A Snapshot of Enduring Love

I sent a note to my 91 year old Uncle Don today…. His wife, my Aunt Gladys, died two years ago tomorrow. She was a very special woman, full of life–always made things more fun when she was around. Anyway, here was my Uncle Don’s sweet response to the note:

“Tomorrow will be two years that she went to Heaven.  I sure do miss her.  Sometimes I think she has to be somewhere in this house.  People will say ‘you sure had her a long time’, but they don’t realize that I wanted her longer.  I will admit we were very fortunate to have lived together for a little more than 68 years.”

How sweet is that? How easy is it to take today for granted, assuming we have those dearest to us for years to come, when tomorrow is not guaranteed?

May we all be that in love with our spouse, today and years down the road if we are so blessed…. Thank you, Uncle Don, for the dear reminder.

Shopping Window Theology

It’s been said that culture is a reflection of the religion of its society. Look around and you’ll know what we truly believe. If that’s true, window shopping in a large city is a great opportunity to get a pulse of the current state of religion in America.

This morning I walked by a Jimmy John’s in downtown Chicago and saw an advertisement asking, “Is it blasphemous to worship a sandwich?“

According to Harper’s Bible Dictionary (Harper & Row), blasphemy in the Bible means “showing contempt or a lack of reverence for God or something sacred, including claiming for oneself divine attributes by word or deed.” Regardless of the academic definition, it’s safe to state that worshipping a sandwich isn’t good theology.

Obviously Jimmy isn’t asking us to walk in and bow down before their subs. But is it possible that we essentially worship things just as ridiculous as an 8-inch Turkey Tom®?

Few of us would admit to being idol worshippers. And certainly there are people who think they don’t worship anything–that faith and worship are ancient ideas that are no longer relevant for enlightened people.

Give me a break.

We worship what we fear. If I lose a sense of peace when my bank account goes below a threshold, I’m likely guilty of worshipping the god of money. If I’m more obsessed about my current fantasy football scores than cracking open my Bible, shouldn’t that be telling me something? If I can’t pay attention to my wife and kids because I can’t tear my attention away from my work, am I not sacrificing offerings to the god of work? If I can’t walk by a mirror without checking how I look, it could be my idol is actually me (which was illustrated well in this shopping window picture to the right!).

Jesus reminds us that “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21). What are you treasuring today?

For those who walk by the shopping window of your life today, what do they see? Regardless of what we say, they see a reflection of what we truly believe.

“God told me to…”

Recently a person related how God had told them to give their home to someone. They did it. They handed over the home and walked away because “God told us to do it.”

Was that incredible faith? It could be. Often we hear fellow believers say, “I was praying and God told me…”

There are times I cringe when I hear people say with such confidence that they have heard from God. It’s not that I don’t believe God directs us in ways that are unmistakably from Him. It’s just that it’s so easy to mistake our will for His. Or mistake a prompting or thought as divine direction.

This came to mind while reading Jeremiah 23 this morning. Verses 35-38 have some helpful direction for us:

“Instead of claiming to know what God says, ask questions of one another, such as ‘How do we understand God in this?’ But don’t go around pretending to know it all, saying ‘God told me this…God told me that….’ I don’t want to hear it anymore. Only the person I authorize speaks for me. Otherwise, my Message gets twisted, the Message of the living God-of-the-Angel-Armies. You can ask the prophets, ‘How did God answer you? What did he tell you?’ But don’t pretend that you know all the answers yourselves and talk like you know it all. I’m telling you: Quit the ‘God told me this…God told me that…’ kind of talk.” (from The Message).

So, how do we know if what we sense is from God or just our own agenda? The Biblical worldview holds the key: we go back to the Word. Warren Wiersbe’s advice in Be Decisive: “Whatever anyone says who claims to be speaking for the Lord must be tested by the Word of God.”

Wiersbe commends Isaiah 8:20: “To the Law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”

As followers of Christ we have been given the Bible to be a lamp to our feet and a light for our path (Psalm 119:105). We have been given the Holy Spirit to guide us into truth (John 16:13). We have been instructed to pray when we need wisdom, to a God who generously helps us (James 1:5). And we have been surrounded by parents, friends, pastors, and others who can give us godly advice (Proverbs 12:15, Proverbs 15:22).

It’s completely possible that what God really wants for us is contrary to what we want. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6). God give me the faith to be obedient when your will is not mine….

A biblical worldview says we’re going to stake our lives on what the Bible says. We’ll use the wisdom and gifts and abilities God has given us, but when our own wisdom conflicts with the Word, we’re on dangerous ground. When we think we have God inspired insight that conflicts with godly counselors around us, be careful.

Let’s be wary of using “God told me” kind of talk today. Instead, let’s dig into His Word. And when His Word directs us in a way that we’d prefer not to go, let’s move forward on faith that our loving God knows best.

Is Steve Jobs Your Savior?

Some of the strongest brands today include Coca-Cola, Nike, and Apple. Here’s our question for you:

Who is most likely to be passionate about a brand (or show brand reliance): a highly religious person or one who is not religious?

According to a FastCompany article this week, the non-religious person shows much more brand reliance. The article discusses research from Duke about the disconnection between brand importance and religiosity.

Turns out, “they found a negative relationship between brand reliance and religiosity”.

For the record, we’re not all that fond of the term religious in that true Christianity is about a relationship more than the rituals that are typically associated with the term religion.

That said, why is it that a true follower of Christ likely has a less reliance on brands to express their self-worth? It’s not because the Bible discourages owning an iPhone.

Rather, it’s that the Bible tells us that we are loved by the Creator. What an outrageous proposition! The One who created this entire universe, is all-knowing and eternal, loves us as individuals. Moreover, He loves us enough to provide a way to have all our shortcomings and rebellion–our sins–forgiven.

“Brands are a signal of self-worth”, according to the article, quoting Duke professor Gavan Fitzsimmons. “We’re signaling to others that we care about ourselves and that we feel good about ourselves and that we matter in this world. It’s more than ‘I’m hip or cool’…I’m a worthwhile person, and I matter, and you should respect me and think I’m a good person, because I’ve got the D&G on my glasses.”

Do I need a logo on my shirt to feel special? Not when I’m a child of the king!

This is not a call against brands or well designed clothes or quality cars. Maybe guys shouldn’t wear skinny jeans, but that’s a separate issue.

Our bottom-line: we were designed to worship our Creator. If you choose not to, you’ll find something else to worship. I admire Steve Jobs, but quite frankly, I’ll bet my eternity on Jesus.

Joy is…

Joy is Thursday-Sunday. That’s what I read on the billboard as I walked through the train station for my ride home tonight.

Joy is Front Row Seats. Successive billboards sponsored by BMW as part of their “Joy” campaign lined the path to my train, advertising their golf tournament at Cog Hill.

It begs an important question: What is joy?

I’ve never had front row seats at a major golf event. I’m guessing it would be a rather unforgettable experience! Beautiful setting…. Surrounded by people who love the game of golf…. Watching the best players in the world, demonstrating their expert skills.

It would be amazing.

But is that joy?

James 1:2 has been called by many to be one of the most outrageous statements in the Bible: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.”

It could also be voted for least likely to show up on a billboard!

Trials? Joy?

I like Pastor James MacDonald’s definition of joy: The supernatural delight in the Person, purposes, and people of God.

Joy isn’t happiness or thrills. It’s deeper. In fact, it can’t be self-manufactured. It’s a supernatural blessing that cannot be matched by strapping myself into the cockpit of the most luxurious BMW.

Hey, if you can afford the tickets to Cog Hill or a BMW ride to get there, go for it. But that sort of “joy” will not sustain us through the good times and the bad.

Christ alone owns the right to that marketing campaign.

For more from James MacDonald on joy, check out this blog post.

Burning the Quran: Freedom of Speech? Hate Crime? Just Politically Incorrect?

If Pastor Terry Jones was looking for a little attention for his church, he’s certainly been successful. As you likely know, he is planning a Quran burning session to mark the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

Condemnation of the event has come from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (who calls it disrespectful and disgraceful), top U.S. and NATO commander General David Petraeus (who says it risks troops’ lives), and Attorney General Eric Holder (who says it is “idiotic and dangerous“). Even a group of religious leaders have condemned the action (saying they are “profoundly distressed and deeply saddened”).

So what do you think? Is this a matter of freedom of speech? Just a publicity stunt? An effective way to push back against radical Islam’s rise? A bad idea?

On what do you base your decision?

How about the legal angle? There’s little question about whether or not the U.S. Constitution grants the Gainesville, Florida church the right to express themselves in this way. They clearly have the right. Our country has quite a history of protests that burn everything from flags to music albums to books to leaders in effigy.

How about evaluating it from the perspective of political correctness? That’s an easy one! Clearly the Quran burning event is massively insensitive to the primary “PC” virtue of tolerance.

Interestingly, in Attorney General Holder’s comments about the Quran burning, he invoked the “H” word: hate crimes. There are growing challenges to actions such as these under the umbrella of being acts of hate. The fact that even a military commander commented on a domestic event shows the attention this is receiving within our government despite it being a fundamental right.

Political correctness may explain why Secretary of State Clinton is nearly silent on the issue of the Iranian woman who faces a death sentence of stoning. The most severe words in Clinton’s brief statement is that she is “troubled” about it.

Only “troubled” by what European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso calls “barbaric beyond words” yet strongly outspoken about the protest of a small church in Florida?

Reportedly a State Department spokesman said the Quran burning protest is “un-American”, which is an ironic example of what happens when an enduring and very American right of freedom of speech steps over the line of political correctness.

What does the Bible say?

As it turns out, there is a book burning talked about in the book of Acts, chapter 19, from verses 18-20. However, it wasn’t about burning other people’s texts. It was about people whose lives had been changed by Christ. As a result of this conversion, they deplored their old way of living. They confessed their evil deeds and burned the scrolls that were part of their previous sorcery.

2 Kings 10:18-27 relates an account when the Jews were turning back to following God. Jehu not only put out a hit on all the priests of the false God Baal, but he also brought out “the pillar that was in the house of Baal and burned it. Further, they demolished the pillar and destroyed the temple, even going so far as to make the former temple grounds a latrine!

Jeremiah 36:20-26 has a different angle on burning a sacred text. The prophet Jeremiah had dictated dire warnings to the people of Israel about the impending punishing consequences of their sins. When the governing officials got wind of the message they let out a collective gulp! They seemed to understand the seriousness of the situation, not the least of which because they would need to fill in king Jehoiakim on what was said. They knew the king was not fan of Jeremiah or his God.

How does Jehoiakim respond when it’s finally read in his presence? After every 3-4 columns of text, the king took a knife, cut the words from the scroll, and tossed them into the fire. It wasn’t a protest as much as rebellion. In a sense he was saying, “I don’t like it so I’m tossing it.”

The king and his cabinet were neither convicted nor fearful (though a few lobbied to skip the burning part). The king further reacted by putting out a warrant for Jeremiah and his secretary. If you don’t like ‘em, arrest ‘em!

Terry Jones talks about this event being a challenge to radical Islam on the anniversary of a tragic event. With that objective in mind and based on the verses above, does Pastor Terry Jones and his congregation have a Biblical leg to stand on?

It’s not clear to me that they do.

They have a legal right, and their persistence to confront political correctness might inspire some. Yet our battle is not primarily a political one. We engage the culture with a Biblical worldview, which can include political activities, such as voting for those who protect life and lead with integrity.

However, we all might better serve our Lord by remembering September 11 by praying for the families and friends of 9/11 victims. Pray for the lost in our country to find the hope and forgiveness that can’t be created by laws or manufactured through political correctness. Pray for the leaders who God has placed in power, that they will lead with integrity. Pray for those who are in bondage to the Islamic faith, that our Lord would open their hearts and minds to the truth.

We can speak the truth in love, even calling out the errors and hypocrisy in the culture around us. But let’s continue to do it in a way that lifts up the name of our Lord.

Instead of lighting matches on Saturday, let’s hit our knees.

P.S. You can take a poll on the USA Today website to share if you think this is about free speech or a hate crime.

Living an “Imposter” Faith

Kenda Creasy Dean had a depressing summer. According to this CNN article, Dean held in-depth interviews of thousands of American teenagers, ages 13-17. Her findings? “Most American teens who called themselves Christian were indifferent and inarticulate about their faith.”

Dean is the author of a new book entitled Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church. Her message to parents is clear: “Your child is following a ‘mutant’ form of Christianity, and you may be responsible.” Parents are passing down a “watered-down faith that portrays God as a ‘divine therapist’ whose chief goal is to boost people’s self-esteem.”

Ouch.

The “gospel of niceness” isn’t cutting it. What can a parent do? Dean recommends “get radical”.  Interpretation: don’t talk a good game. Rather, live a Biblical worldview life.

The Bible lays out a plan for how in this world we can live a life of true meaning. A life that sees the world through the lens of God’s Word sees people, situations, problems, and opportunities in a whole different light. Radical, indeed.

Parents, what are our actions saying about what we truly believe? Are we taking the time to explain “the why” behind our decisions, tying them back to our faith in God and His Word? And are we taking on the responsibility for our kids spiritual development or outsourcing that to the youth pastor. They are there to assist you, perhaps, but you own the responsibility.

And for those of us who are teens, are you sick yet of faking your faith? Enough already. There’s enough charades at our age. Let’s live a life that counts. That is real. That doesn’t look to God as an eternal rabbit’s foot to bring us good luck or to be our “divine therapist.”

He is real. His Word is available for us to study and live by. It’s time that we take the lead in our generation to live the radical life that God’s Word directs.

Here’s an interview with Kenda Creasy Dean from earlier this summer, to learn more about her study and recommendations.

Does a Leader’s Faith Matter?

It’s an interesting question that is served up by the Washington Post: “Obama’s religion: does your president’s faith matter?”

So, what do you think? Does a leader’s faith matter?

The article talks about how 20% of Americans think the President is a Muslim (which the author notes he is not), and only a third thinks he is a Christian (which the article clarifies that he is).

A number of questions come to mind:

• What does our President (or at least the article’s author) mean when saying he is a Christian? It’s an easy label to put on, but when someone says they are a Christian, what do they really mean? Someone who respects who Jesus was? A person who has been saved by the sacrificial death and resurrection of the Son of God? A member of a church that is considered Christian? As Bill Jack from Worldview Academy suggests, one of our first questions when confronting the culture must be, “What do you mean by that?”
• If one’s actions contradict what one says is true, what is believed? If I say I’m a Christian but my actions are not consistent with that statement, I should not be surprised when my poll numbers show confusion.

Here’s our take: a person’s faith matters enormously. It determines the lenses they will see the world through: their worldview. As a leader, that has significant ramifications for those who follow.

Even if someone says they are an atheist–that they have no faith–they have a worldview that will have implications for those they lead.

I’m amazed by the number of people who struggle to understand why the current administration has enacted such so-called radical policies, increasing the size of government at a staggering rate.

It’s easy to understand. A secular humanism worldview sees government as the solution to man’s problems. More laws, more regulation, more education, more government–that’s what we need, and that’s what we’ve been getting.

Their actions have been consistent with their worldview. Actions may not always align with words, but they nearly always align with our true worldview.

So, Washington Post, here’s our response: Worldviews matter, far more than most realize.

Hello world!

This is the first official post of the “How in the World Should We Live” Blog! In the coming weeks and months, I and some friends plan to post small videos and commentary relaying peoples’ opinions on common world view questions. After listening to each response we will see what the Bible says on the subject.

The reason this blog was started was to help strengthen believers in Christ by giving them answers to common questions about worldview. Another reason for starting this blog is to show those who are not believers the answers to many questions that the world proposes.

The world is constantly telling us all how to live. There is another way. This blog is our response based on the time-tested authority of God’s Word.