Mark Roberts on Psalm 149:

Psalm 149:6 is one of many verses in the Psalms that can, at first, startle or even shock us. The psalm begins with a call to praise the Lord and sing to him a new song (149:1). Israel is to rejoice in God and praise him with dancing and music (149:2-3). Why? Because the Lord "delights in his people" and "crowns the humble with victory" (149:4). So God's people are to praise him, even "as they lie on their beds" (149:5).

But then we read: "Let the praises of God be in their mouths, and a sharp sword in their hands" (149:6). This sword is given to God's people so that they might "execute the judgment written against" the nations and their leaders (149:7-9). How are we to understand this unexpected juxtaposition of praise and the sword?

Mark Roberts on Ephesians 1:

Did you catch that? I said God's strength is mighty strong. God's power exceeds our ability to grasp it, not to mention find words to represent it.

The sooner we can come to grips with our essential inadequacy, the better off I think we will all be. It seems like there are two responses to something as un-understandable as God, bend the knee or aggressive fear.

In an age when we work so hard to develop "self-image" aggressive fear seems to be the common response. What I am talking about here is the response that says, "You cannot be that much smarter than me, you're just being an officious jerk, stop bullying me an go away." In the end that is just a refusal to believe.

But when we actually grasp that God is, well, God, then we must bend the knee. We may not understand what's happening or what He is trying to tell us, but because we know He IS that smart and He has a viewpoint we cannot hope to obtain, it is entirely reasonable to go along with the plan.

It is sheer hubris that makes us doubt Christianity based on the "mysteries" - they should simply drive us to subject ourselves to the One so obviously smarter.

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Justin Taylor summarizes Carl Trueman on Luther:

1. Luther saw church leadership as primarily marked by servanthood.
2. Luther understood worship as rooted in repentance.
3. Luther did not care for the myth of cultural influence nor for the prerequisite cultural swagger necessary to catch the attention of the great and good.
4. Luther saw suffering as a mark of the true church.
5. Luther was pastorally sensitive to the cherished practices of older Christians.
6. Luther did not agree to differ on matters of importance and thus to make them into practical trivia.
7. Luther saw the existence of the ordained ministry as a mark of the church.
8. Luther saw the problem of a leadership accountable only to itself
9. Luther thought very little of his own literary contribution to Christianity.

Let's sum that up in two words - humility and service. What a different essential message that is from the self-help, be a better you message that is heard fromthe pulpit so often these days. But it leaves a burning question in my mind - is where we are an inevitable result of the Reformation?

I don't think so - Luther's concern for accountability would provide for this to NOT have happened. Is it an inevitable result of democratization? Again, probably not.

It is; however, an inevitable result of sin. Sins visited The Church and hence the Reformation. Sin visit the church and hence we are here. And so we come full circle - confession, humility, service - that's where we need to go.

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Mark Roberts:

If you were living in Ephesus in the first century A.D., the word "mystery" or the plural "mysteries" would have had a different and distinctive connotation. You would have thought of the mystery religions, sometimes called simply the "mysteries." These were religious organizations that were based around certain secret beliefs and practices. Only someone initiated into the mysteries would be privy to some hidden source of salvation. In many cases, one could only be initiated into a mystery religion by paying a significant amount of money. Thus, most people were simply left out, forever unaware of the life-changing truth and experience of the mysteries.

[...]

Why did the Christians steward their "mystery" so differently than the pagans? Because they were following the example (and command) of God. God "made known the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure" (1:9). God delighted in revealing himself and his purposes for the world. Thus, whereas for pagans, the essence of their mysteries was hiddenness, for Christians, the mysteries were to be shared with all, to the ends of the earth.

I am consistently struck by just how much Jesus turned the typical model for religion on its head. Jesus did not demand sacrifice - He was the sacrifice! Thus to demand money to access the "mystery" would be completely antithetical to the very heart of the gospel.

You know it's funny, we are so willing to talk about grace when it comes to sin, but we are equally willing to be very demanding when fundraising. All sorts of talk about expectations and rewards.

God intends us to give out of gratitude and not as a part of any formula wherein our sacrifice is "returned sevenfold" or any other such nonsense. Somehow I cannot help but think that if we concentrated on producing mature Christians the money thing would take care of itself. Isn't that really the message Christ gives to us individually?

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Justin Taylor looks at a Tim Keller book on "What the Puritans Can Teach Us about Counseling". It is a good post, but two thought ran through my mind. One, why are we struck a bit dumb by the idea of reading the Puritans and two, why counseling.

As to the first question, I cannot help but reflect onthe concept of fashion as it applies to faith. The Puritans are viewed as too stiff and uptight to have much to offer and yet, their tradition is rich and thorough. They are simply out of fashion. There is something wrong in Christianity when fashion has that much say. Why an we not just look at the Puritans, or any other movement dispassionately and rationally and extract the good and discard the bad? Most movements are born of a needed correction, they simply take on a life of their own and go a bit far. In so doing the needed corrective gets lost in the wash. That's a crying shame.

Which brings me to the second question. Counseling is one of those areas that antithetical to the put your head down and work hard ethic of the Puritans. It seems there is an effort to say that the Puritans were not antithetical to counseling. It is obvious they were not antithetical to caring for one's emotional life, but counseling is a different matter. Puritans were also a tight knit community and much of that care for emotional life came in the context of that community and not "professionals" like counselors. Seems to me that THAT might be the idea to take away.

Better relationships, not better professionals.

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EVOLUTION OF AN ICONIC IMAGE

First there was the Ed Benes Justice League cover that EVERYBODY loved
Then came the statue that was truly remarkable

And now everybody is doing it like this Phil Jimenez Cover of a JLA/Transformers crossover

And when DC decided to reboot its entire line with "The New 52,"  look what the JLA looks like


Comics turn out too much material for there not to be some "copying" going on, but sometimes it is interesting to trace it a bit.

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Jeff Dunn @ iMonk with a lament I know well:

I have been in church, involved in church, serving the church, working for the church, sweeping up after the church for going on 40 years now. I’ve been in the back-room meetings that dictate what happens on the stage. I’ve been in meetings that discuss how to market the product we were selling (the Sunday service) to attract more customers (tithing members).

 I have worked with numerous motivational speakers who call themselves pastors, but who do all in their power to avoid ever having to even brush up against a sheep. I have seen lighting schemes in sanctuaries that put some Broadway theaters to shame. Video cameras TV stations would love to be able to afford. I’ve even known churches to rent those hideous spotlights that rotate on the night sky like the Bat Signal.

I go to a church that, for the most part, avoids being a full-blown circus. But even there I’m tired of singing the same emotionally-soaked songs week after week. I don’t need to watch movie clips during the sermon. And I really don’t need a comedian using the pulpit to try out his stand-up routine. Yet still I go—at least, most Sundays.

Why? Why do I keep going? I know that my salvation does not depend on my attendance record at church. I didn’t use to know this, but I do now. And to own the truth about this, most Sundays I’d rather sleep in, or go take a walk, or read—anything but go to church yet again. After 40 years, I don’t think I’m going to see or hear anything new.

Dunn looks at 2 Sam 21:15,16 and concludes:

This is where my church comes in. These are people who know me, know my faults and failures, see me as I really am and still accept me. They are there to stand with me, encourage me, fight with me. They are not afraid to tell me when I’m doing something in a wrong or hurtful manner. Their encouragement at times is hard to swallow, just like medicine that could save my life, but they give their encouragement still.

I need my church. And, somehow, I believe they need me. Me, as I am, with all of my failures, all of my warts, all of my scars. I’m not as strong as I think I am. I cannot do this faith thing alone. I wasn’t meant to. And yet that is my temptation these days. Just let me have my books and blog sites and fellowship occasionally over lunch or coffee and I’ll be fine. But Abishai sees right through me to my exhaustion, pushes me aside and kills the giant that would have killed me. I don’t always like that. I still like to see myself as a giant-killer, but life has taken its toll on me, and I really do need others to help me.

I agree, but I would add one caveat - there is a time to leave. It's rare, but it exists. When the church does not want to get better. Every church in some sense of caldron of dysfunction. So long as the church sees the dysfunction and attempts, even if failing in the attempt, to overcome it, the church is as healthy as things can get. Watch out for the church the revels in its dysfunction.

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Chaplain Mike @ iMonk looks at "Summarizing the Gospel (in 7 words)." I have one question -

WHY!?!?!?

Christ did not come to "bring a message," Christ came to change us and in doing so change the world. The good news is not words, it is lives. Yes, we need to struggle to understand both what God is doing in our lives and what more He wants to do with them, but that understanding is not the point - our lives are the point.

What God does with our lives is both highly complex and individualistic, and many parts of it are simply unknowable. Can such a thing be summarized?

What's more, true devotion consists of so much more than just understanding. Like "wax on, wax off" of Karate Kid fame, one gains things through practice, not knowledge.

Why do we struggle to make the complex simple when we should be empowering people to deal with the complex?

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