A Call For Justice?

To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person. If someone slaps you in the face, stand there and take it. If someone grabs your shirt, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.

Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them! If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that. If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal? Garden-variety sinners do that. If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think that’s charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that.

I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You’ll never—I promise—regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind.

Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. Don’t condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang. Be easy on people; you’ll find life a lot easier. Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.

Love vs. Justice?

The above is a Jesus quote.  It's in Luke.  Even though I've heard these words numerous times, I read through this the other day thinking, "This isn't how I remember this quote."  It sounds Jesus-y, so I guess it didn't just now jump into my Bible.  

While taking time to ponder the passage I, of course, checked Facebook. I viewed many of my friends, many of them Christians, calling for action. Someone is giving them a hard time.  Someone slapped them in the face with their new policies, thoughts or opinions. They are offended.  Someone needs to do something!

There's a time and a place for justice.  There's a time and place to love our enemies.  Which is now?

For the full passage/context go here: Luke 6

Verses quoted are Luke 26-38. Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. 

Christmas: Fear Not

On Christmas Eve, my mom and I went to the candlelight service at Christ Church Plano, where I regularly attend. It was beautiful, as always. Of the music that evening, my two favorites were Christina Rosetti's "Christmas Eve" (enjoy this performance by the choir and orchestra at First United Methodist in Denton) and the soprano soloist who sang the Wexford Carol. Divine. 

Can't beat this rendition by Alison Krauss and Yo-Yo Ma.

The music, however, is not what I primarily wanted to share with you (though I couldn't help linking to videos of those ancient hymns). Classical choral music is a favorite of mine in general, and especially when it comes to Christmas music, so it's no surprise that I found the music from that evening impactful. 

Even more impactful for me that night was Father David's sermon; I found it fresh and refreshing, which is no small thing for a Christmas message. The text was familiar, Luke 2:8-14, where angels announce the birth of the Savior to lowly shepherds (imagine if when the 'Royal Baby' arrived the first birth announcements Kate and William sent went out to construction workers). "Fear not" are the first words proclaiming the birth of Jesus, and that's what Fr David focused on in his message. 

It was powerful. I'd never associated that particular instance of those words, "Fear not," with Jesus. Angles, far from being cute, must be terrifying because they always have to assure the recipients of their messages that they need not fear. So since angles are always saying something along the lines of "Fear not," I've never really thought anything of it; in this instance in Luke, I've always (accurately) associated those words with the messengers, but the (now obvious) connection to the Message, Jesus, never crossed my mind before.

"Fear not" was a beautiful message for me this Christmas Eve. I'm not an especially fearful person by nature, but Christmas is not my most favorite time of the year; this year in particular has asked a lot of this introvert. In addition to the socially and emotionally taxing elements of the holiday, Christmas has, in my view, never quite been able to stand up to the power of Easter. I have a difficult time really understanding the point of Christmas, which is terrible, I know... and probably has more to do with the family drama that can often surround my holiday season more than anything else.

Well, all that is to say, "Fear not" is a good Christmastide message for me, but it is also a good reminder of the anti-fear Life Christ came to bring to those who cry out to him for Peace any day of the year.

For these reasons I wanted to share this message with you all... on the off chance that I'm not alone in my reason-for-the-season struggle.

(Click here for HD.)

Merry Christmas season---Peace on Earth.

Two Disagreements with C. S. Lewis

I took in C. S. Lewis with my mother's milk (and Francis Schaeffer with my father's lectures). I am glad I did. But even Lewis makes mistakes. Here are two of them.

Still Awesome.
(Picture from here)

1. Disbelief in the authority of Scripture. Lewis believes that some things (admittedly few) included in Scripture by its authors are incorrect. Disagreeing with Scripture is not a good idea. I have never actually read him disagreeing with anything in Scripture, so it seems the effects of this mistake are relatively minimal. But a friend I trust told me that it happens in Lewis' commentary on the Psalms, which I happen not to have read.

2. Rejecting the substitutionary atonement. The "atonement" is what Jesus did on the Cross to reconcile sinners to God. There are several views of the atonement, and I happen to think that more than one view can be correct (on which I'd suggest reading chapter 6 of Michael Wittmer's Don't Stop Believing). But I think the basic meaning of the atonement is the idea that Jesus on the Cross received the full punishment for our sins. In the background of this view is the Old Testament idea of the transferrence of guilt to a sacrificial lamb or a scapegoat. This is called the "substitutionary atonement" view because Jesus is our substitute.

Lewis affirms at least two good views of the atonement, that Jesus paid our debts on the Cross and that the Cross and the Resurrection conquered Satan and freed creation from his power. Unfortunately, Lewis also rejects the idea of the substitutionary atonement.

This is one reason why, as I said in an earlier post, N. T. Wright's Simply Christian and John Stott's Basic Christianity are such helpful companions to Mere Christianity. They handle these issues better than Lewis. Stott is especially clear on the substitutionary atonement in light of the Old Testament.

I'll say more about Lewis and the atonement later.

P. S. I should have used the term "penal substitutionary atonement" above rather than just "substitutionary atonement." --MB, 4-10-12

Calvary. Cavalry. As Different as Night and Day.

Calvary - The hill near Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified:



Cavalry - An army component mounted on horseback.


No one gets this one right and it makes for some funny misunderstandings. For example, this guy is selling spurs that were worn by soldiers on horseback and he calls them "Calvary Spurs". Maybe Jesus wore Cowboy boots to the cross?

This article from the Washington Post says that auto makers are sending in the "calvary" to Congress, which conjures images of union workers shoving Golgotha to the Capitol Building.

Cavalry.

Calvary.

They're as different as night and day.

Don't you think that night and day are different?

Here are more common grammar mistakes, if this sort of thing lights your wood.

Did Jesus Ride on a Dinosaur? Oh, my...

Does the Bible say that Jesus rode on a dinosaur?

That question might sound completely ridiculous to some of you, but others among you have heard of this and thought, Wow, those Christians sure are stupid.

And, why shouldn't you think that?


A saddled Triceratops is on display at the Creationist Museum. Why? What does this have to do with Christianity? Wait, it gets better.


Jesus probably rode on a dinosaur? Since when? If Aristotle and other Greeks spent so much time cataloging animals, why didn't they make up a category for the dinosaurs and describe any? If they were around in Jesus' day, why don't we have paintings and descriptions? We have them for every other animal.

OK, now to get my hands really dirty.

Is it possible that man once lived with dinosaurs at some point? I think it's remotely possible in isolated incidents - but that's not saying much . There's a lot we don't know, like why African tribes tell stories of a Brontosaurus, or how a T-Rex managed to have soft tissue in it's bones after 10 million years. Not all of the questions about the universe have been answered.

Is it relevant to my faith? Not really. I don't think being a Christian has much to do with this stuff. Christianity is about my connection to God, not dinosaurs.

You can start all over, again

One mistake after another; my life was falling apart. As I tried to pick up the broken pieces that were left I only made things worse. As I watched the immutable passage of time sweep me from one disaster to another I could only look behind me and try my best to salvage what was left.

I was looking at a wasteland, in my path I had left destruction. Failed hopes and missed chances were all I could see. The worst part was that the steady march of time pushed me on, past those things, so I could only look back on them; I could fix nothing. As time went on, I only destroyed more of my life. As I tried to solve one problem I would see more of them pass me by. Things were crumbling all around and moving past me in defiance of my will to live a better life. The only thing that changed as I looked behind me was that I was destroying more and more things every day.

Then He put His hand on my shoulder and tried to turn me around. He said, "Stop looking back there, turn around, look in front of you."

But I wouldn't. I was afraid. I found only the smallest comfort in my suffering, but at least I knew what to expect there, I had no idea what lay ahead of me.

But He persisted. "Turn around, it's going to be alright. I promise." I didn't want to admit that I was scared, but I knew that Jesus already knew how I felt. I didn't want to change, I didn't want to do anything different, but I finally grew tired of what I was seeing.

I turned around to see what lay before me. In front of me, everything was fine. It was not a wasteland, it was perfect.

"You can start all over, again," He said, "Just as if nothing ever happened."

There was a tenderness in his voice that went beyond any love I had ever known. I tried to look behind me, but he wouldn't let me.

"It's over," He said, as he led me onward, "It's over. You can start from here. Your life is not a wreck, it's perfect, just look ahead of you."

"But, Lord," I pleaded, "I am only going to mess it up again. Look at what I did before!"

"Then I will help you. I won't let you destroy the rest of your life. We are going to walk together the rest of the way. I have plans for you."

It was the best day of my life.

I Saw the Light - Short Bible Study

It was my beautiful fiance who introduced me to the history of the song, "I Saw the Light", by Hank Williams. It had two verses, but the great Johnny Cash wrote a third verse about a blind man and my hero, David Crowder, recently wrote a fourth verse/reprise.

The newest verse goes like this:

When death takes me down and I breathe here no more My anthem will sound on that eternal shore When I join with the angels in Heaven on high Singing, “Praise the Lord, I saw the light”

I always want to add "He is alive" to the end. He is alive. It always makes me smile to sing this song and remember that Jesus is alive and that He showed me the light.