Author: Uri Brito

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An Invitation to Heaven

Just a quick invite to anyone in Escambia or Santa Rosa County:

This morning I, and a few of my dearest and closest friends, will be rioting against Satan’s headquarters. Our rioting will consist of hearty singing, sincere confession of our sins, public displays of mutual love, hearing from God’s revelation, and having a meal from heaven.

We will start at 9:30 at Providence Church (CREC) in Pensacola,FL and right at the beginning we will gather and make a trip to the heavenly places led by angelic tour guides on a direct flight led by the Third Person of the Godhead. My understanding is that Jesus will meet us at the entrance gate and take us to the heavenly throne. He is going to offer us fairly specif blueprints so that when we go back home (earth), we can implement them strategically with our children and close friends.

For those of you who have to make it to other places, I am fairly sure that the heaven-bound event won’t last more than 75 minutes. Of course, we encourage you to stick around afterwards and share war stories and let us know about your bruises during the riot. So far, no one has been too hurt, but some have come back confessing a greater need to be fervent to our Father in heaven and others have confessed their rioting has been far from ideal. Anyway, we hope to see you all soon.

P.S. There are hundreds of other locations in town, but I speak of the one most familiar to me.

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LOLing to the Death of Conversation

One of my hobbies is to watch movie documentaries explaining the rationale for selecting actors and scenes and all sorts of fascinating details. The latest one I saw was from my beloved “Amadeus Mozart;” a movie that moves me in so many ways. I have probably seen it at least five times over the last twenty years. I have never forgotten Tom Hulce’s performance as Mozart with his contagious and maniacal laughter. F. Abraham Murray as Salieri brought out the sin of covetousness and anger in a more concrete way than I have ever seen performed.

I was reminded also recently of the art of story-telling by sages like Orson Welles who hypnotized me in an interview with Dick Cavett where Welles tells the story of his brief encounter with Adolf Hitler before the Nazi party became prominent. He said in that masterful voice filled with compelling mannerisms that Hitler “made so little an impression on me that I can’t remember a second of it. He had no personality. He was invisible…. I think there was nothing there.” Perhaps only a party of idiots led by a highly uninteresting person can seduce the masses to kill millions. Boredom is a gift of tyrants.

Perhaps the entire ethos of modern-day poetry, and film-making, and the story-telling motif is gone. I am a lover of all things old, not because “old” is somehow more holy or more glorious, but generally because old preserves some sense of decency; it seeks to keep the gift of language at the center without feeling compelled to entertain at every five second interval.

Go ahead. Watch 10 minutes of Jimmy Fallon and suddenly you realize that you learned nothing from a guest actor/actress, except what he ate at midnight on Christmas Eve of 1998 with his second wife. Then, anytime the guest begins to opine about something significant, a game ensues and more entertainment. Of course, the Jimmy fella is hilarious and I find him rather gifted musically, but overall, the audience and its demands create the talk-show host. Fallon is not who we should have, but it’s who we deserve.

Then, head over to YouTube and listen to Dick Cavett (my favorite of all time) and hear him talk to the celebrities of the time and before us, behold, a genuine conversation about life and its inherent hilarities. Cavett can have one of the most charming disagreements with Marlon Brando on the proper definition of acting; the whole thing is civil while Cavett let’s Brando opine on and on without one.single.interruption. Today, Brando would have said five words and been compelled to play a singing game with tarot cards. The long-form conversations are largely gone from mainstream, and have now been absorbed by the podcasting world where there you can hear actors and politicians and religious figures speak frankly without the need to perform but simply be themselves at their best or worst. Jordan Peterson, Bret Weinstein and others have convinced us that people still want to have long conversations about serious things in our day. Not all hope is lost.

I suspect “Babette’s Feast” directed Gabriel Axel in 1987 (on my best movies of all time) would flop today. Charlie Chaplin’s genius adapted to a 21st century audience would be too nebulous. His comedy would be considered too imaginative. Andy Griffith would be too naive. Opie would seem too concretely situated in a patriarchal paradigm. I suspect Postman was right. If we are not entertained too quickly, we’d lose ourselves, amuse ourselves to death, because, after all, we have trained ourselves for quick doses of entertainment. And we need our fill now. So, adieu to creativity and imagination. LOL…nay, ROTFL.

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Jude Translation, Verse 7 with Notes

ὡς Σόδομα καὶ Γόμορρα καὶ αἱ περὶ αὐτὰς πόλεις τὸν ὅμοιον τρόπον τούτοις ἐκπορνεύσασαι καὶ ἀπελθοῦσαι ὀπίσω σαρκὸς ἑτέρας, πρόκεινται δεῖγμα πυρὸς αἰωνίου δίκην ὑπέχουσαι. (Jude 1:7).

Translation: Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, which in the same manner indulged in immoral deeds and went after unnatural flesh, are set before us as proof in undergoing punishment of eternal fire.

Notes: The use of Sodom and Gomorrah would certainly be familiar to the readers in Judea. They are the paradigms of wickedness not only in Genesis but in other extra-biblical sources (Bauckham, 53). The additional cities surrounding these two would include Admah, Zeboiim and Zoar (the latter was spared from judgment (Bauckham, 54).

The translation of “strange flesh” (σαρκὸς ἑτέρας) has caused some headache among commentators. If the intention is to address Sodom and Gomorrah’s sin as the central sexual desires of the men towards the angelic beings, then Jude would have been more specific. Here there is a clear case that strange flesh speaks of broader sins found in these two cities. The idea that this refers to desires to have sex with angels since they possess a different kind of flesh than humans does not seem tenable. In other words, the analogy does not hold true as a comparison to the Jewish Zealots. It seems more likely that “unnatural flesh” refers to various forms of unethical/immoral deeds. There is no doubt that the crux of the Sodom and Gomorrah paradigm is an act of egregious sexual abuse, but Jude seems to have other things in mind as well. For Jude, “unnatural” may have the sense of “things that are not common under divine order.” The point here is to highlight the depths of evil that these Zealots partook of, which compares to the sin of the most (in)famous cause of abuse in Israel’s history.

These examples are exhibits of judgment; such are to be avoided by the Judean Christians who need to take heed to not follow their example, but use such examples as demonstrations of what happens when we follow the deeds of the flesh. The judgment of “eternal fire” to which Jude alludes has to refer to the classic view of hell embraced by Protestant theology. Hell is a place of torment, both physically and spiritually. The use of “eternal” qualifies the fire and therefore cannot refer to any form of temporary judgment. If the text wanted to refer merely to death it would have used “destruction” as it does in verse 11 when speaking of Korah’s rebellion. But here the distinction is made clear between death and eternal fire. One leads to the other, but one is not the end in and of itself.

One final note is in the use of the language of “indulgence.” The example, as Jude makes clear elsewhere, does not speak of a group of people who partook of an act once and changed or repented thereafter. The language indicates (see verse 11) that there is a certain path taken that draws men to engage the path of destruction before an act of utter rebellion occurs. Jude warns against a way of life. The men of S&G did not simply wish to rape the two men because they felt the urge for the first time. The idea is that acts of immorality were quite common and the classic example in Genesis 19 is the culmination.

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The Christian and Exercise

I grew up in a tradition that was vicious about that little thing called drinking; and then there was that little thing called dancing; and then there was that other thing called playing poker; and then there were about a hundred other things that consumed some pulpit time, and a lot of ink. My father tended to be a bit more moderate on these issues privately, but by and large the tradition I called home cared a whole lot about matters of liberty which offered myriad of opportunities for inconsistencies. It’s an important note to affirm that the Bible does address drinking (Eph. 5:18, I Tim. 5:23), dancing (Jer. 31:4), and playing (Zech. 8:5). All these things are good in and of themselves, but can also be abused. But for these authority structures with whom I spent my early years, all these things could only lead to our demise.

In that large scale of diatribes, I do not recall once a pastor speaking of the need for healthy bodies. It could have been a footnote in a sermon on gluttony, a brief monologue on a sermon on Romans 12, or it could have been an observation on the nature of living well. Not once! And I have a sharp memory when it comes to sermons and lectures I have heard over my lifetime.That incongruity struck me back then and still does today.

Since then I have heard my fair share of exhortations on health and a hearty life unto the Lord. Thankfully, we have slowly but surely taken a few hits on the Gnostic icon and from the looks of it, there is some slight discomfort. At least those are the rumors! But we should ask ourselves why is it that in a time of crisis where our health is in many ways–though not always–a pre-condition for the virus’ abode we are hearing so little about the importance of living a healthy life. And, of course, the Holy Bible, yes, even my tradition’s favorite translation, the blessed and most ever pure King James Version mentions its value. “It doth profit,” says the 16th century King.

I have always been relatively concerned about my health. In my early teens, I played beach volleyball and soccer. Once I entered the academic world, there was a lot more discussing about sports than the engaging of it physically. Still, I kept some relative common sense about exercise. I come from a tribe of feasters. My fondest memories growing up in Brazil are of a multitude of family members enjoying an all-day churrasco with festive music. The whole thing was glorious. But when kids come along, there is an uncertainty about what ought to take precedence: exercise of changing diapers? And really, we are making friends into enemies. We should prioritize our family precisely by being lucid, energetic, and present for your family. I have failed in this area numerous times and have asked God to forgive me numerous times.

Godliness is supreme in the Bible. It profits much, while exercise in comparison to godliness profits little. The comparison stems from man’s fascination with self-glory. If we make our bodies central, we turn our bodies into the telos, but if we view the well-being of our bodies as a means to pursue godliness, we will be well. Caring for the body is not a neutral matter. The Bible specifically cautions against gluttony and sexual immorality and it ties it to the body as the temple of the Spirit precisely because God intends to use you to be strong when others are weak; to be sober-minded when others are drunk; to be physically equipped when others are not.

So, don’t waste your body. Be the most equipped to serve physically and mentally now. Don’t wait until you are later in life to turn things around. Like C.S. Lewis go for a walk. Like Eric Liddle go for a run to the glory of God. Even good Frodo had to do his share of walking to destroy evil. It’s a conversation we need to have. Th exhortation is fairly direct: Strengthen your body so that your mind can be ready to answer, your hands ready to lift, your legs ready to run with the kids and your mouth ready to sing praises to God.

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On the Impermanence of Friends

One way you know a good friend is whether after analyzing your relationship in a certain span of time you can detect that he/she has moved you to overcome certain realities (I John 4:4). If, however, you determine that your “friend” has only perpetuated a position of weakness in you and has not sought or encouraged your movement towards the good, true and beautiful, you have been fooled by a false embrace.

True friends weep and grieve, but they do not allow you remain in a state of constant victimization; they do not tolerate your place of despair as a place to be, but a place to flee. Good friends do not offer you rationales to stay where you are because after all, that’s where other people are. Good friends do not send you blog posts that encourage more of the same lingering malaise. Good friends do not turn you against people who are growing, but push you towards them.

Friendships are not untouched icons; some are meant to be broken down with the force of an iconoclast. Friendships change over time and sometimes we are the ones that need to make the change. It is true that some friendships endure long distances and differences, but most friendships–especially youthful ones–change. Some will suck your time and energy with vampiric zeal; they will add little and take too much. There are seasons where you are to give more, but you need to determine whether this season has been the entire time frame of your relationship.

When young folks seek counsel from me about present relationships, I remind them that God moves us from glory to glory and certain people are fairly committed to not moving along with us; in fact, they want you to stay with them in their misery and apathy. But one of the fundamental means of maturity and wisdom is the gift of friendship. It’s embedded in David’s Psalm, in Paul’s letters, and the great warnings of Scriptures. No relationship is as important as your sanctification Friendships that show little interest in mutual love for the holy are not rooted in God’s view of communion with one another.

If you find yourself in the middle of a relationship where your life is being drained, your spirituality is being stifled, and your zeal is being stolen, re-consider that friendship. Friendships are not atonement experiences where you are the only one called to die and serve. No, Jesus is the only friend who did that! Friendships are experiences in mutual self-giving offering refreshment through laughter and merriment; tears and sorrow.

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Jude Translation, Verse 6 with Notes

ἀγγέλους τε τοὺς μὴ τηρήσαντας τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἀρχὴν ἀλλ᾽ ἀπολιπόντας τὸ ἴδιον οἰκητήριον εἰς κρίσιν μεγάλης ἡμέρας δεσμοῖς ἀϊδίοις ὑπὸ ζόφον τετήρηκεν, (Jude 1:6)

Translation: And the angels who did not keep their original position of authority, but left their own home–He has kept in eternal chains under darkness for the judgment of the last day–

Notes: The striking question that plagues readers is the identity of these ἀγγέλους in verse 6. Richard Bauckham, Herbert Bateman, and other notable commentators never stop to consider the reality of these angels and simply assume that these are spiritual, non-corporeal beings. Thus, leading to all sorts of bizarre interpretations of intergalactic relations between angelic beings and humans and creating Nephilim creatures that are wholly other. In Bateman’s case, there is a lot of dependence on Jewish apocalyptic works to make the case for this, especially the works of Enoch, whom Jude touches briefly.

Some make the parallel that this incident is a reference to the original fall of man , which makes at least some sense, but fails to grasp that this event in Jude does not focus on an initial judgment imposed at creation. If the reference was to that original fall, then the text could not account for the many angels who still roam the earth today under demonic authority. After all, Satan is still roaming around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Rather, Jude has something else in mind entirely that does not entail angels no matter how sexy it may be to talk about intergalactic sexual encounters between angels and primeval hotties.

I don’t think Jude is taking us to consider actually angelic beings in his text. I don’t think it would make good sense for the Judean Christians. I mentioned in the beginning that sometimes—especially in Hebrew literature—God uses heavenly language to communicate earthly things. For instance, when Jesus says in Matthew 24, “the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken,” he is not talking about heavenly signs, but he is referring to political things on earth. He is talking about judgment. You see, we expect the Bible to speak as if it were written recently, but it was written long ago with a specific kind of language and context. It’s not the Bible’s goal to accommodate to our language, it’s our goal to accommodate to the Bible’s language.

Similarly, in the Book of Revelation, there are references to angels all over the place, but when it speaks of angelic beings, most often it’s in the plural; on the other hand, when it refers to “the angel” or Yahweh’s angel” it has a very specific character in mind. What makes it even more interesting is that the word “angel” is simply the Greek word “angelos” which means “messenger.” When James (Jude’s brother, mind you) speaks of Rahab, he says she received “angelos.” We know from the story that this was not spiritual/angelic beings, but sent spies; human messengers. So, you can have human messengers and spiritual messengers and the Bible gives us both cases. So, if we are going to entertain angels, let’s entertain the right ones here in Jude.

It seems the key to the identity of these “messengers” is more keenly known if we look at Genesis 6.[1] We read it today and heard that “the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.” Remember this has to do with judgment, and here the “sons of God” entered into evil relations with the women, thus breaking the blessings they once had. Israel had blessings, but when they broke with Moses, they fell and were judged.[2] In Genesis 6, I believe that the sons of God is a clear reference to the godly line of Seth (I am not alone in this interpretation, Luther and Calvin concurred; that’s me intentionally name-dropping to make a point). The Sons of Seth were in a position of authority seeking God’s purposes in Genesis 5, but there was anungodly line, namely that of Cain. When the line of Seth, namely the messengers of Seth’s line, those in position of authority, intermingle with the ungodly line of Cain, God promises to destroy the earth in Genesis 6. They formed ungodly alliances; the line of Cain drew the line of Seth into great sin. And the Bible says that “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.”

So, Jude is not taking us back to an intermingling of supernatural beings and human beings, some form of intergalactic communion, but he is referring to the defaming of God’s purposes through the binding together of an ungodly line with a godly line which always produces ungodliness. After all, what fellowship has light with darkness? The godly do not marry the ungodly! We don’t corrupt God’s line by abandoning our places of authority and investing in the kingdom of darkness. These messengers, Seth’s angels, we might say, died in the great flood and will be kept in Hades until the day of judgment where God will judge the quick and the dead and they will receive their proper condemnation. And Jude says, “do not take the invitation of the Zealots, don’t join their rebellion, because it’s an alliance with evil just like Seth’s alliance with Cain’s line.[3]

[1] Jude says that these messengers fell from their position of authority and God keeps them in eternal chains until Judgment Day, and if you parallel this with II Peter 2 which talks about the wicked angels who fell under Lucifer you have a tight case for saying this is a reference to angelic beings. But the problem here is that if this is referring to demonic angels who fell with Lucifer, then we have to make sense out of the fact that Jude does not say these demonic angels are in eternal chains since then, in fact, Lucifer himself was cast out of heaven to the earth; he was not placed in eternal chains until judgment day. The same Peter says that Satan (the fallen angel) is seeking whom he may devour as a roaring lion. If Jude said that these fallen angels were hurt or limited in their labors that would be one thing, but Jude says they have been kept in eternal chains since the days of the fall. I don’t think that makes sense. What is more likely happening is that Jude is giving the Jewish Christians three warnings of earthly judgment. 

[2] And I want you to note that nobody in the line of Cain is named in Genesis, chapter 5. In Genesis 4, we are told about the line of Cain. But in the line of the seed of the woman, in the godly line of salvation, Cain and his family are never mentioned. -Ligon Duncan

[3] Just as Eve saw that the forbidden fruit was good (Gen. 3:6), so here the Sethites saw that the forbidden daughters of Cain were good, and willfully intermarried with them, putting their own desires before holiness. As a result, the Sethites were also corrupted, and violence became well nigh universal. -James B. Jordan https://theopolisinstitute.com/who-were-the-angels-of-jude-6/

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Jude Translation: Verse 5, With Notes

Ὑπομνῆσαι δὲ ὑμᾶς βούλομαι, εἰδότας ὑμᾶς ἅπαξ πάντα ὅτι Ἰησοῦς λαὸν ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου σώσας τὸ δεύτερον τοὺς μὴ πιστεύσαντας ἀπώλεσεν,

Verse 5: Now I wish to remind you, though you know all things once and for all, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

Notes: There are some linguistic disputes here, especially in the second clause. (εἰδότας ὑμᾶς ἅπαξ πάντα ὅτι). Grammatically, we should ask whether ἅπαξ modifies σώσας. The end result, whether it’s translated “that the Lord delivered once” or “although you know all things once and for all” does not change much the meaning of the text, since Jude is creating a clear case for the Lordship of Jesus over knowledge. However, the various readings from the Alexandrian and other texts would confirm that most English translations are correct to reinforce that Jude is stressing knowledge of events, rather than Jesus as the distributor of knowledge (Bateman 165). Thus, we should embrace the reading, “though you know all things once and for all.”

The KJV gives the impression that the Judean Christians knew this at one time, but no longer remember the event, when it translated “though ye once knew this.” But Jewish tradition is built on repetitive acts of liturgy, which implies that they did not once know and now forgot, but that they already knew and need to be reminded of the determinate lesson within. The other obvious concern is to focus on what event Jude has in mind. Jude is stressing the necessity of remembrance as an act of Christian practice. The people were to remember their deliverance, both generally and specifically. It seems that the problem was not so much remembering an event, but the lesson of the event and what one gains from it.

For instance, one could remember what happened in one event, but forget what the event meant for their life and ethics. We could say that they are to remember the deliverance of Egypt as a whole. Bauckham sees this as a general reference to the Exodus as a lesson in how Israel should interpret their eschatological end (Bauckham, 50). But the specific event of Kadesh-Barnea seems to be more plausible, especially because of its massive and rebellious consequences (Bateman 172). In the book of Numbers, twelve spies were sent out to spy the land for forty days and at their return only two expressed confidence in overcoming Canaan. The others expressed great doubt which led to consternation and concern about Moses’ leadership. The people grumbled and asked for a new leader. “Ten unbelieving spies led an entire community to doubt God’s ability to deliver.” (Bateman, 172).

What we see in such situations is that it leads to mutiny; the kind that shakes communities and leads to unbelief. These disobedient and rebellious Israelites were used as examples in Jude’s writing. The Judean Christians were not to imitate them, lest they received the same destruction. Again, any interpretation that focuses on false teachers as the main characters here fail to grasp Jude’s central argument that those “creeping in” are seeking a rebellion against Rome and not simply to draw people away from Messiah’s message. They are recruiting for their cause by proclaiming an anti-Jesus message.

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Worship in Heaven, An Exhortation

And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
    who was and is and is to come!”

What happens in heaven does not stay in heaven! Our time this morning is a preview of heavenly worship. It doesn’t just elevate our imagination but it crystalizes our imitation the King of heaven!

This heavenly reality is not far; platonic, hidden in some other dimension. Even though we cannot see it or touch it, heaven is as real and vital to us in our worship as oxygen is to our respiration. Worship is a kind of spiritual breathing of heavenly air. We breathe air into our lungs that we cannot see — and we live. In the same way, as we worship, we breathe heaven into our souls — and we live, filling our hearts with the unseen, life-giving atmosphere of heaven.[1]

If we wish to breathe a little bit of heaven’s air this morning with the angels and archangels, then we are called to imitate the worship of heaven. So sing! Sing with the vigor of the great angelic chorus; praise with might for the angels in heaven praise unceasingly and unendingly. Come let us worship!

[1] Paul Hanh http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/worship-heavenlies/

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On Why Outwardly Peaceful Marriages End

Dear friend,

You asked me to add some thoughts about why relatively outwardly peaceful marriages end in divorce. This is a truly complex question that requires a lot of nuances and some healthy counseling. The reality is that every marriage goes through periods of hopelessness. Some go through great travail for years and some survive under one roof with no joy and little flourishing, but as you stated, some do end in divorce.

On average, marriages are usually dissolved/destroyed on the first year or the 21st year. The first year is usually self-explanatory since many couples enter into this sacred vow with no understanding of marriage or its rituals. They are provided no spiritual counsel as to the purpose and priority of the other. They enter into it–contradicting the sacred vows–irreverently and indiscreetly. Perhaps there was an unwanted pregnancy, or social pressures from community, or a decision to confirm what they have been doing–sinfully–for too long.

The good news is that contrary to the statistics thrown around that 50% of Christians get divorced, the number is actually much lower (but that’s for another post). This does not entail a victory lap, but a note of soberness. Why is it still that a large portion of Christian marriages end in divorce? Set aside abuse and other legitimate reasons for divorce, most marriages simply end as a result of “hiddenness.” It’s a repeat of the shameful nakedness in the garden. Habits and ideas are hidden to the point where shame becomes a reason for anger and strife and division in the household. When a sense of guilt enters, we hide from one another. This does not determine the end; in fact, these marriages can be redeemed, but Spirit intervention is crucial and the angelic voices of faithful friends must come into the picture.

In most cases, individuals persist in marriage relationships for the sake of children, and in the meanwhile they craft independent lives, and little by little the soul withers leading to the 21st year number I mentioned at the beginning. The 21st year of marriage is often how long it takes for parents to be empty-nesters providing the opportunity to do what they did not do for so long.

What is prevalent is that these individuals have been dying for a long time and divorce becomes the way out; for some it becomes the solution to find happiness once again, but invariably they find more loneliness and sadness. But if a couple is still in that phase of processing their lives together, and if they still find displeasure as to where they are, the good news is that discovering unhappiness/hopelessness together is the very first step to renewal.

In my vocation, I have seen many cases of renewal, but the one thing evident in them all is that both decided things are not as they should be and that hiddenness does not bring life. And that simple decision takes courage because you have to abandon your superficial image of “all-rightism.” No, it’s not all-right. Your marriage is worth fighting for under God; your spouse is worthy of your repentance. In most cases, divorce is not the solution to your woes, it’s the dreadful end of something that could have been a visible manifestation of goodness, truth, and beauty in the world.