Reformation Day for All Saints

In honor of Reformation Day and All Saints', I've been reflecting on Ephesians 2:8-10.

I'm working on an idea that maybe at the heart of the Calvin/Wesley conversation lies the preference of one prepositional phrase over the other from the statement "Salvation is by faith through grace." Each camp pledges the entire statement proudly, but I think each subconsciously emphasizes the concepts that support their theology. The Calvinist will stop short, ending with verse 9, "lest no man should boast" as the natural conclusion of God's work of Grace, while the Armenian will skip to verse 10 "created in Him to do good works" as the natural conclusion of man's work of Faith. Each uses the text to launch out into familiar territory. Each is an incomplete expedition. Let's now endeavor to pioneer the entire landscape of our salvation.

I've said before that prepositions are my favorite part of speech because of their ability to express relationships with precision. Based on those used, I'd like to suggest that faith is the door through which we receive the gifts of grace, which together offer a complete salvation (past, present, and future).

• Faith challenges us to rest from the past, remain in the present, and redeem our future.
• Grace gifts us with pardon from the past, power in the present, and promise for the future.

I think all saints would agree that active faith gives access to grace that:

• RESTS in His PARDON for our past
• REMAINS in His POWER for our present, and
• REDEEMS his PROMISES for our future.

"O the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory, to His Name!"
DeVenter, 1896

When Am I EVER Going To NEED This?

Hint for teachers: when they ask "When am I ever going to need this?" Tell them. If you don't know, then find out. Some people need vision for motivation to succeed. Kids who ask the above question are almost always that breed.

For example, I discovered years later that Algebra is useful for developing the ability to think logically from an abstract perspective, enabling the thinker to be detached from the content and thus more objective with his or her thought progression. This discipline develops higher thinking skills. If I had known that 10 years ago, I might have tried harder.

But wait... Then I would have passed Algebra II the first time and I wouldn't have needed Allie to help me pass it the second go 'round and then I wouldn't have started dating her, so we wouldn't have gotten married, and we wouldn't have Cecily...

On second thought teachers, keep enabling mediocrity by forced academic servitude without educational vision. That worked out for me.

(As a side note, the above "change of heart" was a functional illustration of how reason can suffer when personal investment muddies the components of the argument, eg. I'd rather be married now than academically successful years ago, so I'll settle for a flawed argument that supports my favored outcome.)

Yay for Algebra, and yayer for knowing what its value is.  

Captain Eugenics?

Captain America is a movie about a scrawny boy who wants to fight the evil Nazis who perform evil scientific experiments to create perfect human specimens because some humans are better than others. ...So he lets America do a scientific experiment on him to make him a perfect human specimen. Am I missing something here? Is there no cognitive dissonance in this?

“The interesting thing about this character is that he’s an everyman who in the course of a few minutes become a perfect human specimen." - Captain America Director Joe Johnston

Jesus Doesn't Need PR.

There's a church in town touting a banner that reads as follows:

"We've been called non-traditional... progressive... even radical... Funny, that's what they said about Jesus."

I'd like to point out 3 things.

1. Those things have been said about Jesus, but as the Lord Himself pointed out, it doesn't matter who or what others say He is. It matters who HE says he is. Because, let's be honest - He was also called blasphemer, traitor, and home-wrecker. I don't know if we want those adjectives affixed to the side of our buildings. Word on the street can't be sufficient criteria for our resume. It's unreliable.

2. The aim of the banner is two-fold: a.) to distance themselves from the stereotype of conservative churches in the area, and b.) to suggest their superiority over such churches by claiming that their antithesis to conservatism is what's really Christ-like. This is supposed to be a blow to conservatives, who seriously contemplate their WWJD bracelets and look at liberals as those to be pitied. Listen, if traditional churches are teaching heresy, come out and say it. Don't suggest. Doctrine is serious business; not an ad-campaign.

3. The ad is relatively clever, in a low-brow political kind of way. But the problem is, I've seen the same kind of thing on conservative church grounds. There are entire websites devoted to posting pictures of church signs ("If you think it's hot here..."). The clergyman feels pressure to keep the the ad space fresh and appealing, so he comes up with rhymes and puns to fill the space and he goes back to his study secretly proud of himself. And the people he's "trying to reach" stop in front of the church, take a snapshot, mockingly post it on the web, and never dream of actually attending the church because advertising doesn't save lives.

Let's let our lifestyle be the advertisement. If they want to know where your church meets after seeing that, then you can be pretty sure you're representing Jesus for who He really is, and not just what's been rumored.

The City Sacred - A Verse

The City Sacred stands secured, her streets now bathed in blood

Which washed away the wicked stain that had endured the flood

Though every incantation known be uttered by a priest

No other substance interposed could save her from the siege