Super Bowl… FINALLY!
I pause here to give thanks that the Super Bowl is FINALLY getting played… so we can at last get on to BASEBALL!!!!
Apprentice2Jesus
Ramblings of a Confessing Pentecostal
Bowing to the Beast
Since the Susan G Komen Foundation bowed to the beast of our culture, which is represented in this case by Planned Parenthood, all is well once again in our world.
Here is what we learn: do not poke the bear.
But poke we must.
Christianity Today takes it on here.
Some pointed words:
In all of this, though, we can gain an opportunity to see what the abortion culture is all about: cash. Planned Parenthood and their allies use the thoroughly American language of freedom of choice and women’s empowerment, but what’s at stake, as seen here, are billions of dollars. That’s why, despite their talk about adoption as a “choice,” Planned Parenthood and others hardly ever lead women through an adoption process relative to how often they promise them the “fix” of a “terminated pregnancy.” There’s a profit motive involved in every abortion.
But that Christianity Today. A bunch of bigots. No need to pay attention there.
Then we have a “bigoted” columnist that somehow got a job in the New York Times (probably to show they are “balanced”). He poked the bear as well in THIS COLUMN. (And if you don’t think he poked, read the vicious comments he receives below the column.)
There are a couple of beasts that have been stirred and they are demanding the allegiance of our culture: Money and sex. Mess with those two in our culture in any way and just watch what happens.
But, Komen has bowed once again to the beast. All is well. Don’t speak loudly. Don’t make any sudden movements. And above all: bow down.
Abortion
I work hard to stay away from what may seem to be “political” statements on my blog. Facebook is different.
Yet, the whole blow up this week with Planned Parenthood and the Susan G. Komen Foundation has so crushed my spirit, I am going to take that risk.
I repent for not remembering Pro-Life Sunday (as well as MLK Sunday). I have let the politics of this fundamental issue dictate my silence… and I am wrong.
This issue is beyond abortion, in my opinion. It is not about “pro-life” or “pro-abortion.” It is about a bigger god that demands worship and when some small organization with a small amount of money came along to this beast and clipped its hangnail, the beast roared. The small organization then “got back in line” to not offend this raging god.
I can’t serve that god anymore through my silence. I just can’t. Hopefully I will be able to slide this post by without having a lot of angry posts, but if I do, I’m going to deal with it.
I pray to the Lord:
Lord God, I thank you today for the gift of my life,
And for the lives of all my brothers and sisters.
I know there is nothing that destroys more life than abortion,
Yet I rejoice that you have conquered death
by the Resurrection of Your Son.
I am ready to do my part in ending abortion.
Today I commit myself
Never to be silent,
Never to be passive,
Never to be forgetful of the unborn.
I commit myself to be active in the pro-life movement,
And never to stop defending life
Until all my brothers and sisters are protected,
And our nation once again becomes
A nation with liberty and justice
Not just for some, but for all,
Through Christ our Lord. Amen!
The Rage Against Religion While Thinking You Are Spiritual
David Brooks is one of my favorite columnists. He hits it out of the ballpark again on THIS COLUMN.
He took the viral video of the guy raging against religion and got into the why, and then the results of the video. Challenged with the exact words of the video, the young man actually realized he needed to learn to say some things differently.
Brooks goes on to demonstrate how it’s not a problem to have “angst” in our world. It’s just what to do after that angst is our problem.
For generations we’ve been told to think for ourselves, but all we know how to do is say what we don’t like.
For generations people have been told: Think for yourself; come up with your own independent worldview. Unless your name is Nietzsche, that’s probably a bad idea. Very few people have the genius or time to come up with a comprehensive and rigorous worldview.
Brooks’ remedy is rather interesting:
The paradox of reform movements is that, if you want to defy authority, you probably shouldn’t think entirely for yourself. You should attach yourself to a counter-tradition and school of thought that has been developed over the centuries and that seems true.
The old leftists had dialectical materialism and the Marxist view of history. Libertarians have Hayek and von Mises. Various spiritual movements have drawn from Transcendentalism, Stoicism, Gnosticism, Thomism, Augustine, Tolstoy, or the Catholic social teaching that inspired Dorothy Day.
Passion is great. Just give it some place to land. Rigorously examine what is out there. What have the ancients taught us? Where is a path we can find?
I am deeply thankful that even in my time of angst I found the ancient paths still leading to Christ. Over the years I have been so thankful to keep exploring those paths and found the richness of who he is, and realized that within “religion” there is a design that helps to truly follow Christ. It gets expressed in so many ways, and most of them awkward in one way or another. But following those paths has given me the beauty of Christ.
I don’t fly solo very well.
The Place of Glory
3 Who among you is left who saw
this house in its former glory?
How does it look to you now?
Doesn’t it appear as nothing to you?
9 This house will be more glorious
than its predecessor,
says the LORD of heavenly forces.
I will provide prosperity in this place, says the LORD of heavenly forces.(Haggai 2:3,9, CEB)
In this passage the story is of the Return. The people of God have come back from exile and the call has been to rebuild the Temple. As they try desperately to rebuild the Temple, the realization hits that what they are trying to build just doesn’t compare to the former Temple of Solomon. The older folks were crying over the bad attempt.
The word from the Lord was to understand the outer structure was not what was important. The glory to come would be greater. This would, of course, be looking forward to the coming of Messiah. Messiah would be in this Temple area, so he would usher in something far greater than anything Solomon had accomplished.
As I read this text I reflect on some conversations I’ve had in the past week regarding experiences with God. I’ve had those moments and struggles in my own life, and I am trying to walk through these times with some college-age students right now.
The struggle goes like this: We have a very powerful time with God and there is a time in our lives when we would spend hours in prayer or hours in the Word and for several months we were having amazing experiences with God. Then, life happened. We went off to college, got jobs, etc.
But instead of realizing our walk with God is dynamic, we keep reaching back for that exact same experience. We don’t allow for life changes.
“Why can’t I seem as close to God as when I was in ______.”
We keep looking for that same feeling.
What we need to understand is that a greater glory can actually come into our lives. The dynamics of God walking with us may change, but it may just get sweeter.
I am a Pentecostal and grew up Pentecostal. When I was in high school I could get up at 5 in the morning, watch Jimmy Swaggart, go over to the church to pray for an hour, and then head to school. I would walk and pray and shout my praises and shout my rebukes at the devil, etc.
In college I didn’t get the same amount of time so I felt like I was drifting. What I learned was that season change. The walk with God can get deeper. The glory can be greater.
As a Pentecostal it is now odd to write that the most powerful experiences with God I have ever had have been in silence. And it is true. (To this point.)
Several years ago I was part of a three day silent retreat led by a director who helped us walk through the struggles of quieting our souls before God. Then, about 18 hours into the roughly 36 hour experience, God came down. I experienced his presence in such reality I get goose bumps just writing it. I wept uncontrollably for hours as he poured his abundant love into my life.
Since that time I have had the privilege of going on several more silent retreats. I have found a wonderful retreat center about an hour from my home that is dedicated to silence.
At this point in my life, I can almost set an alarm for when God will show up. It is so overwhelming. The experience is so breathtaking and beautiful I simply can’t describe it. His glory is far greater right now than when I was 16 or 17.
Here’s the thing: even that may change in the next few years. But I can’t worry over my method. I simply look for him and find a new way to understand his glory.
Do not despair if how you walked with God is not the same as a few years ago. It need not be that way. Something new can happen. A greater glory can come.
I Think Jesus May Have Meant These Words
12 I assure you that whoever believes in me will do the works that I do. They will do even greater works than these because I am going to the Father. 13 I will do whatever you ask for in my name, so that the Father can be glorified in the Son. 14 When you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it. (John 14:12-14, CEB)
The question is this: Am I going to believe what Jesus said? Am I going to appropriate these bold words into my own life?
There is a place of radical dependence where God calls me. A place where I am dependent on his provision. Do I trust these words? Do I trust him?
Reason Number 563 Why Baseball is Better
Because you can have a body that looks like THIS:
And you can still play the game!
End of the Line
I have been part of the Common English Blog Tour for about two months now. They began the tour before Advent and I think today is the last day of cycle.
For over two months I have gone through the exercise of building devotional thoughts while reading the Common English Bible. I have also used the CEB a bit in the college classes I teach. From time to time I have used it in leading our adult Bible study on Wednesday night.
I have continued to have our public reading in our church use the NIV. I have used the NIV as my main text to prepare my sermons.
At the end of the day I truly enjoy both translations. There may be a day when “Human One” for “Son of Man” may finally settle in. Perhaps there may be a day when the translation team for the CEB may say, “You know what, it’s not worth this headache. Let’s switch it back.”
They probably won’t. Just like the NIV should do one or two editions with the Apocrypha, but they won’t.
I deeply appreciate the CEB team. When I have had questions on choice of wording on passages they have responded. Translation in a digital age is an interesting process. It could lead to much quicker translation turnaround (which the CEB has already shown to be true).
I think their marketing and their social networking is far superior to the NIV. I mean, I got a new CEB with apocrypha out of this deal! 
The CEB is probably the best translation for new believers, or those just not used to older language, like the KJV. In my adult Bible study, when I use the CEB, people will stop and listen. They will say, “Read that again! That was interesting!”
It does help freshen up our Bible reading.
While it is clearly more to the “dynamic equivalent” side, I like it far more than the New Living Translation. It is evident that translators didn’t just want modern idioms. They still wanted to communicate truth in a very clear way.
Moving forward I will probably stay with my NIV and the CEB. (I actually pulled out my TNIV with the Renaissance Leather cover again so I can have a Bible where I can jot notes from time to time.) But the CEB, in my opinion, should be considered by all believers as a viable translation for use in reading and study.
Reason Number 632 Why Baseball is Better Than Football (or anything else)
“Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal.” (George Will)
Spring training beckons!
What TRULY Matters
I had a guy in my church one time who had a favorite saying: “It’s all gonna burn.”
It was his way of saying, “The stuff of this life just isn’t that important.”
He wanted to keep the things of the Kingdom in focus.
Peter reminds us that this temporal side of life isn’t going to last. So, in light of that, how should we live? He returns to his main theme: holy and godly lives.
Our lives count. We need our hearts and minds fixed fully on the One who is the Author of our salvation. He will complete that work. And in that day, may we be ready.
9 The Lord isn’t slow to keep his promise, as some think of slowness, but he is patient toward you, not wanting anyone to perish but all to change their hearts and lives. 10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that day the heavens will pass away with a dreadful noise, the elements will be consumed by fire, and the earth and all the works done on it will be exposed.
11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be? You must live holy and godly lives, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming day of God. Because of that day, the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt away in the flames. 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. (2 Peter 3:9-13, CEB)
CEB
