But, this morning, I came across a transcript of an interview that was done with Barack Obama about his faith when he was running for the Senate.  It’s an interview that I had heard bits and pieces of from the media, but had never read fully.  Well, now it’s up for all of us to see.

I’ll save my comments for any discussion that takes place, because I’m not really feeling like arguing right now and I really don’t want to get into me judging someone’s faith.  But, I do feel qualified to look objectively at an interview about faith and ask the question, “Where does truth come from?”

Cal Thomas tells a story about himself being on an air plane.  He got into a conversation with the person next to him.  I don’t recall the exact question, but it had something to do with whether or not Cal believed in hell & whether God would send people there.  First of all, that’s a loaded question.  God doesn’t send anyone to hell.  He simply lets us choose to be apart from him.  It’s not the question that is important, in this case.  It was Cal’s response.  He started off his response not with an “I believe” or “I can’t believe” statement, but with a “It doesn’t matter what I believe.  Let me tell you want the Bible says” statement.

This interview touches on a lot of basic Christian theological issues.  But not one time does the “truth” come from anywhere other than Barack Obama.  That’s fine.  Perhaps all of his values are rooted in scripture, but I know for me – if someone were asking me those questions I would put it back on God.  What does the Bible say?  That’s where my truth comes from.

Here are just a few tidbits from the interview.

FALSANI:
So you got yourself born again?

OBAMA:
Yeah, although I don’t, I retain from my childhood and my experiences growing up a suspicion of dogma. And I’m not somebody who is always comfortable with language that implies I’ve got a monopoly on the truth, or that my faith is automatically transferable to others.

————————————————

FALSANI:
Do you pray often?

OBAMA:
Uh, yeah, I guess I do.

Its’ not formal, me getting on my knees. I think I have an ongoing conversation with God. I think throughout the day, I’m constantly asking myself questions about what I’m doing, why am I doing it.

————————————————-

FALSANI:
Who’s Jesus to you?

(He laughs nervously)

OBAMA:
Right.

Jesus is an historical figure for me, and he’s also a bridge between God and man, in the Christian faith, and one that I think is powerful precisely because he serves as that means of us reaching something higher.

And he’s also a wonderful teacher. I think it’s important for all of us, of whatever faith, to have teachers in the flesh and also teachers in history.

————————————————–

OBAMA:
Where do you move forward with that?

This is something that I’m sure I’d have serious debates with my fellow Christians about. I think that the difficult thing about any religion, including Christianity, is that at some level there is a call to evangelize and prostelytize. There’s the belief, certainly in some quarters, that people haven’t embraced Jesus Christ as their personal savior that they’re going to hell.

FALSANI:
You don’t believe that?

OBAMA:
I find it hard to believe that my God would consign four-fifths of the world to hell.

I can’t imagine that my God would allow some little Hindu kid in India who never interacts with the Christian faith to somehow burn for all eternity.

That’s just not part of my religious makeup.

—————————————————

FALSANI:
Do you believe in heaven?

OBAMA:
Do I believe in the harps and clouds and wings?

FALSANI:
A place spiritually you go to after you die?

OBAMA:
What I believe in is that if I live my life as well as I can, that I will be rewarded. I don’t presume to have knowledge of what happens after I die. But I feel very strongly that whether the reward is in the here and now or in the hereafter, the aligning myself to my faith and my values is a good thing.

When I tuck in my daughters at night and I feel like I’ve been a good father to them, and I see in them that I am transferring values that I got from my mother and that they’re kind people and that they’re honest people, and they’re curious people, that’s a little piece of heaven.

—————————————————

FALSANI:
Do you believe in sin?

OBAMA:
Yes.

FALSANI:
What is sin?

OBAMA:
Being out of alignment with my values.

The tragedy of modern faith is that we no longer are capable of being terrified. We aren’t afraid of God, we aren’t afraid of Jesus, we aren’t afraid of the Holy Spirit. As a result, we have ended up with a need-centered gospel that attracts thousands…but transforms no one.

What happened to the bone-chilling, earth-shattering, gut-wrenching, knee-knocking, heart-stopping, life-changing fear that left us speechless, paralyzed, and helpless? What happened to those moments when you and I would open our Bibles and our hands started shaking because we were afraid of the Truth we might find there? Barclay tells us that the word used in the Bible for “Truth” has three meanings—a word used to describe a wrestler grabbing an opponent by the throat; a word meaning to flay an animal; and a word used to describe the humiliation of a criminal who was paraded in front of a crowd with a dagger tied to his neck, its point under his chin so he could not put his head down. That is what the Truth is really like! It grabs us by the throat, it flays us wide open, it forces us to look into the face of God. When is the last time you and I heard God’s Truth and were grabbed by the throat?

I know for me I have a tendency to be too judgemental, lookig to the speck instead of my own log.  Then there are those who belong to the anything goes compassionate brand of Christianity. Too far to one side and we are either playing God or watering down and removing sin from the gospel repectively. The answer for me is to pray that I would be fearful of God in the way I’m supposed to be fearful of Him. That I would be completely in awe of Him. Then from that place, God would tell me to fear not. My approach to God should be one of trembling, because of who I am. But I can tremble in confidence because of who Jesus is.

If that happens, I will naturally introduce my friends to Jesus in those terms. But I’ve got to be willing to be grabbed by the throat - to be transformed myself.

The Internet Monk has a name for that Jesus.  He calls him the “Abbreviated Jesus”.

You’re going to discover that there’s a remarkable resemblance between the abbreviated Jesus and the current version of political correctness. (Isn’t it unusual how Jesus takes an interest in whatever happens to be the current rage on CNNMSNBCCBSSUSATODAY?

I’m not sure this abbreviated Jesus believes in hell.

He seems considerably more flexible on sexual matters than one would believe reading the Bible.

Living together before marriage? The abbreviated Jesus seems to have not issued a statement on that one.

I actually think the abbreviated Jesus doesn’t like to be bothered with issues of morality, character or behavior. He’s mostly interested in larger political and cultural issues, or your experience at your local church, or how you’re doing in your relationships.

And, he doesn’t want to have anything to do with the Abbreviated Jesus.

I’m announcing that I’m afraid of the abbreviated Jesus and his followers. I’m afraid of his “church,” his books and his kind of “discipleship.”
 I’m uninviting him from my life and my interactions with other Christians.

I want to know Jesus. The untamed, old school, offensive, mysterious, demanding, awe-inspiring, transformational, life altering, crucified, risen, ascended, revolutionary Jesus.

Now that’s a Jesus I can get excited about living my life with, one that’s going to tell it like it is even when I don’t like it, who’s going to tranform my life into something I was meant to be, instead of letting me do whatever I want and be okay with it.  That’s a Jesus I can be fired up to tell other people about.  He’s a wild man, a God-man.  He’s died, but he’s still alive.  He went toe to toe with the most religious folks of his day for their hypocrisy, but he never overlooked sin.  In fact, it was his radical love for sinners that led them to repentance.  He was so wild he did the unthinkable.  He hung on a cross and died for me – the son of God gave up his life for me and then came back to life to show me it was for real.  And, He’s still alive today!  It’s really crazy and not at all deserving of the sanitizing culture tends to do to it, and for the sake of making Him more attractive.  That’s really ridiculous if you think about it.  What’s more attractive than that real Jesus?

If you don’t read the Internet Monk, you should. Definitely take a look at this whole post.

I’ve heard statistics say 75% of men struggle with pornography, so more than likely either you have or you are right now and your guys probably are, too.  Why not talk about it, bring it to light, and get well?  Download it.  Share it.  Discuss it.  Deal with it. 

And, ladies…this one is just for the fellas. 

Here’s a snippet.

God tells us that his people tend to satisfy their thirst not by drinking from his streams of living water, but instead drinking from man-made toilets (Jer. 2:13). This metaphor is particularly adept in a world where men such as Tom Leykis, Dr. Drew, Howard Stern, and a legion of men’s magazines and porno providers become wealthy by selling glasses of toilet water to thirsty men across our nation, many of whom claim to be sons of God. Meanwhile, the church alone has access to the living water from God’s perfect Word, but largely fails to teach men masculinity in any area, particularly regarding their sexuality.

The causes for this sin of omission are many. First, there is a propensity in many churches to take sexuality out of the hands of theologians and place it in the hands of secular counselors, whose philosophy is dominated by unbiblical evolutionary concepts of humanity and gender. This error prevents the church from speaking about men and women because they’re only permitted to see androgynous humanity. Second, the effeminate nature of pastors and churches causes many masculine men to feel unwelcome in what they perceive as an organization solely for women, children, and weaker men. Third, there is a timidity among weak pastors to wade into controversial issues in general, and sexual ones in particular. Lastly, the sad truth is that many pastors are also enslaved to their own sexual sins and/or are languishing in unfulfilling and infrequent sex with their wives, and therefore are unable to speak of sexual matters out of a sense of disqualification.

To speak of the matters of pornography and masturbation, I must speak frankly, as frankly as the Scriptures do on important issues. In 2 Timothy 3:16 God says through Paul that, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” These Scriptures that God breathed for our profit include the very frank discussions of sexuality throughout the Song of Songs and Ezekiel.

In Ezekiel 16:25–27 God says, “At the head of every street you built your lofty place and made your beauty an abomination, offering yourself to any passerby and multiplying your whoring. You also played the whore with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, multiplying your whoring, to provoke me to anger. Behold, therefore, I stretched out my hand against you and diminished your allotted portion and delivered you to the greed of your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior.”

Also, in Ezekiel 23:18–21, God says, “When she carried on her whoring so openly and flaunted her nakedness, I turned in disgust from her, as I had turned in disgust from her sister. Yet she increased her whoring, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the whore in the land of Egypt and lusted after her paramours there, whose members were like those of donkeys, and whose issue was like that of horses. Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom and pressed your young breasts.” God basically called his people tramps for lifting up their shirts like it was Mardi Gras and chasing men with huge penises and semen emissions like fire hoses.

While God spoke frankly to Israel, he is certainly not crass like some meat-headed high school boys killing time in a locker room. God is honest and forthright about the truth and his people must not be so prudish as to try and speak in ways that are holier than their God. In our age of lewdness and perversion we, like our Father, must avoid crassness, while wisely and boldly speaking frankly about the joy and beauty of sexual intimacy when it is confined by the loving directions of the God who created both us and our desires. And, we must refuse to speak in sanitized clinical euphemisms like calling adulteries “affairs,” fornication “dating,” and perverts “partners” because God uses frank words for deplorable sin so we will feel its sickness without anesthesia.

Get it here.

Shane has quite a bit of credibility since he actually traveled to Iraq and saw the horrors of war first hand (not that that’s necessary to be credible), and I appreciate his consistency and the way he’s dedicated his life to community and being a voice to those who have none.

No doubt the war is one of those issues that bring up some intense debate even among Bible-believing Christians.  I actually stand by the decision to fight in Iraq because I believe there’s something to be said about protecting the innocent, and for nationality security, although I acknowledge the heartfelt arguments against it.

So why am I writing about this?  Other than having shut down my political blog and I just need a release, I just came across a post by one of my favorite preachers Steve Brown.  He makes some great points along the protecting the innocent lines.

However, I do not believe in moral equivalency. For instance, Churchill and Hitler were both sinners, of course, but to be so blind as to miss the difference is shallow. In a dark world there is real evil and real good even if both are tainted with the other. In this kind of world, there is a necessity for hard choices and, therefore, the necessity for police, courts and armies. That is necessary because we don’t live in a perfect world and Christ has not yet established his kingdom.

I have a biblical and moral obligation to protect the innocent, those who can’t protect themselves, and my family, and to do that by whatever means are necessary.

I believe we should be discussing these types of issues in our small groups and campaigners, at least to show our teenage friends that Christians can have different points of view but still love each other.  If you have a chance to read The Irresistible Revolution, it provides some compelling arguments that would lend themselves to discussion.  Just make sure you check out the Bible before starting the discussion.  You can leave Red Letter Christians on the book shelf, because there isn’t very much scripture in it anyway.

As soon as it’s up and running, you’ll be able to get bible studies, chords, instructional videos & more.

My desire is for you to find this space a worship resource home.  A place to help you serve God and his people in worship.

I’m excited to see what shows up when the site becomes fully functional.  I’m sure there will be plenty for me to use in my ministry.

Sign up here.

The best part of his post are the comments he makes about each one. It’s refreshing to see Christians with a sense of humor who aren’t Young Life leaders.

Christians often talk about having a Biblical worldview yet most have only a rudimentary knowledge of the Bible. They attempt to build a framework without first gathering the lumber and cement needed to create a solid foundation. The benefits of following this process should therefore be obvious. By fully immersing yourself into the text you’ll come to truly know the text. You’ll deepen your knowledge of the Bible as a whole and be able to put each book into context.

He gives four no-brainer steps to reading the Bible.

1. Choose a book of the Bible.
2. Read it in its entirety.
3. Repeat #2 twenty times.
4. Repeat this process for all 66 books of the Bible.

Joe’s post has created a lot of discussion over at the Evangelical Outpost.  It’s an interesting read.

I personally think it depends on the book.  I can read through most of the New Testament pretty easily, and I love to read the history in the Kings & Samuel books.  But, when it comes to books like Leviticus or Deuteronomy, I honestly have a very difficult time just sitting down reading it like a book.  I feel like I need to approach those books in study mode, rather than reading mode.

It’s not always 100% accurate, since anyone can make changes to it, but with so many people using it, anything false gets fixed pretty quickly.  Plus, when it comes to things Youth Leaders might use it for, we can always say that “many people believe”, or even that “I found this on wikipedia, which we know isn’t completely reliable.” 

It’s important to use our own judgement is basically what I’m saying.  For the crucifixion details, I found it extremely helpful and pretty much in line with what I already knew.

In any case, there’s another wiki out there that might be equally useful for preparing for club talks, campaigner lessons, or even just for personal reference, and that’s Theopedia, calling itself an encyclopedia of biblical Christianity.

Others talking about Theopedia: Bigbulkyanglican

These are the different plans.

1. Whole Bible in a year
2. Old Testament in a year
3. New Testament in a year
4. Old Testament in two years
5. Words of Jesus 4 times in a year
6. Whole Bible chronologically in a year
7. Whole Bible chronologically in a year #2
8. New Testament Letters 3 times in a year
9. New Testament & Proverbs twice, Psalms once in a year
10. New Testament & Psalms twice, rest of Bible once in a year
11. Proverbs in a month
12. Gospels in a month
13. Psalms in a month