Should Christians Mock or Ridicule?

“Well, of course it is not Christian to ridicule people; those who judge others will often be found guilty of the same sins themselves.”

This statement is in error. Basically, the author makes point A and then explains it by point B, which has nothing to do with point A. He is using the wrong proof to explain his point. It is also taking Bible verses out of context and altering their meaning to fit your own views.

Matthew 7:1-5 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.” (ESV)

The point Jesus is making here is that we should not have one standard of judgment for one person over another. We are all sinners and are all under the same standards of justice; also under grace, for you naysayers. Often times, yes, those who are quickest to pronounce judgment on a particular sin are themselves either guilty of that sin or have been delivered from that sin. The latter are in a unique position to minister directly to those issues and sins they have been delivered from; the former need to repent. The latter half of Jesus’ statement addresses the need to always recognize your own sin and dependence on God; don’t think of yourself more highly than others (Romans 12:3).

Now, to address the first part of this guy’s sentence: “Well, of course it is not Christian to ridicule people…”. In the book of Job, chapters 38 thru 42, God ridicules Job for not knowing Who He is. “Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.” (38:3) “Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this.” (38:18) In Mark 7:24-30, Jesus, according to some, calls a woman a dog. And in 1 Kings 18: 20-40, God’s prophet, Elijah, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, mocks the prophets of Baal: “And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”

These are just a handful of Scriptures where God, Jesus, or God’s people under the anointing of the Holy Spirit openly mock or ridicule people.

It is an error to say that “it is not Christian to ridicule people”; this thinking is unbiblical, a result of a popular culture and popular theology where everyone must get along, everyone must play nice, and above all, never do anything to risk offense to another person. It is throwing away the truth in favor of just pure ‘love’, which is not love at all without truth.

The conclusion of the matter: don’t be a jerk. Speak the truth in love. But don’t back away from the truth. Seek wisdom. And have no fear of ridiculing or mocking people in love.

My Top 5 Favorite In-Studio U2 Songs

In anticipation of U2's new album, No Line on the Horizon, due out March 1, I've decided to do a list or two, try to nail down exactly which songs are my favorites and maybe a short explanation of why. I realize a blog of this post appeals to very few people who read me, but I feel led to do this.

Starting off this series is my Top 5 Favorite In-Studio U2 Songs. The big thing with U2 is that they go into the studio just to write songs they can play live. At heart, they are a live performance, some (Bono) would say worship, band. Because of this, their live performances are generally ten times better than any studio recording. However, there are the occasional songs that don't translate to a live medium. So two distinctive lists are needed, one for live material, one for in-studio.

These next 5 songs are my favorite in-studio performances, even if the song has been done live, or even if the better performance is live.

I've provided when I can a YouTube link to the song.

Also...this list is constantly changing. There are just too many songs I like...I've attempted to highlight a few, yet for every one I choose, another one is left off. It's painful, really.

1 - Mercy (2005, Unreleased - Atomic Bomb sessions)
This song is an oddity as it has never been officially released, has been talked about by the band, Bono loves it and wants it on every album they do, but no one knows how it was released. Since the band reportedly wrote 60 plus songs recently and are only using 13 or so for the upcoming album, they got the material for a quick album or two, this would be a great song to officially get out there so they can sing it live.

As for why I love it...I don't know, it's U2 being their most U2ish. The lyrics are straight up Biblical and spiritual, the emotion in the song is real, there is a breaking through into God's throne room that happens during the song...the song is pure joy, pure worship, pure Spirit. It's one of those songs I can just sing at the top of my lungs with reckless abandon. "Love is the end of history, the enemy of misery..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJadJ_wNqAs

2 - In God's Country (1987, The Joshua Tree)
The Joshua Tree was one of the first U2 albums I was exposed to, and this is still the standout track to me. Edge's chiming guitar really stands out on this one, and Adam's bass provides a fun little counterpiece to play around with. Bono's lyrics are interesting, joyful, and heartfelt; the reference to a "desert rose" is clearly an allusion to Bono's wife Ali, who does look a little Spanish although I'm not sure if she has any in her ancestry. Also, Bono manages to incorporate a little irony intermingled with Biblical imagery in the lines "love, faith, her vanity/but the greatest gift is gold."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkbaRJuZ3A8

3 - Staring at the Sun (1997, Pop)
The band tried to play this live a few times, but they think it only really worked live on acoustic. I disagree. While this song was eventually re-recorded on the Best of 1990-2000 album, the original is by far superior. There is a great mellow vibe to this song, one that compels you to take a ride through the musical landscape. The lyrics are a little nonsensical, but not all music is about the lyrics. Edge's organ guitar is amazing here, an effect I wish he would use more often.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A8-N_SUcUc

4 - Zooropa (1993, Zooropa)
This song is all about the guitars once again. The opening is trippy...the very first time I heard this album was while working janitorial at Fourth Baptist on a really rainy summer day, and this song just fit perfectly. Edge sounds like he is playing the guitar underwater...great effect. I love the way the sound bites just flow in and out, never quite there to grasp; it's like ZooTV meets a late night drive in the country during the summer with the windows down.

There was also a point in my life where the line "and I've got no religion" was a great comfort, especially after I had left the church but not walked away from God. While Bono isn't saying that HE himself has no religion, rather the character in the song has none (music is a form of acting, didn't you know?), it was still a great concept, the idea that while you have no worldview or boundaries holding you in, as you step outside the whole world just appears bright, clean and new.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbO4-3i0M50

5 - Another Time, Another Place (1980, Boy)
From U2's very first album, this song was probably around in one form or another from the beginning, way back in 1977. If anyone made a list of "darker" U2 songs, such as "Exit", this song deserves to be on it. The section with the guitar solo takes a decidedly darker turn, and when the backup guitar comes forward in the mix, you really get the feeling that these boys are rocking. Plus, that brief section right after the guitar solo, when Larry starts drumming really fast and Bono is growling something I've never quite understood...love that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1ggYTZaJVw

Songs that didn't make this list include Achtung Baby's "Acrobat", the Passenger's song "Your Blue Room", U2-18's "Window in the Skies", Boy's "Shadows and Tall Trees", Best of 90's new mix of "Discotheque" and "Numb", and Achtung Baby's "Ultraviolet."

How did Jude quote Enoch?

One of the side effects of me choosing a new Bible translation to read through has been an increased interest in Biblical study. I've been reading the Word a lot more recently, trying to go more deeply too. Every day I seem to see something new and cool, whether its a piece of end times theology, some insight into a misunderstood part of the Deity, or just something unique that catches my eye.

Tonight, one of those "eye-catchers" got me. Jude 14-16.

14 It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.

For those don't know, Enoch is one of the first people mentioned in the Bible, the "seventh from Adam" as it says above. Specifically, Genesis 5:18-24.

18 When Jared had lived 162 years he fathered Enoch...

21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. 22 Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

Verse 24 could also be translated, "was not found." Meaning that Enoch did not die; God brought him into heaven. In a moment, Enoch was walking on the earth, and the next moment, he was just gone; not dead, but in the prescence of God. In all of Scripture, this has only happened to two people, Enoch and Elijah. (Bruce once pointed out to me that Hebrews 9:27 says that "It is appointed to men once to die, and after that the judgement...", which then raises the question as to when Enoch and Elijah will die and face the judgement we will all face.)

The Book of Jude was written roughly 69 A.D., yet Enoch lived on this earth roughly 3100 B.C. That's a heck of a time difference. So how did Jude know what Enoch used to say back then? We don't have any other records of what Enoch might have said, how did Jude find out?

My guess is that it was the Holy Spirit. And Jude had no prior knowledge of what Enoch might have said before he wrote it down.

And on a related note...what is he talking about? Surely there weren't many false teachers in Enoch's day; the earth was essentially Godless anyway, no need of false teachers, plus it's not like there were tens of thousands living.

A hunch? Enoch was prophesying about the upcoming Millennial reign of Christ...an event which still hasn't happened yet.

Crazy stuff.
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Oh, and a side WOW moment: Jude 5

5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

Can that be any clearer? It was JESUS who brought the Jews out of Egypt! It was JESUS power as GOD that did it!

If the Jews can be used as an example of a Christian's walk with God, then it was also Jesus who saved us from our sin, regenerated us clean in the "Red Sea", led us into the wilderness where we learned to rely on Him and cast off sin, and eventually lead us into the promised land of His riches and blessings!

I realize a New Testament passage out of Jude won't convince any Jews that Jesus is their Messiah, but for us believers already, this is powerful stuff!

"GLORY!"

Andrew Murray - The Indwelling Spirit

This hit me really hard tonight. Really hard.

"The first step on the way to true spirituality is faith. We must seek the living, all-consuming conviction that the Holy Spirit is in us; that He is the power of God dwelling and working within us, that He is the representative of Jesus, making Him present within us as our Redeemer King, mighty to save. In the union of a holy fear and reverence before the tremendous glory of this truth of an indwelling God, with the childlike joy and trust of knowing Him as the Paraclete, the bringer of the divine and irrevocable presence of Christ, this thought must become the inspiration of our life: The Holy Spirit has made His home within us; in our spirit is His hidden, blessed dwelling place."

Wow.

Side note - I really need to study the Paraclete more.

Ruminations on the Gospel of Mark

So the Gospel of Mark might have been written around 68 AD. One theory has it that Mark, the author, was an associate of Peter who wrote down many of Peter's teachings (and in this case, remembrances of Jesus). Some also think that Mark might have been the young man who ran away naked after being seized by the Romans.

It is possible that Mark might have been all of the above. In Jewish culture, a young man was roughly 12 or 13 years old. If he had been that age, and let's say that happened roughly around 32 AD (or even 28 AD), that would make Mark around 48 years old at minimum. So it is highly possible that Peter's disciple Mark wrote the Gospel of Mark.

My professor argues that Mark was written in Galilee for Galileans. Not so sure...there is a strong Roman presence in Mark. I'm thinking Mark wrote it for the persecuted Christians in Rome under Nero.

So is Mark a story of Jesus or can we accurately treat it as an eyewitness report, since the majority of Mark would have been from the perspective of Peter? Story vs first hand account, or report, is the question. My professor argues that Mark is a story, written through the lens of one or multiple people, and that the book was shaped by many factors (Roman persecution, nationality, age, etc). Obviously he doesn't subscribe to the belief that the Holy Spirit might have had a hand in things.

Pretty interesting that God used a disciple of an apostle to write a Gospel. So I guess Peter must have laid hands on Mark and baptized him in the Holy Spirit. But I guess that when Mark died, the Holy Spirit died with him. Or at least his "apostles'" power, since as everyone knows, the gifts of the Holy Spirit were only for the apostles and the early church.

Right?

Passion and Purity by that Elliot chick

So I've been reading through Passion and Purity by Elizabeth Elliot. It seems to always show up on the "Hit Lists" of Christians, along with titles such as Mere Christianity, My Utmost for His Highest, assorted works by Watchman Nee, and I Kissed Dating Goodbye (I'd advise staying away from that one).

Still don't understand why most Christians have never read The Screwtape Letters, though. But I digress...


Overall, I'd say it's a good book. I have maybe 15 pages to go or so, so not completely done, but I've enjoyed what I've read so far.

This Elizabeth Elliot chick seems to fit the mold of a lot of Christian ladies that I've known throughout my life. It's like they've become the spitting image of the woman as they've described themselves in the book. The only major difference is that there is no Jim in their life; and some of them are well into their forties. But highly used of God.

I do question Elliot's theology a bit though. She seems to like to pull phrases from the Bible at random to either confirm or deny her feelings on subjects. When questioning if it's lawful for someone to desire marriage, she pulls verses that basically call her the "whore of Babylon" in order to say that the desire is wrong. She takes scripture and twists it, whether intentionally or not. I don't understand how she can pull obscure Old Testament verses out instead of just reading through what Paul wrote on the subject.

And based on the quality of their letters, if that is what people talked like back in the 50's, I'm so very glad I live in the 00's! We like da way we talk, and you ain't changing us one bit!

Overall though I'd say it's an excellent book, far better than anything by Josh Harris or the Ludys (it's ok, I've met them, and while they are odd, they're ok), although the Ludy's book was pretty good.

It is a bit of an odd mindset this book has put me in, though. You start thinking of everything in life taking longer, as if that's the real grand master plan God has for everyone. I'm glad God does not have a chart somewhere in heaven where He checks off everyone's progress, keeping everyone to say the same rule and time. He's more hands on than that, thank God!

Guess that must be what the Spirit does...helps push us along and build us up. You know, all my life I've always thought that it was God who helped us, God who kept, God who did this and that for us. Reading through the NT over and over these past few weeks, I've begun to realize something. While yes it is God that is doing all these things, in reality, it's the Holy Spirit.

So why have I been fooled into thinking for so long that it was God the Father who worked in us instead of the Holy Spirit?

Acts 10:44-48

You know, I've read this multiple times over the years. The whole book. The whole chapter.

SO WHY AM I JUST NOW UNDERSTANDING IT???

A group of people are filled with the Holy Spirit BEFORE getting baptized?

Why have I never heard this preached in church before??

Now I'm pissed off...

As far as I'm concerned, this completely blows any arguments out of the water. It's the Bible, for crying out loud! I can't argue with it.

There is NOTHING in the text that suggest these people were already "saved." As it reads, they just now heard about Jesus from Peter. And IMMEDIATELY the Holy Spirit filled these men. Not just filled, but caused them to speak in tongues!!

And then it happens AGAIN in Acts 11:15-18!!

That's it. I'm pissed, and it's over. People have a lot of explaining to do.