Last night, one of the Bible stories that I read to Naomi and Rachel was the story of the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with perfume using her hair. Simon, the owner of the home where this occurred, is disappointed that Jesus is letting such a sinful person carry out such behavior. Jesus’ reply made me think of the messages of my recent posts. I know some may be growing tired of hearing about hell, judgment, wrath, sin, the Fall, etc. It certainly isn’t uplifting material. Or is it? Jesus’ reply was, “Those who have been forgiven much, love much.” There is worry today among church leadership about decline in church attendance, giving, etc. Statistics show that most denominations are declining in almost every statistical item that can be quantified. This may or may not be a bad thing. (I think outward statistical progress doesn’t necessarily reflect inward progress.) I do, however, think that in general, there is one factor of enormous importance that is indeed affecting a decline among “church-going Christians.” Because we don’t realize how much we’ve been forgiven, we don’t seem to love God very much. Even if you disregard numerical statistics, take a look around the average church today. Where is the passion for Jesus? Do you see it in the eyes of the congregation as they worship? Do you see it in their insatiable hunger for pouring through God’s Word? Do you see it in a renewed fervor to abandon their life of comfort and live as Christ lived? Do you see it in their tireless efforts to share salvation with friends, co-workers, neighbors? In efforts to revive such passion, many churches resort to programs and motivational efforts–most of which, when they are unmasked, appear little more than gimmicks. “Let’s change the style of music to something more contemporary and up-beat!” “Let’s start up small groups!” “Let’s run a stewardship campaign!” “Let’s focus sermons more on life-application!” “Let’s offer coffee, a casual atmosphere, and savvy media!” I”m not saying that any of these things are bad in and of themselves. In fact, I like many of these things. What I fear, however, is that churches are trying to make these things like silver bullets–they...

Without any intro, here’s their argument: —————————————————————— THE WORLD’S NOT GOING TO HELL If there was anyone who was humble who walked this earth, it was Jesus. The Son of the Most High God was born as a helpless baby. He didn’t own any earthly possessions. He was ridiculed, but turned the other cheek. He allowed himself to be crucified by merciless men, asking God to forgive them all the while. Over and over, He reminded us to show mercy. His big procession was on a lowly donkey. Over and over, He didn’t want it to leak out that He was the Son of God. He was a man of humility. As followers of Christ, we are to do the same. So many people today in the name of Jesus arrogantly go around, trying to convert people to Christianity–as if they know the truth and everyone else is in darkness. How arrogant! Do Christians have a monopoly on truth? Isn’t God’s truth sprinkled in other places–in other faiths–as well? Didn’t Jesus die for the sins of the entire world? These Christians claim that if you don’t convert, you’ll go to hell. Does this sound like Jesus’ teachings? Is that what Jesus would do? ——————————————————————– The world is going to hell? That sounds judgmental, doesn’t it? In today’s world, any such assertion will be met with quite a bit of resistance. The root of that resistance will be: that can’t be God’s way. If there is a God, He loves everyone. If He inflicts wrath like that, surely He isn’t a good God! But is that how Scripture looks at God’s wrath–that it makes Him no longer good or righteous? Look at Romans 3:5-6: The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (I am speaking in human terms.) May it never be! For otherwise, how will God judge the world? Yes, the gospel says that we are all worthless sinners (Romans 3:10-12) and we are all under God’s judgment. Who said the Gospel was good news again? Sheesh! Well, this isn’t the entire message of the Gospel. The Gospel teaches that when Jesus died for the sins of the world, God’s judgment is stayed. That doesn’t mean that...

In my previous post, I started by stating that this “new” Christianity states that we should be cautious to judge things up to Scripture, since quite a few parts of Scripture appear flawed/misguided in their understandings of God. That’s why I commented to Melena that I chose not to use the words of Paul in my last post. I know that there are those who might dismiss what Paul has to say, because they see some of his teachings as contradictory to what Jesus taught. So I wanted instead to study Jesus’ own words as much as possible, since we hadn’t addressed the issue of this blog post yet. So what does this “better” Christianity have to say about Scripture and Jesus? ——————————————————————————— TRUST JESUS, NOT THE BIBLE The idea goes something like this: Jesus is the fullest revelation of God, not the Bible. Jesus is the word of God (John 1:14), not the Bible. The Old Testament tried its best to describe who God is, how He acts, what He wants from us. But it was written by people who didn’t have the knowledge of God given to us by Jesus, and therefore they attribute things to God that aren’t really in His character. And it’s not just them that do this. Even in the New Testament, various authors in their zeal of God over-reach themselves. People like Paul, for example, who is trying his best to understand what it means that Jesus has come in the flesh and how we should respond to that truth. But we also have something better than the writings of people before Christ and the people after Christ (who are humans like the rest of us). We have the very words of Christ himself! Paul wasn’t the Son of God. Paul didn’t die for our sins. Paul isn’t the Way, the Truth, the Life. He didn’t come down from heaven. He isn’t our Savior, and he isn’t the Messiah. Jesus is! So, sure, it’s great to read what Paul or Old Testament writers had to say–just like it’s great to read what any Christian philosopher has to say down the centuries. But we aren’t to trust Paul or his words with our...

Ok, so here’s the start of some blog posts that I promised a little while back to unpack some of the beliefs being presented today–claims for a “better” Christianity. Before I get into the first one about “not judging”, let me say that we must judge these “new” claims by Scripture. I believe it’s clear that they don’t stand up. But part of this “new” Christianity states that we should be cautious to judge such things up to Scripture, since quite a few parts of Scripture appear flawed/misguided in their understandings of God. In effect, these people are judging Scripture and find it to be lacking. This illustrates one of the points I will present in this blog that people who say “don’t judge,” create impossible criteria for what it means to “judge.” In fact, it is quite ironic that, when I was told that “my” view of Christianity (as if I’ve come up with something new) and my attitude was narrow-minded, judgmental, and arrogant, the very people telling me that I was judging were doing exactly that–and to an even greater degree. In other words, I did in fact “judge” their positions by stating that I completely disagree with their positions on matters that I believe are central to the Christian faith, and that I firmly believed they go completely against the whole of Scripture. I made judgments on their positions, for sure, but did not belittle them as persons in doing so. In return, those who would say that we shouldn’t judge responded by making judgments not only on my positions (which is completely fair and appropriate), but also belittling who I am as a person when they stated I was judgmental, arrogant, and narrow-minded for believing that Jesus is the only way, for example. This is what too often happens by those who say “Don’t judge.” When someone tells you that you are judging–by saying this, they are now judging (and not just judging your beliefs, but sometimes even your motivation, intelligence, or character). The reason for this circular conundrum is a misunderstanding of what Jesus means by “Don’t judge.” Almost anything we say is considered a “judgment.” By this definition, that last statement itself is...

Ever since I’ve learned the positions taken at my former church, I’ve wrestled between worry and hope. On the one hand, I worry for those who will receive what is taught to them, because it just sounds good. Further, I worry about this type of “Christianity” gaining a foothold not in just one local church, but across the country as well. My eyes have been opened to how pervasive this ideology is. (I’ve promised that I would get into the ideology, and I will!) Jesus talks about how as time goes on, even the elect’s love for Him will grow cold. I worry that this is happening. On the other hand, I’ve also had a sense of belief that truth wins out. While a lie can be compelling, there is something compelling about the truth as well. Yes, I know that people are drawn to what they would like to hear. The serpent did that quite easily with Adam and Eve. But the lie leaves you feeling empty. It doesn’t make good on its promises–except perhaps in the short-term. I have come to see the awesome power of the gospel. It’s not just theology for me. I really can see it. It blows me away. Every time I hear it, it is like spiritual food. I want to hear more. I think this is partly due to the fact of not hearing it for so many years, and so it feels so fresh to hear it. Hence, the title to this blog post. I didn’t make up that title. It comes from a song that is quickly becoming my favorite song. Here’s a link to it. While I could care less for the concert-feel, the message of the song is exactly everything I want to shout out! I could write a blog post about each and every phrase in this song. Take a few minutes to soak in all the simple, yet profound, truths in it! So check it out,...

I had a conversation with a friend this week about being expressive in worship. Like me, he has a problem with people who are expressive when worshiping, but throughout the week, they don’t live for Christ like they present themselves during worship on Sunday mornings. I struggle with this myself. I don’t want to be expressive on Sunday mornings, but then when I’m at my job Monday – Friday, or at the grocery store for that matter, I live as if I’m embarrassed to mention Jesus to co-workers, clients, or the checkout lady. How can I praise God so expressively at church, but refuse to share Christ with my next-door neighbor? How fake is that?! I’ve always felt like we can be so fake at church–we express ourselves one way there, while the rest of the week when we’re “real,” we’re too shy to proclaim Christ. But today it hit me–I’m not being fake at church. That’s really how I feel–that’s really who I am on the inside. I do want to proclaim how awesome Jesus is. It’s the rest of the week where I’m being fake. I’m hiding the real me from non-believers. How I desire to be real with everyone about how much Jesus means to me! I’m real at church–God, help me to be real at home, at work, and at...

One of the comments to my last blog was: While God certainly has the right to dictate His own terms, I think that this argument causes many people to believe that if God exists that He acts way too arbitrarily to be loving. I personally do not believe that God is arbitrary or unloving, but that perspective can be a natural reaction to the argument that God can set whatever terms He wants. Do you have specific thoughts about those who think God arbitrary, capricious, or unloving? I have some responses to that position about God but they are difficult to state clearly and rely heavily on my personal conception of sin, salvation, heaven, and hell. Great question! I want to dive into it! Here are my thoughts for those who would wonder the same thing (I find myself wondering this as well): I think this is where faith in God is needed. Does God know what He is doing? Can He be trusted to do the right thing? Similar to the relationship between a parent and a child, a child does not always understand why the parent does what he/she does, but that’s because a child is simply a child. We are simply humans. Things may not look “fair” at first from our perspective, but maybe when we start to look at the world through God’s perspective, we realize He really is more than fair. So that this answer doesn’t seem like a “cop-out,” I’d like to see if we can try to gain more of God’s perspective on the matter of sin. According to the terms He set forth at the beginning, anyone who sins must die. That might seem unfair/unloving to us, but can we look at it from God’s perspective? He created us to glorify Him and find our enjoyment in Him only. This is essential to God. It’s not about simply breaking a rule set forth from God–breaking the rule screws things up more royally than we really understand. Rebelling actually destroys our relationship with God. It destroys our relationships with one another. It has cascading effects for the entire universe. Trust has now been broken. Heartache and pain enter. Our pure understanding of...