William Petruzzo

Reading this morning I came across this, 1 John 3:12-13:

We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.

John cites the reason that Cain killed Abel was because Abel’s deeds were “righteous” while his own were wicked. I find this to be an idea abusive to the way most in our culture currently think about and “do” church.

Elsewhere in the same book, and throughout the rest of the New Testament, we find that those who are in Christ will definitely be growing in righteousness (1 John 1:5-10, Romans 8:13). So, by that rational we should have very little reason to believe that unbelievers coming among us will not exhibit some form of hostility or at the very least discomfort.

Yet, in spite of that, we find churches pouring outrageous resources into creating a comfortable environment for unbelievers. It seems that the reality would be, if unbelievers are able to come among us and find and truly find comfort in our presence, we may have to reevaluate our own lifestyles.

I’m reminded of a message delivered by Francis Chan a number of years back where he referenced Luke 6:26: “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you”. While it doesn’t fit the verse’s context perfectly, the point is clear:

The Cross of Christ, and our subsequent righteousness therein, is an offense to the unbeliever seeking is own vein righteousness and we should expect that they would respond as one who’s been offended.

What kind of ramifications does this have for the Church, it seems that it should drive it more deeply into conformity with the Word of God. Rather than consulting our intellect to determine how we should relate to this work, we ought to consult God in his Word.

Many of us say we do. Few really follow through. Just a thought.

My friend Ric sent me an email pointing me to this video. It’s every bit as brilliant as he said it was. While I suspect that I have some pretty deep running disagreements with the organization that put it together, it is really poignant, nonetheless. I hope I’m not stealing valuable blog-fodder from you, Ric.

It helps to read their brief intro to the video to get the point they’re making.

“Have you ever tried really hard to make a point and when people say they get it, you are just not sure they do? Sometimes it takes us seeing our world through new eyes–something that it is hard to do as believers. Sometimes a little bit of juxtaposition does the trick.

We made this video because we sometimes struggle in helping churches to truly understand the disconnection between how we do things and the people we’re trying to reach. Our thought was to showcase the visitor experience in a completely different context and in doing so, we might help churches realize how they might actually comes across to the world we are called to reach.

Sometimes it takes seeing something in a different light to really get it. With this thought, my team and I made a little video called “What if Starbucks Marketed Like the Church? A Parable.”

Again, I’m not in total agreement here, but the video should make you think. If nothing else, it’s certainly is good for a laugh.

Much like the Israelites crying for God to give them a king, the American people have spoken, and God has given them Obama. And, there seems little doubt in my mind that in the same way that the Israelites getting their king was a judgment from God, Obama is our judgement. Undoubtedly many unborn lives will be ended because of him. But, this is what the American people begged for, and this is what God has given them. So, I suppose I had a few thought that I wanted to share.

Wow…

This really is profound history—and we’re living to see it. The first black man in the history of our nation to be elected the President of the United States. That is awesome. I’m sure this will mean incredible things for the advancement of a group of people who, at large, have carried an victim-mentality (in many cases, justifiably so). With this historic event, there’s very real tangible hope that these people will be able to move foreword and prosper in very new and fresh ways.

That really is awesome; That is the silver lining of grace from God.

Personal Reform…

Over the past eight years, I quietly grumbled about Democrats complaining and condemning George bush—instead of simply disagreeing with him. Well, the tables have officially turned. It will be a big challenge for me (and most) to follow the biblical command and respect the new president, even in light of our many differences of opinion. However, over many issues, that’s exactly what we all need to do. There are some issues, though that our conscience will not allow us to accept—and if it does, we ought to pray that would be changed.

Abortion…

Many will certainly die because of Obama. Abortion is not a social issue for us to simply disagree about, it is a matter of life and death. It is a discussion of murder (about 4,000 murders every day). We have chosen a president who propones this practice. It is not the time to concede these issues, or move on from them. Perhaps the way we fight them must change, or how much we pray about them, but giving up is absolutely not an option.

Albert Mohler has written an insightful and important exhortation. I would suggest you read it.

Pray…

I must, we must:

… Pray for the lives of the unborn, in a culture that does not value them.
… Pray for the mothers who are taught not to love them.
… Pray for a culture and people who don’t believe in them.
… Pray for a president, indifferent to them.

… Pray for our own hearts, for honest compassion for them.

Remember…

We should remember, that we live under the only true sovereign. He gives and he takes away. He exalts and he humbles. All powers in heaven and on earth are chosen by him. If he has allowed to office a man who may “hurt” us, then perhaps we “ought to be hurt”.

Today is the day. I went and got my voting done first thing this morning. I walked to the polling place so that I could listen to my audio book version of Charles Spurgeon’s All of Grace. It was pretty sweet.

Of course, that’s not the point.

The point is, you need to go out and vote today. I’ll do a quick recap of yesterday’s post.

1. Obama is a good guy, with some good ideas. But,

2. Obama is also the most radical abortion proponent ever to run for the presidency. For anyone, but especially Christians, this ought to disqualify him as a viable option for the presidency; no matter how many other good ideas he might have.

3. Go vote.

I’m not a political guy, and I generally stay out of this realm. But today, I was struck with a feeling of guilt for not giving my attention in prayer and action to the issues at hand. Now, it’s too late. So, I will keep this brief in hopes that you, whoever you are, will read it and consider it.

1. It’s amazing that there is a black man in the running for president. It’s incredible to know that only 30 years ago there was still legislation for segregation, and look where we are today. Praise the Lord that racial equality has grown to this level.

2. Obama is the most radical proponent of abortion ever to run for the presidency. His views should cause anyone to shutter; especially Christians. This issue, regardless of 100 other good ideas, should disqualify him as a candidate in anyone’s mind (especially Christians).

Video…

Here is a short excerpt from one of Obama’s speeches:

There is a longer version of this video here.

Fuller perspectives…

Justin Taylor, blogger responsible for Between Two Worlds, has a good bit to say and his thoughts are more than worth reading. They should be thought about. Prayed about. Considered and taken into the booth tomorrow and used to keep Obama from being elected into the presidency.

Here are a few things worth reading:

Obama & the Freedom of Choice Act -  Senator Barbara Boxer, co-sponsor of the [the Freedom of Choice Act], has said: "The Freedom of Choice Act supercedes any law, regulation or local ordinance that impinges on a woman’s right to choose. That means a poor woman cannot be denied the use of Medicaid if she chooses to have an abortion." In other words, state governments and the federal government would be mandated to fund abortion with taxpayer money. This is what Obama has promised to sign “first thing” after his election.

Piper, Politics & Abortion – A discussion, clarification and conviction in response to one of John Piper’s recent videos and blogs.

John Piper on One Issue Politics – No one issue should qualify a candidate for office, but one issue should absolutely disqualify them. This should be read. “the endorsement of the right to kill unborn children disqualifies a person from any position of public office. It’s simply the same as saying that the endorsement of racism, fraud, or bribery would disqualify him—except that child-killing is more serious than those.”

In Conclusion…

I regret not speaking more on these issues. In many ways, Obama is a fantastic candidate. Unfortunately for millions of unborn children, there’s one issue that makes him fatal. Please, when you go to vote, consider the ears who will never hear the great gospel of Jesus Christ, because of Barack Obama’s convictions on abortion. No social reform  or political “change” is worth that.

Halloween is a strange holiday. I think we all kind of know this. I’m sure there’s a completely legitimate explanation for how the traditions came about, but they sure don’t make much sense today. And lets be honest, traditions in and of themselves are kind of weird things. Especially when they entail dressing absurdly and giving away free candy (who does that, really?).

Well, we were talking about it tonight at the Halloween party I decided to attend. It’s kind of like, children start very young. Their parents take them out. They have no idea why their dressing up and have really no idea why they’re getting candy for free. In fact, for all they know, dressing up at any time and knocking on random doors would result in free candy. Good thing most parents keep a fairly tight leash on their kids.

Eventually, kids get older and look foreword to the one night a year when they can walk from door to door dressed up like something scary and they get free candy for it. Of course, that doesn’t last long. Sooner or later, kids hit the age where they learn to work the system. Cover the maximum number of doors in the minimum amount of time with the least amount of effort put into the costume. This is about the age where you stop hearing “trick or treat” when they knock on the door.

At this age though, it’s pretty much all over. Not because it stops being fun, no. It’s right about this age where kids have a profound realization: candy doesn’t cost very much. As soon as they figure this one out, it’s done. Why walk from door to door dressed like a fool for something you could buy a year supply of after mowing one lawn?

So, what’s left? Go to Halloween parties. Drink too much. Go to bed and look foreword to having your own kids and getting to start the cycle all over again.

I suppose traditions are important, right?

A friend shared this video with me this afternoon. Apparently it’s pretty popular, but I’ve never seen it. It’s a video of the 80’s group Sonseed performing their song, Jesus is a Friend of Mine. I’m uncertain of what to think. But it sure was good for a chuckle.

Enjoy.

At this rate, I’m going to be done with Tim Keller’s The Reason for God in no time at all. Reading today, I came across another excellent thought. But this time, I think I’ll share more of his own words.

In this passage from his book, Keller is responding to the notion that no one religion can claim the corner on the truth market. That all religions, while have some truth, don’t have all of it; in other words, all religions are correct. Not just one. He shares an analogy he hears often about three blind men and an elephant.

An elephant approaches three blind men and allows them to touch him. When asked what they elephant looked like, the first blind man, holding the elephant’s tail, said, “it’s long and thin, like a snake.” The next blind man responded, “no, it’s tall and thick, like a tree,” holding the elephant’s leg. The last blind man argued, “no, it’s large and flat,” touching the elephants side.

Keller response to this analogy by revealing it’s inherent problem.

“This illustration backfires on its users. The story is told from the point of view of someone who is not blind. How could you know that each blind man only sees part of the elephant unless you claim to be able to see the whole elephant?

‘There is an appearance of humility in the protestation that the truth is much greater than any one of us can grasp, but if this is used to invalidate all claims to discern the truth it is in fact an arrogant claim to a kind of knowledge which is superior to [all others]… We have to ask: “What is the [absolute] vantage ground from which you claim to be able to relativize all the absolute claims these different scriptures make?’ [Leslie Newbigin – The Gospel in a Pluralists Society]

How could you possibly know that no religion can see the whole truth unless you yourself have the superior, comprehensive knowledge of spiritual reality you just claimed that none of the religions have?”

To claim that no one religion has the corner on truth, is in itself a faith based claim and, in a sense, a religious one. The user of this argument is forced to either submit to the analogy themselves and so invalidate it, or accept the hypocrisy of it.

Very interesting, Tim. Very interesting indeed.

I’m an uncle twice over. Once of a nine year old girl and once of a nine month old boy. I’m not a father, but my family is close and being an uncle gives me a small glimpse into what it must feel like to worry about a child.

Girls are becoming women faster. Boys are becoming men faster. Well, at least in terms of independence and sexuality. The culture seems to gear nearly everything toward sexual value. Girls are made valuable by being counted as sexually desirable, while boys are made so by being able to successfully solicit sex (see American Pie, Sex and the City, the 40 Year Old Virgin and just about anything on MTV).

This is unsettling, to say the very least.

A couple of years back I worked for a not-for-profit company as an entertainment analyst. My first assignment was to watch and document children’s television. I spent nearly eight hours every day for several months watching Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, the Disney Channel and others. What I learned was startling.

Children’s television was once a tool for teaching (see Sesame Street). Today it’s a babysitter, which the media is using very strategically. The goal, perhaps not directly, and I’m sure for many of the writers not intentionally, is to condition children. The earlier people think sexually, the earlier they are spending money on sexually minded or oriented products.

It sounds like a wild conspiracy theory. I thought so too before I got to see it first hand in a highly concentrated environment.

Consider this: Nickelodeon is owned by MTV. During afternoon programming (i.e., as kids are coming home from school) on Nickelodeon, it’s not at all uncommon to see advertisements for programming on the parent network MTV or MTV2 along side advertisements for toys and music. MTV’s afternoon programming includes some of the raunchiest entertainment on television (see the dating show Next on MTV; you’ll only need to watch about 2 minutes. Take note of how young the participants on this show are).

The Disney Channel, which in its basic programming appears harmless, doesn’t have the best track record for producing respectable men and women as roll models (see Brittany Spears and Justin Timberlake). The Disney Channel is a cycle. Yesterday I saw Hannah Montana on the cover of a tabloid.

Some days of the week the Cartoon Network has been known to play it’s night time adult programming during the day (see Aqua Teen Hunger Force).

Why do the Bratz dress like that? Why do Barbies have such huge breasts?

Here’s my problem. Here’s what I want to know: why must my nine year old niece wear a bikini? Why is she asking to shave her legs already? Why do her skirts keep getting shorter and shorter? Why do all her favorite songs (sold on kids CD’s) all seem to have sexual overtones? She doesn’t understand these things yet. But she will soon and someone stands to make a killing on her sexually dependant subconscious.

It kills me to think my niece might one day view her own value through her sex appeal. Consider Victoria’s Secret. Why make sexy ads for women, unless the ad is designed to stimulate a woman’s perceived value as seen sexually by men? It kills me to think one day my nephew may be a man helping to drive women in that direction through his own sexual perceptions and standards.

It isn’t about ruining children, it’s about making money and there’s tons of money in sex. So that’s the question. How do you protect a child from a system and industry that begins with Kidz Bop and ends with the Pussycat Dolls? That begins with the Disney Channel and ends with pornography? How do you protect children without sheltering them from the realities of the world? How do you help make them wise, discerning, self-respecting, God fearing?

I have no idea. I’m not sure anyone does.

A friend of mine and I were just getting ready to call it a night when we decided that we were in the mood for a movie. We decided a thriller of sorts was in line for the evening, so we made our way to the Redbox and rented P2. You may never have heard of it. It certainly didn’t win any awards or anything.

The gist is basically a young woman is working late on Christmas eve and while trying to leave is captured by a parking lot security guard who has a sick obsession with her. You can imagine where the movie goes.

Through the course of the movie the security guard attempts to win the woman’s affection in some less than conventional manners. For example, killing one of her coworkers who she had an altercation with. He’s obviously deranged and a murderer, among other things.

By the end of the movie, the woman has managed to turn the tables through a series of pretty clever decisions. She’s been through quite a lot. Been drugged, handcuffed, locked in the trunk of a car, crashed a car, tazered, and bitten by a dog. Finally, she has her assailant handcuffed to a car which is leaking gasoline. He’s now unarmed, blind and nearly unable to walk. But he’s still crazy, and can’t understand why the woman won’t have anything to do with him.

As she walks to safety, he gets upset and calls her an unsavory name. In her anger, she turns and lights the car on fire which burns her attacker alive, and she walks out into the street.

For the record, if I had the choice again, I would likely choose not to watch the movie. It was simply too much gore and not enough suspense.

But, my emotional response to the movie’s ending reminded me of some scripture.

Romans 12:19 says:

“Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, " VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord.”

The movie painted the picture of one individual as being pure, good and righteous. 100% victim. Obviously, in real life that doesn’t exist. But in a movie the ideal can. Then, opposite her, we have one who embodies, selfishness and evil. He was a murderer and the entire movie the viewer wishes he would come to justice.

But, in the end of the movie when she burns the man alive, I got a glimpse into the meaning of that verse. Her opponent was incapacitated and completely subdued and defenseless. When she killed him, she liquidated her righteous standing as established in the beginning of the movie. She no longer fulfilled the ideal that was painted for her. She too was a murderer and was equally deserving of a fiery death as he was.

When we intentionally execute revenge when we have been wronged, we join our injurer in his camp of unrighteousness. We become guilty of the same sins as him. Although it feels good to press revenge, the truth is, we are descending into unrighteousness and it will always produce adverse and often painful results.

That also reminds me of a tidbit of scripture which I read this afternoon and although the context isn’t a perfect match, I still think it applies:

1 Peter 2:20:

“For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.”