A Paradisal Bookstore

I love bookstores. When I hear that Barnes and Noble has fallen on hard times, my heart aches. The bookstore is perhaps the one place in the shopping and entertainment experience where I feel most at home. Nothing thrills me more than browsing books I will never buy on the upshot that I might find that one classic I've been hoping to see in print.

Of all the bookstores I've ever been to, Full Circle Bookstore is certainly the best. Situated in the heart of Oklahoma City, it is not the place you would expect to find in flyover country. Bookstores like this with a love of fine editions, beautiful displays, classic works, and warm atmosphere are a rare treasure. Here are some pictures of Full Circle for those of you who haven't had the opportunity to experience the joy firsthand.

The Heart of Paradise: A Fairy Tale

Once upon a time there was a boy who was born by a river. His world was small and the river was life. It's muddy banks, swirling waters, and raucous roar marked his daily existence. But his imagination, which was great, always dreamed of the course beyond the bend, and though he never ventured onto the river, he often waded downstream until his feet no longer touched bottom.

But the river wasn't his only source of happiness. Across it, high atop a strong beautiful mountain, stood a white tower that ascended into the clouds. Emerald ivy grew along its contours and a wall protected it from outsiders. The boy sometimes went there and played in the garden within the wall. He told others of his discovery, but though he had always found the door in the wall open, they would call him a liar with a look. The door was always locked to them.

A Bit Of Humor

Some time ago, I had a conversation with a dear friend of mine who was discovering the martial art of Aikido. Aikido, as some of you may know, is a martial art that uses the force of the opponent against himself. My friend explained to me that the Atonement might be seen in the light of Aikido. Jesus, he pointed out, used the power of Death against itself in order to defeat it. Aikido, in a sense, was like "Jesus Karate", the way of the perfect Master.

Going home that night, the phrase "Jesus Karate" kept stirring in my small brain, and as it stirred, flashes of insight enlightened my feeble mind. A script, as it were, appeared in letters of flaming gold, and I quickly transcribed the vision I had seen pass in front of me. This is what I recorded:

The Proud God?

There has been a great deal of debate in recent years over the question of the Atonement, specifically the question of which idea or model of the Atonement is, in fact, the primary Biblical perspective. There is no need to go into the history of this debate here, though it is a fascinating topic in its own right.

What concerns me is the primary difference between penal substitution and its detractors (who are, as with any revolutionary group, driven by a variety of ideas). There have been many criticisms of penal substitution that might pass for an overarching fault line, but speaking on a personal level, I believe that there is one distinction in the current models of penal substitution that, as it happens, is the central barrier between the idea's acceptance and rejection.

An Old School Ramble on Worldliness

Most people in the world live in a tension between fear and pride. They are painfully aware of their own vulnerabilities and weaknesses and are driven by the world around them to create a persona that is free of these problems, one that may even be the opposite of them. These personas can take several shapes. In some cases, people parade their weaknesses as strengths, as in gang culture, or vivid counter-cultural styles of dress. Others strive each day to use socially accepted "badges" as a way of creating a stable persona: a job, a degree, a car, a dress code, all this to communicate an order and "togetherness" that is completely absent from their spiritual lives. Still others develop a "zero" status: they give nothing and they take nothing. The bare minimum is what society can demand and little else. This is just another twist on the basic pattern that all have in common: they create a barrier between the world and themselves so that they can exist with an easy view of who they are.