Holidays

The Holiday season is upon us.
And hopefully, that will mean that I can return to regularly posting.
I have a series of doctrinal posts, on topics ranging from "missional" to the roles of women in church, is in the works.

CCEF Conference 2008

I am currently skipping work and classes to go to the Annual Christian Counseling and Education Foundation Conference in Valley Forge, PA.
The one pre-conference session I am attending is by David Powlison on being a "Wise Counselor".
So far, he's been awesome. (And I don't say that lightly)
Tonight I get to have dinner with some of the church family from my home church, and spend some quality time with my dad...
For an actual live blog of the conference, check out Tara Barthel's liveblog.

A War Song

From an actor portraying a chaplain in Korea, commenting on Vietnam...
I think this war song rightly critiques a lot about our current climate...



The Lyrics are as follows...
There's no one singing war songs now like people used to do,
No "Over There,"
no "Praise the Lord,"
no "Glory Hallelu."
Perhaps at last we've asked ourselves what we should have asked before,
With the pain and death this madness brings,
what were we ever singing for?

Amen

A New President, A New Direction..?

November 4th, 2008 was an historic day in the story of American Politics.
The first non-white politician was elected as President of our Nation.
Contrary to the oppinions of some, I think the Obama Presidency will be good for America.
While I did not vote for him personally, because of a moral disagreement I have with some of his policies, I look forward to some of the changes he will make.
It is time to stand behind the new President and work with him in resolving some of this country's problems.

A Response

http://www.callandresponse.com/



Its time to take some action.
Its not enough to simply say, "wow thats horrible".
Not if you're still gonna buy Nike shoes and Victoria's Secret Lingerie.
Action is required. If you watched the trailer or read the statistics, you have become morally responsible. Period.
Time to deal with it.

"Never forget, Justice is what Love looks Like in Public".

On Cessationism

Thanks to Rick I, for pointing me to this; by Dan Edelen.
I think his points are well taken, I tend to agree with his approach to the Charismata, and look forward to more thoughts on the subject...

The Politics of Jesus, Really?

Warning:
Some people will be offended by this post.
This not an apology, simply a warning.

After months of prayer and study in the area of politics, I have come to some very painful conclusions about American Society in general, and the nation's politics in particular.
All these thoughts came to a head when I was driving back from an event with a friend of mine. My friend is everything I am not. He is a dispensationalist, he is in the Army, he is an athlete.
As we were talking about life and faith, the subject of politics came up. As he was talking about the war in Iraq, and discussing the experiences of some of his friends serving over there, I was literally sick to my stomach. As I gently suggested that killing people might not be loving your neighbor as yourself, he jumped to the old Testament to defend himself.
As we were talking, I was struck by several things about the general response of Christians to politics.
While many people have prophetically demonstrated that Christianity and Christ himself should not be inherently associated with a certain political party, I wonder if American Christianity has substituted one political ideology for another. I think that politically Christians have separated themselves in four distinct categories.
First, there are a great many Christians who have become fed up with this world, and who have decided that they will not get involved politically. These people tend to think of themsleves as "Libertarians" and favor being left alone. This is not to say that they are actually Libertarian in their political ideology, but that they simply do not want to be bothered. These people tend to live in (or come from) small towns and rural settings, and historically tend to be extremely conservative theologically.
Second, there are many Christians who see the great evils of our modern world, and think that they can be changed by a simple "moralizing of America." These people tend to vote along Party lines (almost always Republican or Libertarian) and major on issues like Abortion and Gay Marriage. These people tend to come from smaller towns and cities, and are historically conservative in their theology.
Third, there are a growing number of Christians who see the great evils of our modern world, and think that they can be changed with Government programs and more social activism. These people tend to be younger, they tend to be from cities and larger urban areas, and they are historically moderate to liberal in their theology.
Before I present the fourth view, i want to comment on each of three previous views. Each one of them has strengths and weaknesses and each one can teach the others something about the truth. Where the ultra conservative, "leave it alone", gets it right is in the area of responsibilty. They realize that our ultimate hope as Christians is not in this government, but is instead found in the cross and resurrection of our Savior. The weakness of that view is that it abdicates responsibility for social concerns, and simply views the world as an "evil place not worth saving".
The Second view correctly sees the importance of defending truths like the Sanctity of Human Life, and the God given order of Marriage. What this view fails to do is remember that government in not the responsible party for the moralizing of our nation, and that God cares about other social issues, not just babies and gays.
Like the Second view, the Third view correctly sees the importance of defending truths like the importance of people, fighting against poverty and disease, and correctly sees a need to address social concerns with the Gospel. What the "liberal" view fails to account for is the importance of all human life, including those yet to be born into this world. They neglect certain issues, in favor of others. This view also puts too much faith in the government, and in many ways, downplays the role of the church in local community ministry.
Honestly, what are American Christians to do? With these three different perspectives, how can a Christian rightly view the government? What should define the Christian witness in the political arena? I would humbly suggest an alternative to the three common views.
I believe that as Christians, we should be responsible citizens, who seek the good of our nation.
I believe that we should actively campaign for social issues, but that our campaigning should not simply rely on the government, but that individual churches should work beyond government programs to work for the good of the society. As Christians, we are called to be counter-cultural. We are called to speak out against the rampant corruption of big business just as much as we are called to speak out against the murder of millions of unborn children. We are called to speak out for peace, just as much as we are called to speak out for a biblical few of men and women. This political ideology extends beyond Democrat or Republican, beyond Libertarian or interventionist economics. This ideology extends to the whole of the created order. We are called to be children of light. Not simply standing by while the government does what it wills, nor waiting for salvation from the government, but prophetically speaking into society as children of God.