Tonight we light the third candle of Advent. Traditionally this candle is pink, or rose - the liturgical color representing joy, in contrast to the somber purple candles of the other three weeks denoting Advent as a time of repentance and preparation for the coming Messiah. In our house, to begin this week, we read Isaiah 35, which is a beautiful picture of the fulfillment of joy that will come to be on earth when Jesus returns, and of which we can see glimpses here and now since His first coming so long ago.
When Jesus returns, even the wilderness and the desert will sing with joy for the restoration and the healing that He will bring, for He will relieve their barrenness and cause springs of waters to gush forth from them and make their wasted lands blossom like the rose! If He is blessing even the physical inanimate earth with such life and beauty, how could He not bless its people also? In the following verses, we see that He does: the blind will see, the deaf will hear, the lame will dance, and the mute shall sing!
And the redeemed of the Lord shall walk through the now-beautiful wilderness on the Highway of Holiness, on which no wicked man or ravenous beast may walk, towards the land of the promise and the presence of the Lord - towards our home and the place of our belonging. We shall walk with everlasting joy on our heads like crowns of splendor, and we shall be singing as we come.
While the fulfillment of this prophecy is still to come, I believe that it is, in a spiritual sense, in the hearts and lives of the people of God, foreshadowed even now. Where the Spirit is at work in the world, there life springs forth from what once was dead and barren, and the blind eyes of sinful hearts are opened to the truth, and our crippled spirits dance in praise to the God who has saved us. And as we follow Christ on the narrow way He spoke of in the Gospels, we figuratively walk on the Highway of Holiness, safe from the schemes of man and from the devil who walks about like a devouring lion, coming out of exile to the land where we truly belong, rejoicing in the promises and the home that await us at the end of the road.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Friday, December 9, 2011
He is the True Light coming into the world
"Oh, send out Your light and Your truth!He has sent forth His Light and His Truth into our world, in human likeness, as a baby born in poverty, and He does lead us by that True Light into the place where He dwells. From this all our joy comes: that God became man and dwelt among us, bringing light into our darkness and truth into the sea of lies surrounding us, that we might know Him and draw near to Him.
Let them lead me;
Let them bring me to Your holy hill
And to Your tabernacle.
Then I will go to the altar of God,
To God my exceeding joy;
And on the harp I will praise You,
O God, my God." - Psalm 43:3-4
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
A reaction to the Economist debate on the "place of women"
Where do you think a woman's "place" is?
Should a woman be in the home, as traditional Western society has stipulated? Or should a woman be in the workplace, as modern feminism argues? (hat tip to Network of Enlightened Women).
Over at the Economist, as linked above, a woman argues that women as a group belong in the corporate working world, and that the choice to remain at home as full-time mothers and homemakers is undesirable for both the women themselves and for society as a whole. That a woman who chooses to remain at home is choosing to leave her potential unfulfilled and to hang as a consumptive deadweight on the beneficence of her breadwinning spouse. That such a woman hurts the "cause" of all women worldwide by her refusal to take up the "responsibility" of every modern woman to work outside the home throughout the entire course of her life. That because men can do something, women shouldn't be allowed not to do it.
Feminism has changed course, or is at last revealing the dark heart of their movement. The cry is no longer for the freedom of any individual woman to choose to work full-time and be respected for that work; now the cry is to remove that freedom to choose by making full-time, life-long participation in the labor force an expectation for every woman. Career-minded women, I have no objection to you pursuing your careers wholeheartedly! It is your life, and you can choose your priorities. But please don't say that, just because it fits your ambitions, it is the only noble goal a woman can have, or the only role she should play. While you fulfill your private dreams and help increase the nation's GDP, I intend to invest in the next generation. I intend to teach young minds to see the world with wonder, to help them learn to love other people, to give them a secure and stable home, and most importantly of all, to train them to follow God. Will my contributions be felt monetarily? Probably not. But I believe and hope that they will be felt through the fabric of society, as I weave in to my small section of it the strong threads of love, faith, and belonging that the family is best equipped and designed to provide.
Should a woman be in the home, as traditional Western society has stipulated? Or should a woman be in the workplace, as modern feminism argues? (hat tip to Network of Enlightened Women).
Over at the Economist, as linked above, a woman argues that women as a group belong in the corporate working world, and that the choice to remain at home as full-time mothers and homemakers is undesirable for both the women themselves and for society as a whole. That a woman who chooses to remain at home is choosing to leave her potential unfulfilled and to hang as a consumptive deadweight on the beneficence of her breadwinning spouse. That such a woman hurts the "cause" of all women worldwide by her refusal to take up the "responsibility" of every modern woman to work outside the home throughout the entire course of her life. That because men can do something, women shouldn't be allowed not to do it.
Feminism has changed course, or is at last revealing the dark heart of their movement. The cry is no longer for the freedom of any individual woman to choose to work full-time and be respected for that work; now the cry is to remove that freedom to choose by making full-time, life-long participation in the labor force an expectation for every woman. Career-minded women, I have no objection to you pursuing your careers wholeheartedly! It is your life, and you can choose your priorities. But please don't say that, just because it fits your ambitions, it is the only noble goal a woman can have, or the only role she should play. While you fulfill your private dreams and help increase the nation's GDP, I intend to invest in the next generation. I intend to teach young minds to see the world with wonder, to help them learn to love other people, to give them a secure and stable home, and most importantly of all, to train them to follow God. Will my contributions be felt monetarily? Probably not. But I believe and hope that they will be felt through the fabric of society, as I weave in to my small section of it the strong threads of love, faith, and belonging that the family is best equipped and designed to provide.
An armor of peace around my heart
Either I am rapidly turning into a worrier or I have always been one and am now just starting to realize it! Whichever alternative it is, it is rather annoying...
I feel that, in some sense, worry is antithetical to trust and faith, and one of the central facets of being a Christian is having trust and faith in God. For instance, if I am trusting God with my feelings of self-worth and identity, then I shouldn't be worrying about what the people around me think about what I'm wearing, or what the other church-goers will think about me having to raise my hand to ask for a Bible when I forget mine. Those things truly will not affect who I believe myself to be if I am defining myself in faith based on what God has declared to be true about me! So the worry and the trust aren't exactly able to coexist, at least not without a struggle.
On the positive side, if we are willing to take a step towards faith and away from worry, God lets us know how and accompanies it with a pretty awesome promise:
So let us go forth into the stress and anxiety that the holiday season can engender (or let's face it, if you're anything like me, that any season of life can engender) full of prayer and thanksgiving, that we may build in Christ an armor of peace around our hearts and our minds!
I feel that, in some sense, worry is antithetical to trust and faith, and one of the central facets of being a Christian is having trust and faith in God. For instance, if I am trusting God with my feelings of self-worth and identity, then I shouldn't be worrying about what the people around me think about what I'm wearing, or what the other church-goers will think about me having to raise my hand to ask for a Bible when I forget mine. Those things truly will not affect who I believe myself to be if I am defining myself in faith based on what God has declared to be true about me! So the worry and the trust aren't exactly able to coexist, at least not without a struggle.
On the positive side, if we are willing to take a step towards faith and away from worry, God lets us know how and accompanies it with a pretty awesome promise:
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." - Phil. 4:6-7That's probably a familiar verse to most of you, and it is to me as well, but let's not allow its familiarity to diminish its power and impact in our lives! I see here a wonderful promise: that if we take action against against our worry by taking our requests and anxieties to God with prayer and thanksgiving, we can be assured that our hearts and our minds will be defended and protected by God's own peace, in Jesus. And from what will they be defended, one might ask? Primarily they will be guarded from anxiety itself, I believe - but I also think that God's peace will work to defend us against many of the emotions and sins that accompany worry: fear of rejection, for example, or the need for the approval of others, or an inability to speak the truth boldly. These are different for each person, but the common thread is that they, entering our hearts on worry's coattails, attack our faith in God and consequently threaten our actions of obedience to God.
So let us go forth into the stress and anxiety that the holiday season can engender (or let's face it, if you're anything like me, that any season of life can engender) full of prayer and thanksgiving, that we may build in Christ an armor of peace around our hearts and our minds!
Monday, December 5, 2011
Candle of light, calling us out of the darkness
Yesterday marked the beginning of the second week of Advent, when we light, along with the candle of hope, the candle of light. Just as the candle of hope had layers of significance - reminding us of the promises of God for our lives now and challenging us to trust in His unfailing faithfulness - so also the candle of light has multiple themes in which it encourages and inspires us.
"The people who walked in darknessHave seen a great light;Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,Upon them a light has shined" - Isaiah 9:2
To all who are blinded and bound in the darkness of sin, Jesus comes bringing light, offering a way of escape into fullness of life. That is a magnificent part of the glory and wonder that Christmas is all about! - that Jesus, the Lord of the Universe, the One who spoke and physical light was created, the One who shines so brightly with spiritual light and holiness that the new earth will need no sun for the brightness of His presence, would cover himself in the rags of a mortal body and live in the land of the shadow of death that we might through Him thus come to know the light ourselves. Isn't it amazing? Isn't it marvelous? How would we believe and talk about something so extraordinary without breathless wonder, if we were not somehow numbed by familiarity and doubt to its brilliant power?
But there is another aspect of the coming of light: we must receive it, we must choose to walk in it. Light can be frightening, because it leaves nothing hidden - it reveals our sins and our vulnerabilities and our weaknesses.
But there is another aspect of the coming of light: we must receive it, we must choose to walk in it. Light can be frightening, because it leaves nothing hidden - it reveals our sins and our vulnerabilities and our weaknesses.
"And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed." - John 3:19-20If we have this desire for hiddenness within us, because we are ashamed of our sin and yet don't wish to give it up, it is for us to heed the cry of John the Baptist, who came preparing the way for Jesus's ministry on earth, and who is still relevant to us to help us prepare our hearts for Jesus's ministry in our lives:
"In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!' For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.'"" - Matthew 3:1-3So during this week of Advent, as we celebrate the coming of light into the darkness, let us also open our own hearts to the coming of light, and repent of the darkness we hold within us. For He has come to forgive our sins, and the sins of the world, and His desire for us is that we might know Him and walk with Him where He walks - in the pure light of righteousness.
Friday, December 2, 2011
This means war
I have to confess that sometimes I live as if I were a materialistic naturalist.
By this I mean that I think and act as if matter is all there that there is, and as if all things can be explained naturalistically and thus all problems can be solved naturalistically. I remember that I have a spirit as well as a body (although I don't always think about it very much), and I remember God who is the uncreated self-sustaining Spirit, but I don't give much though to angels or to demons. Most emphatically, I act as though angels and demons have no influence over my life or over the world I live in. Considering that we're in the middle of a spiritual war, with the eternal destinies of human souls at stake, that's probably not a good attitude for me to assume. But I honestly haven't thought about spiritual warfare very much at all, beyond some vague idea that the whole thing is a nice metaphor for being a good person and a diligent follower of Christ.
Over the past few days, having had the issue brought to my attention from at least three separate sources, I've been thinking that maybe it is more than just a metaphor. I don't like thinking that way! The thought of malicious spiritual beings bent on my destruction, active and unseen in the world around me, is extremely unsettling. I like this world where what can be seen or otherwise scientifically verified is all that exists, besides God - where all things proceed by natural laws, and known inputs lead to known outputs, and nothing is out of place or uncontrollable. It is very comfortable, you know? Acceptance of a spiritual reality is in a sense truly a release of control, because while we can often control nature we cannot control the actions of spiritual beings whose very existence is only tenuously revealed to us. For someone like me that is absolutely frightening.
But when I seriously look at the Bible I see that, despite my fears and despite my ingrained way of thinking, there is a real spiritual war going on. In 2 Corinthians 10 we see Paul saying that even though we are in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, but fight with weapons that are mighty in God for "casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God." Similarly, in Ephesians 6 he tells us that we are struggling against the "rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places". So the armor that he tells us to wear in the following verses is more than a metaphor - it is truly spiritual armor that protects us in this war in which we find ourselves. I think that may be one of the purposes of the book of Revelation, actually - to show us the reality of the spiritual war that is going on all around us, so that we might be strong in battle instead of ignorant sheep wandering towards slaughter.
Coming to Revelation, though, one finds more than just a vivid picture of the reality and significance of this spiritual war. We see that the war will end, and we see that God will win, and we see that all things shall be made new in beauty and glory and peace. Essentially, we see that there is a hope to live for, because of the greatness of our God! It might be frightening and unnerving here and now to think of fighting and struggling with evil spirits in our everyday lives, but it doesn't need to be, because of the power of our God and our confidence that He is indeed on our side. If we have placed our faith in Him, He holds our souls safe even as we fight on the front lines of the war.
This almost makes me want to laugh in the face of the demons! Ha! Bring it on! My God is greater than you and you are doomed and already defeated! I'm not afraid of you, or anything you can do, because God is on my side! I'm not sure that is the most beneficial or humble response though... :) One thing is certain, though - it is better to live and fight and be vigilant against sin in the strength of God then to passively cower in fear and try to make everything comfortable and controlled.
By this I mean that I think and act as if matter is all there that there is, and as if all things can be explained naturalistically and thus all problems can be solved naturalistically. I remember that I have a spirit as well as a body (although I don't always think about it very much), and I remember God who is the uncreated self-sustaining Spirit, but I don't give much though to angels or to demons. Most emphatically, I act as though angels and demons have no influence over my life or over the world I live in. Considering that we're in the middle of a spiritual war, with the eternal destinies of human souls at stake, that's probably not a good attitude for me to assume. But I honestly haven't thought about spiritual warfare very much at all, beyond some vague idea that the whole thing is a nice metaphor for being a good person and a diligent follower of Christ.
Over the past few days, having had the issue brought to my attention from at least three separate sources, I've been thinking that maybe it is more than just a metaphor. I don't like thinking that way! The thought of malicious spiritual beings bent on my destruction, active and unseen in the world around me, is extremely unsettling. I like this world where what can be seen or otherwise scientifically verified is all that exists, besides God - where all things proceed by natural laws, and known inputs lead to known outputs, and nothing is out of place or uncontrollable. It is very comfortable, you know? Acceptance of a spiritual reality is in a sense truly a release of control, because while we can often control nature we cannot control the actions of spiritual beings whose very existence is only tenuously revealed to us. For someone like me that is absolutely frightening.
But when I seriously look at the Bible I see that, despite my fears and despite my ingrained way of thinking, there is a real spiritual war going on. In 2 Corinthians 10 we see Paul saying that even though we are in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, but fight with weapons that are mighty in God for "casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God." Similarly, in Ephesians 6 he tells us that we are struggling against the "rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places". So the armor that he tells us to wear in the following verses is more than a metaphor - it is truly spiritual armor that protects us in this war in which we find ourselves. I think that may be one of the purposes of the book of Revelation, actually - to show us the reality of the spiritual war that is going on all around us, so that we might be strong in battle instead of ignorant sheep wandering towards slaughter.
Coming to Revelation, though, one finds more than just a vivid picture of the reality and significance of this spiritual war. We see that the war will end, and we see that God will win, and we see that all things shall be made new in beauty and glory and peace. Essentially, we see that there is a hope to live for, because of the greatness of our God! It might be frightening and unnerving here and now to think of fighting and struggling with evil spirits in our everyday lives, but it doesn't need to be, because of the power of our God and our confidence that He is indeed on our side. If we have placed our faith in Him, He holds our souls safe even as we fight on the front lines of the war.
This almost makes me want to laugh in the face of the demons! Ha! Bring it on! My God is greater than you and you are doomed and already defeated! I'm not afraid of you, or anything you can do, because God is on my side! I'm not sure that is the most beneficial or humble response though... :) One thing is certain, though - it is better to live and fight and be vigilant against sin in the strength of God then to passively cower in fear and try to make everything comfortable and controlled.
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