The foresight of Dostoyevsky

RJ Moeller recently identified 6 things identified by the 19th century Russian novelist that came true in the 20th century. Here is Part 1 and here is Part 2.

1. Generational Sins: The War on the Family
2. Militant Atheism: The War on God
3. Genocide: The War on Man
4. Economics of Envy: The War on Private Property
5. Idolizing the Intellectual: The War on Higher Education
6. Social Engineering: The War on Individual Liberty

Dostoevsky was aware of the wide-reaching effects of human sin. You can see that here.

They'll know you're a Christian by your...tip?

Don't Leave These!!!!

There was a recent hub-bub about a pastor who left a note for the waitress that said "I give 10% to God, why do you get 18%?"  This apparently exploded on the internet and brought to light what is well known in restaurants.  Christians are terrible tippers and terrible customers.  To all of my Christian friends, "knock it off!" 

This article from Christianity Today says, "One says that in the steak house where she waitressed during college, Sunday lunch was the shift to avoid. Servers with seniority made the new people work it because 'church people don't tip, don't control their children, and are really mean when you mess up their food,' she says. On half a dozen occasions, a Sunday after-church group left her a tract instead of a tip. (Once, it was that tract that looks like money.) A few times, Christian customers told her that she should not be working on Sunday because it was the Lord's Day—while she was waiting on them."

These are just plain bad behaviors from Christians.  As Christians we must realize that the culture is watching what we do and say.  They know who we are.  If you are someone who eats out, please read the whole article. 

I have heard Greg Koukl from Stand To Reason talk about this often.  Here was his advice. 

1) Tip boldly--15% for bad service; 20% for good.  If you don't know how to do that, ask the waitress, I am sure she can help you. 
2) Learn the waitresses name, and use it. 
3) Say thank you.  Not just for the food, but when you leave at the end of the meal, make sure to say "thank you" to your wait staff. 

Wreck It Ralph is Right On

Last weekend, I took the kids to see Wreck-It Ralph. I left the movie deeply moved and told several friends that it may very well be one of the best animated movies I have seen in a long time (Despicable Me belongs on that list as well).  I toyed with the idea of writing a review, but thankfully Mockingbird reviewed the movie, pointing out the folly of self-justification and the need for other directed love.  If you haven't seen the movie, there are some spoilers in the Mockingbird review, but if you read it, know that I think they are right on.  Also, if you haven't seen the movie, please do so. 

Batman cannot save you

Over at the Mockingbird blog, Bryan shares his reflections on The Dark Knight Rises, the subsequent violence, and what it means. Though the whole thing is worth reading, the final paragraph is powerful and hopeful.

So where do you turn when there’s no Batman to save you? Where do you go when diagnosis is accurate but the prescription is nowhere to be found? Who will save us when our proverbial city erupts in flames because of our own doing?   I think if I’m honest with myself, and I trust that “what the heart loves, the will chooses, and the mind justifies,” my heart flees to Jesus because he is my only hope.  He is my deliverer who, though I am part of the system of violence in our world,  does not count my complicity in the systems of the world against me.  It’s trite to suggest that “Jesus is my Batman,” because Batman never died for my sins, nor is he an agent of grace and forgiveness.  Instead, I will simply suggest that, unlike many philosophers with book deals, suffering and violence in my world actually drives me to the crucified savior, not from him.  Deliverance will come when Jesus, like the walls of Jericho, makes our fourth walls “come a tumblin’ down” with grace, love, and deliverance.  May he return soon and do so, that such violence as we have seen this week might never weigh down our souls again.

Read the rest here.  

Occupy folks oppose those opposed to child sex trafficking

Gene Veith shares a link about occupy protestors protesting a conference focused on stopping the childhood sex trade.  This should not surprise us in a culture steeped in moral relativism.  He begins, "There was a conference on stopping child sex trafficking.  So the Oakland branch of the Occupy Wall Street protested on the grounds that such efforts are 'racist' acts of oppression against 'sex workers.'"

Read the rest here. 

A Celebrity Christmas

Celebrity surrounds us.  We are bombarded by fame from every corner.  There was a time, perhaps 100 years ago, when fame was reserved for a select few.  Presidents and a few actors earned notoriety, but even their fame was probably limited by a lack of media exposure.  The advent of radio, and particularly television, created the opportunity for greater saturation of fame.  Presidents and actors are now more recognizable because they occupy such a prominent place in our everyday lives.  Although President Taft probably could have walked the streets of rural America without recognition (presuming his enormity did not betray him), President Obama's options for normalcy in this country are limited.  Today, not only are actors and politicians famous, it seems everyone is entitled to a share of the spotlight.  There are innumerable celebrity athletes, musicians, scientists, authors, pastors, and atheists.

The holiday season is no different.  From Thanksgiving to New Year's Day, we see sharply dressed celebrities surrounded by shiny decorations headlining the many network programs.  Christmas even has its own celebrity--jolly St Nick, the man in red, Santa Claus--who seems seems omnipresent for a few weeks. 

However, Biblical descriptions of God reveal that He alone is worthy of celebration.  He spoke to Job out of a whirlwind (Job 38).  When Isaiah (Isaiah 6) saw God, he said that the "foundations of the threshold" shook when He spoke and the "train of his robe filled the temple" and "the house was filled with smoke."  Psalm 97 paints a majestic picture of God Almighty. 

The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice;
let the many coastlands be glad!
Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
Fire goes before him
and burns up his adversaries all around.
His lightnings light up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
before the Lord of all the earth.

The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all the peoples see his glory.
All worshipers of images are put to shame,
who make their boast in worthless idols;
worship him, all you gods!

Zion hears and is glad,
and the daughters of Judah rejoice,
because of your judgments, O LORD.
For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth;
you are exalted far above all gods.

O you who love the LORD, hate evil!
He preserves the lives of his saints;
he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
Light is sown for the righteous,
and joy for the upright in heart.
Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous,
and give thanks to his holy name!


A great irony of Christmas, however is that its true celebrity, Jesus the Christ, came as a man of no reputation. The omnipotent, sovereign creator and sustainer of the universe came to earth as a helpless, defenseless baby. He was born of a woman who painfully labored to bring him forth.  His tiny form was swaddled in strips of cloth to keep him warm.  He was laid in a feeding trough because no one was willing to give up their lodging.  Isaiah 53:2 prophesied that he "had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him."  He was the creator unknown by His creatures.  He was "the Word became flesh" (John 1:14) who came to "take away the sins of the world" (John 1:29). 

This baby of no apparent consequence changed the world.  John 1:10 says "He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him."  We celebrate Christmas because of that baby, though many do not know him.  More books and songs have been written about him than anyone else in history yet many people do not know why.  In that manger, he was the only light for a dark world.  Today, as he reigns in glory, he remains the only light. 

Thoughts on Barna's Megathemes

One of the pastors from my church recently sent out a link to six megathemes in the church compiled by Barna.  I had a number of thoughts. 

I think we need to be careful to recognize the link between each of these six themes. Our tendency, particularly in the highly "scientific" culture in which we live, is to make observations and break things down into subsequent parts. However, we need to remember that these things are part of the same root problem.

Francis Schaeffer famously said that we need to be careful to present Christianity first as true, and only then as helpful. Unfortunately, many churches today have this entirely backward. A common theme today is that of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (a concept developed by sociologist Christian Smith), the bane of Christianity today, particularly among Christian youth. Briefly, Christianity is seen primarily as 1) a set of rules 2) that are helpful, and that 3) there is a God who is largely uninvolved in our lives. In the mindset of moralistic therapeutic deism, too many churches today are preaching a set of rules to live by while leaving the Good News out. If all churches do is tell people how to not be depressed or how to have their best life now, but don't talk about Jesus's crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension as true, most people are going to stay home and watch Oprah or Dr Phil instead.

I believe that some churches do well with 1 or some of these themes, but few (if any) address them all. For example, there are some churches who place a premium on social justice and outreach without being theologically grounded. Others preach Biblically based, theologically rich sermons but do not connect those sermons to every day life.

So how do we as a church work toward combating these themes.
1) I don't think we shy away from theology or theologically complex concepts among typical church attenders, even our kids. There has been research that has demonstrated that young people leave the church in droves after high school, but that those kids who are taught the Bible and taught theologically complex issues tend to stick around. Not only that, the kids tend to enjoy coming to youth group when they are discussing issues such as apologetics, Christian ethics, or the truth of creationism (and encouraged to ask tough questions) rather than playing games and eating pizza. In fact, some kids have commented that if they want to eat pizza and play games, they might as well stay home. (I can't recall the author of this research, I apologize). People are often smarter than we give them credit for. I have had discussions with some people about "the point of systematic theology." The themes revealed in this Barna article are the point. The point is to provide an organizational structure for understanding God's word and to help people to think deeply about the truths of God's word.

People are bombarded with so many different things today that they do not know what to believe. Church is just something we do on Sunday, and has little bearing on life. Increasingly, Christians are falling into the camp that says "there are many roads that lead to God."  We have to combat this pluralistic nonsense with fervor. Much of this comes back to Schaeffer's idea that even many Christians don't (necessarily) see Christianity as the only source of eternal truth. There are dozens of good apologetics arguments supporting the existence of God, the reality of the resurrection, a created universe, etc., but most people don't know them because the a) are not being taught about these things and b) they don't even know where to begin to look. Kids go off to college thinking they know what to believe, but in Philosophy 101 (or even worse Religious studies 101), a professor asks "how could a good God allow so much suffering" and then mocks them when they don't have an answer. Six months later they have abandoned their faith and are following the culture. We need to inocculate, not protect, our children by teaching them not only Christian truth, but what others believe as well ALONG WITH the arguments against common culture. Too often, we want to avoid, but once our kids leave, they don't know how to stand in the face of serious critique.

2) Because Christians are less theologically, or shall we say Biblcally, literate, their comfort in standing for truth is significantly diminished. Themes 2, 5 and 6 are so clearly linked. Society says "be tolerant" and so we are. We allow others to define truth rather than standing on the truth of God's word. We "reinterpret" God's word or minimize it at points to fit better with culture. While we are expected to assimilate to culture, atheists are becoming "evangelical" in their zeal for spreading their version of truth. Meanwhile, we tolerant Christians sit back and allow falsehoods to march forward because a) we don't know what to say and b) we feel that it is not loving to challenge others. We tell ourselves that Christians are to be first and foremost loving, but then we sell ourselves the lie that being loving equals being tolerant rather than truthful. We will continue to face expanding religious pluralism and demands for tolerance, and we need to zealously stand for truth. We need to actively be talking with people about God, Jesus Christ, and the only hope for our salvation and to do so thoughtfully (see #1) and lovingly even though we will assuredly be called intolerant.

3) I am intrigued by the tendency of point #3, but I think part of the root is that churches today are much more likely to talk with people about managing finances than teaching them how to have a quiet time. We are much more likely to talk with people about avoiding porn than we are to teaching people how to pray diligently. Again, I think so much of this comes from our over-psychologized culture where everything is about helping me to feel better about myself rather than helping me to realize I am a sinner who is separated from God and my only hope is through the cross of Christ and the grace of God. We need to remember that our goal as Christians is not to offer a better psychology than Dr Phil, we are to "preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry" (2 Timothy 4:2-5). Church attenders "ARE accumulating for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and ARE turning way from listening to the truth and ARE wandering off into myths". We need to remember that our message is not just better than Dr Phil, it is the only truth that matters.

4) I find it interesting that interest in community action is escalating. My observation is that Christian service is escalating without the gospel. Many Christians are helping out socially without ever talking about Christ, which is as unfortunate as talking about Christ without helping. If you look historically at the early Christian church in Rome, the Christians were caring for the sick but they stood boldly on the truth of Christ, which was grounded in the belief that Christ was first and foremost "true" rather than helpful, again to go back to Schaeffer.

Satan will do whatever he can to wreck the church, but we serve a great big God who has already written the end of the story. We need to actively work to combat these issues. We need to teach people about the truth of the cross, about our hopelessness without Christ, about salvation, about grace, about God's justice, about the whole story of redemption and about so many other big Biblical themes--EVEN AFTER we presume they are saved. I was not only saved by grace, I am sustained by it. People need skills to combat the monster that is relativism so that they can be winsome, attractive ambassadors for the Kingdom of God.

I would strongly recommend these resources:

1) Ashamed of the Gospel: When the Church Becomes Like the World by John MacArthur

2) Tactics by Greg Koukl

The erosion of higher education

Al Mohler, who so often has great insights into the erosion of society, writes about two disturbing trends at George Washington University co-ed housing and on demand birth control.  Although I am fully aware that these things are occurring across the nation, it makes me sad.  Mohler's statement at the end "Well, if this young woman’s words prove anything, it that she is definitely not an adult. College students are dependents, They may be 18, but they are not living as full adults, supporting themselves and living responsibly. It’s a sad picture of America’s college students, and a reflection of the moral confusion at the heart of the larger culture" is right on. 

Read the whole thing here. 

Move that Bus!

This post has been getting a lot of play around the blogosphere today.  Mike Cosper argues that the 3 most disturbing words on television today are, "move that bus!" made popular by Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. 

He writes:

Which brings me to the three most disturbing words on television: “Move that bus.”

Again, there’s no arguing with the warmth and altruistic sentiments of the show. The families who have been profiled always seem to be wonderful people, I don’t impugn them or the show’s creators with secret evil intentions. But a disturbing thing happens in the final moments of the show. After profiling the family’s suffering, after talking about hardship and perseverance, after recruiting an army of volunteers, the family is brought in front of the new home, which is hidden from view by a large touring bus. They count down and call out those three words, and the reaction can only be described as worship. There are tears and shouting while people fall to their knees, hands raised in the air.

Here it is on bold display: the ultimate hope of most Americans. It’s as though a phantom voice is responding to their suffering with the words, Well done, good and faithful servant. Here is your reward: dreamy bedrooms, big-screen TVs, privacy fencing, and wireless internet. We watch. We weep. And we hope for ourselves. It’s yet another gospel alternative, this one packaged as a heart-warming vision of the way life is “supposed to be.”

What say you reader?   

Turn on your light this halloween

Michael Patton writes a great post on how we, as Christians, can respond on halloween. 

A choice quote:

• I can’t believe I am going to say this but, WWJD? Really, what would Jesus do? Can you see it? Jesus with his lights turned off on Halloween? That would be the Jesus history never knew. That would be the Jesus of western fundamentalism. The one who is not a friend of sinners and tax gatherers. The Jesus that was never accused of being a drunkard. The Jesus who looked from a distance at the wedding of Cana waiting for the sinners to wipe the dust off their feet before he talked to them. The Jesus who saw a child dressed up as a Ghost and said, “I can’t take this anymore. It is not worth it. Give me that stone so that I can turn it into bread.”

 This is an issue I have long struggled with.  Take time to read the whole thing if for no other reason, to engage your mind.  I would also encourage you to read the comments as the comment threads on Parchment and Pen are often lively and challenging.

Anemic Faith

My friend Pam sent me a link to a Yahoo News story about a recent Pew study.  The Pew forum sampled over 3000 people about their religious beliefs and some of the conclusions were shocking (or perhaps not).  Self-proclaimed evangelicals reportedly know less about religion than atheists and agnostics.  What was even more surprising was the lack of knowledge that Evangelicals know about their own professed faith.  Lest we evangelicals read the article and think, "well at least we scored better than Catholics," we should rather ask the question about whether we are truly loving God with all of our mind.

Perhaps nominal Christians are afraid that a serious intellectual look into their faith will leave them wanting.  I assure you, it will not.  Perhaps nominal Christians are more focused on their big screen TVs than they are on the sovereign Creator of the universe.  I assure you, He is far more worthy of our attention. 

Individual Christians need to take initiative to learn the Bible and to study it deeply.  Proverbs 4:7 reads, "The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight."  How can we share the gospel with others if we do not even know what we are talking about?  Romans 10:14 says, "How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?"  How are we to preach if we don't even know Whom we preach about?!? 

Brothers and sisters, take the initiative and step out of the bumper sticker theology that is a plague in the American church today.  Flee from an anemic faith derived from T-shirts, coffee mugs, and Doctor Phil.  Study the word.  Read early church fathers.  Explore apologetics.  Sit under Biblical teaching and take notes.  

Do not be afraid that your faith will fall short--we have the answers to life.  Go learn them.  

If you want to learn more, here are some places where you can start:

Stand to Reason

Reasonable Faith

White Horse Inn

HT: Thabati Anyabwile for the pic