The God Who Became Dirty so Souls Might Be Clean

Door, in Monroe

Here's a nice piece - Jesus was a dirty, dirty God - on cnn.com.

In God's Presence there is Healing for the Troubled Heart

Del, Sallie, Adrienne, and Julie at our Home Group

Yesterday I did the funeral service for my father-in-law Del Lawson. Thank you to all of Del's family and to my Redeemer family for the great outpouring of love. It makes all the difference to Linda and I.

Del passed away at 2:06 am, on New Year's Eve day. We got two hours of sleep. As the day went on we both knew we wanted to spend the night with our church family, just being together and worshiping in the new year together. We needed to be in God's empowering presence. What a beautiful, healing night that was for us.

The reality of God's presence is not just some religious theory, it's a visceral, existential felt-reality. We desire it, and wonder where would we be without it. To live out of the presence of God is to exist outside the walls of God's protective fortress. Linda and I know God as our fortress and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. To live outside of God is to be troubled. We found, last New Year's Eve, healing for our troubledness.

I love how Henri Nouwen expresses this as he writes:

"Once I "know" God, that is,once I experience God's love as the love in which all my experiences are anchored, I can desire only one thing: to be in that love. "Being" anywhere else, then, is shown to be illusory and eventually lethal." (Nouwen, The Only Necessary Thing, 69)

The Triumph of the Therapeutic in Western Culture

Linda, on the beach

I am a big fan of U of Notre Dame sociologist Christian Smith. I read Soul Searching years ago and discovered, to my horror and recognition, the religion of today's American adolescent: Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. (MTD)

The main premises of MTD are:
1. “A God exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth.”
2. “God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.”
3. “The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.”
4. “God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.”
5. “Good people go to heaven when they die.”

God, on MTD, is a Cosmic Homeboy who is there, like Dr. Seuss's birthday bird, just for you, and to satisfy your desires.

When Smith explained MTD, I thought: I have seen this in my college classes, all over the place.

Before Smith explained this to us, psychologist and philosopher Philip Rieff prophesied it in his The Triumph of the Therapeutic: The Uses of Faith after Freud. "In place of a secularized Christianity building the kingdom of God on earth, Rieff foresaw an age of therapy, in which the pursuit of well-being would replace the quest for either justice or salvation." (Ross Douthat, Bad Religion, Kindle Locations 4614-4615)

Rieff was correct, and thus was born the likes of Ulrich Leonard Tolle, who disturbingly changed his name to "Eckhart" Tolle. What arrogance, I thought, because I have studied the metaphysically challenging, deep Christian mystic Meister Eckhart, who is the only "Eckhart" anyone ever need attend to. Tolle's The Power of Now (which I read in one sitting) is Rieff's predicted therapeutic mentality dressed up in religious-spiritual terminology. Shame on anyone who takes such stuff seriously. Yet many do. If you do, you should not boast of this.

We now have a spirituality of "niceness," minus active compassion (minus praxis). Smith observes and records the growing narcissism among American adolescents, with their non-commitment to serving others as a core human value. (See Douthat, K4740, passim) Douthat writes:

"[T]he triumph of the therapeutic has steadily undercut American religion’s ability to serve as a corrective or a critique. For all their claims to ancient wisdom, there’s nothing remotely countercultural about the Tolles and Winfreys and Chopras. They’re telling an affluent, appetitive society exactly what it wants to hear: that all of its deepest desires are really God’s desires, and that He wouldn’t dream of judging." (Kindle Locations 4732-4735)

In America, fluff and bunnies rule.

Following Jesus in a Post-Christian Culture

Christianity is no longer "the air we breathe" in America. This is not necessarily bad. American "Christianity" was not necessarily representative of authentic Jesus-following. And, real Christianity has flourished and been a revolutionary force when marginalized and persecuted.

In his book The Naked Anabaptist: The Bare Essentials of a Radical Faith, Stuart Murray gives the following marks of our post-Christian culture.

Churches no longer occupy a central place within culture;

Christians exist as a minority group amidst many ideological communities;

Christianity seeks not to rule over society but to witness to it through lived expressions of God’s kingdom;

Churches reimagine their primary role as a movement rather than an institution; and

Christians move from maintaining the status quo to radically following Jesus from the margins.

Do not be discouraged by this! "In today’s post-Christian culture, Christians would do well to see these changes as opportunities to re-embrace our subversive roots and follow Jesus from the margins. The natural outcome could be a witness characterized by the fruit of the Spirit, enemy love, and justice for the poor. Perhaps Christian credibility will be revived afresh." (Kurt Willems)

Humanists Absent in Times of Crisis

My back yard

In "In a Crisis, Humanists Seem Absent," Samuel Freedman asks "Where were the humanists? At a time when the percentage of Americans without religious affiliation is growing rapidly, why did the “nones,” as they are colloquially known, seem so absent?"

Humanists lag behind religious leaders who have their "boots on the ground," "a continuing presence in communities, a commitment to tactile rather than virtual engagement with people who are hurting." Newtown has shown this.

What humanists lack, comparatively, is community. Humanists tend to be "cowboy individualists."

I remember meeting with a local humanist leader, inviting him to serve with me in our comunity soup kitchen. He declined, preferring his internet presence. Of course that's a small sample, from which one can conclude nothing. But Freedman's essay shows it is representative of the inability of humanists to collectively help.

Perhaps humanism's problem is this: it's hard to form a movement around a negative. A "none" will be at a disadvantage to a "some." By definition, "nones" have nothing to give; "somes" have something to give. Who would you call upon in a crisis?

Where Satisfaction is Found

Linda with her father Del

It's not life's failures that mostly disappoint us. Rather, it's life's successes that leave us empty and dissatisfied. "Satisfaction," writes Miroslav Volf, "is threatened by the pursuit of pleasure."

Volf writes:

"Almost paradoxically, we remain dissatisfied in the midst of experiencing satisfaction. We compare our “pleasures” to those of others and begin to envy them. The fine new Honda of our modest dreams is a source of dissatisfaction when we see a neighbor’s new Mercedes. But even when we win the game of comparisons—when we park in front of our garage the best model of the most expensive car—our victory is hollow, melancholy. As Gratiano puts it in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, “All things that are, are with more spirit chased than enjoyed.” First, marked as we are by what philosophers call self-transcendence, in our imagination we are always already beyond any state we have reached. Whatever we have, we want more and different things, and when we have climbed to the top, a sense of disappointment clouds the triumph. Our striving can therefore find proper rest only when we find joy in something infinite. For Christians, this something is God." (Volf, Miroslav, A Public Faith, Kindle Locations 1090-1097)

Neuroscience Cannot Explain Transcendent Experience

Flower in my backyard

In "Sensing God and the Limits of Neuroscience," University of Indiana's Richard Gunderman (MD, PhD) makes a credible case for a reality that cannot be understood in purely material terms. Especially using music as an example, Gunderman states that "the mere fact that neurochemical changes are taking place does nothing to help us distinguish between good and bad, the great and the merely insipid. The truth or falsehood of such expressions is not simply a matter of correspondence with some verifiable material state. It is also a matter of elegance, rhythm, balance, and above all, beauty, qualities that are to some degree transcendent."

"Ultimately," he writes, "we cannot define the beautiful in strictly material terms."

Hence, the epistemic limits of science as descriptive of the material world.

Redeemer Ministry School Classes Begin Next Week

To sign up for one or more classes please contact our office - 734-242-5277.

If you have any questions please e-mail me at: johnpiippo@msn.com.

RMS Winter 2013 Classes

Jan. 8 - Mar. 22
Teaching and Preaching - Tim Curry and John Piippo
Class Description
Tuesdays - 9:30-1

Prophecy - Sallie Collins, Sharon Lloyd, Mary Jo Hammill, and Rosemary Wall
Class Description
Wednesdays - 9:30-1

Kingdom of God II (Healing and Deliverance) - John Piippo
Class Description
Thursdays - 9:30 - 1

Biblical Lifestyle of Worship - Holly Benner
Class Description
Fridays - 9:30 - 1

Delbert Lawson - Obituary

 

DELBERT LEE LAWSON

October 4, 1922 – December 31, 2012

 

Delbert Lee Lawson, 90, of DeKalb, Illinois, went to be with his Lord on December 31 in the emergency room of Mercy Memorial Hospital in Monroe, Michigan.

 

Born October 4, 1922, in DeKalb, Illinois, he was the son of Myrtle and Ernest Lee Lawson.

Delbert married Martha Beebe on May 30, 1948, at First Baptist Church of DeKalb, Illinois.

Del was a real estate broker in his own agency, The King’s Reality. Del grew up in DeKalb and lived most of his life in Illinois. In 2005 he moved to Monroe, Michigan, to live with his daughter and family. He was a 50-year member of First Baptist Church in DeKalb, and later a member of First Baptist Church of Sycamore, Illinois. Del graduated from DeKalb High School and attended Northern Illinois University where he played football. He attended Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. He loved sports, especially the Cubs. Del served in the United States Marine Corps in WWII.

Del is survived by his two daughters Linda (John) Piippo of Monroe, Michigan, and Lora Sue (Grady) Hauser of South Elgin, Illinois, four grandsons Daniel and wife Allie Piippo of Ypsilanti, Michigan, Joshua Piippo of Monroe, Michigan, Colson and wife Sarah Hauser of Batavia, Illinois, Graham Hauser of Washington, D.C., a sister Charlotte Cunz of Pasadena, California, and brother Ivan and wife Barbara Lawson of DeKalb, Illinois. He dearly loved his many nieces, nephews, and their children.

 

Del loved life, the Bible, Christian music, and was passionate about his faith in Jesus Christ. He was active in Redeemer Fellowship Church and Raisinville Baptist Church of Monroe, Michigan.

 

Funeral services will be held at Redeemer Fellowship Church Saturday, January 5, with the Rev. Dr. John Piippo officiating. Visitation will be from 1-3 pm at the church, with the funeral at 3 pm.

 

A second funeral will be held Saturday, January 12, at First Baptist Church of Sycamore, Illinois. Visitation will be 10 am-12 pm, with the funeral at 12 pm. Burial will follow at Fairview Park Cemetery in DeKalb, Illinois.

 

Del was preceded in death by his wife Martha Lawson, daughters Victoria Anne Lawson and Donna Lee Lawson, and grandson David Michael Piippo.

 

Arrangements made by Rupp Funeral Home, Monroe, Michigan.

 

Memorials can be made to Redeemer Fellowship Church’s Benevolence Fund or Redeemer Ministry School.

 

The family is grateful for all who loved and cared for Del.

2013 - A Year of Living Differently

"I gave her a million dollars in the divorce settlement," the CEO with the incision in his chest told me. He added, "I miss my children."

Linda and I were at a hotel with our boys. I was sitting in the sauna when this man began sharing with me.

"I had hoped that, when I finally retired, she and I would do it together."

I just listened. I was thinking that before me sat a man who was very rich and very poor. He had everything money could buy. But money cannot purchase relationship. He sacrificed his wife and daughter on the altar of his corporation. When he had finished talking to me he left, and as he walked away the man with no wisdom counseled me with these words: "Enjoy your family." Which is exactly what I was doing.

Ten years ago Rick Warren wrote The Purpose-Driven Life (remember the first sentence?). Warren says that everyone lives at three levels of life. Level 1 is the survival level. On this level we have people who are barely getting by. People burning out. What these people need is not just a vacation. They need purpose. Without purpose, life becomes trivial, and pointless.

Level 2 is – the success level. People on this level are doing better than survival. In America millions of people have arrived at this level. They are able to pay their bills, have a little bit of money, have a little bit of time, enjoy activities they like to do, and buy the things they want. But you know what? There’s still this secret sense, even among successful people, that asks: “Oh really? Is this all there is to life?” It’s not really life’s failures that ultimately disappoint us. Rather, it’s life’s successes that let us down, because we expected too much from them. This so-called “good life” that everyone wants to go to -  it’s not good enough. There’s always this “hunger for more.”

The reason you have this hunger,  the reason you feel this way, is because you were made for far more than looking good, feeling good, and having the goods. This brings us to level 3 - the significance level. This is the level you were designed for. At this level you experience meaning and fulfillment at the deepest level of your soul.

So... what were you designed for? What is your purpose in life? We read it in a text like Ephesians 1:11-14, which says (in The Message):

It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.

Here’s the good news. No matter what you have gone through in life or what you are facing right now, the purpose of your life is greater than those problems. If you are a J-follower you are now in Him. God's plans and purposes are that you might live for the praise of His glory. New Testament scholar Ben Witherington writes: “This is the ultimate aim of humanity – to live for the praise of God, to let all we are and all we do be doxology, a giving of glory to God.” (Ben Witherington, The Letters to Philemon, the Colossians, and the Ephesians: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on the Captivity Epistles. 237)

If life has no purpose then life is, ultimately, meaningless. Consider my snowblower, whose name is S.B. 

 

My snowblower was made for snow, and snow was made for her. The winter of 2011-2012 was snowless in Southeast Michigan. While many rejoiced, S.B. went into a funk of hopeless despair. One day I looked outside, saw her sitting on our sidewalk looking to the skies, and praying for snow. This letter was attached to it.

Dear John:

Remember me? I am your snowblower. I haven't seen you since last March.

I miss you.

We used to spend so much time together. What's happened, John? Have I angered you? Have you found someone else?

I am lonely.

What's going on? I thought this was Michigan! So where's all the snow? What's the deal with all this sun? And "rain," which is simply unfulfilled snow?

I feel angry.

Without snow I am nothing. Without snow my existence has no purpose.

I've started to read Richard Dawkins.

John, I've become the laughing stock of the garage. Yesterday the lawn mowers were mocking me. I have become Job, and acquired his "comforters."

I am a character in Beckett's "Waiting For a Snow."

I'm losing my faith. I question whether "snow" even exists.

I would end it all, if not for these comforting words of Sartre: “The absurd man will not commit suicide; he wants to live, without relinquishing any of his certainty, without a future, without hope, without illusions … and without resignation either. He stares at death with passionate attention and this fascination liberates him."

Substitute 'snowblower' for 'man' and I think you'll get the point.

I've left the garage with its many nihilistic voices and am sitting on the very sidewalk that I've cleaned so many times before.

If you get this note come and start me. We can pretend as if these were the good old days.

Please don't put me back in the garage, or worse yet, in the summer shed.

Your servant,

S.B.

 

Now purposeless, S.B lost hope. Finding purpose is the solution to anomie. I began to meet with S.B. and counsel her.

I used all my counseling skills with her, but she wasn't helped. I found a support group for her, but that failed, too.

The only solution, obviously, was... snow.

After the snowless winter I placed S.B. in the shed for the summer. In October I pulled her out. She was not optimistic.

And then it came.

Last week.

THE RETURN OF PURPOSE.

Raison d-etre.

Meaning.

The look on her face says it all.

 

You have a purpose. It's not about you. It's not about "personal happiness" or stuff or accomplishments. It's all about God and His glorification.

I'm so thankful that I realized this 42 years ago, that life finds its meaning and value in giving oneself away, to the glory and praise of God. Things became so different for me as I discovered the reality of God in its depth and beauty and majesty. 

2013 can be another year, if God so wills, of living differently