Why We Exist! A Mathematician Explains (in about 10 minutes)

"Honest," "moving," "vulnerable" and "transparent" are some words that describe this short video. Please, take a few minutes out of your day to give it a watch.

Christians & Politics: The Problems

Yes, Greg...right on (although I might disagree a bit that Jesus never commented on the politics of his day)!

On Losing A Newborn: A Moving Story of Faith & Love

Recently, those within the Asbury Theological Seminary community have stood alongside one of our own as they've been forced to grieve a deep loss.  Certainly, some have been more closely and intimately involved than others, but breathing room and space are always needed.  The fact is, even for those indirectly involved, our hearts break for the Holloway family.  Suffering is never easy.  Loss is never easy.  Pain is never easy.  Grieving is never easy.  Making sense of life's wounds is often scarring and traumatic, it is never easy.  Yet, within the Christian faith there is always hope.  Having said that, I should also say that nothing that I have read recently has been so powerful or moving as THIS POST that Asbury's own Gabe Holloway has written about experiencing the loss of his newborn daughter, Annie Elizabeth Holloway (in the picture above), only hours after she was born.  This writing is just God-saturated!  So, please, go read it.  I plead with you, go read it.  And when you're done, share it.  And if you are able, show the Holloway family love, even if you don't know them.  Perhaps this post will minister to your spirit and allow you to minister to others in the beautiful way that Gabe has done here.  

Glenn Beck - A Theologically Inept Idiot

In a recent bit by Glenn Beck, he argued two things that proved his theological ineptitude and logical ignorance: 1) That the term used in Christian circles known as "social justice" is nothing more than a code word for communism, and 2) That if your church talks about "social justice", you should leave it.

Clearly, Beck doesn't know what the heck he is talking about and most certainly, he has no idea how to make sense of the life of Jesus nor anything else the Bible says. From a logical standpoint, in my opinion, it is "almost" always dangerous to lump one group of people under one banner to try to explain them and/or what they are about. To use the term Christian, automatically requires some qualifications. To use the term Kentuckian or seminarian or engineer or nurse or author...all of these require some qualification to know exactly what we are talking about. So, to lump all churches who use the term "social justice" together is just fallacious.

Are there some liberation theologians who may use this phrase to mean a sort of socialism or perhaps even communism, perhaps. Does that mean that every time someone uses it within a church or religious setting that's what it means? No! This is just logical ignorance on Beck's part. And to urge people to leave their church because the term "social justice" is used there is ignorant. Unless your church is cooking up some kind of conspiracy, don't let fear-mongering idiots like Beck influence you to leave your church. If anything, Beck is the one who has a conspiracy going on here!

Just as well, when we read of Jesus' life and ministry, we cannot help but see that He was a man of social justice. He fed the poor, which is one aspect of what we call social justice. He tended to the sick, clothed the needy, congregated with outcasts, cared for children, loved the widow, etc...all things we call social justice. He spoke for the voiceless, taught the uneducated, challenged the corrupt socio-religious powers of his day, etc...again, all forms of social justice. Beck in his multi-splintered idiocy would be rebuked by Jesus for the statements he has recently made! Faith without works is dead...it is no faith at all.

So, the real conspiracy here is that Beck is promoting theological ignorance and biblical illiteracy and a lifestyle that, well, in terms of faith, is dead. So, stay at your church, stop listening to and watching Beck, do social justice and follow the ways of Jesus. This, friends, is what a living, biblical faith looks like.

What Does Faith Look Like?

My mom sent me a link to a very fascinating slideshow put together by ABC: Fashions of Faith. The gallery of photos is great; the pic to the left is one of the snapshots. Give it a look, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Faith Comes By Reading: Studies in Mark, Pt. 31

It is quite common these days to hear persons make the following argument (usually related, in some way to the issues of inerrancy, inspiration or the Bible’s authority): “Faith comes by hearing not by reading.” In fact, it is my belief that this point is argued so often that it has now become mainstream. Recently, I came upon it while reading an article by one of my favorite scholars. In the article, the scholar attempted to bolster this argument by saying things such as: 1) Jesus never said, “Faith comes by reading” and, 2) The culture of the New Testament was oral in nature and the literacy rate was below 10%. This is one of the reasons why Jesus never said that faith comes by reading.

However, I think when persons make such arguments they are doing so in a manner that is theologically and Scripturally irresponsible. Indeed, the New Testament alone suggests that in addition to faith coming by hearing (see the oft-cited passage, Rom. 10.17), faith also comes by reading! Before moving on to a few of these passages in Mark’s Gospel account, I want to offer some other New Testament proofs of this.

Firstly, I cite the Eunuch story in Acts 8 (see verse 28 and following). There, we encounter the Greek term that means “read” (αναγινωσκω) a number of times. Upon reading the story, the Eunuch understands what is written and gets up to be baptized as a believer. In the Eunuch’s case, faith came by reading.

In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, the apostle says, “In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ” (Eph. 3.4). I need not offer much exposition on this passage because it is rather straightforward. In another one of Paul’s letters, 1st Timothy, Paul exhorts believers to devote themselves to the “public reading of Scripture” (1 Tim. 4.13). In 2nd Timothy 3.16, we find Paul saying that every Scripture is useful (for myriad reasons). So, by default, if the Scriptures are not read and understood, they are meaningless. It goes without saying that for Paul, faith came by hearing and reading—as was true in all Jewish synagogues too.

Within Mark’s account, we find some statements that are not as direct as, say, 1st Timothy 4.13 but nonetheless suggest that, in addition to hearing, faith also comes by reading. For example, one indirect way of reading Mark as saying that faith comes by reading is to simply take note of how many times he cites passages from the Hebrew Scriptures (which he often sees as fulfillment passages). At 1.2, Mark already cites two Hebrew prophets. Evidently, he was familiar with these verses and evidently he located them in his work so that they might edify his “readers”.

Elsewhere in his work, Mark records Jesus as asking the religious leaders questions such as, “Have you not read the Scriptures?” (e.g. Mk. 2.25). The question assumes that if they had read the Scriptures then their frustrations and misunderstandings about Him might have never surfaced or perhaps, would have been corrected. To put it differently, instead of holding Jesus in contempt, they might have placed their faith in Him.

Another thing that we encounter in Mark’s work is Jesus repeatedly telling persons to keep quiet about Him. In addition to this, we find Jesus speaking in confusing parables. So, sometimes, even those who “heard” did not place their faith in Jesus. Sometimes, hearing did not lead to faith but rather often times confusion or a silencing. Jesus even tells a parable about the various types of people who “hear” the word and do not believe (though, some do).

I could multiply my examples of Markan and New Testament occasions of when “reading” brings about faith, however, I think what I have provided above is sufficient. One of the points that I am trying to make is that among our beliefs concerning the Bible (and thereby, it’s authority, inerrancy, infallibility, etc.), we cannot argue that faith only comes by hearing (which, when we do hear the Gospel, in most cases it is being read aloud). Instead, we should acknowledge that even in the Scriptures themselves we find cases where faith comes in many ways (e.g. encountering God personally, hearing, reading, etc.).

Thus, it is time to quit using the weak and unfounded argument that faith only comes by hearing—which I’ve offered proofs against in this post. We would be much better off in shaping our views of the Bible with different points and different proofs. Besides, how many persons have come to faith by reading? How many persons have had their faith strengthened by reading the Scriptures? How many people have been ready to commit suicide in a hotel room but stumbled upon a Gideon’s Bible?

The truth is, most of us live in cultures where reading is incredibly important (e.g. take note of what you're doing at this very moment in "reading" this blog). If we are going to contextualize the Gospel, we must take this into consideration and recognize that faith often comes by reading. Perhaps we should take Paul’s words to the Thessalonians with the utmost care and seriousness and likewise devote ourselves to the reading of the Scriptures.

It's Election Day...

It's Election Day and I feel like I've lost complete faith in the American political system. Honestly, I'm not sure if I'd let a single one of these politicians come into my home. However, for the last 4, 5 or 6 months they have been barging their way in via their mud-slinging advertisements. These candidates, who are supposed to be serving the people and edifying the nation, do nothing but cut one another down. I can't speak for everyone but when I am constantly hearing about are the skeletons in every politician's closet, I cannot help but distrust the system. Why don't these candidates ever talk about what their opponent has done right and how, if they win, they'll build on that foundation? Why all of the put-downs? Why not work together? Why not listen to and serve the people? As it stands, I'm sick of it!