on history:

In my early years, all my studies of history never made much sense to me. I failed to see the importance of dates and stories from the past, when I was really much more concerned with who had won or lost the game of soccer at recess, and what strategy we were going to use in the next game at the next recess. In high school, history began to seem a bit more applicable, as I learned how to protect Mexico from an invading German army during our mock international affairs activities, and as I learned that history extended beyond the heavy, two-inch-thick textbook that was left in my locker unless I had to answer the five questions at the end of a certain chapter. I was slowly beginning to see that there is much to learn from history than facts and dates.

History is relevant today. We hear about conflicts in the past, and we read about atrocities of old, but we must come to the realization that what could have been solutions to those conflicts and atrocities in our past could potentially function as solutions to similar problems we may be facing today. Beyond just finding information for a research paper, or filling in dates on a timeline, if we are wise we must be conscious of our past (and all the different areas that it concerns) and apply it to the present.

Looking back at various instances in the past, certain people have called the truth of the Gospel into question, and unfortunately, rather than engaging with these issues in an intellectually respectable way, the church often lost credibility to speak into issues, specifically with the issue of Evolution in the 1800’s. In 1860, during a public debate between Thomas Huxley, one of Charles Darwin’s main advocates, and Bishop Samuel Wilberforce, Bishop Wilberforce resorted to making a joke out of Darwin’s scientific theory. As a result, the church lost almost all authority they had once had to speak truth into an issue that was becoming increasingly popular in the time. Perhaps God has given the church reason to believe in something a bit more intentional than the evolutionary process seemed, but that didn’t give reason for His people to make a mockery out of what should have been an intellectual, civilized, and rational debate. Had members of the church been willing to bring truth to this situation, perhaps they could have brought direction to what God may have been doing in the minds of these scientists, and we would not have quite the division between the church and science we so often see and experience today.

The issue today is quite similar. Are we walking away from the issues of today, or are we walking into the areas that are potentially dirty, and maybe a bit unfamiliar, to bring a light into the places that are crying for illumination? Society is dying to see a good news that is functioning in the everyday life – in music (even rock n’ roll), in education, in politics and foreign affairs, in science, in the blue-collar workforce, and beyond. Our God is infinitely bigger than we could even begin to imagine, longing to relate to everyone, from the heavy metal guitarist to you local librarian to the politicians in Washington, D.C. The Gospel is relevant - truth mustn’t be scared of a debate.

(existing in a polluted world)

(confronting dirtiness)

(sheltered?)

(clean-up)

(in a changing world)

(God's message is the same)

on art:

As a way of expressing a society’s views on the world, and the direction that a people seem to be heading in, the arts are an extremely useful tool. The art produced by a community speaks infinitely as to the ideas and statutes they hold as valuable, and the way they see all other parts of the world. As humanity has moved from the “modern” mindsets beginning in the 1600’s to the “postmodern” mindsets of today, the art has equally followed suit. With the “modern” way of thinking, art was predictable, and people had a fairly good idea what to expect as far as the messages that the art portrayed. People painted biblical scenes, beautiful scenery, and realistic portraits of real, living people. Thought was for the most part objective, and this could be seen in the art that people produced.

Lately (lately being in the last 50 years or so) a change has taken place. No longer is truth quite so objective, at least according to popular train of thought. To much of the world, truth is now seen as subjective – that which is experienced by the individual. And, as individual experiences vary to every opposite extreme, so do our truths.

In Paris, this contrast of ideas on the nature of truth can be seen through the architecture that has been produced over the last few centuries. From the “pre-modern” and “modern” time periods you see the buildings beautifully constructed with great attention to detail, but which continue to be fairly predictable, at least from the standpoint of architecture and design. Through buildings like the Notre Dame Cathedral (largely finished by the 14th century, with later additions completed in the mid-19th century) and the Arc de Triomphe (finished in 1836) we can see a mindset that was fairly straightforward. The truth of the people at the time was based on logic and objective rationale, and thus their artistic construction of buildings was grand and very beautiful, but also quite logical.

Contrasted with these more logical forms of art in the form of architecture are the more “post-modern” constructions that can be seen in buildings like the famous glass pyramid at the Louvre, and the Grande Arche de la Defense (also known as the Grand Arche, or the Cube). These buildings communicate a mindset that is still committed to the construction of something that is grand and beautiful; but, as the buildings constructed do not follow a logical train of thought, they seem to attempt to give a new meaning to what is grand and what is beautiful. Specifically with the Grand Arch, it was specifically constructed to that is was just slightly off-kilter from the Axe Historique (Historic Axis), an eight kilometer stretch running from the glass pyramid at the Louvre along the av de Champs-Elysees, through the Arc de Triomphe and finally to the Grand Arch, which is said to symbolize “an open window to the world.” This seems to allude to the idea that perhaps now man is moving in a new direction, and can make up truth, beauty, grandeur, and even reality for himself.

Through it would appear on the outside, with our massive buildings and chic architecture that man is progressing towards something “bigger” and “better,” we as humans are still plagued with the same ills and difficulties as we were in centuries long ago. No matter how big our buildings, no matter how abstract our art, no matter how many new directions we attempt to walk in, as humans we will always be in need of something more. Fortunately, God saw it fit to give us an opportunity to fulfill this need, through a sacrifice of Himself. In Christ, we have no need to create a new reality for ourselves, as we can know that Jesus Christ Himself is reality (Colossians 2:17) and He is a reality that will never leave us in need of or wanting something more (John 4:14.) Perhaps once we begin to address the bigger issues of neediness, rather than constructing fancier buildings and more controversial art, we will really begin to see progress, towards something that really matters.

It’s the 21st century, but where are we going?

(Looking along the Axe Historique, from the Arc de Triomphe to the Grande Arche de la Defense)

(the Notre Dame Cathedral)

(Arc de Triomphe)

(The Grande Arche de la Defense, with other more recent contructions)

(we had our problems then)

(we have our problems now)

(humanity is needy)

a flower in my lapel / a daisy in your hand

Arriving in Amsterdam, I was stuck by the biting cold wind, and soon after this, I was struck with the problems and issues I quickly begun to hear about: I heard about the red light district, the “coffee” shops, and many of the other precarious activities that take place, and I was overwhelmed, and baffled as to how I would interact with such a place. (Amsterdam really is a normal city in many ways, but being new to the city, much of what I heard was negative).

Our times in class in Amsterdam were spent learning about international relations from a Christian perspective, and we then spent some time doing a broad overview of world history since the time of Christ. The broad overview of world history was very interesting in that as you look back on the main issues, conflicts, and problems in those times, God was doing something new in the hearts of His people. Revivals were birthed, missions movements went out into new areas of the world, societies were changed – at every point where society began to seem threatened, God countered this by raising up movements that were marked by the characteristics of His heart. I love seeing how God would be working for the good of humanity on such an Epic scale.

As many of you may know, God put the idea of some people’s hearts in our school to go into the red light district of the city, and hand out flowers to the prostitutes in the area, as well as anyone else who seemed in need of appreciation. When we first began to follow through with this, most of us were a bit nervous, as we weren’t sure how the people would respond, but it is evident that your prayers covered us during the time. With the flowers, we attached short messages, which basically just said something about God’s love and value in the peoples’ lives. The girls to whom we gave flowers were very appreciative, and we never had anyone reject our offer of flowers. It was interesting the whole time we were giving out flowers, I felt a clear peace and safety over the whole situation, and I fully believe that this was God going before us at our every step.




With this, I saw something that went beyond just prostitution, and beyond just the red light district of Amsterdam. I saw an openness to appreciation and love – an openness that would surely extend to just about every situation imaginable. Prostitutes are not the only people in the world who long to know true love and appreciation; many people in the most “normal” of situations surely feel as though they are dying on the inside, because the fact that they do not know of the God that died for them to understand His love.



Point is, more flowers need to be handed out (if you desire to continue putting things in terms of flowers). Everyone in the world is in need of the realization that they are loved by the creator of the universe, and He longs to speak that to them in whatever situation they are in. Love exists even before they have turned their face to Him.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

(Romans 5:8, NKJV)

He didn’t wait until we were good enough. He died (and rose again) so that we could understand. He didn’t wait for us to come out of the “bad parts of town” to begin loving us; He went boldly into those areas, and showed us first hand the value we have in His eyes. All the while, He completely disregarded that fact that He would be associated with the sin that was all around us.







Seeing love, in a real, practical, tangible way, people have reason to change. Do we too often jump to fix their sin before they have reason to leave a life of sin? In the Bible, it seems as though people understood their own sin, but perhaps they did not have a reason to leave that sin behind until they saw that in Christ they were valued. With the issues of blatant sin, we can’t afford to just write those things as the blatant sins that they are; obviously certain activities are sinful, but what does it look like to love people in those situations in a way that will call them out of those lifestyles and into a realization of what true life can be? And just as well, the same goes for people whose sin is not blatant - everyone is in need of a similar redemption [for all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, whether we can see it with our eyes or not]. Perhaps if we began to show people the care, concern, and love of Christ in their lives, they will then have a legitimate reason to leave behind their former garments of filth in exchange for the pure white robes that God intends for them.



Walking along the canal my last night in Amsterdam, I was struck with the beauty of our God. From my time in Amsterdam I see that God is not overwhelmed with our problems and the sicknesses that plague our societies (even when they are a bright red fluorescent light that is shining in your face.) Rather, He is one who will walk within those plagues to show us all the more about His grace. Wherever I go there will be some way shape of form in which He is moving, no matter how initially overwhelmed I may feel.

…

Currently, I write to you from Paris. We have about a week to make our way down to Malaga, Spain, and so this week I will be in Paris, seeing some new sights, and working on some photography assignments. I am here with my friends Naphtalie and April, and thankfully God has blessed us with places to stay while we’re here. I'm looking forward to finding the ways that God has made Himself apparent in this place.

More Amsterdam...

(a windmill at Zaandijk)

(and finally, I wish this hawg was mine...)