5 May 2009 by Brian.

As many of you know, our family spent several years as missionaries in Youth With A Mission (YWAM).  You may also be aware that YWAM missionaries must raise 100% of their financial support, including the rent they pay to live on the YWAM campus, for those who choose to do so.  For those unfamiliar with the practicalities of this arrangement, it means that you share your vision for ministry with individuals, family members, and churches who may want to partner with you to accomplish the vision.  Those who choose to “support” you, send money on a “regular” basis.  However, from month to month, supporters drop out, churches alter their budgets, supporters forget for months at a time…you NEVER know how much income you will have in any given month.  Sometimes, the missionary is surprised by a large ‘one-time’ gift that covers the shortage from deficiencies created as other supporters couldn’t come through for them.  (We were blessed to experience God’s provision this way MANY times during our years in missions.)

“YWAMers”, as we commonly refer to ourselves, often - very wrongly - refer to this lifestyle of living on financial support as “living by faith”.  Okay, they’re not 100% wrong…it is living by faith, but the tacit belief that those “in the real/secular world” (a.k.a. “living a normal life”) are not living by faith is, without a doubt, 100% wrong.  In fact, I’ve found it more challenging to my faith to live on a salary than I found it to live “on support”.  Lately, that challenge has grown significantly and I’ve been trying to understand exactly why.  I think I’ve finally figured it out…okay, to be honest, God has finally gotten something through my thick skull.

When we were on the mission field, we were renting an apartment, and the sum of our possessions were a computer, some clothes, a car (our first one was purchased for $500…remember, we were in SWEDEN, not a third-world country where $500 is the average annual income!), and a few other odds and ends.  Our challenge each month was to pay all of our bills and come up with enough money for plane tickets, when necessary.  We were blessed that we never went into debt for anything during our time on the field, thanks to God and the generosity of those He led to support us.  To each of them, we are eternally grateful.  NOW, however, we have a decent car, lease a 2nd car, “own” a house (we share ownership with the bank, anyway), have some furniture, and so on.  We don’t have a lot, but we have enough that I prefer (rather strongly) not to lose it!

So, what did I learn?  I have come to the realization that a) I STILL don’t have anything of consequence to lose, relative to the value of my relationship with God and the blessing that comes in that relationship, regardless of the challenges one must face in order for it to grow and b) to my shame, I wasn’t actually exercising much faith at all while in missions, because I didn’t have much on the line and, therefore, I wasn’t pressured by the fear of losing anything.

I’m grateful for these lessons.  They certainly don’t come cheap, but they’re worth every penny.

Posted in Humanism, Bible study, Missions, Missionaries, Europe, Religion, False Doctrine, Relativism, Sanctity of Life, Contemporary Christianity, Biblical Worldview, Spirituality, Secularism | 1 Comment »

10 March 2009 by Brian.

Funny how many Americans were worried about Bush and his Christian beliefs.  Very few worried about Obama’s faith…or even knew for sure what it was.  Now, it’s finally clear.  The author of this article agrees that Obama’s speech regarding his action on stem cell research speaks volumes…it’s just that the books aren’t very good.

Let me summarize what I heard from his speech (I will confess that I didn’t hear the entire thing): We CAN do it, therefore we SHOULD do it.  If we DON’T DO IT, our ECONOMY will suffer as other countries take advantage of the otherwise MORALLY WRONG opportunity we chose to forego.  Therefore, EXPEDIENCY trumps any other conception of MORALITY.  Or, put simply, “EXPEDIENCY is the NEW MORALITY.”

Why do I have the nagging feeling that CHANGE will not be for the better.

Maranatha.

Posted in Community, Abortion, Humanism, Naturalism, Politics, Taxes, Leadership, Evil, Trinitarianism, Trinity, Social Injustice, Radicalism, Sex, Contemporary Christianity, Relativism, Sanctity of Life, Biblical Worldview, Spirituality, Morality, Morals, False Doctrine, Secularism | 1 Comment »

8 March 2009 by Brian.

As big government looks to get even bigger, it seems that more of our earnings will being taken by government for use in curing society’s ills.  I heard a sermon this morning that made me think and I thought I would pose these questions to you:  Once government starts taking more of my paycheck AND it has a program for every conceivable problem in our country, will I be less generous in my giving?  Would that absolve me of my God-given responsibility to love my neighbor and meet his/her needs out of love for Christ?  If it doesn’t relieve me of the responsibility altogether, is it lessened?

Posted in Community, Humanism, Social Injustice, Politics, Social Medicine, Missionaries, Missions, Taxes, Social Justice, Radicalism, Contemporary Christianity, Relativism, Sanctity of Life, Biblical Worldview, Spirituality, Morality, Morals, Secularism | No Comments »

13 November 2008 by Brian.

These two articles graphically (perhaps too graphically) illustrate the problem faced by the anti-theist when it comes to morality.  Read this article about humanist propaganda designed just for the holidays (derived from “holy days”, by the way, if you’re wondering why non-theists feel “a little alone” during the holidays).

Then, check out this story from Sweden regarding a bestiality ring, to which the Agriculture Minister (is he a 45 year old father of two?) seems to be sympathetic.

The Humanists want to, “plant a seed of rational thought and critical thinking and questioning in people’s minds.”  Mission accomplished.  So, in the spirit of rationality, here’s a question for you:  “If there isn’t a deity who defines good and evil, then what is ‘good’?”  Consider the nauseating questions posed by the Ag Minister: “Is it, and should it be, legal to spread something on the genitalia that might smell or taste nice to a dog, in order to allow the dog to lick off whatever is spread on the genitalia?  Should it be permitted to stroke a bitch’s teats with love, or should it be classified as animal sexual abuse?”  If there is no absolute moral lawgiver, then there can be no absolute moral law…only physical laws and moral preferences.  Furthermore, if we and our dogs are only the product of time, plus matter, plus chance, then why would those actions be wrong…just a little animal on animal gratification, right?

Without God, the concept of “good” and “bad” are meaningless.  There is only “is”.  We could state preferences for one situation over another, but those would be purely subjective.  In order to be rational and consistent, I challenge the anti-theists to alter their ad campaign to say, “Just act in a manner we prefer, for preferences’ sake.”  Somehow, I don’t think they want their “seed of rational thought” to grow too much.  If it does, it may just reveal itself for what it is…a useless weed.

Posted in Homosexuality, Community, Politics, Abortion, Humanism, Eurabia, Naturalism, Trinity, Trinitarianism, Christmas, Leadership, Europe, Missionaries, Evil, Missions, Social Injustice, Religious fanaticism, Sex, Biblical Worldview, Contemporary Christianity, Relativism, Sanctity of Life, Marriage, Postmodernism, Postmodernity, Radicalism, Radicals, Religion, Morality, Spirituality, Morals, Secularism | 1 Comment »

6 November 2008 by Brian.

Victor Davis Hanson says it well.  It’s a fair question: “After running up the annual deficit to a near half-a-trillion dollars in stimuli rebates and bailouts, now we are to send checks out again for subsidies for food, housing, and power? And how to pay for it? And the consequences of looking for others to channel money to be redistributed? At some point, there should be some overarching exegesis to explain all this. Something like: ‘Compensation is arbitrary and not based on either fairness or logic. So government is necessary to make the needed corrections and to redistribute in the way a flawed market cannot.’ At least then we could learn the logic involved.”

Posted in Community, Abortion, Humanism, Politics, Social Medicine, Leadership, Environmentalism, Taxes, Social Injustice, Social Justice, Contemporary Christianity, Relativism, Sanctity of Life, Biblical Worldview, Morality, Radicals, Radicalism, Secularism | 5 Comments »

28 October 2008 by Brian.

I’ve been reading in the book of James lately and was reminded of just how relevant the book is today.  Many Biblical scholars believe that James was written during a time of economic crisis in the first century.  Specifically, the Roman Empire was experiencing a famine, putting extreme pressure on the Jewish community.  Of course, Jewish followers of Christ were seen as traitors and idolaters by the Jewish religious and political establishment, making them even more vulnerable.  Simply put, these were extremely difficult times which could make it difficult to stay faithful to God and His ways, rather than to take matters into their own hands and attempt to provide for themselves, even if it meant acting in un-Christlike ways.  Sound familiar?  You can see the evidence of the pressure that the original readers of James were under and you can see how James drove the message home by using so many agricultural images while speaking to members of an agrarian society during a famine.

Try reading James again with this background in mind.  I think we may find it easier to put ourselves into the shoes of the original readers and to really understand what God is trying to teach us through this powerful little letter.

Posted in Naturalism, Social Injustice, Social Justice, Humanism, Community, Leadership, Politics, Inductive Bible study, Inductive study method, Contemporary Christianity, Relativism, Sanctity of Life, Spirituality, Morals, Bible study, Morality, Secularism | No Comments »

29 September 2008 by Brian.

…Or, “The Age of Irresponsibility”

First of all, it must be terribly unsettling to think that this life is all there is and that we could soon be plunged into a worldwide depression for many years.  I, for one, am glad that my hope is not in government leaders, the economy, or my (dwindling) retirement account.  No matter how difficult this life may get, I am convinced that by the grace of God, I will one day find rest in the glory of His presence.  As the readers of this blog are also aware, I am convinced that believers are called to glorify God in this life and to live out the life of Christ in whatever times we find ourselves.  His daily provision of grace is my only hope to accomplish this goal as well.  (Is it just me, or has the quality of my writing deteriorated as my blogs have grown more infrequent?)  For those of you who have placed your hope in material wealth, maybe it’s time you considered something (actually, it’s a “someone”) more dependable?

The second point I would like to make is that I find it interesting that we in the West (and particularly in the USA) have long lived under the banner of materialism and it’s offspring, greed.  We have pursued, more than any other goal, economic growth and have happily and quietly applauded ourselves as we have seen our wealth increase each year.  Few among us noticed - or cared to admit - that some of this growth had no real foundation and that it could come tumbling down like a house of cards if the right (or wrong) conditions presented themselves.  Now, we find ourselves facing the very real possibility of disaster and we are looking to be relieved of the consequences of the greed to which we have long given ourselves.

Of course, I’m not surprised at the reaction.  After all, our society has made a habit of living in denial of reality.  We have developed condoms to help avoid the consequences of illicit sex.  We have birth control (including abortion) to avoid suffering with a child while enjoying extra-marital sex.  We have anti-depressants to dull the pain of living a self-centered, empty life.  We have blood pressure medications to help us avoid the consequences of years of eating an unhealthy diet and divorce to deal with the effects of poor choices and misplaced priorities. We want our credit card debt wiped away in bankruptcy and our unpaid taxes to be forgiven.  On and on it goes. (No, I’m not saying that birth control (with the exception of abortion), medicines, or even bankruptcy are always a bad thing.)  We like enjoying ourselves and we really don’t like unpleasant consequences.  Sooner or later, reality asserts itself.  As Galatians 6 states, “Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow.”

I’m not certainly not hoping for financial disaster, nor am I predicting that the apocalypse is upon us (although Vandy is leading the SEC East, so this is a real possibility!).  However, even if we bail ourselves out of this current mess, if we don’t change our fundamental approach to life and re-orient ourselves towards the balanced life God intended, based upon His truth and principles, we’ll find ourselves right back here again.  Eventually, we will face the consequences of our self-centered lifestyles and it won’t be pleasant.

Isn’t it about time to repent and place God in the center of our lives again, where He has always belonged?  Perhaps these troubling times will open the ears of those around us to the one true hope for salvation.

Posted in Politics, Taxes, Community, Abortion, Humanism, Trinity, Trinitarianism, Europe, Leadership, Missionaries, Missions, Evil, Naturalism, Eurabia, Contemporary Christianity, Sex, Relativism, Marriage, Sanctity of Life, Biblical Worldview, Spirituality, Social Justice, Social Injustice, Morality, Morals, False Doctrine, Secularism | 1 Comment »

10 September 2008 by Brian.

Check out this article on the murder of babies after they are born.

It’s a good thing we’ve got Obama around to protect the ’sanctity’ of Roe vs. Wade and abortion “rights”.  Without his vigilance, the lives of the defenseless and weak might actually come to mean something!

If the facts  - not to mention the conclusions drawn therein - of the article are true, Obama (or Abubaba…see yesterday’s post) holds some horrific beliefs and seems to subjugate the sanctity of human life to his own political agenda.

Posted in Abortion, Humanism, Naturalism, Social Injustice, Community, Politics, Leadership, Evil, Taxes, Social Medicine, Social Justice, Radicals, Biblical Worldview, Contemporary Christianity, Relativism, Sanctity of Life, Spirituality, False Doctrine, Radicalism, Morality, Morals, Secularism | 2 Comments »

5 September 2008 by Brian.

I was reading Psalm 50 and was struck by the statement God makes at the end of this selection:

17     For you hate discipline,
and you cast my words behind you.

18     You make friends with a thief when you see one,
and you keep company with adulterers.

19        “You give your mouth free rein for evil,
and your tongue frames deceit.

20     You sit and speak against your kin;
you slander your own mother’s child.

21     These things you have done and I have been silent;
you thought that I was one just like yourself.
But now I rebuke you, and lay the charge before you.

The passage describes a community made up of people who have no regard for the righteousness of God.  They live according to their own rules, satisfying their appetites, and obeying their whims.  They disregard God’s corrective action in their lives, they disregard the moral law and freely accept injustice among them.  They speak evil, even of those to whom they should be most loyal - their own family.  So, they speak up in matters they shouldn’t and keep silent when they should speak up in opposition to evil.

God states definitively that He is completely different from this society of His supposed people.  God does not keep silent in the face of evil, but opposes it.  He does not speak evil, but doesn’t back down from the truth, even when it is uncomfortable to the hearer.  As His people (I refer to believers here), we are expected to glorify Him by living His character by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.

So, if this is true, then why do I so often hear those who speak up against evil, injustice, or sin referred to as “mean” and those who keep silent and go with the flow as “nice”?  People tend to feel guilty for trying to do the right thing or requiring others to hold to a standard, whether it is simply a business policy that is the standard or its an issue of right and wrong.

We must be careful, always realizing that our judgment isn’t perfect and that humility and grace should always be present in the believer’s life.  But, there are many issues in our society about which God would have us speak up on behalf of Right and righteousness.  If God is who He says He is, then we should be faithful to do so.  The weak and vulnerable in our society need our voices.  People need to see us living the life of Christ at work, in our families, in politics, and, yes, even in church!

Do we dare to ask God to show us just how far short we fall and then trust Him to re-mold us in His image whether it’s comfortable or not?

Posted in Naturalism, Humanism, Abortion, Homosexuality, Eurabia, Social Injustice, Bible study, Inductive study method, Inductive Bible study, Social Justice, Community, Politics, Missions, Missionaries, Europe, Leadership, Evil, Environmentalism, Social Medicine, Trinity, Trinitarianism, Israel, Religious fanaticism, Sex, Biblical Worldview, Postmodernism, Postmodern Philosophy, Contemporary Christianity, Relativism, Sanctity of Life, Islam, Marriage, Postmodernity, North Korea, Morality, Religion, Radicalism, Radicals, Morals, New Age Spirituality, Spirituality, New Age, False Doctrine, Secularism | No Comments »

20 August 2008 by Brian.

Ravi Zacharias has edited a very helpful book entitled, “Beyond Opinion.”  I found one chapter in particular especially intriguing.  It was the chapter on, “The Role of Doubt and Persecution in Spiritual Transformation.”  You see, I’ve read a lot, studied a lot, and even done a little teaching on the topic of evil and how its existence can best be understood within the Christian worldview.  However, the author of this particular chapter (Stuart McAllister) does a great job of addressing the existential reality that we would often prefer to avoid.  In fact, I would argue that God attributes great value to the growth and the glory produced in the “desert experiences” of our lives, while those experiencing them (at certain stages, at least) are under the impression that nothing has any value whatsoever.  In order to understand the context, you need to know that earlier in the chapter, he shared his experience of having been imprisoned in a Czechoslovakian prison after being caught trying to smuggle Bibles behind the Iron Curtain.  Here are two brief paragraphs, which I hope will motivate you to read the entire chapter:

“The Trinitarian vision of God has served to sustain me in many different ways.  What do I mean?  As I journeyed into my life of faith I came to grasp (not very well) the historic teachings regarding the nature of God.  To see that God is a community of love, that he existed in self-giving relationships before the creation, and that he took on himself flesh in order to redeem us, was an awesome discovery.  The gift and life of the Holy Spirit was the final link in tying together what was for me, a vague notion.  This universe is a relational order, and I was now tuned in by virtues of God’s grace, mercy, and enabling love.  This understanding of God allowed me to dwell on God the Father, the Sovereign, the ruler, the God who humbled Egypt and led his people in the wilderness.  It also allowed me to consider Jesus as the incarnate one, the suffering servant, who although God in the flesh, restrained himself, sought out sinners, and gave his life in such an unselfish way.  The Father ruling, governing, guiding; the Son in his example, service, and sacrifice, followed by the Spirit in his comfort, keeping, power, and presence (John 14:26).  All these have been vital in my reflections.

How has this helped me practically?  It has meant that many times I could rest in the assurance of God’s ultimate and good control over life and circumstances.  Even though I had to face questions, I recognized my limitations and found comfort in the sense of God’s sovereign rule.  The example of Jesus continues to inspire and fuel a longing to be more like him: to follow his way, to respond as he responded, to treat people as he treated them, to love as he loved.  The assurance of the Spirit’s presence and help has met me in many ways, as I travel, preach, face questions, and seek to wrestle through issues.”

Posted in Humanism, Homosexuality, Community, Politics, Naturalism, Eurabia, Bible study, Social Justice, Social Injustice, Social Medicine, Taxes, Missionaries, Europe, Leadership, Missions, Evil, Trinity, Trinitarianism, Environmentalism, Religious fanaticism, Radicals, Sex, Biblical Worldview, Postmodernism, Postmodern Philosophy, Contemporary Christianity, Relativism, Sanctity of Life, Islam, Marriage, Postmodernity, North Korea, Morality, Religion, Radicalism, Morals, New Age Spirituality, Spirituality, New Age, False Doctrine, Secularism | No Comments »