Because I haven't posted anything in a while

I give you virtual bubble-wrap.

Cat Tuesday

This should make you want to run right to your nearest humane society and give a pet a home.

Cat Tuesday

Why not? It is Tuesday.

This was sent by a Cat Tuesday reader. I tried to embed it in the blog like a real blogger but couldn't make it work after 45 minutes. (Dan! Why did you leave me?!) I'm also pretty sure Grace will like this one.

Update: I just realized that Grace already posted this video. See, I knew she would like it.

Raising Purity

Sexual purity tops the list of desires that most Christian parents have for their children. But we live in a world where sexual purity has begun to seem almost unattainable. The fact that we even ask the question, “How far is too far?” should indicate that we’ve misunderstood God’s purpose for sex.

In his new book, Raising Purity, Gerald Hiestand answers this question in a way that probably seems counter-cultural even to most Christian parents. Hiestand asserts that God has designed sex in such a way that any expression of sex before marriage is too far.

The most helpful thing about Hiestand’s book is that he takes time in the opening chapters to build a theology of sex. Hiestand demonstrates that sex within marriage is actually intrinsically linked to the gospel in the scriptures: “Ephesians 5:28-32 pointedly describes the sexual relationship within marriage as an image of the sexual relationship between Christ and the church.” The union that a husband and wife experience as they “become one” physically is a picture of the way Christ and the Christian become one spiritually.

For too long the church’s attempt to keep young people away from the forbidden pleasures of sex has been rooted in warnings about the dangers of sexually transmitted disease or the ruin that an unwanted pregnancy brings upon the life of a teenage girl. The problem with this approach is that we are addressing the issue of sex as if God’s commands have only to do with what works best for humanity. Any teenage boy convinced that God only wants what works best for him will happily decide in the heat of passion that what works best for him in that moment is to give in his sexual desires.

By rooting sex within the gospel Hiestand addresses the issue of sex on the divine plane rather than just on the human plane:

“God’s major intent in creating sex was that it serve as a living witness of the spiritual reality of Christ’s oneness with the church. Knowledge of this higher reality then helps us understand how we should behave within the realm of earthly reality. In other words, our sex lives should be patterned after the way in which Christ and the church relate spiritually. Viewing sexuality from this framework not only explains how we should act but also why we should act in a certain way.”

The young man’s single-minded devotion to his future bride must be consistent with the way Christ reserves himself spiritually with a single minded devotion for the church.

Once sex has been understood in this way one can then navigate more easily through other questions that once seemed difficult. Hiestand spends three chapters addressing the issue of dating and relationships. Here he points out that there are three categories of relationships in the scriptures: family, neighbor and marriage. Since the Bible does not recognize dating as a distinct category of relationship it is helpful to consider all forms of sexual interaction from within these three categories. It is clear in the bible that sexual interaction is strictly forbidden within the categories of family and neighbor. Within marriage however sexual activity is not only allowed but commanded.

To answer the question, “How far is too far?” one needs only see that dating falls into the category of the neighbor relationship. Whatever amount of sexual interaction that God considers to be appropriate with our neighbor will also be appropriate with a boyfriend or girlfriend. Only by suggesting that dating is more than a neighbor relationship can we try to allow some level of sexual expression. In doing so, we have made dating distinct from God’s design for relationships and the answer to the question becomes up for debate.

Hiestand goes on to address other issues related to sexual purity like movies, music and dances relating each issue back to the question of the God’s original intent for the sexual relationship within the gospel. In doing so, the answers become much more black and white.

Many, even within the church, will squirm as they read Hiestand’s conclusions. Some may even set his book aside and write it off as a relic of an era long passed. But a careful reader who is willing to be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11 will find it difficult to take issue with this book. In the end I think it will be clear that God’s standard for sexual purity is much higher than most of us have previously thought. And yet, God’s purpose for sex is actually much more beautiful than many have previously imagined.

T4G

Colin and I both mentioned the Together for the Gospel Conference we attended last week. I think all of these sessions would be worth a listen but I particularly recommend the sessions by John MacArthur and John Piper. If you have extra time listen to Thabiti Anyabwile on Racism.

Here is a site where you can listen to the audio from the conference for free. I hope some of you will take the time to do this.

Incarnational Question

Yes I know its Cat Tuesday but I decided to go with a little meat today since my last (and somewhat controversial) Cat Tuesday seems to have caused this blog to have grinded to a halt.

I’m getting tired of people who insist that Jesus only hung out with the worst of society. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not implying that we should be proactive and intentional about engaging in personal evangelism with the world around us. The other day on the radio Erika heard guy say something like, “Well you know Jesus hung out in the bars.” Do I know that? I think that this is a fairly common assumption held to by the likes of none other than Bono (quoted, I think, in The Shaping of Things to Come):

“If Jesus were on earth you’d find him in a gay bar in San Francisco. He’d be working with people suffering from AIDS. These people are the new lepers. If you want to find out where Jesus would be hanging out it’ll always be with the lepers.”

I know I’ve got to be careful here and I don’t mean to step on any toes but how do we know this to be true? We’ve been studying Mark this year in big church and in our Wednesday night Bible Studies. Just thinking back over my time in Mark this year I see Jesus spending a lot of time teaching in synagogues, traveling around the edge of the sea and trying to spend quality alone time with the disciples even while being constantly interrupted by (and feeling compassion for) the masses. I’m not going to suggest that Jesus never hung out with sinners. Apart from the obvious fact that everyone Jesus ever hung out with was a sinner we do find Him having dinner at Matthew’s house. But I don’t find anything here to suggest that if someone makes one of these general statements about how Jesus spent His time that I necessarily have to nod sagely.

Am I off base here? Any thoughts?

400th Post!!!!!

Yippee!!!!

Just FYI

This is the correct way to throw your golf club. Not that I condone such behavior on the golf course.

Cat Tuesday

This was submitted to me as a Cat Tuesday post with the title, "How to recognize a Persian cat."

Gypsy Trip 2008

The snow storm bearing down on the Chicagoland area is made bearable only by the fact that in less than 48 hours I'll be on a bus to Florida. This year our trip will begin down in West Palm Beach and then progress north to the Vero Beach areas. Along the way we're hitting Deerfield Beach, Jupiter Inlet, Coco Beach and the all important Sebastian Inlet. This year our Gypsy Study will be the book Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges.

I'll try to make blog posts along the way. I have a new digital camera so hopefully I can upload some pictures.

Cat Tuesday - March 18th

This is me holding a kitten in Romania.

I am also wearing a large watch.

It's Tuesday...You know What That Means!

Here's a little cat history for you. Researchers at University of California, Davis have concluded that cats were first domesticated in the fertile crescent 5,000-8,000 years ago. Ignore the evolutionary hooey and you'll understand that this is clear evidence that Adam and Eve had a cat. Assuming as I do that this cat came to live with Adam and Eve sometime between Genesis 2 and Genesis 3 then we can also assume that the whole "dogs are man's best friend" charade was in fact due to the fall.

Snowing and Blogging

When this winter started what seems like about 22 months ago I was still blogging. Since then the cold and snow has taken away my will. Other than a brief thaw in Savannah in February I've pretty much resorted to reverse hybernation. By reverse hybernation I mean that I'm actually storing up blubber for the warm summer months. They tell me there's light at the end of the tunnel but that's not entirely good news. The same guys who are measuring glacier melt in the polar ice caps for Al Gore came by this past week to measure the snow pack in my yard. The ice has receded by about 6 inches but this has caused massive flooding in the coastal areas around Lake Michigan. They want us force Maude to submit to emissions testing.

All of this to say, I think I'm ready to start blogging again. I'll know more after this blog. Thanks to everyone who has left an encouraging comment. In a lot of ways you made this post possible.

The Return of Cat Tuesday

**Insert Trumpet Fanfare Here**

I've returned and so has Cat Tuesday. This week we recognize the tireless cats who work in Delis and corner stores keeping the rodents at bay. These felines stalk disgusting rats and mice and all they ask in return is a little cat food and a saucer of milk. The problem is, not all cat workers are appreciated by health inspectors. According to this article any animal found in the vacinity of food to be sold for human consumption is a health violation.

Consider the story of Junior, a marmelade kitten who was tasked last year with clearing a store of rodents. Sure Junior brings the dead carcasses as gifts to his employer. But that's better than dead carcasses rotting under the freezer.

As for the health violation, I'd take the animal I know about (the cat) any day over the one I don't (dead rat rotting under freezer.)

Thawing out in New Mexico

I'm blogging from Albuquerque. I'm here for a seminar. But more importantly I'm thawing out from my adventure in the North Woods of Wisconsin last weekend. SKH came over and took us through the book of Obadiah for the weekend. I'd like to think a good time was had by all in spite of the fact that it was -25 at one point and didn't get anywhere close to zero. Bitter cold.

The blog staff is thinking about ending their part of the writer's strike. I'd say there's a good chance we'll be back in business next week. We may even get to resume Cat Tuesday.

Free Scripture Memory Song

It's actually pretty good. Get it here.

Yes I forgot about Cat Tuesday. And yes, that last post says Part 1. My blog staff decided not to come back to work in support of the Writers Strike in Hollywood. I'm in negotiations right now. We'll know more tomorrow.

2007 - Books Part I

In 2007 I made a personally resolution to read more old books. I don’t mind reading the puritans so this never seemed like an unachievable goal. Probably the one I that most influenced me this year was the new edition of Overcoming Sin and Temptation by John Owen. Every chapter provided plenty to chew on. I reread The Reformed Pastor by Richard Baxter giving it a much more thorough examination then my first time through in seminary. Right before my trip to Romania I read The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In the next paragraph I’ll mention a couple of new books that I really enjoyed. But I’m really struck by the depth of older writers compared to that of newer ones. It takes more time and effort but almost always produces more fruit.

Truly, “the writing of many books is endless…” Books come out weekly that seem interesting and yet turn out to be a waste of my time. Two that definitely didn’t waste my time were titled Pierced for Our Transgressions and Respectable Sins. Pierced has the subtitle “Rediscovering the Glory of Penal Substitution” and that is exactly what the authors helped me to do. I am stunned by the many ways that this doctrine is being attacked overtly by those in academia and more subtly by those who sit in the pews in our churches. The book is long and detailed but worth the effort. Respectable Sins has already received some space here on this blog and I’ll leave it at that except to say that I think this book will continue to be a part of my ministry for years to come.

After reading Total Truth last year I spent some time reading Francis Schaeffer for the first time and was glad I did. One final recommendation from this year is called What We Can’t Not Know by J. Budziskewski. It’s a book about natural law with some very interesting things to say about the conscience.

2007 - Music

I’m not writing a blog to tell you what I liked or didn’t like that came out this year in music. My view of music in 2007 has been largely shaped by one chapter in the book, The Closing of the American Mind by Allan Bloom and an article about that chapter commemorating the 20th anniversary of the book by Mark Steyn in The New Criterion. Here’s an excerpt from Steyn’s article concerning the ubiquity of pop music:

You go to buy some socks, and it’s playing in the store. You get on the red eye to Heathrow, and they pump it into the cabin before you take off. I was filling up at a gas station the other day and I noticed that outside, at the pump, they now pipe pop music at you…Most of us have prejudices: we may not like ballet or golf, but we don’t have to worry about going to the deli and ordering a ham on rye while some ninny in tights prances around us or a fellow in plus-fours tries to chip it out of the rough behind the salad bar. Yet, in the course of a day, any number of non-rock-related transactions are accompanied by rock music. I was at the airport last week, sitting at the gate, and over the transom some woman was singing about having two lovers and being very happy about it. And we all sat there as if it’s perfectly routine.

That pretty much sums it up for me. More than once this year I have walked out of a store because I hated the music I was being forced to listen to. Most of the time, not only was it glorifying some form of immorality but it just sounded bad.

I’m a musical pretender myself. I understand enough to put notes in order but not enough to actually make it sound good. Therefore, it strikes me as somewhat problematic that I can play much of the music being produced today, both Christian and otherwise. So I’m resolved to learn to appreciate more music that is beyond my very limited skills.

2007 - Movies

I just can't resist to do some kind of end of the year summary. Over the next couple of days I'll offer some thoughts on the year that was 2007. I thought I would start with movies. Once upon a time I was the kind of guy who could walk up to a movie theater and realize that I had seen almost everything there. But things have changed. First, I have two kids. This definitely cuts down on having a couple of hours free in the evening. Second, I'd like to think I'm more discerning. And third, I can't help but believe that the choices just aren't what they once were. (Maybe reasons two and three have something to do with each other.) I like movies that stick with me after I'm done. I want to be able to think about it for a little while. These kinds of movies seem fewer and further between these days.

2007 was the year of the adoption movie. Juno and Bella were both about girls who decided not to get an abortion. Bella was a great movie. I haven't enjoyed a movie going experience as much in a long time. Juno was well made and well acted. It was definitely an honest portrayal of the prevailing understanding of sex and relationships among high school students. Parents, Juno is probably a pretty accurate picture of what your kids face every day in a public high school. It ain't pretty. I'm not really cool enough (or weird enough) to watch many foreign movies but The Italian was another movie I enjoyed. This one is about adoption from a little different angle. And it was made in Russia not Italy.

As far as the blockbusters go, I really enjoyed I am Legend and Harry Potter 5. It really bothers me how much I enjoyed watching people steal in Ocean's 13(which was way, way better than Ocean's 12). I was super disappointed in Spider Man III. Not only was I bored but I was actually a little annoyed by the late introduction of a new super villain. It was like they got to the end of shooting the movie and realized that the Sand Man just wasn't going to contribute enough to the final showdown. I also saw Enchanted...not much to say about that one.

Wow. That's it. I really didn't see a lot of new movies this year. I'm looking forward to Prince Caspian this summer. Hopefully I'll see something else before then.

The Rich Young Ruler's Mom

Here's a little thing I wrote that's posted on our church's website. Pastor Colin's preaching on the Rich Young Ruler tomorrow.

Cat Tuesday - Christmas Edition

Red and green cats...what could be more Christmas than that? Researchers in South Korea have found a way to modify a cat's genes so that they will grow red under ultra-violet light. Four kittens were born last winter but only three survived.

Cat technology has always been a fascinating field to me. I don't know why the marriage of felines and technology hasn't appeared more obvious to people until now. "Cat-tech" departments (as they're called by insiders) are springing up all over the place, not just in South Korea. And the demand for cat technologists is at an all time high.

Watch This...For the Children.

Christmas Blogging Expected to be Sparse

With all the "parties for toasting" and "marshmellows for roasting" right now it's a fair bet that blog posting will be limited over the next couple of weeks. Tomorrow's Cat Tuesday will not only be the Christmas Edition but the last until January 8th. This will give my Cat Tuesday staff time to be with their families and then begin scouring the globe for new and interesting things to post about cats.

We wrapped up in high school ministry last night until after Christmas break. We'll be back on Sunday, January 6th both morning and night and then back for Bible Study on Wednesday the 9th. We hope our students will use the time during the break to be with their families.

Cat Tuesday - Dec. 11, 2007

The picture above is of an Ashera, a "designer cat" selling for about $22,000. This cat is a mix between an African Serval, a Asian Leopard and a regular domesticated cat. A hypoalergenic version is available for just $6,000 more.

Cats like the Ashera, the Toyger (a mix between a Bengal Tiger and a domesticated cat), and the Savannah (a mix between the Serval and a domesticated cat) are all a part of a new line of designer cats being marketed by a California bio-tech company. They are described as exotic but extremely friendly...more like a dog than an ordinary house cat. They even walk on a leash.

Now apart from all the creepy breeding going on here I think that Ashera looks awesome. Nothing against Maude or anything but can you imagine taking that thing on a walk through your neighborhood? And what about that Toyger?

Some Thoughts on "The Golden Compass"

Today the movie The Golden Compass is being released. If you haven’t seen the movie trailers all over the television then you may have heard the seemingly non-stop commentary on Christian radio. I’ve compiled a few thoughts for my readers:

1. I don’t think we should make such a big deal out of this. The movie review website rottentomatoes.com has positive reviews from only 42% of the critics which means that the movie just isn’t that good. Who can forget the uproar over the DaVinci Code that sent thousands to the theater to find a very sub-par movie? Had it not been for all the controversy surrounding it that movie would have been ignored.

2. I don’t think we should be surprised. There is no doubt that this movie is atheist propaganda. I’ve heard that the agenda of this story only becomes clearer as the trilogy progresses. This movie has been cleaned up to make sure that the other three can be made. I have no doubt that they will be made. Popular atheism is on the rise and there is no reason to believe that we will see anything but an increase of these types of books and movies.

3. Christians need to see this as an opportunity to obey Peter’s words in I Peter 3:15, “…always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is within you.” If we are perceived as dismissive or contentious we’ll miss the chance to point out how faulty this view of the world really is. Do we really believe that Philip Pullman’s story presents a challenge to the character of the True God?

4. Finally, staying with Peter, we Christians need to take this as an opportunity to be thankful that “God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (I Pet. 1:3) By God’s mercy we are not among those who have no hope. Ultimately we should be praying for Philip Pullman and those like him that they may see Jesus Christ for who He is and bow before Him as Lord so that they can know the same living hope.

Lucy is 2 Today!

Two years ago after days of anxiously wondering if we'd get to be parents Erika was awakened in the middle of the night to come to a hospital in downtown Pasadena. That night we found out that we would indeed get to the parents of a baby girl. That girl turned out to be our Lucy! Happy Birthday Lulu!

Cat Tuesday - Dec. 4th

For this week’s Cat Tuesday I decided to do some research about cats in the bible. Here’s what I found. The word cat does not appear anywhere in the bible. This is not what I expected. You can find close to 100 references to lions in the bible including Daniel in the lion’s den. There are 8 references to leopards most notably the question in Isaiah, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots?” But nowhere does one find the word for the average cat.

It is possible that the cat became taboo in Israel because the cat was so involved in Egyptian religion. Cat mummies can be found by the tens of thousands in Egypt. This much is certain, on the very sad day when Maude breathes her last she will not be mummified. Her ashes will in fact be spread in the lazy river at Kalahari Indoor Water Park.

Lucy and Harry

"I'm Unique and Unrepeatable"

That's the title of a song sung on Sunday mornings at a Sunday School for Atheists in Palo Alto, CA. I'm not making this up. Dr. Al Mohler comments on an article in Time Magazine here.

The report explains that the growing number of atheists and non-believers in the nation are becoming more concerned about their children, and are establishing both Sunday Schools and atheist youth camps in order to inculcate secular beliefs and morality within the next generation.

This almost sounds like something that should be a parody or something. But Atheism is growing in popularity by leaps and bounds. The next thing we know they'll be doing something crazy like producing an atheistic movie for kids along the same lines as The Chronicles of Narnia.

Precious Remedies - Device #2

(This is a series based on Thomas Brooks’ Precious Remedies against Satan’s Devices.)

The second device Satan uses to entice the souls of men is to make sin look like virtue. Pride, he says, is just self-esteem. Covetousness is just being a good manager of one’s finances. Drunkenness is just good fellowship. And those who can’t practice self-control are simply immature or enjoying being young.

For this device too Brooks offers four remedies. First, keep in mind that sin is no less filthy just because it has been made to look nice. The devil himself appears as an angel of light but when he does he is no less the devil.

Second, we should consider that the more sin is made to look honorable the more dangerous it is to our souls. To make sin seem righteous is the order of the day in some circles. We can call darkness light if we want but stumbling around in the darkness will eventually cause one to fall into a pit.

Third, keep in mind that even if you don’t see sin for what it is now it will soon become apparent. “When you lie upon a dying bed, and stand before a judgment seat, sin shall be unmasked, and its dress and robes shall then be taken off, and then it shall appear more vile, filthy and terrible than hell itself.” Try to see sin now as it will appear in eternity!

Fourth, the same sins that Satan tries to rename and redecorate are the ones which cost the blood of Jesus Christ. “’Never let go out of your minds the thoughts of the crucified Christ.’ Let these be meat and drink unto you; let them be your sweetness and consolation, your honey and your desire, your reading and your meditation, your life, death and resurrection.”