Category: faith

Christians, sin, and “stepping back”

Christians, sin, and “stepping back”

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One of the preachers at Falls Creek had a great thought for Christians who succumb to temptation and feel that they’re unqualified for service. He noted that often, when a Christian stumbles and sins, our tendency is to step away from service, worship, etc. It’s a natural and common reaction, but he noted that that that’s not what the Bible teaches. Certainly, there are some sins that might disqualify one from service for a time (my words, not his). Think of the “big ones”: adultery, murder, theft, etc. Depending on your area of service, those probably need some time away from, say, leadership roles, but not from the Lord. The preacher worded it roughly this way:

When Jesus died for your sins, *all* your sins were future sins.

The meaning is this: ALL your sins are forgiven, even those you haven’t committed yet. That doesn’t give us license to do whatever we want, of course (Romans 6:1-2), but, assuming it isn’t a willful lifestyle of sin, we confess, we repent, and we keep walking the walk. Paul himself was the chief of sinners, and he saw Jesus face to face. People stumble and fail. Dust yourself off, find a trusted Brother or Sister to help you, and press on. The Lord’s got you in His hand, and He won’t let you go.

Immigration, and the Bible as a Cudgel

Immigration, and the Bible as a Cudgel

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I recently read a post on Twitter (it is and shall forevermore be called thus) that regurgitates a pretty common liberal argument in favor of unfettered illegal immigration. The argument goes something like this:

Person 1: I oppose illegal immigration
Person 2: Are you a Christian?
Person 1: Yes, I am!
Person 2: The Bible says you’re supposed to care for immigrants, so you have to let them in.

And, yes, the Bible has a lot to say about immigrants (or sojourners) that we as Christians need to pay close attention to, but the (secular) left really doesn’t care about that. What they really want to do is take a few passages, mostly out of context and completely devoid of any proper hermeneutic, and shame Christians into silence. What the Bible actually says is of little importance to them, and it’s really easy to prove.

The most prominent example is abortion. I’ve lost count of the “Keep your rosaries off my ovaries” arguments, the vehement denunciation of theocracies, the rants from the “freedom from religion” crowd, etc. That’s because, of course, no pro-life argument could ever be made that wasn’t rooted in someone’s religion, right? (Narrator: Wrong.) But as soon as a professing Christian states his/her opposition to the in utero murder of babies, banners are furled over the Walls of Separation of Church and State and bleeding hearts take their places on the ramparts to defend our secular democracy from the ravages of the theistic, unwashed hoi polloi in the motte below.

Take any moral issue: homosexuality, modern gender theory, even divorce. Even think of discussing the issues with any sort of religious information and we’re immediately shouted down and told not to force our morality on them (funny how that goes only in one direction). We’re clinging to millennia-old ideas that modern society, has outgrown, and we should get with the times.

My advice, then, if a clearly non-Christian interlocutor wants to debate how the finer points of Christian theology and doctrine intersect with modern American politics, or at least the topics where he or she feels you can be bullied around, don’t take the bait. It is, in my experience, not a good faith effort at discussion and little good will come of it. And if it helps, the fine folks at Luther Satire even have a jingle for you:

Atheists Dancing on Robertson’s Grave

Atheists Dancing on Robertson’s Grave

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Today, Pat Robertson died. My first reaction was a touch of sorrow. I didn’t agree with a lot of what he said, but he’s a brother in Christ, so far as I can tell, and, generally speaking, death makes me sad. There is a group, however, that was not sad, that being the somewhat militant atheist group. They are actively celebrating his death, which makes me sad, but also confuses me a bit.

I’ll be completely honest: I didn’t follow Robertson all that closely. The only time I really thought about him much was when a hurricane to terrorist act strikes the country, and he’d hop on TV to blame this group or that. I get, then, some of the anger some groups have with him. What strikes me as odd, though, is that these people, who generally reject religion and any idea of “god”, are using those very symbols to celebrate and mock his death. “The gates of Hell have opened.” “Burn in Hell” etc. I get that, for many, these are just things you say, not an expression of any sort of actual belief or theology.

What makes it peculiar to me, though, is that, if they are right — that there’s no God, this life is all there is, we’re just worm food when we die — then their celebration of his death is just as meaningless as his life was — on their world view — leading up to it. If there is no God, then there’s probably no hell, and despite all the pain he may or may not have inflicted unjustly in life goes unpunished. They’re left holding party favors that are ultimately meaningless, as is their own lives.

If Pat was right about Jesus, though — and I think he was and is — then any of those unjustified pains, mistakes, etc, will have to be answered for, but so will the good he did now that he “stands in the presence of His glory, blameless with great joy”. More importantly, he’s standing with Jesus, now completely holy, so while they celebrate the death of someone they hated, he’s celebrating his “death” as it has taken him home. Only one of those two parties is truly happy.

A day of professional triumph and personal tragedy

A day of professional triumph and personal tragedy

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Today is a significant day for me for a couple of reasons. Professionally, today marks three years since we released GlassFish 3 and Java EE 6. Most of you probably don’t care much about that. Today also marks another three year anniversary of a more personal nature. It was today in 2009 that my dad was rushed to the hospital for what turns out to be the last time. I’ve written several times in various places about my dealing with my dad’s death; I don’t want to rehash that here. What I do want to do, though, is share a song.

Over the past few years, I’ve come across several songs that have helped deal with grief, express thoughts, etc. One in particular, is “Even If” by Kutless. I think the chorus sums things up about as nicely as can be done:

Even if the healing doesn’t come
And life falls apart
And dreams are still undone
You are God You are good
Forever faithful One
Even if the healing
Even if the healing doesn’t come

Here are the rest of the lyrics, followed by the video.

Sometimes all we have to hold on to
Is what we know is true of who You are
So when the heartache hits like a hurricane
That could never change who You are
And we trust in who You are

Even if the healing doesn’t come
And life falls apart
And dreams are still undone
You are God You are good
Forever faithful One
Even if the healing
Even if the healing doesn’t come

Lord we know your ways are not our ways
So we set our faith in who You are
Even though You reign high above us
You tenderly love us
We know Your heart
And we rest in who You are

You’re still the Great and Mighty One
We trust You always
You’re working all things for our good
We’ll sing your praise

You are God and we will bless You
As the Good and Faithful One
You are God and we will bless You
Even if the healing doesn’t come
Even if the healing doesn’t come
My Son Is Now My Brother

My Son Is Now My Brother

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Last Sunday, my wife and I received an answer to many years of prayer as we were given the opportunity to help our oldest son, Andrew, to faith in the Lord. As a Christian parent, I can’t imagine there’s anything more satisfying than seeing your child come to Faith, and that we were able to help him make that all-important prayer brings joy beyond description.

We have been talking to Andrew about the Lord since before he could read. We would read the Bible to him, teach him the truths of God’s Word, explain to him that God loves him, etc. We were careful, though, not to push too hard or try to convince him of his need; that’s the Spirit’s job. We have, though, done our best to be faithful to teach him as he grows, trusting that the Lord would grow the seed He planted through us. That Sunday morning at church, then, our pastor was continuing his walk through the book of Mark (you can listen to the whole sermon, which was great, here, or see below). At the end of the sermon, Andrew tapped Angela on the shoulder and told her, “I think Jesus wants me to ask Him into my heart,” adding “My heart is beating really, really fast.” 🙂 She was excited, of course, but she told him that we’d talk once we got home.

Once we got home and finally had the chance to talk to Andrew without distractions, we asked him about what he told Angela. For a while, we gently probed, not wanting to “trick” him into a decision he might not be ready for. Those that know me well know that I went forward at a church service once, thinking that I was making a true profession of faith, only to realize years later that what I had done wasn’t authentic. Perhaps I’ll write that up in another post, but it should go without saying that we wanted to make sure Andrew made this decision for himself, and that it be authentic and truly efficacious, so we were very careful.

After some discussion, Andrew told us again that he was ready. He had told us this before, several weeks ago, but he seemed to be fully aware this time of what he was saying. We bowed our heads, then, and helped him walk through that simple prayer. After the prayer, we hugged on Andrew, and reiterated to him how much we loved him and how proud of him we were. What a precious time that was. 🙂

No one can truly know, of course, the heart of another with certainty, but I’m convinced the Andrew had finally come to the point where he knew what he needed to do, and I’m so proud and pleased that I can now call him my Brother.

Trying to make some sense of Dad’s death

Trying to make some sense of Dad’s death

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One year ago today, my Dad died. In July of 2009, he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. Five months later, he was gone. Like countless others who have lost loved ones, I’ve struggled with the question of “why.” And like those countless others, I really don’t have an answer.

I’m a Christian, as was my Dad. It is within the framework of that Faith, then, that I’ve wrestled with the question. Of the various possibilities, the one I like to think is probably the right one, is that this was my Dad’s last act of faith and obedience. My family has gone to church as long as I can remember. Twenty to twenty-five years ago, though, as I remember things, we started getting more and more involved in our local church. Dad volunteered for one thing after another, taking his service to the local body very seriously. In fact, as he became sicker due to the scourge that eventually claimed his life, he lamented missing church, something he hadn’t done in a very long time. Though not formally a deacon (which, in Greek, means ‘servant’), he was a servant of the church nonetheless. He loved its people, and he loved its Lord.

Ultimately, though, the road each of us walks comes to an end. For some, it’s at a ripe old age, where time has taken its toll on our bodies, which eventually give out. For others, that end is much earlier. This was the case for my Dad. It’s quite possible, and, again, I think probable, that the Lord, for reasons we don’t understand, decided to let this awful thing we call cancer touch my Dad’s body as one final test, either of him or for us. As Christians, we contend that, once we accept the gift of salvation, the rest of our lives are spent trying to become more and more Christ-like. Life’s trials are often the tools the Lord uses to affect that change. It may be that this was one last stroke of the chisel, once last brush with the polishing cloth, that my Dad needed before he was ready.

It might be, also, that the Lord used my Dad’s disease and death, as an example of what Christian faith looks like. Perhaps it wasn’t a test, but Dad’s last mission, his last act of service in life; to demonstrate true faith and the peace and grace it brings as he passed on to his reward.

In truth, we’ll never really know. Not in this life. To be honest, I really wish it didn’t have to be this way. I miss him terribly, and probably always will. Despite that, though, I have never been angry with God for allowing this to happen. I don’t understand why it had to, but I trust The One who let it. And perhaps that was the point, at least in part: to test my faith. To inch me toward the perfection in Christ that will someday be mine. I’ll know for sure someday. My hope and prayer is that someday I’ll hear the Lord tell me, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” And as Jesus says those precious words to me, I can’t help but picture my Dad standing there amongst the throng of redeemed, whole and healthy and perfect, flashing that proud, happy smile of his I long to see again. I may understand it all then, but it won’t matter, I think. I’ll be with my Dad again. And like him, I’ll finally be Home.

“Shame”

“Shame”

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Another old favorite of mine, “Shame” by Crystavox, came up in my play list today. It’s a great song about the divide we make in our lives. On one side, we have our daily life, and on the other, we have our faith. At any rate, the chorus says this,

So many times we’ve crucified the gift God gave us all
So many times we magnify the things that make us fall
Over and over, we’ve pulled away in shame
Our work leaves out Jesus and He receives the blame
And I think He’s crying

The bridge tells us

It’s impossible to travel when we’ve thrown away the keys
We can not feed the forest until we fight our own disease

It’s a great reminder that we need to be serious about our faith, actively pursuing it every day, and to be on our guard against a careless, hypocritical lifestyle.