If you are a blogger, like the purveyor of these midly conherent wurds… What?… then, more then likely than a… knot in this matter, you may have tied yourself in… nots… as you try to stay atop and abreast of what you have said, where you have said it, and whom you have said it with… And, No, I don’t want to hear about the failures in your love-less-life!  I am speaking only of the viral kind… So were you?

[Blogger looks down, and begins to talk about what nice weather we're been having...]

Tweet, tweet… okay, so that was the best sound I could come up with to connect a social networking site with a mouse, as Yes, I am taking the Mickey.  But seriously, as my brow furrows, and the lights fade, I do confess that there are multiple times when the whole establishment wearies me, with its relentless ranting, its endless reach, and its seductive smile, and that’s only when the wife is on Facebook with me, on the other computer, in another room… he begins to whisper, in the same house!  D’oh!

If this has been your disease, then we, all three of my very sociable readers would love to hear your experience, as we journey together, doing community, on-line… Yeah Right!  I’d invite you round for a coffee, but I drink Tea, English Breakfast, Organic-style.  The fact that you are reading this in the middle of God-really-only-knows-where-and-it-is-probably-safer-that-way, could possibly further move this relationship into its limited effect, but we can still make the most of this time… that last part is, at least, seriously sincere!

I must confess that this bug is a catchy disease, as the more you get, the more you can very easily want; the more you want, the more you feel-the-need; the more you need-the-feel, the more it has you, which leads you to do the most obnoxiously insincere of things, like following people on Twitter… so that they will follow you!  Please, I am not referring to you O reader, my social networking blog-brother-ess!  But seriously, and I have only just started thinking about this… and what this is, is the following, do we do that in person [insert the word/ concept: reality]?

At this stage in the post, I am beginning to get into the flow of talking shop, while selling little worth reading, but the joke is on me, so humour me people, and invite others on-line, as its a game the whole church family can play!

I have just hit 9,400 readers, so High Five me… knuckles… Its how we do it in the i am jonny king-dom!

Just to show you social networking off the hook, this just came in on my Twitter feed…

bradlomenick: in case u didn’t know, today is National HIGH FIVE Day. So celebrate accordingly……

Now, as you can patently see, I have used the high five as a means of sounding hype and out… dude, and if not to exemplify why social networking can be so helpful, bradlomenick has helpfully pointed out the significance of the day of this piece of posting, providing even further synergy… and like this post needed it… like,  to what I had already written!  Thank you Mr Twitter, You’re the One!

Okay and alright, there is much more that could be said, and trust me on that one, cause I have it in me, but suffice-it-to-be-what-I-am-about-to-be-saying, but [wouldya stop talkin about somebody's but... Sorry, Dr. Do-Good-Little].  Again, Sorry, I have no posterior motive!  Yes, my writing is a little like a horizon, just when it looks like it’s about to be your foreground, you arrive, and a whole new horizon just appears, out of the blogging thin air.  For the love of a near-sighted blogger!  There, I said it for you!  Getting to the point my linear thinker, much commentary has been written about the good vs evil battle of the social networking cultural context, and I am not about to provide a historical survey, which is another way of saying that I can’t put up, so I will shut up… about that, anyway!

But there is something in this context that I do want to digress about, particularly thinking about what our Social Networking interactions say about our centredness, Gospel, and otherwise…

Just recently, as I have been starting to functionally and practically use Twitter, after facing up first to a book [Yes, Facebook], I have begun to see how helpful it is, particularly to be informed about such and such resource, but also to connect with others on-line, through a very brief, but limited format, and particularly with those who are far from my New Zealand home.  But what I have experientially and very anecdotally found out, which has encouraged me to test the theorem, is that those who are more well-known [as I thought about phrasing this, I thought of Paul's words in Galatians 2:6, but those are his words that, in the main, do not apply to mine], seem to be less prone to return the communicative concept, making it collaborative.

Now, while blogging may provide you with a bandstand to play on, I can only play the drums, so I sit near the back!  And, I have been guilty of the said-charge myself, so I am no prince!

Therefore, I am wanting us to think through this reality together my blog-buddies, out-loud and on servers!

Here are some possible props, some thinking thoughts, with which to encourage you to think about whether there is such an unsociable reality as social networking snobbery…

[1] Is this even a problem? Isn’t this just an unfortunate, but a-moral consequence of being able to connect with too many people to build any meaningful existence with, all at the same Twitter time [to pick on one media], and those who have more friends and followers than family, have a life outside of the cyber-unreal-world, which means you wanted the world with only a dollar in your pocket…unrealistic… and unwise!  While my community cake is formed outside this world, social networking provides a lovely cherry to adorn and encourage this community!

On the other hand, this does mean that Gospel transformative-awesomeness should be a foreign referent in this reality.  For example, should I say something nice about a given individuals book, conferences, you-name-it, I am sure, should they be aware of it, there will be a growing willingness to re-claim it, with a re-tweet at the click of a button [I know, I am sounding all bitter and twisted...Gnarly]!  Before, hater becomes my lover, if you think I am not prone to do exactly the same sort of things, you over-estimate my righteousness in self, which can be added with a good deal of simultaneous self-righteousness on the personal side of life!  I am too prone to be more motivated by whom is communicating with me, than Whom I should really be doing this for, and what the real reason, motivation, meaning, and purpose that should be inherent with this use of my life as a disciple, follower, and imitator of My Moshiach.

[2] As you are presently finding out, just maybe our words are not worth the reply?  No, don’t shed a tear for me, I will get over myself, not by myself, but with the gracious help of Another Self!  What I am affirming here is not worth pity, but reflection, as this statement has much truth that should help us both to remain sober in our judgments of self, but also helps us reflect as to what we put on-line, and for what purpose.  If my words do not illuminate His, am I any more potent to bring life, than a cloud without rain?!  If I do not make much of Him, whom am I making much of?  Tragically, prone am I, to wander!  Therefore, it is not about you and me, Tim Keller has stated it so [quoting C. S. Lewis?], humility is “blessed self-forgetfulness,” which we would do well to remember [Screensaver anyone]!

[3] Even on Social Networking sites, as “Supergroove” have historically sung, “You Gotta Know To Understand?” While it certainly does happen, forming interactions-to-relationships on-line takes time, with the chemistry encouraged by more than a moment or three, which really means, you and I have not had these moments.  I am gonna cry now!  While the cassette tape in my ghetto-blaster can’t rewind, we can fast-forward forthwith from this point on!  Let’s compel one another toward Christ and His Gospel!

However, as it relates to the question before, you, do you have to respond when someone directly communicates with you on-line?

[4] Expectations… Meet Reality!  As has been communicated, if you want a feed, don’t rely on the cherry in the communicating, go Deep!  Just maybe, you can use social networking as a means to incarnate these relationships face-to-face!

[5] Are all these explanations just excuses for those who want to use social networking for their own social purposes, and have bifurcated how they live their lives when in person and when on-line?  This is actually quite a challenging question, when you get past my rhetoric.  I mean, how many times has someone come up and communicated with you in person… and you have FLAT OUT IGNORED ME, I mean them… Sorry, I thought I was over these issues.  I need to send a thousand tweets and I will be absolved!

We would very rarely, if ever, think of doing something like this, and if we are thinking Christ’s thoughts after Him, we would view such a response as being unworthy of the Master and unworthy of the Gospel!  Maybe, just maybe [for the third time], the ease with which we can social network, also allows us to ease away, promoting a communicative type of sacred and secular, with the viral form holding the default position, giving us an antinomian freedom in Christ, which is without warrant.  For the Fame of His Name, it is, at the very least, worth considering!

Is this an example of the devil in the social networking details, or the devil in the social networker?  Mmmm

I am reminded of Luther’s words, Saint and Sinner at the Same Time

Where do we go now sweet blogger of mine?

Just as you begin to think further about your own time, remember that there is an opportunity cost to what you do with your time, as we can really only spend each moment in this life under the Sun once.  I need to choose my social priorities wisely!

However, if I am going to spend time on-line and I want the collateral benefits thereof, I have to put up with the costs, yours, and very probably my communication, might just be one of those costs. Not only this, but personally, I need to grasp the Gospel more brilliantly and beautifully, and so do you, and maybe, just maybe [here we go... again], lightning may strike and I may have something profitable to say, and even if I don’t, I need your godly counsel, rebuke, and example, so that when my 2 seconds of self-imputed fame recognition ends, I will recognise the poverty in this pursuit, when compared to the incomparable Christ, and I will run to Him… and by running to Him, I can go out into the REAL world with a greater sense of who I am, because of what Jesus has done on my behalf, translated into making the Good News, more grandiose than GRAND can ever spell!

And here’s the rub again… you need this too!

Social Networking Snobbery… not for the Glory of God, and not in His Family, and in His House!

For the Fame of His Name

Man of Spin

His Golf game was automatic.  An Australian Rugby Player, John Eales was given the nick-name, “Nobody,” because “Nobody’s Perfect,” and while these have referential significance only on the sporting field, on the Golf Course, Tiger took “Nobody” and made him “Somebody,” as he was set-apart in a golfing sense.

I first saw him make golf balls curse, when a multitude of holes behind at the US amateur matchplay, Woods was able to play with mesmeric control, as the opponent was stunned into submission, hole after hole after hole, as Tiger’s bullish intensity turned the heat up, making the result seem somewhat perfunctory.  However, this was not the first vision of the Tiger, as, when he was just another small boy with God-given potential, he would glimpse the world’s eye, when just out of nappies, for a fleeting moment, Potential would meet Hope, as Bob, a golfing man himself, would interact with Father Earl, and the boy acting Golf as a man.  Innocent in experience if not in intent, Woods would appear more Tigger, than what would be his golfing alter ego in decades to come…

Looking into that young face for a moment, which seems so full of life, is almost surreal, as I reflect on the face of the man at the Masters that looked like an individual trying to find Home!

Many moons would pass from then to now, when the golfing “Not Yet,” would become the, “Already,” where centre would be his stage…

At such times, and on such occasions, I have watched him Golf and the others play, I have seen him rise and I have seen them fall.  When the moment was crucial, he made what was critical, when the heat of the moment melted the majority, he stayed cool and became the winning minority.  When was the shot was needed, he was available, when the most were definitive, he was demonstrative, and when leading in the fourth round in a Major, while the rest were hopeful, he was… automatic!

If life was lived on the Golf Course, then Tiger’s world would be near mythical, but while television zoom encourage the world to lens in, look on and believe, man is not forged for the fight of life in such contexts, these are extensions of our life project that are based on the substance of our life, behind closed doors.

However, those closed doors, in the fullness of time would open, and what was whispered in the shadows, would be screamed out from the rooftops, and what the world would very rarely see on the Golf Course, we all would view in the cold hard light of day… Tiger would be beaten, with the privacy of his life becoming an endangered species, with a domino of depravity awaiting the highest offer, ready to offer up their poison, more than willing to tell its tale.

If only Solomon had been the one you had been spending your time with Tiger… IF only, If only, if only… instead of another ancient who can’t speak as he’s been silenced in stone!

That first time I saw Tiger Woods on TV, Hope had found him in a person, in the flesh, and the last time I saw Tiger, it was transparent in the windows of the soul that he was in need of Hope, cosmically still.

Again Tiger Woods needs Hope to find him, and find him in the flesh!

In this day when Tiger seems to be only hearing his bad news about things he has done, he needs to hear Good News about what Hope has done.  At this time when Tiger has been seeking to make war with his flesh that has driven him to despair, he needs to make peace through Hope’s Flesh that will carry him to his knees.  Only then, with his Father’s shadow encapsulating his puny frame, echoing an image from days youth, will the life of the Tiger return to his hearth!

Tiger, when you see Hope’s beauty, He will make a Green jacket look decidedly grey!

May each walk up the 18th be another step in the Damascus Road of Your Life

For the Fame of His Name

Man of Spin

This serves as the introductory piece to what will, God willing, be a series on the life and times of Tiger Woods, but should this be our reality, this will have to wait for another post!

Theologian may be too narrow, call it Christian leader… and, No, the Wife is not included!

The reason I have decided to ask this deep, theologically astute question this day, is encouraged by recent words from my nomination for the position!

Before I get to the nominee, some other individuals worth a notable mention are Mark Driscoll, Tim Keller, Arnold Fruchtenbaum, and D. A. Carson. What this means is that these individuals have behooved me to linger and longer for the things of God, through their various ministries, via various media, as they have been the God-ordained means for Digging Down Deep-er, and such means that I have really dug their stuff!

However, the individual who seems to be best fitted for such an endeavor is John “Christian Hedonism” Piper… and if the @fakeJohnPiper could be incorporated as the alter-ego… I will show you what I mean…

This could make for some good times, had by all!  If you are perplexed by what I am referencing, Twitter him!

The motivation to produce the post at this time, relates to a recent announcement in which Piper has asked to be allowed to pull back from public ministry, and in his words…

I asked the elders to consider this leave because of a growing sense that my soul, my marriage, my family, and my ministry-pattern need a reality check from the Holy Spirit.

You can read the whole post… HERE!

For me, such a revelation surely underscores why he has been used as a vessel for delivering God’s grace!  Piper’s conviction and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, indicates an individual who is serious about being set apart from ignoble things, coupled with a working comprehension that what one does must come out of who one is, in Christ!  Surely such a decision should be a redemptive rebuke for all those who desire to minister in Christ’s name, and for His glory.

Maybe, just maybe, God has used him in such an abnormal manner because he is one who is abnormal about his relationship with His God, and because the outworking of this is coupled with an all-consuming passion, with anything that diminishes the intimacy and functional implementation of this day in and day out, must be the focus for a declaration of war!

If the truth be known, as many of us ask ourselves what would (Fill in your Name) do?, too few of us would be willing to make such a decision, with any number of rationalizations and justifications validating our walk, even with the limp and all!   Abnormal?  Indeed!

And Yes!  Just before this turns into a sentimentality feast, void of the truth in love, let us affirm that John Piper has feet on clay, which means he is prone (and we all say, Aye)!  However, also after reading his words and hearing him speak, it seems equally true to say that he has long endured times and seasons in the kiln, where the fire of God’s intensity has worked within to without his existence!

Therefore, in light of all this, the call to lift the man, and all the context of these circumstances in prayer, should be the outworking of our God-entranced reality, and to encourage this practice, Piper reminds us of all of the significance in prayer, which could even be filling more of the content of his practice in the coming months.

A prayerless Christian is like a bus driver trying alone to push his bus out of a rut because he does not know Clark Kent is on board

While I have taken this post down the detour route, the main point of this post will now, very briefly, take the leading role!

The reason I would take Piper is that he would convince me that this Deserted Island adventure was just another opportunity in the Christian hedonism experiential playbook, bringing much joy and delight, and as such, it would be time to raise a God-glorifying par-tae!  Yes, one could very easily become concerned with the lack of food and survival, but not with a God-entranced view of all things. Okay, the last part may be taking it too far, but you get the point!

While this may perspective may be worth a watered-down, slightly unconvincing, chortle or two, there is a significant perspective that is being affirmed… and it is God’s!

Who would you take?… and why?

In conclusion and in light of context of the now returning detour, may the vision for life in the Son, burn even brighter into the heart and mind of John Piper in the coming months, with such a time being catalytic from the ground up, which in the fullness of time will produce, even more God-glorifying fruit, both personally, and in the outworking of where our God has called him.

For the Fame of His Name

Man of Spin

Little did I know of the humourous and historical real-life observations that one would be swept along with, as events long centered from the Land of the Long White Cloud, would encourage adrenaline-induced bloggers to get a little sport-giddy, while us visitors were able to read on from afar!

Regular Readers will perceive this bloggers disease with the sporting pursuits around this privileged planet, and so it was the context of this digression that first peaked my curiosity, in the context of a Facebook-ing friend, my ex-Principal, Tom Golding…

… at the College where I completed my undergraduate (BTW, while he is a saint in the Biblical sense of the term, the photogenic glow is slightly too iconic… no protestations!), with the following words…

Go Panthers! Can they hold on?

Suffice it to say, while the words were typed to the Golding Tom, one did not make the connection, particularly the link with a number of excitable bloggers, until things were getting near the business end of the “Go Panthers” event.

The context for these words was made many moons ago, as Tom and I would often talk shop… sport… at College, and I do remember his reflections about his small University struggling to make a B-Balling impact on the National scene… or such sounds suitable for this blogging purpose, as that historical context, is making much in a present contest.

Providentially, the Twitter page was also presenting its very usual living updates, where further “Go Panthers” information began to take shape, which is where a band of few bloggers came to the fore (having ESPN on cable also helped in this regard, as one could also see what the few bloggers and the words to a Principal were virally unfolding)…

The first blogging sign was from the proprietor of takeyourvitaminz, one Zach Nielsen…

… with the following affirmations coming forth from his Twitter page…

Northern Iowa and UNM play very soon. If they both win I will spaz.

UNI looking strong right off the top!!!! Wow.

Northern Iowa is literally shooting 80

80

Sorry, 80% from the field. Unreal.

If UNI wins it will be the biggest win in school history. So good. If they keep shooting like this they will win.

UNI Panters!!! 12 more minutes!!! Oh my word!!

UNI Panthers I mean.

Already, any sporting fan worth their fair share of seasonal heartache, can see the tell-tale signs of adrenalin-induced, seeing-the-potential-of-victory overdosing, beginning to take its effect, as Nielsen was even fumbling the delivery of his own team.

Still not putting five-and-two together… that’s a converted Try in Rugby Union… the theater of the moment was still very enjoyable to behold, with even a little chortle or two, as this blogger has also practiced the pursuit of grown men going silly with delirium and delight of events on a given field/ hardwood of dreams!

If the header has not illumined exactly what I am on about, let me make this more explicit (at least through a “kiwi” explanatory paradigm).

Presently taking place in a US context, is the process to find the Collegiate National Champion for Men’s Division I Basketball… or, more simply, to find the best College Men’s Basketball team, through what can be described as the elimination play-off process (or words to that effect).

Therefore, the game in question between, the University of Northern Iowa… Who?… and top-ranked, the University of Kansas, would result in one team continuing on in their quest for College Basketball glory in the year 20-10, with the other team, the loser, freeing up their calendar of commitments to concentrate more fully on their educations… Season Over!

The Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner (Thanks Sportscenter), would go on… so, it was a sport-important kinda moment…

With all this in mind, another blogging proponent entered the conversation… He also has a day job (not suggesting Nielsen is a blog-bum, but I am aware of Perman’s position), which we will get to, but, without further fanfare… Introducing Matt Perman, who blogs forth at What’s Best Next…

… Who also has something to say in the “Go Panthers” context, via his Twitter page, with the following reverberations…

Amazing–UNI, my alma mater, is up by 9 over Kansas.

Let’s go UNI.

As noted, Perman is not a one-blog-trick-pony, as he is also the senior director of strategy at DesiringGod, and while you will see-to-feel that he is less enthused than Nielsen, the significance of the moment was surely being experientially inculcated… maybe even through the grid of an administratively savvy guy!

It was also around this time that one began to realise the inbreeding, I mean, the interconnectedness of what was taking place, which was further underscored from the Z’s blog, with a post that details certain strange manifestations from a certain roommate at College… at the “Go Panthers“ University of Northern Iowa… this certain roommate being none other than the blogging 7-11, one Justin “the Source” Taylor, which is humourously detailed… HERE!

Nevertheless, getting back to our timeline, the clock was running down in our Basketball contest, and the Nielson was Tweeting On…

This could be the greatest upset if they can hold on. You know KU is going to make a huge run right now.

UNI could actually do this!!! Oh my.

Could they?  Would they?  The plot-line was beginning to up the ante, where only one… team, that is, could survive!

This is where the “mo” of the moment began to take even more than a mo-mentary effect, as decreasing levels of oxygen descended from the brain, as the “out-breathing” of Zach began to encourage weird-out-loud mo-ments of tomfoolery, as the following words explicate…

I am doing flips in my room right now

Oh MY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can’t deal with this

And Nielsen thinks Taylor’s squealing escapade in College would have been worth its price in video gold!  If only the walls had zoom lenses!

Although, as all sporting neo-phytes will empathise, it is all too easy to lose face on the sporting yellow brick road, where getting caught in the moment, can spell Kansas on the pursuit to victory!  With this moment nearing the end, with the scores tightening, clock ticking, anxiety rising, Perman would exclaim…

It didn’t look like he stepped out of bounds.

No, this isn’t line-dancing, as Perman was noting, what could very well have been, a pivotal Northern Iowa mistake!

However, just when you thought this could not get more Twitter-liciously exciting, thinking you had read it all, Nielsen drops the ball, and begins to talk about… stones?!…

Please, Ladies, avert your eyes, as the gutter will ensue…

I can’t believe he took that shot!!!! Huge stones

If one is to invoke the culturally used and abused imagery of this reflecting a context of David and Goliath proportions, one can genuinely ask, How Does This Reference Relate to the Sling?  Mmmm

While thinking about this theologically, Perman, showing admirable restrain, unwittingly completed identity theft, by commenting on the identical moment, with much more reasoned words…

Way to take the shot!!!

That’s the way to do it. The chance is there, take the risk.

This is no Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, as such a chance, is definitely worth the risk!  You can bank on that one!

And Banking on Farokhmanesh yielded three-fold.

Nevertheless, with time running out, and the victory in their grasp, the only question worth asking is, would they steal defeat from the jaws of victory?

Nielsen keys us in to what is transpiring…

They make free throws and they win

Got to handle the pressure this last time and they win with one free throw

One free throw and it’s over!!!!

Do you get the point?  There are plenty of positives in rote of repetition!

Was the free-throw made… twice?  Would Northern Iowa hold on, would something go terribly wrong, like shooting the free-throws the wrong way?

Enough from me, it is over-to-out, to the two tweeters… Nielsen will take the mike…

YESSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yesyesyesyeyseyesyesyeysey CRAZY!!!!!!

My alma mater!!!!! YES!!!! Biggest win in history!!!!

If you think VitaminZ was getting a little giddy, Perman notes this moment with a stoical and simple…

Yes!!!

Yes, the University of Northern Iowa had just rewritten Collegiate Basketball history.  If you think that the previous descriptions were nothing more than words, consider the following from Nielsen…

I am shaking right now.

And after some good-natured ribbery to the opposition…

Panthers love to eat Jayhawks

Nielsen would go on to further exclaim…

Still shaking. Can’t believe he took that shot.

Yes, that shot sent both bloggers into lad-hood, and when there is a sporting contest, the lad can very often present himself!

The final word goes to the lads who finish off, with some eerily prophetic words, No?!

Perman: Kansas goes down. Next, Obamacare

Nielsen: Obama had KU winning it all. I wonder if health care will go down in flames too?

However, the very sort-of final words in this sporting epic, proudly bought to you by the powers endemic in social networking, will be left to Principal Golding, who had been silent on the Facebook front throughout these unfolding festivities, but who would not stay silent forever, and could not resist a…

UNI Panthers!

… which, very simply, and very explicitly provides the connection for this band of unknown Northern Iowa brothers, from differing generations, domiciled on different continents, who are none-the-less, chosen to be brought-together-brothers in Christ, with such as a sporting moniker bringing together this moment!

Just when you thought this was just another mo-ment in time… Have a random guess of the subject matter of  their latest posts?

Zach Nielsen… You Can’t Be Serious With That Shot!!!

Justin Taylor… How Bout Them Panthers?!

Matt Perman… Well, He Will Probably Get There, in an Understated Way!

You can also read this report in the NY Times!

Who would have thought a blogger in the city of some 80,000 people, in the land of New Zealand, would be making comments about the lives of individuals, one from an educational past, and three, who are merely figments on a computerised page, all completing their activities on an individual basis, in the privacy of their own existence, but thanks to the wonders of this present world, the ends of this very Earth, can join in the celebration?!

The wonders and potential in this social networking world (there are pitfalls as well), leads me to ponder certain things… but these must wait… If you would like to taste and see, I have some thoughts in another context… HERE!

While these words must wait, it is not for the next University of Northern Iowa victory, as such is merely hope, and in this context, such may indeed disappoint, but these words await the commodity of time on another day, where what I type on my screen, may even make it to Cedar Falls!

For the Fame of His Name

Man of Spin

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT – IS IT BIBLICAL?

INTRODUCTION

The ability to answer the above question should rise and fall on the credibility of the Scriptural interpretations of the pursuant after truth.  This is particularly significant in this subject matter, as it is easy to be bombarded by one’s own thoughts and emotion, which can easily inform-to-uniform one’s rationale.  This seems to be further encouraged as those “for” or “against” this practice, tend to be split by other factors, with even one’s political presuppositions seeming to impinge!

Therefore, in this post, this blogger will contend that Scripture does affirm that Capital Punishment is the biblical right of any government, as the God-ordained authority in civil matters, in the context where the offender has intentionally taken the life of another human being, and therefore, must accept these consequences forthwith.

To complete this proposal, this blogger will begin by defining what is meant when the term “Capital Punishment” is used in this post, highlighting why this can easily become a “hot-bed” issue that can become blurred in the Christian manifesto.  This will set the table for this blogger, where in the main course, the biblical basis for holding to such a position will be affirmed, while also dealing with some areas of objection to this position, and very briefly, the why question.

This post should not be viewed as the last word on this subject, and while, in many respects it is introductory in it’s coverage, it is nonetheless categorical!

WHAT IS CAPITAL PUNISHMENT?

The term and concept “Capital Punishment” (hereafter “CP“) is defined as the giving of the death penalty to a person who has been found guilty of committing a crime.  This definition therefore, sets the principle of death as a means by which the offender is punished for a given offense.  While this definition affirms the use of the death of penalty, it does not provide any parameters as to how and when this will be used.  However, this blogger will be holding to the position that Scripture limits the use of this as a punishment, as a consequence for those who have deliberately or intentionally taken the life of another human being, which is consistent with the biblical context.

THE CHRISTIAN DILEMMA

For many in the Christian faith, all this talk about taking someone’s life sounds and seems somewhat antithetical to the Gospel message.  In fact, some would say that this is a straight out contradiction, and therefore, can not be accepted, a priori.  Robertson McQuilkin, speaking of CP in an American context, affirms that “most American major religious bodies have officially called for the abolition.  Not only does taking a human life offend liberal sensibilities (except in the case of the unborn and those who do not have a ‘truly human’ existence), it offends New Testament ethics, according to many evangelicals.” 1  While the nexus of this comment is limited to the American scene, it is probably fair to state that this position would be widely held by the majority of evangelicals, particularly in a New Zealand context.

While this position, in some respects, reflects some important perspectives in holy Scripture, consistent with the Christian desire to save individuals from a “demonic” eternal destiny, such a perspective rebuttal is not reflective of the comprehensive teaching of Scripture, when such has been integrated.  As an example, in Romans 1:18-32, certain reprobates are said to be “given up” by God.  God in effect says, “they have gone too far,” and He sovereignly chooses to release them to follow the willful, purposeful, and sinful lusts of their hearts.  While this statement does not directly impact on the discussion of CP, it does affirm an important theological point.  In the sovereignty of God, there are times when the salvation of the individual, exemplified by such texts as the “desiring all to be saved” (1 Tim. 2:4), can be superceded in the economy of God, as He brings and outworks His purposes (Eph. 1:11) that bring Him ultimate glory.

The position of CP can be said to be one such example.

SUPPORTING BIBLICAL DATA

In this section, this blogger will deal with a couple of biblical texts that seem to affirm the validity of CP, which will not only declare that this is the perspective in God’s Word, but will also provide the data for why God could be guilty of affirming such a thing.

Genesis 9:6 affirms, “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man.”  (NASB)

This verse in its historical context was given to Noah as part of a binding agreement, a covenant, that God made after the world-wide (presuppositions) flood of Genesis seven and eight.  The covenant affirmation is universally accepted, as Ryrie notes, “that this verse established the principle of capital punishment is in itself not debated.” 2   What is not universally accepted, and is the point of debate, centers on the validity of this passage, as given to Noah, as being relevant in today’s context, particularly in light of the Cross.  The context of this command, affirms that this was given to Noah as the then, representative head of the human race. It was not solely given to any person, nation, or community.  Therefore, all humanity at the time of Noah was accountable to this prohibition.

As Genesis 9:6 makes clear, the reason why God commanded Noah to take the life of one who had taken the life of another human being, was due to the image of God inherent in mankind.  This image was and is not limited to a single race or community, as this image, imago Dei, interconnects the totality of mankind, believer or otherwise.  Because this image is not limited by community, the consequences of violating this are not limited, meaning all those who were born subsequently, have came under this admonition.  In addition, Geisler notes a second reason for this admonition: “By the use of capital punishment men were to quell the violence and restore the order of justice.  God ordained social order and peace and gave government the authority over life to ensure mankind these benefits.” 3 Therefore, there were practical or pragmatic reasons for this commandment, which this blogger will cover in more depth, shortly.

Depending on your understanding of the continuity and discontinuity between the Testaments, there is the possible charge that this statement, being part of the Old Testament, does not directly impinge on the New Testament believer.  This can also be framed in light of a Christological hermeneutic, which has gained acceptance, whereby the Old Testament’s meaning is now understood through the lense of Christ, who has redefined this for the New Testament believer.  The motivation for such a position is encouraged by what some view as a dichotomy between the actions of the God of the Old Testament, and the Jesus we see, in the New Testament, however, such a dichotomy is fallacious.  While Christ’s words in the Sermon on the Mount may also lend credence to this position (Matt. 5:17-20), if by this language, there is a hermeneutical move, to the point of absolute redefinition (not validated by the next perspective of progressive revelation), in this blogger’s opinion, such goes too far, as such often explicates the original meaning, thereby also being guilty of the charge that such a position promotes a canon inside a canon. A better position to affirm is that while Christ and the New Testament may extend the meaning of an Old Testament passage, such a position does not negate the original context and meaning.

However, this previous point should not be confused with the principle of the progress of revelation where God has purposefully and progressively unfolded this throughout salvation history.  Therefore, the question can be asked as it relates to the New Testament believer is this:  Is there any passage in the New Testament that provides further revelation to the principle of CP as a consequence, as it relates to the intentional taking of another life?   The simple answer is to say, “no,” there has been no further revelation in the New Testament that has superceded this command.  Therefore, it would seem to be, still very much in effect.

At this stage, this blogger has not covered the Scriptures that are used by the objectors to CP, particularly from the New Testament.  However, when these Scriptures are understood in their context, they do not negate a legitimate New Testament perspective that maintains the government’s use of CP, as a legitimate means of exercising its authority.

The Mosaic Law

However, it would remiss if this blogger failed to cover the other place in the Old Testament that provides subsequent revelation on the biblical use of CP, post-Noah, which are the details contained in the Law of Moses.  While the commandment given to Noah, only related to those who intentionally took the life of another person created, imago Dei, in the Mosaic Code, the use of CP was further lengthened to make it legitimate for application, in response to eighteen crimes. 4

While the Law is unequivocal as to the God-ordained use of CP as a proper means of executing justice, larger trajectories, such as the direct application and place of the Law in the life of a New Testament saint play a pivotal role in applying these verses directly to a New Testament believer.  This blogger holds to a more discontinuous view that understands these Laws as being specifically given to the nation of Israel, as a rule of faith, for the theocratic nation.  With the coming of Christ, the Law of Moses has been superceded by the Law of Christ.  Romans 10:4 affirms that Christ is the end of the Law. Galatians 3:24, 25 also affirms that the Law was a Tutor to lead us to Christ, however, now that we have Christ, we are no longer under that tutor.  Second Corinthians 3:7-11 further affirms that the glory of the Old Covenant has passed away.  This is due to the greater glory of the New Covenant.

Therefore, while this blogger has highlighted the affirmations in the Mosaic Law, these are not directly relevant to maintaining this position.  While there are traditions that will affirm more continuity between the Testaments, if such is correct, it only strengthens the case for CP.

Romans 13:1-7

1Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.  2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.  3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; 4 for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.  5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake.  6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.  7 Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.  (Emphasis Mine – NASB)

This is a very important verse for the position of CP, as it provides some further clarity and a more definitive basis for this position, which provides a biblical foundation to support CP as a function of an effective legislation in a given governmental structure.  In effect, this passage provides the reasoning why CP is a needed policy in the governmental mandate, as they seek to efficiently, effectively and competently administer the rule of law.  This also affirms that CP is a valid New Testament teaching, one that is still relevant for this day and age.

There are a number of important points that Paul, inspired of the Holy Spirit, brings out in this passage, and we will only look at a couple of these.

Paul affirms in verse one that human governments are ordained by God.  God is responsible for raising them up, and establishing them.  Therefore, whoever resists the governmental authority is really resisting God’s authority, as they are a minister of God (v. 4).  It is in connection with verse four that Scripture provides more information on CP.  These authorities do “not bear the sword for nothing.” What Paul is really saying is that the government, as God’s instrument with which to maintain law and order, has the right to use force as a means of making this happen.

The question remains as to how one is to understand the call of “not bear [ing] the sword for nothing” as it intersects with the government’s use of this in the role of law and order?  Some want to say that the sword should be understood in light of statements such as, “Love does no wrong to a neighbor”, affirmed in Romans chapter thirteen, verse ten, however, this can not be substantiated by the context.  In chapter thirteen, verses one to seven, the Apostle Paul is not referring to the individual believer, but to the governmental institution.  Still, others affirm that bearing a sword does not necessarily refer to the use of capital punishment.  They say that this verse only provides the government with the validation of using legitimate force, much like the use of firearms, in an appropriate context, in the Police today. Therefore, one should not read more into this portion of Scripture than the government’s right to keep law and order.

However, while the sword does have reference to keeping law and order, when one looks at the word “sword” in the original languages, one is given a more complete picture of what the Apostle Paul was trying to communicate.  Ryrie quoting F. L. Godet has this to say in connection with this word.  The term “sword”,

Denotes (in opposition to…the poniard or straightedge sword) a large knife with bent blade, like the carried by the chiefs in the “Iliad,” and with which they cut the neck of the victims, similar to our “saber.”  By this expression, Paul does not here denote the weapon which the emperor and his praetorian prefect carried as a sign of their power of life and death – the application would be too restricted – but that which was worn at their side, in the provinces, by the superior magistrates, to whom belonged the right of capital punishment, and which they caused to be born solemnly before them in public procession. 5

Newell also has this to say about the context of Romans 13:4, and what this means for our practice,

To “bear” is, literally, to bear constantly, illustrated in the provincial Roman magistrates’ habitual wearing of the sword. It was also borne before them, in public processions, as a symbol of their right to punish by death. This is in accordance with God’s covenant with Noah, after the Flood, which covenant remains in force: “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed.” Those who decry “capital punishment,” are themselves withstanding the Word of God as to the very foundation of human government. 6

In other words, Paul seems to be particularly purposeful in the terms he has chosen, which points to a specific meaning.

Nevertheless, others will argue that the “sword”, while affirming its connection with CP, and so the government’s right thereof, does so only in theory and not in practice.  However, in reality this understanding does not carry much force.  If one was to be consistent with this perspective, than one could claim, in the context of Romans 13, that one does not really have to pay taxes as this is also symbolic.  While such a position could get a libertarian following, it seems clear that such a position is absurd and reduces language to more of a vehicle for personal vindication.

OPPOSING ARGUMENTATION

This blogger has already noted the contrasting positions of the main passages used to support CP.  However, there are other passages that are used by those who reject CP.  Therefore, we need to briefly answer these, highlighting why these do not teach what the opponents of CP claim, also briefly answering a more practical position.

Exodus 20:13; Matthew 5:21; Mark 10:19; Luke 18:20; Romans 13:9; James 2:11…

“You shall not murder”

This verse, first affirmed in the Old Testament and confirmed in the New Testament teaches that no one is allowed to murder, as this is a clear violation of Scripture.  The opponents of CP conflate the killing of a person with the act of murder.  To understand what this verse is teaching, one must understand the biblical definition of the act of murder.  Murder is not simply killing another person; it specifically refers to premeditated killing.  When the New Testament translates this commandment, it uses the word “phoneuo” which is only ever used in the sense of murder.  It is interesting to note that in the nation of Israel, when someone violated this commandment, they were put to death.  If this exegesis has credence, it seems peculiar that God would command the nation of Israel to complete an act that, in other places, He has clearly outlawed!

Therefore, one is not warranted in using the sixth commandment as a refutation of CP, as this is not murder, therefore the context does not apply.  In fact, what took place when this verse was violated, provides a very real picture of CP in action.

John 8:1 – 11

In this passage of Scripture, Messiah is being questioned by the Scribes and Pharisees as to how the woman caught in adultery should be handled.  One must take note of the specific context to fully understand the interplay that takes place in this passage.  This may be another example where a Christological redefinition is being underscored.

These so-called spiritual leaders of Israel were trying to gain a legal basis to charge Jesus.  How could they do this?  If Messiah was to affirm the use of stoning in this case, then He could rightly be charged of giving evidence that was contrary to roman policy.  If He had refused the use of stoning in this case, then Messiah could have been accused of speaking things contrary to the Law of Moses, although the Law (Lev. 20:10; Deut. 22:22) affirmed that both parties caught in adultery were to be put to death.  Nevertheless, Messiah was in between a rock and a hard place.  However, He was able to extricate Himself with a wise and clever answer (an application of Matt. 10:16?), which stonewalled their refutation, without getting caught out by their scheme.  This opportunity also provided Messiah with a situation where He could highlight the Pharisees and Scribes lack of spiritual authority, which is the initial focus of this interaction.

Therefore, this instance is dealing with a context that is outside what is being proposed in the context of CP.  However, the response may be that Jesus’ emphasis on mercy and grace is providing a new paradigm in how to respond to those instances where CP could be enacted, which means that this historical example is paradigmatic!  In some respects, there may be an initial sense of force in this perspective, however, in light of the individual interaction and redemptive significance that Jesus directed this conversation toward, in contradistinction to the civil, societal and corporate aspects and perspectives involved in the context of human governments and the outworking of the judicial rule of law, such is a wrong conclusion.  Also, no one is claiming that such a “gracious” response is mandated to those guilty of premeditated murder, as those against CP, are not against such consequences as incarceration!  Therefore, the question may rightly be asked as to how this verse illuminates such a context?  It would be as equally wrong to apply this passage to another distinct context, that of 1 Cor. 5:1-2, where there is immorality of the most perverse sort.  As verse 2 affirms, such an offense should not provoke merely a merciful, “go and sin no more” response from the leadership, but a more serious course of action, reflective of the nature of the sin and the context that has been affected by such an action!

One would affirm that responding to premeditated murder with CP recognises such factors, and responds accordingly!

Pragmatic Issues

This form of argumentation notes the frail nature of governments and the legal systems they enact.  Just because there are examples of corrupt governments and possible situations where CP may be enacted on an innocent individual, it does not follow that one should therefore, cease to practice it, as such is a non sequitur.  We do not refrain from placing people in confinement for rape, because there are a number of persons who have been wrongly convicted.  The correct solution and response is to have governments effectively rule the law and put comprehensive legal structures in place, with the appropriate checks and balances, which progressively negate the likelihood of such mistakes, particularly as it relates to such serious and important cases!

Such a response should not be construed as lacking in empathy, but is more reflective of the biblically-based seriousness of taking a life!

THE “WHY” QUESTION

If such is true, why would God command such a thing?  Many will believe that the character of Jesus, in particular, would not enforce such a perspective, which will subsequently, help to inform their presuppositions.  However, to put it succinctly, why God would enforce such a process highlights the significance of being made imago Dei, with the subsequent, Creator rights over His creation, endemic in such a context!  To use some modern parlance, man’s image has a copyright, and only the Creator of this image has both the right and authority to damage or extinguish this image.  Therefore, premeditated killing, or murder, is such a serious offense as it extinguishes this without divine approval, which is why the consequences for such an offense, are equally serious, and in this instance, divinely approved!

CONCLUSION

In this blog-paper, this blogger has assessed the biblical validity of CP.  At the outset, it was affirmed that this is something that the majority of Christianity struggles to stomach and agree with, which may very well be reflected by the responses of those who have read this post-to-date.  However, this personal reality, in no way, should impact on those who are seeking to think God’s thoughts after Him, where biblical truth is based out of the text, and not a straw poll.  After examining the biblical material, is the verdict clear?  While this is not the last word on this subject, and those against this position have more than one trick… pony, the verdict seems decisive!  If so, Capital Punishment is the God-given right of the God-ordained institution, as they administer law and order in a depraved and wicked society, where fallen humanity seem to be more than willing to go to ever-lengthening extremes of depravity, in their pursuits under the Sun.

If such is true, as a means to effectively tackle the practical outworking of total and utter depravity, the question we should be asking is this: What in the world are we thinking when we fail to follow this principle in our practice? This ain’t Kansas, anymore!

For the Fame of His Name

Man of Spin

FOOTNOTES

1. Robertson McQuilkin, AN INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL ETHICS, p 361

2. Charles Ryrie, YOU MEAN THE BIBLE TEACHES THAT…., p 26

3. Norman L. Geisler, ETHICS: ALTERNATIVES AND ISSUES, p 241

4. For a list of these 18 crimes and the passages thereof, this blogger would refer the reader to, An Introduction to Biblical Ethics, By Robertson McQuilkin, pp 361, 362.

5. Charles C. Ryrie, YOU MEAN THE BIBLE TEACHES THAT…, pp 28, 29.

6. William R. Newell, ROMANS, VERSE-BY-VERSE, sourced, http://www.ccel.org/ccel/newell/romans.xiv.html

Or, I could just say that I am being sincere!  Nah, didn’t think that would work!

Oh well, with all that in mind, it is time to traverse…

I am sure we have all heard the concept of “self-esteem” bandied about, probably affixed with the word “low” preceding its coming onto the verbal scene. In fact, the reader may have even used it, even very recently, and let’s be frank, such a concept seems to sound reasonable enough.  So and so even talked about it at church, and a Christian book that I am reading or the phone-a-friend is reading, has even referenced it!  Anyway, when all is said and done, shouldn’t we have a positive perception and conception of ourselves!  In other words, frame it which way you want, in a Christian context, the warp and woof associated with this concept underscores a general cultural acceptance and further than this, integration!

If integration is the right concept, then the question that the header has and is communicating becomes even more pressing, as there may very well be a living enemy within the camp, one which has our consenting approval, even as it divests us of what should be our true humanity, as we flourish, in Christ!  Such is also a mute point at present, but suffice it to say, if one accepts the “esteeming” presupposition, the question still remains as to how, or on what basis, one is to attain such a perspective?!

Leaving that question aside, you may be thinking or asking for a clear statement or confession of where this verbose individual stands on the issue.  Therefore, it is time for this piece to conceptually streak…

It is my contention in this post, that the self-esteem movement is just another vehicle for a self-induced, for a self-absorbed narcissism, a narcissism that either rises or falls on the perceived success or failure that the individual in question decides is a valid or warranted basis with which to base his or her significance, worth, identity… and as a function of reality; cosmic or functional redemption.  In other words, such a conceptual reality would be cut off at the knees, if these signifiers were rejected as being unrighteous, insufficient, and ultimately irredeemable!  Our problem is that we, too often and too easily, get snookered into buying into the cultural practice of basing our identity on what we have accomplished, where we perceive we are in our cultural pecking-order, or what others say or believe about us, and in so doing we are like a crack-addict, who succumbs to a drug of such a limited dimension, but that can nevertheless, destroy the body, as an unchecked pursuit after self-esteem can very easily ship-wreck the sinking soul!

However, it does not have to be this way, and even as I write, I keep asking myself, why do we-including-me human beings accept such a small vision?!

Small vision?

You see, as I have stated, such a problem could be stopped right where it begins, in questioning whether such is a valid, correct, or biblical basis for grounding who we are, however, instead, we accept the cultural standard, thereby basing what is our functional redemption in some other basis than Christ.  I say, functional redemption, because those of us who are His, have found cosmic and complete redemption in Christ, and while this is true, bit by bit, moment by moment, exam by exam, sermon by sermon, boyfriend by boyfriend, peer by peer, job success by job success, blog post by blog post, too many of us, too often, base who we are, at that point in time, in something other than Christ, exclaiming in the midst of this mindless moment, that for us to survive, for us to be the people we need to be, we must have this to have our personal flourishing, we must have this to feel good about our self, to have our self-esteemed… and if and when we do not, we fall into the corner in our ever-diminishing vision of life, thereby functionally selling ourselves to something so small, something so pathetic, affirming that Christ has not been enough at such a time!

The sad and crazy reality of it all, is that all this “self-esteem” talk does not set off any alarm bells, yelling, “Your life is hid and found in Christ alone, He is the Source of Everything you need for Life and Godliness… Idolatry, Idolatry,” which subsequently, fails to put the very fear of a transcendent, radiant, and all-consuming vision of the reality of the God of all creation within to our very souls! Tragically, functionally at such times, we push the incorruptible God from off the throne, putting an image of a very corruptible person, which looks very much like what we see in the mirror.  You see, without buying into the conceptual reality of this redemption, we would not be looking inward or toward such a reality, and such highlights how easy, like Aaron, we can astonishingly, give in to building a golden calf of our own, even when it is conceptually clear that we have just been redeemed out of Egypt, even as we stand below the Mountain of God’s glory!

Why do we do it?  Why do we look within, instead of looking up?  Why do we seem to be forever falling for such a blatant lie, which is that something else can functionally do more for me, do more for you, than all the righteousness that is found in Christ alone?

The answer seems clear, but let’s take this down to the next level, as while we can call it self-esteem, as such is often the motivation and means, in reality, what is transpiring is none other than the Devil-old activity of Idolatry…

Martin Luther has spoken truly when he has said that the heart of man is an Idol Factory, which not only has the propensity to worship other objects, but as a function of reality, very often does so, and, it seems, without us ever realising it.  Even Friedrich Nietzsche understood this reality when he affirmed that there are more idols in the world than there are realities.

So you’re a Christian, you have accepted Christ as your substitutionary atonement, you worship the One True God, you even read your Bible, so you know the message of Romans 1:18-32, which affirms that it is those pagans who do freaky things with God’s creation, a.k.a. Idolatry, thereby willfully rejecting the truth that is evident therein.

Therefore, such could not be true of you, as you don’t even know how to carve!  Really?

The intersection between self-esteem as a practice of Idolatry is described cogently in the following words of Tim Keller from his new book, Counterfeit Gods, that contextualises Idolatry from the past with a couple of examples of what this looks like in the present…

We may not physically kneel before the statue of Aphrodite, but many young women today are driven into depression and eating disorders by an obsessive concern over their body image. We may not actually burn incense to Artemis, but when money and career are raised to cosmic proportions, we perform a kind of child sacrifice, neglecting family and community to achieve a higher place in business and gain more wealth and prestige.

Too often what drives this desire can be encapsulated with a drive to fill up that void that we describe as “self-esteem”.  Fail in these areas, and numerous others, and we lose something of ourselves, the result being that we now have “low” self-esteem!  NO!  The problem is not that we have low self-esteem, the problem is that we have bought into the lie that these pursuits were worthy and righteous enough with which to base our lives on, and that success in these areas was the Olympic pursuit of our living, and when failure does come about, we fall over, disgusted with who we have become, self-esteem lying in the gutter, all because our god COULD NOT SAVE US!

Again, why do we do such things?

Surely such highlights the sinfulness of sin, in that it not only leads us away from our Eden, but it also blinds us to the reality that this is even transpiring.  However, what we are also affirming at such times, is that our redemption, be it ultimate [for the unbeliever] or functional [for the believer], is found in something other than Christ, and at such times, in our heart of hearts, we have said that Christ is not enough, that Christ does not cut it, and on such occasions, we willingly bend the knee before this perverted reality, offering ourselves to it, giving it our obeisance, thereby saying that I must have you in my life for it to make sense, for it to be saved, for it to have worth, thereby committing Idolatry!

Sound too harsh?

Take another example, recently, in the midst of economic uncertainty, there have been many examples of Paradise Lost, where extravagantly wealthy individuals have lost it all, and have taken their own lives!  To exemplify this reality, Keller describes the following account of Paradise Found…

In the midst of the great financial crisis of 2008-2009 I heard a man named Bill recount that three years before he had become a Christian and his ultimate security had shifted from money to his relationship with God through Christ.  ”If this economic meltdown had happened more than three years ago, well, I don’t know how I could have faced it, how I would have even kept going.  Today, I can tell you honestly, I’ve never been happier in my life.”

Why couldn’t Bill have faced it before?  Because his god would have failed him, and when the most important thing in life is lost, when the defining principle with which we base our lives upon is found to be a fraud, and when the source for all our satisfaction has been sacrificed, our life ends with it!  You see Bill was always worshiping, but this has now moved from money, career, and status, to the Creator God.  As has been noted, Idolatry is the default mode of the human heart, and everybody worships something, and very often, particularly in our culture, it is a good thing that we make to be an ultimate thing!  We need to get that and grasp that point.  Desiring to do well in your work and be a success is a God-honouring pursuit, but if this good pursuit becomes an ultimate pursuit, such is deadly!

What is also a serious point to think through, as it relates to this culture’s self-esteem focus and talk, is that it tends to find its nexus in the children of our youth, particularly in the teenage years that are already prone to flights of fancy!  At such a time, when our children seem to be ruminating after one thing or another, we need to be pointing them to Christ as the Source of all their Searching, and not calling them to follow another god, their narcissistic self, which they do not seem to need any help with anyway!

If we are honest, sadly, we all are prone in our lives to, at least, a functional digression, which means that we must be vigilant and forever seeking the motivations and longings of our hearts, that are prone to wander, at a moment’s notice, before we are even aware that such has runaway!

Well then, what can we do about it, what can we put in place to “alarm set” against this searching…

If we can only diagnose the problem, without providing a pathway away from danger, we will only be knowledgeable sinners!

First, we need to continually guard our hearts (Prov. 4:23), because we understand that out hearts are prone to sin-sickness (Jer. 17:9), prone to do the things that our sanctified-thinking-straight-minds would never do (Rom. 7:15-20), and because of such realities…

Second, we need to have our minds transfixed in God’s Word (Psalm 1:1-6), as this is the vehicle that our minds need to have continual input-to-transformation (Rom. 12:1-2), with also persistent practicing of the spiritual disciplines, where prayer has a priority (1 Thess. 5:17), so that…

Third, we can become more aware of where these mines are located below the surface, and when such things are located, we need to flee and forsake all those things that we set up as proxy gods(1 Cor. 10:14), and

Fourth, such will help us replace this with an all-consuming vision, a vision of the greatness and grandeur of our God.  Right sizing our God will also help us to right size our gods, including a true perspective of how impotent it is to seek functional salvation within our own pursuits and activities under the Sun, when it is only found in the SON, encouraged as we meditate on all that we have in Christ.  In other words, ultimately and finally, if we just focus on removing the obstruction, and castigating ourselves, we run the risk of not only failing to fill this with a greater vision, but also of replacing one false god with another, our moral rectitude.  Therefore, we must have our hearts, our thoughts, and our longings dominated with radical digressions of the true dimensions of our Deity, the God of the Bible… or, if you prefer, as Tim Keller poignantly puts it…

The way forward, out of despair, is to discern the idols of our heart and our culture.  But that will not be enough.  The only way to free ourselves from the destructive influence of counterfeit gods is to turn back to the true one.  The living God, who revealed himself both at Mount Sinai and on the Cross, is the only Lord who, if you find him, can truly fulfill you, and, if you fail him, can truly forgive you.

Wow!  I literally, could not have said it better myself, and we need to continually remind ourselves of that last line…

The living God, who revealed himself both at Mount Sinai and on the Cross, is the only Lord who, if you find him, can truly fulfill you, and, if you fail him, can truly forgive you.

What Keller is reminding us of is our need to inculcate the Gospel, and view it not as merely a means for our justification, but as a paradigm with which to ground, shape, encapsulate all our life in and through the Son!

Next time you base your functional redemption on how that Sermon goes, next time you are crushed by your mark in that paper, next time you judge yourself by those in your peer group, next time that boy or girl says…, and there will be potential for a next time, while such may cause you disappointment and reflection, remember that this is not basis for who you are, and what you will become, and such was never meant to be!

All you need has been given to you in Christ, and in Christ alone, and while such may seem like an esteemed idea, only He can give a God idea that is worth the life of your living, all as a result of His dying-to-live!

Soli Deo Gloria…

For the Fame of His Name

Man of Spin

The header before you is a Reuters headline, which affirms the following details in a recent study in the US. Now while this Man of Spin’s introduction may have given the impression that this is merely a humorous affair, read the following details, and if you have children, particularly young girls, but not exclusively, as there are plenty of masculine fashion victims, I would encourage you not to fool yourself, as this can be the stuff of serious dimensions.

Read these details, and begin to reflect…

Almost nine in 10 American teenage girls say they feel pressured by the fashion and media industries to be skinny and that an unrealistic, unattainable image of beauty has been created.

An online survey of 1000 girls aged between 13 and 17 for the Girl Scouts of the USA found that three quarters said they would be more likely to buy clothes that they see on real-size models than on women who are skinny.

But three out of four girls said that fashion is “really important” to them.

“The fashion industry remains a powerful influence on girls and the way they view themselves and their bodies,” said Kimberlee Salmond, senior researchers at the Girl Scout Research Institute.

“Teenage girls take cues about how they should look from models they see in fashion magazines and on TV and it is something that they struggle to reconcile with when they look at themselves in the mirror,” she said.

While these figures may sound alarmingly high, I would think that they are pretty representative of not only the way things play out in the various contexts, around the world, but also, as it relates to this age bracket in these given contexts.

However, note this perverse reality, where this article notes the following…

More than 80 percent of teen girls said they would rather see natural photos of models rather than pictures that had been digitally altered or enhanced.

Do you get what these young girls are affirming here?

Even though they are influenced and immersed by this culture, they do not like really like what they see, or the resulting pressure that such a context exerts, and such an admission affirms that they would prefer to be influenced by a more sympathetic, actualized, and real representation, which intersects with the real world. In other words, these young people are acknowledging the unreal world of this context!

What generally happens when someone does not like a certain situation or the context of a given moment?

At such a time, people will more than likely reject it!  For example, offer someone Gherkins, and all those who do not like these “interesting” vegetables explicate the term, ”Yuck,” and reject the aforementioned green slug on offer.  They do not, on the other hand, accept these with delight… UNLESS, unless, a stronger motivation, a stronger inclination, a stronger and more pressing reality is exerting itself into this situation that makes accepting the Gherkins the lesser of any other motivating force!

Therefore, as it relates to the context beforehand, why do these young people accept the constraints and restraints of the present “fashionised” worldview, even when it really does not intersect with the reality of the lives of 99.999999% of these young people?

To put it simply, we want something else more!  However, to tease this out some more, there are bigger issues involved with what is happening in these situations that are centered around subjects like social and cultural acceptance, peer pressure and peer approval, but while these may seem like the root of the problem, and many may want to point to these, they are merely another fruit of the root problem, as the root of the problem digs down deeper, into soul of humanity.

Yes, you also might want to affirm that this is evidence of an addiction to Pop Culture, however, what is really going on with these pursuits is the evidenced reality of an idolatrous pursuit that seeks to find its functional redemption in a counterfeit god!  What these young individuals are saying is that I really need to wear these clothes, look this way, and be this shape, to be accepted by the Pop Culture of our youth, and its interrelated sub-culture, as this is the context of life where I am getting my worth, acceptance… functional redemption, therefore, I must fit in.  Because of this, they are prepared to pay the atonement of attempting to attain an unreal size, an overly expensive look, or a disastrously God dis-honouring look, as it is that important… it really becomes something in the life and death proportions, and you know that this is so, because when you the parent seek to stop such realities, or limit such a look, all hell breaks loose, as you are attempting to stop an ultimate thing in their lives, and we serve what we worship, for good and for evil.

What can be done about this?

The article does provide some possible hope for these individuals, with the following words…

Other top influences on body perceptions, aside from celebrities and models, are peers, friends and parents, the poll showed.

However, while this may sound more hopeful, as Parents at least get a look-in, this also presupposes that Parents won’t replace one redemptive fix, Pop/Peer Culture, with another, the Parents themselves, as the Parents only become profitable if they point their child to Christ, and if they can not deal with the aberrant structure supporting this present platform, and de-construct what is happening in their child’s life and choices, showing why they are acting and re-acting in such a manner, all the while pointing to Christ as the only sufficient or warranted source for what their children are trying to source, then at best, they will remove the fruit of the pursuit, and at worst, merely replace one pursuit with another.

You see, the answer to this question and this issue is not another counterfeit god, but the True God of the Bible, which is another reason why we must Parent for the Heart… Read more about this HERE!

We need to be able to say to our young folk that the reason they are so concerned with body size, the reason they are so concerned with image, the reason they are so concerned with what they are wearing, is that functionally they are responding to what provides them meaning and fulfillment at that present moment, and such realities affirm and underscore that it is not Christ who is the source and content of their functional redemption at such times, as it is not Christ who they are looking to for such a reality, which explains and affirms why they will continue in this pursuit that will not end in their living, as it can not do what they functionally so want it to do, which is provide them with the flourishing-to-fulfillment from within, and what they need that can only meet this need is found in Christ alone, and that such is the end of their searching, the end of their striving!

Such a present reality only affirms that they are slaves to a most servile and sterile object, which is truly sad, when there is the One who offers so much more, so much now, and so much forever.

Only Christ provides cosmic redemption, and only Christ provides functional redemption, and such an example as the subject before us illuminates why we need Christ to be the Lord of all, all of the time, in every moment, in every way, and that such a time in our cultural moment, the pursuit of idolatry is everywhere, as people run after many things to give purpose to their lives!

The really sad and maddening question is this: why do they, why do we, too often, too many times, each and every day, sell ourselves to something so cheap?  Why do we, buy into the lies that something else other than Christ can provide the answers, the solutions, and the functional moment-by-moment redemption?

One letter provides the answer, and it is the letter in the middle of the word “sin”… which both affirms the nature of this pursuit, and the source where we go for the answers…”I”

Run to God, in Christ, as He will welcome you HOME

For the Fame of His Name

Man of Spin

This really is a simple question, that seeks a simple or not-so-simple answer!  I am not on a Crusade-r, although I view myself as a Cantabrian, and I am not looking to start a holy war, well, not that sort of holy war, but I am after the truth (at this point the post-modern begins to snicker at such tomfoolery and arrogance), and I believe that it is worth asking such questions.

As I begin to type this piece, it is late into Tuesday night, the night before the day after that we begin to search for daylight, and head north toward the land of the Druffs, the Tron, readying ourselves for life in the Chute (Parachute people)!  However, the subject matter before you is something that has struck me previously as being worthy of at least some minor reflection, and as I am of WordPress, so, I blog, therefore, I have wanted to offer this platform as a digression for you, the reader, to offer your thinking thoughts on this issue (For the Sorry folks who got lost from another land, and who are wondering what the Gehenna Parachute refers to… Go HERE).

I realise that such discussions can produce more heat than light, but I beg of you one thing in this reflection, which is this, that we righteously reason together.  This is not the place to start pamphleteering, while ranting is so ineffective when one can’t see the facial fomenting forthwith, and while such subjects may cause those on either side of Reformation Canyon to throw emotive-encapsulated bombs at the other side, I implore you to state your case without rancor, retribution, or rage.

In other words, I ask you to speak the truth, as you determine it, in love.

Therefore, before I offer some contextual thoughts to this discussion, that, God willing, may provide something for you to gnaw on, or conversely, spit out, in your own commentary on this issue, I do want to state where my presuppositions reside.  I am an evangelical conservative Christian, or if such is not shorthand enough, I am a Protest-ant, and such is the context of this them blog.  Therefore, the Reformation is my friend, not foe, which means that I view such a movement, and the subsequent re-affirmations>re-clarifications related particularly to topics in the areas of Soteriology (salvation) and Ecclesiology (the Church), as being reflective of a back-to-the-Bible move of God… Soli Deo Gloria style!

What this ultimately means is that a Canyon came into existence many moons ago, and the pertinent question may be framed this way, does this Canyon still exist?

I am want to say that this Canyon is alive…

In light of this, let me lay out some possible positions of why Parachute, an admittedly Evangelical organisation, which states on its site here that “Parachute Music is dedicated to cultivating music that connects people with Jesus,” would seek to incorporate a Catholic Mass, in an event such as this…

Surely such a referenced desire and goal, while being nebulous enough to allow the “Yeah, I include Jesus in my Supermarket of Faiths I hold to” to join the par-tae, this statement is really short-hand for saying that Parachute is pointing to Jesus, as He is the intersection where salvation is found (Acts 4:12).  Therefore, it’s all about the Jesus!

With all this in mind, with a desire to connect people to Jesus, as a mega hook-up service, the question still remains as to why Parachute have made this decision, what this says about their understanding of how salvation is found, and who offers it!

Therefore, I offer the following possible reasons for Parachute’s decision…

1) There is no real difference between what Protestants and Catholics believe, Stupid, with Jesus being the center in both faiths! We could call this one, the Group Hug position.  After all, both sides of the Reformation divide have so much in common that seems to provide an ecumenical interface, that whatever issues divides these two groups, are only minor and insignificant, which means that both are working toward the same ends, with the same means (like all those different denominations in Protestantism), toward the same Jesus!

Therefore, why shouldn’t there be a Mass at Parachute, this is a Christian event after all!

2) The, “Yes, I know there are differences, but Parachute is all about Jesus.” This position may smell the same as the previous, but it is more pragmatic and post-modern about the doctrinal realities, viewing the language of Jesus as bond enough!  Anyway, doctrine divides you modernistic hanger-on-er!

3) The “If we make the fence low enough, more people can get over it,” position! In other words, positively, we see that we can make the most impact for Christ if we gather as many people as we can, and while we accept that there are significant doctrinal differences, there are Christians in the Catholic faith, and anyway, we would like to offer this event as a means to see more religious people made righteous.  Jesus ate with Tax-Collectors and Sinner, didn’t he?

4) The, “Show me the Money” view from the condo! If we could convince the Mormons to drop their funny underwear, we would maybe consider providing for them as well… as long as they left their bikes at the gate!

Now these are three possible and one very improbable areas of “justification” for such a decision, you may have a better suggestion for the reason behind Parachute’s decision, but unless you share this with the blogging public, you will have to put up with my Family Force Four!

As we begin to think through some trajectories of reasoning on this issue, let us see if we can’t provide some further illumination…

Firstly, do you have a problem with a synagogue service on the Saturday afternoon at Parachute?  Okay, so the simple way out of this is to affirm that Orthodox Judaism rejects the Messiah-ship of Yeshua, Jesus, and you would be right, but what about the Mormon faith or Jehovah’s Witnesses, isn’t Jesus the “main man ” in both of these religious systems?  Therefore, does Parachute discriminate at this point?  This is a point of conjecture, as they have not affirmed anything as such, but assuming they play the good “historic” Protestant line, what can be affirmed is that Parachute’s position does not center around whether these two religious systems talk a lot about Jesus, but what this talk means.  In other words, ugly words like “doctrine,” with biblical subjects like the “Hypostatic Union” are navel-gazed about, as men with pot-belly’s, and poor comb-over form, speak with monolithic monotones with code words, without end, affirming that such really does matter matter (a blast from the Parachute past).

While such a decision may seem to be perfunctory in these two examples, what it should affirm is that deciding if a Catholic Mass should be a part of the Parachute Festival comes down to what either side believe on certain biblically fundamental issues, and are these reconcilable, such as, can Jesus be won in Catholic dogma?!  Now this is where the fun begins, as the real question is not if Jesus can be won, but does their solution reflect the biblical teaching?  If not, then Parachute may need to move to Houston, because we have a problem!

To use another ominous term, we are beginning to talk… dom, dom, dom dom dom… THEOLOGY.

This is not the place to dive into the deep end on the doctrinal differences between Protestantism and Catholicism (What a Woose!), which in some respects are neither plain nor simple, and there are places on-line that deal effectively with these debates.  I For example, CARM have these two resources on the Roman Catholic view of Justification and the Mass and the sacrifice of Christ, which highlight the nuances in this debate, but it has been generally agreed… emphasis on “has”… past tense… from a Protestant perspective, which I hold to being the true perspective, that on such matters involving such language as sola gratia and sola fide (See Galatians 1:6-24 for the Word), there is a Canyon between Protestantism and Catholicism that can not be dogmatically or confessionally bridged.  In other words, we are talking about two different Gospels!  If such a position corresponds to the real life realities of both traditions, then neither the twain shall meet, and these faiths are not on speaking terms!

I have recently read an extremely irenic book by ex-Catholic, Chris Castaldo, titled, Holy Ground: Walking with Jesus as a Former Catholic, where he affirms that one of the best book on the doctrinal differences is, Roman Catholics and Evangelicals: Agreements and Differences, by Norman Geisler and Ralph MacKenzie, which should give the reader more in-depth treatment of the issues.   Even though both authors are Evangelicals, Geisler received his Ph.D. from a Catholic Institution, so is familiar with the church’s teachings.  Yes, I also realise that many Evangelicals have converted to Catholicism!  But pause for a moment here… doesn’t the language used in this recent statement set the record straight on the issue.  If Catholicism and Protestantism were in the same family, no conversion is needed, yet take a look at sites where these things are affirmed, and you will hear comments welcoming these individuals, “Home,” or,  ”To the True Church,” with the implication being pretty clear, the other is… false!

I should also point out that I have not read this title, but someone who has and reviewed this on Amazon, is Antoine Maalouf.  When he reviewed the differences that these authors note, read where some of these reside…

In the second part comes the area of doctrinal differences. Here the authors discuss the apocrypha (is it sound to include the apocrypha as canon of the old testament?), the scripture (what should dictate our doctrines: scripture alone or scripture plus tradition?), the infallibility of the Pope (is he the earthly head of the church with infallible decisions?), the doctrine of justification (are we saved by our faith alone, or by faith and works?), the sacraments (did Christ establish seven or two sacraments, and are they means of receiving grace or simply symbols of grace?), the system of the church (does the new testament establish priesthood or does it teach that all believers are priests and thus can approach God directly?) , Mariology (Is Mary our mediatrix, co-redemptrix, queen of heaven? Is it biblical to pray to her, to saints, to venerate relics?), and finally the purgatory (Heaven/Hell, or Heaven/Purgatory/Hell?).  (Emphasis Mine)

One can believe and affirm that the doctrine of Justification in the Catholic Church correctly corresponds to the message in the Word of God, however, I would beg to differ.  However, what should be noted is that these systems are not identical, and while I am more than happy to be convinced otherwise, trying to make them as such, obviates their legitimate claims for holding the truth.  Paul makes it clear that there is a Gospel line in the sand, and if these traditions are not identical, one is wrong!

If such is a true picture, what should be Parachute’s response, in light of what they are standing for, and what they want to achieve?…

This is where you, the Reader, take the leading, rather than merely, the reading role.

What do you think?

However, with a quick shuffle of my hands, let me switch back to yours truly, and offer you some more grist for you to grind in that Mill.

Do you think this is an area, like cultural/ moral issues, such as the abortion issue, where both traditions hold pretty much identical emphases, based on their belief in the sanctity of the human life? Therefore, in such contexts, partnering together is generally viewed as being a non-issue, even though there is an acceptance that there are distinctives in both traditions.  Might be a bit of a rough analogy, but the point is that in such a decision, the Parachute festival, is relegated to an area where it no longer is viewed as a first order matter.

In a recent issue of the 9marks online journal, J. Mack Stiles, in the context of the work of InterVarsity, spoke about some details that relates to this discussion.  Here is what he said…

What’s happening to InterVarsity? Has the fellowship become so thoughtless about its theology that it now rejects the solas of the Reformation? I understand that Catholics can be born again. I am happy to partner with Catholics on moral issues in the political arena such as religious liberty.

One may perceive where his trajectory is heading, however, he finishes off this paragraph with the following, and potentially significant words…

But to partner with Roman Catholics in gospel outreach is a confusion of the gospel. Thoughtful Catholics agree. So, why is IV confused? I worry that it is because IV is muddled about the gospel. (Emphasis Mine).

These seem to be seminal words in this thought process.  What say you?

In light of these words, if this is a Gospel issue, and Parachute want their Massive Event to be Gospel-centered, even as a Gospel Catalyst, and considering some of the content, it would seem to be a warranted belief, are they not affirming that justification is equally found in both Catholicism and Protestantism? If not, then seeking to get those from a Catholic context to come along with a Gospel saving purpose in mind, would seem to be obliterated by such an accommodation, as what are they being saved from and to?  Once again, this should not be construed as affirming that there are not Catholics who are biblically saved, but it is affirming that such a reality is despite the teachings contained in Catholic dogma!

The fact that such a reality is transpiring is certainly communicating a message, what do you think this message entails? Getting back to our Family Force Four near the beginning of this growing post, it would seem that numbers 1-3 are all in play, in some shape and form!

Has Parachute put them-self in a theological corner with this decision? This is assuming you agree with the perspective in this post, but I am inclined to believe so!

Now the Floor really is, entirely yours, as I am off to Parachute.  I am thankful for Parachute and believe that they can do great things for the Gospel, given their platform. The question really is, will they… continue?

Party on Dude!

Anyone got a spare door that you won’t mind if a couple of nail holes are added?  You never know it might just come in handy!  Now to finish that list… 91… 92… sounds good!

What Say You?

For the Fame of His Name

Man of Spin

Well, are they?

Throughout my thirty-plus years on this planet, I have periodically gone (and still go) through phases when a Christian Author/Preacher/Scholar… whatever, seems to be a means of grace that captures more of my attention, and is used as a source for much redemptive good, and as I reflect, probably the first of these that I can point to, is none other than Leonard Ravenhill…

There is something about Mary, so the movie will have us believe, but in my world, at that time, there was definitely something more about Len!

My first exposure to the man, Leonard Ravenhill, was on the too many times to remember viewing his titles on my Father’s bookshelves growing up… that was until, as a young man, in my early twenties, I went on to read Ravenhill’s words.  In fact, I devoured Ravenhill’s words, or it may be more accurate to describe it that they, in fact, devoured me, as his words seemed to leap off the pages, in such titles as, Meat for Men, While Revival Tarries, and Revival Praying, to name but three!

Finding reason to Ravenhill’s particular rhyme in one’s existence, one could point to his particular turn of phrase, coupled with a passion, zeal, and relentless pursuit of God, His Mission (particularly on prayer and revival), and His glory, that when he expressed these with such force, I was drawn into following his pursuit, and wanted to run with fire in hot pursuit!  However, like “Logic on Fire” Lloyd-Jones, this preacher had Got Thy Unction, and such permeated not only what he wrote, but as I would later experience, what he also would say!

What he would say came into reality when I found a cassette tape of the man preaching in New Zealand, hearing his unctionised-urgency of tone, and his forcefully impassioned resonance, only underscored the words that I had read about him, and such a tape would receive numerous play-times.

This day, as I pen-to-type this post-thing, I reflect on how many sun’s have set since I have read or heard Ravenhill, and the man today who has spent some time reflecting on the media sources has grown in more ways, and in different contexts, than the young man, who was entering the doorway and standing on the precipice of a manhood to be lived out under the Sun.  However, while theologically I am more John and he is more Jacob, his call for a revival of the Church to fulfill its Mission, his understanding of the pivotal role of prayer, his call to be holy as He is holy, and his relentless desire for the pursuit of God, makes listening to him a time when my soul is again, strangely warmed, and I reminded-to-encouraged of some of the more important pursuits that one should complete with one’s time in this life, and how very very easy it is to practically forget these in one’s pursuits!

Let me begin with some words of quotation, on the subject of prayer, which have been sourced from another blog HERE.  Words of Ravenhill…

“Notice, we never pray for folks we gossip about, and we never gossip about the folk for whom we pray!  For prayer is a great deterrent.”

“Our spiritual immaturity never shows up more than in our lack of praying, be it alone or in a church prayer meeting. Let 20% of the choir members fail to turn up for rehearsal and the choir master is offended.  Let 20% of the church members turn up for a prayer meeting, and the pastor is elated.”

“A man who is intimate with God will never be intimidated by men.”

“Ministers who do not spend two hours a day in prayer are not worth a dime a dozen – degrees or no degrees.”

“No man is greater than his prayer life. The pastor who is not praying is playing; the people who are not praying are straying. The pulpit can be a shop window to display one’s talents; the prayer closet allows no showing off.”

“If weak in prayer, we are weak everywhere.”

“A sinning man stops praying, a praying man stops sinning.”

In our day, such words may not be fashionable, nor may be those that attract a following, but I am want to admit and affirm that they resonate as faithful!

Now for the man in the flesh…

Let me warn you… This is Old Skool… Smack You in the Mouth Preaching… and Frankly, I Love It!

Here are a couple of short snippets from his sermons…

One Thing I Do

Agony

Anointing

Prayer – Quotes With Some Other Individuals

As one who was brought up as an Salvation Army Officers Kid, this video provides interesting viewing…

We Don’t Know God

If such videos have peeked your passion and called forth your commitment, you can view complete sermons and full interviews with the man on YouTube, so the potential for more of “Len” is in your hands!

As a final reflection on the man, I think the area where his impact most resonated in my consciousness was in the priority, importance and impact of prayer, which flowed into my practice.  Such a reminder is worth our remembering… No, it is worth our practicing, as our talk is too often cheap, because our reality is bankrupt in the closet.

God help us to be a people of passionate, private prayer, even in this day.  Lord Knows We Need To Be!!!

For the Fame of His Name

Man of Spin

]]> http://christiannews.co.nz/2010/op-ed-leonard-ravenhill-god-put-fire-in-my-bones/feed/ 0 http://christiannews.co.nz/2010/op-edpart-two-why-do-we-ask-god-why-what-is-going-on/ http://christiannews.co.nz/2010/op-edpart-two-why-do-we-ask-god-why-what-is-going-on/#comments Thu, 14 Jan 2010 02:41:40 +0000 Man of Spin http://christiannews.co.nz/?p=2933 If this is the first post in this two-post series, you really need to have a read of the first post in this series, HERE, which deals with the not-so-God-good posture of those who come to the Creator and ask the perennial question of… WHY?

To affirm that this is a perennial question, affirms both its longevity in the human existence, but also the context that encourages its reality, which is suffering.  Therefore, for those believers who are presented with this question, pain is generally in the offing, and such questions have deep cisterns working within the individual.

Therefore, such questions to answer are never mere abstractions!

In the previous post, I pointed out some not-so-good factors that can encourage this activity of the soul, and in this second post, one that I believe both honours God, while affirming this desire of the soul, I will point out a perspective that encourages this pursuit!

The… “God I am Weak and Need You” Posture

In many respects, very few words may be required in this section, which may be a welcome word for you weary reader, but I am want to wordiness!  The reason for such is that the previous affirmations may have negatively highlighted and contextualised what is positively missing!  However, while affirming what shouldn’t be there may be a mirror to reflect what should, such may not effectively shape what such an image of a person may look like.  So… I will digress a little, and paint a little picture for you!

The Word of God affirms that God rejects the proud, and while such is true, it is equally true to affirm that the Proud reject God, affirming that they don’t need Him.  While such a position definitely has satanic origins, as those who fall into such conceit are committing a very old sin!  While this previous point speaks more to the unbeliever, it is also true that functionally, the paradigm of pride loves the limelight, and is already ready to party with our depravity, which means that we too often walk in the flesh and not in the Spirit, highlighting this ruinous reality, which wants to sing, I Did It My Way!

If I am honest, and generally it is the best policy (humouring you), it is only recently that I have come to begin to understand the God I am Weak and Really Need You posture.  What has been catalytic to seeing this in my own life has been suffering.  As I am writing this portion of the post, I have ventured into the lounge, and on the TV is the DVD, UP, which highlights in a strangely real way, the trials and vicissitudes of life (It is very good)!  The point is that in the living of life, we will ALL go through moments, times, and even periods when this life will seem to smash us in the mouth, and seek to dominate our existences with its perspective.

Ironically, the very reality and perspective we need to hold onto at such times, is produced as we submit to viewing these things through the biblical paradigm, as we live through issues that produce such dislocation with the reality we desire!!!  This is an important truth to grasp, with failure to submit at such times, affirming our spiritual state!

So how do we get to this reality.  Let me practically explain how it has looked for me…

Generally, like a brute beast, you will find me getting to my wits end, as I am practically affirming that walking in the flesh is a fool-proof avenue to failure, but nevertheless, stupidity loves the company of repetition, and so, after a period of time of flapping my wings, it will dawn on me… graciously… that I can not do this on my own, that I weak and helpless, that I need some assistance outside of myself, and that someone else knows best!

It is when I realise this and come to God like the broken man that I am, that I begin to seek His face, to seek His assistance, to seek His help, as what I really need at such times is not really the answers… but HIM.  Therefore, asking God what is going on, asking God WHY is this situation happening, at such moments, is not reflective of a man demanding God to explain Himself, or of a man affirming to God,How Could You!  However, it is a man affirming his reliance, dependence, and submission to the Father, seeking assistance from the only source that can help in such times, reflective of the one’s inability to grasp such an understanding, without the interaction from the all-good God!

This perspective approaches God in weakness, where the cry to God of WHY?, reflects more on our inability to grasp the reality at such times, more than on our disputations with God’s will and wisdom in our ways in our life, and our demanding that God explain Himself.

Therefore, asking God why can be the most submissive call for help, as it reflects the absolute dependence of child in need of the Parent!

Conclusion

If, in the reading of these post (assuming someone will), the details within have been more of a mental abstraction that a personal pilgrimage, you are missing the stars for the trees!  Something much closer to your reality is blocking your perspective to the truly grand presentation that I believe the Creator would want to communicate with you!  Probably you feel very in control of your existence, or have not had anything transpire that highlights such an absurd position!  God will get His Wo-and-Man!

If this reading has been very applicable to your context, I pray that you will have a growing reality where you will see your circumstances through your God, and not your God through your circumstances, thereby right sizing reality!

Finally, let me affirm something that I remember from Tim Keller, in one of the Sermons, when speaking about a given context, he makes the point that the real problem is that at the core of our beings, we really don’t believe!  Below all that has been affirmed, unbelief is the corrupting source that undermines all that follows.  It just so happens that suffering really does highlight if we truly believe!

Do you?!

Until Next Time

I am Jonny King

Whatever answer you have given to this question, think again, and ask yourself… assuming that you do… Why do you ask God the often loaded question, from our perspective… WHY?

After all, it seems both reasonable and reconcilable, in the same circumstance, given that God is our Father, Friend, Guide, and also the all-Perfect, all-Wise, all-Holy God, who never gets it wrong, that such a reality can seem both right and wrong, at the same moment, at the same time!

As one further reflects on this, how one reconciles and integrates trajectories of biblical truth, such as the Wisdom, Sovereignty, and Providence of God, with other truths related to the Fatherhood, the Mercy, and the Love of God, which can impact on such a person’s readiness to offer up such refrains, and when the frequent fallenness of humanity is taken into account, there is the possibility of any number of reasons why we are prepared to ask God… WHY?  This is not even mentioning a number of other theological concepts such as the Transcendence and Immanence of God, the Humanity and Divinity of Christ, and the impact of the theological trajectories of different denominations, to name a number, and not a few.

All this is beginning to sound rather convoluted, and even abstract for those who are going through a world of hurt, where the self-awareness of such perspectives is a cosmos away from a breaking heart.  This does not mean that such affirmations are unimportant, but it does mean that the context for such times is often very personal and painful, and what triggers one’s response can relate mostly to the matters of the heart.  This is important to grasp!!!

Therefore, let me get a little personal, which affirms the motivation for this reflection…

As I was reflecting on my illness, with the impact that it has in limiting our familial context, and the possible way ahead, which is unknown, as I initially began to think to myself, ”Who was I, thinking I could ask God what was going on”… I thought about this some more and reflected more on what was actually taking place.

The result was that I came to conclusion that how asking God “Why” or “What are you doing, What is going” can be both a righteous act and wrong-headed reaction, dependent on a number of factors at work within the humanity of our reality, and that knowing to discern what is going on when such motivations arise, is vitally important in the living of our lives for the glory of God… and not only negatively, so that we don’t do it in light of the wrong reasons, but just as significantly and more positively, because one should know how to freely talk with one’s Father!

Whenever we are going through tough times, call it the tendency or outworking of the reality of relationships, at such moments and at such times, our humanity seeks to know why things are happening, what is the purpose of God at such times, and where could this be heading?

It can be made even tougher when in the back of our minds, questioning God can seem like the most irrational thing to do!

It seems to me, as I have recently reflected on my own situation, in light of my desire to see God move in my circumstances, that in coming to God and asking the above questions, in seeking Him for answers to what can seem like the unanswerable, based on our own wisdom anyway, there are two possible contexts that can encourage this activity of the soul, one not-so-good, and a second that honours God!

The… “God How Could You” Posture

We can all be prone to this perspective, the situation we are going through is not what we want, desire, or even what we perceive brings the most glory to God, and so we unload… God, What is going on? Why? To be sure, such can be a reflection of the multitude of biblical saints that are recorded for our benefit who have asked God Why?… Why do the heathen rage?… Why do they prosper?  I am very thankful for the Scriptures that record the factual words of people in a variety of realities, which provides a real-life snap-shot of the multi-layered terrain of living this life.  One of the best examples is the Old testament saint, Job, the man who was put through the mill, ground down into ground, but who came through it in the end, by the grace of God.  God does commend the man in the end, in front of his “friends”, but this was not without a few scraps and bruises along the way, as God asks why Job is opening his mouth about things he has no real idea about, in response to Job’s more self-indignant pleadings that God owes him an explanation!

We would do well to read and reflect on the themes in the Book of Job, as it relates to this question, which, God willing, the following points may help to further uncover, as we digress on what is going on in our hearts when we ask God…WHY?

>What this says about our understanding of our self

The problems in our lives could very easily be brought down to two foundational issues, we too very easily both wrong-size ourselves and wrong-size our God, making the first too big, and the second too small.  We need to remember that we are prone to not only miss the mark, but misunderstand where there should even be a mark.  Who are we, after all?  Yes, we are children of the Most High, but this does not reflect on the attractiveness of self, which has lured God in! How foolish we are, that we too often practically act like this is true!  We are being made into the image of Who He Is, because of the mercy and grace of God… period!  Therefore, when all is said and done, in and of ourselves, we are all the worst sinner we will ever know (Thanks C. J. Mahaney)!

The reason that such a perspective is important is that when we come before the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, such should impact in our practice!  Integrating the reality of our falleness into our worldview will encourage a biblically-based humility that recognises that when we desire to come before God to give Him a piece of our mind, as to how we think things should be taking place, that we really are too broken down to be confident that we have the correct perspective, in contradistinction to the Creator’s all-perfect understanding of reality, past, present, and future!

I mean, can we really comprehend God’s reality?

>What this says about our understanding of God

Just as we tend to super-size ourselves, simultaneously of this reality, we under-size our God, with the result being that we make Him, the Lord of All, more into image of our humanity, than the Creator-God that He is!  God is not incapacitated by our circumstances, domesticated by our disasters, confused by our contexts, or befuddled by our bellowing.  God is in control of our lives, and where Chaos ensues on our part, God is free from all such limitations, other than the limitation to do anything that is contrary to Who He Is!

The solution to right sizing ourselves can very well be resolved by first replacing this vision of ourselves with a true vision and reality of God!  When we try and merely lambaste ourselves into correct praxis, we very often fail.  For example, the solution to the fear of Man is to not simply focus on dealing with this in our self, per see, as the need is to focus on something greater!  This greater vision is the fear of the Lord, and by inculcating this reality, one is given both a new reigning paradigm that will both, help to right size our self, as we right size God into our existence!

Therefore, the question when we are approaching God, at these times of asking… WHY?… is functionally… How Great is your God?  If our thoughts of God are in correspondence to the reality as presented in the Word of God, we will be mindful of how awesome our God is, how matchless are His ways, and how insurmountable is His wisdom in this world, which courses through the living of our lives!  It is this God who has made the promises contained in Scripture, such as in the well known refrains in Rom. 8:28 and Phil. 1:6, which are as inviolable as the God who makes these promises!

It is this God who is in control of our… WHY?

>What this says about our understanding of the Gospel

As I have affirmed in other places, in light of the words of the Reformers, our hearts are indeed “Idol Factories” that are more than prone to this default mode.  No place in our lives may illumine this more than in our understanding of the Gospel as it relates to suffering.  Spending time with Tim Keller, vicariously, has helped expose this in my own heart. Keller has made comments about a lady who had attended Redeemer for some time, who had been in another “church” for a long period of time, and who confessed that she had only heard the Gospel for really the first time at Redeemer. This lady made the following comments. Note that this is my summation, but she went to affirm that if… God saves us by His grace, He can really ask anything of us.  Do you get that?  If salvation is free, than God owes us… NOTHING! Religion says to God, I have done this and that, I have paid my spiritual taxes, and my spiritual dues… YOU OWE ME!!!  Probably no other context in life encourages this more than when we suffer, as at such times, what we really believe about the Gospel, is put up in lights!

This also underscores the connection with the previous affirmation about the character and reality of the God of the Bible.  Imagine what an unreliable Despot, with such a free reign in our lives, to do whatever his whims and fancies, would be like?  Such further underscores why we need to KNOW God!

However, how does your reaction in the heat of battle reconcile with the reality of the Gospel message?

I have just spoken about how God does not owe us anything, which is true, but such a way of framing things may also miss the glorious part, which is EVERYTHING that God has given to us in Jesus Christ! Not wanting to downplay anything that you have and will go through, as I know, Life can be brutal, but in light of what we have been given, are presently getting, and will receive in the future, these really are light and momentary afflictions!  Remember the Gospel is more than merely justification, keep turning the pages, your story has just begun!

People, Gospel-size your life… and ask God, WHY… NOT?!

>What this says about our understanding of the future

Being the motor-mouth that I am, I may have already alluded to this… but not so fast!

You see, while our eternity in Christ is definitely in view, I am wanting to focus more about how this highlights our view of this portion of our living, under this Sun!  If God is the controlling reality in human history, and He is, than, given His purposes in and through the life of the believer, the times when we think life is falling apart, are part of “the Good” of Rom. 8:28, and have a redemptive God-glorifying reality, even as we can not see past the next moment, or the pain within.

Now, this is not to say that this is not a battle to maintain the faith and such a perspective, particularly as the walls cave in.  But it is to say that when such times arise, as we fall apart emotionally, we must lay hold of these promises of God by faith, not letting go, knowing that while our hearts may periodically fail us, our God never does!

Therefore, when asking God Why?… Remember, not only his faithfulness in His Word, but His faithfulness in your life to the present, with an eye to his assurances for your future.  What this means is that the wall that is before you that you can not possibly see how any good can come about, is merely a door that He will move you through at His time, where you will affirm that such was true!

Right sizing God’s good control over the future helps us to right size the painful times of the present!

Conclusion

In our next post, we will look at the positive posture in asking God… WHY?

Stay Tuned, it is just around the blog-corner

For the Fame of His Name

Man of Spin

Well, here it is… and, not too long to wait now People!

When I reflect on any given Parachute experience, I am drawn into reflecting on Parachute pre-Mystery Creek. For all those who are unfamiliar with what I am rabbiting on about, let me explain.

Parachute was not always where it is today, at the Mystery Creek compound, just outside Hamilton. In fact, it has had a few destinations in its history. However, the place where Parachute went through its maturation stage was at Totara Springs, near “it doesn’t” Matamata. It was here in much more rural and cerebral surroundings, something looking like the setting for the “Glastonbury” Festival in the UK, that the Parachute really began to open.

This is where it gained that cool factor, not merely for what was taking place, but for where it was taking place. It had character for so many city slickers who were looking to “rough it” (I mean Main Stage was a grassy area inhaled by a huge grassy banked amphitheater). It had that “Kitchy” factor where a culture was created through the vehicle of the event, which meant that if you missed going to the whole weekend, you missed the event.

Today, when I reflect on the Parachute enjoyment factor, I do not judge it by such criteria (now to be fair, I have heard that this change was encouraged by outside factors), nor am I concerned about missing the culture post-midnight.

What I am concerned about missing are the acts of note, and my/ our excitement, even for our 15 year old son, who did not experience Totara-Parachute comes down to who is heading our way from shores overseas to headline the evening times of exuberance. While I am a big fan of many of NZ’s own, such as Mum’s Dollar and Rapture Ruckus, since I am pretty sure they are going to be at each Festival, my anticipation leading up to each event is centered on who is getting the big bucks to perform for my audience of one.

Therefore, it is with this in mind, that I am thankful for the Christ-centered, God-glorifying perspective of the majority of the big acts at the Chute 09, which meant that not only was I thankful that they could hold a handy tune, but I was thankful that they also directed me away from the man-filled stage before me, to the stage in the sky.

Let me digress about the evenings a little… OK, maybe a lot!

While the family who forced 5 performed late Friday night, NZ acts dominated Main Stage Friday night. While I think Mum’s Dollar are rather dapper, I missed them, however, I was blessed, once again with “the Pre-Millennial” Rapture Ruckus. While his sound is definitely baseline, it is His lyrics, message, and persona that reflect on someone who has been graced from on high, but also someone who is seeking to grasp in greater reality what it means to be saved! I don’t know the ins and outs of his story, but the gravity of his rescue seems to have cast an ever-lengthening shadow of the cross of ALL grace on his life. It was good to hear some new sounds from the man, with his sound ever maturing and diversifying, with his new number about “holding on” underscoring this for me.

Saturday was… HOT! Therefore, it was a pleasure to find Saturday evening after the horrendous Hamilton heat.

What stood out for me about the “Force of 5″ was not so much their music or stage craft, although both were thoroughly rigorous. Maybe a better way of putting it is that one moment at the end of their performance cast a shadow over the reflections in my mind. The Force had just finished their set and everyone had enjoyed what was presented, but then one member stepped forth to the microphone.

After spending some 60 minutes being contextualized by this group, the sense of what was going to happen next was palpable. Surely another moment for the groupies to die for! However, no more histrionics would be taking place, but a simple call for everyone to take off their hats as we were going to pray. “Was this guy being funny?” This was the perplexed response of many who were trying to reconcile what they had viewed with what they were now hearing. Yes, this band member was deadly serious as he called on people to have some reverence!

Now before you play the Pharisee card and extol the virtues of cultural contextualization, please think about why this band member took this call to action. Obviously such a motivation was to honour God, and as such, although some might want to culturally condemn such an action, as we live in such a culture where this call still resonates with the majority, knock yourself out!

The reason that I believe many were unsure about this band member’s call was that many had made the superficial mistake of connecting spiritual depth with the sound of one’s musical taste and the timidity of one’s personality. Family Force 5 affirmed that while they were hard-core rockers, the core of their commitment to Jesus was above all earthly associations… respect.

To be honest, the next act on Main Stage was not one that I had heard a great deal of, apart from their radio air-time. In other words, our son did not have their album. While I had to chuckle about the “Hollywood style” of the lead wearing his glasses in the middle of the night (I am sure the lights were powerful. They must have lessened in intensity when he took them off later), they had a solid sound that was pleasing for all who stayed and listened.

I know, this sounds like a rather “limp” description, but I have to admit that while enjoying their sound, I was not taken captive. This does not indicate that they were unimpressive, but it does indicate that the sound did not grasp my soul and yell “I’m Yours”!

However, what did grab me and remains an abiding memory of Kutless is a moment when the quest or search for significance that so many seek to find at the end of a guitar pick, was put into abject perspective. For many who attend Parachute, some young and not so young, the search for significance is an idolatrous affair, a fix that can only be found in the One, which is encouraged by the very context of thousands of individuals placing all their attention on those at the front.

The result can be that, for many, as the leader singer of Kutless admitted about himself in earlier days, if he could just have played in front of such an audience, fulfillment would have found its destination. Sadly many search for such failed fulfillment, thinking they will find manna from heaven, only to be fooled by the mirage of their machinations, still left with this God-shaped emptiness (see Pascal) needing to be filled.

Without blinking, and talking from experience-laden reality, this man pointing to Christ, made clear that what he thought he was searching for only made him more lost than found, and like the younger brother in the Prodigal Story (see Tim Keller’s book, The Prodigal God), with such realizations in hand, they returned to the only source.

The fact that this is what stood out for me, indicates the significance of this moment!

Time was beginning to expire as night had truly made its home. However, there was still time for “Dave”, a true New Zealand icon to warm our hearts with the evident grace that was never too late for Mr Dobbyn.

Even before Dave Dobbyn was stopped in his tracks by the Unstoppable One, he truly understood how to capture a nation with words and sound. I know we have our national anthem, but the words and sound of Loyal are sure to reduce a “kiwi” to longings for home or their national team. I can remember, as we would play this song in Australia, all that New Zealand meant to us as a family would be filtered through and captured in one’s present existence, at least until its refrain became silent.

I confess that on many occasions I would be viewing men in black jersey’s running around after an odd-shaped object, carrying the consciousness of a small nation on the bottom of the earth.

Who can remember Dave’s last Parachute, when the heaven’s opened on him, in a different context, with rain upon rain. At that time, it had just been Dave and his guitar. That was then and this is now, and Dave had returned with band-in-toe.

Now that Dave had been found, his new songs seem to be imbued with a sense of our ultimate Home, and he would not disappoint all those willing to wait for midnight.

I confess to admitting that I think I prefer Dave, unaccompanied, acoustic in hand. This is not to say that his performance did not “go off”‘ and finish off the night on a grand note for a New Zealand partisan crowd, but it is to affirm that there is something about Dave that does not need any encouragement.

There is something beautifully honest about the simplicity of the music of Dave Dobbyn in such a context. His sound is the gentle breeze in the warmth of the day, the slowing moving river engulfed in the middle of Autumn (Fall) by the changing confines, or the maturation of a fine red, left for years of solitude, to burst forth with depth and newness of life (I’m gonna cry).

Whether it be the extent of the raspy range of his voice, or the leading of his guitar, seeing Dave Dobbyn perform in self, is like seeing a red rose, removed from its foliage that has covered its beauty. Yes, the bouquet is impressive, but pull the rose out and view its disposition with unopposed clarity, your wonderment will grow. You may even wonder why it needed such suffocation.

I confess to thinking this way of the music of Dave Dobbyn (This sounds rather naff… comparing Dave to roses). Nevertheless, after continuing to encourage my tiring wife to the finish line of midnight, I was blessed not only by the music of our country, but by the music that has become our faith.  It was home to bed, leaving our son to enjoy the frivolities of the night.

Sunday night was on the horizon, with The Dave Crowder Band and Casting Crowns ready to express.

Sunday Night at Parachute is worship night, which is more a reflection of a genre of music than an attitude of the soul. I confess that the older I get, the more I am intoxicated with lyrics. The more Christ-centered and God-glorying the lyrics, the more passionate I am about pursuing.

Sadly, some groups who have entered Main Stage have the sound of kings, but the lyrics of fools, and this can no better exemplified in the Christian scene than those groups desirous of worship status.

However, not tonight Josephine, as I can affirm that Sunday night was a marathon for me as both The Dave Crowder Band and Casting Crowns sought to put God on display, calling on Parachute to look up.

While I could digress a great deal more about the connection Dave Crowder gains with the audience through his “hokey” hometown Texas appeal and the excellence of their sound, I return to Kansas, I return to the lyrics. As I sat on the outskirts of Main Stage, with wife and young son in hand, I could not help but respond to such encouragement and worship my Creator with the words that reflected on the awesome reality of our God, and the sovereign grace that has been extended to the guilty-redeemed. To be sure, this was something that I expected, but my heart was warmed with a view of the divine… surely a time affirming His worth-ship!

Finishing off Sunday Night were the Casting of Crowns. This may also be an apt way of describing the goal of this group’s performance, for it is not about the excellence of their music that they desire listener’s to focus upon, but the One whose casting Crown of Thorns was not the end of the story.

While Casting Crowns are a little more biographical and paint more of a narrative with many of their numbers. it would not be a stretch for me to simply say, “ditto”, in describing the impact of Casting Crowns in relation to Dave. However, it would be remiss of me not to describe the intensity of their message, because it is this component that remains a powerful reminder of their time at Parachute.

While Parachute had wanted the front man (I forget his name) to preach before the group performed, he/ they decided that they would preach throughout their act, which was more natural. Now while I must admit that I would have liked to hear more of their tracks, each sermonette introducing the coming piece, drew in those who were listening, refusing them the option of listening from afar, and thereby missing possible moments of divine grace, whereby lasting impact might come about. These were not glib moments where one had to listen to spiritual sloganeering, these were moments that flowed out of the road less travelled by the chosen few.  Casting Crowns would bless us again on Monday morning, but this seems like an afterthought in Planet of the Parachute.

There we have it, another Parachute done and dusted, and we truly were, as the temperature-induced onslaught of the weekend had reached its goal, sending weary music junkies back to rehab at home.

How would I rate Parachute 2009? Based on the criteria that I set before you, it seems that it was a pretty successful event… I would give it about an 8 out of 10… hardly a scientific poll!

As one reads this, the excitement in NZ is building for 2010, with talk of the return of the Switchfoot and Family Force 5 to whip the fervor of the masses. along with other top acts like Underoath… see this page for more of the top acts HERE!

Therefore, all things are looking good for another music extravaganza… I would love to say the same about the speakers!

Just before I go, I almost forgot, I do have another criteria for a successful Parachute… Books, cheap books on special… but that is another story!

For the Fame of His Name

Man of Spin

As I have rolled over the # 30 apex in recent…ish years, each year that I attend The Parachute Festival, as I have watched the little grunts mill around the village, seeking to have their 15 seconds of attention, come redemption, I begin to feel more and more aged.

Sucking it up, each of the recent number of years, subsequent to our return from Egypt, I mean Australia, in recognition that we are caught in the web of the “superstar grunt” years, vicariously (we have a teenage son), we do the damage and head north.

In the year of this reflection, our son, turned 15, staying on site, while, those more mature (my wife and I) and immature (our other two younger sons) reclined in a more genteel setting, with the Outlaws (Inlaws for those perplexed), in the Tron of all places!

Before I get into some reflections, at the outset, consider this… What do you think about the Parachute Experiment?

The reason I ask is that this Festival can illicit some pretty strong opinions in the Christian fraternity. Often these opinions seemed to be grounded more in what Parachute could be, than in what it actually is. Their guilt being more in the opportunities that they miss, more than what actually takes places.

To be fair, I do empathize with such a position, as I do believe that, given the resources, the number of people who attend, with the opportunity to truly impact this nation for Christ, Parachute could do more than they are already doing.

Nevertheless, when the said is done doing, I am genuinely thankful for Parachute.

Even though I don’t necessarily agree with all of their positions, as outworked in what takes place with some things at the Festival, I think I get their context and what they are trying to achieve (mistakenly or not). As an old man, who is becoming an old man, I am stoked that my son can see National/ International acts up close and personal, seeing and hearing their witness for Christ (modeling), to be enveloped in a context with a majority of ministries from NZ, and some from around the world who are presenting a cultural movement for my son to connect and invest his life in, while also enjoying some male tomfoolery and bonding time.

Let me not forget, seeing the aforementioned son walking around in the Village with a wrestler’s mask on… that was a definite highlight (I can’t bring myself to say “not”, maybe “Tui” will do)!!!

Now that we are all feeling warm and fuzzy, let’s have a group hug… Na… send in the hounds.

Let me now be a little more critique-ical, if I may. After all, what is love if truth is absent!

I do wonder if Parachute has somewhat of an confusion crisis. Maybe this comes from trying to cover so many bases, that in the end, these begin to conflict with one another. I mean if you want to keep getting bigger and bigger, with numbers being paramount, you are going to be faced with some pivotal decisions, and the driver at the wheel may not be as discerning as he should. What wins out in the end, a philosophy of ministry based on gospel, or a philosophy of money based on the profit?

This is no perfect world, and while numbers are important, I wonder if the temptation to grow and be successful.. period, is something that Parachute needs to more diligently consider, in light of some decisions that they have made.  In other words, would Parachute be prepared to put something in place that might possibly shrink the numbers, so as to do a more effective job of being a catalyst for Gospel emancipation and proclamation in a New Zealand context?

What do you think?

Let me give what I believe is an example to exemplify what I am blogging about…

In this example, it is not what Parachute is doing, it is what they could be doing. If Parachute would take this advice (I am sure I am not alone in thinking this), not only would I think that this would bring more glory to God, edify the righteous, but it would also be pragmatically effective (what more could you want). Now that I have been blogging for one year, I am confident that I now have the attention of the Parachute hierarchy who are no doubt following my writing… snicker, giggle, into raucous laughter!

Here is some advice in the form a little note…

Dear Parachute,

“If you are wanting to encourage more Christians to attend and widen the base, there are many Christians, particularly those who are past their krunk-rock days, who are not that excited about watching the next hero krumping (if you have no idea what I mean, reader, use your noodle, google).

Yes! Parachute! You do a great job of bringing some of the best Christian international acts to our shores, and we are gratefully blessed (although steady on with the price hikes). May I say that this year was no exception (in fact, I was stoked with the line-up, more on that at a later date), but what about having this same intentional philosophy and commitment to the conference component of each Festival… Now there’s an idea!

Thanks for Listening… By the Way, I Come Cheap (and a little nasty)”

Man of Spin

Now, given Parachute’s pulling power, they are in a prime position to bring some of the best Bible preachers, teachers, apologists, evangelists, etc, in the world to our shores. Yes, the answers to these questions will be different for different individuals, but one could at the very least see some more diversity in this Christian unity. Now I know Parachute are want to bring in their theological/ praxilogical buddies, but this philosophy needs a serious overhaul (while I am sure others will disagree, “choice” Joyce Meyers does not do it for exegetically>expositionally, in my, trying to be humble by God’s grace, opinion).

Therefore, Man of Spin will help Parachute along the way… Just imagine this lineup (Note, this lineup is neither exhaustive, inspired, nor inerrant).

Mark Driscoll or Josh Harris - Both guys are continuationists, which would fit the Parachute bill, are young and well known for their writings, and would relate to a younger context, but significantly, both are meat packers. One of these guys could be the main speaker at Main Stage (They could even go for Louie Giglio, and he has spoken at Hillsong, for Heaven’s sake, so there should not be an issue here… Even Greg Laurie is coming to NZ, why not combine the visit).

D. A. Carson or Tim Keller – These could complete a Book/ Topical Study, in one of the smaller contexts, over 2 or 3 days. Both men minister in different theological contexts, and are not ideologues, with Keller recently speaking at Bill Hybel’s gig, after Hybels’ affirming that Keller’s Prodigal God book, “wrecked him.”

William Lane Craig or J. P. Moreland (another continuationist) or Greg Koukl or some other apologetics guy… Hey, why not use local guys like Matt Flanagan or Glenn Peoples, who I would think would be more than armed, ready and dangerous enough for such a context.  There are plenty of quality individuals around, just look at the Philosophy departments on US campus’ – Evangelicals Everywhere, apparently.

Let me be fair, a positive sign was the addition of someone like John Stonestreet from Summit Ministries (No, I didn’t hear him, but the ministry is pretty good from what I know), but Parachute has such an opportunity to affirm and put Scriptures like 2 Tim 3:16,17 into practice.

Please give us some meat with that candy. We have our knife and fork at the ready!

As one naval-gazes about the potential here, Parachute has the opportunity to practice what is so lacking in so many of our contexts in New Zealand – to hold both the more creative ways of worshipping God with the more didactic, instructional ways in both hands, not viewing these as somehow adversarial, but as friends.

It is sad that, very often, you have to go to two different churches, from two different theological traditions, to experience both relevant, powerful singing-music, where God is worshiped, lifted up, and glorified, where there is also good use of the arts, which is also combined with an extended time (a good 40 minutes… I don’t mind more) of expository preaching from God’s Word.

I am not using hyperbole when I state that it is tragic that in my sphere of knowledge, one seems to have to look at ministries from other shores, to see what could be exemplified by Parachute, in a festival context, to the churches of New Zealand, which so desperately need to see this in action.

This could begin such a groundswell, that, who knows where this could lead. Look, now you have gotten me excited and I’m beginning to sound all… “you finish the sentence!”

Time is money and I am still broke, therefore, I have taken enough of your time, and I will digress some more next time, so please come back.

Next Time?

Yes, Next Time, where Man of Spin will digress on the experience of Parachute 09, as we begin the countdown for Parachute 20-10!

If you are going to Parachute this coming year, let me know what you are excited about, and in line with this digression, what changes you would like to see happen!

For the Fame of His Name

Man of Spin

There I was, beginning the year 2009, minding my own business, plodding away, visiting my blogs of reading, doing my thing… you know how it is.  A couple of mates… Yes, I have more than one… I have a plural number of friends, just so you know!… Two is company, after all!

Anyway, these mateS periodically mentioned that I should get into blogging.  Friend A was into blogging, was a regular blogger, was able to build blogs, even if his blog design was about as creative as the monastic dress-code.  Friend B, while not a blogger himself, interacted with this medium, and in time, would be involved in the start-up to a burgeoning on-line ministry.

It was in this context that on the morning of Jan. 7th, 2009, as I entered into my Hotmail account, electronically, of course, that I came across a link to this site.  What site?  If you are really interested, go HERE, where you will find what Friend A had started for me!

Until this point, I hadn’t seriously contemplated blogging, and the fact that I hadn’t ‘the blue blazes’ ‘what the Gehenna’ one would have to do to actually begin, let alone complete this process, any serious contemplation of how to go about starting this pursuit was not even a pipe dream, and I was… and am, a non-smoker… anyway… Until then… the “then” being the blogging berating from some friends… not, a smoking “then”!!!

As you will quickly perceive, if you have looked at this site, it is pretty empty, except for what Friend A decided to put on.  In our discussions on blogging, I had talked about various names that I might use if I ever actually started one, and I had mentioned Readeeming the Time, based on Eph. 5:16, NASB version (I believe), which connected the wise use of time as exemplified in the recreational activity of reading, as such was and is something that I view as a favourite past-time… You never know, I may use this as blog number 3!

However, when the rubberised crap hit the road after passing through the fan (Yes, a combination of two one-liners), the context that I decided to focus on was ME!  Well, not quite, but with a blog title like, I am Jonny King dot blogspot dot com, it did communicate a message. If you do decide to visit that site today, you will be re-directed, as we have the power!  Given my illness, and its limitations thereof, I decided that an “opinion” type of blog was probably the best context with which to begin with, which is why, my blog pieces are generally written “off the cuff”… this does not mean that I sit down in front of my computer with a Tabula Rasa, as when an idea comes into my machinating mind, I do record a quick line or two, for blog-sterity’s sake (no, not for posterity’s).  However, I do not approach blogging the way I approach and have approached my studies.  I mean, Yes, I could write lines of colourless propositional prose, but what fun would there be in that!  Probably “much” you say!

Therefore, getting back to my time-line… After responding to the site Friend A had ‘put up,’ he kindly set up the second site, which would be my first blogging site, and not really knowing what to do, I sat before a blank screen, ready to type, wondering what would flow… Here is the first post, not from the original site, the blogspot one, but from dot com site…THANKS FOR COMING!

At this stage in my blogging life, I was really fumbling in the dark, but after approximately a month on blogspot, my fixer, Friend A, talked about getting off blogspot as soon as possible, which precipitated the designing (my fault) of iamjonnyking dot com with the building (Friend A’s fault) of the site, which over a period of time has come to be what you can see-to-read today!

With the blog set-up… set-up, I sought to blog-like-the-clappers, and since that time, I have tried to blog long and loud… you may want to affix the word, “too,” before these descriptions!

However, the time-line would not be finished in this first year of blogging, as an opportunity came along for me to take over another well established blog, which would have a slightly different emphasis. One problem was that this blog was butt-ugly, but had potential, and so we, my friend and me, sought to give Christian News NZ a blog-over, which has just recently been realised, with the new and improved CNNZ: Rangitiana Korero Aotearoa.  If you would like to read about this development, you can find a timeline from this page HERE!

What May Be Helpful is Some Q & A…

>Why Did You Start Blogging?

For me, a big bonus of blogging is that it gave me an avenue to be involved in a moving vehicle of ministering God’s grace… other than the Home, of course.  Since I have been a young man, I viewed my future through the paradigm of being involved in some warp and woof of vocational ministry, and since I have been unwell for a long time, my vehicle for ministry has been surrendered from service, so-to-speak!  Therefore, blogging was another practical means where it could happen, as it was and is sympathetic to someone in my context.  With this in mind, my motivation in blogging can be affirmed by the words of 1 Corinthians 10:31, and by God’s grace, I am moving closer to this in practice.

>How Do You Enjoy Blogging?

In some respects, it is a love, and sometimes, a loath perspective.  I really enjoy writing… not necessarily equating that with you, the reader, affirming the same enjoyment thereof!  I would like to write in a more substantial format one day, and given my goal of finishing the study that I have started, such could well intersect with that moment, however, this provides a good motivator and facilitator in this pursuit!

However, given the nature of this form of communication, although I approached blogging with the mindset that I should focus more on being faithful in what I write, the restrictions in interacting with the readers>respondents, make it somewhat, and at given times, frustrating.  If I try and analyse why, if blogging was more of the cherry on my vocational cake, I don’t think this would not be an issue.  In fact, interaction could easily ask too much of my time, and when I am studying, such is probably true.

While blogging is a form of community, and may very well continue to be so, it is an incomplete form of community, which too easily lacks the inter-personal reality of flesh and bones!  Nevertheless, I am thankful for the relationships that have been formed with some bloggers and bloggees, and I look forward to these growing in 20-10, and even expanding… and one more thing, don’t be a stranger, as there is little danger!

>What Are Some Possible Pitfalls in Blogging?

As a Christ-follower, you may not be surprised that I seek to… follow Christ, and to live my life consistent with His Word, His Ways, and His Will!  Therefore, the process and reality of blogging is something that I seek to do out of this worldview.  Therefore, like any pursuit in life, one is not guaranteed to be fulfilling this reality in practice.  Whether or not this has been so or less, the reader can be the judge, nevertheless, this remains my philosophy and my goal in 20-10!  Therefore, given the nature of blogging, it can be very easy to miss this mark, and communicate in such a way that this simultaneously brings more honour to ourselves and more dis-honour to Christ and His cause!  As Christian bloggers, one needs to be resolved to a Christ-centered reality, for the glory of God!

While it may sound slightly pious to affirm that hits don’t matter.  If one is desiring to get hits for the wrong reasons… i.e., getting attention, than this is another pitfall.  As I have affirmed, when I started blogging, idealistically, I approached blogging focusing more about my process (faithfulness), with a mindset that it is not about hits on the counter, but in the lives that have actually read the piece of posting, and have been positively impacted in light of the Cross.  However, this can not be so easy in the hullabaloo, as to impact people as I have affirmed, you need people to visit, which means hits, and the more people who visit, the more potential to impact more people is significantly more improved, with the result being that one focuses more on hits, and with the frailty of our humanity, these can easily become an issue.  What is the solution?  One needs to remind oneself and remember why one is doing anything, let alone blogging, and if one’s motivation is correct, getting hits can be the most righteous reality.

I will say this as plainly as possible… Blogging can be Addictive!  It does take up lots of your time, and given my context, I may have more than most, nevertheless, depending on your philosophy of blogging, it will take time, that is very rarely on your side, which means that you need to be disciplined and ordered, in light of your context and other God-ordained responsibilities.  Therefore, if you are married with children, blogging will be down the list, than if you are single… and if you are studying, as of yet, there is no B.A. degree…  Blogging of the Arts… so make sure you don’t sacrifice what may feel like short term gain, for what will be longer-term pain, if your blogging takes priority over your studies!

Blogging is also not a Stooopid-free zone, and I am referring to you… Stooopid… Okay, I might fit in here as well!  Let me explain…  Unlike in a more formal context, when one is communicating for Christ (Yes, I am assuming something here), there is a process that generally will weed out the weirdo’s from the wise.  Given the freedom in Cyber-space, it can be the opportunity to confirm our individual and collective sinful stupidity.  Wisdom is defined in the Old Testament, with the concept of “skillful living”… or, in our context, skillful blogging!  Therefore, just because you can, does not mean you should!

The more “techy” side of things can also be a pitfall, and if you are going to start yourself, than this is going to take more of your time, and require more of your effort.  It has been providential in my situation that I have a fixer, who can do all the behind the scene coding issues (read: boring issues).  If you want your blog to look different than your average blogger site, make friends with a Geek, or flush one of these out as your initial blog grows, as they may want to get along side what you are doing.

Finally, be yourself and let your style flow.  Blogging has also been a creative outlet, and so I let this personality flow, while I keep the linear loser in my mental locker… well, some>most of the time!  If you are going to stick at it for the longer term, than you won’t be able to fake it… and your Christian conscience will get to you, if you take it… from another source!  Therefore, do your thing to the best of your ability, and let God grow it… or kill it.  This may be easier said than done, particularly if your heart is in it!

>What Are Some Goals in Year Two of Blogging?

To keep plodding on!

Honestly, call it my goal, but it is more like my prayer, but I would love to be back to full health in 20-10, which would mean many changes to our context.  If you are so inclined, you could remember me in your petitioning this year!

My goal in 20-10, assuming that in the sovereign will of God, that I continue in this plodding path, is to continue with these blogs of my ever-fading youth, and seek to offer written  and resourceful material that encourages you in your joyful pursuit of Christ, for the Fame of His Name!

Taking over the blogosphere, one post at a time, could possibly fit into this criteria, but Who He would know!  I do have some ideas that I may float-on-my-blog-boat very soon, but these are for a prospective post, so stay tuned!

>If You Have Any Questions, Feel Free To Ask!

The floor is Yours With This Part of the Post…

Conclusion

I do trust that your time on these blogs has been worthwhile, and such has been the means where you have experienced God’s grace in the living of your life, where God has placed you, under this Sun ensconced planet, in the Universe of the Son!

Until Next Time-It’s Been Special-For the Fame of His Name-Always Informing, For the Always Reforming, From the Land of the Long White Cloud

Man of Spin the I am Jonny King

If you have read this post as a result of the above link, you will have noticed the following portion, in the Ground Your Authority in God section.  However, if you had already read this post, you will have missed it, so here it is for you…

If I may also note that this is not something that you should start [grounding your authority in God] as your children move into “those” years.  For example, with my five year old, when I am “disciplining” him, I will usually say something like the following: You are not honouring and obeying Your Creator, and while You are choosing not to, Dad and Mum will continue to do so, which is why… grounded in Prov. 3:11, 12, which one then goes on to explain what will happen with his “consequences” next!

What, you the parent, are also affirming by communicating in such a manner is that God’s wisdom and plan is the standard and goal for living one’s life, that you are God’s steward in your parenting role, and that His will, should be our way!

The reason why I am wanting to devote a post to the context of this piece, is that it contains a text of Scripture that I believe can revolutionise the perspective of the disciplining of your children, as you ground it in the love of the God-Head!

Here is the text in full, from Proverbs 3…

11 My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof,

12 for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.

This can be further exemplified as this text is quoted in the New Testament.  In the book of Hebrews, this text is part of a section dealing with discipline as an affirmation of son-ship.

Here is the section of Scripture from Hebrews 12…

3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.  4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.  5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,nor be weary when reproved by him. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,and chastises every son whom he receives.”

7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Take note of the verses that follow…

12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. 14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 16 that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

The connection between verses 3-11 and verses 12-13 should be noted.  As the beginning of verse 11 makes clear, For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant.  In other words, if our discipline only focuses on the present, and if we as parents do not provide a bigger picture of what is actually taking place, the fruit of this redemptive moment, can be lost, as the second portion of verse 11 affirms, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.  The fruit in discipline of our children has a prospective fulfillment, which means we must help to both key into this, and provide some resources to help foster and encourage this reality.

This is why, in light of this reality, Scripture deals with a possible reality at such times… Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.

What should be made clear is that the pursuit of disciplining our children is not easy (which the fallen reality of humanity, should have also informed our perspective), nor is the fruit of this always seen in the present, which means we must have prophetic eyes as parents, and also take note of verses 12 and 13 for ourselves, as we too can very easily get discouraged, can easily get caught up in the emotion of the moment, and can easily fail to remember that maturation is a life-long process, which means the fruit of your parenting may not reach fulfillment right at the present, however, your faithfulness in the present parenting process needs a present fulfillment.

Given all that has been affirmed to date, it is paramount that we must discipline for the heart, that we discipline with such a philosophy that encourages an inward manifestation and transformation of our children, from the inside out!

The following points may be some principles that help to encourage this redemptive reality, with those God has placed under your stewarded care…

1) Discipline is Grounded in God’s Interaction with His Children

This is not a confrontation of Man vs. Wild, with the parent playing the masculine role.  This is the parent following and mimicking the ultimate parent in how He loves His children.  For this to really hit home, your children must have a biblical perspective on the reality and character of God.  If your children understand the love of God, which is ultimately exemplified in the life, death, and resurrection of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, then the canvas in their minds of the conception and perception in what is taking place will be transformed.

While this is impressive, this can be made even more explicit, as biblically, few things say, “I Love You,” to your children like your disciplining of them.  Now, I feel the need to ask you to stop laughing!  Now your children may struggle to conceive of such a reality, but this is the counter-culture reality that Prov. 3:11-12 is claiming.  What we need to do as parents is inculcate and contextualise this reality for our children… continually and consistently!

To do this you must both right size sin and right size God!

If sin is a clear and present danger, with an eternal shadow cast by its reality, then if your children have an understanding of the seriousness of this danger, they will better understand why you must deal with it so seriously.

Symbiotically, when your children understand about Who God Is, What He Has Done For Them, What He Has Planned For Them, they will better conceive and SEE Who it is who is calling for such an action!

In other words, if God is Who the Bible says He Is… and He Is, and this is how He interacts with His children, such is a marvelous reality if we are seeking to do likewise.  The key then, is for us parents, to be able communicate, exemplify, and underscore this to our children.

2) Remember God’s Long-Suffering with the Immaturity of His Children

This one is for you Parent!  Meditate on Scripture texts such as Phil. 1:6, where God has committed to His children for the long run!  God is not in the business with His children to impose a “do this or else” philosophy.  Just think of how many times you fall short of the glory of God each and every day, and throughout all of these occasions, the persistent love and Fatherly consistency and persistence of God, who views such realities, not only through His Son, but also with a long-term reality in view, commits to finishing what He has started in His children.

Seriously Parent, you and I both need to think about this more often, and I will illustrate why.  Recently, I was sensing some internal frustration with my eldest and some attitudes that were presenting them self.  Nevertheless, I pressed on, and proceeded to sin in like manner.  Upon reflection, realising this, I was not only thankful for the grace of God in my own life, but I also was reminded of my insufficiency, but also of my need to discipline out of this frame of reference, not only because this is right, but also because this reflects the way that God interacts with His children.

The radical nature of God’s grace in Jesus Christ will further define your perspective on parenting, and will help you to model, very incompletely and imperfectly, the Fatherhood of God!

On the other hand, if you do not remember and inculcate these realities, you can easily allow frustration to impact your interactive times of discussion and discipline, where you will fail to show the love and grace of the Father!  This will also encourage you to be solely fruit focused, as your frustration wants everything to be right… right NOW, and if such is not repented of, things can only get better worse, as we can too often and too easily justify such responses, which both provide an incomplete picture of God, His relationship with His children, how He shows this love, with the result that our pursuit of parenting sinfully suffers.

3) Discipline Makes it Clear that You Are My Child

While this may seem too simple for words, such a point underscores the prospective point of disciplining.  God willing, the fruit of this will be seen in connection with the process of discipline, but such a context of discipline should actually increase the bond between parent and child, particularly at the time of their life when such a foundation is built, in the early years.

Building on the previous points, one is able to affirm that a lack of discipline is actually a sign of illegitimacy, as verse 8 affirms, If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons, thereby underscoring and affirming that discipline is an ultimate sign of intimacy.  Yes, intimacy.

If such is true, let your children know this reality, but be prepared to live this out!

4) Discipline Screams out, ” I Love You”

What this ultimately means is that disciplining our children is one of the ultimate acts of love between a parent and a child.  Because this is true, such a reality should get to the core of those whom we are shepherding, and if it is not, and let’s face it, such is usually how parents do not think about this, then not only are we missing God’s perspective on this issue, but we are depriving our children of the glory of God in the pursuit of disciplining.

If we truly grasp, as an integrative reality, what love looks like, we will understand that it involves doing what is best for the child, and if this is framed in the context of discipling, that the Word of God makes clear, each time you “discipline” your child, you are ministering the love of God, through the love of your parenting.

Not only this, but you are affirming that you delight in this child.  Delight?  Yes, you can say to that child of yours, the reason I am discipling you is because I delight in you, like God delights in us… and you would be biblical!  You know what, if we said it with tears in our eyes, like we really meant it, our children would probably believe us!

This is also where it gets tradgic.  Why so?

Because  too often, our culture and those in it, view discipline as the environment where Dad and Mum get frustrated or angry with their children, and parent out of this perspective.  No wonder this alienates the children under such a regime, and no wonder the fruit of such a philosophy is foreign to the biblical way of doing things.  As a footnote, no wonder people fail to truly grasp why and how a smack on the hand or bottom can truly communicate love for the child.

On other hand, grasping hold of the reality that discipline is one of the most radical forms of love, which means the things spoken of above, need to be absent, or when necessary, repented of, we are able to provide a whole new paradigm to those under our care, which should radicalise not only the concept of love, but the concept of consequences.

Conclusion

All too often, given the nature of the worldview of our given cultures, which are antithetical to the biblical frame of reference, we are left trying to defend or hold onto our position, particularly in this context.  One of the problems of such a position is that the discussion of discipline is framed in defensive or negative garb, which seeks to justify what is happening to an antagonistic source that seeks to delegitimise what God has affirmed.

In the context of disciplining our children, particularly as it relates to corporeal forms of discipline, the “noise” of this debate has dominated too much talk, and it is time for us to positively communicate why biblical discipline is a radical reality of the love of God, mediated through the love of the parent.  If this is true, and it is, not only do we need to grasp hold of this for ourselves, and communicate this to others, but most significantly, this must also affect not only the way we discipline>parent, but the way we talk about disciplining>parenting.  We must get truth into the streets!

Not only will this transform the way you understand this reality, it will also empower you, by God’s grace, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to discipline your children in such a way that encourages such interactions with your children to communicate into the depth of their beings, in the place where true transform begins, the heart!

May it be so, in this day!

For the Fame of His Name

Man of Spin

Yes, people, you remember the years, the time of your life when you knew everything, and actually believed such to be true! To be sure, too often knowledge and wisdom are absent bed fellows, with their human experiment affirming this for all to see!

Man of Spin has an almost 16 year old Son, and so is not completely blowing chunks, as he is experiencing the ride of youthful dreaming.  If I may be Frank (with a change of accent to boot), parenting a teenager could quite possibly be the time where I have learned more about my failings in such a transparent and stereophonic manner, that has made it clear that such a time is a definitive means of God’s grace in my life.

I am thankful for my Son, I am thankful for the joy of stewarding this brute beast of humanity, who like his Dad, is ‘want’ to run after the things of the World, the Flesh, and the Devil, and is a baseless being, without the continuing work of God’s grace in his life, mediated through the work of the Spirit.

As I reflect on the gravity and challenge of parenting teenagers in our present context, there is much that can be said and many resources that are worth their weight in God-glorifying Gold, by those who are much more experienced and wise than this thirty-something.

However, in this sort-of brief refrain, I want to focus on a couple of over-arching realities in the pursuit of parenting , which I believe affect and shape the practice of parenting, particularly as the beauty can act more like a beast!

1) Don’t Take the Salvation of Your Child for Granted

Recently, I have started reading Gospel-Powered Parenting, where this point was affirmed.  The author, William Farley, affirmed and exemplified the significance of this point with two examples.  The first was in a book by Christian Smith and Melissa Lundquist Denton, Soul Searching:The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers.  After surveying some 3000 American teenagers, they found that their religious beliefs reflected the concepts of Moralistic, Therapeutic, Deism.  Here is how they describe this concept, and its impact…

These teens believe in a combination of works-righteousness, religion as psychological well-being, and a distant, non interfering god.  Ironically, many of these young deists are active in their churches… It is important for every Christian parent to discern MTD from Christianity.  A child can be compliant and well-behaved, attend Sunday worship, and socialize with the church youth group, but merely possess MTD. (Page 27).

In other words, your little bundle of joy can be a ‘spiritually’ dead child walking!

The second example underscores how prevalent MTD is in today’s church, with the sexual habits of evangelical children.

The following words deserve sober reflection…

Sociologist Mark Regnerus in his book Forbidden Fruit: Sex & Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers exposes the the failure of evangelical homes to discern and mold their children’s spiritual values.  The author points out that evangelical teenagers are just as sexually active as their non-Christian friends.  In fact, there is evidence that evangelical teenagers on the whole may be more sexually active.  Those who identify themselves as evangelical teens tend to have their first sexual encounter at a younger age, 16.3 years, than liberal Protestants, who tend to lose their virginity at 16.7 years.  And young evangelicals are far more likely to have had three or more sexual partners (13.7 percent) than non-evangelicals (8.9 percent).  What about abstinence pledges?  Those work – for a while – delaying sex on an average by about eighteen months, with 88 percent of pledgers eventually giving up their vow. (Pages 27-28).

Sobered Up?  The last affirmation in regard to pledges exemplifies the problem.  No, just before you’re thinking I am going to, without distinction, nay-say this often courageous choice that teens make in front of one’s peers… if you are expecting this, you would be wrong. However, if this pledge is merely an outward act of moral conformity, which it will be if it is not produced from the inside out, it will fail.  The human heart being what it is, requires radical change that must come from another, outside source, which is Christ!

The statistics affirmed both show that mere religion is not mere christianity, which means that rules without a new reign within, does not bring new life, but merely a cultural assimilation that looks good for a time, but fails to produce real change that one can believe in!

Most Christian parents assume that church attendance or youth-group involvement equates to new birth. Parents are naive about new birth and its symptoms. (Page 28).

Read how A. W. Pink describes this needed change-to-believe-in

The new birth is very much more than simply shedding a few tears due to a temporary remorse over sin.  It is far more than changing our course of life, the leaving off of bad habits and the substituting of good ones.  It is something different from the mere cherishing and practicing of noble ideals.  It goes infinitely deeper than coming forward to take some popular evangelist by the hand, signing a pledge card, or “joining the church.”  The new birth is no mere turning over a new leaf, but is the inception and reception of new life.  It is no mere reformation but a complete transformation.  In short, the new birth is a miracle, the result of the supernatural operation of God.  It is radical, revolutionary, lasting. (Page 29).

This is what our children need… Which is why you must…

2) Parent for the Heart

This can be easier said than done, and as I feel encouraged to underscore, I am no expert, but with a correct diagnosis of the problem, and a correct understanding of the solution, we would be wise to parent in such a way that reflects and encourages this reality.  When parents have a rules-based focus, it tends to externalise the issue, and misses where the focus and nexus of the issue resides.

Yes, the problem may be what they are doing, and I am not suggesting that you don’t deal with these problems, but understand that the solution starts at a much deeper level.  To remove a fruit tree from a garden, we would be wise to concentrate on removing the root, not merely picking off the fruit from the tree!  When we parent for the heart, we are attacking the root!

For this to be a reality, we must have thought through and integrated the Gospel into our lives, and also into our philosophy of parenting, as our actions will always speak louder than our words, particularly when our actions betray our words.  Thereby in our parenting, practice the Gospel, by parenting the Gospel!

If your parenting has a preponderance that focuses on what your children are doing, which fails to deal with why they are doing it, don’t be surprised if your children have an external paradigm, which sadly, has a positive attraction to dead religion… MTD anyone!

3) Say “Yes” to As Much as You Can

These following points may seem more practical, but as a parent of a teenager, theory only thrives-to-survives if it can be practiced!

In another piece of my posting, I recored some words from, R. Kent Hughes, as it related to Fatherhood, which exemplifies and affirms why this point, number 3 is important.  Here are some words worth remembering, in the context of overstrictness…

Some fathers exasperate their children by being overly strict and controlling.  They need to remember that rearing children is like holding a bar of wet soap – too firm a grasp and it shoots from your hand, too lose a grasp and it slides away.  A gentle but firm hold keeps you in control.

We cannot begin to estimate the ravages of overstrictness on the evangelical Christian community over the years.  I have had occasion in my ministry to bury people who lived virtually all of their seventy years in reaction to the harsh legalism of their upbringing – lost bars no one could manage to pick up. Others were not so tragic.  They came to renounce legalism biblically and theologically, but still wrestled with it emotionally for the rest of their lives.

Why are some fathers overly strict?  Many because they are trying to protect their children from an increasingly Philistine culture –  and smothering rules seems the best way to accomplish that.  Others are simply controlling personalities who use rules, money, friendship, or clout to rule their children’s lives.  The Bible, read through their controlling grid, becomes a license to own and dominate.  Still others wrongly understand their faith in terms of Law rather than grace.  Some men are overly strict because they are concerned about what others will think.  ”What will they think if my child goes to this place… or wears this clothing… or is heard listening to that music?”  Not a few preacher’s kids have been catapulted into rebellion because their fathers squeezed their lives to fit their parishioners’ expectations.  What a massive sin against one’s children!

Rather, we ought to begin our fatherhood by holding the tiny helpless bar snugly, but as it grows, gradually and wisely loosen our grip.  As conscientious fathers we have to say “no” to many things.  Thus we should try to say “yes” to as much as possible, and save our no’s for the really important situations.

We must be Biblical in regards to our no’s – and as our children grow, be prepared to discuss the rules biblically and principally.  We must learn to trust God with our children, realizing they must learn to make decisions for themselves.

Father’s, do not exasperate your children by being overly strict.  Learn to hold their lives with God’s pressure and to mold it with His love. (Emphasis mine).

An external focus, which fails to understand the Gospel, grasps rules and regulations like a drowning man grasps hold of a life raft!

Only two to go… Phew, you may be thinking…

4) Ground Your Authority in God

From my perspective, this one has been an important reality as I have thought through parenting a growing son who wants more responsibility, control, and freedom in his life.  Such realities are signs of maturity, but as is the case when we grew up, knowledge and wisdom are not synonymous concepts.  As I say to my son, “knowledge can come in a moment, but wisdom takes time.”  Nevertheless, this intersection can be the cause of friction, as the interaction between child and parent can easily move and morph into a battle of who has the authority, and as the cross-over to give your child more “head” is no scientific pursuit, it can be a cause of confusion for parents!

If you have an independent child, then you may perceive what I am saying, but as my son has grown, I have affirmed, for example and where appropriate, that when he has a problem with me as an authority figure, his problem is really with his Creator, as He has placed me in his life as his Father.  Such a philosophy helps to defuse any personal battles that can detour the parenting pursuit as our children grow older, but also, ironically, this framing perspective helps to underscore the authority that is a God-given reality in the parent-child relationship.

This can help to take the “personal” heat out of those moments, as we make it clear that our authority is grounded in God’s will, in giving “Junior” his Dad and Mum as his parents.  This is God’s wisdom Sonny!

If I may also note that this is not something that you should start as your children move into “those” years.  For example, with my five year old, when I am “discipling” him, I will usually say something like the following: You are not honouring and obeying Your Creator, and while You are choosing not to, Dad and Mum will continue to do so, which is why… grounded in Prov. 3:11, 12, which one then goes on to explain what will happen with his “consequences” next!

What, you the parent, are also affirming by communicating in such a manner is that God’s wisdom and plan is the standard and goal for living one’s life, that you are God’s steward in your parenting role, and that His will, should be our way!

5) Remember, God is the One Who Must Work

This is a vitally important final point.  While our efforts are important, significant, and mandated, ultimately and finally, it is God who must work in our child’s heart, and it is God who must open their eyes! Such a reality does not diminish our calling as parents, but provides a needed antidote as we consider the huge calling, role, and responsibility, which can easily cause us to wonder how such a role can ever be completed.

God calls for us to be faithful in this calling, and He will take care of the rest!

Conclusion

As a younger man, I was foolishly focused on ministry as something that took place outside of the home.  As I have grown older, and a little wiser, I have come to see that ministry in the home, far from being an excursus on the ministry trail, is really the foundation from which all other ministry is validated, underscored, completed, and consecrated!

While this short-ish piece is hardly the end of all speakings on this subject, and I hardly speak from on high on this subject, God willing, it is a start to help you think through this calling!

In 20-10, may we parent with the passion and commitment of our Creator, who exemplifies this each and every day in the saving, keeping, and redeeming of our lives in and under the Son/ Sun.

For the Fame of His Name

Man of Spin