Europe as we now know it continues to matter less and less. The current issue of First Things magazine includes an article on how Israel can survive and one thing is clear: Israel cannot depend on Europe. Neither can America.
Here are some startling statistics mentioned in that article: 'Of the 6,000 languages now spoken, half of them will disappear over the next century'. 'We stand on the cusp of a great extinction of the nations without precedent since late antiquity'. Europe cannot survive long in light of their current demographic decline: indeed birthrates in most of Europe are so low that some are saying that it cannot be reversed now and so it is just a matter of time until the current indigenous people are gone, replaced by either immigrants or no one. Even in the most Catholic area of Europe, Poland, the birth rates are below replacement rate and the population there will drop by a third by the middle of this century.
The author, David Goldman, makes this observation: 'The four millennium miracle of Jewish survival fails to impress the nations of Europe, who themselves cannot expect to survive long if their demographic decline continues' and 'why should gentile nations go out of their way to help Jews survive when they have neither the desire nor the capacity to survive themselves?' He also comments that 'the data indicate that many of the industrialized nations do not care to survive'.
That is really the crux of it. The end result of what is called 'liberalism' is a society that does not care to and is not capable of surviving. Israel, on the other hand, with its constant day to day struggle to survive, has the highest fertility rate and lowest suicide rate among the industrialized nations.
It is very clear that Israel cannot depend on Europe for much of anything. It ought to be clear that America cannot depend on them, either.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
What is Discipleship?
A while back I made some comments about discipleship. The brief 'definition' in Greg Ogden's book Transforming Discipleship is a good start: 'self-initiating, reproducing, fully devoted followers of Christ'. That does not capture the whole of it , but it is a good start. I am about half way through the book now and he adds more later, such as refering to discipling as 'a process that takes place within accountable relationships over a period of time for the purpose of bringing believers to spiritual maturity in Christ'. He also offers an interesting challenge to pastors: what if they, like Jesus, had only 3 years to serve and would have no one to replace them? How would that change their approach to ministry? Would that force them to build discipling processes instead of just 'doing church'?
I was reminded of all this, especially the part about 'spiritual maturity' by an article in the new June 2009 issue of First Things magazine. The archbishop of Denver, Charles Chaput, writes there, ' If 65 million Catholics really cared about their faith and cared about what it teaches, neither political party could ignore what we believe about justice for the poor, or the homeless, or immigrants, or the unborn. If 65 million Catholics really understood their faith, we wouldn't need to waste one another's time arguing whether the legalized killing of an unborn child is somehow balanced out or excused by other social policies'. He goes on to say that 'we need to stop lying to each other, to ourselves, and to God by claiming to oppose personally some homicidal evil-and allowing it to be legal at the same time'. He goes on to discuss the importance of truth, truth that is greater than this world, and how vital it is to what he calls 'Christian formation'. He decries the idea, so common today, that people can 'create their own truth and then baptize it with an appeal to personal conscience'.
While his viewpoint is Catholic and mine is evangelical Protestant, his concerns are very similar to my concerns about the lack of folks in the church whose entire life, whose total world view has been dramatically altered by the invasion of Christ into their life. Many claim to be Christian but the things they consider true, regarding abortion or justice or marriage or truth itself, are undistinguishable from those rejecting Christianity. As a result, they can in fact be ignored by the political power structure, even in a democracy. The article observes that 'There is nothing more empty-headed in a pluralistic democracy than telling citizens to keep quiet about their beliefs. A healthy democracy requires exactly the opposite. Democracy requires a vigorous public struggle of convictions and ideas. And the convictions of some people always get imposed on everybody else. That's the nature of a democracy.'
Someone's views will be imposed; shouldn't those views be based on truth? Our current culture seems to be more concerned about 'rights' (gay rights, abortion rights, animal rights, etc) than about either truth or the common good. But to make a difference in the debate, your faith must be more than a private thing. It must be something that impacts your whole world view so that you see clearly its implications in all areas of life, and can verbalize it.
So our concept and definition of discipleship must include more than self-initiating in our daily walk with God, and reproducing the faith via witness and evangelism. It must include this part about 'spiritual maturity', about living a life that is distinctively Christian, and about applying the Truth to all areas of life, not just to a compartment of life that we think of as our 'spiritual life'.
I was reminded of all this, especially the part about 'spiritual maturity' by an article in the new June 2009 issue of First Things magazine. The archbishop of Denver, Charles Chaput, writes there, ' If 65 million Catholics really cared about their faith and cared about what it teaches, neither political party could ignore what we believe about justice for the poor, or the homeless, or immigrants, or the unborn. If 65 million Catholics really understood their faith, we wouldn't need to waste one another's time arguing whether the legalized killing of an unborn child is somehow balanced out or excused by other social policies'. He goes on to say that 'we need to stop lying to each other, to ourselves, and to God by claiming to oppose personally some homicidal evil-and allowing it to be legal at the same time'. He goes on to discuss the importance of truth, truth that is greater than this world, and how vital it is to what he calls 'Christian formation'. He decries the idea, so common today, that people can 'create their own truth and then baptize it with an appeal to personal conscience'.
While his viewpoint is Catholic and mine is evangelical Protestant, his concerns are very similar to my concerns about the lack of folks in the church whose entire life, whose total world view has been dramatically altered by the invasion of Christ into their life. Many claim to be Christian but the things they consider true, regarding abortion or justice or marriage or truth itself, are undistinguishable from those rejecting Christianity. As a result, they can in fact be ignored by the political power structure, even in a democracy. The article observes that 'There is nothing more empty-headed in a pluralistic democracy than telling citizens to keep quiet about their beliefs. A healthy democracy requires exactly the opposite. Democracy requires a vigorous public struggle of convictions and ideas. And the convictions of some people always get imposed on everybody else. That's the nature of a democracy.'
Someone's views will be imposed; shouldn't those views be based on truth? Our current culture seems to be more concerned about 'rights' (gay rights, abortion rights, animal rights, etc) than about either truth or the common good. But to make a difference in the debate, your faith must be more than a private thing. It must be something that impacts your whole world view so that you see clearly its implications in all areas of life, and can verbalize it.
So our concept and definition of discipleship must include more than self-initiating in our daily walk with God, and reproducing the faith via witness and evangelism. It must include this part about 'spiritual maturity', about living a life that is distinctively Christian, and about applying the Truth to all areas of life, not just to a compartment of life that we think of as our 'spiritual life'.
The Great American Road Trip
We just returned yesterday from 9 days of driving around the Southeast U.S.. Some folks like to go one place and stay there for a length of time, and I can enjoy that sort of relaxation at times; but I also feel an urge to see many of sights and places in this vast country that I have not seen and get a feel for those places, their history, their lifestyle, the little things that set apart one area of the country from another. This time we did some of both.
The first few days we visited with family in Kentucky, just visiting family, seeing our 2-month old nephew, and enjoying home-cooked meals. Then we set out to the Smokies, a place to which we often return. This time we spent more time shopping at outlet malls and eating than in the park, but we did take a detour onto the Blue Ridge Parkway near the Carolina entrance to the park and drove through some of the towns along the Carolina side of the mountains that I had not visited before. Just driving along the Parkway with the rhododendrons starting to bloom was enjoyable. We stayed near Asheville one night as well and took a quick look at the little college town of Montreat near Ridgecrest, which is tucked under the forest canopy on the side of the mountains along the eastern continental divide. The World of Clothing in Hendersonville is a unique though somewhat dated outlet with some real deals if you can find what you like in your size. I settled for a khaki cap to protect my head from the sun. The searsucker suits were tempting, though.
Then on to Charleston! The restored historic homes are both majestic and inviting, with very walk-able neighborhoods around them. It is much like Savannah, but larger homes and a bigger area to walk though fewer parks. The city hall has a terrific collection of portraits in the assembly room for the city council that includes Washington, Monroe, Andrew Jackson, John C. Calhoun, and General Beauregard among others of more local notoriety. The parking is not very convenient , and the parking rules unclear to a visitor like me (hence my parking ticket), but once you understand the rules you can deal with it. Good seafood is easy to find. Overall, it gave me a better feel for how very different life in a prosperous seaport was in the South of the antebellum 1800's from the pioneer farmers in Appalachia, where my family roots are.
Overall, we did about 1700 miles on the trip, spread across 9 days: a relatively modest road trip compared to the nearly 5000 miles of our visit to the Grand Canyon. I still think that seeing the country by auto is a great way to travel.
The first few days we visited with family in Kentucky, just visiting family, seeing our 2-month old nephew, and enjoying home-cooked meals. Then we set out to the Smokies, a place to which we often return. This time we spent more time shopping at outlet malls and eating than in the park, but we did take a detour onto the Blue Ridge Parkway near the Carolina entrance to the park and drove through some of the towns along the Carolina side of the mountains that I had not visited before. Just driving along the Parkway with the rhododendrons starting to bloom was enjoyable. We stayed near Asheville one night as well and took a quick look at the little college town of Montreat near Ridgecrest, which is tucked under the forest canopy on the side of the mountains along the eastern continental divide. The World of Clothing in Hendersonville is a unique though somewhat dated outlet with some real deals if you can find what you like in your size. I settled for a khaki cap to protect my head from the sun. The searsucker suits were tempting, though.
Then on to Charleston! The restored historic homes are both majestic and inviting, with very walk-able neighborhoods around them. It is much like Savannah, but larger homes and a bigger area to walk though fewer parks. The city hall has a terrific collection of portraits in the assembly room for the city council that includes Washington, Monroe, Andrew Jackson, John C. Calhoun, and General Beauregard among others of more local notoriety. The parking is not very convenient , and the parking rules unclear to a visitor like me (hence my parking ticket), but once you understand the rules you can deal with it. Good seafood is easy to find. Overall, it gave me a better feel for how very different life in a prosperous seaport was in the South of the antebellum 1800's from the pioneer farmers in Appalachia, where my family roots are.
Overall, we did about 1700 miles on the trip, spread across 9 days: a relatively modest road trip compared to the nearly 5000 miles of our visit to the Grand Canyon. I still think that seeing the country by auto is a great way to travel.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Financial Peace
Tonight was the final class in the 13-week Financial Peace University class that Dave Ramsey put together. Tonight was about giving and it was the best class in the series in my opinion, and the one he should start with (and repeat often throughout) rather than end with.
In general I agree with the prescription he gives in the class: get out of debt, live within your means, put aside an emergency fund covering at least 3 months living expense, set aside long term savings for retirement with a target of 15% of your pay each month, and give away at least 10%. I did, however, struggle with the spirit of the class giving constant emphasis to building wealth with only occasional reference to building godliness. The mantra he repeats over and over is 'live like no one else for a while (ie, frugally) so you can live like no one else later (ie, in wealth)'. The implication is that it is ok to lavish 'stuff' on yourself later once you attain wealth (and he amplifies that with examples of his friend who drives the Rolls Royce, his friends who are multi-millionaires, etc, etc). While that may be a sales pitch to get the attention of those who are indeed focused on their own desire for wealth, it is not a worthy motivation for a serious Christian. The mantra should be something more like 'live like no one else now so you can become more in God's image'. Our goal should not be to build wealth; our goal should be to be more like Jesus.
Now Jesus was not in favor of our being in debt head over heels from what I can see in the Scriptures. Being like Jesus would include not being enslaved to debt. But I don't think the class talked en0ugh about risk, either the risk that comes with investments or the spiritual risks that come with wealth. As I have commented before, freedom is risky business. The freedom that comes with wealth is certainly risky, as we can all see in the tabloids reflected in the lives of the rich and famous.
Another mantra he uses often is 'don't be normal; normal is broke'! I agree---don't be normal, but don't be normal because Jesus wasn't normal. Being serious about your Christian life isn't normal.
So, tonight's class was certainly the best since it said the most about the spiritual issues. Not enough was said, but more than the other classes. It reminded me of a sermon series we heard in Memphis over 20 years ago. There are only a handful of sermons I have heard that were that memorable. This series was about the nature of God, and there were some sermons on things about God's nature which are out of our human realm, things like His sovereignty, his omnipotence, his omniscience. But some were about the characteristics of God which we are expected to imitate, and which His children should be seeking every day. The sermons said it this way:
In general I agree with the prescription he gives in the class: get out of debt, live within your means, put aside an emergency fund covering at least 3 months living expense, set aside long term savings for retirement with a target of 15% of your pay each month, and give away at least 10%. I did, however, struggle with the spirit of the class giving constant emphasis to building wealth with only occasional reference to building godliness. The mantra he repeats over and over is 'live like no one else for a while (ie, frugally) so you can live like no one else later (ie, in wealth)'. The implication is that it is ok to lavish 'stuff' on yourself later once you attain wealth (and he amplifies that with examples of his friend who drives the Rolls Royce, his friends who are multi-millionaires, etc, etc). While that may be a sales pitch to get the attention of those who are indeed focused on their own desire for wealth, it is not a worthy motivation for a serious Christian. The mantra should be something more like 'live like no one else now so you can become more in God's image'. Our goal should not be to build wealth; our goal should be to be more like Jesus.
Now Jesus was not in favor of our being in debt head over heels from what I can see in the Scriptures. Being like Jesus would include not being enslaved to debt. But I don't think the class talked en0ugh about risk, either the risk that comes with investments or the spiritual risks that come with wealth. As I have commented before, freedom is risky business. The freedom that comes with wealth is certainly risky, as we can all see in the tabloids reflected in the lives of the rich and famous.
Another mantra he uses often is 'don't be normal; normal is broke'! I agree---don't be normal, but don't be normal because Jesus wasn't normal. Being serious about your Christian life isn't normal.
So, tonight's class was certainly the best since it said the most about the spiritual issues. Not enough was said, but more than the other classes. It reminded me of a sermon series we heard in Memphis over 20 years ago. There are only a handful of sermons I have heard that were that memorable. This series was about the nature of God, and there were some sermons on things about God's nature which are out of our human realm, things like His sovereignty, his omnipotence, his omniscience. But some were about the characteristics of God which we are expected to imitate, and which His children should be seeking every day. The sermons said it this way:
- God is a worker, and so should we be
- God is a lover, and so should we be
- God is a giver, and so should we be
I would add another: God is a thinker, and so should we be.
I think it was Mahatma Gandhi who said that a great evil in this world is wealth without work. I agree, though I suspect on far less socialist grounds than Gandhi. I do not object to wealthy capitalists making even more money through investing their capital. I consider that a form of work. I do believe that we have a calling, a vocation, to carry out in order to live in God's image. Jesus said in John 5:17 'My father is working until now, and I myself am working'. He is still at work. He expects no less of us.
Of course, the most quoted Scripture is John 3:16: 'For God so loved the world that he gave'. This one verse, along with many others, addresses both God as lover and God as giver. Love is often expressed in gifts though not only in gifts. To be like Him, we must both love and give.
Got is also a thinker. Ramsey did emphasize on several occasions the importance of reading and thinking. In the beginning was the Logos we are told, and the Logos, though translated 'Word', is not something spoken. It is more akin to mind than speech. To say that God 'spoke' the universe into existence is really to say that He thought it into existence. I have commented before that the famous relativity equation should really be E=mc^2=I where I=Information; that is to say, God turned information, really His thought, into both mass and energy to create the universe. To say that all truth is God's truth, and that we are to seek truth, is to say in another form that God is a thinker, and so should we be.
As I said, I agree with most of the actions that Ramsey recommends. I just don't think doing it to build wealth is a good enough reason. I like to think he also thinks that but just doesn't say it enough. Ultimately, if we attain wealth, the whole pathway should be one that glorifies God, and our life style should be one that glorifies God and not just one that allows us to 'live like no one else'.
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