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Dr. Eva Benevento

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“Are You a Christian?”

Who can adequately wrap their mind around the shooting event in Oregon yesterday? It shakes you to your very core to think that a twenty-year old could be so unhinged as to gun down college students. To further complicate this incomprehensible act, it is somehow linked to the victims’ beliefs. The gunman asked the victims, “Are you a Christian?” and their responses determined the outcome. It clearly indicates that his mind was focused and determined. Insane? Not insane? Disillusioned? Terrorist?

If I were in that Oregon school building and were confronted by a lunatic wielding a gun, what would I do? I am pretty sure I would be looking for a quick exit just as most people who are honest. In my imagination I wonder what would happen if a group suddenly rushed the shooter all at once, screaming at him and throwing something to distract him, and then take him down. Some would get hurt but he couldn’t shoot everyone. Well, too much NCIS.

As the world awaits more details about the shooter and his motives, I replay some other similar shootings in my mind—Columbine, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Washington Navy Yard, and Fort Hood. What does it take for a shooter to kill unarmed people who are simply going about their daily business? Deep hatred and mental dehumanization of the victims are no doubt at the core. We ask ourselves how this can happen in a country that has so much to offer. Belief, whether religious or not, is such a powerful stronghold. It compels us to act one way or another. The shooter’s mind was powerfully held by a twisted belief that coerced his actions.

As Christians, we are persuaded to a worldview through words of Jesus. It motivates us to a particular moral and ethical behavior supported by Scripture. We seek continual transformation by the Word of God to become transformed into the image of Christ. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2). We readily see why raising morally strong children is so critical; that they may not fall prey to wickedness and evil deeds.

As we think about the students who survived the shooting and the families of the victims, pray for their strength in the coming days and for the Holy Spirit to bring comfort and peace to their souls. Pray also for the shooter’s family, whose lives will never be the same, that they may find peace and God if they do not know Him. And finally, pray for peace and moral strength for our nation’s youth.

 

Copyright 2015 by Eva Benevento. All rights reserved.

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Things Revealed: What’s in a Title?

As I thought about a title for my blog, many ideas rambled through my brain. Whenever I am stuck as to the mysteries of God, I go to one of my favorite Scripture verses. “The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29 KJV). I wanted to target the idea that thoughts and inspirations are mysteries for the moment until God reveals meaning deeper and deeper with each encounter. When I see afresh, my thoughts and insights are things revealed to me that are forever mine and to whomever I share them. It is a gift from the Holy Spirit available to all who seek. And so, Things Revealed became the title.

How many times have you read the same chapter and verse and suddenly something seems to leap off the page and smack your brain. You have that “Aha!” moment and say to yourself, “I never saw that before.” I know it happens to me and I’m just not that unique, so I know if you are seeking, you will find. It’s exciting to know that the Bible is a living document through which the Holy Spirit brings you new revelation, new insight, and new vision. It is an in-sight, a “looking in” that is different from the glossing over and repetitious surface reading.

The early Church monastic fathers and mothers practiced lectio divina (sacred reading), which is a slow, prayerful, and meditative reading of Scripture where one lingers over a word or a phrase and seeks God’s perspective on it. The intent is to hear directly from the heart of God. You do not rush to go to lexicons, dictionaries, and commentaries for translations and instructions, even though these are great resources for study. Interest in lectio divina as an additional practice in hearing the voice of God has found renewal among groups interested in Christian mysticism and “soaking” prayer, but if you look hard enough, you will find that prime movers and shakers in many Christian circles have been doing that for centuries. I invite you to try it and see what things are revealed to you.

 

Copyright 2015 by Eva Benevento. All rights reserved.

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Humor Me by /

Laughter: Soul Medicine

Laughter is good. “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones” (Proverbs 7:22 KJV). It seems that a merry attitude starts in the soul and leaks into the body. Every pharmaceutical medicine I have tasted ranged from barely tolerable to downright nasty, but laughter feels good and has no ugly side effects. No, I am not suggesting that you dump your meds for a DVD series of I Love Lucy. To medicate or not to medicate is in your court.

Did Jesus laugh? How about Moses or David? I think we can be big enough in our theological mindset to say yes. Okay, the Bible is serious stuff about the serious side of life—and death—and beyond, but there are stories about real people and real people can be really funny. It maybe not side-splitting funny, meaning funny as in “ha, ha,” not funny-peculiar. Well, they can be peculiar too. At the very least, they warrant an occasional guffaw or chortle. It is pretty peculiar when a woman talks to a serpent and a jackass prophesies. Some things are just plain funny.

Let’s face it, making light of serious faults and failures can be uncomfortable and funny all at the same time. Fear not, friend. Human foibles are the stuff of comedy since Adam and Eve evacuated the Garden. The Bible is rife with story after story of people who made a few great decisions, but notably made some really bad ones, the stuff of comedy that would have ended up on the ancient version of Saturday Night Live. It pretty much makes our dumb decisions fall into the categories of “I-guess-I’m-not-the-only-one” or “how-could-______(fill in the blank)-have-been-so-stupid!” Imagine having your moments of idiocy retold to the whole world for generations. If you didn’t laugh, you’d cry.

More important, taking a close look at other people’s blunders is not so much that it sooths egos, but they can actually help us to learn from their mistakes, which is the point of failure stories. What do we do with those dumb things we say and do? We can squall and spit over them. We can promise the moon, sun, stars, and every living thing that it will NEVER happen again, only to repeat them at moments of utter weakness. Or we can shake our heads at our foolishness, squeak out a chuckle, and make some changes through the grace and love of God. I like change, especially when it ends in transformation. And somewhere in there is a story to laugh about.

 

Copyright 2015 by Eva Benevento. All rights reserved.

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Decently and In Order

A scene not very long ago gave me much to think about. I was at a charismatic worship service and the music was typical of young bands. Banners and flags were flapping. Young adults were passionately praising God and dancing, some with a lot of gusto. One young man stood out among the dozens of free-style dancers. He sported a multi-colored-tie-dyed t-shirt and Bermuda shorts. No big deal. But—his head bobbled wildly, flinging clumps of long blonde dreadlocks intertwined with dozens of multi-colored ribbons while he twirled and jumped. His bare feet stomped and danced frenziedly to heavy bass and fast drumbeats.

It was impossible to not notice him, and at the same time, difficult to keep focused on the reason for myself being there. I found myself having to work at redirecting my focus. I asked myself, “Now, where do you put that?” Is he out of order? Should I just write him off as a wacky guy looking for attention? Is he a child of God, passionately worshiping, but with some possible misguided ideas? Is he just “being himself,” albeit way outside the norms of public encounter?

This young man was not harming anyone. He did not ask for any special consideration or make demands of anyone, and I don’t believe his display was sinful. He was certainly passionate about his worship. The overall culture of that particular church community was very informal and it did not seem to bother anyone in the audience. He was pretty much ignored. It did make me wonder how this scene would play out in a different setting when I saw him dance once more in a more traditional church setting. He was a visitor so I think most people just wrote him off as a peculiar young guy. More recently in Los Angeles I saw a few young people with similar streaming bright ribbons in their hair, so I’m thinking it might be an upcoming fad.

Such peculiarity isn’t always about sin, however, his display gave me pause to think about our responsibility to others. His looks and behavior drew a lot of attention even in that first casual atmosphere. There seemed to be no purpose to the overall appearance other than expressing personal flare. Beyond expecting people to simply tolerate the unusual, bordering on the bizarre, I do think people have some responsibility to honor the house where we worship and even more so, where we visit. It’s not like this young man had never been in a church before or didn’t have some idea about appropriateness, which is certainly excusable. For me, it was a lesson in Romans 14:13 for me. “Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.”

What is the norm of the house’s culture? Should we violate it in favor of our preferred “style”? My personal preference is honor over self-indulgence. I don’t have to wear a beach outfit in a church where business-casual is the norm, and if beach is the norm, I probably would not wear something formal. My behavior and worship should not violate the culture of the church out of respect for the house. But that’s my take on it.

Now for a caveat even for my more conservative outlook—the Holy Spirit has complete freedom to prompt anything He desires. Period. No argument, except we need to be sure it is the Holy Spirit and not wild imagination. And so, when situations like this one occur, I ask myself some pretty basic questions. Is this decent and in order (“Let all things be done decently and in order” 1 Cor. 4:40)? Does it violate general moral and ethical codes? Is this something that brings attention, honor, and glory to God? When the “look” or behavior becomes more radical or important than the purpose for the gathering, then it seems some gentle and loving correction may be called for, not to discourage passion, but rather to encourage one another to maturity so that passion is channeled to be infectious rather than written off as weird. Let all things be done not only decently and in order, but also with love and faith.

 

Copyright 2015 by Eva Benevento. All rights reserved.

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Peanut Butter & Liverwurst

“Why are they all staring at me?” Heidi asked herself. She checked her clothes. Shoes, socks, dress—nothing was undone. She put on her very best outfit for the first day of her new school. Momma made sure her long sleeved blouse was starched, her knife pleated jumper neatly pressed, and her oxford shoes polished. Two thick braids bounced behind her ears. Momma tied the ends of each braid into a large bow using wide bubble gum pink satin ribbon. Heidi was impressed with the image in the mirror as she passed her dresser and closed the bedroom door.

Momma walked her to the classroom and left her in the hands of Miss Lehrer, who eyed Heidi above rhinestone studded cats-eye glasses precariously perched on the edge of her nose. Miss Lehrer pointed to a desk and chair, and motioned for her to sit down. Faces were staring at Heidi, sending signals that ranged from curiosity to disdain. Heidi slid into the seat and kept her eyes focused forward to avoid making eye contact with the menacing faces that scrutinized her.

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Tales of Three Murders, She Wrote

In my first set of three stories in the Series category, I retell the tales of three murders. Moses the actual murderer, David the conspirator to murder, and Paul the accessory to murder, were men with a checkered past who ended up completely changed and have influenced generations for centuries. If it were today, they might have been tucked away into a prison system without a speck of hope for a bright future. Shouldn’t they have been put into the trash heap of “useless” humanity? Didn’t they deserve the utmost wrath of justice? Many would say yes, they earned consequences and really didn’t deserve a second chance. But God . . .

After a forty year exile, Moses went on to lead the new nation of Israel and write the Pentateuch (Torah), the foundation of the Jewish faith for millennia and the wellspring of Christianity under the inspiration of the Almighty. David suffered the loss of his child, but went on to write the some of the most beautiful and passionate psalms under the influence of the Holy Spirit that inspire heartfelt worshipers even today. After having been healed of his blindness, Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, went on to pen a good chunk of the New Testament.

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David, What Were You Thinking?

When you hear the name David in a Bible context, what usually comes to mind is the shepherd boy who annihilated the giant Goliath with a rock. Pretty impressive, huh! David’s journey from the slingshot to the throne is well documented in the Bible. He was a heroic warrior, led armies to victory over and over again, not a perfect record, but as good as it gets. He has a problem with Saul, the first king, who wants to get rid of him, but David’s overall honorable behavior wins the favor of God and man. He becomes the rightful king.

David’s deeds, however, were not always so honorable. An ugly affair with Bathsheba lets us know that he was not dropped out of heaven onto earth to be exalted as the perfect man (2 Samuel 11 and 12 ). Bathsheba was the hottie who lived next door. One night David goes out for a walk around the roof of his house, when he spots Bathsheba next door taking a bath. Vavoom—nothing left to the imagination! I always wondered about this. Who takes a bath without at least covering the window? For that matter, who walks around the roof at night?

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Paul, A Man on a Mission

The church was only a few months old after Pentecost. Stephen was a leader in the First Church of the Redeemed — not really — the church was not that organized yet so it didn’t have a name or denomination. He was preaching and performing signs and wonders, just being a disciple like Jesus said to do, which caused a lot of attention. The speed of word of mouth is amazing, kind of like the Internet for the first century. Just get a few people miraculously healed and a backlash of naysayers call you a heretic. And that’s the nice word. Critics spring up over night like a fungus. No different today as it was back then, so why should it take us by surprise.

The Synagogue of Freedman were outraged at Stephen’s ministry and not only maligned him, they spread libelous rumors and paid people to lie in order to get him arrested. It didn’t end up well for Stephen. After a solid defense, the religious brethren stoned him to death, but not before the false witnesses did something peculiar. They took off their robes and laid them at the feet of Saul, (name later changed to Paul). This is a rather peculiar detail to include, and yet, why would that detail have any importance? Why would the stoners bother to first of all disrobe, and then make Saul the coat check guy?

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Yeah, God, But . . .

God talks to a man through a burning bush (Exodus 3 and 4). A BURNING bush, not just an ordinary shrub, although that would have been scary enough. I don’t know about you, but if I saw a burning bush, I might be looking for a fire extinguisher or at least be dialing 911, but more than likely I’d be making a fast exit far away. And a voice coming out of it talking to you? Could you hear Moses saying to himself, “What was in that lunch I just ate?” He pretty quickly figured out that nobody was hiding behind the bush playing a prank.

So he’s having a conversation with God and getting the download on what God wants him to do. He hears God, and I don’t think his negotiating with God was a matter of not wanting to obey God. It was about self-confidence and fear of failure. He finds out that he has to round up a gazillion Jews, organize a walkout on their “employers,” and get them out of town for a fast getaway with the riches of Egypt. Are you kidding me? Most people agonize for days on what to pack for a seven-day Caribbean cruise. We’re talking about massive relocation. It would be like telling the entire population of Philadelphia to pack up and get out of town—permanently and NOW. Traffic jam does not even remotely describe the chaos.

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When the Medium Is Not the Message

There are preachers of every ilk and style to satisfy a multitude of tastes — passionate screamers, academicians, motivational speakers types, fire and brimstone doom proclaimers, everything-is-beautiful tree huggers, tattooed and pierced prophets, just to name a few. That tells me that God must have an amazing sense of humor in some cases, but more importantly, His character is one of justice, mercy, and love with massive doses of tolerance for diversity. God offers His family messengers to proclaim His Kingdom suitable for every cultural context and people group. What medium may appeal to one group doesn’t for another. Nevertheless, the core message must be what God is saying. Paul, in 2 Corinthians 9:22 says, “To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some.”

Style is a personal thing, and there is plenty of discussion on which is better, more appropriate, more exciting, more effective, more whatever. You can take courses on how to be a better speaker, how to construct a three point sermon, how to captivate your audience, how to “be yourself” and still proclaim a common gospel targeted to a specific audience. What appeals to me personally is more the content of what is said than the delivery mode. I often take note about whether there is a string of personal story telling centered around some moral or ethical principle, which can be very entertaining, or a clear discernment and presentation of Scripture in its context. Is there any mention of Scripture at all? Is there a point where the message of the gospel is lost in the frenzy or dazzle of the human or even electronic medium?

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