Time to Build

By wisdom a house is built,
and by understanding it is established;
by knowledge the rooms are filled
with all precious and pleasant riches.
A wise man is full of strength,
and a man of knowledge enhances his might,
for by wise guidance you can wage your war,
and in abundance of counselors there is victory.
Wisdom is too high for a fool;
in the gate he does not open his mouth.
(Proverbs 24:3-7 ESV)

Am I building my house with wisdom. Is it established? Are the rooms filled with knowldedge or diversion? Do we have "precious and pleasant riches" or mere gadgets?

Am I full of strength. If I am living wisely, I should be "enhancing my might," not getting weaker. With wise guidance I can wage war, rather than indulge my idiosyncrasies. Do I have many counselors instead or do I tend to worship a single hero at a time? Can I open my mouth at the gate, or am I silenced in the presence of the wise? The wise man built his house upon the rock. Jesus be my rock! It is time to build.

Neither Teen Nor Old-timer in Christ

In The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager Thomas Hine documents how advertisers purposely try to play up the differences between the generations in order to sell them their own unique identity. This is the main reason why the "teenager" was identified as a new social class in the mid twentieth century and the "emerging adult" more recently.

When churches have a hipster service and a traditional service are we not segregating the generations as well? If Paul were writing to the church in America today, would he point out that their is neither teen nor old-timer in Christ?

We have been part of a small group for years where our kids have mixed with people the age of their great-grandparents. I have been so grateful for this influence and shudder to think of teens, emerging adults, and other social groups who are isolated in their own "taste communities" and are never exposed to the richness of older and younger generations.

Let's desegregate, shall we?

Whose Story Is This?

Last night the fam and I watched Mirror Mirror, and I found it delightful over all.

There were problems like (spoiler alert) the king doing a wedding. Not only was there no minister but the king pronounced the couple man and wife "By the authority invested in me ... by myself." Yikes! That's a recipe for tyranny worse than that of the wicked stepmother. Douglas Wilson recently quipped that a despot was anyone who didn't recognize any authority above himself.

There were also the modern slang updates such as the queen referring to Snow as "high maintenance."

At the outset I was very uneasy that this would be a postmodern retelling as the film opened with the queen narrating. She in fact called it "her story." But in the end good triumphed and the queen confessed that this was Snow White's story after all.

That is really the question in the culture war. Whose story is this? Is it the story of Jesus the Messiah, Allah, World Soul, or the secular elites? Since it is Christ's story we are called to play our role with all our might and leave the plot twists, climax, and conclusion to him.