Zion and Babylon

This is a song that I recently have been introduced to that has really got me thinking...I hope you enjoy it and causes you to think as well. The lyrics will be posted below.




Oh great mammon of form and function
Careless consumerist consumption
Dangerous dysfunction
Described as expensive taste
I’m a people disgraced
By what I claim I need
And what I want to waste
I take no account for nothing
If it’s not mine
It’s a misappropriation of funds
Protect my ninety percent with my guns
Whose side am I on?
Well who’s winning?
My kingdom’s built with the blood of slaves
Orphans, widows, and homeless graves
I sold their souls just to build my private mansion
Some people say that my time is coming
Kingdom come is the justice running
Down, down, down on me
I’m a poor child, I’m a lost son
I refuse to give my love to anyone,
Fight for the truth,
Or help the weaker ones
Because I love my Babylon
I am a slave, I was never free
I betrayed you for blood money
Oh I bought the world, all is vanity
Oh my Lord I’m your enemy
Come to me, and find your life
Children sing, Zion’s in sight
I said don’t trade your name for a serial number
Priceless lives were born from under graves
Where I found you
Say, my name ain’t yours and yours is not mine
Mine is the Lord, and yours is my child
That’s how it’s always been
Time to make a change
Leave your home
Give to the poor all that you own
Lose your life, so that you could find it
First will be last when the true world comes
Livin’ like a humble fool to overcome
The upside-down wisdom
Of a dying world
Zion’s not built with hands
And in this place God will dwell with man
Sick be healed and cripples stand
Sing Allelu
My kingdom’s built with the blood of my son
Selfless sacrifice for everyone
Faith, hope, love, and harmony
I said let this world know me by your love
By your love
Oh my child, daughters and sons
I made you in love to overcome
Free as a bird, my flowers in the sun
On your way to Mount Zion
All you slaves, be set free
Come on out child and come on home to me
We will dance, we will rejoice
If you can hear me then follow my voice

The Role of the Spirit

Lately I've been involved in a couple of conversations that discussed the role of the Holy Spirit in the understanding of the Biblical text. The common theme has been that while reading the Bible, all the believer has to do is be Spirit-filled and pray when they come upon a difficult passage and the Holy Spirit will enlighten them as to what the meaning is. I submit to you that this is a false interpretation as to what the Spirit's role really is. In looking deeper into this, I will show what the Bible actually says about the Spirit actually does in regards to the Scriptures.

1. The Spirit inspires the Scriptures. (2 Tim. 3:16) I don't think any believer has any problem with this, but for clarification this means that the Scriptures are originated from the breath of God, or "God-breathed." 2 Peter 1:20-21 is also helpful here, it clarifies for us the role of the human author, that the message they proclaimed did not start with them, however God did choose to use them to convey His message and did so utilizing their personalities, circumstances, educational background, etc.

2. The Spirit had a role in the canonization of the Scriptures. Canon can also be understood as "rule" as it relates to measurement. Gal 6:16 uses this word rule as we would use it when speaking of the Scriptures. Since what we have today flows seamlessly and has no contradictions, it would be safe for us to assume that the Holy Spirit oversaw and guided the early church leaders in the canonization of the Scriptures. It is worth noting however that the church did not make these 66 books the Word of God, they just properly recognized them as the Word of God.

3. When is comes to interpretation of the Scriptures, this is where some disagreement takes place, even among people more intelligent than myself. However, I think a beneficial starting point would be to ask the question can a lost person understand the Scriptures? I submit that he can. The disconnect take place in the significance. Another way of putting it is that the unbeliever can know what the text is saying, and correctly interpret it, the problem is that it means nothing to him and therefore there is no application of what he knows. A good verse to support this is 2 Cor. 2:14 "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to know, because it is evaluated spiritually." The word used here for "receive" means to accept willingly and with pleasure. Paul is saying that apart from the Spirit, a person cannot receive the message of Scripture with joy, gladness, and willingness. The receiving here does not mean it excludes a correct mental grasp. In fact it requires it and leads to a willful rejection of the message of Scripture. The phrase "Spiritual things are foolishness" does not mean that they are like some unknown language, but rather they are grasped and rendered foolish.

I say all this to suggest that it is a common misunderstanding to believe that the Holy Spirit aids in the correct understanding of the Scriptures. What the Holy Spirit does is bring conviction to the regenerated and applies the Scriptural truths to the individual life. I don't say all this to discourage individual Bible study, on the contrary, I say this to help in the arena of individual Bible study. I suggest good commentaries and a continued look back on how the church has historically viewed whichever passage is being studied. And then to apply that meaning, with the aid of the Spirit, to your life. What do you think?

My Prediction for Tomorrow

While I won't comment on "Timmy" Tebow's taking Phil 4:13 out of context, I will predict that the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner will lead his Florida Gators to a conference championship. I really don't think there is any stopping this team. However, that could be my immense hatred for the Tide talking. My prediction...49-21 Fla.

Da da-da da-da da GO GATORS!

Why I love the Advent Season

Last night I was able to attend the Behold the Lamb of God concert presented by Andrew Peterson at Ashland Avenue Baptist Church in Lexington, KY (I've never attended Ashland Avenue, but it looks like a great church, they had a wonderful book selection sitting out in the lobby). For those of you not familiar with the album, Peterson has written original music (apart from two instrumentals) pertaining to the Christmas story. It was the second time I've been able to attend the BTLOG concert and it is my hope to make it an annual tradition. What I love about the music is how it begins with why it was necessary for the Savior to come and rescue us and it traces him from the story of Moses through the entire Old Testament and up to his birth. That's something that the Lord has been showing me while I've been here in Louisville. While every good christian will say and believe that the Old Testament points to Christ, and I may be wrong about this, but I don't believe that we fully understand what that entails. I know I didn't, and I'm still trying to comprehend it. For example, we know the prophecies in the Old Testament are predictions of Christ, but everything else points to him as well. To briefly summarize, there is a continual Exodus theme and it is so apparent, a continual deliverance led by the Christ, to be ultimately fulfilled at the dawn of New Creation. But I digress...

To get back to what this post is really about is what I've really come to enjoy about Christmas, and that is that it ushers in the Advent season. Those of you who have been around me, which is probably the only people who read this blog, know that I've been trying to be more intentional on calling it the Advent season. The reason for this is because of what Advent means. Advent as defined by dictionary.com means 1) a coming into place, view, or being; arrival, or more specifically 2) the coming of Christ into the world. At the time of his birth, the Jewish people were waiting in expectation of the Christ. Most of us know that they got it wrong, in that they were expecting a military leader, however this does not diminish the fact that they were expectant. We as believers are commanded to look towards the joyful hope of the Kingdom of Christ which is coming. We are told to be living in another Advent, one that promises to restore all things.

This is why I love the "Advent Season." It is a great time of reflection as to what has happened and what is promised to happen. For believers it should be a time of magnification of how we should be living, constantly expectant and constantly awaiting the coming of Christ, again.

Not to mention I love the sweets and smells that go along with the Advent season, but once again, I digress...


P.S. I stink at blogging

Chris Matthew's getting "Hardballed"

No...the media's not biased at all.

In Response to the Election

Ok, so I haven't done a very good job at blogging. I confess that. But with work and school it's hard to find the time. However, in light of the election, I find it important for me to express my thoughts on this momentous occasion. I'm not going to pretend to know how the Christian should respond, I have links to other blogs that you can read (i.e. Dr. Mohler's or Denny Burk's) on that. Rather, I would just like to share my personal experience.

First and foremost, I am saddened and grieved about the abortion issue. It is likely that we as Christians have lost that fight at the presidential and Supreme Court level, at least any hope of getting any legislation passed within the next 4 years. However, there are still actions that can be done, and all is not lost. We must continue to support organizations that give women alternatives to abortion. I also think it's important to Christians to continue to adopt. This is a great testimony to a world that believes that having a child is a choice, not to mention a perfect illustration of the gospel. Anyways, I intend to pray that President-Elect Obama would change his mind about this very important issue.

On a brighter note, I'm excited that this country has actually elected an African-American President. What a great testimony to the world as to how far we have come since slavery. What has tradionally been a mar on our history, has now has come full circle and a black man has the highest office in the country and even the world. This is good news indeed and despite what some think, this is a cause for celebration.

Thirdly, I find it important for me to re-evaluate my stance on the political issues. Now this might sound bad, however I think it's important for us to see where we stand, and then ask ourselves why we stand there. For example, for me, I know that the abortion issue is wrong because it is the destruction and innocent life. Period. End of story. Look, I just re-evaluated. But on other issues I think it's ok for some room for leniency, like immigration. We can show mercy to the illegals who are here. Or the war, do I stand for the war because I was in the service? Do I stand for the war because I come from a pro-military family? I don't know. But I'm thinking it through. And will it be altogether bad if America pulls out? Once again, these are questions I don't know the answer to, but I think that it is terribly important that I think them through and pose the question "is this a personal belief or a Biblical conviction?" We all should.

Ultimately, I refuse to believe that Barack Obama is any more evil than John McCain. I would've preferred John McCain simply because I find the abortion issue altogether far more important. However, I wasn't that impressed with the Arizona Senator when it came to the other issues anyways. But now it's a time of prayer, but also a time to support our new President and hope that he succeeds in his endeavor in the eyes of the Lord.

A Humble Word

So this is my first legitimate attempt at blogging, if this can be considered legitimate. I've commented on message boards and other people's blogs for some time now, but never built up the courage to share my own thoughts. So here we go. I can now say that "I'm a blogger."

So what would I like my first blog to be about? Perhaps in honor of my poor attempt at blogging, I could list the parallels to the University of Tennessee's poor attempt at football. But that would be overly negative. Perhaps I could comment Biblical theology and redemptive history and how they apply to the Church in a post-modern age. But that would be over my head.

No, for my first blog I believe I will comment on Coke. That's correct, Coke-a-Cola. Just a few words as to which type of Coke I believe is superior. I think that this is something that I'm prepared to discuss. While everything else in the world is going awry, and governments are buying up the land, the one thing that I can consistently rely on is that a cool bottle of Diet Coke will always be there for me. I do believe that Diet Coke is superior. Regular Coke tastes too syrupy and Coke Zero tastes to synthetic. But Diet Coke, that's where it's at. At least for this guy.