A Lot Like God

You are a lot like God.

I say this indiscriminately, regardless of who you are, or how you stumbled onto my little website. 

You could be a thief, a liar, a pervert, a glutton, a murderer. But above all those you are godlike. Don't just take my word for it. Check out what the Bible has to say.

God created human beings;
he created them godlike,
Reflecting God’s nature.
He created them male and female. (Gen 1:27, The Message)

God made people to be like him. To be his co-rulers over the rest of the creation. He made them godlike. He made you godlike.

In fact, this concept, imago Dei is repeated throughout Scripture. Although people sinned and fell short of God's glory, there is still a lot of glory in people. The Psalmist expresses how man is "a little lower than the angels" and "crowned... with glory and honor." (Psalm 8:5) James reminds us of the worth of our fellow man made "in God's likeness" (3:9). Jesus even called all people gods, quoting Psalm 82.

The Bible tells me that every human is glorious. Every human being is valuable for their own sake. Every life is precious, even yours.

Stated another way. You are not an animal. You have more in common with the Sovereign of the universe than you do with a gorilla. Our own language acknowledges this. The opposite of natural is man-made. No one calls a beaver's dam unnatural. But the Hoover Dam is not natural, it is man-made. People are more than just natural beings.

Our godlikeness is evident in our many ways. You don't even have to acknowledge God to be godlike. You are godlike when you create things, because you were created in the image of a Creator. You are godlike when you love. Animals are incapable of love, but you and I were made in the image of God who is love. It is also evident in restraint. When you forsake your fleshly desire to sex, food, or comfort, you prove your godlikeness. Like the One who has absolute control over nature, you control the nature within. 

But, the doctrine of imago Dei is incomplete without the doctrine of the fall. If we are made like God, then why are we so screwed up?  Did God do a bad job making us like him, or is He just not so good to begin with? The fall gives us a third option. The fall explains how in spite of our perfect origin, we choose to fall short of this divine mandate. We sin and give up our glory. We screw ourselves up.

But if you follow Jesus, like me, you get something more. You get recreated. You "have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator." (Col 3:10 NIV). In following Jesus we realize the full potential of our God image, our godlikeness. We get renewed so we can better bear that image.

The fall is real. Evil, sin, death, all real. But we as image bearers can reverse the tide. We have a commission of the One in whose image we were created in to restore good to the world. We get to join Him in the work of restoration. When we do, we get to show that we are indeed a lot like God.

A Different Kind of Hunger: Day One: Feelings

I Don't Feel Like Fasting Today

I woke up with a headache. Not the caffeine withdrawal headache I will experience later. Just a regular headache that happens to coincide with my first day of fasting. Then the kids were crazier than usual. I barely got them out the door on time to catch the bus. I know I will get more irritable after missing a meal or two, but I was already irritable before I missed anything. I don't think today is a good day to begin a fast. Maybe I should just put it off for a few days.

I have actually been putting off this fast for a while anyway. I really felt a conviction to do it a couple months ago. But it is never a good time to start a fast. There is always that dinner or family event coming up in a couple of days. Some days I don't feel up to it physically. I don't want to deprive my body if I have the sniffles. And some days I just don't want to. Wait... that's every day.

I've always thought you have to have the right attitude and motivation to begin a fast. After all, it's what's in your heart that counts more than the outward act. So I thought that if I wasn't feeling "into it" or feeling "spiritual" then I should just skip fasting. Not long ago, I broke a one day fast after a couple of hours because I just wasn't feeling it.  Why go through the motions if my heart isn't there? But I have discovered I never "feel it" especially on a day I have determined to fast.

So I wander if I should listen to something besides my feelings. I could start with the Bible. People in the Bible fasted. Sometimes it was required, like on the Day of Atonement. Jews still keep this fast. I wonder how many of them don't feel like it. But people fasted at other times too. Moses fasted for 40 days, as did Elijah and Jesus. Paul fasted for three after seeing a vision of Jesus. Nehemiah fasted when he heard the news of the state of Jerusalem. David fasted many times, even for his enemies (Psalm 35:13). I wonder if their hearts were always in it when they fasted. Did they at some point say "I don't really feel like fasting today," but still fasted?

Maybe feelings follow actions. I know they say that about marriage. Keep loving and serving your spouse even when you don't like them, and eventually your feelings will catch up. I wonder if I keep this fast, will I eventually feel better about it? More importantly, what will happen to my feelings for God? Will giving up food to draw close to God make me love Him more? Will I appreciate Him more? Will I feel closer to Him? Will I be more willing to lay down my life for Him?

An Open Letter to my Traditional/ Evangelical/Conservative Christian Friends

Dear Christians who are more traditional, evangelical, and generally less flaky than me,

After I wrote my last letter, I thought a lot about you. While you were applauding me for sticking it to those other guys, I hope you don't think I just wrote it for them.  Even though I have a strong respect for you and your beliefs, some of the things you do and say really worry me.  I want to share a few things with you as well, some friendly advice to help us get along better as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Stop making me feel uncomfortable to disagree with you about stuff.  I often feel uncomfortable around you, and I agree with you about a lot of things. Imagine how uncomfortable the average unbeliever would feel when you start talking. You are not winning anyone to Christ by ridiculing the politicians, or airing your opinions about immigration or healthcare. What do these have to do with the Gospel? You are creating barriers. Learn what is important in life (knowing Jesus, loving God and others) and spend your time and effort on that. Also work to create an environment where people feel free to ask difficult questions and share unorthodox views without being ostracized (see the next point). It is also helpful to keep some of your opinions to yourself, especially around people you don't know very well.

You don't understand everything about the Bible. Quit pretending you do. It makes you come off as arrogant. You may, to some degree, understand your system of interpreting the Bible. You may even be right about several things. More than likely you are wrong about some things too. It's OK if your interpretation is  wrong, because your interpretation is not God's Word. Don't say things like, "The Bible says 'Christians are going to be raptured before/after/in the middle of the great tribulation.'" Say, "this is what I think the Bible is saying about this topic." Realize that just because other people disagree with your interpretation, does not mean they do not respect the Bible, or that they hate God.

Learn to Learn. A lot of people accuse you of being uneducated masses, that only a simpleton could believe and follow the Bible, that you only hold your beliefs because you have never been exposed to anything else. This, of course, is not true. I have known many very intelligent people who believe as you do. But you kind of have a reputation for saying things like "everything I need to know is in the Bible," even though the Bible does not say that (Psalm 143:5, Prov 18:15, 1 Thess 5:21). So read more, and not just pop-evangelical authors, like Max Lucado or John Piper. Read classics. Read contemporary works. Read fiction. You can learn a lot about people from the stories they tell. Read poetry. Listen to music. Learn about other cultures. Accept that you do not know everything about everything. Realize you can even learn things from people who disagree with you.

Stick to your guns. That is, if you have picked the right guns. "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world." (2 Corinthians 10:4). At the end of the day you can read and listen to a host of voices. It will make you a more rounded person. It will make you an effective communicator. It may even change your mind about some of your deeply held opinions. But it does not change what is True. If you believe people who don't know Jesus will go to hell, then don't stop talking about it just because it's unpopular. That just makes you a jerk who cares more about what people think of you than saving someone's life. Sift out the bad, but hold on to the Good. Your job is not to become more like the trendy, open-minded, progressive Christians. It is to become more like Jesus. Make that your aim and you will do well.

Your bro,
Zach

An Open Letter to My Enlightened/Progressive/Open-Minded Christian Friends

Dear Christians who are smarter, hipper, and more open-minded than I am,

I ran across this article in the Huffington Post a couple weeks ago, from a self proclaimed Christian telling other Christians to shut up and play nice with everyone else. I agreed with a couple of things he said, but found most of it really irritating. I hear this kind of thing from a growing number of voices, many of them are people that I genuinely like and consider my brothers and sisters. We can not deny that there is a growing divide between those of you who fancy yourselves open minded, progressive, or enlightened Christians (even though you'd never say it like that), and those who call themselves Biblical, evangelical, or "true " Christians (and they would say it that way). What worries me the most, and what prompted me to write this letter is the fear that many of your type of Jesus-followers actually feel they have more in common with progressive atheists and secular types than with other Jesus-followers who hold different political perspectives or different interpretations of the Bible.

I'm sorry the rest of us have been embarrassing you so much. That is not our intent. But we are a family, and everyone has family members they are embarrassed of. We love them anyway. I agree that a lot of Christians need to be a lot less vocal about a lot of things.  It is so easy to get distracted about what the main thing is. Our job is not to influence public opinion or voting habits. It is not to create a "Christian nation" or a "moral majority."  Our job is to proclaim the kingdom of God and work to see it come "on earth as it is in heaven." Our job is to serve without recognition and love without reward, to live like Jesus. That is what will change the world. Keep reminding us of that.

Now I'd like to respectfully offer some advice.

Let the people you disagree with have a voice. There is a difference between shoving something down peoples throats and humbly affirming a truth you hold. Despite our high ideal of free speech, society has a tendency to shut out voices that do not conform to the norms. Often, I feel like certain Christians want to shut out the voices of certain other Christians whom they feel are giving the word "Christian" a bad name. It happens on both sides of the divide. I don't think that is a healthy way to approach our differences. When we can no longer come together in respectful dialog, we just deepen the divide that separates us. We also prove that we do not have the love of the Father in us.

Respect faith, even if (and maybe especially if) you don't believe the same thing. I think you often misunderstand what faith is. Faith is believing in something that can not be proven or falsified. So ridiculing someone's faith because it can not be proven just shows your own ignorance. Now, a lot of Christian types put their faith in a lot of different things, not all of them are right or helpful. But please stop criticizing them for having faith. If, for example, someone believes that the Bible is infallible and inerrant, they are not giving a scientifically verifiable statement, they are sharing a tenant of their faith. There are reasons people hold this view derived both from the text of the Bible, and the history of its transmission. Agree or disagree, you can not deny that it's a tenable statement of someone's deeply held belief. Similar things could be said about other beliefs you don't agree with, such as: six day creation, substitutionary atonement, and eternal conscious torment in hell. Remember that there are those who would ridicule your faith as well, just because they don't get it. Faith is a difficult thing to keep a hold of. Give some props to those do.

Stop worrying about what is popular or trending. Right now it is becoming more and more popular to affirm homosexual marriage and deny homosexual acts as sin. Popular opinion should have absolutely nothing to do with whether or not you support gay marriage. For too many it does. As followers of Jesus, our motivations should be how to best reflect God's holiness, goodness, and love in society and in our lives. If that motivation leads you to affirm gay marriage, then good for you. But don't talk about society changing and us needing to change with it. Don't talk about being progressive or open minded. Don't remind us that we are living in the 21st century. You are not winning any conservative types to your cause when you do. Talk about being Christ-like. That's an ideal we can agree on even if we disagree on some of the details about how we apply that today.

It's not all about love. I hear a lot of talk about love these days. I like to talk about love a lot myself. It's the part of the gospel that non-believers like to hear about. It sounds nice, at least until you try and live it out. In truth, the love we are taught by Jesus is so radically higher than anything we see or experience that we need to spend a huge amount of our time figuring out what it means and even more time trying to do it. However, reducing the whole of the Bible's teaching to "love" is like reducing the plot of "Inception" to "it's about dreams." The message of the Gospel is far too complex to reduce to a single unifying principle. I kind of like it that way. I reminds me that God is a lot bigger and more complex than we are. If God were easy to figure out, he wouldn't be God.

It is a lot about love. So let's work on loving each other. The love taught by Jesus is revolutionary. It brings together enemies. It breaks down the barriers of nationality, race, economic status, gender, and political ideology. I think the love of Jesus could break down the barriers between different kinds of Christians as well.  Well, it's a long shot, but I think it's a really good place to start.

I love you. Let's be friends.

Your bro,
Zach

3 Common Misconceptions About Following Jesus

So many of the things we believe, are things we don't even think about. We pick them up in our earliest years from our parents, teachers, friends, and the culture at large. Some of them are things deliberately taught, values passed down from the previous generation, like the idea that all people should be treated equally. Others are so ingrained into our culture that we never question them, like the superiority of sliced bread to unsliced.

We have picked up a lot of subtle beliefs about Jesus as well, and what he asks of us. Some of them are wrong, contrary to the Gospel. Often, these misconceptions go untested.

1. Following Jesus is a Religious Thing

“So what do you think of Jesus?”

“I go to church and all that”

Jesus never asked anyone to go to church. His call was simply “follow me.”

The words “religion” and “religious” are only found ten times in the NIV Bible. Most of those clearly refer to the Jewish religion (Amos 5:21, Acts 25:19, Colossians 2:16, and Hebrews 10:11) and many of those show “religion” in a negative light, sometimes directly opposed to God.

Jesus was a member of the Jewish faith. He remained so all his life, faithfully keeping the Law, showing that it was meant to point to himself. But most of the things Jesus talked about had little to do with his religion, other than a general faith in God. Jesus spent a lot of time telling people about the kingdom of God. He talked about loving others, neighbors, enemies, anyone. He talked about how we spend our money, how we treat our children, how we make peace with others. He talked about prayer and fasting, but he specifically criticized those who made a religious show of them. He taught us that prayer and fasting are primarily something between ourselves and God.

Jesus never talked about church buildings, programs, services, pews, or ceremonies. He never told people to be priests, or ministers. He never commanded people tithe to their church. Jesus never discussed forms of worship, and whether we should be contemporary, traditional, or liturgical.

Jesus did not come to earth to start a new religion called Christianity. He came to bring people to God. Following Jesus is not about religion. It is not about promoting religion, or trying to get people to join our particular brand of Christianity. Following Jesus is living life in away that brings people closer to God, wherever they may be on that journey.

2. Following Jesus is a Personal Thing

“I can just worship God in my truck or on the lake.”

One of the distinctives of American culture is our “rugged individualism,” our determination to make it on our own, not influenced, not dependent on others. Our cultural axioms include: “Be your own man,” “Follow your dream,” and “Do it your way.” We have a tendency to read this into the Bible as well.

Jesus never intended us to go at it alone. Faith is a deeply personal thing, but it is also a deeply communal thing. I can not love my neighbor without a neighbor. I can not encourage others if I don't talk to them. I can not confess my sins to others and pray for them (James 5:16) all by myself.

Much of the New Testament is composed of letters written to specific churches. By churches, I do not mean 501(c)3 organizations that meet in a building with pews and stained glass. Rather, the New Testament word “church” simply means “group.” It was written to groups of people together. People who were often diverse, but shared a common connection as disciples of Jesus.

Anytime in my life that I have been growing as a disciple. Anytime I have deepened my understanding of God and the world. Anytime I have become more like Jesus, It was in the context of a group of people encouraging me, teaching me, caring for me. And it almost always happened as I was doing the same thing back to them.

3. Following Jesus is an Easy Thing

“I asked Jesus into my heart once. Did you see my new truck?”

I am not here to judge an individual's temporal or eternal relationship with God. I can say this with certainty, following Jesus is not about praying a prayer, believing a doctrine, or even getting baptized (although those are all often involved in a decision to follow Jesus). Following Jesus is about living life like Jesus. It is saying, “Jesus knows more than me, I am going to trust him and do things his way.” This is not an easy thing to do.

Jesus said it like this,

“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.” (Luke 14:31-33)

So if you want to follow Jesus, to be his disciple, it will cost you everything. Don't do it unless you are ready for trouble.

Here is what I have experienced. Sometimes following Jesus means bucking the trends of society. Society does not always get it right. Sometimes following Jesus means bucking the trends in the church. The church doesn't always get it right either. You will get persecution from all sides. You will be too liberal for your conservative friends, too conservative for your liberal friends. If your highest aim is for people to like you, following Jesus might not be for you.

So why follow Jesus? I do it for the rewards. I am not altruistic. I am not a good enough person to just love everyone for their own sake. But I trust that when I do love people, when I do it like Jesus , it will be worth it.

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”

For every thing I have given up, for every criticism I have endured, I have received a multitude of blessings. I have always been provided for physically. I have witnessed God transform lives. I have seen enemies embrace. I have seen neighborhoods rebuilt. I have an ever increasing family in this life. I have a lot to look forward to in the next.

Loving Our Undocumented Neighbors

It's all over Scripture. I like the frankness off Leviticus 19:33-34 “Do not take advantage of foreigners who live among you in your land... love them as you love yourself.” (NLT) But you can find similarly worded commands in Exodus 22, Psalm 94, Zecheriah 7 and all throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. Jesus also thought pretty highly of foreigners in his day, saving his highest compliments for them (Luke 7:9, 17:18)

God has a special place in his heart for foreigners. I do too. I do not mean to imply that I am more godly than others because of my regard for foreigners. I have sympathy for their plight, because I was one once.

I am not an immigrant to America. I was born in Iowa. I did, however live in the Middle East for more than two years where I was a foreigner. I moved to a country where I did not speak the language. I had no friends. I did not have a job lined up when I got there, or a residence visa, (although I did enter the country legally with a visit visa). I placed a lot of hope and not a small number of prayers in finding a job that would grant residency to me and my family. I studied hard to learn the language, I was told that I excelled in my study. But in the end, my Arabic was still broken, at times incomprehensible to native speakers. My friends were very patient with me to figure out what I was saying, and to word things simply enough that I could understand them.

Sometimes I think people are under the impression that immigrants coming to America have it made. They have arrived, after all. They made it to the greatest country on earth. They have freedom and opportunity at their fingertips. They can just sit back and relax and enjoy the blessings of prosperity. We get even more cynical about those who enter or stay in the country illegally, that is without the proper residence permits. We act like they maliciously came in to this country to steal someone's job and claim government benefits they are not entitled to.

I don't think most Americans realize what it means to be a foreigner. We don't realize how much we depend on the relationships of family and friends, how cut off we really are when they are not around. We don't realize all the rules, both laws and social mores we take for granted, that a foreigner simply would not know. It's difficult to do simple things like pay bills or get a drivers license when they are done so differently than in your home country. Most of us have never really tried to master a second language, or know how difficult it is to live in a place where you don't speak the language. Immigrants are often victims of trafficking and exploitation. They often simply don't understand all that is going on around them. Or they are just too desperate to care. I don't think most immigrants would put up with half the crap they take if the situation were not so dire, if people back home were not depending on the money they send for their next meal.

Immigration has returned to the national dialog as a contemporary shibboleth. Your stance on immigration will show who you are: bold progressive, limp-wristed moderate, or true-blooded American. I hesitate to say anything, because I hate to put too much weight on politics. We won't solve the issues of immigration with politics or a new piece of legislation. But there are some clear spiritual issues that need to be addressed. You can not follow Jesus and hate the foreigners living among us. You can not love the foreigners living among us and refuse to acknowledge their existence. You can not love the foreigners among us without feeling compassion for their dire situation or taking action to bring justice to them.

Denying justice to the foreigner. That was one of God's indictments against sinful Israel in Ezekiel 22:29. That is exactly what is going on today in America. Undocumented Immigrants have no legal status. When they fall victim to a crime (which happens quite a lot) they avoid reporting it for fear of being deported, or imprisoned. They broke an immigration law. You've probably broken some laws too: driving over the speed limit, and possibly some far worse things. Does that broken law make it justifiable for someone else to steal your wages or force our daughter into prostitution? As long as we force immigrants to live off the grid, they will never receive justice, let alone the compassion we owe them.

First, we have to face the fact that immigrants are not going anywhere. Expelling them all is logistically impossible. It would also be devastating to our economy, driving up prices on a number of goods and services that are supported by the low wages immigrant laborers (both legal and illegal) usually earn

Second, we need to let God convict us that the status quo is not acceptable. We can not continue to deny justice to immigrants simply because they broke an immigration law. The evil being done to them far outweighs any evil they have done. I do not know all the ins and outs of this new immigration bill being debated in Congress. No doubt it is imperfect, made by imperfect people. I do know it is far overdue. It puts us in the right direction of providing justice and compassion for immigrants. I think that is what God would want us to do.

Finally, we need to let the love of Christ compel us to see immigrants as people made in the image of God, loved by God. We need to stop looking at them as a special interest group in the midst of a political hot-button issue, and just look at them as people. As people, living in a strange land, they could probably use some help from time to time getting around, knowing where to go to get things done. They might need some help learning English if they haven't mastered it yet. Most of all they probably need a good friend, someone they can depend on, because that person is a committed follower of Jesus. And when you put aside your prejudice and befriend one of these foreigners, you might be surprised how much they enrich your life as well.

All Things in Moderation (Including Moderation)

I am moderate about nearly everything in my life. I am a moderate drinker. A glass of wine two or three times a week. I watch TV in moderation, maybe an hour a day. I exercise moderately, a couple times a week. I am politically moderate, neither too conservative nor too liberal. I give to causes I believe in, but never until it hurts. I get upset about injustice, but never protest it. I pray, but I don't often wrestle in prayer. I speak of Jesus, but usually not until someone else brings him up first.

From time to time, I dream of being a radical. It doesn't really matter what I would be radical about, just the thought of going all in for something gets me excited. I admire the lives of radical followers of Jesus that I have read about: Martin Luther King, Rich Mullins, and Shane Claiborne. But most of the true radicals will remain unknown to us. People who actually live out what they claim to believe, to the point of rejecting what most consider a normal life, often to the point of loosing their lives altogether.

I am reminded of Jesus, when he said you couldn't follow him unless you take up your cross. He said that the only way to keep your life is to give it up. C.S. Lewis put it another way "Christ says 'Give me all. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work. I want you. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it.'" That sounds radical. That also sounds painful. Which is why I've remained a moderate. I don't tolerate pain well.

But what has moderation done for us? Moderation makes us respectable.  Moderation leads to a longer life. Moderation keeps us from doing something that might endanger ourselves or our families.  Moderation lets us do good things, but makes sure we watch out for ourselves. It's not like we should trust God to take care of us. Moderation says don't go all in. Moderation keeps us from doing something fool-hearted like selling all our possessions and giving them to the poor. Moderation holds us back from doing something crazy like giving our lives in service to others.

Moderation tends to keep things just the way they are. Are you happy with the world?  If everything is perfect and looks to stay that way, then by all means, embrace moderation. I, however,  don't see the world that way.

I see a world that is radically broken. A leader uses chemical weapons in his own country. An abortionist murders babies after they are born. A child is beaten to death by his parents. Selfish living is on the rise. Hate takes on new forms, but continues to grow. The poor are exploited, children are sold, women are used. Moderately good living is powerless against such evil.

Radical is at odds with so much of my life. I like having it both ways. Going to church, doing my religious duties, then coming home and enjoying the comforts of American life. I don't want to be the guy that rocks the boat and makes everyone upset. I don't want to part with my possessions  I don't want to put myself in danger. But if following Jesus is inherently radical, then I have to figure out which is more important. To be moderate, or to have Jesus. To have a comfortable life or an abundant life.

My friend Lance recently had the opportunity to help out a homeless man, giving him a ride and helping him secure a place to stay. He told me he kept feeling convicted to do more for the man. Later Lance found out the man he was helping was a registered sex offender. "Does that change how you feel about wanting to do more?" I asked him

His answer: "That just makes me wish I had more compassion on him. Who else is going to reach out to him knowing that." That is so radically different than the way we usually approach helping others. I think my friend is starting to get it. Moderation will not change the world. Jesus did not play it safe. Moderation did not lead him to the cross. To follow Jesus, to love like he does, we need to start going easy on the moderation.

The House: An Explanation

I wrote "The House" to highlight the complexity of a real life situation between two nations of people. one calls themselves Israel, the other Palestine. 

In our story, Jacob represents the ancient nation of Israel, as we see in the pages of scripture, removed from the land of promise (the house) as a slave in Egypt. The discovery of his father's trust fund represents God's grace upon Israel, rescuing them from slavery and bringing them into the land. But, as Israel's sin led to their removal from their homeland, Jacob's sin in our story caused him to loose his beloved house as well.

Arnie represents the Arabs.  After the Jews were dispersed top the corners of the world, other people groups settled in the ancient land, finally in the seventh century, Arabs settled into the land.

The Jews faced persecution everywhere they went, but nowhere so severe as Nazi Germany (Dutch), which led to a mass migration of Jews to the land now known as Palestine. The more Jews came to Palestine, the more resentment grew between Jews and the Arabs who already lived in the land. Eventually, a large portion of the land was awarded to the Jews by the U.N. to form the state of Israel in 1948.

Just as Jude took over Arnie's house, Jews eventually came to occupy all the former land of the Palestinian Arabs. Paul, represents modern Palestinians, who live on a fraction of their former land under a military occupation that has lasted almost 50 years. Like Paul, they are seeking a way to gain back their lands and establish sovereignty there. 

People harbor a lot of strong feelings about this land half way around the world, especially Christians. A recent Gallup poll shows that less than 40% of Americans feel any sympathies toward Palestinians, an all time low. Do the Palestinians deserve these feelings? Are they completely evil? Is their cause unjust? I believe that much of the strong sentiment is fueled my a few common misconceptions. Consider the following five facts about the Holy Land.

1. The Conquest is over.  Most liberal Christians, and not a small number of evangelicals are uncomfortable with the Israelite conquest of Canaan. God clearly commanded the ancient Israelites to conquer, kill, and displace nations (Duet 20:17). God gave them the land of Israel in order to punish the sinfulness of the nations who had resided there (Duet 9:4). In a like manner, He would use Assyria and Babylon to punish and displace Israel when they fell into similar sin. But this mandate to conquest was not an open ended invitation or a blank check. By the time of King David we see conquered people living peacefully in Israel, serving Israel's God and falling under His protection. God was angry with David over his injustice to Uriah the Hittite, a faithful soldier for Israel (2 Sam 12:9). 

God is a champion of the cause of the foreigner (Lev 19:34, Psalm 146:9). He did not ever intend for Israel to be in a perpetual state of war.  He never intended for them to kill and conquer indefinitely. Rather, He ordained them to be a "light to the nations" (Isaiah 49:6).  The conquest is over. Please do not misuse the Bible to justify the modern state of Israel in conquering and displacing other nations and denying the foreigners among them justice.

2. Arabs are a part of God's plan of redemption. There is a mistaken notion among some Christians that Arabs are a people cursed by God, that He does not really love or care for them, that they are somehow outside of his plan of redemption. This does not come from the Bible. Many Arabs played prominent roles in the history of redemption. Job, a shining example of righteousness was an Arab, as were Lemuel and Agur, two of the writers of Proverbs.  Arab magi were the first to acknowledge the kingship of Jesus, and their faithfulness kept Jesus safe from the clutches of king Herod.  Arabs were present at the day of Pentecost  and became followers of Jesus (Acts 2:11).  Today many Arabs follow Him, working to share His good news and bring His Kingdom rule to earth as it is in heaven. (for a detailed discussion of Arabs in the Bible, read Arabs in the Shadow of Israel by Tony Maalouf. Kregal Pub., 2003)

3. The ethnic lines are a lot blurrier than most people think. Politics usually requires people to self-identify as Arab or Jewish, but studies show both groups are largely descended from a common gene pool. Most Palestinian Arabs are a mixture of Arab, Jewish, and other ancestries. Nearly 20% of the citizens of  Israel speak Arabic as a first language, Muslims, Christians, and Jews who have spoken Arabic for generations. The Arab/Israeli dichotomy leaves out a large number of people who live there, and creates an unnecessary "us" versus "them" mentality.

4. Palestine has lived in a state of national slavery since 1967.  If there was ever a modern-day example of the slavery the ancient Hebrews suffered at the hands of the Egyptians, it would be Palestinians at the hand of Israel. Half of the people in lands controlled by Israel  are not citizens and may not become citizens, even though their ancestors have lived in the land for hundreds of years. The Palestinian Authority has no real authority.  Palestinians are severely restricted in travel, both into Israel proper and abroad. They also lack basic freedoms we take for granted, such as protection from unlawful search and seizure and unreasonable detention. Their condition keeps them from developing industry on their own lands. Many subsist by working for Israelis in largely menial and poorly-paid jobs.


5. Israel has repeatedly ignored the consensus of the world community in their treatment of Palestinians. Not that the international community is always right, but it should still pull some weight. The state of Israel occupied the territories of Gaza and the West Bank defending itself from invasion. But 45 years later, Israel still occupies the land. The people who lived there have not been incorporated into Israel or allowed to form their own state. Meanwhile Israeli settlers have seized large portions of the occupied territory from the original inhabitants.  U.N. resolution 446 confirms Israel has no right to settle these occupied territories. The occupation also violates the Geneva Convention of 1949 (Which Israel is party to).

If you come out of this hating Israel and loving Palestine, I have failed. I am as deeply concerned for Israelis as for Palestinians. God loves and cares for them all. He also has a heart to see justice for all the oppressed (Psalm 103:6).


Living every day for Jesus means to live his mission.  When Jesus unveiled his mission at his hometown of Nazareth he read this prophecy from Isaiah.

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

    because he has anointed me

    to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

    and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

    to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke:4:18-19)

Who are the poor and the oppressed in the Holy Land today? Are we joining Jesus in his mission to bring freedom to the oppressed? Do our thoughts and feelings about them agree with God's? Do our prayers reflect His heart?

The Monday Through Saturday Resurrection

This Sunday, March 31, Christians throughout the Western world will celebrate Easter (Orthodox Christians will celebrate it on May 5 this year). Most American Christians will celebrate Easter with family, attending religious services (for many it is one of two times a year they do this), eating ham and chocolate bunnies, and hiding plastic eggs from the kids. But somewhere, in spite of the pagan name, there is a deeper purpose to Easter. It signifies the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and for those who believe, this one event changes everything about every other day of the year.

Why do I anchor my life around the teachings of Jesus? What is so great about him that I should want to hang on to every word he says? There are a lot of great moral philosophers and religious leaders.  I can find a lot of wisdom in the teachings of Confucius, Buddha, Solomon, and Kant. I can even piece together the best parts of all of them, leave out the parts I don't like and live very comfortably in that moral standard. If Jesus was just another great moral philosopher, I could do the same with him.  I could keep the warm fuzzy parts like, "neither do I condemn you" and "blessed are the peacemakers." Then I could throw out the parts I do not think should apply to me like "go and sell all you have and give it to the poor," and "deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow me."  

The Resurrection says that trying to follow some of  Jesus teachings,even all of them is insufficient - missing the point. Resurrection begins in death. You can't fix dead. You can't improve upon it with moral teachings. The only cure for death is resurrection. It is not an easy thing to admit you are dead. It is not an easy thing to say you are helpless. This is the offense of the cross. If Jesus died for me, if I really need him, then I am not capable of making it on my own. But the Resurrection is useless to me unless I realize I am, in fact, dead.

When I look at myself and the world around me, I can not but help see the death we all live in. Death comes to us all, despite the goodness or badness of our lives. Without the Resurrection, death brings only more death. It's not just the final death I see. The world is full of death, of evil that can never be redeemed. The sins of the fathers do come back to haunt their children, and their children after them. None of us can escape it, we only pass it along. We kill each other daily, if not with guns and bombs, with words, with selfish decisions, with hate. 

The Resurrection says that dying can lead to life.  It did for a man 2000 years ago, and it can for us too. The Resurrection gives me the freedom to give up my life willingly, not to fear death, whether it is that final breath, or the death I die daily, as I deny myself to follow Jesus. The Resurrection promises life more abundant than anything I can give myself. The Resurrection frees me to pursue the life of following Jesus every day of the year.

While I believe the Resurrection of Jesus is a real historical event, the Resurrection is not a one-time thing. The Resurrection is the promise of a new life every day. It is real redemption. A real do-over. Because of the Resurrection I can put to death the ghosts of my ancestors, the ghosts of my years of rebellion and struggle, the ghosts of yesterday.  Today I can start anew. Today I can follow Jesus, the Resurrected. The Resurrection is both the motive and the power for me to even try to follow Jesus Monday through Saturday.

Because I live, you also will live. - John 14:19

What does the resurrection mean to you? Leave a comment and share how the Resurrection of Jesus impacts your everyday life.

The Edge of Your Coffee Field

"When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the Lord your God.” - Exodus23:22

What an obscure quote for an industrialized society. I don't have any fields. I don't reap them. And if I did, the poor would not come out and pick up the gleanings. But buried in this ancient text is the heart of God toward the poor.

Although people would classify me as poor, according to American standards, I am not poor. I have seen poor people, and they are nothing like me.  The poor literally don't know where their next meal will come from. Many live in crumbling dirty housing, the best they can afford. They don't get to put on a clean set of clothes every day. They only have one. They don't own a car. They don't have a computer or an iphone. They work hard for much less than minimum wage. The most shocking thing about the poor, is how many there are. Half the world's people live on less than $2.50 a day.

I think we have to face the fact that we Americans are the rich people in all the stories. The rich young ruler, told to give away all his possessions - that's us. "Woe to you who are rich" - that is a woe upon us. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than an American to enter the kingdom of God. And so all those verses about the rich providing for the poor, those are for us too. (I don't have the space or time to begin to unpack Deuteronomy 24:10-15, Isaiah 58, and Luke 12:13-21)

I was raised to be frugal. You get the best deal you can, and make your dollar stretch as far as possible. But God tells the Israelite farmers not to be as frugal as possible. We would call it wasteful. He calls it generous. I never stopped to think about how my frugality could effect the poor workers around the world. When I saw myself as poor, I needed that money for other things (like new clothes and a vacation). But when I began to see myself as rich, all that changed. I can no longer glean to the edge of my field, saving every last penny on a cheaper product when the people who made it barely scrape by.

I have a responsibility to the earth's poor.  They are my neighbors. I have been buying coffee from large corporations that exploit the poor by forcing them to sell their harvest for a lower price than they need to survive. I'm sure I have been doing the same thing with a number of other products I buy. I can not possibly learn the origin story of every product I buy, but I can start with what I know.  I know coffee.  I have decided it is worth a dollar or two extra for a bag of coffee that is Fair Trade certified.  In the end, I might have to slightly decrease my consumer spending to offset the difference.  A sacrifice well worth making.

Fair Trade is an internationally recognized supply line certification that guarantees certain prices to farmers, works to improve working conditions, environmental conditions and  living conditions among the poor who produce so many of goods we consume. (See http://www.fairtradeusa.org/) Fair trade is not the only way to ensure we are buying goods that do not exploit the poor, it is just an easy way find goods that meet these standards.

It doesn't have to end with coffee. I can look at other products I consume a lot of and switch to fair trade options for those as well. The more we buy of these products, the more they appear in the stores we frequent.  As they become more available, others can choose them too. I don't know if we can end poverty, but we can reverse the trend of exploiting the world's poor. We can leave a little grain on the edge of our fields by purchasing products that leave a little extra money in the hands of the poor workers of the world.



Coffee-lovers, check out this award winning coffee produced by some friends of mine in Laos.  While not yet Fair Trade Certified, it is bought at fair prices with a high regard for the workers and their communities. http://www.saffroncoffee.com/