Anyone who follows this blog or any of the previous ones, understand that I don’t pick on Rick Warren. For the most part he seems to be nice guy who I differ with on some issues, but mostly on ecclesiology. I don’t think he is a false teacher/prophet. I think he understands and articulates the Gospel from a historic perspective, so for that he is my brother.

However, ecclesiology effects the way we as believers minister to one another and how we worship God. So for me ecclesiology plays a huge part in the believers life. With that said I will insert a link.

The Saddle Back One Card

Listen to the purpose of the Card and let me know what you think. I believe this is the epitome of Corporation style churches that plague the body of Christ today and instead of having genuine relationships with you and having to do life with you my shepherding of you is reduced to a card you swipe. Good technology? I think not.  Not to mention the card also is a “time, talent, treasure” monitor that can show your leadership and you how faithful you are to the corporation church!

Anyway listen to it let me know what you think.

Why is my marriage always better on Sunday?

Why are my kids the greatest on Sunday?

Why do I like everybody in my church on Sunday?

Why am I so excited about Jesus on Sunday?

How come I always find my bible on Sunday?

Why do I like the worship music on Sunday?

Why don’t I have a problem with the preaching on Sunday?

Why do I love “church” on Sunday?

Why is the job going fine on Sunday?

Why do I care about the poor on Sunday?

Why do I like giving on Sunday?

Why are missions so important on Sunday?

Why can I remember so many verses on Sunday?

Why isn’t race a problem on Sunday?

Why do I hug so many people on Sunday?

Why don’t I have a problem with her dress on Sunday?

Why come that tattoo isn’t a big deal on Sunday?

Why don’t I gossip on Sunday?

Why does my anger problems cease on Sunday?

Why don’t I struggle with sin on Sunday?

Why am I so nice on Sunday?

Why is the bible so important on Sunday?

Why is everybody a brother and sister on Sunday?

Why do I wave at my neighbor on Sunday?

Why do I love my wife soooo much on Sunday?

Why isn’t that joke funny on Sunday?

Why do I smile so much on Sunday?

Why come I am never scared on Sunday?

Why is serving people so easy on Sunday?

I tell you for some reason Sunday is always the best day of the week! How about you?

To anyone who resides in the Dallas Metroplex. A few of us are going to go downtown on December the 21st (Jesus healed on the sabbath ) and hand out coats and shoes and fresh fruit and anything else you want to bring.

If you are interested you can post a reply here with your number or just email me at lionelwoods@hotmail.com . If you can’t join but want to help, you can also mail a check. I will be purchasing shoes and coats from  Steven and Barry’s  a discount reatailer who is going out of business.  They carry a very dependable shoe and their coats, sweaters and other clothes are well worth the price.

I don’t know if we will do much of any evangelism, other than to tell them that Jesus loves them and we want to extend that love to them. Most of these people have been evangelized quite a bit, we just want to give them something no strings attached.

I think we will meet downtown around 3:30 and spend a couple of hours down there. Hopefully we can get some good fellowship in with some folks I have blogged with and talked with but haven’t met face to face (hint, hint). This isn’t an attempt to take care of every homeless person but somebody once said “I know I can’t save every starfish but I can save this one” and he tosses it back into the ocean. If one person feels the love of Christ, God is glorified and they can have good smelling shoes, some fresh fruit and warm coats.

Again don’t feel obligated to bring a lot, if it is one pair of shoes? Or even a used coat, praised God, I am sure it is better than the one they have on. And the world needs to see us uniting to provide for the marginalized more than they need to see us standing for Proposition 8 and boycotting the Da Vinci Code or debating with Bill Maher. I would rather be know for what I do stand for than defined by what I don’t (Dhati Lewis quote).

Finally one of our sponsers will be:

Oak Cliff Coffee - owned by the great Shannon Neffendorf and his lovely wife Jennie Mae Neffendorf. If you buy fair trade coffee, look no further than Oak Cliff Coffee  self roasted and packaged.

There used to be something I believed quite strongly in. That is if you just learned enough bible, you know enough verses things would get better. And the reason people couldn’t stay strong is because they didn’t have enough bible in them. So if someone had a problem hook them up to the bible IV, sooner or later they would get better, or there was something wrong with them. Why? Because the bible is the answer to all of our questions and life difficulties right?

Just apply the specific proof text to your problems three times a day and call me in the morning. Got marriage problems? Read the bible! Children experimenting with drugs (first the church may be so judgmental that you won’t have to worry about them talking to you) apply the bible. Anxiety due to the economy and you don’t have enough money saved to weather the storm? Read the bible! Molested as a child? Read the Bible! Lost your spouse and children in a wreck? Come on! Read your bible! Want to know the answers to everything in the world? Read your bible!

But what happens Community of Grace when it doesn’t work? When my husband or wife is having an affair? When my boss mistreats me and the anxiety wakes me up at 3:00 Sunday morning. When my kid overdoses? When my spouse commits suicide and we don’t have life insurance? When the chemo and the operation didn’t heal the cancer of my 3 year old? When I am told by the doctor that he can’t find whats wrong and my health insurance runs out. When my wife can’t get pregnant, or she loses 3 kids and now she has depression and don’t want to see me, touch me or even hear my voice? What happens when I don’t want to read the bible, my prayers are as heavy as armored truck, when the ceiling is closing in the walls are getting getting closer, the end seems to be as far away as the sun? When Jesus feels like an abstract thought, sort of like the Tooth Fairy or Frost the Snowman?

For the most part I don’t think we know what to do. We have become so accustomed to prescribing the bible that we don’t know how to allow people to be messed up. We got to fix it. We have to give them an answer. Forget weeping when they weep, or rejoicing when they rejoice. Forget bearing one anothers burdens. Why because that takes relationship, time,  grace. We have to allow people to question God in a way that shakes our faith at its core, and for most of us that is to scary. That is too risky. We have to allow people to cry on us until we are soaked in their tears, that our hearts ache, until we are torn as they our torn.

Sometimes we just need to shut up and listen. Sometimes we need to put the kids to bed, turn on the coffee pot (or open a couple of beers, or like me a little “wine for my stomach”) and prepare for a long night. But we don’t have time, nor the patience,  nor the endurance to bear others burdens. I also don’t think we have the compassion nor the mercy. It is much easier to fix it, give them a bible verse and it all just goes away, depression and emotional illness, and homosexual struggles, and infidelity and lose of young loved ones are not easy fixes and I know many people today who say “the church left me hanging in my time of need” and they want nothing to do with it/us.

Here is my appeal Christian, and to all of the people that I gave some neat verse in your time of need I am soooo sorry, be a shoulder, or an ear, open your home and get the tissues ready. Tell the spouse you are going to be up late at Denny’s, tell the boss you will be in a little late. In other words stop trying to do the easy fix method, the patch work of quoting verses. Listen, have compassion, lay down your life, I know you have to go to work and the kids have you up late, and the game is coming on, but I remember Paul saying “don’t look out for your own interests only”. Lets start being a community of grace and that just doesn’t mean forgiveness but also extended one’s life for the benefit of others.

There is an argument that goes something like this:

There are two reasons why this kind of speaking in the church is so crucial. One is that the subject matter is infinitely important. There is no other organization on earth that deals in matters of eternal life and eternal death—matters about God and his Son and his Spirit, matters about salvation and judgment, matters about the life that pleases God or displeases him. In other words, no other group of people, besides the church, gathers regularly to deal in such tremendously important realities. This means that there is a form of speech that is fitting as part of that gathering that fits the greatness of that truth—namely, preaching. So the first reason for preaching is that the nature of the truth calls for something more than mere explanation or discussion or conversation.

Today I want to tell you that I am not convinced of such a method and I will give you 3 reasons why.

1. Though many like to make the argument otherwise, the fact is that when we see preaching in the bible we have taken what we now do, and what the Reformers esteemed and have read it back into the text. As I read the Epistles the word or some form of the verb didaskō  is used much more frequently than the word  kēryssō and Timothy is told only once as far as I can tell to “preach” and to add to that kerysso is used the majority of time with proclaiming the Gospel and that 90% of the time to the lost. Thus we see the command to teach in the local fellowship.

The problem lies in this question. Is teaching to be a proclamation style (pulpit ministry) or a more sit down or conversation or dialogue of some type? I think the latter. Given the local of where the church met. When Paul went into the public he preached, when he was with the Church meeting in homes he taught. It is funny that Paul never ever gives the qualification of elders to “preach” (proclamation)  but they should be able to teach (instruct). So my first reason is that it makes no sense from a biblical perspective to “preach” expositorly, though you should always “teach” expositorily. This means that the grammar, original audience, historical context and all should be carefully considered before we say what a specific passage means.

2. The next two reasons are a bit more pragmatic. The number two reason is that interactive teaching is always the best method of teaching especially new information. Being able to ask questions, get clarification, and even engage critically seems to be the way people learn best. How do I know if you are learning the information? Because I am so good at delivering it? This seems to be the position of many who preach in such a way. What it sounds like to me is that they are saying “hey I did a good job expositing the text, now apply it to your life”. There seems to be a huge disconnect. The first being how do you know I understand, the second being  do you care if I disagree.

I am not promoting an arguement but a chance to engage the speaker. And if the speaker is preaching publicly he should answer publicly. If everybody already knows and don’t need clarification then maybe we should be teaching something different. For the life of me I can’t figure out why this happens. There are only two reasons. 1. A speaker is overconfident in his skillset or 2. A speaker is overconfident in his method. I guess a third option is that the speaker doesn’t care if you get it or not, they are going to deliver it.

However, when those listening to the message have a chance to ask questions and get points of clarification it can be quite rewarding. Everyone that I know, that has such opportunities are always excited that they are given opportunities to learn more and clear up any confusion that they have had. It is funny that when the person who is learning “expository” preaching is in school and at conferences they have questions and can interact with the professors and even be critiqued by classmates and professors but come to church and shut the very opportunity they had off to others. As one of my sons cartoons say “this is quite mysterious”.

3. The final reason is that people come because they want to learn and even share what they are learning. Not to mention sharing in the local congregation should be more than greeting at the door or helping people find places to park or giving, or ushering, or stacking chairs and operating the powerpoint or sound booth. Why do we encourage people to participate in the cosmetics of the gathering but not the purpose of it. If the purpose is the ministry of the word and we have built up such anticipation for it, shouldn’t we want people to participate in the most important part of “church”? But it seems that we eagerly and dogmatically exclude people from it! You can do everything else except participate in the word. For the life of me I can’t figure out why.

However, what greater way to know as a “pastor” what people are learning? If you allow them to share in the teaching and ministry of the word, you can find out quite quickly if they are really learing  how to faithfully handle the word. You can see if they are applying a proper interpretive method right? Not only that since “preaching” contains both the information and the application,  what better way to know if the word is being applied than allowing people to share what the word is doing in their lives and how it is transforming them to the image of Christ through the work of the Spirit. Something like Philippians 2, when Paul is saying have the mind of Christ which has all to do with self-sacrifice and being others-focused, wouldn’t it be sweet for someone to stand up and tell the family of God how the Spirit applied it to their heart? But nope, “pastors” have spent the last week preparing for the grand show, the great solo that follows the rest of the theatrics. We might as well start a drum roll when pastors walk onto the stage I can hear it now “coming to the stage….”, then the big blue spotlight comes on while the rest of the place dims!

I close with an appeal. I know we have been taught by many great theologians that the word is the center of the meeting. That if we don’t preach expositorly the church will fail to worship God and start to dive into liberalism. I know the pulpit has a high place (almost idolatry) in the church today and the reason why people don’t want expository sermons is because they are weak, or don’t want to be changed by the word or some other foolish statement that comes.  But that is a lie. I know many brothers and sisters who have been doing this for years and they have a community like no other who are image bearers of Christ and have deep love for God and His word.  Finally teaching is one of the functions of elders, never preaching. You can’t find one place in scripture where “preaching” was the primary reason for the church to gather. All types of teaching occurred however, through song (Col 3) through prayers (Ephesians) through the public reading of the word (Timothy) and so forth. The Greatest Show On Earth method of “expository preaching” doesn’t really make the cut, when I study the scriptures, especially the epistles, there are many proof texts with all type of traditional meanings read into them coming out of Timothy (and Timothy only) but again it fails to stand under the light of scrutiny.

Over the course of blogging I have figured out some things. Mostly this is for myself so as you read it I want you to see this. I want to start out with the words of Jesus:

37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

This is to define my life and regardless of how well my ecclesiology, discipleship, evangelism, doctrine and morality are, they are worthless apart from Jesus’ commands. So my question to myself is this: Is my learning and wrestling and fighting and blogging and reading and churching and evangelism leading me towards obeying these commands?

The nature of God is found in Christ and the nature of Christ is found in these verses. He pointed to Himself on the road to Emmaus which was the fact that all scripture was pointing to Him both in Moses and the prophets. He then says in the verses above that “all the law and prophets depend on loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself”.

Here is where I want to go. I believe there are many ways to do church, I think most doctrines are parts of the sum of truth. In other words the way we meet and some of the things we believe may be less relevant than we make it. Should these things be debated? Sure! However, if these things don’t cause us to love God and love others the way Jesus commands us what we do and what we believe is of no benefit to the Kingdom whatsoever.

Let me try this. Rather you go to a traditional church or an organic church, rather you meet in a house or a building, rather you believe in Elder Ruled or a more Participatory governance structure, rather you believe in Covenant Theology or New Covenant Theology, rather you belive Homeschooling or Public schooling is the best way to educate your children rather you believe in the Rapture or like me an Amill fella. Rather you are egalitarian or complemetarian, rather you are a Calvinist or Arminian or avoid labels altogether, rather you like the one man pulpit preaching style or an all church inclusive, rather you believe in infant or credo baptisms, rather you like theological terms or despise them, rather you do street preaching or have your neighbors over for dinner as an evangelism tool, rather you are Reformed Baptist or Anglican, rather you feel being missional is sending missionaries or cutting someone’s grass, rather you think Senior Pastors is part of the fall or a lack of identifiable church government is sin and finally rather write books, blog, or both, let me say this. If vertical and horizontal love isn’t your undying passion what you are doing amounts to nothing in relation to Kingdom Value, regardless of the perceived success or failure that come by doing things or believing things.

I have come to the conclusion that most people that I know or at least most people that comment on this blog and I comment on theirs, or we have talked on the phone, or have met them for coffee, or have debated them online, or I have visited their church or read their books or listened to their sermons, have Christ as their up-most prize. Do I agree with them? Not most. But in the short time of doing what I do, I believe there motives to be of the purest. Rather that is fighting for theological truth, exposing error, wrestling with the “right” way to do ecclesiology, rather that is fighting for or against women in the pulpit, rather that is throwing a jab at Calvinist or Arminians, rather that is trying to institute church discipline, having people sign covenants, building mega churches or renting out buildings. Rather that is being on stage with people that a lot of Christians like or dislike and even if that is writing books that could be perceived as too soft or too hard. Most of these individuals are doing their best to love God and love (wo)man!

I have theological distincitives and ecclesiological distinctives and eschatological distinictives and a certain system of theology, and I read my bible a certain way (http://www.beginningwithmoses.org/) . I believe we should only baptize disciples, I am wrestling through how we should meet. I believe in Election/Predestination, I also am wrestling through 1 Timothy 2 (I like Gordan Fee’s and Jon Zens argument), I like both teaching styles, and some of my favorite preachers are Presbyterians of the PCUSA persuasion for some reason (especially Dale Ralph Davis) though I uphold New Covenant Theology. I am sort of a Complemetarian in practice (again I like Zen’s and Fee’s argument) though I really like Kathy Escobar’s blog and spirit . I happen to be a member of a church called Lifeline Bible Church  which is a Dispensational Church (which I am radically opposed to) funded by a Church where one of the greatest men I have ever met preaches expositorily week after week! I am mixed bag to be short!

At the end of the day though. I love Jesus. I mess up sometimes. I flip flop a lot. My hearts desire is to see people come to know the freedom that comes in Christ. Sometimes I live a self-preserved life, when I know I should give more of myself. Sometimes I engage in arguments that I wished I never even touched, sometimes I say things that hurt people, sometimes I care more about ideology and abstract ideas than I do individuals, sometimes I sin, sometimes I read my bible and serve people and work hard and give a bunch and sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I read the bible and wonder if I am really picking up my cross. Sometimes I look and see am I storing up treasure that I don’t want to part with. Sometimes I write posts for the sake of getting people feathers a bit roughed up and sometimes to express my heart. Sometimes I am selfless husband and sometimes I am not. Some days I do real good as a parent and sometimes I don’t, sometimes I am selfish, self-centered and other days I am sacrificial, somedays I wish I can go and be with the Lord and other days I don’t want Jesus to come back for a million years, somedays I read Philippians 3 and I nod with eager and vigorous agreement and other times I don’t!

At the end of the day what I can say with full assurance is that Jesus born of a virgin, living a sinless life, went to the cross for me and paid the penalty that I should have paid and would have been 100 gazillion dollars short! I have tasted the grace of the Lord Jesus and know it to be real. I have experienced a full work of the Spirit in my life and understand the joy of being seated with Him at the right hand of the Father. I can say I do desire to love God and my neighbor and a lot of times I fall far short so I am thankful for a Savior who not only saves me but intercedes for me, who not only justified me but who is seeing my sanctification through.

I close with this. I desire to know the truth about all the things I mentioned above. I really do! I spent countless hours praying about them and searching for them in the bible while trying not to lose the purpose of the Scriptures which is Jesus in the details or missing the forest due to the trees. I want to be obedient and believe all the right stuff, I want to make sure that Jesus is satisfied with me! But at the end of the day I know that is nothing but the grace of God by the blood of the Lamb that reconciles me to God and at the end of the day I want to love a God who loves me and love my neighbor because God loves me. I know I deserve only His wrath, but now I can call Him Dad, and all of this rests on a Savior who died for me. I pray that at the end of all of your wrestling you don’t miss the Savior! Our lives are hidden in His if you have trusted Him, don’t stop wrestling but never forget the one all of this is about!

My last post sparked a discussion that I didn’t want to get lost so I am reposting one the subpoints as a main point here.

It seems that many believe that I think Theology=Maturity! That would be untrue Theology Applied=Maturity. Rather we like it or not we all have a theology and certain theological positions. It seems smart today to avoid calling it something, the problem is you can’t. For example. If you take metal, rubber, glass and plastic, put it together, put fuel in it and use it to get from point A to point B then you have a car or some type of motor vehicle. You can say “I don’t want to call it that” but that would be irrelevant! Such is the same for theology. You don’t have to call it that, but the fact that you believe something about God, something about the bible, something about how the church should meet, something about Christ, something about salvation and something about what Christians should obey and what they don’t have to obey means you have taken certain theological stances and positions.

Now if it is you want to avoid labels then fine! I have no problem with that, but just because you want to avoid them doesn’t mean that someone has not defined what you believe and has written it in a book, and it is taught maybe even in seminary. If you believe like I believe that after 2000 years nobody has figured it out, then I promise you some smart dude has written what you believe.

But lets take it a bit further! What you believe has been taught to you and what you hold to has been shaped by some theologian over the past 2000 years. I bet my yearly salary to a Peanut Butter with no jelly sandwich and a stick of celery to that statement! What you believe didn’t fall out of the sky, you were shaped. Listen to me very carefully. The Ephesians, Corinthians, Galatians, Colossians, Philippians, Macedonians, the Jews, Laodacians, Thessalonians, The Bereans, and any other person who became a Christian in the 1st Century was shaped by Pauline Theology! Now you might say that is Holy Spirit theology, but it is still Pauline Theology! The thing they have that you and I don’t is access to Paul, Timothy, Titus, Epaphorditus, John, Peter, Apollos and others who can directly ask a question and get a straight answer, even if they could answer the question!

Theology was before Seminary! Let me say that again Theology was before Seminary. Now theological language can be avoided, but we as humans always use language to discuss concepts. For example I am in Coporate America as a Financial Analyst. There are terms we use to describe what we do! When my wife asks me certain things, I have to show her more than I can tell her because the terms will leave her void of what I am trying to explain. The same goes for musicians when they talk music, writers when they discuss writing, artist when they discuss art……. You see terms like the Trinity are theological term, The Fall is a theological term, The Divinity of Christ is a theological term, and many other words we use are theological terms and concepts that are deduced and put into books to discuss them.

Now for this one I will get shot but I am going to say it anyway! Is the bible all we need? My answer is no! Absolutely not! Heck no! When I look at the Gifts given by the Spirit one of those gifts is teaching! Just because someone decides to write it in a book doesn’t negate the gift! Actually the printing press has become a blessing! We now can print 1,000,000 bibles in different languages in a a fraction of the time it would take to hand-write 10! But not only that things that was passed orally or taught can now be written and reproduced! In my experience my vast amount of theology has helped me once the Spirit caught up with my learning! So the problem wasn’t theology the problem was my ability or even desire to apply it!

Are there drawbacks to theology? I think I have written extensively about this. Theology can make one proud, arrogant, self-righteous, it can produce unbiblical distinctions as Daniel brings up, it can even produce a Christian caste system. But theology isn’t the problem, application is. Pursuing a theological education isn’t bad in and of itself. Understanding the work of the Holy Spirit systematically, that Jesus is the metanarrative or the interpretive key of the whole bible (a Christ centered interpretation) or learning the difference between how to apply the law in the Old Testament versus the New Testament are not bad things!

Using are minds and hearts simultaneously is not a bad thing. Back in the day I took an Intro to Theology class under Michael Patton, one of the books I had to read was J.P Morelands “Love God With All of Your Mind”. Listen the Holy Spirit isn’t quenched by theology. My move towards my current ecclesiological perspective and theology of the New Testament was assisted by wrestling with theological concepts and terms. Again the Spirit is quenched by not obeying and applying what you do know. The Spirit not only works in the heart He works in the mind also. The book of Romans is a theological work of Paul. It would have taken some thinking to wrestle with and it was written by the Holy Spirit! Does it mean that the uneducated couldn’t understand the Gospel? No! It does mean; however, that someone with some form of eduction would have to read it and explain it to them though.

I end with this. A little theology ain’t going to hurt nobody! The Spirit works in the mind and in the heart! But most importantly if you believe you are void of theology you are only fooling yourself. Your theological position was shaped by someone rather that is Viola and Barna or Owen and Edwards! Both sets have theological knowledge and extensive theology as a matter of fact! Most of what we believe has been shaped by 2000 years of theology from the Deity of Christ to the Trinity to baptism we have to affirm that.

First:

Then…

Finally:

The problem is our modern preaching methods leave the majority of the people in the first picture.

1.You see initially a Christian is like a baby who needs his/her food purated. They have to understand that Christ in the metanarrative of the scripture, that God’s plan was always the Gospel. They to understand the basics of the bible, church, Christianity, some of the basics of living like a newborn.

2. Then they should progress to feeding themselves a little bit, but they still need a smaller plate. You give them a few books like Basic Bible Doctrines, a book on understanding some of the more complex theological truths. Give them a concordance, maybe a small Systematic Theology book. They should begin to learn a bit about hermeneutics, different genres, and arguments.

3. Finally the person should end up where Paul calls “maturity” in Ephesians 4. This person should not only be giving steak dinners, he should be hunting for his own food! This person can fix their own plate, feed themselves, and put the dishes up or cover the bill at a restaraunt. Leading bible studies, making disciples, feeding his family spiritually, given chances to teach in the local assembly. This person should spend just as much time in their word as their elders or “pastor”.

The problem is that our current method usually lands people in the first two. In really good bible teaching churches they will go to number two. But most churches don’t take people past number 1. They are codependent on their “pastors” to bring them a word! The ones who go to number 2 dont’ get past a concordance, they are also heavily dependent on the preacher to “feed them” or “pour into them” they always need “sound expository sermons” to motivate them. They won’t hunt for themselves they pay someone else to do it and that isn’t maturity, though I would rather see someone at number 2 than 1 I believe Paul says “you should all be teachers, but you need someone to teach you”!

I believe pastors should be working themselves out of jobs with each individual christian. Sooner or later they should become peers! If not then the equipping they are called to do isn’t being done! My heart should be to see you at the table eating steak dinners with me, not me purating the food because it is too difficult for “laymen” to digest!

Many times when I hear Galatians 5 taught, or see it used in a book on sanctification or hear expository sermons on it I hear it discussed as the “fleshly Christian vs the Spiritual Christian”. I want to tell you why I disagree with this given the context. I also want to note many people use Galatians 5 to back their position on Romans 7, which I also disagree with wholeheartedly, it is the old cut and paste method that one person can use to defend their position but others can’t use (I will discuss this in a future post).

First lets note. The warnings to the Galatians are real warnings. They aren’t generic. Paul really means that if they want to be justified by works of the law they will fall away from Christ. I know many of my Calvinistic brothers won’t like that; and will say “well they were not really saved at first”. However, given Hebrews and given Galatians these warnings Paul provide are serious and has a huge impact on the readers. To accept circumcision would make “Christ of not avail”!

Now on to reason of this post here are the verses:

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God

Paul talks about two different people! First those who are led by the flesh are “under the law” and are not of the Spirit! There isn’t this dual fight going on as many propose today! Paul believes those who are led by the flesh are in opposition to the Spirit. We all know the fruit of the Spirit verses but I really believe what Paul is conveying here is not a Christian but one who is under the works of the flesh and in layman terms is not a believer.

Paul says those who “practice” such things will not “inherit the kingdom of God”. Paul doesn’t say “they will not be spiritual christians but fleshly christians”. He says quite plainly that their abode will be hell! He isn’t telling them to walk by the Spirit to be better Christians but to walk by the Spirit to prove their Christianity! Once again many of my “justified by faith” brothers will want to hang me and that is fine also!

What Paul is providing us with is a salvation that works (thats for Q-Dog LOL)! Those opposed to the Spirit are not believers walking in the flesh but nonbelievers that are OF THE FLESH! Paul says something key here about the flesh:

24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Now if I follow the plain reading (as many of my expository brothers say) then Paul means what he says and says what he means. That is that those who are of Christ have “crucified the flesh”! If the flesh is not crucified (I am not talking sinless perfectionism, but a real and living work of the new nature and heart given to all believers) then we are of the flesh and not of the Spirit and are deeds prove to us that we are of the flesh and as Paul says “we will not inherit the kingdom of God”.

I want to stop there; however, Paul is looking for Christian to be more Spiritual but to be Christians, the other side of that is fleshly and that my friend is where Paul says “you will not inherit the Kingdom of God”!

Here is a post from Alan Knox it is priceless:

One of the most common scriptural metaphors for the church is “family”. In fact, the “metaphor” is so prevalent that it probably isn’t a metaphor at all. In other words, we truly are brothers and sisters in Christ. However, the church rarely acts like a family.

But, what would happen if we turned the picture around? Instead of encouraging the church to act like a family, what would happen if the family acted like a church?

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Two young men walked in the den where grandma was watching her “stories”. They shuffled their feet, made small talk, but finally got down to business.

“Grandma, we’ve all talked about it, and we don’t think you’re doing your job the way you once did – the way we need you to,” the first man started.

“What do you mean, son?” the older lady asked, trying to see the TV around the two men.

“Well, you can’t cook or clean anymore. You don’t tell us stories of the old days. We haven’t heard any wisdom from you in a long time. You usually just watch television and sleep. We’re going to have to let you go,” the second man said.

Grandma hung her head. “I realize that I’m getting older and can’t carry out my duties that I once did. Will you at least give me a few weeks to find a new family?”

“We’ll give you two weeks and a good recommendation. I’m sure that God is calling you to a good older family out there somewhere,” her son said.

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“Hey, Sis!” the lady said as she walked through the open door.

“Hi, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” her older sister asked as she closed the front door behind her.

The younger lady found a place on an overstuffed sofa and replied, “Well, we heard that you gave birth, and we wanted to see the new baby.”

As the older sister brought in coffee, she looked around the room. “I don’t think the baby is here.”

“What do you mean?” her sister asked as she sipped her coffee.

“Well, I’m not very good at raising kids. I just give birth to them and let someone else raise them. In fact, that baby is probably still at the hospital.”

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The parents brought dinner into the dining room for the family. The dining room was immaculate, with heavy drapes, carved furniture, silver place settings, and a crystal chandelier hanging over the middle of the table.

Father prayed an elaborate prayer and set the food down for each family member: a small piece of bread and a sip of juice.

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“This is very difficult for me to say,” Father began with tears filling his eyes. “Do you all remember the people that visited us a few weeks ago?”

The family members nodded as the looked around, trying to discern what Father’s important announcement might be about.

“Well, those visitors were actually a Father Search Committee from another family. They believe that God is calling me to be their Father. After much tearful prayer, I agree. So, in two weeks I’ll be leaving this family to become the Father of their family. Don’t worry. I know that this is all in God’s plan, and I’m certain that God will provide another Father for this family.”

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I suppose I could go on, but I think you get my point. If the church is really a family, then the church would not act like it does towards one another.

So, we should ask ourselves, “Are we not living according to our nature? Or, are we living according to our nature?”

When many theologians and Christians want to defend the role of Elders/Pastors many of them run back to the Old Covenant (A Covenant that is abolished by the way and obsolete, and was a ministry of death) and point to the priests as an example (especially some of my Covenental brothers). I want to reiterate we need to borrow nothing from the Old Covenant in relation to ecclesiology because the Church had not been born! There is no Church in the Old Covenant! She does not begin until the Holy Spirit moves His ministry of coming upon people to living within them!

I think most of what is ignored however is the fact that the Levites became the priests because all of Israel failed to! Okay let me highlight this. Remember Moses is on Mount Sinai. He is going up to be a representative for the nation (lets not forget that all of Israel should have been up there, but Israel was afraid and told Moses “you go for us”) and to receive the Covenant! As Moses is up there God says:

5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

This is what is realized in the New Covenant as Peter not only quotes this but says “you are this nation and you are these priests”! Why didn’t all of Israel receive this promise? It was conditional! That is why! The promise starts with an “if”. As God turns to talk to them in Exodus 20 they say “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Later Moses comes down and the glory of the Lord and the fear of the nation made Moses veil his face (but we have unveiled faces 2 Corinthians 3). Don’t forget the Levites became servants due to their faithfulness in Exodus 32:27 and Israel’s unfaithfulness with the making of a Golden Calf (the beginning of continual unfaithfulness)

I bring you to a quote from Ketcherside:

Nothing is clearer that the fact that God’s purpose was to make ministry and priesthood co-extensive in “the time of reformation”. Every person who accepted the good tidings was to be a priest, every such person was to be a minister. Every priest was such because he ministered; every person was to minister because he was a priest. In priesthood and ministry all were to be equal rank insofar as liberty, privilege and relationship to God are concerned.  God’s people were no longer to be a kingdom with priests, but a kingdom with priests; they were not to be a congregation with ministers, but a congregation of ministers. Priesthood was to be universal in the kingdom of heaven, ministry was to be mutual and reciprocal. This was to be the grand climax of the ages, the golden era of God’s dealings with mankind. God promised Israel that if they would obey his voice and keep his covenant they would be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation unto him. But they did not obey his voice nor keep his covenant. They never realized the fruition of the magnificent promise because they failed to meet the conditions.

Alan Knox has a beautiful post on this over at his blog The Assembling of the Church. The problem lies here folks. Listen in the Old Covenant God used a few select to minster to Him under the New Covenant He commands/requires that all who are under it to minister to Him and to one another! You see my man many would agree with the post I linked to above and the Reformers such as Calvin and Luther. This is where I take a “Step Past Reformed”. The Reformers failed to take steps toward a proper ecclesiology and because they are well respected (which they should be) where they stop we stop. However as Alan says:

I think that my differences with Alston concerning the priesthood of the believer is primarily found in this sentence: “The church may not be dependent upon the ordained clergy for its existence, but for its well-being it needs the few who are called and set apart by the laying on of hands to the particular vocation of preaching, administering the sacraments, teaching, and pastoral care.” As I study Scripture, I cannot find where only a few are given the responsibility of preaching (proclaiming the good news), administering the sacraments (baptizing and breaking bread – the Lord’s Supper), or pastoral care (caring for one another). Instead, I see where all believers are given these responsibilities.

I nod with eager concurrence! Let allow the scriptures to be what we base our ecclesiology off of. Not man’s writings, no matter how much they contributed to the modern Church. The greatest gift God’s give us as a Church is the Spirit, this Spirit empowers all to be the priests God has ordained us to be. To rob individual Christians of this privilege to be priests and when I say priests I mean full functioning priests, not just in small groups and Sunday schools but whenever the Church of God gathers, is to rob the bride of what her Husband has given her as a gift (It is He who descended and ascended and gives gifts unto man Ephesians 4). Lets take a step past the reformation and reform our ecclesiology!

One of my favorite subjects in school was Math! I loved it, the numbers came easy, I used to be in the little math contest in school and actually was allowed to participate in a special program in 7th and 8th grades in which I went to a special school for math and took the SAT for placement in a special program in high school. I did well in Jr. High, but if you look at my testimony, well high school didn’t go to well and I was later removed! Anyway, back in 3rd, 4th grade we learned Common Denominators. The objective was this to find out what a group of numbers had in common. Such as in the picture above you want to find a multiple that you can divide a group of numbers into and the objective is to find the lowest possible number: 2,3,4,6=12!

You probably know by now and by the title that 4th grade math is not my objective in this post. So what is? Let me ask how often do you ask the following questions “what’s your eschatology, what’s your polity, what do you believe about the gifts, what’s your position on baptism, is it a Covenant of Grace or Works (neither LOL), Calvinism? Arminian?, Southern Baptist or Methodist? Emerging or Pentecostalism?

At our Sunday Morning group we have been studying through Corinthians. After reading and rereading the book and attempting to Chart the book (charting is a way to summarize a book, I will attempt to attach something at the bottom) and get a one theme title I came up with”A Peace Treaty of Love”. The protagonist and antagonist of the book of Corinth is division and unity!

There is but one church in all of Corinth or at least this is what many commentators say. So as you read the book all of this is going on “Under One Roof”! The apostolic alignment, the secret knowledge, the dude with his stepmother (some wanted to extend grace others knew there was a problem), there is division on head coverings, division at the Table where unity is the focus, there is division on gifts, there is division on tongues, there is division on silence on women, there is division on the resurrection and there is division on baptism for the dead. To put it simply Paul asks “Is Christ Divided” (which I believe to be a key to the entire epistle).

Chapter 13 is Paul’s resolution. Again remember all of this is happening in one gathering. If this is true, this would make a church split look like a wedding! So what is Paul’s remedy? To show that we are Christ’s body (Chapter 12) which answers the question “Is Christ divided” and without love (Chapter 13) EVERYTHING we do is “worthless” as a matter of fact he says “your are no one”! So we can do a bunch of nothing and do it with all of our energy, we can do it and be labeled successful in this world, you can be invited to conferences, can write hundreds of books, can exposit the text with surgeon like precision but without love you are nothing and what you do profits nothing.

So let me add to that! Schisms/Divisions/Divisiveness (Galatians 5)/Sectarianism all are the opposite of love! So can our energized pursuit of exclusiveness or spiritualcentricity actually be what Paul calls “nothing”?! Absolutely. Let me say this. To look for something to divide on, to find ways where we are different (for the reason to disengage) to have the heart to deal with who Christ has redeemed indifferently to continually have a sectarian all or nothing Christianity is to be outside of the Spirit of God. It is to grieve the Spirit, it is to answer Paul’s question to the Corinths “is Christ divided” with an emphatic yes! Yes, yes Paul we are divided and we are proud of it!

Paul says something that is another key to unity in 1 Corinthians 15 where I want to rest at:

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

Unity is found in the simplicity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! That He was born, that He died for our sins and that He rose from the dead and upon raising appeared to the disciples and later to Paul. This is our Gospel the one and only Gospel. Those other distinctive, as biblical as you think they may be are contrary to Paul’s Gospel! Yes you heard me correctly. So let me scream it. YOUR DISTINCTIVES ARE CONTRARY TO PAUL’S GOSPEL! Why? Paul’s Gospel unifies because Christ unifies (Col 3, Eph 2, John 17). Christ came that we may be one, our disctintives split us! If disunity comes by them then what we are doing is not of God regardless of how well you can defend it biblically (truth be told we both can come to the same scriptures and be 100% divided on the same text using languages or not).

I am fighting for an Ecumenical hope! Yes, you may be convinced that your little theological club is correct (shoot I do) but if that club becomes exclusive and becomes THE CLUB then what you have done is taking a machete to Christ’s body. You have divided the indivisible Christ! You have pulled the arm of Jesus off and I will let you know that such a division is of Satan not of the Living and Holy God revealed in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

I close with this. Christ is not divided because He is indivisable! He is one “there is one Lord, one Faith, one baptism” Ephesians 4 makes this clear! Jesus only made “one new man” Jesus does not endorse any dividing walls! Jesus does not cosign our zeal to divide and to “uphold truth” (don’t go quoting John 14:6). Jesus’ prayer proves this beyond a shadow of doubt “I pray that they are one”. Who are we to counteract Jesus??!! Paul also makes a plea in the Philippian Church in chapter 2 verse one. I leave you with this verse of “one accordness”! Being Ecumenical is the heart of Jesus Christ and divisiveness is of the “Evil one”!

2:1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

Click document below 

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Here are the verses:

20 Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. 21 He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. 23 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. 24 When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him,

Maybe this is an over allegorization but I am going to go for it anyway and then let you guys rebuke me. When I used to read this, I had no clue what it was about. I thought to my self big deal! Dude got a little tipsy, okay he got bonafide wasted but “we all sin and fall short of the glory of God” right? I am pretty sure there are many Christians who struggle with alcoholism or has a bit too much to drink or has a celebration at their home and has a bit too much to drink. And just in case you ask, no smoking cigarettes and drinking are not sins regardless of what many of my <clears throat> Baptist brethren tell you.

So after reading this I thought to myself man the punishment for telling your brothers “dudes, daddy got tore up” seemed to be a bit odd to me. Noah literally cursed his son. For saying “daddy got drunk and is naked”?!!! Man that seems cruel and unusual. That is like cutting off your kids arms because he took the cookie out of the cookie jar and he is only 2! But again I knew there was something going on, but I just went in the same ol’ Christian fashion which is “I don’t understand, and it isn’t a big deal”. Whew! Tell Ham and Canaan that!

But after reading something over at Smulo Space, I believe the Holy Spirit gave me an aha moment. So again this will be in usual fashion for me during the last few weeks and that is confession for you so that you don’t make the mistakes I made! Okay here we go. Ted Haggard was one of the most popular evangelical leaders in the U.S. He was James Dobson’s poster boy for evangelicalism! He had one of the biggest churches in the United States of America and was an adviser for President Bush. He stood arm in arm with Focus on the Family, and was well on his way to being on front of many Christian Magazines. He was sort of like Olsteen with a mean streak! For the most part I liked the dude’s ministry. Charismatic yet Conservative, Sort of Fundamental but yet fun! But then out of the sky BAAAAAMMMMMM! He was caught in a scandal! A huge scandal one that involved homosexuality (that he was against vocally) and adultery (didn’t I tell you he was down with FOTF) and it hit national news (listen to me carefully never covet the national spotlight and never ever let it define you, if so they will crush you like the planet Mars hitting a grape!). His stock fell faster than Enron’s, no it was more like Milli Vanilli after the “Blame it on the, blame it on it, blame it on it <record skips>” fiasco!

And guess what the community of grace! Paaaauuusssee! We are a community of grace aren’t we! If anyone is to be the most gracious for the whole world to see, shouldn’t it be us? Like, our foundation is Grace isn’t it (Ephesians 2)?! Wait, wait, “God so loved that He gave”, has anything been more gracious than that? Okay let me try this “you were dead in trespasses and sins BUT God made you alive”, oh, oh, I know, how about this one “while we were yet enemies Christ died”! I have at least 500 more but I will digress for time and space sake! Dude the only reason I am alive, you are alive, you are a Christian, you have eyesight, you can breath, you don’t have Downs, you weren’t born a crack baby, you don’t have AIDS is because of GRACE! Okay I am done with that one.

So what did the church do for Mr. Haggard! We joined in the public scorning with the media is what we did. We became “Rearview Mirror Prophets”! You know the ones who knew everything about everything but didn’t decide to express it until it already happened! Get outta of here! We joined the media in exposing him, oh yeah back the verses, exposing his nakedness!

Let me explain. It wasn’t about Noah’s nakedness, it was about Ham’s wickedness! What was his wickedness? The fact that he saw his father, vulnerable, in a shameful predicament, full of sin, he had fallen! The great Noah who God used to save humanity was now in a cave drunk and naked (after seeing that many people drown I probably would have needed a drink or two also, pregnant women, elderly, little babies, they all drowned, I probably would have tried to find some soil on the boat to plant something)! And instead of covering his father, he runs to expose his sin! To expose his shame, to make a public announcement (don’t forget they are the only ones around) about this old drunk fool! So that is why I believe he was cursed! Not because of what he did but why he did it! He didn’t go ask for help from Shem to cover his father, he wanted to show everyone the folly of his dad! A man God just used as a picture of the redemption of Jesus Christ!

You know what though? Ham does not have the living God indwelling him in the person of the Holy Spirit. The third person in the living Trinity taking up residence in his life! The problem with that is that we do! But just like Ham, we expose the shame, the embarrassment, we make a public announcement of others failures! The problem is I can’t understand for the life of me why! Why do we do that. Why are we so quick to run and tell others about the brother caught in sin, instead of doing what Paul commands the Galatians in chapter 6 of the epistle with the same name:

6:1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

You see we as believers have an opportunity to be Shems and Japheths in the Christian Community. It is a proven fact that many will fall, many will engage in gross sins, but when that arises what should we do? We should be a place of refuge and safety. We should cover our brothers and sisters short comings! Why? Because this is the nature of Christ. “Blessed is the man, who’s sin is not counted against him”. But not only that we love to have our sins covered. We love for Jesus to not expose us, for Him to give us an opportunity to get it right! It is evident by the fact we don’t confess all of our faults.

I close with this. The Church should look like Shem and Japheht, when the opportunity arose for them to feel good about themselves and laugh at their fathers nakedness, like their brother (who just so happened to be extended grace by allowing to escape the wrath of God) they did not. They were like God who covered Adam and Eve’s nakedness (remember Paul says “be imitators of God”). They were the Old Testament example of a grace and covering sin! Yes many Christians are in the spotlight, many of them are weak and immature. Some of them become Christians after living publicly lewd lifestyles and yes many of them are on TBN and Daystar! But they are our brothers and sisters, when the opportunity arises let us be like Shem and Japheth and let us rebuke all who have the wicked intentions of Ham!

“You aren’t sharing the Gospel? How can you say you love Jesus”? “What you studying in the scriptures? Nothing!? Man you ain’t going to ever grow like that”! “Relational witnessing? What is that? I can’t find that in my bible!”. “You go to who’s church? Man, don’t you know that your pastor and Jakes, Dollar, Hinn, Warren ________ (fill in the blank) are friends”? “What’s your pastor’s name? Don’t you know that he was at a conference with heretic”!? “You don’t know what justification means? Man, do you even understand the Gospel”?! “Have you discipled anyone since you have been saved; that person does what, there is no way they are saved; you believe what; you don’t know that wow; you don’t do that dude; you haven’t read this, you aren’t interested in theology; you can’t tell the difference…………?????!!!!!!!

This was my Christianity, arrogant, cocky, self-righteous, judgmental, all head and about as much heart as when the Tin Man meets Dorothy! To sum it up I was not a pleasant Christian to be around. Always handing out unsolicited books, always telling people what I thought about false teachers, always showing people how smart I was, what books I had read, what I believed, proud to show people I knew the difference between Biblical and Systematic Theology and I always wondered why 8 out of 10 people didn’t want to spend much time with me, like the kid who doesn’t discover deodorant until he is 18!

Why am I telling you this? Because those things above defined me and I don’t want them to define you. If we are to error lets do it on the side of grace. Let’s be over-gracious instead of overly critical. I lived my Christian life looking for rotten apples on a pretty well off tree. So I overlooked bushels and bushels of ripe sweet apples and only found the ones that have some damage and would say of that tree “look, you see this tree is no good”. Not finding areas of God’s grace in a persons life is a critical flaw! Yeah a lot of people are jacked up. Some of that is due to being under bad teaching, some of it due to having bad experiences and bringing in a lot of baggage. But man, if you were to check my luggage you may find some things that would cause you to treat me differently you may not even want to travel this journey with me anymore. If you look for the bad in individuals you will find it that is a promise.

I also write this to tell you not to be as pushy as I was. I was aggressive (well maybe still am) and for some reason that never drew people in and I always pointed the finger at them. I could never see that I was critical, that I was judgmental (I would always say “Jesus calls us to be fruit inspectors, uh, not really) I could never see that Jesus ate, talked and loved on people and met them exactly as they were and went where they were. Jesus didn’t say “go, clean up your life and theology then come back and see me”. He simply extends them grace and love and because of that the religious elite called Him all type of unsavory names. Jesus doesn’t tell the woman who is crying at His feet “hey go get your theology right before you interact with me, dont’ you know who I am”. Actually there is a lovely post found here about this.  Nope, He actually rebukes the leader whose house he is at because of that.

I am going to be honest. Most of us with really good theology have really bad hearts. We can be very critical of others and we can be so unloving. We live by the letter of the law and not the spirit of the law. We are zealous for truth more than we are people and yes Jesus is the truth but He values people so much more. I don’t want you to travel the road I was on and if you are on it I want you off of it immediately. We aren’t helping people we are hurting them and wounding them and many times those relationships are very difficult to repair. Sometimes Jesus just wants us to listen, love and serve, not give a bunch of deep biblical answers while over looking the experiences that has shaped the individual.

I close with this, a gentle knock is much more receptive than a battle ram. Think about it, if the police comes to your door and knocks it down with a battle ram, when they just could have knocked gently while you and your family was eating dinner, what would you think? Would that not be excessive force? We don’t burn down the house to get rid of a mouse do we? Paul commands us to correct with “gentleness and patience”. Jesus says “be as wise as serpents and gentle as doves”. Peter says “give a defense with gentleness”. I believe gentleness, patience, kindness, respect, man just plain ol’ common sense love is the way to go. Man I still have been trying to repair relationships from such mistakes and I don’t want you to have to experience what I experienced. I once heard someone say “experience is the wisdom of fools”. I think especially when you have evidence!

No this is not about Piper per se! This is more about my journey as a Christian and some pitfalls or better yet crutches I used along the way. Back in 2004 I was handed a MacArthur CD and immediately the Spirit began to take my previous (?) 10 years of Christianity and bring me up to speed on it. What I mean is that I may have become a Christian at 16 but then again it could have been 11. Either the way Satan wanted to destroy me becausein each instance I got worse. 11 to 16 I was a devilish young adult and from 16 to say 17 I was just as devilish but with a little more conscience. I made professions of faith at 11 and 16 but for some reason I just got worse. The only thing that prevented me from wilding out from 17 to 25 was the military and then getting married, it was more due to the social consequences than the spiritual I promise.

But anyway at 25 I was handed a MacArthur CD and I was hooked. I don’t know if any of you can track with me, but because of MacArthur I was opened to Piper (someone thought if I liked MacArthur I would like Piper). This opened the door and paved the road to the journey I am currently on. I became hooked instantly. I purchased a bunch of MacArthurs books and began to devour them I also listened to many, many of his sermons. That only increased my appetite to learn. Then comes Piper. He was preaching through Romans, okay that may be an understatement. I think Piper wrote Romans in a different life he was in that joker for so long. And I listened to him every hour of the day.

I work on spreadsheets and databases and I rarely had to interact with people so I would sit at my desk with headphones, going through Romans with Dr. Piper. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even have to read my bible, because Piper was an audio commentary on it. And that is when the dependency came.

Okay lets rewind a bit. From 16 to 25 I did read my bible whenever I was saved. You have to understand that I was rebaptized like 3 or 4 times due to sinning and leaving the church (I was in a Oneness Pentecostal church and also a Oneness Pentecostal Seventh Day Adventist Church). Everytime that I would fall I would have to be resaved. Not rededication either. But one things was clear. I spent a lot of time in my bible. We couldn’t watch movies, go to parties, go swimming (bathing suits caused us to sin), listen to R&B, they didn’t want me hanging out with my old friends, girlfriends were out of the question, and I was a 18 year old with hormones at the ready to explode rate. So I promise after running like 10 miles and doing all the push ups I could the bible and I were intimate.

Actually it was this time in the bible that helped me see what I was in as false. This was before a class on hermeneutics. I began to challenge my pastors and was told that it was Satan tricking me. I wouldn’t give in, I left due to some foul things that went on got married came back and Charity (my wife) was having nothing of the sort. I am so glad that she didn’t submit. I studied some more challenged them some more (I thought I could change them if they just saw the word, but traditions are hard to break) and I later left again and this time they didn’t want me back.

But again I would read the bible for hours. This is how I figured out that tongues wasn’t the evidence of salvation, that baptism wasn’t essential for salvation, that believers were not under the law of Moses and so forth. There was much I didn’t know but one thing is I could quote scriptures and knew my bible as well as I could without any outside help (unless you count the Spirit). All that changed in 2004. I got hooked on sermons. I would have withdrawals if I couldn’t listen to a sermon. I would even find myself mad when my wife would call on the way home from work (I worked in Downtown about 30-35 miles from my home). She would want to talk but I would want to listen.

My bible became dusty, a little foreign. Yeah I knew the scriptures, but I knew them Sproul’s, MacArthur’s, Begg’s, Swindoll’s, Piper’s, Evan’s, Duncan’s, Mahaney’s, Harris’, Dever’s, Chandler’s, Driscoll’s way! But not my way. I had very little confidence in my ability to handle the scriptures. I was suffering from Expository Sermonitis! It is nearly incurable for those of the Reformed way. Then it got worst. I found Sermon Audio and MLJ’s site. I began to listen to Ken Jones, White Horse Inn, read more books, started to listen to Spurgeon sermons, I was in Sermon heaven. My bible was lonely, it had become an attaraction on my coffee table, close to my bed but nowhere near my hands.

But something happen to me one day. After reading something and hearing something, what I heard disagreed with what I read. I became inquisitive. Started to investigate this distant but familiar inspired book a little more. And slowly but surely the bible became mine again. I picked up resources (not commentaries) that would help me with the text. And I began to challenge more.

So what are you saying Lionel you might ask. What I am saying is that you can trust the Spirit, I am not saying that you can’t listen to sermons, but if you spend more time listening to sermons and reading books about the bible and little time in the bible you have become dependent on another man and are grieving the Spirit. You are sort of like the guy who sat in the bed so long that his legs no longer work or the guy who was locked in a dark room for years and when finally brought out, his eyes barely work. You my friend are in deep trouble. Today in many Reformed circles you are more “spiritual” if you have read certain books or listen to sermons of other men. You are more spiritual if your Ipod has Martyn Lloyd Jones than you are if you have no clue who he is but can handle your bible faithfully.

Shame on us. That we have punted the Spirit and given over the hard work of bible study and prayer and an ear for the Spirit to other men and not only do we enjoy allowing them to do it, we frown on others for not knowing them or have read their books. Listen to me today if you don’t hear anything else. The bible is readeable and you can get way more from it than you can someone else’s sermon and book about it. If you spend more time listening to others than reading your bible and praying for clarification from the Lord, today is the day to stop. The Spirit is still alive and the word is still a lively word. You can come to the bible with confidence that you can comprehend it and apply it to your heart. You can come to the bible with joy and a pure dependency on the Spirit to teach you what it means. How do I know this? Because the guys you listen to, do it all the time!

What would you think if you walked into a local church and they were singing a song with these lyrics on the screen above:

 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.  For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing…….. Wretched man that I am! Wretched man that I am! Wretched man that I am! Wretched man that I am!

That would really get you prepared for the “ministry of the word” wouldn’t it? No! Not at all. The problem is this is the mantra of many Christians. “Oh wretched man that I am”. Here is what Charles Leiter says in his book “Justification And Regeneration”

It is highly significant that this view of Romans 7 has led to the “wretched man” concept of the Christian life, where “wretchedness”and spirituality are almost equated, and the more holy we become, the more “wretched” we are. In the words of one writer: “This moan, ‘O wretched man that I am,’ expresses the normal experience of the Christian, and any Christian who does not so moan is in an abnormal and unhealthy state spiritually. The man who does not utter this cry daily is either so out of communion with Christ, or so ignorant of the teaching of Scripture, or so deceived about his actual condition, that he knows not the corruptions of his own heart and the abject failure of his own life.”  A. W. Pink, “The Christian in Romans pg 149.

He then goes on to say:

In other words, the man of Romans 7 is not just battling with sin but utterly defeated by it, in stark contrast with Paul’s description of all true Christians in Romans 6 and Romans 7:1-6.

I agree with Mr. Leiter on this. If Paul’s statement in Romans 7 is the “normal Christian experience” then it doesn’t seem like we have much to do when it comes to conqueing sin in our lives. We are just a product of the old sin nature destined to be defeated and powerless to sin remember what Paul says “not the ability to carry it out”.

In steps the power of the New Covenant. I think many today have an over fixation on Justification while ignoring the completion of Christ’s work which includes Regeneration. Justification is what Jesus did, Regeneration is what Jesus is doing through the Spirit. Justification is our positional sanctification while Regeneration is our own going walk towards Christ likeness and away from sin the sin we were slaves to (Romans 6, Ephesians 2, Titus 3).

I think my Anabaptist brothers have this right. You see today Christianity is more about what Jesus did than what He is doing. We look back being “cross centered” while forgetting to move forward being “resurrection centered”. Jesus both died and raised and we are to be raised to a “newness of life”. The “wretched man” is one who has the law and has died do to that law and has no power but to look at sin and keep dying; however the Christian is a Spiritual man, who has the mind of Christ and a new power (Holy Spirit) to be a slave to Christ not to be victim to the old sinful nature. Listen the “can’t do what I want to do” dude is a dead man walking. We are not of the flesh but of the Spirit (Romans 8).

I close with this. If you are a Christian you sinned because you wanted to, not because you have to. We are free from sin’s power. We were formerly chained to it, loved it, lived to please the sinful nature. But that man was buried and has died. Our new life is with Christ in the “heavenly places”. We have now become a slave to righteousness (Romans 6). The New Covenant brings with it a New Heart which has a new disposition against sin. Not only that we not only have a new law (The Law of Christ, 1 Corinthians 9; Romans 7:4-6). We have the authority in the spirit, a power to obey it (Hebrews 8).

So the next time you hear someone quoting this, say  to them “no, no that is a deafeated man, a hopeless man, a dead man”, if you are in Christ you have a New Heart, a new power, under a New Covenant and you have a new Master. Our song says “power, power, wonder working power, in the blood of the Lamb”!

I wonder today if we have redefined biblical terms. I believe that we have. Case in point “pastor”. I go on websites and listen to guys and I wonder how in the world do they call themselves pastors. Now I do want you to understand that the bible doesn’t call individuals pastors, only Christ as far as I can tell, but there are people who are gifted to function in “shepherding”.

This will be quick, but let me explain something to you. If those in your care can’t touch you, they don’t know you, you don’t know them, there is no relationship, there is no personal care and concern, if this person dropped dead tomorrow and you don’t know about it, if you don’t know their families and they don’t know yours other than by face and name, if there is no mutual edification, if they love your teaching more than you, and your only interaction with them is an expository sermon, you are not “pastoring”. I want to make that clear and call people to the table.

There are way too many broken sheep. Way too many wandering sheep, way too many upside down families, way too many wounded sheep in the Church today to call what we do today “pastoring”. I will say this again, you aren’t pastoring. You may be doing something else but it ain’t pastoring. If those you are “pastoring” spend more time in your books than with you, then you aren’t pastoring. We need to start calling a spade a spade. We are doing a lot of stuff today, but I don’t even think it is Church as described in the scriptures. I will leave it at that. But I am getting way too many phone calls, there are way too many broken marriages, and burden-ladened Christians that I come in contact with to call what we call shepherding. No they aren’t going to come to you or the other elders, because they have no relationship with them. Most of these gentleman are figure heads, not relational elders. Okay that was it. But if people can’t come to you because they don’t know you or you are too busy stuck at conferences and writing books then please stop calling yourself a pastor you are confusing way too many people with that title. Find a new word.

>>>>>>>>>>Updated with BLD’s Comment<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

You are a pastor when:

1. People address you as one after you’ve been serving them constantly and consistently and your response is “Hey, I’m just your brother in Christ.”

2. People attempt to give you money for what you’ve done for them and you can immediately suggest a better person/place for them to give it.

3. Your happiest moments are people saying, “I’m praying for you” rather than “You are really anointed!”.

4. Your service to others is driven by their needs and not their creeds.

5. You’re willing to lose everything because you realize you have nothing to lose.

6. You see yourself as equally needful of the grace of Christ as you see everyone else.

7. You belong to the people who see you as their’s.

8. You cease seeing yourself as “on the clock”.

9. People call on Christ for spiritual needs before they call on you because that’s who you’ve pointed them to.

10. You see yourself as a trumpet in God’s hand and your only desire is for the Spirit to blow!

Not in that particular order but……

I remember when I was in elementary we could play games for prizes. One of my favorite was “Where is Waldo” the other “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego”. I was thinking of something the other day. Where in the world is grace today?  Why is that the seeker sensitive and emerging guys are busy pulling in all of the vilest of characters? Why is it that most of the churches I go to, the people who join are the most polished of individuals. Why aren’t we bringing in the drug dealer, the drug addict, the prostitute that turned a trick less than 3 hours ago, the woman with 5 baby daddies, the alcoholic that if he burbs you will get drunk, the dude fresh out of prison or on his way in, the homeless, the heroine addict with no areas left on his body to shoot up, that person who smells really, really bad?

Why are their no broken people (socially economically speaking) filling our churches. We say “oh the church is a hospital” it looks more like the Country Club. Where is the promiscuous little girl (the one we I shook our  my head at because her shorts were just as long as her underwear), where is the thugged out young man (you know the one we said “he needs to pull his pants up”). Where are those people who threaten our way of life?

I tell you what they aren’t as hard to find as Waldo or Carmen. The problem is we ain’t looking for them. It isn’t that they aren’t available. They know and so do we, that we don’t want to interrupting our polished service. Heck they can’t understand those “deep” theological expository sermons anyway right? The church isn’t for them anyway right?

It is funny that I see a Jesus that heals throughout the Gospels. Okay, let me start over. If you don’t want to be exposed, please stay away from the Gospels. Okay I am back. Our churches don’t smell because we avoid smelly people. We don’t feel uncomfortable because uncomfortable people aren’t welcomed in our church, small groups or our lives. We would rather not have these people interrupt our church services. Never know who we might run off.

The reason I know this is true is because I have never heard a sermon on actively and aggressively bringing the most uncomfortable people into the church. We like growing the church but I don’t think we want it to grow with people who will take! Let me say that again. We want to grow but not at a cannibalizing rate. Okay let me say it this way. We don’t want to bring needy people in because that may interrupt the building fund campaign! Why because they have needs and now instead of bringing people in that will increase our reserves, we would be bringing people that may dwindle it quicker than the Dow dropped last month. The value of our religious stock will drop if we take on “unsecured debt”. Our religious portfolio may just be dwindled in the kingdom of man. That is why we have no problem ministering to marginalized people in Africa. Why? Because they won’t come back to our churches. They won’t be a pest to us. A nuisance so to say. That is why there are no broken, poverty stricken, drug addicts (not recovered but current addicts) in our churches. Why? Because we don’t want them there and Jesus knows it. He knows that we are frauds and really want no part in the lives of those individuals.

You know in 3 Corinthians 3:5 “God helps those who help themselves” and in Thessalonians it says “if a man don’t work he don’t eat”. Right? In the Gospel of Matthias it says “Give a man a fish he eats for a day, teach him how to fish he eats for life”. What if there ain’t no fish in the river he stays by. What if he ain’t got arms? You see we don’t want to be bothered with hoochies, thugs, drug addicts, alcoholics and the like. We don’t mind throwing them a bone, or even going to share the Gospel with them. But what we don’t want is them to bother our lives, to interrupt God’s plan for us to bite into the American Pie!

We wonder why Jesus isn’t using us to make a difference in the world and why secular Bono can get more troops rallied to feed the poor than the millions of “Christians” that are in the United States. We wonder why America has gotten progressively worse. It is because we have built a barb wired fence, which is both electric with armed guards around our churches.

Okay you don’t believe me. I want you to tell your pastor to preach a sermon or to start an aggressive ministry campaign that will bring in the vilest of individuals. And when they come we will have this huge dinner for them and serve them for two weeks straight. All they need to do is show up. Tell him that we are going to walk past everyone who looks half descent and find the scariest people possible. See what he says.

Jesus is a joke to the world, because his body has forgotten its mission. Which is to reconcile the world to him. The reason we have all of these para-church ministries is because it is feeling the void of the Church. There were no para-church ministries in the scriptures. The church fed the poor, took care of the orphan and widow, invited those rejected by society in for a meal, took care of the handicapped (those who were treated severely in the Roman empire), they took in the lepers, the diseased, those who hospitals wouldn’t even accept, those without healthcare and welfare. The church did this because this was their mission!

But today we are more concerned about if your expository sermon has the right components to be a true expository sermon. If you handled that verb the right way, if you use lights and puppets in your church, if women are teaching or not, if the gifts of the Spirit are for today, if the atonement was brutal, what type of baptism is correct, if God is 100% knowing or if He gave a little of that up, if people are speaking a prayer language in their spare time, if someone is partnering with someone I disagree with theologically (I am so guilty here)!

If I sound frustrated I am. Why because our Master has bigger fish for us to fry. We are having major conferences on Calvinism or Arminianism! Are we serious? National Conferences? So we go on our cruises with our favorite theologians while the world goes to hell in a hand basket! And we clear our conscience by ensuring we are paying our tithes, and making sure we spend at least 1 hour per day in devotion time. Oh yeah, can’t forget got to memorize those scriptures.

What type of Grace am I talking about. The Grace that tells a hurting world that we know a Savior who has died on the cross for you just like you are and we take you with no conditions. We place no conditions on you that the Savior of the world didn’t. Jesus takes drug addicts, homosexuals, rapists, child molesters, Muslims, Atheists, fornicators, women with 5 baby daddys, thugs with two felonies under their belts, promiscuous little girls, sorry fathers, no good mothers, alcoholics, liars, thieves, porn stars, strippers, con-men, and those in false religions just as they are. His death purchases a spot for them all in eternity, the problem is his Church doesn’t. How do I know, because we have no aggressive campaigns to pursue them recklessly.

I close with this, Jesus didn’t take the long way around Samaria. He went straight through the middle to meet a woman at a well. A broken and promiscuous woman. A woman who seemed to enjoy the company of other women’s husbands. One who was probably going to fetch some water to freshen up for the one that she was currently entertaining. A woman who was well known around the way. She couldn’t walk by without being looked at funny without other women pulling their husbands in close. When her roof was leaking no women sent their husbands to help her. But God who stepped down in human flesh back in eternity planned to meet this woman on a sunny day by a well. His purpose was to bring her to Himself, so that He can show us the type of people He saves. His disciples thought He was mistaken or in error. But that day she conversed with the Savior not by chance but by divine appointment. He shared Himself with Her and in turn she immediately became an evangelist and ambassador of Grace. So impressed were the people that they said “let us see for ourselves”. Could it be that they said “if He talked with her, the type of woman she is, would He not also accept me”?

Church where in the world is grace?

By Guest Blogger Brother Lawrence D!

I remember a few months back, I don’t know maybe 7 or 8 I wanted to get a bible study going at my church, really a man’s study. I was talking with a brother of mine and he said “Lionel you dudes don’t need to study the bible more, man go out and help somebody fix their car”. I thought to myself, “this brother doesn’t have a high view of the bible”. But then as time went on a month or so, I figured something out. He was right.

Let me explain if I can. As one who may be more wired to study the scriptures and read theological books and spend time thinking through and writing this stuff I realized something. I realized that I would rather read The Death of Death in the Death of Christ then help my friend paint. Let me take it a step further. I would rather read a good book then go around the corner and hang out at a neighbors watching a football game. I would rather spend my time memorizing scripture then hanging out at the neighborhood block party establishing relationships and putting what I had read into practice.

You may say “so what Lionel whats the big deal?”. Let me see if I can convey this. Jesus has called us to be His hands and feet but we spend more time in our bibles than really being who the bible calls us to be. Let me put it this way. We spend less time building relationships and serving one another and more time treating Christianity as a one day a week deal. Okay we do have small groups so lets make that 2 days a week.

I believe that Jesus calls us to sacrificial love for each other then those outside of the Church. The basis of such love is relationships. I will only give personal examples. I remember going to family engagements. Especially around the holidays. So me being the Spiritual dude that I am (I am double anointed, with insight into the prophetic) or the biblical scholar that I am (though I would be my son compared to Michael Jordan to real scholars) I would show everyone just how righteous I was by bringing along my bible and my books.

People would want to talk about the latest trades, or how the kids were doing. They would want to talk about the latest movies, or what was going in world affairs. But oh no, not Mr. Spiritual. I would want to talk about Jesus. I believe this is proselytizing but I ain’t sure. Who cares how well the Patriots are doing, I just want to talk about Jesus. When everyone would get together to play games and have fun, I would retreat to the room, because I didn’t want to be around all of the drinking, cursing and joking. I wanted to be about Jesus! When people wanted to go see a movie. Un, unh! Not Apostle Lionel, he wanted to read his bible, I wanted to show them just how serious I was about Jesus.

But something funny happened and is happening. I am starting to see that Jesus spends much more time with people. Touching them, healing them, encouraging them, forgiving them (I can’t forgive but I can issue the Gospel of forgiveness). Jesus’ very presence of love, grace, forgiveness and acceptance commanded a response. They either hated Him or loved Him and if you have spent anytime reading the bible correctly (I haven’t) you will see that the religious hated Him and the others loved Him.

Jesus is God’s Word! He is the Logos, the full revelation of God in bodily form. God’s fullness clothed in humanity, Both man and divinity! And for some reason His heart was for relationship, it was for people, not mere education. I believe our bible study should point our feet outward to share this message, both verbally and nonverbally. Sometimes our presence should be salt and light enough. A loving gracious presence, not condoning of sin, but optimistic for reconciliation. We can do both I promise. We don’t have to remind people so much about the bible if we just be the bible.

Jesus Christ was really more about mercy than theological astuteness! Why, because if we “love the Lord our God with all of heart minds and souls (radical dependence and prayer) and love our neighbor as ourselves (radical self-sacrifice, we sacrifice everything for ourselves and our own well-being and this is what Jesus was really calling us to) theological astuteness will come. Most of out theological astuteness I don’t believe Jesus cares much about. The Pharisees would “strain out a gnat and swallow a camel”. I have been guilty of the same charges.

As I mature and become more confident in all of who Jesus is and wants to do through me, I think I will be able to serve people more and more. I believe I would bring my bible out of fear. Fear that sin would stain me. Fear that I would fall back into my old ways. That is why avoided the non-believers. That is why I didn’t want to explore deep relationships with those who didn’t trust in my God. I am still a bit nervous. Last night I was invited to a watch party and the first thing that came to mind is that man this would be a good chance to share Jesus. I could carry my bible with me and hopefully spark a movement for Jesus. I initially didn’t want to go to have a good time and meet new people but to evangelize.

Finally my last paragraph is about believers. I would do the same to believers. My work schedule can be rough so my devotional time can get bad and can become sporadic. So I would spend a great deal of my time on the weekends studying my bible and reading. Soaking up a bunch of great information that became like the manna that spoiled. It was life giving information that made me combative with other Christians. I would say “how can you not believe the 5 Points”, or “the baptism of the Holy Spirit, man there is no way any good Christian can believe that”. I became sectarian, schismatic, divisive, all of this came by spending more time with the bible than people. I am not saying not to study, but I believe we are to do it with the community in mind. So instead of asking “how can I serve you today” I would say “how can I correct your theology today”. How can I make someone else’s theology line up with God’s?!  All the while having no real concern with them as a human being and as a redeemed individual of God.

I close with this, study the bible, but also do what it says. Community is synonymous with service. We are to pray for opportunities to put the tough sayings and practices of Jesus to work. Our bible study should effect our hands and feet or it is worthless, just like the extra manna Israel collected in opposition to God’s command to just have enough for that day. We are fat on information and the only way to slim down is to burn off some of those biblical calories by serving. I will begin to adopt the starfish mentality. No I maybe can’t build a huge orphanage like George Muller, or start a huge food bank like some other Christians. I maybe can reach 100’s but I can reach one. I can’t help every single mom get a car but I can help one. I can’t visit every nursing home but I can visit one, I can’t heal as many as Jesus did, but maybe I can heal one. Just like we can’t save every starfish that washes ashore but we can toss the one back that we just walked past. So the next time you see a neighbor moving in, or laying grass, or fixing on his car, ask him “hey can I help” I think God will understand that you didn’t make devotion time today.

1 Timothy 2:1-4

2:1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Romans 13:1-7

13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

1 Peter 2:13-17

13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

For those who can’t obey these refuse to submit to the Lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ

Welcome to our next Commander and Chief and lets pray for the last few months of our current one.

The next few hours will be some of the most monumental hours our nation has faced. Just 44 years ago blacks couldn’t vote. Images of Water-hoses, dogs attacking, people spitting on my aunts and uncles, the yelling of some of the most hate-filled words and a lack of Christian love (many were professing Christians) was directed a group of individuals due to the color of their skin not the content of their Character. But today not only can blacks vote their is a candidate that has to be half black that may win the presidency. I was talking to my grandmother and I asked her what she thought about all of this (she is now 83) and she said she couldn’t believe it. She remembers being Forty and unable to eat a certain restaurant or drink from certain water fountains. Amazing what a generation can accomplish.

With that said, there are others who aren’t impressed with the skin color of this candidate they are threatened by his policies and personal convictions. For that I applaud them for standing firm on their convictions and not being moved. Many tell me “Lionel if he were Rice, Powell or Keyes I would be excited to see the first black president, but he is a very liberal man and for that I can’t vote for him”. Again I give you a standing ovation for not being persuaded by the color of his skin as many have. I am also saying that many have dived into the issues of Mr. Obama and have found him the candidate they have been looking for, the type of leader the U.S needs and for that I give them a standing ovation for voting their convictions.

But I want to talk to those who visit this blog and are Christians. I want to say this very clearly and as someone once told me “presumptuously”! If you want to do good to your neighbor then go directly to him and do good! Voting for “conservative” politicians while simultaneously shaking your head as your neighbor is foreclosed on because it lowers your property value is shameful. To not know your neighbor and have no direct concern for his welfare and allowing a vote to ease your conscience is hypocritical. You know how Jesus loved people? He touched them. He touched the leper, He talked to the woman at the well, he ate with sinners and tax collectors, he touched blind eyes, opened deaf ears, casted out demons, healed people on the sabbath (we rather sit fat in church buildings), he cared about the marginalized. Won over the wealthy (Joseph and Nicodemus), He forgave the adulterous woman, prostitutes washed His feet with Her tears, women loved Him, the religious elite hated Him, 12 man risked their lives to preach Him, after His resurrection they didn’t want to see Him leave, one of the disciples (yes she was a disciple) clung to Him, His brothers who first mocked Him (John 6) later believed on Him and this is all because He was relational and “did good to His neighbor”. Just as the Samaritan did above.

Next time someone quotes “do go to your neighbor” I am going to ask “do you know yours”. If you don’t care for the neighbor you do see, don’t tell me you love the one you don’t. Let’s be about the Gospel Church, whoever wins tonight, lets pray for his success and our peace. If you think you have done good to your neighbor by voting, while tomorrow you plan on ignoring him when he pulls into the garage. I will say your “doing good” ain’t Jesus’!

If the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a Muslim is the above picture and you treat all those who profess to be Muslims with fear and prejudice this post is for you. I will add some comments after this:

“Islam is a cancer to the world. Sadly, it will, eventually, come down to either them or us. I just hope it comes to a head before they can destroy the US from the inside-out.”

I found this on a discussion board that I like to frequent. Sadly, this is just one of many quotes I have begun to see in increasing frequency. In my free time, I like to peruse different blogs and discussion boards in search of insight from many different perspectives. Maybe it’s a microcosm of my raising. I was raised in a family where my blood comes from two faiths. Although I am very proud to call myself a Muslim, I have also dedicated myself to learning and understanding the ways of other religions. I think growing up, my religion was always sort of a novelty to others. Here I was, regular Joe Schmo. No accent, no exotic wardrobe, no excessive body hair… well OK, maybe that one. I was definitely not the guy you saw walking down the street and instantly in your mind labeled “Muslim” or “Arab.” Then the towers fell. Two beacons of our nation’s prosperity, rising towards the heavens themselves, felled in one swoop. Along with those towers fell the lives of countless fellow Americans, just trying to work another day to put another meal on the table. Then came the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Regardless of your stance on the war itself, many brave men, good men, have laid down their lives fighting for OUR nation. As of late, we have seen Israel and Iran going back and forth with threats of nuclear weapons and retribution. Not a good combination.

 

One of the groups who have faced much tribulation in these times is the Muslim American. I tend to avoid using terms like Muslim American, African American, etc. as I believe they pack us all into neat little packages, and take ways from the unique qualities of individuals. As time has passed however, the hijab atop your head, or the dark skin or even just walking out of a mosque has brought forth labels nobody should ever be given without proof. Muslims in America are no longer a novelty. They come from the same place all these terrorists come from. If it looks like a terrorist, smells like a terrorist, then it’s gotta be a terrorist, right? We scare people, for reasons not of our own doing. Well I’m sorry, did I scare you? Let me tell you about me, so that maybe I won’t frighten you so much.

 

I shop at your grocery store. Hell, I go to the same convenience store because I know they’ve always got the freshest Copenhagen. I’m married to a Catholic woman. My kids will go to school with your kids. We interact with one another in our community. Personally, I might be the guy doing your taxes next year. We sit next to each other at Aggie football games, yellin our *beep* off. Maybe I don’t eat pork at the tailgate, but I’m there, and I probably know just as much or more about the goings on in Aggie football than most.

 

But I’m a Muslim. Everything I do in life is to glorify God(Allah)swf. I’ll take my kids to the mosque and they learn the same things I was taught as a youngster, which is probably a whole lot different than what you think it is. I am personally against abortion, I think kids should be able to pray in school if they want to, and I think the moral climate of our nation isn’t where it should be. I believe in God, Family, and Country. I pay my taxes, vote, go to jury duty, and celebrate OUR nation just like you do. Did you know that on May 1, 1776, a Syrian immigrant was killed fighting for his adopted nation’s independence? Did you know that Muslim and Arab Americans have fought in every major U.S. conflict since? You can believe what you want to believe about the religion I follow. This is America, it’s your right. But when you say you’re an American, it doesn’t mean any more than when I or any other American who also happens to be Muslim says it.

 

Alot of Muslim Americans are afraid of folks who say things like this. You scare them just as much as they apparently scare you. They don’t want you to give them trouble. When you say things like this, it frightens them. “We’re first generation Americans, we don’t want any trouble. We don’t want to rock the boat.” Well, more Muslims need to come out and say ignorant statements like this don’t scare me. You can’t control whom I pray to just like I can’t control what you think of my religion. But I will say this. Folks who judge others by labels such as religion, race, or creed don’t get very far in this country. Never have, never will. That’s why intolerant backwards and ignorant “Muslims” who resort to tyranny and terror will never get anywhere on these shores. Because we don’t let people treat others like that in this nation, at least not for long.

So in short, think what you will. But before you tell me that that the faith that I hold so dear is a “cancer,” get to know me first. Meet me at our grocery store, or at our kid’s baseball game. Come see me at your local mosque if you can’t find me anywhere else. Know me and what Islam has made me, and then make your judgment.

This was a post from my neighbor on our neighborhood discussion board. I won’t post my entire reply but I do want to express what I think. He allowed me to post this and I great appreciate you for that! I think this needs to be circulated in magazines on news stations and read during a Sunday morning service before expositing Luke 10:25-37. So here are my thoughts…..

1. We are to love all humans regardless of their religion, race, creed, or nationality, because all humans are created in the image of God.
2. Even if we feel that Muslims are our enemies (though you shouldn’t because our enemy is a spirit and must be engaged spiritually) Jesus COMMANDS US to love our enemies, even bringing them food, cold water, and rendering aid.
3. Christians are to go out of their way and even risk their lives for our Muslim neighbors. If we believe democracy, freedom and liberty are the Christian way, then we must also want this for all of our neighbors Muslim or not. Shame on us for contributing to the idiotic sensationalism that has led to pockets of prejudice, stereotypes and gross misrepresentation
4. We are to pray for the safety of our Muslim neighbors, not mention the health and success of them to flourish in America
5. We are to disarm all prejudicial language against them. No prejudicial jokes, terrorism references, and definitely not belittling their faith. Though we as Christians believe that Islam is incompatible with our faith, we are to allow them to worship with the same freedom and have the same chance to spread their faith as we do.
6. We are to fight that they have the same seat in the marketplace of public policy as we do. America is not a Christian Nation, it may have had Christians involved, but Jesus did say “this is my nation” any more than he says Iraq is His nation. All things were created by Him, for Him and through Him. Even the cattle on a thousands hills are His. This means that Muslims, Wiccans, Mormons and any other religion should have the right to set public policy and we should invite and even encourage them to do so.
7. Finally we are to ensure that we are not perpetuating the foolishness that I see everyday in reference to Muslims. Much of what this brother talks about. Lets stop superimposing the American experience on the scriptures. Lets stop quoting “if this nation”. Lets love all, share the Gospel when the Spirit opens the door for us and treat everyone as we would like to be treated.

I don’t expect better from those who do not have the life giving Spirit indwelling them. But when those who name the name of our Lord are involved in what this fella is talking about then we don’t have the mind of the Lord Jesus Christ. You have lost your footing and have disqualified yourself from being God’s ambassador. Repentance is necessary and reconciliation is the key. If anyone should love Muslims recklessly it should be us Christians. If anyone should be void of stereotypes, prejudices, misrepresentations and blatant disrespect, it should be we Christians. If anyone should want to see a Muslim prosper it should be us. I once heard a lovely brother say “I am praying for the opportunity to wash Bin Ladin’s feet”, maybe we should say the same for our Muslim neighbors also.

Today leadership is in the forefront of the discussion on ecclesiology. Mostly the fact of “submitting” to such leadership. The verse that is typically used is found in Hebrews, particularly verse 17. Here it is:

17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

I have posted a couple of posts about this. But reading it again I think there is something that I missed. The subject is “your leaders”. You see today, we have men who call themselves leaders. This leads to a genuine question. Exactly how is leadership established in the local church, and who MUST a Christian submit to and obey? I think this is where it gets muddy. So I am going to write what I think and I would love the interaction of others who have wrestled with this.

Exactly who does other believers have to submit to and on what basis should they submit. What constitutes a leader? How do I know if this person is really a leader and I should be submitting to them? What if I don’t want to submit to them? When should I not submit to them? Am I free to ignore them? Would I be in sin if I don’t submit to someone who I don’t believe I should submit to? These are serious questions and questions I don’t know if we ever really consider.

What if a person tells me I should submit to them? What do I do? What litmus test should I take them through to ensure they really are God’s leaders? Seminary? Calling? Affirmation from other leaders (this seems to be the case of Paul’s assistants and fellow co-workers)? Mere position? Many people call themselves leaders? That leadership is established many ways. Lets look back at the verses leading up to verse 17:

Heb 13:1;7

13:1 Let brotherly love continue

7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

Paul (??) is writing this Church about brotherly love. The first imperative is to “let brotherly love continue”. Next he goes to a personal application of what this brotherly love would look like. One is “remembering” those who spoke the word to them. If my assumption is right, to “speak” the word may have put their lives in danger. Given the fact that the reason this letter was written was to encourage wavering ethnic Jews from running back to the Old Covenant because of severe persecution. This is why Paul reminds them that Christ went outside of the camp and bore shame and they were to also go outside.

Given the fact that these leaders had served them even in the face of death wouldn’t it be expected that they would follow their service and not make ministering to them difficult. They had proven that they were worth following not by mere position and not by being in authority, but by risking their very lives to preach the Gospel to them. Many had lost homes and jobs, but instead of shrinking away they were empowered by the Spirit to preach the word even as death stared them in the face.

Any man who risks his life, loses his job, home and maybe even his family, to bring me the good news is worthy of being followed. This had to be extremely difficult. This had to be heart-breaking, discouraging, even demoralizing so then Paul says:

Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

Why make ministering any more difficult than it was? I think one way of making it difficult was that they were begining to question them about Jesus’ ministry and the validity of the Gospel. They started to question if Jesus was really enough, which Paul explains quite clearly from Chapters 1-10. Many of these leaders had seen the gathering shrink (Heb 10:25) due to this questioning and persecution. So Paul admonishes them not to forsake the gathering (this isn’t church membership and tithing folks). They were probably hearing “if Jesus isn’t sufficient then why should we meet”.

So in closing, this is the type of example that is to be followed. These men stared death in the face and is spite of losing it all they continued to preach the wonderful sufficiency of the Lord Jesus. So this is relational, example like, servant leadership. Not men who have went to school and have been transplanted. Not men who have been accepted by a theological party, but men on their own initiative who would minister the Gospel regardless of the risk, most likely for FREE not at a salary package, not if you could only offer them enough money, not for gain! Those who had come to know Jesus were questioning them and began to make ministry hard for them. They may had begun to reconsider theri faith (this is why there are so many warnings in this book, warnings about falling away) so Paul encourages them by rebuking the Church and telling them to go outside the camp where Jesus bears the shame of sin! Not the safety of the Old Covenant that was powerless, obsolete and left void by God. To turn back meant nothing, to turn back was to be like Israel in Numbers 14, to turn back was to turn away from the very God that they say they wanted. No turning away wasn’t the option and these leaders most likely fought with them and reasoned with them and labored among them to show them the truth of Jesus Christ and the recipients of this letter had begun to ignore them.

If you really want to lead die! If you really want to die serve! If you don’t want to serve you don’t want to die, if you don’t want to die you don’t want to lead, at least not biblically. Dying to ourselves is the epitome of the Christian journey! Jesus gives many references to death, the most outstanding is the paradox of “picking up your cross and die daily”. It is quoted often in scripture but I think the communal aspect is missing in it. Jesus died for a community not individuals. Jesus purchased the Church with His blood, not individuals. A collective unit of predestined, foreknew, elect individuals that would make up the whole. Jesus purchased in bulk. So when we see the picking up our cross, we may need to look at it in a more communal aspect. But this is for a later post.

I want to focus on dying or as Paul says “the giving up of one’s self”. Here in Ephesians is where it is at:

25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,

We all know this verse and we quote the three before it with great ease. For the most part we can all quote this one. But what is the practical outworking of this? Here comes another confession. When I started to deal heavily in theology man I wanted my wife to join with me. As a matter of fact I couldn’t understand why she was not excited about my new found truth. I couldn’t understand why she didn’t want to read Desiring God, The Holiness of God, and The Five Points of Calvinism, Future Grace, and The Gospel According to Jesus, The Mortification of Sin, The Christian’s Great Interest, and definitely Dr. Grudem’s ST! I was starting the handle the word with a great precision. Got me a couple of good Concordances, Lexicons, Dictionaries, started to read a little work on Greek. And for the most part Charity wasn’t interested.

I started challenging her with the scripture, quizzing her with my knowledge, trying to engage her. Yeah I loved her! I was washing her with the word wasn’t I? I was faithful, I didn’t yell as much (unless we disagreed about a theological position). Sure I loved her. So then I jumped up a few verses and started reading those to her. “Wives submit”. Now I never realized until quite recently that as this letter was being read for the first time, whoever had the responsibility to read it would have looked over to the WIVES not the husbands. This verse doesn’t say “Husbands command your wives to submit to you as on to the Lord”. Never, ever, ever does Paul tell husbands to tell their wives to submit? This is key

You see Paul is speaking to the women about submitting, not husbands about wives submitting. It wasn’t my job to bring this to my wives attention; it is the Holy Spirits’. If I coerce, this isn’t voluntary it is under compulsion. So what I am to do? Paul says it quite clearly “model Christ”! Whatever Christ does for His bride I am to do for mine.

Practically this looks like a servant ministry. My job is to lead my wife by example. Not just any example the example of the Lord Jesus who said “the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many”. Jesus the Christ takes the INITIATIVE in serving. Jesus always gets the party started. Jesus pursues service! This is key so don’t miss me. He pursues the role of servant recklessly. He clothes himself in human flesh, lives a life of submission to His creation (His mother and father), lives to heal and minister to others, washes stinky feet, and then pursues the cross as the writer of Hebrews says “for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross”.

Husbands do you have the mind of Christ? Let me ask, when was the last time you decided to recklessly pursue a role of a servant to your wife? When was the last time you told her to go get her a pedicure while you took care of the kids? When was the last time you argued with her to put the broom and mop down and watch some Lifetime while you scrubbed the stool, swept and mopped the floors, vacuumed the carpet, dust and polish the furniture? When was the last time you told her to go hang with her girls while you grocery shop? Sent her on a trip and you take days off work to keep the kids? Offered her to sit down first while you feed the kids and bring her, her plate and cleaned the kids up and put them in the bath, after washing the dishes?

You see this is the leadership Jesus talks about. Leadership that is an emptying of one’s self for the benefit of the other, with no, and I do mean no, expectation of reciprocity. Jesus pursues us and serves us for our benefit, never for His. Jesus is no less glorious, Jesus is no less God, if He decided to stay in perfect union with the Father and let this world go to hell in a hand basket. He loses not one iota of glory. But He says this “no greater love has then this that a man lay down his life for his friends”. Jesus didn’t have to tell the disciple to submit, they saw Him model perfect submission to the Father and unconditional servant-like love towards them.

If you want to love your wife, pick up the mop and the broom. Take some time to relieve her of some of her duties. Put her feet in your hand as Jesus did His disciples! “Don’t look out for your own interests”. Pursue servant-hood recklessly! This is the leadership that Jesus the only begotten of the Father showed during His earthly ministry. Not a domineering, know it all! Not one who boasted about His leadership but one who boasted about serving. So to are we His friends if “we do what He says”. Lets love our wives by giving up ourselves. To be at their service, lets even “outdo each other in doing good”.