Scott Freeman

Joy Division never were able to realize the greatness they were destined for. Their lead singer, Ian Curtis, committed suicide about a month before this song was released.

This song, Love Will Tear Us Apart, is a hauntingly beautiful song that is wrought with heartbreak. The song is considered by many to be one of the greatest ever recorded.

Some have claimed that the song was written as a response to the Captain and Tennille’s Love Will Keep Us Together.
In the true spirit of our age, Malcolm Mclaren has done a mash-up of the two songs. Somehow, it fits.

And finally, for Final Four Weekend, the greatest One Shining Moment ever…

There are certain things about God that I believe are clear throughout Scripture. They are:

1. God created us to be in relationship with Him
2. God is love
3. God is knowable

From the very beginning God desired to have intimacy and fellowship with His creation. He did not create us so that we might be separated from Him, nor did He create us simply to ultimately condemn most of us.
No, Scripture is clear that we have a God who loves us passionately and completely. As the late Rich Mullins once sang the love of God is a “reckless raging fury.”

Few people would argue with either of those points. But, for some reason or another, many have arrived at the conclusion that God is, ultimately, unknowable to us. That there is just too much to His character and nature that escape our finite minds.
As a result, it is easy to gloss over seeming inconsistencies with slogans such as “He’s God and I’m not” or “God moves in mysterious ways” or even “who can know the mind of God?”
Prooftexts about “his ways are higher than our ways” are trotted out to make the claim that God does what God does and, even if it seems diametrically opposed to what we are to understand of God, we can’t question it.

That’s a bunch of hooey. I believe that God can be known and wants to be known. If we believe that Jesus was Immanuel, God in the flesh, then we must believe that we can draw nearer to the heart of God and understand who He is, up to and including His character and nature.
Through the person of Jesus is how we come to know God more clearly and more fully. This Jesus who loved the oppressed and cared for the marginalized is the knowledge of God. Through His kenosis, His humility, His sacrifice, His teachings, His love and His example we are able to know God.
And any view of God that does not align with the person of Christ must be re-addressed.
Because this same Jesus is the one who said:

“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me. Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father…I and the Father are one.”

and:

“…believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”

and:

“You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”

“and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

“If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

I could go on, but you get the point. God is knowable and He is knowable through the person, example and live of Jesus Christ.
So when we bump up against traditions, interpretations and understandings that conflict with the person of Christ then it behooves us to explore, wrestle and ask these questions anew. And the way to do that is to dig deeper into the heart of Christ.
He is the avenue through which we can greater understand the character and nature of God which is so bound up in His Love.

As a side note: I often hear people proof-text Isaiah 55:9 where God tells us that “my ways (are)higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” as proof that God can act contrary to what our perception of His character and nature is. However, it is important to note that the context of Isaiah 55 is the compassion of God. If we are faithful to that passage we can understand that God is far more capable of realizing what is consistent within Himself than we are. That is the mystery: How God can love and be so compassionate.

Next I want us to look at what Christ Himself has to say about issues of salvation. For He is the only way for us to truly know God.

For previous analysis and discussion click on the individual names: Mitt Romney, Hillary Clinton, Rudy Guiliani, John Edwards, and John McCain.

Again, another week passes without any changes to the field. I thought I would be in the market for a new candidate to support but for now the campaign marches on. And we are still waiting for the GOP to welcome it’s best hope into the field.

As always, we flip back across the aisle and this time take a look at Barack Obama. As one of the front-runners for the Democratic nomination in ’08 his profile is still on the ascendancy.

Pros: Polished, well-spoken, at the right place and time for America to elect someone other than a white male, a strong democrat not named Hillary, has appeal across the aisles and can play to minorities, staunch opposition to the boondoggle, for a universal health plan, has been a voice for the religious left paving the way for restoring ties between the Democratic party and people of faith, green

Cons: Does not have the fund-raising punch of Hillary, still a relative unknown compared to his major competitors, has to endure Fox news, not a clear proposal for universal health like Edwards, will deal with racial backlash, does not have much experience, young.

Analysis: Obama is a strong name that will continue to make waves during the primary campaign. Part of the question is whether or not he can endure the infighting between him and Hillary while withstanding Fox New’s smear campaigns against him.
I like Obama and would be firmly in his corner if Edwards had bowed out. I feel that he is a tremendous voice that can speak for those disenfranchised with both parties.
However, I fear that many voters, in the south primarily, are still both unable to admit their prejudices and unable to vote outside of their own demographic. That will play against Obama.
At the same time, I believe that Obama will resonate with the younger audience as his presence on social networking sites attests.
Ultimately, however, I would like to see him as a running mate, preferably for Edwards.

I’ve extolled the virtues of emusic on several occasions. When I joined backed some time ago I used it as opportunity to discover artists that will never get played on popular radio today. Let’s face it, truly good music isn’t on radio stations that are prone to offer up the latest schlock from Justin Timberlake and Avril Lavigne.

It was hard to limit this to just 10 artists so these are the top artists that I have discovered on emusic. I did not know of them prior. And here is the great deal: if you decide you want to give emusic a try, let me know and I will send you an invitation for 25 free downloads. If you like it and stick around as a customer, I get 50 free downloads .

To give you a greater feel for these artists I include a video for each of them. That also helped me whittle down the list to those I could find a music video for, either by them or some college student with a lot of free time.

10. Storyhill–I just found these guys this week. Incredible harmonies remind me of the mid 90s duo, The Williams Brothers. This video “Give Up the Ghost” is from their new self-titled album.

9. Melissa Mclelland–Looks can be deceiving, and Melissa’s girl next door demeanor belies the angst and acidity of her lyrics. Her album, Stranded in Suburbia, had me laughing at loud with her ability to turn a phrase. This is the mainstream radio ready “Jaded.”

8. Ben Kweller–Hard to believe this guy is just 25. He rocks with some tight songwriting skills. This song, “Sundress,” is from his eponymous album.

7. Hem–I have lauded Hem many times on this blog. I could listen to Sally Ellyson’s beautiful vocals all day long. And I have many times. This song is called Red Wing.

6. Dan Bern–I discovered Bern when I was researching protest music. He has the vocal stylings and lyrical sensibility of a young Dylan. This is the title track off his latest album, Breathe.

5. David Berkeley–If you like Nick Drake, then you will love David Berkeley. I thought this was a well done video using his song “Fire Sign.”

4. Brett Dennen–This guy may look like he’s just 12 years old but he is one of the best up and coming songwriters out there. The TV show Scrubs used his song “Ain’t No Reason” this past week. Hopefully this will mean more publicity for him besides the cable commercial. This video is for the song “There is So Much More,” a post-9/11 reaction song.

3. Josh Joplin–Great songwriting. Terrific band. I had a hard time finding a good video. This is from some video game using the song “Camera One.”

2. Jeff Black–I cannot say enough good stuff about this guy. Both albums that are available on emusic are absolutely stellar. The only video I could find was using clips from “24.” It’s called “Hard Way Out”

1. Matt Nathanson–Matt is one of my favorite artists. His most recent studio album, alas, is not available on emusic, but his recent live album is. And his is a consummate live artist. Check out the song Sing Me Sweet below:

Let me know your thoughts on these artists. Any you recommend? And let me know if you want the free emusic trial.

Toward the end of last year I did a lengthy series on non-violence and Christianity. It received tremendous feedback and, although we did not reach complete agreement, the discussion was overwhelmingly civil and productive. Each of us that participated were stretched and challenged by the discussion.

Although there is more that I want to say on non-violence, I believe that my position is fairly well staked out. I am opposed to war and the idea that violence can be redemptive. Again, I realize I may be among the minority but I can argue and defend my position from a conservative and scholarly approach to Scripture.

However, that discussion led me further in my study on entrenched doctrines. For years I had questioned the nature of hell, salvation and God’s love. But I resisted any serious wrestling because I wasn’t ready to understand that maybe I was wrong. That maybe what we have taught and believed about salvation and hell relied on misinterpretations. But now, although I know there is a great amount of risk involved, I want to look at the nature of salvation, or soteriology.

I believe that now is a great time for a discussion such as this as I am encountering more and more people in the evangelical world wrestling with these issues.

Let me begin this study by using a paraphrase of the beginning of my nonviolence study. I am not a universalist. At least I don’t fall in the camp of what people traditionally view as universalism. My views and understandings are far more nuanced than that. Just as pacifism conveys a meaning that is misleading, so does universalism. Allow me to coin my own term: I am a Redemptive Reconciliationist.

Leading into this discussion let me make several clarifying comments as both a disclaimer and an establishment of common ground:

1. I believe in hell.
2. I believe that unrepented sins produce dire consequences.
3. I believe that God’s Sovereignty, His desire that no one should perish, and our free will are not incompatible.
4. I believe many passages that describe the horrors of hell are for believers who will be held accountable for how they engage the lost, the marginalized and the least of these.
5. I believe that God’s justice is bound up in His love.
6. I believe that a Redemptive Reconciliation approach is consistent with a conservative view of Scripture.

In the coming weeks I want us to look anew at the passages in scripture that deal with ideas such as eternity, heaven, hell, punishment, salvation, God’s love, and God’s justice. I will probably reserve this to Monday’s post. I ask several things of you in return:

1. Be civil as always. These are controversial ideas. But I am convinced that we can provide an atmosphere that we can discuss these with brotherly love.
2. Be open-minded to differing opinions. If you can’t handle a discussion on these matters then please skip over these entries.
3. Agree to disagree. Godly men and women can draw different conclusions.
4. Don’t mistake my posts as statements of certainty. I am working through this myself.
5. Please participate in the discussion. But limit it to the topic at hand. If we are discussing God’s love don’t jump ahead to a singular passage about hell.
6. Be patient with me as the moderator. I am on shaky ground.

I am not an academician. I hope that this will be an accessible discussion for us as we wrestle with some weighty topics. There are far loftier minds than mine that I will rely on including Gregory MacDonald, Thomas Talbott, Gerry Beauchemin, and Richard Beck. I also hope my long-time friend Jeff Richardson will be a leading voice in this discussion.

I know I owe you after yesterday’s video. Here is one of the most beautiful and moving songs I’ve heard in a while.

I haven’t done any listening to Nick Cave before, but I plan to after hearing this song. Wikipedia says that he is a Christian but a troubled one. The lyrics to this tune, Into My Arms, is from the perspective of someone without faith wishing that they possessed it for the benefits it would give to the one they love. Check it out and tell me what you think. Lyrics below the vid.

I don’t believe in an interventionist God
But I know, darling, that you do
But if I did I would kneel down and ask Him
Not to intervene when it came to you
Not to touch a hair on your head
To leave you as you are
And if He felt He had to direct you
Then direct you into my arms

Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms

And I don’t believe in the existence of angels
But looking at you I wonder if that’s true
But if I did I would summon them together
And ask them to watch over you
To each burn a candle for you
To make bright and clear your path
And to walk, like Christ, in grace and love
And guide you into my arms

Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms

But I believe in Love
And I know that you do too
And I believe in some kind of path
That we can walk down, me and you
So keep your candles burning
And make her journey bright and pure
That she will keep returning
Always and evermore

Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms

I have it in my head that Monday and Thursday are to be my more in-depth postings. It doesn’t always work out that way, especially when behind on my sermon (Jude). I had to take the two little ones to MDO today so I’m behind. I’m wanting to do a series on hell and salvation but I’m still working up the nerve.

In the meantime, here are some more tidbits:

–Rock On, Edwards.

–We signed an offer sheet on our house on Tuesday. We have to find a rental, repair a fence, pack, move, have two birthday parties and close all between now and April 16th. I’m not worried.

–With the sale of our house and our tax return we will be able to get out of debt except for my car. That’s good news.

–My wife has been appointed the PTA president for our daughter’s elementary school next year. I’m the first husband. Congrats, honey.

–Matt Elliott is the reason I gave up showering.

–Update on the Spam War: I’m still getting slammed. I just added a feature where first time commenters have to be approved. I hate that and I don’t want to resort to moderation because I value the discussion on here too much. And I hate the word verification. Another trick I might try is closing comments after 30 days but as far as I can see I have to go back and do that manually. I’m open to other suggestions.

–This is the greatest.invention.ever. But my wife says it’s too expensive. I say you have to shell out the cash for such a culinary breakthrough.

–My Quote of the day:

“In all our preaching and teaching about the hope which the gospel makes possible, we have to keep steadily in view the fact that what the gospel offers is not just hope for the individual but hope for the world. Concretely I think this means that the congregation must be so deeply and intimately involved in the secular concerns of the neighborhood that it becomes clear to everyone that no one or nothing is outside the range of God’s love in Jesus. Christ’s message, the original gospel, was about the coming of the kingdom of God, that is to say God’s kingly rule over the whole of creation and the whole of humankind. That is the only authentic gospel. And that means that every part of human life is within the range of the gospel message: in respect of everything, the gospel brings the necessity for choice between the rule of God and the negation of that rule. If the good news is to be authentically communicated, it must be clear that the church is concerned about the rule of God and not about itself. It must be clear, that is, that the local congregation cares for the well-being of the whole community and not just for itself. This will lead to much involvement in local issues of all kinds.” – Leslie Newbigin

–And finally. This is the greatest music video ever. Honestly. Do yourself a favor and watch it. It’ll transform you:

For the entry and discussion on Hillary, click here. (50)

For the entry and discussion on Rudy Giuliani, click here. (40)

For the entry and discussion on John Edwards, click here. (62)

For the entry and discussion on John McCain, click here. (18)

(Noting the comment totals, I must ask: does this mean the Democrats are more popular than the Republicans among my blog readers? And is this scientific enough to give Edwards the advantage in ’08?)

Now, we move back again to the GOP side of the aisle and if all the speculation over new aspirants tossing their hat in the ring, we have to ask: who isn’t running for the Republican nomination?

Let’s turn our gaze now to the incomparable Mitt Romney. News just came out that Orrin Hatch has endorsed him for 2008. That’s no surprise but with the election this far out you will take any positive press you can get. Maybe Hatch is angling to play at the inauguration.

Pros: Is the conservative that Guiliani and McCain are not (although McCain is desperately trying to repaint himself as one), not a senator, sterling job as the director of the 2002 Winter Olympics, married once with no skeletons having emerged (yet), his work to provide health care for all Massachusetts residents, knows how to revitalize industries and eliminate red-tape; more political endorsements thus far than any other candidate.

Cons: question on whether his Mormonism would prevent evangelicals from voting for him; a record of flip-flopping and equivocation on important conservative issues; “tar baby” and Hitler ads being linked to his campaign; Not present as governor his final year in office; joined the NRA as a political move off-setting the gun-control efforts while in office; supports the “surge,” has no where near the clout, record or legitimacy to be a viable candidate.

Analysis: Ultimately, I believe that the evangelical bloc of the Republican party will be unable to pull the lever for a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Despite the fact that he agrees with them (at least he says he does, now) on their key issues of abortion and gay marriage, they won’t be able to get behind him. Their discomfort with Romney as the champion of conservative values is evidenced by the “adopt Newt” and “adopt Fred” movements.
While I applaud some of the moves that he made as governor, such as health care and gun control, there are too many issues where I disagree with him for me to feel comfortable about his candidacy.
I believe that Romney’s position in the “top three” of Republican contenders early on is akin to seat fillers at the Oscars when the legitimate contenders are taking bathroom breaks. He is keeping that chair warm for an approved conservative which paves the way for a Gingrich, Thompson, or (shudder) Huckabee to step in. He’s not nominate-able, nor is he electable. He has no legitimate shot and his treatment as a front-runner for the GOP election is a joke.

I realized earlier that the curmudgeon hasn’t appeared in a while. As hard as I try to suppress him, he lurks underneath. Every once in a while he has to appear.

He presents to you now things that are really getting under his skin. Just bubbling under the list are people who are incapable of seeing nuance and news show banter. I mean, really, just give us the news. I don’t really care to see how well the meteorologist and the sports anchor get on.

Anyway:

10. Close Talkers–Not just any close talkers. I understand that some people might not have the boundary issues that I do. It’s the close talkers who won’t take the hint when I back up. Me taking a step backwards is NOT a cue for you to take a step forward. M’kay?

9. Birthday Parties–OK, maybe my folks were phoning it in. I didn’t have a birthday party every year. And either I wasn’t invited or my friends didn’t have one every year either. But if this rate of expansion continues I will have to quit my job just to be able to take my kids to all the birthday parties that they and their little friends have.

8. Use of the term “the church” exclusively for the Church of Christ. 1952 called. They want their isolationism, arrogance and exclusivism back.

7. Credit Agencies–Two notes for you bottom feeders: 1) Neither Gwendolyn Jackson nor Sheila Nichols live at my house. So they cannot talk to you about whatever sum they owe you. 2) You can keep calling on behalf of ADT. We don’t owe them money. And we ain’t paying.

6. Joakim Noah. I don’t think I’ve rooted AGAINST an athlete this hard since Christian Laettner.

5. Check Writing. Seriously, who still uses these things? They are called Debit Cards. Quicker and easier. And you don’t have to write a check for a .72 cent purchase. And isn’t there something a little sad about writing a check for a lottery ticket?

4. Hewitt Cops–OK, so tickets are your sole source of revenue. I get that. You can’t be hired anywhere else unless you want to work the graveyard shift providing security for the local apartment complex. I understand. But, that doesn’t give you the right to prey on your citizens. And don’t tell me that ONE single street in town needs a 20 MPH speed limit when EVERY OTHER ONE IN THE AREA is 30 MPH. And don’t tell me because it’s near a school. There are 6 streets closer to the school and they are all 30. THE STINKING SCHOOL ZONE is 30 MPH for crying out loud. The only reason that one street is 20 is to prey on fine upstanding citizens who might drive a skoch too fast. Not that I know, mind you. I just hear people talking.

3. Game/Reality Show Suspense–Do you really need to drag out who is getting eliminated or opening the stupid briefcase? Just tell us! Look at the long-standing success of Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. They don’t wait until they return from commercial break to see if the double jeopardy question is right or if the vowel is up on the board. You want to know why these shows have such a short shelf life? People get tired of waiting.

2. Spell-Check. Come on. If you know how to log onto a computer, you should be able to know how to proof your work.

1. Spam–It’s killing me. I installed a second filter yesterday and it says it has already blocked 460 attempts. I want to utilize mybloglog on my sidebar but, as you can see, it has already been spammed by cleo and litllolita. Do me a favor: don’t vote for Cleo. And stop spamming me. Please.

–One bad thing about WordPress is that it is overly spam-friendly. I have a good filter but occasionally a few get through onto my comments. And sometimes legitimate comments get hung up for moderation or swooped up in the spam filter. I don’t moderate comments with the exception of one individual who posted several offensive comments about me some months ago. Over the past few days the number of spam messages getting caught by my filter has topped out at about 2000 per day. 2000! As a result, I may have lost some comments in the mix. If so, I apologize for that. I have added an additional layer of spam protection so hopefully I’ll quit being deluged. If you get lost in the mix please let me know. The last thing I want to do is go all blogger on my comments and require people to enter squiggly letters. I hate that.

–You can also see that I added a new feature where you can subscribe to comments. This will inform you when there are follow-ups to your comments to aid discussion.

–Soulforce is at Baylor. But Baylor ain’t talking. The VP of Student Life has stated that they are “committed to treating the riders with Christian grace and love” but that they “would not grant their requests for university-approved dialogue.” More as it unfolds.

–Stan Heath. In or out? I personally think it might be time to part ways.

–I’ve blogged a bit recently about whether or not there is room at the church table for those with differing views. I have a follow-up question for you before I proceed with a series I want to do: what doctrines or beliefs do you currently hold that you feel either need to be re-examined or you hold without having done much study on? In other words, is there any aspect of our faith and belief system that you have just always assumed to be true? My view of hell has fallen in that category.