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Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change

    And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;

Psalm 46:2

As I write, it is Monday, September 12, 2011. Yesterday marked the tenth year anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks of 9/11, and our President Barack Obama read the above verse at the memorial event in New York. It was ten years ago when I was walking to class and overheard the news from a conversation going on behind me; ten years since the image of the towers smoking; ten years since the long lines at the gas station; ten years since the range of emotions that assaulted the hearts of Americans on that day where so much changed.

Historically speaking, the 9/11 attacks are probably the most significant event of my lifetime. The feeling of invincibility felt before that by Americans was shattered on that day. No one had any idea what to expect, as suddenly our world that we had for so long been able to control had now been shaken, even if it was for a short time, into chaos. There was a few brief moments of uncertainty about our own borders, and this insecurity was a novelty. I think this chaos produced different things in different people, and I remember clearly what was happening in my heart.

The evening of September 11, 2001, after a day of watching the news and processing with my University, I took my guitar and walked to the opposite side of campus where I could be alone. I still couldn’t see past the vague clouds that had made the immediate direction of the world unclear, but I had a great peace in the fact that I knew the ultimate direction of history. I knew that the world would continue to produce its madness until the return of the Lord, and while I wanted to avoid any end times conspiracy theories, that day more than any other made me realize that we had all just become one day closer to the return of our Lord. So, for me, despite the menaces that seemed to be threatening life as I had known it, fear was not an emotion that I felt after the 9/11 attacks; it was hope that filled my heart. This hope made me want to sing.

September 11 was once a current event. It is now a piece of history. History is safer. If we don’t like history, we “interpret” it in a different way or simply ignore it to protect ourselves. Current events do not give us that luxury. The sacking of the temple in Jerusalem, fall of Rome, the Civil War, and Pearl Harbor are now but pages in our history books, extremely important in the formation of our culture and largely ignored except by students who complain about the pointlessness of having to study history. Yet, if we would’ve been one who lived through such tragedies, the horrors of reality could not have been snubbed. September 11 was the only time in my life where I felt as if I was living in such a time, even though I was sheltered in a more obscure part of America. Yet, it was then where I think I was able to relate to Jeremiah who proclaimed “Great is Thy faithfulness” as the Jewish people were being exiled from Jerusalem. Augustine’s argument for Christians to be confident in the city of God while Rome, the city of man, was burning had a new meaning for me. I began to understand that the people of God should not fear, though the world change and the mountains be thrown into the sea. History belongs to the Lord, and our present sufferings and the world’s current rebellions are merely the part of history that we are experiencing. While it feels uncontrolled and chaotic, the Christians who have gone through such times have understood that there is one who is Sovereign over the events that take place during our days.

It is in this spirit of hope, therefore, that I still sing.

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“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires”

2 Timothy 4:3

I have been recently reading the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Being an American, Franklin is a man who is of great interest to me. Undoubtedly a genius, Franklin made contributions in fields ranging from the American government to electricity. Yet, as I have read through his words, my respect level for this man has actually dropped, as I think he had a big problem with his philosophy on life.

On one occasion in his life, Franklin decided that he wanted to achieve moral perfection for the sake of being a good citizen. He made a list of all the vices that he could think of and determined to rid his soul of their influence. He would take the first vice he had listed and attempt to live a few days without falling into that error. Then, after achieving perfection with that sin, he would move on to the next. What he had not understood, however, was that to even attempt this was to open the door and commit an even graver vice.

His friends began to complain that his attempts were causing him to become proud. It is evident throughout his autobiography how his pride had eaten his soul. He did try to correct his pride after being rebuked, but he came to see that he could never conquer it. The reason it was insurmountable to him is extremely evident to me. Ben Franklin rejected Christ.

He recounts how, being raised Presbyterian but having problems with some of his doctrines, he visited a Presbyterian church after he moved to Philadelphia upon being befriended by the pastor. Although he went a few Sundays in a row, he stopped going because he didn’t like the preaching. The pastor preached the doctrines of Christ and not morality. He said, “His discourses were chiefly either polemic arguments, or explications of the peculiar doctrines of our sect, and were all to me very dry, uninteresting, and unedifying, since not a single moral principle was inculcated or enforc'd, their aim seeming to be rather to make us Presbyterians than good citizens.”

Now, having an understanding of Presbyterian doctrine and being much in agreement with much of the basics that they believe, it is easy for me to see what happened. The pastor taught that moral perfection was impossible. It was only in Christ that righteousness could be found because all people had a sinful nature. Sound doctrine required that Franklin give up his quest for moral perfection, admit not only that he couldn’t do it but that he had committed tremendous and eternal errors against His Creator, and bow before Him in humility. He had attempted to conquer his pride with more pride, while Jesus was his only answer.

Franklin’s life communicates the problem with a morality system that seeks legitimacy without God. Sure, one can become a good citizen and benefit others (who could argue that Franklin didn’t do that), but that worldview will cause even the good things that one does to rise up against his own soul. One cannot put their own deeds in perspective without the Lord.

While I do not know the content of this particular pastor’s sermons, I can affirm that Franklin’s ideas about what ought to be preached were not the answer. Teaching morality was not necessary, as God has already communicated right and wrong to the hearts of each person born into this world. The message people need is the sound doctrine that teaches us how to respond when we realize that our attempts for moral perfection are done in vain and that a righteous judge must judge sin. Some want to have their ears tickled and be told that what they are doing is good and that they don’t need to change. Those will surround themselves with teachers that won’t challenge them. But those who want Christ need to have their pride shattered on the sold rock of the gospel.

While having your ears tickled might be a lot more comfortable than the assault the word of God takes on our pride, in the end it will cause great damage to our souls. Blessed is the pastor who brings the heat.

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“Grâces soient rendues à Dieu, qui nous fait toujours triompher en Christ, et qui répand par nous en tout
lieu l'odeur de sa connaissance !”

2 Corinthiens 2:14

J'ai eu le coeur brisé en entendant parler de la tragédie en Norvège. Pendant les trois années que j'ai passées en Europe, j’ai developpé un grand respect pour ce pays. Je n’ai pas été content, cependant, du traitement de cette histoire par les medias, car il me semble qu'ils se sont plu à mettre sur l’assassin une étiquette de “chrétien fondamentaliste.“ En mettant l’accent sur cette étiquette, ils ont laissé entendre que ce sont les croyances d’une vision chrétienne fondamentaliste du monde qui provoquent de telles atrocités. Etant moi-même un chrétien fondamentaliste (selon ma definition du mot “fondamentaliste“), je prends cela non seulement comme une offense mais également comme la preuve d'un journalisme irresponsable.

Peut-etre qu'il est facile de comprendre pourquoi je me suis offensé, mais pourquoi parlerais-je de journalisme irresponsable ? Parce que je crois que les chrétiens qui s’en tiennent à l'enseignement fondamental de Jésus devraient maintenant être mieux vus. Après tout, ce sont des chrétiens fondamentalistes qui ont été les premiers à arriver à la Nouvelle Orleans avec de l'aide après l’ouragan Katrina. Ce sont des chrétiens fondamentalistes qui ont sacrifié leurs temps et leur argent pour aller aider après le tsunami en Asie du sud, les tremblements de terre au Japon et en Haiti, et qui sont à la tête des actions contre la faim dans le monde. Chaque ministère parmi les SDF avec lesquels j’ai servi aux Etats-Unis a été commencé par des chrétiens fondamentalistes, et ce sont eux aussi qui sont en train de reconstruire ma ville Tuscaloosa, en Alabama après les tornades meurtrières d'avril dernier.

Je m'arrêterai là, mais je pourrais continuer longtemps sur la justice sociale faite par les chrétiens fondamentalistes depuis des siècles et encore aujourd'hui. Malgré tout le mérite que notre peuple devrait posséder, il suffit d'un homme mauvais qui se définit comme chrétien sur son profil facebook pour profaner notre nom et faire puer celui de Jésus. Bien que cela me contrarie, je ne devrais pas m'en étonner, et je vais donc passer d’une plainte contre nos juges hypocrites à une leçon très précieuse que nous, les chrétiens fondamentalistes, devrions tirer de tout cela.

Le monde cherchera toujours à mettre en évidence les péchés de l’Eglise et à ignorer le bien qu'elle fait. Pourquoi? Parce que tout mérite qu’ils accordent à l’Eglise est un mérite accordé à Dieu, et c’est Lui qu’ils rejettent. Le monde ne veut pas accepter Dieu, parce qu’il est sous une autre puissance. Bien des athées citent les guerres commencées par la religion comme raison pour ne pas croire en Dieu, mais en réalité c’est une raison qu’ils ont trouvée car ils n'ont pas envie de croire en Dieu. Les bonnes oeuvres de l’Eglise seront toujours ignorées par ceux qui sont destinés à la destruction.

Cependant, nous sommes appelés à être la bonne odeur de Christ. Beaucoup de gens partout dans le monde disent qu'ils se sont intéressés à l'évangile au début parce qu'ils ont remarqué la façon de vivre d'un chrétien fondamentaliste. Ils ont trouvé que cette personne était droite. Elle était digne de confiance. Elle était heureuse. Elle se souciait du bien-être des autres. Elle avait un arôme doux qu’ils n’ont pas trouvé dans le monde. Suivre Jésus d'une manière fondamentale consiste à propager le parfum de Dieu parmi les nations, et il n’y a pas de parfum plus doux.

Alors que que le monde prétendra toujours que l’odeur de Christ pue, la vie de ceux qui suivent réellement Jésus d'une manière fondamentale prouvera toujours le contraire. Ne soyons pas surpris quand le monde calomnie le nom de Jésus et essaye de le faire puer; laissons plutôt notre arôme répandre sa connaissance en tout lieu.

The Waters

The waters that lay still before me

Are threatening all that I once knew.

The appearance of tranquility

Invites me to enter in the pool,

Yet I know the storm that will rage when

I submit my corpse to plunge its depths.

A corpse, indeed, a corpse I will be

For these waters call me to a death.

But could there be a resurrection?

For me the waters are but a pool,

But for Him t’was a flowing river,

Whose currents lead to a sea called Death.

This Man whose joy it was to perish

Willing to live for a higher cause

Became obedient to this death

Even the death of these mighty waters.

He said his death would bring life to men,

But could He have a resurrection?

The waters appear to have a song

And its music sooths my broken soul.

Their surface seems to break out in dance

In harmony with eternity.

They stand for all that is beautiful

Against all that would threaten true life.

Who could resist their strong attraction?

Who would despise their invitation?

Surely they preach a resurrection.

Yet I know the sacrifice it takes

To be drenched in its peaceful fury.

For I know my foot should not enter

Unless I submerge my head as well.

And if my nose should there go under,

No doubt its last breath will have been drawn

Forever after my breath will come

From a Wind that can not be measured.

Yet this Wind brings a resurrection.

I can see the need I have for death,

For life in bondage is not real life.

My wayward nature can’t be mended,

My broken spirit can not be fixed.

Yes death, and death alone, is my cure

The grave is my road to liberty.

I can be buried in these waters

My soul drowned in its unyielding waves

With a hope for a resurrection.

There are things, to be sure, I will miss

From my life of death that I will flee.

The waters will take my sovereignty

They will take away all of my rights.

Yet in my new chains is true freedom

And those regrets will be but shadows

For no one who swims and then looks back,

Is worthy of the death of the pool,

Is worthy of the resurrection.

With decision made, I enter in,

This fountain full of wrathful pardon.

The elements burn my broken skin

And instructs me that the pain is real.

For sin is not easily repaired,

And death necessitates agony.

Yet I clench my fists against my pride

And prepare my corpse for sacrifice.

While longing for my resurrection.

Death, then burial, then three days passed

In a brief moment of submersion

My lungs received a new kind of air

From the Wind that blows where it wishes

And my voice which knew only to curse

Found the song for which it had been made.

For these waters bound me to the man

Whose joy it was to suffer and die,

And I share in His resurrection.

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“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. “

2 Corinthians 2:14

I was heartbroken recently upon hearing of the tragedy in Norway. After living in Europe for almost three years now, I have grown to respect this country very much. I have been unhappy, however, with the media’s coverage of this story, as it seems that they have enjoyed labeling the killer as a “fundamentalist Christian.” By placing emphasis on this label, they have made an implication that beliefs that line up with a fundamental Christian view lead to such atrocities. As one who is a fundamentalist Christian (depending on your definition of “fundamentalist”), I find this not only offensive but irresponsible journalism.

Perhaps it is easy to understand why I would be offended, but why would I call it irresponsible? The reason is because I believe Christians who hold to the fundamentals of what Jesus taught should have by now earned a better reputation than that. After all, it was fundamentalist Christians who were the first to be in New Orleans with aid after hurricane Katrina. It was fundamentalist Christians who sacrificed their time and money to go and help after the Tsunami in South Asia, the earthquakes in Japan and Haiti, and have led the charge in fighting global hunger. Every homeless ministry I worked with in America had been started by fundamentalist Christians, and it is fundamentalist Christians who are helping rebuild my hometown of Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

I’ll stop there, but I could go on for pages about the social justice done by fundamentalist Christians through the centuries and in this present age. Despite all the merit that our people should have earned, it only takes one evil man that has “Christian” on his Facebook profile to profane our name and cause the name of Jesus to stink. While this upsets me, it should not surprise me, and it causes me to turn this from a gripe against our plank-in-the-eye judges to an invaluable lesson that we “fundamentalist Christians” should take from this.

The world will always search out the sins of the church and ignore the good. Why? Because any merit they give to the church is a merit given to God, and it is He they do not want. The world will not accept God, for they are under a different reign. There are many atheists who cite the wars started by religion as the reason they don’t believe in God, but in reality this is more of a reason they found because they already didn’t want to believe in God. The good works of the church will always be ignored by those destined for destruction.

Yet, we are called to be the aroma of Christ. There are many individuals all around the world who have stated that the reason they first became open to the gospel was because they watched the life of some “fundamentalist Christian.” They were upright. They were trustworthy. They were happy. They cared about the well-being of others. They, so to say, had a sweet aroma that they had not found in the world. To follow Jesus in a fundamental way is to spread the perfume of God amongst the nations, and there is no sweeter fragrance.

While the world will always claim that the odor of Christ stinks, the life of people who truly follow Christ in a fundamental way will always prove otherwise. Let us not be surprised when the world spreads its slander and its stink; rather, let our aroma spread the knowledge of him in every place.

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“For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.”

1 Corinthians 1:21

There was a time that I wanted to argue with God about this verse. Surely the message that God had given Paul could not have been foolishness, as this verse suggests. After all, a foolish message is one that only a fool would accept, and, since I had accepted Paul’s message, surely I the gospel I received was the culmination of the wisdom of God. How could Paul say that this message was foolishness?

I continue to believe that the gospel is the wisdom of God, but I have recently come to see how it can also be seen as the foolishness of God. Living in a very secular culture, I have often had discussions about Jesus with people who deny even the existence of God. These discussions often involve complex philosophical discussions then end up going very deep into theories about existence, truth, and morality. When I finally sift through all of the excess baggage involved in the discussion to reason my way to a gospel presentation, the message can seem way too simple. Is the answer to the whole universe really no more than a man who gave himself to be sacrificed like an animal?

No doubt Paul experienced the same thing. He was encountering all the rival philosophies and worldviews of the Roman Empire, and no doubt had many such philosophical discussions. He took firm stances on epistemology, morality, and the nature of truth. And, much like when I evangelize, he presents the gospel as a culmination of all the knowledge that is known. The deepest argument that all other arguments lead to is the simplest notion of all. Christ died of our sins according to the Scriptures. It really is as simple as us being bad and God taking our punishment.

Why did God choose to save us in such a simple and foolish way? Why should the real truth be so bizarre, while at the same time be so accessible even to the simplest of minds? Why should not man have to climb intellectual mountains and cross perplexing seas to come to the truth? Why should enlightenment not be the results of the efforts of man?

To think this way is to forget the original problem. The sinfulness of man commenced with the pride of trying to do things ourselves. This led us into self-glorification and a desire to overthrown the reign of God so that we could sit on His throne. The foolish message, however, will not allow such nonsense. The Ph.D. who has spent years in the library must humble his intellect before the simplicity of the cross just like the preschooler and the homeless beggar.

The gospel is not foolishness in that it presents a lack of wisdom. It is foolish in its simplicity. For the wise man, the scribe, and the debater of this age to come to know Truth incarnate, they must humble themselves before the cross of Christ. They must admit their sinfulness and declare Another king of the cosmos. They must submit that the uneducated and the ignorant have obtained the same wisdom that they have received; namely, a wisdom that is revealed by God and not obtained on a voyage around the world or in the dark corner of a library. They must give up their pride.

Perhaps this is why Paul said, “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

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‘If a man injures his neighbor, just as he has done, so it shall be done to him: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; just as he has injured a man, so it shall be inflicted on him. 

Leviticus 24:19-20

Perhaps no precept set forth in Scripture is so looked down upon as this idea of “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth.” It is true that in the New Testament Jesus commands his disciples to turn the other cheek when struck and to not resist evil people, seemingly contradicting this core Old Testament principle. Many argue against this idea, and often it is seen as being primitive and inapplicable today. Gandhi, for example, said, “An eye for an eye leaves everybody blind.”

Gandhi, along with many people today, has missed the wisdom behind this important biblical principle. His quote makes it seem like someone who believes in this notion walks around plucking everyone’s eye out. This is not the point the Old Testament is making here.

The Scriptures are establishing the idea of justice. Unfortunately, we live in a world where people actually do evil. Since evil is done, there must be a system in place where the evil that is committed is made right again. The harm must be repaired by giving a punishment equal to that which was committed, or else there will be unfinished evil left on the table. If a punishment is more severe than the offense committed, then the punishment itself was an evil. If the punishment was less than the evil committed, the offender had not received just recompense. This precept is always right.

Now, if this precept is always right, how can I justify Jesus’ words about turning the other cheek and forgiveness? Jesus was speaking to individuals who also had need of being forgiven of their sins. The people who had been struck on one cheek were also people who were guilty of striking someone else. All individuals in this world are in need of pardon, and therefore all should be willing to pardon. Anyone who has ever committed a sin in their life should be willing to turn the other cheek and forgive others, just as they need God to forgive them. Only a person is capable of forgiveness.

However, the law cannot be forgiving. The law is the moral standard that God has established, and it must be upheld at all costs. Just recompense is necessary for those who transgress it. Imagine a society where murderers were not punished or people weren’t required to pay back what they had stolen. Such a place would be a lawless hell. The eye for an eye principle exists to make sure that justice is done, and that justice must be fair to the offense that was committed. So, to address Gandhi, the Bible is not saying that individual people should be going around creating their own justice, nor randomly plucking out people’s eyes. The only people walking around blind will be the ones guilty of making other people walk around blind, and it is the law that will enforce this.

While we Christians often rejoice in the fact that God, a Person (or, rather, three Persons), has given us forgiveness. Yet we must also rejoice that God will judge according to the law that He has established, for any God who made universe where evil was not made right would not be worthy of worship at all. But our God is just, and all will be made right. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, all sins will be given their due recompense.

The choice as to whether or not you want Jesus take your penalty is entirely up to you.