Now I don't want to get off on a rant here...

Da Book, Da Movie…Da I don’t know?

Da story 2,000 years in the making, amidst a whirlwind of criticism and excitement, comes out in theatres today. Historical? Factual? Fictional? False? All of the above?

I know there are some historical characters in the story, which is a work of fiction and that there are some facts that have been twisted into falsehoods. I also know that believing the premises that Jesus Christ “was only a man, who married, fathered children, and died a normal death in first-century Palestine” flies in the face of history – not to mention that silly little document we Christians call the Bible.

I appreciate the need to engage the culture – to dispel falsehood and counteract that with the truth. I’m just not convinced that seeing the movie or reading the book is required to do that. Also, I’m not interested in condemning anyone for doing that because what I know of the book is based on their review. I am moved more by Paul’s encouragement, “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:8). This movie/book does not strike me as particularly noble and it certainly doesn’t provide truth.

At the end of the day, I don’t want my money in Dan Brown’s pockets. But honestly, the pull of Tom Hanks, Ron Howard and an intriguing story does entice me. I asked a friend who read the book, not if the book was good but if it was good that the book was written. He said, “No, Satan is certainly delighting in this.” And that is where I draw the line.

Drew Trotter, in an article titled The Da Vinci Code Phenomenon, provided some great arguments against the historicity of the story and makes some great observations about our lack of historical understanding. He then goes on to write, “We cannot fulfill this great commission by disengaging ourselves from its most important cultural markers, and The Da Vinci Code promises to be important, at least at the popular level.” I’m not convinced that knowing the storyline is required to refute the historical inaccuracy. Being the light in the darkness will always outshine even the most perverse falsity.

For more thoughts:
• The Da Vinci Code Discussed
• Inadequate
• Links

Knee to Knee

This was the overall message that Former Attorney General John Ashcroft gave Monday night at the Youth for Christ dinner in his speech on leadership. He reminded us that true leaders do not mandate or impose their ideas on a population but that they inspire them to achieve and to focus on what is the right, what is noble.

That is a pretty lofty goal and heavy burden for leaders to take on, but it is also a necessary one. Mr. Ashcroft came to speak that night to inspire 1,500 people to become active leaders in their communities and within the lives of youth. He came to inspire people not to just be good and do what is right, but to fulfill their God given purpose to proclaim the truths of Jesus Christ; to give hope to the hopeless, love to the unloved and a future to all.

John Ashcroft’s dad died shortly after he took his office as a US Senator in 1995. The morning of his swearing in their family met to pray over John; which was their custom before each oath of office he has taken as an anointing. His dad struggled to get up out of the couch he was sitting in and John told him that he didn’t have to get up to pray over him. His father responded, “I’m not trying to stand – I’m trying to kneel”. In that instance a father passed onto his son the truths of Scripture and values of Jesus Christ. He gave his son the opportunity to meet him knee to knee rather than eye to eye or nose to nose.

When we enter into people’s lives knee to knee we show them the true compassion we have for their hearts. We show them the deep love we have for them as we enter into prayer for their souls, for their hope, for their future. Leaders inspire us by entering our lives to show us this hope. Where is your hope? Who is your inspiration? I pray it is the Lord Jesus Christ.

5 Steps to Comprehensive Reform

Last night President Bush offered our country a middle ground on the road to immigration reform; a path that recognizes the need for both legal enforcement and gracious hospitality. In an attempt to inspire, inform and lead the country in the direction of this policy he laid out 5 steps or objectives to correct the immigration problem.

Address By The President To The Nation On Immigration Reform

We're a nation of laws, and we must enforce our laws. We're also a nation of immigrants, and we must uphold that tradition, which has strengthened our country in so many ways. These are not contradictory goals. America can be a lawful society and a welcoming society at the same time.

First, the United States must secure its borders...The border should be open to trade and lawful immigration, and shut to illegal immigrants, as well as criminals, drug dealers, and terrorists.

Second, to secure our border, we must create a temporary worker program…To secure the border effectively, we must reduce the numbers of people trying to sneak across.

Third, we need to hold employers to account for the workers they hire…And by making it harder for illegal immigrants to find work in our country, we would discourage people from crossing the border illegally in the first place.

Fourth, we must face the reality that millions of illegal immigrants are here already. They should not be given an automatic path to citizenship. This is amnesty, and I oppose it. Amnesty would be unfair to those who are here lawfully, and it would invite further waves of illegal immigration.

Fifth, we must honor the great American tradition of the melting pot, which has made us one nation out of many peoples…When immigrants assimilate and advance in our society, they realize their dreams, they renew our spirit, and they add to the unity of America.

Critiques may not have been won over by this plan, but it calls for a great deal of compromise on both sides. It recognizes that the problems we face are of vital interest to our national security, our economy, our moral obligations and our sovereignty. It has been said that this problem wasn’t created over night and nor will it be fixed over night by any single solution. It will take a comprehensive effort dealing with the issue in its totality and time to be resolved. Critiques on both sides would do well to remember that.

UPDATE:

Theology of the Mirror

How often do you look in the mirror to check your hair? your face? your outfit? Even as a guy; I’d say that I check myself out at least 10 times a day for various reasons. We want to make sure our hair is in place or we aren’t saving part of our lunch for later or just to verify we aren’t a disheveled mess. We do all this in the hopes that we will look presentable to the world; that we won’t look foolish and “gosh darn it people will like us”.

With all the attention we give and time we spend concerned about what the mirror shows of our appearance, how often do you look in the mirror to check your heart? Are you in the habit of examining your heart to make sure that it is presentable? How easy it is for us to ignore that aspect of our daily lives because most people will never get to see that. We can easily hide that away and not worry so much about the disheveled nature of our own hearts and minds.

Like Dorian Gray, we are free to live our lives as we choose and never fully reveal the toll this takes on our hearts to everyone else. We hide it, we ignore it and we try to forget about it. This becomes so apparent and so glaring when it comes to conflict. However; the clarity that arises from these situations will often reveal more about ourselves than we intend.

The failure to genuinely search out and recognize our own contributions to conflict will generally lead to a great deal of finger pointing. “They are to blame – not me!” Sometimes this is true, but often times it is not so clear cut. Often times we have both contributed to the problem and it will take the recognition and repentance of both parties to bring about true reconciliation. This begins with looking in the mirror rather than pointing fingers.

The Apostle Paul reminds us that, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3: 23). It is especially important to remember that when it comes to resolving conflict. The daily act of examining your heart in the mirror is also a daily reminder of that atoning blood of Jesus Christ. Ignorance of the mirror is not only ignorance of your sinful nature, but also of grace.

The Real World – Immigration Style

The classic reality TV show always opened up with this voice over, “This is the true story of seven strangers, picked to live in a house and have their lives…” setting the stage for what was to come. A group of diverse people coming together to live under one roof and share their lives – their stories with one another in an attempt to live in harmonious relationship, which as we know does not make for good TV, nor is it very easy to accomplish.

So zoom out and look at our country as this great big house with 300 million strangers picked to live together – some of whom are not supposed to be here. The point though is that out of the estimated 12 million or so illegal immigrants we have in this country there are approximately 12 million different stories of those looking for a better place to live, looking to escape the depravity of their homelands, etc. This makes the issue of immigration very difficult as one attempts to “aggregate the data” as Bill Bennett suggests is necessary.

The criticism from the right is that the current administration is not doing enough to secure the country and is offering amnesty. From the left we hear that there are no “illegal aliens” just “undocumented workers”. At the end of the day, the right needs to remember that this President has lead boldly in the defense of our nation and trust that his leadership will continue to uphold those principles. The left needs to stop trying to redefine everything as “against Bush” and get on board with working towards a common goal for all Americans.

Ignoring the individual stories of these 12 million people, ignoring the record of leadership on national security issues and creating division that makes for good TV are all steps in the wrong direction. Only as a united nation, coming together, can the real issues of our day be dealt with. Leaders must lead and citizens (legal or not) must submit to their authority.

Faith. Trust. Submission. Authority.

What is so important about these 4 little words? Why do they matter? It all comes down to these two questions: Have you exchanged the truth for a lie? And have you replaced God with yourself? The unfortunate bend of our hearts towards sin answers those questions for us. Yes we have.

Every time we ignore God’s calling and commandments for our loving obedience we suppress the truth of His Word in our hearts. By suppressing the truth we open the door for lies to rule, which leads us to replace God as the supreme authority with our very own minds. When questioned, we rationalize these episodes of disobedience by telling ourselves that we are standing firm upon the rock of some principle.

But what is that rock of principle built upon? If you don’t constantly question that and compare your principled foundation to that of the inerrant and infallible Word of God then clearly you are ignoring those 4 little words.

Although by God’s grace He has given us a way to turn from the darkness and towards His light. Our growth in the knowledge of the Lord should be leading to a deeper faith in His Word, in His promises and in His provision for us. A faith firmly implanted in our hearts that permeates all that we do will give us the ability to trust in Him to meet all of our needs, small or large. Nothing goes ignored and all is within His dominion to transform. Trusting so fully in God’s love should daily bring us to our knees in humble submission to His will and ultimately His authority in all aspects of our lives. Imagine the freedom this truth would bring as we are liberated from the darkness and illuminated by His Spirit.

The world teaches us to constantly question authority, so that authority is held accountable. But Scripture teaches if you are unwilling to be held accountable to authority then the truth has been exchanged and God has been replaced. There is no freedom there – only bondage to sin.