final days forum

Change yourself, influence the world

Times Square Oct 2008, originally uploaded by Slystallone.

The inaugural honeymoon is already over for many conservative Christians. President Barack Obama included "non-believers" in his speech and the belief is mounting that he will roll back conservative programs former President Bush implemented. This is a major cause of concern, prayer and fear.

Conservative-minded Christians are bothered because arm-twisting society to convert to God's ways serves as the model for change. But decades of cultural wars have not yielded widespread revival -- the kind of spiritual joy where modern-day evangelists can stand in Times Square and watch people flee their offices and cars and subway seats and beg to know Jesus -- because we missed the notes of a forceful prophetic voice steeped in love. Many Christians have been unable to address the culture without rancor.

If ineffective, religious practice renders itself useless. If of little power, it should be questioned. Elijah proved that when he offered the prophets of Baal a chance to prove their god was real. Unfortunately, Baal did not show up. God did. Will we not let God show himself today through our lives? When we fall more in love with the Father of our souls, the atmosphere changes because our obedience dispels darkness. Possibilities increase. Our ability to influence the world grows exponentially because the world can see God in us, instead of enduring our sermonic chatter.

God's Spirit sweeps through our hearts and then soars through the culture. Strongholds of self-will melt beneath the onslaught of God's love. For me, it's like falling for my husband again because of the smallest, most affectionate act. This is especially true when I believe he has annoyed me and I want to cling to my right to be irritated! My selfishness eases. His tender service reminds me of why I said "I do."

"How I love this place," says Dr. Peter Marshall in the 1955 film, "A Man Called Peter." In the movie, the chaplain to the U.S. Senate and his family gaze at the nation's capital at night.

"For all that isn't quite right about it, think of all that is," he continues. "You can feel it beating. A pulse of liberty for the world. I'm so grateful to have been a small part of it."

I would have to check Catherine Marshall's book, A Man Called Peter: The Story of Peter Marshall, to determine whether he spoke those actual words. They caught my attention as I watched it last night on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, for my third or fourth time. Although many Americans love to describe Marshall's era as "the good old days," many issues in society displeased God then, as they do now. Nevertheless, the scene exalts hope.

 All is not quite right in America. But with Christ in us, the hope of glory, think of all that it is. And what will be...if Christians surrender to him.

Judy Howard Ellis

Mirror, mirror: Who's the fairest of them all?

Narcissism lures us with gloved tentacles, and it's not just John Edwards who fell captive. Anytime we operate in the world with excessive self-interest, we are like the young man in mythology who falls in love with his own face,  or the conceited queen in Snow White, whose worldview centers on her rivals because life is a perpetual beauty pageant.

Last week I watched Mr. Skeffington on Turner Classic Movies, which told the story about how beauty is only skin deep, and that selfishness is more shallow than that. Bette Davis powerfully portrays Fanny Trellis, whose beauty brings throngs of men into her presence -- even after she marries the dour Job Skeffington (played by Claude Rains) -- as she basks in their adoration. Fanny is cruel, selfish, and throws away the love of her husband and daughter as she pursues passion for her own face.

The story takes a twist when diphtheria ravages her face. She transforms into a ghoulish figure of eyeliner, mascara, face creams, and wigs as she childishly attempts to adorn an aged face. One crazy scene is when a ringlet falls from her head as a former suitor from her youth woos her again. Fanny soon learns that the cash-strapped suitor always wanted her because of her looks. Now he wants her for money.

Even those of us who call ourselves Christians can be choked by narcissism's gloved, but brutal grip. While we wag a finger at the Paris Hiltons of the world, shake our heads at the egotism of politicians (take your pick: Senators Barack Obama, John McCain, Hillary Clinton or former President Bill Clinton), and pooh-pooh the indulgences of the megarich and celebrities, what rages inside our own hearts? Are we narcissistic about our own religious practice? Is our concern for others based on our love for them and our understanding their inner brokenness? Or is our concern based on our own narcissistic standards of performance? When our pursuit of youth surpasses the needs of our children, who need our time, our direction and our example, are we living in vain?

I thought I understood beauty blossomed from within. Sure, Lord. I got this. Your word says in Proverbs 31: "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."  (NIV) But then I contracted Graves' disease, which later caused my eyes to bulge. I began to experience the truth of that verse! I'll never forget when a friend I had not seen in years could not believe it was me when he saw me. His surprised reaction stung. But it was a good thing. The memory of that encounter and others force me to submit to God's beautifying work inside me and give that the priority. Even if God heals me right at this moment, may I continue learning His beauty lessons.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who in the land is fairest of all? Jesus...the image of the invisible God.

Judy Howard Ellis

 

Links courtesy of: http://www.pantheon.org/, www.wikipedia.org, www.courant.com, www.imdb.com, http://www.tcm.com/index.jsp, http://www.bettedavis.com/, http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Park/6771/, http://www.parishilton.com/,www.barackobama.com, www.johnmccain.com, www.hillaryclinton.com, http://www.clintonfoundation.org/, http://www.ehealthmd.com/library/hyperthyroidism/HYE_eyes.html, http://www.ibs.org/bible/

'The Dark Knight' & the Agent of Chaos (Part 2)

Day 147. May 26., originally uploaded by Maryam S..

"The Dark Knight" offers several themes that could be elaborated on, but I'm focusing on the characters of the Joker and Harvey Dent. As I said in yesterday's post, the Joker gives us a pattern of some of Satan's schemes.

Applying the struggles of Dent's character to the Christian experience, Satan wars against men and women -- made righteous by the blood sacrifice of Jesus -- who seek to repair the causes of inner brokenness instead of burying them behind glamourous facades. As God's enemy, and as the enemy of the souls of the redeemed, Satan relishes in having followers of Christ wallow in pretense. He hates authencity. He likes Dent's outward glow -- golden but shallow!

In "The Dark Night," the Joker presses his crazed fingers into Dent's inner wounds, the places Dent didn't get healed before he became Gotham's righteous crusader. Had Dent possessed the world view that God ultimately wields all justice and corrects all injustice, and then found rest in that world view, he would not have sought his own revenge when the pain of losing his girlfriend -- and losing the war against crime -- was more than he could bear.

Dent's story is a well-told cautionary tale within a larger, complex story about Batman. (Isn't it funny where we can learn a truth of God?) As Dent shows us, outward change without the constant inward working of the Holy Spirit falls short of the authencity God desires and plays into the religious pretense Satan loves to produce. Satan knows that when the Christian is real, self-aware of his weaknesses and focused on the complete strength of God, the Christian is formidable.

I love this quote from one of my favorite preachers, Charles Spurgeon, about Joel 2:13. The passage refers to rending our hearts, not our garments, and turning to God. Spurgen is quoted on the site, www.gracegems.org, as saying:

"Men will attend to the most multiplied and minute ceremonial regulations; for such things are pleasing to the flesh; but true religion is too humbling, too heart-searching, too thorough for the tastes of the carnal men; they prefer something more ostentatious, flimsy, and worldly. Outward observances are comfortable; eye and ear are pleased; self-conceit is fed, and self-righteousness is puffed up: but they are ultimately delusive, for in the time of death, and at the day of judgment, the soul needs something more substantial than ceremonies and rituals to lean upon. Apart from vital godliness all religion is utterly vain; offered without a sincere heart, every form of worship is a solemn sham and an impudent mockery of the majesty of heaven."

Judy Howard Ellis

'The Dark Knight' & the Agent of Chaos (Part 1)

 

Trailer for "The Dark Knight" courtesy of XxjalaldevilxX

Brutal, excecuted with cinematic skill, and obscene in the violence of intimidation that it infers, the message of "The Dark Night" sobers the soul.

As critics already have raved, Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker is worth an Oscar nomination. As an actor, Ledger traveled to an unseen realm to achieve a form of artistic expression that reveals the twisted, thirsty and never-satisfied place of evil.

The Joker exists with no rules, no honor. He names himself an "agent of chaos" to the grieving, angry, and maimed Harvey Dent character, skillfully played by Aaron Eckhart. Bereft of his love interest, his handsome face cruelly deformed by fire, Dent is the character that followers of Jesus should study.

On the surface, Dent seems to descend from righteous prosecutor to reckless vilgilante because of the loss of his girlfriend, Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who was killed while he survived. His descent began earlier in the film, when he could not rest because Batman (Christian Bale), had a close, and enviable, relationship with police officer Jim Gordon (Gary Oldham). Dent also delighted in the humiliation of his enemies -- the criminals he sent to jail -- an always dangerous path to tread.

By the time the Joker informs Dent that he is an agent of chaos who stirs the fears of people, the Joker doesn't seem just like the neighborhood wacko killer. His intentions are methodically satantic as he probes the inquity in Dent, along with the simmering anger, control issues, and flawed sense of justice squirming beneath the surface of the Dudley Do-Right prosecutor image.

Satan, like the Joker, wants us to settle for surface change in our lives. Surface righteousness is an open doorway for Satan to generate destruction as an agent of chaos.

More tomorrow.

Judy Howard Ellis

Links courtesy of msn.com, wikipedia.com

'Expelled': God, fairies, angels, and hobgoblins

God has a wonderful sense of humor.

The zany stuff in my own life is evidence enough (that's another post!),  but I think He laughs because He loves to wrap Himself in mystery, He loves the chase of hide-and-seek. "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but it is the glory of kings to search it out" (Proverbs 25:2).

His actions are unhurried, confident, focused. He doesn't feel pressured to reveal everything right away because finite folk throw tantrums when their brain freezes from wrestling with the unanswered. Questions from the Bible may keep us up nights, but they never make Him bat an eyelash. We may squabble about where Cain's wife came from or whether the earth is old or young, but God seems to stand near us listening -- simply taken by our processing the deep things that lie within Himself.

With the debate about intelligent design, He is His most enigmatic, and, seemingly, the most amused. Scientists who never would tiptoe near a theological thought may cling to Darwin like Saran Wrap, but God is near to them. God leaves gaping questions, drops tantalizing clues and is inexplicably drawn by expressions of faith. Faith that reaches for Him, even in the darkness, unlocks His heart, if not His secrets.

In his new movie, "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," actor Ben Stein tackles the cultural wars that have ensued in the debate about intelligent design. The satirical documentary opens tomorrow, and if the savvy trailer is an indication, this could be a quality film. The part I'm look forward to watching is Stein interviewing someone who says God is as unlikely as fairies, angels and hobgoblins to be the Creator.

Now that makes me smile.

Courtesy of Expelledthemovie on GodTube.com

Jesus, the perfect supplement?

Jesus Christ is the must-have supplement for today's made-to-order religious practices. He is used like a healing herb or a trace mineral. Mix a tablespoon of Jesus into your daily religious smoothie and you're good to go. Jesus flavors any religion, belief system, principle or spiritual practice on earth. He is the binding agent, the innocuous role model for perfectly executed belief.

He's a very cool additive only when you peel away the messy crucifixion, that blood-as-sacrifice-for-sin stuff, His statements about being the only way to God, and that wild notion about resurrecting bodily. But for those who prefer their Jesus tame, the Jesus who taught about blood and sin is passive aggressive and His Daddy is a cosmic control freak.

For example, the crucified and risen Jesus doesn't flow with Oprah and Eckhart Tolle, author of the "A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose," and other self-made faith practices today. Faith is self-actualization, consciousness and an untethered spirituality that says: We have seen god and god is us.

(Courtesy of : lsim13 from YouTube.com.)

I'm a huge fan of Oprah and the way she embraces mass media to supply forums for a variety of people, interests, and ideas. Hosting a global webcast featuring Tolle is a brilliant use of today's technology and further proof that she is a master storyteller and entrepreneur. She has her fingertips on what matters so much to so many.

But "A New Earth" and other books that turn away from the crucified and risen Christ reveal not the greatest story ever told, but the greatest lie ever believed.

Long before Oprah became a beloved media personality, she was a person with a question. Oprah herself has said that when she heard a minister talk about a "jealous" God, she was disturbed by that description. The God she knew was loving, so how could God be jealous? Her question was real. Her curiousity was normal. Did anyone in her former Baptist church share with her about what a "jealous God" meant? Did one of the "mothers of the church" put her arms around her and explain the full story about the God of All Love?

Whether they did or not, Oprah's question was left to take unruly root.

More tomorrow about this.