Fairness

I have read the book of Habakkuk many times over the years. I took my first really close look at the book about a year ago when I helped develop a discussion guide for my LIFE Group. After our group completed our study of the book, I had not given the book much thought. That is until a little over two weeks ago.

You see, the book of Habakkuk is about a man who followed God and had a strong faith in God. But he also struggled with God. There were things going on in the world around him that did not seem fair. There was great injustice in society around him. He knew God was there but God seemed to be silent.

A little over two weeks ago, my mother was diagnosed with a brain tumor. After consulting with a neurosurgeon, we came to realize that the situation was bad. The MRI showed a tumor that measured about 2.4 centimeters. The doctor told us that it appeared to be a highly aggressive, malignant tumor. After surgery, we found out that the tumor was much larger than anticipated. It was about the size of a tangerine. The pathologist confirmed our worst fears. It was a grade four (highly aggressive) glioma (malignant) tumor.

My mother is an active 59 year old woman. She just completed her bachelors degree a few years ago and had just taken a new teaching job a few weeks earlier. She is one semester away from completing her masters degree. She has had an almost perfect 4.0 GPA through all that. She has four grand-sons. She derives as much joy from “her boys” as any grandmother I have ever seen. She has a set of twin grandchildren on the way. They will no doubt be as precious to her as the others. I could point out many other things, but I am sure you get the idea.

This should not have happened to her. She has followed Jesus for a long time. She has given much of her life to service along side my dad in the church. Her trust in and reliance on God has been unwavering through circumstances both good and bad, easy and difficult. As far I can understand fairness, this is not fair. Not even a little bit.

But I need to rethink fairness. When I do, I realize that I don’t really want fairness. If God were completely fair, he would completely punish all of us. God does not always treat us fairly. He does much better than that. He treats us graciously. He has graciously kept my mother for 59 years. He graciously let her tumor be diagnosed in time to operate. He graciously gave her a skilled surgeon and others to provide medical treatment. He graciously gave her a large family that loves her and supports her completely. The Bible says that every good gift and every perfect gift comes from God and only God. There are some gifts from God that we would deem as not being good. Again, I think this is due to our not having a complete understanding of what “good” is. The Bible also says that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. That perfectly describes my mother. I cannot comprehend how this awful illness will work for her good, outside of taking her to heaven, but I trust God and his word that he will somehow work things together for her good.

It is the last few verses of the book of Habakkuk that bring me the most comfort and peace during this time. Even though the prophet still does not understand the mysteries of the way the Lord chooses to work, he still has confidence in God. He describes the devastation that he sees coming and expresses his faith. I pray God will grant me that faith as the storms of confusion and doubt come. Habakkuk 3:17-19 says: “Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines, even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.”

Moral Battle For Stem Cells

This Sunday evening, the LIFE Group in which I participate will begin a new study series. It is a six-session series on Bioethics. Roughly three fourths of the group either works in or is formally trained in some area of the medical profession. Couple that with the increasingly important role medical technology plays in our personal lives and public policy, it seemed like an incredibly relevant topic for study. This session concerns the moral battle for stem cells. I will not take the time or space to share the bulk of the study, but I do want to share a few thoughts (and hopefully generate some discussion).

Let's start with a couple of short passages from the Bible:

"You must not murder." Exodus 20:13 (from the Ten Commandments)

"You have heard that our ancestors were told, 'You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.' But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell." Matthew 5:21-22 (from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount)

The following is from "Moral Battle for Stem Cells" from Christianity Today International, (c) 2007.

The biblical admonition against murder is clear. But is embryonic stem-cell research the same as murder? The embryos, under President Bush’s guidelines, have already been destroyed. Still, some say that the federal funding of the existing stem-cell lines from these embryos would support a culture of death. What do you think?

In Exodus, as God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, we see that one of the chief concerns of God is preservation of human life. In the New Testament, Jesus expands our understanding of this respect for life by broadening the concept of murder. Not only is it the taking of life from another human being, but we are also placed in danger of judgment when we treat others as valueless. In Matthew 5:21-22, the word raca means “empty-headed one.” In current terms, the term would translate as “an airhead,” “a dimwit,” or “an idiot.” To declare someone as raca means to say there is nothing of value in them and they have nothing to contribute to society.

[Q] Does the understanding of raca used in this passage inform the embryonic stem-cell debate?

The bible is clear. Murder is a violation of God's moral law. But is embryonic stem-cell research murder? In my understanding, if an embryo is properly implanted, it will grow until a child is born. That makes that embryo an early stage of a child. If the research on the embryo would prevent it from maturing into a child (obviously by destroying it), this is clearly murder. Under former President Bush's guidelines, the embryos used for research have already been destroyed. I do not think this necessarily supports a culture of death. If this embryo is simply a young human and it is already dead, is using it for research really any different than if my body were used for scientific research after I am dead? I don't think so.

Anytime Jesus taught on the law, He did not abolish or negate it. He enhanced it. He took it from the letter of the law and showed us the spirit of the law. These verses from Matthew are an example of this. We are people; every one of us is created in the image of God Himself. Each of us has value. From the youngest unborn to the oldest on his or her deathbed, these are not just people, but souls created with value to the Savior. If they matter to God they should matter to us.

What do you think? How do these and other passages of Scripture inform the embryonic stem-cell debate. Please comment below.

Psychology and Counseling for the Christian

In the Genesis account of the creation of man, there is no indication that God only created the physical. In a single act, God created the whole man. I believe this includes not only his physical body, but also his intellect and his emotion. When man sinned and experienced the fall, mankind was sentenced to death. This was primarily a spiritual death, but it clearly included physical death. Along with sin came sickness and disease. This extends beyond the physical body to the intellect and emotion. When my body is sick or injured, I seek the assistance of a medical professional to help restore my health. This does not mean that I do not have confidence in God's ability to heal me. I believe He can heal me either directly or through the work of a skilled physician. God is no less in charge of my healing.

I think the use of psychology within the framework of ministry works in a similar fashion. Broadly defined, psychology is the study of how people think and behave. Thanks to the first Adam and the fall, the way we think and behave has been damaged. Essentially, this is the problem of sin. Clearly, acceptance of the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only answer to the problem of sin. There is no biblical reason the study of psychology cannot be one of the tools used show individuals freedom and healing in Christ.

One thing that cannot be denied is that sin leaves scars in people's lives. This is true physically. If an individual lives a life of drug abuse, then accepts Christ as his savior, his body still bears the damage that the drugs caused. Over time, God may heal him and use him. God may even choose to take away the damage done, but that is not an automatic benefit of salvation. This is not unlike the emotion. Damage that is done before a person's conversion is not automatically healed. A trained counselor can be very beneficial in helping this individual experience the freedom and healing found in Christ.

This in no way negates the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. Romans 12 tells us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. This implies that God can redeem the damage that has been done. Nowhere does it say He can not or will not use human agency to help accomplish that task.

In my opinion, the use of psychology is both appropriate and beneficial for the Christian worker. It will help him or her offer counsel and insight into some of the ways God can take that which was damaged and make it more useful for His kingdom.

What do you think? What role, if any, do you see for counseling and psychology in Christian ministry?

"Laminin" email and Snopes.com

i am sure many of you have seen the email that is circulating about laminin. i have received it at least three times. (thanks sean, for one of those!) the writer of the email tells of being on the treadmill watching a message from louie giglio and being completely blown away by the description of and picture of laminin proteins.

this morning, i was reading my weekly email from snopes.com. i love snopes.com. this laminin email was the topic of one of their new articles. the article even includes this video:





as a side note: in the video, giglio refers to being near the end of their tour in tyler, texas, when he was told about laminins. i was at that concert. i am not the molecular biologist.


the crux of the story is that laminins are the proteins that hold the different cells of our bodies together. they are like the glue that keeps us from falling apart. this is a reminder of colossians 1:15-17: "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together." (emphasis mine; english standard version)


oh, yeah. i almost forgot. this is a scientific diagram of a laminin protein:

to me, and probably to you, this looks quite a bit like a cross. when i see this i have thoughts that go something like: "wow! before you created adam, you knew that it would be through the cross of jesus that that our very lives would be held together. and you represented it in our very cell structure! you are an amazing god!"

when snopes saw this, they said: (my response in italics)

1. the structure of laminin antedates by many thousands of years traditional christian accounts of the life of jesus. i know. that is one of the wonderful things about this. god knew from before the beginning that the cross of christ would be our hope and salvation.

2. a cross-like shape is a very simple structure that is commonly found in elements created naturally or accidentally. which one is this, natural or accidental? if it is natural, god designed it that way from the beginning. if it is accidental, how is that possible. this is the protein that holds us together. this is an accident? that is another post.

3. it is uncertain whether the form of the original crucifixion device was a stake, a t-shape, or the familiar cross of modern christian iconography. does it matter? god knew we would recognize the cross as a symbol or reminder of who jesus us and what he did for us. god chose to place this representation into our very cells.

4. one could find the shape of laminin to be reminiscent of a variety of common symbols aside from the cross. some viewers say it reminds them more of a caduceus. (the caduceus is the symbol for modern medicine.

this symbol is taken from the old testament story of the children of israel wandering in the wilderness. in numbers 21, god sent serpents to punish the people. when the repented of their sin, god had moses craft a bronze serpent and put it up on a pole. when the people looked on the bronze serpent, they were healed. jesus referenced when he was talking with nicodemus in john 3. jesus was looking ahead to his own death on the cross when he said, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life." (english standard version) the caduceus represents, at its very core, the healing at the cross.

i am glad that snopes.com has put this on their website. i am alright with them trying to discount the symbolism. they have put a video greater than six minutes long describing that our god is the creator and savior of the universe. they have put up a number of illustrations that god is our designer. they have put this before a larger audience than you or i likely ever could.

Life is Precious

last week i took she who must be obeyed to the movies. we went to a matinee showing of expelled: no intelligence allowed. i must say, go see this movie. it does a great job of exposing the biases in the scientific community. ben stein does a masterful job of hosting and narrating the film.

for a long time, christians (and others) have been bemoaning the moral decline in this country. many have pointed specifically to the lack of value that many give human life. i cannot begin to guess the number of people that have tried to blame the devaluation of life on the legalization of abortion. they say that since roe v. wade, people seem to give the human life less worth. i will agree that it has gotten worse since then, but i do not think that is the cause. i think the legalization of abortion, as well as the number of times the procedure is performed, are further symptoms of the problem, not the cause. the last half hour, or so, of the movie confirmed for me something i have believed for many years. at least in our society, the devaluation of human life on a large scale, is rooted in the acceptance of darwinian evolution.

the acceptance of darwinian evolution has been a major component of many atrocities. the most well known of these is the rise of hitler's nazi party in germany. this would include the holocaust, but that was only the largest, most well known element. before he began his attempt to destroy the jewish race, he began with eugenics. this was the movement to prevent the reproduction of the weakest of the species. these included the disabled, whether physically or mentally. hitler believed that evolution needed a helping hand. he was to be natural selection's assistant. this led to the attempted extermination of anyone he deemed inferior. this is the natural consequence of the combination of darwinian evolution and someone with a insatiable thirst for power and control.

this is why it is so critical that we teach our children well. i do mean the facts surrounding the creation and the scriptures, but not only that. we must teach our children and others the proper view of both god and man. we must teach the truth that god is the eternal creator of the universe. he is holy and just. he is all powerful and sovereign. he is beyond compare or even understanding. man is not. man is fallen and is born with a nature that is corrupt. man has no desire to turn to or follow god, outside the call of the holy spirit. man is desperately wicked. this wickedness is redeemed by god's righteousness.

what is your view of god? how about yourself? i don't mean to imply that anyone who believes in evolution will attempt to follow in hitler's footsteps. but the line of logic is not hard to follow. does it make sense to you? what do you think?

Just Like Me

i used to listen to country music. a lot. in the last few years, i have listened almost exclusively to christian music of one variety or another. that being said, i still have a soft spot for george strait. that's right, king george. in my large sport utility vehicle, i have xm satellite radio. on xm, they are celebrating the release of king george's latest album, troubador, during the month of april by hosting strait country. this is a channel devoted to george strait music 24/7. it is good. it is very good.

i heard a song today that i had not heard in several years. it is called "the best day". it talks about a father and son. after some particular event, the son declares to the father that this may be the best day of his life. it is a very sentimental lyric, in a very simple way. i do not know why, but the words of the bridge and last chorus really affected me today. they go like this:

Standin' in a little room back of the church with our tuxes on,
Lookin' at him I say, I can't believe, son that you've grown.
He said,

Dad, this could be the best day of my life.
I've been dreamin' day and night of bein' like you.
Now it's me and her, Watchin' you and mom I've learned,
I'm the luckiest man alive, This is the best day of my life.

i want a lot of things for my sons. mostly, i want them to love jesus and serve him. i want them to have wives that are the perfect helpmeet for them. i want them to have wonderful families. i want them to have jobs and/or ministries that god uses in a powerful way. i want them to have a model of the men they should be. i want to be the kind of father for them, that if they are just like me, they will be all that god has for them. i want to be worthy of the words, "i've been dreamin' day and night of bein' like you." how am i doing? i wish you had not asked. i realize i can be pretty tough on myself, but i would have to say mediocre, at best. i have great sons. most of the time, i think it is in spite of their father, not because of him. sometimes i just do not know what to do.

writing to the church in corinth, paul says: "For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me." (1 corinthians 4:15,16) then, a little later, he says: "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ." (1 corinthians 11:1) according to paul, if i imitate christ, i can safely, and with confidence, urge my sons to imitate me. they will likely try to imitate me anyway, but with christ as my example, imitating me will be a good thing.

Stained Glass to Video

i like stained glass. it is not really my style to display much in my home, and i attend a contemporary church where stained glass would look out of place, but i like stained glass. i have never been to the great cathedrals of europe or even the ones here in north america, but i have seen photographs and video on television. and that brings me to my main point. i was at a conference recently and heard mark batterson speak. he said something that struck me as particularly insightful. i do not know if it was original to him or not. this is what he said: "to a post-literate generation, video is the new stained glass." this struck me as a profound statement. i have spent some time thinking through the implications of this.

i was at a funeral last year in an episcopal church. it was a beautiful old church building downtown. if you stood in the aisle and looked around the room, you would see beautifully crafted stained glass illustrations of key moments from the new testament. at the front of the room, above the alter, is a large window with the scene of the nativity. at the back of the room is a stained glass rendition of da vinci's the last supper. all around the room are windows depicting other scenes from the new testament. there is jesus' baptism, as well as the crucifixion and resurrection. this church was modeled after the old cathedrals with their wonderful imagery.

the old cathedrals were largely built in a pre-literate culture. before the printing press with movable type, anything printed was expensive and only the wealthy had any books. the average person had no way to read god's story of redemption. even in the church, which was primarily the roman church, mass was conducted in latin. people could look around the room and see pictures of the story of redemption in the stained glass windows.

as history has passed, we have gone from a pre-literate culture to a literate culture. with younger postmoderns, we are passing into a post-literate generation. it is not that they cannot read, they simply do not read. there are exceptions, but i believe these things to be largely true. young people read fewer novels, they watch movies. they read fewer short stories, they watch television and youtube. they read fewer newspapers, they get the news from television and the internet. even when they read online, it is often through interactive sites. they are allowed to comment and post video responses.

in church, video is the new stained glass. stained glass windows served to tell the story of god's redemptive plan in a format the learner could understand. video is the format younger learners understand. i am coming to believe more and more that if you are not using video in your teaching of the scripture, you are not speaking the language of part of your audience. how are you doing? who do you know that does this well?

The Balanced Life II

there seem to be rhythms to life. these might best be described as ebbs and flows of life. there clearly are seasons when our jobs or ministries demand more of our time and energy and times when things seem to just click along. there are times when our families make relatively few demands of us and times when we must focus almost solely on them. i have come to the realization that our lives are not necessarily meant to be balanced so much as they should be lived in obedience to god and in the season he has placed us in.

right now, my life seems as out of balance as i have ever felt. i am finding this feeling very difficult to deal with. i like to have a plan for what i am doing and where i am going. right now there doesn't seem to be one. i am convinced that god is leading me to work in ministry as a vocation. i do not have any strong sense of what that will look like. that feeling of uncertainty is troubling. i would love to serve in my current church home. i do not know if that is what god has for me, or if that is within the capacity of the church. i am not even sure they would want me. i have some good ideas - at least i think they are good - but i don't know if they would work where we are located (or anywhere, for that matter).

i am a student. i am enrolled in college and taking a pretty heavy load, especially considering i am back in college to complete my degree after about fifteen years away. this takes a lot of time. probably too much. i have a part-time associate pastor position in my church. i probably work more than i should (for a part-time position). i say my priority is my wife then children. they might argue with that. i think i am in a season of hard work right now. i am waiting on my season of rest and rebuilding. i feel really out of balance. but i am not called to be balanced. i am called to be obedient. i am called by god to complete my education and work in a church setting. i am called by god to care for my family. i am going to screw up parts of it. when i do, i repent to the ones affected and get back at it and try not to screw up the same thing again (although i likely will).

during all my time of uncertainty, i can rely on one fact. god is good all the time; and all the time, god is good. when i feel out of balance, i can know that god always rights the scales.

Holy Week

as we begin holy week, or the week leading up to easter, i have been spending some time really considering what the death and resurrection is all about. this is the simple truth of the gospel. mark batterson summed it up beautifully in his blog today. here is what he said:

On a personal note, I went through a season in my early twenties when I explored lots of different religious traditions. And I was impressed with some of the concepts and rituals and practices. But it also cemented this core belief: Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one else lived a sinless life. No one else died for my sins. And no one else was raised from the dead. My faith isn't anchored in concepts or rituals or practices. My faith is anchored in a person who was fully human and fully God.

this is the power and grace that only god has the authority to shower on us. this is the jesus that gives us access to god the father. this is the god that saved me. this is the god we give our lives to. as the week goes on, i will plan to share more of my thoughts on its significance.