The hedge

I was reading a couple nights ago and as so often happens, a single word really caught my attention:

Satan was talking to God about Job and Satan says this:

"Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has?"

(Job 1:10)

I love the idea of God's hedge. I have a hedge around my yard that provides privacy, shelter, protection and beauty. God's hedge might look like mine, or it might look more like a bristling row of angelic warriors, ready to do battle. We don't know what that hedge is made of. But we can still know it's there.

There are times I count on the hedge. It's good to rest in God's protection. But as the story of Job continues, we also know that Job's faith didn't depend on the hedge. Even when it felt like God's protection has been stripped away, he didn't turn his back on God.

The questions of why God allows evil, or the problem of pain, or why "good" people suffer are questions people have struggled with for a very long time. But in those moments when it feels like we're not sure of God's presence, or that we're under attack, I hope that you too can find comfort in knowing that God still has his hedge around us and that nothing gets through without His consent.

Adiaphorism

I subscribe to A Word A Day and every day, Monday to Friday, a new word is delivered to my inbox. Some are exciting, some are obscure, some are fascinating. One of the words this week was

adiaphorism
(ad-ee-AF-uh-riz-uhm)

Meaning: Tolerance or indifference, especially in the matters of religion.

The editor's note added that "Adiaphorism is the idea that things not specifically prohibited by the Scriptures may be treated with indifference (i.e. they are permissible)."

Now I had never heard this word before but it struck me that I should have. Tolerance and indifference in religion are all too common these days. Some churches, in trying to find the line between cultural relevance and Biblical teaching seem to have decided that a spot of adiaphorism is the safest way to go. They like the definition of tolerance that says "leeway for variation from a standard." In a sense, tolerance has become indifference. (For an interesting discussion on tolerance, visit Wikipedia's page on toleration.)

The attitude becomes "let's cut ourselves a little slack, after all God is love." Or worse, it becomes "All roads lead to God." And so we can pick and choose the bits of religious habit or teaching that makes us comfortable or happy and simply ignore the rest.

Do you see a problem with that?

I'm afraid I do. God's word makes it clear that indifference is inadequate. And that He can't tolerate sin. I think we need to be wary of adiaphorism by getting more familiar with God Himself. Know His heart of love but study His holiness, too. Don't be as concerned with how much deviation from the standard you can have. Instead get to know The Standard by heart.

Secondhand Jesus (a book review)

Glenn Packiam, in Secondhand Jesus: Trading Rumors of God for a Firsthand Faith, joins a growing number of authors addressing “authentic” Christian faith, challenging people to look beyond the customs, habits or traditions of Christianity to the Holy God that wants to know and love each of us individually.

Beginning with a moment when his own foundation was shaken (Packiam refers to it as a “what the heck?” moment), Packiam combines his personal experience with the stories of the ark of the covenant to demonstrate how operating from a rumor of God - an assumption about His character or his role - plays out in real lives both modern and historical. It’s a unique weaving together that he eventually brings to a crux when he asks, “But what exactly does that look like? How does that work in the real world?”

Packiam’s style is a blend of scholarship, Biblical reference and personal experience. Some of the personal anecdotes were too far beyond my experience to be able to really connect with the challenges that spurred this journey for him, but with some thought I could usually find a comparable personal situation that related to the chapter's theme. I did find it interesting that in reading through the book, I could put it down at the end of a chapter and not be sure I’d grasped Packiam’s point, but then the concepts and examples he’d used would come readily to mind in conversation after conversation during the days that followed.

For many Christians this book would serve as a challenge to re-examine their Christianity and the role God is truly playing in their faith. For others, it may serve in the sense that an annual visit to the doctor does – a chance to double-check and make sure things are still on track. There are discussion questions at the end of each chapter to help with personal application or it could even be used as part of a small group study. Either way, Secondhand Jesus will be faith-changing if you take the time to think through the challenge Packiam presents.


Review copy provided by The B&B Media Group.

Too funny to pass up

I gotta tell you, I love this joke:

A priest, a minister and a rabbi walk into a bar. The bartender looks up and says,

"What is this - some kind of joke?"

(Ba--dum- dum) Insert laugh track here ...

Those church words

There are words we toss around in Christian circles that are rich in both concept and meaning but sometimes for those outside those circles or just new to them, they can sound like so much jargon. Even to those of us that use them, they can become rather cliche. But with a little time and attention, those words express different aspects of the lavish love God has extended to us. For example, Paul writes:

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. (Romans 3:22-25a NIV, emphasis mine)

Here are some of my favorite ways to define a few of those words:

Righteousness - "Right standing" with God - we are "put right" with God

Justification - "Just as if I never sinned." - we are made right again before a holy and just God.

Grace - "God's riches at Christ's expense." - Christ's sacrifice paid the whole price to make us co-heirs with him, something we can neither earn or deserve. (see Romans 8:17)

Redemption - "bought back or claimed" - Just as you must redeem a gift certificate to claim the prize, God redeemed us and claims us as his own. There's ownership in redemption. We become God's own.

Atonement - "At-one-ment" - we are brought back to God's original plan of relationship through Christ's sacrifice on the cross.

Think about these words and let them amaze you with their story of God's extravagant love.

Where will the music take you?

I did this drawing a couple years ago titled "Where Will the Music Take You?*" I don't often comment on my purpose or intent in creating my artwork but in this case, I remember I was playing with a new medium and working on an idea for a jazz poster. In the end, I was content with how it turned out.

Music is one of those things that talks straight to my emotions. It so often carries me away in a swirl of harmonies that I can't have it on when I'm writing or doing other work I really need to focus on. I think that's probably what was going through my mind and my fingers as I worked on and named this piece.

Then last Sunday, we read in Matthew 24: 31

And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

In this passage, Jesus was talking with his disciples about the end times, those days just before He returns again to earth for the last time. I know there can be a lot of discussion about the hows, whos, whys and whens of His second coming, but what struck me was this: That trumpet call will be the signal for our eternity. As that trumpet's brassy note rings across the heavens, some will be gathered up and others will be left behind. For those who have accepted Christ's work on the cross, it will be a song of triumph and freedom. For others, it will mean they've ignored Him one too many times.

So I want to ask you, when that final trumpet sounds, where will the music take you?

If you're not sure, there are a couple links on the left under "Questions?" that can get you started on the path to certainty. Please don't wait too long. That trumpet might sound any day now.


*"Where Will the Music Take You?" copyright VJCoulman, 2007.
Prismacolor pencil on Crescent matboard, 18" x 24". All rights reserved.

A form of godliness

I was listening to a familiar passage of scripture when a particular phrase caught my attention. You'll probably recognize the passage:

People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. "

2 Timothy 3:2-5 NIV (emphasis mine)

I have a vintage dress form that stands in my studio. In a past career, I was a seamstress that specialized in bridal and formal wear. I loved taking a flat fabric and giving it shape and style. Tailored suits still catch my eye and I love to see novel and imaginative touches worked in or on fabric in all sorts of styles.

I don't have as much time to sew these days, so my dress form will occasionally display a vintage suit, a formal gown or a fun jacket. Why? Because it doesn't look the same on the hanger as it does on the dress form. Because the form fills it out and makes it look better. But I also know that if I take it off the dress form it will not stand on its own. That garment will never serve its intended purpose until I put it on a living, moving body.

I think some people are content to display their faith like I display certain outfits. I may have done it myself on occasion. We dress up our faith to make us look good, to let people think there is substance under the surface. We want "the look" of a good Christian.

But if we really examine it (or worse yet, if someone else does) that show of godliness is hollow. Just like the emperor's new clothes, there's no substance. It might fool a few people, but it won't stand up to the close scrutiny of daily life. There is no God at the core of it. That nasty list above might be all too visible if that's really what's underneath. Just like the garments I put on display, the "form of godliness " may look the right shape but it ultimately cannot stand on its own.

But that's the power of true godliness - truly having God fill our lives - it puts substance behind our faith. It helps us fulfill our intended purpose. It helps us stand. It shapes us - past, present and future - as we let God use us for what He intended.

Ultimately, a hollow faith is merely foolishness (see verse 9 of the passage above). So let's not just display the form of godliness, let's keep God at the core and let Him fashion for us true robes of righteousness. It's better than being the dummy in the window.

With All I Am (Hillsong)

This has been a favorite song of mine for some time. Beautiful, simple but powerful. I hope it strikes a chord with you too.