An Open View

A New Website

2009-02-19T08:42:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone! I realize its been a couple of months since I last posted an update here, but I have been busy with family, church and other projects i have been working on. As a matter of fact the purpose for this post is to announce a new website that I have been working on with a friend of mine. The new website is called http://www.thegodtheyneverknew.com/. The site is essentially an on-line digital book of a book that was originally published in 1978 and then a revised version in 1982. The book is titled: "The God They Never Knew: Tragedy of Religion without Relationship" by George Otis Jr. With permission from the author we are now able to provide this book on-line to share with the rest of the world.

This book is probably one of the most influential books in my life, as well as many others who have had the courage to read it and take its words to heart. It is simply one of the most compelling books both theologically and biblically. I hope you take an opportunity to go and read the book in its entirety and I am sure you will be blessed by its contents.

A Calvinist Christmas Carol??

2008-12-14T08:48:00.000-08:00

An Excerpt from "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens

The Ghost, on hearing this, set up another cry, and clanked its chain so hideously in the dead silence of the night, that the Ward would have been justified in indicting it for a nuisance.
"Oh! captive, bound, and double-ironed," cried the phantom, "not to know, that ages of incessant labour, by immortal creatures, for this earth must pass into eternity before the good of which it is susceptible is all developed. Not to know that any Christian spirit working kindly in its little sphere, whatever it may be, will find its mortal life too short for its vast means of usefulness. Not to know that no space of regret can make amends for one life's opportunity misused! Yet such was I! Oh! such was I!"
"But you were always a good man of business, Jacob," faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself.
"Business!" cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. "Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!"
It held up its chain at arm's length, as if that were the cause of all its unavailing grief, and flung it heavily upon the ground again.
"At this time of the rolling year," the spectre said "I suffer most. Why did I walk through crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down, and never raise them to that blessed Star which led the Wise Men to a poor abode! Were there no poor homes to which its light would have conducted me!"
Scrooge was very much dismayed to hear the spectre going on at this rate, and began to quake exceedingly.

As I read this I can't help but wonder how the words of Dickens resonate through all of us. This is what makes the tale of Scrooge so compelling and heartfelt is the truth that all men are expected, as Marley puts forth is "Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business". Is this not the very expectation God has and expects from all of mankind? Is not benevolence, charity and mercy the moral expectation and responsibility of every person? Furthermore, if man is expected to love and care for his fellow man, is he then not expected to love and submit to that which is not the very definition of love and that is God himself? When we read this story of Scrooge, do we not see how the past moral choices of a man has led to his demise?

Or should we interpret this story as the Calvinist see it, a man whose choices were not of his own freewill, but predetermined and foreordained by God? That mankind by his very nature is unable to choose "Mercy, charity and Benevolence", due to that pesky and constant lurking of "Original Sin" or "Total Depravity"? That by our very constitution we are unable to do "any good"? If this is so, then why is it we don't pity poor Scrooge rather feel as if he should not be the way he is? Why is it we don't sympathize with him as a result of his foreordained plight or his unalterable constitution of depravity?? As his story unfolds, should we not pity poor Scrooge, for surely he could not change his moral condition and choose to do right at any moment, any more than a "leopard should change its spots"?

For me the beauty of this moral tale is that it is a reflection of repentance. Is this story not one of a man reflecting upon his past and present moral actions and coming to grips that he is indeed a vile sinner? That Scrooge comes to the realization that he made selfish (if not sinful?) choices and as a result his heart had become hardened and darkened as a result of his own doing? That it was not until he was shown what his future holds, that death was inevitable

"Spirit!" he cried, tight clutching at its robe, "hear me. I am not the man I was. I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse. Why show me this, if I am past all hope?"
For the first time the hand appeared to shake.
"Good Spirit," he pursued, as down upon the ground he fell before it: "Your nature intercedes for me, and pities me. Assure me that I yet may change these shadows you have shown me, by an altered life."
The kind hand trembled.
"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. Oh, tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone!"
In his agony, he caught the spectral hand. It sought to free itself, but he was strong in his entreaty, and detained it. The Spirit, stronger yet, repulsed him...........
Yes! and the bedpost was his own. The bed was his own, the room was his own. Best and happiest of all, the Time before him was his own, to make amends in!
"I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future!" Scrooge repeated, as he scrambled out of bed. "The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. Oh Jacob Marley! Heaven, and the Christmas Time be praised for this. I say it on my knees, old Jacob, on my knees!"
He was so fluttered and so glowing with his good intentions, that his broken voice would scarcely answer to his call. He had been sobbing violently in his conflict with the Spirit, and his face was wet with tears."

Is this not what happens when we come into direct contact with our Lord and Savior? That as he brings forth before our minds our own past and present sinfulness, and seeing the overwhelming flood of love and mercy our Lord and Savior has shown us brings us to the same condition as Scrooge? That we are brought to such a point of conviction over our sins that repentance is not only expected, but is the right and good choice for us to make? Instead, we see the Calvinist that says "Repentance is a work" and that our turning of sin is not a synergistic effort, but one that is all of God and nothing of man. But yet is this the very picture presented to us in the Bible? Of course not! Instead we see God and his Holy Spirit working jointly with man bringing him knowledge and revelation before his mind, just as the Spirits of Christmas did with Scrooge. Repentance is not only what man ought to do, but it is well within his ability and responsibility - as a result of his own conscience and God's calling of his heart! Just as Jacob Marley stated: ".....common welfare of mankind is my business", and I would add that not only mankind, but better yet it is God's benevolence that also should be of our business. Let us not give excuse to sinners that it is not within their ability to do that which is right (ie. Original Sin), but show them that they are most capable of doing what is morally expected and able. Scrooge did not say he was unable to change his cold and callous heart, nor did we as the observers of this tale expect anything different from him, but yet many would deny this in their own theology - a strange contradiction between "true to life" experiences and yet one's own theology?

Noah and the Problem of Original Sin/Total Depravity

2008-11-23T12:09:00.000-08:00

I have recently been reading what I think is one of the most challenging books in the past couple of years that openly challenge the orthodox teachings of Calvinism and Original Sin/Total Depravity. Its entitled "Troubling Questions for a Calvinist and the Rest of Us , Taking a Closer Look at the Problem of Sin" by Lagard Smith. Smith does a tremendous job both logically and hermeneutically of dissecting the problems that the 5 points of Calvinism. Although I am only half way through the book, the majority of the book is addressing the two main underlying problems with Calvinism and that is Original Sin/Total Depravity and God's Sovereignty (as defined by Calvinist).

One of the best arguments that Smith brings up is against the problem of Original Sin and Predestination/Election (Absolute Foreknowledge) is in regards to Genesis 6:5. This verse brings to light many issues, especially concerning the demonstrated character of God throughout the bible. I emphasize "demonstrated" as this is typically an area that Calvinist either refuse to address or neglect altogether. When debating most Calvinist regarding how their theology painfully puts God's character into question, most will respond by saying "Who are you to question God" or "God is God and he has the right to do what ever he wants" or that man's sense of what is right or wrong is skewed by the fall of man. But is this true? Especially when the Bible says that God is love or that God is just and does what is right. If God is trying to relate to mankind who he is and what he is all about, doesn't anyone find it strange that God would somehow be offended if we even ask what "right" or "good" means? Doesn't anyone find it strange that if God is in the process of wanting man to turn from wrong to right that he would at least give us a benchmark by which to understand?

For example, Smith points out one of the scriptural dilemmas Calvinist face when trying to logically and rationally explain Genesis 6. These verses present some real difficulties for Calvinist when they try to harmonize, God's Character, Moral Ability and Accountability, Foreknowledge, and Sin. Smith says the following when discussing this issue:

"Wholly apart from God's obvious sovereign power to do as he pleases, are you not at all bothered by the thought if a God who would thrust damnable sin upon otherwise innocent infants as they come into the world? Would that be consistent with the loving, just, and righteous character of God as revealed in Scripture? (For the moment, we're not talking about ultimate salvation or damnation, only the starting point for each newborn soul). Then again, if you ever wanted to put God's character and justice to the test, it would have to be in the Flood. In light of the anguish we felt at the death of scores of thousands in a tsunami, what are we to think of a God who not only permits wholesale death by drowning, but specifically decrees it for the entire then known world of men, women and children?

Some would say that Noah's generation would have deserved it, not only because of their exceeding wickedness, but also (in the case of infants) because of their innate depravity. In that regard, is there a case to be made for man's depravity from the fact that "the Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only on evil all the time"?

Central to that sentence, of course are those two key worlds "had become" - which would hardly suggest either imputed sin or inborn depravity. We see those same words again in Genesis 6:11, followed by the observation that "all people on earth had corrupted their ways".

Doesn't sound exactly like the result of a divinely-imposed penalty of universal condemnation, does it? If it were, how could Noah have escaped the penalty and turned out righteous? It must not be overlooked that God said to Noah: "Go into the ark.....because I have found you righteous in this generation (Gen 7:1) - not "I have specifically foreordained you to be righteous."

What's more, if the foreordaining sovereign God himself had imposed the twin penalties if original sin and total depravity int eh wake of Adam's sin. it would be strange indeed for him to lament mankind's universal wickedness, saying: "I am grieved that I have made them" (Gen 6:8). Why should God grieve about the state of human existence over which he had, not just foreknowledge, but total predestining control from before the dawn of Creation?

Of one thing we can be sure: The notion that God arbitrarily assigns condemnation for sin is not even remotely harmonious with the theme-line running throughout the entire Bible, in which God demands, pleads, begs, and implores man not to sin!"

Indeed this is a perplexing issue for Calvinist as their theology seems to run counter to that of what the Bible clearly demands regarding sin and God's rightful demands that we turn and repent from sin. But again, this is just one of the many problems Calvinism creates or causes.

More to come regarding this latest read!

Preach Love Only or Preach Law/Grace?

2008-11-13T03:06:00.000-08:00

"Before I preach love, mercy and grace, I must preach sin, Law and judgment." John Wesley

After recent reactions of the Homosexuals in California regarding the outcome of Proposition 8, I have to wonder if churches here in the United States are getting it all wrong. In the recent years I see more and more tolerance for sin within the body of Christ. I have even heard of churches I thought once to be fundamental evangelicals are now considering to allow gays and lesbians to come and worship among the devout and faithful. After watching the following video I can't help but think that what the church really needs to do is to return to its roots and start preaching the Law/Grace gospel. By preaching only that "God Loves You" does nothing to bring men under repentance and condemnation and getting them to realize they are in need of God's grace and atoning sacrifice.

Indeed God loves these rebels and it is his desire they turn from their rebellion and repent from their sins and love God. But it is only through the use of the Law that these people will come to realize just how wicked they truly are.

1Ti 1:8-11 But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; (9) Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, (10) For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; (11) According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.

The U.S. Presidential Election: Is God really in control?

2008-11-04T09:20:00.001-08:00

This morning I received a spam email from the Christian Business Daily (not sure how I got on their mailing list in the first place) but nonetheless this piece of spam was telling me that regardless of how today’s election turns out it’s all a part of God’s providential plan for the United States. Really? I felt like saying “Gee whiz I’ll just sit at home then and not waste an hour and half of my time standing in line to vote”. I find we as Christians can be such people of double speak. On one hand my email In-box over the past year and half has been bombarded by Conservative Christian Groups, begging me to not vote for Obama and then this morning I get an email that essentially tells me it all really doesn’t matter because regardless of the outcome – it’s all part of God’s providential plan.

Personally, I have a real hard time thinking God is going to be overly pleased to see Barack Obama elected into one of the most powerful positions on the face of the planet. Given Obama’s unbiblical stance on taking from the haves and giving it to the lazy and apathetic or better yet his position on murdering both the unborn and the born whom are considered unwanted or meaningless.

If this world is nothing more than some divine plan that God has preordained from the beginning of time then I have a hard time reconciling how an all holy God would be that thrilled when Hitler was elected into power in 1933 and subsequently murdered 6 million Jews? Was God sitting from his throne thinking how well his plan had come together when Lenin or Stalin took power in Russia, whereby millions would be enslaved or murdered all for the sake of their idol motherland? It is quite evident that God’s will is not being accomplished on our tiny planet. Since the fall, man has been subverting God’s will and therefore this is the very reason need a Savior. Anyone who can fog a mirror should be able to tell this world is not how God expected his crowning creation to behave and act. The state of our world is not natural, but highly unnatural. I always like to ask people “Is God’s will being done here on earth”? Of course there are those who adhere to fatalism or determinism who will gladly be the first to raise their hands like Horseshack and cry “Ooo, Ooo, Ooo”. However, their response is neither biblical or rational for that matter. For me the clearest example of how God truly feels about his creation is in Gen 6:5-7:

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (6) And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. (7) And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

Personally, I take these words literally and not some abstract anthropomorphic expression of God’s heart. If indeed our wickedness is some providential plan, then I am not sure why and how a Holy and Perfect God would first want to convey to his creation His personal heartbreak, when it never really existed in the first place. I am sorry, when it says God was heartbroken over what he saw occurring on the face of the earth, I have a real hard time reconciling how this is somehow is his providential plan? Again, if God is Holy and Perfect in EVERY WAY, then God can not be the author of his own unhappiness and yet blame man for the very unhappiness he is experiencing. It would be unjust and unloving.

As for these elections, I truly believe God has given us freewill to choose either good or evil. It is God’s great expectation that we choose to do what is right before the eyes of the Lord. Therefore, this is why it is so important that we do what God rightfully expects of us. Regardless of what happens God is still in control and can still bring about his sovereign plan, but it his desire that we obey from the heart and do what is good and just.

If Original Sin is True Then*:

2008-10-27T13:30:00.000-07:00

1. God originated SIN

2. God will punish those who have been punished for Adam's sin, because they have been punished for Adam's sin.

3. Jesus could have married a virgin and produced a holy race by natural generation.

4. Man is more benevolent and just than GOD
(i.e. man's idea of justice is injustice, and that of injustice is just)

5. All human governments are inherently evil, for inability is never punished, and natural attributes are not considered evil.

6. The physical change that happened at the fall removed the sinner from the obligation to obey the moral law, for the moral law addresses only those able to obey it.

7. A physical change is necessary in regeneration.

8. If a physical change occurs, then a loss of identity occurs, however, Paul was always Paul.

9. God saving man from sin would be a matter of justice and not grace

10. God would be obligated, by justice, to relieve the unfortunate, rather than be gracious to the rebel.

11. Jesus did not become Man, with a sinful nature:
Therefore, he was not tempted in all points like as we are, nor touched with the feelings of our infirmities.

12. The will is not free.

13. How could Adam and Eve Sin?

14. How could angels sin?

15. Children go to hell.

16. All aborted babies go to hell.

17. Abortion would actually be a good thing as it actually decreases the amount of moral depravity occurring in the world. Few sinners born = a better world!

18. Sin is a calamity, not a crime

19. Repentance is impossible, because the conscience will never condemn the sinner of his inability.

20. Immediate repentance and submission cannot be urged immediately upon the sinner. Because He CAN"T.

21. Man is unable to repent.

22. Physical regeneration is necessary
This leads to universalism: FOR-
If Power changes one's nature in regeneration
If God is all powerful
If God is benevolent,
HE must therefore, in justice, regenerate all sinners

23. It regards the atonement of Christ as unnecessary. he did not have to die for the misfortune of men.

* I changed the Title for our Friend Anonymous Calvinist as I think he was a little confused as to the content of this peice.

Promoting Lawlessness?

2008-10-18T14:44:00.000-07:00

The following video clip is from three renowned Calvinists John Piper, Tim Keller, and D.A. Carson. This video is from their Gospel Coalition website.

I want to share this as another example of what's wrong with Calvinism. Keller and company are essentially discussing what they have coined as "Christ-centered" theology. Now on the outset this sounds really good. But the deception here is what they are truly promoting is "Lawlessness"!

Pay particular attention to what Tim Keller says at about 2:00 min. into the video. This statement is just unbelievable. Keller is explaining that he can continue to sin, that "no matter what he does" this will of course have no impact on his eternal security. He coins this as "costly grace". What exactly is "costly grace"? According to Keller, this is the grace that God supposedly has given the elect or Christ paid for on behalf of the elect, whereby God no longer see's or takes into account all of their future sins because they have been already paid for - so therefore how can God already punish them for those sins that Jesus had supposedly already been punished for on the cross. The deception here is there is NO WHERE in the bible that says all our future sins have been paid for - No where! Look it up! This is purely a product of Calvinism. It is only the past sins we have committed that have been covered on the cross - not your future sins! God still requires that if a Christians stumbles and sins they must repent over those sins and if they don't then they will find themselves once again in rebellion towards God.

Notice at about 2:30 into the video you will hear Tim Keller explain that Calvinism is neither "cheap grace" or "moralism" or "relativism" or "legalism", but someone in the "middle" - in other words Calvisnism it is at neither end of the doctrinal spectrum but somewhere in the middle. This all sounds really good, but what these gents are really promoting is "lawlessness" disguised as "grace". The underlining deception is that they are promoting a belief that the moral laws of God are either too difficult to keep or that man lacks the capacity or the ability in keeping God's Moral Law. This of course is a result of their adherence to Original Sin/Total Depravity.

John Piper goes onto to say what this "Gospel Coalition" is really about promoting a form of "Gospel-centered" living. Sounds good. But the deception is they have labeled their terms to sound good, but one has to dig a little beyond the surface into how they truly define these terms.

So what does this "Gospel-centered" living really entail. Well at about 4:19 of the video Piper makes an astonishing and unbelievable statement - He says:

"Jesus said your to gouge out your eye or your going to hell and and that's one kind of motivation and not a bad one, and it raises the stakes to eternity. But were saying success in that part this life better have been fought significantly with a centering on you being justified".

Jesus is clear in this teaching that if something is a source of sin, it is better that you stop or cut off your own hand or gouge out you own eye than go to hell for all eternity (Matt 5:29) . Jesus is saying that it is up to man stop his or her sinful behavior - even if it means entering into eternity lame or blind. Notice Jesus didn't say anything about a persons inability not to sin, but clearly and plainly tells us turning from sin is well within our means.

But yet pay close attention how Piper denies the very words of Christ by essentially saying all that really doesn't matter, he sidelines Christ teaching by subtly replacing it with one of his own. According to Piper all you really need to do is not stop sinning, but simply force your mind on the fact that you have been "justified". As a result, your sinful actions no longer matter to God, nor should it matter to you. But how do they come to this conclusion? The theology of Justification. Justification in the Calvinist sense really boils down to a theology that all your past present and future sins have already been paid for and as a result - no matter what you do your still saved or "eternally secured".

Another interesting claim Keller makes here is that he claims that most teens and young people have been "turned" off by churches that preach so called "legalism". I would venture to say that Keller once again has this all wrong. Most churches I see today aren't preaching legalism (Keller also openly admits this on the video), but I would venture to say that most churches preach an easy-believism or "greasy-grace" type theology. Young people are not being repulsed by a non-existent doctrine of legalism, but what they truly lack is conviction and repentance! Teens and young adults see no need for church because of the hypocrisy they see. It's all those people like Tim Keller, who say they can continue to sin and still be called a child of God! What young people can't stomach is the hypocrisy they see out of most churches today - not legalism! Most churches lacks substance, lacks the power to change peoples hearts. So why would they ever want to waste their time in such a theological system?

(A side note: Isn't funny that Keller speaks of these young people as if it is what they "hear" that helps influence or determine whether they will choose Christianity??? Again, this one of the inconsistencies we see with Calvinism. On one hand we see Keller speaking about doctrine and religion as if these terms are meaningful in drawing people to Christ, but yet on the other they will deny the very same statement they just made and lay the claim of mongerism)

I would be interested in hearing your thoughts about this video as I find it very interesting insights into the contradictions within Calvinism and the Gospel.

Defining Sin

2008-10-18T13:11:00.000-07:00

Since it appears defining sin with my friend "Anonymous" is a point of contention. I thought I would present what I feel is a sound biblical definition of what exactly is SIN. This was written by evangelist Winkie Pratney.

SIN is essentially SELFISHNESS:
Basis of Responsibility:
Wrong choices vs sinful “substance” or inherited determinative wrong:
Ez. 18:1-25: Not blamed by God for anothers wrong
Matt. 16:24-25 “If any come .. let him DENY HIMSELF"

• If we are not responsible for our wrong, we cannot acknowledge true guilt.
• No-one ever felt guilty for someone elses wrong unless first taught it.
• Sin is neither solid, liquid or gas, metaphysical or spiritual. It is moral.
• Every word for sin in bothTestaments underlines personal action.
• Sin is rooted in the gift of creative choice turned against God and His law.

SIN IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

Our understanding of God's will is tied to how seriously we see sin. Hebrew words describing sin overwhelmingly show that people are willful in doing wrong and thus genuinely guilty before God. Every type of word used shows sin as both voluntary and vicious: A sinner according to Scripture will:

1. Miss or err from the mark, wander from the path of right planned for man: Ex.20:20; Eze.18:4,20; Dan. 9:5, 15. Note: “to miss the mark” doesn’t mean the mark is too high; but that we aim too low! This is not just ignorance or stupidity but stubbornness.
2. Act perversely, or twist and distort moral character, usually rendered "Iniquity:" Ex. 34:7, 9; Ps. 32:2, 5; Is. 53:6; Ezek. 18:20; Dan. 9:5.
3. Transgress or break away from just authority, be contrary: Le. 16:15-16, 21; Is. 1:2; Eze. 18:30-31.
Involves violating safeguards and boundaries of protection. Gods’ sanctions are wholly sensible.
4. Refuse to obey or hearken, a negative prefix to a verb basically meaning to (not) listen or attend to: De. 28:45; Ne.9:16-17; Dan. 9:10.
5. Refuse to serve God, a negative to a verb meaning to labor, to work, work for another, thus to not worship and serve our rightful Ruler: Deut. 30:17; Josh. 24:14-15; Neh. 9:35.
6. Act treacherously or deceitfully, usually as "trespass." Le. 5:15; 6:2; Josh. 7:1; Neh. 1:8.
7. Be rebellious (to make or tend to make God bitter): I Sam. 12:13-15; Is. 1:20; Neh. 9:17.
8. Be stubbornly disobedient, also rendered to rebel: Num. 14:9; Neh. 9:26; Eze. 2:3; Dan. 9:5.
9. Be wicked or impious (with an idea of strong excitement): I Kgs. 8:47; Is. 57:20; Dan. 9:5, 15.
10. Live worthlessly or without worthy purpose (idea of emptiness or vanity), often rendered "iniquity:" Micah 2:1; ("unrighteous man") Is. 55:7; ("wicked thoughts") Jer. 4:14. (Life minus God = NOTHING.)
11. Spoil or dash to pieces the moral worth God intended): Be outrageously disappointingly in evil Gen. 6:5; Ps. 7:9; 51:4; Is. 1:16; Jer. 4:14

SIN IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

New Testament Greek carries on the same idea of sin shown in the Old Testament as wicked and inexcusable, again using many words with different shades of meaning. "For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise they became fools" (Ro.1:21-22). Sin is to:
1. Miss or err from the mark, to wander from the path of uprightness and honor planned for man, not a mistake but deliberate misdirection of our faculties: Lk.15:21; 18:13; Jn.16:8-9; Ro. 2:12; 3:23; I Jn. 3:4-5.
2. Trespass, fall beside or deviate from the right path of life, stumble: Mt. 6:14-15; Ro. 4:25; Ep.1:7; 2:1.
3. Transgress or step by the side of the prescribed path, overstep or depart from the way of truth: Mt. 15:2-3; Acts 1:25; Ga. 3:19; He. 2:2. (Jay-walk)
4. Be lawless, or refuse to conform to Divine law revealed to increase man's understanding of the right way: Mt. 7:23; II Co. 6:14; Tit. 2:14; I John 3:4.
5. Disobey or be disobedient, disbelieve or refuse belief (willfully or perversely),from a verb to be persuaded, with a negative prefix: so to refuse to be persuaded or comply; be obstinate Jn. 3:36; Ro. 2:8; 10:21; Eph. 2:2; 5:6; Tit. 1:16; 3:3; He. 3:18; 4:6; I Pet. 2:7 -8; 4:17.
6. Do wrong, be unjust or unrighteous: refuse to do right: Ro.1:18; 2:8; ICo.6:9; Col.3:25; IJn.1:9; Rev 22:11.
7. Be ungodly act impiously, without reverential awe toward God: Ro. 1:18; I Tim. 1:9; Tit. 2:12; I Pet. 4:18; Jude 15, 18.
8. Be evil, wicked, or depraved in mind and heart: Mt.12:34-35; 15:19; Ep.6:12; Col.1:21; He.3:12

Sin is not a state, a substance or a spirit. Sin is a violation of revealed moral light, a stupid, selfish and often stubborn refusal to conform to what we know and perceive as God's truth. It brings guilt, shame and blame. While occasionally objectified and personalized, Scripture shows the active nature of sin so many ways no-one can claim it as a mistake or a misunderstanding. The Bible shows a sinner as a rebel against a loving God, not just some subject of pity who cannot help who they are. There is always the idea of voluntary activity in sin, not some static, genetic or demonic causation that makes us helplessly bad. Sin has deeply hurt God as well as ourselves and others. We will never stand before God and be able to blame our genetic descent, our Dad or the Devil for what we did to Him. Everyone is personally held accountable for their own wrong. No definition of sin that tends to remove responsibility from a sinning individual honors God.

INSTANCES OF BLAME-SHIFTING

We are inveterate blame-shifters: This is not new; here are some of many Scripture instances:

Adam; .. The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. Genesis 3:12
Abram: Say, I pray, you are my sister: that it may be well with me for your sake; and my soul shall live because of you. Gen 12:13.
Aaron: And I said unto them, Whosoever has any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. Exodus 32:24
Jacob: And your father has deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me. Genesis 31:7
Saul: Therefore said I, The Philistines will come, so I forced myself … I Samuel 13:12 (Samuel: “So what means this bleating of sheep I hear in my ears?”) “I spared the best for an offering to the Lord “ (the religious excuse)
Anannias & Sapphira: “After it was sold, was it not in your own power? why have you conceived this thing in your heart? you have not lied to men, but to God”. (When revival comes people sometimes die in church) Acts 5:4
Antinomians to Paul: And not (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just. Romans 3:8
False Prophets: If a man walking in the spirit of falsehood lies. saying, I will prophesy to you of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people. Mic 2:11
Old Prophet: He said ..I am a prophet also as you; and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with you into your house, that he may eat bread and drink water. [But] he lied to him. I K 13:18
Humanity: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. Romans 1:25 Pharisees: You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. John 8:44 Babylon: The light of a candle shall shine no more at all in you and the voice of the bridegroom and the bride shall be heard no more at all in you: for your merchants were the great men of the earth; for by your sorceries were all nations deceived. Rev 18:23

GENUINE HONESTY IS EXPECTED OF ALL REAL BELIEVERS

For He said, Surely they are My people, children that will not lie: so He was their Savior. Isaiah 63:8

You shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another. Leviticus 19:11 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: has he said, and shall he not do it? or has He spoken, and shall he not make it good? Numbers 23:19

A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies.
Proverbs 14:5

Lie not one to another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds; Colossians 3:9

I have not written to you because you know not the truth, but because you do know it, and no lie is of the truth. I John 2:21

If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: I John 1:6

But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. II Timothy 3:13

And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: II Thessalonians 2: 11

And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defiles, neither whatsoever works abomination, or makes a lie: Revelation 21:27

THE FIRST VITAL STEP IN RETURNING TO GOD IS CONFESSION: TOTAL HONESTY

Why does God ask us to confess our sins? It is surely not because He didn’t see us doing what was wrong! Confession of sin is not primarily for Him, but for us. As long as we live a life outside of friendship with God, we will not only stay selfish, but grow more stupid. And last of all, we will become unreal. Moral darkness is a state of attempting to conceal our real wrong or representing it to ourselves as well as others as right. God’s laws are descriptions of reality and He never tells a lie. God is utterly real, the foundation of all truth. The consequence of running away from God’s law and voice will not only be guilt and shame; it will be growing unreality.

WE CANNOT BLAME OTHERS FOR WHAT WE DID WRONG: God does not judge us for another’s sins:

Then hear in heaven, and do, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness. I Kings 8:32

Ezekiel 18 - Yet you say, Why? does not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son has done that which is lawful and right, has kept all my statutes, and done them, he shall surely live. The soul that sins, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions he has committed, shall not be mentioned to him: in his righteousness he has done, he shall live. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? says the Lord GOD: [and] not that he should return from his ways, and live? Ezek. 18:19-23

But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All his righteousness that he has done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them shall he die. 25 Yet you say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not My way equal? are not your ways unequal? 26 When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and dies in them; for his iniquity that he has done shall he die. Again, when the wicked [man] turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. 28 Because he considers, and turns away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. 18:27-29 Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, says the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. 31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby you have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dies, says the Lord GOD: wherefore turn [yourselves], and live. Ezekiel 18:30-32

Moral Perfection: Possible? or Impossible?

2008-10-17T04:44:00.000-07:00

This morning I came across a verse that I think will dovetail very well with my discussion with "Anonymous" yesterday. Its Colossians 1:9-12. This verse provides a very concise explanation of what is moral perfection. Paul provides a wonderful summary of how one is transformed from sin (selfishness) to benevolence and love.

9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

Let me now break down this passage a little further. First, take v9. It states that Paul is asking God to provide the Colossians with "knowledge" . But what type of knowledge? The bible is explicit in that knowledge of God and his will for mankind is what Paul calls "Real Knowledge" or also known as the "truth", the "gospel". Paul goes onto to say in v10 that as a result of this "knowledge" this will allow someone to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. What "manner" would be pleasing unto the Lord? A life of sin? A life of constant stumbling? Paul goes on in V10 to say

"fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God"

Note that Paul emphasizes EVERY GOOD WORK and FULLY PLEASING the Lord. Folks, this is not partial obedience, this is not partial surrender - but this is total surrender of OUR will and desires and taking up the will of God in our own lives. Paul goes onto to say that we will also increase in this knowledge and by doing so we will be strengthened in attaining a steadfastness (a stability in our moral perfection) that will yield patience and joy!

V12 is also a key verse whereby it states that now as a result of this transforming knowledge we are now qualified to share in the inheritance (status) of fellow saints who have also lived a life free from sin.

Let me also add another verse in Colossians that Paul furthers this point with:

21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled

Notice that its not our flesh that is the problem - but our minds! Our minds is where the desires to fulfill our flesh reside or originate. For example, if someone is going to shoot up heroine, they don't just wake up one day and find themselves taking a needle and shooting into their vein. No! Instead that person made decisions with their mind to fulfill or satisfy themselves (flesh) with drugs. That person made a conscious decision to go against their own conscience to do drugs. It wasn't their "flesh" that caused them to sin, but rather it was their heart that decided to violate the knowledge of their own conscience and fulfill or satiate their desires of their body.

Another similar verse to the one in Colossians is Philippians 1:9-10:

9And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; 11 having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Again, it is through the love and the knowledge of God's Truth that will equip us so that we may be blameless (Same as sinless) until the return of Christ. Note that it didn't say we would be blameless after we receive our new resurrection bodies - but that we should be blameless today!

One other verse I think shows how it is through the transforming of our hearts and minds that allows one to over come sin. 1 Corinthians 15:34 states

34Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God I speak this to your shame.

Note that it doesn't say "try to stop sinning" or "you can't stop sinning" it says very plain and clear to "STOP SINNING". Paul eludes as to why those who continue to sin do so - its because they have no knowledge of the Truth or of the Will of God!

Finally let me say this. As Christians we all know that it is God's desire that we turn away from sin. Now let me ask you this. If ceasing to sin is an impossibility why then do we even try? The reason is we all know in our heart of hearts that it is well within our ability to stop sinning. The mind will not do things it knows is humanly impossible. If I were to ask you if you could jump to the moon would you even try to do it?? Of course not! However, why is it that every true Christian I know of attempts to live everyday free from sin? Its because we all know that stopping sin within our own lives is within our ability and it is good and right that we do so.

A Response to Anonymous on "Perfection"

2008-10-15T14:02:00.000-07:00

I decided to post a response to an “Anonymous” Blogger who left the following remarks regarding moral perfection. I will answer the majority of his/her response in a later post, but I would first like to address a few misconceptions they seem to have about sin and obedience. I think it’s important we define the terms here so we’re both working with the same definitions.

First, Anonymous stated:

“Deuteronomy 6:24-25 is a statement of this principle from the perspective that a person who keeps the law is righteous. Up until Jesus time, the bible tells us He is the only one who fulfilled the law. “

Indeed, Jesus is the only one who was able to keep or fulfill the law from cradle to grave. But this has nothing to do with man's moral ability. Jesus did not come so that you will now have the ability to keep God's Law. Man has always had within his ability to obey God. To say otherwise is just plain false and is unbiblical. First, Jesus was able to fully keep the law, not because he had the supernatural ability to do so, but out of His love for the Father, the Holy Spirit and mankind. It was through the committal of his will that he was able to overcome self, and love God supremely. Jesus was a living breathing example of how we all should live - and that is to walk as He walked, to love as He loved. So what is the missing component that we need in order to love as Jesus loved? It is not that we lack the ability, but that we lack the desire to do so, we lack the desire to change. We know from the bible that man changes once he or she receives knowledge of the Truth (“For it is the Truth that will set you free and "whatever you ask, ask for knowledge and it will be given unto you”). It is through the renewing of our minds by the truth of Jesus Christ that will transform our will from loving ourselves to loving God and others supremely. We lack not any capacity to obey, but we lack heart or motivation of the will. It is through the cross and the blood of Jesus that allows us to walk in humility and allows us to become morally perfect (I will address this further in a later post).

Let me first address a couple of points here. In regards to your comment about Deut 6:24-25 The bible is filled with “Saints” that clearly loved and obeyed God. A saint is not one who continually sins, or is still abiding in their selfishness, but lives according to the Moral Laws of God as a result of his/her's love for God. A saint is one who the bible defines as a person who is walking according to their present amount of moral knowledge and obeys the moral laws of God out of love. I especially like Luke 1:6 whereby it states:

Luk 1:5-6 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abijah: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. (6) And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

Hmmmmm……interesting that Luke mentions that Elizabeth and Zacharias WALKED IN ALL THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD & ORDINANCES OF THE LORD BLAMELESS………I would be interested in hearing how you explain this verse in the context to your statement that no one has kept the Laws or Commandments of God. This verse clearly states that the two of them were very much able to keep the moral commandments of God and did so.

There many more examples of men and women who obeyed God and were found to be righteous in the eyes of God. I suggest you look these over more thoroughly:

Noah Gen_6:9; Gen_6:22; Gen_7:5; Heb_11:7. Abraham Gen_12:1-4; Gen_17:23; Gen_21:4; Gen_22:12; Neh_9:8; Act_7:3-8; Heb_11:8-17; Jam_2:21 Bethuel and Laban Gen_24:50 Jacob Gen_35:1; Gen_35:7 Moses Num_27:12-22; Heb_3:2-3 Moses and Aaron Exo_7:6; Exo_40:16; Exo_40:21; Exo_40:23; Exo_40:32 Israelites Exo_12:28; Exo_32:25-29; Exo_39:42-43; Num_9:20-21; Deu_33:9; Jdg_2:7; Psa_99:7 Under the preaching of Haggai Hag_1:12 Caleb Deu_1:36 Joshua Jos_10:40; Jos_11:15 Reubenites Jos_22:2-3 Gideon Jdg_6:25-28 David 1Sa_18:14; 1Sa_25:28; 1Ki_11:6; 1Ki_11:34; 1Ki_15:5; 2Ch_29:2; Act_13:22 Elisha 1Ki_19:19-21 Hezekiah 2Ki_18:6; 2Ch_31:20-21; Isa_38:3 Josiah 2Ki_22:2; 2Ki_23:24-25 Asa 2Ch_14:2 –Jehoshaphat 2Ch_17:3-6; 2Ch_20:32; 2Ch_22:9 Jehoiada 2Ch_24:16 Uzziah 2Ch_26:4-5 Jotham 2Ch_27:2 Levites 2Ch_29:34 Cyrus 2Ch_36:22-23; Ezr_1:1-4 Ezra Ezr_7:10 Hanani Neh_7:2 Job Job_1:8 Daniel Dan_6:10 Three Hebrews Dan 3 Jonah Jon_3:3 Ninevites Jon_3:5-10 Zacharias Luk_1:6 Simeon Luk_2:25 Joseph Mat_1:24; Mat_2:14 John the Baptist Mat_3:15 Nathanael Joh_1:47 The disciples Joh_17:6 Cornelius Act_10:2 Paul Act_23:1; Act_26:4-5; 2Ti_1:3.

Many others were called righteous, godly, holy, or sanctified, which is synonymous with “morally perfection”. However, these do differ from Christ in that He never sinned. They did sin, but when they did so they repented and persevered in obedient faith, they were once again compliant with their moral obligation and, hence, “morally perfect”. Contrary to popular beleif
everyone does not sin! “He that is born of God does not commit sin” (I Jn.3:9)! All true Christians have repented from their sins (quit sinning) and love God supremely and thus are morally perfect (I would be curious as to how you define biblical repentance?).

Another thing, sin is not a “cancer” or something that is passed along genetically or mysteriously to our offspring. Sin is not a “thing”, but is a moral choice. God does not hold mankind accountable for the sins of our mothers or fathers (or Adam for that matter), but for our own individual actions (Ezekiel 18). As for your use of the Jewish Encyclopedia you were not as forth coming as you could have been. Here is the part you left out:

“……..Jewish theologians are divided in regard to the cause of this so-called "original sin"; some teach that it was due to Adam's yielding to temptation in eating of the forbidden fruit and has been inherited by his descendants; the majority, however, do not hold Adam responsible for the sins of mankind.”

Most Jews I know do not believe in Original Sin (in the Calvinistic sense). Its primary roots are not Jewish, but can be traced back to the Gnostics who believed evil/sin was in the “flesh” of all human beings, rather than a moral choice. It wasn’t until the teachings of Augustine, who was heavily influenced by his previous religion the Manicheans, who incorporated the belief that sin was in the physical flesh (tissue or sperm) of human beings. Judaism has for the most part always adhered to the doctrine that man has a freewill choice and requires moral accountability.

You also stated:

“The difference between the Old Testament and New Testament is that now, sin is defined against the backdrop of Jesus as the standard for righteousness. His life is the example of perfection. If you can claim that you are living as Jesus, then you can claim that you are perfect and that you have stopped sinning.”

The fallacy here is there is no difference between the OT and NT when it comes to God’s definition of sin. Sin is the willful disobendience to God. The misconception you have is that God has somehow mysteriously changed when it comes to defining sin. Nothing about God has changed from the OT to the NT – his requirements remain the same and that is for all of mankind to keep His moral law. This is the same as today as it was 4,000 years ago! It seems you view man as someone who is either unable to keep God’s Moral Law or that God's laws are unattainable and can not be kept. God’s Laws are good and whenever they have been given to mankind, man has rightfully responded that they are indeed good and just laws (Exodus 24:3!). When God commands us to “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matt. 22:37) and “love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matt. 22:39). The moral law of God, in essence, is the law of love, love being the total and complete fulfillment of the whole of the law (Rom. 13:8, 10; Gal. 5:14; Jas. 2:8). Are you telling me that you are unable to love God fully??? Is this not the fullness of salvation? That we love God and if we love God we will keep and obey that which he loves also?? How can one Love god and therefore continue in sin?? This is an impossibility. It is like saying a man can love his wife, but yet continue to have a mistress on the side. A person who says they love God and continues to sin is a hypocrite and hypocrites will find themselves in Hell.

God's Moral Law is good and we all know that in order for a Law to be good it must be within man's grasp to adhere to it. If not then God's Law is unjust. God does not command that we love Him with faculties that we do not possess, but rather that we love Him with all that we currently possess (keyword is “currently”). The commandments are directions to man as to how he is to use his ability. The commandments of God are not impossible, demanding that we love Him with a heart, soul, mind and strength that we do not have. Rather, it is possible to keep the law of God, which demands that we love Him with all of what we do have, with all that we are capable of, to the very highest of our ability, no more and no less. It is possible to keep the law because we are capable, and we are capable because it is possible to keep the law; our God-given commandments and our God-given ability directly correspond with each other.

As for Sin and Moral Accountability ponder this. All sin is voluntary and avoidable; therefore sin must be a choice and not something we are born with. If sin is something we are “born with” then it is not voluntary, but is involuntary and therefore is not justifiably punishable. This would be like saying babies who are born with blonde hair are condemnable to hell, because they are born this way. Only that which is unavoidable is excusable, but what is inexcusable must be avoidable. If sin is punishable then it must be voluntary (a choice), and what is voluntary must be avoidable. Therefore, sin is inexcusable and punishable because sin is voluntary and avoidable, and it is voluntary and avoidable because God has given man free will. The false doctrine you have is that sin is something we are born with. If God is sending people to hell for sins they can not over come or stop committing because they do not have the ability, then God would be unjust and a tyrant! Sinners will be sent to Hell because they clearly have the ability to stop sinning, but yet they chose to remain in their in selfishness.

I would also like to address here several accusations you seem to make against me in your response:

#7: Love your enemies AND pray for them, and it can’t be that lightening strikes them. Do you love Calvinists? (Matt 5:44)

I most certainly love Calvinist (and everyone else for that matter)! As a matter of fact I would hope that every Calvinist would awaken from their false doctrine and find truth. Indeed I have been very firm at times and have even openly rebuked Calvinist over their false doctrine. But it is also commanded by God that as beleivers we openly rebuke false teachers, to do otherwise would be unloving and harmful to themselves and possible bystanders.

#8: Contentiousness is sin (Romans 2:8). Check out your answer to the person before me?

How was my previous response “Contentiousness”?? I think you need to understand the context here and what Paul means by “Contentiousness”. The context here does not mean we as Christians are not to argue or to not vigorously defend our faith. How were my comments to the previous post “contentious”?? Look at my comments and I even placed a smiley face after my comment so that it would not be taken out of context. Or maybe your just trying to find fault with me here??

#9: Judging others is sin (Matt 7:1)

Really!!??? What exactly are you doing in your response back to me - judging??? Are you not judging me and my doctrine??? Besides, where does it exactly say that to judge others is a sin?? It is indeed a sin to judge others unrighteously (hypocritically), but no where in the bible does it say it is a sin to judge?. When Jesus said “Judge not lest ye be judged” this is a warning that when we judge others we too will be judged to the same standard, so that in the event we do judge we are to be certain we don’t have sin in our own lives. Jesus calls us to judge – but to judge rightly (Luke 12:56-57, Rom 2:1) Christ does not condemn judging in a judicial sense, nor does he condemn our “opinion” of the conduct of others, for it is impossible “not” to form an opinion of conduct that we know to be evil or deceptive (ie. false doctrine).

# 11: You have to tame your tongue, according to James no man can do it (James 3:8)

James is not saying taming the tongue is an impossibility. Here he is using hyperbole to get his point across. If you read further to James 4 he clearly give us the answer as to how man can tame his tongue:

Jas 4:7-10 Therefore, submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will run away from you. (8) Come close to God, and he will come close to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (9) Be miserable, mourn, and cry. Let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into gloom. (10) Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

12: The very act of claiming to be sinless is a sin in itself, as this Scripture so ably demonstrates. A person claiming not to have sin deceives himself or herself, and in effect calls Christ a liar. I John 1:10

Again, you have taken this verse out of context. John is addressing individuals (primarily the Jews) who made the claim that they didn;t need to be saved because they were without sin. They had not fully submitted to Christ, they were lying about their rebellious condition. This verse is not addressing Christians, but non-beleivers. If you read further on in 1 John 3 he states:

1Jn 3:8-10 The person who practices sin belongs to the evil one, because the devil has been sinning since the beginning. The reason that the Son of God was revealed was to destroy the works of the devil. (9) No one who has been born from God practices sin, because God's seed abides in him. Indeed, he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born from God. (10) This is how God's children and the devil's children are distinguished. No person who fails to practice righteousness and to love his brother is from God.

Again, I hope to address the remaining topic of "Perfection" in an upcoming post shortly. In the meantime I would like to say to Anonymous that I find it somewhat disturbing that a so called Christ Follower is defending Sinning more so than "holiness" or "righteousness", but then again its hard to defend holiness when you see man as being morally incapable or that God requires the impossible from mankind (the keeping of His laws) and that God will send mankind to hell for doing that which he is unable to do.

Its OK Ray (Boltz) to be Gay, John Calvin says it just your DNA!

2008-09-23T10:48:00.000-07:00

Many of you may have heard by now the news that “former” Christian artist Ray Boltz publically announced he is a homosexual. But what many may have not heard was the reasoning that Ray gave as to why he feels he is justified in living this sinful lifestyle. In a Pro-Homosexual newspaper called the “The Washington Blade”, Boltz said the following:

“If this is the way God made me, then this is the way I’m going to live. It’s not like God made me this way and he’ll send me to hell if I am who he created me to be … I really feel closer to God because I no longer hate myself.”

The sad thing is Ray is simply coming to the logical conclusion that his theology has probably brought him to. The doctrine of Original Sin is taught in a majority of Christian denominations these days. Even those denominations that don’t even considered themselves Reformed or Calvinistic hold to this theological myth that sin is something your born with rather than a moral choice.

Why then are so many Christians so upset or sadden that Ray Boltz is a homosexual? Why is it when it comes to this particular sin we don’t hear all the lame excuses we usually hear from Calvinist and others such as:

"Who are we to judge, were all sinners”
"We sin in word, thought and deed everyday"
"Nobodies perfect"
"We are only human"
"You can't stop sinning"
"We have a sinful nature"
"God's law is impossible to keep"

I can’t help but think how hypocritical those folks must sound right now as they tell Ray he must “Repent”. In my opinion, this is one of the problem with most churches theology these days – is it’s logically inconsistent and hypocritical. When it comes to so called “mortal sins” – those sins that fall into the “biggie size” of sins – homosexuality, pedophilia, adultery, murder, etc. it seems then and only then the church seems to take issue with. I typically think this is not done so for moral or spiritual reasons, but that these sins are so heinous most churches are afraid of the bad PR these sins might bring to that particular church. This reminds me of a leader at a church we used to attend who once told me that we (Christians) all “sin in word thought and deed everyday”, and that “all sin is sin”. But yet when it was discovered someone in the church “choir” had committed a horrible “mortal” sin, this leader was the first to have that person quietly removed from their position. I thought it was such hypocrisy. Here was this same leader who loved to go around touting that “we all sin everyday”, but yet when a rather hideous sin was committed by a fellow member of the church this was also the first person to ask them to step down – in “secret” nonetheless. For me I felt like asking this leader– “Remember when you said we as “Christian’s” sin everyday? So why then are you making such a big deal of this particular person’s sin? If Christians are “sinning everyday” why then would you discipline or shun this person from your church - aren’t they simply behaving as you’ve stated all along??

Personally, I think we are starting to see the impact of years and years of this doctrine being preached and why many of our churches are filled with nothing more than reformed pagans. Most of the attitude towards sin in our churches is apathetic and weak – and much of this attitude stems from this very theology that says “Men can’t help but sin”, "that sin is not a choice" and that even as Christians we are still expected to sin everyday. I don’t know about you, but I never have once read in the Bible of a “Sinning Saint” or someone who is “Sinfully Righteous” or of “Benevolent Demon”. Any 2nd grader could tell you this is not so! But yet isn’t this the doctrine of most churches these days? We tell people that they are a victim of sin rather than a criminal and a rebel towards God?

In some respects Ray Boltz is trying to live consistent with his theology. Clearly he believes that God has created him to be a homosexual. So how does this really differ from the doctrine that is preached in our churches day in and day out? If Ray was born sinful, then how is this any different than saying Ray was born Gay? If you hold to the doctrine of Original Sin and Total Depravity you must surely answer yes! However, if Homosexuality is a sin and it was something he was born with, it would be unjust for God to send Ray to Hell for all eternity for simply being the very person God created him to be! I must say one thing about Ray Boltz, and that is it seems to me he can not come to rationalize how a loving God who created him to be born sinful (ie Gay), could also be the same God who would send Him to eternal hell and torment, for simply being that which God created him to be. The problem is Ray has believed into a lie that the sins he has committed and continue to commit are something outside of his control and therefore are not his responsibility but rather God’s responsibility. This is why it is crucial we tell others within our community and our churches not to be deceived into believing such a false and destructive doctrine such as Original Sin and Total Depravity. As you can see the damage that can come from this theology is devastating.

Instead, I believe if Ray Boltz does not repent and is not reconciled back unto God, he will someday stand before a righteous and loving God and be found guilty and be sent to Hell for all eternity– not for being born gay or for being born sinful – but rather for willfully choosing to disobey God and fulfill the pleasures of his flesh. The tragedy of Ray’s sin, as well as anyone else’s sin for that matter, is we have chosen to go astray. Sin is not some ill-fated behavior that God has ordained, nor is it some sin filled birth defect, but rather the real travesty of sin, is we have all chosen to go our own way and forsake the love and wisdom of the Lord. I pray that Ray Boltz will soon repent and be reconciled to God. But if he does not, then it is he who is guilty and his guilt and sins will remain.

Pro 14:14 The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways; And a good man shall be satisfied from himself.

Just Ask A Calvinist!

2008-09-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

The other day I was listening to the new Blog Radio Show: Refining Fire by Jesse Morrell and Kerrigan Skelly. During last week's show Kerrigan brought up what I thought was a great line of questioning for a Calvinist. Here is what he had to say:

First, ask a Calvinist "Do you believe in freewill?" Most will say "Yes, they believe in Freewill".

Then ask them "Does God hate sin?", they should most rightly answer "Oh Yes, God most definitely hates sin".

The ask them "Does God Command you to stop sinning", and they should rightly answer "Oh Yes God commands us to stop sinning".

Then ask them "Does God allow you to be tempted beyond that which you can handle (1 Cor 10:13)?", they should agree that God does not allow a person to be tempted beyond that which they can handle.

Then ask them "Can YOU do ALL things through Christ Jesus (Phil 4:13)?", and they should rightly answer "Oh yes we can do all things through Christ Jesus".

And then ask them "Do they believe they can Stop Sinning?" Most will respond that no one can live holy as they have a "Sin Nature" and that sin resides within our flesh and until the flesh has been eliminated or we are given a "new Nature" upon or after death, it is only then we can truly live beyond sin. Most will say that we sin daily and commit "countless" number of sins within a day - as Christians no less! (I recall a Calvinist tell me one day at our small group that he had sinned even before he got up out of bed that day"!)

But yet the bible says nothing about man being cursed with a "Sin Nature" or that sin is in the "flesh". Sin is a moral choice and is a condition of a persons heart and will. If sin is something we are "born with" then this would be like saying a man should be punished or sentenced to eternal hell for the color of their skin or the color of their eyes! This would be unjust for God to sentence people to eternal Hell for that which they could not choose. Sin is a condition of the heart - it is our hearts and our will that needs to be renewed through REPENTANCE and FAITH. A changing of the heart and mind from loving ourselves to loving God! Sin is a choice!

Besides, doesn't it seem odd that a Calvinist would agree that God hates sin, commands us to not to sin, that we are never tempted beyond that which we can handle, and that we can do ALL things through Christ Jesus but yet we can't still can't seem to stop sinning for one day? This friends is a contradiction of the highest degree! It is no wonder our churches are filled with men and women who believe it is acceptable and even expected that Christians should sin. What hypocrisy and what deceit these Calvinist preach!

Tainted Funds: How the Church can use Evil so that Good May Come of it!

2008-09-19T07:16:00.001-07:00

Recently, Pastor Bert Crabbe of the True North Community Church in Port Jefferson Station, New York, had a church member win $3 million in the lottery and he decided to give it all to the church. The man wished to remain anonymous, but he won his big prize by scratching off the “Ba Da Bling” lottery ticket. This story has made it around the Christian blogosphere and you can see what some are saying here and here.

From this dilemma Christians have been discussing "Should a Church or Christian Organization take such funds from a organization that destroys lives or causes people to sin?". First, let me say that most of the comments I've read seems to support the idea that the Church should take something from bad and use it for good. Although this seems to be a valid idea on the surface, one must keep in mind that God is not so much concerned about promoting outward benevolence, but rather what effect will this have on the motivation of peoples hearts. In addition, I think many have taken a Robin Hood like approach on this subject and that is take from the bad (gamblers) and give to the "good". I think we need to turn to the Scriptures in order to get some guidance on this matter................

Romans 14:13-15 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way. As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died.

I Corinthians 8:9-13 Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.

I would like to point out one very interesting point. Paul says in Corinthians that people watch us and if they see us doing something that they wouldn’t necessarily do, they will become “emboldened” and do what we are doing. We see that God is concerned about how we might be perceived by others (i.e. Non-believers) and that our actions might have influence on the attitudes or behaviors of others. This reminds me of a parent or an adult who drinks or smokes and then tells their children - "don't do what I do". Its the old adage - "Do as I say and not as I do". Sadly, this comes off as being hypocritical and it weakens our influence and reputation as Christ followers.

I realize some might say that taking the money as the end result of gambling is not the same as someone gambling themselves, but we must consider that gambling may be fine for some, but what happens to the person, who sees us (the church) taking and accepting this money and then becomes emboldened, tries it and becomes addicted? Could our acceptance of this money not possibly cause someone to think "Hey those Christians don't have such hard time with gambling after all". Have we not sinned against God and that person?

From these verses I think that we can extract a very good practice for all Christians. Even if an activity is acceptable before God, this isn’t the end of the question. If others weaker than ourselves are caught up into something as a result of our actions and they are in the end destroyed, we have sinned against them and God. Therefore, while the act wasn’t maybe a sin in itself, how we exercised our freedom in Christ was, and we sinned. This is a very serious thing indeed and one that we as Christians must be very aware. Now if God is concerned that our dietary habits might possibly cause someone to morally stumble - then don't we think gambling or the acceptance of the funds from gambling might also be of even a greater concern?

Let me also give another example, would it be alright for the church to take money from the windfall profits made by an abortion clinic or Planned Parenthood? Would the church be OK with accepting money donated from the pornography industry? What if a convicted pedophile wanted to give a $100,000 dollars to a Christian orphanage? I think even many in secular society would have problems with these types of ethical situations. But yet why is it our churches and Christians blogging in the blogosphere seem to take little if any issue with all of this? It would seem to me that by accepting these funds the church could be construed by society as being accepting of these immoral issues.

Granted I've read folks saying "what if a stripper or a thief gave funds to the church, who are we to say we shouldn't take these funds?". But let me ask you this - what if that stripper or drug dealer or thief is giving to the church so he can quiet his or her conscience from their lifestyle of sin?! As a church accepting funds from such persons and turning a blind eye or by not rejecting such behavior, are we not actually contributing to that person's moral downfall? By accepting these tainted funds are we not allowing that person to slip further and further in rebellion and allowing them to quiet their conscience?? What if we caused only one person to sin as a result of accepting these funds would we be OK with that? Is the sins of one really worth any amount of money?

Secondly, God states clearly in his word that we are not to do evil so that good will come of it (Rom 3:8). But I can't help but think that's the attitude of many who have stated that they would accept this money, money that has destroyed countless lives, money that has ruined families and marriages as a result of gambling and now we as Christians want to take that which has resulted in evil and do good with it? Are we not using evil so in hopes to do good??

Finally, as Christians would it not be better to take the route Paul has put forth for us all:

Eph 5:1-5 Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children; (2) and walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odor of a sweet smell. (3) But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be named (hint) among you, as becometh saints; (4) nor filthiness, nor foolish talking, or jesting, which are not befitting: but rather giving of thanks. (5) For this ye know of a surety, that no fornicator, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

As Christians we should not even have a HINT of sin among us. But yet why does it seem so many don't seem to take issue with this? Why is it we seem to think that we can take such "blood" money and use it for good? Where is our faith that God will provide - and provide through a better means than gambling profits? Is not our God greater than that? I think churches who are all too willing to jump up and say "well take that kind of donation" is a church that is seeking the approval of men, rather than of God and are not truly thinking beyond themselves.

Side note: I noticed many so called Christians on these blogs have tried to justify gambling by saying its the same as a 401K or the stock market - I have news for you its not!

When you invest in businesses that produce products, you are supplying much needed capital so that they can expand and maintain operations. This in turn will produce an increase in your investment if the company is managed correctly. The goal here is that you have a realistic expectation that the company will succeed. Either you or your funds manager will take the time to research the company to make sure that their business plans are sound and that the risk you take is minimized. Is this the case with gambling? Surely everyone knows that the odds are in the favor of the house. They will not lose money. Yes someone will win some, but at the end of the day, the house will always turn a profit, and a very big one at that. Basically, anyone who views Las Vegas as an investment opportunity is completely diluted at best, and an utter fool at worst.

But some may say that the only reason to invest in the stock market is for money so isn’t the underlying motivation the same? The answer as I see it is no. Investing is a long term approach that will provide fruit over time. You are helping some company succeed in their business which is producing products that people need and want. The overall impact to society by investing in stocks is good. Due diligence and patience is required. Gambling is a rush, a quick fix, and a “trill”. Gambling is not prudent or a wise choice of investment strategies. The casinos are not producing anything useful for society. They don’t even have a product. Their product is the illusion of quick riches.

The Bible speaks of investing in positive terms.

Luke 19:22-23 His master replied, 'I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? Why then didn't you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?

Matthew 25:26-27 His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

Does anyone think that the Master would have been congratulatory of one of his servants if he come back empty handed having lost everything shooting dice? Or how about he doubled the Master’s money by rolling sevens? Do you think that the master would have considered this a reckless gamble? I think so, but then again, the reader may have a different view.

New Discovery in Open Thiesm and Church History

2008-08-27T19:52:00.000-07:00

I thought I would pass along this article from Greg Boyd's Blog regarding some recent discoveries in the area of Open Theism! This is exciting news, as most critics of Open Theism claim it is historically baseless. I highly recommend you read this article. You can find it here.

A Test - How Would You Score?

2008-08-25T19:14:00.000-07:00

How would you answer the following test?

T F 1. A good description of a Christian is a "Sinner" saved by Grace?

T F 2. You can sin and not know it?

T F 3. It is normal for Christians to sin everyday?

T F 4. A bad thought is sin?

T F 5. It is easier for a Christian to sin than to do right?

T F 6. The closer we get to Christ, the less we will be tempted?

T F 7. We get closer to Christ through actions of righteousness?

T F 8. Sainthood is attained by only a few Christians?

T F 9. To be tempted is a sign of sinfulness?

10. How many sins have you committed today (You may have to approximate)

11. How many acts of righteousness have you committed today?

12. How righteous is Jesus Christ on a scale of one to hundred?

13. How righteous are you on a scale of one to hundred?

See my later post for the "Answers".

Tales from the Dark Knight

2008-08-10T11:40:00.000-07:00

The other night my friend Jay and I went and saw the movie The Dark Knight. I must say it was stunning. I don't know if I can add to what has already been said about Heath Ledger's performance, but he plays the quintessential evil villain in this film. The Joker is evil not on the basis of a desire for wealth, power or fame, but purely on the basis of watching the world burn. He is truly a tormented soul!

In my opinion the movie has a really interesting moral undercurrent, and speaks tremendously about the moral code of all human beings and primarily does a good job of showing the conditions of natural law.

(Warning spoiler ahead)

Probably the most interesting scene in my opinion is the scene where in Gotham Harbor are two Ferry boats filled with people. The one Ferry is packed with inmates from the local prison, while the other is filled with innocent citizens. The Joker has devised a ingenious plan whereby both Ferries have been rigged with remote controlled explosives. He notifies each Ferry that they each have a detonator to the other Ferries bomb. However, he gives them an ultimatum. He gives them each 15 min to detonate the other Ferry. Whoever blows up the other Ferry first he will let that Ferry live. If neither Ferry makes a decision to kill the other group of people, then the Joker will blow up both Ferries.

Of course the citizens begin to rationalize that they have a legitimate reason to blow up the prisoners Ferry, because society will be better off if they were to rid all the criminals on that Ferry, that it would be justifiable to "kill the wicked" in exchange for the innocent. However, there are also innocent police officers, prison warden and prison guards to consider who are also on the Prisoner Ferry. This debate goes back and forth for several minutes in the film - showing both sides debating if they should blow up the other Ferry first for their own survival. In the end, neither group could bring themselves to blow up the other Ferry.

What came to mind was immediately natural law. Instinctively, each person - both criminal and innocent citizen realized to kill 300+ people would be a monstrous act and neither could allow that thought to pass by their conscience without tremendous guilt and shame. This also reminded me of when Jesus said to the group ready to stone the adulteress - "You without sin cast the first stone". It also reinforced to me that mankind is not "Totally Depraved", but man does operate according to his conscience and natural law instilled in us by our Creator. If man were truly "Totally Depraved", then by the very totality of that depravity man would have had no problem pushing that detonator - nor any associated guilt in doing, as guilt is a direct outward working of natural law. It would have been like child's play - simple, no guilt, no remorse. But instead - mankind has tremendous potential for good. In the movie the Joker is the one who thought man was totally depraved - was inherently evil. The Joker is trying to show Gotham that they need not to live by a moral code, but they should live according to their "true nature" - evil and chaos. It is the hero or the savior of the movie, Batman shows Gotham that he believes in the good people of his city and that they have great potential for good. He believes that given the right motivation they can rise above evil and live in peace. He is willing to go to any lengths to do this for the people of Gotham.

Again, I see many parallels between the redemptive story of Christ and his desire for his children to choose love over self. That Christ sees the great potential all of his children to love the Father and our neighbor. Christ came to awaken us from the depths of our own selfishness by dying on a cross. That he would go to great lengths to show us he desires mercy over sacrifice, that he desires genuine fellowship with his creation. It is a story that is universal and should speak to us all.

Are You Being Hated?

2008-08-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

John 15: 18 "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you."

1 John 3:13-15 "Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. 14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15 Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him."

Luke 16: 22"Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man."

Matthew 24:9 "Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.

As I survey the current landscape of the modern day church, I must admit I don't see these verses being presently fulfilled by the church today. Do we see churches to the point where men are wanting to kill us? I don't mean some subtle loathing by atheist or anarchist, but is the WORLD truly hating us? Do we see the world hating the church for its stance on sin? Do we see the world hating us because we have a love & devotion for Truth and Righteousness? Do we see the world hating us because we publicly denounce sin? Do they hate us because we are telling men and women to repent and love their God and Creator?

Instead we see churches who have seemingly embraced the world rather than rejected it. I see churches whereby their pews are packed to the brim , but yet I see our world spinning into further into darkness & rebellion - hence a connection?? I see churches that have more of a concern about being culturally relevant, than being heart broken over sin and wickedness in the world and how it breaks God's heart. I see churches that are rarely persecuted for their faith, but praised more for their entertaining services or how the pastor looked on Sunday. Where is the persecution??? Where is the hatred of believers in the name of Jesus??

I often wonder if the early church were hated because of how "loving" they treated others or if it was their their public rebuke of sin? I mean, were Christians really killed because of being overly nice to their neighbors, or were they killed and tortured for some other reason? Here is what Clement of Alexandria once wrote concerning the reason behind many Christian persecution:

"They persecute us, not from the supposition that we are wrong-doers, but imagining that by the very fact of our being Christian we sin against life (the world). This is because of the way we conduct ourselves, and because we exhort others to adopt a similar lifestyle" - Clement of Alexandria c. 195. Vol 2 Page 423 of Ante Nicene Fathers.

Christians were not killed simply because they loved their neighbors or for being overly kind to others, although naturally this is commanded by Jesus of all his followers. Instead we see that rulers and men murderer Christians because of their obedience to God and for exhorting and rebuking others to turn from sin and adopt a life of love and obedience. People killed Christians simply on the grounds that Christians caused people to have a condemned conscience and to have guilt over their sins. It was as if a light was being shined into the eyes of a person who had been sitting in a darkened room for so long, and that the light being shined forth by Christians was causing such discomfort of the persons soul, to the point of wanting to kill them to stop the light from shining into the darkness.

Where do we see any of this in our country? Where are our persecutors? I see a church that is being loved by the world because it no longer strikes conviction or repentance into the hearts of men, but rather have become places where men can come and find temporary relief or solace for their conscience. Where are the churches that are shining the light of Truth into the eyes of a darkened world? It seems to me churches are more concerned about abiding in their "Eternal Security" rather than striving daily to finish the race for Christ - and finishing it well!

Jesus said that we would be hated because of him - but where is that hatred?? Has the world stop hating the righteous, has the world stop hating Truth? No! Instead the world loves a lukewarm apathetic church. A church over grown with weeds and tares.

What will it take for us to be hated, to be persecuted? Here is what Leonard Ravenhill put forth:

......."The World has lost the power to blush over its vice; the Church has lost her power to weep over it. Do you ask, "Well now, where do we go from here?' The answer is, "Where sinful individuals or sinful nations can only go - back to a merciful God." Hear me! Every church without a prayer meeting condemns us; every Bible unopened condemns us; every promise of God unused condemns us;every lost neighbor condemns us; every lost heathen condemns us; every dry eye among us condemns us; every wasted minute of our time condemns us; every unclaimed opportunity condemns us. Next year is not ours. Tomorrow may be too late. Unless we repent now, unless we return and fire the prayer alters now, unless we fast and weep now, woe unto us at the judgment".

What the church needs to do is basic and very simple. Do what all great patriarchs and apostles did, they repented and weeped over their sins and turned their hearts toward God and a vowed never to break his heart again. Let us stop making our churches into 21st Century white washed tombs, whereby they are very appealing to the eyes of men and yet have little or no depth of God word. Let us take up the business of finding ourselves to be worthy in the eyes of our Lord and God and not the eyes of the world.

Born Gay or Born Sinful??

2008-08-02T14:32:00.000-07:00

Fellow Christ follower Jesse Morrell made a very interesting and insighful post the other day on his message board regarding homosexuality and the doctrine of sin nature. You can find the post here. Essentially, Jesse puts forth the following argument:

Calvinist and many doctrines today state that sin is a result of human nature. In other words people are not sinners by choice, but by birth. That sin is a part of our DNA or an inherent part of our flesh. For example, Calvinist or proponents of Original Sin doctrine will often say: "We sin because we are Sinners". I on the other hand would argue that we are sinners because we choose to sin. What's the difference? One is essentially stating we sin because of what we are - we are born totally depraved and therefore can not do anything but sin. On the other hand, I would argue that one sins because one willfully chooses to sin, that sin is a moral choice, a decision.

Calvinist have argued for centuries that mankind is born sinful, that we have a depraved nature from the moment we leave the womb. However, in recent years with homosexuality on rampant the rise, Calvinist are facing a real dilemma explaining away an argument the gay and lesbian community have recently taken that actually agrees with Calvinist! Homosexuals in recent years have argued that they are born gay and have no real choice in their behavior or lifestyle. They say homosexuality is not a choice, but is merely something you're born with.

But I have yet to find a Calvinist that would be willing to agree with the homosexuals that being gay is something your born with. If they would agree to this argument, then they would be actually giving the homosexuals a legitimate excuse for their behavior. Many Calvinistic Christians would argue the exact converse to this argument and say that homosexuality is not something your born with, but is a choice. But wait a minute! Aren't the homosexuals actually agreeing with the Calvinist for once?! If Calvinism is true, then would every murderer, pedophile, rapist, homosexual have the same legitimate argument and that is they are neither responsible for their sin, nor can they can be held accountable for their sinful actions??

The real issue here is that homosexuals want to say they are born this way because they want to cover and excuse their sinful acts of perversion. If they can somehow excuse their sin under the guise of being "born that way", they have then a "legitimate" excuse and therefore can ease or quiet their tormented conscience. The problem is most of our doctrines in most of our churches these days actually fuel this type of argument rather then refute it! Here is what author Alfred T Overstreet said regarding this type of theology:

“Homosexuals often cover and excuse their evil acts of perversion by saying that they were born homosexual. And if the teaching is true that men are born with a sinful nature, homosexuals are right to say they were born homosexuals. For they were born homosexuals if they were born sinners. Also they are right to excuse their evil actions of perversion. For if they were born sinners, they were born homosexuals; and if they were born homosexuals they can no more be blamed for their evil acts of perversion than the brute beasts can be blamed for being born brute beasts. Likewise the alcoholic cannot be blamed for his drinking if its true that he was born with the ‘disease of alcoholism’. In fact the murderer, the rapist, and all other sinners have a perfect and legitimate excuse for all their sins if they were born with a sinful nature. But God never excuses the murderer or the drunkard or the rapist or the homosexual or any other sinner for his sins. For God created all men with a good nature. All sin is a corruption of man’s nature, it is a perversion of man’s nature. It is rebellion against our nature – it is rebellion against the ‘law of God written in our hearts’ and against the God who has written his law in our hearts. No man is born a sinner. No man is born with the ‘disease of alcoholism’. No man is born a homosexual.” Alfred T. Overstreet (Over One Hundred Texts From The Bible That Show That Babies Are Not Born Sinners, pg. 8).

Furthermore, the bible is clear that homosexuality is not a normal part of our human nature but rather it is a perversion (See Rom. 1:26-27; 1:31; 1 Cor. 6:9; 2 Tim. 3:3; Jude 1:7).

Jesse Morrell brings up a very valid questions to the Calvinist community and one that I suspect will go unanswered, and that is:

1. Is human nature sinful?
2. Is homosexuality a sin?
3. Is homosexuality human nature?

Jesse goes on to make a very valid point and that is :

A person who says that homosexuality is human nature is a person who either:

1. Does not know the Bible (at least not very well).
OR
2. Does not believe the Bible.

It has to be one of the two.

I must agree with Jesse here. What we as Christians must do is be willing to do is to take a long hard look at our theology and see if it is actually giving sinners an excuse to sin, or are we presenting the truth so that they will be saved from it! Any theological doctrine that makes sinning easier or excusable is one that needs to be heavily scrutinized and examined - for most likely it is no Truth after all.

Desiring More Than God?

2008-08-02T12:01:00.000-07:00

I was thinking this morning about the whole doctrine of election and predestination. Here is what got me to thinking about this particular doctrine:

"If God is the one who has "double predestined" everyone either to heaven or hell, how is it then that I have a greater desire for others on this earth to enter into a personal relationship with God, than God himself does?"

I mean as a follower of Christ, I truly hope that EVERYONE is saved from sin and brings joy to the heart of our God and Savior, but yet according to Calvinist God seems to want or desire only a select few to enter into his presence for all eternity. This means that I have a greater desire for others to be saved than God himself does! Does this not strike anyone as just plain odd!!? I mean if predestination is true, then God really doesn't desire everyone to be saved, but only those he has predestined! How is it then we as followers of Christ have a greater desire for others to be saved from the torment of sin than the very Godhead does? This cannot be so!

I once heard evangelist and teacher, Gordon Olson once say that he converted from Calvinism as a result of an experience he had while preaching one Sunday. During his sermon he had a thought that shook him to the core. He realized that according to his present theology of Calvinism he had a greater desire to see others in his congregation to be saved than God himself did. Gordon realized there was something tremendously wrong with that sort of thinking and began to re-evaluate his theology. He came to understand that any theology whereby man could somehow desire his fellow mankind to repent and be saved more than God, had some real problems.

So for those who embrace Calvinism and yearn to see men saved, you need to ask yourself this question: Do YOU have a greater desire for men to be saved than what your doctrine puts forth??? Do you have a greater desire or love of your fellow man than your current image put forth by your doctrine? Do you question why you have a greater desire to see men saved or desire for revival and grieve why God has not yet moved?? The issue is not that your desires betray you, but that your theology has created a false image of the Godhead!

Wordle

2008-07-26T20:02:00.000-07:00

My friend and fellow blogger Dean Lusk mentioned a really cool Java App called Wordle that will apparently take all the words from your blog and turn them into a word picture for you. I guess it gives a good indication what your blog is all about. This is really neat to play around with!

Thanks Dean!

XXXChurch VS One Coureagous Christ Follower

2008-07-21T08:11:00.000-07:00

In a time where false doctrines such as Calvinism and Universalism have almost spiritually bankrupted the church, there are times where courageous men and women do step forward to rebuke or exhort those who are out in the public forum promoting such false doctrines.

The following video is an exchange between a group growing in recent popularity known as The XXXChurch.com and one lone Christ follower. This "ministry" drive around the country promoting their "Christian" website that supposedly exposes the dangers of pornography. The only problem is their website gives the appearance of a actually embracing porn rather than telling people to repent from it. Some of their tactics include putting up a 30 ft inflatable penis in front of churches to promote their ministry! They also go to Adult Porn Industry conventions and hand out "The Message" bible that says "Jesus Loves Porn Stars" on the cover (rather than preaching the gospel they feel by just handing out bibles this alone will bring people to repentance. I guess this is taking "Sola Scriptura" to a whole new level!). You can see another example of their so called "Christian" tactics here. Again on this video they are confronted by some street preachers that tell them their tactics are neither biblical nor honoring the death of Christ and that they need to turn from sin and not embrace this poison of pornography. Let's keep one thing in mind here folks and that is the bible says that it is only through coming to the realization of our sins and allowing that realization to bring us to a point of brokenness, that will led people to repentance.

The following video is what I consider true Christian courage. How many of us would be so bold to confront someone in public of promoting such a false doctrine? I want you to pay particular attention to what the guy from XXXChurch says when confronted about sin - he says he "sins everyday" and that "He Can't help but sin". This guy is simply regurgitating what he has been taught and that is he is "Totally Depraved" and that sin is not a choice but something he is born with - Original Sin. It is the product of Calvinism we have to thank for this type of "ministry" as we can so these folks are simply taking their theology to their logical conclusion and that is one can sin in word thought and deed daily - simply because they have born that way and can not change the will of their hearts and minds. This type of stuff will not end until we as believers start rebuking this false teaching that sin is a birth defect rather than a moral choice.

Pagan Christianity: A Hard Look at Why We Do Church the Way We Do.

2008-07-20T09:08:00.000-07:00

Early Church Father Tertullian was once quoted as saying "Custom without Truth is error grown old." Personally I have often asked tough questions of why we as the church do the things we do. In other words why is it we have the same order of service Sunday after Sunday? Why is it that only the pastor that gets the liberty of preaching? Why do we have such expensive buildings? Why do some churches require their laity to dress up in their finest every Sunday? Why is it that if you want to be an evangelist or pastor one does not need to go to church, but must go to seminary (where is this ever in scripture??!). Why is it we have "Worship Leaders" but yet worship is supposed to be a lifestyle led only by the Holy Spirit?

For those who have the courage to ask the tough questions of the present day church as to "Why do we do what we do Sunday after Sunday?" then I have a book for you! For those who have always wondered "Is this REALLY the way the apostles and the Early Church Fathers conducted church?" Then there is a book that answers many of these tough and often avoided questions. George Barna and Frank Viola have written an intriguing book that looks at just where most of our church traditions and liturgy come from. The results are alarming and yes may even cause some people to take a collective step backwards and reevaluate how and why we do church the way we do.

Although this post is not a review of the book, I do want to discuss or mention just some of the points Barna and Viola address in the book. It is my hope that my audience here has the courage to go out and buy the book and take to heart what Barna and Viola are addressing and get to the truth of how the true church of Jesus Christ is suppose to look and function.

The Church Building: Was it really Christ's intent that His followers build and own expensive edifices? Was the New Testament church really supposed to meet in such lavish or expensive buildings? To date Christian churches in the United States OWN over $230 BILLION worth of property and buildings - collectively this is more capital assets of some of the top Fortune 500 corporations in the WORLD! Wouldn't it be better served that this money be spent to serve the poor or be used for global evangelism?? Ever wondered why we need to sit in pews or have a stage from which the pastor speaks from?

Order of Worship: Why is it that the "Pastor" is at the very center of every church service? Why is it that the modern day church service seems to choke or make no room for anyone to give a word of exhortation or share an insight, or start a song, or spontaneously lead a prayer?? Why does it seem the service is so set in concrete and makes little or no room for the Holy Spirit to openly work or move?? Why is it we are forced to be a muted staid pewholders?? The answer: Surprisingly most if not all of the liturgy or church service stems from the churches early roots in Roman Paganism and Catholicism. Although the Reformers brought some changes, most of these changes simply shuffled things from being Priest centered to now Pastor-centered. The truth is most of how we do church is not rooted in the bible but from Paganism brought forth by Roman Emperor Constantine.

The Sermon: Why is it that Sunday after Sunday the sermon is delivered by the same person? Why is it that the sermon is required to be given to a passive and muted audience? Why is it that the sermon is more like a theatrical monologue rather than a free flowing dialog between fellow believers? Why is it the sermon is more like a cultivated and prescribed speech (Three points and a conclusion?). Ever wish you could stop the pastor and ask a question or for a further explanation. There is good reason why the current systems does not allow for this to occur.

The Pastor: Why is it in order for someone to "preach the gospel" that individual must have been taught at a seminary or bible college? Is ordination really biblical?? Was all truth really supposed to come from one individual or was the church to operate in a more organic manner? The reality is the present day pastor is really born out of a single-bishop rule spawned out of a Roman Pagan inspired system. A single pastor system essentially elevates one person to unrealistic expectations or responsibilities that is neither biblical or practical.

Sunday Morning Costumes: Just where did the notion that we must put on our "Sunday Best" when attending church? Doesn't the notion of requiring people who want to attend church to put on a suit or their finest clothes contrary to that of the message of Christ?

Minister of Music: Barna and Viola put forth an interesting argument here. They reference 1 Corinthians 14:26 whereby Paul says: "What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, everyone of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification." The interesting thing here is note the use of the word "everyone of you has", doesn't the Worship Leader make this impossible by limiting the headship if Christ in leading his followers into singing praise songs to the Father? When worship is limited to being led by only those who are "talented", this then becomes more like entertainment than corporate worship. Doesn't the worship of Christ belong in the hands of ALL God's people?

Tithing and Clergy Salaries: This has to probably be one of my favorite chapters. Did you know that for the first 300 years of the church did not promote nor require tithing? Did you know if someone wanted to be a pastor or evangelist they took a vow of poverty and were put in the same category as widows and orphans? The amazing thing is tithing applied to the Old Testament era where taxation was needed to support the Levite priests. But yet today this is the only Old Testament Law still upheld by the present day church. Again the only reason the present day church upholds the tithing requirement is it must have some means of paying for its expensive buildings and salaries. But yet didn't Jesus come to do away with the "Temple Tax" or set us free from the bondage of supporting the Old Testament clergy system? Besides, tithing has become a so called litmus test for Christian discipleship. As a matter of fact I have personally known of churches who require their staff or anyone in a teaching capacity to pay tithes. No tithes - no position. But yet where is any of this scriptural? Again, tithing eliminates giving from the heart and again allows an external "righteousness" to be established in the church.

Although these are not all the points addressed in the book, these are for the most part the major issues both Barna and Viola see as things that are limiting Christ's church from truly functioning as an organic entity. The point I truly appreciate about this book is its straight forwardness and courage to take on the current church establishment. Granted, Barna and Viola have received their fair share of hate mail and threats, but yet when we look over the canvas of church history so did many others who where so bold and courageous to approach or question the church establishment of their day - Barna and Viola in my opinion will be found years from now to be considered and recognized as church heroes. It is my hope that you will have the courage to read this book, and to be honest with yourself and address many of their points on how we can honor Christ as an organic body of believers.

Historical Views of the Atonement

2008-06-23T04:18:00.001-07:00

In a recent discussion I was having with a Calvinist, he put forth that Calvinism has history on its side and that is because the Strict Judicial Atonement Model of Calvinism was the atonement model that has always been adhered to by the church. He went one to say that this was the same atonement model put forth by the apostles. For one, I found this comment to be rather arrogant, because there is no real clear cut atonement model ever put forth in the scriptures. Much like a puzzle, one needs to take up the various pieces from BOTH the Old Testament and New Testament, and come up with a particular picture or concept of what exactly the atonement was for and why is it necessary? I will discuss this further in future upcoming posts, but today I simply want to lay out a brief history of the various atonement models throughout church history*:

1. Satisfaction Theory: Strictly vicarious and exactly equivalent to man's guilt.
A. Satisfaction to Satan, to whom man had chosen to give allegiance and must be liberated by Christ paying to him the ransom price (common from 3rd to 11th centuries): Irenaeus (130?-202?); Origen (185?-254?); Gregory of Nyssa (335-399); Augustine (354- 430); Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153).

B. Satisfaction to God the Father universally for all mankind, through a sacrificial death of the Divine Logos who had become one with lost humanity: Athanasius (296-373), the great defender of the Deity of Christ. In salvation the goodness of God must act consistent with His truthfulness and honor, which involves the principle of justice. "Christ as man endured death for us, inasmuch as He offered Himself for that purpose to the Father." Man must be freed not only from the penalty of sin, but from sin itself and be quickened into life.

C. Satisfaction to the ethical nature or justice of God, which demands absolute legal vindication: Anselm (1033-1109), said to have written the first scientific treatise on the Atonement, 1098. God rightfully demands honor and supremacy which man has refused to give, and thus has incurred a debt to God which can only be paid by punishment or by some substituted satisfaction. The God-man, Jesus Christ, with austere dignity came into our world and by His immaculate conduct and by His obedience to a gruesome suffering of death acquired merit before God which may be imputed to the believer as a perfect judicial standing. A Side Note: Something to ponder here - does this at all sound like forgiveness? If God is literally beating His Son just so he can take out his "vindictiveness" and "Anger" out on him, where then is the forgiveness of God? This is a huge problem for Calvinist who put forth that God would never set aside his anger or wrath, in order to forgive. But yet is this what the Bible or even Jesus says about forgiveness????

D. Satisfaction through a mystical union or a sacrificial bearing of the penalty of sin, providing a "relative satisfaction" as distinguished from an absolute strictly legal satisfaction in the full discharge of guilt, as advocated by Anselm: Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153), a pious and influential monk, typical of the majority of theological leaders from Apostolic times up to Anselm and the Reformation, who followed the descriptive statements of the New Testament without pursuing them to ultimate speculative conclusions.

E. Satisfaction to the offended holiness and justice of God through Christ's bearing the full penalty of man's sin in His vicarious death: Luther (1483-1546); Calvin (1509-1564); and early Reformation leaders, who adopted Anselm's principle of strict judicial satisfaction. The entire guilt and punishment that sinners deserve was transferred to Christ, who by His obedience in life and sufferings endured their total penalty so that sin may no longer be imputed or penalty demanded from those for whom He died, or from those who had been elected to be saved from all eternity. "Our sins were transferred to Him by imputation."

F. Satisfaction as above, with greater emphasis in early post-Reformation times upon the active righteousness of Christ being imputed to the believer as a perfect positive standing: Lutheran and Reformed (or Calvinistic) Confessions, and the Federal Headship theory developed by Cocceius (1603-1669) and more fully elaborated by Turretin (1623-1687). Under the Covenant of Works, Adam was the federal head of all mankind so his sin and its consequences is legally imputed to all.

This somewhat replaced the organic or natural relationship theory of guilt for Adam's sin advanced by Augustine (354-430). Through the Covenant of Grace, the Lord Jesus is the federal Head of those who are to experience salvation, being appointed to bear the full guilt of their sins (Adamic and personal) in an atoning death viewed as His passive obedience. By His active obedience to the full demands of Divine law, He is said to have fulfilled perfectly man's requirements and imputes His righteousness to believers so that it is legally considered to be theirs Since in the full development of the satisfaction theory, whatever has been accomplished in the Atonement is an exact equivalent of guilt so that salvation proceeds upon the basis of strict judicial justice, in no understandable way can it be general or made for everyone in the same sense, or all will be saved since God will not demand a double payment f or guilt-Christ's and the sinner's. But the sacred Atonement was made for all, with no theological reservations: Jn. 3:16-17; Mk. 16:15-16; II Co. 5:14-15; I Tim. 2:3-6; He. 2:9; I Jn. 2:1-2. The Lord Jesus as the Son of Man was under obligation to obey for Himself, since He was "born under the law" (Ga. 4:4-5). His obedience could not, therefore, be imputed to anyone, but He was free to give His life in atonement since He "committed no sin."

2. GOVERNMENTAL THEORY: - The Atonement was necessary to solve the
problems of God as a Moral Governor, who lovingly desires to reconcile mankind.

A. The sufferings of Christ were necessary to the Divine government, rather than to the Divine nature: Gregory of Nazianzus (330-390). "Is it not plain that the Father received the ransom, not because He Himself required or needed it, but for the sake of the Divine government of the universe, and because man must be sanctified through the incarnation of the Son of God?" He strongly opposed the idea of a ransom paid to Satan, and could not understand why a ransom should be paid to the Father. He could only fall back on the "economy" of God and put forth no theory of satisfaction. Other early writers, like Athanasius, also mentioned God's governmental problems.

B. Christ suffered unto death in His human nature, not in His Divine nature, and thus the Atonement was not an infinite value to pay fully for the eternal punishment of sinners, but was graciously accepted by God the Father as sufficient to satisfy Divine justice: Duns Scotus (1265-1308) In line with the majority of Christian thinkers of the centuries, he held the principle that the Atonement provided a "relative satisfaction" to the justice of God and proposed his theory in opposition to Anselm, who had insisted upon absolute total equivalent satisfaction through an infinite sacrifice. He came to view the Divine will as not bound by anything fixed in the Divine nature, but free to decide upon what basis sins could be forgiven.

C. Christ, the Savior of the world, died for all men and for every man, and His grace is extended to all. His atoning sacrifice is in and of itself sufficient for the redemption of the whole world, and is intended for all by God the Father. The sacrifice of Christ is not the payment of a debt, nor is it a complete satisfaction of justice for sin. It is a Divinely- appointed condition which precedes the forgiveness of sin, just as the death of a lamb or a goat in the Mosaic economy. Christ's sufferings took the place of a penalty, so that His sufferings have the same effect in reconciling God to man, and procuring the forgiveness of sin, that the sinner's endurance of the punishment due to his sins would have had. The sufferings of Christ were not a substituted penalty, but a substitute for a penalty: Jacobus Arminius (1560-1609); Episcopius (1583-1643); Curcellaeus (1586 1659); Limborch (1633-1712); known as Arminianism. Outside Holland, Arminianism exerted considerable influence in France, Switzerland, Germany, England, and America, and hence throughout the world through various denominations, especially Methodism. subjects, when repentant sinners are pardoned through a commitment of faith (E.A. Park, 1883): New England Theology; Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758); his son (1745-1801); Nathaniel Emmons (1745-1840); Caleb Burge (1782-1838); N.W. Taylor (1786-1858); C. G. Finney (1792-1875); Congregationalists (very extensively); "New School" Presbyterians; several groups of Baptists; other groups and leaders in America and England (called "American Theology").

In the governmental theory, the Atonement is not required by the subjective nature or vindictive justice of God before mercy is extended. It is not God in isolation as the injured party, but rather God as a benevolent Ruler in relationship to His moral creatures, with great problems of reconciliation that require solution. These problems involve man's relation to God in intelligent moral government, as well as some means to convey God's very deep reactions toward sin and His abounding mercy toward man in spite of man's desperate rebellion. Man must be broken down before God in deep respect and penitence in a return to a right attitude towards God's loving regulation before forgiveness can take place. The sacred advent and atonement of Christ, therefore, is not merely a.measure to discharge guilt by some calculated equivalent. It is the most profound measure conceivable, with an objective to restore a ruptured God-man relationship in all that is involved. The Atonement was, therefore, general in the absolute sense and legally discharged the guilt of no one.

3. MORAL INFLUENCE THEORY: - A manifestation of suffering Divine love was necessary to subdue man's rebellion so reconciliation could take place. The life and sufferings of Christ were conceived to be an exhibition of Divine love to reconcile man back to God by breaking down his resistance and drawing him back into a life of fellowship with God. There is no specific necessity of satisfying the Divine nature or the problems of God's moral government. The life and sufferings of the God-Man were intended to exert a moral impression upon a hard and impenitent heart, which is thereby melted into contrition, and then received into favor by the boundless compassion of God (Abelard): Clement (185?-254?) of Alexandria; Peter Abelard (1079-1142) of France, who opposed Anselm; Horace Bushnell (1802-1876), a lawyer and New England pastor. Many liberals in theology of succeeding generations accepted his general opinions without sharing his deep sincerity.

4. ETHICAL EXAMPLE THEORY: - Sinful man has been misguided and needed a
noble virtuous example to challenge him to a new way of living. If man is going to realize his potential and be reconciled to God, he must repent and reform his ways. For this purpose Jesus Christ was miraculously brought into our world and thus was more than a mere man (Socinianism, 1600's), or was natural born and as a religious genius identified himself with God in special devotion to achieve a unique
ministry to mankind (Unitarianism, 1700's). His virtuous and loving conduct in life and in death as a noble martyr showed us how we ought to love God and each other, or become converted and reconciled to God: Laelius Socinus (1525-1562) and his nephew Faustus Socinus (1539-1604), in Poland; Unitarians, who trace their views back through Arius (256-336); and others of humanistic opinion (Christ a mere man).

THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF THE ATONEMENT

Case 1: -The Atonement was a literal or an exact payment for sin. -All are not being
saved through it. -Therefore, It could not have been made for all.

Case 2: -The Atonement was a literal or an exact payment for sin. -It was made for all. - Therefore, all will be saved through it.

Case 3: -The Atonement was made for all: Is. 53:6; Lk. 2:10-11; Jn. 1:29; 3:16-17; 6:51; II Co. 5:14-15; I Tim. 2.3-6; Tit. 2:11; He. 2:9; I Jn. 2:2; also Is. 1:18; 45:22; 55:1; Eze. 18:30-32; Mt. 23:37; Mk. 16:15-16; Ro. 2:11; Re. 3:20.

• Only a minority are being saved through it: Ge. 6:5-8; Is. 53:1; Mt. 21:10; Lk.
13:23-24; 23:21; Jn. 5:40; 6:60, 67; 7:7; 16:33; Acts 8:1; 14:22; I Co. 4:13.

• Therefore, it was not a literal or an exact payment for sin.

*Excerpted from his work The Truth Shall Make You Free, by Gordon Olson

Essential Elements of the Gospel

2008-06-17T22:16:00.000-07:00

Recently in our home church one of our fellow members, Bruce brought up a great discussion regarding how does one identify the "Essential Elements of the Gospel" and how does one know when not to join efforts with others as their doctrine is determined to be false.

Here is what was discussed:

In an age with so many doctrines and so many denominations it has become harder and harder to decipher what are the essential elements of the gospel?

Somethings to consider: The purpose of knowing the barest essentials of the gospel is so that we can:

1. Understand how to witness to the lost
2. Identify who are God's fellow laborers in the Truth
3. Which doctrines are mandatory for salvation and fellowship and which are not
4. Who has false hope

There are only four concepts that must be understood for salvation:

1. One must understand what sin is and why it alienates us from God
2. Who is Jesus Christ, and what did He do so that we can be reconciled to God
3. That we live by faith which means daily choosing universal benevolence
4. That only those who persevere to the end shall truly be saved

Any "Gospel" that alters or denies the above mentioned points is a false Gospel. Anyone who teaches a false Gospel is a False Teacher or Prophet.

Colossians 1:19-23 19For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, 20and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. 21And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach-- 23if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.

How much latitude is there in the Gospel Message??

Galatians 1:6-9 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! 9As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!

What is the purpose of the Gospel?

Romans 1:16-17 16I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 17For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."

Romans 16:25-27 25 Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, 26but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him— 27to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.

Ephesians 1:13 13And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.

CAN ANYONE BE SAVED APART FROM THE GOSPEL?

What happens if the Gospel is altered in the least degree?

1 Cor 1:17 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Is the contingency of salvation a key element in the Gospel?

2 Timothy 2:8-13 8Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, 9for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God's word is not chained. 10Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. 11Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; 12if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us. 13if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

1 Cor 15:1-2 1 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

2 Thess 2 :13-15 13But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. 14It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.

If the contingent nature of salvation is a key element of the Gospel, what about those who's gospel does not contain this element?

Hebrews 4:6 6It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience.

2 Thess 1:6-9 6 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power

2 Tim 2:19 19 Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness."

1 John 2:3-6 3 We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

1 John 3:7-10 7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. 9No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

If continued obedience to Christ is a key element of the Gospel, what about those who's Gospel does not demand this?

How do we identify false witnesses, and should we partner with those who do not preach the Gospel?

Jude 4 For certain men whose condemnation was written about[a] long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

Matthew 7:15-20 15"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

1 Timothy 6:3-5 If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 5and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.

Matthew 24:10-13 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

2 Peter 2:1-3 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

2 John 4-11 4It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. 5And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. 6And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. 7Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. 9Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. 11Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.

SO WHAT ARE THE KEY DOCTRINES OF THE MODERN DAY CHURCH THAT MARK IT AS A FALSE RELIGION?

1. Once Saved Always Saved - Denies the Contingency of Obedience and Faith!

2. Everyone Sins in Word, Thought and Deed! - Turning Grace into Licentiousness

3. Total Depravity - Turns sin into something physical and not the moral and denies the redemptive power of the cross over sin (See 1 & 2)

Original Sin, Judaism and Augustine

2008-06-15T07:38:00.000-07:00

My VBS post from the other day generated a response from Anonymous . The response put forth by Anonymous got me thinking back to some of my studies on Judaism. A very high percentage of Christian Churches adhere to the belief Original Sin these days. But has this doctrine historically been a part of our Christian roots within Judaism?

As Christians we must always remember that our faith and doctrine is based upon the foundation of Judaism. If we deny this then we deny the very basis of our faith. Given that Jesus was a Jew and all of the apostles were Jews, understanding a little about some of the tenets of Judaism would be beneficial to understanding our own faith. For example, if one studies an ancient Jewish wedding ceremony that God gave to the Jewish people, it can teach us a tremendous amount about the Messiah and His church. Understand the different elements of the Temple and you will begin to see a picture of the Messiah.

Therefore, much of the foundations of Christianity are built upon the Jewish faith. I realize not every aspect of Judaism will line up with that of Christianity, but basics such as the nature and charcater of God, sin, faith, repentance and obedience should parallel that of Christianity.

This brings me to my first point. Many churches have accepted the doctrine of Original Sin or Total Depravity. The first logical question that needs to be addressed is "Has Judaism ever believed or embraced the doctrine of Original Sin?" Many Calvinist will claim Old Testament verses such as Psalms 51:5 or Psalms 58:3 as being proof text that Judaism held to the belief that the doctrine of Original Sin or Total Depravity to be true. But if you look into the Jewish faith one of the first things you will realize is that Judaism has never adhere to this doctrine. Historically speaking, Judaism has never believed in many of the so called "tenets" of Christianity such as Predestination or Original Sin. As a matter of fact it may surprise many Christians that Jews believe in Freewill, moral accountability, and that mankind is born morally neutral - and not "totally depraved" as put forth by many Christian churches.

I would encourage anyone to go and search the teachings of Judaism regarding this matter. To date I have found no sects within Judaism that believe in Original Sin or Total Depravity. Of course many will argue that Jews could have changed their position after Christ death and resurrection, but I feel this is somewhat of a "Conspiracy Theory" like attitude on the matter ands there is nothing historically that would support such a notion.

So where did Original Sin theology come from? The simple answer is gnosticism - Greek-Roman Pagan Philosophy. It stems primarily from Platonism. The false concepts of Predestination and Original Sin first appeared on the canvas of Christianity around the 2nd century with Augustine (AD 354-430). Augustine was a former Platonist and pagan high priest, of a gnostic sect known as the Manichean's. It is historically noted that Augustine was heavily influenced by Plato and therefore much of his philosophy and theology was also. Many Christian historians believe with the influence and heresies Constantine brought into Christianity, the stage was set for former pagan priest such as Augustine to offload much of their pagan philosophies onto Christianity. Clearly the amount of Platonic thought that Augustine brought to Christianity is proof that this theory is very plausible. Again, we must remember it is Judaism that is the foundation of Christianity, and not Greek philosophy!

To better understand what Platonism teaches regarding the matter of good and evil it is essential for Christians to understand that Platonism and Judaism stand in antithesis to one another. Plato believed in the general assumption that sin and evil are ontological, that is they are an actual "essence" or is a physical "thing". This essentially means evil and good are a "thing" rather than a moral action or choice. Gnostic's and Platonist literally believed that good and evil could be passed along physically or even "divinely" from the gods above. Whereas Jews have historically for thousands of years have believed that evil and good where not an "essence" or "a thing",it is believed it was the result of a moral choice or action. The ontological view of sin was a major if not the central factor that contributed to the basic premise of the doctrine of original sin - that is because it holds to the belief that evil or sin is an essence and therefore it can be inherently passed along to ones children. To be inherited, sin must have essence, real being; it must consist in some "thing" that causes evil choice and action, instead of being the moral character of the choice itself. With this mind set it is common to regard sin in the heart as an essence instead of a voluntary choice; hence the term "sinful nature." This evil essence is regarded as a part of human nature. Although Augustine did not originate the concept, he passed it on to subsequent generations. Calvin and Luther both built heavily upon it - as both were followers of Augustine's writings and teachings. Sadly it is still with us today and its effects can still be felt throughout the Christian faith.

If you would like to learn more of how Greek and Pagan philosophy influenced Christian theology here is a great article.

The Dangers of Vacation Bible School

2008-06-14T11:45:00.001-07:00

Here in Northern Alabama its that time of the year where as you drive up and down the roads you can't help but see all the signs for Vacation Bible School (VBS). Any church here in the South worth its weight in gold will most definitely have a VBS program. Most churches around here have similar themes - this year its "Power Lab" or "Outrigger Island" (all apparently SBC or Lifeway developed programs). Our son, who is 6yrs old, has really enjoyed going to these for the past couple of years. Even though we home church, I see no harm in sending him to a VBS program. I typically have seen these as positive opportunities for him to play and interact with other children his age, and get some exposure to bible stories and how to treat and love others. I figured at his age how much harm could happen to him at this age?

However, that all seemed to change this week when he went to VBS at a church just down the road from where we live. The other day my wife went to pick him up from VBS when one of the teachers approached her. She began to explain to my wife that our son had been asking a lot of questions about Jesus and about asking "Jesus into his heart". First, my wife was taken back by this comment as we have a hard enough time keeping him focused on saying his prayers at nighttime and at the dinner table, let alone he is now looking to be "saved". So to say this comment sort of took her by surprise was maybe an understatement. The teacher apparently went on to say that she was excited about this prospect and wanted to let my wife know as this is a very important decision in such a young boys life and that we needed to talk to him about making this decision.

Well later that evening after dinner my wife began to inform me of this conversation she had earlier that day with the VBS teacher. In general I have no problem with Vacation Bible Schools. I think these are great opportunities to expose kids to the bible and to teach them about God's moral laws and his loving kindness. However, where I seem to draw the line is in how flippant they seem to treat salvation and the depth of the gospel message. I realize that for some traditionalist Christians, my comments might seem harsh or even heretical, but let's look at the proposition the VBS teacher was putting forth theologically about my son's much needed redemption.

First, the bible clearly tells us that the gospel is specifically for the redemption and reconciliation of sinners! A sinner is defined as one who has morally sinned against the good laws of God. Sin is defined as a violation of God's known laws. Therefore, in order for my son to be a sinner, he must first be able to recognize what sin is and must be able to recognize when he has sinned in order to be held accountable by God. Second, one needs to look at what it takes to be reconciled unto God and what that process entails.

The bible clearly says that the gospel is for the lost and for those who are in rebellion against God as a result of their sins. If this is indeed true, then this church was putting forth the idea that not only my 6 year son is a sinner, but better yet, that if he were to die he would be sent to hell as a result of his sinfulness. I have a real hard time thinking that God sees my son as a rebellious sinner let alone he would deserve the wrath of God and the eternal torment of hell. Jesus clearly says that children are innocent beings and that if we cause an innocent child to sin, it would be better for that person to have a stone tied around their neck and thrown into the sea! Children are innocent until the age of accountability and if they do perish they will automatically be with him.

Granted, there will come a time when my son will sin, but at 6yrs old he has a hard enough time tying his shoe laces, let alone committing immoral acts! At this point in my son's life , he has a hard enough time understanding how to work our Wii console, let alone understanding the vicarious atonement of Jesus Christ.

For me this is such a sad state when our churches feel it is necessary to bring 5-11 year children to salvation. What do they need to be saved from? Innocence?? Does a child at this age really understand what sin truly is? Again, this is another sign of just how theologically inept most if not all of our churches really are! When churches treat the gospel with such flippancy it really does more harm than good. As a friend of mine once said, "When we make salvation easier than getting a library card, we have done such damage and injustice to the cross". I agree. To take this a step further, couple this idea of "saving" a 5 or 6 year old and then couple that with the theology of "Once Saved Always Saved" then really what you have created is a monster. A monster that when they do to get to an age of accountability and really do begin to sin, that we now have a theology within the mind of this individual that they are still "eternally secure" and yet can continue to act and behave carnally and still get to heaven. For me this is why I entitled this post - "The Dangers of VBS". My concern is not so much with my son, as we will make sure he truly understands what sin is and how one comes to be reconcile unto God. But its the other children who have been duped by the church into thinking that have been saved at such an early age and then told they are "Eternally Secured". For me this is such an injustice not only to those children, but really to the gospel and ultimately Christ and the sacrifice he made for us.

New Life Defined

2008-06-12T18:09:00.000-07:00

I copied this post from fellow Christ Follower Jesse Morrell's message board. I think this is such a great post and does a thorough job defining what the life of a genuine Christ Follower should be.

1) The purpose of Jesus’ coming was to redeem us from all iniquity

Matt. 1:21 “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.”

Luke 1:68-75 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people...that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.”

Titus 2:14 “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”

1 John 3:8 “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”

2) Those who have been saved from their sins need not continue to sin and repent

Luke 15:7 “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.”

John 5:14 “Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.”

Rom. 6:1-2 “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid.”

3) A child of God is able to overcome temptation

1 Cor. 10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

2 Pet. 2:9 “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations.”

4) After being cleansed by the blood of Jesus, it is possible to stay clean

Rom. 6:6-7 “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.”

Gal. 5:24 “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.”

Col. 1:22 “In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight.”

James. 1:27 “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”

1 John 5:18 “We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.”

Jude 24 “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.”

5) Grace does not cover over sin, but gives power to overcome sin

Rom. 6:1-2 “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”

Rom. 6:15 “What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.”

Titus 2:11-12 “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.”

Jude 4 “For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness.”

6) Whoever sins is the servant of sin, not the servant of God

John 8:34, 36 “Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”

Rom. 6:16-22 “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but...Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness...for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness...the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.”

7) Those who sin are spiritually dead

Rom. 6:13 “But yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead.”

Rom. 7:5 “For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins...did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.”

Rom. 8:6 “For to be carnally minded is death.”

Eph. 2:1 “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.”

Col. 2:13 “And you, being dead in your sins...”

1 Tim. 5:6 “But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.”

8) True Christians are dead to sin

Rom. 6:2 “How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”

Rom. 6:6-7 “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.”

Rom. 6:11 “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Gal. 5:24 “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.”

9) The wrath of God abides on those who sin

Rom. 1:18 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.”

Rom. 2:8-9 “But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil.”

Col. 3:5-6 “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience.”

Eph. 2:2-3 “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”

Heb. 10:26-27 “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation.”

10) Those that profess to be saved but do not live holy will be surprised at the Judgment

Matt. 7:22-23 “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

11) Those who sin have no part of the kingdom of God

Rom. 14:17 “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”

1 Cor. 6:9 “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?”

Gal. 5:21 “Of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things [the works of the flesh] shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Eph. 5:5 “For this ye know, that no sleepermonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.”

12) Those that turn back to sin lose their salvation

Ezk. 33:12-13 “The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression...neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth...if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.”

Gal. 2:17-18 “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.”

2 Pet. 2:20-22 “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning...The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.”

13) Those who sin cannot see nor know God

Matt. 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”

Matt. 7:23 “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

Heb. 12:14 “Holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.”

1 John 1:6 “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth.”

1 John 2:4 “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

1 Jn 3:6 “Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.”

3 John 11 “He that doeth evil hath not seen God.”

14) Whoever loves the world does not belong to God

Eph. 2:2-3 “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world...fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath.”

James 1:27 “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”

James 4:4 “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”

1 John 2:15-16 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”

15) God does not hear sinners

Psa. 66:18 “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”

Isa. 1:15-16 “And when you spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil.”

Isa. 59:2 “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”

John 9:31 “Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.”

1 Pet. 3:10-12 “For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.”

16) Christians are not to fellowship those who profess salvation but continue to sin

1 Cor. 5:11 “But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.”

2 Thess. 3:6 “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.”

Eph. 5:11 “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”

1 Tim. 5:20 “Them that sin rebuke before all.”

2 Tim. 3:2-5 “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud...unholy...lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”

2 John 9-10 “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God...If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed.”

17) Christians are to walk in the Spirit, not in the lust of the flesh

Rom. 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

Rom. 8:13 “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.”

Gal. 5:16 “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”

Gal. 5:24 “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.”

1 Pet. 2:11 “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.”

2 Pet. 1:4 “Having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

18) By God’s power, Christians keep themselves undefiled

2 Cor. 7:1 “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

1 Thess. 5:22 “Abstain from all appearance of evil.”

2 Pet. 3:11 “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness.”

2 Pet. 3:14 “Be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.”

1 John 3:3 “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”

1 John 5:18 “We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.”

19) Whoever commits sin is of the devil

Jn. 8:41-44 “Ye do the deeds of your father...Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.”

Eph. 2:2 “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air.”

1 John 3:8 “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning.”

1 John 3:10 “In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.”

20) Christians follow the example of Christ

1 Pet. 1:15-16 “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”

1 Pet. 2:21-22 “Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.”

1 John 2:6 “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.”

21) A holy life does not produce sinful fruit

Matt. 7:17-18 “Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.”

Luke 6:43 “For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.”

Heb. 6:8 “But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned.”

22) Christians have an undefiled conscience

Acts 23:1 “And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.”

Acts 24:16 “And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offense toward God, and toward men.”

1 Tim. 1:5 “Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned.”

23) It is not what we profess, but what we live that counts

Matt. 7:20 “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”

Luke 6:46 “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”

2 Tim. 3:5 “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.”

Titus 1:16 “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him.”

24) Those who sin cannot enter heaven

John 8:21 “Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.”

Rev. 21:27 “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie.”

25) The foundation of God is to depart from all iniquity

2 Tim. 2:19 “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”

26) A Christian is a new creature; old sinful ways are passed away

Ezk. 36:26-27 “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”

2 Cor. 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

27) Salvation brings a heart perfection that was unattainable under the Old Testament

Matt. 5:48 “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

Heb. 7:19 “For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did.”

Heb. 10:14 “For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.”

28) Those who love God keep His commandments

John 14:15 “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”

John 14:21 “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me.”

1 John 2:3-4 “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

29) God does not give commandments that are impossible to obey

Matt. 5:48 “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

John 8:11 “And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”

1 Cor. 15:34 “Awake to righteousness, and sin not.”

1 John 2:1 “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.”

1 John 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.”

Climbing Everest

2008-06-07T10:17:00.001-07:00

Climbing Mount Everest has always intrigued me. It has always been one of those things that I thought would be such an awesome experience. Given that it is such a monumental challenge, it must truly require such high levels of discipline, both mentally and physically. The amount of training that goes into preparing for such an adventure is truly not for the half-hearted, but only for those who are serious about taking on such a life changing experience.

After reading up on Everest it becomes very clear that no one can really climb it alone (although it has been done, it is very uncommon). Even for the most experienced climbers, Everest requires either an experienced guide or Sherpa. In order to reach the summit, it is essential that you put your full trust in your guide and take their advice as when it is safe to proceed to the summit. It is also very typical to climb with several fellow climbers, in order to maintain safety and to assure no one is left behind or goes off path.

When climbing Everest there are only two paths that one can take to reach the summit. What is amazing about these two trails to the summit is that these paths are extremely narrow - they can be as wide as only a foot in some areas. Guides will tell you never to venture off one of these paths. If one ventures off onto any side of these trails death is almost imminent. There have been many who have ventured off the summit trail and have died within only a few feet from it. It has been recorded that many climbers can plainly see the dead who litter the trail as they pass by. It is a gruesome reminder the need to keep ones eyes on the summit and their feet on the narrow path.

The summit path to Everett reminds me of the verse Jesus said regarding those who will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven:

Matthew 7:13-15 13"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14"For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it"

As a Christ follower we must always be conscience that the path we walk is a narrow one and there is little room that allows us to venture off of this path. Since the path is so narrow, it should become very apparent when we have ventured from it. But just as on Everest, we never climb alone. It is important that we listen to the fellowship of others and heed their warnings when one of us decides to either quit or stop moving along the path or when we have decided to put ourselves in mortal danger by electing to veer from this narrow trail.

The gospel message is much like the narrow path. Try to venture from it or change it a little, and your putting yourselves and possibly others in grave to serious danger. The Apostles speak often about the dangers of those who preach a "different path" or a "different gospel".

2Jn 1:9-11 Everyone who does not abide in the teaching of Christ but goes beyond it does not have God. The person who abides in the teaching of Christ has both the Father and the Son. (10) If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your home or even greet him, (11) for the one who greets him shares in his evil deeds.

AND

Jude 1: 4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

As Christ followers how do we know if we are on the right path? What is the marked difference between the wide path of the world versus the narrow path of Christ? Simple - Complete Obedience to God as a result of love and a life that is free from sin. Many claim that we can or must continue to sin in word thought and deed daily and deny man's moral ability to deny sin. To compound matters, some teach that one is "Eternally Secure" and yet can live a life of licentiousness and wickedness and yet still be a citizen of God's Kingdom. But these are distinct patterns of the wide-path and we know from the words of Jesus this path leads not to the "summit", but will lead to death and eternal punishment. Are you walking the narrow path of Jesus Christ? Are you walking according to the Word of God or the Gospel of Jesus? Or are you walking a path that allows you to continue in your sins and yet still be "Saved"? If your on this wide path my friend, turn back and seek the narrow path of Jesus! For the narrow path is the ONLY path that will allow you to reach the summit and reconcile you back to the Father.

2Ti 2:10-13 Therefore I endure all things for the chosens sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. (11) Faithful is the saying: For if we died with him, we shall also live with him: (12) if we endure, we shall also reign with him: if we shall deny him, he also will deny us: (13) if we are faithless, he abideth faithful; for he cannot deny himself.

Taking out the Trash!

2008-06-02T18:59:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to watch a wonderful sermon by Gregory Boyd entitled "Taking Out the Trash". Greg raises up some very good points about problems with strict judicial atonement theories such as the Calvinist - Retributive Substitution Atonement Model.

The main issue any atonement theory must address is not only the removal of the penalty of sin, but more importantly it must reform the sinner from selfishness to loving God supremely (An essential to becoming a citizen of God's Kingdom or moral government). An atonement must pardon us of the "crimes" we have committed, but at the same time ascertain that the criminal (or sinner) has been truly reformed from the heart! To strictly forgive without reforming the heart would be like pardoning a criminal from prison and unleashing them back onto society to reek havoc upon the society. The Retributive Atonement model lacks this essential element as it simply addresses the strict judicial transaction and in no way reforms the sinners heart, but simply takes away the penalty and then "secures" them in their still sinful state.

To make his point Greg uses two wonderful analogies here - the "Truck Driver" and a simple bag of trash. The reality is God does not simply overlook our sinfulness, but he truly desires that we are transformed and we truly become a "new creature in Christ" whereby we are no longer walking according to the flesh, but according to God's Spirit. Again, this plays right into my analogy I provided a couple of weeks ago regarding the steak in the toilet - do you really want to eat any part of that steak? God desires that we have no part of sin as Kingdom citizens!

Although this is not the entire video sermon, you can see the sermon in its entirety here.

Pop Goes the World, Not the Church!

2008-05-25T08:44:00.000-07:00

Recently my friend Dean Lusk mentioned on his blog a book that he is reading entitled book "Pop Goes the Church" by Tim Stevens. Although I have not personally read this book, I did by chance find a video on Youtube whereby a local news station interviews Tim about his book and his church (Tim is a pastor of a Church in Indianapolis). After watching this video it becomes clear what Tim's intent is regarding what changes need to be made to the church in order to spread the gospel further within our communities. His answer: - modernize the church to reflect the culture of the day so that it will be more appealing to the masses. This includes infusing TV, Movies and Music of our culture into sermons and worship services.

But it seems to me that Tim is sorely misguided in his attempts to increase or make the gospel more "popular". Jesus says specifically that as Christians the WORLD will hate us - in other words the Truth of the Gospel is NEVER popular (something that totally contradicts "POPular Culture")! As a matter of fact it rails against what the world decides is important - ourselves! Pop Culture is not what the church needs, what the world needs is the church! Want to increase our churches, stop preaching the soft serve sermons of self-improvement, but rather the gospel of repentance of sin, the gospel of the Cross of Christ!

When the modern day church feels it needs to resort to such worldly tactics what it really is saying is it reveal our lack of faith in the gospel. In addition, when we say "Sinners won't come if we don't have something in the church that appeals to them." then we slander the cross! Christ said "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." (John 12:32) The lifting up Christ spoke of was His crucifixion! Paul realized this in 1 Cor. 1:17-18,

"For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God."

Our faith is not in the wisdom, personality, or entertaining ability of men, but rather in the power of God. The bemoaning cry of those who justify worldly methods to win the lost makes it sound as if Christianity is desperate and that truth and the power of the Holy Spirit are insufficient to convert sinners. The gospel is an appeal to the conscience, not fleshly appetites. (2 Cor. 4:2). Sadly, the Church has had to resort to such activities because it has STOPPED preaching the Cross! Instead, its a happy feel good message of gooey selfishness! If we preach to man's conscience and not his flesh this will bring revival. (Revival is NOT about quantity, but rather the sincerity of men's heart and love for God).

Personally, I left the church several years ago for this very reason. When it was more important for the worship minister to breakout the disco ball and confetti canons for Easter Service, rather than preaching a message that will convict men's hearts and minds, it was time for me to go. We need to stop this insanity of thinking we need to improve our marketing tactics and get back to basics - Jesus hanging on a cross, suffering and dying for my personal sins. Reconciling me back to God through changing my heart and ultimate motivation for living.

Steak Anyone?

2008-05-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

I am often amazed and even bewildered about the attitude some churches have taken about the definition of sin. In an age of easy-believisim, where Calvinism has so destroyed or damaged the biblical understanding of sin, we see its lasting impact on the church of today. Calvinist theology has led us to a misguided understanding that sin is no longer a moral freewill choice, but is rather a necessity of God’s providence. Sin is no longer our fault, but rather that of Adam’s or one’s parents. Sin is no longer rebellion against God's goodness, but is just a part of our DNA or physicality.

Ultimately, these ideas of theology and understanding do have consequences. One example in my own life is several years ago I once had a local minister tell me that she sinned everyday in word thought and deed. According to her, everyday she would literally get up and commit acts of sin. This was because she had bought into the myth that sin was somehow imputed to her through her parents, as a direct result of their "Sin Nature". Therefore, she had relegated herself to believing she could not help but to sin everyday of her life. Instead of realizing that sin was a moral choice, her theology had equated that sin was something physical and not moral. Sadly, this concept of sin had so infiltrated her thinking that she had accepted it as truth. I still to this day wonder how many more people she has influenced with this misconception of sin. Again, ideas do have consequences!

I am so grieved by how often I hear pastors say that man is unable to change their hearts from sinfulness to benevolence. But what then did our Savior mean by when he stated “The Truth Shall set you Free”. Clearly the “Truth” has an impact on a persons desire to stop sinning. Knowledge as we discover is one of the most powerful tools God uses to change men’s hearts and ultimately stop them from being rebellious sinners.

It seems in this day and age, churches are more apt to believing some 1,500 year old Augustinian myth than simply reading the scriptures and applying a little bit of common sense or reasoning. Today, the church has seemingly replaced common sense and sound biblical interpretation for that of bad theology and non-sense. How often does one read a churches Statement of Faith to see the definition of sin as a result of mans "fallen" or "Sin Nature", rather than simply describing what sin really is and that is a moral choice to willfully disobey that which is known to be right or good.

One of the most powerful analogies of this very topic is from my good friend Scott Taylor. Scott presents a wonderful analogy of the power of God’s truth and how it can impact a persons desire to stop sinning:

Let say one afternoon you’re very hungry and you’ve decide that your craving a great big juicy steak. As a matter of fact, your hunger is starting to get the best of you and you’re famished. All day long you have thought about sinking your teeth into a nice juicy New York Strip! So you decide that you and your family are going to go uptown for an evening out at a local steak house.

As you arrive, you’re immediately seated at a nice table and the waiter comes over and takes your order. There is no need to even look at the menu as you know what you desire – a NY Strip prepared Medium Rare! A few minutes go by and out of the corner of your eye, you catch a glimpse of what appears to be the chef taking several steaks to the men’s restroom. At first you can’t believe what you’re seeing but as you inspect closer it is indeed the head chef taking several succulent steaks on a large metal tray to the men’s restroom. Immediately, you motion for the waiter to come to your table as you inquire as to what you have just witnessed. The waiter responds that he has no idea what you’re talking about and assures you that everything is alright. However, your interest is peaked by this time and you head straight to the men’s restroom to investigate further.

Upon entering the restroom you see the head chef taking a steak and wiping it on the inside of one of the toilets. He takes all four steaks one at a time and uses them as he would a toilet bowel brush! When you inquire as to what he is he doing with those steaks, he simply responds that he is preparing them for your table! You're astounded that a reputable restuarant would do such a thing! Now the question that bears asking is would you continue to eat at this establishment or would you sit down and enjoy the steak dinner you have been hungering for all day?

Sin is much like this analogy. Yes, on one hand our flesh deeply desires to taste and eat that succulent steak. As a matter of fact we have hungered and yearned for it for several days and finally we have the opportunity to fulfill our hunger pains. However, we now have KNOWLEDGE of the truth of how this steak was being prepared. One simply must make an intelligent decision here: Do I simply ignore the filth that has been placed upon my steak and fulfill my bodily desires or do I accept and act upon my recent new found knowledge that by eating this steak I could be causing some serious intestinal damage and end up harming myself and possibly others!?

If we listen to how the church is defining sin these days, it simply says that our desires out weigh the power of God’s Truth and that ultimately we end up having to eat the filthy steak from time to time! Regardless of how hard we try, the toilet bowel ridden steak will end up getting you in the end (no pun intended here!). Sin is a choice! The question we must be willing to ask ourselves is just how hungry are you? Are you willing to eat just a little bit of the steak? Are you seeking to find a part of the steak that was contaminated and to cut around it? Or would you rather override the desires of your flesh with the knowledge of the Truth and having nothing to do with the steak! Truth my friends is a powerful thing if we heed its call!

God desires that we live a life that is free of the filth and contamination of sin! Sin is a choice. As Matthew 6 states:

Mat 6:24-25 No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. (25) Therefore I say unto you, be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment?

Clearly, God is more concerned about our souls than our temporal bodies. So if eating a contaminated steak is cause for concern, is not then sin an even bigger concern? I hope that from this simple analogy I have shown that knowledge of God’s Truth is certainly a powerful motivator (if not the best motivator of all!). If one allows God’s Truth to transform their hearts and minds, then one can overcome sin and live in submission to our God in Heaven!

Say What?!

2008-05-01T08:01:00.000-07:00

Recently, I have been thinking a lot about the level of deception that many churches and church leaders have willfully fallen under in the past several years. Day after day my heart is burdened for revival and I am truly concerned for those that have fallen under this deception. After my recent post on "Center or Contemplative Prayer" I am aghast at what is occurring in most churches these days and the total disregard for Truth. This all seems very reminiscent of the Israelites and when they would intermingle pagan practices with that of the tabernacle. The end result was neither pleasing or honorable to God of such abominations.

What is occurring in the church with "Contemplative Prayer" is really no different than what we witness in the Old Testament. Paul specifically prohibits such activities on many occasions with the Gentile churches. To mix such pagan practices such as Hinduism or Buddhism with Christianity is really to defile the message and the power of the gospel.

Time after time I am amazed at how the church seems to think that they need to add something to the gospel message in order to somehow make it more powerful. Contemplative Prayer is really no different. Its the "Johnny-come-lately" of prayer methodology and is the "Next Big Thing" in evangelical circles. In recent decades, the church has lost faith in the power of the gospel to save humanity from sin and therefore have taken up the task of trying to dress it up in a new box and slap on a "New and Improved" slogan. We have truly forgotten that the gospel in of itself is what saves! Today, we have folks like Thomas Keating and Ruth Haley Barton as the great new marketers of Christian Spirituality! In reality they are nothing more than Charlatans!

Barton, Keating, Bell, and others have simply played into the hands of the Enemy. How so? Here is my take on all of this. One of Satan's biggest weapons within his arsenal of deceptive tactics is to get people not to live intelligently to the truth of scripture. In other words, I believe it is one of Satan's goals to get as many Christians not to think on the knowledge or wisdom of God's truth, and preventing that truth to transform their hearts. Rather, if he then can get them to focus on other things, say like Contemplative Prayer, they will ultimately focus on themselves or other things. This is why God detest when people bring in "other things" into their lives or churches that distract or take away our focus or attention from Him. To say our "thoughts" are the problem, is really to blame God with faulty design of the human mind and reasoning abilities. "Thoughts" in of themselves are not the enemy, but the condition of a person's heart! Did not God tell us to love HIM with all thy mind also? So to say that our "thoughts" are the problem when we pray is to say that God desires us to be nothing more than a mindless nitwit when we come to communicate to Him.

The thing is God has created us with a wonderfully created mind and ability to intellectualize. God truly desires that we continually focus our thoughts upon Him when we pray and throughout our day. God also desires conversation! How can he converse with us if our minds are empty or void or that we are chanting some "Sacred word" over and over again? Let me give you a true to life example to make my point:

Let's say you and I are going to have a conversation about airplanes and flying. Since I am a pilot and flight instructor, I know a little about flying and how airplanes work. So we meet up to have a discussion about the principles of flight and how they relate to an airplane. At the beginning of our conversation I immediately begin to chant "aileron, aileron, aileron, aileron, aileron" over and over again. I do this for let's say 10 minutes. After ten minutes or so are up I stop and I look over at you and ask you "So did I help you have a better understanding of flying?". I would imagine any sane or rational human being would immediately think I was some sort of fool or someone who is having some sort of mental episode.

Prayer is defined as communication between us and God. It is a time whereby we bring our petitions or thank fullness before God and God can at times speak to us through our time of prayer to Him. Logically this means there must exist a line or ability to communicate between the two parties. If we take the example I provide above, we can plainly see that if one of the two parties were communicating in a way that was mindless or in a way that was prohibitive to open communication, then lines of communication simply fail.

To maybe put it another way, let's say the tables are reversed and God communicates to US through the method of "Centering Prayer". Let's say during our quiet time God spoke to us but all He said was "Give, Give, Give, Give, Give, Give, Give Give, Give," over and over again. Now I would ask you, from this experience what exactly was God trying to communicate to you? Could you decipher from this repetitive chanting what He was asking of you? Could you discern intelligently that he wanted you to a) Give money to a missionary in India, (b) Give up Choclate Ice Cream for a year?.(c) Or was He simply asking you not to Give up on prayer for that lost family member? From this example we see the necessaity for good communications!

If we desire to KNOW God then we must be willing to place our thoughts specifically upon God. Not void out our minds altogether and conduct ourselves in some mindless paganistic mantra under the guise of Christianity! God desires to know our thoughts are upon Him and his ways! How does this occur? The Psalmist writes"

Psa 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts; (24) And see if there be any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.

Even David knew that the motivation of our HEART drives our thoughts. The issue here is not our thoughts, but what is driving or motivating those thoughts - OUR HEARTS! If your a person who is using contemplative prayer your a person who is really more about having an experience rather than changing your heart. You desire that God comes to YOU! Rather you humbling yourself and you COMING to GOD! Your more about the experiential and not the spiritual or the moral. Your about "Feeling" God rather than "Knowing" God! In the end "Centering Prayer" is not God Centered, but rather Man-Centered and is truly a "works" based form of spirituality! God is not at all interested in us coming to him with some vain repetitious prayer, but rather that we love Him with ALL of our HEART, ALL of they MIND and ALL thy Strength!

Off Center: The Danger of Centering Prayer

2008-04-28T20:12:00.000-07:00

Its recently come to my attention that a new way of praying is sweeping across the pulpits of many of our churches. It seems that within the past year or so a practice that has not been seen or heard of since the 16th century is fast becoming all the rage in certain evangelical circles. In an age where it seems Christianity and other world religions are quickly blurring into one another, it is no surprise for many that this form of prayer is being quickly adopted into the modern day church.

Its called "Centering Prayer" or also known as "Contemplative Prayer". Its Latin term is called Lectio Divina, and was originally started by Catholic Mystics (ie. Madame Guyon, etc). If your unfamiliar with Christian or Catholic Mysticism it is essentially nothing new, but rather its simply Eastern Religion repackaged as being Christian. For example, many ancient mystics believed in repetitive chanting and solitude (monasticism) that would ultimately bring ones inner self literally into "Divine Union" or "at one with God", or as one mystic put it "being literally absorbed into God".

So just what is Centering or Contemplative Prayer? One proponent website had this to say: "Contemplative Prayer is the normal development of the grace of baptism and the regular practice of Lectio Divina. We may think of prayer as thoughts or feelings expressed in words. But this is only one expression. Contemplative Prayer is the opening of mind and heart - our whole being - to God, the Ultimate Mystery, beyond thoughts, words and emotions. We open our awareness to God whom we know by faith is within us, closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than choosing - closer than consciousness itself. Contemplative Prayer is a process of interior purification leading, if we consent, to divine union." - The Method of Centering Prayer by Thomas Keating.

One must be very careful to closely examine what it is actually being said here. On the onset it sounds really good, I mean who doesn't want to get closer to God? The author here however has made sure to say all the right things. But if we take a deeper look it soon becomes obvious there is something else at work here.

First, note knowledge of truth has very little to do with one drawing closer to God, but rather "inner purification" is through an experience and not a revelation of truth.

Let's look a little further to see what form of prayer is being taught and just where does its spiritual roots take us?

First, it should be noted that with any movement, there is a founder or one who is responsible for bringing an idea or philosophy to the forefront. For Centering Prayer, it is Father Thomas Keating. Keating is a Trappist Monk who during the 70's began to explore other ways or methods of prayer. As with most monastic monks or monasteries, long periods of silence or solitude is commonly practiced. But Keating began to take some very unorthodox, or shall I say unbiblical approaches to seeking out this "higher" level of prayer. Here is what Keating says began to influence him during is "journey":

The historical roots of Centering Prayer reach back to St. Josephs Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts, where I was abbot from 1961 to 1981. This was during the time of the first wave of the renewal of religious life after the Second Vatican Council, where many questions were raised for the first time and interreligious dialogue was encouraged by the Holy See. Several of us at Spencer became acquainted with groups from other spiritual traditions who resided in our area. We invited several spiritual teachers from the Eastern religions as well as some ecumenically skilled Catholic theologians to visit and speak with us. Fr. Thomas Merton was still alive at this time and writing extensively about his researches and exchanges in interreligious dialogue. He was one of the most articulate pioneers from the Christian side in the dialogue among world religions.

In a similar spirit we entertained a Zen master who wished to visit our monastery. We invited him to speak to the community and later to give a sesshin (a week long intensive retreat). For nine years after that, he held sesshins once or twice a year at a nearby retreat house. During those years I had the privilege of making several sesshins with him. On the occasion of his first sesshin held in our monastery, he put on the Cistercian habit and ate with us in the refectory. We have a picture of him on his seventieth birthday eating a piece of cake while sitting in the half lotus position. [Spelling of sesshin in original]

We were also exposed to the Hindu tradition through Transcendental Meditation. Paul Marechal, a former monk of Holy Cross Abbey in Berryville, Virginia, A daughter monastery had become a TM teacher and offered to instruct us in the practice. Many in the community wanted to experience it.

Exposure to these traditions, as well as conversations with visitors to our monastery who had benefited from them, naturally raised many questions in my mind as I tried to harmonize the wisdom of the East with the contemplative tradition on Christianity that I had been studying and trying to practice for thirty years.

Keating goes on to say this about "Eastern religions" and how they can help Christians become "closer to God":

“We should not hesitate to take the fruit of the age old wisdom of the East and “capture” it for Christ. Indeed, those of us who are in ministry should make the necessary effort to acquaint ourselves with as many of these Eastern techniques as possible… Many Christians who take their prayer life seriously have been greatly helped by Yoga, Zen, TM and similar practices, especially where they have been initiated by reliable teachers and have a solidly developed Christian faith to find inner form and meaning to the resulting experiences”. (Thomas Keating and Basil Pennington, Finding Grace at the Center. pp. 5-6)

Any Christian who has an inkling of the Holy Spirit dwelling within them should immediately be alarmed by these types of statements. But just what does Centering Prayer involve? What does one do in order to obtain this "Centering" of oneself? Keating goes onto explain just what one must do to enter into this state of drawing closer to God:

"Choose a sacred word as the symbol of your intention to consent to God's presence and action within." (cf. Open Mind, Open Heart, chap. 5) The sacred word expresses our intention to be in God's presence and to yield to the divine action. The sacred word should be chosen during a brief period of prayer asking the Holy Spirit to inspire us with one that is especially suitable for us. Examples: Lord, Jesus, Abba, Father, Mother Other possibilities: Love, Peace, Shalom Having chosen a sacred word, we do not change it during the prayer period, for that would be to start thinking again. A simple inward gaze upon God may be more suitable for some persons than the sacred word. In this case, one consents to God's presence and action by turning inwardly toward God as if gazing upon him. The same guidelines apply to the sacred gaze as to the sacred word."

Keating goes on to explain further:

"Sitting comfortably and with eyes closed, settle briefly and silently introduce the sacred word as the symbol of your consent to God's presence and action within." By "sitting comfortably" is meant relatively comfortably; not so comfortably that we encourage sleep, but sitting comfortably enough to avoid thinking about the discomfort of our bodies during this time of prayer. Whatever sitting position we choose, we keep the back straight. If we fall asleep, we continue the prayer for a few minutes upon awakening if we can spare the time. Praying in this way after a main meal encourages drowsiness. Better to wait an hour at least before Centering Prayer. Praying in this way just before retiring may disturb one's sleep pattern. We close our eyes to let go of what is going on around and within us. We introduce the sacred word inwardly and as gently as laying a feather on a piece of absorbent cotton.

NOTE: This is no different than the practice of Transcendental Meditation whereby one chants a "Mantra" over and over or as in this case a "Sacred Word". The bible specifically warns believers not to pray repetitive prayers or senseless mumbling. When we look at how Jesus taught his disciples to pray was there any mention of "sacred words" or to enter themselves into a trance like state repeating the scriptures over and over again?

Of course many will say that Keating is at the extreme end of this movement and surely this has not reached the evangelical ranks. But as with many false doctrines and beliefs they are not satisfied until that have spoiled the entire well. Many mainstream Christian leaders have adopted this Eastern Religion into their Christian Leadership Trainings and even retreat centers.

For example, one well noted Christian author and teacher Ruth Haley Barton has become one of the leading experts on Evangelical Centering Prayer and has even opened up her own Christian Retreat Center, The Transforming Center, to teach countless other Christian Pastor and Worship Leaders this heresy. Barton is fast becoming one of the most renowned Contemplative Prayer "Guide" in recent years. On her website she notes the method of how one enters into a alter-state of solitude:

1.Choose a sacred word as the symbol of your intention to consent to God’s presence
and action within. [Examples: God, Jesus, Abba, Father, Mother, Mary, Amen. Other possibilities: Love, Peace, Mercy, Listen, Let Go, Silence, Stillness, Faith, Trust, Yes.]

2. Sitting comfortably and with eyes closed, settle briefly and silently introduce the sacred word as the symbol of your consent to God’s presence and action within.

3. When engaged with your thoughts*, return ever-so gently to the sacred word.

4. At the end of the prayer period, remain in silence with eyes closed for a couple of
minutes. [ *Thoughts include body sensations, feelings, images, and reflections]

Again, the intent of Centering Prayer is to eventually reach the point where the person is not engaged in their thoughts as they arrive on their stream of consciousness. The point here is to have an "experience" and not a renewing of your mind with Truth as Paul speaks of whereby we are using our God-given abilities to reason and know the Truth through God's word,teachings, and Holy Spirit.

Finally, what is astounding in all of this is none of this is ever mentioned in scripture. But yet why is this no surprise. It seems many in this movement are forgetting one important element and that is knowledge of the truth. Jesus said "The Truth shall set you free" - not some altered state of mind or Transcendental Meditation. It would seem this is again another subversion from people knowing the gospel or knowing God truly with the mind God gave us. Jesus told the woman at the well that "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24). Again Jesus spoke against this very thing in the Gospel of Matthew whereby he says:

" But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him". (Matthew 6:6-8)

Again I truly believe that we are in desperate times friends, when pastors and ministers have traded the truth for a lie and light for darkness. It is my prayer and my hope that many will trun from this perversion of God's word and His Truth!

"But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him." (2 Corinthians 11:3-4)

Feeling the Love or Knowing the Love?

2008-04-21T08:19:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard of the expression "Feeling the Love"? I immediately think of the Righteous Brother's song "I've Lost that Lovin Feelin". But I got to thinking about this the other day and how our culture, and yes even our churches, so often equate the term "Love" with a "feeling" or emotion. Sadly, I so often hear of how churches have somehow equated God's love with an emotion or a sensation of feeling.

For example, how often do you hear someone say "Oh how I felt the love of God today at the service" or "Wasn't it wonderful how we felt the love of God in the worship service!". I believe these expressions can be very misleading in the sense they equate "God's Love" solely on the basis of some feeling or some emotional experience. This reminds me of when I was a young teenager and whereby I had a "feeling of love" over some girl I had just met or had an interest in. This "Puppy Love" was by no means genuine love - as I was solely basing my affections or desires for this other individual strictly upon how they made me feel and not on the basis of the individuals character or personality.

We see from scripture that "God is Love" not on the basis of His emotional state, but rather God is loving and benevolent on the basis of his knowledge. God is love because in his infinite knowledge, He has determined love to be of the highest and greatest good in the moral universe. So in order for mankind to truly understand what genuine love is, we too must have knowledge of who God is - in character and personalty. It seems today however, that much of the "church experience" is just that - an experience. Many churches equate the "Love of God" on the basis of some emotional "touchy-feely" experience. If this is the case then sadly many truly do not have a genuine understanding of who God is, but rather how he makes them feel.

One can begin to quickly see the emphasis is not on God at all here, but on ME and how I am made to feel! This is truly dangerous and can often leave people disappointed or empty, especially when it comes to church or a worship experience. I personally have seen this at work at church we used to attend, where if for some reason the "worship experience" was not up to par or was a little lacking it was then equated that "God didn't show up". Ultimately this ended up requiring the worship minister to "amp it up" in order to the church members to "experience God". This is even more dangerous for the worship leader as it tends to lead the worship minister in believing they are the sole conduit to people in the church "experiencing" God. This always brings me to a question I would pose to most worship leaders and that would be "Why should anyone one worship God" or "What makes God worthy of worship?". Often their response is "Because He's God!". But this answer really comes up short - especially for someone who is a non-believer, as it gives the impression that we as Christians worship God solely on the basis of his power or abilities and nothing to do with who he IS! (As a side note when we look to scripture, this response is the same response pagan priest or ministers would often give as to why they were worshipping their idols or pagan gods).

Again, this is not to say emotions are a bad thing when we are worshipping God, but God has designed us that we are to be in control of our emotions and not to allow our emotions to control us! Emotions when used properly are always to linked to knowledge. My point in saying all of is this: What we seem to have a real lack of today in most churches is knowledge and understanding of who God truly is! Instead we have more of what I would call a "Concert Environment", whereby it is reminiscent of the rock concerts I used to attend in the 80's and early 90's. These venues were packed with people who were ready for an "experience" - lights, music, rhythm, pyrotechnics, confetti canons, etc. All instruments used to insight an emotional experience - and yet very little knowledge required. At the end of the "show" all you really had left was a ringing of the ears and a brief sense of excitement - the following morning you were still just as empty as the day before. It is my prayer that churches begin to understand and learn who God is and to have real knowledge of His character and then we will begin to truly experience the Love of God!

1 Cor 13:4-8 4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.

Is God Truly Broken Hearted or is He Just Faking it?

2008-04-14T07:13:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday at our home church we studied the broken heartedness of God and just how grieved God is over the rebellion of man's sinfulness. This has to be one of the most overwhelming subjects to study and I would challenge you to take some time to sit down and read every verse in the bible whereby God uses the word grieved, sorrowful, or broken, (See also "played the harlot") over the rebellion and sinfulness of man. For example Judges 10:15-16 speaks of God being grieved over the sinfulness of Israel:

Jdg 10:15-16 And the children of Israel said unto Jehovah, We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; only deliver us, we pray thee, this day. (16) And they put away the foreign gods from among them, and served Jehovah; and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.

Once you begin to read of just how many verses there are in the bible (mainly the Old Testament) where God is expressing his broken heart to the Israelites, its really overwhelming to see the God of the universe so broken hearted over man's sin. To think that God desires His creation to love him and yet we have turned to love another - ourselves ! There are many instances in the Bible where God gives us a mental picture of just how deep our sins have pained His heart - whereby he uses the phrase "played the harlot". The visual here is of a lover or bride that has went out and committed one of the most vile acts of betrayal - harlotry. God gives us an image of his beloved who has committed adultery with this "other" person, not out of love but merely fopr the purpose of gratifying their selfish desires, while all along the one who truly loves us and desires for us to love Him in return is brokenhearted or grieved over this great betrayal! What a picture of unrequited love!

I read of God's broken heartedness over man's constant rebellion I have to also reconcile this with two other doctrines that are permeating Christianity today. If God is truly brokenhearted then how does this harmonize with the God of Absolute Foreknowledge or the God of predestination? For one, the language used in the bible expresses the emotion or condition of God's heart at that particular moment in time. If God foreknew of this rebellion or sinfulness ahead of time, then why is he so choked up over it? Didn't He see this coming? Many Calvinist have said this was not really God's heart at that very moment, but rather this is an anthropomorphic expression, whereas God is just trying to express something on a "human level". But if this is really the case then one must come to the logical conclusion that God is merely expressing something he's really not. To express something that your not is the definition of lie! Then this theology is really making God out to be a liar. So for me this theology is in no way a rational explanation of God being truly grieved over the sins of man.

Second, is the doctrine of Total Depravity/Original Sin. How is it that God is so broken hearted over the fact that man is not loving Him nor obeying his statutes or commands, when we have been told that man is depraved, not by choice, but by a predisposed constitution. Did God forget that He had cursed man with this moral predisposition to sin 24/7? How can God get upset over man not keeping his commandments, when He knew all along we were never going to be able to keep them in the first place (not to mention He also knew from "Eternity past")? This would really be the equivalent of getting upset with someone because of the color of their skin or the color of their hair - aren't these "inherited traits" no different than so called Original Sin that we inherited from our parents? If Total Depravity/Original Sin is true, then how does one begin to harmonize the grief God expressed by God? I would suggest that its not God who has the problem here, but it is man who has freely choosen to rebel against God's loving kindness!

Ultimately, what this all comes down to is if you follow the logic of Calvinism you end up making God the author of His own unhappiness. If God is the author of His own unhappiness then sin is neither blameworthy nor would it be just to punish billions to hell for their prearranged rebellion! With the overwhelming evidence the scriptures gives us of God's broken heart over the rebellion of mankind, it leaves one to see that the theology of Calvinism leds people to beleive that the grief and sadness of God is not genuine, but is contrived by God's own doing. This my friend is a theology that does great harm to the character of God. When we read of Jesus as the being express image of the Godhead in human form, we see an image very much consistent with the image of God displayed through the history of scripture.

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not" (Isaiah 53:3).

He was not the stoic, man of nerves we might have imagined. Nor was he the ever-at-peace teacher we often describe. He was, among other things, a man of sorrows. For Christ himself carried the weight of man's sin upon his shoulders - a burden that was so overwhelmingly sorrowful that it is hard to even comprehend how heavy is such a burden. He willingly and purposefully chose to carry this weight so that all of mankind may see just how much God truly loves us and the deep desire He has that ALL may be reconciled back to Him, that we may turn from our "harlotry" and reside as the Bride He as waited with great anticipation and longing.

Would You Work For This Company?

2008-04-13T09:57:00.000-07:00

The following company is currently hiring "managers" for various positions at several of its worldwide branches. Now before you apply for this company they want you to be aware that this job has several downsides, well to be honest the company has a warning about the hazards of taking this job and what lays before you (and for your family) if you so choose to accept this job. First, realize that the job itself is not necessarily the issue, but its how the company is managed and organized that is the issue here. Here a just a few of the "risk" involved in working for this company:

1,500 "managers" leave this "company"each month due to ethics violations, burnout or contention within the "company".

80% of "managers" and eighty-four percent of their spouses feel unqualified and discouraged in their role as "managers".
50% of "managers" are so discouraged that they would leave the "company" if they could, but have no other way of making a living.
80% of "managers" said their greatest problem is they are sick and tired of dealing with problem people, such as disgruntled employees, co-workers, board members, and associate "managers".
90% said the hardest thing about the "company" is dealing with uncooperative people who work or are affiliated with the "Company".

Also, if you decide to work for this "company" realize that you run a higher rate of divorce than other so called management occupations. Here are some statistics of wives of "managers" who work for the "company":

80% of managers spouses surveyed felt their spouse is overworked who work for this "company".
80% of wives feel left out and unappreciated by the fellow company members.
80% of managers spouses wish their spouse would choose another profession.
80% of managers wives feel pressured to do things and be something they are really not.
80% of "managers" felt their families had been negatively impacted by the "company"
33% consider the "company" to be an outright hazard to their families

Before I reveal what "company" this is, I must first ask this question. Would we ever want to work for this "company" knowing the risk that the occupation will bring not only to myself or to my family? Second, does this "company" sound like it's work environment is a healthy one? Does this company need to seriously change how it operates or desperately need a better Human Resources Department? Does it sound like the people working at this company are looking out for its employees and managers? I have worked for my company for almost 10 years and I must say I have had some bad days at work, but even then I have never had these types of concerns working there? So where is this company? Is it some fortune 500 company? Is it the Government? The Military? Is it some Multi-billion dollar company?

THE ANSWER: ITS THE MODERN DAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH!

The "manager" position is actually the position of Pastor or Reverend.

So I ask this question. If these are the present day statistics of the modern day church - just how different is it from the corporate secular world? Better, Worse or the Same? Should being an "employee" for God have such destructive results on our family and children? Does this seem like a position that is exuding benevolence or does it seem somewhat hypocritical? As an non-believer would you want to "join" this company? When I read of these destructive statistis I am even more alarmed of the comments or attitude the church has on these statistics. Clearly, if we would have read these statistics from a secular point of view, we would have said "this company clearly has some management and leadership issues and the infrastructure of this company needs to be desperately changed." But as Christians, we seem to think that its not the structure or the organization that is the problem, but we tend to say "Oh the members just really need to step up more and support the leadership" or the more apathetic response "Oh these are issues that the church has been dealing with for centuries and this is just really the way it is". Really?! My point in all of this is just to show how horribly maligned the church structure really is. If one really researches the scriptures the church was NEVER supposed to look and feel the way it is today. As a good friend of mine once told me "Preston, the only difference between the churches of today and the Pharisees of 2,000 years ago - is our "priest" no longer wear robes, but suits or Hawaiian shirts!"

Sadly, it seems that the modern day church is really nothing more than "catholic lite" if you will. The model we have today stems from a pagan model put into place by Emperor Constantine and Augustine of the 4th & 5th century. I am more convinced that "home church" was really the original model incorporated by the apostles. There is no "head" of a home church, but rather we have elders who teach, but we recognize there is but one "leader" (head) of the Church and that is Jesus. Jesus came to abolish the system of so called spiritual "leaders", in the sense of one central person whom people look to for all of their spiritual knowledge or leadership. Jesus came that we ALL might become priests of God:

Rev. 1:6 and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father--to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever Amen.

A Calvinist Prayer.....

2008-04-05T22:21:00.000-07:00

I really wish I could take credit for coming up with this idea, but fellow believer and moral government preacher Jesse Morrell actually is the one I need to give credit to. I changed the prayer somewhat so to make it more general, but I saw this on Jesse's Theology Message Board and although it is satirical, it is indeed very effective. If you take the heresy of Calvinism to its most logical point this should really be the prayer Calvinist should be praying (and maybe they are?). But alas, Calvinist are always living totally inconsistent with their theology and this a tongue-in-cheek example of why Calvinism is so horrible and false.

"Oh, Father, I thank you that you didn't predestine me to believe in some doctrine other than Calvinism, like you predestined so many others . I thank you that you didn't predestine me to sin and go to hell like you predestined the majority of mankind to. I thank you for your limited grace, I thank you for your small mercy. I love the doctrine of Original Sin that you made us sinners in the womb, and that you send so many to hell for being what you made them. I love the doctrines of Total Depravity, that you command of us to do what you don't give us the ability to do, and threatening us with eternal hell for failure to perform the impossible. What marvelous grace! What blessed truth, that you cause us to sin (through your secret decrees and mysteries, ssshhh!) and then punish us for it! Thank you inventing so many evil atrocities such as rape, murder, and abortion just so in the end it will make us appreciate you more and it will somehow mysteriously bring more "glory" to you. Yes, we are unable to understand your ways, but hey you predestined us this way. In the end Lord, thank you for electing me and making me so very very very special. I just don't understand why everyone else doesn't rejoice at these blessed doctrines of Calvinism like I do? I guess they are all reprobates, and I'm just special. AMEN!

Oprah Winfrey is a False Teacher!

2008-04-03T21:06:00.000-07:00

I heard of this new movement that Oprah has been promoting, but I had no idea as to the extent she is going to deny Christianity, but to also promote a post-modern New Age "theology". For me this is just another reason why the modern church is failing so miserably! Why aren't more Christians crying out against this garbage ? Why isn't the church warning its neighbors of this false doctrine? Because the church is weak and feeble as a result of Easy-believism and poor doctrinal understanding. It has been living off of milk for far too long. This is some serious stuff folks and should not be taken lightly!

2 Peter 2:1-3 1But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

The Unreasonableness of Total Depravity

2008-03-30T10:53:00.000-07:00

This is a nice short video that discusses the unreasonableness of the theology of Total Depravity. When you take Calvinism to its logical conclusion you will soon be asking yourself these types of questions.

The Myth of Original Sin

2008-03-23T11:06:00.000-07:00

I thought I would share with everyone a paper that I recently received from fellow Christ Follower, Mike Desario. Mike has written a very informative paper on the myth of Original Sin and Total Depravity. For some who visit this blog, it will be information that you might already be familiar with. But for many, this information will be a shocking revelation regarding this doctrine, that for hundreds of years has been held tightly as orthodoxy. But if one takes the time and is honest in their discovery of this information, it will be very alarming and possibly an awakening to the truth. I encourage you to take the time to read this informative piece and to not just take Mike's word on this subject, but to check the references he uses and determine for yourself if what he says is indeed true. Click on the link below to read the full paper:

Myth of Original Sin

Real Preachers of Genius: Seeker-Sensitive Mega Church Guy

2008-02-28T04:14:00.000-08:00

I think the video speaks for itself. Although very humorous, it is also very sad that we have allowed churches to get to this point.

Open Theism and Prayer Part 3

2008-02-23T19:42:00.000-08:00

This is the personal testimony of Scott Abbott, a person with Muscular Dystrophy. Scott has countless personal experiences that illustrate the principles that Greg Boyd has spoken on about in the previous two sermons I posted here on my blog. Scott has personally wrestled with questions about why some prayers are answered and others are not – most fundamentally related to why he himself hasn’t been healed. I hope this touches you as much as it did me. Sometimes we don't always get to see what's occurring "behind the scenes" spiritually, but rather we need and should trust in our Heavenly Father and understand that in the end he truly loves us. As you will see from Scott's testimony, as Christians we must always be prepared to explain why bad things happen in this fallen world. But most importantly we must do so in a manner that does not impugn the character of God, nor one that will possibly bring added pain or confusion to that person's situation.

Open Theism and Prayer - Part 2.

2008-02-20T04:50:00.000-08:00

Here is the 2nd part of Greg Boyd's sermon "Scorpion, Egg and Prayer - Part 2". This is again a truly wonderful sermon that Dr. Boyd gives revealing not only the intent and purpose of prayer, but also explains why in some instance prayers are not always answered. If your a Christian who is having difficulty in understanding "God's Will" or why are prayers not always answered, this sermon will truly give you spiritual wisdom and insight on this particular subject. This sermon tackles many of the pat answers Christians so often give to hurting people, that so often repulse people or just brings added confusion to their situation.

A Fathers Reputation

2008-02-10T09:42:00.000-08:00

Yesterday afternoon my son and I sat down and watched the Steven Spielberg movie, "Hook". This is one of our families favorite movies and so when we saw this was on the Turner Classic Movie channel we took the opportunity to sit and watch. One of the reasons this movie is one of my favorites is that the movie seems to have many spiritual metaphors. This seems to be the case with many of Spielberg's film as I find this is the case with Saving Private Ryan and Schiendlers List, which have some of the best spiritual metaphors in them.

There is a scene however in Hook that reminds me of the importance of God's character. If you have never seen the movie, there is a scene in which Capt Hook has developed a scheme to entice or convince Peter Pan's children to love him over their father. However, in order to do this he must first place doubts within the children's minds that their parents do not really love them. Hook begins to do this by planting seeds of doubt in their minds that neither parent loves them and that they just tolerate them. Hook especially begins to focus on Peters son Jack.

Hook methodically begins to inform Jack that his father really doesn't love him. He does this emphasizing that Jack's father had missed a couple of his baseball game so therefore could Jack really trust his fathers love? This begins to place doubts in Jacks mind about his fathers character and whether his father does indeed love him. There is a scene in the movie where Hook leans in and whispers to Jacks and says "You know Jack, Hook never breaks a promise, I am a man of my word". Hook says this to convince Jack that he can trust him with his feelings. In return, Hook orchestrates a baseball game to further entice Jack - all the while Hook cares nothing for the boy and is using him to bait Peter to a fight. It is Hook's intentions to ultimately kill Peter and rule Neverland for all time.

The metaphor can be plainly seen here between man and God. So often man has a misrepresentation of God's character. Satan for thousands of years has whispered in the ears of men that God is not who he really says He is. God is somehow manipulative or is controlling and that he really doesn't love us. Somehow God just wants to spoil our fun in the end and therefore He can not be trusted. All the while God has given mankind overwhelming evidence that we should never have to questions his character or his integrity. Just as with Capt Hook and Jack, Hook had enticed Jack to think it was Hook who really loved him but it was really Hook who hated Jack and cared nothing for the boy (all the while Peter really did love and care for his children). It was all a ploy to ruin Peters reputation with Peters children so in the end Hook could kill Peter. This is no different a story with Satan and our heavenly Father. The scriptures tell us that Satan is a liar and a thief and wants nothing more than to kill us.

In the end Jack realized that it was Hook who had tricked him into thinking that his father didn't really care. How so? Ultimately Jack realized that his father indeed loved him. That his father had risked his life to save his children from the clutches of Hook. The same can be said of our heavenly Father, that God has showed all of mankind without a doubt that He truly does love us and is willing to die to show us the extent of His love.

Personally, this is why I think theology and doctrine is one of Satan's most successful tools to persuading people to reject God (at least the one presented to them by the church today). So much of today's theology seems to blame God and impugn his character rather than showing people who he really and truly is. The belief that God's knows or wills the absolute future is one of those lies I think Satan has used to falsely accuse God of tyranny and of being unloving. If we really get down to it much of our theology preached in today's churches are blaming God for all of the sin in our world. Take Total Depravity or Original Sin for instance. Again, this theology literally has to blame God for all of the sin that's occurring here on earth. God has somehow cursed man to do the very thing He is repulsed by - and yet is going to send countless people to hell for doing that which they can not stop doing. Look at the doctrine of election - according to this theology mankind has no freewill or ability to love God, therefore God has ordained some to heaven and some to hell - all the while man has no choice in the matter. Over and over many of the theologies being preached in our pulpits do nothing but impugn or malign God's character. Again, giving countless people an excuse not to love God. Again, this in of itself does not allow sinners off the hook for their selfish actions, for Paul tells us that the revealed nature of God is evident through the very existence of creation, not to mention we are condemned by our own conscience. But again, this is the power of right doctrine and the gospel truth. For the truth of who God and Jesus is, is what sets us free from the traps laid by the enemy. It is this truth that sets us free from sin and death. In the end man can not truly love or believe in something that he is conflicted with in his mind. Therefore, if for some reason your theology is preventing you from loving God or you seem to have problems with a part of God's character - then maybe its not God who is the problem, but maybe its your theology or understanding of God's character. Seek the truth for it will set you free!

Open Theism and Prayer

2008-02-07T20:00:00.000-08:00

Here is a wonderful sermon I thought I would share from Dr. Greg Boyd entitled "The Scorpion, the Egg and Prayer". It is one of the better sermons I have recently heard regarding Open Theism and Prayer. Although Greg does not mention Open Theism by name, he does use the context of Open Theism to define prayer and the impact it has on God and the Kingdom. If ever there is an area where Open Theism will truly make a difference in your walk with the Lord it is prayer. This also is a good follow up to my recent post regarding "Explaining Evil".

Explaining Evil

2008-02-04T07:33:00.000-08:00

Recently in my hometown of Dunbar WV, the son of a longtime family doctor was convicted of one of the most horrific crimes in the history of the state of West Virginia. I remember about two years ago my mother calling me and explaining of the horrors Micheal Merrifield had committed against two year old Logan Goodall. Michael Merrifield had been living with the child's mother, who was a cocaine addict and over a period of time Merrifield had apparently begun to physically and sexually abuse this little boy. The horrors that this precious little boy endured are indeed painful and horrific - some of the most unimaginable and evil things this man did to that innocent little boy have at times brought me to the point of tears. Not even an animal should have died the way this little boy did. But I implore my readers to take a minute before going any further and read this news article of what in fact happened to Logan Goodall - it is important you do so to fully understand the remainder of this post. Click here for the article.
(Warning: Graphic & Disturbing Content)

I realize for many who read the above article it is difficult to understand how such gross acts of evil could be done to such an innocent little life. When we read of such events we realize that evil is very real. However, as Christians we must stand ready to explain how and why such evil can and does occur and how a loving God would tolerate such evil. Many of today's Christian doctrines inform us that it is due to God's absolute foreknowledge and sovereignty, that "All Things" are willed for the glory of God. For example, many pastors often use Colossians 1:9-20, particularly verse 16 as their proof text to support this doctrine:

Col 1:16 for in him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and unto him;

They claim this verse is a proof text to whereby God made "all things", not just the physical universe, but that God created both good and evil and has even foreordained (or should I say fated) every good and evil act just so Christ could be glorified. Renown Calvinist John Piper explains this on his website whereby he explains Col 1:16 whereby he says:

"All that came into being exists for Christ—that is, it exists to display the greatness of Christ. Nothing—nothing!—in the universe exists for its own sake. Everything from the bottom of the oceans to the top of the mountains, from smallest particle to the biggest star, from the most boring school subject to the most fascinating science, from the ugliest cockroach to the most beautiful human, from the greatest saint to the most wicked genocidal dictator—everything that exists, exists to make the greatness of Christ more fully known"

Now I want you to pay particular attention to what Piper says here: "....even the most wicked genocide dictator......exists to make the greatness of Christ more full known". If that's hard for you to swallow as it was for me then your not alone! This is really the equivalent of saying that one needs to murder in order to appreciate the sanctity of life or one needs to rape in order to appreciate the sanctity of marriage. For Piper and Calvinist alike it all comes down to God's Sovereignty and Absolute Foreknowledge and thus their reason for this theology. For Calvinist, they hold that God has foreordained everything (and I do mean everything!) from the beginning of time, every atrocity, every horrific and evil act that ever has, was and is to occur. This is because they are married to the belief that God must foreordain everything because if not then somehow he is not omnipotent or omniscience.

But does God really need to incorporate such evil so just so he can maintain his omniscience? For those individuals who are searching to know or understand how an all loving and all knowing God could allow evil within our world, I would offer you a different and more reasonable explanation (and a biblical one at that!). A few months back I made a post that at least helps begin to explain why there is evil within our world and why it seems to be so arbitrary. You can see that post here. For one, I would purpose to offer a God who is grieved over such sin and sorrow (Gen 6:6, Judg 10:6, Isa 54:6). A God who is grieved that such evil and sin takes place in world he had originally created for fellowship with mankind (Eph 1:4-6). I would purpose a God whose heart is grieved by the fact that his created beings, whom He loves, act with such wickedness and inflict such devastating amounts of pain on each other. Who wishes that ALL sinners would be reconciled to Him or else they will be lost in hell for all eternity. What many of us fail to realize is that God witnesses every evil and sinful atrocity that unfolds on this earth every second of every day - all the while His heart is constantly broken by such evil and sin! It would seem very strange to me that if God is going around foreordaining evil and yet is grieved by the very same evil he is foreordaining, then this makes God a masochist. But this is the irrational logic Calvinism brings you to when you examine where it will ultimately takes you.

For one, I can not rationally or logically see how ordaining such gross acts of evil on a child such as Logan Goodall - and still define God as loving? To know how Logan's spent the last 8-10 hours of his life and to think this was all somehow pre-orchestrated by a loving God from the eternity past just so it would bring Himself glory is indeed strange and very malicious on God's part. The reason I wanted everyone to read the article above is I wanted it to be personal. I want you to feel maybe just for a second some of the anguish Logan's grandparents and family members felt over his tragic death. As Greg Boyd wrote in his book "God at War" he states, "Evil cannot be adequately grasped in a detached, neutral, abstract way. It cannot be known through faceless, nameless statistics or abstract theorems. All approaches to the problem of evil that do not go beyond these will be in danger of offering cheap and trite solutions. Radical evil can be known only when incarnated and experience concretely". Boyd's comments are indeed necessary, because often in theological circles people seem to think they can explain something as complex as evil in some nice neat package (ie. Calvinism). As with the example of Logan Goodall, evil is always personal and is always tragic. We must never forget this when dealing with or explaining evil to the unsaved or those who have experienced such tragedies or loss.

Many Christians don't realize the additional damage they can do to a person's heart by trying to neatly explain evil as with Calvinism. When one begins to learn of the current explanation of evil within many of the evangelical circles, it drastically violates any rational or sane persons definition of love. This violation will ultimately drive a wedge further between that person and how they relate to God. Regardless of your doctrine, when someone experiences genuine tragedy in their lives, how they view God will ultimately either help or hinder their relationship or perception of God's character (saint or sinner alike). As a good friend of mine once noted, "Any theology that allows someone to find fault with God or provide sinners with an excuse to hate God can not be sound theology".

When I hear Calvinist explain events such as that of Logan Goodall I can't help seem to think that Michael Merrifield has somehow fulfilled God's providential plan, all the while God is smiling down at the fulfillment of his sovereignty - because in the end it has brought Him glory (sounds a little selfish don't you think?)! How does one begin to resolve the intellectual struggle we see in all of this? On one hand we all know in our heart of hearts this is an evil act, pure evil, but yet at the same time we are supposed to accept that God's agenda in ordaining the brutal murder and sodomy of a 2 year old little boy is somehow deemed "good" and "holy"? God's love can only be defined by the love He has demonstrated to the entire universe. God's love for man is so great, He showed us just how profound that love is through the life and death of his Son, Jesus Christ. This my friends this is indeed a picture of true love from our Heavenly Father! Indeed, many here on earth may experience great loss and suffering at the hands of evil and sin. But no one has known more loss than that of our Heavenly Father - for he has watched as countless people send themselves to Hell everyday because of their selfishness and godless hearts. Many may weep for lost love ones or friends - but who weeps for God!? God is indeed loving, but its not defined by those who tell us God is ordaining evil so that good may come of it! God's love is defined by his demonstrated character and by His testimony of his Word - not by some man made theological system!

Finally, it is during tragedies we often see the unsaved seeking answers from God to explain why such atrocities occur in our world. They seek to understand or explain how a 32 year old man could murder a 2 year old child. How we respond to the unsaved during these time may often determine if they will continue to seek to know God further and hopefully come to repentance and enter into a relationship with Him. Sadly, I think more often than enough people are repulsed at many of the explanations the church provides them these days (or the lack of an explanation). Would you be so insensitive or so bold to tell the family of Logan Goodall that God from the beginning of time knew He would create both Michael Merrifield and Logan Goodall all for the sake that these two would be foreordained to meet one fateful day just so Michael Merrifield could unleash unspeakable horrors upon this sweet innocent child - so God in the end can be "glorified"? If you stood in their shoes would you think this made any logical or reasonable sense? Would you want to get to know "this" God or better yet love Him? If so then I would say you have a theology that greatly impugns the benevolent character of God and is a hindrance to those who are searching for answers. As Christians it is vital we can reasonably and rationally explain how and why evil exists - but most importantly we must be able to share with others that God is indeed a loving God and He is grieved by all sin and evil within this fallen world. It is this heartbreak of God that will ultimately allow us to see how God truly sees all sin and how we too will experince that same brokeness over our own sins that ultimately brings us to salvation through his Son Jesus Christ!

Chinese Watches

2008-02-01T04:44:00.000-08:00

Counterfeit.......

I learned an interesting lesson during my recent trip to China. Its easy to see plenty of things counterfeit in China. As one walks through the markets of merchandise one is bombarded with "counterfeit". When your white Caucasian male from the United States in China, it almost seems one is attacked with people trying to sell you something counterfeit. They neither hide the fact they are selling you something counterfeit - as a matter of fact they proudly proclaim they have the "best" counterfeit goods in all of the marketplace.

Well during my last visit we went to one of the local markets - the "Ladies Market" in Hong Kong. This market is called the Ladies Market because it sells mostly clothing and handbags of all sorts. But you will find all sorts of other goods there as well. While purveying the sites and sounds I noticed several nice watches on display there. Many were Rolex and Omega and several high priced brands I had never heard of, but apparently these were of the latest fashions. On the outside the watches look impeccable - at least to an untrained eye such as mine. The face of the watch and its hands all look very authentic. However, the real difference lies beneath in the watches internal workings. Inside is a cheap copy of parts and shoddy construction and quality. One of my co-workers who lives in Hong Kong said you'll be lucky if the watch would last a month. At first the watch will work just fine, but over time as its introduced to the normal everyday stresses and wear and tear it weakens and begins to lose time and accuracy. Eventually the watch stops working all together and is worthless. Indeed the outside looks great, but its just the empty shell of a worthless Hong Kong watch parts.

The Lord really used this as an example to me as to what's occurring in our churches today. The counterfeit watch reminded me of when Jesus confronted the Pharisees and called them "White washed tombs" - full of dead men's bones in the inside (spiritual death), but appeared to be holy on their outsides. The watch analogy is much the same way. How often are people looking for a church or doctrine that has the appearance of being a fine or expensive "watch"? For all intent and purposes it looks like a church and has the appearances of being a fine reputable church. However, just as with the watch the difference comes down to cost. As with the counterfeit watch it will cost you very little to own an expensive looking watch, so is the churches of today - it will cost you very little. To own the authentic version of the counterfeit watch many of these watches can run into the thousands of dollars. But what you will get is a highly precise time piece that will probably last you a lifetime if properly taken care of (btw - I am not advocating buying expensive Rolex's here but just using this as part of my analogy!). The real watch has been made by a highly skilled and crafted watchmaker and he has taken a great deal of time and effort to put together this time piece.

Today many churches are much like the counterfeit watch. On the outside they look very impressive - with their digital surround sound, high tech light shows and wonderful music. They will have men who look just right and speak with such great skill. However, just as with the counterfeit watch we see that when we open it up and begin to examine the doctrines these churches are promoting, we see a church full of weak and broken doctrines. The church no longer desires holiness, but rather promotes a counterfeit doctrine that allows men and women to remain weak and feeble in sin. They preach a doctrine that looks like godliness, but lacks any power to truly overcome sin in their lives. Instead we hear people say "I am still a sinner and I sin in word thought and deed everyday"! Indeed, such doctrine is counterfeit - Why? Because it cost very little! Jesus has told us that when we follow him, it will come at a great cost. The world will hate us. Why? Because we will tell men to repent from their sins and turn and love God with all of their hearts. Men will rebel (even those who claim to be his followers) and will persecute and even try to kill you in order to stop you from preaching this message!

Through this analogy I have learned that anything of great value will cost you a lot - even everything you have. The authentic gospel of Jesus Christ will cost a person everything. It will cost them family, friends, money, self-interest, everything! But in return we get a gospel that that provides us with something eternally worth while, of great value! We get Jesus! We get a intimate relationship with our God and Creator! But in order to receive this authentic relationship we must be willing to forsake our sins, repent and love God from the depths of our hearts. But in the end it is truly worth it all!

The Nature of Repentance

2008-01-28T11:05:00.000-08:00

I thought I would pass along a recent article written by a fellow believer and preacher - Mike Desario. I have featured Mike on my blog in my video section, whereby I promote several of Mike's video sermons - of which I highly recommend. Mike recently sent this out to emphasize the importance of understanding the true nature of repentance. I agree with Mike here that this is one of the biggest misconceptions in most churches today. It would seem many pastors today are misleading their congregants that repentance has more to do with confession and has nothing to do with forsaking your sins and having a changed heart. I think Mike makes a valid point with the examples he uses here to explain the Nature of Repentance. I hope this blesses you as it did me.

The Nature of Repentance

The present day preachers & teachers have no concept of Biblical Repentance and Faith. You only have to ask ONE simple question to find out where they stand on this issue. (Provided you, yourself understand repentance and faith, having come to Salvation in the proper manner.) It’s important to recognize at this point that you are being lead by the Spirit of Truth, NOT the spirit of error in these matters. Otherwise you will never be able to discern the difference between True and False Repentance and Dead Faith.

Ask the Following Question, in the EXACT Terminology, with NO further explanation: “Does a person have to stop sinning to receive Jesus?”

If the person you are asking immediately presumes that you are asking: “Does a person have to stop sinning and then get saved!” They have NO CONCEPT of Biblical Repentance! And here’s Why:

1) What Happens in Repentance? They have NO IDEA! So they immediately assume you are saying that a person has to become perfect BEFORE they are saved. But this is NOT the issue at all! A PROCESS MUST be taking place in the Salvation experience that involves a STOPPING of sin!

2) Therefore the FOREGONE conclusion in their mind is not STOPPING sin, but CONFESSING it. Because NO ONE can stop BEFORE they are saved! And they can only struggle with it afterward. So a person is saved, ‘In their sins!’ (which is a wrong assumption from the start).

3) Asking another or different question makes no difference either, but only gives them the opportunity to mold words and make it sound as though they are agreeing that sin must be forsaken. Remember: When they speak of forsaking sin, they mean ‘over time’, ‘Gradually’or as you allow God to Change your desires. The design is that this happens in repentance.

The Biblical Characteristics of True Repentance: (as taught by early church and Apostles) 2Cor7:10-11 “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.”

For True Repentance to have Taken Place the following MUST have Occurred:

1) Season of Deep felt Godly Sorrow for sin. (Invoked by Spirit of Truth working, John 16:8)
2) A Crisis of Conviction that Cuts to the heart! (Sin already being forsaken!)
3) A Zeal to CLEAR oneself of all Wrong Doing against God. (make restitution if necessary)
4) Indignation and Fear that leads to Vehement Desire to STOP Sinning!
5) Vindication and Finally PURITY of heart!

Every incident of repentance in scripture follows this process. (DON’T Let anyone tell you it doesn’t, and they will MOST certainly try!) The Sin STOPS HERE, The Old Man DIES here, The Flesh is Crucified HERE! NOT Afterwards. The desires and conduct are CHANGED here. (Or never will be!)

OBEDIENCE to God follows in NEWNESS of Life and all things new! (Rom6:4-6, 2Cor5:17) If you have NOT Experienced this and have NO IDEA what it means, you are NOT BORN of the SPIRIT!!! You may indeed have ‘RECEIVED’ Christ, and ‘Believed’ on His Name (repeated some words) BUT the Devils ALSO Believe! (James2:19) If a Person is SAVED by What he DOES and NOT by Faith Alone! (as James affirms, JS 2:24) The what he DOES PART, STARTS with This REPENTANCE!

I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds! Acts26:20

Mike Desario (mike@standingthegap.org)

Hot Stove, Burn Baby!

2008-01-22T07:42:00.000-08:00

I recall when our two children started to get at the toddler age where they could begin to walk around the house. As my mother would say, “this is when being a parent becomes interesting!”. Indeed seeing them go from crawling to walking is always one of those times as a parent you will never forget. But with walking comes further challenges. As parents we now have to be aware of certain dangers that a toddler can get into and so we take great strides in protecting our babes from hazards within our home to assure their well being and safety.

But there is one experience I remember as a parent and that was warning our children of a hot stove. Whenever they would venture near the oven, regardless if it was on or not we would cry out “Hot Stove, Burn Baby!”. If one of them decided to muster up some courage to test for themselves that indeed this giant white box would burn them, we would immediately cry out “No!” Fortunately, we never once had one of our children touch the oven or stove and badly burn themselves.

This experience reminds me how the Lord deals with us regarding sin. I always like to say that when someone sins they are living unintelligently. The reason I say this is that we are often like little children who want to touch the stove. God as our Heavenly Father has a greater amount of knowledge than we do. So when God says we are not to do something, it’s because he has the “big picture” and knows that this act or thing will bring tremendous harm to ourselves. Because of God’s enduring love for his children he never wants to see one of his little ones harmed. So when God tells us not to sin, he has gone to great depths to show us how he does not want us to “burn” ourselves. God has given us knowledge or awareness that ‘burning” ourselves is wrong, through his holy word, his moral laws and has even equipped us with reason to assist us in our efforts to learn and grow. As if that’s not enough, God has even sent his only son to demonstrate on the cross just how much he hates for us to “burn ourselves” in sin.

The problem we have when we continue to “touch the hot stove”, is not that we can’t help ourselves or that we are “willed” to touch it (what parent would want such a thing!), but it’s that we have a knowledge and understanding problem. God is telling us not to touch the stove, no matter how good it feels we need not touch it. Once we have been told and personally seen how much God doesn’t want us to sin, we need to trust in his character that he knows what’s best for us – because He truly does love us! This brings to mind several verses from 1 Corinthians whereby Paul is using this same metaphor to express to the church of Corinth that people no longer need to be like children who keep touching the hot stove:

1Co 13:11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, thought like a child, and reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up my childish ways.

1Co 14:20 Brothers, stop being children in your thinking. In evil be infants, but in thinking be adults.

1Co 15:34 Awake to soberness righteously, and sin not; for some have no knowledge of God: I speak this to move you to shame.

For me this last verse really says a lot. People sin because they lack knowledge of the truth. But what does that mean? For me it comes down to truly trusting God’s character over that of my own desires. Once we understand God’s demonstrated character through his Son Jesus Christ, we need no longer be like toddlers who keep touching the hot stove!

Bad Theology, Bad Politics

2008-01-21T20:06:00.001-08:00

Here is a video from famed spiritual adviser Tony Campolo, who is most famous for being the spiritual adviser to Bill Clinton (wait a minute isn't promoting yourself as the spiritual adviser to Bill Clinton like a bad thing!). This video was an interview that Tony gave on Canadian TV whereby he is just espousing bad theology. Mr. Campolo is telling folks that true Christianity is all about helping the poor. Not loving God, not about repenting from our sins and walking with God. But Christianity has more to do with Global Aid Packages and Social Welfare. Essentially a works based theology. I am amazed just how far off track we have gotten. I would be interested in hearing what others think about this guy. Oh, BTW- Tony is also a big player in the Emergent Church movement - as if that's some huge surprise.

The Stones Cry Out!

2008-01-17T07:02:00.000-08:00

Today it was announced in the Jerusalem Post that a 2,500 years old seal from the first Hebrew Temple had been found during an archaeological dig in Jerusalem's City of David. The amazing discovery however was that on the seal was etched the Hebrew family name "Temech". This is a very significant discovery because this family is specificially mentioned in Nehemiah 7 as one of the families who were servants of the Temple. In Nehemiah 7:6 it mentions that this is one of the families that left Babylonian captivity under King
Nebuchadnezzar and returned back to Jerusalem. This family is one of families who worked as servants within the Temple. It specifically mentions this family in Neh 7:55 (Note: that in the KJV it says Temah - but this is a translation issue and in the Masoratic text is is Temech).

The really cool thing about this seal is it not only mentions the family's name specifically, but it also shows two Hebrew priest praying over the alter of incense. This is just a tremendous find for not only the Jews but for Christians as well. For those skeptics that say the Bible is just a book full of stories, are starting to be confronted with the facts that the Bible is truly the Word of God and they are running out of excuses. I really think these types of finds are final attempts to show the world in a small way that His Word is true and man needs to turn to God.

Right Reason

2008-01-16T07:36:00.000-08:00

I was inspired this morning after reading a friends blog to make the following post. Lately, our home church has been studying moral obligation and how this might help in one's efforts to evangelize to the lost. Much has been written about this subject by various authors some good (Charles Finney, CS Lewis) some not so good (Kant, Nietzsche) . But here lately I have thought of why is this really of importance.

For one I feel this subject is the very reason man is guilty of sin before God. If we deny freewill and moral obligation (natural law) then man is neither responsible or accountable for his sins. Sin is then neither a choice or done under volition, but rather it is a condition or is instinctive much like an animal has for food or survival. If indeed this is true, then we need not debate the evolutionist who tell us we are nothing more than animals living from our ancestral "instincts". Moral obligation is what separates us from the animals - it is that God has endowed us to know right from wrong.

Every human being whether they want to admit it or not knows the difference between moral right and wrong, they know when their sense of fairness has been violated (just go to a football or baseball game and watch what happens when a blatant bad call is made by an umpire). Watch what happens when judge sets free a known criminal back into society. I recall several years ago a video camera at a mall parking lot caught a woman severely beating her 4 or 5 year old daughter. The outcry was so great that the law tracked this woman down and brought her to justice. But why?

As CS Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity that we as humans make common observations such as how one culture judges another cultures level of morality. He uses the Nazi's as an example:

“..........do you think that the morality of one people is ever better or worse than that of another? Have any of the changes been improvements? If not, then of course there could never be any moral progress. Progress means not just changing, but changing for the better. If no set of moral ideas were truer or better than any other, there would be no sense in preferring civilised morality to savage morality, or Christian morality to Nazi morality. In fact, of course, we all do believe that some moralities are better than others. We do believe that some of the people who tried to change the moral ideas of their own age were what we would call Reformers or Pioneers—people who understood morality better than their neighbours did."

For me this is the issue we have with most of theology being preached today. It horribly denies these evident truths of reason. Every person understands the common concepts of Love, Mercy, Compassion, and Justice (sense of fairness). However, most of the doctrines that are widely adhered to these days deny that any of these self-evident truths really exist. Take for example Total Depravity. We hear from churches that mankind is totally wicked and incapable of knowing right from wrong. They are unable to do any right before God because they are born sinful. I have seen first hand how this theology will allow people to claim they are unable to stop sinning in “word, thought and deed daily” as they claim to have this fallen nature. It is no surprise then we have a concept in most of our churches of a “Sinning Christian” or “Carnal Christian”. This is a Christian who claims to love God, but because of his fallen nature he is holy, yet still able to sin daily. Again, any doctrine that makes it easier to sin can not be the truth.

Let me show you an example of bad theology and common sense working against one another. Last week results from a nationwide study were released asking Non-Christians what they thought of Christians. The study presented some alarming figures, but at the same time not at all surprising given recent events surrounding the church. The study was conducted by LifeWay Research said:

"In a portrait of the "unchurched" in America, a new study found that most are willing to hear what people have to say about Christianity but a majority also sees the church as a place full of hypocrites…….."A full 72 percent of the people interviewed said they think the church ‘is full ofhypocrites,’" said LifeWay Research director Ed Stetzer."

A lot can be said how the unsaved view Christians. The unsaved know in their heart of hearts Christians are to be markedly different than the rest of the world. That Christians are to be upright and holy people. But how so!? According to most doctrines being preached today, sinners shouldn’t even be able to make such observations as they are “totally depraved”. But yet, it seems the Unsaved are observing Christians on a daily basis that are not at all living up to that expectation of righteousness. As a matter of fact the “unsaved” see this as a real problem as they see a real contradiction in what a Christian should be and the Christians they are observing in reality.

Leonard Ravenhill says in his book Why Revival Tarries, he states; "we are told that, despite our sin and carnality, we are seated with Him. Alas what a lie! I agree! From the unsaved perspective why would they ever see a need to become a Christian? Why spend all that time going to religious services or giving of their time and money when they can continue to be a sinner in their own home, without all the fuss!

I say all this to show that what we have sadly lost within most of our churches is sound doctrine. Jesus speaks to the Pharisees in the book of Luke about this very issue:

Luk 11:52 Woe unto you lawyers! for ye took away thekey of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.

The key of knowledge is reason. One can not obtain knowledge without using reason. Just as with the Pharisees, we see doctrines such as Calvinism that violates every sense of right reason and moral obligation. They have a theology that provides not life, but death - as it is incapable of stopping men from sin as they are told they are unable. A theology that tells people they are predetermined, a God who arbitrarily and picks some and condemns others on no other basis – but yet they seem to tell the world this is OK that God is yet fair and holy. All the while peoples sense of reason and justice is screaming at them that this can not be right! They have a gospel that tells people the cross is only for some and not for all. A gospel that allows Christians to live hypocritical – because its OK to “sin in word, thought and deed everyday”. This is why we are seeing an ineffective gospel – because it transcends the bounds of reason and does not produce a change of heart.

Please do not misunderstand me, by no means do I wish to let the unsaved off the hook either. If anything their sense of reason and their conscience is what condemns them of rejecting truth and denying Christ. God will not send one person to hell against their will, but He will send them because they chose to go there. The fact they had the ability to choose rightly and did not do so is what makes them stand accused.

A Clean Sweep

2008-01-11T14:20:00.000-08:00

One of my wife's guilty pleasures is to watch the TV show "Clean House" on the Style Channel. If you've not had an opportunity to see this show its one part psychology and two parts Home Improvement. The premise of the show is a crew of designers and home improvement experts come to a family who has a home that is cluttered from floor to ceiling. Now I am not just talking a little mess here. Oh no! These are people who I would say are on the borderline of being a health risk to themselves and others. For someone who has a semi case of OCD in the area of cleanliness, this show for the first 10 minutes gives me the heeby-jeeebies!

So the show basically cleans out these peoples home and sells all the useless stuff in a yard sale and then takes the proceeds from the yard sale to help pay partly for the home makeover. But the interesting part of the show is it never goes well for any of the home owners. The most noticeable problem is all these folks never want to get rid of any of their stuff. I mean they will go kicking and screaming in not wanting to let go of their useless junk! Instead they want to hold on to 5 year old calendar or 20 year old stuff animal collection and hordes of clothes that are 10 years old and will most likely never come back into style or they will be unable to fit into. So half of the show is watching these people grapple with the fact that if they get rid of all this useless junk, they are going to get a clean home, a home in which they can actually live in. But for most people on the show they can never fully seem to get past this issue.

In the end most of these folks give in (I assume the director has had to threaten some of these folks to the point of bodily harm) and they are provided with a beautiful home makeover and their home is once again a healthy place to live. As I watched one of these shows the other day with my wife, I soon realized this is much like salvation and our coming to the Lord. God is showing us that we are living in a "junk filled" home of sin and if we continue to live this way we are not only damaging ourselves, but others. God has assured us that we need to trust him complicity and in return we will have a life of peace. How often I think back that I too was like one of these home owners, how I thought I was going to loose something of value by giving my heart completely to God. For so many years I kept holding onto the sin in my life thinking that it was of some value - all the while it was killing me. It isn't until we are able to come to an understanding that we can trust God and that He knows whats best for us. Now that I look back and see how horribly foolish I was in thinking that "sin" was going to bring me real happiness is really sobering. Today I walk in devotion to God and I have the peace that surpasses all understanding. As the words of a praise and worship song remind me that "all of you is more than enough for all of me"! If you have not yet released the sin in your life and fully put your love and trust in the Savior, I would implore you to put your trust in Jesus and know that he can wipe away your sins, and give you a clean heart. Sin compared to the Love of God is no contest and it is foolish to think otherwise.

Finney's View of Total Depravity

2008-01-08T21:18:00.001-08:00

I decided to post this graphic for my fellow friend and blogger Dean to help clarify Charles Finney's view of Total Depravity (click to enlarge). Finney believed in a concept known as Semi-Pelagian view of moral ability (which I hold to also). Hopefully this will also further clarify what it is traditional Augustinian theology (Calvinist) on this subject as well.

Ideas Have Consequences...a True to Life Example of Bad Theology at Work

2008-01-07T20:40:00.000-08:00

In my last post I discussed the doctrine of Total Depravity. I briefly would like to share with you a post from another blog that I discovered while researching this topic on the web. The reason I want to show you this post from another site is to show you that doctrinal ideas do indeed have consequences (and many times they can be damaging). This clip below is from a Calvinist website who claims that the doctrine of Total Depravity has literally helped his marriage. Here is what "Mr. & Mrs Jolly" say about their marriage and the doctrine of Total Depravity:

These 20 years have gone by way too fast and I wouldn't trade them for anything. I won't try to wax eloquent on keys to a happy marriage except to say that sound theology is the foundation for a sound marriage. I truly believe that if a married couple can grasp total depravity and grace then they are on a sound footing—they won't need much extra advice. If we don't grasp total depravity and grace, then all the marriage books and seminars in the world won't mean a thing.

Total depravity is key because it reminds me that my wife is married to a sinnner, so I need to go easy on her—she's got a tough life being married to me. It also reminds me that she is a sinner, so I don't have to burden her with a load of expectations she can never meet. Grace reminds me that her performance is not the basis of my acceptance of her any more than my performance is the basis of God's acceptance of me.

I won't say that those two things are operative every day in our lives, as there are plenty of times when we act in un-graceful ways. But God is good and always brings us back and keeps us centered on grace.

As to how I feel about Mrs. Jolly, let me quote someone else. We have this wonderful older couple in our church named Martin and Peggy Smith who have been married for somewhere north of umpteen years. Martin says this of Peggy—"even when I'm mad at her, I'd still rather be with her than anyone else." That's how I feel about Mrs. Jolly; she is my wife, my lover, my confidant, my best friend, and there is no one I'd rather be with.

First, I would like for you to pay careful attention as to what it is this gentleman is really saying about his marriage. He is essentially saying that since he and his wife are Totally Depraved and are "sinners" (not redeemed or walking in holiness I might add) that this somehow excuses their bad and at times it would seem sinful behavior. Mr Jolly states "Grace reminds me that her performance is not the basis of my acceptance of her any more than my performance is the basis of God's acceptance of me."

Performance is NOT the basis of their marriage? Really! Again, lets see if this passes the common sense test or as I like to say the test of right reason. Lets say that Mr. Jolly goes out and commits adultery with his secretary repeatedly. Clearly this would be a grievous act to any marriage. Now, over the course of a couple of weeks Mrs. Jolly sadly uncovers her husband's adulterous affair and she goes and confronts her husband. During the confrontation Mr. Jolly proudly proclaims that he is (A.) Totally Depraved and that she should not at all be surprised as he is really nothing more than a "sinner" who can not help himself and that (B) She should show him "grace" and over look this little incident as again their marriage "performance" should not be the basis of her acceptance of him.

I'm not sure about you but in my house this type of excuse would not at all be tolerated and I would probably find myself out on the stoop with my bags packed looking for a new place to live! It would appear Mr & Mrs Jolly are using the doctrine of total depravity as license for bad behavior. Again, as I pointed out in my previous post, this theology allows people to make excuses for their sins, rather than be broken hearted over what they have done to the heart of the savior and each other. Again, ideas of consequences and this would be a good example of how bad theology can have terrible consequences.

A Convenient Lie......the so called Doctrine of Total Depravity

2008-01-07T10:35:00.000-08:00

One of the core tenets of Calvinism is the doctrine of Total Depravity. Those unfamiliar with this doctrine can read below from two prominent Calvinist preachers of our day to understand what this doctrine all entails. First, John MacArthur states from his website what exactly Total Depravity is:

".......the doctrine of total depravity, human depravity, fallenness is not to say that everybody is as wretched as they could possibly be, but that everyone is utterly unable to do anything to change their sinful condition. Nobody is going to come and make a decision for Christ unless God draws them. That's essential. Man can't make a move toward Christ (this includes repentance my emphasis) until God moves him that direction, in line with His eternal purpose........our salvation security not on what we've decided or will decide in the future, but on what God decided long ago in the past before the world began."

Next I will site popular Calvinist, John Piper. He states on his website:

"....total depravity means that our rebellion against God is total, everything we do in this rebellion is sin, our inability to submit to God or reform ourselves is total, and we are therefore totally deserving of eternal punishment."

For me this all seems very mythical or hocus pocus! Does it not strike some folks odd as to why God would create mankind with an uncontrollable sin "nature"? Why would God "curse" man with the very thing God is trying to rid the universe of? Not to mention where is this so called curse in the scriptures? Wouldn't something as important as a curse of sin upon all of humanity be pretty important point to mention in scripture? But yet I have yet to have one Calvinist show me the exact curse whereby God declares he will make man "Totally Depraved".

First let me say sin is not something we pass along to our children or is in our DNA. If so then we would have had science work on a cure some years ago. Besides, if this were in fact true sin is then no longer a moral choice, but rather a disease, a condition. The Bible clearly states sin is a moral choice, a willful decision from benevolence to self! This type of theology does nothing more than provide sinners with an excuse not to repent and it also sadly blames God for our moral downfall as we can blame him for us not repenting! As the SNL church lady would say "How Convenient"!

The reason I bring all this up is today I came across just one chapter in the book of Psalms that seems to contradict the entire doctrine of Totally Depravity. If one person in the Bible who understood or represented what it meant to be righteous before God, clearly King David was a man after God's own heart as clearly stated in scripture:

(1Ki 15:4-5) Nevertheless for David's sake did Jehovah his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem; because David did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, and turned not aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.

Granted, David was not without sin, but yet we see from the scripture stated above David was righteous in the eyes of God. He repented and was restored in the eyes of God. So whenever we read Psalms we should understand David is no light weight in the matters of Godly righteousness. I find it particularly noteworthy that Psalms 119 truly reflects David's love and adoration of God's word and his desire to fully keep within his heart. If total depravity is indeed true then really David is lying about his so called love for God's word - again I am not the one who says NO ONE CAN EVER MAKE A RIGHTEOUS CHOICE AS WE ARE ALL TOTALLY DEPRAVED! Psalms 119 is by no means a superficial psalm to God, but David deeply expresses his love and respect for God's wisdom and God's government.

Granted every Calvinist is quick to point out those scriptures that supposedly proclaim this so called doctrine. They will of course use verses such as:

Romans 3:23 All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

1 Kings 8:46 There is no man who does not sin.

Psalm 143:2 And do not enter into judgment with Your servant, for in Your sight no man living is righteous.

1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

Romans 3:9-11, 18 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD . . . THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”

Again, whenever we read scripture it is important to know what context the author was writing from and we need to keep those scriptures in their proper context. All of the scriptures above are being used outside of their proper context. These authors never once meant for these verses to be some universal proclamation that in all of biblical history there has never been a righteous man in the eyes of God. Clearly the scriptures show us on many accounts there were indeed Godly people! If we take what the Calvinist say as truth, then we have sinners writing the very books of the bible - books that are to be God inspired. The bible shows us many men (and women) were righteous in God's eyes. Look at what David writes in Psalm 32 where he says:

Psa 32:10-11 Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; But he that trusteth in Jehovah, lovingkindness shall compass him about. (11) Be glad in Jehovah, and rejoice, ye righteous; And shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart. (According to the Calvinist if there was a joyful shout made by the upright it would have been a lie as there is NONE Upright in heart!)

or how about this verse from Psalm 64:

Psa 64:9-10 And all men shall fear; And they shall declare the work of God, And shall wisely consider of his doing. (10) The righteous shall be glad in Jehovah, and shall take refuge in him; And all the upright in heart shall glory. (Wait a minute according to Piper and MacArthur no one can be righteous no one!)
Furthermore lets look at a couple of verses from Psalms 119 to see what David says in about his love for God's word and God's righteousness:

(Psa 119:5-7) Oh that my ways were established To observe thy statutes! Then shall I not be put to shame, When I have respect unto all thy commandments. I will give thanks unto thee with uprightness of heart, When I learn thy righteous judgments.

According to the doctrine of Total Depravity, these verse would really seem to make King David a liar. As again they will tell you that EVERYTHING WE DO IS SIN, WE CAN NOT DO ONE THING RIGHTEOUS BEFORE GOD. But yet the Psalms tell us something completely differently.

(Psa 119:10-11) With my whole heart have I sought thee: Oh let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I laid up in my heart, That I might not sin against thee.

(Psa 119:22) Take away from me reproach and contempt; For I have kept thy testimonies.

(Psa 119:30) I have chosen the way of faithfulness: Thine ordinances have I set before me. (Wait! Calvinist say I am unable to choose the way of faithfulness as we are utterly unable!)

(Psa 119:44) So shall I observe thy law continually For ever and ever.

(Psa 119:73) Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: Give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments.

(Psa 119:80) Let my heart be perfect in thy statutes, That I be not put to shame.

(Psa 119:97-98) Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.Thy commandments make me wiser than mine enemies; For they are ever with me.

(Psa 119:106) I have sworn, and have confirmed it, That I will observe thy righteous ordinances.

(Psa 119:121) I have done justice and righteousness: Leave me not to mine oppressors.

(Psa 119:127) Therefore I love thy commandments Above gold, yea, above fine gold.

Clearly we see from these Psalms that David not only loved God, but loved His word (his laws, statutes and ordinances). Do these verses sound like they were written by a man who was unable to love God and keep his commandments? Does God ever rebuke David for saying such things? Instead, David was esteemed by God and rightfully so - David truly loved God with all of his heart, soul and might! So when we hear the likes of John Piper and John MacArthur telling us we are totally unable to please God this is a lie of the highest order. It provides an excuse for the sinner and allows them to blame God for their inability to repent and love God! Sinners are blame worthy because they ARE ABLE to do right, but yet they willfully choose self.

One last parting shot. It has been widely known that throughout the history of Judaism the doctrines of Total Depravity and Original Sin has NEVER been a belief of the Jewish faith. As a matter of fact it has been a doctrine that has hindered many Jews from coming to the Christian faith. But yet John MacArthur openly admits this on his website and seems to think that the Jews are the one who have it all wrong? He states:

"Jewish theology does not believe in total depravity, they do not believe in original sin. They think we all come into the world with a clean slate and we have the privilege of making a decision that relates only to us." (On his website John harshly claims Jews are diluted in their theology and seems to almost boast at his intellectual knowledge of scriptures more than they do)

It seems John forgot to read Eze 18:19 whereby it says:

Eze 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die: the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

But yet this verse contradicts the very doctrine of original sin and total depravity! Finally, last time I checked Christianity is deeply rooted in Judaism, so wouldn't one tend to think that maybe something as important as "Total Depravity" be supported throughout all of the Old Testament? Did Jesus ever instruct his disciples to discard this fundamental Jewish belief? Shouldn't we see the nation of Israel supporting a doctrine of inability throughout the Old Testament? Again, total depravity is neither biblical nor is it reasonable. This whole notion comes mostly from pagan and greek theology and is not at all biblical. So next time you hear your unable to love God, know this is indeed a lie. God will not send one person to hell because they couldn't love Him, but rather because they could and they choose not to!

New Year's Resolutions Worth Keeping

2008-01-02T08:23:00.000-08:00

I must admit I am not one for making New Years Resolutions, as I always say why wait until New Years to change something in one's life. But I received a list of resolutions from a colleague on a Yahoo groups I belong to promoting Revival Theology. This is a list of resolutions I think are worth keeping not only all year long, but for all eternity.

1. "I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore, choose life" (Deuteronomy 30:19). The Bible says that God's ways lead to life, but man's ways lead ultimately to eternal death. Jesus said, "I am the Way the Truth, and the Life; no man comes unto the Father except by me" (John 14:6). God gives us the freedom to choose which way we will go. Choose life in 2008.

2. "Choose you this day whom you will serve" (Joshua 24:15). After the death of Moses, Joshua led Israel into the Promised Land and helped them conquer it. Then he called all the people together. Joshua reminded them of what God had done for them, and that they must remain faithful to Him. Like Israel did later, we often play games with God. We figure we can do our own thing now, and serve God later. But later is often too late. God calls us to choose--get off the fence, get in or get out. God hates lukewarm believers (Revelation 3:15-16). Resolve to serve God in 2008.

3. "Repent and be baptized . . . and you shall receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38). On the day of Pentecost, Peter stood and told the crowd that Jesus, whom they had crucified, was in fact the Son of God. It was Jesus, now exalted to the right hand of God, who produced the miracle of speaking in tongues that they had just seen and heard.

Troubled, the people began to ask, "What are we to do?" Peter told them, that they must repent of their sins and undergo a conversion experience; and about 3000 were saved that day. Even saints need to repent now and then. Resolve to be repentant, to live a holy and righteous life, and to be filled with the Holy Spirit in 2008.

4. "I do not want you to be ignorant!" (Romans 11:25, etc.). Again and again, both Peter and Paul admonish the Church not to walk in ignorance, but in knowledge and truth. The Bible and the preaching of God's Word are readily available to everyone today. Willful ignorance of God's will is inexcusable (Romans 1:18-32). Resolve to study God's Word faithfully and to know God's perfect will for your life in 2008.

5. "Present your bodies a living sacrifice . . . and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Romans 12:1-2). Someone has said that the problem with a "living sacrifice" is that it keeps crawling off the altar. God does not call most of us to die for Him, but He calls all of us to live for him. Resolve to keep sacrificing your selfish will and lending yourself to do God's will in 2008.

6. "Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh." (Galatians 5:16). Paul recognized his own physical weakness and inability to be perfect before God in his own strength, try as he might. He said, "What I want to do, I do not do; but what I hate, that I do" (Romans 7:15).

Paul knew he needed the power of God to work through him in order to overcome sin. Desire to obey God and willpower are not alone enough. Serving God absolutely requires the power of the Holy Spirit working through us. How do you let the Holy Spirit work in and through you? It involves: choosing life in Christ, choosing to serve God faithfully, being repentant and undergoing a real conversion experience, being knowledgeable of God's will for your life, offering yourself up to God continually and sacrificially to do His will, and much more. Walking in the Spirit means being motivated by the Spirit of God rather than by your own desires. Sure, it's hard, but it must be done.

There are many more great resolutions which we can draw from the Bible. For instance, just look at those listed in 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22. We can learn a great deal from these admonitions. So let us resolve together to walk by God's Spirit, not by our flesh,
in 2008.

Instead of Fishing Boats, we now have Cruise Ships

2007-12-31T14:23:00.001-08:00

(Please note that my comments here about "the church" are not directed to any particular church or body of believers, but that I am speaking in generalities of the Modern Day Church as a whole. Please realize there are some good churches out there, but it is my opinion they are fewer in number than the Modern Day Church (MDC) mentioned in this post)

In recent months several of my fellow Christian bloggers have written about the issue of being overly "busy" in their various roles within their respective churches. Blogger Dean Lusk has written several good posts on his site about this subject matter over the past couple of months. Over the Christmas Season I had a chance to reflect a little further about this subject matter (as this is the season of being busy).

As I was pondering this whole issue last week when something struck me. It was one of those moments of irony (it reminds me of that 90's song "Things that make you go Hmmmm"! So here it goes: The "thing" that is supposed to draw people closer to God (ie. the church), is turning out to be the the very thing that is causing people to be separated from Him! Here's what I mean. Most people come to church with the idea that they are going to obtain knowledge and understanding of God and the church body is there to oversee peoples spiritual growth and maturity (at least thats the general concept). Instead, they become "saved" and the next thing they know their being shuffled off to Nursery duty or being asked to teach Sunday School. Next thing they know, its years later they are no better off spiritually than when the first came to know the Lord. Why does this happen? Because the very entity or body that was supposed to assist them in growing spiritually, has instead hampered them from growing by keeping them "busy".

Recently I have been reading Leonard Ravenhill's "Why Revival Tarries". In his book he writes about the "Present Day Church" where he sites the following:

"What a fever of church building there is just now, yet without unctionized preachers these altars will never see anxious penitents. Suppose that we saw fishing boats with the latest in radar equipment and fishing gear launched month after month and put out to sea only to return without a catch - what excuse would we take for this barrenness? Yet thousands of churches see empty altars week after week and year after year and cover this sterile situation by misapplying the Scripture. "My word . . . shall not return unto me void." I

For one, I think Leonard's comments really applies to the whole issue of busyness and our churches. Instead of seeing empty pews or alters these days, we see all sorts of activities going on, plenty of to and fro, but yet yielding no true harvest if you will..... Today our "ships" are large and full of people and we have plenty of activities. But instead of fishing, we are now nothing more than cruise ships, party barges if you will. Churches today have become nothing more than a religious community center where one can learn to have "financial peace", be entertained and see a floor show on the veranda deck! We have taken our fishing vessels and transformed them into ships of busyness. All the while countless souls are perishing into Hell and the Modern Day Church is not sitting idle. Oh no! instead it has lulled itself into a false sense of accomplishment. Along the lines of Ravenhill's comments - our ships return to the harbor with no yield in its hull! The boat is speeding in and out to sea, but yet it yields no fish! My point here is if we were to know of such a vessel, would we not inform the ships captain that their operation would soon be bankrupt or even worse shipwrecked?

So maybe the real issue here is not busyness in of itself, but that the church has lost its real purpose. Instead of the church being a place of spiritual growth and knowledge, it has preoccupied itself with being a Cruise Ship and not a fisher of men as Christ instructed his disciples.

Joel Osteen needs to read Galatians 1:8-10

2007-12-31T14:08:00.000-08:00

It would seem Joel Osteen has once again forgot to "prep" before his recent interview on Fox News. When asked about the authenticity of Mormons being a part of the Christian faith, Joel in true "Seeker Friendly" fashion answers with a resounding YES! The apostasy that exist in the Modern Day Church is just overwhelming and is a sign of the times we are living in. Watch the clip below and see how Joel addresses the whole "golden plates" and Joseph Smith issue. It would seem Chris Wallace knows more about the Christian faith than Joel does.

Galatians 1:8-10 states: But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema. 9 As we have said before, so say I now again, if any man preacheth unto you any gospel other than that which ye received, let him be anathema. 10 For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? or am I striving to please men? if I were still pleasing men, I should not be a servant of Christ.

Great Now I have to become a Monk! (Another excuse NOT to preach the Gospel!)

2007-12-20T20:21:00.000-08:00

Well its hard to believe but we seem to be headed back to the Dark Ages once again. The geniuses at Willow Creek (yes that same Mega-Church who just weeks ago announced they have wasted millions of dollars & time on a message that's not working) have decided that monasticism is what's missing from the church these days and this is what will set us back on the right path to God. Below is a video from a recent "Ancient Future Conference" held at Willow Creek Church, whereby this is another sign of the Emergent Church going more mainstream at your local corner Mega-Church.

For those who are unaware of what "Ancient Future" means, this is a term coined by the Emergent Church movement whereby they feel what's really lacking from the church today is ancient liturgy, rituals, traditions such as iconic prayer, infant baptism, that was done during the "ancient" years of the church. In the video Mark Van Steenwyk a speaker at the Willow Creek Conference describes their idea of monastic living. Mr. Steenwyk is the founding member of Missio Dei. Described as a neo-monastic community on the West Bank of Minneapolis. Missio Dei lives to embody Jesus' presence on the West Bank (a diverse neighborhood of East African immigrants, punks, artists, homeless people and students). NOTE: This is not to be confused with being a missionary - this is more on line with your communes of the 60-70's.

So what we all really need to do is withdraw ourselves and live in a commune or monastery AND that will cause revival in our land!?? How about this Willow Creek here is some advice - PREACH THE GOSPEL!! It's amazing, when we see the gospel truth really preached - we don't need gimmicks. Instead we see lives truly transformed from the pain and sickness of sin. Instead all I am seeing is churches like Willow Creek and Saddleback do everything BUT preach the gospel. Again, over and over we see they try and reinvent the wheel (or the gospel) every six months or so.

Enough's Enough! We Have Officially Taken This "Seeker Friendly" Thing Way Too Far!

2007-12-19T17:43:00.000-08:00

Need I say more!

clipped from www.beliefnet.com

Beginning Thursday, Destin United Methodist Church will offer "Hot Wings Bible Study" at the Hooter's Restaurant in Destin, an establishment known across the country for its scantily clad waitresses and hot wings.

"It's a study for people who haven't studied the Bible a whole lot. It will be beginner's style," said Sharron, the assistant pastor at the Methodist church one of bringing the gospel Destin's largest, to the marketplace.

Forgiveness Gone Bad

2007-12-17T19:49:00.000-08:00

In light of the recent tragedies in Arvada & Colorado Springs Colorado churches there have begun the healing process and begin moving forward with their churches and their lives. However, in a recent article in the Christian Post I found a somewhat disturbing comment made by both leaders there:

Now most Christians would agree that we should forgive others as one of the fundamental points of Christianity. Some of the key verses that most people will quote is Matt 6:14-15

"For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions".

For years I have heard people say if someone wrongs you must forgive them, regardless if they seek forgiveness. But the more I read God's Word the more I see this is in fact not found in the scriptures. Clearly Matt Chapt 18 is a key parable on the concept of Christian or biblical forgiveness. First, let me say that we are to forgive others just as our Father forgives us. Most don't care to really think about what all this entails. The first order of business before God ever forgives us is what?? Repentance! Does God just freely forgive sinners, does God go around in His kingdom throwing pardons to the wind and say all has been forgiven? Clearly not. God in his wisdom knows that prior to forgiving someone the guilty party must first have a repentful & broken heart over their actions and seek forgiveness or provide restitution to the victim.

As we look at Matthew 18:21-35 we begin to see a clear idea of how forgiveness is to be extended and under what conditions. The first thing we see is we have a servant who owes a tremendous debt to the king. Note that the king has not made some broad proclamation of forgiveness, but rather is now seeking to reclaim that which is rightfully his from his debtors. Next we see the servant coming before the king and is pleading and broken over his debt and seeks mercy from the king. Friends, this is an example of repentance - a broken condition whereby we fall before the Lord and seek mercy and forgiveness of our moral debt we have incurred against our good king. The king being good and merciful forgives the servant of his debt. No where do we see in this parable that the king was going to forgive the servant prior to him coming before his court, instead the verses states,

"........the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slavesWhen he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25"But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made"

Clearly the king was going to rightly administer justice against this servant in order to settle the debt that had been incurred. In todays' church we have such a distortion of forgiveness. As in the case of the Arvada YWAM and New Life Church murders, this is by no means a situation that warrants a blanket of forgiveness to be extended to the murderer who took four innocent lives. First, we see this man was by no means repentant of his actions - as a matter of fact he was very rebellious and sinister. Secondly, would it be right for this murderer to stand before God on judgment day and God say "OK all is forgiven, you can enter in well done good and faithful servant? " Of course not! God's character would instantly be under suspicion for forgiving such a criminal into his kingdom. We see further in the parable that once the servant had been forgiven and he had failed to show mercy just as the king had shown him, his debt was placed back in full upon him and he was forced to repay all that he had owed the king.

When Christ says that we should forgive someone, this is in reference to the other person coming before us and asking for our hand of forgiveness. If we as believers fail to forgive someone once they have come before us and asked us to forgive them, then this is when we are in jeopardy of sinning ourselves. Luke 17:2-4 is a good example of this whereby Jesus says:

"Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' forgive him."

In the case of this murderer in Colorado, the church first can not speak on behalf of the victims and extend forgiveness on their behalf. Secondly, it would be unjust if we would extend forgiveness to this unrepentant murderer as clearly he was neither filled with regret or repentance for his actions. As Christians, let us be on guard how we portray biblical or Christ-like forgiveness. Clearly, before we were forgiven by God we must exhibit true and genuine sorrow for what we have done to the heart of God.

Absolute Contingency

2007-12-17T12:09:00.001-08:00

For years arguments have been waged between Arminianist and Calvinists about coexistence of man's will and God's absolute foreknowledge. The Arminianist position has been that man's freewill and God's Foreknowledge (Sovereignty) can perfectly coexist without somehow impugning God's character nor showing God having causation on the part of mankind's will. The Calvinist contend that due to God's absolute and "perfect' foreknowledge, he had to foreknow from eternity past every person's destiny and therefore every person is either damned to hell or destined to enter into heaven. This is what is defined by Calvinist as Predestination or "Election". I think the Calvinist position is best described by prominent Calvinist author and writer Loraine Boettner in his work the "The Foreknowledge of God" whereby he states: "Since God's foreknowledge is complete, He knows the destiny of every person, not merely before the person has made his choice in this life, but from eternity. And since He knows their destiny before they are created, and then proceeds to create, it is plain that the saved and the lost alike fulfill His plan for them; for if He did not plan that any particular ones should be lost, He could at least refrain from creating them.......We conclude, then, that the Christian doctrine of the Foreknowledge of God proves also His Predestination". I personally think this is a very logical conclusion on the part of the Calvinist, however as logical as it may sound, it does brings to mind many character assinations against the personality and character of a benevolent God.

On the other hand Arminians, argue that they can have their cake and eat it too if you will. Most Arminianist would argue that there is a logical distinction between necessity and certainty. They would argue that God foreknows that choice X is going to freely be made means only that X is certain to occur; it does not mean that God's foreknowledge, or any other cause made X necessary. However, there are several logically inconsistencies we have with this argument. For one, and as any good Calvinist or Open Theist would point out this definition violates the Law of Non-Contradiction. In other words, this is like saying that something can be True and False at the same time. Contingency and foreknowledge are truly contradictory assertions because a contingent event, being unnecessitated, can not be known until it actually occurs. As an Open Theist, I would argue that when it comes to the issue of man truly making a contingent choice (freewill), this means that there is a real or actual contingency involved. How could something be contingent if the events involved were already known by God from all eternity past? However, as Boettner points out, if God's absolute foreknowledge is indeed true, then no real contingency can occur in the mind of God and mankind then is not truly free. In other words, future events (both good and evil) would have been preordained by God on the basis of His foreknowledge. As the Calvinist point out, what God foreknows must, in the very nature of the case, be as fixed and certain as what is foreordained, foreordination therefore renders the events certain, while foreknowledge presupposes that they are certain.

I must say this is the one time in my life I actually agree with a Calvinist! Essentially Calvinist are saying to have both contingency (freewill) and God having absolute foreknowledge is logically inconsistent and therefore impossible. Personally, this is why I am Open Theist. Open Theism is truly the only way one can logically and rationally explain the existence of man's freewill and God's omniscience. I too must agree with the Calvinist here that the Arminianist view is logically inconsistent and therefore can not be true. As Boettner states in "The Foreknowledge of God" regarding the Arminians position, he states: "When the Arminian is confronted with the argument from the foreknowledge of God, he has to admit the certainty or fixity of future events. Yet when dealing with the problem of free agency he wishes to maintain that the acts of free agents are uncertain and ultimately dependent on the choice of the person,---which is plainly an inconsistent position. A view which holds that the free acts of men are uncertain, sacrifices the sovereignty of God in order to preserve the freedom of men." For the Open Theist however, this is truly solved in the position that God can only know that which is knowable. In other words, God being fully benevolent and fully all-powerful is not afraid or intimidated in allowing man to have a free will, but maintains that the possibility of man choosing good over evil is indeed of the highest order in the universe (love must be freely chosen). On the other hand, we have Calvinism, although it might be logically consistent it horrifically impugns the character of God and takes away all human freedom. We can no longer define God as being truly benevolent, as we now are confronted with a God who has preordained all of the horrific sins and atrocities throughout all of mankind and yet gets none of the blame for doing so. He is now responsible for the intentional creation of Satan and his minions and all the havoc they bring to our planet. But the main reason I reject Calvinism is that its views are so inconsistent with the complete Biblical text. We have numerous verses whereby we see God questioning or not knowing the decisions to be made by man. We see a God who is grieved by the sinful actions of his creation - is this not a strange or alien like response from a God who supposedly should have known his creation would have acted in its preordained state? Verse after verse we see a God who has no problem allowing is creation to make contingent choices and yet his plan of salvation will ultimately come to fruition.

Art vs God?

2007-12-13T07:42:00.000-08:00

I was reading an editorial this morning by Camille LaPaglia of Salon.com that really caught my attention. By the way, Salon.com is what I would consider a fairly liberal online mag and spews forth the typical human secularist diatribe you would come to expect from such a media outlet. So why do I read it? From time to time I read liberal editorials just to see what the "other side" is thinking and writing about. As a Christian I think it is always valuable to see what tactic's the world is using to attack God. I read it because it allows me to become more aware of my talking points with unbelievers and to understand what is the latest social and philosophical influences of our culture. Taking this approach we can begin to rationally show people God is not an absurdity, but just the opposite, God is real and he can be known if we just use the very faculties God has endowed us with. I also think as Christians we have lost our ability to "think" logically and rationally and therefore we have become unable to rationally explain our theology or why we believe what we believe. Instead what I witness is more of a "parrotting" if you will of "Well My Pastor said______________".

So back to the article I was reading. What caught my eye was a statement LaPaglia made and it is a interesting one. She is writing about the Presidential Primaries and how religion has become such a focus for the candidates. In her editorial she writes:

clipped from http://www.salon.com/opinion/paglia/2007/12/12/bush_flowers/?source=whitelist

"But what does Romney mean by the ongoing threat of a new "religion of secularism"? The latter term needs amplification and qualification. In my lecture on religion and the arts in America earlier this year at Colorado College, I argued that secular humanism has failed, that the avant-garde is dead, and that liberals must start acknowledging the impoverished culture that my 1960s generation has left to the young. Atheism alone is a rotting corpse. I substitute art and nature for God -- the grandeur of man and the vast mystery of the universe."

The amazing thing is she see's that the human secularist & Atheist are only accelerating the further downfall of our culture. Her comments regarding Atheist is an interesting one, but yet the most alarming phrase is the what LaPaglia suggest we substitute God for - "Art and nature for God - the grandeur of man and the vast mystery of the universe". LaPaglia in two sentences has managed to completely contradicted herself. On one hand she see's that human secularist and Atheist are going no where, but yet she is imbibing the very essence of what they believe!

Christian philosopher, Francis Schaeffer writes in his book "How Should We Then Live?" that one can tell a tremendous amount about a culture in its art, music and writings. When man is inspired by his deepest interests in life, these will be reflected in the arts of the culture of that period. An example would be the Roman or Greek Empires, whereby we see the exquisite detail and emphasis on the human form - the Roman Greco man where it exemplifies strength, beauty and power. However, Schaeffer writes that over the centuries we have seen the further moral & philosophical decay of mankind reflected in the arts as a direct testimony of our ever increasing desire to worship ourselves. In centuries past we have often seen how God and religion was in large part, central themes of inspiration for artist and creative types alike.

However, the comment made by LaPaglia seems to suggest that instead of allowing art to become an outlet of expression, we must now worship art & nature in of itself - or as she put it "the grandeur of man and the mystery of the universe". Instead, we are now worshipping the created and not the Creator. Paul in his letter to Rome points out that in his day this very thing was occuring with the Romans:

Rom 1:21-23 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him. Instead, their thoughts turned to worthless things, and their ignorant hearts were darkened. (22) Though claiming to be wise, they became fools (23) and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images that looked like mortal human beings, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.

If what LaPaglia is saying is indeed to occur, then we are beginning to witness serious pagan-like behavior from within our culture. For as Paul says, their hearts have indeed become ignorant and darkened. No longer do we worship God the Creator, but we now worship the created and the created will worship itself. These are indeed sad and dark days when we as a culture begin to beleive in such non-sense. That we are somehow as gods and we need to seek devine inspiration from art and nature. What lunacy! As I had stated in my previous posting, how can one even look at somehting as complex as DNA, or Photosynthesis, or the human form and not see the handiwork of our creator. Sadly, the modern day church continues to parrot old sayings and slogans and lazily refuses to address today's culture in debate or as Paul would say "come and reason together".

A Wonderful Comparison

2007-12-10T08:15:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I mentioned a Podcast by Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias that I had been listening to last week. In this Podcast Ravi mentions Dr. Francis Collins who is one of two doctors responsible for mapping the human genome. Dr. Francis gives lectures whereby he shows the above picture showing an amazing comparison and shares his faith in God. On the right hand side is a photo of a strand of human DNA along its axis (double helix). On the left hand side is a photo of the Rose Window at York Minster Cathedral.

Both have beautiful detailed design. Both have complex mathematical and geometrical design. Clearly someone would never look at the photo of the window and assume this occurred by randomness. Because of the amazing design of this window and vast selection of colors and shapes, one would come to the logical conclusion that this was made by human hands. It was made with a design in mind and calculated intelligence. But yet when we look at something a thousand times more complex as the Double Helix of human DNA, most people would say this happened as a result of chance, it happen by accident or it evolved. Clearly, when we see both images side-by-side we see two items that have been clearly made by intelligence designers. When I read of what goes into making up the sequenced data within a single strand DNA, I think to myself how can anyone come to the logical assumption that this all happened by random chance? We would never make the assumption that the window just evolved or fell into place by chance - what an absurdity!

When I see the creativity that God possesses and the depths He has gone to show every person his existence is overwhelming. I am so thankful we do not have a God who is shrouding himself in mystery as many people would claim. When I see something like this picture of DNA I think what depths God has gone to show us who he truly is! God truly is reaching out to man and saying Here am I! Know me and Love me for who I am - not what I am. I love God for his creativity and for allowing us to see his wonderful and amazing creation before us. He is a God who says "use the very logic and reason I have given you and you will plainly see I am here and I am real and alive". When we think God is somehow mysterious and can not be known, then what are we really saying about God? I think of the depths God has gone to by sending his son Jesus to show all of humanity just who He is and openly displaying for all of man to see his character. Jesus said "If you see me you also see the Father". Was Jesus ever mysterious? Was Jesus ever being coy with those around him so they would be unable to truly know him? Not at all! Just as God has displayed his intelligence and creativity in the things of this world, he also has shown us his character through his Son Jesus Christ. God has made it possible for you to know him and have a relationship with him. Have you met the Savior this day? If not, I would urge you to seek after him and to know him. For He is a loving and merciful and a creative God!

What are we worth?

2007-12-09T12:12:00.000-08:00

This week I have been listening to a tremendous and touching podcast by Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias entitled "The Christian Privilege". I must say this has to be one of the most moving speeches on explaining the heart of God and the human condition. Do you think your life is random, or do you believe that you are unique, having been designed by a loving God? I would implore everyone to listen to this short speech by Ravi. It really does a fine job of explaining the purpose of mankind and our relationship with God. This is Part 2 of a 5 part series. If your interested in hearing all 5 podcast you can find them here.

Click the following link to hear RZIM Podcast "The Christian Privilege".

A PSA for the Emergent Church Movement

2007-12-09T11:47:00.000-08:00

Below is a very humorous podcast from a blog called Fighting for Faith . The point of this podcast is to show just how illogical the Emergent Church movement really is. Can we really trust the Emergent Church? After listening to this I think you'll understand my point.

Imputed Righteousness: Whose Righteousness Anyway? Part 5 of 5

2007-12-09T11:26:00.000-08:00

Here is the final part 5 of the Sermon series from Pastor Dean Harvey regarding the doctrine of Imputed Righteousness.

Whose Righteousness Anyway?, By Pastor Dean Harvey – A Transcript from his daily radio show

In conclusion, we must ask the question, "Do we have any excuse for sin?" Unfortunately, the doctrine of imputed righteousness has become an excuse for sin, or at the very least, permitted Christians to become less vigilant about sin in their lives. Yes, we are to live righteously as the Bible instructs. No, Jesus cannot live righteously for us. And no, God does not see the sinful person through the righteousness of Christ, thereby making the sinner righteous in the sight of God. This is what is called a "theological fiction." It is a fiction, a make-believe, a lie, to somehow think that God sees us as righteous when we are living a life of sin. I am very sad to think that many who expect to go to heaven when they die, will hear Jesus say, "I never knew you." Matt. 7:23. In 1 Cor. 1:30, Paul says that Christ has become to us, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. This means that He is our Savior from sin, without Him, we would be lost in our sins, and could not be saved. Can we save ourselves? No. Is it works to say that we must personally live righteously after we become Christians? No. It is not works, it is the obedience of faith. It is the fruit of our transformation of heart. It is the fruit of the great mercy of God. It is the fruit of the patience of God. It is the only thing we can give back to God for this great salvation. Let us stop making excuses for sin. Let us stop looking for loopholes in the law of God. That is what the Pharisees did, and Jesus rightly condemned them. We say with Paul, "What, shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace?"

Back to the Future!

2007-12-07T07:51:00.000-08:00

This video was produced back in the mid-1960' and this is what people thought technology might look like in 1999. I realize this has nothing to do with theology or with God, but as you will see almost everything in this video has transpired within our technology of today. It is amazing what wonderful minds God has given us! The probleim is I am still waiting for my flying car from the Jetson's!