Archive for August, 2005

I was looking through my server logs, and I found an entry for a visit from “techtrack.gov”: but nothing I try yields any info as to what that site might be. Is it a header spoof, or are the Feds keeping an eye out on me?

In the comments for my review of Sex and the Supremacy of Christ, I quoted a portion of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (basically his "Kingdom of Heaven Manifesto") in which he says this:

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." — Matthew 5:14-16 (ESV)

In response I received the following anonymous comment: I personally believe that by ‘light’ he meant that combination of awareness and spirit now commonly known as "Self." How many people deny their Self for fear of others? When we become humble and open our Self and heart to others then we will shine.

This comment bugs me, first of all because it just doesn’t make any sense. "You are the selfs of the world"? That’s not only redundant, it’s bad grammar, too. There must be something else meant by the use of the "light" analogy, and I have an idea what it may be…

Chapter five starts off thus: "Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him." So right from the beginning, we see who his audience is in verses 14-16: he’s talking to "his disciples" (that is, his students or followers—not exclusively "the twelve," but certainly not people in general, either).

Verses 2-12 are "the Beatitudes," and while at first blush it may seem that the subjects of these verses are the "you" in 14-16, it should be noted that in every one Jesus either says "they/them/their" or "you when"—so Jesus isn’t explicitly saying his audience falls into these categories. He’s simply opening his manifesto outlining how things work differently in the Kingdom of Heaven.

From Matthew 5:17 through chapter 7, Jesus spends the rest of his time in this sermon/manifesto setting an impossibly high moral standard for the citizens of this Kingdom of Heaven. "Light" and "dark" are commonly used in the Scriptures to denote good and evil, and the fact that these moral standards succeed verses 14-16 gives weight to the idea that he’s speaking of a moral light being put on display to provide guidance to those "in the dark."

So taking all of that into account, I would venture to say that Jesus is saying something more-or-less like this: "You, as my disciples, are to be living examples of God’s righteousness in the world. Live such Godly lives among the ungodly that they will glorify your Father in Heaven because of you."

There’s something else that bugs me about this comment; namely, that it seems to be implying that it’s a bad thing to deny your "Self". In chapter 18, verses 24-26, Jesus again speaks to his disciples: "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life?" In other words, if you don’t deny your "Self," you aren’t following me. If you want to follow me, you need to deny everything else—including your very self.

Whoever you are, Mr./Ms./Mrs. Anonymous, I don’t mean to attack you; I’m merely challenging your idea. If you’d like to offer a reasoned rebuttal, please do. (I’ll even let you remain anonymous if you’d like!) Only let’s drop the "Jesus means whatever I happen to think I would like him to mean" childishness.

Look, I understand the occasional anonymous comment or remark… it’s just that lately, that’s all I’m getting. It makes it hard to respond to someone who won’t even give you a name to work with.

If you want to be silly, that’s just fine: the "F. Glomgold" comment on my Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck entry was written by David Gerstein, a friend and co-worker. That’s humorous, and I have no problem with such things. Just don’t leave it "anonymous"… please. Doing that is so boring, and it makes it seem like you’re trying to hide or something.

John Piper and Justin Taylor (Editors)

Sex isn’t primarily about procreation, partnership or pleasure. First and foremost, it’s designed to bring glory and honor to Jesus Christ.

From the very beginning John Piper and Justin Taylor make it abundantly clear that this book will blaze a trail almost completely ignored in other "Christian sex books": namely, that if "all things" are to be done to the glory of God, and sex must logically be included in "all things," a Christian must learn how sex brings glory to God, and then seek to thus glorify him.

In the first two chapters Piper lays out and expounds on two main points: "sexuality is designed by God as a way to know God in Christ more fully," and "knowing God in Christ more fully is designed as a way of guarding and guiding our sexuality." While I was immediately ready to assent to this thesis, I was blown away by Piper’s unpacking of it. I honestly felt as if the scales had fallen from my eyes: where before I would have casually agreed with the statement, now I was overwhelmed as I began to finally understand its implications.

Chapter one opens with beheadings—not what one assumes will launch a book on Christian sexuality. But Piper has a good reason, based on chapter 5 of Matthew’s gospel: "there is something far more important than to keep your eye or your hand—or your head—namely, to receive eternal life and not to perish in hell. And Jesus links it with the war that we are waging not in Iraq but in our hearts. And the issue is sexual desire and what we do with it." While most books in this genre are—at best—books where God has been invited as a guest speaker, this is a book about God. All of the authors do a fantastic job of making sure He stays at the forefront of each discussion.

As the “book form” of the Desiring God 2004 National Conference, chapters 6-9 serve as “breakout sessions” for four groups of people: single men, married men, single women and married women, respectively. Sadly, I think these chapters fail to address much of anything in a new light; readers of these chapters will find what amounts to condensed versions of Not Even a Hint Sex Is Not the Problem (Lust Is), Sex, Romance, and the Glory of God: What Every Christian Husband Needs to Know, Feminine Appeal, and Did I Kiss Marriage Goodbye? Trusting God with a Hope Deferred — books which this title’s audience are likely to have read already, and were already listed as recommended reading for the conference. But perhaps you haven’t read those books. In that case, these chapters are excellent summations of that material (and for a fraction of the price).

Other chapters cover topics such as the goodness of sex (Chapter 3), why battling lust is so difficult (Chapter 4), how Christians should approach “homosexual marriage” (Chapter 5) and how Martin Luther and the Puritans really viewed sex (Chapters 10 and 11, respectively).

This is a book I would highly recommend for the first two chapters alone! While I wasn’t crazy about the repeated efforts of the “breakout session” chapters, they served as a good refresher, and none of this content disappointed me. Therefore, I heartily recommend Sex and the Supremacy of Christ to you.

“So, whether you eat or drink, or [make love to your spouse], do all to the glory of God.” — 1 Corinthians 10:31

If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

"For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. — Romans 8:31b-39 (ESV)

I was thinking about this blog’s title today: whether it served any purpose except being silly. (FYI, not only is it a nod to my job as Disney Comics Art Director at Gemstone Publishing, it’s the second half of the mock-proverb, "The early bird catches the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.") It didn’t take me long to realize why I like it so much, though, and now I’m sure I’m going to keep it.

You see, I’m that "second mouse." (Yes, I may procrastinate, but that’s not what I mean.) I’m the second mouse because Jesus was the first: he was killed so that I can forever enjoy the treasure of delighting in the presence of God. If I had stepped on that trap when it was set, it would have been the end for me. Jesus, out of love, pushed me aside and leapt for it. Jesus paid the price and I get the benefit.

He died, but he didn’t stay dead; "God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it" — Acts 2:24 (ESV).

So here I am: a good-fer-nuthin’ germ-ridden pest who’s been saved from certain doom and taken into God’s storehouse. I’m a mouse set loose in the cupboard! Who wouldn’t want this life? Who would want to choose death and decay instead?

"You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
— Psalm 16:11 (ESV)

EDIT: Brian Parra just pointed out that he recently wrote a very different take on the phrase. (FYI, and no offense to Brian, but I wouldn’t call his blog ‘family-friendly.’ Just want to throw that disclaimer up for anyone who’d prefer to know such things beforehand.)