so ist das leben

Here's something I read tonight in "The Knowledge of the Holy" by A.W. Tozer.  Amazing thought!

"According to the book of Job, God's work of creation was done to musical accompaniment.  "Where wast thou," God asks, "when I laid the foundations of the earth…when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"  John Dryden carried the idea a bit further than this, but not, perhaps, too far to be true:

From harmony, from heavenly harmony,

This universal frame began:

When nature underneath a heap

Of jarring atoms lay,

And could not heave her head,

The tuneful voice was hear from high,

"Arise ye more than dead!"

Then cold, and hot, and moist, and dry,

In order to their stations leap,

And Music's power obey.

From harmony, from heavenly harmony,

This universal frame began:

From harmony to harmony

Through all the compass of the notes it ran,

The diapson closing full in man.

"A Song for St.Cecilia's Day" by John Dryden (1687)

Music is both an expression and a source of pleasure, and the pleasure that is purest and nearest to God is the pleasure of love.  Hell is a place of no pleasure because there is no love there.  Heaven is full of music, because it is the place where the pleasures of holy love abound."

A few weeks ago I finished reading "The Four Loves" by C.S. Lewis.  It is an amazing book.  He examines the four basic kinds of human love–affection, friendship, erotic love, and charity.  He discusses the differences between human and divine love.  He points out the risks, the joys, the pains involved in loving.  He has an amazing section where he talks about a love for God being the only "firm basis" for any human love.  We cannot love perfectly or purely while we're here on earth.  One of my favorite portions of the book is when he talks about the dangers of love.  We are such  thoroughly selfish creatures.  Loving anything besides ourselves seems at best risky.  Even the thought of loving God with all of our hearts leaves us in a state of apprehension–wondering if we'll end up frustrated, unfulfilled, or even alone.  Lewis tackles the problem of the risk factor in love in the following selection from his chapter on Charity:

"I am a safety-first creature.  Of all arguments against love none makes so strong an appeal to my nature as 'Careful! This might lead you to suffering.'  To my nature, my temperament, yes.  Not to my conscience.  When I respond to that appeal I seem to myself to be a thousand miles away from Christ.  If I am sure of anything I am sure that His teaching was never meant to confirm my congenital preference for safe investments and limited liabilities.  I doubt whether there is anything in me that pleases Him less.  Even if it were granted that insurances against heartbreak were our highest wisdom, does God Himself offer them?  Apparently not.  Christ comes at last to say, 'Why hast thou forsaken me?' There is no safe investment.  To love at all is to be vulnerable.  Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken.  If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal.  Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the coffin of your selfishness.  The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell."

There is risk involved in love.  But even as Christ did not shrink from the consequences of His love for us, so we should wholeheartedly embrace the gift God has given us–to be able to love with all our hearts, souls, and minds. 

I've been reading through the book of Hebrews in my devotions and learning about the superiority of Christ.  Greater than the angels, than Moses, than the sacrifices, provides a greater salvation, etc.  John Piper, pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, preached a sermon on Hebrews giving seven aspects of Christ that should change our view of Him.  It's a good Lord's Day meditation.  (Thanks to my friend Jason for pointing me in this direction–it was a blessing!)

There are at least seven things said about Christ in Hebrews 1:1-4.

(1) He is real—don't ever forget that. Cultivate a relationship with this person. Put Jesus at the center of your life. Relate to Jesus. Some of us became Christians through a form of evangelism that was exactly right. It said, "Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus?" That's the right question. Sometimes we take it very lightly, but here's a person and he's alive and he's here and he's in heaven. He can do that. And he's glorious. Let's see how glorious he is because it's the gloriousness of the glory of the person that makes the laying down of his life so spectacularly valuable and assuring.

(2) He created—through him all things were made.

(3) He is the radiance of the Father's glory –so if you want to know the glory, the moral beauty of the glory of the father, read the gospel and behold the person of Jesus because he's the radiance (the streaming out, the effulgence) of the glory of God.

(4) He is the exact character or representation of the father's divine nature. If you've seen me, you've seen the father.

(5) He upholds the universe –all things—by the word of his power. So today this person is infinitely powerful. He is speaking all the solar system, and all the Milky Way, and all the other galaxies into being , as well as all the molecules and all the wood and brick of this building. He's holding our flesh and hair and skin and lungs and tissue and fingernails in being right now. If he were to stop thinking you into being you would cease to be. That's how dependent you are on this person.

(6) He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty and the seating is an enthronement. He is the king of the universe. He's at the right hand of God the Father and he reigns over all government. He reigns over the devil. He reigns over weather. He reigns over heart attacks and cancer and Parkinson's disease. He reigns tonight.

(7) Therefore he is greater than the angels. Sort of sounds like an anticlimax. But the rest of the chapter is devoted to this— to the utter superiority of this person over all other heavenly persons save the Father. So that's number one—we are dealing tonight with a person. He's alive. He's real and all seven of those facts are true about him.

That's the title of a "new, fresh, and adventurous" Bible translation that is being acclaimed by everyone from a former Baptist minister to the Archbishop of Canterbury, leader of the Church of England.  Here's some examples of changes you will find:

Nichnames: St. Peter becomes "Rocky," Mary Magdalene becomes "Maggie," Aaron becomes "Ron," Andronicus becomes "Andy" and Barabbas becomes "Barry."

Matthew 26:69-70

Authorized version: "Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, 'Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee.' But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest."

New: "Meanwhile Rocky was still sitting in the courtyard. A woman came up to him and said: 'Haven't I seen you with Jesus, the hero from Galilee?" Rocky shook his head and said: 'I don't know what the hell you're talking about!'"

1 Corinthians 7:1-2

KJV: "Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: [It is] good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, [to avoid] fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband."

New: "Some of you think the best way to cope with sex is for men and women to keep right away from each other. That is more likely to lead to sexual offences. My advice is for everyone to have a regular partner."

1 Corinthians 7:8-7

KJV: "I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn."

New: "If you know you have strong needs, get yourself a partner. Better than being frustrated."

Amazing.  Mr. Henson (translator) should not be deceived—God will not be mocked. 

If you're like me, you're probably sick of hearing about "The Da Vinci Code."  It seems like it's been around forever.  And that's probably because it has.  The book has enjoyed an unprecedented (and unbreaking) run on the New York Times bestseller list since it's release in 2003.  The movie is supposed to perform just as smashingly.

I read the book a year and a half ago.  I had heard about it for awhile, but wasn't convinced that I should read it.  That is until I was downtown one night and saw a sign in the window of a coffee shop–"The Da Vinci Code" Study Group: Monday nights, 7:30PM.  I decided to read it.

And two days later I was finished.  It is a thrilling novel.  I literally could not put it down.  My assessment: it was just as good as everyone said, and just as blasphemous. 

With the release of the movie in the US tomorrow, Christians are divided on a course of action.  Many are calling for a boycott of the film (i.e. Focus on the Family), while many are encouraging Christians to go see it (i.e. Josh McDowell).  On the whole, Christians have responded very negatively towards the book and subsequent movie.

I strongly disagree with almost every major premise around which Dan Brown builds the story.  I think what he says is unbiblical and even blasphemous.  But despite that, millions of people are reading his book and listening to what he says.  I talked with an Episcopal girl one time who said that this book dramatically shook her faith in the identity of Jesus Christ.  She said it took her weeks to recover.  Last Saturday I spoke briefly with a guy at Barnes & Noble who worshipped Isis (ancient Egyptian goddess often associated with the Virgin Mary).  Goddess worship is a major theme in "The Da Vinci Code."  This is a real issue. 

Jesus Christ and the issue of who He claims to be has been thrust into the national spotlight by Dan Brown and now by Ron Howard.  Millions are listening.  We as Christians have a responsibility to know the claims of the book and be able to refute them from Scripture.  I believe the reaction of burying our head in the sand, refusing to read the book, or taking purposeful ignorance is wrong.  Why?  Because we have knowledge of the Truth. 

I recommend reading the book.  Some Christians don't feel comfortable doing so.  If that's the case, Dr. Kevin Bauder, President of Central Theological Seminary in Minneapolis, Minnesota has written some excellent articles refuting the main premises of "The Da Vinci Code."  But regardless, of what course of action we take, I do think that every Christian should be familiar with Brown's claims and "be ready always to give an answer."

After being a blog follower for almost a year, I have decided to join the ranks.  I'm not exactly sure the direction this blog will take.  I am a firm believer however, that we are most influenced by the people we meet and the books we read.  Two of my greatest passions in life are relationships and reading.  So while I'm not exactly sure what to expect from this blog, I do think that it will inevitably be musings regarding those two subjects.   

And occassional news from my life.  Which at the present moment involves a lot of excitement over my brother's arrival in Madrid early this morning.  He flew from Chicago yesterday and will be spending the next two months in Spain.  Lucky.  Here is a picture of my family just before he left yesterday morning at 7AM.