Safe Haven

I had the worst cold ever, it seemed like. When the junk is in your lungs, that's bad news. Anyway, I went to a retreat with RUF-Mizzou and had a great time hanging out with RUF-Nebraska. Special thanks to John Stone, the Mosemans, Ross and Jenny Dixon, and "The Real Deal" Joe Choi.

An e-mail I sent to a pastor friend of mine: (Name witheld to protect the unwittingly famous) Hey Friend, Today in Religious Studies, we continued our discussion of Robert Wuthnow's book, After Heaven: Spirituality in America since the 1950s. Where we are right now, we were trying to contextualize the rise of evangelicalism in the 70s and 80s. You and other leaders know better than anybody how shallow segments of evangelicalism have become. Some people hijacked our way of speaking, of giving God His rightful place, and turned Christianity into an enormous self-help program, designed to provide people a "comfortable" place in culture. Personally, if I see a copy of Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People today, I'm gonna lose my mind. I don't want to be "effective," or fulfilled, or driven, I want to be a Christian. Please tell me that I'm not a statistic, that you and I are not just the products of a shallow cultural counterrevolu...

Wow. Is it really true that the guy playing Jesus and the assistant director in Mel Gibson's The Passion got hit by lightning? I'd likely caution myself against interpreting that as a sign, but that's pretty weird. Let me say again if the movie is faithful to the Gospel accounts, there's no way it could be anti-Semitic. Even the one who died is Jewish. It matters not one whit the ethnicity of all the parties involved. In the beginning of the Christian church, everyone was Jewish ethnically. I seriously doubt that all those believers had a curious case of self-hatred. Does that make any sense?

I heard someone tell me once that I "wore my religion on my sleeve." Now, I have a great admiration for all those folks who can show the love of Christ without ever saying a word. But that's not me. Sorry if that bothers anyone. The gospel is foremost on my mind, and burned in my heart; thus, it is often the first thing out of my mouth. I don't pester people about it, but if I have someone's ear, (and trust) I'm going to talk about the most important events ever in the history of the cosmos. Jesus Christ is the God-man, who came to save sinners. And He showed us what "human" really means--what we will become.

Today, I inadvertently insulted my Religious Studies instructor, by stating that his post regarding a different number of commandments in Exodus 20 (Jews and some Christians say 9; the rest say 10) on our message board was "old news." I issue then a very public apology to him. My post may have reflected a disdain for his transmission of these facts, which I did not intend.

Imagine what King Herod must have thought when he heard of the child to be born in Bethlehem, the one some said would be King of the Jews: "How dare a child challenge my rule as King!" Remember that the Scripture says he killed all the male children in the town two years and younger in an attempt to kill Jesus. Matthew 2:18 speaks of Rachel weeping for her children, because they are no more. Today at Mizzou, I saw a huge wall with information about alternatives to abortion, as well as graphic pictures of dead children. As you might imagine, it's very provocative. I could only look once. The baby I saw reminded me of Herod's genocide. "A child just like this one, Herod killed that day," I thought. Today is no different. Thousands of people say in their hearts, "How dare a child be born to ruin my plans! I rule my own life!" Take one look at a picture of this death; there's no way the argument that a fetus is a mass of cells (and not a person) w...

I read the first eight chapters of Ezekiel. Wow. You see a lot of idolatry today that goes unpunished, but not unnoticed. God's mercy in wrath is pretty evident as well, as he commands Ezekiel warn those he preaches to that they should repent. He really does want to show mercy, and it seems there God will stay his hand at the smallest obedience. That should not be lost as you read of the Lord's wrath. Also see Habakkuk 3:2.

Speaking of Glenn Reynolds, go to Instapundit. You'll find engaging commentary on all the issues of the day, replete with links to the actual articles. You'll find Instapundit among my links on the right of this page. If you find generally libertarian thought repulsive, (like you're a socialist liberal hippie) you won't like him. But everybody else likes him. And you should too!

Phil, your believer's bias is showing, but I love you for it. What great fun that was. We'll see if Miser Callahan likes this one better than the last. As Glenn Reynolds would say, read the whole thing.

Here's what I've been working on in its unabridged form: Philip Jenkins’ work is a compelling starting point for studying the crisis in the Catholic Church. The book does an excellent job showing the social construction of the problem, giving a sloppy and uncritical media a central role in that construction. However, Jenkins has failed to demonstrate the relevance of the “anti-Catholic” or anticlerical tradition. There two reasons why this is so: One’s classification of anti-Catholic is entirely dependent on perspective. One would have to hold the position of the conservative bishops consistently and unwaveringly to make the charge stick. Secondly, the generally positive portrayal of Catholic religious practices and clergy in the mid-20th century until the emergence of the scandal in the 70s and 80s makes the claim that anti-Catholicism is on the rise tenuous, as this gives powerful evidence of assimilation. Thus, revising Jenkins on this point leaves us with an even better ...

Just so everyone understands, we did not study God's Word this past Wednesday, in light of Cubs-Marlins Game 7. Wholehearted sympathies go out to our own Cubs fan Brian Miller, and millions of his compatriots worldwide. I do think the Marlins represent the National League's best chance to win. Also, I do not have questions for the first five verses of Colossians 2. I was on a vacation of sorts, and my compatriot Christopher Yee composed the questions for that week. I'll simply post his questions. Fear not, loyal Safe Haven reader, you are in capable hands. I know there's only one of you, and you're teetering on the edge of leaving anyway. I wouldn't read this blog. Jason Kettinger's not all that interesting. He's probably choking on a mix of Coke, (the Best Soda Ever) and belligerent comments. Yes, he owns a bit of a temper, but some people deserve it, he says. For example, why would you build any political philosophy trusting a two-bit OPEC kingpin over...

Welcome to another week of Colossians. Here’s 2:6-23. How do we receive Christ? What does it mean for us to walk in him? (Christ) What kind of life will we lead? What is the meaning of verse 7? What is significant about the phrase, “just as you were taught”? Why might philosophy, or certain kinds of philosophy, be a threat to the gospel? What sort of human tradition is Paul criticizing here? What does verse 9 say about Jesus? (See 1:19) What does verse 10 say about Jesus’ position? Who takes care of all our needs? Why does Paul say we were circumcised by Christ? What was circumcision? (Gen. 17:1-8, 11) What is the sign of the New Covenant? Note: Testament and covenant mean the same thing. (Romans 6:3-6) What was our condition before we were believers? (Ephesians 2:5) What does it mean that we are buried with him, and raised with him? Why do we have a “record of debt”? What happens if you don’t pay the bills? Who “paid the bill” for us? ...

OK, OK: Bulger is pretty stinkin' good. We're not a Super Bowl team yet, but there is hope. Bulger rebounded from two early interceptions to throw 3 touchdown passes with over 200 yards. He's really mobile; even as the pass protection breaks down, he can get away to make plays. That's what makes the Rams dangerous. Their most glaring weakness isn't really hurting them (or most importantly, Bulger). If they block well in the running game, they could have Faulk, or Lamar Gordon, or my Uncle Steve taking handoffs, and it won't matter.

OK, I need anger management classes after that last post. Seriously, though, let's look at something. It is positively scandalous to give actual meanings to words, and hold people accountable for their "poetic license" when they stretch those meanings. In the realm of the spiritual, I have heard it called the "scandal of particularity." How dare anyone suggest a Transcendant Other that actually has a name? How dare He be exclusionary! Thus, my claim is simply this: that the Bible forms a baseline of interpretation that limits what is acceptable. Yes, this means we should be able to critically evaluate spiritual claims based on what is a given for that person or group. For example, if someone says, "I'm a Christian, (or, I believe the Bible) but I don't believe Jesus is God" there should AUTOMATICALLY be alarm-bells going off in everyone's head (even if you're not a Christian, and you have no vested interest). Why? Because the Christian ...

I received my first paper back in Religious Studies. I expected an A, or something close. I got a C+. You have got to be kidding. I loved that paper. So much did I cherish it! Part of the problem stems from my use of the word "orthodoxy." No, I did not try to shove my beliefs down anyone's throat. I merely was trying to say that the new religious pluralism threatened traditional notions of Christian orthodoxy. I shouldn't have to tell my instructor the contours of what that might look like. I wasn't trying to put forward my view of orthodoxy, just to say that those who define what it is feel threatened. Duh. Also, I defined sacred space as any place where the presence of God is, or was. Which, in my view, seems self-evident from Exodus 3:5 and the rest of what I would call the Old Testament. To refute my basic definition, my instructor referred me to Jonathan 2 (which doesn't exist). I hope you're reading this, Chip. Because I expect better from you as wel...

I think I should make something clear today. Today, I want to talk about fundamentalism. You hear the term thrown around a lot in Religious Studies departments, but no one seems to be able to define what it means. Among these folks and religiously committed types, it seems to mean, "A religion with a bunch of zealots that scares me." After much refinement in the field, they came up with something similar to, "A religious movement characterized by stringent committment to certain doctrines." Positively stunning. You could call any Christian a fundamentalist by that definition! Right now, I have dozens of old lectures and conversations with my Religious Studies professors floating back to me saying, "You're only saying that because you have a personal narrow view of what a Christian is." Well, it's not a personal view, but you're darn skippy I have a narrow definition. I ask you, "In whom do you trust?" and you'll probably give me ...

Please don't click on the ad banner above this site if it says, "A New Christianity for A New World" by John Shelby Spong. He's a heretic, and a liar. Just trust me on that. (Going into rant mode) We don't need a new Christianity, we need the old one. Things got all messed up when we started changing things, and adding things. Like I don't know who said Mary didn't have sex after the Lord was born, but that's just silly. Seriously, who did that? Scripture teaches us this. Just what do you think a "marital duty" is anyway? Ever-virgin, my foot. Joseph is liable to be the unhappiest married man ever, if that were so. (And if you're Catholic, and that last remark really bugs you, well, too bad.) And don't let anyone get away with saying, "Christians think sex is wrong," because that's easily the second-dumbest thing I've ever heard. And third, Christians think drinking is wrong. Where do people get this stuff? If you...

I'm going to blog about a controversial topic now. Abortion is back in the news. Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 281-142 in favor of banning partial-birth abortion, or late-term abortion. Critics of the bill say it is an attack on Roe v. Wade. Or, an attack on the right to an abortion itself. The critics are absolutely right. Roe v. Wade is most likely the most unconstitutional piece of garbage ever to become the law of the land. Rather than secure "health care" for millions of people, it has caused the death of fifty million people, and ruined the lives of millions of others. Why won't pro-lifers permit a heath exception? Because prominent abortion doctors have admitted that they would classify the most blatantly elective abortion as a health-related one. "Life" or "rape" is clear enough; health is not. And an overturn of Roe would not mean automatic illegality, as most perceive. Rather, individual state laws would be reinstituted. ...

That last post is a great transition, because the next section of Colossians tells us some important things about Jesus. Without further delay, let's read Colossians 1:15-29. What does this passage say about Jesus and the Father? What does this say about Jesus and creation? What was the purpose of creation? What does it mean that "he is before all things"? What function does a head have for a body? What must happen before the resurrection on the last day? What does verse 19 mean? (This is HUGE) How does Jesus make peace, and with whom? Who is "you" in verse 21? What then is true about all people, whether they are Christians or not? Why is Christ's death important? How are we holy and blameless? How will we be made holy and blameless? Are these two truths contradictory? How can we be stable and steadfast? Why does the gospel help us do that? Are the afflictions of Christ not complete enough for the church? (Must a...

What is Christology? Good question. Christology is the study of the person and work of Jesus Christ. Or, "Who is Jesus, and what did He come to do?" That, I think, is the most important question that anyone could ask. Your answer determines your destiny. Christians take the rock-solid foundational answer to this question for granted. It's not obvious to everyone that Jesus is the Lord, the Son of God, the author and perfecter of our faith. If you believe Jesus in this way, it is a miracle. We are then vessels for His glory, and nothing else. Most heresies that have ever appeared undermine Jesus and his work. They have to do that very thing, because He is the center of it all.