Matt. 6:19-24 - Do Not Store Up Treasures On Earth

The teachings of Jesus are the most neglected scriptures in the bible. Of all the central passages of scripture, the clearest and most neglected and misunderstood of all is Matthew 6. Here is close to 50% of the central teachings of the Messiah, here is the path to blessedness and yet the church by and large has entirely neglected or worse refused to preach the simple truth of the way of the Savior.

Jesus, our Christ and Lord, teaches us saying, "Do not store up treasures on earth where moth or rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroy and where thieves cannot break in and steal". The treasures Jesus is telling us not to store up, or amass, are treasures that:

1. Moths can eat.

2. Rust can destroy

3. Thieves can steal. 

This teaching is simple in its clarity. Jesus indeed was brilliant in His ability to illuminate and illustrate His principles. Moths eat clothes, so do not store up clothes in your closets. Rust destroys metals so do not have valuable items in your garage or other so called semi-durable goods. And do not acquire the type of treasures that thieves can break into our houses or our banks and steal. Christians are to amass none of these type of things. We cannot have assets in banks and homes and cars and clothes. We are to not store up or amass monetary assets at all. Why? Because we are followers of the Messiah. If moths can eat it. Don't have a storage place with a lot of it. If rust will destroy it. Don't have an expensive one. If a thief could steal it, do not have much of it. 

Is this what Jesus means by these teachings. If we are not clear, Jesus clarifies and explains. 

Jesus continues to illustrate His way of blessedness saying, "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. And if the light in you is darkness. How great is that darkness?"

Jesus is clear. Our vision for our life is what directs our life. If our vision is single and focused and correct, then our entire life will bring glory to God and the spirit in us will be Godly. But if our goals are mixed and double-minded or double-sighted, then our whole life will be one big deception and our spirit is actually evil. If our spirit is evil, trust Jesus, it is worse than you could imagine. 

Do not be deceived. Jesus continues just in case we do not yet understand. Do we think we can have two goals in life. Can we emus wealth and serve Jesus. Can we have expensive homes and closets full of nice clothes and fancy luxurious cars? 

"You cannot serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money or the god of wealth".

Serving money and seeking wealth is like serving an idol. Is there a buddah in your home? Is there a buddah in your church? At the alter? Of course there isn't. Well, then in the same way, there must not be wealth and greed in the church. You cannot have it both ways. You either hate wealth and love God or you hate God and love money. There is no safe middle ground. You cannot love God and kinda like money. If you kinda like money, you hate God. If you really love God, you must hate wealth and greed like you would hate an idol in your church. 

Therefore, do not store up treasures on earth where moth or rust destroy. Do we believe Jesus? Are we followers of the King? Do we teach and observe these commands? If we do not we are like fools who built our houses on the sand. But if we observe these teachings of the Christ, the Son of God, and teach others to do likewise, like Jesus, then we are wise indeed. 

Matt 6:19-34 – Safe in the Care of the Father

Matt 6:19-34 – Safe in the Care of the Father
In order to meet the challenge of the teachings of Jesus, we must know how to abide in the safety of the Father’s care.
The Challenge of the Teachings of Jesus:

1. Do not store up treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy or where thieves break in and steal.
a. What are the treasures on earth that moth can destroy?
b. What type of things (treasures) that a thief might steal?
c. So what are examples of the treasures Jesus is speaking of?

2. For where your treasure is there your heart is also.
a. This saying can mean one of three things. Which option best fits the grammar of the saying. For where your __________ is there your __________ is.

i. Where your love is there your wealth is?
ii. Where your wealth is there your love is?
iii. Where your love is there your love is?
What can we do to meet this challenge?

Safe in the Care of the Father

In order to meet the challenge, we must have faith in the care of the Father.

What does it mean to be clothed better than the lilies which are clothed better than Solomon?

How will God cloth us better than Solomon?

Why does it matter that we are more valuable than sparrows and lilies? (What is the promise Jesus is making?)

Jesus teaches that “the very hairs on our head are all numbered”(Matt 10:30). What does this say about the Father’s care for us?

Are you actually safe enough in the care of the Father to not store up treasures on earth?

Do you believe in your “heart of hearts” that you are safe enough in the care of the Father to not store up treasures on earth?

What can we do to know that we are safe in the care of the Father so that we can resist the temptation to store up treasures on earth?

Immigration Reform - Compassionate Solution Needed

Immigration is the next big issue on the policy front. I think this issue is far more straight forward than health care. Christians began a protest today for a compassionate solution. 

I have had a great deal of fun learning more and more about the health care issue but solving that broken system always has pros and cons.

On the other hand, immigration is pretty straight forward. People come here to work. We need to find a much simpler way to help them come here legally. The demand for the jobs is here. We are all immigrants. We are all aliens. We need to find a far more compassionate system.

Labels - Discipleship

I linked a lot of labels today, but because I still use a very old template and do not want to change out of fear of losing all the old links and stuff, I do not have a labels section on the right hand column.

So here is a link to the DISCIPLESHIP label as an example

Health Care Related Bankruptcy

Consumer Reports Health Blog: Health care related bankruptcy is on the rise, study says:

Americans are increasingly at risk of financial ruin due to illness and medical expenses, according to a new study released yesterday by the American Journal of Medicine. The researchers found that illness or medical bills contributed to nearly two thirds, or 62 percent, of all bankruptcies in 2007—before the major impact of the housing collapse and current economic downturn. That’s a 50 percent increase over a similar survey in 2001 by the same researchers.

Why do people go bankrupt when they get sick? Is it because they do not have health insurance or that their insurance coverage doesn't actually protect them when they need it by denying coverage or increasing the out of pocket costs.

Just over three-quarters of people who suffered a bankruptcy due to illness were insured at the onset of their health issue. But the total out-of-pocket medical costs for those who had insurance when they became ill was a steep $17,749, on average. For those who didn’t have insurance, the average debt was $26,971.

These figures underscore the need for improving our health insurance system.

Why is this? Because, we do not properly regulate the insurance companies. Again, capitalism requires regulation to function properly. Unregulated business is fine for investors but not for citizens and consumers. It is the governments job to protect its citizens from unregulated power.

Small Groups as an Enabler of Discipleship

(I am writing some stuff for our church and thought I would share my thoughts here)

In everything we do as a church, we function to expand the kingdom by making disciples. This purpose focus our community and gives us a way to reflect upon whether or not we are “doing church” according to the way Jesus has directed us to “do church”. The same purpose directs our meetings in small group and in our 1x1 discipleship relationships.

Even more foundational than the purpose of small groups is the faith that motivates our meetings as a church and as small groups.

We believe that the kingdom is within reach. we believe through faith in Jesus Christ that people can find a path to an abundant life. We believe that Jesus provides the way to live a life of righteousness, peace and joy in the holy spirit. We believe this is expressed in joy-filled families, love filled life long monogamous marriages, and lifelong mutually supportive and fulfilling friendships.

We believe that these are the outcomes that the discipleship process delivers for people . These outcomes of health lives and healthy loving relationships glorifies God.

We believe that discipleship is the process to deliver these fruit and these kingdom experiences to people that they may from the heart have a testimony of the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their life. These kingdom testimonies are the fuel of our mission. It is through our testimonies of the joy and satisfaction that Jesus has given to us that we are compelled to serve Jesus by sharing His compassion and grace with others.

Small groups are a central part of this discipleship process and our understanding of how Jesus taught us to make disciples informs the way we will do small groups. So in summary, the following beliefs inform how we do small groups:

1. We believe that the kingdom is available
2. We believe the kingdom is experienced through discipleship
3. We believe small groups are a central place to implement and model discipleship and
4. We believe discipleship, the application of the teachings of Jesus, is about:
1. Heart Management (Matt 5-7) - inward
1. in small group
2. 1x1 relationships
3. in devotion
2. Encouraging devotion - upward
1. In small group
2. in devotion
3. Leading in service and the gifts of the spirit- outward
1. as a congregation
2. as individuals
3. in 1x1 relationships
4. as a small group

Jonathan Gruber - Speech on Health Care Reform

C-SPAN Video Player - Speech on Health Care Reform
Great Explanation of costs and cadillac tax and how the Health Care Bill will be funded. Jonathan Gruber is easy to listen to. His explanation of why costs are high due to over testing and over selling of health services is compelling.

What will happen if we do not reform health care.

Universal Health Care in Israel

I always wondered why republicans never use Israel as an example of evil government funded health care. Israel has had socialized medicine since 1948.
Hmm, maybe it is because health care in Israel works.

Who's in play: House health-care whip count

Who's in play: House health-care whip count washingtonpost.com

This is really cool with stats and graphics on the $$ of campaign financing from the insurance industry and % of constituents that are uninsured. Neither seem to actually correlate much but interesting anyway.

Health Care - Access, Access, Access (updated)

Health Care - Access, Access, Access - NYTimes.com

Nicholas D. Kristof wrote a great article yesterday on Health Care. What is striking to me is how a Christian heart of compassion ought to have a passion for increased access to health care. The link between increased access to health care and decreases in infant mortality and mortality in childbirth and pregnancy mandate Christian support for increased access to health care. This is a no-brainer.

So the question is. Why are conservative christians against health care reform? I think this is another case of ideology getting in the way of practical solutions to real life problems of human suffering.

Kristof does make one misleading statement about low abortion rates in Germany. The abortion rate in Germany is even lower than stated in Kristof's article. Germany has 35% the per capita abortions compared to the United States BUT the real reason appears to be that abortion is very restricted in Germany. Abortion is technically illegal with many loopholes in the first 12 weeks but still far more restricted than in the USA. Germany does have the oldest universal health care system in Europe.

Nonetheless, the benefits of universal health care on the well being of the society makes support for universal health care a moral mandate especially for Christians.

A Life of Being Surprised By God

I have once again been surprised by the unbelievable grace of God. Lately, I have noticed that my prayer life is at a very low ebb. I know as well that as I look at my life, I have quenched the Spirit. My experience of God is suffering as well. Lately, I have been reflecting on the fact that not only is my spiritual condition low but my faith in a better spiritual condition in the future is quite low.

So in the last few days, I have been asking the Lord, “Can you help me out even though I have no faith and no merit to commend Your response? It is almost if I am praying, “Lord, help me out here but I will understand if you don’t”. So what I decided to do was to go through a time of praying and blessing whoever comes to my mind. ….These are very tiny little random prayers of forgiveness and blessing. I also spent some time (very little time like 10 minutes) reflecting on how God has shown compassion to me in my life. I have been doing these tiny prayers of giving and receiving compassion for about two or three days….

Well, today at work I have been surprised, once again, by the clear presence of God. For me this experience feels like being in the zone feels to an athlete. If you have ever played basketball for example, there are times when everything just seems to go in. It is uncanny. As the game progresses, you just seem to get more and more confident. Athletes call this being in the zone. Well, today, I am experiencing this but with respect to being kind and joyful. Then, as always happens in such situations, the moment I reflect and say to myself, “Wow, I am in a loving, joyful place. I love this feeling”. At that moment, I sense the presence of God and the clarity that, “Oh my Lord, this is You. This is the answer to those prayers”. The Spirit bears witness with my spirit that God is a God who answers small weak prayers and the result of this grace is a joy unspeakable and full of Glory.

I have had this happen literally every time. I find that every time I move a little toward God in the exercise of faith in the Grace of God in Christ and obedience to the simple path of unconditional love that He surprises me with an unspeakable joy. So truly I can say, faith in the Christ and His path of love is the key to life.

Joshua Redman Trio - Los Angeles - "Identity Thief"

My son and I and a few of his friends saw Joshua Redman last night. It was absolutely wonderful.

One thing I could see is that Joshua Redman plays without any self-consciousness. This one thing makes music so freeing. We are free to be in the moment.

There is always discussion of who is the greatest jazz player of our era. For me, what makes Joshua Redman in this conversation is his melody writing. His tunes are as beautiful as Mozart. For artistic expression and melody, Joshua Redman is as good as it gets.

David Hightower - Sax Concert

Last night was a big jazz night as David had a concert with his high school jazz band and then we went to see Joshua Redman

David's solo is the second solo (Tenor Sax)

Alister McGrath - Science and Religion

Alister McGrath

I am planning on reading Alister McGrath on Science and Religion. It is important in our time to do a much better job at reconciling the truth of science with the truth of Christianity.

Biblical Worldview and Kingdom Theology

Recently, I have been attempting to study the difference between N. T. Wright and John Piper’s perspective on justification. This discussion involves the discussion of many biblical terms including salvation, justification, and the righteousness of God. In my mind, it appears that there are more foundational understandings about the biblical worldview which must be discussed prior to placing these terms into the story of redemption.

To many the big question facing the reader of the bible is how do I know that if I die tonight that I will go to heaven? Instead,  N. T. Wright insists the actual biblical question is "how do I know if I am a member of the covenant people through whom God is going to bless the whole world"? If you asked a 21st century conservative evangelical it is not likely that they would ever wrestle with whether they are part of the community through whom God is going to “set things to rights”. Isn’t  the world running headlong into hell while the church limps its way into heaven? Nothing is being "set to rights" as N.T. Wright insists. These two views of history and redemption are quite at odds. To the conservative evangelical, God’s plan is to rescue people out of the temporal world and into a life of hope for eternity. But to the biblical writers and Jesus Himself, God's plan of redemption is to build a beautiful community on earth, the church, that displays his glory and the power of the gospel? What is at odds here are two different worldviews. What is really in conflict are two differing understandings of where the story of redemption is being acted out. Is the story a story about hidden souls being redeemed in a sort of hidden way or is the story being played out in a very visible reality on earth between two very visibly distinct communities, the church and the world? Is the glory of God clearly seen in the community of the elect or is it hidden and secret?

The picture below depicts the difference quite clearly.

In this illustration, the greek or gnostic view sees the good life and the good existence as the life in heaven. In contrast, the life of earth is fallen and broken. These two aspects of reality are unchanging or static. Heaven good. Earth bad. To obtain the good life, the kingdom, one must be taken out of the life of earth to the life of heaven. As believers, according to this view, we are to expect very little out of this life but we hope for eternity in heaven.

On right in this illustration, we have a less greek and more biblical worldview. This understanding of redemption sees God's plan to bless all the people groups of the world, through faith in Jesus. N.T. Wright sees this as the covenant to Abraham. This blessing is something that God has promised to perform here on earth through His covenant people. The purpose of life is not to usher souls into a status of being qualified for heaven but to bring people into the life of the covenant and to participate in the life of the Kingdom of the Christ. We urge others to enter this life of the age to come knowing that one day, at Christ's return, our kingdom life will be had in full.

What is at stake is essentially a gnostic or mystic worldview or a biblical worldview of a full bodied hope. If we understand the story of the bible to be the unfolding of God's covenant people here on earth and the bringing of the elect into the kingdom here on earth awaiting the return of the king, then we approach terms like salvation and justification quite differently than if we see the purpose of life only the work of saving souls for a future heavenly existence.

From this worldview, it becomes much simpler to reconcile the teachings of Jesus regarding the kingdom and Paul's teachings concerning how a person is justified, i.e. how a person has assurance that they are a member of this community of the elect. Terms like salvation and justification simply mean different things if seen in the context of a kingdom worldview.

Best Song Ever - Dave Matthews Band - "Why I AM"

My kids joke cause I always say, 'This is the best song ever" about every great song. So here is the first of a series...

The is the best song ever both lyrically and musically.

Thematically, it is about seeing the value of living in light of death. The GrooGrux King is his late band man and the song is a reflection on living life to the fullest as a celebration of the life of his friend.

Also, there is definitely commentary on worldliness and futile pursuits like "us and them" and petty conflicts when in reality we all go to one place - death. So it is about perspective.

Musically - pure jam!!!!

N. T. Wright - Justification God’s Plan and Paul's Vision - Part 2

In the opening pages of his response to John Piper’s critique, N. T. Wright tries to explain his perspective on the tenor of the dialogue between himself and his reformed critics.

Wright describes a scene where we are attempting to explain to a man who “by some accident of education” had never heard that the earth revolved and rotated. You expalin the solar system and planetary motion with props and passion over a glass of wine. The next morning you wake up to the other man’s persistent knock. He takes you to a hilltop over looking the ocean. He returns to the topic of the previous night and then the great evidence arises in the east and he turns and says, “see I told you. There it is before our eyes. Do not let all these new ideas confuse you when the fact is so clear and simple and is right there plain for all to see.” Confident that he is the defender of the truth against silly sophistication, he looks at you with a look of almost pity.


How N. T. Wright Flanks Piper on the Right
What is it in the self-satisfied traditionalist that stands in the way of learning? The first few chapters in Wright’s justification attempt to convince the traditionalist to consider that maybe there exist strongholds that are impeding their ability to see scriptures clearly. If we can all agree on a few hermeneutical principles, maybe some progress in the dialogue can be made. So here are the principles as I see them that Wright suggests:
We must look at everything Paul says. If our system cannot explain or account for some passages, then we must be open to a new perspective which can actually account for the entire system of Pauline thought. This suggestion is fundamentally conservative in that this principle is appealing to scripture. A good understanding of scripture must be able to assist in understanding other scriptures.
A sub set of this principle would be that in order to understand a passage we need to be able to understand the entire argument of the passage and how that passage fits in a larger argument.
As an illustration of this point, Wright uses the analogy of building a puzzle using all the puzzle pieces. If we refuse to use all the puzzle pieces and then force ourselves to make a picture out of the puzzle pieces remaining, we will not get a good picture or a clear understanding of the intended scene. So too, if we do not take every passage into account, we will not be able to understand the entire picture of Pauline thought nor will we have much success or assurance that we understand what little bits we do think we have pieced together.

A second principle is that it is important to look to scriptures and the world of scriptures as opposed to tradition and the world of the 16th century and the thought patterns of the 16th-17th centuries as the authority in scripture interpretation. This point is so obvious and humorous at the same time. Wright is clearly flanking Piper on the right. Is it conservative to point the believers to the 1st century or the 16th? To scripture or tradition? Should we illuminate Paul with the world of Paul or the world of Calvin and Luther?
A great example of this principle is Luther’s own appeal to scripture and the world of scripture to make one of the key revelations of the reformation. Luther appealed to 1st century usage of the word metanoia. Luther insisted that a more accurate translation of Pauline though would be “to repent” and not “to do penance”. On what basis could Luther make this argument but to go back to scripture and the use of such word elsewhere in the first century. Wright is out reforming the reformed purists by using examples of how the reformers did exactly what he is doing, (i.e. looking to scriptures as the final authority as against our traditions.
A last example of this is to make the distinction between the questions we are attempting to answer via the text and the questions Paul was trying to answer via his text. ewvery generation has its controversies and every generations theologies are an attempt to answer these controversies. But isn’t it more important to understand what Paul problems Paul was trying to solve when he wrote the text. The aim is to avoid eisegesis and get back to exegesis.

If we are honest, each of Wright’s principles are an appeal to true scriptural conservatism as opposed to a conservatism that attempts to conserve tradition. Indeed, N. T. Wright is flanking John Piper on the right.

next post: A little more on worldview (like this old post)

N. T. Wright On Justification - Part 1

NT Wright On Justification - Part 1

I am reading N. T. Wright’s book on justification and John Piper’s critique of N. T. Wright as well and John Owen’s original work on “Justification by Faith” (or here). My goal is actually personal in that I believe my own spiritual growth needs a big dose of grace. As we receive grace, we become more gracious. I have six children and I need a lot of grace to remain gracious. I find good exposition to be sanctifying and inspiring for me.

My blog plan is that while I read I will summarize and make comment.

The first thing one must understand and appreciate is how remarkably conservative N. T. Wright is. Many conservatives seem to paint Wright as a theological liberal but in the pantheon of New Testament scholars N. T. Wright is stand in the solidly if not even extremely conservative camp. In fact in this book, Wright’s approach is to flank Piper and co. on the right. It is Wright who appeals to scripture as opposed to tradition. On this note and with many illustrations, Wright begins his book, as he must begin all his more thorough works, with an appeal to method and an explanation of the role worldview of the many actors in hermeneutic process.

An Appeal to Method and the Role of Worldview

This section and a far more expounded discussion of method (see The New Testament and the People of God) is extremely important to understand thoroughly. The basic point is so simple. The reader must be very aware that, as a subject, he or she plays a role in the reading of the text. If one is humble in light of this awareness, the reader will seek all manner of evidence in an attempt to get to the mind of the author of the biblical text. What we are after is not our experience of the text or confirmation of our previously held convictions regarding the meaning of the text. We are always after the illusive meaning of the text itself. Therefore, it is vital that we tough the world that the author touched by immersing ourselves in the world of the author. This process is called contextualization. Is it not more important to learn about the world of Paul, than the world of the reformers if we are after and seeking to understand the bible. This process of radical doubt concerning our own preconceptions and even doubt about our traditions is the basis of conservatism and sola scriptura.

N. T. Wright illustrates this principle with many illustrations but these will have to wait for tomorrow....

How To Survive a Mid-Life Crisis

(this is part of a larger essay...It starts by explaining why the ego of a person starts to fight for survival in the mid forties)

What is a Mid-life Crisis?

The human self develops a heightened view of itself which he or she desires to project out into the world. For men, this projection of the ego is accomplished through achievements. Throughout life, a tension exists between what the person is in life in the present, his status and accomplishments, and what he would like to be or thinks he ought to be recognized as. This psychic tension must be resolved. Throughout life, we most often resolve this tension of our current position and circumstances and what we desire to be by projecting our vision of our self out into the future. We may not be accomplished and strong and victorious but we can conceive that we one day might accomplish all that our ego sets out to do in the world.

A crisis occurs at 45-55 when a man realizes that the resolution of his shame and pride, the desires of the self, through the acquisition of a preferred future is not likely. Time is running out. At this point in life, the strategy of using a projection into the future of a better you or better position or circumstances is no longer tenable. The psychic tension is irresolvable using the future projection method. It is not likely that the self will be able to affirm itself through future accomplishments. The ego begins to go into crisis. If a man is not well practiced in the process of voluntary death to self, he will not know how to put his ego to death. Instead, his ego will fight to create, before time runs out, the preferred future or vision of himself. The ego refuses to die and begins to seek affirmation in manic fashion.

Death to Self

When encountering a person or developing a relationship with a person, if one is well versed in the problem of human pride, it is not difficult to predict that this man will have a mid-life crisis. Jesus said, “If anyone wishes to follow me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Everyday provides opportunities to die to self. Life is social and men are constantly managing their place in the politics of their social networks and relationships. The disciple hates this jockeying and managing one’s power and position and the perceptions of others. To live on a spiritual basis is to actively cease participation in this worldly dynamic. When a person disrespects us, which happens many times in a given day, we actively allow this person to hold this opinion. We forgive and we cease managing people’s perceptions. We are not in management. Only God is in management. It is easy to see and observe if a person knows this practice of death to self. Death to self has thousands of permutations because life provides thousands of opportunities and different circumstances to die to self, to allow our ego to be humbled both before others and before ourselves. But most men are continually acting according the to the worldly system through which the individual attempts to project himself as successful, mature, wise, healthy and kind.

‘Wow, he is skilled and together. I wish I was like him”. This is how every man wants to be perceived, and in the minute relationships of life, at home, at work, in church, we size up ourselves and the other men. In each encounter with another person, egos are present and seeking power and recognition of some sort. This is the process which the disciple of Jesus is actively disengaging from. The disciple must be aware of the process, and, in this awareness, it is easy to observe other men acting out according to the desires of the pride and ego. So it is easy for a follower of Jesus to be aware of whether another man is attempting to follow the teachings of Jesus in the midst of our interactions with them or whether they are following the motivations of their self, their ego. Are we “denying our selves, taking up our cross, and following Jesus” or are we following the desires of our self?

So here is the first key to surviving a mid life: We must start learning how to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Jesus in the small areas of life, many years before we reach this critical age of our mid-forties.

Learning to Deny Self Daily

1. Seizing the Opportunity (in the moment): The Actual Game
2. Silencing the Self
3. Asking for power and faith to deny self - Mediating the situation with the presence/intimacy with Jesus Christ.
1. Strength to resist the persistent ego (refusal to die)
2. Faith to see it as the cross (obedience to God)
3. Compassion for your adversary (he is sick; this battle is sick; the whole war is sick)
4. Comfort and affirmation as a child of God
4. Death to Self in the Big Opportunities (reflection) : Practice
1. Sober moment of reflection
2. Thorough inventory

Rigorous Honesty - Enabler to Discipleship

The Enabler of Rigorous Honesty

The key enabler of discipleship is a friendship of rigorous honesty. Though the discipleship process is fundamentally informal in that we do not go through a book or a set of principles in a formal order, the process does have a few key characteristics. The key characteristic that is most central is that the relationship is one of rigorous honesty. The two or three people that make up this intimate friendship are rigorously honest with each other. The reason that rigorous honesty is so central is because of the nature of discipleship itself.

Discipleship is the process through which Jesus expands his rule and reign over the motivations of our inner person or spirit. Our spirit is here defined as the hidden driving forces that motivate our behaviors. For example, I find myself being over bearing and easily disturbed by the rowdy behavior of my children. I try to be more patient but I find myself speaking forcefully to my children to get them to behave. I easily lose my patience. My behavior problem is my speaking forcefully and even out of disgust, but this is not my motivational or spiritual problem.

In the context of my intimate friendships, the discipleship process, we would discuss why I behave the way I do. My impatience is merely a fruit of my spiritual condition and motivation. If I attempt to fight the impatience with my children directly, I will always fail because I am not dealing with the root cause, the motivation or spirit behind the behavior. Our problem is ultimately a spiritual problem and therefore requires a spiritual solution. My fruit is easily observable and therefore easy to confess, but the real sin beneath the surface is my own little secret. This inner life motivation is both much more difficult discern and when discovered much more difficult to admit. At this point, in order to grow and in order for Jesus to rule over my heart, I need to be rigorously honest with myself and let the Holy Spirit guide me to discern my spiritual condition. In fact, I might need my friends help as well, but they need to be gentle about it.

So, continuing this example, I would quiet myself and answer the “why” question. Why do I get so easily disturbed by my children’s energetic behavior? The fact is that I am embarrassed. They are violating a social rule. Well-behaved children are orderly, and good parents have well-behaved children (or so the social rule says). I do not want to be judged by others. I fear their judgments, and so, I am willing to violate meekness in order to get my children to obey the unspoken social rules. As a result of this motivation, I lose my patience and show disgust for my children’s behavior out of a spirit of fear of people’s opinions of me as a skilled parent. I want to be seen as wise and mature and functional and therefore I shame my kids. I am trying really to put on a show before others as a neat and tidy family. It is all motivated by hypocrisy, pride and fear of people not love for my kids.

The fact is that this understanding of family and parenting is a fairy tale of how life works and living in a fairy tale of religion is a horrible burden for children to be raised under. Such a religion of social norming pressures is bad religion. Do I really want to raise my children under this toxic legalism? If I do not want my children to be raised under this fear of people’s judgmentalism, then I need to confess the driving motivation of fear of other people’s opinions and realize that this is the real motivation for my impatience. I need to describe this condition of my heart to my friends and surrender this pettiness as the root of so much of my religious life. I want to be seen by others as mature and together, and this insecurity and fear is the real reason that I get impatient with my kids. God deliver me from acting out of this fear, help me to see it and direct my children with love, patience and meekness, not fear and impatience. Admitting that I am so petty and motivated by other people’s opinions is a blow to my ego and quite humbling to confess before my friends, but these are the sinful motives that Jesus wants to deliver us from through the process of discipleship.

In the above example, I hope I have illustrated the role that rigorous honesty plays in the discipleship process. Rigorous honesty is the confession not of our behavior but our inner motivations or our spirit, the driving force behind our behaviors. It is far more revealing and difficult to say that much of my religion is for show and that I am driven by my fear of people’s opinions than to simply state the obvious: that I get impatient with my kids. The deeper confession of our real motivation requires a death to self. My projection of my desire to be seen as mature is crucified by the act of confessing that in reality I am a religious hypocrite who is often motivated by a desire to appear mature and in order to keep up this act I shame my kids. The very act of confessing this motivation reveals my spiritual poverty which is the very thing my ego is trying to hide. Rigorous honesty is the taking up of the cross and crucifying my ego and how I want to use religion to appear to have dignity and spiritual health. The fact of the matter is none of us have any spiritual dignity or health apart from abiding in grace and an awareness of our own spiritual poverty. Herein lies the cross and the self-denial that is required for Jesus to rule over our hearts. Rigorous honesty is the cross of discipleship. It is this process of rigorous honesty that our ego resists, but it is precisely this rigorous honesty that enables the process of discipleship.

I use this example as one of many that I could use. We all have sexual problems and the root motivations of these problems is all tied up in a sordid lot of motivations that are quite alarming to us when we allow our motivations to come into our awareness. We all get angry and resentful for all sorts of reasons. We are motivated by a million forms of self-centered fear.

So how are we to lead?

Here is the great lesson. First, this process of discerning our real motives and exposing them to the light of our own awareness and the rule and reign of Jesus is a process that the disciple needs to maintain throughout his or her life. Life is filled with trials and these trials lead us into anger and self-pity and a myriad of other sinful attitudes. Because this process is on-going Christians need these discipleship relationships in their life throughout their life. I personally call and meet with my ministry partners multiple times a week for honest discussion about my spiritual condition. Because of this on-going need and because this process is to be the life of the church, any effective leadership team needs to maintain relationships immersed in this level of rigorous honesty. For, if the discipleship method of the church is one of rigorous honesty with respect to our hidden motivations, those calling others into discipleship must be thoroughly acquainted with this process. How often the church’s leaders who design the discipleship process of the church are themselves unaware of their own spiritual condition and unable to discern the motives that drive their behaviors. We do not live in such a level of honesty pursuit of God to model this process to others but to understand discipleship and know the process intimately. With such a thorough commitment and understanding of what it means to have one’s spirit under the dominion of Jesus Christ will greatly affect the tenor of all a leader teaches and preaches. Unless the ministry leaders of a congregation themselves are transparent and rigorously honesty, there is no way to build a disciple-making community.

Barnanke 01/04/2009 - Regulation Not Monetary Policy Most Surgical Means to Prevent Housing Bubble

C-SPAN Video Player - Bernanke Calls for Regulation First, then Interest Hikes

This speech by Bernanke is very simple to understand. His speech has two parts to make his ultimate point.
1. He compares the actual target rate with the rate suggested by the Taylor model. He modifies the Taylor Model with consideration as to whether variations in inflation are considered temporary or permanent. IF we make this adjustment then the actual target rate was pretty much in line with teh suggestion of the Taylor Model.
2. He shows that this "good" monetary policy if the only variable in influencing housing prices, we see that housing prices significantly out paced the influence of monetary piolicy (i.e. interest rates). In fact we see that LENDING PRACTICES, appear to have generated the new demand for homes and the subsequent housing bubble. The introduction of proliferation of esoteric products which offer exceedingly low initial payments account for the greatest shift in housing prices and thus the housing bubble.
3. Therefore to avoid the housing bubble, which led to the most significant economic crisis in modern history, the primary cause was LENDING PRACTICES. Therefore, regulation of lenders would have been the most effective tool in avoiding the housing bubble.
4. Therefore, regulation of lending practices must be implemented if we are to avoid a recurrance of the recent economic problems.

brad

We are all Tiger Woods

WP: Tiger does not stand alone - Washington Post- nbcsports.msnbc.com
This is a really good article about Tiger's all too human problem.

Sarah's Piano Recital

David's Piano Recital

What Makes the Good News Good? Seeing the Glory of Christ" :: Desiring God

Video of What Makes the Good News Good? Seeing the Glory of Christ

This is a good sermon on what we are trying to preach this weekend.

1. The Gospel of the Kingdom is the promise that in Christ the quality of life of heaven is available now
2. The Cheif characteristic of heaven is the presence of God
3. The chief characeteristic of the quality of life of heaven is direct, intimate relationship with God
4. The kingdom of God is available means intimacy with God is available.
5. The Gospel promises intimate relationship with God. (John 17:3; John 4; Romans 8:15-17)
6. This relationship with God is life transforming . (2 Cor 3:16-18: Phil 4 (cast anxiety....)

Therefore..
1. Believe in the promise of life transformation through relationship with God
2. Pursue intimacy with God.

amen
brad

Todd Hunter Explains What is Wrong with Emergent

Todd Hunter Interview where he says the following:

In the interview, Todd Hunter mentions “two big problems” with the Emerging movement. (I have my own problems with the movement but we’ll discuss those at another time). Todd’s problems with the Emerging movement are:

“First, the emergents are so sensitive to issues of community, relationship, egalitarianism, and being non-utilitarian in their relationships, that evangelism has simply become a synonym for manipulation—a foul ball, relationally. If you and I were work colleagues and I built a relationship in which I could influence your journey toward Christ, that would be considered wrong in these circles. I cannot be friends with you if I intend to lead you to Christ. “

As Todd points out, the Emerging Movement isn’t something you can “broad-brush”. It’s much too slippery to get a handle on enough to make any real, substantial criticisms, (which is one of my problems with it, but I digress).

In Todd’s response I would tend to agree, as he states it, but I would also agree with those who feel it’s manipulative to make friends for the purpose of evangelism. I guess I would amend Todd’s statement to say, “I cannot be friends with you only because I intend to lead you to Christ.” It’s the recruitment motive that bothers me, and I think a few others, when it comes to targeting people as conquests rather than learning to love people no matter what their faith, or whether or not they eventually become followers of Jesus. I think what has to be intentional is our love of others, not evangelism itself. I believe in intentionally loving someone and praying for God to reveal Himself to them, but I do not believe in intentionally targeting someone simply to convert them to my faith.

One helpful question I believe we should ask is, “Am I willing to be someone’s friend for the rest of my life, even if they never convert to my faith?” If at any point in the relationship I would abandon the friendship and move on to a better prospect then, I believe, we’re not really fulfilling the Lord’s command to love others. Love isn’t conditional. It should remain and be sustained regardless of whether or not it is reciprocated. Love should continue apart from agreement on matters of faith.

Todd’s second problem is the one I take the most issue with.

“Second, after 10 or 12 years of the emerging church, you have to ask where anything has been built. Evangelism has been so muted and the normal building of structures and processes hasn't moved forward because there's no positive, godly imagination for doing either evangelism or leadership.”

Thanks for saying this for all us who value the proclam,ation of the Gospel and the use of wise method as opposed to the emergent organic way.

Bono - Rebranding America

This Bono Article explains why the president might be able to have great effect on global peace by attacking extreme poverty and fulfill his commitment to

“... support the Millennium Development Goals, and approach next year’s summit with a global plan to make them a reality. And we will set our sights on the eradication of extreme poverty in our time.”

Surfacing the Problem by Knowing the Destination – The Ultimate Goal

But the Wedding is in New York
Picture a man preparing for a trip to New York. He begins planning maybe a few months in advance. He books a room. He books a flight. He packs his bags. He prepares the agenda for the event when he arrives at his destination. In this case, the man is very excited about the trip because he is going to be the best man in his best friend’s wedding. He has prepared a speech and prayed that he will be a blessing to his friend. He has even prayed for his friend’s marriage that the couple will find purpose, friendship, and satisfaction in raising a healthy family together.
Our traveler rides to the airport with his wife and is filled with a sense of peace and confidence. This is going to be a great wedding, he says to himself. His flight is flight 87 for New York. He checks his bags and finds the gate. He sits next to another man in the waiting area. He gets his boarding pass and boards the plane. The planes are all lined up waiting their turn to accelerate down the run way.

The planes on this runway are all 737s and they take off to the East and fly over the Los Angeles basin before realigning themselves as needed for their ultimate destination. Our traveler has taken this flight before and likes to look out the window over the great deserts of Arizona and Texas as the flight takes its path to the South before heading up the East coast to New York. This particular flight lands in New York near sunset and the view coming up the eastern seaboard and into Manhattan is profound. After flying over 2,000 miles of desert and then the farms of the Eastern United States, the astute passenger can see the great massive city in the distance. As the plane draws nearer, you realize there are 8 million stories in this city. You feel as if you can see into the apartment windows and into the lives of the various cultures of New York: a Puerto Rican family here, the famous Italian and Irish districts there, Harlem and the birth of Jazz to the North of the city, wall street and the New York stock exchange. I picture the history of so many of the American people groups. My mind thinks of African Americans listening to a Joe Louis fight around a radio with hope of freedom and dignity. As the plane enters the city and fly’s out over the Atlantic, the statue of liberty comes into site.

I remember when I first visited New York with my soon to be wife. We rode the subway into the city from JFK airport. We got off the subway and walked up the stairs to the streets. When I stepped out onto the street, I could not control the emotion as I began to cry. The massive skyscrapers are like no others on earth. The racial tension is palpable. The story of humanity is distilled in every scent and every sight.

All these memories fill our traveler’s mind as he prays for his family back home. The plane hovers over the LA basin and begins to gain altitude. With his eyes closed, he hears the pilot speak over the PA system as the plane backs to the North. “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to flight 87. We will be landing in San Francisco in 56 minutes”. Our traveler’s eyes dart open as he realizes, he isn’t going to New York.

The Meaning of the Parable
God puts in our hearts a visions for the great city. He has shown us that we can arrive at our destination just as the first century church did. Our model is Acts chapter two. We are part of a great story of each generation struggling to build a community immersed in the presence of the Holy Spirit and directed into holiness by the teachings of Jesus. Contemplation of this purpose and the hope of arrival is in itself life transforming and filled with peace and joy.

As communities begin to launch down the run way toward their destination, they all look similar. The accelerate down the same runway all headed in the same direction. This is Christianity. We all have the same faith in Jesus as our savior. We all have the same ticket. We are all on flight 87. BUT the fact is we all have different visions of where we are going. Some understandings of the ultimate destination are quite mature and biblical. Some are merely going on a vacation. But ultimately, it is the pastor, the pilot in this analogy that will determine the ultimate destination.
Not to offend any Bay Area residents, San Francisco is a beautiful city and all, but it ain’t New York City. The Transamerica building isn’t the Empire State Building. Oakland isn’t the Bronx. Berkeley isn’t Greenwich Village. There is a Broadway street in San Francisco but it isn’t the Broadway. So too if we seek to become like the successful church down the road, we will not find ourselves in Acts 2.

Acts 2 or The 20th Century Models
There is only one destination for the New Testament church and that is to model itself in principle after the prototype church of Acts chapter 2. The New Testament has a wonderful statement that teaches us to look to God’s model and not each other as our goal. Paul said of some early Christians, “They compare themselves with themselves and have no understanding”. It is not unless we seek as our destination the New Testament ideal that we will travel in the proper direction and find unity in the body.

The first and most important key to understanding the Acts Chapter 2 community is that the Holiness and beauty of the Acts 2 community is impossible to attain naturally. As we set the target or the preferred future to which we are going to strive to enter, the vision must elicit the response, “We can’t get there from here”. A key principle of faith is that apart from God it is impossible to get from “our here” to “God’s there”. This is true in our individual lives and it is just as true as we set our vision for our corporate life. So often, we settle for less than God’s vision because we cannot see how the community we are part of could ever get from here to there. So instead, we set more “practical” goals. We choose to attract people through natural means. We use good music, a naturally charismatic speaker. We avoid challenging the listeners with the uncompromised biblical standard of sacrifice. We catter to people’s natural inabilities and

The Standard of the Acts 2 prototype is so beautiful that this ideal reveals to us our wretchedness and sin. It is the uncompromising contemplation of this biblical model of community that brings us to a place of mourning and spiritual poverty. In the Acts 2 church no one had any needs that were not cared for. In our communities, if a man loses his job is it not possible that he could lose his home as well. Is there not someone in the church to pay his mortgage for a time and another to offer him a job? Is this love the norm in our community? If it is not, then contemplation of the biblical model drive us to ask why is this not our experience and what do we need to do to align our lives with the kingdom model.

Does the lady in the pew next to us in church know how to get to our houses? Are our lives and our communities intimate enough that we take our meals together and meet regularly in one another’s homes? Is such intimacy threatening to us? If it is, can we say that the gospel has set us free from shame? Are we free from the curse in Adam if we still hide and live guarded lives?

peace,

Fear of Man and Fear of God - Piper

This is very good. Set aside 45 minutes. This sermon is about death to the real root cause of unbelief - ego.

Jubilee - What The Bible Says about Economics Part 1

Great Graph from Paul Krugman

This image is powerful...What does this show? Well the great times of wealth polarization were 1928, directly prior to the great depression, and the first decade of the 21st century. Why does wealth polarization lead to depressions? It is very simple. It is like monopoly, when the common person, the middle class, has very little discretionary funds, then demand falls and depressions/recessions happen.

In the 2008-2009 example, the falling demand was temporarily held at bay by increasing the value of homes and thus giving the false perception of wealth to any people. These people then leveraged their wealth by taking out seconds on their homes. This cycle put cash in people's pockets and a surge of demand. But when the bubble burst, the true lack of wealth amongst most consumers was revealed and consumer confidence, (i.e. demand) fell drastically.

So the real cause of the problem is the polarization of wealth. Thus, the biblical solution - Jubilee. Jubilee is a time of wealth re-distribution and the forgiveness of debts. In our day this is known as, bankruptcies and loan modifications.
brad

My Story

I was asked to give my testimony on Easter so I thought I would post it here:

My story is the story of a seeker. This process of seeking began when I was about 10 years old. I remember at 10 or so I saw a World Vision television show about the 1973 famine in Tanzania, East Africa. Prior to this documentary, I was unaware of the problem of poverty. The contrast between the affluence of my neighborhood and our nation with the reality of suffering in other parts of the world was irreconcilable. To me as a teenager I was profoundly aware of this ethical idea. What alarmed me even more than the suffering itself was that no one else seemed to care. My awareness of poverty and of the apathy of people around me was reflected in the music I listened to, the clothes I wore, and my relationships with my peers and my parents. It even affected how hard I studied.

At university I began to study the root causes of this problem of poverty and I discovered politics. I was studying to be a medical doctor. My major was Medical Anthropology and I wanted to work on the most fundamental problems of infectious diseases and clean water with an emphasis in East Africa. As I studied the historical roots of these people's suffering and the realities of global trade and economics, I came to the realization that the problem was not only human apathy but was the result of the intentional acts of the powerful. What was needed was a political solution. Needless to say, I took a serious turn to the left.

Our test case was the problem of South African Apartheid. My activism got me face to face meetings with some very powerful people. We spoke truth to power, but I was profoundly struck by these men's stubbornness. Eventually our frustration resulted in an escalation of the conflict, and my friends and I found ourselves in jail. At this time y heroes were Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Jesus. All spoke truth to power, met resistance with courage, and died well fighting for the poor. When I graduated from college my understanding of Jesus was of a political activist motivated by compassion who was killed as a result of his advocacy for justice and his compassion for the poor.

After college, for some reason I remember I attended a youth group at a church. I remember arguing with the youth pastor, who appeared rather square to me, that Jesus did NOT die for his sin. His advice was that I read the Bible and start in the Gospel of John. Never one to back down from a challenge, I went home, found a Bible and opened to the Gospel of John.

The story begins with John the Baptist's first encounter with Jesus before Jesus even started any public ministry. Seeing Jesus walking toward him, John the Baptist says "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." This verse struck me. I read it again and again and I began to weep. In one moment, I realized that though Jesus did speak truth to power, this is not why he died. Jesus dies to actually solve the problem at the root of all our suffering and our apathy and our stubbornness. Jesus died to solve the root problem of our nature. For the first tie, I saw that I was also in the grips of a moral struggle with sin and my ego and that I was losing. I was convinced in an instant that I was a sinner and was fundamentally just as spiritually needy and destitute as anyone else. I realized in that moment that I did not know God but that I needed His help. Jesus dies to reconcile me to God and to transform me from the inside out. Jesus dies to save me from my demons. In an instant, I understood that our problem is not an economic problem or even a political problem but a spiritual problem: that my problem and our problem mattered to God.

Many of the things I learned through my searching as a young man I still believe, but where each of the roads I went down ended in a dead-end, I now have hope and faith that if God is with us, He can transform both us and those we meet because of the work Jesus did on the cross, and because Jesus is still alive, we are called to serve him and work with Him to expand His kingdom, His justice and to live according to His compassion

Balanace Sheet recession and the Revenge of the Glut

Revenge of the Glut - Paul Krugman

The best explanation of the financial crisis I have heard and it's solution came from an NPR expert from Japan. He explained how property owners are experiencing balance sheet problems.

The result is very obvious. Our balance sheets are wacked so we must recover by saving. This savings a has lead to a ridiculous problem of the paradox of thrift. The paradox is that if everyone attempts to repair their balance sheets at the same time and get financially health all at once, then the economy as a whole goes to hell in a handbasket.

Can I get a witness?

The solution is that we allow the government to temporarily and intentionally get its balance sheet into trouble and spend while we all save. I do see a problem with this fix. The trouble with this solution is that the government already has a balance sheet problem. BUT, nonetheless, if they government tries to fix it's balance sheet problem now, like Hoover did, then the problem will get as severe as the '20's.

Worse Than Expected on the Economy

Worse Than Expected on the Economy

The current economic crisis is a moral issue in that Christians are called to incarnationally empathize (feel with) the suffering around us. We need to prepare to be on the leading edge of the crisis. The fact is the economy is in a total melt down and we need to have answers for people, well being answers, for people who will be on the streets. The future is not going to be "OK".

Jesus calls us to understand poverty and God's provision as Jesus did. California is at 10.5% unemployment and this is only the beginning of the down turn.

People have told me that this is not "relevant", but nothing could be more relevant than real suffering. The Day of reckoning is here. Americans have not faced the facts of our ego-driven greed for consumption and we have found ourselves in incredible debt. Now our balance sheets are underwater. This has at it's root a spiritual problem.

Robert Reich: Finally a Progressive Budget

Robert Reich's Blog: Finally a Progressive Budget

This is so right on!!! Reich understands so thoroughly the real roots of the recession side of our economic problems.

Praise for the Obama budget. I am so partisan; it is funny

Read Stuff..To be an asset to God's world

What I read and why I read it.
I use to not read at all. I know that sounds strange but for about 15 years I read only the bible and 18th and early 20th century sermons. I am still very glad I focused on this limited reading for so many years. I am a better person for it. BUT...this year I began to read other stuff...

I read:
1. Newspapers. I read a lot of news because I think the human condition and economics is on God's heart. People are suffering and understanding why they suffer and putting policy positions in historical perspectie and context is important. So I read...
2. Biography. In the last 12 months, I have read a few. Einstein, FDR, Lincoln.
3. Robert Reich and Paul Krugman....

just a bit about me.

A discussion about the economy with Fred Mishkin, Mark Zandi, Nouriel Roubini and Nina Easton in Business

Thirty nine minutes but really good on the Obama housing plan. Basic outcome, they need to cut actual principle of the mortgages.

What the centrists have wrought

What the centrists have wrought - Paul Krugman
Here is the bottom line on the stimulus.
It is such a drag.
I sold all my stock.
We are in for the real deal. It seems Herbert Hoover has risen from the dead.

Luke 10:38 - 42 Someone Greater than John Piper is Here

If I was to think of anyone who I would like to have a mentoring relationship with, it would be John Piper.

A fantasy might be that Piper called me up and said he wanted to be my mentor. He says that I will have opportunity to teach at the church he pastors and as I grow and prove faithful that my responsibilities would increase. If such an opportunity opened up to me, I would drop everything and do whatever Pastor Piper asked of me. I would work very hard to succeed. This would be the opportunity of a lifetime.

Well, the fact is that someone greater than John Piper is here. Maybe you would think of some other over achiever but you get the point. When Jesus offers us relationship with Him through the Holy Spirit, this relationship is "the one thing necessary". No longer does reading books really matter. TV and entertainment seem pretty irrelevant. Being mentored one on one with Jesus, being called to be a disciple of Jesus is the only really important opportunity in life that gives our life purpose. Seeing this relationship with Jesus as a more practical opportunity than if someone with power and position in the world offered you a one on one internship is a proper perspective on what the kingdom actually offers us.

When I remember this living relationship in these terms, I begin to strip down my life and prioritize my listening to Jesus and studying his word. Jesus, what spiritual direction are you giving me today? What skill set are you teaching me in order to be faithful in little so that I can receive greater responsibility in your church and with your people and on your earth? Jesus is the one with power and position in the big picture and He is the one who has the skill and the knowledge to teach us what is really vital in life to true success and true influence.

peace,
brad

No Solutions- The Obama Gap - Unemployment Figures Dec 2008

The Obama Gap - Paul Krugman
Unemployment Numbers for December 2008
Even Paul Krugman, appears unwilling to say what the real problem is. The fact is the real problem is still not being solved.
The problem is wealth polarization and wage stagnation. This unwillingness to discuss the real problem makes the problem that much bigger.

The fact of the matter is that the only people who have the kind of money needed to jump start the economy is the rich.

I warned about this in September 2008 - The Solution is Wage Infalation via Tax Policy
and again in October 2008 - Stimulus and the Need for Wealth Distribution
The problem is simple. In order to compete on Wall Street companies need to make huge, huge profits. The result is even if a company makes huge profits, their stock prices fall because someone else makes huge, huge profit. So to be competitive companies must lower wages.

The only way to solve this is for government to change the rules of the game. A good example would be to return to income tax levels on the rich that are pre-Reagan.

In that there is no real solution (i.e. this is never going to happen), this is my last political post on this blog. For anything political see The Post-Partisan.

Ross, Holbrooke, Haass To Serve As Envoys - Marc Ambinder

Ross, Holbrooke, Haass To Serve As Envoys

Huge news, Dennis Ross reported in as envoy/negotiator on everything Iran. All I can say is - OMG.

There is absolutely no doubt in Obama's very strong even hawkish pro-Israel position. This is fantastic news for Israel. I am reading Statecraft currently and, basically, Ross is a hero of mine.

Tactics for the Middle East, Barack Obama and The Mideast’s Ground Zero

The Mideast’s Ground Zero - Thomas Friedman's piece
piece this morning makes a few very important points on recent middle east historical events. I would like to expound a bit on how this relates to Christian support for president-elect Obama.

What we have currently in the Israel/Palestinian region is a shift in who the real power players are. Previously, the PLO/PA were the representatives of the Palestinian position. This made a two-state solution, given a few very difficult sticking points, a possibility. Today, we have a different scenario. With Hamas and Hezbollah in power on the borders of Israel the real power brokers are Israel and Iran. With the combination of a shi'a state in Iraq and Iranian puppets in both South Lebanon and Gaza, a two-state solution no longer is practically on the table.

This scenario has occurred at least in part as a result of a few huge tactical and even strategic blunders. The USA supported elections in Gaza prior to the setting up of a state with any constitutional institutional structure. The result is that Hamas, an Islamist party, took power. This total rookie move was basically putting the wine of democracy in a vacuous political wineskin. The wineskin of democracy MUST BE A CONSTITUTION WHICH PROTECTS THE RIGHTS OF ALL CITIZENS and institutions which solidify the development of a sovereign state. The result has been that Iran is now bordering Israel through its proxy Hamas. This is a decidedly anti-two state solution and the state that is threatened is Israel.

So the strategy now has to be to undermine the Islamic narrative of Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran. Nothing accomplishes this vital strategic necessity better than the support and success of Barack Hussein Obama and a changing of the face of America in the political mind of the Palestinians. America must convince the populations Gaze and the West bank and Southern Lebanon that their prosperity is not linked to Hamas and Hezbollah but relationship with the West. What is needed then is most likely a new political player other than the Palestinian Authority in the areas of the future Palestinian state.

Easy to Understand Krugman on Stimulus

Stimulus arithmetic (wonkish but important) - Paul Krugman

Around where I hang out, people are knee jerk anti-government. I avoid the topic as much as possible, but if anyone is interested, the above Krugman article explains the need for government intervention pretty well. Krugman has been very good over the past week so read all his blog and his op-eds to get what I think is at least an intelligent discussion of the options.

Why I am Not a Fundamentalist - A Brief Look at the Cosmology of Genesis 1

The "fight for Genesis" has been a rallying point of fundamentalists for over a century since Darwin published The Origin of Species in 1859. What fundamentalists have been fighting for is the wrong headed defense of Mosaic or Ancient Cosmology. What such a reading of the text of Genesis misses is that the bible is not intending to communicate the ancient cosmology as a tenet of the faith. Therefore, to make ancient cosmology a creedal belief places the progress of human discovery at odds with faith in Jesus as the Christ. Such a link between Ancient cosmology and faith in Jesus places an unnecessary stumbling block to faith.

Instead, it is better to understand the worldview of the biblical writers as one of the tools the writer necessarily used to communicate the culturally transcendent truths about God's relationship with man throughout history from Abraham to the present.

For example, Genesis 1 states the following:

6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

Moses is stating that God separated the waters, some above in the heavens and some below the air on earth. The expanse between the two bodies of water was called sky. Later, Moses places the stars and the like in the sky. This is the Ancient cosmology. This view of how the universe is laid out was prior to our discovery of the water cycle of evaporation, condensation and precipitation and was a common sense explanation of where rain came from.

Remember, less than 300 years ago, human beings universally believed that there were four basic elements: earth, fire, water and air. No one had described accurately the idea that one element could exist in the three basic states of air, liquid, and solid. These discoveries which we take for granted today are part of our cosmology.

The key here is that you cannot expect an ancient writer to speak from a worldview that was not possible for him to comprehend. God inspires men to write, but, nonetheless, God uses human instruments to perform His work including writing the Bible.

So when we take into account the worldview of the writer, we must look to discover the BIG revolutionary "aha" that the writer was explaining to his contemporary readers. In Genesis, Moses was not questioning whether there existed two bodies of water separated by the expanse of sky. What he was questioning was the understanding that the different elements and objects of the universe were the creation or eminence of DIFFERENT DEITIES.

Moses the Prophet of Monotheism!!!!
In Moses' world, the Israelites had just come out of Egypt where there was a god of the river and a god of the frogs and a god of the Sun etc. The story of Moses is the story that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the One true God of Heaven and Earth and all that is on the earth and under the earth and in the seas and in the sky and the rain and the sun and everything.

Moses tells this revelation using the tools of his culture and ancient cosmology. To miss the radical proclamation of the Lord Almighty as Lord of All and instead focus on the cosmological understanding of human society of 4000 years ago is to not only miss the point but to place ignorance as a prerequisite to faith in God Almighty.

I do not think that the placing of such a stumbling block between faith and those God loves will be something that will be so easily forgiven.

They Used Us for Our Faith

Last night, my family and I watched the movie, Traitor starring Don Cheadle.

There was one line in the movie that I can totally relate to. The Cheadle character is speaking to his friend (who is a Islamist) and he says,

"They used us for our faith"

The Cheadle character is trying to show his friend how his faith made him committed and the politically minded used that conviction to their political benefit but distorted the faith in the mean time.

I can relate. What is so difficult about being in such a situation is that we as individuals haven't been down this road of serving God with our whole being before and it often takes years to figure out who is real and who is just using us for our radical comittment. Someties our desire to serve God in a tangible way makes us vulerable to being used by people with a worldly or political agenda.

I do not think the church has learned its lesson but the fact is, "They used us for our faith".

This is Obama's HUD announcement. Very excellent for the first three minutes or so...BUT..
At about 3:30 notice how Pres Obama increases his pace and then at 3:45 he is blistering. He needs to go back and read his FDR books. FDR wouldn't mess up the pace. As a preacher, I notice this kinda stuff. Enjoy...Man, this guy has the goods.

Laying a Foundation of Grace – Part 1

In our weekly small group, we have been focusing on grace and have been camping out on the saying of Jesus, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” My experience, both in my own life and in my observations of others, has been that we humans tend strongly toward legalism and unbelief. It is very hard for us to sustain a conscious awareness that God is with us and for us. We struggle with maintaining a grace-based relationship with God that is pervasive enough to transform our fears and frustrations into “righteousness, peace and joy”.

Therefore, the purpose of church is to “encourage one another”. We are to remind one another of the grace of God. We are to remind one another of the immediate presence of God through Jesus Christ. We live in this life in a place of forgetfulness. We do not forget the law. We do not forget that we are not living as holy as we would like. This history is before us all the time. What we do forget is that God calls us forgiven and holy.

There are literally thousands, if not millions, of ways to illustrate from the scriptures how the gospel places us irrevocable in a grace based relationship with God, and I plan over the next few weeks to camp out on these static, immutable, truths. The first illustration I would like to give is given by Paul in Romans 7

What Paul is saying is that through faith we have been identified with the death and resurrection of Jesus. This identification with the death and resurrection of Jesus is the point of Romans chapter 6. Our baptism represents our death and resurrection. We often think that when we die we will be delivered from the bondage of life and we will enter into rest or heaven. Paul is saying that this death has already happened and the benefits of being freed from sin through death has already occurred because we were freed from sin because we already died. Jesus says the same thing when He says, “I am the door. Whoever goes through me will enter into pasture. For I came that you may have life and life abundantly.” Jesus is saying that his death, not your death, is the doorway into freedom from the human condition of bondage to sin.

In Romans 7, Paul makes an application of this participation in the death of Jesus as it relates to our relationship with the law. In our former life, we were married to the law, but now we have died and have been risen to be married to another that is Christ. So we are no longer married to the law but married to Jesus Christ. This reality is a permanent immutable reality. The Christian is not under law but under grace. The Christian is no longer married to the law but is married to Christ. The key then is to first know this but then to apply this truth to our conscious relationship with God.

The Wrath of God and the Christian
First, if I am not under the law, then I am no longer under the wrath or judgment of God – ever. I am never, ever, legally guilty and therefore never ever under punishment for my sinfulness. I am completely off the hook with respect to the punishment for sin. How then does this affect my head?? That is the question. God is never relating to me in a way that is anything other than constructive. When I sin or act in a way that disappoints God or myself, which is very frequent, how is God responding to me? How ought I to feel? How ought I to relate to God in the immediate aftermath of poor moral choices or some other expression of my brokenness.

First, I need to realize that God’s desire is to help me solve this problem of my moral failings. I am a servant of God and God is constantly available to solve my fundamental problem of powerlessness. First and foremost, we need to see God available to help me without shame or guilt to work on my shortcomings and character defects. Guilt and shame are not constructive and God is always relating to me in a creative and constructive manner.

So as I approach God, I confess to Him that I am walking in His grace and that I am in relationship with Christ. I address Christ asking for help. I confess my forgiveness and my thankfulness for His forgiveness. I confess my love for Him. I confess that He sees me as holy and set apart for Him and His good work. For me the moment I relate to God and acknowledging his goodness and helpfulness, I am joyful even if I am disappointed with myself.

We live in a place called forgetfulness and therefore self-discipline and self-control in the moments of the day are fleeting and illusive. This is part of being poor in spirit. This is just the nature of life in this dispensation. But we are under grace and we approach God with faith and hope in His ability to disciple us and empower us.

Secondly, even when we haven’t behaved in a way that disappoints us, we need to approach God with thanksgiving for our forgiveness and we need to confess that we are holy and set apart for His good works. This path of acceptance of our forgiveness and the abiding reality of grace needs to be a well worn path for us. Guilt and shame are not only self defeating, guilt and shame are bad theology and an affront to the cross.

Total Immersion in Grace
Remembering that we are no longer married to the law and therefore we should not approach God as if we are guilty is actually hard work. We are very forgetful. We need to work on this in our devotional life and also in our intimate relationships. We need to express this grace in all our relationships until our community is immersed, baptized, in grace. Only then will we have the joy of the Lord be our abiding moral strength.