Open Letter to an Identity Thief

Dear "Thief":

I want you to know most of all that I am writing to you today out of genuine concern for you. Allow me the opportunity to further explain, but before I do that since I know that one sin only leads to another it seems fit to warn you first that you will be tempted next to suppress those feelings of guilt which you are now experiencing. In a word - don't. They were placed there for your benefit by the One who made both you and everything in existence beyond the farthest reaches of what any mortal will ever see. He is the Creator and Giver of life and the One who loved all of creation enough to die for lawbreakers like you and me. You know, the very same One who wrote the law - thou shalt not steal. (Exodus 20:15)

I happen to know a little something about this law because I've broken it too. By way of example, when I was a little boy of about seven I secretly pocketed a nickel off of another kid's towel over at the city swimming pool. To this day I wish that I could go and give that boy back his little nickel, but it’s too late. I don't know who he is and the deed is long since done. Guilty as charged. (Romans 3:23)

Perhaps though your conscience is no longer tender enough to notice the gravity of what you've done and is already hardened to the natural remorse due from your specific crime which involved me. This would be to your shame and I pray it isn't so.

So rest assured, either way, that I'm contacting all of the appropriate authorities to look into this matter. For me to turn a blind eye to the unlawful deed that you've committed would not only be irresponsible, but would be just as bad of me as it was for you to commit this crime to begin with. (Proverbs 16:30)

You only thought you had acted in secret. (Proverbs 15:3) You also thought that you only stole from a random nobody, however in that point you were at least half right. While it is true that I am a random nobody, the party that your offense is ultimately lodged against is none other than God himself. After all, He is the one who gave us the law to begin with and is also worthy of our obedience to it. (Revelation 4:11)

So you see then, it’s not just that you've taken something that belongs to me and used it for your own nefarious purpose that’s caused me to write to you. I am writing to remind you of whom you're ultimately accountable.

That said, in the long run the best thing for you to do right now is to simply admit guilt, turn yourself in, and face the music. I say this is the place to start because that's the easy part.  Ultimately the only way to truly be free is to throw yourself down at the unfailing mercy of the Righteous Judge of the universe who plainly sees everything that you do, this incident included.  And you need to not only do this, but to also desire to do it wholeheartedly and, yeah, that's a 180 degree change which can only be accomplished with Supernatural ability.  (Ezekiel 36:26-27; John 3:5-8; Ephesians 2:1-10; Titus 3:3-7)

To ignore this warning is to pronounce your own ultimate doom. Face it; you know you were already doomed anyway before any of this ever happened, but to look the other way now only further seals your fate. That small worthless pile of ill gotten gain will forever stand as evidence against you. It is evidence that you yourself have labored to produce by selling your own soul in exchange for it. And that's a hefty price to pay, I might add, compared to a few hundred dollar "profit". (Matthew 16:26; Mark 8:36; Luke 9:25)

What I shared by comparison - to take even a single nickel from someone else while no one is looking - is really no different. As you can see, God didn't provide an exception clause. And it’s not that I shared this because it is either the worst or the only thing I have ever done wrong – far from it. Rather, it’s to help underscore the fact that God doesn't grant impunity by grading on a sliding scale. (Galatians 3:10; James 2:10)

So in closing, I want you to know that I'm praying for you. I’m praying that you'll find and read this while thoughtfully considering its contents. I’m praying that you'll see the light and not give in to further temptation. I’m praying that you'll do the right thing. Praying that God will so invade your space that you'll recognize the utter hopelessness of your eternal condition before its too late and you stand instead accused as a guilty, unrepentant law breaker before Him who created you. (Acts 10:42; Revelation 20:11-15)

By the way, there is one who has offered to pay your debt so you don't have to face that judgment. (Romans 3:21-26; Hebrews 2:14-18; I John 4:10) Perhaps you've heard of Him. His name is Jesus Christ, the friend of sinners. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He made both the lame to walk and the blind to see. He alone can forgive sins and not only was He alone able to fully and finally pay for them (Matthew 5:17-20; Hebrews 10:11-14), but He also chose to willingly do so (Philippians 2:5-8). (Because, you see, God cannot turn a blind eye to sin either.) He alone can make all things new (Revelation 21:5) and, in fact, it was He who was first raised from the dead. (Colossians 1:18) Best of all for you right now He is ready and willing to hear your repentant prayer. (Luke 18:9-14)

The interesting thing is that He will require your own life in exchange for this payment. (Matthew 16:24-28; Mark 8:34-38; Luke 9:23-27) For you see, by default, if God takes away your sin and guilt and makes you think and act like a new person then you just won't desire to go on making a habit of doing things like what you're currently doing. (Romans 6:1-4; 1 Peter 1:14-16) That's not to say that all of a sudden everything will be peachy or easy, but since He already owns your soul anyway it behooves you to act now before it’s too late.

So, I may not yet know exactly who you are, but I'm praying specifically for your soul. Today is the day of salvation. Heed His call. Don't delay.

In the name of Christ the Lord,


Your concerned "Victim"

A Twisted Parable of Ephesians 6:4

In need of lessons about how to provoke your children to anger?  Don't miss the following news story:

Grocer drops sandwich charge that cost couple custody of daughter

While the story has more to do with customer service than it does with parenting it still reads like a twisted parable of Ephesians 6:4.  A quick run through of what not to do:

1. The first time your child even unintentionally misbehaves come down on them as harshly as possible no matter if they knew the rules or not.
2. Be unrelenting and refuse to reconcile with your child even if they are truly repentant.  Make sure that there is absolutely nothing they can do to satiate your anger until you personally feel vindicated.
3. Don't give appropriate discipline. Instead, take away your child's most prized possession for an undetermined amount of time so that they are sure to know that you are a tyrant.
4. Make sure your child knows that you are dedicated to protecting your own image to outsiders, but are too proud to seek forgiveness from them when you both know you've gone too far.
5. Make amends with your child only after they've paid multiple times over for their "offense" and be sure to let them know all along the way that they are still at fault.

I'm sure there are probably additional lessons here that I have overlooked.  Also to be fair, we don't know exactly what the store in question has/hasn't done for this family after the fact, but this is the only information that we have to go on.  Still, a little grace would've gone a loooong way in this situation.

As parents we need to remember that while disobedience in our children is sin, we are never the primary offended party.  That distinction belongs to God alone (Ps 51:4).  Our responsibility as parents, in both word and deed, is to communicate this truth to our children and to administer appropriate discipline when necessary in keeping with Biblical standards.  A little grace goes a long way. And that's really the entire point - lovingly communicating to our children in every circumstance their need of the Gospel of grace.

Why I'm not excited about the Christian blockbuster genre

As I type this, the next installment in the Christian Hollywood blockbuster genre has recently been released and is most likely showing in a theater near you.  Like all of its prior cousins it seeks to send a message to the general public in line with the Christian worldview through the medium of the movie screen.  While I applaud its producers for attempting to redeem the genre of film with production values worthy of its secular counterparts, I just can't seem to get excited about these kinds of projects.

In no particular order, here are some reasons why I think these big screen attempts to reach the culture at large (and even the culture in the church) are ultimately doomed to failure.

1. Nearly all of these films seem to focus on orthopraxy rather than orthodoxy.  Right belief will inevitably lead to right practice, but the opposite of this is not true (right practice will not lead to right belief).  In fact, this approach is much more closely related to legalism which is a charge that even secular reviewers bring against these films.  
2. Movies are a form of entertainment and their primary objective is to entertain.  Anything else, including any message they may attempt to convey, is and only can be secondary.  As such these shows are purposely over dramatized to capture the viewer's attention complete with soundtracks to help heighten said drama.  Since nobody has such embellished dramatics or sound tracks playing along in real life they will inevitably discover that their own life is much more boring than what they witnessed on the movie screen.  Once this truth hits home the mountaintop euphoria they experienced from watching the movie goes away along with whatever motivation for change that came along with the experience.  
3. Related to that above, unless I'm looking specifically for a piece of entertainment these films are largely a waste of time and money.  Look, if you're hungry is your first response going to be to flip on the TV and look for a cooking show or go find something to eat?  It is obvious that only one of those options is going to satisfy your hunger.  Even IF the message I need to hear is contained in these films I can guarantee that it will also be accessible in a multitude of other avenues which are not only more thorough but significantly more precise and accurate in their presentation.  No matter what the message, a two hour flick is going to contain a lot of fluff.  Two hours spent on studying a topic of weakness even if I have to solicit outside help will always be significantly more profitable.   
4. No one likes a movie where the good guys don't eventually win which is why you rarely, if ever, find a movie where they don't end up doing just that.  This is the way it is and is what constitutes telling a good story.  While I'm not at all saying that this should change, the christian life comes with no guarantees.  We can't expect that everything will work out in the end in this life even if we do all the right things.  The christian is called to expect suffering, yet in the movies all you will likely see is ultimate triumph.
5. As Francis Schaeffer reminds us in How Should We Then Live, every minute of television [including movie footage] has been edited (pg 240 in my copy).  The truth is not lost on the viewer that the makers of a film are crafting a specific message with a specific outcome.  Can you imagine stating something like the following to a friend or coworker:  "Go see the new movie __________ because it has a great message and story line which proves that my worldview is correct."?  This is preposterous.  An objector might state that we live in a culture that has been raised on TV and we need to use methods that will speak to them.  Fair enough, but what does the Bible say about how we are to bear witness about the truth that is within us?  I Peter 2:12 states that it is our right conduct that does this.  That's right, we're supposed to be living it out unscripted right in front of them! 
6. We're already surrounded by more than enough entertainment.  Everywhere you look there are more and more ways to be entertained - so much so that you literally have to go out of your way to avoid it.  While I'm all for good, clean, family friendly choices, we're oversaturated with entertainment as it is, do we really need to generate more?

As the old adage goes - what you win them through is what you win them to.   It may be clean, have a good story line, be enjoyable and engaging, but its still entertainment and you can't escape the fact that the medium shapes the message.  If anyone does respond positively through these types of films I'm thankful for it, but the risk of false conversion seems pretty high to me.  Maybe these films provide opportunities for people to engage in real conversations with lost friends and truly get to matters of the heart, but I'm still more than a little skeptical.

As I said as I began this post, I do appreciate the attempts that have been made to redeem the genre of film.  It can be quite difficult to find good, quality, family entertainment that is clean and sends an acceptable message.  And I'm not so naive to think that God can't work through means that aren't necessarily perfect. 

But even though we live in a world with lots of frills, technology, and gadgetry, the natural condition of men's hearts remains exactly the same as they were directly after the fall and the way that men are saved and have their hearts oriented toward God also remains unchanged - by confronting them with their sin in the face of God's perfectly righteous requirement and then pointing them to the Savior who alone can forgive sins.  Such didacticism I am afraid is, at best, heavily veiled in the Christian blockbuster and we're fooling ourselves if we think that that doesn't matter. 

The Twin Towers of Discernment and Maturity

I hardly noticed the dampened tones gently blowing in the distance as I laid in bed sleeping one peaceful night.  The noise barely roused me from my slumber and I was already drifting back off to sleep when my wife Rae suddenly sat up in bed.  "Isn't it just a train?", I asked trying to find out what was the matter.  "Yes", she replied slightly confused at my query as the train gently blew its horns again, "but that's not what woke me.  I heard Peter patting his feet in his bed".

"You heard WHAT?", I heard myself saying in the back of my mind before I finally realized what she was talking about.  All I had heard was the train, yet my wife woke to our three month old baby quietly moving in the corner of our room. 

Now even more aroused, I thought about what had just transpired.  I had indeed heard all of the same sounds as she did, but my hearing gravitated to what had been created by the more obvious train and completely disregarded everything else.  Hers, on the other hand, had latched on to the quietly waking baby beside us.  In fact, it wasn't even the train that woke her.  Remove the train from the picture and I would have slept soundly through the entire ordeal while she would have still woken immediately to our young child's soft movements indicating his impending hunger.  I had only heard what was most prominent, while she discerned immediately and then acted on what had been most important.

As I reflected on this even more I realized that this is a vivid picture of what we find in Hebrews 5:11-14

    [11] About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. [12] For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, [13] for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. [14] But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. (ESV)

Notice the two types of people that are being contrasted here:  the child and the mature person.  There is nothing inherently wrong with being a child if that is the present and reasonable stage of an individuals spiritual development.  However, what the writer of Hebrews is saying is that growth was expected, yet it just had not occurred.  The child-like state is supposed to be a temporary condition, but for this particular group it was not.

Notice more specifically the contrasts:

The child:

1. is dull of hearing (v11)
2. requires repeat basic instruction (v12)
3. lives on milk (v12)
4. is unskilled in the word (v13)

The mature person:

1. possesses discernment (v14)
2. consistently acts in accordance with their training (v14)
3. handles solid food (v14)
4. distinguishes good from evil (v14)

Remember, the writer of Hebrews is admonishing his audience that they should have already gone on to greater maturity, yet they had remained as spiritual infants.  It is the normal expected outcome for a spiritually healthy person to grow up in the faith just as it is the normal expected outcome for a healthy child to grow into adulthood.  My wife was able to easily discern the facts of our situation and then quickly act upon them to meet the needs of our infant son.  In the same vein, the redeemed of the Lord ought to also experience sufficient and substantive growth in due time so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. (Ephesians 4:11-16, verse 14 cited)

We err when we think that we are either more mature than we really are or that we no longer need to keep on growing.  In the former instance we are being undiscerning while in in the latter we are being immature.  If one is present the other is sure to not be far behind.  The way of wisdom lies in asking God for an understanding mind that we may be able to rightly divide the word of truth and then go forth and live in the light of that truth as mature followers of Christ for his glory.

Divided: The Movie

What follows is my review of the new controversial film "Divided" which asks and attempts to answer whether modern youth ministry is multiplying or dividing the church. The film is available for free viewing online until September 2011.

The primary thing I'm pondering after viewing the film is this: Is the prevalence of age segregation/modern youth ministry in the local church (and its associated dismal track record) the problem or only a symptom of the problem and will the takeaway for the average viewer be the former or the latter?

By way of an answer to that, if I had any objections to this documentary I think they would boil down to these:

1. As one comment I saw somewhere put it, was this a film about the pitfalls of modern youth ministry or an infomercial for the FIC movement? 
 
2. Right doctrine will necessitate right practice, but the reverse is not true. So if the indicators tell us that what we're doing is not working what then is the obvious root problem? For the record I don't think the filmmaker's intent was to get this wrong, but the lines seem more than a little blurred. Perhaps the documentary format plays into the loss of distinction here. Will the average viewer make this connection?

I do think the FIC model has many good merits and I can also sympathize with the viewpoints expressed by the makers of this video. We do have crisis in the church. We do have crisis in families. (We obviously also have crisis in government, but that wasn't covered in the film.) Worldliness, carnality, post modern thinking, belief in evolution, churches not preaching the truth of the word, and fathers not discipling their children, etc. are all huge problems. But isn't the primary root of all of these problems in the church at large a pernicious and growing theological liberalism wrapped up in a tidy Christian veneer to placate the undiscerning?

Or as J. Gresham Machen succinctly puts it:

It is a great mistake to suppose that liberalism is merely a heresy—merely a divergence at isolated points from true Christian teaching. On the contrary it proceeds from a totally different root. It differs from Christianity in its view of God, of man, of the seat of authority, of Christ, and of the way of salvation. Christianity is being attacked from within by a movement which is anti-Christian to the core.
(http://homepage.mac.com/shanerosenthal/reformationink/jgmliborchr.htm)

Spurgeon fought the downgrade. Machen wrestled against liberalism. We're facing the same enemy today, just in more sophisticated clothing. Let us not fail to don the full armor and stand firm. Eph 6.10-20