Saturday, December 27, 2008

Check this out y'all: President Bush read the Bible cover-to-cover each year according to Karl Rove's article in the Wall Street Journal.

Applause! President Bush has had more responsibility, a tighter schedule, and more demands on his time than anyone I know and he read the Bible all the way through each year. (Along with a lot of other very interesting books according to Rove). Another note: he reads instead of watching TV.

I only started reading the Bible all-the-way-through each year starting last year; and I highly recommend it. We all want to know what the will of God is; and Paul writes to renew our minds daily so that we might know God's will (Romans 12).

Also, I will give a free ESV Bible that includes the daily Bible reading plan I use to anyone who asks. It only costs me $4 each, so don't worry that any burden at all for me to give these away freely.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Teaching the bad parts of the gospel

Tim Challies writes a blogpost/book-review that highlights how I feel about softening the hard truths of the gospel (gospel=good news that sinners have a real hope--that Jesus came, died the death they deserve, rose, and will right all the bad in the world).

From Tim's blog:

Why would an author or a pastor seek to soften the message?

I guess there is no great mystery here. Unbelievers hate the gospel message because it insists that things are true about them that they simply do not wish to believe. It insists things are true that they are unable to believe. The gospel message tells us that we are sinners. Many people are able to accept this information; only an incredibly dishonest and delusional person could pretend that he has done no wrong. The gospel message tells us that ultimately we have not sinned against others or against ourselves, but against God. This is more difficult to digest. Few of us care to think that we have sinned against the Creator of the world. The gospel goes on to tell us that our sin against God has offended him and filled him with wrath against us. Fewer people still are able to digest and accept this information. Few people are able to believe that God is justified in his wrath towards those who transgress his laws. But the gospel reaches its ultimate offense when it tells us that we are utterly unable to do anything about all of this. None of our deeds, however noble and good, are able to make the least dent in the debt we owe to God. Furthermore, none of us would pursue any kind of reconciliation with God were it not for his prior action in our hearts. We are, in our heart of hearts, God-haters. Without God's grace we are helpless and hopeless.

This is some exceedingly bad news. And this is why so many churches seek to soften the news. It's better, they think, to welcome into church the many people who will accept a softened message than the few who will accept such a tough message. And so they tamper with it, taking the edge off. Yes, we have sinned, but let's think of it as just doing bad things or making mistakes. And though God has noticed these mistakes, he is willing and eager to overlook such offenses. What kind of Father would he be if he really insisted that we face eternal damnation for some mistakes? Soon the message is watered down into watery, tasteless baby food. Having covered this not-too-bad news, these pastors and authors offer good news. If you turn to God, you can have your best life now. He will bless you richly, giving you all the things you want and need. He will make your life better and promise you the reward of heaven where you will be reunited with all of the people and the things you held dear here on earth.

I would put this issue (softening sin) as 1 of maybe 5 things that deadens the effectiveness of the American church.

Don't despair though--our hope is not in church effectiveness; but in Jesus Christ who is governing every atom, every event, every election for the benefit of His church.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Of First Importance

Something I've been blessed by recently--subscribing the the daily email of Of First Importance.

It's a blog that posts once every morning a quote about the Gospel--the good news that God became a man, shared our sufferings, died the death we deserved, rose again, and will come back to right all wrong.

So each morning, in my work email, I get a little gospel gem that disrupts the rest of my work email.

How to do it
  • Go to the blog
  • Read some posts to understand what's about
  • On the right side, there's a like called "Daily Email" if you want to sign up

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

I love Jesus. And he loves me.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Photo from Josh in India, Dec 2001


indian michael and jeremy, originally uploaded by joshandstephie.

This is coming out of the archive--a photo with me and two guys that hung out with me for a couple days in Delhi, India. This is after they taught me the basics of cricket.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Ugly Mugs Coffee


We are at a new coffee shop in East Nashville, Ugly Mugs. It's across on Eastland. We've been talking to the owners, Jared and Courtney, and they are very friendly. They live in the community and have a desire to serve East Nashville. We are excited they are here.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Can you identify this picture?


[Update: Thank you, it's been identified in the comments] I found this in my iPhone "camera roll" stuck in my photos from yesterday. I'd anyone can identify, please help me. It's text doesn't appear anywhere online according to google.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Pray up the kiddos

Recently I was talking about baptizing your babies with a friend. The point came up, "What about the baptized babies who don't grow up to become Christians?"

My thesis: I am confident that God will give us our children to be saved if we are annoyingly, repetitively bold in our offering that desire to him in prayer.

Our kids becoming believers should be the norm, and not the other way around. Pray for those kids to become Christians. God may be pleased to save them through decades of persistent prayer.

I don't hear about Christians today persistently grabbing hold of God in prayers that they won't give up on. But Jesus says there's special power in going back to God over-and-over-and-over again until he grants your request.

The persistent widow
And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
The exact topic of persistent prayer here is justice. I believe it applies to more than justice, including praying for loved one's salvation. My non-biblical argument is "How did such an undying, persistent plea get into the believer's heart, but the Lord put it there to magnify his glory when he grants the request.

The bold requester


After teaching the Lord's Prayer in Luke, Jesus taught praying to God with crazy boldness:

And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence* he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
*offensively bold behavior

Now in context Jesus closes that the Father will eagerly and freely give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him, but I believe this passage is relevant for praying for kids.

Jonathan Edwards

The puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards raised 11 believing children! I guess no one can really know if they were true Christians, but nor can we even know if Edwards was a true Christian. I think a little more research is needed for me to be confident in the 11-believing-children fact, but this google search does pretty well in establishing the point for me.

Conclusion

Fr
om these two passages, I believe that God will grant salvation to our kids if we are un-ashamed and unfailing in our unending boldness for our kids to be saved. The fact that a parent would be unfailing in prayer for their children is already an amazing sign that God is working!

But what if I'm a big failure about praying for my kids?

Go right now and ask him for what you lack--the desire to even pray!

Who doesn't feel really bad about their prayer life? Even the great praying men started out lame as prayers. But we can ask God for help where we are--to become praying parents! Ask now!

What might God do regarding parents who stayed up past midnight, wrestling with God to save their children?

Still interested, I would go to Gregg Harris's article. He and Sono have raised 7 kids with a multi-generational vision that they be lovers of the Lord. (His kids include Josh Harris of "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" and pastor of Covenant Life Church in Maryland; and Alex and Brett Harris, authors of Do Hard Things.)

Saturday, July 26, 2008

A first-century Hebrew walks alone on a hot afternoon, staff in hand. His shoulders are stooped, sandals covered with dirt, tunic stained with sweat. But he doesn't stop to rest. He has pressing business in the city.

He veers off the road into a field, seeking a shortcut. The owner won't mind-travelers are permitted this courtesy. The field is uneven. To keep his balance he thrusts his staff into the dirt.

Thunk. The staff strikes something hard.

He stops, wipes his brow, and pokes again.

Thunk. Something's under there, and it's not a rock.

The weary traveler tells himself that he can't afford to linger. But his curiosity won't let him go. He jabs at the ground. Something reflects a sliver of sunlight. He drops to his knees and starts digging.

Five minutes later, he's uncovered it-a case fringed in gold. By the looks of it, it's been there for decades. Heart racing, he pries off the rusty lock and opens the lid.

Gold coins! Jewelry! Precious stones of every color! A treasure more valuable than anything he's ever imagined.

Hands shaking, the travelerinspects the coins, issued in Rome over seventy years ago. Some wealthy man must have buried the case and died suddenly, the secret of the treasure's location dying with him. There is no homestead nearby. Surely the current landowner has no clue that the treasure's here.

The traveler closes the lid, buries the chest, and marks the spot. He turns around, heading home-only now he's not plodding. He's skipping like a little boy, smiling broadly.

What a find! Unbelievable! I've got to have that treasure! But I can't just take it-that would be stealing. Whoever owns the field owns what's in it. But how can I afford to buy it? I'll sell my farm ... and crops ... all my tools ... my prize oxen. Yes, if I sell everything, that should be enough!

From the moment of his discovery, the traveler's life changes. The treasure captures his imagination, becomes the stuff of his dreams. It's his reference point, his new center of gravity. The traveler takes every new step with this treasure in mind. He experiences a radical paradigm shift.

This story is captured by Jesus in a single verse: "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field" (Matthew 13:44).

-From Randy Alcorn's, The Treasure Principle

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Owensboro Mission Conference

We attended the Heritage Baptist Church Missions Conference in Owensboro, Kentucky. If you prayed for us, know that our lives and love for God have been impacted strongly. Pray even now that the impact wouldn't be a blip; but an extended blessing over our whole life.

If you would like to share in our benefit, listen to this session from the conference:

Session 9: Paul Washer, July 15 2008

It has sent me back to my first love, Jesus; when I prayed just to talk to Him; when I opened the Bible just to hear from Him. This love, this knowing God again, has quieted all my worries and untangled most of my major "issues".

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

What I want to hear when you raise support for missions at church

Your message! I want to hear the message that I'm being asked to send to another land. What truth do you have for them? What is the good news you have gone to such trouble to deliver to them.

Make sure to insert this line into your talks before churches:

"I think it's important for you to know the good news that I'm asking you to partner in sending to the ______ people of ______. [Tell me your good news hear]*

Tell me your message, and I can know whether to support you.

That's almost the only thing I need to know. And conversely, if I know everything else about your story, your team, your strategy; but I don't know your message, I can't decide.


*and really preach it! maybe someone will get saved while you are raising support

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

NYTimes: Findings - Deep Down, We Can’t Fool Even Ourselves - NYTimes.com

Findings - Deep Down, We Can’t Fool Even Ourselves - NYTimes.com

Psychologists running experiments to identify hypocrisy--that I will declare something to be "wrong" and then excuse myself from my own standard.

At the end of the article, they tried testing their hypothesis: can we be less hypocritical by distracting our brains. They tested "yes"--do mental math when tempted to by a hypocrite and your "gut" will have a stronger say in Right and Wrong.

One of my personal hypocrisies has been cellphones while driving. I condemn others, but still practice it myself.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Fixing my house on Google maps

How to fix a wrong address on Google maps

I hope this works, Google now lets you edit the physical location of an address.

Our address has been mis-mapped on Google, at least since we moved in. We've lost packages for delivery; we've had people skip parties; and we've had utility people give up finding us. So I really hope this works.

Convergence towards the World's Last Two Remaining Religions


I think C.S. Lewis predicted this: history is closing in on just two religions--"many paths to God", which is the essence of Hinduism; and Christianity, which says Jesus is the only path that a sinner has to God.

I think we are getting there quickly.

Survey Shows U.S. Religious Tolerance

(although from the data, perhaps the direction we are going is 3 religions--Tolerance, Christianity, Cults)

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Do Hard Things on Wall Street Journal blog

Buzzwatch : Stealth Sellers: Why 'Do Hard Things' Appeals to Teen Book Buyers

I'm 27, this is one of my new favorite books--Do Hard Things a book written by Christian teenagers for teenagers. The Wall Street Journal "Buzzwatch" blog picks up on the book.

I've changed my mind--repented if you will--about my vision for the years of youth. Are they a vacation--a prized time of low responsibility, a lots of "fun"?--or are they an amazing window to have productivity, creativity and impact?

Our expectations for young people are very low, and I'd like to be apart of anything that reverses those low expectations and points to higher calling.

Credit to the kids that wrote the book too: some of the best writing, in terms of voice, simplicity, organization of thought, keeping the reader's interest, use of examples I've read in a while. The literary quality of the book is a great example of what young people are capable of doing.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

After Years of Effort, Dark Energy Still Puzzles Scientists - NYTimes.com

Article in NY Times

Physics-people are going crazy. Their observations of the stars are straining their worldview.

What they observe is "it looks like stars are racing away from us; and the farther they are; the faster they are going!"

Their conclusion: known matter in the universe is only a small percent of matter, some theoretical matter "dark matter" is causing reverse-gravity to expand the universe.

I propose a new worldview (it's not really my idea) that accounts for the Scriptures and the observations Physics-people can't explain: something crazy happened to slow speed of light in the past (and is perhaps still at work).

The reason we can see stars that look like they are dashing away from us is that the light from those stars has slowed down.

What caused this: Adam's sin affected all creation, causing it to have "bondage to decay" (see Romans 8, middle of chapter).

Adam could see the stars in the beginning, but now it takes millions of years for light to travel to earth from the stars. What happened? I think Romans 8 has the best clue.

This is dismissed by most contemporary scientists.

But why not consider it? None of us were around to take measurements in the distant past. But God was. He hasn't told us everything about the stars, but He has spoken to us in the Bible authoritatively. We can trust what He said.

The Bible doesn't say "the speed of light slowed down in the past". "Light slowed down" is just a theory within a Bible framework. There are good reasons for trusting the Bible. If God wrote the Bible AND God made the world; the Bible is an awesome tool for understanding our universe.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Revelation 4:11

Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.

'


The video fails to give credit to the BBC/Discovery series Planet Earth.

Noted: Planet Earth fails to give credit to God!

YouVersion | Dashboard

YouVersion

Absolutely unbelievable!!!

I have been poking around trying to create a web-based Bible that you could "mark-up" and "tag" and journal.

This looks like it!

Why "tag" the Bible?

Tagging is internet/computer term for making categories and groups out of your data. I might tag all my photos with Stephie as "stephie". Then I can find all my pictures with Stephie in them. I also might tag all my photos from weddings as "wedding". Now I can tag a picture of me and Stephie at a wedding with two tags-- "stephie, wedding". That totally beats making a Stephie folder and a Wedding folder and copying the picture into multiple places.

Now tagging the Bible. What if I'm reading the Bible and find a promise that I want to grab later? I tag it "promise". Now when I ask for all my "promise" verses, I get a collection of verses that I have personally marked as "promise". I might do the same for "money", "prayer", "the judgment", "law/grace".

It's kind of a personal concordance for life that comes out of regular Bible reading.

Hooray!

This site does more than that, and I've only used it for 3 minutes, but I'm so excited.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Psalm 30:5

For his anger is but for a moment,
and his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may tarry for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

The Shack Review

I've wanted to post on The Shack, but haven't because I can easily get hurtful.

This review says everything that I'd want to say.

The_Shack.pdf

From Tim Challies, via link from Justin Taylor

Monday, May 19, 2008

Stranded in Suburbia - New York Times

Stranded in Suburbia - New York Times

Each gas price increase causes me to hope more. There is a lot of pain for the working-poor in higher gas prices; but cheap gas is a barrier to neighborly community.

Cheap gas has let us live 15min-1hr away from where we work, where we shop, where we go to church, the movies, etc. That has made it easy to live isolated at home; and compartmentalize social groups (one group at work, one at church, one at school).

Expensive gas won't kill driving, but it should reshape local living in America. And for that reason, I'm hopeful as I see gas rise.

This article (top) describes what I hope happens.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Cuddly Bears


Teddy Bear Mosaic, originally uploaded by Essjay in NZ.

Why do we think bears are cuddly? They are deadly! Powerful claws, sharp teeth. No one would let their kids play with a real bear.

But we think they are cuddly. Evolution should have made us hate bears by now.

Is it possible that bears and humans were supposed to play together? Were you made for a world of powerful, but peaceful and playful bears?

I feel like we were. Like a dolphin that lives it's whole life in an aquarium. It was made for an ocean! But it can't remember how it came to live in an aquarium. It just always has, but it's heart tells it that he was made for much, much more.

Monday, April 28, 2008

Going to conference

We are going to the Dwell Conference (www.dwellconference.com) in New York tonight. It's Tuesday and Wednesday.

Please pray for us.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

a DNA echo of Noah and the Flood?

Study says near extinction threatened people

I am keenly interested in the history of the world's people groups being run by Genographic Project (I think it's mainly a National Geographic led study project).

They look at DNA samples from around the world to retrace common ancestors back to the beginning. Recently, in the above article, they are reporting a catastrophe recorded in our DNA that points to an almost extinction of humanity.
"This study illustrates the extraordinary power of genetics to reveal insights into some of the key events in our species' history," Spencer Wells, National Geographic Society explorer in residence, said in a statement. "Tiny bands of early humans, forced apart by harsh environmental conditions, coming back from the brink to reunite and populate the world. Truly an epic drama, written in our DNA."
Read the whole article, and the current theory is that this happened in Africa, 70,000 years ago, by a drought, reducing us to 2,000 people.

The reason for all those details is not given by the article. It would be good to look at those if available.

What does the Bible predict we'd find?

That all humans are closely related, that all nations spread out from one family at the beginning of recorded history (2,000-3,000 B.C), and that family was the only survivor of a giant catastrophe that killed off everyone else.

I think the National Geographic study is starting to flesh out those facts from our DNA.

(But maybe not! Who knows?! I don't want to force this fresh study to say more than it does)

Update: Answers in Genesis analyzes this news much more in depth.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Muslims: Let us reason together

Muslims,

Your zeal for God is great. Let us reason together about standing before Him.

He may call the world into judgment at any moment--and if not now, he will call us into judgment at our death.

I do not want to stand before God's judgment. He will look at me inside and out and find me guilty. If he were to weigh my good against my bad, the bad is just too great. I will fail his judgment.

I ask you to consider that you would fail too. If God judges rightly, who can stand? If God were to only use my own standards against me, I still fail. God is great! God is good. He will not let the wicked go unpunished.

Liars must be punished. But I have lied. Thieves will not receive a reward. I have stolen. Murders will not inherit God's kingdom. But I have murdered my brother by hating him in my heart. Lust. Coveting. Sabbath breaking. Idol worshiping. Taking the name of God in blasphemy. Treating money, reputation, success as a god before God.

I have done all of these. Have you? Should we expect God to accept us? This concerns me. I hope that it concerns you.

Radical History

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

Boom! There it is! I can't save myself from God's wrath. If God himself doesn't not atone for my sins, I'm toast.

Should we not expect God to get the glory in a man's salvation? God is glorious! We cannot become right with God by working to cover our bad deeds with good ones. In fact, I am so wicked that Christ had to die for me. But he did it. So God gets the glory, not me.

And God proved that Jesus is "his man" by raising him from the dead. This is an important point. If God raised a dead man back to life, we should be able to investigate it historically. This is worth the time--go find out if God really raised Jesus from the dead. If so, Jesus is God's man. Jesus claimed many times to not only be sent from God, but to also be God. If God raised Jesus from the dead, God also showed his approval of 1) Jesus's claims to be God, 2) Jesus's sacrifice of his own life as being acceptable before God.

To receive Jesus's gift of eternal life, rightness before God, and be able to truly please God you must 1) change your mind about sin--leave it and turn to God, 2) believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ.

Submission to God matters!

Do not let Christians fool you that submission to God doesn't matter. If God is God (there is no God but God!) then he is Master. He requires full submission. If God truly saves a man, he will give him both saving faith in Jesus and good works that flow from turning away from sin.

What would happen if God had taken Jesus off the cross, and put a substitute in his place for the crucifixion?

Then there is no perfect God-man for God to pour out his wrath against sin, and we are all now still accountable before God, and we all face judgment hoping our "Good" is enough to cover our "Bad".

There is no hope for anyone who has sinned. None. God is great. He will crush every sinner and bar him from paradise.

While the Quran says that Jesus "didn't die" on the cross--it's not that he didn't die. He died. But he was not defeated. Evil was defeated through the sacrificial death of Jesus (Isa).

What if Jesus is not God?

If Jesus is not God, then God has only punished a substitute creature for our sins. His blood, although innocent, would not be sufficient to deal with the world's sins.

This sounds like two or three Gods

It's one God in three persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). God is one.

God created man. Man did not create God. So why does man think he can determine how God exists? God decides who he is. And God decides how much to tell man about himself.

But my family will disown me, and I may be killed for being a Christian?

Yes and No. You do not need leave your culture, shame your family. You don't need to start going to a church building on Sundays and change your name to a Christian name. If you are a Muslim, you will always in some way be a Muslim. It is your identity.

But now you can be a true Muslim, a true submitter to God, a true pleaser of God through what Isa (Jesus) has done.

You will be persecuted though, and God promises persecution to all his servants. Do not be surprised, but know that following God is expensive.

Jesus says count that cost now. You may be asked to pay it. But if God raised him from dead, he is Lord. You have been saved from your sins AND your obedience unto death will be rewarded.

Do not be killed for doing violence in God's name. But it is honoring to God to be killed for being a believer in his Son.

Let us both pray to God, that the One True God would show Himself to us. And that if there is any way that we can please Him, that he would show us and give us the power to obey and submit to him fully.

Allahu Akbar! God is Great!

Friday, April 11, 2008

blog title change

I switched my blog title from "Fundamentalist!" to "Josh Crews's blog".

I think the term "fundamentalist" should be reclaimed by Christians lovingly holding to the fundamentals* of Christian teaching.

After September 11, fundamentalism is disparaged as the problem with the world. "It was religious fundamentalists who flew those planes into the towers". But as Tim Keller said, "Have you ever heard of an Amish terrorist?" Christian fundamentalism isn't the problem, but Christian unbelief in their own teachings is a problem.
I'm a sinner and part of the problem.
I can't fix the world, but I know someone who can (Jesus).
Love your enemies and do good to those who persecute you.
So I hope to see the term "fundamentalism" recovered in the culture, and for Christian fundamentalists to be known for having a love for all people, and a hope to offer the world that's not based on them, but on God.

But it's probably a little too intense for a blog title. At least for now, so I'm switching it.



*Fundamentals of Christian teaching

God is redeeming the world through one man, his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus is God. He died as a substitute for our sins. A sinner is counted righteous by God as a free gift through faith in Jesus. He bodily rose from the dead. He is coming back as Judge to set all things right.

A big "sticking point" for fundamentalists: the Bible should be taken literally unless the Bible suggests otherwise.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

How will Jesus make the new homes on the New Earth

This search term led to my website, so I'd like to post an answer (although speculative).

1) Jesus will make new homes for us on the New Earth!

In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. John 14:2-3

Heaven, which after the end of history will be merged with the New Earth, has houses.

And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. Luke 16:9
2) Jesus is very qualified to make the homes

He spent most of his life a home-builder with his father Joseph. He also created the entire universe. While always being God, he took on human form got first hand experience in living day-to-day in houses.

3) Current building project in Heaven

Because Jesus says 1) that he goes to prepare a place for us in John 14, 2) he ascends to Heaven after 40 days after his resurrection and 3) the New Jerusalem comes ready-made out of Heaven down to Earth at the end of history in Revelation 22--Therefore, I infer that Jesus is right now working on a physical (not "spiritual") city 1,400 miles long, wide, and tall in which to dwell with his bride (the church across all time).

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. Rev 21:2-3
The language of referring to the city as a bride implies to me that the Bride--people, the church--has already moved in to the city as it comes down from Heaven.

4) Marriage metaphor fulfilled

Jesus's personal attention to the building of houses just for us is consistent with the marriage image we are given throughout the Bible of God relating to his people. "I love you, I want to be with you, I have rescued you, Now come live with me forever, I've personally made a special place for us, I will dwell with you forever."

Question: How will Jesus make the new homes on the new earth? I don't know details, but he was a home-builder on Earth, can create literally anything, has promised to do it, and the Bible shows us a special city descending out of Heaven where "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people".



Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Relationship with God: Transposing Up

I'm a young Christian, but I wanted to post things I've learned from other Christians that have benefited me in knowing our God.

Transposing Up

Transposing up is a musically term when a melody is moved up the scale to a higher key. I got it from C.S. Lewis.

It brings greater and deeper joy in life's daily pleasures. You enjoy something great, your think of the person, God, who made the thing you enjoy and your joy goes deeper. You now delight in a) the pleasure and b) the God who thought up the pleasure and shared it with you.

An example: I enjoy chips with fresh cut salsa.

Transpose it up: Who thought of such a great food? What is a tomato? A fruit or a vegetable? I don't know. But it's wonderful and it goes with onions and cilantro in a special way. Yum!--the freshness of the veggies on top of the crunchiness of the corn chip. It's great!

Now who thought of "salsa"? My God made all these foods for his own pleasure and for people to enjoy. He planned out the infinite combinations of food and spices and cooking.

I not only delight in the salsa (lower level), but in the God who made me and the salsa (delight transposed up). I fire inside is lit up, and I remember what I was made for: The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

Friday, March 14, 2008

NY Times: Priest-Cosmologist Wins $1.6 Million Templeton Prize

Link

This is a $1.6 million prize given by a non-profit to "progress" in answering the big questions of science/philosophy (Where did we come from? What is our purpose? Is there a God? What can we know?)

The answers to the questions are precious. If someone had the answers conclusively they would be worth millions--billions!

Let us not find out that the answers have been clearly written in a book that we've been overlooking.

And if any person finds such a book, with THE answers to the the BIG questions of life, he ought to spend the rest of his life studying it and conforming his strivings to the answers uncovered.

Monday, March 10, 2008

The Church in the Coming Economic Collapse

What should the Church in America do during the coming economic collapse of America?

By "coming economic collapse" I do not mean the current recession, although the current recession is a foretaste.

This new Great Depression comes gradually over the next 5-20 years. The US government promises for Social Security and Medicare will overwhelm our ability to pay. The promises to pay for these programs amount to a debt of $455,000 per household in America.

See this article from the resigning Comptroller General of the United States (read: the Chief Accountant!) How the U.S. can avoid a fiscal wreck. Bush's top accountant is jumping ship early to fight for this. It's big!

What will come: The U.S.'s credit ratings will fall, the interest rate on the debt will jump up, the government will need to both drastic raise taxes AND print money it's not taking in which will be a tax itself.

The situation summarized--most Americans will feel like they are working harder than ever and still can't be their bills. Some will "drop out" of working because they can't make ends meet by working, and some will drop out of paying taxes because of the high tax rate.

The Coming Generational Storm documents the problem well.

What should Christians do?

Naturally, I would probably do a mix of tax evasion, working overseas, and saving money to cover my own situation.

But for Christians: conduits of grace and renewal. Loving the neighbor, repenting of personal sin, working a job, paying the bills, paying taxes.

What the Church should do is not hard for me to see. It's me that's hard. I want to cop-out on experiencing this coming Great Depression. I don't want to work under 60% taxes with rising prices and falling wages. This prolonged depression (I predict) will try my endurance.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Article: Moses must have been high on drugs

Link

The key passage:
"As far Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned, it was either a supernatural cosmic event, which I don't believe, or a legend, which I don't believe either, or finally, and this is very probable, an event that joined Moses and the people of Israel under the effect of narcotics," Shanon told Israeli public radio on Tuesday.
The author is definitely grappling with this strange reality--the account of Moses is too specific and too historically rooted to be made up or legend.

I offer this evidence that he wasn't on drugs: a) the law of Moses is really, really long. That's a very extended hallucination. And it's really, really mundane listing out specific, strict regulations that have deadly consequences b) I've never heard of someone having a spiritual/drug experience and coming out of it with very exclusive views of God and his justice. They always see a cosmic, spirit being who wants them to be happy and know that there aren't any rules except 'be happy'.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Star Trek Convention Keynote

This is my keynote address to a Star Trek convention, if I were ever invited.

Fellow Trekkies--let me paint you a picture.

In the very near future, the Earth falls into a terrible war. Elohim, a very intelligent and good being, came to reconquer the planet. It had slipped into darkness following a sophisticated, shape-shifting alien who covertly invaded long ago. This hostile alien subverted humanity very cleverly in the past, and caused all of our species to forget our true origins.

Now in the near future, Elohim has returned with great tribulation that the planet has never seen before, nor will ever see again.

Dramatically, as the smoke clears, the Earth and all planets and stars are restored to their former glory and then some! Out of the sky comes a pre-constructed, ideal city full of homes and gardens and coffee shops. And it's full of people! People who lived in every culture, every country, and every time in history. Peace reigns and the Earth is now the capital of an ever-expanding peaceful government of human beings who have been put in charge of the whole universe. The Milky Way with it's 100 billion stars are open for exploration, discovery, tours, settlement and contact with new, peaceful lifeforms yet undiscovered. In the coming ages as the Milky Way is explored, millions of new galaxies are added to the list of "to be explored".

And there is a King. He's like the man you were always looking for to run for president--humble, not allegiant to rich interests, a servant of the people, a defender of the poor, a fair judge, very accessible, so wise. He as at the same time the most powerful man alive and the most tender and trustworthy man too.

If you love the Star Trek world now, Jesus would like you to enlist in the Federation Starfleet of the New Heavens and New Earth.

Elohim is the Creator God--the God of the Bible. He made us. Our origins aren't from a mysterious combination of amino acids in a primordial puddle. An intelligent being, God, created us in his wisdom and power. He laid out the Earth and the galaxies and told us to have dominion over it. Our assignment--enjoy God forever! But a hostile, cunning, alien shape-shifter invaded. His pitch--you guys don't need God, you can be God! We signed up for a human-centered world. This was a big mistake and let in all types of mistrust, selfishness, cheating and lying. Sinning against God had entered humans like a disease; and then death through sin.

Part of the punishment was forgetting where we came from, and what we were made for. Sometimes we remember what we were made for and it comes out in our deepest desires--like Star Trek.

Why haven't we made Star Trek a reality? Because we are too stupid, too wicked, too busy fighting ourselves. All of these are part of the punishment and frustration that God has placed on us for sin. Sin is like a trade we have made--the glory of God for the glory of images of created things. It's like the heavens being opened up before us with all the stars shining, but being too busy looking at ourselves to behold God's glory.

Such an exchange, when you look at it closely, is disgusting. God is good to send us off to a dark prison for that crime, and all the lesser crimes we've done. Our race is on the edge of perishing because of this.

But if it's true, why has God not yet destroyed us?

He is good and patient with us is our terrible condition.

He made a very detailed reconquering and rescue plan back when we first sinned. He would be very specific in how we should live. All people would fail to follow it. He would send his own son, Jesus, to come live along aside us in all our troubles. Jesus would live right, loving God, giving thanks, and loving his neighbor. Jesus, God's son, would be rejected by us, go to trial as an innocent man, be killed by crucifixion, be crushed by God for the sin's of the world, die, be buried, and come out of the grave. The door to a restored life with God would be flung open by Jesus, and all who came as beggars to receive eternal life would obtain it as a free gift.

People from every culture, every country, every language would a "good person" by God by faith. Not that their faith is worth something, but Jesus's righteous record would be given to them through faith by God.

At the end of the age, Jesus would return in power to bearing the sword to punish all evil--Satan and wicked people.

Including us. We are all infected self-centeredness; when we need to contagiously God-centered.

At the end of that war, this earth and this heavens passes away. Burned up. But God will make a New Heavens and a New Earth. Humanity will be restored. Death and evil will be dead. A new society will be formed that will delight in God century after century after century.

Who knows what adventures there are to be had? What new friendships there are to make, what new planets to explore, what new races of beings there are to encounter. Humans have thought of thousands of cool races of beings--Wookies, Romulans, Elves, Ewoks, Klingons--how many more has God dreamed up to introduce us to over the coming ages*?

And you know who he determined to greet them, and to help them, and the govern them? People! Humans are his favorite creatures. Jesus, who is God, was not sent to die for angels even though some of them rebelled like us. Jesus died for people. Not because we are that awesome, but because of his choice. God does not love us because we are lovely. We are lovely because God loves us.

So if your heart yearns for another world, it's because you were made for one! But our sin has disqualified us and made us even blind to our terrible condition. But God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Don't be stubborn. Seek God while he may be found. Soon the door will close. For those of us who are relying on ourselves to make things right, we will recieve a fair judgment from God and the prison sentence that goes along with it. For those who would forsake their own deeds, and cling to Jesus as their only hope to make things right; they will be welcomed by God. At his right hand are pleasures forevermore. Eternal life is knowing him the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.


*Note: I do not have assurance that God will create other races of intelligent creatures, but it stands to reason. 1. He has already made the angels. 2. God acts for his glory--wouldn't more species of intelligent beings display his glory? 3. Christians are told that they will reign with Christ and even judge the angels. Doesn't it make sense that reigning may involve other intelligent creatures too. 4. If we fallen, finite humans have thought of many such fictional races, wouldn't we expect God to not only think of more, but also bring them into being?

Monday, February 18, 2008

In Quito

I've taken Stephie to Quito, Ecuador. She is posting adventures on her blog.

More gospel-centered posts coming Feb 24 when we return.

Saturday, February 9, 2008

We are in Ecuador

We flew into Ecuador Thursday night. Any blog posts will be done at Stephie´s blog.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

LiveScience.com: Marriage: It's Only Going to Get Worse

Marriage is hard. My marriage is far from hardened, but we've had several moments where we've been astonished at the evil we are capable of.

Here's the sum quote of the article:
In all age groups, individuals reported viewing their spouse as the most negative compared with children and friends. The negative view of spouses tended to increase over time.
And it's best insight:
As relationships with spouses became more negative, relationships with children and friends seemed to become less demanding and irritating over time. Negativity toward friends decreases over time partially because we can continuously choose and weed our friends, ditching those pals who are irritating, according to the researchers.
If a friend gets on your nerves you just take a few days off from seeing him/her. And if things get really bad, you find a new friend.

But you can't do that in marriage. I can be very arrogant - and when this affects my marriage I can't avoid it the way I can in other relationships. I must repent much more, which I am often slow to do. My lack of humility and willingness to repent (along with my awareness of my wife's sin) cause the negative feelings this article speaks of. Only in repenting daily and clinging to Jesus can we really fight for one another's "glory self" - as we are called to do in marriage.

This is how we know that God loves us. My friend Jim pointed me to this part of the book of Hebrews:

In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.


Monday, February 4, 2008

When Moses was on Sinai

The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty..."

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

First Catechism revision

I teach 2nd-4th graders Catechism for our church. A catechism is series of questions and answers summarizing doctrine, especially for children to memorize.

We've got different editions of the catechism book, and they (Great Commissions Publications) changed an answer!

I can see their dilemma: once saved, must I do anything? It's easy to "fall off the horse" in both directions. Here's what's different.

Question 58 originally said:

Q. What must you do to be saved?
A. I must repent of my sin, believe in Christ, and live a godly life.

Now the new edition reads:

Q. What must you do to be saved?
A. I must repent of my sin and believe in Christ as my savior.

What should we teach our kids? I would feel fine with my kids* being taught either. I think God has designed Christians to live in tension between "God has accomplished everything you need to be saved" and "you must do good deeds to be saved". It's a glorious tension that can only be resolved if God himself works in us the good deeds needed to survive the judgment (as in sheep-and-goats, Matthew 25).

*Theoretical kids, we don't have kids yet.

God runs the whole universe

God runs the whole universe. From Satan, to sunsets, to car-wrecks, to global warming, to sex--he's completely in charge.

He made all things, and made them good.

Our first parents, Adam and Eve, told him to that he was a liar ("we won't really die") and that they should be God. Such rebellion introduced death, disease, futility and malfunctions into the world. We inherited a rotten nature from Adam and carry his rebellion on today. How can we prove our rebellious nature? We know that something/someone everlasting and powerful made a world full of beautiful things, but we give it/him less than 60 seconds of thought or thanks a day.

God, who foreknew our rebellion, initiated toward us with goodness. Goodness through food and sunshine. Also goodness through pain, that we might see the terribleness and futility of rebellion and turn back to him. He also gave his law to us through prophets to show us how to turn back and live for him.

All have broken the law and lack the glory of God.

Lastly, God sent his own son, Jesus, to us; born of a woman 2,000 years ago. Jesus loved God and loved his neighbor like we are supposed to. At every point where we have lied and stolen, Jesus was tempted like us but without sin.

When Jesus was crucified, he had harmed no one, but people spat on him, pulled his beard, mocked him, the Romans lashed his back with a scourge, ran nails through his hands and feet and hung him on a cross until he died. And worse than that--much worse than physical pain--God the father forsook him on the cross. The wrath God has in store for a violent, God-belittling humanity was emptied out upon Jesus. He made him sin who knew no sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God.

More than just forgiveness! For God's chosen, he credits Jesus' beautiful life as theirs. He sees Christ's record; and not your filthy one. At the cross Jesus takes on all your grossness and cleanses you of it. And all this can never be taken away.

Jesus, after being buried, rose again on the third day. He ascended to heaven and all authority belongs to him. He will judge every single person on the last day.

Don't like injustice in the world? God has set a day to judge all things and set them right. His special love for his chosen people met that justice at the cross of Jesus Christ.

Without that cross, you will receive a fair judgment from God. Fair = an everlasting prison sentence to a horrible place designed to torment Satan and his angels. It is only fair, for God is infinitely valuable. And we all have treated his worth and beauty as ridiculous and preferred less-satisfying lovers all of our lives.

Lord, save me.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Most depressing week

Depressed? I'm fighting depression. Last week (the last full week in January) is supposed to the most depressing of the year.

Factors: Bottom of winter, but without Christmas. Christmas bills coming due. Hope of keeping resolutions? Probably gone. Aspirations for 2008 being different? It's not. And it's not close enough to being Spring to be able to look forward to it.

So this post is an encouragement! The most depressing week is over.

Blue Monday's wikipedia article.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Moment of Truth on Fox

We turned on the TV last night, and got Moment of Truth on Fox.

It is trash, but watch it!

Contestants answer personal and embarrassing questions in a "hot seat" with the potential to win $500,000. They have to undergo a lie-detector test beforehand. Last night a football player to the lower levels ($15,000 or $25,000), but had to answer in front of his wife, friends, 23 million viewers (and God):

Have you ever flirted with women on the internet after getting married?
Have you ever had sex with someone within 24 hours of meeting them?
Is there any secret you have that would cause your wife to not trust you?
Have you ever touched women as a physical trainer more than was necessary?

(No, Yes, Yes, Yes)

Who can stand before God with clean hands?

He has appointed a day for the Moment of Truth. That's why I want you to watch this show once. It has made me extremely desperate to find a right standing before God.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Why not Evolution?

I was a evolutionary thinker from age 8 until age 22. I ridiculed my future spouse about not accepting billions of years of life and all species created from natural selection.

God caught me before I perished.

Here's one of the "glitches in the matrix" of evolution: sleep. We humans have to shut down our senses and go completely vulnerable for hours every day. That's not the predicted outcome of millions of years of biological innovation tested out in a kill-or-be-killed jungle.

This is a puzzler for evolutionists. I think this NY Times article captures a lot of the frustration.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Sicko, the movie

Stephie and I recently watched Sicko, the Michael Moore film.

If in 5 years we've moved to France, it all started with this movie.

The movie raises this question--Why are we spending twice as much, but doing worse than other countries on health care?

I think part of our disadvantage is military spending. Other countries have a smaller budget item for war, so they have more for health care.

Even if all our war dollars were spent on health care, it wouldn't mean free health care--the insurance pay-per-procedure system is broken and more money won't fix it. Doctors are paid not to be your doctor but per test and procedure.

Here's what happened to doctors/hospitals. Medicare/insurance pays per test or procedure that a doctor runs. To make more money, doctors run more tests/procedures. Medicare responds to higher costs, with lower payments for procedures. Doctors feel financially squeezed and need to run more tests. Costs surge. The main beneficiaries are drug companies, medical device companies, and insurance companies.

So: socialize medicine? I don't know. What does the church do if the state takes care of the sick? Does the Bible say anything to this?

Here's what supports socializing medicine--God judges nations. Egypt, Edom, Assyria, Babylon, Moab, Sidon all get the smack down as a nation. What were their crimes--typically idolatry and oppressing the poor. We have built a system that oppresses the poor in health care. Getting sick can bankrupt or enslave the middle class in debt. The poor just die. America could have Canadian-style health-care for all. But many, many people are getting extremely wealthy off our system.

How much money would a business be willing to spend if its $10 billion company is about to wiped out by socialized medicine? Probably about $10 billion. CIGNA is worth $14 bil. Wellpoint is worth $45 bil. United Health $67 bil. Pfizer $150 bil. That's a lot of money, and it' a partial list.

So the possibility of US free health-care looks impossible by worldly estimations. In fact, if you consider the budgets of the health-care companies to invest in politics, they should only get stronger and richer in the coming years.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Givin til it hurts

CNN Money has a section called "Do the Right Thing", it's a financial ethics column. I've enjoyed it. They ran a column recently called "Giving 'til it hurts".

Question: My mother, a widow in her early sixties, works in the administrative offices of a big conservation organization. While her pay is OK, she makes very large contributions to the organization she works for. In return, Mom is duly honored. But in the meantime, she has only a small nest egg, and it’s not getting any bigger. Aren’t the development people where she works, who know that her means are limited, wrong to solicit and wrong to accept so much of her money?

Our answer: Absolutely. Soliciting money from someone for something you know they can’t afford is wrong. Period... [response continues]

The columnists response continues on to be logically sound. If the grandmother is giving away too much of her income she's presuming upon others for her support later in life by not saving enough.

But Jesus wrecks our logically sound arguments. “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

And I don't think I'm supposed to fully explain it. My reaction should be, "oh crap, I'm not even close to doing this."

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Midlife crisis

NY Times exposes the truth of a male midlife crisis--Crisis? Maybe He's a Narcissistic Jerk.

But you have to admit that “I’m having a midlife crisis” sounds a lot better than “I’m a narcissistic jerk having a meltdown.”

Another patient, a 49-year-old man at the pinnacle of his legal career, started an affair with an office colleague. “I love my wife,” he said, “and I don’t know what possessed me.”

It didn’t take long to find out. The first five years of his marriage were exciting. “It was like we were dating all the time,” he recalled wistfully. But once they had a child, he felt an unwelcome sense of drudgery and responsibility creep into his life.

Being middle-aged had nothing to do with his predicament; it was just that it took him 49 years to reach a situation where he had to seriously take account of someone else’s needs, namely those of his baby son. In all likelihood, the same thing would have happened if he had become a father at 25.

Why do we have to label a common reaction of the male species to one of life’s challenges — the boredom of the routine — as a crisis? True, men are generally more novelty-seeking than women, but they certainly can decide what they do with their impulses.



While the effect of a midlife crisis might be terrible, we should all be having one. Each of us might be past our midlife point.

It sounds like a gift from a loving God to us saying, "Wake up! Everything that you've been chasing is meaningless.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live"
The questions of a midlife crisis are wonderful to ask. What's the point in life? Where am I going? Why haven't I found happiness? Oh crap! I'm going to die.

Christians should ask themselves these questions regularly.

Our default programming is to be like the guy in the article--to wake up, say "I deserve better!" and take what we want. I pray at that at my next midlife crisis, I wake up, repent, and dance that God is 100% for me in Christ.