Divine Capitalization

It’s a little thing. Or I think it is? I learned very early after becoming a Christ follower that, when I am writing, it’s proper and important for me to capitalize the first letter of all pronouns referring to God. So, when I speak of Him in my writing, the pronouns referring to Him are always capitalized (accept when I make a type-o). The idea is to show reverence, for though God is a person, He is not just someone. He is that One who is above all others. It can also be quite practical as it leaves no doubt as to exactly to Whom I am referring. So, this has then been my practice or habit for these past 30 years.

We try to carry on the same practice with our song projection in our corporate worship. So when we sing together, it’s “… I’m coming back to the heart of worship, and it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus”…

I bring this up because, if this was at one time the accepted norm in Christian circles, it has definitely ceased to be so. Because I don’t think I can identify a single contemporary author (or maybe it’s the publishers?) who holds to this practice today. Although it seems that most worship song writers still do. I’m not sure what the difference is?

Now, I don’t want to condemn these men and women who consistently practice not capitalizing these divine pronouns. To do so, I would have to condemn pretty much every author I know of. These are not heretics! These are the best of the best in service for Christ and much more knowledgeable on such subjects than I am or ever will be.

Furthermore, not only do almost all articles and books (seemingly all) these days written by Christians not follow this policy, even Bible versions don’t. I checked 17 versions using Hebrews 11:6 as a test case and found that out of them all, only one (The New American Standard Version) used capitals for He and Him. Even the much revered KJV doesn’t do it. Just for note, the NASB is also the only version I could identify that uses capitals for personal pronouns when referring to Jesus as well.

And just as I do not want to condemn the Christian authors of our day, neither do I want this to be a commentary on the virtues of any one translation of the Scriptures over and against another as such a study is much vaster than this little format allows and the issues are much more involved. That is to say, that I would never want to make my decision on which translation is to be preferred based on the use of capital letters. I just find the practice of the NASB on this point to be most interesting.

It can seem somewhat tedious, especially when you start using capital letters in reference to Jesus as well because, seeing as how it’s all about Him, we should not be amazed with how many times a Christian refers to Him, either the Father or the Son or the Spirit when we sit down to write.

Still, I can’t bring myself personally to do anything else. And for me I guess it is a labor of love. So, I have decided that, while I will not stand in judgment of those who do not capitalize, I myself will continue to do so as a matter of personal conviction. Maybe it is one of those Romans 14 things. Care really does need to exercised in these types of areas. I am reminded of how in my early years as a Christian so many would pray using ‘Thy’ and ‘Thine’ and how it effectively distanced God from me rather than drawing me closer to Him. These things can take on a life of their own.

Mercies In Disguise

This week is all about ‘pivotal circumstances’ as we heard Doug share on Sunday and Andy in our small groups. One of Laura Story’s new songs is also a profound commentary on this whole idea of how God uses life’s circumstances to mold and shape our lives for the good.

The chorus goes like this:

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights,
Are what it takes to know You're near?
What if trials of this life,
Are Your mercies in disguise?

Laura Story is a very gifted song writer with a beautiful voice. How about taking 5 minutes from your busy day right now to just sit back and listen and let God speak to you through these very biblical thoughts put to song. Here’s a video with some moving images to go along with it so you will be doubly blessed by ‘Blessings’.

Japan

The earthquake was devastating. The tsunami was cataclysmic. But the radiation fallout could be apocalyptic.

It’s hard to keep up with the various explosions happening at different nuclear plants but it appears that we are now looking, in the very least, at a partial meltdown of the reactor cores at two or more nuclear power plants, and a lot of people know it could get a lot worse. The consequences of this will be staggering.

Inevitably, when events like this take place in our world, some will suggest that it is some type of judgment. After all, Japan has proven to be one of the most resistant cultures to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I’m sure that more than one Japanese citizen has wondered in recent days, “What did we do to deserve this?”

But, Jesus warns us away from such conclusions (Luke 13:1-5). He teaches us that we need to be like the God we serve who causes the sun and the rain to shine and to fall on both the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45).

We tend to the same kind of thinking when we are personally stricken with an illness or suffer in some way, perhaps the consequences of an accident. We wonder if God might be punishing us. Yes, there are times when such things can be consequences of our own actions or the behavior of others. And God is certainly able to use all types of events in our lives to measure out judgment. But we must be very careful not to make rash assumptions in these areas. (John 9:1-5)

It is really important in these times to remember that the whole of creation has been subjected to decay and is groaning under the weight of ALL our sin (Romans 8::18-25); that is our sin as a human race collectively and without exception. (Romans 3:23)

We live in a fallen world; a broken world and one that is ‘passing away’ (1Corinthians 7:31). I was just talking with a good friend yesterday who mentioned that six of the ten most powerful earthquakes the world has ever seen have happened in the last ten years. (I think I got that right?) And the Bible says that there is a day coming when …“The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.” (2Peter 3:10).

Why? Because God is going to remake this old earth and completely refurnish it. It will be a new creation. You can read about it in Revelation 21:1-5.

And you can share in it too.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 2Cor 5:17

What this passage is all about is the opportunity God has provided us for entrance into that new world. This world is passing away. Even if you and I manage to avoid any kind of disaster like the one happening right now in so much of the world, our day is still coming. Death is a certainty, and ultimately, our only hope is Christ. That’s why we really need to be sharing the gospel because He is their only hope as well.

Do Hard Things

I’m really stoked! I have just read this book that is supposed to be for teens but anyone and everyone could really benefit from it. The real kicker is that it was written by two 18 year old brothers. How excited am I about it!?!?!!?! Well, when I was about half way through it, I ordered another 12 copies so that I would have them to give away to some of the young people in my life.

Twin brothers, Alex and Brett Harris wrote this amazing book entitled, ‘Do Hard Things’ and here is how it starts out… “Most people don’t expect you to understand what we’re going to tell you in this book. And even if you understand, they don’t expect you to care. And even if you care, they don’t expect you to do anything about it. And even if you do something about it, they don’t expect it to last. Well, we do.”

And right from that point on, they had me - hook, line and sinker! It is a must-read for every teen and every parent of teens and everyone who cares about teens and everyone else. The subtitle of the book is descriptive – ‘A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations’. The book exposes the myth that has become completely accepted and readily believed as an operating principle in our present world culture, that the teen years are supposed to be a ‘vacation from responsibility’, and replaces it with the truth that the teen years are actually meant to be the critical ‘launching pad’ for the rest of your life. What makes it applicable for everyone though is the central theme of the book which is that, if we are going to succeed in any area of our lives, we must be willing to do hard things and not just take the easy path of least resistance.

These guys are serious. They have over 35 million hits on their website. This is more than just a book. This is a movement. Check it out. Here's the link: www.therebelution.com

Lou

This past Sunday I was sharing with the folks about Captain Lou Zamperini. I first became aware of Lou’s story when I was in my early twenties and a book I was reading told some of his amazing life. There is much in his story that is inspirational as it relates to his survival of a plane crash in the Pacific, 47 days in a life raft at sea, most of it without food or water, and then 2 years in a Japanese torture camp. I don’t want to detract at all from the significance of those events, but for me, the most inspiring part of all Louis’ story is what Christ did in his life after the war.

I was surprised that no one else in the room Sunday morning had even heard of him. He is no doubt going to become much more famous soon enough though as a movie based on his life story is said to be in the works. The film will be based on a new book by Pulitzer Prize winning author Laura Hillenbrand (author of ‘Sea Biscuit’) released in November of 2010. The title of the book is ‘Unbroken’ but I don’t think they have a title for the movie as of yet. I sure hope Hollywood gets this one right, though. They don’t have a very good track record when it comes to genuinely portraying Christians.

I’m going to post a little of Lou’s story here; enough to wet your appetite maybe, and you can check out the link at the end if you would like to see a five minute news video clip. And for those of you who are readers, the book is getting rave reviews.

Louis Silvie Zamperini was born January 26, 1917 in Olean, New York to Italian immigrants Anthony and Louise Zamperini. The family later moved to Torrance, California where Lou became the target of bullies and ended up becoming quite a ‘rascal’. He got in a lot of trouble up until the day he became a long distance runner. Lou was fast. So fast that he made the Olympic team. He met with considerable success breaking a number of records, however, his running career got cut short by the outbreak of World War II and Lou found himself deployed to Hawaii as a B-24 bombardier.

His plane went down in the Pacific on May 27, 1943. After spending 47 days adrift in the shark infested ocean, Lou and the only other surviving crew member, pilot Russ Phillips, were ‘rescued’ by the Japanese Navy. Lou was held in captivity through the end of the war and suffered immensely at the hands of his captors. His family thought he had been killed in action, but after the war, Lou received a hero’s welcome home. However, tortured still by painful nightmares, Lou turned to alcohol as his life began to spiral downward. His wife had recently given her heart to Christ so she encouraged Lou to attend some meetings to hear Billy Graham preach the gospel. Lou did just that and he too accepted Christ personally as his Lord and Savior at that time.

And what happened next is so obviously supernatural. He went back to Japan. Many of the war criminals who committed the worst atrocities were being held in the Sugamo prison in Tokyo. In October 1950, Zamperini went to that prison and gave his testimony and preached the gospel to them. The colonel in charge of the prison encouraged any of the prisoners who recognized Lou to come forward and meet him again. Are you ready for this? Lou then threw his arms around each one of them telling them (and showing them) that he had forgiven them completely and telling each one again about the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ.

Lou Zamperini is alive and well today living in Hollywood, California. He is 93 years of age and still serving Christ.

Five Minute Fox News Clip