Don't Forget to Groan

This blog is called Redemption Groanings because so many in the world are forced to live like this:

The carpe diem, 'eat, drink and be merry' mentality is strong only in places and hearts of people who try to insulate themselves from the way most people in this world have to live.

Where is Home: Heaven or Earth?

I had some reservations about reading Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright. Any book that announces in its subtitle that it is 'Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection and the Mission of the Church' makes me a bit cautious. Rethinking things this essential often means saying something heretical about them. Not to mention the book has a glowing endorsement from Emergent superstar Rob Bell, and I was really thinking this book could be shady.

But when I read it at the end of last year, I found it to be a worthwhile and engaging read. I did not agree with everything in the book, but it seemed to me that there was a lot more wheat than chaff. So now I am re-reading the book again (since, if you read yesterday's post, I don't remember enough of what I read).

One of the points that Wright makes early in the book is that the hymns of the Church sometimes advance a view of the final hope of the Christian's ultimate destiny that is contrary to the Scriptural account. Among others, he cites the great hymn How Great Thou Art as an example. The final verse reads:

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.

Wright takes issue specifically with the phrase, 'When Christ shall come....and take me home...' This, he says, promotes a significant misunderstanding about what Christ will do at His second coming. As Wright puts it,

"Heaven, in the Bible, is not a future destiny but the other, hidden dimension of our ordinary life -- God's dimension, if you like. God made heaven and earth; at the last he will remake both and join them together forever. And when we come to the picture of the actual end in Revelation 21-22, we find not ransomed souls making their way to a disembodied heaven but rather the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven to earth, uniting the two in a lasting embrace."

This idea does not seem to be captured by the words of How Great Thou Art, which describes Jesus coming and taking His people out of this world to our home, supposedly somewhere up in the sky with Him. It gives the impression that salvation is found in escape from this present world, not the healing and renewal of it. So Wright suggests that a more biblical way to state the last verse would be to say, 'When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation/and heal this world, what joy shall fill my heart.'

It's not as if I expect the words to this great hymn to be changed (although the original Swedish version does not talk about Christ coming to take me home), but I like Wright's suggested change. I think the re-wording makes a statement about our final salvation and the scope of Christ's redemptive power demonstrated in His death and resurrection that seems largely absent from our singing and our thinking about God's final goal and purpose for the world.

Thoughts? Is Wright being over-dramatic here? Is this a matter of semantics and not a really big deal? How do these two different pictures affect your thinking of the final hope of Christianity?

Leave a comment and let me know what you're thinking about this...

Becoming a Better Reader

Last year I read 54 books, probably the most I've read in any one year of my life. But what I found in reading that much is that I did a pretty lousy job of retaining what I read. As 2009 came and I thought about setting new reading goals, it dawned on me that I felt like I needed to re-read many of the books that most engaged my thinking last year. I was in such a rush to read a book per week, that I have only a fuzzy idea of the content of many of those books.

So, with the help of John Piper, I have devised a way to be more active when I read and hopefully read books in a way that will profit me for a longer period of time. I have read that when Piper reads a book, he makes notes in the front and back blank pages of the book indicating the page number of quotes and thoughts that were significant. In addition, he breaks the page into tenths to indicate where on the page the quote or idea is found.

For instance, I'm currently (re)reading a book called Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright (yes, I am aware that he has some questionable beliefs; we can still read authors like that, so long as we use biblical discernment!). On page 18 Wright gives a succinct definition of the Kingdom of God. I thought it was worth noting, so in the front of the book I wrote, 'Kingdom of God defined, 18.6.' That means I can find that quote on page 18, around 6/10 of the way down the page.

Also, as I finish a chapter I am writing a sentence or a phrase or two in the front of the book so I know what the main theme or idea of that chapter was. Another book I'm reading is Robert Coleman's The Master Plan of Evangelism. Inside the front cover I have written, 'Chap. 1 -- Jesus invests in a few, not crowds.' That will now jog my memory as to the content of that chapter.

Whether you find these particular tips helpful or not, I encourage those of you who love reading to think about some specific ways that you can retain what you have read. Because a book with great content isn't really worth much if you can't remember anything that you read six months later.

The True Hero of the Story

Abraham is regarded by almost all Bible-believers (Jewish and Christian) to be a great hero of faith. He sure looks heroic in this picture, doesn't he? Here he is, preparing to sacrifice his own son Isaac in obedience to the Lord's command.

This month I've been reading Genesis, and while Abraham certainly is a notable man of faith, I've been noticing that he is not exactly your prototypical hero. The first we really hear of him is in the beginning of Genesis 12, when God comes to him and promises to make a great nation out of his offspring. Indeed, through him, all the nations of the earth would be blessed. What a promise!

And initially Abraham plays the part of hero, leaving his homeland to follow the Lord's call to go to a land that He would show him. But Abraham's courage doesn't last long. Shortly after this extraordinary promise, he basically hands his wife over to be sexually abused by the Egyptians, in order to save his own neck. This is an utterly despicable act, which Abraham repeats just a few chapters later. Hardly the great father of faith!

It seems to me that the dominant point of Abraham's life is not for us to say, 'Here is a great man of faith; imitate his example.' Rather it's to say, 'Though Abraham was so full of sin and cowardice, God's promise comes because of grace, not as a response to human merit.' In other words, Abraham is not the true hero of this story. Jesus Christ is.

Abraham's faithlessness is a pointer to the supreme faithfulness of Christ. Abraham abandoned his bride in order to save himself from danger. Jesus descended from Heaven to Earth and gave Himself up to the brutal agony of Calvary in order to save His bride from sin, death and hell.

Jesus, not Abraham, is the true hero of Abraham's story. In fact, I'm pretty sure that Jesus is the true hero of every story. Let's not use the Bible simply as an instruction manual. Surely there are instructions, but the main purpose of the Bible is to show us what Christ is like. Only then can we begin to truly follow His instructions.

Barbie and the Spread of Bulimia

The latest edition of Newsweek has a story on Barbie turning 50 years old next month. I wish I could celebrate this 50th anniversary as much as I did the anniversary of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue. But while Kind of Blue seems to me to be a cultural good of great enduring value, I don't think I can say the same for Barbie.

In the article, Eliza Gray writes,

"In her half century of existence, Barbie has become something of a Rorschach test for views about modern feminine identity. Either she's a sunny, self-confident, good-time girl—Doris Day in miniature—or, more commonly, she's the original bimbo, a relic of postwar paternalism that teaches its young owners to worship at the altar of blond hair, peach skin and formidable cleavage atop a waistline the size of a pinkie ring."

Count me in with the latter view. I wonder if the immense popularity of the Paris Hilton's and Britney Spears' of the world is a result of the same kind of corrupt thinking about women and beauty that led to the creation of the Barbie Doll. To what degree has the doll been an instrument in shaping little girls into becoming young women who think they need a certain bra size and waistline in order to be considered 'beautiful'?

It is interesting that some people criticize the Christian faith because of its' alleged oppressive attitude toward women. Beliefs like the headship of a husband over the wife and the distinction of church elder being a position only for men are said to reduce the value and dignity of women. But I cannot imagine anything more degrading to the innate value and dignity of a woman than to tell her that unless she has 'blond hair, peach skin and formidable cleavage atop a waistline the size of a pinkie ring' she is second-class. Yet I fear that the ongoing existence of Barbie is implicitly making such a statement to little girls every day in this nation. Millions of girls are learning to regard themselves as worthless, primarily because they do not look like the Barbie doll that American culture tells them they should. That's oppression, if you ask me.

Is it possible that the cultural product known as the Barbie Doll is being used in our day to spread eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia? I hope I am not over-stating the case; I am not trying to make a blanket condemnation of all parents who have ever bought their little girl a Barbie doll. But as a father of two little girls of my own, I want to take extreme caution and be very sensitive to how the toys my girls play with are used to shape the way they think about themselves. That may mean having no Barbies in the house; it may mean being diligent to remind your children what true beauty consists of, even while they do play with Barbie. That is for the individual parent to wrestle through. But reading this article reminded me that a seemingly innocent doll can make a big impact on the thinking of little girls.

The Unintended Results of Cultural Progress

This morning I read the news that Philadelphia Newspapers LLC, the company that owns the Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com has filed for bankruptcy in an attempt to restructure its $390 million debt load. From the report:

The financial burden from an advertising downturn, rising costs for newsprint, and the migration of readers to the Internet caused Philadelphia Newspapers to fall out of compliance with its loan agreements last year. The same conditions have devastated the broadcast industry.

It is not clear whether any jobs will be lost during this process, as operations are reported to be sound and profitable. But surely there are many other situations which have led and are leading to job loss. This situation, and others like it, is a great sadness, and not what anyone foresaw as being an almost inevitable result of the internet age that we live in.

Reading this story reminded me of something I just read in Andy Crouch's Culture Making. Crouch writes that one of the difficulties of creating cultural products that serve others is that often the cultural product that is created has negative consequences that the creators of the product never imagined.

He cites the internet as a primary example. The internet is, by all estimations, an amazing product of culture that has greatly increased the horizons of possibility for millions of people. But people did not foresee many of the negative effects of such technological advance: the ease with which our children can be polluted and abused by online pornography, the decimation of the 20th century music industry and the vast loss of jobs that has created, or the increasing irrelevance of the newspaper, as people get their news quicker and cheaper online. Surely this is what led to the Philadelphia Newspaper LLC's announcement of bankruptcy.

All this increases my longing for the cosmic redemption of all things, which Jesus and the writers of Scripture have promised is yet to come. I am pretty sure that we will, in some way, still be culture makers in our final state of glory. And how sweet will that day be when our cultural creativity will produce one of the unintended, harmful results that often plague the best cultural advancements in this fallen world. In that day, every cultural good really will be good.

Algebra for Parenting

Those with children in the home might enjoy this post by Taylor Buzzard; it was an encouragement to me. From the conclusion:

"Please, do the math. The math will help you love your children better today. The math will make you take a giant step backwards, away from the difficulties of parenting, to better see the privilege and delight of parenting."

Free Keller Sermons on the Prodigals

Last fall Tim Keller preached a series of messages on the parable of the Prodigal Sons which I thoroughly enjoyed. I just noticed that Redeemer has recently put the whole series on their site for free download. Check them out here. They are a great introduction to Keller's ministry.

Enjoying God Everywhere

In Mark Noll's book, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, Noll calls attention to the regrettable absence of Christian scholars and thinkers in various fields of study like art and science. This is regrettable, according to Noll, because in failing to learn diligently about nature, society and humanity, among other areas of study, we fail to learn about the Creator of all. As Noll says, When we study something, we are of course learning about that thing. But even more, we are learning about the One who made that thing.

Noll draws attention to the famous American theologian Jonathan Edwards. Here is a man who had an insatiable thirst for learning about both God and God's world. When he was still in his teens, Edwards wrote an extensive description of the shape, construction and purpose of a spider's web.

There are many true things we can say about the spider's web, but according to Edwards, the ultimate thing shown by the spider in its spinning is "the exuberant goodness of the Creator, who hath provided for all the necessities, but also for the pleasure and recreation of all sorts of creatures, even the insects." Edwards understood that the final reason for exercising our intelligence is to know more of God and his loving ways with the world.

Clearly Edwards was a man who did more than read his Bible and preach on heaven and hell (which he did extraordinarily well!). He was zealous to know all that he could about God, by studying carefully both His Word and His world.

May God raise up many such intellectuals who will zealously pursue a greater enjoyment of God through all that He has made.

Atheist Evangelism

I have to admit I got a chuckle out of this headline on the Fox News website:

Italian Bus Boasting Anti-God Ad Breaks Down on First Trip

The article begins:

"The first Italian bus to boast an atheist advertisement rolled out Monday and certainly did not have God on its side.

"No sooner had the bus — carrying the message, "The Good News Is There Are Millions of Atheists In Italy; The Excellent News Is They Believe In Freedom Of Expression" –- hit the streets of Genoa when it suffered battery problems and had to go straight back to the depot for repairs, UPI reported."

Fortunately, a member of the Italian Union of Atheists, Agnostics and Rationalists assures us that the 'curious problem' with the batteries happened 'by pure chance'. Well, that's a relief!

Now please understand, I don't see the breakdown of this bus as a great triumph for faith in God! But I do find it interesting that even atheists feel compelled to 'evangelize' others. One of the things that I've heard non-believers say from time to time is that the world would be a much better place if the different religious believers would just keep their faith to themselves and stop trying to bring it into the public square and convert others to their beliefs.

Yet in this case -- and what's happening in Italy is an offshoot of campaigns already launched in Washington, London and Spain -- Atheists themselves are spreading their own version of 'good news' in the public square.

Certainly people are entitled to their views, and they are entitled to put their views on buses if they want to shell out the money to do so. Such advertising does not strike me as a threat to my beliefs. But why exactly do Atheists feel compelled to share their non-belief? And how can they engage in this kind of advertising while condemning adherents of other religions for trying to convert others?

When Swords and Spears (and Guns) Perish

It will be sweet, won't it, when the day comes that men, women and children will not need to carry these around:

"They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore."

Isaiah 2:4

Learning to Listen Well

I doubt that many non-Christians who have taken the time to talk with believers would say that Christians are good listeners. For better or worse, we Christians have a reputation for 'shoving truth' down people's throats without listening to where they are coming from.

With that in view, I thought this blog post was quite helpful in challenging me to become a better listener, and giving some practical tips on how to do that.

If You Had One Hour...

If you could spend one hour with any living person, who would it be?

Implied in the question is that the answer is someone who, for any reason, you don't have access to spending time with now.

My answer to the question is Dave Matthews. Ten years ago he was probably the closest thing to a savior that I had. When I was gloomy for any reason, his music is what I turned to for comfort and peace. Now that I know THE Savior, I am still fascinated by Dave Matthews and his music. I have done away with the vast majority of my DMB collection, but still have a few songs that I enjoy. Their musical creativity is, I believe, a reflection of the image of God in them, though they do not manifestly give Him the glory for it.

From listening to the songs that he writes and reading some interviews with him, it is clear that Dave Matthews is not a Christian. I am pretty sure he professes agnosticism. But he also has clearly done a good bit of thinking about Jesus and Christianity. He seems to have a kind of respect for Jesus, though Matthews obviously picks and chooses what to like about Him. Some of his insights about the failure of the Church to represent Jesus in the world are spot on, and yet he is certainly responsible for suppressing the truth that God has revealed to him.

So if I had an hour, I'd love to sit down with this man whose extraordinary musical talent has brought joy to so many people. It would be a joy to listen to his objections and difficulties with Christianity, and try to help him see that his objections are not insurmountable to having faith in the Jesus of the Bible. I doubt I'd be able to persuade him to trust Christ in an hour, but I'd still love to explain to him how his talents have made me more in awe of Jesus Christ, the Lord of the universe.

Now I turn it to you: if you had one hour to spend with any living person, who would it be? This requires you, faithful reader, to click on the 'comments' icon below this post and write a comment!

Spring's Around the Corner

I know this because pitchers and catchers report for spring training today. I'm eager to see my beloved Phils' try to become the first repeat champions from the National League since the 70's. But even their recent success doesn't make me very optimistic that it will actually happen!

Earlier in the week I read an article which said that the Phillies' payroll increased almost $30 million this off-season. With people all around the nation losing jobs and feeling stress over economic uncertainty, obviously the sports franchises aren't hurting too badly! I don't know many companies that are increasing their payroll by $30 million this year.

Do you think that these uncertain economic times make it harder to get excited about supporting athletes and their employers who live in such financial ease?

Let me know...

'You will all likewise Perish'

These are the words of Jesus that came to mind this morning when I heard about the plane crash that happened outside Buffalo last night, killing 5o people.

I first heard about the crash on the radio, and the reporter said something to the effect of, 'The families of the victims have been gathered together, and chaplains are available for grief counseling.'

That was sobering. I am not a chaplain, but I am a pastor. And I thought to myself, 'What would I say to the grieving family members in a crisis like this?' People look to chaplains or pastors, for comfort in the midst of grief. But the comfort we give must be grounded in truth. 'He's in a better place,' is not true for those apart from Christ. So as I thought about this story, I was sobered by the awesome responsibility of being Christ's ambassadors in a world of such pain and calamity.

I then thought of Jesus' words in Luke 13:

1 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Unforeseen, tragic calamities are reminders from God that life is fragile, and all of our fate will one day be the same as those people killed in Buffalo, if we do not surrender to Christ and receive forgiveness of sins through Him.

Of course, one would not say this in these exact words to grieving people. But anyone interested in genuinely loving people who are grieving will not ignore the words of Christ. Life is short, and serious. Without Christ, there is no hope for any of us. Whether in an airplane, a falling tower, or a slow-moving disease, our time is coming. There is no time for false comfort or assurance.

The Redemption of Culture, #1

Last week in writing about Miles Davis' classic jazz recording Kind of Blue, I hinted at something I want to explore in a couple of more posts. I said that a cultural artifact like Kind of Blue can and does bring delight to the heart of God and may well be enjoyed on the New Earth which will be our eternal home.

What is the basis of my saying such a thing? I'm going to take a few posts to try to explain what I mean. First up is a quote from Anthony Hoekema in his book, The Bible and the Future. I'm only a quarter of the way into this book, but I am enjoying it. In a chapter on the tension between the 'already' and the 'not yet' of the Kingdom of God (that is, that the Kingdom has already been inaugurated by Christ's death and resurrection, but has not yet been consummated, which will happen at His second coming), Hoekema writes,

"What about the cultural products of non-Christians? Do we simply write off such products as valueless because they have not been produced by believers and have not been consciously dedicated to the glory of God? Christians who take this attitude fail to appreciate the working of God's common grace in this present world, whereby even unregenerate men are enabled to make valuable contributions ot the world's culture."

Hoekema then quotes John Calvin, who recognized that through the working of the Holy Spirit, non-Christians can and do say things that are true. Hoekema then writes,

"With respect to non-Christian culture, therefore, we must remember that Christ's sovereign power is so great that He can rule in the midst of His enemies, and cause those who do not know Him to make contributions in art and science which serve His cause. The powers awakened by the resurrection of Jesus Christ are active in the world today! The sovereign rule of Christ over history is so marvelous that He can make even His enemies praise Him, though they do so involuntarily. And when we read in the book of Revelation that the kings and nations of the earth shall bring their glory into the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:24, 26), we conclude that there will be some continuity even between the culture of the present world and that of the world to come."

What, specifically, does this mean for Kind of Blue? Well, I can't say for certain, but I do think it points us in the direction that such cultural artifacts may be part of the redeemed culture that will fill the New Earth. The most compelling place in the Bible which leads me in that direction is Isaiah 60.

But this post is getting a little lengthy already. I'll save that for another time soon!

Mahaney Interviews Piper

Here's an interesting Q & A in which C.J. Mahaney helps us get to know John Piper a bit better. I found it encouraging to hear a little more what Piper is like outside the pulpit.

Particularly intriguing to me was learning that Piper is currently reading Culture Making by Andy Crouch. I'd love 5 minutes with Piper to find out what his thoughts are on that book.

A Great Spot for Morning Devotions

I don't know where this is located, but I'm hoping I will be able to hang out here and spend some quiet times here on the New Earth!

Yes, There is Real Evil

On Monday I read this article on Fox News about a Polish engineer beheaded by the Taliban in Pakistan. My heart grieves for the victim of this tragedy and his family in mourning. As I thought about this story, I wondered how I as a Christian ought to respond to such a story. Surely many such stories happen every day, not to mention the larger scale acts such as 9/11.

There are many ways for a Christian to respond, but the one that stood out to me as I pondered this story was that affirmation that evil is real and horrible. Just about everyone in our society can see this. Hardly anyone would read a story like this one out of Pakistan and say, 'Well, those killers were doing what felt right for them, and there is no point in trying to impose our view of morality on them. What they did was right for them.' No one talks like that! Instead they say, 'This was a horrible act of evil; it should be stopped, and those men should be punished.'

This is a very important insight to keep in mind as we interact with people who do not share our beliefs and worldview. In our postmodern world it is common to hear people say that moral absolutes are relative, and it is foolish and unloving to try to make someone else conform to our particular view of morality. But the people who say such things do not really live that way. Instead, when a polish man is beheaded in Pakistan, they say 'This is evil!'

Thus, these grievous, horrible acts of wickedness around the world may actually serve to give us an opportunity to expose to others the shallowness of their worldview when they say things like, 'It is narrow-minded and bigoted to say that your way of living or your view of truth is the right way.' If that is true, then nothing evil happened in Pakistan the other day, and nothing evil happened on 9/11.

Let us affirm and impart to others that evil is real and horrible. Because only when we see the horror of evil will we be able to marvel at the glory of Jesus Christ, who will one day heal the world of all its misery, evil and corruption.

From Where Does this Satisfaction Come?

Yesterday I was in the Firehouse (the building next to our church where I do much of my work, for those who read this and don't attend my church) doing some work. To my right, around fifteen feet away, was a little trash can in the corner of the room.

I had a piece of paper that I no longer needed, so without thinking, I suddenly balled it up as tightly as I could and tossed it toward the trash can...swish. Right in the can, two points!

Very unspectacular, right? But as the 'ball' went in to the can, I had around three seconds where I had a strong feeling of satisfaction. I mean Dwayne Wade I'm not, but that was a pretty good shot!

Immediately I began to ponder why in the world I would feel satisfaction about something so small and insignificant. Is this a matter of trivial amusement for a few seconds, or is there something more deep in our hearts that compels us to feel satisfaction in such a moment?
This is not a loaded question; I assure you, I don't have another post going up later today on why I felt such satisfaction at shooting a paper ball in a trash can.

Maybe I just think too much. But I'm wondering, does anyone else have any thoughts on this? Has anyone else experienced such a phenomenon (not just with a ball of trash, but anything similar)?

The Mind is Important, because God is Important

In line with the last post I made on vocation, here is a link to a sermon preached by Tim Keller that has been influential to my thinking on these matters (It's $2.50 to buy an MP3 download, but I think it's worth it). In the sermon he shares this quote from Mark Noll, which I love:

“For a Christian, the mind is important because God is important. Who, after all, made the world of nature, and then made possible the development of sciences through which we find out more about nature? Who formed the universe of human interactions, and so provided the raw material of politics, economics, sociology and history? Who is the source of harmony, form, and narrative pattern, and so lies behind all artistic and literary possibilities? Who created the human mind in such a way that it could grasp the realities of nature, of human interactions, of beauty, and so made possible the theories on such matters by philosophers and psychologists? Who, moment by moment, sustains the natural world, the world of human interactions, and the harmonies of existence? Who, moment by moment, maintains the connections between what is in our minds and what is in the world beyond our minds? The answer in every case is the same. God did it, and God does it.”

Education on Vocation

Last week Halle asked me to read her a book called When I Grow Up, by P.K. Hallinan. I read a lot of books to her, but I hadn't seen this one before. After one read, I'd have to say it's one of my favorites. It is not a Christian book, but it deals with a very Christian subject: the doctrine of vocation.

Of course the book doesn't use those fancy words, but as I read to Halle, I couldn't help but see the very God-centered theme of vocation running throughout it. Essentially the book's intent seems to be to help kids learn the alphabet, as it begins, 'When I grow up, I know I can be whatever I dream of, from A down to Z.'

In the pages that follow the book covers a wide range of possible jobs, one beginning with each letter of the alphabet. An actor, baker, carpenter, dancer, engineer, etc. While I certainly plan to read many theologically-oriented books in hopes of stirring in her a passion for the supremacy of Christ, I am also eager to read her a book such as this. Because I think the lesson of this book seems to be a lesson lost on many Christians.

We're told that after God made the world and Adam,

"The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it."

Part of Adam and Eve's privilege and responsibility as God's image-bearers was to take the raw materials of God's good creation and mold, fashion and cultivate them to bring out its latent potential. This responsibility was tragically impacted by the Fall, but it was not abandoned. Right after the Fall, we're told in Genesis 3,

"Therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken."

Even after being removed from the Garden, Adam is still called to care for and cultivate the creation. And we see in Genesis 4 that the offspring of Cain are responsible for the formation of cultural products, like musical instruments of bronze and iron.

The point is this: all vocational tracks (excepting, of course, those which promote and glorify sin, like pornography for example) have the potential to glorify God as we exercise our image-bearing responsibilities in bringing order and peace out of the chaos of God's creation. A homemaker (the 'H' vocation in When I Grow Up) who looks at the disaster area which the kids have made of the house, and cleans it thoroughly, is imaging forth the glory of God by creating order out of chaos, the very thing God did in fashioning the creation into something beautiful out of what was without form and void.

As the book comes to a close, Hallinan sums things up by writing, 'Whatever I do, from A down to Z, I'm bound to succeed if I stay true to me.' While this could be a humanistic attitude (I am my own sovereign, all-authoritative god), Christian parents can use these words to show their children that God has made us with certain abilities, talents and desires, and 'staying to true to me' means staying true to what God created us to be.

Whether Halle wants to be a librarian, a musician, a nurse, a scientist a waiter or a veterinarian, I hope to teach her that each (non-sinful) possibility for her career has the capacity to bring God great pleasure and delight as she reflects the image of her Creator. I want her to know that being a good, God-glorifying Christian does not mean that she has to be a missionary to a foreign country or a biblical counselor or director of women's ministry in a church.

Alright, I've gone on long enough! The bottom line: if you have small children, pick up this book and use it to teach your little ones that all work -- not only Christian ministry -- can bring glory to God.

Flavel on Romans 8:32

I try to keep my computer off on most Mondays, but I may post a quote or something small from time to time. We have this quote from John Flavel hanging up in our dining room; it is an explanation of the gospel logic of Romans 8:32:

"Surely if He would not spare His own Son one stroke, one tear, one groan, one sigh, one circumstance of misery, it can never be imagined that ever He should, after this, deny or withold from His people, for whose sakes all this was suffered, any mercies, any comforts, any privilege, spiritual or temporal, which is good for them."

The grammar may not be top-notch, but the wonder of the theological truth in it doesn't get much better!

More Fun in the Snow

For Some odd reason, this picture makes me think of Isaiah 11:6,


"The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them."

Yes, I know that's a snowman, not a calf or a lamb, but use your imagination!

Let it Snow...

And I thought we had a lot of snow this week...this is a photo from Airolo, Switzerland. Look at those roofs! I bet they had a nice time shoveling all of that!

Get Outta My Face!

That's the title of a new book written by Rick Horne. The book's subtitle clarifies its purpose: How to reach angry, unmotivated teens.

I received a copy of this book yesterday, and from looking through it's contents, it looks like a valuable resource for parents of teens and youth workers. If you have non-believing, hard-hearted teenagers in your life -- of if you have friends that do -- I'd say this book is well worth ordering.

Botched Abortion or Murder...or Both?

Gene Veith reports on an article from the Boston Herald about a doctor in Florida who had his license revoked when a 23 week-old baby he was scheduled to abort was born before the doctor could perform the procedure.

Apparently when the baby was born, she was placed in a plastic biohazard bag and thrown in a garbage can where she died. Police recovered the decomposing remains in a cardboard box a week later after getting anonymous tips. The 18 year-old mother is now suing the doctor.

Veith raises some very important questions in light of this horrible tragedy:

"This is beyond monstrous. But I don’t understand. The mother went to get an abortion, but now is suing because the doctor killed her baby? And upon what grounds are the pro-abortionists upset? If the doctor wasn’t late and killed the baby minutes before she came out, that would have been fine in a way that doing it outside the womb is not?"

To be fair here, the article in the Herald does not state that the mother is suing because her baby was murdered, as Veith writes. Maybe she is suing for the emotional trauma that she would not have endured (seeing her newborn child thrown into a garbage can) had this doctor done his job more effectively.

But I think the vital question that still remains is: why does a story like this disgust even those who support a woman's right to abort her child, yet those same people have no qualms whatsoever had the doctor first killed the baby, and then removed her from the mother's womb?

Please understand: I am not writing this to be unnecessarily divisive or hostile. I am not interested in maintaining a blog in which everyone who reads it thinks exactly like me. If there are any readers of this blog who support a woman's right to choose the termination of her unborn child, I'd sincerely like to hear how you wrestle through something like this.

Knowing God Through His Works

Currently I am re-reading Engaging God's World, a book by Cornelius Plantinga that I read last year. In the Preface, Plantinga writes:

"Thoughtful Christians know that if we obey the Bible's great commandment to love God with our whole mind, as well as with everything else, then we will study the splendor of God's creation in the hope of grasping part of the ingenuity and grace that form it. One way to love God is to know and love God's work.

Learning is therefore a spiritual calling: properly done, it attaches us to God. In addition, the learned person has, so to speak, more to be Christian with. The person who studies chemistry, for example, can enter into God's enthusiasm for the dynamic possibilities of material reality."

Of all people, Christians ought to have the greatest thirst for learning about the world we live in. For as we study the creation, we are bound to learn more about the Creator.

Is Forgiveness Possible?

Also In Christless Christianity, Horton reminded me of this great scene from an episode of E.R. which aired some time ago. I find it amazing that a very popular show like E.R. would communicate something so profound about the deficiency of new-age postmodernism to deal with the deepest longings and hopes of the soul. Check it out; the clip is around 2 minutes long:

Bush and Obama

Since I've already posted today on President Obama, I figured I'd add to that with something on our most recent president, George W. Bush.

Yesterday I started what looks to be an excellent book, Christless Christianity by Michael Horton. In it, Horton quotes Bush in a 2007 interview:

"I believe that all the world, whether they be Muslim, Christian, or any other religion, prays to the same God. That's what I believe."

It is not my place to judge the faith of any man, especially those I have never even personally met. But my question is this: why do so many conservative Christians regard Bush as a man of great Christian faith, while Obama is demonized as the devil-incarnate? Based on this quote, it seems that both Bush and Obama have the same non-Christian view of God (I can't find the quote from Obama, but he basically says the same thing). They both deny a fundamental tenet of Christian faith, which is that Jesus Christ is the only way to God.

Don't get me wrong; I have significant disagreements with our current president. I am not seeking to defend him, per se. I am just wondering why so many church folk seem to regard Bush as a strong Christian man while doubting Obama's profession of faith.

Is my head in the sand on this one? Leave a comment and let me know.

Obama Speaks About His Faith

Barack Obama, speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast:

"I didn’t become a Christian until many years later, when I moved to the South Side of Chicago after college. It happened not because of indoctrination or a sudden revelation, but because I spent month after month working with church folks who simply wanted to help neighbors who were down on their luck – no matter what they looked like, or where they came from, or who they prayed to. It was on those streets, in those neighborhoods, that I first heard God’s spirit beckon me. It was there that I felt called to a higher purpose – His purpose. "


I wish I knew a little more about how Obama would explain his becoming a Christian. He seems to be saying that what led him to Christianity was seeing 'church folks' living lives of compassion and justice around him over a period of time. This beckons a few questions:

What is a Christian?

How exactly does a life of good deeds and a commitment to social justice lead someone to the Christian faith?

Mahaney on Phelps and his Bong

C.J. Mahaney has an insightful post on recent photo of super-swimmer Michael Phelps smoking from a bong. He writes:

This is what I find so striking: A man whose chest has been covered with gold medals, has achieved international fame, showered with awards, and blessed with an incomprehensible amount of money, still feels compelled to press his face to a bong.

And he concludes with these wise, humble words:

Study the unflattering picture of Michael Phelps to be reminded of the deceitfulness of sin and the superficiality of fame and money. But also study the picture to be reminded of the message of Christ and him crucified for restless sinners like you, and me, and Michael Phelps.

50 Years of Blue

In the same edition of Newsweek I mentioned yesterday, there is an article about the 5oth anniversary of the release of Miles Davis' legendary jazz recording, Kind of Blue. I have enjoyed Kind of Blue for close to ten years myself, and I appreciated learning more about the background and history of this recording.

Here's a quote I particularly enjoyed:

"Kind of Blue" has little historical import beyond its musical influence, but it makes a terrific cultural milestone against which we can measure a half century of change. Certainly the album made Davis a star—yes, in 1959 jazz musicians could still be pop stars—and in doing that it put before the public a black man unafraid to speak his mind and unwilling to compromise his art to please or appease anyone.

In the materials accompanying the anniversary editions of the album, there is a picture of Davis draping his arms over pianist Bill Evans while demonstrating something on the keyboard. Today the picture seems innocuous, but in 1959 it could have caused a riot in certain parts of this country: a black man almost hugging a white man, a black man instructing a white man, a black man who was the white man's boss. It is a measure of just how polarizing a figure Davis was that he took criticism from both the white and the black communities. While Evans was a member of the band, Davis got an earful from black people who thought he should hire only African-Americans. In his public pronouncements, Davis could be intemperate, petulant and contrarian, but when it came to his music, he was always clearheaded and colorblind."

In the liner notes to the CD, I remember reading a quote from Jimmy Cobb, the drummer on the recording. He said that Kind of Blue 'must have been made in heaven.'

While I am pretty sure that the recording was in fact made on earth, not heaven, I do believe that a cultural artifact as beautiful as Kind of Blue can and does bring delight to the heart of God, and may well be enjoyed on the New Earth that God will fashion when Jesus returns.

But that is a post for another day!

For now, has anyone else enjoyed this CD? Let me know in the comments section.

Mouw's Plea: 'Can We Talk?'

Yesterday I opened my copy of the latest edition of Newsweek and was surprised to see this short article by Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, CA.

In it he calls for civil discussion among the diverse worldviews that mark our pluralistic society. With the media often demonizing Evangelical Christians, I was pleased by Newsweek's decision to print this article.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

Glorified Shoveling?

This morning I woke up to the biggest amount of snow I've seen around these parts of South Jersey in quite some time.

Seeing the beauty of the snowfall reminded me of this blog post I read from Randy Alcorn a few weeks ago. In it he writes about snow being a part of our experience on the resurrected New Earth that will be our eternal dwelling place. I love Randy's use of sanctified imagination. There is much we do not know about our final home, but Alcorn whets my appetite for the coming redemption of all things by his musings. Here's a summary quote I liked in particular:

"Here's a New Year's resolution to consider: Every time you see or experience something beautiful and wonderful in this world, from a loved one's smile to a wonderful meal and laughter to a snowfall or waterfall, wildflowers or animals, music or art, resolve to thank God that this fallen world is but a hint of what awaits us on the New Earth, the place He's preparing for us."

With Peter, I am waiting for a New Heavens and New Earth (2 Peter 3:13).

Piper on the New Earth

For those who may be interested in some more information regarding the name of this blog, this sermon from John Piper is a good place to start.

The Commercial You Didn't See

First Post

I'm not sure how much posting I will do on this new blog, but as a first post it seemed good to give the Scriptural motivation for the title of the blog:

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Romans 8:19-25