21 August 2007 by Brian.

I find it interesting how our language often betrays our worldview.  Time after time, I hear people discuss situations and use phrases such as, “Well, I feel like…” or “Do you feel like…?”  Of course, there’s nothing wrong with considering our feelings about many situations we face.  However, when one is dealing with a budgeting decision, “How much money do you FEEL like you have at the end of the month?”, is absolutely irrelevant.  The question should be one of fact: “How much money DO you have at the end of the month?”

The point is that we, in the postmodern age, have substituted our preferences and our feelings for our reason and intellect.  We might FEEL like we’re on the right track, but the fact is that we’re simply on the wrong track more often than not when we refuse to thoughtfully consider the cold hard realities of the world around us.

Posted in Inductive Bible study, Social Justice, Religious fanaticism, Religion, Morality, Social Injustice, Eurabia, Homosexuality, Community, Abortion, Humanism, Naturalism, Morals, New Age Spirituality, Contemporary Christianity, Sex, Relativism, Marriage, Sanctity of Life, Biblical Worldview, Postmodernism, New Age, False Doctrine, Spirituality, Postmodernity, Postmodern Philosophy, Secularism | No Comments »

16 July 2007 by Brian.

I am fully aware that I don’t have it all figured out, but I do believe that God gave us an objective revelation (The Bible), that can be counted upon.  In fact, it can be counted upon to reveal Truth.  My understanding of that Truth is certainly not perfect, but the revelation is there all the same.

This article reminds me of a problem in the post-modern church: they want to bring the Kingdom into every area of life (an excellent and Biblical goal), but they cast doubt on the certainty of knowing very much about the Kingdom.  How?  They’re so determined that we cannot know absolute truth (we certainly can’t know it exhaustively, I readily admit!) that they eliminate certainty even about the Bible’s own statements in regards to its authority, much less the ability to form doctrines in regards to the specific character of that Kingdom.

After observing this process for a little while, I believe I understand why the Emerging Church resonates so well with our current culture – it finds little reason to do anything else.  After all, who knows what’s right?

Posted in Inductive study method, Bible study, Religion, Morality, Inductive Bible study, Social Justice, Humanism, Naturalism, Social Injustice, Morals, Spirituality, Contemporary Christianity, Relativism, Marriage, Sanctity of Life, Sex, Biblical Worldview, Postmodernity, Postmodern Philosophy, Postmodernism, Secularism | No Comments »

14 June 2007 by Brian.

Read Tim Challies’ review of “The Secret”.  The bottom line is that it’s just more New Age, Humanistic crap, but if you’ll read the review, you’ll know why.  So, why do so many Christians buy into these New Age fads? Could it be that most believers are so little acquainted with the Bible that they don’t know the truth from a lie?

Posted in Religion, Morality, Religious fanaticism, Bible study, Humanism, Inductive Bible study, Morals, New Age Spirituality, Biblical Worldview, Contemporary Christianity, Spirituality, New Age, False Doctrine, Marriage | 1 Comment »

7 May 2007 by Brian.

I’ve noticed a particular phenomenon lately.  When confronted with certain information, an individual will often choose to believe the circumstances to be what they DESIRE them to be, rather than face an unpleasant reality.

So, I asked myself, “When did this begin?”  Did it come with Post-modernism?  Or was it an invention of the Modern Age?  Perhaps it came with the Enlightenment?  Then, I thought of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and decided that this has always been a fundamental danger of mankind’s freewill.  What does this mean for you and me?  For one thing, it means that we need the assistance of the Holy Spirit and that of godly counselors to help us see when our desires blind us to our reality.  It should bring some humility and caution to the conclusions we draw and make us more reliant on the One Who Knows and on the community of believers with which He’s blessed us.

As the saying goes, “Denial, it’s not just a river in Africa.”

Posted in Morality, Religion, Morals, New Age Spirituality, False Doctrine, Israel, Inductive study method, Eurabia, Humanism, Social Injustice, Social Justice, Inductive Bible study, New Age, Spirituality, Relativism, Contemporary Christianity, Marriage, Islam, Sanctity of Life, Sex, Biblical Worldview, North Korea, Postmodernity, Postmodern Philosophy, Postmodernism, Secularism | No Comments »

18 April 2007 by Brian.

Just a little food for thought tonight.  I don’t have the time or the energy to develop this, but I found it interesting and thought I’d offer it up to the rest of you to ponder.

Most of us remember Genesis 3, where God casts Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden and placed the cherubim at the east of the garden to guard the way to the tree of life.  I was reading in Revelation the other day and some striking similarities and contrasts occurred to me in relation to the new Jerusalem described in chapter 21.

In light of the depressing scene from Genesis 3, consider the following.  The Garden of Eden was the place where God had fellowship with Adam and Eve and they fully enjoyed His presence, unstained by sin until the fall.  The new Jerusalem is the place where God dwells with His people and “makes all things new” (that’s a power-packed phrase!).  The Garden contained a Tree of Life (one central place – static, but reproducible).  In the new Jerusalem, from the throne of God, issues the river of the water of life (dynamic, moving, flowing out) with two trees of life, one on either side!  Access to the Garden of Eden was blocked by a cherubim (at the eastern side), but there are twelve angels at the twelve gates to the new Jerusalem – three facing each direction.  However, these angels grant free access to those who’ve received the forgiveness offered by Christ’s atonement and the gates will never be shut (22:14-15).  Satan was able to enter the Garden, but nothing unclean will enter the new Jerusalem (21:27).

Do you think God wants us to get the picture?  He is the Redeemer and He will restore Paradise for those who trust Him and remain faithful to Him.  What an awesome God!

Posted in Inductive Bible study, Social Justice, Humanism, Bible study, Spirituality, Contemporary Christianity, Biblical Worldview, Sanctity of Life | 1 Comment »

27 March 2007 by Brian.

We all know that people like things that are “new and innovative.”  This works for the teacher of false doctrine (especially these days), because people will accept false doctrines, rather than appear to be close minded or “behind the times.”  I’ve learned that humor helps the teaching go down, by the way.  (Is this what Paul meant when he said these teachers would, “tickle itching ears”?!?  I’m kidding, there.  Please don’t think that’s my interpretation of that passage!)

Anyway, I heard a very, very well known international author and speaker teach on the subject of “principalities”.  He began with the statement, “Every physical reality has a corresponding spiritual reality.”  He immediately offered, in all seriousness, as proof of his assertion, Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”  “See?”, he challenged the audience, “’Heavens’ equals spiritual and ‘earth’ equals physical.”  Upon this sound Biblical evidence, our speaker built an hour and a half worth of teaching on “principalities” involved in the telephone system, the internet, governments, etc.  He didn’t offer this example, but I suppose “every physical reality” would also cover an ecological system, a chemical reaction in a test tube, moons orbiting planets in distant galaxies and so on.

From there, we’re supposed to apply Ephesians 6:12 (KJV)– “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”  Now, I don’t believe this is the most dangerous example of bad theology, by any means.  BUT, it misdirects the attention of believers from the spiritual warfare Paul attempts to emphasize in Ephesians, walking in unity, based on our common identity in Christ and encourages them to exercise dominion over the ever-present principalities present in “every physical reality.”

As I listened to our speaker, I made a note to check exactly what the Hebrew words for ‘heavens’ and ‘earth’ used in Genesis 1:1 meant.  It turns out that ‘heavens’ means the physical cosmos in almost every instance it is used.  How could God “create” spiritual reality, when He (the fundamental reality) is spiritual?  Spiritual reality has existed as long as God has existed, which is to say that it’s always existed.  So, Genesis 1:1 is not trying to teach us that there is a one-to-one link between physical entities and spiritual ones.  So, how does one build an entire doctrine on principalities, based on Genesis 1:1?  Good question…but hey, it’s new and exciting, so what the heck?  Go for it!

***Disclaimer – There is a spiritual realm and there are spiritual forces opposed to the Kingdom of God that work in opposition to His plan and purposes in the world.  I don’t mean to minimize that, but to direct us toward good theology and away from bad, so that we might be more effective as believers.

Posted in Inductive Bible study, Humanism, Bible study, False Doctrine, Biblical Worldview, Spirituality, Contemporary Christianity | 1 Comment »

26 March 2007 by Brian.

If you want to increase your chances of holding bad theology, here’s a couple quick and easy steps to get you on your way.  (Trust me, I’ve seen them put into practice on numerous occasions with a high degree of “success”!)  Step one: Begin by choosing your conclusion based on the claims of a popular speaker, your own preferences for what you’d like to be true, or the exciting new conclusions espoused by the “book of the month” in your particular corner of Christianity.  At this point, you may experience some uneasiness as a result of troublesome Bible passages which seem to contradict your chosen conclusion.  That’s where step two comes in!  Step two: Carefully sweep away any lingering doubts by drawing a false analogy and, “Voila!”, you’re well on your way to bad theology that will stand up to the careless scrutiny of much of contemporary Christianity.

Allow me to give you a real-life example from a teacher of the false doctrine known as, “Neo-Theism” or “Open Theism.”  The teacher asserted that it was God’s plan all along for Adam and Eve to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  He said that you can tell from their behavior that they were a little immature, somewhat adolescent, actually.  God wanted them to “grow up” before he introduced them to the reality of evil, but they jumped the gun and that was their sin.

With me so far?  Next, he enlightened us to the fact that Adam and Eve were intended to “grow up” into the knowledge that God has.  Then he talked about the fact that God, not knowing the future (a tenet of Neo-Theism), wants men and women to make their own choices (as opposed to discovering His will for them) and then He blesses it, as long as it is within the bounds of morality prescribed by the Bible.  Don’t believe it?  Just take a father with his boys: he’s happy when they OBEY him, but he’s just as happy when they make their own choices, based on what makes them happy and what they want.

Now, I don’t want to come across as if I’m taking all human initiative out of the equation.  That’s not my intention and it gets quite complicated to go into the details of that issue here.  However, I do see many Biblical examples of an all-knowing God leading people specifically in His will in order to accomplish His plans in their lives and the lives of others.  These events weren’t merely examples of God blessing the self-determined plans of men and women.

Back to our analogy.  What’s wrong with it?  For starters, my goal for my sons is that they will grow up with the ability to stand on their own, for I know that they will be my equal at some point, if not exceed me in many (or every) areas.  I will not always be there for them, therefore independence is the goal.  Does God ever – or should He ever – relate to men and women on this basis?  (Have we become Mormons here?!?)  No way!  We’ll never be ‘God” and we will always exist in a dependent relationship to Him, as He is our Creator and Sustainer.

Now, if you’re really clever, you’ll dig up a good Bible verse to back up your false analogy.  Our teacher had one:  Hebrews 5:12-14 – “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic elements of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food;  13 for everyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is unskilled in the word of righteousness.  14 But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.”

See?  Remember those “teenagers”, Adam and Eve?  God wanted them to “grow up” and learn the difference between good and evil!

Now, for the secret ingredient…this is where a little trick called, “disregarding context” can come in handy.  Don’t let yourself consider the fact that Adam and Eve lived in the garden of Eden PRIOR TO the fall and the writer of Hebrews gave this admonition AFTER evil and sin became part of everyone’s everyday experience.  If you forget this point, you can mess up the whole analogy and you might end up with decent theology again!

Posted in Religious fanaticism, Religion, Morality, Bible study, Inductive study method, Humanism, Inductive Bible study, Morals, New Age Spirituality, Postmodern Philosophy, Postmodernism, Postmodernity, Spirituality, False Doctrine, New Age, Contemporary Christianity | 7 Comments »

5 March 2007 by Brian.

In studying through the Bible and in leading others through it, as well, our faith was often challenged by the seeming unfairness of what can be termed, “the community consequences of sin.”  The question arose, time and time again, “why did so many people have to suffer because others disobeyed God?”  We don’t even need the Bible to see this in action.  Just look at North Korea, most of the Muslim world, Sudan, Communist China and on and on.

As I’ve worked with the homeless and those in poverty here in the United States, I’ve noticed that there’s a question that never gets asked.  That question is, “Why do so many benefit because others have obeyed God?”  Don’t get me wrong here!  I do NOT mean to say that everyone in poverty or all the homeless are in sin.  That’s no more true than to say that all the wealthy are living godly lives!  Either statement would be nonsense.

What I AM saying is that life here in the United States is far, far better for those at the lowest socio-economic levels than it would otherwise be, because of the pervasive influence of Biblical Christianity.   Everyone benefits because Biblical principles have been put into practice (imperfectly, I freely admit) and schools, hospitals, etc. are available as a result.  A great degree of material wealth is available within the body of Christ which is often shared with those who don’t have very much.

The fact is that community does affect us and we have a responsibility to bring the blessing of the kingdom of God to those in our communities.  Let’s bring God glory in this way AND let’s be vocal about giving Him the credit for it.  After all, nobody is shy about blaming Him for the consequences of human sin when it is felt within the community.  Interesting, isn’t it?

Posted in Radicals, Radicalism, Religion, Morality, Religious fanaticism, Bible study, Social Injustice, Social Justice, Inductive Bible study, Morals, False Doctrine, Relativism, Marriage, Sanctity of Life, Contemporary Christianity, Sex, Spirituality, North Korea, Biblical Worldview, Secularism | 2 Comments »

14 February 2007 by Brian.

A friend of mine and I were discussing the manner of fundraising (actually most of the preaching) popular on much of Christian TV these days.  If you’ve ever seen it, you know exactly what I’m talking about.  If not, then it goes something like this: “GAWD is calling you to plant a SEED in this MINisTREE and, IF you will DO THAT, He will BLESS you.”  (There are many variations on this theme, but the message is clear: “give to us (the more, the better) and God will bless you with material blessings.”

My friend commented that their entire perspective is completely consistent with our cultural materialism, in that they honor the large gifts and fail to recognize that God may use the $5 given cheerfully out of a heart of love more than the $5,000 given out of greed.

I leave you with is scripture found in Luke 21:45 – 22:4, a question, and an observation.

Luke 20:45   In the hearing of all the people he said to the disciples,  46 “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets.  47 They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

Luke 21:1   He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury;  2 he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins.  3 He said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them;  4 for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”

How closely is our church culture aligned with Jesus’ perspective on self-promotion, giving, etc.?  It seems to me that there’s plenty of room for reformation, particularly within many circles of evangelicalism.

Posted in Religious fanaticism, Bible study, Inductive Bible study, Religion, False Doctrine, Biblical Worldview, Spirituality, Contemporary Christianity | No Comments »

12 February 2007 by Brian.

The answer to that question is probably BOTH!  Right about now, you’re thinking, “That’s fairly obvious, isn’t it?”  Of course, you’d be right – it is.  Why is it, then, that we often evaluate our own circumstances according to how we FEEL in the midst of them, as if God wasn’t equally interested in their effect upon us.  Look at James 1:2-4 - “My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy,  3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance;  4 and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.”

If you’re like me, you’ve read this many times and thought, “Yeah, yeah, gotta endure hard times, persecution, etc.”  In my mind, that equated to, “Suck it up, boy, and keep going…with a smile on your face.”  Well, a careful reading of the passage, in context of the extreme hardships being endured by the original recipients of James’ letter, leads one to a different conclusion.  There’s more to this than a simple exhortation to hang tough and keep a good attitude.  Let me explain.

The Greek root word, “telos” shows up twice in verse four: in the word translated above as “full effect” and the word translated as “mature”.  The Greek word, “telos” means “goal” or “purpose”.  He’s saying, “God has a purpose to achieve as you go through this trial.”  He’s exhorting his readers to go through the trial in such a way that they produce the good purpose for which God intended them.  We can respond to hardships in various ways, many of which may alleviate our suffering or satisfy OUR desires, yet would not produce the result which our Heavenly Father desires.  What DOES He desire?  That the life and character of Christ might be formed within us, hidden to an ever decreasing degree by our sinful nature.

So, the question becomes, “How do I endure my own trials?  Am I doing it in such a way that God is glorified and I’m reflecting the character of Christ?  If not, why?  Am I frustrated that my illusion of control is being shattered? (Yes.)  Am I too concerned with the fact that what I perceive to be best is eluding my grasp? (Yes.)

God, help me submit to your good work in my life – even through the trials – and don’t let me waste more opportunities to grow closer to You.

Posted in Bible study, Inductive Bible study, False Doctrine, Spirituality, Biblical Worldview, Contemporary Christianity | No Comments »