Category: Wildman Journey (Page 42 of 87)

Are you familiar with the term “liquid modernity.” It helps in discerning the drift of our nation.  The  concept is credited to the late Polish sociologist Zygmunt Baumen, who believed the term, “postmodern” did not accurately describe what was happening in today’s world.  “Liquid modernity” was more accurate in  describing the constant mobility and change in relationships, identities, and global economics in contemporary society.  Instead of referring to modernity and postmodernity, he saw a transition from solid modernity to a more liquid form of social life.

In liquid modernity, Os Guinness points out, “we have moved from the fixed world of tradition and identity to the fluid world of modernity, where everything always changes and nothing keeps it shape for very long.”  We live in a modern liquid world where liquid lives and liquid loves are “protean,” always liable to change.  The  only constant is change.  The  only certainty is uncertainty.  With the loss of spiritual and moral moorings, we experience what  Guinness calls  “the mudslide effect.”

Baumen maintains that we have moved from a period in which we understood ourselves as “pilgrims” in search of deeper meaning to one where we act as “tourists” in search of multiple but fleeing social experiences. Rod Dreher calls it “Nomadism,” because a general trait of the ‘liquid modern’ man is his flowing through life like a tourist, changing places, jobs, spouses, values, and sometimes more – such as political or sexual orientation – excluding himself from traditional networks of support, while also freeing himself from the restrictions or requirments those networks impose.” Are you caught in the mudslide of liquid modernity, drifting like  a confused tourist, rather then a pilgrim, who knows, “here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come” (Heb 13:14).

Guinness ask, “What are the causes for the mudslide?”  He identifies “the three dark Rs,.” which help us discern if we are caught in a mudslide.

First, “a radical relativizing of claims and certainties through which postmodernism reduces all truths to the level of undecidable.”  If you are going to avoid the mudslide, you will have to determine in your mind what is the truth.  Is your view of reality anchored in Scripture.  Psalm 33: 4 proclaims, “For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does,” while verse 9 tells us, “For he spoke and it came to be; he commanded and it stood firm.”  Since my conversion back in 1960, I have submitted my mind to the final authority of Scripture, which reflects “objective reality.”  I don’t want to get caught in the mudslide of relativism.

The second, “a range of choices, producing noncommitment and a “nonbinding preference for the moment.”  I have been fortunate to have men in my life who have modeled total commitment to the Lord.  They have challenged me to do that same.  I intend to finish strong.  I take heart in Paul’s final words to the Elder at Ephesus, “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace” (Acts 20:24).

The third, “an unprecedented rapidity of change which turns modern life into a grand liquidizer of solidities.” Is there a solid firm place for a man to stand? Yes!  Years ago reading Corrie Ten Bloom’s book, “The Hiding Place” I took great comfort in Ps 32:7, “You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.”  In Ps 91:1 the palmist describes being able to “rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”

Recently Google has had a hard time identifying Jesus.  Google’s popular virtual assistant  identified Allah and Buddha but not Jesus.   “Google, who is Allah?” one Google user asked on a now-viral Facebook video.  “According to Wikipedia, in Islamic theology God is the all-powerful, all knowing creator, sustainer, ordainer and judge of everything in existence,” the virtual assistant replied. But when she asked Google who Jesus Christ was, the devise replied, “Sorry, I don’t know how to help with that yet.”  And when she asked who Jesus was, the device responded, “Sorry, I’m not sure how to help.”

“The reason the Google Assistant didn’t respond with information about ‘Who is Jesus’ or ‘Who is Jesus Christ’ wasn’t out of disrespect but instead to ensure respect,” Google said in a statement.  Google  also said that content from certain topics can be vulnerable to vandalism and spam.  “We’re exploring different solutions and temporarily disabling these responses for religious figures on the Assistant” Google said.  I wonder if Jesus is a threat to Google?

Imagine a sophisticated tech company such as Google not having information on the most significant person in human history, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, who came and lived among us. We read in Hebrews 1:3, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.”  Paul tells us, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation…..For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him” (Col 1:15 & 19).

How could Google be so ill informed about Jesus.  For almost 2000 years it has been the settled conviction and belief of millions of followers that  Jesus Christ, was indeed God in the flesh.  You might not like this idea, you might not want to have  Jesus influencing millions of devout followers, and you might even not like Christians.  But to say we can’t help, can only mean one thing: “We want to get rid of Jesus and his influence.”

This is a striking  example of what has happened so quickly in our culture.  The public square is now influenced by strong voices in the dominant media who want to erase the influence of Jesus Christ from the affairs of our nation.  Men, be warned.  Don’t let yourself be like the frog who was in the pot with the fire burning underneath, slowly bringing it to a boil.  The frog didn’t realize the great danger he was in, until it was to late.

Maybe Google has fixed this glitch in its “Google Home” smart speakers.  Personally,  I don’t buy the idea that this was an issue of respect.  To ignore the influence of Jesus, while acknowledging Allah, is certainly showing disrespect to millions of very devout followers of Jesus all over the world.  When I read of this incident, I thought of Paul’s warning to young Timothy, “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and thing taught by demons” (I Tim 4:1)  Later  he describes the times in even more detail, “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves…..rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power.  Have nothing to do with them” ( II Tim. 3:1 & 4-5).

Remember men, “The one enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoff at them”  (Ps 2:4)  Who?  “The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One” (Ps 2:4).  God says of Jesus, “I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill” (Ps 2:6). God will have the last laugh, not google.

I have mentioned in previous blogs the influence  of Robert Bly’s book “Iron John” on my journey when I was in my mid 40’s.  In the Iron John story, the boy, whom we know to be a king’s son, leaves the security of his parents and rides off on Iron John’s shoulders.  On his journey the boy comes to realize that he doesn’t have any skills to support himself.  He ends up working for a cook in the basement of another castle, carrying wood and water, and taking out the ashes.  This was a dirty, humble, menial job.

Bly pointed out that there comes a time in a man’s life, usually at mid-life, when a man has to carry out the ashes.  This is the time of life when we face failure, disappointment, humiliation, tragedy, illness or some other experience that is humbling and disorientating.  I know for me, it was the collapse of a significant ministry in Des Moines, Iowa.  I felt defeated. The ministry in establishing a charismatic Lutheran Church all came tumbling down.   I gave up what I called, “The big Deal” because it had been more about me then the Lord.  I went to Northern Minnesota.  In Richard Rohr’s words, “I had built my tower and now God was asking me to jump of the tower.”  It was hard to be in “free fall.”.

Recently,  I read of Tiger Woods return to the golf tour at the Hero World Challenge.  ESPN writer Jason Sobel writes, “What he is ready for is the underdog role.  The guy who has endured so many surgeries he shouldn’t be able to walk….It’s as if his rigid exterior has melted, revealing a softening core.  He has stared career mortality in the face on multiple occasions.”  I’m not sure, but it looks like Tiger has carried out some ashes.  Has he turned to the Lord in the process.  We don’t know.  But he has been humbled.  That’s doing your ash work.

I seriously started carry out my ashes in Des Moines over 30 years ago in my 40’s.   As Rohr is fond of saying,  “A man has to eat his sin.”  I mark it as one of the two or three signature periods of my life.  The emotional pain was significant, while my spiritual orientation became like a “dark night of the soul.”  It last for about three years, before I could climb out of the “slim pit.”   It brought a comforting peace, a inner spaciousness and a willingness to just be myself without having to prove my spirituality.

For any  younger men reading this blog who is doing “ashes work,” take courage.  The darkness and disorientation is a necessary stripping away of your false religious self.  What hurts is the religious part.  No one was more invested in his false spiritual persona then I was, as a gun-ho evangelical, charismatic Lutheran pastor in a city church, that was thought of as a “lighthouse” ministry in the ELCA.  It all can crashing down. I had to face the humiliating fact that my spirituality was hallow, empty and without substance.

The Psalmist talks about it as being in a “slimy pit.”  “I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me, and heard my cry.  He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand’ (Ps 40:1-2).  My advice.  Don’t lose your focus on the Lord, no matter how much it hurts.  Allow yourself to be humbled, by others and your circumstance, and cry out to God for mercy.  He will rescue you from the pit.

At the Recent Golden Globe awards, Oprah Winfrey gave a powerful and moving speech advocating women’s empowerment, in light of the recent revelation regarding sexual harassment.  Women and the “MeToo” movement against sexual assault took center stage at the Golden Globes. Almost all the attendees wore black as a show of respect for gender equality.  In accepting the Cecil B De Mille Award, Oprah summed up the moment: “For too long women have not been heard or believed if they dared to speak their truth to the power of those men.  But their time is up. Their time is up!”  The energy around sexual harassment resulted in a new movement – “Time’s up.”

How will men respond to Oprah’s passionate plea?  I wonder how  the “wildmen” reading this blog relate to women speaking their new found truth?  It is going to take more then women on the stage, dressed in black to bring change to men and their sexuality.  It will take candid dialogue between men and women.   Women have processed their story, finding their voice, expressed in previously hidden anger.  Men will need to find their authentic voice as well.

It is a time for men of moral integrity and sexual purity to rise up and be heard and seen as exemplars.  But we must be ready to  “suffer” misunderstanding and anger from women, who are expressing some justifiable anger.  Are men prepared to face the new cultural winds of adversity.

Peter mentions suffering at least nine times in addressing “aliens and strangers in the world,” challenging them “to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul” ( I Peter 2:11).  He warns them, “You’ve already put in your time in that God-ignorant life, partying night after night, a drunken and profligate life” (I Peter 4:3 – Message).  Then Peter gives this encouragement., “So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation” (I Peter 5:10).

Men, we are to  stand up for the sake of  our wives and daughters, for those who have been abused, and for those who are in bondage and fear because of a distorted image of the masculine that is robbing them of the fullness of life in being a female. We must not be silent.  Sexual harassment by men of any kind is wrong.

Here are some principles to remember as you attempt to influence the sexual harassment controversy in your sphere of influence.  First, and foremost, make sure you are centered in your unique, masculine soul.  In all your shame, vulnerability and sin allow yourself to hear the truth – “You have a Father in heaven who very fond of you.”   Secondly, learn to accept, embrace and digest the justified anger of women regarding abuse.  It is real and painful. Make no excuse for men.  Humbly admit that WE have a problem, not women

Thirdly, take a good look in the mirror.  James tells us, “For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror.  You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like” (James 1:23-24 NLT).  Admit to yourself that there is a wolf  within you, a latent predator,  that needs continual monitoring. Befriend the eros energy within you, rather then being in denial.

Fourth clean up your lifestyle, knowing that we live in a sensate world. Your wife is your best monitor.  And finally, walk with humbly and confidently in the Lord, as you navigate the sexual minefields of our day.  Hear Isaiah say to you, “Let us walk in the light of the Lord” ( Is 2:5).  Don’t live in the shadowy jungles of sexual fantasies.

I recently (Jan 18th) got a Pike Place coffee from Starbucks for the hour drive home. I have issues with Starbucks more liberal views regarding social issues, but I figure once in a awhile I can patronize their establishment. The cup holder grabbed my attention.  Of course, that is the whole point.  It read, “Blond espresso – breaks rules.”  On Tuesday ( Jan 16th) Starbucks had just introduced a new light-roast espresso.

Their on- line add gave this rationale: “Who says espresso has to be intense?”  “We have for 43 years.”  “So we did the exact opposite.”  Starbucks is taking a risk with a Blonde espresso.   As one competitor put it, “If you go too light with espresso, it can be like an acidic bomb.  Some baristas might like it, but it’s probably, not a crowd-pleaser…You want to roast it light enough to taste good on its own, but dark enough to stand up to milk.”

Starbucks is going against it own self-imposed policy of using only dark-roast blends.  But as Washington Post critic Tim Carman noted, “The slogan is downright comical in its braggadocio: Smaller, more innovative roasters have been breaking the espresso rules for nearly two decades.”  He also wondered, “Will the demand remain once customers realize their Blonde lattes are now little more than caffeinated cups of milk and froth, with little evidence of the burned-coffee flavor that defined the drink for decades.”

What is your response to the slogan?  When I saw the word “Blonde” on a yellow background, along with breaking rules, I have to admit, I thought of women and harassment, not coffee.  I wonder if this was intentional on the part of Starbucks.  Are they sublimely promoting dialogue between men and women over the broken state of sexuality.   If so, I agree. As a follower of Jesus, I can give testimony to being a “one-woman-man.”  After salvation, the greatest gift in my life has been my marriage to the same woman for 52 years.  Peter reminds husbands, “As women [wives] they lack some of your advantages.  But in the new life of God’s grace, you’re equals.  Treat your wives, then, as equals so your prayers don’t run aground” (I Peter 3-7 – Message).

“Women are unhappy about the state of sex and romance,” observes Mona Charen. “They feel pressured, they feel disrespected, and they are fighting back.”  What are seen as normal sexual encounters, are being expressed as  harmful for many women. “At the heart of the MeToo moment in American culture is the dawning awareness of just how unfair revolutionary sex can be,” notes Samuel James.  The sexuality of men has been assumed to be naturally brutish, needing to be tamed by feminist dictates.  But men will still be men.  As a result women are confused, hurt and even fearful of ongoing relationship with men.

Men, this is now our time. Men who have practiced moral purity and sexual integrity need to enter the dialogue with the women in their circle of influence.  I full heartedly agree with James when he states, “The task of repairing a broken sexual culture…..begins with repenting of our prejudice against purity….We need to consider whether a more proactive, more equitable place for the sexes will be one that errs on the side of prudence rather than revolution.  We are hearing from a generation that they want sex that doesn’t break, abuse or humiliate them.”

Men need to heed Paul advice,, “Be gracious in your speech.  The goal is to bring out the blest in others in conversation, not put them down, not cut them out” (Col. 4:6 – Message)  Let the “Blonde”  slogan be a reminder of  the many women, who need  to hear a caring male voice in their lives.

.

.

During the recent Golden Globe Awards, the New York Times spotlighted sexual harassment with their “truth” ad.  They acknowledge “The truth is hard.”  The ads opens with the back and forth exchange of  “He said” and “She said” that climaxes when “she said” rapidly fills the screen.  Then the campaign’s staple “truth” lines appears, asserting, “The truth has power,”  “The truth will not be threatened,” and “The truth has a voice.”

A spokesperson for the newspaper noted, “We thought that using language that has been used to silence women in the past and turning it on its head as a simple way to show the clear distinction between the way the world was a year ago and the way it is now.”  When “she said” begins to fill the screen, it felt like men were in a corner needing to face the truth. Jesus said he had come to testify to the truth.  Pilate asked Jesus  “What is truth?”

The truth in this controversy is found in relationship with God in whose image we are created as male and female.  Truth regarding sexual harassment has been apparent long before the Times began the search.  Truth is what accurately conforms to reality.  God the creator is the source of all truth.  Exodus 34:6 tells us God is, “merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth.”  Jesus who came from Father is, “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).  Jesus said of himself, “I am the way and the truth and the life” ( John 14:6).  The Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of truth” ( John 14:17).  Truth may be hard to know in ourselves, but God has revealed the truth as the triune God.

The truth about human nature is found in Scripture.  Romans 1:21-22 tells us what happens to us when we leave God out of our search for what is true.  “They knew all the time that there is a God, yet they refused to acknowledge him as such, or to thank him for what he is or does.  Thus they became fatuous in their argumentations, and plunged their silly minds still further into the dark.” When we leave God out of our lives He gives up on us.  “So God said, in effect, ‘If that’s what you want, that’s what you get” (Romans 1:24 – Message).  The result, “God therefore handed them over to disgraceful passions” (Rom1:26).

So truth is hard when God hand us over to disgraceful passions.   We naturally prefer illusion, a counterfeit truth.  In II Thess 2:12 we read, “Since they refuse to trust truth, they’re were banished to their chosen world of lies and illusions.”

Yes, truth has power.  But only  God’s truth has the power to set us free.  “If you hold to my teaching,” Jesus said, “you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31).

The truth can also be very threatening because it exposes our hearts.  “For the Word that God speaks is alive and active; it cuts more keenly than any two-edged sword: it strike through to the place where the soul and spirit meet, to the innermost intimacies of a man’s being; it examines the very thoughts and motives of a man’s heart” ( Heb 4:12 – Phillips).

Truth has a voice, it is the  voice of God, who spoke everything into being.  “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth……. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded and it stood firm” (Ps 33:6&9).  God says, “I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts, who tremble at my word” ( Isaiah 66:3). We need to tremble at God’s word for our day.

John Stonestreet  wonders if we are not in a “sexual harassment apocalypse,” which literally means “revealing.”  “It seems as if another celebrity or politician is outed almost every day,” notes Stonestreet, “and it’s changing our culture.”  Could it be that we are entering a new normal in male and female relationships.  Karla Jacobs suggests, “both men and women need to figure out how to navigate the new normal together, and that starts by being allies and speaking honestly with each other.”  David Masciotra believes, “Resolving the sickly lack of masculinity, along with cultivating a culture that has no tolerance for the degradation of women, are the long-term solutions for sexual harassment.”

I personally rejoice in the observation of Matt Lewis over at The Daily Beast (of all places).  This is what he actually said. “While good women and good men must band together, two specific coalitions of stakeholders within these broader categories are perhaps most important, inasmuch as they are already activists: liberal feminists and conservative Christians.”  Wow!  There’s more from Lewis: “The pendulum, it appears, is now swinging back in a more puritanical direction.  To be sure, this is a secular movement that was the product of left-leaning feminists.  But rather than resisting it, social conservatives should perhaps be cheering it on.”

Lewis wonders if social conservatives should take this opportunity to “spend some time talking about masculinity, chivalry, and old-fashioned virtues that used be called, ‘gentlemanliness.'”  He quotes  from an old piece in the New York Times about the Promise Keeper movement: “Promise Keepers extols a man who is a leader, while also possessed of characteristics once stereotyped as feminine: a nurturing parent, a model of marital fidelity, and a churchgoer who cultivates close friendships and likes to sing.”  Lewis wonders if we don’t need men like this in our day.  He quotes Bill McCartney’s observation. “If men are a principle cause of family meltdown, crime and racial strife, then men also are central to the solutions to those problems.”

Men, I could quote more sources.  But this is enough to demonstrate that as a culture we have come into a period when there is a serious search for a “new normal” in male and female relationships.  I must say, I can hardly contain myself.  What a time!  What an opportunity for the “wild men” of this blog site, to stand up and be found faithful.   When secular voices in the public square being to talk about a “lack of masculinity,” with the social pendulum swinging back to a more puritan ethic, men of Christian virtue need to make their voice heard in a loving, gentle and respectful manner.

I have desired to live with sexual integrity and moral purity all my life.  I am  grateful for God’s grace and mercy over these 52 years of marriage to my wonderful bride.  I never thought I would be allied  with radical feminist. But I agree – there should no tolerance for the degradation of women.  I also believe that the morality of these gender issues is more important then gaining the political edge in politics.  Men, I must say, I am disappointed not only in the Democrats but also the Republicans for their ethics of expedience, turning a deaf ear to the cries of wounded women for political gain.  This is wrong!!

I close with a final word from Matt Lewis (The Daily Beast): “Changing the world will require good women and men working together.  Feminists and Christian conservatives should unite around shared goals.  It sound crazy, but all we need are a few leaders who care more about fixing than scoring points.  Will they emerge?”  I pray that you are one of those men.

After Christmas we enter into the Epiphany season, celebrating  the light coming into the world.  Christian song writer, Chris Rice wrote a song entitled, “Welcome to Our World,” telling the wonder of Jesus entering our world: “Fragile finger sent to heal us/Tender brow prepared for thorn/Tiny heart whose blood will save us/Unto us is born.” It is hard to imagine the reality of Jesus, through whom, “all things came into existence” (John 1:4), who, “holds all creation together” (Col 1:17), and in whom, “the full nature of God chose to live” (Col 1:19) entered our world as a vulnerable, helpless infant.

The incarnation is a magnificent portrayal of unconditional love for each of us.  Philippians 2 describes it as the movement of the preexistent, preeminent Son of God to become the man called Jesus.  “For he, who has always been God by nature, did not cling to his privileges as God’s equal, but stripped himself of every advantage by consenting to be a slave by nature and being born a man” (Phil 2:5-6 – Phillips).

The word “strip” or “emptied” comes for the Greek word “kenosis,” meaning to sacrifice oneself for the good of others.  C.S. Lewis refers to this as a miracle.  “The Christian story is precisely the story of one grand miracle, the Christian assertion being that what is beyond all space and time, which is uncreated, eternal, came into Nature, into human nature, descended into His own universe, and rose again, bringing Nature up with Him.  It is precisely one great miracle.”  In emptying himself, Jesus is coming all the way to where we live.

The Message calls this miracle the” Life-Light.” ” What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by.  The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn’t put it out.” (John 1:4-5).   Hans van Balthasar describes this  descent of divine light. “It is not our movement toward God, but God’s movement to us.  It is heaven interrupting our world….the descent of the divine light among human beings not only to shine on, to illuminate, to purify and to warm them, but through grace, to make them also shine with a light of this world.” The darkness will not prevail against the Life-Light.

Men, my sense is the darkness is getting greater in our nation.  My concern for the men reading this blog is that you are not being  pulled into the cultural darkness.  It is like a prison, where our hope gives way to the despair of being  confined in iron chains.  The Psalmist declared, “Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom, prisoners suffering in iron chains, for they had rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High (Ps 107:10-11). As a result God, “subjected them to bitter labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help” (v12).

But they cried to the Lord. “Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.  He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains” (v13-14) Only Jesus, the Light of the world, can, ” breaks down gates and bronze and cuts through bars of iron” (v16).

Once out of prison,  be careful not to stumble.  “A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world’s light. It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light” (John 11:9-10).  There is only one source of light.  That is Jesus.  All the rhetoric of the policy makers and those who implement change in our culture, are stumbling in the dark, if they ignore the light.  Don’t follow their lead.

Whatever happened to the ” War on Christmas?”  It was only a few years ago, when Christians were  insisting that we put “Christ” back into Christmas.  What happened to  the carols being sung during the holidays,  the manger scenes in  public places, and all the Christmas programs in the public schools?  It seems that Santa Claus himself might disappear in the next couple of years. A recent Pew study found that 52% of respondents said it did not matter  what kind of holiday greeting was used by people or businesses, and only 32% said they prefer to be greeted with “Merry Christmas.”

There is no better example of how our culture is losing the memory of the Christian story in the public consciousness, then the loss of “Merry Christmas.”  Earlier this month, President Trump declared in a speech, “Remember I said we’re bringing Christmas back?  Christmas is back, bigger and better than ever before….We’re bringing Christmas back and we say it now with pride…… Merry Christmas to everybody.”  He has often said, “we will by saying Merry Christmas again.”  But I am afraid the memory of a Merry Christmas is fast fading from our public consciousness, to the delight of the secularists.

The New York Times reported  The Pew study, “found that while a vast majority of Americans still celebrate Christmas, most find the religious elements of the holiday are emphasized less than in the past – and few of them care about that change.”  56% of Americans believe that the religious elements of Christmas are emphasized less now than they were in the past, but only 32% say that development bother then either “a lot” or “some.”  Today  55% of Americans say they celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday, including 46% who see it as more of a religious holiday than a culture holiday and 9% who celebrate Christmas as both a religious and cultural occasion.

Speaking to church leaders, Marc Pugliese, a Christian educator, observed “…..Christmas is being watered down by everything that’s happening in the culture…..If they (church leaders) want their people to know what Christmas is about, then they are going to have to teach them that and find ways for parents to teach that to their children.”

When the narrative of Scripture fades from our cultural memory, it becomes the responsibility of the family and the church to tell the story.  The lose of Christmas is a  “wake up” call to Christian fathers. The leaders of the Reformation saw the need of people regaining a biblical view of life.  They wrote catechisms as instruction aids for the home.  Luther believed that the home was the best place for such instruction and therefore urged parents to catechize their children. Later this practice became known as instituting a ” Home Altar.”

I want to be an encouragement to young fathers reading this blog.  If you have not established a regular pattern of family devotions in your family, do so for the sake of your children.  Your witness and concern for their “soul life” will speak volumes, since no one else watches out for their souls.

God reminded the people of Israel of the need to keep the memory of the Exodus alive in the hearts of their children. “When you enter the land which God will give you as he promised keep doing this.  And when your children say to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’  tell then: “It’s the Passover sacrifice to God who passed over the homes of the Israelites in Egypt when he hit Egypt with death but rescued us” (Ex. 12:25-27  – Message).  When your kids ask about Christmas, tell them the true story.

I am preaching this Advent Season.  I have been reflecting on Jesus coming as the  “Light of the World.”  I am  visualizing the Light of Jesus as an Inner Light, that is, his  presence in our hearts. My contention is that the darkness is increasing.  In order to flourish, it will be imperative  to know that the light within is greater than the outer darkness.  John reminds us, “…the one who is in you is greater then the one who is in the world” ( I John 4:4).

Reality from a Biblical perspective can be divided into light and darkness.  The first verses of Genesis portrays the earth as, “formless and empty, [while] darkness covered the surface of the watery depths.” Creation was in chaos, with no order or meaning.  But, “the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.”  Hovering, “suggests that the Spirit of God was watching over his creation just as a bird watches over its young” (CSB study Bible).  Into this chaos God spoke, “‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.  God saw that the light was good.”  The light brings order to both inner and outer chaos.

The life that Jesus  offers us  is light that could overcome the darkness. “What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by.  The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness, the darkness couldn’t put it out’ ( John 1:4-5 – Message).  Jesus promised that he would provide all the light needed.  “I am the world’s Light.  No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness.  I provide plenty of light to live in” ( John 8:12 – Message).

But the “Life-Light” will need to be more than a concept or image in our minds.  We must open our hearts to allow the Light of Jesus’ presence to fill our inner life.  “It started when God said, ‘Light up the darkness!’  and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful” ( II Cor 4:6).  “It is not our movement toward God, but God’s movement to us. It is heaven interrupting our world….the descent of the divine light among human beings not only to shine on, to illuminate, to purify and to warm them, but through grace, to make them also shine with a light of this world” (Han van Balthasar).

I urge the men reading my blog during this Christmas season to take inventory of the inner light of Jesus’ presence.  Only the presence of Jesus will be able to combat the influence of darkness in the days to come. John calls us to take inventory of our life. “If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we’re obviously lying through our teeth – we’re not living what we claim.  But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the scarified blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purges all our sin” (I John 1:6-7 – Message).

Don’t allow yourself to be “addicted to denial and illusion,” caught in the shadows, but live in  “truth and reality.”  “God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness.  They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God.  Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure.  But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is” (John 3:19-21 – Message).