Why No Unity?

Many a fool has pointed to disagreements in Church denominations and made some claims as to disagreements equalling irrelevance or worse. First of all, unity does not mean uniformity. Right from the beginning there were different forms of worship. The unity that Jesus demands is in worshipping Him as Creator and Saviour of the universe, regardless of the form that worship takes.

And regardless of what people think, those who have been born again into faith in Christ via the leading of God and the transforming power of the Holy Spirit are one in Christ. In my opinion, the many different denominations simply reflect the diverse nature of humans and the dynamic power of Christianity. Jesus relates to all people in all times in all cultures. The Bible appeals to different people in different ways, and Jesus says that in heaven there will be people from every language, race and tribe.

On the other hand, our fallen nature dictates that we see ourselves as right and others less so. This is wrong, and atheists are correct to criticize this fault in human nature, theirs included.

Paul understood that peace and unity cannot exist apart from the truth of the Gospel. To compromise the Gospel of truth would be to lose what creates our unity and peace. When a decision must be made between unity and truth, unity must yield to truth; for it is better to be divided by truth than united by error. We test the church by truth, not truth by the church. 

How Then Should I Live?

I saw a documentary about some convict who said, “I decided to follow Islam because Christianity is too easy. All you have to do in Christianity is go to Church and read your Bible and you’re in.”

(((Sigh))) It's like he thinks that as a Christian I indulge my insouciant ways with an ice-tea, lying in a hammock while letting my Creator do the heavy lifting. See whether you think being a follower of Jesus is easy –

. Admitting one’s need for forgiveness and admitting that there is nothing that I can do to warrant salvation is the single most difficult thing that a human being can do.

“The road is narrow and the gate is small and only a few will ever find it.” 

Jesus

. Finding and following the Will of God, loving what God loves and hating what God hates bends the intellect almost beyond the breaking point.

. Agreeing with God that what the world has to offer is useless for real life and real living takes constant reminding.

. Having a relationship with one’s Creator whereby we mean it when we say, “That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 

2^nd Corinthians 2:10, is not for the faint of heart.

. Romans 8:29 is God’s goal of each and every Christian, but oh my what a goal it is. “For God knew His people in advance, and He chose them to become like His Son, so that His Son would be the first-born among many brothers and sisters.”

Hated without cause, mocked, lied to and lied about. Jesus, our example and character goal, came to earth knowing in advance that He would be abused, misunderstood, mistreated, rejected, insulted, betrayed and ultimately have humanity do our absolute worst to Him. Yet He entered into a covenant relationship with us anyway because He loves us. And then Jesus said, “Pick up your cross and follow Me (be like Me, do what I did, act like I did, relate to others like I did), and be ready to die (both literally and figuratively) for Me.

. “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

Col. 3:12,13

Try Jesus and tell me how easy it is.

. Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for those who persecute you.

. Simply “Doing no harm,” as fools advocate, is not good enough for the path of Christ. The way of Jesus is proactive and encourages doing good to all. Lessening the needs of others whenever and wherever one can is a spiritual fallout of a Christ filled heart.

. “If you think you stand, be careful lest you fall.” A follower of Jesus will never overestimate h/her ability to withstand the power of temptation. Flirting with evil is anathema to those who love Jesus.

. A follower of Jesus does good, and not just when officers of the world are watching. Rather, a follower of Jesus does good to please Him who is always present. “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

. Christian love sees others as worthy of preferential treatment.

“If you have encouragement from being united with Christ, If you have comfort from His love, If you have any fellowship with the Spirit, If you have any tenderness and compassion then in humility consider others better than yourselves. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.   

Philippians 2:3,4,10

Romans 12:10 - “Honour one another above yourselves.”

Gal. 5:13 - “Serve one another in love.”

Eph. 5:21 - “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

1Pt. 5:5 - “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another because the Lord opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Islam is the end result of a spiritual quest that passes through atheism / humanism on the road to self-salvation. It is the easiest and default path of all who deny their Creator as Lord of their lives. 

To The Persecuted Church

I remember reading about the 100th anniversary of Christian Missionaries in the Congo. One of the speakers said he was about 12 years old, almost a man, when the missionaries first came. And he said that for years and years and years, in an attempt to drive the missionaries from their country, they poisoned the missionaries and their families. The children were especially susceptible to the poison, he said, and that is what led so many people from the Congo to Jesus. "We did not accept Jesus into our lives by watching how you lived, but by watching how you suffered and died. You always had hope. You never gave up on Jesus and you never gave up on showing His love to us."

"People are watching us as we stay at our post, alertly, unswervingly, in hard times, tough times, bad times, when we're beaten up, jailed, and mobbed; working hard, working late, working without eating; with pure heart, clear head, steady hand; in gentleness, holiness, and honest love; when we're telling the truth, and when God's showing His power; when we're doing our best setting things right; when we're praised, and when we're blamed; slandered, and honoured, true to our word, though distrusted; ignored by the world, but recognized by God; terrifically alive, though rumoured to be dead; beaten within an inch of our lives, but refusing to die; immersed in tears, yet always filled with deep joy; living on handouts, yet enriching many; having nothing, yet having it all. Dear followers of Jesus, I can't tell you how much I long for you to enter the wide-open spacious life. We didn't fence you in. Any smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren't small, but you're living them in a small way. I'm speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!”

From Paul's letter to the believers in Corinth, 6:10-13

To those of you who are experiencing extreme and ultimate persecution, please, for the love of Jesus, at all cost avoid violence, revenge and retribution under the guise of self-protection. It's God who protects. It's God who will bring you safely home when your work on earth is done. 

Friday's Thoughts on Marriage

This is the 7th in a series that began December 21^st/13 with a post called, “Married Forever?”

Last week I ended with the statement, “I maintain that without knowing the secret of marriage that Paul describes for us in the New Testament, no marriage can reach the level of fulfillment for the couple, and glorification of Jesus that it was intended to attain.”

The Secret of Marriage? I read through the whole Bible once a year, every year. It's taken me nearly two decades to get what Paul is talking about. Not because it's such a difficult concept, but because I simply could not sink below the surface of what he was saying. Its kind of like -

Paul says clearly, “I'm talking about Christ and the Church.”

I blink my eyes and say “Huh?”

“I'm talking about Christ and the Church (the body of believers). Husbands, love your wives just as Jesus loves the Church and gave Himself up for her.”

“Oh, you're talking about Christ and the Church! . . . Huh?”

Now I get it. Then I didn't. Mostly probably because I didn't want to hear what his words meant. I've since seen that many Christian husbands don't want to get it. Paul is saying that the secret to our role in marriage is to do for our wives what Jesus did to unite all of us with Himself. He gave Himself up for us. Jesus IS the greatest Being to ever exist. He is the Creator and sustainer of life and the universe itself. And then He gave up His glory, became a human-being, died on a Roman cross and paid the penalty for our sins.

He loved us.

He served us.

He gave up His rights as Creator God so that our needs might be met.

That kind of sacrifice made possible an intimate, healed and forgiven relationship with Him and He says to us husbands, 'THAT is how to do marriage.' Jesus and the Church is what God had in mind when He ordained way back in Genesis that, “A man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one.”

That's the secret that Paul is talking about. That is what keeps Biblical marriage from being oppressive as the world imagines it to be. In Biblical marriage the husband, under Christ, is the Spiritual Leader of the home. As such, the husband gives himself up and models for the family:

. Submission

. Love

. Mercy

. Kindness

. Patience

. Self-control

. Faithfulness

. Forgiveness

. Gentleness and

. Servant-leadership

Because God had this picture of salvation in mind when He instituted marriage between man and woman, the marriage can only be successful when each partner loves the other in a self-giving love.

Jesus said, “I did not come to be served but serve and to give My life . . .”

I often tell people (Christians) whose marriage is struggling, “If you try to fix this marriage, you will fail. If instead, you focus solely on repairing your relationship with Jesus (not your partner's relationship but your relationship), loving Him and obeying Him, the restoration of your marriage will follow as naturally as dawn follows the dark.”

Do for your spouse, what Jesus did for you and your marriage cannot fail.

More on this next Friday.

You Wouldn't Do That In Real Life

Think about the person you married. How well do you know that person before you made the commitment to marry? Did you try to learn as much about that person as possible, or were you satisfied with, “Okay, so, we've met, let's get married”?

2^nd Peter 3:18 says, “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”

Grow. Learn. Get to know. Become like.

Why is it that so many people think that being a follower of Jesus begins and ends with a prayer of confession and maybe baptism?

Or let me ask these questions. Do you know what a dog is? Do you know what they like to eat? What they like to do for fun? How they breed? What kinds of dogs there are? How about if they can swim? So you know a lot about dogs, right? Does that make you a dog?

Of course not. Just so, knowing a lot about Jesus does not make you a Christian. Visiting a kennel doesn't make you a dog and faithfully attending a Church doesn't make you a Christian. 

Becoming a Christian is when, after knowing and understanding the payment for sin that Jesus has made for every human on earth, knowing about what is expected of you and the cost you will bear for becoming a follower of Jesus, as well as knowing the consequences of both accepting and rejecting His offer of forgiveness, you consciously decide to turn your back on sin, humbly accept God's assessment of your thoroughly and utterly sinful nature, you ask for forgiveness and invite the very Spirit of the living God to take over your life.

Being a Christian is each and every day listening to and for and then following the guidance and correction of God's Spirit. Being a Christian is living life as Jesus would live live if He was in your circumstances. Being a Christian means that the Spirit which lives within you changes and transforms your thoughts and behaviours.

You wouldn't consider your relationship with your husband or wife a good relationship if you just skimmed the surface of human experience day after day.

Real life Christianity involves an intimate, healed and forgiven relationship with the Creator of the Universe and that relationship is personal, on-going and ever growing. If your relationship with Jesus is not becoming more intimate, if you cannot look back and know that you are closer to God today than you were a year ago, then the relationship is moving toward the inevitable break that comes with pretending to be what you never were. 

You Wanna Be a Christian?

Ironically, this is a question that is asked, perhaps in different words, by those of us who too poorly represent the image of Jesus the Christ.

We've evangelized others even though:

. We had little idea what Jesus was like. We thought we could know Him without actually studying the documents that spoke about Him.

. We had almost no understanding of how the Old Testament related to the life of Jesus. At best we saw the Bible as a collection of unrelated stories.

. We thought that going to Church was enough to transform us into the character of Jesus. More Church = More Christian. Or so we thought.

. To say that we were ungracious and unloving toward those who believed and lived differently would have been a generous assessment of our character.

. We believed that being a follower of Jesus meant nothing more than not doing what sinners did.

If you want to evangelize, know your Saviour first.

Clever? You bet!

In Luke 9:46 “An argument started among the disciples about which of them would be the greatest.”

Gee, I wonder who would tempt someone in that direction?

satan uses the same characteristics that brought about his own downfall to wreak havoc in our lives as well. Pride and striving, two things that set satan against his Creator sets us against our Creator and against each other.

President Reagan had a sign on his desk that said, “There is no limit to how high and how far a person might go, as long as he doesn’t care who gets the credit.”

satan, and those who follow his lead strive for credit and applause. Sadly, those in the Church are not immune from this tendency. What led to satan's downfall will destroy us as well, unless we cease our striving and allow God to be in control.

That is after all what it means to be humble. “God opposes the proud but gives His grace to the humble.”

Atheists in Community

Atheist Churches are springing up around the world. Those who attend these congregations say they miss the community that a “real” congregation provides. What's more, they assume that it's this human need to be in community that drives Christians to attend Church. I suppose that in some cases they might be right – about why some people attend Church I mean.

For those who are serious about growing in their walk with Jesus however, meeting together with other like-motivated believers is indispensable. We need their insight, their protecting, encouraging, their warning and restoring ministry to us. We simply cannot make it spiritually on our own.

The effort to be an autonomous Christian will not and cannot ever work. This is because we cannot learn to love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, and pray for those who persecute us if we are not in contact with these people. God designed our spiritual maturing to be grown in community as a community project.

If atheists want to go an listen to poems and be inspired by good speakers, and if they want to enjoy the benefits of being with others, good for them. Let them meet where ever and whenever they want.

If those who follow Jesus want to become like Him, and they do, then we have no option but to follow Him into the throngs and learn to love others and to be loved by others.

Leaving Church / Leaving Jesus

Much has been made of the fulfilment of prophecy that bears witness to the massive exodus from that Church that is taking place before our very eyes. I'm not going to go into the reasons for why people leave, nor the fact (as atheists so desperately wish was true) that these people are not necessarily also leaving Jesus.

My point is that those who think they'll grow closer to Jesus by leaving a hypocritical, dysfunctional congregation are profoundly naive and spiritually blind.

G.K. Chesterton responded, “I am,” to the question, “What's wrong with the world?” Each of us (including those who are leaving the Church) should give the same answer to, “What's wrong with the Christian Church?”

“The heart is desperately wicked. Who can understand it?”

To think that verse applies to everyone else but me is tragic nonsense. To believe that any effort to grow closer to Jesus, including leaving the Church, without that attempt being corrupted and saprogenic is, as I said, profoundly naive.

Paul tells us to “Don't quit meeting together as some have begun to do.”

He says this because learning to love others, our enemies no less, is critical to our spiritual growth. The main thing that we have in common with those sitting in the Church Pews with us is that we've been called to salvation by Jesus. The differences in our personalities and interests, and loving those who possess those differences is a refining process. This process can't be ignored if we are serious about being transformed into character of Jesus.

Loving those who are different than us gives us a glimpse into God's love for us; fallen creatures as dissimilar to God in holiness as any difference can be.

Leaving a difficult environment to seek out those like us, those with similar interests, those who will not irritate and annoy us, and then believing that we are somehow made new because we no longer display anger is simply lying to ourselves. 

I'm Of Three Minds

So I was asked to do the Sermon a bit ago. I hate doing that kind of thing. On the other hand I know what it's like to ask people to help out and listen to one after another say “no.” So I said yes. But I hate speaking in front of people. My ego can't handle it.  

So I am saying my thing when over there on the left and near the back, I notice Tracy. But that's not possible. Tracy is in Brazil on a missions trip. And I'm thinking about how Tracy can't be in two places at the same time when I realize that my mouth is still talking. At the exact same time that I'm solving how Tracy can be in Brazil and in the second from last row near the north exit, I'm still giving the sermon.

This is bad. I've got to get control of my mind. I'm not even sure what my mouth has been saying. So I force my head to turn somewhere else, and there is Greg working at his teeth with a toothpick. He's going at it like he's his own dental hygienist. I mean, his toothpick is digging and scratching and cleaning and cleaning. His head is bent way back -

Yikes! I'm still talking. How can that be? How can a brain be saying what needs to be said AND notice that someone is picking his teeth AND think about thinking about how the brain can do that?

It can't be possible.

I must be screwing up.

I'm making a fool of myself.

Think!

Look at your notes!

That's when I notice Dave. He is leaning so far to the right, well, to his left, it looks like Dave is about to capsize. And I'm still talking.

I'm starting to feel genuine panic.

I've GOT to stop.

I've GOT to concentrate.

So I force myself to not look at anyone. I gaze at the ceiling. I focus at a spot where the wall meets the ceiling at the far end of the hall. And that's when I see the camera. Huh. I always thought the camera was a lot closer to the front.

And I'm still talking when this all starts to strike me as humorous. I almost laugh out loud at the the absurdity of what's taking place. This all resembles some sort of dream.

I'm trying hard to concentrate on the sermon while also thinking that by not looking at anyone, and instead looking at the ceiling, I must resemble Steven as he's being stoned to death and heaven has been opened before him and he sees Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

I contemplate spreading my arms wide and saying, "Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit." 

Bad plan. 
Don't do it.
They might laugh. I like to make people laugh
No, don't do it.

I lower my eyes only to notice that Mr. and Mrs. Benson are smiling. Crap. Have I said something stupid? No, they're nodding. They're agreeing with what I've said.

I'm exhausted.

My legs are weak.

I've never stood this long – for maybe ever.

I need some water.

Cold water.

Hey! I'm on the last paragraph. Somehow I've made it through a 40-45 minute talk. And I go to sit down. I shake my head at the mess I must have made of things. With head bowed and elbows resting on my knees, I resemble a man praying against impossible odds. I make a promise to myself that I'll never again say “yes” to doing anything like this. A couple people come up and tell me that they really like my “message.” Are they joking? Are they serious? I can't tell.

A few days later, I listen to the sermon on the Church's website. I have the text of my sermon in front of me while I listen to the audio and it's practically word for word bang on. Kind of monotone perhaps, but hey, I've never pretended that I'm a public speaker.

That's not the point. The point is -

A person really can do public speaking while not just thinking about something else, analyzing something else, solving another problem. A person can do public speaking while thinking about how it's possible to think about something else.

How in the world can a brain do something like that?

The Church - God Bless Her

There are few things more frustrating, disappointing, infuriating than the Christian Church. There are few things more amazing, astounding and uplifting than the Christian Church.

I love this saying, “A Church that admitted only saints would be like a hospital that admitted only healthy people. It would be a lot easier to run, but it certainly wouldn’t serve the purpose for which it was created.”

So what is the Biblical concept of the Church? At its base, the Church is a gathering of the people of God. “I will be your God and you will be My people.”

Beyond that, the Church is described as being:

The Body of Christ - We are, in the true Church, one and all, believers in Jesus the Christ as He is revealed in the Bible. We are being made one in life and character with Jesus. Jesus is the head of this body.

The Bride of Christ - This image has deep, deep roots in the OT. Jesus referred to Himself as the bridegroom and because of our sin nature, we are, mostly, the unfaithful bride. God / Jesus has always identified Himself with unqualified love. His desire is toward us and He pursues us to what seems an unreasonable level. God is single minded in His devotion to His people with a degree of devotion to which we can only long to achieve. God’s love for us is so deep that He will not and cannot tolerate rivals for His affection.

The Building of God - We are God’s temple. We are the residence of His very Spirit. God dwells with His people. The image is of one who has pitched His tent among us. The Church of God is Spiritual - not material. Nevertheless, Jesus is described as the cornerstone without which life itself becomes twisted out of shape. 1^st Peter 2:5 describes the people of God as living stones in the temple of God.

The Family of God - As believers in Christ we are adopted into His family. To all of us, God is our Spiritual or Heavenly Father. Therefor the Church becomes the family of God. We are sons and daughters of God, brothers and sisters in Christ. 

“We have all heard people say a hundred times over, for they seem never to tire of saying it, that the Jesus of the New Testament is indeed a most merciful and humane lover of humanity, but that the Church has hidden this human character in repellent dogmas and stiffened it with ecclesiastical terrors till it has taken on an inhuman character. This is, I venture to repeat, very nearly the reverse of the truth. The truth is that it is the image of Christ in the Churches that is almost entirely mild and merciful.”

G. K. Chesterton

The Church - God Bless Her

There are few things more frustrating, disappointing and infuriating than the Christian Church. There are few things more amazing, astounding and uplifting than the Christian Church.

I love this saying, “A Church that admitted only saints would be like a hospital that admitted only healthy people. It would be a lot easier to run but it certainly wouldn’t serve the purpose for which it was created.”

Hence the nature of her problems. The Church is full of sinners – serious sinners – not just your run of the mill slackers but people with a serious sin problem. That leads those on the outside with a fairly jaded view of the Church.

So what is the Biblical concept of the Church? At its base, the Church is a gathering of the people of God. “I will be your God and you will be My people.” Beyond that, the Church is described as being:

The Body of Christ - We are, in the true Church, one and all believers in Jesus the Christ as He is revealed in the Bible. We are being made one in life and character with Jesus. Jesus is the head of this body.

The Bride of Christ - This image has deep, deep roots in the OT. Jesus referred to Himself as the bridegroom and because of our sin nature, we are, mostly, the unfaithful bride. God / Jesus has always identified Himself with unqualified love. His desire is toward us and He pursues us to what seems an unreasonable level. God is single mined in His devotion to His people with a degree of devotion to which we can only long to achieve. God’s love for us and His desire for our well-being is so deep that He will not and cannot tolerate rivals for His affection.

The Building of God - We are God’s temple. We are the residence of His very Spirit. God dwells with His people. The image is of one who has pitched His tent among us. The Church of God is Spiritual - not material. Nevertheless, Jesus is described as the cornerstone without which life itself becomes twisted out of shape. 1^st Peter 2:5 describes the people of God as living stones in the temple of God.

The Family of God - As believers in Christ we are adopted into His family. To all of us, God is our Spiritual or Heavenly Father. Therefor the Church becomes the family of God. We are sons and daughters of God, brothers and sisters in Christ.

The Church is a Mess:

To a large extent, we have forgotten our calling, i.e. To go into every nation and make disciples of Jesus the Christ. We weren't called to build buildings where we sit and listen to someone talk at us. Yes we are to meet together and learn but we are to go out and talk to others about Jesus' offer of salvation, of forgiveness and freedom from real guilt.

We who follow Christ would do well to listen to those who point out our failures. Most of the time the critiques are very accurate.

Of Dogs and Parked Cars

You've probably heard the line, "Dogs don't bark at parked cars"?

Unaware that we live in a universe at war, atheists make no connection between those on the side of God and the attacks / temptations which those people must endure.

Both the Old and Newer Testament are to a large extent documents detailing that war. The war can be described as the relentless push against evil, against which even the gates of hell will not prevail. 

The battle is not against original sin but for original glory.

The birth of Jesus was in fact an invasion deep into enemy territory. Demons, sickness, death, violence, abuse, hypocrisy, the war involving Israel and the Church. These things are not peripheral to the world. The world is peripheral to the war involving Israel and the Church. satan has come to steal, kill and destroy. Those on the outside know nothing of temptation. In fact they experience so little temptation that they think they’re good people.

Just as dogs don’t bark at parked cars, satan has no need to disturb the comfortable delusion that atheists cling to. 

The corrupt self-loving thought, “I don't need God in order to be a good person,” doesn't even require a “woof.”

That Was Stupid

I think I almost completely reject what I wrote in my last post. Not sure where the balance can be found. All I know is that as a Christian, I cannot stand silently and allow things like human trafficking, child porn etc. to progress unchallenged.

Yes, we do get the world we deserve. Yes we do need to leave people to live the lives they want to live. But no, we live in a democracy and in a democracy people get to voice their opinion, hack away at ideas they think are bad for society and allow the chips to fall where they may.

I also think that homosexual marriage or common-law relationships while absolutely wrong from a Biblical perspective will not destroy what God meant for marriage because our society has already passed that point. Even in the Church, the next generation is profoundly ignorant of what constitutes a Biblical marriage. That battle is lost. Those who follow Jesus and His guidelines for their lives will reap the benefits of that obedience. Those who reject that advice will also reap what they sow.

Anyhow, the evolution of thought is sometimes a messy process and my last post was an example.

The Church of “Nothing Matters”

Isn't that what the world demands of Christians? Of the “Christian Church”?

We're too narrow.

Too repressive.

Too demanding.

Too constricting.

Christianity asks things of its people.

No – Christianity demands things of its people.

Comments from pagans and atheists seem to suggest that Christian congregations should become microcosms of worldly living, a place where, just like in the world itself, nothing really matters – at least not from a behavioural standpoint. 


As long as what you're doing doesn't negatively effect me directly, then I don't care what goes on in your life. And as far as my life goes? I'll decide how to run my relationships.

“But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality.” Ephesians 5:3

Now of course in our attempts to “get it right,” humans err and err often. I'm no exception. In fact, I'm an example.

At one extreme, at least in North America, we have the Westbourgh Baptist Church and at the other the Unitartian Universalist Church (I'm not suggesting that either is Christian in nature or example). And those are only the extremes that I'm aware of. Including those and everything in between (like atheism) we have people who are genuinely trying to live their beliefs properly. Hard as it is for we Christians to be the people Jesus says we should be, we have people of the world trying to ram their beliefs down our throats. They tell Christians that what goes on in the sanctuary of our souls and within the building itself, anything goes. Nothing should matter. If the individual decides that it's right, then it is right.

“Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness.” Ephesians 5:11

You look to your congregation for moral support and direction and find what?

Couples living together.

Hypocrisy piled upon hypocrisy.

Discriminating and rejecting instead of loving.

Divorce and remarriage without a hint of remorse or protest.

Of course where ever you find humans you'll find the worst sort of common behaviours but, should the Church follow the pressure of the world and turn a blind eye to sin? Should we ignore the One we claim to follow and refuse to pass on the guidance that we ourselves have received? Do we withhold this guidance from those who say they've committed to following Jesus?

Is that really love?

Is that really proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus?

Didn't Jesus welcome sinners in order to help us change? 

The Biggest Day Ever!!

There are a couple people in our congregation (well they used to be in our congregation) who have been taken in by the Latter Rain Cult - this is a Judaic Cult that says the Rapture of “true believers” is going to take place on May 21st / 11 - and that, according to this Judaic Cult is why “true believers” should leave the Christian Church immediately.

This cult can be found under many different names but you can get information at

http://www.wecanknow.com and
http://www.familyradio.com/graphical/literature/nomanknows/nomanknows.html

I need to make a few comments on the errors of this cult’s teachings. I know the post is long but people are being taken in by this scam and I want to address the Cult’s most egregious comments.

1) The Cult takes the verse from Acts 1:7 where Jesus says, “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.”

Why did Jesus say this? Because His disciples still didn’t understand the concept of the Kingdom of God. So immersed in the belief that the Messiah would be an earthly King who’d come to free Israel from Rome that they’d asked the question, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

And what is the cult’s interpretation? “From these verses we learn that during the church age there would be a great curiosity concerning the time of the end, but believers were not to be at all preoccupied with this question.”

- First of all that is NOT what we learn from “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom.” Second the people in this Cult are absolutely preoccupied with, even obsessed with the time of the end.
- - - - -

2) Next this Cult turns to Ecclesiastes 8:5 and, taking this verse completely out of context tells us, “The wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.” The context is talking about dealing with a King properly, as well as stating that principle and prudence set limits on our freedom. Further, this cult completely ignores vs. 9 “Since no man knows the future, who can tell him what is to come?”

And who has a wise heart, according to Cult leaders? Why, it’s the people selling the Cult's books of course.
- - - - -

3) What the Cult tells us is, “However, it was not until a very few years ago that the accurate knowledge of the entire time-line of history was revealed to true believers by God from the Bible.”

True believers means leaders of this Cult - the people selling the books.
- - - - -

4) There is a line that the Cult leaders use to give us information that they know and we do not. The line is - “Several years ago we had learned . . .”
. “Several years ago we had learned . . .” The seven year Great Tribulation spoken of in Revelation is actually a 23 year period that began on May 21, 1988

. “Several years ago we had learned . . .” Since May 21, 1988, no one has been saved from within a Church congregation. It makes me wonder when these people received forgiveness of their sins through faith in the work of Jesus on the cross.

. “Several years ago we had learned . . .” “This salvation is not occurring in any church, but will continue outside of the churches to the end of the Great Tribulation, on May 21, 2011.” From the comfort of their airconditioned homes the leaders of this Cult worship where they please, as they please, when they please, funded by any job they have chosen to have and living with families in near perfect peace and safety, and from this vantage point the leaders of this Cult declare a Great Tribulation in progress.

. “Several years ago we had learned . . .” May 21, 1988 was the last day of the Church Age.

. “Several years ago we had learned . . .” Since May 21, 1988, “the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from all of the churches as well as the entire world.” I believe this is called hell but . . .

. “Several years ago we had learned . . .” “Because at the beginning of the Great Tribulation period (May 21, 1988), Christ removed the seventh and final seal from this book.” It boggles the mind how these people can read in Revelation the horrors that come with the breaking of each of the seven seals and they expect us to believe that these things have taken place in the world - eg. “The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.” Rev. 5:14
- - - - -

5) 1st Thessalonians 5:2,3 - “For you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.”

The Cult interprets this verse as saying that, “[Jesus is ] coming to destroy those who deny that near the end of the world the true believers will know the time (the hour) of Christ’s coming.”

Other Scripture tells us that “Like a thief” means that Jesus will come suddenly or unexpectedly. “If you had known when the thief was going to come you would have been prepared.” Every single believer that I have ever met agrees that in theory Jesus could come before we’re done reading this sentence. Or that our life could end in the blink of an eye and the next thing we know we’re in the presence of Jesus. It is important to be “prepared” i.e. in an intimate, healed and forgiven relationship with Jesus. Those who are not saved, of course, think that this is nonsense. Many deny that Jesus even existed let alone that He is coming back in a manner whereby every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord of lords and King of kings.

Nevertheless this Judaic Cult says that it is Jesus, not satan, but Jesus who is going to come to steal, kill and destroy.

vs. 3 “While people are saying, “Peace and safety, destruction will come on them suddenly.”

It seems obvious to me that those who are not saved do not believe that Jesus could come again at any moment. The unsaved believe that they can bring about peace and safety through the creation of wealth and education for everyone. This Judaic Cult however says that the people who are going to be judged and destroyed BY JESUS are those who - “Yet they believe they are at peace with God and safely under His care.”

Now, I admit that there are going to be people who believe they are right with Jesus and the awful truth will be found in Jesus’ comment, “Get away from Me. I never knew you.” But why is this Judaic Cult saying that genuine followers of Jesus are not saved? Because these people have the audacity to say that May 21st 2011 as the date for the Rapture of "true believers" cannot be known.

“The language of this verse (1st Thessalonians 5:3) describes perfectly all of those in the world who on May 21, 2011 are still following any church. Because churches teach many things that are not true to the Bible, including a plan of salvation that is contrary to the Bible, and the Holy Spirit has abandoned all churches, those still following any church on May 21, 2011 are not saved.” (emphasis mine)

Think about that!
Think about what the Bible teaches regarding the means of salvation!

Mark 16:16 - Jesus said, “Those who believe and are baptized will be saved but those who refuse to believe will be condemned.”

John 1:12,13 Jesus said, “Unless you are born again, you can never get into the kingdom of heaven.” There is no eternal doom awaiting those who trust Him to save them. But those who don’t trust Him have already been tried and condemned for not believing in the only Son of God.

John 5:24 - Jesus said, “I say emphatically that anyone who listens to My message and believes in God who sent me has eternal life and will NEVER be damned for his sins. He has crossed from death into life.”

John 8:24 - Jesus said, “For unless you believe that I am the Son of God, the Messiah, you will die in your sins.”

Romans 3:27,28 - Our acquittal is not based on our good deeds, it is based on what Christ has done and our faith in Him. So it is we are saved, by faith in Christ and not by the good things we do.

Romans 9:32 - Because they were trying to be saved by keeping the law and being good instead of by depending on faith, they have stumbled over that great stumbling stone, Jesus.

Galatians 2:19 - It was through reading the Scriptures that I came to realize that I could never find God’s favour by trying and failing to obey the law. I came to realize that acceptance with God comes by believing in Christ.

1st Thessalonians 1:8,9 - The Lord Jesus will bring judgement on those who do not wish to know God and those who reject His plan to save them through our Lord Jesus Christ. They will be punished in everlasting hell, forever separated from the Lord, never to see the glory of His power.

Yes, there are Churches that do not preach the Gospel of Jesus listed above. That, according to this Cult is NOT how one is saved. In order to know salvation, according to this Cult, you have to buy one of their books and remove yourself from any Christian congregation. The Church, the community of believers is the Bride of Christ yet the leaders of this Cult demand that people leave the Church and tells them they will not be saved, that they will face the judgement of Christ if they don’t leave the Church.

Think about that!

Here comes this Judaic Cult telling people that they can lose their salvation simply because they belong to a Christian Church and dare to agree with Scripture that says, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

If you agree with Scripture, according to this Cult, you will lose your salvation.

Or so says Harold Camping from Family Radio. While claiming to divulge secrets long hidden in the Bible, we still, according to Harold, need to buy his books - not the Bible - his books (“Read this booklet for an honest Biblical look at God's plan for salvation and the end times we are living in.”) to find out what the Bible says about how to find salvation and the forgiveness of our sins in and through Christ Jesus.

If you’re tempted to be drawn in by the Latter Rain Cult, if you’re tempted to be alarmed by yet another in a long, long list of goof-balls who have left their families and responsibilities behind so they can sit on a hill and wait for the “imminent” return of Jesus, just think about what this latest Cult is telling you; think about the lie that it’s telling you regarding your salvation.

For a good summary on the false teaching of Harold Camping and Family Radio Dot Com see http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Wolves/harold_camping.htm

If this ridiculous topic interests you, here are some sites that document the hundreds of end of the world scenarios that have been presented to date.

http://www.bible.ca/pre-date-setters.htm
http://www.religioustolerance.org/end_wrl1.htm
http://www.holysmoke.org/hs02/worldend.htm

Doing Religion

Becoming a disciple of Jesus is not “doing this” or “doing that” the right way. Being a disciple of Jesus is giving up doing life my way and beginning to relate in all my doings the way that Jesus would relate if He were doing my life. It is not right behaviours that bring about inner change. It’s an inner transformation which brings about a result, or a side benefit of right behaviours.

Without this dying to self taking place, we wind up too often (outsiders would say always) whereby we have “Sunday Christians.” These people feel and sometimes even act pretty righteous on Sunday. However, they live almost exactly like the rest of the world lives the other six days of the week. And what do these people do on Sunday that makes them feel righteous? Why, they follow traditions. They chant phrases that have always been chanted and do rituals that have always been done and this allows them to go home feeling as though they’ve participated in something special. The inner person might feel pretty good about all this, but the inner person remains essentially unchanged.

In each congregation and in each denomination, down through the ages, times of something special really do happen. Our own congregation was on a roll 10 to 15 years back. Things were properly aligned with the cause of Christ. And then, as always, always, always happens, people forgot WHY things were on a roll. We / they (my wife and I have only been here for four years) forgot that anytime that a Church or a movement of some sort is getting it right, it’s because those involved have submitted themselves to the direction of God. They’ve humbled themselves before Him and followed His convicting, His counsel, His leading.

The things that happen when we forget why things were good would be comical if it wasn’t so tragic.

A group of Christians in submission to Jesus creates a very contagious and attractive atmosphere. The Church itself was born from this atmosphere. The love of others that is so evident draws people to Jesus. It draws people to the group. However, when new people enter the mix they will be of necessity less knowledgeable, less committed, less submitted to their Lord. After all, they’re beginners with a lot of the old nature still clinging to them. The influence of this old nature(s) begins to water things down and what is perceived as a slide begins to happen. Forgetting why things had been going so good, we begin to cling to the vestiges or the behaviours, the cloaks and sounds of the good old days.

Let’s see now. What were we wearing? What were we singing? How was it that we were doing things when we seemed to be operating under God’s blessing? It might be a building that is fondly remembered, or a Pastor, or an order to service. The introduction of new songs is usually the first thing to be blamed for the slide. In our minds we really believe that our very survival hangs on our ability to form a tradition and cling to what once was. I don’t mean to keep harping on them but it’s true that Roman Catholics have mastered this mistake. Tradition and icons and even people - dead people - are worshipped and prayed to as though they were Jesus - our High Priest, Mediator and Saviour. And all the while Jesus is left in the wings, waiting (He will never force Himself on us) to be invited back into the relationship.

We are all prone to this error and it truly is tragic because new Christians and those who aren’t Christians can see the resulting farce for what it is. We are no longer in relationship with Jesus and are instead “doing religion.”

Nothing New

Sceptics make the most of Pastors or other Christians who fall in their walk with Jesus. Failing, of course, is nothing new.

“When Christian believers gather in Churches, everything that can go wrong sooner or later does. Outsiders, on observing this, conclude that there is nothing to the religion business except, perhaps, business - and dishonest business at that.

Insiders see it differently. Just as a hospital collects the sick under one roof and labels them as such, the church collects sinners. Many of the people outside the hospital are every bit as sick as the ones inside, but their illnesses are either undiagnosed or mis diagnosed. It’s similar with sinners outside the church.

So Christian churches are not, as a rule, model communities of good behaviour. They are, rather, places where human misbehaviour is brought out in the open, faced, and dealt with.”

From Eugene Peterson’s introduction to the book of James - The Message.

“I Love The Way It Hurts”

“I Love The Way It Hurts” “I love the way you lie.” Rihanna.

How desperately dysfunctional must WE be, as a society, to celebrate, glorify and esteem someone who is that broken in soul and in mind that she really does love (she'll return again and again and again) the kind of relationships where lying and hurting takes place?

Incoherent dreams.

Dead end illusions of what it means to have a good life.

Distorted images of self-destructive habits pushed off on the ignorant who long to be like their idols - their literal idols.

Shows like Springer and Maury actually draw viewers - the fact that they can find even one person who wants to be part of the audience is tragic - to find a whole studio filled with young adults hooting and howling with laughter at the worst sins our species has to offer just breaks my heart. Fifty years ago this kind of crap would have been clearly identified as evil and destructive to self and to society. Now, under the moral guidance of those who deny the existence of their Creator, people just aren't sure anymore.

So lost are these morally bankrupt individuals that they have given up any hope of discovering truth or any pursuit of goodness - save that of their own definition. Unfulfilled desires and destructive serial relationships are the norm for a greater and greater percentage of our population. These attitudes are even starting to infect the Church.

A Pastor runs the risk of having parishioners leave the Church if he should call attention to their living together or divorce and remarriage. These people fully expect good to happen to them even in the absence of obedience to what God says is right and healthy. They somehow don’t know that good outcomes cannot come from wrong actions.

This type of incoherence used to be the sole domain of the secular pagan world. Sadly, it has come inside to where sinners no longer approach Jesus for forgiveness. Instead, sinners approach Jesus, expecting Him to bless their sins.

Somehow these people have never understood or somehow forgotten that Jesus’ yoke is light and easy. Obeying Jesus is not an onerous task. Jesus will never bring you to a point where you have to enjoy relational pain, or accept rejection and lies as normal.