The Da Vinci Code

Well, it has been quite a long time since I posted. I was not sure if anyone was really reading this. I have also felt like I have not had anything to really write about over the last month and a half. I was made aware that there might be a few people out there that visit so I decided to start up again.

I have received and been reading The Da Vinci Code. My sister gave it to me as a birthday gift just a couple of weeks ago and I have nearly read the whole thing just this week. It is quite an intriguing book that is difficult to put down. Dan Brown is a talented writer that keeps you wanting to read more. One of his other books, Angels and Demons, is also an exciting thriller. It has not received nearly the same amount of press as Da Vinci, but it is a very exciting read.

I would recommend the book just because it is an interesting piece of fiction. I stress fiction, because that is exactly what it is. However, we should not dismiss the claims it makes about Jesus, the Bible, and orthodox Christianity. I can see how many people could buy into the claims that it makes in such matters. With the movie set to come out on May 19th, more and more people are going to be asking questions about its claims.

I regularly read a blog by Mark Roberts, , and he gave a series on The Da Vinci Code. You can read that series by going here and then clicking on "My Da Vinci Code Series" on the left of the page. I would highly recommend this series to get a grasp of some of the issues that The Da Vinci Code brings up surrounding such things as Jesus' supposed marriage to Mary Magdalene, Gnostic gospels, and a number of other issues.

Church sign increases attendance by 300 percent?

Our church receives a catalog that has advertisements for such things as buildings, chairs, tables, signs, etc... It claims to help you with the "business" of ministry. There is just something about putting the words "business" and "ministry" together that turns me off. I know that in reality the church has to deal with things like budgets and buildings, it is just not my favorite part of church ministry.

On the back of this catalog is an ad for church signs. Now, I have nothing against church signs, but the Pastor of this particular church claims that their sign is the number one reason for them growing from 200 to 800. This pastor says this,

"To date, we're up over 300 percent. The Robson sign by far is the number one reason."

What about the work of the Holy Spirit? What about the power of the gospel? A sign is what makes a church grow? To me, there is just something wrong with that claim. Having a nice church sign is a fine thing, but lets not give it the credit for the "success" of your church.

Maybe I am being too critical, but I just found the ad interesting.

The Imitation of Christ

There is a book written by a Catholic monk back in the 1400s by the name of Thomas a Kempis called The Imitation of Christ. I have been aware of this book for some years now and have always had good intentions of reading it, but just never have. I have heard that it is the second most widely read spiritual book after the Bible. So, I have decided to read through and reflect on this classic during this Lenten season.

I simply tell you this to maybe encourage you to do something special during Lent. I will also share from time to time a particular quote from this book. There are many works of classic devotional literature out there that some may not be aware of. I hope this will introduce you to one.

Here is an excerpt that I read this morning that I would like to leave with you.

There is no lesson so profound or so useful as this lesson of self-knowledge and of self-contempt. Claim nothing for yourself, think of others kindly and with admiration; that is the height of wisdom, and its masterpiece. Never think yourself better than the next man, however glaring his faults, however grievous his offences; you are in good dispositions now, but how long will they last? Tell yourself, "We are frail, all of us, but none so frail as I."

Fat Tuesday

As you may be aware today is what is known as "Fat Tuesday". I have just recently found out that "Mardi Gras" means "Fat Tuesday". If you have followed any news today you have noticed that Mardi Gras is receiving even more press than it usually does because it is the first Mardi Gras after Katrina. I also just learned that "Fat Tuesday" or "Mardi Gras" has Christian origins. Fat Tuesday is the last day before lent. People would use up their fats and other rich foods (hence the name "Fat Tuesday") on this day that they would be giving up for Lent which begins tomorrow, Ash Wednesday.

Although I am a pastor I must confess that I am not very familiar with Lent (growing up I just knew it meant my Catholic friends had to eat fish on Fridays). My church tradition does not seem to stress the Lenten period as much as other traditions, which I think is a shame. It seems to be a great chance for people to reflect on their relationship to Christ. My friend Jason on his blog (www.post-methodist.blogspot.com) is going to be providing some lenten devotional thoughts focused on the Sermon on the Mount. I am looking forward to following his blog during this time (you might want to do the same).

Many people are "living it up" during Mardi Gras, focusing on temporary pleasures. Today, we may be tempted to seek out happiness in the temporary pleasures of this life. In the fleeting moments of "Fat Tuesday", a life of hedonism may seem like the best way to live, but tommorow is Ash Wednesday when we are to reflect on our mortality and realize that temporary pleasures do not truly satisfy the hunger in our souls. Only Jesus satisfies as he said as recorded in John 6:35:

I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.

Poverty

I regularly read a blog by a pastor named Mark Roberts. During the last week or so he has been commenting on this thing called the ONE campaign, which is basically a proposal to get the U.S. government to give one percent of its money to help alleviate poverty around the world. You can read more about the ONE campaign at his web site, www.markdroberts.com.

His thoughts have caused me to think more about what it means to help the poor. I often feel guilty that I do not do enough or sacrifice enough to help the poor. I also think a lot of times that the American church should be sacrificing more to give to those that are in desperate need. What if instead of constantly building new and more elaborate buildings, buying plush chairs or fancy video and audio equipment we used that money to help missionaries that struggle with getting their basic needs met or invest that money in helping the poor? What if we were willing to give up our precious "personal space" so that someone else may be able to eat and survive? I know that many Americans our generous and American churches give a lot of money to causes that help the needy and poor, but could we be doing more?

I do not consider myself to live in luxury, but I do live very comfortably. I wonder if I could give up more. I honestly struggle with this. I do not have the answers and do not know where the balance is. However, I do know that we as individual American Christians do need to critically evaluate the lifestyles we are living. The American church also needs to critically evaluate how it is using its resources. The poor seems to have a special place in God's heart, so they should in ours as well.

My desire in writing this is not to make people feel guilty (however, it may cause some guilt feelings, it does in me), but to remind ourselves to evaluate our priorities and lifestyles.

Poverty is a serious problem. What am I going to do about it?

Jesus- our model in relating to Muslims

As I posted a few days ago, we had an expert on Islam come share with us this past Sunday. As he told us, he was only able to scratch the service with the few hours that he had to speak to us. Although he was only able to cover some of the basics, he provided some very good insight in to how Christians should relate and view Muslims and the Islamic faith. He challenged us to get rid of the prejudices we may hold that are based on what we see and hear in the media.

One thing that he did that was interesting was to say that Jesus lived and ministered to Muslims. How is that so? Well, it was not Muslims exactly but the Jews of Jesus' day were similar (not a perfect match) to Muslims of today. The Jews of Jesus day focused on externals, the law, were strong monotheists, intertwined religion and politics, and the idea of the trinity would have been mind-blowing to the Jews of that day (the trinity is a difficult concept for Muslims, they see it as being polytheistic, or having more than one god). Interesting parallels, I thought. The way Jesus ministered to such people was through meeting people where they are, telling stories, and giving people time ("converting" Muslims to Christianity is not simply a matter of presenting a nice and neat gospel tract).

He preached a sermon on Romans 10:1-4 that I found interesting. He substituted "Israelites" with "Muslim" in verse 1 so it read like this;

Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Muslims is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

Through the sermon he told us in relating to Muslims (these can apply to our relationships with all people) we need to be people of integrity by not overstating our case, having humility, and being truthful; taking great pains to be sure our attitudes are correct; and by being a people of prayer.

He also mentioned that Muslims respond very well to visions and dreams. Most American Christians (I am generalizing here, which I admit is not always fair or correct) seem not to respond to receiving visions from God in dreams. Muslims, on the other hand, have a strong belief that God speaks to people in dreams. In fact, I believe he stated that 70-75% of Muslims that have converted to Christianity received some sort of vision or dream (I think that is right).

One of the finally lessons he shared with us was that Muslims need to see Jesus' victory in the lives of Christians. Often we are good at talking the talk about how great it is to know Jesus, but our lives do not reflect that victory. They also need to experience Jesus' power in their own circumstances (dreams, visions, prayer), and then they can appreciate the truth about Jesus.

These are some of the highlights of the sessions that I walked away with. One thing we also need to remember is that not all Muslims are fundamentalists and not all fundamentalists are terrorists. The Islamic faith is just as diverse as the Christian faith. A very small group getting a lot of press can give the whole religion a bad name (I think we have seen this with Christianity as well).

Wheel falling off

So, I finally took my 1994 Honda Civic into the shop today after about three weeks of it making a terrible grinding noise whenever I turned. I was hoping that by ignoring it that the noise would go away, but of course it did not. So, taking the advice of my fiance, I had it looked at. They told me that basically if I did not get the problem fixed that my wheel could fall off at any moment.

I thought about this in terms of life, how we hope by ignoring problems that they will simply go away. It could be that financial difficulty you find yourself in or that conflict in an important relationship, ignoring the "squeak" hoping it will go away. It may seem small at first, but it gets louder and louder and if the situation is not remedied your "wheels fall off". You may find yourself deeper and deeper in debt or find that the relationship is broken beyond repair. So, if there is a "squeak" or "grind" in your life, do not ignore it, address it before your "wheel falls off". It may be difficult at first (I am not looking forward to paying for the repair) but it in the long run it is worth it.