Worry Minds

Last week I posted my friend Jenny’s song Invisible Type. This week’s offering is a song with a much different sound – it’s called Worry Minds and it is Midi-driven, rather than accoustic as last week’s was. I love the lyrics. This song speaks of our worry and the ways we deal with it, and how Christ brings peace to us, like cooling water on our wildfires.

The song shifts midway into a midi instrumental, transforming the subdued and almost trudging feel (fitting for the lyrics) of the song’s beginning into a far more joyful and free melody that speaks of the freedom, peace and joy that Christ brings us. And even though it’s midi, somehow this works for me.

Click here to get the Worry Minds mp3.

(note: I figured the lyrics out by listening to it – Jenny sent me the lyrics to Invisible Type, but I didn’t want to bug her for these. Hopefully I got them right)

Worry Minds



Worry minds they always, they’re always at it

With a fist, with a grip so tight

And their biting fingernails

Darkness finds, yes it always, well it always finds them

Like a blanket wraps and their trapped

Backed into a corner

Drugs are kind but they always, they always leave them

With greed, they’re a state of need

Be it coffee or cocaine

You’re not blind no You always, You always see them

When they hide, when they’re lost, when they’ve lied

You always know better

You fall on them like water

You fall on their wildfires and ease their burning pain

And you poured out blood and water

You died for their wildfires and rose to breathe again

Corrections and wisdom requested

It’s not often that I post anything theological when the subject is something as difficult to understand as some of Christ’s words in Matthew 5. Well, tonight I wrote three posts on the subject, as I prepare to teach Matthew 5:17-48 in the GAP class tomorrow.

I highly covet any expansion, correction, and enlightenment any of you can offer on what I have written in these three posts. And not just before tomorrow, but anytime.

What’s a Christian to do with the Old Testament law? Part 1

What’s a Christian to do with the Old Testament law? Part 2

What’s a Christian to do with the Old Testament law? Part 3 (the Law of Christ)

Thanks.

What’s a Christian to do with the Old Testament law? Part 3 (the Law of Christ)

"Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

– Matthew 5:19-20

(Ok, here's where I need to take a deep breath)

I've said sometimes when teaching, "if the words of Jesus don't scare you, you're not really reading." This statement of Christ is a great example of what I'm talking about. It scares me.

And it confuses me a bit as well. When Jesus refers to the "least of these commandments", what is he referring to?

In the previous few statements in chapter 5 of Matthew, Jesus has affirmed the law and the prophets, and has claimed in himself to be the fulfillment of them. He reiterates that he has not come to abolish the law, but rather to fulfill it.

In reading ahead to the end of the chapter, we see that Christ launches into a series of "you have heard it said / but I say to you" statements, where he reinterprets six commands from the Old Testament and moves their "center" from the skin-depth of our external actions to the depths of our hearts. For example, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment" (vv. 21-22a).

It is important to notice that Jesus doesn't make the law easier here. He makes it harder.

Some have argued that the purpose of the law is only to show us our need for Christ, and our inability to please God on our own. While this view has some attraction for me (I don't need to take these commands seriously? Cool!) I don't believe it is correct.

My friend Jared summarizes nicely my discomfort:

The Law is indeed a mirror (as James' epistle elucidates), it does indeed confront us in its very existence with our failure to measure up, with the complete imperfection within us. No, by the law will no one be justified. Yes, the law's declaration demonstrates our own alienation from God's holiness. But this notion that this negative declaration is only why it exists, to show us we can't do it, is just . . . weird. I just can't read the Sermon on the Mount, for instance, in which Jesus makes the Law harder by making it about our hearts and not just our behavior, and think it's just some bizarre logic puzzle meant to mean the opposite of what it says.

When Jesus says "Love your enemies," yes it is implicit that we can't do that perfectly, that it is not in our own power to do that or even want to do that. But it is still a command. It is still something to do. And with the Spirit's transforming power, in the new life in Jesus, it is something we can and must do.

I like what Dallas Willard says about this stuff: The life of faith is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning. There is a huuuuge difference. And I think many of those who get hung up on the Law as mirror — setting one "use" of the Law against another — fall off the horse on the other side.

Well said.

So what's Jesus doing here? I believe that Jesus meant what he said; this is how we are to live. This is what the Kingdom of God looks like: it's a Kingdom populated by followers of Jesus who live not just in accordance with the letter of the law, but who accord with the spirit of the law as well. Kingdom people are people who understand that anger in their heart does lead to murder, that lust in their heart does lead to adultery, that the person standing next to us is not a fool to be despised, but is rather a creature fearfully and wonderfully created in the image of God. Kingdom people are people who understand that we don't live for ourselves, for our dignity, or to get "what's coming to us".

In the following verses and chapters, Jesus is going to describe his Kingdom, populated by the blessed meek, the blessed poor in spirit, the pure in heart that he described at the beginning of his sermon.

If you're like me, the description of the Kingdom in the sermon on the mount is both very good news and very bad news. It's good news when I think of how wonderful it would be to live in that kind of society; a society of Jesus-followers living from the heart and living out the love of Christ to each other. But because I'm crooked deep inside, it becomes bad news when I start imagining myself conforming to this law of the Spirit, because it seems impossible.

But I've learned that what seems impossible to me is often not impossible for God. And this is the gospel, the good news, that a dead man like me can be made alive in Christ and can actually do the good works which the Lord, who's workmanship I am, has prepared for me to do.

When we live in accordance to the law of Christ, which is the law of the Spirit, not just the letter, our righteousness will surpass the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, who knew the letter backwards and forwards but who had lost the purpose of the law, and who had become dead to the things of God even as they memorized and lived out the externals of his commands.

And we are to live in accordance with Christ's law. Not to earn salvation, because Christ has already earned it. This life of obedience in the Spirit is natural; a result and a reflection of Jesus.

The law of Christ, which is the fullest expression and completion of the law and the prophets in the Old Testament, is joy. As is being a citizen of the Kingdom of God, lit up by that same law, a shining city on a hill.

[Note: this was cross-posted on the HNW Gap Singles site]

What’s a Christian to do with the Old Testament law? Part 2

Disclaimer: I have no illusion that what I'm writing in this post represents the only valid understanding of the scripture in Matthew 5. This is my best understanding to date, though.

"For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished." – Matthew 5:18

Jesus makes a remarkable statement here. Some have said that Jesus' previous "I have not come to abolish the law" statement was a defensive counter to the religious leaders' accusations of him as a lawbreaker. This makes some sense, except for the fact that many believe that the Sermon on the Mount came early in Jesus' ministry, before much of that criticism had been leveled. And also, note the reach of Jesus' statement. Not only did he not come to abolish the law, but he affirms that not the smallest letter or stroke of the pen of the law would pass away until all of it is accomplished! That's quite an overreach, if all he was trying to do was deflect criticism.

Plus, Jesus never strikes me as the kind of person who feels the need to defend himself.

Notice how Jesus talks about the law: to Jesus, the law is not a set of dead rules to follow. No, the law has a purpose, which can be accomplished. And we know this from scripture – the law is a mirror for us to see ourselves the way God sees us. The Psalmist writes of how the law "revives the soul", enlightens us, makes us wise, and endures forever.

Sometimes we get the idea that the law was an evil thing that Christ did away with. But that's not what he's saying here. To Jesus, the law is a very good thing, with a very good purpose, and it was to be accomplished, in him.

So, has the law been accomplished? People debate these days whether any of the Old Testament law applies to us today. There are some aspects of it that, obviously, were accomplished in Jesus' passion. For instance, we don't sacrifice animals for sin anymore, because Christ is our ultimate and all-sufficient sacrifice. We don't follow the rituals of the temple anymore, because we ourselves are now the Temple of the Holy Spirit. And certain aspects of the law – the dietary laws, for instance – were specifically set aside in Scripture. Others, such as circumcision, are shown to have been replaced by new signs in the new creation (in this case, baptism).

I am not versed in all the theology behind Christ's statement. But I know that the law was not a mistake. It points us to Jesus, and in him it finds its fulfillment, and it is perfected in the "Law of Christ".

More on that in a later post.

[Note: this was cross-posted on the HNW Gap Singles site]


What’s a Christian to do with the Old Testament law? Part 1

“The Sermon on the Mount is probably the best-known part of the teaching of Jesus, though arguably it is the least understood, and certainly it is the least obeyed” – John Stott (from The Message of the Sermon on the Mount, InterVarsity Press, 1978, p. 15.)

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

– Matthew 5:17-20

Sometimes, when preparing to teach the GAP, I foolishly think “I’m up to this”. The good news about the Sermon on the Mount is that I don’t hold any illusions about my qualifications to teach on it. Nearly every statement Christ makes in this sermon is a conundrum to me. When I read with open eyes and heart the words of Jesus, I find myself scandalized. So much of my life fails to line up with his words, and so many of his words don’t match my preconceived notions of what being a Christian is all about.

The good news here, again, is that I know that if Jesus and I aren’t lined up, I’m the crooked one.

Take this statement: Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

Now, that’s quite a statement, isn’t it?

Yet, I’m so glad Jesus said it! In that one statement Christ affirms the witness of the Old Testament about himself, and he begins lifting the fog that often surrounds my reading of the first five books of the Bible. Jesus lived in a time of great piety surrounding the Old Testament law, the Torah. And he was often accused, by the Jewish religious leaders, of ignoring or setting aside the law, which they held so dear.

And in my day I find myself confused when reading the Torah (don’t you?). How many of us read, for instance, Leviticus for pleasure?

We don’t get it. And the religious leaders didn’t get Jesus. He didn’t come to abolish God’s word. How could he? He is the Word!

No, Jesus has come to fulfill the law. He is the fulfillment, the end point of what the Old Testament was getting at. In his perfect life and atoning death he fulfilled what Moses and the prophets wrote about, commanded, and hungered for. Emmanuel, God with us, here to usher in a new age, a new Kingdom, a new way to be human.

And it only makes sense that Matthew would report Jesus’ words regarding the fulfillment of the law in himself. One of the main purposes of Matthew’s gospel is to show how Christ fulfilled the Law and the Prophets. Do a search sometime on the word “fulfill” in Matthew using your favorite Bible software or Bible website. Over and over you read “All this took place to fulfill . . .” and “that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled . . .”. By my rough count, there are fifteen such statements in Matthew. Jesus is the fulfillment!

Read Leviticus, and the other OT books of the law, with Jesus in mind and the seemingly dead regulations, sacrifices and symbols begin to sparkle with life. It’s all about him. Jesus is the firm foundation upon which the Bible must be read, to understand it and to live it.

Of course, knowing that doesn’t mean that Jesus’ statements in Matthew 5 are crystal clear to me. I still struggle with them. And I know I’m not alone.

I’ll write more on this in a later post.

[Note: this was cross-posted on the HNW Gap Singles site]

“Christian piety is a sweet flame”

Here are a few quotes seen on Provocations and Pantings (all the quotes in his post are good, but these few stood out to me):

This one will make you think. It makes me wonder if we should re-think what it means to “belong to a denomination”.

If you can assume that merely showing up at church is a minimum indicator of spiritual life then it is not too much to conclude that over half of our denomination’s 16.3 million members are spiritually dead.

Tom Ascol

And, for an “amen x a million” moment:

Well Christian blogs should not be for self-promotion. It is disturbing that far too many Christian blogs are shamelessly pushing self and not seeing the potential for kingdom expansion via the blogosphere. Everything from personal agendas to personal stuff is being pushed. But here, as everywhere else, we must shape our interaction in the public square by humility.

Nor are blogs a place for covertly forgetting the Christian duty to be gentle. Far too many blogs are rude and full of vitriol. And all in the name of boldness for Christ! God forbid that Christian blogs be like such. As Jonathan Edwards—no wimp!—once said, Christian piety is a sweet flame.

Michael Haykin

Did I mention that D.A. Carson is a hoss?

“Most people go through life concerned that others will think too little of them. Paul was concerned that others would think too much of him.”

– D.A. Carson (via Naselli)

And this one, oddly enough, brightened my day 🙂

Tech researcher Gartner Inc. reported earlier this year that 200 million people have given up blogging, more than twice as many as are active.

Ted Olsen

The missing ingredient

Jared Wilson continues his glorious practice of taking nail, hitting with hammer:

The Missing Ingredient

I really think it may be joy.

I’m just speculating here.

When I weary of a doctrinal compatriot’s constant knocking of the Church to the extent that it essentially becomes their raison d’blog, I stop seeing “prophet” and start seeing “scrooge.” I see the pervasive unhappiness with the spiritual quality of fellow believers not as indication of the blogger’s properly calibrated prophetic barometer but as indication of their thinly veiled joylessness.

Remember: only God gets to vomit people out.

Read the whole thing.

New Theme – Pure

I’ve rolled out a new theme called “Pure” – what do you think?. This is yet another cannibalized WordPress theme. I kind of dig it (for now anyway).

This theme was created over at Celestial Star. I still need to contact them regarding this port to Bloo, although they allow free downloads of the WordPress version so I’m hopeful they won’t mind me using the ported Bloo version here.

Once I have their permission, I’ll roll it out on the Bloo Themes blog (although I may delay a bit because to work well this theme requires some theme fixes coming out in Bloo version 1.00).

Update – They gave me permission.

Invisible Type

My friend Jenny is one of those unique people that one is sometimes privileged to meet: she is musical, artistic, intelligent, creative, thoughtful, and yet without a shred of presumption. She has a humble and Godly nature.

She’s also a prolific songwriter, and recently she passed me a CD of 26 of her songs, with an apologetic disclaimer about the quality of the recordings. On a recent car trip to Corpus I popped her CD in and was pleasantly amazed by what I heard. Yes, the recordings are rough (mostly done at home on her computer) but I just found the whole CD to be . . . delightful is the only word I can come up with.

It’s an eclectic mix of songs, ranging from whimsical escapades to songs about family members to songs taken directly from Scripture. The lyrical content is what grabbed me right away.

I’ve asked Jenny’s permission to post a few of her songs here (unfortunately, I will only be able to post a few due to space on my webhost). So now and then I’ll write a post and include one of Jenny’s songs for your perusal.

The first song posted here is called Invisible Type, and it’s the song that grabbed me the earliest. It’s such a clever use of rhyme and alliteration, and there are some true gems among this song’s lines (lyrics are below).

Click here to get the Invisible Type mp3.

(note: I remastered the original recording a bit in ProTools so I take the blame if my mix takes anything away from the original song)

Lyrics – invisible type

i got invisible type when i write cause i type it in white when i write so you’ll never ever know what i might or might not feel so comfortable to show, i hide it even though you could highlight it and scroll

i’m in the cracks of the concrete, i’m in a garden of steel

i’m a little ant with a pack on my back, i’m keepin it real

i am a part of the working class

i’m sitting at the arrow while the others pass

there’s a book full of people that i want to be like

there’s a painting on my wall i stare at every night

often i wonder what it would be like to lose my sight

learn to listen to color, learn to live with the night

i got invisible type when i write cause i type it in white when i write so you’ll never ever know what i might or might not feel so comfortable to show, i hide it even though you could highlight it and scroll

and if he hollers we’ll sit there and make him pay

50 dollars with interest growing everyday

“Screw Vegas, kids are a gamble.” (it’s a little more than i can handle)

Josh said it right

and i’d love it if you’d love me despite

all the invisible type when i write cause i type it in white when i write so you’ll never ever know what i might or might not feel so comfortable to show, i hide it even though you could highlight it and scroll

if he hollers, make him pay

50 dollars everyday

which one did you really mean-ie miney mo

by the tiger, by the toe

Honesty isn’t everything

The title of this post might catch you up short. No – I’m not saying that honesty isn’t important. I’m also not saying that it isn’t a command of God.

What I’m saying is that honesty, defined as full transparency, with every inward struggle and angst worn sleeve-ward, is not the highest virtue.

I got to thinking about this as I surfed through the blogosphere one day, reading people’s feelings about this and that, and feeling like I was being sucked into a vortex of negativity. Now, negativity is something I can generally brush off like the black snowflake it often is, but when it’s in the church (did I mention i was surfing the God-blogosphere?) it tends to have barbs on it.

What interested me in particular were the accolades being passed through linkage to these “fearless, honest” (but extremely negative) bloggers. Not only did I have to wonder at just how much bravery it takes, really, to press the “Publish” button, but I also wondered if it really does much good to splash one’s darkest musings on the walls of cyberspace.

Then I began thinking about Mother Theresa.

And a post was born . . .

I’m a bit late to the Mother Theresa discussion, but you may have read of the recent disclosure that, based upon her private letters, it appears that she endured a decades-long dark night of the soul, and was troubled by doubts about God and his seeming absence in her life.

But Mother Theresa was born into a different generation; a generation that knew that life was hard and knew what duty was and understood the flitting nature of feelings and emotions.

And that’s what amazes me. In the midst of all that she was going through internally, Mother Theresa obeyed what she understood God’s call to be in her life, and she went to and served the least of these in a place that placed a crushing weight of tragedy, disease, and poverty upon her and the sisters of mercy that worked with her. She obeyed even when she didn’t feel the joy of salvation or the presence of God. And she sustained this obedience through decades of service.

In a strictly legalistic sense, she wasn’t very honest about how she was feeling. At least not publicly.

And in hiding her inner thoughts and, indeed, denying herself in that area she was able to continue the work Jesus had given her to do.

Perhaps she realized that the way we feel, right now, is rarely reality, and that the dimness of the glass that we look through has not diminished in the least the light of glory that awaits on the other side for those who persevere. And, through her suffering, perhaps she realized that it really wasn’t, in the final analysis, about her.

God bless her. And may I grow to be half so wise.