Let’s Meet on Mars Hill

A special edition of Avatar (containing 9 minutes of extra footage) was released in theatres this weekend. I missed seeing the original on the big screen – much less in 3D – so I took the family to see it on Saturday.

Even before the re-release, Avatar became the highest grossing film in history (2.8 billion), beating out James Cameron’s other film, Titanic. Cameron is currently planning two sequels to complete the trilogy. Considering its popularity, this could become an even bigger cultural phenomena than Star Wars.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the three films I just mentioned all have a spiritual theme. If you recall the end of Titanic, Rose is reunited with Jack in death on the Grand Staircase, along with the others who had died. The ‘force’ of Star Wars was most certainly derived from Hinduism and Buddhism. And the main spiritual theme of Avatar comes from Pantheism, the idea that there is a divine “life force” in all living things. According to Wikipedia, Pantheism is...

...the view that the Universe (Nature) and God are identical. Pantheists thus do not believe in a personal, anthropomorphic or creator god.

In Avatar, however, Cameron takes it up a notch by explaining this phenomena scientifically – the trees on the planet are interconnected to one another with “more synapses than the human brain.” The planet’s natives, the Na’vi, are able to connect to this, upload and download data, access memories of their ancestors, like a “global network.”

All of this, combined with some anti-militaristic, pro-environmentalist sentiments, has made Avatar a target of criticism from the Christian community. But if that’s the only response we have, we’re missing an incredible opportunity.

The book of Acts describes how the apostle Paul visited the city of Athens. It says he was “greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.” So he went to the marketplace and began reasoning with the people there. They became intrigued enough to bring him to a meeting at the Areopagus (Mars Hill) where they asked him to explain this “new teaching”:

Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man’s design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.”

When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear you again on this subject." At that, Paul left the Council. A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others. (Acts 17:22-34)

During worship the following Sunday, the Spirit of the Lord showed me that the reason Avatar can gross 2.8 billion dollars is not simply because it’s a good movie. It’s due to spiritual hunger. If we’re made in his image, then we are spiritual beings... so it’s only natural we’d be drawn to things of a spiritual nature. But if criticism is the only response we have to spiritual ideas that contradict Christianity, then we are missing the larger opportunity to engage in meaningful dialog and present people with the Truth.

After all, isn’t that what Paul did so many years ago on Mars Hill?

“Then I crashed into you...”

Photo by infidelic

I had a friend that was in a heavy metal band before he was a Christian. After getting saved, many of the lyrics he had wrote become songs for the Christian band he later formed. He once said that the Lord spoke to him about those lyrics, saying, “I caused you to write those so that you would come to know me.”

I wonder how often God moves among secular muscians in a similar manner. Case in point is the song Crashed, by Chris Daughtry:

Well I was moving at the speed of sound
Head-spinning, couldn’t find my way around
Didn't know that I was going down
Yeah, yeah

Where I’ve been, well it’s all a blur
What I was looking for, I’m not sure
Too late and didn’t see it coming
Yeah, yeah

And then I crashed into you
And I went up in flames
Could’ve been the death of me
But then you breathed your breath in me
And I crashed into you
Like a runaway train
You will consume me
But I can’t walk away

From your face, your eyes
They’re burned into me
You saved me, you gave me
Just what I need
Oh, just what I need

Of course, the lyrics are not as impactful without the music, so here is the video.



Seriously... this guy needs to get saved and start writing some Christian music.

One Thing I Hate about You

I’m tempted to dislike someone. Not just anyone, but a particular someone. The source of my dislike is a person who mouthed off to my nine-year-old boy. I didn’t hear it, but my son told us about the incident. On two separate ocassions, this person told my son to “shut your mouth” during baseball practice.

Not long after the first occurrence, I was outside doing some yardwork, when this snippet of a verse ran through my head:

“Regard no one from a worldly point of view...”

I recognized the verse. It’s from 2 Corinthians 5:14-16:

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.

Paul is saying that he and others once regarded Christ “as just a person” and not as who he really is — the one that died for everyone’s sins. So, in the same manner, I ought not to regard this other person from a worldly point of view, but as one for whom Christ died.

So now I’m busted. That means this person is not really just the loud-mouthed jerk I think she is. It means she’s either a Christian or she’s not. If so, then she’s my sister in Christ. (Ouch.) If not, then I ought to be more concerned about her salvation than how much I or my son have been wronged. (Ouch again.)

The Bible talks a lot about suffering as a Christian. Many people take that to mean bad things, like sickness, are going to happen to us. But I think otherwise. Godly suffering is suffering for doing the right thing. And that manifests both externally and internally. Externally, we can suffer pursecution for doing the right thing. But internally, we suffer in the flesh by doing the right thing.

Here’s what I mean.

While this issue with my son needs to be addressed, my flesh would like to handle things quite differently than the Spirit of God would:

For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. - Galatians 5:17 (NIV)

While neither the sinful nature (i.e., the flesh) or the Spirit referred to in this verse are me, the conflict takes place within me. I suffer emotionally while this takes place, as I stuggle to yield to the Spirit within me rather than my flesh.

Ergo, the suffering...

He Gives and Takes Away... or Does He?

I had a discussion on Facebook with a friend of mine regarding the Haitian earthquake. He had linked to a video in which a Haitian pastor quoted Job 1:21:

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

My friend was impressed with the pastor’s spirituality, and even made this statement: “Everything is by God, through God, and for God’s glory.”

Perhaps you agree with that. I don’t. The problem with The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away is that it cannot be applied to the situation in Haiti. Let me explain why.

Job had a covenant with God and, if you recall, Satan made this accusation about Job:

“…stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and surely he will curse you to your face.”

You see, God specifically allowed Satan access to Job in order to prove that Satan’s accusation was not true. And while many religious leaders have come forth with their opinions on why it happened, this cannot be the case with Haiti, because the nation of Haiti is not in covenant with God.

Others believe that is God is “dealing” with Haiti’s sin, because of voodoo. But there’s a problem with that as well: God is currently “not counting men’s sins against them.” (2 Corinthians 5:19). There will come a day when God will judge men’s sins (Acts 17:31), but that day is not today.

Romans 1:18-32 clearly states how God pours out his wrath — by giving Men over to the sinful desires of their hearts, to shameful lusts and to a depraved mind. God does not pour out his wrath in the form of earthquakes or natural disasters. Nor does he allow man-made disasters, such as 9/11, to occur to punish a nation’s sins.

The problem with getting our theology from the book of Job is that most of it consists of Job and his friends expounding incorrect doctrine. Verses like, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away,” are often quoted as examples of the proper attitude we should take in the face of tragedy. Yet if we are to accept these words from Job as “the true nature of God,” then what about the other things he said about God, such as:

You formed me with your hands; you made me,
yet now you completely destroy me. (Job 10:8)

You have become cruel toward me.
You use your power to persecute me. (Job 30:21)

God hates me and angrily tears me apart.
He snaps his teeth at me
and pierces me with his eyes. (Job 16:9)

If I hold up my head, you hunt me like a lion
and again show your terrible power against me. (Job 10:16)

When a plague sweeps through,
he laughs at the death of the innocent.
The whole earth is in the hands of the wicked,
and God blinds the eyes of the judges.
If he’s not the one who does it, who is? (Job 9:23-24)

Why is it that pastors never quote these verses as an accurate description of God’s character? Could it be because they sound more like a description of Satan rather than God? (See 1 Peter 5:8.) Scripture calls him the “god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4) and says that “the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19)

That’s why I disagreed with my friend when he wrote, “Everything is by God, through God, and for God’s glory.” James 1:17 says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights.” There’s nothing “good” or “perfect” about what’s happening in Haiti right now.

God will certainly use tragedies like this to his greater glory, but I do not believe that he in any way ordains them for the purpose of building the character of his saints, judging the sins of unbelievers, or furthering his glory.

“Take your son, your only son...”

I’ve been listening to a sermon about the nature and goodness of God. The pastor pointed out that, as James 1:13 says, God will never tempt us with evil, that the only test that comes from God is the test of obedience – Will you obey Me?

One of the examples he used to illustrate his point was God’s command that Abraham sacrifice his son Issac. And that got me thinking... killing your son... that’s pretty, well... evil.

Yet the Scripture says that God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else.

I’m confused...

So I got to thinking, the very idea of doing such a thing in this day-and-age, in our culture, is so despicable, so horrifying, that it defies the senses to imagine God telling anyone to do such a thing.

But let’s put it into it’s proper context – how Abraham would have seen it, that is.

Human sacrifice was a very ancient custom. Among those who practiced it in Biblical times were the Babylonians, the Assyrians, the Phoenicians, the Canaanites, the Scythians, the Egyptians, and the Persians, to name a few.

In his 1893 work, The Early Religion of Israel as Set Forth by Biblical Writers and by Modern Critical Historians, James Robertson makes this point:

To Abraham, not unfamiliar with various ways in which among his heathen ancestors the deity was propitiated, the testing question comes, “Art thou prepared to obey thy God as fully as the people about thee obey their gods?” and in the putting forth of his faith in the act of obedience, he learns that the nature of his God is different. Instead, therefore, of saying that the narrative gives proof of the existence of human sacrifice as an early custom in Israel, it is more reasonable to regard it as giving an explanation why it was that, from early time, this had been a prime distinction of Israel that human sacrifice was not practiced as among the heathen.

To rephrase this in 21st Century vernacular, Abraham would not have found it as appalling as we do, because it was not uncommon for heathen deities to demand human sacrifices, so why not Yahweh? So, in context, God’s test of obedience to Abraham was, Will you obey me as fully as those around you obey their gods?

To put it in a modern-day context (and perhaps this is a poor analogy), it would be like God telling you to take your only son and heir, the one he promised you, put him up for adoption, change his name, relinquish all ties to him, and remove him from your will.

Be Careful Where You Put Your But

Abraham’s faith never became weak, not even when he was nearly a hundred years old. He knew that he was almost dead and that his wife Sarah could not have children. But Abraham never doubted or questioned God’s promise. His faith made him strong, and he gave all the credit to God. Abraham was certain that God could do what he had promised. - Romans 4:19-21 CEV

We all know that the word “but” negates, or changes what comes before it. So if tell my wife or one of my children that, “I love you, but you drive me crazy,” my main point is that “you drive me crazy.” (The “I love you” was only intended to soften it up a bit.) The “I love you” statement is negated by “you drive me crazy,” so that the latter statement is the stronger one.

If I were to reverse my sentence to, “you drive me crazy, but I love you,” it changes the entire point to mean that, in spite of the fact that you drive me crazy, I love you. So where you place your “but” is crucial to your point and, as we’ll see, to your faith. Let’s look at Romans 4:19-21 and see where Abraham placed his.

We know from the Genesis account that Sarah had a difficult time believing what God had promised her husband. I can imagine Abraham trying to reassure her by saying, “I know I’m nearly dead and so is your womb, but I’m certain that God has the power to do what he’s promised.”

Suppose instead he had told her, “I’m sure God has the power to do what he’s promised, but I’m nearly dead and so is your womb.” Do you think he’d be called “the father of us all... who are of the faith of Abraham” (Rom. 4:16) if he had?

We ought to have the faith of Abraham when we speak, but instead we say things like:

“I know God promises to provide for us, but I don’t know how we’ll make ends meet this month.”

“I know the God promises to protect us, but all these burglaries in the neighborhood really have me worried.”

“I know God has promised to forgive me, but I’ve really blown it this time.”

“I know the Bible says God loves me, but I really don’t feel like He does.”

What you’re doing by making statements such as these is walking by sight, not by faith. You’re focused on the bills, the burglaries, your behavior, and how you feel. But faith is literally what is unseen:

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. - Heb 11:1-3 KJV

I cannot “see” God’s protection, his provision, his forgiveness, or his love with my physical senses. The word “substance” in this passage comes from the Greek word hypostasis, which means “that which stands beneath” (i.e., a foundation). Greek philosophers such as Aristotle used it to speak of the objective reality of a thing, its inner reality, as opposed to outer form.

So the outer form of a thing might be: “There’s been a lot of burglaries in the neighborhood recently.” But the inner (i.e., unseen) reality is: “God promises to protect us.” (Ps 91)

Focusing on that is walking by faith, not by sight.

The Ultimate Introduction

In this video, comedian Steve Harvey “introduces” Jesus.