From the time I preached my first sermon 35 years ago, my passion has always been to reach people like I was. My father was very active in church before he fought in World War II, but the atrocities he witnessed caused him to question the reality and relevance of his faith. I grew up with his questions about God. If Christians had not invited me to their church when I was a teenager, I would never have gone on my own. When God called me into ministry, he gave me a heart for those who are where I was.

In 2009, Jeff Byrd and I launched the Center for Informed Faith to bridge the gap between faith and culture by engaging contemporary issues with biblical truth. The Lord has blessed this ministry in remarkable ways. Our daily devotional subscription list has doubled, with readers in 104 countries. I have been invited to share God’s word in China, Bangladesh, Cuba, and across Europe and the Middle East. The Lord has built a remarkable ministry team and blessed us with donors who make our work possible.

Now he has led us to expand our ministry to reach people who are where I was, questioning the relevance of Christian faith for the issues of our day. They are interested in cultural questions such as radical Islam, the Middle East, and contemporary moral issues. They need an accessible way to explore these issues in spiritual perspective. Like the crowds at Pentecost, they deserve to hear the gospel in their own language (Acts 2:6).

Contemporary technology provides such a platform. Like the Christians who knocked on my door and invited me to their church, the Internet and social media give us the opportunity to dialogue with our culture on issues that matter to all of us.

To use this platform in reaching people who are not in church, we are making some changes to our ministry strategy. First, our name has changed to the Denison Forum on Truth and Culture. We hope the new name will appeal to secular readers in a way that the Center for Informed Faith did not. And it conveys the fact that we are a “forum,” a place to discuss the issues of our day.

Here are other ways we are expanding our ministry to the larger culture:

• We have launched a new website which will facilitate our cultural conversation. Please visit www.denisonforum.org soon—I hope you’ll find the new resources to be helpful in engaging your culture with biblical thinking.
• I have completed Radical Islam: What You Need to Know. It will be released in print and as an ebook next month, timed for the tenth anniversary of 9/11. You can read a sample chapter on our website.
• We are expanding our social media with a new Denison Forum on Truth and Culture Facebook page, which will have original content each day, and a Jim Denison Facebook page, updated with study tours, speaking engagements, and book news. You can also follow me on Twitter.
• We will soon launch our Discipleship Resource Center—it contains all my sermons, Bible studies, commentaries, and other writings, in a searchable format. We’ll let you know when it is available.

We have rebranded the daily devotional as well. It contains the same content as always, dealing with today’s news in spiritual perspective. But we will call it the Cultural Commentary rather than GodIssues, so people who would not open an email with a religious title might read the essay. With this name, we’re hoping you’ll be able to forward the essay to your non-churched friends and invite them to join the conversation.

Please pray for us as we continue to connect faith and culture by engaging contemporary issues with biblical truth. I hope you’ll read the Cultural Commentary, forward it to your friends, visit us at our new website, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter.

God bless you and yours.

Jim

A nurse prepares a flu vaccine shot at a hospital in Budapest in a file photo. (Credit: Reuters/Karoly Arvai)

There’s good news and frightening news in today’s headlines.  Let’s start with the good.  First, a universal flu vaccine may be on the way.  Researchers in Britain and Switzerland have identified an antibody which neutralizes both main groups of influenza A viruses.  Since the flu kills 36,000 people every year in the United States, this is significant progress.

Second, mobile phone use apparently doesn’t raise the risk of cancer in children and teenagers.  Researchers in Switzerland and Scandanavia have determined that regular cellphone users are no more likely to be diagnosed with brain tumors than nonusers.  Since my sons are never without their cellphones and can text faster than I can talk, this is good news.

Now to the frightening news.  By now you may have heard about the Muslim American Army private who was arrested yesterday near Fort Hood.  This is the nation’s largest military installation and scene of the 2009 shooting tragedy which left 13 people dead.  Authorities in Killeen, Texas have now averted another such attack.

Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo refused to deploy to Afghanistan and later went AWOL.  After he bought several items from a local gun shop, a suspicious dealer alerted police.  They arrested Abdo and found in his hotel room and backpack enough materials to make two bombs.  Abdo then told investigators that he wanted to attack fellow soldiers at the military base.

If only technology could change radical Islam.  Militant Muslims are convinced that the West has been attacking Islam since the Crusades and especially by supporting Israel.  Since the Qur’an requires Muslims to defend Islam, they think they are defending their faith by attacking us.  Because we live in a democracy where citizens elect our leaders and support our military, they view us as complicit in this attack and consider us their enemy.

Surveys indicate that only seven percent of the Muslim world agrees with these convictions, but out of a global Islamic population of 1.6 billion, that’s 112 million people who believe that killing Americans is required by their faith.  As we saw in Fort Hood yesterday, it only takes one to threaten many.

What difference does faith make in this conflict?  I once heard Rick Warren say, “Stop asking God to bless what you’re doing, and ask him to help you do what he is blessing.”  He is blessing today a global spiritual awakening in the Islamic world, as more Muslims than ever before are making Jesus their Lord.  And he is blessing those who pray for this movement, who support Muslim background believers, and who pray for this awakening to come to their church and nation.

As Moses was leading two million Hebrews into their future, the Lord promised him, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (Exodus 33:14).  Today he makes the same promise to you.

Quasar Drenched in Water Vapor (Credit: NASA/ESA

We’ve been dealing with a difficult subject this week, so let’s change the tone today with this announcement: I have solved the drought problem plaguing much of our country.  We simply need to siphon water from a galaxy 12 billion light-years away, where the most massive cloud of water yet discovered in the universe resides.  According to today’s National Geographic website, the cloud would fill 140 trillion Earth oceans.

How do we get the water back to our planet?  I’ll cite Will Rogers, who told our military that we could solve our problem with Nazi subs by boiling the oceans.  When the subs bob to the surface, we could then pick them off.  A reporter asked, “How do you propose to boil the oceans?”  Will smiled and replied, “I’ve given you the solution.  It’s up to you to work out the details.”

Apparently the Space Station won’t be part of those details.  The Russian space agency has announced that it will allow the ISS to fall into the ocean when it completes its mission in 2020.  Left in space, it poses too great a risk to satellites and future space travel.  It recently experienced its own close encounter with space junk—just last month, a piece of debris came so close that the station’s six-member crew prepared to use their rescue craft.

Speaking of close encounters with dangerous junk, did you hear about the Texas jail guard who smuggled tacos packed with hacksaw blades into prison?  An inmate’s girlfriend put the saws in the tacos and bribed the guard with pain killers.  This is the third conviction in two months involving guards in the San Antonio jail.  Earlier this week, a guard was found guilty of smuggling a cell phone in a pack of Ramen Noodles; two months ago, another guard was found guilty of smuggling heroin in tacos.

Unless you can figure out a way to transport water from distant galaxies, keep the Space Station functioning forever, or stop guards from accepting bribes, today’s stories are not very relevant to your life this morning.  Here’s a fact that is: You will be alive when the heavens above and the earth below are replaced one day by a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1).  There will be no jails in your next home: “On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there” (v. 25).

If Jesus is your Lord, you will never die (John 11:26).  Others may visit your grave, like the archaeologists who recently discovered the tomb of St. Philip the Apostle in Turkey.  His tomb in Hierapolis is an astounding discovery.  But here’s the best news of all: He wasn’t there.

In the moment you asked Jesus to be your Savior, you received eternal life (John 3:16).  So take heart: The worst thing that can happen to you today will lead to the best thing that can happen to you today.  As Justin the Martyr told the Roman emperor: “You can kill us, but you cannot harm us.”  This is the promise of God.

A sign of love for Oslo is seen inside of a sea of flowers and lit candles placed in memory of those killed in Friday's bomb and shooting attack in front of Oslo Cathedral July 25, 2011 (Credit: Reuters/Wolfgang Rattay )

Where were the Norwegian police while Anders Breivik was shooting innocent civilians last Friday?  They have only one police helicopter; its crew were on holiday at the time of the attacks. Today their chief of staff states, “You always try to be better but I don’t see how we could have been faster.”

God is not limited to a single helicopter.  Where was he in Norway last Friday?

Innocent suffering asks the hardest questions Christians must answer.  We believe that God is all-knowing, so he was aware of last Friday’s shooting before it ever happened.  He is all-powerful, so he could have stopped Breivik before he began his murderous rampage.  He is all-loving, so he would want to prevent such horror.  Yet he did not.  Let’s think together about the terrible tragedy in Norway and the problems you are facing today.

Like a physician, we’ll begin with a diagnosis—what caused the shooting?  One possibility is misused human freedom.  Suppose that God created us for relationship with himself and others.  He would then be required to give us free will so we could enter such relationships.  It is the same principle as a teacher permitting his students to take a test unsupervised or a parent allowing her teenager to use the car.  If they misuse this freedom, whose fault would the consequences be?

A second option is Satan.  If we suppose that he exists, what do we know of his character?  Jesus called him “a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44) who “comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10).  Peter warned us that he “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).  Could he have used Anders Breivik’s misused freedom to commit such a murderous tragedy?

Now let’s think about a response.  If God is all-powerful, he could have prevented this event by removing the consequences of misused freedom.  But is free will without consequence truly free?  If you chose not to open this essay, but it appears every time you open an email, was your choice real?

How could God express his love without removing our freedom?  If he is all-present, he could suffer with us.  He promised us, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you” (Isaiah 43:2).  If he is truly God, he could redeem what we endure for even greater good.  The Psalmist was certain that he would: “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me” (Psalm 138:7).

God’s word promises that he is working through all things for good, in ways we can understand and ways we cannot (Romans 8:28).  Do you believe that your Father keeps his promises?

Survivors and relatives of a shooting rampage mourn following a memorial service in the Oslo cathedral July 24, 2011. (Credit: Reuters/Wolfgang Rattay)

As each day passes, we learn more about Anders Behring Breivik.  As you know, last Friday he killed 76 people in the bloodiest act of terrorism Norway has seen since World War II.  Before launching his attacks, he posted to his Facebook page a 1,516-page document which explains his motive.

His manifesto blames multiculturalism for the destruction of Western culture.  In it he states, “I do not hate Muslims at all… This does not mean that I will accept an Islamic presence in Europe.  Muslim individuals who are not assimilated 100% by 2020 will be deported as soon as we manage to seize power.”

There is no question that resentment and anger towards Muslim immigrants is growing across Europe.  Political parties advocating anti-immigrant policies have won an increasing percentage of the popular vote in recent elections.  Migrants now compose 13% of the Swedish population and 8% in Denmark and Norway.  As immigrants change the culture of their society, frustration mounts.

Last fall, after the Swedish elections, a gunman shot at least 15 people in the city of Malmo, targeting people with dark skin.  Now Breivik is claiming that he has “two more cells” working with him.  What can we expect to come next?  As the tenth anniversary of 9/11 approaches, Americans worry about further attacks from foreign terrorists.  Now we must be concerned about terrorists in our midst—both those from different cultures who live here and those who resent their growing presence.

How do we live in a world where our neighbors can attack us out of anger at problems we did nothing to create?  We can learn some lessons from Israel.  Each time I travel in the Holy Land I am amazed by the tranquil way her citizens deal with the perils they face.  Their government maintains remarkable vigilance against potential enemies.  The people look to redeem what they confront, viewing their mandatory military service as valuable in maintaining their unity and common culture.

Most of all, they live in the present.  During a recent trip, I got to know a veteran of the 1973 Yom Kippur War and numerous battles since.  I asked him how he deals with the stress of his nation’s security situation.  He smiled and replied, “One day at a time.”  He described his home in Galilee and told me about his four daughters.  “Life each day is good,” he said.  “If this is it—if there is to be no future for us—I am glad to have today.”

If you’re a Christian, you’re in the hands of God today (John 10:28).  Nothing can come to you without going through him.  Don’t despair—all of God there is, is in this moment.  More tomorrow.

The electric drill my grandfather bought for me

The NFL lockout has been called “millionaires deciding how to share billions.”  Since the NFL makes $9 billion a year and the average player salary is $1.8 million, it’s been hard to generate sympathy for either side.  The collective bargaining agreement expired on March 11.  The players filed a lawsuit against the owners, who locked out the players from their facilities.  Owners want to limit salaries; players want more money.

Showing that life imitates sport, the debt ceiling debate has likewise risen rancor on all sides.  Republicans want to cut spending, reform Medicare, and keep taxes low.  Democrats want to protect Medicare and raise revenues. Neither can have what it wants; both have the votes to block the other party’s agenda.  And yet, according to the United States Chamber of Commerce, “defaulting on our debt is not an option—it has real, immediate, and potentially catastrophic consequences.”

I have no expertise or experience with either subject—I threw my last pass while playing flag football in college, and Janet balances our checkbook so we don’t go to jail.  But I do find both debates oddly analogous to my electric drill.  Here’s why.

When I was walking in our neighborhood recently, I came upon a gigantic SUV parked in the street with this bumper sticker proudly displayed on its back window: “Borrowing tools is for the weak.”  I thought immediately of the drill my grandfather bought for me in my first year of marriage.

He was a carpenter for most of his life, having lost his farm during the Great Depression after fighting in World War I.  When he came to stay with us for a few days, he immediately wanted to see my tools.  I showed him the hammer and the socket set I received as wedding presents from well-intentioned friends who clearly overestimated my mechanical abilities.  He spotted immediately the absence of an electric drill.  Since such a device in my hands is a threat to humanity, I wasn’t in a hurry to obtain one.  He was.  No descendant of his could be without such an appliance.  He marched me down to the local hardware store and purchased the drill I still own today.  When I plug it in, Janet calls her friends to pray.  But at least I don’t have to borrow it from my neighbor.

Compromise is a sign of weakness in our polarized culture.  There are winners and losers and nothing in between.  In the midst of men as competitive as anyone in the NFL or Washington, Jesus chose to wash feet.  No Jew could be made to do this, not even a slave.  He washed the dust-caked, sweaty feet of the disciple who would betray him to be crucified, and the disciple who would deny knowing him, and the disciples who would abandon him.  And he told us to do the same: “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you” (John 13:15).

With this promise: “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (v. 35).  Who will know that you’re a Christian today?

Carribbean reef shark (Courtesy of user Albert Kok at en.wikipedia.org)

As you read this article, Diana Nyad may be swimming from Cuba to Key West, Florida.  She’s been waiting on water temperatures to warm up; now that they have, nothing stands in her way.  Nothing, that is, except 103 miles, countless stinging jellyfish, and sea salt which will swell her tongue and rub her skin raw.

Not to mention the sharks which make this stretch of ocean their playground.  Nyad will be swimming for 60 straight hours, stopping every hour and a half to tread water for a few minutes while swallowing a mixture of predigested protein and an occasional bite of banana or peanut butter.  She wants to be the first person to make the swim without a shark cage, so two men in kayaks will follow her with shark shields—neoprene rods that emit electrical waves to zap sharks if they come too close.  The shield is not foolproof, however.  Four shark divers with spears will also be nearby, ready to jump.

What attracted me to her story this morning?  I’d like to say it was the commitment Diana Nyad is demonstrating in conquering the unconquered.  I’d like to claim that I am interested in the historic and technological significance of her achievement.  All of that is true enough.  But the real reason I clicked first on the article was simple: she is swimming with sharks.

If she were making the 103-mile journey across a fresh-water lake I’d be interested but not fascinated.  It’s the image of a single woman up against razor-toothed predators far larger and more deadly than she.  Her story is Jaws meets Chariots of Fire.  Its danger is its attraction, to me and to her as well.

We find her story all through Scripture: Moses facing Pharaoh, David running into battle with Goliath, Joshua stepping into the flooded Jordan river, Daniel encircled by lions, Peter confronting the Sanhedrin, Stephen preaching to his executioners, Paul singing hymns at midnight in a Philippian jail.  What did they have in common?  A passionate, sacrificial commitment to a cause worth its cost and more.

Have you found yours?  Seneca, the first-century Roman philosopher, claimed: “It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that things are difficult.”  Name your sharks, give them to your King in faith, and ask him to empower you as you fulfill his Kingdom purpose for this Friday.  Know that you’re not swimming alone: “surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).  And take to heart his assurance: “‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty” (Zechariah 4:6).  Your sharks are minnows compared to the omnipotence of their Maker.

Peter told Jesus on the Sea of Galilee, “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water” (Matthew 14:28).  His Lord’s answer was immediate: “Come” (v. 29).  To swim with the sharks, you must leave your boat behind.

A view of Mount Everest from Kala Patthar in Nepal (Courtesy of Pavel Novak at en.wikipedia.org)

Mount Everest may be shrinking.  According to Nepal, on whose border it stands, it is 8,848 meters tall. According to China, which shares that border with the mountain, it is 8,844 meters tall.  To solve the controversy, Nepal plans to re-measure the world’s tallest peak.  The process will require GSM satellites and reference points on the mountain and take two years to complete.

Here’s my question: So what?  The mountain is what it is and probably doesn’t care what height we assign it.  Climbers still want to get to the summit, whether it is 12 feet taller or shorter than someone’s government says it is.

I found two other strange stories in today’s news which are somewhat more practical.  First, Time‘s website tells us that the Dead Sea is “deader than ever and getting more so.”  The Jordan River has been reduced to two percent of its former volume as Israel and Jordan use its water for their purposes.  And de-salinization plants are removing the waters of the Dead Sea to harvest chemicals they can sell.  I once knew an Old Testament professor who claimed he was so old, when he was a young man the Dead Sea was only sick.  Now it’s getting sicker by the day, though we can save it if we will.

Second, Newsweek warns us that robots may soon take our jobs. They’re doing surgery, laying sealant on car windshields, and scanning legal documents that lawyers were formerly required to read. While they’re often cheaper than humans, their growing popularity is due to the fact that they’re better at many tasks than we are.

As a writer, I would like to claim an exemption to the robotic age.  However, the article warns that researchers are already developing algorithms that can gather facts and write a story.  As to who will read it—there may soon be a lot of us with free time.  I’m not sure what we can do about the robotic revolution, but it seems more practical than the height of Mt. Everest.

Why is it that the parts of life we cannot change are often the ones which fascinate us?  Churches and denominations split over the age of the earth or the details of Jesus’ return, though God has not asked our opinion of either.  We are speculative people, but the Bible is a practical book.  So long as we focus on the life-changing questions we face, we’ll have all the wisdom from Scripture we need and more.

Think about the worries on your mind this morning.  How many are speculative fears about which you can do nothing today?  How many are practical problems for which you need practical direction?  Which should you focus on?  As you do, claim your Father’s promise: “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5).  God may not help you know the height of Mt. Everest, but he’ll help you climb it.

Rais Bhuyian, the man Mark Stroman tried to kill (Credit: Reuters)

Mark Stroman has watched 208 people walk past him to be executed.  Today it’s his turn.  Unless the Texas governor issues a stay, he will be put to death by lethal injection at 6:00 tonight.  What makes his case unique is the fact that a man he tried to kill is working to stop his death.

Stroman’s sister died on September 11, 2001 in the World Trade Center, and Stroman was angry at all Muslims.  In the days after 9/11 he shot dead an Indian immigrant and a man from Pakistan.  He also shot Rais Bhuyian in the face as the Muslim worked behind a gas station cash register.  The Bangladeshi-born naturalized U.S. citizen played dead until Stroman left his store.  Several operations saved his life, but he lost the use of his right eye and still carries shotgun pellets in his face.

Stroman is repentant: “I was an uneducated idiot back then and now I’m a more understanding human being,” he told the BBC.  Bhuyian agrees, but insists that “we should not stay in the past, we must move forward.”  He has been in touch with Stroman, extending his forgiveness and offering the opportunity to work together against hate crimes.

Bhuyian sees his attempted killer as “a spokesperson, an educator, teaching a lot of people as ignorant as him what is wrong.”  Stroman responds: “Here it is, the attacker and the attackee, you know, pulling together.  The hate has to stop—one second of hate will cause a lifetime of misery.  I’ve done that—it’s wrong, and if me and Rais can reach one person, mission accomplished.”

The two have learned what so many never do: Forgiveness is not only best for the one forgiven, it’s also best for the one who forgives.  Coretta Scott King was right: “Hate is too great a burden to bear.  It injures the hater more than it injures the hated.”  That’s why Jesus told Peter to forgive the brother who sins against him “not seven times, but seventy-seven times” (Matthew 18:22), a number symbolic of eternity.

To forgive is to pardon.  It’s not to excuse the behavior or pretend it didn’t hurt, but to choose not to punish.  If the governor pardons Mark Stroman today he will not excuse his crime, but will choose not to punish him for it.  So it is with our forgiveness of others.

Who needs your forgiveness this morning?  What is keeping you from offering such grace?  As you make your difficult decision, you might consider Frederick Buechner’s definition of “anger”: “Of the Seven Deadly sins, anger is possibly the most fun.  To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back—in many ways it is a feast fit for a king.  The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself.  The skeleton at the feast is you.”

Credit: Vibe Images

Following the media firestorm created by coverage of Michele and Marcus Bachmann’s counseling practice, we’ve been exploring biblical answers to the question of homosexuality.  To summarize our discussion of this difficult subject: The Scriptures consistently describe homosexual behavior as wrong.  This fact does not classify homosexuality as the unpardonable sin.  We must therefore attempt the difficult task of loving homosexuals without condoning homosexual acts.  How do we do this?

By making a distinction between orientation and its expression.  According to the Bible, all sex outside of marriage is wrong, whether heterosexual or homosexual.  In three of my four pastorates our church had to deal with staff members who were engaged in heterosexual sin.  I witnessed firsthand the fact that any sexual expression outside of marriage is damaging to those who participate and usually to many others as well.

As a result, the Bible requires me to be celibate with all people except Janet.  While all other sexual activity in which I might engage would express my heterosexual orientation, that fact does not justify such actions.

It is the same for homosexuals.  Intolerant and naïve as my next statement may seem to many, it is honestly motivated by a sincere desire to speak the truth in love: those who are homosexual by orientation should practice sexual celibacy.

Many will counter that I have no idea how difficult such a lifestyle decision would be.  They’re right.  But given that I understand the Bible clearly to teach that homosexuality is an unbiblical lifestyle, the only conclusion I can draw is that the practice of this lifestyle will lead the person out of the will of God and into harmful behavior.  Abstinence is, by this logic, the option which is in that person’s best personal interest.  Again, my desire is not to condemn, but to offer biblical truth as I understand it.

Before leaving this divisive subject, let me make one other statement which will be challenged by many: We can and should pray for those in the homosexual lifestyle to come to genuine transformation.  After including homosexuality in his list of sins (1 Corinthians 6:9), Paul next told the Corinthians, “And that is what some of you were.  But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (v. 11).

I know that some will read Paul’s statement as bigoted prejudice.  However, any of us would want to help those we care about to practice a biblical lifestyle which leads to the fullest abundance of Christ’s joy (John 10:10).  This is the honest motivation behind my suggestion that such intercession is appropriate for the gay people we know and love.

This has been a hard conversation for many.  I pray that my thoughts have shed more light than heat and welcome your comments as well.  Tomorrow let’s find something much more enjoyable to discuss.  Know that I am grateful for the privilege of sharing these devotionals with you.