New Articles

It's been a while since my last blog post, and I apologize. I wanted to share my articles for this upcoming week's bulletin with you. I hope you enjoy them.
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Good morning, saint! Did you know that’s what you are? You are a saint. When we hear the word saint, we often think about the Catholic versions, drawn on an icon or worn around the neck. We think about pious individuals, men and women, known for their faith, devotion, and help. This men and women displayed amazing faith, and they were rewarded and remembered by being beatified.

Yet that is not how the word is used in the New Testament at all! Rather, anyone who has put on Christ is called a saint. The term ‘αγιος (hagios) is the word that Paul uses when he writes to the various churches scattered throughout the Roman Empire.

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints in Ephesus,the faithful in Christ Jesus…” (Ephesians 1:1)

“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God… to all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ…” (Romans 1:1)

“Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons…” (Philippians 1:1)

A saint isn’t some perfect, pious, holy individual acknowledged for their miracles and good works; a saint is anyone who has put on Christ in baptism and is being made holy through the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

Today is All Saints Day, a day to remember the saints. So look around you, and see all of the saints. Pray for them, encourage them, remember them throughout this week. We are the Hagioi, the saints of God, and we are being transformed and sanctified every day. God bless you, saint of God!

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What matters most to you on this earth? What is your most prized possession? I know, I know, many of you are thinking that you aren’t that attached to your stuff, that they are just earthly possessions that fade away. But let’s be honest; each of us feels attached to something. Maybe it is your car; you spend a lot of time shining it and taking care of it, and you would be devastated if it was damaged. Maybe it is your family; you put a lot of time into your relationships and caring for one another. Maybe it is your home; you spend every Saturday getting it just right, mopping the floors, cutting the grass, straightening the house. Maybe it is your time; you value your little bit of free time each week, away from the stresses of work and the demands of your daily schedule… Each of us has something that we are attached to, that it would be hard for us to give up.

What is the Kingdom of God worth to you? Is it worth giving up your most prized possessions? Is it worth giving up some relationships? Is it worth giving up your life?

As Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God, he describes it as the most valuable possession available to humanity. He calls it a “hidden treasure” and a “pearl of great price.”

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”

It is more precious than the treasures of the world, and it is more wonderful than silver or gold. It costs us everything, and yet leaves us fulfilled and satisfied. It might even cost us our relationships with our family and our friends. When Jesus tells his disciples about counting the cost for following him, he tells them, “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.” In a similar circumstance, Luke tells them that if they do not consider Christ before their own families, they cannot be his disciples.

What is the Kingdom of God worth to you? Is it worth your time, your fortune, your relationships, your possessions? What are you willing to give up for the Kingdom of God? It costs you everything, yet promises everything in return.

Crosses and Public Land

On the outskirts of the Mojave National Preserve sits a 5ft tall cross, originally erected in 1943 to honor fallen WWII soldiers on private land. The land was acquired from the landowner earlier this decade, and now sits at the forefront of a national debate.

A recent USA Today article argued that any form of religious expression on public government property should be expressly forbidden. He argued that Thomas Jefferson meant for the total separation of church and state, and this cross is defiant of that divide. The real issue in the Supreme Court case, argued earlier this week, is that a Forest Services worker was denied the opportunity to erect a Buddhist shrine next to the cross. He argued that it was religious discrimination, and thus must be removed.

As I read the responses to the article in this morning's paper, I was struck by many of the comments. There were a number of arguments that "Religion is a mythological premise that has absolutely no basis in reality." Another commentator argued that religion and state should be separate, arguing that there was a law in Colonial America that allowed the death penalty after three Sunday absences from church. Thus, church and state should be separate. (No matter how hard I look, I cannot find that law on the books. People were jailed for missing church, but I cannot find anyone who was actually killed. If you know of an instance, please let me know.)

I think the argument is intriguing. No one argues that Arlington National Cemetery is a religious institution. Thousands of soldiers are buried under white crosses at the American Cemetery in Normandy, France, and yet no one is up in arms about "religious persecution." Scripture from Isaiah is written on the side of the United Nations building, yet Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, and secular nations still send their delegates there as representatives.

This case is not about religious persecution, discrimination, or proselytizing. It is about the desecration of a war memorial that honors the fallen soldiers of WWII. What if I decided that the Korean War or Vietnam War memorials were offensive because of their offensive references to Asians of Korean or Vietnamese decent? What if I deemed the Iwo Jima Memorial that overlooks the Potomac as sexist, because of only the presence of men on the bronze statue (ignoring the OBVIOUS phallic symbol that is present!)

We get totally bent out of shape over the simplest things. Should he have been permitted to erect a Buddhist shrine on public land? Well, possibly. Does the cross function as a religious worship focal point? If so, then yes. If not, then get over it.

Backwards World

I have come to a conclusion: We live in a backwards world.

I recently was sitting in a local bookstore when I overheard this phrase from the mouth of a teenager walking past me with her boyfriend: "I would rather go to hell! It sounds like more fun..."

Wow! What a depressing statement! This just proves to us that the hellfire and damnation idea won't fly any more; people would rather go to hell than heaven! We live in a world that often values the opposite of what we value. I believe our world is backwards now. Up has become down and down has become up, and we live a a world of confusion invented by the Cheshire Cat.

Think of it this way: What was once right has now become wrong, while what was once wrong has now been accepted as right.

• Sex before marriage used tobe shameful; now "kids will be kids." As Bristol Palin reminded us, "You can't expect teens to not have sex! They are gonna do it..."
• Christianity and Christians were seen in respect. Even if people didn't agree with us they at least respected our moral code. Now we are seen as hateful, intolerant, and evil.
• Liberals can push for their agenda, but when conservatives do the same thing it is seen as hate-mongering.
• When I was young we had a moment of silence each day in school. You could pray, think, zone out, whatever, but it was there. Now it is "unconstitutional," and a violation of First Amendment rights.
• According to our society, there is no such thing as absolute truth. (Well, don't ask a scientist or accountant...) Truth is relative. For the first time in Western history and thought, nothing can be determined or believed to be true. It is all subjective

Can you see now why we are backwards? What was once regarded as truth is now regarded as evil. What was once right is now wrong, and what was once respected is now held in disdain.

Welcome to the Rabbit Hole.

Truth and truth

I want to continue a thought I began a couple of weeks ago. Sorry it has taken so long to get back to it, but things have been HECTIC with all the various things that have come up.

I think we are happy settling for little-t truth these days. As we are constantly bombarded and reminded by our culture, all truth is relative. Your truth may not be my truth, and vice versa. Yet a problem seems to exist within these mantras: universal truth does seem to exist.

For example:
1. Every culture in the world believes that murder is wrong. Now, the interpretation of murder is different in each culture, but every culture agrees that murder is wrong. In some states in the United States, we execute a person for the vicious murder of another person. We call this justifiable execution. War against enemy combatants is called "the elimination of a target or threat." In many African tribes, murder is reserved for people of one's own tribe. If you kill someone outside of the tribe that isn't murder, because that individual isn't a real person.

2. Child rape is wrong. Every culture in the world values their children and wants no harm to come to them. Each culture has a moral rule against child rape. Some cultures tend to ignore their own rules (tribes of the Trobriand islands, some Afghan tribes, etc.) But most people believe that taking the innocence of a child is wrong.

Morality isn't subjective or totally culturally driven. There are universal standards that exist. Thus, not all truth can be relative; some things are universal.

Some would point to the inconsistencies between the two aforementioned rules as proof that morality is relative. Each culture calls things differently and has their own inherent rules... Thus, isn't it all relative to their experience.

I would argue that they are making a little-t truth out of a Big-T Truth. God said, "Do not murder." Yet it seems to be the second sin committed by mankind. Cain tried to justify his actions, just as cultures try to justify their own thinking. The Truth gets ignored for the truth. (Yes, the words and capitalization are intentional...) Just because we distort Truth doesn't mean that that Truth doesn't exist.

Truth is universal, applying across time and space. Yet there is a place for interpretation within our own cultural contexts. "Do not commit adultery" can now apply to internet pornography. Jesus' appeal to turn the other cheek can apply to nuclear proliferation or economic recessions. These Truths are universal, and yet we are called to apply them in our own circumstances.

Little-t truth should be the application of Big-T Truth; yet so often we allow it instead to replace it.

What Is Truth?

In John 18, Jesus stands in judgment before Pilate and speaks these words: “My kingdom is not of this world…You are right in saying that I am a King. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

Pilate’s response is pretty telling: “What is truth?”

I want to start there tonight, because the idea of truth is the foundation for everything that we are going to do.

So… What is truth? And how do we know?

Postmodern thought tells us that there’s no such thing as objective truth. It simply doesn’t exist. How many of you have ever heard the phrase, “Well, they may be true for you but it isn’t necessarily true for me”? Postmodern thought has made truth relative. Truth is no longer based on the objective study of facts and information; instead, truth is about what makes us happy. What is true for one person isn’t necessarily true for anyone else.

In 2005, Stephen Colbert introduced a new word to the American populace: truthiness. His argument is that truthiness is anything we want to be true, regardless of the facts. Truthiness is something we know from our gut, by feelings of intuition, without the backing of facts and opinions. Colbert states: “It used to be, everyone was entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts. But that's not the case anymore. Facts matter not at all. Perception is everything. It's certainty.” He goes on to say, “So, what is important? What you want to be true, or what is true? Truthiness is 'What I say is right, and [nothing] anyone else says could possibly be true.'

It's not only that I feel it to be true, but that I feel it to be true. There's not only an emotional quality, but there's a selfish quality.”

Colbert also created another word: Wikiality. Reality that is edited by the masses. “Any user can edit any entry, and if enough people believe it then it becomes true.” He encouraged his readers to log onto Wikipedia and edit the Elephant entry to contain the erroneous fact, “Elephants are reproducing at a three times greater rate than they did before.” And people believed it!

We live in a world that likes truthiness more than truth. We prefer Wikiality to reality. As long as we want to believe it, than it really is that way. But there’s one small problem. Wikiality is based on group consensus, not on fact. Group consensus told us that blacks were not real human beings and, thus, could be enslaved. Group consensus told us that it was a good idea to put Japanese Americans into containment camps during WWII, and Arab Americans into internment camps in 2001. Groupthink is not reality; it is Wikiality. The difference between truth and truthiness is facts.

So, what is truth? How do we know? Is it what people tell us? Is it what we instinctively feel? Do we find it in our textbooks, professors, or friends? What is truth, and how do we discern TRUTH from FALSEHOOD?

It is a question of epistemology: “How do we know what we know?”

The problem isn’t just in determining between truth and lies; it is bigger. Sometimes we have to determine between truth and Truth.

Let me see if I can explain. When I was growing up and taking science class, we were taught that the smallest complete particle was the atom. Although it was made up of different parts, the atom was the smallest complete particle that couldn’t be divided down any more. But now we know about the existence of neutrons (complete particles), quarks, etc. Was my science teacher lying to me?

Or compare it to the way life came into existence. My biology textbook told me that scientists had recreated the exact conditions of the earth at the beginning and were able to create amino acids from goop. What they never bothered to tell me was that the earth has now been proven to NOT consist of the very atmospheric conditions that they postulated; yet the ideas were still thought of as fact.

Now I am not saying that these things aren’t true. They do seem to be truth, at least when they taught them to me. But these truths are changing and modifying based on new information we are learning and receiving. This truth is open to debate and change. We are constantly changing our truth.

But I believe that there is a greater Truth out there. Let’s call it Big-T Truth. This is truth that is never changing; it is non-negotiable. Things like: I exist; I think and feel; I need community to achieve my potential. These are Big-T Truths that even the secular, or pagan, world would agree with.

But I think there are greater Big-T Truths out there. Things like,

1. God exists.
2. God created.
3. God’s love for you is limitless.
4. God’s love for you is never-ending.
5. Jesus lived.
6. Jesus died for your sins
7. Jesus is resurrected and will return.
8. You have a chance at eternal life; you can’t earn it, but you can receive it.

These are the Big-T Truths that never end. They won’t change. God will ALWAYS love you, regardless of how bad you screw up. God created the universe by his power. Jesus lives and is returning. These things will never change!

How do we discern this big-T Truth? Can we trust that these things are, indeed, true? Well, through both a priori truth and a posteriori truth. We know it through reason, through our understanding of the world. Also through the knowledge of others who came before us, and our understanding of their thoughts, And we understand it because of our own experience, our interaction with these thoughts and realities.

What are more of these Big-T Truths? (Please give me feedback.)

More tomorrow!

New Chris Tomlin video

Wedding Slideshow

Hey guys, this is a video I made for our wedding. As many of you know, I married my best friend on July 18th. This video was shown at our wedding reception, and I hope that you guys enjoy it here. (Sorry about the nudity... It's just a baby butt, after all.)

I hope everyone is doing well. Starting Monday the posts will become frequent again!