Will Our Laws Hurt Our Christianity?

As I was reading Jonathan Merritt’s post on The Atlantic today I couldn’t help but be faced with the gruesome reality of what we are facing as a Christian community. His article – if you didn’t read it – paints a picture of the laws conservative Christians are supporting eventually being used against us. And this is true. I think he’s right to say that someday somehow laws that are made to protect religious freedoms will, in fact, be used against the ones excited about their possible implementation (even though most of them have failed).

Being a former pastor now professional Tweeter (yea, I’m a tweeter on the Tweeter) I understand the desire to protect the church. I’ve had difficult conversations with people telling them that for the safety of the church they’d have to leave. So here, in this argument of laws initially being in support of religion turning on religion my first thought is how to protect the church? But what about what the Bible says?

Are the authority of Scripture and the possible passing of these laws at odds? If they’re not then are we to protect the Church from the threat of possible future persecution or are we to obey what the Bible says? (For the sake of this post let’s say the laws and Scripture are not at odds – even though may be.)

So what do we, as Bible believing Christians, do when a current biblical trend could possibly be dangerous, and even harmful, for the church?

I really think answering this should be hard for us. In essence become the enemy of the Church, the Bride of Christ, the one for whom he died in order to pass a law that is biblical? Or protect the Bride of Christ from the Law of Land based out of the Word of God?

The trends and poles are pointing to the loss of religious freedoms; I would add the loss of Christian religious freedoms. Dr. Ashford of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary spoke last Monday at an evangelism conference for North Carolina Baptists on the issue of suffering for our beliefs. Saying things like, “Pastors will go to prison for hate speech.”

So do we aim at passing laws affording us the freedom to speak on while others continue to gnaw away at the base of the church for they are free to do so? Or do we let hate speech become something we will often pay the penalty for? Do we protect the Church from the constant gnawing of her dissenters or do we see our own become our enemies and our leaders go to jail for speaking truth?

As hard as it is to see yourself become the ‘Church's enemy’ we must, as Christians, stick to the authority of Scripture. Not just because that’s what we believe but because that’s what makes us Christians. Yes, ultimately the gospel is what makes us Christians, but penultimately we must believe that God has revealed himself - and his gospel - in Scripture. So if, and when, in the future we are faced with the difficult choice of protecting the Church by deviating from Scripture or hurting the Church by clinging to Scripture we must, for we are bound by who we are, stay close to Scripture.

“Go back, go back to the ancient paths;

            Lash your heart to the ancient mast,

            And hold on, boy, whatever you do.

To the hope that’s taken hold of you,

            And you’ll find your way.

You’ll find your way;

            If love is what you’re looking for;

            The old roads lead to an open door,

            And you’ll find your way back home.” - Andrew Peterson

            

Friday Thoughts

1. Rest with God & he will give you rest; rest without him & you will find anxiety.

2. Luke 24:46-48. Christ Died; rose from the dead; established his Church. Gospel.

3. Participation in the gospel is the same. We've died with Christ; risen with Christ; are building with Christ.

4. We become partners in the grand discussion when reading books and talking. The discussion is founded & moderated by Scripture alone.

5. The story of Joseph is interrupted by Judah. Makes since.

6. Abortion is a central fight against the gospel. It is a direct affront against man being made in the image of God & therefore worth saving.

7. Have we sacrificed community for missions? These shouldn't be at odds, but so often are.

8. When we agree with the world it isn't for the same reasons as the world.

9. Morality cannot be changed at will.

10. Be relationship rich and experience poor.

A State of Prayer

It's been almost two months since I moved from Wichita to Raleigh and in that time I've noticed I do one thing (at least) quite terribly - prayer. 

Sure it's one thing to write out your prayer or speak it out to God, that's easy, to fill time with words and void with thought, but it's another thing entirely to listen to God speak, to shut yourself up, to let the pen stop scratching the page and listen. It's a treat really, to listen to the God who made all, sustains all, and holds all things together, but it's also a discipline (admittedly one I'm not very good at). What's more is the way God provides and heals and helps: food, money and shelter have been given to us but the task of listening to this Giver is still terribly difficult. 

So here's to shutting up. Here's to saying nothing at all and spending silent time with the Creator of the universe, the Sustainer of your soul. Here's to having Scripture be your prayer and your answer. Here's to the God who hears and answers and speaks with His children tenderly about his love for them in Jesus. 

Problems with “Annihilationism”

A while ago I was tagged in a note on Facebook about why we should give annihilationism (the teaching that hell is ending) a chance. The essay used was written by well-known Open-Theist Greg Boyd (Here 'tis), who tries to support his position biblically for an ending hell.

However there are several things (there's accutally more than 'several' but for the sake of time and a blog post this only has 6), which must be dealt with when considering the ending of hell. These problems are listed below:

1) Misunderstanding of the word "immortal"

• Immortal means having no beginning AND no end. As created souls we distinctly have a beginning and therefore it is right to assume only God is immortal (1 Tim 6:16). We are just eternal beings, i.e. souls.

2) Time-centric view of eternity

• God being outside of space and time as its Creator is therefore not subject to time and by placing a capstone of time on the eternality of God and/or his creation outside of time is to limit the understanding and depth of eternity into base numbers. In other words you attempt to confound the wisdom of God by using his creation.

3) To say, "The wicked are “destroyed forever” (Ps 92:7), but they are not forever being destroyed." Is to miss the point of language and words entirely. 

• In the punishment of unbelievers in 2 Thessalonians 1, “They,” means those, “… who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. (2 Thess 1:8)” Inside this punishment is the constant continual action of, “eternal destruction” (2 Thess 1:9). Which means it goes on for eternity (true story). This is not unclear; this is not guesswork on the meaning of words. ‘Eternal’ means eternal (with a beginning but without an end) and ‘destruction’ means frick-this-is-hell. In modern vernacular, it’ll freaking suck. So arguing the semantics of the ‘end of hell’ is about as illogical as wondering if McDonalds is healthy for every meal. 

4) If hell is ending then so to must heaven be ending.

•             If hell is ending so to must heaven be ending. If the destruction of the wicked is ending then so to must the redemption of the saved. However we talk and read of salvation being a constant thing, “We were redeemed (Ephesians 2:1-10), we are being redeemed (1 Cor 15:1-2), and we are not yet fully redeemed (Matt 24:13).” If redemption were to have an end then in the midst of eternity would come a time when our salvation is no longer effective and the casting out of heaven would come for Christians and then to be annihilated, but this is simply not taught in Scripture.

5) If hell is ending then why was Jesus' death necessary?

•             If hell is ending then what is Jesus saving us from, annihilation? No. Jesus isn’t saving us from annihilation; he is saving us from the just wrath of God stored up for our personal sins. Therefore when God saves us he is saving individual people. Annihilationism takes the personal love of God and makes it an abstract teaching. God loves – in annihilationism – humanity, not individual people, but the whole humanity, and therefore when Jesus dies on the cross in the annihilationist’s view he is dying, not for you specifically or for me specifically, but he is dying for all in the abstract sense. But God’s love is personal and as such must move our hearts away from annihilationism
•             Still more on this point is the simple fact that annihilationism takes the gospel and tries to bury it in the dirt. What is the point of Jesus attempting at saving souls when the unsaved will just cease to be? Why not let them go away and be full in the Trinity as God once was before creation?
•             Annihilationism attempts at making God dependent on man, on his creation. Rather than God loving man so much that he gave his Son to give us Himself and show us his unfiltered glory, annihilationism would say that God’s love hinges on man, not God.

6) If hell was ending then why do we worry about evangelization?

•             Lastly, if annihilationism is true then why worry about telling people about Jesus? What’s the hurry in telling others about Jesus’ redemptive work if they’ll just cease to be and not endure eternal suffering?

Hell is eternal and will be endured forever and therefore Jesus’ redemption is of eternal significance and damnation is of eternal potency. Thus evangelization is of eternal weightiness and who we worship is of eternal importance. Either we worship God to our joy or we worship self (especially in annihilationism) to our destruction – God is the centerpiece of all eternity (because he defines eternity) and as such we must have eternal worship and eternal damnation.

Dangerously Important

"Be assiduous in reading the Holy Scripture. This is the fountain whence all knowledge in divinity must be derived. Therefore let not this treasure lie by you neglected." Jonathan Edwards

Scripture that blessed gift of God to man wherein he reveals himself to us, he teaches us the gorgeous reality of the gospel and the shameful existence of our depravity. Giving flight to the life which was yet unknown under the safety of his wings.

This book which is too often misread and misused and disposed of. This book which ought never to, “be applied to us,” yet rather we ought to always be applied to it.

We are not the solid line or are we the consistency to which it must be judged. No, the plum-line is not we it is itself. Scripture, this we know yet forget to do, is the interpretation of Scripture.

It’s a book about God.

He is the main character, the main actor. Scripture is the story of God to man.

Far too often we see it as the story of men to men. No, it is the story of God redeeming his Church. Yet to read the Bible and think solely of man is to read Harry Potter and think only of the Weasley twins, or to read Lord of the Rings and think only of the Shire, or to read The Hunger Games and think only of Katniss’ mom or to read The Chronicles of Narnia and think only of what was happening in London.

Do you see the point - the point of missing the point? The reason for Scripture is not to give us helpful hints and models to attempt to be like, no, the reason for Scripture is to teach us all that God has revealed to us.

All we can know of God is within its pages. This does not mean we’ll know him completely, it means we’ll know him partially, but the part that we’ll know is exquisitely beautiful.

And yet the quote from last week’s post is still wonderfully true, ““We have scarcely begun to see all of God that the Scriptures give us to see, and what we have not seen yet is exceedingly glorious (John Piper).”

Rumored Thought (Pt. 6; The Final Post)

So conjecture, right?

I’ve schpieled for five posts about my thinkings and museings, but this doesn’t make them right. Just 'cause I could write them in a cohesive manner doesn’t mean we (or just I) should follow my thoughts on mission.

What we need is solidity and authority. What we need is Scripture.

Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-18; Luke 24:46-49; Acts 1:7-8 are all recordings of the Great Commission. Wherein we are told that all the nations should hear of the name of Jesus until he returns.  Making disciples, AKA tutoring as one goes about life, being the main highway of showing the gospel to others.

So to be a believer is to be a disciple-er.

John 13:21-30 is Judas’ betrayal of Jesus. He bore the title of Apostle. One of Jesus’ closest, the inner circle, if you will, one whom Jesus picked to be his own, knowing he’d betray him. The point is this: Judas carried the title, but wasn’t truly a part of the Church.

So to be a title bearer doesn’t mean you’re a Christian.

John 13: 31-38 is Peter’s denial of Jesus. He is considered scum at this instance. We pity him for his foolishness, but he is the chosen, part of the Church of God. Though his actions are damnable, he is the called of God, his elect, yet he could arguably be called the un-elect. He denied Christ.

Romans 14, the strong man, weak man, and the implied legalist are here shown. The strong man is able to do all things to the glory of God. A kind of, “Love God and do what you want,” deal. The weak man first knows his own proclivity to sin and therefore fights it.

The legalist… They’ll sit in the corner with their tea and judge the weak and the strong because works--not grace--determine the salvation of the legalist. But they’ll claim the grace of the cross, but know none of its power.

So, you see, mission shouldn’t be about cleanliness or safety.

1 Corinthians 12:1-11, spiritual gifting. Some may be called and gifted to teach, i.e. pastors and elders (1 Tim. 4:13, 16; 5:17; 2 Tim. 4:2) to “evangelize” to others, both those known and unknown to the speaker.

Teaching isn’t for all, only for the gifted. So a pastoral call isn’t placed on all Christians like a discipleship call is.

So, mission isn’t safe and it isn’t clean. Discipleship is for all, while teaching isn’t. And simply being a title bearer means nothing in the scheme of salvation. Rather we hope in Christ, both leader and follower alike. For in Jesus and no other is salvation found.

Scriptural Logic

Scriptural Logic i.e. logic which is defined by Scripture, taking the philosophy of Christianity and arguing for it based on the merits and cohesiveness of the Bible.

However for Scriptural Logic to be true or even plausible 1) God must be real, 2) God must be sovereign, 3) God must be Trinitarian, 4) God must be glorified.

First, if God is not seen as real then Scripture is nothing more than a compilation of odd stories to be used like Aesop’s Fables. For if God is not real, then Scripture is not holy, and it’s words are not useful apart from refutation against those misguided believers.

Second, God must be sovereign. He must be in absolute complete control of all things ever. Evil, good, bad, fun, sad all things must needs be under his authoritative control all lives all desires all wants. For if God is not sovereign then Scripture is not but a compilation of stories wherein God’s will is mutable and may be acted upon and changed by the will of man.

Third, God must be Trinitarian. God must be seen as acting and moving throughout the entirety of Scripture as the three-in-one God he is. For if God is not seen, as Trinitarian Scripture becomes the action of an ever-changing god who in one moment is capricious and in the next he is vindictive and teenager-ish.

Fourth, God must be glorified. The aim of all of creation, the end for which it was made must primarily be the glory of God. So it is understood that from creation to re-creation God has done everything, from the fall of Satan to the fall of man to the cross, from death to life, salvation to damnation, love to hate all things are done for himself, by himself to the glory of himself. Therefore in the gospel message God is aiming at glorifying himself by gather worshipers for his namesake.

If God is not about glorifying himself then Scripture can only be read as a God who is both merely responding to the wills of his subjects and is being vindictive and capricious for no reason.

Scriptural Logic is, or at least, should be apart of the Christian life, because in many ways God is believed only to be a stopgap for the times of life, which are difficult. Rather than life being pressed into the mold of God and the leftovers being thrown away, God is forced into the mold of life and is consequently a bastardized form of God, which is not God at all is leftover. But since it suits the shaper their belief is characterized by nothing else than mismatched verses and false pretenses.

Whereas in the process of Scriptural Logic one cannot at any one time say they have arrived at a point of understanding the Godhead and therefore they must, for they are forced to by sheer beauty, continually be in awe of the Creator of such a system.

Thankful Gratitude

I’m usually opposed to writing about trending topics, but this Thanksgiving I’m making exception cause writing about being thankful makes me more thankful.

So here they are (order has nothing to do here) some things I’m thankful for:

1. The new/focused job. I went from Elder to Deacon, From Community Pastor to Communication/Connection Pastor, and I’m stoked about this. Someday there’ll be a series of posts chronicling the exact reasons for this change.

2. Family. If you’ve met my family you know why I’m thankful for them, their odd, quirky and deeply in love with Jesus. Plus they all speak fluent sarcasm (well… my sister may not, but she’s becoming, “culturally relevant.”)

3. Literature. Dracula > me (I couldn’t do it, too scary for my lil self. And reading scury stuff before bed was not a good idea) The Three Musketeers = Amazing (so far).

4) Writing. Having a blog is dang therapeutic for me.

5) Scripture. Without it there is no message, there is nothing to proclaim. For in it we know of Jesus and his Gospel.

6) Music. Yes, Taylor Swift is a favorite of mine. Her words get to me. And she is seems to be a rather classy woman.

7) Words. Without them I have nothing to say, nothing to write and no way of relaying my deepest passions. Shoot, I couldn’t even say ‘hello.’ Which means I should watch how I use words.

8) Friends. Who listen and care. Who stand beside me and proclaim truth with me.

There was a thought recently, one, which has continued to reoccur in my mind. In this thought I am an old man sitting near a fire recounting the life I’ve lived. Thinking back and being able to say, ‘I’ve done that.’ Not from a proud perspective, but from a humbled view. To be unworthy of the capability of doing what was done.

But, I suppose, the catch should be this: in our thankfulness and in our doings there should be little obligation but much gratitude. For none of this is deserved. Because God rains down mercy, for now.

Luther's Words for All Now

"Here then, I see, you suppose that the truth and the utility of the Scriptures are to be weighed and judged of according to the opinion of men, nay, of men the most impious; so that, what pleases them or seems bearable, should be deemed true, divine, and wholesome: and what has the contrary effect upon them, should at once be deemed useless, false, and pernicious.

"What else do you mean by all this, than that the words of God should depend on,

stand on,

and fall by,

the will and authority of men? Whereas the Sctripture, on the contrary saith, that all things stand and fall by the will and authority of God: and in a word, that "all the earth keeps silence before the face of the Lord." (Hab 2:20)

"He who could talk as you do, must imagine that the living God is nothing but a kind of trifling and inconsiderate pettifogger decalaiming on a certain rostrum, whos words you may if you be disposed, interpret, understand, and refute as you please, because He merely spoke as He saw a set of impious men to be moved and affected." ~Martin Luther

To overlook orthodoxy is to place Scripture in subjection to what one wants.

It is to misunderstand the Gospel.

It is to misunderstand God.