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The Ascension

Saturday, May 11th, 2013

The Ascension of Jesus is celebrated on the 40th day after Easter Sunday (Acts 1:4). Because it is always a Thursday it tends to be overlooked and neglected. Yet the Ascension of Jesus is the culmination of his earthly life. It confirms his identity, and speaks to us of our destiny. Without the Ascension what would Jesus have done? Would he have hung around the disciples, appearing to them from time to time to instruct and guide them? Would he have gradually faded away, like a ghost? Would his presence among them have delayed the coming of the Holy Spirit? Would his frequent post-resurrection appearances have altered our understanding of our resurrection? Would they have fostered a belief in some sort of spiritual presence, an after-life on this earth rather than in heaven? What does the Ascension of Jesus have to say to us about our own future life?

The belief of the early church was that Jesus, at the end of forty days of teaching about the kingdom of God, was taken up to heaven before the very eyes of the disciples. A cloud hid him from their sight. “They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white, stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’” (Acts 1:10,11)

The resurrected human body of Jesus was taken up into heaven. This is significant. No longer would his body walk on this earth until his coming again. The bones of Jesus do not lie in a tomb, or anywhere else. He is resurrected from the dead and ascended into heaven. By doing this he completes his earthly mission. By completing the cycle of birth, death, resurrection and ascension, he pioneers our entry into heaven. What he did forty days after his resurrection, we are destined to do if we are in Christ. We follow him into the heavenly realms, where he is “in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything.” (Ephesians 1:21-22 The Message)

The first Christians were so thrilled by this message that they wrote hymns about it. St. Paul includes one such early hymn, in his letter to Timothy.

“Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great:

He appeared in a body,

was vindicated by the Spirit,

was seen by angels,

was preached among the nations,

was believed on in the world,

was taken up in glory.” (1 Timothy 3:16)

The Gospel message is described as “the mystery of godliness”, i.e. a divine mystery that, instead of being hidden, has been revealed to us so that we do not have to be ignorant of God’s purpose. It is a revelation of ‘godliness’ i.e. of living in a reverent personal relationship with God, a recognition of our place in creation, a desire to live to our highest potential, in harmony with his plan for our lives. It is to live in reverence for God rather than in rebellion against God and his loving purpose for us. Such a life is aligned with our heavenly Father’s design for us. It is in contrast to the life that is opposed or indifferent or in rebellion to God’s purpose for us. Such a life, that does not want to acknowledge or reverence God, is called ungodly. It is hollow and self-destructive.

The Gospel message depends on these truths:

  1. The eternal Son of God, existing as pure spirit before Time, was made visible in his earthly life, when he became a human being.
  2. Christ’s profound claims were vindicated by his  miracles, climaxing in his resurrection; these were sure evidences that he
    was the sinless Son of God.
  3. During his earthly ministry angels watched over him, his  birth and resurrection were witnessed by the heavenly host.
  4. After his death and resurrection, his message was  proclaimed to all races.
  5. All kinds of people responded by putting their faith  in him.
  6. Finally, he was exalted to the glorious presence of  God in heaven. This was the climax of his earthly ministry.

This, if it is “beyond all question”, is “great”. The Christian Gospel is Christ-centered. It is the proclamation of the life, death, resurrection and ascension of the glorified Lord of all. What does this have to do with us?

Jesus ascended so that we too, might ascend with him. We are united with him, by grace through faith. We are part of his Body. If we are in him we can look forward to being taken up into glory. He pioneered the way for us. He took his human body into heaven so that we too, might be taken into the presence of God. This destination is called “glory”.

 

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Self-forgiveness

Saturday, May 4th, 2013

Recently I came across the term “self-forgiveness.”  In counseling circles it has to do with loving ourselves, forgiving ourselves for not being perfect, and not judging ourselves. The premise is that we cannot forgive others and love others unless we truly forgive and love ourselves. It is the result of accepting our mistakes and failures. To be able to say “I behaved thoughtlessly, unkindly, foolishly etc. and I forgive myself for not being perfect” could be the biggest – and most healing – act of all. For when you can forgive the imperfection in yourself, it’s a lot easier to forgive them in others.

I must admit that I am troubled by this counsel. It reminds me of the 1973, “I’m OK, You’re OK” book by Thomas Harris of  Transactional Analysis fame. Self-forgiveness is an attempt at self-salvation. It teaches that our own guilt, sense of shame, conscience, can be eradicated by our self-acceptance and self-affirmation. If that were true then we have no accountability. We can be our own judge and jury as to our own acquittal.

What do we do with Jesus’ teaching that we are to strive to be perfect (Matthew 5:48)?  What do we do with the forgiveness of sins that Jesus brought to us? What do we do with the concept of redemption – that Jesus died on the Cross, at great cost, to purchase our freedom from condemnation? If we can forgive ourselves what need do we have of a Savior?

The Christian Gospel is that in Christ we find forgiveness for our sins. “In Christ we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.” (Ephesians 1:7,8) “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1) When we have received that forgiveness in Christ, through repentance and faith, we do not need to forgive ourselves – we have been forgiven. It is a matter of receiving that which God has done for us by his grace in the redemption of Jesus on the Cross. To say that we need to forgive ourselves is tantamount to denying the work of Christ on the Cross and becoming our own Savior. It is to trivialize the cost of redemption.

We do not need to forgive ourselves in order to love others. We ask for forgiveness for our own sins, as we forgive the sins of others in the words of the Lord’s Prayer. We recognize that as we have been forgiven, we extend that forgiveness to others.

The counsel to forgive yourself as the deepest act of forgiveness is an attempt to do an end-run around God. It is the desire to heal oneself without seeking the healing of the Cross. If we wish to be forgiven we must seek it where it is truly to be found, not in ourselves, but in the Good News of Jesus. “Son, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2:5) “Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven – for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little….Your sins are forgiven.” (Luke 7:47,48)

What do you think? What is your experience of forgiveness?

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National Day of Prayer

Saturday, April 27th, 2013

Heavenly Father, King of Kings and Lord of Lord, Ruler of all the nations, you have instructed us through your apostle to “pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live He wants not only us but everyone saved, everyone to get to know the truth we’ve learned: that there’s one God and only one, and one Priest- Mediator between God and us – Jesus, who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free.” (1 Timothy 2:1-6)

We pray for those elected to positions of leadership in our nation: all those in executive offices, all legislators and all judges. May they be guided by your wisdom and seek to serve you to promote justice and liberty in our land and throughout the world. May they uphold the truth of your holy Word, and standards of holiness in their legislation, judgments and administration.

We pray for all citizens, that we may be governed in our consciences by your moral law to do good, live honest lives, and be responsible in our work and in the choices we make.

We pray that marriage may be held in honor, that children be raised to honor their parents and be brought up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

We pray that our police, firefighters, emergency personnel, and military may be clothed with your armor as they seek to serve and protect: that they may take their stand against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil with the belt of truth buckled around their waist, fastened with the breastplate of righteousness, their feet fitted with the gospel of peace, taking the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit.

We pray for our churches, that they may be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, faithful to the gospel of Christ they proclaim, built upon the foundation of the apostles, and filled with your love.

We pray for all organizations that minister compassion, charity and goodwill to the needy, that they may be effective in alleviating suffering and be led by people of integrity, and volunteers who seek to serve the least of those amongst us.

We pray for our schools, colleges and universities, that they may teach the truth, foster  a love of learning, and honor the historical legacy of our Western culture, the intellectual tradition of a classical education, the achievement of our founders, and respect the Constitution, the rule of law, and our Judaeo-Christian inheritance.

We pray for the media, those who influence through, the arts, entertainment and sports, all celebrities, that they may so live and work as those who will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. Raise up wholesome examples of people who produce in their lives the fruit of your Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

We repent of any arrogance, pride and chronological snobbery, thinking that we know better than previous generations. Help us to value the achievements of the past, the sacrifices that have been made by those who have come before us so that we might enjoy the advantages of freedom, peace, comfort, and faith.

May we come together for the common good and foster an environment where those who come after us will learn from our  mistakes, and take action where we have been either unable or unwilling, so that this nation will be more truly one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

We ask all this, knowing our unworthiness but also your great mercy, in the strong name of Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen.

 

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Prayer for the Injured and Bereaved in Boston, Massachusetts amd West, Texas

Saturday, April 20th, 2013

Heavenly Father, we grieve with those who have lost loved ones, and have been severely disabled by the tragic events of this past week. All of a sudden, politics and foreign conflict, the stock market and taxes are displaced by dangers closer to home. Our first thought is of people we know who might be affected. We call them to make sure they and their loved ones are safe. We pray for those who are not, who have died, who have been injured, who have been bereaved, whose lives have been changed forever by what has happened. Lord, I remember driving by West, Texas many times on my way to Dallas-Fort Worth. I remember shopping on Boylston Street, worshipping in Trinity Church, Copley Square, and staying at the Copley Square Hotel in Boston. The locations of these tragedies come alive for me in my imagination. I could have been there too. In solidarity with the victims, we pray for their healing, for their restoration, for their future hope and comfort. May they know the healing power of your love and presence.

Lord Jesus, you once spoke about those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them. You said that they were not more guilty or deserving of such a sudden death than all the others living in Jerusalem (Luke 13:4).  You seemed to say that such events expose our mortality. The sudden and unexpected deaths and injuries of those involved in such tragedies touch us deeply because we identify with the victims and their loved ones.  In  the shock of their loss we see our own lives cut short prematurely. We contemplate our own future and are challenged to think about the significance of our own lives, of whether we are prepared to die and whether we are ready to face you. May these horrific tragedies cause us to turn to you, to take seriously your purpose for us, so that we may abandon trivialities and focus on seeking your righteous and holy will, and trust in your provision for our salvation.

“Lord Jesus Christ, who wept at the grave of Lazarus: we commend to your tender care and compassion those whose loss is greatest at this time, because their lives were closest and their love was strongest. In the midst of their deep sorrow give them the comfort of your powerful, resurrection presence, and the courage and faith which they need to face life again in the days to come. And may your peace be with them, Lord, both now and always. Amen.”

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An Easter Message

Saturday, March 30th, 2013

Hanging on the wall of my office is a rare manuscript of one of the earliest portions of the Bible in the Maori language. It is Ezekiel 37:1-14 and dated 1840. It was presented to me as a farewell gift from a Bible study I led for fourteen years on Friday mornings at Frost Bank in San Antonio, Texas. The description on the back reads, “This is the first appearance of this portion of the Bible in Maori: ‘Son of Man, can these bones live?’ It has been suggested to us by a New Zealand correspondent that this passage was chosen for its relevance to the Maoris’ one-time ritual cannibalism.”

Some of the Maoris used to eat their slain enemies after battles to gain their courage, humiliate them, and to prevent them returning. The message of Ezekiel 37 is that what appears to be dead can be brought back to life. You cannot dispose of dead fellow human beings as though they are mere animals. All men and women are both matter and spirit. Just as Israel appeared to be dead and exiled from their land, Ezekiel prophesied that they would one day be restored, and raised up, so don’t depend on your enemies remaining dead.

“They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the
Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them I will put my Spirit in you and you will live….” (Ezekiel 37:11-14).

While belief in God may be challenged by skeptics, this message reminds us that life is eternal, love is immortal and death is only an horizon, and an horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight. The Sovereign Lord of the universe, who gives life to all, from whom, and through whom and to him are all things, can open graves and put his Spirit in us and raise us to a new life. This is the message of Easter and of the whole Bible. Jesus came to give us the proof of this truth. If this is true, then what relevance does it have for us today?

Death does not have the final say. ‘Our hope is gone; we are cut off’, is not the final word concerning our destiny. What physical and biological science cannot admit, the resurrection of Jesus demonstrates. The impossible becomes possible. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you.” (1 Peter 1:3,4)

We need this hope when we are facing our final illness or the dying of a loved one. The Lord does not want us to believe that death is the end it pretends to be. “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)

The Lord will open our graves and bring us to a new life of the Spirit. Billy Graham has written, “Some day you will read that Billy Graham is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it! I shall be more alive than I am  now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God.” Over the magnificent mausoleum of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at Frogmore House in the grounds of Windsor Castle are inscribed the words, “Here at last I will rest with thee, and with thee in Christ, I shall also rise again.” Our final resting place is not here in a grave or a columbarium, but in the new heavens and the new earth of the Lord’s new creation. “I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.” (Ezekiel 37:14)

That is one very good reason why we follow Jesus, the Risen One, and proclaim him Lord of the dead and the living.

 

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A Maundy Thursday Meditation

Saturday, March 16th, 2013

“Jesus knew that the time has come for him to leave this world and go to the Father.” (John 13:1)

What a way to describe your last night? When we die we leave this world and go to the Father. It is a journey from here to the presence of the Father. It is to leave the troubles and trials of this world and to enter into the loving embrace of our heavenly Father. As a father, I would welcome my children with open arms and rejoice in their coming to me. Jesus said, “Enter into the joy or happiness of your Master.” There is nothing to fear, for we are going to someone we know and love and trust, the one who has taken care of us in our infancy and childhood, and is always there when we need him. When my children were little and I returned home each day from work, they would see me and rush out into the front driveway to jump into my arms. We are still God’s children when we are old and tired. We still long to go to the Father.

On this last night before he goes to the Father Jesus leaves us his legacy.

First of all, he leaves us a legacy of humble service. He loved his own who were in the world and showed them the full extent of his love. He began to wash his disciples’ feet. He showed them an example of how they should behave to one another. How do we wash each others’ feet today? By noticing their needs and doing something about them. By taking an interest in those around us and being willing to humbly serve them. By listening to their troubles. By being a friend in need. I am aware that each  congregation, and every church member can follow Christ’s example by seeking to serve our neighbors.

Secondly, he leaves us a legacy of true worship by breaking bread in his memory, by giving thanks for our redemption, by instituting a continual remembrance that binds us together as a church community and with him. “Do this in remembrance of me.” We are one body and one spirit. He is our host, our source of salvation and sustenance, the bread of life and the wine of
rejoicing. We eat and drink around his Table. He keeps us together, centered on his death and resurrection until he comes and takes us to the Father. We enjoy a foretaste of the heavenly banquet, the wedding supper of the Lamb that was slain and with his blood purchased us for God from ever tribe and language and people and nation, who has made us a kingdom of priests to serve God. We join the angels and archangels and the whole company of heaven who sing glory around the throne of God.

Thirdly, he leaves us a legacy of the promised Holy Spirit, who will be his continuing presence and empowerment in our lives.  The Holy Spirit will teach us  all things necessary for salvation and will remind us of everything Jesus has said to us through the written word of the apostles. The New Testament is the legacy of the Holy Spirit to us – the divinely inspired words of Jesus. It is the last will and testament of Jesus written to equip us for every good work.

Fourthly, he leaves us a legacy of prayer. He prays for his people, for those he will leave behind, and for those who will come after them, that they may be one, that they may be sanctified, that they may grow in grace and numbers. He prays for himself, that he will do God’s will. The legacy of prayer ensures that our communication with Jesus continues. Our communion with him is not broken by his departure from us. He is still listening to us and interceding for us.

Fifthly, leaves us a legacy of how to die. He surrenders himself to the events of his departure from this world without losing his dignity and destiny. He is taken by the powers of this world but is not intimidated by them. He submits to embarrassment and suffering. He dies in pain and discomfort. Leaving this world is not always easy or smooth. But he knows where he is going – to the Father.

He leaves us this legacy. Let us learn from it. To humbly serve one another. To worship together around his Table and the throne
of God.  To receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and his written Word. To practice prayer for ourselves and for others, for those who come after us. To learn how to die well.

This a legacy that we can treasure, and that will continue to pay dividends over the course of our lifetime.

 

 

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He Descended to Hell or Hades or the Dead

Saturday, February 23rd, 2013

Many people have asked me why we say in the Apostles Creed: “Jesus descended into hell”? The primary passage of Scripture on which this statement in the Creed is based is Psalm 16:10, which is quoted by Peter in his sermon at Pentecost: “you will not abandon me [my soul] to the grave [Sheol or Hades], nor will you let your Holy One see decay.” Peter applies this to Jesus as a prophecy:“seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave [Sheol or Hades], nor did his body see decay.” If the soul of Christ were not left in Sheol or Hades at the resurrection, then his soul was there before his resurrection; therefore after his death and before his resurrection, the soul of Christ descended into the place of the departed.

If this is so, what did he do there? What was the purpose of his going there? Many theologians say that it merely means that he experienced everything that we experience. He totally identified with us in our death experience. Others point to 1 Peter 3:18-4:6 “He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah…. The gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged.”

In the early Church it came to be believed that this is what Jesus did during his time in the place of the departed. He preached the Gospel to those who had died. Does this give the departed a second chance to believe? Or is the Gospel only preached to the saints of the pre-Christian era, so that they might see the promises fulfilled in Christ? Or does this mean that those who had never heard of Christ in their day, get an opportunity to do so? These questions became issues of controversy, and the medieval church created elaborate scenarios that speculated beyond the truth of Scripture.

The core of truth in these Medieval fantasies is that Jesus perfected the spirits of Old Testament believers, and those who had trusted in the Savior without knowing him by name (Hebrews 11:40; 12:23). He made Hades into Paradise for the penitent thief, and for all others who died trusting him during his earthly ministry, just as he does now for the faithful departed (see Philippians 1:21-23; 2 Corinthians 5:6-8). The widespread belief of the early Church was that the Lord released the souls of the Old Testament saints, and carried them with him to heaven.

James F. Kay of Princeton Seminary, quotes John Calvin’s view that the descent into hell refers to the sufferings of Christ on the cross: “The point is that the Creed sets forth what Christ suffered in the sight of men, and then appositely speaks of that invisible and incomprehensible judgment which he underwent in the sight of God in order that we might know not only that Christ’s body was given as the price of our redemption, but that he paid a greater and more excellent price in suffering in his soul the terrible torments of a condemned and forsaken man.” Kay goes on to comment: “Christ died in the place of sinners (Isa.53:4-6). As such, he suffered in body and soul the torments of damnation, of God’s severity, wrath and judgment. ‘No wonder, then, if he is said to have descended into hell, for he suffered the death that God in his wrath had inflicted on the wicked!’ This is shown in the ‘cry of dereliction’ from the cross: ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Ps.22:1; Matt.27:46). Calvin comments, ‘And surely no more terrible abyss can be conceived than to feel yourself forsaken and estranged from God, and when you call upon him, not to be heard.’ In other words, hell in the Creed is defined by the cross of Jesus Christ. Hell is godforsakenness. To enter into this state is what it means to descend into hell.” (James F. Kay in Exploring & Proclaiming the Apostles’ Creed, ed. Roger E. Van Ham, pp.125,127,128)

Jesus took upon himself the judgment we merited, and endured for us, as our substitute, so that we could be forgiven. He identified with all “suffering humanity in the grips and clutches of hell. By descending into hell, God in the person of Jesus Christ places the worst that can befall human beings within the redeeming embrace of the cross.”

Jesus went into the regions of darkness so that our souls might never come into those torments that are there. By his descent he freed us from our fears. “By his death he destroyed him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”

(Excerpted from Ted Schroder, BURIED TREASURE, pp.177-184)

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Why Am I?

Tuesday, January 1st, 2013

The Introduction of my new book, WHY AM I? Reflections on Meaning and Purpose in Life from Genesis 1-11, begins with these words:

When I first held my newest grand-daughter, Erika, in my arms and looked at her, I asked, “Who are you? Where have you come from? What will your life be like?” Her perfectly formed face, eyes, nose, ears, fingers and toes fascinated me, as did my two daughters’ when they were born. I was also aware of Erika returning my gaze. What was she thinking? “Who is this person? Where did he come from? Why am I here?”

Why am I? Who am I? How do I make sense of my life? Am I just an accident? Am I just a higher animal? Am I just a collection of chemicals and genes? Who is the baby I hold in my arms? What does her life mean? Why is she so precious to me her grandfather and all who love her?

What is the value of your life? Why are you who you are? These are questions I have asked all my life. Where do you look for answers to these questions? That is what this book is about. Will you journey with me as I explore these questions and their answers as prompted by the first eleven chapters of the book of Genesis?

GENESIS 1-11 AND SCIENCE

There are many who discount the Bible in favor of a rationalistic approach to the meaning of your life and mine. Here is one such approach.

“Scientism, according to one standard definition, is ‘an exaggerated confidence in the methods of science as the most (or the only) reliable tools of inquiry’.… The main tenets of this philosophy are bracingly summed up in a series of questions and answers. Is there a God? No. What is the nature of reality? What physics says it is. What is the purpose of the universe? There is none. What is the meaning of life? Ditto. Why am I here? Just dumb luck. Does prayer work? Of course not. Is there a soul? Is it immortal? You must be kidding. Is there free will? Not a chance! What is the difference between right and wrong, good and bad? There is no moral difference between them.”[1]

What is your response to such a catechism? Mine is: How does he know? What is the basis of his dogmatic claims? How does he live? How does he make moral decisions? How can he be so dismissive of the prophets, the apostles, and Jesus? I am amazed when I read in the popular press derogatory comments about the Bible, such as, “Modern science has disproven the Biblical view of origins in Genesis.” Anybody who makes such a statement is ignorant of both the limitations of science and the interpretation of Scripture.

MY APPROACH IN THIS BOOK

In the following chapters I will be looking at Genesis 1-11 from many different angles. But the most important question I will be asking of the passages will be: what is God saying to us today through his Word about his purpose for your life and mine. The fundamental questions of the secular world are: Who is God? Who am I? Why am I here? What am I for? How can I give my life meaning? How do I get faith? What is this life all about? Why is the universe here? Why is there something rather than nothing?

 

A CHRISTIAN INTERPRETATION

I will be looking at Genesis from a New Testament perspective. I am writing as a follower of Jesus Christ. I am looking at Genesis 1-11 through the spectacles of Christian belief. I will consider what is meant by the beginning of all things. How does God reveal himself to us? What is the process of creation today? What is the nature of our human condition, our uniqueness, our purpose, our temptation and fall? I will consider the problem of evil, the breakdown of relationships between Cain and Abel, the judgment of the Flood, and the confusion of languages at the tower of Babel. What is the relevance for all these to our lives today?

I believe in the truth and authenticity of the Holy Scriptures. I believe that God speaks to us through these words according to our need. Without this divinely revealed truth we cannot know the answers to life’s great questions. Without the truth of the Bible we are condemned to the doubt and agnosticism of the otherwise brilliant literary critic, George Steiner.[2]
He wrote in his memoir,

“All of us are guests of life. No human being knows the meaning of its creation, except in the most primitive, biological regard. No man or woman knows the purpose, if any, the possible significance of its ‘thrownness’ into the mystery of existence. Why is there not nothing? Why am I?”

To the contrary, God has revealed to us the answers to those questions if we will but receive them. Genesis 1-11, and the rest of the Bible, is given to us to answer these questions, to know the meaning of our creation and the purpose of our existence.

 

It is available through Amazon and Amelia Plantation Chapel.

[1]
Anthony Kenny’s review of The Atheist’s
Guide to Reality, Alex Rosenberg, Times
Literary Supplement, June 22, 2012, p.24

[2]
George Steiner, Errata: an examined life,
Yale, 1998, p.60

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Domestic Violence

Saturday, November 24th, 2012

Many women in our congregation have been active in establishing the work of Micah’s Place, the domestic violence shelter for our county. They have raised our awareness of the need for help for wives and mothers in abusive relationships. All too often patterns of violence have been repeated in generation after generation. I commend to you the support of organizations in your area that provide help for abused women. Often the abuse is hidden as women are embarrassed by it and often are made to feel that they have contributed to it in some sick way. There is no excuse for domestic violence. Husbands who claim that the Bible says that their wives should submit to them are misinterpreting Scripture. Christ sacrificed himself for his bride, the Church, and so should husbands. The pattern of Scripture is that a husband loves his wife as Christ does the Church. I found the following prayer from a battered wife which is to the point.

My God, I can no longer recognize the face that I see in the mirror. Where was the radiant bride that stood here merely five years ago? Where was the young woman full of hope, full of love and full of the promises of a brand new life ahead of her? For the woman who stands here now seems no longer a woman at all. Gone was the light in her eyes that used to be the envy of all. Gone was the blush on her cheeks that used to be caressed with tenderness and love. Those eyes are now swollen from endless tears. Those cheeks are now shadowed by bruises and scars.

I have been transgressed and defiled, and I have allowed it all! I have allowed it for the most cliché reason of all. O how I thought I loved him, but the truth is that I don’t even know how to love my own self. How conceited indeed can a woman be? To think that she could change the man who doesn’t even want to change himself? Am I a God who can look into the hearts of men and seek the goodness that can be drawn from each one? Even God doesn’t force us to change if we wish to be stubborn and go our own sinful ways. Indeed, I am no God, and neither is the man I have worshipped so wrongfully all these years.

My God, help me to see things as they really are, not as I would have it. Help me to forgive myself as you have forgiven me, to love myself as you have loved me. Help me to know what love really is that it may take root in my heart and that it may bear fruit for others to also find their way. I used to think that love is being able to give everything even if it hurts. God it hurt so much! But now I know that love, even if it may hurt sometimes should never be at the expense of self-respect and dignity; love, even if it may entail sacrifice should never be at the expense of being shattered and broken.

For true love, if it is true indeed always brings wholeness and peace, and bears the fruit of goodness upon all who give and receive it. Love is not a matter of control or manipulation. Love is an invitation and a gift that can only be received with openness and a grateful heart. Help me find my way O God, not only for myself but more so for my beloved children. Help me to provide for them not only their material needs, but their emotional and spiritual longings as well.

Truly I have a long way to go and a great many more battles to face, but I dare to begin now God. I begin with your forgiveness and your love. I begin with your providence and healing. Help me through it all O Lord and one day soon, I know I will be able to see that radiant and beautiful bride once again.

This prayer of a battered wife was written by HIYAS at itakeoffthemask.com

Read more http://itakeoffthemask.com/prayers/battered-wife-prayer/

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The Long Game

Thursday, November 8th, 2012

Andrew Klavan
The Long Game
Three areas the Right should address, financially and intellectually
7 November 2012
Life is short, said Hippocrates, but art is long. There is a practical corollary to that great truth: elections are won and lost in the politics of the moment, but it’s the culture that makes the nation.
In the aftermath of President Obama’s victory, conservative political thinkers will have to ask themselves some hard questions. How much of our defeat was due to strategy and how much to structure? How can we reach out to struggling workers without sacrificing our commitment to free enterprise and individual liberty? How can we speak to single women without losing voters committed to family values and the lives of the unborn? How can we welcome the children of illegal immigrants without compromising our belief in the rule of law?
The smartest political writers in the country, all of whom are conservative, will now be addressing those questions. I’m an artist; I play the long game. To win that game, to create an electorate more deeply committed to true liberty and resistant to the sort of cultural scare tactics the president’s campaign team used so effectively, there are three areas to which conservatives need to commit intellectual and financial resources—three areas that our intelligentsia and funders, in their impractical practicality, too often ignore.
The mainstream news media. Major news outlets, like ABC, NBC, CBS, and the still influential New York Times have now become so ideologically corrupt that they are engaging in the sort of Nixonian cover-ups they once prided themselves on exposing. Their studied creation of non-scandal scandals and non-gaffe gaffes on the right and their active suppression of such true scandals as Fast and Furious and Benghazi on the left amount to journalistic malpractice on behalf of the state. The late Andrew Breitbart understood the depth and extent of the problem better than the cooler establishment heads who wrinkled their noses at him. He declared a guerrilla war on the media in the name of truth.
While Breitbart disciples like John Nolte, Ben Shapiro, and Joel Pollak continue that underground fight, it is long past time for conservative minds and money to take the battle to the mainstream. How is it possible that the mind-boggling success of Fox News has failed to spawn half a dozen imitators at least—especially venues for the libertarian young with their antic sense of political incorrectness? Rupert Murdoch, God love him, can’t live forever. It’s time for others to step up.
The entertainment industry. Conservatives think when they have won an argument in the newspapers, the fight is over. Leftists know their Hippocrates. They know they can rewrite history in novels, on TV, and in the movies, and a generation later, their false versions will be accepted as truth. As former ambassador Joseph Wilson said, when his questionable actions were rendered heroic in the dishonest movie Fair Game: “For people who have short memories or don’t read, this is the only way they will remember the period.” It’s not that conservative ideas don’t make their way into popular entertainment; it’s that they always come in disguise. Even leftists love deeply conservative films like the Lord of the Rings and Dark Knight trilogies, because they recognize good values when they’re not forced to apply them to real life. But conservatives themselves quail when conservatives speak their values plainly in the arts. Too preachy, they cry, too much propaganda, too much . . . too much . . . conservatism! We don’t need more conservative artists. We need an infrastructure to support them: more funding, more distribution, sympathetic review venues, grants and awards for arts that speak the truth out loud.
Religion for intellectuals. Normally, I would have said number three was “reforming the academy,” but I believe this is where the fight for the academy is centered. Recently, a number of books by secular intellectuals have noted the disaster that is postmodern relativism—the nihilist philosophy that has corrupted and gutted Western liberal education. Education’s End, by Anthony T. Kronman, Why We Should Call Ourselves Christians, by Marcello Pera, and What Ever Happened to Modernism?, by Gabriel Josipovici, come to mind. All lament the abandonment of our commitment to the Great Conversation—the intellectual’s belief that the creative tension of the uniquely brilliant Western literary and philosophical canon can lead us in the direction of moral truth.
But the authors cannot fully grasp the nettle of the solution. Many assume that the Great Conversation depended on the sort of open mind only secularism can provide. As Kronman puts it: “Every religion insists, at the end of the day, that there is only one right answer to the question of life’s meaning,” thus rendering the pluralism of the Great Conversation impossible. I would contend the opposite: only the existence of a God in whose image we are created can support the notion of moral truth at all. It was always Judeo-Christianity, and that alone, that made the Great Conversation possible. Pera understands this intellectually, but cannot really plunk for faith. And therein lies the problem. The triumph of science, the comfort of Western life, and a sophisticated elite virulently hostile to religion have all contributed to an intellectual atmosphere of unbelief—a sense that atheism should be the default mode of reasonable, thinking people. That is a mere prejudice and needs to be answered in the culture, not with Bible-thumping literalism and small-minded judgmentalism—nor with banal happy-talk optimism—but by sound argument made publicly, unabashedly, and without fear. John Adams and the other Founders were right about this: an irreligious people cannot be free. Liberty lives in the palace of moral truth, and you can’t build that palace on the empty air.
In the aftermath of a crushing electoral defeat, all this may seem a distant business, an airy conversation for another day. It isn’t. The demography of the country is changing, but demography is not destiny. Ideas are. We must retake the culture and begin speaking truth to a new America.
Andrew Klavan’s new suspense novel for young adults is entitled If We Survive.

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