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Is There More Than One Way to Get to Heaven?

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:24:46 GMT

Ok. Who hasn’t heard this question? The easy answer for Christians who trust in the only known revelation of Christ (the Bible) is to quote Christ Himself:

“I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me.”

Case closed.

I don’t understand how anyone can call himself a Christian without trusting the Bible. If you say you believe in Christ and don’t trust the Bible, then on what basis can you say you believe in Christ and call yourself a Christian?

But the question is a poor one. It is theologically flawed and often asked of those who lack theological clarity of thought. It’s like asking a toddler if there is more than one way to get rich without doing anything. The correct answer for the toddler is, “No: inheritance is the only way,” as though a toddler knows what inheritance is. Not to mention that you haven’t discussed what “rich” means or that inheritance is a birthright of sorts so an heir was never without his inheritance.

Likewise, the question of ways to get to heaven bears certain clarification.

1. Is the question aimed at Christians? (i.e. Is there absolute truth?)

Non-Christians of different religions will have different ideas regarding this question. Considering that all the religions of the world teach what people must do to secure a favorable status either in this world or the next, it is true Christianity that teaches what God has done for us that we have not done for ourselves. (See clarification #4.)

Some non-Christians believe that their religion is true and Christianity is false. Many people are more willing to hold that what they want to believe is true but that what other people believe could be true too. They are afraid to be seen as judgmental and solve the dilemma by also believing that truth is not absolute. That is to say that what they want to believe is true isn’t necessarily true for everyone. They fail to realize that this is an utterly incoherent assertion because so many people are deluded enough to believe it. Ignorance loves company.

Of course truth is absolute. So the question is: what is true? If we believe there is a heaven to get to, then there must be a belief in the One whose throne resides therein. (See clarifications #2 and #5) Given this, can we ascertain that if we are to get to heaven, then the One who sits on the throne therein must have a communication to us that is discernibly unique in its writing, scope and capacity for authoritative self-reference. Only one such exists: the Christian Canon.

2. What is heaven? (i.e. What is the nature of infinite time?)

Different religions have different ideas of what the “afterlife” looks like. Muslim men get 2 rooms: one with 72 virgins and the other with trophies and riches. Muslim women get to be one of the 72 virgins. Mormon men look to being the heavenly Father of their own planet and have all kinds of wives to give them spirit babies to populate the planet. Mormon women look forward to being these wives. Hindus hope to be reincarnated until they achieve “nirvana” or union with god (Which god, I’m not sure. They have so many.) where they get to live in Ioka (heaven) for all time. Who god is and what heaven is really isn’t very certain in Hinduism. Buddhists don’t look forward to much except an enlightenment that has them believing about anything and everything, especially if it contradicts itself.

Christ told the thief on the cross that he would be with Him that day in paradise. Heaven is described in Revelation a huge cube, kinda like a Borg ship. (The imagery is highly symbolic given that much of Revelation is apocalyptic literature.) Christ made more than a few references to the “kingdom of God” or the “kingdom of heaven”. When He left, He went to “prepare a place”.

There is a sense in which orthodox Christianity holds to an existence in infinite time. A place where we know we will always be welcome and alive the day after tomorrow – no uncertainty, no pain, all of our needs met.

But eternity is only manifest in infinite time. Eternity is all that is absolute. We have eternal life available to us now. Therefore…

3. Is getting to heaven the goal of the Christian?

…the goal of the Christian is not simply getting to heaven. That’s a self-centered goal. It focuses on what we get out of the deal. But our focus must be on our Lord. Our goal is to be with Him wherever He goes. Wherever He goes, there is our paradise; there is our purpose.

4. Does “way” refer to justification or sanctification? (i.e. What is your soteriology?)

Many often think of “way” in terms of “how to” accomplish something. That is often the sense this question is understood. This is because most religions and people think in terms of what we need to do in order to secure our status with God.

Even many orthodox Christians can’t seem to get this idea out of their heads. The pat answer is that Christ is the only way to get to heaven. Well, what does that mean? That means that if we want to get to heaven we need to trust Christ. Well, what does trusting in Christ amount to? That’s the kicker.

Many start listing good things we need to do. We need to believe really, really hard – don’t pop a vessel in your head on account of the strain! We need to be nice to other people – except those sinners. Don’t have anything to do with them lest they lead you astray. Give them a tract and get back to the church before you get contaminated. Don’t cuss. Don’t drink. Don’t dance. Don’t wear that skirt that’s too short or that blouse that’s too low. Don’t get a tattoo. Don’t smoke. Don’t speed. Learn to pray out loud. Don’t marry people of the same sex and don’t even kiss until you’re married. Don’t pick your nose in public. Don’t burp. Don’t wear too much makeup. Don’t make your hair look funny colors unless you’re a little old lady and the color is blue. Don’t listen to rock music. Don’t stay up too late. Don’t stay out too late. I could go on and on. And if you don’t do these things you can’t say you have enough faith in Christ to get into heaven.

That’s the sad way most people think. Now many of these things are rather wise and godly things to pursue. Some of these things are just silly rules or that some churches have imposed on themselves. The fact is that these things do not result in trust. Faith in Christ is the result of the quickening of the Holy Spirit. Once we have this trust, we are more inclined to pursue those behaviors that honor and glorify God.

Faith in Christ is unto justification. It’s where our sins are forgiven. It’s an absolute fact. There is only one way (means) for justification: Jesus Christ, the logos / messiah / incarnation of God.

Those so justified are to grow in Christ. That means that we are to improve in our capacity to glorify Him. This is when good behavior becomes desirous. It’s not that I have to give up drinking, but that I WANT to give it up. It’s not that I have to give up gossip, but that I WANT to give it up. I may fail, but the desires of me heart increasingly grow toward God and the result is that I behave in ways that make the rest of the world wonder at what unseen Spirit is giving me power. That’s the glory of God.

This is called sanctification. Sanctification is different for everyone. It speaks to our unique circumstances as the Holy Spirit guides us moment by moment. There are no two paths alike. Did you read that?

So, there is only one way to heaven if you are talking about justification. There are no two ways to heaven if you are talking about sanctification. Here’s where deception can trickle in. The Deceiver may use the false idea that most of us have that we do good things to get to heaven, point to differences in sanctification between believers and use this to falsely argue that this amounts to different means of justification. That conclusion couldn’t be more wrong.

5. Who is God?

I could write books on who God is. The issue with asking if there is more than one way to get to heaven is that you are asking something about the nature of God, whether He is concerned about His creation. If He redeems us indiscriminately allowing us entrance without discipline, then we enter heaven not knowing our Creator. If we believe whatever we want to believe without learning who God really is, then how can we expect to have a good relationship with Him.

Rather, His method of redemption tells us a lot about Him so that we know Him well enough. He cares enough about us to educate us. To believe in any other way is to ignore His education and discipline. Nevertheless, we know that his children will desire to understand as much as they can.

I hope that clears things up a little.

Double Kidney Exchange

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 23:46:24 GMT

A family I know has recently made the news with a medical first for our area. It's called "Paired donation".

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Ryan and Elizabeth Cress are siblings. I've watched them grow up and we have been praying for a kidney for Ryan for a few years now. May God have all the glory for the medical knowledge that allowed this exchange.

The Fairness of God - Being Fair to Others

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 17:34:07 GMT

By request from ionekoa, I'm expounding on a comment I made on a recent post by cotton_candy_confetti. Specifically, I will address two questions:

Is God fair?
If he's not fair, does that mean that life and love are not fair?

First, what does "fair" mean from Houghton-Mifflin:

fair ¹ �� (f�r) KEY �

ADJECTIVE:
fair�er , fair�est

Of pleasing appearance, especially because of a pure or fresh quality; comely.
1. Light in color, especially blond: fair hair.
2. Of light complexion: fair skin.
Free of clouds or storms; clear and sunny: fair skies.
Free of blemishes or stains; clean and pure: one's fair name.
Promising; likely: We're in a fair way to succeed.
1. Having or exhibiting a disposition that is free of favoritism or bias; impartial: a fair mediator.
2. Just to all parties; equitable: a compromise that is fair to both factions.
Being in accordance with relative merit or significance: She wanted to receive her fair share of the proceeds.
Consistent with rules, logic, or ethics: a fair tactic.
Moderately good; acceptable or satisfactory: gave only a fair performance of the play; in fair health.
Superficially true or appealing; specious: Don't trust his fair promises.
Lawful to hunt or attack: fair game.
Archaic Free of all obstacles.

ADVERB:

In a proper or legal manner: playing fair.
Directly; straight: a blow caught fair in the stomach.

TRANSITIVE VERB:
faired , fair�ing , fairs

To join (pieces) so as to be smooth, even, or regular: faired the aircraft's wing into the fuselage.

NOUN:

Archaic A beautiful or beloved woman.
Obsolete Loveliness; beauty.

PHRASAL VERB:
fair off Chiefly Southern U.S. or up

To become clear. Used of weather.

IDIOMS:
fair and square

Just and honest.

for fair

To the greatest or fullest extent possible: Our team was beaten for fair in that tournament.

no fair

Something contrary to the rules: That was no fair.

ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English, from Old English f�ger, lovely, pleasant

OTHER FORMS:
fairness (Noun)

SYNONYMS:
fair ¹ , just ¹ , equitable , impartial , unprejudiced , unbiased , objective , dispassionate

These adjectives mean free from favoritism, self-interest, or preference in judgment. Fair is the most general: a fair referee; a fair deal. Just stresses conformity with what is legally or ethically right or proper: "a just and lasting peace" (Abraham Lincoln). Equitable implies justice dictated by reason, conscience, and a natural sense of what is fair: an equitable distribution of gifts among the children. Impartial emphasizes lack of favoritism: "the cold neutrality of an impartial judge" (Edmund Burke). Unprejudiced means without preconceived opinions or judgments: an unprejudiced evaluation of the proposal. Unbiased implies absence of a preference or partiality: gave an unbiased account of her family problems. Objective implies detachment that permits impersonal observation and judgment: an objective jury. Dispassionate means free from or unaffected by strong emotions: a dispassionate reporter. See also Synonyms at average, beautiful.
Regional Note:
American folk speech puts Standard English to shame in its wealth of words for describing weather conditions. When the weather goes from fair to cloudy, New Englanders say that it's "breedin' up a storm" (Maine informant in the Linguistic Atlas of New England). If the weather is clear, however, a New Englander might call it open. Southern fair off and fair up, meaning "to become clear," were originally Northeastern terms and were brought to the South as settlement expanded southward and westward. They are now "regionalized to the South," according to Craig M. Carver, author of American Regional Dialects. These phrases may have prompted the coining of milding and milding down, noted respectively in Texas and Virginia by the Dictionary of American Regional English.

The word is almost as diverse in its meaning as "life" and "love". In older English it was used to indicate things that were agreeable (i.e. aesthetics, good weather), but was never applied to equitable judgments. Only when equitable judgments were seen as agreeable did people so begin to apply the word.

That's why, when I ask my oldest son to clean up a mess my youngest son made he replies with "that's not fair." He's right. It's not. It's still right for him to clean it up. We take care of our own when our own are unable. It would be fair for a new mother to let her baby change its own diaper, but it wouldn't be right.

For sinners, it would be fair if we spent eternity being torched and eaten by worms. If God so chose, it would be right for Him to do so. So why wouldn't it be right for a mother to leave her infant to fend for himself? Answer: she's not God. Why is it right for her to do what is unfair? Because God does what is unfair and asks us to imitate it to His glory. When we do what is right, although it is unfair, God gets the glory.

All Christians should know that we must desire to give of ourselves sacrificially to others as Christ gave Himself sacrificially on the cross for us. It's not fair, and God calls us to behave unfairly. To be clear, we commonly see fairness as a positive trait and unfairness as a negative trait. Indeed it is unfair that an evil rich man takes something of value possessed by a poor man. Likewise, it is unfair that a poor man takes something of value possessed by a rich man. Both possess that which God has given them. If a rich man got his gain unfairly, then it will be to his judgment. It is not the poor man's place to exact that judgment for his own gain. But it is not fair if the rich man gives to the poor man what the poor man has not earned in order to assist the poor man. That is the sort of unfair that Christians are to be about. That is a positive unfair.

I'm as conservative as the day is long, but there is a principle by which Christians who are conservative in theology and alive in Christ must behave as though they are liberal socially. That's not to say that we hold the view for example that women must be allowed to kill their unborn children or that homosexuality is not to be vilified as a sin. It does mean that women who kill their children and homosexuals are to be served according to their needs and offered the unfair forgiveness that God has provided on the cross for those who have been given to trust in Him. It also means that I willingly give of my abundance for those in physical need being thankful for and content with that which God has given. I trust God in this act of imitating Him rather than the government.

Christ links and defines life and godly love in one simple statement:

Greater love has no one that this, that one lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

There is nothing fair about this. There is everything gracious and righteous about it. Cotton_candy_confetti's post referred to a relationship she had once had with a man that she could possibly have again. The situation she finds herself in is difficult because of the unknowns. This is a more common example of what we would call "life". It's the difficulties we experience commonly as human beings living in a sinful world. Even our best relationships are broken as a result of the fall. We do not experience the level of sociological intimacy that Adam and Eve had with the Lord as well as with each other before they sought a false god who promised wisdom but robbed them of life.

God demands equity in justice. The penalty for sin is death. Many have died, will die, and indeed are dead as a result of this. They will suffer eternally in hell paying the price for their transgressions. We all deserve this. That's fair. But God is not fair. He offers grace, and this in the act of His Son on the cross paying the penalty for those who trust Him. That's the pinnacle of love - God's love for us.

He asks us to love Him likewise. We are to be willing to give our lives for Him inasmuch as He gave His life for us. Given that He has created all people in His image, we are to revere Him in others. We are to love others with that same unfair sacrificial living and giving as Christ loved us. That means we are to love in practical ways until it hurts in practical ways. In this God is glorified.

For cotton_candy_confetti this means that it's unfair if she never gets her man. It also means that it's unfair if she gets him, for she needs to serve him until it hurts - and he needs to serve her until it hurts. That's not fair. It never is. It's not supposed to be.

John Piper on Spiritual Depression

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:42:43 GMT

Psalm 42

BOOK II : Psalms 42-72

For the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah.

1 As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, O God.

2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?

3 My tears have been my food
       day and night,
       while men say to me all day long,
       "Where is your God?"

4 These things I remember
       as I pour out my soul:
       how I used to go with the multitude,
       leading the procession to the house of God,
       with shouts of joy and thanksgiving
       among the festive throng.

5 Why are you downcast, O my soul?
       Why so disturbed within me?
       Put your hope in God,
       for I will yet praise him,
       my Savior and 6 my God.
       My soul is downcast within me;
       therefore I will remember you
       from the land of the Jordan,
       the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.

7 Deep calls to deep
       in the roar of your waterfalls;
       all your waves and breakers
       have swept over me.

8 By day the LORD directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.

9 I say to God my Rock,
       "Why have you forgotten me?
       Why must I go about mourning,
       oppressed by the enemy?"

10 My bones suffer mortal agony
       as my foes taunt me,
       saying to me all day long,
       "Where is your God?"

11 Why are you downcast, O my soul?
       Why so disturbed within me?
       Put your hope in God,
       for I will yet praise him,
       my Savior and my God.

Taken from the NIV

I need passages like this more often than I would like to admit. This is a good sermon by John Piper:

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You can read the transcription of the full message here. I'm a guy, so I like to cut to the bottom line "how to's". From the sermon:

How the Psalmist Responds to Discouragement

1. He asks God Why?
2. He affirms God’s sovereign love.
3. He sings!
4. He preaches to his own soul.
5. He remembers past experiences.
6. He thirsts for God.

The thing I notice is that God understand that we will go through times of spiritual turmoil - and it's okay: not that we should dwell there, but that we should continue in truth and not be overcome by the struggle, whether the enemy is a physical one or spiritual one.

Looking for Blessings on Father's Day

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 22:43:58 GMT

Happy Father's Day to my fellow fathers. I hope you are as blessed by your families as I am with mine. I got to relax today and feed my kids tonight. That means I read the Bible to them. This is important because of what I was reminded.

Have you ever spent all day with small children and no other adults? At the end of the day you are hungry for adult interaction. The children have no clue as to what you need with other adults. For the sake of comparison lets use the simple definition of IQ as being your mental age (times 100) divided by your chronological age. That means that the average IQ for your age (and other demographic categories) is 100. For the sake of comparison If you are 20 and dealing with 5-year-olds, the difference from your age is a 75 point difference. In other words, most 5-year-olds have an IQ of about 25 from the standpoint of most 20-year-olds.

Beyond 20, the age formula doesn't work very well. How, for example, do you test an exceptionally intelligent 50-year-old? His elders are increasingly geriatric and starting to have short-term memory loss. Statistical trends are calculated for adults of varying ages and scores mapped on the good old fashioned bell curve.

So, among adults, what's the difference between an adult of average IQ and one of exceptional IQ, of perhaps 175+. (The statistics become exponentially inaccurate the farther you get from 100. 90% of all people have an IQ between 90 and 110 and only 2% of the people have an IQ above about 132) The difference in intelligence is the same 75-point spread. There's a difference of maturity, for sure. However, the average adult could not understand the need for socialization among the exceptionally intelligent any more than 5-year-olds can understand the need for an adult to interact with other adults.

God challenges His children on the level we need to be challenged. You don't give a 2-year-old a polynomial equation to salve, much less a vector field to analyze. You show him an animal and teach him what the animal sounds like. A physicist has the problem of developing formulas in an attempt to reconcile macroscopic physics and quantum mechanics, which could result in a new cosmology. God challenges His people with giving up sin. For the pre-teen, his may be an attitude of respecting his parents that may be foremost on God's agenda. For an older believer, it may be despair in seeing a certain ministry fail. For the very intelligent, it may be a conflict between having faith soteriologically, but lacking it ecclesiologically or ministerially through the juxtaposition of dubious intentions.

The lesson tonight was from Exodus. We read how God hardened Pharaoh's heart against the Israelites. Luke asked why God had to harden his heart. Why couldn't He just make Pharaoh let them go? I replied with a question: Why would they want to leave?

Well, I'm not going anywhere - except to the beach next weekend before my family leaves for Venezuela. I did consider leaving all activity in a ministry I care deeply about today. But the lesson from the passage was that trials will come. We are to look for the blessings in the trials rather than the curses. The Hebrews complained about Moses and Aaron talking to Pharaoh because things got bad for them. God had His blessing for them and they were on the verge of denying the answer to their prayers for the difficulty they had to endure in the fulfillment of those prayers. All they saw was the curse.

Trials will come. God will not test us beyond what we are able. Let us remember to look for the blessing rather than the curse.

Amazing Grace - The Movie

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:27:06 GMT

Amazing Grace was a good movie as movies go. It depicts an important step in western civilization: the abolition of slavery in England. Cinematographically, it was well done. I think it was particularly well-written also. However, I'm a bit of a cynic when it comes to Hollywood. I know how insidious people can be when weaving arguments for worldviews into stories and messages. I sometimes do it myself, of course (I especially leave codes and hidden allusions for those with the wits to discover them). This is an example of the things I think when I watch movies.

Historical movies are most often made to argue for political positions on current events. This is why they are sometimes revisionistic. I don't know enough of the history of William Wilburforce to comment accurately on this particular movie in that regard. But I can comment on how this bears on current events.

This movie predates the revelation of Barack Obama's association with Black Liberation Theology. The events of the movie are predicated on the correct notion that civil activism and Christian devotion are not mutually exclusive. However, not all civil activism is good. The difference is in the truth. The lack of absolute truth is an untenable consideration. If truth exists, then it is reasonable to consider that the Creator of truth wants us to know the truth. Therefore, we can surmise that truth is knowable.

We stand condemned by the truth because we have not followed the truth. Therefore, there are a considerable number of people who yet deny the truth, because they do not desire to submit to it once they admit to knowing what the truth is. Unfortunately, many of these are the political activists of today.

In the movie, political tension was drawn between abolition and economic stability. Today, the same tension is framed between proposed measures used to address global warming and economic stability. There is an implied equivocation therefore between abolition and global warming. The two are not equal. Slavery was happening. Global warming has not been demonstrated to be occurring as the political activists purport, much less that it has anything much to do with human activity. The science is misreported and sometimes contrived. There is hardly a consensus among scientists.

At the end of the movie, William Wilburforce is contrasted with Napoleon. Wilburforce is upheld as a great man of peace; Napoleon as a great man of violence. In the year prior to an election where one President is vilified for proactive protection from a serious threat by taking the fight away from American soil, it seems likely that the writers are drawing implicit parallels between President Bush and the Democrat Party, although the key differences (Napoleon was an offensive conqueror, Bush responded offensively to an attack by religious-political terrorists) are ignored.

William Wilburforce did a great thing. His actions cannot be likened to liberal political activists of today. Yet this is the sort of literature that gradually changes the overall popular thinking. Now, how many of you would have caught these things? These were only a sampling of what I saw in this one movie. There are many more movies that seek to inform and sway our presuppositions. Be aware of them.

To Eliminate the Desires of the Flesh

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 17:17:35 GMT

I have bad news for my readers. I’m a sinner. No, it’s true. Since you know this, you probably shouldn’t be reading what I have to say. What’s that? You say “everyone is a sinner”? Aw c’mon. We know that this is only theoretical, right? I’m an actual sinner. I’ve committed actual sins in my life. I know some people out there who haven’t actually sinned – ever… Right? I mean, we’re all sinners because of original sin. Even if you don’t sin, you still need salvation. So, surely all the people I know who act like they’ve never sinned before… well… surely many of them have never sinned. Ok, maybe they told a white lie when they were 8 years old or stole a cookie out of the cookie jar when they were 5. But they’ve never done anything major like prideful boasting, slander, unwarranted anger, cursing or ignoring the needs of the “least of these”. They haven’t even taken so much as a sip of wine lest it be a sin. I haven’t even mentioned the real biggies like adultery, hard drugs, witchcraft and murder.

Well, I was not one of these mild sinners. I once sought satisfaction for the desires of my flesh from the world rather than from God. When God brought me back to Himself, He miraculously removed desires one by one. He didn’t remove all of them. It’s one thing to say, “He removed the desire to be inebriated so I wouldn’t get drunk anymore,” because we don’t need to be inebriated. It’s another to say, “He removed the desire to eat so I wouldn’t be a glutton,” because I still need to eat something and it helps to crave the foods I need. You see, there’s a fuzzy line there when you talk about the “desires of the flesh.” Let me ‘splain:

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. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Galatians 5:16-24 ESV

We are instructed in the Ten Commandments not to covet. But Paul’s admonition is not to refrain from desiring. In fact, nowhere is there command to stop desiring. There is a difference between covet and desire. It’s the difference between intention and inclination.

The way to handle the desires of our flesh is not to satisfy them with the world, but to find our satisfaction in God. That means we must subject our desires to His truth, His will. We need our desires to some extent, but sin has distorted the things of this world and our desires are likewise distorted by sin. The truth of God helps us recognize the need our desires are ideally intended to address and deny the sin we may be tempted to pursue as a result of their distortion.

To pursue the desires of the flesh outside of the will of God is to commit acts of sin. For example, sexual desire is intended for pleasure and procreation only within a marital covenant. This is spiritually aligned with God’s desire for us and as such is a spiritual desire. Outside a marital covenant, sexual desire is distorted to be spiritually aligned with death or separation from God. This is fleshly desire. Spiritual desire is acted out in the temporal, but is rooted in the eternal. The desire of the flesh is rooted in the temporal to the exclusion of the eternal.

In this fallen world, the manifestation of desire in our bodies between the spirit and the flesh is physiologically indistinguishable. That’s why the difference is in our intention, not in whether we have a desire or not. God may graciously give us reprieve from some desires of the flesh, but allow us to struggle with others. We should rejoice over the struggle, for the Spirit of God is active within us, and recognize His purpose to strengthen us and build us up. Victory is when we are strengthened and bear the fruit of the Spirit.

More Random Thoughts

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:23:02 GMT

Here are a few more random, unconnected, unfinished thoughts…

John Piper posted a list the other day on why he doesn’t take pot shots at fundamentalists. It’s a great list and worthy of consideration because it puts into practice the I Corinthians admonishments regarding unity in the Body of Christ. I spent a few years running from God. When He brought me back, I was adopted by a family of wild fundamentalists. It was the stark contrast I needed to the life of sin I had been practicing to show me what God had put to death in my life and what real life was. Here’s the list:

They are humble and respectful and courteous and even funny (the ones I've met).
They believe in truth.
They believe that truth really matters.
They believe that the Bible is true, all of it.
They know that the Bible calls for some kind of separation from the world.
They have backbone and are not prone to compromise principle.
They put obedience to Jesus above the approval of man (even though they fall short, like others).
They believe in hell and are loving enough to warn people about it.
They believe in heaven and sing about how good it will be to go there.
Their "social action" is helping the person next door (like Jesus), which doesn't usually get written up in the newspaper.
They tend to raise law-abiding, chaste children, in spite of the fact that Barna says evangelical kids in general don't have any better track record than non-Christians.
They resist trendiness.
They don't think too much is gained by sounding hip.
They may not be hip, but they don't go so far as to drive buggies or insist on typewriters.
They still sing hymns.
They are not breathless about being accepted in the scholarly guild.
They give some contemporary plausibility to New Testament claim that the church is the "pillar and bulwark of the truth."
They are good for the rest of evangelicals because of all this.
My dad was one.
Everybody to my left thinks I am one. And there are a lot of people to my left.

What I find interesting is that for theological conservatives, we recognize those who deny the veracity of key elements of Christian orthodoxy as “liberals” while calling ourselves “conservatives”. “Fundamentalists” are those who are theologically conservative who tend toward legalistic trappings or appearances.

Most liberals don’t call themselves “liberals”. They call themselves “moderates”. They call conservatives “fundamentalists” and make no distinction between adherence to Christian theological orthodoxy and overt behavioral legalism. Use of the term “moderate” implies that there is some group much farther left that they don’t agree with. The problem is that if there are, they generally don’t acknowledge them. They certainly don’t criticize them like they criticize those they consider to be “fundamentalists”. As such, their intent seems to be to reframe the argument semantically in an attempt to move mainstream thinking ever leftward.

These same “moderates” would have been happy to leave me in my former sin. Thank God for the fundies.

Another one from Desiring God references a Piper sermon on “Spiritual Depression in the Psalms”. I’ve talked about depression before, but this is something I’m still processing. The question I ask myself is why do we treat depression like it is a spiritual weakness?

“You have emotional issues? You must not be very spiritually mature.”
“I have emotional issues. I can’t let anyone know about it because then they’ll think I’m not a very mature Christian and ostracize me.”
or… “I have emotional issues. People will patronize me or not know how to interact with me.”

Actually, all of these are fairly accurate. However, none of them are indicative of attitudes that are becoming of a healthy Body of Christ. A good church recognizes the truth. Truth alone does not good ministry make. Sacrificial service in love does. There’s a lady who has been visiting our church. She’s been tangentially active, but has had some issues in her life. She’s open about the fact that she’s had a nervous breakdown, but most people are unwilling to sit and listen to her – so I do.

Spiritual depression, severe stress and emotional needs are characteristic of many of the first-person view in the Psalms. In this fallen world, this is normal. The church above all should be the first to recognize and offer comfort and direction for this. You can’t do this unless you are transparent enough to offer your own struggles. However, this is viewed as weak and not becoming of good leadership.

I don’t have any admonitions here; this is just where I am in considering these things.

We (Christians) are gifts. Ok, we have received the gift of eternal life, but we are gifts to the Son by the Father. (John 17)

The question was asked, “What kind of gift am I?” I saw a commercial the other day. I think it was for an insurance company or some such. An old car, a classic that needed a lot of restoration work, was being bought and attached to the back of a truck.

The announcer came on and said something to the effect that “There’s nothing like towing a ‘new’ car home.” I imagine that’s what kind of gifts we are.

Perhaps we can imagine the Son saying to the Father, “Couldn’t you clean them up a little bit?”

The Father replies, “I have given them to you. It’s up to you to clean them up.”

I don’t mean to mischaracterize the relationship between the Father and the Son. No analogy is perfect. But I got a kick out of thinking that God saw fit to not only give me a gift that I do not deserve, but to consider me a gift fit for the Son.

PFC Ross McGuinnis was awarded the Medal of Honor a few days ago posthumously. He gave his life for his fellow soldiers in an act that, given fuse times of grenades, took a scant second or two to perform. He didn’t have time to think about it in that moment. Rather, in order to react as he did, he would have thought about it and made that decision ahead of time.

Dealing with sin is an act of living sacrifice. We can’t wait until temptation strikes to make the decision. It’s too late by then. We make the decision what to do when tempted ahead of time. Given the insidious nature of temptation, we must realize that our lives here are to be characterized with a trust in God that desperately clings to Him moment by moment not unlike a soldier who in the heat of battle desperately clings to his weapons and armament, and looks to his fellow soldiers for support and commander for guidance.

Trusting God in Suffering

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 14:30:03 GMT

I remember a day when kids were encouraged to dream big. There was a time when one could hope to do well enough to be the President of the United States. The American Dream was that anything was possible. We had hope. In many ways, we still do. However, it's waning.

I'm sitting here glancing at the photos of past trips to Venezuela where we've played with the children. Our hope is to share the gospel with them and plant seeds of spiritual growth - the hope of the gospel. Some dare to believe and come right up to greet us. Others are tentative, only daring to hope after a while. The pictures I see are of children with varying degrees of hope in their eyes.

I ask myself, what hope do they have? Could they grow up to be the president of Venezuela? Do that have hope like that? Is their environment one that encourages people to dream big? Do they see people who work hard and create wealth for themselves and the society at large?

But there is a greater hope. President of any country is a small thing compared to being a child of the Creator.

Last night I read Exodus 1 and Psalm 79 with my kids. I don't plan our readings ahead so much as we just go through the Bible systematically. We got to the end of Genesis. Psalm 78 was a good overview of the OT history to come, so we went on to Exodus instead of bouncing up to the Gospel of Mark, which was the other simple option.

In Exodus 1, the Hebrews have a bad turn of events in Egypt. Formerly they were honored guests in Egypt. Now, they are enslaved by the Egyptians under the control of Pharaoh. Pharaoh feared the Hebrews who were growing in number. Through Joseph's leadership, he inherited ownership of the Egyptians. Perhaps he also feared the foreigners in his land who were not his to command. In any case, things got bad for the Hebrews. Pharaoh ordered newborn boys killed at birth, which the midwives disobeyed.

In Psalm 79 we read about how Israel was destroyed and Judah taken into captivity. Jerusalem was reduced to rubble in the first verse. The overall message of the psalm is that God is our deliverer and avenger.

I like to make things real for my kids. It's one thing to say that Jerusalem was destroyed, many people killed, and most of the rest enslaved. It's one thing to say that your unborn brother was to be killed when he was born. After all, it's just a piece of boring history. Things aren't like that today, we are tempted to think. It's another thing to realize that China has forced abortions. How can the Chinese government do this? Simple: They own the people.

How about entire villages that are leveled and infrastructures that are destroyed? People killed? Many taken into captivity? Where is this happening today? Sudan. So I bring it home to my kids. An enemy comes and destroys much of the United States. Our house is burned to the ground. Our church is reduced to rubble. Our town is a pile of smoldering debris. Many of the people we know are either dead or captured and taken away never to be seen again. How do you feel? Where do you turn? There is no hope. All the things we place our trust in, like the safety accorded us by the presence of the police department, fire department and ambulance service, are gone. We can't even pick up the phone to call a friend.

We must be comforted by the fact that these things are only reliable for a season. The message for the Hebrews then is the message God gives us in the Psalm. He is the only one worthy to be trusted for all things. Even if we lose our life, we gain it through the One who created it to begin with. He is never surprised by our suffering and He uses our suffering to turn our hearts to Him. May we do so.

Safety in the Workplace

Fri, 30 May 2008 11:18:51 GMT

Forgive my pride. My plant has done very well in recent years. Kewaunee Scientific Corporation has received the Certificate of Safety Achievement from the North Carolina Department of Labor for the fifth consecutive year. Last year, when we received it for the 4th year we were to understand that it was a first in North Carolina. Needless to say, a fifth year is quite an accomplishment. Kewaunee has four manufacturing groups and a distribution center. My group produces and fabricates solid-surface chemical-resistant work surfaces and sinks for fume hoods, benches (counter tops for cabinet assemblies) and tables. We also produce and fabricate liner for fume hoods and acid units and cut float glass for the other plants. The Resin Plant has distinguished itself for going injury-free for seventeen months now.

So they recognized us and awarded us with nice shirts, cupcakes and a photo op. Here are the people I keep busy every day:

The Plant manager, Clint Webber, is the tallest guy in the back on the left. I'm just in from the right about the third row back. Slightly obscured to the left of me is Keith Smith, the VP of manufacturing. I've worked with him since he was a lowly manufacturing engineer in the metal plant. My "secretary", Gary, is the big guy on the far left. Not pictured are the three amigos on second shift. If Clint gets their picture tonight, I'll update this with it.

Some of these people are Christian. A few are strong, but many are nominally so. A few follow a false gospel. Of the three ladies in the front, the one in the center is Carla, a strong sister in Christ. She doesn't tire of bearing the gospel to many of these people daily. Just behind her to her left and right is Tim and Ned. Ned is a deacon in his church and Tim is the pastor of a small country church. So, thank God that we have remained safe in the place we work. Pray for those who don't know Christ at all, but also for those who think they do, but could know Him better (hey, that could include me).

In any case, I count myself blessed to work among all these people.