Spiritual Death

I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their transgressions, and hid my face from them. - Eze 39:24

This is how God deals with our sin--he hides from us. He separates from us. That is the fundamental definition of spiritual death and hell--separation from God because he removes himself from our presence.

Spiritual Blessings

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places...that we should be holy and blameless before him. - Eph 1:3-4

The blessing he gives us is holiness and blamelessness before him. Do I see holiness as a blessing? Am I more thrilled that he makes me blameless than I would be to win the lottery?

Civil War

I'm reading a book about American history: Kenneth C. Davis Don't Know Much About American History. It's written at a 4th grade level, so it's surprisingly interesting. It hits the high points of our history without going into excrutiating detail about any of it. I just finished reading about the Civil War, and here are some interesting quotes with my thoughts added...

"In Antietam, Maryland, in the bloodiest single day of the war, the dead and wounded top 10,000 on each side." -p 91 "About 620,000 people died in the Civil War." -p 93

• This really puts the 3500 dead troops in Iraq in perspective, now doesn't it? 10,000 in one day verses 3500 in 5 years. Yes, 3500 deaths is sad, but we need to remember perspective.

"Since the United States was the only significant democratic government in the world, Lincoln believed he was fighting to preserve freedom and democracy around the globe, not just in America." -p 94

• I wonder if Lincoln was accused of all sorts of evil motives for fighting this war. "He's just trying to make money for his northern friends in the cotton mills. The south had cotton, they needed cotton to make fabric, their profits were slipping because of it, etc."

Some other interesting things...

• Lincoln only had 1 year of education. I bet the newspapers made fun of him too.
• Lincoln was a very religious man. Who can identify where he got the line "A house divided against itself cannot stand"?
• The Civil War was going very poorly--then it turned around in a very drastic fashion and the north won
• Sherman's march through Georgia destroyed everything in a 40 mile wide path from Atlanta to Savannah. He did what it took to win the war. I bet women and children died in the process. I wonder if the Senate was trying to pass non-binding resolutions saying that was bad...

Dissipation

But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. -Luk 21:34

DISSIPATION, n.
3. Scattered attention; or that which diverts and calls off the mind from any subject.
4. A dissolute, irregular course of life; a wandering from object to object in pursuit of pleasure; a course of life usually attended with careless and exorbitant expenditure of money, and indulgence in vices, which impair or ruin both health and fortune.

What a terrifying verse! I know I am currently trapped in dissipation (#3) and the cares of this life. Am I ready for Christ's return? I feel I am so distracted by everything around me--even great things like my family and necessary things like my job. The trials of house-hunting and selling easily consume me. Oh how I need God's grace to save from my distractions, to focus my attention on Him.

Prescribed Procrastination

Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer -Luke 21:14

At first this sounds like the easiest commandment ever: Don't prepare. And it would be easy if it weren't for our instance on worrying. I know I'm going to arrested and suffer greatly for my faith if I don't give a good answer...but I can't think ahead about that answer. Yeah, that's pretty tough. Of course, I could think for months of elequent things to say and only end up fumbling over my words and robbing God of the glory of speaking through me.

Faithful Watchman

But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand. -Eze 33:6

This is a sobering passage. All Christians have been called to be watchmen, warning those around us of the wrath of God. I for one have a lot of blood on my hand due to my silence.

Spiritual Headship

For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. -Eph 5:23

This weekend the Lord revealed a great truth about leadership. Learning biblical headship and bodyship is the responsibility of both the husband and wife. I have often felt that women say they want men to lead, but then they take the reins themselves and don't give men that opportunity. It's as though they want men to lead them...but only if they're being led exactly as they want to go themselves, so there's really no leading going on. OK, that rant is completely irrelevant to this post...

Anyway, I've had a struggle as spiritual leader. For example, when we have people over for dinner, I typically wait for our guests to finish their sentence before interjecting that it's time to pray. Frequently, on the other hand, my wife will lean over and say "should we pray?" So now, she's undermined my leadership by not waiting to let me lead. What should I do? I figure there are a few options. I can say "yes," not helping the cause at all but unfortunately is my most common response. I can say "of course, I was waiting till the conversation had a lull," which is a little better but when I say it over and over it just sounds like I'm making excuses.

Or I can preempt her question. This is the path the Lord just revealed to me. In order for me to get her to stop trying to lead, I need to show her I'm clearly leading. If she's a worrier, then I need to let her know I'm taking care of things before she has a chance to worry about them. If she is in a bigger hurry for things than I am, I need to be in more of a hurry to act--even if it's a hurry to say let's be patient.

Hopefully, catering my leadership style to her following style will be effective. Hopefully, she'll learn to trust my leadership so completely that I can eventually lead in my style.

Affirmative Action

I have been reading some good discussions on race based affirmative action lately. I have seen this as a very difficult issue because on one hand, systematic racism (a.k.a slavery and segregation) was a terrible evil that has legacy effects that need to be righted, but on the other hand, systematic racism (a.k.a. race based affirmative action) cannot be a valid solution to that problem. Two wrongs don't make a right. At a seminar on trans-racial adoption, I had the insight of what the solution must be.

Before I get there, let's start with a couple examples.

• My friend black friend Mark is an engineer. He has a good paying job and lives in the suburbs in a big house. His children are receiving a quality education with all the opportunities suburban schools have to offer. Should they be given preferential treatment when applying to college simply because they have dark skin?
• When I adopt a black child and raise him in an essentially "middle-class white" manner, should he be given preferential treatment based on his dark skin?
• Take a white child born into an alcoholic, meth-addicted family, who struggles against all odds to get B's in school. Now suppose my adopted son from the previous example acts like a typical middle-class kid and is a slacker, coasting by and getting B's. Should my black son get into the same college that the white boy was denied admission to?
• If the races of the two kids in the previous example were reversed, should the hard working child get priority over the slacker, even if they had the exact same GPA? What if the slacker had a slightly higher GPA?

Yes, these examples are not the norm, and typically I am against using exceptions to define the rule. Here, though, we see that the exceptions make the rule all the more clear. The problem with race-based affirmative action is that it looks at the wrong thing, skin color, instead of the real culprit, the socio-economic situation. The systemic race-based evils of slavery and segregation have been dealt with by Constitutional Amendments and Civil Rights Laws, which absolutely must be enforced. The problems we continue to see fifty years later are due primarily to the poverty cycle that was begun by those evils. It is this poverty cycle that must be addressed. Affirmative action should therefore be poverty-based, not race-based.

The only just way to right the legacy effects of overt racism is to treat the remaining symptoms because we have already put in place the treatment to the root problem. A good look at the world around us reveals that the institution of racism has ended. Whites and blacks live in the same neighborhoods, work in the same jobs, and go to the same schools. The ratios are not proportional, however, which is a sign that things still aren't right. But we must recognize that the ratios are disproportionate because of the difficulty in escaping poverty for all people, not because of racist practices that keep people down.

Thus our solution should be targeted toward the ongoing cause of persistent inequality, which is not based on race at all. Race based affirmative action is not the solution. Socio-economic based affirmative action is the solution.

Speeding Frenzy

As I was cruising in to work today at a good 70 mph, I got to thinking, "Why am I OK with speeding?" As much as I hate sitting at a red light with no other cars in sight, I have never just hit the gas and gone through it. I have never lifted a TV from Target. Heck, I've never lifted a pack of gum. But then again, I'll surf the internet and blog during work hours, and I use the copy machine for non-work activities. OK, I can justify these work-related offenses easily--my employer doesn't care--they realize they get more work out of me by letting me use the copy machine every now and then instead of taking an hour off work to drive to Kinko's to do it instead. But how can I justify breaking a law?

Tithe Mint and Rue

"But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others." -Luke 11:42

We need to be very careful to not pick and choose the commandments we obey. The Pharisees are chided here for doing just that. Jesus is not rebuking them for being disciplined in their tithing. He doesn't say, "Quit worrying so much about giving 10 percent, just love each other." No, he affirmed their tithing, saying they ought to to that. Then, he rebukes them for stopping there. They were neglecting other commandments. So we need to search ourselves and the Scriptures to see what commands we are ignoring while we are strongly committed to others. Have we turned our religion into legalistic obedience without any heart-felt love for God? Have we turned our back on obedience and solely obey the love commands? Both of these miss the mark of true Jesus-like Christianity.

Black and White Redemption

"When he announces provocatively that he is a liberal, when he defends interventions like affirmative action on mere faith, he argues that it is to help blacks, but of course it is really the other redemption he wants, the white redemption."

from How Liberals Debase Black Achievement by Shelby Steele

Heavenly Rewards

But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. -Mat 6:3-4

But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. -Mat 6:6

But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. -Mat 6:17

Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. -Luk 6:23

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. -Luk 6:35

If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. -1 Cor 3:14

knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. -Col 3:24

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. -Heb 11:6

He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. -Heb 11:26

Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. -2 John 1:8

The nations raged,but your wrath came,and the time for the dead to be judged,and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,and those who fear your name,both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth. -Rev 11:18

This is just a quick sampling of New Testament verses with the word "reward" in them. I have struggled for years with the notion that God wants to reward me. God offers rewards and wants to shower them upon us! These verses make it abundantly clear this is true. The important thing is recognizing these are not usually earthly rewards. Yes, some Christians are blessed with earthly treasures of health and wealth. But God's rewards are usually more valuable than that--treasures in heaven. This is such a profound thought in my mind that I can't really get a grip on it. We don't need to serve merely out of obligation--we can serve, knowing by faith that God will reward us. We can give sacrificially, knowing that God will return the blessing a hundredfold. We can die for Him, knowing we will hear the greatest reward imaginable: "Well done good and faithful servant."

Tiny Baby

I just found this wonderful picture of a beautiful baby on Sarah's Daughters. Who can look at this little thing and think it is not a person?

Why Am I Conservative?

I've been thinking a lot lately about why I believe what I believe about the government's involvement in our lives. I have found that on some issues I think we should have laws enforcing Biblical values, but on other issues I think the government should be silent. For example, I currently believe:

• So-called "Same-sex Marriage" should not be allowed, but the government should not forbid same-sex sexual relationships.
• Abortion should be outlawed
• We should not be forced to give to the poor, and wealth should not be forbidden
• The government should not force people to become Christians, but it should not forbid Christian expression in public places (like 10 Commandments displays, crosses in city seals, prayer in schools, etc.)

I think it's important to think through these things to make sure I am not being hypocritical, that I am not just a mindless republican follower, and that I am not rationalizing disobeying Christ. Anyway, I expect to have a series of posts on this and highly encourage any comments!