Category: Theo…

We the people. We the problem.

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If you want rock star status. If you want accolades. In Christianity you only need to throw “religion” under the bus, or its close cousin fundamentalism. (Ironically, I’ll be posting about fundamentalism this week.) We love to bash religion. Sometimes we couch this as arguing against “false” religion. Sigh. We need to stop it.

Strawmen…
Today’s favorite mode of discourse is the strawman. We hide, we couch, we equate, we consensus build, we allude. We don’t call things for what they are. Doing such is often viewed as mean or unloving. More to the point, we’re afraid we may be called worse than religious we’d be called fundamentalist. What do we do? We couch a real issue of right & wrong under a word and we attack that vague concept. How nobel of us.

Jesus…
We love Jesus because the love word is attached to him. I’m reminded of what a professor once said: “People say Jesus is a loving lamb, but one day they will be surprised when the lamb roars.” Jesus called out what was right and what was wrong. He did it graciously, with humor, and at times direct and in your face. Jesus, and John (remember that guy who’s task was to get people ready for Jesus) called people to repent. Jesus pointed, exhorted, taught and pleaded with people to connect with God the Father.

Church…
Jesus loves the church. Jesus died for the church. Jesus’ bride is the church. There are legalistic churches that need to repent, doctrinally inept churches that need to repent, non serving churches that need to repent, etc. We need to remember, Jesus loves the church. Our tone in critiquing the church or local churches could use refinement. Every church has issues. It’s time to spur one another on to good deeds, and let the Holy Spirit be the Holy Spirit.

We the people…
Religion isn’t the problem. We the people are the problem. Religion is made of people like you and I. Now comes the fun topic: Friends, we are depraved. Apart from grace and the Spirit’s work in our lives, we’re in trouble. Am I saying there is a lack of grace and a lack of leaning on the Spirit today? Yes. Religion started no war, people did. Blaming religion is like blaming guns for killing people. Both are only as good as the people behind them.

The bottom line:
Promote Jesus. Bashing religion may seem authentic and mainstream, it isn’t. We’re lost and apart from Jesus we’ll remain lost. People act based on what they believe. What we have is a theology problem not a religion problem. Rather than inauthentic apologizing or religion bashing, “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

How long would you wait?

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14 years is a long time. I can’t imagine being told I was to do something and then have to wait 14 years to make it happen. Paul waited 14 years or more before he engaged in aggressive evangelism. I define aggressive evangelism as church planting. No doubt Paul was sharing the good news and establishing himself. But 14 years is a long time.

Paul was well trained, he was smart, he was one fine-looking Jew. He waited. Out of the gate he could defined the Gospel and his teacher was Jesus Himself. He still waited. Paul likely started his church planting efforts as an old man.

So, why bring this up? Too often we’re impatient. Here is the take away:

1) Paul remained faithful and continued to pursue doing ministry where he was at.

2) Being established does mean something in a church. There is often a gap between being called and serving, and the gap is important.

3) Humility is a key theme in Paul’s writings. It’s possible it was a key thing God was working on before sending Paul.

4) Even after a long wait, God did some incredible things through Paul in God’s timing.

Ministry is a marathon. Don’t be afraid of a gap in time. Be faithful and God in His timing will send you on mission.

One more thing… Just cause you’re nearing “retirement age” doesn’t mean God is done with you!

25 years ago I imagined…

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…Doing what I’m doing today. 25 years ago I knew I needed Jesus. That is the essential element to Christianity. Jesus did what we could not do, and He gave us what we did not deserve. That’s grace. That’s mercy.

When I accepted Jesus I knew I wanted to teach the Bible. Fitting that this coming Sunday I’ll be talking about the Gospel, what it is and what it isn’t. People struggle with the simplicity of the Gospel. That its free, that it’s by faith. To often we want to add hoops, dress codes, music limits, etc. That’s not Gospel. I’m enjoying the study of Galatians. It develops a picture of a mask vs grace, a prison vs freedom.

When we add rules, regulations, “standards” to the Gospel what we have is a masquerade, not freedom. Jesus came to set us free, not to put us into another prison. For 25 years I’ve had the joy of walking with Jesus. No regrets, definitely some bruises and tons of joy. This last year what stood out the most to me is the need to keep the Gospel first and the Gospel central.

So, I’m in my home office studying for my first sermon in Galatians. I imagined 25 years ago teaching the Bible and loving it. By God’s grace, that’s what I’m doing. It’s a God thing more than anything, but I’m grateful He let me imagine that 25 years ago. It makes today all that more special.

Psalm 100 ESV
1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! 2 Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! 3 Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! 5 For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

Occupy whatever… The problem of protests & morality

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News and discussions about the Occupy Wall Street abound. It brings up larger issues in my mind. I’m a bit fearful of political leaning posts as they tend to be polarizing, so as in all things I ask that we listen. My point is simply this: Protests rarely if ever lead to reconciliation and forcing morality rarely leads to real change.

He who whispers speaks loudest
The biggest problem with protests is they’re not heard. That’s right, not heard. “A soft answer turns away wrath.” Very few people, especially strong leaders, respond favorably to in your face, vehement approaches. We ignore those who nag or shout at us. Protesting is both of these things. It lacks civility. While I’m glad I live in a country that we can protest I do not think we should.

We’re all hypocrites
Occupy Wall Street is protesting itself. The protesters are just as broken as those they are protesting. We’re all broken and we’re all guilty. Wall Street and our government. It seems the greater injustice is how many of us have remained naive at how our society works. We elected officials based on rhetoric then truth. The way we made our lives complex propelled the consumerism and greed. It seems one side greeds for money the other for things. While one side decries income disparity, it seems the other can decry coveting. It’s the same sin.

Legislating morality
Legislating morality often doesn’t work. People choose what moral issue they wish to legislate. Why is legislating how one uses money more important than protecting life? Yes, bringing abortion into this is bringing in another polarizing issue. But, one of the criticisms of the pro-life movement is you shouldn’t legislate morality. Dealing with life, those who are anti-death penalty argue that the death penalty isn’t a deterrent. That’s not the issue, justice is. Why is justice more important with money than with life? Why is it ok to legislate morality of money?

We the people…
The problem isn’t the 99% vs 1%, its the 100%. The role of government is to maintain a just and peaceful society. It is a key reason why Paul instructs us to pray for our leaders in 1 Timothy 2. A key aspect and provision in our society is innocent until proven guilty. Are we affording that protected right in our country to Wall Street? The real question shouldn’t be aimed at Wall Street but the role and effectiveness of our government.

Pawns & being played…
When people are shouting they are not listening. When no one listens you have chaos and not reconciliation. As Christians our aim should be reconciliation. Chaos creates a large avenue for more injustice. When we read on totalitarian movements siding with the Occupy Wall Street movement, and the bigoted statements that are coming from the movement it gives me great pause. Getting even is a lousy motivator and leads to injustice. Often it brings out the “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

Life isn’t fair & income mobility
There is evil in the world, and not everyone is dealt the ideal hand in life. The freedom we have in our country can allow a poor orphan to become one of the greatest CEO’s. While one may say that is an acceptation, I disagree. The Bible says if one does not work one does not eat. Hard work, making wise decisions and not giving up plays a big role. We have a choice to be a victim or to embrace obstacles as challenges. We have a choice to blame someone else, or to take responsibility for our own lives.

The bottom line
Seek to whisper and be heard. Seek to live a quiet and simple life. The problem is really us. When everyone is shouting no one is listening. When everyone is seeking their own rights, the path to reconciliation is blocked.

The Devil is in the tech -or- why you need books & original Languages…

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Today is one of those days!

Both of my computer programs are not working and websites I use are not working as well. Even on other devices/confusers! Yep, weird. Sermon preparation is part of spiritual warfare just as preaching the Word is. Here’s the thing…

Books don’t crash… Minds do…

I’ve always used original languages as much as possible in my teaching preparation. As I stepped into a lead pastoral role, the urgency to keep my mind sharp on Greek increased. Before I relied on technology. Take your mentor’s words of wisdom and use technology as a back up or resource, not as a main stay! Some, like myself, are not adept at language. Still push yourself and don’t quit. God called us to be ourselves, but there is no replacement for original languages. When technology fails, you’ll be thankful.

Build a solid library of books as well. Granted that technology will increase in our lives. But, the Devil is in tech and while skeptics may say coincidence, coincidence happens A LOT during sermon prep. (Also true of church copiers on Sunday mornings!)

The bottom line: Build a solid library. Keep your mind sharp. I’m glad I have other resources to prepare when other things fail.

Oh, one more thing… Be grateful to those mentors who push you to excel! It’s for days like mine when things just don’t come together but you’re still confident in preparing to preach the Word. Training for ministry is a sacred trust. Be a good steward of that trust and be thankful when a professor pushes you hard. I had a great team of mentors. I’m glad they pushed hard.

Book Review: Love Wins

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 Guest Post by H.H. Comings of http://more-than-tennis.blogspot.com/2011/08/book-review-love-wins.html?spref=tw

I would strongly recommend Rob Bell’s book, Love Wins, to anyone teaching a course on Christian worldview and philosophy. It would provide the class with three things. First, it is a book rich in worldview language such as story and imagination and dualismand the issue of a closed or open system of the cosmos. Second, it reveals how people who hold an orthodox view of doctrine are judged by those who do not and, on occasion, reveals things we do which exacerbate that judgment. Third, it reveals the convolution of thought which results from faulty presuppositions.
With regard to presuppositions, students would uncover and evaluate at least four which compete for primary-presupposition status.  There would be the proposition that the Scriptures are a trove of mystery messages with a preferred theme around which all those messages revolve. In this case, the theme is itself a proposition: namely that love is the overarching character of God and all other character qualities are malleable subsets. A companion proposition to these two would be the unspoken allegation that the author and his readers are capable of applying the proposition of love to the Scriptures and, thus, making an art form of adjusting defiant scriptures to fit the theme or else ignoring them altogether. Beyond that students would wrestle with the question of whether the human problem is rational misinformation, circumstantial confusion or treacherous rebellion and whether the answer to that problem has any bearing on the character of repentance.
Besides examining the consequences of faulty presuppositions, students would be exposed to twenty-first century expressions of Platonism, Gnosticism, Universalism and allegorical interpretation. They would also confront rhetorical reasoning fallacies such as circular reasoning seen in disparagement of people who think of themselves as being part of a self-righteous “in” group, a disparagement which puts them “outside” the author’s approved circle thus implying his own “in” group.
Other fallacies include but are not limited to:
  • Guilt by association (if you believe in the existence of hell you are one of those guys who berate people);
  • Straw men (if you believe separation from God is eternal you must believe if someone in hell begged for mercy God would say, ‘Sorry, too late’);
  • The excluded middle (the assertion that Paul’s reference to the rock in the wilderness in Israel’s story  as “Christ,” means other people may be worshiping Christ and not know it);
  • The appeal to antiquity (the statement that Origen held to this view and implies the student should accept the assertion that Origen is a great light in the church);
  • The appeal to sympathy (presenting anecdotes which call on the student to make a judgment based on insufficient information about the person or persons involved);
  • Appeal to the crowd (the fact that a lot of people are offended by those who believe in a literal and eternal hell or in the exclusivity of Jesus as one’s direct object of faith);
  • Faulty cause (people who believe in hell cause people to reject Christ);
  • Bifurcation (you cannot believe in an eternal hell and believe in a loving God); and,
  • False dilemma (seen in the rapid-fire sequence of questions at the beginning of the book – questions designed to break down resistance by implying dilemmas which cannot be explained).
Added to all of these learning opportunities, of special interest would be the author’s ability to dance a hermeneutical salsa with passages of Scripture until, as in the case of John 14:6, they say something completely different than the clear meaning the words convey based on simple laws of language.
In short, other than as a teaching tool, Love Wins translates to mean the Gospel, as set forth in Scripture, loses – not, in this case, because of the self-righteous demagoguery of those who misuse it, but because of the self-congratulatory twists and turns of someone who finds it easier to conform God to human specifications of love governed by human reasoning than to submit to God’s specifications of love governed by his revelation of holiness.

Planning, God’s Sovereignty and Cheese

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In my first years of vocational ministry I was introduced to something incredible: 5x Sharp Cheese. Bill Anderson’s Farm Market carried it. My first taste was an all american made, fresh-baked apple pie. And with it? 5x sharp cheese. Mana from heaven must have come close to tasting like this. The cheese makes any store-bought “sharp” cheddar block seem like a playdough knife. Planning and God’s sovereignty is like 5x sharp cheese.

God has a plan for us
The Bible is clear on two things: 1) God has a plan for us and 2) We don’t know the details of that plan. The Bible teaches wise planning, crazy steps of faith, and that whatever happens God is interested in our Christ likeness more than anything. Consider this the ingredients of a plan: God’s Word, Faith, the Gospel, growth, wisdom of others and a leap of faith. Think of the flavor that will come as the image of Christ.

God gives all 24/7 to accomplish His will
A wise professor stated that God grants every person 24 hours a day and 7 days a week to accomplish His will, and some of that is sleeping. With all the ingredients to make cheese, that is all you have, cheese. Regular cheese just doesn’t taste great with all American made, freshly baked Apple pie. To get to 5x sharp heavenly goodness cheese you need one key thing: TIME. Working your plan is the aging process. It involves two key understandings: 1) Faith in a God at work and 2) Understanding that things will be clearer at the end of the process, not the beginning of it.

God loves celebration
The key to planning and working your plan is celebration. Celebration isn’t about what we’ve done. Celebration is savoring what God did. It’s that first bite of all American freshly baked apple pie with 5x sharp heavenly goodness cheese. All the pain, waiting, anticipation is worth it when we taste and see that the Lord is good. To get there takes faithfulness in our actions and waiting upon God.

The bottom line:
In starting a new chapter in ministry, I’m in the planning stage. I’m looking forward to celebrating what God will do. In drawing on the Spirit, the mentoring I’ve received, God’s people and the Gospel, I’m listening and seeking where God wants the ministry to go. It will take time. 5x sharp cheese isn’t made in a day, it takes years. It’s worth the wait, and that’s part of God’s plan.

Oh, and if you’re in Cortland, NY, look up Anderson’s Farm Market. Order some 5x Sharp Cheese. Obtain a freshly baked all American apple pie, and see how a good plan tastes!

http://www.billandersonsmarket.com/

God’s promises…

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While driving through Montana I dreaded the view of upcoming rains. Funny thing about storms, no one wants them. Then God amazes you.

We saw 10+ rainbows over the mountains and valleys of Montana! Some faint others the most brilliant I’ve seen!

The rainbow started as a promise by God to mankind that he’d never flood the Earth again. Through the storm that was The Flood God brought beauty.

There is a beauty in hardship. It gives you a glimpse of God you cannot get any other way. I wish storms on no one. But in them, look for your rainbow(s).

The bottom line:
God is a God of mercy & grace. That’s what the rainbow represents. If we are faithless He remains faithful, for He cannot deny himself.

A quote on a dynamic church…

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A friend sent this quote by Chuck Colson to me. It got me thinking and its something we should ponder:

“I miss traveling abroad.  I always returned home from visiting out partners in Third World nations invigorated, revived, and encouraged.  I would often find more exciting, growing, church vitality in places like Sri Lanka or Papua New Guinea or Peru than in comfortable churches at home.

In many nations, the church is a tiny, embattled minority – and it has no superstars. So when the church wants to evangelize, for example it can’t depend on a celebrity or bring in Billy Graham for a crusade. The people do the work themselves. Which means the church functions as the church, not a bunch of observers watching someone else perform.

When we sit passively in our pews, paying some charismatic leader to entertain us and other staff people to do ministry, we do much more than miss the living dynamic of how Jesus intends His church to work in the world.  When we mimic the culture around us with our pedestal complex, we offend a holy, all powerful  God, the most grievous consequence of all.

Of course we should respect those who are invested with spiritual authority.  That’s biblical.  But there’s a difference between respect and adulation. With the latter, we are always in danger of stepping over the line giving glory to man rather than God.

It’s easy to see how the world’s fascination with fame has snuck into our tents  and sapped our effectiveness. Yet this attitude runs absolutely contrary to that which Christ modeled when He, the King of the universe, came to live among us as a suffering servant.”

P. 334-335  Being the Body by Chuck Colson.