Get the Biggest Aluminum Tree You Can Find

"Long before December 25th everyone is worn out, physically worn out by weeks of daily struggle in overcrowded shops, mentally worn out by the effort to remember all the right recipients and to think out suitable gifts for them. They are in no trim for merry-making... They look far more as if there had been a long illness in the house." C.S. Lewis

Lewis wrote this over 50 years ago, but I can't help but think about these words this year. I just got back from a family Thanksgiving trip, in which there actually was a long illness that affected nearly everyone in the family. I'm thankful to look back on it and the time we spent with loved ones; there was very little time spent in overcrowded shops and the like. But I did hear on the news that this year's Black Friday was one of the blackest yet.

Here's a question: why do we allow Walmart, Target, Kohl's and others to justify opening their doors on Thanksgiving night itself? Do we not realize that the poor people who work in these stores largely miss Thanksgiving with their families, just so we can try to satisfy our insatiable appetite for more bargains and more things?

When people get trampled to death in Walmart, it isn't Walmart's fault. When 20 people get maced, it isn't security's fault for letting the culprit into the store. We and our appetites are the problem. You may be fine with Black Friday (and Thursday), and we can go around for days about whether it's worth all the effort to keep this tradition going. But I say it is not.

"I know how you feel about all this Christmas business, getting depressed and all that. It happens to me every year. I never get what I really want. I always get a lot of stupid toys or a bicycle or clothes or something like that." - Lucy, in A Charlie Brown Christmas

The Hammering Process

Lately I read a book by C.S. Lewis called The Problem of Pain. If you haven't read this, I would highly recommend that you do; if for no other reason than that it can help to repair our broken understanding of pain and its purpose in our lives. I've included some excerpts here.

Generally when we endure hard times, we balk, we plead, we bargain, and we grieve. It is so hard to consider it pure joy when we face trials of many kinds (James 1). And pain: awful, painful pain; when it comes without respite, tries our faithfulness, even shakes our beliefs.

One of the first beliefs to go is that there is a God who loves us. But this is the fundamental error in our understanding of what that love means. We think that if God loves us, he must want us to be comfortable and happy, and that our every circumstance ought to support and foster that. This is simply wrong.

The problem of reconciling human suffering with the existence of a God who loves, is only insoluble so long as we attach a trivial meaning to the word ‘love’, and look on things as if man were the centre of them ... 

We may wish, indeed, that we were of so little account to God that He left us alone to follow our natural impulses - that He would give over trying to train us into something so unlike our natural selves: but once again, we are asking not for more love, but for less.

So this God who loves us, loves us enough to want what is best for us, and that is to be purified. If he didn't allow any purifying circumstances into our lives (aka pain), then he would actually be loving us less. Who really wants that?

When Christianity says that God loves man, it means that God loves man: not that He has some ‘disinterested’, because really indifferent, concern for our welfare, but that, in awful and surprising truth, we are objects of His love. 

You asked for a loving God: you have one.

This message turns modern American Christianity on its head, but it is the truth. How have we forgotten the struggles of almost every saint in the Bible? How have we forgotten that God welcomes men into his kingdom though much tribulation (Acts 14), and that in this world we are promised trouble (John 16)? Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to ... suffer. Did God not love Job, David, Paul, Peter, and even his own son Jesus, who suffered more than any man? Indeed,

He [God] has paid us the intolerant compliment of loving us, in the deepest, most tragic, most inexorable sense.

God loves us truly; he doesn't love us in some half-caring, dissociated way. He wants us to be conformed into the likeness of Christ, and the conforming hurts. It may be only in eternity, when we see the completion of this hammering process, that we finally understand the purpose for every struggle we endure here below. In the meantime, we must not forget what God's love means. We must not forget the One who endured the cross for our sake, and that following him at all, means to follow him there.

A Fourth to Remember

Joanna and I spent last weekend out on the Western Slope, venturing over a bunch of mountain passes we had never crossed before. Thankfully the weather has warmed up some, allowing us to travel higher without being turned around by large snow fields. As an added bonus, the 4Runner accomplished 22 mpg during the trip! We stayed those few nights near Crawford with the overly-gracious Lance and Laura, and the overly-cute baby Seth.

For our 4th of July, we had the opportunity to travel to Ouray for their festivities and fireworks. The small town, nestled in the midst of a slew of mountains, boasts an impressive fireworks show every year. It was accordingly packed with people when we drove in, with most congregated in a two-block section of main street. I asked Lance what they were doing, and he told me that the fire department was having water fights. Of course I had to get closer in and watch the fun.

The crowd was assembled around the intersection of 6th and Main, as the next two teams prepared to contend with their fire hoses. These friendly combatants consisted of two men apiece, each man armored with heavy clothing and a motorcycle helmet, sharing a fire hose hooked directly to a hydrant. I stood as close as possible with my camera, waiting for the games to begin. I was only able to clearly see the red team, so they became my team to cheer for. Then, without much introduction, the spraying began.

Each team dug into position and sprayed as much water as they could on the other team, aiming mainly for the head and neck.

The water fight became one of endurance, with every man almost immediately soaked in freezing water and standing rigidly in position. The minutes ticked away; each team had its share of close calls, the crowd responding in cheers and tense escalation whenever one faltered.

My red team held on well, as the fifteen or so minutes passed by. But the end came quickly, as my red team decided to advance on their opponents.

The crowd roared in excitement, but it was not to be. The second man of the team got knocked out by a blast of water, leaving only the first to contend.

He couldn't last long alone, and he didn't. But in a water fight that is staged for fun, even the losers walk away with smiles. And really wet clothes.

After watching the firefighters play, we drove up to the west side of town and found a spot to park for the evening. Some friends of Lance and Laura were there already, and let us share in their cookout. All that was left was to enjoy the beauty and wait for the fireworks to start.

After some tinkering with the G12, I was able to catch some interesting shots of the fireworks exploding out in front of us. But the most unique part of the show was the loud, long echoes of the show all around us. Ouray on the 4th is worth the drive for that reason alone. Thanks to Lance and Laura, and to everyone else who spent time with us last weekend. Thanks to Ouray for keeping fun traditions alive every year. And thanks to God for the resonant mountains!

Drunk, Broke and Out of Shape

Reuters: IMF cuts U.S. growth forecast, warns of crisis.

"Yet that relatively benign global outlook could quickly fall apart if politicians in the United States and Europe do not start showing more leadership in addressing their countries' debt problems, the fund warned."

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.

Proverbs 16:18

America is acting these days like a foolish drunk who, despite the party winding down, refuses to slow down herself, sober up and go home. We are a nation marked by hedonism. We have bought this high at the expense of our prudence and wisdom; we have sold the foundation of the house to purchase a new home theater.

We need not political leaders who tell us that the good times are still rolling, but leaders who ask that we sober up and consider our present situation. And our present situation is that we are drunk, broke and out of shape. We need someone who will say, "Put down that game of Angry Birds, we need to talk."

Reuters article: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/17/us-imf-idUSTRE75G2VD20110617?type=GCA-Economy2010

The End of the World

The world was supposed to end the other day, according to one Harold Camping. It did not. And the attitude toward his failed prediction was largely cynical, which in the age of blogging and instant opinions, is not surprising. The sorry part of all of it is that along with Camping's false prophecy, we wanted to throw out the idea of finality and judgment altogether. "If a 'Christian prophet' is wrong about the end of the world, it must not be coming after all!" We snickered to ourselves and continued on with our lives, with renewed confidence in our invincibility.

One day later, a tornado ripped its way through Joplin, Missouri. Along with leveling most of the town, the tornado killed at least 124 people (the death toll is still rising). Now isn't that a little unfair? Those who may have just relaxed because May 21 wasn't the end of the world, were blindsided by a whirling mass of death just a day later. And the rest of us, still chuckling about silly old brother Harold, were forced to stop for a moment and consider that death still comes to us all. There is still a time of finality to our lives. As Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes:

It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart. (Ecc. 7:2)

We fool ourselves to think that just because we avoid the end in one way, that we will avoid it altogether. And it nearly always comes unexpectedly to us.

(photo credit: Reuters)

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Ps. 90:12)

Who Owns Miley's Heart? Part Two

This is the second of a two-part blog about the relationship between American Christianity and celebrities. In this case, the subject is Miley Cyrus. The content here may soon appear on the Axis Worldview blog.

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Let’s talk about compartmentalism.

Do you remember learning about how the Titanic had all of those compartments built into its hull that were supposed to keep water from traveling throughout the vessel and sinking it? Well, we can sometimes set ourselves up in a similar way. Like the sea water in the ship, we want our faith to only go into certain compartments of our lives. But the danger to us is the opposite of the Titanic. If we only keep our faith in secluded areas of our lives, we have a greater chance of them becoming a shipwreck.

Sure, you go to church on Sundays and maybe Wednesdays if you feel really spiritual. But that is all neatly contained in your Faith compartment. And you’re sure not to let those contents spill into your School compartment or Social compartment, etc. What happens when a teacher asks you about macro-evolution? You mention that your Faith compartment believes the Bible, but the more professional School compartment believes Darwin, more or less. How about partying? Your Faith compartment objects, but your Social compartment tells you to go ahead with the beer pong (or Salvia bong, in Miley’s case). Point number two of this Miley Cyrus series is this: a life of separation leaves you ever-divided. Either Jesus is Lord of all, or He is not Lord at all.

It seems like we’ve heard something about this before. In fact it was Jesus who told us that, “if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.” (Mark 3:25) In other words, the compartmentalized life is unsteady, ready to fall at any time.

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In Miley’s case, she once proclaimed that, “Faith is a big part of my life.”

That was a good enough testimony to give her a great reputation with Christians. She and her daddy, Billy Ray were featured in numerous Christian magazine articles and put on a pedestal of sorts in the Christian community. Her TV shows, movies and songs weren’t really Christian in nature, but not terrible either. After all, many Christian artists don’t necessarily mention Jesus in their songs. No big deal.

“Life’s what you make it, so let’s make it rock!”

“Nobody's Perfect! I gotta work it!”

“You know they say, when there’s a will there’s a way. Lives are free, talk is

cheap.”

These songs were pretty neutral to the average consumer, so they passed the basic morality tests pretty easily. Now in 2010, Miley’s songs have a bit more bite to them.

“For those who don't know me, I can get a bit crazy. Have to get my way, yeah,

24 hours a day, 'cause I'm hot like that. Every guy everywhere just gives me

mad attention, like I'm under inspection. I always get the 10s, ‘cause I'm built

like that.”

When Miley first moved to Hollywood, she seemed like a good girl on a mission: “That's kind of why I'm like here in Hollywood — to be like a light, a testimony to say God can take someone from Nashville and make me this, but it's his will that made this happen.” Instead, it appears that Hollywood has had more of an impact on Miley. “I'm a completely different person [than when I released 2008's Breakout]. I'm much more confident. You know, I've always been a confident person, but I was going through a lot then," she told MTV news in June. "There's so many people in your life telling you who you should and shouldn't be," Cyrus said. "And that's what Tamed [is] about. It's about being who you are to the fullest. And now I know who that is."

Who that person is, is not what we all used to think she was. But it’s easy to redefine yourself when your faith only occupies a neat little space in your life. It’s true that nobody’s perfect, but on the other side of the coin, talk is indeed cheap. What should we expect from Miley in the future? We can’t be sure exactly, but we ought not raise our expectations.

The question is: Now that Miley’s faith has started sneezing, will you catch the cold yourself?

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How do we respond to this danger of a fragmented life? Here’s a solid answer from the Word: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” All your heart, soul, mind and strength means everything. It’s not a matter of filling a time quota in church, feeding enough homeless or visiting enough elderly people in your spare time; it’s about knowing God and loving Him. Your life will reflect that. That is how the world gets changed.

Who Owns Miley's Heart? Part One

This is a two-part blog about the relationship between American Christianity and celebrities. In this case, the subject is Miley Cyrus. The content here may soon appear on the Axis Worldview blog, but I thought I'd put it up here to show you that I haven't been totally lazy in my absence from this blog.

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Oh, to have the good old days back again. It seems like only yesterday when young superstar Miley Cyrus made the cover story of Christianity Today. How thrilling it was to hear someone so famous talk about her relationship with Jesus. “I sing, dance and act for Jesus!… I do everything for Jesus.”[1] Christians across the country were beside themselves that someone so cool recommended Jesus! Golly, with Miley Cyrus on board, now Jesus is sure to catch on with the kids!

Now in a new decade, times they are a-changin’. Since Miley has been wearing black leather and grinding with dudes in clubs, a lot of bewildered Christians have begun to pull back their Miley endorsements. How embarrassing! Just when we had such a lovely and famous role model, she turned 17 and decided to do what most pop stars do at that age. She has begun to market herself as a sex object with a microphone.

Along with Miley’s apparent fall from grace, this question arises: What about Miley’s faith in Jesus? What about all of the kids who thought Jesus was cool because of Miley’s testimony?

That brings us to point number one.

Jesus is not cool or uncool based on human endorsement, no matter how famous that particular human is. As author Os Guinness has quipped, “A Christian celebrity sneezes and the Church catches the cold.”[2] Trying to convert your friends because Mel Gibson or Michael Vick or Miley Cyrus “loves Jesus” is very dangerous. Why? Because people, especially celebrities, fail us. Mel Gibson made a great movie in The Passion of the Christ, but in the years since has been publically exposed for his drunken fits in which he hurls out racial slurs. What do you do with that? Well, you certainly don’t base your faith on Mel Gibson or any other Christian celebrity.

We must tell others about Jesus. It is our duty as Christians to tell this dying world about the glorious salvation and hope that He is. However, let’s not base it on celebrity endorsements. We must base the gospel upon Scripture and upon what Jesus has done. He Himself is our firm foundation.

“Titans from the worlds of politics, sport, music, television and religion stride the Christian stage and screen with an authority born only of their mass appeal. ‘Following the star’ has become the exact opposite of what it was for the three wise men. Today it leads away from Christ, not to him.”[3] -Os Guinness

Stay tuned for the next installment, where we’ll explore a deeper reason for this whole problem: compartmentalism.

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[1] http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20186041,00.html

[2] Os Guinness, The Gravedigger File, p.104

[3] Os Guinness, The Gravedigger File, p.154