Truth has stumbled in the public squares

Read Isaiah 59:14-15a and see how well it describes the current environment of public discourse (politics, journalism, higher education, etc.) in the United States:

Justice is turned back,
and righteousness stands far away;
for truth has stumbled in the public squares,
and uprightness cannot enter. Truth is lacking,
and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.

Then read on to v.15b:

The LORD saw it , and it displeased him that there was no justice.

And further in v.18:

According to their deeds, so will he repay,
wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies;
to the coastlands he will render repayment.

The only hope is indicated in v.20:

"And a Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who turn from transgression," declares the Lord

Christian leadership in a secular context

I posted Wednesday about the best way to fulfill my oath to "support and defend the Constitution" being to boldly proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ because the greatest threat we face as a nation is our own sin and immorality. However, that is a source of great frustration to me. I cannot be as vocal as I would like to be because of the prohibition against prosyletizing. I have to be careful about creating undue influence or pressure towars Christianity from my leadership role as a commander. Don't get me wrong, I have been completely open about my faith. When I introduced myself to my staff the first thing I told them is that the most important thing for them to know about me is my Christianity, that I receive and process information through the grid of my Biblical understanding and that I make decisions in accordance with my convictions. However, I cannot lead the way I would like to, like I would, say, in a church context. I cannot lead the staff in prayer before making decisions. When someone is having trouble, or in trouble, I would like to point them to what the Bible says about that issue and reach back to God's authority in the matter rather than just my own. I can do that a little bit, in a rather indirect manner, but I have to be careful how I do it. I think the members of my unit know where I stand, but I cannot be as explicit as I would like to be. I pray that God use what I can say to His purposes. To me the greatest measure of my success as a leader will be the spiritual effect God has been able to have through me on the men and women under my charge.

Ruined For Anything Else

Great post over on Tim Challies' blog about our need as Christians for solid doctrine.

"true believers want and eventually need to move from milk to meat. Though they may not have a category to describe what is missing from their lives they will feel a restlessness. The Spirit works in them to give them a craving for solid food. And when they take a bite of that food, their eyes light up and they know that they are experiencing something they were meant to enjoy."

Read the rest.

National defense

As a military officer, I swore to defend the Constitution "against all enemies, foreign and domestic". It occurs to me, however, that our greatest enemy is domestic - it is us. Specifically, our sin and immorality. Not that I think the Constitution, or any other governmental system, is a savior or the key to our problems in any enduring sense. It is just that as a sojourning citizen of these United States, and a proud member of U.S. military, the best way I can uphold my oath to defend the Constitution is to boldly proclaim the Gospel, calling all men to repent and believe. The more our nation falls into sin, the more we can expect Divine judgment - as we are already experiencing in crime rates, abortion, divorce, and corrupt politicians.
I think we in the Church are most to blame. We have abdicated our responsibility to be salt and light. We have allowed the culture to shape us instead of spreading the Gospel to shape the culture. God forgive us. Strengthen us and enable us to be your representatives in this world, boldly proclaiming your truth in love.

Dehydration

Y'know how they say that if you wait until you feel thirsty to start drinking water, you are already behind the power curve? Likewise, if you wait until you feel helpless to start praying, you are already behind the power curve.
- Inspired by Chapter 6 of "A Praying Life" by Paul E. Miller

Better a shack on a rock...

than a castle in the sand.

This picture, and the Casting Crowns lyrics perfectly capture the mindset I am trying to portray in this blog.

Exile in Babylon

The Church is in a Babylonian exile. In the Bible, Babylon is commonly used as a symbol of the world system hostile to God. So, the Church, especially in the West, as it is conformed to the world in the pursuit of "relevance" is in a kind of Babylonian exile. God brought His people, His remnant, out of Babylon by raising up His servant, Cyrus, to rebuild the temple and restore the order of worship. Who is our Cyrus now?
In one sense, Jesus is our Cyrus. Given that Cyrus is often spoken of in messianic categories, Jesus is the fulfillment of that type for today - in both a personal sense and a corporate sense. The personal sense is obvious and that analogy is commonly made. In the corporate sense, a renewed focus on Jesus Christ within the church will restore true worship. The Western, especially American, Church needs to come out of Babylon by submitting anew to Christ and returning the Good New of His salvation to the center of our message and practice.

Prayer

Prayer is not one of my strengths in the Christian life. I have a hard time spending any significant amount of time in focused prayer. I have also struggled with some of the teaching about prayer that is generally heard in the church - especially how to think about certain passages in Scripture. The Bible teaches that the key to effective prayer is to believe, to have faith (e.g. Matthew 21:21-22, Mark 11:22-25, James 1:5-8). How does that happen? How does one muster up enough faith to believe like that? That faith must come from God. If the faith in Christ as Savior that I start my Christian life with comes from God, then the faith to believe that a particular prayer will come to pass must also be His gift. It seems to me that when God has purposed to do some action, He provides the faith also to His people to pray, believing that the action will occur. From our perspective, we just need to pray in accordance with God's revelation of Himself and believe that God will provide the faith necessary to pray without doubt when He so chooses. Usually we ask for things in the spirit of "not my will but yours be done". When God has purposed to do something He will often give the faith to His people to pray for that thing, knowing it is His will.

Isaiah 33

Two passages caught my eye as I read in Isaiah 33 this morning. The first was in v.6, which reads: "and he [the LORD] will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is Zion's treasure." In these tumultuous times, as in Isaiah's, God is our only stability. On a personal level, it says in Hebrews 6:19 that our hope in Christ is "a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul". On a national level, as it was for Judah in Isaiah's day, true stability can only come when "the fear of the LORD is Zion's (or America's) treasure". I don't know that national revival of that scope will ever happen for America. But, whether or not it happens, God's people will find their treasure in Him.
The second verse that stuck out to me was v.15:
"He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,
who despises the gain of oppressions,
who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe,
who stops his ears fro hearing of bloodshed
and shuts his eyes from looking on evil,"
This is speaking of the one who can dwell with the consuming fire (v.14, speaking of God in His holiness). This speaks of a personal holiness that has definite implications in our choices of movies and TV shows to watch and video games to play. Instead of trying to stay away from graphic descriptions/portrayals of violence and moral perversion, we see how much we can get away with. The interpretation here is a bit complicated in that the very next chapter (ch 34) is a very bloody one. However, we can't put the immoral violence of Hollywood on a par with God's description of His judgment of evil doers.
There is a lot more that could be said about both these verses, but these are some initial thoughts and about all I have time for right now.

Valentines' Day Reminder

This day should be more than a celebration of romantic love... it should be a celebration of the committed love of a husband and wife as a symbol of the love between Christ and His church.
A good reminder of the essential relationship between husband and wife was given by Ray Ortlund at his blog, Christ is Deeper Still.

Starting Up

I guess it is good to try new things. So, here we go. I don't know anything about blogging, though I do read several blogs (check the blogroll).
I have been feeling like I need to start developing the discipline of writing. I have been a good consumer of other peoples' thought content, but I have been lax in coming up with my own. This is not to say that I don't have thoughts. It is just that I have not expressed them in an organized fashion and subjected them to outside scrutiny. I think this will force me to organize my thoughts and ensure they hang together.
As a unit commander in the U.S. Military my job right now is pretty busy. However, I am setting the goal of posting about 2-3 times a week. I expect to generally cover topics of theology, leadership, the Christian life and family life; but, other topics may creep in also.
So, that is all the time I have for tonight. More later.