Thine is The Kingdom

Same Dude, New Viewed

2019-08-27T18:01:00.004-07:00

ATTENTION FOLLOWERS OF MY BLOG.

I am starting a new blog up over at Where The Battle Runs Thick. I've really appreciated all the interaction I have gotten from all of you over the years and I hope to see you over there!

Justice for Alfie

2018-04-28T11:01:00.001-07:00

So the British government killed Alfie Evans. Like Charlie Gard before him. It is legislative murder. Barbaric, inhumane, reprehensible. They climb unhesitatingly up the steps of Babel, and the hellfire of God's wrath is licking up the foundations beneath them. And while we are right to be enraged- this baby was my own daughter's age- I just- there aren't words- let us not forget that we here in the US just insist on having our babies killed *inside* the womb. We are not far behind. God will not be mocked.

If you want to argue for gun control, look to England. Now they're banning knives. And if you want to argue for national healthcare, look to England. They are starving babies to death while their parents watch, surrounding the hospital with police so they cannot take their baby to the helicopter waiting outside.

If you make the state your god, don't be surprised when he demands sacrifices.

"Let those be put to shame and brought to dishonor who seek after my life; let those be turned back and brought to confusion who plot my hurt. Let them be like chaff before the wind, and let the angel of the Lord chase them. Let their way be dark and slippery, and let the angel of the Lord pursue them.

For without cause they have hidden their net for me in a pit, which they have dug without cause for my life. Let destruction come upon him unexpectedly, and let his net that he has hidden catch himself; into that very destruction let him fall. Lord, how long will You look on? Rescue me from their destructions, my precious life from the lions. I will give You thanks in the great assembly; I will praise You among many people."

#JusticeforAlfie #JusticeforCharlie

Shadows of the Son

2018-02-03T09:02:00.001-08:00

There are dangerous ministries and false teachers today who are proclaiming a return to "Hebraic Christianity" as the true way of obedience to God. This return includes wearing tassels on your clothes, celebrating the Jewish feasts, not eating "unclean" meats, keeping the 7th-day Sabbath, only referring to Jesus and God by Their Hebrew Names, requiring circumcision, and more, to the point where I have actually seen stated that nothing of the old covenant has been changed or removed.

This is a destructive and divisive heresy, and we must be prepared to respond to it Scripturally. One might think such a response would be easy, but a short perusal of their voluminous teachings will show them to be confusing, ambiguous, and convincing.

I know and love people who follow these teachings; I do not know the heart of these teachers; all I know is that the doctrines are enticing and destructive, and we must beware.

In Christ, the Old Covenant is obsolete and has disappeared (Heb. 8:13). This does not mean that the Old Testament is no longer authoritative, but it means that everything having to do with the temple (9:1-9), the ceremonial laws- specifically washings and diet- (9:10-12), the sacrificial system (10:8-10) which by implication includes the feasts and all Jerusalem- and temple-specific commands- all of these are "taken away".

On the question of the Sabbath there is Christian liberty as demanded by Romans 14.

A disturbing pattern with these movements involves a few elements:

- divisiveness (Titus 1:11)
- focus on "disputes about the law" rather than the weightier matters of Christianity, distracting from the Messiah Himself (Titus 3:9)
- a cult-like perception of being the true Christianity, rather than a humble appreciation for denominational differences
- a pursuit of Jew-likeness, rather than Christ-likeness (not stated, but taught in effect)
- rejection of church history and the authority of church elders, and failure to be in fellowship with other believers (1 Pet. 5, Heb. 10:25)
- lengthy and long-winded twistings of Scripture to remove Its clear meaning and replace it with one which fits an old-covenant narrative
-an explicit or implicit rejection of Christian liberty in any of these areas (Rom. 14)

"But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, "If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?""

Love the Babies

2018-01-25T09:01:00.001-08:00

Birth control and family planning. It should be obvious to every Christian that abortion and any forms of birth control that kill a baby, even in the earliest stages of life, are contrary to God's command against murder. But is that the end of Biblical perspective on childbearing?

Scripture universally presents (Godly/well-trained) children as two things (Ps. 127):

1. A blessing
2. Directly given by God

Since every baby is personally knit together by God- and not simply the result of a natural, random process- why would we take "family planning"- even non-abortifacient family planning- into our own hands?

This issue can be complicated, especially when health issues come into the picture. But we have to take God at His Word and walk on faith first- not start with our reasoning and then look at Scripture.

That Pesky Titus 2

2018-01-05T10:02:00.001-08:00

“...that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be dishonored.” - Titus 2:4+5

This exhortation to young women cannot be neglected; it is clear in the text, but it is not culturally acceptable today, and as such it is easy to let it go unmentioned. Sinful man is very concerned with self-definition, self-realization, and unbridled autonomy. But God is in the business of bridling His creation; He both creates and defines what He has created. Truly, He is the most qualified to do the defining, and it is in keeping His commandments that our joy is made full. The bridling of the horse unleashes its power. (John 15)

From my own limited experience and observation, it seems that about ten years ago this passage and its presentation of the homemaking woman was very much in vogue in conservative Christian circles; honestly, it was perhaps presented a little too unilaterally, without enough room for Christian liberty and variety in application. A home business was the only option for a single young woman who wanted to be financially productive. For a girl to consider a college education was heresy- maybe not punishable by the tribunal, but certainly deserving of concerned condescension. Christian womanhood was supposed to look the same way for everyone. But that never happens, and it isn’t supposed to. The tapestry of the Church is a varicolored tunic, not a straightjacket.

Now, however, we seem to have taken a ride on the pendulum; now, we not only embrace Christian liberty and variety, but we practically disembowel the Scriptural commands in the process. We have rejected straightjacket and varicolored tunic alike, and we are running through the streets baring our liberty for all to see. Now this passage really means nothing- yes, we accept it as Scripture, and we make a nod to some vague idea about the wife being the homemaker. But Titus 2 doesn’t really have much bearing on whether or not my wife should get a job, or whether or not our girls should learn old-fashioned homemaking tasks. Perhaps most damaging of all is the strong perception that keeping the home and raising the kids is a second-level calling, as if the passionate pursuit of this essential mission reduces a woman to being too easily satisfied. As if “stay at home mom” was equivalent to “the help.”

This passage does mean something, and we cannot shy away from it; we must let God speak. God has called women to a different role than men, and for a woman to set that calling aside is for her to take a step down, not a step up. God does call women to be home-centered (and He does call them to be subject to their husbands, since we’re already stepping on toes here). It is straightforward in the text. It isn’t for me or anyone else to define for everyone exactly what those two things mean in practice. But the point is that they mean something. The application of the principle will vary, but there must be an application.

We cannot be ashamed of the Word of God. His commands are good, and they bring life and joy.

If we do not embrace this facet of God’s design for His people, then we will give occasion for the Word of God to be dishonored.

Tomorrow's Yesterday

2018-01-02T14:58:00.000-08:00

The seeds have been sown in the field of memory, and they will grow up into eternal fruits. Before us stretches another empty field, soft and tilled and fertile, its sweet, earthy smell joining the January sunrise in a chorus that sings of promise and opportunity. What are the seeds that we will sow? What are the memories that we will make? We wave a bittersweet goodbye to another Christmas, but it won’t be long before we are putting the lights up again. What will those lights shine upon this next December?

Now is our chance. Step into the house of mourning with me, and take a long draw off the cup of mortality. Look in the rear view mirror and see the string of yesterdays that led to you, here, now- and then look down the road and realize that you are living in tomorrow’s yesterday. One down, 364 to go. How are we going to use them? Where are we going to spend them?

As we walk on legs of recollection through the field of 2017, what do we see? What little eternal sprouts promise the fruits of life and Godliness? Which patches of time are tainted by tares sown in anger or covetousness or laziness?

And what shall we do with the empty field before us now?

That is the exciting promise of the new year. Exciting for the possibilities. Exciting for the opportunities. But most of all exciting for the unshakeable assurance that, whatever may come, whatever wheat and whatever tares may be sown, the Lord of the harvest is working the whole field for His ends. He will be exalted. His children will be cared for. And that makes it a very happy new year.

Easy or hard, we cannot know. Happy or sad, we have no promise. But as children of the living, sovereign God, we can know without doubt that 2018 will be a good year.

It is for us to simply seek first His kingdom; to rekindle the love that has grown cold; to rejoin the battle against sin; to renew our happy gratitude for His abundant blessings; to rejoice in the promise of His victory and the richness of His love.

The Lord reigns; let the earth rejoice! For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. So draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Take every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ. And make the most of your time. You only get one 2018. Every choice is a seed- every moment a memory. Let us strive for a harvest of glory that will please our King, and for a year of choices which we will remember without regret. And let us do so in the power of Christ, knowing that it is His power which makes us alive and able, and His righteousness which makes us acceptable to the Father.

What are your goals? What are your prayers? What is the Father calling you to do?

How will you lead your family? How will you strengthen your marriage? How will you win the hearts of your children? How will you invest in your siblings, or your local church, or the community around you?

What is going to fill your days, your home, your year? Faces or screens? Complaining or thanksgiving? Irritation or joy?

What is going to fill the hearts and affections of your family? Jesus? Relationships? Fantasy? Hollywood?

What will be the things that you make time for? Family worship? Monday night football? Personal prayer? Exercise? Pinterest? The new Star Wars movie? Family dinners?

These are the seeds that sow the fields; these are the memories that weave the tapestry of our lives. Every day is a stitch, a stroke, a note in the song of life, and once sung it cannot be changed.

Let us choose wisely.

Two Ways To Be A Bad Patriarch

2017-12-01T19:58:00.002-08:00

Husbands and fathers, we have been given a great authority and responsibility by God as the heads of our homes. There are two easy ways to misuse this authority and place ourselves in the pathway of God's judgment.

1. To fail to exercise our authority- like David, who "had never crossed [Absalom] at any time by asking, "Why have you done so?"" The passive father who does not actively lead his family has been given authority by God, but has left it sitting on a shelf collecting dust, and he will answer for the resulting disrepair all the more because he neglected to use the very tool God gave to prevent it.

2. To over-exercise our authority, or to act as if it has no limitations- like King Uzziah, who presumed to offer incense on God's altar and thus overstepped his God-given authority. The father who exercises authority without love, or who acts as if his wife or children are to obey him without limitation, without recourse, and most of all without their own personal sense of duty and relationship to Christ, may expect a similar rebuke: "Get out of the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful and will have no honor from the Lord God.”

The Highway of Heroism

2017-11-13T15:40:00.001-08:00

This article is by turns fascinating and heartbreaking. It is amazing how humanism takes us by the hand and walks us away from God's reality- and indeed from all true meaning and joy.

It's no longer about truth or reality. It's about the experience. It doesn't matter if you are actually a man- if you *feel* like a woman, then you must be. It doesn't matter if you are *actually* the little girl's daddy, so long as you make her *feel* like she has an involved father. It doesn't matter if you are in a committed relationship for life; it just matters that, for right now, she makes you feel good.

Thus we run from the real world that God made, a world of meaning, a world of true family, a world of covenant, a world of unconditional love.

All we want is the experience.

The highway of heroism has a high toll, paid in blood, sweat, and tears. But the game console version only costs a couple of hundred bucks and your manhood.

The road of reality is hot in the summer and covered with snow in the winter. Let me watch the movie about someone who traveled that road instead.

I'll get the experience without the sacrifice. The joy without the pain.

But that's a lie.

Because the experiences of God's World are not only about what we enjoy in them but about what they do to us. And if you remove sacrifice from the equation, you have an anvil with no hammer. The sword will not be sharpened without friction.

Remove the trial, remove the reward. Remove the race, remove the finish line. Remove the battle, remove the thrill of victory.

Rent a perfect boyfriend who plays his script to perfection and you will experience happiness. You will experience wonderful dates and comfortable movie nights.

But you will never taste looking into the eyes of a soul so close to yours that it is almost indistinguishable. You will never have your soul broken by the careless words of your best friend, and re-forged in the tears of her repentance. You will never discover just how deep your selfishness runs like rot into the foundations of your soul, or just how much you need Jesus to rebuild that foundation, or just how much joy awaits when He does and you feel the layers of flesh falling away. You will never know sweet tears or broken laughter. You will never be the last, longest-married couple on the dance floor at the wedding. You will never hold the same hand that you've been holding for sixty years, or wake up an old man to the same kisses you first tasted on your wedding day. You will never bear the burdens of crushing pain beside another weeping heart. You will never see overflowing joy spilling from your heart and splashing shimmering sparkles into the most beautiful eyes in the world. And you will never, one day, wake up alone, and feel like half of your heart is buried under six feet of earth and half of your soul is waiting for you at the feet of Jesus.

So yes. We can trade this life in for a facade. Yes, there will be less pain. The dead don't feel pain.

But neither can they laugh.

Is America under Judgment?

2017-09-11T16:25:00.001-07:00

Eclipses and hurricanes and floods and fires and the conversation is inevitable- is God punishing us?

The answer is undoubtedly yes. But not necessarily in the way that we are used to thinking.

Throughout Scripture, signs in the heavens and catastrophic natural events are seen as being sent by God. However, unlike Biblically prophesied events, modern natural disasters- while being no less acts of God- have no clear word from God that says that they are anything more than His Providential and glorious weather-working. So could tragedies like Harvey and celestial anomalies like the recent eclipse be signs and judgments upon America?

Absolutely.

If they are, do we deserve them? We murder our babies by the hundreds of thousands, we dismember and dismantle the most foundational elements of God's design for marriage, sexuality, and the family, we blaspheme our Creator, we institutionalize theft, we divorce our wives and abandon our kids- yes, we deserve them.

But do we know that they are judgments?

No. We have no direct revelation from God saying that they are.

It is all too easy for us to let physical appearances eclipse spiritual realities. We cannot know that Harvey was a messenger of Divine retribution- although it might have been. But we can know that God's judgment is very real and active upon our nation on a deeper and more chilling level.

As a country we no longer know what it means to be male or female. We fly into riots over trifles and are offended by the slightest transgressions. We don't believe in truth and are shocked that we cannot make sense of reality; we deny that words have meaning and then discover that conversation is meaningless.

This is the judgement of God. "And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind..."

There is salvation in no other Name. Yes, America is under judgment, and conservatism will not change that, Republicanism will not change that, even traditional values will not change that. Only real and lasting repentance before the One True God of Heaven through His Son Jesus Christ caused by the outpouring of His Spirit can save this country. It is for that repentance that we must pray and labor.

The Crying Baby In The Room

2017-08-23T13:06:00.002-07:00

I'm going to start off by saying that I unilaterally and unequivocally condemn racism of every shape, color, and size, white supremacy included. God made us all in His Image. The Sacrifice of Christ and His Gospel are offered to all people regardless of the amount of melanin in their skin. And God is the One Who put that melanin there anyway. Any belief that one race of humanity is inherently, genetically better than another is anti-Christian and immoral. There only, really, is one race- descendants of Adam. The question for everyone of every race is not about the bloodline they were born into, but whether they have been born again by the blood of Christ.

That said, I think we are contributing to the race-driven dialogue of this country by spending so much time harping on this wonderful truth. Unwittingly- indeed, against our will- we are allowing the Antifas and the Alt-Rights and the CNNs to control our dialogue as a church and as a nation. Antifa and the Alt-Right together make one tragic fiasco after another, driven by racial hatred; the media, loving a good tragedy, focuses on, meditates on, propagates that conflict and the worldviews of those involved; the left successfully sets the tone of the dialogue- "anyone on the right who does not come out and condemn the Alt-Right in the strongest of terms is a racist." And we know they have succeeded because all over the right are calls for conservatives and Christians everywhere to come out and publicly denounce white supremacy.

The right fires back by telling the left to condemn the racism and violence of Antifa and Black Lives Matter and the rest. 

And all of these things should be condemned. But that's not the point.

There have been white supremacists and black power groups and rioting socialists before. They are advancing an evil ideology, sure. And sometimes a particular Klaner or Black Panther does something particularly repugnant, and I am in no way downplaying the evil of both those ideologies and the actions of their adherents.

But just because I am white does not mean that every time the Alt-Right guys do something evil I need to come out and disassociate myself from them. To consider me automatically associated with white supremacy because of my skin color *is racism*. Just because Joe is black doesn't mean that I have a right to automatically assume that he supports the smashing of shop windows. 

The most disturbing thing to me about this whole issue, this whole dialogue, is that nationally we are becoming more and more polarized by skin color- not less and less. It is becoming less and less acceptable to actually look at one another as humans- to actually talk about skin color with all the same emotional freight as I would talk about hair color or height or dialect- in other words, with no emotional freight at all.

Frankly, I don't care what color your skin is. And I don't want to care what color your skin is. You're a human. I want to see you as such. To know you as such. To love you as such and offer the goodness of Jesus to you as such.

And if you call me white, it doesn't offend me. I'm white. Technically, I'm more of a light brown- at least on the parts of me that are regularly exposed to the Arizona sun. And I don't really care. That's how God made me. 

"Black," "White," "Indian," whatever it is- it's not an insult. It's simple, common-sense English.

The simple fact is that the Alt-Right and Antifa together probably make up less than a tenth of one percent of the population of America. You probably don't know anyone personally who knows anyone personally who knows anyone personally who is a member of either.

Have you ever noticed the remarkable phenomenon of a crying baby/toddler? When everyone stops and pays attention to them, usually the crying increases. When they are given a pat on the head and life goes on as usual, they calm down.

I think it's high time we began ignoring Antifa and the Alt-Right altogether. They're a paper tiger problem being given real weight by all the massive attention put upon them. They are an anthill, and we need to stop viewing them through a magnifying glass.

When they break the law (vandalizing statues, harming people, etc.), they should be punished according to the law.

Beyond that, they should be devoutly ignored. They are driven not by principle but by emotion- an emotion that is fed by the swirling dialogue of our national conversation. That is the Marxist crisis-creation machine working in full swing. Let's not contribute to it.

We need to allow the issue of race to fade back into the background of irrelevance where it belongs and see people the way God made them- in His Image. Let's stop playing in their sandbox. It's just making everything more messy.

On Modesty and Dead Horses

2017-07-20T13:12:00.003-07:00

Ah, we have dug up the corpse of the modesty horse from the backyard once again. Grab your bats, everyone.

But it's not really beating a dead horse; more like a zombie horse; some battles need re-fought, and some need re-focused. In all the back-and-forth, we may hope and trust that God is honing the effectiveness of His Church.

Like most issues, the modesty issue really boils down to whether or not we are seeking God wholeheartedly. If we are, we can grow in wisdom. If we are not, then we will dig into one side or the other and stay there.

Blamers gonna blame. Legalists gonna legal. Libertines gonna liber.

For the girl who wants to feel justified in dressing in ways that are worldly and reminiscent of the Proverbs 7 woman, articles like the recent viral wonderpost provide the perfect ammunition to cast blame on the men around her.

For the guy who wants to feel justified in ogling his sisters in Christ, any given call to modesty for girls is the perfect ammunition to cast blame on the women around him.

So the real question is- have we removed the log from our own eye?

Am I arguing for "modesty" because I'm unwilling to repent of my own sin, or maybe because I am desperate to uphold man-made standards and too proud to lend an honest ear to a critique?

Am I arguing against "modesty" because I want to be free to dress the way that makes me feel beautiful, rather than the way that best honors Christ and serves others?

We are all responsible for how we dress- for how it represents Christ, and for how it affects others. We should be dressing for Christ and for others, not for self. This would obviously include having some sort of standard for decency (and I believe that that goes for both guys and girls- http://allauthority.blogspot.com/…/magic-mike-and-male-mode…). (1 Cor. 13:4-8)

We are also all responsible for how we think. Guys, if we don't take our lustful thoughts captive, our poor sisters could walk around in burkhas and we would find that their eyes were enticing. "Girl, the bridge of your nose is causing me to stumble." (Matt. 5:28)

And girls, it's also unfair to tell guys to keep their eyes under control while posting drool-stained fangirl comments about the screenshot of Mr. Hotness, coming in HD December 2017. I'm just sayin', all that drool ain't good for your keyboard.

Somewhere out there on the war-torn battleground of sexuality and decency is wisdom.

The devil would be happy to convince us that God doesn't care, and to render us as Christians just as naked and licentious as the world. "You shall not surely die."

The devil would also be happy to see us fenced up in a bunker of our own traditions and legalisms, so focused on this or any other peripheral issue that the Christ that we claim to serve fades into the background. "Hath God said?"

And the devil would probably also be happy to divide us into the two above camps and keep us busy fighting between ourselves and representing a divided Christ to the world around us.

We all know (or should know) that some attire is not fit for the public eye. If we are humble enough, we should be able to discuss one another's standards, learn from each other, discover how best to love and consider each other, embrace liberty in Christ, and seek wisdom.

It's not "girls, wear what you want." It's not "guys, think what you want." We're Christians. The whole point of this thing is that for every one of us the command is crystal clear- "do what Jesus wants."

So let's humble ourselves and seek God together.

2017-04-19T13:30:00.000-07:00

Reposted from my music website:

The filmmaking world is unique for a variety of reasons; the convergence of disciplines, personalities, passions and skills that come together to make a single production is staggering, and the community that such like-minded laboring forges is easily compared to the relationship of a family; the cash flows in torrents, circulating enough green rectangular blood cells through the body of the filmmaking community to support many thousands of professionals and their families; the end product will often be seen by millions of eyes in dozens of countries around the world. With such a huge industry, so much skill, so many relationships, so much money, so much exposure and influence, it becomes quickly obvious why filmmaking makes such a powerful tool for the advancement of the Kingdom of God; inherent in a tool’s power, however, is a corresponding necessity for the careful use thereof.

There are no seven day waiting periods for the purchase of butter knives.

So what are the inherent dangers and temptations facing us as Christian filmmakers? While I cannot claim to list them all, I would like to suggest three powerful lures that would love to displace Christ as the king of our hearts.

The first is money. There is nothing wrong with a desire to make money- to the contrary, we are required to provide for our own, and that implies making money. Furthermore, Scripture says that the laborer is worthy of his wages. It is not “more Christian” to work for free, nor is it somehow wrong to charge a price that makes our work profitable. But the problem arises when we see our professional pursuit primarily as a means to make money, rather than primarily as a means to serve God. We cannot serve both God and money, and in an industry so flush with cash- especially in the secular realm of Hollywood- the lure of riches shimmers bright and golden, and we as believers must remind ourselves of what is truly priceless. (1 Tim. 5:8,18, Luke 16:13)

The second is fame. Your average McDonald’s burger-flipper isn’t interested in making sure that he is known nationwide as the most talented patty artist. But step into the filmmaking community and “who you know” becomes essential to professional success. You need a brand; you need name recognition; you need a social network. And these are simply necessary considerations for a wise businessperson. But it is a very short step from Christ-focused pursuit of professional excellence and self-focused pursuit of fame. A good litmus test for this consideration is whether or not we can rejoice in the success of other believers, especially those who share an identical professional pursuit. If my focus is on Jesus, and if I am considering others more important than myself, then when that other composer gets signed onto the awesome film project, I will be glad for him, praying for him, and excited to see God’s Kingdom go forward. I will also trust Him to provide for my needs in the way that is best for me- even if that means I need to get a job at McDonald’s! After all, if I am seeking first His Kingdom, then it is about His fame and not my own. If, however, my focus is on myself, I will struggle with coveting others’ successes, and I will not be content with the blessings God has given me. (Matt. 6:33, Phil. 2)

The final snare to beware (for this post, at least) is the idol of art. We creatives are generally quite passionate about our respective crafts, and there are few things more satisfying than making a ________ (scene, score, script, etc.) that turns out just right. But as satisfying as that is, it is ultimately empty if it is not subject to our pursuit of Christ. The goal of artistry is not just to create excellent art; it is to create excellent art for the glory of our excellent God. This doesn’t mean cramming a “pray-a-prayer” scene into every script, but it does mean that our definition of good art stems from our pursuit of Christ and our understanding of His leading on our life. It also means that if our artistic pursuit is not what God wants us to do right now, we will not cling stubbornly to our dreams, but will rather follow the leading of our King. If the question changes from “what does Christ want me to do” into “what do I want to do” in our pursuit of artistic excellence, then we have created a golden calf in the shape of our passion, and we have revealed the true attitude of our heart- more passionate about our craft than about our Christ. This can also be diagnosed with a simple question- if Jesus wanted me to quit filmmaking and go work in a gas station, would I be OK with that? (1 Cor. 10:31)

This all boils down to the simple commandment to seek first the Kingdom of God- to love Him with all our hearts. If we are doing that, then we will see that no amount of money, no amount of fame, no level of artistic achievement can ever rival the joy and perfection that is for us in the infinitely satisfying Jesus Christ. (Matt. 6:33, 22:37, John 15:11)

The Lures of Sin

2017-03-09T08:01:00.003-08:00

Pr. 7 warns against the adulteress and her lures; I suspect that there are some principles in her approach that are reflective of all sin.

- Permission - although we know the sin is wrong, we try to justify it one way or another - "today I have paid my vows"

- Pride - oftentimes the lures of sin appeal to our pride, even back in the garden with the invitation to be like God - "to seek your presence earnestly" [It's also worth noting that she/sin doesn't actually care a bit about him; he is a piece of meat to her; but she will make him feel important.]

- Pleasure - sin always promises some pleasure or another; even while we are miserable in our sin our flesh still has a sick enjoyment in it - "let us delight ourselves with caresses"

- Promise - sin also paints itself as a consequence-free endeavor; "you will not surely die" - "at full moon he will come home."

So then, in fighting sin, we can watch for these commonalities and respond with a Scriptural perspective on each issue:

- As Jesus responded to the devil, who tried to twist Scripture into justifying sin, by quoting God's commands right back at him, so we must refute the justifying endeavors of the flesh by simply responding with God's Word. "I really have a right to be angry right now. I can't believe he did that to m- WAIT. The anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God." (Matt. 4:1-11)

- When pride becomes part of the equation (which it almost always is), we need to identify the area of self-focus, self-exaltation, the area where I am big and Jesus and others are small. In the above example, notice the focus on self- *I* have a right to be angry; *I* can't believe *he* did that to *me.* I am no longer thinking of myself as an unworthy recipient of the grace of God who deserves nothing better than eternal judgment for my sin; if I was, I wouldn't be so worked up over something so small, but would rather realize that I don't deserve any better! I am also no longer thinking of the other guy as more important than myself. (Phil. 2:3)

- We must identify the pleasure that sin is promising and remind ourselves that we won't actually get pleasure from this sin, even here and now; it will at best be passing and overshadowed by guilt. Then let us simply get a glimpse of the beauty and joy to be had in God's path of life, and the pleasures of sin will be overwhelmingly eclipsed. (John 15:11)

- Sin promises that "you shall not surely die." We feel like it's worth it; we'll get away with it and there won't be consequences. But we must remind ourselves that its end is "the way of death;" rather than looking at what sin says the harvest will be, we should read God's warnings written on the package of seeds. He has warned us what those pleasures will cost in 2, 12, 20 years. He offers life, and we would be wise to focus our hearts on the rewards *He* promises, which are far richer than any fake delights sin can offer. (Pr. 9)

Review: Rogue One

2017-02-16T21:48:00.001-08:00

It's been a long time since my last film review, but this one is worth coming out of hibernation for. The reception for the latest installment of the Star Wars saga has been overwhelmingly positive, and the film will obviously have significant cultural reach, so like a cargo shuttle from a spacecraft of dubious intent it deserves a close inspection before being provided a docking bay in our homes and hearts.

THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

The Good

The Worldview

There are plenty of good lessons to take away from this movie:

- It is good to have the courage to sacrifice ourselves for others and/or a cause greater than ourselves (and here the Christian worldview provides the only cause worth dying for; our heroes are dying for arbitrary values, but their courage is still commendable) - John 15:13

- Tyrannical regimes that centralize power in the name of peace are bad and should be resisted; liberty is good and should be defended - Neh. 4:14

- Family relationships are good and parents should take care of their children - 1 Tim. 5:8

- Trust has to be earned - Pr. 20:6

The Art

The art in this film was pretty much what you would expect from a modern Star Wars movie, with the exceptions we will note in the next section; incredible graphics, engaging sound design, solid acting. And really cool shots of Darth Vader.

I really appreciate the fact that they actually let people die. In particular, the deaths of the main characters at the end added a lot of weight to the importance of their quest and the depth of their resolve which is severely lacking in most modern movie fare.

The romance was tasteful and believable (although largely lacking the richness of gender distinction and attraction).

Also, the tie-in to the next film was masterful.

The Bad

The Worldview

As far as the battle of the worldviews is concerned, however, this film is overall fighting for the Dark Side. And I don't mean the Dark Side of the movie's universe; of course Vader and his ilk are still the bad guys; I mean the Dark Side of the real universe. Rogue One is packed full of unBiblical messages that are easy to miss and easier to absorb. Whether such packing was intentional or not doesn't really matter- whether the droid meant to shoot you or not, the blaster hit hurts just the same.

- One of the most chilling messages of the film was a new one to this franchise. In the previous episodes of Star Wars, the good guys did good things. They wore white hats. They played by the rules. Any good guy who started fudging wound up Darth Vader. Rogue One presented a world of heroes driven by situational and relativistic ethics. Cassian, who by the end of the film is a hero, in the beginning of the film shoots a man in the back in cold blood and without any justification beyond convenience. Later, he shoots and kills a resistance fighter (who is ostensibly on his side) which leads to the death of other resistance fighters, to save Jyn from an accidental demise- we can debate the ethics of that choice, but the point is that the choice was presented in the first place, and he with no hesitation does what seems best to him. Later still, he, at the head of a group of other rebel fighters, mentions how they all basically feel guilty for doing immoral things for the sake of the rebellion. And these are the heroes... and they aren't repenting of the immoral things; they just feel bad about them.

You can have complex heroes and villains and still have a clear standard of right and wrong. God does. (Is. 5:20)

- Which brings us to point two; as with all films that will not acknowledge God or His Word, there is no standard for morality in this film. The good guys are good because they are... good at heart-ish... and care for other people... sometimes. Unless they are shooting them in the back for convenience's sake; then they feel guilty. Maybe. IDK.

Of course, that is better than the straight-up cold-blooded conscienceless city-destroying that the Empire represents... but we only know it is better because we all have God's Law written on our hearts. This film has begun watering down the distinction between the Dark Side and the Light Side... but that distinction has been arbitrary since Episode I. Or IV. Or whatever.

Humanism is coming home. The worldviews forged over the past century are finally making their way onto the silver screen. Our standards of morality are going rogue, and the galaxy will suffer for it.

- Which brings us to point three; redemption through good works. These guys are like Natasha Romanoff; they've got red in their ledger, and they are out to really strike a blow against the Empire to make up for the bad things they did so they can feel better about themselves. Even though they did the bad things for good reasons. Umwut?

This mode of salvation is directly opposed to salvation by repentance and faith in Jesus Christ- the only way we can be forgiven for our sins.

- Next, we have the good ol' mumbo jumbo about the Force. Let's not beat around the bush here- this stuff is blasphemy in pure form; evil and devilish and yet so innocent on its face. It attributes things which should only be said of God to an impersonal force copied blushlessly from eastern religions. This film only takes it further; "I am one with the force and the force is with me," chants a blind man who through the force is a super-warrior, and when he dies he counsels his friend to find the force- and thereby to find him as well. In other words, god is everything, everything is god, and when we die we will be absorbed into Brahma. The True God hates this kind of stuff, and so should we. We aren't God, and we never will be. He made it all, He owns it all, and He reigns over it all.

- Egalitarianism is such standard fare nowadays that it is easy to become accustomed to the flavor, and this requires us to be all the more vigilant in calibrating our taste buds. Rogue One presents us with yet another action heroine in yet another world with no distinctions between men and women. Jyn Erso is a skilled warrioress whose ability to whoop up on bad dudes impresses Cassian more than her beauty or femininity. While we can all appreciate the lack of sexual innuendo that this androJyny presents, the problem is that there is also simply a lack of distinction as a whole. Men and women fight. Men and women lead nations. And Jyn is the galactic Katniss, put in a place that only she can fill, giving the pep talk to the troops, rallying the council, and throwing down a lot of bad guys along the way.

It's interesting watching a worldview progress; Leia was a previous generation feminist: beautiful and womanly, but with her moments of stubborn "I can do anything a man can do." We are beyond that now. Now we don't even talk about it. Nobody notices, nobody cares. None of the men open the doors for the ladies. They're empowered, you know. They can get their own door.

This message is made all the more powerful by the fact that the authors of the film put Jyn in a place where most of what she does really would be OK. Deborah might have given a pep talk to the troops. Plenty of women in Scripture held influential and powerful positions. And what daughter put in Jyn's position would do anything other than what she did, other than perhaps stay behind on a mission or two?

The issue is less about any specific action and more about a worldview that says "there are no distinctions between men and women; we will not submit to God's pattern for manhood and womanhood." Today we consider an empowered woman one who is free to be like a man; the Bible presents an empowered woman as one who is fully a woman. Men are supposed to be the leaders and the fighters. That is the way God designed it. But this movie, along with most today, reject that idea entirely. (Neh. 4:14, Is 3:12)

Now before you accuse me of wanting women to be helpless weaklings, bear in mind that I've taken my wife through multiple self-defense courses and we named our daughter after a woman who killed an enemy king in his sleep with a tent peg.

So there's that.

The Art

- I am a big fan of sad movies; I am not one to complain about characters dying. But this film was strewn with one epic, dramatic death scene after another, and it was overkill. Pun intended. The characters were largely underdeveloped, and their deaths were largely unnecessary. The important deaths would have had increased gravitas if it weren't for all the red shirts also getting their own scene of demise.

"Hey guys, let's watch a random fighter pilot yell for help over the radio and then get vaporized!"

"Nope, I'm just gonna stand here and die instead of escaping with y'all. But thanks."

"The Force kept me safe as I walked to the switch, and I forgot about it on the way back, so whoops. But hey, believe in the Force and you'll still be with me."

"Now I believe in the Force so I'm gonna slowly walk forward in my rage over my friend's death while praying to the Force and kill like three people before dying awesomely because apparently the Force's magic powers broke."

- This one had less cliche content than The Force Awakens (which was basically Ep. IV 2), but it still had its reincarnation of C-3PO/TARS/etc. (who was still my favorite character- his demise was actually the one part in the movie that choked me up). Oh, and another orphan girl. Nobody in this universe has living parents except for Luke.

- I did not care. The film gave me no reason to. When we first meet the main guy, he murders someone in cold blood; meanwhile the main girl is kinda accidentally on a quest for her dad so she can be freed from people who kidnapped her from her previous kidnappers... meanwhile, everybody else dies. Honestly, the last ending climax of the movie was the only part of the film that really drew me in.

- I was also disappointed in the musical avoidance of the full versions of John Williams' themes. Giacchino is a master, so I am not sure where the blame lies for a score that, at least to me, was lackluster compared to its heritage.

- The violence was darker and more gruesome than the previous films, and it was completely unnecessary; it seemed to correlate with the more morally ambiguous worldview of the film.

On Competing Affections

One other note- and this is true of every film, not just Rogue One- a man at our church likes to emphasize the importance of making sure that nothing in our homes is "cooler," or more exciting, more wonderful, than Jesus. Well made movie universes like the Star Wars galaxy, the Marvel Character Universe, the Hunger Games districts, Middle Earth, Narnia and even more real-world fantasies like the Bourne films or your latest Pixar trilogy- all of these provide engaging, fascinating imagination candy. We must be careful both for ourselves and especially for our children to make sure that we remember that these are all pretend stories. There's a real war on, and we should spend our time and affections on the real King and His Kingdom- not on studying and meditating on the truths of a pretend universe. Children are prone to falling in love with a film and its characters, and if that love begins to take over conversations and imaginations, and to replace the love of Christ and His real world, it might be worth curbing the media intake until the child is of an age to understand that movies are fake, and Jesus is real, and to value and be excited about imitating Christ more than imitating Jyn's epic fight moves.

In Conclusion,

Rogue One provided me with a great opportunity to spend time with my wife, but as far as the film was concerned I spent the majority of the movie waiting for it to get good. It was a darker and less interesting version of Star Wars which dimmed the ethical guiding stars into a galactic moral quagmire. The highlight of the film for me was the gripping grand finale, and if it were possible to read the first two acts on Wikipedia and then watch the last battle sequence, that would be my recommended approach. I think they should have left the original six alone, but Rogue One did provide some intriguing and well-thought-out backstory. I would not recommend it, but it does present an excellent study in worldview analysis, and given its popularity we must be able to provide such analysis.

The real Dark Side is crafty, and recognizing its advances is essential for effectiveness as a Christian warrior.

1.5/5

On Tending The Flowers of Marriage

2016-12-06T16:06:00.001-08:00

Jesus makes His bride beautiful. In an analogous way, I think we make our own spouse beautiful (or handsome, as the case may be). When you tend a flower properly, it blooms. The work of tending causes the joy of greater beauty. A husband who pours love and affection and sacrifice and service into his wife will see her bloom before his eyes into a more beautiful woman, sparkling and shimmering with the joy of a woman who is loved. The wife who respects and admires and submits to her husband will watch as he, fueled by the shining eyes of his princess, becomes more and more the lion that she admired in the first place.

Beware, ye darkness. Such a flower will spill unquenchable light. Such is the power of the loving husband.

Beware, ye dragons. Such a prince knows no fear. Thus is the power of an admiring wife.

And beware, gates of hell. The bride will conquer, for her Husband has conquered, and His love makes her invincible.

On Agreeing to Disagreeing

2016-10-20T21:06:00.001-07:00

On disagreeing agreeably… Lots of Christian brothers and sisters that I know and love will be, like me, writing someone in or not voting at all rather than voting for Donald Trump. On the other hand, lots of Christian brothers and sisters that I know and love will be voting for him as the lesser of two evils. Now, I can bring out my arguments all day long, but that is not the point of this post.

So long as we are doing what we are doing – voting for who we are voting for – based on our convictions from Scripture and the leading of God in our lives, we should be able to come out at the end of a political discussion shaking hands and smiling.

We may disagree – and I by no means intend to suggest that both camps could in some postmodern way be correct at the same time. Only one side can be correct. I think it's crazy to vote for Trump, I think I'm right and the other guys are wrong, and I'm not ashamed to say it.

Of course I think I'm right. Otherwise I wouldn't agree with myself. The humility we are commanded to clothe ourselves with does not come with an election season exception clause.

Ultimately, God chooses our next president; there is only one vote that counts and it is His to cast. Jesus is still on His throne whether brother Jim Bob votes for Trump or writes in Darrell Castle. We can't and don't have to hold this thing together (and neither can any president). It is for us simply to be faithful. What happens in November is not important enough to divide the church of Christ over.

I'll keep passionately speaking against Trump. May the dialogue, the prayer and soul- and Scripture-searching continue. Let's just remember that who is president matters far less than Who is King.

And there is no end to the reign of the One Who holds that office.

Posting This So I Can Link To The Image

2016-10-06T19:40:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the remarkably unconventional and apparently random post.

The God Who Laughs

2016-06-21T19:21:00.000-07:00

Horror movies are scary because they present a world in which evil triumphs; a world in which there is no hope; a world in which the gates of hell prevail. They present a sick and twisted look at human depravity that fascinates the flesh. They are full of inventions of evil, and the evil they present laughs- laughs at justice, laughs at consequences, laughs at God.

Yet Scripture contains the most terrifying premises imaginable; terrifying, not in a dark and shadowed and sinfully fascinating way, but in an overwhelming and inescapable and terribly beautiful way. While the horrors of sin invite the viewer to fantasize and indulge dark curiosities, the terrors of God send shudders down the spine and invite those who meditate upon them to fall on their knees.

The terrors of sin invite the roaches to explore the kitchen floor. The terrors of God send them scattering.

These are the horror films that Christians should make. These films would not explore the twisted paths of a sinful psyche and offer less inventive minds the chance to wander down the paths of death; they would explore the straight paths of God's holy Justice, and expose in blinding light how twisted the paths of our fallen minds truly are. They would cause terror not at the perversion of the evils but at the perfection of the inescapable justice of God.

These films would explore what it means to suppress the truth for so long that someone actually begins to live a lie, a life of self-inflicted blindness stemming from rebellion against the One True God. They would proclaim the chilling judgments of a righteous God on a rebellious nation, like the prophets did of old. They would show that though the wicked laugh and mock at God's eternal flames, those flames are waiting hungrily and burning all the same. They would show that the One True God is a God Who is to be feared.

In American culture the God of Scripture is not feared; instead, we fear an idol of our own making, carved in the image of tolerance, whose sacrifices are a pinch of apathy, a pound of groveling, and any lingering traces of manhood buried deep within your bones. But this leaves the question- has the American church been presenting God as He presents Himself? Or have we been presenting a god who is sitting up in heaven trying his very best to fight against the evil that is overpowering his forces here in America; a god who is begging, pleading with his enemies to just believe in him so he can bless them?

We serve a God Who laughs. Who holds His enemies in holy and unflinching derision. We serve a God Who is a loving, merciful, forgiving Father- but who is a terrifying, unflinching, fearless adversary.

"He Who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord scoffs at them." (Ps. 2:4)

"I will even laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dread comes." (Pr. 1:26)

Romans 1 details the descent into madness- a descent which begins with refusing to acknowledge God, and ends with the judgment of God poured out like flooding rains on those who have turned against Him; a deep and chilling blindness so overpowering that the most simple and obvious truths are lost in the confusion like a baseball in a field of corn.

Scripture tells us that everyone knows; the Image of God is so indelibly carved into their being, so inescapably shimmering out of the world around them, that they are without excuse. If Woody would just look at his boot, he would know that he belongs to Andy.

But they've shoved their boot into a sock and have lived that way for so long that they have genuinely begun to believe that there is neither boot nor Andy at all; they've told themselves their own lie for so long that they have actually started to believe it; they have looked at the world through upside-down glasses for so long that their brain is flipping their eyesight to match.

And He Who sits in the heavens laughs. He laughs as the heathen nations rage, like ants picketing on the sizzling pavement outside the air-conditioned office of the exterminator, like pots starting a Facebook campaign against the rights of the potter (who happens also to own the internet... and a sledgehammer). He laughs as America pretends with all her might that magnets don't necessarily have to go N+S... if that N wants to self-identify as an S, who are we to say otherwise? He laughs as we hide from His Truth like a child under the blanket at bedtime, as we run from Reality only to be ambushed by her child, Consequence. He laughs as the brightest minds in the scientific community conclude that the universe is a cosmic accident and claim primordial slime as their heritage. He laughs as the prophets of Babylon dance and prance in a frenzy to a mirror-idol, cutting themselves and shouting louder, louder, louder in hopes that maybe the state will send fire from heaven and consume all the intolerant things they have heaped upon her altar.

And fire will come, but it will not be from the one they worship.

This is the God that Scripture presents; the God who melts mountains with the breath of His nostrils; the God at Whose voice the oceans flee. The scariest villains, both in our little fictions and in God's great reality, are the ones who commit their crimes and laugh. They have no fear; they have no remorse; they cackle at the pain they cause others and mock the sword of justice.

But God is the One Who wields that sword. And He laughs at them. He laughs at their pride, their bravado, their cute little insults which make them feel so big and strong. He is not trying to defeat them. He is defeating them- and that through their own perceived victories. He is defeating them with the ease of a giant wrestling an impertinent child, with the completely unconcerned dominance of a cat toying with a cricket.

He laughs, and knows that the ones who mock at the cup of His wrath will mock no more once they have tasted thereof.

And that is sweet solace for the righteous.

And that is utter terror for the wicked.

This is the God of the Bible. This is a Christianity with teeth. This is the God that the world must see.

What is the beginning of the descent to madness in Romans 1? A refusal to acknowledge God. What, therefore, is the beginning of revival? The submissive acknowledgement of God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but how can we expect for wisdom to begin if we never present the truth about the God Who is to be feared? God is in the business of bringing glory to His worthy Name. How can we expect to see true reformation based only on moralistic platitudes, "traditional values," and pleas to acknowledge an ooey-gooey ambiguigod.

The God of the Bible does not share His glory.

And this is the God that we must present to the world.

How can we expect God's blessing if we will not give Him the glory for it? If we want to proclaim the pantheistic and tolerant elephant-shaped god of our own making, then we should only expect help from that god. And since that is no god at all, the rescue we are waiting for will be rather lackluster.

The Kingdom of God does not depend on America. America may fall, and God will not be searching desperately for a plan B. America doesn't need morality. She doesn't need traditional values. She doesn't need conservative fiscal policy.

She needs to fear God.

She needs to kiss the Son. (Ps. 2)

America needs Jesus. Just like every other nation on the earth.

And as Christians, our first duty is to proclaim Him as He says He is.

We serve a God Who laughs. It is time for His people to laugh too- not in pride in ourselves, not in self-exalting superiority, but in humble and childlike submission to the irrefutable Truth of God. In dealing with individuals, we should show Christ-like mercy, compassion, humility- for we, too, are sinners whose only claim is the Grace of God. But as followers of Jesus, we know the Truth; we have nothing to fear from the prophets of error. So in looking at the insanity around us, we should stand on the Word of God, proclaim it with boldness, and laugh fearlessly.

Because when you're looking through the eyes of reality, this stuff is pretty funny.

#KissTheSon
#FillTheEarth

What if Gun Control Really Worked?

2016-06-16T10:14:00.002-07:00

Folks, let's say for a moment that gun control really worked. Let's assume for a moment that the government would actually be able to purge the entire US of guns. Let's say that they could actually reduce gun crime to virtually zero.

The simple fact remains that all the firepower would rest in the hands of the government, the criminal communities, and other nations. The people of America would be disarmed and unable to resist an intrusive federal government, a foreign invader, criminal mobs or Islamic aggression. 

Let's not forget that the statistics about gun crime are not really the issue. Even if the gun crime was higher, the point is still one of liberty vs. security. We must encourage our fellow Americans to educate and arm themselves; train for such situations; take your children out of public school; *take responsibility.* The government's job, Scripturally and Constitutionally (but not generally at a federal level), is to punish evil- *not* to keep everyone safe and cared for. We need to set aside the victim mentality and take responsibility for our own. That's what free men do. Liberty is dangerous (but not as dangerous as the alternative).

Mass shootings are absolutely terrible. But Nazi regimes, Sharia law, rampant organized crime- these are worse. Even if we assume (wrongly) that gun control would solve the shootings, we must realize that we would be giving up liberty for security.

If you think my examples are extreme, look at the middle east, where ISIS is murdering Christians by the hundreds and the Christians are not prepared to resist; look at Nazi Germany and all the other communist governments that disarmed their populace before bringing them into subjection.

If more Americans were armed and prepared to act, the perpetrators of these heinous crimes would be numbered among the slain- and it would be a much smaller number. That's all there is to it.

It is not compassionate to the victims of these crimes to perpetuate the problem.

I known not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death. I'll take the animated contest of freedom over the tranquil servitude of slavery any day. 

I don't trust these mass murderers any more than anyone else does, but I trust governments with incontestable power even less.

In any case, as the protector of my wife and my baby girl, the ability to fire back in their defense is a God-given liberty and responsibility that I am not willing to forsake in the vain hope that an angelic and incorruptible government will save us from all of the evils of a fallen world.

#2A

Seeing Jesus in the Butterflies

2016-05-25T11:18:00.001-07:00

God has woven an illustrative world. Have you ever looked at a seemingly still piece of earth for more than a moment, only to see it transform with every passing second into a superhighway of insect industry?

God's world is like that. Everywhere we look, if we look closely enough, we will see microscopic metaphors wriggling around like maggots in a seaman's biscuit- but the metaphors are much more attractive, and they taste better.

Children are well known for asking the question "why?" Why do trees grow so tall? Why is the sky blue? Why do animals die? Why does two plus two always equal four?

Too often as adults we confuse the question "why" with the question "how." When the child asks why seeds grow into plants, we respond with a scientific explanation of photosynthesis and germination. When they ask why grape juice becomes wine, we launch into a dissertation on fermentation. (Or maybe we look it up online with them because we have no clue...)

But while these scientific answers explain what happens, they do not explain why.

And the answer to the why is, ultimately, "because that's the way God made it."

And why did He make it that way? Because He wanted to, of course... but why did He want to? The Lord of heaven and earth is the greatest of all storytellers. It should be no surprise that the poetic little rabbit trails scattered throughout His saga are not just random and unconnected rants; He has spun a world full of foreshadows and illustrations and poetic representations of deeper realities.

We see this in Scripture. Jesus is the Door, He is the Bread, He is the Water, He is the Good Shepherd. Christians shouldn't live on milk. God is a Rock. My wife is a crown. The heavens have voices.

So then, let us not be content with knowing how. Let us look deeper and ask why. The more we do this, the more we will discover that in everything our eyes rest upon, we should see Jesus, not just in the how- though the how is indeed full of rich illustrations of God's creative genius and the glory of Christ in holding all together- but also in the why.

Maybe grape juice turns into wine because the intoxicating deliciousness of marriage grows better with every passing year.

Maybe the laws of physics bind us from walking through walls because the only way to come to The Father is through The Door. (John 10:9)

Maybe we cannot live without water because we cannot live without Jesus. (John 4:14)

Maybe gold is rare because a Godly wife is so hard to find. (Pr. 31)

Maybe hunger hurts because laziness should hurt too. (Pr. 16:26)

Maybe seeds grow into plants which produce a thousand-fold more seeds because sin is not stagnant and it will multiply where it is not uprooted. (Eph. 6)

Maybe muscles grow stronger with use because righteousness is not stagnant either, and the more we walk in obedience to Christ the easier it becomes. (Eph. 6)

Maybe trees take hundreds of years to reach their full potential because we will not see the full ramifications of our actions for generations to come.

Maybe leaven causes bread to rise because we will be influenced by those we associate with. (Matt. 16:6)

Maybe rocks are such a firm and immovable foundation because God is unwaveringly faithful. (Ps. 18:2)

Maybe caterpillars go into cocoons because God is in the business of making butterflies.

Maybe babies need so much from their parents because adults need to remember that they need so much from their Father. (Matt. 7:9)

Maybe weddings are so joyful because they are a taste of the consummation of the ages.

When we look at a plant, then, we should see Jesus. When we look at a butterfly, we should see Jesus. When we look at a rock, or a glass of wine, or a wedding, or a baby, we should see Jesus.

The earth is already filled with the Glory of the Lord. (Is. 6:3)

The challenge is just seeing it. (Hab. 2:14)

#FillTheEarth

Feminism and Spandex

2016-05-11T11:57:00.004-07:00

My daughter. Born May 7, 2016.

Our baby's name, Jael Bethany Hudelson, means the following...

Jael is called to be a fruitful, home-focused warrioress, like her Biblical namesake, and like her mother.

Jael means "mountain climber" or "mountain goat;" our little girl is called to conquer obstacles and do hard things for the glory of Jesus Christ.

Bethany means "house of dates;" Jael is called to bear fruit for the kingdom of God, both in her endeavors and accomplishments and, if God wills, in her womb someday. Just like her mother.

The Biblical Jael was not a trained warrior; she was a homemaker who was courageous and capable enough to deal a decisive blow to the enemies of God. In the midst of a culture that holds up spandex-clad female warriors as ideal women, Jael's namesake represents a womanhood that is neither China-doll nor masculine; in the midst of a culture that counts dollars and not descendants, degrees and not dominion, Jael represents a woman who is fulfilled in her God-given role, keeping her husband's home; in the midst of a gender-confused and sexually perverse culture, Jael represents a womanhood which is clearly and happily feminine, even in her combat methodology; Jael represents a womanhood which sees her battlefield as the home.

Jael is called to be a woman ready to put spiritual tent pegs through the temples of the ideological enemies of God like feminism, relativism, and political correctness; a courageous woman devoted to the Kingdom of God and not to her own comfort; a woman who, like her mother and grandmothers before her, will stand strong in the face of a culture that despises all that she represents.

Jael is also called to be a woman who, if worst came to worst, could pour some literal milk and wield some literal tent pegs with deadly effect.

And then the symbolism of her middle and last names.

Jael is called to carry on the covenant with Jesus Christ which her mother, Bethany, so dearly holds, and which is the most treasured legacy of the Hudelson name.

It's all about Jesus, baby girl.

Fill the earth. (Hab. 2:14)

-------

As an aside, talking about feminism and spandex... I just watched my wife go to war, y'all. I held her hand and gazed into her eyes as she fought to bring a baby into this world. I saw in her face more ferocity, more determination, more perseverance through incredible difficulty than any super-woman movie character on any Hollywood screen could ever pretend to be overcoming. And I couldn't help but think- why do women go anywhere else to pursue greatness? Why try and compete with the guys when you could do something they can't? Why develop unnatural strengths when you are created with such amazing natural strengths?

I remember discussing fitness with my sister and a friend, and my sister asked "well, if guys are better at upper-body strength, what are girls better at?"

I said "having babies." The sad thing is that in our culture, that is seen as insulting. And so we see how feminism has degraded womanhood. Instead of honoring the incredible unique power of women to be mothers and homemakers, we force them to measure themselves as laborers against the men who were designed by God to be those laborers.

My boss told me about a visit to Discount Tire during which he saw a 120-pound woman struggling to torque tire nuts to the required near-200 ft. lb. requirement... And another woman telling her manager that she couldn't get six tires onto the top shelf...

Meanwhile, the military reduces their physical fitness requirements so women can go to war.

Meanwhile, women are celebrated for being the first woman to do something that a hundred men have already done.

Meanwhile, my wife goes through labor. And I am awe-struck. I see a depth of power and ferocity that I never knew in her. I see the thousand yard stare of a terrifying warrioress. And I think- for a woman, surely any other accomplishment, any other career path cannot compare; any other paper or trophy hanging on the wall can only ever be a step down from a picture of another human soul brought into the world by the kind of labor only a woman can do.

The Amputated Church

2016-04-30T15:34:00.004-07:00

What is the Church of Jesus Christ? A body. A bride. A family. An army.

And where do we see this manifested?

In the local church.

It is in the local church where we exercise our gifts. (Rom. 12)

It is in the local church where our love for the saints is expressed. (John 13:34+35)

It is in the local church where church authority is exercised to punish sin and guard and lead the flock. (1 Cor. 5)

It is in the local church where we fill roles as members of the body of Christ. (1 Cor. 12)

It is in the local church where we celebrate the New Covenant Passover. (1 Cor. 11:23-27)

It is in the local church where we labor together for the cause of Christ and build the bonds of family-friendship. (1 Tim. 5:1-2)

It is in the local church where all the functions of the Church towards the believer and of the believer towards the Church become real and practical. The Bride of Christ is a global institution, but we cannot fulfill our Scriptural duties towards the global Church without fulfilling them at a local level.

So how we relate to the local church is very, very important; choosing a church, attending a church, tithing to a church, joining a church, being invested in a church, and leaving a church are all matters to be taken very seriously.

The Scriptural picture of church fellowship requires deep relationships, pastoral involvement, confession of sin, accountability, fellowship, hospitality, generosity, prayer, perseverance, humility, the pursuit of Christ, and lots and lots of love. Real love. A love that says and does the hard things when it needs to.

And this requires commitment. Hard-charging, long-term commitment to a local body.

Today, it seems that the church is not taken so seriously; choosing a church is a buffet-style proposition. A little of this, a little of that, go back for more of the one you like.

It is certainly appropriate to vet a church before becoming a member. We should indeed examine the doctrines taught, consider the practices modeled, and see living Christian love in the fellowship.

But the first and foremost question must be "where does The LORD want me to plug in?" The decisive question must not be one simply of preference or comfort but of submission to the will of Christ and a desire to be used by Him to fill a need in His bride. As in every area of the Christian walk, we should be driven by love for God and for others- not by self-focus.

That's all foundational to the title of this article- the amputated church. That's what happens when someone leaves a local body.

If we are all members of the local body- "individually members of one another"- what happens when one leaves? Pain. Loss. A hole in the fellowship and the efficacy of the church.

If it's easy to leave; if there is no pain; if nobody misses the family that stopped attending- these are signs that something was already awry in the bond of fellowship.

It should be hard to leave. This doesn't mean that it's never right to leave a church; there are very good and legitimate reasons for doing so. However, leaving a church should be done with the seriousness and formality of amputating a limb- not with the impulsive or emotion-based decisiveness (or indecisiveness) of no longer eating pizza on Friday nights.

Before an amputation, there is first and foremost a significant reason for making such a drastic decision. Leaving a church should be a matter of "doctor, I have leprosy spreading up my leg- I think we need to cut it off"- and not a matter of "hey doc, my elbow hurts a bit after yesterday's baseball game- would you do me a favor and pull out your bone saw?" There are valid reasons- and they are not limited to problems with the local church, either. God could be calling you elsewhere. Regardless the reason, there should be a reason for breaking the fellowship of the local body. Like the founding fathers declaring independence from England, a proper farewell to a local body involves a list- either of grievances or simply of rationale for why God is calling you elsewhere. It doesn't have to be a physical list, but there should be real reasons.

Sharing those reasons with the church, or at least with the elders of the church, not only clarifies why you are considering leaving the fellowship, but it gives them the opportunity to hold you accountable if your rationale is not Scriptural, to repent if they are convicted that you are right, to agree that what you are seeing is a problem that needs addressed, or maybe just to agree to disagree. Even in that last case, at least both parties know what they are disagreeing over!

An amputation is only done after much counsel has been sought and any other way to solve the problem has been considered. Doug Wilson, in his Practical Christian Living talks, points out that generally we are prone to see defects in the thing we are gifted in. Someone God has gifted with teaching will notice that the sermon wasn't very well organized. A servant will notice that nobody is doing the dishes after the potluck. An evangelist will wonder why the stack of Gospel tracts by the door always seems just as tall.

We are remarkably good at turning good things into reasons for pride. "I'm so good at expressing these difficult doctrines. Most of the people here just don't get it as clearly as I do." "No one notices just how often I serve everyone. People here just don't love others enough." "If the folks in this church really loved Jesus, they would be evangelizing more."

"I have the gift of humility and I'm proud of it."

Before leaving a church because of a deficiency in its battlefront, perhaps we might consider that God has put us in that body to fill that void. Maybe the church doesn't evangelize enough because they need someone passionate about evangelism to come in and start poking them. Maybe the music isn't very good because no trained musician has ever come in and said "hey, I can help y'all with that!"

Maybe you see that problem in the local fellowship because God sent you there to fix it. If the focus is not on ourselves but rather on the Kingdom of God and the brethren, will we not be hungry and eager to fill those very voids?

If the problem is not a deficiency but rather an issue of sin or conflict, then healing must be sought through the Biblical patterns of conflict resolution. Fleeing from a problem only causes it to fester, and it destroys the freedom and openness of fellowship that should happen between brothers and sisters in Christ.

Even doctrinal problems are opportunities. It is one thing to decline to join a church because of bad doctrine; it's another to leave a church because they are compromising. If you are a part of that family, maybe God has you there to strengthen the hands of your family in the faith against the lies that are deceiving them. Or maybe God is showing you something that they haven't seen yet- that is your chance to edify the brethren. But maybe you're wrong... and that's their chance to edify you. Regardless, Scripture encourages dealing with stuff. Sin stuff, doctrinal stuff, conflict stuff. Deal with the stuff- don't run from it.

There will be stuff everywhere we go.

An amputation is decisive. People know when it happens and why. So if there is a doctrinal issue that cannot be resolved; if the pastor will not confess his sin; if you've tried every means to "be at peace with all men" that you can, but the conflict is still destroying the fellowship; if The LORD is just calling you to go elsewhere- then do so decisively. Please don't fade away and leave the brethren to wonder what happened. Let them throw you a party and send you away with their blessing- or, if necessary, let them know that you feel you've done all you can and are leaving them and praying for God's mercy on them- something. But don't, please don't leave the limb half-amputated; those don't heal very well.

It leaves others behind hurting. Missing you. Wondering what happened and if they should hope to see you again... or if they should resign to an occasional chance encounter in a room featuring an elephant and a floor of eggshells.

And it cheapens and devalues the realness, the depth of intimate Christian fellowship- just as divorce cheapens marriage. Is it real? Will it last? Can I be so open and vulnerable to this family? Or will they leave too, and take a piece of my heart with them?

If The LORD does want you to leave a good church, and it's not because they are failing to be a faithful body, then don't worry- He will bring someone to fill the void you leave. And the tears of goodbye, like those shared by the pilgrims on the shores of the old country before they left for the new one- they will be sweet tears. And the reunions, the chance encounters, the wedding invitations and the Facebook pictures will be marked with the signs of Christian fellowship- love, joy, wholehearted openness, the good old honest pain that comes with missing a dear friend.

That kind of love for one another will proclaim to the world that we are truly disciples of Jesus Christ.

Those aren't amputations.

They're transplants.

Broken Chains

2016-03-26T21:38:00.001-07:00

Imagine the tears. Friday night. Saturday. Empty days. The heartbroken, heartbreaking moans and sobs. Dead. The Man they had come to love- to be loved by- more than any other. Gone. Buried. Imprisoned in the iron coffin that binds every soul it receives.

They had hoped so much. Seen so much. Years of their lives were spent following this Man, believing His Word. "Where would we go, Lord? You have the words of life!"

And now... now where do they go? How can life ever be worth living again?

Maybe Peter tried to go fishing, one of those dark days. Maybe he looked at his empty nets and, try as he might, could only see them brimful and breaking with the fish summoned by their Maker.

Maybe John tried to comfort Mary... but couldn't convince himself that there was really any comfort to offer.

Did any of them expect it? Did any of them remember the promises of Christ- hear them faintly echoing, but echoing louder and louder as Sunday approached?

Did Pilate sleep soundly- did his washed hands make a washed conscience? Or did he dream of the Man Who had come to testify to the truth?

Did the leaders of Israel post guards to keep the disciples from stealing the body of Christ? Or did they, deep down, know that that was a pretense to try to prevent a greater deliverance?

Did Joseph of Arimathea think that he would go down in history as the man who gave the tomb that held the Messiah? Or did he have the faith to see that the tomb couldn't hold the Messiah?

There was the sting of death. There was the victory of the grave. And they were all burdened and bound under its awful conqueror's rule. Their King, their Hero, had fallen in the battle. All was lost.

Imagine the tears Saturday night.

But imagine the morning.

Oh, imagine the morning.

#HeIsRisen #FillTheEarth

"Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting?"

Happy Tears

2016-02-09T12:27:00.001-08:00

If you've ever been to a wedding, you probably know the feeling. You can't help but smile, and you can't help but cry. It's so happy that it hurts. There's a deep, aching, longing, bittersweet joy that leaves everyone there inspired and almost depressed (in a happy sort of way). Hearts so light and so heavy all at once.

This feeling of bittersweetness happens at other times through life, though the occasions are rare. A perfectly golden autumn day lit by warm sun through cool, dappled shade. A funeral for a Christian warrior released to glory. The end of a movie where the hero has died and died well. A piece of music that somehow transcends simple audio enjoyment and etches a mark on our soul. A day of fellowship at church where the love and unity is so real that no one wants to leave until long after the daylight has.

What is it, exactly? Why do we get this feeling, and what does it mean?

I can't speak authoritatively to that, but I have a theory, and my theory is not without at least some Scriptural support.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God has set eternity in the heart of men. I suspect that maybe this feeling- the feeling of something so beautiful it is almost too beautiful, of something so bright it is blinding, something greater than our capacity for greatness, something so overwhelmingly, painfully good- maybe that feeling comes when events throughout our temporal life filter in and strike the chords of eternity which God has hidden in our hearts. Like sunbeams dancing through the suffocating dust of an attic and finding their way to grandpa's old prism, suddenly everything is light and beauty and it hurts not because it's too bad but because it's too good, hurts not because we want less of it but because we want more of it- and yet we couldn't handle it if it were given to us.

These moments throughout our lives- maybe they are pointing to something greater. Maybe they hurt because we can feel deep down that our eternity is calling; that we were made for something beyond, for a deeper satisfaction and a fuller joy than anything this world can offer- anything this sinful flesh could bear even if this world could offer it!

Maybe these moments are so overwhelming because they are little tastes of paradise, of the new heavens and the new earth, of the wedding feast of the Lamb.

Which brings me to a few things I can say confidently from Scripture.

Last weekend, my bride and I attended the Southwest Family Vision Conference. It was an enormous blessing; so rich and inspiring and convicting.

One of the themes that was really brought into crystalline focus for me was that earthly marriage between a man and a woman is a physical picture of the heavenly, eternal marriage between Christ and His Church. (Eph. 5:22-33)

The wisdom of God is truly so vast, so unfathomable, so unsearchable. He has spoken and woven into being a world full of foreshadows, of echoes, of tastes, of symbols. Everywhere we look there is a new illustration of Who He is and how He is. Leaven, fire, doors, bread and wine, water, rocks, lambs, lions, fruit, birth, death- it's constant. He has spoken and is speaking His glory all throughout the world around us. (Ps. 19)

And perhaps the greatest of all of His perfect metaphors is marriage.

A few things in particular struck me about the marriage analogy as I've rolled it around in my mind.

The first is the idea of the exuberance of the bridegroom. Every husband knows the feeling. It's finally the day, finally the hour, finally the minute, and then the moment- there she is. Beautiful. Breathless and breathtaking. He couldn't hold the corners of his mouth down if he tried. It's really happening.

All throughout Scripture is painted this picture of the joy of the wedding feast. (Rev. 19:7) Scripture says that Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before Him (Hebrews 12:2).

Notice that in both Rev. 19:8 and Eph. 5:26 the Church is given the white garments; Christ sanctifies His bride. The Church is made up of sinful people- people who were the enemies of God (Rom. 5:10). Yet Christ makes her a perfect bride through His blood.

And then there's the wedding.

And all of creation explodes into celebration.

And God makes us- unworthy sinful dust-to-dust us- the bride in the nuptial consummation of the ages.

To think that we, somehow, get to be a bride who brings joy to her Husband- to imagine that maybe, just maybe, Jesus Christ will smile at the sight of His bride- we are not worthy. That the creation could somehow bring pleasure and glory to the Creator- what a story God has penned!

And of course it's never about us. It's about the Bridegroom. We are not worthy. He is. But the amazing thing is that He makes us worthy. He makes us clean. He makes us pleasing to Him. That we could be pleasing in the sight of God- this truth should at once humble and excite us!

But there's another thing about this truth which brings us full circle. If all of creation, all of history is the love story that God the Father wrote by and for His Son, then every wedding from the beginning of time to its end is a foreshadow. Every "I do," every first kiss, every cheer and clap and wedding cake and first dance- they are all testifying to something greater. Every bride is a picture of the perfected Bride. Every groom is a picture of the perfect Groom. It's like hearing an echo from a celebration miles away. It's a taste. A hint. A picture. The joy. The smiles. The beauty. The covenants. The love.

It's the greatest novel ever written.

We are living in God's love story.

And every wedding is a foreshadow of the triumphant conclusion.

Have Yourself a Pagan Little Holiday

2016-01-16T15:58:00.001-08:00

Ah, Christmastime. A time for joy, eggnog, and controversy.

Last year, my wife and I celebrated our first Christmas as us. Part of being an us meant having to stand- if with all the confidence of Bambi on ice- on our own convictions.

I had seen my parents, and other families, go through it before- Saturnalia, druids, and evergreen idols. This year, though, God brought the issues into razor-sharp focus, as our entire church came face-to-face with this issue.

Is the tree really an idol? Is the Grinch really a reformer waging war on idolatry? Can I get some eggnog with a shot of paganism, please?

It's an emotional topic, because if the answer is "yes," then a lot of fun memories and happy traditions need to be torn down like so many asherim, burned with the yule log, and buried with a sprig of holly through their heart.

But we must be willing for the answer to be "yes," or there is no purpose in asking the question. As with any other question which we take to Scripture, a good first step would be an examining of our own hearts- are we really ready to follow wherever God calls us to go? If we aren't ready to submit to any answer, then why bother seeking an answer at all?

There are many Godly believers who celebrate Christmas, and many who do not; furthermore, there are many from either camp who could argue their position very convincingly.

But last year, as my wife and I wrestled through it, I felt like The Lord clearly and decisively answered my questions about Christmas. I'm writing it down here because I'm sure the discussion will come up again and I don't want to forget what I learned. I'm also hoping that it will be a blessing to others who are or will be wrestling with the same issues.

So, without further ado- is it permissible, let alone good, for Christians to celebrate Christmas?

The Christmas issue boiled down in my mind to a few doubts that hovered like the shadow of an enormous Ebenezer Scrooge over the lights and the trees and the stockings. I'm going to focus on those here.

What about the Jewish feasts?

I have in the past participated in "Passover" celebrations which served as a way to look back on Christ as the fulfillment thereof, and insofar as the Old Covenant feasts are enjoyed as educational and historical exercises which teach us about Christ they are wonderful opportunities.

But if God decreed these feasts- some of which He called perpetual, and commanded for generational observance- why are we not celebrating them yearly? Why are we not quite literally religious about them? Shouldn't we be celebrating the Jewish feasts as a matter of obedience to God's Word?

No. We should not. What's more, we cannot.

The feasts were part of the ceremonial laws of the Old Covenant- laws which, unlike the moral and judicial laws, were abrogated in Christ, their Fulfillment. To which you say, "prove it, bub," and rightly so; we cannot just go cherry-picking through the Law of God, deciding which ones sound fun for us to keep and which ones are too old-fashioned. So is there a Biblical basis for calling some of God's Laws "ceremonial," and for saying that we are not obligated to keep them?

In Hebrews 9:8-11, we see that the laws regarding "food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body" are appointed until "a time of reformation," namely, "when Christ appeared." That verse succinctly clarifies what exactly the "ceremonial law" is. But noticeably absent from this list is any mention of feasts or festivals.

Hebrews 10:12, however, tells us that Christ was the final sacrifice. We are no longer supposed to follow the laws about sacrificing animals, because those laws pointed to Christ, and He has come and fulfilled them once for all. It is now not only unnecessary but actually blasphemous to sacrifice animals, because The Lamb has come, and we should not look to anything else for our atonement.

What does this have to do with the Jewish feasts? Many or all of them involved offering sacrifices. Most notably, Passover- the yearly passover lamb which pointed to the once-for-all Lamb to be slain for the sins of the world.

Since sacrifices are inherently woven into the feast and festival laws of the Old Covenant, and since the sacrifices are fulfilled in Christ, the feasts must also be fulfilled in Christ. We cannot keep the feasts for obedience, because we cannot actually follow the prescribed method for celebrating those feasts- through sacrificing animals!

One more note- our church celebrates the New Covenant passover every week, when we eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Lamb who delivered us from the Egypt of sin.

That's a New One

Fine, but we still have to answer- why Christmas?

Nowhere in Scripture does God command or even model the celebration of Christmas. So the question haunted my mind like Marley's ghost- do we have any Biblical precedent for creating new festivals like Christmas?

Yes. We do. In the book of Esther, after the Jews routed their enemies, Mordecai instituted the feast of Purim as a yearly holiday to commemorate the deliverance of the Jews. That's a new feast- a man-made holiday- commemorating an act of God in history. So there is Biblical precedent for making holidays of remembrance- and what better to remember than the advent (Christmas) and resurrection (Easter) of the Messiah?

Druids and Yule Logs and Solstice, Oh My!

That's all well and good, but isn't Christmas a pagan festival with Jesus sprinkled on top? Didn't the church just take idolatry and churchify it so that Christians could feel better about keeping right on sacrificing to the Baals?

This question is really twofold.

First, there is the question of whether the Christians stole a pagan holiday or the pagans stole a Christian holiday. The idea that the Christians began celebrating Christmas on their own is a very tenable position (an argument can even be made that the magi actually arrived in Bethlehem on December 25th- see this amazing film for more on that), but I do not have the historical knowledge to argue it here; for the moment it will suffice to say that it is at least debatable that Christmas actually does have pagan roots.

For a moment, though, let's give the Christmas critics a freebie. Let's assume for the sake of argument that Christmas is rooted in pagan celebrations full of dark deeds and idolatrous traditions.

If that is the case, then the church of Jesus Christ took a pagan celebration and transformed it into a yearly remembrance of the birth of Christ which is now celebrated worldwide.

I would call that a victory.

Why would we want to surrender such a glorious heritage- our Christian forefathers tearing December 25th out of the hands of the godless and claiming it for Christ? That it still proclaims like the herald angels the advent of our Lord is evidenced all around, from the stars and nativities to the carols and choruses to the very fact that the nations rage against the word "Christmas."

The Name of Christ is the Name seared into the season of Christmastime.

Rather than abandoning it to the pagans of today, it is for us as believers to take a cue from Saint Nicolas and take a stand for our King. (Next time Arius says "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings," he's in for it.)

The nations may rage, but He Who sits in the heavens laughs. And since He came down to earth and bought us with His blood, we should laugh too.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I can't wait for next year...

#JoyToTheWorld #TheLordIsCome