Don't Waste Your Acne

My school photo in 1994.  I don't have many photos of myself from this period of time, because I was not eager to get my face in front of a camera. 

Dear young person with acne,

I can relate.  I can count on one hand the number of people I've met whose acne was as bad as mine.  For a period of 5 or 6 years I scrubbed my face three times a day.  I still love the scent of witch hazel.  And I still remember the social awkwardness that acne fostered in me.  If I could step back and give advice to the person I was 25 years ago, I would say something like this:

Be friendly, not shy. People are more understanding and sympathetic than you might think.  They aren't thinking about how terrible you look.  So stop thinking about it yourself.  Greet people warmly and be interested in them.  A smile covers a multitude of blemishes. 

Appreciate your friends.  If any people actually start avoiding or mocking you because of your appearance, it shows that they weren't your friends to start with.  Acne filters your fans and weeds out the ones who love you just for the way you look. 

Don't worry about facial scars.  Acne is not going to make you look like an ex-con.  Becoming an ex-con will.  Two weeks of chicken pox when I was 18 left far more scars than 6 years of acne.  (And even the chicken pox scars receded with time.) 

Treat the cause, not the symptoms.  Generally acne is a sign of a more serious hidden imbalance.  Drugging yourself with tetracycline for 5 years may prevent acne but allow the underlying cause to worsen.  After 6 years of acne, I learned that the acne on my face was caused by eating soy, and the acne on my shoulders, by eating gluten.  I eliminated those from my diet, and the acne went away.  (I also learned that flax oil, 1 Tbsp per day, was very helpful.) 

Think long term.  This too shall pass.  If you don't follow Jesus, you will go to hell, in which case your body will be destroyed by something far more terrible than acne.  If you turn from your sin and trust in Jesus, you will go to live with Him, in which case you will get a new, perfect body (and you'll be more interested in His scars than in yours).

Worship Christ, who relinquished beauty - for sinners like you. 

Jesus gave up beauty when He came to earth:

He has no form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.  
(Isaiah 53:2, NASB)

And even more when he was crucified:

His appearance was marred more than any man
And His form more than the sons of men.
(Isaiah 52:14, NASB)

I discovered these verses while I still had acne.  It amazed me, and still does, that Jesus chose to come in a wrapper that was not appealing.  And He did it for evildoers like me.

I'm indebted to John Piper's "Don't Waste Your Cancer" for the title of this post. 

Antonin Scalia: So Close, and Yet So Far

Embed from Getty Images

I thank Jesus for the political influence of Antonin Scalia.  Not that I agreed with all his rulings, but for the most part, he did his job well, a sort of lone prophet crying out against a political world gone mad.

A friend gave me a copy of the eulogy delivered by Justice Scalia's son Paul, who is a Roman Catholic priest.  For me it is heart-wrenching.

On the one hand, there are some incredibly beautiful thoughts, such as these near the beginning:

We are gathered here because of one man. A man known personally to many of us, known only by reputation to even more. A man loved by many, scorned by others. A man known for great controversy, and for great compassion. That man, of course, is Jesus of Nazareth.

It is He whom we proclaim. Jesus Christ, son of the father, born of the Virgin Mary, crucified, buried, risen, seated at the right hand of the Father. It is because of him. because of his life, death and resurrection that we do not mourn as those who have no hope, but in confidence we commend Antonin Scalia to the mercy of God.

Those words are among the best I have ever heard at a funeral.  I hope someone says that at mine!

Or these, a quote by Paul from something Antonin had written:

 "Even when the deceased was an admirable person, indeed especially when the deceased was an admirable person, praise for his virtues can cause us to forget that we are praying for and giving thanks for God's inexplicable mercy to a sinner."

Or these, toward the end:

Finally we look to Jesus forever, into eternity. Or better, we consider our own place in eternity and whether it will be with the Lord. Even as we pray for Dad to enter swiftly into eternal glory, we should be mindful of ourselves. Every funeral reminds us of just how thin the veil is between this world and the next, between time and eternity, between the opportunity for conversion and the moment of judgment.
So we cannot depart here unchanged. It makes no sense to celebrate God's goodness and mercy to Dad if we are not attentive and responsive to those realities in our own lives. We must allow this encounter with eternity to change us, to turn us from sin and towards the Lord.

But then sprinkled heavily throughout the eulogy there are also tragic evidences of the Roman Catholic Church's departures from Scripture.  In particular, the belief in purgatory, and praying for the dead and indulgences as a way of leaving purgatory more quickly.

Thank you also for allowing us to have this parish funeral Mass here in this basilica dedicated to Our Lady. What a great privilege and consolation that we were able to bring our father through the holy doors and for him gain the indulgence promised to those who enter in faith....

He was a practicing Catholic, "practicing" in the sense that he hadn't perfected it yet. Or rather, Christ was not yet perfected in him. And only those in whom Christ is brought to perfection can enter heaven. We are here, then, to lend our prayers to that perfecting, to that final work of God's grace, in freeing Dad from every encumbrance of sin....

We continue to show affection for him and do good for him by praying for him: That all stain of sin be washed away, that all wounds be healed, that he be purified of all that is not Christ. That he rest in peace.

This, in turn, is rooted in a view that Christ's atonement on the cross was insufficient, and required the additional aid of participation in the sacraments:

Further, we give thanks that Jesus brought him to new life in baptism, nourished him with the Eucharist, and healed him in the confessional.... He trusted the power of her sacraments as the means of salvation as Christ working within him for his salvation.

This is heartwrenching to me because all of this indicates that at the end of the day and the end of his life, Antonin believed he would go to purgatory, not heaven; that additional perfection and purification would be necessary in his life before he could enter Christ's presence.  Apparently he did not claim to have the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith (Philippians 3:9).  He could have gotten it with no need for suffering in purgatory, no need for sacraments, no need for people to pray for his departed soul.   Like the tax collector who beat his chest and simply cried, "God be merciful to me, the sinner!" (Luke 18:9-14) Antonin Scalia could have gone home declared righteous by God. 

Don't Waste Your Business

Recently a friend made a purchase online from Alpha Automotive, in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  He forwarded a copy of his receipt to me.  I dare say you may never have seen a receipt like this before!  The red highlighting and blackouts are mine.

Here's a closeup of part of the bottom:

 

Life is too short and eternity is too long to wear a muzzle for 40 hours a week.  Don't let fear of loss of money cause you to be silent about Jesus!  (And then, back up your words with impeccable service and integrity.)

Hymn: Facing a Task Unfinished

I recently was introduced to the hymn "Facing the Task Unfinished", by Frank Houghton.  You can sing it to the tune of "The Church's One Foundation" (Aurelia). 

Facing a task unfinished
That drives us to our knees
A need that, undiminished
Rebukes our slothful ease
We, who rejoice to know Thee
Renew before Thy throne
The solemn pledge we owe Thee
To go and make Thee known

Where other lords beside Thee
Hold their unhindered sway
Where forces that defied Thee
Defy Thee still today
With none to heed their crying
For life, and love, and light
Unnumbered souls are dying
And pass into the night

We bear the torch that flaming
Fell from the hands of those
Who gave their lives proclaiming
That Jesus died and rose
Ours is the same commission
The same glad message ours
Fired by the same ambition
To Thee we yield our powers

O Father who sustained them
O Spirit who inspired
Saviour, whose love constrained them
To toil with zeal untired
From cowardice defend us
From lethargy awake!
Forth on Thine errands send us
To labour for Thy sake

Got Gospel?

Some subjects are inexhaustible.  Five local churches, including ours, are joining together on Saturday, January 23, to hold a conference about the gospel.  The conference is free, including lunch!  I would love to see you there.

Here are the details:
Where: Cottonwood Bible Church, 1020 S. Camino Real, Cottonwood, AZ 86326
When: 9 AM to 4 PM, Saturday, January 23
Cost: free (includes lunch)
Topics: What is the gospel?
How do I respond to the gospel
How does the gospel make me right with God?
How do I live out the gospel?
How do I proclaim the gospel?

R. A. Torrey, the Busy B

Reuben Archer Torrey did not have the folksy warmth of his mentor D. L. Moody, nor the intellectual depth of Edwards, nor the eloquence of Whitefield, nor the theological precision of Spurgeon.  Compared to these giants, he was a grade "B" preacher.  But he was a busy B, starting both the Chigago (now Moody) Bible Institute and the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (now Biola University), conducting worldwide evangelistic tours like an early Billy Graham, and spearheading the conservative response to theological liberalism through the publication of "The Fundamentals".  The man was driven.

Torrey does not get as much press as the giants in whose shadow he followed.  And rightly so.  Nevertheless, when I learned that Fred Sanders had compiled a biographical portrait of Torrey using Torrey's own sermons and that Moody Press would give me a copy for free in exchange for an unbiased review, I quickly clicked okay.

How God Used R. A. Torrey contains thirteen complete sermons by Torrey, interspersed with short biographical bridges.  These sermons are sometimes bland, a tad repetitive, and occasionally wrong.  Nevertheless, they reveal the sincere heart of a man burning with burden to point his listeners to Jesus.  His "Found Wanting" contains an exposition of the 10 Commandments that sounds like something straight from Ray Comfort.

But Torrey was more storyteller than expositor, and the Lord blessed him with some amazing life experiences to tell about. His sermon "Why God Used D. L. Moody", while containing only one verse of Scripture, is jammed with powerful stories of his mentor's love for Jesus.

Should you buy this book?  If you don't read much, my recommendation is that you stick with reading more substantive dead authors such as Spurgeon.  But if you are a bookworm and enjoy biographies of Christian leaders, you will enjoy this book.  Most of the sermons contained in the book are available online, so you can read some to get a taste for free.  I also have a copy I'll give to anyone who will pay the postage for me to mail it to you!

10 Ways to Improve Immigration

I support increased immigration to the United States.  In general, people produce more than they consume, otherwise humans would have gone extinct a long time ago :).  Thus, in general, the more people we have in our nation, the better off we will be.  We have relatively low population density and a lot of land, so we could fit more people in easily enough.  The idea that immigration is bad because it takes jobs from Americans is fallacious.

The difficulty is, how do we let in the "good" people (law-abiding productive people) without also letting in the "bad" people (terrorists, drug runners, criminals, gangs, etc)?

I came up with several recommendations, and I'm guessing many of you have some even better ones.  Some of these overlap and even contradict.  But applying any of these would improve our immigration policies.

Reduce America's Attractiveness to "Takers"

• 1. Cut welfare benefits so that more American citizens are willing to do manual labor, and fewer immigrants can "milk the system".
• 2. Develop a penal code with harsher, more immediate punishments (rather than prison sentences), which is applied equally to both Americans and immigrants.  Make America unattractive to criminals.  Don't let bad immigrants get off with just deportation.
• 3. End birthright citizenship.  Many people think it's hardwired into the 14th amendment, but the people who wrote the 14th amendment didn't think so.  More info here.
• 4. National repentance.  Psalm 147:14. 

Track All Non-Citizens

• 5. Secure the border.  This must happen for many of the following ideas to work.  Primary tools:
• a. Border fence (one time cost)
• b. Greatly increased number of border agents (ongoing cost)
• c. Aerostats (helpful but limited)
• 6. Make e-Verify required nationwide
• 7. Require everyone to carry a non-counterfeitable photo ID.  Many of our illegal immigrants are using fake documents.  For many immigrants, a passport would do.  But some nations' IDs are compromised, and for immigrants from these countries, the US must provide an ID that cannot be counterfeited.  After this is implemented, people found in the US who don't have an ID should get deported.
• 8. Mild probation-style monitoring.  Non-citizens could be required to briefly check in at any police station at a certain frequency (say, once a month or once a quarter) or wear an ankle monitor (homing device).  Violators of this probation get deported. 
• 9. Defund "sanctuary cities"

Widen the Door for Productive Immigrants

• 10. Greatly increase the use of sponsor-based visas.  Currently only employers and family members can sponsor immigrants. 
• a. Stop letting government determine how many and what kinds of immigrants to take.
• b. Let US citizens determine how generous to be and what risks to take, on a case by case basis.  This free market immigration would work far better than government sponsored immigration.
• c. Allow each US citizen over the age of 21 to sponsor one immigrant at a time, anyone they choose. Sponsors accept responsibility for the immigrant's financial needs and behavior.
• d. Sponsors post bond (either via cash payment or lien on real property) for the behavior of the immigrant.  The sponsor pays a steep fine if the immigrant commits a crime.  For serious crimes, the sponsor also loses the right to ever sponsor anyone again.
• e. Security checks in place to prevent abuse by either immigrant or sponsor (such as sex traffic).
• f. The sponsor is released from his responsibility (and reimbursed/released from his bond) when the immigrant either becomes a US citizen or leaves the US.  The sponsor is then free to sponsor a new immigrant.

But here's the real, bottom line, fastest way to solve the immigration problem: evangelize.  Tell people about Jesus!

• a. The reason why some immigrants commit acts of terrorism or crime is because they don’t love Jesus.
• b. The reason why some immigrants break the law to be here is because they don’t love Jesus.
• c. The reason why American politicians have not crafted a responsible immigration plan that leaves room for compassion is because they love power rather than Jesus.
• d. The reason why American citizens tolerate this state of affairs is because we love cheap tomatoes and low crime rates more than we love Jesus.
• e. The reason why immigrants’ native countries are so impoverished and corrupt is because the people there don’t love Jesus.

The great commission was not “go help immigrants get transportation, lodging, education and employment” but “go make disciples, teach them to obey everything I’ve commanded you”.  Evangelism and discipleship is the ultimate way of teaching a person to fish.