Comforting Fictions

The human heart is desperately sinful. And one of the implications of that truth is that each of us comes fully equipped with a magnificent capacity for self-deception, believing what we wish were true rather than what is. Consider the following comforting fictions, which sooner or later will be revealed for what they are:

• The United States can borrow more money than any nation ever has, while promising benefits to future generations of Americans that will require more than the sum total of world GDP to satisfy. Yet the US will never go bankrupt, nor will anyone get left holding the bag when it all finally collapses.
• An Iranian nuke will not be a problem, even though their current President believes that the coming of the 12th Imam (The Mahdi) necessitates world war and Iran is currently the world's leading terrorism sponsor. 
• Illegal immigration can continue unabated with no ill effects on our nation's existing poor and their ability to find and keep jobs. 
• Homosexual marriage will not be devastating socially, nor will it be a Trojan horse for those wishing to drive the Church and its teachings from the public square. 
• Scaling back American defense spending won't ever lead to instability and an increase in warfare. Nor will cutting back aid to Israel, Taiwan, and South Korea. 
• Negotiations and, failing that, economic sanctions always serve to contain rogue states. 
• The rising number of Muslims in Sweden, France, Holland, and England, will never lead to Islamic revolutions in those countries. 

Comforting fictions, all. Without a change in direction, all of these things will one day lead to disaster in one form or another. Yet it is not only in the realms of politics and foreign relations that pretty lies are hawked as truth. We all also tell pretty lies to ourselves in our spiritual lives. Consider these:

• "No one will ever know." Yet God will, and you will. And the Holy Spirit within in you will fill your heart with guilt until you repent. Moreover, it's still true that "truth will out," and even the secret things have a way of becoming public. 
• "Everybody sins." This is true, but too often this is not a recognition of what the Bible says, but an excuse for my behavior of which I'm unwilling to really repent.
• "You're young. I thought that back when I was young too." This is insidious, because while there really are passions and ideas we mature out of as we grow in the faith, it's also true that sometimes our supposed "maturity" is really spiritual coldness masquerading as such.
• "I can do this, and it won't hurt me." This is the driving idea behind prayerlessness, absence of Bible reading, refusal to attend church, and similar ideas. We do them and wonder why our spiritual life soon is as dry as the Sahara.
• "I'm the exception." I hear this one expressed, usually implicitly, but sometimes explicitly by people in premarital counseling all the time as professing Christian men and women try to explain why they are okay with living and sleeping with their affianced. Yet it is a lie. God is not mocked, his commands are given for our good and His glory, and ignored to our destruction. 

I'm sure there are more. Maybe some of you can supply some others. But the point is not to simply recognize the lies we tell ourselves, but having seen them, to flee and live in the truth. What pretty lies are you living under?

Fear Not

This video really hits home. As a pastor, I spend far too much time worrying what people think and too little worrying what God thinks, too much time worrying that my sermons are not good and not enough worrying whether they are of God. What about you? Do you fear the right things?

Shooting with the boys

Since I was on such a roll with Sara, I decided to take the boys shooting on Monday. It was holiday, it was warm for January, the club I recently joined is minutes from my house, and the boys have been begging to go, so I was all out of excuses (Not that they exactly had to twist my arm). So we loaded up two BB guns and my new .22 rifle, my target stand, ammo, enough BBs to keep Red Ryder supplied for 3 years, earplugs, eye protection, a stack of targets, plus the necessities-three bottles of pop and two theater size boxes of Swedish fish. It wasn't quite as much stuff as the Special Forces took to get bin Laden, but we were close.

That gathered, we shot till I ran through 2 boxes of .22 shells and we ran both BB guns dry. They had a blast. We stuck some old 12 gauge hulls through the holes in the target boards set up at 25 yards, and Nate actually hit one of those nickel sized target with my .22, though I'm still not sure how that happened, since we won't be nicknaming him "Deadeye" any time soon. Then it was time to shoot the now-empty pop bottles, which they throughly enjoyed shredding. Hollow point bullets, even in a .22, really do a number on whatever they hit. So of course we had to take pictures and bring the bottles home to Mom to show off.

Total cost of the day? I think I'm out roughly 20 bucks including ammo, targets, and food. But the memory? Priceless. And giving the boys something they can always enjoy doing with their daddy? Beyond measure.

A hunting we will go...

So my eldest and I went hunting for the first time this past Sunday. I had been waiting for the complete end of deer season so that I would not spoil my hunting partner's chances at a last-minute deer. Also, I didn't think there was any great hurry since the place seems to have a squirrel in virtually every other tree during deer season.

Alas, such was not the case the day we went. I think it may have had something to do with the fact that we went out mid-afternoon rather than either at sunrise (my preferred time) or sunset (which can also be good). I was hopeful that Sara's first squirrel would fall, but we actually did. not. see. a. single. one. Which was kind of sad and disappointing. I consoled her with the thought that "sometimes you get 'em and sometimes you talk your shotgun for a walk." Which is what we wound up doing. I think I can talk her into going with again, but we should definitely go in the morning next time. Still, I think if nothing else, she and I got time alone to just talk and be together (a rare thing in a house with three siblings), and we got to be in the woods together (and collect my trail camera, by which this photo-among others-was taken).

Scenes from a deer stand

My dear wife Karen loves me deeply and so she encourages me in my passion for hunting. For Christmas, she gave me a Wildlife Innovations trail camera, which I promptly installed at a large scrape about 10 yards from my favorite tree stand. Here's a few of my favorite pics I've gotten so far:

What I'm Reading...

I believe it was Erasmus who said, "When I get a little money, I buy books. If I have some left over, I buy food and clothing." Apart from the occasional firearms purchase, I can fully relate to that brother. I dearly love books and never seem to have enough time to read. And as is typical, I've got several going at the same time. Here's what on the stack and newly added to the Kindle that I'm chomping through:

• The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. I'm 2/3 of the way through Mockingjay, the last book in the series. It's pretty dark, taking place in a dystopian future, but as someone who doesn't read much fiction, I'm enjoying the author's exploration of warfare, morality, freedom and government through its pages. Also it's a ripping good tale!
• Don't Call It A Comeback by Kevin DeYoung, Colin Smith and friends. Offers Reformation influenced theology in modern, accessible language. Great stuff for high school and college students.
• Christ-Centered Preaching by Bryan Chapell. I finished this some time ago, but as I'm leading the Elders at our church through a discussion on preaching this weekend, it was worth picking up again for a review of the first couple chapters. This is a very practical book, not only for those seeking to develop their preaching gift, but for those of us who are trying to preach Christ from all the Scriptures.
• Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders. This is my 4th or 5th trip through this little book, but I keep coming back to it every time I need to meet with men who want to be leaders. This book, probably more than any other I've read, comes closest to describing what it means to actually live and embody the qualities of spiritual leadership.
• The NIV Application Commentary: Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephenaih. I'm currently preaching a series on Habakkuk. This is what I'm using to make sure what I think and say is in line with what the text actually means. Good stuff that's not overly technical, written so that well-informed laymen can get their arms around it.
• Geneis in Space and Time by Francis Schaeffer. Not started yet, but I was taught, once upon a time, by one of Schaeffer's students and this book greatly influenced his thinking on some things, so I'm looking forward to it. Summer is coming, so perhaps then.
• The Genesis Flood by John C. Whitcomb and Henry Morris and The Genesis Record by Henry Morris. I'm a historic creationist. That is, I believe in an old earth, prepared for a young humanity in six literal days at a point in time less than 30,000 years ago. But these books were given to me by a dear brother who is a young earth creationist. I intend to read them, as they seem to be the most comprehensive of the young earth books out there. Perhaps I will change my mind. Perhaps not, but it's always healthy to read others' best arguments as you shape your position.
• Creation and Blessing by Allen P. Ross. I'm finishing up Genesis (chapter 25-50) this year and this should help, as it comes highly recommended by my old friend and mentor, Steve Benton.
• God with Us: Divine Condescension and the Attributes of God by K. Scott Oliphant. This is one I haven't started through yet, but is about how Jesus is the complete revelation of God and God's complete explanation of his character and relationship with us.
• The Bible Story Handbook by John H. Walton and Kim E. Walton. This is a book about how to teach kids each one of 175 Bible stories, not just as a story, but giving each story's focus, theme, application, place in the Bible, and mistakes to avoid. Since a lot of kids in Sunday School learn the Bible's stories as episodic incidents, divorced from both context and all but the most moralistic application, I'm hoping this gives me some good ideas toward a different approach I can use with my own kids and perhaps recommend reading to the Children's Ministry Team here at CBC.
• The Cross of Christ by John Stott. I've never had the opportunity to read this, but since I'm starting a new series on the Cross next week, I'm going to be reading it to sharpen my own thinking and enrich my own preaching of the Cross.

This will probably keep me busy for a few months. But then on to others, still unread. Maybe if I get a sabbatical in a few years, I can read (and write!) as much as I want to. Till then, I fit these in as I am able. Maybe there's a few of you, dear readers, who might like to chomp through one of these with me and offer me your thoughts?