Failings of Christianity

It is a right and proper thing
To be intellectually honest 
Regarding the failings of Christianity.

But let us be wise and careful
Lest we unwittingly encourage 
Those who tirelessly work to see
That Christianity fails.

Fascinating

Death As A Teacher

There is only one thing 

That a heroic, intentional death 

And a tragic, unnecessary death 

Have in common:

It is A voice that calls out from the grave that says:

"Learn From Me!"

The New Heresey: "Community Is The New Orthodoxy"

Perhaps the greatest shift 
In Church culture, since the 20th Century is:

That for two-thousand years,
The Creeds of Church Orthodoxy and Doctrine
Defined: "Christian" and "Non-Christian" Community.***

Today, many Christians, 
Practice a creed that says:
"'Community," should transcend
All Religious Orthodoxy and Doctrine.

Notably, in Contemporary Society, 
Perhaps the most pervasive and insidious 
Mantra to be confessed is:

"'COMMUNITY'  IS  THE  ORTHODOXY."

Perhaps it is now time to be more than a little concerned... 

Preach the Word

…2 Preach the word; 
be ready in season and out of season; 
reprove, rebuke, exhort, 
with great patience and instruction. 

3 For the time will come 
when they will not endure sound doctrine; 
but wanting to have their ears tickled, 
they will accumulate for themselves teachers 
in accordance to their own desires, 

4 and will turn away their ears from the truth 
and will turn aside to myths.…

2 Tim 4:2-4

*** Obviously this was not ALWAYS good, but it was without question, MOSTLY very good, from a broad spectrum of things...

Thanksgiving of 2014

Thankfulness...

I am thankful for:

1. My relationship with Jesus Christ... He is my Savior; He is my Lord...

2. My marriage to my life-long friend and companion Ruth

3. The blessing of my two sons Jeremiah and Jordan. They are men of faith and character; and they give us great joy!

4. My daughter-in-law, Becca Grassel. She is the daughter I/we never had, but we could not have asked for a better one than she is to us! She too, brings us great joy! 

5. My loving church family. Truth be told, they are all more my friends, than I am their pastor... I am privileged and blessed beyond measure to have been a part of their lives for these almost 9 years! While I could do better, I love serving in so many ways related to my presence here! What a joy! 

6. The many deep, honest, life-giving and authentic friendships that I have been blessed with - too many to recount, but you know who you are! Thank you for your unconditional love and investment in my life. Whatever character, faith and impact I have in life, it would be so severely impoverished without you!

7. The ability to be educated, to read, learn, think and write - to engage other minds enabling growth of intellect and wisdom.

8. My house and all of its practical and nostalgic effects... We have been sooo blessed materially, and we get to be a blessing through them as well! 

9. My health and all of the things that I can do because if it: Learning, serving, relationships, walking/hiking/hunting/biking etc. 

10. My pup, Sophie, she has brought so much joy and personality to our lives these past two years! What a great companion at home, when I walk and hike, when I drive to different places and at work as well! 

Finally, for my life in general, for the privilege of life, my life as a husband, father, friend, son, brother, pastor, professor and citizen in the USA; and for the "Call" that God has placed on my life to engage and represent Him through, and live faithfully with, over the course of my life.

Jesus Not Simply Reduced To "A Great Moral Teacher"

And yet, in terms of everyday praxis, this is EXACTLY what many believers do... And when they do, they more faithfully imitate their secularist masters, rather than our "Substitutionary" and Eternal King....

Here's Lewis' Quote: 

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 

"I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't  accept his claim to be God." 

That is the one thing we must not say. 

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. 

He would either be a lunatic, on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg, or else he would be the Devil of Hell. 

You must make your choice. 

Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. 

You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. 

He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. 

C. S. Lewis

Truth and Misinterpretation

To give truth to him who loves it not
Is only to give him more multiplied reasons 
For misinterpretation. 

George MacDonald

The Co-option of "Grace"

What is truly stunning, is the scope by which
Social Progressivism has effectively co-opted 
Literally, our most Holy of words: "Grace."

It is equally breathtaking, how many believers
Use Social Progressivism's variant of "grace" 
As their primary means for Christian praxis.

It is one of the most insidious forms of syncretism 
In the entire history of the Church

Orthodoxy - Not "Either Or, But "Both/And!" (Edited)

It will be the unique distinction for many Christians of this generation, who believe that:

“Authenticity in Christ”

Partnered with Hyper-Progressivism’s “Social Justice”

Are the holistically and virtually the same thing…

In this relatively new matrix:

The “Salvific Need for Christ” is replaced by the “Model of Christ.”

What is emphasized is the “Brokenness of Humanity” over the “Depravity of Humanity.”

- The Saviourship of Christ means freedom from Suffering and Oppression.

- The Lordship of Christ becomes a theology of Piety and Poverty.

Commitment to “Good Works” is elevated over the Conviction of “Falleness and Sin.”

A "Focus Group" and Appeasement Mentality for our approach to Ministry vs. A Missiological approach, undergirded by Historical Orthodoxy.  

The “Holiness of God” is neutered under the “Guise of Grace.”

“Humanity Completes” the Kingdom of God vs. God’s eschatological and “Sovereign Inbreaking” and Establishment of it.

The "Exceptionalism" of Jesus Christ is relegated to the "Personal Choice Pantheon" of Worldviews.

The Lukan “Sermon on the Mount” replaces the fourfold Gospel account of “Christ on the Cross.”

On these issues, Dualism's are almost always bad and therefore, Biblical orthodoxy demands the hard work of “Both/And” and not “Either/Or.”

A Morning Meditation

This Morning's Meditation

Lord...

Where I am Blind …  Illuminate Me…
Where I am in Denial…  Impute Awareness to Me…
Where I am Ignorant…  Educate Me…
Where I am False… Enable Integrity Within Me…
Where I have Atrophied…  Restore Me…
Where I am Inwardly Ugly… Beautify Me…
Where I am Broken…  Heal Me…
Where I am Depraved… Sanctify Me…
Where I am a Liar...  Compel me to Honesty... 
Where I am in All-Ways-Foolish... Give me Godly Wisdom... 
Where I Privilege Truth... Balance it with Godly Grace
Where I Privilege Grace... Balance it with Godly Truth

Where the Chasm is Deep, between Me and Humanity...
Fill it with Defeated, Finely Crushed, Worldly Agendas 

Where the Chasm is Broad, Between Me and Humanity… 
Bind it Together, With the Everlasting Bonds of Christ’s Love

Where the Chasm Extends Between Us, from one Horizon to the Next... 
Shrivel it Down to Forgotteness and Inperceptibility 

The essence of Foolishness 
Is to Wantonly Choose:
Existence on an Unexamined Continuum...
Clueless in Direction
Oblivious of its Speed
Naive of its True Nature