Putting Money Where the Mouth Is

I recently read an article in World Magazine that I will re-post here about Christian giving.   The article interestingly enough shows that Christian organizations such as World Vision, Samaritans Purse, and Compassion receive far more finical support through giving than any pro life or religious liberties organization (Focus on the Family, and ADF). Giving to World Vision totals 1.2 Billion, Compassion 404 Million, Samartians Purse 305 million, Focus on the Family 119 Million, and about 50 Million combined total for Alliance Defense Fund (28 Mil), Family Research Council (11.4 Mil), National Right to Life( 9 Mil), and Americans Unite for Life ( 3 Mil).

Faithful givers

A common complaint leveled at evangelical Christians, according to David French, is that they're obsessed with gays and abortion. "The criticism is so common that it's often internalized and adopted by the church itself," he writes. So French, director of the Alliance Defense Fund ("a card-­carrying member of the professional religious right"), decided to crunch some numbers—and found there's no comparison between what Christians give to cause-oriented organizations like his and what they give to anti-poverty groups like World Vision. We fight culture wars, he said, but our charitable obsession is "serving our fellow man."

Wickedly Modern

My wife and I have been married nearly two and half years.  October 18th is the day that we remember the covenant we made and celebrate it.  My wife, being a big fan of theatre "happened" to observe and "hint" that the musical Wicked was showing in Denver near our anniversary.  My parents were going to be in town around then and my mom loves the theatre too.  Their anniversary was coming soon so we decided to make it a double date. To prepare me for the show the CD was purchased and listened to often.

Watching the show that evening I have to say, I really enjoyed it! I thought the story, the music, and the acting was amazing.  I was completely engaged by the tale of Elphaba and Gilinda, I liked the spin, and the alternative perspective to the traditional Wizard of OZ story.  To be honest after the show I could not stop thinking about it and unashamedly singing the songs.  Now I am a little more cautious.

As I thought about the original story of the Wizard of OZ (the movie that is) and processed through the liberties Wicked, which is based on the book Wicked by Gergory Maguire, took the original idea, it seemed vary plausible.  What if the Wicked Witch of the West was not wicked as the the original story intended, but actually just misunderstood as the musical suggests.  Makes for a great story, but I think taking these liberties, is not without consequence.  I think it is a great example in pop-culture of Deconstructionism.  Deconstructionism, in very basic terms is that thought that there is no one way of applying interpretation or criticism to a text, interpretation is up to the reader.  This school of thought was made famous by French philosopher Jacques Derrida. Wicked I would contend, is a deconstruction of The Wizard of Oz. The original author (L. Frank Baum) intended the Wicked Witch of the West to be just as her names describes her, wicked, not misunderstood.  This is not me discrediting the musical Wicked, as I said I enjoyed it and still do.  It is a production that is exceptionally well done in all areas.  I am simply pointing out deconstructionism within pop-culture.

The problem deconstructionism presents is to the way people interpret the Bible and/or other sources of literature.  If deconstructionism is true, then meaning in literature is relative to the person reading, not the authors intent.  Even this post's interpretation is up to you, the reader.  Many in our culture, Christians alike, apply this deconstructionist thought to the study of literature.  I want to focus on the the dangers of deconstructionism  in studying scripture.  In many bible studies a question that is often asked is "What does this mean to you?"  With the response "Oh, I never thought of that, good insight, to me it means..."   It seems in many ways, deconstructionism has made its way into the church.  Meaning is interpreted by the reader, not the text's actual meaning.  This can be very dangerous because we can misapply texts thinking they are Biblical truth, and then live our lives in a way that could be opposite of God's intending meaning.  We tend to forget the more important questions "What does this text mean?" or "What is/was the authors intent?"  We do not look at historical context, author, date, preceding text's context, genre, other theologians,  and other important hermeneutical principles. I would contend there is one meaning to a particular text, whether we know what the meaning is, is where the conversations/debates happen.  Though Wicked is entertaining, I think it is a good example of deconstructionism within pop-culture and how ideas can effect our view of literature and more importantly Scripture.

All or Nothing...Or Something

I am an "all-or-nothing" type of person.  I remember in undergrad having to give speech before the student body (1,600 students) for a student government position I was running for.  I was going back-in-forth about whether or not I should open up with a corny joke.  I asked various students within the residence hall where I was living what there thoughts were.  It seemed to be split 50-50 on whether I should or shouldn't.   Later in the evening when had just about exhausted all my residential resources, a freshman said "Go big or go home".  Me, a junior, thought I cannot let this freshman give me that challenge and not tell the joke...I told it, and it worked, I had them laughing.  The strategy of "Go big or go home" or it could be said "all-or-nothing" was successful.    


This mentality of all-or-nothing is infused in my approach to how to bring about change in culture.  I recently I read two different articles in World magazine from two separate issues.  Each presenting the idea of taking little steps towards change, is better than nothing at all.  The first was an interview conducted with a Pro-Life attorney Clark Forsythe.  Clark Forsythe being interviewed draws a connection between Wilberforce's anti-slavery movement in England and the Pro-Life movement in America.  Wilberforce did not end slavery in one day, but years of taking something, little battles won in parliament which lead to the complete abolishment of slavery in England.   "Prudence says we should be accepting an all-or-something approach rather than an all-or-nothing approach. When you strike for the moral perfect, you often come up with nothing, because like it or not, we live in a democracy and public opinion matters."  


In the very next issue of World, I was reading their book reviews.  Marvin Olasky wrote a review on a biography of Booker T. Washington written by Robert J. Norell.  The book is titled Up from History: The Life of Booker T. Washington.  Olasky outlines the books purpose in explaining Washington's differences with W.E.B DeBois.  De Bois was in the North and wanted complete and total equality in a post Civil war era for African Americans.  Washington, living in Alabama saw this as near impossible at that time, but he could make little steps towards equality (Tuskegee Institute).   " In essence, they (De Bois and other prominent African Americans in the North) adopted an all-or-nothing stradegy that demanded political, economic, and cultural equality, and they called Washington a coward because he wanted all but would take something."


These are just two examples of I am sure many.  Though I am passionate and want to to see injustice righted, I need to show prudence (Prudence is the characteristic of exercising sound judgment in practical affairs).  The Christian life is a marathon, not a sprint.  All-or-nothing would be great, but I need to realize rarely does it work like that.  Taking something however little it may appear to be at the time, is something!

Commercials and my Soul

The going price for a thirty second Super Bowl commercial this year was $3,000,000.00.   I wonder how many of those commercials could be argued as edifying to Christians?  After last years sexual Go Daddy commercials, I decided to abstain from this years ads altogether.  This was done by changing the channel during each break.  Thankfully, Toy Story 2 was on ABC Family and better yet, ESPN was showing a 30-for-30 episode on the Red Sox 2004 ALCS victory over the Evil Empire (Yankees).  I must admit I was slightly more interested in the 30-for-30 than the Super Bowl.  I've noticed that most items being sold or pushed in commercials are wants, and not needs.  Below is a Chase commercial with Queen's "I want it All" in the background.  A very telling commercial about our culture.

Not watching the Super Bowl ads, got me thinking about commercials in general.  Are they beneficial for me to watch and put into my mind?  TV itself is a different story, my wife's blog communicates our thoughts on TV usage Using the "D" word: Turning off the Tube.  But, commercials, I would say are not great, good, or even profitable as a whole.   Our home should be a place of where I can find rest from the world.  Why would I willingly allow my mind to battle the wars that commercials can instigate?  It is with that resolve, when we do watch TV,  commercials will not be included, in the hopes of protecting our hearts and minds from their often negative influence.

As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free.

This morning eating breakfast with Rafferty we were rocking out to many great classics; The Beach Boys, CCR, Stevie Wonder to name a few.  When Breakfast was wrapping up I played The Battle Hymn of the Republic (1959 Mormon Tabernacle version).  I would have to say, this is my favorite patriotic song.  It is song that is rich in Christian theology as well as historically weighty.   It was a song sung by Union soldiers during the Civil War.  It was an inspiration to the soldiers and helped remind them of what they were fighting for; to free an enslaved people.  To seek justice for injustice.  As the lyrics read "As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free."  Jesus died to to bring liberation to those enslaved to sin.  As Christ is the example, we too must die to make men free.  This does not necessarily mean a physical death, but dying to the self and the selfs desires.  Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."   This death could end up being a physical death, but could mean a multitude of other things.   As I listen to different youtube versions, it was difficult to find one that was lyrically the same as the original.  This clip, though not my favorite athestic or musically, captures the authors intent. Written below is the original lyrics, all 6 verses,

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:

He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;

He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:

His truth is marching on.

(Chorus)

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,

They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;

I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:

His day is marching on.

(Chorus)

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

His day is marching on.

I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:

"As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;

Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,

Since God is marching on."

(Chorus)

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Since God is marching on.

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;

He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat:

Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet!

Our God is marching on.

(Chorus)

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Our God is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,

With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:

As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,

While God is marching on.

(Chorus)

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

While God is marching on.

He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,

He is Wisdom to the mighty, He is Succour to the brave,

So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of Time His slave,

Our God is marching on.

(Chorus)

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Our God is marching on.

Everything Matters

I recently purchased a book titled Heaven is a Place on Earth, written by Michael E. Wittmer. The tag line is  Why Everything you Do Matters to God.  I have yet to read the book, but I am very intrigued.  This idea, everything matters, can be a liberating one if understood correctly.  As Randy Alcorn wrote in the book Heaven "If your view of Heaven is boring your idea of worship is too small (paraphrase)"  Basically, if our worship of Jesus, is confined to an hour or two on Sunday morning then our view of worship is  inaccurate.  If everything we do matters to God, that means everything we do can be worship.  This does not mean everything is worship, sin is not worship, but it does matter to God.   I am reminded of the first time I experienced this idea of an expanded view of worship.  It was spring semester during my senior year at Biola University.  The intramural season was in full swing, with softball on the docket.  I was in left field on this one Saturday morning.  It was sunny, slight breeze, mid 70's, green grass, birds chirping, blooming trees and all of springs signs of renewal surrounded me.  During a slight lull in the game I started grinning and then it turned into a large, full blown smile.  Like a little boy who just hit a homerun in the championship game, or like Cody Ross hitting his second homerum off Roy Halladay in the NLCS, which was awesome.  I could not keep the smile off my face.  I was having fun!    It was there I thought God did not have to do this, but He loves to delight in His children, He loves to see their joy in things He has done.   I prayed and thanked God, for the game of softball, the community of friends, the weather, the physical ability to play (not that I am good, but that my body can participate), and whatever else was contributing to my joy.  It was a gift from the Lord!

I experienced for the first time, worship not confined to 2 hours a day.   It is lifestyle of worship within God's creation.   God is Creator, but we being made in His image are creators too.  We love creating things, whether it is art, music, movies, sports, machines, buildings, and so much more.  These things matter to God, we sometimes compartmentalize our lives so much that we do not see God's work in all things.  We often view our work or job, our entertainment choices, our leisurely activities as secular and not connected to worship.  As Francis Shaffer so aptly said, Christianity is "total reality", it is True.  Shaffer explains, "When I say Christianity is true I mean it is true to total reality—the total of what is, beginning with the central reality, the objective existence of the personal-infinite God. Christianity is not just a series of truths but Truth — Truth about all of reality." Everything matters to God, enjoy that, find liberation to worship God in work, leisure or playing softball on a bright spring morning.

The 15/15 Plan

     I thought I would change the tenor of this post as it compares to the others I have written.  Instead of writing about government and politics, I thought I would discuss the reading plan that we (Ruthann and I) have been implementing. I have always enjoyed reading, but it has primarily been fiction that I enjoy so much.  I remember blazing through the Harry Potter series, in what I thought was record breaking speed; that is until I found out how quickly my wife read them.  Fiction is good, I am a fan of fiction, it allows me to paint pictures in my mind of unseen lands and get engrossed in a marvelous story.

     Fiction is good but I have seen the need of incorporating good books that extend to different genres.   Books that focus on history, government, social issues, theology, economics, philosophy, soul care, and many other disciplines.  These disciplines are essential to my wholistic growth as a Christian thinker.  In the past I have found myself reading non-fiction books only to burn out before completing them. There are a few reasons why this happens: I chose the wrong book and it was too advanced for my current level of knowledge on the subject, I would not read it consistently, and I did not have any clear reading goals set forth.  Summit Ministries founder Dr. Noebel says often "Readers are Leaders" and "Christians should read a book a week". The first thought that always comes to mind when I hear this is "How the heck do you read a book a week, who has the time for that?"  On a slow week I work 40 hours, I have a wife, a kid, and other things pulling for my attention.  A book a week is a lofty idea and one I always I aspired too, but never thought was possible.  On a good month I would read two books.

     It is amazing what becoming a Father can do to your habits.  I do not want my son to waste time like I can easily do.  I want him to be a leader, I want to teach him to love good books, enjoy beautiful art, play sports, and I could go on and on.  It is amazing how easily we push our desires for ourselves onto our children.  He is 10 Months old and recently started copying everything my wife and I do; whether its noises, actions, or mannerisms.  One day watching him mimic me I realized, I need to set the example, I need to be the change. If I am reading a book, he will grow up having that desire too.  If my habits change now while his are just forming, hopefully he will always have good habits.

     With these thoughts swarming around my head, Ruthann and I have instituted a loose rule into our home and that is the 15/15 rule.  Basically, each morning we read 15 pages of a good book, not always fiction.  Then in the evening we read 15 more pages.  The 15 pages are a minimum and as I have found on some days can extend to 20 or 30 pages read.  Mentally, 15 pages seems like a manageable goal.  This does not include our Bible reading, that is a separate time (I will blog about what that looks like at a future date).   The 15/15 plan does not take too much time maybe 20-30 minutes at each sitting. This is a little step taken, to make a manageable change in our home and hopefully lead our son into good reading patterns himself.

Hunger Games and the Quest for Power

I finished reading the Hunger Games series last night around midnight.  Not a great idea since I have been trying to wake up at 6:30 most mornings.  The late night was not because I could not put the book down but more-so because I wanted to finish the final book in the Trilogy Mockingjay.  Before I get into this post I should give a little background to the books.  This paragraph will be a spoiler so if you intend to read the series do not finish this paragraph, though I think you can still track with the rest of the post .  The series is set in the future, in a country called Panem.  This country exists in the land formally known as North America.  The country is divided into 12 districts each having a specific purpose in serving the the Capital/Government, which is a dictatorship.  For example if you lived in district 12 your main resource is coal.  You provide coal for the country and the Capital.  District 11 is agriculture and you provide food and so on down the list.  About 75 years ago (in the book's time-line) there was a rebellion in district 13 which was trying to overthrow the Capital.   They were beat down and annihilated, the punishment for this dissent, was taken out on the 12 districts.  To keep the other districts in line the government created the Hunger games.  Basically, 1 boy and 1 girl age 12-17 were randomly chosen to fight to the death in a gladiator style game.  The victor (the last one alive) would be showered with fame, glory, and money.  This was the governments or the totalitarian President Snow’s way of keeping the people in line and showing them the power he had over them.  Fast-forward through about 300 pages in the first book and the entire second book which brings us to the final installment.   We find out district 13 has not been destroyed but has been building up a rebellion.  This rebel force is lead by President Coin, who we find out is not unlike President Snow.  These two president’s feel threatened by anyone they feel can usurp their power from them.  The book is riddled with injustices that make the reader frustrated, sad, and angry.  In the end Justice takes place but not without loss of life and innocence.  

After reading the Hunger Games it seems to me not too unlike some governments around the world.  Granted there are no hunger games, but senseless killing to show power goes on.  Look at Communistic or Totalitarian country’s around the world.  “The ends justify the means”, the greater good is the government or revolution, not the people.  Those in power feel they have the right to do whatever takes to stay in power.  I am truly grateful for being a country like America where our system allows for power to be spread out over three entities.  Even though our government is balanced within itself, it is growing in size and power.  Once the government starts grabbing more control over private industry, the harder it will be to give control back to the private industry.  A main tenet of conservatism is the desire for less government control and power.  The paradox is that goal can only be achieved by climbing that very mountain of power.  It will take people with character to reach the pinnacle of their human success and hard work, only to dismantle what they spent their life achieving.  The only way this can happen is looking beyond the self to the greater good of society.  Painfully our culture is becoming more hedonistic and self-serving.  Our culture has become an entitlement society, we stopped asking “What can I do for my country?” and starting asking “What can my country do for me?”  Even Christianity has been effected,  we only pray to God if we need something.  The Hunger Games stirred in me an appreciation for our form of Government.  Granted it is less than perfect, but we have freedoms, we have rights, and we have dreams. We need to be diligent to keep these ideas alive and well. 

             

The Christian Citizen

      I have a passion for politics, always have.  It seems that there is a battle within Christianity about whether or not Christians should care about politics.  Some would contend that Jesus is King (true), focus on the gospel, and stay out of politics it does not concern Christians.  On the other hand Politics effect morality that directly effects Christians (abortion, the poor, the orphan, homosexuality, human rights, the widow just to name a few) so what are we to do?  I have learned not to look at one scripture as the end all or two scriptures but the whole of the Biblical text.  Even beyond that to the nature of God, humanity, and church fathers.  Everyone, Christian and non-Christian, has a worldview and it influences all aspects of their life. This does not mean I want a Theocracy, but that either Christian's will influence policy or another worldview well ie: Atheism, Communism, Islam...  Frank Turek wrote a book titled Legislating Morality and he contends that all policy, is a legislation of morality.  Here is an article that he wrote summing up his book briefly http://www.midwestoutreach.org/journals/legislating.html. 

I recently read a book titled Politics for Christians: Statecraft as Soulcraft by Frank Beckwith.  Many times as Christians we look to the Acts church as the only source of truth and knowledge on the issue of Christianity in culture, including politics.  As Beckwith states the early church could never have imagined a liberal democracy.   "A liberal democracy is a form of government where citizens have the opportunity to pass laws and support policies that they believe to be just, fair, and advance the common good of the society."  America is a liberal democracy.  He contends that the church of the 4th century saw that they could either shape public policy for good or let the pagans who did not know God shape culture.  With that thought in mind I would contend Christians should be involved in Politics at every level.

Purpose

Blogging is something I have wanted to do for a while, with little motivation to actually start.  Because of the pace of my life with a baby, wife, work, and grad school time was important.  Recently wrapping up my masters, the motivation for critical thinking must be done on my own.  The beauty of being out of school is I finally get to read books that have been on my list for years.  The purpose of this blog is to write what I am learning and how I am thinking as a Biblical minded Christian in a world that opposes Biblical Christianity.  This can range from politics and the christian citizen, to theology and history. Ultimately how does a Christian live in the world and have his Biblical worldview influence his entire life.  There are two areas I want to focus on.  The first is why Christians should and ought to be involved in their world in all facets of life.  The second is to asses my own learning, critical thinking skills, and continue to write and learn how to write and think well.  Unlike most blogs I will stand by what I write, though over the course of years my ideas will probably change as I grow, mature and deepen my understanding of Biblical Christianity.  I have much to learn, this is just one way I am choosing to do so.  Feel free to respond, push back, encourage and challenge my thoughts.  May these ideas and thoughts be profitable to you in you growth and understanding of a Christian Worldview.