Love Truth Blog

The story of how on July 1, 2015 Cecil the Lion was lured out of his animal sanctuary in Zimbabwe and killed by an American big game hunter Walter Palmer has since sparked international attention by animal conservationists. The lion was a favored resident of Hwange National Park, and described as a national treasure. There are questions about the legality of the hunt, Palmer stands accused of poaching, and he faces possible extradition to stand before his accusers. I think that the killing of Cecil should be something Christians need to grapple. I fail to see how this would be some kind of misguided sense on the sanctity of life, as if concern for the preservation of wildlife takes our eyes of the killing of life in the womb via abortion. Both are legitimate concerns. “Cecil the lion at Hwange National Park (4516560206)” Christians really need to consider the matter of Cecil and the conservation of threatened and endangered species because that is the natural outworking of a r...

Everybody has a story to tell. Whether the narrative tells about love, gender, sex, race, politics, economics, astronomy, science, faith, theology, philosophy or something else, all these comprise the stories we tell. Everyone is a storyteller. We tell stories in an attempt to make sense of the world we live. Some storytellers are better than others. Some stories are more fact than fiction, whereas others are more fiction than fact. All stories are ultimately rooted in the worldview we possess. Worldviews are like the spectacles that we wear to see the world around us. James Sire indicates “A worldview is a set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true, partially true or entirely false) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously, consistently or inconsistently) about the basis make up of our world” [1]. Our worldviews are built around answers to questions about ultimate reality: Can I know truth? Is the universe I perceive real or an illusion? If the universe is real, is...

Recently I had a chance to catch Snow White and the Huntsman and it was an enjoyable reimagination of the fairy tale. It’s a wonderful story about the way goodness brings restoration in a world mired by a corrupted force, a theme which is rooted in a biblical worldview. Ravenna (Charlize Theron) is the evil queen step-mother who murders the King Magnus, ruler of the land of Tabor and father to Snow White. Ravenna then uses her own outward beauty to as well as dark magic to maintain control over the land. Her powers are self-consuming, and using her magic mirror, she finds fair young maidens in order to magically suck their youthful essence to regenerate her aging body. The very land of Tabor also loses its life force, and is riddled with dead plants and trees. The magic mirror informs Ravenna that she can only maintain power so long as she is the fairest in the land, but the late king’s daughter Snow White (Kristen Stewart) is coming of age and will one day be the faires...

Every now and then I’ll come across a statement about faith and science, faith and politics, or faith and economics being mutually exclusive. So one can speak openly in public on science, politics, and economics; however, one must always keep faith or religious matters private. Some might even attempt to expunge from its science, political, and economic vocabulary anything that might be considered “religious.” This is something of a fact/value split, which places faith in an upper story of personal, private, beliefs, and science, politics, and economics in the lower story of public matters. Nancy Pearcy in her book Total Truth observes that this fact/value spirit ultimately “traps Christianity in the upper story of privatized values, and prevents it from having any effect on public culture.” She then encourages Christians to overcome this dichotomy and to recover their rightful place in the public square through developing a biblical worldview. It is a worldview that beings with the...

As I look around the home, it is no surprise to see that I live in a world of technology. I’ve got hot/cold running water, and plumbing. I have a kitchen with a refrigerator, stove, and microwave. I got a living room with a television and DVD players. I got tons of CDs not to mention additional mp3s elsewhere. There’s an electric guitar, an amp, and a multi-effects unit. Even my acoustic guitar has an electric pickup. I’ve got a computer, and a smart phone, and most of my research is done via the Web. One might say I’m a spoiled American, but maybe there’s more to the picture. The real questions to consider are: what ultimately drives technology? The question of what drives people to develop technology is important. We can create new technologies for good because they dignify humans. Conversely, we can create technologies for evil because they dehumanize individuals. Technology created for good can be corrupted, and technology created for evil can be redeemed. Whatever technology is ...

A colleague of brought to my attention this new hit “Born this Way” telling me of its haunting lyrics. I sort of shrugged it to the back of my mind. I can’t say I listen to much top 40 music, but I noticed it was the number 1 download on iTunes, so I just thought to check this one out, found a free preview on YouTube and had a listen. It had all the components of what I would have expected from a 21st century pop artist—very techno but loud with provocative lyrics. There’s of course all the pop music critic clichés about the song—the whole “been there done that,” “There’s nothing new under the sun,” or “Sounds like Madonna’s ‘Express Yourself.’ ”. But I think Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, a.k.a. Lady Gaga, produced something that is really in tune with the pulse of modern spirituality. Lady Gaga has experienced the pain of lost love, even battles against her own personal demons, but she has her own spirituality, and speaks of God watching over her. She has even sought out N...

After days of non-violent civil protest, the people of Egypt unified to bring about a change in regime, which came to realization with the resignation of Hosni Mubarak on February 11, 2011. Was social media the weapon in this revolution? Perhaps we might begin to say that the social network is mightier than the sword. Egypt has certainly inspired others living under totalitarian regimes. Whatever the case, many people wonder what would become of Egypt after the changing of the guard? Are we just witnessing one totalitarian rule being replaced by another? Pray for the best to come out of this situation, and I say, “Let there be democracy!” Modern democracy can offer a representative form of government that is of the people, by the people, and for the people. This does not mean the majority rules, but that the common good can be upheld. 1 Modern democracy can also offer a system of government with checks and balances so that civil leaders can be kept accountable to fulfill the duties ...

The Christ-Krishna connection pops finds its way into many spiritual conversations. It is a way of communicating that we are all on the same journey, and looking for the same thing. Both are said to be sons of God divinely conceived, both had prophesied births, both were born in unique circumstances, with Christ in a manger and Krishna in a jail cell, both escaped death from evil forces as infants, both entered into worlds filled with social upheavals, both were pierced with sharp weapons—Christ with nails and a spear and Krishna with an arrow, and both taught love and peace. How do the two really match up? Christianity teaches that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man in one person (John 1:1-3, 14), whereas Hinduism teaches Krishna is an avatar and one of many incarnations of Vishnu, thus Krishna says, “Manifold the renewals of my birth have been.” 1 They teach Brahman decided to enter into the world as the eighth child of DChristianity teaches Jesus Christ was born of a virgin ...

John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, declares, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being…. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1-3, 14). In these few lines, the Gospel writer pronounces the person of Jesus Christ to be both fully divine and fully human and the co-eternal Creator of the universe. The theologically rich language of the fourth Gospel offers truth that can revolutionize lives and offer solutions to the world’s most pressing issues. John understands Jesus to be the Divine Word who incarnated Himself and lived among men. The biblical writer does not believe the material universe is an illusion, so that one must acquire mind over matter psychic techniques to come to realize the pri...

Psalm 136 begins “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.” As the psalm progresses there is this refrain “for His lovingkindness is everlasting,” in other words, “His love endures forever.” What wonderful words to sing. In this song, the psalmist looks to his own history and sees the love of God being demonstrated from one event to another. God delivered His people from Egyptian slavery, parted the Red Sea, fought for them in desert battles, and brought them to their promise land, proving “His lovingkindness is everlasting.” We can give thanks to God because His love endures forever. The everlasting love of God is also demonstrated throughout the whole of Israel’s history. Vishal Mangalwadi, in his lectures entitled “Must the Sun Set on the West,” shares of his struggles reading through the Old Testament, from Genesis to Chronicles, but one day he had an epiphany that the books being read offered a glimpse in Jewish history from God’s perspecti...

Inception (Warner Brothers) 1 is great mind bending science fiction thrill ride that came about at the last minute when I began to wonder “are there any good movies coming out this summer?” It is about a team of thieves led by Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) whom use technology to enter into the minds of others to steal their secrets all the while navigating around the target’s subconscious, which manifests itself as various people within the dream world intent on killing the dream invaders. As the story goes, Cobb is hired to do a special kind of job, which involves “inception,” or the implanting of an idea into the target’s subconscious that would determine a future action delivered via a dream within a dream within another dream. There is a definite critique against the basic reliability of sense perception woven into the storyline of Inception. For instance, the downside of those continually entering into the dream world is they become unable to determine whether or not they are aw...

I’m not one to watch a whole lot of cable television news entertainment, but Glenn Beck, popular media personality on the FOX News Channel, is a name that keeps popping up in social media circles and elsewhere, especially on issues related to faith and social justice. I even recently caught a few minutes of Beck’s interview with evangelicals Jerry Falwell Jr., chancellor or Liberty University, and Peter Lillback, president of Westminster Theological Seminary, on this subject. Seeing this, I wondered, just what do these two evangelical leaders, who are entrusted with training up the pastors of tomorrow, have in common with a cultist in the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints? Glenn Beck has openly shared about his journey into Mormonism, and there’s even a YouTube video of him sharing his testimony. [1] Moreover, in an interview with Deseret News , he stated, “I presently serve as a ward missionary, elder’s quorum teacher and serve with my wife in the stake’s addiction-recovery pro...

Tiger Woods’ formal public apology came just a day ago, and many from the social media universe are chiming in on the subject. A few of the responses circulating are from those who consider his presentation a “canned,” performance. I must admit the thought has crossed my mind. “Of course Tiger needs to do this,” I say to my self, “After all many other disgraced public figures pay top dollar to have public relations experts to help restore their marred image, not so much as a way of receiving absolution, but to improve their charisma, so that their name can continue being a marketable commodity. So the ‘Tiger Woods’ must be must be restored, if it is to remain marketable, and keep whatever endorsements remain.” Whether or not his presentation was “canned” is a mystery. Can anyone really judge his motives? To those who find Tiger to be insincere, I ask, “Where’s the beef?” I’m also just being way too cynical to think this is just a well-played PR campaign. I’d say, give the guy the ben...

There is an insightful article in Christianity Today entitled "Sowing Subversion in the Field of Relativism The Global Conversation" by Mark L.Y. Chan I concur with Mr. Chan's assessment on the issues of Christians engaging in a pluralistic global society immersed in postmodern thought. One need not abandon the idea of an absolute truth, particularly the belief in Jesus being the Only Way, in order to respectfully interact with those of different beliefs. Mr. Chan is correct in that religious pluralism is not the way at all. The attraction of an all embracing post-modernism ultimately fails, and really cannot come to a robust understanding of tolerance, which "entails putting up with what one considers to be error." Christians are also to love beyond just exercising tolerance. The first Christians influenced the entire Roman Empire because their lives were transformed by the love that Christ demonstrated upon the cross, which saved them from their sin, and offer...

During Christmas vacation, I had the opportunity to hang out with some of the homeboys in CA., and we went to see James Cameron’s Avatar in 3D. Up until now I have been somewhat preoccupied with other things and unable to jot down my thoughts, but I did keep my nose to the wind to sense what others voices had to say about the movie. The reviews out there are typically positive, and some even dub Avatar, at least in the 3D format, a ground breaking film and the shape of things to come in the world film production. Avatar is, in my opinion, a well-done edge of the seat sci-fi action flick, and a thought-provoking story for mature audience. Avatar takes viewers on a spectacular journey into the deep reaches of outer space to a planet called Pandora. Like many other well-designed sci-fi classics, it also takes contemporary issues and plays them out in the storyline. In the case of Avatar, the movie adventure serves as a social critique of Western Imperialism, particularly the issues o...

Dr. Vishal Mangalwadi in his lectures entitled, “Must the Sun Set on the West?” made the following profound observation about the secular West’s rejection of God yet insistence upon the equality between men and women: You reject the biblical worldview, reject the New Testament worldview, but the idea of equality between male and female comes from the same worldview. If you reject that worldview, and make a statement, “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men and women are evolved equal,” that statement makes no sense, because by definition, evolution is explanation of inequality. Why are species unequal? Evolution is an explanation of inequality. Why are men and women equal? There is no ground for believing and affirming equality of human beings except that both were created in God’s image and they share the likeness of God. So even though they are biologically different, intellectually there might be differences, economically, physically there might be differences, there ...