“I am an historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history.” ~ H.G. Wells
“As the centuries pass, the evidence is accumulating that, measured by His effect on history, Jesus is the most influential life ever lived on this planet.” ~ Historian Kenneth Scott Latourette
“As a child I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene....No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life.” ~ Albert Einstein
“Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone and today He is the Centerpiece of the human race and the Leader of the column of progress. I am within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever were built, and all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that One Solitary Life.” ~ James C. Hefley
The man Jesus is many things to many people. He is easily the most influential figure in human history. His words and actions changed the course and nature of the society in which he lived as well as the world at large. Today, over two billion people name His name as their savior. It is difficult to imagine what the world would have looked like had He not come and showed us all how to love one another. Sure, very few people actually live this way, but most people at least try. His example sits in the back of all of our minds whether we realize it or not, we all ask “WWJD?” from time to time. His life is a pillar of western civilization. In the developed world today, Jesus is still very highly thought of, but He has been tamed in our minds. We like to picture a kind-hearted hippy walking around Judea and hugging people. In an age when much of the church is, above all, just trying to be really really nice, Jesus Christ and His true royal glory has been largely forgotten. The man spoke with authority, challenged the status quo, foretold the destruction of the Earth, and encouraged His followers to be very radical. Indeed, were Jesus and His disciples around today, they would most certainly be on the DHS “no-fly” list.
Several months ago, I had an experience which made me realize that my perception of Jesus was very close to the castrated Jerry Garcia type I described above. I prayed that God would give me a deep understanding of Jesus as the supreme ruler of the universe. I know this may sound somewhat like He-man to a lot of you, but that is how the Bible ultimately describes Him, in fact, that is how He describes Himself in Matthew 25, “When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of his glory. And before Him shall be gathered all nations.” (KJV) In the book of Revelation He is called “King of kings” and “Lord of lords”, and he is shown to be a conquering King who returns to do battle with the forces of evil and set the Earth aright. It is clear from these texts that Jesus Christ is much more than just another new age guru, He is our supreme King and should be worshiped and served as such.
It is difficult for Americans to stomach or even understand what it is to live under a sovereign; we have simply never done so. This was why, after seeing Christ as the King of kings in the scripture, I sought divine understanding. It made sense in my head, but I wanted it to make sense in my heart. The Lord answered my prayer. Not long after that I began see the world in a new way. A tornado warning forced me to take shelter in a Wal-mart one night and I found a painting on their bargain rack. It was the risen Jesus seated on a massive throne, he was a warrior-king with the symbols of the twelve tribes of Israel on His scepter. Since that day, I haven’t been able to get that imagery out of my head. No longer do I see a barefoot Tommy Chong when I think of Him, now I see a powerful and righteous King worthy of praise and worship who is coming to destroy the works of evil in our world and set things right. I began to see the world as His realm, and we are His subjects. Let me tell you, this is the way to go. If you are having problems taking your Christian walk seriously, ask the God would reveal Jesus to you in this way. It’s easy to like Jesus as your homeboy, but it is nearly impossible not to love and worship Jesus Christ as your risen and conquering King. He is truly God in the flesh, the only God who could ever be worthy worship by the sheer virtue of who He is.
Let me encourage you. If you know Jesus, discover Him as your King and serve Him with passion. If you do not know Jesus, you need to. He is your King and your knee will bow to Him one day and your tongue will confess His name. I recommend doing so before it is compulsory. Knowing and serving such a man is the greatest honor you will ever find.
Upon the death of Christopher Hitchens, I have been pondering the nature of the struggle for which he fought. Being one of the four horsemen of the “New Atheist” movement, Hitchens crusaded against perceived rampant ignorance and intolerance in the world which has been caused by centuries of blind religious dogma. I remember when Wired magazine ran a story about this movement several years ago. I had just gotten saved and I was reading about these guys who potentially wanted to remove children from the custody of parents who gave them a religious education. In my zealotry I was incensed. I felt like God had plucked me from my disbelief specifically to combat the propaganda of the New Atheists. This ideological campaign of mine was mostly fought on Facebook and MySpace and I have yet to have the impact of a William Lane Craig, but I like to think that I made some people think twice about Dawkins style intolerance.
Anyway, NPR was running a little biographical tribute piece about Hitchens the other night. As the anchor was explaining that Hitchens saw his struggle as being one against blind ignorance and allegiance to an unreasonable dogma, and that Nazism, Stalinism, etcetera would fit into his definition, I realized something: I agree with him. Human ignorance and intolerance is primarily caused by blind allegiance to an unreasonable dogma. Who can disagree with this? This is a secondary cause, but it is definitely prevalent in our world and worth struggling against. In this way, I can honor the memory of Mr. Hitchens, even though he spoke so vehemently against the faith in which I believe. To anybody who will commit their life to fighting against what they perceive as the greatest evil in the world, a hearty kudos.
The difference is how we would define reasonable. Reason is an ability all human beings possess, whether or not we employ it is a different matter. However, it is not the foundation for anyone's world-view, even Hitchens’. At the base of all of our perceptions is a set of beliefs or assumptions that we, being limited in our sensory and intellectual capacity, cannot prove or disprove. This is obvious for people of faith. I will freely admit that my faith in Christ as our king, while it is well researched and considered, rests upon belief and not empirical evidence. However, I would submit that all world-views are this way. A Darwinist or a materialist can gather compelling evidence for their position, cataloging fossils and observing geological columns, but they still must trust that their dating methods are accurate and ignore the infinite number of unknown variables which they could never factor in. In addition, the claim that all of the matter in our universe has originated “ex nihilo” or out of nothing, is something they have in common with theists. However, we can explain it by our belief in an all-powerful creator. The new Atheists do not believe in this creator, so they must believe that this creation event simply happened, without a cause, and for no reason at all. This, I would submit, is as much a faith-based position as any other.
So, that puts us all in the same boat. There are some things we can all but prove with empirical scientific measurement, and some things which we all must assume or not assume. This is actually a really good thing. If one realizes this, it affords them a sense of unity with their fellow humans, which is nary felt in these days of polarization and ideological strife.
So what function does reason serve? People, coming from many different belief systems, will employ reason and arrive at different conclusions, so what use is it? I think that if we default to reason in all situations, it will keep us out of a lot of trouble. Have you ever heard somebody say,”be reasonable!”? It is usually directed at somebody who is letting their emotions get the best of them, somebody who is allowing their irrational feelings cause them to do something which will harm themselves or others. If that person were to breathe and consider the consequences of their actions, consider the impact of their words, and consider the lessons they have learned in life and how they apply to their situation, then the outcome of their situation will probably be much more positive. So, reason should function as a way to keep us from hurting ourselves and others.
Now, this definition does not really apply to somebody like Hitler or Charles Manson who thought it quite reasonable to commit their heinous crimes. I will explain this from my theistic viewpoint as the influence of evil. I will explain it from a secular viewpoint as the existence of sociopaths, that is, people who lack a conscience. There is really nothing we can do about these types of people. They will smile and flatter their way into power and then use that power to harm great numbers of people. They will claim belief in Christ, Krishna, or the Easter bunny if it will allow them to rise to the top. This will not change by the hands of human society and there is no foreseeable effective way to detect sociopaths en masse. Heck, they are probably running our country right now. These folks are the source of the crimes which have been committed in the name of Jesus, Darwin, and Marx. Then, foolishly, good people who would never hurt each other squabble about which ideology causes the most violence. Ideas have no hands and most reasonable people do not murder for power.
Human beings are created in the image of an all-powerful benevolent creator, whether they believe it or not. This is why we feel a pang of guilt when we lie, murder, and steal. The righteousness of God exists within us, even if we ignore it, and it is difficult to completely get around it. When we are reasonable, I believe most people will default to a position of empathy and understanding of their fellow man. When we are blinded by belief in a dogma, be it Christian or Marxist, we lose that ability to reason and thus default to out innate benevolence, and we do abhorrent things which we would never otherwise. So, I am with you Mr. Hitchens. Reason is a grand thing and I hope that people will employ it daily.
Ultimately, it will be revealed to all humanity that we have been caught in a cosmic struggle between good and evil, that deception and exploitation has been the foundation of our fallen society, and that we already have a King who will come and make things right. Until that time, the world will be a mixture of different viewpoints and belief systems; I just pray that we can all be more considerate of why we believe what we do. More thinking, less shooting.
I'm not really sure when it happened, but I have no doubt that it is one of the best examples of a ploy by our existential enemy. Somehow, a group of people who claim to follow the man Jesus Christ as their Saviour and eternal King, the guy who hung out with and loved the dregs of society, who healed the sick and blind, who told us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us, have become the same group synonymous with support for America's imperialist campaigns overseas. In the minds of many all over the world, Jesus and bombs go together quite well. Think about the tragedy of this fact. Missionaries are having to overcome this stigma in nations which have been affected by the many military campaigns this nation has fought, as if their job wasn't hard enough. I speak this word to fellow Christians. Our unflinching support for our war mongering government has been a huge blow to our Christian witness. The fact that we did not speak out en masse when the scandal at AbuGhraib surfaced, or when it came to light that our elected officials had okayed the torture of prisoners, or when the many other egregious American violations of Habeas Corpus and human rights in general became public knowledge, made us look very very bad. People think we are hypocrites and jokes, they're correct. Instead of standing up for justice and defending the right of innocent people everywhere, we get up in arms over illegal immigration and boobs on television. My brethren, as the body of Christ, we need to remove our support from the murderous imperialism of our corrupt government. We need to refocus our gaze on compassion for the needy and oppressed. We need to treat the people of this dark and fallen world as Christ would treat them. It is by this that we can take steps toward restoring the good name of Jesus Christ in the minds of so many. Instead of dropping bombs for Jesus, we can love people for Jesus, and then we can (take a deep breath) share the gospel with them! It has been my experience that people will be much more receptive to our message of hope and salvation when their house is not exploding. Governments will war and murder for profit with or without the support of Christians, for that is what the governments of our fallen world do. But, when Christians buy into their pandering and support their campaigns of violence, it gives them much more legitimacy and makes it far easier for them to justify their evil. Our greatest weapon against them is the removal of our allegiance. We need to be allied only with Christ anyhow, it should be natural for us. I pray that the Lord would light a fire in our hearts. I pray that the light from this fire would illuminate the deception which has been sowed in our minds. That the Lord would teach us, no matter how another man thinks or what he aims to do, he is not beyond forgiveness and needs to hear your truth. For the desperate teenager living in Gaza, who needs just one more of his friends to be gunned down to make that hopeless decision to strap a bomb to his chest, I pray we would have our heart broken for him. For our Muslim neighbors, their numbers growing more each day in this nation, who share our belief in the one creator God, who honor Jesus in a way that no other religion outside of Christianity does, I pray we would love them and share the truth with them, that they might celebrate with us one day at the wedding feast. I pray against that spirit of fear and hate, that spirit of crusade, which blinds so many of those who claim to follow Christ, and leads them down a path of blindness and deception. God, let us live without fear. No matter what our politicians say about terrorist threats, no matter what our news men and pundits say about people in other countries who we've never met, I pray we would love them boldly and without thought for our own well-being, but only for their salvation and forgiveness.
We call this nation a Christian one. I pray this would become a true moniker. Not by the legislator's pen or the soldier's gun, but by the words and actions of its people. Let us repent of our warring ways and truly show the world what Jesus Christ looks like. Amen.
This last week, the United States senate voted to broaden the military's ability to fight the bad guys in our struggle against evildoers everywhere. With the passage of S. 1867, the entirety of our sovereign nation is officially a war-zone and if you are caught and deemed a suspected terrorist, you go to jail without a trial, indefinitely. While this whole scenario may sound like a surreal horror story from the lead up to the Nazi takeover of the Republic of Germany way back in the neanderthal 1930's, it is actually a very important provision which will keep us safe from insane, freedom-hating, terrorists, who are legion in our land. You see folks, every year for the last five years, an average of 0.8 Americans were killed by terrorists on American soil. That's almost as many people who are killed every year by choking on a tortilla chip. Clearly, the legislative might of the Senate needed to be employed to stave off this threat. Some of you may criticize this act as being Draconian, or even Hitlerian; especially in light of the DHS report released back in 2009 which cited gun owners, biblical literalists, and military vets as potential terrorists. If this is your impression, you're missing the point. First off, we're talking about our federal government here, they exist to protect us from bad people and to tell us the truth about the world. I can't even recall an instance when they have misstepped in this role. So, relax, Uncle Sam is on the job. Second, it is a well known fact that there at least fifteen billion Muslims in the world who wake up every day and think of nothing but how to blow up America in creative ways. Taking these two things into account, how could we not hand the power of indefinite detainment to our able leaders. This can only end well.
I hope you were able to endure my clumsy sarcasm. I just had to get that off my chest. In all seriousness, I can point to many instances when it could have been said that our nation "crossed the Rubicon" toward a fascist state, but this is one of the most obvious examples on its face, a sad day indeed. However, I believe that our God will use this tragedy in a big way. The American church has existed in a kind of sleepy malaise for a long time. Many preachers are still trying to tackle the social issues of the 1950's, like smoking and teenage heavy-petting, while their congregations are shrinking and society is moving toward an explosion of fascist neo-paganism. I think that the passage of this bill will wake many Christians up to the reality that the United States is no longer a nation which values freedom and Judeo-Christian ethics. While this is a sad fact, it will also cause many to get serious about their relationship with God.
I agree with the Senators, the United States has become a war-zone. However, the real enemy is not terrorists, it is the evil and demonic forces which have been influencing our society for decades. We can no longer ride the spiritual coattails of our Christian homeland, because it's not there anymore. We are strangers in a strange land and the population around us needs to hear the truth. Those who truly love Jesus as Savior and King need to become adepts at warfare, the spiritual kind. We will need to know how to fight and in the very near future. A major metaphysical struggle is heading toward your doorstep, if its not already there. Let's get prepared and learn how to wear our spiritual armor and employ the sword of the spirit in our families and communities.
Here is a free course on spiritual warfare by Russ Dizdar, a man who God has used mightily to confront and confound the works of the enemy. Happy training.
"...the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, 'All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Away with you, Satan! For it is written, "You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only shall you serve."' ~ Matthew 4: 8-10 To Christ's human nature, this must have been a very tempting moment. What man, save for Jesus Christ, could have resisted such a proposition? Satan was offering the literal control over the entirety of human society: world domination. How many power hungry conquerors have dreamed of such an end? How many scheming politicians are, at this moment, sacrificing their lives and souls for such a goal? What's more, this was the very reason Jesus was on the Earth. He came to take the throne of this world and be our rightful King (Acts 2:30, Revelation 19:16), and here it was offered to Jesus for nothing more than a quick act of worship. In short, Satan was trying to tempt Jesus into skipping the pain and torture of the cross and to simply take his throne prematurely. His flesh must have been yearning deeply to avoid that painful fate. Thankfully, our wise and good King resisted this temptation and thus made a way for all of us to have eternal life under His lordship. The subject of this post however, is not the amazing character Jesus exemplified in this account. It is the intriguing fact that Satan seemed to be under the impression that the kingdoms of this world were his to give. Jesus did not correct him on this claim, he simply rejected his offer. This leads me to believe that the kingdoms of this world do belong to Satan. What does that say about power on our fallen planet? If you want it, you've got to go to the source. Additionally, what does that say about the powerful? Can we rightly assume that those in positions of real power have compromised their character and allegiance in a way our Saviour did not? I think so. Doesn't this make so much sense, though? Look at the way in which our societies interact with one another. The standard is violence and death, diplomacy is only tried when it can serve the selfish interests of the nation state. There is no self-sacrifice or Christlike humility when it comes to international politics. Some of you are probably thinking, "Of course not! Do you know what kind of world we live in? Nuclear weapons, terrorism, communists!" You're right, we live in a cut-throat and dangerous world run by evil men. This is exactly the kind of world you would expect to find after realizing that the figure behind it all is, in fact, the father of lies. The point is, many of us are under the impression that there are good countries fighting bad countries. That the United States, for instance, is a Christian nation and therefore our wars are fought to make the world a better place. I submit that, if this were true, we would have responded to 9/11 much differently. A truly Christian nation, first of all, would probably never have been attacked in such a way. Second, if it were attacked, it would have sought to forgive and understand the attacker, to know their motivation for the attack and to take steps to create a relationship in which the attacker would not have that motivation any longer. Did not Jesus command us to "Love your enemies" and to "Pray for those who persecute you." Instead, the U.S. bombed and invaded two nations, creating more enemies for herself and making the situation much worse for everybody. That was not the mark of a Christian nation, that was the mark of a satanic kingdom. The response was understandable from a secular government with a tradition of militarism, but the tragedy was and is just how supportive Christians are of these wars of aggression which claim the lives of so many of God's children. Christians need to understand that they live in an occupied world, that this place is a beachhead of rebellion against the almighty creator God, and that this will not change until Christ returns and destroys the kingdom of the Devil and sets up His righteous throne by His own hand. With this understanding, we are free from having to justify wars of aggression from a biblical perspective. We no longer feel the pressure to make our secular governments fit into the mold of a holy God's righteousness, because they never could. Instead, we can renounce our spiritual citizenship in Satan's kingdom and live as Godly expatriates among those who have yet to see the truth. We can become ideological saboteurs and try to convince others to withdraw their support from the works of the devil which have been so cleverly disguised. We can become Babylonian Turncoats and betray the kingdom of our birth, swearing allegiance to the coming Kingdom where we have been reborn.
Satan runs a shell game. He lures us over to his back alley table and tells us that if we can manage to follow the nimble movements of his hands and guess under which shell the prize is hidden, he will bestow upon us great power and knowledge. That we will be able to do whatever we want and not have to worry about consequences. That we will, after playing this game and laying more and more of our soul on the line, finally attain that elusive prize he is offering, peace of mind and freedom from death. Some will play this game for their entire life and will literally die in the middle of making their ten thousandth guess. Some become so exasperated with the game, realizing it is a ruse, they turn to the game master himself and plead, "I will do anything! I will give you whatever you want! Give me this prize!" At this point, Satan recruits these desperate souls to become junior game masters themselves, and they will spend the rest of their lives running a shell game for other weary players, convinced that their employer will, after a length of faithful service, finally bestow on them the great and elusive prize. Some will come to the realization that Satan is a liar and that he holds no prize at all, he's conning them. However, after many hundreds of attempts and losing so much of themselves in the process, they are cynical and broken and spend the rest of their lives sitting nearby the game table and scoffing at those still naive enough to play. Some will lose their minds and become convinced that the game itself is the prize and they must simply be content by not allowing themselves to become emotionally attached to the outcome of the game but to simply love the game as they play it to their death, a placid smile upon their face. Satan is content with all of these outcomes. Meanwhile, standing not far from the table at all there is a man. He routinely walks over to the gamers and those who have lost faith in the game and tells them a very heartening piece of news. "The game is a ruse," he will often say. Most do not hear him as they are absorbed by the movements of Satan's hands. Those who sit and scoff usually respond, "Tell me about it. I figured that one out ages ago. You know what else? Not only is the game a ruse, but so is this whole blasted existence. There is no peace of mind and it ends with a painful death, followed by nothingness." The man then says, "The game is certainly a sham and the game master holds no prize, but this world is a gift and your life can be so much more than playing this game unto death or sitting here and awaiting that same wretched end. I tell you, eternal life and everlasting peace awaits you and it is a free gift! You don't have to uncover any prizes under shells, you don't have to contend with a cruel and heartless game master, you were created for this life and to live it well at peace with your creator." It's at this point that many of the scoffers begin to become angered at the new idea. It simply sounds like another scam to their broken hearts. Some, however, are intrigued by this concept and their interest is piqued. Noticing this development from behind his game table, Satan rigs his next round. "We have a winner!" All the commotion ceases and all eyes are turned back to the game. An ecstatic player is jumping and down and shouting for joy, their face flush with simultaneous exhaustion and excitement. Satan tenderly grips the player's arm. "How does it feel?" "I feel amazing, I can't believe how incredible this is! I can't think straight right now." "Wonderful!" Satan responds, "Now, step right back here and begin your new life of immortality and never-ending pleasure." The player then sprints inside a door behind the game master. With a gentle smile on his face, Satan turns to address the remaining players. "You see folks, with enough hard work and dedication, you too can win this amazing prize. Now, step right up!" Amid the renewed enthusiasm for the game, many of the scoffers even get up and get in line to play. Disheartened, the man turns and walks back to his spot not far from the table. He will wait for another opportunity to share the good news about the free gift, until then he will watch and pray for the desperate players of the game. As he is walking back, one of the scoffers rises from his seat and cautiously follows.
