August 19, 2024 · 4:50 pm

Smiling Wives, Obedient Children and Shostakovich

One of my favorite composers is Dmitri Shostakovich. He wrote his most famous and most moving works in Stalinist Russia. His masterpiece (in my humble opinion) is his fifth symphony, composed in Leningrad in 1937. It was triumphantly received and he became the darling composer of the communist regime.

But it was forced. The symphony is brilliant because on one level, the final movement seems like a joyous, triumphant march. It was interpreted as such by the powers that be and they loved it. The triumph of communist youth in the world.

But Shostakovich had a deeper message. He interprets it himself years later.

The rejoicing is forced, created under threat, as in Boris Godunov. It’s as if someone were beating you with a stick and saying, “Your business is rejoicing, your business is rejoicing”, and you rise, shaky, and go marching off, muttering, “Our business is rejoicing, our business is rejoicing.”

You can beat someone with a stick and teach them the rote memorization of the law: “Your business is rejoicing, your business is rejoicing”. And if your gulags are terrifying enough, you will have compliance.

But you will not have love. You also will not have the obedience that God delights in. There is a difference between a slave and a son (or daughter).

In a recent flyer for a church plant (CREC, of course), I saw this and immediately thought of Shostakovich.

May be an image of text

I’ve lived that kind of “obedience”. The only way to achieve it is with a very large stick. The children cower behind the wife with a smile plastered on her face while the husband makes the rounds. She usually has stomach problems, ulcers, chronic pain, anxiety – but dare not allow the pain to show. The children used to scream and try to run whenever they saw the building, but they since have learned to keep their feelings to themselves. Now they just look scared and empty.

She will never break her smile to face her brokenness or deal with her pain and loneliness because she is too frightened.

And the children will finally break free when they are big enough to fend for themselves and want nothing more to do with Christianity, because they thought that this was what Christianity was.

But it isn’t. It’s what Paul calls the letter of the law written on stone. It is Shostakovich’s big stick – “Your business is rejoicing!”

And it kills.

It is funny to me how the conservative evangelical right wing church, on one hand so terrified of being taken over by commies that they cower in fear of elections, have become so similar to the chief communist dictator. Stalin would rather have the front of those rejoicing under threat than deal with any affront to his own power. This is the heart of Project 2025.

Sound familiar? “Your business is rejoicing!”

Smiling wives, obedient children, large sticks, human corpses waiting for a resurrection – pasting smiles on their faces in terror while the journalists from the west are touring.

How many of you have experienced church just like this: Paste your smile on. Terrify your children into staying small, quiet, “well-behaved”, and don’t you DARE let anyone know what you are actually thinking.

Home is the gulag. Church is the show.

When you see this and you see it used as an advertisement, you know something about the group:

1. They aren’t a church. The church is where wives sometimes weep and children are safe to ask questions and men are humble and all rely on the cross of Jesus, not manmade rules. Widows and single moms and addicts and those with broken sexuality and hurting bodies and confused minds come to find life, not to learn how to paste a smile on.

2. You know that they don’t understand the resurrection. The day will come when God will wipe all tears away, and today is not that day. As long as we are in this body of death we weep and mourn and hurt and comfort one another, longing for a resurrection.

3. And this is the big one. You know that beneath the smiles and obedience is someone with a very large stick. “Your business is rejoicing”.

4. They don’t know Jesus. Jesus never shamed the weeping woman, or the crying child, or the restless teenager. He came to save sinners, not to bring a stick to beat them with.

This stuff and these people have the smell of death, which is why they hate the cross. It is death to those who are dying.

But it is life to those who are ready to be free.It is life and peace to the one who weeps, the one who mourns, the one who is poor, the one who hungers and thirsts after righteousness.

But the one who is rich he sends away empty.

They are fine going away without Christ, anyway. Because the Jesus they want is one who knows how to keep the women in place, the kids quiet and out of the way, the men masculine and horny, and the girls pliable and under control, and the right politicians in power.

But this Jesus is just a figment of imagination. When they see that the least is the greatest, and the greatest is the one who serves and that there is only room for sinners at the table, the “rich man” scoffs and wants nothing to do with a Jesus who would hang out with people like that.

People like publicans and sinners. People with mental health struggles. People who are real and wounded and come for healing, people who cause fusses and make messes, and weep and mourn.

Jesus, the eternal Son of God, came to free those who are imprisoned by the big stick of the law. He came to teach us how to mourn, how to sing, how to laugh, how to cry out, and how to dance.

He desires, above all, that all of his children are released to be free. Free to feel. Free to speak the truth. Free to love. Free to exercise gifts and invest talents. Free to wiggle and to cry and hurt.

He came so that we might cry “Abba, Father!”

Yes, even the women. Even the children. Even the men.

I, for one, am sick of the peddlers of death under the guise of Christian pastors, and pray for their days to be short.

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August 15, 2024 · 6:44 pm

Does it turn out well?

I’m not sure I know how to write anymore. I sit down and try to get pixels on the screen, and my thoughts blur. My former life seems so long ago and I wonder if I even should write, what I would say, would anyone care, is there even a point…

Five years ago today, I created a small group of friends and shared with them a prayer request:

I’m just sharing this with a small group – those who are less likely to fill my page with adverts for essential oil and pressed juices…

Anyway, please pray for our daughter Margaret.

Right now she is in the hospital with seizures, pain, fever, headache, nausea – etc.

She’s also “altered” for want of a better word. Just not quite herself. She doesn’t respond like she normally does, and is very, very lethargic – mostly sleeping.

Just to explain one thing a little, she hasn’t checked her phone for about 18 hours.

Last night, she lost awareness of her surroundings and was unable to communicate with us for quite a while. That has come back, she knows we are here, but still isn’t really tracking.

Her fever stays high and they can’t find any cause.

She’s had 2 CT scans, EKG, EEG, tons of blood work, xray, etc, etc. and so far there is very little to go on.

Right now we are waiting for the Doc. Since she can’t advocate for herself, one of us is here all the time. Susan just went home to sleep and I am here now…We’ll tag-team it.

The admitting doctor suspects that she will be here through Sunday.

Five years ago. We didn’t know it at the time, but this was to be a long journey. For the next six weeks, we sat by her bed not knowing if she would live or die. All that the doctors could do was wait and see.

She had a virus that made its way into her brain and started killing off the tissues. About 40% of what used to be there is now just dead tissue. She had a 20% chance of survival.

But she lived, and now she has permanent brain damage. Many of you followed our journey.

Later on, one of the elders of my church rebuked me for staying by her bedside instead of keeping office hours.

He also told me that I asked for prayer too much, and that everyone had problems…

I wondered what it was about conservative, right-wing religion that hardens the heart so much.

I also started my journey into the mysteries of the brain and the personality and anxiety and regulation and holy crap how did we get so arrogant as to think that the problems of the world could be solved with making better choices?

Like I said – I don’t think I can write anymore. I feel shriveled and empty. My wife just thinks I need to take a break…but I try to process by writing.

So many things that I was so sure of evaporated during those 6 weeks, and the five years after that. I realized that behavior was far more complicated than our dogma declared it to be.

We mock the homeless and think that if they only weren’t sinners then they wouldn’t be homeless.

If single moms learned how to be chaste, they wouldn’t have to take my hard-earned money for food stamps (Yes, I actually heard that).

If victims quit being victims and just got on with life, we could all move on and pretend like everything was going to turn out all right.

What was she wearing? What were they eating? What were they drinking? Did they homeschool the kids, raise them right?

“Who sinned? This man or his parents that he was born blind?”

But watching my girl in the hospital I started asking myself questions.

What does one do when the part of the brain that interprets data isn’t there anymore?

What does one do when the part of the brain that takes in the stimuli from the outside world is twisted and inaccurate?

What does one do when the part of the brain that tells you that you are in danger gets stuck and you can’t unstick it?

What if you have no way to regulate shame, anxiety, worry, emotions and just end up screaming because you don’t know what is happening to you?

And through that process of thought, it occurred to me that the way the modern church uses the Bible is not the right way.

Let me explain – Jesus told the Pharisees this:

“You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.”  (Jn 5:39–40.)

Humanity’s natural religion tells us that if we do good things, good things will happen. If we make good choices, everything will turn out OK. God blesses those who obey, and his curse lies on those who don’t obey.

It is deeply engrained in us for we are image-bearers of God, we were created that way.

The problem is, that we are fallen and subject to death. All of us have fallen short of the glory of God. The way to Eden is blocked and now we all are outcasts.

But we still think like Cain does. If we could just find the right formula, the right sacrifice, the right choice to make, we could enter into God’s favor again.

The Pharisees believed that as well. They would even say, “I thank God I am not like other men…” giving a nod to grace.

But ultimately everything is a transaction. Do this, and good with come. And that colored everything about how they read the bible.

Gay people? Stone them. That will fix it.

Adulterer? Moses said she should be stoned. What about you?

Transgender people? God made male and female. Obey. That will fix it.

Cut of the hand. Pluck out the eye. Chop off the foot. Drive them back into hiding.

Anxious people. DON’T BE ANXIOUS!

Worried people. DON’T WORRY!

I remember a minister in my former denomination preaching on spiritual comfort. He had a contemptuous sneer on his face while he called down shame on those who struggled with taking comfort in the gospel. “How dare you!” he would shout.

I think he thought that would actually work.

They searched the scripture. Found a verse to apply to the situation. Declared it to be fixed.

I saw an app the other day. You would look up your problem, and the app would point you to a Bible verse. That will fix it. If you are still angry, hurt, sad, depressed, discouraged, sick – then you must not have enough faith.

If you do things right, all will be well.

The problem is, as Jesus told the Pharisees, they missed the point of the whole thing, because they missed Christ. Jesus didn’t come to lead us to Moses.

How can anyone read the purity laws of the Old Testament without fear and terror? Who will escape the stoning? Who will escape the slaughter, the shame, the horror. Does the book of Leviticus fill you with love and peace and joy? Or does it cause you to look for a Redeemer?

Do you know how many animals were killed when Solomon dedicated the temple? Do you know what that would have smelled like?

Which parent would take glee in denouncing their child and casting the first stone against him? Do you want killing fields outside of your town?

Do we gather the townspeople together to watch the public burnings, brandings, disfigurements, amputations?

The curse of the law is exactly that – Satan’s weapon against humanity. And before Christ came into the world, the world delighted in law and order.

Impalings, tortures, crucifixions, beheadings, scourging…

Which one of us would be able to stomach a crucifixion or a stoning? Jesus said, “Let the one without sin cast the first stone.” And that’s the problem, isn’t it?

What kind of cruelty drives the heart that wants to bring back the law? Will it excuse you? The stones that you throw today turn against you tomorrow.

Which law will you pass that will put an end to gayness? Transgender people? Broken sexuality?

Can people just decide not to do it anymore?

Why would we delight in driving people back into hiding when God says, “Where are you? Come out. Talk to me.”

The law brings death. The curse of the law is a weapon in the hands of the One who Enslaves Humanity – Satan himself. He temps us to sin, then denounces us with the curse of the law. HOW DARE YOU – he shouts.

And the other side of the coin – if we could just free ourselves from the sinners, all will be well. No matter what the problem is, you will find a verse in the Old Testament that calls for it to be put to death.

I’m reading the law again. It is good for me, because it points me to Christ. But it is hard going. Who wants to live in a world without Christ?

Who wants to live in a world where stoning, impaling, crucifying, floggings, degradation, shame, are used as weapons under the guise of law and order?

Moses didn’t bring about a world that anyone would want to live in. Moses showed the world what the curse of the law looks like, in all of its ugliness and shame. And even then, with the “perfect law”, every still died. Everyone went into exile. Everyone suffered as slaves.

It’s like God was saying to all of us – you want to follow the religion of Cain, the religion of “Do this and live”? This is how it ends. Read the end of Judges. Read the end of the Kings. This is how the curse of the law ends.

And then Moses showed us Jesus in pictures and stories, and taught the faithful how to yearn.

“O that salvation would come out of Zion!”

Because all scripture points to Christ. The impalings, the stonings, the shame, the pain, the death – he touched it and took all of it on himself and crushed the head of the serpent, putting an end to the curse of the law.

So why would anyone want to go back?

I told you I had a problem getting my thoughts down. Bear with me…

If righteousness could come by the law, the Christ died in vain.

Jesus lived a perfect life on this earth, without sin. And it didn’t turn out well for him. He was crucified, he died. He was buried.

This is the result of the curse of the law, and he bore it all. He took Satan’s weapon on himself, and through it crushed the Enemy’s head, and took that weapon away.

And then he rose from the dead.

We don’t need more people shouting “How dare you” at us. We need a resurrection.

Our brains are far more complex than we imagine. The motives, the desires, the longings, the wiring, the experiences and the culture that human beings dwell in effect everything about us.

I think, in my meandering way, winding along a river of thought, that Maggie illustrates this pretty well. There were those who told her everything she needed to do to get better. Just be productive. Quit being anxious. Pray more. But those things just lead to death.

She can’t process any of that. She still blacks out. She still has panic attacks and anxiety. She still is physically hurt when lights go on suddenly or sounds hit the wrong frequency. She still has Tourette’s and tics and vocal noises. And none of this can be fixed by anything under the sun. She doesn’t need the law or its curse.

She needs a resurrection.

Just like all of us.

And now, five years later, we get small glimpses of future resurrected Maggie when the light shines through. When the age to come bursts through the age of death that we are in. It comes in the moments when she sits on the lawn in her special spot singing hymns to her bunny. When she waters the flowers for the fire fighters across the street. When she bakes cookies for the police department. When she says, “I pray for youuuuu”.

And when she cries and lashes out and wants to die and does it all publicly on Facebook, it is easy for many to think about the law, and maybe wonder why she doesn’t make better choices. And then, you shamefully see (maybe) that those things are not the heart of Maggie. Those things are the Powers that hold her in bondage, waiting for the Lord of Lords to cast them out and set her free.

And so, like everyone else, we wait for the resurrection and long for the Groom to come and claim his bride. We wait for his embrace, just like everyone else.

We make our choices. Some are OK. All are tainted with sin. We have moments of light in the darkness. And we have pain and suffering and loss. And those things won’t go away until Jesus casts the powers of darkness and the curse of the law into the lake of fire where it belongs, and what is left is Love.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

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July 26, 2024 · 7:30 am

Abuse, divorce, denial and authoritarian men

Many years ago, back when I was first beginning to learn and write about the problem of assault in conservative marriages, I was in a conversation with another minister in my denomination.

He thanked me for my study and my work on assault, agreed with me that there was much work that needed to be done and asked what more could be done.

I mentioned that oftentimes the church has a very poor response to accusations of domestic assault and will force the woman back into the marriage over and over again, putting her life and the lives of her children in danger. He made all of the appropriate spiritual humming noises. “Mmmm, Mmmm, Mmmm.” You know how it goes.

I thought I was making progress.

He said, “What about repentance? Can’t an abuser repent?”

I said, “In most cases, repentance is a matter of saying some words, crying some tears, and other manipulative tactics to coerce the victim to put herself back under the power of the abuser. This is why” I continued “I never counsel or even suggest that an abused spouse return to the marriage. I always emphasize their safety above everything else.”

After making more appropriate spiritual humming noises, the minister responded, “We had a case just a few months ago. The wife would come to church year after year. We all knew that she was being abused. She had bruises and wore sunglasses. We could all see it. It went on for about 20 years. Finally she decided she had enough and moved out. We supported her.

“But then he came to the elders, and I’m telling you, Sam, I have never seen anyone as repentant as that guy was. He was really broken up about all his failings. He confessed them all and asked her forgiveness. But her heart was so hard and bitter towards him that she refused to take him back. We finally had to excommunicate her for refusing to forgive.”

I died a little inside. I shared with him that what he described is a typical abuser strategy; that all of them do the exact same thing in order to get what they want.

I even shared with him our confession of faith – that repentance is the dying of the old man and the making alive of the new man. It isn’t words and tears.

There is a sorrow that leads to death. Even if his sorrow was genuine, like Esau’s, it isn’t the same as repentance.

And there is one more thing that is even more crucial than that. Even if it were possible to read the heart and determine that a man IS truly repentant, this does not change the fact that his covenant is broken, and that HE is the one who broke the covenant. She will have damage and triggers for the rest of her life.

She will remember the hymns she tried to sing after he broke her jaw. She will remember the smell of the aftershave when he raped her. She will remember what was cooking when he punched her.

She will remember the words. The mouth that kissed her and spoke sweet nothings to her that now say, “I hate you. You disgust me. You are fat and ugly, no one wants you.”

Those wounds don’t just go away with words.

After this conversation, I realized that we still had a massive amount of work to do. I started it until I finally had to part ways with my denomination.

I found out then that most ministers and elders are actually opposed to abuse. They will speak loftily and spiritually about the horrors of domestic violence…UNTIL it actually takes up space in THEIR congregations.

Then, by far the easiest option is to side with the abuser. It is far easier if she would just be quiet and quit making a fuss. If he would just say sorry and they could go back to everything being normal again.

And this is where we lose most of the officers of the church.

The deplore abuse – BUT

“I know that guy. He isn’t an abuser”

“It wasn’t really abuse. I’ve seen real abuse”

“He was really repentant”

“It wasn’t really abuse; she just pushed his buttons enough and he snapped. Could’ve happened to anyone”

No matter what you say, there is always a reason why what is happening in THEIR congregation isn’t abuse.

We hate abuse. We just never see real abuse…you’ve all heard it.

We just saw it when it made national news.

But this has been going on for decades.

The heart of the problem is here:

Why is it that they believe that a group of white, middle aged, conservative men have absolute infallibility over the lives of women? There can be no error, they are so sure of their infallibility that they will literally put a woman’s life on the line over it.

What on earth is an “ecclesiastical divorce”? If you are in these circles, you’ve heard the term. It is the idea that one must get divorced in the church BEFORE they are allowed to get a legal divorce.

Why do we continually talk about “grounds for divorce” rather than talk about safety and liberty?

Why does the liberty we are given in Christ only apply to men? Are not wives and daughters co-heirs of Christ? Are they not worth protecting?

What gives a small group of men the right to determine what does or does not constitute abuse? Did not Jesus say that even saying “You fool” or “Raca” is abusive and the equivalent of murder? (he was not sin-leveling, but that is a different subject)

One step further:

Where is this woman now to go? She has been branded an “adulteress”. She has been expelled from her friends and her faith. She most like will never set foot in a similar congregation again, or ANY congregation. If you have not gone through a public “church trial” you have no idea what it does to you.

She was abused by her husband and found safety. She was abused by her church, and finally found safety.

And now, the same people that demanded that she return to her husband are also demanding that she return to church and “stop disobeying God”.

Do you think that these things might be related?

Jesus has his people everywhere. He knows his own, he gathers his own together.

But maybe those who belong to Christ need to flee for a time. Maybe they will gather in homes or caves or coffee shops or online. Maybe God meets with them two or three at a time, binding up wounds, releasing the prisoner, healing the sick and bringing justice to the outliers.

And maybe the church needs to repent just as surely as the abusive husband needs to repent.

Something to think about, anyway.

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July 23, 2024 · 7:02 pm

Important things

I would like to talk about values.

Being around certain circles for far too long in my life, I heard a great deal of emphasis placed on taxes and making sure that no one was taking away their “hard-earned money”. They said that they were “one issue voters” (abortion) but in reality, the biggest issue was how much or how little they were being taxed.

The other day, I overheard one gentleman  saying, “all that matters is how much money I have left in my pocket…”

I am all for responsible spending by officials at every level. I am all for minimizing waste. But to me there are issues that are far, far more important than how much money is left in my pocket at the end of the day.

For one thing, I know that I have a Father in heaven that will provide all things necessary for body and soul, so I don’t fret it (or at least TRY not to fret it).

So I thought I would give a list of things more important than how much money is left in my pocket. Here goes:

It is important that my neighbor has access to health care. That if they get cancer, they won’t have to lose their house to pay the bill.

It is important that my neighbor can go to college and get an education without selling her soul to a loan shark and pay for the next 40 years.

It is important that libraries stay open and free. That the community has a place to gather.

It is important that homeless shelters have the funding that they need to feed and protect those who need it.

It is important that women who are not safe at home have a place they can run to and receive care and protection.

It is important that those who are vulnerable and afraid have access to advocates who can stand with them as they seek for justice.

It is important that parents have a place to turn when their children aren’t getting enough to eat.

It is important that widows and orphans have access to food and housing and healthcare.

It is important that water and food supplies are safe and effective.

It is important that social services are funded and those who go to work every day ensuring that children and families are safe at home have all the resources that they need.

It is important that justice is served. It is important that our streets are safe.

It is important that teachers should be paid what they are worth and that they don’t have to buy supplies out of their own pockets every year.

It is important that children have access to food.

It is important that the disabled have enough support to live with dignity, pursuing happiness and life and liberty without wondering if they will eat, or have a home, or have anyone to help them when they need it.

It is important that those who protect our air and water and earth and plants be given the resources that they need to do their work. Fresh air and clean water is important.

It is important that immigrants are treated with dignity and honor, fed and housed and given a speedy hearing and not left in limbo in cages along the border.

I never want to live in a community where the hungry have no where to turn, where families are on the street, where mental health care doesn’t exist, where you can’t have access to medical care because you don’t have the right insurance…

The country of promise – life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Now for me it is important that these values are available for ALL, not just some few at the top.

All of these things are monumentally important. For me, a few extra dollars in my pocket don’t really mean a lot if we lose our humanity along the way.

 

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July 18, 2024 · 3:26 pm

Dressing with dignity

I am almost finished with a remarkable book, the Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse. It was published in 1991, which made me sad and a little defeated. If people have been saying this for over 30 years now, why are things worse and not better? And what can my voice add?

Anyway – like all great books, it gets one’s mind whirling and meditating. The authors have a passage on Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead that stopped me in my tracks. I’ve been meditating on it ever since.

38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Jn 11:38–44.

The first question that the authors ask of the text is this: “Why didn’t Jesus use his almighty power to roll away the stone himself?”

And the second, “And why didn’t he just bring Lazarus OUT of his graveclothes himself?”

The answer to these questions speak of something very important in the life of the Church (not the outward corporation that has gotten so corrupt, but the people of God wherever they are found – usually in exile and hiding). In Ephesians 1:31, the people of God are called the “fullness” of Christ. The Son of God considers himself incomplete without his bride, his body, his people. We are so united to Jesus that his death is ours, his resurrection is ours, and his glory is ours. This is the point of Ephesians.

It also answers the questions so many people have about the Psalms. Are they about David, Jesus, or the people of God? And the answer is “Yes”. David was the type. Jesus was the reality. And we all, as his members, experience the same things in this life and the life to come. We suffer. We rise. We are glorified. We reign. We go to the abyss. We are rescued from the abyss. We long for God. We were born for another world. We are sinners. We are righteous. We are loved. We grieve our sins. We feel abandoned. We feel God’s love.

And we wait for the salvation of God. These realities are ours, and also belong to Jesus. And also to David in shadows.

But I digress.

Do you remember in Genesis where it was promised that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent? We know that ultimately that crushing belongs to Jesus. But it also belongs to us, his bride.

20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.  Rom. 16:20.

Here is another example of our union with Christ our head (the head of our body, not our CEO – those are different concepts). He crushes Satan’s head on the cross. We crush Satan’s head taking up that same cross.

But I’m digressing again.

Jesus gives his people the astounding privilege of serving with him in his kingdom. He could, of course, have simply rolled away the stone. But he commissions his people to take their part in setting Lazarus free.

Only the Eternal, begotten Son of God can raise the dead. We can’t do that. But we CAN roll away the stone. We can remove the barriers. We can take away our own blinders, our prejudices, our hatreds and grudges – we can make sure that when the world stumbles, it is on the cross, not politics or laws or culture or gender wars or ANYTHING other that the voice of the Son of God who speaks and raises the dead.

Take away the stone and set the prisoners free.

And yes, they are still in their grave clothes. They are gross and they stink. We are all wrapped with the rags of all of those things that were our comfort in the tomb.

When you are dead, (using spiritual language) you still have the clothing of the dead. That clothing has brought your comfort. You thought that it would take away your shame and your disgrace. You thought that you could find significance, security and strength – and you hold really tightly to all of those things. It is terrifying to think of losing your graveclothes (still speaking in metaphor, people).

Before the voice of Jesus called you and made you alive, you tried to find dignity in the brokenness of this present evil age, and it wasn’t there. But it is even scarier to let those things go.

Remember C.S. Lewis in the “Voyage of the Dawn Treader” when he “undresses” the dragon skin off of Eustice? Eustice recounts that losing his skin was the most painful thing he could imagine, but that it also felt good watching it tear away like a scab.

This is what it is like to lose the grave clothes. And it is even worse when those called out of the tomb are ridiculed for their clothes. Shamed because of it. Excluded and disgraced because they didn’t get rid of them fast enough.

And how shameful it is when those called by God to “loose him and let him go” just stand by and say to themselves “I thank God I am not like that poor guy.”

The scribes and the Pharisees stood by and watched, then plotted to kill Jesus.

And when Lazarus and Abel and Jacob and Amos and Zechariah and Zacchaeus and Mary Magdalene and Bathsheba and Ruth and Junia and all the rest are called from the tomb, there will always be the scoffers, refusing to soil their hands helping a terrified loved one of Jesus remove their graveclothes.

But that brings me to the concept in the book that floored me. When Jesus rose from the dead, he left his grave clothes behind. He could have done the same thing with Lazarus. So why didn’t he?

Because Lazarus would have had to walk out of the tomb exposed and naked in front of everyone.

Wow.

By telling his people to “loose him and let him go”, he is preserving Lazarus’s dignity. The people of God can get him changed without exposing him to the ridicule and shame of the passersby, and that is huge.

Shame has never changed a soul. Reviling and disgracing anyone has never saved anyone. Jesus came that we might have life, and to restore the dignity with which we were created – human beings, image-bearers of God.

Men and women, slave and free, rich and poor – clothed with Christ, the grave clothes come off easily. But it still hurts. It still is terrifying. It is still a long process.

We need compassion and the people of God need that compassion – the same compassion that Jesus had when HE was stripped naked and crucified so that We might be clothed.

 

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July 10, 2024 · 5:07 pm

Repentance or love?

A recent post by Shane Pruitt reads:

May be an image of 1 person and text that says 'ShanePruitt Shane Pruitt @shane_ @shane_pruitt78 pruitt78 In many churches today, you'll hear the word "love" a thousand times. before you hear the word "repent" one time. However, Elijah said repent. Isaiah said repent. Joel said repent. Jonah said repent. Jeremiah, Micah, Amos, and Malachi all preached repentance. John the Baptist said repent. Jesus said repent. The Disciples said repent. The message has not changed.'

Here’s the difficulty – when you pit love and repentance against each other like this, you don’t understand either one. Repentance becomes hard like iron, ruthless like fire, and as relentless as death.

Trying to define repentance over against love makes one cruel and hateful, as those who know this author can attest.

In the bible, repentance is turning away from your hateful, hard hearts and turning towards the love of God and his free invitation of redemption. The result of true repentance is a heart that loves God and loves one’s neighbor.

This is the same spirit that seeks to define holiness over against love and mercy, when God is not so divided. Holiness IS perfect love, perfect beauty, perfect goodness. Repentance is turning from our hateful, stone gods and to the God of love.

Repentance is turning away from the attempt of self-salvation, with its iron clad, man-made rules, making one censorious, judgmental, proud and contemptuous and turning towards love, compassion, mercy and humility.

In other words, repentance is the b-side of love. God’s love is the beautiful magnet that draws us to his bosom (which is what repentance IS) and away from the world that the modern evangelical preacher inhabits.

The modern preacher’s call to repentance is simply a call to remain in the slavery of Egypt, working harder and harder to make more and bricks of our own self-righteousness. The Love of God calls us out, and to the land of his love, resting in the joy of the Lord. This is Repentance.

The result of resting in God’s bosom is that our life and our words and our hearts begin to reflect the beautiful light of God revealed in Jesus Christ, as we become more and more like him in love.

Don’t pit repentance against love. You don’t know what you are talking about.

 

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July 4, 2024 · 9:04 am

July Fourth Ramblings

From the time of the ancient scribes, there has always been those who use the guise of religion to seek to assert power over others and establish laws designed to enforce a “Biblical World-View”, whatever that means.

Some of this drive comes from a simple fear of people getting away with things that WE want to do but don’t dare.

Some of it comes from a fear that God is going to punish us if we don’t do the right things or pass the right laws.

Some of it comes from our natural religion (which the Bible calls “The Flesh”) that we can buy our way back into Eden by doing proper things, offering the right sacrifices, making better choices, and driving out the sinners.

Most of it comes from the lust of pride – that if we could get people to do things OUR way, we can secure our own future; even if this means we have to dominate sinners and force them to obey or face the wrath of the law. God wants righteousness, does he not?

So for over 2,000 years, zeal for God’s law has sent millions to mass graves. Inquisitions, wars, genocides, enslavements, exiles…

It is precisely why our country was founded. Religious wars always end in mass graves, injustice, and cruelty, in the name of God. Exiles fled. But no one had ever thought of having a country without an official religion – until they realized something. If they were going to have an official religion, who gets to decide what that religion will be?

There were Congregationalists, puritans, separatists, Anglicans, Roman Catholics, Quakers, Baptists, Reformed, Presbyterians, Jews, Atheists and Deists.

Who will choose where to worship, which religion to support, who will pastor…

Look at this this way…the recent law requiring the Bible to be taught in schools…

Who is going to teach it? Will the curriculum be Doug Wilson’s cult? Charismatic? Will the understanding be covenantal or dispensational? Will it be Baptist, Puritan, Reformed or Presbyterian?

If you say, “Well, we just want it taught as literature – the stories and such…

OK – which stories? Who edits them? Who interprets them? What will you say about Jephthah and Samson, and the Benjamite concubine?

If you think that Christians who think that this is a good idea will just get along and cooperate, then perhaps study early American History – Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson, the women in Salem, or the Jesuit inquisitors – all who claim to seek a “Biblical world-view” and seek to serve the same Jesus.

The only way – the ONLY way – to politically stop bloodshed is by the enforcement of the First Amendment. The Supreme Court in the seventies did not “take God out of schools”, they stopped potential war over who writes the prayers in schools. Will they be Muslim prayers, Praying in tongues, Jewish prayers? Mother earth prayers?

And now, states that are seeking to “put God back in the schools” have done no such thing.

If Louisiana wanted to encourage behavior that pleased God, they would not have posted some archaic, ancient code that needs experts to interpret it (“If we aren’t allowed to kill, why do you support war? Why do you support capital punishment?) – see? Not as easy as you think.

To encourage ethical behavior, rather than political posturing, they would have posted age-appropriate and socially appropriate rules:

Don’t bully people. Honor your word. Be kind. Listen to your teacher when she is giving you instructions. Don’t call people names. Don’t betray your friends. Don’t spread rumors…

But the goal of the politicians was NOT to encourage ethical behavior. If that were indeed the case, they would not be championing the man who has openly and unabashedly broken every one of the commandments and boasts about it.

But I digress. The reason why I am very concerned about the religious right is that if they succeed, they will be undoing 250 years of American political thought. This political thought has given us many, many years of freedom – especially after the same rules were applied to women, minorities, native Americans and children.

If we embrace “justice for all” rather than “justice for some”, then we could truly be a beacon of liberty to the outcasts and the exiles.

But fear has caused us to regress. Millions are hell-bent on following power-hungry criminals over the brink. They believe that they will have special places in the new order, but the joy will only last until it is their turn under the guillotine. When you see Robespierre, ask him how it worked for him.

Because if there isn’t justice for all, there is only justice for none.

If a Muslim girl cannot attend a school without intimidation and bullying, then eventually no one will.

If the local Jewish community cannot worship in peace, then soon no one will.

If a black man does not have the liberty to carry a weapon without fear of being shot, then soon no one will have that liberty.

In other words, liberty only exists if it is liberty for all. And this liberty, the American Dream, is under attack. The Christian Right pretends that it is seeking to establish liberty and justice, but that is a smoke-screen. This is about power, domination, and control. They truly believe that only by passing “Biblical laws” – meaning, “those laws which I interpret as Biblical”, can we usher in a utopian age.

This was also the belief of the Inquisition, the French Revolution, Stalin, Lenin, Mao, Cromwell, Hildebrand, Pol Pot, and the despots of every age.

It can and does only end in slaughter, mass graves and gulags. There can be no other end.

To sum it up simply, righteousness does not come by the law. If it did, there would be no need for Christ.

It seems to me that the first confession of a Christian should be “Righteousness could not come by the law. I plead for mercy.”

To then turn around and insist that righteousness will come by the law if my people enforce it with enough force, to me that seems the pinnacle of foolishness and irrationality.

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June 30, 2024 · 1:46 pm

The light in our dark places

From the archives

The Dark Places
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June 17, 2024 · 5:11 pm

Engaging a Muscovite

My goal is to bring peace to the soul. So I offer this suggestion for the furtherance of a quiet and peaceful spirit.

If you try to reason with a Doug Wilson supporter, it is not possible for you to succeed. The evidence of his wickedness in thought, word and deed is so ponderous at this point that the only way someone would continue to support him is if there is something drastically wrong with his (or her) soul.

If you quote something horrendous that Wilson has said, they will tell you that you are quoting it out of context.

If you accuse him of racism, bigotry, supporting white supremacists and child molesters, they will demand proof.

If you supply proof in the form of 100 quotes, publications, videos and blogs, they will accuse you of being on a witch hunt.

If you point out the volumes of proof on his plagiarism, they will throw someone else under the bus and defend their pope at all cost, even though Pope Wilson’s name is on the books. It will always be “someone else’s fault”.

If you accuse his fanboys of adultery, child rape, domestic abuse, or any other horrendous crimes, no matter what proof you have, it will always be the fault of the woman, the child or the wife.

They seduced him, they flaunted themselves at him, they wouldn’t obey him quick enough…

If you state his positions in his own words, and then quote the hundreds of churches and centuries of church history that have declared him wrong, you will get demands to provide your prooftexts.

If you disengage at this point, you will be accused of cowardice and false witness, as if you are throwing out accusations without evidence.

If you decide to engage, it will not matter how many passages you cite, they will change the definitions of words, twist your words, invent new doctrines out of cloth, misdirect and finally accuse you of hating the bible and being a liberal and “what is wrong with America”. They will take “Gaslighting” to staggering new levels.

If you say that he publicly called two women “c***s” they will accuse you of slander.

If you provide the evidence where in his own words on his own blog he called two women a couple of “c***s” they will accuse you of taking it out of context, justifying the language because of “culture wars” and say that he is a little “salty” at times but that doesn’t take away all the good that he is doing…

You will also be accused of being effeminate, against the gospel, a feminist, a communist, a troublemaker, a sower of strife. If you are a woman, you will be called a Jezebel with a Jezebel spirit.

When you have members of your congregation who support Wilson, or refuse to acknowledge his wickedness, they will eventually destroy your congregation. They always do.

I am close to sixty years old now. 30 years ago, I decided foolishly to engage a Wilson supporter. I will never do so again.

Sometimes, they trick you into thinking that you are engaging with them in an honest discussion in a Christlike way. But the point is not truth or love. The point is to suck you in and destroy your peace. They are not interested in discovering the truth. They only want to destroy you.

They speak of warfare, and they mean every word.

There is only one way to engage a Wilsonite. Click on their profile. Go to where it says, “Friends”, and select “Block.”

This will need to be repeated on all of your social media channels.

Be careful on Messenger, because they often use their wife’s profile to suck you back in.

It is always a trap.

It is for this reason that I will never, under any circumstances, join any sort of discussion group with the word “Reformed” or “Presbyterian” or “Calvinist” or “pub” in the title. Those places are their hives. It’s where the hornets live. They will sniff you out in minutes and go after you, your family, your kids, your friends.

It’s a shame, really, because there is much in Reformed theology that I still find quite edifying. But now Reformed and Presbyterian churches have a fatal flaw.

They have never used hornet spray. Yes, they have said, “Now, don’t be nasty, hornets. Now stop being that way, hornets. But they have never gotten out the spray and run them out. They have sacrificed the people of God in order to provide a hive for the hornets. And now the nests have taken over and will destroy everything they touch.

And I know that now the hornets will come out demanding proof and scripture and writings, and hours and hours of work from me, which I will decline. It has been documented far, far more than anything Dahmer did, anything Bundy did, or anything that any criminal has done. The amount of documentation is staggering. The only way to pretend to not know it is to be purposefully closing your eyes. So excuse me if I don’t engage.

Again, only one way to further peace. “Block.” “Delete”; “repeat.”

I always imagined that the False Prophet would be way cooler and far more seductive than that guy.

 

If you have been stung one too many times by the hornets and don’t think you will ever find peace, book some time with me at www.sampowellministries.com

 

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May 14, 2024 · 9:34 am

The Proverbs 31 Woman

This is something that has been germinating in my head for a long time. Remember – this is a blog, and not a theological treatise. The purpose is simply to spark imagination and meditation down perhaps a different line.

The genre of Proverbs is “wisdom literature”. Proverbs are not laws, nor are they epistles, nor are they history books. They are short, pithy statements designed to be meditated on and remembered. They are to be savored, floated over the tongue, read aloud, tasted, tasted again…

Perhaps this is why so many people who are “black and white” oriented have such a hard time with them. For example, neo-reformed theologians are notoriously short on imagination, and tend to think that everything in the bible is about making other people know their place.

So when the Proverbs speak about sons and rods, they can’t see anything other than beating children.

And when Proverbs speaks of an “excellent woman”, they can’t help but think of a list of rules designed to keep women in line.

But maybe that isn’t what it is about at all.

 

Proverbs is a book about wisdom. Read the first nine chapters. The first nine chapters introduce us to two women: Lady Folly, and Lady Wisdom. Lady Wisdom is with God from before all worlds. Lady Wisdom guides the feet in the right path. Lady Wisdom leads to health and life, and is more valuable than rubies. If you have Lady Wisdom, you have life.

Naturally, we don’t have Wisdom. We are allured by Lady Folly into the paths of death and ruin. But if we ask for wisdom, if we diligently seek her as we seek for hidden treasures, the Lord will give her to us.

Then we will find life. We will avoid the pitfalls and temptations of drunkenness, fornication, laziness, greed, pride – and all the other things that lead to ruin.

But if we find Wisdom, our lives will be rescued from destruction and our feet saved from the pit…

And then we go into the long pithy sayings of the differences between wisdom and folly. These were compiled over the centuries and put together into the inspired book we have now.

As the book concludes, we read about a woman again. She is described in many of the same images and types as she is throughout the whole book. He who finds her finds a good thing.

She is worth more than rubies. Her paths lead to life and beauty and order. The one who finds this woman finds success and thrives. Her children call her blessed.

Maybe, seen in the light of the whole of Proverbs, this isn’t about a list of duties to keep proper women in line. Perhaps this is again the urging of the Holy Spirit to find wisdom or die.

 

If you read chapter 8 carefully, wisdom is personified. She is exalted, and she is searching for her children. She is begging mankind to turn in to her and away from folly.

And throughout the history of the Church, theologians of every kind have seen Christ in Proverbs 8. HE is the wisdom of God, who was made flesh.

He calls us. He searches for us. And he begs us to find him and find life.

And he is also freely given by God to all who diligently seek him.

“Her children rise and call her blessed” – Agur

“Wisdom is justified of her children” – Jesus

“Here am I, and the children you have given men” – Isaiah, quoted by the writer to the Hebrews.

Do you see where I am going?

Now, read Proverbs 31 again.

Proverbs 31:10–31 (NIV)

Epilogue: The Wife of Noble Character

      10 A wife of noble character who can find?
          She is worth far more than rubies.
       11 Her husband has full confidence in her
          and lacks nothing of value.
       12 She brings him good, not harm,
          all the days of her life.
       13 She selects wool and flax
          and works with eager hands.
       14 She is like the merchant ships,
          bringing her food from afar.
       15 She gets up while it is still night;
          she provides food for her family
          and portions for her female servants.
       16 She considers a field and buys it;
          out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
       17 She sets about her work vigorously;
          her arms are strong for her tasks.
       18 She sees that her trading is profitable,
          and her lamp does not go out at night.
       19 In her hand she holds the distaff
          and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
       20 She opens her arms to the poor
          and extends her hands to the needy.
       21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
          for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
       22 She makes coverings for her bed;
          she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
       23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,
          where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
       24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
          and supplies the merchants with sashes.
       25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;
          she can laugh at the days to come.
       26 She speaks with wisdom,
          and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
       27 She watches over the affairs of her household
          and does not eat the bread of idleness.
       28 Her children arise and call her blessed;
          her husband also, and he praises her:
       29 “Many women do noble things,
          but you surpass them all.”
       30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
          but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
       31 Honor her for all that her hands have done,
          and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

If you hold to this as an instruction manual on how proper wives are to behave, there are only two end results:

1 – either despair. You give up and say that living the Bible is too hard and you can’t do it – maybe you don’t have enough faith, or God doesn’t love you enough.

OR 2 – pride. Worse than giving up is the conclusion that you have accomplished the proper Proverbs 31 wife role. And you join the ranks of the Church Ladies who look with scorn on those who haven’t quite accomplished it.

The children of folly are ugly, aren’t they?

But wisdom is justified of her children. Wisdom’s children rise up and call her blessed.

When you seek diligently after wisdom, and the Lord grants you wisdom, then your words change, your actions change. You find life and peace and beauty and order.

Not because you sought to exalt yourself above your neighbor by baking your own bread, homeschooling your kids, growing your own flax and trying your damndest to be the proper Proverbs 31 wife…

But because you sought wisdom in the only place it can be found:

2 My son, if you accept my words
          and store up my commands within you,
       2 turning your ear to wisdom
          and applying your heart to understanding—
       3 indeed, if you call out for insight
          and cry aloud for understanding,
       4 and if you look for it as for silver
          and search for it as for hidden treasure,
       5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD
          and find the knowledge of God.
       6 For the LORD gives wisdom;
          from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. (Proverbs 2:1-6)

And where do we find that wisdom? Only in Christ. He is become wisdom for us that we might find life in him. And then, of course, if your skills and love are growing flax and baking bread and sewing garments, have at it, whether you are male or female, because this isn’t about that. It is about finding wisdom and the life that comes from it.

30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 1 Corinthians 1:30 (NIV)

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