Friday, October 15, 2010

Seeing God's Grace in the Chilean Mine Rescue

The world was captivated by the Chilean mine rescue. 33 men trapped more than a half mile underground, rescued by the resources, commitment and ingenuity of others, after surviving through discipline, perseverance and God's amazing grace. Many of the miners seemed to be spiritually transformed by the experience, giving praise and honor to God and describing how they reached out for God in the midst of their dark pit. Several mentioned their intention of leading new, God-honoring lives.

Here are several quotes from the British newspaper, The Mirror:

Luis Urzua, 54, revealed the men were in panic as the meagre food supplies almost ran out in their harrowing first 17 days in the underground hellhole.

. . . .

The miners famously then tied Ojeda's piece of paper to the drill with a written message reading: "All 33 of us are fine in the shelter." Two days later, Urzua spoke to Chilean president Sebastian Pinera on the phone and told him: "Under a sea of rock, we are waiting for the whole of Chile to pull hard so that we can be taken out of this hell."

The president replied: "I know that it has been hell, but it is a hell that has meant for our country a resurrection in spirit, in strength, in hope."

Urzua said: "I had enough strength to talk to the workers, telling them what was happening. Those who had faith hoped someday we could be rescued."

The imagery of the experience parallels the plight of all humanity. We are all trapped in a dark pit of sin, despair and eternal hopelessness. We are unable to escape on our own and are destined to perish in the hell. Yet, out of love and compassion for us, God made a way into the pit to rescue us from the darkness and lead us out into the light. Jesus came from the light of heaven and opened the door to heaven for hopelessly lost people.

Jesus calls us to trust Him and climb into His rescue pod of salvation. He did the work that was impossible for us to do by offering Himself as the perfect sacrificial lamb, exchanging His righteousness for our sinfulness in order to pay the price for our freedom and cloak us in His holiness. He asks us to trust Him and then to live for Him after He has freed us from our hopeless pit.

The Chilean miners now face the difficult task of living out the transformations that occurred in their lives during this rescue. Will they follow through? We face the same question. Will we live lives worthy of the rescue that God accomplished for our lives? Will we continually bring honor and praise to Him, because He made a way for us when are condition was hopeless? May it be and may the world see and take note, as it has done with these rescued miners.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

SHINING THE LIGHT TO SKEPTICS

In our increasingly secularized and pagan culture, it is important to identify ways to connect with people who don't have a clue about Who God is, what He has done for them, and the life to which He has called them. Paul gives us a great example of how to approach pagan people with the gospel in Acts 17:22-31. As we are told in Romans 1-2, everyone has a sense that there is a God out there and a desire to know a good God. That sense, however, can be covered and suppressed and buried in the baggage of a world that is in rebellion to God. The comments below are from a seminary paper that I wrote on this issue.

Acts 17:22-31, like Acts 14:8-18, describes the way that Paul addresses pagans who are unschooled in Hebrew Scriptures. An understanding of the context amplifies the message of these verses. Paul has been waiting for his companions to join him in Athens. He doesn’t waste his time, but is sensitive to how “his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.” (ESV, 17:16.) Thus, Paul understands that idols are a big deal in Athens. A massive idol to Athena is in the Parthenon. People are surrounded by idols to every imaginable god. Idols are never-living, man-created objects. They don’t move or speak or reflect any life at all. So, how can Paul use what he observes to communicate the Gospel?

Paul starts where he usually starts, by reasoning with the Jews and devout persons. (17:17.) He also goes into the marketplace – the Greek agora (Roman forum) – and reasons with people there. He is practicing street evangelism. The agora is at the base of Mars Hill (where the Aeropagus met) and the Acropolis. Stoic and Epicurean philosophers were always looking for new ideas (v. 17:21), so they invited Paul to speak his new ideas to the Aeropagus. They were especially fascinated with Paul’s preaching of Jesus and the resurrection. The message of Jesus and the resurrection are all about LIFE. Life of any kind is a sharp contrast to the absence of life in idols.

In standing before the Aeropagus, Paul is before some of the best educated men of the city. They will not listen long to someone who doesn’t hold their interest. Paul seizes on a theme from the idols that he observed in the city. Every one of these men knew the idols, so the idols that provoked Paul’s spirit in v. 16 served as the introductory theme of his message, because one alter was inscribed with a dedication to the “unknown god.” This tells us that we must always be observing culture for avenues for the presentation of the Gospel. Paul found his avenue in the “unknown god.” That was the God that Paul proclaimed.

Paul had a good grasp of Greek and Athenian history, because the “unknown god” was introduced by the Cretan philosopher, Epimenides, more than 600 years earlier.[1] Essentially, Epimenides was believed to have saved Athens from a deadly plague by getting the people to sacrifice sheep on alters to an “unknown god.” The plague suddenly stopped and the “unknown god” was given the credit. Paul quotes Epimenides, from a Hymn to Zeus, in the first part of v. 28.[2] Thus, he demonstrates a grasp of both Athenian history and Greek poetry. The quoted line from Epimenides was a description of how men are the offspring of Zeus, in whom “we live and move and have our being.”[3] Paul applies that statement to the one true God of all creation – the formerly unknown God. He quotes from a second Greek poet in describing mankind as the offspring of God. “Offspring” are living beings.

Thus, Paul has used familiar history, stories and philosophical poetry to catch the attention of and identify with his listeners. He then uses precise, logical “reasoning” to drive home his point: if mankind is the living offspring of God, and mankind lives and moves and is a living being, how can mankind worship inanimate, never-living objects as if they were god? The living God commands people to repent from such ignorant thinking, because there will be a day when He judges the world in righteousness. Paul then links his theme of a living God, who gives life to mankind, by describing how this God raised a man from the dead, and how God will judge the world through that same man.

Apparently, Athens had lost much of its ancient glory and was much smaller and less important than Corinth at this time.[4] Athens probably had around 30,000 residents, although there were many students (a world famous university) and philosophers. Corinth had several hundred thousand people and was a thriving commercial center. Paul was apparently eager to go to nearby Corinth, which had a larger potential audience for the Gospel. We see Paul depart for Corinth in 18:1, with no indication that he returned to Athens. Paul’s convert in Athens, Dionysius (the Greeks say, “Dennis”), became the first Bishop of Athens and is credited with building a strong church in the city.[5] Thus, Paul’s presentation of the Gospel of life and being and the resurrection at Mars Hill bore lasting fruit.

With Paul’s attack on idols as a product of past ignorance about the nature of God, the worship of idols began to fade from the western hemisphere. Neither traditional worship of Greek/Roman “gods” nor emperor worship, nor worship of other pagan deities could stand up to the message of life and truth delivered by Paul. As Athens, Rome and other cities of influence came under the influence of the Gospel, society was transformed, and to this day, blatant idol worship in western culture has been eliminated, apart from what is imported by eastern immigrants. People respond better to and identify more with a “living” God than to dead idols.

[1] This description of the history of Epimenides and the understanding of the quote attributed to him is from the first chapter of Don Richardson’s book, Eternity In Their Hearts, at pp. 14-28. As his sources, Richardson cites the third century Greek author, Diogenes Laertius, The Lives of Eminent Philosophers, vol. 1, p. 110, and Aristotle, The Art of Rhetoric, book 3, 17:10, translated by J.H. Freese for the Loeb Classical Library. Cf. Hughes and Laney, New Bible Companion, at p. 593.

[2] From Epimenides’ Hymn to Zeus; Fn. to ESV Study Bible; Walvoord, Zuck, The Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament, at p. 402.

[3] Paul describes Epimenides as a prophet in Titus 1:7, where he quotes him again.

[4] This information is primarily from the Greek tour guide who led my tour of Athens and Corinth in August of 2009; cf. Walvoord, Zuck, supra, at p. 402, commenting on 17:16.

[5] Hughes and Laney, supra, at p. 594.

Monday, August 2, 2010

SEEING GOD'S TRUTH IN SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

This is one of several papers written for seminary that I will be posting. This paper explores ways to move conversation about the movie, Slumdog Millionaire, toward a discussion of biblical truth.

1. Summary of the Movie

At its core, Slumdog Millionaire is about the quest for hope in the midst of cruelty and chaos, and the about the power of love to provide hope under utterly hopeless circumstances. The moviemakers seem intent on displaying authentic India, almost as a documentary, with its extreme poverty and crushing cruelty mixed with economic transformation, ancient purpose and timeless romance. The story revolves around a good-hearted boy from the slums who is determined to find and rescue his true love. The only way that he can reach her is to be on a popular game show that he knows that she watches. He is not on the show to win the money, but to enable her to find him. Thus, he continues to risk all his winnings for another round of the show – not to win more money, but to give himself more time to be found by her. The show’s popular, but the envious and evil host accuses him of cheating. The story is then told through flashbacks, the night before the final show, as the police brutally interrogate Jamal in order to find out how he knew the answers to the questions.

The British moviemakers are clearly captivated by the diverse and colorful characters and culture of India. They use the story to bring out these elements. The real story starts in the slums of Mumbai (formerly Bombay). Mumbai is in the midst of a massive economic renaissance that is destroying slums and replacing them with massive high-rise buildings. The slum dwellers are forced to adapt to this new environment. The slum in which the boy, Jamal, and his brother, Salim are growing up, is a Muslim slum – a minority community in the majority Hindu country. These incredibly poor kids in the middle of a massive slum are happy and energetic and manage to have a strong sense of community and personal joy. Despite the adversities, it somehow works for them. However, there is a clear disparity in the attitudes of Jamal and Salim. Jamal has a desire to do what is good and right and true. Salim’s heart is totally self-centered. He seems to enjoy hurting others.

Life as they know it comes crashing down when Hindus raid and burn large parts of their slum, killing their mother. The boys flee, eventually taking shelter in freight containers. They are soon joined by a young girl, Lakita. The three of them are probably ages 6-8. Jamal is kind to the girl and Salim is mean. They roam the city garbage piles for sustenance. They are eventually “befriended” by a gang that preys on young kids, maiming them in order to use them as effective beggars. Blind beggars make the most money, but they are also willing to amputate legs and do whatever is necessary to make effectively sympathetic beggars. The boys figure out what is happening just in time and manage to escape. The girl, however, is kept and nurtured for a future as a young prostitute.

The rest of the movie tracks the lives of these children, as they seek to make their way in a hostile world. Salim is drawn to the power of the gangs and the authority that he has with a gun. Lakita is tossed from one bad situation to another, always the pawn of evil people. Jamal is always determined to rescue Lakita and make a new, honest life for her and himself. He is motivated by love and a strong conscience concerning right and wrong. He is humble and always truthful. The story demonstrates how Jamal’s truthful and good ways prevail in the end, as he is able to rescue Lakita. The rescue, however, requires Salim to sacrifice his own life, as an atonement for his many sins. Salim chooses to help his good brother and help set free Lakita, even though it means Salim’s own death. The last words on his lips are, “God is great.” When he had previously seen his brother for the first time in years, several weeks earlier, his words were, “God is good.” Thus, despite Salim’s evil behavior, he retains a sense of the presence and nature of God.

2. The Movie's Messages

While the movie was primarily about Indian culture, the main themes resonate with all cultures. This movie earned almost $400,000,000 worldwide, and won 8 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Screenplay in 2009. The movie touched a cord in the hearts and minds of many people.

One message that was conveyed was the need for hope, and the eventual blessings that can come from doing what is right, despite every reason to give in to evil. The fuel for that hope is “love,” an undying and sacrificial love for a beautiful girl who seems to be hopelessly and perpetually captured by evil people. Thus, out of cruelty, poverty and despair, beauty and love can prevail. The audience wants the girl to be rescued and wants the good Jamal to succeed. The audience roots for love to triumph in the midst of loveless, evil chaos.

One of the reasons that the movie works with such a basic theme is the visual and aural assault on the senses that comes from the documentary filming style of the movie. If smells could be communicated in a movie, the audience would have felt completely transported into the reality of India. The chaos and cruelty of modern India is mixed with the basic human ideals of truth, justice and love, creating extreme contrasts and compelling characters. The lively, uplifting music, including the finale of the hip-hop/pop dance song, Jai Ho (translated – Victory is Yours), seems to keep the viewer from getting sunk down in the thick, chaotic morass of evil and cruelty, and helps hopeful human emotions rise above it all.

The ultimate message of the movie is to give hope for a “destiny” that is good, true and full of love. The fact that such a message resonated so well with so many people suggests that people in our culture are still longing for good, true and loving ideals despite the chaos and hurt that may encompass their lives.

3. Transitioning to a Gospel Conversation

There are so many points of contact for transitioning to the Gospel that I could probably write a book on the subject. I should preface these comments by noting that these kids were nominally Muslim. Nevertheless, the same story could have been told the same way if the kids were Hindu or Christian, because the ideals communicated are universal. I believe the screenwriter made the children Muslim for the sake of making them greater outcasts in the majority Hindu society.

A. Destiny/Purpose: Everyone in this world wants to know their purpose in life. The movie begins with Jamal about to be asked the final game show question, and the question that is written on the screen is for the audience: “How did he do it?” The options are: “A. Lucky; B. Cheated; C. Brilliant; D. It is written.” The “Answer” pops up at the very end of the movie: “Answer, D. It is written.” Throughout the movie, the word, “destiny,” is used repeatedly. This is “our destiny.” This is “my destiny.” The suggestion, of course, is that there is a higher being or power that is orchestrating much of life. There is someone or something that has decreed certain things about our lives. The suggestion is that the goal of our lives is to find and pursue our destiny, what is written about us.

In both Hindu and Muslim cultures, the concept of destiny is Karma or fate. In both cultures, there is a fatalism about life. In India, the poor are not to attempt to work their way out of their poverty, because that would violate their Karma and doom them to poverty again in the next life. The Muslim says, “if it is the will of Allah,” in a fatalistic way. Thus, a Muslim taxi driver will drive on the wrong side of the road on a blind curve. When the passenger complains, the taxi driver says they will be fine, “if it is the will of Allah.” [My father literally had that experience on a winding mountain road.]

For the Christian, we know that God’s written Word is true. We know that God has said that He loves the whole world (John 3:16) and that everyone in the world who believes/trusts in His Son will have everlasting life as “it is written.” We know that for the one who believes/trusts in and loves the Son, all circumstances in life work together for good according to “His purpose,” in order to make us more like Jesus – which is God’s ultimate purpose for us. (Rom. 8:28-29.) So, we know that even the poorest, most oppressed saint can experience that truth, because God is true and “it is written” by Him. The Christian sense of destiny is not fatalism, but the fact that a loving God has a plan for good in our lives, to give us a hope and a future. (E.g., Jeremiah 29:11-13.) God is on our side and nothing in this life can separate us from His love. (Rom. 8:31-39.) Thus, a Christian should always be an optimist, because he/she knows that God is always at work in and through us for our good and His glory, despite our circumstances.

For the Christian, there is a clear understanding that God called and chose us before the foundation of the world. (Eph. 1:4.) He called and chose us because He loves us and wants us to live in a way that brings Him praise and glory. (Eph. 1:5-6.) Thus, our destiny is not so much tied to our physical circumstances, but to our purpose in life – to live for “the praise of His glorious grace.” (Eph. 1:6.)

The movie emphasizes that Jamal’s destiny was for love and for good, but he had to speak the truth. That is God’s message for us as well. He has destined us for love and for good, but we are called to speak the truth – which is found in His Word. Jesus said, “I am the truth.” (John 14:6.) John said of Jesus, he was “full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14.) As Rick Warren so famously wrote, Christians are able to live “purpose driven lives.” By that he meant lives that are empowered by the purposes of God, and God’s purposes are always good, because He does not want any to perish but for everyone to come to a knowledge of the truth. (1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Pet. 3:9.) The Westminster Catechism summarizes God’s chief purpose for all people: “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”

We must know Him in order to enjoy Him and we must know what He desires of us in order to glorify Him. The Bible tells us that we know God through His Son, Jesus Christ, who came to save us from our sin and give us the righteousness needed in order to live in the presence of God, for His glory. For the Christian, as we fulfill our purpose, we enjoy life the most. John Piper has said, “He is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him.” In other words, as we learn to intimately know Him, our desires are to please Him, and pleasing Him brings us satisfaction and joy.

B. Child Cruelty. How does a culture allow children to be abandoned and treated with such cruelty? In India, the philosophy of Karma justifies such treatment. That is their Karma in life. That is where they are in their cycle of reincarnation. If anyone breaks that cycle, they are doomed to start over, perhaps in an even worse situation. So, a person makes the best of their situation, but should not attempt to rise above it. This attitude of Karma has morally justified oppression of the poor by the wealthy for millennia in India. It has justified an unbreakable “caste” system. Hindus have violently reacted against efforts of Christians to raise up the poor from their caste/Karma. Thus, the theme of a slum-dweller rising above his circumstances to win 20,000,000 rupees is a contra-Karma theme. On the other hand, if “it is written,” it could happen.

The western world does not comprehend the blessings in our society because of our Judeo-Christian heritage. The development of orphanages and child labor laws and protections for the poor and oppressed arise from Judeo-Christian principals and were unknown in the world outside of a Judeo-Christian cultural influence. India is only as far along as they are in improving the conditions of the poor and weak, because of the influence of sacrificial Christians, such as William Carey, who were able to bring moral and cultural changes through the influence of the Gospel. Christians necessarily have a sense of compassion and a desire to help the poor and afflicted. Where that Christian influence has not taken place in culture, there are massive abominations and atrocities and tragedies against children and the weakest members of society. That is a reality that the western world needs to see and understand, so that we understand that the Gospel message of the Savior, who welcomed and loved the children, is a message that brings societal transformation for good. Perhaps this is one reason that 86% of people who come to Christ, come by the age of 14.

I have witnessed the mistreatment of children in India, in the slums of Sao Paulo, Brazil and in Africa, where children are kidnapped and taught to kill (see the movie, Blood Diamond, as an example of the atrocities against children in Africa). Above all, children need to have hope that they have a purpose and a future. Not only does the Gospel offer that hope, but the Christian ethical and moral response is to help the afflicted, fight for truth and justice, and provide opportunities for people to work their way out of poverty. This is in sharp contrast to the corruption and affliction that pervades cultures in which the Gospel has not had a significant influence.

I am familiar with multiple ministries in India, having personally visited and followed them, where these street kids are rescued, given love and an education, and become productive members of society. I am familiar with similar ministries in Brazil and Africa, having visited those as well. This is what Christians do in seeking to help the hopeless, to give them love, a hope and a future, just as Christ has done the same for us. Christ-less people and cultures have trouble sustaining such ministry.

C. The Source of Conscience. Given the terrible circumstances of the upbringing of the children in the movie, there is every reason for them not to know right and wrong, every reason for them to not know anything about true “love.” Yet, throughout the movie, there is a recurring theme of conscience – the knowledge of what is good and what is evil, as well as the understanding that true love sacrificially seeks the best for another person – a distinctly Christian “agape” type of unconditional love. As is apparent by the world-wide reception to the movie, those ideas resonate with people. Yet, if we are really the product of random, purposeless chemical processes, there is no explanation for the knowledge of good and evil or for an ideal that demonstrates sacrificial love for others. Those ideas are rooted in a sense of conscience that seems to transcend the moral environment of a person’s life.

Romans 1 tells us that the wrath of God is against all ungodliness and unrighteousness and suppression of the truth. Romans 1 says that what can be known about God is plain to all people everywhere so that people are without excuse. In other words, God’s nature and character should be apparent to people. His nature and character are holy. Yet, people make God their enemy by suppressing the truth and worshipping created things instead of the creator. Thus, God has given them up to dishonorable passions, all manner of unrighteousness and evil. Romans 1:28-32 gives a list of the character qualities of people who are enemies of God. Yet, even such pagan Gentiles, who do not know God’s truth, when they listen to their consciences and do what is right, “they show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness” to what is true and right. (Rom. 2:14-15.)

Thus, the Bible tells us that we all have a conscience that tells us what is true and right, but we have the freedom to reject that truth – to suppress it and exchange that truth for lies that we create. Slumdog Millionaire tells the story of one brother who followed the moral restraints of his conscience, despite his circumstances, and the other brother who suppressed the truth and followed the lies of the world.

We know that the brother who suppressed the truth was troubled by a guilty conscience. Before he went out to do his dirty work as an assassin, he would get on his prayer rug and ask God to forgive him for the evil that he was about to commit. His guilty conscience ultimately led him to sacrifice himself so that his good brother and good Lakita would go free. He was shot to death in a bathtub full of cash – literally blood money.

Where does this conscience come from? How do we know how we “ought” to live? C.S. Lewis explores this theme at length in the first 50 pages of Mere Christianity. He concludes that we were all made to know and love God – that is the reason for our conscience. He concludes that we are all in a battle of good and evil (the battle seen clearly in this movie) and our only hope is to be saved by a holy (extraordinarily good), all-powerful, purposeful God. The Gospel tells the story of that salvation, which is now offered as a free gift to all of us.

d. More . . . . I could go on and on, because there are many Christocentric themes, even though moviemakers may not have understood the depth and significance of these themes. Forgiveness was a big issue. Salim wanted forgiveness. Jamal was unable to give forgiveness before Salim sacrificed himself. Lakita gave forgiveness and accepted Salim’s repentance. The stories of the buried treasure and the pearl of great price from Matthew 13 come to mind, because Jamal was willing to sacrifice everything for Lakita, his true love and the most valuable treasure to him in life. The loss of wealth, influence and power at death is evident. The purposeless existence of so many people is evident. Even the dishonest cops eventually allowed the sincere and truthful heart of Jamal to prevail over their corruption. The national motto of India was revealed as, “Truth Alone Triumphs, Not Falsehood.” That motto was discussed in the movie in the midst of pervasive falsehood and lying by everyone except Jamal. In his life, truth alone did triumph. Thus, the end of the movie included a jubilant song and dance scene in the train station. The song, “Jai Ho,” means Victory is Yours – i.e., victory goes to the truthful in the end. In the middle of the movie, at the Taj Majal, Jamal witnessed part of the opera, Orpheus, about a man whose bride is killed and who sacrifices everything to go to the underworld and rescue her. Jamal then sees himself as Orpheus, seeking to go back to the Indian underworld in order to rescue the love of his life. This reminds me of Jesus descending to earth, giving up his equality with God the Father, in order to become a servant, suffer and die for us. Again, for the thinking Christian, this movie is a deep well from which to drink.

Monday, July 26, 2010

A DAILY BATTLE FOR THE SOULS OF MEN & WOMEN

One of the life principles that has been on my mind lately is to always leave wherever I am a better place, and whomever I interact with in a better spirit, because I demonstrated the love and grace and joy of the presence of God in my life. I have been working on smiling more, being in less of a hurry, taking time to listen to and speak with people. So it was today when I stopped at Chipotle for dinner. The young girls behind the counter were tired, tattooed and pierced. Their young lives were already hard and dreary. I wanted to get them to smile and tried to be kind and encouraging (my wife would approve - she has a real heart for being kind to waitresses). They perked up.

I looked at the nasty tattoo on one of the arms, peeking out from under the shirtsleeve a girl who looked like she was still in high school. I realized that Satan and his deceitful henchmen are out there seeking to indelibly brand people with life issues that keep them away from Jesus. Jesus wants to indelibly brand us with His Holy Spirit, the seal of our salvation, the downpayment on our eternal inheritance in His kingdom.

Everything in life: media, friends, family, school, work, recreation, health issues, government, politics, advertising, propaganda, emotions, desires, media, and more media; will either push us in one direction or the other. We will either move closer to Jesus Christ, coming to know Him and love Him and live for Him, or we will move away from Christ and closer to the enemy of our souls. We never know how long anyone has in this battle. Who will be the victor of the soul? We never know how many opportunities anyone has to trust Jesus or to get locked into trusting anything but Jesus.

I left Chipotle determined to stay in the battle, pursuing and loving Jesus, and seeking to attract others to Jesus, to the truth, to hope, to purpose, to peace despite circumstances, to eternal assurance that is based on what Jesus Christ has done for us. May we fight fiercely and joyfully in the battle, knowing that we do not fight alone. He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

PROPAGATING DEPRESSION, POVERTY AND BIG GOVERNMENT

I have been reading With Justice For All, by John Perkins. Perkins left the comfort of California to go back to his native Mississippi, with his family, in order to spread the Gospel, and combat poverty and racism during the civil rights movement. The book got me thinking about the things in our society that contribute to disintegration of basic structures and that lead to depression, poverty, violence and hopelessness. Obviously, racism is one such structure, but there are many others.

At the top of the list is the disintegration of the family, which leads to the breakdown of almost everything else. To the extent that kids have to grow up without a loving mom and dad, even in the midst of poverty, they are at a huge disadvantage. Government day care, government run schools, and alternative "families" do not give the love, security, and blending of motherly and fatherly nurturing that is needed. The security of a loving nuclear family enables both kids and adults to overcome many adversities.

Moral decay in society inevitably attacks the family nucleus first and foremost. It is almost impossible for a family to stay together and provide moral nurture without being grounded in spiritual values. The pro-athiest billboard that says, Good Without God, is a lie. With dads acting as no more than sperm donors and mom's desperate for love and affection, kids are left with a loss of purpose and security. Home is a nightmare, not a refuge.

How can this vicious cycle be broken? Loving people must rescue those whom they can, as demonstrated by the movie, The Blind Side. John Perkins advocates moving into these communities to help them restore the values and sense of hope that start with the Gospel and move into transformed thinking and values and result in living with joyful purpose. Perhaps we can also invite individuals and families into our homes and communities. We have to consistently stand against everything that breaks down the nuclear family and we must stand up for the values of the Gospel.

I was thinking about Columbia and Mexico and nations that have succumbed in whole or in part to the dominance of the drug lords and drug traffickers. How does a country get into that situation? Countries get there by a series of compromises over time. Pretty soon, the problem is so insurmountable that people are tempted to simply give up and give in instead of fighting for good and against evil. The same thing happens in smaller ways here in the U.S., and can happen in larger ways.

We have an initiative to legalize marijuana for all purposes in California. The first step was the legalizing of "medical" marijuana, a euphemism for the free use of pot. The coming initiative is the next step. These steps empower those who have illegally grown pot for years, often with backing from the same drug lords across the border who have wrought devastating havoc on their own countries. It is not a surprise that those who advocate legalizing marijuana also want to stop the war on drugs. The plague is spreading. We have a President who issued an executive order that the federal laws against marijuana are not to be enforced by the U.S. Attorneys.

May we daily ask God to show us what we can do to extend grace and hope through the Gospel, never growing weary of doing and seeking good. With God's help, we can overcome.

Friday, May 21, 2010

THE GLORY OF GOD IN "CREATION"

Why do Christians make such a big deal of God as Creator? Apart from the obvious fact that the Bible unequivocally describes God as Creator of all things, God clearly makes Himself known to everyone through what we call "general revelation." That means that everyone everywhere can look at the heavens, look at creation, examine their own consciences, and contemplate providence in their lives, and know that someone much greater than themselves set all of those things in place to draw people to Himself. See Ps. 19:1-6, Acts 14:15-17, 17:24-27, Rom. 1:18-23, 2:14-16.

A big way for Satan to undermine God's revelation of Himself in general revelation is to convince people that God really didn't or couldn't have created or done these things. God must have needed help or perhaps God has nothing to do with it. Random chance over a long enough time must have done these things - despite our knowledge that chance and time tend to confuse and destroy everything (i.e., things in order tend toward disorder, not increasing order and complexity - part of the Second Law of Thermodynamics).

Often, God's work in hearts through general revelation precedes the receptivity of those hearts to God's special revelation of Jesus Christ and the Gospel. If Satan can remove a sense of general revelation in the hearts and minds of people - e.g., educate our natural sense of awe and wonder right out of us - then perhaps he can keep people from Christ. This is one of the reasons that the battle over creation is so important. People who are receptive to a Creator tend to be receptive to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As Christians, we cannot compromise these principles.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

WHAT HAPPENED ON APRIL 3, AD 33?

One of the really cool things I have learned in Seminary are the specific dates of various events. The specific dates help bring the reality of these events to life - real people doing real things in a real time-frame. I have pasted below a calendar from AD 33 (the most likely year of Jesus' Triumphal Entry, Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension, and the Day of Pentacost) in order to help us visualize the actual days of the week in studying the life of Christ and the new church. In Daniel 9:24-26, we are told that from the date of the decree by Cyrus, king of Persia, to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, to the coming of "Messiah the Prince," will be 69 periods of 7 years each (483 years). We know this time period ended either with the Triumphal Entry or the Crucifixion.

The crucifixion took place on April 3, AD 33.

The resurrection took place April 5, AD 33.

The ascension took place May 14, AD 33.

The Day of Pentecost was Sunday, May 24, AD 33.

We know that each of Paul's missionary journeys began in the spring of the year:

1st mission: April AD 48 - September AD 49

2nd mission: April AD 50 - September AD 52

3rd mission: Spring AD 53 - May AD 57