I suppose this is as good a photo of the day post as anything. I took this shot around 11:30pm ET last night with my iPhone and it about says it all. It’s probably the biggest news to hit the “war on terror” in 10 years, but last night as we the country awaited a rare (and almost scary, unknown, speculative, bizarre) live news conference at 11:30pm on a Sunday night I did not share the overwhelming “joy” that Geraldo Rivera had or the giddy, almost tailgate-ish rejoicing, in the street in front of the white house and at ground zero. Yes, it was a victory for the United States, yes, it was necessary in the same way it was necessary to rid the world of Hitler or the like, but a time to a time to jump up and down like the U.S. just won an olympic event? No.
On a side note… this “War on Terror” is unlike previous wars where we can clearly define a victor, or a even when victory has occurred. That’s because this war is not a war over territory, or resources, but ideologies and ultimately at it’s base root, it’s a holy war. Those who don’t see the religious side can parse out the war to a way of life, or political freedom, but ask an Israeli and you might get a different answer than the average Joe Smith waving a flag in front of the White House. Because of this, the war on terror will not end until the second coming of Christ.
The Wisdom of the Psalms
So, from a Christian perspective, I just don’t see anything that teaches us to be joyful in the death of an enemy. In fact, it says just the opposite in Proverbs 24:17-18. This section of Proverbs represents the “Thirty Sayings” of “the wise” as clearly indicated in Proverbs 22:20, which covers from Proverbs 22:17 to 24:22. Proverbs 24:17-18 is the twenty-eighth saying, and where 15-16 are aimed at the wicked over the righteous, 17-18 is talking about the righteous gloating over the downfall of the wicked. Maybe rejoicing in the street or on TV isn’t gloating but to me that’s just semantics.
17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles, 18 lest the Lord see it and be displeased, and turn away his anger from him. (ESV)
On the practical side, verse 17 tells us not to rejoice when our enemy falls and verse 18 tells us why, because God may turn around and bless our enemy, making us even more miserable. If that isn’t enough, God actually tells us that He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11), and if God takes no pleasure in the death of Osama Bin Laden, than neither should we. The bible clearly indicates that God will “punish sin and vindicate his holiness and justice… but God also feels sorrow over the punishment and death of creatures created in His image” (ESV notes on Ezekiel 33:11). God would rather the wicked repent of their sins and live than die in their own sins without forgiveness.
Although this must be an almost impossible task for those who had family members killed on 9-11 (or the USS Cole or any of the other terrorist acts) by the hand of Osama Bin Laden, I find it hard to rejoice over the death of a (seemingly) lost and unrepentant soul. Rather we should love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44). As impossible as this may sound, Jesus gave us the example and did this very same thing as he went to the cross.
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I have been trying to think of something intelligent to say about the earthquake in Japan but seeing the news and the pictures coming out of that country just leaves a person almost speechless. It’s different than Haiti of course, and you don’t see “text to donate” messages being flashed all over the place (why I’m not sure), you barely see the donate to the Red Cross for that matter.
Since our news cycles seem to rotate in and out so fast today, the coverage of the Japan earthquake will soon diminish to nothing but another historical fact, and they will move on to who’s winning the NCAA March Madness tournament or something else newsworthy like Lawmakers Pitch Gov’t Takeover of Driving Age (FNC) or The moments that make us fat (CNN), both of which were on the front page as of this writing.
But for the time being, news, for the most part, is still coming fast and furious from Japan. What the earthquake did do was, along with many other stories, bring awareness to the evangelical movement in Japan. A recent article from a magazine out of Korea called Konnect, titled A Personal Message from Dr. Michael Oh: The Everyday Tragedy of Japan gives some sobering statistics and offers a Christian perspective of the current events.
Japan is the largest unreached nation in the world. In Japan they are reporting upwards of 1100 dead so far. Again, it is very possible that that number will multiply 10 fold. But every 11 days an equal number of Japanese (1100) take their own lives. In hopelessness they turn to suicide. Every day is a tragedy in Japan for those without Christ.
Honestly I really had no idea the Japanese people were one of the most unreached developed nations in the world, no did I know they dealt with such a horrible suicide rate. Perhaps it’s because the source is out of Korea where the evangelical Christ movement is extremely different than here in the United States, perhaps we in this country are too involved with the four walls of our own country to notice, or both. According to Operation World on Japan, there are about 2 million Christians among a population of almost 127 million people.
If nothing else turns your heart towards the people of Japan it would be the photography coming out of the earthquake. Some of the photos are so incredible it’s just hard to comprehend from a vantage point of Auburn Alabama. The shot at the top was provided by GeoEye showing an area of Natori, Japan on April 4, 2010, left, and March 12, 2011. (GeoEye/Associated Press) I like the photo coverage from the Boston Globe on their blog called “The Big Picture“, which is sort of a pool from many photographers.
For some of the shots on the earthquake see: Japan: New fears as the tragedy deepens, Japan: Vast devastation, Japan: earthquake aftermath, and Massive earthquake hits Japan.
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Yes, for the first time ever, I (and Deborah) actually stood in line for an Apple product release. We weren’t even planning to do so but yesterday on a strange set of circumstances, I sold both my iPad and Deborah’s iPad within a few minutes and couldn’t give them to the new owners until we picked up the new one. I have a host of reasons for upgrading this particular device at this particular time but I will save those for an actual iPad 2 review in a later post.
In short, the iPad really is a revolutionary device that has changed computing for good (and for the good). The time I spend on my computer gets less and less all the time because of the iPad, which is great, but the number of books I have read over the last year more than paid for the iPad (books which cost $14.99 to buy at the store cost $1.99 on the Amazon Kindle app). Those are just two reasons among many, I’ll follow that up with a review some day.
All in all in our little town there were about 60 or so people in line for the 15 iPad’s Apple decided Best Buy should have. We got to talk to and get to know several people over a few hours, and take a break from our normal routine, which was nice. All of the consumerism issues aside, I have addressed those many times before, like Apple and AT&T Set Another Round of Innovation in iPhone 4, it was a fun afternoon, and today, is my Friday Feet.
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I couldn’t believe CNN actually did a full length article on the end of the world from a group called Family Radio (see Road Trip to the End of the World) who are using “biblical prophecy” to show the end of the world, or the Tribulation and second coming of Christ, is coming to a city near us on May 21st, 2011. Just last week I thought CNN was turning the corner when they actually “allowed” an article called “The Bible Really Does Condemn Homosexuality“, but maybe I jumped the gun. At the time of this writing “Road Trip” had over 30,000 “likes” on Facebook and on the opposite side, secular hate mongers who see anything religious as wrong, controlled the comments. Where are the people out there who know, have, and teach sound biblical doctrine about the end times?
What bothers me about this is not a teaching about the end times, which is certainly covered in scripture, but how the news covers it with the most radical groups they can find and then likens all people of faith to the Branch Davidians or Heavens Gate (see screenshots of both below). I understand I’m talking about a secular news organization, but if they wanted to do a serious journalistic article could they not have found someone, anyone, who would represent sound biblical principles? How about Charles H. Spurgeon and Eschatology: Did He Have a Discernible Millennial Position?, Spurgeon seemed to study a lot, but they probably couldn’t have interviewed him.
Even a surface reading of scripture shows that we are (1) not to become obsessed with the dates of the end times, and (2) we, not being God the Father, do NOT know the exact date of the Second Coming of Christ and all that goes along with the end times. Only God the Father does (Matthew 24:36, Mark 13:32 and many more). If Jesus Himself tells us that he doesn’t even know the timing, only the Father, why in the world would “Family Radio” know the exact date. Of course they address that themselves in a 6 page explanation, explaining away those verses (full pdf download here). Unfortunately after reading some of their literature they remind me of another group in the news lately, the idiots over at Westboro Baptist Church (though I understand they are two totally different groups).
Mark 13:32-33 But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.
Everyone knows that the only person who really knows the actual timing of the end of the world is Tim Lahaye (and possibly Thomas Ice), and CNN never asked about their book “Charting the End Times” (which is actually very well laid out and useful, though it doesn’t always following a good reformed theological argument). Looking at the chart below you can see that the Family Radio people do drop May 21st 2011 right at the beginning of that orange square, at the Rapture and the beginning of the Tribulation, Lahaye just forgot to put in the actual date of May 21, 2011 (I’ll have to ask him why). Of course one of them did think the end was September 6, 1994, and offers infallible proof of the end of the world date here (see also full pdf download in case you want to put it on your iPad).
Not sure if I have a point here other than to show the absurdity of conclusions and predictions made without a deep long knowledgeable study of scripture. Sound doctrine and understanding comes from prayerful study and contemplation and we run the risk of becoming false prophets and teachers, actually working against the Holy Spirit. When we try to make scripture fit into pre-made conclusions it never seems to work in God’s favor, but does work for the praise of man in the way of attention from the news.
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I am truly amazed at how much press Dove World Outreach Church in Gainesville, Florida is receiving for it’s planned burning of the Quran, or as they put it “International Burn a Koran Day” planned for this Saturday, September 11th. It truly shows how a message, any message good or bad, can spread in our world today. This is a 50 member “church” in a small town. Fifty members. How many millions of dollars will other churches (with far better messages) spend to get their message out, and much of the time with little effect. Our church, and many others like it, are helping to change lives locally, and all the way over in Africa, but that isn’t news of course.
Sometimes it is the “shock-and-awe” that makes a message go viral, and their message, Terry Jones’ message, has reached every corner of the earth at this point thanks to Hilary Clinton, Gen. David Petraeus, Attorney General Eric Holder, CNN, Fox News (Orlando), and every high profile person who mentions the Quran burning. Even the Vatican (multiple times) and the White House has weighed in, all giving semi-credibility to this tiny little “outreach center” and their “look at us burning” party.
Other churches have tried this, like the one in North Carolina who created a sign that said “The Koran Needs to be Flushed” and was later forced to leave the SBC. If you dig into “Dove World Outreach” you will see they are a “church” who is mainly focused on the “shock-and-awe” of Islam, not on teachings of Christ and Christianity.
What I haven’t read in any of these reports however is that no matter how much stupidity they claim as their own, the lack of any true sensical Christian message they offer, and the Adolph-Hitler-Natzi-like event this seems to be, this country has fought to allow these freedoms, even if we don’t like them. We don’t fight for only those freedoms we like, but for all freedoms within the law. What would dilute their message today is to heavily vet “Dove World”, Terry Jones, and their other fifty members. Their Facebook page alone is enough to discredit them, and their “about” information for their church shows no focus on any doctrinal beliefs of Christ, yet, today, shock-and-awe wins out.
I do not use the term “idiot” lightly. The dictionary definition says this is “someone who acts in a self-defeating or significantly counterproductive way”, and this is exactly what this group of 50 are doing, in many different aspects, but, in this country, they have the freedom to act like idiots, and others in turn have the freedom to condemn their actions as idiotic.
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Of course this is utter ridiculousness, but, that severely flawed logic seems to be what is prevailing in our culture today. This topic, which I usually just tend to leave alone, is overpowering the news, blogs, and culture lately (and is certainly nothing new under the sun, gay’s have been trying to justify their actions for millennia, see Why is Being Gay a Sin? for a civil discussion, Does Romans 1:26 Condemn Lesbians? for the absurd justification, and then an honest “Christian Perspective”, not forgetting to throw in Anne Rice who recently “quit” Christianity on Facebook [comments in pdf,] with Mark Driscoll’s response for the Washington Post, because she didn’t want to be “anti-gay anymore”, and the countless trash talk about Proposition 8 in California).
With Proposition 8 being overturned by the California courts, this seems destined for the Supreme Court (where they probably don’t want to deal with it either). The Boston Globe did a huge photo spread called Same Sex Marriage about a week ago and the responses to that article show why this, unfortunately, is THE topic of our day for Christians and the church. This discussion really wasn’t intended to launch into whether being gay is a sin or not, but to show the absurd arguments on both sides, which lack any careful thought.
This comment below is typical when reading trash talk on the news sites, and was made by someone who used the title “I Feel Drawn Towards Christianity, But I’m Gay”, which then received very complimentary responses, with little question for the lifestyle itself, or with sound argument for or against Christians and the homosexual lifestyle, and what scripture has to say about it’s effects and consequences.
I was surprised in a few ways, one by how openly acceptable the Christian responses were to this person. Not that they were accepting of the person, that’s great, but accepting of all aspects of the persons lifestyle, with not much need for contemplation (although some did suggest the person generically seek God’s direction). The other surprise was how utterly weak the reasoning and arguments were that were used on both sides.
I am certainly no expert on this topic whatsoever, and there are many who can soundly argue, on both sides, but those seem to be few and far between. No gay person I talk to (and many Christians for that matter) can give a sound theological argument, backed and based on scripture (since this person “feels drawn to Christianity”). The majority of the arguments put forth are emotional arguments, which are impossible to argue against in a rational manner. This is the argument that was given in this particular case:
The Bible also condemns divorce, the eating of pork and shrimp, and says that men shouldn’t sit on the same chairs as women who are menstruating.
The argument seems to lack even a surface level study of scripture, but most Christians responded with nothing other than an emotional response. As with much of Scripture in our culture today, these verses are taken so much out of context for the use of the argument for a homosexual lifestyle I am surprised they were made? I am not being mean or hateful in spirit here, but seriously, if you are gay, this is your argument?
- The Bible condemns the eating of pork.
- We eat pork today.
- Therefore, homosexuality is ok in the sight of the Lord.
There are so many things that could be addressed but at the basic level, in Mark 7:18-19 Jesus declared all foods to be clean, he didn’t declare all forms of sex to be clean. A better argument that perhaps shows a little more clearly why scripture says that the homosexual lifestyle is sinful in God’s eyes (and there are many things that are actually still seen as sinful in God’s eyes today, besides homosexuality), would be:
Point 1 on Sin:
- The Bible says sin is detestable in God’s eye’s.
- Therefore any continuous sinful act is not honoring to God.
Point 2 on Marriage:
- The Bible defines sex outside of marriage as sin.
- The Bible defines marriage as a monogamous union between a man and a woman.
- Therefore any nonrepentant sexual relationship of any kind outside marriage is sin in God’s eyes.
- Therefore a nonrepentant homosexual lifestyle is sin.
- Therefore a nonrepentant adulterous relationship is sin.
- Therefore any sexual relationship before marriage is sin.
I rarely see those “hateful” Christians everyone seems to refer to today that will acknowledge that the last three are equally sin, and equally condemned by scripture, but, that doesn’t mean that either is less or more acceptable to God as a way to live that honor’s God. I do not say that in a hateful manner but in an examination of scripture. I also recognize that many, or most, “gay Christians” will take issues with my argument above and defend it away in some manner. The statements above are all based on scripture and can all be backed theologically with sound argument.
Our culture as a whole is continually refusing to see objective truths in the Bible today. Whether we like to ignore them in our day or not, they still exist, there are still things that God says are good, and those things God says are bad, we just seem to have so much knowledge in everything that we have no knowledge in the actual truth anymore.
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Sometimes it really amazes me who is called a photographer and who isn’t. Photography takes on many many forms from journalist to fine artist and everything in between. When one photographer is able to garner the spotlight of the news for political purposes, such as what Jill Greenberg has done this week with her photo shoot with John McCain, purposely misleading her client, has done harm to the profession of photography for all photographers.
Outside of that, for someone to manipulate an image to the extent that Jill Greenberg has done, takes photography out of the work and inserts something else. One person put it on the news last night, what Jill Greeberg has done is political pornography, which is an insult to pornographers. I was so disgusted by the images she posted on her website and that were shown on Fox News and CNN that I don’t know how anyone can call her a photographer. In the end, at least the Atlantic Monthly has apologized for her representing their magazine, but they shouldn’t have to do that, a photographer should work in a professional manner, no matter what the subject.
The editor of The Atlantic Monthly said Monday he is sending a letter of apology to John McCain after a woman the magazine hired to photograph the Republican presidential nominee posted manipulated pictures from the photo shoot on her Web site. Photographer Jill Greenberg, who is vehemently anti-Republican and expressed glee that the photos would stir up conservative ire, took pictures of McCain for the cover of The Atlantic’s October issue.
Did anyone even notice that this woman is Canadian? There seem to be so many non-U.S. citizens that seem to want to influence the election, and these are the tactics I guess are needed to do just what she has done, but she has done a true dis-service to all photographers at this point. If you look at it from a blogging perspective or google, she has accomplished exactly what she wanted… to create a fire storm of media attention (and bloggers, see Jill Greenberg Is Not Afraid To Dump All Her Clients At Once, Low blow, The Atlantic should have Googled Jill Greenberg before hiring her, and Fallout From Jill Greenberg’s McCain Images just to name a few) to her disgusting manipulations of the photography profession.
What new mountains of paper work will form from her stunt that will have to be signed, released, political backgrounds checked and so on. Most photographers I have met would never behave in this manner at all, and I am glad she doesn’t represent me or any photographers that I know. So that is my rant on the business of photography. I have yet to find someone on either side of the political isle that is willing to defend her actions, I hope none arise.
