Leaning Forward

The coneheads next door, reprise

A family of coneheads recently moved into the vacant house down the street. They seem nice enough, though they look and act a little odd. We're wondering if they'll visit our church. Of course, they would be welcome. But, still, they may prefer worshiping with their own kind. They say coneheads worship in their own unique way.

Well, sure, this is humor, straight from an SNL parody featuring Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin, and Laraine Newman. The skit debuted in 1977 and a full-length film was released in 1993. With their odd shaped heads, strange voices, off-beat lifestyle, and colorful language they came from the planet Remulak to spearhead an invasion from outer space. They were never suspected of being aliens. They told everyone they were from France. The moral was quite obvious: people who are different than us can enhance life in every venue---work, school, the market place, and the hood.

Had the writers scripted an episode titled The Coneheads Go to Church, the result may have been more tragedy than comedy. It's not something we'd put on the sign out front, behind a "What to Expect" button on the web site, or in any of the church promotional material. But, we all know us sinful humans have a registry of biases, prejudices, and presuppositions. Getting real, the greeter committee may not be as out front with coneheads as they would be with people who are like us.

And, that may be a primary reason 15 SBC churches will hold their final service each and every Sunday of the year. Someone has said that 90% of these congregations are actually in growing communities. That being true, the broad-brush conclusion about them must be that they've discovered the identity of their neighbors and have decided, usually in an informal way, not to include them in their mission. They don't want to have a church full of coneheads.

OK, let's be fair! If the process of a declining church begins with an exodus of their younger membership cohort, then the remaining leaders and church members may actually not know how to reach a conehead population. Who's to say the old dog and new tricks thing isn't real to some degree? It's true, though, the learning curve is steeper for people not accustomed to the warp and woof of cultural change. There's a clear possibilty that many of these declining churches really don't know how to make the course corrections necessary to reach coneheads.

All the same, if we are to be as innocent as doves and wise as snakes, we can't over- look the fact that many congregatons just simply won't welcome coneheads into their fellowship, or any other minority, for that matter.  The issue, then, is deeper than  cultural linguistics, the dynamics of change, worship preferences, appropriate dress, or any of the other physical barriers than can disconnect us from the world outside. No, it's a sin problem, the transgression of creating groups that have been made one in Christ (Galatians 3:28), the sin of not lovng our neighbor, the spiritual error of exclusion, disobedience to the commission of making disciples of all nations. Oh yes, and of course, that puts us out of sync with Him. Check out 1 John 4:20-21. What is more, in this scenario, we have hi-jacked title deed to the church and made it ours and not His. How can we expect His blessing if we are bigoted in this way, even when we cover such an attitude with our Sunday School words.

Engaging the people group next door means absolutely nothing unless the coneheads next door are included too.

Reaping the whirlwinfd

There is the law of the harvest, you know, reaping what you sow. It is a biblical theme recounted throughout the record of God's redemptive plan. The prophet Hosea raised the bar of the law of the harvest, warning, "Indeed, they sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind" (Hosea 8:7). It is a prophetic word about the subtle nature of sin, the way yeast multiplies in a batch of dough.

So, the sexual revolution of the sixties has yielded a shallow, cheap valuation of human life. And today, more than 57,000,000 abortions have occurred since 1973, as a result of this devaluation. You can review the abortion clock and the horrifying numbers here if you're up to it. They're the cause of deep remorse and sorrow to those who hold a view of the sanctity of human life. They should make us prayerful and repentant in our sorrow. Today, churches around the nation are doing so.

The whirlwind? There's a rushing ripple effect in the sanctity of human life. It is very apparent in the other demographics of our nation---the drug culture, gang warfare, treatment and care of the elderly, rising crime against persons, even government procedures and policies. In dozens of other moral indicators we are experiencing the whirlwind of devaluing human life.

So, today, pray, read the Word, reach out with love and compassion to those who have experienced the horror of this national shame. Tomorrow, call your congressman and senators office to express your support of human life.

Thanks.

Re-read # 4: Knowing God

Published in 1973, J.I. Packer's Knowing God is a standard that I read annually because it impacted my life when I was searching for spiritual meaning many years ago. The original price tag reminded me how long ago it had been. $6.95 was a hefty price for a seminary student in 1979. Still in print, the paperback version at Amazon Prime is $14.67 new, still not a bad price.

When the hound of heaven finally moved me to attend SEBTS I was truly a spiritual and biblical novice. My degree in business and several years in banking and hospital administration didn't give me much background in theological study. So, when I entered SEBTS another new student recommended Packer's work as a theological primer. 

Of course, it was more than that. The back cover blurb promises that "...Knowing God could become, next to Scripture, the most significant book you will read this year, and maybe next". That would be true for me, since I've read it annually every year since my seminary graduation in 1982. And, there are several notable reasons Knowing God is on my personal re-read list.

Packer elevates the study of God with language that fits the topic and moves me to know the majesty of his subject matter, that is, Knowing God. Perhaps it is common that our British cousins use proper English in their writing. But, I find that Packer's use of fine terminology and phrasing draws me into an exalted desire to read more, know more, and learn more. He does not mince words nor is his writing wordy. There's an economy of words that communicates with efficiency but with great clarity.

More so, Packer's thoughts about God and knowing Him are grounded in Scripture. That his conclusions and insights are based on the Word of God gave me initially a tutorial in Old and New Testament that I had not expected. His intended treatise on God (see page 5) is just that with the added benefit of being a survey of the Bible. And, then, more, a review of church history, and a study in biblical interpretation.

More to my heart, at the time I originally read Packer and in the thirty+ readings since, is the fine way of making his ideas so thoroughly Christological. At that early point in my personal journey it was a directional lesson that was important and significant. it still is a constant reminder of the centrality of Christ in all things.

So, I read this book over and over, and highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't been with Packer in a great study of our heavenly Father. He closes the book, "Thou hast said, 'Seek Ye my face'. My heart says to Thee, 'They face Lord, do I seek" (Psalm 27:8). If this book moves any of its readers to identify more closely with the psalmist at this point, it will not have been written in vain". 

Amen to that.

Re-read # 3: Affluenza

Affluenza: The All Consuming Epidemic was written by John DeGraaf, David Wann, and Thomas Naylor (Berrett-Koehler, San Francisco: 2001). It was originally an adaptation of two PBS television documentaries by the same name that used the metaphor a disease to address the materialism and consumerism of contemporary culture. Once again, it is not on my every year reading list because of it's clear spiritual content or underpinning. Rather, it's an honest assessment of the financial sickness that seems to possess so many Americans today. What impressed me most about the material is the way the authors authenticate their assumptions with facts. On the other hand, there are several Bible references in the background that give the insights some credibility for people like me. Therefore, this very insightful book is useful as a ministry resource.

Once again, it tackles the biblical themes of wealth and stuff in a creative manner. The medical metaphor is compelling and easily draws the reader into the process. There are sub-divisions on Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment of Affluenza. The Causes section opens in Chapter 15 with a Scripture quotation from 1 Timothy 6:7-10, the section about the love of money being the root of all evil. This was an eye-opener for me, knowing that the PBS people would have permitted this kind of spiritual value to be included in their assessment of culture. The Chapter title, Original Sin, means that the authors realize the underlying heart issues involved in the economic condition of the nation.

The Treatment section contains recommendations about attending church groups in financial training and implementing the tithe as a method of handling personal money issues with intergrity. There are also chapters on preserving the environment, how to live socially and financially responsible lives, and ways to simplify life. There's are several assessment inventories to assist in diagnosing affluenza and other financial ills, like credit card over-use, planned purchasing, retirement planning, and many other very practical matters related to living financially responsible lives. 

Of course, the factual data presented in their findings changes with every day. But, the trends they identify and predict are accurate, and their assessment of the epidemic is still spot on. The statistical material is useful even though somewhat dated. But, the most stirring thing about this book is the creative way the material is organized and presented, the compelling way the information is arranged, and the manner in which their conclusions reflect the wisdom and truth of Scripture.

So, in a few weeks, I'm going to read this one again, as in the past five or six years. It informs, inspires, and instructs in an area where most of us have a hard time relating the truth of Scripture to the cultures in which we live.

That we cannot serve God and mammon is a core belief on my evangelical faith. Jesus said it, I believe it. These authors said it too in Chapter 15, on page 126. Their ideas and conclusions are generally consistent with my faith, and I appreciate the cool way they packaged this great material.

So, take a read. You'll be glad you did.

Worship 1-January 5, 2014

It's the Lord's Day and millions of believers are gathering in churches and homes around the world to worship, study, grow, and fellowship together. I will be one of them, very eager to worship with the Northwood Baptist Church family and preach a Bible message that will challenge and inspire us all to right Christian living.

Maybe you're sleeping in today, or are experiencing some symptoms of the bugs making the rounds in the winter weather. Whatever the reason, perhaps you would appreciate a personal moment of worship. If so, listen to Chris Tomblin on YouTube here. There's a short advertisement that you can skip if you want to.

Now, read this.

Shout triumphantly to the Lord all the earth.
Serve the Lord with gladness. come before Him with joyful song.
Acknowledge that the Lord is God.
He made us, and we are His---
HIs people, the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving and HIs courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him and praise His name.
For the Lord is goodm and His love is eternal.
HIs faithfulness endures through all generations.
Psalm 100

Now pray.

Our Fatherin heaven,
Your name be honnored as Holy.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done in earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts as we aso have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Matthew 6:9-13

Happy Lord's Day!

Pause 1

Most Americans don't do the pause thing too well. Culture is defined by motion and fast-forward is the default setting any more. We've learned the jargonn of chill and chive, and have made recreation the icon of pop with-it idealism. At the heart, though, only true slackers know how to un-plug and really enjoy rest, relaxation, and refreshment. Even recreation is manic pursuit anymore.

So, here os Pause 1. The first Saturday of 2014, and the way we'll spend every Saturday, in pause. Here's your assignment, should you choose to accept it. Watch a movie with your wife and children.  

Re-read # 2: The Secular City

Liberal Harvard theologian shocked the world in his 1965 bestseller The Secular City (New York: MacMillan:1965). Of course, Cox wasn't speaking of a particular geographical setting as the image behind his thesis. He was rather describing a future world where secular ideas were the "outcome of Biblical religion." Cox predicted a collision of secular urban reality and the breakdown of traditional religion.

The picture I selected to display today depicts, at least in my mind, the two marks of the secular city as envisioned by Cox. He envisioned a future world of mobility and anonymity. Perhaps a bleak photograph of cars jammed bumper to bumper in a traffic circle accurately pictures the frustrations of a world that is moving and dis-connected. They're the sad faces of indistinct people caught in the suspended motion of the population explosion. It's a world of people living unnoticed lives, hiding out in high rise office buildings, apartment complexes, cubicles, and even cars. Even more, it is a world with little hope, the secular city with inanimate hand-made gods apart from any systematic system of belief. It's the world where the unholy trinity of me-myself-and-I rules.

And, over there in their little corner of it is the church, disconnected from it but finding some measure of peace and meaning in their protective huddles. It is the godless world in one corner, and the fortress church in the other, ready for the crash should one make a move toward the other. They will not be unequally yoked, these two worlds, because they fear each other so. The fortress church cannot be made uncomfortable by any concessions to secularism, and the world doesn't have any idea of God in the first place. It's a stand off, and the only apparent solution is the dismantling of tradition and orthodoxy and standards, a thumbing of biblical values and morals.

It is totally sad, this disconnection. With the wagons circled in defense from the savage secular monster, we've become the enclave church, the cloister of safety from the demons of secularism. The other option, to accommodate the world and let water seep into the vessel, the slowing sinking ship, is just as offensive. Standing our ground is a natural reaction, knowing that the gates of gehenna cannot prevail against His church. Of course, how much this current version depicts His church may be an arguable point and may be just the reason we're closing so many church doors these days. It is possible that the church of the twentieth century has morphed into something quite different than the church Jesus is building?

Reading Harvey Cox is a depressing survey of what he anticipated in the future. As a biblicist Cox leaves much to be desired. As a prophet he may be judged more lightly because his predictions are pretty much accurate. And, like most prophets he went unheeded, discounted because of his liberal leanings and Harvard pedigree. But, his ideas about a secular world and the breakdown of traditional religion were basically on point. So, witness the rise of the non-traditional phenomenon sweeping across our nation and the world, spirituality apart from the traditional church.

So, we're suddenly about connections. Contemporary spirituality is more about the horizontal than the vertical. So, theology and practice and even morality are down the list, people and relationships up. Of course, Harvey Cox, like many modern voices, was light in the biblical authority stuff too. So, he was good at saying what is wrong with the world and the church, but doesn't offer many workable solutions except to discount the church as a viable means of addressing societal problems.

Somewhere Cox's cohorts forgot about the promises of God, the joys of faith, the stronger one that is in us than the one in the world, and the times in human history when the church did actually influence the times. If Scripture means anything to evangelicals today, we must rally around Bible teaching and be the church Jesus is building, the one we read about in the New Testament.

Our dilemma isn't so much the need to get in touch with them as it is to stay in touch with Him. And, that means that I, and every church person these days, must place ourselves under His authority as Lord, and be the church of Scripture, not the church of the world, or the church of our dreams. 

So, I read Harvey Cox every year, as a reminder about the state of the world, and the vital importance of Christ's church impacting that world. And, if I understand the church as defined by Scripture, that means me.  

Re-read #1: The Six Thinking Hats

OK, The Holy Bible is the number one best-seller on my reading list. To read through The Bible each year is a blessing that confronts me with fresh truth every day. The promise that The Word is living is certainly proved as He reveals new things each time through.

There are five other books I read every year. They are simply reminders of something I found import- ant in them at first reading. So, for the first few days of 2014 I'm going to review them, even as I begin the process of reading them again. They challenge me to learn and grow.

Edward de Bono is a pioneer of thinking. You can read his biography here. His personal faith is never mentioned in his biographical data. But, reading between the lines it appears he is perhaps a secular humanist. One of his books is "H+:A New Religion" that espouses happiness, help, hope, health, and humor as a key to living the meaningful and purposeful life. It may be his confession of faith.

The Six Thinking Hats is a pace-setter in the study of how humans think and make decisions. De Bono suggests that there are six thinking tools in making important decisions: the white hat considers data and facts; the red hat involves intuition and gut; the black hat brings questions and caution into the process; the yellow hat looks at the positives of the situation; the green hat takes a creative view; and the blue hat requires analysis and focus over the issue. They are significant ways to approach problem solving and decision making. Read about them.

Most importantly, de Bono defined and identified "lateral thinking", that is, the process of thinking at a level beyond the confines of logic and reason. In his reasearch, he characterized most thinking as linear thinking, that is, thinking in a rational, logical, progressive, and usually chronological fashion. Lateral thinking is a thought process that leaps to another plane, a level above logical sequence. It involves thinking beyond what is obvious, tackling problems with a fresh, creative approach.

The catch for me is that lateral thinking is Kingdom thinking. Jesus always challenged His followers and listeners to move to another level in their thinking. He usually answered a question with a question in order to shift his students to Kingdom thoughts. The "mind of Christ" which supposedly defines believers is a mind lived on a Kingdom level. We must see things through Kingdom eyes. De Bono doesn't talk about that. But, lateral thinking is Kingdom thinking.

Here is a problem for the modern church. We are linear thinkers, addressing the times with logic and reason, chronological movement of thought, sequential ideation. To fulfill the Great Commission, we must think as Kingdom people, live under the promise of the supernatural, and envision the world with Kingdom eyes.

Having ears to listen and eyes to see is a shift to Kingdom thinking and Kingdom ways. De Bono doesn't talk about the Kingdom. But, his ideas about lateral thinking went a long way challenging me to think at a different level.

Let this mind be you. Philippians 2:5 

Every day is a fresh start

OK, the calendar has turned and everyone is blathering about a fresh start. It is a new year and there's a good bit of history here, years of cultural conditioning about turning over a new leaf, beginnings, leaving the past in the rear-view mirror, and the positive attitude rhetoric to super-charge the possibilities. It's the boost that some people need to navigate beyond hard times, disappointments, discouragement, failed relationships, and every other dark moment in the old version. Hip hip hooray!

Thirty years ago my friend Curt Bradford challenged me with Isaiah 43:19, depicted in the picture above. It reminds me that every moment of my life happens under the promise of the new thing He is doing in my life. Yes, the clean landscape of the new year does offer a rush of potential and I'm applauding every person who sees this as a thresh-hold to change or course correction. Underneath the veneer of calendars and talk is the truth of human nature and the reality that we're mostly recidivists in the sin department, apt to repeat the mistakes of the past without supernatural intervention.

So, that's the difference between Isaiah 43:19, and all the promises of Scripture, for that matter, and the positive attitude jibe of culture. The new thing Isaiah promises is what God is doing. He is doing a new thing, constantly making everything new, doing the work of new creation over His people, inviting His people to be a part of what He is always doing.

Happy New Year is an appropriate greeting today. In reality, Happy New Thing is the joy of a growing relationship with Christ every single moment of every single day. So, Happy New Year.

Happy New Thing! WOW!