Western Civ To Go

Posted By admin on May 3, 2012

by Teri Ong

Because of some pending legislation that would affect private colleges in Colorado, we have spent a fair amount of time this spring analyzing the validity of our existence at Chambers College. Our soul-searching usually boils down to two key issues: 1) Are we doing what we believe God has called us to do? and, of a much lower rank in importance, 2) What do we believe God is desiring to accomplish through our obedience to His calling?

1) Are we doing what we believe God has called us to do?

We believe God’s calling for all Christians is to teach other people all the things that Christ has commanded so they can become faithful followers of Him (Matt. 28:20). How this non-optional teaching ministry is carried out varies in specifics for each Christian. For some, it might mean being a great homeschool parent; for others, it might mean being involved in teaching ministries of a local church; for some, it might mean involvement in community-based activities as a means of evangelism. For us, it means teaching discipleship-minded young people through a structured Bible-based college degree program.

Because of the high cost of higher education ($7000 per year for public universities and $27,000 per year for private universities), many economically-realistic people in America have begun questioning the validity and necessity of Bachelor of Arts programs. In the last six months, a spate of articles in the Wall Street Journal has included the following: “Is an Ivy League Diploma Worth It?” (11-8-11) “What’s Your Kid Getting From College?” (11-1-11) and “Should Colleges Be Factories for the 1%?” (2-21-12)

Last year, the book Academically Adrift, released the results of statistical research which tracked 2,300 undergraduates from 24 American universities. The researchers found that more than 1/3 of seniors leave school with no improvement in critical thinking, analytical reasoning, or written communications over four years. Many students are coming out of school with no skills that will help them pay off the $30-40,000 school debt they have accumulated.

Charles Murray from the American Enterprise Institute wrote in his article “Do We Need the Department of Education?”,

“The bachelor of arts degree as it has evolved over the last half-century has become the work of the devil. It is now a substantively meaningless piece of paper– genuinely meaningless… And yet the B.A. has become the minimum requirement for getting a job interview for millions of jobs, a cost-free way for employers to screen for a certain amount of IQ and perseverance… So what happens when a paper credential can be obtained by taking the easiest courses and doing the minimum amount of work? The result is hundreds of thousands of college students who go to college not to get an education, but to get a piece of paper.” (Imprimis, Jan. 2012, Vol. 41, No. 1, p. 4)

Education has always been poised philosophically on the knife edge between “being” and “doing.” The Greek philosophers came down heavily on the side of “being.” Historically, for 18 or 19 centuries at least, the goal of a liberal arts education was to give a person the intellectual tools fitting for a free human being. A knowledge of literature and history, theology and philosophy, languages and mathematics was considered its own reward. A person with those tools could ponder and communicate with others about the deep questions of life.

Twenty-first century Americans, always the pragmatists, come in heavily on the side of “doing.” After all, what good are tools if they can’t help you make a million dollars? That is why American universities have such educational monstrosities as bachelors degrees in “golf course management.” Many modern Americans would agree with the opinion of Mrs. Thornton in Elizabeth Gaskell’s classic, North and South,

“I have no doubt the classics are very desirable for people who have leisure. But I confess, it was against my judgment that my son renewed his study of them. The time and place in which he lives, seem to me to require all his energy and attention. Classics may do very well for men who loiter away their lives in the country or in colleges; but Milton men [men of business] ought to have their thoughts and powers absorbed in the work of today.” (North and South, Wordsworth Classics, p. 112)

But all of life is not business. Robbie Shell, an editor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, in pondering life after business in an article entitled, “A Lesson in the Joys of Learning,” wrote, “… the joy of learning can exist for its own sake instead of to prepare for an interview or meet a deadline.” (Wall Street Journal, April 9, 2012, R10)

Where does Chambers College fit into this discussion? The Biblical ideal for education has neither the life of the mind nor the life of the wallet in view. Jesus told his audience that the path of wisdom was to pay attention to His words and then to act on them. Jesus, more fully than any of the Greeks, understood the relationship between knowing the truth and being truly free. He also knew that the man who is truly free in Christ will do Christ’s commands; there’s that old relationship between “being” and “doing” again. But in this case, the tools of freedom will not necessarily (or even probably) get the bearer a million dollars. They will, however, teach the bearer to understand experientially that the sufferings of the present world are not to be compared with the weight of glory in the age to come. This is the ideal we seek to uphold through the teaching and training programs at Chambers College.

2)What do we believe God is desiring to accomplish through our obedience to His calling?

Our namesake, Oswald Chambers once said, and we agree:

“All of you have intelligence and you must use it for God… The reason why the average Christian worker is only the average Christian worker is that he or she will remain grossly ignorant about what he or she does not see any need for. The majority of us have been rbought up on ‘spooned meat.’ …We will only take the truths we see immediate practical use for, consequently the average Christian worker knows nothing about Bible theology or Bible psychology, and cannot therefore push the battle for God on any of those domains.”

At Chambers College we believe our desire is the same as God’s desire. We want young Christians to live in the freedom of God’s truth and to live it out in ways that glorify God with super-abounding fruit for His kingdom.

Of his own Bible Training College, Chambers said– a place where God can help Himself to lives. One student per year is enough to justify its existence.

Conclusion: Is Chambers College worth the cost?

All of the teachers and staff members at Chambers College have demonstrated by their life-choices that obeying Christ’s calling is a pearl of great price that we are willing to sell all to attain. We pray, as Oswald Chambers did, that God will send us His students, students who likewise are willing to make sacrifices of their own money (no Pell grants here), time (our courses require more study than in many other programs), and prestige (our degree will often be scorned by the world). We know there are some, probably only a handful of students with the same desire for intensive and effective discipleship that God has given us. God willing, we will be here to help you when you are ready.

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Posted By admin on April 25, 2012

by Teri Ong

My daughter Katherine performed in the Greeley Kiwanis “Stars of Tomorrow” program March 10^th. I haven’t been to a “Stars” program since one of my violin students was selected as a finalist several years ago. On the whole, I greatly enjoy local color and appreciate student talent. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have lasted as a music teacher for as long as I have. But I had forgotten how much some of the acts resemble children “acting” like grown-up performers, rather than looking like performers in their own right.

This distinction is probably lost on younger people, but to those of us who are old enough to remember vintage child performers, there is a decided difference between Alfalfa (of the old “Our Gang” series) singing an operatic aria for a children’s talent show that was the subject of a particular episode, and Shirley Temple singing “Animal Crackers in My Soup” as an integral number in a musical film. Sadly, this year’s Stars of Tomorrow show was peppered with “Alfalfa meets Lady Gaga.”

In a show that is purportedly about encouraging young performers to develop their talents, I was a little disquieted by a troop of eight year olds slinking around on stage bumping body parts in the face of the audience and by eleven year olds singing about needing to be released from passionate relationships gone bad. This kind of play acting is creepy. It goes way beyond wearing Mommy’s high heels and carrying her purse. It should have made the adults in the audience feel a little bad that that is the way children look when they are copying “grown-up” behavior. But judging by the way a large percentage of the members of the audience were grooving and clapping to the music, I don’t think they understood the import of what was happening on stage.

We were also treated to children imitating adult philosophizing and emoting. We learned from one sweet little girl (who told us she only lives to dance), that we are all beautiful because, well, because we are– no matter what anyone else says. And that it is good to follow your passions because, well, because it just is– no matter what anyone else says.

Several of the “dancers” had choreographed (I use the term broadly) their own numbers. The choreography, when it wasn’t play-acting versions of the slinky/sensual moves popularized on music videos and “Dancing with the Stars,” was about as interesting and artistic as a Denise Austin exercise routine. None of it made me think there were any young Fokines or Duncans in the group.

Another youngster treated us to profound bits of “13″ year-old philosophy (undoubtedly written by a well-meaning adult) that urged us not to expect too much of teenagers, to get the pressure off their backs, and give them more time to study life since no one has gotten all the answers right yet. He kept singing about looking in the back of the book for the answers, but I don’t think he had the right Book.

I don’t generally listen to much pop music so I don’t have a very good basis of comparison for judging if what was presented that night was typical or if it only represented a tiny slice of pop culture that is within the reach of young performers. But the vacuous and repetitive (Did I say “repetitive?”), I mean to say repetitive lyrics and tunes made the worst of the 7-11-style “praise” choruses performed in evangelical circles seem like something out of Wagner.

The evening was made bearable by the young performers who actually performed (as opposed to those who play-acted). They were all the students who had been classically trained. As a musician myself, I know that it is impossible to “play-act” performing high level classical pieces. For example, Victor Borge had to really know how to play the piano first in order to be able to play around with the piano. The assorted pianists, flautists, cellists, and serious singers in the “Stars” show had honest-to-goodness, well-trained and well-disciplined skill, not just a combination of youthful energy and parental ambition.

Just when we were getting ready for the announcement of the awards, we were made to endure an old “Stars of Tomorrow” contestant who was supposedly now a “Star of Today.” Hunter Hall (along with a bass guitarist and a drummer) came out on stage and “treated” us to two rock numbers performed in the decibel range somewhere between “painful” and “permanently damaging.” All of the young performers had been pleasantly and adequately miked, but now a loud-mouthed adult had to be amped up into the stratosphere. Fortunately, the judges only needed two numbers during which to tally their scores. The icing, however, was when the lady emcee encouraged all of the youngsters to aspire to be as professional as Hunter Hall!

Was it worth sitting through? It was, but only because we got to see the triumph of “truth, justice, and the serious way.” Nathan Kenigsberg, a Christian homeschooler, won the elementary division with a classical piano number. Ellie Disselkoen, a Christian homeschooler, won the middle school division with a classical flute number. And Katherine Ong, a Christian homeschooler, won Best of Show with a classical-style piano number.

I came away hopeful that our children will have the skills to impact their culture as salt and light. I also came away understanding even better how much their culture needs them.

Here are two prayers for our children:

Ephesians 6:10-14

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (NKJV)

God of love, that hearest prayer,

Kindly for Thy people care,

Who on Thee alone depend;

Love us, save us to the end.

Save us, in the prosperous hour,

From the flattering tempter’s power,

From his unsuspected wiles,

From the world’s pernicious smiles.

Cut off our dependence vain

On the help of feeble man,

Every arm of flesh remove;

Never let the world break in;

Fix a mighty gulf between;

To the admiring world unknown,

Prized and loved by God alone.

Let us still to Thee look up,

Thee, Thy Israel’s strength and hope;

Nothing know or seek beside

Jesus and Him crucified.

– Charles Wesley (1707-1788)

Post Script

It is now April 22. It was my intention to post this at the beginning of April, but my computer died right in the middle of a meeting of the Northern Colorado Inklings. I now have a new computer and my son Brandon has salvaged everything that I still need from my old computer.

It is ironically fitting that I should post this today because today was the day that the “Best of Show” contestants competed in the Kiwanis tri-state regional Stars of Tomorrow. Katherine Ong was chosen as the “Best of Show” contestant from Greeley, but she had a very difficult decision to make.

The regional competition was held on a Sunday. When she first found out that the award winner was eligible to compete but that the competition was on Sunday, she told one of the officials that she hoped she didn’t win that prize. But when it turned out that she did win, she struggled for a night and a day making her decision. We told her that we could see how it could be the Lord’s will for her either way – to compete or not to compete.

On the day she had to notify the local club of her decision, she told us that she had come to the decision that NOT to compete was the path of more faith in her Christian life.

She did not compete today. She faithfully fulfilled her normal duties in church and helping with the evangelistic Sunday afternoon Sunday school. From a human perspective, her extreme exercise of faith slipped by unnoticed (by all except me, I think). But I am sure that the cloud of witnesses in heaven were cheering their heads off!

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you SHINE AS STARS in the world. Philippians 2:12-15

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Posted By admin on March 24, 2012

by Teri Ong

My granddaughter Faith, not quite two, is now becoming very interested in communication. She has a handful of words in her repertoire that are very clear to all – “Abi,” “dog,” “cat,” “book,” and, of course, “no”. Lately she has added “moo” to describe my ceramic cow creamer. But she cannot carry on a decent conversation with a grown-up using only those words, so she attempts to do so with her very own dear intonations.
In an unbroken stream of sound, making use of the vowel sound “eh”, she sings forth her sentences in a series of melodious risings and fallings. When she occasionally pauses, she nods her head to indicate it is the listener’s turn to talk. If she is looking at a book, her melody will be punctuated periodically with “dog” or “cat” if there happens to be a picture of one.
In preparing my Introduction to Philology course this semester, I have refreshed my consideration of a number of abstruse ideas about language and language development. One that I came across a couple weeks ago is the idea that oral language is not neatly broken into words as they are in writing, yet we learn to recognize and use words orally in novel sentences long before we know anything about reading or writing a text. A wave pattern of a spoken sentence reveals an unbroken stream of sound, but we are capable between age two and three to break it into little bundles of meaning that allow us to make sense of the world around us and to communicate ideas back to those who populate it. What a miracle! What a sublime evidence of the imago dei.
I have always been intrigued by the sound of language to those who do not understand it. Gilbert Beers, who wrote a series of wonderful children’s books about the Muffin Family, described the confusing of language at the Tower of Babel. He said that someone asked a co-worker for some bricks, but it sounded more like “gobbly-gobbly-gobbly.” Then the co-worker answered back, “Why don’t you learn to talk?” But it sounded like “boogly-boogly-boogly.” I suppose my native lingo could sound very strange.
When I was a teenager, I saw a wonderful comedy routine done by Ricardo Montalban in which he acted out what American English sounds like to a non-English speaker from a Latin American country. The brilliance of his performance was that the audience could instantly recognize the flat, nasal, and gutteral aspects of English without them being in the right order to make real English words. Danny Kaye, likewise, had numerous comic routines in which he imitated the basic sounds of a variety of foreign languages.
My grandson We
sley a couple years ago was “reading” a poetry book. He could tell it was a book of poetry because the lines were arranged like poetry rather than like prose. So he “read” something that went (as best as I can recall)
Mugsy mugsy bugsy wump
Bumpy bumpy dumpy jump
Koomba doomba zoomba doo
Mimba dimba bimba boo!
His poetry bore no relationship to the real words on the page, but I was impressed that he understood that much poetry, especially poetry for children, has rhyme, rhythm and frequently, a good sized helping of nonsense words.
Even though I have been spending a great deal of time studying about words and reading words this semester, I have not had as much time as usual to write words. It isn’t that I haven’t had the desire; in fact, I have a lot of pent up desire. But other duties have pushed to the fore. The words are still there, just itching to be released.
So here they come! In honor of Wesley and Faith.
Mugsy, bugsy, tugsy, wump.
Here come words that want to jump,
Tigsy, togsy, tiggly tage,
Out of my mind and onto the page.
Jiggly, joggly, higgly pig,
Words that are little, words that are big,
Floggly, doggly, biggly bird,
Free at last to be seen and heard.
Musical, whimsical, choosical tune
Give me a pen, I’ll give you the moon.
Hippy, happy, finally fine,
Silly singing words of mine
.

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Posted By admin on February 28, 2012

By Teri Ong
I frequently see adds in Christian periodicals for the Harris brothers’ Christian youth conference called “Do Hard Things.” I appreciate very much the serious tone that they are trying to achieve with a generation of youngsters who have been raised in a wussy and silly culture. Most youth events are combinations in slightly varying percentages of kid foods (pizza or hotdogs), games, and raucous music. Adults know that those are not the things of which adult life should be made, but too many adults have more of a desire to “keep kids coming” than to “get kids going.” That is why I am glad the Harrises are doing what they are doing.
So what constitutes a “hard thing”?
It is tempting to think, as I did in my own youth, of dramatic ways of laying down our normal lives, ostensibly on behalf of the cause of Christ. I have known students who diligently studied Russian, Chinese, or Arabic so that they could minister in “closed” countries as soon as they were old enough to go. I have known students who gave up sleeping in beds so that they wouldn’t be too soft when it came time to sleep on the floor of the jungle somewhere. I even knew a brother and sister who went on highly restricted diets so they could empathize with hungry people in third world countries. I got my private pilot’s license when I was seventeen just in case I was called to minister in the bush country of northwest Ontario where I had spent time on summer missions trips. The worthy goals sometimes, however, get swamped in the emotional rush associated with the activity as it did for one young man we knew who was keen to go to Africa on a missions trip because it would include climbing Mt. Kilamanjaro. He admitted to us that he was mostly interested in the excitement of his prospects.
The problem is, as Alison Gopnik eloquently put it in “What’s Wrong with the Teenage Mind?”, “If you think of the teenage brain as a car, today’s adolescents acquire an accelerator a long time before they can steer and brake.” In other words, if we can get them up off the sofa or out of bed, they will pitch themselves headlong into a whole variety of activities that could cause damage to life and limb. Gopnik cites a Cornell University study that indicates that “adolescents aren’t reckless because they underestimate risks, but because they overestimate rewards– or rather, find rewards more rewarding than adults do… What teenagers want most of all are social rewards, especially the respect of their peers.” (C1, col. 4)
Gopnik further states,”…contemporary children have very little experience with the kinds of tasks they’ll have to perform as grown-ups. Children have increasingly little chance to practice even basic skills such as cooking and care-giving… The experience of trying to achieve a real goal in real time in the real world is increasingly delayed, and the growth of the [self-] control system depends on just those experiences.” (C2, col.2)
It seems to me, then, that the “hard things” that adolescents need to learn to do are the things that don’t given them a rush and that won’t necessarily elevate their status in the eyes of their peers. The “hard thing” is to NOT get the dyed mohawk in solidarity with the rest of the team. The “hard thing” is to wear your school uniform without complaining or pushing the boundaries of the rules. The “hard thing” is to sit with the adults in social situations and listen to them talk about adult life, even if you would rather be texting, tweeting, or otherwise twiddling your thumbs on an electronic device. The “hard thing” is to sit in the worship service with your parents rather than go off to the “teen challenge” in some other part of the building.
Does it help teenagers develop into serious-minded, responsible adults if they do these kinds of “hard things”? Gopnik writes, “…experience shapes the brain. People often think that if some ability is located in a particular part of the brain, that must mean that it’s ‘hard-wired’ and inflexible. But, in fact, the brain is so powerful precisely because it is sensitive to experience. It’s as true to say that our experience of controlling our impulses makes the prefrontal cortex develop as it is to say that prefrontal development makes us better at controlling our impulses. Our social and cultural life shapes our biology.” (C2,col.4)
With that in mind, here is a list of “hard things” that I am going to challenge the two remaining teenagers in my house to do.
Turn the lights out and go to sleep by midnight, preferably by eleven p.m., even if, and especially if you consider yourself to be a “night” person.
Get up after 8 ½ hours of good sleep.
Get dressed immediately and put some good food (spiritual and physical) in your system as quickly as possible.
Make your bed and tidy your room as quickly as possible. The hard part is not leaving it for “later.”
Get your assignments done as early in the week as possible. Don’t depend on the “last minute rush.”
Eat good foods regularly.
Turn off social media and unplug music when you are with “real” people.
Limit your game time to the amount of time it takes you to eat your lunch. (But don’t start dawdling over lunch so you can have more game time.)
Get exercise first by doing physical work– then find other ways to work out if you need to.
Cut out the procrastination factor on at least one item per day. For example, if you were going to empty your trash can tomorrow, do it today.
Sit down at the dinner table to eat your food.
Do at least one thing per day to make someone else’s life easier or more joyful.
I could make the list longer, but this will do for a start. These are the hard things that will make teenagers into responsible adults. Gopnik writes, “You get to be a good planner by making plans, implementing them, and seeing the results again and again. Expertise comes with experience.” (C2, col. 1) Oswald Chambers wrote that most of our life, adult as well as teenage, is spent in the mundane. It is in that valley that God batters us into the shape He wants us to be to do those other occasional hard things that we imagine for ourselves. That shape is called mature Christian character.
Teddy Roosevelt wrote brilliant letters to his sons, Kermit and Ted, on this very topic. I quote them here.

White House, Oct. 2, 1903
Dear Kermit:

I was very glad to get your letter. Am glad you are playing football. I should be very sorry to see either you or Ted devoting most of your attention to athletics, and I haven’t got any special ambition to see you shine overmuch in athletics at college, at least (if you go there), because it tends to take up too much time; but I do like to feel you are manly and able to hold your own in rough, hardy sports. I would rather have a boy of mine stand high in his studies than high in athletics, but I could a great deal rather have him show true manliness of character than show either intellectual or physical prowess; and I believe you and Ted both bid fair to develop just such character… (p. 60)
White House, Oct. 4, 1903
Dear Ted:

…I am delighted to have you play football. I believe in rough, manly sports. But I do not believe in them if they degenerate into the sole end of anyone’s existence. I don’t want you to sacrifice standing well in your studies to any over-athleticism; and I need not tell you that character counts for a great deal more than either intellect or body in winning success in life. Athletic proficiency is a mighty good servant, and like so many other good servants, a mighty bad master. Did you ever read Pliny’s letter to Trajan, in which he speaks of it being advisable to keep the Greeks absorbed in athletics, because it distracted their minds from all serious pursuits, including soldiering, and prevented their ever being dangerous to the Romans? I have not a doubt that the British officers in the Boer War had their efficiency partly reduced because they had sacrificed their legitimate duties to an inordinate and ridiculous love of sports. A man must develop his physical prowess to a certain point; but after he has reached that point there are other things that count more… (p. 63) 

White House, Oct. 11, 1903
Dear Ted:

…I do not in the least object to your getting smashed if it is for an object that is worth while… But I think it is a little silly to run any imminent risk of a serious smash simply to play on the second squad instead of the third. I am judging for you as I would for myself. When I was young and rode across country I was light and tough, and if I did, as actually happened, break and arm or a rib no damage ensued and no scandal was caused. Now I am stiff and heavy, and any accident to me would cause immense talk, and I do not take the chance; simply because it is not worth while. On the other hand, if I should now go to war and have a brigade as I had my regiment before Santiago, I should take any chance that was necessary; because it would be worth while. In other words, I want to make the risk to a certain accident commensurate with the object gained. (p. 67) 

　
The editor of these letters, Joseph Bucklin Bishop, said of them,

Many of these letters, notably those on the relative merits of civil and military careers, and proper proportion of sport and study, are valuable guides for youths in all ranks of life. The strong vigorous, exalted character of the writer stands revealed in these as in all the other letters, as well as the cheerful soul of the man… (p. 9)
Teddy Roosevelt was a man who knew how to do hard things and how to encourage his sons by the pattern of his life to do them as well. The “pattern of good works” in which the Apostle Paul sought to instruct the younger man Titus could be summed up in one word – “sober-minded.” If you don’t believe me, read Titus 2:1-8. That is the single hard thing that is given to all in that passage– young and old, male and female. May we all work hard to achieve it.
References:
Bishop, Joseph Bucklin (ed.). Theodore Roosevelt’s Letters to His Children. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1919.
Gopnik, Alison. “What’s Wrong with the Teenage Mind?” Wall Street Journal, January 28-29, 2012, C1-C2

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Posted By admin on January 31, 2012

by Teri Ong

One hundred days to the wedding! Our daughter Sarah and her intended, Jerry, started the official countdown last night. That means we will have had a total of 124 days from

their engagement at the stroke of midnight on January 1 to the wedding on May 4^th. We are praising God first of all for both of their lovely and mature Christian spirits throughout this whole process. We are confident that God has great things for them if He tarries. And we are most consciously praising Him that in 24 days we have a beautiful church for the ceremony (already paid for), a large and tidy venue for the reception (already paid for), garments lined up for the wedding party (in process), most of the decoration items for both venues, musicians lined up, the officiating minister who has already begun counseling sessions, the all-important photographer (since Sarah herself is a pro), and of utmost importance in the bride’s mind – “THE DRESS” (likewise, already paid for). Ah, yes! The dress. I haven’t been the mother of the bride for a full ten years. A year and a half ago I was the mother of the groom, but the old adage “wear beige and be quiet” was adequate advise. The mother of the bride is a more hands-on position in some ways. Well, perhaps it should be “hands-on and mouth off.” I’m sure the whole entourage of brides’ maids that went shopping on “dress” day wished it had been so. “Dress day” started out in a very unpromising manner. The first shop that the maid-of-honor had lined up for us didn’t take appointments so we were parked outside about 20 minutes before opening time. We got to watch the parade of overweight and underdressed “bridal consultants” let themselves into the shop that was ostensibly voted “number one” in the Denver area. I suspect that it got the most votes on the basis of sheer volume, seeming to me to be more of a bridal factory than bridal boutique. I had some misgivings just looking at the display in the window which advertised a “Twilight” themed wedding. I could not really get over the cognitive dissonance caused by contemplating “vampire” weddings in the context of the most beautiful of Christian symbolisms– Christ and the church. The shop was full of other encouraging elements, however. Signs read, “Children who are disturbing

customers will be asked to leave.” “Absolutely no food or drink!” “All dresses need alteration; alterations are NOT FREE.” “Dresses ordered less than six months in advance will require a RUSH FEE.” All of the dresses in the store were zipped up in plastic garment bags. As soon as you pulled a bag out to examine the style, a matronly woman would follow soon after and tuck it back into its slot on the rack. There were at least a thousand dresses in the shop and only about 10 of them had straps. And of the ten that had straps, 8 of them had a deep plunging neckline. Our assigned consultant assured us that one of the brands they sold could have straps attached (for an additional fee). Sarah tried one on, just to check out our options. It was wholly unsuitable. I told our consultant it didn’t matter if straps could be attached if the dress was cut too low in the first place. I said, “We like to keep our brides covered.” She rejoined, “What’s wrong with that dress?!” We were getting no where fast. While we had been waiting out front, another party was waiting as well. The bride and some of the bridal party were leaning up against their vehicle smoking cigarettes. As it turned out, they were stationed right next to us in the store, and that bride was using the pedestal and mirror next to ours. That bride had brought along a couple of bridal “grandmas” who looked very sweet and traditional – iconic grandmothers. The bride came out in one of the strapless, backless jobs that proliferated in the shop. It was a beautiful dress that showed off her armpit “muffin tops” and the tattoos on her shoulders to perfection! When Sarah, who is tall, slim and chastely beautiful, came out in a gown, the grandmothers next door broke out into sighs and applause! Earlier in the week I had been reading an article in the Wall Street Journal about the “bridal industry” and how internet sales had affected “mom and pop” boutiques that had serviced brides since the 1950′s. I was starting to get a first-hand education in the nuptial industrial complex. We left the shop with a pretty clear idea of what we didn’t want. The next location was by appointment only, but we were assured that they did have some dresses in our price range. We were greeted by a lovely Christian girl who was barely more than a newlywed herself. There was a pleasant looking cart with cookies and tea in the lobby for the customers. There were no placards at all. We sat in antique-y looking chairs in a mirrored room that made me feel like a Paris buyer at a design house (at least, the way I imagine it might be). Our consultant took Sarah aside to fill out some paper work and asked her what her goals and needs were (basically – what was her desired “bottom line”?) When Sarah told her what her budget was, the young lady said, “My dad is a Baptist pastor in California. I know exactly what you are saying.” From then on, she was the captain of Sarah’s team, coming up with the plays and the strategies that would help us win the day! She found gowns that could be bought off the rack at a discount, thus saving us also the “rush” charges. She informed us about same day, in-store gift cards that could be used for accessories such as a veil or shoes. She showed us how modest pleated straps could be added to gowns with a straight cut bodice, and gave us a visual demonstration. The dress Sarah liked best was one that could be had right off the rack. The problem was that it was much too large and would need some of those extensive ( substitute a “p” for the “t” in that word) alteration to make it a fitting “altar-ation.” Our consultant went into the back room to see if there were any other “off-the-rack” possibilities, and she came back very excited. “I think the Lord is with you! I have the very same dress in a smaller size. It is still in the garment bag and has never been worn at all. My manager said you could have it for the same price if it fits.” Sarah put it on with some reservation since it was five sizes smaller than the original one. It fit to absolute perfection! It needed no alterations or even hemming. We already knew it would need straps, but that is a job that I can do myself (at no extra charge!). Then she reminded us about our gift card amount that could be used for accessories. Sarah tried on two or three veils. The consultant came out with a simple and elegant style that Sarah really liked. In the process of trying it on, we discovered that it had a couple small tears near the bottom. Our girl told us that typically those with some slight wear would be sold for 75% off. She went to ask the manager what the cost would be. The manager told her to tell us that she wouldn’t sell one with that kind of damage, but we could have it for free! Ka-ching! That still left us with the need to find some in-house accessory to spend our gift card on. Sarah tried on some lovely shoes. With the discount card, they rang up at $7.00. It was a wonderful reminder to me that God is in Sarah and Jerry’s marriage, and therefore He is in their wedding as well. His fingerprints were all over the events of the day. I think they were even in the bleakness of the morning, so that the afternoon sun shone all the brighter. My run-in with the industrial wedding complex, however, did bring to mind a passage from North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell, where Margaret is telling her cousin’s brother-in-law about her vision of the ideal wedding.

“I wonder if a marriage must always be preceded by what you call a whirlwind, or whether in some cases there might not rather be a calm and peaceful time just before it… 

I should like it to be a very fine summer morning; and I should like to walk to church through the shade of trees; and not to have so many bridesmaids, and to have no wedding breakfast. I dare say I am resolving against the very things that have given me the most trouble just now.” (Page 11)One must know, however, that Gaskell wrote that passage at the age of 44 and that she had four daughters who lived to adulthood. It was probably more the sentiment of a mother than of a soon-to-be bride. Obviously, the wedding in Cana must have had a bit of the whirlwind about it for them to run out of wine and to require special miraculous help from Jesus. And when our Bridegroom comes in the sky it will be with a great deal of fanfare and flurry that demands our urgent preparation. My own dear mother-in-law told my husband before our wedding, “You will think at times there won’t even be a wedding, but there will be!” As important as the dress purchase seemed on that day, it is, as were the priestly garments, only a symbol of the true beauty of holiness. It’s value lies in lighting the face of the bridegroom at that ultimate moment of holy commitment to love, honor and obey. I have always loved the poignant words of Anne Ross Cousin, based on a sermon by Samuel Rutherford– “The bride eyes not her garment,

But her dear bridegroom’s face;I will not gaze at glory, But on my King of grace! I rest upon His merit, I know no other stand: The Lamb is all the glory” – from “The Sands of Time Are Sinking”

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Posted By admin on December 31, 2011

by Teri Ong

Once upon a time there was a little hen who wanted some bread. She knew she had some wheat in a corner of the chicken coop, but she needed to prepare a place to plant it.

She asked all of her barnyard friends, “Who will help me prepare a garden to plant some wheat so we can bake some bread to share?”

“Not I,” said Turkey-Lurkey, “I am in college finishing my degree in turkey studies.”

“Not I,” said Piggy-Wiggy, “I have 20 weeks of my 99 weeks of unemployment insurance left.”

“Not I,” said Daisy Cow, “I was in a milking machine accident and I’m disabled. If I help you, I might lose my benefits.”

Rovere the dog just looked at her blankly. “No speakay pah la chicken.”

“I don’t think he has his green card anyway,” added Piggy-Wiggy.

So the little hen got her tools, turned over the field, and raked it smooth to receive the wheat.

“The field is ready now. Who will help me plant the seed?” she asked.

“Not I,” said Turkey-Lurkey. “It’s finals week. You wouldn’t want me to flunk out in turkey studies, would you?”

“Not I,” said Piggy-Wiggy. “I have 19 weeks of unemployment insurance left.”

“Not I,” said Daisy Cow. “You wouldn’t want me to lose my benefits, would you?”

Rovere went and hid under the porch.

So the little hen went and planted the wheat in her field.

“The wheat is up. Now we need to hoe and weed and water so we will have a good crop for making bread. Who will help me now?”

“Not I,” said Turkey-Lurkey. Pretty soon I’ll have a degree in turkey studies. You wouldn’t want me to waste my education on such menial jobs as those, would you?”

“Not I,” said Piggy-Wiggy. “I still have 17 weeks of unemployment insurance left.”

“Not I,” said Daisy Cow. “But I’ll have my personal injury lawyer look into any loopholes I might have so I could possibly help you a little. I might work for you if you would just pay me in cash.”

Rovere was sleeping under the porch.

So all summer the little hen tended her field by herself.

When the wheat was ready to harvest, the little hen realized the job was enormous. She needed a lot of help to make the best use of the bounty of the crop. She hated to think of the beautiful wheat that would go to waste in the field if she wasn’t able to get it harvested.

“Who will help me now? A good, full bread basket is within our reach if we all get to work,” she said.

“Not I,” said Turkey-Lurkey. “I need a job that pays top dollar so I can pay off the interest on my student loans. Somebody ought to be willing to give me a high-paying desk job with excellent benefits since I have my degree in turkey studies.”

“Not I,” said Piggy-Wiggy. “I still have two more weeks of unemployment insurance.”

“Not I,” said Daisy Cow. “My lawyer said it wouldn’t be worth it.”

“Hey! Where’s Rovere?” the hen asked.

“He went to work on the neighbor’s farm. He has free housing there,” said Piggy-Wiggy. “Besides, our farmer found out he was a stray and didn’t belong here.”

So the little hen gathered as much of the wheat as she could and threshed out the grain. She ground the wheat and made as much bread dough as she could. She worked all day and all night for weeks. Every morning the glorious aroma of fresh baked bread filled the air.

“Aren’t you going to offer me some of the bread?” asked Turkey-Lurkey. “I haven’t found a job yet, and I’m under a lot of pressure to start paying my student loans. I could really use some bread.”

“I offered you a job, but you weren’t interested,” said the hen.

“Did you really expect me to take a blue collar job when I have a degree in turkey studies?”

“Hey, I’ve only got one more week of unemployment insurance left. Aren’t you going to

offer me some of the bread? I’m the deserving poor. I’ve been looking for a job a few hours a week for ninety-eight weeks. Now I’ve got carpal tunnel syndrome from filling out so many forms and applications, but my disability pay hasn’t come through yet,” said Piggy-Wiggy.

“I offered you a job several times, but you never took me up on the offer. In fact, we could all have had even more bread if you had helped me.”

“You didn’t really expect me to take a hard, hot job laboring in the fields or in food service that you had offered to Rovere, did you?”

“Are you going to give me some of the bread?” asked Daisy Cow. “You already know my story. You owe it to me to give me your bread out of compassion for me.”

“You’re right. I have more than I need. I have given 10% to my church to distribute to those truly disabled and desperate. And I also sold some of my surplus below my actual cost to the local food bank for distribution to the poor. But it would be good to use the bread before it gets stale. Here, I’ll give you each a loaf. If you want more, I will have it for sale at the market. I do need the money to replenish my seed before next year or we’ll have no bread at all.”

Just then, a man from the IRS showed up at the farm. He had been alerted to the commercial activity by the smell of the bread.

“Ma’am, just how many loaves did you produce?”

“I think about a hundred loaves.”

“I’ll just be taking fifty of them, please. That’ll be 35 for the government and 15 for social security. And by the way, I’d better take a few more for your health care plan.”

“That doesn’t leave me with very many, does it?” she said sadly.

“Oh, you’ll be fine. We’ll give a few back to you when you need health services and if you make it to retirement, we’ll give a few more back to you. Well, probably we’ll give you some– that is, if someone else has done any baking at that time. We’ll give you a few of the loaves we take from him.”

The rest of the animals gathered around to see what was going on. When they saw that the hen had about 20 loaves left, they began to cry out to the man from the government, who seemed to have plenty.

“What are you going to do with all those loaves you took? Are you going to give them to us? She’s greedy! She wouldn’t give them to us, but we need them. We deserve them!”

“We’ll see what we can do for you,” said the man from the government.

“Oh, goody!” the animals said. “Look! She still has twenty loaves left. She doesn’t need that many. She’s rich! All she needs for herself is one or two. Why don’t you take more and give them to us? They’ll just go to waste if she keeps them.”

“No, I’m sorry. I’ve already taken what I’m allowed to take. But I’ll go back to Washington and see what I can do for you,” said the man from the government.

Turkey-Lurkey, Piggy-Wiggy and Daisy Cow got together to discuss their situation.

“You know very well that if we had done all of the work, she would have kept all of the loaves anyway just because she’s greedy. If she wasn’t greedy, she would have given us the bread right away, without us even asking. It just goes to show you what a little wealth will do to a chicken!”

They decided to put more pressure on the little hen. They made placards and walked back and forth in front of her chicken coop.

“Down with Greedy Poultry!”

“We are the 80%” (They were counting Rovere, even though he had moved on.)

“Give us free everything!”

To make their point, they banged on pots and pails at all hours of the day. At night, they even slept in the muck they had made outside the door of her coop. They kept it up for weeks, even though the farmer tried to clear them out from time to time.

The little hen didn’t go out much after that. She kept to herself most of the time, and when her bread was gone, she vowed she would go back to eating the scattered grain and insects in the barnyard. The bread project just wasn’t worth it.

–The Beginning of the End–

This story was inspired by an editorial in the Sunday, December 4th Greeley Tribune by a local student, Julia Derk, who is attending Brandeis Univeristy (“Some of us just want positive change” page A6). She has been involved with the Occupy Boston group on the weekends. She described the “camp” as “the most organized, love-filled, radical and reasonable protest I had ever experienced in my lifetime, and I felt empowered to be a part of it.” I will quote some of her words directly.

“I go to Occupy because I am concerned. I’m concerned our government does not adequately provide for us, but rather systematically takes advantage of America in favor of corporate greed. I’m concerned the tuition bubble could pop, causing some of America’s brightest and hardest working individuals to suffer economic hardship because they chose to rack up student loans in order to get an education and leave with no jobs… I’m concerned because a shantytown of tents is more equipped to shelter homeless than our government has chosen to be…”

I will not get into the ethics of a small group abrogating the rights of others to use public spaces by taking them over for indefinite periods of time, filling them with filth and refuse, and making them well-documented havens of criminal activity. I will not get into the irony of Occupiers using the free market enterprise system they are denouncing to make money by selling “Occupy”-branded merchandise. I would like to address directly some of Derk’s propositions.

1) I am concerned that Derk and several generations of college-educated young people believe that it is the role of government to “adequately provide for us.” The God-given role of government is to reward those who do well and punish those who do evil (Romans 13:1-7). It is the role of adults to provide for themselves by the labor of their hands (Ephesians 4:28), and it is the role of heads of homes to provide for the other members of their households (I Timothy 5:8). When all else fails, it is the role of churches to help those who are not provided for by other means (Acts 6:1-3).

Let’s stop blaming “governmental corruption” and “corporate greed” for societal degradation when the accusatory finger needs to point to individual selfishness that has created an environment where it is the norm for individuals and families to neglect the needs of those closest to them. The finger also needs to be pointed at churches who are spending more on their building programs and entertainments than they are on meeting the needs of those in their local neighborhoods. It should be our good works that cause others to glorify our Father in heaven, not our superior recreational edifices (Matthew 5:16).

2) I am concerned that Derk has not been taught that there is no such thing as “the government.” “The government” is people– people who are no different than any others in our country. If we have a “corrupt government” it is because we have elected corrupt individuals to be in office. There is no more corruption at the big “government” level than there is at the local, individual level. The zeitgeist of our age is selfishness, and that spirit permeates all levels of society. What is the difference in “corporate greed” that gives its top players huge financial bonuses at the expense of others and individual greed that demands “free everything” at the expense of others? What is the Christian thing – the right thing – to do in this type of cultural environment? “Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.” Ephesians 4:28

3) I am concerned that Derk does not make the rational connection between the “choice” students made to take out massive loans and their moral responsibility to pay back those loans, whether they have guaranteed jobs or not. No one forced them to make those choices, and there are cost-effective alternatives. I teach in a Christian college where no student has graduated with a debt load. We are able to educate students without “government” aid, loans, or grants in such a cost-effective way that students easily manage their tuition out of their own pockets semester by semester.

What we need is more openness and more creativity in education, rather than more bureaucracy, governmental regulation and red tape. We need to get rid of the “good-ole-boy” accreditation system and let students get what they need in a true free-market of educational ideas. Full disclosure of consumer information and unlimited competition help keep collusion and corruption down.

4) I am concerned that Derk did not learn from her Occupy experience that, yes, indeed, shantytowns are better able to help the homeless and needy because shantytowns are local individuals banding together and making the best use of local resources to meet local needs. A big federal government can never do that, and the more it tries, the worse off the citizens will be. A government that is big enough to give you everything you want, is a government that is big enough to take everything you have.

The “positive change” we need in America is for every student to take a course called “Kennedy 101.” “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country(men).” The best thing we can do to change America for the better is to see where we are being selfish in our outlook and actions, and see where we can better meet the needs of those closest to us in our families and neighborhoods. Communal good must work out from the family to families helping other families. The only top-down change that will truly work must come from God changing the hearts of each individual, turning the hearts of parents to their children, and children to their parents.

I urge you, Christians, to lead the way. Stop throwing money away on mega-church mortgages and Hollywood-style church entertainments, and get back to neighbor-to-neighbor ministry. Perhaps when it comes to seeing true societal change, we “have not” because we have been asking for prosperity to “heap on our own lusts.” James 4:1-3

Derk closed her opinion piece by quoting John Adams. “The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations…” Derk then says it is time for “round two” in terms of revolution. But if I read John Adams right, what we really needs is Reformation Two.  

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Posted By admin on December 24, 2011

by Teri Ong

This week I was approached by a man who wanted me to sign a petition promoting the legalization of marijuana. When he asked me to sign, I said in a clear voice, “I have lived in a neighborhood plagued by the problems of drug abuse too long to want to encourage more of it.”

He quickly replied, “People are going to do what they are going to do anyway. The government might as well have the tax income from it.”

I said, “That is a terrible way for our government to make money!” We could easily find ourselves with another moral conundrum similar to the one states are facing now having their health care income stream in part funded by cigarette taxes. They need the money, but is it really right to officially promote something known to be deadly?

The Wall Street Journal recently published a report that pegged the medical cost to society of each alcoholic drink at $1.90. If we do eventually get a government-run single payer health care system, the American government would have to tax every alcoholic drink $1.90 just to break even! And that doesn’t take into account the many other social costs like lost productivity and wages, property destruction, domestic violence, wrongful deaths, birth defects and learning disabilities from fetal alcohol syndrome etc., associated with alcohol abuse.

So do we really think that the costs associated with marijuana use (which will lead to a demand for stronger and more dangerous chemicals) will be less than the attendant costs of alcohol? Are we going to tax cannabis lolly pops and brownies at a rate of $2-$3 per high so the “government” can break even on this kind of drug use?

Who will develop the curb-side tests for law enforcement so they can make a Mary Jane DUI or DWAI stick in court? Will there be “open baggie” laws for use in the car? Will people who commit violent or insensible acts while under weedy influence be allowed to plead temporary insanity?

My son, who is presently in a police training program, just had a class on drug law enforcement. He was told that the marijuana that is currently used is up to ten times stronger than the marijuana that was smoked in the 1960′s and 70′s. The leaves are cut together with the flowers, which are much more potent. This gives new meaning to the term “flower children.”

In the last month, a family in our county was jailed for beating a person they accused of trying to steal the “medical marijuana” they were growing in their fields. Are we so naive as a society that we think the drug cartels will go away if we legalize drugs in some form or fashion? The violence and exploitation will simply shift to some other vice. There will always be blood money to be had at someone else’s expense. No societal good will come of continually trying to move the legal boundaries ever outward past the edges of moral decency and sensibility.

Numerous journalists who have ventured through Zuccotti Park to see the Occupy Wall Street protestors have commented on the filth, squaller, and yes, prevalent drug use. We have only begun to understand the meaning of “dependent class” if we legalize and thus encourage the consumption of a steady supply of “stone soup,” whether it is taxed or not.

Teri Ong is a minister’s wife, teacher, and long time resident of downtown Greeley.

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Posted By admin on November 30, 2011

By Teri Ong
Thanksgiving week has not been a time of deep philosophical or theological thought for me. I had more pressing domestic duties. But I have been reflecting on life with thankfulness.
Sadly, many Americans have no idea of who the Pilgrim fathers really were, and those who have some little notion only know about the suffering of their voyage and first winter in the New World. In November 2006 Steve and I and my mother made a rough ferry crossing from Holyhead, Wales to Dublin. It only lasted about two hours, and we were warm and dry (though a

little queasy) the entire time. But it gave me a new experiential appreciation for the weeks of pitching and rolling on a gray, cold, unfriendly ocean that the Pilgrims endured. It also made me feel like a real wimp. And in reality, their horrendous ocean voyage and deadly first winter were nothing. Their suffering through intense persecution, privation, and separation from their homeland and love ones began more than twenty years before the Mayflower ever set sail.
We have been reading as a family The Mayflower Pilgrims by David Beale. He has very academically and artfully portrayed the multitudinous sufferings of the English puritans and separatists that led up to their momentous decision to come to America. I highly recommend the book for being as inspirational as it is informative. The fragile little band of 102 people, 51 of whom made it through the winter, should not have survived at all. It was only through God’s special grace and providential supply that they were not all wiped out like some of the earlier groups that had tried to start a new life in America.
They remind me of the pot of pansies which are still blooming in my backyard.

My sweet friend Annie gave me a yellow flower pot containing some pretty pansy starters way back the end of March. They were obviously young plants, but they had a few blooms already. Since spring weather is so uncertain in Colorado, I decided to keep them indoors for a few weeks. The old “folk” rule here is, “Don’t plant outdoors until Mothers’ Day.”
I enjoyed the blooms, but the plants didn’t really thrive on my plant hutch on the sun porch. By the time I moved them outdoors, they were much the worse for wear. Without any expectation for their revival, I just set the pot out in the lavender bed at the foot of a cottonwood tree. There they got absolutely no special attention or TLC. They got a little water when the sprinkler system was on, but that was all. Otherwise, they were subjected to all of the extremes of heat and moisture we get in Colorado summers.
Every once in a while, I would notice the little pot and think, “I should pinch off the dead blooms,” or “I should pull out that dead plant.” But I never did, and somehow the hardy, surviving plants kept on keeping on.
We had a very hot, dry summer (not exactly pansy weather!) followed by a long, luxurious fall that was punctuated with two big snowstorms the end of October. The foot of heavy, wet snow in the first storm took out part of almost every tree in Greeley. Then the eight inch storm a week later took out some more. A month later the city crews are still picking up all the debris. Night temperatures are now routinely in the 20′s. And my Timex pansies are still ticking!
I am amazed! I pointed them out to one of my sons, and we agreed that pansies are no pansies! The picture posted here was taken on November 20^th. You can see what is left of the tree and what is left of the pansies.

Very often in my life I have felt blighted, dried, baked, drowned, chilled, and even neglected, but nothing has to destroy the beauty of God’s holiness in my life. God alone knows when His wind will pass over me and I will be gone. It is probably true, as it was for my pansies, I wouldn’t do nearly as well if I were a pampered house plant.
God, make this pansy no pansy!

Psalm 103 (stanzas 3 and 4)
Father-like He tends and spares us,
Well our feeble frame He knows;
In His hands He gently bears us,
Rescues us from all our foes.
Praise Him! Praise Him!
Widely as His mercy flows.
Frail as summer’s flower we flourish;
Blows the wind, and it is gone;
But while mortals rise and perish,
God endures unchanging on.
Praise Him! Praise Him!
Praise the high eternal One.
–Henry Francis Lyte (1793-1847)

 

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Posted By admin on October 20, 2011

By Teri Ong

Yesterday I spent the best part of five hours praying with a group of serious-minded ladies who had all gathered for a day of learning to pray more effectively during difficult situations. The group was congenial and decidedly not grim, but during the time we were together there was very little, if any, idle chatter or silly giggling (even though some of the ladies were still in their teens). We didn’t play any games or do any “ice breakers.” I’ll admit we ate some good food and some of us drank a little coffee, but the kind of “good time” we had was not based on those things.

I would describe the atmosphere in our meeting as reflective and sober-minded. No one came expecting boisterous fun and games. We came expecting to meet with the Lord, and I believe we all did. We might have had more ladies in attendance if we had advertised some fun and frivolity, but then we would have had an oil-and-water gathering which would not have been conducive to the unity of Spirit that God says makes for a good prayer meeting.

I am thinking deeply about some of these issues because my husband has been working on a book about evangelism and the evangelical tendency to resort to humanistic and worldly methodologies to bolster the numbers in churches. The two of us have discussed for hours without end if particular methods are sinful or merely ill-advised, if certain accepted practices constitute fluff or poison, and at what point our appeal to the world makes us an enemy of God. There was nothing in our ladies’ prayer meeting that would appeal to the world at all, and I am as sure as I can humanly be that there was nothing in it that didn’t appeal to God.

Our day of prayer was in stark contrast to the advertisements I saw awhile ago for “Friday Night Liquid Worship” at a Baptist church in a neighboring town. Why “liquid”? The poster explained; liquids flow over and around everything, they are hard to keep in a box, and they don’t keep a defined shape. Presumably, a group of people were going to get together and (based on the depiction) participate in a rock concert and let “worship” happen to them.

There is too much of a semantic connection in my mind between “liquid worship” and the old phrase “liquid courage” for me to be comfortable with the terminology. But that objection aside, my understanding of “Biblical worship” is that it is well-defined (not amorphous or squishy); we are to bow our knees in submission to Jehovah and declare by our actions that He is worthy of all honor and praise. I cannot see how this understanding of Biblical worship can be set as equivalent to the “liquid” worship as advertised. I can, however, see how “liquid worship” would be more appealing to more people. After all, the first mention of worship in the oldest book of the Bible, Job, does not make worship sound particularly “fun.” Thoughts of a warm bubble bath or jacuzi are much more appealing than thoughts of sackcloth and ashes. And didn’t Mother always say you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar?

In my college literature class this semester, we have discussed on several occasions the prevailing zeitgeist of our age, expressed so well by that aged pop icon, Obi wan Kenobi, “reach out with your feelings.” Our society in general has been taught not to believe in the existence of any sort of objective truth. If there is no trustworthy external source of truth, this one thing we know, we have feelings. The basis of life, including any approach we might have to Christianity, is the “objective reality” of highly subjective feelings.

For some people, the ultimate goal in life is to feel “good” and to avoid feeling “bad.” For some, the goal is to feel good by having a rush of adrenaline by doing something extreme. Some seek the vicarious thrills of spectator sports, movies, and video games. Some seek the artificial thrills of various types of chemicals. Some are so jaded in their outlook on life that they are satisfied just to feel anything, even the pain of a knife on their skin.

Think about the proliferation of chemical “enhancements” in our society. There are purportedly 8000 “medical marijuana” workers in Colorado alone. These are not the users; these are just the ones who produce the plants, bake the brownies, and run the dispensaries. Think about “meth” use that is so out of control that we now have to be assaulted with hideous graphic billboards to try and discourage new users. Think about Red Bull, Rock Star, and Five-hour Energy Drink. I could make a much longer list.

Talk show host Dennis Prager once described certain types of rock and roll music as not being music at all, but as being pure energy. Maybe this is one of the reasons rock (along with caffeine) has become a popular feature in evangelical churches. If we cannot get people to come in and think rationally about their sin in the face of a holy God (which might make them feel bad), perhaps we can get them to come in to church and feel energized in an atmosphere that is somewhat more wholesome than a nightclub or a tavern.

The problem is that our feelings are often unreliable witnesses, especially as regards the objective truth of God’s created and revealed order. We very often feel good about things that are bad for us and feel bad about good things. C. S. Lewis maintained that it was our Christian duty to bring our emotions into conformity with reality. “When a witness has once been proved unreliable, turn him out of the court. It is a mere waste of time to go sneaking back to his evidence and thinking ‘After all’ and ‘He did say’. If immediate feeling has shown itself quite worthless in this matter, then let us never listen to immediate feeling again.” (1)

The Bible-believing church in the 21^st century needs to be more concerned with getting people to be quiet and contemplate the seriousness of their spiritual condition in light of eternity than in getting them to feel artificially good or energized about the wrong things. I had occasion to visit with a person who is not a Christian not long ago. This person talked almost incessantly. The gush of words may have been the result of loneliness, but I had a sense that it was to prevent me from saying much because the words I would have put in edgewise weren’t ones the person wanted to hear.

Likewise, the torrent of noise and hyped-up energy in our churches that we too often call “worship” may be having the effect of preventing people from being still and knowing God is God. There was a place in the Bible for over-stimulated, knife-to-the-skin worship; it was called Mount Carmel, but God didn’t think much of it. (I Kings 18:20-39) In the end, it didn’t do much for the prophets of Baal either. Elijah’s calm, quiet approach to God’s throne was a stark contrast, but ultimately led to repentance and true worship of Jehovah.

It’s time to calm down and rest in the Lord.

Let worldly minds this world pursue,

It has no charms for me;

I once admired its trifles too,

But grace has set me free.

Its pleasures now no longer please,

No more content afford;

Far from my heart be joys like these,

Now I have seen the Lord.

As by the light of opening day

The stars are all concealed;

So earthly pleasures fade away,

When Jesus is revealed.

Such things no more divide my choice,

I bid them all depart;

His name, and love, and gracious voice,

Have gripped my roving heart.

Now, Lord, I would be Thine alone,

And wholly live to Thee;

O grace! That thou dost love and own

A worthless worm like me!

Yes! Though of sinners I’m the worst,

I cannot doubt Thy will,

For if Thou hadst not loved me first,

I would refuse Thee still.

–John Newton (1725-1807)

Reference:

Lewis, C. S. The Collected Works of C. S. Lewis. “Religion: Reality of Substitute?” New York: Inspirational Press, 1996 ed., p. 200.

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Posted By admin on October 10, 2011

The following essay is a response to an opinion column by Bob Stewart which was published in the Greeley Tribune. The purpose of his column was to discredit a pro-creationism article that had previously been published on the “faith” page. I submitted this response, but it was not published in the newspaper. A number of other rather silly items have been published, however. But in typical mainstream media fashion, the Tribune is much more interested in generating heat than light.

 September 18

To the Greeley Tribune

by Teri Ong

In his Sept. 15 column, Bob Stewart asserts ”the theory of evolution is essential to our understanding of the biological world.” How could that be true when great strides were made in biology by men like Linnaeus (biological classification), Leeuwenhoek (bacteria), Blundell (blood transfusion), and Hooke (cell biology), a century before Darwin?

He further asserts “the Christian religion has opposed every single advance in knowledge that it viewed as a threat to its orthodoxy.” While certain “religionists” may have held the erroneous views he suggests, the Bible itself revealed the “scientific” truths Stewart cites long before modern science “discovered” them. For example:

1) “The Earth is round and not flat.” The prophet Isaiah wrote almost 3 millenia ago that from the vantage point of the heavens, the earth appeared as a circle.

2) “The Earth revolves around the sun and not vice versa.” While the Bible does not specifically address this, it is not scientifically inconsistent for writers to describe things as they appear. Newspapers daily give “dangerously unscientific” information about “sunset” and “sunrise.”

3) “Disease is caused by viruses, bacteria, and other natural factors rather than by sin.” The Old Testament clearly identified the health risks associated with touching dead bodies, the toxicity of bloody wastes and human excrement, the communicability of certain diseases, and the benefits of personal hygiene. Christians since the discovery of the microscope do not dispute the relationship of pathogens and disease, but that does not negate the fact that many forms of disease are brought on or spread by bad behavior. If people were entirely monogamous, refrained from substance abuse and gluttony, and obeyed Biblical hygiene laws, many diseases could be practically eradicated.

4) “Weather is a natural event and not a weapon of a god.” Jesus himself stated that the sun shines on good and bad people and rain falls on the just and the unjust.

Stewart asserts that “clinging rigidly to religious dogma stops inquiry and the advance of scientific knowledge.” For centuries, what stopped scientific inquiry was an unwholesome defense of the pagan Greek philosophers. Doctors were afraid to challenge the human anatomical descriptions of Galen, even though his work was based on the dissection of animals. And it wasn’t Christians who came up with the notion of “earth, wind, water, and fire”! On the other hand, the Apostle Paul wrote that “the things which are seen are made from things that are not seen,” giving us a basic description of atomic theory long before physics was even a science.

Stewart asserts “faith means believing something without evidence.” By this he seeks to cast doubt on the validity of religious faith. Unlike those in that shaky epistemological condition, he states “Scientists don’t have faith in an unproven theory.” However, “science” has no established laws that can get randomly from non-living elements to living, reproducing, thinking beings. There has to be a little blind faith there somewhere.

Criticizing science isn’t as dangerous as circular reasoning. Stewart says, “A theory is considered scientific truth when all reasonable people agree on it…” The problem is that many in the scientific community define “reasonable” as agreeing with them, thus excluding all disagreement by branding it “unreasonable.” This to me is the real danger to open-minded inquiry.

Scientists do not have a corner on knowing what can be known. They can only operate in the material realm. But most of what makes us most human is outside of that realm; think where we would be as a human race without ethics, aesthetics, and metaphysics, let alone theology!

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