Amy Winehouse; Sherlock Holmes

First, the tragic news of Amy Winehouse cuts deep. 'Back to Black' was a phenomenal record, both for her tremendous musicianship on it (she has incredible pipes) and for the wave of female UK pop stars that rose to prominence (Adele, Duffy, etc.) on the trail of Winehouse and Lily Allen. Personally, Amy's death takes me back to the end of my freshman year at Calvin, when I trekked to the Best Buy on the Beltline to snag 'Back to Black' the day it came out. But her death reminds us of two things: even with tremendous talent (if put to Godly use), all our righteous acts "are like filthy rags" in the eyes of God (Isaiah 64:6). And we're also reminded that God's common grace sustains all of humanity, preventing mankind from falling into utter depravity (Ps. 119:64, Ps. 145:9, Luke 6:35, Acts 17:25). Absence of that common grace allows people to fully yield to the true passions of their heart (Romans 1:24-27). Hence, it is tragic to see someone created in the image of God feed her drug addiction to the extent of death.

Second, in honor of the first part of the fantastic BBC miniseries (on Netflix) on 'modern takes' of classic Sherlock Holmes mysteries, I snagged 'A Study in Scarlet,' the very first Holmes mystery from the BPL. I love the scientific nature of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's writing and here's a quote I greatly appreciated:

"'You see,' he explained, 'I consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things, so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it. Now the skillful workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain-attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work, but of these he has a large assortment, and all in the most perfect order. It's a mistake to think that that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones.'"

I'm sure responses would be rather different, based on your theory of education. :-)

Fighting the Appetites pt. 2: Fighting Desire with Desire

So a few weeks back I posted a quote from Russell Moore which you can read here. In it, he focuses on how our struggles against our appetites come in the form of constantly resisting temptations; temptations that could last for days, years, or lifetimes. As I was running yesterday, I was thinking of the nature of courage. And I honestly think it takes more courage to constantly fight one's sinful desires, to daily live as a "living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God" (Rom. 12:1) and "to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him" (Col. 1:10) than it does to jump in front of a bullet. Because, let's be honest; you receive praise and respect from your fellow man for sacrificing yourself for a cause or a fellow human. But you rarely receive praise for putting to death "what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry" (Col. 3:5). But if indeed, "On account of these the wrath of God is coming" (Col. 3:6), the daily, hourly courageous struggle against these sinful desires should be greatly praised.

But if our sins are first and foremost against God (see this recent blog post), then how do we put to death the sinful desires that come from our very own hearts (Matt. 15:18-19)? If we put them to death, but don't put anything in their place, we will surely fall back into them. In my devotional today, Kevin DeYoung, reflects on the Heidelberg Catechism section dealing with the Seventh Commandment. He offers 12 verses and reflections thereof as a source of strength and encouragement to those fighting lustful desires. This one I found particularly encouraging, no matter what sins you are fighting and/or conquering:

"Matthew 5:8: "Blesses are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." This has been the most helpful verse for me in fighting lust and temptation to sexual immorality. We need to fight desire with desire. Satan tempts us by holding out something that will be pleasurable to us. We aren't tempted to gorge ourselves on liverwurst, because for most it doesn't hold out the promise of great pleasure. But sex does. Pornography does. A second look does. The Bible gives us many weapons to fight temptation. We need to fight the fleeting pleasure of sexual sin with the far greater, more abiding pleasure of knowing God. The fight for sexual purity is the fight of faith. It may sound like nothing but hard work and gritting your teeth, the very opposite of faith. But faith is at the heart of this struggle. Do we believe that a glimpse of God is better than a glimpse of skin? Do we believe that God's steadfast love is better than life (Ps. 63:3)? We'd probably sin less if we spent less time thinking about our sins, sexual or otherwise, and more time meditating on the love and holiness of God." -KDY, The Good News We Almost Forgot

Just like they took away the Polaroid picture

They're gonna take away everything that means something.
Today I think I saw ten thousand cellphones
But not one decent conversation.
-Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside, Write Me a Letter

One of the frustrations of Newport Folk Festival now that the printable schedule is out is making the tough decisions of Emmylou Harris or M. Ward (or the Civil Wars), Gillian Welch or Tegan and Sara, etc. But one of the perks is figuring out what to see when there are no scheduling conflicts. Hence, over the weekend I checked out The Head and The Heart, with whom I am quite impressed. Rivers & Roads is one of the most gorgeous arrangements I've heard in a while. And while their lyrics need work, the driving force of the piano and Charity's violin make this young band one I'm considerably looking forward to seeing (and dancing to).

However, today my ears feasted on another band from the Pacific Northwest. Namely, Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside, and I am blown away. Drawing on inspirations such as Tom Waits and Cat Power, the band is extremely talented, ranging from ragtime to jazz to blues, rocking a mean upright base and a vast array of other instruments the whole way through. But the carrying power rests in Ford's unrestrained voice. In its rawness, it jerks you out of your seat and takes you down a wonderful road. I urge you to buy their album, Dirty Radio, as it's easily one of the best I've heard in a while. And if you need convincing, check out this video for Cage (where Ford's use of the megaphone is a direct shout-out to Waits' Chocolate Jesus).

How do we view sin?

"The Bible focuses on the vertical breach of God's law as the source of weal or woe in horizontal relationships. The curse of original sin and guilt is God's judgment based on his unalterable holiness and righteousness. The word "curse" belongs to the world of ancient Near Eastern diplomacy, with its threats for violating a treaty. God's curse upon humanity (and creation because of humankind) was the sanction that God warned about when he commissioned Adam as his covenant servant.

It is striking that even though he had seduced Bathsheba and then had her husband sent to his death in battle, David's confession begins with the cry, "Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me" (Ps. 51:4-5). Can we identify today with that sharply vertical sense of sin--even horrible atrocities committed against our neighbor--as first and foremost an offense against God?

The impression that we often get today is that sin offends God only indirectly--because it hurts other people or ourselves, not because it is first and foremost an act of treason against our good and faithful Creator. Ironically, fundamentalism and the emergent movement sound alike at this point. The former may single out sex, drugs, and rock and roll while the latter targets militarism, greed, and environmental recklessness. However, both reduce sin primarily to sins (bad behaviors) apart from seeing the latter as the fruit of a moral condition that has swallowed our entire race and provoked the wrath of God: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one" (Rom. 3:10-12, citing Ps. 14:1-3; 53:1-3).

Once we lose the vertical dimension of sin--that makes it truly sinful--there is no longer any place for understanding the cross as that marvelous paradox of love and wrath, mercy and justice. No longer a vicarious and propitiatory sacrifice (as if there was anything like God's wrath to worry about), Christ's work simply becomes a paradigmatic act of healing and restoring relationships between human beings and the environment."

-Michael Horton, The Gospel Commission