Mezzamorphis

Another Christmas has come and gone, my 33rd here on this mortal coil. Like most people, this holiday season always brings about memories of when I was a child. Certain things stick out in my mind, things like…

… being at what was then Grandma and Grandpa Ginn’s house (now where my parents live), opening up the first Star Wars toy I can remember. It was an X-Wing, complete with stickers to simulate the moss of Dagobah. Regretted putting those stupid stickers on from the very beginning.

… what was probably my first Christmas at that house after we moved in, and we put the Christmas tree in the basement. Christmas morning I came downstairs to a Knight Rider big wheel that I rode all over the place. Something gnaws at the back of my head saying that I rode it down the stairs once, but surely I wouldn’t have been that stupid, would I?

… always having Christmas dinner (in Kansas, that means at noon) with my Dad’s family. As the years went on that family got progressively bigger and bigger, to the point where we had about 60 in one house one year.

… always having Christmas with Mom’s family the weekend before or after Christmas. This was fun because you were either getting presents early, or you had more presents to look forward to. Yes, I was a greedy little kid. Sue me.

… the clothes that I would often get from grandparents. They were very well meaning, but quite often they would pick out some phenomenally ugly stuff. Remember, this was the 80s and early 90s, so ugly takes on a whole new meaning. Occasionally they would hit a home run with one, but more often than not they would strike out and break the bat over your head.

… candlelight services at our church. It always seems like on of the most peaceful, serene times of year when the lights are out and the church is lit up only by candlelight. The most memorable was when I was 18 and Dad had some, er, difficulty blowing out the candle. I love my father, and I know he probably hates that story, but we laughed so hard that night. I’ll never forget that.

… the year we had pizza for Christmas dinner because I had sold everyone these stupid cards from Pizza Hut for a school fundraising thing. I think they were some kind of buy one, get one free thing that was unlimited. I don’t even remember what it was for, but my family dutifully ponied up for them, then proceeded to run Pizza Hut into the ground getting their free pizza. Never had that fundraiser again.

… playing pitch (a card game) or Trivial Pursuit with my mom’s family. The card games often involved accusations of cheating, mainly against my father and myself. There was also name calling, under-the-breath swearing, and out in the open swearing when someone lost. Oh, and laughter to the point of tears.

As I’ve gotten older, my memories shift from those of my extended family to those of my wife and our family. Memories like…

… our wedding. Our anniversary is December 14, and our wedding had some Christmas-ness to it, so that is always on my mind each year. And, weddings lead to honeymoons, which for us meant…

… Walt Disney World. You really can’t beat WDW at Christmastime. Collette’s dad spoiled us (ruined us, really) and paid for us to go to WDW for our honeymoon as a wedding gift. That turned into us wanting to go back constantly, and always at Christmas. The lights, the weather, and the magic were wonderful. Unfortunately, other people have discovered that as well and it’s a lot more crowded than it used to be. Still, a great place to celebrate the holidays.

… my own children. Ashlee’s first Christmas while we were living in Oklahoma. Alex’s first Christmas at the house we were renting in Kansas. Katie’s first Christmas last year, and David’s first Christmas just last week. Such great memories.

All in all, Christmas is probably the best time of year. I’m looking forward to next year already, but I’m also happy to be past the holiday season this year. I’m ready for the rest of winter, semester two of seminary, Easter, spring, storms, and summer to come back around.

This year, I’m thankful for…

…my lovely wife. As we close in on 13 years of marriage, I find that I love you more than the day we met. You’re the most beautiful woman in the world, the greatest mother, and my best friend. I can’t imagine life without you. God truly blessed me with the perfect helpmate. You allow me to do so many things, and support me in every one of them. I love you twice as much as yesterday and half as much as tomorrow.

…my beautiful daughter Ashlee. As you grow much too quickly into a young woman, it is my honor to watch you blossom. I love it when you’re silly, and love it when you’re serious. You are such a sweet and loving princess. I love that God made you so much like me. You’re my snuggle buddy.

…my awesome son Alex. You’re so funny to watch hop around when you play video games. You get more exercise in 20 minutes of Lego Star Wars than you would in an hour on a bicycle. Your sweet heart is a gift from God that I treasure and try to handle with care. Keep being awesome.

… my angel girl Katie. What do I say about you? When God made you he broke the mold, then banished the mold maker. Your fierce determination is matched only by your immovable will. I can’t wait to see what you are going to grow up to be. Every morning you greet us with a smile brighter than sunshine, then wish us goodnight with a snuggle and laugh. Even though you were unexpected, I can’t imagine life without you.

… my little David. I still feel like I barely know you. Just six months into your life, you push on through all the annoyances of being the youngest sibling. Your mom and I know the feeling and we empathize with you. You’re going to be the fair haired, blue eyed child, totally different from the others. God put a cute bow on our natural family.

… my parents. You’ve always been patient with me, letting me go my way with suggestions, but never making demands. I know you don’t get to see your grandchildren as often as you would like, and I wish that I could change that. We may disagree sometimes, but you’ve never held my opinions against me. You’re generous, loving, understanding, and the best parents a child could ever wish for. You make it easy to follow the fifth commandment. I’ll always be indebted to you for making me who I am. I’ll always love you.

… my church family. What do I say to such a wonderful group of people? Even with my mistakes, foibles, lack of confidence, and overbearing opinions, you all accept me. I’m humbled that you allow me to be a worship leader week in and week out. I’m emboldened by the work that you all do on a weekly basis. I’m so blessed to be part of a church family that truly cares for each other and the community around us, whether that community be Anna, Honduras, Ethiopia, or beyond. My family and I are supported in ways that we’ve never really experienced, and blessed because of it. This last year has been such a ride and I can’t wait to see where we go from here.

… my job. At a time when so many people are out of work, I’m blessed to have the job that I have. What makes it even better is that I’m able to thrive and grow in my position. Sure, there are the times of drudgery and fixing things that someone else broke, but overall I can’t be more pleased. Ray, you are as generous as you are kind and my family can’t thank you enough each month for my paycheck.

… my Lord and Savior. As I move forward in life, I realize that I can’t do it without the strength I get from You. I learn more about my faith through school, but I truly grow when I spend time with You. I pray that everyday I learn from my mistakes and I am able to turn those mistakes into successes for Your glory. Keep me humble, no matter my position. Keep me always looking to You. Really, just keep me. Each day is one more day closer to eternity, and I hope that I’m doing everything possible with the time I have to advance Your kingdom. I know that it can only be done through You, but You’ve given me my gifts and my ministry. I lean on you for the results.

(This was a book critique I wrote for my Systematic Theology class at LBTS. Got a 98 on it. Needless to say, I’m happy about it.)

Introduction

In God In The Wasteland, David F. Wells argues that we have transitioned “from a world in which God and his truth were accorded a central and often public place to one in which they have neither.”[1] He puts forth the idea that as society has progressed from a community-oriented, close knit culture to a more separated, technological culture that we have lost our grasp on truth. While the church has tried to change to be less offensive and more relevant to the culture, we have lost our way, wandering the wasteland searching for meaning and truth.

Wells has done a great deal of work in the area of Christ and culture, having published several books with similar themes. He is a Distinguished Senior Research Professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

Summary

Wells begins his book with an analysis of the “world” and how modernity has changed the way that faith is viewed. He makes the point that worldliness is not simply a matter of breaking rules established by the church, but an actual religious matter. The love of the world offers an alternative to the love of God, a different allegiance than what we are called to as Christians.

He follows this discussion with a look at the application of various world-oriented ideas and strategies that have been used in the church that appear to be successful on the surface, but have undermined the spiritual core of the church. Wells touches on the idea that we can market the church, the products, and the services offered by the church, but we cannot market Christ.

He devotes a chapter to a concept he calls the weightlessness of God, which means that the things of God are taken too lightly, to make them almost unimportant. This concept applies not only to the world in general, but also to the church in particular.

Wells covers a brief theology of God, pointing to the importance that we don’t lose the central tenets of the doctrine of God to the ideas that dominate modernity. He mentions that “despite all of the abundance into which evangelicalism has dipped, and despite a proliferation of ministries to suit every need…there is a hollowness within it all, an emptiness.”[2] The focus is the shifted to the doctrines of providence and the cross, to see if these doctrines have been lost in today’s evangelical culture.

The book moves to a brief look at the next generation of leaders in evangelicalism and how those leaders believe. He ends this section with three positive findings about the future leaders. First, that they take Scripture seriously; second, that they affirm theology should be central to the life of the church; and thirdly, they are dissatisfied with the state of the church, wanting more than what they are currently receiving.[3]

Wells ends the book with a chapter that lays out his solutions for the issues discussed throughout the book. He believes that two major projects need to be accomplished in the church. We must first learn to “detect worldliness and make a clear decision to be weaned from it.”[4] This is followed by the need for the church to become more serious about itself, expressing a countercultural spirituality.[5]

Critical Interaction

David Wells describes this book as the second half of a picture started in another of his books, No Place for Truth; or, Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology?[6] Wells has done a great deal of research and has written several publications centered on this topic.[7] It is obviously an area where he holds great interest and concern over. Because of Wells’ book No Place for Truth, a movement was started which declared that various things were wrong with the modern church and that only be returning God to the center of the church life would these things be repaired. [8]

The writer’s goal in this work is to return Evangelicalism to its historical context, to remove some of the changes brought about by the modern and post-modern movements. Wells does make a very convincing argument for this. When Christ is removed as the central figure in Christianity, what is left but a movement of people trying to do good things? When the theology and doctrine that has been established through the years is thrown aside in favor of more pragmatic methodologies, the church has ceased to share the Gospel and is merely serving the felt needs of a population.

Possibly one of the most damning points that Wells makes in this book is that churches have succumbed to modern and post-modern thought, but don’t even know it. Many Christians, including Christian leaders, are so entrenched in the culture that they are not aware of the effects that it might be having on them and their view of God. Wells states that there are two traits most evident to baby boomers, but this could apply to anyone born after that period as well. He says, “First, there is a hunger for religious experience…but a disenchantment with dogma or doctrine. Their characteristic abandonment of boundaries…typically results in a smorgasbord of spirituality for which the only accepted criterion of truth is the pragmatic one of what seems to work personally.”[9] The second trait is that these people are “inveterate shoppers…who have learned the needed skills of commerce – principal among which is an ability to identify the products that will satisfy their inner needs.”[10] With the current generation of Christian leaders raised in this same culture, is it any wonder that problems have arisen.

When searching for other reviews of this book, I found that the vast majority of them were positive. In fact, searching several different sites yielded almost no negative reviews. However, the positive reviews did state that some material covered in this volume was also covered in other books written by Wells, which made it a bit redundant for those who have read more than one of his books.

This book is easier to read than some other books pertaining to Christ and culture. For instance, the seminal book by H. Richard Niebuhr, Christ and Culture, is a very difficult read because of the scholarly language used. Lay leaders, amateur theologians, and even some pastors would have a difficult time working through Niebuhr’s book. However, God in the Wasteland is not written that way. While some scholarly language is used, overall it is a very easily understandable book.

One of the weaknesses of the book is probably the timing of when it was written and released. Though 1994 doesn’t seem that long ago, the resultant 15 years have seen a dramatic shift in the culture through the common use of computers and of the booming growth of the Internet. The last two or three years have seen the rise of social media, further changing the landscape of how people can be reached. This book would be well served to be updated with material that more directly reflects the changes that have happened since the original release. It is possible that this material is covered in other books written by Wells though.

While reading this, I sometimes felt that the author was falling into “good old days syndrome”, where just because things had changed, they were bad, and that it was better in previous times. However, after reading the rest of the book I feel that his perspective is classical, but measured. He has solid, Biblical reasons for the points that he makes.

Conclusion

David Wells has written a well-crafted book that takes on many of the practices of the modern church and inspires one to really understand why they do what they do. As a worship leader, it has given me the desire to research and discover more about what true worship is and how to bring that to a congregation. If something is being done wrong, God is not glorified. This book really challenges those who read it to examine themselves and their practices and see if it lines up with the Bible.

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[1] David F. Wells, God in the Wasteland (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1994), 14

[2] Ibid. 152-153

[3] Ibid. 212-213

[4] Ibid. 215

[5] Ibid. 215

[6] Ibid. ix

[7] Wikipedia, David F. Wells, 7 August 2009, available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_F._Wells; Internet, accessed 3 October 2009

[8] Wikipedia, The Cambridge Declaration, 24 July 2009, available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cambridge_Declaration; Internet, accessed 3 October 2009

[9] Wells, 99-100

[10] Ibid. 100

I’ve spent a lot of time on Facebook in the past few weeks. One of the fun things is reconnecting with high school classmates and friends. It’s interesting to see the direction that our lives have taken since graduation. Most of us are married, with children ranging from none to seven. Many appear to be happy with where they are, with the snowy exception here and there.

One of the most interesting things about it to me is that we are all still connected to our hometown in some way. Many of our parents or grandparents still live there, and some never left the area. The recent death of one of my friends grandparents made me think that we are all still connected by that single strand. Something will invariably draw each of us back home, whether it be a wedding, funeral, reunion, or holiday. We don’t all descend upon that little town on the Kansas prairie at the same time, but we all cross into the city at some point.

There are exceptions of course. A few don’t have any reason to go back. I’m sure that as the years go by, more will move from the connected group to the unconnected. Slowly, living connections to our hometown will disappear and the only thing remaining will be that we grew up there and that many of us graduated from high school together.

That web of connections grows and blends together with time. Each of us has new friends and maybe new places we live. Those new friends are added into our own web, connecting us to their past, and they to ours. Our children will develop their own connections to other people, as will our grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and so on. Each person that my life touches will, knowingly or otherwise, have a connection to a small town in south central Kansas, a family farm, and a community of people willing to do anything for each other.

That’s pretty cool.

… of which I do realize is eleven days old.

I got two books for Christmas from my parents. One is Red Hot Lies by Christopher Horner and the other is Peace to War by Paul Alexander. Red Hot Lies about some of the fallacies about Global Warming©/Climate Change© put out by politicians and the media. He actually infers that they might be pushing an agenda with this. Honestly, I’m shocked. (That was sarcasm.)

Peace to War looks at how the Assemblies of God moved from being pacifistic in their views on war to going along with a more pro-war stance. I actually know the author of the book from my days at Southwestern A/G University, and I was pretty excited to have opened this one up. I’m through the first two chapters of it so far, and it is quite interesting.

What is the new year going to bring? Well, we’re adding one more to the family in June, and then we’ll see after that. Yes, I did say we’ll see. We’re not ruling out adding another one to the family. We love our kids and having a baby around the house has just made us love them more. Big sister and big brother dote on their baby sister (sometimes a bit too much) and they’re going to have even more to do when LEM arrives.

OK, LEM is a name that I coined for the baby. We don’t know what we’re having yet and we had two names picked out, Lucas and Emily, though we’ve moved away from Emily now. I’m a little concerned that LEM might stick.

Anyway, another thing that I’m going to do (not hoping, not planning, going) is to write more. I’m working up some ideas for posts and I’m going to make it work. I would like to finish up some previous series that I started at my old site, and maybe start some new ones.

If there are topics you would be interested in, please let me know. I’m not an encyclopedia of all knowledge, but I do love researching and learning new things. Just not research that is associated with getting a PhD. That sucked and I quit it.

If anyone who has read the “About Me” page on this site already knows, I’ve spent more than enough time in my life in school. I’ve received a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Information Technology and a Master’s of Science in Management Information Systems. The way I see it, I’ve done a pretty good job of training my mind, which has honestly always been my strongest asset.

However, in doing so, I’ve neglected other parts of my being. Obviously, if you’ve seen any pictures of me laterly, I’m not the most svelte person. While I’m knowledgeable about the Bible and what it contains, I feel like I don’t know enough to defend it myself, much less to disciple my family in what it means. Financially, we’re doing OK, but could stand to do a lot better.

All this being said, I’ve made some personal changes, and we as a family have made some as well. What I’m trying to do is to build up muscle in other areas of my being, to bring them up to par with my intellectual training. What exactly am I doing differently?

Physically, I’m trying to eat better and have started going to taekwondo with Alex twice a week. If it wasn’t so far away (30 minutes) I would happily go more often, but twice a week is enough for right now. We are both white belts, but we have a test coming up next weekend to see if we advance to yellow belt.

Financially, Collette and I have drawn up plans to have all of our debt (minus student loans) paid off by the middle to end of next year. This includes our car, personal loans, credit cards, and a couple other debts that we’ve incurred. After that, we’ll take a year to build up our savings, then turn it loose on the house. If my calculations are correct, we’ll have it paid off completely by the end of 2013. My plans are all based on the Dave Ramsey “Total Money Makeover” book, which was so generously given to me by my brother.

Spiritually, I’m reading more about theology in an attempt to better be able to defend my faith. I know the basic talking points, but I want to know more in depth. Going back to school isn’t an option right now, because I really don’t want to. The two weeks I spent in the PhD program at UNT was enough to make me realize I don’t want any more formal education. I’ve been reading Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem and it’s really excellent. It’s not so intellectual as to be difficult to read, but not so basic as to be boring.

So there you go. That’s my current life goals. Others are included as part of the whole, like better time management and spending more time with my family. I’ve cut down on the TV that I watch, especially as the one show I was really looking forward to this season turned out to be a dud (Heroes).

What kinds of things are you doing to maintain or make your life better?

Far, far above. A co-worker of mine is long time friends with Dan Tani, an astronaut who currently calls the International Space Station his home. The other day he snapped pictures of the D/FW area and I thought I would share them. Thanks to Dan for taking them and Brian for letting me post them.

See if you can pick out Dallas Love Field and Texas Stadium. I can actually find my office but it’s not quite far enough north to get my house.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:4-7

Never has that been more true than today for me. For a week I begged, pleaded, sought, and finally today, received an answer to my prayers.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

So, I’m sure you all read what I wrote last week. And I’m sure most of you have figured out what it was about. Here’s a downdate (I can’t call it an update because that’s not the direction it’s going).

Tuesday morning I decided that my ear felt like it was dirty, so I would clean it out. I put the Q-Tip in my ear and since then, I can barely hear out of my left ear. It’s the same feeling that you get when someone hits you in the head and your ear rings, only it’s a constant ringing. For three days now, my ear has been stopped up and I’m crankier than I was before because I can’t hear. I’m going to the doctor today even though we can’t afford it. I’m hoping it’s something simple, but I doubt it will be.

A wrote on here several months back about a song called Miracle Maker. Right now, there is a portion of this song that describes me.

I’m waiting here for my life to change,
When the waters stir you can rearrange me.
Just one touch is all I need,
I’ve nothing much but the wounds I feel,
I’m looking for the hand of the miracle man.

I’m just holding on right now. I know that whatever is going on, no matter what kind of downward spiral life feels like it is on, my faith is secure. I know who God is and that He loves us, but I feel like an abandoned child, one who has been abandoned by God, by life, by friends and family, by happiness, and by joy. I’m waiting here for my touch. I have faith that with one touch, all can be made whole. In the grand scheme of things, this will probably be a minor problem, but right now it’s so painful and so rough that I can only look forward to the end of it. I truly feel that Satan is attacking me, but Satan can not attack without God allowing it. Therefore, God is allowing me to get beaten up for a reason. If I only knew what that reason was, I could learn my lesson and be done with it, but I don’t. As a sign at my office says, “The beatings will continue until morale improves.”

Life is full of jagged edges, and I’m cut up pretty bad right now. I’m reminded of a part of the film Serenity, when Mal and Zoe are speaking about both the ship they live on and Zoe, who had just lost her husband.

Capt. Malcolm Reynolds:
You think she’ll hold together?

Zoë:
She’s torn up plenty, but she’ll fly true.

Capt. Malcolm Reynolds:
Could be bumpy.

Zoë:
Always is.

Upset with events. Tired of the same old status quo. Wanting something more, but having no idea how to get there. Wondering if I missed the boat a long time ago. Have I had my chance and faltered? Or is that chance never coming? Looking for proof that what I’m doing is right for me and my family. Fearing I may never get out of this rut. Will it get better? Can it get worse? Am I too chicken to change things? Is my personality getting in the way of my judgement?

This is what happens when the ideal of what you want your life to be is intruded upon by the reality of what your life really is. All the things that are good fall to the back and all the things that are bad move to the front. Then, you start reacting to things that you never have before, you start thinking you aren’t good enough, or you’re too nice, or you’re not talented enough, or nobody really cares. That all you are is a replaceable cog in the machine, and if you move on, nobody will care. You question yourself and wonder if it’s just not your time, or you don’t know the right people, or this isn’t something that God wants for you.

But I’ve been searching for that for a long time. I’ve tried several things, and none of them have worked. I put my heart into something and eventually will fall on my face. I’m good at a lot of things, but great at nothing. I’m not set apart from anyone because I’m just like everyone else. We’ve all got problems, so why should anyone worry about mine?

I’m fighting it, but I’m really struggling with it. And I fear losing this battle, because I don’t know what it will mean.

I’m not looking for sympathy. I’m not expecting anything, because that’s the way I am. I know this is public, and I know who will probably read it. I don’t care. This all boils down to one simple thing, but because of my pride I’m not going to say what it is. The smart people will figure it out anyway. I’m not looking for a gift, a handout, or a shoulder to cry on. I’m just wanting confirmation that what I believe to be true is actually true. That what I hope to happen will actually someday happen. That what I pray for will actually come to be. If it won’t, that’s fine. All I want is a yes or no, stay or take off.

Writing is catharsis for me. I only have one outlet where it can go. Skip this if you want.

No articles this week. Move along.