Summer Reading List

Interfaith Research:

Acts of Faith - Patel (192)

Five Voices Five Faiths - Hughes (126)

Tea with Hezbollah - Dekker (256)

Reclaiming Beauty for the Good of the World - Dardess (280)

Religious Contemplation:

Heaven is for Real - Burpo (192)

A Severe Mercy - Vanauken (240)

Weight of Glory - Lewis (208)

Pilgrim's Progress - Bunyan (192)

Love Wins - Bell (224)

Entertainment:

The Book Thief - Zusak (576)

The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party - McCall Smith (224)

The Lost Symbol - Brown (528)

Sophomoric Musings

The culmination of sophomore year was realized today upon the last day of classes. Many lessons had been learned in preparation for future studies and careers. One lesson concerned bureaucracy.

Max Weber was one of the principle writers of the theory of bureaucracy, which was believed to create a formal system to ensure efficiency and effectiveness. Five principles, according to Weber, were required for the implementation of bureaucracy. Henri Fayol identified fourteen principles of bureaucratic management, including division of labor, centralization, discipline, and subordination of individual interests to the common interests. Norms, standard operating procedures, and rules are typical means by which such methodology is implemented.

Ironically, the very theory implemented to ensure efficiency and effectiveness has a connotation of the opposite. Quite frequently, the very norms and standard operating procedures meant to ensure effectiveness do so at the expense of efficiency. This is no profound statement for it has been experienced by all at the BMV, academia, and within the church.

Unlike the practices of the world, faith has no bureaucratic red tape. There are no standard operating procedures necessary to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. No procedures and rules are required for acceptance of the grace and love of the redeeming blood of Christ. Frequently though, since bureaucracy is a staple part of worldly lifestyle, man has tried to implement such practices in the name of religion in order to transform faith into comfortable, understandable human thought. Such transformation is in vain for faith requires a reliance on Christ and not the rules of man.

Many lessons over the past academic year have evolved into papers, exams and projects. Thankfully, beyond academic work, the lessons of the classroom can be transformed to teach us eternal lessons about the nature of the living of God.

The Gospel of...Works

Editor's Note: Part five of six in a series entitled "The Gospel of..."

Jesus says, "If you love me, you will obey my commands." This is a cause and effect relationship that cannot be reversed, for to obey commands without love for the commander is to not obey them at all. Thus, the faith of the believer because of the love for Christ, results in adherence to His commands, which manifests itself in the Spirit through good deeds of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

If man could earn eternal salvation through deeds, indeed no man would be worthy.

"...we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ," the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Galatia.

And, true, faith without works is dead, for it is out of love for Christ and His commands that our works find meaning.

Thanks be to God that we are saved through His love and rejoice in this love through the fulfillment of His commandments and service to the ends of the earth in praise.

Interfaith Dialogue

Editor’s Note: This was written in response to World Religions Week held at Taylor University April 4-7, 2011. The article was published April 15, 2011 in The Echo of Taylor University.

The mission of Taylor University is to develop servant leaders marked with a passion to minister Christ's redemptive love and truth to a world in need.

The administration, faculty, staff, alumni, benefactors, and prayer warriors desire nothing more than, apart from knowing Christ, for the mission statement to be realized within the Taylor community and to the world at-large through the university's graduates.

To me, this mission statement is an addendum to Christ's commission to go to the ends of the earth proclaiming His greatness and lordship. However, Christ's commission and the mission of the university do not imply that these mandates are to be executed at the expense of love. Surely the greatest commandment is that we would love our neighbor as Christ has loved us.

How can we minister Christ's redemptive love and truth to Atheists, Buddhists, Baha'is, Hindus, Jews, Mormons and Muslims if we are too worried about being right that we feel we need to defend Christ, who has clearly already defended Himself, and we are not willing to discuss commonalities, partnerships, friendships, and interfaith love?

However, I have heard it said on this campus, "We should not encourage interfaith dialogue because we are right and (they) are wrong and such instances invite evilness and instability." Or, "I know what I need to know and it doesn't matter what they believe because they are wrong." Or, "(Their) religion is one of hate." (note: "They" probably believe Christianity is one of hate if they too only accept the atrocities committed in the name of religion, e.g., Westboro Baptist Church slander, the Christian Crusades, Salem Witch Hunts, forced conversion of Native Americans, etc.)

The way that Christ loved me was that he did not condemn me, but saved me. He did not say, "you are wrong; therefore believe in me because I am right." Rather He said, "Come here child, let me know you, love you and forgive you, and then you will know that I am the way, the truth, and the life." Undoubtedly my life could have ended without accepting that He is the way, the truth, and the life, but it was not at the expense of Him first loving me.

There is more to the administration of Christ's redemptive love and truth than conversion. While certainly as Christians we seek to make disciples as is mandated by the Lord, we cannot pass our Jewish, Muslim, Mormon neighbor on the side of the road without acknowledging their value more than a simple conversion opportunity. Are they not also fearfully and wonderfully made by Yahweh? Can we not learn from them and they from us simply because we are different? Can we not work together for common purposes even if we do not have all the same beliefs?

What does interfaith dialogue look like for Taylor University students and graduates? It does not mean we compromise our beliefs, concede to relativism or universalism, condemn, condone, or seek to convert others. Interfaith dialogue means we embrace and vocalize our beliefs as truth and share our differences through honest communication by building peaceful, committed and loving relationships with individuals of other faiths in order that we may learn from and be a witness, a representative, and a minister of Christ's redemptive love and truth to a world in need so that Christ and His Spirit may be heard and He may convict among people who may otherwise never lovingly hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

J.R. Kerr said in chapel, "The Church is unfortunately known by what it is against." Let's not be against interfaith dialogue. Let's be for the redemptive love and truth of Christ by ministering to and partnering in friendship and love with our Atheist, Buddhist, Baha'i, Hindu, Jewish, Mormon and Muslim neighbors.

The Gospel of...Emotions

Editor's Note: Part four of six in a series entitled "The Gospel of..."

"We cannot define our faith or God based on our circumstances." - Skye Jethani

Circumstances entice emotion. Faith compels discipleship. Faithfulness through discipleship cannot be limited to personal feelings.

When Paul wrote to the church at Philippi, he wrote that we are to "rejoice in the Lord always." Whether or not we sense or feel the Lord, we are to rejoice and trust His faithfulness.

The Gospel of Emotions compels us to believe that our emotions direct our faithfulness, but Christ convicts us to remain faithful in spite of our feelings.

"But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me." - Psalm 13:6

The Gospel of...Success

Editor's Note: Part three of six in a series entitled "The Gospel of..."

Society demands the best of the best, the successful, to earn extravagant salaries, to be well-known, to possess multiple collegiate degrees, to raise respectful and law-abiding children and to have the means by which to comfortably retire upon the coming of age.

The Church does no less to demand success. This takes the form of attendance quotas, attracting financial and political community contributors, and competing for missional clout.

A certain bomb utilized in Vietnam and Afghanistan was nicknamed the 'daisy cutter.' It was an extremely powerful bomb with widespread impact. Like a powerful bomb, society, and unintentionally the Church, have taught that an individual's worth is based on what one accomplishes.

Skye Jethani calls this fallacy the Daisy Cutter Doctrine, which is the illusion that our impact in the world defines our value.

Success, to no surprise, is not of any eternal value. The accomplishments of this world are merely transitory but not necessarily inconsequential. Personal value must first be defined.

As 1 John 3:1 states, "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are." We are created in the image of God for the purpose of worship through faith, hope and love. Our value is in this identity in Christ.

Therefore, personal successes and far-reaching impacts do not define one's value but are a result of one's value as an act of worship to the Creator. "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ," Paul wrote to the church at Colossae.

Praise to the Lord who has redeemed us and now calls us His own that we need not rely on the Daisy Cutter Doctrine in order to have eternal worth!

The Gospel of...Words

Editor's Note: Part two of six in a series entitled "The Gospel of..."

The knowledge of the faith is nothing of the belief of the faith in practice, for it is of the mind of God to love, to forgive, to show mercy and to hope, for these things have no understandable explanation of knowledge.

Jesus frequently mentioned such an idea. The Pharisees knew the law, theology, and knowledge of God. Yet, Jesus continually condemned them saying to "beware of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees (Mt. 16:12)." Not that their knowledge was incorrect, but their understanding, application and practicality of their faith was worthless to the point that Jesus warned, "On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord'...then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you (Mt. 7:22-23).'"

It is not enough to believe with words, to have knowledge of the law, history and theology of God. Knowledge must be founded through faith in order to have a true understanding of the nature of God.

As the apostle Paul wrote, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Words, knowledge and knowing the right answer mean nothing if not founded in faith and practice.

"Preach the Gospel - if necessary, use words," is a statement often attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi. This idea supposes that the actions of our life have more value than words. Undoubtedly this is true is a culture that does not value the sincerity of words amidst widespread hypocrisy and fallenness. However, this is not to excuse the need for verbal declarations of truth. Words have their place and it is important to possess the knowledge of God as it comes from faith in Him for "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

As Paul said, the two, knowledge (words) and faith, go together in the declaration of truth.

There are many scholars who have studied the knowledge of God and never believed. And many likewise who have studied the knowledge and become believers. The principle of the matter is that knowledge is enhanced through faith because the knowledge and understanding of God is made clearer day by day as He reveals His mercies and truth through daily faith and practice.

The Gospel of Words tells us to learn all we can in order to have the right answers and human understanding but the Gospel of Jesus Christ tells us to have faith and trust Him for all the answers and by doing so we will have greater understanding and insight to the knowledge of God.