New BibleGateway Sidebar

If you want to look up a word or specific passage in the Bible you can just scroll down to the BibleGateway sidebar gadget I just installed below. Give it a try!

I also recently added a sidebar which lists books I’m currently reading.

No Kissing at the Mall

Interesting policy implemented at the Mall of the Emirates last month. If you’re feeling amorous with your shopping partner (or someone you meet there you should take note of the second prohibition listed… “No Kissing or Overt Displays of Affection”. You might also get stuck at “Please Wear Respectful Clothing” too.

This raises a number of questions. Does this apply to all kissing? Like the “peck on the cheek” kind? Or just the ‘extended lip-lock’ kind? Who makes this decision? Is hand-holding an overt display of affection? Is an arm around the shoulder? Exactly where can a hand be put?

And what is respectful? Of course I assume they mean respectful to the host culture. But that is a tough thing to do when you (Dubai) are setting your goals on drawing hundreds of thousands of tourists to your country. Tourists by definition almost always see themselves as not a part of the culture they are visiting. It’s as if they think of themselves as viewing everything from behind a glass window.

When I first moved here I used to not wear shorts except to the beach and to the park. But I’ve loosened up about that over the last 5 years. I wonder if I ever offend anyone when I go to the store.

As a Christian I’m eager to keep the commandments of the Bible as an act of gratitude to God for what he’s done for me through Christ – the forgiveness of sins and the adoption into the his eternal family as a son of the King. The Bible would teach “let there not be a hint of immorality among you.” (Ephesians 5:3) But the real challenge is that immorality has some culturally defined boundaries. Or at least the “hints” are culturally defined often.

So, even when I take my family of all women (4 daughters, 1 wife) to the mall they don’t go in shorts or sleeveless shirts just out of respect for the host culture in which we live. But even then I wonder if people see my daughters, know we’re from the west, and then just assume they are immoral. What can I do about that? Nothing I think. Other than to live it down among the people who really know us.

When we go though, we’ll just have to make sure… no kissing!

What do you think?

Pope Benedict Prays for Jews… and Gets Bad Reviews

Just getting to blog about this from earlier in the month… Pope Benedict has reinstituted a prayer for Jews to recognize Jesus as Savior of the world. The prayer is only in a Latin service that takes place on Good Friday before Easter. I first read about this in this NY Times article. Here’s what the translation of the prayer

An unofficial translation of the new prayer reads: “Let us pray for the Jews. May the Lord Our God enlighten their hearts so that they may acknowledge Jesus Christ, the savior of all men.”

The reason this is in the news is that a conservative worldwide assembly of Jewish rabbis has condemned it and says, “the prayer would cast a harsh shadow over the spirit of mutual respect and collaboration that has marked these past four decades, making it more difficult for Jews to engage constructively in dialogue with Catholics.”

This is one of those situations that I just struggle to understand. The Jewish body is effectively saying that we can’t talk or have dialogue if you insist on saying that what historic Christianity and the Bible say about Jesus is true. But to deny the exclusive nature of claiming that salvation comes through faith in Jesus is to deny orthodox Christianity.

I suppose this flows from a mindset that says that disagreement about Truth is counter productive to good relationships with others and has historically led to violence. The reasoning usually goes that absolute truth claims necessarily lead to violence.

But this isn’t true for a religion who’s God commands them to “love your neighbor” and “pray for your enemies”; ala Christianity. The violence of some Christians through history is better explained by things like people who call themselves Christians but are not truly regenerate or by pointing out that God’s elect, the Church, continue to be sinful despite being redeemed by him. Both of these explanations fit the Biblical description of mankind.

I disagree with Roman Catholics about some theological issues. But on this one… I stand with them. It is Biblical and right to pray these kinds of prayers.

What do you think?

Quote: Love Your Neighbor and Your Enemy

Great Quote:

The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people.

GK Chesterton

A "Fresh" and Simple Translation of Romans 8

I get a daily email entitled Christian Quote of the Day. I’ve been getting it for over 5 years now and though I don’t read it every day it has been a great source of encouragement and spiritual stimulation almost weekly.

Today is the 12 year anniversary of the email list and the author has published the entire chapter 8 of Romans from a book entitled “The Inspired Letters in Clearest English”, a translation into simple English of the letters of the New Testament, prepared by Frank C. Laubach, a twentieth-century champion of literacy
and Bible translation in many countries. In it he only uses a vocabulary of about 200 words it was published in 1954.

I really like the way it reads… refreshing. Take a look, it will only take you about 10 minutes to read it. And Romans 8 is about the pinnacle of the New Testament so you can’t do much better. (Click the link below to read the entire chapter

There is now no sentence of death for those who are in
Christ Jesus. The Spirit has its own law, and this law gives
me life in Christ Jesus. It sets me free from sin and death.
What the law of Moses could not do because our flesh was too
weak, God has done. He sent His son in flesh like our sinning
flesh. Christ died as a sin-offering for us. In this way, God
passed a death sentence upon sin in the flesh. Now we are able
to live as the just law requires if we obey the Spirit and do
not obey the call of the flesh.

Those who live for the Spirit keep their minds on the
things of the Spirit. Those who live for the flesh keep their
minds on the things of the flesh. To keep the mind on the
flesh means death. But to keep the mind on the Spirit means
life and peace. The mind that is set on the flesh is the enemy
of God. It does not and cannot obey the law of God. Those who
live for the flesh cannot please God.

But you do not live for the flesh. You live for the
Spirit, if the Spirit of God really lives in you. Any man who
does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Christ.
If Christ lives in you, your bodies are dead because of sin,
but your spirits are alive and you love what is right. The
Spirit of God Who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you. And
God is going to put life into your bodies just as He raised
Christ Jesus from the dead. It is His Spirit which lives in
you which will be your life.

So then, brothers, we do not owe a duty to the flesh. We
are not to obey the call of the flesh. If you live for the
flesh you will die. But if you are led by the Spirit, and put
to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all those
who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. You did not
receive the spirit of a slave, to make you fear. But we have
received the spirit of a Son of God. That is why we cry,
“Father, dear Father.” The Spirit of God is bearing witness
with our spirits that we are children of God. If we are God’s
children we are also to be God’s heirs. We are fellow-heirs
with Christ. If we share His sufferings, we shall also share
His glory. I do not consider the sufferings of this present
time worth comparing to the glory that is going to be revealed
to us.

Even the created world is waiting with eager desire for
the sons of God to appear. Every created thing has been put
under the power of death and decay. Nothing wants to die or
decay, but God has willed it so. Yet He gave us hope that the
created world itself will be set free from decay and death.
Then everything in the world will obtain the glorious liberty
of the children of God. We know that the whole created world
has been groaning in the pains of childbirth until now. Not
only the world around us, but we ourselves have been groaning
within. We are waiting for God to deliver our bodies from the
power of death. We are waiting for Him to adopt us as His
sons. This is the hope that saves us. If it had already
happened we would not need to hope for it. Who hopes for a
thing after he has it? But if we still hope for what we do not
yet see, we must be patient while we wait for it.

The Holy Spirit is a glorious first fruit of what God
plans to give us. The Holy Spirit helps us, because we are
weak. We do not know how we ought to pray. But the Holy Spirit
Himself keeps praying for us with sighs too deep for words.
God Who can see into men’s hearts, knows what the Spirit
desires. And the Spirit keeps praying for God’s people in the
way God wishes. We know that God works with those who love Him
to bring good out of everything.

Those who love Him have been called according to His
purpose. He knew them before they were born and He had chosen
them to become like His son. Jesus was the first born and
those whom God has chosen are His brothers. Those whom God
chose He called. He cleared all charges against those whom He
called. He gave His own glory to those whose charges He
cleared.

What then can we say if this is true? God is for us, so
who can be against us. God did not spare His own Son, but gave
Him up for us all. And God will gladly give us all things
along with Christ. Who then shall bring any charges against
those whom God has chosen? It was God Who cleared their
charges, so who dares to condemn them? Christ Jesus died; He
was raised from the dead; He is at the right hand of God. And
it is He who pleads for us. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Shall trouble or pain or ill treatment or
hunger or need of clothes or danger or death? As it is
written:

“For Thy sake we face death the whole day;
we are regarded as sheep to be killed.”

Yet in all these things that happen we shall have victory and
more than victory by the help of Him Who loved us. I am sure
that nothing shall be able to separate us from Christ, in life
or in death. Neither angels nor even the princes of the dark
spirit world can separate us from Christ. Nothing now and
nothing that shall ever come can separate us. No power, no
height, no depth, nor anything God has created will be able to
separate us from His love which He gave us in Christ Jesus our
Lord.

… prepared by Frank C. Laubach (1884-1970), The Inspired
Letters in Clearest English [1954]

Christians Not Allowed to refer to God as Allah in Malaysia?

This is a very interesting article I ran across today about the Malaysian government banning Christians (specifically Roman Catholics in this case) from using the word “Allah” to refer to God in their publications. It raises very interesting and ominous questions about religious freedom. The Malaysian Christians make the point that the word Allah is pre-Islamic and therefore cannot be protected as an Islamic word as such.

I don’t have too much time to comment but here is what the de facto minister for Islamic affairs official said in defending the ban…

“The use of the word ‘Allah’ by non-Muslims may arouse sensitivity and create confusion among Muslims in the country.”

What do you think?

Friday Prayers at the Mosque

This is the scene in front of a Dubai mosque just yesterday, Friday, and I took it at a stop light on Jumeirah Beach Road. You’ll notice how full the mosque is. This is atypical for the middle of the week but somewhat normal on Friday at the Jumuah prayer.

The Jumuah is the name for the Friday prayer time in Islam that happens just after noon and is preceeded by a sermon or Khutba by the Imam of the mosque. The friday prayer is perhaps the most important of all the prayer times for muslims. Prayer is required 5 times a day but this one is special in importance. Thus most of the mosques see large crowds gather particularly on Friday. The Khutba (or sermon) is typically broadcast over a loudspeaker to the surrounding neighborhood here in the UAE.

Here’s a selection of things the Koran, the Hadith’s (saying of the Prophet), and some Islamic scholars/teachers have said about the Jumuah and muslim prayer in general:

The Prophet said…

“If a person had a stream outside his door and he bathed in it five times a day, do you think he would have any filth left on him?” The people said, “No filth would remain on him whatsoever.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) then said, “That is like the five daily prayers: Allah wipes away the sins by them.” (Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.)

In another hadith, the Prophet said,

“The five daily prayers and the Friday Prayer until the Friday prayer are expiation for what is between them.” (Recorded by Muslim.)

And…

“Of all the days, Friday is the most virtuous. It is on this day that the trumpet will be blown. Send abundant blessings upon me on Fridays because they are presented to me on that day.”

On this day it is commanded by the Prophet that you should take a full bath (ghusl), put on clean clothes and perfume/cologne if you have it. Also, it is not obligatory for females to offer this particular prayer.

The Koran says…

“O you who believe! When the call for Friday prayer is made, hasten towards the remembrance of Allah Most High and leave all transactions. This is best for you if only you know.” (I’m unsure of this reference)

“Verily, man was created impatient, irritable when evil touches him and niggardly when good touches him. Except for those devoted to prayer those who remain constant in their prayers…” (al-Maarij 19-23)

The Christian View of Prayer – A Very Short Summary

The Christian view of prayer is different from the Muslim view. Christian prayer is simply communication with God. In prayer, a person can do any number of different things including, acknowledge God’s character, holiness, and other attributes, cry out to him in emotional pain and anguish, make requests of God to intervene in our lives and in the world to act in certain ways in keeping with his character and purposes in the world, remind God of his promises, ask for wisdom for decisions and life choices, etc. The Bible is full of examples of prayers of people in many different life situations. We should study them and pattern our prayers after them in the appropriate times and situations.

I know of no examples of Muslim prayers in the Koran presumably because the Koran is almost thoroughly a recounting of God’s words directly to the Prophet.

One of the most important things about Christian prayer is that is not a duty that atones for or makes expiation for sin. It does not enhance one’s moral standing before God. In fact, only through Christ, the perfect God-man, can we “boldly approach the throne” of God in prayer. Apart from Christ we approach a holy God as sinful and rebellious people and we will not be accepted.

Also, it should be noted that for the Christian no physical cleaning is required to approach God in prayer.

For the Muslim readers who check out this post, let me know if I’ve made mistakes in my simple recounting of Islamic prayer and specifically the Jumuah prayer. I got most of the information from here, here, and here.

Back to Blogging… And a Few Dubai Christmas Pictures

I’ve taken some time off work to be with the family during this Christmas season and that always means my blogging slows down. But there’s much to post and discuss so it’s time to jump back in!

Before I move on to other news and ideas I’ve given you a few pictures I took during the Christmas season here in Dubai. Dubai is a wonderful place in the Arabian peninsula in that they allow the celebration of Christmas. I’m thankful for that. But I think that much of the motivation for the demonstrably public nature of Christmas is for merchandising reasons. Dubai retailers have learned the “cash cow” that a commercialized Christmas can be. It’s kind of a shame but again, I’m grateful for the allowances that are made for celebrating this Christian remembrance in an Islamic country.

“Santa-Hat” clad checkout workers and baggers at Spinney’s Grocery Store

Arab musicians at Mall of the Emirates. I don’t think there was any special Christmas connection here.

The Filipino Church, a partner with our church, came to do Christmas caroling at our home one night! They sounded great and even sang a Christmas song in Tagalog, the main language of the Philippines.

Here’s a short (and low quality) video of the Tagalog song they sang for us.

Eid Al Adha and Hajj Begin

There are two Eid celebrations per year and the second, Eid Al Adha is likely to begin on Tuesday. This is the celebration of when Muslims believe Ibrahim (Abraham), at the command of God, took his son Ishmael to sacrifice him on a mountain. Christians believe the son was actually Isaac and that story is told in Genesis chapter 22.

This is also a time for many Muslims to go on the Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, which is required at least once in the lifetime of all Muslims who are physically and financially able.

I have a friend, Mohammad, who is traveling there today. I wish him well and I’m praying for him.

Here is an interesting MSNBC.com slideshow on the Hajj. (The link goes to the multimedia page… the Hajj pics might rotate off soon so check it out soon if you want to see them.)

And below is an interesting (and short) Youtube video on the Hajj. Check it out.

Is Cleanliness Next to Godliness?

I recently had to buy four new tires. As I waited at the local petrol station for the new ones to be put on the car I noticed a sign I’d never seen before in that garage. “Cleanliness is Next to Godliness”. Now I’ve heard that saying before but never seen it posted in a auto garage!

I understand the desire to have the workers keep their work environment clean. It would promote safety in the work place and an image of excellence. But IS cleanliness next to godliness? Does the cleaning of your body or your environment enable you to better draw near to God and be like him?

A few things come to mind.

Jesus said stuff like this on the subject.

Mark 7:14-23 Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.”

Then Jesus went into a house to get away from the crowd, and his disciples asked him what he meant by the parable he had just used. “Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.)

And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”

In Islam, one place and time where physical purity is necessary is during prayer. Muslims must physically cleanse themselves for their prayers to be heard by God and therefore effective. The cleansing procedure is called Wudu.

Islamonline.net says, “Muslims must have perfect ritual prayers to pray the Salah (ritual prayers). Here is an excerpt from their posting on the subject.

Physical purity means cleanliness of the body, clothing and environment. According to the rules of Islam, Muslims should keep their bodies and clothing clean from any impurities, especially the body wastes of humans and animals.

Islam insists on the use of clean water to cleanse the body of impurities, and only when water is not available can a person use other things. Even the clothing should be perfectly clean from any impurities. For that reason, Muslim bathrooms have a source of running water or pitchers of water next to the toilet.

Similarly, any animal discharges — including the saliva of dogs — are unclean and Muslims should make sure their clothing, environment, and bodies are free of those impurities.

Muslims must have perfect physical purity to pray the Salah (ritual Prayers).

You are in this state of ritual purity of wudu’ until you urinate or defecate, pass wind, sleep, or become unconscious. If you do any of these things before or during the Salah, you must repeat the wudu’.

The history of the phrase itself seems to indicate that it came from ancient Hebrew writings of the 2nd century A.D. In English it appears to have derived from Sir Francis Bacon and then later John Wesley, the famous Christian evangelist, mentions it in a sermon in 1791.

As a follower of Jesus, I tend to think that cleanliness doesn’t have much to do with godliness at all. I can see where an understanding that one’s body is a creation and gift from God should lead one to take care of your body. And there are some references to working hard with your hands (as opposed to being idle) in the New Testament. But cleanliness is hardly a “doorway” to godliness.

What do you think?