Batman: Dark Knight - Part 2

We accept things that stick to the plan.

This is one of the quotes that stuck to me in the movie, and it became more interesting because the movie itself is proving the point. This movie is true to its title in that it portrays a dark world. People die. Bad things happen. But, they skate the line in such a way that people will go back and watch the movie again. Because of the huge Box Office numbers people are beginning to compare this movie to the Titanic. That is another movie that somehow told a tragic tale but wove in a story of hope and triumph. Batman does the same to a degree, but the biggest thing they do is to stick to the "rules" of what is acceptable for most people. For example, it is generally ok for people to die in a movie. Bad people can die and we don't mind. Even the occasional good person can die if it really helps bring a dramatic flair to the movie. But, if you have senseless death, or the death of children in particular... well you will see your movie drop in the Box Office because people just don't generally enjoy that, and they often won't watch it more than once.

So, at this point you might be thinking, "That is slightly interesting and completely irrelevant to my life." Let us bring it home. When I start thinking about the "plan" that I live with, it can be a bit unnerving. I live everyday with the fact that about 30,000 children will die due to causes that are completely curable. I know that people's homes get broken into, or burned down, or blown away in storms. But, it does not really become "real" to me until my house (or the house of someone I really care about) gets broken into, burned down, or blown away. This reveals my own self-centerdness, and the fact that I am willing to let other people's lives crumble and fall as long as my own world stays safe and secure.

God is very different. Scripture tells us that He lives in true safety and security, and yet He was willing to let His own world fall apart in order to come and heal my mess. He invited pain and loss into Himself in order to join me in the midst of my tragedy. And, He never stops giving of Himself until He has redeemed me and brought me back into the world He planned for me. I think that MY acceptable plan and GOD'S acceptable plan are likely very, very different.

Batman: Dark Knight - Part 1

Disappearing Pencils are creepy.

This will start a 5-part series on things we can learn from the new Batman movie. I will try my best not to add any spoilers, but for those of you who can read between the lines, well you might want to stop reading now if you don't like spoilers :).

This first lesson has to do with the Joker. I am sure by now you have heard all kinds of stories about Heath Ledger's performance here, and you can believe any of the ones that say it was outstanding. I have not seen many of his films, but it is clear this man had a certain gift that not everyone has. In this role he also gives us one of the best illustrations of our spiritual enemy that I have seen. I know we don't often talk about Satan, and in truth I don't think we need to speak of him all that often. But, it is good to be reminded of our enemy and how he operates every so often. One thing that we will see is that he loves to be your friend... right up until he kills you.

Even better he enjoys watching people as they kill each other; basically doing his work for him. It is pretty scary to think how easily we can be divided against each other... and by "we" I am talking about the human race. As Christians that should be how we should view the world. You have God on one side, Satan and all the non-God angels on the other, and Us in the middle. But, we do not often look at it that way. Even though Scripture itself tells us that we are not waging a war against flesh and blood, it is always just a bit easier to see other humans as our enemy. That scary-looking guy I pass on the street late at night is not a teammate; he is a possible rival, or even an enemy.

We have enough enemies in this life without creating new ones unnecessarily. Sure there are humans who have given themselves over to evil... and perhaps their destiny is sealed. But, let us remember who our real enemy is and who the world's redeemer is, and let us focus our energy on bringing as many of Us out of darkness and into light as we can.

Now with Subscriptions!

I heard your cries faithful readers! I also finally figured out how to add the RSS link to my blog. I still have not figured out how to USE an RSS link on other people's blogs. I have clicked the button many times, I even see a "RSS" list in my hotmail that is like 300 entries long. But, I don't get an email reminder or anything... they just sit in their own folder that I forget to check.

In any case, the two readers who asked for this can now rest assured that they will not miss a single post (or comment if you want!).

It is always nice to know that there are readers out there, but honestly I do most of this blogging more for myself than anyone else. Constant writing is a good way to keep my mind working, and it is also a good way to remember what God is doing in and around me on a consistent basis. This is really not so different from the journaling all of us have done off-and-on throughout life... it is just a journal that many people can read if they want to.

That said, please keep reading so that I do not feel like I am just talking to myself. And, if you ever have the strange desire to know what I think about a particular issue please feel free to comment on it or send me an email. As you can see the things that pass through my mind are wondrous and varied... so there are not many topics I consider "off limits". There are food combinations I consider off-limits... but that is a possible topic for another blog!

The Dark Days

I learned today that a close friend and his family will be going through some dark days. There is no way out, there is no immediate comfort, and this will be a life-changing time. In the midst of this I find myself facing another "both / and" realization. People always ask, "Did God do this?", or "Did this just happen?" If I confess that God made all that we see then at some point I have to say that Yes, God did this. And, if I believe that God created man with choice, and so not long after that creation sin and death entered the world, then I can say that Yes, this did just happen. But, even more than the darkness, what about my response to it?

Can I be fearful and faithful? Can I be angry and accepting? Can God's light be revealed through the darkness that consumes my thoughts? The words, "God is always in control; He always has a plan" do not hold much comfort when all the world is crashing down. And yet, they remain true. God is not loving because of my circumstances, God is loving regardless of them. And, God does not love me because of how I respond, God simply loves me. So, yes, I believe that I can demonstrate fear and faith, anger and acceptance, and even a trial so dark that it threatens to consume me can be used to shed God's light in my life and this world.

I will share more details in the coming months, but for now please pray for my friends, and for those in your own life who must face the darkness... that they would know they do not face it alone!

The Looooooong Middle

I am not a runner, and I won't claim to be one. But, I have run a 10k (6.2 miles). Once. Illegally, but that is a different story. Actually the whole thing is an interesting story, but I try not to be too interesting on this blog so I will save it for another day.

The point I was trying to get to is that there is this part in a run I think of as that loooooong middle part. It is exciting when you start the race and everyone is cheering and thinking about how awesome it is going to be. It is also exciting to see the finish line at the end of the race and realize that you are almost done. But, there is also this time in the middle where you are just running. One foot in front of the other, and repeat, and repeat, and repeat. You have a goal, you know there is a destination. You may not be able to see it, but you know it is there and that if you stay faithful to keep putting one foot in front of the other that you will GET there. But, sometimes that long middle part can be tough to go through.

It is during these times that I find it very helpful to think about my history. During the times when I begin questioning the plans God has for my present I try to think about the way He has revealed His plans for me in the past. As I look backwards I am reminded of God's faithfulness, His goodness, and His ability to always get it right. That helps me to trust that He is still faithful, He is still good, and if I will only trust Him... He will get it right this time too.

One thing about the loooooong middle. If you are not there right now, you will be soon. You cannot be a part of an epic adventure without a long middle part. So, when you find yourself in one again, take time to look back and let it build your faith again as you keep running forward.

Thinking it Through - Part 2

I mentioned on Friday that my initial intention was to continue discussing Free Will vs. Sovereignty (predestination, whichever term you use). The classic stance is that you either have to believe that humans are free to choose or reject God, OR you have to believe that God chooses who will receive him before they even exist.

I have big problems with both of those stances when taken separately, and so I find myself more in the camp that believes both in human choice and in God choice. Let me start with my issue when you take Free Will to its final conclusion. In order for man to choose God there must be some volitional part of us that is capable, in and of itself, of doing good. What I must believe is that there is some part of me that desires God and, even more important, a part of me that is able to act on that desire. The problem arises in the multitude of Scripture that says there is no one who seeks God, no one who desires good, and Jesus himself said that no one will come to the Father unless he is first drawn by the Spirit.

So, it may seem clear then that it is God who chooses, and in that choosing sends His Spirit to woo us into relationship with Himself. There is no human choice, just a God choice, and He elects some to enter heaven. The problem here begins with the Scriptures that point out God's patience; that He longs for all to find salvation and none to enter into His wrath. Other problematic Scriptures include those that say how if we will confess Him as Lord and Believe on His name that we will be saved. But, my biggest problem is a touch more philosophical, and is grounded not in a particular passage but in the picture of God that I see painted by the entire Bible. I believe the Bible paints a picture of God as the loving Father and Creator of all. He knew everything that would happen before it did, and had a plan woven to account for all of these things before time existed. So, if I am going to take the position that God alone is responsible for who enters heaven and who does not I have to believe that He is a Creator who intentionally created things for the purpose of damning them. It would be like me choosing for one of my kids to receive my blessing and then torturing the other one for their entire life. One lives in the house and enjoys my love, the other I keep in the basement so no one can hear their screams.

It is hard even to contemplate such a thing... and I am an evil, heartless being compared to God. That makes it impossible for me to contemplate God as someone who would choose to create something merely for the purpose of torturing it for all eternity. And so, I am left with this understanding of Salvation (limited as it is due to my own limitations), in which God draws me to a point of decision, and then I choose to follow Him or to continue following myself. In the moment of my choosing He fills me with the faith I need to surrender my life to Him, and then I become His child and He begins a work on me that He will be faithful to complete.

Thinking it Through

There are many things that sound good at first, and look good on the surface; but once you spend a little time thinking about it and following the thought process to the end, you realize that this belief or system is not so good and nice as it seemed. Evolution is one example. Evolution clearly explains so many things that we see in nature (like differentiation between species). It is only natural that someone make the attempt to explain our entire existence in such a way. I mean if small amounts of time produce small changes, then perhaps large amounts of time will produce large changes. Even if you grant that (which I don't), if you follow the line of reasoning back far enough you get to a point where you have to explain how "It" got started. What made the Big Bang?

This is where some Christians come in and think that they can create a nice and neat solution that will be both Scientific and Biblical. We can say that God created the Big Bang and then used evolution as His creation tool. I don't see what this gains us besides a chance at some credibility within the current scientific community. But, even then we must be careful that we don't create more problems than we solve. One of the big problems is that Evolution generally relies upon successive generations. The assumption is that the weak die and the strong live. But, even if you read the book of Genesis as a story rather than a historical account, it is pretty clear that Death enters the scene in Chapter 3... not before. Even more important, the reason for death entering the scene is a major theme throughout the whole book. If God were to use Evolution as His creative tool, then He would have been responsible for introducing death. I suppose you could try to hold onto a belief in which the "original" evolutionary process did not include death, just a constant spectrum of ever-changing living creatures. But, then again you have to go back to the question of, "What does that really gain me?" It certainly won't garner much credibility within the scientific community, and it does not help you better understand the story of the Scripture either.

I actually intended this post to be more about Free Will and Sovereignty, but this Evolution example will hopefully set the stage for that discussion tomorrow. I believe God wants us to be thinkers, and that means moving past the surface. It also means being willing to rethink my own position when presented with evidence that contradicts it. For this particular debate it is helpful to remember that the scientific community contradicts itself about every 50 years or so... or even more often. The one thing we can be sure of is that we don't know it all. In fact, I think most serious scientists would tell you that we are continually realizing just how little we truly understand our world. So, when I am weighing evidence to form my beliefs, I rarely use scientific "truth" as one of the major weights.