Tried With Fire

"They will know we are Christians by our love" doesn't seem to apply to social media these days. Rather "They will know we are Christians by how tenaciously we hold to our opinions and our unwillingness to listen to anyone who differs from us." If I was a sociologist, I would be collecting data for a book on this phenomena. But I am not, so I read what other people have researched to gain better insight. Here are a few excerpts from Disunity in Christ that may shed some light on why we circle the wagons. This is worth considering and may help us be more understanding and gracious toward one another. If we understand the world around us, we have a far greater chance of controlling it. Even if we can't control our world, understanding can help us make informed choices about what to do next... We have a strong need to know and a strong need to eliminate uncertainty... 1 Because we're uncomfortable with ambiguity, if we can find a concept to help us...

I enjoy watching the wildlife in my small backyard. I've scattered seed on the deck to attract the songbirds and squirrels. It makes a mess, but I'm glad to help them out when the weather turns cold. When there is construction in the area, I wonder what happens to the critters who lost homes. I am not going PETA and arguing for animal rights over people's, but someone or something always has to pay. Construction of a shopping center will give people jobs and bring income to the community, but the cost is borne by the environment. I don't know what development would have looked like before the fall, but I don't believe there would have been a conflict between human beings and the rest of God's creation. One side would not have to suffer for the sake of the other. But nothing is free since the fall. Someone has to pay. I am troubled by President Trump's executive order temporarily barring certain refugees. I am concerned over the constitutionality of it. But...

“After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, tribes, people and tongues stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands, and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.” Revelation 7:9, 10.  “Out of every nation and tribe, and people, and tongue.” How did John know that? I suppose as he looked at them, he could tell where they come from. There is individuality in heaven, depend upon it! Every seed will have its own body. There will sit down in heaven not three unknown patriarchs, but Abraham—you will know him! Isaac—you will know him! And Jacob—you will know him! There will be in heaven not a company of persons, all struck off alike so that you cannot tell who is who, but they will be out of every nation, and tribe, and people, and tongue. I say not that they will speak the language they spoke on earth, but I do say that there wil...

I have been reading Unashamed by Heather Nelson with a group of women in the church. The last chapter we covered was on social shame. If you've never experienced it, please tell me, what is it like to not be socially awkward? For the rest of us, we know that sinking feeling of wondering how  and even if we fit in. Thoughts go through our heads such as - "I don't know what to say. I don't know who to talk to. Will I be accepted?" It's especially hard when it is a group where there should be strong sense of belonging such as the church. During our discussion, I threw out the question of whether men or women were more accepting of differences. There was no hesitation. The unanimous answer was "Men." Very interesting. I had suspected this as well, but I still wanted to understand the "why" behind it. So I started reading  Disunity in Christ . The author, Christena Cleveland, has a PhD in social psychology, so her book draws from research...

The eyes of our souls cannot be towards him unless he has cast a gracious look upon us first. The least love we have to him is but a reflection of his love first shining upon us. As Christ did, in his example to us, whatever he charges us to do, so he suffered in his own person whatever he calls us to suffer, so that he might the better learn to relieve and pity us in our sufferings. In his desertion in the garden and on the cross he was content to be without that unspeakable solace which the presence of his Father gave, both to bear the wrath of the Lord for a time for us, and likewise to know the better how to comfort us in our greatest extremities. God sees fit that we should taste of that cup of which his Son drank so deep, that we might feel a little what sin is, and what his Son's love was. But our comfort is that Christ drank the dregs of the cup for us, and will succor us, so that our spirits may not utterly fail under that little taste of his displeasure which we may feel....

This has been a time of raising my own awareness. You would have to be living under a rock to not realize that America is becoming an increasingly divided nation over the issues of race, class, and immigration. Reading Divided by Race , at the recommendation of an African American brother, was eye-opening. Here you have professing believers who have almost opposite assessments of racial issues within the American church. Why do we think so differently? What produced these two wide trajectories? Then came the racial incident involving Michael Luo, deputy metro editor of The New York Times. Now it was much closer to home because, after hearing his story and many others that poured forth, these were my people. Their stories are very much like mine. So to gain more understanding, I began to read and listen. The first book was The Making of Asian America by Erika Lee. This was a fascinating book and quite a feat given its scope. I had no idea that Asian immigrants first came to Cen...

There is never a holy sigh, never a tear we shed, which is lost. And as every grace increases by exercise of itself, so does the grace of prayer. By prayer we learn to pray. So, likewise, we should take heed of a spirit of discouragement in all other holy duties, since we have so gracious a Saviour. Pray as we are able, hear as we are able, strive as we are able, do as we are able, according to the measure of grace received. God in Christ will cast a gracious eye upon that which is his own. Would Paul do nothing because he could not do the good that he would? No, he `pressed toward the mark'. Let us not be cruel to ourselves when Christ is thus gracious. There is a certain meekness of spirit whereby we yield thanks to God for any ability at all, and rest quiet with the measure of grace received, seeing it is God's good pleasure it should be so, who gives the will and the deed, yet not so as to rest from further endeavors. But when, with faithful endeavor, we come short of w...

I finished listening to White Trash: The 400-Year-Old-History of Class in America by LSU history professor, Nancy Isenberg. If you believe that America is a classless society founded on the principle of equal opportunity for all, this book will burst that bubble. The following quote from the epilogue jumped out at me because it accurately assesses, in my opinion, how politicians have manipulated different sectors in society including the "Christian vote."  Moved by the need for control, for an unchallenged top tier, the power elite in American history has thrived by placating the vulnerable and creating for them a false sense of identification - denying real class differences whenever possible. pg. 313. I also highly recommend this Pass the Mic podcast with Andy Crouch, author and executive editor of Christianity Today. His take on the dynamics of the 2016 election, politics, and the treatment of the vulnerable is spot on. Now when "class inequality" is...

It's been interesting and rather sad, at the same time, to witness the divide between professing Christians over the 2016 election. It's true that social media may not be the best tool of observation, but even among people I know, there are folks with strong convictions and very different opinions. If I was a sociologist, this would be worth studying. But since I am not, it seems like a good time to start reading Christian America? What Evangelicals Really Want  by sociologist Christian Smith. In the introduction, he mentions several fallacies that must be avoided to understand evangelicalism. This is the first and one worth noting. The Representative Elite Fallacy - A most common error that observers of evangelicals make is to presume that evangelical leaders speak as representatives of ordinary evangelicals. In fact, evangelical leaders do not simply give voice to the thoughts and feelings of the millions of ordinary evangelicals. Nor do ordinary evangelicals simply fo...

I'm at Out of the Ordinary today sharing some helpful questions to ask about the books we read from No Little Women by Aimee Byrd. If I care about the nutritional value of the food I put into my body, then what about my spiritual diet? An author's claims about his/her book may look promising on the cover, but is it really going to nourish my soul or just give me the emotional equivalent of a sugar rush? ... The saying goes, "You are what you eat." Well, we may be what we read or, at the very least, strongly influenced by it. All the more reason to be wise and evaluate the spiritual nutrition of what goes in our heads. Read the post here .

I've been reading Aimee Byrd's new book,  No Little Women. So far, so good, and a review will be forthcoming, Lord willing. I did skip ahead, though, to the 9th chapter "Honing and Testing Our Discernment Skills." 1 Aimee shares four essential questions to ask about what we read, and then lets the reader put it into practice on excerpts from popular women's books. I'm posting more on these questions at Out of the Ordinary  tomorrow, so stay tuned. As I was considering Aimee's call for discernment, my gut feeling is that women are at a disadvantage in pursuing a life of the mind  because of past cultural norms. Therefore, we may be more inclined to accept rather than critique. But does evangelicalism even encourage this type of critical thinking in the first place? I may be wrong, but I believe it promotes the very opposite. If you read authors like Nancy Pearcey, Mark Noll, David Wells, and Nathan Hatch, to name a few, history has shown that Americ...

We must acknowledge that in the covenant of grace God requires the truth of grace, not any certain measure; and a spark of fire is fire, as well as the whole element. Therefore we must look to grace in the spark as well as in the flame. All have not the like strong, though they have the like precious, faith (2 Pet. 1:1), whereby they lay hold of, and put on, the perfect righteousness of Christ. A weak hand may receive a rich jewel. A few grapes will show that the plant is a vine, and not a thorn. It is one thing to be deficient in grace, and another thing to lack grace altogether. God knows we have nothing of ourselves, therefore in the covenant of grace he requires no more than he gives, but gives what he requires, and accepts what he gives: `If she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtle doves' (Lev. 12:8). What is the gospel itself but a merciful moderation, in which Christ's obedience is esteemed ours, and our sins laid upon him, wherein God, from being...

Beloved friends, as the Lord has graciously spared us to enter upon another portion of time, it befits us to ask: How shall we begin it? Much often depends on the beginning. It is important to begin well. Let us reflect. Let us inquire. Let us decide. Shall we not begin it in FAITH? This is the stay, the staff, the stimulus of the soul. Let us afresh exercise faith in God as our Father — in Jesus as our Savior — in the Holy Spirit as our Comforter. Let us believe the love which God has to us — that "God is love." Let us take up the promises as the pledges and proofs of his love. He made them to inform us, to cheer us, to draw out our love to him, and our confidence in him. He will fulfill them. He never violated a promise yet. He never will. It is impossible for God to lie, or to prove unfaithful. His throne is not more stable than his promise . Let us therefore believe the word, seek the blessings, and expect the favors. He has promised us . . . wisdom — to understand...