This will be the last post from the Best of Crossroads.
From Jan. 30, 2005....
and Now....a Word from Other Countries' Leaders
What do Christian leaders in other countries, especially Third World countries, think of Christians and their leaders here in the United States?
The January 2005 issue of Charisma magazine has fascinating remarks by various people in ministry from other countries. Here is a sampling, with their comments edited for brevity. I think there just might be a few general themes here. Do ya think maybe?
From church planter and trainer Natalia Schedrivaya, Russia
"Church growth to me involves spreading the gospel to places where no one goes or wants to go."
She continues,
"Materialism is the No. 1 enemy of Russian churches. Today pastors are not praying about how to reach those who have not heard the gospel. They are praying, 'God, how can I have a megachurch.' This is where the church in America has been confused. What are our priorities?"
Are we listening yet?
From pastor Sunday Adelaja, Ukraine (largest church of Europe with 30,000 members)
"There is not a sense of desperation for God in the United States.
[Another] problem I see in the American church involves money. The American church is spending most of its money on things that are not priorities of God. If the church doesn't understand the priorities of God before spending its money, then abuse is inevitable."
From the president of the All India Christian Council, Joseph D"Souza, India (he does work among the Dalits--the untouchables)
"The American church has made four critical errors that account for its lack of substantial growth:
1. American Christians have put God in a comfortable box [so that they might have a comfortable life].
2. Faith in the United States has become consumer-oriented. What is God going to do for me?
3. There is an inadequate understanding of suffering and persecution.
4. The American church has ignored the fact that it is no longer the epicenter of global Christianity. The activity of the church has moved to the Southern hemisphere.
From pastor Samuel Lee, Holland
He asks the question, why aren't American churches growing compared to churches in other countries? Here are his conclusions:
1. We must embrace the miraculous. Because America has so many comforts, people don't seem to need miracles. But we need the Holy Spirit's agenda.
2. We must reject Hollywood tendencies. Some churches in the United States look like they are sponsoring fashion shows or TV programs.
3. We must forsake pride. Outsiders read our character, not our bulletins.
Then he says "I wish my American brothers realized how hurtful it is to the cause of Christ when they focus so much on material things."
From pastor Jackson Senyonga, Uganda
He says there are several key reasons why the American church has not grown as rapidly as churches in Africa:
*The American church is more program-oriented than 'presence-oriented'
*The people come to church on their terms and pastors serve those terms rather than God.
*The obedience level is too low.
*America has no time for God.
*The American church suffers from prayerlessness.
From pastor Kong Hee, Singapore
He says that Christians need to do four things to see the same kind of growth they are experiencing in Asia:
1. A commitment to soul-winning
2. A commitment to power evangelism
3. A commitment to discipleship
4. A devotion to missions
From overseer of the African-based denomination RCCG, Enoch Adeboye, Nigeria
"If the American church is to experience the rapid growth that other parts of the world are currently experiencing, then it must have revival. But revival is expensive. It is not cheap. There is a price to pay for revival. A revival takes us back to the basics of Christian principles that are fast disappearing from the Christian horizon. This includes a disciplined life of sincere holiness and a life devoted to prayer and fasting."
I see some patterns in these statements. For example, too much materialism was mentioned by most of the ministry leaders. It's seeming to me more and more that this is one of the key problems that will ultimately destroy the American church.
I hope we will listen to these people and of course some of our own "unpopular" prophets like David Wilkerson, Jacob Prasch and Andrew Strom instead of the wolf prophets with their vague generalities and 60-70% accuracy rate.
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Best of Crossroads-7
From Friday, December 17, 2004
Somebody's Missing!
Call the police! Notify the FBI! Send out an Amber Alert! In many churches, somebody's missing! I've looked in the church bathrooms, custodial closets, and under the seats and I just cannot find this person. Have you seen or heard of Jesus Christ? There seems to be a dearth of conversation and teaching about Him in many of our churches.
Just like the evangelical churches of the late 19th and early 20th centuries--the ones that became liberal--many evangelical churches today are taking that very same road. Previously, to offset this liberalism, the fundamentalists (the evangelicals' predecessors), started to add legalistic rules in order to obtain salvation. Dont drink, don't smoke, don't go to movies, don't wear makeup, don't wear red (Im not making this one up...really), don't gamble, don't listen to the radio; don't, don't, don't.
In the 1960's there seemed to be a backlash against these rules. It seems what was supposed to happen was this:
As the rules were shed away, Christ and His atoning work could be alone, nothing added including those pesky rules. However, the move didn't stop at Christ alone but swung over to the opposite extreme to what I call evangelical reductionism. Christ and His atoning work alone stopped being preached. Instead we have "accept Christ."
My church just finished Rick Warren's 40 Days of Purpose based on his best-selling book. It's a six-week program and most of the study is done in small groups. I led one of the groups. In each of the six meetings we watched a 20 minute video by Warren and then discussed questions, prayed, and finally shared from a workbook provided by his ministry. At the end of the first week's video, Warren said this:
If you want this purpose in your life and you haven't accepted Christ, why don't you do it now.
I was flabbergasted. No teaching about WHY Christ had to go to the cross, no teaching about the atonement, His mediatorial work or the sin dilemma....nothing....I mean nada.
There was some "good stuff" in the 40 Days experience, but I am seeing that no foundation is being given Christians, especially new Christians. Our Reformed friends would say they aren't being catechised.
In these churches, and even in their evangelist outreaches, little or no explanation is given for the need for sins being taken away; the need for justification through faith in the atoning work; or Christ as our propitiation. No, instead we are told to accept Christ for purpose in our lives, to feel good, to feel close to God, to feel the love of God, to get our heart's desires (many times that means money), and so forth.
The Cambridge Declaration (the modern Reformationalists statement of faith) says,
We deny that the gospel is preached if Christ's substitutionary work is not declared and faith in Christ and his work is not solicited.
Well I guess that pretty well says it. The gospel isn't preached if all we do is say, "accept Christ." And if the gospel isn't adequately being preached, then can those hearing this "gospel" really become a Christian? What about those that "accept Christ" without any explanation about why they are doing this? Are they really Christians? I think this is a question (and dilemma) that will be rising more and more in theological circles.
Tonight I decided I would see what is on TBN. This is what I saw. In the first program the pastor talked about how we could get into the ZONE. The second program was an African-American church having hip-hop Sunday. The pastor's son was "preaching" about what hip-hop is and how unfair it is for the police to stop hip hoppers because the po-leece think they are ganstas. I think he was going to tell us how to reach the hip hop generation for Christ, but he got off track a little bit (just a little bit....:) However, in all fairness, he did get back on the track--kind of--in another program.
These people really should read the book of Hebrews, especially the first 10 chapters. God has this weird idea that everything is about Christ, of Christ and in Christ. Perhaps we all need think like God thinks on this subject. Yes indeedy, I do think we had better.
Somebody's Missing!
Call the police! Notify the FBI! Send out an Amber Alert! In many churches, somebody's missing! I've looked in the church bathrooms, custodial closets, and under the seats and I just cannot find this person. Have you seen or heard of Jesus Christ? There seems to be a dearth of conversation and teaching about Him in many of our churches.
Just like the evangelical churches of the late 19th and early 20th centuries--the ones that became liberal--many evangelical churches today are taking that very same road. Previously, to offset this liberalism, the fundamentalists (the evangelicals' predecessors), started to add legalistic rules in order to obtain salvation. Dont drink, don't smoke, don't go to movies, don't wear makeup, don't wear red (Im not making this one up...really), don't gamble, don't listen to the radio; don't, don't, don't.
In the 1960's there seemed to be a backlash against these rules. It seems what was supposed to happen was this:
As the rules were shed away, Christ and His atoning work could be alone, nothing added including those pesky rules. However, the move didn't stop at Christ alone but swung over to the opposite extreme to what I call evangelical reductionism. Christ and His atoning work alone stopped being preached. Instead we have "accept Christ."
My church just finished Rick Warren's 40 Days of Purpose based on his best-selling book. It's a six-week program and most of the study is done in small groups. I led one of the groups. In each of the six meetings we watched a 20 minute video by Warren and then discussed questions, prayed, and finally shared from a workbook provided by his ministry. At the end of the first week's video, Warren said this:
If you want this purpose in your life and you haven't accepted Christ, why don't you do it now.
I was flabbergasted. No teaching about WHY Christ had to go to the cross, no teaching about the atonement, His mediatorial work or the sin dilemma....nothing....I mean nada.
There was some "good stuff" in the 40 Days experience, but I am seeing that no foundation is being given Christians, especially new Christians. Our Reformed friends would say they aren't being catechised.
In these churches, and even in their evangelist outreaches, little or no explanation is given for the need for sins being taken away; the need for justification through faith in the atoning work; or Christ as our propitiation. No, instead we are told to accept Christ for purpose in our lives, to feel good, to feel close to God, to feel the love of God, to get our heart's desires (many times that means money), and so forth.
The Cambridge Declaration (the modern Reformationalists statement of faith) says,
We deny that the gospel is preached if Christ's substitutionary work is not declared and faith in Christ and his work is not solicited.
Well I guess that pretty well says it. The gospel isn't preached if all we do is say, "accept Christ." And if the gospel isn't adequately being preached, then can those hearing this "gospel" really become a Christian? What about those that "accept Christ" without any explanation about why they are doing this? Are they really Christians? I think this is a question (and dilemma) that will be rising more and more in theological circles.
Tonight I decided I would see what is on TBN. This is what I saw. In the first program the pastor talked about how we could get into the ZONE. The second program was an African-American church having hip-hop Sunday. The pastor's son was "preaching" about what hip-hop is and how unfair it is for the police to stop hip hoppers because the po-leece think they are ganstas. I think he was going to tell us how to reach the hip hop generation for Christ, but he got off track a little bit (just a little bit....:) However, in all fairness, he did get back on the track--kind of--in another program.
These people really should read the book of Hebrews, especially the first 10 chapters. God has this weird idea that everything is about Christ, of Christ and in Christ. Perhaps we all need think like God thinks on this subject. Yes indeedy, I do think we had better.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Best of Crossroads-6
From Nov. 24, 2004
Drugs--I Was Right
In many past posts here at the blog, I've warned about the long-term effects and the poor testing of drugs, both psychiatric ones (read that anti-depressants) and those for specific physical ailments. I also predicted that we would be hearing about these effects more and more. I didn't realize that only weeks after each post new revelations would be made about many drugs.
Here are the ones I've read about so far:
*Vioxx
It was taken off shelves because it was found poor results of tests were not made public. In some of the test subjects, as well as those buying Vioxx, heart attacks and other related problems occurred.
*Anti-Depressants-
They are shown to have suicidal effects on some children and teens. And as I have said before, one day, they will be forced to admit that these anti-depressants have this effect on the entire population no matter what the age.
*RU-486 (Mifeprex)
Also known as the French abortion pill, it was announced by the FDA on Nov. 15 that some were dying after taking this pill; four Americans, one Canadian, two Britons and one Swede are the known dead after taking RU-486. Donna J. Harrison, an obstetrician-gynecologist and chairman of the subcommittee on Mifeprex of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, wrote in the NY Times on Nov. 19 that this was known as far back as the Clinton administration.
How was this drug approved by the FDA? Here is what Ms. Harrison writes,
Investigations of the records have shown that five standard
procedural and scientific requirements to prove safety and
effectiveness were circumvented to get RU-486 onto the
market quickly.
The most serious was the FDA.'s approval of the drug solely on the basis of uncontrolled clinical trials, contrary to the agency's standard requirement of two randomized, blinded and controlled tests for new drug applications.
Second, the agency approved the drug using its "accelerated approval regulations," which were created by Congress for drugs with higher risks that are justified only because the drugs are better than current therapies forlife-threatening illnesses like AIDS and cancer. Pregnancy, needless to say, isn't an illness, serious or life-threatening.
Third, the agency mandated a previously unapproved use for 'misoprostol', the second drug in the chemical abortion process, over the objections of its manufacturer, Searle. The company had created and marketed the drug to treat gastric ulcers.
Fourth, the FDA approved RU-486 for use without the safeguards observed in the original clinical tests. For example, the agency did not require those who write prescriptions for RU-486 to order an ultrasound, which is necessary to both date pregnancies (ensuring the 49-day limit) and to rule out ectopic pregnancies, in which the
fetus develops outside the uterus. Because RU-486 cannot end an ectopic pregnancy and in some cases mimics the symptoms of one, it is extremely difficult to diagnosis one after the drug is taken. If untreated, ectopic pregnancy can be fatal.
Last, the agency approved the drug for use on women of any age, yet it had no clinical data on the impact on those under 18. This was contrary to the agency's 1996 written directive to the manufacturer that such data would be required for approval.
We must face that the FDA is riddled with people who either previously worked with the drug companies, or have some type of ties with them (read that "paid consultants"). The drug companies feel they cannot lose money by having a drug that costs so much to research to not make the FDA approval. I posted on that topic weeks ago and now this week some Congressmen want to start an agency to check on the FDA to be sure they're not authorizing medications that should not be sold to the public.
Government drug reviewer, David Graham, said Thursday that the country is "virtually defenseless" against another Vioxx-like debacle. Senate Finance Committee chairman, Sen. Charles Grassley, suggested that to ensure the safety of medications after FDA approval, an independent board of drug safety may be needed. On Friday, Dr. Steven Galson, acting director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation, said "we categorically reject" accusations the agency has done a poor job of protecting the public against dangerous drugs."
In the past two days I learned of two more drug problems. In my local paper was a report that a certain allergy medication can harm fetuses when used by pregnant women OR women who get pregnant WHILE using it.
And in my email yesterday I received this:
Written by Dr. Imanuel Morenings,this article appeared in The Morenings Edition, October 2004, Bristol, Virginia.
How many flu viruses are there? Between October 1, 2003 and April 9, 2004, the CDC identified 863 DIFFERENT influenza viruses. Even if one assumes that the flu vaccines "work" for the three chosen strains, what about the other 860 influenza viruses in circulation?
What's In a Flu Shot? The flu shot is filled with very toxic chemicals: ethylene glycol (antifreeze), triton X-100 (a detergent); polysorbate 80 (a potential carcinogen), gelatin, phenol/carbolic acid (disinfectant and dye), formaldehyde (cancer-causing agent), aluminum and mercury (associated with Alzheimer's disease, cancer, brain injury
and autoimmune disease), plus other chemicals and animal products in addition to three strains of virus. Do you really want this injected into your blood with access to your internal organs?
This season's flu vaccine did little or nothing to prevent such flu symptoms as fever, cough or sore throat says the first preliminary study of the vaccine's effectiveness. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say a survey of healthcare workers
at The Children's Hospital of Denver revealed the flu vaccine had "no" or "low effectiveness" against flu-like illnesses, which can be caused by a host of viruses.
The article goes on to say that flu shots are beginning to be suspected of causing Alzheimers; and that children and pregnant women should be careful about getting them.
In the future I believe strongly we will see more of these occurences along with more hospital closures and/or emergency room closures; the
exodus of doctors from their practice; a more acute shortage of competent nurses; decreased or no health insurance for a huge number of the populace; decreased or even a bankrupt Social Security-Medicare system for
the elderly; and so on.
So what is the answer for Christians? Have Christians been too trusting when their
doctor/psychologist/psychiatrist tells them to pop a pill? What is the answer the church SHOULD be offering rather than palming people off to the government and the secular scientific community?
Drugs--I Was Right
In many past posts here at the blog, I've warned about the long-term effects and the poor testing of drugs, both psychiatric ones (read that anti-depressants) and those for specific physical ailments. I also predicted that we would be hearing about these effects more and more. I didn't realize that only weeks after each post new revelations would be made about many drugs.
Here are the ones I've read about so far:
*Vioxx
It was taken off shelves because it was found poor results of tests were not made public. In some of the test subjects, as well as those buying Vioxx, heart attacks and other related problems occurred.
*Anti-Depressants-
They are shown to have suicidal effects on some children and teens. And as I have said before, one day, they will be forced to admit that these anti-depressants have this effect on the entire population no matter what the age.
*RU-486 (Mifeprex)
Also known as the French abortion pill, it was announced by the FDA on Nov. 15 that some were dying after taking this pill; four Americans, one Canadian, two Britons and one Swede are the known dead after taking RU-486. Donna J. Harrison, an obstetrician-gynecologist and chairman of the subcommittee on Mifeprex of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, wrote in the NY Times on Nov. 19 that this was known as far back as the Clinton administration.
How was this drug approved by the FDA? Here is what Ms. Harrison writes,
Investigations of the records have shown that five standard
procedural and scientific requirements to prove safety and
effectiveness were circumvented to get RU-486 onto the
market quickly.
The most serious was the FDA.'s approval of the drug solely on the basis of uncontrolled clinical trials, contrary to the agency's standard requirement of two randomized, blinded and controlled tests for new drug applications.
Second, the agency approved the drug using its "accelerated approval regulations," which were created by Congress for drugs with higher risks that are justified only because the drugs are better than current therapies forlife-threatening illnesses like AIDS and cancer. Pregnancy, needless to say, isn't an illness, serious or life-threatening.
Third, the agency mandated a previously unapproved use for 'misoprostol', the second drug in the chemical abortion process, over the objections of its manufacturer, Searle. The company had created and marketed the drug to treat gastric ulcers.
Fourth, the FDA approved RU-486 for use without the safeguards observed in the original clinical tests. For example, the agency did not require those who write prescriptions for RU-486 to order an ultrasound, which is necessary to both date pregnancies (ensuring the 49-day limit) and to rule out ectopic pregnancies, in which the
fetus develops outside the uterus. Because RU-486 cannot end an ectopic pregnancy and in some cases mimics the symptoms of one, it is extremely difficult to diagnosis one after the drug is taken. If untreated, ectopic pregnancy can be fatal.
Last, the agency approved the drug for use on women of any age, yet it had no clinical data on the impact on those under 18. This was contrary to the agency's 1996 written directive to the manufacturer that such data would be required for approval.
We must face that the FDA is riddled with people who either previously worked with the drug companies, or have some type of ties with them (read that "paid consultants"). The drug companies feel they cannot lose money by having a drug that costs so much to research to not make the FDA approval. I posted on that topic weeks ago and now this week some Congressmen want to start an agency to check on the FDA to be sure they're not authorizing medications that should not be sold to the public.
Government drug reviewer, David Graham, said Thursday that the country is "virtually defenseless" against another Vioxx-like debacle. Senate Finance Committee chairman, Sen. Charles Grassley, suggested that to ensure the safety of medications after FDA approval, an independent board of drug safety may be needed. On Friday, Dr. Steven Galson, acting director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation, said "we categorically reject" accusations the agency has done a poor job of protecting the public against dangerous drugs."
In the past two days I learned of two more drug problems. In my local paper was a report that a certain allergy medication can harm fetuses when used by pregnant women OR women who get pregnant WHILE using it.
And in my email yesterday I received this:
Written by Dr. Imanuel Morenings,this article appeared in The Morenings Edition, October 2004, Bristol, Virginia.
How many flu viruses are there? Between October 1, 2003 and April 9, 2004, the CDC identified 863 DIFFERENT influenza viruses. Even if one assumes that the flu vaccines "work" for the three chosen strains, what about the other 860 influenza viruses in circulation?
What's In a Flu Shot? The flu shot is filled with very toxic chemicals: ethylene glycol (antifreeze), triton X-100 (a detergent); polysorbate 80 (a potential carcinogen), gelatin, phenol/carbolic acid (disinfectant and dye), formaldehyde (cancer-causing agent), aluminum and mercury (associated with Alzheimer's disease, cancer, brain injury
and autoimmune disease), plus other chemicals and animal products in addition to three strains of virus. Do you really want this injected into your blood with access to your internal organs?
This season's flu vaccine did little or nothing to prevent such flu symptoms as fever, cough or sore throat says the first preliminary study of the vaccine's effectiveness. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say a survey of healthcare workers
at The Children's Hospital of Denver revealed the flu vaccine had "no" or "low effectiveness" against flu-like illnesses, which can be caused by a host of viruses.
The article goes on to say that flu shots are beginning to be suspected of causing Alzheimers; and that children and pregnant women should be careful about getting them.
In the future I believe strongly we will see more of these occurences along with more hospital closures and/or emergency room closures; the
exodus of doctors from their practice; a more acute shortage of competent nurses; decreased or no health insurance for a huge number of the populace; decreased or even a bankrupt Social Security-Medicare system for
the elderly; and so on.
So what is the answer for Christians? Have Christians been too trusting when their
doctor/psychologist/psychiatrist tells them to pop a pill? What is the answer the church SHOULD be offering rather than palming people off to the government and the secular scientific community?
Monday, October 24, 2005
Around Blogtown
I'm taking a short hiatus from the best of Crossroads today to let you know about two very good posts I've recently read. They both have one thing in common--why isn't Christ and the Word the center of so many churches, rather than the man-centered gospel lite diet we are seeing?
Bob at TotemtoTemple has written a post about Re-Reformation, Re-Downgrade, or Both .
Apprising Minsitries has written a great post on the Falling Away of the Evangelical Church. Do go over and read it here.
Bob at TotemtoTemple has written a post about Re-Reformation, Re-Downgrade, or Both .
Apprising Minsitries has written a great post on the Falling Away of the Evangelical Church. Do go over and read it here.
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Best of Crossroads-5
From Sept. 2004 (edited)
The Two-Tiered System
What happens when a large number of church congregational members suddenly find that the private and governmental doctors, psychologists, hospitals and temporary unemployment aids are suddenly snatched away.
In the Old Testament this was known as the arm of Egypt. Time and time again, the Israelites under corrupt kings would have threat of attack and turn to Egypt and their army for help. To "help" Israel understand that they needed to depend on God and Him alone, He would often take away the arm of Egypt. Unfortunately, most of the time the Israelite kings just didn't get it.
Today, the church is depending way too much on the "arm of Egypt."
Actually, there is a two-tiered system working. The top system is reserved for those with good jobs and health insurance. The church very well knows that if they need help, the money and insurance of the congregant will allow them to go to their "Egypt" backup---
the doctor, psychologist, chiropractor, dentist, acupuncturist, credit card, etc.
In the bottom tier are two groups:
*The first group are those in the Western nations who don't have jobs and/or health insurance and cannot see the doctor, psychologist, chiropractor, etc. Many of these, if they are basically middle class and above and own homes, will not be even eligible for governmental assistance.
From time to time I post the interesting results of the IWON daily survey. IWON is a popular portal with I suspect millions of viewers each day. How many take the survey is unknown as is the veracity of it in comparison to more accurate surveys and polls. But I suspect it might reflect common experiences and views on various topics. The other day [NOTE: this was in Sept. 2004] they asked about health insurance. One question was,
Has there been anytime in the past in your adult life that you didn't have health insurance?
50% answered yes.
13% said they have no health insurance at the present time.
Let's say there was a church of 500 people. And let's further surmise that 13% of that number would be without medical insurance. Of course not all would need medical attention or medication at one time. But let's say even 25% do (although with the large number of women in churches who are on antidepressants or seeing psychologists I think the percentage might be higher).
That would be 16 people. I wonder what that church would do with those 16 people.
*The other group are most of those in Third World nations. Telling those people to see the psychologist is ridiculous. First, they cannot afford one, and second, there probably isn't one nearby unless the citizen lives near a very large city. And to tell them to visit a Christian psychologist? No....not going to work. The same goes for doctors...they often live too far away and are too expensive.
So what does the church tell those who cannot for some reason depend on the "arm of Egypt?" Most will pray an ineffective prayer and tell the person to "have faith."
In the future, as God takes away the arm of Egypt for the top tier, including the middle classes and especially the large number of Baby Boomers, it will be interesting how the church will handle this when those people come storming in to them for help.
[NOTE:I wrote this a year ago and it's amazing how much has transpired this past year to partially fulfill my "prophetic" word.]
Missionaries report that in the Third World countries, when a convert needs help and there is none, and the church or missionary has prayed but there still is no answer, the person often seeks the help from their former occultic sources ( witch doctors, etc.)
This again shows us how bankrupt our theology is.
If we read the NT and especially the book of Acts, we don't get the idea that new converts had to turn back to their idols for help.
There are two groups of churches:
*those that have the "well, I believe God heals but not all the time" theology (as if God had favorite people he healed..and then there were those he doesn't).
*those mostly Charismatic/Pentecostal (C/P) churches that believe it and are bragging about how many they are healing but don't really have the numbers to show for it.
Actually there is a third type of church but I fear not many of them exist. They really want to help people and so they seek the Bible and God as to how to more effectively do this. In other words, they really love and care for their congregants.
In the future, I strongly believe that the first type of church will have to change its theology and look at what Christ did in the Atonement more closely.
For the second group of mostly C/P churches, they will need to get out of their arrogance and face the reality that for what they believe, their rate of success is really dismal.
The Third Wave revival churches(i.e. Toronto, Brownsville, etc) and Word of Faith churches (i.e. Hagin, Copeland, etc.) will especially need to do this. In other words, when the arm of Egypt begins to fail large numbers of their followers, they will need to deal with this fact and ask why their "methods" and "anointings" are not working well.
In fact, I believe many of the Third Wave healers are already trying to deal with this--but in the wrong way. Recent posts from them have indicated that they are trying to adopt a more Word of Faith approach. And while that is good as it gets them to focus on Christ more instead of the "anointing," wht is the reason for the change? Is it their realization that large numbers of people simply are not being healed by their great "anointing," and that they now must offer an excuse for it that does not reflect upon them? The W of F teaching will allow them to play the controller blame game. In other words, here is what I foresee in the Third Wave healing:
"We are the great anointed ones and so IF you are not receiving healing it must be your lack of faith."
**A final word of caution here: I am not suggesting that people give up doctors, medications and so forth. When and if the church finally has a good success rate, you won't have to do these things. But until then, you must go...IF you can. If you are in the bottom tier, I can only wish you luck and more faith as you will surely need it.
The Two-Tiered System
What happens when a large number of church congregational members suddenly find that the private and governmental doctors, psychologists, hospitals and temporary unemployment aids are suddenly snatched away.
In the Old Testament this was known as the arm of Egypt. Time and time again, the Israelites under corrupt kings would have threat of attack and turn to Egypt and their army for help. To "help" Israel understand that they needed to depend on God and Him alone, He would often take away the arm of Egypt. Unfortunately, most of the time the Israelite kings just didn't get it.
Today, the church is depending way too much on the "arm of Egypt."
Actually, there is a two-tiered system working. The top system is reserved for those with good jobs and health insurance. The church very well knows that if they need help, the money and insurance of the congregant will allow them to go to their "Egypt" backup---
the doctor, psychologist, chiropractor, dentist, acupuncturist, credit card, etc.
In the bottom tier are two groups:
*The first group are those in the Western nations who don't have jobs and/or health insurance and cannot see the doctor, psychologist, chiropractor, etc. Many of these, if they are basically middle class and above and own homes, will not be even eligible for governmental assistance.
From time to time I post the interesting results of the IWON daily survey. IWON is a popular portal with I suspect millions of viewers each day. How many take the survey is unknown as is the veracity of it in comparison to more accurate surveys and polls. But I suspect it might reflect common experiences and views on various topics. The other day [NOTE: this was in Sept. 2004] they asked about health insurance. One question was,
Has there been anytime in the past in your adult life that you didn't have health insurance?
50% answered yes.
13% said they have no health insurance at the present time.
Let's say there was a church of 500 people. And let's further surmise that 13% of that number would be without medical insurance. Of course not all would need medical attention or medication at one time. But let's say even 25% do (although with the large number of women in churches who are on antidepressants or seeing psychologists I think the percentage might be higher).
That would be 16 people. I wonder what that church would do with those 16 people.
*The other group are most of those in Third World nations. Telling those people to see the psychologist is ridiculous. First, they cannot afford one, and second, there probably isn't one nearby unless the citizen lives near a very large city. And to tell them to visit a Christian psychologist? No....not going to work. The same goes for doctors...they often live too far away and are too expensive.
So what does the church tell those who cannot for some reason depend on the "arm of Egypt?" Most will pray an ineffective prayer and tell the person to "have faith."
In the future, as God takes away the arm of Egypt for the top tier, including the middle classes and especially the large number of Baby Boomers, it will be interesting how the church will handle this when those people come storming in to them for help.
[NOTE:I wrote this a year ago and it's amazing how much has transpired this past year to partially fulfill my "prophetic" word.]
Missionaries report that in the Third World countries, when a convert needs help and there is none, and the church or missionary has prayed but there still is no answer, the person often seeks the help from their former occultic sources ( witch doctors, etc.)
This again shows us how bankrupt our theology is.
If we read the NT and especially the book of Acts, we don't get the idea that new converts had to turn back to their idols for help.
There are two groups of churches:
*those that have the "well, I believe God heals but not all the time" theology (as if God had favorite people he healed..and then there were those he doesn't).
*those mostly Charismatic/Pentecostal (C/P) churches that believe it and are bragging about how many they are healing but don't really have the numbers to show for it.
Actually there is a third type of church but I fear not many of them exist. They really want to help people and so they seek the Bible and God as to how to more effectively do this. In other words, they really love and care for their congregants.
In the future, I strongly believe that the first type of church will have to change its theology and look at what Christ did in the Atonement more closely.
For the second group of mostly C/P churches, they will need to get out of their arrogance and face the reality that for what they believe, their rate of success is really dismal.
The Third Wave revival churches(i.e. Toronto, Brownsville, etc) and Word of Faith churches (i.e. Hagin, Copeland, etc.) will especially need to do this. In other words, when the arm of Egypt begins to fail large numbers of their followers, they will need to deal with this fact and ask why their "methods" and "anointings" are not working well.
In fact, I believe many of the Third Wave healers are already trying to deal with this--but in the wrong way. Recent posts from them have indicated that they are trying to adopt a more Word of Faith approach. And while that is good as it gets them to focus on Christ more instead of the "anointing," wht is the reason for the change? Is it their realization that large numbers of people simply are not being healed by their great "anointing," and that they now must offer an excuse for it that does not reflect upon them? The W of F teaching will allow them to play the controller blame game. In other words, here is what I foresee in the Third Wave healing:
"We are the great anointed ones and so IF you are not receiving healing it must be your lack of faith."
**A final word of caution here: I am not suggesting that people give up doctors, medications and so forth. When and if the church finally has a good success rate, you won't have to do these things. But until then, you must go...IF you can. If you are in the bottom tier, I can only wish you luck and more faith as you will surely need it.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Best of Crossroads-4
The Christian Singles' Wars
Here is how it goes:
-->You as a single person walk into a brand new church by yourself, which in itself is a difficult feat. They may or may not greet you, but if they do, they quickly go onto the next married couple coming in the door, spending a very long time gushing over them. When you go back for a second visit the next week, you could drop dead on the floor and no one would notice.
SOLUTION: Wear a wedding-looking ring on your left hand. You would be amazed how much attention from church leaders this will get you.
-->You are told that the only group for you is the dreaded group from hell---the Singles Group. You visit once and decide that there is no way you can function in this largely dysfunctional group of people.
SOLUTION: Volunteer for a helps ministry like teaching Sunday School or ushering or the sound system or greeting visitors or etc. This way you actually can meet a few married people. Once the church leaders see you hanging around married people, you will be readily accepted by the bigwigs.
-->Because you are single, you feel like you are being treated as an alien from Mars. (well, actually you are).
SOULTION: Write a book and do everything you can to get it published even if you have to self-publish and beg Christian bookstores to take it on consignment. In the book tell how badly singles are treated in churches. Make sure your name is in BIG BOLD letters on the book's cover. This will surely embarrass your church's leaders and perhaps they will make changes.
-->You have found yourself in a highly advertised "family church." They tout how they exist for the whole family. Unfortunately you find that their definition of family, and your definition of family is world's apart. Their definition is the nuclear family...meaning dad, mom and children...not God's family. In other words, old widows and widowers, and younger singles need not apply.
SOLUTION: Run as fast as you can out of there. Otherwise you will end up paying tens of thousands of dollars to your Christian psychologist helping you to get over the massive rejection.
There is one way to get out of the singles' group. Marriage.
But hey......
that's cheating......:)
Here is how it goes:
-->You as a single person walk into a brand new church by yourself, which in itself is a difficult feat. They may or may not greet you, but if they do, they quickly go onto the next married couple coming in the door, spending a very long time gushing over them. When you go back for a second visit the next week, you could drop dead on the floor and no one would notice.
SOLUTION: Wear a wedding-looking ring on your left hand. You would be amazed how much attention from church leaders this will get you.
-->You are told that the only group for you is the dreaded group from hell---the Singles Group. You visit once and decide that there is no way you can function in this largely dysfunctional group of people.
SOLUTION: Volunteer for a helps ministry like teaching Sunday School or ushering or the sound system or greeting visitors or etc. This way you actually can meet a few married people. Once the church leaders see you hanging around married people, you will be readily accepted by the bigwigs.
-->Because you are single, you feel like you are being treated as an alien from Mars. (well, actually you are).
SOULTION: Write a book and do everything you can to get it published even if you have to self-publish and beg Christian bookstores to take it on consignment. In the book tell how badly singles are treated in churches. Make sure your name is in BIG BOLD letters on the book's cover. This will surely embarrass your church's leaders and perhaps they will make changes.
-->You have found yourself in a highly advertised "family church." They tout how they exist for the whole family. Unfortunately you find that their definition of family, and your definition of family is world's apart. Their definition is the nuclear family...meaning dad, mom and children...not God's family. In other words, old widows and widowers, and younger singles need not apply.
SOLUTION: Run as fast as you can out of there. Otherwise you will end up paying tens of thousands of dollars to your Christian psychologist helping you to get over the massive rejection.
There is one way to get out of the singles' group. Marriage.
But hey......
that's cheating......:)
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Best of Crossroads-3
This post is from Wednesday, July 28, 2004.
The "ME" generations
For the past 5 decades we've had a phenomenon here in the USA that is fairly unique in Modern History. Everything revolves around children and teens.
The family revolves around them...their feelings must be considered FIRST.
The educational establishment revovles around them. Don't bore them; don't discipline them-an extremely child-centered educational philosophy.
The society revolves around them....children and teens are talked about a lot. The merchandising merchants want to know what teens want, what music they want to hear; what TV shows they wish to see; what movies they will attend; what they will buy.
One would think that the church at least would put teens and children back into reality. But no. Since 1970 the church has also decided to be child centered. We have allowed teens to blackmail us. It goes like this:
"If you don't do it our way, then we won't come to church anymore."
This statemnt makes church leaders cringe and wet their pants in panic. They will do ANYTHING to keep the "young people" in the church.
I say let them go. If we teach what we are supposed to teach in our youth groups (we don't have to be boring of course) then the Holy Spirit will draw teens to the church and Wow! We might even have a REAL youth revival. We might have teens that really do what they say and not turn around during the week and then do something else. We might have teens and children who begin to really work out their problems.
This might send a message to the Christian parents that they too can regain their rule in the home, and, while perhaps considering what their child or teen wants, they will simply refuse to allow the child to have their own way and rule the family through intimidation adn blackmail.
When we raise children to think the world revolves around them, then when they become adults, they have a very difficult concept of God. God says the world revovles around His Son Jesus Christ. So, one god has to go. I bet you know which one.
Here is a poem I found in my files. I think it's great!
A Child's Bill of Rights
My son came home from school one day,with that smile on his face.
Watch me blow my Mom away, I'll put her in her place
Gues what I learned in Civics Two taught by Mr. Wright
It was all about the law today, THE CHILDREN'S BILL OF RIGHTS.
I don't have to clean my room or even cut my hair.
No one can tell me what to eat or choose the clothes I wear.
Freedom of speech is my Constitutional guarantee. It is my choice of what to read or watch on the T.V.
I have the freedom of religion, and no matter what you say,
I don't have to ask God for help, I don't have to kneel to pray.
I can also wear an earring in my ear or even peirce my nose.
I can have the Devil's number tattooed across my back.
Hey, If you ever spank me, I can charge you with assault.
I can back up my charges with the black and blue results.
Don't ever touch my body, It is for me to use
for all those hugs and kisses are a form a sex abuse.
Don't fill my head with morals like your mother did to you.
There's such a thing called mind control that's illegal too.
Mom, I have these children's rghts. You can't do a thing to me.
I'll just call the children's services, better known as C.S.D.
My very first impression was to toss him out the door, But here is a chance to teach a lesson for once and ever more.
I kind of mulled it over, but I didn't let it go.
This kid of mine doesn't realize, he is working with a pro.
The next day I took him shopping, much to his dismay.
I didn't buy him 501s or shirts designed by Nike.
I called and talked to C.S.D. They said they didn't care if I bought him Volume shoes, or a pair of Nike Airs.
I canceled out his apointment to test his driving skills.
I'd probably be dead right now, if only looks could kill.
I don't have time to stop and eat, get stuff for you to much,
I followed C.S.D.'s advice I bought you a big sack lunch.
So you say you're not so hungry, You can wait till dinner time.
I'm fixing liver and onions, a favorite dish of mine.
So, you want to get a movie to watch on the VCR.
Gosh! I sold that televison to buy tires for my car.
I also rented out your room, You don't really need a bed.
All I really have to do is put a roof over your head.
As long as I buy your clothes and all the food you eat.
I can keep your allowance and buy me something really neat.
I know you like the tacos after we have shopped all day.
Son, I have my bill of rights, they go into effect today.
The "ME" generations
For the past 5 decades we've had a phenomenon here in the USA that is fairly unique in Modern History. Everything revolves around children and teens.
The family revolves around them...their feelings must be considered FIRST.
The educational establishment revovles around them. Don't bore them; don't discipline them-an extremely child-centered educational philosophy.
The society revolves around them....children and teens are talked about a lot. The merchandising merchants want to know what teens want, what music they want to hear; what TV shows they wish to see; what movies they will attend; what they will buy.
One would think that the church at least would put teens and children back into reality. But no. Since 1970 the church has also decided to be child centered. We have allowed teens to blackmail us. It goes like this:
"If you don't do it our way, then we won't come to church anymore."
This statemnt makes church leaders cringe and wet their pants in panic. They will do ANYTHING to keep the "young people" in the church.
I say let them go. If we teach what we are supposed to teach in our youth groups (we don't have to be boring of course) then the Holy Spirit will draw teens to the church and Wow! We might even have a REAL youth revival. We might have teens that really do what they say and not turn around during the week and then do something else. We might have teens and children who begin to really work out their problems.
This might send a message to the Christian parents that they too can regain their rule in the home, and, while perhaps considering what their child or teen wants, they will simply refuse to allow the child to have their own way and rule the family through intimidation adn blackmail.
When we raise children to think the world revolves around them, then when they become adults, they have a very difficult concept of God. God says the world revovles around His Son Jesus Christ. So, one god has to go. I bet you know which one.
Here is a poem I found in my files. I think it's great!
A Child's Bill of Rights
My son came home from school one day,with that smile on his face.
Watch me blow my Mom away, I'll put her in her place
Gues what I learned in Civics Two taught by Mr. Wright
It was all about the law today, THE CHILDREN'S BILL OF RIGHTS.
I don't have to clean my room or even cut my hair.
No one can tell me what to eat or choose the clothes I wear.
Freedom of speech is my Constitutional guarantee. It is my choice of what to read or watch on the T.V.
I have the freedom of religion, and no matter what you say,
I don't have to ask God for help, I don't have to kneel to pray.
I can also wear an earring in my ear or even peirce my nose.
I can have the Devil's number tattooed across my back.
Hey, If you ever spank me, I can charge you with assault.
I can back up my charges with the black and blue results.
Don't ever touch my body, It is for me to use
for all those hugs and kisses are a form a sex abuse.
Don't fill my head with morals like your mother did to you.
There's such a thing called mind control that's illegal too.
Mom, I have these children's rghts. You can't do a thing to me.
I'll just call the children's services, better known as C.S.D.
My very first impression was to toss him out the door, But here is a chance to teach a lesson for once and ever more.
I kind of mulled it over, but I didn't let it go.
This kid of mine doesn't realize, he is working with a pro.
The next day I took him shopping, much to his dismay.
I didn't buy him 501s or shirts designed by Nike.
I called and talked to C.S.D. They said they didn't care if I bought him Volume shoes, or a pair of Nike Airs.
I canceled out his apointment to test his driving skills.
I'd probably be dead right now, if only looks could kill.
I don't have time to stop and eat, get stuff for you to much,
I followed C.S.D.'s advice I bought you a big sack lunch.
So you say you're not so hungry, You can wait till dinner time.
I'm fixing liver and onions, a favorite dish of mine.
So, you want to get a movie to watch on the VCR.
Gosh! I sold that televison to buy tires for my car.
I also rented out your room, You don't really need a bed.
All I really have to do is put a roof over your head.
As long as I buy your clothes and all the food you eat.
I can keep your allowance and buy me something really neat.
I know you like the tacos after we have shopped all day.
Son, I have my bill of rights, they go into effect today.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Best of Crossroads-2
Where is Jesus?
Here is a post from June 25, 2004, entitled "Where is Jesus."
Through the years Jesus has slowly been disappearing from evangelical churches.
The shift has been very subtle. For example, the other day I received this in my email. It is from a well-known Christian teacher and prophetess within Charismatic circles.
She says this:
"The whole purpose of the Passion...of the cross itself, was so that Christ could be made the head of the church--and that God could be revealed therein."
Well, yes, but that is the result. The purpose of the Passion was those dreaded words that churches do not wish to touch today---atonement, propitiation, cross, sin.
Her entire email post never mentioned these [dreaded] words.
Why are we not hearing more about these words?? Why is the cross and atonement becoming so offensive? Any ideas out there?
Here is a post from June 25, 2004, entitled "Where is Jesus."
Through the years Jesus has slowly been disappearing from evangelical churches.
The shift has been very subtle. For example, the other day I received this in my email. It is from a well-known Christian teacher and prophetess within Charismatic circles.
She says this:
"The whole purpose of the Passion...of the cross itself, was so that Christ could be made the head of the church--and that God could be revealed therein."
Well, yes, but that is the result. The purpose of the Passion was those dreaded words that churches do not wish to touch today---atonement, propitiation, cross, sin.
Her entire email post never mentioned these [dreaded] words.
Why are we not hearing more about these words?? Why is the cross and atonement becoming so offensive? Any ideas out there?
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Best of Crossroads-1
For the next 10 days or so I am going to revisit some of my earlier posts since we have picked up a lot of new readers.
First up will be my treatise on my position on Healing in the Atonement. I believe in it. I am in the minority. Rob over at Miscellanies has blogged about this topic and this post can serve as an answer to his. I will reprint the blog in almost it's original form with a few changes to make it a bit clearer.
So, here is today's Best of Crossroads, Healing in the Atonement from November 17, 2004.
Angle #1--The Hebrew and Greek meanings
The Word of Faith people (WOF'ers) read Matthew 8:17 quite literally.
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esias the prophet saying, "Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses."
To answer those who say they are taking that verse out of context, the entire chapter 8 of Matthew is about Jesus physically healing the sick. And for those who say that it means Jesus carried our sicknesses while He was on earth, then you will also need to believe that He took our sins upon Him while on the earth (before the cross), and not at the cross, because in that passage sin and sickness are presented on an equal level.
Is. 53:4, 5 says:
4. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted
5. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes (bruise-note the singular) we are healed.
The words borne and carried, found in both the Is. 53 and the Matt. 8 passages, carries the meaning of actual transference of sin and sicknesses to Christ. In other words, it is a substitutionary redemption from sin and sickness. In the Hebrew in Is. 53 here is what Alexander MacLaren says,
"Of these two words expressing the Servant's taking their burden on His shoulders (nasa and sabal) the former implies not only the taking of it, but the bearing it away; and, the latter emphasizes the weight of the load."
Delitzsch is a Hebraist respected and referred to by theologians and pastors outside of the WOF movement. Here is what he says about Is. 53 and Matt. 8:17:
"Freely but faithfully does the Gospel of Matthew translate this text, 'Himself took our infirmities and carried our sicknesses.' The help which Jesus rendered in all kinds of bodily sickness is taken in Matthew to be the fulfillment of what in Isaiah is prophesied of the Servant of Jehovah. The Hebrew verbs of the text, when used of sin, signify to assume as a heavy burden and bear the guilt of sin, as one's own; that is, to bear sin mediatorily in order to atone for it. But here. Where not our sins, but our sicknesses and pains are the object, the mediatorial sense remains the same.
It is not meant that the Servant of Jehovah merely entered into the fellowship of our sufferings, but that He took upon Himself the sufferings that we had to bear, and deserved to bear; and therefore, He not only bore them away, but also in His own person endured them in order to discharge (bold type mine) us from them. Now when one takes sufferings upon himself which another had to bear, and does this, not merely in fellowship with him, but in his stead, we call it Substitution."
In verse 5 of Isaiah 53 it says:
With His stripes we are healed.
This is transferred into the NT in I Peter 2:24. The Greek word for healed here is iaomai. It is found 28 times in the New Testament, always in reference to physical healing. The word for physician in the Greek is iatros, a relative of iaomai. Therefore, the first century Christian, upon hearing this, would not necessarily read this as "spiritual" healing.
However, I do realize that the context here implies spiritual healing. Can we not then believe that Jesus took our spiritual sicknesses, our emotional pain and also our physical infirmities and pain upon Himself in the Atonement (the cross)?
Angle #2--the serpent and the lamb archetypes in the OT
There are types in the OT that we can see relating to the cross. One type is in Numbers 21:8 where the children of Israel, because of their sin, began to die in the wilderness. Moses was told by God to put a serpent on a pole and hold it up to heal the people. Almost every theologian tells us this is a type of Christ on the cross taking away our sins. But sadly, most of them then refuse to go one step further and relate the actual event of the OT example to what Christ also did at the cross--physical healing.
Another type is found in the OT yearly sacrificial lamb.
Listen again to what Alexander Maclaren says,
"Hebrew thought drew no sharp line of distinction between diseases of the body and those of the soul, as we are accustomed to draw. All sickness was taken to be the consequence of sin."
So to the Hebrew mind, it seems that when the lamb was sacrificed it was to cover sin and to prevent sickness and other disasters. This is also seen in Deut. 28 where a litany of horrible things is promised to those who do not keep the law. And, in the first part of the chapter, there is a list of the nice things (blessings) that will happen if they do keep it. Since sin compromised the ability to keep the law, the lamb was the substitute. Faith in the sacrifice would cover, but not take away the sin for another year. Since in the Hebrew mind, sin and sickness were entertwined (and we certainly see this in the Is. 53 and Matt. 8 passages), it isn't a stretch that they might have seen that lamb as a cover for sickness also.
Jesus, the Unblemished Lamb of God did the same thing for those who believe in His sacrifice and the effectualness of it--He took way forever, not just covering them for another year.
Angle #3--Redemptive Name(s) of God
In the OT, God reveals Himself fairly completely with what theologians call His seven redemptive names. One of those names is Jehovah Rapha.
Jehovah means "I Am." Rapha means "Healing." Therefore, God is saying "I Am Healing." One of the leading WOF teachers correctly points out that it doesn't mean God HAS healing (i.e. to dispense when He wants to), but He IS Healing. To me, the implications of this are rather staggering.
Angle #4--Jesus, the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:8)
Jesus never told anyone who came to Him for healing that it "wasn't God's will." As long as they seemed to have the requisite faith, they or their loved ones, servants, etc., received their healing, deliverance and so forth. The only place the Bible says He COULD not do great healing works was His home town of Nazareth where the text says "because of their unbelief" (see Mark 6:5). In Hebrews (13:8) it says this:
Jesus is the same, yesterday, today and forever.
I hope you get the point. If Jesus healed at the point of faith then, why has He suddenly stopped today? Was healing ONLY a sign for the Jews? We've already seen that God IS Healing. That is WHO He is, for everyone. God doesn't change for one people and/or one era and then change back for another.
In John chapter 1 it talks a lot about Jesus being the Word. The Greek word for this is logos. Kittel in the Theological Greek Dictionary of the New Testament points out that the accepted meaning of that word in the Roman-Greek world was character as expressed through speech and writing. In other words, the Logos' character was revealed through what he or she spoke and wrote.
If Jesus' character was to heal in the first century, why would it suddenly change now? Why would Jesus the Son, and God the Father be different in character today than They were then. So then to say that God doesn't heal today (classic cessationism which thankfully few follow today) or to even say God heals when He wants to (mostly followed today) is totally in refutation of Their (the Father and Son and the Spirit) character.
Angle #5--More proof for healing today in instructions to elders
James 5:14,15 says,
14-Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
Notice what it doesn't say--"MIGHT be healed"
The WOF teachers point this out, and I have never heard it pointed out anywhere else, to pastors' and theologians' shame IMO. Notice also that it is the elders that pray the prayer of faith, not necessarily the sick person (although I think their faith could be helpful). But notice that the elders must pray the prayer of FAITH, NOT the prayer of unbelief. By the way, this is not a "golly-gee-I-hope-so" type of faith. The Greek meaning is a sure faith--it is a stronger meaning than in English. If elders cannot pray that way, then IMO they shouldn't be praying for the sick.
In conclusion, people aren't getting healed very much in our churches today. Why? First, our leaders are not understanding the healing character of God and that He "never changeth."
Second, faith seems to be a requisite both in the OT and the NT to receive healing. This faith isn't necessarily placed in apostles, prophets, healers, pastors and other assorted ministers, although they are a conduit. It IS placed on an historical event--the Atonement. Healing must continually force us to look back at the cross.
Now the BIG question that remains is: Why don't some get healed?
That will be tackled down the road in other posts.
First up will be my treatise on my position on Healing in the Atonement. I believe in it. I am in the minority. Rob over at Miscellanies has blogged about this topic and this post can serve as an answer to his. I will reprint the blog in almost it's original form with a few changes to make it a bit clearer.
So, here is today's Best of Crossroads, Healing in the Atonement from November 17, 2004.
Angle #1--The Hebrew and Greek meanings
The Word of Faith people (WOF'ers) read Matthew 8:17 quite literally.
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esias the prophet saying, "Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses."
To answer those who say they are taking that verse out of context, the entire chapter 8 of Matthew is about Jesus physically healing the sick. And for those who say that it means Jesus carried our sicknesses while He was on earth, then you will also need to believe that He took our sins upon Him while on the earth (before the cross), and not at the cross, because in that passage sin and sickness are presented on an equal level.
Is. 53:4, 5 says:
4. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted
5. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes (bruise-note the singular) we are healed.
The words borne and carried, found in both the Is. 53 and the Matt. 8 passages, carries the meaning of actual transference of sin and sicknesses to Christ. In other words, it is a substitutionary redemption from sin and sickness. In the Hebrew in Is. 53 here is what Alexander MacLaren says,
"Of these two words expressing the Servant's taking their burden on His shoulders (nasa and sabal) the former implies not only the taking of it, but the bearing it away; and, the latter emphasizes the weight of the load."
Delitzsch is a Hebraist respected and referred to by theologians and pastors outside of the WOF movement. Here is what he says about Is. 53 and Matt. 8:17:
"Freely but faithfully does the Gospel of Matthew translate this text, 'Himself took our infirmities and carried our sicknesses.' The help which Jesus rendered in all kinds of bodily sickness is taken in Matthew to be the fulfillment of what in Isaiah is prophesied of the Servant of Jehovah. The Hebrew verbs of the text, when used of sin, signify to assume as a heavy burden and bear the guilt of sin, as one's own; that is, to bear sin mediatorily in order to atone for it. But here. Where not our sins, but our sicknesses and pains are the object, the mediatorial sense remains the same.
It is not meant that the Servant of Jehovah merely entered into the fellowship of our sufferings, but that He took upon Himself the sufferings that we had to bear, and deserved to bear; and therefore, He not only bore them away, but also in His own person endured them in order to discharge (bold type mine) us from them. Now when one takes sufferings upon himself which another had to bear, and does this, not merely in fellowship with him, but in his stead, we call it Substitution."
In verse 5 of Isaiah 53 it says:
With His stripes we are healed.
This is transferred into the NT in I Peter 2:24. The Greek word for healed here is iaomai. It is found 28 times in the New Testament, always in reference to physical healing. The word for physician in the Greek is iatros, a relative of iaomai. Therefore, the first century Christian, upon hearing this, would not necessarily read this as "spiritual" healing.
However, I do realize that the context here implies spiritual healing. Can we not then believe that Jesus took our spiritual sicknesses, our emotional pain and also our physical infirmities and pain upon Himself in the Atonement (the cross)?
Angle #2--the serpent and the lamb archetypes in the OT
There are types in the OT that we can see relating to the cross. One type is in Numbers 21:8 where the children of Israel, because of their sin, began to die in the wilderness. Moses was told by God to put a serpent on a pole and hold it up to heal the people. Almost every theologian tells us this is a type of Christ on the cross taking away our sins. But sadly, most of them then refuse to go one step further and relate the actual event of the OT example to what Christ also did at the cross--physical healing.
Another type is found in the OT yearly sacrificial lamb.
Listen again to what Alexander Maclaren says,
"Hebrew thought drew no sharp line of distinction between diseases of the body and those of the soul, as we are accustomed to draw. All sickness was taken to be the consequence of sin."
So to the Hebrew mind, it seems that when the lamb was sacrificed it was to cover sin and to prevent sickness and other disasters. This is also seen in Deut. 28 where a litany of horrible things is promised to those who do not keep the law. And, in the first part of the chapter, there is a list of the nice things (blessings) that will happen if they do keep it. Since sin compromised the ability to keep the law, the lamb was the substitute. Faith in the sacrifice would cover, but not take away the sin for another year. Since in the Hebrew mind, sin and sickness were entertwined (and we certainly see this in the Is. 53 and Matt. 8 passages), it isn't a stretch that they might have seen that lamb as a cover for sickness also.
Jesus, the Unblemished Lamb of God did the same thing for those who believe in His sacrifice and the effectualness of it--He took way forever, not just covering them for another year.
Angle #3--Redemptive Name(s) of God
In the OT, God reveals Himself fairly completely with what theologians call His seven redemptive names. One of those names is Jehovah Rapha.
Jehovah means "I Am." Rapha means "Healing." Therefore, God is saying "I Am Healing." One of the leading WOF teachers correctly points out that it doesn't mean God HAS healing (i.e. to dispense when He wants to), but He IS Healing. To me, the implications of this are rather staggering.
Angle #4--Jesus, the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:8)
Jesus never told anyone who came to Him for healing that it "wasn't God's will." As long as they seemed to have the requisite faith, they or their loved ones, servants, etc., received their healing, deliverance and so forth. The only place the Bible says He COULD not do great healing works was His home town of Nazareth where the text says "because of their unbelief" (see Mark 6:5). In Hebrews (13:8) it says this:
Jesus is the same, yesterday, today and forever.
I hope you get the point. If Jesus healed at the point of faith then, why has He suddenly stopped today? Was healing ONLY a sign for the Jews? We've already seen that God IS Healing. That is WHO He is, for everyone. God doesn't change for one people and/or one era and then change back for another.
In John chapter 1 it talks a lot about Jesus being the Word. The Greek word for this is logos. Kittel in the Theological Greek Dictionary of the New Testament points out that the accepted meaning of that word in the Roman-Greek world was character as expressed through speech and writing. In other words, the Logos' character was revealed through what he or she spoke and wrote.
If Jesus' character was to heal in the first century, why would it suddenly change now? Why would Jesus the Son, and God the Father be different in character today than They were then. So then to say that God doesn't heal today (classic cessationism which thankfully few follow today) or to even say God heals when He wants to (mostly followed today) is totally in refutation of Their (the Father and Son and the Spirit) character.
Angle #5--More proof for healing today in instructions to elders
James 5:14,15 says,
14-Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
Notice what it doesn't say--"MIGHT be healed"
The WOF teachers point this out, and I have never heard it pointed out anywhere else, to pastors' and theologians' shame IMO. Notice also that it is the elders that pray the prayer of faith, not necessarily the sick person (although I think their faith could be helpful). But notice that the elders must pray the prayer of FAITH, NOT the prayer of unbelief. By the way, this is not a "golly-gee-I-hope-so" type of faith. The Greek meaning is a sure faith--it is a stronger meaning than in English. If elders cannot pray that way, then IMO they shouldn't be praying for the sick.
In conclusion, people aren't getting healed very much in our churches today. Why? First, our leaders are not understanding the healing character of God and that He "never changeth."
Second, faith seems to be a requisite both in the OT and the NT to receive healing. This faith isn't necessarily placed in apostles, prophets, healers, pastors and other assorted ministers, although they are a conduit. It IS placed on an historical event--the Atonement. Healing must continually force us to look back at the cross.
Now the BIG question that remains is: Why don't some get healed?
That will be tackled down the road in other posts.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
What Exactly is an Evangelical?
Professor David Bebbington of the University of Stirling (Scotland) is a respected evangelical church historian. He defines an evangelical as someone who believes in....
Conversion--being converted to Christ.
Activism--bringing others to Christ.
Biblicism--the belief that the Bible is inspired.
Crucicentrism--the fact that the cross is central to salvation.
He says these are absolutely necessary to evangelicals.
So, if many current evangelical leaders are leaving one or more of the above out; or even watering them down significantly; are they still evangelicals? Or, would they be perhaps going over to the liberal theological camp?
After reading some seeker sensitive (read that Purpose Driven) and also Emergent books and information, I am beginning to wonder.
By the way, I just found an excellent post on the Vanguard blog saying essentially the same thing I have. You might want to check it out as he has more on the Bebbington Evangelical model:
Ah HAH! No Wonder Emergent is Threatening to Evangelicalism!.
Conversion--being converted to Christ.
Activism--bringing others to Christ.
Biblicism--the belief that the Bible is inspired.
Crucicentrism--the fact that the cross is central to salvation.
He says these are absolutely necessary to evangelicals.
So, if many current evangelical leaders are leaving one or more of the above out; or even watering them down significantly; are they still evangelicals? Or, would they be perhaps going over to the liberal theological camp?
After reading some seeker sensitive (read that Purpose Driven) and also Emergent books and information, I am beginning to wonder.
By the way, I just found an excellent post on the Vanguard blog saying essentially the same thing I have. You might want to check it out as he has more on the Bebbington Evangelical model:
Ah HAH! No Wonder Emergent is Threatening to Evangelicalism!.
Monday, October 10, 2005
Does the Earth React to Sin?
I once attended a church where the assistant pastor was giving the teaching one Sunday and he said a fascinating
thing. He believed AIDS was caused by the body reacting to sin. He wasn't being judgemental in his attitude toward homosexuals or anyone else with AIDS. In fact, his voice tone was quite compassionate.
I know we could very easily debate as to this not being true of someone contracting AIDS through blood transfusions. But the gay-AIDS controversy aside, I want to focus in on the truth inherent in that statement. Or is it a truth? In other words, can both living and nonliving things react to sin? Is this why Hurricane Katrina was "drawn" to New Orleans? The terrorists to NYC? The Northridge earthquake in the middle 1990's to the San Fernando Valley, where most of the pornography coming out of the United States is made? And how about the very damaging Prieta Loma earthquake some years back (San Francisco)? SF of course is one of the gay capitals of the world.
But what about the city that was formed especially for gay people--West Hollywood? I'm not aware of anything bad ever happening over there. Or will that be the next "hot" spot?
A few weeks ago, a comment was made on one of my Katrina posts concerning this very same topic. I have the commenter's permission to quote her,
The EARTH itself is spewing out and shaking off all the corruption. The word of God says that the EARTH IS GROANING...Romans 8:22-23: For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
I think there might be a kernel of truth in this proposition. I liked the part of the comment that said, The EARTH itself is spewing out and shaking off all the corruption.
What do you think?
Please comment away as I love comments and do not turn any away that are negative or may oppose my view. I only turn away ads and the comment filter from blogspot seems to have resolved that problem, thankfully.
thing. He believed AIDS was caused by the body reacting to sin. He wasn't being judgemental in his attitude toward homosexuals or anyone else with AIDS. In fact, his voice tone was quite compassionate.
I know we could very easily debate as to this not being true of someone contracting AIDS through blood transfusions. But the gay-AIDS controversy aside, I want to focus in on the truth inherent in that statement. Or is it a truth? In other words, can both living and nonliving things react to sin? Is this why Hurricane Katrina was "drawn" to New Orleans? The terrorists to NYC? The Northridge earthquake in the middle 1990's to the San Fernando Valley, where most of the pornography coming out of the United States is made? And how about the very damaging Prieta Loma earthquake some years back (San Francisco)? SF of course is one of the gay capitals of the world.
But what about the city that was formed especially for gay people--West Hollywood? I'm not aware of anything bad ever happening over there. Or will that be the next "hot" spot?
A few weeks ago, a comment was made on one of my Katrina posts concerning this very same topic. I have the commenter's permission to quote her,
The EARTH itself is spewing out and shaking off all the corruption. The word of God says that the EARTH IS GROANING...Romans 8:22-23: For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
I think there might be a kernel of truth in this proposition. I liked the part of the comment that said, The EARTH itself is spewing out and shaking off all the corruption.
What do you think?
Please comment away as I love comments and do not turn any away that are negative or may oppose my view. I only turn away ads and the comment filter from blogspot seems to have resolved that problem, thankfully.
Sunday, October 09, 2005
Jesus-God's Joy
Tim Challies has been blogging about the "Desiring God" conference he is attending. Session 7 featured Joni Erickson Tada. Here is a quote from the talk she gave at the conference that surely nails down what I brought forth in my last post.
....God is happy! But this begs the question, why is God so happy? God is so happy because He is satisfied in His Son. He never tires of boasting about His Son. Jesus shares His joy with us so that His joy might be in us.
Now if we can just get the seeker-sensitives, the emergents, and the Third Wave Charismatics to accept and preach this, the evangelical church would have made a huge leap forward.
....God is happy! But this begs the question, why is God so happy? God is so happy because He is satisfied in His Son. He never tires of boasting about His Son. Jesus shares His joy with us so that His joy might be in us.
Now if we can just get the seeker-sensitives, the emergents, and the Third Wave Charismatics to accept and preach this, the evangelical church would have made a huge leap forward.
Christ--God's Joy
Tim Challies has been blogging about the "Desiring God" conference he is attending. Session 7 featured Joni Erickson Tada. Here is a quote from the talk she gave at the conference that surely nails down what I brought forth in my
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Someone's Missing
I received this in my email from the Third Wave prophetic list, the Elijah list. It is from Third Wavers Dutch Sheets, Chuck Pierce and Lou Engle:
God has released several words over the past few years about a
mighty awakening/outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Mormon church.
I know that while in Salt Lake City, Utah, on the 50 State Tour,
Chuck Pierce and I were amazed at what we saw coming in the Spirit.
This past Sunday morning, October 2, at our Dutch Sheets Ministries
conference a powerful testimony was shared of the dramatic
conversion and filling with the Holy Spirit of two Mormon
missionaries. Lou Engle came to the platform and announced that we
had entered a window of opportunity to see this promised outpouring
in the Mormon church begin.
His word was brought in the context of a challenge. If the body of
Christ would take the next 40 days and give themselves to fervent
prayer and fasting, we would see this movement begin. Let's answer
this call, giving great diligence to prayer and fasting for an
outpouring of the Holy Spirit within the Mormon church.
Did you notice that something's missing? Or I should say, Someone.
One of my gripes about the Third Wave Charismatic teachings is that Christ seems to be missing--ALOT. Notice how God and the Holy Spirit are talked about but not Christ. I would think evangelistic Christians would say the two Mormons received Christ. You may think that "receiving the Holy Spirit" is the same thing to these people, but Christ is left out in so much of their teachings, I really wonder if this truly is the Holy Spirit. I don't know...just questioning.
I say this by the way, as a neo-Pentecostal. Just to set the record straight to any Third Wavers reading this--no, I don't have religious spirits, the spirit of Jezebel, nor am I a cessationist--in fact far from it.
The Third Wave people seem to be entranced by the Old Testament as most of them are rarely in the New. But then, we do see Christ very clearly in the NT do we not?
They are intrigued by Jewish feasts and observing them. They are intrigued by praying and fasting constantly. It's a miracle that more of their followers don't have anorexia--and I am dead serious.
On another note--but not really--tonight, I heard the ultimate....I should be in shock but I'm not. I happened onto Benny Hinn's TV program. Hinn bounces all around from denouncing the Toronto "Blessing" a few years ago to having Third Wave prophet Chuck Pierce talk in one of his meetings recently. Hinn also is a hybrid Word of faither. I say hybrid because he also bounces all around the WOF teaching, adding at times his own bizarre theologies.
On tonight's program he had a guest whom I don't know. Believe me, I know everyone in Charismatic-Pentecostal land but I had never seen this gentleman before. Sadly, it was another example of reaching back into the OT law, confusing it and mixing it with the NT grace.
The guest was speaking about the former and latter rain in Joel 2 and saying that this was on the Day of Atonement. He said on that day things really got going from God to His people. Among these blessings, according to the guest, was Financial blessings, Restoration of anything "stolen," Special Miracles, Divine presence of God, and Anointing on your sons and daughters.
Then he dropped the bomb! He said that to receive these blessings---and of course I knew what was coming--the people (meaning the Israelites) brought their gifts (meaning money) to the priests (meaning Benny Hinn).
So now I knew where this was going but it got worse than I thought. I counted the seconds before he would say to send in your offering to Benny Hinn. It came after one minute of the time I was thinking this. "And, you MUST give it on the Day of Atonement which is coming up soon this month," said the guest. However, he said, why not call the number on your screen and pledge it now. Then the double bomb dropped. Since there was 120 people on the Day of Pentecost (I guess now he is referring to after Christ died and was resurrected--he didn't specify), you now need to send at least $120. He said 12 is a special number to God meaning governmental order.
I didn't quite understand the number 12 relation to 120 unless it is a factor of it. And then finally, the triple bomb dropped. For those owning businesses, the guest suggested, why not give $12,000.00. Or some could even give $1200.00 (Bob at TotemtoTemple is just going to love this).
Now I want to make it very clear that most Third Wavers don't make this pitch for money (although they do charge alot for every single seminar they hold, while the WOF'ers usually don't). BUT, my point here is the confusion of the OT law with what is clearly presented in the New Testament, especially by Paul. In Galatians 3:10, Paul writes,
All who rely on observing the law [NOTE: and this includes observing the feasts] are under a curse.
Later, in Chapter 4 of the same book, verses 10-11, he writes,
You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.
I am pleading with the Third Wave, the Messianic Jews and anyone else who is into this to stop and get back to Christ and talk about him, which includes His grace toward us in freeing us from the law. We do not need to observe feasts and days. We do not need to bring our gifts to the pastor or anyone else on the Day of Atonement or any other special day in order to be blessed.
And to the Third Wavers especially I would say--please, please start to get into the New Testament and talk about Christ! That would be the essential thing to do.
Or, as Martha Stewart says, "It's a good thing."
God has released several words over the past few years about a
mighty awakening/outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Mormon church.
I know that while in Salt Lake City, Utah, on the 50 State Tour,
Chuck Pierce and I were amazed at what we saw coming in the Spirit.
This past Sunday morning, October 2, at our Dutch Sheets Ministries
conference a powerful testimony was shared of the dramatic
conversion and filling with the Holy Spirit of two Mormon
missionaries. Lou Engle came to the platform and announced that we
had entered a window of opportunity to see this promised outpouring
in the Mormon church begin.
His word was brought in the context of a challenge. If the body of
Christ would take the next 40 days and give themselves to fervent
prayer and fasting, we would see this movement begin. Let's answer
this call, giving great diligence to prayer and fasting for an
outpouring of the Holy Spirit within the Mormon church.
Did you notice that something's missing? Or I should say, Someone.
One of my gripes about the Third Wave Charismatic teachings is that Christ seems to be missing--ALOT. Notice how God and the Holy Spirit are talked about but not Christ. I would think evangelistic Christians would say the two Mormons received Christ. You may think that "receiving the Holy Spirit" is the same thing to these people, but Christ is left out in so much of their teachings, I really wonder if this truly is the Holy Spirit. I don't know...just questioning.
I say this by the way, as a neo-Pentecostal. Just to set the record straight to any Third Wavers reading this--no, I don't have religious spirits, the spirit of Jezebel, nor am I a cessationist--in fact far from it.
The Third Wave people seem to be entranced by the Old Testament as most of them are rarely in the New. But then, we do see Christ very clearly in the NT do we not?
They are intrigued by Jewish feasts and observing them. They are intrigued by praying and fasting constantly. It's a miracle that more of their followers don't have anorexia--and I am dead serious.
On another note--but not really--tonight, I heard the ultimate....I should be in shock but I'm not. I happened onto Benny Hinn's TV program. Hinn bounces all around from denouncing the Toronto "Blessing" a few years ago to having Third Wave prophet Chuck Pierce talk in one of his meetings recently. Hinn also is a hybrid Word of faither. I say hybrid because he also bounces all around the WOF teaching, adding at times his own bizarre theologies.
On tonight's program he had a guest whom I don't know. Believe me, I know everyone in Charismatic-Pentecostal land but I had never seen this gentleman before. Sadly, it was another example of reaching back into the OT law, confusing it and mixing it with the NT grace.
The guest was speaking about the former and latter rain in Joel 2 and saying that this was on the Day of Atonement. He said on that day things really got going from God to His people. Among these blessings, according to the guest, was Financial blessings, Restoration of anything "stolen," Special Miracles, Divine presence of God, and Anointing on your sons and daughters.
Then he dropped the bomb! He said that to receive these blessings---and of course I knew what was coming--the people (meaning the Israelites) brought their gifts (meaning money) to the priests (meaning Benny Hinn).
So now I knew where this was going but it got worse than I thought. I counted the seconds before he would say to send in your offering to Benny Hinn. It came after one minute of the time I was thinking this. "And, you MUST give it on the Day of Atonement which is coming up soon this month," said the guest. However, he said, why not call the number on your screen and pledge it now. Then the double bomb dropped. Since there was 120 people on the Day of Pentecost (I guess now he is referring to after Christ died and was resurrected--he didn't specify), you now need to send at least $120. He said 12 is a special number to God meaning governmental order.
I didn't quite understand the number 12 relation to 120 unless it is a factor of it. And then finally, the triple bomb dropped. For those owning businesses, the guest suggested, why not give $12,000.00. Or some could even give $1200.00 (Bob at TotemtoTemple is just going to love this).
Now I want to make it very clear that most Third Wavers don't make this pitch for money (although they do charge alot for every single seminar they hold, while the WOF'ers usually don't). BUT, my point here is the confusion of the OT law with what is clearly presented in the New Testament, especially by Paul. In Galatians 3:10, Paul writes,
All who rely on observing the law [NOTE: and this includes observing the feasts] are under a curse.
Later, in Chapter 4 of the same book, verses 10-11, he writes,
You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.
I am pleading with the Third Wave, the Messianic Jews and anyone else who is into this to stop and get back to Christ and talk about him, which includes His grace toward us in freeing us from the law. We do not need to observe feasts and days. We do not need to bring our gifts to the pastor or anyone else on the Day of Atonement or any other special day in order to be blessed.
And to the Third Wavers especially I would say--please, please start to get into the New Testament and talk about Christ! That would be the essential thing to do.
Or, as Martha Stewart says, "It's a good thing."
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Quote of the Day
"An enemy is a friend waiting to be made; that is the only hope for this conflict-ridden world."
Bishop Desmond Tutu
from an Ash Wednesday sermon
Source: Christianity Today, Sept. 2005 issue
Bishop Desmond Tutu
from an Ash Wednesday sermon
Source: Christianity Today, Sept. 2005 issue
Monday, October 03, 2005
Comments on My Sept. 28th Post
In my post of Sept. 28, More Religion Means Higher Crime?, I cited a study claiming that in Christian countries that were more devout, the crime rate across the board was higher than in those countries with a low level of religious devotion and activity.
I would like to share two comments I received since I thought they had some good thoughts.
Carol said...
I would really be interested to see how these same social maladies correlate with other contributing factors. For example, population of British who own firearms compared with U.S. gun ownership relative to violent crime stats. Percapita sexual abuse rates between the U.S. and other cited countries as related to STD's and teen pregnancy.
I'm not convinced that the sole contributing factor is religiosity. Perhaps religious confusion plays a role?
My missionary friend emailed this to me about my post,
In the jungle, where there are no Christians, there are no murders, and only occasional theft. The entrance of Christianity has not brought murder and crime. There must be other factors here. Statistics can be accurate in one way and skewed in another. They don't tell a story. In Communist nations, the murders are mainly committed by the government, and not by the populace, because of tight control and fear. We have freedom here, and fewer police than criminals. The presence of many believers in South Central L. A. does not prevent gang members from stealing, killing and destroying. .
I would like more comments on this as to WHY this puzzling state of affairs exists. Frankly, I really cannot explain it. At first I thought it might be due to the family breakdown, but this is happening at a faster rate in many European countries than in ours, and the study reports there is less crime in those countries than in ours.
So, it is a puzzling dilemma indeed.
I would like to share two comments I received since I thought they had some good thoughts.
Carol said...
I would really be interested to see how these same social maladies correlate with other contributing factors. For example, population of British who own firearms compared with U.S. gun ownership relative to violent crime stats. Percapita sexual abuse rates between the U.S. and other cited countries as related to STD's and teen pregnancy.
I'm not convinced that the sole contributing factor is religiosity. Perhaps religious confusion plays a role?
My missionary friend emailed this to me about my post,
In the jungle, where there are no Christians, there are no murders, and only occasional theft. The entrance of Christianity has not brought murder and crime. There must be other factors here. Statistics can be accurate in one way and skewed in another. They don't tell a story. In Communist nations, the murders are mainly committed by the government, and not by the populace, because of tight control and fear. We have freedom here, and fewer police than criminals. The presence of many believers in South Central L. A. does not prevent gang members from stealing, killing and destroying. .
I would like more comments on this as to WHY this puzzling state of affairs exists. Frankly, I really cannot explain it. At first I thought it might be due to the family breakdown, but this is happening at a faster rate in many European countries than in ours, and the study reports there is less crime in those countries than in ours.
So, it is a puzzling dilemma indeed.
Sunday, October 02, 2005
The Lord's Baseball Game
I received this in my email and thought it was pretty neat..
THE LORD'S BASEBALL GAME
Freddy and the Lord stood by to observe a baseball game. The Lord's
team was playing Satan's team. The Lord's team was at bat, the score
was tied zero to zero, and it was the bottom of the 9th inning with
two outs. They continued to watch as a batter stepped up to the plate
named 'Love.'
Love swung at the first pitch and hit a single, because " Love never fails."
The next batter was named Faith , who also got a single because Faith
works with Love .
;
The next batter up was named Godly Wisdom . Satan wound up and threw
the first pitch.
Godly Wisdom looked it over and let it pass: Ball one. Three more
pitches and Godly Wisdom walked because he never swings at what Satan
throws .
The bases were now loaded. The Lord then turned to Freddy and told
him He was now going to bring in His star player. Up to the plate
stepped Grace . Freddy said, "He sure doesn't look like much!"
Satan's whole team relaxed when they saw Grace. Thinking he had won
the game, Satan wound up and fired his first pitch. To the shock of
everyone, Grace hit the ball harder than anyone had ever seen! But
Satan was not worried; his center fielder let very few get by. He went
up for the ball, but it went right through his glove, hit him on the
head and sent him crashing on the ground; the roaring crowds went wild
as the ball continued over the fence . . . for a home run !
The Lord's team won!
The Lord then asked Freddy if he knew why Love , Faith and Godly Wisdom could get on base but couldn't win the game. Freddy answered
that he didn't know why. The Lord explained, "If your love , faith and
wisdom had won the game, you would think you had done it by yourself.
Love , Faith and Wisdom will get you on base but only My Grace can
get you Home.
"For by Grace are you saved, it is a gift of God; not of works, lest
any man should boast."
Ephesians 2:8-9
"For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and
glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly."
Psalm 84:11
THE LORD'S BASEBALL GAME
Freddy and the Lord stood by to observe a baseball game. The Lord's
team was playing Satan's team. The Lord's team was at bat, the score
was tied zero to zero, and it was the bottom of the 9th inning with
two outs. They continued to watch as a batter stepped up to the plate
named 'Love.'
Love swung at the first pitch and hit a single, because " Love never fails."
The next batter was named Faith , who also got a single because Faith
works with Love .
;
The next batter up was named Godly Wisdom . Satan wound up and threw
the first pitch.
Godly Wisdom looked it over and let it pass: Ball one. Three more
pitches and Godly Wisdom walked because he never swings at what Satan
throws .
The bases were now loaded. The Lord then turned to Freddy and told
him He was now going to bring in His star player. Up to the plate
stepped Grace . Freddy said, "He sure doesn't look like much!"
Satan's whole team relaxed when they saw Grace. Thinking he had won
the game, Satan wound up and fired his first pitch. To the shock of
everyone, Grace hit the ball harder than anyone had ever seen! But
Satan was not worried; his center fielder let very few get by. He went
up for the ball, but it went right through his glove, hit him on the
head and sent him crashing on the ground; the roaring crowds went wild
as the ball continued over the fence . . . for a home run !
The Lord's team won!
The Lord then asked Freddy if he knew why Love , Faith and Godly Wisdom could get on base but couldn't win the game. Freddy answered
that he didn't know why. The Lord explained, "If your love , faith and
wisdom had won the game, you would think you had done it by yourself.
Love , Faith and Wisdom will get you on base but only My Grace can
get you Home.
"For by Grace are you saved, it is a gift of God; not of works, lest
any man should boast."
Ephesians 2:8-9
"For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and
glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly."
Psalm 84:11
Saturday, October 01, 2005
The Top Ten Fears of Youth
Michael Spencer over at Internet Monk teaches at a Christian school. He tells us the number one question teens ask him, and I was certainly surprised as I think you might be.
The #1 question is:
Is it all right to get tatoos and/or body piercings? In other words, does the Bible say anything about that?
On another note, Dr. Thom S. Rainer, the dean of the Billy Graham School at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., writes that less than 10 percent of America's youths have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. He says there are two basic reasons churches today do not reach youth.
First, they simply do not try to reach young people with the gospel. There is no intentionality.
Second, many leaders and laypersons do not understand youths.
Dr. Rainer has found ten fears that young people say they face today. He lists them in a "David Letterman Top Ten" format, beginning with #10. I have summarized his remarks under each point.
Fear #10: "I will never have a happy marriage and family."
A majority of youths do not believe they will have an intact and "good" family when they reach adulthood.
Fear #9: "Someone I know or love will die of AIDS (maybe me!)."
AIDS isn't some distant disease to this age group.
Fear #8: "I feel like I have to have sex to be accepted."
This fear was particularly prevalent among the female teenagers, where two-thirds of the adolescent girls feared the pressure to have sex.
The average age for first-time intercourse for girls is 15; the boys' average is 14. Three-fourths of them will have sex by their senior year of high school. Forty percent of 14-year-old girls today will become pregnant at least once before they turn twenty years old.
Fear #7: "I cannot find time to do everything."
The youths of today may be the busiest generation in America's history.
One of the key reasons teens are so busy is that they have so many choices.
Fear #6: "I can't tell right from wrong."
Fifty-six percent of female teens and 61 percent of male teens think their generation has a serious problem because they have no sense of right and wrong. A majority of teens admit that they have difficulty discerning right from wrong.
Fear #5: "Peer pressure scares me."
Fear #4: "I (or someone I know) will be a victim of violence or crime."
In 1950 the rate of 14- to 17-year-old who been arrested for a felony was four per 1,000. Today it has increased over 30 times to 118 per 1,000. Among boys, one in three carries a weapon with the intention of using it if necessary.
Fear #3: "I will not be able to make it financially."
Dr. Rainer's son told his dad: "There are no guarantees out in the world. A college degree does not mean that you'll get a good job. And if you get a good job, you may not get to keep it." (layoffs, jobs going overseas, etc.)
Fear #2: "I can't get a good education."
Lack of money for college seems to be a major concern for teens.
Fear #1: "Something bad may happen to my family."
More children are living in single parent homes than ever before. Divorce is a big reality to youth.
Dr. Rainer's site: http://www.ChurchCentral.com
The #1 question is:
Is it all right to get tatoos and/or body piercings? In other words, does the Bible say anything about that?
On another note, Dr. Thom S. Rainer, the dean of the Billy Graham School at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., writes that less than 10 percent of America's youths have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. He says there are two basic reasons churches today do not reach youth.
First, they simply do not try to reach young people with the gospel. There is no intentionality.
Second, many leaders and laypersons do not understand youths.
Dr. Rainer has found ten fears that young people say they face today. He lists them in a "David Letterman Top Ten" format, beginning with #10. I have summarized his remarks under each point.
Fear #10: "I will never have a happy marriage and family."
A majority of youths do not believe they will have an intact and "good" family when they reach adulthood.
Fear #9: "Someone I know or love will die of AIDS (maybe me!)."
AIDS isn't some distant disease to this age group.
Fear #8: "I feel like I have to have sex to be accepted."
This fear was particularly prevalent among the female teenagers, where two-thirds of the adolescent girls feared the pressure to have sex.
The average age for first-time intercourse for girls is 15; the boys' average is 14. Three-fourths of them will have sex by their senior year of high school. Forty percent of 14-year-old girls today will become pregnant at least once before they turn twenty years old.
Fear #7: "I cannot find time to do everything."
The youths of today may be the busiest generation in America's history.
One of the key reasons teens are so busy is that they have so many choices.
Fear #6: "I can't tell right from wrong."
Fifty-six percent of female teens and 61 percent of male teens think their generation has a serious problem because they have no sense of right and wrong. A majority of teens admit that they have difficulty discerning right from wrong.
Fear #5: "Peer pressure scares me."
Fear #4: "I (or someone I know) will be a victim of violence or crime."
In 1950 the rate of 14- to 17-year-old who been arrested for a felony was four per 1,000. Today it has increased over 30 times to 118 per 1,000. Among boys, one in three carries a weapon with the intention of using it if necessary.
Fear #3: "I will not be able to make it financially."
Dr. Rainer's son told his dad: "There are no guarantees out in the world. A college degree does not mean that you'll get a good job. And if you get a good job, you may not get to keep it." (layoffs, jobs going overseas, etc.)
Fear #2: "I can't get a good education."
Lack of money for college seems to be a major concern for teens.
Fear #1: "Something bad may happen to my family."
More children are living in single parent homes than ever before. Divorce is a big reality to youth.
Dr. Rainer's site: http://www.ChurchCentral.com
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