CowPi Journal

Welcome to this week’s Christian Carnival (#45), an eclectic collection of submitted writings from Christian weblogs.

The following 37 articles are loosely organized around the idea that there are three dimensions to spirituality: vertical, horizontal or outward, and inward. Each of these dimensions are illustrated in the following quote:

In the evening of our life, we shall be judged by love, namely, by the sincerity of our love for God, for our neighbor, for our soul. — St. John of the Cross

All three of these dimensions are interconnected, but each of the following articles seem to focus more in one of these areas than the others. Some level of balance, different for each person, is needed to live an authentic Christian life.

Vertical — the connection between you and God

Birth Control and God: Is Contraception Bad? by Jay at Deo Omnis Gloria: Does God permit the use of birth control? What does the Bible say? This post examines Scriptural evidence surrounding Contraception and talks about the practical and theological reasoning behind birth control.

Santa, Rudolph and Christmas: What’s a Christian Parent to Do? by Jay at Living Catholicism: In a secular society, how do we as Christians keep our families focused on the real meaning of the season, Jesus Christ? This article provides some tips my family and others have used successfully.

Now Thank We All Our God by Phil at Brandywine Books: Jill Carattini, writing for rzim.org, gives context to the hymn, “Now thank we all our God,” whose words were penned by a Lutheran minister who relied on God’s grace to get through the valley of the shadow.

Jesus Prayer by Leo at Notes: The Jesus Prayer, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner displayed in several languages via a Java applet.

Remove Your Sandals by The Bloke at in the outer: Meditating on God’s instruction to Moses to remove his sandals during the Burning Bush incident is instructive on the invitation of the Holy God for us to draw near to Him.

Examining the Job Narrative by Andrew at Philosophical Poetry: Job is held up as the book of suffering; it is the book to which we are told to turn in those times of trouble. Having read through Job recently, I have once again realized that this perspective on Job is completely inaccurate. Job is not so much a book about the suffering of man as it is a book about the sovereignty of God.

The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King by Donna at Quenta Nârwenion: A selection from a sermon by Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman dealing with Christ’s Kingship

Isaiah 10 and Reconciling Friends by Rebecca at Rebecca Writes: This post looks at Isaiah 10 to see what it can tell us about God’s sovereignty and human responsibility and how they might fit together.

Treasure Hunt by Rodney at The Journey: A small boy’s “treasure hunt” helps us realise that seeing life from God’s point of view helps us to live the life the creator has designed for us.

The Spiritual Man - And What’s My Spirit For, Anyway? by Douglas at Belief Seeking Understanding: Another post in the series on Watchman Nee’s book The Spiritual Man, thinking about the roles of the human spirit, conscience, intuition and communion.

Universal Salvation and Universal Damnation by Jeremy at Parableman: Some universalists think Calvinist principles lead to universalism, since Calvinism allows God to change people’s hearts without possibility that they’ll resist. This post explains what’s wrong with that kind of argument.

Open Theism by Dick at Viewpoint: Taking a profile of Greg Boyd which appeared at Evangelical Outpost as our starting point, we post a brief discussion on the controversial theological view called Open Theism.

Horizontal/Outward — the connection between you and other people

Foaming at the Mouth by Funky at Ales Rarus: This is the beginning of a blog-to-blog debate with an atheist. It’s basically about Christians imposing their morality via politics. The discussion continues here and here.

Prosperity by Diane at Crossroads: What is true prosperity teaching? Are the Word of Faith teachers going wrong on this subject? This is the fifth post in a series on Word of Faith teaching.

The NBA, the NFL and the ‘Works of the Flesh’ by Theophilus at Notes From the Front Lines: A former sportswriter muses on the shocking events in the world of pro sports last week and wonders how, as a Christian father, he can respond appropriately for his two young sons.

Not a subject of mixed company by Elle at IntolerantElle discusses a subject that makes many squirm. She has been “…questioning the socialization I’ve received by a world that hates God.” It makes a Christian think and wonder.

Being at the Fringe by Messy Christian: It seems lately that I find it difficult to relate to aspects of Christian culture, out of sync, somehow, to the beliefs I once held.

The Death Penalty by Marla at Proverbial Wife: Questioning capital punishment from a personal and Biblical standpoint.

Love Us or Hate Us? by Sozo at Reasons Why: A look at how we should expect the world to respond to us as Christians.

Challenges I Face in My Walk by Mark at Sidesspot: Some questions arising out of the existential angst of a modern American Christian.

It Was Good, It Just Wasn’t Christian by Misty at Tin Can: Christianity has a distinct claim that the world needs to hear. If the sermon is instead wasted on a self-help lecture, that is an opportunity lost.

Laguna Beach and the Schullers by Joshua at In the Agora: Famed televanglist ministers Dr. Robert H. Schuller and Dr. Robert H. Schuller II have out of control children and they’re broadcasting it all over MTV.

On the Modern Christian Ascetic Movement by Mark at Pseudo-Polymath: In early Christian times, a strong ascetic movement developed. Between St. Paul’s writings praising celibacy, and Christ’s admonitions to poverty, the early Church through to the Renaissance had a strong ascetic culture. Additionally, the early Christian ascetic movement was a reaction to the sensual culture of pagan Rome. Well as for that ascetic feeling, it’s gone today. I examine why.

Today’s Printing Press by Dory at Wittenberg Gate: This post compares the historical impact that the printing press had on the church with the potential impact the Internet could have on the church today.

Why Philosophy is Important—The Story of Stanford in the Late-80s by Brad at 21st Century Reformation: This post is part two of “What is Post-Modernism?” and tells the story and implications of Stanford’s shift in the 15 unit freshman Western Culture requirement from “Western Civilization” to “World Cultures”. This helps us understand the real implications of the post-modern world view.

Thomas Chatterton by Sherry at Semicolon: A short piece on the English poet, Thomas Chatterton, who committed suicide at the age of seventeen but nevertheless produced some great poetry in his short life.

New Gallup Poll has Some Interesting Bits by David at A Physicist’s Perspective: The latest Gallup poll gives some interesting statistics on religion and morality in our country: A plurality of people think religion has too much influence on politics, while at the same time a majority think that it has not enough influence on morals, and 3 out of 4 people think the moral condition in our country is fair or poor. I discuss how the church itself may have contributed to the disconnect between religion and morality.

Politics Through an Evangelical Prism by Donald at One Hand Clapping: A response to The New Republic’s assertion this week that “the Christian Right sees politics through the prism of theology, and there’s something dangerous in that.”

Designer Children and the Future of Discrimination by Bill at Walloworld: Genetic modification holds the prospect of institutionalized discrimination, especially for those who object to the idea.

Your Faith Helped All of Us Tonight by Ray at Ray Pritchard—Crosswalk Blog: A few days ago we met to pray for a young mother with cancer. It was simple and beautiful. I thought to myself, “This is what the church was meant to be.”

The Bereft by Bob at Mr. Standfast: I simply try to paint a picture of the refugee homeless in a time of war. A poetic attempt to place myself in their shoes.

Katya’s Hopeful Story by Violet at promptings: A glimpse into the life of a brave five-year-old.

Boys and Moving Earth by Hal at The Great Separation: With the urge to remove the enamel from his pearly whites one day last week, Hal also had a great urge to write. So he blogged his frustration and recounts blessing from the Lord that day. ‘But Hal?’ you ask. ‘What’s boys and earth moving have to do with it?’ Read on.

Inward — the connection with yourself

Nancy Means Grace by Phil at Another Man’s Meat: Some reflections on love and marriage using some personal snippets as the vehicle from which to view them.

Obedience by Lisa at Brain Smog: Thoughts on obedience in our Christian walk.

Not So Forsaken by Liesa at But God Said…: Personal testimony of how I came to God, and how I realized that everything in my life was under His watch and guidance, even when I didn’t realize it at the time.

Jesus’ Tears - No. 2 by Mark at 3:17: Three times we read of Jesus weeping. What caused our perfect Saviour sorrow? What can we learn for ourselves? This is the second in a series of three posts.

May God’s love, peace, and energy touch you in faith…

This week’s Christian Carnival will be hosted here at CowPi Journal. Last week’s was at ChristWeb.

To enter is simple. First, your post should be of a Christian nature, but this does not exclude posts that are political (or otherwise) in nature, as long as it is from a Christian point of view. Second, please send only one post dated since the last Christian Carnival. (Dated between Nov 17 & 23). Then, do the following:

EMAIL Mark at  silvagard[at]yahoo.com

PLEASE put “Christian Carnival” in the Subject
(or the spam filter might mistake your entry)

Provide the following:

Title of your Blog
URL of your Blog
Title of your post
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Description of the post

Cut off date is Tuesday at 11:00 pm CST

INVITE A FRIEND TO CONTRIBUTE THIS WEEK!

Don’t forget to encourage a friend to contribute, and have them stop by and join the Christian Carnival mailing list.

Most people are familiar with the story about the footprints in the sand. Here’s a different set of footprints…

Now imagine you and the Lord walking down the road together. For much of the way, the Lord’s footprints go along steadily, consistently, rarely varying the pace. But your prints are a disorganized stream of zigzags, starts, stops, turnarounds, circles, departures and returns.

For much of the way it seems to go like this. But gradually, your footprints come more in line with the Lord’s, soon paralleling His consistently. You and Jesus are walking as true friends.

This seems perfect, but then an interesting thing happens: your footprints that once etched the sand next to the Master’s are now walking precisely in His steps. Inside His larger footprints is the small “sandprint”, safely enclosed. You and Jesus are becoming one.

This goes on for many miles. But gradually you notice another change. The footprint inside the larger footprint seems to grow larger. Eventually it disappears altogether. There is only one set of footprints. They have become one. Again, this goes on for a long time. But then something awful happens. The second set of footprints is back. And this time it seems worse. Zigzags all over the place. Stops. Starts. Deep gashes in the sand. A veritable mess of prints.

You’re amazed and shocked. But this is the end of your dream. Now you speak. “Lord, I understand the first scene with the zigzags and fits and starts and so on. I was a new Christian, just learning. But You walked on through the storm and helped me learn to walk with you.”

“That is correct.”

“Yes, and when the smaller footprints were inside of Yours, I was actually learning to walk in Your steps. I followed You very closely.”

“Very good. You have understood everything so far.”

“Then the smaller footprints grew and eventually filled in with Yours. I suppose that I was actually growing so much that I was becoming like you in every way.”

“Precisely.”

“But this is my question Lord: Was there a regression or something? The footprints went back to two, and this time it was worse than the first.”

The Lord smiles, then laughs. “You didn’t know?” He says. “That was when we danced.”

— Author unknown

A recent quote from a Bruderhof’s Daily Dig got me to thinking about indifference:

I think the greatest source of danger in this world is indifference. I have always believed that the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference. The opposite of life is not death, but indifference. The opposite of peace is not war, but indifference to peace and indifference to war. The opposite of culture, the opposite of beauty, the opposite of generosity is indifference. Indifference is the enemy. — Elie Wiesel

I agree with Mr. Wiesel. Indifference is an enemy of love and is a great source of danger in this world, but I disagree on the point that it is the opposite of love. Love and hate are diametrically opposed to each other on the same continuum, where love is on one end and hate is on the other, with lots of shades of gray in between them. Love and hate line up analogously with the opposites of light and dark, with hospitality and hostility, with acceptance and denial, with liberation and slavery. (Think about that one for a moment: love is liberation.)

Indifference is the fence that divides the two extremes of the love/hate continuum. Indifference to love or hate is sitting on the fence between the two, refusing to engage either one of them. Indifference, if it had its own way, would prefer to step away from the whole struggle between love and hate, to walk away from the only real game in the world and wallow in its own mediocrity.

The amount of indifference, in America at least, was highlighted during a radio show I heard Friday evening. The speaker quoted some statistics from a Newsweek article titled “God in America”, written by Kenneth Woodward (no relation):

• 30% — Secular - Lack of belief in God.

• 29% — Nominally religious - Believe in God but do not attend religious services on a regular basis.

• 22% — Modestly religious - Believe in God, attend religious services regularly, but their belief has not influenced their lifestyle or values of morality.

• 19% — Committed religious - Believe in God, attend religious services regularly, and their belief has heavily influenced their lifestyle and values of morality.

The quote on indifference and these statistics reminded me of Revelation 3:15-17:

I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, “I am rich and affluent and have no need of anything,” and yet do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

Maybe lukewarm is a reference to those poor agnostics—too chicken to deny God, but too caught up in doubt and skepticism to find the courage to take action. Or maybe lukewarm refers to the 51% of those adults from the survey claiming belief in God but have not changed their lifestyle. I do not know. In some of my darker moments, I would say yes to it all. I even worry about myself, one who considers himself within the 19% of the committed religious. I know I fail way too often. (Isn’t presumption of ones salvation a sin?)

There are many people who have an “experience” of God, an experience that allows them to say, “Yes, I believe.” I think the popular expression in America is to say, “I’ve been saved.” But then some never change their lifestyle. They are indifferent because they do not repent and turn toward God. They keep on living the same old way, the way of the world. And we know who rules this fallen world. Are they the seeds that fell on rocky places?

I guess I fear for these people. Do they not realize that one must re-commit to their baptism on a daily basis? Isn’t there a passage in the Gospels where Jesus says many will call out His name, and He will reply to some that he does not know them? Then He will say to those He does not know, “Be gone from Me.” That would be a horrible thing to hear at the end of your life, especially if you had thought this whole time you were “saved”.

I do not know. I have a magnet on my file cabinet in my classroom that says, “God loves me just the way I am, but He loves me too much to leave me that way.” I firmly believe that. God wants to transform each of us into adopted sons and daughters so that we may live in heaven with Him. Indifference denies this.

In a follow-up to The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis wrote a short story called “Screwtape Proposes a Toast”. In this piece, the devil Screwtape boasts to his fellow devils about the record number of souls that they have been receiving into hell, but then complains about their lack of quality. The new souls are bland and tasteless. (The economy of hell is based on devouring others. Human souls, in effect, are food for the devils. This is essentially the same as subjugating and dominating immortal souls under the slavery of the devils’ own self-centered wills.) Screwtape blames this “tastelessness” on the lack of any strong sins within the world, like hate. Screwtape goes on to explain that the lack of hate is attributed to the exponential rise in indifference. Their numbers are up, but at the expense of flavor. Either way, through hate or indifference, there is no famine in hell.

A dear friend of mine has recently introduced me to the Divine Mercy Chaplet and the Divine Mercy Novena. A novena is a type of Catholic devotion dating from the earliest days of Christianity in Rome that consists of a set of prayers that are said for nine consecutive days. (Why nine days? Some say it is because Jesus died during the ninth hour. Some say that it comes from the nine days that the Apostles and Mary waited and prayed between Jesus’ ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.) On day nine of the Divine Mercy Novena, the prayer is for those lukewarm souls:

“Today bring to Me the Souls who have become Lukewarm, and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy. These souls wound My Heart most painfully. My soul suffered the most dreadful loathing in the Garden of Olives because of lukewarm souls. They were the reason I cried out: ‘Father, take this cup away from Me, if it be Your will.’ For them, the last hope of salvation is to run to My mercy.”

Most compassionate Jesus, You are Compassion Itself. I bring lukewarm souls into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart. In this fire of Your pure love, let these tepid souls who, like corpses, filled You with such deep loathing, be once again set aflame. O Most Compassionate Jesus, exercise the omnipotence of Your mercy and draw them into the very ardor of Your love, and bestow upon them the gift of holy love, for nothing is beyond Your power.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon lukewarm souls who are nonetheless enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. Father of Mercy, I beg You by the bitter Passion of Your Son and by His three-hour agony on the Cross: Let them, too, glorify the abyss of Your mercy. Amen.