The Power of Hope in a Faithless Age

I just wrote this letter to a friend, in part from my own failings and struggles, but with the desire to build others up who have the same questions that I have struggled through:

Christians have the burden of loving and not judging. The non-Christian has no desire not to judge as they have no desire to live according to the love of Christ. God forbid we start to sound the same. Christians (on the Right AND Left) tend to turn to the state to legislate morality more than we turn to Jesus to change our own hearts. The Lord gave me a question last Friday night during my bible study wherein I asked everyone to label what they considered the worst sin to be. I had answers ranging from rape, to causing others to sin, to murder. Then I asked them, "When you see others committing those sins does it bother you more than your own sins?" What do you think? We want to judge others so badly. We demand JUSTICE for their failings and then as soon as we screw up we beg for MERCY!

Take a fresh look at the bible. It is disingenuous to believe that it has been translated badly. There are literally tens of thousands of the earliest Apostolic and prophetic writings from antiquity that have been found which bear witness to the faithfulness of translations. Certainly there are very short segments that are difficult to translate correctly but the Book in its entirety is a marvel of faithfulness. Is God not powerful enough to preserve His word? Are His people so unfaithful that they should want to politicize it completely as so many of us modern Christians seem to have done? I don't think so. There are things more lasting, more eternal and more important than our fading political realm. As Peter said when Jesus asked if the Apostles would leave Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life!" THAT is our message. Eternal life. In the end, no one will care about our current state of politics but everyone will care about which side of Jesus they fall upon. Jesus held high the Scriptures (yes, even those "awful" passages from Deuteronomy and such). He even cited the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah to say that if they had been commanded to repent they would have done so (insinuating that they were less wicked than the Pharisees). There is no evidence to show that the words of scripture have been so perverted as to be rendered untrustworthy. The root of our distrust is our own fallibility and cautiousness towards our own race. But God's power and grace supersedes our meager abilities to sin. He has preserved the meaning of Eternal Life (Salvation) for people of every tribe, tongue and nation to hear. Let us not try and remove His glory from our lives by questioning His very power to be King over creation.

Police brutality in the age of Michael Brown and Eric Garner

"Police brutality" has obviously been in the news quite a bit as of late. I put it in quotes as there are times when brutality (or extreme force) is necessary (arguably Michael Brown) and other times when it is not (Eric Garner). In the case of Garner, he had been hassled by the police dozens of times mostly about selling "loosies", or individual cigarettes, in a heavily regulated and taxed market that made the cost of a pack of cigarettes four times more than in bordering states and allowed for a thriving black market. My point is that, when you make a law for the police to enforce, it must be one that is worthy of being backed up by deadly force. After all, the law concerns itself with justice; not mercy. In no conceivable instance should Garner have been judged before death's door by the law for selling a legal product at a discounted rate. So next time you hear it celebrated that we are a "nation of laws" it should grieve your hearts. The law makes no man good and serves only to punish those who break it. How about us Democrats, Republicans, Independents and Libertarians come together to start rolling back the tidal wave of tiny, murderous laws and regulations that make at least 75% of us guilty of unknowingly committing at least one felony in our lives? No one should have to die for selling cigarettes.

The God of reason.

While discussing the Divine Providence of our country's founding it was suggested that we are no more divinely inspired than any other country. While I agree that all nations are lifted up and thrown down by God, the difference in ours was obvious (just read the Declaration of Independence). Some differences I gave were:

1) The equal application of justice to all, 2) The right of one to enjoy the fruit of his labor, 3) The understanding that men are inherently wicked and should have checks upon their power, 4) The investiture of government's power in the people (and their right to overthrow it and institute a new one should it not protect their God-given rights).

A friend then gave a quote by Thomas Jefferson suggesting that this foundation was due more to humanity's ability to reason than to God who blesses. The quote reads:

‎"Question with boldness even the existence of God; because, if there be one, he must approve more of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear."

It's a great quote and I agree with it to the extent that if mankind truly is made in God's image then we have the ability to reason, in part, as God reasons. Thus, the scripture is granted meaning when God proclaims to all men in Isaiah 1, "Come, let us reason together."

Still, the distinction between God as God and reason as god needed to be clarified. My thought process concluded that:

"Reason is a passionless god to serve. In any case, if not for man's depravity it would be reasonable to state that he would not be in need of redemption. Reason suggests that man, on the whole, is quite depraved, however. The truth is that reason is a quality of God and, like many of His qualities, we choose to serve it as opposed to the One who possesses it. Thus was Jefferson correct that we should serve a God of reason over fear but, more importantly, we trust that the unreasonable kindness of God in the face of our depravity is what leads us to salvation."

Regardless of what you think of our government now though, the promise that is to come is much better if you are His child! Isaiah 9:6-7 declares:

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing it and upholding it in justice and righteousness from that time on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this."

Chasing justice

Today, I had to chase down a spray painting juvenile who decided to run through the parking long of my school. As I was running after the guy, I couldn't stop thinking of how surreal the situation was. I'm on my phone with the police dispatcher zeroing the cops in on the guy I'm tailing and he won't stop even though he knows he's going to be caught. Thankfully, I could tell by the way he acted that he wasn't yet hardened in his ways.


Regardless, my duty as a Christian at that moment was to bring a boy to justice and I realized, even as I wanted to share the Gospel of mercy with him in some fashion, that God glorifies Himself in two main ways: Through his justice and through his mercy. My job at that time was to bring about the justice of God through the position of authority he had give to me as a high school security guard. It pleases God when justice is upheld.

People tend to ignore the justice of God as a means of His glory, it seems. They want to see "God as love" as opposed to the God who, in delivering His love, also took out His wrath on His Son who stood in our place. That is how Christ glorified Himself and redeemed us. Yet, without justice, there can be no deliverance. The wicked go free and are glorified while the righteous wither away and die.

Philisophical testimony.

I have not found myself publicly blogging for over a month. This bothers me a bit but I have accepted that the Lord is simply encouraging me to bide my time and be content with the simply life He has given to me. I am writing today because I recently made a new friend who has really got my mental juices flowing.

He wrote an intriguing comment to me:

" I do not believe that we are created in god's image. I believe that god is created in our image...more precisely our deeply embedded need to deal with the "darkness outside our cave", our need to have answers to what comes after death...our fear that this is all there is and death is just that...the end. Humankind has always had a problem with The End.

For me, when I hear people say that have "faith" in this god or that goddess, I hear them really saying they have "need". A need to know the transcendent...a need for an answer that works for them, that comforts them, that allows them to get through Life, that Answers the fearful "darkness outside the cave".

Pleased with his question and my response on a generic level, I desired to immortalize the spirit of the conversation below:

I do not turn to faith out of fear of what's to come but out of hope of what I will be made into. That's a better promise than anything this vain life can give. After all, the righteous and the unrighteous alike find their end in the grave. Death is the great equalizer of all people but if we believe in nothing after it then it is impossible to truly thrive in this life. What's the point if there is no justice? The wicked see their days prolonged while the righteous end their days in misery. The thrifty give the bounty of their labor to those who did not work for it. The peaceful of heart find their end by the sword.

In other words, no hope for an afterlife (or to see Jesus face-to-face) causes us to live like hell in this life. Without Christ, our philosophy should simply be to, "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die!"

Any comments would be appreciated!

Life sucks and then you die.

Where we come from is a mystery and to where we will go is unknown. The only certain thing is that from dust we were formed and to dust will our remains return. The sinner seeks justice from his oppressor and the righteous man dies of a broken heart. For what purpose does the one who seeks goodness work for? Assuredly, he will die just as the sinner. The lazy gambler loses his money in life just as the diligent worker loses it in death. Whether we tarry or hurry, the pursuit of wealth is foolish for what it purchases will decay away. To seek justice is a fool's errand for the grave will catch all in it's insatiable embrace. Whereas justice is never fulfilled, the grave is never filled. Regardless of the goodness we seek in life, at death we bequeath all things to those who did not earn them. The meaningless nature of this life is found in death.

You ask, "but what of justice? Is it not good that we seek it while we live?" Foolishness! Have you failed to examine your own heart? A man cannot live up to even the standards he strives for! We are marked by failure and deserve judgment at every step. We miss the mark of living up to God's law and prove the impossibility of living up to the law of man. Even as a law unto ourselves we are riddled with imperfection. We hate the people who murder in hatred and put them to death in our very hearts. We despise the jealous and the proud and drop the anchor of haughtiness deeply in the harbors of our souls. The secret places drip with venom and stink with the rot of death even as we polish the facade that we present to the world. We are white-washed tombs that look beautiful on the outside and contain nothing on the inside but decaying bones.

You want to judge but are already judged! Judgment brings no hope. The world knows this to be true which is why many rally around the banner of hating those who judge. Do you not see? Even in avoiding judgment we make ourselves arbiters of those who judge! If we could avoid judgment there is still no hope, for existence is joyless when wickedness goes unpunished. This is the crux of the problem we face as humans. With judgment no man escapes the murder in his own heart and without justice the murderer goes free.

Can this possibly be the end of the story for us? What is our purpose in this life and universe if all paths lead to hopelessness and death? There is only one answer and it must be found in the life, death, resurrection and ascension of the king of all creation, Jesus Christ, who came to save all men from their sins! He is the "man of sorrows" who took the corrupted mortality of this life upon Himself to be with us. He walked in life among those who were dead to Him to serve their needs and take away their distresses. He came not to judge us according to our evil ways, but to be judged though His ways were pure and faultless. Open your eyes, sinner! The judgment you deserve has fallen upon the Savior of mankind! Seek out His forgiveness! In this way only can perfect justice be established for eternity. Judgment is passed, justice prevails, and mercy and grace reign in Him who is merciful and just to forgive. All who put their trust in Him will by no means be put to shame. Death has been swallowed up in life!

The Green Mile movie review and various other thoughts

It was a brutal day at work today. I was on shift doing my rounds as security guard at Escondido Charter High School and was stuck outside for most of the day. The temperature winded its way on up to 96 degrees F. Thankfully, a friend and coworker pointed out to me that the weather report said it only felt like it was 91! What great news! The slight breeze that the weather report must have been citing for its "chill factor" made it feel like I was not only in a furnace, but in a blow dryer as well. Another coworker tried to cheer me up by offering to have his students fry eggs on the cars in the parking lot. I believe an ice cold beer would have made a better offering.

After driving home in a pool of my own sweat I managed to slide out of my car and crawl to the front door; the only evidence of my arrival being a cloud of dust that erupted from my parched throat when I coughed out the frog that would not stop croaking every time I tried to speak. I recovered only by the liberal application of cool libations to my crusted body and a long nap finally interrupted by the cruel ringing of my cell phone at around 7:00 pm mountain standard time. I am unable to recall who rang but will hopefully have my phone repaired soon so that I may check.


Unwilling to go back to sleep, I turned the telly on and saw that one of my all time favorite movies was playing on FX. I was surprised by that because, generally speaking, I think the station should change its initials to ZZ(zzzzz). Anything else on that station and I would have been sawing logs all over again.

The rush of static and zinging noise that brings a CRT to life opened onto one of the most intense segments of "The Green Mile." The miracle worker and falsely accused killer, John Coffey, was in prison with William "Wild Bill" Wharton (a singularly evil being); Percy Wetmore, the belittling and depraved keeper, was on the prowl for easy blood; the simple and repentant Cajun, Eduard Delacroix, was keeping to his pet mouse and was soon to "ride the lighting"; Paul Edgecomb, the warden, was working to hold together a system of justice that could be brutally wrong in its execution of justice.

Delacroix is enjoying one of his last conversations on the earth with wardens Edgecomb and Howell while his mouse is playing with the wooden spool on which thread is packaged. His last concern is the ownership and care of his mouse so Edgecomb and Howell spin a yarn about a mouse carnival in Florida where the little guy can perform tricks and be well-cared after. While gently discussing the care of Delacroix's beloved mouse, the creature runs out onto the green mile (central corridor) and is stomped under the vile boot of Percy Wetmore who states only that he knew he would get him eventually.

The anguished cry that pours from the soul of Delacroix is simple to understand: Death was looming before his eyes and the last measure of joy in his life had just been crushed. Wetmore, a man who delighted in destroying what was good had won an evil victory in ruining Delacroix's spirit. At this point, Coffey urgently beckons for Edgecomb to place the dead mouse in his hands and, for the sake of all that is good, resurrects it back to life and denies Wetmore his wicked triumph. Be forewarned that I mean to describe how I see the beauty of Christ in all of this.

The scene described is amazingly powerful because it reflects the desire of the human heart to see justice done. Yet, justice is ultimately impossible for creatures of flesh and blood. The throbbing wounds and open cuts dealt by the hand of the evildoer remain even when the perpetrator is held accountable before the law. Even when the wounds for the victim heal over there is oftentimes a deep scar. Thus, we see that the law has no ability to save and maintain life. All it does is point to the failures of those who come before it and punish them. The life giving ingredient that is missing from the law is mercy which cannot be given arbitrarily lest justice be ignored.

Nothing of flesh and blood can stand clean before the law and that is why the gift of life that Coffey gives is one of mercy and compassion. He resurrects Delecroix's mouse to show compassion towards a fellow man who was condemned under the law and about to be put to death. He resurrected hope by giving life. Did not Christ do the same thing when, in His miracles He healed the sick, gave sight to the blind and raised the dead from the grave? In this respect, Coffey is a Christ-figure in this movie.

Whereas the natural man, like Wetmore, is condemned before the law because of a desire to withhold justice and steal from others what is good, the supernatural and supremely innocent man (or man of the Spirit whom Coffey represents) is justified before the law because of a desire to restore life and love. Coffey does this willingly through his own suffering when he sucks the sickness and death out of the infirmed and pulls it into himself. He renews life, hope, love, joy and peace through his compassionate gift. Thus, in a sense, absolution is found for those whom Coffey heals when he hides their sickness within his own frame and suffers for it.

Christ does the same for those who love Him. The ability to give life is the most powerful force in the universe and when Christ takes the condemnation of those who fail the test of the law and buries it in His own body, the One who must judge that wickedness now finds no fault in the one from whom it was removed. In fact, the fault now lies with the one who holds it (Christ) and He suffered the blame.

We can see a type of the injustice of Christ's guilt when Coffey willingly suffers death by electricity. Yet, that death is only for himself, so that he might escape the pain that he holds within and the suffering that he sees "all around." How much more unjust was it that Jesus, who died willingly as well, should die a death on the cross to save us because of the pain that we suffer through? This is how God's mercy triumphs over law's judgment. Read John 17 if you wish to investigate for yourself. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%2017&version=NIV

The deep truths I am trying to convey in this writing are thus given:

1) Without grace and mercy everything we gain in this life will be lost.

"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart." Job 1:21

"...the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered; in days to come both will be forgotten. Like the fool, the wise man too must die!" Ecclesiastes 2:16

2) Death and wickedness are thieves and an offense that God has overcome.

"When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:54-57

3) God restores life and love in a state uncorrupted and beautiful.

"Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Revelation 21:3-4

Jury duty.

I will soon be going to the courthouse in Vista to find out if they can use me as a juror. Thankfully, it happens to fall during a time when I am not working so it is possible that it will be a great experience and I don't have to sacrifice any earnings I might be making from work.

The potential to be a juror has caused me to ponder the necessary causes for the justice system to deny a person as juror. The reason coming before my thoughts at this moment as I'm brain storming is moral relativism. How can one stand in judgment over another person if they themselves are not grounded in morality and truth? How can one believe in a system of morality unless it is is first given to them to believe? If we don't believe that morality has been handed down to us or comes from an outside agent, then by default we make ourselves gods and judges of men.

Years ago in 2004 as I was preparing to go on my deployment to the Persian Gulf we had what is called a "workup." It is something that naval vessels do in home waters to prepare for a scheduled deployment. Workups happen a year out and six months out from the actual embarkation date to train the crew ahead of time and hopefully avoid future troubles when out in potential enemy waters. One of the Marines I was on the carrier training with for our workup was a moral relativist. His mantra was, "strive for perfection."

Deciding to walk in his shoes and thus get a better look at how his mind worked I asked him some probing questions to see if he had actually thought about what perfection was. His answers pertained to his performance within the Marine Corps and life in general. His perfection was the standard of the Marine Corps and his own values. He wanted to maintain a perfect score of 300 for his physical fitness test and "be a good person." He couldn't really define what a "good" person was.

Having pinned him to standards of perfection I asked what he would do if he did not either achieve or maintain them. He simply said that he would "lower his standards." Isn't that what we all do? We have an ideal quality in our minds that we strive for and when we find that we cannot achieve it we bring the proverbial bar down to a more manageable level. We smooth out our path and pat ourselves on the back for a job well done because we reached a plateau that an infant could scale and not fall off of. All the while we have this weight bearing down on our backs when we realize our previous standards are leaning over our shoulder and crushing us. For the purpose of revealing our sinful motives Al Pacino says in The Devil's Advocate, "Look but don't touch; touch but don't taste; taste but don't swallow."

The rushing voice in the back of our heads that leads us to doubt and lose strength is saying to us "YOU DO NOT MEASURE UP!" What other reason could we have for our feelings of guilt and fear? Why else would we spend time wasting away in self-doubt, pity, loneliness and depression?

We have days where all seems well and we can feel happy for a time but they are like the last few hours of a waning Sunday night when we realize that we are drunk and exhausted and have to wake up early for work the next morning. Worldly happiness is a fading shadow that is a constant reminder of the sorrows that are to come. We can eat, drink and be merry, but tomorrow WE WILL DIE! There has to be something better than this!

Thus, the result of moral relativism is the establishment in our own hearts of a throne that we sit upon in judgment. We judge the world through scandalous and haughty eyes and rule unjustly from a heart that is sinking in shifting sand. We fail to live up to our standards but we are furious and demand justice for those who also fail to live up to our expectations. We hate in others what is most prominent in us. How can we judge when we are worthy of judgment? How can we be faithful stewards of the lives of men unless we can find a firm foundation and rule in the truth of justice? How may we depart from the deceit that has struck us a mortal blow from within? We are nothing but moral anarchists.

We see before us the need to judge the wickedness of others when we ourselves are wicked and deserving of judgment. However, we cannot let a child rapist or serial murderer roam the streets if it is within our power to take them away. The convicted murderer will serve his time, but what of us who rail and hate in our hearts? If the convicted murderer could not escape just punishment in this life then how can we escape judgment for the very same sins that abide within us? True justice demands an account of all iniquity that is committed in the flesh AND in the heart! We cannot escape our sins without help.

From where does our help come? Our help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth! Our help comes from our advocate who stands before the Judge in our place. Our help comes from the cross! It is the Good Helper who has healed us from all our iniquities and stains. He has clothed us in His righteousness and taken the judgment for our sins upon Himself. His name is Jesus! His name is Messiah! He is the Lord's anointed one; the Holy Lamb of God! He alone can teach us to judge with justice, mercy, grace and compassion for He abides perfectly in shiftless standards.