A lonely, Joyful song that speaks to my soul

Herman Udix walks through America

Here's an issue that I've only recently identified, but which I think many problems have stemmed from. This, I think, gets to the root of alot of it. The problem is the difficulty of hermeneutics in America.

Look at it this way: The New Testament is a series of inspired letters written by people who were basically mocked, oppressed, thrown in jail, and persecuted for their faith. Paul writes some of the best books from a prison cell! These letters are written to churches in which the members are ostracized from their community and life would generally be a great deal easier if they simply renounced their faith. The members of these churches are a minority group.

Exegesis, in the strict sense, asks, "What did the text mean for the original audience?" Hermeneutics, in the strict sense, asks, "What does it mean for us?" It's where lessons and principles are brought from the specific ancient situation to bear on our current situation. Do you see the difficulty?

The reality is that our situation is radically different, in some ways the opposite of the churches Paul wrote to. In many contexts in the US, people are ostracized if they are NOT a professing Christian. I'm not sure how much I've ever suffered for my faith outside of making myself look awkward or "sounding" close-minded. It's actually quite easy to, at the least, bear the name of Christ in America.

So, what do letters to poor, suffering, minority (in worldview) churches have to do with American Christendom? I think increasingly more and more, we will be able to identify with sex-crazed Corinth, the persecuted church that Peter wrote to, and the common theme that runs through many of them of holding fast to a faith that makes you a true minority. I really think that my generation is seeing a shift to a more secular, "spiritual" America. More and more the letters will ring true as a call to hold fast under persecution, stay pure as everyone around gives themselves away, and to remain in the faith when many others abandon it for idols of all kinds.

Speechwriters LLC - CHBB

This song has been consuming my brain. It's crazy, crazy, good. Just hit play.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad

It's been awhile, but reviews are back!

Rich Dad, Poor Dad, simply put is a book about how to get out of the rat race of working, scrimping, and saving by making money through assets instead of a 9-5 job.

The secret to why the book is so popular is that it is laid out in stories and lessons, not just simply rules or ideas. As the reader walks with Kiyosaki through the experiences and ideas that formed him, he is motivated just as much as he is educated. The title comes from the two dad's he had: one, a friend's dad- a high-school dropout turned millionaire. The other is his own father, well-educated, hard-working teacher. Throughout the book he uses this distinction.

He elaborates on what the rich do with their time and money and what the poor do with the same time and money. In short, the rich invest in assets. These turn into income, which they use to buy more assets, which turns into more income, and, well... the rich get richer.

He outlines the basic overarching plan for wealth and then elaborates in detail on how this is achieved. A large part of this is growing your financial IQ along with your management and specialized skills.

Financial IQ is comprised of four areas of knowledge:

1. Accounting - keeping the books straight becomes extremely valuable as you grow.
   
2. Investing - The strategies and formulas. The "science" of making money.
   
3. Understanding Markets - Both technical (emotional factor) and fundamental (value factor)
   
4. The Law - why corporations are phenomenal, basically there are tons of ways to get around forking half of every dollar you make over to the government

Beyond that the skills that pay off in the long run are:

1. Management
   
   • Cash flow
     
   • Systems
     
   • People
   
   
2. Specialized Skills
   
   • Sales
     
   • Understanding Marketing

Grow yourself in these things says Kiyosaki, and you'll be well on your way. Much of what he says is very counter-intuitive: things like: don't specialize, a house is not an asset, and much more.

As a Christian I read this book carefully. I think it's good knowledge for anyone. I maybe would not have said this a few months ago, but I think you can make money to the glory of God. However, money is one of the most dangerous things I think we can handle. The New Testament is very clear about this. What will you do with that money? Who/what are you trusting in and living for? What are your motives for having money? These are valid questions to ask oneself while embarking down the road of investments. Rich Dad, Poor Dad might be a checkpoint on the road or maybe even a significant starting point.

How dare you?

“How dare you approach the mercy-seat of God on the basis of what kind of day you had, as if that were the basis for our entrance into the presence of the sovereign and holy God? No wonder we cannot beat the Devil. This is works theology. It has nothing to do with grace and the exclusive sufficiency of Christ. Nothing.

Do you not understand that we overcome the accuser on the ground of the blood of Christ? Nothing more, nothing less. That is how we win. It is the only way we win. This is the only ground of our acceptance before God. If you drift far from the cross, you are done. You are defeated.

We overcome the accuser of our brothers and sisters, we overcome our consciences, we overcome our bad tempers, we overcome our defeats, we overcome our lusts, we overcome our fears, we overcome our pettiness on the basis of the blood of the Lamb.”

—D.A. Carson

Francis Chan is a beep

Picture a Northwest Airlines flight flying above the clouds from New York to LA. You're the pilot.

Things are going well, the skies are clear, so you put it on autopilot. The rub comes when, after awhile, you start to get the sneaking suspicion that the plane is losing altitude. You're working on your dinner though, so you don't think much of it. When you look out the window, things look mostly good. But wait, are those clouds below you closer than they should be? Na, they couldn't be. All of a sudden, a loud alarm goes off. "BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP". As you look at the altimeter- the one that measures altitude- it tells you what, deep down, you knew all along but chose to forget. You're flying thousands of feet too low and you're in danger of hitting an ice storm.

I think this is the plight many Christians in America find themselves in. Your working life takes off and your job becomes your comfort, your friends and family are a source of happiness, our stuff becomes a source of fun, and (a big one for me) your books start to become your source of knowledge. Before you know it, your neglected spiritual life has taken a subtle but sure nosedive. God has become a concept and Christianity simply a language you speak when you're in a certain situation.

Then, this guy, Francis Chan, comes along and just spits out truths. The thing is it's not really him. He's just the messenger. He's talking about narrow paths and camels going through needles, about people being spit out. And that's when you see the low state of your spiritual condition. It hits you in the gut because it's true. Francis is simply the beep, saying, "Hey- LOOK AT YOUR LIFE!" As we glance at the "fruits/works" altimeter, we know something's not right- the plane is in a dangerous place.

You see, the plane is our heart- when it's working as it should be, works and fruit happen. The altimeter reads just fine. Notice that the altimeter, the fruits and works, though, are completely dependent on where the plane is at. When the plane starts to lose itself, the altimeter starts reading lower and lower- as our heart strays, the works and fruit dry up. If you're lucky, you've got the Chan alarm system there to let you know that the altimeter's reading low.

What happens next is the most interesting thing. This is just my experience, but I think any listeners of Francis can relate.

What if the following happened? Upon hearing the alarm, your copilot busts in the door and, rightly so, is very concerned. "We must take action!" he says and you agree. Then something curious happens. Instead of hopping in the seat to right the plane, he takes the cap off the altimeter and uses a screwdriver to turn the dial back to a "normal" setting. Though the plane heads ever lower into the storm, he sits back and breathes a sigh of relief.

As absurd as it sounds, this is what we do when we see our lack of fruit/works and we respond by trying to bear fruit and do good works. Futile. The meter will probably keep going back to the real altitude anyways, and you'll get really tired of constantly monitoring and changing it.

This is how we must understand Francis as well as the challenging words of Jesus. The challenge points to works and fruit in your life and it's convicting because we know it's true, BUT those works are only an indicator of the state of our soul. When we try to start "doing good things", we are the silly co-pilot who worries about gauges when the plane is what's in danger.

You and I must figure out some way to fly this plane that is our heart. It's not about the fruit and works; that would make it about us! It's about letting the pilot of our souls fly our plane to where he wants it. We've got to figure out this thing called the heart.

Candles, are there others?

Sometimes I feel like I'm a candle, trying to stay lit.

Sometimes I just feel like myself and those around me are alright with "American Christianity." It feels like any passion and love I have for God could just go out and no one would bat an eye. I'm certain that I could speak the language and know the bible just right and fool everyone.

As I'd continue to go to church, lead a bible study, have a quiet time, etc. those around me would smile, tell me I'm great, maybe even point to me as an example. Meanwhile, God would have no place in my life. My heart would be absolutely dead to Jesus. The small group would be a fun time, the quiet time arbitrary, the church service a cool social gathering, and accountability would be more like therapy.

Friends, books, ideas, and fun would excite me and I would let these things take real possession of my heart- my time, money, and topic of conversation would probably reflect it.

It's so easy here. It's SO easy. It's easy to focus on my job- how well/not well it's going. It's easy to focus on who I am/am-not dating. It's easy for me to study how to follow Jesus. I mean really. How much time in the last year have you dedicated to studying what to do in response to Christ and how much time have you spent actually going and doing it? It's easy for me to turn a quiet time into a positive thought for the day. It's easy to talk about church and not God. It's easy to write a blog entry on "lukewarmness". without changing anything. Meanwhile our souls shrivel.

It feels like I just get moments of sight and then I'm back in the rut headed down the path of the lukewarm again. What is the solution? Can I handle making money while living in America and escape with my soul? I'm beginning to wonder if I can.