Borrowed Words

Book Review: The Next Story, by Tim Challies

2011-07-20T09:37:00.001-07:00

Stephen Altrogge, The Next Story. Zondervan, 2011. 208 pages.

Thank you to Zondervan Books for sending me a pre-release copy of the book to review!

The Next Story by Tim Challies is the first book about the digital age that I've ever read. There are other books and articles, some of which Challies references (Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, for instance), that I haven’t read, but really want to now because of The Next Story. The most interesting thing about this book, and why it makes me want to read some of the other works on the subject, is that it taps into cultural issues that affect the majority of people. I’ve been convinced that our digital devices are affecting us in certain ways, and I’ve observed some significant changes in myself since Apple products have become bigger parts of my life, and Challies does a decent job of bringing these things to light, exposing the ways digital technology is affecting our lives, and what we should think and do about it all. The benefits of “tech” are many, but so are the dangers.

Challies does a compelling job of tracing how our culture has drastically changed in the last century. He traces how technology has encroached more and more upon our personal and family lives, noting effects on us, both helpful and detrimental. The book keeps a decidedly biblical view of things, as Challies shows himself clearly thankful for the many benefits of iPhones, the internet, etc. But the negative effects of technology are also many, and as Challies says, “[w]e need to relearn how to think, and we need to discipline ourselves to think deeply, conquering the distractions in our lives so that we can live deeply” (117).

A central argument of the book is that this general distractedness, often standing in the way of deeper living, actually reflects greater root issues at play. Challies unpacks the now-popular hypothesis that “the medium is the message,” revealing that the mediums that convey information in our culture contain ideologies that affect us even more than the information itself. He says, “[w]e do not really understand American Idol until we understand how it has shaped us. We have not really understood a book until we’ve learned to recognize the ideologies buried deep within the words printed on paper and bound between two covers” (39). Challies shows us, with a convicting and critical voice, that texting and instant messaging, facebook statuses and twitter feeds, all aid in creating shorter attention spans, a disdain for any lengthy piece of writing, and ultimately a devaluing of real, face-to-face interaction between people, to name a few of the negative effects of “tech.”

The most valuable part of the book hits at the end, with Challies giving some very serious cautions we should keep in mind, especially for Christians who are called to engage with their culture while keeping themselves unstained from the world. So many of us remain unaware of the digital “trail” we leave behind us as we add to our Google search history, write blog posts and comment on others, “like” facebook updates from our smartphones, and enter personal information into digital forms. Challies cautions us to think very hard about living with integrity in the smallest areas of our lives, including our interactions in the digital world. And he urges us to try even harder to limit (if necessary) our digital interactions. There is freedom in this, he says, and that “when we know what is true, when we know what is true about our hearts and true about technology, we can be prepared to respond with wisdom and discernment so that we can live with true virtue in ... the aftermath of the digital explosion” (196).

Living with virtue is becoming more and more of a novel idea in our post-digital explosion culture. Many of us comment and share myriad ideas all over the internet, often without stopping to consider whether or not our comment conveys a greater message of integrity and holiness. We should pray hard that we engage the benefits and challenges of the digital age with all integrity. No comment made on the internet is, ultimately, insignificant – may we pray hard that we do everything with integrity and pursue that holiness, without which no one will see the Lord (Heb. 12:14).

All that to say, the book is definitely worth the read.

Explaining the Title

2011-07-09T10:35:00.001-07:00

Here's where the title of the blog comes from:

The title "Borrowed Words" comes from the song "Mockingbird" by Derek Webb. As a disclaimer, I don't agree with some of the views expressed in Webb's recent work. But a few years ago, he was putting out very biblical, creative material (he's still extremely creative, just less biblical). I saw Webb in concert at The Master's College with my wife, and he explained his song, "Mockingbird." The song opens the album by the same name, and says, "I am like a mockingbird: I've got no new song to sing/I am like an amplifier: I just tell you what I've heard."

This idea embodies how I think about my blog, and was what I wanted the title to communicate. Basically, all of our ideas come as revelation. As human beings, we don't come up with anything that's really "original," we just think thoughts after God. He is the originator, and the source. We're like mockingbirds, never actually saying anything new. Whether our thoughts and ideas align with God's redemptive purposes and lead people to truth, or our ideas form in opposition to God, we are thinking and acting upon things that already have their form and existence in the person of God, Who "gives to all mankind life and breath and everything" (Acts 17:25).

And in case you were wondering, I still consider myself a Derek Webb fan.

"The Light"

2011-07-03T15:53:00.001-07:00

This is a great short film, that was the opener to the Resolved 2011 conference. I thought it was a really creative way of putting Scripture in a fresh medium, really drawing out the beauty of the opening verses of the book of John. Check it out!

Resolved 2011 - "The Light" from FlyFeNniX on Vimeo.

"Surprised by Joy"

2011-06-27T14:39:00.001-07:00

Better World Books gave me the opportunity to write a guest blog post for them, on C.S. Lewis's Surprised by Joy. Check it out here. Feel free to comment, either here or on the BWB page!

On the Arts:

2011-06-16T12:20:00.000-07:00

"If you want to work on your art, work on your life."

~ ANTON CHEKHOV

Thanks to "Advice to Writers" for tweeting this quote.

Style of music?

2011-06-09T10:10:00.001-07:00

The following post is from my other blog about church music and worship.

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The following quotes are from an article on the 9Marks website, entitled "How important is the style of music a church sings?" Go check the whole thing out here - it gives some good perspective on what's really important about church music.

[More important than style] are the truth of the words being sung. Since a church sings music in order to worship God, our songs should function like a musical confession of faith. Those confessions of faith should contain substantial truth about God, or else we’ll hardly be worshiping at all.

Style is passing... It’s only worth paying attention to insofar as different styles may do a better or worse job of helping people properly conform their hearts to the truths being sung.

In short, what we sing is far more important than how we sing it.

The kicker is this: hopefully we can be selfLESS, and prefer our fellow saints as we choose songs and sing them in certain styles, rather than being selfISH, choosing and playing songs based on what we prefer. Or, being selfish by wanting certain songs in certain styles, and being bitter when we don't get to sing them. Singing on a Sunday morning is a corporate opportunity to encourage and admonish each other. So lets do that this Sunday!

Guidelines.

2011-06-08T10:09:00.000-07:00

Another teaching year finishes this week, and I'm trying to think hard about what I'll read over the summer. I haven't settled on a concrete list yet, but here are some guidelines I've been thinking through, to hopefully make my summer reading as rich as possible.

1. We only have a relatively short amount of time to use well or waste in this life. So I'm going to try to read important things, that I know will be beneficial. I also want to read things I enjoy, and/or work by authors I like. I'm realizing more and more that real, honest-to-goodness reading happens with the stuff that interests and excites us. This is the stuff that we won't regret having read (most likely anyway).

2. I want to write more in the near future, so a couple books on how to write well will be in order. A re-reading of The Elements of Style may be a worthy choice, among others.

3. I'm sure I'll end up picking away at more books than I should probably have going at one time. But I'm trying to convince myself that this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Multiple perspectives, multiple subjects, multiple voices. However, one does have to be careful not to lose track of the content of the books one has going.

A hearty "three cheers" for summer.

Tim Keller on "Good News"

2011-05-19T11:07:00.000-07:00

I'm reading King's Cross by Tim Keller, and thanking God for every chapter. It's one of the better books I've read in a while, and is really an encouragement for my faith.

Keller says the following about the Gospel being "good news." Praise God for pastors and theologians who speak like this:

Gospel means "news that brings joy." This word had currency when Mark used it, but it wasn't religious currency. It meant history-making, life-shaping news, as opposed to just daily news [...] A gospel was news of some event that changed things in a meaningful way [...] When Greece was invaded by Persia and the Greeks won the great battles of Marathon and Solnus, they sent heralds (or evangelists) who proclaimed the good news to the cities: "We have fought for you, we have won, and now you're no longer slaves; you're free."

[T]he gospel is not about choosing to follow advice, it's about being called to follow a King. Not just someone with the power and authority to tell you what needs to be done - but someone with the power and authority to do what needs to be done, and then to offer it to you as good news.

Why read C.S. Lewis?

2011-05-18T19:01:00.000-07:00

I really need to post more about C.S. Lewis, seeing as he's my favorite author and all. I just finished my first read ever of his Space Trilogy, and I came out of it with more great passages of Lewis to mull over and enjoy.

One of the things I appreciate most about Lewis' writing is that you are confronted with the same themes over and over again throughout his stories, essays, letters, or most anything else. This isn't boring - it's part of the beauty of his work. Lewis' worldview simply affected every compartment of his life, which fleshed out in his writing as well. One of his major themes (and a reason I like Tolkien so much too because you encounter it with him), is the astounding reality of the spiritual life. Lewis, when converted, became, by the sovereign grace of God, more alive and awake to reality than he had ever been; for Lewis, his new birth as a Christian brought with it a spiritual sight to see more of life, and to make more sense of life than he ever could up to that point. And he wrote about it, weaving this theme (among others) into just about everything.

In That Hideous Strength (the last book in the trilogy), we encounter this spiritual "awakening," or the awakening to true reality in the character of Jane Studdock. She could be considered the protagonist of the book (or one of them anyway), and is a character who grew up from childhood with a limited awareness and sensitivity to spiritual things. Then, she meets the Director and begins to be drawn into a reality that she was blind and deaf to up to this point. Here's one of the great passages where Lewis draws us into Jane's experience - forgive the length, but it's all necessary and quite good:

If it had ever occurred to [Jane] to question whether all these things might be the reality behind what she had been taught at school as "religion," she had put the thought aside. The distance between these alarming and operative realities and the memory, say, of fat Mrs. Dimble saying her prayers, was too wide. The things belonged, for her, to different worlds. On the one hand, terror of dreams, rapture of obedience, the tingling light and sound from under the Director's door, and the great struggle against an imminent danger; on the other, the smell of pews, horrible lithographs of the Saviour (apparently seven feet high, with the face of a consumptive girl), the embarrassment of confirmation classes, the nervous affability of clergymen. But this time, if it was really to be death, the thought would not be put aside. [R]eally, it now appeared that almost anything might be true. The world had already turned out to be so very unlike what she had expected. The old ring-fence had been smashed completely. One might be in for anything. Maleldil (a name for God in the trilogy) might be, quite simply and crudely, God. There might be a life after death: a Heaven: a Hell. The thought glowed in her mind for a second like a spark that has fallen on shavings, and then a second later, like those shavings, her whole mind was in a blaze...

And that's why I read Lewis. He rouses me awake.

Book Review: The Greener Grass Conspiracy, by Stephen Altrogge

2011-04-30T11:52:00.000-07:00

Stephen Altrogge. The Greener Grass Conspiracy.
Crossway, 2011. 144 pages.

First of all, a huge thank you to Crossway for sending us bloggers a pre-release copy of the book, and for giving each of us the opportunity to write a review!

________________________________________

There is a conspiracy afoot, and it’s aimed at each one of us. The conspiracy is a device of our own sin, the world and the devil, and is a mortal danger for Christians and non-Christians alike. Stephen Altrogge’s goal in The Greener Grass Conspiracy is to wake us up to the seriousness of the conspiracy’s intention: to blind us to the source of true contentment, and cause us to search after cheap imitations that will never satisfy. Stephen Altrogge writes a fresh reminder of some timeless truths: that searching for contentment in anything other than God and the Gospel will fail us.

Altrogge provides a disclaimer at the start of the book, acknowledging that this is a glorious subject that could be treated at more length. But he tells us that he isn't trying to exhaust the subject, but merely wake us up to it. He states that the book is more like "notes from the battlefield," hoping that the reader will "join him in the fight" (14) against the conspiracy. Altrogge acknowledges right off that he borrows most of his ideas from John Piper's God Is the Gospel, and that there are other more lengthy treatments of the subject of contentment, and of God as the source of all contentment and happiness. Altrogge provides a great jumping-off point for us in the matter of contentment, writing an appropriately concise exposé of the conspiracy within us, and against us in this fallen world, to blind us to what true joy and contentment mean.

The Right Things in the Right Order

Altrogge starts his argument in the right place – reminding us of who God is, and how a right understanding of God’s character puts us in our appropriate place. In chapter 1, entitled “Why Am I So Unhappy?” Altrogge gives us an assessment of our situation – that we fail to find contentment because we look for it in the wrong places. Then he shows us in chapter 2, “I’m Not the Center of the Universe,” that the whole universe, including human beings, was created for God’s glory and not the other way around.

From there, Altrogge takes us skillfully and honestly through his exposé of the conspiracy, revealing our tendencies to be deceived by the world and by our sin. Altrogge also doesn’t shy away from the difficult subjects of tragedy and trials, showing us that even in those things, God intends for us to find contentment in Him alone.

Altrogge ends his “notes from the battlefield” in the appropriate place as well, with Heaven and the hope that God will right all wrongs in the end. He speaks words of good, solid comfort, saying, “we’re still exiled from our home. We’re still waiting for Jesus to return, to conquer his enemies, to reward his disciples, and to create the new heavens and the new earth. When that happens, we’ll be home. We’ll be in God’s place, and it will be everything for which we always longed” (136).

Making it Fun

One of the great things about the book is the style of Altrogge’s writing. He is personal rather than academic, which makes his message very relatable. He uses numerous anecdotes and illustrations from his own life, and combines solemnity and humor (which is often hilariously goofy, and often self-deprecating) throughout the book. His argument is transparent, honest and relatable, which makes it quite the page turner, and quite fun at times.

The Greener Grass Conspiracy is a much-needed, freshly spoken wake-up call to timeless truth. We need the reminder that a source of true, solid contentment, happiness and joy exists – we just need to find it in the right place.

The day before Easter

2011-04-23T17:00:00.000-07:00

John Piper, on Holy Saturday (from "Joseph of Arimathea, Part 2"):

Of this: The loss is what we see,
But seldom what the good may be.
A man can know the fruit of breath;
But only God the fruit of death.

Praise God for a resurrected Savior!

"The Ten Commandments begin with grace."

2011-04-20T09:38:00.001-07:00

Mike Cosper writes a fairly thorough response to Ricky Gervais' recent polemic against Christianity. You can read it here. These things are good to keep up on, especially when the opposing voice is someone like Gervais, who has a fair amount of pop culture influence. His is an influential voice in opposition to the truth of God, regardless of how eloquent and well-crafted his argument is.

I really like where Cosper takes his response, because he hits on some things I've recently learned from studying Galations with our shepherding group on Monday nights.

Basically, Gervais, as an atheist, claims to be a better Christian than most Christians in the world because he does a better job at keeping the Ten Commandments. But what Cosper brings out is that even in Exodus, God's grace to save sinners is central to the whole picture. It's not about the laws on their own, but about God's grace to purify and keep a people for Himself. All along, God's grace has been what saves, not a person's ability to keep the law of God. And the Church, with all its imperfections and mistakes, has always had at its core a sinful people whom God has saved out of His grace and not their own merits.

Cosper says the following:

[T]he Scriptures place the Ten Commandments inside the context of a redemption story. God didn’t appear to the Hebrew slaves and tell them, “Do these things and I’ll rescue you.” Instead, he rescued them and invited them into a life lived in covenant community. As Marva Dawn once put it, the Ten Commandments begin with grace. “I’m you’re God. I’m the one who rescued you.” The Exodus story foreshadows the gospel, showing that at the heart of law, at its origins, is God’s grace. It’s the opposite of religion—even in the Ten Commandments.

There are millions like him (Gervais), both inside and outside the church. They believe that the essential message of the Bible is, “If you behave, then you belong.” We have a better message and a much richer story, one drenched in grace and mercy. Remember, as many Christians before us have understood, the gospel tells us that we’re far worse off than we ever imagined . . . and far more loved than we ever dared to dream.

"But we are adopted."

2011-04-17T15:11:00.000-07:00

Go here for a great article and perspective on adoption. I find myself devouring this type of thing these days, since my wife and I are in the fost-adopt world.

What is love?

2011-04-09T13:26:00.000-07:00

Paul Tripp is wrote this convicting passage in a collection of essays I'm reading, called The Power of Words and the Wonder of God. I don't know about you, but the concept of love is evasive to my intellect at times. I don't completely understand why that is, but I think it's partly because 1) we know that, as children of God, Scripture commands us to know the love of God, and to love one another; BUT 2) the world talks about love all the time, but defines it so many different (and often contradictory and sinful) ways.

So I appreciate this definition - it clarifies the biblical definition of love, and brings out the implications for Christians living out this love that God has revealed to us.

Tripp quotes 1 John 4:7-12:
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us."

Then he comments:
You don't define love by a set of abstract concepts. Love is defined by an event, and that event is the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. God calls us to cruciform love, that is, love that shapes itself to the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. What is that love? I will give you a definition: Love is willing self-sacrifice for the redemptive good of another that doesn't demand reciprocation or that the person being loved is deserving. That is the love that took Christ to the cross of his death for our redemption.

The wisdom of John Owen on sin

2011-04-02T13:53:00.000-07:00

I've been reading through John Owen's The Mortification of Sin, and it's been super helpful to me. I've been convicted recently (by way of God's school of trials), that I have more sin in my life that needs to die (or be "mortified" as Owen would say). It's funny how that conviction comes and goes in waves.

I borrowed Owen's book from a friend on our church's pastoral staff, and it's been the perfect read for me as of late. I would venture a guess that a book like this might not be the same read if there haven't been some recent trials in your life. Reading the book has been a grace in the midst of our family's craziness. Below is one of many hard-hitting passages. Thus writes Mr. Owen:

We must hate all sin, as sin, and not just that which troubles us. Love for Christ, because He went to the cross, and hate for sin that sent Him there, is the solid foundation for true spiritual mortification. To seek mortification only because a sin troubles us proceeds from self-love. Why do you with all diligence and earnestness seek to mortify this sin? Because it troubles you and takes away your peace, and fills your heart with sorrow, trouble, and fear, and because you do not have rest through it? Yes, but, friend, you have neglected prayer and reading! You have been vain and loose in your conversation with other things. These are just as sinful as the one that troubles you. Jesus Christ bled for them also. Why do you not set yourself against them? If you hate sin as sin, and every evil way, you would be watchful against everything that grieves and disquiets the Spirit of God. You would not be concerned only about the sin that upsets your own soul. It is evident that you fight against this sin merely because it troubles you. If it did not bother your conscience you would let it alone. If it did not bother you, you would not bother it.

If we will do anything, we must do everything. So, then, our need is not only an intense opposition to this or that particular lust, but a universal humble frame and temper of heart that watches over every evil, and seeks the performance of every duty that is pleasing to God.

Challies Dot Com

2011-04-02T10:25:00.000-07:00

A new blog I've recently discovered by way of some friends, is challies.com, run by a guy named Tim Challies. Challies is a reformed Christian, who runs the blog with this central purpose in mind, to provide a "commentary on the contemporary church and its interaction with the culture around us.”

Challies is a sharp guy, who reviews books, comments on things going on in culture and news, etc. His blog's great, and it's now in my blogroll. It should be in yours too.

Baxter, on sin

2011-04-02T10:13:00.000-07:00

“Sin is never better because many commit it.”
(Richard Baxter, Tweeted by John Piper)

An actual atoning death.

2011-03-15T14:06:00.000-07:00

At The Gospel Coalition, Courtney Reissig reviews Brian McLaren's new book, Naked Spirituality. I really have no sympathies for the Emerging Church movement, though I do understand where some of these guys are coming from in their polemics against organized and/or traditional church/Christianity. Unfortunately, as Courtney Reissig points out, these men often throw out necessaries along with the things they dislike about "church." These necessary things often include the deity of Christ, the depraved/sinful nature of man, Christ as the only way to the Father, etc. Reissig says some good things in her review of the book, getting right at the heart of the matter; I especially like the following quote partly because I've been reading through Hebrews:

We come into God’s presence not because we say we are sorry or ask for help, but because Jesus is standing at the right hand of the Father saying “look at me when you see their sin. Let my atoning death be their cleansing gift” (Hebrews 7:25). Without that gift, there can be no deeper relationship with God.

"The most concrete thing"

2011-03-07T15:02:00.000-08:00

"God is basic Fact. He must not be thought of as a featureless generality. He is the most concrete thing there is.

~ C.S. Lewis

"Sing Them Again"

2011-03-02T06:53:00.000-08:00

My friend sent me an article on my Facebook wall, saying, "We are not connected to anyone in this article... it is good to know the Spirit has us right in the heart of change." I agree. I think our church is reviving it's knowledge of good, sound church music. And it's not just us, but there seems to be a movement afoot.

Cultural Barometer: The Grammys

2011-02-15T13:59:00.000-08:00

I love music, and for some reason I'm always confusingly drawn to watching the Grammys, even though I'm more and more dissatisfied with the whole popular music scene with each passing year. This year, since my wife and I are going without TV for a while, I had to find some highlights to watch online (Mumford and Sons were playing with the Avett Brothers and Bob Dylan - what else could I do?). This was probably good, since I wasn't tempted to waste any more time on the awards than was absolutely necessary. I thought the Mumford/Avett/Dylan performance was pretty cool by the way, even though Dylan's vocals are sounding a little rough.

Denny Burk wrote a great article reflecting on the cultural significance of the Grammys (you can read it here), and says a lot of things far better than I could. I thought the article was just great, and helped me wrap my head around some of the brilliance, and absurdity that I saw as I watched some highlights of the whole thing. Below is one of my favorite quotes from Burk's article.

In as much as the Grammys are a cultural barometer, I saw no surprises in last night’s spectacle. There were the flickers of image-bearing brilliance, but there was also the darkness of God-ignoring art. I was reminded of just how needy we all are of real beauty and real truth (which are of a piece in my view). I was also reminded that we are a people in desperate need of the only real profundity that there is in the world—the gospel of King Jesus crucified and raised for sinners-from-birth.

A film score rooted in hymns

2011-01-16T19:44:00.000-08:00

As you've probably heard, the music to the Coen Brothers' True Grit is rooted and based around 19th century hymns. Here's what the composer, Carter Burwell, says about coming up with the film score:

“Ethan and Joel and I had the same idea—a score rooted in 19th-century hymns. The songs Mattie would sing if she had time for such frivolity. Our model was the hymn ‘Leaning on the Everlasting Arms’, composed in 1888 by Anthony Showalter, an elder of the First Presbyterian Church in Dalton, Georgia, and used memorably in the film The Night of the Hunter. This, together with other hymns of the period, forms the backbone of the score, which grows from church piano to orchestra as Mattie gets farther and farther from home.”

You can read Burwell's narration through the film scoring process here. Definitely worth the read if you like music (and I'm pretty sure you do).

Put the seminaries out of business!

2011-01-16T19:16:00.000-08:00

Sometime last week I came across this quote by Al Mohler in an article from The Gospel Coalition. Our local church is currently trying to do more of its own training of teachers (and potentially pastors), and I thought the quote spoke to a lot of what we're trying to do. It was encouraging at the very least, and a little contrary (in a good way) to our modern way of training pastors.

“My hope is that we can put the [seminary] institution out of business. What I want to see is more godly, biblically grounded, gospel-driven local churches begin to prepare pastors, because it’s in the local church where that should primarily take place.”

~ Al Mohler

Why N.D. Wilson writes children's fiction

2011-01-07T08:07:00.000-08:00

N.D. Wilson is becoming one of my favorite authors as of late. He writes essays, fiction, children's fiction, and is currently on the task of writing the screenplay for a film version of C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce. He is a regular contributor to the Christian publication The Credenda Agenda, where I found this article by him (go here to read it), on writing children's literature. Below are some of my favorite quotes from Wilson's article. And who says adults can't read children's books?

Adults. We are very important, and we need to read important things. Sure, a lot of us read romance novels and humor and pulp fantasy and feel-goodistic schlock, but those aren’t the important people. Important people read deep, thoughtful, ponderous, bitter, empty, foul, and incisive things—the stuff of wonderful fiction.

The assumption [of critics who think children's literature shouldn't be too "real"] is that kids don’t need/can’t handle the truth. They need some time to be happy before they discover how much the world sucks and/or how boring it really is. Lie to the kids now, and they will look back on it fondly later. (Santa anyone?)

I don’t want to lie to kids. Ever. I don’t want to lull them to sleep before the real world wakes them up with a head slap and a wet-willy in the ear sometime during adolescence.

I want to paint a picture of this world that is accurate (if impressionistic), and I don’t want a single young reader to grow up and look back on me as the peddler of sweet youthful falsehoods. I want them to get a world vision that can grow and mature and age with them until, like all exoskeletons, it must be cast aside—not as false, but as a shallow introduction to things even deeper and stranger and more wonderful [...]
It is because I try to write this way that I use so much darkness. Evil is more than a prop. True sacrifice is not a sleight of hand. Laughter in the face of adversity is the first step to profound joy in triumph.

True Grit and Redemption

2011-01-06T14:20:00.000-08:00

I went to the movies with my dad on Monday and watched the Coen Brothers' True Grit. I was skeptical when I first heard about this film, being a fan of the original John Wayne version. But the more I heard about it, read a couple of reviews, and watched the trailer multiple times, I couldn't wait to see it. And it didn't disappoint. Follow the links below to 2 articles that analyze the film a lot better than I could. All I have to say is, that I almost couldn't believe how redemptive the movie was, and how an umbrella of true, solid Christian hope colored the entire story. It's no accident that almost all of the film's musical score has parts of the hymn "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" running through it. The soundtrack is definitely worth the purchase, by the way.

2 great articles to read:

Article # 1: A review of the film by Stanley Fish, from the New York Times.

Article # 2: A review by Mike Cosper, at The Gospel Coalition, providing a distinctly Christian, biblical critique of the film.

Notable Reads of 2010

2011-01-01T22:26:00.000-08:00

Significant things I read in 2010 (a few more to be added):

1. Why We Love the Church by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck
I really enjoyed this book. In the midst of postmodern dissatisfaction with church and organized religion, these two authors make a really good case for these things, and make an attempt to stir up affections for organized religion. Very encouraging read, and revived my excitement for church on Sundays, Monday night Shepherding Group etc.

2. The Pleasures of God by John Piper
Piper is becoming like an old friend to me as I read more and more of his books. I love the way he thinks through things, and it's really exciting for me to sit down with a Piper book and try to think along with him through Scripture and theology, and life. This book is another deep one by him, that leads you to think about very profound aspects of the person of God. Great stuff. Read the appendices too!

3. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
It's my goal to eventually read a lot of Hemingway's books. This goal has been slow in the reaching, but every so often I get back to a Hemingway book. This was the first time I ever read this one, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

4. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
I love Swift's essay "A Modest Proposal," so I thought I'd love a novel by him. But I didn't. It really got on my nerves after a while, for reasons I can't completely explain. There were laughs to be had along the way, but overall I thought the story got pretty redundant among other things. Maybe I don't have the constitution for long, drawn-out satire...

5. Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
Collection of short stories, that influenced Ray Bradbury a ton. So I had to pick it up. Tones of sadness throughout, but a really unique treatment of human beings and their personal struggles. My dad was born and raised in a small Ohio town also, and I grew up listening to his stories; I suppose I have extra fondness for stories set in Ohio. I really liked this one, and I'm sure another reading would yield more goodness.

6. The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton
This one threw me for a loop. I don't know if I completely get all of what Chesterton is up to in this book, but I'd really like to get back to it again for at least one more read. It's a cool allegory for the problem of evil, among other things.

Handel's "Messiah" Reprise

2010-11-27T08:46:00.000-08:00

Two years ago this December I posted a link to the "Messiah", by George Frederic Handel, on NPR's website. You can click the link to the player and listen to the whole piece - it's great!

The "Messiah" is one of the most amazing pieces of music I've ever heard, not to mention the quality of the lyrical content. It's an amazing work of art, that really helps bring my heart into an attitude of worship to God. The piece is loaded with incredible Gospel truth.

Go here, and let it play!

When we don't give thanks...

2010-11-24T18:04:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving of 2010, and in an attempt to actually take traditions seriously, and develop a richness in celebrating holidays, I'm jotting down a few ponderings on Thanksgiving.

This year I've been struck by how many references I've noticed on TV, on blogs, etc., about Thanksgiving being an awkward holiday for families. For example, take Conan O'Brien, who says via Twitter,

Instead of making anyone travel for Thanksgiving, this year the O'Brien's will have tense, silent meal over Skype.

That's sad. Of course Conan means to be funny; but, his tweet is funny because so many American families lack richness and genuineness in their celebration of Thanksgiving (and Christmas, etc). Many do go on observing holidays with their loved ones because they're supposed to, even in the midst of turmoil. How many of us have pretended everything is OK while we sit down to a holiday mean with our families, when of course there are unresolved conflicts between some or all of us?

Interestingly, the Apostle Paul speaks to this very issue, in his letter to the Romans. In Romans 1:18-21 he says,

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. [...] So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened (emphasis added).

Scripture seems to tell us, then, that God's wrath is revealed in this world, against those who fail to give thanks to God. Thanks for what? The text seems to imply thanksgiving for everything. God is the giver and sustainer of every blessing, and even when God takes away blessing, we have Him (which means we actually still have everything). Our miseries and troubles, Scripture seems to tell us, come because we don't actually give thanks to Whom it is due, which is especially clear in the lives of those who don't believe the Gospel.

So Thanksgiving, then, is a great time to be together as family, for the purpose of giving thanks to God for how richly He blesses us. We absolutely have reason for an attitude of thankfulness. And even if our lives are fraught with trouble, we can give thanks if we know God, because in His presence is "fullness of joy," and at His right hand "are pleasures forevermore" (Ps. 16:11).

Alice Dancing Under the Gallows

2010-11-04T11:35:00.000-07:00

Watch this trailer for "Alice Dancing Under the Gallows."

This short film is really a trailer for what looks like a really compelling documentary coming out next year. It's about Alice Herz-Sommer, the oldest Holocaust survivor in the world. What looks to add an extra intriguing element to the film, is the music - Alice is an amazing pianist, and speaks quite a bit (even in the trailer) about the power of music. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to seeing this film.

Here are some things I found exceptionally compelling in the trailer:

1. Alice's thoughts about Beethoven. He has always been my favorite composer, and Alice expresses my own reasons why, in ways I don't think I could have. She says that Beethoven's music is so much more than melody - there's so much fullness in it that goes deeper than simple melody. She says his music is "intensive," and "phenomenal."

2. Alice's genuine love for people. Alice comments that she loves people: that she loves getting to know people, and loves hearing about people's lives. This was convicting for me - how much to I genuinely just love getting involved in the lives of people?

3. Alice's comment that music is god (with which I disagree). She says that music can give a person hope, can transport them away from a hopeless circumstance, can give life to a soul. However, I do agree with some of this - music is powerful, and I believe God created music to affect and stir our souls in some of these ways. Overall, what Alice says is a testament to how powerful music can be; though music is not god, God created it to powerfully stir our affections for Him.

4. The role that music played in the lives of those in the Nazi concentration camps. One of Alice's friends comments that in their hopeful attitude, that music fed, they were "dancing under the gallows." Music gave joy to them in the midst of the hopelessness, which leads me to think about the singing of a church. When we sing as the redeemed body of Christ, music can affect us this way. Our affections can be stirred with the hopeful truths of Scripture, and our hearts and minds can unite as we joyfully praise and worship our Savior through song.

Good Books: Criteria

2010-10-30T10:47:00.000-07:00

I read this article today by Fred Sanders, a professor at Biola University. It's a pretty neat article, with some simple, but thought-provoking points on what makes a "good" book. I like reading articles like this from time to time, because they remind me why it's good and important to have a couple books going at any given time. Plus, the colder Fall/Winter weather makes for good book-reading time.

The article: "What makes a good book?"

Page CXVI

2010-10-24T17:04:00.000-07:00

I love old hymns of the church, and I'm a big fan of learning and writing new arrangements to old hymns. I really believe, as C.S. Lewis talked about, that something is not better just because it's new. Many of the classic hymns express rich, sound Biblical truth in timeless ways, and I love that there is a recent trend in returning to some of our classic church music.

Page CXVI is a project by a group of musicians to rework some of the old hymns, infusing them into more contemporary arrangements. They give the hymns new, semi indie/rock and indi/folk sounds. Check them out - they do a pretty good job. They've also offered free downloads of their EPs a few different times. Good stuff.

Visit their website here to learn about the project, purchase their records, etc .

Part of the formula for good hymn writing:

2010-10-05T13:24:00.001-07:00

I recently read this interview in Worship Leader Magazine (a publication I don't always agree with). This piece is particularly good, though; it's an interview with Keith Getty, co-writer (with Stuart Townend) of the modern hymn "In Christ Alone." It is funny to me that the article focuses on "In Christ Alone" (which I love, by the way), as if it's Getty's greatest achievement as a songwriter. He does, however, have several other very well-known works, written more recently than "In Christ Alone," and he has a pretty big body of really good work that almost totally goes unmentioned here. This makes the focus of some of the interview seem a bit dated if you're familiar with Getty's work at all. But Getty's comments are very timely and insightful, and transcend beyond the questions of Worship Leader Magazine.

The interview touches on Getty's mindset behind writing good, congregational worship music, and what continues to influences his creativity as a songwriter in this particular "genre" (if you can call hymns a genre). I found his thoughts really compelling and really encouraging. The following are three of my favorite quotes from the interview:

"My melodies tend to be heavily influenced by Irish music, and the Irish melodic style is essentially congregational. Although Irish music isn't particularly spectacular compared to say, African rhythm or to the unusual tones of Chinese music, or even the sophistication of much contemporary music, it has tremendous strength in its ability to be experienced and sung by large groups of people - whether in our homes, schools, or even at a sports match. It can be sung with or without instrumental accompaniment. I think the underlying sense of lilting pathos in Celtic melodies (which can also be heard in our speaking voices and is tied closely to our history) also helps the songs tell a story with all its raw emotion and passion. All Irish music centers on stories, whether of love or war or of people and places."

"I think it's of huge importance to us as worship leaders in preparation and in reviewing Sunday services to ask ourselves these two questions: What were the words we put into our congregations' mouths, minds, and memories? And how well did our congregation sing? Our role is simply to be an accompaniment to them as they sing."

"I also encourage lyricists to read beautiful poetry. Consider the fact that almost 20 percent of the story of Scripture is told through poetry. This speaks to the power of words. And to the enduring power of beauty. And perhaps most of all to the unending creative potential the story of the gospel releases in each of us."

Read: "Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper

2010-07-29T16:07:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper. I put off reading this book for a few years, as several people told me I really should read it. I thought it would be a summary of much of what I've read in some of Piper's longer works, e.g. Desiring God, Future Grace, etc. My expectations were immediately shattered, however. This little book is an amazingly passionate call and reminder to prize Jesus Christ above all else, and in doing so, be ready to gladly risk worldly pleasure and comfort for the glorious cause of Christ's kingdom. Forgive me if I sound too Piper-esque in my writing there - if I've been reading Piper for any extended period of time I start to think, talk and write like he does. The only problem is that accidentally sounding like Piper doesn't make someone as smart as he is. Oh well.

Among the things I appreciate about John Piper, is the honesty in his writing. A place in the book that really stands out for me is where he acknowledges that once his position at Bethlehem Baptist church in Minnesota is no longer the most effective post for him in the Gospel cause, he will leave and do the thing God has for him then. I want to have the same wartime mindset, where I strive to find the most effective place in the cause, where God has gifted me and enabled me to do the most good, with the most joy. There I must do my best to live, and as Piper says, I risk wasting my life if I do not live there.

The wasted life is the life without a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples. ~ John Piper

Why I enjoy reading Shakespeare

2010-07-27T13:47:00.000-07:00

I wrote the following today for an online class I'm taking to renew my ACSI teaching credential. The class deals with teaching and reading Shakespeare with young adults. I thought I would post some of my writing assignments as I go, when they deal with a good topic. The following is a free response, answering the questions, "What have been your past experiences with Shakespeare, why do you think it is important to teach Shakespeare in high school literature classes, and What do you hope to gain from the course?" I'm looking forward to the class, as it looks like it's going to be helpful.

I've always had a love for Shakespeare. Even as a younger student in school, reading Shakespeare's plays have always been intriguing for me, albeit difficult at times. I think it's always been the uniqueness of his stories, and the mystery we experience as we decipher his language, that have been so appealing to me. I also really enjoy when a story completely immerses the reader in its atmosphere, and Shakespeare's plays do this like few other works. Who hasn't felt the eerie foreboding of the foggy Scottish moors in Macbeth, or the terror in the castle on the night of Duncan's murder?

As a graduated English major, and as a teacher of literature, I still feel that way about Shakespeare by and large. I also appreciate the richness of the early-modern English now more than I ever did. I still remember my Shakespeare prof. from college telling us that good old Will (as she affectionately called the Bard), wrote his plays when there weren't any grammar books or dictionaries to guide his use of language. Without Shakespeare, perhaps we would all be speaking French, instead of reciting Hamlet's beautifully tragic lines in English. That would be different, sure; but it's hard to imagine our favorite pieces of Shakespeare's text written any other way.

I really do believe teaching Shakespeare is important to continue in our classrooms. Just because something is old doesn't make it irrelevant (as Mary Ellen Dakin argues in the introduction of our class text), and Shakespeare's plots connect in so many ways with mankind in our present day that we would be mistaken if we thought we must abandon his work for something more "novel." C.S. Lewis wrote about the tyranny of novelty, and I have to echo his opinion that some of the richest, and most relevant (and correct) observations about life come from the classic authors.

Shakespeare's language, as Dakin mentions, can also serve as a great leveler in our classrooms. Students come into our literature classes from widely varied backgrounds (culturally and socially); varied home lives, talents and academic abilities. When we open a play by Shakespeare, there is a definite sense in which we are all "in it together." We must all decipher and decode his sometimes-archaic language, and determine what his stories have to say to us.

In my last 4 years teaching high school literature and composition, I've taught several plays, for a few different grade levels. For 9th - 12th grades (all of which I've taught at one point or another at our private school), we have read Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth. And I do realize that those are all tragedies. Hopefully my classes over the past years haven't experienced tragedy in our reading of them.

Overall, Shakespeare remains at the top of my list of favorite authors, in all of his complexity and mystery. I really do hope to gain some new, fresh ideas for how to bring students along in discovering the good in reading him.

The Old Man and the Sea

2010-06-19T11:05:00.000-07:00

His choice had been to stay in the deep dark water far out beyond all snares and traps and treacheries. My choice was to go there to find him beyond all people. Beyond all people in the world. Now we are joined together and have been since noon. And no one to help either one of us.

Perhaps I should not have been a fisherman, he thought. But that was the thing that I was born for.

Well, I finished reading The Old Man and the Sea three days ago. It was a great read. I was very impressed with Hemingway's narration of the story; how, in a very short read, he gives us so much insight into the protagonist, Santiago; how Santiago lives his life according to what he believes he was "born for," which is to be a fisherman.

One of the things I really do appreciate in Hemingway's writing, in the few novels I have read by him, is that he finds a way to make his stories so profoundly sad. The Old Man and the Sea is not as bleak as some other Hemingway I've read, but there is still a profoundly sad undercurrent as we get to know Santiago.

Why I appreciate the sadness: I believe that life is equally made up happy, and painful experiences. So art, doing what art does, as it reflects the human condition in all of its happiness and pain, must not ignore the pain and sadness. To focus entirely on the sadness would be far more bleak than necessary, for sure; but, to ignore human pain and focus completely on happiness would be dishonest. We are a fallen human race, living in a fallen world fraught with imperfections.

So that's why I like Hemingway's knack for sadness. I think even as an unbeliever, he felt, and was honest about what it meant to be human. All this to say, I recommend the book.

Full Hitchens/Wilson Debate!

2010-04-18T21:54:00.000-07:00

I thought I would re-post this. If you'd like to watch a full, unabridged debate between Christopher Hitchens and Doug Wilson, go here! This one is from Westminster Theological Seminary, and is one of the best samples from their debate tour I've found.

Thoughts on Blogs

2010-04-18T20:22:00.000-07:00

I've been telling people over the past 6 months or so, that blogs are a blessing and a curse. This statement has prompted responses of both agreement and disagreement, usually combined with a confused look. It's funny that 7 or 8 years ago relatively no one had a "blog" as we know them today, and now they're one of the most popular mediums with which to share information in our culture. Thus, in such a blog-centralized culture, I think my distrust of the blogosphere comes across to some as old-fashioned and/or backwards (not to mention my mixed opinions about Twitter and Facebook).

But here's the thing: I really do think blogs are great. There are a bunch of them that I follow, and I greatly enjoy the opportunity to get regular updates from writers and thinkers whose material I love to read. Essentially, blogs give us regular new writing from our favorite writers (if that makes sense). The blogging community also gives us a whole world really, where we can read and share ideas with those whom we share similar interests and concerns. You'll notice, my blogroll is ready to go on the side of my page here.

The problem that I do have with blogs, and that has come up in quite a few conversations over the past months, is really best summed up by D.A. Carson in a book I'm reading at the moment. The book is Why We're Not Emergent, by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck; the book is ultimately a critique of the emergent church movement, but in it there's a great little quote from Carson relating to the blogging community. He says,

"The feedback on blogs is immediate. You have a thought and then three minutes later it's published for the world to digest. And then in another three minutes you have anonymous folks posting messages about how wonderful you are. It tends to inflate one's sense of importance."

The author goes on to add,

"We [he and Carson] agree that there is something good about the editing process, the idea that your work sits for a while and is evaluated before being thrust before the world." *

Again, I don't condemn blogging for the most part. I think it's great. I love to read and find new blogs. But, they give every single person a platform to spout their opinions, regardless of how intelligent or ignorant they may be; and like Carson says, once a person publishes his/her thought, anonymous people can post their agreeing or rebutting comments (regardless of how intelligent or ignorant).

If you haven't done it, do me this favor: find yourself a blog post by someone you respect and/or agree with on something, where open comments are allowed on the post. Read the comments and see what people feel the freedom to say. Also watch out for the lack of proofreading.

Ironic that I've said all this in a blog post, and Carson's quote comes from an actual book. For every blog post of mine that you read, go read 2 books by D.A. Carson.

*DeYoung and Kluck, Why We're Not Emergent (By Two Guys Who Should Be), 93.

The Rhetoric of the New Atheism

2010-03-30T08:58:00.000-07:00

We're moving quickly through a unit in my AP Language classes that I've entitled "The Question of Worldview," inspired by our required text for the unit, The Question of God by Armand Nicholi. I am stepping out in faith today, by giving a chapter to the students, taken from Christopher Hitchens' book God is Not Great, with the intention of then following up with a reading of a Douglas Wilson article on the New Atheism. The next logical step is to watch the DVD of Collision in class, which is on the lesson plan for later this week. It's a great documentary (I think); definitely pick up a copy, or watch it if you get the chance. I heard they're selling it at Costco at the moment.

As I've been reading Hitchens' book, I've been struck by his use of rhetoric (apropo for AP Language), and which I am discovering in much of the New Atheists' writing. Rhetoric: the art of speaking effectively, using techniques and tools to produce a specific response in the reader. Hitchens' draws eloquently on his vast reading experience, and weaves all his references together so well that he makes a compelling argument that conceals much of atheism's logical inconsistencies. These atheists are good writers, but the reader must beware of the persuasive power of the wordsmith.

Overall, I'm thankful for the chance to read/watch much from the New Atheism debate, at the same time I've been reading so much about rhetoric. It has really added a lot to my perception of those engaging in the debate, from both sides.

On Piper, on Lewis.

2009-08-04T05:35:00.000-07:00

On desire, John Piper says this in a blog post from August 3, 2009:

"[...] all the debased enjoyments of the world are echoes of the joys of heaven. The analysis of this is worth a lifetime. And one effect of such an analysis would be to take the notion of “seeker-sensitive” ten miles deeper into Truth. How to penetrate the soul whose every desire is for Heaven while hating Heaven—that is the task."

Blogging about this concept of desire, Piper references the biography The Narnian about C.S. Lewis, and the references made in it to Lewis' own The Screwtape Letters. I love this idea of joy, and both Lewis and Piper have both been hugely influential in my own thinking as I have come to see this truth - namely, that every human desire is a desire for Heaven and for God Himself. Any desire, however big or small, is nothing less than this. Every good gift comes down from God, and is meant to reflect him like rays of light from the sun. As Piper says above, this should be stirring up in a Christian the desire to take unbelievers and fellow believers alike, ten miles deeper into God's Truth than we do. We need to pursue, and help others to pursue a joy in God Himself, because only He can satisfy.

An interesting concept.

2009-07-30T11:33:00.001-07:00

Read this article on Britain's first "Atheist summer camp." The camp is backed by Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, and is being portrayed as successful by The Times, and other British newspapers and magazines.

This is truly interesting, in-that these children being sent to this camp are learning about astronomy (and its differences from astrology), along with delving into other avenues of science. An atheist, however, denies his/her only basis for making any claim at all, whether about science or anything else. These poor children are being surrounded by a culture and environment at this camp that is striving to provide an enlightened view of life and the natural world; however, any claim or "truth" taught by these camp couselors and instructors is completely meaningless and carries no weight as these individuals have denied the existence of God Himself as the basis for knowing anything in the first place. The presupposition of the existence of the God of the Scriptures is so transcendent and necessary to any knowledge whatsoever, that even an argument against His existence must rely on that presupposition.

As always, we know that man is sinful at his core and will devise all manner of false explanations and excuses for how the world came into being, and for why evil exists, etc. God alone gives light to the eyes, and only the grace of God makes one able to turn from such things.

Praise God for truth.

And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. ~ 1 John 5:20

The late Dr. Greg Bahnsen. A little old, but super relevant in the apologetics arena.

2009-06-08T22:00:00.000-07:00

The necessity of reading good books.

2009-04-18T16:38:00.000-07:00

For a time lately (as is evidenced by my lack of blogging), I haven't been reading as much as I usually like to, for a variety of reasons. I've just gotten back into the swing of things a little bit, and it is definitely refreshing. I just finished Holiness yesterday, which should tell you how slow I have been getting through the books I have going.

Reading sharpens my mind - I don't know about you but I think more clearly and definitively about God, myself, the world around me, and everything else, when I am getting a regular dose of some reading.

Holiness has been good, and I will definitely be reading it again in the future (if circumstances allow).

I have been plugging my way through Bleak House since Christmastime, in my attempt to eventually get through all of Dickens' works. This is still a very enjoyable read 1/3 of the way through, where I am currently. It's supposed to be one of, if not the best of Dickens - we'll see how it compares. I haven't read David Copperfield, but some have said it's possibly the best of Dickens and I just bought a copy a few weeks ago to read over the summer.

Back to theology, I've started reading a book that's been circulating around church lately - it's called A Gospel Primer and so far it's a very rewarding read. In all its simplicity it's a very rich book, and a very convicting and encouraging one as well.

Adios.

A song I've liked for a while, and that I just found on YouTube.

2009-03-30T15:55:00.000-07:00

Reading, always reading.

2009-02-06T10:13:00.000-08:00

I have the privilege of being paid to read a lot, being an English teacher and all. Some of what I read ends up being just plain work, but much of it stays very enjoyable. I have lately had the blessing of reading several things that are making me think in some good ways. Here are the books:
1. Ephesians, and several commentaries on the epistle, all for our Bible study.
2. Holiness, by J.C. Ryle (yes, I will be finishing this soon). This has been one of the best Christian books I have read to date.
3. William Carey by S. Pearce Carey.
4. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (for my 9th graders) - I love this book.
5. Paradise Lost by John Milton (for my 12th graders) - also one of the best things I have ever read. This work gets better and better every time I come to it.
6. Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury. My wife and I just recently had the privelege to have Mr. Bradbury come to our library and speak, which inspired me to read more of his works. I had only previously read Fahrenheit 451, but now I'm finding I enjoy his writing more and more.

"When we were young the future was so bright..." The Offspring

2009-01-28T17:52:00.001-08:00

I read an intriguing article today (link below), that made some very interesting observations about America's younger generations. The article comments on Mark Bauerlein's book The Dumbest Generation, which asserts that the younger American generations are putting the future of their culture, and their own experience as human beings at great risk as they embrace a self-focused mindset and therefore stop pursuing education with a view of life that is bigger than themselves.

As a high school English teacher I am constantly bombarded with very negative feelings from my students about reading old books, and about learning in general. American children, all the way up to college students and some young adults seem to be under the spell of a cultural movement that exalts self-gratification; this leads them away from things like reading for pleasure, or studying for the sake of understanding God, themselves, humankind, the world around them, or anything else of cultural value.

In French-Canadian filmmaker Denys Arcand’s 1986 movie “Le Déclin de l’Empire Américain” (“The Decline of the American Empire”), a professor observes that throughout history the decline of an empire is always preceded by its citizenry’s preoccupation with self-gratification. Emory University English professor Mark Bauerlein makes a similar argument in his new book, The Dumbest Generation. He feels that the millennial generation places an extraordinary emphasis on personal happiness and, thanks to the technological advancements of the day, enjoys unprecedented peer contact and access to entertainment. “Instead of opening young American minds to the stores of civilization and science and politics, technology has contracted their horizon to themselves, to the social scene around them,” Bauerlein writes. As a result, the millennials are at risk of losing the “great American heritage, forever.”

Go here to read the whole article from American.com.

I am not sure how to combat this way of thinking. It is saddening to a certain degree; but it can certainly also serve as an inspiration to those who would write to add to our ongoing cultural experience and conversation, or who would encourage others to go to books to seek out the deeper and more rewarding things of life.

"You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them."

~ Ray Bradbury

Handel's "Messiah"

2008-12-24T13:09:00.000-08:00

Go here to listen to Handel's Messiah on NPR.org. Everyone should listen to this around Christmastime.

Holiness - Part 3 (Merry Christmas Eve!)

2008-12-24T08:32:00.000-08:00

I am still plugging away through Holiness, and the book is definitely becoming one of my all-time-favorites. It's a book that you don't want to read through too quickly because you want to savor the journey and saturate your mind with as much of it as possible; I know there will be still more to be gained from this book once I finish, so at some point in time a second reading will definitely be in order.

Again, the main premise of the book is this: modern Christianity is very weak and tepid (at least in more Westernized cultures), and a great reason behind this lukewarming of Christendom is the lack of fervor in the fight for holiness.

Two nights ago I finished the chapter dealing with assurance. Ryle makes the claim that assurance of faith in the life of the Christian is very much to be desired, and cannot occur as it should if one is not fighting to leave behind every sin.

Now assurance goes far to set a child of God free from this painful kind of bondage (doubt and the resulting pains), and thus ministers mightily to his comfort. It enables him to feel that the great business of life is a settled business, the great debt a paid debt, the great disease a healed disease, and the great work a finished work; and all other business, diseases, debts and works are then by comparison small. In this way assurance makes him patient in tribulation, calm under bereavements, unmoved in sorrow, not afraid of evil tidings, in every condition content, for it gives him a fixedness of heart. It sweetens his bitter cups; it lessens the burden of his crosses; it smooths the rough places over which he travels; it lightens the valley of the shadow of death. It makes him always feel that he has something solid beneath his feet and something firm under his hands - a sure friend by the way, and a sure home at the end.

From chapter 7.

Advent - part 2.

2008-12-07T22:17:00.000-08:00

My wife and I kept our Advent observances tonight - the theme was the birth of the Messiah. This is a good year for Christmas - there's lots to think about and lots to do, but God is gracious in granting us a good deal of focus and perspective about the Christmas season. I feel like our mindset is truly on Christ, and that's when the season becomes really great. Nothing can give you an empty feeling like Christmas lights and Christmas trees when your sentiments are all misplaced.

Tonight's Advent Scripture readings:

Isaiah 49:1-7; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-2:7

Advent.

2008-11-30T22:37:00.000-08:00

Hi friends,

my wife and I began our second year of celebrating Advent tonight. My wife did this with her family when she was younger, and we are carrying the tradition into our own family. I love Christmas, but I often get frustrated (sometimes overly so) with the materialism and commercialism of the holiday. Compare me to Charlie Brown all you want, but I will stand firm on my beliefs about Christmas; I will most-likely blog some thoughts about this in the near future.

When my wife and I have kids, I really do want them to grow up with a love for tradition, even though traditions can become a stumbling block when viewed incorrectly. Warm, robust, rich-with-meaning, biblically grounded traditions should be a joy to celebrate and follow. Forgive me for using Wikipedia, but here is a brief definition of Advent in case you were wondering about it.

Advent (from the Latin word adventus, meaning "coming") is a season of the Christian church, the period of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus, in other words, the period immediately before Christmas. It is the beginning of the Western Christian year and commences on Advent Sunday. The Eastern churches begin the liturgical year on 1 September. The Eastern Christian equivalent of Advent is called the Nativity Fast but it differs both in length and observances.
The progression of the season may be marked with an Advent calendar, a practice introduced by German Lutherans. At least in the Roman Catholic calendar, Advent starts on the fourth Sunday before December 25; in other words, the Sunday between November 27 and December 3 inclusive.
Latin adventus is the translation of the Greek word parousia, commonly used in reference to the Second Coming. Christians believe that the season of Advent serves a dual reminder of the original waiting that was done by theHebrews for the birth of their Messiah as well as the waiting that Christians today endure as they await the second coming of Christ.

First Sunday of Advent - Scripture readings:

Isaiah 1:1-20; Isaiah 9: 1-7

The New Atheism

2008-11-28T08:59:00.000-08:00

I've been watching some of the debates from the past year-or-so between the prominent figures of the New Atheism, and various people who are trying to defend theism; I have to say that I am equally encouraged and discouraged. It causes me a great deal of pain to see a certain Fox News political commentator (Bill O'Reilly), trying to debate the verity of religion and the Christian faith with a man like Christopher Hitchens, without even truly believing it himself. Sean Hannity did fine I suppose; although he really addressed the same questions about atheism that a great deal of other Christians probably would, while missing the real issues at the core of Hitchens' beliefs. Douglas Wilson from New Saint Andrews University does a great job contending for the Christian faith, and I am very encouraged that Hitchens and Wilson and touring together in light of their book Is Christianity Good for the World.

I enjoy the debates with Hitchens, mainly because he is both eloquent, and openly hostile to Christianity, and any other religious belief system (but Christianity especially - he states that the Protestant Christian faith is the least possible of all of the faith systems). He makes me think, which is very good for me, or for anyone I suppose. Biblical answers to the statements of the New Atheism are there, though, for anyone who would truly work to know the Scriptures. I have said it before and I will say it again and again, that the problem with too many individuals today is this: everyone wants to have an opinion, but no one has studied; no one has done their research.

Again, I am discouraged on a certain level; however, I amend what I said above. I am not equally discouraged and encouraged, because God is sovereign and good; He is gracious and merciful; He does not change; he is faithful to accomplish His good purposes, and will be glorified. God would be glorified if everyone came to Christ, and He would be equally glorified if every person embraced a position of atheism. God defines all things, and He simply 'is" in all the fullness of His character. Amen.

Go here to watch the Douglas Wilson/Christopher Hitchens debate at Westminster Theological Seminary.

Reading Defoe.

2008-11-26T00:03:00.000-08:00

~ From Robinson Crusoe, "The Journal."

JULY 4. - In the morning I took the Bible; and beginning at the New  Testament, I began seriously to read it, and imposed upon myself to  read a while every morning and every night; not tying myself to the  number of chapters, but long as my thoughts should engage me.  It  was not long after I set seriously to this work till I found my  heart more deeply and sincerely affected with the wickedness of my  past life.  The impression of my dream revived; and the words, "All  these things have not brought thee to repentance," ran seriously  through my thoughts.  I was earnestly begging of God to give me  repentance, when it happened providentially, the very day, that,  reading the Scripture, I came to these words: "He is exalted a  Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance and to give remission."  I  threw down the book; and with my heart as well as my hands lifted  up to heaven, in a kind of ecstasy of joy, I cried out aloud,  "Jesus, thou son of David!  Jesus, thou exalted Prince and Saviour!  give me repentance!"  This was the first time I could say, in the  true sense of the words, that I prayed in all my life; for now I  prayed with a sense of my condition, and a true Scripture view of  hope, founded on the encouragement of the Word of God; and from  this time, I may say, I began to hope that God would hear me.

Now I began to construe the words mentioned above, "Call on Me, and  I will deliver thee," in a different sense from what I had ever  done before; for then I had no notion of anything being called  DELIVERANCE, but my being delivered from the captivity I was in;  for though I was indeed at large in the place, yet the island was  certainly a prison to me, and that in the worse sense in the world.   But now I learned to take it in another sense: now I looked back  upon my past life with such horror, and my sins appeared so  dreadful, that my soul sought nothing of God but deliverance from  the load of guilt that bore down all my comfort.  As for my  solitary life, it was nothing.  I did not so much as pray to be  delivered from it or think of it; it was all of no consideration in  comparison to this.  And I add this part here, to hint to whoever  shall read it, that whenever they come to a true sense of things,  they will find deliverance from sin a much greater blessing than  deliverance from affliction.

I've been reading Robinson Crusoe by Defoe just for the fun of it, and I have to say I am more impressed the further I read.  I started out not enjoying the novel as much as I would have liked, although it did have its good parts.  However, a short way in there is an unfolding story of redemption for Crusoe that opens great avenues for thought.  This is definitely an intriguing read - there are quite a few "hidden gems" in this book that I'm really enjoying.  Again, I am only halfway through, so I will most likely post more thoughts a little farther along on the journey.

I'm not finished with Holiness yet either, so check back for some more thoughts about that as well (for there are many).

Adios for now.

The logical fallacy.

2008-11-10T21:21:00.000-08:00

Please read the following letter to the editor, written by a reader of our local newspaper here in Simi Valley. This letter appeared in the Ventura County Star last week, in response to the recent passing of Proposition 8 - Prop 8 reinstated the definition of marriage in the state of California as only between a man and a woman.

Bittersweet election

Thank God we've made the gays realize that their relationships are not worthy of the word "marriage." We had to take away their ability to have their love blessed by their God, whatever that is. It certainly can't be the same as my God. My God tells me that only a man and a woman who believe in him are worthy enough to get married.

We still have more work to do. Atheists and agnostics have no God. My God says that is wrong and we must take away their rights to marry as well.

Hold on, now. Here's an idea! Let's take away marriage rights of Muslims and Jews, too! Eventually, they will all disappear, and we won't have to be concerned with any of them!

While we're waiting for that to happen, let's give them separate bathrooms and water fountains. I certainly don't want to drink after any of those people. This way, we can teach our children that we truly are the superior human beings in this world.

Hmm, maybe we should tattoo numbers on their forearms to identify them. What would Jesus do?

How can we take such a huge step forward to elect Barack Obama and stumble so far backward with Proposition 8? An election has never been so bittersweet.

— Author's name omitted.

There seems to be a glaring tendency for people in our Postmodern American culture to have very strong opinions without doing very much research, or without having worked out the logical problems within their opinion.

If you notice in the letter above, the author states that Christians who oppose gay marriage do so because homosexuals desiring a marriage union do not worship the same God that Christians do. He argues that since Christians oppose marriage between gays because they believe not in the God of the Bible, then the logical next step would be to oppose marriage between agnostics and atheists. Then, says this writer, after successfully eliminating marriage between agnostics and atheists, conservative Christians could seek to eliminate marriage rights for Muslims, Jews, and members of any other non-Christian religion.

All this to say without bringing into the discussion this particular writer's distasteful association of the Christians' opposition of gay marriage with Jim Crow racism and the holocaust.

Somehow, this writer has been misled as to why exactly fundamentalist Christians oppose legalization of gay marriage. I would recommend that he do some research to find out why, before writing his next strongly-worded letter to the editor.

Again, those who know me should know that I believe there are even greater issues in life to worry about than the debate over Proposition 8. Let's not put the cart before the horse, and ignore the problems that run even deeper. I am not minimalizing the importance of this debate over Proposition 8; but, the issue will always be about the politics of the heart before the politics of anything else.

Only by grace,

Josh.

Excerpts from "Holiness," chapter 1:

2008-11-02T09:58:00.000-08:00

"I say, then, in the first place, that a scriptural view of sin is one of the best antidotes to that vague, dim, misty, hazy kind of theology which is so current in the present age. It is vain to shut our eyes to the fact that there is a vast quantity of so-called Christianity nowadays which you cannot declare positively unsound, but which, nevertheless, is not full measure, good weight and sixteen ounces to the pound."

"[...] a scriptural view of sin is one of the best antidotes to the extravagantly broad and liberal theology that is so much in vogue at the present time. The tendency of modern thought is to reject dogma, creeds and every kind of bounds in religion. It is thought grand and wise to condemn no opinion whatsoever, and to pronounce all ernest and clever teachers to be trustworthy, however heterogenous and mutually destructive their opinions may be."

~ From chapter 1 of Holiness, by J.C. Ryle

J.C. Ryle

2008-10-19T21:28:00.000-07:00

Well, I am finally embarking on a first-time read of Holiness, by J.C. Ryle. I'm excited - I have heard from a few friends over the years about what a great influence this book has been on them, and I have meant to read it for a while.

To begin with, Ryle's whole premise is that modern "Christendom" has gone and lost a great deal of what it means for a person who has been born-again to fight for holiness and for his/her sanctification.

Ryle also states that he has purposefully left out names of contemporary preachers, and contemporary works of literature that have influenced his skeptical opinions of much of modern Christianity. By doing this, his voice seems all the more contemporary as he speaks to common problems going on within the Church. I am surprised how current the work seems, considering the second edition was published in 1879.

I am going to go read - I'll be posting some thoughts here and there as I go.

Adios.

"But God..."

2008-10-13T21:38:00.000-07:00

Ephesians 2:1-10

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

I tremble before the truths in this passage. I so often become complacent in my salvation and numb to so much that God has worked in my life; however, in His abounding grace God has purposed to make this passage cut to my core almost every time I come to it.

“Life! Eternal life!” screamed Christian as he plugged his ears with his fingers and ran from the City of Destruction. God made us alive, together with Christ; being rich in mercy, and with great love, He has made us alive who once were dead.

He made us alive.

First Blog

2008-10-01T20:26:00.000-07:00

This is the first blog on Blogger.com. I'm giving this site a test-run, but I'll probably end up switching my blog over. Again, I'll be posting some interesting things - some thoughts, observations, ramblings, lyrics, poetry, quotes that I find, etc. All my words are ultimately borrowed and unoriginal, but I'll do my best to spark some thought. This is really an attempt at being genuine and serious about life, as well as finding out where my own inadequacies reside.

If you'd like to check out my old blog, go to www.xanga.com/ellsworth5.

"I am like a mockingbird."

~Derek Webb