Drop in Consumerism . . . Bad?

In the last decade or so there has been much critique on the consumer driven culture in which we live. Many people have spoken out against this vast expanse of consumerism. It finally seems that the message has been heard (well maybe) and it is being viewed as a horrible thing. It is actually being viewed as something which we should actually fear.

Redemption Song

“Old pirates, yes, they rob I;

Sold I to the merchant ships,

Minutes after they took I

From the bottomless pit.

But my hand was made strong

By the 'and of the Almighty.

We forward in this generation

Triumphantly.

Won't you help to sing

These songs of freedom? -

'Cause all I ever have:

Redemption songs;

Redemption songs.”¹

While suffering from cancer the Rastafarian Bob Marley recorded "Redemption Song." The song is one which expresses a hope for future freedom, however at the current time all that can be done is to sing songs of this future freedom, redemption songs.

I'll be back

As you may have noticed, I have not posted anything new lately. Life has gotten really busy and I have not had time to post anything new.  When things slow down I will begin posting again.

Thank you for reading.

Unity as More than Equals

Unity seems to be a buzzword in many congregations today. It is good that many churches are seeking to bring unity among the body of Christ, however their approaches can be very damaging. The starting point of many congregations is to compare the good things their congregation has to offer with the bad things the other congregations in their areas have to offer. In doing this a barrier is created which will hinder the development of unity. Imagine if congregations began looking to the good things which other congregations had to offer, looking to the good which might develop if weaknesses are cast off and true unity in Christ were embraced. Imagine if we all began looking at others in the body of Christ as better than ourselves, as more than equals.

How Can They Get Involved?

Sitting around dynamic Church leadership meetings, church board meetings, church staff meetings, and the question almost always comes up, "how can we get people involved?" It seems that a problem exists in churches everywhere, a problem of Christians not stepping up and serving. I have another question to ask, it is not how can we get people involved, my question is "how can you not get involved?" Is it really possible to "take up my cross" and "present my body as a living sacrifice" if I am not involved?

The problem, seems to begin with church leaders. They are asking the wrong question. They should not be asking, "how can we get people involved?" They should be asking, "how can we get people to become followers of Christ?" Christian leaders (myself included) have greatly missed the point. In many cases we have come to the conclusion that if people are involved they are walking with God. It is not our role to get people involved, but to help people develop a relationship with Christ. If people begin to develop a strong relationship with God they will get involved. Our focus should not be on getting people involved in ministry but getting involved with Christ.

Windows

Windows are intriguing things. Think about it, windows are pretty humble. A really great window is one which never wants to be looked at, never wants to be noticed, and never wants any attention. A really great window is looked straight through. A really great window clearly shows what is on the other side of it, without getting in the way. Although not all windows are humble. Stained-glass windows for example, they are never looked through. A stained glass window is always drawing attention to itself, to its broken shards of glass. As Christians what type of windows are we?

As a Christian I am called to show Christ to others. I am to be a window of sorts. A window through which Christ is revealed. It is tempting to be a stained-glass window. Often times I want people to look at my life and see what Christ is like. I try to order the broken pieces of my life in such a way as to create an image of Christ. The problem with this is that people only see me. They see my broken pieces, even if they are beautifully placed together. They do not actually see Christ, they only seen an image of Christ. Even if Christ is really behind my life, all that will be seen is his shadow through the colorful glass. As a stained-glass window I draw attention to myself and become a barrier between others and Christ.

I should desire to be a standard window. A window which people look at and see Christ. My life should be transparent, not so people are looking at me, but so that people see Christ. I desire that people see right past me into the face of our Lord. To do this I must ask myself why I do the things I do. Do I do them so that others look at me or so that others look at Christ. Am I concerned more with my reputation, or the reputation of Christ. I need to ask if I am acting in such a way as to draw attention to myself or through myself.

I pray that we and our church leaders would desire to be standard windows and not stained-glass windows. Transparency should not be the revealing of my inner thoughts, secrets and skeletons in my closet but it should be the revealing of Christ through my life.

Where has all the worship gone?

Why is it that so many of our "worship services" in the evangelical church today have merely become glorified bible classes? Where is the worship? In many churches the pinnacle is not the preaching of the Word, but the dissecting of the words in the Word. The scholar has replaced the pastor. The "worship service" has paralleled the classroom. As a student of the Bible, I do understand the need for sound biblical teaching, I do understand the need to teach the Word. However, in many cases corporate worship has become corporately watching someone exegete the Bible. The congregation is not participating in the worship of God, and the teacher is often more focused more on their audience than on God. How can we come back to the heart of worship? How can we corporately worship our Savior? How can we bring worship back?

Politics in the Pulpit

Every four years churches across the States put their Father in subordination to the founding Fathers. Every four years the Bible is pushed aside for the Constitution and the bread and wine of Eucharist for the elephants and donkeys of Washington. Spiritual formation is put on the back burner for political fabrication. Every four years churches across America open up their pulpits for campaigning candidates. Churches who may not allow the preacher down the street to speak from their pulpit allow candidates who may not even be Christians speak from a holy place.

The allegiance of many of our churches is stronger towards the state than it is to the Church. How is it that the state has become more important than the Church? How is it that we do not make exceptions for non-essential theological issues, but make exceptions for political candidates? How is it that the Oval Office is able to trump the Heavenly Throne? It is not only the churches who allow candidates to actually preach (campaign) from their pulpits that are guilty of this allegiance to the state. Any church which "campaigns" from its pulpits are giving preference to the state. It is my hope that those who read this will think twice about allowing their churches to become more allegiant to the state than to God.

Following Jesus

We (Christians) often speak of being followers of Christ. But, how far are we really willing to go with that statement? How far will we follow Jesus?

If we are willing to follow Jesus anywhere that he goes we will find ourselves in some undesirable locations. It is easy to follow Jesus to church on Sunday. It is easy to follow Jesus to a midweek Bible-study. It is easy to follow Jesus to your bed in evening prayers. But is it easy to follow Jesus everywhere that he goes?

If we are willing to follow Jesus wherever he goes we will have to go to the sick, poor, and oppressed of this world. We will have to go into gang infested neighborhoods of Southern California. We will have to go into the starving villages of Africa. We will have to enter into the world of the sex-slave trade of Eastern Asia. We will have to go places which will make us uncomfortable. We will have to go places which will cause us harm. We will have to go places which will get us killed!

Are you willing to take up your cross and follow Jesus? Am I willing? Will we truly risk our lives for the sake of following after Jesus? Will we risk shame for the sake of following after Jesus? Can we really be called followers of Christ, with how we currently live our lives?

It is my desire that this post makes you and I think about what it means to be following Jesus. I desire that that thought would then turn into action, the action of following Jesus. Will we become Christians?

Embryonic Hypocrisy

This happens to be an issue which has bothered me for quite some time, however I have yet to discuss it or write on it, until now. There is a gigantic gap in the logic of many evangelical Christians on the issue of biochemistry. Many evangelicals are in adamant opposition to embryonic stem cell research. They are in opposition to these because they believe that life begins at conception. They believe that life begins when a single sperm enters an egg, life has begun. Since, embryonic stem cell research destroys fertilized eggs they are destroying life.

However, almost all evangelical Christians are content with in vitro fertilization. The process of in vitro fertilization results in an excess of fertilized eggs. These eggs are either frozen, destroyed or given over for scientific experiments. In vitro fertilization destroys more fertilized eggs each year than stem cell research. Yet, there are no protests, or "special" radio programs, or bills being pushed by evangelicals in opposition to in vitro fertilization.

In this post I'm neither supporting nor opposing in vitro fertilization or embryonic stem cell research. What I am doing is pointing out the hypocrisy widely found among evangelicals. This embryonic hypocrisy should not be. People should either hold to the position that life begins at conception and therefore embryonic stem cell research AND in vitro fertilization are immoral. Or, they should hold to the position that life begins some point after conception and therefore embryonic stem cell research AND in vitro fertilization are morally acceptable. It is inconsistent to claim that many fertilized eggs can be destroyed so that a 20-50% chance of a woman carrying and giving birth to a child, is moral; but experimenting on fertilized eggs with the hope of keeping people alive, is immoral. With hypocrisy like this, it is no wonder that people stereotype evangelicals as a bunch on brainwashed ignorant people.