Bible affirms this, calling us "aliens and strangers in this world" (1 Peter 2:11). There's something in us that feels like a fish out of water, something that knows we don't belong here, that we were made for something other than this, bigger than this. We resonate with stories of aliens, because we all know that -- to some extent -- we are aliens ourselves.

That's one reason why the story of Daniel is so important for us. Daniel spends most of his life in a land he never intended to inhabit. He lives and he dies as a stranger in a strange land. He shows us all how to live as resident aliens.

*UNLOCKING THE BIBLE VOL. 2 by Colin S. Smith (Chicago: Moody Publishing, 2002).

The Most Underrated Old Testament Character

2006-02-01T09:23:00.000-05:00

I have a group of guys I like to hang out with. We meet on Monday nights (though I've missed the past few weeks because of my travel schedule). One of our favorite things to talk about is underrated sports figures. We'll spend hours debating who the most underrated QB in the NFL is (Trent Green) -- or the most overlooked infielder in MLB is (Jeff Kent).

Who is the most underrated character in the Old Testament?

When we think of great Old Testament characters, there are some names that surface immediately: Abraham, Moses, David. Those are probably the big three. There are others that come after a moment's reflection: Joseph, Joshua, Solomon, Nehemiah.

Lots of books get written about those guys.

There are women, too: Deborah, Ruth, Esther. They get books and movies and sermon series all about them.

But, for some reason, I can't think of a single popular-level book written about Daniel. Nor can I remember ever hearing a sermon series about him. We know his stories -- refusing to eat the king's food, his friends being thrown into the fiery furnace, him interpreting the writing on the wall, his night spent in the lion's den.

Still, I can't remember anyone teaching through his whole story. Am I imagining this?

Why does Daniel get so little love from us?

Cultural Obsession #2: Our Bodies

2006-01-31T09:42:00.000-05:00

If we're going to talk about things our culture is obsessed with, we've got to talk about our bodies.

It is a sad but true fact that more Americans are obese than ever before. This has happened at a very odd time. There are more low-calorie food options now. There are more places to work out. We know more about diet and exercise. We hear more reports about the long-term risks of being overweight. We are more aware of causes and triggers and solutions.

And we still can't stop ourselves from eating too much and exercising too little.

Then there is the other extreme. One cursory glance at prime time television or a magazine rack at your local Barnes & Noble will clue you in to how obsessed we are with "the beautiful people". This has prompted what one writer has called "Beautiful People Syndrome" -- the idea that if you don't look like one of the cast members of Desperate Housewives, something must be wrong with you.

Neil Postman has written about this in his book AMUSING OURSELVES TO DEATH. He laments how little a person's body has to do with his or her ideas. Television is a visual medium, though, and if the image on the screen is lackluster, the ideas portrayed will be diminished. He suggests that someone like William Henry Taft, America's 27th President, would never even be offered as a candidate in today's world. He goes so far as to suggest that television has impacted our epistemology -- our ability to distinguish between a justified belief and an opinion. If something is presented to us in an aesthetically appealing package, we are more likely to believe it true.

Now, of all the things we could say about this trend (and there are lots of things that could and should be said), I want to focus our discussion here on how we can take this cultural obsession and use it as a bridge for presenting the gospel.

What if Christians made a commitment to being more physically fit?

You could argue in favor of doing so as a proper understanding of our bodies as God's temple (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). You could argue in favor of doing so as a means of good stewardship (1 Corinthians 4:2). But what if we thought of physical fitness as an apologetic?

What if Christians maintained a balance between feasting and fasting, protected their diets, got plenty of exercise but refused to fall prey to Beautiful People Syndrome and its unrealistic ideals of physical perfection? What if we recognized that what Postman says is true, whether we agree with it or not, that our appearance often negates our message? Are we willing to compromise our ability to communicate just to prove a point about how shallow society has become?

If so, who's really being shallow here?

Cultural Obsession #1: Money

2006-01-26T19:45:00.000-05:00

I talked in my last post about trying to figure out what our cultural obsessions are so we could try to use them as a bridge to present the gospel to people in our society. I asked if you could help me think about what some of those cultural obsessions might be, but no one wanted to play along. So, I'm left on my own here.

And I've managed to come up with a couple.

I think our society is obsessed with money. This is so much the case, that our standards of wealth and poverty are skewed beyond belief. I make decent money, live in a very comfortable house and drive reliable vehicles. I choose what (and how much) I want to eat on any given day. I have more than one pair of shoes, more than one pair of clothes. I'm sure I am wealthier than 90% of the planet.

And yet I feel poor. I rarely have enough at the end of the month to really do the things I'd love to do. We'll have to scrape and skimp in order to find enough to take the family vacation we want to take in April. Television ads constantely bombard us with the idea that there is a good life somewhere out there that we're missing out on. Money holds an unyielding grip on our attention as a society.

I suspect money may be for us like clever speech was for the Athenians.

So, how can we make use of that obsession as we attempt to faithfully deliver the message of the gospel?

It can't be like those quacks on television who say we have to be wealthier than others in order for people to take us seriously, can it?

I wonder, though, in our age of runaway consumer debt, what it would be like if Christians were the ones who had their finances in order. What if the whole world was running around like crazy, up to their eyeballs in credit card payments, mortgaged to the hilt, and Christians were the ones who always paid their bills on time and had enough to spare at the end of the month?

What if Christians saved so much money that they had enough to really fund a search for a cure for AIDS?

What if Christians had so much money that they could finance educational programs for entire nations, bring in drinkable water and feed starving people abroad and in their own urban centers?

What if Christians were the wisest people on the planet when it comes to money -- personal AND corporate finance?

I'm thinking we could use that as leverage to present something this world wants and needs to hear.

Tailoring Our Message

2006-01-25T21:33:00.000-05:00

I'm continuing to read Conrad Gempf's delightful book MEALTIME HABITS OF THE MESSIAH. He's very simple in his presentation of familiar stories, but something about the way he presents his argument is so penatrating that it leaves me pondering things all day long.

In today's reading, Conrad talked about how Jesus healed people in various ways -- sometimes of the same malady. He healed some people with a word, others with a touch, others with mud had made from his own saliva. He rarely healed the same way twice.

We tend to want a more standardized approach. Tell me how to heal blindness, and I'll do the same thing every time. Jesus preferred to tailor his healings to suit the person.

Likewise, we want a standardized approach to evangelism. Give me a script for how to deal with a non-Christian, and I will follow that script in every conversation I have. The Bible has a decidedly different approach.

Mars Hill -- in Athens -- was obsessed with rhetoric and clever ideas. So, that's how the Apostle Paul approached them with the gospel. Ephesus, on the other hand, was obsessed with magic and power. So, the Apostle Paul delivered the gospel to them in the midst of a flurry of signs and wonders.

In other words, the message of the gospel was delivered in different ways depending on the audience. No pre-packaged, ready-made, one-size-fits-all script to follow. It required listening to and learning from the people with whom you wanted to communicate.

That has implications, doesn't it?

If we are going to present the gospel to our society, what are its obsessions? If Athens' were rhetoric and clever ideas and Ephesus' were magic and power, what are contemporary America's? And how do we use those as bridges to present the gospel?

Sometimes Nostalgia is Good for the Soul

2006-01-24T10:36:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I was driving through the countryside of Maryland -- headed back from a retreat across the West Virginia line -- eager to meet up with my good buddy Bruce Hopler. It had been a very good retreat, but I was extremely tired. I began flipping through the radio stations, looking for NPR or something that would keep me interested on the 80-mile-drive. What I found instead was a radio station playing "Fool in the Rain" by Led Zeppelin.

That is one of those songs -- takes me back to a specific day in high school with Josh Touchton. It was the perfect way to set up spending time with Bruce -- put me in a great mood and let me relax and let go of all the work-stuff I had on my mind.

We probably all have songs like that -- songs that no matter what will stop our radio surfing and cause us to turn the radio up and sing along -- songs that bring an appropriate level of nostalgia. "Fool in the Rain" is one of mine. What are some of yours?

Mirrors and Banners

2006-01-23T09:22:00.000-05:00

Sitting in the Denver airport yesterday with my friend Greg Payne, we got into a discussion about art. Brecht said, "Art is not a mirror. It is a banner. It does not reflect, it shapes."

Do you suppose he was right?

If so, what do you suppose he meant?

Salvation: Individual or Communal? (part 3)

2006-01-19T07:47:00.000-05:00

In the beginning, when God was busy creating everything, there is a clear pattern to the Bible's recording of the events. God spoke things into existence, examined them and declared them: "Good". Then, he would do it again.

Over and over this happens in the first pages of the Bible. God speaks, things appear, he examines them and says, "That's good."

Everything's good -- until he sees something that isn't. Anyone remember the first thing about which the Bible says, "That's not good"?

"It's not good for man to be alone."

Think about this for a minute. This is before the Fall. Adam exists in unbroken fellowship with God. There is no sin, no shame, no separation. We would be tempted to have a conversation with Adam that looks like this:

US: What's wrong with you, Adam?

ADAM: I feel like something's wrong.

US: Wrong? What could be wrong?

ADAM: I don't know. I just feel alone sometimes.

US: Oh, Adam, as long as you have God, you're never alone.

The problem with that conversation is that it is God himself who chooses the words in this portion of Scripture. And the words he chooses to describe a sinless Adam at this point in time include "alone" and "not good".

In other words (and I think I have borrowed this phrase from either John Ortberg or Gilbert Bilezekian), while there is a God-shaped hole in the human heart that no one else can fill, there is also a human-shaped hole in the human heart that not even God himself will fill.

And this relates to what we've been discussing here for the past few days. One man, rightly related to God, with no communal experience, is not good.

Salvation: Individual or Communal? (part 2)

2006-01-17T21:12:00.000-05:00

When the thought first surfaced about salvation being primarily communal in nature with individual implications (rather than the other way around), I wasn't necessarily thinking about how one "gets saved" as much as I was thinking about how we live out our lives as saved people. But since a number of folks brought it up, maybe I should spend some time unpacking what I believe the Bible teaches about this.

I do not believe in the doctrine of individual election. I don't buy the idea that in eternity past God went down an aisle of people made in his own image and said, "That person is elect, and that person is not. This one's in, and that one's out."

Rather, I believe that God's election is corporate in nature. Every time the adjective "elect" is used in the NT, it is plural (except for Romans 16:13 and 2 John, where the references are still not to individuals as elect). Nowhere does the Bible refer to one person as elect and another person not elect. The elect is always a group of people.

So, I believe that in eternity past God decided who he would save: those who are in Christ. And then he revealed how we who are helpless can get "in Christ". Oddly enough, it is through surrender. Throughout the Bible, it is made clear that there is only one kind of person who receives grace: the humble. It takes a humble person to realize that they are helpless and must surrender to God.

I realize that there are really smart people who don't agree with my take on this theology. That's okay. There are other equally smart people who do agree with me. I still think the folks who disagree with me are saved, and I hope they think I'm saved. None of this is really the point I wanted to think about. The practical question I want to think about comes next.

What's the difference between these two?

1. I am saved because God called me, and I responded.

vs.

2. We are saved because God called us, and we responded.

Clearly, there's not a total either/or here. But mostly we concentrate on that first one. What would happen if we concentrated more on that second one?

Salvation: Individual or Communal?

2006-01-16T11:03:00.000-05:00

Something bubbled to the surface the other day while I was reading Conrad's book. We have traditionally thought of salvation as an individual thing that has implications for the community of faith.

But what if salvation is primarly a communal thing that has implications for us as individuals?

I've been really mulling that over in my head the past couple of days. I'm not even sure what it means. Anyone want to weigh in on this one?

Absolute Truth...But Not Absolutely

2006-01-13T10:05:00.000-05:00

In addition to Conrad's book, I'm also reading Art Lindsley's TRUE TRUTH: Defending Absolute Truth in a Relativistic World. With recommendations from Chuck Colson and Ravi Zacharias, one might be tempted to think Art's whole argument is an exercise in modernism and, consequently, miss a really helpful book.

Art makes a much needed distinction between believing that absolute truth exists and believing that a person with a finite mind can grasp that truth absolutely or exhaustively. Early on, he writes:

"I am starting with a basic understanding of truth as that which corresponds to reality, as perceived by God. Only God sees reality in al its complexity. What we understand is partial and limited. Yet partial truth can be real truth as long as we do not take it for the whole truth" (p. 19).

One thing that disturbs me about the trending towards postmodernism I see in folks is the tendency to react to modernism's claim to have absolutely grasped absolute truth by claiming that absolute truth is simply a social construct that doesn't even exist. That claim is less postmodernism and more ultramodernism. It says, "If I can't do it, it cannot be done. If I cannot conceive it, it must not exist. Since neither you nor I can be objective, objectivity does not exist. Because none of us knows the truth absolutely, absolute truth must not exist."

We've trumped our forefathers' arrogance with arrogance of our own. The understanding that absolutes exist, whether we grasp them absolutely or not, requires more humility and encourages better dialogue with people who disagree with us over what those absolutes may be.

Singing Our Circumstances Better

2006-01-11T17:42:00.000-05:00

Jesus can confuse people sometimes. In one place he seems to be telling people to "Lighten up!" and in another place he tells people, "I didn't come so you could behave any way you want." He appears to lower the bar sometimes, and then he turns around and raises the bar to impossible heights. He says the whole Law is summed up in the word love, but then he uses command language when he tells us to be perfect -- as perfect as God is!

It's interesting which parts of the Bible we concentrate on. My pal Jon Owen brought this up in the comments to yesterday's post. He pointed out how we tend to gravitate towards imitating Jesus in those areas that relate to what we're already doing or are interested in doing. If we are predisposed towards pursuing social justice, then those are the actions of Jesus we imitate. If we are more inclined towards ministries of compassion, we say it's because that's what Jesus called us to do. If we want to teach people about the Kingdom of God, it's because we're imitating Jesus' ministry.

We tend to pick and choose the parts of Jesus' teaching and ministry -- the parts of the Bible -- that we resonate with.

Conrad points this out in his book and offers a great suggestion: "you shouldn't focus on those passages in the Bible that contain answers you resonate with. Instead, focus on passages that address situations that resonate with your situation" (p. 34). In other words, stop rooting around in the Bible looking for something you want to read and start looking for characters in the Bible who are in similar circumstances as you. Read what the Bible has to say to them.

For example, we love to hear Jesus tell us to lighten up and relax a little. But few among us are as uptight as the Pharisees to begin with. As Conrad says, "Loosen up is already our motto."

All of this got me to thinking...I grew up religiously as part of the American Restoration Movement -- specifically the non-instrumental wing. We were born in the south and flourished during the era of post-Civil War reconstruction. All that to say, our forefathers were poor. And they wrote songs about it -- songs that told of a home far beyond the sky where the streets were made of gold and we all lived in mansions. They sang about how wonderful it would be over there and how miserable it was here where we were poor while others prospered even though they were clearly doing wrong.

It may have been appropriate for them to look to those places in the Bible that spoke of the demise of poverty and the promise of rewards beyond our wildest imaginations.

But when I go visit a church with BMWs and SUVs in the parking lot, a church made up of people who live in 3,000 square foot homes, and they're still singing those songs? Maybe we ought to write new songs -- songs based on the parts of the Bible that fit our circumstances better.

What might those songs be?

Imitating Jesus Well

2006-01-10T16:13:00.000-05:00

I'm reading Conrad Gempf's great little book MEALTIME HABITS OF THE MESSIAH. What I love about Conrad is that he's this huge New Testament scholar (well, his scholarship is huge -- Conrad himself is normal-sized), but he writes in a very accessible style and has a good sense of humor. That's kind of a rare combination.

Anyway, I've skimmed the book once and really like the way he's organized the material. Now, I'm working my way through slowly. He has three questions that resurface throughout the book, and I want to talk a bit about the first one: We are supposed to imitate Christ, but how exactly?

There have been those who actively sought out their own deaths, for example. Usually, they would go around looking for people who were aggressively hostile towards the Christian faith and do things to bait those people into killing them. Is that what imitating Jesus looks like?

There are others who have withdrawn from society and gone to live in isolation. That doesn't seem very much like Jesus.

Spoiling for a fight -- avoiding other folks -- marching in the streets -- huddling up with others.

What does it look like when someone imitates Jesus well?

Shameless Self-Promotion

2006-01-09T16:36:00.000-05:00

A lot of hype and money was generated over the idea that Christians would be able to engage their pre-Christian friends and neighbors in spiritual ways with movies like THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST or NARNIA. But what if the greatest opportunity to have meaningful conversations will be after May 19, when Ron Howard's movie version of THE DA VINCI CODE hits the big screen? It's certainly going to generate a fair amount of dialogue at the water cooler.

But are the people in your church prepared to have those conversations? Do they know how to respond when someone begins to push at the foundations of their faith in a way that honors both God and the person asking the questions?

I am terrible at self-promotion, but I have added a link on the side of the page to my book THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE DA VINCI CODE. Though it's not scheduled for release until May 1, you can pre-order it now from Amazon.com or from Lifeway.com or Christianbook.com. (It's a surreal experience for me to open up the Broadman & Holman catalogue that just arrived and see my picture -- page 6 if you get it). I've also added a link to the article I wrote in the fall of 2003 that kind of started my interest in Dan Brown's worldview in the first place.

I'm going to be doing a series of seminars promoting the book this spring. The plan would be for me to come into a city, do a booksigning, do a radio interview and lead a one-day seminar equipping people to respond to the challenges presented in the upcoming movie with equal parts truth and grace. If you're interested in hosting one, leave me a comment or send me an email, and we'll see if we can work something out.

Anxiety and the Bigness of God

2006-01-05T13:19:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting in a rustic, little retreat center overlooking a mostly frozen lake. My stomach's in knots for reasons unknown to me. My phone shows no bars, but -- miracle of miracles -- they do have wireless internet service!

It's been a long day already. Up before dawn, on a plane, rent a car, drive 100 miles into the middle of nowhere to help some folks think strategically about how to reach out to families in their community.

And this strange anxious feeling in my gut that I cannot explain won't go away.

The sky overhead is low and gray -- foreboding. They're saying it might snow tonight.

Still, the words from Isaiah 6 ring in my head: The whole earth is filled with his glory. The earth can no more contain the glory of God than a thimble can contain the Pacific Ocean -- than a child's sand bucket can contain Niagara Falls. Downtown Atlanta (where I left this morning) certainly cannot. Neither can these West Virginia mountains where I sit this afternoon.

He's too big for this earth. Bigger than all my cares and anxieties -- known and unknown -- knowable and unknowable. Big enough to take care of my wife and kids back home. Big enough for 2005. Big enough for 2006. Big enough for today.

Well, my salad is on its way from the kitchen. I should close this out.

I feel that anxiety slipping away a little.

Why I Read Old Books

2006-01-03T19:11:00.000-05:00

I have a list of books that I am currently reading. It's on the sidebar of this blog -- down on the righthand side. There is almost always an old book on that list. Lately, I've been on a C.S. Lewis kick. Granted, his books aren't really that old, but I read a quote of his recently that reminded me of why I like to read old books. He wrote:

"It's a good rule after reading a new book never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between. If that is too much for you, you should at least read one old one to three new ones.... Every age has its own outlook. It is especially good for seeing certain truths and especially liable to make certain mistakes. We all therefore need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period.... None of us can fully escape this blindness, but we shall certainly increase it, and weaken our guard against it, if we read only modern books.... The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds and this can only be done by reading old books."*

I know McLaren is really popular right now. And God knows I'm a huge fan of N.T. Wright. I love reading the newest books, the latest scholarship, the current thoughts. But let's not fall prey to chronological snobbery thinking that if it's old it must be rejected. Read McLaren, and, after you're done, pick up Bernard of Clairveaux. Read Dallas Willard and mix in something from Teresa of Avila or St. John of the Cross or William Law or Jonathan Edwards.

If you only read one kind of thinker -- even if it is a particularly good kind of thinker (or a new kind of thinker?) -- you'll end up being the very thing you rebel against right now.

That's why I read old books.

*C.S. Lewis, "On the Reading of Old Books," in FIRST AND SECOND THINGS:ESSAYS ON THEOLOGY AND ETHICS, ed. Walter Hooper (Glasgow: Collins, 1985), pp. 27-28.

Crawling Out From Under the Weather

2006-01-02T12:57:00.000-05:00

The New Year whimpered in for me this time. Waves of nausea never amounting to anything more than an overall feeling of blech combined with a slight fever to keep me under the weather and under the covers for the past couple of days.

We did manage to have people over for New Year's Eve, but I'm afraid I wasn't much of a host -- wandering around with my ginger ale in hand trying not to look miserable.

I know 2005 was like every other year. It was filled with heartache and pain. It was also filled with unspeakable joy. It was, in other words, a mixed bag. Who can forget the images of devastation from the tsunami? Or the millions of people impacted by Hurricane Katrina? Who will ever forget how people rallied to the aid of those people -- the millions of dollars and unbelievable outpouring of physical support offered to those in need? The surprising generosity demonstrated by people from all four corners of the nation?

Children were born. Marriages were lost. People bought new homes. Others filed for bankruptcy. The year 2005 was like every other year: it was the best of times; it was the worst of times.

Odds are 2006 will be much the same. Cities are being rebuilt. Lives are being made whole again. Things are not as good as they could be; nor have they been as bad as they could have been. Fires are burning across the plains even now as people are holding newborn babies in their arms.

God's Kingdom has been introduced into our world and will not relent until it has taken over completely. Every year we are one year closer to the fulfillment of God's promise to make everything new, to redeem what has been lost and turn everything that is currently upside-down rightside-up.

Every January we look back, and we look forward. We look back and remember the things that are reminders of the already-ness and the not-yet-ness of God's presence. We look forward to the day when we have finally crawled out from under the weather into the clear skies of the City of God.

2005: A Look Behind and A Look Ahead

2005-12-31T12:53:00.000-05:00

It's the end of 2005. If you're in Australia, it's already 2006.

At this time of year it's customary for people to look back on the events that shaped the year past. It's also customary for people to look ahead to what 2006 may have in store for us.

So, I'm inviting you to tell me what your hopes are for 2006.

And while you're at it, tell me what happened in 2005 that you're especially thankful for.

What's In A Name?

2005-12-29T15:15:00.000-05:00

So, the idea has resurfaced that I should start my own non-profit ministry organization -- to help people think about the Bible and Spiritual Formation and How We Can Live In Our World in new and creative ways. This is something that people have encouraged me to do for some time, but I've always resisted because I am not interested in managing something like that. I'm at a point in my life where I'm content to just be talent. I want to think about things, show up and say my words and leave someone else to do all the other stuff. Creating content is one thing -- filling out paperwork and having board meetings and all that makes me want to run and hide.

Anyway, several people have talked to me about doing something like this -- especially in the past few months. And now I'm actually thinking about it. It would be wise to do this for a number of reasons, and I think I have people around me who are competent and willing to do most of the legwork for me. Still, I'm kind of dragging my feet.

I think part of the reason why I'm reluctant is because I can't think of a really cool name. I don't want to be John Turner Ministries. I work with really cutting edge folks with names like The reThink Group and BigStuf. John Turner Ministries sounds very -- I don't know -- 1970s. My blog is titled In His Big Grip, but I don't like that as the name of the organization, either.

So, I'm stuck. Am I making too much out of this? Does the name of the organization really make that much of a difference? Anyone have any great ideas for me?

How Now Shall I Live?

2005-12-27T14:09:00.000-05:00

A few days ago I finished the parenting book. It felt pretty good to hit send on that last chapter. There's still a reading list and acknowledgments, but the content is done.

It took me more than two years, and I read close to 100 books in the process. The book has become a part of my life. So many of the things I've done have been filtered through this question: How will this help me finish the parenting book? I constantly asked myself if something was helping me write the book or distracting me from writing the book.

But now it's done. And I don't know what to do with myself.

I sat around the house yesterday. I read a novel. I helped my daughters roller skate in the driveway. I made dinner. I watched a football game. And around every corner I expected to encounter my familiar mantra: must finish parenting book. But it is finished.

I know it won't be long before I get back to work. I've got three trips in January and three more in February. I'll be back doing 5-Hour Workshops -- training churches in how to use curriculum for 252Basics and reach out to families in their community more effectively. But I wonder how long it will be before the next book idea starts to really take shape. I have several ideas bouncing around my head. I wonder what the next big thing will be. Where will the next opportunity come from?

For now, I'm resting. I'm not checking my email much. I haven't returned any calls since before Christmas. I don't know what I'm doing. I feel restless. I need something, but I don't know what it is. I'm not hungry, but I eat. I feel sluggish and tired.

Now that the book is done, I feel aimless.

How now shall I live?

Welcome To Our World

2005-12-25T16:01:00.000-05:00

"Welcome To Our World"
by Chris Rice

Tears are falling, hearts are breaking
How we need to hear from God
You've been promised, we've been waiting

Welcome Holy Child
Welcome Holy Child

Hope that you don't mind our manger
How I wish we would have known
But long-awaited Holy Stranger
Make Yourself at home
Please make Yourself at home

Bring Your peace into our violence
Bid our hungry souls be filled
Word now breaking Heaven's silence

Welcome to our world
Welcome to our world

Fragile finger sent to heal us
Tender brow prepared for thorn
Tiny heart whose blood will save us

Unto us is born
Unto us is born

So wrap our injured flesh around You
Breathe our air and walk our sod
Rob our sin and make us holy
Perfect Son of God
Perfect Son of God

Welcome to our world

Light and Life at Christmas

2005-12-24T11:58:00.000-05:00

When we talk about the birth of Jesus, we always turn to Luke's Gospel or Matthew's. That's where we read about angels and shepherds, a star and a stable, wise men and visitations. That's where all the images of Christmas have their origin. Mark's Gospel skips the beginning and starts in the middle of the story. John's Gospel goes too far back to before the beginning of anything and is hard to read and understand.

So, John and Mark don't get much play during December. They don't smell enough like a stable, I suppose.

The Apostle John has had a lifetime to reflect on the events surrounding the life of Jesus. He had been the one asked to look after Mary, Jesus' mother. So, assuming she had become part of his family, they must have spent time talking about the birth and all the craziness surrounding it. Her face, her laugh, the way she turned phrases -- these things may have been reminders to John of what Jesus was like.

When John finally sits down to write his version of the story, he must have thought about where to begin. His mind must have played and replayed the details of that night in Bethlehem. Instead of starting there, he goes beyond it and beneath it. His version begins by telling us about the One called The Word and how this One came into a dark and dying world. In fact, as I read the prologue to John's Gospel, two words surface more than any others: light and life.

Those two themes are what John's mind gravitates toward. He must have remembered where Jesus was standing and what he sounded like when he referred to himself by those words. Jesus is many things to many people, but to John he is Light, and he is Life.

"In him was Life," John writes. Jesus wasn't just alive; he was life. Life was in him -- more than a heart beating and lungs contracting, the life Jesus provided was what produces beating hearts and contracting lungs. He was life, so life was his to give. John's Gospel reminds us that giving life was what Jesus had come to do. He was the bringer of life.

"That Life was the Light of men," John writes. What's going through John's mind now as he reads his own words? He could recall men and women who were dark and full of death coming to Jesus and seeing how one touch, one word from him sent them away forever changed -- forever filled with the Light and Life of the one who came to conquer our fear of death and beat back the darkness.

He could remember how that Light broke into his own darkness with a simple question. "What do you want?" Jesus had asked him. Life and Light -- that was Jesus.

And there is a little inkling of the birth here in John's Gospel. It is one short sentence, but it says as much as Matthew or Luke did -- without the details, of course:

"The Light shone in the darkness, and the darkness did not understand It" (John 1:5).

This verse should be read before Matthew and Luke. It prepares us to receive the full version of the story. The Light that is Jesus shines in, around, through, behind, beneath, beyond the darkness of the manger, the darkness of the stable, the darkness of the world, the darkness of our hearts.

And yet we still do not understand it any more than did the shepherds or the wise men. Who can grasp this idea of Light and Life being contained in a body?

Like those first witnesses to the Christ-child, we are left to worship, adore and ponder the mystery. And we pray for his Life to come to life in us. And we ask for his Light to shine forth from our hearts forever.

The Shortest Day of the Year

2005-12-21T18:59:00.000-05:00

The sun went down a little while ago here in Atlanta. It's completely dark outside, and it happened earlier today than any other day this year. It's the Winter Solstice -- the day with the least amount of sunlight. Every day for the next six months will gradually grow longer and longer.

The early church faced some big decisions with what to do about certain pagan holidays. These holidays were so deeply embedded in their culture that people who had left behind their pagan ways and converted to Christianity would often revert to pagan revelry on these special days. Church leaders thought that if they could establish new holidays to paste over the old ones, maybe that might help.

And so the idea of celebrating the birth of great people in the Bible came about. But where on the calendar should they put something as significant as the birth of Jesus?

They actually decided on it a little backwards. First, they decided to celebrate the birth of John the Baptist on the Summer Solstice. It's the longest day of the year. Every day after that has gradually fewer and fewer hours of sunlight. This reminded them of John's statement that "I must decrease so that Jesus can increase" (John 3:30).

If Jesus is the light of the world, it makes sense to celebrate his entrance into this world on the shortest day of the year. The Winter Solstice fell on December 25 in the Julian Calendar. Christmas -- the celebration of the birth of Jesus -- was placed on that date.

I know all about the Feast of Saturnalia, and I've heard all the theories about early Christians just wanting to Christianize the population. But after this week, there will be gradually more and more light in our world. At least there's supposed to be. Today has been the shortest day of our year. I am looking forward to more sunlight tomorrow and more the day after that.

I am looking forward to seeing how this Christ-child born in such a lowly estate is going to continue to increase in my own life and eventually light up the sky of this darkened world.

So, in one sense, today has been dark. Dean still isn't showing any signs of improvement or receptivity that I know of. Children are going to bed tonight hungry and cold. Disease is tearing apart an entire continent. People are lonely and afraid and bound by rigid legalism that robs them of their joy.

But in another sense, we could say that we have made it through the darkest part. The light has broken through and may only exist in small pockets here and there -- slivers of light shining through the cracks of the walls. But broken through it has. And tomorrow will have more light than today.

Asking the King to Make His Move

2005-12-20T17:14:00.000-05:00

Dr. Kenneth Ulmer is the pastor of Faithful Central Bible Church in Inglewood, California. It's a predominantly African-American Church that recently purchased The Forum -- where the Lakers used to play basketball. He's been their pastor since 1982 and has overseen their growth from 350 people to more than 13,000 now. His is a remarkable story.

And he can preach.

He's one of those rare men who not only has lots of good knowledge (he earned a Ph.D. from Grace Theological Seminary) but lots of passion as well.

And did I mention he can preach?

He tells this story about two guys walking through an art museum. They come upon a painting of a chess game, which is very interesting because one of the two men happens to be an international chess champion.

There were two characters in the painting: one looked like a regular guy; the other looked like the Devil. The regular guy was down to his last piece on the chessboard, and the title of the painting is Checkmate.

Something about the painting intrigued the two men, but the chess champion could not stop staring at the painting. He became so engrossed in it, he eventually told his partner to move on without him. Something about the painting wasn't right, but he couldn't figure it out and wanted more time to study it.

After a while, he began to run through the museum to find his friend. He said, "We have to find the man who painted this. We have to tell him that he must change his picture or change its title."

His friend was bewildered. "What? What's wrong with the picture and its title?"

THE KING STILL HAS ONE MORE MOVE.

When Dr. Ulmer tells the story, this is where you start to get goosebumps. It can't be checkmate if the King still has one more move. The game can't be over as long as the King still has one more move. Anything can happen as long as the King still has one more move.

God's people are in slavery in Egypt. They've come under the ruthless hand of the mighty Pharaoh. He's killing all the baby boys. It looks like Checkmate, but...the King still has one more move.

The people leave Egypt, headed for the Promised Land, but Pharaoh is determined to bring them back. They find themselves with the armies of Egypt behind them and the Red Sea in front of them -- trapped between the Devil and the Deep Red Sea. It looks like Checkmate, but...the King still has one more move.

A little boy named David goes out to fight a giant named Goliath. He doesn't fit into the suit of armor he's offered, so he goes out to fight with a rock and a slingshot. It looks like Checkmate, but...the King still has one more move.

Elijah is totally outnumbered. The Queen has been executing the prophets of God and replacing them with the prophets and priests of Baal. The people have been seduced by the worship of foreign gods, and it looks like Checkmate, but...the King still has one more move.

A young man named Daniel refuses to stop praying to his God and gets thrown in a den of lions. Three other young men refuse to bow down and worship an idol and get thrown into a fiery furnace. The nation groans under the strain of captivity and exile. It looks like Checkmate, but...the King still has one more move.

Eventually, Jesus himself entered our world and submitted to the most cruel and inhumane torture imaginable. He was mocked and beaten and killed and buried in a tomb. And when they slid that stone in front of the entrance to his grave, it must have looked like Checkmate, but...the King still had one more move.

There's a reason I'm telling you this. And it's a very personal reason.

My father-in-law is dying.

I don't mean he's dying like we're all dying. I mean he's dying right now. He may not last through the holidays. And my wife is distraught.

See, Dean is not only not a Christian; Dean has been openly antagonistic about Christianity.

But did I mention he's dying?

He's got 70 tumors in his lungs, one in his brain and one behind his ear. If he ever finds out I told you all this, he'll probably never speak to me again.

But did I mention he's dying?

It's pretty much a foregone conclusion at this point. He's dying. There's no amount of medical technology that's going to magically appear to save him. Certainly, miracles are possible, but he's not going to last much longer.

The only hope I have to offer my wife is this: Even though it looks like Checkmate right now -- the King still has one more move.

Would you please pray that our King will make his move? Pray for Dean's heart to open and soften and receive what he has fought so hard to resist all his life. Pray for grace and mercy and love to do what reason and argument and logic never have been able to do. Pray for Dean. Pray for my wife. Pray for us all. Please.

The Opposite of Withdrawal

2005-12-20T11:14:00.000-05:00

It doesn't take a genius to figure out where all this talk of withdrawal is heading. It's been hinted at in some of the comments, and it's something that I feel very passionately about -- so much so that a big portion of the parenting book revolves around it.

Christians often feel compelled to withdraw out of fear. They're afraid they might find themselves polluted by their involvement with non-Christians. That was Pete's argument, and he had Bible verses to justify it. Granted, they were taken miserably out of context, but they sounded valid. We're not supposed to have anything to do with the world, right? We're not supposed to love the world or the things of the world.

And, as lots of Christians like to say, "It's all about souls." Souls are all that matters, right? So, all this other stuff is just re-arranging deck chairs on The Titanic. It's all going to perish, so why bother with it?

That sounds kind of biblical. But it's not.

See, our goal is this whole endeavor is not to be biblical. Our goal is to be Christlike. So, when our biblical analysis ends up making us less like Jesus, something's gone terribly wrong.

Jesus left an environment so perfect we can only imagine it through pictures and analogies in order to enter a less-than-perfect world. He could have chosen to withdraw, but he did not. He engaged with people. He fed hungry people. He touched and healed sick people. He chose to live among us -- even though he did not have to. He engaged with people who were of a lower status than he, and, in doing so, he elevated them. He left the world -- temporary though it may be -- a much brighter place than he found it. And he calls us to do the same.

The Incarnation -- Christmas itself -- is the opposite of withdrawal.

Pete's Take on Withdrawal

2005-12-19T10:05:00.000-05:00

All the comments and email I've received point to a few major reasons why we withdraw from society. Mostly it's because of fear, the belief that our engagement won't actually accomplish anything and a gross misunderstanding of a few Bible verses.

To jump us further into this conversation, I'll quote the following over-the-top story from a book I've been re-reading. Dick Staub was a nationally syndicated talk-radio host in Chicago for years. He tells this story in his book TOO CHRISTIAN, TOO PAGAN (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000):

"The phone lines were jammed, and I owed it all to Ann Landers. Her column that morning told the story of a young man named Bob who was about to be married. Bob was asking if he should un-invite his father Jim's "significant other" from the wedding ceremony. Fourteen years earlier Jim announced that he was gay and left Bob's mother. Jim now lived with Greg, a man who by all accounts was a kind and thoughtful person. Bob struggled with his father's decision. While he didn't approve of his father's choice, Bob had come to accept him. On occasion Bob and his fiancee Carol socialized with Jim and Greg.

"When Carol's parents heard about this gay union, they were extremely upset and demanded that Greg not attend the wedding. When Greg learned of ths situation he said he understood and told Bob he would voluntarily withdraw from the event. But Bob's dad was deeply offended and asked his son to reconsider. You be the judge. What would you do in this situation?

"The calls came fast and were intense. 'The bride's parents are bring ridiculous. If Bob and his fiancee let her parents make this decision, they'll never stop interfering in this marriage.' 'Bob's dad is just reaping the benefits of his sinful act. First he leaves his wife, and then he takes up with a man. He should get over his hurt and accept the consequences of his own actions.' 'I think what Greg is doing is admirable -- this couple should accept his peacemaking offer as a wonderful gift.'

"Then Pete from Long Beach called. 'Not only should they tell Greg not to attend, they should make sure only born-again Christians attend their wedding.'

"'And why is that?' I asked.

"'Marriage is a Christian ceremony, a sacrament, and we shouldn't pollute it with the presence of unbelievers.'

"'Sounds like a pretty radical position to me!'

"'That's your problem, Dick, you don't understand the importance of separation from the world.'

"'Really! Tell me more.'

"'The Bible makes it clear. We are to have no fellowship with darkness. Friendship with the world is enmity with God. Dick, if you believe this, why do you do movie reviews every Thursday on your show?'

"'And what do movie reviews have to do with it?'

"'We're not supposed to love the world or the things of the world. The world is polluted with sin, and God is going to destroy is anyway! Movies are of the world! We shouldn't waste our time talking about them, and Christians certainly shouldn't be watching them.'

"'Pete, just so I'm sure I understand you, would you invite movie-going Christians to your wedding, or are they on the non-invite list with all the gays and non-Christians?'

"'A real Christian wouldn't go to the movies, but you know what, Dick? You're a jerk, and I don't want to waste any more time putting my pearls in front of swine like you.' Click. Pete hung up." (pp. 34-35)

Anyone ever met Pete? Anyone have something constructive to tell him? How do you approach Pete and make a case that might change his mind?

Withdrawal is Withdrawal

2005-12-16T09:51:00.000-05:00

I asked a question yesterday about why Christian often feel the need to withdraw from society. Michael wrote in and asked:

"By 'withdrawal' do you mean those who retreat to a monastic way of life? Those who remove themselves from the everyday “normalities” that you and I enjoy and choose to not interact any longer with culture?

Or do you mean those who refuse to vote, who don’t read the paper or ponder political questions or are afraid to talk to others about God?"

Now I'm wondering: what's the difference? Withdrawing from society -- whether to go live on a mountain top in a commune or continuing to live among the rest of the people but having nothing to do with them and refusing to get involved in processes that might make a difference -- it's the same thing, isn't it?

Unless I'm missing something here, withdrawal is withdrawal.

And it's practiced by too many Christians.

Withdrawing From Society?

2005-12-15T17:51:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to get my head around why Christians sometimes feel the need to withdraw from society.

Any ideas?

Also, any ideas how we can explain to them the reasons why we ought to engage our culture?

Not the Way It's Supposed to Be

2005-12-14T22:14:00.000-05:00

I think what we've been hinting at in several of the recent posts dealing with "beauty" and "ugly" comes down to this:

Beauty is when things or people are the way they're supposed to be.

Ugly is when things or people are not the way they're supposed to be.*

Perhaps that's why every society I can think of points to nature as a thing of beauty. Sure, there have been individuals who disagree, but every culture paints landscapes. Nature is beautiful when it is unspoiled -- untainted -- natural.

Destruction is ugly because by its very nature it corrupts and perverts. Few things are uglier than an oil spill or a landfill or polluted streams and skies. Why? Because that's not the way they're supposed to be. Racism and genocide are ugly. That's not the way things are supposed to be.

In the movie GRAND CANYON, an attorney gets stuck in a traffic jam. He tries to go around it by taking side streets, but his car breaks down in the worst of all possible neighborhoods. He manages to call a tow truck, but before it arrives, the attorney finds himself surrounded by a menacing gang. Just as things are about to get really bad, the tow truck driver shows up. As he begins to assist the attorney, the gang members protest until he takes their leader aside and tells him:

"Man, the world ain't supposed to work like this. Maybe you don't know that, but this ain't the way it's supposed to be. I'm supposed to be able to do my job without askin' you if I can. And that dude is supposed to be able to wait with his car without you rippin' him off. Everything's supposed to be different than what it is here."

In other words, this situation is ugly. Our world is ugly. We are ugly. That's not the whole truth about us, but it is certainly part of the whole truth about us. And until we are restored and redeemed, this ugliness follows us around, haunting even our best days with the looming specter of our own inevitable destruction.

The hope of Christmas is that one day everything that is currently upside-down will be turned rightside-up -- that one day things will be restored -- ugliness will be banished and beauty will once again reign supreme.

Until then, we survive on glimpses of beauty -- slivers of hope in an otherwise ugly world -- reminders that God is not through with us yet.

*For more on this topic see Cornelius Plantinga, Jr. NOT THE WAY IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE: A BREVIARY OF SIN (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995).

A God of Second Chances

2005-12-14T08:47:00.000-05:00

"Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: 'Go to the city of Ninevah and proclaim to it the message I give you.' Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Ninevah" (Jonah 3:1-3a).

Well...duh!

One more thing we learn about God from this whole Jonah and the fish story is that no matter how far you've run or how long you've been gone, God's still got a plan and a purpose for your life. Whenever you're ready to turn around, God accepts you -- doesn't spend time saying, "I told you so" and is ready with your next assignment. God is a God of second chances.

Oh, and don't be surprised if your next assignment is a lot like your last assignment.

Universal Ugly

2005-12-14T00:52:00.000-05:00

The only thing I can think of that is universally considered ugly is destruction.

Universal Beauty

2005-12-13T19:14:00.000-05:00

The only thing I can think of that is universally considered beautiful is nature.

Beauty

2005-12-12T16:18:00.000-05:00

I'm working on chapter nine of the parenting book. I think I've got it where I want it, but I'm looking for some help again.

BTW, you'll all get thanked in the acknowledgment section.

In this part of the book, we've been talking about what Christians value. We've talked about Truth verses Error. Then we talked about Good versus Evil. Now we're talking about Beauty versus Ugliness.

Okay, can anyone give me an objective definition of Beauty?

What about Ugly?

Peace

2005-12-10T23:10:00.000-05:00

Just came across this quote from the late Henri Nouwen:

"The first question is not: 'How much do I do?' or how many people do I help out, but 'am I interiorly at peace?'"

I need to sit with that for a while.

Trying to Save Yourself

2005-12-09T15:26:00.000-05:00

"Salvation comes from the LORD" (Jonah 2:9b).

A simple statement. And one most Christians have heard countless times, used countless times, contemplated...uh...maybe once right before they prayed that prayer or walked that aisle.

"Salvation comes from the LORD." This insight is given to us by a man inside the belly of a giant fish -- a man who ran from God and narrowly escaped drowning -- a man who knew all about God but wanted to do things his way instead.

It's a familiar phrase, but it's used in an unfamiliar context here. It's unusual, because Jonah doesn't seem to be talking about heaven and hell. That's what we usually think of when we use the word "salvation".

Jonah thought he could save himself -- not from an eternity of separation from God -- but from some unpleasant assignment. Jonah thought he could save himself from embarrassment and misery. He found out that salvation comes from the LORD.

What do you think you can save yourself from?

Fear?
Loneliness?
Depression?

So many people say to God, "Just get me into heaven when I die, and I'll take care of the rest."

Salvation comes from the LORD.

God Lets People Go

2005-12-08T18:17:00.000-05:00

"Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs" (Jonah 2:8).

So many amazing things we learn about God from Jonah. Here's one: If you want to leave, God will let you. He may pursue you and cause (or at least allow) painful consequences to come upon you. But if you insist on clinging to something else more than God, he will let you. He will not force himself on anyone.

Is That You, God?

2005-12-08T09:04:00.000-05:00

"You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me" (Jonah 2:3).

Wait a second, Jonah. That wasn't God. It was the sailors who hurled you into the deep.

Or was it?

You may think your boss fired you for stealing office supplies, but could it have been God?

You may think the police arrested you for driving under the influence, but could it have been God?

You may think your professor got you kicked out of school for cheating, but could it have been God?

Sometimes God actually causes the terrible circumstances that stop you in your tracks and force you to deal with your problems.

As we mentioned in a prior post, we tend to think of God's provision as something that feels good, but sometimes God loves us enough to provide consequences that are painful. As C.S. Lewis said, pain is often God's "megaphone to rouse a deaf world". What God wants to communicate to us in a whisper, lessons we desperately need to learn but stubbornly refuse, often are only learned through painful situations. So, God allows us to endure pain -- deliberately brings pain upon us.

But he's not doing it to pay us back.

He's doing it to bring us back.

God Hears and Answers

2005-12-07T17:38:00.000-05:00

From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. He said: "In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me" (Jonah 2:1).

Here's an amazing thing about God: When you run from God and your life begins to unravel as it inevitably will -- when you hit rock bottom and cry out to God, he hears and answers.

How amazing is that?

You Call That Provision?

2005-12-07T10:58:00.000-05:00

The story of Jonah (like the rest of the Bible) is more about God than about Jonah. And the message of the whole story is really that we're all Ninevites. We'll get to talking about that more in the coming days, but I don't want to rush past the whole Jonah in the belly of the fish part.

The text says that God "provided" a fish to swallow Jonah.

Provided?

That seems odd to call that provision. We usually associate the provision of God with something really fun. God provided food in the midst of famine. God provided money in the midst of poverty. God provided a child for a barren woman. God provided water in the desert.

But being swallowed by a fish? That hardly fits my personal idea of provision.

Here's my question for you today: What do we learn about God from the way he handled Jonah running from him?

Apologizing to Eugene Peterson

2005-12-06T19:18:00.000-05:00

This morning I sat down to read my Bible. I've been reading THE MESSAGE lately, because it's different and sometimes catches me off guard. "Where did that come from?" I think to myself as I read some familiar passage in unfamiliar prose. "Surely that can't be what it means!" And off I go to consult the Greek and find that lo and behold (!) that's pretty much what it means.

I'm not wild about the phraseology. I think it's a little stilted -- like maybe he was trying a little too hard. But it's been good for me.

Anyway, this morning I decided I wanted to read Galatians. I love the bit about God waiting until just the right time to send Jesus (Galatians 4:4). I love how hot-tempered Paul is -- using course language and speaking plainly about how stupid it is to begin by faith and try to finish by obedience. Though I haven't spent as much time in Galatians as in some other parts of the New Testament, I really enjoy his argument.

Anyway, this morning I got really mad at how loose Eugene Peterson was with his translation. As I sat there reading, I thought, "This doesn't even sound like the same book! He's butchered this text! How dare he!"

Then I started to notice things: How in the world was Paul going to visit Galatia on his way to Macedonia? And why would they care about the real reason he didn't visit the church in Corinth?

Wait a second...this isn't Galatians! It's 2 Corinthians!

Sorry about all the bad things I muttered under my breath about you, Dr. Peterson. Next time I'll remember to read the opening paragraph before diving in.

Running From God: Hurting Innocent Bystanders

2005-12-06T10:17:00.000-05:00

When you run from God (like Jonah), you always end up hurting innocent people around you. Think of those sailors on the boat with him! They have nothing to do with Jonah and him running from God. But they end up caught in the storm, throwing their cargo overboard, afraid for their lives.

How many kids are paying for the fact that their mom or their dad decided to run from God?

How many business partners are left holding the bag?

This is why it's important to really consider carefully who you get involved with. If they're running from God, your heart and motives may be pure, but you'll end up getting hurt. It is simply inevitable.

If you're a runner, you may think your relationship with God is your business and no one else's, but when you choose to run from God -- you end up hurting innocent bystanders.

Running From God: How Foolish Is That?

2005-12-05T09:15:00.000-05:00

God is Ultimate Reality. He is the source of everything good, true and beautiful. He is wisdom. The best definition of wisdom I ever heard goes like this: Wisdom is the God-given ability to see the true nature of things. In other words, wisdom is God's perspective on everything.

But when you run from God, you run from all that. You run from goodness and truth and beauty and wisdom.

As a natural consequence, you make foolish choices.

When Jonah runs from God, he decides to get on a boat. How foolish is that? A boat? In the middle of the sea? That's foolish.

People who run from God never run to safety. They run towards self-destruction and danger. Financially, relationally, career-wise, you name it -- people who are running from God do things that others look at and say, "No, not that!"

For example, I sometimes speak to college students, and I'll tell them, "If you're going to run from God, do yourself and everyone else a favor: do not get married -- do not have kids -- do not borrow money. You will regret it."

Eventually, their lives begin to unravel, and they think it's a result of all the bad choices they've made.

Their relationships come apart, and they trace the demise of the relationship trying to figure out where they went wrong. They went wrong when they left the ultimate source of love and acceptance. Ever since then, they've been looking for something from people that they aren't designed to give.

Their business goes under, and they trace the demise of their career trying to figure out where they went wrong. They went wrong when they left the ultimate source of meaning and purpose. Ever since then, they've been looking for something from their job that their job isn't designed to give.

A lot of us, if we were in Jonah's shoes, would have thought, "If only I'd gotten on a different boat. If only I'd sailed to a different place. I should have gone to Egypt instead of Tarshish."

Jonah's life didn't start to unravel because of that city or that boat or that storm. Jonah's life started coming apart the moment he started running from God.

Pat Robertson

2005-12-03T08:35:00.000-05:00

My friend ModFab had this to say in the comments of the last post:

"From where I sit, it seems that nearly all American Christians are complicit...they may not agree with the crazy things that Pat Robertson says, but are not taking visible steps to remove him from his media empire or his voice as a Christian leader."

I've tried explaining that Pat's not really in any kind of formal position of leadership from which he can be removed. He just has enough money to buy television time -- just like Bill Maher, Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, et al.

A couple of questions:

1. Do any of you actually listen to and/or give much credence to anything Pat Robertson says? Why or why not?

2. Is there anything "American Christians" can do to hold someone like Pat Robertson accountable?

Running From God...Or Running From His People?

2005-12-02T11:18:00.000-05:00

One other reason why some folks run from God (and this one is really heartbreaking): They've confused God with his people.

A lot of folks grew up in terrible churches. Let's face it, there are lots of terrible churches out there breeding terrible Christians and unleashing them on unsuspecting people -- especially kids. When you grow up in a terrible church that breeds legalism or some sort of stifling fear, you reach an age where you don't want to become like the leaders of your church.

Often, however, because no one's told you any different, you think that in order to avoid becoming like those people you not only have to run from your church but run from God as well. When you think God and the church are the same thing, you're likely to end up on the run from the one Person who has your best interests at heart.

Confessions: Credo & Cogito

2005-12-01T23:53:00.000-05:00

Augustine's CONFESSIONS is one of my favorite books of all time. He presents himself as the Prodigal Son and the Lost Sheep from The Gospel of Luke. He compares himself to the Apostle Paul -- first lost, then found -- changed dramatically but still struggling with himself. Augustine was Everyman -- his story is our story.

CONFESSIONS is actually 13 short books. The first nine are autobiographical. The last four are theological. He presents his own story as a microcosm of the overarching biblical story: creation...fall...redemption. He manages to be personal and universal at the same time.

By the time CONFESSIONS was completed, Augustine had come to see that faith and reason could never be separated. They are part of the warp and woof of the universe, and they are inextricably linked.

He struggled with his own restlessness all his life. His thought was never the calm and theoretical thought of an academician. He threw himself into thoughts with a passion and defended his beliefs with a fury. He gave himself completely to reality as a whole -- never falling into the trap of reductionism that would capture later thinkers like Descartes. Augustine's beliefs came from a deep, personal catharsis. He recognized the limits of reason (cogito), and grounded reason firmly in faith (credo).

Augustine's faith was not a blind leap; it was rationally justifiable. Like when you get on a bus and trust that it will take you the same place it's taken you every morning. Like when you step on the brakes of your car and trust that you'll actually come to a stop. Like when you whisper a secret in your lover's ear and trust that he or she will not betray you. It's a leap, but it's not a blind leap.

In Augustine's work, reason seeks to understand what faith believes. "Know in order to believe" comes before "Believe in order to understand".