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Practical Theology

Christianity

I haven’t posted much lately.  I haven’t done hardly anything with any websites lately.  And the short explanation for that would be that I’ve been quite busy.  The last three months in particular have been a blur.  They’ve been such a blur that as I was figuring how long it’s been since things were “normal” I was originally thinking it had been two months until I realized that things were last normal in February and this is the end of May, so it’s actually been three months.  The last month has been one big, non-ending blur for the most part.

So what spurs me to finally write a post?  For one, hopefully things are slowing down and I have a chance to catch my breath.  But moreso, I feel the need to write about what’s been going at my church.  Some bad things have been happening at my small church.  Without going into any details, it’s stuff that no Bible class ever covered and ultimately the legal system will end up dealing with it.  It’s stuff that was bad enough to leave me in tears at the pulpit two weeks in a row and caused a much worse break down at home in the middle of last week.  And none of it involves me personally, I’ve just been so emotionally invested in a few ugly situations that are taking place with other families.

All of this brought me to thinking about the practicality of our theology.  We talk about love and forgiveness all of the time at church.  And certainly we mean what we say.  But even as we say it, it is an abstract concept.  What I mean is that it is easy enough to forgive someone who accidentally wronged you.  We can even forgive someone who purposely harmed us and seeks our forgiveness.  But what about the really profound hurts in life?  A spouse who commits adultery.  A drunk driver who killed a family member.  A child molester.  Can we just as easily forgive these people?

Last week I feel like I saw the worst that humanity has to offer, or at least close to it.  The natural human response is to question why God would allow such things to happen.  That’s not where I’m at.  I know that bad things happen because we live in a sinful world.  The question I ran through my mind was why God continues to put up with all of this garbage.

There is a day of judgment coming for saints and sinners alike.  I don’t doubt this for a moment.  What I wondered was simply why that judgment hasn’t arrived yet.  How does God look down on us and not want to destroy us?  It happened in Noah’s time.  And if the small amount of garbage that I witnessed made me literally sick and left me crying, how does a holy and righteous God deal with it?

Of course there is only one answer to the question.  God doesn’t withhold punishment because He takes any delight in sin.  It disgusts Him far more than it possibly could for us.  But God is allowing time for repentance.  He wants the people who do these things to seek Him in forgiveness.  And if they do, God will forgive even the worst sins.

On the other hand, there is a day of judgment coming for the unrepentant.  They may end up in jail or they may escape earthly justice altogether.  Whatever the case is though, they won’t escape God’s justice.

Because these situations haven’t affected me personally it’s not really fair to say that I believe that I have the ability to forgive those who have caused harm.  For the families involved it will be much harder.  But ultimately our ability to forgive isn’t nearly as important as God’s ability to forgive.  Whether we forgive or not, the most important thing is that these people seek God’s forgiveness.  Otherwise there will be a day of reckoning as God casts all sin from His presence.

Would Jesus Help?

Christianity

It’s been a while since I’ve written anything but it’s not as long as I had originally thought.

Last night I encountered one of my least favorite things in ministry – someone asking for money.  The story I was told was vague and had to do with a pregnant wife and the hospital and no money for gas.  I really wasn’t sure if they were on their way to the hospital or coming home or what.  I never have any cash on me and gave the guy the only dollar I had.  My guess is that he left cursing me because my dogs had probably made him soil himself and it wasn’t worth the effort.

Whenever I am asked for money, the story is almost always the same.  It’s vague and usually it is money for gas.  There’s usually some kind of urgent emergency tied with it, the hospital in most cases.  Have I believed any story that I’ve been told?  No.  And that’s the first problem.  I have to believe that any person who would have approached Jesus with a lie would have left empty handed.  They might have received a valuable lesson from Jesus, but not what they wanted.  I do not have the benefit on knowing with 100% accuracy that a person is lying nor am I bold enough to flat out tell the person that I don’t believe their story.  I once had the opportunity to try to verify a person’s story by asking for more details and wasn’t surprised to not get a return call.  If your wife’s uncle is really in the hospital in NC, I don’t think it’s too much to ask for his name and the name of the hospital so I can call and verify that he’s really there.

This brings me to problem number 2.  If the people are lying, what are they using the money on?  I’m not going to assume that everyone who asks for money is going to use it on drugs, but let’s say that they need money simply because they were careless with it.  On one hand, I’m not responsible for what a person does with the money.  If they use it wrongly that’s not my decision.  On the other hand, if I give money when I have a strong feeling that it will be misused, this could be wrong on my part because I am enabling a lifestyle where that money will be poorly spent.  Even if it’s not on drugs or alcohol, by bailing out someone who has mismanaged their money I allow them and even encourage to misbehave again.  I’ve proven that someone will always bail them out from their poor decisions rather than help teach that all decisions have consequences.

And of course there is a matter of finances.  Like last night, I have limited finances and the church has limited finances.  I strongly believe that it is part of my duty to wisely use what God has blessed me with.  Enabling someone to continue to make poor life choices doesn’t seem like a good use of my finite resources.

I know that more compassionate people will counter that there are legitimate problems in the world and I understand that and believe it.  It’s a thousand times worse when children are involved and live in poverty because of the poor decisions of a parent.  It would be an easy decision to make if I knew that the problem was legitimate and that it would go to directly help the one in need but I have to believe this is rarely the case.

I will bend over backwards to help someone with a legitimate need.  Particularly if there is someone connected with the church, I will do everything within my power to help a person.  I am not compassionless or enjoy seeing people suffer for poor decisions.  But I want to know that my money is actually going toward a need.

If Jesus were in my shoes and had limited knowledge and finances to help, I don’t know what He would do.  I’d like to believe that He could handle these issues better than I but I don’t really know how to handle them any better than I already am.  And I hope that’s good enough.

Why did people live longer in Genesis?

Bible Questions

There are a number of possibilities why people lived longer in Genesis.  Although some people want to dismiss the ages as simply exaggerated I believe these are literal ages and not symbolic in any way. 

To answer the question, first of all note when the ages dropped off dramatically – right after Noah and the flood.  They cut in half for Noah’s sons, then half for their sons, and then finally the next generation – Abraham – lived close to what we’d consider a normal life.  This would seem to indicate that the flood caused some kind of change that shortened lifespans.

The first reason that people may have lived longer in Genesis is that God is supernaturally expanding people’s lifespans.  God keeps people alive longer so that they populate the earth.  If this is case, it is no surprise at all that the person who apparently walks so close to God that God allows him to escape death, Enoch, is the father of the person who lives longer than any other man, Methusaleh.  Even among incredible lifespans, Methusaleh is blessed. 

The flood caused great changes to the earth.  Going back to the second day of creation, we should note what takes place.

Genesis 1:6-8

 And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.”  So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so.  God called the expanse “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

We know that the air contains moisture and that clouds are a collection of water in tiny droplets but this appears to be more.  At creation, the earth is more like a tropical rain forest that does not need rain because of the canopy of water overhead.  Genesis 2:4-6 gives more indication as to what all of this looked like.

 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created.  When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens- and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.

There was no rain and the earth essentially took care of itself because of the streams that sprung up and the moisture in the air.  The thick atmosphere served as protection from the sun and numerous harmful things like radiation which we know about now.  There is no telling what kinds of diseases did not exist because it could not live in such an environment.  All of these things would help people live longer.

Another possibility has to do with atmospheric pressure.  Scientists believe that the atmospheric pressure was about double what it is now.  This makes sense when one considers what all of the extra moisture would do in the air.  I don’t understand all of the science behind it but greater pressure seems to help with healing.  Hyperbaric chambers are designed specifically to increase the pressure around the body which helps with oxygen in the bloodstream.  Football players have started using these in their homes to recover from injuries.  The medical community is using them for everything from treating burns, to carbon monoxide poisoning, to healing crush injuries.  There are also studies being conducting regarding the use of hyperbaric chambers for the treatment of autism and even certain types of hearing loss.  In other words, the world before the flood could have been an environment that allowed the body to heal itself much better than today.

The fourth possibility has to do with genetics.  In short, Noah was the last to have the longevity gene.  His children had it, but only half because they only got it from their father.  The next generation only had one quarter of it.  This would give an explanation as to why the ages cut in half from Noah to the next generation.

In truth, we can’t be certain but any or all of these are possibilities as to why people lived longer in the book of Genesis.

Studying the book of Daniel

Christianity

I’ve been working a lot on the book of Daniel lately.  It began by compiling an extensive Bible study that my good friend and mentor had done and putting it online.  While I was doing this I began to think about what my next sermon series should be about and I came to the conclusion that Daniel would be a good book to study.

So after compiling the entire Bible study for the website I decided to turn around and study the book again to preach from it.  And then to promote the website I’ve been writing a series of short articles about each chapter on another blog.  If you’re interested you can follow the blog at http://hubpages.com/hub/Studying-the-book-of-Daniel.

So I have Daniel on the mind a lot right now.  The Bible study site has an in depth commentary on the book with each chapter being discussed for about ten pages.  My sermons are about half of that length or less.  And my blog posts are around 500 words each.  I’ve really run the gamut on the topic.

No matter how many words that I’ve used to speak on the book of Daniel, I still come to the conclusion that it is an amazing book.  There is perhaps no greater book in all of the Bible in terms of the range of subjects.  There are children’s stories such as Daniel and the lion’s den and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the fiery furnace.  And on the other end of the spectrum are incredible prophecies such as Daniel’s seventy sevens.  Throw in some miracles and the amazing conversion of Nebuchadnezzar and the book has it all in just 12 chapters.

Every chapter displays the power of God in a new and magnificient way.  This is something that has really come out in my sermons.  This makes Daniel an important book to study because the church needs a reminder of God’s power.

All in all I just can’t get enough of the the book of Daniel right now and I’d highly recommend the study of it to anyone who was looking for a book or series to study.

The end of the world?

Christianity

I posted an article at http://hubpages.com/hub/Its-not-the-end-of-the-world so I won’t repost the whole thing here.  However I’m still bothered by Christian perspectives on disasters and other bad things.  Within five minutes of posting the article I got a response on facebook that basically said that the truth is the truth whether I wanted to accept it or not, the signs prove that Jesus is returning soon. 

Of course the entire point of the article is that we simply don’t know because all of the things that are being pointed to as signs have been around since Jesus left us.  Things might be worse now or they might just get more television coverage.  There is no way that we can know for certain.  Every generation has seen disasters in their lifetime and has had reason to believe that they were signs of Jesus’ return.

Of course I reread Matthew 24 over the weekend.  There are a few things that are absolutely clear.  One part has been fulfilled – the destruction of the temple in AD 70.  Another part is still definitely future – the abomination that causes desolation.  This leaves us looking for signs to mark the time of Jesus’ return.  The more I read, the more I believed that Jesus was purposely vague.  This wasn’t vague like Nostradamus or other so called prophets that can be twisted in a number of ways until they are proven right.  Instead it is vague as a warning.

Matthew 24 closes with Jesus saying that no one knows the time of His return, not even He.  This means that anyone who claims to have figured out the date is a liar because they claim to know more than Jesus.  The chapter closes with a warning to be watching for His return.  I believe that is the point. 

Every generation has seen signs of Jesus’ return because God wants us to be watching and waiting.  We should live our lives as though Jesus could return at any moment, because He can.  The things that are going on in the world today could be signs of Jesus’ imminent return, or they could be more of what we’ve always had.  We simply don’t know for certain.  Things could get much, much worse.

I have always believed that Jesus could return at any moment and have tried to live my life in light of this fact.  He could return today.  Or He could be another thousand years off.  We simply don’t know.  What some Christians are offering as proof is not a guarantee if for no other reason than God’s measure of time is not the same as ours.  The birth pains that act as a sign could be a hundred years long.  It is not our job to interpret the signs.  Instead, we need to live our life like He could return at any moment.

Looking for Love

Christianity

I was at the gas station the other day when I saw a sign that said “Looking for love?”  I couldn’t see the bottom half of the sign so I don’t know what they were advertising.  I assume that it was something related to Valentine’s Day but for all I know it could have been cupcakes.

Of course this got me to thinking about how often we look for love in all of the wrong places.  At worst we replace love with lust.  We also fill the God shaped hole in each of us with all kinds of meaningless things such as television, camping, romance novels, etc.  We were created to love God but so often we get caught up in loving the created rather than the Creator.

God wants us to enjoy life and we should enjoy the many things that God gives us.  (Obviously this does not include the things that are forbidden as sinful.)  But we need to remember that God gave them to us and they should never take the place of God.

One of the most frustrating things as a pastor is looking out over the congregation each Sunday and noticing who isn’t there.  Obviously there are sicknesses to deal with and then there are vacations and other reasons for traveling.  But pretty much every week I notice that someone isn’t at church and I can’t help but think “What better thing did they have to do on Sunday than worship God?”  Rarely do I hear an explanation and when I do it’s even more frustrating.  For instance, if your life is so busy that Sunday morning is the only time you have to go grocery shopping, you need to cut something out of your life and whatever that thing is, it shouldn’t be God.

As our thoughts turn to love around this time of year, thank God for those that He gave you to love.  But also take time to remember your love for God as well and be sure to express it.

Is it wrong to go to nightclubs?

Bible Questions

Whether it is a sin to go to nightclubs  falls into the broad gray area of Christianity.  We would like everything to be black and white but frankly Jesus said nothing about nightclubs or thousands of other things like rock music or the internet.  So good judgment must be used when making such decisions.

Going to nightclubs in and of itself is not wrong.  But the question must be asked why is a person going and are they going to participate in sinful activities there.  This is where it can be sinful to go to night clubs, dance halls, etc.  If the idea behind going clubbing is to meet someone and then hook up in some sort of sexually immoral way, then absolutely it is wrong.  The same goes for getting drunk and all of the other problems that leads to.

The bigger issue is a matter of perception and there isn’t a cut and dry answer.  In 1 Corinthians 8 Paul writes about food sacrificed to idols.  Some people were very much against eating such food because it had been used in an idolatrous ceremony.  Others weren’t bothered by eating this food because they did not acknowledge the idol so it meant nothing to them.  The point is that some people are going to be bothered by the idea of going to nightclubs regardless whether sinful activity takes place there or not, it gives the perception of doing wrong.  In the end each person must decide whether they are willing to sacrifice their desire to go clubbing in order to avoid a bad perception or if their conscience is free because they aren’t participating in sinful activities and it is other people who need to get over their perception.

Back to Work

General

Needless to say I’ve been working recently, just not my normal work.  My wife and I had the fun and excitement of packing the entire house.  After Christmas we had three weeks to get our new house ready to move into.  This meant commuting 35 miles from my mother-in-law’s house each day so I could paint, and tear up carpet, and clean.  Ok, my wife and other ladies did most of the cleaning.  But still everything was exhausting work, especially when you go home and you’re not sleeping in your own bed and you know that you get to get up and do the same thing over again the next day.

I started preaching at my new church on the first Sunday of January but it really didn’t feel the same since we weren’t moved in.  Last week was dedicated to unpacking which makes this the first week that I feel like I’m really “working.”  What I’ve discovered is that I actually kind of miss working.  I love preaching and in many ways it doesn’t even feel like work (except when I’m working hard to finish a sermon at the last minute.)  But this is my first week that I’ve had hospital visits and reports and other administrative stuff to do.  And strangely it feels pretty good.  Two weeks from now I might be ready to tear my hair out but for the moment this is alright.

When I interviewed for this position I was asked the question whether I felt that being a pastor was a job or a calling.  My response was one that I’ve heard from others but is true for me as well.  You should only be a pastor if you can’t find fulfillment doing anything else.  If you can be happy working in an office or on a construction site or elsewhere, that’s great.  Do that.  But if nothing else will bring you fulfillment like working in the ministry then that is a clear sign that God has called you to it.

This week I feel as if God has reaffirmed my calling.  Even the parts of ministry that I don’t particularly enjoy, I have missed because it is a part of what God has called me to do.  I’m thankful that God has me where He wants me and that I’m doing what He wants me to do.  I pray that He will continue to guide and direct me in the next step.

Merry Christmas

General

This week my wife and I are heading home for Christmas and then we’ll spend the next two weeks getting our new house ready to move into.  The last few weeks, really I suppose the last six or seven months, have been chaotic and I hope that things will really start to calm down in January once we get unpacked.  So there’s a very good chance that I won’t be posting anything for a few weeks.  Once things get settled down I hope to be back to work creating websites full force. 

In the midst of all of the chaos I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and remind all of you the real reason for this season.  Getting together with friends and family is important this time of year as is a sense of generosity and giving.  But it all comes down to celebrating the birth of our Savior.  No matter what else you do in the midst of your celebrating remember to celebrate the wonderful gift that God gave all of us.

Walking by Faith

Christianity

It’s been a while since I posted and for fairly good reason.  November and December are always crazy, especially in the church.  But this year has been particularly hectic with packing to move and not knowing where I’m going. 

Pastors talk about walking by faith a lot.  As Christians we are called to live by faith.  But mainly we treat this as some sort of abstract concept.  God is a safety net when all else fails.  Very rarely are we required to really depend on God for our daily needs.

When I resigned my position in October I did not have a job lined up.  I didn’t even have an interview set – I had just been in talks with a church about their position.  Nevertheless I believed that this was what God was asking me to do as it was what was best for the church and for myself as well.  This didn’t mean that it was easy or stress free.  For the next 3 1/2 weeks I tried to patiently wait as I anxiously checked my email for word about an interview.

After I finally had an interview set, I got an unexpected blessing a week before my interview.  I have been approved to teach university courses online.  This is something that I had applied for over four months ago and will go well along with pastoring a smaller church.

Finally after about seven weeks in limbo I have a new job to start in just a few weeks.  I thank God that my step out in faith has been rewarded and that He hasn’t let me down.  What I have learned through this experience is how difficult it is to truly live by faith.  I consider myself to have a strong faith and while I trusted God there were times when I had to wonder if I interpreted His instructions correctly.  After all, God is good but what if I acted foolishly and impulsively?

I would never advise someone to quit their job or make any other major decision without first considering the costs.  Jesus instructed us that we must consider the cost of being a disciple and this applies to our walk of faith as well.  One should also pray for wisdom and discernment and ask if this is something God is truly calling them to do. 

If God is calling you to do something and you understand the cost of doing so, do so with boldness.  Taking a huge leap of faith is difficult but I truly believe that God will reward those who listen to His calling to do so.