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Ruach76
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Name: Daniel
Country: United States
State: Washington
Metro: Seattle
Birthday: 3/31/1976
Gender: Male
Interests: Hmmm...whatever the Spirit is doing, being in Christ, my family, movies, LOTR, culture, religion, life, people, books, creation, sci-fi, philosophy, people's stories, people meeting God, whatever else I think to add later...
Expertise: Is it even possible to be an expert on anything anymore? Was it ever possible?
Message: message meEmail: email me
Member Since:
2/12/2005
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| Amid pomp and splendor and religious ceremony, Elizabeth II, was coronated as queen of England on June 2, 1953. She had already been serving as queen after the death of her father, King George VI, over a year previous to the coronation. She had, so to speak, ascended to the throne.
Today (May 1, 2008) is the day that Western Christians celebrate the day of our Lord’s ascension into heaven. This day doesn’t get a lot of attention, but it is still a vital and relevant aspect of the Christian story. So what happened and how does it affect us?
First, we should note what hasn’t happened. Jesus hasn’t, as some supposed, rocketed off of the planet and shot out into space somewhere “way beyond the blue.” It is true that Luke tells of Jesus arising off of a mountain. Though that occurred, the point of that visual isn’t that he has lifted off like a hot air balloon. Rather, it was a demonstration that Jesus has gone into heaven, into the immediate presence of the Father. This heaven is like another dimension that interlocks with ours. It is not a place far beyond, but somewhere all around us just behind the veil. (I recommend reading Dallas Willard’s The Divine Conspiracy and/or N.T. Wright’s Simply Christian for good accessible explanations of this concept.)
Now we can note what has happened. Jesus has entered into the dimension we call heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father. This, as Daniel 7.9-14 demonstrates, means that Jesus has been given the place of honor, power, and authority over all creation. He is the High King of all. We celebrate today, in a sense, the coronation of Jesus as King of all that was made. He was the rightful King already, on this day so long ago, he was vindicated and declared to be the rightful ruler of the universe.
So what does this mean? When we realize this fact, it changes much about how we view the world. For the sake of brevity, we will only highlight a few things here.
First, we are reminded that Jesus is Lord. The powers of this world, whether they be invisible forces, political might, or commercial strength, are never final. Jesus is Lord over them all. They might oppose Him. They might rebel against Him. They might ignore Him or deny Him. But it does not change the fact that He is their Lord.
This brings us to the second highlight: Jesus will judge. All those powers will be called to account by the King of the universe. All the powers of past, present, and to come will be judged for their deeds, whether good or ill. All things will be put right. Bullies will be brought low. The oppressed will be raised up. The Lord will return and straighten everything out.
All of this affects how we live. First, Scripture tells us that since Jesus is Lord, those of us who believe in Him live according to His rule, not that of the world’s powers. We have a different set of values, a different set of rules, a different set of expectations. This does not mean that we ignore the rules that are, but rather that we know what we follow supercedes all power. This is one reason Christians of the past have declared that “we ought to obey God rather than men.” When the powers of the earth oppose the rule of Christ, we must follow the rightful Lord, not the pretenders.
Second, we have a special hope. We know that everything will be made right in the end. We work for and towards that end. We live and breathe and pray to that end. Even when we suffer injustice now, we place our hopes in the Lord who will return and make it right. And we speak for justice now because we know that is what our Lord cares about.
This special hope extends even to a deep affectionate level. Scriptures tell us that our Lord Jesus, through His incarnation, calls His followers “brothers” (we might add sisters in this present day) (Hebrews 2.5-11). Hence, our Lord is also our family as we have been adopted into the household of God. We are royalty by virtue of the fact that our Father is God and the King is Jesus, our brother. We are, of course, royalty subject to the King. Nevertheless, we know that we will reign with him and are already seated with Him. We have special access in the royal courts directly to the King.
Ascension Day doesn’t get a lot of attention, but perhaps it should. Because of this day, we know that our risen Lord and Brother rules over all. The powers we confront today do not have the final word; Jesus alone does. And we have a special place in the Kingdom of God, having been adopted into the royal household. All things are to be made right, and the extraordinary grace of our God has made it so that once rebellious “sons of Adam and daughters of Eve”, to quote C.S. Lewis, are now given thrones.
To God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be all the glory, into the ages of the ages! Amen.
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| If you've wondered where I've been: well, that's a long story for another time. Here's the bottom line: we've taken the senior pastorate at a church in Covington, WA, a Seattle suburb. We are excited about what is to come!
During this year's reflection on the passion of our Lord, I am struck by his quotation of the Psalms. We can, of course, point to the total presence of Scripture in his language that oozes out with every speech. Yet, here in his most painful and dreadful hours, it is the ancient prayers of his people that gets expressed throughout the whole ordeal.
So what do we pull from this? Namely, in the hours where strength was needed most, the tested ancient prayers of his people found expression on his lips. They became the requests that became the conduits of the necessary energy. The revealed the depths of the horror of betrayal, disappointment, frustration, and exasperation at God's absence.
What if we did the same? What if we so immersed ourselves in the Psalms (and, I would add, other tested Christian prayers), so that when darkness descended upon our souls, these prayers struck light? What if they became so integrated with our own human fabric that when life's weights were applied, they were expressed? I think we would find a ready aid and words to give us direction, purpose, and solidarity with God's people. I think, also, that we would find a strengthened faith knowing that the God who has answered such prayers in such circumstances in the past will indeed answer them now again.
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| Here is my confession: I enjoy politics. I tend to follow the races much as others follow sports. Here is my other (more troublesome) confession: in the past I have taken politics too seriously.
Should I seriously and prayerfully consider whom I vote for? Absolutely. Should I lose humor and sleep? No. After all, the Scripture reminds us over and again to “put not your trust in princes”. And the message of Jesus is that this all passing away in favor of God’s kingdom.
That being said, I am happy to say that I am enjoying this year’s races. Because I am enjoying this year’s races and because I’m not sure my lovely wife can tolerate much more political talk, I am going to enter the foray as an uber-ameteur pundit. As the races unfold, I will give my opinion. I would enjoy discussion and feedback, but be forewarned, I’ve learned to not fight over it!
So, whom do I support?
Mitt Romney. There. It’s out in the open. I, an evangelical born-again Christian, am formally and publicly supporting a Mormon for president.
Why?
1. The person. Thus far, Romney has demonstrated excellent executive leadership as governor of Massachussetts (a Democratic stronghold), the saving director of the Olympics in Utah, and executive of a company. He has the credentials. He is also brilliant AND articulate. I voted for W in ’00 and ’04, but it is so refreshing to support someone who can speak well. Romney, by all accounts, seems to demonstrate the best character and temperament (I will get to the issues changes later).
2. The issues. Romney is pro-life and fairly limited-government. He wants government to stay out of our lives (for the most part). Yes, he has changed positions on abortion and homosexual marriages. Some have accused him of disingenuity. Maybe, though, he has listened to the arguments and “seen the light”. After all, do we really want to support someone (again) who refuses to admit mistakes and takes a LONG time to change direction in a strategy?
3. Electability. Romney appears most presidential and has the most appeal in all 50 states.
Many of my friends will wonder why I don’t support Huckabee. After all, shouldn’t a preacher support another theologically conservative Baptist minister? Doesn’t his religious credentials make him “God’s choice” for president?
That is the kind of thinking that frightens me, honestly. It is also the kind of thinking that makes us conservatives appear guilty of many of the accusations thrown at us by liberals. We ought to think through things a bit more carefully. And we should ALL be careful about putting too much trust and “divine appointment” trust in any of our political leaders. For my Huckabee friends, I will talk about my non-support later.
In later posts, I will talk about what I think is going on in the races. (For whatever that is worth!)
The Democrats
For the sake of space and time, I will limit my observations at this point.
1. Bill Richardson. Thanks for the run, Governor. You caught my interest, but it’s over.
2. John Edwards. Obviously he is hoping that Obama and Hillary will destroy each other. It is going to happen. Though he has a pretty face, I’m glad that I won’t have to listen to his twanging angry harangues on the horrors of American life every time there is a presidential press conference.
3. Barack Obama. A surprise disappointment for Obama and his supporters in New Hampshire. The establishment pulled it off. But the race if far, far, far from over.
4. Hillary Clinton. A surprise win in New Hampshire is bringing money and momentum. However, the personality of Obama is a force to be reckoned with. She is going to have to get more direct and graceful in going after Obama’s inexperience.
In all the analysis of the New Hampshire primary, here is something I haven’t heard mentioned (not that it hasn’t been mentioned, I just haven’t heard it): Merril Lynch’s announcement that we are in a recession. Though other banks have disagreed, they have affirmed that we are close.
Economic woes makes people insecure. This could help Hillary and hurt Obama. Whether or not Clinton’s policies actually brought us out of the recession is a different matter. I think Democrats are going to start voting for the name that has already weathered a recession. Economically troubled times will not produce risk-taking on untried insubstantial sunny rhetoric.
Final Remarks
It’s a sign of the times that someone like me can broadcast his views on politics. It’s also a sign of the wide-open nature of the races that someone like me would try.
I do not think you will find anything eye-opening in my discussions here. But hopefully you will find something entertaining – if for no other reason than the audacity of my giving opinions on the race!
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| Seriously. Gimme a break. I am now tempted to pull my previous post.
JK Rowling has apparently "outed" Dumbledore. This is irritating for four reasons.
1) Dumbledore was my favorite character. I can no longer look at him the same way...
2) I can no longer look at him the same way because this was a post-script revelation. Indeed, I dare say this calls Rowling's honesty on the subject entirely into question. I find it hardly believable that she would have conceived of and developed this character for all these years and never once hinted to his sexuality. And why now after she has finished writing anything about Potter? I smell a rat. A politically-correct-please-let-me-be-admitted-into-the-popular-avant-garde-league-of-artists-who-adhere-to-a-strict-set-of-rules-regarding-buzzword-issues kind of rat. (I am not a literary critic or scholar. But I do wonder if this raises questions about the author's responsibility to the story and characters after he/she ceases to create them? I think there might be an interesting discussion there.) Rowling says her books have always been about mainly "tolerance." I fear she is cheapening them by taking this route. Now they are become post-script propaganda. Really, this stuff is on the level of a Rita Skeeter special! She had many other powerful things to say and is now undermining them. Honestly, the aspects on tolerance were much more effective when compared to racial and cultural suspicions in a violent age. This other is a bit too much.
3) Future readers will now have this filter in their minds. The literary integrity is ruptured by this exterior intrusion. The story now must be about sexuality b/c Rowling later said so. Not b/c she made it so during its creation. That is unfortunate, dishonest, and breaks faith with the audience. The story can no longer speak on its own.
4) Enough already! Why must everything always go back to sexuality? We are a sex-glutted culture to be sure. We are smothering in this obsession. We can't even let a poor dead wizard rest in peace without creating startling revelations to make him a weapon.
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| I just finished the last book in the Harry Potter series. I must say that Rowling provides a powerful and satisfying conclusion. Here is a good essay on the Potter series by a Christian thinker.
Any thoughts?
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