2013 Pepperdine Bible Lectures – Day 2

Missed the opening night (Tuesday) of the 70th Annual Pepperdine Bible Lectures (April 30 – May 3, 2013), but I was able to make the drive out to Malibu Wednesday afternoon for three enlightening sessions. Coming off of the lunch break was Holly Catterton Allen, co-author of Intergenerational Christian Formation: Bringing the Whole Church Together in Ministry, Community and Worship, who I knew from Creekside Christian Fellowship years ago. Her talk, “Entering God’s Story: Reframing How We Teach the Bible to Children,” discussed how the true purpose of Bible stories – to reveal the who God/Jesus Christ is – is often overlooked as teachers focus instead on teaching children how to live. I was reminded of Dan Owen’s talk at the Recharge conference earlier this year as I listened to Dr. Allen give some examples on how the event-precept-application method often results in misinterpretation. For example, Jesus feeding the five thousand has been used to teach children to share, rather than understand Christ’s power and compassion for His people.

To counter this problem, Dr. Allen stressed that morals are better extracted from direct scriptural commands. Bible lessons need to reflect the true intent of God’s story. She discussed the idea of putting together a “Christian metanarrative” that unites different biblical stories into one continuous story and allows children to develop a Christian identity. To help Sunday school/Bible class teachers achieve this, Dr. Allen suggested activities and illustrations that allow children to personalize the events and see themselves as part of the ongoing mission of Christ.

Next I attended Chris Buxton’s “Pushing Back Against the Young Adult Exodus.” A campus ministry director, Buxton discussed how to combat the growing trend of children who grew up in the Churches of Christ abandoning their faith after high school graduation. One-on-one mentoring is the oft-cited solution, and Buxton endorses that, believing that he has seen positive results pairing up kids with older adults who can provide some answers and guidance during a confusing time in their lives. I would have preferred it if more time had been spent on how to directly respond to the criticisms that lead these kids away in the first place, but time was understandably short.

Finally, before heading back home for the day, I listened to Linda Egle of Eternal Threads and Brittany Partridge discuss “The Red Thread Movement: Combating Human Trafficking and Modern-Day Slavery.” Previously, I was somewhat familiar with the sex trade issue, but this introduced me to the specific situation in Nepal and Bombay, India. The speakers discussed the success of Kingdom International Nepal’s “border units” that rescue Nepalese girls being brought into India and the “safe houses” that provide biblical-based counseling and job training (including friendship bracelet making for donations) for victims before they return to their villages. It wasn’t made clear what are the legal statuses of prostitution and slavery in those areas, but there was some discussion about the shame many girls feel from having been tricked by promises of jobs across the border. Since sex trafficking, prostitution, and modern day forced labor are the kind of social justice issues that often get swept under the rug, I was pleased that this talk was programmed. It makes the Bible lectureship, which some see as a remnant of a bygone era, more relevant to today.

Devotional: 2 John

In the Second Epistle of John, the elder writes to encourage his fellow Christians in two virtues, walking in truth and loving one another, and warn them against the influences of those who would have them do otherwise.

While our God is a God of truth and justice, the first villain is the deceiver. He is the one who opposes truth, preferring instead to glorify in a lie. His goal is to lead the spiritually weak astray by any means possible. To defeat him, we must continue to walk along the straight and righteous path, resisting the urge to detour into darkness.

The second villain is the antichrist. He is the one who fights against the Lord’s anointed, both Jesus Christ and His elect followers. While our God is a God of love and mercy, the antichrist would have us hate our neighbors and do ill toward them. To defeat him, we must remain faithful to the second commandment: that we love one another; looking to the sacrificial love of our Lord on the cross as the example for our daily lives.

While we Christians can expect to frequently meet deceivers and antichrists during our time spent in this world, and that these evil people will tempt us to turn away from God’s law, we have this note of encouragement from the apostle and his reminder that, in due time, we shall reap a reward for our trials.

This devotional was written as an assignment for Robert T. Davis’ course on “Johannine Literature,” which I am currently auditing at the Southern California School of Evangelism at Buena Park Church of Christ.

Life ‘After Tiller’: A Film Review

There are films that you watch because you expect to enjoy them, and there are films that you watch regardless. For me After Tiller was an example of the latter. This timely and thought-provoking documentary screened at the 2013 Newport Beach Film Festival last Saturday after premiering at Sundance and Sarasota. Not merely “pro-choice” but also “pro-late term,” it trails four clinical abortion providers, who like their late colleague George Tiller once did, service pregnant women in their third trimester. While the film takes an obvious stand on the issue, it doesn’t present an argument but instead tells a very personal story about people who put their careers, reputations, and lives on the line for a cause.

As might be expected, After Tiller focuses on harassment and threats directed toward these physicians and their families. Previously the target of arsonists, LeRoy Carhart (Nebraska) is shown clashing with locals when trying to open a new clinic, and Warren Hern (Colorado) talks about a failed marriage and threats directed towards his mother. However, the film also provides a unique insight as to how the doctors and parents justify what they do while they’re doing it. And I believe that’s what makes its most important contribution to the pro-life/pro-choice debate.

For the doctors, legality doesn’t end moral dilemma. Susan Robinson (New Mexico) and her staff counselor wrestle with determining which cases they believe are compelling enough to warrant the procedure. Shelley Sella (New Mexico) struggles with the task of having to deliver stillborn babies. There are also some heart-wrenching scenes with the parents, of whom most are distraught over severe problems with their babies’ health. What I found extremely bothersome, however, were two couples trying to justify late-term abortion because their babies had diseases that would prevent them from being athletic like their parents. I really feel sorry for their living children who I imagine will spend their childhood and teen years being pressured to perform in sports.

If you get an opportunity to see After Tiller, I recommend it. It’s well made (save for some scenes where the film was inverted! Come on, piercings and moles shouldn’t move around!), and it’s very informative, especially for someone like me who rarely seeks out anything on induced abortion from any side. Don’t worry about changing your mind on abortion or late-term abortion because I really doubt this film’s capable of doing that. Go see After Tiller because you need to be informed. The NBFF will be playing it again this Wednesday night (May 1), and San Francisco International Film Festival (April 25 to May 9) will be showing it this weekend. Check the film’s website for additional screenings. I suspect it will also be on Netflix in the near future.

After Tiller - SFIFF56 Clip from San Francisco Film Society on Vimeo.