In the past few weeks, I have remarked, "What are we still doing here? How can we NOT be raptured yet? Really? How much worse does it have to get?" These statement questions derive from my frustrations in seeing evil and depravity in the world and not wanting my kids living through the inevitable "worse".
Shame on me.
We are not raptured yet because of God's love and loving patience with the epitome of His creation, people. He desires that none should perish. None. "[God] desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth" (I Timothy 2:4). While the holy and just wrath of God is real, He "takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked" (Ezekiel 18:23). Do I desire the same? or do I hope the wrath of God will fall on people sooner so I may be raptured out of this world and get on with my eternal life with Him? I look forward to the rapture of the Church, but my motivations sometimes overlook the lost that will endure never-ending hell.
Shame on me.
My patience is not God's patience: His patience is ridiculous. And, for that, I am grateful and humbled.
He was ridiculously patient when the world was so evil, He could only find one righteous man. Yet, God waited to pour out his judgment via worldwide flood so those wicked people would have a chance to repent. His mercy steadied His hand of wrath for 120 years (depending upon your interpretation).
Read the accounts of Ahab, king of Israel, in I Kings. Married to the most notoriously evil woman Jezebel, his exploits were ludicrous. Time and time again, God showed Ahab signs and wonders (including through Elijah and the spectacle on Mount Carmel), spared his life and offered a fresh start. As you are reading, you want to take the guy out yourself-- he's pathetic (aren't we all without Christ). Not God. No, he loved Ahab so much that rejections came and the Lord still tried to show his love, power and mercy to the king. God's "enough is enough" is much more than what I think is "enough".
The Bible records God's ridiculous patience with His people Israel and the rest of us, the Gentiles he longs to graft into His family tree as adopted heirs.
He has been and continues to be lovingly, longingly patient with me. Why would I not share the same patience and find God's mercy for those He is waiting to embrace as chosen sons and daughters?
Shame on my hypocrisy.
The challenge: figure out for whom is God waiting. A neighbor, friend, family member, co-worker? God's ridiculous patience is waiting for those persons to come to repentance and to the knowledge of truth that He may lavish His love on them eternally. So, if I ever complain about not being raptured yet, please ask me with whom I am sharing the gospel. Ask me to be ridiculously patient that more may be spared on the day of judgment and an eternity in hell.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Coming Soon to a Church Near You: Watch Out.
Google "labyrinth." Google "contemplative prayer." Google "centering prayer." Google "emergent church." Google "Brian Mclaren" (the lead figure in the emergent church). I have spent the last few days doing just that; googling (I assume this is a term that Webster has accepted by now) and finding blogs, articles, and resources on these topics from the proponents' perspective. I have read only one opposing viewpoint article.
Then I read the Bible-- quite the opposing viewpoint. I will let you do the legwork if you want, but the overall scheme I see in the aforementioned practices affiliated with the emergent movement is this: The powerful and exclusive gospel of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has been reduced to a loving God (too loving to crucify his Son on our behalf, by the way) that one can experience in a mind-emptying time of silence and reflection into ourselves and/or opening up to the Holy Spirit spirit world.
To the emergent, what God says is enough is not enough. Flawed, distorted and deceptive in their theology, the practices of the emergent fall into a spirit world we are not meant to experience. They want to eat the forbidden fruit. And many people are unknowingly following them into divination and sorcery, into false teaching. Many people are not discerning that these teachers are false prophets, of whom Jesus said: "Watch out.... They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves" (Mt. 7:15).
Take a look at the most widespread and seemingly most innocent practice as a "for instance". The popular practice of contemplative prayer is rapidly gaining ground and taught to many in the church, especially the youth. The goal of contemplative prayer is to be "a teachable, spiritual process enabling the ordinary person to enter and receive a direct experience of union with God" (http://www.contemplativeprayer.net/). But, in Ephesians 3:16-17 Paul prays "that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." We cannot be more unified with God than we are through faith in Christ. The experience that contemplative prayer brings is for the sake of the emotional high, not to humble ourselves to draw close to God as the Bible instructs over and over again (James 4:5 and I Peter 5:6 to cite a couple).
The following is a how-to guide for contemplative prayer from Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. http://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/methodcp.htm:
The practice of contemplative prayer is superficial in the attempt to give more credence to an experience than to the instructions of the Living God. Not only superficial, but dangerous. Prayingchurch.org (a website of the ELCA) asserts that "Contemplative prayer can develop our relationship with Jesus Christ so that we commune with God beyond words, thoughts, feelings, and actions." An opponent of the practice defines it as "a belief system that uses ancient mystical practices to induce altered states of consciousness (the silence) and is often wrapped in Christian terminology; the premise of contemplative spirituality is pantheistic (God is all) and panentheistic (God is in all). The purpose of contemplative prayer is to enter an Altered State Of Consciousness in order to find one's True Self, thus finding God" (http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/cp.htm). In the case of defining contemplative prayer, it seems that the proponents and opponents agree.
One can only guess what kind of spirits a contemplative prayer opens to in meditation. If the argument is by definition, "finding the true self, thus finding God", what kind of pride and arrogance is that? What difference is there between mystical Christian contemplative prayer, Buddhist nirvana or New Age oneness with the cosmos? I don't see any difference-- it is giving Satan a foothold.
In these and other practices of the emergent church, one's own experience trumps the Bible. The Bible becomes defined by us, interpreted in light of our experience, instead of our lives and experiences defined by the Bible. The leaders brag of their postmodern mindset and pridefully see themselves more enlightened than the rest of us, especially those of us who dare to be the f-word (fundamental, that is).
However, we must remember the Bible clearly declares that “Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) We are to find our comfort and hope in the Scriptures and Bible-based prayer and fellowship with God. This doesn't mean that God cannot or does not use our personal experiences to draw us closer to Himself or to fulfill His will. But the truth in the Scriptures is enough-- there should be no manmade additions or subtractions. God can use our experiences to focus on the written Biblical principles, not give us new revelations. The very idea that we have a revelation that falls out of the realm of Scripture is arrogant, even blasphemous. (a few of the ideas espoused in this paragraph are rooted in http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com)
Then I read the Bible-- quite the opposing viewpoint. I will let you do the legwork if you want, but the overall scheme I see in the aforementioned practices affiliated with the emergent movement is this: The powerful and exclusive gospel of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has been reduced to a loving God (too loving to crucify his Son on our behalf, by the way) that one can experience in a mind-emptying time of silence and reflection into ourselves and/or opening up to the Holy Spirit spirit world.
To the emergent, what God says is enough is not enough. Flawed, distorted and deceptive in their theology, the practices of the emergent fall into a spirit world we are not meant to experience. They want to eat the forbidden fruit. And many people are unknowingly following them into divination and sorcery, into false teaching. Many people are not discerning that these teachers are false prophets, of whom Jesus said: "Watch out.... They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves" (Mt. 7:15).
Take a look at the most widespread and seemingly most innocent practice as a "for instance". The popular practice of contemplative prayer is rapidly gaining ground and taught to many in the church, especially the youth. The goal of contemplative prayer is to be "a teachable, spiritual process enabling the ordinary person to enter and receive a direct experience of union with God" (http://www.contemplativeprayer.net/). But, in Ephesians 3:16-17 Paul prays "that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." We cannot be more unified with God than we are through faith in Christ. The experience that contemplative prayer brings is for the sake of the emotional high, not to humble ourselves to draw close to God as the Bible instructs over and over again (James 4:5 and I Peter 5:6 to cite a couple).
The following is a how-to guide for contemplative prayer from Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. http://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/methodcp.htm:
1. Choose a sacred word as the symbol of your intention to consent to God’s presence and action within.
2. Sitting comfortably and with eyes closed, settle briefly and silently introduce the sacred word as the symbol of your consent to God’s presence and action within.
3. When engaged with your thoughts*, return ever-so gently to the sacred word.
4. At the end of the prayer period, remain in silence with eyes closed for a couple of minutes.
*Thoughts include body sensations, feelings, images, and reflections.”
The practice of contemplative prayer is superficial in the attempt to give more credence to an experience than to the instructions of the Living God. Not only superficial, but dangerous. Prayingchurch.org (a website of the ELCA) asserts that "Contemplative prayer can develop our relationship with Jesus Christ so that we commune with God beyond words, thoughts, feelings, and actions." An opponent of the practice defines it as "a belief system that uses ancient mystical practices to induce altered states of consciousness (the silence) and is often wrapped in Christian terminology; the premise of contemplative spirituality is pantheistic (God is all) and panentheistic (God is in all). The purpose of contemplative prayer is to enter an Altered State Of Consciousness in order to find one's True Self, thus finding God" (http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/cp.htm). In the case of defining contemplative prayer, it seems that the proponents and opponents agree.
One can only guess what kind of spirits a contemplative prayer opens to in meditation. If the argument is by definition, "finding the true self, thus finding God", what kind of pride and arrogance is that? What difference is there between mystical Christian contemplative prayer, Buddhist nirvana or New Age oneness with the cosmos? I don't see any difference-- it is giving Satan a foothold.
In these and other practices of the emergent church, one's own experience trumps the Bible. The Bible becomes defined by us, interpreted in light of our experience, instead of our lives and experiences defined by the Bible. The leaders brag of their postmodern mindset and pridefully see themselves more enlightened than the rest of us, especially those of us who dare to be the f-word (fundamental, that is).
Some of the ideas of the emergent church are enticing. These ideas are wrong. If we feel we have been compromised in some area, we need to get back into the very Word of God. Know it, study it, digest it.
"Follow the pattern of sound words...in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you" (2 Timothy 2:13).
God is waiting to pour out His mercy on us as we humble ourselves before Him, the One True God.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Elijah and the nuts on Mount Carmel
My favorite sundae topping is caramel. When I order a caramel sundae, I am tempted to add nuts as I am reminded of a children's sermon given by Rev. Don Fischer when I was 6 or 7. He told us the story of Elijah and the prophets' of Baal and Asherah showdown on the top of Mount Carmel. After describing the insane ways the false prophets tried to summon their gods, including drawing blood with their own swords while dancing, Pastor Fischer then told of the Living God's response to Elijah's plea: He showed up with a consuming fire and won the contest hands-down. My pastor then asked to remember this story the next and every time we had a caramel sundae with nuts on it: "Remember the nuts on Mount Car[a]mel." I have not forgotten, pastor, I think of it every time.
My daughter was eating a caramel sundae last week and I was able to pass the reminder along. As I read in I Kings 18, I was most struck by Elijah's prayer to God to send the fire:
O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God and that you are turning their hearts back again. I Kings 18:36-37
That my every day would be that prayer. I would live in abundant faith and determined hope. I would witness the lost found all around me. I would experience the power of God to change lives, even my own.
Oh LORD God the Father, Jesus my Redeemer and indwelling Spirit, let it be known in my day that you are God and I am your servant. This is a focus on His glory; that He is first and I am to be a humble last. My very reason to live in this day is to proclaim that God is LORD of all. That needs to be my very reason for serving my God.
I long for my life, I desire my days to be so full of integrity that I can assert that I have done all in my day at His command. What a challenge! Not even an attainable one on my own but that cannot be my excuse to cover myself with Christ and let Him do the work through me, a willing vessel.
Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God and that you are turning their hearts back again. A heart cry for the lost should be motivating me more than what currently motivates me. Can a nation be saved? Can OUR nation be saved?
Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, THEY FELL PROSTRATE AND CRIED, "THE LORD-- HE IS GOD! THE LORD-- HE IS GOD!"
The Lord, He is God. May this be our motivation, our integrity, our reason.
And the next time you order a caramel sundae, spend the extra and add the nuts. Share with others the story of Elijah and the nuts on Mount Carmel.
My daughter was eating a caramel sundae last week and I was able to pass the reminder along. As I read in I Kings 18, I was most struck by Elijah's prayer to God to send the fire:
O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God and that you are turning their hearts back again. I Kings 18:36-37
That my every day would be that prayer. I would live in abundant faith and determined hope. I would witness the lost found all around me. I would experience the power of God to change lives, even my own.
Oh LORD God the Father, Jesus my Redeemer and indwelling Spirit, let it be known in my day that you are God and I am your servant. This is a focus on His glory; that He is first and I am to be a humble last. My very reason to live in this day is to proclaim that God is LORD of all. That needs to be my very reason for serving my God.
I long for my life, I desire my days to be so full of integrity that I can assert that I have done all in my day at His command. What a challenge! Not even an attainable one on my own but that cannot be my excuse to cover myself with Christ and let Him do the work through me, a willing vessel.
Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God and that you are turning their hearts back again. A heart cry for the lost should be motivating me more than what currently motivates me. Can a nation be saved? Can OUR nation be saved?
Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, THEY FELL PROSTRATE AND CRIED, "THE LORD-- HE IS GOD! THE LORD-- HE IS GOD!"
The Lord, He is God. May this be our motivation, our integrity, our reason.
And the next time you order a caramel sundae, spend the extra and add the nuts. Share with others the story of Elijah and the nuts on Mount Carmel.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
The Heart of Stone
Lord, now indeed I find
Thy pow’r, and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots
And melt the heart of stone.
-- Alvina Hall, "Jesus Paid it All"
For the few days before we sang this in church, God was working on my own heart regarding the lost of today. I have found myself believing that most people are too far gone and their hearts are too hard to turn back to the Living God. This thinking is of the devil and not of God. I came to the realization that it wasn't lost people that I was minimizing-- I was reducing God! Who I am to think that God cannot reach the hardest heart, the heart of stone?
Indeed, He reached mine. There was a significant time in my life in which I could actually feel my heart harden, layer upon layer. I remember consciously thinking, "I have become numb. I used to cry at [this or that]." This fact scared me at some level. Yet, I didn't care on every other level. I was hurt and apparently wanted to stay hurt. Hurt hardens hearts. Sin hardens hearts.
So I bowed my head in conviction as we sang the aforementioned verse of "Jesus Paid it All." Melt MY heart of stone God; melt those of my neighbors, friends, family for You. Then I read Ezekiel 36.26:
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will REMOVE from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
This verse in the Bible went far beyond the verse of the hymn. My heart and my spirit was a sinner's heart and spirit. God couldn't melt my heart of stone and make it good. He had to remove the corrupt heart and place a new heart of flesh in me and a new spirit.
"Jesus Paid it All" is one of my favorite hymns but I may alter the words a bit next time I sing it:
I pray for heart replacements for the lost that need to be found. I pray, along with David, that God would "create in me a clean heart."
Thy pow’r, and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots
And melt the heart of stone.
-- Alvina Hall, "Jesus Paid it All"
For the few days before we sang this in church, God was working on my own heart regarding the lost of today. I have found myself believing that most people are too far gone and their hearts are too hard to turn back to the Living God. This thinking is of the devil and not of God. I came to the realization that it wasn't lost people that I was minimizing-- I was reducing God! Who I am to think that God cannot reach the hardest heart, the heart of stone?
Indeed, He reached mine. There was a significant time in my life in which I could actually feel my heart harden, layer upon layer. I remember consciously thinking, "I have become numb. I used to cry at [this or that]." This fact scared me at some level. Yet, I didn't care on every other level. I was hurt and apparently wanted to stay hurt. Hurt hardens hearts. Sin hardens hearts.
So I bowed my head in conviction as we sang the aforementioned verse of "Jesus Paid it All." Melt MY heart of stone God; melt those of my neighbors, friends, family for You. Then I read Ezekiel 36.26:
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will REMOVE from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
This verse in the Bible went far beyond the verse of the hymn. My heart and my spirit was a sinner's heart and spirit. God couldn't melt my heart of stone and make it good. He had to remove the corrupt heart and place a new heart of flesh in me and a new spirit.
"Jesus Paid it All" is one of my favorite hymns but I may alter the words a bit next time I sing it:
Lord, now indeed I find
Thy pow’r, and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots
And REPLACE the heart of stone.
Thy pow’r, and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots
And REPLACE the heart of stone.
I pray for heart replacements for the lost that need to be found. I pray, along with David, that God would "create in me a clean heart."
Saturday, October 10, 2009
The Shadow of Mordor
This week I have felt a bit like Frodo Baggins. Carrying a heavy load, I have felt and seen the dark, hovering clouds of Mordor move ever closer. But this is no movie. It's very real. The analogous world of Middle Earth is reality in our time. I need not spell out the analogy except to say that "we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 6:12 NLT).
Fear began setting into my soul this week. Not fear for myself but for my children. H1N1; wars, rumors of wars and impending wars; nukes; Iran; Afghanistan; Pakistan; North Korea; violent crime; sexual predators; internet slime. And the shadow is moving and darkening. This fear began to choke me. I was even fighting back tears feeling the weight of the shadow while grocery shopping at Cub.
As I was praying through my fear earlier in the week, God brought a phrase to mind: He who dwells in the shelter of the Almighty.... I couldn't remember the rest of the verse. A few days passed and I finally looked it up-- Psalm 91.
Fear began setting into my soul this week. Not fear for myself but for my children. H1N1; wars, rumors of wars and impending wars; nukes; Iran; Afghanistan; Pakistan; North Korea; violent crime; sexual predators; internet slime. And the shadow is moving and darkening. This fear began to choke me. I was even fighting back tears feeling the weight of the shadow while grocery shopping at Cub.
As I was praying through my fear earlier in the week, God brought a phrase to mind: He who dwells in the shelter of the Almighty.... I couldn't remember the rest of the verse. A few days passed and I finally looked it up-- Psalm 91.
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I will say to the Lord, My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust. | |
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| He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. | |
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| nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. | |
| A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand,but it will not come near you. | |
| You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. | |
Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place the Most High, who is my refuge | |
| no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent. | |
| For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. | |
| On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. | |
| You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot. | |
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Friday, October 2, 2009
Fear & Love
How can you believe in a God who is full of wrath? How can you believe in a God that would send people to hell? How can you believe in a God that allows bad things to happen (especially to "good" people)?
The answer: I don't have a choice.
God is God. Being God, He does not need to defend himself. By definition, God is Perfect: He established perfection. God is Truth: He established truth. Although He wants us to know him, whether we do or do not know him does not change who He is-- our relationship to Him does not change truth.
I, and so many others, have cherry-picked the Bible to define our God. Because we can point to Scripture to back our assertions, we believe we are worshiping Yahweh. The modern western church has also succumbed to making God in the church's image instead of the other way around. Individually and corporately, we like to pull out the "nice-ities" of God and gloss over the wrath-- the fire and brimstone of old.
So, I have started over. I have been reading the Bible, Old and New Testaments, and trying to understand God on His terms. And God is getter bigger and bigger for me and I know I am barely grasping His coattails. Ironically, the more I am understanding God's justice and righteousness and what the fear of God means for me personally (and, oh, do I fear Him and His wrath), the more I understand that God is love. the more I understand the cross.
Without Christ's blood shed for me and my acceptance of His atoning work of the cross, I am an enemy of God. God, being perfectly just and righteous, has no choice but to deal with me justly or He is no longer God. A just sentence is physical death and an eternity of separation in the fires of hell. "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell (Matthew 10:28).
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 1:7). Fearing and knowing the curse I am under in my natural, sinful self is horrifying. "It is a fearful thing to fall in to the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31). "BUT God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were yet sinners, Christ died FOR us" (Romans 5:8; capitalization added). I cannot fathom the Love that took on God's wrath for me.
The answer: I don't have a choice.
God is God. Being God, He does not need to defend himself. By definition, God is Perfect: He established perfection. God is Truth: He established truth. Although He wants us to know him, whether we do or do not know him does not change who He is-- our relationship to Him does not change truth.
I, and so many others, have cherry-picked the Bible to define our God. Because we can point to Scripture to back our assertions, we believe we are worshiping Yahweh. The modern western church has also succumbed to making God in the church's image instead of the other way around. Individually and corporately, we like to pull out the "nice-ities" of God and gloss over the wrath-- the fire and brimstone of old.
So, I have started over. I have been reading the Bible, Old and New Testaments, and trying to understand God on His terms. And God is getter bigger and bigger for me and I know I am barely grasping His coattails. Ironically, the more I am understanding God's justice and righteousness and what the fear of God means for me personally (and, oh, do I fear Him and His wrath), the more I understand that God is love. the more I understand the cross.
Without Christ's blood shed for me and my acceptance of His atoning work of the cross, I am an enemy of God. God, being perfectly just and righteous, has no choice but to deal with me justly or He is no longer God. A just sentence is physical death and an eternity of separation in the fires of hell. "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell (Matthew 10:28).
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 1:7). Fearing and knowing the curse I am under in my natural, sinful self is horrifying. "It is a fearful thing to fall in to the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31). "BUT God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were yet sinners, Christ died FOR us" (Romans 5:8; capitalization added). I cannot fathom the Love that took on God's wrath for me.
Surely [Jesus] has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows...he was wounded for OUR transgressions; he was crushed for OUR iniquities...all we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned--every one-- to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all...it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief... Isaiah 53: 4, 5, 6, 10.
I have seen God accused of awful things regarding the death of His one and only Son, Jesus Christ. But it was the God of Love and God the Justifier-- Father, Son and Spirit-- that justified even me. There is no greater love: it is simply incomparable.
The fear of the Lord that comes from knowing Him on His terms brings wisdom. The wisdom to know and to understand "how great is the love the Father has lavished on us; that we should be called children of God. For, indeed, that is what we are" (1 John 3:1). The fear of God is something different now that I confess Christ, but the healthy fear makes me love my Savior even more.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
"Thank God for Sex"
Catchy, isn't it? "Thank God for Sex" is the title of a new sermon series at a nearby church-- I got the flyer in my mailbox. Via the flyer, Mike L. reports: "Every Sunday I leave feeling inspired!" Well, who wouldn't? It's no trick to inspire a man to go have sex. Plus, this church of convenience has "loud music, short services, casual atmosphere". I am ready for their drive-thru menu next: will they have a value menu? super sizing?
"Our services are friendly and high-energy with loud music and dynamic multimedia. We laugh a lot, and the messages are always applicable to everyday life. You'll find people here who are friendly but not manic, spiritual but not obnoxious, people who don't take themselves too seriously, but want to make the most out of life."
I am not trying to pick on this particular church. I think it is just indicative of a larger problem; indicative of the attitude of many who call themselves Christians in America today.
"We laugh a lot and the messages are always applicable to everyday life"
Thanks, but I could sit on my couch in my more-comfy-than-casual-attire pajamas, turn on the TV and get the same.
"You'll find people here who are friendly but not manic..."
Well, that's good. Guess I can't fault them there. I don't necessarily want to go to church with maniacs, either.
"...spiritual but not obnoxious..."
Which definition of "spiritual" are they talking about? Most people would consider themselves "spiritual"; many of the same are going to hell. Most people find the claim of Christ to be "the Way, the Truth and the Life" and "no one comes to the Father but through [Him]" as very obnoxious. And not only obnoxious, but offensive.
"...people who don't take themselves too seriously, but want to make the most out of life."
I take my sin very seriously. My sin is my death penalty and there is no escaping it except that Christ took my sin upon Himself, becoming the curse, to be crushed by God the Father. I do not make light of Jesus' sacrifice and what He did for me by saving me from the wrath of God. I take it seriously. My life is not about "making the most of" unless it is lined up with God's will and purpose. Friendship with the world makes us enemies of God (read James 4). And that puts the fear of God in me.
God has not called us to be "PC" and cute: He has called us to be pure, holy and sanctified. This flyer makes me weep for the lost who think they are "saved". For the sake of modern-day acceptance, for politically-correct tolerance, this social club is possibly compromising people to hell. Godly love takes Godly fear. God loves these people and desires them to know Him on His terms--not ours--that they may be saved from His wrath and rewarded with eternity with God in heaven.
(Now that I have spewed off at the keyboard, maybe it is misdirected. I don't really know what kind of church this is: there is no mention of Jesus, or even the Judeo-Christian God.)
"Our services are friendly and high-energy with loud music and dynamic multimedia. We laugh a lot, and the messages are always applicable to everyday life. You'll find people here who are friendly but not manic, spiritual but not obnoxious, people who don't take themselves too seriously, but want to make the most out of life."
I am not trying to pick on this particular church. I think it is just indicative of a larger problem; indicative of the attitude of many who call themselves Christians in America today.
"We laugh a lot and the messages are always applicable to everyday life"
Thanks, but I could sit on my couch in my more-comfy-than-casual-attire pajamas, turn on the TV and get the same.
"You'll find people here who are friendly but not manic..."
Well, that's good. Guess I can't fault them there. I don't necessarily want to go to church with maniacs, either.
"...spiritual but not obnoxious..."
Which definition of "spiritual" are they talking about? Most people would consider themselves "spiritual"; many of the same are going to hell. Most people find the claim of Christ to be "the Way, the Truth and the Life" and "no one comes to the Father but through [Him]" as very obnoxious. And not only obnoxious, but offensive.
"...people who don't take themselves too seriously, but want to make the most out of life."
I take my sin very seriously. My sin is my death penalty and there is no escaping it except that Christ took my sin upon Himself, becoming the curse, to be crushed by God the Father. I do not make light of Jesus' sacrifice and what He did for me by saving me from the wrath of God. I take it seriously. My life is not about "making the most of" unless it is lined up with God's will and purpose. Friendship with the world makes us enemies of God (read James 4). And that puts the fear of God in me.
God has not called us to be "PC" and cute: He has called us to be pure, holy and sanctified. This flyer makes me weep for the lost who think they are "saved". For the sake of modern-day acceptance, for politically-correct tolerance, this social club is possibly compromising people to hell. Godly love takes Godly fear. God loves these people and desires them to know Him on His terms--not ours--that they may be saved from His wrath and rewarded with eternity with God in heaven.
(Now that I have spewed off at the keyboard, maybe it is misdirected. I don't really know what kind of church this is: there is no mention of Jesus, or even the Judeo-Christian God.)
Friday, August 28, 2009
I'd Rather Have Jesus
The campfire sputtering, the chill setting in and we were talking about the return of Christ. "I don't understand how some Christians want the rapture delayed so they can do more things" (a poor paraphrase). Tim and I have talked of this very thing before. And I don't understand it. Who can compare to our God? So what on this earth could ever compare to our meeting Jesus face to face? If I think of the reality of Jesus' soon coming for too long, my mind literally starts to blow. To see Jesus, oh, to see Jesus!
I am not sure how people would choose the things of this world over seeing Jesus. My life is blessed beyond measure and, by all standards, it is good. I have a loving hero of a husband, three beautiful daughters and many of my needs--even many wants-- are met in abundance. But I am chained by my own sin, my body is rebelling and my mind is usually wandering. I don't like raising my girls in a world where I have to explain to them that nobody should touch you there, don't get into a car, and some kids live with a daddy sometimes and mommy on the weekends. Freedom is being swept from underneath us, evil lurks and we are all one breath away from death.
I'd rather have Jesus.
I'd rather have Jesus than all the love and adoration my husband can possibly give me.
I'd rather have Jesus than seeing my girl go to her first day of school, on her first date, or down the graduation and wedding aisles.
I'd rather have Jesus than my house. my car. my clothes. my reputation. my youth.
I'd rather have Jesus than a utopian society.
I'd rather have Jesus than this life.
I'd rather have Jesus.
I am not sure how people would choose the things of this world over seeing Jesus. My life is blessed beyond measure and, by all standards, it is good. I have a loving hero of a husband, three beautiful daughters and many of my needs--even many wants-- are met in abundance. But I am chained by my own sin, my body is rebelling and my mind is usually wandering. I don't like raising my girls in a world where I have to explain to them that nobody should touch you there, don't get into a car, and some kids live with a daddy sometimes and mommy on the weekends. Freedom is being swept from underneath us, evil lurks and we are all one breath away from death.
I'd rather have Jesus.
I'd rather have Jesus than all the love and adoration my husband can possibly give me.
I'd rather have Jesus than seeing my girl go to her first day of school, on her first date, or down the graduation and wedding aisles.
I'd rather have Jesus than my house. my car. my clothes. my reputation. my youth.
I'd rather have Jesus than a utopian society.
I'd rather have Jesus than this life.
I'd rather have Jesus.
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