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George Lucas Changed Star Wars Again and I’m Cool With It

September 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment

By now you know that George Lucas released the latest version of Star Wars and he’s messed again with “the originals”. As expected, there’s been a huge outcry by the SW loyalists and as predicted, George Lucas could not care less. Nor could I.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the story of Star Wars.  As a kid, I thought Luke Skywalker was the most amazing thing in the world. I remember praying for him so that I would see him in heaven (I was young and didn’t understand the world of actors. But fortunately, my wife explained it all to me last year).

I may not be a real Star Wars fan (like I’ve never read any of the books, I have forgot some of names of characters who appear for a split second and I got rid of my toy light saber after the fifth grade) but I do love Star Wars on so many levels. So here’s why I don’t care that George Lucas is changing the story again.

One, stories change. They have a life of their own. They are not scripts, they are stories.
Two, we change, and therefore at the very least, the way we tell the same story that we told many times before changes.
Three, the world is changing and therefore the way we are able to tell a story changes. Many of our stories became fixed and stagnate because when we went from sharing stories in person to in print and in media, the stories became fixed. Through an ideal world, our media would allow for the changing story every time we played the same dvd, (at least, we have reissues). BUT imagine the day, when a studio releases a movie, it flops and the audience gives feedback to fix it so when it’s released on dvd (or back in theaters or however we are consuming movies by then), it’s better!  Don’t laugh, when the right people figure this out, we’ll have even more access to even better stories.

Here’s why I think this is interesting. Of all the stories I know, the gospel of Jesus is the greatest I know. The story of a God who creates humanity with free will, that rebels against him, that therefore allows death and evil into the world and creates suffering, pain, and despair is therefore redeemed by the same God who becomes one of them and offers humanity love, hope, and life.  No offense to Skywalker but it’s a bit bigger than closing your eyes and shooting into an air shaft and blowing up a weapon planet.

The way I tell the  story of Jesus changes too. The way you tell this story probably changes. I would even dare to mention, the way God tells the story changes as well. Are there not two creation accounts in Genesis? That post is coming soon. Even further, consider how the narrative of salvation unfolds throughout the entire Bible.

Maybe George Lucas is just imitating the original storyteller.

Filed Under: Christianity, Reflective

Our Student Mission Team Is Returning to an AIDS Camp

July 8, 2011 by 1 Comment

If you know me or if you have been following this blog for a while, you know I am a believer of short-term missions. While I see some of the shortcomings of these trips, I have also experienced the virtues of these weeks.

This year, we are returning to the All Saints AIDS Camp with Next Step Ministries. We will be headed to the Nassau, Bahamas this weekend and be there until the 17th. Our main objective is to do what we are told to do cheerfully and effectively in the name of Jesus (If you have worked on a short-term trip, you’re probably smiling and know exactly what that means). What I believe we are actually doing is building cabins for the residents of the camp. Two years ago, we worked on cabins and spent the other half of the time destroying sidewalk and repaving a new one. The sidewalk was completed last summer and most of the projects are focused on cabin building, a new bathhouse, kitchen-cafeteria and perhaps a chapel.

It’s always been interesting to me that the All Saints AIDS Camp used to be a leper colony. The camp sits on a ridge on the opposite side of the resorts, down a long winding dirt road overlooking a cliff and a cemetery. There is a little bit of electricity and access to water. Other amenities include a picnic table.

Still, we found most of the residents to be cheerful. One woman we made a connection with frequently asked us to read Scripture to her and she would love to sing hymns. There were many like her which we found to be incredible. There has always been a Christian presence in the camp and many of the residents are professing believers. After our trip, the camp received resident missionaries whom we have been praying upon hearing the incredible news. I am curious to how the camp feels since their arrival.

Upon hearing the possibility of this place (at the National Youth Workers Convention in Pittsburgh of ’08), I was quick to dismiss it. I mean taking high school students to an AIDS Camp and hearing all the jokes of a mission trip to the Bahamas is a tough sell. That day, had you told me that it would have been one of the most meaningful experiences of our lives, I probably would not have believed you.

It’s become a very special place to me. You pray very different when you’re at a place like that. Last time I was there, my wife was pregnant with Dylan and she’s now pregnant with a little girl. I’m telling you, you think differently about life when you’re there. It’s a special place and our students were very moved by the experience. And one moment I’ll always remember is one of our girls turning 16 there.

There are countless things to remember but one of my another highlight was getting a tour of the island on our free day by one of the residents … who was blind. I’m eager to meet up with him again and though I expect that he won’t remember me, we certainly remember him and his story of God’s deliverance.

If you would remember to pray for a few things that would be great.
– Pray that we would be “agenda-free” and only focused on serving in the name of Jesus. One of our collective concerns is the temptation to recreate our previous experience (which would be like us making an idol and worshipping that memory instead of God).
– Pray for our safety and health. It’s extremely hot and we’re building cabins, tools are sharp, wood is heavy, and though we are very safety conscious, please pray for God’s hand to be upon us.
– Pray for those we will be serving and serving with. As wonderful as it is for Americans to come and help build a new home for you, it must get a bit exhausting talking to a new group each week. We do our best to communicate to our team that we are not tourists but there is obviously a relational element to these weeks. And so we pray that those who we are serving would be blessed in many ways by us. We will also be serving with another church (from Minnesota) and we’re looking forward to meeting them.

I’d like to think that post a thought or two next week but I’ll be more committed to being there, so we’ll see.

For more context, you can about our trip two years ago here and here.

Filed Under: Christianity, Missional, Reflective, Student Ministry

My Review of Erasing Hell by Francis Chan

July 6, 2011 by 7 Comments

I received a review copy of Francis Chan’s new book Erasing Hell: What God Really Says About Eternity and the Things We Made Up from David Cook Publishing and agreed to post my thoughts this week. I am not required to post a positive review, all of these thoughts are my honest reactions.

Who is Francis Chan? Just about one of the better evangelical speakers around. He has a fantastic presence, possess excellent communication skills, and is “likable”. He has a casual, “say it as it is” style, yet uses a lot of passion, and is Biblically informed. From the back of his book: “Francis is a pastor, international speaker, and church planter, is the New York Times bestselling author of Crazy Love and Forgotten God. Chan is also on the board of World Impact and Children’s Hunger Fund.”

Why the Book? As you probably know, there has been a lot of interest surrounding heaven, hell, and the afterlife since Rob Bell released Love Wins. A plethora of books are being released on the subject and among all of them, I was interested in reading Chan’s thoughts. As you can see from the previous paragraph, I appreciate him and as a result, know that this post is not objective (as if one actually could be completely objective). I’m sure most of these books are not being written mainly out of a motive for profit but I’ve been wrong before. If you know Chan’s story, you’ll know that money is not a motivating factor for him which draws me more to the book and given the attention surrounding these types of books, I feel this should be said.

What I Liked
– He and his friend Preston Sprinkle (who has a Phd in New Testament studies and is a professor at Eternity Bible College) spent as much attention has possible focusing on the Biblical texts that talk about the afterlife.

– As alluded to earlier, because of who Chan is, I was excited to read how he would respond to Bell. Though I didn’t always appreciate what Chan was saying, I did like how he was saying it. And I find that to be very important if we really are interested in conversation.

– The tone of the book is very pastoral. I’m a sucker for this and I know I keep saying it but there are good number of pastors who know how to address an audience. I think Chan does as excellent of a job as anyone.

– This is an excellent book for small group study and expect that it will sell numerous copies for this reason alone and I’m sure there will be a group study questionnaire guide released by the time I finish this post.

– Really liked Chapter 2 “Has Hell Changed? Or Have We?” (not really the title but the content was solid) and loved Chapter 5 entitled, “What Does This Have to Do with Me?” Seriously, the best chapter in the book and reminds of why I appreciate Chan. I’d even say that chapter saved the book for me.

– Liked his treatment of “gehenna”. I did always believe that Jesus is referring to a garbage dump and I’m yet not convinced that he’s not. However, between Chan and Scot McKnight’s post on the subject, I do need to give it’s due attention.

– I expected Chan to lay off certain difficult thoughts (like in Chapter 6 but he took everything head on). Not sure if he gave it the space needed but it’s an excellent summary that points to God’s sovereignty and man’s need for humility.

– Chan’s wrestling with certain difficulties (but I quietly wished he would have shared more).

– the bibliography (though I wished he would have used NT Wright’s Surprised By Hope a bit more)

What I Wasn’t Crazy About

– As much as I like Chan, I really didn’t like the title or subtitle (didn’t really care for the video either). I know many times the author doesn’t decide on that and I get what they’re trying to say but I feel it’s poorly titled. I also find the subtitle to be pretentious. Does anyone really know what God says about eternity? Let he who is without sin lift up his perfect hermeneutics.

– Not sure of the first chapter on universalism was the place to begin though it was well-written. After my second reading, I thought chapters 1 and 2 should have been flipped. That said, I think Bell would agree with what Chan is saying and respond with, “Right that’s why I’m not a universalist either.”

– I felt that Chan wasn’t really responding to Bell but instead merely recentering the classic evangelical teaching of eternity. He just happens to say it better than most because of his exceptional communication skills but I think discerning readers will be a disappointed that they already know much of this content (though it’s well organized). Consequently, if you are coming to this conversation late, I suggest you read Erasing Hell first, then read Love Wins. Because even though Chan references passages in LW, Bell is responding what Chan is articulating. Anyone else see this?

– While I didn’t want Chan to go blow for blow with Bell (like the way DeYoung did in his .pdf), I was expecting a little more engagement since it was marketed as a response. I would be very interested in seeing what was edited out :) Perhaps, I should say, it’s a good book, but not an excellent response.

– I feel there is room to speculate on the afterlife when you offer the disclaimer that you are speculating. Thus, I wished that Chan would have shared his imagination a bit more. That is what’s so powerful of the first third of Bell’s LW.

Conclusion
With all sincerity, I did enjoy reading Erasing Hell and I expect it to be the better among the “Response to Bell” books that are being released.
And though the content is much thicker than LW, it’s still reader-friendly. My advice is wherever you start read Surprised By Hope by NT Wright , Love Wins and Erasing Hell if you really are interested in the subject.

Filed Under: Book Reviews, Christianity, Reflective, The Church Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Talking to High Schoolers About “End of the World” Fear

May 20, 2011 by 3 Comments

Back when I was in Jr. High, the world was scheduled to end. It was 1988 and there was a popular book out called 88 Reasons Why the Rapture is in 1988. It was written by Ima Krazeman but he went by the name Edgar C. Whisenant. For whatever reason, my dad drove me to school that unfateful day and I asked him if it was true that the world would end. He gave me that look like, “Are you an idiot?”, but because my father is loving, he changed his face and tone and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll see you at dinner.” Which turned out to be true so I regard my father as more qualified at predictions than Whisenant and Harold Camping.

There’s always an “End of the World” prediction lurking somewhere in pop-culture. Whether it be a Nostradamus prediction at the checkout line or a summer blockbuster movie or a guy on a New York street corner preaching that it’s time to “turn or burn”. There are also more sophisticated ways of communicating humanity’s demise – like the Discovery Channel’s many features or Y2K or Al Gore’s televangelism ministry. I mean speaking of Gore, besides not literally standing on a street corner and having nicer hair, I’m not really sure what the difference is between him and the “bullhorn guy”. His “scriptures” are the scientific research that he puts his faith in. In any case, it seems every 10 years or so, we have an end of the world prediction from a rich white guy.

For many of us, this is all non-sense and even after a few moments of letting our imagination run away, its relatively easy to dismiss. But I have found for young people like Sr. High students, that there is a good bit of fear created. If you ask some, they are inclined to tell you that a scenario like Jake Gyllenhaal’s “The Day After Tomorrow” is possible because of what we are doing to our planet. What I also found is that many of our Christian students (and Christian adults!) are afraid of the return of Jesus.

A quick pause here because I know some of you – I’m all for stewardship of our planet (in fact, I was just voted “Greenest Youth Pastor” at a recent local youth pastor gathering. The prize was a used napkin). But the scenarios in these doomsday movies don’t hold much merit for me. In a world where anything is possible, it seems the wiser thing is to trust in a God that cares for humanity and creation than to fear cosmic destruction from arbitrary means. But I digress.

It’s been my observation that the people who talk most about the end of the world and the rapture are generally older people. From my thirty-something perspective, it seems that they want to avoid the process of dying. It’s been my experience and continued observation that those who most resist the idea of the end of the world and the rapture are younger people. Among the reasons, they too would like to experience the joys of physical intimacy or to be blunt – sex. Mention this to a bunch of young Christian married couples who were raised in church and they will all tell you some version of the nightmare they had about Jesus ripping the roof off their sanctuary after the pastor declares them husband and wife. “Noooo, we read I Kissed Dating Goodbye and now were going to Punta Cana for our honeymoon, please Jesus, come back next week!”

Things like the “Left Behind” series that create this idea of being “rapture-ready”, sermons and youth group lessons that only focus on the “Christ coming to judge the world” and listening to someone say, “If you are paying attention to what’s going on in the Middle East then you know these are the end times. It’s predicted in Scripture as plain as day …” has created a theme of fear that has been picked up by our young people. In the hope of creating urgency to live faithful in anticipation of the return of Jesus and our fascination with the more sensational elements of Scripture has blinded us to the more beautiful aspects of Scripture.

As a youth pastor, I try to find the balance of these things. Frankly, I am enjoying this season of life and am grateful to God for many things. I understand that not all people feel this way. Theologically I also understand that being in the presence of God will be the greatest experience beyond our imagination. When asked ‘What will heaven be like?’ I try to explain that if you have never wanted a moment to end, that’s a foretaste of something even more beautiful than that. In a good season or a tough one, this seems to be a helpful way of understanding the hope of the afterlife in the presence of God.

And then we turn to how the New Testament describes the return of Jesus. Often, it is described as a wedding and the church is described as the bride, and Jesus is the groom. I find that very fitting and mildly surprising. A lot of different types of imagery could have been used but Paul, John and the author of Hebrews use the metaphor of a wedding. Feel free to check out passages like Ephesians 5:23-40, Hebrews 12:22-23, John 3:28-3 and Revelation 19:6-8, 21:1-2, 9-11.

Every bride anticipates her wedding day and this is how the Church should anticipate the return of Jesus and our students responded well to that. Now this whole post is contextualized to the believer of Jesus. I have no answer for those outside the Christian faith. I think it’s extremely important that Christians not use the return of Jesus as an “evacuation route” and evangelize with tactics of fear and hype but rather to see Jesus’ return as a loving, hopeful, beautiful thing – describing it like the greatest of all weddings.

Filed Under: Christianity, Reflective, Student Ministry, The Church

Is Harold Camping Deceitful or Delusional?

May 18, 2011 by 7 Comments

This past Sunday’s night “God at the Pub” discussion centered around Harold Camping, the return of Jesus and the end of the world. It was an excellent night and I hope to blog a bit of our conversation in a couple of posts.

Why would you go so far out of your way to predict the end of the world?
If you are wrong, you have not only embarrassed yourself, everyone you are associated with and the Church. And while I am not sure you can embarrass God (I mean can God really blush?), I do feel such antics do bring embarrassment and shame in the eyes of non-believers. Further, if you are wrong, you have created fear, maybe even panic, watered down your message and as we seen, become a punchline. It should also be noted that he’s not speaking for the Church, he is actually saying that Christians need to leave the church (and this is partially why he claims Jesus is coming). The one blessing is that he is disassociating himself from the Church.

So the question needs to be asked – why do this?

Is Harold Camping Deceitful?
The most common assumption for the campaign and possible deceit is money.
But as that relates to Camping, he is already wealthy. In fact, he is so wealthy that he (or his ministry, Family Radio) spent $3 Million on this campaign! He’s 89, how much more money does he think he needs? Further, 89 is an odd time to swindle. So I don’t think he is financially-motivated.

Is Harold Camping Delusional?
I understand that this is a potentially an offensive question but baring the facts, I think it must be asked. To some extent, Yes, I do think Camping is delusional. I do think it’s partially his age. But I also think that he is so desperate to leave a legacy that he is willing to create any type of attention to have it. He’s looking back at his life, he’s not satisfied and wants to be remembered.
I picture a few things:
1. He’s inspired by Donald Trump’s playbook – any hype is good hype.
2. He has surrounded himself with either a circle of “Yes Men” or created a system where there is no accountability or council.
3. He looks at old pictures, contemplates his labor and desperately wants to be remembered.

So I do think he is a bit delusional at this point. But after a careful look at his website, here’s why that isn’t a satisfactory answer either. His website (though completely aesthetically hideous. Should have spent some of the $3 million here) is a huge apologetic to his thesis. Meaning he’s not some old guy just rambling on the air (like a senile version of Rush Limbaugh) – he’s thought his argument through and I think he’s being a bit deceitful. If you have listened to him speak, he does seem to have some sense of self-awareness left (some). He is trying desperately to persuade and this is different than a prophet. The prophet proclaims “to whoever has hears” ear but this televangelist is a salesman and he has a pitch to win you over.

What Happens When His Prophecy of Jesus’ Return Not Happen on May 21st?
I guarantee you that Camping has not cancelled his routine doctor’s appointments next week. And while it’s humorous to think that he’s house-hunting in Pakistan (They’ll never of looking here again”), he’s old, he can’t run, not even emotionally – He’s not going into hiding.

This is tenth prediction, he knows he will be forgiven, this time he’s holding on to hope that he won’t be forgotten. That’s his worst fear and that’s why he is being delusional and bit deceitful.

Filed Under: Christianity, Reflective, The Church

Review of The Sword of the Lord: The Roots of Fundamentalism in an American Family

May 16, 2011 by 1 Comment

If you like Matthew Paul Turner (Jesus Needs New PR) and appreciated his hilarious semi-autobiographical tale of growing up in a Conservative/fundamentalist home Churched and you appreciate history, Andrew Himes’ new book The Sword of the Lord: The Roots of Fundamentalism in an American Family is a fantastic read. It’s a legitimate, historical and academic account of not just a fundamentalist upbringing upbringing but growing up in practically the royal family of fundamentalism.

I know what some of you are thinking – Who is Andrew Himes?? I didn’t know either until I stumbled upon him on MPT’s blog. He is one of the grandsons of John Rice who was a pastor, revivalist and published the newsletter of the fundamentalist movement – “The Sword of the Lord”. I’ll put to you this way – John Rice helped launch Billy Graham’s career. At his funeral, Jerry Falwell called him “God’s man for the hour” and Andrew tells the story of how he did everything he could to not debate Falwell at the reception of his grandfather’s funeral.

Andrew was also the black sheep of the family. I know what you are thinking – How hard can it be to be a black sheep of a fundamentalist family? I mean, put on a pair of jeans and listen to a few songs on the radio and your fundie grandmother will cry herself to sleep while praying for your wicked soul. But first, it seemed that Grandma Rice was an incredible woman (he talks highly about that). Second, Andrew really was liberal – at one point he was a Vietnam war protesting Marxist at the University of WI and this was his path for the next 10 years.  Yeah, when growing up in the 60’s-70’s, that qualifies as a rebel in most American families.

Aesthetically, it’s not a pleasing book and I fear that people who would really enjoy the content will be turned off by the cover and it’s probably a terribly titled book because it contains the words “American Fundamentalism” and “sword”. But if there is ever a time to NOT judge a book by its cover, it’s this one.

Who This Book Is For:
… those who love history, specifically church history. However, because Christian fundamentalism became so big in this last century, there is so much American history here as well. Andrew chronicles his family history immigrating from Ireland, then where his ancestors were during the civil war, their involvement with the KKK, their rejection of the KKK, their personal involvement in the Civil Rights movement, the Scopes Trial and their deep connections with figures like Billy Graham and Jerry Falwell. It’s a pretty incredible family history and even more compelling because Andrew is able to call out the missteps while also sharing the blessings.
Those who want to see how fundamentalism mutated from a good idea to what we have today. Pretty fascinating.
Those who want to see how “control” has always been one of the most damaging themes throughout church history. Pretty tragic.
There’s even a Mark Driscoll reference. Yep, Andrew calls him a fundamentalist.  (Hey, they’re both in Seattle, hmmm).
There’s a Kenda Dean reference from her stellar book Almost Christian.  Yep, Andrew thinks her points are brilliant.

Why I Am So Interested In It
As a Liberty University graduate, I get fundamentalism but also, there’s so much I don’t get. Frankly, I almost didn’t make it at Liberty  (I tried to drink the Kool-Aid but eventually, I threw it back up). Had it not been for a the honest words of a few religion professors and falling in love with the beautiful woman who would become my wife, and some great friends, I would have transferred.  Between the history and the Jerry Falwell pieces, I found this compelling.

The Sword of the Lord brings such a focused context from the Rice family and Andrew narrates the fundamentalist monologue so well (without villainizing).  As the book winds down, you get a sense of how Billy Graham is feeling the need to do something different, which will be later called the “Evangelical Movement”.  Which by the way, he becomes my favorite figure of the book (a testimony of Andrew’s fair writing).

The book finishes with a few of Andrew’s reflections and I only wish he had written more and maybe he will in a future book.  In any case, I hope you read this.  Here are a few links and he’ll be speaking live today at Town Hall Seattle and you can watch the Live Stream here at 5PST.  Today is the book’s release date, you can buy it here through Amazon.

You can also check out his telling of his questioning because of his own church’s racism.

 

Watch live streaming video from andrewhimes at livestream.com
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Christianity, The Church

Reflecting on the Death of Osama Bin Laden – Post 3 – What Does it Mean to Love Our Enemies?

May 10, 2011 by 2 Comments

I have obviously hesitated in posting recently. Not out of fear, I am entitled to my opinion but out of sensitivity. I’ve been mentioning in my previous posts that I found some reactions to the death of OBL to be too jubilant. In others I’ve questioned the practicality of some of the very spiritual updates/tweets/sentiments. And I want to be sensitive to some measure. I’ve also been dialoguing with my high school students regarding this. We even had a discussion night about it. So, I want to be pastoral, wise, and helpful to them and of course, to you as well.

First, thank you to those who commented on the previous post – really appreciated reading your thoughts. It’s always interesting to me that I think I get as many (or even more!) emails and Facebook messages than I do comments. Which is fine – it’s probably wise for some of you to not say some things in a public space. I would encourage you though to share your thoughts every once in a while here – it may prove to be beneficial for us as a whole.

If this is your first time reading this blog, you should know a couple things. I am not a pacifist though I prefer the path of non-violence. Most importantly, I am a Christian and since I see myself as a Christian first and an American second (tI feel this would be consistent with New Testament teaching), I am more interested in how the Church (specifically the conservative evangelical church) should be responding than how our government/president/military does. Hope that makes some sense.

And so because I foremost seek my identity in God and not the State, I hope the Church contributes to counter-balance some of the perspectives found in society. Further, I am grateful and proud to live in a country that values open society and the freedom to express one’s voice in a manner that does not harm others. I try to never take this for granted.

All week, I’ve been wrestling with the question of “What does it mean to love our enemies?”. Now, I have a lot of faults and shortcomings so know that I am aware of this but every so often, I practice my Christianity and among those practices is praying for my enemies. Ultimately, I do not believe that a war will solve our differences and as naive as it sounds, I believe peace can only be achieved when hearts and minds change and that includes ours. That’s the big picture.

I pray that my heart changes and that the hearts of my enemies change. But that does not mean that all I ought to do is pray. Wisdom and practicality are also needed, otherwise you might be accused of being indifferent to living which is poor stewardship because God is the giver of life and He expects to be faithful with it. So to be blunt – There is a time to lock the door. There is a time to barricade the door. And because of the world that we live in, there is a time to kick down the door of the evil doer. I do believe in self-defense, I do appreciate “just war” theory, and I support the troops. But there is also a time to turn the other cheek, there is a time where “just-war” theory must be tempered and I support the peacemakers. Many things are situational, the world is gray in some parts, and life is lived on the slippery slope.

That said, Osama Bin Laden was evil. And I know we as Christians are accustomed and theologically correct in saying that we too are evil and depraved, there are different kinds of consequences for different kinds of evil. Society has always understood this and that’s why we are not sent to the electric chair for speeding. We do need to recognize that there are thousands if not millions of people who hate us (and others) so much that they would kill you (again, and others) if they had the chance. They would kill you even if it meant they too would be dead. We call them suicide bombers, they call themselves the” righteous”. It’s good to remember the context.

People will be quick to say that treating OBL will only empower our enemies and reinforce their hatred towards us. That may be true. Some have said that we should have arrested him and brought him to trial – that may be true as well (as in it may be “more moral” but I am wrestling with that one). People have said that we need to be careful of the slippery slope – that’s true too. But in my opinion, all of these excellent thoughts only point to how difficult the question is, how complicated the world is, and among many things, the need for humility and prayer before a loving and just God. And it’s good if we pray and dialogue in community so thanks for reading.

How does a Christian respond? Some have responded by sharing the faith and hope of Jesus Christ with them. That is beautiful. Some of have responded by suggesting the entire Middle East be bombed – that is regrettable and frankly, embarrassing. It’s not just middle ground that is needed, but goodness tempered with justice anchored by love would be a helpful start.

This post has gotten too long so I am breaking it down. I’ll be continuing soon with question “What Does it Mean to Love Our Enemies?” In the meantime, feel free to dialogue here.

Filed Under: Christianity, Clash of Civilizations

Does Apologetics Have a Role in Postmodern Culture?

April 27, 2011 by 10 Comments

Primary Audience – My post-evangelical friends who have abandoned apologetics.
Secondary Audience – Those who have no idea what I mean by post-evangelical and perhaps place too high of an emphasis on apologetics.

Like many Christians, I went through an apologetic phase. I got excited about people like Lee Strobel, handed out Case for Christ, the sequel Case for Faith, and the lesser known but probably his best work Case for the Yankees to everyone I knew. I also had a life-size poster of Ravi Zacharias wearing a No. 23 jersey dunking over Nietzsche. It was pretty cool.

What I liked about apologetics is that it allowed a place for philosophy and the sciences. For me, it encouraged thinking, logic and dialogue. Further I found the proclamations and defenses helpful in understanding and sharing my Christian faith.

But over the years, my appreciation for apologetics lessened because I found that at times, it was actually a counter-productive way of sharing the Christian faith. Further, it often led to unhelpful arguments, and frankly many times, most people didn’t really care about it. I hated the endless debating, the “us versus them”, the posturing, etc. I remember hearing things like, “When an atheist says this, counter with this …” Later I found it to be objectifying of people and it dehumanized those Jesus called me to love.

Over the years, I have met many different types of atheists/agnostics/skeptics. Most of them are hurting people and I believe many of them, despite what they say, are searching. I often wonder if sometimes our arguments actually have an adverse effect and push them further away from God. Now certainly, I don’t think skeptics are going to be nearer to God if we answer questions with blank stares and shrugged shoulders and this among the reasons why I have not given up on the discipline of apologetics.

I sometimes feel surrounded by people (physically and online) who perhaps over-emphasize the importance of apologetics and those who have dismissed it entirely. To the former it seems we may have to reconsider the importance, the practice and the ethic that it should be complimented by. To the latter, I wonder if it’s because we have been beat over the head so many times with it that we are simply too turned off to appreciate it’s helpfulness.

It’s important to remember that there is a lot of goodness in discussions that place a Christ-like value on the person you are discussing such matters with. Conversation is essential and the “us dialoging with others” and others with us, and the positioning of being in a time/place where we can share our hearts.

I think it’s important that believers have an understanding of what we believe and be able to articulate why we believe. It’s something that we try to do in our student ministry. We say regularly, “Don’t inherit your parents’ faith, it will fail you. Faith must be owned by you …”. Apologetics, theology, social justice practices, corporate worship, spiritual formation are all necessary in the nurturing of young disciples.

From where I sit, there is a another population in the Church that could really benefit from refuting things like the “Swoon Theory” and “The Legend Theory” or understanding the critiques and responses to the new atheists like Hitchens, Dawkins and Harris. Throughout the centuries, there has always been an intentional undermining of the resurrection of Jesus, and while we cannot ever prove that Jesus rose from the dead, I think in this postmodern era, it is beneficial to present a case that says at the very least, “It could have happened and in faith I choose to believe it did.”

Everything has a context and I think apologetics has a place too. No one can prove “faith”. That’s exactly what faith is. In fact, “proving faith” is an oxymoron. The moment you prove faith you contradict Hebrews 11:1 – one of the most quoted passages of Scripture.

I think some of my fellow seminary-trained, well-read, post-evangelicals get frustrated with apologetics because too much stock has been placed on it. I submit that we are tired of it because we have gotten so much of it. Could it be that we are suffering from an apologetics hangover? I think it’s time we consider its benefits and perhaps invest energies in reframing this discipline of study in our postmodern culture.

As always feel free to disagree/pushback/etc. What do you think – is there a place for apologetics today?

Filed Under: Christianity, Culture, Reflective, The Church

An Easter Reflection – God Experienced Something … New?

April 25, 2011 by 5 Comments

You know when a rock n’ roll band releases a new album and they say something like, “This is our best ever yet.”? That’s how I feel about the holidays in recent years. Throughout my adult years, I have always liked Easter and the last few years have been wonderful and this one may have been the most meaningful yet. Can’t really put my finger on one exact thing but I do know the more I put into the season of Lent, the more beautiful they tend to be. Reading through the Gospels, focusing on certain aspects of the Easter story, fasting, my community and of course, having children, have a lot to do with it.

The past two years, the Gospel of Mark has really been special for me. Reading Tim Keller’s The King’s Cross (which was based on Mark) was a helpful devotional for the season. I also found myself talking a lot about the atonement. I cannot recommend enough Scot McKnight’s Community of Atonement which worked its way into two weeks of youth group lessons. I would even say that the “Rob Bell controversy” was a blessing to my Lent as I can not recall a time that I have talked about the topic of salvation (soteriology) more with fellow believers.

I also gave up coffee and Guinness this year. If you know me, you know I like coffee. I drank a lot of green tea in it’s place which is a healthy alternative but always reminded me that it wasn’t as enjoyable as good coffee. Regarding the beer, I’m not a huge beer drinker and I really only like a few. Guinness is by far my favorite. At my favorite pub, they pour one for me as soon as I walk in the door. Now understand, I know that giving up coffee and Guinness is not real suffering. I gave these up because they are things I really enjoy – they are the small rewards that sometimes whisper to me, “life is good”. (If your coffee isn’t whispering to you, it’s probably because you are drinking Folgers and is part of the unethical treatment of global coffee farmers – buy fair trade my friends).

If I had to pick my one theme that I was blessed by this year, it would have to be the Father watching His Son suffer. I know He raises Jesus back to life but that’s another matter entirely. I’m moved by the Father’s role in all of this. It could be that we are parents now and I’m all sensitive about fatherhood but I think it’s also that most of the sermons I hear and lessons I give are from Jesus’ perspective (which is of course, a fantastic and necessary perspective). But this year, I wondered how God could have watched. I know He is omniscient, I know He is omnipotent, I know He loves humanity and wants to offer the world redemption. I know God is just and merciful, I know He is Jesus, etc – I know all these things. But I still wonder and that is good because it’s an exercise that draws me nearer the Father’s heart.

One of my favorite aspects of the Christian faith is that we serve a God that got His hands dirty and bloody for our sake. A God that lost everything – A God that died. Which is utterly crazy in some sense – I mean there has to be another way, right?

As it turns out, there wasn’t. Justice and Love are demonstrated in their highest forms at Calvary. God had delivered His people in many ways before but dying was new. This is humbling, beautiful and downright amazing. I know my words fail to capture the grandeur of it. And I know we can only appreciate the glory of the resurrection when we have grieved the crucifixion of Jesus but this Lent it became clearer to me that God experienced a different type of love for His creation when He suffered on our behalf. In this sense, God experienced something He had never experienced before.God experienced something new? I tell you, this truth drew me in closer.

Filed Under: Christianity, Reflective, The Church

A Youth Pastor Watches His First Season of The Jersey Shore Part 4 – We Watch Because We Are Bored

April 8, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Yesterday’s post focused on the idea that if Jesus had not been raised from the dead, then the Jersey Shore life is a good option because in the words of the Apostle Paul himself we might as well, “eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.” Today, I want to start with the simple question, “Why do we actually watch?”

Now, a few things to be clear. I am not calling for any type of a boycott of the Jersey Shore shore. If it fulfills your need of entertainment, great. And as the second post already mentioned, I do think it’s important that we take inventory of the messages we receive in our media, but I am not suggesting that the JS is the worst thing on tv  (but let’s agree that it’s not good quality television).  Today, I want to make the point that we will always have a Jersey Shore type of phenomena, Brittany, a Mel Gibson or Charlie Sheen, or some type of other pop-culture hype, controversy, or outrage. It’s not just money, it’s because as a society, we are bored.

The reason we are bored is because we struggle to find identity, meaning or purpose. As a result we pinball our way through the rat race of life. We bounce off of events into tragedies into triumphs into droughts of mundaneness that are interrupted by moments of transcendence. We search for hope, truth, and goodness and when they elude us, we look to escape the pain and emptiness by finding ways to escape.

And that’s what things like the Jersey Shore really are. I doubt most people actually want to be like one of them. People may envy their fame, money and newly acquired lifestyles but I doubt strongly that are a lot of guys out there who really want to be Mike “the Situation” or Snooki. This does not mean that they are terrible people but most people watch the show to be entertained by the mess or as others have put it, “to watch the trainwreck“.

No one wants to watch a show where people are reading, playing with their children and where their spouse is grateful when the dishes are done -even 80’s sitcoms were more entertaining.  Sadly, people want to see a girl barely 5 feet tall get punched in the face in a bar in Seaside.   But as the cruelties of life will show us, one day we’ll be laying on the dirty floor realizing that we are wasting our days with such meaningless things.

The resurrection of Jesus offers the abundant life, now and forever with the Lord. A life that desires to serve the world, the community, the home. A life that offers meaning instead of escape, hope in the face of evil, purpose in the vast emptiness, and salvation from death itself. And the good news is that it’s for every cast member, every tough guy, every sweetheart, everyone. May we continue to discover and enjoy the life that Jesus offers.

Filed Under: Christianity, Reflective, Student Ministry