Monday, December 25, 2006

Ignorance

"Ignorance is generally confident, because it is ignorant;" - JN Darby.

What a great quote.

With most Christian Blogs likely posting today about the unimaginable virgin birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ I thought I'd take a different approach.

The subject of Almighty God actually coming to Earth and taking on human flesh is amazing. Almighty, limitless God put on the limits of being a human being. The Word says He came to Earth to learn obedience. He came here to be tempted in every way. It wasn't that He was ever disobedient, He wasn't. He always did the will of the Father. But He learned by the experience of it about how we live. This is how He prepared to be our Great Mediator in Heaven. There is nothing that we go through in our lives that His life didn't prepare Him to speak to the Father on our behalf about.

Think of it this way. Look down at a group of worms moving about in the mud. They have a great deal of limitations compared to us as humans. Imagine loving them enough that you would become one of them. To surrender all the abilities you have as a human and become like them. Then imagine the experience of it. You would know what it was like to be human, but now you would also know what it's like to be a worm. Imagine Almighty, limitless God becoming like us. To "live among us". Which is what the title Immanuel means.

Yes Christ came to earth to be the ultimate and final sacrifice for sin. And He was born in the shadow of the Cross. His full purpose was to save us. Hence God the Father chose the name Jesus or "Jehovah Saves" for Him. But the first sacrifice Christ made was to give up the Glory of Heaven to become limited flesh. A babe. Hungry, cold, dependent on parents to protect and provide for Him.

That we don't think of this part of His life here with us in this way really agrees with the rest of John Darby's quote which comes from the Preface to his multi-volume work "Synopsis of the Books of the Bible". Here is the quote in full;

"Ignorance is generally confident, because it is ignorant; and such is the mind of man in dealing with the things of God. The writer must be forgiven for speaking plainly in these days on this point. The pretensions of infidel reason infect even Christians." - JN Darby.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

We've Taken Too Much

Thursday evening I had the privilege of meeting Dan. He basically just walked up to my wife and I as we were loading groceries into our truck. So I gave him a tract. :) Dan had severe leg pain, but was very interested in the tract I had just given him. He had been struggling with God and religion for a long time. He was very wary of discussing it with me at first but I knew the Spirit was in control so I just pressed on.

Dan asked me about what church I was with. He said it this way. "What church is this?"

Those four words reveal the state of Christdom (all people who say they are Christian) in North America. Church members go to and fro talking to people about "church" and asking for donations and pressing them about getting up Sunday morning to come to a building full of people doing something completely foreign to this world.

Is it any surprise people are wary? I mean really.

When Dan found out I wasn't representing any church building, I didn't want anything from him, but that I was deeply interested in where he was at then and only then did he relax and decide to work this issue through with me. Right there in the parking lot of a grocery store.

You can't tell me people aren't interested. That they avoid the topic. People are DEEPLY interested in where they are going after they die. Everyone wants to go to Heaven, it's just most of them don't want God to be there when they get to it.

Christians stop asking people for money for your buildings and your programs and your whatever you do. Stop it. It's a shame! We are told to GIVE the Good News of Reconciliation to every person on this planet. There is a biblical way to do it for sure. But we are not to be asking non-believers for money or their time.

People who are blind and headed for Hell do not want to come to "church". They know nothing of God. God Himself says that if a man is not Born Again he can not even SEE the Kingdom of God. Why then ask someone who knows nothing of God to come to a building to worship Him? It won't make sense to the poor person. Make them understand their state before a Holy and Just God. Do so lovingly but firmly. You do not have the right to judge them, but it is your responsibility to ask them the questions which the Holy Spirit will use to reach their conscience. THEN when they understand, for maybe the first time in their life, the exceeding sinfulness of their sin. Then give them the Grace of the Gospel of Christ Jesus risen from death and seated on High. Only then will it make sense to them.

Then you leave it in God's hands. You respond as the Holy Spirit prompts you and NOT in your prideful flesh that will demand you be "right" and the other person "wrong".

Dan was desperate to know the things of God. But he would never have listened to the truth from someone who wanted to take him to their church. Please, please Church, (the global assembly of true Christians) please, reach for souls to save them from the Fire. Once they are saved, they will actually want to fellowship. You won't have to beg them to come to church, they will want to.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Does This Scare You?

I had the chance to read a few posts over at the blog Debunking Christianity this evening. If you call yourself a Christian but you're afraid to mingle with those who vehemently appose Christianity then you've got some growth to do.

These are just people, and no matter what they say or do you ought to know you yourself have said and done just as bad or worse.

So many Christians have this idea that we're better than other people. Well guess what we are not better. And if we actually READ the Bible that we are so quick to tell everyone else to read we'd know this truth.

Blogs like Debunking Christianity are great places to meet people and engage them in real conversations. If you don't know what you're talking about then stay away until you're prepared. And if you know you're not prepared then get prepared.

Globally the world is moving into a "post Christian" era. For those of us who actually read more than a couple of verses in the Bible this is not at all a surprise. And you know what it's GOING to get worse. We are not going to save this world. We are not going to have some mass revival where everyone loves Jesus. That's not the job of the Church. We are here to preach the Good News. Those whom He has chosen will respond.

Now for those who are scared of the kind of objections you'll find from non-believers - please get over yourselves. God truly IS God Almighty, Creator, and Judge. If you really think He might be wrong about something then you need to address your own faith before you preach to anyone else.

But IS faith in the Bible and the God it reveals unreasonable? No it's not. In fact, when looked at through the eyes of science (ALL disciplines) and logic it is the most reasonable thing you'll find in this life. I say this with complete confidence. As a former skeptic myself.

Hopefully some of the people from Debunking Christianity will visit here. They may very well have nasty things to post in the comments. It's ok. Really it is. And none of my normal readers should be offended by their posts. Here's why -

If a blind man was in your living room and bumped into your coffee table, knocked over a drink and it stained your rug would you be upset with him? THAT would be unreasonable. Those who do not have faith are blind. They must battle their pride and fears in their own strength. We often forget what that was like, and we ought to spend more time with these people so we can remember it.

Check the links on the left here to get prepared to speak to people. Remember, most have been taught what to think not how to think. And what they've been taught to think is wrong. In fact it's normally so wrong that a child can see it once shown.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Compromise Is Not Unity

Compromise can be the single most helpful tool when two entities (people, organizations...) can't come to an agreement on something. It's sometimes referred to as "give and take".

I'm going to simplify all the "big issues" into something few of us would actually argue about in order to make my point. Imagine this if you will. We (you the readers and myself) are a group of math professors who seek to keep the study of math honorable. There are two math professors. They come from different schools but they both claim to love math. They both have invested much study to come to their own position about the problem of what does 2+2 equal.

See one says the following, 2+2=4. He has evidence, and logic that I tend to agree with. When I look at his work it has the ring of truth to it.

The other says 2+2=3. He has evidence and logic as well. Some of it even makes sense to most people. Some of it seems a bit confusing but he has put a lot of work into his position AND he is a professor of math.

As time progresses the conversation between the two gets heated. They have not come to an agreement yet and someone cries "Compromise!!!!!!!!!! We must get along if we are to be honorable. What will the world think if they see us fighting among ourselves like this?" Soon many are crying the same thing. A quick poll is held and it reveals that most of us have not studied the issue of 2+2 and even fewer of us think it's immediately important what the real answer is.

It's decided to compromise on the issue, in order to keep the integrity of our organization in tact. It's decided that the issue can not be known and so we ought not discuss it because it causes division. People from all over our organization rejoice. It's said this wisdom will herald an age of unity and help us to build a solid front of one accord to present to the world!

Did we do what was right? Do we now have unity? Or have we simply buried our heads in the sand and decided to have everyone be a little bit wrong instead of everyone being completely right? The Truth is 2+2=4, and it's not hard to know. We simply have to be willing to stop false teachers and seek after that which is true. False teachers no matter how smart and loving they might be must be addressed or there can never be true unity.

In the global body of people who profess faith in Christ Jesus there is little unity. But if we look at Matt 13 this shouldn't be a surprise. Jesus said there would be false converts everywhere and that we wouldn't be able to root them out. There IS a core, a REAL Body of Christ - the Church of the Living God buried in this field that is the world. It is hidden right now but there IS unity in her.

If you find yourself studying something that is hard to understand and you can't find unity on it. Please do not give up. God wants unity in the Church. He requires that we be unified in accord with the Truth and that we proclaim it so. The Apostle Paul exhorted Timothy in I & II Timothy to keep doctrine pure and taught. Please lets all do the same. It surely can be painful, but why shouldn't it be? Men through the ages have been willing to die for the truth of this doctrine. Ought we not at least be willing to seek after it???

Monday, December 04, 2006

Acidental Witnessing

Well had a collision in today's fun snow storm and grid lock traffic. The nice thing was very little damage was done to either vehicle and no one was hurt. The best thing was that the other driver got a Gospel tract!!

When he gets home he can say to his wife "Hey Honey, I ran into this evangelist tonight." hehehe

Sunday, December 03, 2006

The Nativity Story

Well I have to say I'm impressed. The movie holds it's own with other top Hollywood productions and stays very close to the Biblical record at the same time.

There are a couple of obvious missing points, such as the host of angels sinning when Gabriel told the shepherds where to find Jesus. And, that the wise men decide not to return to Herod of their own accord instead of being told not to by the angel.

Then there are two other things that "bothered" me. Not enough to keep me from recommending the movie though. One is Gabriel is always seen as a bird when he comes or goes. The other is the explanation of the star. They show it as three stars coming together. To my knowledge (or the lack there of) there were no three stars which converged at the time.. however this could be because I've not studied it.

The movie brought me to tears at one point. And it was wonderful to see Mary portrayed as a human instead of some figure of God. She's a normal woman who obeys God and has to deal with the reality of it. It's great to see them become a married couple and see their love and respect grow.

All in all, we're recommending it to everyone and we'll buy the DVD ASAP.