Incantations

I attend a church that believes, and I believe myself, that prayer actually causes things to happen, not by making God do something or by changing Him, but by giving Him free rein to act in a realm where mankind has been given authority (Luke 10:19) and dominion (Genesis 1:26). Anyway, we believe that Christians can pray for sick people and God will heal them. Lately, though, something has been eating at me a little bit. I hear things in people's prayers like describing to God what He needs to do ("God, just open those arteries and clean them out, flush the crud out that's clogging them up, cause the blood to flow freely!" "Lord, just make that cold go away, clear out the phlegm and inflammation, cause that cold bug to just die!" etc.) It's almost like we think God doesn't really know what's wrong with the person's body... like he's a first-year med student who needs a guidebook or something. Even worse, I hear phrases like "from the top of her head to the soles of her feet" that really add nothing to the prayer but words. And then I think about Matthew 6:7-8 and wonder if we are not sometimes in danger of going where those Gentiles of yesteryear went.

I guess in a sense we pray hoping to build up the faith of the person we are praying for... intending somehow to show that we empathize with them. Or maybe we have heard prayers like that which contained genuine words of prophetic knowledge from God where the person praying speaks details he could not possibly know without a word from the Holy Spirit, and we subconsciously try to emulate that. Or, sadly, maybe we as the praying persons are trying to kind of rev ourselves up so we feel like our prayers are getting traction somehow. I don't know why the tendency is there... I've fallen victim to it myself... but it seems to me that the work is God's and the faith is ours. A prayer of "God, heal him!" that has behind it the understanding and faith that God can and wants to heal that person, likely will work better than all the top of the heads and soles of feet we can muster.

Reflections on "Reflections on the Psalms" - part 2

"One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple." (Psalm 27:4 ESV)

"I have been told of a very small and very devout boy who was heard murmuring to himself on Easter morning a poem of his own composition which began 'Chocolate eggs and Jesus risen.'" (C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms)

C.S. Lewis believed that when the writer of Psalm 27 wrote that he wanted to "gaze upon the beauty of the Lord," he wasn't talking about an emotional experience... he was talking about the beautiful ceremonies that were performed at the temple. To that Psalmist, the ceremony and the "beauty of the Lord" were indistinguishable. Likewise, the boy who wrote the poem about the Easter eggs did not yet see the distinction between the treat and the religious event. On the other hand, as adults in the 21st century, we are accustomed to looking at the ceremony as one thing and the presence of God as something else. God is not the drumbeat or the lights or the smoke or the tune we're singing, we believe; it is perfectly possible to attend service and never "gaze upon the beauty of the Lord" (which, from our perspective, would probably be expressed more as "feeling the Spirit" or something like that).

Several times Jesus told His disciples that we were to approach Him as children. If a child doesn't see any difference between performing a ceremony for God and being in the presence of God, maybe we're looking at it the wrong way. I've been in church services myself lots of times when I didn't "feel" anything special. Horror of horrors... some of those times I was standing on the choir risers! Does that mean that God was not present? Of course not... God is always present. Now... if I don't "feel" the emotional urging to praise God during a particular service, does that mean I should not sing, clap, even jump or whatever? Let's assume that I sing and clap anyway. If I do so but never feel anything "spiritual" the whole time, does that mean that I didn't actually praise God? What if I come to service with a desire to worship the Lord, and then I participate in the service and enjoy it the same way I might enjoy a rock concert, never feeling anything that I would call "spiritual" but simply rejoicing and having a good time... did I mess up? Is it OK to rejoice just to rejoice in Jesus, without a specific "prompting" from the Holy Spirit?

Chocolate eggs and Jesus risen! God is present whether you "feel" Him or not, and when you join in worship with a congregation that has come together to honor God, whether you "feel" it or not, God is honored. What, are we supposed to feel bad if we enjoy the music? It's totally OK to taste the candy as long as you know that the reason it's there in the first place is because of the Resurrection. Don't misunderstand; I believe strongly that worship comes from the heart of the believer, and I MUCH prefer it when I can feel it coming from my heart. But there's no reason for any of us to feel like we have somehow failed to worship God if we don't get all mushy or something. We can express the Lord's "beauty" anyway, knowing in faith that we will feel it... if not today, next Sunday or the Sunday after that. Usually when I kiss my wife, my heart flutters. But if something's going on and I'm tired or sick or preoccupied and my heart doesn't flutter one time, I kiss her anyway, and I know it will flutter the next time, because I love her. Love God in worship, whether your emotions are there "this time" or not. God accepts your praise and worship regardless!

Reflections on "Reflections on the Psalms" - part 1

Recently I read C.S. Lewis' Reflections on the Psalms, and as a member of the worship department at my church a few parts stood out to me. Here's part 1.

“If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” (Psalm 50:12-15 ESV)

"The world rings with praise -- lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favorite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favorite game..." (C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms)

Does God "need" our praise? Of course not. God is self-sufficient; he needs nothing. In fact, it is not unreasonable to assume that if God needed someone to praise Him, he could come up with a better option than fallen, soiled, sinful old us. God has spotless glorious angels all around Him, for crying out loud. Besides... does God need someone to give Him a little boost to His self-image? Ridiculous! So why do we praise?

C.S. Lewis observed that whenever we enjoy something, that enjoyment automatically spills out into proselytizing. Did you just see a great movie? You want to tell everyone about it! How about a concert from your favorite band? Did you just see a rainbow? You're going to be talking about it! The telling, according to Lewis, is actually part of the enjoyment! The joy that you feel becomes more complete when you share it with someone else... especially if they enjoy it as much as you do. Maybe that's one of the reasons that God commands us to praise Him; until we do we cannot fully enjoy Him as He wants to be enjoyed.

For the record: I don't think the phrase "sacrifice of thanksgiving" was intended to have the meaning we give it these days. A "sacrifice" to us means something that is hard, undesirable, probably even painful. But if you look in the Old Testament, it was simply something that you were commanded by God to do... like tithing, or Communion. I don't think that struggling with the worship service makes it a "sacrifice of thanksgiving." To take the metaphor in context, you'd have to guess that it's a "sacrifice of thanksgiving" if we simply offer thanks to God in the way He has prescribed, whether the process of offering it was painful or pleasurable. Praise God to enjoy Him!

The Gospel of Inclusion by Carlton Pearson

I've been taking a look at The Gospel of Inclusion, Carlton Pearson's book about the changes that have come about in his Theology in the past few years (see this Christdot item and the comments for more details). I did not expect to be swayed to his way of thinking, but I always try to look at everything with an open mind. Sometimes, even in things that are far more off-base than Carlton's book is, there is a glimmer of truth. I was looking for that, and I think there is a glimmer there... but more than that, there is confusion and misrepresentation both of the Bible and what it teaches, and in what others believe about it.

I was shocked to read this sentence right no page 7: "The so-called word of God, referred to as the Bible, is less the true logos (Greek for 'meaningful thought') of God but rather the word of man about God, as man perceives Him or Deity." Seems like maybe that's where he and I begin to part ways. That sentence gets us started on the familiar, slippery slope of relativism. If there is no definitive record of God's intentions for His creation, then most of the Bible was "made up" by Paul, Moses, David, and whoever, and I am as free to make up something about God as they were. I get the impression that Carlton does not include the recorded words of Jesus Himself in this, but he never clearly says if he thinks the words recorded as coming from Jesus' mouth can be considered the words of God or not.

Carlton apparently began his journey into inclusivism while watching the TV news. He saw images of people suffering and dying in some remote corner of the world, and cried out to God that it wasn't fair that God was sending those people to Hell and that Carlton was not able to go "save" them. He says God told him that He had already saved them, and that that wasn't Carlton's job. The crazy thing is that this is absolutely TRUE. God has already done all He is going to do to bring Salvation to the world (the work fo Christ on the Cross); there is nothing you or I can do to bring it to anyone but ourselves. But Carlton makes the faulty jump of logic that if the work is done, then everyone is already "saved." The fact is that there is nothing we can do to "earn" our Salvation, and in fact even the one thing we need to have in order to be saved is faith that comes directly from God (Ephesians 2:8-9), but we do have to "accept" our salvation for it to go into effect.

What Carlton is forgetting is that God has given us a free will. God does not force anyone to accept the sacrifice of Christ and obtain Salvation. However, Carlton is right that it is available to everyone.

I have a friend who believes that each individual has a choice presented to them at the point of death... they can choose God at that point, or they can choose to reject God. He bases this idea on a near-death experience that he once had himself. If that is the case, then even those starving, tormented people Carlton saw on his TV will have that chance to choose. And logically, evangelism could be seen as providing people exposure to a truth that will help them make an informed decision at that point, whether they actively embraced Christianity during their lifetime or not. I can't say that I know this for a fact, and in my own life I am seeking to live for God every day and I'm not waiting for a post-death-bed conversion, but that is one theory that could explain how people could be "without excuse" (Romans 1:20) for rejecting Jesus.

Carlton also seems to have some misconceptions about the place called Hell. Carlton seems to think that Christianity says that Hell was made for people, and that God sends them there. Maybe that's what some churches teach, but the Bible clearly states that Hell is a place that was made to contain Satan and his cohorts, but that people will indeed wind up there (Matthew 25:41-46), but it will be because of their own choices, not because of God's vengefulness.

I got a feeling while reading the book that Carlton has thrown out the baby with the bathwater. He has rejected some of the excesses and errors he has seen in the Christian Church's attitudes, and has substituted his own excesses and errors. Jus because Salvation has been made available to all, does not mean that all will accept it. Just because people wind up in Hell does not mean that God wants them there. And just because some Christians believe things that are off base does not mean that everything they believe is off base.

I look at the picture of Carlton on the cover of the book... I look at his eyes... and they don't look particularly peaceful to me. They are partly closed, and one eyebrow is in an almost sardonic arch. His smile turns down at the corners. I realize that ofthen photos capture things in a way that misrepresents them (the other day a friend showed me a picture of a little girl giving her mommy a pretty evil-looking, red-eye look for playing with someone else's new baby!) but for something like the cover of a book, you would expect the publisher and author to choose the picture that they feel best represents the author. I very much believe that you can tell something about an individual by looking at his eyes, but I hope what I perceive in Carlton's eyes is not what is really there. Maybe he was tired from finishing up the book. Maybe I'm seeing the stress of getting rejected for your honest beliefs. I do firmly believe that Carlton himself will go to Heaven, but I also believe that he is bringing confusion to a subject that should be clarified, not muddied. I hope that Carlton is able to find the peaceful place to live in that God wants for him (and each of us).

Jesus completed Salvation on the Cross. YES. Salvation is available to all. YES. Yes, even you on the back row. Everyone is already "saved"? In one sense, sorta. God considers the Salvation of all purchased and completed. But Salvation MUST BE ACCEPTED by faith. If Salvation is rejected when offered, that person has damned himself to Hell. God doesn't want us in Hell; God wants to bring us life. However, if we choose death over life and cursing over blessing, God will not go against our free will.

Reading The Bible To Children

I ran across this blog post via this post on the ESV blog. This paragraph caught my attention:

Obviously you’re not going to read the first chapter of Matthew (a long list of “begats”) in family worship time. And you’re probably not going to read the Song of Solomon (at least not until they’re a bit older). But the narrative sections of the Old Testament and the parables in the Gospels are excellent sources for family worship and they’re short enough to keep even the shortest attention spans engaged.

I have a 7-year-old and we started off this year with the intention of trying to make our way through the Bible using The NIV Narrated Bible. Now, keep in mind that I've READ the Pentateuch. Unlike some people who maybe haven't spent a lot of time in the Scriptures, I knew the steamy stuff that was in there. Heck, we well-informed Christdot regulars know that there have even been efforts to classify the Bible as pornographic in some countries. So maybe I should have been prepared a little better for questions about those "narrative sections of the Old Testament." I would encourage parents who are thinking about reading the actual Bible to their children... and I am not trying to discourage that by any means... to read ahead. Know the maturity level of your kids and especially how much about sex you are willing to explain to them. If you've read the whole book of Genesis, you know what I mean. If you haven't, now's the time! At least do it before you read it out loud to children. You might save yourself some embarrassment!

Swimming Without God

Help me out God
I need a little something
Turn the brights on
I can't see where we're going cause I don't know
when things'll work out just fine
Or if this road we're on leads us up
Or is leading me on down to my wishing well
Where I might drown
Oh I might drown
'Cause I can't swim without you God
I can't swim without you God

from "Help Me Out God" from the album Karaoke Superstars by Superchick

I was listening to this song the other day and it got me thinking. You know, there are millions of people who live out their lives without God. Some of them actively reject God, some maybe never hear of God, but many of them do "just fine" and, to all outward appearances, lead happy, healthy lives. So it struck me that if this song is literal, that means the songwriter is someone who desperately needs a crutch to lean on... someone who is at best a weakling, and at worst, codependent. No matter if God is real or not; if you "can't make it without God" then all of those millions of atheists and heathens are of stronger mind and character than you.

There are lots of songs like this one out there in Christian music. I think maybe some of them owe a lot to a legacy of similarly codependent "love songs" in the nonreligious realm... "Tell me how am I supposed to live without you, now that I've been lovin' you so long? How am I supposed to live without you? How am I supposed to carry on when all that I've been livin' for is gone?" (thank you, Michael Bolton!) I could probably come up with more examples, but you get the picture. We want to apply those strong, inspiring words to Jesus because we feel like Jesus deserves strong, inspiring words. And He does. But...

A few months ago my father-in-law lost his wife to death. He is in his sixties, and they got married as teenagers. He loves her very, very much. He misses her every day. In fact, he still feels unable to do certain things... drive very far, concentrate for long periods of time, things like that. But you know... as much as he loves her and needs her, he is carrying on. And I think he has a really good shot at living a long life even though she is gone. Some who lose spouses that they are devoted to even go on to remarry and have equally loving relationships with another spouse... I was talking to a friend just a few weeks ago who lost his much-loved first wife to death, but then eventually he met and married a wonderful woman who he is also devoted to. Fact is, well-adjusted human beings are very resilient, and at the risk of sounding callous, I'll state the obvious fact that often we can recover from things we think we can never recover from.

So if songs like "Help Me Out God" have a possible heritage in faulty pop love songs, is there validity in songs like that applied to Christ? That depends on whether those sentiments are Scriptural. I spent an afternoon racking my brain, trying to think of a place in the Gospels, Paul's letters, the Psalms for goodness sake... ANYWHERE that says that once you become a believer in God, after that point your physical survival depends on maintaining your relationship with God. I don't see it. The best I could do was this:

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. -John 15:5 ESV

But the fact is, that doesn't really prove our point. That's Jesus talking, and Jesus isn't interested in any good deeds we perform in our own strength:

We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. -Isaiah 64:6 ESV

In other words, from God's point of view, if He did not initiate your activities, whatever you are doing counts as nothing. Jesus wasn't saying that you would stop breathing if you turned away from God. Although I guess it could be argued that if Jesus turned His back on us, the fabric of the universe might disintegrate:

And he [Christ Jesus] is before all things, and in him all things hold together. - Colossians 1:17 ESV

But now we're going places that the Superchick song isn't going. Clearly we can physically survive without God. We cannot accomplish anything for His Kingdom without His help, but I don't find it in Scripture that we must stay in fellowship with God for our physical or emotional survival. God's people are not weaklings; we are human beings like everyone else, but if we say stuff like "I can't live without God!" we present a picture to the unsaved that we do not want to present... basically, we are saying that we are weaker than they, because they are likely doing just fine without God where we would emotionally fall to pieces without Him holding things together. No wonder atheists often say that Christians are weak-minded. We basically say it ourselves.

Don't get me wrong; I enjoy that Superchick song. And you know, sometimes I feel like I would crack up without God helping me out. And I know that my life has meaning and purpose to it that it would not have if I didn't have Jesus giving me direction and empowering me to do what He has instructed me to do. But from a purely human standpoint, I am as stable physically and emotionally as the next guy. I'm not too weak to function in life without some spiritual "crutch," but I do know a good thing when I see it. If I have the choice to walk five miles to the store or drive in my car, I'd be stupid to walk, especially if I had a load to carry home. I have the option of leading a life without God or living a life with God. It's possible without God; it's better with God.

I choose God.

!Hero, The Musical

I discovered today that !Hero: The Rock Opera is now being licensed for local theater groups to perform! See HeroTheMusical.com for more details.