Letters from Babylon

No one wants to suffer; we’re going to avoid it if we can. But “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2Tim 3:12). So what do we do when it comes, when it’s unavoidable? We have more wisdom from “Babylon” on that matter.

The early church saw Rome as a new Babylon, embodying its power, wickedness, and oppression. Peter, writing from there, saw what was coming for the church and wanted to help them not just survive but honor Christ under persecution.

Brave Old World

Everything old is new again. Fashion is cyclical, that's why men never throw anything out — they fully expect that leisure suit to come back into style again.

Ideas do the same thing. Especially errors. And so we find ourselves in a place that seems kind of familiar. Many people look at the world today and see parallels to the situation of the faithful Hebrews in Babylon. I think that’s fair, so I intend to mine the book of Daniel for insight into our situation.

This is the beginning of a series of Lessons from Babylon. Rather than digging into an expository study of the book, I intend to highlight some repeated themes or messages we see.

Introduction to Christianity 102: Christian Behavior

“We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1Thes 1:3).

Christianity 101 was about what we believe, why, and what difference it should make. In this series I want to double down on that last part. God forbid that anyone should think it only matters what we believe and not how we live! If we really believe what we say we believe, it should spur us on to a godly life.

All of this flows out of the doctrine of creation. We are created in the image of God to reflect him to the world around us. That is why we’re here, and we are most fully human when we live out that purpose.

That doctrine also tells us God knows how he made us and what makes us truly thrive. God’s rules are not “loud music annoys me” but “look both ways before crossing the street.” They are not meant to be meddlesome but protective, so we should embrace them as a gift from a loving God.

This is not going to be a treatment of Christian ethics. There are lots of good books on that subject already. If you want to learn about just war, reproductive technologies, or capital punishment, read one of those. I will be focusing on the life the world needs to see us live day in and day out.

This is also not going to cover every biblical command. You know not to lie, steal or commit murder. I want to remind us of the commands we like to forget or look at where the commands go farther than we sometimes realize.

Because God does care how we live. And because the people around us need to see that the gospel we proclaim really does make a difference in our lives.


Image via Pixabay

Part of Christianity 102

Christianity 101

I'm about to launch into something I've been working on, in some ways, for 20 years. I've been working on it in earnest for over a year now. We need to equip the next generation to know what Christians ought to believe, why we believe it, and what difference it makes in our lives.

My oldest child will be heading off to college in a couple of years. College is a spiritual and cultural war zone for our kids. If they're not prepared, they will be casualties. At the very least they can be wounded and filled with doubt or maybe decide to compartmentalize their faith or perhaps try to hide from the real world in a Christian ghetto. At the worst they can walk away from the faith altogether. In any of those cases their ability to serve at witnesses for Christ will be impaired at best.

But if they are properly prepared, the battle field can be a mission field, and their faith can come out of the experience stronger. That's what I want for my children and for yours.

I had originally intended this to be just conversations I had with my kids, but for a variety of reasons I've decided the best way to do this is to put it in writing in little bite-sized pieces. And if I'm putting the hours in to write these little articles, I may as well share them with anyone else who might find them useful, so I'll be posting them here. My posting frequency is going to go up quite a bit — I'm hoping to put out two a week.

If you know anyone you think will benefit from this, feel free to share. Besides "following" on Blogger, there's an RSS feed, email subscription, and you can share via the social media buttons.

I hope you will benefit from these articles. I hope our kids will benefit from them. We are in a fight for our children's future. I intend to win.


Part of Christianity 101

The God Who Gives and Demands

I love the Old Testament because it paints such a clear picture of who God is. The Law (the first five books) is fundamental both in how it establishes God's character and in how so much of the rest of the OT (and, ultimately, the NT) are built upon what it teaches. Familiarity with the Law makes the rest of the OT much clearer.

So let's spend some time in Deuteronomy. As with Leviticus, I'm not going to do anything deeply systematic. I'll alight upon whatever catches my attention.

The first three chapters of Deuteronomy are history. The story begins while Israel is at Horeb. God told them it was time to go take the Promised Land. And Israel said, "Are you crazy? Have you seen those guys? They're huge!"

To make a short story shorter, it didn't go well for them. So they were sent to wander in the desert for 40 years. But even then, when God was angry at them, he provided for them, protected them, and gave them victory over enemies. The text retells of kings who were defeated and lands that were taken — the first lands to be given the new nation of Israel, beginning the fulfillment of the promise that Abraham's children would possess Canaan and become a great nation. Then it says ...

"Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you" (Deut 4:1).

This God's pattern. He gives, then he demands. He requires obedience only after blessing.

He gave Adam and Eve all of the garden. Oh, but there's this one rule ... (Gen 2:16-17).

He brought Noah and his kin through the flood. He promised to never bring another like it. Then he established some rules (Gen 9:1-6).

The Ten Commandments begin with "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery" (Ex. 20:2).

This is God's pattern. It is a pattern that continues in the New Testament. Paul spends 11 chapters of Romans expounding on God's mercy and salvation before finally getting to "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God ..." (Rom 12:1).

God requires. Oh my does he have requirements. But he only lays them on us after blessing us more than we ever could have imagined. In Christ we have been given every "every spiritual blessing" so "I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received" (Eph 1:3, 4:1).

God lays a burden on his people. No one denies that. Even if his "burden is light," it's still a burden. But it is only laid on those whom God has lavished with love. Sometimes we're going to chafe against the rules. We operate under restrictions that the rest of the world aren't bound by. It can seem unfair.

But God is no miser. He is not Scrooge, demanding a long day's work for a pittance and a single lump of coal. He is the God who gives and gives and asks only that we respond to his generosity with loving obedience.


Part of Seeing God in Deuteronomy

Can I Be Christian and Conservative?

Can Christians be conservatives? It sounds like a silly question to some, but to others it's very serious. Aren't we supposed to be concerned about the poor and the sick? Shouldn't we oppose war and the death penalty? Isn't that the way Christians are supposed to vote?

Or could it be that there are good, biblical, sound reasons that Christian conservatives take the stances they do?

That's the question I seek to answer in the following articles. Hopefully soon I'll be able to turn it all into one pdf, but for now, please share this with anyone you know who is dealing with these questions.

Introduction
On Christians and Politics
Politics, Religion, and Brotherly Love
Voting for Candidates You Disagree With

The Bible and the Ballot Box
Helping the Poor Biblically
The Bible and Capital Punishment
Moral Bankruptcy of the Modified Pro-Choice Position
The Christian Voter and War
What's a Deal Breaker?

Why Do They Do That?
The Case for Limited Government
Why Keep Taxes Low? - Tax Policy
Conservatives and the Least of These - Poverty
Physician Heal Thyself - Health Care Reform
Loving Your Neighbor 7000 Miles Away - Global Poverty
Judicial Philosophy

Answering Objections
Do Nothing Republicans? - The Conservative Record on Abortion

The Problem of Parties

Conclusion
Hearts and Minds

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Other articles related to political issues:
Immigration Reform and Christianity
Christianity and the Environment: 7 Principles
7 Principles and 1 Hot Topic
Another Problem with Naturalism
Faith and Politics: Economy vs Morality
Capital Punishment Reform

Reflections on Leviticus

This is a series of reflections upon Leviticus. I wouldn’t classify these as exegesis or exposition or even as a homily. They are simply my thoughts and meditations from reading the passages. I’m not going to go through every chapter, much less every verse.

It's hard for you to approach God – Chapter 1: the burnt offering and the holiness of God

Accidentally filthy – Chapter 4: offering for unintentional sins

Doing nothing wrong – Chapter 5: the sin of inaction

More holy – Chapter 10: responding to God's holiness

Redeemed for holiness – Chapter 11: holiness – our part of the bargain

Shadows of the Cross in the Day of Atonement – Chapter 16: the rules for the Day of Atonement point us to the Cross of Christ

Hedges – Chapter 17: the double-edged sword of rules guarding rules

Different in All the Right Ways – Chapter 19: our calling to be a community of the better way

One Among Many – Chapters 18 & 20: discussing homosexuality without pushing people away from the gospel

Priestly Slaves – Chapter 22: the wonderful things we are part of because we are slaves of God

Party With Purpose – Chapter 23: adding days of reflection to our busy calendars

How Valuable is Human Life? – Chapter 24: sometimes human life is more important than the law, sometimes not

Wrath and Repentance – Chapter 26: God punishes for a purpose

The resurrection: A story no one would make up

An examination of the evidence for the resurrection of Christ using 1Cor 15:3-8 as an outline.

Part 1: On the death, burial, and empty tomb
Part 2: On the appearances to the women and to Peter and the Twelve
Part 3: On the appearances to the 500, James, and Paul
Part 4: On the prophecies: a story no one could make up; and the conclusion of the matter
Part 5: Addressing objections to the resurrection

Related: "Ok, Christ Rose; Why Did He Die?"

Ephesians 1

My collected reflections on Ephesians 1:3-10

1) Creation and Calvary
2) Are we friends or children?
3) Saved for God's benefit
4) Created for redemption
5) Let's let everyone into heaven (aside)
6) Lavished with grace
7) We get to know how it ends!

Loosely related: Calvinist? Arminian?

Immigration reform and Christianity

My attempt at thinking about immigration reform from a Christian perspective:

Immigration reform and Christianity 1: Justice
Immigration reform and Christianity 2: What about the poor?
Immigration reform and Christianity 3: What about the millions who are here?
Immigration reform and Christianity 4: A suggested framework for a comprehensive solution.

Also useful: Between Two Worlds collection on the Immigration reform bill of early 2007

Verses I Wish Weren't in the Bible

Matt 7:21-23: Depart From Me

1 Cor 6:7: My Rights

Phil 1:29: Suffering for Christ

Book reviews collection

I read quite a bit and try to share those books I have found useful. My reviews are posted periodically and collected here.

An extended summary and review of The Problem of Pain by C. S. Lewis

A brief summary and review of Living by the Book by Howard Hendricks – a book on Bible study methods

A brief summary and review of The Ever-loving Truth by Voddie Baucham – a book on Christian worldview and apologetics

A brief review of The Reason for God by Tim Keller, a popular Christian apologetic.

A briefs summary and review of The Blue Parakeet by Scot McKnight – a book on reading and applying the Bible.