From Knowledge to Wisdom

A Song for Easter

I am celebrating Easter with Brian Doerksen's "I See the Cross"^*.

This song just captures the core of the Gospel and brings it alive in a magnificent celebration (especially in the production on the "Today" DVD). It opens with contemplation of the cross. The execution apparatus which has become the symbol of belief in Jesus. I only saw "The Passion of the Christ" once, but the images are still vivid in my mind. The justice of God had to be satisfied. A punishment was due for for our sin. Yet He found a way to forgive us completely.

No other way to be reconciled
To receive complete forgiveness
No other choice could have set us free
Could have paid the price of justice
So I come as I am, to the place where mercy meets me
I see the cross

In our normal view of things, life comes before death. Death ends life. But through the crucifixion this sequence is reversed.

We’ll share Your Resurrection, live forever
Through Your death and life

Through Jesus' suffering and death we can be set free from our sin. But we are also shown the way to true greatness - dying to self, to be rebirthed as a child of the Father.

You suffered and died, poured out Your life
You showed us the way, to truly be great
Yet this just begins, the Father’s full plan
Now there is a way, to share in Your

Resurrection, live forever, through Your death and life

And the party goes on and on and on... but it really needs the music!

Be blessed at Easter.

_____
^{* © 2000 Vineyard Songs Canada}

The Inheritors of the New Jerusalem

Was reading this morning in Revelation 21:1-14 about the New Jerusalem and a couple of threads came together for me.

²I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. (NIV)

That brought back memories of the allegory by Gene Edwards "The Divine Romance" in which he takes us from before the beginning of time to this moment where the bride of Christ, the spirit of Jerusalem, appears and the aching loneliness of the Lord can be stilled. One of the beautiful parts of the story, as Gene Edwards tells it, is how the spirit of Jerusalem is formed.

But the other tread I picked up this morning was in verse seven:

⁷He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.   ⁸But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars – their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. (NIV)

Who are these "overcomers" who will become the heirs and sons of God? I looked in "The Message" to see how it was worded there:

⁷Conquerors inherit all this. I'll be God to them, they'll be sons and daughters to me.    ⁸But for the rest--the feckless and faithless, degenerates and murderers, sex peddlers and sorcerers, idolaters and all liars--for them it's Lake Fire and Brimstone. Second death!

So the "overcomers" are "conquerors". They are those who are not feckless, faithless, degenerates, murderers, sex peddlers, sorcerers, idolaters or liars. They are those who have overcome temptation and conquered sin. I thought of something Brian Doerksen said on his "Today" DVD:

"We are in the middle of a war, and always have been on planet earth. Every time you wake up in the morning you wake up in a war zone. And the battle is over the souls of men and women."

Then he continues the story of Nehemiah and the people rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem:

"I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places posting them by families with their swords spears and bows. And after I looked them over I arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, 'Do not be afraid of your enemies. Remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.'"

We have a lot to overcome. But let us not be feckless or faithless. Let us remember the Lord is awesome and He empowers us for the battle. And He will meet us at the end.

Racism in The Netherlands

Ik worstel al een tijd met het begrip "allochtoon". Voor mijn gevoel wordt het vaak gebruikt met een racistische lading. Ik ben eigenlijk allochtoon. Mijn oorsprong ligt op de engelstalige europese eilanden. Ik ben al jaren in de nederlandstalige delta gevestigd. Maar nederlanders hebben de neiging om te zeggen "maar, wij bedoelen jullie niet, jullie zijn europees, jullie zijn wit, jullie zijn niet echt allochtoon". En daar komt de aap uit de mouw.

For some time I have been struggling with the way the Dutch use the term "allochthonous". I myself am actually allochthonous. My origins lie in the English speaking European islands. But I have now been living for many years in the Dutch speaking delta. However, Dutch people have a tendency to say "but (by allochthonous) we don't mean you, you are European, you are white, you are not really allochthonous". And so we have it.

Dutch Police Beating Students

See the attached mpeg video file. Download maagdenhuis.mpg This shows Dutch police beating students with their batons. Two of my daughters are somewhere in there. This took place on the night of 28 February / 1 March 2005 at the Maagdenhuis in Amsterdam, the head office of the University of Amsterdam. There is an honourable tradition of students occupying the Maagdenhuis in protest. On this occasion the students were protesting about government policy on education.

The main part of the plan about which they are protesting is a voucher scheme that is intended to create a market in education with the idea that students can easily switch from one institution to another. In this way it is expected that quality of education will improve because the universities will be competing for students.

The Minister of Education, Mr Rutte, claims that expenditure on education is being maintained, whereas over the last twenty years there has been a steady rise in the number of students going into higher education without a comparable increase in funding.

The week before this took place Mr Rutte, in a television broadcast, challenged the students to protest about his plans by, for example, occupying a building. The student organizations are now making a legal case against the minister for provocation of public violence. He challenged the students to occupy a building. When they did, he refused to appear for negotiations. The Governors of the university requested the police to break the protest which lead the violence you see on the film. The people inside the building, where there were no cameras, were being treated more violently than you see here.

I find it ironic that this took place around the same time that the EU authorities were publishing self-righteous indignation at the treatment of a women's protest by police in Turkey.

Not so long ago Dutch law was passed which makes it illegal for me to beat my children. But apparently it is ok for the police to beat them.

What do things like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights mean? At what point does the rule of law in a democratic society flip over into the beginnings of the slippery slope to oppression?

NL prides itself in being at the leading edge of civilisation. Nevertheless, it seems that when issues get hot between the people and their government, ritual application of the government monopoly in the exercise of violence still has to be part of the communication and negotiation process. Democracy and dialogue are not yet fully functional means of running a civilised country.

The Minister of Education is trying to introduce more market forces in the education system. I wonder if the Minister of Justice has similar plans that would, for example, enable the students to choose which police unit applies the ritual beatings.

See more details at LSVB student union   Maagdenhuis Bezet

Coming alive through worship

Been watching Brian Doerksen's 'Today' DVD. The main content is a recording of a worship concert  including a 75-voice community chorus, a children's choir, 12-piece orchestra and the Mennonite Jazz Committee, mainly people from many of the churches in his home town. And there is some interview material with people involved in the concert and Brian and his family.

On the one hand the worship is deep and touching, the musicians, artistic production, the audio and video are all excellent. But the main impression is of an ordinary guy, with ordinary people who have just given themselves and their gifts to God. So the worship is awesome. It tugs at the heart and brings tears to the eyes. But at the same time there is the reaction 'I could do that.' 'We could do that.' 'Our church could come together and celebrate God like that.'

We are your people
Called by your Name
We humble ourselves and pray

We are your people
Called by your Name
We humble ourselves and pray
We turn from our sin
And come to seek your face

Hear from heaven
And forgive our wicked ways
Hear from heaven
And heal our land today ¹

The worship concert on Brian's DVD brings this to life. These are God's people, they are humble in prayer, and therefore God does hear them and His Spirit comes to live in them. They are church in Frank Viola's definition of church:

The church is simply this: A community of people who possess the life of God's Kingdom and who express it together. ²

You can see, hear and feel that on Brian's DVD and be inspired to go and do church that way in your community.

References:
(1) Kevin Boese, © Integrity's Hosanna! Music
(2) From Nazareth to Patmos, Frank Viola