Man Up, Men

I’m so proud of my step-daughter, Emily. She fights to overcome obstacles, works hard for good grades, and loves Jesus. She is now at that distressing part of her life (maybe more for me than her) where she is learning about relationships with boys. This is her latest obstacle as the selection of boys who possess promising futures of actually becoming strong Christian men is quite limited.

The sad part is that her prospects probably won’t improve anytime soon, as more and more young men are failing to actually grow up into respectful and respected men.

I've recently realized I don’t only want Emily to be successful in school and college just so she can be well-balanced in her education and confidence, but because she may not be able to find a Christian man with enough ambition and maturity to commit himself to raising a family.

William J. Bennett, a CNN contributor, notes, “For the first time in history, women are better educated, more ambitious and arguably more successful than men. . . . Today, 18-to- 34-year-old men spend more time playing video games a day than 12-to- 17-year-old boys. While women are graduating college and finding good jobs, too many men are not going to work, not getting married and not raising families.”

I suspect there are probably more young men who would like to become mature men, but simply lack any real guidance. Television certainly isn’t any help as men are portrayed as obsessing over sex, discarding relationships with women when they become challenging, and never taking responsibility to grow into manhood, commit to marriage, and lead a family.

Now I don’t believe all men need to be Sunday School teachers and corporate executives with six figure salaries. I suspect most young Christian women simply want a man that truly loves Jesus, and has his head screwed on straight.

Kevin DeYoung, Senior Pastor at University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Michigan put it like this, “They just want a guy with some substance. A guy with plans. A guy with some intellectual depth. A guy who can winsomely take initiative and lead a conversation. A guy with consistency. A guy who no longer works at his play and plays with his faith. A guy with a little desire to succeed in life. A guy they can imagine providing for a family, praying with the kids at bedtime, mowing the lawn on Saturday, and being eager to take everyone to church on Sunday.”

Young women shouldn’t settle for anything less than a solid Christian commitment in a husband. Young men need to get serious about their faith, stop going in circles, and find a dose of godly ambition.

1 Corinthians 16:13 (NASB) “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.”

Moral Argument for God's Existence

Philip Hallie is a philosopher who did primary research on the cruelties of the Nazi Holocaust. It included the so-called medical experiments Nazi doctors did on defenseless children. Hallie’s ominous research shredded his soul as these atrocities assaulted every sense of decency. “I had learned that you cannot go down into hell with impunity.”

Hallie’s intellectual descent into darkness took its toll, as he often responded to his students with explosive rage or cold silence. After an episode frightening his family, he went for a walk while thinking of taking his own life. He ended up at his office where he found a book. Its pages chronicled events in Le Chambon, a Protestant village nestled in the mountains of southeastern France.

He read about a pastor who refused to turn in Jews to the Nazis, while villagers risked their lives to courageously hide Jews. “When I got to the bottom of the third page of the article my cheeks started itching, and when I reached up to scratch them I found that they were covered with tears. And not just a few tears—my cheeks were awash with them.”

In that moment Hallie began his ascension from darkness. He continued to read about how a village of 3500 people saved almost 6000 Jews, mostly children whose parents were killed by Nazis. Under the leadership of French pastors they sheltered children in their own homes until they could be taken through treacherous mountain passes into Geneva, Switzerland.

This story illustrates the existence of an objective moral reality, which is the first step in offering a moral argument for the existence of God. In other words, there is something inside the human heart that believes in right and wrong, and the paramount question an atheist must ask is: How did it get there?

In future posts we’ll continue exploring the moral argument for God’s existence, considering the plausibility of evolution giving rise to morality, and eventually demonstrating how a personal and moral God best explains the existence of objective morality.

The Real Tebow Miracle

Well, Tebowing is officially a cult phenomenon as Saturday Night Live felt it worthy of a skit. Of course SNHell was true to form as they have come to mock anything and everything, including Christianity. There was one thing SNL got right, though I doubt it was on purpose. The fact is God does care about who wins football games.

Jesus taught that God superintends even the death of a sparrow (see Matt. 10:29). The Lord God, by means of General Providence, oversees and brings to pass all happenings in creation, whether the demise of leaders or the fruitfulness of one’s scalp. (see Prov. 21:1; Matt. 10:30).

"The lot is cast into the lap," we read in Proverbs 16:33, "but its every decision is from the Lord." God is utterly and completely sovereign over all. Nonetheless, God’s work of providence does not require His direct, miraculous involvement.

This kind of technical theological language can be difficult, but the bottom line is that sometimes God intervenes in a miraculous way, like parting the Red Sea. Other times God is simply sovereign, not letting anything transpire apart from His oversight.

Paul reminds us of this truth in Romans 8:28, "We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." Notice that Paul says all things, not just certain things, and certainly not just small things.

Yet, make no mistake, it is not ultimately about Tim Tebow. For God gains glory through the work of a faithful schoolteacher, a giving mother, and any athlete who works hard in Christ’s name while seeking to be a light in a dark world. First Corinthians 10:31, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

As with every other believer, God's hand is leading Tebow's life, blessing him as he applies Christian character and biblical principles to the task before him. I doubt God has performed any bona-fide football miracles, but is the true miracle not more obvious?

Tebow is enjoying great wealth and fame in a world profoundly influenced by Forbes’ lists, and fame-aholics. And yet, all he wants to do magnify the Lord and exalt His great name.

Psalm 34:3, “Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.”

Atheistic Novel Found Lacking

Gardner, Martin. The Flight of Peter Fromm. Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, 1994. 280 pp. $9.00.

Introduction
Gardner’s book is a fictional account of a young man, Peter, who was raised in Oklahoma to believe fundamentalist Pentecostal doctrine. Peter leaves the oil industrialized economy of Sand Springs chock full of fiery ambition to take the most liberal seminary in America for Christ. Once at the Chicago School of Divinity, he meets Homer, an atheistic Philosophy of Religion professor. This relationship will endure the breadth of the novel as Homer becomes Peter’s spiritual mentor leading him to not only turn from fundamentalism, but also from the orthodox doctrines of the Christian faith.
The story takes place during the middle of the twentieth century when Stalin and Marxism enjoyed significant American support. Peter, being sympathetic with the tenants of Marxism, gradually realizes that the Russian experiment was a failure. Peter’s political evolution takes place alongside his devolution of Christian faith and seems to serve as a metaphor for the ease in which one can be deceived, implying that Peter was also deceived with Christian indoctrination.

Summary
The story is obviously purposed to make Christian faith appear to be an intellectually inferior position, while those who truly seek answers to hard questions find a more enlightened position void of supernaturalism.
Homer, Peter’s mentor, is reminiscent of the benevolent, all-knowing Yoda. The author portrays him as the wise teacher who has only Peter’s well-being in mind. Homer lovingly holds Peter’s hand throughout his spiritual devolution as only a kind mentor would.
Peter is portrayed as naïve to the point of being grotesque to more enlightened souls. The reader is encouraged to see Peter as an anomaly, a circus freak, one who is obviously the last of a dying breed, a dinosaur locked inside the indoctrination of his childhood, desperately needing set free.
Nonetheless, Peter is praised for having the courage necessary to tackle the controversial questions with an honest, head-on approach. This aggressive desire to be informed leads him to a geology class where he is confronted by the bodacious claims of evolution via the fossil record. Remarkably, Peter buys into evolution hook, line and sinker. This naïve behavior of Peter appears to contradict his character profile as one seeking truth with an eagerness to learn, for if he truly possessed critical thinking skills, he would not have given-in to evolution after only one series of lectures. Nonetheless, we are at the mercy of the author as this episode served as the first fissure in Peter’s theology, and we must therefore continue the make-believe journey to so-called intellectual enlightenment.
Now that a wedge has been driven into Peter’s dogma, Homer begins challenging Peter with the contradictions inherent in the gospels. These topics don’t appear to be seriously considered, but they are presented as obvious truths with little to no effort in seeking possible explanations. It is here that Peter begins his survey of various theologians, sifting through their arguments, looking for the flaws in their approaches to theology. The first seriously discussed is G.K. Chesterton. Peter begins to show interest in the Catholic faith as Catholics had recently shown progressive views toward evolution. This also introduces the first of several romantic interests of Peter, serving to illustrate Peter’s crumbling beliefs as his morality becomes more relaxed.
There is a group of speakers who come to the college to give speeches on points of interest concerning Scripture and its unity. Peter’s friend, Homer is one of the speakers, and his speech is portrayed as being informed, clever and correct as he argues against any supernatural hand in the writing of Holy Writ. He presents arguments which indeed appear significant to any uneducated novice. Nonetheless, Peter is very much taken in by the arguments without even considering other scholarly alternative points of view. The other speakers are portrayed as failing to even correctly represent the Bible’s teaching, and therefore appear to the gullible reader as lacking credibility.
In this speech, Homer also attacked the doctrine of Hell, insinuating that we would expect God to have attributes of mercy that transcend ours, and are therefore better than ours. In other words, surely a superior being would not be bothered by petty annoyances like sin to the point of punishing sinners in Hell for eternity. In all of this, Homer makes moral judgments upon the justice of God in sending sinners to Hell, yet of course, the doctrine of Hell does elevate God’s attributes of mercy above ours when considering the lengths to which God has gone in order to save his created beings from Hell. Homer’s speech plays on the pride of his audience by implying that mankind deserves more from its God.
One entire chapter is titled “Karl Barth” as Barth provides some possible help as Peter clings to orthodoxy while simultaneously abandoning fundamentalism. Barth asserts that the Bible contains the Word of God, but was not in its entirety the Word of God, of course begging the question, “How does one know what is God’s Word and what is not?” Much is said about the theology of Barth, as Peter is looking for some firmer ground on which to build his beliefs. Barth embraced science and higher criticism, and therefore seemed attractive to Peter. Yet, Barth, along with some other theologians, continued dragging Peter toward doctrinal and moral confusion.
Perhaps the higher criticism of Scripture enjoyed a heyday during the timeframe in which this story takes place, yet of course, higher criticism as well as evolution have been measured, weighed, and found wanting in recent years. Nonetheless, the author continues asserting these presumptions as clear-cut truth with no possibility of refutation. As Peter’s convictions continue to waver, so does his strict morality as he begins smoking cigarettes, drinking martinis, and experimenting with sex.
Another chapter is named after a girl that had entered Peter’s life. Peter makes the startling statement that he not only hoped he and this new girl would have sex, but he prayed to the Lord that they would. At this time the war in Europe had escalated and Pearl Harbor had been bombed, and Peter began wondering what he should do, resulting in his courageous enlistment into the Navy, and thus begins the second part of Gardner’s novel.
Peter did not receive a commission from the Navy, mostly due to his previous interest in Communism. These chapters consist mostly of Peter’s letters written to Homer chronicling his exploits from boot-camp, to his training as a radioman, and to his sea duty. It is in these letters where the reader gets a glimpse of Peter’s racism as “Negroes” are possibly coming to join them at the base in Great Lakes, Michigan. This repressed racism doesn’t do much to promote Peter’s previous fundamentalist orthodox convictions, and serves as another step in Peter’s intellectual and moral enlightenment as he turns from bigotry, illustrated in his defending the relationship between a black sailor with a white girl. Peter is roundly praised for his actions as parting ways with his faith was appearing to make him a better person.
There is another episode in which Peter got into a fight, but he restrained himself because he understood the other young man only be the victim of his upbringing, and was not to be blamed or held personally responsible. This got Peter to wondering about free will, since everyone’s morality was formed by years of conditioning and training by the moral and religious environment in which they grew up.
The next chapter is where Peter experiences some kind of existential bonding with nature, particularly with the ship on which he rode. He stood on the weather deck and took in the majesty of creation and felt the emotional high of beholding its beauty. The language of this episode implies a bit of pantheism entering Peter’s thinking as he even seems to commune with the porpoises. He takes another step away from orthodoxy, as this experience appears to reveal to him that all religions were right.
As Peter is discharged from the Navy, he insists that ending racism should be a priority of every Christian, and that a world government should be achieved, while believing that most people are basically good. And this begins the novel’s third section.
Peter comes back to the Chicago School of Divinity and immediately jumps back into Barthianism with a particular interest in the theology of all theologies, being Christology. Peter observes that Barth appears to affirm the bodily resurrection of Christ, while in other places appears to treat the importance of the empty tomb as trivial. Regardless of how Barth truly felt about the historical reliability of the resurrection, Peter feels Barth is being evasive concerning this all-important doctrine.
Barth apparently fails to provide a convincing argument concerning what is historically accurate and what is merely myth with spiritual meaning. Peter believes this also applies to Barth’s understanding of the resurrection. Peter is further irritated by Barth’s somewhat reformed views, but mostly by Barth’s denunciation of other religions. The view that all religions are equally valid is the view that Peter embraced on the weather deck of the USS Montgomery in some kind of mystical experience with nature, which seems to be a major departure from what began as Peter’s search for honest truth. The fact that this weird emotional experience serves to form Peter’s theology illustrates just how ridiculous and deceptively clever the author is.
Peter turns to Kierkegaard who asserts that faith in the Jesus of Scripture is strictly a leap of faith and need not be bothered with reason or historical evidence. This would be a logical step for Peter as he has abandoned any notion of absolute truth. It is about this time that Homer offers some asinine insights into the creation story and the fall of Adam and Eve, and somehow in the midst of this brouhaha Peter comes to the unbelievable conclusion that miracles actually contaminate faith.
Peter's descent into imbecility continues as he contemplates the molecules of Jesus and what happened to those molecules in the resurrection account. It appears at this point, Peter is merely playing pin-the-tail on the theologian, desperately looking for a theology on which to hang his hat. Yet since the Bible can no longer be trusted as inerrant, what theologian can truly be trusted?
Now the final episodes of the novel are introduced with the person of Martha Middleton. Martha was the daughter of a pastor who so clearly illustrates the demise of biblical preaching, and who, like Peter, believed in a completely human Christ. Peter had accepted the fallacy of a mistaken Jesus and began to realize that there was basically no truth in Christianity at all, yet he continues his study. He considers the possibility that Jesus was perhaps deranged, for He must have been to predict that He would return with power before the first century generation passed away. The author continues portraying difficult passages of Scripture as hopeless contradictions, stating that most scholars considered the Gospel of John to be the less reliable account of Jesus’ life among the four gospels. Yet, Peter concludes that Jesus was not mad, only mistaken.
Peter was understandably beginning to lose his enthusiasm for ministry, and this was exacerbated by the materialism of his new fiancé, and the futility of the Russian experiment. By this time, Russian Marxism was losing its luster, and the red Russian flag began to repulse Peter as much as the red blood of Christ, both representing pointless sacrifice.
Peter takes a trip home to see his mother in the hospital and has a peculiar experience in which he prays, per the request of his mother, and while praying he genuinely misses the faith he once had. But then things get crazy as he breaks out in tongues. This is implicitly explained later by some kind of spot that shows up on his brain scan, further implying that glossolalia is likely explained by brain defects.
Peter begins to show signs of a coming psychotic break, followed by an awkward confrontation with his future father-in-law, which ended with a blow from Peter. Nonetheless, his friend Homer asks him to come and deliver the Easter message at his Unitarian church. It is here that Peter’s cheese slides off his cracker as he preaches an empty message. The episode concludes with him urinating on the church organ before being knocked unconscious.
This of course ends his future in the ministry, his engagement to Martha, and any last vestige of orthodoxy. The book ends with Peter and Homer taking some time off in Arizona, where Peter can finish recovering and breathe some air. Homer is still an atheist, yet Peter is not. He still believes in God, but he has broken free of any biblical Christian orthodoxy. Peter is breathing in a new-found freedom to worship whatever god may exist in whatever way seems best to him. This conclusion brings Peter full circle, giving the reader a strong sense that Peter is finally and completely fulfilled with his arrival.

Critical Evaluation
Though this review contains some critical remarks, I will briefly summarize my critical evaluation. Though this book is advertised as a novel, the immense amount of mundane exposition almost creates a new genre, perhaps a hybrid of novel and systematic theology of Karl Barth. The foreword proclaims that this story is an accurate reproduction of actual events, yet the afterword admits that the foreword was indeed fake. This seems to accurately summarize the novel as a whole. Christianity is mischaracterized as anti-intellectual on every single front. Evolution is misapplied as fact, the reliability of Scripture is sacrificed on the make-believe altar of higher criticism, and mystical experiences on the weather decks of navy ships are portrayed as authoritative. The truth is that the average Christian may be shaken by such a novel, and in that respect, the author likely achieved his goal. But by and large, the author’s tactics are simplistic at best, and knowingly deceptive at worst.
To the author’s credit, he does allow Peter to wrestle with many difficult questions faced by intellectual Christians, but difficult is not a synonym for unanswered. The theory of evolution has been answered, higher criticism has been answered, and authoritative mystical experiences are just irresponsible.

Conclusion
This so-called novel is no doubt one that a secular humanist would enjoy, and it is one that would serve to shake the faith of naïve Christians. The author makes a big deal out of many popular theologians of the time, while exploiting the weaknesses in their arguments. Many pages are given to the effort of deconstructing these theologies, yet the true weakness lies at the foundation of the book, and that is the presupposition that evolution is true. Yet very little attention is given to the challenges against natural selection as the mechanism for the emergence of life; knock down this pillar and the rest of the book crumbles.
Peter is mis-portrayed as one seeking intellectual truth, and he is put in a favorable light for his so-called honest pilgrimage. Yet, his journey falls somewhat short of being truly intellectual, for if it were, he would have done a better job of seeking answers to difficult questions rather than buying into secular arguments without so much as seeking an alternate opinion.
If this book is indeed required reading at the Chicago School of Divinity, then this speaks volumes as to the quality of education one might receive at such an institution.

Tebow, or not Tebow?

I haven’t cared a whole lot about sports since the Chicago Bulls ended their dynasty, but my interests have recently rekindled. Tim Tebow has won seven out of eight starts as the Bronco’s starting QB. He never gives up, puts his team ahead of himself, inspires them to play better, and realizes incomplete passes are better than interceptions. Oh, and did I mention he is a bona fide, born again, pew jumping, Bible thumping, fired up follower of the risen Christ?

The secular media, bless its poor misguided heart, just doesn’t know what to do with terrific Tim. While many so-called sports analysts have either downplayed the conservative quarterback’s success, or worked hard to be offended by it, they both have been ever so careful not to credit Heaven.

The wide world of pagans would rather bed down with mockery and dark sarcasm than entertain the thought that Tebow’s God shares any responsibility for fourth quarter resurrections. Yet, I submit to you that they haven’t quite pulled it off.

Cal-Berkeley Professor Dacher Keltner says, “What this new science of altruism and cooperation is finding is that, highly cooperative, other oriented, compassionate and empathetic individuals, their teams perform better, their organizations are healthier.”

Holy methodological naturalism, Batman. They just credited Tebow’s leadership skills to God-inspired biblical principles (see Psalm 1:1-3 and James 3:16-17). It appears even the most sensible and honest pagan evaluation of Tebow’s success gives glory to God. And I couldn’t be more tickled.

“I am the Lord, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another.” Isaiah 42:8

Whatever It Takes

Jeremiah was his slave name. He towered at six feet five inches, broad shoulders, powerful arms, and hands as rough as a gravel road. Jeremiah was strong, and worked like a horse; no, a team of horses. The hot sun didn't slow him, difficulty didn't discourage him, and pain didn't stop him.

But there was another side to Jeremiah. Deborah had given him two rambunctious boys and one little princess, and Jeremiah was putty in their hands. His hard work gained favor with the slave owner, therefore providing safety and security for his little family.

Nonetheless, Jeremiah's strength and work ethic made him valuable in trade. And one fateful day in the fall, the news of such a trade had come. He was given a day to say goodbye to his family, but instead Jeremiah retreated to the barn. He paced back and forth across the dirt floor, fighting back the tears, shaking his head, his pulse thumping in his ears. Perspiration poured from his body, his hands shook violently, then he collapsed to his knees.

Jeremiah raised his head to spot the axe hanging on the wall. Surely it hadn’t come to that. It went against everything he believed as a man, but he couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. He couldn't allow himself to be taken from his family who depended on him for everything.

He took the axe from the wall, tested its edge with his thumb. He laid his muscular forearm across a stump used to kill chickens. With his other arm he raised the axe over his head.

He looked toward Heaven. “Lord, forgive me, but I see no other way to keep my family together.”

Enough said.

Generational Tension

I suspect there’s always been a social gap between the young and the old, then the Sixties turned that gap into a canyon, and the technological explosion of the Eighties and Nineties widened that canyon to an abyss. Now, social welfare by and large relieves immerging generations of the burden of caring for the needy, including the elderly, while Facebook immerses them into a sea of fellow youngsters with keystroke empowerment.

The New Testament’s vision of the church is a place where different age groups could come and celebrate a common salvation (see 1Timothy 5). Yet the modern church, like most of the world, is often riddled by warring generations.

Young enthusiastic leaders see the old guard as unteachable, under-educated, and unable to communicate without sounding snooty and snobbish, while often accusing them of grasping for ecclesiastical control and failing to keep first things first.

Seasoned steadfast leaders see the young up-and-comers as intellectually proud, untested, and disrespectful of treasured belief systems, while often accusing them of ignoring time-tested wisdom and failing to listen more and speak less.

And to an extent, borrowing D.A. Carson’s words, “both sides are right.”

Since I’m a young leader, I will share a word with my fellow green-hands. Technology has no doubt facilitated theological research, while possibly providing a broader access to theological education. Yet receiving such a grace should contribute your our humility, not our pride. In other words, precision of knowledge does not make us better than, or smarter than, or superior to the generation that came before us. We are just recipients of a particular grace, and there is no room for personal arrogance as all good things come from God. Besides, a big reason we have access to such a quality education is because of the fierce battles the older generation fought against theological liberalism, neo-orthodoxy, and the like.

Carson also gave some practical pointers for narrowing the gap between generations. First of all, both sides need to listen to criticism without becoming defensive. No one is beyond the scope of learning, and we will regain lost ground if we recognize wisdom when we hear it, even if it comes by way of hostile analysis.

Secondly, both sides should be prepared to honestly evaluate what the church is doing (or not doing) while asking if scripture mandates it. If not, then could it unwittingly be hindering ministry, particularly outreach? Answering this question will bring to light the extent to which tradition has overridden scripture.

Thirdly, give the best attention to that which, according to Paul, is most important—this being the very gospel itself. Though we may belong to different generations, the heralding of the gospel is what has knitted our ministries and hearts together.

Fourthly, build relationships with members of the other generation intentionally. This will require the public support of each other, praying for each other, and spending time with one another. And most of all, it will require grace, understanding, and love for one another.

Carson summed it up nicely: “It means that younger men will listen carefully in order better to understand the past; it means that older men will listen carefully in order better to understand the present. It means humility of mind and heart, and a passion for the glory of God and the good of others.”

Reflections on Pain and Redemption

Barrels of ink have been poured out on the topic of pain, and I’m hardly qualified to express profound thoughts on the matter. Nonetheless, its perplexities baffle the minds of those contemplating it, while its simplicity crushes the hearts of those touched by it.

I suppose one could divide pain into two categories. There’s injury to the body, and then there’s wounding of the soul. Though both strike fear in our hearts, one is arguably superior. Job’s response to losing his family was markedly different from when he merely lost his health. His physical pain was no doubt excruciating, but the wounding of soul led him to despise his own life.

“May the day I was born perish…” Job 3:3

A child may feel the physical pain of a spanking, but the absence of love and instruction will produce loneliness of heart. A teenager may get beat up at school, but the constant humiliation of being bullied will push him to despair. A man may scream as his arms are severed, but no longer being to hold his wife or provide for his family may be the ache that keeps him up at night.

Did Jesus not come speaking the language of the soul when he said: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted," or "He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted." The Savior recognized that mankind's deepest needs were much deeper than mere physical afflictions, but they stemmed from a heart not only wounded by the unjust circumstances of life, but also darkened by its own wickedness. Jesus came, died, and rose again to provide healing and restoration at our deepest level.

"Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord" Acts 3:19

A Homily on Religious Addiction

I drank plenty of alcohol in high school. Not sure if I was dependent, but I did relish the opportunity to find shelter from the constant barrage of a worried mind. Later I used methamphetamine, inevitably being pulled into the unholy sanctum of dark addiction.

Interestingly, people with emotional baggage, mental disarray, and social phobias are most susceptible to substance abuse. The power to alter brain chemistry can create the illusion of escaping the reality of a tortured mind, taking control of their emotional health, and feeling accepted into so-called normal social arrangements.

Man-made religion (similar to substance abuse) is primarily about three things: escaping the reality of one’s own sinful heart, attempting to take control of spiritual health, and finding acceptance with so-called normal, religious social arrangements.

The religious person attempts to escape the reality of their sinful heart on the inside by focusing on and obsessing over appearances on the outside. They wear their Sunday best, maintain visible morality, give outward service, articulate Bible knowledge, and attend several religious meetings per week.

In addition to external pieties, they attempt to take control of their spiritual health by going above and beyond biblical exhortations and creating buffer zones between them and sin. To avoid moral compromise, they avoid immoral people at all costs. To avoid worldly contamination, they refuse to wear Calvin Klein jeans. To avoid spiritual apathy, they boycott Disney. And on it goes.

These external pieties and buffer zones naturally gain the acceptance of the religious social class. Therefore, man-made religion allows one to escape reality, take control, and achieve status among those of normalcy, or so it seems.

Yet, (similar to substance abuse) religion is teeming with deception. The religious person feels spiritual, but is blinded to the reality of a desperate, sinful heart. They believe to be in control, but are actually pulled into the fellowship of religious addiction. They feel socially accepted, but instead are enslaved by the quick-to-judge peer-pressure of fellow religious addicts.

The key is understanding religion as a man-made attempt at reaching God, binding oneself to external morality, extra-biblical codes, and the expectations of others. On the other hand, true Christianity recognizes mankind as completely sinful and utterly incapable of approaching God on the basis of personal merit. Therefore, God, at great personal cost, came down to mankind in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

When one chooses to follow Christ by faith, he or she is free from religious bondage. They face the reality of a sinful heart, give Christ control of all spiritual health, and find contentment with God’s love and acceptance.

”Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” -John 8:36

Persecution of Christians (video not for children)

Pain of Rejection

I was too young to remember my real father, Douglas Kaminski. While I was still playing with rattles, He left my mother and I, never to be seen or heard from again. The man I learned to call “daddy” was Dewayne Troxel. He raised me from toddlerhood, taught me to ride a bike, and took me fishing everyday, or so it seemed. He bought me my first BB gun and taught me to shoot. And by watching him I learned to skin fish and rabbits.

Daddy taught us how to slide down the watershed dam on flattened cardboard boxes, and on rare occasions he took us bowling. He taught us how to raise chickens and collect eggs, and how to build a well house from logs and red clay. And when things broke, Daddy fixed them.

When I was about ten years old, Daddy left. I didn’t understand why, but for the first time my young soul was wounded with the pain of rejection.

It’s quite profound how pain can etch itself into our lives, creating fears, insecurities, and ill patterns of thinking. It can create an unhealthy desire to be accepted, and then unreasonable suspicion when acceptance arrives. These tragic expressions of an inferiority complex almost inevitably lead to damaging relationships.

This realm of pain and heartache is one of many spheres where Christ created a new perspective. For it was He who endured crucifixion, being suspended between Heaven and Earth on a piece of timber hewn for the sole purpose of creating rivers of pain, while communicating utter rejection.

Yet this One we know as God-the-Son turned his gaze toward Heaven and said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Though Jesus had need of relief from pain and rejection, his executioners had need of grace and forgiveness.

Recovery of spiritual health often begins here, setting our own needs aside, and looking after the needs of others.

This Is Not The Real Jesus

Anders Behring Breivik killed at least 76 campers on an island off the coast of Oslo, Norway. He says in his online manifesto, “As for the Church and science, it is essential that science takes an undisputed precedence over biblical teachings....Regarding my personal relationship with God, I guess I'm not an excessively religious man. I am first and foremost a man of logic. However, I am a supporter of a monocultural Christian Europe.”

Obviously Breivik was not a true Christian, yet he craved the cultural benefits of Christianity. This murderer’s misguidings are an exceptionally extreme example of a belief system which plagues many who name the name of Christ. They don’t truly love Jesus, but they are quite fond of their idea of Jesus. However, the idea of Jesus they are in love with doesn't accurately represent the Christ who actually existed.

Michael Horton points out how even the 19th century philosopher and atheist Friedrich Nietzsche saw in his day the tendency of professing Christians to desire “the fruit of Christianity (i.e., moral culture) without the tree itself (i.e., the actual doctrine and practice).”

The Jesus of history as recorded in the gospels brought a specific plan of salvation (doctrine), which resulted in the formation of a true disciple (practice). The Jesus of scripture spent three years calling his followers to embrace the doctrines of the gospel, and how that gospel would transform them into men and women with a growing, Christ-like compassion for people.

Jesus said in Matthew 16:24 “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” The benefits of Christianity come not by embracing an idea of Jesus, but by becoming a follower of the one true living Savior, Christ the Lord.

You're Not All That

Why do those who embrace God’s inspired Word have such a love affair with man-made rules? Why is it so difficult to get free from man-made religion when the God of grace has provided His own formula for the Christian life?

This is not a new phenomena, man has been making his own rules ever since Adam and Eve rewrote their own job description in the Garden of Eden. And then later Cain brought God a vegetarian sacrifice simply because it seemed like the right thing to do. Aaron and the Israelites sampled some self-styled worship when they fashioned a golden calf. Jeremiah warned people about those who preached man-made doctrine rather than words truly representing the heart of God.

When God has given us the operator’s manual for Christianity, why do our stubborn hearts insist on adding our own mandates to Christian living? I find it interesting that the greatest opponents of Christ were the Pharisees who prided themselves on this kind of extra-biblical piety.

In Jesus’ parable from Luke 18 the Pharisee prays, “God, I thank You that I am not like other men…” Wow, what a superiority complex. If that rule-keeping better-than-you Pharisee was alive today, he would likely talk like this:

“I don’t just obey the Bible, I obey all this other stuff too. Oh what a good boy am I.”
“You drink wine with your dinner? Oh I would never drink alcohol for any reason.”
“You use tobacco? Oh my, I don’t dip, smoke or chew, or go with girls that do.”
“You send your kids to public school? I send my kids to private school.”
“You send your kids to private school? I home-school my kids.”
“You have a tattoo? I’ll pray for your salvation.”

When reading Jesus' parable we see this proud Pharisee feeling very righteous when compared to others, and then presuming to be much closer to God than others. Making up our own mandates for Christian living (things that God Himself does not ask of us) somehow creates the illusion that we are more righteous than our fellow pilgrims (for we can hardly resist comparing ourselves to others) implying that we are much nearer to God. But does this formula hold up theologically? Is a feeling of personal piety truly a sign of nearness to God?

Well let’s consider some in scripture to whom God drew near, while paying particular attention to how righteous they felt during their encounter with the Divine. When Abraham met the Lord he fell on his face and said, “Lord I’m but dust and ashes in your presence.” Or how about when Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up? Surely this great man of God would hold his head high in the presence of his Creator. But he says in Isaiah chapter six, “Depart from me Lord for I am a man of unclean lips.” And needless to say, when Peter began to understand who Jesus really was he said in Luke 5:8, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”

When a person is truly near to God, personal righteousness appears to be the last thing they feel. So dear Christian, if you enjoy a sensation of personal piety and superiority to others, it may be a sign of just how unbiblical your Christian ethic is, therefore betraying just how far from God you truly are.

1 Corinthians 4:6
...that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other.

Divine Personality

It's interesting to read some of the so-called synopses of the nature of Jesus Christ, as armchair theologians will focus on one small aspect of Christ’s divine character and then pretend they have provided an adequate personality profile of the One whose brief three years of public ministry has drawn more scholarship than the all the other centuries of history combined.

The task of providing a sketch of Jesus Christ reminds me of the professor’s essay question, “Define God and give two examples.” Yet many attempt to place Jesus in a bottle or a box or some other neatly arranged system of thought, then moving on as if the mystery of divine character had been conquered.

There appear to be two different camps of Messiah profilers. One is preoccupied with the meekness and gentleness of Christ, while the other is consumed with the more forceful and darker side of Christ. One highlights His comforting effect on children, while another comments on His verbal fistfights with the self-righteous. Some love to paint Jesus as one whose grace forgave the most notorious of sinners, while others portray Him as a first century Clint Eastwood who wrecked the religion of the most pious of Pharisees.

The error of these extremes, in my humble armchair opinion, is just that. They are extremes, being only small pieces of a much more grand portrait. If the personhood of Christ could be so easily packaged, then God would not have inspired four separate and distinct gospel accounts of His life. For any who desire to explore the claims, actions, and attitudes of this One for whom tens of thousands have died, I exhort you to examine these written testimonies for yourself.

For now I leave you with the famous quote of Scottish Theologian, James Stewart:

He was the meekest and lowliest of all the sons of men. Yet he spoke of coming on the clouds of heaven with the glory of God. He was so austere that evil spirits and demons cried out in terror at his coming, yet he was so genial and winsome and approachable, that the children loved to play with him and the little ones nestled in his arms.

His presence at the innocent joy of a village wedding was like the presence of sunshine. No one was half so kind or compassionate to sinners, yet no one ever spoke such red-hot scorching words about sin. A bruised reed he would not break. His whole life was love. Yet on one occasion he demanded of the Pharisees how they were expected to escape the damnation of hell.

He was a dreamer of dreams and a seer of visions, yet for sheer stark realism he has all of us self-styled realists soundly beaten. He was the servant of all, washing the disciples’ feet, yet masterfully he strode into the temple, and the hucksters and moneychangers fell over one another to get away in their mad rush from the fire they saw blazing in his eyes. He saved others, yet at the last, he himself did not save.

There is nothing in history like the union of contrasts which confronts us in the gospels; the mystery of Jesus is the mystery of divine personality.

What If They Were Liars?

William is seven years old, but he's been asking tough questions for some time. Questions like, "What makes the wind move?" or "Do I have a step-dad?"

Tonight he asked me, "What if the people who told us about Jesus were liars?" I admit I didn't expect to need my apologetic reasonings this early in Will's life, but I rejoice that he thinking about the gospel I've been teaching him.

I love the way Chuck Colson described how he and about a dozen men committed themselves to a lie in order to protect the President of the United States during the Watergate scandal. These men possessed great political power, prestige, and were afraid of no one. Yet they couldn't sustain a lie for three weeks.

Lets go back a little further in history and consider the disciples of Christ. After the resurrection event, this ragtag bunch of misfits spent the next fifty years turning the known world upside down with a story proclaiming that the illegitimate son of a carpenter had come back from the dead, all while suffering persecution and ridicule from opponents. And when they were faced with the options of changing their story or accepting death, they died without flinching.

These unsure young men not only immerged as fearless defenders of the resurrection story, making Nixon's hatchet men look like kittens, but they had an entire gospel message that seamlessly fulfilled all the Old Testament shadows, themes and prophesies. And don't even get me started on Paul.

The point is this, people die for lie all the time, but they don't die for a lie when they know its a lie. And if anybody would have known that Jesus' resurrection was a fabrication, it would have been the disciples. Yet they poured their lives into the proclamation of this story while under the constant threat of torture and death.

And die they did, never once retracting their testimony that Jesus defeated death.

Love for Homosexuals

The culture war between secular minds and biblical thinkers perhaps has not been more heated than in the discussion of sexual orientation. One side argues for a genetic link predisposing one to homosexuality, while the other side reduces it to a simple choice. One side will argue that homosexuality is in line with God's will, while the other side cries "abomination" with judgmental venom signifying the highest degree of ignorance (yes, I’m talking to you Westboro Baptist Church).

Yet, even those not numbered among the grossly misguided fringe are often misguided still. Since homosexual lust is not in their sin portfolio they feel morally superior to those who are of the homosexual persuasion. This ill-fated air of moral supremacy has resulted in the catastrophic failure of the church to reach out to the homosexual community with any meaningful degree of grace. Paul prescribes this wise approach in Colossians 4:5-6, “Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace…”

This tragic misunderstanding of sin and gospel, and the attitude accompanying such a misunderstanding, often costs evangelical Christians the right to enter into any meaningful dialogue with homosexuals (and many others).

I must admit I’ve never been persuaded that homosexuality was a mere matter of choice as if it could be turned off with the flip of a switch. Theology teaches us that our sin nature is much too deeply embedded to simply be turned on and off at will. Paul said in Romans 7:18 “For I know that in my flesh nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.” He continues in verses 24-25 “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Every sinner who comes to faith in Jesus Christ recognizes the need to have their flesh redeemed, including its sexual desires. Homosexual lusts can no more be turned off at will than heterosexual lusts. Evangelical Christians often fail to remember that we all are sinners, and all of our sexual desires fall short of God’s glory (regardless of orientation), and that the only hope for our redemption was and is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Al Mohler said, “All Christians struggle with their own pattern of sinful desires, sexual and otherwise. Our responsibility as Christians is to be obedient to Christ, knowing that only He can save us from ourselves.”

Clearly the New Testament pattern of evangelism included ministry to homosexuals (see 1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Yet when this ministry takes the form of moralism, the true Gospel of Christ is compromised. No sinner has the capability to redeem him or herself. We all enter this life plagued with a darkness of heart that can only be remedied by the Light of the World, and until that illumination takes place we remain slaves to our fallen nature (see John 8:34).

Yes, I love homosexuals. I love them because God loved me. Dear Christian, the grace of God to us wretched sinners is too precious a gift to be misunderstood, taken for granted, or hoarded. So lets find a fresh sense of gratitude and humility, praying that it would lead us to obey the dictates of the Great Commission by taking the gospel of grace to all sinners with a disposition that reflects the gratefulness of a soul that was once lost, but now is found.

Questions For Your Wife

Tom Eliff, the President of the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention asks his wife these questions every year:


1. What can I do to cause you to feel more loved and cherished?

2. How can I best demonstrate my appreciation for you, your ideas, and your role as my wife?

3. What can I do to assure you that I hear and understand your heart’s desires?

4. What can I do to make you feel absolutely secure?

5. What can I do to ensure that you have confidence and joy in our future direction?

6. What attribute or practice would you like to see me develop or improve?

7. What attribute would you most like to develop in yourself, and how may I help you in the best possible way?

8. Is there some accomplishment in my life that would bring joy to your heart?

9. What would indicate to you my desire to be more like Christ?

10. What mutual goal(s) would you like to see us accomplish together?

And yes, I did ask Jill these questions. And no, I'm not telling you what she said.

Encouragement For Teens

John Piper wrote the following letter to a discouraged teenager.

Dear ________,

My experience of coming out of an introverted, insecure, guilty, lustful, self-absorbed adolescent life was more like the emergence of a frog from a tadpole than a butterfly from a larva.

Larvae disappear into their cocoons and privately experience some inexplicable transformation with no one watching (it is probably quite messy in there) and then the cocoon comes off and everyone says oooo, ahhh, beautiful. It did not happen like that for me.

Frogs are born teeny-weeny, fish-like, slimy, back-water-dwellers. They are not on display at Sea World. They might be in some ritzy hotel's swimming pool if the place has been abandoned for 20 years and there's only a foot of green water in the deep end.

But little by little, because they are holy frogs by predestination and by spiritual DNA (new birth), they swim around in the green water and start to look more and more like frogs.

First, little feet come out on their side. Weird. At this stage nobody asks them to give a testimony at an Athletes in Action banquet.

Then a couple more legs. Then a humped back. The fish in the pond have already pulled back: "Hmmm," they say, "this does not look like one of us any more." A half-developed frog fits nowhere.

But God is good. He has his plan and it is not to make this metamorphosis easy. Just certain. There are a thousand lessons to be learned in the process. Nothing is wasted. Life is not on hold waiting for the great coming-out. That's what larvae do in the cocoon. But frogs are public all the way though the foolishness of change.

I think the key for me was finding help in the Apostle Paul and C. S. Lewis and my father, all of whom seemed incredibly healthy, precisely because they were so absolutely amazed at everything but themselves.

They showed me that the highest mental health is not liking myself but being joyfully interested in everything but myself. They were the type of people who were so amazed that people had noses—not strange noses, just noses—that walking down any busy street was like a trip to the zoo. O yes, they themselves had noses, but they couldn’t see their own. And why would they want to? Look at all these noses they are free to look at! Amazing.

The capacity of these men for amazement was huge. I marveled and I prayed that I would stop wasting so much time and so much emotional energy thinking about myself. Yuk, I thought. What am I doing? Why should I care what people think about me. I am loved by God Almighty and he is making a bona fide high-hopping frog out of me.

The most important text on my emergent frogishness became 2 Corinthians 3:18 —


And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.

This was one of the greatest secrets I ever discovered: Beholding is becoming.

Introspection must give way to amazement at glory. When it does, becoming happens. If there is any key to maturity it is that. Behold your God in Jesus Christ. Then you will make progress from tadpole to frog. That was a great discovery.

Granted, (so I thought) I will never be able to speak in front of a group, since I am so nervous. And I may never be married, because I have too many pimples. Wheaton girls scare the bejeebies out of me. But God has me in his hand (Philippians 3:12) and he has a plan and it is good and there is a world, seen and unseen, out there to be known and to be amazed at—why would I ruin my life by thinking about myself so much?

Thank God for Paul and Lewis and my dad! It’s all so obvious now. Self is simply too small to satisfy the exploding longings of my heart. I wanted to taste and see something great and wonderful and beautiful and eternal.

It started with seeing nature and ended with seeing God. It started in literature, and ended in Romans and Psalms. It started with walks through the grass and woods and lagoons, and ended in walks through the high plains of theology. Not that nature and literature and grass and woods and lagoons disappeared, but they became more obviously copies and pointers.

The heavens are telling the glory of God. When you move from heavens to the glory of God, the heavens don’t cease to be glorious. But they are un-deified, when you discover what they are saying. They are pointing. “You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy” (Psalm 65:8).

What are the sunrise and sunset shouting about so happily? Their Maker! They are beckoning us to join them. But if I am grunting about the zit on my nose, I won’t even look out the window.

So my advice is: be patient with the way God has planned for you to become a very happy, belly-bumping frog. Don’t settle for being a tadpole or a weird half-frog. But don’t be surprised at the weirdness and slowness of the process either.

How did I become a preacher? How did I get married? God only knows. Incredible. So too will your emergence into what you will be at 34 be incredible. Just stay the course and look. Look, look. There is so much to see. The Bible is inexhaustible. Mainly look there. The other book of God, the unauthoritative one—nature—is also inexhaustible. Look. Look. Look. Beholding the glory of the Lord we are being changed.

I love you and believe God has great froggy things for you. Don’t worry about being only a high-hopping Christlike frog. Your joy comes from what you see.


Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

There is another metamorphosis awaiting. It just gets better and better. God is infinite. So there will always be more of his glory for a finite mind to see. There will be no boredom in eternity.

Affectionately,

Pastor John

Budweiser, Coors and Michelob, OH MY!

The following is from pastor Burleson in Enid Oklahoma:

Some Southern Baptist leaders believe that the way to stop believers from straying into sin, or to keep church members living lives consistent with personal holiness, or to establish churches with a worthy 'Baptist Identity,' is to lay out for Christians 'the law' of proper behavior. Following the articulation of 'the law' (whatever it may be from church to church), comes the use of threats to keep Christians from violating the laws of the church. In this manner, some Southern Baptist leaders seem to feel comfortable that they have done all they can to perserve the purity of God's kingdom. However, in my experience, such behavior exhibited by church leadership contradicts the beauty of the gospel as an internal change of heart. To demand conformity through outward pressure is a tactic of religious cults, not Christian grace.
Years ago a young man named Eric was driving by the church I pastored in Tulsa. He had a pistol underneath the front seat, an open container of beer in the cup holder, and was on his way to an open field where he would drink himself to drunkenness in order to have the courage to commit suicide by shooting himself in the head. As he drove south on Sheridan Road he saw our church sign that said, "Prepare to Meet Thy God." The words so rattled him he turned into our parking lot and prayed, "God, if you are sending me a sign, let someone be inside this church to help me." The Lord answered his prayer.

Eric came into our offices and our Worship Pastor began to talk with him about knowing Christ. I was soon called and within an hour we had the privilege of seeing the Holy Spirit regenerate Eric's soul, with the end result of Eric trusting Jesus Christ as His Savior and Lord. The transformation was enormous. Eric was excited about his new life in Christ and when we explained the purpose of baptism, Eric committed to be in church Sunday to make known his faith in Christ through believer's baptism. We explained that at the conclusion of my sermon, he would need to come down the aisle to be introduced to our church and he would be baptized later that night.

Sunday morning came and I closed the message with an invitation to make public the work God had done, or was doing, in the listeners' lives. No sooner did our Worship Pastor begin singing when Eric came running down the aisle, and in King James language, he came walking and leaping and praising God. When the appropriate time came I introduced him to our church. "Ladies and gentlemen, I want to introduce you to a young man who this week was intent on killing himself, but God has intervened. This is Eric . . ." As I was speaking to the crowd I turned to look at Eric and to my horror, I saw Eric was wearing a Budweiser Beer T-Shirt that said, "Budweiser, King of Beers."

I knew some of the deacons would be upset. Sure enough, after church one of the older deacons came up to me and said, "Pastor, did you talk to Eric?" Acting ignorant, though knowing full well what he meant, I said, "About what?" "Did you tell him he ought not be wearing that beer t-shirt in church? It ain't appropriate."

I took a deep breath and said, "No, I didn't. He has just come to faith in Christ. If we begin to tell him what he can't do, shouldn't do, ought not do, etc . . . we quench the work of the Spirit by imposing a law. If we were to speak to him about the t-shirt, and he were to stop wearing it, he will confuse regulations of a religion with the reality of a relationship. Let's love him, get to know him, and encourage him - but let's stay away from the 'should nots' of religion and give time for his relationship with Christ to develop."

I can't say my deacon fully understood what I was saying, but to his credit, he listened quietly - and walked away without a response. We baptized Eric that night and the next Sunday Eric came to Sunday school wearing a 'Coors' t-shirt. The next week he came with a Michelob Light t-shirt. The following week he came to church wearing another beer t-shirt.

Eric was a beer t-shirt collector.

It was not easy staying quiet. Many were tempted to say something. I might have said something if the Bible addressed the subject, but nowhere in the sacred text does it say, "Thou shalt not wear a beer t-shirt to church." Eric himself had no idea that some people might be 'offended' at his clothing, and when a handful of church members came to me to talk about Eric's Sunday dress, I asked them if they were personally offended with this new Christian wearing beer t-shirts. Those who spoke to me about it, to a person, never said they were personally offended, but there was some, nebulous person 'out there' who might be. I told them when they could introduce me to this mysterious, offended person, whom I had not yet met, I would talk to Eric. Until then, our love for Eric would cause us to love him where he was in his walk with Christ.

About the fifth Sunday Eric came to church wearing a new t-shirt. It was a t-shirt with a Christian logo. He had found a Christian t-shirt store and, prompted by the Spirit, Eric purchased several t-shirts with a Christian message. That Sunday he had traded in his "Budweiser: King of Beers" t-shirt for one that said, "Jesus Christ: King of Kings." Christ had Eric's heart. The change that occurred happened within. There was not the demand for conformity imposed upon this young Christian by a Southern Baptist congregation, but rather, there was the powerful, internal work of the Spirit within the heart of a man that experienced the love, acceptance and patience of a people who themselves had tasted of the grace of God.

Because many Southern Baptist churches, contrary to historic Baptist principles, are often filled with unregenerate, lost people, Southern Baptist pastors are often tempted to impose LAW on the congregation to keep them in line. However, when churches recognize the beauty and power of the Holy Spirit to tranform lives, and receive people into membership whom the Spirit has already given new life in Christ (and not those convinced to 'join the church' through manipulation), then we pastors can simply trust in "He who began a good work". May God give us the necessary grace to resist the temptation to precede the internal work of the Spirit in His people. Patience allows us to feel the excitement of seeing the beautiful, internal work of the Spirit which trumps any work of the law.

Definition of Insanity

The Harvard Business Review had an article discussing the reasons many leaders will fail to change course even when their strategies are not working.

A study in the 1970's showed that most MBA's would stick with the strategy they chose even when that strategy proves to fail. In other words, they would choose to pour more money and energy into a failed plan, rather than admit a mistake and change. Interestingly, the study makes reference to the Vietnam Conflict as an example of logic falling prey to face-saving.

No one likes to admit being wrong, especially if you've been chosen as one more likely to foresee future needs while having a plan to meet those needs. A leader who can admit being wrong and recognize the need to change course is an increasingly rare commodity.

Ellen Langer's study on the illusion of control showed that people were more willing to bet on a gamble when it was their hand that would roll the dice or pull the card. With all these psychological pressures its no wonder most leaders choose to double down on bad decisions.

The best leaders are not those who never make bad decisions, but rather will be able to recognize a bad decision, give it the axe, and start over with something new. To fail to do so sounds much like the classic definition of insanity: Continually doing the same thing while expecting different results.

Happy 4th of July

Weary of Doing Good?

I've been writing a novel for about eight years, well I wish I had a full eight years invested in it, but I work on it sporadically when I have extra time, which becomes more rare with each passing year. Needless to say, it has become little more than a hobby. Yet, some poor souls will write and rewrite, modify character profiles, adjust plot lines, all while hoping to someday be published. Yet, only a small handful of the thousands who write will ever achieve such a goal.

Sometimes the Christian feels like the aspiring novelist, wondering if he will ever see fruit from his labor of doing good. Our culture of quick results has no doubt crept its way into Christian consciousness, as churches grow weary of leaders when church growth stagnates, parents grow weary of spankings when children don't immediately learn how to behave, and the believer grows weary of doing good when it all seems fruitless.

Galatians 6:9 "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart."

There are several things which make us grow weary and lose heart. Opposition and conflict consumes immense amounts of energy, resulting in weariness. Not getting enough rest, not feeding our souls with God's Word, and not recognizing our limitations can all contribute to weariness while doing good.

Paul touches on perhaps the most serious source of losing heart, being the desire for immediate results. My experience has taught me that instant success is seldom lasting, while immediate failure is seldom final. Therefore, don't lose heart in doing good dear Christian, for your due season is surely coming, and I am confident you will not be disappointed.

More About Amazing Grace

The Danger of Leadership

I didn't know becoming a leader in a local expression of God's New Covenant community meant I would spend the rest of my days with someone always angry at me. Yet this is the consistent pattern of the life of a pastor. I guess I should be encouraged since Jesus himself warned us to beware when all men speak well of us.

If Jesus couldn't go through life without making people angry, who are we to think we can do otherwise? You say, "Sure, Chad. I get it, leadership can be hard. Waa, waa!"

Yes, it can be, but that's not the point to which I am getting. Leadership is not just difficult, but because it is difficult it can also be dangerous. I believe we see this illustrated in the life of Moses. God instructed Moses to ask the rock for water to refresh the children of Israel, but notice what Moses does.

Numbers 20:10-12 says:
And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?" Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank. Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them."

Its strange that this same Moses was previously referred to as more humble than all the men of the face of the earth. So what happened? What caused Moses to not only disobey God by striking the rock rather than asking it for water, but he also set himself up as the people's judge as he called them rebels. And to top it all off, he promotes himself to the office of deliverer with the statement, "Must WE bring water for you?"

Everything Moses did drew attention to himself rather than pointing the people toward God. So how did Moses evolve from a humble, reluctant leader, into a self-righteous bringer of judgment?

I believe the answer lies in the fact that leadership brings a contant flow of criticism, complaining, and doubting from those who are being led. In the preceding chapters Moses endured the cutting words of opposers, the lack of eye-contact from his secret critics, and the proud boasting of those who could have "done it better."

The constant beating of these harsh attitudes turned Moses into a leader who forgot that his "struggle is not against flesh and blood." He became a leader who began taking the constant attacks personally, therefore he launched a personal attack of his own.

Tim Keller is right when he says, "Moses is a man who has forgotten grace." I like Keller's quote of John Newton, “Whatever it be that makes us trust in ourselves that we are comparatively wise or good, so as to treat those with contempt who do not subscribe to our doctrines, or follow our party, is a proof and fruit of a self-righteous spirit.”

Whether you are church leader, school teacher, or police officer, I encourage you to recognize that opposition from those whom you lead can push you towards becoming a self-righteous, judgmental pharisee; and that is the danger of leadership.

Tribute to Mom

The following is a tribute I gave to my mother a few years ago.

Dear Mom,

For several months I’ve been forming words in my mind for a tribute to you for being such an incredible mother and investing your very best in me. As adults we see things kids never see, and that perspective has only heightened my respect and gratitude for the woman that God chose to be my mother.

You are far too humble a person to say so, but I know you overcame many challenges as a child I never had to face. Instead of all the years of support I had from a mother, you were raised apart from your mother in foster care. Though you never felt the love of your parents growing up, I have felt, heard, and known your love my whole life. Because of you, I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know there was a God who loved me, or a time when I didn’t know how to pray.

You overcame other obstacles too, Mom. In the midst of the worst times I can remember, you managed to go back and finish nursing school and create a better life for you and your three boys. You are an over-comer in a world of excuse makers. May I be like you.

Remember the foot races around the house, popcorn cooked in a pot, extra puppies, hot summer nights, and all the peanut butter sandwiches? Remember all the broken bones? Five if I counted right. Remember how I’d make you cry, laugh, and occasionally swear. You were never perfect, but you were always authentic. You have forgotten more about showing kindness than most people will ever know. I hope I’m like you in that.

And when I finally surrendered to the Lord, you accepted my apologies for being a rebellious son and helped me get back into college and finish. I honor you Mom. You are a triple-double, grand slam, record setting mother; a success by faith. And I hear you saying, “For the Lord’s glory, Chad.”

And I say, “Amen.”

Ephesians 6:2-3 "Honor your father and mother," which is the first commandment with promise: "that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth."

The Story Behind "Amazing Grace"

My Final Farewell

This is my final farewell to you all.  I've enjoyed sharing life and ministry with you and look forward to see you all again in Heaven.  I wish I could stay, but who am I to resist the clear call of God.  I heard the call of God though the voice of a man named Harold Camping.  Brother Camping has proclaimed with authority that the end of the world is soon upon us, May 21st to be exact (that's tomorrow).  In other words, like many of you, I've been called to Heaven and the train leaves Saturday.  I wish it were not true, but who am I to question an obvious man of God?

Sure, he predicted the return of Christ before (September 6, 1994), but unfortunately there was some kind of mixed signals between Brother Camping and the Ancient of Days, no doubt by fault of the Latter.  But all that has been ironed out, and now we have the correct rapture date. 

Unless of course, Brother Camping's prediction is wrong again, by no fault of his own of course.  Maybe I should go ahead and prepare a sermon for Sunday, just in case.  Chance favors the prepared mind, right? 

By now you may be laughing, or at least smiling, or maybe just smirking.  Or maybe you're a bit saddened.  Because what is the chance that many will be duped by another false prophet with more false predictions?  Sadly, the chances are pretty good, as there are not as many prepared minds as one might hope.  Jesus said, "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves."

Not everyone who claims to speak for God actually does.

"A Freakin" Leopard

Not long ago I spent some time reading about the Landmark movement of the late 1800's.  This movement emerged out of bitter competition between Christian denominations for the soul of the frontier.  Each denomination was claiming to be superior to the other, and the beloved Baptists were no different.  As a result, men of faith began bringing their desire for superiority to scripture, rather than letting the scripture speak for itself.

It's nothing new for a person to feel so passionate about something that they come to the scripture looking for a way to justify their so-called convictions.  However, this is biblical interpretation run backwards.  We are not to impose our thoughts onto the sacred text, but rather let us hear the thoughts of God in the text so that we may think them as well.

My son illustrated this as he read one of his animal books.  He came to the words "African Leopard."  Rather than read the words accurately as they appeared on the page, he brought something unique to the text; something that was already in his thoughts, something no doubt derived from his first grade culture.  Therefore,  instead of reading the words as "African Leopard," he read "A freakin' Leopard." 

Let us not be so careless as we read and interpret God's Word.  

Rock Bottom

The phrase "Rock Bottom" is often used to describe the lowest emotional and spiritual point in a person's life.  It has often been said that when a person is addicted to a substance they must hit rock-bottom before they can begin to recover.  Whether this is actually true or not (and I doubt it is) rock-bottom is a dangerous place to be.  For rock-bottom has been the scene of many desperate acts, including suicide.

So how does one arrive at this dark night of the soul?  In a word, choices.  A person's life is the sum total of the choices made.  If these choices are based on sound moral judgments of right and wrong, rock-bottom may be somewhat avoided, for a time.  Yet, if these choices tend to cast off moral restraint, rock-bottom may come more quickly. 

So what makes rock-bottom so bottomish?  The person at rock-bottom sees for the first time that they have been deceived.  They thought the choices they were making would lead to happiness and fulfillment, but now they realize they played the fool, and the shame of being so personally responsible for where they are is more than they can bear. 

Maybe your rock-bottom experience came from the choice to use drugs, or to have pre-marital sex, or to embrace selfishness, or any number of other choices.  Or maybe your rock-bottom is just realizing that every choice you make, good or bad, seems incapable of bringing any real joy or lasting fulfillment.  This sounds a lot like the Bible in Ecclesiastes 1:14, "I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind."

So what choices do you have a rock-bottom?  Its often here that a person begins to think seriously about God and faith.  I suspect that's why God the Son (Jesus) spent so much time ministering to people who were at the bottom.  People like prostitutes and thieves, out and out sinners.  But what I find so comforting is that even though God is personally offended by sin, Jesus never condemned a sinner who was humble enough to look up from the bottom and see that God had provided a Savior.

So what does this Savior offer for those at rock-bottom?  In a word, freedom.  The first step to being free from the guilt of your choices is recognizing that even though your sin has caused pain and grief for you and those around you, that God still loves you.  He loves you enough to come and take your guilt and its consequences upon Himself when he died on a cross.  He then was buried and raised back to life. 

The choice to make is one of faith.  Faith will allow you to turn away from a life of sinful choices and have Christ's death, burial and resurrection attributed to you.  The Bible says in Romans 6:3-4, "Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?  Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."

In other words, you can die now and in eternity because of your sin, or you can accept by faith that God died in your place so that you could live now and in eternity.  You can have all your sinful choices forgiven by God, be lifted up from rock-bottom, and begin living a new life free from guilt, full of joy, and guided by Christ.

Who am I, and does it matter?

I remember watching the movie "Big" where Tom Hanks plays a boy magically transformed into an adult.  At the end of the movie he asks the leading lady if she would like to go with him to be a kid again.  She declined as she alluded to the fact that adolescense was hard enough the first time.  I can certainly relate.

I remember how high school contained groups of kids with various characteristics.  There were the computer guys who were immersed in the rise of technology.  There were the athletes who were born with excessive amounts of coordination.  There were the socially awkward who struggled to fit in anywhere.  There were the glamourous who had more hair than genuine self confidence.  And of course there were the power drinkers and druggies who were likely struggling to cope with some pain or disappointment. 

And this is certainly not an exhaustive list, but it seems obvious the teenage years are where one begins to search for an identity.  Who am I?  Where do I fit in?  These become the almost subconscious questions that drive so much of teenage behavior.  For some, an indentity comes easily as they are inclined in one direction or another because of solid raising or natural ability.  Yet for others, figuring out who they are is a bit more trying for several different reasons.

Whenever God told Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses responded with the question, "Who am I?"  What is interesting is that instead of answering Moses question directly, God told him, "I will certainly be with you."  It seems implied that Moses' identity need not be his main concern as he is redirected to an aspect of God's identity.

In the last few decades we've heard a lot about self-esteem, being the estimation of self.  People either have a high self-esteem, low self-esteem, good self-esteem, or poor self-esteem.  It appears that God presented Moses with the revolutionary idea of no self-esteem, no estimation of self.

So do some people struggle because of a poor self-esteem?  Certainly.  But the key is not to have a higher estimation of yourself, but to stop focusing on yourself altogether.  So stop searching for your identity and begin focusing on God and His identity.  This is one of the big things Jesus did for us when he came.  He revealed God's identity.

In John 14:9 Jesus said, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father."    

Looking for your own identity?  Try discovering God's identity in the Person of Christ in whom we live, move, and have our being.