Their Blood Still Cries Out for Justice

I actually posted the blog related to the subject above on my "Hokie Wattles" blog, so I won't reproduce it here.

The recent police task force comments regarding DNA evidence in the Heidi Childs/David Metzler murders, along with the still-unsolved Morgan Harrington murder, prompted me to revisit the status of these crimes. Along with all of the pain they invoke.

Talking with God: Why is it so hard?

I was going to end the subject line of this blog with "Why is it so hard for me?", but a Google search convinced me that maybe I'm not the only one for which talking with God is a challenge. Anyway, this is an area of my spiritual life that I have left unchallenged for far too long, so I am taking it on and talking about it. Speaking of Google, I will say that it is a great place to find answers to many things political, physical, and educational; however as far as spiritual subjects go, it seems to deliver far more questions than answers.  But I digress...

I must first credit my pastor, William Attaway, with spurring this little "talking with God" quest; since he has been discussing the topic of prayer in a series of sermons focused on Mark Batterson's recent book, "The Circle Maker". With that background, let's proceed.

Prayer is hard for me as well, but as far as "Talking with God", that's only half the story—or half the conversation in this case. Before you talk to God, you have to listen. Stephen Covey provides some useful insight on this concept in his "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People"; specifically in Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood. God is a supreme being—oops, make that THE Supreme Being—so you don't approach him the same way you approach someone you encounter in a sports bar. God's part of the dialogue is found in a book that most of us are familiar with—The Bible. As I mentioned in a previous blog, I have been attempting to create a Bible-reading habit; this has really helped the "understanding" part. Over my (many) years, I have read many familiar portions of the Bible as part of topical studies, however, reading the Bible for the purpose of understanding the big picture of God is an entirely different, and much more difficult, endeavor. An initial foray into this subject quickly reveals what is required as a first step to understand God: a penitent and obedient heart. The Bible describes in detail what this entails if we take the time to read it and apply it, and it becomes clear that we must understand the nature of God before we approach Him in prayer. In the process, we also discover the reasons why prayer is so necessary.

In the beginning, man was created to obey and commune with God, and live a very satisfying life in the process. However, man disobeyed God, and the communication became a helluva lot (literally) more difficult, not because God turned away, but because man did, mostly out of shame. This works the same way today; if our interests and priorities pretty-much exclude God, we don't really want to hear what he has to say about them. Until we are aligned on that part of the exercise, then and only then can we be prepared to ask God to change our heart in such a way that we are receptive to further instruction and dialogue.

The 1977 George Burns/John Denver movie "Oh God!" is a nice little feel-good comedy about an all-accepting God who wants everyone to love everyone else and live happily ever after. The messages are not all bad, but they are humanistic in nature: God doesn't get involved in the details; He's got a lot on his plate. God is looking after us; we don't need to bother seeking "His will". Just treat your fellow-man justly, and you'll be fine. We don't need to spend a lot of time fretting about the details. Pastors (and apostles) exhorting us to commit ourselves to seeking to hear and understand the deeper meaning of His Word simply want to control our lives. Jesus was good; Mohammed was good (really?); Buddha was good; whatever.  If only it were that simple.

Any message that we don't need to get all wrapped up worrying about our relationship with God in order to be blessed by Him is misguided and dangerous. Prayer is important and necessary. Yes, God knows our heart, and He already knows our needs and concerns, but he wants us to talk to him about them. But not doing so sounds more "reasonable" and "rational", right? There are 7 billion people on the planet; what makes us think that any one of us is special and worthy of God's individual attention?  I struggle with this as well, because from human mindset, it kind of "makes sense". 

By relegating God's role to that of "prime mover" only, we don't have to question why bad things happen to good people, and vice-versa. "Stuff" happens; move on and get over it. This can lead to a life void of meaning and purpose. Who wants that. God wants us to care enough to ask, seek, and challenge Him for answers.

At the end of the day, it's a faith thing. Reading the Bible and praying daily (i.e., "without ceasing") is the only true path to fulfillment and happiness. In "The Circle Maker", Batterson challenges our conventional beliefs regarding prayer. He presents 12 "Prayer Maxims". Check them out. One of my favorites is "100% of the prayers you DON'T pray WON'T get answered".

My faith is still a little—no, make that very—rough around the edges, so I don't pretend to be there yet, but I'm working on it, and I encourage you to do the same.

What's Up With Academics?

Maybe it's just me making generalizations again, but there seems to be some correlation with one's being an academic, or maybe even an intellectual, and an exhibited hostility towards "conventional" religion.  I was going to call them "anti-religion", but everyone has some sort of religion, even if it is atheism or some "new-age" variety.  And of course I'm generalizing here, because C.S. Lewis, among many many other Christian apologists, pastors, and teachers, is quite intellectual (and I, for one, am grateful for that).

The teaching profession is a noble one, IMHO; but there seems to be a risk, temptation, etc. (call it what you will) among many of its members to disdain religion and to regard many religious adherents as "misguided" at best, and aments at worst.  I think many doctors run this risk as well; again, perhaps since many/most doctors have as much, or more, academic training than professors. Anyway, this subject arose as one of my many hair-brained hypotheses about how the world works. Rather than just inculcating these various theories into my behavioral operating system, I generally like to pulse the outside world for data to see if they might have any basis in fact before I run with them.


A Google search pointed me to the "Occupations" chapter of the Encyclopedia of Religion and Society.  This site references a couple articles from the sixties, "The Intellectual Subsociety Hypothesis" and "Academic Discipline as Predictive of Family Religiosty" (awesome titles!). And yes, it would have been nice to find more current articles, but I didn't want the simple act of writing this blog to become a science project.


The conclusion of the author of the web page, William Silverman, as well as that of the articles themselves, was that professors are generally "less involved" with religion than comparable middle-class Americans.  One theory is that an academic discipline and life on campus can provide a "way of life that substitutes for organized religion".  In point of fact, I could see this play out in my life as a student and a member of a fraternity at a secular university.  The campus was a sheltered little snow-globe that we lived in, and the fraternity was my support system (both good and bad). I drifted away from God (and "religion") during this period of my life; but God welcomed me back with open arms after I left the campus nursery and was thrown into the "real world".


I did not note any expressed anti-religious bias among my core engineering professors, but Silverman asserts that "professors in engineering, science, and professional schools are more involved in religion" than professors in "the core liberal arts field".  Correspondingly, the professor of one of my elective classes, "Plato's Republic", certainly did exhibit what I would describe as a "humanistic" bent in his teachings; so I have some empirical evidence to draw from as well.


A final assertion by Silverman is that professors in core liberal arts fields "find it easier to avoid middle-class lifestyles", compared to their colleagues in professional schools.  We see this play out in politics when members of liberal-arts academia are appointed to administrative positions within the government.  Sometimes you wonder if they grew up on the same planet as the rest of us...

Relentless

Okay, first let me assert that I am not humping Misty Edwards' "Relentless" CD (released in 2007).  However, her song, "You Won't Relent", included on that CD, prompted this post.

My exposure to this song was at a "Night of Worship" service at the church I attend (Southview Community Church in Herndon, VA).  One of the featured songs was "You Won't Relent". Although written by Misty Edwards, I believe that the Southview team performed the "Jesus Culture" rendition of the song.  I am not an expert on Christian rock or praise songs, but I am learning (primarily through exposure to music introduced by our worship pastor, Andy King, and performed by our praise band).

As a result, I was surprised -- okay, jazzed -- by the following lyrics and the vivid imagery that they invoked:

"You won’t relent
Until You have it all
My heart is Yours
I’ll set You as a seal upon my heart

As a seal upon my arm

For there is love that is as strong as death

Jealousy demanding as the grave

And many waters cannot quench this love

Come be the fire inside of me

Come be the flame upon my heart

Come be the fire inside of me
Until You and I are one”

Uhhh...wow!  These sound like song names or lyrics from Goth-Metal, Rock, Pop, and other secular bands. Here are a few actual song titles from these types of bands that the lyrics above brought to mind:

• "Entwined" - Lacuna Coil
• "Crucify My Heart" - Lullacry
• "Heart-Shaped Scars" - Lullacry
• "Don't Touch the Flame" - Lullacry
• "Love and Death" - Tokio Hotel
• Painted on My Heart" - The Cult
• "Like a Rose on the Grave of Love" - Xandria
• "Eternal Love" - Sayuri Sugawara (Final Fantasy XIII theme)
• "Sealed With a Kiss" - Bobby Vinton (okay, that's a real oldie)

Further investigation and research, including a few other blogs (PeculiarAlecsa and Brian Lusky), revealed that the core verses from the song originate from a passage in Song of Solomon in the Old Testament.  (Oops; I guess that I am not as familiar with the Bible as I should be; but then again, Song of Solomon is not a book that I gravitate towards.  I would preferr be reprimanded by Paul in one of his epistles or dig into a symbolical and eschatological journey with the apostle John in Revelation -- but I digress.)

Anyway, the Song of Solomon reference gave me pause to consider the song's inherent dual-nature as both a worship song and a love song. The fact that it is performed with male and female lead singers leads me to believe that this dichotomy was also the intent of the songwriter. With certitude, I don't know what Misty Edwards really crafted the piece to be, but it's a cool song. (There's a long build-up, but the music really cranks up around the 2-minute mark of the song.  If the link is no longer active, just look for the song on YouTube.com, iTunes, or an online music seller for an excerpt.)

Is it a story of two lovers inextricably bound "as one", jealous to "the grave", with a love as "strong as death"?  Or is it the story of a "relentless" God that again and again seeks uncompromising devotion from each of us, His creations? We should be relentless in the intensity of our responses to either of these scenario's, as they both lead to real happiness on earth and in heaven!

Leadership Lessons from Joshua in Canaan

In my renewed attempt to "read through" (okay, scan) the entire Bible in 90 days, I just finished reading the book of Joshua.  I observed a few precepts inherent in Joshua's behavior as he went through the process of allocating the recently-conquered Promised Land among the Twelve Tribes of Judah, and I wanted to share a few of them here.
(Props to the La Vista Church of Christ in Nebraska for allowing me to use the adjacent picture in my blog.)


Prior to discussing these precepts, I will list them:

1. Obey God;
2. Be fair in your dealings;
3. Be magnanimous in your dealings;
4. Listen before judging and acting;
5. Continue to follow God.

Firstly, Joshua obeyed God.  Joshua was one of only two spies who believed that God would enable the Israelites to conquer Canaan, aka, the Promised Land. Further, God provided specific instruction for them to execute His judgment on the Godless inhabitants there, specifically slaughtering virtually every man, woman, child, and even animal in the cities of the Canaanite nation. Although ancillary to this blog, I will explain why I think that this can be justified, or at least explained:  The people living in the land before the Israelites conquered it were participating in the following behaviors: sexual licentiousness; incest; child sacrifice; bestiality; robbing, raping and killing any strangers that ventured into their cities; and child and adult prostitution, to name a few.  In any case, God instructed the Israelites to execute his judgment as they conquered the land, and for the most part they were obedient in this matter and God rewarded them with victory.  Some remnants of the Canaanites were not slaughtered, but were instead put into forced labor.  Perhaps the sins of these people were less egregious than others.  Who knows.

Secondly, As Joshua divided the land, he did not take a bureaucratic approach.  Rather he thought carefully about how he apportioned the land to ensure that the allocations were equitable, rather than just equal.  And he distributed the land fairly. Although women were treated more-or-less as chattel at that time, Joshua provided for families that had no sons to still receive allotments for the daughters.

Furthermore, he was equitable, and even magnanimous in his dealings.  When a tribe complained about its allotment, he didn't just tell them "Too bad!"; he gave them options for expanding to get what they needed.

It is also recounted in the book of Joshua that due process and "listening" was accomplished before acting, or reacting.  Specifically, it was reported that some of the tribes had built an imposing altar, not unlike those erected previously by the pagan Canaanites.  So Joshua sent a priest and a 10-man "jury" to hear the accused's side of the story. Rather than to be used a working altar, it was constructed as a reminder and sign of the tribes' reliance and worship of the one true God.  This answer satisfied the priest and jury, and an injustice of falsely-applied punishment (or banishment) was avoided.


The conclusion of Joshua's remarks focused on the need to continue to rely on God, even in good times.  How often do we cry out to God in bad times, recommit ourselves to following Him, but then abandon Him as soon as our ship is righted?  


For me, it happens all to often.

So What's This Blog About?

I got inspired to fire up this blog as part of a sermon series that my pastor is starting related to the critical need for consistent and persistent prayer and Bible study in a Christian's life.  Although I do spend time during the week editing and coding Bible-related lesson material for Wes Husted's Daniel 222.com web site, I do not spend nearly enough time in personal prayer and Bible study beyond this endeavor.

In terms of my own spiritual profile, I would describe it as "a little rough around the edges"; ergo, the title of this blog. More than a few people might describe my personality this way as well, but so be it. I am what I am.


I may be rationalizing a little, but I expect that at the end of the day, most of us are a little rough around the edges in certain parts of our lives. For some folks, like me, the rough edges are evident; others may do a better job of hiding, or sheathing, their edges. But under the right (or wrong) circumstances, these edges will ultimately appear. 


Additionally, each person's rough edges are relative to how they comport their lives in general.  For example, some people are just plain rough at their core, so their "edges" will be even rougher, and moreover, "jagged".  Others may live their lives with such integrity, that you may not be able to discern any roughness on their edges with the naked eye, but only through the lens of a spouse or close friend or family member.


I am prefacing my blog this way to indicate that, as a Christian, I am still very much a work in progress. So the observations and opinions that I espouse in this forum may not be politically correct, and may, at times, not even be spiritually correct. In the case of the latter, and if I am aware of it, I will caveat my comments as such (apologetically). In the cases where I may think that I am speaking from a spiritually sound basis, but in reality I am not; please feel free to call me on it. As "iron sharpens iron", in other words. Maybe we can help each other. (Proverbs 27:17) 


I am looking forward to seeing where this discourse leads.  It might be just me and God reading this thing, but that's enough for me.


I wish you Godspeed as you journey through this earthly life.