There are no “Christian Terrorists”

The media is bending over backward to avoid the use of the word “muslim” and “terrorist” in the same sentence. If it does slip the monosyllabic habit of “there are Christian terrorists too” immediately escapes from their lips. Point in case:

“It’s looking more and more like he was just, sort of, a religious nut. And you know Islam doesn’t have a majority – or the Christian religion has its full, you know, full helping of nuts too.”

There is no doubt that some people claim to do acts inspired by their Christian faith or their belief in deity in general. This should cause an honest person to ask what is at the source of this religious teaching? Is it what the teacher/religious founder originally intended or is it a twisting of the faith to meet one’s own selfish gain? Of course that never happens.

Do we really have to try and figure out the motivations of a man involved with terrorists and a radical mosque? What if this guy claimed to follow Christ or attended an Evangelical church? When a person guns down an abortionist we are inundated with articles stating that all Christians would logically believe the same thing. When a Muslim guns down 12 people it is just an isolated incident?

Anyone who follows the teaching of Christ cannot in the same breathe argue for random shootings, flying planes into buildings, or rummaging and pillaging while holding the cross shouting “God wills it.” If we are going to use the same logic presented by the media the latter one is just an isolated incident. Yet, that isolated incident seems to be enough to condemn all Christians. See how twisted that is?

 

 

 

Music Review: Shane & Shane “Everything is Different”

I remember exactly where I was the first time I heard Shane & Shane’s “Psalms” album. Ever since then I’ve been hooked. That doesn’t mean that I’ve been pleased with every CD they’ve released. I definitely have not been. Yet, I know a CD will be good if it is has staying power or if I keep hearing certain songs in my head even when I’m not listening to it. This CD has that.

The song “Worthy of Affection” is a beautiful song that reminds us how great God’s love for us is and how He is worthy of all of the praise we give him. It is a classic Shane & Shane song.

“For the good” is my second favorite song. This may become my favorite song. “we like to take the blessing from you, should we not take the trouble too, you are working all things out…” Thoughtful lyrics are laced throughout the album and thankfully the music matches them.

Overall I liked this album a lot. It is not “Psalms” but it is their best album since Carry Away easily. Pick it up!

 

What does it mean to be Spirit-Filled?

Before I begin you need to watch the following:

I absolutely love MOST of what is in this. The idea of the infilling of the Spirit being like a wind which blows into a sail pushing us forward. What a great example. I also enjoyed a Reformed pastor (and Wayne Grudem) stating that there is clear Scriptural evidence for a subsequent experience from salvation. Finally, I also really liked how Pastor Mark distinguished between the many different use of tongues in Scripture. Many times in discussions censationists will not allow for this distinction and just simply retort “tongues is another language” when they forget 1 Corinthians 12-14 which clearly state otherwise.

However, I do have two problems with Pastor Mark’s examples. First, not all of us who believe that the starting point of the baptism in the Holy Spirit is the gift of tongues, wear white shirts and sit on a golden throne. While obviously some do (something I grow frustrated with everyday) it is not all of us. I understand he was just being comedic and taking a shot at the stereotype that would connect with his audience but it does cloud the issue.

Second, I think it is important to acknowledge that the term “Spirit-filled” meant different things to different authors. Luke’s use of the term is different then Paul’s usage of it. Luke is using it for the charismatic giftings which makes him different from anyone else (something Pastor Mark said himself).

We do agree on one thing. The term Spirit-Filled needs to be put back into the Gospel message now more then ever. It is what Jesus would have wanted.

 

Superman Wearing a Spacesuit? What?

I came across this image tonight while watching the excellent “Public Enemies: Batman/Superman” cartoon and it caused me to ask out loud: why is Superman wearing a spacesuit? Now I could get nerdy on you and explain how infinite crisis changed the DC world and blah blah blah but take a look at this picture and just ask yourself? Seriously?

Now in the new Superman movie I could understand. He was flying billions of miles away to the remains of Krypton which would have killed him. But honestly. He’s Superman? Does Wonder Woman have to wear one?

DOPE

Acronyms for G.r.a.c.e.

A friend told me about a great blog post from Fred Sanders here with the many different acronyms for grace. Check some of them out:

For the Truly Reformed:

God Rejects And Conversely Elects

For dispensationalists:

Getting Raptured After Charting Endtimes

For pietists:

Good Religion = Affective Christian Experiences

For Barthians:

God-centered Redemption Allows Christocentric Eschatologizing

For the Christian existentialist:

Genuine, Real, Authentic Christian Existence

For the Pelagians and Semi-Pelagians:

Go Re-enact All Christ’s Example

For fundamentalists:

Gotta Really Agressively Confront Ecumaniacs

For the Roman Catholics:

Gazing Raptly At Consecrated Eucharist

(or)

Getting Right Archbishop Catholicizes Everything

For the Thomists working the Nature-Grace Boundary:

God Reaching Across Creation’s Expanse

For Dante, especially in his Purgatorio:

Getting Rendered Acceptable, Climbing Eagerly

For Anglo-Catholics:

Getting Ritualistic After Cranmer’s Execution

For the Eastern Orthodox:

Greek, Russian, Antiochene Cultural Expectations

For the other Eastern Orthodox excluded from that list:

Giddily Receiving Apophatic Creationless Energies

For Open Theists:

God Reconsiders, And Cooperates Exquisitely

For feminist theologians:

Gender Revolution Anticipates Church Evolution

For the cessationists:

Generally Renouncing All Charismatic Experiences

For evidentialist apologists:

General Revelation And Convincing Explanations

For presuppositional apologists:

Gospel Repentance Accomplished, Circularity Ensues

For sojourners:

Government Redistribution Allows Communal Economics

For pentecostals:

Glossolalia Received After Conversion Experience

For charismatics:

Gombala Ramazoody Alleluia Chombalahombala Essanahanashanahana

For theonomists:

Gospel Requires Absolutely Crushing Enemies

For the emergents:

Generational Resentment Against Conservative Evangelicals

Will You Go to Windows 7?

The last PC I had ran on Windows XP so I never experienced the disaster which was Vista but I’m interested to know, from those who have been jaded by the experience, will you switch over to Windows 7?

Another interesting question is will this new release be enough to slow down Apple? I know this Mac user has no plans on going back. Do you think Windows 7 can convert skeptics like me? I doubt it.

Is Justification Prior to Faith?

I am in awe of my faith tonight.  How great is the salvation of Jesus Christ that I could understand it and call Him Savior at the age of six and now, at twenty-five, dive into the richness of the depth of salvation and never find a bottom. It reminds me of the lyrics of a Phil Wickham song entitled Mystery which goes like this:

I want to hear the thunder of who You are
To be captured inside the wonder of who You are
I want to live I want to breathe
To search out Your heart and all of Your mysteries

This past Wednesday my pastor preached a sermon about predestination and the nature of being chosen by God. It was a hard sermon because of the many implications behind it and this blog is the working out of my thoughts from the sermon. I appreciate a church that gets me thinking and I appreciate a pastor who challenges us to pursue the deeper things of our faith. Here is my attempt to search out God’s heart and all of His mysteries.

Is Justification prior to Faith?

The first question I have is whether or not justification is prior to faith? John 1:12 states: “To all who received Him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” or my personal favorite Romans 5:1,“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

It seems that nothing could be clearer in Scripture. Faith must come first then justification. Yet, over and over again many of my Calvinist friends argue that justification and regeneration precede faith. They state we are dead in our trespasses (Ephesians 2:1-5; Romans 8:7), chosen before the world began (Romans 8:29), and incapable of choosing God. Therefore, God is solely in charge of salvation and we have no choice in the matter. Justification and regeneration are prior to faith both logically and necessarily by this view. Scripture and historic Reformed theology relies heavily on justification by faith, not the other way around. So it seems (as Norman Geisler is famous for saying) that the soteriological cart is before the horse.

Irresistible

Nowhere in Scripture does the Bible teach that saving faith is a gift from God. It also does not teach that this gift is only available to a few. Scripture states that whosoever wills to believe will be saved (Luke 13:3; John 3:16, 6:29, 11:40; Acts 16:31) and no one can believe in Christ or come to salvation apart from the aid of God’s grace. But that grace is not irresistible because we have plenty of examples of it being just that (Matthew 23:37; Luke 7:30; John 5:40; 2 Peter 3:9). If grace is irresistible on those who are unwilling (which is all of us according to Calvinists) then God is forcing love on us, which is impossible. C.S. Lewis once put it: “Merely to override a human will…would be for Him useless. He cannot ravish. He can only woo.” God’s love goes hand and hand with God’s freewill. As Norm Geisler once said: “There are no conditions for giving grace, but there is one condition for receiving it-Faith.”  Therefore it is not farfetched to conclude that God’s grace works cooperatively since God gave humanity the freedom of self-determination.

Elect

The problem I have with election/ predestination, as it is understood by many today, is that it implies (1) God does not love all people and (2) God purposefully creates people who He knows will go to hell by no choice of their own.  Scripture states that God loves the world (John 3:16) and does not want anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9). Therefore both 1 and 2 cannot be true.

What is election then, especially because it is clearly seen in Scripture? In my opinion it seems to be an acknowledgement of God’s omniscience and knowledge of all free acts (which rejects the theology known as Open Theism). He knows who will not repent but still tries to woo them to Him which is why He still has not returned (2 Peter 3:9). Yet, “His Spirit shall not strive with men forever” (Genesis 6:3) and judgment will come.  Once again I’m indebted to C.S. Lewis who wrote:

“When one says ‘all will be saved,’ my reason retorts, ‘without their will, or with it?’ If I say, ‘without their will,’ I at once perceive a contradiction; how can the supreme voluntary act of self-surrender be involuntary? If I say, ‘with their will,’ my reason replies, ‘How, if they will not give in?’”

Exactly.

Wearing a Hat in Church [Sin?]

I knew it would happen as soon as I walked in the building. You see, I am a military brat and as soon as I walked into church with the hat on my head I knew some one would say something. I tried to pray but I was distracted; just waiting for the moment when someone would notice. Strangely I kept hearing my dad’s voice in my head, “Matthew Jon-take that hat off in the house of the Lord.”

But, the voice never came.

Five minutes before the service and I was almost past the point of no return. I was about to make it. Then it happened. An older gentleman sat behind me. Directly behind me. I felt it. I knew it was coming.

“Young man – is it cold in here?”

I turned, politely, and said, “come again?”

He said, “are you cold?” (I honestly at this point had no idea what he was talking about) It was then that he pointed at his head.

The hat.

The hat of Satan. The hat that prohibits worship in the house of the Lord. The hat that keeps the Spirit of God moving. The hat that would have caused him to be distracted the entire service (as if his offbeat clapping was not enough).

I smiled at him and told him it was going to come off during worship anyway (I truly had decided to do it because my dad’s voice was still in my head). He didn’t say a word for the rest of the service to me. I almost expected him to get up like Tevye and do his own rendition of “Tradition” pointing angrily at me.

I was distracted for the rest of worship because (1) seriously why can’t people clap and (2) what if I was new to the church? How would I have responded to that? It reminded me of that passage in James:

(James 2:2-4 ESV) “For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?”

So, does this mean we ignore all decorum? Can I come to church in my pajamas? I’ll admit to being frustrated if someone showed up looking like they’d just rolled out of bed. We all have expectations of “proper” attire. Even the Apostle Paul acknowledged this in one of the most difficult passages in Scripture:

(1 Corinthians 11:6-7) “For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head. For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man.”

This passage is just fun. It is difficult to understand fully because we are not in Corinth and given our tendencies for chronological snobbery we do not understand that Paul is responding to a specific situation that was previously revealed to him (2). First, the pagan men in Greek culture would usually use their togas as prayer shawls and cover their head while worshiping. Paul makes it clear that pagan rituals should not be where we go for worship practices. Second, the wife is under the authority of God and her husband. In the location where the church was, having short hair or not covering your head usually meant you were a woman of loose moral standards or you were a prostitute. On top of that, the women did not show respect to their husbands as was understood by the culture and so it hindered their witness and created awkward worship situations.

This latter point is soooo important. Today we’ve got it backward. Paul was worried that our dress could cause unbelievers to question our commitment to the gospel while today we wonder if wearing a hat or not is going to cause another Christian to be offended? Paul is interested in unity among believers and I am not arguing for us to purposefully dress to offend (I know people like this and we all know how annoying they are). I felt not only that this gentlemen was out of line but the lack of heart, love and his patronizing tone was very regrettable. When did hats become more important then people?

The great thing? Two minutes later a kid went into his row and sat three chairs down.

He was wearing a hat.

An Essay on Wisdom

So I’m new to writing short stories/essay’s (be gentle if you comment lol) but I was reading out of Proverbs 2 this morning and for some reason the first line of this story below came into my head and the rest kind of unfolded from there. A lot of people do no understand this type of writing because it does not usually have a conclusion. Instead you are left to your own thoughts. My main question in this is to ask: why do we do stupid things in light of the passage provided at the end? Enjoy:

The snow hit my face as loudly as the door slammed behind me. I turned the corner, not able to walk on the sidewalk because the plow trucks had already made the snowdrift past my knees. I was so flustered and aggravated that I did not notice that I was in the middle of the road, during a New England blizzard, with no shoes on. I thought about the shoes but it did not connect with my supposed Darwinian instinct for survival. That message got lost in translation somewhere in my neurons. I walked for what seemed like an instant, fueled by my frustration, and soon passed the sign for Main Street. I stopped next to the Bank where I saw my reflection in-between the obnoxiously large placard with the banks name on it. There I stood, my reflection pathetically looking at me begging, “What are you doing?”  It was at that moment that I realized I did not have a coat on.

I instantly woke out of my stupor and realized how foolish I was. I began the long walk home. For some reason, now that I was out my fog the journey back seemed longer then the journey here. The snow seemed to pick up speed just at that moment and I could not see a thing. Every step stung. Every snowflake was like fire on my overexposed skin.  I had to find an easier way. There had to be a shortcut. I turned quickly to cut through a part of town that no one should walk through even on clear nights. Here I was barefoot, jacketless, but at least I did not have my wallet. My hands went down to the back pockets and there it was: my leather wallet. It was heavy; it seemed to anchor me to my stupidness. What kind of fool forgets his coat and shoes but remembers his wallet?

All that mattered now was getting home and quickly. The alley I was walking down was at least clear of drifts. It was free of blowing snow and at least I could see. Maybe this would not be so bad after all? Amazing how lights and lack of snowdrifts can seemingly warm this barefoot heart. I continued down the street and looked into the lighted windows. In the house on my left there were kids screaming in excitement over some unforeseen event. The next house over you could see a couple arguing. The house on my right was boarded shut with some type of graffiti all over it. I wonder if a family ever called it home? Suddenly something brushed against my feet and caused me to jump, almost leaving behind what little clothes I had. There stood a cat. Not your average “ally” cat that looks like it got run over by a lawn mower but it looked like one fresh off a hallmark card. It was enough to cause me to bend down and start talking like a baby while petting her. I did not even notice the guys who snuck up behind me until it was to late. I am not sure if I fell on the cat when they hit me.

(Proverbs 2:6-12 ESV) “My son… the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you, delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil, men whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways.”

Music Review: Relient K

I have been listening to Relient K since my sophmore year of High School and boy, how much they have changed. While there have been some albums I was not entirely impressed with (The Bird and the Bee Sides, Anatomy of Tongue and Cheek) there were others which were just incredible (Relient K, Mmmhhmmm, Five Scores and Seven Years Ago, & their Christmas Album). So, with such a long history with this band I was anticipating their new album and so far it has not disappointed.

One thing I love about Relient K is that they fill the void in Christian music for godly romantic ballads. Especially on their Five Score album where we were treated to great songs like “The Best Thing” and “Must Have Done Something Right”. Forget and Not Slow Down continues this trend with songs like “Savannah” and “Candlelight”.

“Savannah” almost wants to make me marry a girl named Savannah:

Baby
I spent my life wondering
Wondering when I’d find you
I searched for all these years and now you’re right here
I need you to know that
Everything makes sense when you’re with me

Of course, Relient K also addresses the other side of relationships:

I’m over it
Yeah behind me now
I’m just over it
Over it
Yeah I’m finding out
I’m just over it
No I don’t know what’s over just yet
But I won’t go slow and time can let the mind forget
Don’t tell me you don’t know
Already
(Don’t tell me you let go
Already)

Overall I found this album to be fun, consistent, and less punk but still rock. I don’t think it is as good as Mmmhhmmm or Five Score but it is good. Definitely check it out.