1. A nation inescapably has a shared set of values, beliefs, symbols, orthodoxies, stigmas, doctrines, founding narratives, heroes, and even rituals. This is a religion (broadly defined).

2. “Separation of church and state” is really about having 1) a “civil religion” that is generic enough to be inclusive of denominations (and people of conscience) compatible with the nation’s sense of public morality and civil values. And 2) a separation of civil institutions and more particular denominational institutions.

3. Both liberals and conservatives inevitably want a civil religion: They want the government to encourage and in many cases even enforce a civil code that reflects a notion of public morality and human flourishing.

4. Liberals should acknowledge that they are trying to change our country’s civil religion and enforce their own orthodoxy / doctrine.

5. Christians should acknowledge that we too prefer a “civil religion”: a generic set of Judeo-Christian / Western values.

6. Since America is now abandoning its original “civil religion”, it is all the more appropriate for Christians to own our identity. America is not our final home. We are like foreigners, immigrants, and refugees. We are wandering. Longing for our true home. Awaiting the return of our true President/King, Jesus Christ.

Benefit of confronting early: Our frustration isn’t pent up.

There is more time to demonstrate patience and kindness. Our love isn’t soiled by our own inner frustration and bitterness. We show trust in God by planting the seed of confrontation and then showing we are committed in long-term relationship to help another person changing.

The alternative is to keep it quiet, say nothing, grow in our bitterness/frustration, and then say something too late.

Review of chapter 2 of Tim Chester’s You Can Change.

Summary quote:

“We don’t change so we can prove ourselves to God. We’re accepted by God so we can change. God gives us a new identity, and this new identity is the motive and basis for our change.” (29)

Continue reading “New Identity Comes Before True Holiness” →

The first gift for Isaac’s new prospective wife: a gold nose ring.

“When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ringweighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels.” (Genesis 24:22, NIV)

Sounds positive here:

“And I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck. And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head.” (Ezekiel 16:11-12)

My friend Edyth comments,

Customs, customs–not a command from God. The Bible presents people in all their sinfulness and strange customs.

My reply:

Too late, already encouraging my wife to exchange her finger-ring for a nose-ring!

In all seriousness, I love the raw grittiness of the Bible. 100% divinely inspired and 100% human.

Perhaps a variation of “law before gospel” is “wisdom before gospel.” We learn from Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job, and the Sermon on the Mount how to live wisely, but we also learn how foolish we are.

Jesus speaks wisdom with most authority. He is Wisdom himself. He exposes our folly, forgives our foolishness, and restores us to a knowledge and fear of the Lord.

“Grace will confront you again and again with your foolishness as it connects you eternally to the one who is Wisdom.” (Paul David Tripp)

“Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:2-3)

One of my favorite things to hear in a roller hockey game: When the puck gets dumped into the other team’s corner and I start chasing behind their player, who is chasing after the puck. The goalie warns the other player, “You’ve got one behind you, and he’s coming hard!”

I have 20-40 pounds more than most of these young guys… and I don’t stop easily… there is a train coming!

Because God and creation are distinct, we shouldn’t feel so inclined to treat the “natural” approach to food with sacred reverence. We have dominion over nature. Food is ours to modify. The universe is not enchanted nor is there a Mother Nature.

The strong Creator/creature monotheistic belief and a “disenchanted” view of the created universe should help lead to more food science and experimentation, not less.

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Added May 22, 2018, quoted by Douglas Wilson:

“’Natural childbirth’ is a very common way of refusing to apply the doctrine of the Fall, ignoring the curse that God placed upon childbearing. To say that pregnancy is not a disease is quite true. To say that giving birth is a natural process is also true also. But this overlooks the fact that it is a cursed natural process. Eve was given turmoil in the bearing of children, just as Adam was given weeds in the garden” (Confessions of a Food Catholic, pp. 74-75).

First, consider the text:

“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:19-23)

1. Some of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) are godly virtues precisely because they are exercised under the intensity of bad feelings. I am thinking here especially of self-control or temperance. When a man practices self-control, his challenge is to not let his feelings rule him… but his knowledge of the truth.

2. In context Paul is contrasting the works of the flesh (5:19-21) and the fruits of the Spirit. If the fruits of the Spirit were simply good feelings, we would expect the works of the flesh to be bad feelings. Instead Paul lists dispositions of the heart, orientations, actions, and results of actions — much broader than simply bad feelings.

3. Love is not a mere feeling, and sometimes love feels painful. It is a disposition of the heart that results in action. My wife does not merely feel loving toward me. She is loving toward me. Her love is more than a feeling. Indeed, sometimes she loves me when it does not feel good at all. Love does hard things that feel awful.

4. Judging people or their truth-claims based alone on whether they make you feel good contradicts the fruits goodness and faithfulness. “What you’re saying doesn’t make me feel good, therefore I am not going to believe you.” Goodness and faithfulness instead use wisdom to make a sound judgment. It pauses and considers the history and evidence. That is the loving thing to do.

5. Paul’s criteria for judging between a true and false gospel was using the measuring rod of the original message of the gospel:

“But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:8-9)

The three biggest issues with abortion are God, God, and God.

1) We are under God‘s authority and do not have ultimate autonomy. Bodily autonomy is not absolute and ultimate. God is absolute and ultimate.

2) Human beings are made in the image of God. They are not “granted” personhood or value or rights from other human beings.

3) God said, “Do not kill”, so any needless and elective killing of innocent human beings is an offense against God.

If there is no God, if human autonomy is absolute and ultimate for ethics, if human beings are just advanced primates with no intrinsic value, and if there is no God giving moral directives or conscience, then unnecessarily and intentionally killing innocent human beings makes a lot of sense.

Otherwise, abortion is rejection of God’s authority, a defacing of God’s image in man, and an offense against God who will call you personally to account for violating his will.