Inconsiderate: I, I, I, I, I, I, I

I’ve decided that the one word which best describes modern life is inconsiderate. People are not rude.   Rudeness implies intention.  Rudeness reflects lack of upbringing or refinement.

No, people just don’t think.   Well, that’s not true, they think a lot about themselves. What’s in it for me?   How does the affect me?   But they don’t think about anyone else.

They don’t think about the consequences their actions may have on others.   They may not even be aware that others exist.    They don’t think about the consequences their lack of actions may have on others.   The sins of omission.

They are the center of their universe.    They fritter away and Twitter away their lives with egocentric thoughts of:  “I am having a steak dinner;” “I am enjoying the new U2 album;” “I am getting a new Kia next week;” “I am joining the church basketball team this fall;” “I am hosting a small group this week;” “I feel I am becoming much more spiritual.”

Yeah.  The last one.   Don’t think so.   Yes it’s true, even Christians can be rather self centered.  It’s all I, I, I, I, I, I, I.

Questions:

• Will this affect someone else?
• Will this disturb or annoy someone else?
• Will this deny someone else this space; this resource; this peace?
• Will this inconvenience someone else?
• Will this disappoint or hurt someone else?
• Will this cause someone else to fall?
• Will this me-thing take time that should be spent on someone else?
• Will this take money that ought to be given to someone else?
• Will this distract me from my God-purpose?
• Will this decision form a pattern leading to even more self-centered decisions?

James Garlow: Heaven and the Afterlife

One of the frustrations of the Christian publishing market are so many titles tripping over themselves saying essentially the same things.   I rather expected Heaven and the Afterlife to be a good review pick having read (out loud, actually) 50 Days of Heaven which an abridgment of Randy Alcorn’s longer work, Heaven. I figured it would somehow qualify me to compare two works on the same topic, and quickly write a short 150-word review.

Instead, I found myself with something completely different; a title much more comprehensive on diverse subjects that preoccupy the thoughts of many; a book  that would also appeal to those who had read 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper, or 23 Minutes in Hell by Bill Wiese, not to mention Angels by Billy Graham and a whole raft of titles by Grant Jeffrey.    In fact, the book is so wide in scope that while Garlow cites Randy Alcorn, he does so only a couple of times.

The book begins with the subject of near death experiences (NDEs) and moves on to after death communication (ADC) and takes an approach that I think would appeal to the general reader, the secularist, even the skeptic.   It’s lighter on Biblical content in the earlier chapters, instead easing into the topic by raising the questions which all of us — churched and non-churched alike — often ask when dealing with these difficult subjects.   Later chapters discuss angels, demons, reincarnation, eschatology and the concept of purgatory.

Every one of the 21 chapters in this book could really be a book in itself.  At times  –  such as the chapter on demons or the chapter on end-times judgment — Garlow leaves us wanting more; at others, he covers the ground so quickly that I wonder if skeptics would accept the progressive reasoning, or would, like Wikipedia editors, cry “citation needed.”

But I think that is exactly the point.   In 258 pages of text, the best one can offer is a general overview.  The subject of heaven specifically and the subject of the afterlife in general, is indeed a complex series of discussions which probably touch on even more than the 21 topics contained here.    Where the book most succeeds is to show us that these topics are interconnected and part of a unified whole; considerations that must be weighed against the “big picture” conceived in the mind of God, and reflective of His very nature.

So while the book assumes a basic concession to the Biblical view on such things, it also helps us improve our Biblical literacy on these topics, and builds respect for the scriptural take on death and the end-times.

Therefore, I want to modify what I said last week in a preview to this review.   I still think the book might be useful to give to someone who hasn’t yet crossed the line of faith; but I think it would work better if given to someone who is already moving in that direction but has some questions.    While I might be tempted to file this book under “H” for heaven or “D” for death, I think it also has a place under “A” for apologetics.

If you don’t know Garlow, he is a most prolific writer, a pastor at Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego and holds six — count ‘em — theological degrees.   So he’s quite capable of dealing in later chapters with two current “hot button” topics:  Universalism (which can be an ‘all roads lead to God’ viewpoint, or an ‘everyone is saved in the end’ theory)  and Annihilation (the idea that those who don’t accept Christ simply cease to exist after death.)   He deals honestly with the arguments used in support of these positions and shows respect for their proponents, but then explains why he cannot buy in.

If a book may be judged by its ability to deliver on its title, Heaven and the Afterlife contains — theologically speaking — everything but the kitchen sink.   This is the current exhaustive treatment of the breadth and width of this topic.

Heaven and the Afterlife - James L. Garlow with Keith Wall (Bethany House, 2009; paperback, $13.99 US)

Enjoy the book reviews in Thinking Out Loud?   Then you might also want to check out “The Nearsighted Bookworm,” where reviewer Janis covers the latest Christian fiction and non-fiction titles.   Click here to connect.

Reblogging The Best of September 2008

Even though the traffic was lighter back then, this one obviously resonated with a few readers:

Getting into Classic Authors

This week my kids and I are “binge reading” a number of devotionals from a collection by A. W. Tozer, one of the pioneers in the Christian & Missionary Alliance denomination. His final pastorate was at the Avenue Road* Church in Toronto, Canada, which continues to this day as Bayview Glen Alliance. Tozer is one of a number of classic reads, in a list that includes D. L. Moody, George Whitfield, Watchman Nee, Jonathan Edwards, E. M. Bounds and others.

What is it that’s different about reading classic authors like these?

Language – Right away you notice that they speak with a different voice, and having studied the Philosophy of Language, I know that our use of words shapes our understanding. There is also a greater economy of words on some points, but there is laborious repetition on others, so that we don’t miss something profound. Clearly, the did understand some concepts somewhat differently than many of do today; and the “spin” on some Bible passages is distinctive by our standards.

Intensity – These classic writers endure because they were passionate about living the Christian life to the nth degree. There is an urgency about their writings that is sorely lacking in some modern Christian literature. Were they preaching to the choir, or were they voices crying in the wilderness? Probably both, and with the same message for both.

Response – They wrote in response to the issues of their day, some of which are unknown to us now, but some of which are strikingly similar to the issues of our day. There was a concern for a general apostasy, a watering-down of the gospel and of Christian ethics. Is this just preacher rhetoric, or are things truly deteriorating with each successive generation? Or do Bible teachers and preachers just get so “set apart” that they start to view both the church and the world less charitably?

Wisdom – These books represent the cultivation of much wisdom in an era that wasn’t full of the distractions of our era. While we will inevitably turn back to our modern writers; there is much to be gained from seeing how scripture was interpreted in a previous century. They did their homework so to speak, and interacted with others who were on the same path of study; and some of them were simply a few hundred years “closer to the story” than we are today.

============

What classic authors do you enjoy?

What about material that pre-dates this, what we call “early Christian writings?”

Why did I not mention Charles Spurgeon?

*Gotta love the redundancy of the name, “Avenue Road.” Still exists, running parallel to Toronto’s main drag, Yonge Street. (Pronounced “young street.”)

This next post is about blogging itself and my initial realization as to what it meant to be part of the blogging community.

A Great Big Blog Hug

Rejoice with those who rejoice, and suffer with those who suffer.

Blogging introduces you to a worldwide collective of people you will probably never meet in this life. Nonetheless, the online connection means that you can be a source of encouragement to many, many people. The right words, fitly spoken at the right time, can really make a difference in a person’s life. That’s why I like this picture. The words are coming off the page to bring comfort. Everybody needs a bit of that now and then. The best things that are happening in the blogosphere aren’t always happening on the blogs themselves, but in the meta. When you get to follow-up with someone who has a particular interest. Or try to offer some direct, offline advice to someone who might appreciate a bit of a challenge. Or know of a third-party resource that could be of great help. Or just to say, “I really don’t have a clue about your whole situation, but I want you to know someone is reading your blog who really cares.” Or offer to pray for them. To actually pray for them.

Words communicate. People are listening. You can have a part in what they hear.

Finally… it turns out there’s enough stuff from September to do two installments in this series, so that’s what we’ll do.   Here’s one more to cap off today though, because I’d hate for anyone to miss out on this excellent resource.

Delving into Prayer with Philip Yancey

Thirteen years ago, when we changed from being a ‘behind the scenes’ promoter of Christian books and music, to being a front line retailer with our own stores, our first bona fide bestseller was the book The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey. Although I was familiar with his writing from Campus Life magazine and the NIV Student Bible, this was the first book by him I had ever read, and with my recommendation, the book remained our number one bestseller for more than two years. I still have the ISBN memorized!

So when the curriculum DVD for that book was released, I was a little disappointed. It was Philip, who is very softspoken, sitting in a dark studio, speaking in a low tones. The clips were short, too; as this kind of product is intended to be led by a small group chairperson, with the DVD serving as a supplement. Later on, Zondervan would produce some excellent DVD material for author John Ortberg (who is now linked on our blogroll on the right side of your screen under ‘sermons’) which were filmed on location. I made a mental note that the quality of these things was improving.

This weekend I watched all of the DVD material that goes with Philip’s book, Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? There are six weeks in the DVD study, with each one having at least three film clips, all of which were filmed in various parts of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The scenery certainly draws you in to the discussion of the topic, and Philip seems much more relaxed in front of the camera, and much more himself in the context of his favorite hobby, mountain climbing. (Do you have an altimeter on your wristwatch?) If you’re going to use visual media, it’s important that it look good, and this does.

I felt that the last session sometimes seemed to start to stray a little from the core discussion; but otherwise, this is an excellent lead-in to some good discussion; and since all Christians (and not a few non-Christians) pray at various times and in various ways, this is certainly going to bring out a lot of comments from your small group; many of which will be subjective and some more objective. Frankly, I would love to have some context to share this series with a group of people. (The church I attend has a policy that all small groups cover the same material; so there is no room for electives.) I think it would be an interesting process to explore something so basic to our Christian lives, yet reflects so differently in each of us, including the complexity of dealing with unanswered prayer, which is discussed in the fourth session.

You don’t need a DVD player in the home to run a good small group, but good resources like this are available, and are increasingly being released at lower cost.* Conversely, you don’t need to have read the book to use the DVD and the participant’s guide, but the book is probably one of the best and most thorough treatments on this subject. With small group season about to kick off; I give the book and DVD a five star rating.

~Paul Wilkinson

* Prayer DVD U.S. SRP is only $24.99 Each session begins with someone placing an envelope into a mail box, but when it comes to the one called “prayer problems” that deals with unanswered prayer, the letter becomes a thick package! Ain’t that the truth.

What Goes On Before and After Your Church Service?

I left this comment at the discussion at Internet Monk called “The Evangelical Liturgy,” a continuing analysis of the various elements that make up a church service.

I’m thinking that while the weekend service may be the hub around which the local church wheel revolves — except of course for that small handful of churches that are totally defined by what they do the rest of the week — you can also gauge much of their spirituality by watching what they do in the minutes that lead up to the call to worship and the minutes that follow the benediction.

“There’s nothing wrong with pre-service ‘fellowship’ if it’s true spiritual fellowship. Building depth and community through being invested in other peoples’ lives and allowing them to invest in yours. NOT discussing yesterday’s game, the weather or a new car purchase.

There’s nothing wrong with pre-service announcements if we see them as opportunities for greater service, building community, deeper teaching, or meeting needs. NOT ‘commercials’ for the agendas of different ministries or committees who also compete for who gets the brightest colored bulletin insert.

I’m not saying we should try to ’spiritualize’ everything we do in life, but I think we should try to intentionally spiritualize everything we do in church.”

It’s Not Your Circumstances, It’s How You Respond To Them

During the past year I have been directly responsible for a number of relational train wrecks involving myself and others.    While each of these is a story unto itself, beginning with something that I did not precipitate, I either responded in a way that was less than clear, or I responded out of anger and frustration.

Who ever said, “Don’t shop at the grocery store when you’re hungry,” could have equally said, “Don’t write e-mails when you’re angry.”

Furthermore, if I examine the situations analytically, often the person or organization met by my vent or rant is not the person or organization that has caused me to have a bad day, a bad week or a bad month.

As someone who has come through periods of physical illness, I have also discovered, sad to say, that I am a mellower person when I am also dealing with something that has left me broken or humbled or aware of weakness.   It’s when I’m feeling  “good” that I sometimes through caution to the wind and say things I shouldn’t.

Yesterday, I spoke with a former pastor who described to me the feeling of not having to care what people might think about a particular course of action.   While before some things might have mattered a great deal, now he simply doesn’t have to factor in the opinions of a church board, church staff, or church membership.

I can’t speak fully for him, but I know that lately I have simply “shut down” trying to build on interpersonal relationships.   While in a couple of cases I have been the one to seek reconciliation and restoration of the relationship, in several other cases I have found myself simply no longer caring what people think of me.   In fact, I think that lately some of my best “relationships” have been with people who don’t really know me at all; insofar as I have achieved a depth of mutual communication, empathy and understanding with people I’ve only met a short time before.

I want to “learn my lesson” in this department, but I have come to regard any relationship that I had over 90 days as just about to reach its “best before” date; I’ve come to almost expect that something will go wrong, relationally; and I’ve decided those relationships aren’t worth consideration because they’re probably minutes or hours from disintegration.   And I fully acknowledge that — without specific intention — it has often been entirely my fault.

Twenty-four hours ago, I returned from a long day at work — eight hours without even so much as a restroom break (too much information, I know) — and found a business e-mail waiting for me containing information that was contrary to what I thought we had committed to.   Because of past history with this company, I assumed this was just another in a long line of broken expectations.   So I typed a short, angry, over-the-top e-mail figuring, “Maybe, just maybe, this will get their attention.”

What I didn’t factor in was that the person I sent it to may not have been responsible at all for what happened.  I was simply building on the anger of some contact from previous in the week.   In fact, without going into details, in my mind I was being the ‘good guy’ in the broader exchange, as I was going along with his assumption that I would enter into a certain venture that I had previously indicated I would not.   So having jumped through their hoops, how could they possibly then mess it up on their end?

But I also didn’t factor in — though I was aware of it in our earlier e-mails at the start of the week — that this person has just come through a personal crisis dealing with the sudden loss of a family member.   He didn’t need the stress of my letter.

So now, in more specific terms, I must write an apology.   I’ll leave out the background analysis.   It doesn’t really matter.   What matters is hitting the “send” button before thinking it through more carefully.   What matters is that other people have feelings, too.   I’m sorry.

Link Land

I’ll keep these short and sweet so you have time to click on all of them!

• Michael Spencer, aka Internet Monk is blogging through a series of analysis and commentary on the elements that make up an Evangelical church service.   No particular post link here, as you’ll have to scroll up and down to catch the entire series, The Evangelical Liturgy.   (But if you’re coming to this beyond early September ’09, then use this link to the first six posts.)
  
• Christianity Today has done an interesting piece for women called What Not To Wear, advice for women in church leadership.    Apparently “Sally is too pretty to preach.”  (No, guys, there’s no pictures.)
  
• Regent College professor John Stackhouse suggests that it might be to our advantage to stop the drive towards extinction of that endangered species known as the Christian bookstore.   The piece  is titled, Good Bookstores: If We Ignore Them, They’ll Go Away.
  
• Congratulations to Denver-bound Jeff McQuilken at Losing My Religion on the occasion of 500 thought provoking blog posts.   Well, maybe not the anniversary one.   BTW, that blog title would make a great song title, don’t ya think?
  
• Ben Bateman at Mankind Toons has picked up his pen or brush or whatever cartoonists use after a long break, and also launched a new website.    See below for a sample of his work.
  
• Blogger Michael Kruse at Kruse Kronicle posts the 2013 Beloit College list, significant for me since I have one headed to college in a week.
  
• If you ever endured Philosophy 101, you know all about Plato’s Cave aka Plato’s Cave Analogy.   Someone has done a short Claymation, which in turn has been posted at Clarion: Journal of Spirituality and Justice.
  
• Worried about Fluffy and Fido after the rapture.   Here’s another service that will take care of them, for a fee that is, at Eternal Earthbound Pets.  But don’t worry any longer, because in an interview with Jayson Boyette, the atheist founder admits they have no intention of ever actually having to feed the cats and dogs.     Part One.   Interview Part Two.

Reblogging The Best of August 2008

Here’s three short posts I ran around this time last year that I thought worth repeating. Summer reruns, I guess.

The Dangerous Act of Worship “Our central lie is in the discrepancy between the language of worship and the actions of worship. We confess “Jesus is Lord” but only submit to the part of Christ’s authority that fits our grand personal designs, doesn’t cause pain, doesn’t disrupt the American dream, doesn’t draw us across ethnic and racial divisions, doesn’t add the pressure of too much guilt, doesn’t mean forgiving as we have been forgiven, doesn’t ask for more than a check to show compassion. We “sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” expressing our desire to know Jesus, but the Jesus we want to know is the sanitized Jesus that looks a lot like us when we think we are at our best. Despite God’s Word to the contrary, we think we can say that we love God and yet hate our neighbor, neglect the widow, forget the orphan, fail to visit the prisoner, ignore the oppressed. Its the sign of disordered love. When we do this, our worship becomes a lie to God.” ~ Mark Labberton, The Dangerous Act of Worship: Living God’s Call to Justice (Downers Grove: IVP, 2007), 71 — h/t Andrew Hamilton blogging in Australia at http://www.backyardmissionary.com/

To all the hearts that have been broken,
To all the dreamers with abandoned dreams,
To everyone in need of a friend,
– You are loved, You are loved;
To the rebels wounded in battle
To all the rockers that have lost that beat
To all the users who are all used up now
– You are loved, You are loved.

~from the mid ’80s by Christian Rock band, THE ALTAR BOYS; this was running through my head this morning as I felt a hunger and desperation to know deeper the reality of God’s love for me as an individual; something that we all need to strive to be more aware of. His love for us is there and it is constant; it’s our perception of it that changes with circumstances and feelings.

I’m standing on the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She’s an object of beauty and strength and I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and the sky come down to mingle with each other. And then I hear someone at my side saying, “There, she’s gone.” Gone where? Gone from my sight, that is all. She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side. And just as able to bear her load of living freight to the place of destination. Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at the moment when someone at my side says, “There, she’s gone;” there are other eyes watching her coming, and there are other voices ready to take up the glad shout, “Here she comes!” And that is dying. No, it’s not C. S. Lewis. Attributed to Henry Scott Holland or Henry Van Dyke, depending on who you ask.

Life Among The Lutherans: Garrison Keillor

“…So our family celebrated [the fourth of July], a day in one group of people split off from another group of people — it seemed like a happy thing to us — and we kept right on splitting off — we believed in the value of a good snit and walking out, slamming the door and never speaking to those people again.  Better yet, never speaking to them in the first place.  We were Sanctified Brethren, we believed that God had bestowed his truth on us and nobody else, and if you number had ever gotten above 12, we’d have found some way to break off with the others and form a new and purer group.  A church of, say, 3 people.  Two to procreate and one to watch and make sure they didn’t do it in an unscriptural way.”

Garrison Keillor is an American humorist, author and the force behind “A Prairie Home Companion,” a permanent fixture of Saturday evenings in many U.S. homes as it broadcasts live, for two hours, on National Public Radio.   The show is a mix of music, poetry and radio drama, culminating with the monologue, which always begins, “It’s been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon, my hometown.”

“…now even ice fishing, in all its sanity and silence, has been blighted by the curse of this century which is communications.  Never before have we learned so much we didn’t need to know from people we don’t like and can’t get rid of in media that has only one purpose, to sell, sell, sell, and which has been steadily encroaching and circling and crowding out whatever peace and quiet is left in the cosmos…”

Much of his writing has to do with life in middle America.  On the one hand, he laments the passing of simpler times, while on the other hand he highlights the ability of some communities to preserve a sense of that simpler past.

“…Our public reputations depend on the opinions of the uninformed.  Each one of us is a book reviewed by critics who only read the chapter headings and the jacket flap.  We’re all a mystery.  We should all respect each other on that basis.”

Life Among the Lutherans is a collection of those monologues, going back as far as 1983, and featuring the particular essays that deal with the religious side of life in this fictitious Minnesota town.  When you consider that most of them do contain some mention the equally fictitious Lake Wobegon Lutheran Church, narrowing it down to 28 stories must have represented a rather difficult editing process.  The book is appropriately published by Augsburg, a leading Lutheran publishing house.

“The organ is the enemy of worship, as most Christians know.  Scripture says, ‘Be still and know that I am God.’  This is not the organist’s philosophy.  Organists despise stillness.  They’re sitting there with the organ equivalent of a 300 hp Ferrari and they want to put the pedal to the metal and make that baby fly.”

In the preface, Keillor admits he did not grow up as a Lutheran.   But he understands the people intimately, and he understands the role that the church(es) play in a small town.    We only hear of one other church in town, the Roman Catholic parish, Our Lady of Perpetual Responsibility.

“…It’s not easy being a minister and preaching to your own family — sometimes it gives a Lutheran pastor real respect for the rule of celibacy over across town.  Preach on forgiveness and forbearance to a congregation that includes one woman with whom you’ve had some arguments you’d rather not remember, including one that isn’t over yet.”

Truth be told, the book deals in the superficialities of church life.   But that said, once you get past the meandering plots and colorful characterizations, the book is actually rich in deep theology.   People live and breathe and act the way they do because they are acting on certain beliefs and convictions.   Keillor confronts issues and ideas which, in a pluralistic, politically correct, mostly secular society, simply never come up in normal conversation.

“…The people divided over the question ‘will we recognize each other in Heaven or will our spiritual forms not have our earthly features?’  The clergy fought this out for two years, some arguing ‘Yes, of course we’ll know grandma there, and she will know us — the family was meant to be eternal,’ and other people saying ‘No, we will go on to a finer and better life there and if you think your face is anything God would allow in a place of perfect bliss, then you ought to take another look.’”

But Keillor doesn’t always celebrate this particular church culture.   Every page consists of material that could represent hours and hours on an analyst’s couch.   In the second to last chapter, there is an outpouring of angst greater than the sum of the previous chapters, wherein Keillor seems to regret a religiously repressive past that made him lack adventure or lack confidence or lack certain kinds of experiences.    However, much of this may simply consist of looking at growing up in the mid-20th century through a 21st century lens.

“The honest truth is that most of these young people marry because they desperately want to have sex and be normal nice people…so two people sense each other’s interest and availability, and powerful forces come into play…and the mothers of the two of them exert their influence.   A candidate is brought in for inspection and goes home, and afterward the mother says, ‘Well, I thought he was nice.’  And the way she says, ‘I thought he was nice’ communicates the fact that the boy is a dolt, about as bright as a mud fence, and none of this has much to do with honesty.   It’s more about sheer hope — that if you love somebody, or try to, and try to do the right thing, somehow it’ll all work out over the long haul.   And you set out down the highway of marriage, trying to ignore the many vehicles you see overturned in the ditch.“

Why is that some of the most tormented people seem to produce the most innovative and quirky humor?   With Christmas fast approaching, Life Among The Lutherans is a natural gift idea for someone who, like Keillor, enjoys some sentimental reminiscing.    But it should also be read by a younger generation, if only to see what they escaped.   Unless they happen to currently reside in Lake Wobegon, that is.

“Christmas is a holy day that the early church fathers invented because they were in competition with the Roman religion.  One thing Christianity lacked was a big feast and the Romans had one toward the end of December, Saturnalia, so the Christians established Christmas, sort of like one chain putting up a store right near its competitor.  It doesn’t have so much to do with Jesus as it does with business, and it’s been a big hit;  the number of people celebrating Saturnalia and offering sacrifices to the gods has really diminished.”

Currently Reading: Heaven and the Afterlife – Garlow

Heaven and the Afterlife – James L. Garlow I’m about a third of the way through this one and will be doing a full review on it in later in the week.  My first reaction is that this book takes a more secular, more scientific approach to this topic than the book Heaven by Randy Alcorn, beginning with the whole NDE or near-death-experience phenomena.   (Admittedly, it was the abridged 50 Days of Heaven that I read.)   Thus, I see the possibility of giving this one as a gift to a non-churched friend who may not get into Alcorn’s “bible study” approach to the topic.   But remember, I’m only one-third in. The only other major observation is that among many of the early NDE anecodotal stories, Garlow presents a few wherein the subject is not at all headed to a place of light and love — rather, the other direction — but is offered a last chance at salvation, while in some intermediate state between this life and the next.   Does this mean Garlow believes that ultimately, everyone is included in Christ’s finished work of the cross? I guess I’ll have to keep reading. Thinking Out Loud – Matters of Faith Because Faith Matters

Come and Get Your Healing

Today we were in the big city, where, if you lift your gaze above the retail shops at street level, you see the one-flight-up storefront churches, tucked in among the dance studios and offices of insurance adjusters and pool halls.

The one that caught my eye today had lettered on one window the words, “Come and Get Your Healing.”

I believe in healing.   I’m one of those people convinced that the gifts of the Holy Spirit did not cease at the end of the Apostolic age, including the gift of tongues.   (The real gift of tongues, not the people who are faking it.)   I believe in praying powerful prayers.   I believe in a limitless God who invites us to stretch our faith muscles to believe in limitless possibilities.  (Based on His resources, not our possibility-thinking things into existence.)

So my personal beliefs lean slightly in a more Charismatic direction, even if I find some of the forms excessive and find that identifying myself as part of the broader Charismatic movement places me in a category of people with whom I largely don’t identify.    (I keep meaning to read and review Rob MacAlpine’s book Post Charismatic here sometime, as I feel that term better describes me.)

Even so, I find the lettered sign in the window of the walk-up storefront church a little distressing.   While church-planting is the rage and the home-church movement is producing little organic fellowships at a rapid rate, the nature of many of these small groups is such as to place them at the extreme fringes of the Evangelical mainstream, perhaps even the Charismatic mainstream itself.

How about a sign that says, “Come and discuss life issues related to the quest for meaning.”    Maybe the Alpha Course fills that void.   Or, “Come in for a look at the various religious belief systems available.”    Maybe the more cerebral, more intellectual, more ‘bookish’  members of our faith tribe just aren’t the kind of people to put first and last month’s rent down on a former ballet studio or fabric trade sweat shop.

But no, it’s “Come and Get Your Healing.”    Will these people get healed?   Will they get what they saw promised on the window sign?   Will they be asked to jump through a number of hoops before their healing manifests itself?

I’m also current wrestling with the question, “What if Jesus had never healed anyone?”    Certainly the healings demonstrated His divinity and it’s hard to imagine the gospels without them; though the power of His words also arrested men and women in their tracks.   But it would seem that a modern expression of the Christ-follower movement begun 2,000 years ago would contain the potential for healing.    And many who came to Jesus, attracted by the miracles He performed, stuck around and became part of the core group; while others were told to go back to their home communities and share what they had seen.

“Come and Get Your Healing.”

It just seems too simplistic.

How about, “Come and find acceptance.”   “Come and find forgiveness.”  “Come and find meaning to your life.”   “Come if you’ve been hurt.” “Come and meet Jesus.”   “Come and let us love you.”   “Come and help change the world.”

TODAY’S BONUS ITEM — On one my wife’s many blogs, she recounts the story of doing a ukulele performance this week for a group of developmentally challenged adults.   As a well-known local worship leader, this collection of songs represents her “alt-repertoire” which seemed highly suitable for the assembled audience.    Read her post here, and see why I say she is the better writer in the family.

Scene and Herd: Life Around the Blogosphere

Here are some random things that caught my attention this week.   If you have a must-see post you want to contribute, feel free to add a comment with the appropriate link.

• The visual blog Churchy Design has moved to its new home at Tumblr.   It’s not entirely about church architecture, but more related to just about anything concerned with  “…how designers within the big-C Church are using their aesthetic sensibilities to communicate, illustrate, critique, expose, and explore matters of their faith.”

• Want to settle all that worship music tension at the place you call church?  Brad Harper and Paul Louis Metzger suggest six guiding principles in a Christianity Today article, Here We Are To Worship.  “The best array of worship forms will illustrate that the church is both embedded in culture, speaking through its constantly changing forms, and also a countercultural community, one that represents transcendent values and truths that confront culture’s fallenness.”
• In one of his best posts ever, earlier this week Jon Acuff  at Stuff Christians Like looked at the Evangelical cultural oddity we know as The Husband and Wife Ministry Team.   “My wife isn’t a big bun fan, but from what I can remember, the two hairstyle options for the wife in the Husband & Wife Ministry Team are either buns or a beehive with the thickness and girth of a car radiator.”
• It’s been two years now since the Interstate 35 bridge collapse in Minnesota, but a  post of John Piper explaining it to his daughter is still hanging in the air, especially the air around blogger Bill Kinnon.   Piper: “  God did not do anything wrong. God always does what is wise. And you and I know that God could have held up that bridge with one hand…with his pinky. Which means that God had a purpose for not holding up that bridge, knowing all that would happen, and he is infinitely wise in all that he wills.” What role does God play when things like that happen.   Darryl Dash keeps the discussion going this week at Dashhouse.com.
• From our totally-outside-the-box department, comes a link to, of all things, The New Humanist blog with their predictable poke at all major religions in the form of a card game called God Trumps.   You’ll want to click on the individual cards to read them in detail.   You’ll find set one here and set two here.  The weapon of choice for JWs is listed as “foot in door”, while for Anglicans it’s “tutting loudly”. For the Catholics – “the Pope mobile”, Born Again Christians have “televangelists” and “threats of hell fire” …. gulp – did someone say hell fire? [HT: Mark Randall at Pragmatic-Eclectic from whence the quotation comes.]
• Keep your eyes posted on Windblown Media — the people who brought us The Shack — for a new novel, Bo’s Café, authored by Bruce McNicol, Bill Thrall and John Lynch.   Advance publicity describes it as “… a model for all who struggle with unresolved problems and a performance-based life. Those who desire a fuller, more authentic way of living will find this journey of healing a restorative exploration of God’s unbridled grace.” Street date: September 1st.
• Finally, if you can handle another John Piper disaster-related story, it seems the the ECLA, a Lutheran denomination, is joining many Anglicans  in a softened stance towards homosexuality.   But as they met in Minneapolis, a tornado roared through.   Piper — and he was probably not alone — suggested that God may be trying to tell them something.  He blogged, “the tornado in Minneapolis was a gentle but firm warning to the ELCA and all of us: Turn from the approval of sin.” But another pastor in the same town, Greg Boyd, just doesn’t see God working that way. “I have an alternative interpretation of tornado behavior to offer. They have nothing to do with how pro-gay or how sinful people are and everything to do with where people happen to live.” and “…there are over 400 distinct passages encompassing over 3,000 verses in the Bible that address issues related to poverty…  In light of this, wouldn’t you assume that if God was going to send warnings and/or inflict punishment with tornados he’d strike some of the many American churches and denominations that condone, if not Christianize, greed and apathy toward the poor?”

Carlos Whitaker on Being “That” Person

I originally posted this on February 3rd of this year, but I think it bears repeating.

Carlos Whittaker: After standing in a room tonight with a hundred or so AMAZING people who all are “somebody”, I realized again… It’s not who you know…It’s Who you serve. At the end of the day it is not about getting “the deal” At the end of the day it’s not about writing “the song” At the end of the day it’s not about meeting “the man” At the end of the day it’s not about your church hitting “that number” At the end of the day it’s not about speaking at “the conference” At the end of the day it’s not about writing “the book” At the end of the day it’s not about losing “those pounds” At the end of the day it’s not about being invited to “that party” At the end of the day it’s not about being on “the list” At the end of the day it’s not about opening for “that band” At the end of the day it’s not about dating “that girl/guy” At the end of the day it’s not about hitting “those stats” At the end of the day it’s not about getting “that award” At the end of the day it’s not about selling “that number of copies” At the end of the day it’s not about creating “the perfect sermon series” At the end of the day it’s not about solving “that problem” At the end of the day it’s not about preaching “that message” At the end of the day it’s not about shmoozing “those reps” At the end of the day it’s not about everyone lifting “those hands” At the end of the day it’s not about praying “that prayer” All that crap is just crap. It does not matter. It is not your identity. It will ALL go away. But what will not go away is that moment that you stopped believing all your self righteous lies and found your identity in Christ alone. Not the deal, the song, the man, that number, the conference, the book, those pounds, that party, the list, that band, that girl/guy, those stats, that award, that number of copies, the perfect sermon series, that problem, that message, those reps, those hands, or that prayer. It is about Christ in you the hope of Glory. So let’s make a deal. For today, myself included, let’s not drop one name, not unless it’s His.

Carlos Whittaker blogs at Ragamuffin Soul. See this post here, or check out the rest of the blog with this link.

The Potential To Make A Difference

I have a handful of friends who send me e-mail forwards.   They usually contain funny pictures or touching stories, and just about always end with much encouragement for me to immediately forward them to ten other people, as a great blessing is in store for me if I do.

I have to assume, after several years, that the people who do this have a certain fondness for this type of writing, and I often send one or two on, being careful to clean up a myriad of forwarding history and deleting the superstitious exhortation to further forwarding.

The problem I have with these stories is that many of them seem completely contrived.   I picture a team of people sitting a large room filled with computers in New York City composing e-mail forwards, Steeple Hill novels, and Dayspring cards.  (“Hey Bob, look!  A friend of mine just sent me that one we made up last week about the kitten that saved an entire town.)

And yet, I recognize that while “fairy tales don’t always come true,” there are a number of ways that God can work through individuals, some of which skeptics would dismiss as coincidence.   There are enough sincerely true and previously-verified stories out there that show how one life can touch another.   There is a great potential to make a difference that we lose sight of if we consign everything to the waste basket of time-eating, kleenex requiring, e-mail forwarding, emotionally engaging cute stories.

Like this one. What do you think?  True?  Possible?  Helpful?  Inspiring?

Benjamin Elliott: An Exemplary Life

For the past few months, in the upper right corner of this site, there has been a prayer request for an 19-year old young man named Benjamin.   A year ago, Ben was diagnosed with Leukemia and after a courageous and inspiring fight against this form of cancer, today was welcomed into the presence of the Lord.

Yesterday his mom wrote on Ben’s prayer page on Facebook:

Something I heard via my brother from a fellow sojourner whom I’ve never met rings in my heart so loudly that I couldn’t keep it to myself.  He said, “All year I’ve been praying for a miracle for Ben.  I just realized that the miracle IS Ben.”

Because of Ben’s mom’s eloquence and transparency in describing the details of Ben’s last year, and because of the communications medium that Facebook and the internet offer, we as a family we have walked this journey with the Elliott family, step by step and have prayed more fervently and more intensely than with any other prayer request that has heretofore crossed our path.

I think it’s only fair to let Ben have the last word.   First, an introduction from his mom:

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This past Sunday (August 9) the Lord enabled Ben to not only rise earlier than he’s been accustomed to as of late, but to have the strength to stand (unassisted) for 10 minutes in his weak, nauseated and pain-stricken state while he conveyed some of these same thoughts to our packed house, church family.  The physical strength God gave him was nothing short of a miracle, not to mention the inner strength He provided to allow Ben to speak one of the most powerful messages I’ve ever personally heard (not to downplay any of my pastor/husband’s sermons).  To say that many were blessed and impacted deeply as a result of Ben’s response to God’s nudging would be an understatement.

Ben Elliott – Sunday, August 9th Memorial Baptist Church, Stratford, Ontario, Canada

Good Morning! It’s good to be here and to see everyone again. It’s been quite a long time and I wasn’t sure if this day would ever come…but it’s good to be back…finally!

I’m not going to be very long this morning because I’m kind of weak, I have a pounding headache and I’m a little nauseous to be honest with you.

I don’t want to have this morning focus on me at all. In fact, I was quite hesitant to even do this because I thought that by me coming up here it would get the focus of this last year on me and that’s the exact opposite of what I want this to be. This whole past year has been all about God entirely and His ultimate plan and purpose for my life and everyone’s.

The FIRST thing I want to say is …THANK YOU!

Thank you for all your love and support and encouragement and prayers. I’m positive they went a long way in allowing me to keep my sanity throughout months in hospital and through all the ups and downs and everything. The power of prayer can’t be matched at all. Thank you very much for that.

Thank you to everyone who came out this past week and wave to me as I was supposed to fly over the church building. It didn’t work out that way. We got up eventually and it was very good.

Thank you also for letting my dad and family have some extra time off so to spend time together. It’s been good and I’ve appreciated it a lot.

SECONDLY I want to talk about SUFFERING a bit.

I think I’ve learned a thing or two about suffering the past 12 months and I wonder what has been accomplished for God’s ultimate will because of my suffering? If I had had just a “normal year”, life would have continued as normal. BUT…how many opportunities for God would have been missed if I hadn’t endured that?

I’ve learned this past year that it is possible to suffer and go through terrible circumstances with a smile on your face and not have to ask the question “WHY ME?” Gods’ plan is bigger than all of us. His plans always work out perfectly, according to His will. So why should we waste our time asking “why” when instead we can sit back and just say “wow!!!”

I can keep a smile on my face because I’ve learned that suffering isn’t a punishment from God or a curse from Satan. Instead, I’ve learned that my suffering is a rare opportunity from God to showcase how awesome He really is.

While battling leukemia I have also learned that suffering has a way of connecting people…sometimes in weird circumstances…but the result is usually for the better. These past 12 months I have met and been helped by many, many incredible people; many people who do not have a relationship with God. I guess I won’t really know fully until eternity what impact my story may have had on them. But, if I was able to see a few of those people when I get to heaven…or when they get to heaven… just think of how exciting that will be!

My suffering has also connected me to God in ways that only after living through this kind of circumstance would you be able to understand. I hope that somehow, through my suffering, you have been connected to God in a deeper way too.

A cool thought I just got yesterday while running over this for a final time was that maybe my temporary suffering on earth has brought others to God…ultimately preventing them from eternal suffering in hell! I don’t know…just a thought I had yesterday.

And finally to sum up this whole suffering thing, I read a quote a few weeks ago and here it is:

“…Our healing begins when we participate in the suffering of God. When we don’t avoid it but enter into it, and in the process, enter into the life of God. When we see our pain not as separating us from, but connecting us to our Maker…”

FINALLY … I want to talk about DEATH.

I wonder if you have ever really thought about death. I mean not just a casual crossing your mind or passing thought…everyone’s done that. I mean really, really thought about death….because I have a little bit.

I don’t mean to brag or sound proud or be boastful or anything, BUT…I’m not afraid to die. I’m not worried about my death and I’m not afraid to die because I’m a Christian. I know that death just means I move from this life on earth to an eternal party in heaven. I can say 100% honestly that I am not scared to die…but I’m very excited actually. Just to think that there will be no pain or suffering…just partying and happiness eternally!

My name is written down in heaven! Think about that…“Benjamin David Elliott” is physically written down in the Book of Eternal Life! If that’s not a cool mental image then I don’t know what is!!

Psalm 139:16 says that “All my days ordained for me were written in God’s book before even one of them came to be.” Meaning God was in charge from the day I was born and is equally as is in charge of the day that I will die and takes me home. So…I don’t have to be worried or afraid, I just have to trust Him!

It says in John 3:2 that when we die we will be like Jesus. Now maybe I’m taking this verse a little bit out of context… but just think about this…When Jesus came back from the dead He was able to physically walk through walls. I don’t know, I just think that’s kind of cool!

So yes, God wants us to have a long life on earth and enjoy ourselves…BUT… just think of how incredible eternity will be! We as Christians should not be scared of death. Instead…we should look forward with hope to an amazing eternal life in heaven. Ultimately, it all comes down to our relationship with Jesus. It’s not about religion…it’s about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

So…I guess the bottom line and big question is this: Are you just a religious person…or do you have a personal relationship with Jesus? Is your name written down in the big name book in heaven of eternal life? If it’s not…you should definitely take some time out of your day to think about how awesome eternity can and will be…if it’s spent with God in heaven! And, then….I’ll see you there…and we can party forever!!

My ultimate prayer is that God’s will, will be done and everyone will be okay with that. Whether that’s living for 90 more years or going to see Him very, very soon. The truth is, as a Christian it doesn’t really matter. There is no bad option. It’s a win/win either way.

Here is a final verse that I’m not going to read, you have to look it up in the Bible yourself…if you care enough. It’s a verse that has kept me going throughout this past year. God takes care of every single detail in our lives…very, very, very specific details. I think that’s cool too!! Thinking that someone cares that much about me, and knows so much about me is a very humbling thought. So I’ll leave you with Matthew 10:30.

Brian Doerksen: Make Love, Make War

I lied yesterday.   I said you could expect this book review later this week, when in fact, I couldn’t stop reading.  I never finish a book in a single day.  If anything, the book ended suddenly; I kept looking for a postscript or afterword or epilogue.

Make Love, Make War: Now is the Time to Worship (David C. Cook, 2009)  is a wonderfully crafted outpouring from the heart of Canadian singer-songwriter Brian Doerksen, who has authored or co-authored — he seems to do much of his writing in tandem with others — some of our best known worship songs such as:

• Refiner’s Fire
• Your Love is Amazing
• Today (As for Me and My House)
• It’s Time for the Reign of God
• Faithful One
• Everlasting
• Creation Calls
• Light The Fire Again
• You Shine
• and 84 other CCLI-listed songs

Some of these songs, and some I didn’t know, become the chapter titles for this book and are used as a springboard for discussion about what it means to live a life of worship to God, and also the worship songwriting process itself.   On many chapters, I found the songs playing as on a loop in my head, providing a background soundtrack to reading the book.   (Maybe someday that technology will exist as you begin a new chapter, the appropriate song will play…)

Furthermore, although I’ve missed hearing Brian live, getting to know his voice and spoken mannerisms from the Today live worship DVD resulted in almost hearing him speak the words right off the page.    I questioned getting the DVD, since I already had the CD, but it has proved to be one of my all time favorite visual worship experiences.   The book Make Love, Make War is the next natural progression, deeper into the heart of Brian’s love for his heavenly father, though if you currently own neither, don’t let that dissuade you from the book..

The book is part worship textbook, part autobiographical.   It is in places humorous and at other places deeply serious.    It is partly intended for worship music personnel at local churches — especially with its technical and practical tips for musicians at the end of each chapter — and also intended for the average person who seeks after God.

In many of our churches, the worship component involves half or more of the total time spent “at church.”   Towards the end, Doerksen suggests:

“…we send people away to Bible school and seminary for years to learn the Scriptures and how to preach.  And upon their return they preach sermons, which people often promptly forget.   But there are very few theological schools designed to help modern artists and worship songwriters learn the Scriptures and biblical theology; we just tell them to write a song we can sing in church.  Maybe it’s the songwriters who should study the most — because the lyrics of the songs are what really stick with us.”

In an excellent analogy — again towards the end of the book — he compares worship leaders to the Best Man at a wedding, leading the introduction of Bride (the church) and Groom (the Father), and then quickly getting out of the way.

Elsewhere he despairs over pastors who encourage worship leaders to include something “lively” or “up tempo,” when the heart of the Psalms is often woeful lament.   His admiration for principal Psalmist King David — he just calls him Dave — is repeated throughout the book.   He admits that sometimes, following after his role model, his song themes and lyrical choices have been met with criticism.    This does not deter him; he feels he is living out the particular worship role for which God has chosen him.

Lord willing, Brian Doerksen will keep giving the church new musical worship material; but I also hope this isn’t the last time we see his name on a book.   He has much to teach us about our relationship with the Father.