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COMMEMORATING
THE RESURRECTION 2010 (Part 1)
In
2010, the Christian Church in the Western world will celebrate Palm
Sunday on March 28 and Resurrection Sunday a week later on April 4.
“Easter” as it is commonly known, is an annually moveable holy day.
March 23 is very close to the earliest date (March 21), while April
25 is the very latest date.
The
rules for determining the actual day each year are complex and
hardly known to Christians anywhere. So complex in fact, that most
pastors quickly forget the formula shortly after studying it in
Bible College, Seminary or Divinity School. The following brief
explanation will make the point.
“The
rule has since the Middle Ages been phrased as “Easter,” and
observed on the Sunday after the first full moon on or after the day
of the vernal equinox. However, this does not reflect the actual
ecclesiastical rules precisely. One reason for this is that the full
moon involved (called the Paschal full moon) is not an astronomical
full moon, but an ecclesiastical moon. Another difference is that
the astronomical vernal equinox is a natural astronomical
phenomenon, while the ecclesiastical vernal equinox is fixed at
March 21. Easter is determined from tables which determine Easter
based on the ecclesiastical rules described above, which approximate
the astronomical full moon.”
“In
applying the ecclesiastical rules, the various Christian Churches
use 21 March as their starting point from which they find the next
full moon, etc. However because Eastern Orthodox and Oriental
Orthodox Churches use the Julian Calendar as their starting point,
while Western Christianity uses the Gregorian Calendar, the end
point, the date for Easter, may diverge.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter).
See this cited source for more detailed information.
No
matter the actual date, for Christians everywhere, the annual
commemoration of the passion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus
Christ is the most holy of all Christian celebrations. Over the
next several weeks, we will focus our attention on this great
validating epoch of the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, with a
final focus on the present and future blessings that His
resurrection makes possible for the redeemed of all the ages.
ddf
February 2010
Week 02/7
Weeks 02/14 - 21
Week 2/28
WHY THE CREATION/ EVOLUTION DEBATE MATTERS (Part
3 of 3)
Few Americans are aware of the looming debate concerning genetic
research that is poised to makes its appearance within the next
decade. The forces that make this inventible are already at work.
Far beyond the genetic manipulation of such products as corn and
soybeans, is the breathtaking world of the genetic manipulation of
humans and animals.
Even
my distinction between humans and animals reveals a bias on my part
(still shared by a majority of Americans), that will be seriously
challenged in the next few years. Two lines of research will put
currently held distinctions between humans and animals to the test.
The first is the production of human helping biological
mixing/splicing of genetic materials. Already this area of research
is much further advanced than most people realize; the majority of
Americans being only familiar with stem cell research and the
ethical concerns that have so far served as a rather mild check on
the unmerited crossing of moral lines.
The other area involves the creation of
cross species creatures. The general term for such a manufacture is
a “chimera”, the biological research into the development of
chimeras is both fascinating and frightening (see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimera_%28genetics%29
as a beginning place to study this further). Though it may seem
like wild science fiction, there are already serious efforts to
promote the genetic creation of part human and part animal creatures
(commonly called chimeras), to do dull or dangerous work in
industry, agriculture and even war.
How
will all this be possible? It will be possible when there is no
viable resistance to it from social conservatives who happen to
still believe in the sacredness of human life which is fundamentally
a byproduct of a belief in a Transcendent Creator. Why is it in the
best interest of the United States to retain a deep and unalterable
commitment to the sacredness of human life? Because without it,
there are no logical limits to which all forms of scientific
research (most especially genetic research), may go in man’s mad
quest to become the god of this planet, if not the universe.
One
must never forget that the only thing separating man from animal is
the everlasting, never dying spirit of life that resides in each
living human being. It is the one thing that genetic research
cannot quantify. It is the one thing that cannot be observed in the
laboratory. Most importantly, it is the one thing about a human
being that cannot be destroyed. The person survives the body!
Without the governance of thoughtful, faithful men and women who are
totally committed to a belief that we must all some day give an
account to the Creator and Governor of the Universe, the only limits
placed on science and technology are those which are deemed
expedient by the ruling class. If ever we are ruled by a godless
government we will be ruled by tyrants. It cannot be otherwise.
Consider the hubris, the utter arrogance of those who suppose that
within the tiny mass of matter that is the human brain resides the
only source of scientific determinism available to our planet.
Think of the gross stupidity that is required to suppose that
because a thing cannot be quantified, visible and repeatable within
the crude confines of a research laboratory its existence must be
rejected. Are there not mysteries, truths, realities, and laws of
physics that are yet beyond the capacity of man to imagine, much
less perceive?
It is
worth remembering these ancient words: "Seek the Lord while He may
be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his
way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the
Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will
abundantly pardon. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are
your ways My ways," says the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher
than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My
thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:6-0 NKJV).
It is
worth asking whether in the history of mankind it is possible to
find a single instance of a nation being governed by a godless
despot where the people enjoyed personal liberty. The answer is
that without leaders who themselves are willing to bend their knee
to a Transcendent Holy Creator; the people living under their rule
are doomed to oppression. If personal rights derive from the state,
then what the state giveth it can and will taketh away when
expedient.
The creation vs. evolution debate is more than a question of
origins, more than a question of competing ideologies, more than a
question of science; it is a struggle between light and darkness.
ddf
WHY THE CREATION/ EVOLUTION DEBATE MATTERS (Part
2 of 3)
Why do most Christians believe that God is the creator of all
things? Because the Bible teaches this from Genesis to Revelation
(Genesis 1:1; Psalm 33:6, 9; 102:25; Jeremiah 10:12; John 1:3; Acts
14:15; 17:24; Hebrews 3:4; Revelation 4:11). Why do most skeptics
reject this belief? Because they do not believe the Bible is
anything more than a very old book reflecting what people in a less
sophisticated world believed about the meaning of life.
In secular academic circles rejecting or even questioning the idea
of evolution is tantamount to believing that the earth is a flat
rock riding on the back of some gigantic mythical turtle. Most
Americans are not aware of the deep seated is the hostility that
exists against the idea of a personal Creator God. Among the secular
academic elite, it is a hostility that boarders on loathing.
In recent years there have been serious calls to revoke Ph.D.
degrees from credentials scientists who openly admit to a belief in
any form of intelligent design, and in particular the idea of
full-blown creationism. This hostility is only now thinly veiled,
and is waiting for an opportunity to assert itself though
congressionally mandated protocols.
Generally speaking, the majority of Americans are conflicted when it
comes to what they believe about the origin of the earth. When
polled about this belief, the majority of people believed that God
had something to do with it, but as the onion of the idea is pealed,
the core belief is reduced to only a generally held notion of some
kind of creation involvement.
Such
an idea will not satisfy either the conservative evangelical or the
secular humanist. Conservative evangelicals are not willing to
abandon the Genesis account of creation, and doctrinaire secularists
are not willing to abandon evolution. There is a real difference of
opinion between these two groups, but in that larger middle ground
there is less support for creation than for evolution, and this is
true mainly because of fundamentally conflicted opinions on the
subject.
That
large middle ground of citizens who really do not know what they
believe about origins are more likely to be swayed toward the
evolution argument if only because it will be pressed so vigorously
by those who seem to know what they are talking about (e.g.
secularists in control of scientific research and academia).
But do they "really" know what they are talking about?
ddf
WHY THE CREATION/ EVOLUTION DEBATE MATTERS (Part 1 of 3)
I
often wonder how many Christians in America are aware that the
Biblical teaching on the origin of the universe, and most especially
the origin of human beings, seems quaint at best and dangerous at
worse to most leaders in the public education community. In recent
years, there has been a concerted effort among textbook designers,
curriculum committees and departmental leaders to purge all public
school textbooks of any language that challenges the doctrine of
evolution.
The
effort is serious, and in fact, very little effective resistance has
stood in the way of its success. This is principally because most
Christians are either totally uninformed as to its ultimate
consequences, or naively believe that it really does not matter what
a person thinks about the origin of life. Others wrongly think that
faith always trumps public policy, and that being engaged in such
matters amounts to a waste of time.
The
fact is, what a nation as a whole holds to be true of origins, is on
a practical level, infinitely more important than what the
individual believes. This is because nations have the power to
establish policy. Considering this fact alone, one may better
appreciate that in practically no public school in America is the
theory of creation (or even intelligent design) taught along side
the theory of evolution. This is rather remarkable when
considering that the Creation Research and Intelligent Design
movements (each independent of the other), are the work of highly
credentialed and widely respected scientists.
I invite you to join me this month as we consider why the
creation/evolution debate is of such vital importance to both
Christians and non-Christians alike.
ddf
January
2010
Week 01/3
Week01/10
Week01/17
Week 01/24
Week 01/31
Generational
Narcissism (Part 5 of 5)
The
Baby Boom generation set out to change the culture, and succeeded.
Have we changed it for the better, and have the succeeding
generations continued to build upon our efforts? If we are to
measure success by technology, then we have indeed succeeded. But
we do not hold funerals for technology. We hold funerals for
people. Technology is important, but the people are the ultimate
measure of the success of any generation.
How
have we succeeded with people? We have succeeded in breaking down
the healthful and protective barriers between male and female; we
have succeeded in devaluing children and childbearing to the extent
that in some quarters pregnancy is considered a disease; we have
succeeded in bringing equality between the species to the extent
that courts are now being asked to rule as to whether apes and other
animals of ought to enjoy constitutional rights…it is not a joke; we
have succeeded in breaking down barriers to sexual pleasures to such
an extent that virginity and abstinence are in danger of being
diagnosed as a form of mental illness. Sexual activity among
teenagers is now so common that free condoms are a staple item in
the storerooms of our nation’s high schools.
We
have murdered nearly fifty million innocent but unwanted children
through the legalized holocaust of abortion; sodomy laws have been
declared unconstitutional and sodomizing a civil right. At the end
of WWII married heterosexual couples comprised fully three quarters
of American households, by 2007 that number had slipped to just
under one half. Divorce is so common that the odd ball kids in
grade school are the ones who share the same last name with both
parents.
Pornography which was once a criminal issue has become a commercial
enterprise; gambling which was mob controlled is now state
controlled with lottery tickets as plentiful as confetti at a
homecoming parade. The American middle class is wallowing in debt
and shrinking in numbers at an alarming rate. The so-called working
poor are the fastest growing class in the country.
Children are taught the principle of “stranger danger” which has
created a powerful distrust of others, especially adults, yet they
are subjected to eye-level visual smut when walking through the
checkout counter at the local supermarket. Parents avoid strong
discipline for fear that their wicked little child will call 911 and
wind up in foster care and the parents wind up in jail. Public
school teachers are powerless to enforce rules.; God has been kicked
out of their classroom, the Bible has been banned as if it were some
kind of underground manual for building a dirty bomb; Christmas and
Easter have been treated as if they were a celebration of some evil
time in our primitive past, and even our Pledge of Allegiance has
been treated as if it were an oath of fidelity to a rouge state.
This
is by no means hyperbolae, in fact it is worse than describe above,
and the worse is not over. As the prophet Hosea said of ancient
Israel, “For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the
whirlwind” (8:7 KJV). We are just now beginning to reap. Recently,
we have been told that we, the Boomers, are living too long, and
will become the fly in the ointment that will bankrupt the country
and cause the healthcare system to go into overload and breakdown.
We are too old to be cool any longer, and we are just now entering
that time in our life when we will be in the way. How will the
other generations, bent on having their way like we had ours, deal
with us?
Which
brings us to the question of what is the current generation like?
The Apostle Paul spoke of a generation that would be the last
immediately prior to the return of Christ. He gives a prophecy to
Timothy, his young protégé. Here is what he said: “This know also,
that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be
lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural
affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce,
despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, high-minded,
lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of
godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For
of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive
silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever
learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2
Timothy 3:1-7 KJV). Is not this description unsettling in its
likeness to our day?
If
the Boomers were our nation’s first truly narcissistic generation,
what today is the nation as a whole? We are a culture of death,
that is what. Narcissism is a death wish, a wish that all else that
does not recognize and accept my self love will go away and die.
Ultimately, the self possessed are left alone, to die alone.
Is it
too late to live? For some, yes. Because some are still obsessing
on self and rejecting the Creator Who gave them life. For others,
no, it is definitely not too late. There is time to turn to Him,
time to seek Him, time to abandon what is left of self, time to seek
His face and live; time to return to the faith of our father which
is living still. Almighty God ( the God so many pretend does not
exist), has extended this invitation to us: “If my people, who are
called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face
and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and
will forgive their sin and will heal their land (II Chronicles 7:14
NIV). It need is not too late to accept His invitation.
ddf
Generational
Narcissism (Part 4 of 5)
The
Greatest Generation had known sacrifice, hunger, privation and the
death of so many at so young an age. When they took up the business
of rebuilding the nation and their own lives, they determined that
their children would have it better, and they did, and we do.
Many
have suggested that the desire to give a better life to their
children blinded our parents from fully understanding the depth of
our rebellion. Others have speculated that they were tired of
fighting anyone, even their own children; while yet others have
offered up the theory that they thought as we matured we’d grow out
of it. There is probably truth in all of it. But could there have
been more to it?
Could
it be that fomenting such rebellion was a force of evil more
maniacal than they dared to imagine? Could it be that this was the
same force that having failed to destroy America’s Christian
influence through an external war had turned its attention to an
internal conflict? To some, such an idea is sheer nonsense, and
that may be the power behind the success of it…that it is not to be
believed as true. Yet, how else can we account for such blindly
stupid notions of personal freedom and the arrogant casting off of
restraints as we, the Boomer generation set into motion?
Whatever one may think of the idea, we proved to be America’s first
fully narcissistic generation. We were in love with our music, our
clothes, our cars, our ways, our hair, and mostly ourselves. No,
not all of us, but enough of us that we created a phenomenon that is
still the dominate cultural force in the nation…a force that is
amoral at best, and immoral at worst.
The
Boomers were the hippies, the bra burners, the free love advocates,
the marijuana puffers, the draft dodgers, the generation that pushed
for no-fault divorce laws, the psychedelic generation that insisted
we have abortion on demand, and then kicked God out of public
education and substituted the folly of evolution for the hopeful
comfort of creation.
One
may rightly wonder where has it gotten us, and where has it taken
the nation? We must now ask this question. We are no longer young,
no longer cool; we are grandparents, and our grandchildren are
inheriting our moral and ethical fortunes. What have we bequeathed
to them, and how are they spending it? That question in the final
installment.
ddf
Generational
Narcissism (Part 3 of 5)
Who
are we, the generation now known as the Baby Boomers? Technically,
we are the children born to the Greatest Generation during the
fifteen years following the end of WWII. However, for the purpose
of this article, we shall limit our attention to the children born
between 1945 and 1949 because these are the first children to
worship Rock ‘n’ Roll, the first children of the rebellion, and the
first truly narcissistic generation in American history.
Beginning in 1959 in the know-it-all age of our early teens, we
presumed the music, dress, religion, and lifestyle of our parents
unimportant at best, and a hindrance to our freedom of expression at
worst. We coined the term “cool”, and thought we were. We
rebelled, and the nation took notice.
Now,
fifty years later, I as one of those who rebelled, am asking myself
two questions….exactly what it was we that were rebelling against,
and why did we do it so mindlessly. The questions are not
unimportant. The consequences of our rebellion have been far
reaching, and few of us would now claim that they created a benefit
for the current generation.
What
were we rebelling against? The question is deeply disturbing
to me now, especially in light of the mathematics. Consider the
numbers. Tens of thousands of twenty year old servicemen married
girls as young or younger, and became the parents of the Boomers.
In 1959 when their teenagers were obsessing over Elvis, these
parents were only 35 years old. They were, themselves, young
people. The same young people who, only fifteen years before, had
been spilling their blood on the ground in far away places like
Normandy and Iwo Jima. We never even thought about Normandy or Iwo
Jima. We only thought about how out of touch our parents were with
the real world.
The
real world of our parents…what kind of a world was it? It was a
world in which evil tyrants were out to enslave nations, and
systematically exterminate whole people groups whom they, in their
madness, considered inferior. The real world of our parents was a
world in which they had barely escaped such horrors, and had done so
only through the strength of a massive collective effort, and the
protection of Almighty God. Their wounds were not yet healed, and
their scars still painful when we attacked them for being out of
touch, and not letting us have our way.
The
real world of our parents was also a world where want and hunger
were only a negligent choice away; a world of hard work, decency,
honor in one’s word, self sacrifice, and a decided dislike for
braggarts, bullies and brats. They did not all profess Christianity
or attend church, though the majority did, but they, almost without
exception, did believe that people would someday have to answer for
what they had done in this life, and that there was a Supreme Being
who would eventually be doing the judging of what was good and bad.
So
what were we rebelling against…the sacrifices, the scars, the
integrity, the hard work, the honest word, and their decency?
What? Did we even really know? What could we have been thinking?
Were we actually even thinking or were we, for the most part, doing
little more than giving vent to our growing narcissism? Was there
something more behind it? Why did our parents seemingly give in to
us? Was it because they were so tired from fighting poverty and
evil ideologies that when we rose up against them they had no
stomach for another fight? And, why, for the most part, did the
rest of American society give in to us? We will consider the wider
implications of that question next.
ddf
Generational
Narcissism (Part 2 of 5)
Who was the Greatest Generation? They were the fathers and mothers
of my generation, the generation immediately following WWII. The
parents of the so-called Baby Boomers were the men and women who won
the second great world war. Immediately following, they set their
heads and hearts to winning back their own life and the life of the
nation. They went to college, to factories, to farms, to
businesses, they came home to their children, and they gave birth to
even more children.
We
were the children of their dreams… dreams that kept them alive
during freezing nights on the German front; dreams that keep them
from going mad on the sweltering islands of the south pacific;
dreams that kept them hopeful at home when news blackouts prevented
them from knowing if their husbands or sweethearts had survived some
horrific battle. They were our folks.
They
were also, for the most part young, though statistics vary as to how
young. Most research indicates that the average age of WWII
servicemen was 26, but that figure certainly changed with the
progress of the war, and even so, 26 is young. Tens of thousands
were under twenty when the war ended.
The
vast majority of them were social conservatives. They held to
certain core ideas that they knew had helped to make America
great…values that the nations they defeated in battle did not
share. Most were Christian at least in principle, and shared common
ideas of integrity and decency derived from the Bible for which they
had great respect. They kept Harry Truman in the White House, and
later sent Dwight Eisenhower to the presidency.
But
that generation held one other distinction, they were among the
generation of Americans who, along with their parents and
grandparents, survived the greatest peacetime economic disaster in
the history of the country…the great depression. By 1933,
unemployment was just under 25% of the U.S. workforce, industrial
stocks had lost 80% of their value, 40% of all banks had failed in
the four preceding years, farm prices had fallen by 53% in that same
period, and the nation was forced to abandon the gold standard.
WWII
was still eight years in the coming, as were years of continued
sacrifice and suffering. The Greatest Generation would be called
upon to fight and win two wars…one against national economic
collapse, and the other a war against evil enshrined in nations
hijacked by mad men. They won them both. This is who they were.
But
who were we, the generation that social scientists and historians
have labeled the Baby Boomers? That we shall address in the next
installment.
ddf
Generational
Narcissism (Part 1 of 5)
Shortly after its publication in 1998, Tom Brokaw’s book “The
Greatest Generation” contributed a new term to the American
experience. Almost as if it were a latent apology for having
callously disregarded the sacrifices of their parents, the so-called
Baby Boomers embraced Brokaw’s book so thoroughly that it
became an instant best seller. The book’s title has now become the
most widely used term when referring to the generation that fought
and won WWII…the Greatest Generation.
Fast
forward a meager fifteen years from 1945 when the war ended, and you
arrive at the middle of what is often called the age of Rock ‘n’
Roll, also commonly known as the age of the rebellion.
This author does not need to study that era to know whether it
deserves such a pejorative distinction. He lived it, and has not
forgotten.
From
the mid 1950’s through the late 1960’s, my generation rebelled. We
rebelled not only in our music, but also through our dress,
automobiles, entertainments, language, sexual activities, attitudes,
and lifestyles. We rebelled against the Greatest Generation, and we
did it without so much as a thought of what that generation had so
recently given in order to make possible our very existence, and our
right to rebel. We were America’s first truly narcissistic
generation. Of course, not everyone rebelled, but enough of our
generation did that the rest of our classmates were swept up in the
socially violent flow.
The
purpose of this tome is to briefly explore that aberrant phenomenon
and its effect on the Boomer and succeeding generations. Without
apology, it should be established that the rebellion was both
deviant and intrinsically wicked. The Greatest Generation were our
parents, and in rebelling, we broke the fifth Commandment (Exodus
20:12; Leviticus 19:32) by failing to honor our fathers and our
mothers. Furthermore, ours was not the mild kind of rebellion
common to all generations. The rebellion that followed WWII was
motivated and fueled by reckless self-absorption, and the
fantastically irrational idea that individual rights always trumped
collective rights. It was generational narcissism.
We
shall begin by asking the question, “Who were these fathers and
mothers, and what was so great about their generation?” We shall
take that up in the next installment.
ddf
December 2009
Week 12/6
Week 12/13
Weeks 20 & 27
CHRISTMAS AWAY FROM
HOME (Part 3 of 3)
It
would be a long way from the cradle to the cross; longer than the
thirty-three years of earth life could possibly reflect. The journey
that Jesus would make from Bethlehem to Calvary would span the pages
of history past into the ages of history future. The life and times
of Jesus Christ would fulfill nearly four thousand years of
prophecy, and light the way to thousands more to come, at least two
thousand to the date of this writing.
For
just over thirty-three years Jesus would live in increasing
isolation until finally, at the cross, He would suffer an isolation
infinitely greater than the abandonment of His disciples; He would
experience the full weight of the sin of the world, and the total
penalty of it under the just judgment of a Holy God who, even for
His only begotten Son, could not suffer sin to go unpunished. He who
knew no sin became sin for our sake.
The
finest human minds have not been able to penetrate very far into
this mystery. Even pushing past the outer edges of its wonder seems
to render the spirit incapable of further exploration. It is so true
that we can only know in part and see in part. Nevertheless, the
part we do know and see is all absorbing, and drives us to our
knees.
It also
directs us to our own futures. We know that we cannot spend all of
the coming Christmases that will ever be in the comforts of our
present home, and with the ones we love so dearly today. We do not
like to think about it, and like even less to talk about it amongst
ourselves, but we do know that it is appointed unto us once to die.
Common sense tells us that some Christmas future will come when one
of our loved ones will be missing from family gathering…when we too
will be missing, and those who remain will then speak of us in the
past tense.
As we
mature, it becomes increasingly clear that home is where we are with
those to whom we belong. People move frequently in the modern world,
and home is where they are with the ones they love. Yes, we may have
a sentimental attachment to a particular place, and even wistfully
refer to it as “home” even though we have not lived there for a very
long time and have no plans to return. Even so, home is really where
we are with the ones dearest to us.
At the
Incarnation, Christ left heaven where He was among those who knew
him as the Second Person of the Trinity. He lived with them in a
perfect harmony of love. This He left to live among those who did
not know Him, and for the next thirty-three years He was away from
home.
Prior
to His leaving to return to the Father (to return home), He made His
disciples a remarkable promise and in so doing, extended the promise
to everyone who was to follow Him by faith. In the Gospel of John He
told them:
"Let
not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.
In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would
have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to
Myself; that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:1-4 NKJV).
Home is
where we can be with our loved ones. Heaven is the true home of the
Christian because heaven is where Jesus is. It should also be where
our loved ones can find us after we have left this earthly life. The
Good News is that the ultimate promise of the Incarnation…the death,
burial and resurrection if Jesus Christ. That only makes it possible
to go home for Christmas forever. When Jesus said, “that where I am,
there you may be also”, He was inviting us home for
Christmas…forever.
None
one ever needs to really be alone or away from home at Christmas;
whosoever will may come home (Revelation 22:17). The home place has
already been prepared for the greatest Christmas celebration in the
history of the universe. The family is coming home, and some day,
when the last member has entered through the door, we shall all set
down to a Christmas dinner which the Book of Revelation refers to as
the “Wedding Supper of the Lamb”, and we shall never spend another
Christmas away from home. Your place at the table has already been
made ready. Come.
ddf
CHRISTMAS AWAY FROM
HOME (Part 2 of 3)
Wherever you may be this Christmas, and with whomever you will be
sharing it, I hope and pray that you personally know the Christ
himself. No matter where we spend that holy day, and no matter who
may be there to share it with us, if we know the Christ of
Christmas, we have His blessed company among us.
If you
are away from home, it will be a great comfort to remember that the
first Christmas couple (Mary and Joseph), was also away from home on
the night when history’s most important Person was born. No child
has so changed the world as that Child.
However, He would not long remain a babe in His virgin mother’s
arms. He would not long remain a toddler coming back to His home
town of Nazareth occasioned by his parents return from Egypt. He
would not long remain a youngster amazing the elders as He taught in
the Temple courts. He would not long remain the obedient son
learning the carpenter’s trade as an apprentice to His mother’s
husband. He would all too soon become a man, and live a life as
brief and as bright as that of the star which guided the Magi to Him
in Bethlehem.
Nevertheless, He was never only a baby, never only a toddler, never
only a youngster, never only an obedient son. He was those things to
be sure, but as He was, He was also the Ancient of Days. He was the
Incarnation. He was Immanuel. He was God with us. And something more
about Him needs to be understood. The very first person to ever
spend Christmas away from home was Christ himself.
On that
first Christmas the very Savior of the world had condescended to men
of low estate. He left the splendor of heaven, He sat aside His
royal rights, He Incarnated as an ordinary human being in order to
become the Supreme and Ultimate sacrifice for the sin of the world,
and He left His home to do it.
The
loneliest person on the planet that first Christmas Day was Jesus
himself. He was away from the Father, away from His heavenly family,
and among those who would at first not understand the full meaning
of His birth, not even the woman chosen to become His birth mother.
Yes,
she and Joseph knew from the angel that this child was holy, the
shepherds helped to confirm this, and later the Magi reinforced it,
but no human being living on earth on that first Christmas Day could
possibly have imagined that for the next two millennium the Baby of
Bethlehem would become the only perfect man to have ever lived, and
that because of it, what Herod had failed to do not long after the
birth of Christ, Pilate would eventually accomplish though He
scarcely knew more than had Herod what the life and death of this
Child would eventually mean to the inhabitants of both earth and
heaven.
The
Christ Child was in reality the Incarnation of the Creator. Skeptics
do not understand, but believers do not understand either. The
difference is that believers accept it as fact, while skeptics
accept it as myth. Not understanding a thing is no barrier to truth.
Many do not understand the technology they use every day, but this
does not prevent them from believing in it, even trusting their
lives to its functioning.
What
mere mortal can claim to actually understand the Incarnation? I
cannot, yet I believe it, and trust my eternal life to it every day.
There is mystery here that demands faith; not a faith contingent
upon the unthinkable…only the unknowable. There is a vast difference
between what cannot be, and what can be without being fully
understood. Can anyone claim to understand the profound mystery of
the universe? No, yet that does not prevent the universe from being.
Why God
became man is such a profound mystery, yet somewhat more knowable.
Love we can understand, though perhaps imperfectly. “For God so
loved the world” this we dimly understand, but even dimly our
understanding is filled with wonder and awe. Through the agency of
God’s infinite love the Incarnation became a reality, and God dwelt
among us in order to redeem us. The Bethlehem cradle is actually
about a Jerusalem cross.
From
the moment that Mary became the bearer of the Incarnation until the
moment of Christ’s ascension back into heaven, the Son of God would
spend thirty-three Christmases away from home, each one a step
closer to our own eternal redemption, and the culmination of a plan
to make it possible for "whosoever will" to never truly spend
another Christmas away from home.
More on
that thought next.
ddf
CHRISTMAS AWAY FROM
HOME (Part 1 of 3)
On
Christmas Eve, tens of thousands of America’s military
personnel will experience their first Christmas away from home.
Though it has been well over forty years, it does not seem so long
ago that I spent my first Christmas away from home in the company of
about thirty other U.S. Navy recruits stationed at Nimitz Field in
San Diego, California. As I served my country over the following
five years, there would be other such Christmas times. We usually
reminisced about our childhood memories, and though we were proud to
be in the voluntary service of the United States Navy, such talk of
childhood and home brought on an inevitable wave of holiday
loneliness.
Of
course, there are many other reasons and places to experience a
first Christmas away from home. If you have, you understand. But
have you thought of the first time anyone spent Christmas away from
home…the very first time? Have you thought of Mary and Joseph in
this regard? They were the first family to experience Christmas
away from home. Compelled to travel to Bethlehem in order to obey
the mandate of the Roman census, they would experience the very
first Christmas far south of their home town in Nazareth.
While
we recognize that Joseph and Mary could not have known what
Christmas would eventually mean to history, and how it would become
the one time of the year when so many around the world wanted to be
home, they were certainly aware that the night in which Mary’s baby
was born was a night like no other.
Where
will you be this Christmas? Will you be home? If you are serving
in the United States military, in a branch of the Foreign Service,
on the mission field, just too far to get home or for any other
reason not able to be home, it may comfort you to know that a great
many others will also be experiencing the same thing. It may be of
an even greater comfort to remember that the first family of
Christmas was also away from home on that blessed day.
This
Christmas, whether you are home or some place far away, may your
heart be comforted and your spirits lifted by the wonder of the
greatest event in the history of the human race, and by the truth
that the birth of Christ is also a promise that He is coming again
as the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Joy to the World!
ddf
November 2009
Week 11/1
Week 11/8
Week 11/15
Week 11/22
Week 11/30
THE DOMESTICATION OF SIN
Part 5 of 5
Generally
speaking, we make a pet of a of a thing for one of three reasons:
1. It amuses us (as in the case of an iguana). 2. It comforts us
(as in the case of an exceptionally furry cat). 3. It empowers us
(as in the case of a watch dog). Mankind has domesticated animals
for these reasons, as well as for the utilitarian aspect of what
they provide (as is the case of most farm animals). These are all
legitimate reasons to make both pets of animals, and domesticate
them for utilitarian purposes.
However,
when we make an attempt to tame sin for the same purposes, we commit
a fatal error of judgment. In the first place, sin cannot be
domesticated. In the second place, there is no such thing as an
amusing, comforting, empowering or legitimately utilitarian sin. Oh
yes, at the time of of our attempts to do so we often justify the
effort by claiming that it is just for fun (as in the practice of
illicit sex), for comfort (as in the abuse of alcohol and other
drugs), for empowering (as in the case of a shady business deal).
We may even go so far as to commend it on the grounds that the end
justifies the means (a utilitarian thing).
Nevertheless, sin, like a beautiful serpent whose bite is fatal, in
time will eventually do its deadly work. Similarly, the cute little
sin cub may almost imperceptibly grow into a dangerous beast that
eventually exerts itself with deadly consequence. None of the sins
so common to humanity have ever proved a blessing. Lying, cheating,
stealing, sexual immorality, gossiping, murder, hatred, and all
things associated are untamable beasts that have but one
objective…to steal, kill, and destroy.
The
futile attempt to domesticate sin (with predictable results) is well
documented. That is:
“There
is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the
ways of death” (Proverbs 16:25).
There are
the “pleasures of sin for a season” (Hebrews 11:25).
"But the tongue
can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison"
(James 3:7, 8).
“The
wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
How ought
we then to treat sin? We ought to treat sin for what it is. It is
death. To bring it into our home is death. To bring it into our
workplace is death. To bring it into our recreation is death. To
bring it into our heart is death.
What is
the alternative? This…
“If we
claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in
us. If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just and will forgive
us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:8-9
NIV). After that, we kill it on sight!
ddf
THE DOMESTICATION OF SIN
Part 4 of 5
The most
common method used to domesticate sin is to make a pet of it. A
favored thrill, an irresistible desire that is satisfied only
through engaging in some sinful self-gratification, or a
rationalized stroking of one’s ego is brought into the house (so to
speak), and tolerated as harmless, unique or only temporary.
Once a
sin is accepted as a member of the family, it becomes imbedded, and
can be nearly impossible to reject without risking embarrassing
entanglements. For that reason alone, sin is often tolerated far
after its novelty has eroded. Every drug and porn addict knows
about that.
Sometimes
sin starts out almost “cute or cuddly,” often attractive by the very
thrill of ownership. But just as a newly hatched alligator seem
harmless, some sins remain relatively benign (even profitable) until
they eventually become mature enough to turn on their owner without
mercy, and with devastating consequence.
Of
course, the pet analogy is not perfect, but it is good enough to
help us get the idea. And anyone who has ever been devastated by
sin, knows all too well how small a thing it was in the beginning.
Another
common method of domesticating sin is to use the “everyone is doing
it now” excuse. Gambling is one of those kinds of sins that get a
pass because it is sanctioned by so many people, and is regulated by
local, state or federal government. When lots of people are doing
it, and the thing becomes part of society, its easy to defend it on
the basis of it general acceptance.
As
another example, Americans are perilously close to national
acceptance of the recreational use of marijuana…the domestication of
a dangerous and merciless killer that once given place will claim an
ever increasing number of victims. What was unthinkable yesterday
is today welcomed into the family as if it were actually a
beneficial guest.
What are
some of the most commonly domesticated sins? We will address the
answer to that question in the next installment.
ddf
THE DOMESTICATION OF SIN
Part 3 of 5
The
belief that wild animals can be tamed, trusted, and treasured as
profitable members of human society is ancient (as James noted in
3:7). Some animals are more easily tamed than others, some animals
are associated with greater degrees of risk. For example, a tamed
lion presents a much greater risk than a tame duck.
Often the
degree of risk has to do with the danger the animal poses to humans
in its natural environment. Ducks do not prey on human beings in
the wild, whereas lions can and do eat human beings. And it is not
always about size. A venomous snake which may be pencil thin, and
not more than twelve inches long is a greater threat than a
raccoon, yet both are often kept as pets.
Sin is
not unlike a wild animal that has no profitable place in human
company, yet holds out such fascination that those who harbor it may
be deluded into believing that it may be tamed. Furthermore, it is
a mistake to believe that the smaller the sin the less risk there is
associated with it.
In fact,
it is often believed that the size of the sin limits its potential
danger. The danger may be rationalized by such sentiments as:
Just
this once. I only do it occasionally. There are much
worse things than this. It can't hurt anything once in a
while.
But sin,
like a small and even beautifully colored venomous snake may strike
its benefactor without regard to consequence. This is well
illustrated in the often repeated fable involving a man who finds a
small rattlesnake nearly frozen to death. Caught up by both
curiosity and pity, he placed the snake in his pocket to warm it,
and thereby save its life. Feeling it begin to move in response to
the warmth of his body, he reaches his hand into his pocket only to
be bitten. Crying out to the snake with his dying breath he
laments
“Why did you bite me after I saved your life?” Whereupon the snake
replied without pity, “You knew I was a rattlesnake when you picked
me up.”
In the
next installment we will turn to some of the more common attempts to
domesticate (tame) sin.
ddf
THE DOMESTICATION OF SIN
Part 2 of 5
The very
idea of domestication comes from the practice of taming wild animals
that provide some benefit to mankind, and then through selective
breeding, producing an animal that is consistently and profitably
capable of sharing space with human society. Traditional farm
animals are common examples, as is the traditional pet market.
These animals are said to be domesticated.
Among the
most common of pets is the dog. For thousands of years, the
domestic dog has shared the home and hearth of human beings around
the world. Few pets are as beloved as dogs, yet in the U.S.
according to the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
-
About
4.5 million people are bitten by dogs each year.
-
Almost
one in five of those who are bitten (a total of 885,000) require
medical attention for dog bite-related injuries.
-
In
2006, more than 31,000 people underwent reconstructive surgery as
a result of being bitten by dogs.
-
In 2007 there were 33 deaths by dog mauling
(www.cdc.gov).
Why is
this? Basically for two reasons. First, no dog can be said to be
100% domesticated and totally trustworthy. The fact is, there
remains an element of wildness in all dog breeds. Second, there is
no moral control within the brain of a dog. In other words, dogs
recognize reward and punishment, but they are not capable of
understanding morality. It is true that on the whole, some breeds
are more trustworthy than others, but it is equally true that all
dogs can and do bite.
When the
attention is turned to the exotic pet trade, the danger of being
bitten, clawed or crushed is multiplied many times. So well
documented are the tragic news accounts of so-called tame
lions, bears, reptiles, and and primates mauling or killing their
owners or others, that many states have already or are now in the
process of passing laws to protect human beings.
As James
noted,
“For every kind of beasts, and of
birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath
been tamed of mankind”
(James 3:7 KJV). However, he does not mean to suggest that tame
is the same as being without risk. It is not a stretch to suggest
that in the same way mankind has tried to tame the beast of sin, and
has come to believe that what was once considered a danger has
become a benign and even useful partner to be welcomed into human
society. We shall explore this application of reason in the next
installment.
ddf
THE DOMESTICATION OF SIN Part
1 of 5
In his
latest book, Psychology: Trading the Sacred for the Secular
(ISBN 1-885904-81-2, Focus Publishing, 2009), noted Biblical
counseling author, Dr. David M. Tyler comments on a current trend in
secular forms of counseling therapies.
“In
order to deal with these uncomfortable feelings and the problems
that accompany them society takes on a psychological mindset. God
is pronounced dead or at best banished into some far-off secluded
place in the universe. Unfettered by divine influence, man concocts
literally hundreds of ‘healing’ theories and therapies. With
therapeutic warmth and acceptance, value-free diagnoses are made of
people’s wounds and hurts. Sin is domesticated in order to support
these secular notions about man and his problems” (pages. 3 and
4).
Three
words from Tyler’s opening chapter (Sin is domesticated)
reveal the true heart of the issue. It is an ancient fantasy that
sin can be tamed. That is, that it can be domesticated. Two
New Testament references teach us much about the subject.
The first
is found in the account of Jesus’ healing of the demoniac of Gadara
(Mark 5:1-20), where it is said of the man possessed with a legion
of demons, “Because that he had been often bound with fetters and
chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the
fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him”
(Mark 5:4 KJV).
The second
is found in James’ well known discourse on the human tongue.
“For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of
things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of
mankind: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly
evil, full of deadly poison (James 3:7, 8 KJV).
The word tamed (tame) in both
references is the Greek word transliterated damazo. It means
“to subdue, to restrain within proper limits, to tame.” Our
English word “tame” means “reduced from a state of native wildness
especially so as to be tractable and useful to humans: domesticated
<tame animals>” (www.m-w.com).
The origin of the English word is from both the Latin "domare" to
tame, and the Greek “damnanai” which has its root in the word used
by Matthew and James.
In both
cases, we have an example of sin. Whether it is the human spirit
given over to demonic possession or the human tongue given over as
an instrument of harmful speaking, the result is the same…human
beings suffer from the consequences of sin.
Over the
next few weeks, we will explore the current attempt to domesticate
sin, and see if humanity has finally become sophisticated enough to
do so.
ddf
October
2009
Weeks 10/4 - 10/11
Weeks
10/18 - 10/25
WHEN DOES THE
IMMORTAL SPIRIT LEAVE THE BODY?
This
question is very troubling to clergy and ethicists alike. The
question is complicated because of the technological capability of
keeping the physical body functioning long after the brain has
ceased functioning viably. While certainly not suggesting that the
following exhausts the subject, I will point to a few Biblical
examples as a spring board to at least a reasonable general
conclusion.
-
Elijah's
physical body was certainly not capable of sustaining life at the
point at which his ascending reached the limits at which humans
can survive in the upper atmosphere. We know he did not enter
heaven in his physical body (flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of God). Therefore somewhere, his person (spirit) was
separated from an otherwise perfectly good body and brain.
-
Elisha
raised the Shunammite's son to life after he has been dead for
some time. The physical life had departed the body, and the
length of time suggests that the brain could not have remained
viable, but he was raised to life with his person (spirit)
returning to his body.
-
The case
of Jesus raising Lazarus is similar to that of the Shunammite's
son.
-
The case
of Paul's ascending into the "third heaven" suggests that his
person (spirit) left a perfectly healthy body, and then returned.
From the
above, we may understand that the person (spirit) and the body may
coexist, and yet exist separately. This suggests to us that while
the connections of the person (spirit) to the body (flesh and spirit
of life) are unique, the person (spirit) is not bound by the body.
That is, the person may exist without a mortal body (as do the dead
who are now present with the Lord).
We may then reasonably conclude that so long as the mortal body is
an acceptable habitation for the person, the person remains not so
much "in" the body, as "with" the body. Paul says that to be
"absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." Reversing
the statement we may say that "to be absent from the Lord is to be
present with the body."
Taking all of this into consideration, it seems reasonable to
believe that at whatever point the body is no longer viable for the
person to be "with" the person departs the body. There is nothing
to suggest that the person is "stuck" with a body that is no longer
suitable to be "with." The brain being but one organ of the body
may not be any more where the person resides than say the heart,
lungs, kidneys, arms or legs. If the brain is the seat of emotions,
and the organ through which the person knows and is known, then it
cannot be the "residence" of the person, merely the mechanism
through which the person communicates and is communicated to.
Finally, since the brain is the organizing and directing mechanism
of the body, when it irreversibly ceases to be capable of its
intended function, the body being without a command center, cannot
survive except through supernatural means (as in the cases above) or
by artificial means (as in the case of so-called "life support").
It seems there can be little doubt that at such a point when only
artificial means are capable of sustaining the "body mass" the
person (spirit) may have already departed, and the vestige that
remains though biologically warm, may in fact be little more than an
expensive corpse.
Perhaps we should say it this way: "At the instant when the Lord
determines the physical body to no longer be an acceptable
habitation for the person to be with, the person enters either the
presence of the Lord or eternal separation from the Lord, leaving
the body a husk."
Not a
perfect answer to the question to be sure, but these words are
perfect:
“1 Now we
know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a
building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human
hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly
dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.
4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because
we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly
dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now
it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the
Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 6 Therefore we
are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the
body we are away from the Lord. 7 We live by faith, not by sight. 8
We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body
and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make it our goal to please him,
whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must
all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may
receive what is due him for the things done while in the body,
whether good or bad. 11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the
Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I
hope it is also plain to your conscience” (II Corinthians 5:1-11
NASV).
ddf
ON BIBLICAL INERRANCY
Some have
undertaken to understand the meaning of the Bible, and have done so
by the willing subjugation of their own faulty intellect to the
integrity of God’s capacity to communicate through truthful
specifics in a whole of absolute truth.
Others
have done so by the exultation of their own faulty intellect over
against what they consider the mere appearance of God’s specifics
couched in a whole of ancient writings subject to convenient
reinterpretation.
Consequently each has reached opposite conclusions regarding
Biblical inerrancy. I stand with those who have chosen to trust in
the integrity of God.
HIS
WORD
Given to
be the mind of God.
Preserved to be His Aaron rod.
Sent to man that he might feel
The gash at Eden fully healed.
Preserve it not on parchment from press,
But hide it in thy purchased breast.
ddf
September
2009
Weeks 9/6 - 9/13
Weeks 9/20 - 9/27
WHY THE CHURCH?
Why do we
need the church? We need the church to point the lost to Christ,
and to build up the saved. Why do I as a Christian need to be in
the church? I need to be in the church to see Christ, and to be
built up in Him each Sunday.
If you are
in a church that is pointing the lost to Christ, and building up the
saved, stay there and help in every way you can. If you are in a
church that is not pointing the lost to Christ and building up the
saved, try to help it to do so, and if you fail, get out and support
one that does.
Earth life
is too short, and the next life too long, to waste a moment of
time. Any church that is failing to point the lost to Christ and
building up the saved is wasting everyone’s time, and if it refuses
to do so, it deserves the support of no one...neither sinner nor
saint...period!
If folk
may regularly attend a church, and be neither strengthened in their
faith nor uncomfortable in their sin, that church is unworthy of the
name of Christ, and the support of God’s people.
Think this
is this too narrow minded? Read Revelation 3:14-18.
ddf
IF THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE
E. Stanley
Jones, Methodism’s greatest missionary to India, was keen to say,
“If there is no outer difference between the church and the world,
then there is no inner.” I have now lived into the early years of
my sixth decade, and in my opinion Jones was right. Whatever is on
the inside of a person eventually has a way of working itself toward
the outside.
There may
be strong opposition to those cultural prohibitions dictating dress
and speech which only mask something quite different on the inside,
but that does not diminish the opposite truth. During the early
nineteen sixties and seventies the American church rebelled against
what it thought were too severe prohibitions on dress and speech.
Today...by looking...one can scarcely tell the difference between
the church and the world, and many are beginning to ask whether
there is any.
When on
the outside, the church becomes nearly indistinguishable from the
world; it is not unreasonable to wonder if it is (any different).
Why do so many Christians seem to hunger for the things of the
world? Why do so many dress like the world, talk like the world,
entertain like the world, and love the things of the world so much?
What are they not finding in Christ and His church that attracts
them to the world? These are legitimate questions, and if they
continue to be ignored, the consequences will only aid the further
weakening of the influence of the church (on both the believer and
the unbeliever).
What
are the consequences if there “is” no difference?
ddf
|
March
2010
St.
John chapter 20 will help to "set our minds on things above" during
this week. Let us all seek to honor the holiness of this week, and
to in no way lower ourselves to engage in events, practices or thoughts
that in any manner detract from the reality of the death, burial and
resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
As
the founding president of MISD, I find it both breathtaking and
refreshing to realize that MISD has reached its 10th Anniversary.
Someone wondered why I preferred to refer to it as an "anniversary"
rather than a "birthday." Well, I suppose to some it probably
means the same thing, but not to me. A birthday signifies the
beginning of something totally new. The Divinity School did
not start out that way. An anniversary marks the start of
something different, but which required a partnership (much like a
marriage). MISD started as a partnership with others who
believed that God was calling them to invest themselves in a work
that He would bless for His name's sake. Where we came from,
where we have been, and where we are going is well documented on the
web link: 