Thoughts on Against Calvinism by Roger E. Olson

I have read the introductory pieces and first chapter of this book so far. Here are some initial thoughts.

He is largely writing this to address the young, restless, and reformed crowd. He believes some of their thoughts regarding God's absolute control and creation of all things, including evil, is problematic. SInce God cannot stand to be in the presence of Sin, I would happen to agree. This is why we need Christ after all.

I have been researching the Calvinist vs. Arminian perspective for a little while now. This is not the first time that I have heard that Calvinism may not be properly summed up via the TULIP acronym. I have been thinking of reading the Canons of Dordt; I believe I will need to do that to more properly understand the keys of the Reformed faith.

When the author discusses freewill, he seems to be mentioning examples like Hitler and the Holocaust. I don't for a moment think that that horrifying sequence of events is from God.

It seems like the author so far is not clearly separating justification vs. sanctification. I believe most but likely not all would agree that there is a level of freewill involved in decisions that we make that are likely to impact sanctification, rewards, or eternal treasures in Heaven. However, what about freewill in the saving act? I await reading more of the author's opinion there.

Moving on to chapter 2, we now get to the first key. With any substantial debate, there is always the question of definition. What does it mean to be reformed? Many would argue that the TULIP acronym is the key. The author points to some older confessions as the basis including the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic and Westminster Confessions. These in addition to the above Canons of Dordt are the basis for this branch of the Christian faith according to the author.

Why I Hate Religion Videos

There is a video going viral now on Youtube regarding religion. Some portions I agreed with, and some I didn't. Several friends pointed it out to me, the first of which is a D.Min. student and former pastor of mine. A Messianic Jewish Rabbi friend asked me what I thought, so here we go. I was also reminded of this Mark Driscoll video I saw previously. Many of these thoughts really could be a chapter in a book, hmm..

Jesus is greater than religion is more or less true, depending on how you define religion. What is religion? To me I view it as a belief system based on God's special revelation to us via the Bible. I think what both of these people are objecting to is a set of rules to live by.

Did He come to abolish religion? Once again I think there is a religion definition problem here. He and many of His followers were Jews. He came to fulfill The Law.

I do realize folks who label themselves as Conservative Christians sometimes do both groups a disservice. If we spout beliefs with hostility or angst, that is incorrect. We are called to be His ambassadors; we need to do that.

We all have planks in our eyes, sins and problems that we struggle with; we need to not be looking down our noses at others.

Religions have started wars because people have taken the task of conversion entirely too far. I would say that people who call themselves Christians that have done this are not adhering to the teachings of Christ, and might need to question their faith. That is God's job, not mine.

Why does religion build huge churches? Especially since I am an Ex-Catholic, I will confess this is a tougher question. In part I would say folks have obeyed the idea of giving greatly to God for the sake of an excellent location for a worship service. They likely missed out on what we would call a Christ centered life in today's language, being too focused on the facility and Sunday service. By now I am hearing the Organic/Missional/Frank Viola/Brian McLaren message pretty clearly in this video.

Why are the poor not being fed? They are by some community organizations, at least here in San Diego, though hunger is still a problem. There is a relevant Bible story about helping the poor or disadvantaged. We should contemplate this story and the poor.

We can't be looking down at the single Moms. I grew up in a household like that; those Moms are putting in serious work. They may or may not have have sinned to get in that situation. We don't know all the facts. I think all we should do is present God's Word to them in a kind way and let God work on them.

Regarding the way we act when we are believers, I think we would all agree there are always some things we don't want the world to know, that only our closest friends should. If we get to a point where we are taking the false facade too far, we can wind up like the Pharisees. Are our hearts circumcised as we see in Romans 2? Our lives should be visibly different as believers. I would personally hope that as we grow closer to God we would sin less, though I know perfection in a sinless sense is only attainable by God.

God has done great things with people who have sinned in very big ways. Repent and believe is the basis of the Gospel; we need to do that. Once we realize what He has done and can do for us eternally, we should be overflowing with joy.

Christ did come for the sick, we need to be sure to not exclude them from our assemblies of believers if they are moved by God to investigate and perhaps come closer to Christ.

Once we realize it is all from Him our faith is from Him and not our actions, that is a very freeing experience.
We need to be careful of disregarding rules; there are some things we are told to do or not do in The Bible. If you aren't sure, research it or ask around among your believing friends. Once again I think there is the issue of what kind of ambassador are we being. Sanctification and rewards also come into play here. Do we want treasures in heaven?

I suspect the video is right, that many of us would not let Jesus in, or we would at least look down at Him tremendously, if he showed up with 1st Century appearance and odor? He is also very right regarding Jesus not supporting self righteousness. Once again, modifying our focus off of ourselves and onto Him is what we should do, and this really should be a pretty fundamental Christian teaching.

While religion is a man-made system, assuming we have proper Biblical texts to go by, this man-made system should be based on God given ideas. Do we screw up, absolutely. Repent.

Religion is an infection if you miss out on the self righteousness lesson above, and become too much about either the system or the institution, and not enough about Him.

Slave is a word with substantial negative connotation in the USA. However, we were bought at a price. The Greek word doulos is best translated as slave; we often see servant instead because of these negative connotations.

Jesus does make us see; He is the light as John 1 so clearly states to us. Does a religious institution make us blind to Him. I would argue that may or may not be true depending on the group you assemble with.

I believe that both God searching for man AND man searching for God can occur. Ideally, as we grow in faith, we continue to search to know more and more of His truth. The last 50 seconds or so is excellent, until the very end when hatred for religion is repeated.

BelieverTalk faith chat with a friend

   
     I have a friend Kevin who I met several years ago in college. We have tried over the years to keep in touch, sometimes doing a better job of it than others. We have met up a few times over the last year and our discussions regarding Christian faith have been good. Generally, he is left of center and I am off to the right. After meeting and talking a few times, Kevin had the idea of recording some discussions. I don't want to speak for him, but my hope is that we encourage discussion among the faithful.

     With all of that said, here is a link to the show.

Lent for a former Roman Catholic who is now Protestant

     For many Protestants, Lent is something that is associated with Catholicism. As a former member of the Roman Catholic faith, this has been something that I have spent some time thinking about. Most Protestants  wouldn't consider going to an Ash Wednesday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, or Stations of the Cross service; I believe that is to our detriment. I believe it should be that these events are all celebrated in a looking forward to resurrection kind of way. These other days paint a more complete picture for us of what the Lenten Season should mean, as we hopefully prepare ourselves spiritually for celebration of Christ's overcoming spiritual death.

     I am interested if any of you have made commitments to give anything up for Lent, or make changes in another way, and if so how is that going for you?  For me, I got a nudge to listen to The Bible audio style in my car. As I have listened to this over the last couple weeks, I believe it definitely has brought me closer to Him. Hearing Pilate and his wife and their thoughts as recorded in the Gospels, or the people asking for the release of Barabbas stood out to me the most this time around. "The people said His blood shall be on us and on our children!" is an absolutely horrifying statement.

Impact of Online Friends

I sometimes wonder about the effectiveness of online ministry, the impact of online friends who we never meet in person. I recently had an experience with this I feel compelled to share at this point.

A few years back, while cruising through MySpace, I discovered that it was used for a lot more than merely meeting people and as a path for musicians to increase their fan base. I saw there were Christians there who were blogging, participating in forums, and generally trying to discuss faith with others.  Pretty early on after finding this out, I met someone named Amy.  Initially we just exchanged faith posts and small talk; I discovered pretty quickly she was much more Reformed than I:) A few things about her stand out to me. I am a former Catholic, so that was perhaps part of it.

She was staunchly pro-life; I recall seeing her affiliated with the people who put red tape across their mouths, writing LIFE in large letters along the tape. She was always involved in prayerful demonstrations at abortion clinics. As I got to know her better and started to realize the difficulties presented to her, this was even more impressive.

I recall at least one year where during Lent she would abstain from all social networking. Once again, as an ex Catholic, this was really food for contemplation for me. Do we need to perform a Lenten fast from something that is important to us? I would argue no. However, if that allows you to become closer to God as a result, by all means, go right ahead.

I recall also a time where she posted online, looking for a large print King James Bible with a soft cover for someone she knew in a jail or prison.  I happened to have just such a Bible that wasn't getting much use, so I offered to send it to an address she gave me.

This girl was radically obedient to God; she really was an example in that way. I believe there are many others out there like myself that she inspired. Almost 2 months ago, I happened to see on Facebook the day that it happened that she had passed. I was bummed; I did not know that she was THAT ill. The thought I have regarding this whole thing is this. When you meet people online, although this is usually not as good as an in person relationship, do not underestimate the impact you may have. It may be an inconsequential exchange of pleasantries, or it may also be something leading to an inmate coming closer to God. We do not know His plans, only He does.

Thoughts on church

Regarding what some people believe is wrong with the Christian Church, here are a few thoughts I have had or things I have observed.

We have gotten too into the show, the emotional intensity, the what can church do for me mindset. We have forgotten what Lordship means, the importance of real exegetical teaching, and the real reason we should be there, to worship.

I believe we are all sinners. Those of us who are truly saved, because of our changed hearts, will be less likely to sin, but I do not believe it ever goes away in totality. Now then, what is the impact of this? Those who are in church leadership positions are not exempt from the above. So, when a church leader screws up, what are the consequences? At the minimum, he or she will be less credible, less likely to be followed. Leaders should be and often are held to a higher standard according to 1st Timothy, but they are not perfect. We are all ambassadors for Him; I am reminded of a DC Talk song where it talks in an opening monologue about us affirming our faith with our lips but denying it with our lifestyle.

There is also another trend that is occurring now that is not new; people are moving in an attempt to return to what they perceive as the 1st century church. Some who are opposed to organizational structure, in churches or otherwise, are drawn to this movement by this perceived lack of organization. There are risks however, to me these exist primarily in the realm of lack of accountability. Even if there are no pastors in this methodology, leaders will still emerge, they always do. What is to prevent these leaders from teaching false doctrines, as we see so often mentioned in New Testament letters. For me, the risk of a cult type group emerging is worth mentioning.  Additionally, to go too far down this road is to risk discrediting the Biblical mentions of the gifts of shepherding and teaching.

Some of us see verses about breaking bread house to house and think that was their worship, without noticing or thinking about the Hebrews 10 and Colossians 3 ordered assemblies in synagogues. We are told to assemble, to teach, to admonish, to sing, and to encourage one another, among other things. Are we doing that? We need to seriously ask what our assemblies are about. If the experienced believers amongst us are going to help the milk drinkers become meat eaters, we really need to look at that. A new believer needs different teaching than an experienced believer.  This can happen in a couple different ways.  The experienced believer, if they have the teaching gift, can and should teach the new believer.

Regarding our roles in church, I really believe a change of mindset is necessary.  We cannot continue to act in a way that is self-serving as opposed to focused on God.  We in the USA are far too comfortable with church hopping, treating it like a consumer experience.  I don't think people should leave a church for many reasons; perhaps the most valid is preaching that is not Biblically correct.  Aside from that, if a church needs work, those with the proper gifts in the congregation should be stepping up to have at it.

Atheism is also an area where those that have that religious belief are more vocal than before. If you just stopped in disbelief at the apparent contradiction in the previous sentence, read on please. I would argue that, although atheism is by definition lack of belief in a God, it is a religion. There is a something from nothing creation story that requires much more faith than intelligent design.  The idea of entropy, which is an order becomes disorder line of thinking, is counter to those who believe in biological evolution.

I will stop there to limit length for now.

Am I a Believer or Disciple

I recently had a chat with a pastor regarding the above, specifically the difference between being a Christian believer and being a disciple of Christ. What I learned from that and from listening to some recorded sermons on this has been enlightening. To become a saved member of the Christian church simply requires belief in Christ. Now this belief is more than head knowledge; the demons know Christ is the Son of God. So then, what does saving faith look like, and what is the difference between that being a disciple. This will take time to cover completely, so I likely will address it in pieces. This is important to consider because it seems to me that some of my Christian brethren are rejecting the idea that someone can be saved if they still have sin in their lives. For me, I assumed that all should desire to become disciples of Christ, making sacrifices along the way throughout our lives while seeking to grow more close to Christ. Sadly, this is not always the case. In the past, I have always interpreted the believe phrase in John 3:16 to include follow. I now realize that for some, that does not enter into the picture.

Pastors spending time

Having recently read Eugene Peterson's book "The Contemplative Pastor", I have been wondering, although I am not a pastor, about how Godly men spend time. This is an excellent read for those that are called to help discern how to spend time and what is important. I confess that for me, in at least one sense, this is a slightly easier process, since I do not have children. Still, for the average Christian, this is a difficult situation. One has to keep Christ at the center while trying to manage many facets of life in a society that is increasingly faster paced. Whether or not this is correct will be another blog later.

Now, for the pastor or minister, this is an even more difficult problem. It really seems to be the case that a pastor ought to be spending substantial time in The Word, reading, contemplating, praying, and trying to hear Him through all the noise in our lives. However, church leaders are increasingly pressured to be doing other things, related to their local church, that take away from the time mentioned above. A pastor does need to be a shepherd to the flock, to protect them from the wolves. What is the right balance for this? Inevitably demands of the world and family sometimes seemingly conflict with those of God and the local and global church. This gets even more difficult for bi-vocational pastors, those with a full time job that are also pastors.

What is the answer? I see it like this. A preacher does need to spend time in the word; those that I've talked to or listened to suggest that 30 hours a week in study, contemplation, prayer and sermon prep is about the norm for a week in which one is going to deliver a sermon or message. So then, what does that mean? Well, in a larger church, this is easy; there will be associate pastors and other administrative staffers to handle much of the busyness that occurs on a daily basis. In a smaller church, this is much more difficult, help is required. Laymen have to get off the sidelines and be willing to assist in some ways, as opposed to simply sitting there as consumers, warming pews or chairs.