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A Sermon A Day Keeps The Bible Away?

November 12, 2008 by lionelwoods7

sermon-piper

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Posted in Christian Education, Christian Living, Current Issues, Discipleship, Interpretation, Sermons, Studying the Scriptures, Theology Applied | Tagged | 8 Comments »

All Old Testament Laws Cancelled: Book Review

November 12, 2008 by lionelwoods7

all

I think the first thing  a new disciple should ask themselves or be taught is “what am I to do with the Old Testament and all of those laws”. In some churches the Old Testament is used as an inspirational manual, in others certain laws are used to curb subjective morality (clothes, tattoos) in some denominations the law is supposedly strictly adhered to (until you get to the stoning, real obedience to the sabbath, having mixed fabric clothing), some more solid brothers cancel 2/3rds of it and only uphold the Decalogue, some say those laws aren’t binding but borrow much from it to make certain points and then comes New Covenant Theology. I am of this persuasion and we teach that “All Old Testament Laws are Cancelled” thus consistently pitting the two covenants, the two mediators and work and grace against one another.

Mr Gibson does a really good job giving us a brief and decoded “theologically speaking” work on New Covenant Theology. The thesis of the book is simple and clear:

All Old Testament laws are cancelled, and all New Testament laws are for our obedience. But, you don’t have to agree with me to fellowship with me. If you know and love the Lord Jesus Christ, that’s good enough for me. pg. 7

The book is laid out quite simply. The author provides 24 reasons why. In simple number format, supported with charts, scriptures, ending with a couple of appendices and scripture index.

Mr. Gibson provides numerous verses which describe the Old Covenant commandments and the attitude of these laws by the New Covenant writers. One of the simplest but most important distinctions is found on page 62 in where he shows the distinction between Regressive and Progressive Revelation. New Covenant Theologians believe that “The New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed. The Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed”

Mr . Gibson also does a brief overview of Christ’s statement “I did not come to abolish the law” in pages 41-55. This is a very brief discussion and would really take a few hundred pages to deal with extensively. Mr. Gibson does however try to squeeze a bunch of truth into those 15 pages, but again this is not the intent of the book so it is treated with as many pages as the book allows.

In pages 81-89, he deals with defining and discussing the 10 Commandments as the Decalogue which really can’t be separated from the rest of the Old Covenant Law. Regardless of what my Covenant brothers say the Ceremonial, Civil and Moral are not biblical terms. John Reisinger in his work “The Tablets of Stone” does an unbelievable job thoroughly working through the definitions and exposing the false dichotomies of the Law.

Mr. Gibson finishes with what I think to believe Covenant Theology’s weakest point. That is the law and sanctification. Sanctification for a Christian is Christ Centered. That is because the power is from Christ and the ability to obey is intertwined within the New Covenant while the Old Covenant is what it is “a ministry of death”. Mr. Gibson also shows that the 10 Commandments are thoroughly insufficient in how we are to love one another (the one another’s) while the New Covenant Law of Christ gives us direct commands on how to live this out and the power to do it.

There are a few setbacks. For an introduction Mr. Gibson spends very little time contrasting Dispensationalism, though this is not the intent of the book it would have been good to see how we differ. Mr. Gibson also does very little exposition on the many verses he provides. Because the book is more illustrative I believe this is why this occurs. But it would be good to have provided some good exposition on some of the key verses (Hebrews 8, the Sermon on the Mount, Romans 7, 2 Corinthians 3).

I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to know briefly what New Covenant Theology believes and why we have a radical discontinuity with the Old Covenant as a “gracious covenant” as many of my Covenant Theologian brothers would say.

Posted in Books, New Covenant Theology | Tagged , , | 8 Comments »

Oh Wretched Man That I Am: The Mantra of the Defeated Christian!

November 11, 2008 by lionelwoods7

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

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

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

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

He then goes on to say:

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Posted in Books, Discipleship, Studying the Scriptures, Theology Applied | Tagged , , , | 19 Comments »

When Am I A Pastor?

November 10, 2008 by lionelwoods7

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

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

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

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

You are a pastor when:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Not in that particular order but……

Posted in Discipleship, Ecclesiology, Reformed Perspective, Theology Applied | Tagged , | 14 Comments »

Where in the World is Grace?

November 8, 2008 by lionelwoods7

waldo1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Church where in the world is grace?

Posted in Discipleship, Evangelism, Forgiveness, Theology Applied | Tagged , , | 10 Comments »

You Only Voted For Obama Because He is Black! We Interrupt This Progam for a PSA #3

November 7, 2008 by lionelwoods7

obama

“Blacks only voted for Obama because he was a black man”! Or better yet “Black Christians voted against their values and voted for Obama just because he was black”!

If I hear that again I am going to scream, or throw my radio out of the car, or do something against my common sense! Listen to me very carefully. Especially if you are a Christian and your skin color is white. Look at the picture below.

sambo1

1. I would hope that after years of being played as the buffoon, or caricaturized as humans with great athletic ability and no brains (remember science said that blacks have the smallest brains amongst all ethnicities) that humans with dark skin could get more respect than that.

2. As many blacks voted for Obama because he was black as whites voted for Bush and McCain because they are white.

3. Regardless of what you think of us dumb blacks we really do know the issues that were facing our nation just as much as whites know the issues facing this nation.

4. We are no less voting against convictions if we think the poor should be fed, properly educated (since you are taxing me for it), have health care and this War is evil and dumb. Some believe that this is equal to Abortion and Gay marriage. Not to mention we aren’t too fond of government backed torture of humans beings who are “innocent until proven guilty” and even if they are guilty that seems to be “cruel and unusual punishment” (that is still U.S law right?).

5. Finally please respect our opinions as we respect yours. White American thought is not the standard of truth. Others have opinions that differ. Just because blacks voted for a president you don’t like doesn’t make us dumb and just voting for a race. Blacks have vote Democratic historically over the past 28 years that I have been alive and I believe sine FDR really. 90% plus voted for Clinton in both elections. 90% of black voters voted for both Gore and Kerry. The problem is most blacks didn’t register because they believe that either candidate cared about their issues that they were just a minority to be courted but people didn’t care. Obama seemed to be a person who cared while Bush has ignored the black voters not even entertaining any invitations to come speak of his policies. At least McCain made an attempt but the problem is he was casted in the same light don’t forget this quote “I voted with Bush 90% of the time”. Wrong answer for black folks.

Before you open your mouth about why blacks voted. Ask them! Don’t stereotype and don’t contribute to say gross misrepresentation that has circled Conservative Evangelical Programs. This is disheartening and when I hear it I have no desire to hold in further conversations with you. A bridge that is fragile is already torn down. We love America too and we want to see her prosper and our kids flourish and become productive citizens. I promise we love Jesus just as much as you do. Don’t do us blacks folks like that, we have climbed enough hurdles and have sought your equality for too long for you to push us back down and compartmentalize us as just a bunch of dummies who don’t know any better!

I promise this is the last post on politics!

Posted in Presidential Candidates, Race Issues, Racial Reconciliation, politics | Tagged , | 80 Comments »

Robo-Christianity Part 1

November 7, 2008 by lionelwoods7

By Guest Blogger Brother Lawrence D!

Back in 1987 a movie was released called RoboCop. RoboCop is set in a crime-ridden Detroit, Michigan, in the near future. RoboCop centers on a police officer who is brutally murdered and subsequently re-created as a super-human cyborg, otherwise known as “RoboCop”. RoboCop is designed to be a robot police officer that is governed by what is called in the movie “The Three Laws”. Certain scenes were no doubt placed in the movie to show the conflict between actual life events and those three laws. 
 
In some way, this is a description of what we call Christianity in America. Like it or not, admit it or not, we Christians like the static approach to our faith. We want uniformity. We want to have a trademarked brand that excludes any form of individuality. We don’t want anyone “doing his own thing”. We want to think alike, sound alike and look alike. We want to be easily identified in a crowd of sinners. “There’s the Christian!” we want people to say. We want to have a three-by-five index card type of faith that is easily retrievable whenever we may need it. A card that tells us exactly what we should do in every situation. We want a faith where we can be confident that we all fit into the same whole.    
 
We can find echoes of this thinking all over the spectrum of our Theology but it is most reflective in our Ecclesiology. Let’s face the truth, we love to be sectarian. We love to proclaim that we’re the ones doing it “right”. By “right” some of us mean biblically, some historically and others just mean like our favorite theologian says we should. We marginalize, slander, rebuke and exclude all those who refuse to conform. We want people to walk in lock step with us on everything from their personal devotion to the way they do ministry outreach. From our style of preaching to our choice of praise song material, like RoboCop, we too believe ourselves to be governed by static laws. We believe that they work in every situation. Whether it is ten, three, or just one (whatever My Pastor says), we yet believe ourselves to be faithful followers of Christ and proclaim ourselves to be doing it the “Christian” way. But does the scripture comport to this way of thinking? Let’s look at a few examples:
 
Jesus said to Nicodemus:”The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8)
 
Do you get the feeling that Jesus was expressing an unpredictable effect that the Spirit would have in a regenerate individual? Can regeneration be compared to an assembly line where every believer comes off exactly the same? Sure I believe that we have a common salvation (Jude 3) as believers but how it may appear in our lives may not be so similar. Even Jesus expressed the fickle nature in which God’s servants are identified by the “religious”. He said:
 
“For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’. The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinner!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.” (Matthew 11:18-19)
 
John the Baptist and Jesus. Two men. Two intertwined missions. Two different approaches. Both approved by God. And what about Paul?
 
“But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me;”
 
Why didn’t Paul need to be catechized by the ones who came before him? Didn’t he need to know the uniform and liturgy? Or what about this:
 
“If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, ‘Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)- in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.“ (Colossians 2:20-23) 
 
Why didn’t Paul think that this “structure” was necessary to prevent Christians from sinning? Didn’t he want them to be held accountable or have “church” discipline? And let’s not forget:
 
“So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.“
 
Does Paul believe that a foundational teaching is enough for Christians to thrive on? Surely he sees it necessary to do a “Marriage”, “Spiritual Leadership in the Home”, “Raising the Next Generation”, and “Spousal Submission” series, right? Was he that confident in the work of God in the life of His children?
 
Look friends, when Jesus commissioned His disciples to go out and make disciples, He intended for them to make disciples of Him and not them. How about you? Do you want men to follow you or Christ? Men have fantasized about making robots that look, talk and even think, just like them. They may appear alive but they are not. Jesus Christ, through His gospel and by His Spirit, makes men alive. Sure, at times they may appear dead but they are more alive than can be imagined. Maybe we should trust Him with how men’s lives are lived and just concentrate on introducing them to Him. The last thing we need are RoboChristians.
 
 

Posted in Christian Living, Ecclesiology, Studying the Scriptures, Theology Applied | Tagged , , | 1 Comment »

Hey That Ruler is Broken: I promise they are the same size!

November 6, 2008 by lionelwoods7

Okay, I took the first post down because I don’t know if was done in the right spirit. I still want to communicate what I was trying to convey. I want to be honest today with my struggle. This will be real honest so I apologize if I offend you up front.

I want to give you a quick backdrop. I came out of extreme Pentecostalism. Though there I believe I was genuinely saved. I was attracted to their cause for holiness (or at least I thought). You see they were holy in matters that really don’t matter to Jesus. The way they dressed, they didn’t smoke or drink, they didn’t wear makeup and they had a high view of the Gifts of the Spirit. However when it came to gossip, judgmentalism and just plain on messiness they had no power in these areas.

I was first introduced to Reformed Theology by a good friend of mine. I had always wrestled with the truth of the scriptures but Jesus usually took the blame when some group of churches wasn’t lining up with what Jesus taught. To me Church and Jesus were joined at the hip. I So I was pushed into the arms of Reformed Theology. They didn’t run around the church, have huge restrictions (at least I thought) and they studied the bible a lot. Gave me a grip of head knowledge. I became smart pretty quick. For years these men could no wrong. If they wrote a book it was right, what they felt about the gifts (Master’s) was correct and the books they recommended was the books I read. I became a Reformed Groupie I guess you can say. I loved the fact that they would rip into the extreme Pentecostalism I read the books and everything (you know which ones). I loved the Doctrines of Grace and all they taught. Man I was excited about a lot.

Something happened to me along the way folks. I started to realize something. There seem to be a double standard consistently. As I read the books of those my favorite preacher was reading something became clear. Those who had good theology got a pass for heinous orthopraxy. Let me ask what is worse. A man who owns and sales slaves or a man who appoints a woman as an elder. Okay let me put it this way. Joel Olsteen vs Johnathan Edwards? Yes Joel Olsteen is horrible, but man, if you can look me in the eye and say one of the most prized theologians, one who can handle the text like a brain surgeon handles a brain couldn’t figure out that kidnapped men, women and children, kept against their own will, encouraged to engage in sexual immorality (remember most slaves couldn’t marry and even if they could their marriage was about accepted as Obama at a Republican convention) for the job of reproduction, split up whenever Master needed some extra money was humane, then I am selling golden goose eggs for $5 a piece!

Now for some reason a guy can’t be a gay bishop but a guy can be a slave owning theologian. Paul, John and James and especially Jesus talks about the love of neighbor and enemy more than anything else. Even if you thought slavery was right Philemon had to have to have some impact on you. Philemon was in the bible before 1964 right?

I am even beginning to wrestle with Reformed Hermeneutics versus Experiential Hermeneutics. It is funny that Martin Luther’s hermeneutic encouraged the Reformers to burn men at the stake, drown them in lakes and imprison and torture them. While Martin Luther Kings hermeneutic encouraged him to free a people peacefully. It is funny that Calvin’s hermeneutic encouraged him to force everyone under their government to submit to Christianity but brothers like Menno and others were pacifist.

It is funny that during Reformation day we celebrate a man for nailing a theses on a wall but ignoring the fact to love your neighbor while we ignore individuals like Viola Liuzzo. I bet Sheriff Clark’s theology was much better than James Reeb a Unitarian who died at the hands of racist. For some reason we reject MLK for having some shady theology but we embrace ML the Reformer who had horrible practice.

Today a man can use filthy communication even profane reference to our relationship with Jesus but the same individual can discipline a man for deciding to stay at home while his wife works. It is funny that some can mock and caricaturize individuals but the same people get upset if someone decides they don’t want someone pastoring them. It is funny that we have no problem with visionary even ambitious pastors, but when a woman is ambitious she is living outside of God’s will. It is funny that we have no problem dividing with a church that appoints female pastors but write volumes on men who owned slaves.

We measure one group people with one ruler and another group (the group we like) with a broken ruler. I have seen people say “this is God’s chosen president” in reference to Bush. They have no problem with torture, the bombing of innocent, the reckless disregard for the poor, but turn in the other breath and call Obama “the most liberal president ever”. We don’t care if Muslim babies die, well because they are Muslim we just don’t want American babies dying.

It is funny that many of the unlearned (you know the ones who are mocked on blogs) don’t know much about the bible but obey what they do know, while others know a bunch about the bible and do very little of what it says. But it doesn’t matter accumulation of facts is more important that putting the facts you know into practice. Good theology gets you a pass in Reformed Circles while good practice is outright ignored.

The right reading of the bible is better than the right practice. It is funny that Jesus has the same problem with the Pharisees, their orthodoxy was spot on! However, Jesus tells them twice “I desire mercy and not sacrifice”. It is funny that the smartest bible people happen to be the most abrasive people I know. It is funny that Jesus said “they will know you are my…. by your love for one another” I wonder what the world has thought of us thus far.

You see I am beginning to struggle with much of this. Why? Because what I see when I look up ain’t what I see when I read. We are more concerned to flock to conferences where “truth” is preached versus live it out. We are more impressed with theologians who are untouchable than man and women who minister in trailer parks. Not to mention I know guys who have turned down the “call” to pastorate because the money wasn’t right, while I see some brother and sisters ministering in trailer parks with their own money. I know a man who travels on his own dime to different parts of the world for Jesus while I see churches say they can’t support missionaries while sitting in a 20 Million dollar building.

The more I read, the more I spend time with people the more I realize the blaring inconsistencies. We expositorly preach through James while ignoring his commands on being impartial. We preach through Ephesians while ignoring the command to be kind, patient, gracious. We like Ephesians 1 more than we like Ephesians 4. We are more concerned that the guy quit speaking in prayer language, than we are feeding the poor.

I used to once believe that “if you preach to the mind the heart will change”. I now say “if you preach to the heart the mind will change”. I believe it is the heart that changes the mind. Why? Because the people who have all made a huge difference in this world had great hearts. While those with the greatest minds sit back and philosophize. But we love knowledge, we love being smarter than others and we hand out a broken ruler to prove it.

I am not innocent of this. For years and years I would praise Martin Luther while pointing out the flaws of Martin Luther King. For years I would applaud the Reformers while turning a blind eye to the True Reformers. I want to say this plainly as I can. Lets stop being hypocritical. We point fingers at Rob Bell and others while we ourselves refuse to engage the same people that he engages. We don’t want sinners to interrupt our holiness. While these men storm bars and the like. I am starting to believe that many of these gentleman that I use to loathe are beginning to look much more like Jesus and the ones I used to esteem, not so much. The Pharisees were all head and little heart. They tied millstones and yoked people up to heavy burdens. They had little heart and much facts. For some reason the Jesus I see in scripture, man, He spent much more time giving of Himself than writing books and holding conferences. He was touchable, He was approachable, He spent time where the religious elite would never go. He touched people that they would never touch. He served in ways that the religious elite wanted to be served. Jesus was really different and my reading of the scriptures was blinded so I only saw the Jesus that called the Pharisees “brood of vipers” not the Jesus that ministered to an adulterous woman by a well.

I didn’t see the Jesus who went into Zaccheus house but I did see the Jesus that flipped over the money changers table. I didn’t see the Jesus who was called a drunkard and a friend of sinners. But I did see the Jesus who said “depart from me you evildoers”. Thats funny. Maybe because I even came to the bible with a broken ruler. Or maybe not. I guess I am just saying man things are different. I don’t know if that is good or bad, but it is. For some reason my heart is becoming more and more compassionate. Maybe that is because of men like Alan Knox, Dr. David Black, maybe I missed from pastors like Dhati and Calvin. There are so many people in my life now that have been pushing me in a different direction. Not because of what they say but because of how they live. They don’t just read their bibles. They care about people. I have brothers who won’t get any recognition for sleeping in tents in trailer parks. Or uprooting their family from the suburbs to minister to marginalized individuals. People who sit in mobile homes with alcoholics while cigarette smoke and who knows what other kind of smoke is blown.

Men and women who touch the lepers of America, Ethiopia and the Muslim world. I have been moved, because they look more like Jesus than any of the Reformers with their right theology. I am rambling here but tape your ruler together when you get a chance and be as critical on those prized theologians as you are on those you don’t like. You may be surprised that they are the same size!

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Its the Remix Baby #15

November 6, 2008 by lionelwoods7

Matthew 23:8-12

 8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have are one a teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And call no a man your father on earth, for you have one  he is your father, who is in heaven. 10 Neither be Also be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ  are the Senior Pastor or Teaching Elder. 11 The greatest among you shall be your servant shall dominate the pulpit and be called Senior Pastor, or some other fancy title so that you can be distinct from the laity .  (TSV, Today’s Standard Version).

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Heck No I Can’t Serve You…..Gotta Study My Bible

November 5, 2008 by lionelwoods7

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Posted in Christian Living, Theology Applied | Tagged | 21 Comments »

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