Penn State: Conspiracy of Cowards

A myriad of people had knowledge of the situation including now former head coach, Joe Paterno.  And they did nothing.  What took place was a conspiracy of cowards that were on the Penn State payroll.  They had the power to do more than what they did.  And they did nothing.  They had the chance to stop the heinous acts.  And they did nothing.   By doing nothing they enabled the monster to continue his predatory acts.  No one who had knowledge of the “elephant in the room” did what was morally right.  They were afraid of doing the right thing and contacting the authorities, because they didn’t want to upset powers that be who were sitting on their hands with the knowledge of what was happening.  They were cowards and they conspired to keep quiet, instead of doing what was morally right.

The unspeakable events that have taken place at Penn State University are incredibly horrific.  The lives of young boys, who are now twenty-something adults, are scarred for life.  One can only hope that they will be able to find some sense of peace in their life. 

Am I Serving a Counterfeit God?

I’m reading a book by Timothy Keller called Counterfeit Gods, and I am being challenged in my thinking, I hope what is said will stimulate you to think about this as well.

To contemporary people the word idolatry brings up the Biblical story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.  The book of Acts also contains vivid descriptions of the cultures of the ancient Greco-Roman world.  When Paul went to Athens he saw that it was literally filled with these images (Acts 17:16). 

Our contemporary society is not fundamentally different from these ancient ones.  Each culture is dominated by its own set of idols.  Each one has its shrines – whether office towers, spas and gyms, studios and stadiums – where sacrifices must be made in order to procure the blessings of the good life and ward off disaster.  We may not physically kneel before a statue, but when climbing the corporate ladder replaces the importance of being a father and a husband and when obsessing over trying to look like the current supermodel we perform the same ritual that people in Paul’s time did. 

So many people are concerned with the vertical ladder of success that they disregard the horizontal relationships of spouses, friends and family.  They sacrifice everything to the god of success, but find out in the end that it was never enough. In ancient times the deities were bloodthirsty and hard to appease.  They still are.

When we begin to recover, we ask, “What were we thinking?  How could we have been so blind?”  We wake up like people with a hangover who can hardly remember the night before.  Why do we act so irrationally?  Why did we completely lose sight of what is right?

The Bible’s answer is that our human heart is an “idol factory”.  It’s more than literal statues as in ancient times, and it’s more than the creation of a phenomenon by Simon Cowell.  In Ezekiel 14:3 God says about the elders of Israel, “These men have set up their idols in their hearts.”  God is saying that we take good things like a successful career, love, material possessions, even family, and turns them into ultimate things.  Our hearts deify them as the center of our lives, because, we think, they can give us significance and security, safety and fulfillment, if we attain them.

In his Lord of the Rings trilogy, Tolkien writes a terrific story of the power that the ring has over people. It corrupts anyone who tries to use it, however good his or her intentions seem to be.  It takes the heart’s fondest desires and magnifies them to idolatrous proportions. The Ring makes people willing to do anything to achieve what they set out to do.  It turns the good thing into an absolute that overturns every other allegiance or value.  The wearer of the Ring becomes increasingly enslaved and addicted to it, for an idol is something we cannot live without.  We must have it, and therefore it drives us to break rules we once honored, to harm others and even ourselves in order to get it.  Idols are spiritual addictions that lead to terrible evil, in Tolkien’s world and in real life. 

In Exodus 20, God gives Moses the Ten Commandments.  The very first commandment in verse three is “I am the Lord your God…you shall have no other gods before Me.”  What are those “other gods”?  In verses four and five God says, “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.  You shall not bow down to them or worship them…”  If I’m reading this right, then ANYTHING can be an idol, a God alternative, a counterfeit god.  The very things upon which people build all their happiness turns to dust in their hands because they had built all their happiness upon them.  A good thing among many was turned into a supreme thing, so that its demands overrode all competing values.  Counterfeit gods always disappoint, and often destructively so.  The greater the good, the more likely we are to expect that it can satisfy our deepest needs and hopes.  Anything can serve as a counterfeit god, especially the very best things in life.

Until next time...

Remebering 9/11

The morning of September 11, 2001 started like any normal Tuesday morning.  I got ready for work early, because it was my day to pray at the 46^th and Farnam abortion clinic with the sidewalk counselor.  On the way I would normally listen to KGBI which had Christian music playing in the morning.  It would help me focus on the task at hand which was praying for the women who would make the decision to abort their child, hoping and praying that my presence would help persuade them to change their mind.  As I got closer to the clinic, for some reason I changed the station to ESPN radio.  That wasn’t something that I normally do, but for some reason I did on that morning.  The hour proceeded like normal, with Claire Hartford talking to the girls as they went in, while I stood with my prolife sign and prayed.  After the hour was up, I got in my car and headed off to work.  I remember hearing the ESPN announcers when I turned the car off, but when the radio came on, it was ABC news.  My initial thought was that someone had broken into my car and switched stations on me.  Realizing that the car was locked and I never saw anyone near my car during the hour, I listened closer to hear what was going on.  By this time, the first tower had been struck, but nothing else had happened.  Of course we all know what happened from that point on, but I was driving to work, and during that time I was horrified by what I heard was happening. 

This morning, September 11, 2011, I decided to get up early before church and watch the news coverage of events as they happened.  As the bell would sound its toll when the time came for the remembrance, all the memories and emotions came flooding back as if it was happening all over again.  As I was watching, our National Anthem was played, as well as “God Bless America”, all the traditional songs.  There was a song that I heard just once today, but I kept playing it over and over again in my mind.  It was the Battle Hymn of the Republic, and it was played at the Pentagon remembrance.  Now, I’ve heard that song countless times before, but this morning, I HEARD it.  This is my interpretation of what I heard. 

“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord, He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword; His truth is marching on.”

When I read this verse, I realize that God is setting apart those who are for Him, and those who are against Him.  When you trample grapes, you are separating the pulp from the juice.  The juice is the best part, and God is working in people’s hearts to separate the people who are with Him from those who are against Him.  If you are against Him, then His swift sword will be your fate, and you won’t survive because His sword cut right through man.  This is the truth of the Gospel, and it is as relevant today as it ever has been. 

“I have seen Him in the watch fires of a hundred circling camps; they have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps; I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps, His day is marching on.”

When I read this verse, I can see families setting around the dinner table reading stories from Scripture.  Dad would read daily devotions with his family after dinner was over before mom would have the kids help her clean up the dishes from the day.  The family would read the Bible and it would be passed on from generation to generation.  The faith of fathers would be passed down, and would keep going through many generations.

“He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat; He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat; O be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant my feet Our God is marching on.”

The fight against the enemies of the United States will continue on.  The fight against Satan is a battle that we as Christians are called to never stop fighting as well.  We cannot retreat from the call that God has given all Believers.  To be on our guard and to rescue people from the darkness of Satan is what we are called to do.  The battle is never fun, but we have the joy of the Lord in our lives knowing that what we do for the Kingdom is of great importance.  The day of salvation for people is today, and we as the church of God need to be marching on our knees towards His Kingdom.

“In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, with a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me; as He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, while God is marching on.”

Christ came to this earth over 2000 years ago, and He gave up His life willingly so that all humanity would have the opportunity to be spared eternal separation from God.  By accepting His death and resurrection as the payment for all of our sins, we will be transformed into new men and women that will live forever in a new Heaven and a new Earth.  God is on the move for hearts of men and women who are willing to die if need be to see people come to Christ.  In countries across the globe, people are being martyred for their faith, willing to die so that the truth of the Gospel will continue to move forward from generation to generation.

“Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on.”

In today’s world of moral relativism, where people believe that morality is subject to your point of view, God’s truth is still relative today.  You can choose to not believe His truth, but in the end, THE Truth will prevail.  God’s truth will trump all others.  Glory Hallelujah!

The Grafting

This is a great video that shows the value of adoption over abortion.  The song gives a perfect example of what God has done for those who are His children.  He accepts them and grafts them into His family just like an adopted child is grafted into an earthly family.  Great word picture by one of my musical heroes, John Schlitt.  He was the lead singer of Petra, and now has a successful solo career.

Truth - Part 2

In a previous post I talked about absolute truth, and gave a general description for what kinds of truth there actually is.  In this the second part, I am going to respond to objections that people might have to there being  such a thing as truth, and hopefully this will help bolster your position when you meet people who object to what you believe. 

Many people believe that moral truth cannot be tested by science.  While it is true that morality can’t be detected by the scientific method, so what?  There are many truths (historical, relational, etc.) that can’t be tested by science.  While moral truths also do not appear to the physical senses, they appear to our inner sense – conscience.  While we can’t prove scientifically that love is better than hate, we are still justified in claiming that we know it to be true. 

I hear many people say, “It may be true for you, but not for me.”  Although this is a commonly used phrase, we must ask, can truth exist solely for the person who believes it?  Can something be true for one person and not the other?  Underneath this phrase is a deep confusion between truth and belief.  While we are entitled to our own beliefs here in America, does that mean we each have our own respective truths?  Objective truth is independent of our beliefs.  Imagine that you and your friend find an apple on the table.  Your friend believes it’s rotten on the inside, while you believe that it is good on the inside.  Can your different beliefs create two distinct truths that each of you experience as reality?  The only way to solve the dilemma is to slice open the apple and see what it’s like on the inside.  By doing that you’ll be able to discover the truth about the apple – if it’s rotten or not.  The instant the apple is sliced, the truth will be revealed and the false beliefs will be exposed.  The truth about the apple exists independently of you and your friend’s beliefs.

Someone might say that, “I can create my own truth.”  Society creates rules that we are to follow, but truth is not invented, nor is morality.  We can’t invent the length of a day, but the standard for driving in America, for example, says we drive on the right side of the road.  We can’t make lying right, and we can’t make murder good.  We are not free to create our own values, and we are not free to create our own truths.  We are free to accept or reject truth, just as we are free to obey or disobey moral laws.  We don’t invent the law of gravity, but we are free to disregard it and believe that we can fly by jumping off a building.  Our disregard for the truth does nothing to change truth itself.  We don’t create truth, we discover it.

I often hear, “It doesn’t matter what people believe, it’s how sincerely they hold to those beliefs.”  People of all religions demonstrate the same degree of zeal as the best of Christians.  So how can we, as Christians, criticize such commitment?  Shouldn’t sincerity count for something?  It’s important to remember that sincerity is necessary for salvation but not sufficient.  If this objection were true, then the sincerity of the 9/11 terrorists would be admirable.  But we all know that their actions – despite their sincerity – were wrong.  As integral as sincerity is for belief, it cannot be alienated from truth. 

Many young people say, “If it works for you then it’s as true as it needs to be.  No one has the right to judge you or question what you have chosen as true for yourself.”  There are two significant problems with this philosophy.  First, some truth doesn’t “work”.  The truth that there is no largest prime number has no practical use, but it is true.  Second, sometimes falsehoods may actually “work” in our favor (“The dog ate my homework”).  Although truth does work (as God intends it to), what “works” is not always true. 

One of the most common ways truth is attacked is the claim that it changes over time.  What is true for people today was not true for people in the past.  Obviously, if what is true now was not true in the past, then what is true now may cease to be true in the future.  If we follow this line of reasoning, truth quickly loses its practical importance.  The classic example is the flat earth vs. round earth dilemma.  The key is the distinction between belief and truth.  While people may have believed that the earth was flat, common sense tells us that the earth has always been round, despite changing beliefs. While beliefs may vary, truths are constant.

Life without truth is a life of tragedy. But when we know truth we are equipped to make wise decisions and to flourish as human beings.  While truth occurs when our beliefs match reality, truth is also much more than that.  Scriptural commands and rules are not merely instructions to obey, but rather ways to deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ.  When we personally experience the truth of Jesus Christ, we will be empowered to live a bold and meaningful life.

Truth - Part One

We celebrated the greatest single event of Christianity just a few days ago…so now what?  Are we at all changed, or are we different for a few days after, but then go back to the mundane of life?   As believers in Christ, we can’t ever go back, we must be always moving forward.  I say it’s time to take a risk and be bold in a “whatever” world.  I’ve been reading a book by Sean McDowell, the son of Josh McDowell.  It’s inspired me to urge all of us on to engage the culture with the Truth of the Gospel.  

Speaking of truth, that is where all spiritual conversations should start.  We need a basis for building our case for Christianity.  Deep rooted in the hearts of men and women is the awareness that truth is the bedrock for life. 

Without truth we live in a world of tragedy.  We are on a journey where we have the choice of following truth or experiencing tragedy.  More feelings have been hurt, lives have been lost, and damage has been done because people sidestep the truth.  The apostle Paul tells us that people perish because they avoid the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:8-10).

Truth is a compass for our lives.  We need a standard in our decision making.  This standard is truth.  Truth, like a compass, helps us make wise and informed decisions.

Truth has consequences.  The Christian faith, as well as its rivals, essentially contains claims about the world, which are either true or false.  In addition, competing worldview truth claims have very different consequences for life.  In C.S. Lewis’ book Mere Christianity he writes, “We are now getting to the point at which different beliefs about the universe lead to different behavior.  Religion involves a series of statements about facts, which must be either true or false.  If they are true, one set of conclusions will follow about the right sailing of the human fleet; if they are false, quite a different set.”  Your view of relationships, sex, money, and the future all depends on your view of truth.  

The commonsense view of truth is “telling it like it is”.  But what most Christians don’t realize is that many people change this definition of truth when they start to talk about morality.  There are three types of truth: subjective, objective and absolute.  

Subjective truth is based on preference or feeling and can easily change.  It’s like choosing a flavor of ice cream.  One person might like strawberry, and another person might like vanilla.  There are no right or wrong answers in subjective truth, just personal preferences.  

Objective truth is based on the external world.  One plus two equals three is an objective truth.  Similarly, moral choices are choices between what is objectively right and what is objectively wrong.  That’s why we feel guilty when we make wrong moral choices as opposed to wrong non-moral choices.

If we stop and reflect for a moment we realize that our entire existence relies on standards.  A society without standards is in disarray.  In order for a society to thrive there must be common standards of conduct.  The standards set by our government are merely conditional standards.  They can be changed by the people who set them.  However, we need to realize that our conditional standards point to a higher standard beyond our control – an absolute standard.  We can measure distances by inches, feet and miles.  But can we change the distance from the earth to the moon?  The standards of distance, as well as many other standards, point us to a higher standard – an absolute standard, beyond our control.  Absolute truth is true – whether or not anyone believes it.  Absolute truth is true – whether or not anyone follows it.  Absolute truth is true – whether or not it is discovered.  Absolute truth is true – whether or not it “works” in the way we want it to.  Absolute truth is true – whether or not we agree with it.

In the coming days, I’ll blog the second part. 

 

Kurt