Lonely in a Sea of People

            Awhile back I blogged about an amazing experience I had during a “dare2share” conference. It set a fire in my heart to evangelize to those around me. There is a world of people out there; we need to go get ‘em.

            But my post will not be on evangelism today. It will be on social media. I just got a Facebook today (yay!), so my mind went back to one of the messages Propaganda gave on this 21st century institution.

            Without bashing it, Propaganda talked about an interesting phenomena occurring. You see, we are lonelier now than ever. Just look at suicide rates along with all the other negative stats. But we are more “in-tune and up-to-date” with each others' lives than ever. How can this be the case?

            Propaganda answers by saying it’s because we often portray a fake persona online. We choose the photos that make us look the best. We only say the funniest or most profound things. We make ourselves look good.

            Then, when we log off, we go back to our real life. Where we make mistakes, have bad hair days, snap at those we love, and just botch things in general. But no one ever knows… because when we log back on we laugh it off, joke about it, vent about it (jokingly), ignore it, or dismiss it.

            But on the inside we yearn for someone to talk to honestly. Someone that can see us get truly sad or angry. Someone that can see the real, true us. We weren’t made to be screens or snapshots, but real people with real lives. You know, reality? What ever happened to it?

            As a culture, we spend hours a day on social media. We don’t get out and talk to one another. Face-to-face conversations are becoming extinct. I’ll go into a restaurant and I’ll see couples on their phones, completely ignoring each other. I’ll see parents on their phones while their kids are on theirs. And we wonder at the dysfunction.

            And we get lonely. No one sees us for how we are, but what we want to be. We want to be that comedian/athlete/perfect person/genius/model. Instead, we are just… us. We need to be more open.

            Now, I’m not on here to bash social media. I used to be that way, but I’ve seen that good can come from it. People don’t have time anymore for long phone conversations or to spend half a day at your house. But they do have time to upload a photo and a caption, letting people know what’s going on. You can keep up with friends when they move. You can let others know what’s going on around you.

            But for the sake of our sanity, we need to go outside of our screens and talk to people. Become vulnerable. Get real. Make a true friend or two.

Stillness and Freight Trains

            Life gets busy sometimes. Schedules are jammed full and often there is little time to reflect on what exactly is happening. Wake up, go somewhere. Get home hours later, then leave again to wherever else. Come home, go to sleep.

            Repeat.

            In the craziness, we don’t stop to think. We can’t, really. Not with everything else we have to worry about, from friends to “I hope we are friends” to not enough sleep to not enough time. I just went through one of those times, and you can’t stop to prioritize and gather yourself.

            But then yesterday I read a part of a verse from Psalm 46 that hit me like a freight train: “Be still, and know that I am God” (verse 10).

            Before and after this verse, the author was praising God using beautiful imagery and lofty compliments. Pretty typical for the “praise” psalms. But nestled in the poetry was that little nugget that rocked my world at the moment.

            So you know what I did? I stopped. I swiveled around in my old leather desk chair. And I did absolutely nothing.

            I quickly noticed the light streaming through my dusty blinds (I do not like dusting, haha). I noticed all the sayings and quotes I’d hung up on my wall. I closed my eyes and noticed how silence truly is a sound. There is a depth to stillness, you just have to extract yourself from the bustle of life to notice it.

            That is truly what being still is about. Noticing your surroundings, the people around you, nature, your situation, and, above all, your Creator. Taking the time to step back and realize what life is all about.

            “Be still, and know that I am God”.

Summer School Grammar Lesson

(Warning: this is going to put you to sleep unless you are into in-depth apologetics. I should have another post by this Sunday or Monday)

            It’s been awhile since I’ve written explicitly about Genesis, so I’m going to write about it right… now. Dr. DeYoung, in his book “Thousands… Not Billions”, wrote a layman’s level interpretation of an eight-year long project called RATE (Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth). This research project was conducted by scientists and challenged the assumptions of today’s dating methods. It also explored dating evidence for a young earth.

            But I’m not writing about science today. At the end of the book, Dr. Steven Boyd (Biblical scholar) wrote a gem of a chapter on the Hebrew behind Genesis. As the Bible has been reinterpreted to accommodate naturalist theories (Evolution, uniformitarianism, Big Bang, etc.), Christians who have compromised based on secular pressure have spread the belief that the Creation account is allegorical. If so, then we can interpret it very broadly. Sort of like how one can interpret a poem broadly because the author gives him license to do so.

            However, what is the correct thing to do? At its most general level, there are two methods of interpreting scripture: exegesis and eisegesis. Exegesis is using the Bible to interpret itself. When an interpretation is produced, does it stay faithful to what the text itself says?

            Then there is eisegesis. This method of interpreting scripture involves taking something external to the Bible as true, and interpreting the Bible off it. The Bible is true as long as it accommodates this external truth.

            Theistic evolution (TE) and progressive creation (PC) take external theories (naturalism, Evolution, Big Bang, Uniformitarianism) as truth... and the Bible has to be interpreted to accommodate these truths. This is eisegesis because there is precious little Biblical support for these two positions. How can you tell? If someone wants to learn about TE and PC, the Bible is the last place they go.

            Biblical Creation (BC) takes the beginning of Genesis as literal history. This is exegesis because the authority of scripture is absolute, and used to interpret itself. How can you tell? When someone wants to learn about BC, the Bible is the first place they go.

Steven Boyd

            

            So what Dr. Boyd did was look at the Hebrew itself to see if it supports the notion that Genesis is poetical. Now, all it should take is directing someone to Proverbs and Psalms (biblical poetry), then directing them to Genesis (biblical history). The following comparison should dismiss that idea pretty instantly. Proverbs and Psalms are nothing like Genesis*.

            But because many Christians are heaven-bent on reinterpreting Genesis, it’s not that easy. But let’s get to the actual study. Before I do that, I have to define finite Hebrew verbs (the focus of the study). Finite verbs are those that have different forms based on person (I, you, he, they), gender (masculine, feminine), and number (singular, plural). There are four types of finite verbs:

1. Preterite - history - “She swam”
2. Imperfect - present/future/general - “She is swimming/will swim/swims”
3. Perfect - single historical action - “She swam”
4. Waw-perfect - habitual or repeated historical action - “She would/used to swim

            He then took a statistical analysis of clear historical and clear poetical passages of scripture to see if he could find patterns in the verb forms. These patterns might be able to indicate whether or not the beginning of Genesis was meant to be read literally or poetically.

            Also, there are helpful passages called “paired texts” that made the study a little easier. “Paired texts” means that there is both a literal and poetic passage to a single event. Examples are Exodus 14 (history) and Exodus 15:1-19 (Song of Moses, poetry), and Judges 4 (history) and Judges 5 (songs of Deborah and Barak, poetry).

            What did he find? He found that historical passages used preterite verbs an average of 52% of the time (compared to other finite verbs). Poetical passages used preterite verbs an average of 4% of the time. HUGE difference between history and poetry, obviously.

            Before I get to Genesis, I’ll mention specific examples. Judges 3 (history) used preterite verbs 81% of the time. Deuteronomy 32 (poetry) used preterite verbs 17% of the time. So Judges 3 is clearly history, Deuteronomy 32 is clearly poetry.

            It really is that simple.

            Now let’s look at the first two chapters of Genesis. *Drumroll* The beginning of Genesis uses preterite verbs… around 65% of the time! CLEARLY historical. Now, if you did the whole “read biblical poetry, then read biblical history, then compare” test at the beginning of the section, you would’ve come to the same conclusion.

            So grammatically, the Creation account is clearly historical, and should be read as such. Where does this leave TEs and PCs? They have three options: 1) admit their position is unbiblical and switch, 2) interpret ALL other historical passages poetically (to be consistent), 3) keep on keepin’ on. My guess is they’ll go with #3 because they didn’t use the Bible to come to their interpretation of Genesis anyway.

*A mark of poetry is that you can make music to it or you can sing to it. Sing Genesis 6:14-16 with me! Or, if you aren't the best of singers, grab a guitar and play a tune. The passage goes like this:

            "So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.

            This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.

            Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit high all around. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks." (NIV)

            Oh, that does't make for good music or lyrics, does it? I wonder why… hmm… I got it! Maybe that's because it's supposed to be history! So just like you wouldn't go around singing paragraphs from your history textbook, you wouldn't go around singing historical Bible passages! It makes sense… unless you eisegete and are reinterpreting the Bible to fit unbiblical ideas. You would probably sing obituaries at this point ;)

Greatness

            Awhile back I read Dr. Tony Evans’ book "Kingdom Man". It was inspiring, and goes hand in hand with my last post. He writes about men reaching their potential, which is greatness. You see, men in the American church have been feminized*.

            Just look at the volunteer openings in a typical church. Sunday school teachers. Care team. Meal-makers. Etc, etc. All more geared toward those who are gentle, sympathetic, soft, and caring. All more geared towards women**. Men often don’t go to church because they feel they have to check their masculinity at the door.

            Where’s the destruction? Where's the guts? Where’s the glory?

            Where’s the greatness?

            Men desire challenge. That’s why we gravitate toward the movies we do. Impossible odds? Ha! Us against the world? They better have backups. Epic drawn out fight scenes with massive special effects? Another day in the life of a man movie.

            But no, when we enter church we enter a realm that caters to women. We get an atmosphere that’s designed to draw out emotions and create a memorable experience. Great, but where’s the greatness?

Before Your Maker

            God knows something about greatness. He just needs to look in a mirror to see it. And you know what? He desires for us to be great, also. Genesis 12:13:

            The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.

            I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.

            I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (NIV)

            Did you catch those phrases? “I will make YOU into a great nation”. “I will make YOUR name great”. “ALL peoples on earth will be blessed through YOU”.

            I don’t know about you, but that gets the blood flowing. I look at those phrases and I get excited. Sure, I get nervous, but if God is with me no one can stop me***.

            While those SPECIFIC words were for Abraham, the premise of this post is that men can do great things if we grab onto God’s will for us, not our culture’s.

            We are not women. Most men are rough around the edges. Men tend not to be good listeners and worse sympathizers. We are stubborn and hard-headed.

            But we desire greatness to a level women generally do not. No challenge is too great, no obstacle too hard. We demolish anything that gets in the way.

            God has a few things for people like men to do.

Summary

            So why did I write this post? Actually, my mind was all over the place. I was going to write about how the American church has followed American culture by falling to emotionalism (and therefore leaning towards women). I was going to write about specific problems men need to man-up with (such as fatherhood and treating women correctly). I was going to write about all the great things God wanted men to do in the Bible (and why men today can do great things)...

            So I decided to do a little bit of everything. So here’s my summary: Women and men are different. Men desire greatness. This desire is marginalized in today’s church, to the church’s detriment. Men can desire to be great because there are Biblical precedents (I only gave one). Therefore, desire greatness.

*Scratch that, men in America have been feminized.

**Alright, here’s my mandatory disclaimer I have to give when I say things like this: I’m not saying that if certain men have these traits or do these things, they are feminine. I’m talking about GENERALITIES. Men GENERALLY aren’t the most personable, or sympathetic, or skilled in the kitchen. You get my point.

***Okay, here’s another disclaimer I have to give: By all this talk of greatness, I don’t mean self-glorification. I’m not talking about “look at me” pride, but “look at God” worship. The more great things men do the more praise God gets. If you notice in the verses I quoted, who is allowing Abraham to be great? “I will show you... I will make you... I will make your... I will bless...” etc. Only in God’s power can we be great, and by being great we glorify God.

The Death of the Imagination

            As my sisters and their friends watch “Ender’s Game”, it got me thinking about fantasy worlds and the imagination. You see, when we are young we are told to use our imagination. It’s encouraged. Our parents give us tools to sharpen and expand it.

            We are told that the imagination can take us to lands that don’t exist anywhere other than the mind. We are allowed to believe in Santa Clause and the Tooth Fairy because it’s good for us to be happy. Kids desire a care-free world where the good guy always win.

            Then, you grow up. What happens to the imagination? We are told to hide it, to let it go. So it diminishes, or at least goes underground.

            But it never dies.

            One thing few realize is that, just like everything else, the imagination is supposed to mature. Grow up. The imagination is supposed to be refined, not canned.

            And as it grows, its name changes. The adult’s imagination is called vision.

            Adults are no different than kids in that we all desire the good guy to win and the world to be right. This desire produces fantasy worlds in the child (imagination), but it is supposed to produce action in the adult (vision).

            However, it often doesn’t because we are told we can no longer dream past a certain age. So we go throughout life with no drive, no hope. No vision. We are told to be realists, pessimists. We look at wickedness and say, “Well, that’s just the way it is.” That’s not dreaming. That’s not a visionary speaking.

            That’s the voice of someone who has been told to destroy his or her imagination. It’s a dark, cold, gray world without hope.

Come back

            Bring back the imagination. Dream again. Before we can change the world, we have to have a goal. Then we can move.

            End human slavery? Go for it.

            Demolish abortion? Sounds great.

            Find a cure for cancer? Why not?

            Live like Jesus day in, day out? Nothing’s stopping you.

            Pick up your sword and let’s go. Build the imagination. Kickstart a vision. Fight for a world that would make our Lord and Savior proud.

Looney Tunes

            Yesterday at my work I was able to share the Gospel with a coworker. It was simply an awesome experience that had me higher than the the Empire State Building (who needs drugs?). She was in the perfect position: questioning and receptive to anything. It’s also a dangerous time because she’s receptive to ANYTHING. I’m praying that our conversation is just one of many.

            But she said something gave me pause: the Bible contains some looney tunes.

            As a non-Christian, she gave some much needed perspective to a church kid (me). The Bible contains many details that, to this atheistic anti-religious culture, are hard to believe. For example, she mentioned the virgin birth. Whaaaaa? That’s not scientifically possible.

            I grew up in the church, so I’m used to the miracles in the Bible. I don’t bat an eye. But this was a real hurdle for her to jump over.

            Then it hit me: she didn’t have to accept the virgin birth, Jonah’s big fish, Judgement Day, Joshua’s still sun... any of it.

            All she had to do was accept the Resurrection.

HOLD UP!

            Now, before you burn me to the stake, hold up. I’m not saying that those events didn’t happen. I’m also not saying that, if she does accept the good news, she won’t eventually believe those events as a natural extension of believing the Bible is the Word of God.

            I’m saying that, as of now, all the other miracles in the Bible aren’t beneficial to me at the moment. Instead of scrambling to defend how every miracle could have happened, I simply have to jump to the Resurrection.

            It’s a bottom up approach. You start with the most foundational miracle, and if you can show that believing it is logical and rational, the rest will follow (think Dominoes).

            If my coworker accepts the Resurrection, what else must she believe?

1. God exists
2. God is extremely powerful* and omniscient
3. God intervenes in and cares about human events
4. Miracles are real and can happen and have happened

            Going back to the four miracles I mentioned earlier, are they that much of a stretch now? Now that you’ve accepted the four points above, accepting the four miracles (and all the others in the Bible) aren’t as hard.

            So when she mentioned all the crazy miracles in the Bible, I instantly knew that systematically explaining everything from the Creation to Eutychas’ resurrection would be unfruitful. I only need to convince her of the most important miracle (which, not so incidentally, is almost the easiest miracle to defend). The rest will follow if she accepts it.

Summary

            The Bible is hard to believe sometimes. I know this, and you can bet your grandma my friend knew it, too. But everything goes back to the Resurrection. If the Resurrection happened, several mind-blowing things follow.

1. Everything Jesus said is validated. He claimed to be God? Yessir, no doubt now. He claimed to be the Messiah? Definitely.
2. The Bible is validated as the Word of God. It was written over thousands of years, with Jesus approving the Old Testament and His disciples (with the power of Jesus Himself) approved the New Testament.
3. We are saved and can have hope that Jesus is coming back for us.
4. We will live for eternity in Heaven with God.

            My next post will expand on why the Resurrection is so important for apologetics and polemics (challenging other faiths). If the Resurrection happened, it’s game over for every other religion.

*I am going to stop using the term “omnipotent” because you get the smart alecks that ask, “Can God sin?” Or “can God create a square circle?” And so on and so forth. There are answers to those things, but the conversation just gets bogged down. I’m going to say “extremely powerful” instead or something like that.

Psalm 23

            “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

            So goes the first verse of Psalm 23. It’s been an unbelievable comfort for me recently. My life isn’t hard by any means, but when I’m drained and worried and irritated and everything else, this verse comes to me like a bug to light.

            Okay, that wasn’t very poetic.

            “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

            As I’m nearing graduation, what am I going to do? I want to be a pastor, but is that going to happen? What do I do for the four years before seminary? Where will I go?

            “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

            I’m tired and my work is getting on my nerves. The customers drive me crazy and I’m supposed to serve them with a smile? Like, as if I don’t want to eat the food I’m serving them?

            “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

            If the Lord is my shepherd, I am a sheep. If you’ve ever been on a farm with sheep for a little bit, you’d understand the same thing David did. Sheep are completely and utterly dependent on the shepherd. They can’t defend themselves. They can’t lead themselves. If their brains disappeared, they would probably get smarter.

            “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

            While the last part is often the focus (not desiring anything), that’s not actually the point. It’s the “why” behind the “what” that matters in this case. You don’t desire anything because the Lord is everything.

            “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

            The Lord is the focus of the verse. When I’m worried and irritated, I’m not letting God be my guide. I want something He isn’t leading me to at the moment. I want clarity. I want reasons. I want plans (or maybe a change of plans). But often He doesn’t allow me those things right away. I forget that as my shepherd, He is my everything.

            The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

            He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.

            He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

            Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

            You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.

            Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (NKJV)

Defeating Doubt and Changing America (At the Same Time!… ok, not really)

            A long time ago, I decided to take on the world. I wanted to storm the Internet and defend the Bible, especially against atheists. I went on their blogs and responded to their attacks on my faith. But I stopped dead in my tracks.

            They had some pretty good arguments. Oh, I thought I was just going to encounter a bunch of dim-witted haters that spewed vitriol everywhere. But I found many former Christians. I found many conscientious, careful writers who were searching for truth also.

            And did I say they had good arguments? They did. In fact, their arguments were so good that I took a look at the foundations of my faith.

The Mistake We Made

            Apologetics is my hobby. I enjoy any book that has a detailed defense of Christian theology and history. I know it’s essential, not only to defend my faith against outsiders, but to defend my faith against my doubts.

            That’s precisely what happened when I explored atheist blogs. In particular, I was overwhelmed by their arguments against the existence of God. But God was using this time to wake me up.

            If I, an apologetics kinda guy, was caught off-guard with atheist arguments, what must it be like for other Christians who have never been taught to defend their faith?

            They go to sunday school and learn the Gospel. The whole “Jesus came down and died for the sins of the world” story. Then they go to school and hear that Jesus’ very existence is doubted. They hear that Evolution is everything that is needed; God is unnecessary. They hear that the Bible is unreliable.

            They come home “a little shook-up”, and ask their parents and pastors about it. They don’t really have answers because no one taught them, either. The kid is left thinking that the non-Christians have the answer to life’s questions, and so leaves the church when he is able. College is often the final nail in his faith's coffin.

            The mistake the church has made has been to let apologetics (defending the faith) and polemics (challenging other faiths) slide. As the American church has fallen towards emotionalism (feeding the heart), it has neglected rationalism (building the mind). It also doesn’t help that the rationalist Christians are often the wacko fundamentalists (I can say "wacko fundamentalist" because I’m on the “fundamentalist” side of things usually).

The Short Term Answer

            How do we fix this lack of rationalism in the church? On the church’s end, it is simple:

1. Spend money to get apologetical and polemical resources
2. Have classes using those resources, and involve EVERYONE (teens especially)
3. Attend conferences and host speakers (Q&A sessions are absolutely amazing ways of getting conversations going)

            On the individual’s end, it’s the same, except with one more point: 4) Start conversations with friends, coworkers, and other students. What’s the use of knowing how to defend the faith and challenge other faiths if you never get the chance to do so?

The Long Term Answer

            While the above is a good start, it can’t compete against the school systems. We go to church once a week and school five days a week. We can’t compete against an atheistic school system for long.

            We have to aim for the university.

            Whereas the church used to be the institution that shaped current thought, now it is the university. And it doesn’t look good, because there are three times more atheist professors to everyone else in colleges in proportion to the population.

            To take back the universities we have to flood graduate schools and get doctorates in history, philosophy, etc. Then, when today’s professors die off, Christians are hired to replace them. The cycle repeats after tomorrow’s professors pass away, and so on and so forth.

            When we take back the universities, we’ll change modern thought because the highest academic circles decide how everyone else thinks. For good, or for worse.

Summary

            Looking over this post, I realize I’m all over the place. That’s alright because everything I cover is somewhat related, but let me tie everything together:

            We have to be able to defend our faith and challenge other faiths. The way to do that is to become rational by studying these topics. But that will only affect those already in the church. To reach those outside of the church, we have to gain back the institution that determines current thought: the university.