Sunday, May 31, 2009

Fish Symbols and Crosses

Is it time to stop using the "fish symbol" to identify our faith? In the first century church when Christians were being persecuted by Romans and other groups, the symbol was a secret message that allowed followers of Jesus to identify each other and mark locations where the church met. Presumably this was a very helpful symbol at the time. The Greek word for fish, "ICTHUS," was a simple acrostic reminding early Christians of the nature of this Jesus whom they followed: "Jesus, Christ, God's Son, Saviour." It could be very helpful to have a symbol that only the faithful recognized.

Today, that symbol is anything but secret. It is commonly recognized as something which followers of Christ use to identify themselves and make a statement. Numerous parodies of the symbol exist in popular culture. The darwinian fish with legs being the most recognizable. Christians sometimes even engage in "fish wars" by using symbols depicting the christian fish swallowing the darwinian fish.

Friday night Maureen and I saw the movie "The Soloist." For the most part, it is a great movie with beautiful cinematography, interesting foley, a great score, impressive acting and a wonderful story.

At one point in the movie we are introduced to a cello instructor who offers to give lessons to Nathaniel, a gifted player who lives on the streets of Los Angeles. It was at this point that I noticed the instructor had a fish symbol on his cello case and I wondered where the writers were taking us. The movie then goes on to portray the instructor as an insensitive, blundering, idiot who only wants to help Nathaniel as a project that will earn him Christian brownie points. The fish symbol here was code for simple-minded, fool who thinks the world's problems can be solved with prayer and pats on the back. The movie did show Christian ministries serving on the streets of LA and making a difference; but the viewer would have a hard time making the connection between the work of social justice and the Jesus of the Bible. The motivations of those serving were not made explicit.

So, what am I saying about symbols? I guess I am saying that those of us who follow Jesus need to be seen as those who are willing to live out our faith in sacrificial ways that show that we too are committed to the poor and are willing to come out of our clean homes and safe church buildings to sit down beside a street person and find out their story. Our symbols should show that we understand that following Jesus is costly. Perhaps we need to meditate less on the symbol of the fish and more on the symbol of the cross.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Some stories are worth telling again!

I know that God is good and that He is involved in my life. I also need constant reminders that He is good and that He is involved in my life. Spring of 2007 was one time where we saw God at work in answering the prayers of His people.

Around the middle of March I began having some pain in the right side of my head. It was consistent with something called trigeminal neuralgia. Basically a nerve gets inflamed for some reason and sends pain signals to the brain. This may be caused by a tumour pressing on a nerve, it may be caused by a virus, or some other less obvious cause. As my doctor investigated, a CT scan indicated a possible mass on the pons of my brain. No one wants to hear the words “possible mass” on any portion of the brain. Was this a cancerous lesion? Was this something that might grow? Could we be looking at the thing that would usher me out of this world? Many questions and fears went through our minds as we did our best to trust God with the future.

This brought us to a period of waiting for an MRI which would be a better form of imaging for structures inside of the head. During this period of waiting we asked many people to pray that God would take away the pain and take away anything that might be causing the pain. Many people did pray for healing. On about April 10th the pain began to subside and within four weeks the pain was completely gone, never to return again.

On Monday, May 7th I had an MRI. The next day, my doctor gave me the results. The MRI results were absolutely normal. There was no evidence of a mass of any sort. There was nothing abnormal in my brain.

Whatever the CT scan showed, it was no longer there. Had there been something there and God removed it? Was there an artefact on the CT results? We will never know for sure. However, if God chose to miraculously heal someone, this is likely what it would look like from a medical, scientific, perspective.

What we do know for sure is that God has told us “prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make them well. . . . and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results” (James 5:15 -16). He has not promised that He will heal in every circumstance, but today I will say, “Praise God, I'm healed!” (Luke 17:15).

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Can Hell Burn Hot Enough?

Randy Stonehill is one of the great songwriters of our time. He is known for many of his humorous songs like "Lung Cancer," "Great Big Stupid World," and "Baby Hates Clowns." But allow these lyrics to soak into your mind. Sometimes I look at the darkness of our world and I ask myself, "Can Hell Burn Hot Enough?"
POSTCARDS FROM BANGKOK
HUB OF THE EASTERN WORLD
WHERE ALL THE TOURISTS COME
TO PARTY WITH THE PRETTY GIRLS
THEY DANCE LIKE SLEEPWALKERS
UNDER THE DISCO LIGHTS
UP ON THE AUCTION BLOCK
HATING ALL THE HUNGRY EYES

AND I'VE SEEN THE WOODEN SHACKS
ROW AFTER ENDLESS ROW
WHERE OPEN SEWAGE FLOWS
IN THE SHADOW OF THE FACTORY
I'VE SEEN THE CHILDREN'S FACES
HOPE BURNING IN THEIR EYES
TOO YOUNG TO REALIZE
THEY FACE A LIFE OF MISERY

Chorus
CAN HELL BURN HOT ENOUGH
TO PAY FOR ALL THIS SUFFERING
THE MURDER OF THE INNOCENT
CAN HELL BURN HOT ENOUGH
TO BALANCE OUT THESE SCALES
CAN HELL BURN HOT ENOUGH

I'VE SEEN THE CORPORATIONS
BUILT UPON HUMAN BLOOD
THE NAMELESS, FACELESS WORKERS
CRUSHED LIKE DIAMONDS IN THE MUD
EXPAND YOUR OPERATION
THE LABOR COMES DIRT CHEAP
NO ONE COMPLAINS WHEN THERE'S
A MILLION JOBLESS ON THE STREET

AND I'VE SEEN THE SICK AND BROKEN
TOO WEAK FOR STANDING UP
HOLD UP THEIR BEGGAR'S CUP
JUST HOPING FOR ENOUGH TO EAT
WHEN JUST AROUND THE CORNER
AT THE SHANGRI-LA HOTEL
THE WEALTHY TAKE THEIR LUNCH
AT POOLSIDE TO ESCAPE THE HEAT

Chorus
CAN HELL BURN HOT ENOUGH
TO PAY FOR ALL THIS SUFFERING
THE MURDER OF THE INNOCENT
CAN HELL BURN HOT ENOUGH
TO BALANCE OUT THESE SCALES
CAN HELL BURN HOT ENOUGH

Bridge
O GOD OF JUSTICE
MY GOD OF EQUITY
I KNOW YOUR HEART BREAKS
FOR THE SINS OF THIS WICKED WORLD
I KNOW THAT JUDGEMENT WILL BE SWIFT AND IRREVERSIBLE
TILL THEN YOUR TEARS RAIN
ON THE EVIL AND THE GOOD

I KNOW THAT GOD IS HOLY
I KNOW THAT STATE I'M IN
I KNOW THAT SIN IS SIN
AND IT'S NOT MEASURED BY DEGREE
HERE IN THE LAND OF DARKNESS
WE ALL ARE GUILTY MEN
I KNOW I'D STAND CONDEMNED
WITHOUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS

Chorus
CAN HELL BURN HOT ENOUGH
TO PAY FOR ALL THIS SUFFERING
THE MURDER OF THE INNOCENT
CAN HELL BURN HOT ENOUGH
TO BALANCE OUT THESE SCALES
CAN HELL BURN HOT ENOUGH

Written by Randy Stonehill
© 1990 Stonehillian Music/Word Music (a div. of Word, Inc.)/ASCAP

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Teach Me to Be Generous

Prayer of St Ignatius
O Lord,
teach me to be generous,
teach me to serve you as you deserve,
to give and not to count the cost
to fight and not to heed the wounds
to toil and not to seek for rest
to labour and not to seek reward
save that of knowing
I do Your most holy will.

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Heal Me of My Disease

God, heal me of my disease. I want to surpass others. I want to be put on a pedestal higher than others. I want others to see me and give me praise. In my dreams of heaven, I see myself more highly honoured than others. This is a sickness.

God, allow me to be someone who cheers others on. Help me to be one who helps others to be successful. May I work to see others increase. Heal me of my disease for there is truly only One who is worthy of praise and honour and accolades.
Rev. 4:9-11
Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne, the one who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the one who lives forever and ever. And they lay their crowns before the throne and say,

"You are worthy, O Lord our God,
to receive glory and honor and power.
For you created everything,
and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were created."

Monday, May 11, 2009

Question Marks and Exclamation Points

We were sitting in our living room with some friends discussing Beluga whales at the Vancouver Aquarium and the fact that one of them was pregnant. Someone asked, “What is the gestation period for a Beluga?” Not having a marine biologist in the group, no one knew. However, a quick Google search gave us the answer. We live in a world that offers almost limitless information at our finger-tips. Yet, we have more questions than any other time in history.

I just watched a television debate on the question, “Does Satan Exist?”* Everyone in the debate claimed to believe in God. Only two of the panellists believed in Satan. It was a popular debate showing that people are interested in this and other such questions. We question the meaning of life and why we are on this planet. We can observe and quantify brain waves and neural chemical processes but we question consciousness, love, and altruism. Science can’t give adequate answers regarding why or how such things exist.

Maybe it is time we consult God rather than Google. God Himself is a mystery too big for us to fully comprehend. Yet He has partially revealed Himself to us and we now understand God and our world as if we were looking at them through a bad mirror. In his song, “Naïve,” Chris Rice says “I believe You hold an exclamation point for every question mark.” We may not have the answers, but the answers exist. God holds them in His hands.

By the way, for those who are still wondering, the gestation period for a Beluga whale is 14-15 months. I thought I would save you having to Google it yourself.

Naïve – Chris Rice; Past the Edges (1998).
How long until You defend Your name and set the record right
And how far will You allow the human race to run and hide
And how much can You tolerate our weaknesses
Before You step into our sky blue and say "That’s quite enough!"

Am I naive to want a remedy for every bitter heart
Can I believe You hold an exclamation point for every question mark
And can I leave the timing of this universe in bigger hands
And may I be so bold to ask You to please hurry?

I hear that a God who’s good would never let the evil run so long
But I say it’s because You’re good You’re giving us more time, yeah
‘Cause I believe that You love to show us mercy
But when will You step into our sky blue
And say "That’s quite enough, and your time is up!"

Am I naive to want a remedy for every bitter heart
Can I believe You hold an exclamation point for every question mark
And can I leave the timing of this universe in bigger hands
And may I be so bold to ask You to please hurry?

Am I naive...
Can I believe...
And can I leave...in bigger hands
And may I be so bold to ask You, to ask You, to ask You

How long?

*You can watch the debate here. Unfortunately, the debate is a Hollywood debate with little substance and does not help anyone come to any conclusions.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Freedom


A few weeks ago this picture caught my attention. It was part of a news article about Afghan women protesting a new law set to go into effect in Afghanistan. “One provision [of the law] makes it illegal for a woman to resist her husband’s sexual advances. A second provision requires a husband’s permission for a woman to work outside the home or go to school. And a third makes it illegal for a woman to refuse to “make herself up” or “dress up” if that is what her husband wants.”*

The irony of the photo is that while the women are protesting their treatment as property in Afghan law, they are also submitting to one of the rather arbitrary laws of the land which states that women must not show their wrists or ankles in public. Each fist raised in defiance contains a tiny finger which grips the sleeve of their garment to ensure that the wrist is not bared in public. These women have been deeply affected by a restrictive culture. It is hard to extract themselves from the chains of their culture. I pray that they will find true freedom.

Galatians 3:24-29 says,
Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian and teacher to lead us until Christ came. So now, through faith in Christ, we are made right with God. [25] But now that faith in Christ has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian. [26] So you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. [27] And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have been made like him. [28] There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. For you are all Christians—you are one in Christ Jesus. [29] And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and now all the promises God gave to him belong to you.

In this photo, one truly bold protestor releases the sleeve and allows her wrist to be seen.



*http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/world/asia/16afghan.html
NYTimes article.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Who We Are

Trouble Is
Dan Haseltine, Charlie Lowell, Stephen Mason, Matt Odmark, Aaron Sands - 2003 Bridge Building Music, Inc.

My wings don't sail me to the sky
On my own these wings won't fly
Jesus told me so
Still I'm not so sure that I know

Can't find no rest for my soul
Can't find no rest on my own
Jesus told me so
Still I'm not so sure that I know

Man, the trouble is
We don't know who we are instead
Man, the trouble is
We don't know who we are instead

I'll keep runnin' the other way
My heart ain't built to stay
My heart ain't built to stay
And the world just ain't that way

Man, the trouble is
We don't know who we are instead
Man, the trouble is
We don't know who we are instead
We don't know who we are instead

My heart ain't built to stay
My heart ain't built to stay
Jesus told me so

Praise God for poets. I know my limitations. I know I can't fly. On my own, I know I can't find rest for my soul. I keep going the other way. My heart is fickle. I know all of this. Who am I instead? That is what I need to ponder.