In church today...

A little something the Lord showed me in church today:

"The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:22-24

The context here turns every assumption one has had about vs. 24 on its head. "The day that the Lord has made" is not merely any and every day. It is specifically the day when "the stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone," i.e., the day of deliverance--within the contexts of the Psalms, it speaks of the Exodus (Ps. 112-118 are Exodus Psalms), with Moses (the stone), who is rejected by his Jewish brethren (the builders), is God's chosen one (the chief cornerstone). Within the full context of the Scriptures, however, it speaks of Christ, with Jesus (the stone), who is rejected by his Jewish brethren (the builders), is God's chosen one (the chief cornerstone).
So, the "day" that we are to "rejoice and be glad in" is not any and every day; it is the day, the day of deliverance, the day of the Cross, the day that is the center of Time and Eternity, the day that the Lord made "before the foundations of the world" were laid (Ephesians 1:4; see also I Peter 19, 20). There is only one day that we are to forever rejoice and be glad in, and that is the day the Lamb of God was sacrificed for our sins. Whenever you see a sign or bumper sticker or whatever that says, "This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it," remember its true meaning, and rejoice and be glad in the salvation of the Lord.

Remember

"Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me...." Isaiah 46:9

This verse is citing the "Shema" (Deuteronomy 6:4), one of the most fundamental precepts of Judaism (and Christianity). It is astounding how often God's dealings with us often involves Him taking us back to the basics again and again. Like chronic Alzheimer's patients, we forget. We may learn other, higher things; but the moment that we lose the basics, those higher things lose their foundation, and thus all meaning and power, and thus they are easily forgotten as well. This is the problem of the Pharisee: Jesus had to constantly take them (and the Jews) back to the basics (Matthew 7:12; 22:37-40).
"We are forgetful creatures," says C.S. Lewis, "We need the storytellers." God is the great Storyteller, and He will bring you back to what you have forgotten again and again until it sticks. He calls His children to do the same; it is a part of being "salt and light". He calls us to say, "I will open my mouth in a parable...showing to the generations to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength, and His wonderful works that He hath done." (Psalm 78:2-4)
Strive to remember the old things. Pray that God will take everything He gives you and sear it upon the table of your heart for all time.

"On tables of stone,
On tables of paper,
On the tables of my heart,
Burn Your tale into me..."
-Jon Vowell

A Small Thought

"Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image, that is profitable for nothing? [...] They have not known nor understood...and none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, '...Shall I fall down to a block of wood?'" Isaiah 44:10-19

Are not all the people with all of their plans, all of their ideas and thoughts, their institutions and organizations, their examples and evidence, their wisdom and knowledge, their objections and arguments, their gods and idols, their luxuria and self-indulgence, their rallies and protests, their railings and rantings, their leaders and icons, their corporate temples and concrete monoliths, their diversity and individualism, their fears and their hopes, and all things past, present, and future that people use to do away with God: are they not all about as sensible as he who worships a block of wood?

-Jon Vowell

The Weapon of God

"Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from afar, burning with His anger...His lips are full of indignation, and His tongue as a devouring fire: and His breath as an overflowing stream...The Lord shall cause His glorious voice to be heard...for through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten down..." Isaiah 30:27-31

The image we get here is of a "pulling in". We start with "the name," the spoken word itself. Then we pull back to "His lips," that which speaks the word. Next we pull back to "His tongue," that which forms the words the lips speak. Finally, we reach "His breath," that which makes the whole speaking process possible. Put all these elements together, and you get "the voice," God's primary weapon. Like taking a deep breath, the imagery "pulls in," until the voice is released like the unsheathing of a sword.
In Psalm 46, the enemies of God's children are defeated by His voice: "Be still, and know that I am God." (vs. 10) He spoke, and the earth melted (vs. 6). Come and see the desolations He has made (vs. 8).
In Revelation 19, we find that the primary weapon of Christ when He returns is a sword "out of His mouth." (vs. 15) The imagery is consistent again: His voice is His weapon.
This makes perfect sense: the Creator, through which and by which all things exist, need only speak and the battle is over. The same voice that made the world (see Genesis 1; "and God said, 'Let there be...'") is the same voice that can unmake it. God's power comes forth in the words of His voice. By contrast, Satan's comes only from the noise of His emptiness.

"May Your Voice guide me
Through the noise of this world
Ever onward, ever Upward
To You..."
-Jon Vowell

A Reply to Madam Johnson

In regards to Protestant Literature:
Why are most of the great Christian writers Catholic? That is the question for the age. Protestantism is catching up (like Frederick Buechner and Walter Wangerin), but what catching up they have to do! Here are a few points that my class with Master Jenkins pointed as possible reasons:

(1) Sanitation; evil is cleaned up so the book is more "Christian" (as though Christianity has no real understanding of or say in the reality of evil).

(2) Unrealism; good and evil is GROSSLY exaggerated. Even unsaved good guys seem "Christian" (no one curses, drinks, or smokes). Bad guys are just ridiculous (how many times will they try to fry the world by some over done plot about viral plagues, nuclear holocausts, or conspiracies by "them").

(3) Propaganda; "preaching to the choir," reinforcing the pet beliefs of the people.

(4) Big Business; if people will buy it and it mentions Jesus, Zondervan will sell it ("reaching into the pockets of the choir," as someone once said).

(5) Lightweight issues; this is tied into propaganda. There is no dealing with the depths of the human soul. Books are usually centered around typical Southern Baptist Convention issues like abortion, evolution, relativism, new age etc., and even then they only scratch the surface of those issues.

(6) Lack of defamiliarization; everything is contrived and cliche. There is no more mystery. There is no repackaging (not changing, but repackaging) of the truth so as to present it from a fresh perspective (Ex: The realism of Christ "being made sin" for us hit home for me when I read the climax of Endo's Silence because I had never seen it presented in such a way before).

(7) Driven by plot, not the characters; this is a basic literary critique. Pop fiction (which Protestant literature is primarily comprised of) is always driven by the plot (the domino effect, i.e., how one event leads to another). Good literature is never driven primarily by the plot, but by the characters and how they relate to and change within the plot.

Of course the real question is WHY has mainstream Protestant writing gone in this horrid direction. If I had to guess, I would say that the primary reason is the same reason why mainstream Christianity lost the fight for America during the 20th century: complacency gets rocked by a sudden paradigm shift that frightens the majority of Christians that leads them to a strict application of "in the world but not of it." An example of this is the modern Protestant Christian's aversion to academia (those cotton-pickin' eggheads will steer you away from GAWD!). Anything that is classified as "of the world" has to be steered clear of; and if it must be mentioned, it must be mentioned in the worst possible (yet somehow highly sanitized) light. If a character is a new age psychic, they are depraved beyond redemption. Any unsaved persons not affiliated with any of "them" (new agers, hippies, evolutionist, philosophers, even Catholics), is sanitized to unrealism because vices are associated with "them".
This is, of course, a reaction, which is why Christianity lost America (and the whole of the West): Modernism slowly chipped away at Christendom's security as top dog and the whole thing came tumbling down with the backlash of postmodernism. When modernity threatened and postmodernism kicked the door in, Christianity was most unChrist-like, i.e., it reacted instead of responded. We went on the defensive instead of the offensive. We confused sanitation with purity and shut out the world, leaving their conceptions of evil and grace to be shaped by whomever or whatever whilst we got our beliefs propped up over and over again by relevant pastors and pop culture Christendom. Shame on us all.
Somehow, Catholics (for the most part) apparently kept their heads throughout this period (maybe they responded instead of reacted; I don't recall a Catholic version of Jimmy Swagger). Too bad Protestantism was frightened by the winds and waves and choose to run back to the safety of the fishing boat.

A Comment to Master Jenkins

In regards to exorcism:
I would dare say that all mental illnesses (save perhaps mental retardation) are demonic in nature. This is the problem with a world that denies anything beyond what the senses can...er, sense: there is always some kind of physical explanation--a chemical imbalance, a nutrient deficiency, something about their father or mother, and on and on (how many of us have gagged ourselves into swear oaths after reading another article about the "Scientist Search for the Soul"?).
Dr. Justin Barnard has said that we are all "Children of Mill," i.e., children of the modern machine. We've grown up in a world where the norm is to be anti- or atranscendent. Subsequently, even good Christians (hatched and dispatched with sound doctrine from plush pews) cannot help but fall into the trap of being what John Eldridge called "practical agnostics." I believe this afflicts pastors as well. A person's depression, failing marriage, or sin that easily besets them needs therapy and cliches, not the pleading of the blood and the authority of Jesus Christ. This is perhaps one reason why exorcism is no longer predominately around.
Other reasons for the loss of exorcism (and a healthy grasping about evil):

1. Hollywood has so dramatized to absurdity the practice of exorcism and the presence of the demonic that exorcism probably looks ridiculous, if not evil. Try to talk to a modern Christian about exorcism and they will probably shudder and say something about Linda Blair (p.s., pop Christian "exorcist" who hold healing meetings don't help either).
2. Also, some pastors may avoid exorcism because they don't want to be around anything "weird." We could throw the blame for this back at Hollywood, but "weird" stuff does happen at exorcisms. Perhaps pastors would rather avoid what could be an unnerving experience, but this is most unChristian: as Christians, vessels of the presence of God and wielders of the Word of Truth, we have no grounds to fear the Devil or the demonic. Any noise they make is subterfuge.

Sovereignty is Hilarious

"And [God] will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss [i.e., whistle] unto them from the end of the earth: and behold, they shall come with speed swiftly..." Isaiah 5:26

This verse should invoke two sensations in us. The first should be what Israel and Judah would have felt: a sense of dread, or at least a sense of seriousness, for God has summoned the nations to punish Israel and Judah with destruction (vs. 27-30).

Paradoxically, however, the second sensation should be one of humor. "...and [God] will whistle unto them..." Can you imagine the picture? God summons the nations like a man summons a dog. There is no question of Who is master and who is servant.

Look at God's dealings with Satan in relation to Job (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6). You could almost swear God is telling Satan to "sic 'em!" Satan, however, is apparently still on a leash (see esp. 1:12 and 2:6). The terror of God's judgment (or testing) is augmented by its juxtaposition to the humor of His sovereignty.

Perhaps this is why God laughs when "the kings of the earth set themselves...against the Lord." (see Psalm 2:1-4) Who are they kidding? Can a river rise above its source? Can the moon shine without the sun, or shine more than what the sun gives it? Can kings rise above the King of kings? The true inner workings of sovereignty and freewill are beyond us, but this one thing we know: God is in control, and to try and rise above that control makes even the Most High crack up.