Shepherdly Proddings from Waywardness to Grace

Enclosed below is a list I found on Facebook about marks of religious deterioration from God, or religious “declension,” versus Christian living.  The list is based off of old evangelical pamphlets of the American Tract Society of the nineteenth century.  Apparently old school Christians have much to offer us today in the form of prodding wayward souls to grace.

Wisdom Born from Above: A Preview to My Commentary on the Book of Romans

My major project for this year, and very potentially for the next couple of years, is to write a commentary on the epistle to the Romans for this blog “New City.”  This major project could easily be called the most important project of my life.  This is because Romans changed my life like no other writing.

Movie Review: “Taken”

Blog author’s note: I’m taking a temporary break here from my writing projects on a commentary on the book of Romans and an Easter article on the expiation of Christ to share a review of a recently seen movie, “Taken.”  Once in a while, I’ll do that; I’ll take breaks from my writing projects to publish movie reviews or informal articles on subjects of favorite interest or relevant social interest.  As for the movie “Taken,” I have mixed feelings about recommending the movie to people, as it is targeted specifically to the felt needs of older baby boomer parents.  Nevertheless, I write my thoughts on the movie “Taken,” and the vitality of the Gospel over the vanity of man, in the review below.

It appears that baby boomers’ worries over their children’s fascination with new urbanism, high telecommunications, and global travel interests have become a recent small trend in the field of cinema.  Whether it’s the slapstick comedy of a “fish out of water” in-laws tale in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” several years ago, or the host of the Indian version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” mocking the young protagonist’s good fortune in “Slumdog Millionaire,” it seems that the last strain of the twilight of postmodernism has consisted of midlife people griping about their kids’ new culture consciousness.  The more recently released movie “Taken” is no exception.  Here is baby boomers’ paranoia exercised over the “what if” scenarios of their children getting lost in the new immigrant-friendly cosmopolitan mixtures of tourist-accessible Europe.

Writing Projects and Church Fellowship Away from Facebook (and the Blogosphere)

Dear blog readers,

I enclose below the following letter that I sent as a Facebook note to my friends and to other non-friend members on the social network Facebook.  Basically I say below that I plan on taking some time away from the Internet and blogosphere and Facebook for engaging in fellowship in the visible church in real life.  I also mention that I have a couple writing projects at hand: an essay article on the expiation of Christ for evangelism for this Easter season, and a long term blog commentary on the book of Romans, to be featured on this blog “New City.”

Music Album Review: “Blood on the Tracks,” Bob Dylan

My first music album review on this blog “New City” is fittingly on an album that has long been the biggest musical influence on my life, Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks (Columbia, 1975).  If you ever want to use music as a study on human relationships, check out the old master at his very best.

Unrighteous Complaint Against Marriage as the Root of Sexual Perversion

Knowing the Gospel as a good word and righteous word of new grace for men and women with the Lord involves recognizing with the Lord that men and women’s spiritual and unrighteous complaints against marriage, and against the Lord, are the root words to men and women’s practice of sexual perversion with each other.  Men and women complain about lack of sufficiency from the Lord; He is not good enough to bring them happiness.  They have to bring happiness for themselves.  And so men and women twist the covenant of marriage to suit their own purposes, making an idol out of marriage against the Lord.  And in the process, men and women commit sexual deviancy against each other and against the covenant of marriage, and ultimately against the Lord.  Men and women look to worship themselves in sexual debauchery apart from marriage and in their degradation of human culture and secular culture.

The Gospel and the Hardened Heart of Busyness Over Fallen Human Relationships

As I’ve been writing words of spiritual warfare against the false desires for human affections on Valentine’s Day – or for any other day, for that matter – one story keeps popping up in my mind over and over again about busyness as a means of breaking down human relationships.  This story is about Jesus’ disciples coming to Jesus after the beheading of John the Baptist in the Gospel account of Mark.  What this story shows is how people can get so busy looking good for themselves – even in the form of managing ministries in the church – that they ignore the deterioration and fallout of human relationships.  And Jesus has to mourn that busyness and fallenness among people on the way to the cross, expressing Himself as the Redeemer of sinners, while also showing this mourning as His example for His believers and their expression of the Gospel in fallen secular culture.

Remembering the Alien for the Gospel, and Tending to Escapees from North Korea

National Geographic Magazine has posted their February edition online with a narrative analysis of the plights of escaping aliens from North Korea.  See the article here.  Many thanks to National Geographic for graciously sharing their hard-won research among fans online.

Sin-Killing Laughter at the Mercy Seat

The second biggest life-changing lesson I received from the Bible, after my decision to move from spiritual immaturity to spiritual maturity in Christ, was from the lesson of David and the laughter of God at the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant in the book of Psalms.  I had already learned to seek Jesus in every passage of Scripture, and had learned to apply Bible lessons onto my own soul and onto the direction of the church in my walk with the Lord.  “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you” (Psalm 32:8 NIV).  During the final summer of my college years, I learned to move to the heartbeat of the Gospel in every page of Scripture, and to impress this heartbeat onto fellow Christians, in my walk with the Lord.

The Good Fruits of the Gospel and the Choosing of a Precious Wife

I write this article on a growing favorite lesson from the Psalms that has been on my mind as I fight off false desires for the touchy-feely vibes of the upcoming holiday Valentine’s Day in my walk by grace with the Lord.  As I’ve said in the past, romance is good.  I don’t hate on married couples or dating and potential married couples seeking affection during the holiday season.  But I do want to avoid making an idol of the holiday, as men and women are too prone to doing during the holiday season.  Men and women make each other their false gods and their false saviors during the Valentine’s Day season, and during many other days and other seasons, apart from the true God.