AL GOP Says No to Bible?

Now this is interesting. A bill introduced in the Alabama senate to allow an elective course in the Bible, one that has been constitutionally vetted by conservative AND liberal lawyers is being blocked by Republican members there. Why, you ask. Is it to draw a bright line between church and state? Is it because it portrays the Bible inaccurately? Nope. It's because the bill was introduced by two Democrats and heaven forbid a Democrat be anything other than a raving secular humanist bent on tarnishing children's minds and killing God.

Christians should know by now that we've been played by politicians - I think it's been going on for about 2000 years. This is really just a recent blatant example. So at what point can we good citizens demand good politics in the public interest instead of crass partisanship to protect privileged position? Just dreaming I guess...

Full article: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0604.sullivan.html

Nudism, Nudism, Nudism

So back in February I wrote a post entitled "Nudism as Prophecy" as part of my Isaiah on Tuesday series and ever since then I've been getting one or two hits a week from people searching blogs using the word "nudism." I can only imagine what these hapless surfers are thinking when they come across an entry discussing the biblical prophecies of Isaiah. Sorry guys, no pictures. You'll have to use your mind's eye - picture an older man with a long grey beard which covers up the naughty bits, a torso not emaciated, but with the faint outline of rib bones and a bony bum.

There, I hope that satisfies whatever curiosity it was that sparked your search.

nudism.

Isaiah on Tuesday - Isaiah's Passion for Justice (part 2)

Last week, I started a series on Isaiah 26 which really lays out Isaiah's passion and vision for justice. In verses 1-8 we see the poor and oppressed trampling the city of the oppressor as their patience in waiting for the LORD is rewarded. This week Isaiah turns his focus from the oppressed to the oppressor as we see judgment and justice applied. There are only four verses this week:

9 My soul yearns for you in the night;

in the morning my spirit longs for you.
When your judgments come upon the earth,
the people of the world learn righteousness.

10 Though grace is shown to the wicked,
they do not learn righteousness;
even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil
and regard not the majesty of the LORD.

11 O LORD, your hand is lifted high,
but they do not see it.
Let them see your zeal for your people and be put to shame;
let the fire reserved for your enemies consume them.

12 LORD, you establish peace for us;
all that we have accomplished you have done for us.

Verse nine is the key verse of this section. Isaiah, longing for the coming of the LORD to right the wrongs and injustices of his day and see all hearts turned to him says, "When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness." Judgment should not be equated with punishment. It is not simply a punitive action for a wrong done, but a pronouncement about something. It can be judged good or bad - the bad should be done away with so that the good can shine the brighter. Look also to the purpose of judgment - to learn righteousness. To take another biblical analogy, judgment is intended to refine us to remove the impurities as gold is refined in fire.

However, verse ten shows us the difference between wisdom and folly. The wise learn from judgment and recognize that it is an act of grace. Judgment, as used here, leaves room for repentance - a needed course correction. Yet, the wicked scorn the grace shown them and continue in their ways. To take for granted God's grace is to somehow think that we are deserving of it. It is granted as an act of love, as is the judgment, in order to turn us from self-destruction. To continue on a wayward path fails to recognize that we deserve death and not life - it is a total rejection of the gift of grace and exchanges the eternal for the temporal.

Isaiah burns with passion as he writes about the wicked in verse 11. He sees the compassion and love of God for his children and the rebellious rejection of that love. It moves him to urge for their total consumption in the fire reserved for the enemies of God. It reminds me of that visceral response to a child who defiantly talks back to a parent.

Part of Isaiah's definition of justice seems to be laid out finally here - judgment is given as a corrective action of grace. The wise receive that judgment, but the wicked reject it. After rejecting judgment and grace, Isaiah calls for punishment which seems to imply that despite repeated warnings, the wicked choose to continue towards the cliff until they finally plunge over it.

Finally in verse 12, Isaiah caps this thought by recognizing that God is the source of all we have. God establishes peace for us, all that we have accomplished God has done for us. It puts us in proper perspective - we cannot take credit, for all our talents, resources and successes ultimately come from God. Though we are partners in the outcome, the recognition goes ultimately to the one who made it possible.