Conversations with the Culture: Schindler’s List

Oskar, there’s a clerical error here at the bottom of the last page

No, It’s correct. It’s just that I’ve started counting people instead of money.

    Digging Deeper

Schindler’s List is a movie based on the true story of Oskar Schindler, a vain, greedy German businessman who tried to make his fortune during the Second World War by exploiting cheap Jewish labor.  In the process, however, he became a humanitarian amidst the barbaric Nazi reign as his conscience convicted him of the need to turn his factory into a refuge for the Jews. Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) managed to save 1,100 Jews from being gassed at the Auschwitz concentration camp.  By the end of the war, Schindler, though penniless, amassed an untold wealth through the lives he saved.  To see a video clip from the movie, click on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DyOc1q-qgQ  

When you watch the movie, you are left with the stark realization of how evil man can be.  The movie is all shot in black and white, with one exception.  A young girl, perhaps six years old, is seen running through the Jewish ghettos in a red coat.  We see Oskar Schindler observing her from a roof top.  Then, later, as soot comes down from the sky, Schindler visits the place where the Jews are being burned – and sees the girl being taken in a wheel barrel to be burned with over 10,000 exhumed Jews.  

 From one perspective, we can look at something like the Holocaust and ask; “How could a good God allow this to happen?”  The implication of the question is that NO god, good or otherwise, exists.  But on the other hand, if no god exists, then why does Schindler risk his life and all that he has to save 1,100 Jews?  How does a “moral law” – a conscience – convict him of the need to take action unless there is a god who has planted this concept inside him?

In his book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis writes this about what he calls “The Moral Law“: 

Another way of seeing the Moral Law is not simply one of our instincts is this. If two instincts are in conflict, and there is nothing in a creature’s mind except those two instincts, obviously the stronger of the two must win. But at those moments when we are most conscious of the Moral Law, it usually seems to be telling us to side with the weaker of the two impulses. You probably want to be safe much more than you want to help the man who is drowning; but the Moral Law tells you to help him all the same.    

Schindler is not the only person who senses the power of this moral law. At the end of the movie, when it has been announced that Germany has surrendered, with all the Jews in his factory and the Nazi soldiers present, he turns to the soldiers and says:

I know you have received orders from our commandant, which he has received from his superiors, to dispose of the population of this camp. Now would be the time to do it. Here they are; they’re all here. This is your opportunity. Or, you could leave, and return to your families as men instead of murderers.       

Upon hearing this, the soldiers are seen to slowly leave the building, not one of them willing to fire a shot. You see, others had also heard the call of this inward tug of the moral law, but Schindler was one of the few who responded. Schindler’s whole mindset has been transformed. In Romans 12:2-3, the Apostle Paul writes.   

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

 

In the quiet of your heart, has God been trying to get your attention, pricking your conscience about doing the right thing?   

Find out how to order The Brotherhood of the Scroll

 

 

 

 

 

Conversations with the Culture: Evan Almighty

When I Said I wanted to Change the World, I Didn’t Think I’d be Calling God at 1 – 800 – Go – 4 – Wood

I also didn’t plan on a change in my appearance. Do I have any birds living in my beard?

    Digging Deeper

In the movie, Evan Almighty, Evan Baxter (Steve Carell) runs for Congress on the slogan “Let’s Change the World”.  After winning his election, he moves his family into a large new house and becomes the darling of the Washington insiders.  Put on the “fast track” for political advancement, Evan has soon changed his tune from “Let’s Change the World” to “Let’s Change My Life by becoming rich, famous and powerful.”  Mysteriously, Evan starts to see “Gen. 6:14” popping up everywhere.  Then, one day, God (Morgan Freeman)  shows up.  If you’ve not seen the movie, see the movie trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYGF8cf6QP8  

In Genesis, during the time of Noah, mankind had become exceedingly wicked.  No one honored God.  Everyone was out for themselves.  Today, we joke about “pulling the plug on Grandma.”  In Noah’s day, they would have sold Grandma – and anyone else – to a traveling salesman in a heartbeat.  But God had a plan for how Noah could help change the world, and so He gave Noah a message.  We read that message in Genesis, 6:14-15:

Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.      

300 Cubits.  That’s about 450 feet, or one and a half football fields, meaning that Noah’s Ark could have been as big as some of today’s oil tankers.  (For more information on ancient boats of this size, click here).   Can you imagine dropping EVERYTHING ELSE in your life to respond to such a command from God?  As with Evan Baxter in the movie, we’d say “That’s ridiculous.  That’s too big.  God, you’ve got to be kidding!”

I think one of the points about the Bible’s account of Noah and the Ark isn’t that God’s call on our lives is too big:  It’s that we have the mistaken idea that God’s work in this world – and our role in that work – is too small.  A pastor friend of mine recently gave a sermon on this topic.  In that sermon, Pastor Steve Matthies said:

When we make the gospel primarily about our salvation rather than primarily about the reign of God, we typically reduce it to being only about individuals rather than also about God’s entire creation.    

In the movie Evan Almighty, Evan Baxter starts out wanting to change the world. He quickly losses perspective, however, as the trappings of power, appearance and money become the most important things in his life. He becomes the type of person Jesus describes in His parable of the sower in Luke 8:7, 14 where we read:

Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.

This is our problem today.  We are so preoccupied with money, success, popularity, and our own interests that we put God’s Kingdom Building Plans in a container that says “Too big to handle.” We say to ourselves, “Doing God’s work will mess up my plans to change my world.” God gets Evan to change his clothes, grow a beard and stop worrying about how he looks – and instead worry about the kind of person he is. This is what Paul meant in Romans 12:2: 

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

God has written a book He wants us to read on the subject of “World Changing for Dummies.”  It’s called The Bible.  Is your copy, like Evan Baxter’s, stowed away in some moving box?  If so, maybe it’s time to pull it out and see what God’s trying to say to you.

Questions for Discussion

1. Evan Baxter wants to Change the World.  In the movie, his view of what “Changing the World” means undergoes its own form of change.  What are your thoughts on how God changes you in order to change the world?   

2. In the movie, God asks Evan about learning patience.  Do you see yourself and your circumstances reflected in Evan Almighty?

3. In the movie, Evan knows he needs to spend more time with his family, but he gets so caught up in his work that he pushes his family out into the margins of his life.  Now, change the focus from Evan Baxter to YOU.  How does this “movie” look to you and your family?

4. How does this movie help you see God’s “Big Picture of Creation”?  How does what we do fit into that Big Picture?

August 2009 Conversations: Robots, See A Need, Fill a Need

See A Need, Fill A Need

If God Were to Visit Us, I bet He’d Come as a Repair Man

    Digging Deeper

Robots is the story of a young robot, Rodney Copperbottom (Ewan McGregor) who wants to grow up to invent things.  Rodney dreams of meeting his idol, the master inventor Bigweld (Mel Brooks).  He leaves his parents to go to Robot City where he encounters a sinister truth:  That evil has taken over Bigweld Industries, and that robots everywhere need someone who can repair them.  Rodney meets Cappy (Halle Berry), a beautiful executive `bot with whom he falls in love, and together they set out to rescue Bigweld and make life better for robots everywhere.

I dated my first girlfriend on and off through High School. Ours was an odd relationship. We’d go out to a movie and pizza, and then she wouldn’t speak to me. Time would pass and she’d call me up. We’d do things like walk to school together, get a coke, and just generally hang out. And then, all of a sudden, she wouldn’t speak to me anymore. Once she invited me to come ride her horse at the county fair, and wouldn’t take my phone calls.  After high school, I didn’t see her again.

Then, one day, I saw a TV report about a woman who had walked into a church and, when the service was concluded, pulled out a gun and shot the minister. It was the girl I had known in high school. What could have possibly happened to cause such a thing?  Speculations ranged from the minister breaking an engagement of marriage after being intimate with her to a chemical imbalance causing her to go berserk. Whatever the reason, a man died, lives were devastated, and my former girlfriend now serves a life sentence for murder.

  We are broken people. We need to be fixed. Even the best of us have something wrong inside. We pass laws that tell us how we should behave toward our fellow man. We read self-improvement books on how to improve our “inner self.” But, as a society, we are ignoring one other key aspect of morality: Our relationship with the Power that made us.  In Luke 19:10, Jesus said:

The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. 

Seek and save that which was lost?  Hmm.  Why are we lost?  Maybe it’s because our inner compasses – what we call our conscious – are broken.  We need to be fixed.

We can’t fix it ourselves. We need someone outside of us to do it for us. We do stupid things and justify our actions with the cliché, “I’m not hurting anyone else.” Well, if you fiddle with a car’s steering apparatus, it’s only a matter of time before what you’re doing to your own car causes you to crash into other cars.

In Hebrew, there is a phrase called Tikkun Olam.  Do you know what it means?  It means “Repair the World.”  That is what the Son of God came to do: To repair the world – to repair you and me.

There is no way we can pass enough laws to make ourselves behave the way we should. We need the Master Repair Man to fix us on the inside so that we’ll be OK on the outside. Too often, we see the Bible as a set of rules that take all the “fun” out of life. Maybe instead we should view it as an owner’s manual to keep ourselves in good working order.

    Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.     

Matthew 11:28-30

Tikkun Olam    

Conversations with the Culture: National Treasure

56 Men Pledged Their Lives, Their Fortunes and Their Sacred Honor to Create A Nation That Honors God, Providing Liberty and Justice for All

They Had The Ability to Take Action in a Time of Peril, and Recognized God Had Laid Upon Them the Responsibility to Take That Action

Digging Deeper

Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage) has spent his life searching for a treasure based on a story handed down from his great, great grandfather. For six generations, the Gates family has chased after clues left behind from the days of the American Revolution about the treasure of the legendary Knights Templar. And now, he’s found the key to where the treasure is hidden – on the back of the Declaration of Independence.  

There is a line in the Declaration of Independence which states: “But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty to throw off such government and provide new guards for their future security.     

In the movie, National Treasure, Ben Gates (Nicholas Cage) reads that phrase and then turns to his sidekick, Riley (Justin Bartha) and explains its meaning by saying: “If there’s something wrong, those who have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action.” To watch this scene, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcZK2CF3mZ8 

The interpretation of this line from the Declaration of Independence echoes Christ’s words in Luke 12:48, where He says:

From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.    

People are looking for leadership. True leadership that has the interests of the people at heart. People can tell when their leaders aren’t acting in their best interests. In Daniel Chapter 5, we read that as an old man, Daniel was brought before Nebuchadnezzar’s son, Belshazzar. In speaking to the rash young king, Daniel retells the story of how Nebuchadnezzer recognized that (Daniel 5:21-22):

The Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind and that He sets over it whomever He wishes. Yet you, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this, but you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven.        

As Gates points out in the movie, National Treasure, true leaders have a responsibility to act when something’s wrong.  In Philippians 1:27 and 2:4, Paul lays out these two thoughts as to how we as citizens of both Heaven and earth should conduct ourselves. 

Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ … do not merely look out for your own interests, but also for the interests of others.

An interesting thing about the word “conduct” is that it’s translated from the Greek word “politeuesthe”. It’s from that Greek word we get the English word, “politics”. In the context as Paul uses it, it means “to live as a good citizen;

In your comings and goings where you exercise authority and leadership, what kind of person are you? Are you like Belshazzar, using “politics” to exalt yourself and take credit for the blessings in life God has bestowed upon you? Are you treating those around you as though their only purpose in life is to serve you?

Or, are you like the founders of this Republic? Men who willing gave their lives and their fortunes so that their fellow countrymen, and we their posterity, could know the blessings of liberty and freedom of religion?  They conducted themselves “politically”, following as God led them to do the right thing, in order to stand against “politics as usual”.  They risked everything to provide the leadership needed by the people they served, and in so doing, preserved the National Treasure of their liberty and freedoms as endowed by their Creator. 

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. (Phil. 2:5-7).

 

Conversations with the Culture: Battlestar Galactica

The Cylons worship one god, while we worship many

Is there something those demons know that we don’t?

Digging Deeper

In the Sci-Fi channel remake of the old TV series, Battlestar Galactica, the human race has been nearly wiped out by a robot civilization called the Cylons.  Not only are the Cylons more technologically advanced than the humans, they have created certain robots that look exactly like humans.  This gives them the powerful advantage of infiltrating the few remaining human space ships fleeing in search of their only hope – the planet earth.

In an interesting twist with religious overtones, the “good guy” humans worship many gods, while the evil “demon” Cylons worship only one god.  The humans worship “the gods of Cobol,” and even have small idols they keep in their lockers.  The Cylons worship only one god, and claim their god has a plan for everyone – even the humans.

In Jesus’ time, people worshiped many gods.  In Luke 8:22-39, Jesus got in a boat with His disciples and crossed the Sea of Galilee.  While he slept, a storm came out of nowhere – and the disciples were afraid.  But they weren’t just afraid of the storm – they were afraid because they were sailing to the eastern shore, where the Pagans lived – and the demons ruled.  Jesus calmed the sea, and when they arrived on shore, they were met by a demon-possessed man.  Speaking through him the demons demonstrated they know who Jesus was and said to Him (Luke 8:28): 

What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of God?

Jesus casts the demons out of the man, and then says to him (Luke 8:39):

Return to your house, and describe what great things God has done for you.

Jesus was not afraid to confront the presence of evil in His day.  His purpose was to save the lost.  He didn’t worry about offending someone by saying “I am the truth the way and the light:  No one comes to the father but by Me.” For Jesus, truth was – and is – truth.

Are you running around, placing your faith in many “gods?”  Even the demons know that Jesus is the Son of the Most High.  Let the Son of the One True God into your heart, and let Him drive the demons from your life.  

____________________________________________________

May Newsletter: One Nation Under God

Simon Barsinister Says: When I take over the World, There’ll Be no Display of Christian Symbols!

After All, I’m Not Bigoted and Intolerant of Other Religions!

Digging Deeper

After an accident in the lab of a mad scientist, Dr. Simon Barsinister (Peter Dinklage), a pet beagle is turned into the superhero of Cartoon fame, Underdog (voiced by Jason Lee).  Vowing to protect the citizens of Capitol City, Underdog must face down Dr. Barsinister, his henchman Cad (Patrick Warburton), and two ferocious German Shepherds whom Dr. Barsinister commands by saying “Simon Says”.  To see a movie trailer, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGvjGp7o8fQ  

In the Old Testament, we read of two kings.  One was a man by the name of Hezekiah, who ruled Judah from 716 to 687 B.C., is recorded in the Bible as one who “Did what was right in the eyes of the Lord” (II Kings 18:3).  At one point, when the King of Assyria was threatening to destroy Jerusalem, King Hezekiah offered this prayer.

O Lord, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.  It is true, O Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands.  They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by men’s hands.  Now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O Lord, are God. (II Kings 19:15-19)      

 God heard Hezekiah’s prayer.  The next morning, when the citizens of Jerusalem awoke, 185,000 Assyrians lay dead.  Within a year, Sennacherib, the King of Assyria, was murdered by his own two sons.

When Hezekiah died, he was succeeded by his son, Manasseh, whom the bible says “did evil in the sight of the Lord” (II Kings 21:4-5, 7).  Here is what Manasseh did:

He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will but my Name.”    He took the carved Asherah pole he made and put it in the temple of which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever.”  (II Kings 21:4-7)    

Notice that the Asherah poll, an idol made “only of wood and stone, fashioned by men’s hands”, was placed in the very Holy of Holies where Hezekiah had said that God was “enthroned between the cherubim” of the Ark of the Covenant.  One must wonder how the priests of God must have responded when Manasseh put up an idol in the same room where the Ark of the Covenant was housed.  Some bible scholars believe it was during this time that the Ark was secretly removed from the Temple so that it would not be profaned.  Legend has it that the prophet Isaiah was martyred when he stood up to King Manasseh and denounced him as an idolater.

As an American, one must ask this question:  “God, as we turn away from You and seek after the idols of our culture, how are You acting in the life of our nation?“   I think back to President Eisenhower, who as President attended church on February 7, 1954.  He listened to Dr. George Docherty, A Scottish Presbyterian preacher speaking on the 150^th anniversary of the Birthday of Abraham Lincoln.  In his sermon, Docherty said – and President Eisenhower heard – these words.

We face, today, a theological war.  It is NOT basically a conflict between two political philosophies – Thomas Jefferson’s political democracy over against Lenin’s communistic state.  NOR is it a conflict fundamentally between two economic systems between, shall we say, Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations and Karl Marx’s Das Capital.  IT IS a fight for freedom of the human personality.  It is not simply man’s inhumanity to man.  It is Armageddon, a battle of the gods.  It is the view of man as it comes down to us from Judaio-Christian civilization in mortal combat against modern, secularized godless humanity.    

The pledge of Allegiance seems to me to omit this theological implication that is fundamental to the American way of life.  It should be “One nation, under God.”  Once “under God,” then we can define what we mean by “liberty and justice for all.”  To omit the words “under God” in the pledge of allegiance is to omit the definitive character of the American way of life.     

Following the preaching of that sermon, which was appropriately titled “Under God,” the United States Congress moved swiftly to add those two words to the Pledge of Allegiance.  Those two words – Under God – have as their source the Gettysburg Address, first spoken by President Abraham Lincoln. 

A President, a King, can have a tremendous impact on his nation and their relationship to God.  Because of Manasseh’s leadership – he was king for 45 years – a generation grew up believing that it was “politically correct” to not follow God.  They grew up believing it was politically correct to cover up the symbols of worship to the God of Israel when the King showed up to give a speech.  They grew up believing it was politically correct for the King to spill innocent blood, as we are told in II Kings 21:16 that Manasseh filled the streets of Jerusalem with the blood of sacrificed babies.  Despite the fact that the majority of people followed a King who said “Simon Says evil is good, and good evil,” in the end, Jerusalem was destroyed, and her people carried off into exile in a foreign land.

As an American, I can’t help but ask:  What of the United States?  In ancient times, the people had little to do with electing their kings, but in America, We the People choose our Presidents.  Therefore, while it is certainly true that the President of the United States has great ability to influence the faith of our nation, ultimately the decision to follow a President who honors God – or does not – is in the hands of We The People.

If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.  (Luke 9:26)

There’s No Need To Fear. Jesus Christ Is Here! 

April Conversations with the Culture: Movie is Passion of the Christ

No man can bear the sins of the entire world.  No One

 

For this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world

 

Digging Deeper

Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion of the Christ, unfolds the last 12 hours in the life of Jesus (as portrayed by Jim Caviezel).  One of the most powerful scenes takes place at the beginning of the movie, when Jesus is praying in the Garden of Gethsemane and Satan (Rosalinda Celentano) appears at his side.  Attempting to convince Christ that He cannot bear the sins of the entire world, a snake slithers to where Jesus is praying prostrate on the ground.  Gathering himself, Jesus rises to his feet, and crushes the head of the snake under his feet.  To see a youtube video that provides a great synopsis of the movie, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNgbBYdDZA8

This battle between good and evil is powerfully portrayed through the movie.  It is an ancient story, because it begins when Satan tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden, and God cursed the snake, and said to Satan in Genesis 3:15:

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.

This story is also told in the heavens, though few Christians understand the relationship between the story of God’s plan of salvation as it is unfolded in the stars. In Psalms 19:1-2, we read:

The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.  Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.

Did you catch that?  “Night to night reveals Knowledge.”  What kind of knowledge?  In Isaiah, we learn that God ordered the constellations.  In Isaiah 41:26, we read:

Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these stars, the One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing.

And in Job 38:31-33, we see this amazing statement, as the Lord rebukes Job, saying:

Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, or loose the cords of Orion?  Can you lead forth a constellation in its season, and guide the Bear with her satellites?  Do you know the ordinances of the heavens, or fix their rule over the earth?

Two constellations which come together to declare the Glory of the Heavens are the constellations Hercules and Draco.  In Greek mythology, they tell the story of how Hercules, in performing his 12 labors, must battle a seven headed snake known as the Hydra.  Each Spring, the foot of Hercules comes to rest above the head of the snake in the constellation Draco.  Now, for most people, this is where the story ends.  But in modern times, Christians forget that many ancient civilizations had their own names for these constellations – and saw the story of the heavens declaring a divine revelation. 

For the Hebrew, it was when “The Mighty One” would come to fulfill the promise of Genesis 3:15.  In the New Testament, Paul makes this statement in Romans 16:20:

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

What a powerful statement.  In this season of Easter, let us contemplate and rejoice over how God has defeated death, and crushed the power of Satan.  Jesus Christ extends God’s love to all of us.  He bore our sins so that we might be made righteous before God. In humility, He made Himself lower than the angels.  And it is for this reason that in Hebrew the Constellation Hercules is known simply as “The Kneeler.”

 I’ve recently created a YouTube video that provides an introduction to my novel, The Brotherhood of the Scroll. 

If you would, take a moment to see what you think by going to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCQfkdCN6ng

 

 

Conversations with the Culture. March 2009: “Yes Man”

 If I Say NO, I’ll Risk Nothing and Stay Comfortable

 

 

But Dude, If You Say YES, You Get to Learn to Ride a Camel!

 Digging Deeper

 

 

Carl Allen (Jim Carey) is a bored bank loan officer.  His life is in a rut.  He says “no” to every opportunity that comes along.  And then, he sees an old friend who invites him to a self improvement meeting.  Allen goes and is challenged by the seminar speaker to say “yes” to every opportunity – no matter what it is.  While at first reluctant to follow these instructions, Allen begins to do just that.  And, to his surprise, he begins to enjoy life more – both professionally and his personally.  Only by stepping out of his comfort zone does his faith increase.

 

In Genesis 24, Abraham realizes he needs to find a wife for his son, Isaac.  He is adamant that his son’s future wife not come from among the pagan people of Canaan.   So, he sent a trusted servant to his home country to find a wife for Isaac from among his relatives.  Arriving in Mesopotamia, the servant goes to the town well and waits for a woman from among the village folk who will offer to bring water for him and his animals. The servant offers a prayer to the Lord, silently thinking (Gen. 24:14):

 

May it be that the girl to whom I say “Please let down your jar so that I may drink,” and who answers “Drink, and I will you water your camels also;” – may she be the one whom Thou hast appointed for Thy servant Isaac; and by this I shall know that Thou hast shown lovingkindness to my master.

 

Finally, a woman named Rebekah approaches the well.  Indeed, Rebekah does just as the servant prayed, and so he goes with her to her family to ask that Rebekah be given in marriage to Isaac, and travel with him back to Canaan, some 500 miles to the West.  After negotiating the “bride price” and paying her family a large sum of money, they agree that Rebekah will leave with the servant in the morning.  But when morning comes, the family suggests they wait ten days, and then begin their journey.  Fearing that the family would delay their leaving indefinitely, he protests.  And so, to settle the matter, the family asks Rebekah what she would like to do.  Rebekah responded (Gen 24:58, 61): 

 

 “I will go.”  Then Rebekah arose with her maids, and they mounted the camels and followed the man.  So the servant took Rebekah and departed.

 

While the focus is on Rebekah, one has to ask:  What about her maid servants?  Remember, Abraham’s servant had brought 10 camels.  Were Rebekah’s 10 maids ready to leave THEIR families behind and travel 500 miles away?  Had they led a life that had prepared them for a HUGE change in life – a change in career, if you will?

 

In Matthew 25:1-13, Jesus tells the parable of the 10 brides’ maids and the importance of  being ready.  The parable begins this way in vs. 1-4:

 

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.  Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps.”

 

In a sense, Jesus picks up the story of Rebekah and focuses on the lives of the “bit players” – people like you and me.  Five of the maids are prepared.  Watching the movie “Yes Man,” I saw the meaning of this parable: The five maids have enough oil for their lamps because they’ve learned to say “yes” to small opportunities, and so when the big opportunity comes along, they’re ready. 

 

What about you?  Are you saying “yes” to opportunities for ministry that God is providing you, or have you adopted the motto “Just Say No”?  Christ is coming again, and if we’ve not said “yes” to new opportunities, like learning to ride camels, we may be in for a rough journey. 

 

 

 

Conversations with the Culture: Incredibles

I’ll make it so Everyone will have Super Powers.  That’s my TRUTH!

If everyone’s super, then no one’s SUPER.  The same goes for truth – If everything’s true, NOTHING IS TRUE

Digging Deeper

In the movie, The Incredibles, Mr. Incredible is one of several dozen superheroes.  Possessing super human strength, he saves humanity from various disasters.  He marries another super hero, Elastigirl.  All is good until a surge of lawsuits against superheroes submitted by the people they’ve saved forces the government to hide them in witness protection programs.  It is as though people don’t want to be reminded of the truth that some people are super – that there are some who are special.  To admit that some people have superhuman powers is to acknowledge that most people don’t.  This is a truth of the movie that they don’t want to hear.

The villain in the movie – Syndrome – invents technology to make it look like he has super powers.  His plan is to sell his technology to people so that “Everyone can be super. And when everyone’s super…no one will be.”  In this way he will create new truth – truth based on a lie.

In Colossians 2:8, Paul writes:  “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men.”  Even in Paul’s day, there were those who wanted to preach a different gospel – a different truth.  In our time, there is great confusion over what truth is.  More and more people want to say that all religions – all “truths” – are equal.  But to paraphrase Syndrome, if everything is true, then nothing is true.  This, in fact, is the goal of the evil one, Satan .

The question you and I need to answer is:  To whom are you listening?  In John 8:46-47, Jesus says.

If I speak truth, why do you not believe me?  He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God

One such truth is the truth that Jesus is the one means of salvation.  In 1 John 2:23 and Jude 4, we read:

Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.  … For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Lately, I’ve been reading a book by John MacArthur called “The Truth War.”  I recommend it to anyone interested in the general question of “What is Truth”?  On page 76 of his book, he writes that The Truth War “is a very serious struggle to safeguard the heart and soul of truth itself and to unleash that truth against the powers of darkness – in hopes of rescuing the eternal souls of men and women who have been unwittingly ensnared by the trap of devilish deception.” 

Sounds heavy, doesn’t it?  But it is a really profound thought, and begs this question: Are you listening to Jesus?  Are you hearing the truth He speaks?  Or are you listening to the philosophies and empty deceptions of men?  Jesus says that if you aren’t hearing – and believing – His words, then you are not of God.

And that’s the truth.

Brief study on Truth

 

“A suffocating apathy about the whole concept of truth dominates much of today’s society – including an expanding segment of the evangelical movement. ….The concept of truth is therefore under heavy attack in the philosophical community, the academic world, and the realm of worldly religion.  The way people think about truth is being totally revamped and the vocabulary of human knowledge completely redefined.  The goal, clearly, is to usher every notion of truth off into oblivion.”( John MacArthur: The Truth War, pp. xvi and 7.)

 

I.  Jude points the way.  Commentators indicate he was most likely a half brother of Jesus.

A.  Jude 1 – 4:  We must contend for the faith

     1.  He started to write a note of encouragement, but due to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, wrote something else instead.  He encouraged people to stand strong for the faith.

 

B.  John 18:37.  Pilot asks “What is Truth?”

     1.  Psalm 31:5 “God of Truth”:  Truth = Righteousness

                 2.  Deut. 32:4:  Righteousness leads to being

                      just.  God is without injustice

     3.  Is. 65:16:  He is the God of Truth.  Truth translated = “Amen”

                 4.  Is. 62:2 Followers will be called by a new

                      name. We are called Christ Followers

     5.  John 14:6:  I Am The Truth

                 6.  John 8:31-32.  If / Then propositional

                      logical syllogism. 

     7.  Col. 3:16  Let the Word of Christ dwell in you.

                 8.  John 17:17-18:  Your word can not be 

                      broken.  It is Truth.  THEREFORE,

                      we are to:

                        a. Be Holy

                        b. Be Biblical

                        c. Be Missional

 

C.  Truth of God is revealed in Scripture, but also in nature

     1.  Psalm 19:1-2

     2.  Romans 1:19

    a. Romans 1:20  Self will disregards this truth.

 

D.  Without God, the concept of good can’t exist. 

     1.  “After thousands of years, the very best of human philosophers have all utterly failed to account for truth and the origin of human knowledge apart from God.” (MacArthur, p. 7).

     2.  “Truth and knowledge themselves simply have no coherent significance apart from a fixed source, namely, God.” (MacArthur, p. 10).

 

Order The Brotherhood of the Scroll at http://www.wisejargon.com/orderpages/orderlantz2.html

Conversations with the Culture: Back to the Future

Great Scott!  They’re Still Giving Sermons in 2009 About What it Means to be “Reformed” and Wondering Why So Many People are Leaving the Church!

I Have to Send Someone Back to the Future and Tell Them The Church Isn’t What it Was in 1955!

Over Christmas, I re-watched the “Back to the Future” trilogy with my daughter, Sarah.  If you don’t know the story line, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) ends up going back in time from 1985 to 1955 in a DeLorean which serves as Doc Brown’s (Christopher Lloyd) time machine.  With great humor, they fix the timeline of Marty’s life, understanding that “The future isn’t written yet.”

 

Recently, I read a post by Dr. Scott W. Sundquist on his blog at titled “The Dangers of the Unconverted Seminary.”  It was a great piece. Here’s part of what he said: 

 

 

We still use a curriculum that assumes Christendom. We assume that most people are Christian, we assume that if you put “Gloria Patri” in the bulletin, or if you talk about the “invocation” that a person understands what you are talking about. In short, as others have said, we are preparing priests and pastors for a church and a society that no longer exist.”

Digging Deeper

In Acts 17, Paul walks into Athens, a University town with lots of “smart people” living on past glories. Paul encountered four groups: Stoics, who taught that you should live in accordance with nature & self sufficiency (today’s “green carbon free” crowd). The second group was the Epicureans, who taught that the supreme good is happiness, which they eventually saw as focusing on momentary pleasure & self-gratification (sort of like the “Let’s live it up because someone will bail us out” crowd). A third group, always present, were the Jews (this would be the modern equivalent of people in churches where they don’t want to change the way the Gloria Patri is sung). Lastly, there were the God fearing Gentiles – people hungering for spiritual truth, but just not sure which of the gods to worship.

Many of the Greeks worshipped the god Tyche, or “chance.” They saw their lives at the whim of the Gods – and hence meaningless. It was into this mess of hodge-podge spirituality that Paul walked, where everyone had to be tolerant of what everyone else believed, and don’t you dare tell someone that you carry the message of ABSOLUTE TRUTH from the ONE AND ONLY true God.

Sound familiar?  In speaking to these four groups of people, Paul modeled 4 principles:

1.    Talk about Christ – up front.

2.      Speak truth without fear

3.      Speak to your audience with an understanding of where they’re at.

4.      Surrender the results to God.

Let’s see what Paul said in Acts 17:22-25:

Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.    

Paul is saying “You all have seen God, but still don’t known who He is. You expect Him to be something He’s not.” I had this thought in mind when I wrote my novel, The Brotherhood of the Scroll, I learned that most ancient religions saw man’s purpose to serve the Gods. For example, the Babylonian flood story has it ending with the gods descending like flies to eat Unipishtom’s sacrifice, and the gods promising to never again destroy man because they want to have man feed them. This is why Paul says “And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything” Paul goes on to say that these Greeks are lost, that they constantly seek spiritual fulfillment, and that (vs. 27) if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.

This is why I start these Conversations with the Culture with reference to a movie.  It connects where most of us are with the Scripture.  For example, instead of the words “grope for Him” we find this line when Morpheus talks to Neo about The Matrix

It’s that feeling you have had all your life. That feeling that something was wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad, driving you to me.

Did you know that Morpheus was the Greek god of sleep, and that Neo is an anagram for the word ONE?  In 1955, you would never have heard a sermon connecting these concepts.  In 2009, It’s time to get Back to the Future.     

Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. (Eph. 5:14).