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Monthly Archives: July 2007

Jul 23 2007

What is judgment?

by Mandi

My small group is going through the book of James right now. Yesterday we went through chapter 2, and we spent a good deal of time discussing what exactly judgment is when we got to these verses (12-13):

Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

This, of course, brought up other verses, like these in Matthew 7:

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

A few people decided that judgment can’t mean what we mean it as in our society today, (e.g. calling someone “judgmental”) because when a judge judges you (and when God will judge us) a sentence will be passed down. They said that confronting someone on a sin isn’t judgment because you’re basically just telling them that what they did was wrong, and not sentencing them to anything.

I disagree.

While we have to be careful not to interpret the Bible with our own definitions, the definition is sort of a good one. Anytime you form an opinion of someone based on what you see or know (or think you know) about someone, you are judging them. Because based on that decision, you are often deciding to either give or take away something. It could be that you won’t offer your friendship. It could be that you soil their reputation. It could be that you decide they’re great and you want to be a part of their life. But something is either given or taken away based on the opinion you formed. We all do it, it’s human nature. And that’s why God tells us to be merciful when we judge. And if we aren’t, He won’t be merciful with us when we are judged.

Categories: Bible, Christianity, Definitions, James | 2 Comments »

Jul 22 2007

It’s Over…

by Mandi

It’s a bittersweet ending. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows exceeded my expectations. It was an incredible ending to an incredible series. But it’s the ending and something in me doesn’t want to let go. For nearly the last decade, Harry Potter and his friends have been a part of my life. They’ve been my friends. One person I read today rightly said that the reason we read Harry Potter is the escapism of it, and I’m just not ready to stop. The anticipation of this last book was like the anticipation of seeing a loved one you hadn’t seen in awhile. I nearly didn’t want to finish reading the book because I knew that was it. There will be no more Harry Potter. But I did finish. And I’m so glad I did.

Things I loved:

We finally learned the truth about everything: Severus Snape, Albus Dumbledore, the reason behind it all.

Harry and Ginny.

Neville and Luna. And Neville… wow! What a change! It was awesome.

Harry saved Draco’s life. Twice.

Seeing a much more human side to Snape.

Things I didn’t love:

Fred. Dobby. Lupin. Tonks. Moody. You know what I’m talking about.

Draco’s cowardice.

I may think of more when I reread it, but there really wasn’t much in it that I didn’t love. It was brilliant – even the horrifying parts. Some people say that although they love these books, they aren’t well written. I wholeheartedly disagree. Nothing that was mediocre could draw in this many fans and keep them around for nearly a decade.

Thank you, J.K. Rowling.

Categories: Books | 1 Comment »

Jul 20 2007

Alive

by Mandi

Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.

I’m reading a new book, a very short one, called Dare to Desire by John Eldredge.

Oh. My. Goodness. It’s phenomenal! The things that John is writing about aren’t incredibly profound…they’re just truths that are so often overlooked in our busy lives. I’ll post more about it later.

Categories: Books, Spiritual Growth | 4 Comments »

Jul 20 2007

Protected: How Will We Handle the Mourning?

by Mandi

Categories: Abortion | Enter your password to view comments.

Jul 20 2007

Virtue and Christianity Today

by Mandi

Christianity Today got something right. Not that they don’t often do that, but I have found myself disagreeing with many things in the conservative magazine lately. In “Virtue That Counts,” CT takes a look at the doctrine of justification by faith alone. It came about because of the decision of former president of the Evangelical Theological Society, Francis Beckwith, to return to the Roman Catholic church.

“As an evangelical, even when I talked about sanctification and wanted to practice it, it seemed as if I didn’t have a good enough incentive to do so,” Beckwith told Christianity Today. “Now [in Catholicism] there’s a kind of theological framework, and it doesn’t say my salvation depends on me, but it says my virtue counts for something.”

Wait. If my salvation doesn’t depend on me, how can my virtue count for anything? Isn’t that a contradiction? Scripturally speaking, nothing I do can save me. This is where faith comes in.

Scripturally, it goes like this: All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Alienated from God, hostile in mind, we practice evil behavior (Col. 1:21). Though we offend his perfect holiness, God acquits those who trust in him and in what he has done for us through Christ: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).

Theologically, we understand it like this: In his perfect life and obedient death, Jesus succeeded where Adam failed and became the head of God’s new family. We belong to Christ; we belong to this new humanity. Christ is judged righteous, and we who believe are made alive in him.

Yes, yes, yes!

Another question that has troubled Christians since the days of Paul is this: “Why bother to be good when it seems to make no difference to our salvation?”

Paul has little patience for such an attitude, partly because it displays a fundamental misunderstanding of what happens in justification. It is not only about getting rid of personal guilt; it is also about taking on a new corporate identity. “We died to sin,” Paul says. “How can we live in it any longer?” (Rom. 6:2). We have been baptized into Christ’s death; shouldn’t we live with him in resurrection life? As members of his new humanity, shouldn’t we live like it? Paul’s conclusion: “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body” (Rom. 6:12).

Simply put, those who are truly justified will lead lives of holiness, knowing with Paul that “we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph. 2:10).

Sadly, many in our churches have sold the extraordinary gift of justification for the pottage of therapeutic religion. Rather than finding assurance in Christ, some assure themselves they have done nothing so bad as to deserve condemnation.

Even worse, others flaunt their freedom, abusing the truth that Jesus covers a multitude of sins. As Paul said of people who accused him of teaching that we should sin to bring more grace: “Their condemnation is deserved” (Rom. 3:8).

Such attitudes do not exemplify trust in the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who treats holiness with deathly seriousness. They turn the old notions of merit on their heads, treating a priceless gift—Jesus’ righteousness—as if it had no value.

The Bible says this type of faith—faith without good works—is as good as no faith at all. It’s as dead and meaningless as the selling of indulgences.

I can find nothing in this article to disagree with. It is faith alone – faith in Christ – that saves us. Nothing we do, nothing we have, be it virtue or any other good quality, matters. Christ is what matters.

Categories: Christianity | 3 Comments »

Jul 20 2007

Wizard Rock

by Mandi

This is the coolest thing. Oh, I know that anyone who isn’t a fan of Harry Potter won’t get it and will think it’s stupid. But it’s not. It’s genius!

Darius is a Wizard Rocker. He’s 8 years old and lives in Hellertown, Pa. His brother Holden – who frequently provides backing vocals for Darius’ band, the Hungarian Horntails – is 5. A 9-year-old schoolmate, Rayn Feeny, has recently joined the group.

Theirs is music based on J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books, literature theoretically aimed at children but with an appeal that has hooked readers of all ages. In the last two years, hundreds of Wizard Rock bands have popped up around the country and the world, sharing their music via the Internet and performing in concert.

[...]

Fans of The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek and the like have long shown their loyalties by dressing as characters, attending conventions, and coveting offbeat collectibles. But Harry Potter may be the first to spawn an entire music genre. Other bands may have one or two songs paying homage to Gandalf or Spock, but Wizard Rock bands are almost entirely Potter-centric.

“For many kids, this is what their generation identifies with. It’s a major part of their pop-culture landscape. They’ve grown up with the books and think of Harry almost as a classmate rather than a fictional character,” said Paul DeGeorge, 28, of Harry and the Potters. “When they’re getting into music, Harry Potter is such a huge part of their lives that that’s where they turn when they’re starting to make art.”

WizRock bands generally take their names from Potter characters, human and non-human, and often write music based on their character’s fictional adventures or from their character’s point of view. So Draco and the Malfoys promote the power of the House of Slytherin, and the Moaning Myrtles bemoan their namesake character’s death by basilisk.

DJ Luna Lovegood – the stage name for Darius’ mother, Tina Olson – raps about being an outcast among the popular kids while the Greybacks – led by Darius’ father, Ian Wilkins – sing about the evil werewolf who enjoys biting children.

Creative! A tad bit obsessive, but there’s nothing wrong with that.

Categories: Books | No Comments »

Jul 20 2007

Protected: Louisiana bans late-term abortion

by Mandi

Categories: Abortion, News | Enter your password to view comments.

Jul 20 2007

Less than 24 hours to go…

by Mandi

It’s nearly here! My copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is in transit. According to UPS, it’s already in Commerce City, which is literally a few blocks from my house. I doubt I’ll get it today…they’re so picky about it being delivered on the release date, but hopefully I’ll get it early tomorrow morning!

I almost wish I hadn’t preordered it through the website so that I could go pick it up at midnight tonight. Almost.

What I do wish is that people understood where us diehard fans (okay, I’m not so diehard I’d get in costume) are coming from when we say we don’t want the ending spoiled. A huge part of the fun of reading is actually getting to the end and going through the same processess the characters do in order to get to the conclusion. Skipping to the end is…just plain wrong. You would think that newspapers would understand that. These people are journalism majors and should understand the value of the written word. But no. They New York Times got their hands on a copy that was “mistakenly” sold in a small NYC bookshop and printed a review in yesterday’s paper, a full two days before the release. This morning on the Jesse and Shotgun show on 92.5 The Wolf, they were reading the ending because someone (I can’t remember which newspaper) printed it. Shotgun is as big a fan as I am and left the room. I had to turn it off. I switched to a different morning show and they were doing the same thing! Although they, at least, had the good sense to let their viewers call in first and tell them if they wanted to hear it. Thankfully the large majority said no.

Not only does this violate the contracts set forth by the publisher, it disrespects J.K. Rowling and the millions of fans who want to read the whole book and not have the ending spoiled. It’s bad reporting, people!

I’ll have my copy read by tomorrow night, and then I’ll post my review. But until that book is in my hands, I don’t want to know anything!

Categories: Books | No Comments »

Jul 19 2007

God, Inc. bought by Sci-Fi

by Mandi

So earlier this year I posted the episodes of God, Inc. As of this week, the Sci-Fi channel has purchased God, Inc. I know that’s no guarantee of a new show being aired, but what a break for Francis Stokes. Way to go!