Blurry Lines

One of the aspects of today’s society is we live in a time where technology blurs the line between fiction and reality.  That statement will make little sense to anyone over 50 years of age.  But it is true.  Consider this report from The Guardian. “Recent research by the Japanese government showed that about 30% of single women and 15% of single men aged between 20 and 29 admitted to having fallen in love with a meme or character in a game – higher than the 24% of those women and 11% of men who admitted to falling in love with a pop star or actor.”  There is even a slang term used to describe such a person, they are called a “moe”.  It that doesn’t clearly indicate a blur between fiction and reality, I can’t decide what else could. 

Another aspect is that the 20-somethings have a language barrier with the 60 somethings.  None of the phrases that each use are completely understandable in their importance and intention.  Again, this is largely a part of the role of technology in the lives of each.  Technology is heavily used by the 20 somethings and moderately at best used by the 60 somethings.  A friend of mine who is a pilot for United said that this is such a problem between older and younger pilots in the cockpit that they have mandatory classes that discuss it so each can recognize the differences.  “It is important to have good communication when you’re traveling 400 miles/hour” he said.

To further blur the line, Virtual Reality (VR) enters into our society.  VR headsets and capability have enormous applications.  VR can be made so real that a professor or surgeon can provide an in-depth lesson or surgery demonstration to anyone who will put on the headset and watch.  It is as if you are sitting in a small classroom or in the operating room watching the work very closely.  My youngest son showed me how my phone will take a picture of a room and make it VR compatible.  After taking the picture, I can put on the headset and then look around the room as if I was standing in it.  This has enormous benefits for engineering field work.  I’m an engineer, I like technology.  I see many uses for VR that are powerful.  With the right camera on an astronaut in space, an engineer on earth could see what he sees as it really is and instruct him how to repair whatever is broken.  That’s powerful use of technology.  But like all technology there is also the other side.  There is an article by economist Patrick Wilson where he was at a convention for new technology and the most realistic VR experience was the adult entertainment industry.  He commented that the VR can be so intense as reality that it confuses fiction and the actual reality. 

That said regarding new technology, there are a lot of people living in un-reality from watching TV.  Every day, there are many people that sit and listen to some news media source that spews their opinion of reality.  This means there are a lot of people walking around with false realities based on a news company’s opinion.  These media outputs are very intentional about blurring the line of what is really the news and what they want you to believe is the news.

As Christians we must always be aware of what confusion represents in our society and to the Word of God.  There always exist an effort to confuse the Word of God as not reality.  This always exists.  I see it every day.  The blurred lines created by technology between fiction and reality will only add to the blurred society line of whether the Word is true or not.  We should expect to hear the phrase, “That is your reality” spoken a lot. 

Where society tries to claim it’s impartial to the beliefs of everyone, the reality is it rejects Christian beliefs and makes room for anything else.  I do not believe that this intention is a blurred line at all in America today.  Christians are tolerated because the habit has been here from the beginning of the nation.  Society will continue to blur the reality of a salvation only found in Jesus with a salvation found in "your reality" until it is obscure.  We, as Christians, must be careful and intentional to keep the reality clearly in focus and know that there is only one true living God and His Son is Jesus the Christ.

Revelation - Introduction

Revelation, by its name, indicates that it is intended to reveal something.  Revelation is the other bookend to Genesis.  Therefore, it should be expected that it is a summation that wraps it all up, but it is much more than that.  In fact, Revelation seems to confuse the rest even more to the casual reader. 

J. Vernon McGee says that “this is the 66^th book of the Bible, it comes last, that means we need to know 65 other books before we get here. … We need to have a working background of all the other books.”  My Dad indicates from his research that Revelation refers to all the other 65 books.  278 of the 404 verses in Revelation refer to the Old Testament and even more are indirectly referenced.  Therefore, it is important to consider that Revelation should not be studied apart from or without reference to the other books of the Bible.  Revelation concludes all the prophecies began in other books.  It’s the station that the prophecy trains began in other books pull into. 

Revelation leads many people into the study of prophesy or eschatology.  People are drawn to mystery, complex knowledge of the unknown, or otherwise uncommon knowledge about what we can’t see or the future yet to come.  The simple truth is the book is uncommonly interesting because of its incredible symbols and picture descriptions along with the tragic disasters and horrible wars.  In a time of visual media where disasters and wars are so intensely shown in movie after movie, it is hard to believe that these were so described several millennia ago.  But what is it a reference to and how do these touch us today?

I have read that there is an interest by the non-Christian in Revelation prophecies.  It is speculated that this is because of declining church membership as a percent of population.  While the non-Christian may not want to purposely know about Jesus and the obedience associated with that knowledge, they are interested in what the possible foretold future might hold, just in case it’s actually true.  So, for the Christian, it is important to understand that some interpretations of Revelation are false.  They are non-Christian musings.  I urge any Christian to take careful attention to the authors of any writings associated with Revelation. 

That said, in my brief research, I’d say that half the books are repeats of other books.  It’s just one guy saying the same thing a different way.  Many of these books didn’t need to be written.  This can be assuring and unsettling at the same time.  Either a lot of people have all been led to the same wisdom, or the majority of schools teach the same theologies, or it’s easier for everyone to accept the interpretations of others because of the difficulty in understanding Revelation. 

Five systems of interpretation of Revelation.

1. Preterist theory: All of Revelation has been fulfilled in the past.  It had to do with local references in John’s day.  It had to do with the days of either Nero or Domitian.  
2. Historical theory: Fulfillment of Revelation is going on in history, and Revelation is the prophetic history of the church.  The events in Revelation describe a historical instance throughout history. 
3. Historical-spiritual theory: This theory is a refinement of the historical theory and was advanced by Sir William Ramsay.  It states that the two beasts are Imperial and Provincial Rome.  According to this theory, Revelation has been largely fulfilled and there are spiritual lessons for the church today.  Amillennialism, for the most part, has adopted this view.  
4. Idealist theory: The events in Revelation speak about the spiritual battle between Satan and God throughout history.  
5. Futurist theory: This theory holds that the Book of Revelation is primarily prophetic and yet future, especially from Revelation 4 on to the end of the book. This is the view of all premillennialists.

Most of the books and teaching I’ve heard come from the Futurist theory.  However, in this intentional study, I’m determined to be taught and to see for myself if possible, rather than blindly accept anything.  I believe that I will come to an understanding that crosses some of the lines and doesn't fit into a single system.  Yet, I can say immediately that I am not able to accept any theory that defeats the purpose of the book.  Anything that is intended to marginalize the writing of the book and the spiritual lesson to be learned as though they don’t apply today can’t be received.  If we allow this degradation to persist for the written Word that is accepted as from God then why have any of it?  The society of today is very intentional in its work to un-define any Christian morality and it wants to un-purpose all the words of the Bible.

Revelation is unique in many ways.  It is the only book in the New Testament that is prophetic.  While Jesus said prophetic things in the Gospels, the books were not prophetic books as a whole.  The Old Testament has 17 such prophetic books.  It promises a blessing to the one that reads it.  Rev 1:3 says, “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.”  It provides a warning to anyone who adds or subtracts from its words.  Rev 22:18-19 says, “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll.  And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.”  And it is a series of visions using symbols dealing with reality.  All of these make Revelation a special book to study.  

In addition to those unique markers, Revelation makes it clear that we are participants and objects of an unseen warfare.  While there is evidence from Daniel 10 where an angel indicates that he was obstructed from reaching Daniel and Paul wrote in Ephesians 6 that our fight is against the unseen world, Revelation amplifies this to a new stratosphere.  Revelation also indicates that God’s message exists in our physical world and in this unseen world.  His message is for all.  Finally, Revelation declares that a Christian’s eternal destiny depends upon his relationship with the winner of the conflict.  

If nothing else is gained from the study of Revelation, it must be that we look ever so more intently for the return of Jesus.  The great Christian giants of the past were not looking for Armageddon, they were looking for Jesus to return.  These great men always looked for Jesus to come with anticipation.  The second to last sentence in Revelations says, “Come, Lord Jesus.”  We are to look with expectation for the advent of Christ.  It may be that we look into the sky for the glorious return or we look into our daily lives in all its aspects for the return of Jesus, maybe it’s both.  In all ways, let us not grow weary but seek where He can take position in our lives today and tomorrow.

Revelation - Beginnings

As I start a project to read Revelation and potentially teach on it, I read the first chapter. 

First, let me just say that long ago I told myself that I would never teach on the ramblings of a madman.  I mean, John was a great guy as far as I can tell from his writings.  The book of John might be my favorite book of the Bible.  But Revelation … I considered for so long that he was isolated on the island and went a little crazy.  He had simply mixed his intense spiritual knowledge with the hallucinations of extreme physical hardships and he was writing while it happened, right?  Well, as it turns, perhaps not.  Maybe there is a reason it is included in the canon of Scripture.  However, it is important to remember that it was not until 367 AD that Athanasius first provided the 66-book compilation of Scripture we know today.  There were centuries of reading and reflection that led to its formation.  So, it is quite foolish for me or anyone to think that they can pick it up, read it, and gather the relevance of any book in the Bible.  Revelation seems to strike at this truth more than the others.  It certainly requires reflection and study, and even with that I seem to just hope I understand a portion of it.  I fully acknowledge that understanding it in its entirety is an impossibility apart from the mind of God Himself.

Another characteristic of Revelation, that becomes immediately obvious in the first chapter, are the visual descriptions that John provided in the writings.  They so often seem to reflect bizarre and impossible to visualize images. 

I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.  The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.  His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.  In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. – Rev 1:12-16

Eyes like blazing fire, feet like glowing bronze, and a sword coming out of the mouth.  Just some descriptions that are hard to capture with the imagination.  In fact, it sounds like a monster, not the Savior of the world.  This type of imagery is common in this book, so it’s important to see it for what it is and to not see it for what it is. 

My grandfather told me that when he was young, he looked up into the night sky and saw a light that didn’t go away.  It was there for several nights.  He said it looked like a burning pine knot in the sky.  So, if I asked him to write down a description of what he saw, he would have written that there was a burning pine knot in the sky that didn’t burn up and returned for several nights.  Sounds weird, doesn’t it?  Do you know what a burning pine knot looks like?  It would have been hard for anyone reading that description to realize that he saw Haley’s comet when he was young. 

Similarly, I believe it is important to tell ourselves when we read these descriptions, that he is relating to what he knows.  Today, we might have said his eyes were lasers, his feet like glowing magma, and his words pierced our heart and cut us to our reality.  Who knows how we would reflect what he saw, but I’m certain it would be written differently because we have experienced and are familiar with different physical things.  It also seems worthwhile to consider that John didn’t know how to describe what he saw.  It was too much to put into words. 

Finally, we must consider how a symbol can describe so much more than words can, but it can also be confusing as to the specificity of what it is describing.  For instance, if I write about conflict and describe it as a swastika, there is a lot that is described by the symbol.  The German aggression, World War II, it’s history and results can all be encompassed by simply using the symbol.  Someone with historical knowledge would have no trouble immediately understanding the implication.  But what about someone reading the symbol, in say, 1,500 years?  The relevancy might be hard for that person to gather.  Also, which detail about the representation of the symbol specifically is being discussed?  It requires the context of the use of the symbol and the relevancy of the symbol at the time of the writing to try to garner an understanding.  However, using the symbol provides the writer the ability to describe the Germans in a complex and long war without having to write it out.

Some people will argue that such an outlook in reading is an attempt to change the Bible.  It says what it says and it should be read as it reads.  I agree.  I just do not believe that a symbol can be simply read and understood.  There is much more than can be obtained in simple reading by recognizing all that a symbol might be relevant towards.  To simply read and believe that Jesus has a sword for tongue seems awfully short-sighted and simple-minded, and quite frankly, lazy.

With these things in mind, this long arduous journey begins.  I’m unfit for the task, unprepared in knowledge and have no time to dedicate.  There is no better time to start.

How Will They Know?

I’ve spent the last few days with a retired Sargent Major of the Army.   He is a nice guy and so engaging.  His emotion just explodes in conversation and is so full of life. 

I had originally met his son five or so years ago, while in Okinawa, and he is much the same way.  The son is probably the funniest person I have ever met.  We have stayed in contact through the years and it is good to be able to associate with them again.

Even though the Dad is so engaging, he is also very crass.  The common language is difficult to get used to as cursing is just as common as any other word.  There is also an odd morality where honesty and loyalty are respected greatly, but stories of the worst types of bars and clubs make it evident that everything else is fair game. 

The difficulty is how to be more than just another nice guy.  I know I am able to develop a friendship with him, and already have, and that I am capable of looking beyond the bad to see the good and then promote his good through encouragement and praise so that we are able to develop as partners in the work to be done.  What I don’t know is how do I extend God’s Spirit to him?  It is this very dynamic of relationships that I find the most difficult.  Do I just ask about God?  Do I ask how Japanese see eternal life?  How do I start this?  I pray the Holy Spirit will reveal the how-to and when-to.  In our conversations, he has revealed how his son’s daughter has had some severe health troubles and has spent years in hospitals.  Perhaps I can ask her name and indicate that I will pray for her.  … I don’t know.

I believe all of us experience this type of conflict.  We feel an urge to say something, but we don’t know what to say or if we know what we’d like to say we aren’t sure how to say it.  We have no training and we don’t, and won’t, do it the way of the Fire and Brimstone method of just telling everyone they are going to hell if they don’t know Jesus – even if it is true.  There just must be a more productive way that is not in direct conflict with who I am, but is a direct outflow of the Spirit within me. 

After the conversation with the Chinese Christian, it is obvious that we American Christians are not trained in this.  We need to learn to be sensitive to opportunity and ready to allow the Spirit to move, otherwise how else will the world know?

"Go and make disciples of all people, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." - Mt 28:19 

One Body of Believers

My flight to Japan was an interesting experience.  I’ve been to Japan three times before.  Previously, we had learned to buy an M fare class ticket then call and get an upgrade using air miles.  Always worked.  This time, it didn’t work.  No upgrade, but at least I had an aisle seat and wasn’t in the middle.  Aisle good, window okay, middle bad.  So, I’m sitting in my seat and awaiting the plane to fill, a young military couple with a baby in a car seat comes up and the airline has assigned each of them in a middle seat on three consecutive rows.  They, naturally, ask if any one of us in the three rows will move and allow at least one of them to sit next to the baby.  There are six people who could move, three are women, and no one budges. … sigh … I move, even though, I didn’t want to as I already felt slighted by the airline for the lack of upgrade ability even with miles to use.  Now, I’m in a middle seat and getting ready for the 14-hour flight.

The flight attendant then comes over to me and says she has an aisle seat for me, but I see she’s making a woman move from it.  I insist it’s okay, but then the woman says she’s an employee of the airline so it’s okay for her to move (she was probably flying for free).  So, I go ahead and move.

My new seat is next to a younger Chinese gentleman.  He is very friendly and talkative.  He spoke good English and it turns out he majored in English in college.  As we converse I notice he asks somewhat unusual questions.  They weren’t inappropriate, but they were more about life’s purpose and the emptiness of religious spiritual exercises that Chinese do and the downward morals of entertainment.  After some of this, I just said, “Well, you may stop talking to me, but I believe God is real and Jesus is His Son and He establishes those things and any worship outside of that is worthless.”  He immediately answered with enthusiasm that he too was a Christian.  Wow.  I’ve met one Chinese person in my whole life and he was trying to witness to me.

We proceeded to have hours of conversation during the flight.  We discussed the struggles of living in the world and being Christian, how the world pulls at us to keep us away from God.  He admitted to struggling in his new marriage and I was able to offer some hard learned advice.  It just happened to be fresh on my mind since Julie and I had been asked to and gave a 20-min marriage class discussion at our church.  We also talked about each other’s cultures and learned a lot about how each of us live in our countries.

The whole experience was somewhat surreal.  Yet, it was very refreshing, somehow, to speak with a complete stranger in a foreign culture who is Christian and experiences the very same struggles with the world.  To hear how he wants to know more about God and see him read his Chinese Bible.  And it was somewhat troubling to recognize his efforts in conversation as he tried to purposely steer the topic to allow for a way speak about God to me.  Shouldn’t I be more willing to do the same to strangers and friends?

The Summons

A good friend suffering from Parkinson’s disease recently shared this song’s lyrics with me.  They are powerfully convicting.  The song is “The Summons” and was written by John Bell of the somewhat well-known Iona Community of Scotland in 1987.  A video can be seen HERE, but I did not find an official video.

The song asks direct questions as if said from God and they are convicting.  Read the questions slowly and seriously consider how you answer them.  It’s rough.

Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don't know and never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown? Will you let my name be known,
will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?

Will you leave yourself behind if I but call your name?
Will you care for cruel and kind and never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare should your life attract or scare?
Will you let me answer prayer in you and you in me?

Will you let the blinded see if I but call your name?
Will you set the prisoners free and never be the same?
Will you kiss the leper clean and do such as this unseen,
and admit to what I mean in you and you in me?

Will you love the "you" you hide if I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same?
Will you use the faith you've found to reshape the world around,
through my sight and touch and sound in you and you in me?

Lord your summons echoes true when you but call my name.
Let me turn and follow you and never be the same.
In Your company I'll go where Your love and footsteps show.
Thus I'll move and live and grow in you and you in me.

Dependency

I often work alongside a man named Butch.  He is probably 15 years older than I am.  He and his wife have been married a long time, I would estimate close to or over 40 years.  Butch is an important Construction Manager for his company and he often has to travel and live at a site for years since some of the construction projects are tens of millions of dollars (the largest I know of was over 50 million and took 5 years). 

Since we have spent more time than just on job sites, we have become friends.  Butch was telling me once how he and his wife used to fight when they were younger and how difficult it was at times.  I asked him what got them through and he said it was God and learning to accept that there are times you have to depend on each other.  He gave me the story of how he broke his back in an accident on a construction project and how humiliating it was for him because he could do nothing.  He couldn’t walk, move, bathe, or, and I hate to say it but I think it’s worth saying, wipe his own bottom.  He said as much as he didn’t want his wife to have to care for him for the trouble it’d be for her, he had to depend on her for everything.  And it was through those hard times that each had experienced, that they learned how much each of them loved the other.

When any of us are born, we are completely dependent upon others.  As we grow, we become more dependent and more dependent, so much so that we are able to care for newborns who are completely dependent.  However, in the truest sense of dependency, our lives are totally dependent upon God for its existence.  We are dependent upon a Creator for being alive.  We are dependent upon Savior to stay alive.  It is God before our beginning and it is God through and after our physical end.  The best life is the one dependent upon God for that “dash” in between those two dates.

We are dependent beings no matter how much we want to believe otherwise.  Why not depend upon a God that knows us so intimately that He knows the number of hairs on our head?  Why not depend upon a God that loves us so intently that He would offer Himself as the perfect way to find Him and life?  Such acceptance requires brokenness and humility in much the same way as Butch experienced and much as we all will likely experience if we are blessed.  How contradictory it is to say such a thing (blessed in hardship) to the wisdom of the world!  But the lesson in learning to be dependent and accept it with overwhelming thankfulness and even joy is too great to pass.  As is any lesson we are willing to learn from our heavenly Rabbi.

Jesus said “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 18:3)  Am I willing to realize and accept that I am completely dependent upon Him for all things today, as a child is to his parents?  Will I be thankful for being dependent?  In most my most intent fight, am I thankful that I am dependent upon Him in the fight?  It is such a hard concept to accept.  I pray that I will learn well and the Lord has patience with me.