Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!

[I saved what I believe is the greatest hymn ever written about the birth of Christ for Christmas Day.]

Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With th’angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”

Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”

 

Christ, by highest Heav’n adored;
Christ the everlasting Lord;
Late in time, behold Him come,
Offspring of a virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail th’incarnate Deity,
Pleased as man with men to dwell,
Jesus our Emmanuel.
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Ris’n with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die.
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”

             ~Charles Wesley, 1739

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence

Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
And with fear and trembling stand;
Ponder nothing earthly minded,
For with blessing in His hand
Christ our God to earth descendeth,
Our full homage to demand.

King of kings, yet born of Mary,
As of old on earth He stood,
Lord of lords, in human vesture,
In the body and the blood;
He will give to all the faithful
His own self for heavenly food.

Rank on rank the host of heaven
Spreads its vanguard on the way
As the Light of light descendeth
From the realms of endless day,
That the powers of hell may vanish
As the darkness clears away.

At His feet the six wingèd seraph,
Cherubim with sleepless eye,
Veil their faces to the Presence,
As with ceaseless voice they cry:
Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia, Lord Most High!

              ~Liturgy of St. James, 4th century

The Promise

The Lord God said when time was full
He would shine His light in the darkness;
He said a virgin would conceive
And give birth to the Promise.
For a thousand years the dreamers dreamt
And hoped to see His love,
But the Promise showed their wildest dreams
Had simply not been wild enough;
The Promise showed their wildest dreams
Had simply not been wild enough.

The Promise was love and the Promise was life,
The Promise meant light to the world;
Living proof that Yahweh saves,
For the name of the Promise was Jesus.

The Faithful One saw time was full
And the ancient pledge was honored;
So God the Son, the Incarnate One,
His final Word, His own Son
Was born in Bethlehem,
But came into our hearts to live.
What more could God have given,
Tell me, what more did He have to give?
What more could God have given,
Tell me, what more did He have to give?

The Promise was love and the Promise was life,
The Promise meant light to the world;
Living proof that Yahweh saves,
For the name of the Promise was Jesus.
Living proof that Yahweh saves

For the name of the Promise was Jesus.

                   ~Michael Card, 1986

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

 

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, great Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times once gave the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

 

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.

 

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

 

            ~12th century Latin hymn

Here With Us

It's still a mystery to me
That the hands of God could be so small;
How tiny fingers reaching in the night
Were the very hands that measured the sky.

Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Heaven's love reaching down to save the world;
Hallelujah, hallelujah,

Son of God, Servant King,
Here with us
You're here with us.

It's still a mystery to me
How His infant eyes have seen the dawn of time;
How His ears have heard an angel's symphony,
But still Mary had to rock her Savior to sleep.

Jesus the Christ, born in Bethlehem,
A baby born to save the souls of man.

Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Heaven's love reaching down to save the world;
Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Son of God, Servant King,
Here with us
You're here with us.

         ~Jason Ingram, Ben Glover, & Joy Williams, 2005

My Thoughts on the Phil Robertson Controversy

[I originally posted this article on Facebook and then decided to repost it on the blog.  For anyone who might not be aware of this story at all, Phil Robertson is the patriarch of the Robertson family, who are the stars of an extremely popular reality TV show on A&E called Duck Dynasty.  Phil Robertson got himself in big trouble this week as a result of comments he made about homosexuality in an interview with GQ Magazine.]

Last night I took some time to read through a bunch of the comments and links that my friends had posted on Facebook regarding the indefinite suspension of Phil Robertson from Duck Dynasty, as well to reread what Phil actually said in the interview with GQ that caused all the controversy.  I think it's safe to say that most of the people who commented were strongly in support of Phil Robertson, but there were a vocal few who either said Christians should not get involved in this controversy at all or that A&E was justified in firing Phil because his statement was crude and offensive.

Here are my thoughts on the matter, for anyone who cares.  First, certain portions of Phil's comments were crude, as even his family has acknowledged in a statement.  But there wasn't anything hateful or nasty about them, unless you think that the Bible's teaching regarding homosexuality is hateful (which many people obviously do).  His comments were a response to a question about sin, and he mentioned homosexuality, bestiality, and "sleeping around with this woman and that woman."  So he didn't single out homosexuality but mentioned it along with adultery and/or pre-marital sex.  He then quoted a passage from Corinthians accurately which lists a large number of sins, including homosexuality, which prevent people from inheriting the kingdom of God.  OK so far -- nothing but traditional Christian belief is being expressed.  The next comments were the crude part, where Phil says the following: "It seems to me, a vagina -- as a man -- would be more desirable than a man's anus.  That's just me.  I'm just thinking, 'There's more there! She's got more to offer.'  I mean, come on, dudes!  You know what I'm saying?  But hey, sin: it's not logical, my man.  It's just not logical."  Yes, it's coarse and graphic and unnecessary.  But it's not hateful; it's probably expressing what pretty much every heterosexual guy has thought many times over.  And the way it's worded, I strongly suspect he was making an attempt at humor that fell very flat.  The wording reminds me very much of the kind of jokes that Phil tells on Duck Dynasty.  He's a humorous guy and also not particularly refined or given to nuance -- that's his persona in both the show and in real life I think.  The other thing to mention about the comment is that it fails to understand the point that many homosexuals did not make a conscious choice about their sexual orientation and their sexual desires feel completely natural to them -- so Phil telling them that it makes no sense is meaningless to them.  It certainly isn't how a Christian psychologist or pastor should talk about homosexuality -- but Phil isn't either of those things.  He's a redneck and a outdoorsman who made his fortune off of making duck calls.  You can't reasonably expect him to articulate all the nuances of the issue (although it would have been better if he had).  He was asked his opinion, and he gave it very honestly.

What Phil said next, in the same interview, got a lot less attention but is extremely important to understand the full context of his opinion on the subject.  He went on to say, "We never, ever judge someone on who's going to heaven, hell.  That's the Almighty's job. We just love 'em - give 'em the good news about Jesus - whether they're homosexuals, drunks, terrorists.  We let God sort 'em out later, you see what I'm saying?"  He went on to add that his family "believes strongly that if the human race loved each other and they loved God, we would just be better off. We ought to just be repentant, turn to God, and...everything would turn around."  This doesn't sound like an angry hater who wants to condemn all homosexuals to hell.  It sounds like a guy who holds strong beliefs on sexual morality but who also thinks we should love everyone without condemning them blanketly to hell and believes that the good news of the Gospel is for everyone, including gays.  If he explicitly says that he loves gays rather than hating them, then to conclude that he hates gays is to claim exactly the opposite of what he said in the initial interview.  And his subsequent clarification, issued before A&E said anything about the controversy, is even better: "I myself am a product of the '60s; I centered my life around sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll until I hit rock bottom and accepted Jesus as my Savior.  My mission today is to go forth and tell people about why I follow Christ and also what the Bible teaches, and part of that teaching is that women and men are meant to be together.  However, I would never treat anyone with disrespect just because they are different from me. We are all created by the Almighty, and like Him, I love all of humanity.  We would all be better off if we loved God and loved each other."  Yes, it would have been better if his initial comments had struck exactly that tone, but how many times have all of us said things that did not come out the way we intended?

Is the outrage about Phil's comments really about how he said what he said?  I don't think so.  I think it's about the fact that he holds to a biblical belief that homosexuality is a sin.  When the gay rights group GLAAD issued a statement about Phil's comments, they chose to highlight the issue of same-sex marriage, which indicates that their beef with Phil is that he doesn't tow the politically correct position on gay rights.  Would they have been just as outraged and just as convinced he was a gay hater if he had quoted the biblical passage about homosexuality being a sin and stopped there?  I think so, and I think they would have still put pressure on A&E to fire him.  The offense here is really about Phil's moral beliefs, not the way he expressed them.  This is just the latest of a long line of examples of people getting viciously attacked for expressing a traditional Biblical view of homosexuality and/or marriage.

Is this issue really about free speech?  Well, yes and no.  It is not about free speech, in the sense that A&E is a private company that has the right to fire anyone who is employed by their network for saying something that they feel is detrimental to their organization.  They are not violating the 1st Amendment in any direct sense by firing Phil.  However, I think there is a deeper free speech issue here because we are starting to see a pattern where the self-appointed tolerance police are trying to deliberately eliminate any dissenting voices regarding homosexuality from the public square.  A few years ago, I remember reading the story of Matt Barber, an Allstate manager who wrote a letter or an article for a newspaper or magazine (can't remember the exact circumstances) expressing his support for traditional marriage between one man and one woman.  The article was not hateful or extreme in any way.  He wrote the article expressing his own private views on his own time and Allstate's name was in no way connected to it.  Gay activists researched his name, found out he worked for Allstate, and convinced Allstate to fire him for his hateful views.  The same thing happened in California after Proposition 8 passed.  Gay activists tracked down the people who offered financial support for Proposition 8 and targeted their homes and businesses.  Chick-Fil-A was targeted simply because the founder of the business expressed Christian beliefs about homosexuality.  The Boy Scouts have been relentlessly targed.  These are just a few examples but the trend is clear.  Many people in this country think that people who hold traditional Christian beliefs about homosexuality are hateful, bigoted people who deserve to lose their employment and be driven out of polite society.  They want to shout us down, silence us, keep us from expressing our beliefs and opinions.  I think that's a threat to free speech, and it could become a much bigger threat down the road.  Just look at Canada, where any expression of disapproval against homosexuality is a human rights violation that could subject the offender to heavy fines or worse.  Pastors can be prosecuted under Canadian law simply for preaching from the Bible about homosexuality.  I assure you, that can happen here too.

So maybe Phil didn't express himself as clearly as he could have on the issue.  Maybe he should have been a little more empathetic and nuanced in his comments.  But kudos to him for expressing his religious beliefs with boldness and not kowtowing to the speech police who want to silence anyone who holds to traditional biblical morality.  Yes, we can learn some lessons about being careful how we express our beliefs as Christians and making sure we say what we say with love and grace.  But we should also be aware that there is a cost to being a follower of Jesus, and sometimes speaking the truth and standing for God's Word will cost you no matter how lovingly you say it.  I hope if any of us ever have the opportunity to have a national platform, we will be as bold and open about our faith in the Gospel as Phil and the rest of the Robertson clan have been.

Thou Who Wast Rich Beyond All Splendor

 

Thou Who wast rich beyond all splendor

All for love’s sake becamest poor;

Thrones for a manger didst surrender,

Sapphire-paved courts for stable floor.

Thou Who wast rich beyond all splendor

All for love’s sake becamest poor.

 

Thou Who art God beyond all praising

All for love’s sake becamest man;

Stooping so low, but sinners raising

Heavenwards by Thine eternal plan.

Thou Who art God beyond all praising

All for love’s sake becamest man.

 

Thou Who art love beyond all telling,

Savior and King, we worship Thee.

Emmanuel, within us dwelling,

Make us what Thou wouldst have us be.

Thou Who art love beyond all telling,

Savior and King, we worship Thee!

 

          ~Frank Houghton, 1935

Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming

Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming
From tender stem hath sprung!
Of Jesse’s lineage coming,
As men of old have sung.
It came, a floweret bright,
Amid the cold of winter
When half spent was the night.

Isaiah ’twas foretold it,
The Rose I have in mind;
With Mary we behold it,
The virgin mother kind.
To show God’s love aright,
She bore to men a Savior
When half spent was the night.

The shepherds heard the story
Proclaimed by angels bright,
How Christ, the Lord of glory,
Was born on earth this night;
To Bethlehem they sped
And in the manger found Him,
As angel heralds said.

This Flower, whose fragrance tender
With sweetness fills the air,
Dispels with glorious splendor
The darkness everywhere;
True Man, yet very God,
From sin and death He saves us
And lightens every load.

O Savior, Child of Mary,
Who felt our human woe,
O Savior, King of Glory,
Who dost our weakness know,
Bring us at length, we pray,
To the bright courts of Heaven
And to the endless day.

          ~15 century German carol

Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne

Thou didst leave Thy throne and Thy kingly crown,
When Thou camest to earth for me;
But in Bethlehem’s home was there found no room
For Thy holy nativity.

O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for Thee.

 

Heaven’s arches rang when the angels sang,
Proclaiming Thy royal degree;
But of lowly birth didst Thou come to earth,
And in great humility.

O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,

There is room in my heart for Thee.

 

The foxes found rest, and the birds their nest
In the shade of the forest tree;
But Thy couch was the sod, O Thou Son of God,
In the deserts of Galilee.

O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,

There is room in my heart for Thee.

 

Thou camest, O Lord, with the living Word
That should set Thy people free;
But with mocking scorn and with crown of thorn,
They bore Thee to Calvary.

O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,

There is room in my heart for Thee.

 

When heav’n's arches shall ring and her choirs shall sing
At Thy coming to victory,
Let Thy voice call me home, saying “Yet there is room,
There is room at My side for thee.”

My heart shall rejoice, Lord Jesus,
When Thou comest and callest for me.

 

         ~Emily Elliott, 1864

It Came Upon the Midnight Clear

It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth
To touch their harps of gold;
“Peace on the earth, good will to men,
From Heaven’s all gracious King!”
The world in solemn stillness lay,
To hear the angels sing.

Still through the cloven skies they come
With peaceful wings unfurled,
And still their heavenly music floats
O’er all the weary world;
Above its sad and lowly plains
They bend on hovering wing,
And ever o'er its Babel sounds
The blessed angels sing.

And ye, beneath life’s crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow,
Look now! for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing.
O rest beside the weary road,
And hear the angels sing!

For lo! the days are hastening on,
By prophet bards foretold,
When with the ever circling years
Comes round the age of gold;
When peace shall over all the earth
Its ancient splendors fling,
And the whole world send back the song
Which now the angels sing.

        ~Edmund Sears, 1849

Welcome to Our World

Tears are falling, hearts are breaking
How we need to hear from God
You've been promised, we've been waiting
Welcome, Holy Child
Welcome, Holy Child

Hope that You don't mind our manger
How I wish we would have known
But long-awaited Holy Stranger
Make Yourself at home
Please make Yourself at home

Bring Your peace into our violence
Bid our hungry souls be filled
Word now breaking Heaven's silence
Welcome to our world
Welcome to our world

Fragile finger sent to heal us
Tender brow prepared for thorn
Tiny heart whose blood will save us
Unto us is born
Unto us is born

So wrap our injured flesh around You
Breathe our air and walk our sod
Rob our sin and make us holy
Perfect Son of God
Perfect Son of God
Welcome to our world

              ~Chris Rice, 2006

Brightest and Best of the Sons of the Morning

Brightest and best of the sons of the morning,
Dawn on our darkness and lend us Thine aid;
Star of the East, the horizon adorning,
Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid.

Cold on His cradle the dewdrops are shining;
Low lies His head with the beasts of the stall;
Angels adore Him in slumber reclining,
Maker and Monarch and Lord over all!

Say, shall we yield Him, in costly devotion,
Odors of Edom and offerings divine?
Gems of the mountain and pearls of the ocean,
Myrrh from the forest, or gold from the mine?

Vainly we offer each ample oblation,
Vainly with gifts would His favor secure;
Richer by far is the heart’s adoration,
Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor.

Brightest and best of the sons of the morning,
Dawn on our darkness and lend us Thine aid;
Star of the East, the horizon adorning,
Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid.

        ~Reginald Heber, 1811

Once in Royal David's City

Once in royal David's city
Stood a lowly cattle shed,
Where a mother laid her baby
In a manger for His bed:
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ her little Child.

He came down to earth from heaven,
Who is God and Lord of all,
And His shelter was a stable,
And His cradle was a stall;
With the poor, and mean, and lowly,
Lived on earth our Savior holy.

For He is our childhood's pattern;
Day by day, like us He grew;
He was little, weak and helpless,
Tears and smiles like us He knew;
And He feeleth for our sadness,
And He shareth in our gladness.

And our eyes at last shall see Him,
Through His own redeeming love;
For that Child so dear and gentle
Is our Lord in heaven above,
And He leads His children on
To the place where He is gone.

Not in that poor lowly stable,
With the oxen standing by,
We shall see Him; but in heaven,
Set at God's right hand on high;
When like stars His children crowned
All in white shall wait around.

     ~Cecil Frances Alexander, 1848

Who Is This So Weak and Helpless?

Who is this so weak and helpless,
Child of lowly Hebrew maid;
Rudely in a stable sheltered,
Coldly in a manger laid?
’Tis the Lord of all creation
Who this wondrous path hath trod;
He is God from everlasting,
And to everlasting God!

Who is this, a man of sorrows,
Walking sadly life’s hard way;
Homeless, weary, sighing, weeping
Over sin and Satan’s sway?
’Tis our God, our glorious Savior,
Who above the starry sky
Now for us a place prepareth
Where no tear can dim the eye!

Who is this? Behold Him shedding
Drops of blood upon the ground!
Who is this, despised, rejected,
Mocked, insulted, beaten, bound?
’Tis our God, who gifts and graces
On His church now poureth down,
Who shall smite in holy vengeance
All His foes beneath His throne!

Who is this that hangeth dying
While the rude world scoffs and scorns;
Numbered with the malefactors,
Torn with nails, and crowned with thorns?
’Tis the God Who ever liveth,
’Mid the shining ones on high,
In the glorious golden city,
Reigning everlastingly!

         ~William Walsham How, 1867

All Praise to Thee, Eternal Lord

[As a way of celebrating the Advent season, I plan to post the lyrics to a favorite hymn or song focused on the birth of Christ each day from now until Christmas.  Here is the first installment.]

All praise to Thee, Eternal Lord,
Clothed in a garb of flesh and blood;
Choosing a manger for Thy throne
While worlds on worlds are Thine alone.

Once did the skies before Thee bow;
A virgin's arms contain Thee now:
Angels who did in Thee rejoice
Now listen for Thine infant voice.

A little child, Thou art our guest
That weary ones in Thee may rest;
Forlorn and lowly is Thy birth
That we may rise to heav'n from earth.

Thou comest in the darksome night
To make us children of the light,
To make us, in the realms divine,
Like Thine own angels round Thee shine.

All this for us Thy love hath done;
By this to Thee our love is won:
For this we tune our cheerful lays
And shout our thanks in ceaseless praise!

                    ~Martin Luther, 1524

Christian Commuting (Or How Not to Lose My Faith Driving to Work)

I have a problem with road rage.  There are few things that make me more upset than someone passing me in a lane that is ending and then trying to cut in front of me (especially if once they get in front of me they go slow), or someone tailgating me unnecessarily (i.e., when there's a line of 40 cars ahead of me so I clearly can't go any faster), or someone going slow in the lefthand passing lane and clogging up traffic.  I can think of at least three examples where another driver did something (or multiple things) that made me so angry that the memory and the anger has festered in my heart and mind for days, months, even years.

Part of the impetus for this post was the fact that just this week I was cut off by a woman whose vehicle I have come to recognize because I have repeatedly observed her doing rude things to other drivers over a period of a couple of years.  She works at a school just a couple of blocks away from my office and apparently gets to her job at about the same time I do every morning.  There is no line she will not cross to save a even a nano-second during her commute.  Weaving through traffic at an alarming rate of speed...getting onto an exit ramp to pass cars while traffic is stopped and then cutting back into traffic just before the ramp exits the interstate...illegally driving in the HOV lane...passing as many cars as she can in the left lane even though she has a right turn coming up, then cutting directly in front of another car, slamming on her brakes, and turning right -- this woman pulls out all the stops.  Even though I have never met her and know nothing about her, I feel I can accurately assess her scum-filled character based on her driving alone. 

Over the past couple of years, I have felt God tugging at my heart and convicting me about my anger toward other drivers.  One of the catalysts for this was a short article I read by Andree Seu in World magazine entitled "Road Test."  My initial reaction upon reading it was annoyance, but after letting it simmer in my mind and then re-reading it, I had to admit that Seu had a point.  She humorously describes one of the very traffic situations that makes me see red, and challenges us to show charity to our neighbor:

I noticed today that the locals handle the [previously described] situation in one of two ways. There is the group that sticks to the right, either from some upper-story rectitude (see Francis Schaeffer), or fear of the Lord, or fear of drivers in the right lane who, having made 'the right choice,' are now in no mood to reward you for your selfishness in trying to muscle in. The other group, a minority (usually in cars vibrating visibly with deep bass sounds), speed [in the lane that is ending] past the idling do-gooders on their starboard side, and manage somehow to wedge into the narrowed artery.

My concern is for the innocent alien, the Philadelphia first-timer, the unsuspecting motorist from Montana.... It is well for us to remember the times when we have been out-of-towners, or had a goldfish bowl on the front seat. Or when a snake that earlier got loose from our son's shoebox suddenly started slithering out of the heating vent (which happened to me). Your fellow motorist has life complications you cannot even guess at. Could be that pregnant lady's water just broke; maybe that guy who forgot your 'wave' got a bad diagnosis today.

I had to admit that many times there was no way I could know for sure whether the person cutting me off was doing so out of sheer maliciousness or whether there were extenuating circumstances.  And I had to acknowledge that Christian charity necessitates that we believe the best about others and seek to extend grace to them whenever possible.

As I have thought more about the issue of how my faith applies to my driving habits, however, I have realized that God requires me to take a step beyond merely giving other drivers the benefit of the doubt.  After all, Seu's point simply does not apply to the example of the woman I described in the second paragraph of this post.  I know she is not an out-of-towner, and I know her behavior is habitual rather than simply the result of having a bad day.  I cannot try to believe the best about her and assume extenuating circumstances when I know the worst is true about her from past experience. 

A couple of years ago, my pastor preached a sermon that addressed the topic of anger in a way that I had never thought of before.  While I don't recall the exact words he used, the gist of it was that love always lies at the root of anger.  Anger is our response when something or someone we love is threatened or taken away.  Therefore, one of the best ways to determine what is most important to us is to find out what makes us angry.  This sermon challenged me to evaluate my road rage and forced me to acknowledge that my anger was due either to a sense of injustice (someone gaining an unfair advantage by using the HOV lane illegally or getting in a lane that was ending and then cutting in front of me and other drivers) or personal inconvenience (someone driving slow in the left lane).  Of the two, the sense of injustice seemed to be the stronger one.  It burned me up that I was sitting in a long line of barely moving traffic while other drivers were speeding by in an illegal or soon-to-be-ending lane.  However, once I took the time to analyze this sense of injustice, I realized how ridiculous my "righteous" indignation really was.  Of all the injustices occurring on a daily basis in my country and my world, the injustice of drivers cutting in front of me on the interstate, which was doing absolutely no harm to me other than adding a maximum of a couple of extra minutes to my commute time, had to be the least significant item on the list.  My rage was wildly out of proportion to the offense, which revealed a startling level of selfishness and pride in my heart.  The love that underlay the anger I was feeling was a petty love of self which demanded the right to be treated fairly, not to be inconvenienced, and to see punishment meted out against drivers who failed to meet my standards of uprightness.  And of course, this love of self was resulting in serious anger that was not only capable of ruining my mood for the day but was also leading me to brood over traffic incidents for weeks. 

James 1:19-20 has something pointed to say about anger:

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Even God Himself, Who is perfectly holy and righteous in His anger, is described as being slow to anger many places in Scripture.  How much more should we as Christians be slow to anger, since the overwhelming majority of the time our anger is not righteous and holy!  I am convinced that most of the time our anger is not justified, and even in the relatively rare cases when we have good reason to be angry, that anger will often lead us into sin because we fail to control and channel it properly.  It is precisely because our anger does not produce God's righteousness that Paul warns us so strongly against taking vengeance into our own hands in Romans 12:18-21.

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Even many non-Christians understand the detrimental effect that internalized anger has on a person.  But for the Christian, sinful anger is far more than simply unhealthy; it dishonors God's name rather than glorifying it and projects a poor Christian witness to the world.  It demonstrates an inability to trust God to right the wrongs committed against us and a failure to overcome evil with good. 

So let's go back to the example of the rude driver from the second paragraph.  I don't feel my Christian faith obligates me to feel any less disapproval for her rude actions or for the bad character that those actions reveal.  But it does obligate me to let go of my anger toward her and to avoid any attempts to mete out vengeance or punishment for her "crimes."  Of course, it calls on me to make every effort to demonstrate patience, courtesy, and respect toward her and others in my own driving rather than giving in to the temptation to respond "in kind."  And since anger is difficult to let go of and old habits are difficult to break, it requires me to pray and seek God's help to live up to these requirements from His Word.  I still have a long way to go in this area, but with God's help I hope to arrive at that point someday!

The Lion and the River

One of the great things about C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia is that they appeal to people of all ages and all religious backgrounds.  I first read these books as a kid and loved the new world they opened up to me.  As an adult they continue to delight me with their simple writing style that seems as fresh today as it did 60 years ago, their vivid creativity and imagery, and their humor.  Best of all, the beautiful Christian symbolism adds an additional depth of meaning for me when I read the books, although it is not heavy-handed and would probably not be noticed by someone who is not familiar with the New Testament.

In a recent sermon, my pastor read a long quote from The Silver Chair that is one of the best examples of Christian symbolism in the book.  This quote touched me so much that I wanted to reproduce it here at some length.

[Jill] came to an open glade and saw the stream, bright as glass, running across the turf a stone's throw away from her.  But although the sight of the water made her feel ten times thirstier than before, she didn't rush forward and drink.  She stood as still as if she had been turned into stone, with her mouth wide open.  And she had a very good reason; just on this side of the stream lay the lion.

It lay with its head raised and its two fore-paws out in front of it, like the lions in Trafalgar Square.  She knew at once that it had seen her, for its eyes looked straight into hers for a moment and then turned away -- as if it knew her quite well and didn't think much of her.

"If I run away, it'll be after me in a moment," thought Jill.  "And if I go on, I shall run straight into its mouth."  Anyway, she couldn't have moved if she had tried, and she couldn't take her eyes off it.  How long this lasted, she could not be sure; it seemed like hours.  And the thirst became so bad that she almost felt she would not mind being eaten by the lion if only she could be sure of getting a mouthful of water first.

"If you're thirsty, you may drink."

....For a second she stared here and there, wondering who had spoken.  Then the voice said again, "If you are thirsty, come and drink," and... she realized that it was the lion speaking.  ...She had seen its lips move this time, and the voice was not like a man's.  It was deeper, wilder, and stronger; a sort of heavy, golden voice.  It did not make her any less frightened than she had been before, but it made her frightened in rather a different way.

"Are you not thirsty?" said the Lion.

"I'm dying of thirst," said Jill.

"Then drink," said the Lion.

"May I -- could I -- would you mind going away while I do?" said Jill.

The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl.  And as Jill gazed as its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience.

The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.

"Will you promise not to -- do anything to me, if I do come?" said Jill.

"I make no promise," said the Lion.

Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer.

"Do you eat girls?" she said.

"I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms," said the Lion.  It didn't say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry.  It just said it.

"I daren't come and drink," said Jill.

"Then you will die of thirst," said the Lion.

"Oh dear!" said Jill, coming another step nearer. "I suppose I must go and look for another stream then."

"There is no other stream," said the Lion.

It never occurred to Jill to disbelieve the Lion -- no one who had seen his stern face could do that -- and her mind suddenly made itself up.  It was the worst thing she had ever had to do, but she went forward to the stream, knelt down, and began scooping up water in her hand.  It was the coldest, most refreshing water she had ever tasted.  You didn't need to drink much of it, for it quenched your thirst at once.

I almost don't know where to start in pointing out all the Biblical references packed into this excerpt.  Throughout Scripture, water is symbolic of the eternal life and true satisfaction that can only be found in God Himself.  In Isaiah 55:1, God calls His people to Himself using this language: "Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!  Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price."  In Jeremiah 2:13, God states, "My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water."

The New Testament reaffirms this use of the word water and clarifies that the way to receive this water is through Jesus Christ.  When speaking to the woman at the well in Samaria in John 4:10-14, Jesus told her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.... Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."  Later on in John 7:37, Jesus spoke at the Feast of Booths and said, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink."  And at the very end of the Bible, the book of Revelation describes heaven in this way: "The Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes" (Revelation 7:17).  The description of heaven also includes a reference to "the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city" (Revelation 22:1-2). 

The description of the majestic and stern Lion in this passage also brings to mind imagery about Jesus Christ in the New Testament.  He is described as having "eyes like a flame of fire" and a "voice like the roar of many waters" in Revelation 1.  Throughout the New Testament His miracles and teachings produce not just love and loyalty but also fear and awe among His followers, in much the same way that the Lion's majestic voice made Jill "frightened in rather a different way."  The Lion's statement about having swallowed up kings, emperors, cities, and realms is reminscent of some of the shocking claims made by Jesus during His ministry, such as saying "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58), as well as His statement in Revelation 1: "I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades." 

And of course, the Lion's final statements that if Jill does not come to drink she will die of thirst and that there are no other streams remind us of Jesus' statement in John 14:6: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me."  God Himself is the only source of eternal life, and the only way we can know Him is through His Son Jesus.  And just as when Jill drank the water her thirst was immediately quenched, so Jesus promises that "whoever believes in Me shall never thirst" (John 6:35).

What a beautiful illustration C.S. Lewis provides for us of the Gospel in this simple "kids' book"!

"Stretch Marks"

I read this article in World magazine a few weeks ago and I thought it was one of the simplest and best articles I have read on marriage.  In it Andree Seu Peterson addresses in her own gentle way the opinion -- which has become almost universal among non-Christians in our society -- that it is "insane to marry before living with the person first."  The whole essay is well worth reading, but here are some highlights:

The too-shrewd-by-half Shack-Upper misses this hidden wisdom: Your Christ-like love, and Christ-like faith, would have made the live-in girlfriend you rejected a different person than she was when you rejected her. You reserved the right to cast her aside if you found you didn’t get along, little considering that the annoying habit or temperament that was your deal breaker was the very thing God had in mind for you to help her through.... Unconditional commitment creates a new reality that conditional commitment never can.

That last sentence is worth repeating. "Unconditional commitment creates a new reality that conditional commitment never can."

A little further down, Peterson adds:

The secret to marriage is related to the secret of the meaning of life. If the meaning of life is to find the way of pleasantness and ease, then try out as many partners as you must to find the one who maximizes your happiness quotient. Lots of luck with that.  But what if marriage is for stretching, for no-pain-no-gain advance in maturity, rather than primarily for having one’s desires met?  

Peterson is simply stating, in a slightly different way, some of the same points made by Albert Mohler, Jr., the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, in a column I remembered reading a couple of years ago.  Mohler states that the wisdom of marriage is permanence before experience.  After noting that couples who cohabitate prior to marriage have higher rates of divorce than those who do not, Mohler argues:

[Couples who cohabitate] miss the central logic of marriage as an institution of permanence. They miss the essential wisdom of marriage - that the commitment must come before the intimacy, that the vows must come before the shared living, that the wisdom of marriage is its permanence before its experience. Cohabitation weakens marriage - even a cohabiting couple's eventual marriage - because a temporary and transitory commitment always weakens a permanent commitment.

I wouldn't necessarily expect this view of marriage to make sense to a non-Christian.  But as Christians, I think it can be worthwhile to focus not just on the rules that God has set up for us but also on why those rules are for our benefit and protection.  Peterson and Mohler offer an intriguing glimpse of some reasons why God, in His perfect wisdom, set the standards He did for sexual purity and marriage.  As a married man I can say without hesitation that God knew what He was doing when He established marriage and that being married has challenged, stretched, and matured me in ways that nothing else in my life has. 

How Not to Win Friends and Influence People

Most of us have a strong desire to be liked.  We want to fit in, to be accepted by others, to be praised and respected rather than criticized and attacked.  This is true of Christians just as much as it is of everyone else.  And most of the time, provided we are not too outspoken or obnoxious, American Christians can slide through life without facing much in the way of open persecution or attacks on our faith (although I believe that could change in the not-so-distant future).  There is a small minority of people who will take offense at virtually any reference to Jesus or the Bible at all, but most people will be at least respectful of our religious beliefs as long as we are somewhat respectful in how and when we express them. 

Three Faultlines

My (admittedly limited) experience, based on interactions with co-workers, listening to speeches and discussions in a variety of venues, and reading online articles, comments, and debates, has shown me that there are at least three major exceptions to this rule -- three significant faultlines in American culture where an uncompromising expression of Christian belief can trigger an angry, even hateful backlash from many people.  Those three faultlines are the belief that Jesus is the only way of salvation, the belief that God created the universe out of nothing, and the belief that homosexuality is morally wrong.  When it comes to these issues, at least, it is definitely not easy being a Christian in today's culture.  The belief that Jesus is the only way of salvation is considered narrowminded and intolerant, the belief that God created the universe out of nothing is considered ignorant and anti-scientific, and the belief that homosexuality is morally wrong is considered hateful and bigoted.

Whatever our culture may have to say, the faithful Christian takes his stand on the Bible and there can be no doubt what the Bible has to say on any of these issues.  After all, it was Jesus Himself who uttered these words in John 14:6: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me."  Peter decisively reaffirms this truth in his speech before the high priest in Acts 4:11-12, when he says, "This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.  And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

With regard to the origin of the universe, the Bible opens with these majestic words: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."  Genesis 1 goes on to describe in detail God's creation of every part of the earth and the creatures that live on it.  The rest of the Bible reaffirms this teaching in many places.  Psalm 33:6 states, "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host."  Isaiah 40:28 says, "Have you not known?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth."

Scripture is equally clear in its position on homosexual behavior.  In Romans 1, Paul condemns mankind for worshiping and serving the creature rather than the Creator and then writes in verses 26 and 27: "For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error."  1 Corinthians 6:9-11 states, "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.  And such were some of you.  But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."

Caveats

Of course, some caveats apply for each of these issues.  The Christian belief that Jesus is the only way of salvation does not mean that we should be disrespectful of other people's beliefs or refuse to listen to their opinions.  Arrogance and disrespect are the opposite of how we should behave, in light of the Scriptural command to love our neighbor as ourselves.  Despite the new definition of tolerance that is widespread today, it is possible -- and in fact necessary -- for Christians to hold staunchly to Biblical truth (including all the positions above) while at the same treating people who disagree with them with kindness and their opinions with respect.

With regard to creation, Christians hold differing opinions about the age of the earth.  A Scriptural belief in God as the Creator does not require one to believe that the earth is 6,000 years old, but it does decisively rule out evolution -- in the sense of a wholly naturalistic process that brought the universe into being by blind chance. 

And when it comes to homosexuality, it's important to emphasize that all the Biblical condemnations of this sin focus on behavior and lifestyle -- that is, things that a person has conscious control over.  A person is not condemned for an orientation that he did not choose -- he is rather condemned for engaging in activities that are contrary to God's design for human sexuality.  Furthermore, the 1 Corinthians passage quoted above makes clear that homosexuality is one of many sins that keep people from inheriting God's kingdom but also that homosexuals can be forgiven and brought into God's kingdom just like other types of sinners.  Christians should not hate or fear gay people, but should view them as sinners in need of God's grace just like the rest of us and should treat them with kindness and love.

Going Deeper

Why do these three particular issues generate such a strong backlash in this country against Christian teaching?  I believe it is because each of them cut against the grain of our culture at a fundamental level in a way that often makes people feel exposed or judged.

Let's start with the issue of Jesus being the only way of salvation.  The implication of this teaching is that anyone who does not put their faith in Jesus Christ will be excluded from God's kingdom and denied eternal life.  This is not what people want to hear in a multicultural area like the one in which I live (Montgomery County, Maryland), where a substantial percentage of the population either practices a religion other than Christianity or practices no religion at all.  (Of course, since belief in Jesus is a commitment of the heart and life that goes far beyond baptism, church membership, and church attendance, large swaths of professing American Christians also stand condemned by this teaching, but they fail to realize it.)  Such an absolute truth claim stands in sharp opposition to the prevailing philosophical opinion that truth is relative and therefore all religious opinions are equally valid.  No one likes to hear that they are wrong, and it makes people especially upset when they are told that their wrong beliefs will cause them to be judged by God.  To even suggest such a thing is the height of hatred and intolerance to many people.  Sadly, it never seems to cross people's minds that is possible to believe that something is true without taking delight in it or wishing for it to happen.

Yet, the offense that comes from this belief is the offense of the Gospel.  If people are offended by this teaching but not by your sharing of your personal Christian testimony, it is because your personal testimony does not press upon them the requirements of the Gospel as clearly they need to be.  People must come face to face with the stark, life-and-death implications of the claims of Jesus Christ in order to really understand and believe in Him.  Soft pedaling the exclusive claims of the Gospel may make your beliefs more palatable to others, but for that very reason the Gospel message will be muddled and will fail to convey the necessary urgency to unbelieving hearers.  The very concept of salvation is meaningless to anyone who does not realize that he is in grave danger and needs to be rescued.

The second issue, a belief in God as Creator of the universe, provokes a backlash because it is perceived as being against science.  And indeed the biblical doctrine of creation is in direct conflict with naturalism, the philosophy that forms the foundation for the way scientific inquiry and education are commonly practiced in most of the Western world today.  Naturalism believes that matter is eternal, assumes that the universe came into existence and evolved to its current state through random chance, and either denies outright the existence of God or believes He is impossible to know and uninvolved in the universe.  Science in the Western world has not always been dominated by naturalism and many great scientists throughout history have been devout Christians, but today science is inextricably linked in most people's minds with naturalistic evolution.  Science is also considered by many people to be the realm where objective facts and cold, hard reality reign supreme, despite the fact that highly subjective a priori philosophical assumptions often contribute substantially to scientific conclusions.  Therefore, Christians who dispute the "settled" naturalistic conclusions of science are assumed to be hostile to objective facts and rational thought, and therefore by extension ignorant, backward, and worthy of ridicule.  I can recall watching the news as a teenager and hearing a presidential candidate (Pat Buchanan) who had expressed skepticism about naturalistic evolution being openly mocked by news anchors as a candidate for membership in the Flat Earth Society, and I am confident that the hostility and mockery you will face for this belief is far worse today than it was in 1996.

I believe that consciously or unconsciously, however, there is a deeper issue in play for many people beyond a deeply ingrained confidence in the infallibility of science.  The belief that God created us and the world in which we live inevitably leads to the conclusion that we belong to Him and therefore are accountable to Him for our actions.  As Paul points out in Romans 1, people choose (in some cases subconsciously I believe) to suppress a knowledge of God as Creator because they wish to be the captains of their own fate and the masters of their own souls. 

The third and final issue regarding the morality of homosexuality is one that seems to be front and center in news headlines in one form or another almost constantly nowadays.  Rarely in American history has there been as rapid and dramatic a shift in public opinion on any issue with serious implications for morality and public policy as there has been on the issue of homosexuality.  As recently as 10 or 15 years ago, overwhelming majorities of the public opposed same-sex marriage and there was a relatively broad consensus that homosexuality was morally wrong.  Today, to even insinuate anything negative about homosexuality, much less to state that it is a sin, will get you laughed off the stage or branded as a bigot very quickly.  Part of the reason for the rapid sea change in public opinion on this issue, I think, is because the gay rights lobby has power far exceeding its size in many influential areas of our society and has worked tirelessly to force a change in public opinion using both sympathy due to past mistreatment of gays in our society and threats of being labeled intolerant.  An even bigger reason, I think, is a growing cultural consensus that most gay people do not choose to be gay and deserve to be accepted for who they are.  Once the notion that homosexuality is a fundamental part of certain people's identity rather than a lifestyle choice takes hold, as it has in our country, it becomes almost impossible to declare that it is wrong or immoral.

However, homosexuality is really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Christian teaching about sexual morality as it relates to our culture.  The Bible's moral requirements when it comes to human sexuality are a veritable straitjacket to our highly permissive culture.  Pornography, adultery, pre-marital sex, co-habitation, sexual jokes and innuendos, lustful glances and thoughts, sexually revealing clothing -- our culture is so awash in these sins that most people barely give them a second thought.  Yet every single one of them is just as much of a sin from a Biblical perspective as homosexuality.  And our society is also awash in the consequences that inevitably follow from this sexually permissive behavior -- divorce, broken families, single-parent homes, abortion, sexually transmitted diseases, etc.  In all of these areas, including homosexuality, the prevailing cultural opinion can be summed up with the question: "Who are you to judge?"  It is widely assumed that suppression or repression of one's sexual desires is unhealthy, while the pathway to happiness consists in indulging in one's sexual desires and following them wherever they lead.  Our society scoffs at "Victorian morality" and takes pride in being sexually liberated to find happiness wherever the desire may take us. 

Of course, the Bible teaches exactly the opposite.  Self-control is one of the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians, and Paul warns Christians in Romans 8 that they must "put to death the deeds of the body," a reference to those sinful behaviors that characterize human beings.  After starkly declaring that "everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart," Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount goes on to use extreme hyperbole to communicate the necessity for His followers to suppress and subdue their sinful desires: "If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.  For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell" (Matthew 5:29).  In his classic Christian apologetic Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis notes in his chapter on chastity that "surrender to all our desires obviously leads to impotence, disease, jealousies, lies, concealment, and everything that is the reverse of health, good humour, and frankness."  No matter how natural, normal, and reasonable our sexual desires may seem to us, we must renounce them in order to live in obedience to God.

Conclusion

None of this is to say that we should go out of our way to bring up these issues with other people if it is not warranted or appropriate.  It would likely be very counter-productive to start a discussion about Biblical creation with the random person sitting next to you on the plane, and it is probable that your co-worker is not interested in hearing your unsolicited opinion about homosexuality.  I can state from my personal observations that nothing is more annoying to non-Christians than when Christians hijack conversations or blog discussions with Bible-related opinions that have nothing to do with the topic at hand, especially when those Christians come across as judgmental, disrespectful, or rude.  However, if you intend on living out your Christianity consistently in post-Christian 21st century America, sooner or later you are going to find yourself with these issues staring you in the face.  It will probably be sooner rather than later.  You will have the choice to either deny or downplay the Biblical position on these issues, which will be the easy way out, or else to take the much harder course of graciously but boldly affirming your faith and Scriptural teaching on these issues.  Just as Moses had to decide whether to "be mistreated with the people of God" and accept "the reproach of Christ" rather than to enjoy the "treasures of Egypt" and "the fleeting pleasures of sin," so we too must decide whether our ultimate loyalty is to Christ and His Word or to being popular or accepted in this world.  Your choice to affirm Scriptural teaching on these issues could very well make you an object of ridicule or brand you as a bigot.  But Jesus Himself said, "Whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels" (Mark 8:38).

Welcome!

As some of you may know, I've been blogging on politics since 2009 on a blog called Common Cents.  I enjoy writing and appreciated the opportunity to express my perspective about politics.  Unfortunately, the 2012 elections wiped out any hope I had that our country would get back on the right track from a constitutional perspective, and for the sake of my blood pressure and general peace of mind I no longer intend to follow politics closely.  However, I have missed blogging over the past few months and wanted to find some way to continue to put down my thoughts and perspectives in writing.  Hence, I decided to create this blog.

The general purpose of Unchanging Truth for a Changing World is to discuss and analyze current events, news stories, cultural issues, and occurrences of daily life from a Christian perspective.  For me, the Bible is not just a holy book but an infallible guide for daily living.  It is the final and complete revelation of God's will, and therefore contains truths and principles that are applicable to every area of life and timeless in their application.  In the increasingly post-Christian culture in which we live, I believe it is essential for followers of Jesus to not only know the doctrines of Scripture but also to be able to think critically about how they relate to the world in which we live and to make decisions that are consistent with those Biblical doctrines on a whole host of important issues.  This blog will be my attempt to analyze big world events and small issues of daily life from the perspective of a Christian worldview. 

My goal for this blog is to be able to post at least once a week, with an awareness that with a young child in the house I will not always be able to hold to this schedule.  I would like to incorporate a variety of approaches, including editorials on current events, devotional thoughts and quotes, commentary on Scripture passages, personal stories, discussion of important cultural issues, and poetry (written by others, not myself).  I want this blog to be a vehicle for me to think through issues critically, to engage the culture, and to stay motivated to read good books.  Hopefully I will be able to encourage others to do the same along the way.  While I am unabashedly approaching issues from a Christian perspective, everyone is invited to read and comment and I welcome respectful discussion from others with differing perspectives.  I am sure political issues will come up, since our country's politics is deeply intertwined with key cultural issues, but I do not intend to make politics a primary focus.  For a more explicit political focus, please continue to follow commoncentspolitix.blogspot.com, as others (and perhaps myself from time to time) will probably continue to post there.

Welcome to all!