"The Shack" A Review

I thought this book was very good and it touched me very deeply which is seldom accomplished by a book. I know the book is considered controversial and I've been checking out blog after blog of these critics...very harsh and unkind. I really have a hard time understanding why they are so ruthless in their criticism. This book is a fictional account of one Christian man's journey out of legalism and the lengths that God goes to rescue him. Some have called it a parable, others an allegory, but most importantly this is not a theology textbook. This is not to be read like a theology textbook. When people write in this genre you must give them some slack...when you read in this genre everything is not going to correspond perfectly one to one. I could comment more but I don't want to ruin the book for anyone who hasn't read it.

What makes me particularly sad about these harsh critics is that this book has been in the top 10 for some time now and many, many people in the broader (non-Christian or nominal) culture have already read it and want to talk about it. Here is a book that has reached many on an emotional level, they look online at some of the biggest Christian spokespeople and what do they hear? "Pure heresy, don't waste your time, not worth the paper it's printed on." They read a story of a man's journey out of legalism and this is what the reader hears when they want to engage in conversation...so sad!!!

Spaghetti Sauce with Chopped Pork

I've been working on this recipe for about a year now and really like it. I enjoy a lighter sauce and I always include meat, in this case chopped pork. The good thing about a lighter sauce is you don't have to simmer it all day!

Here's the ingredients:

• Two pork chops (or boneless loin chops if you want to save some time)
• One large yellow onion-Chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic-minced
• 2 to 3 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
• 1to 2 tablespoons of salt (personal taste)
• 1 tablespoons of Italian seasoning
• 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon of fennel seeds (you'll have to play with this amount for your own personal taste)
• One 28 ounce can of Tomato Puree
• One 28 ounce can of Diced Tomatoes
• Once 8 ounce can of Tomato Paste
• 14 ounces of water

Here's how to make it:

• Using a large stockpot, brown the pork chops on both sides in about two tablespoons of olive oil. Remove the pork.
• Saute the chopped onion making sure to loosen and blend in any bits of pork stuck to the bottom of the pot (make sure you still have enough olive oil).
• Once you've sauteed the onions for a few minutes, add the garlic, salt, Italian seasoning, and fennel seeds and continue sauteing for another two minutes.
• Now add all the tomato ingredients, the water, and mix thoroughly.
• Add the browned pork,cover it, and bring to a simmer for about 30 minutes stirring occasionally so it does not burn to the bottom of the pot. Remove the pork, trim the meat and chop into very small pieces but do not mince and add back into the mixture.
• Cut the fat from the bones and add the bones back into the sauce, cover and simmer for another 30 minutes.
  

You are finished and it's ready to eat! But if you can wait, the ultimate is to put it in the refrigerator and warm it up slowly the next day to eat. This really allows all the flavors to infuse the sauce thoroughly...it is fantastic!!!

Homicide by Materialism

In one of the most disturbing and twisted stories of the Christmas season, a man was killed on Black Friday at a Wal-Mart in Valley Stream, New York.

There was a crowd of about 2,000 waiting to get in at 5 a.m. As the worker, Jdimytai Damour, was unlocking the door the crowd pushed its way in literally ripping the doors off the hinges. He was knocked to the ground and then trampled to death. One witness had the following to say, "shoppers were acting like 'savages' and when they (Wal-Mart management) were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling `I've been on line since yesterday morning,'...they kept shopping."

A very sad commentary on the rampant materialism in our culture when a man's life is less important than things like a Samsung 50-inch Plasma HDTV for $798, a Bissel Compact Upright Vacuum for $28, and a Samsung 10.2 megapixel digital camera for $69.

I guess we can call it Homicide by materialism...unbelievable and very sad.

Hawaiian Cooking! Kalua Pork

I haven't blogged in some time but thought I'd talk a little about another passion in my life...cooking. I like things like cutting the lawn, splitting wood, etc. because there is a start, a finish, and you can take satisfaction in a job well done. With cooking you get the same satisfaction with the added benefit of eating it! I guess the bottom line is for me that I love to eat and cook and making meals is a great way for me to express that love and passion to others.

Today I decided to try a new Hawaiian dish and it was fantastic! Another awesome thing about this is you can cook it in a crockpot. Here's the recipe:

• 3 to 4 pound pork butt roast (you can use pork loin for a lower fat version)
• 2 Tablespoons of Hawaiian salt (you can substitue Kosher salt instead)
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons of Liquid Smoke (I like Wright's and the mesquite gives it a nice flavor, they say Hickory gives a more intense taste if you like the taste)
• One small head of Napa Cabbage

Rub the salt into the pork. Place the pork in your crock pot and add about one inch of water. Add the liquid smoke and cook for at least eight hours. Shred the pork. Cut the cabbage into 1/2 inch slices. Cut the slices to the top of the stalk and discard the upper part of the leaves. Stir fry the cabbage slices for about two minutes with oil and a little teriyaki sauce and a tiny amount of liquid smoke. Combine with the pork and serve with rice.

It's fantastic! For a slightly different taste substitue the salt for 1/4 cup of teriyaki sauce. It gives a slightly sweeter taste and is even easier to cook. Enjoy!!!

Is Genesis 11:1-9 (about the Tower of Babel) a parable or folklore?

This is a question of genre or we might ask what kind of literature is Genesis 11:1-9? As we read through the book of Genesis, we see that this book is made up of many stories or narratives. Interestingly, about 40% of the biblical material is comprised of narrative and so it is good for us to take some time to understand this topic.

First, it is important to understand that a narrative can be a made-up story or a real (historical) story. Basically, a parable is a made-up story that draws upon ordinary experiences of life in order to illustrate a moral or spiritual truth. Parables generally illustrate a main point and are not intended to be read as an historical narrative.

Likewise, folklore is also comprised of made-up stories but these traditional stories are ones that are passed down from one generation to another. Folklore stories can be religious in nature but they are not necessarily so and are not to be read as an historical narrative.

A biblical narrative, on the other hand, is a true story that none-the-less retains some of the characteristics of all good stories: setting, plot, and characters. These elements are taken from history and formed into a narrative (a true story) in order to let the reader be drawn into the action so as to experience it more fully. Thus, narratives are not to be read as a history textbook would be read. They are meant to be experienced and to elicit a response from the reader.

Something else to consider is that in Scripture, narratives never exist as isolated stories but are always a part of a larger whole. In Genesis 11, for example, we have a historical narrative (a true story) of the Tower of Babel tucked into a larger story of humankind and God’s relationship to them.

As I look at Genesis 11 and look at the surrounding chapters and verses, I see in Genesis 5 a tell-tale sign of a true story: the genealogy from Adam to Noah. In chapter 10 we see another sign of an historical narrative—the Table of Nations. Directly thereafter, we have the story of the Tower of Babel—a true story of the consequence of an arrogant act of humankind.

-Jody Robinson

Why do Catholics believe in Purgatory?

Catholics believe in both heaven and hell. But they also believe that if your soul is not so bad as to enter into hell, but not purified enough to enter into heaven, you soul goes to purgatory to be purified until it is pure enough to enter into heaven. This cleansing is a painful and fiery process designed to cleanse the soul from sin.

I think it’s important to understand why this belief is necessary to Catholics and why Protestants disagree with them.

A Protestant believes that a when a person is made right with God, they are fully justified at that moment. Justification can be thought of in a legal sense in which a person is guilty and then is declared not-guilty—they have been justified. The process that a believer goes through once they have been justified is called sanctification. That is the process by which a believer, with the help and power of the Holy Spirit, slowly changes their beliefs, thoughts, attitudes, and actions to reflect the character of Jesus in their life.

Catholics do not believe in a justification whereby one moment you are guilty and the next moment you are not guilty. They say the fact remains while you may now be on a new tract with God, all the things that you are guilty for need to be properly recognized, confessed, and repented for—but this happens over time, not immediately as a Protestant believes. In Catholic thinking, justification and sanctification are somewhat tied together. In a sense, a Catholic believes you are justified more and more as you are sanctified. If this does not fully take place in this life, it must in the next before you enter into heaven.

The reason there is such a disagreement here is because Protestants believe that salvation is through faith in Christ alone with absolutely no merit given to our own works…there is no way to “work yourself into heaven.” Protestants would argue that Catholics only have purgatory in their beliefs because Jesus’ death on the cross was not enough for salvation…that it is Jesus’ death, and our “work” in purgatory.

Joseph—How would Joseph handle the pressure today,...

...if Mary came to him and said “I’m pregnant and you’re not the father?” And how was life for Joseph after Jesus became a well known celebrity?

This is an interesting question, but it is one that we must say we don’t know.

One thing we can talk a little about is the concept of shame and honor in the New Testament. This is something that most of us really have no concept of. In this context, shame makes you less of a person with no standing within society and honor brings you greater standing within society. You can still see this in many war torn African nations today where systematic rape has become a weapon where whole communities of women become almost sub-human because they have lost their honor when they were raped—no one will marry them because there is no chance for a woman to become married who has been raped (been shamed this way). In other countries, there are many stories of families that have killed their own daughters and wives because they were sexually unchaste and this was a way for the families to atone for this breech in honor. The closest I can see this in a North American context is the Scarlet Letter and that was written in 1850—much has changed since then.

Shame and honor actually play a huge role in understand many New Testament passages. For instance, when Paul says I am not ashamed of the gospel, he is not saying I am not embarrassed by it, he is saying that the gospel is so trustworthy that I am staking my whole identity, my honor, on the truthfulness and trustworthiness of the gospel message—basically, I will not ever be shamed because of my belief in the message of the gospel.

In one sense, I think it would have been much more difficult to live in this shame/honor society with a wife that got pregnant the way Mary did. To live with all the gossip and the looks I’m sure he got. But God helped him to endure this by sending an angel that gave him direct revelation of what was happening and how he should respond. But I am sure it was very hard for him.