I am currently involved in a Bible study in which every lesson involves the question “where is your belief about this subject on a scale from one to ten?” That question is incredibly piercing. It has led me to revisit a lot what I say I believe. In my next few posts I will be looking at various doctrines and asking the question “what if we believed, really believed, ________ to be true?” Be aware, there is a difference between saying something is true and believing something is true. [...]

What is it that determines success? Is it natural talent, exceptional quality in training, dogged desire, luck, or some completely random combination of these elements? In his book, Outliers, author Malcolm Gladwell attempts to answer this question. He studied success and successful people to try and figure out what separates some exceptional people from everyone else who just gets by. With his findings, Gladwell argues for the existence of a consistent pattern in the lives of those who become the best in the world at something: ten thousand hours spent in preparation for their day of greatness. Sounds crazy, right? Well, did you know that from eighth grade until he graduated high school Bill Gates had almost unlimited access to one of the first non-commercial computers ever made available to the public? Or, did you know The Beatles played together in Hamburg, Germany, eight hours a day, seven days a week for almost two years before they even began recording in their home country of England? Whether you’re talking about basketball players, pianists, computer programmers, or even the child prodigy, Mozart, the rule remains the same; sustained training, not natural gifting, is the greatest determinant of success.

I want to put forth that singleness is the greatest time of preparation you will go through in this life. The problem is that our Americanized perversion of singleness is in need of redemption. In our culture, singleness is the period of time we use to satisfy the longings of our hearts, whether that means binge drinking on college campuses, traveling to see the world, perfecting the fine arts of procrastination and dedicated laziness, or shirking responsibility in favor of video games, we are wasting our singleness. [...]

We live in the age of rhetoric. Simply put, rhetoric is the art of persuasive speaking or writing. The goal of rhetoric is to sneak a new perspective into the minds of listeners. Plato, the Greek philosopher who lived and died almost 2,500 years ago, provided a functional definition for rhetoric. He stated that “Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men.” Plato’s definition provides us with a proper understanding of what is really at stake in something as simple as the words we choose to aid us in the battles we fight.

I want to sift through the rhetoric employed to normalize homosexuality and the rhetoric to be avoided by Christians.

Homophobia, an irrational hatred or fear of homosexuality, has become one of the greatest examples of well-used rhetoric in popular culture. It is a great example of the power of rhetoric because this one word subtly conveys many different accusations while definitively identifying a single concept. The concept identified is a person who disapproves of homosexuality for any reason. The word homophobia clearly identifies those who reject the normalization of homosexuality. But what else is conveyed apart from the concept contained in the word?

First, the word homophobia clearly communicates some sort of fear, but this fear is communicated in the language of psychological terminology. The use of a medicalized term creates a feeling that the person who disapproves of homosexuality, a homophobe, is in need of psychological examination. So the word homophobia hints at irrationality and psychological sickness.

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From The True Crisis of Our Times, by Malcolm Muggeridge:

“We look back on history, and what do we see?  Empires rising and falling; revolutions and counter-revolutions succeeding one another; wealth accumulating and wealth dispersed; one nation dominant and then another.  As Shakespeare’s King Lear puts it, “the rise and fall of great ones that ebb and flow with the moon.”  In one lifetime I’ve seen my fellow countrymen ruling over a quarter of the world, and the great majority of them convinced – in the words of what is still a favorite song – that God has made them mighty and will make them mightier yet.  I’ve heard a crazed Austrian announce the establishment of a German Reich that was to last for a thousand years; an Italian clown report that the calendar will begin again with his assumption of power; a murderous Georgian brigand in the Kremlin acclaimed by the intellectual elite as wiser than Solomon, more enlightened than Ashoka, more humane than Marcus Aurelius.  I’ve seen America wealthier than all the rest of the world put together; and with the superiority of weaponry that would have enabled Americans, had they so wished, to outdo an Alexander or a Julius Caesar in the range and scale of conquest.

“All in one little lifetime – gone with the wind:  England now part of an island off the coast of Europe, threatened with further dismemberment; Hitler and Mussolini seen as buffoons; Stalin a sinister name in the regime he helped to found and dominated totally for three decades; Americans haunted by fears of running out of the precious fluid that keeps their motorways roaring and the smog settling, by memories of a disastrous military campaign in Vietnam, and the windmills of Watergate.  Can this really be what life is about – this worldwide soap opera going on from century to century, from era to era, as old discarded sets and props litter the earth?  Surely not.  Was it to provide a location for so repetitive and ribald a production as this that the universe was created and man, or homo sapiens as he likes to call himself – heaven knows why – came into existence?  I can’t believe it.  If this were all, then the cynics, the hedonists, and the suicides are right: the most we can hope for from life is amusement, gratification of our senses, and death.  But it is not all.”

In the face of suffering, God’s people need a God of supernatural power and unwavering goodness. Japan, not long ago a rising power in economic development and technological advancement, has been laid waste in the course of a few agonizing days. The destruction poured out upon that country is nothing short of breathtaking.  The world sat, stunned into silence by the power of nature shown in contrast to the weakness and exposed frailty of man. Without an omnipotent, benevolent, and sovereign God, the destruction would grant our fears no rest and our hope no chance of survival.

Without an omnipotent God, nameless, faceless chance has the power to become the god of our lives. Humans are created to worship. Without belief in a God who calms the seas, directs the lightning, and holds the earth solid in its firmament, the strength of the sea, rushing forth over what was once dry ground, the unforeseen strike of a lightning bolt, and the upheaval of our once solid foundation can create in man a nagging fear, fear that merciless chance is the god who is at the helm of our fate and therefore demands our worship. But man cannot worship chance while maintaining hope for the future, for chance offers no respite to our fears. The tragedies seen in this world can be acceptable to men, men proven weak in comparison with creation, only if the tragedies themselves must answer to someone of even greater strength.  When there is an omnipotent God, there need not be fear of tragedy; only fear of God. [...]

What do you do with the doctrines you don’t like? This is a question of utmost importance for any believer. It is a question which leads to the kinds of questions Rob Bell is asking in this video. The questions he asks are questions from the heart of one who believes himself more than the Bible. That should lead you to ask the question: is the flaw in the Bible, or in my heart?

I worked my way through college managing at a Jimmy John’s sandwich shop. If you don’t know Jimmy John’s, I pray the Lord will have mercy upon your soul, enlightening you to the simplicity and beauty of the nation’s best cold cut sandwich. I am a big fan. Well, inside Jimmy John’s there are all kinds of clever signage that provides funny fodder for discussion. One of these signs says “If one of my sandwiches doesn’t hit the spot, there is something seriously wrong with your spot.”  This simple sign captures where universalists go wrong. [...]

Creation, evolution, and everything in between have recently become major talking points in the Christian blogosphere. Sadly, though, many people spend far too much time arguing points instead of discussing issues. One of the primary ways we can stop the arguing and start the discussion is by clarifying our terms.

People care far too little about words. I once watched the movie “V is for Vendetta,” and it had one of the greatest quotes about the importance of words that I have ever heard. The main character, V, made this statement in one of his numerous, semantically beautiful, monologues: “words offer a means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth.” It is through words that we primarily communicate. Therefore, let us engage in this debate paying strict attention to the words we employ to describe the concepts we discuss. Specifically, I want to clarify four terms which will play an important role in this discussion: science, scientism, evolution, and evolutionism. [...]

We may be fallen, but we can still do some pretty freaking cool stuff.

In defending the unity of the church, the biggest obstacles which must be overcome are the misunderstandings that result from frivolous use of the word church. The word “church” is misapplied far too often. This usually happens because the term is misunderstood. [...]

“I don’t like organized religion; I think my faith is a private issue between me and God.” If you have spoken to more than five people about their faith, you have most likely heard some variation of this statement. If you have heard this statement, you may have been hoodwinked.

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