Defending the Faith (part 1)
The headline to the December 13th issue of Newsweek is: “Religion: The Birth of Jesus
From Mary to the manger, how the Gospels mix faith and history to tell the Christmas story and make the case for Christ” I would like to take a break from our current study of contemporary Christian issues to look at this reading. I will probably address this with multiple posts, so make sure you read all of it! 
The link to the entire article is http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6653824/site/newsweek/ . I will use some quotes, but if you want the story in context here it is. I also believe it is the cover story for the Dec 13 issue. We bgein…
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Now Who Looks Foolish
I hope you caught this artice: Famous Atheist Now Believes in God.
Though the man doesn’t believe God is active in people’s daily lives, he goes from being the foremost atheist to being a deist. If you read the article you will notice that he said by studying DNA, etc., he does not believe it is possible to have goo-to-you-via-the-zoo Evolution. He said the complexity just doesn’t lend itself to happening over time and chance. Will this make an impact in our elite’s push for only Evolution in the public school, I don’t think so. The good news it that Evolution is getting blasted further and further and the truth– Creation– is still standing strong!
Snow, TV, and Mary Poppins
I have long thought that Americans in the 21st century have been harmed
by convenience more than helped. Instead of sitting around scrubbing
laundry on the tub, we have washing machines. Instead of cooking food
we have microwaves. The list goes on. Now, before you say, “This
guy’s headed to becoming Amish!” remember that I am posting this on the
Internet. 
This all brings me to the latest musings while shovelling snow. We got
some of it yesterday, and being without any mechanical manner of moving
it other than brute force, I was out there doing just that. My snow
moving musings have been everything from how my sons and I could one
day build a snow moving empire culminating in buying a big truck with a
blade to the more mundane. Yesterday, my thoughts centered on Mary
Poppins.
I’ve been reading Tozer’s thoughts on Worship and Entertainment
and had finished the work, but my thoughts haven’t left some of his
arguments. My musing began thinking that Mary Poppins was a bad movie
in disguise. I mean, think about it– you have a father that knows
nothing of his kids other than their name, a mother who does not seem
to hold a job outside the house, and yet seems to occupy her time with
getting “Votes for Women” (a noble thing, mind you, but priorities!),
and the cook and maid that don’t like the idea of taking care of the
children either.
But then, I got to thinking. Yes, the
“Votes for Women” is quite the priority issue, but the movie’s moral
also teaches the fact that the true good things in life are found in
spending time with the children, giving to those less fortunate, and
placing value where it should be. Indeed, Mary’s entire mission is to
get that family back together in a right relationship.
The
more I thought about it, the more interesting a barometer Mary Poppins
became. When we leave Mary, we leave with the thought “the father
finally got it, the family is more important.” When we leave current
remakes of the theme, such as Home Alone, we leave with “Man, it was
cool how a kid can fend off burglers despite the fact that his family
left him.” This alone shows the great difference in the entertainment
choices that we are presented with.
So, where am I going with
all of this? What have you and I accepted as entertainment that
shouldn’t dignify our time? What does the movie/tv show teach? What’s
it’s moral? Boil down that thing you are addicted to, be it soaps,
sci-fi, whatever, and is that which is left worthy of time better spent
with your family, the Word of God, etc. Can you worship God through
your watching of that thing? If the answer is no– don’t let anything
stop you from turning it off, or getting up and walking out.
Merry Holidays? (part 2)
Short post now, longer later.
Check out “A Militant Merry Christmas” for great article about taking Christmas back.
Merry Holidays?
As mentioned by bipolarfrenzy yesterday,
it is pretty frustrating that Christmas is being erased by our
society. I can remember my parents getting a “Christmas Club” account
from the local bank only a few years ago. This past year when I
decided to start one, the bank only offered a “Holiday Club” account.
To be fair, some companies must believe something about the way people
are or what will happen if they continue to recognize Christmas:
- That if they do recognize it, they will be sued, boycotted, or denounced by the ACLU, AUSCS, etc.
- That
by recognizing all the holidays they will somehow get customers that
may stay home due to the fact that they don’t celebrate Christmas.
- That
the grinches at the top of their companies that want to stay in touch
with what they believe society is doing will not be pleased.
Probably, the profit one (2) is the biggest excuse they have. There’s
nothing stopping said stores from setting up departments for the
different holidays– you know, one for Christmas, et al. Even the
Christmas displays usually emphasize Satan– I mean, Santa– and the
elves more than Christ.
I guess the question that we as
Christians have to ask ourselves is, is the change from Merry Christmas
to Happy Holidays really a bad one? Stay with me here, and think this
through.
One of the major complaints that I have heard lately
is how commercialized Christmas has become. The emphasis is more on
the gifts than The GIFT. The time is full of hectic mayhem, defined
more by how much profit is made than what is given. Just look up how
many articles are written about WalMart and its profits Black Friday
and what it did to the stock market versus how much your local church
has done for those in need in the community– or churches anywhere for
that matter.
Could the silver lining of the ignoring of the
true meaning of Christmas really help to purify the thing? Could
Christians recapture Christmas to mean Christ’s birth, and start a
trend where companies that don’t want to recognize it, but want our
money are forced to stop the way they are treating Christmas.
I’m not saying that we should give up the holiday. What I am saying is
that we have the power at our disposal to change events regardless of
stores ad campaigns or town parades. We can organize food distribution
programs. We can get groups together to go out caroling. We can
proclaim Merry Christmas from our houses and offices. I always get
this evil type grin when my company has a “Christmas luncheon” knowing
that the secularists haven’t won here yet.
If we could, each
one of us, witness, spread the word about Christ, and actually changed
people’s hearts about this thing, then society, parades and stores
would follow.
How Long is Long Enough
Hair lengths vary from person to person. As a man, I typically find that I feel a woman is more attractive or feminine if she has longer hair. Is there a biblical principle that suggests or demands long hair, or are we on our own here?
Doing a search for hair in the Bible– the first thing you find is goat’s hair! That’s followed by the hair in the levitical law– concerning leporsy. The first true instance of discussion of hair length is in Numbers.
Numbers 6:1 discusses what happens in the Nazarite vow. Either a man or woman could enter a Nazarite vow of separation. While in it, they were to let their hair grow out– not cut. When the time of separation was over, they were to shave it all off and offer it as an offering to God. Now, are we to believe that the person that was not in the vow is no longer a servant of God? Not by the way the passage refers to this person. In fact, if I remember right, Paul took a Nazarite vow upon coming to Jerusalem before he was captured. He came in with a shaved head. The most famous Nazarite was Samson, whose strength was attached to his vow. The hair was not the
issue, though it seems to be.
2 Samuel 14:26 talks about Absalom and his long hair. He shaved his head every year, and it was 200 shekels in weight. It does say that Absalom was a good looking man, hair being a part of it. We all know what happened to Absalom because of his hair and a certain tree, but that’s beside the point.
There are references in Ezra and Nehemiah about showing shame or astonishment through pulling one’s hair out. And there are other instances of shaving a head to show shame.
The next section is 1 Corinthians 11 about coverings. It talks about nature and saying that a woman’s hair
is given as a covering and is her glory and that a bald head is to a person’s shame. In fact, this passage says that if her head is not covered, it should be shaved. This poses a problem to those that say that a woman’s hair is her covering. How can you say both her head should be covered (long hair) and if it’s not covered (long hair) it should be shaved? Are both acceptable?
There is a discussion of this topic in references to the United Pentacostal’s Dress code that I found interesting.
In conclusion, I believe a man’s hair and a woman’s hair should be like their clothing– easily identifiable as to the sex of the person. I believe long hair is a glory, and particularly to women.
The Price of a Look
Last night, Virtuous Blonde and myself went out with the kids for
Chinese food. While we were being shown our seat, a girl walked toward
us that my wife said “I didn’t look past the belly button ring.”
Actually, I think the first thing that I saw was her hair, and the fact
she had a pimply face covered in makeup. The interesting thing was, I
felt sorry for her.
In all of this preparation for these journal entries and shopping for
the Mrs, I think I’ve grown some in this way. All I could think about
was being sorry for someone (guy or girl) that felt like they had to
“sell” themselves to have someone show interest.
Where went
the days when men had to compete for the virtuous woman? Where went
the days when what was prized in a lady was more than just her three
number statistics, how much skin she showed, or how loose her
reputation was. I don’t have any daughters yet, but what kind of world
and challenges am I going to have to prepare my boys? How do I get
them to value inner beauty over the blantent “sex” that’s everywhere?
I guess that’s why the Bible talks about the price of a virtuous woman being above rubies, and that she is a crown to her husband. It’s sad that they are getting increasingly rare, but shown to be more and more precious.
As for those with girls/women that are your friends and relatives–
protect them from the deceit that is worldly dress. Help them to see
the virtuous path.
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