Saturday started with work highlighted by a most beautiful view of the city: preparing an exam for my Portland students, doing a bunch of email (still trying to get used to doing this off line as much as possible) but mostly working on final prep for my sermon for Sunday. I asked Rudolphe what I should preach on and he jokingly told me to preach that Christians should come to church! But that dropped me into Acts 4, Peter and John’s encounter with the officials and prayer and the response of the church: They praised and prayed, praying specifically for (#1) boldness to speak the Word with boldness and (#2) to do great miracles. I realized that we don’t pray either of these. God’s answer was to shake the place – as Mt. Sinai and Isaiah’s Temple were shaken – such that they were filled with the Spirit, spoke boldly (#1) and shared everything so that there was no need among them (#2). Interesting answer to #2. The healings come but the immediate result was the sharing. Our individualism and self-protection makes this a most unlikely outcome in the modern church. I wonder what would happen if we really prayed these prayers.

After a good nap, we went to fellowship with some long time workers in this area. He came in the taxi to fetch us and later to return us. Like the taxi driver we were deeply touched by his hospitality. The afternoon and evening was spent sharing stories and talking theology/life. While I can’t share specifics because of security, some lessons had me spending a lot of prayer time in the night.

In the Middle East, self is a corporate concept. One never thinks of himself other than as part of a family/clan. So when Jesus told his disciples to change families (Matt. 12:48-50) He was going to the core. When He called us to hate father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, even our own life to be His disciple (Luke 14:26), it feels like hyperbole. But is it? It made me think of the number of American missionaries who leave the field to take care of family and are usually congratulated by me and the church when they do it.

He showed us that prayer is typically done with eyes open, looking at the others, and speaking blessing on them in the name of Jesus. The others respond with unison “Amen” pronounced in the Arabic way, “Omeen.” And it goes on for a long time. It made sense of many of the biblical prayers so that will become a part of my life.

I continue to be troubled by the richness of the American church in light of the radical call of Jesus and the example of these folk who live with the poorest of the poor to bring blessing to them. Jesus is a most uncomfortable figure. . . . but He is the LORD of glory come to live among us to show us the Father, how to live a blessed life and bring us all the family blessings of that life.

The internet keeps showing me interesting stuff. Click on the picture to enlarge it and note the right side of the Yahoo home page. Would that ever happen in the USA?

What a great day to start our time in Beirut. Jet lag was a defeated enemy for us both! We shared our first meal with Paul Sanders. He’s a long time friend and the fellow who introduced me to Arab Baptist Theological Seminary (here) back in 2002. He was provost then and working to promote theological education through out the Arabic and French speaking world. Now he’s turned the ABTS reins over to Elie Haddad who is taking it to an even higher level. They are both working with the Teach/Learn project which will deliver state of the art theological/pastoral training to seminaries and churches throughout the Arabic speaking world using satellite technology. It’s ironic that the very best in web based learning may be in Arabic!

Speaking of internet, getting on here is a bit of an adventure. I’m very used to unlimited time but here it is sold by the hour. So I’m careful to log on/log off (does that sound like Mr. Miyagi?). Even more challenging is that they know where I am! Yahoo has been my home page for a long time. I thought it knew me. But alas, try as I might, it always went to this screen. I asked several people for help and Elie found the button that switches the display to English. But there’s no connecting with my Portland page from Beirut.

After chapel (with simultaneous translation headsets) and a tour of the ABTS facilities, we had lunch with Alexy Abou Rjeilly, one of my long time friends, to catch up on her life. We have talked about many things over the years including doing some counseling with her and her former fiancé. I am very glad that she is now happily engaged to Joe. They will be married in September. Both are involved in the church I will preach in on Sunday.

Rola Salloum is the most delightful librarian you would ever want to meet and also a part of Strongholds, an outstanding Christian band (here). I was disappointed to find out that they are giving a concert shortly after we leave. But Rola invited us to their evening rehearsal in the wonderful new ABTS auditorium, so Sherry and I went down to join the fun. Though it was definitely a rehearsal the atmosphere of praise in their music was deeply moving. I was sad when we had to head up to bed.

Lunch was with Scot Keranen, a former student who is working with Heart for Lebanon, an agency started after the 2006 Lebanon-Israel war to bring aid to some very tragic situations. Now they are also ministering to refugees from the civil war in Syria. We went up the hill to a place where he said you can get American coffee. It wasn’t true! But we had a good time reviewing ministry, politics, and the state of the Evangelical church and next generation Christians. Sherry was impressed with the price of pizza.

Finally, can you identify Sherry’s mystery item?

Coming back to Beirut after six years is a joy. There are many familiar sites like the Grand Mosque in downtown. Our driver, father of one of my former students, told us that land in this area runs about $25,000 per square meter and small apartments will run $5,000,000. This is where the oil rich people live.

Tucked away among such expensive buildings are ones that are the heritage of the twenty year civil war. This one is on the dividing line between the warring factions. It is nice that many of the destroyed buildings have been rebuilt. The civil war in Syria is just a few miles away and whole neighborhoods are being destroyed. The people here in Lebanon are grateful that their country is spared this time.

Coming up the hill and turning into the seminary drive brought back many memories of great times with friends here, staff and students alike. Most are gone to other places now. Some like Hala, who translated for me in my other visits, are in the USA or Canada. Others are in ministries around the Arab speaking world. Iskandar and Mary are in Kartoum where he is rector of the Anglican Cathedral. One other is in one of the war zones in Syria. Who knows what will happen to him and the church.

Our 20 hours in transit was very long since the most I do is sink into short periods of unconsciousness. I have deep envy for those who sleep on airplanes. Wish I knew specifics about most marvelous castle we flew over as we landed at London’s Heathrow. We had a short turn around and a very long walk there. Sherry was glad for her new knees, but pretty fatigued when we got to our gate. The “closing” notice confirmed the need for maximum pace.

I did laugh out loud at what awaited us as we exited the Beirut airport:

I preached the first of two apocalyptic sermons at Foothills Church in Stayton. It was on Matthew 24, done on the 10th anniversary of 9/11! Just before I left to preach the sermon, I read DA Carson’s New Bible Commentary which gave me a different and better perspective on 24:29-35. Now, mind you, this is in the final moments of getting everything into my head, days after the Power Point and sermon outline went in. And now a key interpretation changes!

Matthew 24 is Jesus answering the disciples questions: when will the Temple be destroyed and what will be the signs of Your coming? Jesus begins by telling them there will be many terrors — false messiahs, wars, hostilities, famines, earthquakes – but don’t give in to deception or fear for that sort of thing will typify the whole time. It is not the end of the age or the failure of Jesus (though it may be the failure of the religion, Christianity). In all these things, the gospel will be proclaimed and the kingdom will be real even if like yeast. Then He gives signs of the destruction of the Temple – the arrival of the abomination which turns out to be Titus. There are recognizable signs of this and Christians are warned to get out of town, which they did in 66 AD. Those are the days of terrible tribulation.

I thought verse 29 began speaking of the second question, the coming of Jesus with cosmic signs, leading up to “this generation will not pass away before all these things happen.” This is very difficult since Jesus did not come back in that generation. But Carson took me to what I have dedicated myself to: interpret NT symbols by how they are used in the OT. He observes that the language of sun darkening and stars falling comes from Isaiah 13 and 34. There it speaks of the fall of Babylon not the end of the times. The Son of Man language of v. 30 is from Daniel 7 where it is anointing of Messiah rather than the second coming of Messiah. Using that perspective means that the section from 29-35 is speaking to the change from God meeting humans at the Jerusalem Temple to the Him meeting us in One greater than the Temple, i.e., Jesus. The long promised New Covenant is inaugurated, Messiah is anointed King and Messiah, and the time of the Jerusalem Temple is ended. The language uses powerful images from the OT to help us see that change which is typified by the destruction of the Temple is “cosmic”!

That means the generation of verse 34 is the people listening to Him as He speaks the prophecy. It is about the time of the destruction of the Temple. There are signs of that event which actually comes less than 35 years later, just as Jesus said.

Verse 36 begins speaking of the second coming, referred to specifically as the parousia in verse 37. Unlike the destruction of the Temple, there are no signs of that event. Even Jesus, in His incarnate state where He has laid aside the use of His divine powers to live as a perfectly Spirit filled human, does not know. It is like a thief in the night. We are ready not because we have some magic decoder ring to predict the date, but because we are doing the consistent work of living and declaring the reality of the kingdom.

The second is on the whole book of Revelation in a single sermon. A bit of a task.

When Rob Bell speaks you have to listen. He is so compelling, so likeable, so confident. He has a contagious love for Jesus. He uses images, and metaphors, and ideas with incredible dexterity. So when he poetically probes questions about hell, we question too. He rightly wonders about people who feel they must declare proudly and noisily that Gandhi is in hell. He does a great job of deconstructing the hellfire and brimstone people, ones who see God getting glory out of people burning in hell. There are frustratingly many of these, though it’s much less common in the evangelicals associated with Western Seminary or the churches I minister in.

He outlines his view: At the end of the age, God’s love overcomes every objection and everyone comes to know and accept Jesus. This is not the “all roads lead to God” type of universalism, but a Christian universalism with salvation only through the name of Jesus. He cites passages like Philippians 2:10 and Colossians 1:20.

Bell centers on the deep deep love of God. Ironically this is one of his weaker spots. When he insists, “love wins,” he makes God more like the dominating husband demanding his own way than the triune God of the Bible, the God who will let you choose, the one who will let you love someone else. The God of the Bible is something like a jilted husband, grieving for His lost covenant partner. Bell’s God largely does a pass on the anger that love raises up when confronted with persistent sin and evil, the God who is like an outraged father whose daughter has been abused. Forgiveness and reconciliation come only at great expense and are easily derailed through one party’s resistance.

He asks a good question: Does God want all to be saved? My answer is absolutely. The God who seeks Adam and Eve out after their sin seeks everyone. John 3:16, 1 Timothy 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9 are very clear. Then he asks does God get what he wants? My synthesis of the biblical data says He does not. God draws (John 12:32), convicts (John 16:8-11) and leads (Rom. 2:4-11) every human being toward His kindness. Anyone who responds to this drawing will find a God who initiates in grace, eager to reveal Messiah Jesus through various means. Those who like Jesus and want to be like Him and with Him doing the cool things He likes to do will be there and do that forever.

But He also allows the many of the ones He draws to persist in their demand to run their own lives as they see fit — often for very bad reasons — and reject His love. if you don’t like doing the things Jesus does, then you get to live in a place we call hell. Bell correctly says that there are many Middle Ages pictures of hell that are very non-biblical and shreds them. But he also shreds the fact of the self centeredness that makes people reject the self-giving way of Jesus. He shreds the biblical concept of sin, which Luther termed curvatus in se, bent in on self. This means separation from God for all and punishment for evil doers.

I believe there are different levels of hell. Matt. 11:20ff is one place this is clear. So for many, hell is the place of ultimate selfishness after God gives them over (Rom. 1:24ff) to their own desires, an ultimately self-centered place they think they want. But that’s a very alone existence, completely absent of the self-giving love of God. For evildoers, especially those guilty of spiritual evil, that will be a place of terrible punishment. It will be existence – not living – under His curse, in the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. (Mat 25:41)

What really hacks me is that Bell actually changes the very text of Scripture to fit his view (Matt 25:46; details below for those who want specifics). He does it without any justification or even telling us that he’s doing it. And then he accuses people who follow the text of reading foreign concepts into the text. Astounding. Absolutely astounding. And completely unacceptable.

The other big scale issue is that he has virtually no gospel left. As he deconstructs the whacked gospel of the hell fire and brimstone preachers, he makes the Bible seem as if there’s just total confusion and then never says what Jesus’ provision is nor what our response should be. His discussion bypasses the whole issue of sin and stays quite vague about what Jesus accomplished on the Cross. Not good.

Finally he begins his book with Gandhi because most people think him a super good guy and therefore must be headed to heaven. Anyone who says he’s in hell obviously is a bigoted fundamentalist. But Gandhi investigated Jesus and rejected Him, choosing to be a Hindu and worship the Hindu gods. His form of non-violence led to a civil war in which vast numbers were injured and killed. The division and hatred continue to this day. Now contrast Gandhi with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King investigated Jesus and embraced Him. His revolution was largely blood free and the reconciliation which he initiated, though incomplete, continues to this day.

What should we do with hell? Denying it’s existence is like denying that I have cancer. I appreciate Mark Driscoll’s sermon on Luke 16. I resonate deeply with his tears at the thought of people going to hell and his passion to spread the old old story of Jesus and His love given freely so they can find life. Then it will be true that LOVE WINS.

The best review of Love Wins is by Ben Witherington of Asbury Seminary does a chapter by chapter review. The links are here:

There is a chronology of written and video reviews on Resurgence.com

I particularly like John Mark Reynolds of the Torrey Honors Institute: here: .

Now some details: According to every English translation of Matthew 25:46 – Jewish , Catholic, mainline, and evangelical – Jesus says that goats go into eternal punishment. Anyone who goes against every single translation has to give really good reason for it. Let’s take a look. In Greek the words are aion
ion kolasis. No matter what lexicon you select, the only translation is “eternal punishment” or words with the same meaning. But Bell changes the text to aion kolazo. Rather than an adjective modifying a noun, it’s two nouns which really makes no sense. He has to add “of” to make it work. Why does he do that? There are no textual variants, no manuscript evidence, no scholarly questions behind the change; just Bell’s chutzpah that wants to update Jesus. What’s the significance? If you look up the changed words in Bauer, Denker, Arndt & Gingrich, the standard Bible era lexicon, the meaning will still be “eternal punishment.” But if we go to Liddell & Scott, the standard lexicon of classic Greek, the language of philosophers like Plato and Aristotle from some 400 years prior to the biblical era, you can find a rare meaning, “prune.” So Bell constructs the meaning “a period of pruning.” But if the word modifying punishment (or pruning) is for a period of time that ends, then it has to have the same meaning when it modifies life. Does Bell really believe our life with God comes to an end after a while? The big offense here is that he never mentions the fact that he changes the biblical words. And then he accuses people who follow the Jesus’ words of reading categories and concepts into the phrase that aren’t there.

1. Speed is key. Lasting perceptions are set in the first 24-48 hours.

2. People are self-interested. They want to know how the company is acting to protect them from risk; this includes disclosure of the risks.

3. People are not rational. Facts don’t dominate perceptions, emotions do. Facts are necessary, but not sufficient, when resolving a crisis.

4. Communications without concern will fall on deaf ears. Recognize and acknowledge the human dimension of the problem. Defending company honor is not the first priority in the midst of a crisis.

5. Credible third parties can be your best allies.

6. People know zero-risk is a myth. Still, they want options and controls available to them, and they need information to make risk-benefit judgments.

7. Every action elicits a reaction. Constant monitoring of the situation is essential to keeping control.

8. The symbolism of a company leader being involved and appearing in control is critical to successful crisis communications.

9. Clear, positive, decisive actions are required to convince audiences that the company is responsive and in control.

10. Consistent communications are important. Determine your position and stick to it. If you must change your position, be prepared to explain why.

This is from Waggner Edstrom, an influential PR Company

Sherry and I celebrated our 43rd anniversary in very subdued way. We’d planned a trip to Bend to hang out for a time for just us, but that all fell through. Sherry was just in her second day home from the hospital following her second knee replacement. We thought we’d have at least six weeks notice, but there was a cancellation so we took it. That meant a quick change of schedule and arranging for the surgery. We wondered if their surgical gowns would be green since it was St. Patrick’s Day. But all was ordinary. Surgery went well and the pain management was excellent so Sherry came home in good spirits, though the expectation of many weeks of painful recovery is never a good prospect. She has her first physical therapy appointment today and we are looking forward to getting her bruising assessed. There’s a lot more this time and it concerns us.

I had cataract surgery a couple of weeks before Sherry’s surgery. They poked a hole in my cornea, blasted the old cloudy lens with ultrasound, sucked it out, put in a new carefully built plastic lens, smoothed everything out and were done in 8 minutes. Amazing. Now I see very clearly, so much so that I can see the ‘”brown tone” in my other eye which also has a cataract, the doctor says.

Only a few years ago neither of these could have happened and in much of the world they still can’t happen. I just don’t know what to make of that. The advances in health care are astounding but very expensive so it goes with riches. the problems with justice plague my mind, but I have no idea what do about it.

The Japanese earthquake and tsunami also hit close to home. My friend Shigeru and Atsuko Suzuki live there as does the family of one of Donn and Susan’s foreign exchange students. I’ve read John Piper saying the decisive cause is the hand of God (article here) and incline to David Bentley Hart saying this is the work of the enemy whom Jesus came to destroy (article here). In his book, Suffering and the Sovereignty of God, Piper says “the ultimate reason that suffering exists in the universe is so that Christ might display the greatness of the glory of the grace of God by suffering in himself to overcome our suffering. The suffering of the utterly innocent and infinitely holy Son of God in the place of utterly undeserving sinners to bring us to everlasting joy is the great display of the glory of God’s grace that ever was, or ever could be.” I fully agree that the eternal Son of God entered into our suffering, taking its worst to display the glory of His grace and bring us His joy. But I can’t see in Bible that being the reason for suffering. The statement in Bible is that He came to condemn the prince of this world (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11), to destroy the last enemy, death (1 Cor. 15:26; 54-56). I’m more with Hart, believing “For while Christ takes the suffering of his creatures up into his own, it is not because he or they had need of suffering, but because he would not abandon his creatures to the grave. And while we know that the victory over evil and death has been won, we know also that it is a victory yet to come, and that creation therefore, as Paul says, groans in expectation of the glory that will one day be revealed. Until then, the world remains a place of struggle between light and darkness, truth and falsehood, life and death; and, in such a world, our portion is charity.” On that point we all agree: Evil is evil and the Christian response is to help. 

A new report just came out from the Centers for Disease Control (Report here) and once again confirms the biblical view of sexuality. Russ Douthat has a summary in his NY Times op ed here. Most important is that people who follow a biblical view of sexuality are the most happy folk. Douthat says that another study confirms this:

. . . two sociologists, Mark Regnerus and Jeremy Uecker, in their recent book, “Premarital Sex in America.” Their research, which looks at sexual behavior among contemporary young adults, finds a significant correlation between sexual restraint and emotional well-being, between monogamy and happiness — and between promiscuity and depression.

This correlation is much stronger for women than for men. Female emotional well-being seems to be tightly bound to sexual stability — which may help explain why overall female happiness has actually drifted downward since the sexual revolution.

Among the young people Regnerus and Uecker studied, the happiest women were those with a current sexual partner and only one or two partners in their lifetime. Virgins were almost as happy, though not quite, and then a young woman’s likelihood of depression rose steadily as her number of partners climbed and the present stability of her sex life diminished.

The point isn’t that we should aspire to some Arcadia of perfect chastity. Rather, it’s that a high sexual ideal can shape how quickly and casually people pair off, even when they aren’t living up to its exacting demands. The ultimate goal is a sexual culture that makes it easier for young people to achieve romantic happiness — by encouraging them to wait a little longer, choose more carefully and judge their sex lives against a strong moral standard.

The other thing from the study is that American sexual behavior is actually improving: In 2002 22 percent of Americans ages 15-24 were virgin. But in 2008 that number rose to 28%. That’s still a depressingly small number, but it is an encouraging direction.

So the church has a lot of work to do.

We had a great time at the Live Nativity at Living Hope Church in Vancouver. You can get a introduction in this YouTube video: They did 13 services, packing the building each time. Attendance totaled 14,000 .  Close to 1800 made decisions for Jesus, John Bishop, the pastor and my friend, reported. It highlighted Curley the Camel, (pictures here), Danny the donkey, three selfish goats, sheep, a cow, Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus (yes, live), shepherds, wise men and all the rest.

When I hear of this level of response to accept Jesus, I’m a bit suspicious. I do hail from Missouri, after all. We were there Thursday night, the night before Christmas Eve. The place was packed before the 7 pm start time. The show was amazing even if Danny the Donkey kept kicking the floor, much to John’s frustration (turned out he just wanted some attention). The close came to think of the nails that would pierce the baby’s hands and John gave the invitation to pray with him. I wondered what would happen. I was astounded to hear many voices around me praying the prayer aloud along with John.  I looked and there was quite a variety of people, young and old, traditional and hip. They were encouraged to stop by the welcome table and pick up a special Bible with a “what’s next” packet. There were people all over who were ready to talk with those who prayed.

Sherry and Cyndee needed to stop by the restroom, so I was standing beside the wall of the food court (Living Hope met in Vancouver Mall, by the way). As I was watching people, I noticed a twenty something woman nearby. When I looked back a bit later, I noticed that she was pulling something out of her bag. It was one of the Living Hope Bibles. So I went over to her and asked if she’d been at the service. The smile erupted, “O, wasn’t it wonderful!” I asked about the Bible and if she’d come in contact with Jesus. Her smile grew bigger. “No, I did that last year,” she laughed. “I got the Bible for my Dad. He’s the most stubborn man in the world and he’s there right now trying to figure out if he can receive Jesus!” As we talked her boyfriend came out. He came from a strong Christian home but her home had no religion of any kind. We talked of her conversion in the 2009 Nativity service and her deep desire that her Dad would come in. I asked if we could pray and they were delighted. So I prayed for the stubborn Dad as I expressed my joy for the change in her life. I didn’t pray for my skepticism, but probably I should have.

The folks at Crossway asked me to do a guest blog on how we prepare for Christmas. That got me to remembering Christmas past of course. Our second was in Baguio Philippines with a 8 month old. I thought riding my motor cycle into the mountains would be an adventure. It was exhausting! I simply refused to talk to the policeman who stopped me on the main street of Baguio, pointing him the van where Sherry was riding with David and Patty Jo Yount. Turned out it was illegal for motorcyles to be on the street, but I was in no shape to talk coherently to him or anyone else. After we returned to the states, we most often went to Albuquerque to spend time with family. Then there were the overseas Christmas times with our time in Taiwan a great highlight. Our home has often been a center, but no so much now. We usually travel to be with our children.

Here’s the blog post:

Sherry and I are empty nesters and happy grandparents, so we no longer do the big family meal at our house. Our daughter, Cyndee, will come from one side of Oregon and we’ll travel to the other side to David and Samantha’s home to hang with Nicole (10) and Joy (8), two of our grandgirls. We’ll Skype Donn, Susan and Elizabeth (3) and share our distributed Christmas. I’m glad Jesus is Lord of the universe, but I sure wish our family were all living within a couple of blocks of our house.

A highpoint of preparation is when we take Nicole (10) and Joy (8) shopping. They direct us to their favorite stores and we prowl the aisles looking for the most delightful gifts possible (There is a budget . . . but it’s grandfatherly!). The joyful thing is that the presents aren’t for Nicole and Joy, but for two girls from poverty stricken homes who will come to the big neighborhood Christmas party at our church. They donate some of their favorite gently used clothes and write notes of care to go with them. Hearing their giggles as they imagine the impact of their love given to complete strangers makes me laugh out loud. How like the LORD who comes to us in Advent.

The youngest reader always reads the Christmas story from Luke 2 before anyone opens presents. It’s important to be prepared so the wiggles of anticipation don’t turn into frustrations! Since Joy reads super well, the struggle to recognize words has become theological discussion of the meaning of the beloved text.

The pictures are from Christmas 1972 (I think): Donn with Grandpa Veazey, David and his wonderful digger (arms are from Grandma Veazey), and then playing with Sherry (who is having more fun?) Sherry with something – too bad a wrong speed setting for the flash meant the bottom of the picture was cut off.