How can we sing?

In Psalm 137:4 we read, "how can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land." That was the cry of the exiles. However they did learn to sing as they remembered Zion.
We might cry the same. We find ourselves in Babylon and not in Zion. We are exiles, citizens of a heavenly kingdom but living in an earthly one. However as we gather together each Lord's Day we sing the songs of Zion. Those songs should always remind us of our citizenship. Right to the end of his life Daniel remembered Jerusalem. As was his custom he opened his window facing Jerusalem and prayed to his God. What do we do to remind us of our heavenly home?

Food

Food is a popular topic today. There are magazines and television channels that are dedicated to food. There are numerous cooking shows and websites.
So why did Daniel and his friends draw the line at food? It could have been that the food was not kosher or that it had been offered to idols but that doesn't seem to fit with Daniel's life as later he does partake of the king's food and wine. So what was the issue? Let me suggest one. Maybe it was that he did not want to show that he and his friends were dependent upon the king but rather upon the Lord. I think drawing the line there showed that they could trust their God to provide for them. That trust marked their entire lives.
When we say grace, and I prefer the word grace to blessing, on our food at meal time it shows that we acknowledge the giver of all good gifts. When we fast we show that we can trust God for our strength and our very life. They could have said that it was only food and they needed food to live. How do we show to our world that we are dependent upon God?

Education

When I was graduating from high school, back in the dark ages, I knew I should get post secondary education. I was the fourth child in a family of eight and we were a poor family and there was no money for education. After being rejected by the ROTC program I didn't have many options. I planned to go to Bible College but then I received an unexpected scholarship to go to the University of Waterloo to study mathematics. Four years later I graduated with a degree in mathematics and took a job teaching high school mathematics.
Fast forward thirty three years and now our oldest son his graduating from high school. His plan was to take a scholarship to university to study business, as his name was called at the graduation exercise he realized that God was calling him to go to Bible College.
Education is important and some would say that Christian education is more important than a secular education. After all if you go to a secular school you will get educated in areas that may be contrary to ones Christian beliefs. However we do need Christians in all areas of our world.
Daniel and his friends received a secular education that was totally contrary to all that they believed. Some would say that they should have rejected the Babylonian education after all education is a primary way the world has of squeezing us into it's mold. I was so grateful that my parents and my church had prepared me for the world so that it couldn't squeeze me into its mold.
Home schooling, Christian school or public education is the choices we have today but without the home and the church the world can still squeeze us into it's mold.

Just my view

There are a few things that I may say, and I dare say that there may be more than a few that other people will not agree with and some of the viewpoints may be incorrect. It is my desire that my theology would always be correct but it would be arrogant of me to assume that. If that was the case then there would be no room for me to grow and maybe even no room for the Holy Spirit in my life. Right away you can see the fallacy of that.
However, if I say things that you don't agree with remember to think them through for yourself. Be prepared to challenge me and to debate me in a kind and loving way.
Also you need to remember that these are my views and they may not be the view of my church. I would like to believe that I am correct but I am willing to change. Sometimes our views are just taste and not theology and we need to discern the difference.
So remember, these are my views. Challenge them. Question them. Debate them. Remember they are only one person's views.
Keep thinking, keep growing.

What's in a name?

I said last week that we have a new granddaughter. Her name is Brita which means bright shining and her middle name is faith so I expect that she will be a woman with a bright shining faith. Sometimes names are chosen because it is in the family while other times the name may be chosen just because it sounds nice. I taught high school so over the 30 plus years I taught I encountered many names, some had meaning, some were next to impossible to pronounce.
One of the students I taught at the college was a Native student who gave his son and Ojibwa name which means gift of God. His name would always remind him of his native heritage and his Christian heritage.
Daniel and his three friends had names that brought attention and honour to their God but when they ended up in Babylon they were given names that honoured the name of the Babylonian gods. There is a hint that even though the cooperated and took Babylonian names they were not totally happy with that. Daniel held unto his Hebrew name and instead of naming one Abednebo, to honour the god Nebo, it was changed to Abednego.
It would be the same as if your name was Christian and a Muslim nation took you captive and renamed you Mohammad. Apparently Daniel and his friends did not feel that this was a hill to die on. Part of their cooperation, but not compromise, with the foreign nation was to accept foreign names. Why? I am not sure.

Public Education.

Next Sunday we will study Daniel 1. I have often thought about what it would have been like to have seen your young son carried away by the invaders. I am sure that Daniel's parents were concerned about how he would stand in a foreign culture. Obviously Daniel was well trained both by the religious community and by his home. I remember sending our children off to a public school knowing that many things that they would be taught would not be in line with what we believed. However, we taught our children the God's truth and sent them to school trusting that God would keep them. Our children held unto the truth they were taught for which I am so grateful to God. I have seen many who avoided public education because they were afraid of what their children would learn found their children questioning their beliefs and in some cases wondering away from the faith. Remember that a Christian school is no substitute for a Christian home.

Cultural Transformation

Let me say at the beginning that the Gospel will transform culture but cultural transformation is not the Gospel. If cultural transformation was the gospel then maybe all would take is to get the right people elected and the proper laws passed. I think many people can look at Daniel and see his influence on the culture by his position in power. However, for all his influence he could not change hearts, only the cross can do that. That is why the cross of Christ is central to the Gospel. Instead of Daniel pointing to the transformation of the culture he pointed to the judgment of God. The cross shows us that we need a Saviour because we are under judgment.