A Proverb, a Question, and a Song

 

He who trusts confidently in his own heart
is a dull, thickheaded fool,
but he who walks in skillful and godly wisdom
will be rescued.

Proverbs 28:26 (AMP)

Sure, there are plenty of people who don't like being told what to do or where to go. Still, all you have to do to be convinced that most folks are clueless when it comes to matters of eternity is to listen to the variety of responses to the Colbert Questionert question, "What happens when we die?"

Or watch all the scenes in all the movies when a fresh-faced youngster looks into the eyes of the Adult In Charge and asks the same question.

Or take your own poll. How much hemming and hawing do you run into?

It really is true that, even on our best days, we're at least goofy and probably closer to ridiculous.

For long-time readers, it will come as no surprise that today's Scripture and this train of thought remind me of a song by Rich Mullins, "Maker of Noses."

I believe there is a place
Where people live in perfect peace
Where there is food on every plate
Where work is rewarded and rest is sweet
Where the color of your skin
Won't get you in or keep you out
Where justice reigns and truth finally wins
Its hard fought war against fear and doubt

And everyone I know wants to go there too
But when I ask them how to do it they seem so confused
Do I turn to the left?
Do I turn to the right?
When I turn to the world they gave me this advice

They said boy you just follow your heart
But my heart just led me into my chest
They said follow your nose
But the direction changed every time I went and turned my head
And they said boy you just follow your dreams
But my dreams were only misty notions
But the Father of hearts and the Maker of noses
And the Giver of dreams He's the one I have chosen
And I will follow Him
©1992 Kid Brothers of St. Frank Publishing & Edward Grant, Inc.

https://youtu.be/hdspZ8Dexv0?si=hErLYzJFLmTbMDV1

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is... Obi-Wan Kenobi aptly wraps things up with his piercing question in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope...

Who's the more foolish?
The fool, or the fool who follows him? 

When "I Was Just Looking" Didn't Cut It

 

But Lot’s wife looked back
and became a pillar of salt.

Genesis 19:26 (CSB)

This incident, as Abraham's nephew and his family were fleeing the rain of fire and brimstone that was engulfing Sodom and Gomorrah, kind of reminds me of when Indiana Jones and Marion Ravenwood were present at the opening of the Ark of the Covenant: "Marion, don't look at it. Shut your eyes, Marion. Don't look at it, no matter what happens!"

At least, as a child, that's the way it always seemed: If Lot's wife had just not turned around and looked, she could have escaped and God would not have turned her into salt.

As it usually does, the Amplified Bible sheds some light on the subject:

But Lot’s wife, from behind him, [foolishly, longingly] looked [back toward Sodom in an act of disobedience], and she became a pillar of salt.

Then, in a footnote, it says even more:

"Lot’s wife not only “looked back” to where her interests were, but perhaps lingered behind and was overtaken by the fire and brimstone; her dead body likely became continually encrusted with salt since this disaster occurred in the salt-rich area around the Dead Sea."

Whether her transformation into salt was miraculous or the result of a chemical reaction, what matters is the single word, longingly.

They were supposed to be fleeing, not just the physical fire, but the hotbed of sin and corruption that was Sodom and Gomorrah. The problem Lot's wife seems to have had is that she didn't really want to leave.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...That's the problem a lot of us have with particular sins. The reason we don't truly repent (i.e., turn and go the other direction) is because we don't want to. We like what we're doing and just wish that God would shut his eyes and not look at it, no matter what happens.

Sure As Hell

 

Once considered foul language but now, apparently, barely eliciting a PG rating, the phrase "sure as hell" strikes me as...well...odd.

The phrase is meant to express that the person is absolutely sure about something or is 100% convinced of something, but I mostly hear it being spoken by someone who I'm not convinced is all that sure there even IS a hell.

Now Jesus...he could use the phrase with integrity because he often talked with certainty about the existence of a realm where God is absent and weeping and gnashing of teeth is present. But I just can't imagine Jesus trying to convince his listeners of the surety of a future event by saying something like, "And it's as sure as hell that I'll be with you always."

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...I'm pretty sure that some of you are at least a little uncomfortable, perhaps even offended, by this train of thought. And I can't say I really blame you. But I'm as sure as all get out that Jesus understands my warped curiosity and lack of filter and will continue refining me until the new Jerusalem arrives. My prayer is that you desire the same thing for yourself.

What a Soviet Spy Teaches Us About Worry

 

In the 2015 film Bridge of Spies, Tom Hanks plays an American lawyer recruited to defend an arrested Soviet spy in court. He takes his job seriously and is concerned about his client's apparent lack of concern.

LAWYER

I have a mandate to help you. Nobody else does. Quite frankly, they have a vested interest in sending you to the electric chair....You don't seem alarmed.

SPY

Would it help?

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...Even without me bringing up any spiritual concepts of trusting in God, this short conversation lays out a bit of street wisdom that deserves attention. It also agrees completely with Jesus when he says in Matthew 6:27, "Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?"

This Is Not Your Final Scene

 

2001: A Space Odyssey is considered one of the most influential science fiction films ever made and is often ranked as one of the top 10 movies of all genres.

But it didn't start out like that.

MGM executives had green-lit a series of costly flops in the 1960s and their collective careers were riding on the success of this new movie by Stanley Kubrick. The expectations were high, but when they saw the first cut of 2001, with its extended silent scenes and challenging narrative scope, those expectations were dashed to pieces.

Still, money had been spent and marketing launched, so the film was completed and premiered April 2, 1968.

“That evening, the film opened at the Loew’s Capitol Theatre on Broadway in New York with the cast and crew in attendance. It was an invitation-only affair, and the theatre was crammed with 1,500 of the ‘best people’: mid-level to senior MGM staff and such celebrities as Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Gloria Vanderbilt, and Henry Fonda....

"The middle-aged audience was puzzled, edgy, derisive, and finally outright hostile. There were boos, hisses, and catcalls....

“Kubrick had posted an aide at the entrance to count the walkouts. It began as a trickle, escalating to a river and then a flood during the intermission. By the end, 241 walkouts had been recorded — more than one-sixth of the audience. One of those was Arthur C. Clarke who, although having seen the film already, was by now humiliated, disappointed, and close to tears. As he left the theatre, Clarke said he’d overheard an MGM suit pontificating: ‘Well, that’s the end of Stanley Kubrick.’” (Robert P. Kolker and Nathan Abrams, Kubrick: An Odyssey)

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...Maybe you're in a situation where you feel misunderstood or rejected. Take heart. This is not the final frame of your life's movie or the final chapter of your story, and Jesus is not walking out on you. "I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Jesus, Matthew 28:20)

The Conversion of Han Solo

 

The first part of Han Solo's life helped him become a self-serving smuggler and an egotistical raconteur. He had no need for moral standards or mystical relationships. His world revolved around himself and his needs. As long as he had a good blaster at his side, he considered himself good to go.

And then reality reared its head and headed straight toward him. He experienced life through the eyes of a group of believers dedicated to something greater than any single one of them. He saw things happen that could only be explained by what he considered to be a hokey religion. And little by little...he knew it was all true.

Truth is...The Church can be seen as a plucky group of rebels who put the whole above each of themselves, empowered by the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. Bring on all the Solos of the world and may the Force be with you!

Does God's Voice Sound Like Morgan Freeman?

 

 

It's not every day that Hollywood makes a deeply truthful theological observation, so I thought I'd better not let this one disappear into movie history unnoticed.

The movie was Evan Almighty  -  the 2007 sequel to Jim Carrey's film, Bruce Almighty. In Evan, God (played by Morgan Freeman) contacts Congressman Evan Baxter (played by Steve Carell) and tells him to build an ark in preparation for a great flood.

As might be expected, Evan's wife (Lauren Graham) has a hard time wrapping her head around this major change in her husband.

It's at this point the following conversation takes place:

Just to make sure you didn't miss it, here's the main point:

Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If they prayed for courage does God give them courage or does he give them opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for their family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...Sometimes we are the answer to our own prayer.

Bonus truth...Now you know why I never ask God to give me patience. (wink)

Could There Be a Point to Your Pain?

 

If it weren't for a nasty childhood, we might never have heard an Oklahoman cowpoke sing about a bright, golden haze on the meadow, or Sister Maria be encouraged to climb every mountain.

According to Laurie Winer's Oscar Hammerstein II and the Invention of the Musical, "Richard Rodgers grew up in a house of constant turmoil. His quick-tempered father hated his in-laws, who lived with the family. 'People literally didn't speak to each other in that sad house,' wrote Rodgers' daughter Mary, 'except when they were screaming.' Her father recalled, 'And I turned to this, this kind of melodic construction, the way you turn to food'."

It's nothing new for something terrible to lead to something wonderful.

Jesus and Paul both recognized that suffering and loss forge a deeper and more profound faith in God.

Jesus taught his disciples that embracing suffering for the sake of righteousness not only mirrors his own sacrificial journey but also serves as a means of drawing closer to the divine. Luke 9:23 and 24 records...Then [Jesus] said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it." Not that he literally means you have to lose your physical life in order to be a Jesus-follower. The idea is embracing the concept that your life no longer belongs to you, but is subject to the rule of Christ.

Paul, in his letters, emphasized that through trials and tribulations, believers can cultivate virtues such as patience, perseverance, and humility...all of which foster a stronger reliance on God's grace.

Romans 5:3-5: "Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."

By enduring suffering with faith and trust, individuals can experience the life-changing work of God, leading to profound spiritual growth and an unwavering connection to our heavenly father.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...If your current situation is less-than-ideal, if you are struggling in any way, it might help your feelings about it if you start looking for what strength or virtue Yahweh is cultivating within you by allowing it to happen.

Longing for a Quest?

 

Reading a good fantasy-adventure book or watching movies like The Lord of the Rings can sometimes get a person a little depressed.

John Koenig invented a word for that in The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows:

ringlorn adj. [From ring, a key element in many sagas and myths + -lorn, sorely missing. Pronounced "ring-lawrn."

The wish that the modern world felt as epic as the one depicted in old stories and folktales  -  a place of tragedy and transcendence, of oaths and omens and fates, where everyday life felt like a quest for glory, a mythic bond with an ancient past, or a battle for survival against a clear enemy, rather than an open-ended parlor game where all the rules are made up and the points don't matter.

I've got two thoughts about that:

       1)  Most people in the fictional worlds created by Tolkien and Lewis et al have no idea they're in the midst of a fantastic story. The majority of hobbits living in the Shire went on with their farming without a single thought about dragons or orcs or rings of power.

       2)  For any Christians reading this, we ARE on a great quest. We have been called to carry out the overarching will of the strongest, wisest, most-loving person ever known to mankind. We are the hands and feet of the Creator and Sustainer of Life; determined to defeat the forces of evil and implant Truth, Love, and Harmony in the heart of every wandering soul on the planet.

You want epic? I gotcher epic right here.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12 NIV)

Are Your Kids Ready to Face the World?

 

First things first, let it be said that it is not the local church's responsibility to raise children that love Jesus and can navigate the Bible.

Hear me.

Educating children in spiritual truth and Scriptural literacy is not the responsibility of the congregation of believers commonly referred to as the church. That is a parent's job.

Second things second, it is also true that any congregation worthy of the designation "church" will take seriously the mission of coming alongside its parents and helping in that job.

It is the seriousness of that task that is emphasized in the meme below:

Truth is...The world at large is not necessarily a friendly territory for faith in Jesus, and preparing our children to live in that world needs to be more than just keeping them busy while Mom and Dad worship.

"Well, I Didn't MEAN To!"

 

When Carrie Fisher found herself on the set of the first Star Wars movie, part of her plan, in addition to working hard to learn the techno-babble dialogue of George Lucas, was to have a Hollywood romance. As she explains in the diary she kept at the time (later released as the book, The Princess Diarist), she DID have at least one self-imposed standard:

"It's difficult to imagine a childhood less likely to make one pro-adultery than mine. When I was born, my par­ents, the handsome singer Eddie Fisher and the beautiful actress Debbie Reynolds, were known as 'America's Sweet­hearts.' The gorgeous couple with their two adorable little babies (my brother, Todd, came along sixteen months after I did) were the American Dream realized, until Eddie left Debbie for the recently widowed gorgeous actress Elizabeth Taylor, who, just to pile it on a little more, was a friend of my mother's from their early days at the Metro-­Goldwyn-Mayer Studio. For those too old to remember or too young to care, it was one of the great midcentury tabloid feeding frenzies, and I watched it at very close range.

"So when I was contemplating having an affair on this movie, I wasn't going to include married guys. One of the things I knew when Harrison and I met was that nothing of a ro­mantic nature would happen. It wasn't even an issue. There were plenty of guys out there who were single whom I could date without needing to dip into the married guy pool. He was also far too old for me -- almost fifteen years older! I would be twenty in a matter of months, but Harrison was in his mid-thirties -- old! Well into adulthood, anyway.

"Also, he was a man. I was a girl -- a male human like him would have to be with a woman. If Harrison and I went to the prom together, no one would believe it. 'What's he doing with her? Captain of the football team and president of the cool literary club? What's he doing with Cutie-Pie Sweetcheeks, with the troll doll collection and Cary Grant obsession? Must be a glitch in the machine ... '

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

It should come as no surprise that the end result of Fisher thinking more and more about not having an affair with Harrison Ford is that she kept thinking more and more about him...and they did indeed carry on a sexual affair during the making of the film.

Truth is...in the Old Testament account of Potipher's wife trying to seduce Joseph, Joseph made the wisest decision he could have. The minute he saw that reasoning with her was having no effect, he turned tail and ran away. Standing on the brink, wondering how close you can get, will almost always end in falling off the cliff.

Calvin & Hobbes Meet Back to the Future

 

In today's text, flock, we see Calvin reaping the misfortune of his miscalculation about how time travel affects reality...or not.

It makes me think of the movie, Back to the Future, and the disastrous consequences in the McFly household that came from a thing as simple as a sports almanac.

And THAT reminds me of a Back to the Future video game that took place in three different timeframes. In order to reach a particular desired object in 2000-whatever, you had to travel back to 1955 and plant an acorn in a particular place so in 2000-whatever there would be a tree there for you to climb.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...I've said all this so I can ask THIS: What kind of groundwork are we laying right now in preparation for our preferred future? What seeds are we planting?

Galatians 6:7-8 (The Message)  -  Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.

Licotic Hand Luke

 

John Koenig's The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows has invented a word for me to use when describing how I feel sometimes when talking about the facts and logic that support my faith.

It comes from the Old English licode (it pleased [you]) + psychotic, and is pronounced lahy-kot-ic.

licotic adj. anxiously excited to introduce a friend to something you think is amazing  -  a classic album, a favorite restaurant, a TV show they're lucky enough to watch for the very first time  -  which prompts you to continually poll their face waiting for the inevitable rush of awe, only to cringe when you discover all the work's flaws shining through for the very first time.

I admit to having this exact emotion when treating a group of high-school-aged boys to their first exposure to the cinematic experience known as Cool Hand Luke. I was excited to introduce them to Paul Newman at his finest, but soon realized that taken as a whole, the film is kind of depressing.

I also admit to having something close to this emotion when sharing a bit of apologetics with one of my atheist friends and realizing they are not as impressed with it as I am.

I suppose it's very difficult, if not entirely impossible, to recreate in someone else your personal reactions and feelings...whether about faith or films or food or even if something is funny or not.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

Indiana Jones and the Misplaced Trust

 

You've heard it said that it doesn't matter what you believe as long as you're sincere. Welllll...I'm not so sure about that. Consider, if you will, the example of Dr. Henry Jones, Jr. He believed he could accurately guess the weight of a golden idol to within a handful of sand's tolerance. We all know how that turned out.

He believed he could trust his assistant to throw him the whip after having received the idol.

And yet..."Adios, amigo."

He believed he could jump across a gaping pit...

...to no avail. In the worst bit of acting you'll ever see from Harrison Ford, he telegraphs his delight at being able to grasp a vine that he believes will save him.

But alas...

He manages to climb onto the ledge and believes he's home free until he gets chased by a huge, perfectly spherical boulder.

He jumps clear of the danger and believes he can pick himself up, dust himself off, and take the relic to its rightful place in a museum.

"Doctor Jones, again we see there is nothing you can possess which I cannot take away."

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...The truth of a matter truly matters.

Michael J. Fox On Gratitude

 

If you're aware of Michael J. Fox at all, you probably remember him as the star of the successful sitcom Family Ties and the three Back to the Future films. You may also identify him as the amazingly optimistic actor who has been fighting Parkinson's for three decades.

You may not have heard that in 2018, he had surgery to partially remove a benign tumor that was coiled around his spinal cord and that four months later he fell at home, resulting in a shattered left arm that had to be stabilized with a metal plate and 19 screws.

At this point, let me quote from an article by Andrew Corsello published in AARP The Magazine:

"As he dropped into what he says was a prolonged 'dark patch,' Fox began questioning everything  -  even his own optimism. Is it still possible for me to be optimistic and realistic at the same time? he asked himself. In other words, had the price of keeping up a good face, of striving to remain the playful, glass-half-full guy audiences had always loved, of being 'Michael J. Fox,' become too steep?"

Perhaps not surprisingly, he did indeed find a way to become optimistic again, and shared his secret in answer to the question, How did you pull out of that dark place your surgery and fall had plunged you into?

"For one thing, I am genuinely a happy guy. I don't have a morbid thought in my head  -  I don't fear death. At all. But as I came through that darkness, I also had an insight about my father-in-law, who had passed away and always espoused gratitude and acceptance and confidence. And I started to notice things I was grateful for and the way other people would respond to difficulty with gratitude. I concluded that gratitude makes optimism sustainable. And if you don't think you have anything to be grateful for, keep looking. Because you don't just receive optimism. You can't wait for things to be great and then be grateful for that. You've got to behave in a way that promotes that."

Truth is...If you're worried and you can't sleep, just count your blessings instead of sheep, and you'll fall asleep counting your blessings. (Irving Berlin)

The Oz Is Strong in This One

 

The young farmboy from Tatooine got off a lucky shot at an exhaust port and now he thinks it's his destiny to become a mighty Jedi..."like [his] father".

He travels to a steamy swamp of a planet. (Why do we assume the whole planet is like the small part of it we see at any one moment of the story?) He searches for and finds the Jedi master, Yoda, and convinces the small, green creature to train him in the ways of the Force.

The farmboy, Luke Skywalker, eagerly drinks in the instruction of the...well...the puppet.

Yes, the future mighty Jedi who will bring down the evil galactic empire is getting his understanding of the "energy field created by all living things" from a piece of foam and latex.

If it weren't for Frank Oz, the Muppet performer behind Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Bert, Grover, and countless other personalities, Yoda would be nothing more than a lifeless prop.

In the same way, without the Holy Spirit empowering us to be Christ's ambassadors, we would have no spiritual vitality whatsoever. We would be of no use to anyone seeking after Truth.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive—right along with Christ! - Colossians 2:13 (The Message)

Marty Feldman Speaks Truth

 

I'm pretty sure most folks over a certain age will recognize the name and face of Marty Feldman. He's the actor who co-starred as Igor in Mel Brooks' film, Young Frankenstein.

I learned something about Feldman that most folks probably aren't aware of, though.  According to the administrator of the Classic Monsters Facebook page, "Feldman suffered from thyroid disease and developed Graves' ophthalmopathy, causing his eyes to protrude and become misaligned. A childhood injury, a car crash, a boating accident, and reconstructive eye surgery may also have contributed to his appearance.

"He later described his appearance as a factor in his career success: 'If I aspired to be Robert Redford, I'd have my eyes straightened and my nose fixed and end up like every other lousy actor, with two lines on Kojak. But this way I'm a novelty.'"

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

In a world full of folks who consider themselves more important than anyone else and snub their noses at not only their fellow humans but also the creator of all things, I am so glad there are millions who have decided to stand apart from the crowd and gladly bear the title "special" as in First Peter 2:9, "You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

Truth is...In the King James version, the word used instead of "special" is "peculiar". I think that serves to more fully emphasize the thought that being normal isn't all it's cracked up to be.

No...Really...What Do You Mean By "Following Jesus"?

 

A follow-up to last week's post.

You may or may not recall that last week's "Truth Is..." pointed out how following Jesus involves more than just agreeing with certain points of doctrine or philosophical falderal.

Since then, I came across a meme that skewers popular culture's version of expressing care and concern that illustrates my point perfectly.

Truth is...if Legolas and friends followed the example that most of us today are laying out to the world, the Ring of Power would never have been destroyed and Middle Earth would have succumbed to the forces of Sauron long ago. Let us be men and women who put our prayers into action.

What I Learned from Penguin-Watching

Consider, for a moment, the lowly penguin...

The penguins' farcical walk is quite deceptive. Those stiff feet, so ill at ease on land, act as a rudder underwater, allowing penguins to make hairpin turns at speeds of over thirty miles per hour. They are the fastest maneuverers and deepest divers of any bird; emperor penguins can reach depths of over sixteen hundred feet. These seabirds spend 80 percent of their lives as slick predators, but we only get to see the 20 percent spent staggering around on land like Charlie Chaplin.
     "Our perception of animals is based on where we are able to ob­serve them," Dr. Rory Wilson explained. "Seeing penguins stumble around being failures on land is like seeing the world's greatest athletes stumble around in the dark and never re­alizing what they are capable of. It's impossible to swim like a penguin and run like a cheetah on land." (From The Truth About Animals by Lucy Cooke ©2018)

Take your pick as to what lesson you want to waddle away with from this:

• You can't judge a book by its cover.
• Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their moccasins.
• Never compare your best moment to someone else's worst day.

Truth is...Yahweh is able to avoid all these cliches. "The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7)

And the really good news is, even though God knows us so clearly, He still loves us so dearly. "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." (Matthew 10:29-31)

The Surprising Darkness of Peter Rabbit and Friends

If you remember the literary work of Beatrix Potter as cozy little children's books, you may want to rethink your memories.

From The Heroine of Hill Top Farm by John Lanchester:

"Potter's work was always tinged with a bleak realism about death, right from the opening of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, in which we learn that Peter's father has had 'an accident' and ended up in one of Mrs. McGregor's pies. ...

"Even in the lighter stories, such as Two Bad Mice, the main characters experience 'no end of rage and disappointment,' and that is before we encounter the outright evil of the fox in The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck, who encourages Jemima to pick the flavorings and seasonings in which she is to be cooked — a gesture of macabre cruelty which would give pause to Hannibal Lecter.


"This darkness and violence is a central reason to why children like Beatrix Potter. Her bright, brisk, no-nonsense sentences, her sharply observed and beautifully tinted images, and her strong feeling of coziness and domesticity are all underpinned and made real by underlying intimations of darkness, cruelty, and sudden death."

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...Something similar can be said about the Bible. It's not just a collection of interesting stories about talking donkeys and floating menageries. If we were to make an accurate movie with Scripture as the script, it would certainly be rated R.

In the words of Rich Mullins, "The Bible is not a book for the faint of heart -- it is a book full of all the greed and glory and violence and tenderness and sex and betrayal that befits mankind. It is not the collection of pretty little anecdotes mouthed by pious little church mice -- it does not so much nibble at our shoe leather as it cuts to the heart and splits the marrow from the bone. It does not give us answers fitted to our small-minded questions, but truth that goes beyond what we even know to ask."