A Series on Love: Part 3 -- "The Greatest Action"

Paul starts his discourse in 1 Corinthians 13 in a most interesting way. He begins with, "And now I will show you the most excellent way" (1 Corinthians 13:1). From there, he launches into what many Christians call the "Love Chapter" of the Bible, defining love:

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

Love is the greatest choice or action (since making a choice leads to action). Peter declares that "love covers a multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8b). Jesus explains to a confused Nicodemus who has just exclaimed, "How can this be?" by telling him, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

Love, no matter what the commercials, advertisements or Valentine Day cards say, doesn't mean never having to say you are sorry. Love means acting as if the other person was you. We all love ourselves; that's pretty easy. I want to make sure I get the best piece of pie, I get all the presents I want, I get served first. However, Christ commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves. To turn it around, love means making sure the other person is comfortable, the other person gets what they need, the other person enjoys the event. "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28).

Paul wrote to Philemon in regards to his run away slave, Onesimus, who has since become a Christian. The reason for the letter is to entreat Philemon to welcome back his slave as a brother. In his argument, Paul calls on his brother to accept Onesimus on the "basis of love." Even though Paul could have "ordered you to do what you ought to do" because of Christ, he appeals on the groundwork, on the footing, on the foundation of love because an action without love is nothing and love, as Peter pointed out, "covers a multitude of sins".

Love is the first of the fruits of the Spirit. Love accepts and prays for the enemy. "Love never harms its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." Paul began 1 Corinthians 13 with a unique statement and ends with the culmination, the summary of love: "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love" (v. 13).

--HM

A Series on Love: Part 2 -- "Unconditional, Absolute, No Strings Attached"

My mom told me the story once of an event that happened at the college she attended. The school had a mud football game and students would eagerly partake in the competition. Though my mom personally didn't play, she had a girlfriend who did. One time her friend came out of the mud pit after the game and gave my mom a big, wet, muddy hug. Mom did not quite appreciate this gesture of camaraderie. There was a reason she didn't compete in mud football and it wasn't because she was not an athlete!

Imagine, then, that a person willingly hugs you not minding the mud, or dirt or wetness or smell. They don't mind that their clothes get dirty in the process. Truly, they don't even notice all of the above.

Ayn Rand, author of the influential book Atlas Shrugged, stated, "To love a woman for her virtues is meaningless. She's earned it, it's a payment, not a gift. But to love her for her vices is to defile all virtue for her sake--and that is a real tribute of love, because you sacrifice your conscience, your reason, your integrity, and your invaluable self-esteem" (1.). Unfortunately, she missed the point regarding love. As John Piper wrote, "Mercy in the Christian sense is not "because of" vices, but "in spite of" vices" (2.).

"In spite of" is a powerful phrase. And it is what is called unconditional. The saying goes, "A friend is someone who knows everything about you but still loves you any way", in spite of our faults. It is the willingly bestowing of a hug to a person who is covered in the mud of life. Unconditional love is not based on actions because as imperfect creatures, we will fail. Our love is based on the absolute love of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who never changes. "As I have loved you, so you must love one another" (John 13:34).

Loving as Christ loved sounds good on paper but in action it can be difficult. If my younger siblings listen to me, don't touch my work, and do what they are told, then everything is just peachy. But if they ask too many questions, do everything they have been told not to do and interfere in my work...well, I get irritated, want them to go away, and am, sometimes, downright rude. My love is conditioned, based on appropriate, perfect behavior!

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:5). Not while we were getting our act together, not after we took a shower to clean off the mud, not when we realized the depravity of our souls but when we were dead in our sins. We didn't even know we were in the mud pit to begin with. Nevertheless, God in His unconditional, absolute, no strings attached love climbed into the mud pit to show us the way out. Not only that but he cleaned us off, too! The prophet Zechariah conveyed this writing, "Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes." Then he said to Joshua, "See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you""(Zechariah 3:3).

Clothed in the richness of Christ's righteousness, loved unconditionally with our sins taken away, we, as Christians, are called to love as Christ loved us. To embrace each other, even when the other person may be in the wrong, even when the other person may be covered in filth. We love as Christ loved us, not because of our sins but in spite of our sins.

--HM

Endnotes:

1. Quote taken from article by John Piper, "The Hole in Her Universe". World Magazine: 27 October, 2007

2. John Piper. "The Hole in Her Universe". World Magazine: 27 October, 2007

A Series on Love: Part 1 -- "By This"

The Pharisees obeyed 613 rules above and beyond what God had originally prescribed in the Pentateuch. As if the Levitical system and laws given by Moses were not difficult enough to follow, they added another six hundred for good measure, just in case, to be on the safe side. When confronted by God himself, they could make no excuses. Christ said unto them, "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices -- mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law -- justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel" (Matthew 23:23, 24, NIV). In perfecting the external, the teachers of the law and the Pharisees had neglected the internal and the eternal. What they had forgotten was to obey God and practice justice, mercy, and faithfulness; in a word, love.

In conservative circles, Christians are donning a unique and sometimes radically different look and behavior. Trends are occurring in these circles. Our girls wear dresses, have long hair, and bake bread from freshly ground wheat. Families have 10 children in homemade clothes (by their sisters), all homeschooled, who sit still for all of the church service and who obey immediately. We drive big conversion vans, have submissive wives, sons who are chivalrous, and girls who desire to be good mothers and wives, too. We don't date and we do everything as a family. The above is all good. In fact, it is great! On the other hand, we can not cling to these things to distinguish us from the rest of the world. Christ explained just after Judas left to betray him what separated the elect from unbelievers: "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:35, emphasis added).

So it isn't having 10 children and gentle wives and making homemade bread and having family worship every night and having children who obey immediately, completely, and with a happy heart and educating at home and practicing courtship and understanding tough doctrinal issues (pant) that signals to the rest of the world, "These are Christians!" No it isn't. In fact, Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 13 that unless our actions are bound up in and driven by love, they are meaningless.

We will be known by love because God so loved us with an "everlasting love" (Jeremiah 31:3). 1 John 4:7 explains, "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." "God is love" (1 John 4:16) and "love never fails" (1 Corinthians 13:8).

Then are the above things (large families, obedient children and wives, home cooking, etc.) bad or unnecessary? Of course not but we can not detach the internal and eternal (love) from the external (actions). We were not saved through our actions but through the love of our Heavenly Father. As Jesus pointed out, we must practice action without neglecting the important matters of the heart. Then the world will know we are Christians by our love.

--HM

Are You My Father?

I wonder if Darwin realized the impact and hubbub his little book, Origin of Species, would cause? Did he ever ponder what effects his theory might have? As he was writing, did Darwin lay down his pen and think, "This will change the world?" It would be curious to know if he ever considered other scientific guesses such as Aristotle's theory of Spontaneous Generation that crippled science until it was proven wrong before he published his work. Fast forward to today, and the world is still trying to unravel Darwin's theory. The Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly will be taking a vote to ban creationism and intelligent design from schools. Thus, only evolution will be taught. The Council argues that only radical religion and extremists believe in intelligent design. Perhaps they have over looked the fact that one has to be pretty crazy (or have extreme faith) to believe all of mankind evolved from monkeys?

One could use all sorts of scientific arguments to combat evolution. A person could site the complexity of the human eye or how the brain sends signals without our help to the heart to keep pumping and to the lungs to keep breathing. Or one could look to the human cell, as microbiologist Michael Denton explains, "What we would then see would be an object of unparalleled complexity and adaptive design" (1.). However, one of the first things I learned in Junior High science class was: science can't prove anything. What science does do is point, like a bright neon sign, to Creator God. "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities -- his eternal power and divine nature -- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse" (Romans 1:20, NIV).

So in an appeal to logic, we turn to a different avenue. Mankind throughout the ages has turned to gods and religions to fulfill their inner desires and to answer questions of life and death: "What is ultimate reality? What is the nature of the world? What is the nature of humanity? What is humanity's primary problem? What happens after death?" (2.). The authors of the college textbook, Communications Between Cultures, comment: "Whether it is the teachings of the Bible, Vedas, Koran, Torah, or I Ching, people have always felt a need to look outside themselves for the values they use to manage their lives and guidance on how to view and explain the world" (3.).

Therefore, if non-Christians and Christians alike agree that man has "always felt a need" to search for a being beyond themselves, how can anyone believe in Evolution? Evolution preaches man is the ultimate. Through random chance, he evolved from pond scum to ape to human. If man has evolved and keeps on evolving toward perfection, why do we all need a being greater and outside ourselves to fulfill us? Why has man always needed a Greater Being help him in life if he has and is doing it all on his own as evolution teaches?

None of us would ever take a look at an ape sitting in a zoo and say, "I wonder what his offspring will invent." No one sends a guerrilla a birthday card because he's a "distant relative." Darwin wrote Origin of Species because he, like all of us, was looking for answers to the meaning of life. Evolution and science is not the end-all. Instead, both send man on a quest to find what they point to: Christ Jesus. For those who persist in this hunt, great is their reward: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be open" (Matthew 7:7,8).

--Hannah

Endnotes:

1. Halverson, Dean C., The Compact Guide to World Religions. Minnesota: Bethany House Publishers p. 13

2. Samovar, Larry A.; Porter, Richard E.; McDaniel, Edwin R., Cummnication Between Cultures 6th ed. California: Thomson Learning, Inc. p. 75

3. Halverson, Dean C., The Compact Guide to World Religions. Minnesota: Bethany House Publishers p. 22

On the Threshing Floor

Imagine being childless in a culture that sees children as a blessing and then losing your husband with no immediate opportunity to add a child to your family. If a son was produced, then the family lineage would continue. Without a son and a husband, you now have no opportunity for security through inheritance, no one to look after you in your later years, no hope or future. In addition, your current provision disappears since your extended family, father-in-law and brother-in-law, both died.

In the same situation, your mother-in-law intends to return to her homeland. She's heard that her god was providing for his people there in the midst of a famine. The lack of food originally drove your father-in-law to your homeland where food was present. That is how you met your husband.

Now, your mother-in-law is leaving for her place of birth and encourages you and your sister-in-law to go to your home, to marry again, and then sends you off with a blessing from her god. Your sister-in-law decides she will go back. Possessing nothing, you decide to leave your homeland to follow your marital family's god. Out of your mouth, you declare to your mother-in-law, "Where you go, I will go. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God."

You pause momentarily and ponder where those words of dedication originate. You decide that a continuing relationship with her is sweet for the soul. With nothing to lose, the two of you head out.

Arriving at Bethlehem, your mother-in-law, Naomi, is greeted by the townspeople, her relatives and friends. They are excited; Naomi exclaims that she is bitter and explains that her Lord has afflicted her.

Since it is harvest time when you arrive, Naomi instructs you to glean the fields of barley. Turns out that Naomi's God and the God of this people, has instructed those who plant to not harvest ever single grain or fruit of the crop of the field.

As you gather the grain, the wealthy, influential owner of the field greets all of the workers with blessings from his God. He tells you that he has instructed the men working to not interfere with you, and, when you are thirsty, you may drink from the jars of water filled by men.

You stand in wonder because this man has treated you with respect, showing kindness and protection. You were used to filling jars with water for the men, not the other way around.

"Why," you ask, "are you showing me this favor? I am a foreigner in your land." The wealthy owner responds and says he has been informed of the reason for your recent journey, the kindness you have shown your mother-in-law, and then blesses you once again in the name of his God. Later, he invites you to share in his meal.

When you arrive at your home, Naomi seems to no longer be depressed. She proclaims the wonder of her God, telling you He has not stopped showing His kindness. She proceeds to tell you that the owner who has shown you kindness is Boaz, a close relative, a kinsman-redeemer, who can buy your husband's land and even wed you.

Armed with this information, Naomi instructs you to bathe, perfume and prepare yourself to go to Boaz this evening. Specifically, notice where he lies down for the evening but do not let him see you. Uncover his feet, lie down and he will tell you what to do.

Motivated by love for your mother-in-law and the kindness of strangers, you obey Naomi. In the middle of the night, Boaz wakes to find you at his feet but he does not know it is you. He asks your name and you respond with, "I am your servant, Ruth. Spread the corner of your garment over me since you are a kinsman-redeemer."

Boaz responds by blessing you in the name of his God. He compliments your character and respect for elders - it's all over town; he noticed that you did not lie down at the feet of a younger man and is blessed by your kindness. He then tells you that another kinsman-redeemer exists who is first in line to your husband's land and will give him the opportunity to redeem. However, if he does not redeem, Boaz swears to you by his God, the LORD, that he will.
Wanting to return the kindness and preserve Boaz's reputation, you leave for home before morning carrying your shawl full of the grain Boaz poured into it, six measures! He continues to be generous to you.

Later in the day, word reaches you that Boaz has proclaimed his relationship of kinsman-redeemer with you in front of the town elders. He presented the facts to the relative first in line for redeeming your husband's land who was set to take the land until he found that a widow was also involved. At that discovery, he said he was unable to fulfill and proceeded to release his right to the land and to Ruth.

Having cleared the only hurdle to becoming a kinsman-redeemer, Boaz declares his intentions to the elders and those in attendance: To redeem the property of Naomi and to wed you.

The elders and those at the gate proceed to bless...YOU!

Time has passed but where you are now, time does not exist. You are endowed with looking at the past with a complete understanding not found while you lived on earth. You can now see the grand plan conceived prior to time.

• After the wedding to Boaz, the Creator opened your womb. You conceived and gave birth to a son, Obed.
• Your son, Obed, fathered Jesse who was the father to King David, whose lineage brought forth, the Son of God, Jesus the Christ.
• Christ became your kinsman-redeemer, you now see. He was the only One who could save you. You had nothing within you to save yourself - no right to inheritance, a stranger and alien to God's chosen people, His elect.
• In fact, you realize that your people and heritage were declared enemies of God. His Kinsman-Redeemer, Christ, received God's wrath that you were due as His enemy.
• You marvel how God chose you to be in His family. You see now His desire worked out in your life when you left your homeland with your mother-in-law despite her encouragement to you to stay.
• The story, you see and tell everyone you meet (and they back to you), is really all about the Holy One Whose plans and purposes to glorify Himself were decreed before time and continue to be carried out as He designed.
• As you tell those you meet, you hear:

"Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages. Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed." Revelation 15:3-4

--CM

Music Review: Superchic[k] Beauty From Pain (2005)

Inpop Records

Genre: Pop/Rock

Style: Girl rock band, cross between Black Eyed Peas, Barlow Girls, and TobyMac

World View:

"Here's to the one's who don't give up." "Get your hands up." "Today's your day/ So c'mon bring it on." "You need that boy like a bowling ball dropped on your head/ Which means not at all." These are just some of the lines from the songs in Beauty From Pain. Although Superchic[k] is a Christian artist, they do not openly sing about God. The closest they get is "...And let somebody know that the Most High cares...", "Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above...", and "...You will bring beauty from my pain..." Who is this unknown deity Superchic[k] is singing about? These terms, Most High, You, and [gifts from] above, can be used in almost any religion, but they do say in their "I would like to thank..." paragraphs that they thank God and "Jesus, my Lord and Savior" for the blessings of recording another album. Yes, that's nice, but Nickelback says the same thing and they are a secular group that I do not recommend. Superchic[k]'s songs are mainly about relationships that didn't make it. Many music groups and singers come from the same angle and many of them are secular. Why do "Christian" artists need to sound like the world? Yes, you may sell more albums, but does it have any Biblical truths, any meat, that Christians can sink their teeth into? You be the judge.

Overall Quality:

If you like pop/rock music with okay lyricks, this is your CD. Tricia, the lead vocals, has a whiney rock voice in the songs Anthem (Track 1), Bowling Ball (3), Wishes (5), It's On (7), and Suddenly (8), but she also has an incredible singing voice in Beauty From Pain (6) and We Live (10). This the type of music that you can get energized to. So, if you need a boost, pop in the CD, and start jammin'.

Jonathan

Movie Review: Nancy Drew

Introduction:

When we begin to read a book, literary experts encourage us to enter into the "Great Conversation." We are to interact with the story, inquiring into its message. Ask the 5 W's of journalism: Who, What, When, Where, Why. In the end, learn from what we read.

Movies are no different. The same "Great Conversation" occurs in movies; but instead of reading the story, we watch it unfold before our eyes. Directors, actors, and special effects experts do all the work of making a tale come to life, leaving very little for our imagination to create. Consequently, it takes less brain power to watch Sense & Sensibility than it does to actually read Jane Austen's classic. However, this doesn't give us license to check our brains at the door when we go to the movie theater.

Geoff Botkins, a film producer who has helped produce Vision Forum's Independent Christian Film Festival in San Antonio, Texas, stated that films are a teaching medium. Those who write the screenplays and direct the films are communicating their beliefs. We are to never watch films as passive entertainment but are to be active in understanding what these people are trying to teach us--the "Great (Film) Conversation."

Hence the goal of these movie reviews: to identify what the screenwriters, directors, and actors are trying to teach us and what worldviews they set before us.

A Plot Overview:

When I was younger, I read a few of the Nancy Drew books but never got into them though I am a great mystery novel fan. From the little I read, I could appreciate who this girl was: an inquisitive, go-getter who was always thinking outside the box.

The film then is no different character-wise. Emma Roberts embodies the innocent and inventive Miss Drew wholeheartedly which gives the film a cheery, light-hearted overtone.

As the writers and director work, they incorporate the classic 1930s and 1940s character with modern technology. This time Nancy Drew has to solve the mystery of her and her father's rental mansion in L.A. with the help of her iPod, cell phones, and the Internet.

Girl on a Mission:

From the very first moment of the film to the closing credits, we are shown a young girl who is unique and interesting. Modern movies are consistently parading characters who try their very hardest to be "cool", "hip", and "in-style." (The Princess Diaries and Freaky Friday come to mind.) In this movie, however, not only is Nancy Drew not trying to fit in but she doesn't even try to be "normal." When confronted about her style of clothing, she confidently states with a smile, "I like old-fashion things." The film makers show, quite well, that it is acceptable, and even encouraged, to be who you were created to be (and we would say as God created you to be). It is a refreshing message to be sent in a world of constant peer pressure.

Nancy Drew's wardrobe is topic of discussion in the film and will be here as well. Ms. Drew's entire wardrobe seemed to be constructed of modest, yet tasteful clothing; fashionable yet covering. On the other hand, the teen-age girls who do wear the modern style which is quite revealing are presented as well, rather distastefully dressed. Again, a message that is not normally sent via the silver screen.

Finally, in the center of all of Nancy's sleuthing is the desire to help other people. This is a lesson we are told she learned from her father. Together they try and help those who cannot do it themselves. With powerful gifts, they have a unique position to aid others and this they do most willingly.

A Few Words of Caution:

Though the film has a great deal of positive messages, there are a few of disappointing areas.

Nancy and her father move from River Heights to L.A. where her dad takes a temporary job. Because he is going to be very busy with work and Los Angeles is a very different world from River Heights, Mr. Drew asks his daughter not to do any sleuthing while in the new city. Directly against his wishes, Nancy investigates the mystery of their mansion. The desire to be who she is (a detective) conflicts with her father's request to not solve mysteries. The film shows "following who you are" overrides the command to obey your parents. Scripture tells us, "Honor your father and your mother that it may go well with you." Not once did I hear an apology from Nancy for not obeying her father.

Nancy's father also encourages her to be "normal" which to him means doing the normal thing teenagers do such as throw a rowdy party (see next paragraph). It is disappointing to see that the filmmakers showed this stereotype of a father. Instead of encouraging his daughter to not compromise who she was and just not sleuth, he told her to go be like the "other kids." This is not a happy thought when we see who the other kids are.

A word might be said here to those worried about the party scene that is shown in the trailers. Nancy Drew was throwing a birthday party and handed out invitations at school. However, two of the girls invited decide to bring their own friends to party. Thus, the event gets rather out of hand. Loud music is blared, teens are destructive to the property, and a reference is made to "making-out". At the end the police are called because of the disturbance. Mr. Drew congratulates Nancy on trying to be "normal" and having a rowdy party. This type of get-together between teens is not necessarily encouraged but neither is it discouraged.

In Conclusion:

My mom and I had a thoroughly wonderful time together at this movie and it is truly a girl flick!

Much can be said for this film who's main character doesn't compromise who she is and never once feels bad for being so. As my mom likes to quote, " 'Normal' is just a setting on the dryer!" This is the truth that could have been this films tag line. Nancy is just fine the way she is. In fact being "un-normal" makes her all the more likable.

So for an afternoon movie that is a mile wide and an inch deep, it is a lighthearted story that encourages young girls to be modest and innocent, yet not oblivious to the wonderful world around them.

--HM