Sunday Worship: Mother’s Day Edition

I enjoy Jeremy Camp’s music, and I hope you will too. This is <i>Walk By Faith.</i> Have  a blessed Sunday.

I’m No Fan of Mitt Romey But…

If this keeps up, I might have to change my mind:

Mitt Romney’s prep school classmates recall pranks, but also troubling incidents

The underlying point here is to paint Romney as a bully and a homophobe. Remember that the gay lobby is pouring unprecedented amounts of money into this year’s election campaign. With Obama’s open and unambiguous endorsement of gay marriage, and now this Washington Post hit piece, I can only conclude that the Democrat party has concluded that national sentiment on marriage has turned enough that they can hang their campaign on the issue.

I’ve already said my peace on the gay marriage issue and my thoughts haven’t changed much.

Is It Enough For Our Hearts to be “In the Right Place”?

Jesus said that the tree (or person)  is known by his or her fruit (or actions). The Bible also calls King David, the worshiping, Psalm writing, adulterer,  and murderer,  a man after God’s own heart. Paul was a persecutor of the early church and added to its martyr rolls, yet wrote 2/3 of the New Testament, in which he called himself the chief among sinners. He readily acknowledged that his actions often fell short of his intentions:

For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.  But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good.  So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.  For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.  For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.  For I joyfully concur with the law of God ^]in the inner man,  but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.  Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. Romans 7:14-25

This is a battle we all fight, the tug-of-war between what we should do and what we actually do. What are we to do with these dichotomies? How do we bridge the gap between holding one another accountable for our sin and its results and extending the mercy we all need to be able to rise from the ashes and live Christian lives going forward?

I have often wondered how David, despite all his virtues could be called a man “after God’s own heart.” It seems ridiculous on its face, doesn’t it? If it was Joseph we could comprehend it, but David? After much thought, I think I understand why the Bible offers such praise to a man we wouldn’t readily say deserves it. It wasn’t so much that David had the heart of God as much as that he clearly wanted to have the heart of God despite his numerous and grievous shortcomings.

It’s the heart of one who wants to do the right thing because he loves God first and foremost, and when he fails, no matter how greatly, he recognizes that his sin is his own and that he has ultimately sinned against God most of all. When David is finally confronted with the gravity of his adulterous night with Bathsheba that escalated to the murder of her husband and culminates with the death of the child they conceived that night, David owns his sin.

Have mercy upon me, O God,
According to Your lovingkindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
Blot out my transgressions.
² Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.

³ For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.
⁴ Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight—
That You may be found just when You speak,
And blameless when You judge. Psalm 51:1-4

That is the missing link between David’s actions with regard Bathsheba and the tens of recorded Psalms of prayer and worship that still bring comfort to believers thousands of years after David’s death, preserved by God as a testimonial of His unfailing grace towards us and a very flawed, very human Psalmist who is all to easy for many of us to relate to.

We should be slow to condemn, quick to forgive, and generous with mercy in recognition of our own sinful frailty. Too often we find this hard to do; partly due to our pride. Other times we feel let down when those we regard as faithful brethren fail. If they can succumb to temptation, can we? Mostly we just kind of enjoy the opportunity to feel better about ourselves by turning our attention to the failings of others.

But we also have to hold each other accountable and judge righteously. We also must be able to make the distinction between when it is proper to deal harshly, and when we are to restore with gentleness. Frankly, I don’t really trust myself to know the difference. There is however, one thing I look for in my children when they stumble and fall, and it’s something I desperately pray that I model well before them. Owning it.

David owned up to his role in what transpired. He didn’t blame it on the temptress. He didn’t it blame on the commanders who insisted they could go out to battle without him that spring. He didn’t pass the buck.

Being after God’s own heart is not about perfection. It’s about striving to be perfect. Since none of us is capable of being perfect, it’s about confessing our sin, repent, and making a whole-hearted commitment to go and sin no more in the same manner. When our fellow believers make that commitment, and their lives bear the fruit of true change, it’s our Christian duty to accept them fully. Brothers and sisters in Christ should not fear being judged by the church for who they were before.

However, if they don’t acknowledge, repent, and bear fruit worthy of repentance, it’s our Christian duty to hold them accountable no matter how deeply it grieves us.The challenge is to bridge the gap between mercy and justice, rather that erecting walls of justice while burning bridges of mercy or worse, eradicating all accountability out a false concept of mercy and pretending that justice is literally blind. It’s a tall order, isn’t it?

For those of us who claim the name of Christ, it behooves us to remember that it’s not our profession alone that defines us, but what we do. What we really believe is what we live. Everything else is just religious talk. In other words:

“A good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush.Luke 6:43-44

We’re back where we started aren’t we? So is it enough if our “heart is in the right place?”

Just something I’ve been mulling over as I work through my own struggles and besetting sin.

Sunday Worship: The Workout Edition

When I hit the elliptical machine in the mornings, only certain kinds of music will do. It has to upbeat with a little (okay maybe a lot) of bass in it.

This is one of my favorites to start with. It’s called Pray, by Cece Winans

 

Blessed Sunday all!

Back on God’s Time…

I am loving seeing the sunlight stream through my window around 6AM- the way its supposed to.

My five year-old said this morning, “When I opened my eyes I thought it was cool that window was yellow like a banana.”

I do not like Daylight Savings Time. Period. Every year I look forward to falling back into the way time was meant to be: Roughly twelve hours of daylight from 6 AM to 6 PM. Since the days naturally grow a little longer around the time of the summer solstice, I marvel that someone in an office somewhere thought it made sense to have everyone set their clocks for the purposes of making the days longer.

Of course, the days aren’t really longer. We still have the same 24 hours. They’re just used less efficiently in my house because the daylight betrays the lateness of the hour during DST and I find myself scrambling at the end of the night.

The next 5 months of full nights’ sleep, alert early rising and perfect Florida weather will be glorious.

 

God Moves In A Mysterious Way

Lyrics by William Cowper:

God moves in a mysterious way
 His wonders to perform; 
He plants His footsteps in the sea, 
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines 
Of never failing skill 
He treasures up His bright designs 
And works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; 
The clouds ye so much dread 
Are big with mercy and shall break
 In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence  
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,  
Unfolding every hour; 
The bud may have a bitter taste,  
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err 
 And scan His work in vain; 
God is His own interpreter, 
And He will make it plain.

In the Beginning…God?

This is a re-post from January 2008, but I believe it’s just as valid a conversation to have now as it was then. Maybe even more so.

Maybe because it’s the start of a New Year,  this morning when I picked up my Bible I felt the need to start at the beginning: So I opened up to Genesis chapter 1 and starting reading. What a wonderful recount of the awesomeness of the creation of this world by Our Great and Powerful God!

As I was reading I couldn’t help but think about the seemingly endless debate about whether our children should be taught Creationism along with Evolution theory (most often taught as fact) and how it should be presented, if at all. In recent years there has been a movement afoot by some Christians to interject the idea that perhaps creation and evolution aren’t mutually exclusive. That our children can be taught the Theory of Evolution without those teachings being an assault on their Christian faith. The argument used to support this position goes something like this: No one really knows if God made the earth in 7 days as we know it, 7,000 years, or 70,000 years. After all, Scripture says that 1,000 years is as one day in God’s economy. In fact it doesn’t really matter how long it took just so long as we agree that God indeed made the earth.

Setting aside for the moment the fact that the Scripture says explicitly: “And the morning and the evening was the first day”, let’s start from that assumption and follow it through to its logical conclusion, if that is possible. I think not, but let’s see. If the Scriptural account of earth’s creation is open to interpretation, then what of the Scriptural account of man’s creation? Were we formed form the dust of the earth, with life being breathed into us by God himself? If so, then we were created as fully intelligent, creative and rational beings, like the God who created us. If instead we evolved from knuckle dragging, uncommunicative primates to the people we are today, were we in fact created in the image of God? And if so, what manner of God is He? The logical conclusion of such thinking is that there is no God, is it not?

I’ve never really been that interested in this particular debate because as parents, we’ve covered this base pretty thoroughly; not just in terms of theology, but scientific logic. Any objectively thinking person has to reach the conclusion that the wonder of creation that we see all around us indeed must have been created by Someone.

While I can understand believers who want to validate the pursuit of science and appreciate what it adds to the human understanding of life and creation, I think we should be cautious of embracing evolution the way it is currently being presented to us by the secular scientific community. We must always remember that by and large, those who insist on the teaching of Evolution theory as fact do so because they want to entirely dismiss the idea of a Creator. Searching for common ground in any area is a noble idea, but not at the expense of our most sacred core convictions and beliefs.

My Kids Saw the New Harry Potter Flick

I wonder how many people just deleted me from their reader on the heels of that confession! First of all, I’m not referring the little ones; the teenagers saw the movie.

In the interest of keeping it real however, I thought I’d share that because we are not completely culturally disconnected and I don’t want to pretend we are. I’d also like to unpack the rationale behind our permission for them to do so. The rationale was actually my husband’s because like most Christians, I started out with the typical reactionary, knee-jerk view that because the movie contained (“glorified”) witchcraft, it was evil and to be avoided. Never mind that there is no sex, no profanity, and good triumphing over evil is the theme of the story. It contained witchcraft!

My husband on the other hand, started out by asking a few questions: The first was totally tongue-in cheek, but it drove home the point he wanted to make: “When you were growing up, did you enjoy watching the re-runs of I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched ?” “Do you like The Wizard of Oz ?” My answer was yes to both  questions. The follow-up was, “Are you a witch?” I answered no. He asked why, and I said, “Because I was taught that witchcraft is wrong. I never once considered witchcraft acceptable.”

Even though I followed the logic, I still wasn’t convinced at first. Far from it, even though I’d never seen one of the films and none of the Christians I knew who criticized had seen one either. I was convinced that it was “just wrong” for a Christian to see these movies.

Until my attention was turned to the enthusiasm most believers, myself included, have for The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings trilogies. Two series which both were yes, authored by professed believers when they lived, but were also heavy on magic, symbolism, and witchcraft. Why were these okay but Harry Potter wasn’t? Was it simply because the author of the Harry Potter books is not a believer (that we know of)?

Maybe it was simply the fact that these books and movies are wildly popular, which should be an automatic red flag to the “serious” believer. With the exception of the Messianic overtones of the Lewis books, wasn’t the basic message the same, that good triumphs over evil? Was the” good wizard” in Lord of the Rings better than the “good wizard” in Harry Potter?

When the Twilight saga was all the rage, they quickly and decisively determined that it was an inappropriate book and movie series, and that they did not want any part of it. They decided this before I had any inkling what Twilight was and when I found out what it was, I was proud of the discernment they demonstrated. So was their father because we agreed that it something to be avoided. We allowed them to make the call for themselves in this instance and we have no regrets that we did.

Most importantly, our girls are 17 and 16.We’re not talking about 12-year-olds here. We have taught them right from wrong, about what is unacceptable and what is not. Are they not capable of making these decisions for themselves? They are fully able to discern the message of the film (that good triumphs over evil) while understanding that not everything the hero does is something they can or should emulate.

The answer to all of the above is a resounding yes. They love Jesus, and we have to trust them to discern His voice and make some of these decisions on their own. I often think Christians forget that we are not raising children. We are in fact raising future adults. Future adults who have to learn to think their own thoughts and walk their own walk.

Once I took the time to think it through critically rather just being religious about it, I had no reservations about their decision to see this film.

Learning From One Another

I was thinking about the choices families have to make when deciding the best way to raise their kids and it occurred to me that more often than not, in our zeal to assuage any guilt or discomfort we may feel about the choices we make, we tend to try and convince others that our way is the only right way and that they should be doing it “my way” too.

The fact of the matter is, no matter how hard we work at this never-ending job of parenting, there is always room for improvement. When we try to persuade others to forgo what they’re doing in favor of what we’re doing, we diminish our capacity to change and grow.

We do this for two reasons: the first is that any time I can convince you to change your way in favor of mine, it validates my way of doing things. The second reason is that even if my way isn’t the best way, I am less likely to change based on the fact that I don’t have to face the reality that your way may indeed be better, making you somehow “better” than me. What an absurd way to live! My inability to achieve the ideal makes it no less ideal.

An example: My older children attend public schools. I would love to be able to enroll them in a private Christian school. Right now, that isn’t a option for my family. The fact that I can’t send them to a private Christian school doesn’t change the fact that it would be a better option. It simply isn’t an option for me. For me to deny that truth and insist that a secular public school education is equal in quality to a Christ-centered, Bible-based curriculum doesn’t magically make it true.

Of course, I considered homeschooling as an option. But given that my older kids only have a couple of years of school left, our family decided to keep them in public school. This is the best choice for us at this time.

There is a point to all this, and this is it: as mothers, we must be open to hear and appreciate the wisdom of those around us. None of us has all the answers. There are some things that I do well that my sister may not. She can learn from me. My weakness may be my neighbor’s strength; I can follow her example in that area. I gain nothing by refusing to acknowledge my failures and need of support. My kids gain even less.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if I’ve made you think I’m a supermom. My job is to bring my kids up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And if I can learn anything from a sister in Christ that will help me achieve that goal, I owe it to my children to do just that.

“Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2

“But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head-Christ. From Him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligamnet, promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part. Ephesians 4:15-16

Monday’s Musings: Theological Thoughts

I’m not sure if Monday is the best day of the week to open these cans of worms, but here goes:

• Not grudgingly or of necessity: I recently heard of a couple who left a church after learning that members would be asked to surrender their W-2 forms to ascertain if they were faithful tithers. As this wasn’t the first time I’ve heard of such a thing, I decided to explore the topic here. SAM and I are faithful givers, and we believe in giving generously. However, our reading of Scripture leaves us far from certain than tithing is a New Testament requirement. Whether or not you believe in the law of tithing or not, it seems clear to me that we are to obey God’s word freely. Given that Scripture admonishes us to give freely and cheerfully,  is it appropriate for a church office to monitor how much money its members “owe” the church by checking tax records and pay stubs?
• On the church universal: Two of the ladies of my blogroll are Catholic. Alte and Elizabeth are both gifted writers, and I consider them sisters in Christ. Still, I know many protestants who are adamant in their belief that Catholicism is not a legitimate part of Christ’s church. While I have some serious differences of theology and Scriptural interpretation with the Catholic church, it has always been my understanding that what they believe and teach about Jesus our Messiah, who He is, and what He has purchased for us is very much in line with what I, a solid Protestant,, believe Scripture teaches. If this is not the lynchpin on which all the gospel hangs, then I admit that I am far more ignorant of the Scripture than I ever realized. I have some serious differences with what is known in some circles as fundamentalist churches, but I don’t question whether or not these churches have a legitimate faith.  And I don’t hear many others do it either.
• Hollywood takes on free will: My husband and I recently watched The Adjustment Bureau**. In this film David, the lead character is shocked to find out that there is a supreme being, The Chairman, mysteriously pulling the strings in the lives of all of humanity. When the agent specifically assigned to make sure David lives his life according to plan literally falls asleep on the job, havoc ensues as David meets and falls for a woman who is not apart of the pre-ordained plan for his life. The subject matter intrigued us enough that we watched the movie despite its PG-13 rating. Y’all know I have an interest in the subject of free will.
• In which my problems with Calvinism continue: Though it’s been quite some time since we first discussed the topics of Reformed theology and pre-destination, the subject is one that has remained in the forefront of my thinking and has been a source of several stimulating conversations with SAM as well as others close to me. After much prayer, soul-searching, and Scripture reading, I cannot shake my belief that we have a choice. That we can harden our hearts, or we can embrace the truth. I am equally convinced that there is concrete Scriptural support for the doctrine of pre-destination. I think this is a mystery beyond our comprehension and that my focus should be on Christ and HIm crucified, and on sharing that truth with others assuming that the Scripture is to be believed when it reads that God wills that none should perish. Conversely, I am fully aware that none can know the Messiah unless the Father draws Him, that we being dead in sin, cannot initiate the life-giving power of salvation in our own strength or on our own behalf.  Salvation is the gift God, period. This is a mystery.
• The best exposition I’ve ever read on the subject outside of Scripture: Was written by Charles Spurgeon, himself a Calvinist who expressed great respect for John Wesley, who was a solid Arminian:

The system of truth is not one straight line, but two. No man will ever get a right view of the gospel until he knows how to look at the two lines at once.

I am taught in one book to believe that what I sow I shall reap: I am taught in another place, that “it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.”

I see in one place, God presiding over all in providence; and yet I see, and I cannot help seeing, that man acts as he pleases, and that God has left his actions to his own will, in a great measure.

Now, if I were to declare that man was so free to act, that there was no presidence of God over his actions, I should be driven very near to Atheism; and if, on the other hand, I declare that God so overrules all things, as that man is not free enough to be responsible, I am driven at once into Antinomianism or fatalism.

That God predestines, and that man is responsible, are two things that few can see. They are believed to be inconsistent and contradictory; but they are not. It is just the fault of our weak judgment. Two truths cannot be contradictory to each other.

If, then, I find taught in one place that everything is fore-ordained, that is true; and if I find in another place that man is responsible for all his actions, that is true; and it is my folly that leads me to imagine that two truths can ever contradict each other.

These two truths, I do not believe, can ever be welded into one upon any human anvil, but one they shall be in eternity: they are two lines that are so nearly parallel, that the mind that shall pursue them farthest, will never discover that they converge; but they do converge, and they will meet somewhere in eternity, close to the throne of God, whence all truth doth spring.

Those are the best words I’ve heard expressed on the subject.

Happy Monday, all!

**The Adjustment Bureau is not a family friendly film and I don’t recommend it to anyone who is offended by mild profanity. There is also a love scene in the film, but we found that  using the DVD remote to skip to the next chapter is an effective way to avoid seeing any scene one would rather not see.