Although Ransom does return in this, he is no longer the main character, nor is it set in outer space. The locale this time is the planet Earth. One of the reasons I loved this one more than the others is the dystopian bent that it has.

The fallen eldila have taken over a British university town. The changes that wreaks on the community and their desire to leave behind all traces of subjectivity are at the heart of this novel. Once again, I won’t go too much into plot details because I whole-heartedly and unreservedly encourage you to read this trilogy.

This book is most likely Lewis’ most forthright political work pointing out in turn the dangers of materialism, nihilism and Imperialism. In addition, there is a tremendous debt that is owed to Arthurian legend, the tower of Babel (from whence comes the title) and the dystopian thrillers of that era.

Two select excerpts:

“Theology!” said Mr. Straik with profound contempt. “It’s not theology I’m talking about, young man, but the Lord Jesus. Theology is talk–eyewash–a smoke screen–a game for rich men. It wasn’t in lecture rooms I found the Lord Jesus. It was in the coal pits, and beside the coffin of my daughter.

You do not fail i obedience through lack of love, but have lost love because you never attempted obedience.

I’m not always comfortable with Lewis’ conclusions and his poorly painted egalitarian picture of St. Anne’s fails to overcome his somewhat oppressive portrait of the book’s heroine, Jane. In addition, I think the book somewhat flounders in the last third.
Overall, however I give the book a solid A

I’m now trying to decide how long a break to take on Lewis before I begin the final push of 7 books until Narnia.

• Sunday Morning Class will consist of an overview of that week’s book.
• Our Sermon time will continue the “Scarlet Thread” series.  Throughout the NT we will move from the prophecies of the Hebrew Scriptures to the lessons that Jesus has to teach us.
• Sunday night will be spent dealing with special issues and controversial passages that arise in our weekly reading and study.
• Wednesday Night will be a devotional thought from the book of the Week.

Following is a TENTATIVE list of what the sermon schedul will be. As I began to plot out each book I settled on the theme of what Jesus calls us to be.  However, I began to have this gnawing feeling that there was something wrong.  Then I realized that the “Be…” idea had already been done by Warren Wiersbe.  In no way am I trying to replow his ground, so I did not look at the titles of his series until I was done.  Although there might be some overlap in title’s, I believe that my series will be quite different from his.

Also, notice that Romans is left up in the air.  I will be out of town for my 20th high school reunion that weekend.  Since I recently spent 9 months on Romans I feel like someone else should take a stab at it.

I covet your thoughts and feedback on this schedule.

September 10—A Voice in the Wilderness

September 17—Matthew (Be Holy)

September 24—Mark (Be Changed)

October 1—Luke (Be on the Margins)

October 8—John (The Power of “I Am”)

October 15—Acts (Be  Missional)

October 22—Romans (TBA)

October 29—1 Corinthians (Be Pure)

November 5—2 Corinthians (Be Reconciled)

November 12—Galatians (Be Free)

November 19—Ephesians (Be One)

November 26—Philippians (Be Humble)

December 3—Colossians (Be Complete)

December 10—1 Thessalonians (Be Ready)

December 17—2 Thessalonians (Be Healthy)

December 24—TBA

December 31–TBA

January 7–1 Timothy (Be Faithful)

January 14—2 Timothy (Be Diligent)

January 21—Titus (Be Encouraging)

January 28—Philemon (Be Merciful)

February 4—Hebrews (Be Bold)

February 11—James (Be Perseverant)

February 18—1 Peter (Be Overcomers)

February 25—2 Peter (Be Assured)

March 4—1 John (Be Alive)

March 11—2 John (Be Obedient)

March 18—3 John (Be There)

March 25—Jude (Be Secure)

April 1—Revelation (Be Assured)

April 8—Job (He Mediates)

April 15—Psalms (He is Praised)

April 22—Proverbs (He is Wise)

April 29—Ecclesiastes (He is the Source)

May 6—Song of Solomon (He is Lover)

1. My first name is Leslie.  No, I don’t know what my parents were thinking.
2. My dad founded a Christian school in Little Rock.  I graduated from that school, Central Arkansas Christian, in 1986.
3. I had a scholarship to go to Freed-Hardeman and major in Bible.
4. I had multiple fears as a child: dark, germ, storms, and Alice Cooper.
5. My parents were both 40 when I was born.
6. I’m the youngest of 5 children. 4 boys and 1 girl.  There is a 7 year difference between me and my sister, my closest sibling.
7. I largely taught myself how to swim and ride a bike.  I still don’t swim very well.
8. My mom was heavily involved in Market Research and opinion polling while I was growing up.
9. I’m a huge Barry Manilow fan.  I blame my sister for this.
10. My favorite meal as a kid was Mustard and Ketchup sandwiches.  I was an extremely picky eater and fight that to this day.
11. I was not a great student growing up.  I loved to read and learn.  I just hated being told what to read and learn.
12. I went to, and eventually graduated from, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
13. I had several majors including English, Journalism, Psychology and Education before I settled on Philosophy.
14. I squeezed 4 years of college into 6.
15. Surprisingly, I was not very smooth with the ladies growing up.
16. I can name every best picture and best actor Oscar winner and have seen every one.
17. I lived in the same house the first 24 years of my life.
18. I’ve lived in 12 houses or apartments over the last 14 years.
19. My first job was at Wendy’s. I lasted a couple of months.
20. I never pictured myself as a preacher.
21. I’m still not sure how that happened.
22. I someday hope to write a book.
23. My favorite Bible story is Hosea and Gomer.
24. I miss having the time to play video games.
25. Any stories I tell about athletic exploits are probably greatly exaggerated.
26. I do everything in order.  From checking my websites to taking a shower.  There is a systematic way to do it.
27. I once sold Rainbow Vacuum cleaners. I didn’t actually sell any of them, though.
28. My favorite color is purple.
29. I can be extremely difficult to live with.
30. I hate going anywhere that you need an appointment.
31. My favorite movie is Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
32. I’ve lived in 5 states (Arkansas, Tennessee, New Mexico, Michigan, and Texas), but I’ll always be an Arkansan.
33. I have a Master’s Degree in Expository Preaching.
34. I don’t like leftovers.
35. My favorite food is a good burger or pizza.
36. I’m extremely hard on myself.
37. I used to work at Kroger in the meat department.
38. I’m overwhelmingly blessed.  But you already knew that one,didn’t you?

1. We often view God as Creator in the past tense.  I’m afraid that we approach those initial 6 days as the totality of His creating.  But there is so much that He is still doing.
2. I’m struck by the cyclization of the Israelite people: from Exile to Exodus to Establishing to Establishment/Evil back to Exile.  I don’t have this fleshed out completely, but I believe there is much warning for us in that.
3. You can preach Jesus from every single book of the OT, a worthwhile study of the enormity of “The Word.”
4. God and the Israelites were not on the same page when it came to the temple.
5. God and the Israelites were not on the same page when it came to the nation.
6. God and the Israelites were usually not on the same page.
7. I wonder how often we are on the same page with God.
8. The Prophets may well be the most misinterpreted segment of Scripture.  Over and over, preparing my sermons, I saw other preachers drawing parallels between Israel and the United States.  This is a flawed, and ultimately, unhealthy exegesis.  The modern day parallel is between Israel and the church.
9. All institutions will fall.  All that remains will be those faithful to Him.
10. God loves the poor and the forgotten.  He really loves them.
11. God is angered when we ignore the poor and forgotten.
12. God is angered when we give our allegiance to anything over and above Him.
13. He is so incredibly patient.
14. Don’t be on the wrong side when His patience abates, however.  The “Day of the Lord” is a frightful thing for the idolatrous and oppressive.
15. God is as graceful in the Old Testament as He is in the New.
16. Jesus was, and is, the ultimate in-breaking of the Kingdom of God.
17. Jesus would ultimately turn upside down the Israelite notions of Kingdom, Nation, Rule, Law, Politics, Temple, Sabbath and Community.
18. I believe He often does the same thing with our 21st Century Western notions of those things as well.
19. While He was, and is, King, in the minds of many He was the anti-King.
20. Reading the Old Testament with Messianic expectancy is a beautiful under-taking.
21. Our stubborn refusal to regularly take spiritual inventory of our own lives should slow us from being too condescending to the immorality of the Jewish people.
22. He is God.

I have so many more thoughts, but that’s enough for now.  What thoughts do you have?

Sunday Morning Class—Jewish Culture in the Time of Jesus

June 4—Introduction
June 11—Second Temple Judaism
June 18—Hellenism
June 25—The Maccabaean Rebellion
July 2—Procurators
July 9—The Religion of the Jews
July 16—Religious Festivals
July 23—Source Texts
July 30—The Trial of Jesus
August 6—Jewish Sects
August 13—Hillel
August 20—The Gospels
August 27—The Cleaving of World Religions

Sunday Morning Sermon Series—Great Themes of the Old Testament

June 4—God
June 11–Creation
June 18—The Fall
June 25—Covenant
July 2—Law
July 9—Wilderness
July 16—Glory
July 23—Holy Spirit
July 30—Idolatry
August 6—Justice
August 13—Blood
August 20—Presence
August 27—Grace

Sunday Night Class—Redeeming Issues

June 4—Introduction to Issues (Jesus Excepted)
June 11–Stem Cell Research
June 18—Intelligent Design
June 25—Homosexuality
July 2—The Prosperity Gospel
July 9—Wealth
July 16—Abortion and a Consistent Ethic of Human Life
July 23— Immigration
July 30—Non-Violence and Torture
August 6—Just War
August 13—Church and State
August 20—America and Christianity
August 27—Open Theism

I look forward to these studies over the summer months. Join us if you can.

Here is just a partial list of the things in recent months that have fallen under the mantle of suspicion and scandalous behavior:

• Barry Bonds and the rampant use of Steroids in Major League Baseball
• Crash winning the Best Picture Oscar and the resultant cries of homophobia for those who thought Brokeback Mountain deserved the prize.
• The ongoing Enron trials and allegations of corporate malfeasance among Fortune 500 Companies such as Worldcom and Tyco.
• Abu Ghraib and torture
• Lobbying improprieties

The list could go on and on of the crimes and misdemeanors of public figures. The more visible that you are the more tragic your fall will be when it occurs.

Part of that is due to our insatiable curiosity when it comes to the trials and struggles of others. We rubberneck, we gawk and we discuss. It’s a 24 hour news cycle. If it bleeds it leads. And if it smells it sells.

There have been many scandals in my life. I have seen seemingly countless leaders, ministers, politicians and sports figures fall. That is one of the reasons that so many in my generation have struggled trusting public figures. We have felt betrayed and lied to.
But there is one scandal that trumps them all: the Scandalon.

A Scandalon is a stumbling block. It is something that caused people to fall and to flounder.

It can be something so small as an irregularity in the sidewalk.

The message of Jesus. His Good News. His life and His death are the ultimate scandalon. The beauty and the power of the message of this God in the Flesh is just how almost unbelievable it is.

That God would come and lower himself to the status of man, endure humiliation and torture is unthinkable. But He did.

And because He did, we are forced to look into our own lives and see the scandal of sin, to recognize our own moral bankruptcy. For we are scandalous people:

• We are juiced on our own pride and ego.
• We are guilty of our own hatreds and prejudices.
• We have lied, cheated and stolen far too often.
• We are sinners.

And we must look at the Christ and abandon our own pride. Lay aside our ego and confess that He is Lord. We must cling to Him as the sole hope for our lives.

And for many to do that is scandalous. It is unthinkable.

It means dying to self. And that is a tall order. Instead, oftentimes, we hide behind our meager defenses, offering excuses for our offenses that provides little justification of our behavior.

Let us look at the Scandalon. Let us live. Let us leave behind our attempts to be good, holy and right and allow Him to be good, holy and right through us. Maybe we in the church need to be a little more offended.

Offended by our ego. Offended by our self-righteousness. Offended by our sins.

Scandalon

Michael Card

The seers and the prophets had foretold it long ago That the long awaited one would make men stumble
But they were looking for a king to conquer and to kill Who'd have ever thought He'd be so weak and humble

He will be the truth that will offend them one and all A stone that makes men stumble
And a rock that makes them fall Many will be broken so that He can make them whole
And many will be crushed and lose their own soul

Along the path of life there lies a stubborn Scandalon And all who come this way must be offended
To some He is a barrier, To others He's the way For all should know the scandal of believing

]]> http://scottfreeman.info/2006/03/17/scandalon/feed/ 2 http://scottfreeman.info/2006/03/10/words-that-shake-my-soul/ http://scottfreeman.info/2006/03/10/words-that-shake-my-soul/#comments Fri, 10 Mar 2006 15:48:12 +0000 Scott http://scottfreeman.info/?p=233 O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;

Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.
–Robert Robinson (Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing)

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.
The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.
–John Rippon (How Firm a Foundation)

Is it for me, dear Savior,
Thy glory and Thy rest,
For me, so weak and sinful?
O shall I be so blessed?
O Savior, my Redeemer,
What can I but adore,
And magnify and praise Thee,
And love Thee evermore?
–Frances Havergal (Is It For Me?)

I stand amazed in the presence
Of Jesus the Nazarene,

And wonder how He could love me,
A sinner, condemned, unclean.
–Charles Gabriel (I Stand Amazed)

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.
I need Thee, O I need Thee;
Every hour I need Thee;
O bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee.
–Annie Hawks (I Need Thee Every Hour)

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign.
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;

If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

I love Thee because Thou has first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree.
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,

And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;
And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.
–William Featherston (My Jesus, I Love Thee)

There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.
Lose all their guilty stains, lose all their guilty stains;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.
E’er since, by faith, I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.
And shall be till I die, and shall be till I die;

Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.
–William Cowper (There Is A Fountain)

What about you? What songs have shaped your faith?

That phrase is this: I would rather be guilty of loving too much than judging too much.

I try to approach all of my dealings with people from that perspective. And it has made all the difference.
If I am to err in my dealings with people, let them accuse me of loving them more than being critical. More than being dismissive. More than judging.
You see, I’ve done too much judging in my life. I have typecast, stereotyped and dismissed.
I have lived my life with such an either/or mentality that I have failed to embody love.
Either they are strong and devout Christians that agree with me on all of the necessary issues or they are pagans and heathens bound for hell who need to know Jesus and His love.
Of course, there was no way that haughty attitude I possessed was going to bring them anywhere into the vicinity of the love of Christ.
I have driven past the beggar because it was “just a scam” or “they could get a job but they don’t want one.”
I have resisted going into “certain areas” because “a guy can get killed there.”
I have marginalized and dismissed people who fail to look like me, act like me, believe like me, or talk like me.
And too many of us Christians are guilty of this. We judge far more than we love.
I removed a post about me seeing “Brokeback Mountain” because of several comments left that were just hateful and would never shed the love of Christ upon a seeking or hurting soul.

(Side Note: I don’t wear my wedding ring because it slides off my finger. When I lost all my weight it no longer fit. However, when I went to see that movie I put it on, because I didn’t want anyone to think I was “one of them.” I too, still, have a long way to go.)

Of course, such a phrase does not remain impervious to criticism that it is somewhat shallow theology. The reason that it opens itself up to such criticism is that we have co-opted the gospel to be something different than what it truly is.

I hear people all the time say that “we have to stand up for the truth.” That the Christian voice has to be heard among the din of evil voices that are seeking to topple the freedom of religious expression that we enjoy in this country. That if we don’t speak out against sin then we will hasten our destruction. That we must not “water down” the truth by blindly loving.

Excuse me, but that is shallow theology.

When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment of all was, He did not say it was to speak against the evils of Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, or Baptists.
He did not say to rail against homosexuals.
He did not say to boycott and picket forms of entertainment that run counter to our belief system.

He said to love. Love God. Love our neighbors.
The Christian life distilled down to two simple, yet profound, principles: Loving Him and loving others.
None of this is to say that we take a soft view on sin. However, it does mean that we take a softer view on people. Seek to love first, before we cast judgment.
Seek to understand before we condemn.
Seek to embrace before we exclude.

“But we have to speak the TRUTH in love” people will say. That’s what Paul told us to do in Ephesians 4. We have to show these people where they are wrong, right?
How about we show them Jesus, instead?
How about we allow the love of Christ to penetrate their souls and change them?
If we are to speak Truth then we must know that Jesus is the Truth.
Same with love.
So our speech must be that of how Christ would speak to
us. That changes how I proclaim the sinful state of fallen people.
We
use that passage to justify falling on either extreme: bludgeoning
people with “truth” or coddling them with “love” rather than engaging
them with Jesus.

You see, Jesus was very explicit in His answer to what the greatest command truly is: to love.

Because of His insistence of the importance of this, I would rather be guilty of loving too much than judging too much.

And if I truly love people then they will see Jesus in me. If I come along side them in their daily struggles embodying the love and mercy of Jesus to them, then they will want to know more about Him, right?

And when you come to know Jesus you are changed. And when you come to know Jesus you are no longer afraid to face the Judge.

Let each of us seek to be guilty of loving too much. For when we love as Jesus loved then the world will be changed. Debts will be forgiven, sins will be cleansed, lives will be changed.
Jesus will be proclaimed and a profound theology will be espoused.

Lord, forgive me for the people who have heard me preach or teach and experienced only condemnation and not your love. Lord, forgive me for the hurting souls that I have dismissed because I judged them before I loved them. Lord forgive me for judging too much and loving too little.

I know there are times when children need to be told that they can’t have the buffet or they need to keep their shoes on, but it shouldn’t be an arbitrary thing. It should be times when it’s the only workable option or makes godly sense. Otherwise, it makes no sense–especially if you are trying to treat your child the way God treats us. Kids inside homes where nonmoral issues are elevated to a level of big problems don’t get to experience the kind of acceptance that makes a heart feel securely loved.Instead they live with a barrage of nitpicking criticism, receiving put-downs because they are curious, anxious, excited, helpless, carefree, or absent-minded.

The girls in my life each have beautiful personalities, full of independence, spunk and wonder. When I curtail that because I have elevated compliance to my makeshift list of rules and expectations as the indicator of faithfulnes, I have failed to encourage God’s creation.
When personality traits become referendums on character then I fail to be the husband I need to be.
When curious questions become an inconvenience, when excitement is greeted with exasperation, when wonder is thwarted by cynicism, then I withhold grace.

I don’t want to be that parent.
Cassie, dance until your legs fail to propel you.
Chloe, ask until your curiosity is sated.
Shayla, demand to be held until you feel held back.
Tracy, don’t worry about that closet door. I’ll close it.

I love each of you too much not to extend the grace of Christ.

Growing up, however, I was called by a lot of different names that were not my choosing. I had bad acne, was overweight and had bad teeth. I was a convenient target for a lot of name-calling.
It hurt. Some days, when I am truly honest and reflective, it still does.
I longed for the day that I would grow up and the name calling would cease.

Because adults, especially Christian adults, would never stoop to name-calling, right?
Right?
Refined, educated, godly people would never resort to slurs or epithets, would they?

What I have found, instead, is an all too pervasive proclivity to brandish people with derogatory aspersions. And I know that it grieves God.
I am amazed by how Christians will condescend to name-calling with those that we disagree with:
Homosexuals are a ‘bunch of queers,’ ‘sicko’s,’ ‘fruits,’ ‘perverts’ or ‘fags.’ Despite the fact that they are children of God.
Muslims are ‘towel heads,’ ‘stans’ and they are all ‘zealous fanatics hell-bent on destroying the world.’ Despite the fact that they are children of God.
Environmentalists are ‘tree huggers’ and ‘environmentalist wackos.’ Despite the fact that they are children of God.
Those who are pro-choice are ‘baby-killers.’ Despite the fact that they are children of God.
Democrats are ‘commies,’ ‘pinko scum’ and ‘America haters.’ Despite the fact that they are children of God.
African Americans are, well you get the point.

To me, the saddest part of all of this is that these are phrases that I hear coming out of the mouth of Christians. In the defense of what we believe to be true and right we have marginalized and stereotyped the very people that our Savior died for.
I preached yesterday on the prophecy of Jesus as the Shepherd in Ezekiel 34. The NT parallel to that is found in John 10 where Jesus proclaims that He is the Good Shepherd. He also proclaims that His sheep know His voice (v. 3)
How sad and appalling, nay damnable, it is that so many precious souls of God never get to hear the voice of the Shepherd because all they hear from His sheep is hatred and slurs.
And undestand this, it is hatred. Everytime we utter the slur or insult, hatred has seized our heart.
We will never win the souls of homosexuals, Muslims, etc if we stand on the periphery of their lives and hurl our insults their way.
We can disagree with their lifestyle choices or political views all day long but there is NEVER any defense for invective.
Yes, we need to “speak the truth in love.” However, aspersions are neither true, nor are they love. If Jesus is the Truth, and I believe Him to be, then we must approach those He loves as we would approach Him.
Christians, when we resort to name-calling then we negate an opportunity to be Christ to others. Jesus is our example, not Ann Coulter (I pray that she will experience God’s love).

Growing up when I was called ‘fatty’ or ‘bucky’ or ‘zit-face’ it tore me up. When I turn my ire upon someone else today through the same weapon of name-calling I grieve the Lord.
Let’s end the name calling and instead be the voice of the Good Shepherd in a lost and dying world, shall we?