The True Cost of Freedom

"O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!"

Silent Night

For my brother and sisters who stand watch at the gate so that I can sleep in peace.



I had no Christmas spirit when I breathed a weary sigh, and looked
across the table where the bills were piled too high.
The laundry wasn't finished and the car I had to fix, My stocks were
down another point, the Dolphins lost by six.

And so with only minutes till my son got home from school, I gave up on
the drudgery and grabbed a wooden stool.
The burdens that I carried were about all I could take, and so I flipped
the TV on to catch a little break.

I came upon a desert scene in shades of tan and rust, No snowflakes hung
upon the wind, just clouds of swirling dust.
And where the reindeer should have stood before a laden sleigh, eight
hummers ran a column right behind an M1A.

A group of boys walked past the tank, not one was past his teens, Their
eyes were hard as polished flint, their faces drawn and lean.
They walked the street in armor with their rifles shouldered tight,
their dearest wish for Christmas, just to have a silent night.

Other soldiers gathered, hunkered down against the wind, To share a
scrap of mail and dreams of going home again.
There wasn't much at all to put their lonely hearts at ease, They had no
Christmas turkey, just a pack of MRE's.

They didn't have a garland or a stocking I could see, They didn't need
an ornament-- they lacked a Christmas Tree.
They didn't have a present even though it was tradition, the only boxes
I could see were labeled "ammunition".

I felt a little tug and found my son now by my side, He asked me what it
was I feared, and why it was I cried.
I swept him up into my arms and held him oh so near and kissed him on
the forehead as I whispered in his ear.

There's nothing wrong, my little son, for safe we sleep tonight, our
heroes stand on foreign land to give us all the right, to worry about
the things in life that really mean nothing at all, instead of wondering
each day if we will be the next to fall.

He looked at me as children do and said it's always right, to thank the
ones who help us and perhaps that we should write.
And so we pushed aside the bills and sat to draft a note, to thank the
many far from home, and this is what we wrote,

God bless you all and keep you safe, and speed your way back home.
Remember that we love you so, and that you're not alone.
The gift you give, you share with all, a present every day, You give the
gift of liberty and that we can't repay.

Fasting: I finally get it

Since I became a Christian one of the doctrines I've never really understood was fasting. The missionaries who taught me the gospel of Jesus Christ neglected to mention this Christian principle to me and it never really sunk in. During my own time as a missionary I struggled with the doctrine of fasting and even refused to teach it at times because I couldn't teach something I didn't believe in. When my missionary companion would fast I would cook a wonderful meal for me.

The issue I had with fasting stems from a misunderstanding of prayer. People I know would fast for this or that. At times it seemed to me that people treated fasting as a trump card. If I prayed for X to happen and it hasn't that means I need to fast and then God will make it happen. This caused me to look at fasting like a proposition. If I starve myself with a purpose God will be obligated to listen to me so that I don't starve to death. So many times fasting seemed to me just to be prayer on steroids. I just couldn't comprehend why God would listen to prayers of half starved people and not listen to the same prayers if the people had a full belly.

This all changed this past week. In Sunday school we were talking about covenants and someone brought up fasting. Immediately talk began to move toward prayer being this magical kind of trump card that turns God into some kind of mythical genie or Santa Claus. As I set in my seat trying to bite my tongue the Holy Spirit illuminated my mind.

Fasting is not a trump card to get God to listen to you or even a way to show God, "Hey I am really serious about this prayer." Rather fasting in its purest form is a way to turn a person's prayers into the kind of prayers they should be. Fasting is a principle that at its very core is transformative. A true fast should imbue the person with greater spirituality, it gives a person the ability to tell the natural man no, while the spiritual person grows toward dominance. During a fast a person should come to an understanding of what God's will is.

It is God's will not our own that we should pray for. We should pray that our hearts be turned towards God's purpose and not our own. When our purpose is contrary to God's such as in praying for someone to get better and God's will is that they graduate to the next world our prayers should be that we ask God to help us accept this calling home or that we can accept their pain and suffering as part of God's will.

Fasting is the required ingredient in this divine recipe that allows a person to be spirituality mature and disciplined enough to pray for the right things. Fasting is what allows a person to better know the mind of God through increased spirituality.

I now know that I can and look forward to fasting.

Bible Dictionary: Atonement

For my New Testament class I had to write a bible dictionary topic. I choose the atonement. Keeping it limited to three pages was the hardest part of the assignment. What do you think of it? What could I add? What should I take out?

Atonement: The word atonement implies that two people who are estranged can be together again. In While the New Testament only has the word Atonement in Romans 5:11 the Old Testament is full of references of an atonement between the sinning human and a holy God. The Old Testament reconciled the gulf between human and God by the use of animal sacrifice that covered or atoned for sin. the case of the New Testament the Synoptic Gospel authors, John and Paul all use the word reconcile, reconciliation and atone to imply that humans through the sacrifice of Christ can be sanctified. While the New Testament authors are all in agreement that atonement with God is accomplished through Christ they each record this principle differently.

The cross is integral part of Mark’s gospel. The first reference to the cross is found in Mark 2:19-20 where Christ refers to a bridegroom who will be taken away. The central part of Mark's gospel 8:27-10:52 can be segregated into three sections (8:31; 9:31; 10:32-34). Each of these sections function to explain the necessity of the sacrifice and cross from a soteriological point of view that establishes it is the will of God for Christ to be sacrificed.

There are three significant images that are recorded by Mark that describe Christ’s suffering, the cup (10:38; 14:23-24, 36) the baptism (10:38) and the ransom for many (10:45). Each of these has images relates back to a part of the Old Testament. The cup has reference to Christ bearing the wrath of God for humanity( Ps. 75:8; Is. 51:17-23; Jer. 25:15-28) The image of baptism indicates being overwhelmed by a flood of troubles (Ps. 69:1-2, 14-15). The concept of the ransom of many refers back to Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. Isaiah prophesied of a new exodus that would be accomplished by the servant of the Lord( Is. 35:9; 41:14; 43:1, 14; 44:33-24; 51:11; 52:2; 62:12; 63:9) Mark is trying to get his reader to understand that it is the death of Jesus that will the ransom that is paid to free the sinner from slavery.

Matthew includes much of the same material that Mark records. In the first chapter of Matthew Christ’s mission is made evident (Matt: 1:21). This is fulfilled later in Matthew 26:28. There are three sub-conflicts in Matthew between Jesus and the religious establishment, his disciples when they demonstrate a lack of faith and lastly the conflict with Satan. Each of these conflicts is ultimately resolved by Christ when he submits to the will of the Father in Gethsemane (Matt. 26:39, 42) and when he overwhelms the will of Satan. (Matt. 16:21-23)

Like Mark, Matthew records that Jesus fulfilled the words of Isaiah. (Is. 53) Differing from Mark, Matthew has two explicit citations that state that Jesus is the one prophesied of. (Is. 53:4; 42:1-4; Matt. 8:17; 12:17-21) In Christ’s healing of the sick, infirm, and possessed showed that even his ministry portrayed his ultimate messianic mission.

In The Passover meal in both Mark and Matthew Jesus gave additional words over both the bread and wine that impress His imminent sacrifice. It is in the Passover that Christ’s blood and body are mentioned in connection with the sacrifice of the paschal lamb. Both Paul and Peter make the link between Christ and the paschal lamb (1 Cor. 5:7-8 1 Peter 1:18-19) In the Gospel of Luke Christ makes a statement signifying his blood is the part of a new covenant. (Luke 22:20) In saying that his blood will be poured out, Christ is making reference to the sacrificial language of the Old Testament (Lev. 4:7, 18, 25, 30, 34).

For the apostle Paul the atonement of Christ was not only a historical fact but a critical part of Christian life. In some of his earliest writings to the Saints in Galatia and Corinth Paul reminds his converts that Jesus died for their sins according to the prophecies found in the scriptures. (1 Cor. 15:3; Gal. 1:4) It is the epistles of Paul that the doctrine of Atonement is more fully expounded and recorded.

It is in Paul’s writings that an early Christian understanding of Christ’s sacrifice can be found. It is this reconciliation with God that often makes up some part of the theme of each of his epistles. For Paul reconciliation between God and humanity only occurs through Christ. (Rom. 5:1-11) It is Christ’s sinless life that allows him to be the bridge between a fallen human and God. (2 Cor. 5:21) Without the penal substitution of Christ each person would have to face the wrath of God’s justice for their actions in mortality. (Rom. 5:9; 2 Cor. 5:10) Because Christ had to suffer the wrath and justice of God fallen humanity does not. (Rom. 5:8-10) The blood and death of Christ is what allows the justice of God to be reconciled with the mercy of God. (Rom. 3:25) The atoning blood of Christ is what allows a person to move on toward sanctification. (Eph. 5:26-27)

(Scriptures regarding the Atonement: Explained: Rom. 5:8-11; 2 Cor. 5:18-19; Foreordained: Rom. 3:25;1 Peter 1:11, 20; Foretold: Isa. 53:4-6, 8-12; Dan. 9:24-27; Zech. 13:1,7; Effected by Christ alone: John 1:29, 36; Voluntary: Heb. 10:5-9; John 10:11, 15, 17-18; Exhibits the grace and mercy of God: Rom. 8:32; Eph 2:4-5, 7; 1 Tim. 2:4; Heb. 2:9; Exhibits the love of God: Rom. 5:8; 1 John 4:9-10; Exhibits the love of Christ: John 15:13; Gal. 2:20; Eph 5:2, 25; Reconciles the justice and mercy of God: Rom. 3:25-26; Necessity of: Luke 19:10; Heb 9:22; Made only once: Heb:7:27; 9:24-28; 10:10,12,14; 1 Pet. 3:18; Remission of sins: John 1:29; Rom. 3:25; Eph. 1:7; 1 John 1:7; Rev. 1:5; Justification: Rom. 5:9; 2 Cor. 5:21 Sanctification: 2 Cor. 5:15; Eph 5:26-27; Redemption: Matt. 20:28; Acts 20:28; 1 Tim 2:6; Heb 9:12; Delivers from power of sin: Rom. 8:3; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; Power of Satan: Coloss. 2:15; Heb. 2:14-15; Faith in, indispensable: Rom. 3:25; Gal 3:13-14)

The Challenge of Jesus

I just finished reading N.T. Wright's The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is. I think that Wright stretches too far sometimes when he tries to tie most of Christ teachings to the exile and restoration of Israel. overall his book should be read by Christians who seek to understand the perspective of a first century Jew and what those individuals may have thought when they heard Jesus teaching. The last two chapters of the book is where I found the real gold of his writings and I share the following.

"If you are to shape your world in following Christ, it is not enough to say that being a Christian and being a professional or an academic (to address these worlds particularly for the moment) is about high moral standards, using every opportunity to talk to people about Jesus, praying for or with your students, being fair in your grading and honest in your speaking. All that is vital and necessary, but you are called to something much, much more. You are called, prayerfully, to discern where in your discipline the human project is showing signs of exile and humbly and boldly to act symbolically in ways that declare that the powers have been defeated, that the kingdom has come in Jesus the Jewish Messiah, that the new way of being human has been unveiled, and to be prepared to tell the story that explains what these symbols are all about. And in all this you are to declare, in symbol and praxis, in story and articulate answers to questions, that Jesus is Lord and Caesar is not; that Jesus is Lord and Marx, Freud and Nietzsche are not; that Jesus is Lord and neither modernity nor post modernity is. When Paul spoke of the gospel, he was not talking primarily about a system of salvation but about the announcement, in symbol and word, that Jesus is the true Lord of the world, the true light of the world." (pg 187)

Squirrel in Church

In one of my seminary classes the professor just shared this video. I have to pass it along.

I can't help but smile.