Age and Conviction

The older we get the more often we find ourselves looking at those that are younger than ourselves and wonder, "Do they really understand what it means to be a Christian? Do they know what all this entails?" We wonder if they really 'get it' or if they are just following along with the crowd.

Is this fair? I don't know anyone else's heart, nor am I really supposed to. But I can look back on my own life and experiences. When I was a child, I did what many children do and 'asked Jesus into my heart.' Now, I know there is a lot of backlash against that phrase, but as a child, I took this seriously. It was perhaps a more simple experience, and I was far more ignorant of Theology and God than I am know, but it was just as much a true spiritual experience before Him. As I continued to grow older, I had more experiences of this nature. I would grow in understanding and maturity and have a deeper understanding of what Christianity and God entail.

This progression continues to this day. I grow and understand more. But the experience with God that I had as a child was no less real, important, or valid because of my lack of understanding then. In fact, I believe that the inverse is more likely true. As a child, I flung myself completely upon God without a doubt of philosophy, theology, or rhetoric. Although I strive in understanding God and being a better Christian, and I find these things very important; the lack of them as a child did not make for a fake Christianity. Indeed, we find that Jesus told us something of this in Scripture. To whom more is given, more is required. We find that this is still true of us. As children, we are given little complex understanding, therefore little is required of us. The inverse is true in adulthood and as we grow in Christ.

So am I saying we need to stay spiritual infants and never have to worry about our faith being a fraud? Not at all, we are to be obedient servants and stewards, and that requires growing up in Christ.

In the end, what I am saying is that children and new converts may not have much understanding or revelation as a mature Christian. This does not make their Christian faith or walk less valid, nor does it discount them as followers. However, it does discount them as leaders of the faith.

Christian Coffee

All the credit for this comic goes to Adam4d Find his comics here. There's some good stuff. :)

Broken

Jesus tells us that He did not come for the healthy, but for the sick. His mission was not to help those who thought they were good enough already, but to help those who knew they were not good enough. We as Christians often try to convert any and all who will listen, but is this the way that we are supposed to work? Is that what Jesus did? Does He expect us to recruit Christians by offering them incentives like the blessings of an easy life, unlimited finances, or perfect ease? Where to we get the idea that we are supposed to win people over? Is it even our business to show them the perks of Christianity?

It seems that in our modern time, we want only the perks for ourselves. Ironically, this is the anti-thesis of Christianity. We are told to follow Christ we are to deny ourselves, to crucify our own desires and flesh, and to constantly practice self sacrificing love.

Is that what we see in Christianity today? If not, is it because we aren't really spreading the Gospel, but instead just telling them that Jesus is God's Son? Even the devil knows that Jesus is the Son of God. That knowledge is not enough to save us; it just isn't. Yet that seems to be all that we hear taught by many people these days. Sadly, some Churches don't even preach Jesus, just self-motivational rhetoric.

So what do we need to do? We need to remember that to come to God requires us to be broken before Him. We have to realize His Holiness, His absolute Perfection and Righteousness and our total lack of anything that comes close. We need to see that its not that we go to God to be 'safe' or 'good enough'. Instead, we need to see that we go to God because the is the only good that really exists. God is our Savior because we need Him to cleanse us, not because we need an escape plan from Hell. We were created for Him, not He for us.

Yet, we need to remember that God loves us. We are not worth it, but still He does. As humans, love is almost always selfish. We want to get something out of loving someone. In this area however, God shows His true goodness in a way all of us can not even really begin to understand. He loves us even though He needs nothing from us; there is not one thing that we can do to help God. He is self-sustaining and absolutely complete. Yet, He loves you. More than you can imagine. This is the most wonderful form of love you or I could possibly contrive or hope for.

So what do we need? We need to realize that God is in fact God. That He is complete in Himself, needing nothing from us. We need to see how foolish we are, how utterly helpless and selfish and greedy we are, how full of ourselves we have become and how abhorrent and vile this truly is. Yet He still loves us so much He would die for us, to reconcile us with Him. In this amazing situation, we need to realize that we have a need for Him, but He does not need us. He still chose to offer us a solution, and that is this; to be filled with Him, to let Him be in us what we cannot be ourselves. For that to work we must surrender fully, not just say a prayer, not just attend a church on Sunday, not just read the Bible and go to Bible study when convenient. We are to give our very lives to Him, and He expects nothing less.

What do we get in return? Him. We get the very God of the universe as our Father. That, my friend, is awesome indeed.

Simplism

Magic in Literature

• Recently a friend of mine asked me a question about the Harry Potter series of books. They were wondering if there was a problem with enjoying such fiction as a Christian, which I find to be an interesting a polarizing topic in today's culture.
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• Now, I haven't read the Harry Potter series, per se, but I have read many books of high science fiction/fantasy that also include magic, wizards, and fantastical situations. And from my childhood I loved these books more than any other style, as they have a great deal of imagination and potential in them. But it does raise an important point. Is the wizardry, magic, or the implications of these enough to condemn these books?
• Well, the easy answer is that some Christian leaders would say yes. But I don't agree with that myself. The lumping together of 'magic' into one category and condemning it is simplistic and ignorant. If the stories of Jesus life were told by people in narrative format, they would refer to His miracles as supernatural (which they were) or 'magic'. People call anything they do not understand 'magic' and that is not the same as witchcraft in the least. Demonic energy exists in our world, but things of a fantastical nature that we do not understand may be called magic out of ignorance, but are not really such.

  Many forms of science were once considered magic. Gravity, electricity, magnetism, and several other sciences were once considered 'magic', yet are not considered so any longer.

  What I'm getting at is that 'magic' in the sense of the fantastic or exotic that we do not understand is often mixed with witchcraft, which we do understand and detest as demonic. Magnetism and electricity did not cease becoming demonic when we understood them; instead, they never were. What makes witchcraft evil is not the fact that we don't understand it, or that it is powerful; but instead that it is indeed directly demonic.

  Now, in literature, we like to use our imagination both as readers and as writers. Since we do not know how we can explain the fantastic or yet undiscovered we call it 'magic'. This doesn't mean that it is evil, or even that the author intends for it to be evil. All it means is that the author is writing about something they cannot currently truly explain; therefore we dub it 'magical'. There is no more evil in a unicorn or pegasus than in a pony. None of the three is demonic, nor were they ever.

  Short answer is that I don't believe that 'magic' in literature is same thing as 'magic' in witchcraft. It is just the unfortunate double definition of one singular term. However, I am a firm believer that we are to do as Paul told the Corinthian church; if it bothers you, don't do it. If it doesn't bother, don't let someone talk you into nonsensical empty religion.

  My main issue that I have with the whole argument that 'all magic in science fiction is evil' is really misdirection from the evil that is in literature and popular entertainment these days. By that I mean the loose, debased morality that is implied by many books, movies, or TV shows. Much of fantastical high fiction has a story constructed to teach a moral, build character, and show the concept of good triumphing evil. On the other hand, many shows, movies, and books may not be visibly 'evil' but teach us that sin like lying to spouses, adultery, lust, murder, and revenge are not just to be tolerated, but are justifiable and normal.
  
  It is disturbing how many of those who condemn things like Harry Potter, LoTR, the Chronicles of Narnia, The Sword of Shannara, or any other high fiction accept other forms of media that encourage un-Godly behavior.
  
  In the end, the important thing to remember is that we all answer to God as individuals. If we feel the Holy Spirit telling us to stop, we need to stop. But if we only feel pressure from people who are condemning us, then we must make sure that we are not just being people pleasers. We are not to cause our brothers or sisters to stumble, however, that applies both to doing and not to doing.
  
  My advice is simply this, pray about it and follow the Lord's leading.
  
  
  

When Friends Leave

Recently in our church we have had friends leave the Church. This type of thing is always painful, and rarely ends without one side or the other being wounded for a long period of time. Its hard to let people leave, and harder still to stand quietly by as people try to pass the blame from members to ministerial to "just reasons" and is confusing at best. But this leads to a group of questions.

What does it mean when people leave the Church? Are we doing something wrong? Do we need to chase them? Should we plead for them to come back?

Lets take a look at the ministry of Jesus. People left Jesus ministry as well. In John 6:66 we read that many of His former disciples left. What did Jesus do? Did He chase them down? Did He try to compromise?

No, instead Jesus made sure that those who were there were willing to stay. We find a similar story in the life of Gideon. There the ranks of Gideon's army were thinned out and streamlined in order for God's will to be accomplished.

So am I saying now that anyone who leaves the Church is being removed by God? Not at all. It can be that God has someone leave the Church because the Church is teaching heresy; like Martin Luther and the Catholic Church, or Jeremiah in the nation of Judah.  There are cases like this where God leads people out of the Church for a reason.

 So how do we know which is which? How can we tell if those who leave are like Martin Luther, who was following Godly convictions; or if they are like Jesus' disciples, who left when things got hard?

There may not be a solid, one size fits all answer, but there are some things we can check to get a clearer picture.



1. Are they spiritual leaders in the Church?
2. Do they have a clear, moral reason for leaving?
3. Is their walk with God visibly more intimate now that they have left?



If the answers to the above questions are all "no", then we have a reason to believe that those who leave are more like the shallow Jews of Jesus day than like Martin Luther or Jeremiah in Judah.

But if all the answers to the above questions are no, where do we go from there? How do we minister to these friends?

Sadly, we have no more details about Jesus' wandering disciples. Instead, let us turn to the story of the Prodigal Son. The son that left the Father and returned was received with open arms. This is how we should receive a prodigal who returns.

But note, both Jesus and the Father in the parable of the Prodigal Son did not follow those who left. They did not pander to those who left, or even ask for a reason for their leaving. We cannot force people to come to God. We can force them to come back to Church, but we cannot ever force them to follow God's will.

Conclusion

In times of difficulty like this, it is important to remember the most important and useful thing we can possibly do: Pray. Bring it to the Father. We need to remember that they are God's children as well as we are. Our love for our brothers is to be strong, and we are to be as loving as Christ Himself. I pray that God will give us the wisdom to work through challenging times like these.

Christlike Kindness

As Christians, we are called to be like Christ. We are told to love those around us, and to treat them the way we would like to be treated. This is often used as a way to tell Christians they are always supposed to "lie down and take it." What we mean by this is that a Christian isn't supposed to be disagreeable, hardheaded, or have any spine whatsoever. But is this the Christian example we get from Scripture?

We see that Jesus Himself is our example in the Bible. He was kind, loving, and gentle. That is what we are called to be. However, He was not spineless. In fact, He was firm in both teaching and in action. We read that He taught with authority. It emanated from Him. He also was very firm with the Pharisees and the people who were profiting off of the Temple. He even became physical in His defense of the Church of God.

So what does this show us? Well, for one, it tells us that being a Christian does not entail being a coward. Note Jesus did not defend His personal pride with harsh words or violence; He only defended God's Holiness and the people whom the Pharisees had been mistreating.

How does this apply to us? Well, we often want to get confrontational or physical about things we find offensive as well. But we need to make sure that these are not items that have to do with personal pride but rather the defense of the weak and the glory of God. In our human nature, we would gladly defend ourselves if we feel we have been offended. This is not the type of thing I am supporting here. No, that form of defensiveness is a form of pride; our self being hurt.

We often see Christians throwing proverbial stones at groups they disagree with. They will hate on groups that do not live according to Christian principles. A modern day example is the gay community. Now, I am not saying the gay lifestyle is not wrong; I am saying that it is not the only sin in the world. If the entire gay community stopped being gay; that would not stop them from being sinners, nor would it make them automatic Christians. We need to first show them Christ, then His law. If we expect them to live in accord with God's law without being God's people, it is as foolish as expecting an Australian to follow Germany's speed laws. It doesn't make sense. Now when that Australian becomes a German citizen, he will indeed need to follow Germany's laws.

We are trying to make sinners follow God's law without turning to God. This is foolishness and heretical. We need to bring them to God and let Him do the convicting. If they are not followers of God, they will not follow His Law; its that simple.

In short, 'curing' gayness would not stop people from being sinners. The problem is deeper than merely one thing. Throughout history we see that people want to make Christianity as simple as changing actions. But God isn't just about the outside, He is concerned with the inside.

In conclusion, we are to be like Christ. We are to show love, be an example, and defend Godliness. Defending Godliness is not the same as attacking unGodliness, and the difference is something that the Holy Spirit must convict each of us on.