One of my favourite bands is Downhere. They write great songs with smart lyrics and always challenge their listeners to think about relationships with God and with others. “Coming Back Home” from the Ending is Beginning album is a song about repentance. Here are the lyrics.

“Coming Back Home“
(Performed by Downhere) (Listen while you read.) 

After the longest exile
Trying to make it on my own
Aching for my home
I’ve been astray for much too long
Knowing I’ve done you so much wrong
Just makes me feel that much more alone
But in my sadness I hear you calling 

So I’m coming back home to build what I tore down
Left my world in shambles
Only this time I’ll let you wear the crown
Woah Oh
Coming back home to build what I tore down
If you will forgive me
You won’t fail me
You won’t let me down
Woah Oh Woah Oh Woah Oh 

I’ve been afraid of what I’ll find
I open the door to what’s inside
I’m back but all’s not right
‘Cause there is still a mess to clean up
There are wars to fight and be freed up
But if you’re there with me I will have no reason to fear
‘Cause in this madness You are my solace 

So I’m coming back home to build what I tore down
left my world in shambles
Only this time I’ll let you wear the crown
Oh Woah
Coming back home to build what I tore down
If you will forgive me
You won’t fail me
You won’t let me down
You won’t let me down
Coming back home to build
Coming back home to build 

Into Your arms this wayward son is 

Coming back home to build what I tore down
Left my world in shambles
Only this time I’ll let you wear the crown
Woah Oh
Coming back home to build what I tore down
If you will forgive me
You won’t fail me
You won’t let me down
Woah Oh Woah Oh Woah Oh
Coming back home to build
Coming back home to build 

Written by Marc A. Martel, Jason Ronald William Germaine; Published by © Music Services, Inc.

I love the part of the chorus that says, “I’m coming back home to build what I tore down, left my world in shambles. Only this time I’ll let you wear the crown.” That is a great description of repentance. It is turning around and repairing what has been broken. It is turning around and saying, “I have messed this up; and so, God, I need you to be the King of my life. I need you to take control.”

“The ideal of authenticity is something like the ideal of perfection. All of us have some idea of what we are talking about without ever having had any direct personal experience of it.”1 This is a revealing and reassuring statement from David Benner. For truly, none of us will ever achieve perfection, and neither will we ever experience complete authenticity. I know this from personal experience because I have seen how long it can take me to admit to someone that I have made a mistake.

True authenticity was lost in the Garden of Eden when Eve and Adam recognized that first fatal flaw. Their immediate reaction was to cover up both their sins and their bodies. It is the same with us. We cover and hide and think that we can act like things never happened as we damage our interior lives. This stanza from a song by Randy Stonehill illustrates this well.

I have a secret I can’t tell
And I’ve learned to conceal it well
Ah, but this disturbing smell
Keeps coming from the floorboards
Under the rug.2

The goal of true authenticity, a goal which will never be completely achieved, is not to be completely sinless, something else that we will never achieve. Rather, the goal of authenticity is to be comfortable with our nakedness before God. We cannot hide from Him, and the more we try, the more we damage ourselves and our relationships with God and with others. So, as much as possible, and beyond our own capacities, we call upon God’s supernatural strength to give us the courage to stand before Him while His holy x-rays strip away all concealment. That is the goal of authenticity.

Works Cited:
Benner, David G. The Gift of Being Yourself. Downers Grove: IVP Books, 2004.

1 (Benner 2004, 75)
2 “Under the Rug” written by Randy Stonehill, Dave Perkins, and Terry Scott Taylor; published on the album Lazarus Heart, 1994, Street Level Records.

Once again Christopher Nolan (writer and director) and Jonathan Nolan (writer) have succeeded in changing our perceptions with the visually stunning, Interstellar (2014). If you have not seen the movie, you may want to see it before you continue to read this blog which contains elements of the plot (in other words: spoiler alert). From the dust-bowl farmers of the “not-too-distant” future, to scenes of communication across time, I could almost taste the dirt, feel the pull of acceleration and gravity, sense the disorientation of astronauts facing challenges never before experienced, and share the suffering of the families as their lives were torn apart by time and circumstance.

The brothers have collaborated before (Memento (2000) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012); see my analysis of that Batman movie here), but their story-telling gets better each time. Interstellar is subtle; the audience is never subjected to preaching dialogue or pedantic scenes; and even the plot moves along largely through visual and musical elements. Hans Zimmer’s score is perfectly suited to their method. There are times when the dialogue is nearly drowned out by the score and flood of potent images; but one soon learns to wait for the resolution of the scene to understand its implications. Many times the film reminded me of the story-telling methodology developed in the Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke collaboration, 2001: A Space Odyssey. Many other contemporary writers and directors seem to believe that the audience will not understand a story told through images and so they clutter the story with explanations. The Nolan brothers have recovered an art-form as old as cave-drawings and stained-glass windows and only a few times did they stray from this style. They did choose to explain wormholes and multi-dimensional travel and I could hardly fault them in that choice.

Then there is their visual depiction of a wormhole which is one of their great innovations and one which I am sure other film creators will imitate. Any fan of science fiction will be familiar with the standard depiction of wormholes seen in the Star Trek or Stargate franchises (to mention two of many). The usual images are of a two dimensional hole or lens which opens into a multi-coloured tunnel of stretched light. The creative development in Interstellar is that the wormhole is depicted as a three dimensional sphere and the approach of the Endurance space-craft is shown in a way that resembles an object being drawn into the orbit of a planet. This imagery lends itself to several subtle variations on the theme of wormholes, black-holes, and rapid space travel. At one point the crew of the Endurance skips through the “event horizon” of a black hole to slingshot themselves across a galaxy. I look forward to seeing what other writers and directors might do with such innovations and plot possibilities.

The cast is full of big names in the movie industry and it is somewhat surprising that actors who had smaller roles seemed to be the ones most likely to fail to convince me of their character. I expect that one or two of them will look back on this movie and realize the creative opportunities that were missed.

Near the end of the movie we see a rich interpretation of communication across time and space. The imagery is somewhat reminiscent of the layering of time and space in Christopher Nolan’s movie, Inception (2010); but here the key to communication is gravity and not dreams. The Nolans have rightly recognized that one of the last great mysteries of physics is gravity and that the resolution of this mystery will bring about a truly massive revolution in scientific development. They also realistically depict that mankind may never solve this mystery. Here, their art imitates life with an image that reflects perfectly back on their art. The brothers purposely and intelligently refrain from tying-up all of the loose ends and one is left with a sense of wonder and trepidation at the next years of life we may experience on this planet. In life and art, may we continue to encourage and celebrate the risk-takers and pioneers.

Please don’t read this blog while walking down the street. Distracted walking can be a cause of injury or even death. One article on the subject has noted that, “The combination of distracted walking and distracted driving is commonly blamed for the recent increase in pedestrian deaths . . .“

When asked for comment, one pedestrian admitted, “I’m a severe texter and walker, so I don’t know if I can quit on my own.”

Several cities are considering “distracted walking legislation” to prevent serious injury. I think we can learn to put our screens away while we walk and drive. It simply takes personal discipline.

A US Senate committee has released a damning report on the interrogation methods used by the CIA. In over 500 pages the committee accuses “the spy agency of inflicting pain and suffering on prisoners beyond its legal limits and deceiving the nation with narratives of life-saving interrogations unsubstantiated by its own records.”1 The report tells of how prisoners were tortured, in some cases until they died, and that the ends did not justify the means. The report states that the methods used either did not render valuable information which would thwart future terror attacks; or, in some cases, where important information was gained through torture, other sources were available that could have led to the revelation of that same information. The report makes it clear that this was a systemic problem brought on by the fear of major terrorism such as the attacks of September 11, 2001 on New York City and the Pentagon. It was not a rogue group of operatives acting alone and the entire CIA administration and senior government leaders are found to be complicit. Even former president George W. Bush must take responsibility for this dark time in American history despite the fact that he asked not to be told about the “enhanced interrogation methods.”

This has been a hard truth for the American public. Commentators speak of loss of the moral high-ground. How can America challenge countries such as China and Iraq regarding their human-rights records when this report reveals such disregard for basic human-rights? Can the CIA ever be trusted again? How do we know that such tactics are not still being used? How long must the people of the United States of America wear this label of shame? Canada must also bear some of the disgrace of this report since our intelligence agencies may have used information gained by the use of torture.

Certainly there are lessons to be learned from this incident. This report has allowed the light of day to shine into the dark corners of a system that allowed this evil to breed and grow. There is hope that this report will lead to a major over-haul of the policies of the CIA and a removal of those who continue to promote a culture of disrespect and violence. What I find particularly encouraging about this report is the fact that it exists. I am not aware of any document like this in any other country. America is not the only country in the world that uses such techniques on its prisoners; but it may be one of the few that allows officials to investigate, criticize, and report on it. When such things are brought to light, there is hope that change may follow. It also allows for the confession of guilt that otherwise oppresses.

There is a biblical principle which speaks to this. Psalm 32 is a poem about the joy and healing found in the confession of sin. Verses 3 to 5 and verse 10 in the New International Version (NIV) say,

When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave the guilt of my sin. . . .
Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him.

You see, when sin is bottled up, it does damage. It causes psychological, physical, and spiritual harm. It takes away strength and leaves us feeling oppressed. But when sin is acknowledged and confessed, there is release, forgiveness, love, and trust. This principal works both on an individual basis and at a collective level. Truly, confession is good for the soul. The Senate Committee Report is incentive for all of us to examine our lives and see what dark tendencies lurk inside our own hearts. Then we will have opportunity to confess and be healed.

. . . the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. – James 5:15 (NIV)

1“U.S. Senate report condemns CIA harsh interrogations;” CBC News; http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/u-s-senate-report-condemns-cia-harsh-interrogations-1.2865440

The band Petra released an album in 1977 called Come and Join Us which contained the song, “Where Can I Go” written by Bob Hartman. It is another creative meditation on Psalm 139:7-12.

Where Can I Go
(Words and music by Hartman Robert M; Published by Word Music, LLC)
(Listen while you read)

I could take a plane to New York City
I could hitchhike all the way to L.A.
I could follow the sunrise tomorrow
But be as close to You as today
I’m beginning to see what You mean to me
I just can’t get away from Your love

Where can I go without Your love there to haunt me
I do believe You’re playing to win
I can’t understand what makes You really want me
But I’m feelin’ like it’s time to give in

I could climb the golden stairway to heaven
I could catch the crowded highway to hell
If I could find a place nobody has ever been
I bet You’d probably be there as well
I don’t know why I’ve waited so long

Where can I go without Your love there to haunt me
I do believe You’re playing to win
I can’t understand what makes You really want me
But I’m feelin’ like it’s time to give in

Darkness is the same as the light to You
Daytime is the same as the night
When You put Your chains of love around my soul
I know it won’t be long before I let You take control

I could take a submarine to Atlantis
I could take a flying saucer to Mars
I could ride on the Milky Way someday
But You’ve already numbered the stars
I’m beginning to hear Your voice is so near
Tellin’ me You love me again

Where can I go without Your love there to haunt me
I do believe You’re playing to win
I can’t understand what makes You really want me
But I’m feelin’ like it’s time to give in

Psalm 139:7-12 (New International Version):
Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

Oh God, You see me.
I can’t impress You
For You have seen me in all of my circumstances.
Even if I wanted to, I could not get away from You.
You saw me in my mother’s womb.
You already see me in my tomb.
You know the days and seconds of my life.

So I open myself to You.
Test me – I do not mind.
I desire to be melted and purified.
Destroy the sin
Wipe away the worry
Keep me from hurting others.
Lead me in Your truth.

Psalm 139 (New International Version)
(For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.)

1 You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.

19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
    Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
    your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
    and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
    I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.

1.    No Historical Adam: Evolutionary
Creation View 

2.      A Historical Adam: Archetypal
Creation View 

3.      A Historical Adam: Old-Earth Creation
View 

4.      A Historical Adam: Young-Earth
Creation View

The fossil record and evolutionary genetics
reveal that we share with chimpanzees a last common ancestor that lived about
six million years ago. Along the evolutionary branch to humans, there are
approximately 6,000 transitional fossil individuals. Scientists have also
discovered that about 99 percent of the DNA sequences in our genes are similar
to chimpanzees, including defective genes (psuedogenes). This is like our own
families in that we share with relatives genetic similarities, both good and
bad. In addition, the archeological record discloses that humans who behaved
like us (creating art, sophisticated tools, and intentional burials) appeared
roughly 50,000 years ago. . . . Finally, science has found that the genetic variability
among all people today is quite small and indicates that we descended from a
group of about 10,000 individuals. . . . I suspect that . . . similar to the
way we do not really know when exactly each of us personally begins to bear
God’s Image or commits our very first sin, I believe the arrival of the first true
humans is also a theological mystery.

Yesterday I included the lyrics to a song that addressed the concept of itching ears, as described in 2 Timothy 3:4. This idea of people being told what they want to hear and being attracted to churches by fine words is not limited to churches that have been converted to discos. Those of us who preach and teach must be alert and constantly test what we say. We need to watch for the influence of Satan in every context. Keith Green creatively quoted the devil in one of his songs when he said, “I put some truth in every lie to tickle itching ears; you know I’m drawing people just like flies ’cause they like what they hear.”1

The message of the Gospel is vital and must not be compromised by our methods or by our words. There are plenty of high profile, celebrity preachers who preach prosperity and health to those who follow their words. Would it not be better to simply speak the words of the Bible and let those words transform the lives of the people? Isaiah 55:8-11 reads,

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.
As the rain and the snow
    come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
    without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
    so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
    It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

God’s word will not return empty. Even when we do not fully understand His word, we can speak it and trust that it will achieve the purposes for which He sent it. If we are honest with ourselves and others, we will recognize that there is still great mystery in the words of the Bible. For example, how do we reconcile these two statements:

“He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:45) and
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)

Who does God reward; the evil and the good; or those who earnestly seek Him? The truth is, my itching ears want to hear that it is only those who earnestly seek God that will be rewarded. I want to hear that if I go to church, read my Bible, and pray, I will be rewarded with health and wealth. I want to believe that. I don’t want to believe that God will send His excellent rain upon the evil as well as the good. My ears are just as itchy as the next person; but, here is my commitment to myself and to others. I will seek to truly hear the word of God. I will trust that it is good and true and beneficial. Even as I struggle to understand the Bible, I will listen to the hard words as well as those that sound good to my ever itching ears.

Let us speak both of these words and trust that God will reconcile them in our lives and in this world. His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. His thoughts and ways are higher than our thoughts and ways. They operate on a higher plane than our own. In the higher plane, there is no apparent contradiction between Matthew 5 and Hebrews 11. Therefore, let us speak these words of truth and trust that they will accomplish the purposes of God.

1 See https://www.keithshields.ca/2010/10/no-one-believes-in-me-anymore.html for all of the words to this song. You can even listen to the song while you read along: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xt42MXX2CXg

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. – 2 Timothy 4:3

This Disco (Used To Be A Cute Cathedral)
(Words and Music by Steve Taylor; from the album, “On The Fritz”)
(Listen while you read)

Sunday needs a pick-me-up?
Here’s your chance
Do you get tired of the same old square dance?
Allemande right now
All join hands
Do-si-do to the promised boogieland
Got no need for altar calls
Sold the altar for the mirror balls
Do you shuffle? Do you twist?
‘Cause with a hot hits playlist, now we say

This disco used to be a cute cathedral
Where the chosen cha-cha every day of the year
This disco used to be a cute cathedral
Where we only play the stuff you’re wanting to hear

Mickey does the two-step
One, Two, Swing
All the little church mice doing their thing
Boppin’ in the belltower
Rumba to the right
Knock knock, who’s there? Get me out of this limelight
So, you want to defect?
Officer, what did you expect?
Got no rhythm, got no dough
He said, “Listen, Bozo, don’t you know”

This disco used to be a cute cathedral
Where the chosen cha-cha every day of the week
This disco used to be a cute cathedral
But we got no room if you ain’t gonna be chic
Sell your holy habitats
This ship’s been deserted by sinking rats
The exclusive place to go
It’s where the pious pogo, don’t you know

This disco used to be a cute cathedral
Where the chosen cha-cha every day of the year
This disco used to be a cute cathedral
Where we only play the stuff you’re wanting to hear
This disco used to be a cute cathedral
Where the chosen cha-cha every day of the week
This disco used to be a cute cathedral
But we got no room if you ain’t gonna be chic

Steve Taylor once gave an interview which explained how this song came to be.

I’m down in New York city, and there’s this disco that used to be a church, called “The Limelight.” So I did my little on-the-scene investigation and went down with some friends one night, had to pay fifteen dollars just to get in–I had to walk home (no, not quite.) We go up and it was really bizarre. We come in, and first we walk by these sarcophagi on the walls and stuff like that. I think the person that was taking the tickets was dressed like a nun or something like that. They were showing Ten Commandments on the video screens and stuff. 

We walk into the main sanctuary part, go up the stairs to the balcony–there’s like two balconies–and the floor of this big church–I mean, it must have been able to seat like a thousand people–is literally jammed with probably 1,500 people dancing, and there’s a video screen showing the latest Madonna sleaze on the video and stuff like that. So I’m looking down at this–scratch the Madonna sleaze–my mind starts drifting, I imagine that this is Sunday evening and the deacons have devised this as a way of getting new membership, right? [laughter] 

So it’s a very satirical song, but the point is–especially like in California where I’m from you’ve got this country-club Christianity springing up, where Christianity is supposed to appeal to the beautiful people, and we try to get the right elements in our churches–the elements that are going to give money and everything like that. That’s not the church’s mission. Jesus talked about coming to heal the sick, not those who are well, and so it’s essentially a song against this idea of country-club Christianity.  – Steve Taylor interview1

Have we learned anything in the last 30 years?

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. – 2 Timothy 1:1-5

1 As reported at http://www.sockheaven.net/discography/taylor/fritz/this_disco_used_to_be_a_cute_cathedral/#about