The Fight of Their Life

I know, I know, I finally am posting something on my blog. 

In the wake of the US Presidential Election there has been much speculation as to who President Elect Obama will handle the war in Iraq, and the war on terrorism in general.  Of course most average citizens would like the war to end and the loss of lives to stop.  In particular the parents of soldiers, though proud of their brave sons and daughters, pray that violence stops, that the troops will be safe, and soon they will be reunited with their loved one.

I imagine if my son or daughter were sent off with a machine gun into enemy territories and the constant threat of enemy attack, I would be relentless in prayer for their safety.  I would hit my knees as many parents of soldiers have so that I could once again hold my kid.  This would be a constant on my mind, and because the stakes are so high, I would not need a reminder to call out to God.  Likely neither would you.

Sadly we deceive ourselves in thinking our kids are any more safe.  Sure they are in less mortal danger, and after school today they will probably bound home to tell you about all that went on.  Yet, we seldom think of the war that is daily going on for their souls, and the damage that could be done at a spiritual level, an eternal level.  There is a reality that every day no matter where our kids are, they are in a war for their soul.  They are in a war against an evil attacker who would love nothing more than to derail their faith, take them away from Christ and destroy them completely.  If only we would remember that our kids are in the fight of their lives, and only Jesus can sustain them.  It is in Christ alone that they can find safety.  The attacks of the enemy are only going to intensify as the grow older.  Why not start praying now, that at the end of it all, we can rejoice together in the victory Jesus won as it pertains to the lives of us and our Children.  Why not pray for the war they are in.  Something to think about.  Something to pray about

Suprised By Heaven, And Who Might Be There

In preparation for this Sunday’s sermon, I have been reading a lot about the crimes against humanity committed in World War II.  April 29th marked the day of liberation for those imprisoned at Dachau and because it served as an illustration for my sermon, I have been doing some digging. 

When reading about the horror that went on in these death camps like Dachau and Auschwitz, I was left even more horrified at the evil capabilities of the Human.  To have such hatred in your heart as to think of more effective ways to exterminate other people is incomprehensible to me.  Yet, pictured to the left is Rudolph Hoess, first commandant of Auschwitz prison, and he was such a man.

Charged with carrying out the Final Solution of the Nazis by making the most effective machine of mass murder through the the death farm  of Auschwitz, Hoess set to work to fulfill this calling with ferocious fervour.  In the pursuit of maximizing the ability to kill the most people at one time, Hoess had the gas chambers built to kill ten times the amount of people that previous concentration camps could.  Gassing up to 2000 people at one time, mostly women and children.  He even prided himself on the capabilities and torture remarking once that he had made many improvements over the prison camps he had toured in researching human extermination.  Under the leadership of Rudolph Hoess somewhere between 1.1 and 2.5 million people died.

Now what really got to me wasn’t the life of Rudolph Hoess, that makes me ill, but rather the comments he made a short time before his death.  Four days before he was hanged he said this,

“My conscience compels me to make the following declaration. In the solitude of my prison cell I have come to the bitter recognition that I have sinned gravely against humanity. As Commandant of Auschwitz I was responsible for carrying out part of the cruel plans of the “Third Reich” for human destruction. In so doing I have inflicted terrible wounds on humanity. I caused unspeakable suffering for the Polish people in particular. I am to pay for this with my life. May the Lord God forgive one day what I have done.”

What gets me about this, is as Christian, I believe that if Hoess meant what he said, and truly repented of his sin, ironically calling on a Jew named Jesus for his salvation, then truly this day Rudolph Hoess enjoys the full glory of God in perfect peace and rest.

This does two things to me.

First it offends my own sense of justice.  I mean literally this man within one year could have gone from perpetrating the worst Hell to enjoying Heaven.  It is possible that at the hands of Hoess, people went to the chambers, only to down grade to Hell upon their death.  It seems impossible to me then that Hoess who commited such acts will share in the same Heaven as Jonathan Edwards, John Piper, Moses, Elijah and Jesus.  It is a bitter pill to swallow.

Second, I am overwhelmed by the Grace and Justice of God.  My first point is merely a gut reaction, it doesn’t factor in the grossness of sin, it doesn’t see a true standard of righteousness, it limits the sovereignty of God, it mocks the cross and really is a gut reaction.  Albeit a typical human response, so I repent of my first thought.  When I consider that it is possible that a man like Hoess might well be in Heaven if he believed in Jesus and turned to Him, it gives me hope for the rest of this sin sick world.  This gives me hope for a number of reasons.

1. All sin is worthy of meeting the full fury of an angry God.  Jonathan Edwards graphically depicts the wrath of God in his famous sermon, Sinners In The Hands of an Angry God.  All of us apart from the finished work of Jesus deserve His wrath, whether we feel more holy than Hoessor not, even the slightest infraction of the law of God is deserving of Hell.  Yet, because of His great love with which He loved us, even while we were still sinners Christ died for us.  I have hope in the salvation of men like Rudolph Hoess, because if the cross is sufficient for Him, it is sufficient for me, and I am in awe again of the accomplishment of the cross over all sin and death for those who give their lives to Jesus.

2. I have hope because of the sovereignty of God, because the Gospel has been His plan since the beginning of time, because He knows what is coming.  God is fully aware of the sinful heart of man, of the terrible prison of sin and its consequences, and His plan to forgive sinful people, allowing us to be born again, changing from children of wrath to children of God is cause for radical hope.  If God can free us from Hell, then He can set us free in this life as well.  The King knows what He is doing, and I can trust Him in my life as well as in death.

3. God is gracious and forgiving, and this gives me hope that it is possible that my neighbors might be saved.  We have no business saying that there are none left to be saved.  It is God who saves, it is God who draws the hearts of men, women and children to Himself.  It is not our calling to give up because we don’t think anyone else wants to get saved.  God is gracious and forgiving, and if we can proclaim the message of Jesus, we may see those saved whom we love, and those we should learn to love.

At the end of the day, I don’t know if Hoess is in Heaven or not, but I do know that the cross of Jesus is sufficient to save such a man, and He is sufficient to save you, and save me.  To God be the glory.

 

Not Your Granny’s Gospel Music

Sunday I was driving to Cranbrook for our Strategic Pastoral Network (SPN), and as I was flipping stations on the radio, I came across a Christian radio station, so I tuned in.  As part of the advertising for this station, a young voice came on to talk about the contemporary Christian music program and as part of the pitch bragged, “This isn’t your granny’s gospel music.”  I thought that was curious.

I understand that they are trying to be “hip” and relevant to gain a younger audience.  I get that, but is down playing Granny’s music the best way to do that?  Again I am not trying to be graceless, I think what they are trying to do by reaching the youth is a great endeavor, I am just not sure this is the only way, or the right way to go about it.

In the Church we are continually fighting worship wars it seems, and sadly it is rarely over things that matter.  Often the struggle is whether we are singing enough new songs to keep the younger generations interested verses singing enough traditional music to keep our more mature congregants satisfied.  Therefore we get inflammatory comments like, “This isn’t your Granny’s gospel music” to further downplay the old, and advance the new.

Now don’t get me wrong, I believe we are to sing a new song, and that expressions of worship through music can change and grow so they are better suited to the next generations ears.  I even anticipate sitting in Church one day not understanding why anyone would want to listen to music like that, and wishing they would bring back such classics as, Chris Tomlin’s Not To Us.  My only hope is that we stop arguing over style and better monitor content.  The truth is a lot of Granny’s gospel music is going to out last this generations tunes because of the message of Granny’s gospel music.  Much of today’s music is generally inward focused with emphasis on our personal relationships with God, whereas much of Granny’s gospel music is centered on who God is and what He has done, taking our hearts and minds to center on Jesus, and not so much ourselves.  Again this isn’t all of today’s music, I only hope that when the style changes from my preferred taste that my heart is still engaged by the Jesus centered words.

At a recent Pastor’s retreat that I attended a night of Hymns was put on by Jon Buller and friends (Jon is the worship pastor at Vernon Alliance Church) and for an hour, young and old were swept away in worship as the lyrical genious of older writers was brought forth by these young musicians.  Granny’s gospel music made a resurgence because of the richness of the lyrics.  For example:

“Oh to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be, may your goodness like a fetter bind my wandering heart to thee. Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love, here’s my heart Lord take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.”

“My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin, not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross and i bear it no more, it is well, it is well with my soul.”

“I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold, I’d rather have Jesus then riches untold, I’d rather have Jesus than anything, this old world affords to me.”

“His oath, His covenant, His blood Support me in the whelming flood; When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.”

Now Granny’s gospel music is reason to celebrate. (By the way if you don’t have this CD you should definately get it, I am a young pastor and I love to worship to this music.  Go to www.htmministries.comand buy this cd.)

Again, I am not for or against styles, but I do caution the younger generation, my generation, to not throw out Granny’s gospel music altogether.  You may want to change the lyrics, and you may want to sing a new song, and I say go for it, but study Granny’s gospel music and see what it is that has made this music last centuries when much of today’s music lasts only months.  Take another look at Granny’s gospel music, because Granny’s gospel is still the gospel we celebrate, and Granny’s God, that she has faithfully taught to us, is still the God we worship today.  Let’s not get bogged down in generational preferences, but rather let our focus be on the Almighty God who is the only one worthy of our worship.  Let’s learn to celebrate together, not because of who we are, or our experience, but because of who He is, and what He has done.  One day our generations Gospel Music will be dubbed Granny’s Gospel Music, but will the music produced today have the longevity of Granny’s Gospel Music because it honors the One who brings the good news?

The Shack

The Shack, by William P. Young, truly is one of the most fascinating books I have read in a while.  I found the story riveting, I couldn’t put it down, and I didn’t want it to end.  If you start The Shack, give yourself enough time in the day to read all the way through. 

Mackenzie Allen Philips’ youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness.  Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack recieves a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend.

Against his better judgement he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack’s world forever.

The story, as many have said provokes within the reader a plethora of emotion, I laughed, I was angry, I was confused and at several points brought to the brink of tears.  The premise of the story surrounds a man who has lost his six year old daughter through abduction and brutal murder, and anyone with a daughter will have some difficulty reading this book.  The parallels between Mack and my life were to eerily similar for me to rest well after reading it.  The scene of tragedy takes place near the Columbia River, I fish on the Columbia River, Mack’s wife’s name is Nanette, my wife’s name is Danette, his daughter’s name is Missy and my five year old girl is named Macie.  I know it is a stretch, but it was hard for me not to connect the dots.

Even though I enjoyed The Shack, this is not a book that I would recommend to everyone as it is a work of fiction wrought with a combination of Biblical truths and questionable theological statements.  The problem with this work is that it is wonderfully written and engaging as I have said, but if taken as Gospel in the hands of a non-critcal thinker The Shack could have devestating results as the readers view of God could be streched beyond reality.  As with many works there are great truths to be found in the book, it will stretch your mind and beg you to go further as you seek for the incombrhensible God, yet the fact that it is fiction must stay at the forefront.  Since this review will be too long and most won’t make it to the end, I will point out the areas of caution in the book.

What makes the book so interesting is Young’s view of God.  At first offensive as he portrays the Almighty as a large African American women called Papa, but then strangely endearing as the trinity comes forward and each of the three are introduced in their person of the Godhead.  I do not mean to suggest that we embrace God as an African American woman, but “God’s” explanation does fit well with our understanding of God, and would become dangerous if this were to be taken as the only view of God in a sort of feminist agenda.  Papa (God refers to Himself as Papa, which is very strange coming from a woman) says, “Mackenzie, I am neither male nor female, though both genders are derived from my nature.  If I chose to appear to you as a man or a woman it is because I love you.”  Though nowhere in Scripture does God reveal Himself as mother, or at all feminine, Young seems to be delving into the mystery as to how both genders are created in His image and His likeness.  Since Young isn’t trying to re-write Orthodoxy, it is interesting to follow this train of thought in the mystery of the nature of God, but worth cautioning readers that this is not meant to say that God is only female either, nor should we start praying “Our mother who art in Heaven”.

Another point of caution would come as Papa insists that He did not forsake, or leave Jesus on the Cross.  When Jesus painful statement is recited to Papa, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  The Papa figure in the book says, “You misunderstood the mystery there, regardless of what He felt at that moment, I never left Him.”  This to me is a misuse of Scripture and a misunderstanding of the terrible pain Christ endured on the Cross.  It seems unlikely to me that Jesus was mistaken when He cried out these words, or that in the pain He was enduring He misread what was really happening. It is difficult to reconcile this idea with Christ being made sin who knew no sin (2 Cor. 5:21).  If God never left Him, as Jesus said He did, then this becoming sin thing brings on a number of different questions.  I know that thinking about the hypostatic union, and the trinity and such is tricky, but this interpretation, or rather lack of one is a difficult pill to swallow.

Young’s view of God through much of Mack’s experience seems a bit airy fairy, and if not thought through critically certainly can come off with a New Age flair.  It is a bit hippyish, with its circle of relationship, colorful aura experience, and some of the language involving God’s submission to us.  Left in the wrong hands with poor thinking this could be very dangerous.

If he means that God’s submission to us is in the sense that when we choose to live apart from God, choose to sin, God allows this to happen, if that is his understanding of submission, I would agree, God doesn’t impose Himself on us, but if he means God is bending to our will in an act of submission I would whole heartedly disagree and frankly wouldn’t want to follow a God who wasn’t soveriegn, but bendable.  Young’s wording here is a bit vague, and therefore should be read with caution.

Again it can’t be stressed enough that this is fiction, this is not an accurate picture of God, it is not a complete picture of God, it is simply one man’s imagination alongside his worldview and view of Scripture and theology.  J.I. Packer in Knowing God gives us this timely reminder, “Through this revelation, which is made available to us in Holy Scripture, we may form a true notion of God; without it we never can.  Thus it appears that the positive force of the second commandment is that it compels us to take our thought of God from his own holy Word, and from no other source whatsoever.”

Now considering that it is written as fiction, there are a good many helpful points in The Shack as well.  First as I went with Mack through the weekend with God, I was challenged by my own need for intimacy with the Almighty.  There were many times during Mack’s talks with Jesus that I could feel myself totally relating to Mack as he asked questions, dealt with pain, healed from hurts and learned to enjoy the presence of God.  I left the book desiring God, wanting to know Him, walk with Him talk with Him, experience Him in a real way.  The Shack has taken me into a deeper longing to know the true God whom I serve, realizing that all of the walking, talking, experiencing is available to me in Jesus Christ through His Spirit.

Young’s insights also streched my view of God and my thinking of God which I really appreciated.  Though I didn’t agree with everything put my way, I was forced to think of God outside of the box I seem content to put Him in.  Even in regards to God revealing Himself as a woman, I thought so often we speak of God as being enough for the Fatherless, but we rarely if ever think of Him as being sufficient for someone who needs a mom.  I believe God is sufficient for the Fatherless and the Motherless and all humanity so I was glad to think of God in this way.  The stretching lead to growing and for that I am grateful.

The Shack changed me, it forced me to think, it challenged me to seek God the true God, it lead me back to the Scriptures the source of authority.  It is a work of fiction and that can never be forgotten, but with the Holy Bible in one hand and William P. Youngs work in the other you will be in for a truly great experience as you read The Shack.

Jesus Loves Me This I Know?

Last night I was watching the CBS show, Criminal Minds.  I often enjoy watching the show as the FBI detectives from the Behaviour Analysis Unit track down serial killers and the super evil by putting together a profile and finding the person.  It is often interesting, and sometimes disturbing as you face the reality of unspeakable evil in our world, even if it is only in the imaginations of the writers.  Last nights episode however caught my attention not for the story, but for one line in the story.  Agent Hotchner who has recently gone through a divorce because of his over involvement in the BAU, is determined not to lose his 4 year old son Jack in all of this.  With this in mind he takes some time off to go home and as he is leaving talks with Agent Rossi, very concerned about how he will explain all that is going on to a four year old.  Rossi, who is older shares an important insight that stayed in my mind the rest of the evening, he simply said, “All he needs to know is that you love him.”

All he needs to know is that you love him, all he needs to know is that you love him, all you need to know is that He loves you.  Did you get that?  As a child of God, do you get that?  At this stage of life it is easy to pay lip service to such a sentiment, “Jesus loves me this I know”, but it is much more difficult to live out of the knowledge that the Almighty God, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords loves me.  He really loves me.  He really loves you.  Packer in his book, Knowing God says, “You come to realize as you listen that God is actually opening his heart to you, making friends with you, and enlisting you as a colleague – in Barth’s phrase, a covenant partner.  It is a staggering thing, but it is true – relationship in which sinful human beings know God is one in which God, so to speak, takes them on to his staff, to be henceforth his fellow-workers and personal friends.”

God knows you and God loves you, God knows me and God loves me.  He knows us for who we are, and is not disillusioned by us, or caught off guard by us, He knows us at the deepest level and He still digs us, He knows our sin even deeper than we do, and He loves us.

That means that we can stop hiding from God, it means we can stop trying to manipulate Him, it means we can trust Him and it means we are invited to learn to love Him in return. 

When you know that God loves you, and is intimately concerned with every detail of your life, why hide from Him, why run from Him.  If you really believe that God loves you, (and He has made every effort to show you this ie. The Cross, The Bible) why not go to Him.  Too often in my life, I don’t practise the presence of God in every area because I don’t really know at a heart level that He truly and deeply loves me, but as I grow in my understanding of the knowledge of His love, I stop hiding.

I also stop trying to manipulate God when I know that He loves me.  There have been many times that I have tried to get God to bend to my will through behavior or saying prayers correctly, but that is all a lie and I know it.  When I remember that God loves me, really loves me I can put all foolishness aside.

His love for me, as I grow to know it more means I learn to trust Him more.  He really does want what is best for me, and He is infinitely wiser as to what that is.  In the same way when I tell my kids to stay out of traffic, don’t drink out of the toilet, and keep away from the stove, I am loving them and they can trust me, because I have more experience and wisdom than they do, and I really do want what is best for them, I can trust my Father God who loves me.

God loves you, and He has gone far out of His way to demonstrate His great love for us, He died for you and me.  He rose to set us free, He sent the Spirit to lead, guide, comfort etc.  He loves you – Do you know it?