"No Easy Answers" William Lane Craig

Now that I'm out of school for the summer, I'll try to post a few blogs.

Last winter, I finished reading "No Easy Answers", a book by William Lane Craig - the famous apologist.
His introduction in a plea for Christains to work at being thinkers; and he speaks to some of the anti-intellectualism he notices in some Christian and secular circles.

His book is about doubt, failure, and suffering. For each area, he goes beyond the glib "easy" answers and tries to take the thing seriously and then do his best to provide guidance and logic in each area.

His first chapter is on "Doubt". When doubts arise, says Craig, "recognize that your struggle is not unique...that doubt is never a purely intellectual problem" (p. 31) Rather, there is a spiritual battle for our minds and souls that will affect us in this area. "Second," Craig continues, "when doubts arise keep in mind the proper relationship between faith and reason." (p. 33) There is a great section in here where he discusses Martin Luther's division of reason into 2 catergories: "magisterial" use of reason, and "ministerial" use of reason. The first seeks to be above everything, handing down judgments like a magistrate would. The second uses reason, but submits to and serves God's truth. Craig acknowledges that we may have to live with some unanswered questions; but that one is able to do so victoriously. Third, Craig recommends that we keep in mind the frailty of our own limited intellect. And fourthly, that we pursue our doubts into the ground.

He has a chapter on unanswered prayer which is really quite good. He delves into the different biblical reasons for unanswered prayers, and also sort of refutes the super-spiritual arguments made about unanswered prayer. For example, one night a man was in a hospital dying and people stayed up all night praying that he would make it out of the hospital. When he died the next morning, the pastor said to the grieving people, "well, we asked that God would take him out of this hospital and I guess God answered our prayers." Here is Craig's response to that story: "Well, this sort of rationalization strikes me as basically dishonest. It was clear that the intent of our prayers the night before was that God would heal the man. Rationalizing away a negative answer to prayer is to view God as a great genie from Aladin's lamp who fulfills the technical language of our requests but misses the intents altogether, so that we wind up with something totally different from what we requested. That is not the God of the Bible. Why not be honest and admit that God just did not answer the prayer?" (p.46)


He then has 4 chapters on failure, hell and other forms of suffering which cause people to question God. He calls us to develop a theology of suffering and of failure which may include the fact that we are called to persevere even when we don't have all the answers. He looks to God's view of success and failure as opposed to ours = In 1 Cor. 13, it says that a person may do everything right, may be full of wisdom and power and faith, but if they don't have love it's worthless. Giving love is what God considers success. Furthermore, while many people view suffering in this life as a primary reason to doubt God - it is actually something that shows the fingerprint of God in our souls. Why are we so morally outraged about suffering? Only because we were built in the image of a moral God. And He offers the solution to suffering too. As Craig concludes, "So, paradoxically, even though the problem of evil is the greatest objection to the existence of God, at the end of the day God is the only solution to the problem of evil. If God does not exist, then we are lost without hope in a life filled with gratuitous and unredeemed suffering." (p.103) He brings up an example (one from Packer) of being in a signal box which resonated exactly with something I thought about in a time of suffering. The signal box is a place up high above the train tracks which sends certain trains forward and stops other trains and makes them wait. He writes, "The Christian who wants to know why God permits every failure in his life is asking, Packer says, to be in God's signal box, and yet, for better or for worse, we just don't have access to it. Therefore, it is pointless to torture ourselves about why God permitted this or that disaster to come into our lives. But, although we don't always discern or comprehend God's providential design, we can still learn from our failures. As Lutzer says, 'It isn't necessary to know why God sent us the misfortune in order to profit from it.'" Craig also uses a quote from Nixon that I really liked, though it was very simple. After Nixon was despised by everyone in the country, he kept plugging ahead and eventually became a respected statesman who was often on shows and quoted in papers. Time did a famous article on Nixon called, "He's back!" and they asked him how he won back the favor of the country. He said, "You're never through when you fail. You're only through when you quit." (p.69)

 

MLK jr. quotes for today's holiday

I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

I submit to you that if a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

If we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover those precious values - that all reality hinges on moral foundations and that all reality has spiritual control.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'
Martin Luther King, Jr.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

We must use time creatively.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

I submit to you that if a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Spiritual Confidence

So, some of you may have read my new book - if you have read some or all of it, and would be willing to go to Amazon and leave a review - it would be much appreciated! thanks guys.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1935920049/ref=cm_cr_mts_prod_img 

Water Festival Tragedy - in Cambodia

 As we arrived at the water festival, there were all sorts of snacks and toys and decorations. You could tell that everyone in the city from the very young to the very old were enjoying themselves. Ryan looked up information about the water festival online and discovered that
"Bon Om Thook (Khmer) n), the Khmer Water Festival, is a Cambodian festival celebrated in November. Every town and province joins in with the festival but the biggest celebrations take place in Phnom Penh. For three days, workers from every province join with the city's residents to celebrate by night and day.
The festival lasts for three days, and commemorates the end of the country's rainy season,^[1] as well as the reversal of flow of the Tonle Sap River.^[2] It includes boat races and concerts, and attracts several million people each year... The Tonlé Sap is unusual for two reasons: its flow changes direction twice a year, and the portion that forms the lake expands and shrinks dramatically with the seasons. From November to May, Cambodia's dry season, the Tonlé Sap drains into the Mekong River at Phnom Penh. However, when the year's heavy rains begin in June, the Tonlé Sap backs up to form an enormous lake." - Wikipedia
This is different from the other water festivals in southeast Asia which commemorate the new year.

 The streets were packed with people - mostly young people.

 We saw the traditional boat races. This tradition is an ancient one.

 People were flooding the area around the river to watch the boat races; There they said that over 1 million people typically attend this festival.

 We headed down by the palace where the king of Cambodia lives. The people really love their king, although they do make jokes about him being single and enjoying ballet.

 To our surprise, army and police officials began to line up - and a few moments later the king himself came to join in the fun at the water festival. Jayne Anne McKewin was thrilled to see the king! She always was a bit starstruck by him.

 Kids were everywhere - playing with small tires, small fish-shaped boats, they were digging in the sand and running around - sometimes holding a younger sibling on their hip.

 This is photographic evidence that Jayne Anne saw the king. And that was our water festival experience - until later when we went to the beach and heard through the grapevine about the tragic events of 11/22/10. "At least 349 people were killed and hundreds injured in a stampede in Cambodia that broke out while thousands were celebrating a water festival on an island in a river in Phnom Penh late on 22 November 2010." - http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-celebrations-turn-deadly-in-cambodia/20101123.htm
The people we were staying with were all horrified - They felt the way Americans did on 9/11 - but it was much closer to home for them. The population of the entire country is less than 15 million and the entire country is only about twice the size of Ohio.

 This is the bridge where the stampede took place. We went to see it after we arrived back in phnom penh from the beach.

 These golden papers were littered everywhere around the scene - I'm not entirely sure of their significance.

 The vendors came with their wares as the mourning people congregated in the area.

 There was caution tape around the scene and monks visiting. Family members and friends gathered together in a somber mass around the river. Many people were crying or praying.

Some people (maybe some of the monks?) spread a rumor that was going through the city. People believed that there was an evil spirit that was like a dragon and killed people and might kill again if the spirit was not appeased. Additionally, it was said that only bananas would appease this specific spirit - so demand for bananas skyrocketed raising the price to $10 a bunch. The equivalent of a month's wages for some. Then the expensive bananas were left out in shrines such as this one as an offering to the spirit.
It was pretty wild and sobering to experience this national tragedy firsthand. I felt like it would be good to share some of the photos with others who might be interested in what went on there.

"First They Killed My Father" by Loung Ung

A biography about a child survivor of the genocide in Cambodia; this book is haunting and hard not to read in one sitting. I read it in two sittings; but in less than 24 hours. And it was in my dreams and thoughts for many days afterward. Is it worth reading? Absolutely.
From 1975 to 1979, 2 million people were killed under the Khmer Rouge regime, led by Pol Pot. This book gives a pretty graphic snapshot into that time. It is told through the eyes of the main character and biographer, Loung. The story starts when she's 5 years old and the Khmer Rouge evacuate the capital city of Cambodia. Later, there is a scene of her in a camp by herself - taking care of herself, walking the road alone to find her mother - and she's 7 years old; the age of my daughter Lexi.
Anyway, I won't tell the whole story, and it isn't the sort of book you take quotes from, but I'll share a short passage. The context for this passage is that a neighbor boy has just died of starvation.
"The two girls and Chong have taken a turn for the worse since the death of the boy. A few days after his death, his two sisters decided to go to the forest and look for food by themselves. They were so hungry they ate mushrooms that turned out to be poisonous. After they died, Chong ran hysterically over to our house. "They were shaking all over! They kept calling me to help them, and I couldn't! They kept crying. They didn't even know what happened to them!" Ma catches Chong in her arms as she falls to her knees.
"They are resting now. Don't worry, they are sleeping." Ma holds Chong in her arms.
"They turned all white, the hair on their bodies stood up and blood came out of my babies' pores! My babies shook and cried for me to help them, for me to take their pain away. I couldn't do anything for them. They rolled on the ground screaming in pain, asking me to make it stop. I tried to hold on to them, but I wasn't strong enough. I watched them die! I watched them die! They died crying for me, but I couldn't help them." Chong sobs uncontrollably, sliding to the floor and lays her head in Ma's lap.
"There is nothing we can do now. They are resting." Ma strokes Chong's arm, trying to soothe her pain. But no one could save her from the pain; she cries and howls. She reached her hands into her shirt to massage her chest as if trying to exorcise the pain from her heart.
Standing beside Ma, I watch the girls being buried near their house. I cannot see their bodies, but earlier two villagers had brought out two small bundles wrapped in old black clothes. The bundles looked so small that it was hard to imagine that they were once the girls I knew. I wonder if the Angkar cares that they are dead. I remember when we first arrived at Ro Leap, the chief told us that the Angkar would take care of us and would provide us with everything we need. I guess the Angkar doesn't understand that we need to eat." p.86

laying a foundation - from haggai

Last night I heard that someone used an analogy from Haggai to describe a danger in adult work. In Haggai, the prophet speaks out against people who leave the house of God in ruins, yet work hard to make their own paneled houses beautiful. The idea for the current day principle/application would be to build up God's house and not just our own households.
Today, I decided to read Haggai - and the ideas were really thought-provoking and encouraging. I was especially struck by the following verses:
"The word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, "Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? Now therefore, consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough. You drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes...Because My house lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house...Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts...Since the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid, consider: Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you." (Haggai 1:3-6, 9b, 2:4b, 3:18b-19) 

I'm not saying that we can reach a magical day where the Lord begins blessing us more - to say that this book is teaching that would mean I was employing terrible hermeneutics. But, I do think that there is a universal truth principle to be gleaned from this book. We must not give up on doing the Lord's work. We can't be satisfied with simply building and feathering our own little nests. I think this principle is especially good for those in our sphere - since we are new and "laying a foundation" that will hopefully benefit many future people.
Love you guys! Have a great holiday - and don't forget spiritual goals in your New Year's planning. xxoo

"Members of One Another" by Dennis McCallum

So, my dad's new book is out! I've read and re-read the book through the pre-published phases, but I still look forward to reading through the finished work. The sub-title "How to Build a Biblical Ethos into Your Church" describes the goal of the book - it's an argument for NT style church as well as a practical guidebook on how to do church. Exciting to have this book to refer people to!

This book is not for the weak to read - it is over 300 pages, and it covers a lot. But, if you've ever had anyone ask you about why Xenos seems like such a weird church, this book would make an excellent read; it would make for a great gift too. It's long, but it's easy to read and get into.

The weird/funny thing I have to mention is that it has part of a naked guy on the front cover. That, and it's called "Members" - there are some jokes in the making there to be sure.

I do plan to write up a complete review once I finish reading the book again. It may be a while though, because I am hoping to read through this with a friend - and those reads always tend to be slower and more thoughtful. But, I wanted to help get the word out there so everyone will run out and pick up their copies this week and get extras for xmas presents too.