Letter on behalf of Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani

Below is a copy of my letter to the Iranian Embassy as per Christian Solidarity Worldwide.  I thought about inserting the  the following verses from the Koran but then thought that they might provoke, rather than persuade, the judiciary.  

• "Nor can Goodness and Evil be equal. Repel (Evil) with what is better: then will he between whom and thee was hatred become as it were thy friend and intimate!" (Surah 41, Verse 34).
   
• "O ye who believe! stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor: for Allah can best protect both. Follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest ye swerve, and if ye distort (justice) or decline to do justice, verily Allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do." (Surah 4, Verse 135).
   
• "God advocates justice, charity, and regarding the relatives. And He forbids evil, vice, and transgression. He enlightens you, that you may take heed." (Surah 16, Verse 90).

Your Excellency, the Ambassador of Iran,

I am writing on behalf of Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, who is facing execution because he is a Christian. This violates the Islamic Republic of Iran's own agreement as per the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, article 18 and its own constitution, article 23.

I hope that the Iranian judiciary will cease to pursue its current course of action against Pastor Nadarkhani, and that it will acquit him of all charges, in accordance with Iranian and international law.

Would you be so kind as to pass my appeal on to the Iranian government as quickly as possible, as Pastor Nadarhani's life hangs in the balance.

Thank you.

Beth Bilynskyj

Missional Muslims I

I've started a dialogue with a young, dedicated Muslim student at the U of O. He is introducing me to the world of Missional Islam. Here is a sampling of the videos he sends out to friends around him, in his excitement to share his faith:
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American architect accepts ISLAM, non-Muslims MUST SEE!!!



Here is my response to him.
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Hi S.--

God IS one! All Christians agree with their Muslim brothers and sisters that there is only ONE God. We do NOT believe in three Gods, contrary to what Muslims may think we believe. After all, it would be a contradiction to say that God is one God and three Gods! We believe, like them, that God is powerful and high above humans—in fact, God SO high and powerful that His Divine Being is not contained within just one person, but rather he is Three Persons in One Being, which are called “the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

The Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God, but the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not the Father. Here is a crude analogy: the yolk is egg, the white is egg, the shell is egg; but the yolk is not the white, the white is not the shell, and the shell is not the yolk. Yet it would not be an egg without all three: yolk, white and shell.

So the big difference between Islam and Christianity is that in Christianity, the notion of participation is an essential quality of God. This is why relationship is so important to Christians, because God Himself is Three in One.

Further, Christians do not believe that the Three in One is the Father, Mary and Jesus; nor do we believe that Jesus was born by sexual intercourse. Saying those things is as offensive to Christians when Muslims are offended by the following lies: “Islam teaches that Mohammed is God,” or “Muslims worship Mohammed.” Here is what Norman Geisler and Abdul Saleeb have to say regarding this "gross distortion of biblical teaching:"

The Bible refers to Christ as the "only begotten" Son of God (John 1:18; cf. 3:16). However, Muslim scholars often misconstrue this in a fleshly, carnal sense of someone literally begetting children. For them, to beget implies a physical act. This they believe is absurd, since God is a Spirit with no body. As the noted Muslim apologist Deedat contends, "He [God] does not beget because begetting is an animal act. It belongs to the lower animal act of sex. We do not attribute such an act to God." For the Islamic mind begetting is creating and "God cannot create another God. … He cannot create another uncreated." The foregoing statements reveal the degree to which the biblical concept of Christ’s sonship is misunderstood by Muslim scholars. For no orthodox Christian scholar believes that "begat" is to be equated with "made" or "create." No wonder Dawud concludes that from a "Muslim point of belief the Christian dogma concerning the eternal birth or generation of the Son is blasphemy."

However, this extreme reaction to Christ’s eternal Sonship is both unnecessary and unfounded. The phrase "only begotten" does not refer to physical generation but to a special relationship with the Father. Like the biblical phrase "Firstborn" (Col. 1:15), it means priority in rank, not in time (cf. vs. 16-17). It could be translated, as the New International Version does, God’s "One and Only" Son. It does not imply creation by the Father but unique relation to him. Just as an earthly father and son have a special filial relationship, even so the eternal Father and his eternal Son are uniquely related. It does not refer to any physical generation but to an eternal procession from the Father. Just as for Muslims the Word of God (Qur’an) is not identical to God but eternally proceeds from him, even so for Christians, Christ, as God’s "Word" (4:171) eternally proceeds from him. Words like "generation" and "procession" are used by Christians of Christ in a filial and relational sense, not in a carnal and physical sense.

Misunderstanding of Christ’s sonship reaches an apex when some Muslim scholars confuse it with the virgin Birth. Nazir-Ali notes that "in the Muslim mind the generation of the Son often means his birth of the Virgin Mary." … With such a carnal misrepresentation of a spiritual reality, little wonder Muslims reject the Christian concept of eternal Father and Son.

(Geisler & Saleeb, Answering Islam: The Crescent in Light of the Cross [Baker Books, Grand Rapids MI; updated and revised, second edition 2002], pp. 263-264)

For more on why the Quran’s reasoning regarding God needing a wife in order to have a son is simply fallacious, please read this.

Welcome to Our Mission Field: OREGON

via Gary L.

Oregon’s bottom line in US:
1st in Homelessness,

2nd in Unemployment, and

3rd in Hunger


• Oregon is 46th in the nation for people owning their own homes

• Over 25% of Oregon households are unable to subsist @ poverty level for 3 months with no income

• Last year a greater percentage of Oregon’s population experienced
homelessness than any other US state (0.54% of Oregon’s pop)

• Among those experiencing homelessness, people in families grew almost 10%

• Oregon’s 2009 One ­Night Homeless County showed a 35-37% increase in homelessness across state, mostly represented by the newly homeless, a total of 17,000 Oregonians

• 2/3 of Oregon’s 560,000 low income households pay more than 1/3 of their household income for housing

• Since 2000, Oregon has lost 67 manufactured dwelling parks with 2644 homes

• As of Feb. 2009, three manufactured dwelling parks with 157 spaces were in the process of closing

• Number of homeless veterans has doubled over the last 4 years

• Number of homeless, childless couples increased 100%

• Almost ½ of the Oregon households counted had a member with an emotional, mental or substance abuse challenge

• Sept 2009 14% increase in homeless schoolchildren. Up to 18,000 (up from 15,851 last year and 8,143 in 2003-04)

• Hispanic students in Oregon must change schools more frequently than their white peers

Encouragement: "The Six Percent Solution"

Here is an encouraging word from Will Willimon, via Brad:

The Six Percent Solution

When I was at my first church, I was complaining to a wise, experienced pastor that I had “too few talented lay persons” in my little church to change the downward course of the congregation. (Even forty years ago I was trying to change the church!) “I have no more than five or six folks who show any ability to move forward,” I whined.

“Well consider yourself fortunate,” replied the wise pastor. “My congregation is twice the size of yours and I can count no more than five or six Spirit-filled, innovative leaders. Fortunately, God rarely needs more than that to get the ball rolling.”

What? Jesus changed the whole world with twelve (only eleven of whom panned out) disciples. Malcolm Gladwell’s, The Tipping Point is a study of how human organizations change. How does a system reach the “tipping point” whereby an organizational culture is transformed? Gladwell documents that it takes no more than six children in a school to begin wearing a certain brand of sport shoe to reach the tipping point whereby in just a few days a hundred children will begin wearing that same brand of shoe.

I believe Gladwell is right. In all of the churches I have served as a pastor only six percent of the members gave nearly two-thirds of all the financial gifts to the church. I’ve served some wonderful churches but I’ve never served a church that wasn’t being led by six percent of the members. Only six percent of the congregation are people to whom God has given the passion and the position to lead the whole church.

There is a word of grace here for church leaders. If you want to give the church a brighter future, you only have to convince six percent of the people in the church. As a bishop, if I want to reverse the decline of my Conference, I only have to identify a mere six percent who know how to make that turnaround happen.

When Gil Rendel was advising us on the transformation of our Conference, as we were thinking about how to convince the Conference to move toward eight rather than twelve districts, Rendle put before us the proverbial Bell Curve. He noted that in any significant change 15% of the people are against the change and will remain against the change no matter how that change is presented to them. On the other end of the curve, 15% will say “let’s go for it” no matter how risky the change may be.

“That leaves a full 70% of your people who show a good possibility of conversion into support for this change,” said Gil. “Too many pastors wait in the vain hope that they were good enough to get everybody on board, don’t move until they are sure that they can take everyone along with them. As a result, they never go anywhere.”

Christianity tends to be a minority movement. Jesus occasionally attracted multitudes, but his transformative work tended to be through a small group of disciples. Thanks be to God we don’t have to wait to follow the Spirit until 99% of everyone thinks this direction is a good idea. God can work through something as seemingly small and insignificant as a mustard seed to grow the Kingdom.

Thanks be to God, on our way to “make disciples of all nations,” we only need six percent to get the job done.

Will Willimon

Dan Whitmarsh: Anything to make a sale

Dan Whitmarsh has some wise words about the dark side of youth ministry, such as that practiced by Young Life.

Anything to Make a Sale

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. . .

Evangelistic-minded youth ministries hit upon a genius idea. Create events that are cool, hip, attractive, amazing, get kids in the door, and then hit them with the gospel. Young Life is the master of this strategy, but it has impacted the entire world of youth ministry. In small ways, it looks like 'throw a pizza party, invite your friends, then we'll tell 'em about Jesus." In larger ways, it looks like "Hire a band, have some fireworks, break some bricks with your head, then tell 'em about Jesus." Either way, entertain 'em, entice 'em with coolness, then tell 'em about Jesus.

One problem: no matter what the Church does, the World does a better job of offering Cool options. While the Church was offering pizza and goofy games, the World invented Wiis and Hip-Hop. So the Church is always playing catch-up, trying to find ever hipper and cooler ways of enticing 'worldly youth' into our doors, so we can tell 'em about Jesus. Or, maybe just to keep our kids in the doors, trying to make it just cool enough that they won't run out there where the World offers all that other stuff.

So, to recap, the strategy is: do something fun/cool/outrageous to get people in the door, then tell 'em about Jesus.

Let's be clear about one thing: the motivation is great. Telling people about Jesus is our highest calling. Creating opportunities to tell people about Jesus is a wonderful task.

But there was a dark side that very few people really wanted to talk about: this 'wow 'em and tell 'em about Jesus' strategy doesn't do much in the way of creating disciples. Instead, it creates instant flash with no long-term impact. The fact that even 70-80% of Christian kids leave the church after high school ought to tell us we're doing something wrong. That we're not growing Followers, that we're not raising Disciples. Instead, we're creating Consumers who will always chase after the next big fix, wherever that comes from. We're not raising young people who understand such basic tenets of Christianity as sacrifice, service, humility, forgiveness, love, grace and mercy. We are, in fact, temporarily distracting young people with smoke and mirrors, sneaking the gospel in there, assuming that, since they 'said the prayer' following the pizza and root-beer gorge, they're 'in.'

And here's today's problem: those raised in this world are leaving their youth ministry days behind and moving into senior leadership in churches across America. . .and they're using the exact same strategies in the larger church.

Like the Church over in the Seattle area that decided to perform live tattooing during their worship service.

Again, the motivation is probably good: create some buzz (no pun intended. . .maybe), get some people in the door, tell 'em about Jesus. Young people are into tattoos. So, bring tattoos into the Church, get people interested, tell 'em about Jesus.

But is this anything more than the same strategy that has failed so miserably in our youth ministries over the last 60 years?

One might also spend a few minutes talking about the nature of worship itself - a holy people gathered to lift up the name of God in adoration and praise, to listen to (and apply) his Word in their lives.

It has always struck me as odd that we have to do all this in the first place. After all, the Church has the most amazing package ever to be offered - eternal life, hope, love, peace, joy, a relationship with the God who created the Universe, redemption, acceptance, friendship. . .For some reason, so many have decided that's not enough, so instead they re-package all that into pizza parties, goofy games, church coffee shops, the never-ending pursuit of 'relevance,' tattoo services.

My hope, as I've stated before, is that people will be drawn to Lakebay Community Church not because we're cool or hip or relevant or edgy, but because they've heard it's a place of hope, a place of joy, a place of acceptance, a place where Christ's light shines into the darkness of our lives. It makes you wonder what would happen if the Church across America would decide to give up this striving for relevance, and get back to the real work of the Church, which, as I pointed out in my sermon yesterday, comes down to two things:
1) being a community of grace and mercy and love
2) going out into all the world making disciples.

Something tells me we just might actually be healthier. We'd certainly be stronger. Promotional gimmicks might fill the pews, but they don't teach people to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with their God. Only the hard work of disciple-making does that.

Stackhouse: "A Bigger--and Smaller--View of Mission"

The following is a must-read from John Stackhouse. His bigger vision takes an inclusivist position on salvation, and his smaller vision calls for greater humility.



Of course, my metaphysical antennae were applauding when I read about binary oppositions...<g>


A Bigger--and Smaller--View of Mission

"...Let's begin, then, with two ways in which our view of mission should expand. First, Christians typically have believed that those who have not heard the name of Jesus are simply lost and destined for hell. Much of the energy of the great 19th-century missionary movement among Westerners, and much of the impetus of missions work around the world to this day, has come from the horror of a Niagara of souls pouring into a lost eternity for want of an evangelist.

We also need to acknowledge, however, a corresponding horror in the hearts of many—including many missions-minded Christians—about a God who allows whole nations and generations to plunge into a lost eternity simply because no one happened to reach them with the gospel. Does faithfulness to the Bible mean we must retain this picture?..... "

-------------------

"....Furthermore, we must beware of a second problem that lies nearby. And that is the idea that missions is all about getting people saved, and particularly about rescuing their souls from hell so that they can go to heaven. Multiple theological errors, in fact, attend this view of salvation.

God is not interested in saving merely human souls. He wants human beings, body and soul. Furthermore, he does not settle for saving human beings, but the whole earth. He made it in the first place, pronounced it "very good," and he wants it all back. So he is saving us, the lords he put over creation, as part of his global agenda to rescue, indeed, the globe.

What God rescues us to, furthermore, is the original agenda he set out for us in Genesis 1, namely, to "fill the earth and subdue it." He planted a garden for us to tend (Gen. 2) and commanded our first parents to raise up generations of gardeners to fan out across the earth to till the rest of it. This is what it means to bear the image of God. We, too, are to improve the situation, to cultivate what we encounter, to make shalom in every sector of life. And such work is our ultimate destiny as well, as we are to "reign with him" over the new earth he promises (2 Tim. 2:12). Thus we are not going back to Eden, nor up to a (spiritual) heaven, but forward to the New Jerusalem, which comes down from heaven to earth as our proper home (Rev. 21). ..."

-------------------

"....In these ways, then, our view of mission must be properly large. At the same time, however, it may need reducing in some key respects. In particular, the virtue of humility would properly deflate several exaggerations of our missionary outlook. "

Namaste: the Lost and the Found

You probably already know about this site, but I'm kinda slow. A friend recently told me about the Doc Jensen. In terms of theories and speculation, it outshines the best efforts of any pretrib millenialist, living or dead. It's actually quite entertaining. Anyway, being a "Lost" fan, and being that tonight was a repeat of last week's show, I stopped by tonight to check out what the good Doc had to say.

One of his offerings was the above video. I dare you to watch it all the way to the end. Once you do, please tell me:

1) how many people do you think have watched this video?
2) How many of us watching were Christians? How many were not?
3) How many of us could give a coherent, well thought- out response to this video, a la 1 Peter 3:15?
4) How many of us will use it as an occasion to share that response with those around us who do not know Jesus Christ?

Now combine this with the results of the American Religious Identification Survey 2008:

"The percentage of Americans claiming no religion, which jumped from 8.2 in1990 to 14.2 in 2001, has now increased to 15 percent...

According to Dan Whitmarsh on Abet, the discussion list for Covenant clergy,

In sum, the findings show or lead to the conclusion that:
1) Religion and Christianity are on the decline in the US;
2) Protestantism is doing worse than Catholicism due to Catholic immigrants;
3) Mormonism is keeping up with population growth, and Islam and NewAge/Wicca are exceeding it;
4) Atheism, while still a small percentage of the population, is on the rise; and
5) "Spirituality,"--or non-organized belief in God--is still vibrant in the US.

It is finding no. 5 that engages me, and makes me think that all is not lost if we can use Lost to reach the lost.

Cookies, Christ, and the Koran

Tonight at our High school youth group the conversation turned to the question of whether Jesus is the only way, or if other religions are also ways to God. I had made chocolate chip cookies, and three were left in the plastic container. They became the perfect teaching aids. What follows is a transcript of the evening (more or less.)

ME: Okay, well, as I see it, everybody has a front door and a back door into their souls. The front door is reserved for God to speak directly to you, through the testimony of His holy word or through direct encounter. (We read 2 Tim. 3:16, 1 Peter 1:16-21.) The back door is the way He comes into you, indirectly, through the creation. (We read Romans 1:20).

Let's let the container represent you, and let the lid be your "front door." (Having already removed the two cookies, I take the lid off the top of the container.) Let's talk about front doors tonight, and save back doors for later. Now, one way of approaching the question is to consider the other religions' scriptures. Let's let the cookies represent God speaking to us.

1. Now, we could say that everything is Cookie. This is what Hinduism does. They believe that everything is god. Hindus don't think there is any distinction between the container and/or the cookies, or between them and us. I am cookie, you are cookie, we are all Cookie.

(I imagine one kid proceding to bite another kid.) But see? That doesn't seem to fit our experience very well. It would be rather difficult to live out that belief. We'd have to constantly tell ourselves to ignore or deny what was happening to us. So let's shelve it.

2. Another thing we could say is that there are no cookies. That would be like believing there isn't any God speaking to us. That's what naturalists say, people like Dawkins and Hitchens and others who claim that reality reduces to matter in motion.

However there are cookies, aren't there. "Ahh," says the naturalist, "Maybe they are an illusion. A projection of your own consciousness, a wish fulfillment, an opiate to help ease the pain of life: whatever, they are something you dreamed up."

Poppycock! I'm here to tell you I was there when those cookies came out of the oven. I saw them and smelled them and I tasted some crumbs. Do you trust my testimony? Am I a reliable witness? (More nodding heads. This would have been a great point for somebody to have read 1 John 1: 1-4.) It's very important who you trust, who you take to be your authorities. But that's a class in itself. What's the bottom line? There are cookies here!

3. So, do we all agree that there are indeed some cookies before us? (Heads nod.) Well, now all we have to do is decide how many cookies we should put in the container. Let's let one cookie represent the Old Testament, and one the New Testament. People who say there is only one cookie are Jews. They don't believe the other cookies belong in the container. They believe only the OT is the word of God. (I put one cookie in the container.)

Now, we are Christians. We believe that the NT is God's word, too. (I put the second cookie in the container.) But we don't think the third cookie belongs. Let the third cookie represent the Koran.
KID A: How do we know that the third cookie doesn't belong? Or for that matter, that the second cookie does belong? Maybe there should only be one cookie!

ME: Good for you! That's the crux of the problem, isn't it. What should we do?

KID B: Well, the OT has prophecies that the NT fulfills. If you can demonstrate that, you can accept the NT.

ME: Excellent! That's exactly the strategy that Peter uses in his Pentecost sermon. (We read Acts 2:14-36).

(Kid C reads Acts 2:17-21.) See, this is straight from the OT, Peter directly quotes the prophet Joel. Now look what Peter says. (Kid D reads Acts 2:22-24). Peter specifically reminds his listeners of all the miracles, wonders and signs Jesus did, and of his ultimate sign: resurrection.

To further nail his point, he quotes Psalm 16:8-11, a psalm of King David himself. (Kid A reads Acts 2:25-28.) Then he shows how even though the Jews thought it referred to David, it actually is fullfilled in Jesus: (Kid B reads Acts 2:29-36.)

Okay, so there are two cookies in the container. But how do we know there shouldn't be a third?

ME: A crucial question, which we must face if we are to have mature faith. The usual contender for third cookie is the Koran. What criteria do you think we should we use for admitting it into the container?

KID C: The same one as what got the second cookie in.

ME: Okay, and this is where we have some problems. If the OT promises a coming Messiah, and if the NT claims that Jesus is the Messiah, and that He has arrived claiming to be the Son of God and has proved it by dying and rising again, the Koran contradicts that message. Muslims honor Jesus (Isa) as a prophet, but not as God incarnate. Furthermore, they do not believe that "he was crucified, dead, and buried, and that on the third day he was raised from the dead." Rather than fulfilling and completing the NT (as if there was anything more to be fulfilled!) the Muslim narrative requires denying its main character and plotline. It looks like it the third cookie fails the admission test. It may look a lot like a chocolate chip cookie, but in reality it isn't. It shouldn't go in the container.

KID D: Then what if I were a Muslim, who never heard of Jesus? I'd have three cookies in my container from the day I was born. Would that mean I would go to hell?

ME: Another important question, and time is running out. Quickly, I'll just say that if it is true that only two cookies actually belong in our containers, then someone who has three cookies or just one cookie is closer to the truth than someone who has none, or someone who has a dozen, or someone who thinks everything is a cookie.

Look at Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and the other OT saints of Hebrews 11. They only had one cookie in each of their containers--Christ hadn't even been born!--yet they are listed in "the rollcall of the faithful." They aren't in hell. I side with C. S. Lewis on this. Remember Emeth in The Last Battle? Aslan accepts all Emeth's Tash-worship and considers it as directed to Him. But when Emeth thinks Aslan is Tash and Tash is Aslan, Aslan lets out a huge, angry roar. God is merciful, but He is also "jealous."

Atheist Bus Ads in London

Scot McKnight wrote:

Have you seen this? What do you think of the approach? The Bible verse chosen? What verse or verses would you choose?

The word of God is on the move in London -- literally. Beginning Feb. 9, three separate Christian groups will launch advertisements on more than 200 of London's buses to convince pedestrians of God's existence. "It may be unpopular and unpleasant, says David Larlham, the assistant general secretary of London's Trinitarian Bible Society, a group that distributes bibles worldwide, "but there is a whole lot of truth in the bible that people need to get to grips with." His organization has paid $50,000 to display posters on 125 of London's red double-decker buses that quote Psalm 53: "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God."

Here's my two cents:

It's too bad a potentially interesting conversation is happening in such an unfortunate venue. Psalm 53 inspired the venerable Ontological Argument, which Alvin Plantinga has retooled in a thought-provoking modal form. It cannot be captured in a bus ad! Admittedly, these days most people consider it unfashionable to argue for God's existence, but does that mean philosophical conversation must be marginalized? ;)

The very fact that these atheists are using bus ads to further their cause indicates that they are more interested in people's hearts than their minds. While this is a legitimate approach--one that the Holy Spirit uses constantly!--the atheists cannot have it both ways. They cannot pretend to be appealing to "reason," while simultaneously they are using media which frustrate and undermine it.

So, the bottom line: Christians don't further the kingdom when we perpetuate contradictions. Let's imitate Paul and "become all things to all people" by fighting the bus ad battle using Travis Greene's method*, and fighting the International Philosophical Quarterly battle using Plantinga's.

*Travis Greene's method: Put up bus ads that read: "There is a God, and he's saving the world. Come join him."

Learning Mandarin

Yesterday, Joanna was off school, so she had her first Mandarin lesson with our new friend David Yu, who has recently begun attending VCC. Joanna has always loved anything Asian--especially little Asian children. When the opportunity arose to join West Hills' (Portland) month-long trip to China next July, she was ready, and eager to learn the language. David has graciously offered to tutor her.

Since yesterday was a vacation day, we spent five hours with David, learning a little about Chinese culture and beginning to master the four tones, the basic sounds, and learn to count. You don't speak Mandarin, you sing it. I have a good ear, so I got the high, bright first tone down pretty well; Joanna has more of a struggle with the tones. But she has always been able to make amazing mouth noises ...explosions, animal sounds, you name it; so some of the sounds that we lack in English but that are essential to Mandarin come much easier for her.

David tells us that the Chinese have much more respect for someone who can pronounce just a few phrases perfectly, than for someone who speaks paragraphs which are mispronounced. So we spent an hour just trying to master "xiexie," or "thank you." If this is any indication of the sort of concentration Chinese students have, the U.S. is in big trouble!

Mandarin is one of the five "exceptionally difficult languages" in the world, says the Foreign Service Institute. According to this article that appeared in Time Asia a few years ago, it's never too late to try learning:

Our ability to effortlessly absorb a new language—any new language—begins to decline by age six, according to Robert DeKeyser, a professor of second-language acquisition at the University of Maryland. By the time we are 16, we have lost just about all hope of being able to speak a second language without a telltale accent, DeKeyser says. The reasons why children have a remarkable capacity to absorb new languages that adults generally lack are unclear. Some researchers studying the brain believe the answer may lie in a fundamental process by which grey matter develops. As we age, nerve fibers in our brain become sheathed in a protective coating made of fats and proteins. This coating, called myelin, boosts the speed of signals moving through the brain, but it also limits the potential for new connections. "It's as if you have a lot of tracks where people walked around the countryside and somebody came down and put asphalt on them," says Mike Long, who also teaches second-language acquisition at the University of Maryland. "Those roads are stronger and better, but they also limit possibility." In other words, adults find it difficult to alter the way they communicate because they become wired for their native tongue.

Difficult—but not impossible. In some areas, such as vocabulary memorization, older students can actually outperform younger peers. "Adults shouldn't say 'I'm too old to learn,'" says Long. "All over the world, millions of people have become extremely good in a second language, even when they started in their 30s and 40s." You can't expect to soak up Chinese like a sponge, but you do have the ability to concentrate and to study for hours on end. Unfortunately, if you want to learn Chinese, that's what you'll need to do.

Well, if nothing else, it will keep my neurons firing! "Ma, ma, ma, ma...."

You heard it here...over a year ago

According to the Washington Post, "[Treasury Secretary Henry M.] Paulson and [Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S.] Bernanke presented a 'chilling' picture of the state of the financial system, according to a participant in the meeting who spoke on condition of anonymity."

Over a year ago, this blog quoted Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. His words were prescient, given the current economic debacle.

"Socialism is not the only enemy of the market economy. Another enemy, all the more powerful for its recent global triumph, is the market economy itself. When everything that matters can be bought and sold, when commitments can be broken because they are no longer to our advantage, when shopping becomes salvation and advertising slogans become our litany, when our worth is measured by how much we earn and spend, then the market is destroying the very virtues on which in the long run it depends. That, not the return of socialism, is the danger that advanced economies now face. And in these times, when markets seem to hold out the promise of uninterrupted growth in our satisfaction of desires, the voice of our great religious traditions needs to be heard, warning us of the gods that devour their own children, and of the temples that stand today as relics of civilizations that once seemed invincible.

The market, in my view, has already gone too far: not indeed as an economic system, but as a cast of thought governing relationships and the image we have of ourselves. A great rabbi once taught this lesson to a successful but unhappy businessman. He took him to the window and asked him, What do you see? The man replied, I see the world. He then took him to a mirror and asked, What do you see? He replied, I see myself. That, said the rabbi, is what happens when silver covers glass. Instead of seeing the world you see only yourself. The idea that human happiness can be exhaustively accounted for in terms of things we can buy, exchange, and replace is one of the great corrosive acids that eat away the foundations on which society rests; and by the time we have discovered this, it is already too late.

The market does not survive by market forces alone. It depends on respect for institutions, which are themselves expressions of our reverence for the human individual as the image and likeness of God."


I find it sadly ironic that at the very time the market might be open to rethinking its need to respect the institutions Rabbi Sacks names (Sabbath, marriage and family, education, property, tradition/Law/Scripture) so many Christians are advocating jettisoning the very concept of "institution." Are we missing a really important teaching moment?

A Miracle?

A's scan came back clean.

Completely clean! Those tumors on her bladder and her stomach are gone. The oncologist wants to do two or three more chemos, but has cancelled the exploratory surgery. A begged him to still do it, just to be sure, but he said, "What's the point? The scan shows there is nothing there. If you have any surgery, it will be to remove your kidney stents."

Why is it so hard for me to accept this?
"Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief."

If it is really true that A. has been healed, it will have the potential for a massive impact upon her husband, H. and their whole family. Talk about power evangelism.

Yesterday the Mormons Came Wearing Skirts

Yesterday the Mormons made the rounds in our neighborhood. But this time they wore skirts, and I was taken aback. This is the first time I've ever seen female Mormon missionaries. Apparantly there has been another new revelation permitting women to go out, but they must be 21. (Males go on their two year mission when they are 18).

As is my practice with all door-to-door religious witnesses, I invited them in, but of course I didn't offer coffee! They did get some wonderful home-made baklava. It's my way of being hospitable and also keeping them occupied, so that at least for a brief period of time they aren't able to convert anyone.
I give Mormon missionaries lots of credit for making the cold calls and putting their beliefs out there; but when it comes to "giving a reason for the hope that is within them" it always boils down to the utterly sincere and overwhelming feeling that God has spoken in the Book of Mormon, and that Joseph Smith is His prophet. After small talk, we had the usual chat yesterday:

Me: So, what if I deeply and wholly feel that God has spoken in the Koran, and that Mohammed is His prophet? What reason should I have to consider becoming a Mormon?

Them: Well, you just have to open your heart and pray for the Holy Spirit to show you the truth.

Me: What if I was searching for some sort of faith, and when I did that and I felt God was calling me to Islam, instead of Mormonism? Feelings are important, but is that all there is?

Them: Oh no! There's God's word! The Bible, the Book of Mormon! Once you read it you'll see.

Me: I have read it, and I didn't see.

Them: That's because you weren't reading it the right way. You need to be open to the truth!

Me: This is rather circular reasoning, isn't it? What if I was sincerely open, asking God to lead me to the truth; and then I read both the Koran and the BoM. Then once I finished, I felt drawn to the Koran? Are you now saying I shouldn't trust my feelings?

Them: No, no!! Maybe you could make your decision on character...look at the kind of persons Mormons compared to the kind of persons Moslems are.

Me: Hmmm. That's promising. But right now I know a Moslem fellow, a Sayed, whose wife is dying of cancer. He is the most compassionate, sacrificial, loving person I think I may have ever met. I hate to admit it, but honestly, he is putting me and other Christians to shame. Does that mean I should convert to Islam?

Them: No, no! But don't you want to be with your family for all eternity?

Me: Sure, but I don't have to be a Mormon for that to happen. In fact, when I was baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, I was born into a much larger family than just the Bilynskyj or Tichacek clan. Now anyone, from any time, who trusts Jesus Christ as Lord and lives in relationship with Him is my brother and my sister, my mother and my father.

Them: But don't you want to be with your family?

Me: Of course I do...but I don't want to be with my family only. I want to be with God--Father, Son and Holy Spirit--because if I have Him, I have everything; what more could I desire?

Them: But if you want that you have to be in the celestial kingdom, and to do that you have to accept the teachings of the book of Mormon and live faithfully according to them!

Me: And what is this "celestial kingdom?" Where is that written?

Them: It is part of the revelation given to Joseph Smith--

Me: Aha. So we are back to accepting his revelation in order to accept his revelation. No thanks, I'll stick with what revelation I've already got.

Them: Oh dear, it's five o'clock, and we have an appointment we need to be at...

Me: That's too bad. Thanks so much for coming! Here, have some baklava to take with you. Can I pray for you before you leave?
Later on, Steve said, "I wonder what mark they've put on the sidewalk to warn others not to come near this place." Funny. I thought the baklava was wonderful. ; )

Stackhouse on inclusivism

Here's an excellent discussion of inclusivism, exclusivism ("restrictionism") and pluralism by John Stackhouse

An excerpt:

In orthodox Christian terms, inclusivists share with restrictivists the exclusivistic belief in the central and necessary place of Christ’s work on behalf of humanity. Orthodox inclusivists, then, are those who believe that God applies the salvific benefits of the work of Christ to those who have not heard the gospel, but who nonetheless are granted the gift of saving faith as they respond to what light of the Holy Spirit they have been granted–which may or may not include information about Jesus.

Inclusivists point to Old Testament saints as examples of people who did not know of Jesus but did know of God and responded to him with saving faith (Hebrews 11). So too, they say, might people elsewhere in the world who do not (yet) know of Jesus nonetheless have knowledge of the true God, however hazy it might be, and respond (by God’s grace) to that knowledge with saving faith.

It is worth noting in passing, however, that there are at least two unorthodox versions of Christian inclusivism available as well. The first is the pattern set out by Wilfred Cantwell Smith, John Hick, and other ostensible “pluralists.” These theorists suggest that there are multiple paths to human fulfilment, many of them having nothing to do with Jesus Christ, explicitly or implicitly. In Hick’s formulation, one can be rightly oriented toward the Ultimately Real with or without the assistance of Jesus. Such a view, however, rests on the fundamental conviction that there is only one basis upon which people can reach their summum bonum. Smith, Hick and their ilk say that this basis is not the person and work of Jesus Christ, but instead is the revelation of God abroad in the world, the correct response to which is “other-mindedness,” charity, and moral rectitude. There are not really multiple paths, but multiple versions of the same path to the same end.

So, too, does mysticism offer multiple versions of the same path to the same end: union with the divine. Whether the Christian mysticism of Meister Eckhart or the Society of Friends, or the non-Christian mysticism of Sufi Muslims or bhakti Hindus, mysticism around the world is understood to have the same basic ethos and trajectory, which are expressed in multiple forms.

What happens when you wonder after midnight...

(It's late, and I always turn into a curmudgeonly kumquat after midnight. Proceed at your own risk!)

Dan Kimball,has authored the following works:

I Like Jesus but Not the Church (Softcover)
They Like Jesus but Not the Church Curriculum Kit (Curriculum Kit)
They Like Jesus but Not the Church DVD (DVD)
They Like Jesus but Not the Church Participant's Guide (Softcover)
They Like Jesus but Not the Church (Softcover)

I wonder when we'll see the following titles:

I Like my Daughter but not Motherhood
I Like Medicine, but Not Medical Schools.
They Like Fire Departments, but Not Government.
I Like Sex, but Not Marriage.
They like Football, but Not Football Teams.
I Like Health, but not Exercise
They like Princess Diana, but not Women
I like Apples, but not Fruit
I like Martin Luther King, but Not Blacks
They like Music, but not Ears

Stability, Transformation, Obedience

Have you heard of Abbey Way Covenant Church?

If this is what the emergent church will eventually look like, then I am intrigued.

I am particularly drawn to the way its members' lives are ordered, through prayer, word and sacrament. Their lives are shaped by the principles of stability, transformation, and obedience: willingness to be still, willingness to change, and willingness to listen. In so doing, Abbey Way does not seek to conform to the world, but to Christ, so mission flows naturally from their life together, rather than the reverse.

When I first heard that they do not open their doors to visitors, except once a month on Guesthouse Sundays, I was scandalized. What about evangelism? What about hospitality? What about FREEDOM OF CHOICE? Ah, that is where Abbey Way is simultaneously culturally astute and counter-cultural. They must know full well that in a market economy, consumer interest and demand rises with the scarcity of product. Postmoderns are nothing if not consumers used to having a plethora of product choices, so this reverse psychology is a brilliant move which should pique interest. But even more brilliant is that it teaches even as it captivates: following Christ is not all about you. God's love is wide, but

"small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Matt.7:14)

Unlike many other emergents, Abbey Way doesn't try to reinvent the wheel. They manage to be contemporary without being ahistorical, probably because they do not take their own experience to be spiritually formative, but allow their experience to be formed spiritually.

I doubt that church shopping or church-hopping is much of a problem here:

Stability creates an environment to grow and mature, rooting us deeply within and without, through endurance and perseverance, with a particular community and location.

Stability calls us to a committed way of life with a certain group of people for the long haul. Stability in monastic tradition would also add the willingness to be grounded in a geographic location from which mission and ministry is birthed. From a place of deep listening to God and connection to the people around them, the community's charism and calling is discovered.

In particular, stability requires a interior stay with-it-ness when external or internal forces toss us about, making us want to flee.

The principle of stability is deeply rooted in God's faithfulness to us. It is promised, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." It is in this promise of God with us through His constant abiding presence we are able to commit ourselves to each other in God.

Abbey Way claims this principle of stability as its own. Antidotal to non-committal and individualistic forms of church attendance, stability names the real work of creating a community which is able to reflect the glory of Christ. As Abbey Way embraces stability as one of our core principals, we hope to create a consistent and accessible embodiment of the Gospel, enabling others to find Jesus and experience new life in Christ.

God bless Abbey Way, and God bless the Covenant for befriending them.

Devoted and/or Determined?

I recently had occasion to take the Myers-Briggs test, and was confronted with the following two choices:

1) devoted
2) determined

It gave me pause. Isn't that what we are being faced with in the latest ecclesiastical discussion? Pastor Kent's June 27 post, "Relational or Missional, Which is Right?" at Est cum est presents a carefully considered reflection on the question.

It's one thing to take a Myers-Briggs test, which cautions: "There are no "right" or "wrong" answers for [this] inventory. Your answers should reflect how you really think, feel and most naturally act -- not how you wish you were or think you should be." But isn't the ecclesiastical discussion precisely about how the church should be? In other words, isn't there something prescriptive involved, and not just descriptive? Isn't there some truth, some reality which we are called to incarnate?

As even pagan old Aristotle realized, one of the effects of sin is to swing us off balance, so that we "miss the mark" and fail to hit the "mean." I submit that the mean, where Christ is, is characterized by both devotion and determination; relation and mission. Perhaps there are times when, having lost our balance, we need to emphasize one over the other. Perhaps it is time to emphasize mission over relation. But I like how Kent put it: "I think I am moving. Not to the opposite end, but at least one standard deviation towards missional."

That's healthy. Yes, Jesus was missional. And yes, Jesus was relational. The remarkable thing about Him is that he holds both in perfect balance. And we should, too. Lord, help us to do that!

Just wondering...

John Wenrich has a fine new blog, at http://www.covchurch.org/blogs/vitality. In it he writes,

"More and more, I am learning the importance of asking good questions.Jesus asked good questions.

Remember the story of Jesus left behind at the Temple? Luke reports that his parents “found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers” (Luke 2:46-47)

Could it be that becoming more Christ-like means learning how to ask good questions about the things that matter most? Good questions can lead to good answers. Good questions can start good conversations. Good questions can provide learning opportunities..."

So in that spirit, I wonder....

Will there be missions in heaven?

Will there be missionaries there, actively engaged in spreading the gospel?

No doubt Christ expects His church to be missional this side of heaven! And certainly we still have our work cut out for us. But part of me can't help wonder, if we identify ourselves so strongly (or even exclusively) with the Great Commission, what happens once every knee is bowing and every tongue is confessing Jesus Christ is Lord?

But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:38-42).