The Heart of God

I was revisiting today the parable of the talents that Jesus tells in Matthew 25. As you know if you've read the passage, the basic idea of the story is a master, representing God, gives money to three of his servants. Two of his servants spend it wisely and use it to make more money, earning them praise. The third does nothing earning him his master's anger.

The typical interpretation of this passage is that it is instructing us to use wisely what God has given us. But what struck me today was what the third servant, the unfaithful one, says when questioned by the master. Starting in verse 24:

Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, "Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back."

"I knew you were a harsh man." This line more than anything else shows what went wrong with the third servant. If the master in the story truly represents God then what the third servant says about him is completely untrue. God is not cruel and unkind, but loving and generous. Yes, He certainly is fierce and has every capacity to act harsh when He needs to but those are not the truest things about Him, especially not to those, like the servant, who He calls His own.

The servant in the parable no doubt has reasons for why he believes what he believes but he's missed the larger truth. More importantly, he's missed his master's heart for him. The master wants to make him more than a servant. He wants to give him more responsibility so that he can one day be a partner and a friend, just as does for the two faithful servants. But the servant cannot or will not see this. He's been sold on a lie and has missed the heart of his master.

I believe that more than anything the enemy is trying every day to sell us on the same lie. He may not be trying to convince you that God is harsh and angry. Maybe he's trying to tell you God is indifferent and never becomes angry. Maybe he's convincing you that God's love is entirely conditional. Whatever the lie is, the goal is the same: to get us to miss the heart of God.

God's heart is for us. As David reminds us in the Psalms, we are fearfully and wonderfully made. As Paul says in Ephesians, God had us in mind before the creation of the world. Our sin has caused to fall far from that wonderful creation, from who God had in mind since before time began. God's heart is all about getting us back to who we were always meant to be. Anytime He is harsh or disciplines us, it is towards this goal. Every blessing, every showing of love, is to bring us back to a deeper intimacy with Him. God's heart is about restoring us to be His children, His friends, the Bride of Christ.

Keep that central in your heart and the enemy's lies won't have a chance.

Strike One Match In The Dark

This being the Christmas season I've been listening a lot to my favorite Christmas music group, The Trans Siberian Orchestra. As I've been listening, one song in particular has stood out. It's called Dream Child off of The Christmas Attic album.

The song is about a man who in a vision sees a child representing Christ. The child leads him into a forest full of evergreens. On every tree is a candle but none of them are lit. Many were, but they're dead now, melted and tarnished by life. The only lit candle, the only light at all, in the whole darkness of the forest is in the child's hands and with it he begins to light the candles creating life where before only death ruled. And then, in the song, we get th

And there to that light
That young Child showed to me
All the things that he dreamt
All the things that might be
How for everything given
That something was gained
Strike one match in the dark
And all the world's not the same

Strike one match in the dark and all the world's not the same. That's it. That's the message of Christmas, of the Gospel, of the story God has been telling from the beginning of time. The Christ child comes into a world full of darkness and death and He alone is blazing with life. From His life He creates more life and the world has never been the same.

Let's remember this year that the offer of Christmas is Life and Life to the full.

Changing How We Look At Christmas

I love Christmas and this time of year. This year is shaping up to be especially fun. Not only is it Ellie's first Christmas, but it's our first year in our house. This afternoon we bought our first live Christmas tree and decorated it.

But for as much as I love Christmas, I think there's something missing in the way we look at it. I'm not talking about any type of secularization of the holiday, but about the way Christians look at Christmas. I'd say that the typical Christian view of Christmas involves the nativity, the Christmas story as found in Luke and Matthew, songs like Away in the Manger, Silent Night, etc.

Now, all of those things are wonderful and true and I don't want to diminish them at all. But they're also incomplete. For as wonderful and beautiful as songs like Away in the Manger are, their message doesn't come close to capturing what Christmas is all about.

At it's center, Christ's birth was an act of war.

We need to look at the story as part of the Larger Story and to do that we need to go all the way back to Creation. When God created the world He gave authority over it to mankind through Adam and Eve. Unfortunately, as we all know, that didn't last for long. Adam and Eve sinned but their sin wasn't only about their personal fall or even the fall of the human race. In their sin, they gave away all the authority God had given to them and Satan became the prince of this earth.

But God promised that wouldn't be the end. He promised that He would win that authority back.

Christmas was the beginning of God's crusade against the kingdom of darkness the enemy had spent the last few thousand years building on Earth. Christmas was an invasion, the start of a war that's been going on ever since.

The enemy knew what was happening. We need to remember that the Christmas story doesn't end with the shepherds and wise men stopping by. Satan used Herod, his pawn, to murder every baby boy around Bethlehem. There was far more going on there than an arrogant ruler with wounded pride. It was a counterstrike by the forces of hell against the birth of Christ.

And, of course, the story doesn't end there. This battle is the context of all of Jesus's life and ministry. When He is tempted in the wilderness, Satan tempts Him with all the kingdoms of the world, all the authority Jesus came to win back, but with one condition. Satan stays on top and Jesus bows to Him. He refused but in His death, resurrection and ascension He won back once and for all the authority, power and rule Adam gave away at the beginning of the world.

Now, 2,000 years later, the war that began on Christmas between the kingdom of darkness and the Kingdom of Heaven is still going on. The story of Christmas is not over.

Again, I don't want to come across as negative on the traditional Christian view of Christmas. In fact, I don't want to criticize it at all. I simply want to point out that it is insufficient and add in what's missing. So this Christmas season, let's remember that Christ's birth is part of a larger story, a bloody clash of kingdoms. It's a story we are a part of and we are called to join in the fight, to defeat the enemy and to rescue others from the kingdom of darkness.

True Repentance, Relentless Grace

About a week ago I came across the true and truly awesome story of Stojan Adasevic. He was the top abortion doctor in Communist Yugoslavia during the 80's, performing 48,000 abortions over the course of his career.

Then, one night, something changed. He started to have dreams where he saw children laughing and playing but when he came near, they'd run away from him and become afraid. In the dream, St. Thomas Aquinas came to him and explained that these were the children he'd killed through abortion.

Stojan Adasevic is no longer an abortionist. He is the foremost champion of the pro-life movement in Serbia and has dedicated his life to championing the cause of the unborn.

This story brings tears to my eyes. There's so much about it that's just amazing. So often we catch ourselves offering up half hearted confessions to God and even if we do manage to avoid that same sin again we're doing it because we feel we should not because there's been any real change of heart. Don't get me wrong, it's certainly better to avoid sin half heartedly than to continue doing what we know is wrong. But what God is really after isn't a resigned sense of duty but a complete, miraculous turn around. He's after the type of repentance Stojan Adasevic found and has lived out ever since.

It reminds of the scene in Braveheart where Robert The Bruce has just been manipulated by his father into betraying William Wallace and the cause of Scottish freedom. Standing in the battlefield, surrounded by the bodies of those killed by his betrayl he realizes what he's done. In the next scene he goes to his father and says with all his heart, "I will never be on the wrong side again." That's what God is after.

But to me there's an even more amazing part of Adasevic's story and that's the relentless tenderness of God. If you look in the Bible, it doesn't take long to figure out that God takes the lives of innocents and children very seriously. And here is a man who has single handedly killed 48,000 children. That number is horrifying and heartbreaking.

But God did not give up on him.

That's the type of God we serve. He'll keep pursuing us, doing whatever it takes to get ahold of our hearts. If there was ever a man who it would have made sense to write off as a lost cause it was this man. 48,000 dead and God didn't give up on Him. That's incredible. That type of grace isn't just amazing, it's relentless, it's awesome and it's available.

Challenged Ballots

Ok, I know I promised no more political posts for a while, but this is simply too good to not comment on. Here in Minnesota, we're still in the middle of figuring out who won the senate race between Norm Coleman and Al Franken.

I'm on Coleman's e-mail list and tonight he sent out a mailing with images of some of the ballots Franken is challenging. After looking at these it's obvious the Franken campaign has ever (a) lost its mind, (b) become very desperate or (c) lost all respect for the voters of Minnesota. My money's on (d) all of the above.

You can click on any of these images to see at full resolution

This first one has Coleman clearly marked as the vote. However, there's a miniscule dot next the Libertarian candidate, which according to Franken means the voter's intent is unclear. Don't feel bad if you don't see it at first, the dot really is that small.



The second one's the same story. There's a line that's kinda, sorta, not really by Dean Barkley but Coleman's bubble is clearly filled in. You'd have to be on hard drugs to think voter intent isn't clear here.



The last one I'll print here (there are several others like the two above) shows Franken's extreme double standard. On this ballot both the Dean Barkely and Al Franken circles are completely filled in. However, Franken claims the voter intent is obviously for him. So let me get this straight, a small dot next to Charles Aldrich's name is enough to cancel out a vote for Coleman but an entirely filled in Dean Barkely circle means nothing so long as Franken's circle is filled in as well. Despicable.



I'm all for having a recount when the vote is this close but what Franken is doing here is an abuse of the democratic process and insult to voters. It's shameful and an embarrassment to Minnesota. If this is what we can expect from Franken during the recount he ought to concede right now and spare the rest of us this pathetic and petty behavior. Shame on you Al Franken; you have no business representing my state.

The Gospel Plus Nothing

One of the biggest and most effective attacks the enemy has use against The Gospel throughout church history has been convincing us to take the pure message of The Gospel and add to it.

This attack is no less effective today than it has been for the last 2,000 years. To name just a few that are prominent these days we have The Gospel + social change, The Gospel + morality and good behavior, The Gospel + ritual and religious ceremony, The Gospel + sound doctrine, The Gospel + authenticity. I could go on and on.

Now, I'm not diminishing any of those things. Several of them are essential parts of the Christian walk. Of course we want to make an impact on society and help those around us. Of course we want to encourage right behavior and Christian morality. Of course there is value in Christian rituals such as communion. Of course we want sound doctrine and an authentic approach to our faith and our lives. They're all important, which is why this trap is so effective

However, for as important as all of those issues are they are not The Gospel. The Gospel is Christ bringing us life and life to the full. It is the seeking and salvation of what was lost. It is our rescue from damnation and the promise of Heaven. It is freedom from our sin and our heart of stone being replaced with a heart of flesh. It is healing for the brokenhearted and our transformation into a new creation. It is life flowing fully and richly from the heart.

It is precisely because those other things are so important that The Gospel must be kept central. When we take The Gospel + morality we wind up with a legalism that does little to actually change sinful behavior and brings none of the life Christ promised. When we tack on ritual and religion we get an empty shell of faith where we go through the motions but lack any fire or passion of true faith.

But when The Gospel is central and we live from the heart then we find true transformation and reach a level of holiness unavailable to even the most strident legalist. We find true joy in religion and ritual as they become one more way to express love and intimacy with God.

We all have issues that we care about. It's part of how God created us so that the Body of Christ would work as it was meant to. But when we make those issues central instead of living from the heart, the Body of Christ becomes shattered. Instead of one Church with many functions we have many Gospel +_____ churches, each with one function.

I say this even about issues close to my heart such as truth, sound doctrine and the right to life of the unborn. I care passionately about each of those but they cannot take the place of The Gospel as being central. Doing so not only diminishes Christ's message but it prevents those issues I care about from becoming part of the fuller, complete Body of Christ.

We've all got our own list of issues and if we're honest we'll admit we all have a tendency to want to make the items on our list central. Let's not. Let's take a stand and say that we as a body of believers will accept only The Gospel plus nothing. Only then can we truly see the Body of Christ begin to work and those issues so dear to our hearts begin to be advanced as part of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Something For Your Inner Geek

This is one of the coolest videos I've ever seen. It's an a cappella quartet singing famous John Williams theme music using dialogue from the Star Wars Trilogy. If this isn't nerdy I don't know what is. The Jurassic Park part is awesome!



Thanks to John C. Wright for the link


Update: so apparently Annie and Ellie just finished watching the video and Ellie was enthralled the whole time. How about that! Less than two months old and she already loves Star Wars!

The Battle Begins

Ok, I promise this will be the last political post for a while but this is an important enough issue that I'm going to ask you to bear with me through one more post. I want to talk now about the Freedom of Choice Act. This is a pro abortion piece of legislation that will be reintroduced in Congress next year. Among the things it would accomplish would be to:

-Strike down bans on partial birth abortion
-Strike down parental notification laws
-Create a federal law guaranteeing a right to abortion

If you don't think this is a serious threat than you need to watch this video of Barak Obama speaking to Planned Parenthood



Two of the main quotes from Obama in the video:

"On this fundamental issue [abortion], I will not yield."

"The first thing I'd do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act"

I know that not everyone is as conservative as I am or as worried about the Obama Administration. But this is an issue we need to unite around. Please visit fightfoca.com (thanks to John C. Wright for the link), sign the petition and consider donating to help fight this evil piece of legislation.

But more important than that let's pray. We've got over two months until Obama takes office and we can do a lot of fighting in the spiritual realm long before this bill gets to Congress. Let's pray passionately and fiercely. Lives are depending on it.

Here's how I intend to be praying.

I'm going to pray that God will soften the hearts of President Obama and of the pro choice members of Congress. We know from the story of the Exodus and elsewhere in Scripture that God can both soften and harden the hearts of rulers. Let's pray that we see that happen again.

I'm going to pray to bring the Kingdom of God against the kingdom of darkness in this country. At His ascension, Christ gave believers spiritual authority to bring the Kingdom. As citizens of this country, we have authority in Heaven and on Earth over what goes on here. We can bring the Kingdom, and the full work of Christ, against this legislation and against the powers of darkness in our nation. Remember the story of Daniel and the prince of Persia. There is more going on than we can see and we have authority to fight it.

I'm going to pray that the hearts and minds of individuals in this country will be opened and that they will see the truth about abortion and the horror of this legislation.

I'm going to pray for The Church in America. We as a church need to stand against abortion and that's more important now than ever.

Pray as the Spirit leads you but please pray and pray often. Lives are depending on it.

Reflections On A Rough Election Night

By now it's become pretty obvious that this year's presidential election is not going to end the way that I had hoped and prayed for. Here are a few of the thoughts going through my head as I brace myself for the most liberal administration in American history.

-The legal front of the pro-life movement has been set way, way back. Ginsberg and Stevens will be replaced on the Supreme Court by younger, equally liberal justices and that will prolong Roe vs. Wade for a long time. However, the legal front, though extremely important, is not the only front in the abortion battle. We need to keep praying, keep spreading the message of Christ's healing and grace to those who have had abortions and keep spreading the message of life and redemption to those consider abortions. Make no mistake, this country needs to see abortion outlawed but there's a lot we can do between now and when that happens.

-That said, may God have mercy on us for extending the legal life span of this evil, evil process that much further. It's time for Christians to go back, reread and relisten to what Francis Schaeffer had to say about abortion. It's time to draw a line in the sand. This must be a no compromise issue going forward.

-I believe who we choose as our leaders matters enormously but we need to remember we live in a larger story. Our story began way before any nation and it will still be going long after all nations have passed away.

-Prayer changes things and it is more powerful than any legislature or president. As citizens of this country we have spiritual authority over what goes on in it. Let's use it.

-A lot can happen in four years. Conservatism is far from dead and it will be back.

-America is still the greatest country on Earth and even with a socialist president I'm still enormously proud to be an American.

Why I Will Be Voting For McCain Tomorrow

I want to preface this post with two quick items. The first is an excerpt from John Eldredge's blog last Friday. The second is a video from CatholicVote.com. It's addressed to Catholics but the message is applicable to everyone.

From John Eldredge:

There is a sort of “moral equivalency” that has crept into our thinking. We’ve come to believe that one issue is just as weighty as another. Or that one set of issues balances out another. That we are free therefore to pick and choose according to those things which “matter to us.” But as believers, we know that some moral questions are far weightier than others. For example, issues of life and death are far more significant than economic reforms we might like to see.

Jesus speaks about “the weightier matters of the law” (Matt 23:23). Some things are more important than others. The Scripture does not teach a level moral playing field where all issues are the same.

The messages in the blog and video above are enough to decide this election for me. Even if I agreed with Obama on everything else (which I do not) I could not vote for him. Abortion matters. Life matters. Whether or not our leaders believe it is ok to partially deliver a baby and then kill it in a way more barbaric than I will describe here matters.

Barak Obama is more liberal than any major presidential candidate has ever been on the issue of abortion. I've heard various excuses from him and his campaign as to why he voted against the Born Alive Infant Protection Act but his excuses are empty and hollow. This bill would have prevented babies who survived an abortion from being thrown into the trash simply because they were unwanted. There is NO EXCUSE good enough for voting against that bill. There is NO EXCUSE for supporting partial birth abortion. It is evil. There is no other word to describe it. And the fact that Barak Obama's judgment is so impaired that he can't see that disqualifies him in my mind. I'll wear the single issue voter label with pride if the issue is this issue.

But there are other issues too and I want to touch on those briefly.

I'm voting for McCain because I believe in victory in Iraq. Whether we should have gone there in the first place is a great question for historical debate but we're there, thanks to the surge we're winning and we need to finish the job.

I'm voting for McCain because I believe in federalism, in the value of doing as little as possible at the federal level and leaving the rest to state and local governments. The federal government is too big. It's time to shrink it.

I'm voting for McCain because I don't think anyone should have their taxes raised no matter how rich they are.

I'm voting for McCain because I believe it is immoral for government to "spread the wealth around."

I'm voting for McCain because I believe in the second ammendment and in the defense of private gun ownership.

I'm voting for McCain because I oppose activist judges and believe we need a constructionist philosophy in our courts.

I'm voting for McCain because he understands what it means to sacrifice for his country.

I'm voting for McCain because I'm sickened by Barak Obama's messiah complex. The man's arrogance is astounding and horrifying.

I'm voting for McCain because he's capable of admitting when he's wrong. I've never once hear Obama admit he's wrong. All I ever hear from him is spin, excuses and half truths.

I'm voting for McCain because the thought of Joe Biden one breath from the presidency is almost as scary as the thought of Barak Obama in the presidency.

I'm voting for McCain because I don't think it's the federal government's job to give me health insurance.

But mostly I'm voting for McCain because he values human life. Excuse me if I sound like a broken record but I can't restate this enough. Millions of babies are being murdered every year. With Ginsburg and Stevens set to retire on the Supreme Court we have a chance to overturn Roe vs. Wade. Let's take it and begin building a culture of life in this country. Abortion matters. More than anything.

Please vote for life tomorrow.