I can’t tell you how many times in my past the phrase, “you can’t take one part of scripture by itself but you must put one passage with the other passages to have completeness,” has come up in biblical discussions. My question is simple and does not have a good answer. Why is any one statement by God not complete in and of itself?
The basis for the conclusion above being given is nothing less than an acceptance of man’s wisdom being superior to God! We are not told to add one statement to another and come up with a conclusion but our human ability to understand and reason assumes this practice as the only legitimate method of understanding a topic. I would have the reader notice it is our understanding of reasoning which makes this a necessity.
Typically this discussion comes forward when we consider the importance of baptism in salvation. If I were to quote to someone the passage saying “for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son and that those who believe on Him shall not perish,” members of my heritage would quickly add the requirement to be baptized because this passage does not mention baptism. The same people who will follow up with the statement made to Timothy concerning all scripture given being available for teaching and admonishment will rarely accept the same scripture when making references from the Old Testament which was available to Timothy and yet demand the assimilation of every passage to draw a “reasoned” conclusion on any given topic.
The reality of our ability to reason and the wisdom of God might best be summed up with a statement made to me as a young musician who believed he understood and knew something about music. One of my teachers offended me greatly when he overheard me making a statement of “fact” about music and told me strongly how I was so ignorant that I had not yet come to the point of knowing how little I knew. Well, brothers and sisters, I would extend this statement into the world of Christianity and claim anyone using his own wisdom, like the wisdom of having to put John 3:16 with Acts 2:38 in order to “level” their ability to reason Gods plan for His creation and salvation, is still to ignorant of the ways of God to fully understand how little we know about GOD and HIS WAYS!
Having been in the field of teaching for 31 years now, one of the things bothering teachers throughout this period of time are the “highly educated ones” who make something simple so extremely difficult. I have little doubt of how much better our school children would be educated if researchers and government officials who keep discovering the “right way to teach” would simply get out of the way and allow teachers to teach. When this is apposed to Christianity, I would suggest those “picking” the bible apart to make and draw specific conclusions of what God wants should get out of the way of the church and let them DO GODS WORK.
When looking at my own life and that of my congregation, I must say it seems like we are afraid to LEAD. Churches of Christ all over our country are discovering, for themselves the things I have spoken of in these blogs and are making changes to reflect Christ as the head of the church and not men. I can’t tell the reader how many times I have criticized the Catholic denomination over the past years for having a Pope who makes decisions for the church and yet, I have regularly given in and recognized the authority of the Pope in our own congregations. In many churches, the elders regularly swap in and out of the “Elder of the Month” or “Papal” position and having criticized the Catholic denomination, I recognize we are not immune to the same criticism. God’s people went to Samuel and told him they wanted a king and we have not changed over all these years. We can’t stand to have Christ as our head but must have a man in a position of being our authority.
Brothers and sisters, what have we done? We are the ones who took God’s plan for elders as being spiritual leaders and crowned them KING. Christ came to bring God to a personal level and we still want someone in between us and God. I just mentioned Samuel and I hope you will go back and read the story because God told Samuel to tell the people of how bad it would be under the authority of a King and sure enough, God’s word was true.
Our/your local congregation is what it has become because Christ is Lord or men are Lord. I have seen too many congregations in my heritage come out from behind the mantle of men being Lord and when they allow Christ to be Lord, they THRIVE. Many have blazed the path for us beginning in Texas with Oak Hills in San Antonio and then Richland Hills in the Dallas area. There were none in the Houston area until recently and then take a look and see which Church of Christ is thriving on the southwest side of Houston. Yes, Sugar Grove decided to study the scriptures for themselves and saw past the shackles placed on our heritage in the form of tradition.
Brothers and sisters, which Church of Christ on the southeast side of Houston is going to throw open the doors with Christ as Lord and cast off the shackles of tradition? It takes the faith of Abraham to step out. It takes the faith of David to step out.
What a COP OUT! It takes the faith of a church to step out!
There are those who read my blogs in disgust and having suggested I pull up stakes and LEAVE, will also be the ones who will be glad to know when the doors of a congregation founded in the Lordship of Christ opens on the southeast side of Houston, I will be there from then on.
My prayer for my own congregation is that we become that congregation on the southeast side of Houston. One or two years, we won’t have enough parking or room to hold all of the Christians who have already made the change of placing Christ ahead of tradition and the building will be crying out for additional rooms to hold everyone during worship services on Saturday, Sunday and any other day of the week needed to meet the needs of our brothers and sisters.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Some Are Choking On The Meat!
I can’t place in words the joy I get from meeting with life group members each week at home but it has given great spiritual life to my relationship with God. As I read text in the bible, it seems new and fresh and the opportunity to open up with others in a close group who know how each member loves God and wants to be effective as a Christian, is nothing less than the plan of God for His people.
One of the things always bothering me about those I have grown up with in the church is the opinions on what constitutes a great sermon. Even though I loved the man who preached for our congregation and was more than a little upset when he told me he had been released as the preacher for the congregation, I think, from what I am told and know, it has been a blessing for him and it has been a blessing for me.
I think my blessing from the last preacher was in getting to “sub” for him when needed and my focus on the topic was enhanced by knowing I might be called upon to continue the lesson. This created a desire in me to study or read ahead in the books of the bible we were covering. My blessing over the past five years is based in what I would call the “filet mignon” of being a Christian (this is my favorite steak and I do like a thick one cooked no more than 15 seconds on each side). To be specific, I have been ravenous as the true message of the gospel is delivered each week.
I have often commented how he has “hit one out of the park” and to me, I usually leave still chewing on the meat I have been given. Not to condemn any in my past, but the history of my fellowship has been consumed with continuing to provide milk and baby food of little substance. It is still not uncommon to get a real “meat” sermon and then have someone step in make sure the milk is POURED back down our throats. I do not condemn milk, but it is for the babies and if the church is hungry for milk, something must be wrong.
In discussion this past Sunday evening, an illustration of my past life came to mind and I do believe it is applicable to the problems we are facing in Christianity today. The major failing of our denomination in the past has been caught up in check-list Christianity. We have desired to list and obey the commands of God so we can know we stand justified in His sight. I mentioned Sunday night and have come to the conclusion of nothing definitive being “required” on our part for salvation. In my current thinking, the only absolute requirement applicable to all men everywhere was completed by Christ on the cross. If we take the position of even one thing being absolutely necessary (outside of Christ mentioned above), we have taken the position of being part of check-list Christianity. I see no difference in us having one absolute and another person having ten absolutes. We both have a list and I believe it is not aligned with the will of God in our lives.
Returning to the topic of preachers in my past, I realized a problem some seem to see today as leaving the word or not providing appropriate teaching from the bible. Almost 100% of the sermons delivered prior to the past five years have come directly from a book of the bible (authentic sermons some desire) and while I do not object to sermons taken directly from the books of the bible, more is hidden in this practice than readily comes clear. These lessons were individual lessons made up from the text and “authenticated” with the official commentaries of our fellowship prior to delivering the sermon. In other words, it was a summary of another man’s work upon which our heritage is founded and then placed on the minds of the next generation. Our traditions became the official Law of God (commandments of God).
Weekly we have been fed for years on the milk of our tradition concerning the concepts of hearing, believing, repenting, confessing and being baptized for the remission of sins and anything not containing these elements was less than a good sermon. I can even remember my grandfather reminding me of the elements that needed to be in a good sermon.
The author of Hebrews, which by the way I do not believe is the apostle Paul, tells us of the need to put these things away and move on to the meat of living our lives for God and this meat is wrapped up in discerning the good available for us to do. If a preacher dares to move on to the “filet mignon” of God, he has made a mistake I only discovered Sunday night prior to this blog. He makes those adhering to check-list Christianity uneasy when they are forced to hear something new and not directly from the commentary “play book.”
For the majority of my life, I have been seated in auditoriums with no desire to critique the sermon and yet as a check-list Christian, I would hear the “official” tenants of our tradition and mentally check them off one at a time. As I checked each comment off from the preacher, I was confirming to myself how my salvation was guaranteed by being accurately in line with the authoritative declaration of God’s word from the bible. The fact of it being little more than a summary of another man’s study which became our official tradition and doctrine had nothing to do with our ultimate conclusion of salvation based on being accurate in doctrine to the smallest detail.
In many church congregations, both in our denomination and those we have been condemning of in the past, there are men coming forward like the one I have been blessed to hear for the past five years who have discovered and decided we need to move on to the meat of Christianity. As they preach this “new” message which just happens to be the basis of all Jesus taught the apostles, our salvation via check-list Christianity is challenged and the thought immediately goes to the condemnation of everything salvation has been based upon in our lives. Christians from everywhere are literally CHOKING on the meat of the Gospel message!
As with a piece of meat lodged in our throat blocking the oxygen we need so badly, the meat of the gospel given to those shackled with check-list Christianity brings forth the reality of a life lived with heart of people given to something other than God and leading to nothing more than death. We have numerous examples in the bible of men being dedicated in deeds to God and being condemned in every “God following deed” because their hearts were far from God. In the past, I have been guilty of believing those Jesus spoke of as saying “Lord, Lord” and being faced with God never knowing them were all of those other denominations who do not believe as WE DO! Reality for those calling out to God is the acknowledgment of believing they were part of God’s will because of the things they could check off for God.
My mother used to tell me to chew my meat well so I would not get choked and I am more than thankful of God blessing me and my congregation with a delicious filet week after week. I long for a time when all will discover the meat is no longer milk and eliminate the possibility of choking.
One of the things always bothering me about those I have grown up with in the church is the opinions on what constitutes a great sermon. Even though I loved the man who preached for our congregation and was more than a little upset when he told me he had been released as the preacher for the congregation, I think, from what I am told and know, it has been a blessing for him and it has been a blessing for me.
I think my blessing from the last preacher was in getting to “sub” for him when needed and my focus on the topic was enhanced by knowing I might be called upon to continue the lesson. This created a desire in me to study or read ahead in the books of the bible we were covering. My blessing over the past five years is based in what I would call the “filet mignon” of being a Christian (this is my favorite steak and I do like a thick one cooked no more than 15 seconds on each side). To be specific, I have been ravenous as the true message of the gospel is delivered each week.
I have often commented how he has “hit one out of the park” and to me, I usually leave still chewing on the meat I have been given. Not to condemn any in my past, but the history of my fellowship has been consumed with continuing to provide milk and baby food of little substance. It is still not uncommon to get a real “meat” sermon and then have someone step in make sure the milk is POURED back down our throats. I do not condemn milk, but it is for the babies and if the church is hungry for milk, something must be wrong.
In discussion this past Sunday evening, an illustration of my past life came to mind and I do believe it is applicable to the problems we are facing in Christianity today. The major failing of our denomination in the past has been caught up in check-list Christianity. We have desired to list and obey the commands of God so we can know we stand justified in His sight. I mentioned Sunday night and have come to the conclusion of nothing definitive being “required” on our part for salvation. In my current thinking, the only absolute requirement applicable to all men everywhere was completed by Christ on the cross. If we take the position of even one thing being absolutely necessary (outside of Christ mentioned above), we have taken the position of being part of check-list Christianity. I see no difference in us having one absolute and another person having ten absolutes. We both have a list and I believe it is not aligned with the will of God in our lives.
Returning to the topic of preachers in my past, I realized a problem some seem to see today as leaving the word or not providing appropriate teaching from the bible. Almost 100% of the sermons delivered prior to the past five years have come directly from a book of the bible (authentic sermons some desire) and while I do not object to sermons taken directly from the books of the bible, more is hidden in this practice than readily comes clear. These lessons were individual lessons made up from the text and “authenticated” with the official commentaries of our fellowship prior to delivering the sermon. In other words, it was a summary of another man’s work upon which our heritage is founded and then placed on the minds of the next generation. Our traditions became the official Law of God (commandments of God).
Weekly we have been fed for years on the milk of our tradition concerning the concepts of hearing, believing, repenting, confessing and being baptized for the remission of sins and anything not containing these elements was less than a good sermon. I can even remember my grandfather reminding me of the elements that needed to be in a good sermon.
The author of Hebrews, which by the way I do not believe is the apostle Paul, tells us of the need to put these things away and move on to the meat of living our lives for God and this meat is wrapped up in discerning the good available for us to do. If a preacher dares to move on to the “filet mignon” of God, he has made a mistake I only discovered Sunday night prior to this blog. He makes those adhering to check-list Christianity uneasy when they are forced to hear something new and not directly from the commentary “play book.”
For the majority of my life, I have been seated in auditoriums with no desire to critique the sermon and yet as a check-list Christian, I would hear the “official” tenants of our tradition and mentally check them off one at a time. As I checked each comment off from the preacher, I was confirming to myself how my salvation was guaranteed by being accurately in line with the authoritative declaration of God’s word from the bible. The fact of it being little more than a summary of another man’s study which became our official tradition and doctrine had nothing to do with our ultimate conclusion of salvation based on being accurate in doctrine to the smallest detail.
In many church congregations, both in our denomination and those we have been condemning of in the past, there are men coming forward like the one I have been blessed to hear for the past five years who have discovered and decided we need to move on to the meat of Christianity. As they preach this “new” message which just happens to be the basis of all Jesus taught the apostles, our salvation via check-list Christianity is challenged and the thought immediately goes to the condemnation of everything salvation has been based upon in our lives. Christians from everywhere are literally CHOKING on the meat of the Gospel message!
As with a piece of meat lodged in our throat blocking the oxygen we need so badly, the meat of the gospel given to those shackled with check-list Christianity brings forth the reality of a life lived with heart of people given to something other than God and leading to nothing more than death. We have numerous examples in the bible of men being dedicated in deeds to God and being condemned in every “God following deed” because their hearts were far from God. In the past, I have been guilty of believing those Jesus spoke of as saying “Lord, Lord” and being faced with God never knowing them were all of those other denominations who do not believe as WE DO! Reality for those calling out to God is the acknowledgment of believing they were part of God’s will because of the things they could check off for God.
My mother used to tell me to chew my meat well so I would not get choked and I am more than thankful of God blessing me and my congregation with a delicious filet week after week. I long for a time when all will discover the meat is no longer milk and eliminate the possibility of choking.
Friday, August 21, 2009
The Lost "Parable" of Matthew 7:22
As Jesus was sitting with his disciples one evening, Peter and the others were beginning to argue over who was wise enough to walk the narrow path. Jesus, knowing their thoughts spoke to them in a parable saying. "There was once a baby born to Christian parents and as he grew and matured through the mistakes of his youth, his parents provided the training necessary for him to recognize God as the creator of everything and he eventually came to know the son of God as the savior of the world.
Mike grew and study of the scriptures became a daily practice in his life. He could literally quote large passages of scriptures and he was not satisfied until he had reasoned every possible lesson from God's word. Constantly maturing in his devotion to God, he would be in every worship service, he would lead or take part in whatever task was assigned and he was faithful in giving a material blessing back to God each week.
For several years Mike took the word of God and spread knowledge of God's plan for man from sea to sea and even traveled to foreign lands preaching the Good News of God's son coming to save the world. His life was legendary and everyone knew of his knowledge of the scriptures and with thousands upon thousands baptized into Christ because of his devotion and teaching, Mike looked forward to judgment day.
Mike got to judgment, as all men will and do, and he was standing tall as he knew well about the EXPECTED welcome "thou good and faithful servant." Approaching God, Mike went to his knees with great joy and heard the Creator of the Universe say, "I don't know you!"
As Mike heard these words, he jumped to his feet and began to plead with God saying, Lord, Lord, I devoted my whole life to you. I preached, I sang, I baptized thousands for the remission of sin, I was baptized for the remission of my sin, I was faithfully present at every worship service, I gave of my money, I read your word every day and committed it to memory, I followed all of your commandments and many came to know of you because of my life.
God looked at Mike with a tear in his eye and said, "all these things you did BUT, when I was hungry, you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.
Depart from me, Mike. You are cursed and must be cast into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels!
The disciples were troubled by this parable from Jesus and all evening they kept repeating, "Who then shall be able to enter the kingdom of Heaven."
Finally, having enough of this distraction, Jesus stood and exclaimed to all, "O ye of little faith, do you not yet realize Heaven is not for those seen of men doing all of the right things. Heaven is not for those wise men who have discovered every nuance of God's word.
The gift I offer is offered to those who love me and love as if they were me, whether in weakness of knowledge or strength of knowledge! Knowledge is neither good or bad but your heart, not your ability to discern the "necessary" commands must belong to God!
Mike grew and study of the scriptures became a daily practice in his life. He could literally quote large passages of scriptures and he was not satisfied until he had reasoned every possible lesson from God's word. Constantly maturing in his devotion to God, he would be in every worship service, he would lead or take part in whatever task was assigned and he was faithful in giving a material blessing back to God each week.
For several years Mike took the word of God and spread knowledge of God's plan for man from sea to sea and even traveled to foreign lands preaching the Good News of God's son coming to save the world. His life was legendary and everyone knew of his knowledge of the scriptures and with thousands upon thousands baptized into Christ because of his devotion and teaching, Mike looked forward to judgment day.
Mike got to judgment, as all men will and do, and he was standing tall as he knew well about the EXPECTED welcome "thou good and faithful servant." Approaching God, Mike went to his knees with great joy and heard the Creator of the Universe say, "I don't know you!"
As Mike heard these words, he jumped to his feet and began to plead with God saying, Lord, Lord, I devoted my whole life to you. I preached, I sang, I baptized thousands for the remission of sin, I was baptized for the remission of my sin, I was faithfully present at every worship service, I gave of my money, I read your word every day and committed it to memory, I followed all of your commandments and many came to know of you because of my life.
God looked at Mike with a tear in his eye and said, "all these things you did BUT, when I was hungry, you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.
Depart from me, Mike. You are cursed and must be cast into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels!
The disciples were troubled by this parable from Jesus and all evening they kept repeating, "Who then shall be able to enter the kingdom of Heaven."
Finally, having enough of this distraction, Jesus stood and exclaimed to all, "O ye of little faith, do you not yet realize Heaven is not for those seen of men doing all of the right things. Heaven is not for those wise men who have discovered every nuance of God's word.
The gift I offer is offered to those who love me and love as if they were me, whether in weakness of knowledge or strength of knowledge! Knowledge is neither good or bad but your heart, not your ability to discern the "necessary" commands must belong to God!
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Who Is A Christian
Just a few comments as I sit in hotel lobby waiting for the day where I leave my youngest daughter in Abilene to start her college life.
During my drive yesterday where I was challenged with two problems of Lindsay's truck breaking down which finally ended in a tow, I had some time to think about all of the wonder God has brought to us. Breaking down across the street from a mechanic who could fix the problem was a blessing. Breaking down a second time, close enough to Abilene for my roadside service to tow the truck to a shop near the university was the next blessing. The truck will be fixed some time next week and Lindsay will have transportation but for the first part of her college experience, she will be facing the challenge of no transportation and dorm life. For some reason, I believe this will result in another blessing from God.
Oddly, I was taught the concept of luck in my early Christian years but actual interaction of God with His people was not happening. I think it is enough to say I don't agree. God interacts with me every day and I fully believe He had his hand on everything happening Friday so I could be blessed. The question is whether I blessed someone through the opportunities and I had great conversations with God included as I spoke to the mechanic and also the young lady towing the truck. How this will be used by God in their lives I do not know but He was brought into the the situation as a blessing and each individual knew I considered breaking down as a blessing from God.
This brings up another thought running through my mind as daylight ran out for reading and after lighting a flare to show a possible hazard to vehicles coming at me from behind, I had time to consider who is actually a real Christian.
In my early training, a real Christian was defined by baptism for the remission of sins. Someone having been "obedient" to this legal regulation, was a real Christian and approved of God. Anyone not having been baptized, regardless of how they lived their lives could only come to the point of being an artificial or "play" Christian. They were lost and would face the punishment of eternal condemnation.
I know most of those reading have heard the same thing from the preaching of our past and I must say I have trouble even writing against the concept of someone teaching "being a good person is not enough." Sitting in my truck and talking to God on Friday, I decided in my heart being a good person is "possibly" enough.
I asked myself "who is the real Christian, the one who has been baptized or the one who looks like Christ?" If Christian really means CHRIST-LIKE, then my answer has to be the one who looks like Christ. I decided (for now) how someone who has chosen the path of righteousness because they know in their heart it is right, (the good person) I will accept them as being the true/real Christian.
I believe this belief is consistent with the idea of our knowledge and our works never being sufficient to save us. I also believe God has made Himself and His desire for us to be Christ-like known to everyone living and when we make the choice to be Christ-like we are acceptable to Him. We then hopefully learn and grow closer but in my mind, the true/real Christian will have salvation and our judgment of who is and is not a Christian only serves to put distance between us and others who might walk with God daily.
During my drive yesterday where I was challenged with two problems of Lindsay's truck breaking down which finally ended in a tow, I had some time to think about all of the wonder God has brought to us. Breaking down across the street from a mechanic who could fix the problem was a blessing. Breaking down a second time, close enough to Abilene for my roadside service to tow the truck to a shop near the university was the next blessing. The truck will be fixed some time next week and Lindsay will have transportation but for the first part of her college experience, she will be facing the challenge of no transportation and dorm life. For some reason, I believe this will result in another blessing from God.
Oddly, I was taught the concept of luck in my early Christian years but actual interaction of God with His people was not happening. I think it is enough to say I don't agree. God interacts with me every day and I fully believe He had his hand on everything happening Friday so I could be blessed. The question is whether I blessed someone through the opportunities and I had great conversations with God included as I spoke to the mechanic and also the young lady towing the truck. How this will be used by God in their lives I do not know but He was brought into the the situation as a blessing and each individual knew I considered breaking down as a blessing from God.
This brings up another thought running through my mind as daylight ran out for reading and after lighting a flare to show a possible hazard to vehicles coming at me from behind, I had time to consider who is actually a real Christian.
In my early training, a real Christian was defined by baptism for the remission of sins. Someone having been "obedient" to this legal regulation, was a real Christian and approved of God. Anyone not having been baptized, regardless of how they lived their lives could only come to the point of being an artificial or "play" Christian. They were lost and would face the punishment of eternal condemnation.
I know most of those reading have heard the same thing from the preaching of our past and I must say I have trouble even writing against the concept of someone teaching "being a good person is not enough." Sitting in my truck and talking to God on Friday, I decided in my heart being a good person is "possibly" enough.
I asked myself "who is the real Christian, the one who has been baptized or the one who looks like Christ?" If Christian really means CHRIST-LIKE, then my answer has to be the one who looks like Christ. I decided (for now) how someone who has chosen the path of righteousness because they know in their heart it is right, (the good person) I will accept them as being the true/real Christian.
I believe this belief is consistent with the idea of our knowledge and our works never being sufficient to save us. I also believe God has made Himself and His desire for us to be Christ-like known to everyone living and when we make the choice to be Christ-like we are acceptable to Him. We then hopefully learn and grow closer but in my mind, the true/real Christian will have salvation and our judgment of who is and is not a Christian only serves to put distance between us and others who might walk with God daily.
Monday, August 10, 2009
What's Going On?
Another school year will be starting soon and having participated in the Texas Christian Schools Association Conference this past weekend in Midland, Texas, I feel fired up with purpose. During the conference, I was faced with time to meditate on all of the things I have witnessed in public education over the past 30 years and it was easy to follow the reasoning behind speeches given at the conference detailing the importance of keeping Christ foremost in everything we do and teach.
I have been guilty in my past of separating my Christian life from my work life. In my mind, I accepted the concept of public schools needing Christian men and women so God could still have influence in the school setting. We are called to live the likeness of Christ in every facet of our lives and I still believe it is a good thing to have Christian men and women around our children. Unfortunately, when I look back on the in-service sessions given to teachers and the various faculty meetings I attended, it is easy to see the joy Satan is having with our public schools and teachers, even those of us claiming to be Christian teachers, have been drawn into the snares of Satan and allowed his influence to form the framework of reference for living instead of Christ.
Glen Schultz, author of “Kingdom Education,” was one of the speakers I was blessed to hear speak on Friday and Saturday and he mentioned a fact about Satan I have never considered. “Satan can’t turn darkness on. We have to turn the light out!” I thought this comment was great and it disturbed my thinking because I could quickly see how many times I witnessed Christian men and women, even leaders in the church, dim the light of God towards darkness as they accepted and promoted darkness in our schools.
I can’t remember who was quoted but an early quote catching my attention stated it was the “role of the church and parent to teach God and the role of the school to teach facts.” We have been easily trapped into believing and accepting as fact; God has no place in school. It was a bit scary when I chose to leave public education last year but oh the blessing of being able to make God the stated reason and purpose for everything I do and teach at school.
In one of the lessons given, Glen Schultz spoke of our framework of reference and on his PowerPoint presentation, he had the following five points of reference circling the reasoning people have to belief certain things about our lives.
1. Creation-The material is all there is
2. God-Does not exist
3. Mankind-We are a result of choice
4. Purpose-People create their own sense of meaning and value
5. Moral Order-Morality is determined by humans alone and based on need
God is removed in our schools from being a point of reference and the reference our kids and teachers use to make choices will allow for the acceptance of any number of sinful actions in our society. I personally witnessed the acceptance of homosexual behavior presented in teacher in-service as acceptable behavior. As a teacher, we were forced to read and discuss openly sexually deviant things “for the good of the school.” Many teachers found these things disgusting but sat through the process anyway. Some chose to walk out on sessions declaring sin to be righteousness.
One defining example of Satan’s influence on our public schools comes from the example of extortion used regularly in our schools as a “fund-raising project.” Deer Park ISD was famous during my years as a teacher for allowing students the opportunity to “buy” their way out of detention. As I write this, I can visualize the long line of students forming to pay their dollar and be freed from detention. I would guess the school has extorted $150.00 a week on average from the students as they teach the concept of “adjusted” morality!
As the reader can see, the problem with our faith is not simply limited to the tradition of playing church on Sunday but also includes the area of our lives where we choose to play with Satan. How I wish I had a bus to drive to school every morning and take the kids of our congregation with me to school. Am I in a perfect Christ-like Utopia? No, but it is great to have Christ behind every action and purpose. Creation is the work of God who does exist and all things, even the numbers and formulas used in Geometry are the work of God.
The future of our country is in the hands of those who control the education of our children and we do not have to watch the leadership of our country for long before we recognize the acceptance of sin by those who have a framework of reference taken from men and not God.
My encouragement for those with children in the public schools and even Christian teachers continuing in public school education is for you to be fervently on the watch for Satan desiring to trap you in sin and be the one in your life to take a stand for righteousness. Of course, if you like Michael Hicks (one term school board member) choose to take a stand for God; you will be ostracized by the community. The great news is how I seem to remember one of the writers in the Bible more or less guaranteeing the persecution you will face for the cause of Christ.
I have been guilty in my past of separating my Christian life from my work life. In my mind, I accepted the concept of public schools needing Christian men and women so God could still have influence in the school setting. We are called to live the likeness of Christ in every facet of our lives and I still believe it is a good thing to have Christian men and women around our children. Unfortunately, when I look back on the in-service sessions given to teachers and the various faculty meetings I attended, it is easy to see the joy Satan is having with our public schools and teachers, even those of us claiming to be Christian teachers, have been drawn into the snares of Satan and allowed his influence to form the framework of reference for living instead of Christ.
Glen Schultz, author of “Kingdom Education,” was one of the speakers I was blessed to hear speak on Friday and Saturday and he mentioned a fact about Satan I have never considered. “Satan can’t turn darkness on. We have to turn the light out!” I thought this comment was great and it disturbed my thinking because I could quickly see how many times I witnessed Christian men and women, even leaders in the church, dim the light of God towards darkness as they accepted and promoted darkness in our schools.
I can’t remember who was quoted but an early quote catching my attention stated it was the “role of the church and parent to teach God and the role of the school to teach facts.” We have been easily trapped into believing and accepting as fact; God has no place in school. It was a bit scary when I chose to leave public education last year but oh the blessing of being able to make God the stated reason and purpose for everything I do and teach at school.
In one of the lessons given, Glen Schultz spoke of our framework of reference and on his PowerPoint presentation, he had the following five points of reference circling the reasoning people have to belief certain things about our lives.
1. Creation-The material is all there is
2. God-Does not exist
3. Mankind-We are a result of choice
4. Purpose-People create their own sense of meaning and value
5. Moral Order-Morality is determined by humans alone and based on need
God is removed in our schools from being a point of reference and the reference our kids and teachers use to make choices will allow for the acceptance of any number of sinful actions in our society. I personally witnessed the acceptance of homosexual behavior presented in teacher in-service as acceptable behavior. As a teacher, we were forced to read and discuss openly sexually deviant things “for the good of the school.” Many teachers found these things disgusting but sat through the process anyway. Some chose to walk out on sessions declaring sin to be righteousness.
One defining example of Satan’s influence on our public schools comes from the example of extortion used regularly in our schools as a “fund-raising project.” Deer Park ISD was famous during my years as a teacher for allowing students the opportunity to “buy” their way out of detention. As I write this, I can visualize the long line of students forming to pay their dollar and be freed from detention. I would guess the school has extorted $150.00 a week on average from the students as they teach the concept of “adjusted” morality!
As the reader can see, the problem with our faith is not simply limited to the tradition of playing church on Sunday but also includes the area of our lives where we choose to play with Satan. How I wish I had a bus to drive to school every morning and take the kids of our congregation with me to school. Am I in a perfect Christ-like Utopia? No, but it is great to have Christ behind every action and purpose. Creation is the work of God who does exist and all things, even the numbers and formulas used in Geometry are the work of God.
The future of our country is in the hands of those who control the education of our children and we do not have to watch the leadership of our country for long before we recognize the acceptance of sin by those who have a framework of reference taken from men and not God.
My encouragement for those with children in the public schools and even Christian teachers continuing in public school education is for you to be fervently on the watch for Satan desiring to trap you in sin and be the one in your life to take a stand for righteousness. Of course, if you like Michael Hicks (one term school board member) choose to take a stand for God; you will be ostracized by the community. The great news is how I seem to remember one of the writers in the Bible more or less guaranteeing the persecution you will face for the cause of Christ.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
The Christian Advantage
For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. Romans 2:13 NIV
Even though I am horrible at memorizing scripture, I once focused on trying to memorize Romans (I guess I might have succeeded with a book of a bit shorter length) and even though I gave up on this task, I fully believe the Holy Spirit was leading me to an understanding of Romans and our Christian lives based on the information he begins with concerning those who were Jews. While it may seem like I am stretching the words written about Jewish people to make an application about Christian mentality, it does speak to my belief about those who stand approved (covered by the blood of Jesus).
The quote above, coming from the second chapter of Romans is taken from the discussion of those Gentile people who were obedient to God’s calling to righteousness having never heard of God’s commandments given to the Jewish nation. I grew up being taught how the promise to Abraham was only to the Jewish people and then, following the death of Jesus, this promise was extended to the Gentiles. Basically, in my early instruction, I was taught those having lived prior to the death of Christ were only “eligible” if part of the Jewish nation.
I currently believe anyone having lived is covered by the blood of Jesus due to the condition of their heart and not the condition of their association with the Jewish fellowship. The following passage, also from chapter two, leads me to believe this about those living before Christ and to make the same association within our Christian fellowship.
A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God. Romans 2:28-29 NIV
Paraphrasing this passage from the bible, I have drawn the following definition of a Christian. A man is not a Christian according to his outward decision to be baptized. Nor is baptism merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Christian if he is one inwardly, and baptism is baptism of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the obedience of baptism declared in a command.
It has not been long since I made some comments about baptism and so I will not go into those thoughts again at this time. I am pleased to hear great preaching on the concept of loving God and loving our neighbor because I believe this is the totality of being obedient to the commands of Jesus.
(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, Romans 2:14 NIV
When I look at this statement concerning the Gentiles, it also leads me to believe the following paraphrased statement. Indeed, when those without knowledge of Christ and his commandments, do by nature those things commanded by Christ, they are Christian in reality, even though they do not possess knowledge of Christ.
I can’t even imagine how many times I have been told (reminded) of the “fact” salvation is not possible or even available to those who are simply “good people,” and while the teaching of my youth still makes it hard to accept this is less than fact, I can easily accept salvation being available to GOOD people who have a heart devoted to doing good due to KNOWING in their heart it is the right focus to have. I also think their obedience condemns those of us who are “fully” baptized outwardly in our lives when others know and choose to be good through a baptism of their hearts and our “circumcision” to God is little more than outward obedience in baptism; not heart for being the goodness of Christ to others.
What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God. Romans 3:1-2 NIV
When making statements like this to other Christians, particularly those who have invested their lives in either being a missionary or supporting a missionary effort, it is often easy to believe the importance of missionary efforts is downplayed and many will actually make an association by which taking the message to those without Jesus would actually be taking condemnation to them if salvation were possible without the knowledge of Jesus. Yes, while it is simply a belief of mine and not stated in these specific words, I do believe salvation is not only possible but equally available to those who have never heard the name Jesus spoken in a human language.
In the passage above, I believe Paul has just informed the audience of non-Jewish people being acceptable to God without even knowing of the Law of Moses and then opens the third chapter with a very important question similar to the questions facing those who might believe we are taking condemnation to those who do not have a knowledge of Jesus simply because we might believe they have access to salvation without the knowledge. We ask the same question today. “What is the value (use) of knowing about Christ?”
Paul describes to his audience the concept of having had the word of God given to the Jew as being the value of being heirs through their Jewish lineage. They literally had the joy of knowing God and His plan for His people. I believe the same value exists for Christians today and should give us even greater reason to offer our lives and support to the work of missionary. If, as I currently believe, salvation is available to those with no knowledge of Jesus, there is still something extremely important missing in their lives.
We have great joy knowing of our salvation and we can share this joy with others who will learn of Christ and all He has done. Oddly enough, few of us live with true joy in our lives and so it is difficult for us to see sharing the joy of salvation as important when we have been trained to believe we are TAKING salvation to the lost!
Even though I am horrible at memorizing scripture, I once focused on trying to memorize Romans (I guess I might have succeeded with a book of a bit shorter length) and even though I gave up on this task, I fully believe the Holy Spirit was leading me to an understanding of Romans and our Christian lives based on the information he begins with concerning those who were Jews. While it may seem like I am stretching the words written about Jewish people to make an application about Christian mentality, it does speak to my belief about those who stand approved (covered by the blood of Jesus).
The quote above, coming from the second chapter of Romans is taken from the discussion of those Gentile people who were obedient to God’s calling to righteousness having never heard of God’s commandments given to the Jewish nation. I grew up being taught how the promise to Abraham was only to the Jewish people and then, following the death of Jesus, this promise was extended to the Gentiles. Basically, in my early instruction, I was taught those having lived prior to the death of Christ were only “eligible” if part of the Jewish nation.
I currently believe anyone having lived is covered by the blood of Jesus due to the condition of their heart and not the condition of their association with the Jewish fellowship. The following passage, also from chapter two, leads me to believe this about those living before Christ and to make the same association within our Christian fellowship.
A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God. Romans 2:28-29 NIV
Paraphrasing this passage from the bible, I have drawn the following definition of a Christian. A man is not a Christian according to his outward decision to be baptized. Nor is baptism merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Christian if he is one inwardly, and baptism is baptism of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the obedience of baptism declared in a command.
It has not been long since I made some comments about baptism and so I will not go into those thoughts again at this time. I am pleased to hear great preaching on the concept of loving God and loving our neighbor because I believe this is the totality of being obedient to the commands of Jesus.
(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, Romans 2:14 NIV
When I look at this statement concerning the Gentiles, it also leads me to believe the following paraphrased statement. Indeed, when those without knowledge of Christ and his commandments, do by nature those things commanded by Christ, they are Christian in reality, even though they do not possess knowledge of Christ.
I can’t even imagine how many times I have been told (reminded) of the “fact” salvation is not possible or even available to those who are simply “good people,” and while the teaching of my youth still makes it hard to accept this is less than fact, I can easily accept salvation being available to GOOD people who have a heart devoted to doing good due to KNOWING in their heart it is the right focus to have. I also think their obedience condemns those of us who are “fully” baptized outwardly in our lives when others know and choose to be good through a baptism of their hearts and our “circumcision” to God is little more than outward obedience in baptism; not heart for being the goodness of Christ to others.
What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God. Romans 3:1-2 NIV
When making statements like this to other Christians, particularly those who have invested their lives in either being a missionary or supporting a missionary effort, it is often easy to believe the importance of missionary efforts is downplayed and many will actually make an association by which taking the message to those without Jesus would actually be taking condemnation to them if salvation were possible without the knowledge of Jesus. Yes, while it is simply a belief of mine and not stated in these specific words, I do believe salvation is not only possible but equally available to those who have never heard the name Jesus spoken in a human language.
In the passage above, I believe Paul has just informed the audience of non-Jewish people being acceptable to God without even knowing of the Law of Moses and then opens the third chapter with a very important question similar to the questions facing those who might believe we are taking condemnation to those who do not have a knowledge of Jesus simply because we might believe they have access to salvation without the knowledge. We ask the same question today. “What is the value (use) of knowing about Christ?”
Paul describes to his audience the concept of having had the word of God given to the Jew as being the value of being heirs through their Jewish lineage. They literally had the joy of knowing God and His plan for His people. I believe the same value exists for Christians today and should give us even greater reason to offer our lives and support to the work of missionary. If, as I currently believe, salvation is available to those with no knowledge of Jesus, there is still something extremely important missing in their lives.
We have great joy knowing of our salvation and we can share this joy with others who will learn of Christ and all He has done. Oddly enough, few of us live with true joy in our lives and so it is difficult for us to see sharing the joy of salvation as important when we have been trained to believe we are TAKING salvation to the lost!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
The Butler Servant
It has been a few days since I last made some comments relative to things running through my mind and during this time, I read "Pagan Christianity." I wrote a review of the book on Amazon and still think it is a bit depressing because it reminded me how far from the will of God we have come in the organization of our churches. It is easy to have a sense of hopelessness and yet the position of hopelessness is so far away from where God would have us enjoy our lives. I continue to see so many of my brothers and sisters focus their comments on the commands of God we must all follow if we are to be found faithful to God and it is this statement I have decided to address this morning. If we choose to insist on following the commands of God for His approval and so we can be found "faithful," we have lost and stand condemned at this very moment. I would rather sit on the knowledge of there now being no condemnation for those in Christ.
I am not sure how old I was when I watched a show on the television describing what it took to be an "English Butler," but I do know it has remained in my mind and came up recently when discussing our obedience to God. It seems the butler must train himself to anticipate the needs of his employer and they were not hired to follow directions but be of service before the directions were given. It was the butlers job to have the bath drawn to the correct temperature at the right moment for his employer to take a bath. The newspaper would be ironed and placed for reading along side the cup of "hot" coffee just prior to time for breakfast. The car would be at the door before it was time to leave. Every skill needed to be the perfect butler was defined by the ability to anticipate and do what was needed without being asked. In service as a butler, the greatest failure was being asked to do something!
We are told more than once in the bible to encourage each other toward good deeds and yet our focus is often on deciphering rules and regulations to be obeyed. Considering this and making application of the two commands I believe represent the totality of the commands we are "asked" to follow if we love God, I believe taking a lesson from the butler would be worth considering.
Showing our love to God and our love to our neighbor, we can be about looking to do good things to those around us. Rather than focus our lives on obedience to a list of rules which we can't find in the first place, I believe it would be great for us to anticipate the needs of others and be present in the lives of our Christian family and those of our community before they ask! We have a habit of "asking" what we can do to help and yet we can simply offer ourselves in such a way as to actually be Christ to others.
I can remember some of the most joyous moments coming when someone did something I wanted done without me asking. I am sure we have even seen times in our families when we said something similar to "why should I have to ask for you to do something."
If this brings great joy to me as a fallible human, I can only imagine how please He will be with us when we demonstrate the evidence of our faith in being obedient in the things He has not specifically asked from us.
God had a plan for our salvation from the beginning because His goodness anticipated the need prior to our failure. If we are going to be like God, we need to practice obedience based on the anticipation of a need and not the directness of a command.
I am not sure how old I was when I watched a show on the television describing what it took to be an "English Butler," but I do know it has remained in my mind and came up recently when discussing our obedience to God. It seems the butler must train himself to anticipate the needs of his employer and they were not hired to follow directions but be of service before the directions were given. It was the butlers job to have the bath drawn to the correct temperature at the right moment for his employer to take a bath. The newspaper would be ironed and placed for reading along side the cup of "hot" coffee just prior to time for breakfast. The car would be at the door before it was time to leave. Every skill needed to be the perfect butler was defined by the ability to anticipate and do what was needed without being asked. In service as a butler, the greatest failure was being asked to do something!
We are told more than once in the bible to encourage each other toward good deeds and yet our focus is often on deciphering rules and regulations to be obeyed. Considering this and making application of the two commands I believe represent the totality of the commands we are "asked" to follow if we love God, I believe taking a lesson from the butler would be worth considering.
Showing our love to God and our love to our neighbor, we can be about looking to do good things to those around us. Rather than focus our lives on obedience to a list of rules which we can't find in the first place, I believe it would be great for us to anticipate the needs of others and be present in the lives of our Christian family and those of our community before they ask! We have a habit of "asking" what we can do to help and yet we can simply offer ourselves in such a way as to actually be Christ to others.
I can remember some of the most joyous moments coming when someone did something I wanted done without me asking. I am sure we have even seen times in our families when we said something similar to "why should I have to ask for you to do something."
If this brings great joy to me as a fallible human, I can only imagine how please He will be with us when we demonstrate the evidence of our faith in being obedient in the things He has not specifically asked from us.
God had a plan for our salvation from the beginning because His goodness anticipated the need prior to our failure. If we are going to be like God, we need to practice obedience based on the anticipation of a need and not the directness of a command.
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