Random Army Tidbits

I will soon be assigned to a military intelligence unit and I am excited for the change.

I will miss the 55th Sustainment Brigade, but by God's grace, I have accomplished all that I sought to do with them. Most of them are my friends (and I care about all of them), and I am satisfied that they have had the whole counsel of God shared with them over the years. My final goal before moving on was to deploy with this unit, and now I am content.

My new unit will be quite different from the old. We do have SF, airborne, or infantry units in the Reserves. This is the closest we have. Some call our MI folks the "JB's" of the Army--the James Bonds, Jason Bournes, and Jack Bauers. Not only will I have the opportunity to love on a new type of soldier, but will have more opportunities to expand my training and experience (i.e. jump school, combat medical ministry school, etc).

I had lunch with the current chaplain of my new unit yesterday, and she let me know that she has been praying for me for quite a while now. What an encouragement!

After we ate lunch (at the hospital cafeteria at Ft. Belvoir), we dropped by the chaplain office in the building. I ran into one of my former classmates from my initial chaplain training course (almost six years ago). He deployed to Afghanistan in 2012. When I asked him how he and his family are doing, he said that things are just beginning to become "normal" again--a poignant reminder that we all come back changed and that there is no recipe for recovery but clinging to the Gospel.

In that vein, I think it useful to think past all of the political bluster regarding this whole Bowe Bergdahl ordeal (especially for Christians). My church family has been connected to this saga for a number of years now and have been actively praying for Bowe's release, despite whatever circumstances precipitated his capture. His parents are suffering believers who need our compassion, not our condemnation, and we can hope that both justice would prevail in the civil realm and mercy prevail in the spiritual realm as it pertains to our broken soldier who has come home.

I hope (but am not confident) that many will become convicted of their own prior apathy in this current controversy. How many of you were thinking of those six dead soldiers and their families prior to all of this? Why do we as a country only weep for the loss of these soldiers now? We all become morally-minded humanitarians when we have a political stake in the matter. May we all remember that while we live, others die. This life is but a mist. Perhaps the best tribute we can give those who die in our stead is to make our lives worthwhile--not in mere pursuit of happiness (selfish hedoism is not tribute to the fallen), but to consider our purpose in this life, which according to Scripture, is much bigger than our own personal narrative.

The bigger narrative--that of the triune God redeeming a beloved people throughout history by the person and work of Jesus Christ--is what will make "the things of earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace."

Speaking of narratives, Dana Lyon sent me this email recently:

Hi there Ch Roberts,

Thank you for the continued notes of encouragement and prayers... the Body of Christ is helping this child of God hobble along through this grief.  I miss my Dave so so much.  

I know that He has never left me, not even in this time.  He's closer than He's ever been, but goodness, I just want a break from the pain.  I don't know what else to do but worship and sit at His feet, that's where Dave is... I just wish He would provide something more tangible.  He gave me all I ever wanted as a woman, a strong leader and a God fearing warrior for a husband--I feel so weak and vulnerable without him.  I hate being alone and I hate being without my best friend and protector.  We were not made for this pain, we were not made for this world.  

You are right, this is a broken broken world, but The Lord does fight for us, He does provide for us and He will heal this broken heart.  Until I figure out His plan for this life, I keep trudging along day by day...

Thanks again for your prayers and encouragement... 

Dana

Why Soldiers Miss War

I just read an article with an accompanying interview on a reporter who really seems to "get it" with regard to why soldiers miss war: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/newsmakers/sebastian-junger-why-soldiers-miss-war-122426898.html.

It's not a morbid love of combat or trauma, but more a sense of moral purpose, especially as it pertains to the "band of brothers" that serve together.

Though not a soldier himself, Junger has a heart-deep understanding of this principle through his year embedded in a remote outpost in Afghanistan, his injuries due to an IED blast, and the loss of his fellow reporter, Tim Hetherington, in Libya (the two of them had teamed up on the hit documentary, Restrepo).

Junger's link between survivor's guilt and PTSD is particularly insightful.

Speaking of Band of Brothers, I just watched the whole series for the first time. Certainly wouldn't have appreciated it a few years ago like I do now. It's the psychological portraits that particularly grab me.

There was one lieutenant during the battle for Bastogne, who watched from his foxhole as two of his soldiers and closest friends were both maimed in a bombardment. While the lieutenant wasn't physically injured and had served valiantly since D-Day, that experience broke him and ended the war for him.

Toward the end of the war, another lieutenant almost broke when he received news that his wife was not only divorcing him, but was even taking his dog.

And there was the pervasive sense in the closing days of the campaign in Europe that every soldier must be kept from harm. They were close to going home! And every time a soldier died thereafter, often from stupid things like car accidents, it was an unmitigated tragedy.

Finally, the emotions of the war were stretched upon the withered faces of the veterans who in their old age introduced each episode. A half century after the fact, they still wept for their friends and the war that forever changed them.

The wounds of war heal, but the scars never fade.

How Do You Grow in Grace?

There is a big debate brewing of the wider Christian blogosphere on the matter of sanctification, or how we are made increasingly holy in Christ. Historically, this debate is not unexpected, as we just through a two decade debate on the matter of justification, or how we are made right with God in Christ. Typically, as in the Christian life, the former follows the latter.

But with every debate, there is an opportunity to refine one's comprehension of biblical truth and grasp the beauty and the power of the Gospel with greater depth, love, and reverence.

First, let's define a couple of terms:

When someone receives and rests upon Christ alone for their salvation, it is because they have first been effectually called. Effectual calling, according to Westminster Shorter Catechism 31, "is the work of God’s Spirit, whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel."

So the Christian life begins with Christ calling us to saving faith, and giving us such saving faith, by His Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:8-9). As with the disciples, He looks upon and calls us before we follow Him (Mark 1). We love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).

WSC 32 then tells us that "They that are effectually called do in this life partake of justification, adoption, and sanctification, and the several benefits which in this life do either accompany or flow from them." Here then our three of the primary facets of the Christian life:

Justification, which is "an act of God’s free grace, wherein he pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us as righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone" (WSC 33).

Adoption, which is "an act of God’s free grace,a whereby we are received into the number, and have a right to all the privileges, of the sons of God" (WSC 34).

Sanctification, which is "the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness" (WSC 35).

The WSC then tells us that the benefits that accompany or flow from these acts/works of God's grace are an "assurance of God’s love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end" (36). Don't you love how simply and logically the WSC outlines these basic Biblical truths?

So when Christ calls us and unites us to Himself by grace through faith, we are justified, adopted, and begin the process of being sanctified. All of these are acts/works of "God's free grace."

As mentioned before, we just passed through another healthy season of debates on justification, in which the truth that we're pardoned of all our sins and accepted as righteous in His sight is only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us. This righteousness is not infused in us, as Rome claims, so that our righteousness is made acceptable to God. Nor do we add any righteousness of our own, since it only constitutes filthy rags in the sight of God (Is. 64:6).

Sanctification is a more tricky animal, in the sense that it is an ongoing work, and thus a practical struggle in our daily lives. Like justification, we confess that sanctification is wholly of God's free grace, but what are the means of that grace that enable us to "die unto to sin, and live unto righteousness?" (cf. Rom. 6).

Is it not Christ, operating by Word and Spirit (Acts 1) through the preaching of the Word (Rom. 10) and the sacraments (Acts 2; 1 Cor. 10-11)? But, acknowledging our own responsibility in this regard, are we not called to "meditate on the Word day and night" (Josh. 1:8; Ps. 1:2) and set "our minds on things above" (Col. 3:1-4) in prayer?

Brothers and sisters on both sides of the sanctification debate will likely respond in the affirmative to both of those questions. But there is a more specific question that seems to be at the nub of this debate: How is God's Word to be preached and other utilized for the growth of God's people and the glory of His name? Do we focus on the Gospel to spur sinners on toward good deeds, or do we focus on the Law?

On The Gospel Coalition website, Tullian Tchividjian (grandson of Billy Graham) is arguing for the former, while Kevin DeYoung and Richard Phillips are arguing more for the latter

They all agree that the Law should be used to convict sinners in order to drive them to the cross ("Second Use of the Law") and to instruct Christians in the duties that God requires of them ("Third Use of the Law").

Tullian argues that it is only the Gospel that transforms Christians and that it is the Gospel, and Christ's perfect obedience to the Law on our behalf, that should be stressed in preaching. The others would argue that the Law is meant to give Christians a good kick in the pants and can also be used for their conviction and growth. They also question whether Tullian firmly believes in the third use of the Law.

It seems that they probably agree on about 90% of the sanctification issue, and that is what should be stressed as we consider how it is that we grow in grace:

Just as we are saved by God's grace through faith in Christ, we are grown by God's grace through faith in Christ. As plants in the Gardener's care, we cannot grow ourselves, but can only grow when tended by the sunshine of God's Word and the nourishing rain of His Spirit.

God appoints certain means to grow us, and we should take advantage of those means of grace. God calls us to worship on the Lord's Day in order to feed us upon His grace and send us back into the world. He calls us to constant meditation upon His Word, prayer, and fellowship (Heb. 10:24-25). While we are as helpless as plants in our own growth, God calls us to grown where there is rain and sunshine. And even this call would be impossible for us to heed, unless Christ Himself enabled our wills to avail ourselves of the rain and shine (Phil. 2:13).

All of this should guide us to praise His name. When we consider how much we need His grace, not only for our salvation, but for our day to day living, do we not weep in sorrow at our sin? But in the same vein, knowing that His grace is new every morning, and that the Father of good gifts will never change (James 1), are our tears not mingled with profound hope and joy?

As we experience the painful process of our sanctification that occurs between our justification and glorification (when we will be rid of all sin and live in perfect fellowship with our Savior), are we not filled with mingled grief and gratitude? And does this painful process not lead us to affix our eyes on the throne of grace in prayer, where Christ ever intercedes for us? And does it not affix our eyes to the throne of grace that awaits us at the end of our days, when our petty struggle with sin is finally made a thing of the past? And do we not endeavor after new obedience as a result?

As a final note, perhaps the glue that will bind these debates to greater humility and gratitude is the oft-overlooked and precious truth of adoption. All men have free will, but we our only given the ability to utilize that will in service of God when He captures our hearts by His grace. We yearn after Him--and debate these issues to gaze upon His beauty with greater clarity--because we have been adopted to His family. We take these issues to the Almighty God without fear because He is our Daddy, caring for us in our sorrows and stumbling and delighting in our growth and grace.

Let us place the profound truths of our justification and sanctification in Christ into the cradle of our adoption in Christ, and rejoice that our Daddy will carry us like a father carries a child through this wasting wilderness of sin into the Promised Land of His glory (Deut. 1:31).

Three War-Related Movies to Watch This Year

I think the occasional war movie is a healthy part of one's viewing diet, especially as these movies remind us of the persistent reality of ongoing bloodshed in this broken world and the cost necessitated to maintain order amidst the chaos.

Band of Brothers is always an obvious pick for a list such as this, so I will exclude it for that reason. Here are three movies you haven't watched in a while (or at all) that will be worth your time (all of which are based on true stories):

1) We Were Soldiers. I watched this movie again in one of our B-hut office complexes in Afghanistan. What it lacks in character development, it makes up for in showing the unvarnished emotion of war--both for the soldiers and for the families at home. While the Vietnam War shares many similarities with Iraq and Afghanistan (no front lines, no clear identification of combatants and civilians, risk of ambush, etc.), this movie highlights they type of full warfare rarely seen in the modern conflicts. For me, this movie is all about the psychological impact of soldiers/families.

2) Lone Survivor. I hosted a movie night for all of my redeploying soldiers one of our final nights in country, and we watched a bootleg copy of this movie (perfectly legal out there). While most war movies present the big picture with zooming in on individuals, this account was all about a handful of individuals who fought--and largely died--alongside each other. It neither glorifies war or the combatants (their body armor can take a lot of hits and adrenaline and loyalty can keep a wounded soldier in the fight), nor does it disparage them. It shows the uncertainty of decisions made in that environment, and the consequences that follow such decisions. War is messy. Since this takes place in Afghanistan, you'll get a much fuller flavor of elements of life out there.

3) Taking Chance. This made-for-HBO movie followed a Marine colonel who had never deployed and wanted to support our fighting men and women by escorting the body of a fallen Marine home. The story follows the COL and the fallen soldier home to Wyoming, with touching moments of love and patriotism along the way. You will be impressed by the care the military takes for its fallen heroes, as well as the way such tragedy draws people together in grief and in pursuit of comfort.

It also reminds me of the many military funerals I have performed for veterans--from performing the honors alongside veterans from other wars, folding flags, playing TAPS, and looking a grieving widow in the eyes. The first two movies on this list survey the battlefield. The last movie will take you where every fallen soldier must travel: Home.

It Should Have Been Me

"I'm not supposed to be here," I blurted out late one night to my wife.

"What do you mean?" she asked, obviously confused.

I tried to explain the feelings that I can barely put my finger on. Soldiers often feel out of place when they come home. I was certainly feeling that. And, no, it's not because we don't want to be home, but there is a sense of forever being caught between two worlds after a deployment.

I feel like those characters on LOST, who, once they returned to society, realized that they should have never left the island. They weren't meant to come home.

Again, all normal soldier feelings. We have lived in another world and can't figure out which one is reality and which one is the illusion.

But death heightens this disconnect and cements it as a semi-permanent feature of life with mingled grief and guilt.

Words were hard for me. It's hard for me to talk and show grief, but it's also hard for me not to talk and show grief.

I finally choked out, "It should have been me, not Dave."

I watched the tail end of We Were Soldiers last night and felt an immediate connection to Mel Gibson's character--the commander--at the end of the movie. He told his reporter friend who survived the battle that he would never forgive himself. When the reported asked him why, he said with tear-strewn face "Because...because my men died and I didn't."

It may seem morbid, but I kind of expected to die in Afghanistan.

When my wife and son seemed to be in grave danger a year and a half ago, I prayed fervently that the Lord would take me instead of them. It wasn't long after my wife was finally healed up that I was given the surprise notice that I would deploy. Four weeks after my little boy was born, I left home, presuming upon God's providence and figuring that my prayers were answered. I would not be coming home. And that was okay. My wife and baby were safe.

I said a number of final "goodbyes" in my heart before I left--to my tough childhood years, summer breezes and mowed grass, college antics and seminary graces, a wife who I enjoyed my best years with, and a little baby boy who would also be a symbol of hope and life amidst death.

My heart was filled with as much gratitude as grief when I left. Even during times of great struggle out there, my heart was still filled with gratitude. Each time I got on a convoy and went outside the wire, I prayed for our team, reflected with gratitude upon my full life, and prepared myself.

I have enjoyed a full life. People desperately cling to life, holding it like a mouse in hand a la Lenny from Of Mice and Men until it is crushed. God had brought me through so very much. When the truth of Christ broke upon my heart like a thunderstorm upon the desert, it changed everything. Life on earth was no longer the whole picture--just a broken glimpse of the greater picture. That would have been enough, but the Lord also gave me a beloved wife and the baby of my dreams.

I was ready to die. Dave wasn't.

He was just 27 and had barely begun to taste the goodness of the Lord in this life. He would go home, Dana would leave the service, and together they would plant a family and watch it grow.

I have always joked about being an old man, but even at 31, the jokes belie the reality. I have a youthful personality, but an old soul.

If I had died at 31, my wife would have grieved tremendously and my boy would've had a better example in death than in life, but would also miss the life he would never share with his daddy. At least I would've had a boy who missed me--an opportunity Dave and Dana will never have.

I know Dave doesn't regret what happened, and it's not because he's dead. He's not dead. He is enjoying the God of glory--the mystery of His providence that would have Dave somehow spend his last few days on this earth in Afghanistan with his wife by his side. And then, in a flash, His greatest earthly joy was supplanted by His greatest heavenly joy and the Savior's welcome.

And here I am, left to sort out a life I barely recognize--that I didn't really think I would return to. I am home, but I have never felt my pilgrim status more than now. Like a fellow pastor--a Vietnam vet--told me, the memories never leave. You never fully come home. And guilt would be the dominating feature if it wasn't swallowed up in the tender love and grace of Christ.

So I will bear the scars, even if not on my body. I'll grieve those we've lost and a world that will continue to squeeze the heart like a sponge until it goes dry, and look with hope to the Day when the river of life and healing flows unabated. Until that Day, may the Lord grant that I would be a more faithful husband, father, and minister of the Gospel than I would be without the scars, looking to Him whose scars brought healing and peace.

Video Clip From the Day a Hero Died

When a VBIED (vehicle-based IED) struck near our post on December 27th, the alarms started going off, soldiers either ignored them or rushed to their positions or places of cover, and I picked up my Ipod and pressed "record" for a few moments (it's not like I can pick up a weapon).

A few days later, I began to counsel soldiers who were friends with the US airman killed in this attack. A few days after that, I realized that it was CPT David Lyon, a dear young believer who I spent the better part of a night talking with and encouraging when I had been in the north of the country. If I had known then what had happened, I probably would've never started recording.

Please continue to pray for our soldiers overseas. Most are not in gun battles every day, but wait for the random day when they might get ambushed like our departed hero, Dave Lyon.

And please remember Dave's widow, Dana, who was stationed at our post and accompanied the body of her husband back to the States. She bitterly grieves the loss of her husband, but grieves with hope, knowing that they both belong, body and soul, in life and death, to Jesus Christ.

What has happened to our youth: The Way Ahead

In a recent article on American ignorance of Christianity, Janice Shaw Crouse gave this troubling assessment:

"The Pew Forum on Religious Life reports that a third of American adults under the age of 30 have no religious affiliation whatsoever — less religious involvement than either their parents or their grandparents. That shouldn’t surprise anyone because Sunday Schools — one of the major means of Biblical instruction in the past — have been declining since the 1980s. With religious instruction also prohibited in public schools, where would people learn the Bible stories, Biblical history, and Biblical doctrine?"

You know what is most troubling about this assessment? Not the one-third of youth who have no religious affiliation, nor the decline of Sunday Schools (though that does concern me), nor the prohibition of religion in public schools. Rather, it is the assumption in that final question about who will provide religious instruction to our youth: Others. Not the children's own parents. Others.

The Church is charged with the nurture of our children as well as parents, but it starts in the home.

To this point, we have explored what most youth are coming to believe ("moralistic therapeutic deism") and several of the reasons why that may be the case. Recognizing that salvation belongs to the Lord, what are some ways in which we can inculcate our children with the truth, in God's grace?

1) Treat our children as sophisticated, responsible moral agents. Children, as fallen image-bearers of God, have both an inherent dignity and capacity to learn as well as an inborn sinful nature. They must give their own account to God, and their ability to learn that fact as well as many others can begin early. This principle gives rise to many of the practices below.

2) Restore the catechism to its rightful place. Children may stray from the truth, but they shouldn't be able to misrepresent the truth. The former is rebellion problem and reflects more on the children; the latter is an ignorance problem and reflects more on the parents. A child can decide that happiness is his or her purpose in life, but if he/she knows the first question and answer of the Shorter Catechism, he/she will not claim that such a belief is a Christian belief.

The sad truth, as noted by the writer above, is that Sunday School is on the decline in many churches. And this isn't even the worst of it--most Sunday School classes teach children little about Jesus and the core truths of Scripture anyway. Our responsibility as parents is to see that our children are catechized regardless. We can start them on the Children's Catechism, and move on to the Westminster Shorter when they're a bit older.

We can also prod our churches in the right direction. Your elders are not only charged with feeding the flock with preaching, but with teaching (Matt. 28:10-20). Our youth belong to Christ and the elders will be held to account for their shepherding of our youth as well as their parents. If your church lacks catechetical teaching for the youth, encourage them and actively support their efforts to implement such a program.

3) Maintain regular family devotions. I must again confess that I need to master this concept, by God's grace. At bare minimum, this should involve some Scripture reading and prayer with your children each day. And fathers must spearhead this effort. They have greater responsibility as head of the household. Most people I have read or have talked with recommend either mealtimes or bedtime (or both). We will also include the singing of hymns, and based on some recent reading I have done, I would like to incorporate daily Psalms. There is a great deal of freedom in this practice. Tailor it to your family's unique needs, centering it on Word and prayer.

4) Guard the Lord's Day. More than ever, I am convicted concerning how I arrange my priorities. Children not only notice what you say and what you do, but they notice how much you say and do some things, relative to other things. If my son sees me working on my laptop more than he sees me paying attention to him, he will learn that my laptop is more important than him and that he must get between me and the laptop in order to get my love.

In the same way, when we treat the Lord's Day as the Lord's hour, we are communicating to our children the practical point that we neither God nor our weary souls should have the entire day that God has appointed for His worship and our rest and growth. We should pray with our children before Church, ask them questions about the Sunday School class and sermon over lunch, and bring them back for evening worship. In the DC area especially, nothing says "the Lord is my priority" like giving Him our entire day of rest.

5) Work closely with your Church in nurturing your children. It's a tag team effort. Parents and elders both bear a responsibility before the Lord for Christ's little ones. Make sure to track what your children are being taught at Church and make sure to let the elders know how your children are doing. As a practical point, be willing to open your home to the pastors and elders for shepherding visits, and ask them to do so if they are not already.

6) Add the "adversity funnel" to your "freedom funnel" as paradigms for raising children. A wise man once explained to me the concept of a freedom funnel for raising children: You start out with a strict system of rules, and as your children mature, you gradually expand their freedom and responsibility. If the funnel is reversed, going from lax to strict, major clashes will ensue.

In the same way, our children must be exposed to funneled adversity. When they are very little, this might mean just letting play with other toddlers in the Sunday School class or at the playground. As they get a bit older, maybe they can start serving in the community with their parents and wrestle with harder realities (like death). Eventually (preferably before college), we want our children engaging with a wide swath of the local community, whether at school, work, recreational league programs, etc.

As mentioned in the first point, they are responsible moral agents who are accountable to God. We must strive to impress upon them this reality and teach them as best we can to exercise that responsibility on their own. The more they own their faith before others, the safer they will be from a future crisis of conscience that comes when a child has simply ridden upon his/her parents coattails.

7) Model love, repentance, and grace. It is very easy to become legalistic and formulaic in parenting. Part of what makes it so scary is that there is no formula, nor inevitable results. With this in mind, children need to see their parents model unconditional love, repentance, and grace. Rules must be made clear, violations swiftly punished, obedience swiftly praised, and the punished child swiftly reminded that he/she is unconditionally loved.

If your child watches you sin, be quick to repent. It may be humbling to repent to a two year old, but such humiliation points to the Savior who became obedient to death upon a cross for the sake of His people. And we should ground our love, repentance, and grace in the Gospel, working to turn everyday situations into opportunities to further instruct our children in the beauty of the Gospel.

What has happened to our youth: Ways we slip up.

In the last post, we discussed briefly the fact that many youth from Christian households end up forsaking even the most basic of Christian beliefs and instead embrace what was sociologically and popularly labeled "moralistic therapeutic deism."

A great episode on this very issue can be found at the White Horse Inn.

But how did they get to this point?

An important qualifier must be stated from the outset: All parents and churches fall short in every way when it comes to raising children in the love and nurture of the Lord. Our knowledge of man's depravity excludes every possibility of us doing this entirely right. Salvation comes from the Lord. It is our heavenly Father who truly shepherds the soul, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Our goal is not as much to check all the boxes, but point to the grace of One whose love is never inadequate.

That said, here are some of trends within the Church and Christian households that can hinder the growth of a little one toward Christ:

Ministry Priorities. As churches feared a decline in cultural influence and stressed the importance of individual evangelism, they lost sight of the most important group: "covenant" children. These children belong to God, who told Abraham concerning His promise of Christ: These promises are for you and your children. I urge you to compare the number of passages concerning outreach with those dealing with raising your children in the faith. The latter dominates the former. That doesn't mean we should neglect to tell others about the love of Jesus, but it starts in the home.

Lack of Substance. Much of the Church fails to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is its sole message. Evangelicals, this is not just the obvious apostasy of the mainline churches that we are talking about. Many of our Gospel-believing churches are not Gospel-proclaiming churches. While Christ said "all these (Scriptures) testify to me," we often say "all these testify to ME." Making moral lessons the focus is not only unfaithful to the Text, but as it tells us what to do rather than telling us what Jesus did, it is simply an expression of the Law. And the Law doesn't transform hearts, the Gospel does.

Fundamentalism. This is a loaded term. In its original sense, it simply meant an orthodox Christian who still believed in the basic tenets of Christianity. It was also often used to attack orthodox Christians, inferring that they are backward and on "the wrong side of history." BUT, in its modern sense, it often refers to those who add to Scripture, imposing an extra moral code to prevent the "appearance of evil," and an extra political code, to make sure someone lines up on the right side of the aisle.

While many parents who subscribe to this worldview believe in Jesus Christ, they practically diminish His work when go beyond Scripture with these codes. I'm not talking about normal rules of wisdom, like "Don't touch the stove." I am talking about those rules like "Don't smoke, drink, or chew or go with those who do" that are given religious sanction though they are complete unbiblical. By restricting Christian freedom, we mis-define sin for our children. At some point, our children will go to a dance of play cards. They will discover that there is nothing inherently evil about either enterprise. They begin to question what they've been taught about sin, then whether they are truly sinners, then whether they truly need a Savior. I've seen many a youth unravel.

Lack of Intentionality. I must confess that this is my primary area of struggle. Even though I have shepherded young adults who resent their parents' lack of spiritual guidance, I struggle to do the same. It feels weird to try to do a morning devotion when I'm still only half awake, knowing that my son sees an open Bible but doesn't understand anything I am saying. It is easy to try to get some work done while I'm supposed to be keeping an eye on him. And how am I supposed to reign in my love for sarcasm, which doesn't make sense and can hurt a guileless child?

My wife sets a great example for me in this regard. Each night before bed, she reads our son a Bible story and sings a hymn with him. She then lets me know they're ready for me, we all sing our evening lullaby ("Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus") together, pray for our son and grace for his nurture, and put him down to sleep.

I had a friend tell me recently how hard it is to watch his words around his kids. I can imagine! But the bottom line, whether it comes to our family devotions, attention and instruction, or our speech, is this: Our children learn what is most important to us, and what is most important for them, from what we go out of our way to intentionally teach them. If they don't see us struggle to keep the Gospel in the fore, feebly as we do, they will question its worth and whether it worth their time.

Being Patronizing. Since when did entertainment become the primary goal of Christian nurture? And since when did we assume that children can't handle basic instruction and teens can't handle wrestling with more sophisticated subjects? The "old" method of nurturing our youth included teaching them the catechism, which helped then learn and articulate the key concepts of the faith, know their Bibles, and have a mental record of what is true in a deceptive world.

Now, many Sunday School and youth programs focus on entertainment. Young people are shown that they are the center of the world because these programs are all about them. Teaching the faith is often an afterthought. I came to Christ through a wonderful youth group that was active in sharing the Gospel, and the number of unbelievers who came to various events often swelled our numbers to double or triple the normal size. But it was impossible to shepherd all these kids, encourage them to profess their faith and join the Church, and get to know their families. The numbers swelled for a few years, but most of these kids, including quite a few of the covenant children, gave it all up when they left for college.

Ownership. Of the dozens of benefits that come with growing up in the Church, a distinct hardship is found in the need for ownership of one's own faith. The Christian father is head and shepherd of the home; the Christian mother often the daily nurturer. Both of them are really stand-ins for God, stewarding children who really belong to Him. We are training our children to have their own relationship with Him, apart from us. And they will only learn to do this as they establish their own identity in Christ, by His grace.

A large part of this comes when a covenant child makes his or her own profession of faith, takes the Lord's Supper, and engages in the body life of the Church on his or her own accord. But this also comes from articulating their faith in the real world. The family and Church are the incubators of faith for Christ's little ones, but they only learn to walk on their own once they are outside the confines of each. They must articulate amidst adversity without falling back on family or Church as a crutch. This is what we're training them for--owning their Savior before the Church and the world.

What has happened to our youth? (Part 1)

(From the Garfield Christmas special. Garfield dreamt that he was given a special Santa chair that would give him whatever his heart desired.)

A number of studies have come out from reputable sociologists over the past couple of years that have shown the vast ignorance of young Christians in identifying even their basic beliefs. Based on statistics gathered by Christian Smith, the Barna Group, and others, it would seem that the majority of youth who grow up in Christian households deny the deity of Christ, the existence of the Holy Spirit, and the need to believe in Christ for salvation.

Christian Smith, a sociologist at Notre Dame, coined the now popular phrase "moralistic therapeutic deism" in describing the religion of most youth who grew up in Christian homes. Here's what that phrase means:

Deism: The belief in a God who is detached from the world He created. This view was quite popular among America's founders. The most popular illustration of this belief is that of the "divine watchmaker"--God as one who sets the world in motion (winds the clock), and then leaves it to its own devices.

Therapeutic: The belief that the goal of religion is to make you happy. It is a means to an end--your pleasure. This belief basically equates God with Santa or a genie--here to grant your wishes.

Moralistic: The belief that the most important thing is to be a good person. If, on balance, you're a good person (as you define good, which tends to favor you much more than others), you will earn your rightful place in Heaven.

You put all of this together, and this is what many of our youth (apparently) believe: There is a God who is relatively detached from our lives, but wants us to be happy and nice.

This new religion (which is really not new at all--it is what man believes at his very core absent a heart change) is most striking in that it is not a mere variant of the Christianity that many of these young people still claim to believe--it is the absolute antithesis of biblical Christianity.

The Bible, which is the only authority for what man is to believe concerning God and the duties God requires of man, shows us a God who not only created the world, but reigns over it at all times in His providence. He is not simply the divine watchmaker.

It shows us that the chief end of man is not happiness, but to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. In other words, He is not the genie, here to grant your wishes.

It shows us through direct teaching and example that "there are none who are righteous--no, not even one" (Ps. 14; Rom. 3). We have dignity and value by virtue of being created in God's image, but we are not fundamentally good people. God had to, and graciously did, send His Son in human flesh to live perfectly in our place and die for our guilt. That is our only hope of heaven.

So why do we have young adults who are totally out of sync with basic Christian teaching, especially at a time when Christianity is spreading like wildfire throughout much of the third world? Why is it that some 2-3 year olds can confess the basic truths of the Gospel, as well as millions of tribal people with no formal education, but not a large percentage of our youth in this country?

These questions will be dug into more in our next post.

The Commentary Series Everyone Should Own

Does it seem to you that most books you can read on Scripture are either way to "heady" or fluff? Does there seem to be little in the way of middle ground, where a devotional need not be a dissertation or a disappointment?

For years, my most prized commentaries may have been some of the cheapest ones, but also the richest. The Gospel According to the Old Testament series is written by top-notch biblical scholars with pastoral hearts. When you read these books, you discover some of the gems that are dug up my scholars and pastors, but always with a view to the centrality of Christ and the implications for our lives.

In these books, you walk the stony paths with Ruth and Naomi, cry out with Job, or rebel and repent with Jonah. You learn fascinating insights from the Hebrew, explore ties to other parts of Scripture, and have the Gospel brought to bear upon your heart. You will see and love the unity of Scripture and the overarching story of sacrificial love and grace for you in Jesus Christ--and all at the price of a fluffy book that gives you nothing but barely Christian experiential thoughts.

The new book in this series, dealing with the vain searches for meaning in Ecclesiastes, has come out this week, and I look forward to to buying a copy (at the link above). I may even use it as a book study with some of my youth who want to engage the culture more effectively with a mindset more transformed by God's Word. Check it out!

The Best Radio Program

Like Christian non-fiction works, I have often not been a big fan of Christian talk radio.

Often times, it is mindless and moralistic. The humor is horrible, the advice utterly cliche, and apart from the name "Jesus," there is often little about the program that is distinctively Christian. I remember our local Christian radio station pushing an effort to pay for the car behind you in the drive thru line at the fast food joints. Is that a nice thing to do? Absolutely. So is helping someone fix a flat. There is nothing distinctively Christian about it.

The biggest problem is often the moralistic messages, by which I mean messages that focus on being a good person or doing nice things. Some family-friendly programming is just that--good principles for raising a good family, regardless of whether one believes that Jesus has been raised from the dead along with those who believe in Him.

There are wonderful exceptions to this type of programming. On occasion, you may be able to find R.C. Sproul, Alistair Begg, or other Christian giants on the radio.

The most profound exception, however, is the White Horse Inn.

Even though it was founded by one of my seminary professors, I never bothered to listened to it because I'm not a big fan of Christian talk radio (see opening).

But as I noticed its rising popularity throughout the chaplaincy and the Church in general, I realized that I had to tune in. I haven't since been disappointed. The program, hosted by four pastors--two Dutch Reformed, one Reformed Baptist, and one Lutheran--is food for the heart, mind, and soul. They engage controversial topics, provide rich surveys of biblical books, and conduct interviews tha range from amusing to heart-wrenching. They introduce you to great defenders and expounders of the faith from a variety of Christian denominations, and demonstrate how to be charitable with guests who are clearly out of sorts (ahem, Robert Schuller).

If you click on the WHI link above, you'll find a list of their most recent episodes on the right on the page. You can enjoy reflections on the book of Job or the matter of suffering. My favorite recent episodes are interviews--one with Rosaria Butterfield, a former top lesbian activist and scholar who is not a Christian (and pastor's wife!), and the other with Nancy Guthrie, whose story of suffering and consequent reflections fill you with grief and wonder.

Enjoy that best Christian program on the radio today and see what so many are talking about!

War, Reality, and The Hobbit

Of all books stacked upon her nightstand, my wife chose Odysseus in America, a psychological book dealing with combat trauma and trial of a soldier's homecoming, all through the lens of the great Greek hero, Odysseus. It is often assigned at the War College.

Many of the book's insights (mediated through my wife) have synced up with my own experience. More important, the book is transforming the way my wife thinks about war and even her interpretation of the whole of human experience.

My wife now "gets it." I never gave her an inside peak at the Army lifestyle before I deployed, nor did she feel able to enter into it as she simply tried to survive during the deployment. But there is so much more to war than most people realize, and that's the biggest gap that exists between those who have gone to war and those who have perceived it from afar.

War may be a simple symptom of a broken world, where rivalry, pride, and greed slip the bounds of the community and entangle nations and peoples, or it may be a "necessary evil," that is utilized by just nations to maintain a degree of peace and order (as a measure of God's common grace). In either case, whether just or not, war is irretrievably a part of the human experience.

It rips the shroud off of illusions of invincibility and insulation. It forces us to look at the costs of a broken world and the human sacrifice often necessitated to restrain the chaos. It litters the streets of Boston with limbs introduces flag-draped coffins on the evening news. We flee from war like a boy who flees from a girl with cooties, but eventually, she catches us all. We cannot escape her.

But alongside the more grisly realities of a broken world and corrupted human nature, war also introduces us to beautiful (even if tragic) themes concerning the real world. We live in a world where men will willingly go off to war in order to protect their homes and loved ones. We live in a world where one man will fall upon a grenade for the person next to him without a second thought. We live in a world where those who take such a mantle upon their shoulders receive their praise.

And when we understand these things, we interpret the world anew. My wife never like the Lord of the Rings movies, but she was mesmerized the other night while watching The Hobbit. Why? She could understand why this pack of dwarfs were willing to follow a leader they believed in, for a cause that they believed in (home), alongside beloved friends that they believed in. She got it.

(As an aside, that is why you can criticize the policies or opinions of a war time president, but not his motives or his character. The leader of soldiers embodies the morality of their cause. Those who ignorantly argued that "Bush lied, people died" or level similar attacks upon President Obama are undermining the leaders or our soldiers and thus undermining the soldiers themselves.)

Bilbo finally confesses, late in the first movie, that the reason he was willing to leave his beloved Shire was so that, in essence, his friends could return to their beloved mountain. We will give up so very much to maintain the peace and prosperity of our home, as well as for our friends.

And since my wife now "gets it," she not only appreciated a more "masculine" movie, but appreciated the mind behind it. J.R.R. Tolkien served in the trenches in WWI. He was withdrawn for health reasons just before most of his unit was wiped out. He later stated that every friend of his but one was killed in that war. Those experiences profoundly affect a man. You can see them at work in his writing: the beauty of hearth and home, the grim duty of leaving to protect it, the deep bonds of platonic love, the grisly necessity of war, and the beauty that can follow the ashes.

At the end of Lord of the Rings, Frodo travels to a distant paradise, leaving behind a Shire that was worth protecting, but now unfamiliar to him. There too, we find the young soldier, Tolkien, and every soldier who comes back from war. They fought for a world they no longer belong to. Some can carry on like Samwise, with their own Rosy Cotton and handful of kids; others look with longing to a future life without tears. A handful will do both, finding in Christ, their hope and home, the strength and meaning to pass through this vale of tears.

On Porn and Dessert...

I don't like dessert. Well, that is not exactly true. I am more of a meat tooth than a sweet tooth, but if you drop off mint chocolate chip ice cream or coconut cream pie, I may over-indulge.

In fact, that's why I don't like dessert. I don't like having sweets around the house because they are more satisfying in theory than in practice and echo with David Spade's voice: "Ugh, I am watching you get fatter" (spoken to Chris Farley in Tommy Boy).

Desserts never truly satisfy. The initial taste is alluring, the aftertaste is guilt and regret.

In this way, dessert is like pornography. It holds lots of promise--sexual satisfaction without selflessness, pleasure without responsibility, etc. But like the fruit of tree of the knowledge of good and evil, picking the forbidden fruit has consequences.

There are lots of statistics regarding pornography addiction circulating, but regardless of which ones you examine, they are all startling. For example, one statistic shows that 50% of Christian men and 20% of Christian women are currently addicted to pornography.

Look around the pews at Church. Half of the men and a quarter of the women are likely addicted to pornography. In my experience working with people on this issue, the numbers are likely higher. Now take a moment and look at your own heart. Either you are one of these statistics, or you are lusting in your heart (which is tantamount to adultery), or you are one of the rare freaks of nature who doesn't struggle in this regard, which likely means you have a self-righteousness problem.

I would guess that about 9 out of every 10 men and 4 or 5 out of every 10 women in our society dabble in pornography on occasion. And probably half of each don't really care.

But we should. Pornography gradually makes you a glutton for instant gratification. I sent out a British article on this blog about six months ago, showing how habitual use of pornography amongst British youth totally warped their view of time, relationships, love, sex, and the future.

When my son is placed in his high chair in preparation for dinner, he inevitably begins to whine. He loves food and he doesn't want to wait. I am the same way. If I am hungry and want meat, don't get in my way! Our gluttony turns what should be a more pleasurable experience into a means for immediate gratification.

How do we respond to this epidemic of the heart? For one, we should be diligent in spending intentional time with the Lord in Word and prayer. Our hearts have a hard time holding tightly to two loves--usually one is of necessity pushed to the margins. Second, we shouldn't let a sense of false piety get in the way of making hard choices, like getting a filter placed on our computer, or giving our computer to a loved one each night.

There is one ministry that I think is particularly helpful in this regard: http://www.xxxchurch.com/. They have a free program (or paid, with more benefits) called "X3 Watch" that reports all questionable site visits to three accountability buddies of your choosing once a week.

But in all of this, remember that there is hope both short-term and long-term. Short-term, there is the knowledge that if you are in Christ, you are a new creation, and by God's grace, He will transform your mind and conform you to the image of His Son (2 Cor. 5:17; Rom. 12:2; Col. 3:10; Eph. 4:24). You are growing by the day.

Long-term, there is the knowledge that it is Christ's righteousness, not your own, that pardons you before the judgment seat of God. You are not a sex addict in any regard if you are in Christ, because He was not a sex addict and you are hidden in His blood and perfect righteousness (Col. 3:1-4). If you struggle, take practical steps to protect yourself, entrusting yourself to the Savior who defines you as His own and is working in and through you by the day.

The Importance of Confrontation

Let's start with a simple scenario: Whenever you gather with a group of friends, one of them always goes out of his/her way to criticize you. You don't know whether it is mean-spirited or playful, but you do know that you don't like it.

At first, you just play it off or ignore it, figuring it is just a few words and nothing to get worked up about. Maybe you'll look to sensitive or defensive if you bring the matter up. But it becomes routine. You start to harbor resentment toward this person and either begin to become aggressive ("Oh yeah..."), passive aggressive ("Let's see how you like the silent treatment."), or gossipy.

Whatever the case, you are both now consumed by an unpleasant feeling and acting out against this person through whatever means. And this is what typically happens when there is not a confrontation.

Nobody likes confrontations. If I had a nickle for every "Brother, we need to talk" talk that I have received, I would be a rich man. I hate them, whether giving or receiving. They are always a buzz kill, often awkward, and are volatile--the person confronted is more likely to be defensive or argumentative than repentant. But we still need to do it. Here are a few reasons why:

1) Confrontation allows for free expression and resolution of negative feelings.

You don't have to agree with the source of my offense, but if you at least hear me out, I'm less likely to hold onto negative feelings. See how that works? Sometimes, we just need to be heard. This is where Job's friends really came to drop the ball. Job might have been wrong in some of his assessments regarding his suffering, but he didn't need their agreement, he needed their ears.

When you confront someone, you are doing it for yourself as much as the other person. Feelings exposed to the light of day are much easier to manage (even if there is not repentance). When feelings are simply harbored, they can be felt but not really identified and treated. When I put them into words, they are under my control--I am not under their control. I can then lift them specifically before the throne of grace and forgive, regardless of repentance by another party..

2) Confrontation often heals relationships--at least from one side.

This truth proceeds from the last one. When feelings are expressed, they can be resolved and healed--at least from one side. You don't need someone to agree with you or even necessarily hear you out, but once you've expressed your feelings, they are more manageable.

3) Confrontation often leads to repentance.

It is not just individuals that are healing through confrontation, but often relationships as well. When someone is confronted with their words or behavior in a loving and gentle way, he/she may very well be convicted of their sin (or neglect) and repent.

This does not mean that they will confess that what they did was sin. I once accidentally offended a soldier of mine. I had not seen her in a while, and as I do with all of my soldiers, I asked her how things were going with her boyfriend. Several other people were around when I asked this. I forgot how private she is, and that she doesn't want anyone to know she has a boyfriend.

She immediately turned to me and said "That's rude!" I was shocked by her response, mumbled for a moment, and then quickly changed the subject. I felt horrible. A little while later, I apologized to this soldier when I caught her in private. It wasn't that I directly sinned against her, but I was foolish, not remembering her preferences. And even if I didn't think I did anything wrong, I hurt her feelings, which is cause enough for repentance.

But in confronting me in that moment, I had the opportunity to repent, rather than hearing about my nosiness or my soldier's unaddressed anger from other parties down the road.

My dad is a great example to me in this regard. Like me (and everybody else), he hates being confronted. But he doesn't grow defensive or argumentative. He listens to what is said, works to understand it, then repents.

4) Confrontation exposes sin patterns that might otherwise go unaddressed.

Often times, we are doing a favor for another person when we confront them. I realized anew recently that some generalizations I make are taken personally by one of my loved ones. I could have guessed as much, but I didn't really get it until this person confronted me about it. She explained how exactly my remarks were perceived in a way I could really understand.

I apologized and will seek in the future to avoid such generalizations with her. I know that I am a sinner, as David confesses, that sin is always before me. But I often miss the exact manifestations of that sin and how it affects others. When you confront me on something, even if I think you're way off the mark, I will likely be pricked by at least one thing you said and work on that issue. I will repent, by God's grace, and endeavor to improve, by God's grace.

5) Confrontation reminds us of our standing before God.

Confrontation tells us about ourselves. When I confront you, I am acknowledging that I live in a broken world with broken relationships and a breaking heart. When you confront me, I am forced to admit that I take a hand in the breaking of this world, relationships, and hearts. In other words, it forces me to deal seriously with the issue of my sin.

In addition, I realize that sin, as an offense against love and righteousness, must be addressed. In this realization, I must reflect upon a holy God and how He views sin. The offense of sin is much graver against God than man. Though David had an affair with Bathsheba and had her husband killed, he confessed to God with broken heart soon after: "Against you, you alone, have I sinned" (Ps. 51). David sinned against others, but there is nothing as serious as sinning against a holy God. I am worthy of not only His confrontation, but His eternal condemnation (Rom. 6:23).

Finally, confrontation leads me to the throne of grace. The fact is that God will not give me His justified judgment of death and torment. Instead, the Son of God willingly walked the perfect path on my behalf, offering to God His sinless life, and then bore God's judgment upon my sin. He who knew no sin became sin so that I might be the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21).

When you confront a dodo like me, you give me an opportunity to own my sin and what it deserves anew, as well as find my life once more in Christ and endeavor to live anew, standing upon His grace alone (Rom. 5). Your loving confrontation also reminds me of my Savior, who came to me in mercy, not in judgment.

Who Cares If Heaven Is Real?

Okay...I do care. Knowing that it is real and that my citizenship is there is of immense comfort.

I find it interesting that some Christians and others tend to deify this movie, as if by "proving" to people that Heaven exists, that will move them closer to eternal life. I find it even more interesting that some of the same people who deify it were likely some of the same people who demonized Noah. We blast one movie for twisting Scripture, but celebrate another movie that doesn't even deal with Scripture and is just as likely to promote Universalism. So Heaven is real...

Will that make any difference for you?

Nope. Not if you don't know how to get there. A number of religions ultimately profess that Heaven in some form or another is real. Even folks who consider themselves "spiritual, but not religious" believe in a Heaven where they will be accepted because their good deeds outweigh their bad deeds. So believing in Heaven will not save you.

In fact, it may further breed in you a sense of false hope. In the greater span of human history, convincing someone of Heaven has not proven difficult. Why? Because even in our unbelief, we still bear witness to the power and glory of God in Creation and in the law written upon our hearts (Rom. 1-2). We all believe in God (even the demons--James 2!) and would naturally suppose that He would have a heavenly abode. We just suppress the truth in unrighteousness and refuse to recognize our need for His saving work. So believing in Heaven is just as likely to condemn as save.

Is someone's experience a reliable guide for truth?

Nope. Lots of people experienced the miracles and perfect life of Jesus Christ as He walked this earth. Many of them never believed. Why? Because we are saved by faith, which comes through hearing the Word, not by sight. The hubris of Western society in the past couple of centuries has been this pernicious belief in the power of the senses, reason, or experience to uncover truth. In other words, the ability to man in and of himself to uncover truth. We cannot do that. Truth must be divinely given. A creature cannot fathom the mind of his Creator.

For ultimate truth--saving truth--we are dependent solely on God's supreme revelation to mankind, which is the Bible. While the senses and reason and experience all deceive and bring condemnation, the Bible makes us wise unto salvation. This does not mean that the human pursuit of knowledge is purely vain, but it only gains true and significant meaning under the light of Scripture. So some kid claims to have an experience of Heaven. We all have experiences. We don't all have truth.

Bottom line: There is no ladder that we can ascend to Heaven--neither logical proofs nor scientific formulas nor mystical experiences nor moral goodness. There is a great big gulf between us and God, one that can't be bridged by intelligence, emotions, or morality. It is a gulf of sin. The human race is in rebellion against God, and human overtures of peace are impossible when they continue to carry the traitor's flag. Our only hope we have is that God sent His Son down the ladder, so to speak, to rectify this sin problem and reconcile sinners to a holy and just God.

The fact that Heaven is for real provides no hope if that is not your eternal abode. What you need to believe is that Jesus is for real--that He is truly, eternally God and man, and that He lived the perfect life and died an accursed death in our place. We can only be raised to Heaven if we are raised with Christ in His resurrection.

Who cares if Heaven is real if you don't have access to it. I care about it because I call it home, by the grace of God in Jesus Christ my Savior and Lord. And if I care about you, I will not get distracted by such abstractions and distractions as whether Heaven exists. Instead, I will ask if you have encountered the risen Christ, revealed in His Word, who alone can prepare a place for you.

Should Parents Ban Books?

A Patrick Henry College graduate, now writing for The American Conservative, recently penned this thoughtful post on whether Christian parents should "ban" books:  http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2014/04/28/should-christian-parents-ban-books/

I put "ban" in quotation marks because the term itself it inherently pejorative. You remember when Sarah Palin was accused of trying to "ban" a couple of library books in Alaska? This was an effective way to perpetuate the idea that she was a backwards, unsophisticated fundamentalist.

In our age of freedom-without-borders, we equate the banning of books, even within the private confines of a home, with the burning of books. A parent who exercises discretion over what her pre-teen reads is treated like the firefighters in Fahrenheit 451, whose primary purpose is to set fire to books. This was considered one of the great symbolic marks of a tyrannical society.

And of course, there's the famous line from 19th century German poet, Heinrich Heine, "Where they burn books, they will, in the end, burn people as well." His chilling line seemed particularly validated by Hitler's ovens.

But the private banning of books is not the public burning of books. In fact, we all privately ban books to a certain extent by making sure that our children are educated. In an age of constant information overload, we need to be selective in the books we read and that our children read.

We do not want our children reading Fifty Shades of Gray for example, when that time would be better spent on To Kill A Mockingbird or Harry Potter (or really, anything that is not pornographic).

What criteria might a parent use to prioritize what their children read, and how such books are read? Here is my off-the-cuff breakdown:

Recommended for Independent Reading. There are certain books that require minimal parental involvement and accountability. For example, books that are spiritually edifying (and reinforce the child's worldview), historical classics, and uncontroversial "rabbit trail" books. Perhaps my child would like to learn more about prayer--I will hand him A Praying Life by Paul Miller. Is he interested in a great adventure? Perhaps The Odyssey will do. If he gets hooked on a book series, say, The Hardy Boys, I will continue to feed him those books, one at a time (as long as he is not neglecting his school work). I can hand these off and let my child own his reading experience.

Recommended with Parental Involvement. All books will require some involvement, as a child will inevitably have questions. If he reads Huckleberry Finn, for example, I would need to explain to him why we don't use the N-word today. But I think the primary books that fit into this category are quality works of pop culture, which require critical engagement. Take Harry Potter, which is the great young adult fiction of our time. It won't necessarily reinforce my child's worldview (nor will it necessarily detract from it), but I should read it with my child in order to critically engage it with a biblically informed worldview. In the battle of good versus evil, why do we root for the good? Why do you think Harry is sometimes disrespectful toward authority figures? What makes Harry's self-sacrifice so meaningful?

Not Recommended, but Permissible. Children to varying degrees are intellectually curious. They may want to read Nietzche or Freud, The Golden Compass or something similar. These books have the potential to be destructive, but they should probably not be forbidden. They are not entirely destructive, to the extent that they are worth engaging. They can even be helpful in understanding culture. For example, Nietzche's famous statement that "God is dead" comes at the end of a train of various philosophical and cultural movements, many involving the Church, that inform our understanding of the culture and of the Church (i.e., if we treat Jesus as merely an experience that fulfills all of our felt needs, it is a lot easier to lump Jesus in with the Easter Bunny and proclaim Him dead). The key for these books is that parents accompany their child at every step of this more perilous literary journey.

Not Permissible. There must always be that line where we declare "You shall not pass." Pornography, for one, is overwhelming the younger generations of American society. It used to be very hard for boys and girls to get their hands upon it, but now it takes a few clicks of a mouse. For boys, pornography tends to make more visual forms. For girls, more story-based (i.e., Fifty Shades). Yet girls are becoming much more physically wired as they become more exposed to the internet. Knowing the hormonal nature of our youth and their need to be slowly guided into making wise and responsible decisions, we have a certain obligation to protect them. A number of youth novels--often based on TV shows like Pretty Little Liars are in essence, soft pornography. We want to carefully nurture the seeds of true love in our children's hearts, not the pale imitations offered as entertainment today. For girls, why not Pride and Prejudice? For boys, The Princess Bride.

We must recognize as well that there is no book like the Bible, which offers divinely inspired narratives, poetry, and proverbs of wisdom. This book is not only great literature, it is God-breathed, and thus not only fills the mind but the heart and soul as well. Because it is God's very Word, it transforms the reader, making him wise unto salvation and equipping him for every good work (2 Tim. 3:15-17). In the Bible, we don't simply meet a cast of amusing characters--we meet the risen Christ, who offers Himself to us in the beauty of His grace and saving work. We are to meditate on His Word day and night (Josh. 1), for it is the power of God for all who believe (Rom. 1).

Two Types of Evangelism

In one of the best books I have read on evangelism to date, Get Real, John Leonard, professor from Westminster Theological Seminary (Philly), contrasts two types of evangelism: "traditional" evangelism and "real" evangelism.

One might expect that such a dichotomy would be infused with chronological snobbery (to use C.S. Lewis' term), favoring some sort of trend over the rich resources of Scripture and Christian tradition. I found the exact opposite.

Leonard exposes the "traditional" evangelism of recent decades as being more of a fad than the norm. And he shows over and over again why this type of evangelism, despite its occasional successes, tends to fall flat and leave people ill-equipped for sharing their faith.

With evangelism as the cause-du-jour of much of evangelicalism in the past half century, a cottage industry of different methods and programs developed and prospered. The message of the cross was most effectively communicated through tried and true methods, such as "Evangelism Explosion" and the "Four Spiritual Laws."

These methods of communication were often combined with a cold-knock approach, in that strangers were often barraged with these presentations. Such approaches did not encourage long-term relationships, nor did they promote active listening, empathy, or tailored approaches to sharing the Gospel on a timely basis.

"Real" evangelism is the ordinary, organic outflow of a life that has been redeemed and is being transformed by Christ. It does not foist a canned message onto someone. It is what happens when Christians and non-Christians spend sustained time together.

As a believer gets to know the needs of their unbelieving friends, they share with them (biblical) words of hope that tend specifically to those needs. This is never forced, but allowed to develop over time. Sometimes, you're simply casting seeds, and that's wonderful!

But the bottom line is that evangelism is not just a normal part of the Christian life--it is Christ working through us for His good pleasure. In this way, every piece of the Christian life is evangelistic in a certain respect. We desire to promote and share the Gospel in all we do and with all whom God puts before us. And the way we do that is not formulaic. It is faithfulness, rooted in gratitude and empowered by the Gospel for which we're grateful.

Most and Least "Bible-Minded" Cities

Wonder where your city ranks on the list of most and least "Bible-minded" cities?

The Barna Group, a top notch polling organization focusing on religious trends, has an interesting infographic here: http://cities.barna.org/americas-most-bible-minded-cities-2014/.

The polling results largely syncs with what we already know: reverence for the Bible in America waxes in the South and wanes in the West and Northeast. As you might expect, there is always a few outliers (Cedar Rapids, IA in the bottom ten?).

This information can certain prove helpful for Christians who seek to better understand the culture around them. It is easier to make appeals to Scripture if a certain degree of biblical literacy and reverence is a common feature of the culture. 

At the same time, that same literacy/reverence may be part and parcel of a self-righteous "spirituality," rather than saving faith. In that vein, it may be easier to make inroads with the Gospel in areas that are more unfamiliar with the Christian faith.

What this study doesn't tell us is who identifies themselves as believers, saved by grace through faith in Christ. Most all of our Founders had a high reverence for Scripture, but only a minority of them were believers. Esteem for the Bible, apart from saving faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, is simply demon faith (James 2).

The more important question is not where you live, but whether you profess faith in Christ as Lord and Savior.

A Funeral and Birthday

I performed my first military funeral as an OIC (officer-in-charge) since I returned from deployment this past Friday. On Saturday, I celebrated my son's first year of life--a year I mostly missed. But if I hadn't redeployed early, I would currently be down at Ft. Hood, out processing with the last group of my soldiers.

You can understand, then, why this would be a weekend of conflicted emotions.

I was a bit nervous about the funeral. How would I handle it in the light of my deployment? It helped that the other two soldiers got there at the last minute. Instead of deliberating over what would take place, I walked amongst the tombstones, practicing my sermon for Sunday evening. When my soldiers arrived (I have done 50 plus funerals with each of them, and deployed with one of them), we only had time to get in place before the proceedings started.

We were surprised to be joined by a troop from either the VFW or American Legion. (We are often surprised in this way. They were told we weren't coming. We were given no indication they were coming.) So we split up duties. Our vets provided the firing team and played the TAPS, my soldiers folded the flag and I presented it to the next-of-kin (NOK).

The ceremony started with the family's pastor providing a brief homily. Though I stand at attention the whole time, my heart leaps for joy whenever I hear the pastor share the truths of the Gospel, as was the case here. Everyone was then asked to stand for the presentation of military honors, at which point my team all pivoted toward the casket and my soldiers lifted the flag. The team of vets providing the three volleys of fire. As TAPS began to sound, I slowly raised my hand in salute toward the upraised flag.

TAPS used to always un-glue me a bit in the past--it strikes more at the heart than anything else we do. I gradually grew to tune in out, but not this time. I felt it strike anew. It reminded me of eating in the DFAC at Camp Phoenix. Every twenty minutes or so, the programming on the TV stops and names began to scroll across the screen, TAPS playing in the background. My last week there, I watched as the last name appeared on the screen--a name I knew.

My soldiers folded the flag. The one nearest me then handed me the flag and saluted. I pivoted, walked to the NOK, lowered to a half-kneel, held the flag before him, and said the familiar words, "This flag is presented on behalf of the President of the United States, the United States Army, and a grateful nation as a symbol of our appreciation for your loved one's honorable and faithful service." I handed him the flag, slowly stood up, looked him in the eyes, and saluted. He avoided my gaze--every person responds differently. We marched away, giving knowing nods to our veteran forebears, most of whom are in their sixties.

The next day, I gathered with a small group of loved ones to celebrate my son's birthday. A year ago (today), my wife gave birth to our precious boy, six months or so after we thought we would lose both of them. Four weeks later, I was on a plane for Ft. Hood. I virtually missed this past year. If I hadn't redeployed earlier, I would've arrived a few days from now. I was kept too busy all day to think about all these different dynamics.

If I can trace one feeling that was present for me throughout the day--it was gratitude. I do feel sorrow on occasion for what I missed. But I missed what I missed, if that makes sense. I can't tell exactly what I lost out on during that time. The most poignant memories I had of my son was his survival of a surgery while in the womb, and of late nights holding him as he slept on me during those four weeks after he first saw the light of day.

During those two weeks of hell last year when I thought both my wife and baby might die, I prayed that God would take me instead of them. I prayed that every day. Not long after, I was on my way to Afghanistan. Many days, as I started out on a convoy, I prepared myself for death, thanking the Lord for the lives of my wife and my boy. I was ready to die. I will always be ready to die. I have enjoyed thirty one years of life--more than I know what to do with. I am married to my best friend, and delight in my little boy. I will never be ready for my wife or son to go, nor was I ready for a younger service member to be blown up just a mile from the wife he was about to start a family with. God gives life and He takes it away. I may grieve, but may the name of the Lord be praised.

As I wrestle with guilt and sorrow, I bask in gratitude as well. This past year wasn't defined by my peril, but by God's gracious deliverance of my best friend and boy from peril.

And I remember that each step of the way, as a father has compassion on His children, so the Lord has compassion upon those that fear Him. Jesus, our good shepherd, carries His sheep upon His back along paths of righteousness for His name's sake. He carried my wife and boy through surgery and separation. He carried me through a deployment. He carried Dave to Heaven and carries Dana through this present vale of tears.

On the same day we celebrated our boy's birthday, Dana endured her first marriage anniversary apart from her beloved husband. Here is what she posted today:

4-19-2009... Miss you more than words David Lyon, my Love

Lord, have mercy on this precious widow.

30 The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place. (Deut. 1)

Raising Children in the Love and Nurture of Jesus

After a generation of watching many parents, Christian and non-Christian alike, raise their children in "value free" environments (which is impossible), there is a vast desire amongst young Christian parents to raise their children in the love and nurture of Jesus Christ.

As this movement picks up steam, the great resources of Scripture and Christian tradition, informed by Scripture, are coming to the fore.

They are seeing the clear mandate in Scripture to nurture their children in the truths of God's Word (i.e. Deut. 6 and Eph. 6). They are also seeing that throughout the history of the Church, truth has flourished under such a mandate and withered when that mandate was neglected. Augustine, with much of the early Church, considered the practice vital the health of the Church. The Reformers considered catechizing in particular to be a bulwark for truth against Rome and apostasy. In response, Rome began an extensive program of catechizing as well in order to counter the Reformation.

In the twentieth century, Christian nurture declined with the rise of the experience and decline of the mind. It also was a much less exciting quest than that of cultural renewal or evangelistic crusades. But even with the demise of Christian nurture and the subsequent decline of the Church, there were a million sparks of hope, found in the tongues of babes in Christ, who could tell despairing adults that our purpose in life is to "glorify God and enjoy Him forever," and we can learn how to do this through "the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments" that "teach us what man is to believe concerning God and what duties God requires of man."

Here are several (life-consuming) ways in which we can provide Christian nurture, while recognizing that it is God who grants salvation, often through, but never because of these human means:

1) Catechizing. We know that it is the Scriptures that make us "wise unto salvation" (2 Tim. 3:15), but how are we to share them with our children? The most important way is to teach our children the basic truths of Scripture through the Westminster Shorter Catechism and its younger equivalent, the Children's Catechism. These catechisms provide a map of God's Word so that a child can successfully navigate it to their great profit, know more concretely what they believe, and be able to better articulate what they believe (2 Pet. 3:15).

2) Knowing the Big Picture. Our children belong to Christ. They are part of His covenant people (Gen. 17; Acts 2). The promises belong to them. What this means is that teaching doesn't start with their "conversion" or profession of faith. It begins when God baptizes them and welcomes them into the family. From that point on, parents and the Church bear responsibility to feed them with the truths with which God has signed and sealed them. A child's baptism and subsequent teaching stands together as a witness, either guiding them to own the Savior who marked them with His grace, or testifying against them in their rebellion.

Though he didn't believe, the great author, Robert Louis Stevenson, even in his dying days, reveled in the majesty of the first question and answer of the WSC: What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Stevenson said that such a statement strikes at "the very roots of life."

3) A Christ-Centered Curriculum. Whether at home or in the Sunday School class, the choice of materials used to instruct our children is vital. For many years, books and flannel boards were used almost exclusively to tell children to be "do bees" not "don't bees." They heard stories from the Bible in order to "bee good" and "bee courageous," etc. With the Reformed resurgence of recent years, and the renewal of Christ-centered preaching and teaching, the landscape has dramatically changed. You can buy wonderful children's Bibles and Christ-centered stories written by Sally Lloyd-Jones and Carine McKenzie, as well as tremendous Sunday School materials produced by Great Commission Publications.

4) Share the Burden. Christ's mandate to care for His lambs extends to parents as the primary teachers (Eph. 6), under the oversight of the elders (Heb. 13), who are commissioned by Christ to teach His people (Matt. 28). Fathers, in particular, are held to account for their shepherding of their family (Eph. 6). This means we all share the burden of responsibility, which we subsequently lay on the shoulders of Christ, who bore our burdens for us.

Parents must seek to daily instruct their children in the truths of the Gospel, while also modeling the profound effect of those truths. Children won't believe their parents concerning the beauty of God's love for sinners in Christ if they don't see their parents relishing that fact. "Do what I say, not what I do" is profoundly unbiblical. We must strive to life in accordance with our profession, especially before the eyes of our children.

The whole body of believers raised their hands at the child's baptism, committing to assist the parents in the grand and glorious task of Christian nurture. This means that we must all be encouraging each other in this task. Some fellow believers will do this in the role of Sunday School teachers. Others will do this by simple encouragement, while others will model this when children come over to their homes to play.

The elders must hold parents accountable, and encourage them, in the task of Christian nurture. They are responsible for spearheading the Church-based portion of the teaching/nurture of youth, and for occasionally examining children individually to test their progress. They also must visit with parents to encourage and pray with them. Elders and parents desperately need one another in this task, and will have a hard time making any headway without the help of the other.

This task of Christian (or covenant) nurture is incredibly vital, yet incredibly daunting. That probably explains part of its decline as well. As I have been reading Rediscovering Catechism by Donald Van Dyken and taking a class on this subject over the last couple of months, I have found myself incredibly intimidated by the task in front of me. We don't even have consistent morning devotions around the breakfast table!

But I (and you) will continue to grow with the knowledge of this promise given by Christ, alongside His great commission to teach: "And, lo, I am with you until the very end of the age" (Matt. 28). Christ doesn't abandon us to feed and care for His lambs. He is their Shepherd and will guide them in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. And He works in us through the guidance of His Word and power of His Spirit, to this end.

Remember, when God has lead His people through the Red Sea, the children didn't pass through because they were carried on the backs of their parents. They crossed through because God parted the waters of judgment and granted them safe passage into the realm of life. It is important to hold a child's hand through the parted waters until they know the way on their own (which they learn through the nurture above), but it was Christ whose body and blood parted those waters. Don't forget that. He is with you until the very end of the age.