The greatest opposition to what God is doing today comes from those who were on the cutting edge of what God was doing yesterday - R.T. Kendall
Archive for the 'bible' Category
This article by John Piper is an outstanding response to Rabbi Harold Kushner’s statements about the I-35W bridge collapse. Kushner’s comments regarding the omnipotence of God are pure heresy. In his not so subtle way Piper lays out a convincing rebuttal.
[tags]I-35W Bridge, John Piper, Rabbi Harold Kushner[/tags]
In working through The Power of Uniqueness I came across this quote that I wanted to share. Miller uses this C.S. Lewis quote in context to the negative ways that we can use our giftedness.
The only way I can make real to myself what theology teaches about the heinousness of sin is to remember that every sin is the distortion of an energy breathed into us - an energy which, if not thus distorted would have blossomed into one of those holy acts whereof “God did it” and “I did it” are both true descriptions. We poison the wine as he decants it into us; murder a melody he would play with us as the Instrument. We caricature the self-portrait he would paint. Hence, all sin - whatever else it is - is sacrilege.
[tags]C.S. Lewis[/tags]
A couple of days ago I blogged about interracial marriage. After reading my link, a good friend of mine sent me this resource from John Piper on interracial marriage. To be honest, I have never given much thought to interracial marriage. That said, I have enjoyed my study on it in the last few days and this sermon has been a great resource for me.
John Piper - Racial Harmony and Interracial Marriage
[tags]John Piper, Interracial Marriage[/tags]
Rob has been on a role sending me this Russell D. Moore article on interracial marriage that I believe is right to the point. It speaks to to a new theology being a touted by the Emergent Village.
On Friday, guest-hosting the Albert Mohler Program, I was able to have a conversation with Tony Jones, the national coordinator of Emergent Village. In defending his postmodernist vision of Christianity (truth is fluid; inerrancy is passe, and so forth), Tony argued that I actually was closer to his position than I realize, precisely because of my stance on interracial marriage.
On the previous Wednesday’s “Ask Anything Wednesday” show, a caller had asked about interracial marriage. I told the caller that the Scripture nowhere forbids interracial marriage, that the distinctions to worry about should be of the Spirit not the skin-color. Tony, rightly, observed that my great-grandfather would not have said that. My stance on interracial marriage ought to demonstrate to me, he argued, that truth is not “Platonically floating around somewhere” but is instead changing and growing.
Continue reading ‘Interracial Marriage and Emergent Truth’
Countercultural Icon
From Breakpoint
A Tribute to Charlton Heston
April 10, 2008
In modern America, film and television are powerful shapers of culture. They provide shared experiences; they influence the way people think about the world around them.
They can even help establish powerful cultural traditions. Especially before the age of movie rentals and DVDs, there were a few things you could always count on happening every year: that is, families gathering around the TV to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas or It’s a Wonderful Life or The Wizard of Oz.
But for my money, the greatest TV tradition took place at Easter: sitting down to watch Charlton Heston play Moses in The Ten Commandments and the title role in Ben Hur. The excellent production values and storytelling of these films, and in particular the powerful, dignified acting of Heston, brought the Bible and its characters into homes everywhere, many of which might have had no other experience with or knowledge of Christianity.
So, I am sure that when many heard of Heston’s death, they felt a part of their own lives had passed along as well. He was, as many have written, a cultural icon.
And if you had to pick a cultural icon worthy of the status, you could not do much better than Charlton Heston. If you have been reading the tributes, you have seen why: Married to his wife, Lydia, for 64 years, a beloved father and grandfather, a staunch supporter of civil rights who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and stood nearby as King delivered the immortal “I Have a Dream” speech.
Yet there are those who deride Heston for the causes that he devoted himself to later in his life, such as Second Amendment rights and protecting kids from an increasingly coarse culture. I think these people are missing something. It is not the man who goes easily along with the prevailing winds of the culture who most deserves our respect and admiration. It is the man who stands up for his beliefs, against the popular trends of the day—even when he has something to lose.
If Charlton Heston had not been such a man, he never would have supported civil rights when he did—that was a time when much of Hollywood, and much of America, just did not care. By the same token, if he had not been such a man, he would not have stood up years later in a Time-Warner shareholders’ meeting and read aloud the complete lyrics of rapper Ice-T’s “Cop Killer” CD that Time-Warner had just released.
Later, Heston recalled, “When I read the lyrics to the waiting press corps, one of them said ‘We can’t print that.’ ‘I know,’ I replied, ‘but Time-Warner’s selling it.’ Two months later, Time-Warner terminated Ice-T’s contract.” Heston said, “I’ll never be offered another film by Warner, or get a good review from Time magazine.” But much more important to Heston than any career opportunity, was doing what he knew was right.
That is what made him such a great and rare figure. He was not content just to be celebrated as a cultural icon for playing roles like Moses, Ben-Hur, Michelangelo, and others. He was willing to risk scorn and ridicule to be a countercultural icon as well. And he was as courageous in his life as the characters he portrayed on film. May his example inspire many others to take such a stand, to help shape, heal, and transform our culture.