January 12, 2012

Disclaimer: I don’t watch or read anything made by Joel.  I don’t claim to have a good understanding of what he usually preaches or believes. It’s not that I don’t like him, he’s just not for me.  So I can’t say whether most of what he says is right or wrong.

But the other day, he got it right.  Joel recently appeared on Oprah’s new show and faced some difficult questions.  The difficult questions every preacher sooner or later faces.  It seems like the media spends a lot of time focusing on the people who only gets one out of two of the questions Oprah was getting at right.

The first question: Is homosexuality a sin?  Answer: Yes.
The second question: Does that mean a gay person will got to hell.  Answer: Maybe.

Maybe?  Yes, maybe.

Joel answers perfectly when he says essentially that sometimes we make homosexuality into a bigger sin than it is.  It is made into something more than it is.  Homosexuality is a sin.  So is lying, so is cheating, so is stealing, so is many other things.  The truth is, homosexuality is not on some other level than these other sins.  All sin exists on the same level.  Sin is sin is sin, no matter which category you try to put it in.

So why the maybe?

The very nature of God is perfect.  Joel says that God doesn’t categorize sin, and in many ways he is right.  But it’s more than that.  Far more than that.  The very nature of God is complete perfection.  Sin is imperfection.  For something to be perfect, there can be no imperfection near it or associated it.  Sin (and therefore sinners) is(are) completely incapable of approaching God.  But God was unwilling to accept that.  So God found a way to approach sinners.  Through covering our sin with the sacrifice of the Son.

What does that mean for someone who is gay?  The same as it does for all other sinners.  If you accept the truth that Jesus is Lord and Savior, and ask forgiveness for your sins then your sins (all of them) will be forgiven.  And if you don’t, then they won’t.  All sinners could go to Hell.  No sinner has to.

Those who would make homosexuality out to be something greater than any other sin is misguided, and probaby forgetting of their very own sins.  Yes, we should strive to stop sinning.  We should lead a perfect life as possible.  Habitual sin is not good, and we should all strive to stop it.  But many of us commit habitual sin, so we should stop throwing stones and first take care of our own sins.

Did Joel get anything wrong?  Maybe.  I’m not sure.  His comment on “many paths to Jesus” is a little worrisome.  It could be entirely correct, or entirely wrong.  But I didn’t see any elaboration on exactly what he meant.  Did he mean that Jesus is available to all people in all the world?  Then yes, that’s correct.  Did he mean something else?  I don’t know.  So I can’t say either way until I see elaboration.

But in the mean time, good job Reverend Joel.  It’s about time someone prominent spoke out and got both answers to the two questions often asked correct.

May 20, 2011

All you have to do is look at the news right now and the topic of my post is probably going to be obvious.

Some would say I am in fact taking a great risk just by writing this post. After all, the people who would be interested in reading it might be gone tomorrow (May 21st).

Out there, right now, a group of people are saying that on May 21st the rapture will occur. And the world will end on October 21st.

A rather strange mathematical formula is given that explains the conclusions drawn and the date is set in confidence.

So why then do I write this post that is unlikely to be read?

Because the only reason it may not get read is that I don’t post often enough to gain a following.

I do not believe the rapture will occur tomorrow.

I believe the person in question who has set this date will be wrong. Again. (Perhaps I should mention this isn’t their first attempt at predicting the end)

The thing is, Jesus was clear on this matter. Extremely clear. He said:

“…no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.” (Matthew 24:36)

Some one argue that this means no one in that day knew. That it doesn’t necessarily mean no one will ever know. They might have a point. But one thing strikes me as odd. These mathematical formulas are based on passages from the bible, most of it the old testament. Anything taken from the new testament is knowledge that Jesus surely would have known, as the Son would likely know more of the Father than the disciples.

So I have a hard time believing someone would have greater understanding of the works of God and the scriptures than the living Word of God.

Could we be raptured tomorrow? Sure. It’s possible. But will someone correctly gleam the knowledge that God the Father didn’t even share with the Son? I find the concept impossible.

This will come, “Like a thief in the night…” when no one expects it. And as much as we should “expect the unexpected” we won’t be able to predict it.

Instead, what we should do is live our lives in anticipation of what we could be, and with our eyes on God.

Gleam knowledge of God from the Bible, but don’t make it say something it doesn’t. Don’t put God in boxes He doesn’t put Himself in. Focus on God, let Him Focus on you, and the rest will take care of itself.

March 16, 2011

Over at Wesdraws, Wes posed a few very interesting questions in his latest post.

He asked:

“Do you think there is a difference between a “believer” and a “disciple”?

If so, what differentiates the two?

Which is more important?”

I read through the answers, all very well stated and clearly explained. But I found myself disagreeing with them to a small extent.

What most commenters said was basically, “Yes, there is a difference. (Although maybe there shouldn’t be) Believing is something anyone can do, but discipleship is growing/learning/etc. therefore it is better.”

But it’s not. Not necessarily. I’d like to take a look at a few verses of the Bible before getting into more of my answer. Because I do believe there is a difference between a disciple and a believer.

John 6:

53 So Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. 54 But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 I live because of the living Father who sent me; in the same way, anyone who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die as your ancestors did (even though they ate the manna) but will live forever.”
59 He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
60 Many of his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?”
61 Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again? 63 The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But some of you do not believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and he knew who would betray him.) 65Then he said, “That is why I said that people can’t come to me unless the Father gives them to me.”
66 At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him.

Now I want to point out something here. There are many people that Jesus is talking to. But a few of them are actually disciples. They are referred to specifically as that. In fact, the text goes so far as to say he said to THEM (the disciples).

A disciple is someone who is learning. Whether it be teaching, methods, philosophy, or something else. They are a learner. These people followed after Jesus because he had something interesting to say, something they may not have heard before, and they wanted to learn from Him.

But what Jesus decided to say and teach that day was very difficult to understand and even more difficult to accept. Many of the disciples did not understand. But even more than that, the text tells us they did not BELIEVE Jesus’ words. So they left him. Turned away from him.

My point today is that discipleship is great. It’s important. Very important. Some of the commenters at wesdraws pointed out Paul’s writing that mentions even demons believe in Jesus. That we strive for more.

But to the opposite point, anyone can learn. Anyone can listen. But without belief, and therefore application of that belief, you can walk away from Jesus having truly gained nothing.

Many people stood before Jesus one day and heard his words. They were disciples of Christ But they walked away from him because in the end they weren’t believers of Christ. How much did their learning do?

So to answer Wes’ questions:

There is a difference between a believer and a disciple.

A disciple is someone who strives to learn from another.
A believer is someone who puts their faith in another.

But neither is more important than the other.

In fact, each is broken without the other.

A believer who does not learn and grow is stagnant.
A learner who does not believe is lost.

June 17, 2010

This is more of a quick article.

Over at MaxvsMax (can’t get enough of that webcomic you see), there is an interesting topic going on. The creator, Wes, quoted C.S. Lewis and asked for thoughts on the quote.

Eventually the topic of the Bible and its rules governing slavery come up. It is suggested that according the Bible slavery is just fine. Clearly this is morally repugnant, but God is just fine with it. Can that be right?

There are a few things to keep in mind here. Cultures change. There was a very real point in time when MAN accepted slavery as a natural thing, and was dependent on it. (And until not very long ago in the scheme of things)

Economies depended on slavery. People depended on slavery. In some ways, the world depended on it. Does that make it right? Absolutely not. But it does mean one thing.

Just because something is important doesn’t mean someone of authority can simply state, “This shall (not) be.” And it will happen.

If that were the case, we’d have universal health care in the United States as I type this.

Slavery could not be overturned in a moment. Sometimes cultures must be changed a little at a time. The Bible has done this more than once. A very long time ago a culture decided that if you hurt me I would hurt you worse. So you would hurt me even worse. And so on. So to start a path down a good road, an eye for an eye was started. You hurt me. I hurt you back just as much. The cycle is stopped. Eventually though, man grew enough that he should be able to do even better. So we gained the instruction turn the other cheek.

The Bible, and God’s instructions, were left in the middle a situation where slavery couldn’t simply be abolished and everything would be ok. (Anyone can be realistic and see the truth behind this, even as we all agree slavery is not ok)

So the best and only, available choice was the next best thing. See to it that if slavery ‘must’ exist, then the situation for the slave is as good as possible. (Something that sadly was not always followed) It is difficult to find another set of rules for slavery that looked upon the slave so well.

So in short. Does the Bible (and therefore God) support slavery? No. It merely didn’t have the authority to abolish it. So it did what it could to stem it.