I've been taking a wonderful class this semester all about revivals and awakenings that have occurred in the past, especially the role of students (teenagers and college students) in them. This has been easily the most exciting class I've had in seminary, with philosophy of religion taking a close second, believe it or not.
My professor is a man of God who prays hard and has a heart for God's work in students' lives, and he has shared with his classes that he feels that revival is soon to come to the church in America. There are all sorts of reasons to think this, too. For example, one thing that has preceded every single revival is moral/spiritual decline. You need only look briefly at a news website, such as foxnews.com, to see that this is increasingly true of our culture. Just tonight I see on that site's main page stories about the following: Anna Nicole Smith's death and the controversy over her daughter's paternity, Elie Wiesel's being attacked by a holocaust-denier, a man who kept the body of his homosexual partner frozen so that he could keep receiving pension checks, a Disney employee who acts as the Beast from Beauty and the Beast and has been arrested on child pornography charges, and a pastor in New York who committed suicide after being caught by the local television station engaging in a homosexual relationship and entering an "adult bookstore." Our culture is literally coming apart at the seems. Each institution is failing, from our schools to our families. We are certainly in decline.
However, this decline is not what I'm really after here. What I want to communicate is what my professor has said several times now to me. One other thing that has been common with every revival is that it was preceded by prayer, sometimes the prayer of a few and sometimes by more. This is not to say that God is in a box and does things the same way every time, but the fact that He has chosen to bring a refreshing of His Spirit when His people have earnestly asked Him for it should open our eyes. Can we expect that He will revive us now without our earnest prayer? I think the answer is obvious.
So, this brings me to the question: are you asking God on a daily basis to come refresh us with His awesome Presence? Are you crying out to Him to show mercy on our nation and people? I have been incredibly convicted that my prayer is too often inward and lacking the sort of direction that God would have for me. Would you join with me in beginning to daily lay our desire, our need, for His Spirit to come powerfully upon us, our churches, and our nation? It is time we shed the tears of brokenness before our God!
Friday, February 09, 2007
Wild at Heart - A Short Review
Let me start out by saying that this book by John Eldredge has literally been life-changing for me. I had heard good things about it before I read it, but I was blown away by the insight into manhood that was contained between the covers. I often felt like the author was writing about me, personally, and this is not limited to me. Several other men I've discussed the book with have expressed similar feelings. It addresses some of the core issues that Christian men face.
I learned quite a few things about myself and my standing with God through reading this book, but I'll save you all from a long post and just talk about the thing that has affected me the most.
For quite some time I've dealt with a sense of impossibility about my Christian walk, my spiritual life. That is, I felt that I never could measure up to God's requirements for me because there was something fundamentally wrong with me, as if at my core there still lay sin. Now, I'm nowhere near perfect, but I've been learning through this book what it means to have become a new creation in Christ Jesus. Part of what that means is that no longer is a Christian fundamentally broken because of sin at his or her core. Rather, a Christian is now fundamentally good. All that remains of the old self is what Eldredge calls the Traitor within who lies and cajoles to get us back into old habits of sin, and this is only a dying part, no longer what defines the Christian. God has made us good, righteous, and holy in Christ, and that is something to rejoice about! I find myself overcome even now as I type!
If you haven't read this book, please do. You don't have to be a man, either. Women would gain a huge understanding of men, as well as of thier relationships with men from this.
I learned quite a few things about myself and my standing with God through reading this book, but I'll save you all from a long post and just talk about the thing that has affected me the most.
For quite some time I've dealt with a sense of impossibility about my Christian walk, my spiritual life. That is, I felt that I never could measure up to God's requirements for me because there was something fundamentally wrong with me, as if at my core there still lay sin. Now, I'm nowhere near perfect, but I've been learning through this book what it means to have become a new creation in Christ Jesus. Part of what that means is that no longer is a Christian fundamentally broken because of sin at his or her core. Rather, a Christian is now fundamentally good. All that remains of the old self is what Eldredge calls the Traitor within who lies and cajoles to get us back into old habits of sin, and this is only a dying part, no longer what defines the Christian. God has made us good, righteous, and holy in Christ, and that is something to rejoice about! I find myself overcome even now as I type!
If you haven't read this book, please do. You don't have to be a man, either. Women would gain a huge understanding of men, as well as of thier relationships with men from this.
Friday, December 15, 2006
Time Travel and Ethics...Weird Question
OK, so today I was eating lunch with two guys that I regularly meet with to pray and study the Bible. We weren't very spiritual today, owing to the fact that we're between books of study and also enjoying the nice lull of life right after our semesters have finished. So, we were discussing the intricacies of time travel, especially logical problems with it and the interesting possibilities it could offer.
My friend brought up a very interesting question: what would you do if you could go back to the time prior to Hitler's rise to power and, knowing all that he would do in his life, had the chance to kill him before any of it could happen? Would you do it or leave things as they historically happened?
There are all sorts of things that a person might say here, but I think I'll leave it up to you from here. So, please share your opinion.
My friend brought up a very interesting question: what would you do if you could go back to the time prior to Hitler's rise to power and, knowing all that he would do in his life, had the chance to kill him before any of it could happen? Would you do it or leave things as they historically happened?
There are all sorts of things that a person might say here, but I think I'll leave it up to you from here. So, please share your opinion.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
We Need to Check Spending
As I was changing into my uniform for work today, someone had a radio station playing over the PA system in the locker room at work. As I was listening, there was an ad for some credit company, promoting their "product" with an offer for a zero-percent interest loan right at the beginning of someone's use of their service. This was framed as a quick way to get some Christmas money, and it was also called several times "free money." That bothers me to no end, and I think it should be illegal to call something free which clearly isn't. Anyone using this service definitely has to pay that money back.
Now, I see something similar every time I get a credit card bill. (We don't actually use our credit cards, except for emergencies, which we haven't yet had, and for expense items that will be repaid by work - even so they still send the dang bills.) I don't know about you, but every credit card bill I've ever received had a "check" attached, made out to me for several hundred dollars. I've been raised to distrust, even abhor, borrowing money, so this has never caught me. However, I wonder how many people cash that check, whether they know that they will have to pay it back or not.
I just think that credit card companies are just barely legal and should be required to be much more forthcoming in their information disclosures. I would hope that this would lead to lower levels of indebtedness. However, I realize that the real reason we Americans owe so much in consumer debt is that we simply want more "stuff" than we can afford. Our hearts are never content, always seeking more only to find that more doesn't satisfy either.
Some people might point out that lower levels of consumer debt would cause an economic slow-down because people aren't buying as much. This would lead to a loss of jobs. However, I think that would only be temporary. When people are no longer saddled by such debt, they will have much more income to spend on things because they won't be paying the interest. The key is having the patience to wait, which most just don't have.
Now, I see something similar every time I get a credit card bill. (We don't actually use our credit cards, except for emergencies, which we haven't yet had, and for expense items that will be repaid by work - even so they still send the dang bills.) I don't know about you, but every credit card bill I've ever received had a "check" attached, made out to me for several hundred dollars. I've been raised to distrust, even abhor, borrowing money, so this has never caught me. However, I wonder how many people cash that check, whether they know that they will have to pay it back or not.
I just think that credit card companies are just barely legal and should be required to be much more forthcoming in their information disclosures. I would hope that this would lead to lower levels of indebtedness. However, I realize that the real reason we Americans owe so much in consumer debt is that we simply want more "stuff" than we can afford. Our hearts are never content, always seeking more only to find that more doesn't satisfy either.
Some people might point out that lower levels of consumer debt would cause an economic slow-down because people aren't buying as much. This would lead to a loss of jobs. However, I think that would only be temporary. When people are no longer saddled by such debt, they will have much more income to spend on things because they won't be paying the interest. The key is having the patience to wait, which most just don't have.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Grey's Anatomy - Where It Goes Wrong
Well, my lovely wife and I have been watching a few shows via DVD for the past couple months. Actually, there have only been 2 shows that we've seen this way - Grey's Anatomy and The Office. ( As an aside, I think this is a far superior way to view TV - no commercials, you get to watch them on your own schedule, it frees you from the addiction to TV to an extent, and, if you have the will to do so, you can censor them yourself.) However, after watching the first 2 seasons on Grey's Anatomy, I've had some mixed feelings about the show, and I think I will be much more careful about watching it in the future, if I do at all.
First of all, the show, which is about a group of surgical interns learning how to cut people open and fix them up and all their other life experiences, lacks any understanding that actions have consequences. The interns are constantly breaking the rules and cutting corners, and this in a business where life and death occur daily. Now, I realize that this is just entertainment, but entertainment often teaches us far more than books or classrooms. One intern even stops a man's life-sustaining heart treatment in order to make him worse so he could move up the donor list, only to have him die of some freak complication a day after he gets the new heart. While that intern, I've heard, gets booted out initially in the current season, I've also heard that she gets to come back. In addition, this sort of 2+2 does NOT equal 4 logic extends to their personal lives, where they are all sexually promiscuous and drunks.
The lack of integrity is bad, but the thing that Grey's Anatomy does that is so horrible is that it, through good storytelling and cool characters, makes the viewer start to want the things that the characters want, most of which are immoral things. This was pointed out to me by my wife, who said that the show makes her wish certain things would happen to/for the characters that she would never wish for a real person.
The best way I can illustrate this is with the following contrasting example - Grey's Anatomy, in the TV world, causes me to wish that Meredith and Derek, who is married to someone else, would become a couple, but in real life, I would never wish a marriage to end so a man could start an illicit relationship with a girlfriend. In fact, I would strongly counsel those people to stay apart and for the marriage to seek help, and I would pray for them and witness to them. The show so muddles things that the idea that there really is a right way to live life is gone.
So, I realize that there are probably some people here who do watch this show. I'm not saying you have to stop to be a Christian, but I am warning you to think about how you feel and think while watching any show. If the feelings and thoughts that are evoked are contrary to the truth of God, as revealed in the Bible, then you might need to stop watching. Sometimes, I wonder where the line is between being a person who will watch these sorts of things on TV for entertainment and being a person who would do them himself.
First of all, the show, which is about a group of surgical interns learning how to cut people open and fix them up and all their other life experiences, lacks any understanding that actions have consequences. The interns are constantly breaking the rules and cutting corners, and this in a business where life and death occur daily. Now, I realize that this is just entertainment, but entertainment often teaches us far more than books or classrooms. One intern even stops a man's life-sustaining heart treatment in order to make him worse so he could move up the donor list, only to have him die of some freak complication a day after he gets the new heart. While that intern, I've heard, gets booted out initially in the current season, I've also heard that she gets to come back. In addition, this sort of 2+2 does NOT equal 4 logic extends to their personal lives, where they are all sexually promiscuous and drunks.
The lack of integrity is bad, but the thing that Grey's Anatomy does that is so horrible is that it, through good storytelling and cool characters, makes the viewer start to want the things that the characters want, most of which are immoral things. This was pointed out to me by my wife, who said that the show makes her wish certain things would happen to/for the characters that she would never wish for a real person.
The best way I can illustrate this is with the following contrasting example - Grey's Anatomy, in the TV world, causes me to wish that Meredith and Derek, who is married to someone else, would become a couple, but in real life, I would never wish a marriage to end so a man could start an illicit relationship with a girlfriend. In fact, I would strongly counsel those people to stay apart and for the marriage to seek help, and I would pray for them and witness to them. The show so muddles things that the idea that there really is a right way to live life is gone.
So, I realize that there are probably some people here who do watch this show. I'm not saying you have to stop to be a Christian, but I am warning you to think about how you feel and think while watching any show. If the feelings and thoughts that are evoked are contrary to the truth of God, as revealed in the Bible, then you might need to stop watching. Sometimes, I wonder where the line is between being a person who will watch these sorts of things on TV for entertainment and being a person who would do them himself.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Movie Review - United 93
Well, my lovely wife is away for a couple of days at one of her company's marketing meetings. So, I got the chance to borrow a movie from the video store that I wouldn't normally get to see. She has higher standards with regard to violence and movie rating than I do.
As I looked through the store, I saw a few items, but what caught my attention the most was United 93, a movie about the events of September 11, 2001, especially what happened aboard that one flight.
Several things are worthy of note. First, this movie brought back to me most of the emotions and thoughts I had sitting in my apartment that day, watching these events unfold from a very different vantage point. That is enough, I think, for me to say that this is a good movie. Any time a movie can bring a person back to a real world event, it is powerful.
Second, the movie makes clear just how confusing and unprecedented the attack was. I realize that the makers used large amounts of license, but the waves of confusion the air traffic controllers and military personnel were getting hit with as the different planes were taken over and smashed into their targets must have really happened on some level. Also, the disbelief and complete lack of a plan to do anything about this sort of attack seemed real.
Third, there was a powerful moment near the end that really puts the entire conflict between Islam and the West (here I'm using a higher definition for our culture, and I am including our common Christian heritage, even if that is no longer dominant - it could definitely be argued that I'm wrong to use it so) into perspective. There is a moment, right before the passengers are about to try to retake the plane, where they start saying together the Lord's Prayer. At the same time, the camera cuts away to the terrorists aboard, who are praying in Arabic to Allah, and to the several bloody, dead bodies they have already killed in taking the plane. I know that there are issues relating to those attacks that are extremely complicated, but this is simple. In that snapshot, you can see what is wrong with Islam and what is right with Christianity.
I definitely recommend that you see this movie. There are no big stars in it, and you will probably find yourself feeling quite sad at the memories, but the courage those people displayed deserves to be remembered and respected.
As I looked through the store, I saw a few items, but what caught my attention the most was United 93, a movie about the events of September 11, 2001, especially what happened aboard that one flight.
Several things are worthy of note. First, this movie brought back to me most of the emotions and thoughts I had sitting in my apartment that day, watching these events unfold from a very different vantage point. That is enough, I think, for me to say that this is a good movie. Any time a movie can bring a person back to a real world event, it is powerful.
Second, the movie makes clear just how confusing and unprecedented the attack was. I realize that the makers used large amounts of license, but the waves of confusion the air traffic controllers and military personnel were getting hit with as the different planes were taken over and smashed into their targets must have really happened on some level. Also, the disbelief and complete lack of a plan to do anything about this sort of attack seemed real.
Third, there was a powerful moment near the end that really puts the entire conflict between Islam and the West (here I'm using a higher definition for our culture, and I am including our common Christian heritage, even if that is no longer dominant - it could definitely be argued that I'm wrong to use it so) into perspective. There is a moment, right before the passengers are about to try to retake the plane, where they start saying together the Lord's Prayer. At the same time, the camera cuts away to the terrorists aboard, who are praying in Arabic to Allah, and to the several bloody, dead bodies they have already killed in taking the plane. I know that there are issues relating to those attacks that are extremely complicated, but this is simple. In that snapshot, you can see what is wrong with Islam and what is right with Christianity.
I definitely recommend that you see this movie. There are no big stars in it, and you will probably find yourself feeling quite sad at the memories, but the courage those people displayed deserves to be remembered and respected.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Election '06 - Thoughts...
Well, by now most everyone knows that the Democratic party has gained a strong majority in the US House of Representatives and may yet gain a single-vote majority in the US Senate, depending on how the Virginia Senate race turns out. Now, I've been thinking about just what this might mean for us regular folks, and I have some ideas. Also, the election points out some things.
First, let me say how amazing this is, and healthy in a way, for our nation. That is not to say that I'm glad that power in our legislature has shifted the way it has, just that I'm glad to be in a nation where such a shift does not mean we are about to start a war. This sort of thing can lead to violence in many places all over the world, and has. I think it is important to remember that, with our system, nothing is really permanent and there is always next time.
Second, I am interested in voter turn-out statistics, particularly regarding conservative Christians. From what I've read/heard, the nation-wide turnout was about 40%, which is actually slightly higher than the last mid-term election cycle in 2002. However, this election was radically different in the way many races were balanced. There has been a push among some supposedly conservative Christian groups to step away from the political process because neither side has met our expectations. I realize that the Iraq war, or rather weariness of it, probably drove most people to seek change, but I wonder how many Christians chose to simply stay home rather than vote for conservatives that have let them down, seemingly. I'm not sure where to answer these questions, but I bet there will be studies published on the internet pretty soon.
I now expect a couple of things to happen. I expect that the Democratic majority will initiate impeachment of President Bush. This can happen with a simple majority of the House of Reps., which they now have. The charges will have something to do with the way he led the nation into Iraq, none of the craziness about him being behind the 9/11 attacks. He will certainly not be convicted in the Senate, but the Democrats will feel vindicated over the Clinton impeachment and will feel like they really stuck it to Bush, whom they hate with utter abandon.
I also expect that absolutely NOTHING will get done in Washington, DC, for the next 2 years. The president still has to sign bills into law, and the Democrats don't have the votes to overturn vetoes - especially since I expect the remaining Republicans to really circle the wagons. This means that the country is safe from attempts to pull out of Iraq immediately or to immediately overturn the tax cuts, and a whole host of other ideas liberals have been formulating over the past 12 years.
The truly interesting thing coming out of this election is the run-up to the next one, which will have a much greater potential impact. We should be looking for both parties to really get serious about finding that perfect presidential nominee. Those 2 individuals will have the greatest impact on which party will be able to further its agenda.
As a Christian, I feel the need to affirm that this world is not our home. We do not look to the government to provide all that we need - we look to Jesus. Also, I see that our representatives in government must be held accountable for their actions, regardless of party, and held to a high standard. The Republicans who have had moral problems have certainly hurt their cause among conservatives and must look to set their own affairs in order (no pun intended). In addition, Christians need to take stock of the issues that are confronting our society today and need to be reminded that we cannot afford, on any level, to sit back and allow the world around us to decline morally without lifting our voices in warning. We dare not become those lazy watchers on the wall who have the blood of innocents on their hands.
First, let me say how amazing this is, and healthy in a way, for our nation. That is not to say that I'm glad that power in our legislature has shifted the way it has, just that I'm glad to be in a nation where such a shift does not mean we are about to start a war. This sort of thing can lead to violence in many places all over the world, and has. I think it is important to remember that, with our system, nothing is really permanent and there is always next time.
Second, I am interested in voter turn-out statistics, particularly regarding conservative Christians. From what I've read/heard, the nation-wide turnout was about 40%, which is actually slightly higher than the last mid-term election cycle in 2002. However, this election was radically different in the way many races were balanced. There has been a push among some supposedly conservative Christian groups to step away from the political process because neither side has met our expectations. I realize that the Iraq war, or rather weariness of it, probably drove most people to seek change, but I wonder how many Christians chose to simply stay home rather than vote for conservatives that have let them down, seemingly. I'm not sure where to answer these questions, but I bet there will be studies published on the internet pretty soon.
I now expect a couple of things to happen. I expect that the Democratic majority will initiate impeachment of President Bush. This can happen with a simple majority of the House of Reps., which they now have. The charges will have something to do with the way he led the nation into Iraq, none of the craziness about him being behind the 9/11 attacks. He will certainly not be convicted in the Senate, but the Democrats will feel vindicated over the Clinton impeachment and will feel like they really stuck it to Bush, whom they hate with utter abandon.
I also expect that absolutely NOTHING will get done in Washington, DC, for the next 2 years. The president still has to sign bills into law, and the Democrats don't have the votes to overturn vetoes - especially since I expect the remaining Republicans to really circle the wagons. This means that the country is safe from attempts to pull out of Iraq immediately or to immediately overturn the tax cuts, and a whole host of other ideas liberals have been formulating over the past 12 years.
The truly interesting thing coming out of this election is the run-up to the next one, which will have a much greater potential impact. We should be looking for both parties to really get serious about finding that perfect presidential nominee. Those 2 individuals will have the greatest impact on which party will be able to further its agenda.
As a Christian, I feel the need to affirm that this world is not our home. We do not look to the government to provide all that we need - we look to Jesus. Also, I see that our representatives in government must be held accountable for their actions, regardless of party, and held to a high standard. The Republicans who have had moral problems have certainly hurt their cause among conservatives and must look to set their own affairs in order (no pun intended). In addition, Christians need to take stock of the issues that are confronting our society today and need to be reminded that we cannot afford, on any level, to sit back and allow the world around us to decline morally without lifting our voices in warning. We dare not become those lazy watchers on the wall who have the blood of innocents on their hands.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)