Redeeming creation one byte at a time
Faith
Posts specifically linked to just Christian topics.
Resources for a new, emergent Christian?
3I have a friend who just recently became a new Christian and I’m trying to think through resources for them. She’s 24, never finished college (yet) and is newly married. I’m primairly looking for some good, introductory books on things like prayer, quiet times, etc. Any suggestions out there friends? Feel free to recommend your own books 
. Obviously, we’re fans of IVP as well .
Blasting Creation
31903 days
Psalm 139:13-16
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
One of the biggest struggles with me is really coming face to face with the idea that ‘Life begins at conception’ and that all life should be valued. This week, I’ve been working through the whole notion of conception and exactly when a soul is implanted and a life begins. One of my misconceptions going into this process was that once an egg was fertilized that was it, barring any damaging external stimuli, this little guy forms into a baby. After reading, I get the impression that fertilization is no guarentee for implantation or even ultimate survival. At some point there are switches that get thrown that keep a zygote or blastocyst from developing (correct me if I’m wrong) and that often, there is a point where those that work survive and continue on to birth.
Even in my limited knowledge, I’m in awe of the process that starts with a fertilized egg and how it develops into a blastocyst within 5 days and how it goes from a single cell to 100-200 cells during that same time.
Where I get fuzzy is exactly when life begins. If achieving fertilization is no earmark of ultimate survial are there an untold throng of fertilized eggs that are hanging out in heaven as fully developed people? What about the status of the hundreds of thousands of embryos in cryostasis in the US? At what point does God embody an embryo with a soul?
These are weighty questions, indeed, but I think people that are overly preoccupied with these ideas fall in the ranks of missing the forest through the trees. David, in Psalm 139 was taking the focus off of himself and was in awe of a powerful, soverign God. Blastocyst wasn’t in his vocabulary as a shepard, but the soverign Yahweh was, contemplating the deeper mysteries of God’s ultimate care for him and development of him was. I believe it should be mine. Asking these big questions is good, but ultimately one embraces a a big grey fuzzy area that is void of clear cut answers. What is dangerous as well is that drawing a clear line at any point in this process has its own ethical issues (e.g. Life begins with a zygote? What is human or ethical about freezing it for 10-20 years until it is ultmately disposed of or dies a lengthy death? Life begins at birth? You’re delusional; there’s nothing magical about bringing a baby through a mom’s vagina).
Where do you go with that? I believe that these are questions that are deserving of a copious amount of prayer and council, but I believe God is soverign enough to answer. Prying into the world of IVF has continually increased my reverance of a God who created an incredibly complex process and ultimately one I’ll never quite fully understand but I will endevor to honor God in.
I leave you with this. It’s a quote from Chapter 5 of A.W. Tozer’s “The Pursuit of God”.
“Important as it is that we recognize God working in us, I would yet warn against a too-great preoccupation with the thought. It is a sure road to sterile passivity. God will not hold us responsible to understand the mysteries of election, predestination and the divine sovereignty. The best and safest way to deal with these truths is to raise our eyes to God and in deepest reverence say, “O Lord, Thou knowest.” Those things belong to the deep and mysterious Profound of God’s omniscience. Prying into them may make theologians, but it will never make saints.”
My .02 on Ted Haggard and why I’m a sick twisted freak
1There are several discussions going on around Ted Haggard’s admission of guilt in both Margaret Feinberg’s blog and David Zimmerman’s Loud Time, both of which make some really good points about leadership, sin, humility and the nature of repentance.
If I might humbly sum up both their thoughts and mixed with my own offer my .02 on the whole matter. I remember growing up in a conservative church and literally seeing many fellow teens bringing copies of Rush Limbaugh’s book to church with them along with their Bibles; even without a ‘why’ that distrubed me a bit. As evangelicals, and more importantly as Americans we have this tendancy to idolize our leaders in our society. We want them smart, funny and most of all perfect. It’s all about sound bites and being ‘presidential’ and not necessairly about being ‘honest’. How foolish we are. It would be so refreshing to have a leader be upfront and genuine. As an example, one of my favorite scenes in a movie is in ‘an American President’ with Michael Douglas. He’s a president who is being accused of things by his opponent and at one point he takes a press conference and admits to it all. It’s just such a captivating scene because this president was being human. Oh, to have more leaders admit to their faults and be truthful.
Which brings me to the Ted Haggard story. I think what’s more interesting is how this story is beginning to die because the opposite of what the press was expecting to happen happened. There was a change of leadership, restoration with the family, and most people interviewed aren’t so disallusioned with the church that they are skipping it favor of the next Richard Dawkins video. I think we long for truth and when we look in the mirror we see dark things. Herein lies one of the great strengths of the Christian faith. It is simply this: I’m a sick, twisted, freak. There’s nothing I can do that will better that situation or make me more impressive in God’s eyes. It’s simply God in his grace making the effort to provide a way to right that relationship. A good leader should recognize this and be transparent.
While I don’t get what motivated his sin, I appreciate his coming clean and being an example by taking his discipline like a man and his willingness to repent. What wasn’t there, that has been in previous scandals by evangelical leaders was this fake, shallow repentance that was a bid to grab and hold onto more power. I agree with Margaret Feinberg in that the best thing he could come out of this with is his soul. Instead of a frail attempt to grab onto more power and keep his position he was upfront with his guilt and, I hope, changed because of his repentance. After all, isn’t that what it’s all about?
PoMo movie watching (for teens!).
0We’re currently going through current issues in our youth group at church and how God and their faith interacts with those problems. This month is movies and media. The first talk of the series is setting up the problem (why is this outlet flawed and what have we done to make it that way), the second talk is what happens when Jesus walks into that issue and the third is how do we affect our world as believers. I’m doing the second of the three talks this month and I’m really looking forward to it.
I know I’m preaching to the choir with just about everyone that I know that reads this blog, but I’m a firm believer in understanding media and the messages that it trys to get across rather than shunning it. Paul talks about taking good things, right things and beautiful things and thinking on them.
The important thing is trying to understand the system of thought that is getting portrayed in the film or on the disc. One of the most influential books for me was ‘Hungry for Heaven‘ by Steven Turner and his admonition to find out what the big questions that were being asked were (e.g. why am I here? Can I be significant? Will I make my mark in this world before I’m too old to?) and how God answers those. Good art, regardless of genre asks those big questions; they simply touch our hearts regardless of faith. This is the point where it is important for Christians to understand and comprehend those messages and questions. Jesus interacted with his culture, Paul certainly did with others and it’s our charge to do the same.
So, Sunday night, I’m busting out my grad school persona and talking at a very basic level through post-modernism and it’s ilk. I think I might also stir some controversy up by telling them that, in my opinion, Post-Modernism is an excellent lens to look at our world through; it describes our broken, fallen society quite well. Given the effect the Internet and it’s related programs have had on our world this is especially true. BUT, like using too strong of a prescription on your glasses, looking at a perfect God through this lens just simply doesn’t work. The rules don’t apply. Discuss amongst yourselves .