You too can be the perfect Christian ☺

So I wear Christian tee shirts, I listen to Rend Collective and the Best of WOW worship. I have bible apps on all my devices, and read theologically deep books by respected theologians. I share every FB post suggesting that Jesus is my homeboy, but still don’t have that feeling that I’m walking close to Jesus. (By which I mean either hand in hand, or several steps ahead of Him).  And then, thank you Jesus, I came across this how to guide, and now I feel that I can finally make some progress.

Of Course I’m talking about The Babylon Bee’s How to Be a Perfect Christian: Your Comprehensive Guide to Flawless Spiritual Living by Adam Ford and Kyle Mann (Multnomah, 2018). This delightful book is billed as a satire, but all too often I found myself thinking something along the lines of “I know that person”, or “I’ve been to that church”.  And of course that’s the point of satire, to poke fun at something we all know and love.

                So now thousands or even millions of people can learn how to be besties with Jesus. And if you read through your 8 pound study Bible and find something to disagree with, you missed one of the most important guidelines: get the app with 57 Bible translations in English, and find a version that agrees with you.

                But really, what’s not to agree with? After all we all know that if it’s fun it must be sinful, that Republicans and Democrats are exactly alike, except that Jesus was a republican, and there are certain things that you must do if you want to spend eternity floating around on a cloud, strumming a harp, and polishing your halo before bed time. And then of course there are those things that you can do if you want to, but you risk an eternity of hellfire and brimstone.

                I have to admit that I laughed a lot at this book. (Is laughing a sin? Nah, I don’t think so.) In fact I kept getting distracted from the other things I was supposed to be doing today so I could go back and read another chapter.

                I think everyone will enjoy this book, and if you don’t you’re probably a democrat who goes to the wrong church, drinks beer, and doesn’t read the Bible in the original languages as translated from the King James.

                C’mon, get over yourself. Lighten up, get a copy, read it, and enjoy a good laugh. And then thank God that Jesus’ love and grace are bigger than all the rules that mankind has ever invented.

                Can I rate this book 6/5 (it gets an extra point for being so much fun!)

What time is it? How to answer the question

I know some of you might be disappointed to learn this, but discipleship is more than getting someone to come to your bible study or join your church. There is more to it than giving someone a ride to and from church or visiting someone in the hospital or jail. And, as I read Eschatological Discipleship: Leading Christians to Understand Their Historical and Cultural Context by Trevin Wax (B&H Academic, 2018) it also seems that there’s a lot more to it than right here and right now.

                It’s not even all about next month or next year (unless the Lord returns by then).   Thoughts, words and actions agree. And to help us answer those questions, Wax suggests that we need to be asking the question ‘what time is it? And we ask that question not in terms of whether or not we can read another chapter before going to bed, but in relation to our understanding of where we find ourselves on the line that begins with creation and will one day end with the return of Christ.

Discipleship for the Christian should be about end-times. And even that can be a little tricky to define, because depending on your world-view, the end times can be any number of things. But For the Christian, a world view should include Jesus at every level, and so discipleship should model a balance of sound doctrine, right practice, and proper sentiment.

                I was impressed by the scholarship demonstrated in this book. Dr. Wax (who by the way is Bible and Reference Publisher for Lifeway Christian Resources) identifies incidents in the Old Testament which set the precedent for Eschatological Discipleship before moving on to the examples that can be found in the Gospels and in Acts, and also in the letters of the Apostle Paul.

                But as mentioned earlier, worldview plays an important part; and today, perhaps more than ever before, competing worldviews have left people confused about what they believe and why. Wax takes time to describe some of the worldviews to which we are exposed, including Enlightenment, the Sexual Revolution, and Consumerism.  Your worldview helps you answer the big questions of life, and helps you determine a proper course of action when confronted with a particular situation. That combination of sound doctrine, right practice, and proper sentiment is highly dependent on the worldview to which you subscribe.

                Further complicating things is the lack of a commonly agreed upon definition of discipleship, or disciple, or evangelical. In fact whole books have been written on any number of definitions of these key terms. Wax does an outstanding job of comparing and contrasting several different models to help the reader ask the worldview question ‘What time is it?’

                This book is published by an academic publishing house, so its reader appeal may be limited. Having said that, I think that the audience for which the book is intended will be pleased with Trevin Wax’ masterful work.

                I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for a review. I was not required to write a favorable review, only an honest appraisal.

                5/5

"Wraith" a story about the importance of all life

A few months ago I read a scary story.  Except it wasn’t just a story—an idea turned into a novel, a book with a plot, a problem and a solution and interesting twists and turns along the way. This was a non-fiction book, by a respected author, written after much research. It was about how world-views are changing, and in the process much of society has adopted the position that personhood is more valuable than humanness.

                One of the things that stood out was all persons are humans, but not all humans are persons. Yeah, it seems that not all humans have the necessary qualifications of personhood. As such abortion and euthanasia are not only accepted, but often encouraged. A fetus is not a functioning member of society, so doesn’t enjoy personhood. Children, as cute and engaging as they may be can’t really make informed decisions about what’s best for them, and so are not really persons. And disabled or handicapped humans—since they can’t fully participate in what some people consider a ‘normal, fulfilling life” really aren’t persons either, even though we do consider them to be human.

                There were other things addressed in this book, and by the way, the author was reporting on the phenomenon of personhood, not advocating it, that if widely embraced would definitely be taking society down a slippery path. Many of the ‘solutions’ considered acceptable within this world view fly directly in the face of a basic Christian worldview.  For example abortion is widely accepted, early, late, or very late term. If an embryo or fetus is inconvenient, head for the clinic. But it goes even further, since a child hasn’t reached personhood, if he or she becomes inconvenient, there’s no reason to let ‘it”—human but not a person—continue to disrupt your life. Post-partum abortion.

                With that worldview still gnawing at me, I was eager to blog about a movie that will be released on Blue-ray/DVD and several VOD platforms on Tuesday May 8. It address evil, not the evil of abortion, as you might expect, but a supernatural evil (remember this is a movie) that invades a family when decisions need to be made about an unexpected pregnancy. It’s an older couple that finds they’re expecting, and all options are on the table as they discuss the medical risks, the financial burden, and how a baby will impact the family dynamics since they have a teenaged daughter.  Evil comes into the house, strange things happen to the daughter, and the family can’t imagine why.

                I’m all too familiar with the scenario. I had recently retired after an Air Force career, we had been married a few years and had no children. Both of us were a little older, (my younger brother already had an adult child), and we were thinking that retirement on a beach in Mexico would be an option, but a routine visit to the clinic changed everything. One comment before getting a prescription led to a pregnancy test. And suddenly we were making different plans. We struggled with some of the suggestions, and finally decided that even though this was a high-risk pregnancy because of our ages, that we were going to refuse the genetic testing.

                Invasive procedures involve risk, and we had no intention of aborting, regardless of what the test showed. Some of those tests early on show an abnormality, but don’t tell you the extent of the problem. We made the decision to have a baby and love him or her regardless of issues. There were a couple of problems near the end of the pregnancy, but we have a healthy son who is the joy of my heart.

                Wraith tells the story, and makes a point about which the writer-director feels very strongly. Human life is sacred. We’re created in the image of God, and as such should love like God loves. Michael O. Sajbel (director of One Night with the King (the story of Esther)) wanted to be a voice for those who do not yet have a voice, but he wanted to add an interesting plot twist rather than film a documentary about how we should view all life. The result is Wraith.

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS:

Wraith (rāth) noun: a ghost or ghostlike image of someone, especially one seen after, or shortly before, their death

Something’s very wrong in the Lukens’ house.

After living uneventfully for years in their historic home, the Lukens family have somehow awakened a ghostly presence. Who is this frightening spirit and why won’t it leave their 14 year-old daughter, Lucy, alone?

Everything changed when Dennis and Katie Lukens discovered they were pregnant again. Expecting in your 40’s is always high-risk and dangerous, so when the Lukens decide all options are on the table - including termination - the unexpected starts to happen. Sinister forces are now conspiring against the family. But is this eerie, wraith-like spirit actually trying to haunt them...or help them?

Wraith is available on all VOD platforms and Blu-ray/DVD May 8^th.  

watch the trailer here