Christmas Music

Nothing can send me into a blind rage as quickly as Christmas music in October, but since Thanksgiving is over, now would be an agreeable time to talk about my preferences.

There is a serious lack of good Christmas music. For the most part I respect the musical choices people make. But when holiday season rolls around, any standards that are adhered to for 320 days out of the year suddenly go out the window.

This does not need to happen. Here are three suggestions to begin the holiday season while maintaning standards.

1. Bing Crosby: My wife has a nice collection of Christmas songs performed by Bing. Very classy and representative of a person with uncompromised Christmas music standards.
2. Vince Guaraldi: He wrote the music featured in A Charlie Brown Christmas, the best Christmas production of all time. Christmas trees and smooth jazz were made for each other.
3. The Trans-Siberian Orchestra: Christmas tunes with face-melting guitar licks. What more could you ask for?

Please, please, please don't listen to that lame, non-stop Christmas music radio station any more. You wouldn't listen to a non-stop stupid music radio station in July, so why now?

Battle Despondency Like Jesus

Taken from Future Grace by John Piper.

1. Choose some close friends to be with you (Matthew 26:37).
2. Open you soul to your friends (v. 38).
3. Ask for your friends to intercede and partner with you in battle (v. 39).
4. Pour out your heart to God in prayer (v. 39).
5. Rest your soul in the sovereign wisdom of God (v. 39).
6. Fix your eyes on all that God has in store for you (Hebrews 12:2).

Remember:

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
     and the light about me be night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
     the night is bright as the day,
     for darkness is as light with you.

-Psalm 139:11-12

Tree of the Week (11.25.08)

Resolution 12

Resolved, if I take delight in it as a gratification of pride, or vanity, or on any such account, immediately to throw it by.

Satisfaction in self can never be the end for a Christian. Nothing can possibly be as delightful as the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

-Philippians 2:3

Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

-1 Peter 5:5

Obama and a Three-Legged Dog

Let's hope this photo is not a manifestation of the stability of the impending Obama administration.

Read more about the photo at Animals & Politics.

Take That, Papists!

"Who does not love wine, women, and song, remains a fool his whole life long."

-Martin Luther

The Importance of Scripture As Shown by President-Elect Obama

In a 2004 interview with Cathleen Falsani, now President Elect, Barack Obama, was asked who Jesus was to him. Here is how he responded:

Jesus is an historical figure for me, and he's also a bridge between God and man, in the Christian faith, and one that I think is powerful precisely because he serves as that means of us reaching something higher.

And he's also a wonderful teacher. I think it's important for all of us, of whatever faith, to have teachers in the flesh and also teachers in history.

A couple of other interesting quotes were generated in the interview.

I'm rooted in the Christian tradition. I believe that there are many paths to the same place, and that is a belief that there is a higher power, a belief that we are connected as a people. That there are values that transcend race or culture, that move us forward, and there's an obligation for all of us individually as well as collectively to take responsibility to make those values lived.

And:

There's the belief, certainly in some quarters, that people haven't embraced Jesus Christ as their personal savior that they're going to hell.

I find it hard to believe that my God would consign four-fifths of the world to hell.

I can't imagine that my God would allow some little Hindu kid in India who never interacts with the Christian faith to somehow burn for all eternity.

That's just not part of my religious makeup.

When asked about the consequences of sin in his own life, Obama answered:

[I]f I'm true to myself and my faith that that is its own reward, when I'm not true to it, it's its own punishment.

The interview is interesting to me not because of his beliefs; they would seem to be in step with a lot of Christians in the United States. It is the reason why he thinks this way that fascinates me. When asked if he has read the Bible, he answered: "Absolutely. I read it not as regularly as I would like. These days I don't have much time for reading or reflection, period."

Christians should take heed of that. An absence of Scripture leads to a world-view shaped and molded by culture, as is the case here with President-Elect Obama. The Word of God needs to be the lens through which we view all things. Senate and Presidential campaigns are not more important than a Biblical world-view for Christians.

Tree of the Week (11.18.08)

Winter is Coming to Fargo

Here are five tell-tale signs that winter is on Fargo's doorstep:

1. The sun was shining and it was snowing at the same time today. Indiscriminate snowing is always a sign of winter. Go figure.
   
2. It is finally cold enough outside for the drunk guys in our apartment complex to go shirtless. Any warmer and it just would not be manly. Or smart.
3. The line to rent a movie takes no less than twenty minutes. There is nothing better to do in Fargo once the temperature dips below tolerable.
4. My lips are chapped.
5. I have listened to "Somewhere In My Memory" from Home Alone approximately 16,000 times.

More Than Sanctification

During the weeks leading up to it, I thought a lot about marriage as a means of sanctification. God uses a spouse to shape, grow, and refine in His truth. And while your spouse is probably the person who has the most significant impact on sanctification, the impact can be attributed also to interactions with other Christians.

But it doesn't stop there. Our interactions with our brothers and sisters are not simply to sanctify us, but also to save us. It's an easy concept, but one that carries a whole lot of weight.

But "The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord" (Psalm 37:39), right? How can our interactions with humans save us?

It all boils down to is this: God uses means to accomplish ends. For example, when Israel wallowed in idolatry the Lord was upset and gave them up. He did not perform any supernatural outright act, but rather He allowed them to be conquered and taken into captivity (2 Kings 17:7-23). Or when Philip came upon the Ethiopian eunuch. The eunuch had no idea what he was reading until Philip came along and explained. The eunuch was converted and baptized right there (Acts 8:26-40). The Lord used Philip to explain the Scripture, rather than granting the eunuch immediate understanding.

So, God uses human means to accomplish His purposes here on Earth which is a means to the end of His glory.

That is an agreeable statement when thinking about conversion. Why else would God call us to evangelism? But do we agree with that statement concerning perseverance?

We should. Paul says, "the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18). The key there is "being saved." What does that phrase mean? Our salvation is not immediate, but ongoing; perseverance is entirely as important as conversion. This heightens the importance of proper interactions with other believers.

Perseverance is hard for depraved humans. God knows that. And often His answer is human means.

This is why we must foster correct fellowship within our churches and Christian circles. Our conversation cannot be limited to the weather and the football game. It must be Gospel-saturated. Keeping the Gospel central will ensure that our brothers and sisters are persevering. "The word of the cross" is the "power of God" for those of "us who are being saved." Often times we back-burner the Gospel and need a brother or sister to put it back in front of our face. Those are the human means contributing to our ongoing salvation.

God has these means planned out and in place to accomplish His purposes to the end of His glory, but we must strive to persevere. We must strive to keep the Gospel central in our dealings with other Christians. I would contend that our interactions with brothers and sisters in Christ are equally as important to our interactions with unbelievers.

Now, I am not saying that salvation can be lost. If God so desires us to persevere, He will provide the means. And if a so-called Christian does not persevere, He was a false convert to begin with.

The emphasis rests on the fact that perseverance is not governed by some magical formula that carries us to the end once we are converted, but rather on the centrality of the Gospel in our lives which is often spurred by our interactions with our Christian brothers and sisters. We must be attentive to the Spirit and do what He prompts us to by reading Scripture and seeking the Lord in prayer. Then we must pass it on to those around us.

Therefore, in conclusion, strive to persevere in your own life and strive to help others persevere in their lives. God has given us weighty tasks. We need His strength and guidance to perform them. And we will give Him the glory.

Abort73

Since a few of my recent posts have focused on abortion, here is an excellent resource in the fight against the biggest injustice in the United States: Abort73.

Also check out Randy Alcorn's blog, which I quoted in an earlier post, Eternal Perspectives.

Tree of the Week (11.11.08)