The Dawn Treader

Credit for this post goes to Joe Carter and his famous "thirty-three things" posts (btw, Joe's thirty-three series is my favorite Joe Carterism ;-) ).  Joe's post referenced an interesting article on Mike Huckabee.

Mike drops little word pictures into his speeches.  The funny thing is that Biblical literacy is sooooo low in our culture, that few have a clue what Huckabee is talking about.  Dawn Treader readers are smarter than the average American, however.  To prove that, I am going to test you on your ability to understand Huckabeeisms.

Take the test below and I will purposely withhold publishing comments for a while to give everyone an equal chance.

I am teaching a course in our church on practical theology called Gospel Transformation.   We are drilling deep into the gospel and the Holy Spirit is transforming our lives through interaction with the truth in His word.

Yesterday, we covered the parable of the prodigal sons in Luke 15.  Notice I said sons and not son.  This parable has been taught by most teachers as a sentimental story of the father's enduring forgiveness.  The main character has always been the younger brother, the one who leaves home and squanders his life.  You would think the original hearers of this parable were probably moved to tears.  Then again, you would be wrong.  The original hearers were most likely offended by this parable.

Jesus never called it the parable of the prodigal son.  Jesus begins the parable with "There was a man who had two sons."  Both brothers are in focus in the parable.  Both sons are lost.  Both sons choose false paths.  The elder brother chooses a "moralistic" grid.  The younger brother chooses an "individualistic" grid.  To moralists, the focus is on following rules and being outwardly "good".  The heart is unchanged, however.  To individualists, the focus is on being authentic and true to your self.  The heart turns inward.  Both paths are dead ends.  Both sons are lost in this parable.  The way home to God is by God's sheer grace alone.  This is what the hearers and our culture finds so other worldly and offensive.

Some of you are elder brother types, and some of you are younger brother types.  Elder brother types want to make themselves righteous by doing the right things and appearing right to others.  Younger brother types want to make themselves righteous through authenticity and finding their own way.  Once you understand which of the two sons you tend to be, you begin to understand the ways in which you live outside the gospel.

To hear an excellent sermon on Luke 15 preached by one of America's outstanding pastors, Tim Keller, click on this link.  It will be time well spent.  I promise you. Some excellent sermon notes are found here.

I have posted several times about a friend who was exploring Christianity and Jesus Christ.  Several of us began to meet and read through the gospels last year.  Last November, I indicated that he was getting it but nervous about making a leap of faith.

Several of us met last night and during that meeting, my friend professed Christ as his savior and lord.

"Reads like a novel and packs the wallop of a sledge hammer -- possibly the most important book Colson has ever written".

~ Bill Hybels, Senior Pastor, Willow Creek

Charles Colson has written something like 23 books.  The story of his conversion, , has sold over three million copies.  It is a riveting narrative of what redemption and restoration looks like in a life.  Colson and Pearcy's book, , has become a seminal book on understanding the Christian worldview.

Colson and Fickett's new book, , is a fresh look at classic Christian orthodoxy written in an engaging style using narrative to illustrate doctrinal truth.  Like past Colson books, this one reads like a novel and draws you into a look at what Christians actually believe and why it matters.

With excellent books like by C.S. Lewis, by John Stott, by G.K. Chesterton and by William Wilberforce, why did Colson feel compelled to write about about Christian beliefs?

Colson addresses that in his prologue.

"We have written this book with the deep conviction that this is what people need to defend and live the Christian faith in the midst of the extraordinary challenges of our time."

Colson and Fickett do a masterful job of describing classic Christian truth in the context of the challenges being raised against the Faith in our day and age ... right now, in 2008.  Not only do they put the cookies on the lowest shelf in terms of understanding the essentials of the Christian faith, they connect it to stories and people taken straight out of today's headlines.  They also write it in a way that is easier for today's reader to get it.  Reading Wilberforce, Chesterton and Lewis can be a bit of a reading challenge in today's world.  Colson and Fickett cover a lot of ground in only 240 pages.

I will post on specific chapters here on The Dawn Treader.  I am also hosting a stop on Zondervan's blog tour for this book.  I will pose a question to Mr. Colson about his new book.  On March 5th, I will post my question and his answer.  Zondervan tells me they will try to coordinate a time on that day where Charles Colson will read and interact with some of the comments on the March 5th post on the Dawn Treader.  Should be a hoot.

It seems Mr. D. has hacked off a faithful reader of the Dawn Treader.  C'mon back, tgirsch.

I haven't given up on politics.  I haven't taken my bat and ball and gone home just because McCain won.  I floated the "no vote vote" trial balloon here and the Christian readers weighed in with a compelling argument that its seems you would agree with.  I had to give them the microphone and hear their ideas without having them rise up and defend Dobson from the hammer you threw at him in your unpublished comment.

So come on back.  Don't take your bat and ball and go home.  I like to hear your ideas ... well, most of the time ;-)

"The fundamental thing I’ve discovered in life is the literal truth of Galatians 2:20.  Admittedly it’s a metaphor, but in fact the Christian life can only be lived and understood when we have died completely to ourselves and live only for Christ."

~ Charles Colson

I had the privilege of presenting lessons from the life of Charles Colson to the men's group this morning.  Following the teaching of scripture to remember our leaders and imitate their faith, we spent time considering what we could learn and imitate from Colson's life.

I emailed Mr. Colson and asked him what he has learned from life and what future generations of Christ's followers could learn from him.  His reply was simple.

The results of Super Tuesday are in.  Stick a fork in Mitt.  He's done.  Mark Steyn best represents my take on yesterday.

So, McCain is the guy.  Or not.

Dobson dropped several bombs yesterday.

“I am convinced Sen. McCain is not a conservative, and in fact, has gone out of his way to stick his thumb in the eyes of those who are … I cannot, and will not, vote for Sen. John McCain, as a matter of conscience,”

“I believe this general election will offer the worst choices for president in my lifetime. I certainly can’t vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama based on their virulently anti-family policy positions. If these are the nominees in November, I simply will not cast a ballot for president for the first time in my life,” he said.

Let's face it.  Not voting is a type of vote.  It is a vote that all of the choices are unacceptable.  Pragmatically this throws the election to the Dems of course.  But maybe the long term effect of conceding to the Dems in 2008 is better than allowing the party of conservatives to be redefined in the likeness of McCain.

As a Christian, the thought of not voting in a presidential election has always been unthinkable.  It might as well have been a sin.  This unusual election, however, has caused me to rethink this option.  As Christians, we are called to be the best of citizens.  Maybe being the best of citizens means exercising the non-vote vote option.

I would like self-professed Christians to weigh in on this question.  I will absolutely not publish comments from commenters who I know are not followers of Christ (by their own admission).