Think out Laud
Chris Kelly's journal---a blog for to publish his feeble attempts to praise Jesus Christ, bare his soul, and think out loud about these Interesting Times.
Thinking about John Armstrong's excellent article "What Is an Evangelical Roman Catholic?". He always inspires long hours of thought and chewing of the cud. Since I couldn't post my lengthy comments on his blog, I'll post them here.
I, too, lament the hostility between Catholics and Protestants. And I praise God that many Catholics are renewing a commitment to the Bible. But I don't think an official reunion is worth the trouble. Why?
It's somewhat like being divorced, marrying another wife, and then trying to reunite with the "ex" as well. We can't devote that kind of effort to unity when there are so many unreached people still waiting to hear the Gospel.
When Luther tried to reform the Church, he was thrust out as a heretic, divorced if you will. If he was wrong, he should have gone back on Rome's terms, and so should we. If Luther was right, he could never go back. "It was," to borrow Chesterton's words, "the kingdoms of the world and the police and the judges who were heretics. He was orthodox. He had no pride in having rebelled against them; they had rebelled against him."
Of course, indulgences are no longer an issue; but Mary worship and the Eucharist ARE, and Rome has NOT changed its position on these, has it? Protestants shouldn't condemn Catholics to damnation over such things. But the Catholic Church (as an institution) hasn't really lived up to the Word. And the Word, to a a true Evangelical, is sacrosanct.
This is why I say ecumenism isn't worth the trouble. Advancing the Christian Tradition? Yes. Well, there isn't just ONE, there are several now, and all of them have their good and not-so-good points. Looking to find that One True Church seems almost vanity. What Evangelicals need to be doing is evangelism, not ecumenism. Jesus prayed for unity, but he did not command it.
One last point: I love going to Christmas Mass and worshiping in the grand tradition occasionally. But before we had a grand tradition, it was a "disorganized religion" of house churches and fugitives in caves. This tradition began with a natural DIVORCE from the Jewish faith that was not chosen by forced upon them. Perhaps, then, division is more a part of the Tradition than unity.
This is a photograph of that hill near Jerusalem called Golgotha.
If this is the same Golgotha where Jesus was led out and crucified by the Romans, at the behest of the Jews, on behalf of us all, how sacred is this place! And how terrible. It would be hard to hold back my tears were I to step foot in this place. Even just the sight of it in a picture is moving, not because it is idyllic or serene, but because of what happened there, because of Jesus alone and his suffering there.
This name, "Jesus", has such a power. I don't mean a superstitious power such as people attribute to an incantation or statue or place or astrological powers of the stars. Just as the name Golgotha represents and evokes the whole event of the Crucifixion, the name Jesus embodies the Person of the Messiah, all the events of His life, and all His teachings and words.
What sort of power is it? It isn't magical power to get anything you want without having to work or struggle. It's not a power to have all your problems melt away. Rather, the power of Jesus' name is the power to change the world. It certainly changes men. Just yesterday, a friend JL was telling me he couldn't understand why people want to glorify God so boldly. E.g. another friend usually gives thanks to Jesus Christ in the acknowledgments at the end of his scientific papers.
This makes people uncomfortable. Why? Of course, it is the power of Jesus' name. Putting "Jesus" there is like having the picture of Golgotha, "The Place of the Skull", at the end of a perfectly bland piece on mathematics or economics. To those who love Jesus and find hope in his sacrifice on Golgotha, it is a beautiful picture that speaks not "a thousand words", but "many thousands" of words, including all the sayings of Jesus, the prophets who foretold him, and so many believers who have come after him.
But to those who reject Jesus, or who merely ignore Him as irrelevant, this place is an ugly blight that should be dynamited and used for a luxury hotel. To them, the name of Jesus is uncomfortable and out-of-place anywhere but in a dark church. Perhaps the Power of Jesus name IS too awesome to utter in mundane places, casually, along with my thanks to my wife, my secretary and the NSF.
Still, I can't help thinking the world makes a habit of ignoring Christ, and those of us who love Him, have an obligation to give him thanks in every breath we take, every success, every effort, even every disappointment. Because, after all, God has put his own Image in us and "the heavens declare the glory of God". [Ps 19:1] If we fail to praise Jesus, "the stones will cry out." [Lk 19:40]
And I can't help but thinking that those who are so unhappy that Christians will not keep our faith to ourselves, that there isn't a vast "wall of separation" between the spiritual and the secular in American society, that they are the unreasonable ones. In fact, they wish to suppress the truth that God made man in God's image, and that God loves us. Anyone who lifts up Jesus, glorifying Him rather than himself, is a blight like Golgotha.
All hail the power of Jesus' name! Let angels prostrate fall.
Bring forth the royal diadem and crown Him Lord of all.
Bring forth the royal diadem and crown Him Lord of all.
This song has been a theme of UBF for many years. These days, we all know it by heart and don't even pick up the hymnal when it's called. But "to hail" means "to call out in greeting or to attract attention". Christians seem to avoid drawing attention to Jesus these days, and even mentioning his name is awkward for us, as it is to the secular people we have allowed ourselves to assimilate with. Even if it's out of place and awkward, we must somehow boldly, and always very positively, lift up and exalt our Lord Jesus through what we do.
Lord, make me more like Jesus, not merely inwardly, but so that people around me may say, "Jesus! That fellow irritates me." Or, "What is it about him that makes me feel good?" Or, "I must know what makes him tick." But Lord, let me speak openly of Jesus to everyone, not garishly as "the place of the skull" perhaps, but most certainly of the name of Jesus. AMEN
Today in Bible study with TB we studied Genesis 3, "When God's Love Is Doubted". I can't believe that after all these years I am still learning so much from a passage I have studied so many times. It never ceases to be fresh and beautiful.
Genesis 3 discusses the fall of man. It is tragic, but also beautiful. The love of God overflows. While so many people think God "set up" man for the fall, I think God set man up for a huge success, but Adam and Eve wanted God's position or absolute freedom even more than they wanted to be blessed and successful.
Today we discussed how God's love is so clearly revealed. When God could have just destroyed Adam and Eve and started all over, He helped them to come back and covered their shame with garments of skin, spilling the blood of some innocent mink or sheep to give them dignity and durable clothes.
The point also arose that God, though he put the woman with Adam, as Adam accused Him, was not responsible for their sin. "Because you listened to your wife and ate... cursed is the ground because of you." [3:17] God made it crystal clear that man was responsible.
And I think this was the most really special thing I took from the lesson today. We wonder why God doesn't get involved in man's affairs so much today. It is no different. When man was tempted, he didn't really spend even a moment thinking about God's word, or calling on God in prayer. He did not resist the devil. He didn't involve God. So God didn't help him escape the temptation. The same thing is played out every day in the life of every human being. Though God created us and appointed man to rule, man does not pray and bring God into his affairs. So God stays out until asked. He did, after all, command us to rule. If we wish to do so on our own knowledge and experience, that's our God-given prerogative.
And how gracious is God who loved man enough to LET him choose whether to obey God or not. This, too, is so wonderful beyond words. He did not create man as a thing He could program to do only as He wished. He gave us the choice. We can choose to obey him, as in gratitude or humbleness or awe, or we can choose to defy him and go our own way. Praise God who gives us his call and command, but does not force us to obey.
Mark 11:22 says, "Have faith in God." What this means is explained in the context. We must have faith by praying and not doubting that what we ask in prayer will be done.
I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, "Go, throw yourself into the sea," and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.If I pray and do not believe what I have asked, how can I claim I have faith in God? Of course, we ask for a great many things we don't even really want. We pray for too many things, spreading our hope and passion too thin.
Instead we should pray for fewer things, even ONE thing, but pray for them more fervently, somewhat like those who only pray in emergency situations, but not merely because we only pray when in dire straights. Rather, we should pray for the one thing for which we truly ache in our hearts, that Thing which is very close to God's own heart---the salvation of peoples, nations, of souls. And make it a matter of devotion until we believe, then until we receive it.
For example, it would make the Lord proud of us, I think, if we were to actually need to move a mountain, and pray for it fervently, then see it happen. Perhaps those who pray will finally see all their prayers unleashed in the End of the Age, when stars fall and mountains crumble. But we should find what really needs to happen NOW, like the end of a war or the demise of terrorists in Darfur or peace in Jerusalem or the humiliation of godless liberals in America, or the healing of some hopelessly sick person. Then we should pray until we receive the miracle and give glory to God. I have an idea about how to do this that I'll write about later.
So I want to be more careful in my prayer topics. Today I am praying for a miracle in the heart of one student: that he may hear God's calling to follow Jesus, and may be led to join our ministry for serving Christ. I have been too long without seeing answers to such prayers. But I must not believe based on past experience, but on GOD'S PROMISES ALONE. His promise is: "I will make you fishers of men." His promise is, "If a man remain in me, you will bear much fruit." His promise is, "whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."
--Father, help students to hear Your calling and send revival to our campuses. We are too weak to make things happen. We have no big money or mega-budget or groundswell of support. But show your faithfulness to those who humble themselves and repent and pray, as you promised. AMEN
Peace isn't just a state of mind. But when I have peace, I can see the world differently. So it definitely exists in the mind.
Even so, there are things that rob us of peace. The radio, for example, and iPods and cell phones. They interrupt our work in subtle ways, or outright, and we don't even realize that we are being robbed of peace.
Silence. That is something we seem to never find. But let us look for it today.
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." [Jn 14:27] Jesus didn't force it upon us. But he left it there for us. Those who will insist upon revolution, upsetting things, making changes even when things are going well, will not accept peace. They cry, "Peace, peace!" But their crying is angry and filled with anything but peace. So I guess they want something else. They want "Change". OK. We who know peace can deal with that. For, as always, peace is really on the inside.
Jesus, the apostles, and Christians over the centuries have engaged in what we loosely call "street preaching". They didn't have a church and pews and a choir at hand to build a meditative environment. Rather, they got out in the cold or heat, among busy people who didn't really have the time to stop and listen, and they delivered the message whether anyone listened or not.
I'm not sure this would be tolerated today. While the heathens rage against one another, a preacher on a street corner is in danger of offending someone, or inadverently spewing forth hate speech. Due to this uncertainty I have only preached on the corner one time, 24 years ago as an undergraduate at UIC. I have seen preachers on the campus once here in Virginia, and what I heard from them did not encourage me. It was a mix of harsh moralizing and angry condemnation that met with dismayed looks and confused questions from the listeners.
But I have often felt the Spirit leading me to stand up and proclaim Jesus to anyone who God brought along. What would I say? I almost never preach without a manuscript, as I've been taught. But I think the Spirit would certainly give me words, as Jesus promised. So I don't think I can decline for lack of experience or training. Perhaps just some practice would boost my confidence.
Then there are some pragmatic questions. Do I need permission to go on the campus and preach? The one I saw not long ago had a badge of some sort that identified him, as if he were a city worker. He would not stop even for a second, so I couldn't ask him about his preparation, which interested me more than his message.
Lastly, street preaching seems out of line with what people expect of Christians nowadays. We're so conditioned to keep our Christianity behind the closed doors on Sunday, in our homes, or locked up in our minds. One would imagine that street preaching has gone the way of door-to-door salesmen: a thing of the past, not fitting to our culture. But is it really passé? Should it be relegated to the "obsolete" heap of outmoded Christian methods?
I don't think so. There are no outmoded methods, really. But I'm not sure where to go next. I wish I knew a nice short book to read, something by someone who actually was a street peacher, maybe Dwight Moody or Billy Sunday. Any recommendations?
To be continued...
When I hear Senator Hillary Clinton and others calling for the Attourney General to resign, and calling for investigations into the rampant corruption in the Bush administration, and recall all the scandals of the corrupt Clinton Administration and the calls for impeachment and investigation that continued throughout the 90s, it reminds me of the verse in Psalm 2:1-3:
"Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us."
Sometimes I think it's not real. I'm just imagining that I live in a free country. Maybe it will all suddenly disappear because of such fools. But then I read on:
"He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the LORD shall have them in derision."
What does it take for God to bless a nation? Does he need a majority of God-fearing people? I hope not! Maybe he doesn't need anything. Maybe his blessing is completely out of his grace, just a "random act of kindness" upon "one lucky nation".
But maybe he does everything for his remnant. Where there is a remnant of people who pray, God will work. This is what God said through Samuel in 2 Chronicles 7:14:
"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
So here are our marching orders. God doesn't expect us to get political, or get active, or recruit a majority, or get control of the legislature, so much as he is waiting for us to pray.
Father, please help me to pray this day for your work in our land, for your healing. Please accept our prayers and heal our nation from the pain of war, the cancer of rebellion, the poison of doubt and the leprosy of immorality. Lord, we deserve your wrath. Let your discipline fall on America, if you regard us as sons, be it ever so painful. Only lead us to You, Lord. Turn us from sin to love and live in Christ Jesus. Amen.