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November 29, 2005

A blessing

In the Old Testament (Numbers 6:24-26) we find this wonderful blessing, which most of us have heard:

The LORD bless you and keep you;
The LORD make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
The LORD lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.

This – probably the oldest continuously used blessing in the world – is beautiful in English, and even more so in Hebrew. In either language, there is a progression that tells us something about peace.

When God gave this blessing to Moses, He instructed that Aaron – Moses’ brother and the High Priest – and his sons say these words over the people of Israel. In this way, God said (Numbers 6:27), "…they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

The idea that words – especially these words – carry transforming ability is a powerful idea, and as we hear and take into ourselves their import, they transform us, making us into the people of God and opening us to experience the depth of God’s blessing.

In the case of this blessing, the first line is a rather general request that God bless and keep – protect and watch over – the one to whom this blessing is spoken: “God, let your abundance of good things come on this person, and let him or her be enveloped by your loving care.” It’s a good thing, but somewhat generic and fairly impersonal.

The second line gets more personal: May God “shine his face on you” and be gracious to you. God now has the person – let’s say it’s you, since all occurrences of “you” in this blessing are singular – in the influence of the radiance of his presence – his face – which is getting closer and more personal, and where He actively showers his grace on you. This might be “God smiling on you.” The scene comes to mind from the movie Chariots of Fire, where Eric Liddell says, “When I run, I feel God’s pleasure.”

Finally, may God “lift up his countenance on you.” This seems a little strange in English, but it’s fairly straightforward: May God look at you, or turn his face toward you. The Hebrew word is simply "face" – panav – and it’s translated countenance mostly for variety from the line before: May you enter into a face-to-face relationship with Him, a place of presence and intimacy.

As we are in his immediate presence, living “before his face,” we are in a place of peace.

Here is the source of inner peace: Knowing God and seeking to live in His presence. May God smile (shine His face) on you, and may you know the peace of his presence.

Posted by at 04:34 PM | Comments (3)

November 27, 2005

The Question: A life worth living

What makes for a successful life? What is it for which we are held accountable? What does God require of us? Who of us will hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant"?

As I consider this question, I wonder, will I one day hear God say these words about me? Or, more to the immediate point, does God approve of me and my life now? Am I doing well? How do I know?

Does God expect that I work faithfully as a member of a local church? That I tell others about him? That I tithe? That I not tell off-color jokes? Or smke cigarettes? Or do none of these things make any difference?

Years ago, I read somewhere that some guy studying such matters said that in a typical church, the hardest workers were those with the most guilty consciences, or who sought most to show they really were good people. Is that really true? Are we all working off some sort of guilt trip?

I am reminded of a story of a guy who died, and upon arrival at the Pearly Gates, was asked by the Duty Angel, "How many points do you have?"

The man was puzzled, and said, "Points? I don't know anything about points. But I was a lifelong member of my church, never missed a service."

The Duty Angel said, "Well, that's good. It's worth 15 points. But you need 200 to enter heaven."

The man was dumbfounded. He never heard of this, so he said, "Well, I taught Sunday School (30 points, allowed the angel) and I was a deacon (minus 10, sighed the angel). Beyond that, I just don't know what to say. Basically, I have just trusted Jesus to save me, because I believed what He said."

"HALLELUJAH!" shouted the angel. "That's IT! That's ALL you need! There's your 200 points! Come on in!"

As I think of my life and my priorities, and my relationship with God, I like to say that God owns my heart. And in general, that's true. And yet, I am well aware that there are areas that I hang onto, unwilling to give them up.

Someone asked me, can a Christian not have Jesus as the leader of his life? Good question. I think, however, the answer is not yes or no. All of us retain some measure of control and autonomy. Most of us resist total, absolute abandonment of ourselves to God. So then the question, it seems, is at what point am I a true follower of Jesus? after all, we have all heard it: "If Jesus is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all."

Posted by at 03:38 PM | Comments (1)

November 26, 2005

The Nation's First Arabic Christian TV Channel

This story caught my eye. Its an excellent example of contemporary outreach strategy. If you are interested in supporting an effective ministry aimed at Muslims living in the United States, this may be an excellent opportunity. From the Washington Times:

Arabic Christian TV channel getting attention

The founder of the nation's first Arabic Christian TV channel says the programming is attracting phone inquiries from curious Muslims.

The Southern California-based channel Alkarma, whose name means "the vineyard" in Arabic, premiered Oct. 17. It is the brainchild of Samuel Estefanos, an Egyptian-born businessman. The channel gets 10 to 15 calls a day from Arabic speakers with Muslim surnames who are intrigued that Alkarma would give away a movie known as the "Jesus Film" and other materials.

"Some of them call and say they are Muslims and need to know more about Christ," Mr. Estefanos said. "Other people are Christians but say they don't know anything about Christ. In the Middle East, even though if your religion says 'Christian' on your identity card, that does not mean that you know Christ."

Mr. Estefanos invested about $200,000, much of it his own money, to purchase airtime and equipment for the 24-hour channel. The station still needs about $40,000 a month to operate. Total contributions so far total about $10,000 a month. "I know this is a great station," he said, "and we are doing more productions. We are seeking to build a good foundation so we can grow more. I believe God will provide and we'll keep on going."

He estimates there are 35 Arabic-language TV channels airing nationally, but none of them were Christian until Alkarma began. The channel, which reaches about a million Arabic speakers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, is slowly attracting advertisers. "It's great," he said. "Some people call us and cry on the phone. They say, 'We knew Christ through this channel.' People send us e-mails and leave phone messages."

The channel is one of 25 Arabic-language channels on the GlobeCast World TV satellite, which has 130 radio and TV channels in more than 30 languages. Alkarma, based in Seal Beach, Calif., is part of the nonprofit Media Dream. Its Web site is www.alkarmatv.com.

Mr. Estefanos, who emigrated here seven years ago, said he began dreaming of such a station 15 years ago after he graduated from college in Egypt in 1990. Beginning in 2002, he said, God began directing him to start Alkarma. He has had to produce seven original programs in Arabic. One is named "Virtuous Women"; another is called "The Healing Touch"; a third is called "God and Christianity"; and an interview show is called "Where is the Truth?"

"There are no debates between religions," he said. "Our goals are focused on two things: providing solid biblical teaching and programs for the family." Its Arabic programs are in various Syrian, Lebanese, Iraqi and Egyptian dialects. The channel also airs some English programming for children plus portions of "The 700 Club" from the Christian Broadcasting Network.

Posted by sdf at 05:42 PM | Comments (6)

November 19, 2005

Jewish Leader Blasts 'Religious Right'

Here's one of the leading Jewish leaders in America complaining that the evangelical Church is akin to Hitler and are "zealots claiming a monopoly on God". Yes, you heard that right. A Jew is claiming that conservative Christianity is conspiring to steal the Judeo-Christian God away from him in a Nazi-esque way. What next?

Associated Press HOUSTON - The leader of the largest branch of American Judaism blasted conservative religious activists in a speech Saturday, calling them "zealots" who claim a "monopoly on God" while promoting anti-gay policies akin to Adolf Hitler's.

Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the liberal Union for Reform Judaism, said "religious right" leaders believe "unless you attend my church, accept my God and study my sacred text you cannot be a moral person."

"What could be more bigoted than to claim that you have a monopoly on God?" he said during the movement's national assembly in Houston, which runs through Sunday.

The audience of 5,000 responded to the speech with enthusiastic applause.

Yoffie did not mention evangelical Christians directly, using the term "religious right" instead. In a separate interview, he said the phrase encompassed conservative activists of all faiths, including within the Jewish community.

He used particularly strong language to condemn conservative attitudes toward homosexuals. He said he understood that traditionalists have concluded gay marriage violates Scripture, but he said that did not justify denying legal protections to same-sex partners and their children.

"We cannot forget that when Hitler came to power in 1933, one of the first things that he did was ban gay organizations," Yoffie said. "Yes, we can disagree about gay marriage. But there is no excuse for hateful rhetoric that fuels the hellfires of anti-gay bigotry."

The Union for Reform Judaism represents about 900 synagogues in North America with an estimated membership of 1.5 million people. Of the three major streams of U.S. Judaism _ Orthodox and Conservative are the others _ it is the only one that sanctions gay ordination and supports civil marriage for same-gender couples.

Yoffie said liberals and conservatives share some concerns, such as the potential damage to children from violent or highly sexual TV shows and other popular media. But he said, overall, conservatives too narrowly define family values, making a "frozen embryo in a fertility clinic" more important than a child, and ignoring poverty and other social ills.

One attendee, Judy Weinman of Troy, N.Y., said she thought Yoffie was "right on target."

"He reminded us of where we have things in common and where we're different," she said.

Yoffie also urged lawmakers to model themselves on presidential candidate John F. Kennedy, who famously told a Houston clergy group in 1960 that a president should not make policy based on his religion.

On other topics, Yoffie asked Reform synagogues to do more to hold onto members, who often leave after their children go to college. He also said the Reform movement, which is among the most accepting of non-Jewish spouses, should make a greater effort to invite spouses to convert.

Does this guy even hear himself talking? He's guffawing during at speech at an American institution suggesting our religious tradition is comparable to the Nazi mentality. WHAT?? You can find his jovial expression and the entire transcript here.

Posted by sdf at 11:24 PM | Comments (8)

November 18, 2005

Ancient Relics Evoke Noah's Flood

This story dates back to September 2000 and appeared on ABC News at that time. I use the original articles in my Biblical Studies classes when discussing the historicity of Genesis. I hadn't thought of posting this until the recent "Goliath" discovery. But it is well worth knowing if you haven't heard of it yet.

Just to clarify, "7500 years ago" amounts to 5500 years before the birth of Christ and approximately 3500 years prior to the traditional date of Abraham's existence.

Does that sound about right for the age of Noah's Flood? You bet!

This is from the San Fransisco Chronicle (Sep 2000).

Ancient Relics Evoke Noah's Flood : 7,500-year-old house found under 300 feet of water in Black Sea

American archaeologists have found the remains of a 7,500-year-old building -- probably a house -- more than 300 feet below the surface of the Black Sea, the strongest evidence yet of a catastrophic deluge that may have been the inspiration for the Biblical account of Noah's flood.

In November, explorer Robert Ballard, famed as the discoverer of the Titanic, reported evidence of a submerged shoreline several miles from the current edge of the Black Sea and hundreds of feet below the surface.

The newly found building appears to have been on that beach.

"Now we know that people were living on that surface when (the flood) took place, because we are finding evidence of human habitation," Ballard said yesterday in a telephone interview from his ship 12 miles off the Turkish coast.

"This is amazing. It's going to rewrite the history of ancient civilizations, because it shows unequivocally that the Black Sea flood took place and that the ancient shores of the Black Sea were occupied by humans," said marine geologist William B.F. Ryan of Columbia University.

Ryan and his colleague Walter Pittman III have argued that rising waters in the Earth's oceans caused the Mediterranean Sea to crash through a natural earthen dam blocking what is now the Bosporus Strait near Istanbul.

For as long as two years, sea water from the Mediterranean poured into the Black Sea basin at 200 times the volume of Niagara Falls, eventually inundating an area the size of Florida. The heavier saltwater went to the bottom of the existing freshwater lake and began to fill the basin like a bathtub.

The scientists contended that residents who fled the area carried stories that eventually were incorporated into flood accounts that seem to permeate cultures across the globe -- such as the biblical story of Noah and the flood tale in the Babylonian story of Gilgamesh.

Ballard's team found the rectangular structure 311 feet below the sea's surface, about 12 miles east of the Turkish city of Sinop.

The material of the 39-by-13-foot structure was identified as traditional Black Sea "wattle and daub" construction: wood branches and sticks embedded in a clay matrix.

"This struck a bell, because it was familiar to me from (ancient buildings on) land," said archaeologist Fredrik Hiebert of the University of Pennsylvania, part of Ballard's team. "Literally, my jaw dropped."

The team made the finding three days ago, in the second week of a planned five-week expedition. The expedition also found old tree branches, pieces of wood and a trash heap with polished stones and other debris indicating human habitation, Ballard said.

The team took pictures of the structure and recovered some artifacts from the site using a remote- controlled submersible called Argus that is not much bigger than a washing machine.

The artifacts were extremely well preserved for their age because the depths of the Black Sea have a very low oxygen level -- too low to support the marine worms and bacteria that would normally destroy wood, sails and other materials.

Posted by sdf at 06:11 AM | Comments (1)

Pottery says Goliath did exist

If this isn't cool, what is?

I first saw this story in the Chicago Tribune two weeks ago. Here's a similar article from News.com.au:

AN Israeli researcher said he has found the first archaeological evidence suggesting the biblical story of David slaying the Philistine giant actually took place.

A shard of pottery unearthed in a decade-old dig in southern Israel carried an inscription in early Semitic style spelling "Alwat and "Wlt", likely Philistine renderings of the name Goliath, said Aren Maeir, who directed the excavation. "This is a groundbreaking find," he said of the rust-coloured ceramic. "Here we have very nice evidence of the name Goliath appearing in the Bible in the context of the story of David and Goliath ... is not some later literary creation."

Mr Maeir, head of the archaeology department at Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv, said his excavators found the shard, possibly part of a bowl, about 2 metres underground at Tell es-Shafi.

The mound where the dig took place is widely believed to be the site of the ancient city of Gath, which the Bible calls Goliath's home.

The biblical story of the epic Philistine giant's defeat at the hands of a much smaller David, who went on to become king of Israel, has long been a popular metaphor for the triumph of good over evil against all odds.

The specimen, from about 900 BC, isn't old enough to have belonged to Goliath, himself, who is believed to have lived around 1,000 BC, Mr Maeir said. But he added: "It is the first time in the land of Israel that we have (found) the name Goliath, or a name like Goliath".

"I haven't found Goliath's skeleton with the hole in the centre of his forehead, but it's the first archaeological evidence form a Philistine site which lends strong credibility" to the story, the US-born researcher said.

The First Book of Samuel chapter 17 verses 4 to 10 (I Sam 17:4-10) spoke of "a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath", a heavily armed giant who challenged an Israelite soldier to a duel.

David, at the time a shepherd, took up Goliath's challenge and "prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone" (Samuel I 17:50).

Mr Maeir said the shard is also the oldest Philistine inscription ever found in Israel.

"Up until now, most of what we know about the Philistines is from the Bible's point of view. ... We get a very, very subjective view. They're the bad people, the barbarians, we don't get anything nice about them," he said.

"When we look at the Philistines from an archaeological point of view we get evidence of a very rich, dynamic, fascinating and advanced culture."

Mr Maier said he spent several months verifying his find with other experts and planned to discuss it at a conference in the United States later this month.

Posted by sdf at 05:50 AM | Comments (1)

November 10, 2005

How do we "do church"? How do we lead people to love Jesus?

I recently moved to a new city (I sort of retired, or something like that), and hence needed to find a new church. I am somewhat impatient with the "traditional" evangelical American way of doing church, and so I want an alternative. My wife, having suffered through life with me for, lo, these many years, has also become somewhat jaded toward business as usual.

Without my knowledge, she looked on the website of the Willow Creek Association, and selected a church with an unusual name that seemed within a reasonable distance. Then she called them and left a message, saying, "We're new here and tomorrow we are unloading a large rental truck at this address, and if you are interested, we could use some help." She didn't tell me anything about this until the next day. I thought, right, fat chance anyone will show up to unload a truck for strangers. How naive is that?

The next day, as I was slaving away, and thinking I was far too old for this, a guy I had never seen -- with a ponytail, yet -- showed up at our new house and said he was there to help us. He was the associate pastor at the church.

Needless to say, we went to that church the next Sunday, and after looking at them closer, we have remained. I am sort of the elder statesman there, as the average age of these folks is perhaps 30ish. The oldest "elder" or pastor is probably 31.

As we have gotten to know them, we see in the leadership a passion to be something more than a typical -- though younger -- church. They want to be a "thriving" church, with real community, "exciting" worship and more than just an intellectual belief system.

But they seem to be at a loss for what to do next. Someone has said it is insanity to do more of the same and expect a different result. They don't want to appear crazy.

I am interested in responses from readers, ideas of what a leader does to move from just doing church as routine to seeing the presence of God in their midst and being a powerful spiritual force in the lives of the community.

Thoughts?

Posted by at 10:30 AM | Comments (15)

November 07, 2005

Imagine that

I was thinking about the attitude of Christians toward the role of imagination in our lives. I grew up in a dysfunctional fundamentalist environment that considered imagination something that smelled of the smoke of Hell. It took me years to recover from some of that garbage.

The evangelical church seems to be more balanced now about the role of imagination, and in some circles the church is eagerly embracing creativity and imagination as a means of expressing biblical truths.

Some years ago, I thought about how I might use my imagination to enhance my own spiritual life. It started when I heard the old riddle: "What's the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian? A Christian gets up in the morning and says, "Good morning, Lord." A non-Christian gets up and says, "Good Lord, it's morning."

I wondered what might happen if I made that a practice in life. Would it change anything if my first conscious act upon awakening was telling God good morning? I mean, I spend a lot of time talking to myself, and to people I can't see, so why not God? At least he listens to me.

Well, I tried it, and to my surprise I found that it did, indeed make a difference. When my initial focus was on God, somehow it started my day in a way that gave me a better outlook on the world.

Then, after some time trying this, I wondered what it might look like from the other side of the sky. You know, what happened in Heaven when I said, "Good morning, Lord"? Of course, there is not a lot of scripture on the subject, but I found a little, and then I used my sanctified imagination to fill in the blanks.

So, when I woke up (not every morning, I must confess) and would tell God good morning. And on the screne of my imagination, I would see Jesus perking up when he hears my voice. He breaks into a big smile of delight, leaps from his throne -- that's the one at the right hand of the Father, you know -- and RUNS over to the edge of heaven. He leans over the guard rail, beaming, looking...

Wait a minute. Is something wrong? Guardrail? You never heard of a guardrail in heaven? Well, OF COURSE they have guardrails. How would it be if Jesus fell ran over, and in his excitement slipped, and fell out of heaven? It would never do. OSHA would be all over the place. So they have guardrails.

So anyway, Jesus is leaning over the rail, beaming down at me, saying, "AVI! I'M SO GLAD TO SEE YOU! I've been waiting all night for you! Let's go skip rocks or something. Let's go hang out together and just talk!"

And you know, it changed my whole day.

Posted by at 12:39 PM | Comments (1)

November 03, 2005

For the want of a letter...

Brother Joseph was new to the monastery, and as a novice, was assigned to Brother Thomas, who would be his mentor and teacher. Brother Thomas schooled his charge in monastery life, explaining to him the routines, the required tasks and everything from times of prayer to the requirement for a celibate life.

Brother Joseph, a curious sort, asked many questions, all of which Thomas patiently answered. Joseph, among other matters, wanted to know the source of the requirement for celibacy. And Thomas explained how it was based in the clear command of Scripture to be celibate.

Their daily task was copying ancient manuscripts, a slow, meticulous and very important task. Brother Joseph asked his teacher, “How can we be certain that we don’t make mistakes? I mean, these are very large documents. How can we be certain?”

Brother Thomas explained to him the process, how they counted letters, how they checked the number of letters on each line, in each book, and in an array of ways to ensure accuracy. “It’s almost impossible for an error to slip through the process,” he said.

One day, Thomas started Joseph on a copying project, and he left and went to the monastery library. Some time later, when he had not returned, Joseph went looking for him.

He found him sitting in the corner of the library, with an ancient text on the table in front of him, and tears streaming down his cheeks.

“Brother Thomas,” said the surprised Joseph, “what’s the matter?”

Looking up, with tears falling through his beard, Brother Thomas said, “The word is ‘celebrate,’ Joseph, ‘celebrate.’”

Posted by at 09:36 PM | Comments (1)

November 02, 2005

The end of all Christian belief and obedience...

The end of all Christian belief and obedience, witness and teaching, marriage and family, leisure and work life, preaching and pastoral work is the living of everything we know about God: life, life and more life. If we don’t know where we are going, any road will get us there. But if we have a destination – in this case a life lived to the glory of God – there is a well-marked way, a Jesus-revealed Way. Spiritual theology is the attention that we give to the details of living life on this way. It is a protest against theology depersonalized into information about God; it is a protest against theology functionalized into a program of strategic planning for God.

--------- From Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places, by Eugene Peterson.

Posted by at 09:21 PM | Comments (0)