MERRY CHRISTMAS

Jill and I are preparing to head home to Ohio on Christmas Eve for my family’s Christmas celebration. It’ll be good to get away for a few days and relax.

I had a funny experience today regarding Christmas that I thought I’d share with you. Do you ever feel the pressure to keep Christmas sacred? You know keep the “Christ” in “Christmas” and all of that. As a pastor, I’m certainly trying to do my best to celebrate Advent and prepare my heart for the coming of our Lord on Christmas. In that spirit Jill and I asked for a Nativity Scene this Christmas to refocus our otherwise pagan Christmas décor, and Jill’s parents got us one. It’s one of those Willow Tree ones. We really like it.

Anyway, I thought we were doing the “Christian” thing until I walked by it and saw that we set it up in-between two giant snowmen. You remember the story: the shepherds, the wise-men, the two enormous snowmen that Joseph built while waiting for Mary to deliver…I guess we just can’t win.

Hope ya’ll have a very merry Christmas!

Celebrities to the Rescue

Oh my gosh, I just watched the first two minutes of the most ridiculous television event ever. It was the “Celebrity Skifest” on CBS. Apparently this event was designed to raise awareness and money to help save the world’s water. That’s right, a bunch of celebrities skiing to save the world’s water. Does this make any sense to anyone else?

What was even more absurd than the event itself was its introduction. It featured a number of B-list actors and a skier who made brief statements about the importance and necessity of “saving the water.” Apparently global warming is causing the world’s water supply to dry up. Doogi Houser opened the segment by talking about the dangers of greenhouse gasses and the potential of our planet running out of water (without really connecting these two thoughts in any logical way). Then the guy who helped create Seinfeld said, “We need to make sure we all have good water…full of oxygen.” Next was some lady who asked, “If we don’t protect our water, how will the fish continue to swim and spawn?” Another said, “Water is our most precious resource, it’s so much more precious than gasoline." Finally, the skier said, “The world’s water supply is in danger…So, what can I do? I can ski.” Praise the Lord for that brave skier, I was really starting to get worried!

How are we supposed to take any of this seriously? I actually thought I was watching some absurd SNL skit, but these celebs were as serious as a heart-attack. They truly believe that global warming is going to wipeout the world’s water supply, and even more crazy than that, they actually seem to think their ridiculous ski event is going to make a difference. What’s next, a celebrity billiards tournament to help prevent the earth from losing its supply of dirt? Because without dirt, we’ll have no place to plant crops…I think it’s a pretty serious potential problem, and I’m sure we can figure out some way to tie into the whole global warming issue.

A Meditation on Meditation

Sorry for not posting in a while. I’ve just been really busy at the church, trying to get a bunch of stuff done before Christmas, and my blog has been low on my priority list. When I do get the chance to blog, it seems that I’ve only been posting on movies. It’s probably because I spend most of my time consumed with the work and issues of the church that movies become my one escape and therefore an easy thing to write about.

The latest film that I would recommend is entitled “Into Great Silence.” It’s a documentary filmed at The Grande Chartreuse Monastery which is somewhere in Europe (I think France). It is a foreign film, but you will hardly know it when you watch it since there are all of about 10 words spoken in this two hour long film. Yeah, it’s over two hours long with hardly any action or dialogue, and I found myself being pretty bored at times. But, I think that was one of the points the film was trying to make: that the lives of these godly men are so quiet, simple, and beautiful that it is even hard for a modern viewer to watch them for two hours, let alone imagine entering into that kind of life with them! Day in and day out these monks silently pray and experience the depths of God’s presence. The film forces the viewer to be still and to think about life in a monastery. I couldn’t help but think that these silent and holy men know much more about God than I may ever know in this lifetime. It made me want to meet them and learn from them, but at the same time I thought, “I could never live like that; I’d go crazy.” God may not have called me to the vocation of meditation, but I am glad that there some holy people out there like these monks who are silently praying for us and living in such purity that I know that God hears their prayers.

God Grew Tired of Cheesy Films….

….so He inspired some folks to produce one of the best documentaries I’ve ever seen. So, stop whatever you are doing right now, and go rent “God Grew Tired of Us.” It is the inspirational story of a bunch of Sudanese boys who escaped the Islamic genocide of Christians in southern Sudan. They made a grueling journey across the desert when they were young boys and spent the rest of their childhood in refugee camps. None of the boys have seen their families since they were little, and many of their families have been brutally murdered during the ongoing Muslim jihad. Now that the boys are grown, the world is trying to figure out to do with them because they cannot safely return to their homeland, and life in the refugee camps offers no future for them. A number of the boys have been chosen to come live in the U.S. to work and to finish their education, and “God Grew Tired of Us” follows several of them during their first few years in America.
This film aroused so many emotions in me when I watched it. It made me angry that the world has stood by and done nothing as the Muslim jihad continues. It mad me cry that these young men are faced with the reality that their families and homeland have been decimated and are forced to live as strangers in a very strange land. It made me feel a deep joy as I watched them adapt to American culture with innocent and open hearts. The first time they all try to go up an escalator in the airport is hysterical. Anyway, all I can really say is GO WATCH THIS FILM!
(There is a similar documentary to this one called “The Lost Boys of the Sudan,” but “God Grew Tired of Us” is considerably better)

A Tough Loss

Well, all my fellow Buckeyes are in mourning tonight after a disappointing loss to Illinois in The Shoe. I keep telling myself that sports would get boring if all my teams won every week. Oh well, there’s always next year.

On a more cheery note, I heard a quote tonight that I thought was great. We were watching the movie Almost Famous and Philip Seymour Hoffman’s character says, “The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you’re uncool.” How true that is….

Ministry Update

I don’t want to get into too many details about life and ministry in Eagle, but I did want to give y’all a general overview on how things have been going in my first six or seven weeks here. So, here are a few updates and thoughts:
1. I’m feeling more and more confident that God has called us to serve here. Ministry certainly has its challenges, and I’ve been busier this past month than at any other point in my life. But, the business has been good. I’m working hard, but I’ve really enjoyed the work. I take this to be a sign that I’m pretty well suited/gifted for this ministry. I still have many times when I feel like the challenges are pretty big and I’m not sure what I should do next, but I’m actually enjoying the challenges and feel inspired to attempt to overcome them.
2. I’ve been spending a lot of time just building relationships. I’ve realized that in ministry I must overcome my fear of taking the initiative to call people, visit them, and begin to build relationships with them. When I served in MN, I know that I became too standoffish. I’ve been trying to call and visit a lot of people here, and the more I do it, the more I see how essential this aspect of my ministry is. In fact, it can seem so important that I can easily understand how some ministers end up neglecting their families, prayer lives, preparation time, and study time in order to spend all of their time “out there” trying to participate in Christ’s incarnational ministry among people. I know that I must continue to take the initiative to call, visit, and connect with people, but I also must guard against neglecting other essential aspects of life and ministry.
3. God has been giving us hope. Everything is not perfect, but I really believe that God is working and leading us. He is helping me to see things not as they currently are, but as he desires them to be. I am seeing that people and church structures are flawed, but he is reminding me that his Spirit is at work building and expanding his kingdom through Christ’s transformational grace. Everyday I am reminded of his grace. His grace is giving me great hope.

A Tale of Two Christian Movies

Jill and I watched two Christian movies this week. I’m not sure if either movie was produced by a Christian company or not, but both films were overtly “Christian” in their content and were marketed to appeal to a Christian audience. Yet, the two movies could not be more different in the stories they tell and the morals they convey.

The first movie was “The Ultimate Gift,” and it played like a cheesy after-school special. I knew it was a "Christian" movie because all of the music in the film was from popular "Christian" artists. The only song that wasn't was Bob Dylan's "You're Going to Serve Somebody," which is the one Bob Dylan song that every Christian seems to know about. Anyway, the movie is the story of a grandfather who dies and leaves an unnamed “gift” to his rebellious grandson, and the only way the grandson will inherit the gift is if he completes certain tasks that are meant to teach him moral lessons. Yeah, the storyline is pretty hokey, but don’t worry, it gets much worse. The characters are so one-dimensional that they become caricatures. The plot takes so many absurd twists and turns that it reminded me of Forest Gump, but unlike Forest Gump, we’re actually supposed to take the plot seriously. It’s a good thing that I didn’t see this movie in the theater. I would have been one of those annoying people who was laughing in all the places where you aren’t suppose to laugh, but I couldn’t help myself. In the end this romantic-comedic-tragic-action-drama mess of a movie teaches us the fundamental Christian moral that if we all live good moral lives, we too will be blessed with great wealth and riches.

The second movie was “Beyond the Gates” which is the story of a priest and a school teacher serving in Rwanda when the genocide broke out in 1994. The Christians in this film must face the reality of great suffering and injustice, and they must decide what they will do in response as they attempt to live out their faith. I found it to be both a faithful portrayal of the Christian faith and a scathing critique of the UN’s handling of the Rwandan genocide. I won’t say much more about this film because I don’t want to ruin it, but I would highly recommend it.

If you couldn’t tell by what I wrote above, I wouldn’t recommend “The Ultimate Gift.” It may be an alright movie to show Jr. High age kids. But, if you rent it expecting an enjoyable movie for yourself, you will experience the ultimate disappointment.

3rd Place Ain’t Bad

I’m not much of a baseball fan (I grew up a Pittsburgh Pirate’s fan, so you can understand my lack of interest), but the Cleveland Indians just fell one game short of making the World Series. In doing so they ruined my prediction that they would lose in the World Series and complete a full year of Ohio teams finishing in 2nd place in nearly every major sporting event. The only exception would have been a 2nd place in the Super Bowl, but let’s be realistic, the Browns and the Bengals make that feat pretty much impossible.

Even though the Indians finished in 3rd place, they didn’t let their fans off of the hook. Their collapse in the ALCS with a 3-1 series once again raised the hopes of Ohio sports fan, only to break their hearts in the end.

Well…the Buckeye’s football team is once again #1….knock on wood….

Sanctification and Sinlessness

I have wrestled with the holiness doctrine of “Entire Sanctification” for a number of years, and I am still not resolved on the issue. The difficulties I have with this doctrine are not so much based on theological issues but on the way the doctrine is often preached and lived out. I do believe that God calls his people to be holy. I believe that the salvation Christ offers is fundamentally transformational in its nature. I believe that Christians are to be filled with the Spirit and empowered to live holy lives.

The problems I have with the doctrine of entire sanctification arise from those who emphasize the instantaneous act of “entire sanctification” to the exclusion of progressive and continual sanctification. To such people, entire sanctification seems to be a state of sinless perfection that anyone can attain simply by asking the Holy Spirit to sanctify them. Don’t misunderstand me. I do believe that God desires to and does sanctify his people. However, I believe that those who overemphasize the crisis event of sanctification have turned sanctification into a kind of “name-it, claim-it” experience and have actually watered-down the true holiness message. Here are two difficulties I have with this kind of “name-it, claim-it” sanctification:

First, I believe an overemphasis on the initial act of sanctification tends to divorce sanctification from the need of continual sanctification through discipleship and ongoing communion with God. We implore people to receive the grace of sanctification, but once they finish praying at the altar, we send them back into the world without taking the time to disciple them and walk with them in their experience. We preach at them to receive the grace of the Holy Spirit, but we fail to teach them how to live and grow in the grace they have received.

Second, I believe that the emphasis on initial sanctification often leaves people believing that they are entering a state of “sinless-perfection,” and such a belief can actually be counterproductive. If sanctification is a state of sinless-perfection, then those who are sanctified either cannot or do not sin. Once such a state is reached there seems to be no more need to confess one’s sins or to search one’s heart to discover attitudes that are contrary to God’s will. I’ve heard a number of “sanctified” people give testimonies like, “I was sanctified fifteen years ago, and I haven’t knowingly sinned since then.” This doesn’t impress me! In fact I think it sounds spiritually arrogant and contrary to true holiness. I’m not saying that all Christians must sin everyday; however, people who are truly holy do not have to toot their own horns regarding their personal sinlessness. I believe that most people can conform to a superficial form of legalism and claim to not sin as long as they narrowly define sin as the things that are easy for them to avoid (like drinking, smoking, cussing, etc…), but is this true holiness? Does this mean that they love God with their whole heart? Does this mean that all of their hidden slothfulness, bitterness, pride, selfishness, hatefulness, lust, and jealousy have been cleansed and that they are now perfected? I doubt it.

I read something in Dennis Kinlaw’s book “Preaching in the Spirit” that is truly helpful. He writes: “Some people think the sanctified life is one in which a person never errs; but when we seek God’s grace to live a holy life, we know that’s not so. As much as anything else, the sanctified life is one sensitized to error” (46). (By the way, Kinlaw is a man of such love and grace, that if he claimed to be utterly sinless, I would believe him). I think Kinlaw’s words are very helpful. Those who are truly holy are those who constantly allow the Holy Spirit to probe their inner life and who confess and repent of errs and sins that are revealed. They do not settle for a false sense of sinlessness, but continue to grow in sanctification until they are completely perfected in Christian love.

Minneapolis Bridge

I don’t have a lot of time to write right now, but I figured I’d post this pic from the Minneapolis bridge collapse. Jill and I were there at the beginning of September with her siblings. It was pretty crazy.

Tech-nol-oh-geeze

I have come to the conclusion that as our society advances technologically, we decrease in intelligence. We may have vast amounts of information at our fingertips, but our minds have become mush in the process. Here’s a story that confirms my theory:

I was looking to buy a cell phone the other day. Being the new pastor, I figured I should finally enter the 21st century, break down and get a cell phone so that people could get in touch with me whenever I’m not in the office. When I told a salesman that I was a minister and new to the area, he jumped into his extensive pitch about me needing a combination pda/high-speed internet browser/turn-by-turn voice navigation/cell phone/etc…thingy, and it would only cost a small fortune. He told me that it would literally save me hours everyday, and this is important since a minister’s time is so valuable. I must admit that the phone was pretty cool, but he never really had me convinced (mainly because I’m so cheap!).

But if my frugality didn’t fully convince me not to take the technological plunge, the end of our conversation solidified my decision. I was looking for a few things for my guitar, so I asked the salesman if there were any music stores nearby. He told me that he played guitar in his spare time and that the best place to get what I needed was online at www.musiciansfriend.com. I knew I wasn’t going to remember that, so he said he’d write it down for me. He started to write, and I could tell he was struggling. He said, “please forgive my poor spelling,” and handed me the paper. It read “musistians frend.com” Apparently he doesn’t do much reading or writing in the countless hours that his cell phone saves him each week. I immediately went and got the cheapest/simplest phone I could find!

The Dialup Blues

I’m sure by now that the two or three of you who actually did read my blog at one time or another have ceased to read it due to my lack of posting over the past month. I hope to rectify this problem soon, now that we’re settled in Michigan, but I have one huge hurdle to overcome: my painfully slow dialup connection!!!! Apparently, there is no available high-speed internet in the Eagle area, so I’m forced to go from super-fast cable to tying my emails to carrier pigeons, and sending them out in the hopes that one day they might find their destination. I know my Carrolltonian readers can relate to this problem. Anyway, this post is kind of a test-run to see how long the process is going to take. If it takes more than 10 minutes, my posting may continue to be very sporadic.

Going Off-Line

Well, we’re packing up all of our stuff and are getting ready to move. Jill and I are heading to Minnesota on Sunday to spend some time with her family, and when we return, we’ll only be here for a little over a day before turning around and heading to Michigan. My internet will be disconnected as of tomorrow, so I’m not really sure when I’ll be able to post again. It’ll probably be at least a couple of weeks. So, if you’re one of the two people who actually read this blog, be sure to check back in a few weeks and I’ll start posting again. Take care.

Final Thoughts on Potter

Well, I finished the final Harry Potter book. I liked it better than the 5th and 6th books, but it didn’t change many of my previously mentioned views. I’ve already written a lot on this topic, so I’ll only make two comments:

1. I think that the final Harry Potter book has several distinctly “Christian” elements. I won’t say much more than that because I don’t want to give anything away, but there are aspects of the book that make me think it is much more Christian than it is pagan.

2. I still don’t think HP will go down as great literature. One further reason why I think this is Rowling’s annoyingly incessant need to explain every-last-detail of the books and her manner of tying everything together into a neat little package. The earlier HP books each included one clever twist which was easily explained at the conclusion of each book, and Rowling’s style worked well for these books written for children. Her later books are geared for a more mature audience, but rather than developing depth and nuance, Rowling simply adds more twists. The final three books include so many twists that Rowling has to spend much of her final book unraveling and her convoluted tale so that every point of the story fits together. Rather than letting her readers to make their own judgments, she spells out all aspects of her story in laborious detail.

This isn’t to say that the books still don’t have their charms, but I think the books would have been better if the final books had been more like the originals.

Our Big Move

For all of you who haven’t heard, we will be moving to Michigan in mid-September. I have been assigned to pastor the Eagle Wesley Chapel which is located about fifteen miles west of Lansing. Besides the fact that we’re being called to Michigan (which I believe is a reflection of God’s ironic sense of humor), Jill and I are excited and nervous as we prepare to move. We’re excited because we sense that God is calling us and believe that he will stretch our faith and use us for his ministry. We’re nervous because we are stepping into the unknown and don’t know what lies ahead.

As we prepare to move, I’ve been thinking about the final words of the Great Commission, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And surely I am with you always, to very ends of the age” (Matt 28:19-20). In these words I remember that we are not called to build our own ministry. We are called to be a part of the ministry that belongs to Christ. I am not called to change people through my own wit and ability. I am called to be witness to the resurrection and a mediator of God’s grace. I am also reminded that we do not go alone, but Christ goes with us. This is a very comforting reminder.

The Call to Ministery

Jill and I just finished watching a mini-series documentary called “God or the Girl” that we borrowed from the library (it’s produced by A&E Television in case you’re interested in looking it up). It follows four young Catholic men as they wrestle with the decision to enter seminary and join the priesthood. I highly recommend it for all my seminary brothers out there. I could relate to the men as they try to discern God’s will for their lives. What I couldn’t relate to was the fact that if they entered seminary they were also committing to the celibate life.

My favorite guy in the story is a charismatic young fellow named Dan from Columbus, Ohio (he’s the long haired guy second from the left in the picture above). As part of his discernment process, Dan and his friends build an 80 pound cross, and Dan carries it 22 grueling miles across the city. It takes him two days to complete his journey, and the suffering he endures helps him focus on his calling and on Christ’s suffering. I think the coolest thing about Dan’s exhausting expedition is that his friends walk with him the whole way, reading Scripture to him and praying for him. They ended up sleeping in a field overnight using logs as pillows. Now that’s true friendship! It reminded me that the call to ministry is not a call to be loan gun. Following God is best done in community, and ministry is most effective when multiple people are carrying the load.

Loving Jesus Above All Things

I’ve been reading “The Imitation of Christ” by Thomas a Kempis as part of my devotional reading. It’s one of the best books ever written! Everyday his words challenge me to pursue a life devoted to Jesus through simplicity and purity.

Here’s a bit from today’s reading:

“Blessed is he who appreciates what it is to love Jesus and who despises himself for the sake of Jesus. Give up all other loves for His, since He wishes to be loved alone above all things… Love Him, then; keep Him as a friend. He will not leave you as others do, or let you suffer lasting death. Sometimes, whether you will or not, you will have to part with everything. Cling, therefore, to Jesus in life and death; trust yourself to the glory of Him who alone can help you when all others fail….Be humble and peaceful, and Jesus will be with you. Be devout and calm, and He will remain with you.”

Potter Mania

I’m going to be heading out of town for a week, but before I go, I wanted to leave a few posts about the Harry Potter books. I just finished reading the 6th book, which for all of you non-Potter readers is the next-to-last book, so I’m about two years behind the current craze. I’m trying to reserve my final judgment of the books until I read the last installment, but I will give you a few of my thoughts now that I’m 6/7 finished. Don’t worry, I won’t include any spoilers for those of you who haven’t read the books, and I ask that anybody who posts comments remains ambiguous enough to not give away any major points of the plot. Also, if you’re interested, a few of us got into a rather lengthy debate on Sean Scribner’s blog a couple of years ago. You can find that discussion posted here.

I'll be sure to respond to any comments when I get back next week.

My Impressions of Harry Potter…

1. For the most part I think the books are pretty well written and are not an affront to Christianity. In many ways the books actually uphold a Christian worldview. They are filled with virtues like love, self-sacrifice, courage, and friendship. Rowling creates a fantasy world with a distinct contrast between good and evil. I have heard some Christians attack Rowling because they claim she blurs the line between good and evil, but I have no idea what they’re talking about. It is true that there are points in the books where Harry and other protagonists fail to do what is right, but the books never glorify their failure. Rowling uses such occasions as a means of revealing true goodness and allows her characters to repent of their wrong actions and recommit to what is right. Perhaps some Christians think that Rowling blurs the line between good and evil because they think that all magic is evil. I’ll address this view in the post below.

2. Despite my favorable opinion of the Potter books, I think the books fail in a number of areas, and I don’t think that they will go down as great works of literature. I really enjoyed the first three books, and if the rest of the books were more like the first three, I think the books would be highly regarded for years to come. There was an innocent charm about the early books. The world Rowling created was full of joy and delight. I thought the tone of the three books was in some ways similar to the tone of the Chronicles of Narnia, but books four, five, and six lose much of the joy and the delight. I know that Rowling wanted to develop her characters as they grow up through adolescents, but I have found that the coming-of-age elements really detract from the joy that was present in the first three books. Her characters repeatedly act like typical modern teenagers. While this may appeal to a vast number of her readers who are teenagers and can relate to adolescent behavior, I think that it strips the books of the timeless nature that most good fantasies possess. In books four and five, Harry Potter’s constant whining may be an accurate portrayal of a 14 or 15 year old kid, but I don’t really want the hero of the story to act like a typical kid. Books five and six focus way too much on teenage dating relationships, which includes numerous references to the main characters dating other characters, making-out with them, breaking up with them, etc… There were times when I thought I was reading a teen magazine, not a great work of fiction. I think Rowling could have included romantic elements if she really thought it was necessary, but the way she developed the teenage romances was simply tacky.


3. Two years ago, I made the comment on Sean’s blog that if I had kids, I would have no problems with them reading the Harry Potter books. After reading books four, five, and six, I would amend my previous statement. The later Harry Potter books are not children’s books! I don’t think I would let my kids read the books until they were teenagers and able to handle the darker and more mature elements of the later books. I think younger children could handle the first three books, but the later books are pretty serious and scary, not to mention all of the annoying relationship stuff that is geared much more for teenagers. I think Rowling wanted the children who read the books to grow up with the books, but now that kids won’t have to wait two years for the next book to be published, I don’t see how her objective will be accomplished. Would you purposefully read each of the Lord of the Rings books in three year intervals if you were able to read them all at once? I wouldn’t have much of a problem if I had a nine year old son who wanted to read the first Harry Potter book. The problem is that kids tend to be curious and would want to know how the story ends, and I think the later books are way too mature for a nine year old.

Potter and Evil

The reason I first picked up the original Harry Potter book was because I kept receiving forwarded emails from Christians who claimed that the Harry Potter books promote Satanism, witchcraft, and all sorts of evil. Rather than ignorantly forwarding those emails to other Christian brothers and sisters, I decided to read the books to see if there is any credence to these attacks. While I do believe we ought to be very careful to monitor what our children are reading, and as I mentioned above, I think the late Potter books are too dark for younger kids, I do not think that these books promote evil. It seems to me that too many Christians have adopted the methods of protest and boycott as their only means of engaging society, so they quickly apply these methods to the Potter books. I’m sure such Christians are well intentioned in their attempt to avoid compromising their values and to protect their children from evil, but I am yet to hear a convincing argument for why the Potter books are so evil. Here are my main reasons for saying this:

1. Most Christians who attack the Harry Potter books simply because they include witchcraft, wizardry, and magic often fail to criticize so many other books and stories that include these same elements. The same people who preach against Harry Potter for all of its magical aspects are typically the same people who praise stories like The Chronicles of Narnia or The Lord of the Rings which include magical elements themselves. My point here is not that Harry Potter is in the same league as Narnia or LOTR; I’m simply pointing out that they need to do a better job of explaining why the magic in Harry Potter is so much worse than the magic in all other fantasy books that they tolerate.

2. I tend to think that the witchcraft/magic in Harry Potter is only a plot device that isn’t supposed to be taken seriously or seen as being in any way real. Some Christians have responded to this “plot device” argument by saying that witchcraft is in fact real, and they quote Deuteronomy 18:10-14 to back up the grave nature of its reality. Let me just say that I do believe in the reality of evil spirits, Satan, witchcraft, etc… and I don’t mean to make light of any of it. I will also readily admit that occult practices are real and should not be dabbled in. However, I don’t think the magic in Harry Potter resembles real witchcraft and occult practices. From my limited knowledge on the subject, it seems to me that true occult practices involve real spiritual elements like worshiping some form of spirit or interacting with spirits through séances, weegie boards, etc… The magic in Harry Potter includes none of these spiritual elements. It is not grounded in any spiritual reality at all. It includes things like invisibility cloaks, flying brooms, and the ability to transform into animals, and I seriously doubt that any of these are supposed to be taken seriously or are supposed to resemble real occult practices.

Of course, the seventh and final book could reveal that Harry Potter does in fact worship Satan, and if this is the case, I will certainly have to change my opinion.

New Tunes

I’m digging a new CD that I picked up last week. It’s the first album released by a fellow Buckeye named Joshua Radin. If you’re into mellow/acoustic/modern-folk music, you may want to check it out. You can listen to four of his songs on his myspace page here.

My favorite song so far is “Winter” which begins with the words:
“I should know who I am by now; I walk the record stands somehow thinking of winter. Your name is the splinter inside me while I wait.”
Anyway, the song has a sentimental quality that fits my general mood of late.

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A God Who Suffers

I just finished my final course for seminary, so I now feel an incredible freedom to read any book that I choose to read! Yippee! I ordered a few used books off of Ebay, and I just finished the first book to arrive: "Night" by Elie Wiesel. It’s one of the most captivating and haunting books I have ever read. "Night" is Wiesel’s autobiographical account of living through the holocaust as a young teenage boy. If you have not read this book, I highly recommend it. It is difficult to stomach, but it is also inspirational and deeply moving.

In the most interesting passage of the book, Wiesel recounts a story of a likeable and sweet Jewish boy who is brutally hung to death by the Nazi SS. He writes:

“But the third rope was still moving: the child, too light was still breathing…And so he remained for more than half an hour, lingering between life and death, writhing before our eyes. And we were forced to look at him at close range. He was still alive when I passed him. His tongue was still red, his eyes not yet extinguished. Behind me I heard the (a man) asking, ‘For God’s sake, where is God?’ And from within me, I heard a voice answer: ‘Where He is? This is where—hanging here from this gallows.’”

As a boy Wiesel passionately believed in God and even desired to become a rabbi, but the holocaust made him lose all faith in God. I wonder if his experience would have been any different if he had believed in a suffering savior, a God who descended to human form and suffered an atrocious death on a cross. I cannot pretend to imagine the horror that Wiesel suffered in the midst of Nazi oppression and the horrors of the concentration camps, but I wonder if his faith in God could have survived if he was a Christian and knew the suffering of Christ. It seems to me that the only faith that would have had a chance of surviving such a horrendous experience is the Christian faith.

Theology Quiz

Here's another fun quiz to determine your theological tradition. I was actually a little surprised how strongly mine turned out. It worked better than I expected:

You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists.

Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan - 96%
Neo orthodox - 82%
Roman Catholic - 71%
Emergent/Postmodern - 54%
Reformed Evangelical - 46%
Charismatic/Pentecostal - 46%
Fundamentalist - 43%
Classical Liberal - 32%
Modern Liberal - 11%

A Prayer

I was reading and praying tonight and came across this prayer by Thomas Merton. I was moved by his words. I need to pray his prayer:

“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.” (from “Thoughts in Solitude” p. 89).

Are You a Heretic?

Here's a test to determine if you're a heretic. I scored 100% as a Chalcedon compliant, so obviously this test failed to pick out my specific heresies. Oh well, no test is perfect.

Anyway, I got this from Sean Scribner's blog. It's pretty fun.

My Sweet Hair

Yeah, I haven't been blogging much lately. I hope to post more over the next couple of weeks, but one thing I have been doing is letting my hair grow. I figured you might enjoy this pic from a few weeks ago. Jill and I were bored on a Sunday afternoon, so I let her do my hair.

We're #2!

A few years ago, a friend of mine found some 30 year old paraphernalia from Circleville Bible College. One of the items he found was a sign with the college’s old sports slogan. The slogan read: “We’re #2!” The implication was that “We’re #2 because God is #1.” I think it was the cheesiest slogan I have ever heard….but now I’m not so sure.

Perhaps all Ohio sports teams should adopt “We’re #2” as their official motto, not because God’s #1 and Ohio is #2, but because Ohio teams are finishing second in everything in this year. We’re putting together the greatest string of silver metals in the history of sports. The Buckeye’s football team was shellacked by Florida in the National Championship game in January. A few months later their basketball team was beaten handily by Florida in the basketball National Championship. Then, just last week, the Cleveland Cavaliers were swept by the Spurs in the NBA finals. If the Cleveland Indians can somehow manage to lose the World Series this fall, 2007 should mark Ohio as the greatest runner-up in the history of sports, and I think that’s something to cheer about. So, here’s to you Ohio, you may not be the best, but your pretty darn close.

Spirit Filled Bob

I finally finished watching No Direction Home, Martin Scorsese’s Documentary on Bob Dylan. I had seen the first half of it on PBS last year in MN but didn’t see the second part until I borrowed it from my brother. I thought it was pretty good. I think it gave Jill a new appreciation for Dylan.

My favorite quote from the documentary came from some crazy looking hippie who worked with Dylan on one of his albums. When speaking of Dylan’s success, he said, “I believe giving credit where credit is due. I don’t think Dylan had a lot to do with it. I think God, instead of touching him on the shoulder; He kicked him in the (butt). Really, and that’s where all that came from. He can’t help what he’s doing. I mean, he’s got the Holy Spirit about him. You can look at him and tell that.”

What Lies Ahead, I Have No Way of Knowin'

I’m going to be out of town this next week, so if I don’t post any, that’s the reason.

Keep Jill and me in your prayers if you remember. We’re still seeking God’s direction for the next step in our lives.

I’ve always been a bit of a worrier. I tend to live in the future and plan everything out well in advanced, so not knowing where we’re going has been a little stressful for me. But, I’ve felt a lot better about not knowing these past few weeks. I’ve come to the conclusion that waiting for God’s leading is much better than rushing into some forced decision. Everything doesn’t have to happen according to my timetable. God certainly has the power to lead us where and when He desires. If He really wants us to be somewhere, I’m sure he can get us there. The most important thing I can do is simply be faithful today and let God worry about the future.

I came across these words of Henri Nouwen that encouraged my soul. “Be sure that you love the life you’re living now, your studies, your prayers, your friendships…Then you can trust that God will reveal to you the direction to go when the time comes. But don’t try to know now what you only have to know a few years from now.”

The Honeycomb Evangelization

The conquest of my holistic remedy indoctrination of the world has begun. Jill was getting groceries yesterday, and the cashier sneezed and said, “Oh, my allergies are killin’ me!” Jill responded, “You may want to try taking some honeycomb. I know it sounds weird, but my husband took it this spring and his allergies have been cured…”

A Long Lost Friend

Five or six years ago I read Henri Nouwen’s Sabbatical Journey. It is his personal diary from the last year of his life. I picked it up last night and read through some of the passages I had marked. It encouraged my soul. I felt as if I was reconnecting with a dearly loved friend who had moved far away and whom I had forgotten about. Nouwen’s unguarded and honest reflections have a way of reminding me that I am not alone in my journey. His words express what I know to be true but have not been able to articulate. Here are a few tidbits:

“Why should I ever think or say something that is not love? Why should I ever hold a grudge, feel hatred or jealously, act suspiciously? Why not always give and forgive, encourage and empower, give thanks and offer praise? Why not?”

“It’s time to make a radical choice for solitude, prayer, and quiet writing.”

“I pray that I can be focused on Jesus and not too concerned about what everyone thinks or says.”

“The more faithful I am to my solitude, the more fruitful it will be in my community.”

Existential Suffering

I just finished reading an extremely moving book called Lament for a Son by Nicholas Wolterstorff. It is Wolterstorff’s journal of sorrow following the tragic death of his twenty-five year old son who died in a climbing accident. The book reminded me a lot of Lewis’ A Grief Observed. Wolterstorff’s and Lewis’ journeys through grief are considerably different, but both books give us a deeply personal account of suffering. Both give us hope that God can be trusted, even in the midst of tragic and unexplainable pain.
These books remind me that philosophical arguments are often rendered powerless in the face of existential suffering. Reason provides little comfort to those whose loved ones have tragically died. It is difficult to see the point of philosophical arguments through eyes soaked with tears. In times of great personal suffering, it is the resources of divine revelation that give us hope. The suffering of Christ reminds us that we do not suffer alone. The Resurrection reminds us that death has been conquered. The presence of the Holy Spirit fills us and allows us to go on living despite our pain.

Mr. Blasphemy

I’m trying to avoid writing overly-long, self-indulgent posts on this blog, so when this post starting getting way too long, I divided it into two separate posts, both dealing with the problem of evil in the form of natural disasters.

A friend of mine told me about some short, sitcom-like sketches on youtube called “Mr. Deity.” The sketches portray God as the bumbling CEO of the universe. There are currently 8 or 9 episodes, and the first one pokes fun at why God allowed so much evil in the universe. (I’m not recommending that you watch these clips, especially if you are easily offended. They are very antagonistic toward Christianity and aim at insulting almost everything I believe as a Christian)

In the first episode, Mr. Deity is having a conversation with his consultant Larry about what evils he should allow into his creation. About half-way through the episode, Larry brings up the topic of natural disasters:

Larry – “Umm, well, the next one, I checked with the boys down on research on this, and they said we’re safe to leave it out.”
Mr. Deity – “What is it?”
Larry – “It’s that natural disasters compliment; the earthquakes, floods, tsunamis….”
Mr. Deity – “Yeah, I need to have that in.”
Larry – “But sir, I spoke with the head of R&D. He said if we leave this out, it’s not going to affect anybody’s freewill or violate any natural law or anything, and since you’re already way over quota on the gratuitous pain and suffering…”
Mr. Deity – (interrupting Larry) “Here’s the thing, if we take it out, it’s going to be way too easy for people to believe in me.”
Larry – “No, sir, let me go over the list: holocausts, torture, and Downs syndrome. Those three alone, make it kind of hard to believe in you.”

The creators of Mr. Deity see the challenge that natural disasters pose for Christianity. Why do earthquakes happen? Why did God allow hundreds of thousands of people to be tragically killed in the tsunami that struck Southeast Asia? These are really tough questions.

The Devil Did It

I recently finished a book entitled The Doors of the Sea: Where was God in the Tsunami? by David Hart. It is a tiny book with a glossy cover, but don’t be fooled into thinking it’s a simplistic pop-Christian read like The Prayer of Jabez. Hart is a serious theologian whose style of writing is almost as challenging as the problem of evil itself. He presents his defense of God’s goodness by cloaking it in poetic and archaic language. On almost every page the reader encounters words like “interlocutors,” “stochastic,” and “lachrymose”. It’s a great little book, but be sure to have a dictionary nearby!

Hart is from the Eastern Orthodox tradition, so his approach of theodicy tends a bit more toward Irenaeus than Augustine. He is very critical of Calvinists who consider natural evil like the tsunamis as being a part of God’s sovereign plan. Hart argues that God is wholly good, and therefore never causes any inherently evil event. Horrendous evils should never be attributed to the hand of God.

So, if God does not cause tsunamis, where do they come from? Hart believes that we should take the New Testament worldview more seriously. The NT authors were not sterile, modern theists who philosophized about the problem of evil. They were passionate followers of the Messiah who believed that a cosmic battle was being waged between good and evil. They were confident that God would be victorious in the end, but they also believed that evil spirits were at work in the world. So, what causes horrible natural evils? Hart suggests that it may be demons and devils.

Let me reiterate, Hart is not some crazy televangelist on cable TV. He is a scholarly theologian. He believes that the best way to explain all evils, natural and moral, is to attribute it to free beings. Humans cause much of the moral evil that we experience. Perhaps free, spiritual beings cause much of the other evils.

Hart doesn’t fully develop his view. He suggests this as an explanation of evil, and then moves on. I find his suggestion interesting, but I also wonder if it really settles the issue. I would have to ask, why does a good God allow these evil spirits to wreak havoc on humans who do not know that these spirits are acting? Couldn’t an all-powerful and good God stop events like tsunamis? Hart’s book is interesting, but not fully convincing.

One Crazy Dream

There’s a great song on one of Bob Dylan’s earlier albums entitled Talkin’ World War III Blues. The opening lines of the song are, “One time ago a crazy dream came to me. I dreamt I was walkin’ to World War III. Went to the doctor the very next day to see what kind of words he could say. He said it was a bad dream.” It’s probably the most amusing and whimsical song I have ever heard about a World War.

I say all of that to say this; I had one of the strangest dream a few nights ago. I dreamt that I was at some kind of professional conference, and I was standing is a large reception area with a lot of other people. There was nothing too exciting going on at the conference when suddenly, people started rushing to look out large, main window. As I looked, I saw a nuclear explosion in the distance, and there was no time to prepare for what was going to happen. It’s hard to explain what I experienced next, because everything happened in the course of about two seconds. I saw blinding light and fire rushing towards us at an infinite speed. I felt myself flying through the air in the midst of the light and the fire. Then, everything was black, and I knew I was dead. But, I didn’t wake up.

My death happened so quickly that I didn’t even have time to feel fear or sadness. In the midst of the blackness, I remember thinking to myself, “I am dead. I was just killed in a nuclear explosion….but….I am still thinking….” A few seconds later, I woke up.

I’m not really sure what this dream means. I think it’s pretty humorous that my first thought after death was that I was still thinking. I take this as a clear sign that I’ve been reading too much philosophy lately.

My Pastor, The Rock Star

We’ve been attending a really big church since we moved here last summer, and it’s been a good experience for us. We’ve been able to see some of the pros and cons of the mega-church culture firsthand. The most negative aspect for us has been our inability to connect to a smaller and more personal community within the church. It’s difficult to get to know people in a church of over 8,000 in attendance. I don’t want to blame this all on the stereotypical “mega-church” problem. They really do try hard to get people connected. Part of our inability to connect is due to the limited amount of time we will be staying in Lexington and our realization that most relationships we have here will be temporary. We could have done a lot more to get to know people in the church, but we’ve failed to make much effort. Plus, we have some good friends at the seminary, so we have even less motivation to get connected at church.

For me, the best part of our church has been the ministry of our senior pastor. It’s been an excellent experience watching his ministry over the past year. I have learned so much from him, and I have grown to deeply respect him as a minister and as a person. He’s only about five years older than I am, but I see in him that kind of man that I want to become. He exudes passion and excellence in his ministry, and he does so with a spirit of humility and grace. He is a great leader, but he seems to be more defined by his love for Jesus than his need for power. He has been a great example for me and has revitalized my desire to be in ministry.

The weird thing about this is that I don’t know him, so he feels more like a rock star to me than a pastor. Despite not knowing him, I really do care about the guy. He’s told several stories in his sermons about people attend the church that run into him in the city, and they will do things like come up to him and hug him in the middle of a grocery store, even though he doesn’t know them…..and the strange thing is, I know why they do it! I’ve never loved someone so much whom I’ve never met. I think for the first time I understand how people can become infatuated with famous people. There is something about the celebrity that inspires the fan, and the fan ends up feeling close to the celebrity, without knowing the celebrity.

The public nature of ministry, leads people to think they know the minister better than they really do. This puts a lot of responsibility on the part of the minister, but it also gives him the chance to influence their lives in more ways than he could ever realize. Even when I served at a church with only 225 attendees, I remember feeling strange at times because some people whom I had only met once or twice treated me like I was their long-lost son or their best friend. It always felt odd to me. I didn’t know why they treated me that way, nor did I realize the kind of influence they were allowing me to have in their life. After attending our current church for a year and loving my pastor the way I do, I think I now understand.

Allergy Update

Well, I’m still going strong with my honeycomb treatment. We’re over halfway through April and I have only taken one allergy pill this entire spring. At the height of allergy season last year, my nose was constantly running and I sneezed 50-100 times per day, and that was while using medication! This year, I have sneezed 4 or 5 times on my worst day, and my nose hasn’t run at all. So, for all of you naysayers out there (Tully), I just want to let you know that I am convinced that honeycomb has worked wonders for my allergies.

I also wanted to let you know that while I’ve been taking honeycomb, I haven’t been sick, developed any cancers, or had any heart attacks. Now, I'm not going to guarantee that honeycomb can cure all such ailments, but I think it's pretty clear that it prevents them. If you have any miracle honeycomb stories, please let me know.

Sticks and stones may break by bones, but Don Imus will never hurt me

A few nights ago, we were out with some friends, and in the course of discussion I said something trying to be funny that didn’t come out right. The way I said it could have really offended one of the people we were eating with. I just hope that he interpreted my comments with grace and realized that my intention was not to attack him.

This made me think about the Don Imus situation, so I figured I’d throw in my two cents. I am not a Don Imus fan. I’ve never seen his show on MSNBC, and I’ve never heard his radio show. Before last week, I did not know Imus existed. From what I have heard, he is a rather vile individual. I’m not going to try to defend what he said. I know that if I had used the expression “nappy-headed hos” in a sermon, I too would have been fired. Whether he should have been fired or not is up to the corporations that employed him. I just want to chime in by saying that many of Imus’ harshest critics are utterly hypocritical. Here’s why:

1. Words should be interpreted within their greater context. The question is this: Were Imus’ words intended to be malicious or were they just offensive? I have heard that much of what Imus says on his program is controversial. That is why people listen to him. I suspect that Imus was intending to be provocative, not hateful. If he was truly trying to be hateful, I would assume that he would have tried to defend his words. But he didn’t. He apologized repeatedly, and said that his comments were idiotic. Of course, some may say that he only apologized in an attempt to save his career, but we will never fully know Imus' intentions. I would think that if he were truly racist/sexist then his critics would have referred to other racist/sexist remarks that he has made. Since I have heard them make no other references, I assume that this situation is an isolated incident. If this is the only racist/sexist remark that Imus has made, it seems unfair to label him as a racist/sexist.

His intentions can be juxtaposed with the intentions of his critics who refused to accept his apology and protested until he was fired. Were they really worried about redeeming the situation and seeking racial and gender reconciliation, or were they bent on vengefully destroying Imus’ career? While Imus’ comments were offensive, it seems to me that the intentions of his critics were more contemptible than his intentions.

2. Some consideration should be given to the effect brought about by one’s words. Imus’ words were offensive, but what evil did they bring about? Sure, he hurt the feelings some innocent women basketball players, but should we consider this as some kind of cosmic tragedy? None of their lives will be ruined because of his comment. If Imus had made some insensitive comment about me, I would have said he was an idiot and moved on with my life. But Imus’ critics have treated his words as if they warranted the death penalty.

This raises the question, why don’t Imus’ critics condemn all such words? A number of people have compared Imus’ use of the term “hos” to the tons of times “hos” is used in Rap and R&B music. Rap and R&B constantly denigrate women, and this music has a much more detrimental effect on society than Imus’ words. Culture is shaped by art. Kids who immerse themselves in the Rap and R&B culture often adopt the values of that culture. I'm sure that countless more people end up degrading women because of the words of this music than the comments made by Imus. If Imus’ critics were serious about defending women against such degrading language, they would be more consistent in attacking all such language.

My Priorities

I’ve been thinking a lot about my future. I graduate in a couple of months, and as of right now, I have no idea where we are going after I graduate. I have no definite job offers right now. I have a few prospects. Sometimes I have doubts about my own abilities. I've had a lot of questions about what decisions I need to be making right now, what kind of church I could serve, etc… Needless to say, I’ve worried a lot while thinking about all of this.

A couple of weeks ago, in the midst of these worrying thoughts, I sensed Jesus asking me the question, “Do you really love me?” I’ve thought a lot about myself lately: my future, my job prospects, my abilities, and what’s best for me. I haven’t thought much about Jesus or his Kingdom. Am I so arrogant to think that he actually needs me to do some sort of important work? Do I think my calling into ministry is some sort if important cosmic event? Jesus is calling me to refocus my attention and affection on him, not myself.

I feel like a simpleton because I need to be constantly reminded that the Way of Christ is not about me, it’s about Jesus. I am not called to a job; I am called to follow my Lord. It’s so fundamental, but I need to keep learning this truth and living within its reality.

One Hell of a Problem

I remember a conversation that the Simpsons had as they drove home from church one day….

Marge: “So, what did you children learn about today?”
Bart: “Hell.”
Homer: “Bart!”
Bart: “Well, that's what we learned about. I sure as hell can't tell you we learned about hell unless I say "hell," can I?”
Homer: “Eh, The lad has a point.”
Bart: “Hell, yes!”
Marge: “Bart!”
Bart: (Singing) “Hell, hell, hell, hell, hell, hell, hell, hell, hell, hell, hell, hell, hell.”
Marge: “Bart, you're no longer in Sunday school. Don't swear!”

Hell is a lot bigger problem for Christians than its use as a swear word. It may be the biggest problem of evil we face. Who can imagine an evil greater than the evil of unending torment? Suffering in life is bad enough, but at least it eventually ends. The traditional understanding of hell is that of eternal suffering. Can you envision that? I’m such a sissy that I can hardly stand to be sick or in pain for one day. An eternity of pain more severe than any pain I have suffered in this life is unimaginable.

Hell also raises some pretty tough questions about God’s character. How could a perfectly good and loving God cast people into an eternal existence of torture? How could a just God penalize temporal, earthly sins, with a never-ending punishment for those sins? This seems to be a greater injustice than cutting off a child’s hand for stealing a cookie or hanging a man for telling a lie. James Mill believed the concept of hell is so cruel that it undermines the belief in a good God. He wrote, “all ages and nations have represented their gods as wicked, in constantly increasing progression…till they reached the most perfect conception of wickedness which the human mind can devise, and have called this God, and prostrated themselves before it.” While I disagree with Mill’s final judgment, I can certainly see his point. It’s hard to view the author of everlasting torment as a God of love.

I don’t have any great solution to the problem of hell right now. I haven’t become a universalist. I probably would become a universalist if it wasn’t for my conviction that I am not smarter than Scripture or the tradition of the church that affirms a doctrine of hell. I think C.S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce was probably the most helpful book for me reconciling some of these issues, but I still have a lot of unanswered questions.

Right now, my only decisive conclusion is this: Christians need to be careful about how they talk about hell to unbelievers if they want Christianity to be taken seriously. If we talk about hell, we must speak about it in such a way that makes it an intelligible reality, a reality that somehow corresponds to the Triune God who is both loving and good.

The Birds and the Sneeze

I’ve always been pretty skeptical of the holistic medicine scene. My wife, who’s a nurse, was recently told by a kooky propagator of holistic medicine that doctors have a cure for cancer, but they refuse to use it because there’s so much money in the cancer business! Perhaps a conspiracy theorist who listens to AM radio at 3 o’clock in the morning would buy such an argument, but I don’t. There may be some value to holistic medicine, but I have a hard time believing the claims of hippies and crazy persons.

But….my experience this spring may be changing my mind. I have some of the worst spring allergies of anyone I have ever met. They have become so bad in recent years that I dope myself up on all kinds of medication and avoid going outside at all costs, and still I remain pretty miserable for about a month. I have tried everything, but nothing seems to work. In my search for new remedies, I came across a website recommended eating honeycomb to help with seasonal allergies. I was skeptical, but I was willing to try anything. So, I went to the local all-natural grocery store and picked up some honeycomb and have been eating it everyday…and…my allergies have not bothered me at all this spring! The allergy forecast has been very high for Kentucky, and I remain unbothered. If this continues, I may grow some dreadlocks, make some hemp clothing, and open up a holistic honeycomb farm where I can sell my new remedy for allergies that the doctors just don’t want you to know about.

Winning...Isn't Everything?

Why do I watch sports? Sports is one of the only areas in my life where I allow myself to be emotionally unguarded. I’m normally a fairly reasonable person, but when I watch the Buckeyes, I admittedly turn into a biased, emotional nutcase. I know that ultimately, sports really don’t matter, and I think that’s why its fun for me. With that said….the Buckeyes are killin’ me this year! First, we had probably the greatest regular season for football that we’d ever had. We went into the national title game against Florida as heavy favorites, and we got SMOKED. That may have been the worst game I have ever watched.
Now, in the midst of basketball season, we are the #1 team in the country. We should have lost to last week to Xavier in the second round of the NCAA tournament, but Ron Lewis hit a miracle shot at the buzzer to put us into overtime. The Buckeyes pulled out the victory, and I nearly had a heart attack. In tonight’s game against Tennessee, we were down by 20 points with one second left in the first half. I thought the game was over, but we came all the way back to take the lead late in the game. The game was tense and went down to the wire. The Buckeyes were up by 1 point with 6.5 seconds left. Tennessee had the ball and drove down the court. They shot the ball at the buzzer……and Greg Oden blocked the shot!!! I can’t take much more of this…

Evangelical Mariology

I've often wondered if we evangelicals have too low a view of the Virgin Mary. I'm sure that our hesitancy to revere and honor her is due to a reaction to what we view as the extreme veneration of her by the Roman Catholic Church. But, like so many other aspects of Catholicism, I wonder if we error too much in the opposite direction. Mary has a unique role in the history salvation by being intimately involved in the Incarnation of our Lord. The early church never formulated an official doctrine regarding Mary, but the third ecumenical council, the Council of Ephesus, declared that Mary is to be called Theotokos, “Mother of God.”
A professor at the seminary made a comment last week that I found helpful. He used a metaphor that placed the Virgin Mary as the first example of the Christian life. “The Virgin Mary is the model of the Christian faith. We are to have Christ formed in us as the Virgin Mary allowed Christ to be formed in her.” She is the first person to have her life radically transformed by the coming of Christ.
Mary’s words in Luke 1:38, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word,” show a total resolution and trust in the will of God. I would hope that someday I could exercise the similar humility and abandonment to God’s will.

Miscarriage and the Problem of Evil

This is a bleak post to start out a blog, but it’s what’s been on my mind…

We found out a little over a month ago that Jill was pregnant, and we were pretty excited. We don’t have any children, so this was life-changing news. We started making lots of plans looking forward to our future.

Last week Jill miscarried. It was one of the saddest days of my life. It’s been a rough week.

Today, I’ve been reading J. L .Mackie’s Evil and Omnipotence and Alvin Plantinga’s The Free Will Defense regarding the problem of evil. I’ve been thinking a lot about the problem of evil lately. When we consider all of the evil in the world, it is hard to reconcile it with a good and all-powerful God. This is a huge issue for the Christian faith, and Christians need to be prepared to give answers to those who use it to discredit the faith.

It struck me today, as I was reflecting on this problem for Christianity, that I haven’t thought about our miscarriage as part of the problem of evil. The miscarriage broke our hearts, and I certainly don’t have any explanation as to why a good God would allow this to happen. But, this tragedy hasn’t shaken my faith or made me think that there is a contradiction between God’s goodness and his power. I find it strange that the theoretical problem of evil has made me question my view of God more than the experience of personal evil. In the midst of personal evil, I don’t find myself seeking answers to tough questions. I find myself seeking grace and comfort from the very God who doesn’t always make sense.