Hello Sandra,

Thank you for writing with your question. You are absolutely right. When Christ came he destroyed any such social hierarchies: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28). Paul is correcting what the people at the time thought about who might be better than whom and who might have a closer relationship with Christ, and Paul is saying everyone in God’s family is unified by the Spirit. Neither will you find in the Scriptures any indication that some spiritual gifts get you more gold stars with God than others.

I hope that clears things up for you. Please feel free to write again.

God bless.
Renea

Now you and your family can beef up your phrophecy skills and be super tight with God.

The content on Scott’s blog is fantastic, and I encourage you to rummage through The Pop-Culture Review and follow his new site. I particularly appreciate the gentle, exhortations Scott regularly made to remind us how we can pray for celebs whom it was easier to trash.

In the meantime, here’s the post I wrote:

Engage, Maverick!

I really enjoy Scott’s blog which helps us engage creatively and redemptively with pop culture which is so widely influential. So when Scott asked if I would write a guest post on discerning when we should and should not engage, I was thrilled and honored. I deal with the subject of engaging culture on my blog as well (though not nearly as cohesively as Scott does here), so some of my readers may recognize a few things I’m about to say, but this is a great opportunity to bring those somewhat miscellaneous thoughts into a more cohesive treatment. So, thanks again, Scott!

Throughout history the large majority of Christians, Catholic and Protestant, all across the world, have consistently believed that a major part of our calling is to engage our various cultural contexts to meet people where they are, or perhaps more accurately, meet people halfway, and be salt and light. We get this example from Christ himself who entered into a particular cultural context and met people halfway (between where they were and where Christ was wanting to take them, namely, the Kingdom of God) with metaphors and social activities they already had a cultural framework for.

One of my favorite passages of Scripture is Matthew 10 where Jesus is sending out his apostles. In his instructions to them he tells them to show ‘em how to live life to the fullest as we were always intended to live it! (“preach the Kingdom of God”), do creative and redemptive works in their lives (“heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons”), and in all this remember, “be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.”

These are Jesus’ instructions to us, his modern-day hands and feet. We are to engage. And we are to do so shrewdly, wisely and with discernment. Not everyone has the same level of freedom to interact with various aspects of our unbelieving society. Everyone is different. There are certain things which are particularly spiritually unsafe for me; I know it in my guts and bones; I just can’t go there. But I also know that doesn’t mean it is as dangerous for others as it is for me, and I don’t begrudge others their freedom.

Personal conviction derives from the way God has uniquely created us as individuals and how our singular personality and wiring is affected by the Fall – our particular tendencies, weaknesses, addictions, our circumstances, our personal history. These are the primary factors we should consider when we prayerfully decide whether a particular book, movie, song is spiritually safe for us to read, watch, listen to, and engage through our Creation-Fall-Redemption view of the world.

Anyone who believes he or she is safe from the all the various temptations available in pop culture is a fool. My friend and colleague Todd Kappelman wisely notes and advises, “Exercising rampant Christian freedom does not necessarily mean one is a strong Christian [referring to 1 Cor 8]. It could indicate that one is too weak to control one’s passions and is hiding behind the argument that they are a stronger brother.” When we engage our culture, we must use a “framework of moderation,” to use Todd’s phrase, that addresses our particular weaknesses, for we are all of us the weaker brother somewhere. We need to be honest with ourselves about our weaknesses, and the best way to do that is to ask God and ask other believers who love us and are discerning and nuanced in regard to engaging culture, to invite the inner circle of our faith community into the part of our lives where we ask serious questions about the books we read, the movies we watch and the music we listen to.

There is a difference between conviction and legalism. One of those differences is the legalistic compulsion to impose one’s personal convictions on others. It is possible to abstain in a genuinely free way. I greatly admire my friends who abstain; who don’t even have a TV, for example. Together we add to the richness of each others’ lives by bringing perspective to one another about who God is and how we relate to him. Together we present to the world a more complete picture. It is the diversity of the Body that most beautifully represents Christ to the world. And it is vital to our Christian calling to live as much as we can in the tension between the pulls of legalism and libertinism. The ebb and flow of this kind of living is part of what in means to live the full, rich, abundant life of Christ.

When you cannot personally engage by reading/watching/listening to this or that for whatever reason, abiding an attitude of general engagement as a member of the Body of Christ fosters that humility-infused unity so foundational to our new life.

Something is bothering me a lot. I’ve been a Christian for a long time. When I was younger, my friends were the people I knew in the Church Singles Class. As inevitably happens, they married and began families and I was slowly let out of the loop. Then I married later in life and we don’t have children. Even though I’m shy, I’ve tried to reach out to other women for friendship, but no one is interested. I don’t have any Church or secular friends. Even relatives have basically moved on. I am profoundly lonely and sort of wonder if the Lord wants me to stay this way. I am grateful that I at least have my husband and my mother, but my husband works different hours and we’re not able to afford to go out places often. I’ve tried Meet Up groups. Do you have any other advice for me?

Thanks for writing. It seems unlikely that God wants you to be lonely. We were created for community. But we live in an imperfect world, and we do often experience times and seasons of loneliness. Christ says we are, as we abide in him, his friends (John 15), so these seasons no doubt make God sad. That doesn’t mean, though, that God might not have something he wants you to learn during this season, because we also know that when we rely upon the Lord during difficult times, we grow and mature in our faith and we become better people (James 1). We have God’s promise that he will, “work all things together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8).

I know this is true. I’ve been there. I’ve gone through periods of loneliness, and come to rely upon and know God in ways I hadn’t before. Though those times were difficult, I wouldn’t wish them away now that I’ve come through them because of the work God did in my life during those times.

But, it still sucks.

I’m so sorry you’re experiencing this. I wish I could do more to help the pain go away, but I hope I’ve been able to, through the Scriptures, light a candle, however small, in this dark place for you. I pray that the Spirit might comfort your soul, and I pray that you will find friends as you continue to make your request known to the Lord.

Finally, the best advice I have is to look for ways to employ your gifts and talents in service. Find something in your church and/or in your community where you could serve others who are hurting and/or in need. This will help you get your focus off yourself, which happens so easily to us when we feel and are isolated. And who knows, you might make friends. Serving is often a great way to make friends because you’re serving alongside others who have a common interest in what you’re doing.

From my heart,
Renea

Have you been there?

What helped you through it?

Might be a bit much for everyday use...

Question: What is love to you?
(This, of course, includes but is not limited to romantic love.)

How is love, in all its various forms, a creative endeavor?
(Cherie Harder at The Trinity Forum put out a thoughtful piece today centered around Martin Luther King Jr’s discussion of the creative power of Christ’s call to love our enemies.)

PS. To those who now have that one-hit-wonder by Haddaway stuck in your head, you’re welcome.

This week: Speed Racer!

Why? Because it’s fun and Fridays should be fun. So check out my review, add it to your Netflix, and enjoy your weekend!

I loved this film.

Really, really loved it. It was written by the same guys who did The Matrix trilogy, which is perfect because both films were anime-inspired. Speed Racer didn’t do so well in theaters; it didn’t get very high reviews either — which is why I wanted to show the film a little blog love. This movie is intense visually. I’m not sure what it would be like to see it on the big screen; maybe too much to appreciate. But I also think it’s really cutting-edge stuff, artistically magical. Under-appreciated genius. I’m not a huge anime fan, but I’ll tell you what I appreciated about this film. The layering, the blending, um, the racing! (I’ve never had such a craving for slick track go-carts; I had to really control myself as I drove home from my friends’ house), the cars, the choreographed “car-fu,” and, the visual image-layering — oh, did I say that already? Well, it’s completely worth mentioning twice.

I’ve never seen the original cartoon, but I know enough about it to be able to tell when certain scenes and lines were paying tribute. Intuitively, the film seemed honorable; you know, the film had honorable intentions toward the original. The movie makes me want to see the original cartoon. The character development was quite good. The plot was great. I’m gonna buy the movie.

Hi Josue,

Thanks for writing. The important thing to remember whenever you’re engaging with anything is to filter what you’re reading through what the Bible says about life, what the Bible says about self. This can be a difficult thing to do because the Bible isn’t just a collection of rules and histories, it is a collection of histories and letters and poems and proverbs all telling One Big Story. That’s why I recommend reading through the whole thing. When we read just bits here and bits there, it isn’t very easy to see how everything fits together into One Big Message. It’s like trying to put together a puzzle with some of the pieces in your living room and some of the pieces in your kitchen and some of the pieces in your friend’s house two doors down! It’s pretty difficult to get the whole picture that way.

But when you read the whole Bible, especially if you do it in a relatively short timeframe like a year or so, then you get the whole picture in the same room; you get the framework that holds the whole picture together. When you read the whole Bible, you begin to see the same themes and concepts and messages over and over as they’re woven through the histories and poems and letters; and the lightbulb comes on: Oh, this is a really important part of what it means to be a Christian... This is what Church is supposed to be about…  This is who God is.

Here’s a plan to help you. If you read something that doesn’t make sense or brings up some questions or makes you angry, talk to God about it; he can handle it. And talk to others in your Christian community. I also recommend using a commentary when something trips you up. Here’s a good one that’s free and online! SonicLight.com.

Blessings to you, Josue.
Renea

Plans for Valentine’s Day?

Even mediocre-tasting candy is fun on Valentine's!

Favorite memories?

Horror stories?

Do tell!

And no, I don’t think Valentine’s was invented by Hallmark, you poor, jaded Jacks. Any excuse to celebrate our love-filled lives and the people who make it so is a good excuse!

One, it is THE most frequently searched for and viewed post on Speak What We Feel. Of. All. Time. Lots of people are asking this question and looking for advice. Lots of people are living scared when they could be living. Lots of people are missing out.

Two, recently Sharideth, who writes the wonderfully humorous and helpful A Woman’s Guide to Women: A Blog for Men posted on this issue in a much more clear and concise, frank and insistent manner. And reading it, I’m pretty sure I pumped my fist in the air and yelled Right on! in the waiting room at the car wash. But whatever; I live for awkward stares.

“I don’t want to mess up our friendship.”

It seems to me that when we shy away from a potential romance because we fear losing what we’ve got, we are being foolish. Once romantic feelings come into the mix (mutual or otherwise), things have changed already; you’ve already “lost” your friendship—insofar as you’re trying to define the friendship by what it was—because something’s already changed. We can’t hold on to what no longer exists.

Relationships that are worth anything are worth taking risks for. Certainly we don’t want to run around haphazardly, never looking before we leap, but relationship is all about risk. That’s faith. That’s love. It’s about being vulnerable to loss, and consequently, open to gain. (See also the risks God is always taking on us.)

Friendships worth their salt… continue reading.

Thank you very much for clearing up this matter which had bothered me for quite sometime. Another issue which I’m now debating whether to do or not to do is Yoga. I’m aware that it has its roots in Hinduism but can I do yoga as part of a fitness & wellness program which doesn’t go deep into the subject matter & all the different levels? Yoga is supposed to be very beneficial from a health point of view & also helps in curing diabetes & other illnesses. What are your thoughts on this?

God bless you & thanks for taking time in replying to my queries.

Hi!

I’m glad I was able to be of some help. As far as yoga is concerned, I think it’s important to know that all the positions have spiritual meanings/implications. Check out this article to see get a quick overview: http://www.livestrong.com/article/375831-what-is-the-meaning-of-yoga-positions/

Now the question is, can the Hindu mythology be redeemed? I generally believe it can. CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien often referred to the Gospel as “the myth come true” or “the true myth”. And we can see why when we look at books and movies and see that all the best stories are redemption stories, right?

So, what does this mean for yoga? In so far as many of the positions are resemblances of animals, I think the Christian can easily use those positions to consider how God is creator of all. We can consider our connection as fellow creations, our command in Genesis to care for creation. When doing the eagle position, for example, we can contemplate the scripture which declares God lifts up his followers “on wings of eagles.”

Do you see what I mean?

So, yes, I think a Christian can responsibly participate in the Westernized type of yoga you’re talking about. It’s an opportunity to glorify God and meditate on his Word while being good stewards of our bodies.

Thanks for writing.
God’s peace to you.

Here’s a short synopsis (though of course you should read the whole thing): According to Murray and Brooks:

• The problem: The US is splitting faster and further into a “two-caste society” in which the lower caste lives isolated lives that encourage self and socially-detrimental behavior.
• Why the divide (in economy, education, opportunity, and worst of all, according to Brooks, behaviorally) is growing so sharply and rapidly:  Isolation:

In 1963, rich people who lived on the Upper East Side of Manhattan lived close to members of the middle class. Most adult Manhattanites who lived south of 96th Street back then hadn’t even completed high school. Today, almost all of Manhattan south of 96th Street is an upper-tribe enclave.

Today, Murray demonstrates, there is an archipelago of affluent enclaves clustered around the coastal cities, Chicago, Dallas and so on. If you’re born into one of them, you will probably go to college with people from one of the enclaves; you’ll marry someone from one of the enclaves; you’ll go off and live in one of the enclaves.

• The solution: according to Brooks, a National Service Program that encourages, Brooks even uses the word, forces, both castes to live together, or at least closer together, in some capacity.

Questions:

Does Murray’s assessment of the issue seem accurate? Is it a helpful “middle way” narrative between Republican-Democratic party extremes?

Would Brook’s proposed solution be helpful/be a good solution? Is it a possible/plausible solution?

I’m hoping the conversation here will help me think through these questions myself. Okay, ready? Go.