The Crazy Quran Burning Caper

Posted on September 7, 2010 by John J

It is with profound dismay that I hear about the Christian pastor in Florida, Terry Jones, who is trying to organize his church for a Quran burning event on 9/11. Pathetically reprehensible is the ignorance of thinking that this behavior could be sanctioned in the name of our Lord. Why doesn’t he also include all the other “holy books” of all the other religions if he thinks that standing around a bonfire will have any beneficial effect God’s work? Does he really believe it is the Quran that is fueling today’s worldwide terrorism, and not just plain old selfishness and self-deception? Burning this one particular book says nothing to the extremist Muslim, it says everything to all Muslim.

If this was the Israel of the Old Testament then God’s people would be just in calling for the destruction of the people living in their land; that is what they were supposed to do but they failed to follow God’s word completely, and as warned by God it resulted in their ultimate destruction and exile. Read what He says to them in Deut 7:2, “when the LORD your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them.” And Exodus 23:32 “You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods. They shall not live in your land, because they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

But this is America, not the Israel of long ago. This country is not God’s nation, not in the sense that Israel was in the Old Testament. This nation is made up of a lot of God’s people, yes, but the country belongs to all of its citizens, the founding freedoms were guaranteed to all for the purpose of peace for all.

This pastor says Islam is the devil’s religion. More correctly, all religions belong to the devil. They are the antithesis of God’s truth as revealed in His Word. Jesus came to reveal God’s truth because He was the Way, the Truth, and the light (John 14:6). “No one comes to the Father but through Me.” Outside of Jesus Christ everything else is just religion, and is antithetical to God’s truth. Why just enumerate the errors of Islam, why not all the others, and include the philosophies as well?

But evangelism of the Gospel did not entail war and conquer. You don’t find that in the book of Acts or Paul’s letters or elsewhere in the New Testament until you get to the Final days as depicted in Revelation. We aren’t there yet. Maybe this pastor is trying to accelerate those events.

Do you read anywhere in the life of the early church where they gathered for a hate mongering? The further removed from the Apostolic era ending around 100 AD the more atrocities occurred in the name of our Lord. The Crusades, the Inquisition, unspeakable things inflicted on humanity supposedly for the glory of God. Such were the errors of those incorrectly called Believers.

Yes the Bible is God’s only revelation of Himself and of His reality that has graced man’s world, and all others are merely man’s invention. But to create a deliberately incendiary act like a Quran burning can only make Satan smile at the inevitable evil results. Such an act can only reap more hostility, fan the flames of more hatred, evoke more acts of terrorism. This paster must be careful that he doesn’t get burned by his own actions.

I don’t believe the Spirit of the Lord works that way in this Age of the Church, just as the Crusades were not a part of the Spirit filled Church in medieval times but only an excuse by villainous hordes to obtain unjust riches. These are merely the works of men who seem to think more highly of themselves than they ought to think. I hope this man finally hears the voice of the Spirit before he gets completely carried away in the flesh.

[Update September 9, 2010, 7 PM}
It is now reported that Terry Jones has cancelled Saturday’s Quran burning. Amid conflicting reports of just why this decision was made, at least it appears for now that the conflagration will not occur. Thank God for that.

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The Music

Posted on September 6, 2010 by John J

I’ve reached the Psalms now as I make my way devotionally through the Bible for the umpteenth time. As this is the songbook of the Bible there are lots of references to singing. Such as Psa 9:2 “I will be glad and exult in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.” I am reminded of some of the remarkable times I’ve enjoyed musically.

There are almost as many musical styles as there are people. And churches I’ve attended have performed a diverse sampling. I still enjoy many of the rock sounds of contemporary Christian music such as the group Mercy Me, and their title “Finally Home,” or Nichole Nordeman’s, This Mystery album, and the stirring older a cappella work of the group called Glad. Christian rock has matured tonally and creatively to closely match the sophistication of todays best secular music. But the music I appreciate is that which moves my spirit. If it generates goose bumps or a lump in the throat or a tear (like “Finally Home” does, as my own dad died a few years ago), that is what I will choose to listen to.

But some of the most meaningful music I’ve experienced has been the classical choral works of generations gone by. I’ve been in church choirs since shortly after meeting the Lord and have had the blessing of sitting under some delightful choir directors, Dr. Jerry of Ward Pres. Church, John Busch of Grace Bible Church, Pat McLaughlin and Dr. Jerry Blackstone of Huron Hills Baptist Church, who appreciated the vast breadth of musical tradition of Western Civilization, especially when it is Scripture based. I can’t detail all of the works I’ve sung, but a few of the highlights are worth listing.

At the top of the list because of its prevalence would be Handel’s Messiah, performed either in full or in selections in all choirs I’ve been in. It compels me to concur with the Psalmist, (Psalm 21:13) “Be exalted, O LORD, in Your strength; We will sing and praise Your power.” The exaltation of praise I feel singing through this very powerful work is palpable. It never fails to inspire even after repeated performances.

From the performance perspective the experience of my singing Mendelssohn’s Psalm 42 has no equal. That is because of the singular experience of the venue, Carnegie Hall, back in 1993. I’ve written about this event in detail. And I still get chills remembering this fabulous weekend in New York city with my wife Melissa and some very good friends in the choir.

The other masterpiece of Mendelssohn I sang is the oratorio Elijah, taken from the Biblical books First and Second Kings. This work is a lot of fun to perform.

Another amazing choral work is Vivaldi’s Gloria. And I’ve sung the Bach St. Matthew’s Passion in a huge production at Ward Presbyterian Church in Livonia, Michigan. Dr. Jerry shared a huge amount of great classical choral works with us.

So much music, so little time. I shouldn’t let pass the two years of the best concentrated choir experience of my life. I was blessed to be a part of Bryan College’s choir in my Freshman and Sophomore year there, 1979 and 1980. The choir tours they undertook those years were amazing, and I’ll never forget them. A bus full of us toured the Eastern US for a couple weeks during Spring Break, led by choir director David C. Friberg. Along with stirring performances in a lot of churches, we sang standing on the second floor of Independence Hall, Philadelphia, when Mr. Friberg stepped over the velvet railing and played the harpsichord while we sang a short number. We sang in the Luray Cavern voices echoing in the chamber far underground. Amazing times!

And now the best for last.

One piece I’m still waiting to perform is Gabriel Faure’s Requiem, Op. 48. Compared to Mozart’s Requiem, which sounds more like a dirge for the pagan, Faure writes for the glorified saints, and the joy of the Resurrection. You can feel this in the many uses of rising tones throughout the work. And for sheer beauty, the Pie Jesu, sung by Lucia Popp in the version, is the most purely beautiful of sounds to magnify our Redeemer. The Wikipedia article on this work quotes Faure, “It has been said that my Requiem does not express the fear of death and someone has called it a lullaby of death. But it is thus that I see death: as a happy deliverance . . . .” And this is exactly correct. Whereas Mozart’s version is heavy and evokes the fear and terror of death, Faure’s Requiem, is light and extols the joy and glory of shedding this mortal coil and being at peace in the company of our Lord. If you can find it the most spectacular version I’ve heard is the one that introduced me to this work (thanks Mark Garrett!), published in 1978 by CBS/Odyssey, featuring Lucia Popp, soprano, and Siegmund Nimsgern, baritone, and the Ambrosian Singers, with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Andrew Davis. Sadly this version has been out of print for a while and is very difficult to find, though You Tube has some of the selections. Faure’s Requiem is simply a gorgeously spectacular work, and can transport you to a higher level of worship hearing it in its entirety. And throughout this piece you can agree with the Psalmist: (28:7) “. . . . my heart exults, And with my song I shall thank Him.”

What better thanks and exaltation can be expressed in such a powerful medium such as music?

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What God Requires

Posted on September 4, 2010 by John J

Who really thinks about this question these days? For much of society God doesn’t exist and if He does He’s just some impersonal entity which merely initiated natural processes and remains invisible, silent, and distant, so there are no requirements to consider, which would explain why society has so badly run amuck these last millennia. To others who say they know Him the list of requirements is long and stifling. But are God’s requirements really burdensome? Are His commandments ponderous? What does God really require of us? Wouldn’t you like to know?

Let’s look at this question from this angle. In Matthew 22:36 Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment. He quoted from Deuteronomy 6:5 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” We usually read that without considering its significance. We stop at “love the LORD your God” and the implications of the rest of the sentence are ignored. What are the things in life we love with all our heart, soul, and mind? How can we love to the completeness and fullness of those requirements? We often have trouble loving our own families much less to that degree. But we do love our electronics, TVs, computers, cell phones, sports teams, hunting and fishing, pets, cars and bikes, you name it, on which we spend a profound amount of time, money, and energy. These things we think about, fantasize about, spend money and time on, devote our lives to, are consumed by. And in doing so God is shoved aside, minimalized, marginalized, ignored.

Following this statement Jesus continued, “This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” Jesus summed it up for the interviewer: “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” That drastically cuts down on the list of requirements.

Micah says something similar but simplifies God’s requirements this way: “He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8) This is spoken by a Jewish prophet but is spoken to everyone everywhere. Mankind has been told. God has not disappeared into the vastness of the universe to let us wander the earth directionless. The justice and kindness part we can pretty much understand, its the “do unto others” philosophy everyone believes in and stated by Jesus in the positive sense (love your neighbor). But the “walk humbly with your God” part is a bit more problematic, because we have to think about what it means to walk with Him. Kind of like walking with your friends to the mall, down the hall, in the car or backyard. There is the presence felt of each other, the words passing between, the sharing of thoughts, hopes, dreams, and the emotion of peace and joy in each others presence. Except for the times, of course, when you’re at each other’s throats, competing for the one-upmanship. But that’s not what you hope for or desire. You seek out friendship because of the qualities of joy and delight it brings, not your betterment att he other’s expense.

Think about it, how are you seeking friendship with God? How are you walking with God, humbly or otherwise? As it is said in Joshua (Josh. 23:11) “So take diligent heed to yourselves to love the LORD your God.” Diligent indeed. Because if you really love Him, you’ll be delighted to spend time with Him. You will not be disappointed. Because as the Psalmist said, (Psa 37:4) “Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.” This is best understood as not of getting all the desires you wish for, but that He will implant in your heart all the desires that will satisfy. Is that not the good life?

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The Electric Bible

Posted on August 28, 2010 by John J

An appendix on a previous post regarding Bible versions.

Earlier this summer I was searching on-line for the Keil & Delitzsch commentaries of the Old Testament. I knew I had my books boxed up in the rafters over the garage since moving to Savannah in 1998, but a couple searches for them in that hot dusty quarter failed. Knowing that lots of good books were freely available on-line I Googled Kiel & Delitzsch (K&D) and found the commentaries on a link to something called “e-Sword.” I had not before heard of e-Sword which is an electronic format for many Bible translations and other Bible study helps. “The Sword of the LORD with an electronic edge, ®” its by-line reads. I saw that K&D was an available download for use within the program. But I was hesitant to install the software just for reading the commentaries, as I knew nothing about the program to assuage my mistrust. I didn’t want to blow up my PC or otherwise render it inoperable for something unknown and untested by me.

Over the course of weeks when my search in the attic for my copies of K&D proved fruitless, I decided to take the risk and install the program. I’m delighted to say it was one of the best decisions of the summer.

I’m too new at the comprehensive program to give a detailed review, but I did want to offer my comments after using it for a couple months. I find it the best utility for studying the Word as it brings all in one place a selection of the finest study aids around. The basic installation includes the KJV as well as the KJV with Strong’s Concordance embedded. Available for free download are a number of more updated translations like the American Standard Version, the Contemporary English Version, the Good News Translation, the Revised Version, among others (see the full listing here). Also available for free are some Greek and Hebrew versions!

Also available for a nominal fee are other translations, among them is my choice, the New American Standard Bible. For $20.00 I was again hesitant to commit to this purchase, but after a while I convinced myself to proceed, and that also was a wise decision. For your $20 you get the 1977 original NASB translation as well as the 1995 updated version. And as an added benefit you get the updated version with all the Strongs Concordance numbers embedded, which is an amazing word study tool.

There are many other free study tools available for the program, dictionaries, commentaries, study aids, graphics and maps, and some outstanding Christian works. See this list! My favorites are Philip Schaff’s “Creeds of Christendom,” the 3 volumes of which are on my night stand, and the indispensable “Institutes of the Christian Religion,” by John Calvin, which is also sitting close by my reading area, and the “Ante-Nicene Fathers,”subtitled “The Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325″, a 9 volume collection of ancient Christian writers, extremely invaluable for an historic understanding of the growth of Christianity. Read a good summary of this work here.

There is so much more available for free, like Philip Schaff’s “History of the Christian Church,” “Fox’s Book of Martyrs,” Josephus’ “Wars of the Jews;” I can’t include them all here. The library available for free is astounding, as well as a vast selection for a nominal fee. And I haven’t even yet discussed the actual e-Sword application yet.

I highly recommend you avail yourself of this fabulous instrument for your edification. I readily admit that my primary choice for reading the Word is a physical copy of my Bible that I can take with me anywhere, a media that is not dependant on electricity nor expensive technology; merely my eyes and brain and a comfortable sitting area. But if you find the need to analyze a particular passage of Scripture using e-Sword it an incredible assist. The way all the parts of the program interact with ease, the Bible, commentary, dictionary, tool-tips, the search tool, is amazing! Just a few of the features found listed here are:

  • All available Bibles, commentaries and dictionaries are readily viewed without having to “tile windows”.
  • Create your own “parallel Bible” with up to any four translations. Studying the Word of God and comparing passages have never been easier!
  • Integrated editor for creating your own commentaries or study notes, complete with Spell Checking and a Thesaurus! Notes are “linked” to the Bible for easy viewing and can also be exported for portability.
  • Strong’s definitions are displayed as ToolTips! Just place the mouse pointer over a Strong’s number and the definition will then be displayed.
  • Scripture references in the Commentary and Dictionary views are displayed as ToolTips! Just place the mouse pointer over the reference and the passage will then be displayed. To go to the passage, just click it!
  • Easily compare the various translations to see how they rendered the Greek or Hebrew manuscripts.

Like a lot of massive programs such as Microsoft Word, or Adobe Photoshop, etc., you won’t use every available tool in the application, but the amazing part is quantity of features that are included to aid in fully embracing the Word of God.

I encourage all who are serious about studying the Bible to avail themselves of this fabulous tool. You will not be disappointed.

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Righteous Lot?

Posted on August 28, 2010 by John J

I wrote earlier about man’s perspective of sin. I want to return briefly to that in light of Abraham’s nephew Lot and his move to Sodom and Gomorrah. Seen in Genesis 13 Lot and Abraham find that their two families are too large to stay together and gracious Abraham offered the choicest of the land to Lot, to go wherever seemed desirable. Lot selfishly chose what looked to him the best location, “So Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan,” and they separated.

But the best in his eyes became the worst in his spirit, because the citizens of the area were depraved to the extreme, as the Lord mentioned to Abraham in chapter 18: “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave.” Chapter 19 describes painfully just how exceeding indeed their perversion was. Their disgusting social behavior had reached a climax and the Lord was about to wipe them off the face of the Earth. The story is well known even to non-Christians.

The thing that puzzles me most however is why did Lot continue living in that perverse society? The Apostle Peter writes “He [God] rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds) . . . .” 2 Peter 2:7-8 One would have thought that if he was so righteous certainly he would have moved away from there! Instead, he lived among them, raised a family, and was to marry off his daughters to the wicked sons of the town. Horrifically he also offered his own flesh and blood, his daughters, to the demanding insidious and murderous hive that night (Gen 19:8)!

It seems to me Lot had an extremely unwholesome perspective of sin as well as an inadequate view of the righteousness of God. To have witnessed the perversion of Sodom and Gomorrah on a daily basis and to be vexed but not to the point of doing anything about it seems describes someone whose sense of man’s rebellion against God is severely dulled.

It is interesting what Calvin says describing Lot’s living conditions in his commentary of these verses in 2 Peter, “that when the just man lived among the Sodomites, he tormented his soul by seeing and hearing; for we know that he was constrained to see and hear many things which greatly vexed his mind. . . . that though the holy man was surrounded with every kind of monstrous wickedness, he yet never turned aside from his upright course.” And he continues, “that just Lot underwent voluntary sorrows; as it is right that all the godly should feel no small grief when they see the world rushing into every kind of evil . . . .”

Indeed, we need to see how really awful sin is, and be vexed by it, in our own person and in the world. But the Lord doesn’t want us to dwell on such garbage, but be separate from it. I don’t mean that we should remove ourselves from society, as Paul tells us that the Church should not do so. But the things that are to influence us are “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” Php 4:8 It wasn’t possible to do that in Lot’s home.

In a sense you are what you eat. Eat only junk food and you reap the consequences. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Luke 12:34 In other words the more you edify yourself in the Word and the things of God, the more like Him you will become. As opposed to spending your time with things antithesis to Him and becoming unlike Him.

With a proper perspective of who He is and who we are, we can orient ourselves better to become like Him.

[Scriptures from the NASB]

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