Interview with Tim Stoner 2: Longing for the Untamable God

Today, I continue my interview with Timothy Stoner, author of The God Who Smokes: Scandalous Meditation on Faith.

Trevin Wax: You write about worshipping a God who “lets you drop,” who lets you get hurt. How does this view of God counter the popular belief that “God is always there for me”?

Timothy Stoner: God is not safe; nor can He be manipulated. He is perfect in His wisdom and love and knows much better than we what we really need. And He is not averse to allowing/causing pain, struggle and disappointments that He knows are essential for our maturation, growth, refinement and strengthening.

He tells us that He is like a gardener who will not let sympathy for his plants dissuade Him from trimming or cutting off (sometimes ruthlessly) branches that are unproductive or that are preventing maximum fruit bearing.

Because of our inveterate selfishness and idolatry it is not unusual for God to orchestrate deep suffering that we might learn to draw our comfort from Him alone and to shape us into vessels filled with comfort for others.

God is always there for me only in the sense that He is working all things: pain, sorrow, loss, sickness, defeat, sins and successes, together for my maximum good and His ultimate glory.

Trevin Wax: It’s interesting that you justify your belief in the exclusivity of Jesus Christ by turning to the marriage relationship. How has your understanding of marriage and covenant helped you grapple with Jesus’ exclusive claims regarding salvation?

Timothy Stoner: One of the most beautiful metaphors in the Bible for the relationship of God and His people is that of Bridegroom and Bride. Hosea is a prime example. The Decalogue and the book of Deuteronomy are replete with explicit and implicit declarations of the holy jealousy of God the lover for the exclusive devotion of His beloved.

There is nothing demeaning or improper about this depiction of God’s jealousy. Lovers are rightfully exclusive in their devotion. That is the nature of romantic love: there can only be one beloved. God, as husband, Lord, Master, King, Lover appropriately demands, expects, and urges the undivided deveotion and faithfulness of His bride for whom He gave up the best that He had—His only Son.

What we fail to note is that this demand for exclusivity is for our benefit more than God’s. Though He will not be diminished and damaged by our harlotry, we will be. So, it is a jealousy for the good of the beloved, not out of a selfish need to be loved. This helps me understand how salvation—the commitment to the Lord Jesus is like a marriage covenant entered into between the bride and her divine (royal) groom who has given up His life for the one He loves.

Trevin Wax: You write about the need for evangelicals to have a greater appreciation for art. How do we appreciate and create culture as evangelicals and still remain focused on personal evangelism?

Timothy Stoner: Good art can be a means of grace that points away from darkness and despair to hope and light. It can be a window through which humans can see the True, the Good and the Beautiful – all of which are signs pointing ultimately to Jesus the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Art can provoke dissatisfaction with the finite, the material, the earthly by evoking longing for our true home and our good Father. It can remind us that this world is not our home, that there is a reality that is more real and more substantial that stands behind this world. It can be a means to break down intellectual prejudices and crack open a window where grace can stream in.

Art can be a good gift that God uses in common grace to bless His creatures with joy, delight, pleasure. A gift that makes life livable and becomes another indirect means of leading men to repentance by goodness rather than severity.

Ultimately, these can all become instruments to lead men to Jesus. But evangelism is not the only justification for art. Sometimes joy can be grounds enough. Other times it is simply fulfilling the creation mandate to lovingly “name” the creation, blessing it by affirming its essential character, or fulfilling one’s calling to imitate God (knowingly or not) by bringing beauty and meaning out of chaos and disorder.

Trevin Wax: How does longing for God affect the way we live?

Timothy Stoner: David described his ultimate passion and his singular motivation as living in the house of the Lord all the days of his life, enjoying the sweetness of Yahweh and consulting Him in His Temple (Ps. 27:4 JB) The Psalmist tells us that he longs for God as a deer pants for the brooks of water in summertime.

Longing is another word for hunger. We live to satisfy our hunger. So we draw near to Him in prayer, in worship (corporate and private), in sacrament, in repentance, confession and submission. He is our highest good and our highest priority (our relationship with Him takes precedence). We feed on Him and ask to be made hungry for more.

We seek to live a life of prayer—which is very hard (we seek to live life in a conscious and purposeful awareness of His presence). We make choices to cultivate, not dull, or bend, or satisfy our hunger for Him improvidently. We tune our senses to be alert to His real presence in what He has made (creatures and creation). We cultivate eyes that see Him and ears that hear Him and hands that feel Him all around us.

We deny our fleshly appetites that tend to quench or divert our hunger for (and sensitivity for) what is Real and True and Beautiful. We live a life of repentance and humility, like little children we run to our Father, even when (especially when) we sin and disobey.

We make it our goal to make our Father look good. We brag about Him, who He is, what He has done and is doing. We earnestly desire that everyone love Jesus, the Savior and Lord we love, that all might serve Him, follow Him, acknowledge His beauty and goodness and extravagant, sacrificial love.

We seek in all things to live doxalogically: that He receive the maximum honor, praise and glory possible. What we long for is a world that is filled with white-hot worship of the One who alone is worthy. Our eyes are not fixed down, but up. We look forward even as we live in the present, because we know that His ultimate goal is to restore and reconcile all things to Himself, and we want to collaborate with Him even now in the interim between the already of the kingdom of God and the not yet.

Interview with Tim Stoner 1: Emerging’s False Dichotomies

Yesterday, I reviewed a new book by Timothy Stoner entitled The God Who Smokes: Scandalous Meditation on Faith. Today and tomorrow, I am following up that review with a 2-part interview with Tim.

Tim was raised in Chile, South America where his parents served as missionaries. He spent his teen years in Spain. Tim has been married to Patty Grace Stoner for 27 years. They have five children, the youngest of which was adopted from Mozambique, Africa. They all live in Grand Rapids. The God Who Smokes is his first non-fiction work.

Trevin Wax: What’s with the title? Why “The God Who Smokes”?

Timothy Stoner: “A God who Smokes” speaks to me of both aspects of the character of God the Consuming Fire: His holy, passionate love and His anger.

As the Psalmist says: Righteousness and justice are the foundations of your throne; love and mercy go before you.

The column of smoke was grace in the wilderness—shade and direction. The smoke on Mt. Sinai was a mercy that protected the Israelites from the blinding brilliance of God’s glory.

We are told that when God is angry, fire comes from His mouth and smoke rises from His nostrils (Ps. 18:8) while Isaiah tells us that “The Name of the Lord comes from afar with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke.” Smoke in the book thus represents God’s goodness and severity.

Trevin Wax: You write about being “Emergent” before it was cool, but now that Emergent is cool, you no longer consider yourself “Emergent.” What aspects of the Emerging Church do you appreciate?

Timothy Stoner: I appreciate Emergent’s critique of a tendency within certain streams of fundamentalism and evangelicalism toward a divisive, narrow intolerance of those it considers enemies, and a mean-spirited, fear-based rejection of culture which it considers synonymous with “the world”.

I affirm its emphasis on wholistic and integral mission and its priority for justice and mercy.

I also believe its call to affirm the goodness of the creation, the value of listening to and respecting those who hold divergent opinions to be a very healthy and helpful corrective.

Trevin Wax: So why would you distance yourself from the movement today?

Timothy Stoner: I disagree with its equating authority with oppression, eliminating the element of wrath from God’s character, deconstructing the gospel so that it centers around politics (Jesus died to subvert a cruel, violent oppressive system) and ethics (the purpose of the cross was to give us an example to follow) rather than being essentially about man’s sin, God’s mercy, justice and glory in paying for man’s redemption and appeasing His wrath that rebels might be forgiven and restored. I also find no biblical warrant for its denial of an eternal hell for unrepentant sinners who persistently reject God’s love in Christ.

Most troubling is its universalist trajectory which denies the exclusivity of faith in Jesus and provides a back door to salvation for the sincere who do good. This is, of course, an utter denial of the necessity of the Cross.

Since my book is intended to provoke a dialogue about this theological movement, let me add the following critique which I think is quite ironic. Whereas Emergent promotes the virtues of tolerance and a generous inclusivity as its highest virtues, it seems to me to be surprisingly reactionary and polarizing. It majors in creating false antinomies: forcing choices between supposedly mutual exclusives. In other words, it is as divisive as the tradition it is most repelled by.

Trevin Wax: Can you give us some examples of these false choices?

Timothy Stoner: First off, there are the Emerging Church’s false antinomies (driving a wedge between concepts that only appear to be opposites):

1. The Gospel is about a person, not a message.
2. The Gospel is an event to be proclaimed, not a doctrine to be professed.
3. The message and its interpretation is fluid, not static and solid.
4. The Gospel is about behavior, not belief.
5. The Gospel is primal/elemental (ancient), not European/sacramental (antiquated).
6. The Bible is a human book, not an utterly unique, divinely inspired revelation from God.
7. The church is for the lost, not the found.
8. Life is about searching (pioneer), not finding (settler).
9. Evangelism is about saving the world, not individual souls.
10. The Bible is about stories (indicatives that describe), not prescriptions (imperatives that prescribe).
11. God cares about the boardroom, not the bedroom.
12. Jesus came to set an example, not appease the wrath of God.
13. God is a God of love, not judgment (because He loves He does not hate).
14. Those who teach or believe other “stories” need to be respected, not converted.
15. We are to love the “world”, not hate it.
16. Our posture toward culture is to affirm it, not critique it.

But then, as if to counter its imbalance, it careens off track by over-compensating, for it brings together things that are not the same.

Its false synonyms (equating concepts that only appear to be similar):

1. Anger with abuse.
2. Authority with authoritarian.
3. Confidence with smug.
4. Fundamentals with fundamentalism.
5. Judgment with judgmentalism.
6. Correction with criticism
7. Power with oppression.
8. Fervor with fanaticism.
9. Militancy with militarism.
10. Uncertainty (ambiguity, doubt) with humility.

Tomorrow, I will post the second part of this interview with Timothy Stoner.

Book Review: The God Who Smokes

Timothy J. Stoner acknowledges the validity of many of the concerns raised by those in the Emerging Church. But unlike some in the Emerging movement, Stoner is able to address these concerns without abandoning historic Christian convictions. 

His book, The God Who Smokes: Scandalous Meditation on Faith (NavPress, 2008), is thoroughly enjoyable on a number of levels. First, it is very well-written. Secondly, it uses humor as a way to communicate serious truths. And best of all, Stoner uses personal stories to help him make his case.

Tim Stoner is a dad who has seen the Emerging Church up close. A Michigan native, he has witnessed the rise of Emerging preacher, Rob Bell (who might resist the label, but seems to fit the description nonetheless). But curiously, Stoner confesses:

“I was Emergent before it was cool. Now that it’s cool, I’m not.” (109)

Stoner’s negative view of Emergent does not lead him to bash those who advocate Emerging theology. In fact, he appreciates many aspects of the Emerging conversation.

But Stoner believes the Emerging movement ultimately delivers reductionistic picture of God. He worries that the Emerging Church downplays the wrath of God and leads to a lopsided vision of God that ignores essential aspects of his character.

“We are not only invited guests but the blushing Bride. And our Groom is a heroic King, a mighty warrior who is good and just and stunning in his beauty. He is so full of passion and blazing emotion that he burns – and yes, smokes in the ferocity of his infinite, holy love that compelled him to give it all away for his Bride. And he who gave it all for us is worth giving ourselves completely to.” (14)

So we worship a God who smokes – a God whose passionate jealousy for the glory of his own name is an integral aspect of his glorious love for creation.

Stoner is a terrific writer. I think I enjoyed the writing of this book as much as the concepts. His choice of words causes images to leap from the page. Take this for example:

“From [Jesus'] carpenter’s tool belt there also hung a sword.” (31)

Or this:

“Life is not a riddle, but a romance.” (67)

Or this description of God in his glory:

“God really believes that he is the most worthy, most majestic, magnificent, glorious, stunningly beautiful being in the universe. And he is fixated on the certainty that only he deserves worship – that to him alone belong honor, glory, and praise forever and forever. With red-rimmed, stinging eyes and burning hair, all we can say is – he is right. He is astonishingly beautiful, utterly majestic and perfect in the symmetries of justice and righteousness, knowledge, and wisdom. He is as hypnotically compelling as a surging forest fire and ten times as dangerous. He is out of control – ours, not his.” (83)

Stoner’s biggest criticism of the Emerging Church centers on the tendency for some Emergent leaders to negate the exclusivity of Christ for salvation. But Stoner does not argue for Christ’s exclusivity by turning to a couple of Bible texts. Instead, he shows how our understanding of the marriage covenant between the Church (the Bride) and Christ (the Groom) should influence our understanding of exclusivity.

In the end, Stoner does not base Jesus’ exclusive claims in philosophical speculation about there being “only one way.” He makes his case relationally, with the underlying message being this: you go soft on Jesus as the only way, and you are being unfaithful to your Groom.

The only thing I would change about this book is its length. Near the end, there are a few chapters about various topics unrelated to the main subject of the book. Stoner talks about the need for Christians to be “secret agents” in the art world. He also addresses issues of sexuality. I enjoyed these chapters, but felt as if they were a digression from the main theme of the book.

The God Who Smokes deserves a wide audience. Tim Stoner has accepted the Emerging invitation to dialogue, and what results is a picture of God that is more biblical (and exceedingly more satisfying) than the pictures painted by many in the Emerging Church today.

(Check out an extensive quote from The God Who Smokes here and stay tuned for a 2-part interview with Tim Stoner this week here at Kingdom People.)

written by Trevin Wax  © 2008 Kingdom People blog

Teach Us to Count the Days

Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

You return man to dust
and say, “Return, O children of man!”
For a thousand years in your sight
are but as yesterday when it is past,
or as a watch in the night.

You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning:
in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers.

For we are brought to an end by your anger;
by your wrath we are dismayed.
You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.

For all our days pass away under your wrath;
we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
The years of our life are seventy,
or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span is but toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.
Who considers the power of your anger,
and your wrath according to the fear of you?

So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
and for as many years as we have seen evil.
Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands!

- Psalm 90

In Jesus We See God

God wants to be seen and known in his Son.

Even though God is a Spirit and is therefore invisible, he has now revealed himself in an utterly unique way—by the incarnation of himself in his Son Jesus.

In Jesus we see God.

You don’t have to wonder today if there is a baby in the womb of a woman eight weeks pregnant. And you don’t have to wonder what it’s like. We have pictures and videos and models and detailed physiological descriptions.

And so it is with God.

You don’t need to be in the dark about God. He has gone beyond parchment and paper. He has gone beyond tapes and cassettes. He has gone beyond videos and even beyond live drama. He has actually come and pitched his tent in our backyard and beckoned us to watch him and get to know him in the person of his Son Jesus.

When you watch Jesus in action, you watch God in action.

When you hear Jesus teach, you hear God teach.

When you come to know what Jesus is like, you know what God is like.

- John Piper, “The Word Became Flesh”

In the Blogosphere

Bad news for Narnia fans. Disney isn’t taking a voyage on The Dawn Treader.

Jared Wilson recaps his favorite posts from Gospel-Driven Church this year.

Why Rick Warren is worthy of honor.

Taking love for your cell phone to a new level.

Z interviews one of my favorite recording artists, Fernando Ortega.

Going to Seminary blog readers will be learning from the letters of Samuel Rutherford in 2009. Banner of Truth is helping out with a good discount.

Next week at Kingdom People, I’ll be interviewing Timothy Stoner, author of a new book called The God Who Smokes: Scandalous Meditation on Faith.

Christmas Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Jordan Thomas of Memphis, TN. He is the winner of the Kingdom People Christmas Giveaway 2008. Jordan’s entry number (#269) was randomly selected this morning, so he will be receiving my ten favorite books of the year as well as an ESV Study Bible.

Thank you to all who participated in the Giveaway and Merry Christmas!

Ponder

But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
– Luke 2:19-20

Why shepherds?

Have you ever wondered why a glorious host of heavenly angels put on their best celestial choir performance for a scraggly band of sheep-keepers? Why not for King Herod? Why not show up the rulers and astound Caesar in Rome? Why go to the lowest people on society’s scale of importance?

Like Mary, we should treasure the Christmas story and ponder these questions in our hearts.

The Christmas story shows us that God’s ways are not our ways. God does not save people on the basis of their earthly importance, physical appearance, wealthy status or position. God saves people on the basis of his mercy alone, and that means that even lowly, smelly shepherds are loved by God.

Once we ponder the Christmas story, we are immediately convicted of our tendency to “write people off” when it comes to salvation.

He’s too poor.

She just doesn’t have it together.

They are too addicted to drugs.

She would never come to church.

Aren’t you thankful that God didn’t write you off? That God reached in and touched you with his salvation?

Take some time today to ponder all that God has done for you. And then ask God to bring people into your life that you can spread the good news of salvation to.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for your coming at Christmas. Thank you for the salvation you have provided for a lowly, undeserving sinner like me. Help me to show forth your salvation to those around me in the coming year.

Living Gently in a Violent World

Intervarsity Press is publishing a new series of books called ”Resources for Reconciliation” that pair leading theologians with on-the-ground practitioners. For example, put a missiologist and a missionary together and let them write a book. Or an academic expert on world hunger together with a person leading a hunger-fighting organization. It’s a terrific concept.

Living Gently in a Violent World: The Prophetic Witness of Weakness is one of the first books in this series. It is written by Stanley Hauerwas and Jean Vanier. Hauerwas is a well-known theologian, and Jean Vanier is the founder of L’Arche, a community that emphasizes the importance of the disabled.

L’Arche differs from other organizations by placing emphasis on communal life with the disabled, not merely work for them. Vanier’s organization is founded upon the belief that the weakest among us have something of spiritual and eternal value to offer us.

Living Gently in a Violent World intends to challenge our presuppositions. In the introduction, John Swinton writes:

“It is not the world of disability that is strange, but the world ‘outside,’ which we dare to call normal. It turns out that the world of disability is the place God chooses to inhabit.” (15)

I had hoped that this book would be a fresh look at how weakness challenges our world’s preoccupation with strength. After all, Christianity is the only religion that embraces the paradox of seeing strength in weakness, power in submission, gain in giving, etc.

Unfortunately, many of the distinctive Christian beliefs that undergird the pro-life witness of this book are swept to the side. Vanier embraces a bland ecumenism that sees everyone as “children of God.” His beliefs stem from a view of Jesus that does not always correspond to the Jesus portrayed in the Gospels:

“Jesus spent time creating relationships. That’s what Jesus did. His vision was to bring together all the children of God dispersed throughout the world. God cannot stand walls of fear and division. The vision of Jesus shows us that division is healed by dialogue and meeting together.”

Division is healed by dialogue and meeting together? Then why did Jesus die? Or take this: 

“Jesus entered into this world to love people as they are. The heart of the vision of Jesus is to bring people together, to meet, to engage in dialogue, to love each other. Jesus wants to break down the walls that separate people and groups. How will he do this? He will do it by saying to each one, ‘You are important. You are precious.’” 63)

No… Jesus brought people together by dying on the cross and rising again to new life. This type of cross-less reductionism is what makes Living Gently in a Violent World ultimately unsatisfying. Instead of grounding the work of L’Arche in the gospel of Jesus’ death and resurrection, L’Arche put down roots in the sands of contemporary psychology:

“The vision of Jesus is that we meet people at the bottom and help bring them up to trust themselves.” (71)

Ironically, much of the vision of Vanier and Hauerwas is distinctly Christian, even if the authors do not recognize its distinctiveness! Can you see Hindus embracing the untouchables in the way that Vanier lives with and serves the disabled? Can you imagine the secularist devoting his life to people without “meaningful life” according to our contemporary, merciless terminology? Not at all.

This book makes a powerfully pro-life statement: every life is valuable. Vanier peppers his book with good stories: a man staying by the side of his wife who is suffering with Alzheimer’s, people being transformed by the slow pace of the L’Arche community, volunteers discovering the value of every human life.

Living Gently in a Violent World communicates a distinctively pro-life point of view that shines the light of life in a dark culture of death. But the book’s Christian witness is muted by its theology. Living Gently ultimately negates the very distinctiveness that could have given its pro-life message the foundation necessary for true and lasting transformation.

written by Trevin Wax  © 2008 Kingdom People blog

Book Review: We Become What We Worship

In We Become What We Worship: A Biblical Theology of Idolatry (IVP Academic, 2008), author G.K. Beale teases out the implications of a truth he first discovered during an extensive study of the commissioning of the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 6). Beale believes that one of the central aspects of Isaiah 6 is that “what you revere you resemble, either for ruin or restoration.” His book is an attempt to show how this teaching is woven into the fabric of Scripture. We Become What We Worship illuminates this teaching by presenting a biblical theology of idolatry.

We Become What We Worship relies heavily on intertextuality – a method of Bible study that combines grammatical-historical exegesis with canonical-contextual exegesis. Beale uses this methodology in order to persuasively demonstrate that the concept of idolaters becoming like their idols is one that appears throughout the Bible.

The most helpful section of this book is the chapter on Isaiah 6. Pastors and teachers will find Beale’s exegetical insights to be of enormous value. Next time I preach or teach on Isaiah 6, I will definitely consult this book again! Beale masterfully showcases the biblical allusions in the text, nuances that shed light on the passage’s context and meaning.

Another important insight I gleaned from Beale’s work concerns the Golden Calf narrative in Exodus. Beale shows how this pivotal event in Israel’s history is alluded to in many Old and New Testament passages.

Many readers may not have the stamina to persevere through the rigorous exegesis that forms the heart of this book. We Become What We Worship is definitely geared to the academy and not the layperson. But I highly recommend that pastors consult this book whenever they are preparing to preach on one of the texts that Beale exposits. We Become What We Worship is a terrific resource that shines light on many passages of Scripture.

written by Trevin Wax. copyright © 2008 Kingdom People Blog.

Help Me Say Yes to You

Lord, you exalt the humble.
You use the yielded.
Help me not to feel that I am worthy or deserving of you.
Help me not to think that I can do anything major with minor trust.
Help me to say “yes” to your every proposition
so I can sing with Mary,
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.”

- Calvin Miller, The Christ of Christmas: Readings for Advent

Welcome to the Wedding

Something is happening before our very eyes, as we gaze upon the baby in the manger, the Word made Flesh, and reflect on what it all means.

God’s gift of his own very self isn’t, as people so often imagine, a kind of alien invasion, an intrusion from outside.

It is of course a matter of grace, of totally undeserved mercy, the free gift of an uncaused and overflowing love – and if you want to see what free and overflowing love looks like and feels like, (and which of us doesn’t?) then read the rest of John’s gospel and marvel at Jesus loving his own who were in the world and loving them to the uttermost.

But this free grace, coming to us from beyond the world, is precisely coming from the one who created the world in the first place and made it to be a place of truth, of solid reality… so that when grace happens, truth happens. And in the baby in the manger we see them both happening; we see them both married for ever.

In the Word made Flesh we gaze upon the glory not just of the living God, coming to us in utter love in the person of this tiny baby, but of God’s design for his whole world. As St. Paul put it, God’s plan from the beginning was to unite, in Christ, all things, things in heaven and things on earth.

And part of the point of Christmas is that this marriage of heaven and earth, of grace and truth, has now begun and isn’t going to stop until it’s complete.

Welcome to the wedding.

- N.T. Wright, “Full of Grace and Truth”

In the Blogosphere

Mark Galli reports on a new company that will send “secret guests” to your church much like organizations send secret shoppers to restaurants and stores. Galli sees through the marketing guise to the devilish temptation underneath.

Two great posts from Tullian this week: The Church – God’s Centrifugal Force and his interview with John Seel about the new movie The Tale of Despereaux.

Scot McKnight points out how the attitude of fundamentalism can be found on the Left, not just the Right.

Pope Benedict XVI has been quoting Martin Luther rather favorably as of late and has even celebrated the “wondrous exchange.”

Mark Driscoll on the need for silence.

Your chance to win my 10 favorite books of the year and an ESV Study Bible continues through December 25. Click here for more details.

Kingdom People Christmas Giveaway

All of these books could be yours! Today, it is my pleasure to announce the first ever Kingdom People Christmas Giveaway.

For the next ten days (Dec. 15-25), you have the opportunity to register to win all ten of my favorite books this year. Plus, an ESV Study Bible. That’s $260 worth of books!

UPDATE: Winner Announced HERE

#1. THE REASON FOR GOD - Tim Keller
#2. CULTURE MAKING - Andy Crouch
#3. SURPRISED BY HOPE - N.T. Wright
#4. WHY WE’RE NOT EMERGENT - Kevin DeYoung & Ted Kluck
#5. HOW PEOPLE CHANGE - Timothy Lane & Paul David Tripp
#6. THE BIG PICTURE STORY BIBLE -David Helm & Gail Schoonmaker
#7. JESUS MADE IN AMERICA - Stephen Nichols
#8. RESIDENT ALIENS - Stanley Hauerwas & Will Willimon
#9. WORSHIP MATTERS - Bob Kauflin
#10. The Sermon on the Mount through the Centuries - Jeffrey Greenman, Timothy Larsen, and Stephen Spencer

How to Register for the Kingdom People Christmas Giveaway

1. You must be a subscriber to my blog via email or RSS. (See the sidebar, upper right-hand column to subscribe.)

2. Send me an email, letting me know that you are a subscriber. Include your name, age, and shipping address.

3. On December 25, I will randomly select one person who will win the ten books and ESV Study Bible.

* BLOGGER BONUS *
If you have a blog and would like to increase your chances of winning, add my blog to your sidebar and send me an email with a link to your blog. I will add your name to the list twice. If you also write a post about this Giveaway, I will add your name to the pot a third time.

Prayer for a Worshipful Advent

Almighty and most merciful Father,
we come to the season of Advent with
the brokenness of the world in our eyes,
the cries of our fellow human beings in our ears
and our own sinfulness in our hearts.

We come to Bethlehem,
as those who need a Savior.
We come to the light
because the darkness has almost overwhelmed us,
but the darkness can never overcome You.

We come to Bethlehem as invited guests;
to see, to wonder
and to be changed by the Child Messiah who is Jesus.
For his sake, and by his grace,
forgive our sins.
Give us hope and eternal life.
Help us to move through a worldly holiday of excess
to a worshipful Advent and Christmas.
For Jesus’ sake, and through Jesus we pray.
Amen.

- Michael Spencer

If Satan Took Control of Your City

What would things look like if Satan really took control of a city?

Over half a century ago, Presbyterian minister Donald Grey Barnhouse offered his own scenario in his weekly sermon that was also broadcast nationwide on CBS radio.

Barnhouse speculated that if Satan took over Philadelphia (the city where Barnhouse pastored), all of the bars would be closed, pornography banished, and pristine streets would be filled with tidy pedestrians who smiled at eachother. There would be no swearing. The children would say, “Yes, sir” and “No ma’am,” and the churches would be full every Sunday…where Christ is not preached.

- Michael Horton, Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American Church

HT – Tullian

In the Blogosphere

Tis the season for lists of good books! Two of my favorite bloggers – Tim Challies and Tullian Tchividjian - have made a list of their picks for 2008. The books I most enjoyed reading this year are here.

Russ Moore has a new and improved blog. Check out his post on the eschatology of parenting.

J.D. Greear weighs in on Newsweek’s coming out in favor of same-sex marriage.

Christianity Today’s response to Newsweek is well worth reading.

Interesting news in the television world. Jay Leno is moving to prime time.

Major changes to the dictionary. “Bishops” are out and “blogs” are in.

R.C. Sproul on making good use of time.

Michael Kelley on the “commonness” of Christmas

Justin Taylor interviews Michael Wittmer about his new book Don’t Stop Believing. You might also be interested in my 2007 interview with Wittmer regarding his previous book, Heaven is a Place on Earth.

Why it matters for you to preach the gospel consistently and faithfully.

Big news for Kingdom People readers. On Monday, I’ll be offering all my readers a way to win all ten of my favorite books of 2008 and an ESV Study Bible. Stay tuned for details.

Book Review: Sacramental Life

During the last of my five years in Romania, I went through a particularly dry time of prayer and communion with God. I had a hard time praying regularly, and when I did pray, I felt as if I had little to say. 

A friend gave me The Book of Common Prayer in hopes that it might revitalize my prayer life. Despite my initial skepticism toward written prayers, I must admit that the prayer book helped me tremendously. I discovered that written prayers infused new requests into my prayer life, and the words on the page widened my heart – helping me to adopt a more expansive prayer vision. The Book of Common Prayer even revitalized and re-formed my spontaneous prayers.

Sacramental Life: Spiritual Formation Through the Book of Common Prayer (IVP, 2008) by Daniel deSilva takes the reader through The Book of Common Prayer as a method of spiritual formation. Part of IVP’s Formatio publishing line, Sacramental Life leads the reader to a deeper spiritual walk with Jesus by taking us through the riches of the Anglican prayer book.

The book is divided into four sections: Baptism, Holy Eucharist, Christian Marriage, and Christian Burial. Each section has a series of readings. Each reading ends in a practical application. All in all, there are 45 readings, making this an ideal book to read daily during a season of spiritual reflection.

There is much to glean from deSilva’s book. The practical applications are especially helpful. Some of them are tangible expressions that could serve as powerful object lessons in a pastoral setting.

As a Baptist, my problems with Sacramental Life are theological in nature. There is much to appreciate in deSilva’s comments on baptism. Yet, as expected, I part ways with deSilva on the mode of baptism as well as the persons qualifed for baptism.

Likewise, I take issue with several of deSilva’s theological affirmations. For example, deSilva sees patriarchy as a sinful system of injustice (and therefore, in the Marriage section, he subsumes the wife-submission texts under the principle of mutual submission). He also affirms that Christ is the only way to the Father, but then undercuts that belief by encouraging prayer for God to have mercy on the dead.

Despite occasional unbiblical speculations and left-leaning presuppositions, most of the counsel in Sacramental Life is theologically sound and spiritually beneficial. I enjoyed the thoughtfulness of the book and the emphasis on returning to the past for spiritual formation in the present.  The book succeeded in increasing my appreciation for The Book of Common Prayer, even if Sacramental Life is not a book I would heartily recommend for all readers.

written by Trevin Wax  © 2008 Kingdom People blog

Book Review: Echoes from the Holocaust

Wax is an odd last name. I don’t run into Waxes every day. Generally, the only time I meet other Waxes is at family reunions. For those who might wonder where the name comes from, it appears the Wax name has some sort of Jewish origin. (In fact, I have come across several Rabbi Waxes!)

Not too long ago, I started wondering how many people with the last name WAX perished in the Holocaust. I looked up a website that documented the names of Holocaust victims. I entered my last name into the Search field and quickly discovered that (counting the ethnic variations of my last name) the  number of results was too large to be displayed. I had to refine my search based on location. Thousands upon thousands of Waxes died in the Holocaust.

Even though I am not Jewish and do not have (to my knowledge) any direct relatives who died in the Holocaust, I cannot help but feel a kinship with the people whose names occupy the long list of victims. These were real people – people who shared my family name. And so the horror of the Holocaust hits home.

Echoes from the Holocaust: A Memoir (1997, University of Tennessee Press) tells the story of Mira Ryczke Kimmelman. Mira’s story is, like most Holocaust memoirs, a heart-wrenching account of loss and survival. She writes with an eye to detail – using vivid imagery to accentuate the beauty of life and the horror of death.

Echoes from the Holocaust is not primarily about the death camps; it is about surviving with human dignity intact. Mira’s narration makes for a gripping story – one that begins with her early life in Poland and ends with her readjustment into society and her eventual immigration to America. The middle part of the book tells the story of the concentration camps and stands as a testament to Mira’s will to survive.

What differentiates this story from other books on the Holocaust is Mira’s lack of bitterness. Mira does not appear to harbor any hostility towards those who abused her. Of course, she never excuses the horrible behavior of the Nazis. Twenty members of Mira’s immediate family perished in the Holocaust.  But what impressed me most about this book was the fact that Mira does not tell the story out of bitterness or rage, but out of deep sadness and a sense of responsibility that these stories need to be told.

The enormity of human evil portrayed in this book will shake you to the core.

“Because of Auschwitz, the world will never be the same. Auschwitz was absolute evil and a warning of what mankind is capable of doing.” (58)

Likewise, there is a sense that evil leaves a mark that can never be fully erased.

“The scars of war I shall bear for the rest of my life.” (92)

Even as Mira recounts her post-Holocaust experienes, an underlying sadness lingers throughout the rest of the book.  She questions her father’s optimism that kept them from seeking asylum until it was too late. She finds love and laughter in her husband and children. But she also deals with survivor’s guilt, especially when she talks about her brother. Why did she survive? Why did he die? 

Echoes from the Holocaust: A Memoir serves as a warning to us today. The heart of man is desperately wicked. There is no end to the evil schemes that we can dream up and put into action. That is why it is important to hear the stories of those who have seen the capacity of human sinfulness in its darkest form. We must remember.

“Only by remembering the bitter lesson of Hitler’s legacy can we hope it will never be repeated. Teach it, tell it, read it.” (165)

written by Trevin Wax  © 2008 Kingdom People blog

My Ten Favorite Reads of 2008

Every December, I select the ten books that I most enjoyed reading during the year. (See 2007 and 2006 lists.) Please note that I am not giving a blanket endorsement to everything in these books (after all, some of them contradict each other at points). I choose ten books a year based solely on how much I enjoyed reading them.
Here are my top ten picks for 2008.

#1. THE REASON FOR GOD
- Tim Keller

…will most likely be judged a “classic,” on par with Mere Christianity and other apologetic works that have impacted the Church…
See my full review here.

#2. CULTURE MAKING
- Andy Crouch

“….a landmark work that will create a new culture of its own within evangelicalism…

See my full review here.

#3. SURPRISED BY HOPE
- N.T. Wright

…stands out due to the amount of material that Wright is able to incorporate into a single volume and in the moving way in which he makes his case. Wright’s description of the Christian hope carries an emotional resonance rarely encountered among works of theology…
See my full review here.
Read my interview with N.T. Wright about Surprised by Hope.

#4. WHY WE’RE NOT EMERGENT
- Kevin DeYoung & Ted Kluck

…a terrific addition to the growing number of books whose authors have accepted the Emergent invitation to dialogue…”
See my full review here.

#5. HOW PEOPLE CHANGE
- Timothy Lane & Paul David Tripp

…relentlessly biblical, immensely practical, and pastorally helpful…
See my full review here.

#6. THE BIG PICTURE STORY BIBLE
-David Helm & Gail Schoonmaker

… if you have long hoped for a book that teaches children the biblical story from Creation to New Creation – a book that anticipates Jesus in the Old Testament and makes his crucifixion and resurrection the proper climax of the New Testament - then this book is for you…
See my full review here.

#7. JESUS MADE IN AMERICA
- Stephen Nichols

… one of the most engaging, informative books I’ve read this year… shows how Americans tend to remake Jesus in our own image and to service whatever needs or promote whatever causes we believe are important…
See my full review here.

#8. RESIDENT ALIENS
- Stanley Hauerwas & Will Willimon

… a thought-provoking book that has increased my passion for the local church and the extraordinary nature of living an “ordinary” Christian life… has the effect of an earthquake that shakes things up and then leaves you with a new landscape once the dust settles…
See my full review here.

#9. WORSHIP MATTERS
- Bob Kauflin

…one of the best books on worship I have come across in recent years…
See my full review here.

#10. The Sermon on the Mount through the Centuries
- Jeffrey Greenman, Timothy Larsen, and Stephen Spencer

…No other book will give you such an easily accessible guide to interpretation of the Sermon throughout church history…
See my full review here.

Advent: A Time to Long for God’s Justice

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
- Isaiah 11:3-5

The prophet Isaiah told the people of Israel to expect a Messiah who would bring justice to the world.

Think about what the world would be like if there was complete and total justice. A world where everything is made right, a world where everything works out, where societies function fairly. A world where we do what we know we’re supposed to.

A sense of justice is knit into our humanity. That’s why it can be painful to watch the injustice around us. Perpetrators of terrible crimes get off. Some people buy their way out of prison. Victims are abused, and sometimes the criminals never get caught.

In Romania, I came to know people lived under the thumb of a dictator who had made life a living hell for most of the citizens. Then, after Communism fell, the new leaders were just as unjust and corrupt as the previous regime. Government couldn’t bring justice to the nation!

And somehow, even as we cry out for justice, even as we are thirsty and hungry for justice (Jesus promises that those who hunger and thirst for justice will one day be filled) – we know that the line between injustice and justice isn’t just a matter of us versus them. The line of good and evil runs right through each of us. We ourselves are both just and unjust. The evil we see in others is present in ourselves. The evil we see perpetrated against us is often the same evil that we manifest towards other people.

So now, the justice of God is not only a comforting thought (imagine a world of perfect, fairness, righteousness and justice); it’s also a scary thought. Will we be able to inhabit such a world? If God is fair and righteous and just, then we realize that our hope for God’s justice brings us to the point where we too must face the punishment and penalty for our unfairness, unrighteousness, injustice.

Two sides to one coin. Relief on the one hand and horror on the other.

Of course, the farther we travel on our journey with Jesus, the more we discover that Jesus not only brings the justice we desire, but he provides the justice we need in order to be part of God’s new world. He dies an unjust death, paying the penalty for our sinful injustice, and in the same moment, he clothes us in the fullness of God’s righteousness.

Prayer: God of Israel, you judge the peoples with fairness. You are the God in whom we find the standard of righteousness and justice. Comfort us when we are the victims of injustice. Forgive us for the sins we commit against others. Thank you for the perfect righteousness of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Prayer for Revival

Father Almighty,

We trust that you desire to send revival and spiritual awakening to your people. We believe that you can revive and renew us. So we pray…

We pray that a hunger for revival would consume your people.
(Neh. 1:1-11)

We ask that you inspire our pastors with messages that will awaken your people.
(2 Tim. 4:2-5)

We pray that your people will have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
(Rev. 2:7)

Make the Church of today hot.
(Rev. 3:14-16)

We pray that those who have left their “first love” would return.
(Rev. 2:4-5)

We pray that those who have stopped gathering for worship would be convicted with a renewed sense of urgency to gather for worship.
(Heb. 10:25)

We ask you to call out an army of intercessors burdened for revival.
(Isaiah 62:6-7)

We desire to see evangelistic zeal consume your Church.
(James 5:19-20)

We cry out with the psalmist:
Will you not revive us again?
That your people may rejoice in you?
(Ps. 85:6)

- Tennesee Baptist Convention, adapted

Francis Schaeffer on the Early Christians’ Exclusive Claims

This clip from Francis Schaeffer goes along well with one of the chapters in my forthcoming book – that the proclamation of the gospel in the first century was seen as subversive precisely because of the Christians’ persistent belief that salvation is found only in Jesus.

In the Blogosphere

Check out my article in Baptist Press: Unchurched or Unsaved?

Why books will never be obsolete.

Look at this photo essay of 20 unusual churches.

Machen or McLaren? A New Kind of Liberal (It is interesting to see that there are really no “new” developments in theology. Machen was countering the McLarens of last century much like traditionalists are critiquing the Emergent movement today.)

Scot McKnight summarizes Christopher Wright’s answers to the perplexing Old Testament accounts of God-ordained genocide.

Do we have a Santa Claus Christianity?

Bush wants to provide a “right of conscience” provision that will allow medical professionals who oppose abortion to opt out of performing abortions, prescribing medicines that cause abortion, or pointing people to places that perform abortions. Obama will try to rescind it immediately.

A purely secular argument for marriage over singleness.

Technology as a great servant that can become an evil master.

Southern Baptists are fighting over the recent John 3:16 conference. Bart Barber offers some of the most balanced commentary about the squabbling that I have come across.

If you read this, you will cry. (HT – Z)

Top Post this Week at Kingdom People: Christmas Music Worth Having.

Coming up next week, I’ll list the ten books I most enjoyed reading in 2008.

God at Work

Whenever I drive north towards Louisville, I inevitably get caught up in the road construction on I-65 that is being conducted right as you cross over into Kentucky.

All over the place, you see signs that say, “Men at work.” That sign lets me know that the going might get rough for a time. We’re going to have to slow down.

Oftentimes, we need to be reminded that God is at work too. As we travel down the bumpy roads of life, facing hardships and struggles, we might wonder where God is. What is he doing?

We see destruction and pain and sorrow and begin to ask: What is his plan?

In moments like these, the testimony of the Bible serves as a sign in the middle of life construction: GOD AT WORK.

So even as planes crash into the World Trade Center: “God at Work.”

Beneath the rubble left over from the earthquake: “God at Work.”

As you’re taking your child into the hospital for chemotherapy, “God at work.”

As you bury your loved ones, “God at Work.”

As your husband walks out on you, “God at work.”

As you lose your job, “God at work.”

As you suffer through a depression, “God at work.”

You might be tempted to say, “No! I can’t believe that God is at work in the midst of this! This place is too unlikely!” 

Perhaps the disciples thought the same as Jesus was arrested and flogged and crucified.

Do you see? It is the cross that turns our expectations upside down. The most horrific injustice the world has ever seen was the means through which God accomplished his plan of redemption.

God is at work in the most unlikely of places, through the most unlikely of people. The question is not whether or not he is working. The question is this: Do we trust him?

written by Trevin Wax  © 2008 Kingdom People blog

Book Review: The Prodigal God

Tim Keller’s The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith (Dutton, 2008) is a brief gospel presentation that centers upon Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son. Keller uses Jesus’ well-known story as a lens through which to see how the gospel provides the answer to our sinfulness and self-righteousness.

Tim Keller has a way of communicating powerful theological truths in simple, uncluttered language. Nowhere is this more evident than in The Prodigal God. Keller masterfully weaves together contemporary stories with biblical commentary. Readers come face to face with solid, biblical exposition that centers in gospel application.

The title of the book comes from the picture of God and the prodigality (reckless extravagance) of his grace. Keller puts the parable in historical perspective and provides colorful, cultural details that illuminate the story. He believes that we miss the point of Jesus’ famous parable if we fail to give proper attention to the elder brother. So Keller departs from the typical presentation of this parable and decides to focus more on the elder son than the younger.

Key to understanding Keller’s intention in writing The Prodigal God is his insistence that we must repent not only of sin, but also of righteousness. Apart from God, we try to live righteously as a means of becoming our own Savior. Lost people either run from God’s control by fleeing into sin, or they try to usurp God’s control by determining their own circumstances and rewards through their “good” behavior.

Keller demonstrates how the gospel shatters these categories. He turns the spotlight towards the amazing grace of Jesus who brings us home – to the feast of the Father.

My only quibble with this excellent book is that Keller too often blames the elder brothers (Pharisees) for turning people off to God and turning them into “younger brothers.” Granted, he doesn’t excuse the behavior of either set of sinners. But I felt at times that Keller’s desire to establish common ground with the seeker was at the expense of the Church. (Lord knows we are all Pharisees to some extent, but surely our Pharisaism is not the primary reason for others’ rebellion.)

Overall, The Prodigal God is a masterful exposition of the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Get it. Read it. Pass it on.

written by Trevin Wax  © 2008 Kingdom People blog

Radio Interview on Pros & Cons of Short Term Missions

Last night, I was featured on a California radio show (Rich Buhler, Talk from the Heart - KBRT, Los Angeles), discussing my blog post last week about the pros and cons of short-term mission trips.

To download and listen to the interview, right-click here, choose ”Save Target As…” and save to your desktop. (The interview is about 24 minutes long.)

Christmas Music Worth Having

I thought I would pass along ten of our favorite artists who have terrific Christmas CDs. If you have some recommendations to add to this list, please do!

1. Home Alone, Home Alone 2: Original Score
John Williams

 
The original scores for these two movies make for great Christmas music. A must-have for Christmas fans. “Somewhere in My Memory” is one of the prettiest Christmas tunes ever composed.

2. MIRACLES, FAITH, WISHES
Kenny G

      
Romance! Nothing quite compares with the sweet sound of the saxophone at Christmas time. Kenny G captures the Christmas sound with some fantastic arrangements of great Christmas songs.
Highlights from these CDs: “The First Noel,” “We Three Kings/Carol of the Bells,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “Away in a Manger,” “O Holy Night,” and “Jingle Bells”

3. CHRISTMAS COLLECTION
The Carpenters

  
The Carpenters’ Christmas Collection is a double-CD set that includes all of their Christmas music from the late 70’s, and early 80’s. There is nothing like Karen Carpenter’s warm voice on a cold wintery day and Richard Carpenter’s creative arrangements. I like these two CDs because each song leads into the next as if the album were a suite of Christmas music.
Highlights: “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” the slowed down version of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” the awe-inspiring quietness of “Christ is Born,” and the fun “Sleigh Ride”

4. CHRISTMAS & CHRISTMASTIME & IT’S A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS
Michael W. Smith

    
Even if you’re not a big Michael W. Smith fan, you’ll probably enjoy his Christmas music. The first CD (from the 80’s) is arguably better than the second, but both are terrific. The third CD was released last year and is a worthy addition to your collection The orchestral sound and terrific original compositions give the later CDs a “timeless” quality about them.
Highlights: “No Eye Has Seen” with vocals from Amy Grant, the boy choir on the spine-tingling “All is Well,” the revved up “Gloria,” and the instrumentals on Christmastime.

5. A CHRISTMAS STORY & WINTER WONDERLAND
Point of Grace

   
There’s just something about the harmonies of Point of Grace that go over great at Christmastime. Both of these CDs are terrific. Point of Grace follows the Carpenters’ formula and utilizes the “suite” mentality on the first CD, letting songs flow right into each other. The new Tennessee Christmas features the best of both original CDs.
Highlights: the big band version of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” “One King,” the a cappella “In the First Light,” “Let it Snow/Sleigh Ride,” and “Jingle Bells.”

6. CHRISTMAS COLLECTION
Manheim Steamroller

20 years might have passed, but these instrumental CDs from Manheim Steamroller remain a Christmas staple for our family every year. Creative sound, standard Christmas hymns, beautiful orchestration.
Highlights: “Carol of the Bells,” “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” “Still, Still, Still,” “O Holy Night,” “Little Drummer Boy,” and “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”

7. THE MUSIC OF CHRISTMAS
Steven Curtis Chapman

I’ve enjoyed this Christmas CD the past few years. There are some fantastic arrangements of classic Christmas songs, as well as a few original songs that quickly become favorites.
Highlights: “Christmas is All in the Heart” with CeCe Winans, “Carol of the Bells” played on the guitar like you’ve never heard it before,” “Music of Christmas,” a medley of Christmas songs done instrumentally, “O Come All Ye Faithful” and “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” to a different tune.

8. A CHRISTMAS ALBUM, HOME FOR CHRISTMAS, A CHRISTMAS TO REMEMBER, THE CHRISTMAS COLLECTION

Amy Grant

   
No Christian artist does Christmas quite like Amy Grant. Her 4 albums get spun a lot around our house during the Christmas season.
Highlights: “Emmanuel,” “Christmas Hymn,” “Breath of Heaven,” “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” “Silent Night,” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”

9. NOEL
- Josh Groban

Great vocals (it’s Josh Groban, after all) combined with some really creative arrangements.
Highlights: “Angels We Have Heard on High” with Brian McKnight, “Little Drummer Boy” and a rousing rendition of “O Come All Ye Faithful”

Honorable Mentions

    

What favorite Christmas CDs are you listening to this year?

written by Trevin Wax  © 2008 Kingdom People blog

Advent: A Time for Anticipation and Repentance

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’”
Matthew 3:1-3

One of my favorite moments in C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is when the beavers tell the Pevensie children that Aslan (the great Lion – and Christ figure of the book) is “on the move.” In other words…

Something is up.

The prophecies are coming true.

The moment we’ve been waiting for is here.

John the Baptizer’s role is much like that of the beavers in the Narnia book. He is telling Israel to get ready. God is up to something! The promises are coming true. The Messiah – God’s anointed King – is coming!

Advent is a time of preparation for the Messiah’s coming. We put ourselves in the place of the faithful Jews of the first century, awaiting with eager expectation for God to act decisively to forgive sins, to end their exile, to restore the world. And yet, we also await the Messiah’s return – Jesus’ Second Coming.

How do we prepare for Jesus’ coming? We would do well to follow John the Baptizer’s command: Repent!

Prayer: Almighty God, give all of us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which you Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.