Halloween

Posted: Monday, October 31, 2011 by Morgan in
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If you've read my blog, you may remember a post I made on Halloween last year. I make no apologies for what follows.


I hadn't really thought much about Halloween until a few weeks ago when I talked with one of my friends about the spiritual realm. Then I thought about it again and it's been in the back of my mind ever since. I read an article in the school newspaper today about Halloween and the part it plays at George Fox. The article I read was in favor of the celebration of Halloween. There was another one, presumably against the celebration of Halloween, but I didn't get the chance to read it. I remember the last lines of the article I read very clearly:
Yes I am a Christian.
Yes I celebrate Halloween.
No I do not worship Satan.
The author of this article may be truthful in those three statements, but I must say I strongly disagree with that sentiment.

Halloween may be fun for the kids in middle-class suburban neighborhoods who get to dress up like their favorite superhero and get candy from the neighbors. It may be fun for Nestle and Hersheys and Mars who get to sell craploads of candy.

It's definitely not fun for the thousands of black cats that go missing every year.

It's definitely not fun for the girls who were raised to be breeders for human sacrifices.

It's definitely not fun for the homeless people who become victims of occult rituals.

It's definitely not fun for the children who are buried alive as part of their psychological conditioning.

It sure as hell is fun for demons.

I don't mean to be gruesome or inappropriate. I mean to be real. I mean to be honest. I mean to be truthful. This stuff is not something I'm just making up. I have a hard time taking part in celebrating, no matter how innocuously or innocently, a night that also celebrates Satan. It's hard for me to participate in any way in making light of a day on which any of that stuff happens. God placed two victims of the occult in the lives of my parents soon after they were married. My parents were essentially the only light in the lives of these people. They've participated in more spiritual warfare than I ever care to experience, and they've seen and heard some incredibly real and disturbing things, some that they still won't talk about.

I believe that Satan has perverted this night and claimed it for his own. Spiritual warfare is real. It's not something to mess around with at all. I want nothing to do with a day that has come to celebrate something so blatantly wicked.

Here's the good news. God wins in the end. Jesus comes back in absolute victory. Satan and death are vanquished once and for all. A new heaven and a new earth are ushered in and an eternity of perfection comes into existence. I'm just going to post the same verse I did last year because it's so powerful. Revelation 19:11-16
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is calledFaithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Experience

Posted: Sunday, October 23, 2011 by Morgan in
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So I was in church this morning listening to a sermon on Malachi 2 and 3. At this time, the Israelites had just come fresh out of Babylonian captivity a generation or two before and had just finished rebuilding the temple. Even after all this stuff that God did for them, the Israelites were questioning God's goodness, love, faithfulness, and trustworthiness. Why would they question the God who saved them out of captivity not just once, but twice: once in Babylon in the recent past and once in Egypt many generations ago? Why would they question the God who was faithful to give them an entire country that He promised to give to their forefathers? Why would they question a God who overthrew their enemies over and over again even though the Israelites were vastly outnumbered and fighting against superior weapons and armies?


That doesn't make sense.

Unless...

...the Israelites were basing their theology on their present experiences rather than on God's truth and His perfect track record.

But that's stupid too, right? Well, yes. Until it's you who is basing your theology on your present experiences rather than God's truth and the things He has worked out in your life in the past. I've been there, and it's a hard place to be. It's also difficult since there seems to be a focus on experiential spirituality at George Fox. People do experience things that are in line with God's word, that are in line with truth. It becomes concerning when those things aren't happening to you.

What is the difference between experience and truth? What do you hold on to if what's happening do you right now doesn't match up with the truth that you know?

Part of the answer to my original question is a fundamental difference between the nature of God and man.

People change, God doesn't.

We make promises, and even if we do actually intend to keep them, we often forget about them or the keeping of these promises is outside our control. Our character is in a constant state of development. We are constantly being sanctified. Some days are better than others in the areas of patience, anger, lust, encouragement, stewardship, and the like.

God makes promises and He keeps them. Always. God's character and attributes are, have always been, and always will be absolutely perfect.

Another part of the answer lies in the way you answer a couple other questions.

1. Do you trust Him?

My mom asks me this question ALL THE TIME. And almost every time she asks me the answer is no. It's no even if I say it's yes. If the answer was yes, verses like Romans 8:28 would incredibly helpful and reassuring. It's a verse that gets thrown around out of context quite a lot, but when you fit it into the rest of Romans 8, it's one of those truths that is incredibly powerful if you believe it. We just can't see the whole picture sometimes. But that's why faith is so important.

2. How powerful is God?

If you believe in a God who can't work out good through evil or produce growth out of suffering, how will you ever be satisfied with life? Shit happens, but none of it surprises God. My mom often tells me that God is too loving to waste pain. He does whatever He wants, and fortunately for us, what He wants is the best possible reality. We just can't see the whole picture. But that's why faith is so important.

That last part is hard to swallow because we live in the physical realm, not the spiritual. God doesn't care so much about our happiness or our physical comfort as he does about our souls. He cares about that part of us so much that He made the ultimate sacrifice to ensure that our souls could exist in the best possible reality. I don't mean to devalue the physical aspect of our existence because I believe they are important; I just want to emphasize the other part. Neither our earthly bodies nor our earthly stuff are going with us after we die, but our souls are. We will live in a new heaven and a new earth with new bodies to experience it all.

So bring it back.

I think the ultimate answer to my question is to wait.

The imperative to wait shows up all over in the Bible. Noah waited for the rain to come, Abraham waited for his son Isaac to be born, Jacob waited 14 years to marry Rachel, Moses waited for 40 years in the desert, David waited to become king of Israel, the Israelites waited for the coming of Jesus, the disciples waited for 3 days after Jesus was crucified, Paul waited in prison, and we wait for Christ's second coming.

There is a sermon by Alistair Begg that takes a very in-depth look at the concept of waiting in faith, specifically as it applies to Abraham.

Wait, and sooner or later your experience will match up with truth. You will look back on the times that the two seemed to be very mismatched and see that it was just a step along the road. You will see that God's planning and timing are perfect, and that He never changes. Not one bit.

"But for you, O Lord, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer." Psalm 38:15

Belief and Action

Posted: Saturday, October 15, 2011 by Morgan in
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I never listen to the radio. Ever. Not even Pandora. But on my drive back to school today I listened to some news channel that was doing a rerun of an interview with a PETA representative from a few years back. The debate was on vegetarianism of course, and the debaters relied on basically one argument each, with limited nuance.


The foundation of the PETA rep's argument was that since animals have the same capacity for pain as humans, they should have the same rights as humans. He even went so far as to involve words like "social contract" with a generally correct understanding of what they meant. Too bad he applied this concept to things that are not bound to any social contract... The foundation of the talk show host's argument was that meat tastes good, therefore I'm going to eat it. The discussion went everywhere: health benefits, dishonest business practices, animal and human physiology, survival of the fittest/natural order, social contracts, etc. I didn't catch the whole thing, but I thought the discussion was interesting.

Conclusion: I generally agreed with the PETA rep's arguments based on the stark reality of health benefits that come with a vegetarian diet (although I think his reasoning behind the whole animal cruelty issue is a bit... ridiculous), but I'm probably going to do what the talk show host said he was going to do. Because steak tastes good.

Here's the thing: animal rights and vegetarianism isn't the point here. This discussion reminded me of a debate I had with a friend a few years back about pacifism (which isn't even the point either!). There were a lot of good biblical arguments and rebuttals on both sides, both valid and correct, but in the end neither of our minds were changed. I was challenged by the debate, and it was an interesting exercise to think about the philosophical and religious implications and the responses of the military and government vs the individual to pacifism.

After all was said and done, if someone tried to kill/abduct/rape any of my friends, I would do my level best to put them in the hospital for a long time. That's just what I would do. None of the biblical imperatives for pacifism nor different arguments for original sin, nor the government's duty to punish wrongdoers would be going through my head in the heat of the moment. My thought process would be more like this:

That's my sister.

How dare you.

Swearing.

Break knee.

Kick head or other vulnerable area.

Repeat if necessary.

Grab sister.

Run.

Here's the point, hopefully illustrated by the above thought process. It doesn't matter what people argue for, it doesn't matter what they say they believe, it doesn't matter which side has the most compelling arguments. In the end all that matters is what we do with those beliefs. Beliefs are all well and good, but actions are what really matter. James says something along those lines in the Bible:

"So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead."

You can read the rest in James 2.

So I would encourage you to think about some things you say you believe (it doesn't have to be some controversial social issue like abortion or pacifism or even faith, it can be about homework or friendships or keeping your room clean) and then think about your past or present actions based on those beliefs. How do they match up? If they don't, why not? What needs to change?

I know I'm gonna be doing a lot of thinking.

"But someone will say, 'You have faith and I have works.' Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works." James 2:18

Audience

Posted: Tuesday, October 4, 2011 by Morgan in
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I realized earlier this week as I was working that there are a lot of things I want to improve about myself. I let that thought fester in my mind for a few days and it led me through some very deep and dark places. Don't worry though, there's a happy ending.

I've been traveling along the road of self-improvement for a long time. It's sort of how I operate: I do my best to learn from other people's experiences and mistakes so that I don't have to learn those lessons the hard way. Sometimes that isn't always possible and experience becomes the best and most fearsome teacher of all. Much of my desire for self-improvement stems from the high amount of importance I place on morality, which comes from my upbringing in the churches I have attended. For many years I believed in a salvation that was very much works-based, even if I fooled myself and others into thinking that I didn't. It's still hard to get away from that incorrect belief because it's hard for me to see true salvation by grace. Part of that is my failure to preach the gospel to myself daily, as I have been encouraged to do by my mentors, and another part is my simple lack of faith. But I know this:

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

-Hebrews 11:1

I need to cling to that verse and to Christ every day. It must be a conscious decision to do so and it takes a lot of discipline. It takes more discipline than I have.

Which brings me to the next stop on my train of thought: that I can't change myself. I find myself unable to wrench my desires and affections away from their current objects and redirect them to the right places. I can't simply *snap* have faith. I can't simply *snap* want to read my Bible. I can't simply *snap* desire to pray more. To make matters worse, there were times where I have been able to do those things, at least temporarily. But then it all goes back to the way it was. Back to the same old sinner, the same old faithless Christian, the same old unfocused kid floating through life, unable or unwilling to muster up the self-control and self-discipline to change and work toward a stronger faith, a better witness, a person who loves others.

I've been told by some that I just need to be patient. Just trust in God's perfect timing. But I feel like time is running out for me. I feel like I'm far behind where I need to be as a Christian, as a leader, as a man, as a son and a friend and a brother. God hasn't seemed to be changing me or really doing any work at all even though I've been praying for the things that He wants for me. Maybe I'm praying those things for the wrong reasons.

Anyway, my thought process led me to a sobering and terrifying place. I suddenly felt like I was less of a person than I was two years ago. I'm in the place in life where I am defining myself and my personality. I've been so focused on school and life and the future and what people think of me that I've begun to suffocate my personality because I don't think people will like it. I am so caught up in being guarded and hardworking and responsible that I'm not myself anymore. I used to have adventures and climb buildings and make scavenger hunts and watch the stars and play ping pong, and now it feels like I just do school. I'm trying so hard to become better and more attractive that I'm suppressing a lot of who I really am because I'm afraid people will think it's stupid and immature.

I spent a lot of time in that place. And it actually wasn't until much later that I realized that that entire thought process was stupid and immature.

Don't you get it, Morgan?! What other people think of you doesn't matter!

YOU HAVE AN AUDIENCE OF ONE.

God, who created the entire universe, made the ultimate sacrifice for me, and gave me my entire life and skills and desires and abilities is watching to see what I will do with His incredible gifts, and I'm focused on what other people think of the gifts God has given me. Who cares what they think as long as I'm glorifying and worshipping God with my whole life?

My focus was wrong. I was becoming like the church in Rome that Paul wrote about in Romans 1:21:
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

I don't want to be there anymore. I don't want to be futile in my thinking. I don't want to be so self-focused and so selfishly focused on others. I want to take JOY in living. So I'm going to get up tomorrow morning, thank God for the incredible blessings He has given me, ask myself who my audience is, and live accordingly.

"My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights." Proverbs 3:11-12