I have had a couple of the toughest months in my recent years of life. I attend a couple of churches and was at one tonight. It is a practice within my faith for people to pray for each other while "laying hands on them". I'm not talking about a Benny Hinn punch to a forehead kind of a thing.
Anyway, I have a need in my life that most of the congregation knows about and the pastor insisted that I, along with others in need, go to the front during a prayer meeting.
We prayed, and the statement of my need is not required for this post, and we prayed for a little while. I felt something press lightly at my side and looked down to see a little girl no more than four years old standing there beside me praying for me with her one hand outstretched to me and the other hand to another person that was being prayed for.
If anyone needs a blessing in their life get a kid to pray for you. The act alone is a blessing to you but going beyond that I firmly believe that kids have a much clearer set of ears to hear God talking. She knew what she could do to help someone in need. The one thing that many of us, me especially, forget to do or leave till the last minute. The thing that we should be doing in the first minute of a challenge.
Tonight was a great night for me and one that was overdue although if you were to ask God I'm sure He would say it was just at the right time...
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Some Science For a Belief in God
The Scientific Reasons for Why I believe. (At least a couple of them anyway.)
I will admit up front that the numeric values I will list in the course of the following are not numbers that I intuitively know. I did look into them though. There are two schools of science at play for me really when it comes to support of the belief of a creator God. Considering that you already know I am a professed Christian it's not going to be hard to figure out that I have an angle to my argument. Considering that my degree is in English you also know that I am not a scientist. In fact my grammar is slipping down the drain from a lack of use. But I did get an A in Mechanical Physics...
Biology:
Starting out with biology it's really a matter of the knowns that we have in conjunction with probabilities. In the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy an infinite number of monkeys want to discuss a script that they had made for Hamlet. It's a joke that is based on the notion that if you have an infinite number of monkeys banging on an infinite number of typewriters you will eventually have copies of everything that has ever been written.
Here's some of what we do know about Biology (or at least what I am pretty sure I know). The numeric values may float a little bit depending on the scientist that you talk to but this will be fairly close. Close enough for horseshoes anyway and close enough for evolution in my discussion.
-Species. A species, per the American Heritage Dictionary, is "a fundamental category of taxonomic classification, ranking below a genus or subgenus and consisting of related organisms capable of interbreeding". This definition is in fact incomplete. There are members of different species that can definitely mate but they do not produce fertile offspring (mule). The true definition of species is a group of organisms that can mate AND produce fertile offspring. This is indeed key. The only way for a new species to be created is through mutation on a genetic level.
-Variation. This is not to be confused with species. There are 35,000 genes in humans that allow for over 3 million variations inside the genetic code. These variations all work inside of the single species of humans. I do not know the number of genes for any other animal or plantlife on Earth and I don't know if they will ever map out the codes of 2 million to 100 species but I will say that they are not the same as a human and will not be able to interbreed successfully no matter how much fun they have trying. (http://www.ernestrossi.com/what_is_life.htm )
-Mutations. Mutations do happen in the genetics of all living things on earth. The vast majority of these mutations however are not favorable. Evolution relies on favorable mutation occurring over time and in a surviving relationship to the environments of the organisms at hand. So far I'm cognitively following this. Where evolution takes two steps to the right outside of my head, however, is in the sheer number of species changing and thriving over billions of years. Keep in mind that the untold millions, if not billions, of multicelled organisms over billions of years must be able to find a minimum of one other mate having THE SAME mutation and they have to get along well enough to make more of them. The odds of surviving, finding food, not getting eaten, and finding each other are maddeningly slim to me. I will not go the direction of talking about the ill effects of inbreeding within a population other than to say that it is not a good thing for one species or 100 million species.
-How many species? It is estimated, sloppily, that there are between 5 and 100 million species of animal life on Earth today (http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/070803_gm_numberspecies.html ). There are indeed 2 million existing species that scientists have identified to date. This is a tremendous number. In relative terms it is the equivilant of filling between 20 Ohio Stadiums and 1000 Ohio stadiums with unique representatives that cannot get together at the game and make new babies. The implication is that, at minimum, there are at least an equal number of stadiums housing a single fertile mate for the others.
-Where am I going with this? Consider that the number of species listed above only accounts for organisms on earth today. Consider the claims of evolution that our our planet is billions of years old. Remember that each of these organisms must find it's counterpart somewhere in their environment just to produce one offspring. The odds are intensely against one common mutation thriving over any length of time beyond a single generation of that mutation. 2 million to 100 million however, and that's just a current snapshot of nature, thriving? Changing? Changing hundreds and thousands of times and finding each other?
Let's make it worse and step backwards from the organism. This could be exhaustive and I really don't want to belabor the biology side at this point. Life is to have found it's beginnings in chemicals and lightning. Michael Behe wrote a book called Darwin's Black Box. Mr. Behe is a Professor at Lehigh University in Bethlehem Pa. He is not well liked in the Biology department. I have not read the book but this is an excerpt:
page 39 of Darwin's Black Box : "By irreducibly complex I mean a single system composed of several well-matched, interacting parts that contribute to the basic function, wherein the removal of any one of the parts causes the system to effectively cease functioning."
Let's make it worse and step backwards from the organism. This could be exhaustive and I really don't want to belabor the biology side at this point. Life is to have found it's beginnings in chemicals and lightning. Michael Behe wrote a book called Darwin's Black Box. Mr. Behe is a Professor at Lehigh University in Bethlehem Pa. He is not well liked in the Biology department. I have not read the book but this is an excerpt:
page 39 of Darwin's Black Box : "By irreducibly complex I mean a single system composed of several well-matched, interacting parts that contribute to the basic function, wherein the removal of any one of the parts causes the system to effectively cease functioning."
What's Behe saying here? Actually he says a great deal when you are talking about a single celled organism. Per evolution we came from the single celled life. But if you equate a single celled organism to a car then equate the engine, radiator, tires etc. to the elements of the animal. What he is saying is that the whole justifies the parts but there is no reason for the parts independent of the whole. For that matter there's even less of a reason for the subcomponents of the parts and that is even more important (an engine without sparkplugs) In other words, I think, the goo would not contain the core elements/parts to produce the whole.
"A prime example of Michael Behe's "irreducible complexity" is the bacteria flagellum. With over 40 essential parts, the flagellum is a rotary motor used to propel a bacteria in liquid. Spinning at 17,000 rpms, the motor is acid driven, liquid cooled and self-replicating." http://www.reviewevolution.com/irreducibleComplexity.php
"A prime example of Michael Behe's "irreducible complexity" is the bacteria flagellum. With over 40 essential parts, the flagellum is a rotary motor used to propel a bacteria in liquid. Spinning at 17,000 rpms, the motor is acid driven, liquid cooled and self-replicating." http://www.reviewevolution.com/irreducibleComplexity.php
To see a really cool diagram of this element of the animal go to: http://www.theplan.ofgphoto.com/example.html
and feel free to ignore what's written below the picture as the diagram is cool enough on it's own. Search the terms Michael Behe and Irreducable Complexity for much more depth both pro and con.
Ok I am done with Biology now....I'm moving on to Physics now and I promise it will be shorter.
Physics
I've found that a lot of folks in the realm of Biology get really pissed off at Physicists. Not all of them mind you but I think that some Bio's hate the fact that all of the physical reality that we know is governed by the rules of Physics. This includes Biology and Biologists. The science of Biology is governed by the science of Physics. You can't cheat Physics. You can copy and alter Biology but you just can't whip Physics. (Can you tell I like Physics?)
Anyway, I promised a shorter argument from Physics and here it is:
The Second Law of Thermodynamics: In a nutshell the natural world moves towards a natural state of maximum dis-order or a kind of equilibrium of all things. In a far larger explanation of Entropy please look at the following two paragraphs from
"Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics
The second law of thermodynamics (the entropy law or law of entropy) was formulated in the middle of the last century by Clausius and Thomson following Carnot's earlier observation that, like the fall or flow of a stream that turns a mill wheel, it is the "fall" or flow of heat from higher to lower temperatures that motivates a steam engine. The key insight was that the world is inherently active, and that whenever an energy distribution is out of equilibrium a potential or thermodynamic "force" (the gradient of a potential) exists that the world acts spontaneously to dissipate or minimize. All real-world change or dynamics is seen to follow, or be motivated, by this law. So whereas the first law expresses that which remains the same, or is time-symmetric, in all real-world processes the second law expresses that which changes and motivates the change, the fundamental time-asymmetry, in all real-world process. Clausius coined the term "entropy" to refer to the dissipated potential and the second law, in its most general form, states that the world acts spontaneously to minimize potentials (or equivalently maximize entropy), and with this, active end-directedness or time-asymmetry was, for the first time, given a universal physical basis. The balance equation of the second law, expressed as S > 0, says that in all natural processes the entropy of the world always increases, and thus whereas with the first law there is no time, and the past, present, and future are indistinguishable, the second law, with its one-way flow, introduces the basis for telling the difference. The active nature of the second law is intuitively easy to grasp and empirically demonstrate. If a glass of hot liquid, for example, as shown in Figure 3, is placed in a colder room a potential exists and a flow of heat is spontaneously produced from the cup to the room until it is minimized (or the entropy is maximized) at which point the temperatures are the same and all flows stop.
Boltzmann's View of the Second Law as a Law of Disorder
The active macroscopic nature of the second law posed a direct challenge to the "dead" mechanical world view which Boltzmann tried to meet in the latter part of the last century by reducing the second law to a law of probability following from the random collisions of mechanical particles (efficient cause (see Swenson (1990)). Following the lead of Maxwell who had modeled gas molecules as colliding billiard balls, Boltzmann argued that the second law was simply a consequence of the fact that since with each collision nonequilibrium distributions would become increasingly disordered leading to a final state of macroscopic uniformity and microscopic disorder. Because there are so many more possible disordered states than ordered ones, he concluded, a system will almost always be found either in the state of maximum disorder or moving towards it. As a consequence, a dynamically ordered state, one with molecules moving "at the same speed and in the same direction," Boltzmann (1974/1886, p. 20) asserted, is thus "the most improbable case conceivable...an infinitely improbable configuration of energy." Because this idea works for certain near equilibrium systems such as gases in boxes, and because science until recently was dominated by near equilibrium thinking, Boltzmann's attempted reduction of the second law to a law of disorder became widely accepted as the second law rather than simply an hypothesis about the second law, and one that we now know fails. It became the apparent justification from physics for solidifying Cartesian incommensurability and establishing the view of the two incommensurable rivers-the "river" of biology, psychology, and culture, or the epistemic dimension of the world characterized by intentional dynamics and flowing up to increasingly higher states of order, versus the "river" of physics flowing down to disorder. Such a view is entirely inimical to a science of ecological relations, since, as noted above, it is precisely through the interface of these two rivers that these relations occur, and if the interface is incommensurable then the relations are effectively prohibited, or at best, incomprehensible."
The second law of thermodynamics would have destroyed the primordial ooze before it even got oozey.
Done for now.
Friday, January 11, 2008
How a Midwestern Viking Spent his day on Friday January 11, 2008. 100% true.
The following is a true story. Anyone who knows me knows that I am capable and willing of doing what was done today.
I knew they were coming. What I was unsure of was their number this time. It hasn't been a year since I met upwith around six similar characters in a woods. Those were not alone and in fact were surrounded by a ring of folk common to them all with arms, hands, and fingers raised in support of those who faced me. But I beat each and every one of them and left their fans in silence.
This time would be different. There was equally twice the number. I knew this day was coming inside I just didn't know the date. As I said above I have met similar groups in my past. Sometimes I had the aid of others. No matter the occasion the occasion had one thing in common: Victory for me and those supporting me.
Today it was cold. The cold that amplifies itsself between fits of rain and balls of ice bouncing off the ground. There was a harmony of wind to add to the percussion provided by the sleet. These are the cold days that invite themselves into your marrow. How fitting...
So...it turned out that today was the day of a similar calling experienced less than one passing of the Sun. I looked outside of my barn door and there they were. Just sitting there. Easily a dozen but I was not taking the time for an official counting. I just knew what task lay before me. I took a deep breath, sat down my Busch beer that I had only just started. I grabbed my axe and asked them "how shall it be today?"
There was no answer from my opponents. There never has been with these types. Such is their way.
And so it began.
My opponents all easily weighed as much as me. Some weighing a great deal no more. They were of various ages and sizes all grouped together.
What of it?
I sized up one of their number, raised my axe in silence and struck my nemesis down. But with me it is never enough to just strike once. I have to make a point.I hacked, dismemembered, and cracked my axe against the first. I took this monster to task removing finger, limb, and disecting and redisecting torso till there was nothing left worth hacking at. Then I looked at the others and they just sat there saying nothing. Not even a word.
I moved on to the next and ignored the sheer number as they seemed content to sacrifice their comrades and simply wear me down to death.
The next fell faster.
The next, being much more stout, took many more strokes. At least eight blows beneath my seasoned axe before this beast was added to the pile of parts as well.
And on it went. They were a mixed group in terms of age and stature but I will say that not a one of them ran. I hacked and hacked, echoes falling on some blows from the sides of farms distant and adjacent to my own sacred barn.
After two hours I asked those who were left if they would mind if I took a break. Still no response from those left to the challenge. So, I picked up the Busch in one hand, never dropping the axe from the other, and finished my drink while the remainder waited in suprizing patience. If it had been me I would have taken advantage of the moment. But they were not me. They were something different.
By this time I had moved through half of the lot and the remainder were less of a challenge. The toughest of opponents had come first this time. So I dispensed with the remainder in half the time as those from the beginning with parts flying all about me. Bits of entrails sticking to my face and body as if they were glued there. Eventually their kin will come again. Eventually I will be defeated and I know that I will most likely die in the heat of such a conflict. But not today.
Epilogue: Today I won again. Admittedly I am not as young as I once was and in fact these types of fights are wearing me down. Not being one to gloat too much I only took ten minutes this time drinking down yet another beer at the end of the fray. I sat there perched upon top of of body parts contemplating my longevity. I know that at some point I will not win. There will come a day when one will fall upon me from behind and that will be that.
Out of respect to the group I began the arduous task of moving them into a part of my barn that I have converted into a morgue. But not too much respect mind you. I did not sort fingers from bellies for each who came to me. I did put them all together though so that...as they came to me in opposition...they'd meet their end...together.
Now I have been in these fights for years but I will tell you that while there is a tremendous joy in the hacking there is absolutely no pleasure in disposing of the remains. There's actually a brief feeling of sadness at the end of such fights.
But that's the way it is. If you are going to split wood for the wood burner you have to stack it somewhere....:)
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Taking a Stand
Whatever you do, If you believe something stand for it. This is particularly true if you are a Christian having your faith dashed against the rocks by detractors. Don't stand for it. Christ died for you and me and for those in opposition to your witness. The worst thing you could do for the soul of a detractor is back off and hide in a corner. That doesn't mean being nasty or condemning. What it does mean is that person needs Christ as desperately as you and I ever did and Christ shed an equal amount of blood for them as you and I. Souls are on the line. Time to forget about what people might think of you. We are all running out of time but for the lost this is a matter of great peril. Take your role as a believer seriously and take a stand for those who would rather you didn't.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Love notes from the Father.
I've been away from this for a while but I haven't forgotten it! People who know me know that I have been having lots of struggles in my personal life but I want to say that God is incredible! Things are improving and I am maturing as a result of the battles. There's a reason God doesn't let us see the whole war we have been placed here to fight for Him. If we saw it as a whole we might not charge in. But instead he takes us through it one battle at a time. Victories interspersed to keep us motivated. It's like taking someone who can deadlift 200# and then throwing them onto 600# and asking them to pull it. It's overwhelming and we can't do it because we haven't been through enough to carry that kind of a load. So we train, we gain experience and strength from the exposure to carry us on through similar situations and even tougher ones.The past few days I have gotten several love notes from the King that have got me kind of cranked up! Improvements in my marriage, affirmations about a new direct to take for church life, opportunities to share God, and so on. And every now and then God even spoils us:Today God even gave me a piece of candy. What do I mean by this? We have a gym at work that I use during lunch. For months I have been battling and stuck at 485 on deadlift and every time that weight came with extreme effort, pain, and almost passing out from head rushes. Today, with absolutely no exploding feeling from the neck up I nailed 500# without a hickup in the pull. I haven't done that much weight since I was 19! There was no world record in this and no fanfare. God could care less if I deadlifted a cockroach but He knew I've been wanting to hit this for a while and there is no doubt in my mind it was a gift. Before anyone says I am attaching too much to this being from God I need to say that I was listening to Casting Crown's "The Voice of Truth" as I was prepping for the lift. I wasn't really paying attention to the timing of the pull but as I approached the bar this is what was playing:"The giant keeps on telling me time and time again'Boy you'll never win, you'll never win.'and just as I locked out this is what I heard:"But the voice of truth tells me a different storythe voice of truth says "do not be afraid!"and the voice of truth says "this is for my glory"Out of all the voices calling out to meI will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth"Coincidence? I don't think so. No such thing and definitely no such thing for God's kids.I yelled so loud I expected people to run into the gym from the assembly floor but noone came in and that was good. All was well.What choice did I have but to raise my hands right then and there and thank my King for the sweets?
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Dad
Why Should I Cry For You?-Sting
Under the dog star sail
Over the reefs of moonshine
Under the skies of fall North,
north west, the stones of farve
Under the arctic fire
Over the seas of silence
Hauling on frozen ropes
For all my days remaining
But would north be true?
All colours bleed to red
Asleep on the oceans bed
Drifting on empty seas
For all my days remaining
But would north be true?
Why should i?
Why should I cry for you?
Dark angels follow me
Over a godless sea
Mountains of endless falling,
For all my days remaining,
What would be true?
Sometimes I see your face,
The stars seem to lose their place
Why must I think of you?
Why must i?
Why should i?
Why should I cry for you?
Why would you want me to?
And what would it mean to say,
That, i loved you in my fashion?
What would be true?
Why should i?
Why should I cry for you?
Under the dog star sail
Over the reefs of moonshine
Under the skies of fall North,
north west, the stones of farve
Under the arctic fire
Over the seas of silence
Hauling on frozen ropes
For all my days remaining
But would north be true?
All colours bleed to red
Asleep on the oceans bed
Drifting on empty seas
For all my days remaining
But would north be true?
Why should i?
Why should I cry for you?
Dark angels follow me
Over a godless sea
Mountains of endless falling,
For all my days remaining,
What would be true?
Sometimes I see your face,
The stars seem to lose their place
Why must I think of you?
Why must i?
Why should i?
Why should I cry for you?
Why would you want me to?
And what would it mean to say,
That, i loved you in my fashion?
What would be true?
Why should i?
Why should I cry for you?
Monday, June 04, 2007
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
February development and visual experiment
This is for me again. Sorry. Avert your eyes before it's too late!!!
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Development Tracking
This is here for my sake and not to scare anybody. The picture was taken 11/27/06 and since the pic I have added another 12 pounds on. Once 6 months have passed I will take comperable pics to see if anything gets better. This is posted to annoy myself and keep me motivated to lift.
Friday, December 29, 2006
Tundra games approacheth!
Hard to believe the first contest is less than a week away. This weekend me, and 20 other nuts will compete in the Ohio Tundra games. We are the only Winter games in the North. Absolutely goofy and a lot of fun! Thanks to Clayton for hosting everyone!
Monday, December 25, 2006
I just want to be "home for Christmas"
Not going to get too deep or whiny here. I really just want to be "home" for Christmas. Problem is that what I define as "home", generally speaking, is not just a place but a time. Complicating matters is that "home" can get romanticized by slips of darker things in memory and a magnification of the happier moments. I suppose that this is better than being haunted by the bad stuff that some poor souls seem doomed to dwell in (regardless of the decades between now and the point of occurrence). So right now with, my troubled wife asleep on the couch, my daughter taking a nap, my son playing video games, and rain on a Christmas afternoon instead of snow I find myself reaching back. Not only reaching back but reaching back to moments in time that are now long lost and, most likely, bathed in the mythology of the "best times" by many years past. Of the few pictures of past times this picture represents that legendary aspect of my life that most likely will only make sense to my siblings. I post it none-the-less and will most likely elaborate at an unspecified point in the future.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Kemper Crabb
This is a shameless plug for an excellent musician and teacher. I first saw him, and only saw him for that matter, about 25 years ago. His record "The Vigil" is a treasure for anyone who likes medieval styled music and who wants to hear something truly alternative. Nothing like it! If you don't believe me here's his site.
www.kempercrabb.net
Here is an couple of mp3's you are allowed to download as well as a video and other links. This will give you an idea. The CD's not expensive either. I think he's asking $12 for the Vigil. It's worth 4x's that amount:
http://www.feverdreamrecords.com/mp3/Kemper/wessex.mp3
http://www.feverdreamrecords.com/mp3/Kemper/downinyon.mp3
http://www.atomicopera.com/kemper-concert.mov
www.kempercrabb.net
This is the one you will want to buy first though>>> The Vigil
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
What is the right denomination?
This subject has probably been beaten to death by many ministers and many denominations. People parody each other's denominations. People flat out condemn other denominations. I have some bad news for some and incredibly liberating news for others. News that is as old as the New Testament. There is no denomination that is the "right one". BUT There are denominations that are flat out wrong and are not a denomination at all but a cult.
How can you tell?
Simple in answer and tough in carrying it out: READ THE BIBLE. Test what is presented to you in church apologetics. Look for deviations from what you read in the bible compared to the denomination.
Some denominations are stronger in some areas of the christian faith than others and each definitely has weak spots. This is not the same thing as a cult.
The false denomination:
If there is a statement of faith or church politics that is in direct conflict with the Bible then you know you have a false doctrine. An example would be a denomination that sponsors a lifestyle in direct conflict with biblical teaching. Like a denomination that says it is ok to have a gay minister. That's probably the most extreme example on record but it is easily identified as a denomination with a false doctrine in their peripheral writings (writings other than New and Old Testament).
The "known for" denomination:
Many denominations are known for being very strong in an area of biblical teaching. Mennonites, for example, are very strong in helping others with physical needs: food, shelter etc. But they absolutely have a weak spot when it comes to evangelism. BUT, evangelism is not dismissed from the faith, it is just a weak area. This denomination is valid and has a definitive role in the body of Christ.
The other end of the "known for" spectrum would be the Pentecostal denomination. This denomination focuses largely on evangelism and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They are weaker on supplying the physical needs of the people around them outside of the church. They are every bit as valid as the Mennonites but very different in terms of church focus.
In between these two there are varying degrees of effectivity in both areas of the faith and other areas not mentioned here for lack of time and space.
Bottom line 1: STUDY THE BIBLE and be careful of judging one denomination as having a more important role than another. The one that seems more important to you is likely the part of the body that you are most closely identified with in terms of your desires to serve God. The one that has a church acceptance of a clea and biblically unacceptable principal as an official part of their church is a cult and not a Christian denomination at all. The devil will disguise himself as a number of things. It's really not that hard to figure out as long as you keep reading. Things will become clearer and clearer the more that you read and pray for guidance.
Bottom line 2: We are all, as Christians, the body of Christ. We all should have a yearning to serve God in a manner that we are best equipped to serve or desire to serve. Be careful not to condemn the hand if you are the foot etc... Be very careful not to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. But also don't be suckered by liars. There are "churches" that are anything but churches. Keep your eyes open to lies and your heart open to God.
Why do I assume to write as one with authority on this? I am both Pentecostal and Mennonite...and neither. I belong to the majority of both denominations' stated principals but cannot bring myself to saying one has a greater role than the other. Only different roles. I have a desire to support the roles of both. Fortunately I can say with great certainty that I am a member of the body of Christ and that both of these extremely different denominations are parts of that body as well. Some would argue that these extremes are not compatible but most of those people have never actually been significantly involved in both. Either that or they put pride in their denominations in front of their faith in Christ.
Here's something to watch out for: Be wary of any church that talks about their pedigreed name MORE than they talk about Jesus. Be wary of a church that raises their specific passion/burden above the passion/burden of another church. That's pride and has little to do with Christ. There is nothing wrong with being positive about the role of a denomination but if it becomes a bragging point or a "historical" discussion that comes up more often than actually getting to people who need to meet Christ...or if a main driver of the the denomination is full of committees and councils and social affairs...then I will run the risk of saying that church is in danger of being full of crap and really ticking God off. Summed up, if souls aren't getting saved where you are going to church you are either in the wrong church or you are there to change that fact. Odds are you are there to change that fact whether you are comfortable with that or not. If you don't think the rest of that church's body, that you are in, can handle new christians and help them in their walk then you are definitely in the wrong church and need to leave.
How can you tell?
Simple in answer and tough in carrying it out: READ THE BIBLE. Test what is presented to you in church apologetics. Look for deviations from what you read in the bible compared to the denomination.
Some denominations are stronger in some areas of the christian faith than others and each definitely has weak spots. This is not the same thing as a cult.
The false denomination:
If there is a statement of faith or church politics that is in direct conflict with the Bible then you know you have a false doctrine. An example would be a denomination that sponsors a lifestyle in direct conflict with biblical teaching. Like a denomination that says it is ok to have a gay minister. That's probably the most extreme example on record but it is easily identified as a denomination with a false doctrine in their peripheral writings (writings other than New and Old Testament).
The "known for" denomination:
Many denominations are known for being very strong in an area of biblical teaching. Mennonites, for example, are very strong in helping others with physical needs: food, shelter etc. But they absolutely have a weak spot when it comes to evangelism. BUT, evangelism is not dismissed from the faith, it is just a weak area. This denomination is valid and has a definitive role in the body of Christ.
The other end of the "known for" spectrum would be the Pentecostal denomination. This denomination focuses largely on evangelism and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They are weaker on supplying the physical needs of the people around them outside of the church. They are every bit as valid as the Mennonites but very different in terms of church focus.
In between these two there are varying degrees of effectivity in both areas of the faith and other areas not mentioned here for lack of time and space.
Bottom line 1: STUDY THE BIBLE and be careful of judging one denomination as having a more important role than another. The one that seems more important to you is likely the part of the body that you are most closely identified with in terms of your desires to serve God. The one that has a church acceptance of a clea and biblically unacceptable principal as an official part of their church is a cult and not a Christian denomination at all. The devil will disguise himself as a number of things. It's really not that hard to figure out as long as you keep reading. Things will become clearer and clearer the more that you read and pray for guidance.
Bottom line 2: We are all, as Christians, the body of Christ. We all should have a yearning to serve God in a manner that we are best equipped to serve or desire to serve. Be careful not to condemn the hand if you are the foot etc... Be very careful not to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. But also don't be suckered by liars. There are "churches" that are anything but churches. Keep your eyes open to lies and your heart open to God.
Why do I assume to write as one with authority on this? I am both Pentecostal and Mennonite...and neither. I belong to the majority of both denominations' stated principals but cannot bring myself to saying one has a greater role than the other. Only different roles. I have a desire to support the roles of both. Fortunately I can say with great certainty that I am a member of the body of Christ and that both of these extremely different denominations are parts of that body as well. Some would argue that these extremes are not compatible but most of those people have never actually been significantly involved in both. Either that or they put pride in their denominations in front of their faith in Christ.
Here's something to watch out for: Be wary of any church that talks about their pedigreed name MORE than they talk about Jesus. Be wary of a church that raises their specific passion/burden above the passion/burden of another church. That's pride and has little to do with Christ. There is nothing wrong with being positive about the role of a denomination but if it becomes a bragging point or a "historical" discussion that comes up more often than actually getting to people who need to meet Christ...or if a main driver of the the denomination is full of committees and councils and social affairs...then I will run the risk of saying that church is in danger of being full of crap and really ticking God off. Summed up, if souls aren't getting saved where you are going to church you are either in the wrong church or you are there to change that fact. Odds are you are there to change that fact whether you are comfortable with that or not. If you don't think the rest of that church's body, that you are in, can handle new christians and help them in their walk then you are definitely in the wrong church and need to leave.
Friday, October 27, 2006
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
The Purging of the GOP and the Second Disillusionment for Christians
The first purging of "Popular Christianity" in America was back during the Jimmy Swaggart, Jim & Tammy, and others era. Amy Grant left her husband so she could screw Vince Gill. Lots of people lost their faith because they placed it in preachers, images, and leaders instead of going to Christ first. God will not be mocked and so a lot of folks were exposed for their evils done in/under his Name.
And now the second purging comes to our political base more than to preachers.
Purge #1...
Foley. A known pedophile that was hidden from view by the GOP. Enough said here. It's already old news in the world of sound bytes.
Purge #2 In process. Thank God for it if what the man says is true. Truth hurts but remains the truth.
Kuo's largely hyped book: Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction comes out today regarding the fleecing of the body of Christ. I don't know of a good reason to write this book other than for the man to expose a lie in earnest fashion. There is no doubt that this book will kill him politically with the GOP so the profit off of this book better be pretty high for him as he is essentially out of a job and all other political jobs. So the risk he takes lends me to believe, at least at this point, that the guy is telling the truth.
I read in one spot on the book that he says something to the effect that Christians should take a sabbatical from politics for a couple of years. I agree with him. We have been led around, or at least I have been, with a bridle of half filled promises.
The voice has been very dim if present at all for issues like fetal stem cell research, abortion, freedom of speech for Christians, and a host of other issues that truly conservative Christians have been listening for. I'm not just talking about Bush. Let's face it, most presidents are little more than figure heads for a much larger machine. They are the fall guy or the hero but ultimately they are a buffer for the much larger political machines of the democrats and republicans.
But let's look at the conservative machine I have voted for at every election and what they have/have not done for my issues:
-They stopped partial birth abortions. What I voted for Bush based on solely. But this is not a secured iron clad "it will never happen" vote/law. In fact it is very weak. In fact it only addresses the most horrific and arguably the least potentially used form of abortion. This was a shitty bragging right. You want to impress me? Make the "day after" pill illegal. Stop all abortions other than medical emergency. Heck I'll even concede pregnancy by rape instances even though I don't like that either. The bottom line here is that it isn't and won't be enough.
-They have not gone any further on abortion. (see above)
-They have not stopped the FDA from approving RFID tags for human insertion. Don't roll your eyes at this. It is more monstrous than you can imagine in implications.
-They have not stopped fetal stem cell research.
-They have not stopped pornography from becoming an industry with stock options.
-They have not stopped the harrassment of Christians in schools or even clipped the progressive elimination of the Christian voice in schools.
-They have let gays continue to come into elementary schools and preach alternative lifestyles.
-They have not stopped the court marshaling of military chaplians for using the name of Jesus.
-They have not stopped the ACLU from eliminating historically Christian symbols on local and national currencies, logos, etc.
-They did not stop the removal of the 10 Commandments from buildings.
And there is a ton of other "did nots" that reach much further out than the "dids" that a Christian would expect from a party that has held both the Whitehouse and the Congress for at least six years simultaneously.
So, what do we do as Christians? Who do we vote for? We must vote our conscience and not any particular party if we vote at all. It is your right as an American not to vote for that matter. I used to believe that if you didn't vote you didn't have a right to complain. Look where my voting got me though. Go ahead and complain. Vote or don't vote the way I feel right now is that it doesn't matter either way. Find your king in Christ. He's the only real king anyway. Everyone else has a false agenda it would seem.
But should you choose to vote, take enough time to read the positions of each candidate before you hit the donkey or elephant button. Otherwise hit no button at all.
And now the second purging comes to our political base more than to preachers.
Purge #1...
Foley. A known pedophile that was hidden from view by the GOP. Enough said here. It's already old news in the world of sound bytes.
Purge #2 In process. Thank God for it if what the man says is true. Truth hurts but remains the truth.
Kuo's largely hyped book: Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction comes out today regarding the fleecing of the body of Christ. I don't know of a good reason to write this book other than for the man to expose a lie in earnest fashion. There is no doubt that this book will kill him politically with the GOP so the profit off of this book better be pretty high for him as he is essentially out of a job and all other political jobs. So the risk he takes lends me to believe, at least at this point, that the guy is telling the truth.
I read in one spot on the book that he says something to the effect that Christians should take a sabbatical from politics for a couple of years. I agree with him. We have been led around, or at least I have been, with a bridle of half filled promises.
The voice has been very dim if present at all for issues like fetal stem cell research, abortion, freedom of speech for Christians, and a host of other issues that truly conservative Christians have been listening for. I'm not just talking about Bush. Let's face it, most presidents are little more than figure heads for a much larger machine. They are the fall guy or the hero but ultimately they are a buffer for the much larger political machines of the democrats and republicans.
But let's look at the conservative machine I have voted for at every election and what they have/have not done for my issues:
-They stopped partial birth abortions. What I voted for Bush based on solely. But this is not a secured iron clad "it will never happen" vote/law. In fact it is very weak. In fact it only addresses the most horrific and arguably the least potentially used form of abortion. This was a shitty bragging right. You want to impress me? Make the "day after" pill illegal. Stop all abortions other than medical emergency. Heck I'll even concede pregnancy by rape instances even though I don't like that either. The bottom line here is that it isn't and won't be enough.
-They have not gone any further on abortion. (see above)
-They have not stopped the FDA from approving RFID tags for human insertion. Don't roll your eyes at this. It is more monstrous than you can imagine in implications.
-They have not stopped fetal stem cell research.
-They have not stopped pornography from becoming an industry with stock options.
-They have not stopped the harrassment of Christians in schools or even clipped the progressive elimination of the Christian voice in schools.
-They have let gays continue to come into elementary schools and preach alternative lifestyles.
-They have not stopped the court marshaling of military chaplians for using the name of Jesus.
-They have not stopped the ACLU from eliminating historically Christian symbols on local and national currencies, logos, etc.
-They did not stop the removal of the 10 Commandments from buildings.
And there is a ton of other "did nots" that reach much further out than the "dids" that a Christian would expect from a party that has held both the Whitehouse and the Congress for at least six years simultaneously.
So, what do we do as Christians? Who do we vote for? We must vote our conscience and not any particular party if we vote at all. It is your right as an American not to vote for that matter. I used to believe that if you didn't vote you didn't have a right to complain. Look where my voting got me though. Go ahead and complain. Vote or don't vote the way I feel right now is that it doesn't matter either way. Find your king in Christ. He's the only real king anyway. Everyone else has a false agenda it would seem.
But should you choose to vote, take enough time to read the positions of each candidate before you hit the donkey or elephant button. Otherwise hit no button at all.
Sunday, October 08, 2006
That's what communion's all about Charlie Brown...
I wrote this down and sent it to friends back when it happened. I'm putting it here because I still get a charge out of what my son did and said:
This is too important to me not to write down. Yesterday was the first day of passover, April 12th 2006, and it was a Wednesday night when this happened. I went to church for a dinner and communion service with the family. Usually kids don't take communion as it is a serious ceremony when taken the way it is meant to be taken. As a matter of fact my son was out playing with kids and drawing pictures outside of the sanctuary until just before we actually took communion.
He came in and sat next to me, My wife and daughter were in the nursery, just as they were passing out the bread representing Christ's body. He said "I want some" and so I had to explain to him that the bread was part of something special and that it was a symbol of Jesus as would be the wine/grape juice for his blood. My son doesn't understand the word symbol so I had to use the word "expression" which is one he does understand. I told him that Jesus sat with his best friends and did this just before he was killed for us.
I asked him if he understood and he said that he did. I asked him to explain it back and he he gave me a pretty good account of what it meant. So I let him take part in the communion. I have to say that I was a little nervous about doing this but I didn't need to be. I figured it out that he had honored God when he told me right after taking the drink, in a whisper, "Dad, if I was alive when Jesus was here I would give him a hug. And when they killed him I would cry. A lot of people would cry." I just sat there and the only reply I could give was "You would?" and he said "Yeah".
I seriously couldn't think of a response. Here my six year old son, God bless him forever, got it. He really got it. What has taken me decades to get, he had gotten at the age of six.
I had to share this. It was too important for me to let fade with just another daily memory.
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