Soul Thoughts

Faith and relevance in the 21st century

Month: March 2007

Larry Norman – a great American prophet

March 27, 2007 /

I haven’t listened to Larry Norman’s music for about 20 years, but the other morning his most famous song, ‘The Great American Novel’, suddenly came into my mind. As I went over the words, I was reminded how relevant this song that was written in 1972 is in today’s world. As he cries out at the paradox of a nation that has produced so many great leaders but which has also caused so much suffering, you cannot help but feel enraged at the hypocrisy of some of our leaders. Just today The Age had an article about the desperate need for America to have a leader like Bobby Kennedy. 35 years later not a lot seems to have changed. As the echoes of the disaster of Vietnam ring throughout this song, you can also hear the less distant echoes of Iraq (though not in the line ‘and while you’re winning theirs’!).

However, unlike much of today’s protest which is happy to sit back and make judgments while not providing credible alternatives, Larry points to a better way, a higher way. As the minute hand of the Doomsday Clock was inched closer to midnight in the last couple of weeks, the Prince of Peace is just as relevant today as ever. Fifteen years ago, another singer with a social conscience, John Mellencamp, sang ‘now more than ever, the world needs love’. I reckon he would be singing that song even louder now.

Have a read of the words of this prophetic song and ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with a passion for setting things right in this broken world.

The Great American Novel – Larry Norman

I was born and raised an orphan
In a land that once was free
In a land that poured its love out on the moon
And I grew up in the shadows
Of your silos filled with grain
But you never helped to fill my empty spoon

And when I was ten you murdered law
With courtroom politics
And you learned to make a lie sound just like truth
But I know you better now
And I don’t fall for all your tricks
And you’ve lost the one advantage of my youth

You kill a black man at midnight
Just for talking to your daughter
Then you make his wife your mistress
And you leave her without water
And the sheet you wear upon your face
Is the sheet your children sleep on
At every meal you say a prayer
You don’t believe but still you keep on

And your money says in God we trust
But it’s against the law to pray in school
You say we beat the Russians to the moon
And I say you starved your children to do it

You are far across the ocean
But the war is not your own
And while you’re winning theirs
You’re gonna lose the one at home
Do you really think the only way
To bring about the peace
Is to sacrifice your children
And kill all your enemies

The politicians all make speeches
While the news men all take note
And they exaggerate the issues
As they shove them down our throats
Is it really up to them
Whether this country sinks or flIats
Well I wonder who would lead us
If none of us would vote

Well my phone is tapped and my lips are chapped
From whispering through the fence
You know every move I make
Or is that just coincidence
Will you try to make my way of life
A little less like jail
If I promise to make tapes and slides
And send them through the mail

And your money says in God we trust
But it’s against the law to pray in school
You say we beat the russians to the moon
And I say you starved your children to do it
You say all men are equal all men are brothers
Then why are the rich more equal than others
Don’t ask me for the answer I’ve only got one
That a man leaves his darkness when he follows the Son

The paradoxes of faith

March 27, 2007 /

Isn’t it interesting that being a follower of Christ in many ways involves a paradox. It has long been said that the first Christians turned the world upside down, and that is what we are called to do. But in fact it is the world that is upside down and we are called to make things right. And the way this is done goes against everything that the world stands for. This is the great paradox of faith. Consider all the things that Jesus said about this – we die to live, we surrender to gain victory, we humble ourselves to be exalted, we suffer to gain glory. As Larry Crabb has said, the road that to life often feels like the road to death. And to quote the title of a song by Celtic poet, Sammy Horner, it is victory in defeat.

One of the problems of atheism

March 27, 2007 /

One thing that I struggle with that alot of Christians say is that there is no such thing as an atheist. I think there is, but where atheists have it wrong is that they generally denounce the idea of faith as being flawed. What they fail to see is that they live by as much faith as believers. The believer has faith that there is a God who made the universe and everything in it, while the atheist has faith in the idea that there is a purely naturalistic explanation for everything that exists. As far as rational logic goes, agnosticism is a truer position. However agnosticism is also a position. It is not sitting on the fence.

A good book I have read about this is ‘Finding Faith’ by Brian McLaren. McLaren is a Christian, however he consulted with many of his atheist and agnostic friends before writing the book, and ran transcripts by them as he was writing. The result is a very balanced book, as shown by the reviews it gets on Amazon.

If I was in charge….university fees

March 27, 2007 /

Free, government funded university education is the only option in a just society. It is affordable, and it ensures that the best people can go to university, not just those with the money. This will produce the realisation of the most potential in society, as the most suited people will be in the positions most suited to them. Education is a right and not a privilege.

If I was in charge….the Middle East

March 27, 2007 /

There will never be peace in the Middle East until the U.S., as the world’s only superpower and with all its resulting influence and power, calls for both sides to lay down their weapons, and not just Hezbollah (referring to the current crisis in Lebanon). The US needs to show courageous global leadership by being a true peacemaker, especially if it is to truly be a Christian nation. As Bono so brilliantly puts in in the live versions of ‘Love and Peace…or else’ – “Jesus, Jew, Mohammed – all sons of Abraham”.

If I was in charge….public transport

March 27, 2007 /

As part of this blog, I intend to put in my thoughts about life, the universe and social issues. Some relate to the world (or universe!) as a whole, while others are more locally related.

I’ll start with the issue of public transport in Melbourne which is really pretty bad.

If I was the Victorian Premier, I would not build more freeways, but instead invest heavily in more and better public transport. Melbourne needs and could support a train system like that in Berlin, Prague and London, where the system is laid out like a spider’s web, where passengers can change lines at certain stations across the city. There is big myth that more freeways reduce traffic congestion. The Public Transport User’s Association have powerfully debunked this myth with facts and observations over a number of years.
Melbourne also needs a CBD tax for cars as is done in some other cities (I think London is doing this). I would retain tolls on City Link and am not against tolls on EastLink (and I live right in the heart of where EastLink is being built).

The Intelligent Design debate

March 27, 2007 /

In the U.S. and now here in Australia, the Intelligent Design (ID) debate has been getting more media space. The Australian Government has been open to having ID taught in schools. However, those that would be against it say that it is unscientific and is a front for creationists. My problem is not whether or not it should be taught in schools, but the way the media, at least in Australia, has either misunderstood or deliberately manipulated the debate. In an article in The Age in early August 2005 about the ID debate, there was a poll which asked, not if you agree that ID should be taught in schools, but if you agree that creationism should be taught in schools. Creationism and ID are 2 different things, but they have been reported by the anti-ID side as really the same thing, and, on top of this, I believe the ID school has been hijacked by the creationists.

The ID people basically accept evolution as probably the best explanation for the development of life on the planet, while stating that the intricate complexity of the web of life could not possibly have happened by chance. The creationists, meanwhile, accept literally the idea that that earth is about 6,000 years old and that it was created in 7 x 24 hour days. Personally, I have shifted to the view of the former ie. from my reading of things (and I have read quite a bit, but I am also no scientist) the 6,000 year view of the earth just doesn’t hold water, but I also believe that there has to be a designer behind the intricate complexity of the web of life. I confess, I am also a Christian.

The problem with prosperity doctrine

March 27, 2007 /

Well, there are many problems with it actually, but when you hear people like Joel Osteen stating that when you are in relationship with God, you can expect the favour of God, that you can actually expect good things to happen to you, it is a very dangerous (not to mention heretical and unbiblical) statement to make. If Osteen is right then Jesus himself must have been pretty out of favour with the Almighty! The One who is described in Isaiah as a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering, is the Jesus of the Gospels, who was born in a trough, was the friend of sinners and of the scum of the earth, the people who no one else wanted to be around, and was constantly in tension with the religious establishment and the powers of His day, and was of course eventually crucified for his efforts. According to Osteen’s theology then, Jesus was a failure (and not just in the worldly sense, but in a spiritual sense as well). When people in favour of this doctrine quote the Bible, notice that they almost overwhelmingly quote the Old Testament, and then in bits and pieces. My pastor once said that a verse taken out of context is a pretext; in other words, you can take a few single verses and put them together to say exactly what you want them to say. Now, I am convinced that the Old Testament is just as much the Word of God as the New Testament. But when these people hardly ever quote the New Testament in defence of their prosperity doctrine, particularly the Gospels which deal explicitly with the sayings and life of Jesus, there is a problem. Christians who don’t talk about Jesus – how’s that for an irony?

Ben Lerner needs to read Max Lucado

March 26, 2007 /

A few years ago when I was in a Christian bookstore, I saw a book by Ben Lerner called ‘Body by God’. The premise of the book is that God wants us to be fabulously beautiful, outrageously happy and prosperous. On the shelf below Lerner’s book was a book by Max Lucado simply called ‘It’s Not About Me’. Ben Lerner needs to read Max Lucado’s book.

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