American Heresy

is the title of Ross Douthat's post over on TheAtlantic.com. It relates to my post below regarding how culture shapes the church, rather than the church shaping culture, but looks specifically at at the American Church. Here's an excerpt:

The people who read Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer and The Prayer of Jabez may be more politically conservative then the people who read A Wing and a Prayer, and read certain passages of Genesis and Leviticus more literally, but the theology they're imbibing is roughly the same sort of therapeutic mush. Indeed, the big difference between the prosperity gospel that Osteen and his ilk are peddling and Schori's liberal Episcopalianism has less to do with any theological principle and more to do with what aspect of American life they want God to validate.

Take a look.

Church of England R.I.P.?

Here is a fascinating article from the Spectator, by Theo Hobson. His take on the current state of the Church of England is that the church was supposed to be diffused "liberally"through society under the state's laws and culture, but since Rowan Williams, (who previously was not a part of the state church, being from Wales), became Archbishop of Canterbury, his focus on the Anglican communion rather than solely on the Church of England, allowed the evangelicals to gain too much power and left liberated England out to dry, and now it will die.

What's fascinating to me about the article is how Machiavellian it is. There is nothing about what is true or scriptural. His explanation for the problems in the church is that the "bigots" have gotten too much control and the Archbishop inartfully let them have it by not sitting on the fence regarding homosexuality which would then have allowed the culture to transform the church in this matter.

This brings to mind that to those without faith, the matters of the Kingdom of God are incomprehensible, and for those of us with faith, often difficult. Hobson obviously cannot acknowledge that the purpose of the church is to transform culture nor that this is because Christ is the true King, Lord of Heaven and Earth - even of the Church of England.

Happy Birthday, Emma

Today, my eldest daughter, Emma, turns twelve years old. This is a photo of her from her May performance in Anastasia. She is growing into a fine young lady who is caring, thoughtful, always ready to have fun, (she asked for a zip-line this year), the only extrovert in our family, and a natural leader. Her ambition is to be an artist and a dress designer. Happy birthday, dear.

Segmented

One of the things that really bothers me about society is its segmentation of ages or life stages. Rod over at Crunchy Con has posted a letter from a single woman who can't find her way into the society of fellow crunchy cons because she is single. This is such a shame, particularly when most crunchy con's are people of faith. While society continues to fragment itself, the church should be moving in the opposite direction; building unity by having the old teach the young, letting the young aid the old, and everyone sharing their gifts with one another because we are all members of the body of Christ.

There is so much that needs to be done to rectify this, but one thing that could help would be to offer hospitality. Inviting someone to one's home who does not share the same station is a good start; whether they be older, younger, married, single, richer, poorer, working class, white collar, professional, etc... Hospitality is a command given to all Christians, and is even listed as a qualification to be an elder in the church, yet it seems to be one of those "old-fashioned" commands that is easy to ignore.

While not a cure-all, it could be a start. If you have any other suggestions, please add them in the comments.

Jesse Helms R.I.P.

God works in amazing and ironic ways. Who'd have thought that He would use a rock star quoting scripture to soften an old politician's heart? That's exactly what happened when Bono spoke to Senator Helms about the AIDS crisis in Africa.
Here is an ad. for an organization set up as a result of that change of heart. May I let God's Word soften my heart as well.

Happy Independence Day

Blink

The Canadian Human Rights Commission has been getting pummelled in the Canadian press with their investigation into Mark Steyn and Maclean's. They've decided to cut their losses. Read about it here from Ezra Levant.

More Fun

80 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Superior Take the test!

Hat tip, Drew Campbell at Running River Latin School

What Does it Mean to be the "Bride of Christ"?

I have been thinking alot lately about what it means to be the Bride of Christ, both as an individual and as part of the Body of Christ. We are the Bride for our Eternal Bride Groom, our precious Lord Jesus Christ. It is only thru His sacrifice that we are made spotless and beautiful in His sight.

We are His in His eternal Kingdom, both here and now and in eternity. In the present, Communion is an act in which we literally take the Lord into our bodies. In doing so, we become one flesh with Him. This is the beginning of our eternal union with Him.

Union with God, or eternal separation from Him, is the ultimate end of all reality. Union with God, or eternal separation from Him, is the final destiny of every human being.

As the Bride of Christ, it is our role to receive His love, freely given, and give Him all of our love in return. This reciprocal love is the essence of our eternal union with Him. This reciprocal love is what existed between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit before time began and the foundations of the Earth were laid. This is love beyond human comprehension and we are being invited to participate. This is love and union so all encompassing that human sexuality within the bonds of marriage is only the palest foreshadowing of what He has prepared for us, His Bride.

One of my favorite poems, by John Donne, speaks of this union in far better words than I could muster.

BATTER my heart, three person'd God; for, you
As yet but knocke, breathe, shine, and seeke to mend;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow mee,'and bend
Your force, to breake, blowe, burn and make me new.
I, like an usurpt towne, to'another due,
Labour to'admit you, but Oh, to no end,
Reason your viceroy in mee, mee should defend,
But is captiv'd, and proves weake or untrue.
Yet dearely'I love you,'and would be loved faine,

But am betroth'd unto your enemie:
Divorce mee,'untie, or breake that knot againe;
Take mee to you, imprison mee, for I
Except you'enthrall mee, never shall be free,
Nor ever chast, except you ravish mee.

There is no greater love than the love of God, no greater passion within the grasp of a human being than the passion that only He can stir in us. We are helpless to initiate this love. We can only, thru our free will, choose to receive Him or to reject Him. He offers union beyond our wildest ability to imagine.

Our God is a God of mystery and paradox. Truly, we shall never be free unless we allow ourselves to become enthralled and imprisioned by the embrace of the Lord. We shall never be pure and chaste until we stand face to face with Him, ravished by His love for all eternity. He created us so that we would never be satisfied with anything but union with Him.

The courtship, leading to eternal marriage, can begin now, if you allow it to. Your relationship with Him can be growing closer every day until it is finally consummated in the eternal union that He has promised. He is coming back for His Bride one day. Are you willing to receive Him?

Ideas and Consequences

Here is a great example of how what we believe affects how we live. Check it out.

What kind of mother hen are you?

What type of Mother Hen Are You?
by Montessorimom.com: Educational Resource

C.S. Lewis/Natural Law

Here's a good article by Michael Ward about C.S. Lewis and natural law.

Ward has also written a book, (which I've forgotten the title of), which explains the Narnian Chronicles in light of medieval astronomy. I never cease to be amazed by Lewis's depth of knowledge nor how he was able to integrate his vast knowledge into his works.

Busy, busy, busy

Sorry for the light posting. Between participating on various committees, teaching The Great Divorce for Sunday School, and volunteering for my daughters' ballet performance of Anastasia, along with normal life stuff, the blogging has been light. I'm also not quite acclimated to blogging yet. I can't even get the Amazon Associates links to work today. Bleh

I'll be posting more soon though, partly on The Great Divorce. It is amazing how much more one gets out of a book if one teaches from it. Hopefully the pictures from the ballet will turn out well and I'll have a couple of nice pictures too.

Wise words

from Dr. Avelda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., about both abortion and race. May there be more people with her courage.

More than a little disturbing

Update :

Apparently Ms. Shvarts real senior art project was "performance art". The story she told the Yale paper was a hoax. Does this let her off the hook? For not having abused her body and terminating the lives of many unborn, we can be thankful. This does still reveal a callousness to those who are suffering the effects of abortion and a willfulness to deceive. It is different than true performance art, where there is an audience and one acquiesces to being "played".
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A senior art student at Yale, Aliza Shvarts, decided that her senior art project would include video of multiple self induced abortions. Read here. She says she wants to "inspire some sort of discourse.", and that it is not for shock value.

Of course this is for shock value along with a large dose of exhibitionism. She has shown disregard for the life growing inside of her, the donors of the sperm, the viewers of her work, anyone else related to the now dead unborn babies, (including herself), and the Giver of all life. She is quoted as saying, "I believe strongly that art should be a medium for politics and ideologies, not just for commodity." What? How about art to inspire, to elevate, to show truth, goodness and beauty?

There are times when art must show grim reality to inspire good people to take action, such as photos of holocaust survivors and those that did not survive, but that is not what this is about. One might say it is murder for the art's sake, but that would be a pretty twisted definition of art.

Kyrie eleison.

Ostrov/The Island

I saw a great movie last night called Ostrov. The American title is The Island. There is something about it that reminds me of Babette's Feast, though Babette's Feast is a bit more light-hearted. It is a Russian story of redemption, sacrifice and listening to the Lord's voice, whatever He may say. I know you can get a copy from Netflix, which is where I received mine. Be warned, The Island is subtitled, which will bug some, but I've never found it to be a problem. Here's a clip w/o subtitles.



Sit back, enjoy, and let the story carry you.

Surrexit Dominus Vere

A song for Good Friday

A song for Holy Week

Take these shoes Click clacking down some dead end street Take these shoes And make them fit Take this shirt Polyester white trash made in nowhere Take this shirt And make it clean, clean Take this soul Stranded in some skin and bones Take this soul And make it sing Yahweh, Yahweh Always pain before a child is born Yahweh, Yahweh Still I'm waiting for the dawn Take these hands Teach them what to carry Take these hands Don't make a fist Take this mouth So quick to criticise Take this mouth Give it a kiss Yahweh, Yahweh [ From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/u/u2-lyrics/yahweh-lyrics.html ] Always pain before a child is born Yahweh, Yahweh Still I'm waiting for the dawn Still waiting for the dawn, the sun is coming up The sun is coming up on the ocean This love is like a drop in the ocean This love is like a drop in the ocean Yahweh, Yahweh Always pain before a child is born Yahweh, tell me now Why the dark before the dawn? Take this city A city should be shining on a hill Take this city If it be your will What no man can own, no man can take Take this heart Take this heart Take this heart And make it break

Mother Teresa's "Come Be My Light"

I have been reading "Come Be My Light". It is a wondrous book that contains very intimate correspondence between Mother Teresa and her Spiritual Directors. I have been reading it, in light of our biblical instruction, thru Paul, that we are to "share in the sufferings of Christ".

I am completely blown away & astonished!!! I have never heard of a human being who has come so close to Jesus Christ's perfect emptying of Himself (kenosis) on the Cross. She was so courageous-- more courageous than any person I have ever known…. To willingly embrace Christ, and share in His suffering, at His very deepest point of suffering in His moments of separation from the Father on the Cross--- and to embrace Him so deeply that she lost all consciousness of His presence in her life as He allowed her to share in His sufferings--- and to be willing to wait "for all eternity" for Him to return to her (even though she had the deepest faith that He had never really left her). I am undone by how filled with Him she was and how much of eternal value that He accomplished thru her surrender to Him and thru the agonizing ways that He allowed her to share in His sufferings. Truly she must have a place seated very close to Him in heaven--- a place given by the Father that even the Apostles could not aspire to… What a supernaturally brave prayer--- that she be permitted to love Jesus as no one had ever loved Him before….. I understand both, what the Lord permitted and her complete sacrifice in surrendering to Him…. There is no darkness as completely dark as what Christ suffered on the Cross in His separation from the Father…. For Him to allow her to share in that, and for her to willingly walk in that darkness for decades…… I am completely astonished by that! Truly He answered her prayer and she was allowed to love Him in a way that no human being had ever been allowed to love Him….. Truly the intimacy between them, and her willingness to be so completely crucified with Him and share in His darkest moments--- must have been a blessing to His sacred heart that none of us can even imagine. How I wish that I could be like her when I grow up!

I can only relate to her experience on the most superficial of levels--- thru some travailing prayer that the Lord allowed me to experience for about 2 months in Sept & Oct of 2007. He allowed me to share, some, in His sufferings on the Cross and in Gethsemane. The pain was beyond description and I do not know how I could have tolerated it for more than 2 months. I was never, at any point, courageous enough to ask Him to allow me to share in the moments that He was separated from the Father on the cross. I thought that I would surely die if I tasted that for even a split second. I do not know how she stood it for decades….. How completely dependent upon Him she must have been--- how purely she must have walked in & by the power of the grace that He gave her. How much He accomplished in the world, and in His eternal Kingdom, thru her sharing in His suffering and walking so closely with Him. She was truly His bride….

I want to be like that, but I am so afraid of the pain and of the constant dying…. I am so cowardly, but how I long to be that close to Jesus and walk with Him that intimately! How I long to love Him that completely! How I wish that He would empty me so completely that I might be even more completely filled with Him and transformed into His image! I am so cowardly and she was so brave…. So brave--- with a raw courage so much like His on the Cross. Her sacrificial love for Him inspires me to want to open myself up to the pain of sharing in His sufferings once again…..

I think that all Christians are called to share in the sufferings of Jesus Christ, so that we may "share in His glory" as well. He transforms us deeply, and ever more deeply into His perfect image, when we open ourselves to sharing in His suffering.

Contrary to what certain televangelists would have you believe, our walk with Him is not about achieving perfect happiness and contentment on this side of the veil. Our walk with Him is not about becoming materially prosperous. Our walk with Him is about death, and continuing to die to ourselves as long as we walk this mortal path. Our walk with Him is about coming to love Him above all things, in a way that we are not capable of loving Him under our own strength. How perfectly dependant upon Him we must learn to be. How His strength is made perfect in our weakness.

I aspire to even a tiny drop of the love that Mother Teresa had for the Lord. She, who could not sense the presence of her beloved God for decades, vowed to pour out "her last drop of blood" in her relentless love for the lost and her service to Him. She walked for decades in an agony of perceived seperation from the Living God and still vowed to "wait for Him for all eternity" to return to her. What astonishing depths of faith and love. What astonishing things the Living God can accomplish thru our surrender to Him!