1. WAKE-UP CALL IN LITTLETON, CO.

I really thought hard about this piece. In fact, I considered not even doing it. The reason for this is the fact that I know that some are going to misunderstand me. Well. I've decided to include this, so let me preface it by writing that I in no way want to "downplay" what happened in Littleton, CO. on April 20 of this year. I in no way want to ignore the courageous faith of Cassie Bernall or the other lives that were lost in that tragedy, nor do I want to forget that the event is still a tragedy for the citizens of Littleton, for the friends and families of the victims, for the families of the perpetrators, and for all of us as we witness our culture disintegrating before our very eyes on the evening news every night.

This being said, I want to focus here on something a little different. I've entitled this piece "Wake-up Call in Littleton, CO." By this I do not mean a wake-up call concerning the fact that American society is falling apart at its very base. Of course, Littleton certainly is that kind of wake-up call. But plenty of pieces have been written by others covering this aspect of the tragedy (a few of which I sent out to everybody on this list).

No, I want to focus on another "wake-up call" that should be issuing from the events in Littleton, CO. This one is for Western Christians and it concerns the fact that a few of the Littleton victims were believers who were martyred for their faith - especially Cassie Bernall, of whom Pastor George Kirsten stated: "Cassie died a martyr's death. She went to the martyr's hall of fame." God gave Cassie the grace to stand that day, and we cannot even begin to imagine the influence of that decision for the furtherance of the Gospel; As the Church Father Tertullian wrote, "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church."

For all of this, may we all pause to realize that Cassie was martyred by two youths considered murderers by our society. Now, imagine believers living with the possibility of martyrdom day-to-day because their own government is the one pulling the trigger. It is happening right now ... today, yesterday, every day. Like Cassie, these foreign Christians are our brothers and sisters. In fact, they are not really "foreign" at all but are a part of that "holy nation" which we all make up as Christians (1 Peter 2:9). Do we really believe this? We should be writing letters, grieving, praying, educating ourselves - in short, everything we can do just short of ignoring it. Paul wrote of Christ's Body, "whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it" (1 Cor. 12:26). Like the Apostle John, we are each "a companion" of those in tribulation (Rev. 1:9).

The Catholic Encyclopedia (1929) gives us a good definition of "martyr": "Martyr ~ [Greek: a witness] a person who, for the Christian faith, freely and patiently suffers death at the hands of a persecutor. A martyr chooses to die rather than deny his faith by word or deed; he suffers patiently, that is, after the example of Christ, he does not resist his persecutors; he suffers death at the hand of one who, though he may assign some other reason, really acts through hatred of the Christian religion or of some Christian virtue. The early Christians, who bore witness to the truth of those facts upon which Christianity rests, were liable at any time to be given a choice between death and denial of their testimony. Many of them, refusing to deny Christ, actually suffered death. Thus the name martyr, which in the very beginning of the Christian era meant a witness of Christ, was after a while given to those alone who suffered death for the faith."

Michael Horowitz, a non-Christian Jew, wrote in the introduction to Marshall & Gilbert's Their Blood Cries Out the following indictment of we Christians in the "enlightened" West: He boldly (and rightly) writes of "The silence and indifference of Western elites to the beatings, looting, torture, jailing, enslavement, murder, and even crucifixion of increasingly vulnerable Christian communities" and also of "The ignorance and silence displayed by Western Christian communities toward the suffering of fellow believers." I won't lie - I am ashamed and convicted. How about you?

Some say that there are more Christians being persecuted and martyred today than at any other time in history. Estimates put the count at close to 150,000 per year in over 60 different countries! In the corresponding BIBLIOGRAPHY for this issue of THINKMAIL, I have linked online resources concerning the widespread persecution of believers going on today. PLEASE use these resources to educate yourselves on this fact. People, it may not be happening here (in the "Christian" West), but it is most certainly happening here (in the Church of Jesus Christ).

So am I saying that Cassie Bernall isn't special after all? Oh, no ... far from it. I am saying here that Cassie Bernall is one of many very special brothers and sisters in Christ. I've often heard theologians refute notions of a "second work of grace" or any such doctrine that creates different "classes" of believers. I share in this perspective as well. Yet, as I reflect on Cassie and on the many other martyrs we don't hear about, I must admit that there is a "higher" class of believers - a special group within the Body of Christ.

These martyrs - both ancient and modern - are the heroes and heroines of our Faith who have not accepted deliverence, "that they might obtain a better resurrection" (Heb. 11:35). Christ said that their reward in heaven is "great" (Matt. 5:12). `Of such believers we have the startling fact revealed to us that these are ones "of whom the world was not worthy" (Heb. 11:38) - because they "loved not their lives to the death" (Rev. 12:11). The only time in Scripture that we see Jesus standing up at the right hand of the Father is when Stephen is stoned to death for his faith (Acts 7:55-56)! Make no mistake, "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints" (Psalm 116:15).

Jesus specifically taught us to expect persecution (Matt. 24:9; John 15:20). The early Church not only expected it, they took JOY in it! The Apostle Paul wrote to the Colossians, "Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His body's sake, which is the church ..." (Col. 1:24). Time and space do not permit to tell of Polycarp, Justin, and the others who sealed their faith in what they came to call "the baptism of blood." You see, to die for our Lord Jesus was counted as the highest honor and privelege in the early Church! They thought this way because they shared the perspective of the Apostles. Paul wrote "to live is Christ, to die is gain" (Phil'p. 1:21), while Justin Martyr later wrote to the emperor, "You can kill us, but you cannot hurt us"! The early believers were not just unafraid of being martyred, they actually coveted the honor!

Yes, Littleton is a "wake-up call" for us all. A call to honor the martyrs of the past -and- of the present. A call to realize that martyrs are *special*, for they have had the *privelege* of dying for our Lord. May we all pray for the grace that was given to Cassie Bernall, to millions over the last 2900 years, and continues to be given to over 150,000 Christian martyrs a year.

There may very well come a time in our own lives when we too will need that grace to stand and embrace the awesome privelege of giving our very lives for our Faith: "If any man come to Me and does not hate his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:26).

2. HOLLYWOOD: THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE UGLY

I love movies. Really, really love them. I just do - action, drama, comedy, whatever. Television sitcoms don't impress me. You can keep the game shows, the talk shows, "Judge Judy," and all of that. Ah, but a good movie ----> now you've got my attention!

One really great website dealing with movies is that of David Bruce (hollywoodjesus.com - see the BIBLIOGRAPHY). David has done a great job putting together a continually updated analysis of the motion picture industry from a Christian worldview. His conclusion has been that there is something good happening in Holywood as many movies get cleaner, values are coming back, and Christian themes show up in not a few. As a confirmed movie buff myself, I agree! In A Time to Kill, the leading man actually does not sleep with the leading lady - steadfastly affirming his love for his wife by remaining faithful. In Simon Birch, we see a young boy challenged from birth exercising incredible faith in the providence of God. Such examples are endless .... such represent THE GOOD.

HOWEVER, I'm not sure that Christians have won "the culture war" yet. Consider an episode of "Moesha," the television sitcom starring young R&B artist Brandy. In the episode, Moesha and her friends are all paired up with young men for dates. One of Moesha's friends "lies" and tells Moesha what a "great date" her guy was. The "punchline" comes when the guy walks up with Moesha still present and confirms that her friend will be at "prayer meeting Wednesday". After walking off, Moesha eyes her friend and makes a negative comment. The impression is that the date was not really "good" at all. Why? Because he was a Christian.

Another glaring problem. Have any of you noticed that modern Hollywood "tough guys" are more "macho" (supposedly) when they rail against God? I still remember to this day seeing the original Lethal Weapon. There is one scene that has really stuck out in my mind over the years: Danny Glover looks skyward and says, "Why do you hate me, God?" Mal Gibson, in a very serious tone, answers, "Hate Him back ... it works for me." What really brought this to mind recently was the previews I saw for the latest Clint Eastwood movie, True Crime. In one scene, Clint's character meets the condemned, but evidently innocent, murderer. Clint's a reporter and the prisoner begins expressing his new-found faith in Christ. With the by-now patented "Eastwood face," Clint's character interrupts the prisoner, and scowls something to the effect of, "I don't give a f--- about Jesus Christ ..." God help us! We've fallen a long way since Pale Rider, haven't we? I never thought I'd see the day when blasphemy would be set forth, not as merely tolerated, but as "cool"! Now this is most definitely THE BAD.

But, in my humble opinion, it get's worse. Yes, it gets worse when it gets subtle. I recently rented and viewed What Dreams May Come, where Robin William's character dies and ends up having to "rescue" his wife from hell (???)! Now, I've never expected Hollywood theology to match the Bible, but the philosophy sold in this film is just deadly. It's the old "panreligious" lie all over again - the theological version of "it's all good." Let's see what we have in this movie: we create our own "heaven," "hell" is simply for "confused" souls who evidently can be "rescued," our distinctive ethnic features don't matter at all and are just "pretend" in "heaven" (Platonic dualism at its finest), and reincarnation is "optional"! The low point for me came when Robin asked Cuba Gooding, Jr.'s character (kind of an 'angel guide' type): "Where is God?" Cuba answers, "Oh, He's up there somewhere screaming that He loves us ... wondering why we can't hear Him." WHAT THE ...??? They're in Heaven! Oh, yeah - this is most definitely UGLY. (And if one objects that "it's just a movie" - I answer that Dante's Inferno was just a story, yet has influenced religious thought to the present day!)

Then we have an example of "poetic license" being freely taken with sacred Scripture in the movie The Mummy. In this movie, an immortal Egyptian - released from his tomb - rampages through Egypt. He is causing mass destruction, because - as a mummified Egyptian alive by the spells of "The Book of the Dead," he possess the "powers of the Egyptian plagues" - you know: locusts, water turning to blood, and so on ... HEY! WAIT A MINUTE! Those weren't Egyptian plagues!!! No way! Those were the plagues which God brought on Egypt as Moses contended with a stubborn Pharoah in the Book of Exodus! Taking such license with the Word of God is indeed ugly.

Television gets ugly too. An episode of the otherwise decent show Seventh Heaven has one of the daughters off at a "church retreat" where she practices Eastern meditative techniques (there's that "panreligious" thing again). Oh, and how about that Noah's Ark movie? Noah lives in Sodom and hangs out with Lot??? What was the writer smoking when he thumbed through the Bible researching his script??? Such an attitude toward our Scriptures is very telling indeed. You see, "higher criticism" has demonstrated that the Bible is full of fictional "stories" - so why not take a little "poetic license" and just rearrange it a bit for the viewers? Just plain ugly.

When Hollywood surprises me by actually representing values, or tipping their hat to Christianity ... well, that's good - not perfect, mind you! But GOOD. When Hollywood serves up what I fully *expect* to see from the world ... well, that of course is BAD. But when Hollywood steps onto holy ground with cleats on ---------> people, that's just plain UGLY. May God give us all discernment. Selah.

* W. Bingham Hunter, The God Who Hears (IVP, 1986) - Hunter has written an excellent book on prayer from a distinctly Reformed perspective. Going through most every Bible passage pertinent to the subject, Hunter dismantles the view commonly held by evangelicals. Answers questions like, "How can I approach a Holy God?"; "Why pray if God is all-knowing?"; and "Does prayer really change God's mind?" He also explains how we should pray, devoting an entire chapter to the example set for us by our Lord Jesus. A great feature is the appendix listing "Scriptures on Prayer" to help the reader study more on his/her own. Don't miss the excellent "full circle" view given in a diagram on page 214. This is a very practical and enlightening book. It is not a difficult read, and should be understandable to all.

"Draw me; we will run after thee; the king has brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee." SONG OF SOLOMON 1:4

The Song of Solomon, also called Canticles or Song of Songs, is perhaps the most neglected book in Scripture (along with Esther). It has long been regarded throughout Church history as an allegory of God and His people, specifically of Christ and the Church (see the online BIBLIOGRAPHY). I always thought that this idea seemed quite arbitrary until I actually sat down and read the entire book for the first time. Now it ranks among my favorites in all of Scripture.

In this verse, we see the young virgin is "drawn" before she "runs after." Note also that the "king" has brought her into "his chambers." This poetic verse is full of deep theological truths.

First, "Draw me." We "come" only because He first "draws" - that this is the teaching of Scripture cannot be denied. The Psalmist, in Psalm 119, prayed to God: "open my eyes" (v. 18), "quicken me" (vv. 25,40), "teach me" (v. 26), "make me to understand the way of Thy precepts" (v. 27), "Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me Thy Law" (v. 29), "I will run the way of Thy commandments, when Thou shalt enlarge my heart" (v. 32), "make me to go in the path of Thy commandments" (v. 35), "incline my heart" (v. 36), "quicken me in the way" (v. 37), "quicken me in Thy righteousness" (v. 40), and so on (read the whole Psalm - it's chock full of these kinds of prayers) - all actions which God must take on our behalf.

The Psalmist also wrote, "Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power" (Psalm 110:3). We are drawn by God - Jer. 31:3; Hosea 11:4 - drawn because of an "everlasting love" He has for us, a drawing whereby He removes the yoke of bondage from our knecks!

The NT makes this truth even more clear, as Jesus plainly says, "No man can come to Me, except the Father Who has sent Me draw him ..." (John 6:44). Paul states that "there is none that seek after God" (Rom. 3:11), but we do seek after we've been sought!

Second, we have the "me" changing to "we" ------> "Draw me; we will run after thee ..." This effect is like the Corinthians, of whom Paul wrote "your zeal has provoked very many" (2 Cor. 9:2). When we follow after Christ, there will be those who cannot help but follow with us.

Third, notice that there is a "running after" as well. We often see such paradoxical statements in Scripture - man does something, yet God is in reality back of it all. Yes, we will run after him, but Paul informs us that, nevertheless, "it is not of him that runs ... but of God Who shows mercy" (Rom. 9:16). This is the reality of our temporal situation - God is the First Cause. We see the same paradoxical truth stated explicitly in Phil'p. 2:12-13: "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God Who works in you both to will and to do ..."

Fourth, "the king has brought me into his chambers." And what else is taught by Christ in John 3, if not this? The regeneration spoken of as being "born again" must precede any "running" that we may do - "the wind bloweth where it listeth ... so is everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8). We must be "born again" to even see the Kingdom to enter it (John 3:3)! The NT statement of the theological truth of this is written by Paul: "Giving thanks to the Father, which has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; Who ... has translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son" (Col. 1:12-13).

So then, regardless of your theological persuasion, realize that it is God Who brings us to Himself - there is no room for boasting that you chose Him - for He chose you first!

No wonder Augustine prayed as he did: "You called, You cried, You shattered mt deafness. You sparkled, You blazed, You drove away my blindness." This is the grace of our God - He calls, He draws, He seeks, He grants us even the faith with which we believe! "Salvation is of the LORD" (Jonah 2:9).

We see this allegorical interpretation vindicated in Revelation 14:4 - "... they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men ..." And again, in Rev. 17:14, those with the King of Kings are "called, and chosen, and faithful ..."