churchquake

All Good Things...

2008-12-16T07:43:00.003-06:00

2008 began as a year of "new beginnings" and it has certainly lived up to that prediction for me. We started this radio ministry on the first Saturday of this year and have had a wonderful time exploring the elephants in the auditorium with you. As the sun sets on 2008 and we begin a new year I am again looking at new beginnings starting with my position as pastor. After seven glorious years at my post in Pearland and over 20 years serving as a pastor in the Body of Christ a new season has dawned for me.

I am stepping down as pastor at the beginning of 2009. With this change in vocation comes the end of this radio program. Simply put the expense of airtime is greater than my personal means therefore it is with sadness that I announce the end of Churchquake in its current incarnation. Don't worry. If I know God, this won't be the last you hear from me. This website will be kept up and I'll still be blogging as long as the Lord allows me to. I'm also working on a couple of books and am seeking other avenues to serve God in.

I have had a wonderful time serving God in this radio ministry and I am more than thankful for every single person who has helped to keep this program on the air this year. A huge "thank you" goes to my "Pastor Posse"; Jim Surber, Sylvia Surber and Terrance James. Their contributions and expertise have been invaluable to me. Of course I want to thank all of you who have faithfully listened to the show and participated in the conversations whether you agreed with me or not. God bless every single one of you.

We'll finish off the month of December on KKHT with our final program airing on December 27th. It is a bittersweet time for me and my family as we end one season and begin a new one. I thank God for this awesome opportunity to share my passion for His church on the airwaves. It has been a tremendous honor and privilege to host this program. God only knows what is on the horizon for me but I don't doubt for one second that He is not finished with me. So stay tuned true believers. As with all things related to Christ and His church, the best is yet to come...

Bitter Pills - Part Deux

2008-12-09T17:14:00.004-06:00

"A merry heart doeth good [like] a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones." - Proverbs 17:22

So, is it a sin for a born-again Christian to take anti-depressants like Prozac or Lexapro? When Christians discuss issues like depression (as we did on last week's show) this question inevitably comes up. Some believe it is not an act of faithlessness to take medication for illness. Others insist taking anti-depressants is the pinnacle of distrust in the Great Physician's ability to heal. Of course many do not see depression as an illness but a weakness in character therefore taking medicine for this specific problem is viewed in the same light.

I believe there is much ignorance in the body of Christ about the cause and effects of depression. Of course ignorance has never been a deterrent for people to voice their opinions. Sadly, I've seen and heard plenty of people accuse their brethren of a lack of faith for taking mood enhancing medication.

But, what if these folks are right? IS it a sign of faithlessness to trust in a pharmaceutical company's products instead of Jesus Christ? One could easily argue "no" for more obvious cases of disease such as cancer or diabetes. But what about diseases of the mind and soul?

Many believe emotional/mental conditions such as depression are exclusively the result of the enemy's spiritual attacks on God's people and therefore must be dealt with spiritually. Counseling and intense discipleship/mentoring from a mature believer is often viewed as a more favorable route to healing the inner-man than pills. The truth is, in some cases, this is true.

However, depression is not a condition that can be simply counseled or mentored out. In many cases, the cause of depression is a physiological rather than an emotional one. One of the leading physical causes of depression is a deficiency or imbalance of vital hormones or chemicals produced by various glands and organs of the body. In these cases the only hope for help is medication.

Having said that, are there born-again Christians who are depending on more mundane or carnal means for coping with life instead of cultivating a stronger and healthier relationship with God? Sure. There are many people faithfully attending church services all across the land who are building a dependency on medicines they truly do not need. It happens all the time. After all, building a healthy relationship with God is much more challenging than taking a pill a day; especially in our microwave/remote control/broadband/gotta-have-it-now society.

Basically the argument for or against medically treating a disease of the soul like depression comes down to the individual. It is not possible to throw a blanket on the discussion and install a one-size-fits-all dogma around it. Each individual who suffers with this bone drying condition is each responsible to themselves and God as to their method of dealing with and treating depression. It is the responsibility of the body of Christ to unconditionally love, encourage, exhort, instruct and even rebuke (when necessary) with all longsuffering and doctrine (2 Timothy 4:2). It is not our job to judge one another especially if we are ignorant of the condition and circumstances surrounding a brother's actions.

The fact is many people take anti-depressants because they physically need to and some people take them because they want to. It comes down to motive for the individual but in both cases you are dealing with a soul in pain. The church-at-large needs to be careful how we judge our brethren on issues like this one. In my opinion, love and encouragement should be the first response to a hurting soul rather than rebuke and exhortation on how to "just trust God". Christiany cliches can't begin to do for a hurting soul what a simple hug can do. I believe there would be much more medicinal merry hearts in the Body of Christ if God's people could learn this simple truth instead of our church buildings being filled with dried bones.

Stay tuned true believers...

A Bitter Pill

2008-11-25T08:47:00.004-06:00

"Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble [you], and thereby many be defiled" - Hebrews 12:15

The holiday season is upon us once again (can you believe it) and for millions of people it is not a time of rejoicing but of misery and pain. Loss tends to be magnified during this season. Many people live in a perpetual state of bitterness which is manifested in many different ways from depression to alcohol/drug abuse and everything in between.

The trap of depression is a difficult one to escape and it is one I know full well. I've battled depression my entire adult life. I make no bones about this, it is a constant fight and my people are well aware of my struggles. While I don't read my laundry list to them I do let people know that in spite of my position as pastor, I am also a human being and as such have the same weaknesses and flaws as everyone else. I write this so you will know where I am coming from with these comments; I know whereof I speak from personal experience.

The root of addictions and depression stems from bitterness. Life has thrown things at us that we are often unprepared for and unequipped to properly deal with. Bitterness isn't just a man or woman who lives in a state of uncontrolled rage. It takes on many forms but all of them are just as deadly. God knows full well the power of human emotions, in fact, Jesus Himself had to deal with them during his time here (Matthew 26:37-38). Left unchecked, our damaged emotions can bring us to a place of destruction that no man can escape from.

Sadly, the church is not normally a place where one can find comfort in the midst of this storm. In fact, there's not a lot of ministers who know how to help people caught in this maelstrom of emotion. I know I've been buried under a pile of empty Christian cliches like "just trust God" or "Give your burdens to Jesus" when what I needed was someone who could help me cope with my bitterness.

God calls bitterness a root in Hebrews. That isn't a mistake. Roots run deep and over time can be impossible to remove without some pretty heavy equipment. Prayer is a powerful weapon but sometimes we need to use some of the other weapons of our warfare in order to pull down these decades old strongholds in our lives. Again, far too many of our churches are ill-equipped to help people.

Of course, God is more than able to uproot the bitterness in our lives. But, that requires a level of yielding and sacrifice that many are unable or unwilling to submit to. All we know is we are hurting and we need relief NOW! I've buried a lot of born-again Christians who've taken their own lives (including pastors) because they couldn't bear another day in misery.

Ahithophel is one such individual. I'm sure that name is unfamiliar to you unless you've memorized every name in the Bible. We first meet Ahithophel in 2 Samuel 15:12 and his occupation, according to the scriptures, was King David's counselor. Understand that "counselor" in the O.T. isn't the same thing as a counselor today; David didn't need a shrink he needed a military adviser. That was Ahithophel.

If you keep reading in 2 Samuel 15 you'll find Ahithophel changed teams during Absolom's insurrection against his father, David. If you don't know the story, David's son attempted to steal the kingdom of Israel from his father as was predicted by Nathan after David's actions with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11-12). Many of David's closest friends and advisers betrayed their king in favor of Absolom's coup attempt and Ahithophel was one of them.

But, Ahithophel's story doesn't end with his betrayal. If you read 2 Samuel 17 you'll find a man who's got a blood-vendetta against his former king. Ahithophel doesn't want to just betray David, he wants to kill him himself (2 Samuel 17:2). Absolom denied Ahithophel his request to kill David and Ahithophel responded by going home, getting his affairs in order and hanging himself.

This is not the activity of a stable human being. You can see the bitterness leap off the page as you read Ahithophel's story. The question remains, why was Ahithophel so angry with his former king? What had David done that deemed him worthy of death in Ahithophel's eyes? More information is required; fortunately, the Bible gives it to us.

If you read 2 Samuel 23:34 you'll learn about Ahithophel's family line. According to that verse Ahithophel had a son named Eliam. Again, that name probably won't mean much to you so a little further digging is required. Check out 2 Samuel 11:3. Apparently Eliam had a daughter whose name you'll undoubtedly recognize...Bathsheba. If you know the story of David and Bathsheba (and if you don't I recommend you read 2 Samuel 11 and 12) the pieces of this tale begin to fall into place.

David's actions with his granddaughter and grandson-in-law brought Ahithophel to a place of murderous/suicidal bitterness. From a human perspective we can understand why Ahithophel felt the way he did. Not only did David bring ruin to his family's life he also, apparently, got away with it. God didn't smite David for his sin so Ahithophel took it upon himself to get the justice that God had denied him.

God allows a lot of things to happen that do not make sense to us. From national tragedies like 9/11 to personal ones, if you've lived on this earth for any length of time every single one of us have gone to God with the eternal question, "why?". For many, the answers they get are unsatisfactory. We are taught that God is a God of love and compassion and that he is sovereign. To our thinking that means that God, who is in charge of everything and is motivated by love, must be able to and should be willing to prevent tragedy from occuring. At the very least if He can't or won't prevent tragedy, he should bring swift justice upon those who caused the tragedy in the first place.

When neither of those expectations are met, many people have a crisis of faith brought on by bitterness over the situation. You may be surprised how many faithful church attendees believe in their deepest heart-of-hearts that God failed them and is no longer trustworthy. I know I've met plenty of people who have left the church for this very reason. For a time, I was one of those people.

Hebrews 12:15 begins with a very bold statement: "Lest anyone should fail of the grace of God..." How does one "fail the grace of God"? Easy, just get mad at God and walk away from Him. It happens all the time. I know the more pious among us would ask "How could anyone get mad at God in light of the gospel?" I say again, it happens all the time. People have expectations from a sovereign and loving God and when those expectations aren't met in the face of tragedy they have only one of two responses: draw closer to Him or run away.

To those who draw closer to Him the Bible teaches He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6). But, to those who leave Him, they enter into a place of bitterness and sorrow that becomes more difficult to escape from with each passing day. Again, I know whereof I speak.

As the holidays approach, I wish to use our airtime to speak to this problem of bitterness. What is the solution, you may ask? Well, it is much easier to say than it is to do and we'll be getting into more detailed discussion of it this Saturday at 5:30 pm...

But, for those who are trapped in the pit of despair, they need to understand why they are there and how to get out. The escape starts, as always, with true, unconditional forgiveness...which is the most difficult thing for a soul wracked with bitterness to do...

Stay tuned, true believers.

Band of Brothers

2008-11-14T06:46:00.005-06:00

"But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd." - Matthew 9:36

This week's elephant in the auditorium is the lack of Christ-like compassion in modern evangelical denominational Christianity. Yes, this is a general statement and there are, as always, exceptional people serving Christ with genuine love for God and their fellow man. Unfortunately, those exceptional people seem to be just that, the exception.

Case in point, just this past Sunday one of elders of the church I pastor approached me after the service; she was nearly in tears. This kingdom-minded lady does not have a judgmental nor vindictive bone in her body. She serves with love and devotion to God as well as the people He puts in her path. The reason for her tears was due to one of the church members blindsiding her with condemning comments about her choice of clothing before the morning service.

In the span of about 5 seconds the condemning words from a member of God's family brought this lady from a place of joy to a place of sorrow simply because she did not meet the dress requirements of one of her fellow brethren.(The offending article of clothing was a pair of blue jeans). What most troubles me about this exchange is the absolute lack of compassion shown by the saint who felt compelled to bring their opinion to this woman's attention. Apparently the sin of wearing denim to church was a far greater crime against God and His word than the sin of judging and condemning a fellow believer in Christ (Matthew 7:1; Romans 8:1; Romans 14).

Another example of this void of compassion in Christianity revolves around my second pastorate in Galena Park. Believe me I've got a guano mine of examples of compassionless Christians from that second pastorate but the one glaring example stems from my attempt to start a Spanish-speaking mission from our church.

Anyone who knows anything about the Galena Park, TX area knows it is predominantly Hispanic. My desire was to minister to those in our community. We had the minister, the support of other churches and the facilities to make it happen. We even had some Hispanic saints attending our church...at least until the vote to begin the mission came.

I'll never forget the shock I felt when I opened the floor for discussion before bringing the mission effort to a vote. One by one my oldest and (supposedly) most experienced and wise saints stood to voice their opposition to this effort. The excuses they gave were some of the most blatantly racist and ignorant statements I've ever heard in a public forum. The statements ranged from asking why 'these people' just don't go to one of their own churches to (and I'm not making this up) voicing concerns over 'these Mexicans using our toilets'. The vote was taken and the effort was voted down. Ironically, this church had taken the effort to permanently paint the church's foundational mission statement on its exterior sign for all the world to see: "Independent, Fundamental, Missionary".

Compassion means "to have mercy on; to help one afflicted or seeking aid; to help the afflicted, to bring help to the wretched." The words "pity" and "empathy" are synonymous with the word "compassion". Christ's motivation for everything he did on earth was compassion (Matt.14:14; Matt. 15:32; Matt.20:34). Since the word "Christian" literally means to "be like Christ" I assume Christians are to be motivated by the same stimulus as their leader. For far too many, this fundamental fact has been tossed aside in favor of defending denominational/doctrinal distinctives and man-made rules and regulations.

There are many Christians who believe Christianity is the most perfect expression of love and compassion known to man. In fact, I've heard preachers assert that only Christians have the capacity to show true love and compassion. This is false. If you doubt me just read Exodus 2:6 (which happens to be the first time the word "compassion" is used in the KJV of the Bible) and see who the bible describes as showing compassion for another human being.

The title of this blog is taken from the book and HBO mini-series about the lives and experiences of the men of Easy Company during World War II. What you'll find is that human beings have an amazing capacity for compassion for their fellow man. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the story of men and women who form unbreakable bonds during wartime. I believe it is a telling point to observe men and women who have no spiritual affiliation whatsoever showing more love, compassion and loyalty to one another than an entire nation full of Christian churches.

We should be the example that others follow. Christians should have the reputation of a company of brothers who would die for one another instead of kill one another over dress code violations and bathroom habits. The sad truth is the enemy succeeded in dividing and conquering us a long time ago by convincing men and women that it is the pinnacle of godliness to major on the minors and ignore the majors of the scriptures. I still hear pastors screaming on the radio about the sin of compromising the word of God by allowing women to wear pants in church or by using the wrong version of the bible or one of 1,000 other minor topics that have no bearing on eternity one way or the other.

Ungodly judgment is founded in selfishness and bitterness and these things are the exact opposite of pity, empathy and compassion. Would to God that His people would stop trying to find reasons to divide and start doing what the bible says (1 Peter 3:8) for a change.

I find it amazing that God was able to do more ministry with one physical human body and 12 helpers in 3 1/2 years than he's been able to accomplish with a global Body of Christ and millions of servants. I believe we wouldn't need homeless shelters and other para-church organizations like Promise Keepers if the church would stop eating their own and simply start letting love and compassion be their motivation for their actions (James 1:26-27).

No Call For Alchohol?

2008-11-05T15:41:00.009-06:00

"Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine. Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper. Your eyes will see strange sights and your mind imagine confusing things. You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging. "They hit me," you will say, "but I'm not hurt! They beat me, but I don't feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?" - Proverbs 23:29-35 (NIV)

"Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses." - 1 Timothy 5:23 (NIV)

I received an e-mail from a listener last week wherein he/she felt compelled to inform me of his/her decision to stop listening to the radio program due to my comments on drinking during the show last week. They felt I was guilty of being a stumbling block to anyone listening when I mentioned it was not scripturally forbidden to have an alcoholic beverage in moderation as long as do so doesn't cause a "weaker" brother to stumble.

I've shared my thoughts and feelings on this subject many times over the years and every single time I've approached the subject of the permissibility of drinking under the "Statute of Liberty" clause in scripture I am always challenged, criticized and in some cases accused of many heinous things that I won't get into here.

It goes without saying that in Fundamental, Evangelical, American Christianity drinking is considered one of the seven deadly sins. Make no mistake, alcoholism is a very real problem that adversely affects literally billions of people both here and across the world. Having said that, I have discovered a very simple truth over the years. Namely, people who have either been a victim of or participated in alcoholism are (generally speaking) vehemently against anyone teaching that it is OK with God if you have a "little wine". In other words, scriptures are translated more by our intellect and experience rather than the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit of God. Jesus didn't tell us to lean on our own understanding of things and let our experiences guide us into all truth. He said the Holy Spirit would guide us into all truth.

My purpose in bringing this controversial subject up is neither to cause people to stumble nor to "stir things up" as the listener opined in his/her e-mail. My purpose is to get God's people to think about some of our taboos and sacred cows. As we have discussed in previous programs, legalism and liberalism are two extremes that are tearing the body of Christ into pieces. People get very emotional about their opinions and beliefs, particularly when it deals with a subject like this one. When emotion gets involved, rationale and common sense go right out the window...every single time.

Such is the case with the subject of drinking. I would ask the question to anyone who believes any form of drinking is a sin: where exactly is the passage of scripture that commands complete abstinence from any and all alcoholic beverages? I'm constantly amazed at how many of God's people believe the bible teaches complete abstinence from drinking. You can read the entire Bible from now till the rapture and you'll never find one single verse of scripture commanding that. You'll find a ton of scripture commanding us to "Be not drunk with wine..." (Ephesians 5:18) but you won't find any scriptures commanding abstinence.

I've quoted two different passages of scriptures above that seem to contradict one another. In Proverbs you have Solomon's warning against abusing alcohol. Again, Proverbs isn't commanding abstinence; it's warning against abusive use of alcohol. I know many will disagree with that statement so I'll ask you this, if God's will for us is to never touch any alcoholic beverage of any kind then why did the apostle Paul advise his son in the faith to take a little wine for medicinal purposes in 1 Timothy 5?

I've actually heard people try to explain Paul wasn't talking about literal wine but rather the "fruit of the vine" which meant grape juice. In fact, I know many brethren that teach that every time wine is mentioned in scripture it is actually talking about unfermented grape juice and not the alcoholic variety. This teaching is a prime example of letting opinion and bias dictate the interpretation of the scriptures. Just a quick lesson: people in the Middle East know the difference between wine and grape juice. When you see the word "wine" in the Authorized King James Version of the Bible it means an alcoholic beverage made from fermented grapes not Welch's.

But I digress. Consider, if Paul's single verse to Timothy were the only verse in the Bible that described a prominent New Testament Christian using wine one could easily argue that a watered down drop of wine for medicinal purposes is permissible but no more. But then there's Christ.

It's difficult to be accused of being a "wine bibber" if you're not imbibing in wine. Christ drank wine, served wine (yep, the Lord's Supper contained wine, not grape juice as some like to believe) and even made wine in a most miraculous fashion. If alcohol is verboten then why is the Son of God associated with this sinful liquid no less than 4 different times in scriptures?

The point to all of this is not to get God's people to run to the bars to get their drink on. I couldn't care less if any of God's people drank or not. That's not the issue. The issue is ignorance of the scriptures and the judgmental attitudes of some in the Body of Christ. I find it amazing that people have no problem engaging in activities that the scriptures emphatically forbids when they unjustly accuse, judge, condemn and emotionally/spiritually execute one another over issues the Bible does NOT forbid...like drinking a "little wine".

In case you need any further help with this, let me leave you with this sadly true story of a friend of mine. This brother went to France to serve as a missionary. After a year of service there the church-grapevine was ablaze with rumors and tales of his alcohol abuse. After months of scandalous rumors and a full investigation by his home church he returned to the states in disgrace wearing the scarlet letter "A" for "Alcoholic" and eventually dropped out of church service altogether.

The rumors of his alcoholism started when a "weaker" pastor visited him on the field and took offense at his use of wine during meals. Naturally, when this pastor returned to the states he fired off a letter to the missionary's home church informing them of this heinous activity and further informed them of his decision to withdraw supporting funds for the mission effort in France. After all, he reasoned, how can a Bible-believing church support a man who is living in direct contradiction to the clearly taught Word of God that we abstain from all appearance of evil?

The missionary's home church began a full investigation and learned that this servant of God had indeed been drinking wine while on the mission field. Pressure to return home to receive treatment for alcoholism was immediately issued and before you knew it, this faithful brother in Christ was demoted from missionary to pariah within the church community.

The truth of the matter is the brother was not an alcoholic. He was simply following the customs and culture of the people he was attempting to minister to; customs that were permissible by scripture, I might add. In talking with him many years after this event took place he explained to me how insulting it was to the French people he visited if he turned down their offers of wine. "After all," he explained to me, "those people drink wine like we drink iced tea." So, in an effort to win the lost at any cost he joined his French brethren in a "little wine" during meals. Unfortunately, because of the scriptural and cultural ignorance of God's people a soldier in the Lord's army was taken out by "friendly fire".

My purpose in this discussion is to do my part to educate and illuminate God's people with the glorious light of God's word. This kind of ignorant judgmentalism is what has earned us the reputation of intolerant, unforgiving, unmerciful basket-cases in the eyes of the world. It is a reputation that I hope to see changed as more people turn away from ignorant emotional interpretation of scriptures and grow in the grace and power of God.

So, to recap: it is forbidden by God to get drunk, because it is excessive abuse. It is not forbidden, however, to use alcohol in moderation as long as we are not using our liberties to cause a weaker brother to stumble (1 Corinthians 8:9). I'm not advocating abuse of any kind. Just understand that we can and do abuse every single thing that God has placed on this planet for our good and even our pleasure. We abuse food, sex, medicine, money, drink and even our liberties. None of those things are forbidden; we're just instructed not to abuse them.

Holy Spirit needs to guide us into all truth on issues like this one. We can't lean on our own understanding of these controversial gray areas of scripture. We can't let our past experiences negatively affect our attitudes and opinions of these matters. Let God show you the truth concerning his glorious liberty and I promise you, the truth will absolutely set you free...

...not to get blasted on the weekends but free to serve God with no man-made restraints, no man-made obstacles and no man-made rules and regulations that God never placed nor intended for His children. This is the point for raising this issue this weekend. I hope you'll tune in and participate in the discussion.

Stay tuned, true believers...

Statutes of Liberty

2008-10-29T20:52:00.004-05:00

"...where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." - 2 Corinthians 3:17

One of the more controversial elephants in the auditorium centers on the subject of Christian liberty. Obviously the bible speaks about this in many places in the New Testament. Just look up the word "liberty" or "freedom" and see what God says on the subject. Contrary to the opinion of many true believers, the Bible is not a book of divine rules and regulations designed to rob mankind of their "fun".

Yes, there are codes of conduct for the believer. God doesn't tell us to avoid sexual misconduct (for example) because he's a prude or a fuddy-duddy. He has reasons for his "rules". His reasons are simple; He wants to keep us from destroying ourselves emotionally, spiritually and physically. That said, the reaction many people have toward those who engage in activities that are in direct opposition to these codes of conduct is usually to condemn. I'll give you an example.

In my second pastorate we lived in the parsonage next door to the church. Late one evening a middle-aged fellow showed up at my door asking for the pastor. At the time I was quite young (28 years old or so) and he was shocked to see such a young man in the position. He proceeded to tell me about his past which included homosexuality. I could tell he was nervous confessing his past to me and by his own admission expected me to dismiss him as a "sinner". His point to sharing all of this was his desire to find a church home that would not judge him for his past sins and welcome him with open arms into the beloved fellowship of Jesus Christ.

He informed me of several pastors he had visited with prior to our meeting and the reception was less than warm once he got to the homosexuality part of his tale. So, he was surprised when I responded to his confession with a simple question. I asked him if he was still involved with that lifestyle to which he answered "no". With that I informed him that he was more than welcome in our church and as far as I was concerned his confessed sins were no worse than the sins of anyone else in the church, including my own.

He joined our church and became an important part of the family there. Of course, not everyone in the church was eager to welcome him once his past was made known (over time; I didn't just get up and read his mail to the congregation). Homosexuality carries a certain stigma that is difficult for many believers in Christ to get around. But, I believe that particular sin is no different than any other sin; sin is sin after all. More importantly, what is past is past and God is not in the business of punishing us for our past sins. He's in the business of forgiving, forgetting and granting us freedom from sin.

Unfortunately, many of God's people aren't tuned into this particular thought process. As we have already explored on the program and in this blog there is a great deal of unjust judgment attached to Christianity and the damage done by this attitude is literally incalculable.

I believe very strongly in the freedom afforded us by Jesus Christ. Let's be clear though. God doesn't give us liberty to sin (Romans 6:15). Just because we're saved and on our way to heaven doesn't give any of us a blank check to go into "the world" and go crazy. God's codes of conduct have multiple reasons not the least of which is to protect our representative testimony to the world. As a representative of the Kingdom of God it isn't good form to get wasted on Saturday night and go to church on Sunday. That's not liberty.

No, the liberty God offers has more to do with our relationship with Him. Far too many evangelical Christians have strict rules attached to their ministries that actually places followers of Christ into bondage. As Paul wrote to the Romans, the Galatians and practically anyone who would listen to him, we are no longer under law but are instead under grace. Dress codes, ministry methods, musical restrictions and many other man-made rules have no place in the church. Sadly, many of God's people cannot see the difference between God's code of conduct and man's attempt to regulate those codes. The legalism produced by this man-made regulation often surpasses that of the Pharisees and Saduccees of Jesus' day.

We're going to be tackling the issue of Christian liberty on this week's show (barring another Baylor football preemption). I hope you'll tune in and participate in the discussion.

Until then, stay tuned true believers...

HERE COMES THE JUDGE!

2008-10-19T12:27:00.004-05:00

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." - Matthew 7:1-2

I don't believe there is anything more damaging to the body of Christ than the social plague of ungodly judgmentalism masquerading as spiritual discernment and warfare for doctrinal purity. After a lifetime of church attendance and 20 years of full-time pastoral ministry I can tell you there is nothing more destructive than a judgmental Christian on the warpath. God help anyone who falls into the cross-hairs of one or (God forbid) a group of self-appointed judges.

I have witnessed the persecution and near-crucifixion of many true believers of Jesus Christ simply because their philosophy, doctrinal beliefs and/or methods of ministry did not line up with the orthodoxy of the mainstream Christian methodology. The primary reason for the denominational divide that exists within Christianity is due to the judgmental reactions of those who believe their interpretation of scriptures is flawless. Many believers listen to a sermon, not like a hungry sheep ready to feast on the mana from heaven, but like a movie critic waiting to see if there's anything said by the speaker that can and will be used against them in a court of public opinion.

Ungodly judgment is a difficult thing to self-diagnose because the root of this malady is pride. It's tough to identify pride in ourselves; so much easier to pinpoint that flaw in someone else. That's why Jesus' instruction on ungodly judgment in Matthew 7 concludes with the famous beam and mote analogy. Unfortunately, this teaching is generally ignored in favor of the more popular Jude 3 clause wherein we are commanded to "earnestly contend for the faith". It is so much more fulfilling to attack those whom we perceive to be in error than to do any self-introspection to see if there be any wicked way in me (Psalm 129:34).

There are legions of saints who profess their love of Christ yet have somehow missed the point of some of his most basic teachings. The core of Jesus' teachings is unconditional love for each other in spite of our class, color or creed. As believers in Jesus Christ we are all equal in God's sight (Galatians 3:28) yet to hear many believers of Christ tell it, we're only equal if we agree on every jot, dot and tittle of the Word of God as well as the methods and practices of our denomination of choice. This belief system is what divides us and it is absolute man-made garbage of the highest order.

I asked the question in my last blog and radio program concerning Joel Osteen. I started the radio show with the leading question "Is Joel Osteen a heretic?" We got more callers in that 90 minute program than any show we've done to date. I definitely opened a can of worms with that topic and I got a whole host of answers to that question.

The point of asking that question was not to crucify Bro. Joel nor to give people airtime to roast a popular televangelist. It was to shine the spotlight on this epidemic of judgmentalism. I'll tell you the truth, God is not a fan of opinionated people who base their judgments on emotion or intellect rather than the leading of the Holy Spirit.

You see, there is a GODLY form of judgment that God's people are commanded to utilize. (1 Corinthians 6:1-5) This form of judgment is founded not on man's understanding of scriptures or uncontrolled emotions but on the wisdom of God. Peter did not judge Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 based on his own intellect or wisdom but on the leading of the Holy Spirit. I fear there are far too few truly Holy Spirit filled judges running the asylums and they are running people out of the church in droves.

God's people need to learn the difference between godly and ungodly judgment. We need to pay more attention to the instructions of Christ and his followers about unconditional love and unity of the brethren. We need to understand who our real enemy is and stop sniping at each other from our denominational towers. The real target for our weapons of warfare are not carnal, but spiritual and most of those weapons are designed for our personal battles with our true enemy, not to use on each other.

The final thought I want to leave you with is to simply say it is not your job to separate the goats and sheep. That's God's job. Learn your role in His kingdom and stop trying to do God's job for him. Jesus' disciples had to learn that one as well. (Luke 9:49-50). God is the only one with the authority to separate the tares from the wheat; not you or I. If we would focus more on keeping the beams and motes out of our own eyes I believe we'd have less division, less denominations and less people leaving the Body of Christ due to the thoughtlessness of others.

I can hear the arguments already. What about the TRUTH?!? There are false prophets who need to be identified and run out. I repeat, where are the scriptures instructing any of us to be the vehicles of a false prophet's departure? God told us to identify them and stay away from them, not to be the judge, jury and executioner of the Kingdom of God. God knows how to handle those who are intentionally and deliberately twisting his word for their own gain. He's a big God and can handle that problem without our help.

We are to speak the truth in love; not with the love of being right but the love of the saints. We are to love one another MORE than we love ourselves. We are to edify, strengthen and encourage one another as fellow believers in Jesus Christ, REGARDLESS of denominational affiliation or doctrinal belief system. That is the primary teaching of Jesus Christ and that is what I believe and teach.

We need less judges in our churches and more lovers. We see the product of judgmentalism in modern Christianity today. I wonder what the landscape would look like if we were to just love one another like Jesus does...

What Is A "Heretic"?

2008-10-03T17:35:00.006-05:00

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. - 1 John 4:1

About a year ago I got into an interesting discussion with a brother over whether Joel Osteen was a heretic or not. This conversation came hot on the heels of his comments concerning Mormonism. He was being interviewed by Chris Wallace from Fox News when he was asked the question, "Is a Mormon a true Christian." Joel's response was, and I quote, "Well, in my mind they are. Mitt Romeny has said that he believes in Christ as his savior and that's what I believe so I'm not the one to judge the little details of it so I believe they are."

The brother I was talking to was adamantly calling Joel Osteen a heretic of the highest order. I asked him what actions had Joel undertaken to earn this label of "heretic". He responded with shock and dismay that I would even ask such a question. Clearly Joel was a heretic because his comments on Mormonism contradicted those of the clearly taught Word of God.

I asked him to define the word "heretic" for me. His definition, I am sure, is the same definition that many people have for this word. To most Bible-believing, church attending, evangelical, fundamentalist Christians a heretic is anyone who wrongly divides the Word of God and preaches something in error. In other words, every time someone stands behind the pulpit of any church in the world, they'd better have their doctrine and theology right or else they'll be branded a heretic.

Now, I don't disagree with the need for preachers to know their stuff; obviously that is a vital component of Bible preaching. But, if someone preaches or says in an interview something that doesn't jive with our understanding of scriptures does that automatically make them a "heretic"? To many church going Christians, the answer to that question is an overwhelming "YES!"

This line of reasoning is one of the foundational reasons for the division in our churches. I can remember the series of sermons preached by my pastors lining out all of the doctrinal differences between all of the "Christian" denominations and why everyone else was wrong except our particular brand of Christianity. I'm sure those same sermons were preached in other denominational churches branding our group as heretics too.

To listen to most church attendees, there are a lot of heretics running around this globe spreading their lies and half-truths and bringing ruin to the Body of Christ. I submit to you that the real cause of the division isn't due to all of these so-called heretics, like Mr. Osteen, but rather, and many people won't like this statement, the chief cause of the division in the church is the ungodly attitudes and scriptural ignorance of most church attendees...including pastors.

Allow me to define the word "heretic" for you. The word appears one time in the KJV in Titus 3:10 and is spelled "heretick". It comes from the greek word hairetikos and it means: schismatic, factious, a follower of a false doctrine.

Now, there are two words in that definition that we don't use anymore; "schismatic" and "factious". Both of these words mean essentially the same thing; divisive. The understanding of this Greek word was that a heretic was someone who knowingly and intentionally manipulated people as well as the scriptures in order to bring division and chaos to a (supposedly) unified body of believers. This speaks not only of the actions of the individual in question but also his motives. That is why we are instructed to "try the spirits" of the speaker in question rather than try them intellectually or even doctrinally. After all, what if your understanding of doctrine isn't flawless?

We live in an age of literally tens of thousands of denominations all claiming to believe in the same God and all reading from the same book. We are divided on so many levels that it is impossible to list them all. I've been to churches where the congregation was divided up in social cliques and the warfare between these factions (someone who creates factions would be called "factious" by the way) was obvious. What I am saying is there is much more to being a heretic than what most people are aware of.

I do not believe Joel Osteen to be a heretic. I don't see him as a harbinger of deceit and division in the body of Christ. What I do see is a young minister who doesn't have all the answers who is caught up in the wind of his growing ministerial fame and who is adept at playing the political games that have infiltrated far too many of our churches. None of these flaws make him a "heretic"...they make him human. And as a human being Joel Osteen, like the rest of us, is subject to making mistakes.

His comments on Mormonism were wrong, plain and simple. Mormon doctrines are not the same as the doctrines of Jesus Christ. You don't have to be a theologian to see that; just read their book. Joel's comments displayed his ignorance of Mormonism's teachings but they don't make him a schismatic, factious follower of false doctrines. Now, if Joel got into his pulpit one Sunday and began teaching the doctrines of Joseph Smith then he would be guilty of heresy. Making mistaken or ignorant statements is regrettable and can cause some confusion and damage but how much more damage has been done by some of the brethren who rush to judgment based on little study, even less prayer and no godly wisdom. How much division has been caused by the ignorant and judgmental among us?

Are there false prophets and heretics among us? Absolutely. How does one discern who is a heretic and who is simply mistaken? 1 John 4:1 gives us some instruction on this. We need wise men and women of God who understand the principles of "trying the spirits" instead of self-taught armchair theologians who have just enough Bible knowledge to be dangerous. Most of all, we must be careful who we play the heretic card on. I know I've made mistakes and preached things out of ignorance that I later found to be untrue. That is part of the process of growing up in Christ; we all make mistakes.

Making mistakes doesn't make any of us heretics; it just makes us wrong. People who are in error don't need snap judgments and ostracizing labels. They need loving correction. Joel Osteen, by his profession of faith, is a brother of mine. If I hear him say something in error my first response is to pray for him to receive some loving correction. That's what we all need and I am thankful that we have a God who is the master of lovingly correcting us...

...because we all make mistakes.

From Whence Cometh The Storm?

2008-09-26T20:08:00.003-05:00

So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm. - Psalm 83:15

There are a lot of people who are angry with God; some of them even admit it. As amazing as it may sound to some, there's a lot of blame for life's storms being laid at the foot of God's throne. I can remember the questions that came up after the Oklahoma City bombing and especially after 9/11. Many were wondering where God was and why God had allowed these national tragedies to happen.

Many preachers claim tragedies like these are God's judgment on a sinful earth. I heard a number of preachers claiming Hurricane Katrina was God's judgment on New Orleans for the decades of sin committed in that city. The late Jerry Falwell had no problem proclaiming 9/11 as divine judgment on a nation who had turned its back on God in the days following the terrorist attacks. Certainly the Bible is full of stories of divine judgment on sinful man and if you've ever read Revelation you know more is on the way.

But the question posed this weekend is a fairly simple one in concept yet complex in its depths. Does God use disasters, both natural and man-made, to bring his divine judgment on earth? Does suffering equal judgment in God's methodology? You may think this is a benign question but you'd be amazed at how many people believe this is the case. Many of those people are standing behind pulpits all across America and beyond.

As you can well imagine, I've got some thoughts on this subject. Before I put them in the blog, I'll be sharing them on the air this Saturday so I hope you'll tune in and not only listen but participate in the discussion.

Stay tuned true believers...

WE'RE ALIVE!!!

2008-09-20T14:51:00.002-05:00

Ike threw everything but the kitchen sink at us (actually I think I saw a sink fly by come to think of it...) but we have survived. God is good. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who sustained damage and/or are still without power (including yours truly). We will be back on the air this Saturday night (9/20/08) at 5:30 pm and we hope to hear from as many of you as we can. Till then stay tuned, true believers...

Hope-Hype: Marketing the Message of Jesus Christ

2008-09-11T09:34:00.007-05:00

"Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” he said to them, “ ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a ‘den of robbers.’” - Matthew 21:12-13 (NIV)

One of the bigger issues facing modern Christianity is how our culture is affecting the body of Christ. You see this battle raging in everything from musical styles to youth oriented ministries that walk the tightrope of compromise in the name of attracting the unchurched. Undoubtedly one of the biggest cultural wars the Body of Christ is fighting today is the marketing and hyping of ministers and their ministries.

Culturally speaking we are an over-marketed, over-hyped society. If you doubt that just go to a movie theater thirty minutes before the movie starts. Back in the day if you got to the theater early you were treated to a few movie trailers before the feature presentation. Today we're treated to 15 minutes of a lovely slide show full of advertisements (with a sprinkling of movie trivia and quotes just to keep us interested) before the 5 or 6 car/coke/military/cell phone service commercials roll. We live in a society that is looking for more and more ways to intrude upon our daily lives with advertisements for the billions of products and services available to the American consumer.

This culture of selling and advertising has infiltrated and (in my opinion) contaminated the Body of Christ. This isn't a new problem, of course. The verse quoted above indicates that buying and selling in God's name has been around for a very long time; it also shows God's opinion about it. You don't have to be a degreed theologian to see that God isn't a fan of moneychangers in his house.

So, what exactly is a moneychanger? Is it wrong for a pastor/preacher/minister to make a living from the services he/she provides? Jesus' instructions to his disciples includes a statement concerning the "wages" they would be earning while in service to him: "Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house. - Luke 10:7 (NIV). Apparently pastors and ministers have to eat too.

But, do they need million dollar mansions, private jets and the perks and benefits that comes from celebrity? Does God's desire to "bless" us equal the rock-star lifestyle that many of our more prominent celebripastors enjoy? The questions I'll be raising on the radio program this week (assuming we haven't been blown off the map by Hurricane Ike) are fairly simple:

Have we been guilty of elevating the messenger over their message in our modern church culture? How much is too much marketing? When you go to a Christian "book store" and find more trinkets and nick-knacks than you find books is that a sign that we've lost something? Have we tried too hard to model "the world" in our attempts to get the message out to everyone we can?

One could argue that Peter and Paul didn't use clever church slogans, vision statements or pandering gimmicks to get people to attend church. On the flip side one could argue that what we're seeing is a natural progression of the Church in modern times. After all, what worked for Paul in first century Asia minor wouldn't work in 21st century America.

This is a broad subject that covers a number of issues and I know we won't cover all of the facets of this issue in one 90 minute radio program. I also know, from what I've seen and experienced in the church over the last 20 years, generally speaking we've lost the culture changing power that was on display in the book of Acts. I'm not referencing tongues or healing, I'm talking about the power of the plain spoken word of God without compromise, without Burger King style spinning and without modern marketing tactics.

There are more churches and more professing Christians on the planet than Paul ever dreamed of. We have more technological advancements at our disposal than ever before. Most assuredly the church needs to make use of the tools and technologies available to us to get the word out. After all, you're reading this on a computer and listening to me on the radio; two things Paul couldn't have imagined of on his best day.

But, how much is too much? Where is the line that we need not cross in the name of getting the word out? Can we return to elevating the message instead of the messengers? This weekend (the Lord willing and the creek literally doesn't rise) we'll be discussing these issues on a special Hurricane Edition of CHURCHQUAKE!

Stay tuned true believers...

And now for something completely different...

2008-09-05T11:31:00.004-05:00

...Just an FYI to all of our listeners; CHURCHQUAKE will not be airing this weekend due to KKHT's coverage of Baylor football. We should be back on our regularly scheduled airtime (5:30-7pm every Saturday night) next week (September 13). So kick back, take a break and enjoy a cool beverage of your choice and keep watching our website. We're working on some new content for the site coming soon to a PC near you.

*NEXT SHOW TOPIC*

Is Marketplace Hyping Helping or Hurting The Body of Christ?

Stay tuned true believers...

Church Wars: Legalism -vs- Liberalism: Part 2

2008-08-29T08:55:00.004-05:00

"What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid." - Romans 6:15

On the other side of the narrow road that leads to life (Matthew 7:14) is the equally devastating malady of "Liberalism". Liberalism is defined as freedom from traditional values, biblical interpretations, rituals, viewpoints and activities in favor of a more individualized form of spirituality free of anything that may cause the adherent to experience any negative emotions (“I’m ok, you’re ok theology”). The liberal believer's favorite word is "Freedom" ("liberty" works too).

Now, to be clear, there IS freedom and liberty in Christ (Romans 8:21; 2 Cor.3:17; Gal.5:1). However, that liberty is not a free pass to live in habitual sin (Gal.5:13; 1 Peter 2:16). In fact, we are commanded to be careful how we exercise our freedom so as to keep the "weaker brethren" around us from falling into sin (1 Cor.8:9). I know I've made mistakes in my search for godly liberty and will undoubtedly make more before I leave this earth. It is a constant battle between our flesh and the Holy Spirit of God to "flesh out" (pardon the pun) our selfish desires from the desires God has for us.

God doesn't want us to live in bondage; he wants us to live in freedom and liberty. However, our definition of liberty and God's are not in the same ballpark; in fact they aren't in the same universe. When legalists are freed from their chains the natural tendency is to run across the road and jump into the ditch of liberalism (and visa versa). It is our natural inclination to move from one extreme to the other in our search for God. I am so thankful we have a loving and patient God who knows the difference between a rebellious saint and one who is seeking for God in all the wrong places. Let's face it, God is much smarter than we are.

Having said all of this, I need to describe the more predominant traits of Liberalism so you can see the dangers inherent in chasing after the wrong kind of liberty and freedom. Here are just a few:

IGNORANCE OF FUNDAMENTALS: Many liberally minded people have no foundational knowledge of scripture in spite of many years of church attendance. In liberal churches, Bible teaching is replaced with self-help seminars and motivational speakers. Paul's warnings to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 paint a perfect picture of this problem.

DEEPLY UNCOMMITTED: Lack of Biblical foundation produces wishy-washy, double-minded, children who are unable to maintain a doctrinal center and are usually easy prey for false teachers/prophets. Liberals are constantly "chasing the wind"; looking for that fresh touch from God and they'll go anywhere and believe anything in order to get their Jesus fix (Eph. 4:14).

LOVE OF THE (RHEMA) WORD: Liberally minded people are focused on the “fresh” words from God rather than on the written words of God. Words like “suffering”, “sacrifice” and “accountability” are omitted in favor of words like “prosperity”, “perpetual healing” and “liberty”. Liberals tend to demote God to a more human level and project their methods and thought processes onto God. ("God would never want me to suffer like this..."). That is why a lot of these "fresh words" from God are more appealing than the written Word. Hearing a "prophet" tell you of 1,000-fold blessings and expanding tent posts sounds a lot better than submitting and sacrificing in order to follow God's path for you.

FREEDOM AND LIBERTY COMPLEX: Almost across the board, liberals believe the liberty in Christ is a blank check from God giving them anything their heart desires and freeing them from anything that looks, tastes, sounds, smells or feels like legalism. (Church attendance, personal responsibility/accountability, biblical standards etc.)

NEED FOR FREEDOM: Liberals are all about freedom from anything that makes them feel bad; personal accountability, responsibility or walk with God is replaced by personal wants, desires, and ambitions. This is a natural digression by those who have "escaped" legalism; after being held down by "the man" for a lifetime they are eager to spread their wings and sow some wild oats...in the name of Jesus. Most liberals are inherently selfish in their service. Instead of focusing on the edification of their fellow saints, many liberally minded people are focused on what they can get out of their service (the "give to get" mentality).

CONFORMITY COWARDS: Liberals will run at the first sign of conformity or adherence to some Biblical standards. Church is eventually seen as an obstacle to their “liberty” rather than a place of corporate worship and fellowship. Accountability is a bad word and a danger to their freedom.

SELECTIVE INVOLVEMENT: For the liberal, the merit of Church membership/attendance is based solely on what the congregation can do for them. If the church isn’t the right size with the right programs designed to meet their needs, they’re gone like Donkey Kong…eventually out of church altogether.

Hopefully you can see the dangers inherent in this mindset as well. Like the legalists, this thinking is founded purely in the carnal mind but, again, self-deception plays a key role in keeping folks in this ditch. It is very easy to believe oneself "holy and blameless" during a supercharged church service where the Spirit appears to be falling on people and manifesting Himself in a variety of ways.

Because of the subtle nature of our enemy, God requires His people to move with wisdom that ONLY comes from God. God's discernment is mandatory when navigating the narrow road because there are so many things out there that have a form of godliness but are inherently powerless. We all make mistakes; we all fall for a slick snake-oil salesman with a polished pitch. No one is infallible. The trick is to not let ourselves become disillusioned and fatalistic whenever we do find ourselves in one of these ditches of extremism.

Because of my non-conformist roots, liberalism is much more attractive a trap for me than legalism. I've found myself in both ditches and bear many scars from the experiences I've had. But (and this is a huge "but"), I have learned and am still learning from my mistakes. The weapons of warfare that God has for us sounds fairly benign in the face of the weaponry at Satan's disposal but it is no less effective. Satan comes with subtle deceptions and lies; God combats those lies with faith in His truth.

That is why knowledge of the Word of God is paramount to finding true liberty in Christ. Fresh words from God and true manifestations of His Spirit are fine and have their place but they are not a replacement for the established Word of God. If you are more inclined to memorize and study your Prophecy Notebook than the Word of God , your priorities are messed up and you're setting yourself up to be lion food. (1 Peter 5:8)

Both of these ditches carry profound consequences that are ultimately terminal for the child of God. I personally know of many people who are out of church and have sworn never to attend again because of wounds received from representatives of both of these extremes. The chaos and confusion surrounding the Body of Christ because of ignorance, deception and carnality is vast and seemingly without end. It is very easy for people to become fatalistic towards God and His Word because of all the different denominations and biblical opinions floating around out here. I am asked all the time "which one of you (denominations) is right?".

The solution to all of this confusion is fairly simple. It is Hebrews 11:6. God doesn't want us chasing after a denomination, a religious code or creed or any other man-made philosophy or ritual. God wants us to seek after HIM. He tells us he is a "rewarder of those who diligently seek Him". The reward isn't money or fame or even elite bible scholar status. The reward is object of our search; it is Himself.

If you're following after men to find God, you're following the wrong thing. Men can be used to help you along the narrow road but God should be the one you are depending upon, not men. We have been guilty of elevating the messenger over the message for far too long and I believe God is moving to bring the mighty "celebripastor" movement to a close. It can't happen soon enough, in my opinion. The wheat is being separated from the chaff; the goats from the sheep. God is moving to bring restoration, TRUE healing and TRUE liberty to all who are seeking for HIM.

Church Wars: Legalism -vs- Liberalism: Part 1

2008-08-27T10:42:00.004-05:00

"[There is] therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." - Romans 8:1

Jesus described the road that leads to life as a narrow one and "few there be that find it" (Matthew 7:14). The truth of that statement has never been more real to me than in the last decade of my personal journey with God. Not only is that road narrow but there are a lot of traps and pitfalls along the way designed to move us from the road of life into the ditches of bondage.

Since Jesus' desire is to break the chains of bondage and set the captives free (Luke 4:18) I believe it is past time to identify the extremist viewpoints in Christianity that are responsible for so much bondage and destruction. So, if you'll permit me, I'd like to spend a little time detailing the two largest ditches of extremism in the church and how to get out of them and back on the road. We'll call these ditches "legalism" and "liberalism".

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time you'll know where I come out on the subject of legalism in the church. Before I get too far ahead of myself, allow me to define "legalism" for you. Legalism is the belief that God’s favor (grace), and consequently His salvation, is earned by our thoughts, intents and actions based upon an intellectual understanding of God’s Word; strict legalists attempt to force their beliefs upon others by various means of emotional manipulation (shame, guilt, judgment, etc).

Legalism is not a new problem. Jesus battled with the legalists of His day in the form of the Pharisees, Scribes and Sadducees. If you know your Bible, you know these folks were the only people that Jesus had any condemning words for (Matthew 12:34; Matthew 23:33). Unfortunately, mankind has not learned from Biblical history; legalism is alive and well in many forms and flavors within the Body of Christ.

Legalism is characterized by many traits. For example, legalists usually come from a very strong fundamentalist background. FUNDAMENTALISTS: believe every jot, dot and tittle of the Word of God is the unedited, perfect Word of God. This, by itself, is not a problem as most true believers in Christ believe this and rightfully so.

DEEPLY OPINIONATED: Generally speaking, legalists interpret the Word of God from a more intellectual foundation rather than a Spirit-filled one. Once an opinion is formed on a given subject, the legalist has no problem sharing their opinions (referred to as "convictions") with anyone who will listen to them. Those who disagree are judged and (usually) condemned as ignorant (at best) or hell-bound heretics (at worst).

LOVE OF THE (LOGOS) WORD: The legalist has an intense love of the Bible; they know their scriptures. Nothing inherently wrong with that except I've found the legalist usually does not have a very strong relationship with the author of that Word. Case in point, the legalists in Jesus' day knew their Old Testament backwards and forwards but were blinded to the truth of Jesus' identity. The author of their precious Law was standing 5 feet away from them and they were too blinded by their religion and legalism to see him. Loving the Word is good, but not at the expense of loving its author.

JEREMIAH COMPLEX: Most legalists see themselves as a modern day watchman/woman. They believe it is their God called duty to bring the truth of God's word to the sinful masses by any means necessary. This may sound spiritual and right but the reality is when you engage in correcting perceived error from an unspiritual (carnal) and intellectual place you tend to do more damage than intended. Romans 14 deals with this issue pretty well.

NEED TO BE APPROVED: legalists have an inherent need to be approved by their fellow believers and by God. This approval is completely dependent upon their belief system and their actions (works). In other words, legalists believe their worth or value to God depends on their actions. God won't bless you unless you're doing your faithful duty as a Christian. Of course, that means that other Christians need your approval too and that is only achieved by doing Christiany stuff. This gets into the motive of why we do what we do for God. God wants us to serve Him because we love Him, not because we want Him to love us (He already does).

CONFRONTATIONAL COWARDS: Generally speaking, most legalists do not like to directly confront people they disagree with. They would rather condemn and judge from the safety of a pulpit, picket lines, the internet, e-mail, the United States Postal Service, etc. Most people do not know they are in the cross-hairs of a legalist until they hear about their "error" from someone else.

SELECTIVE INDIGNATION: This trait describes the hypocrisy inherent with legalism. Legalists tend to lighten or ignore their righteous rhetoric when the sin on the table of discussion is one they are guilty of but have no intention of repenting from. It is also not uncommon for "convictions" on the Word to change whenever habitual sins are formed. Like the preacher who preaches against divorced men holding the office of pastor until his wife leaves him or the preacher who rails against Harry Potter books and movies because of the witchcraft plot lines only to be first in line to see the new Lord of the Rings movies because he grew up reading Tolkien and loves these timeless classics. This is hypocrisy and it is one reason Christianity is a laughing stock in the world.

Obviously I could go on, but hopefully you can see the dangers inherent in these traits and attitudes. There are a large number of people who are ignorant of the spiritual application of the Word of God and the need for Holy Spirit to fill us in order for us to be able to accomplish the Word, Will and Ways of God in our daily lives. Legalism depends on the intellect and abilities of man, not Holy Spirit. The subtlety of this problem is founded in our proclivity to self-deception. It is easy to believe we're "walking in the Spirit" when we're actually "walking in the flesh". In spite of God telling us not to lean to our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5) I find that the majority of us do just that. God's ways are not our ways, his thoughts are not our thoughts. The desire of God is for us to be completely yielded to Him so we can operate with godly wisdom rather than carnal intelligence.

We are to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16). Unfortunately, legalists have that reversed; that is one reason why Jesus constantly referred to the legalists of his day as "vipers". Much damage has been done in the name of Biblical purity and denominational distinctives. Churches have split, families ruined and many millions have vowed never to darken the door of a church again because of the judgmental condemnation from legalism. The enemy of our souls knows what he is doing and it is our responsibility to soberly investigate the motives and intents of our hearts to see if this evil root is present within us and to take the steps necessary to allow God to permanently remove it and set us all free.

What a glorious day when God's people can come together to worship and serve our King without fear of ungodly judgments and viperous condemnation. I thank God 1,000 times over for removing me from the snare of legalism and I constantly pray for the liberation of many of my fellow believers. This ditch is full of hurting and chained up people who haven't felt the presence or heard the voice of God in their lives in decades in spite of their faithful church attendance. I pray God will open the eyes of His people and set these captives free...

...but not so they can run to the other side of the road an fall into the ditch of liberalism...

(to be continued)

Back to Beth-el: Conclusion

2008-08-19T19:04:00.003-05:00

This year marks the tenth anniversary of my descent into hell. I wrote a blog about the night my second pastorate crumbled into dust a few weeks ago so if you missed it and you want to know what all this rambling is about, I invite you to back up a few blog entries to catch up on the juicy gossip. Go ahead, I'll wait...

...ok, on with the show.

About a month ago, I found myself standing in the building where all of my ministerial drama took place; at the very same pulpit. Aside from some paint on the walls the room hadn't changed much since the last time I saw it. It even smelled the same. Now, this isn't the first time I've been back to that church building and in the times I've been in there before there was no revelatory scene like the one I'm going to describe for you now. The major difference between my other visits here and this one is this time I was all alone in the building.

I stood at that pulpit and looked over the empty pews for what seemed like hours. Memories, uncontrollable memories,flooded over me; I could not shut off my brain to stop the faces and scenes. It was as if someone had taken over my senses and was forcing me to relive some extremely painful and personal things that I had worked very, very hard to forget. The overriding emotion that I had when I finally left the building was anger.

In fact, since that visit back in early July, I've been battling intense depression. I won't bore you with all the details but for the last month I've been overwhelmed with a fatalistic attitude towards everything, especially church stuff. It was as if the hour I spent in that building was the catalyst for the concoction Satan had been preparing in me for years.

I've spent the last month battling, seeking and asking God the eternal question, "why". Not, "why did I go through all of that junk ten years ago"...I'm done asking that question. This time my question to God has been, "why am I feeling like this? I thought I was over all of that drama." When I say I was battling depression, I want to be clear. I was closer to quitting the ministry than I've been in the 7 years I've been pastoring in Pearland.

The reason I'm sharing all of this with you, my tens of readers, is because of what God has revealed to me in the last 2 weeks. God apparently orchestrated my return to my personal "Beth-el" to open my eyes to some deep seated issues that I needed to deal with if I am going to move any deeper with Him.

You see, because of my pain and heartbreak, I had developed a spiritual cancer that was slowly destroying me. I had allowed myself to grow hard-hearted toward God and His Word, His Will and His Ways. I had grown distrustful of God and His people...no scratch that, I had absolutely no trust for God and His people.

This may sound crazy to you, a pastor who doesn't trust God or Christian, but it is more prevalent than you may think. I know of many men of God who have grown hard toward their calling and resentful toward their people. Most of those men do not last long in ministry and I was definitely on my way out too.

But God...

God has used this visit to open my eyes and show me areas that I need to repent in. Yep, pastors have to repent too. I made a ton of vows during those first few years following my second pastorate and none of those vows were good ones. I've since recanted all of them...except for one. I swore to the heavens above that I would never trust another human being again as long as I lived. You don't have to be betrayed and back-stabbed too many times in life before you develop an intense dislike for that experience and a desire to never repeat it.

Please know, this hardness of heart was never a conscious thing. As with all of Satan's methods, this has been a subtle hijacking of my passion and heart's desire. The thing is, I've allowed this process to take place. Instead of "taking every thought captive" (2 Cor.10:5) and thinking on "these things" (Philippians 4:8) I chose to think on destructive things that were poisoning my soul. The result of my attitude and reaction to my past was, like Ephesus, I had left my first love (Revelation 2:4)

Like that ancient church, I'm faced with the same process of healing they were faced with. "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent..." (Rev.2:5). I needed to be reminded of some things. God brought me back to the place where he began to really work on me to remind me of where I've been and where He is taking me in His kingdom. I needed my trip back to my personal Beth-el even though the trip has been painful and filled with pitfalls. God has brought me back to a place of repentance and I can tell you that my attitude and outlook on life has done a complete 180 degree turn.

That's the process God has all of us on. Most of us want God to heal us from our heartbreak as He said he would do (Luke 4:18) but we usually want Him to heal us OUR way; specifically, just pull the pain and junk out of our heads so we can live in peace. Newsflash: God doesn't operate that way; He never has. His Word, Will And Ways for us are for us to choose His way. That requires repentance. Salvation does not come apart from true repentance (Matthew 3:8). There's an awful lot of born again Christians who still need salvation...from themselves.

I've been one of them. Am I completely cured never to fall into a depressed state again. Nope, Satan's regrouping and getting ready for His next attack on me, of this I have no doubt. But God is equipping me with His weapons of warfare. Strongholds are being torn down in my inner-man (2 Corinthians 10:4) every time I stop kicking against the pricks and just trust and obey Him. To get this trust issue out in the open, God had to bring me to my Beth-el. To get the trust issue properly dealt with I had to get on my knees and remember, repent and refocus on Him and His word.

It's amazing how many of us struggle with mental health issues. I wonder, when is the last time you got your knees before your King? I guarantee, an humble spirit and a contrite heart will chase the blues away faster than a lifetime of Prozac...thank God.

Back to Beth-el: Intermission

2008-08-15T09:29:00.006-05:00

I've had a difficult time writing this string of blog entries. There is a fine line that I walk whenever I talk about personal issues; particularly issues that I'm still battling with. Most people have a certain image of pastors that they want cultivated and kept in pristine condition. Pastors are supposed to have their stuff together. They aren't supposed to struggle with the issues that plague everybody else. After all, we pastors promote a lifestyle of spiritual and emotional maturity with every sermon we preach. It is disillusioning when we discover our heroes have chinks in their armor. So, to prevent disillusionment, we'll play these image games with one another.

I hate the mind-games that have infiltrated modern Western Christianity. God, in his divine wisdom, decided to include very human flaws and weaknesses in every single Biblical narrative of even the most faithful man or woman of God. Noah has his vineyard, David has his Bathsheba, Elijah his juniper tree and even Joseph has his breakfast table confessional that really puts the nail in the coffin between he and his brothers. It is only in modern Christianity that we play these image games with one another. You know the game where we pretend everything is peachy keen when we're in a corporate setting but privately we're anything but. This practice is also known as "lying".

Pastors are the worst about this. We're taught in our seminary training to manufacture and maintain an image of maturity whether we are really that mature in our thinking or not. Again, the people have come to expect this of their spiritual leaders and we pastors are more than happy to work on maintaining this facade rather than work on really becoming spiritually and emotionally mature.

I learned a long time ago that playing games like this will eventually kill you. I've seen many great men of God go down in flames simply because they were deluded into playing these mind-games rather than simply working on their personality and character issues. James taught us to "confess your faults one to another and pray for one another that you may be healed" (James 5:16). Pastors are no different than anyone else in the congregation; we have hurts that need healing too. God's process of healing calls for brutal honesty, first with ourselves and eventually with others in the church.

As a pastor, I have no problem confessing my faults with people. I struggle with the same soul-sickness that you all struggle with. I battle with sexual lust, laziness, selfishness and pride issues just like everyone else. Lately, my biggest battle has been an emotional one; I battle with depression on a daily basis. The enemy of our souls knows my specific weaknesses and he's been hammering on my button like crazy lately.

Now, it has been my experience that many church attendees have problems with leaders who are so open with their battles. This is the line that I tightrope walk across on a regular basis. How much is too much confession? James didn't say "confess your faults to everybody in the church". Frankly, not everyone is spiritually and/or emotionally mature enough to follow a flawed leader.

If that describes you, then you probably need to quit reading the next blog entry. Don't worry, I'll be getting back onto some less uncomfortable elephants in our auditoriums in the near future so you don't have to delete this site from your bookmarks just yet (this site IS bookmarked, right?).

If you haven't discovered by now, I'm not your average pastor. I don't pretend. If I don't know the answer to a biblical question, I'll tell you "I don't know". If I have issues with you, I'll tell you what they are and work hard to find a way to repair the issue and restore fellowship with my brethren. If I'm struggling with things to the point that it is negatively affecting my walk, I'll share that too. Such is the case with this "Back To Beth-El" string of blogs. The next blog entry is going to be very, very personal.

So, here's your final warning; if you can't handle a pastor sharing personal struggles and character flaws, you don't want to read the next blog entry. But, if you want to see the inner workings of a Christian's mind as he battles with character issues and flaws, then feel free to join me in a couple of days. My desire in sharing this stuff isn't to gain pity or even a following. I just want to be used of God to bring healing to the broken hearted. God's got a process for doing that and I'm walking it right now. It is a very personal process filled with difficult choices. But God is able to set us all free of our personal prisons, if we'll let him. I hope he'll use my experience to set some of you free as well.

But to do that, a pastor has to shed the image and get "real" with the people.

You have been warned true believers...

Back to Beth-el: Part 2

2008-08-08T09:32:00.003-05:00

The scene was familiar to the young pastor; he’d seen it several times as a lay member, but this time it wasn’t happening to his pastor…it was happening to him. The congregation was split and people were furiously calling for his head on a platter. You could cut the tension with a knife. The music director tried, vainly it turned out, to get the people to focus on worshiping God instead of their anger and desire for revenge. It was a valiant effort but ultimately fruitless. The young pastor knew he was in trouble because there were more people in attendance this Sunday night than had been in months; some in attendance weren’t even members of the church. The phone lines had been burning for weeks. The stage had been set. All of the players had gone “all in” and were ready to lay their cards on the table.

There were two clearly defined groups divided by the center aisle of the auditorium. One faction wanted the pastor to answer for his “crimes” before he was run out of town on a rail. The other faction was firmly on the pastor’s side; a few because they liked the pastor but most because they didn’t like the members of the opposing group. The worship service continued; every hymn brought the showdown closer. The young pastor could feel his pulse racing. He looked out onto the crowd of people and watched their faces. He found it amazing that they could sing these hymns that spoke of God’s grace and mercy all while plotting to remove him and his family. Their faces told the whole story. He closed his eyes and felt the last fragments of his battle scarred heart shatter into pieces.

The pastor was an emotional wreck. He’d been preaching to, praying over and fighting and feuding with this group of disgruntled members for over 3 years in a vain attempt to end the gossip and the judgmental backbiting. He learned too late that the root of bitterness runs deep and many of God’s children will fight to the death to keep that root healthy. What had started as very minor differences of opinion had now escalated into a full fledged turf war. All of his charm, his efforts, his sermons and his prayers had done nothing to prevent the inevitable public battle.

The song service ended and the worship minister turned the pulpit over to the embattled Pastor. He sat in his seat on the stage trying desperately to find a way to avoid what he knew was coming. He wondered why God was so silent. Was He really going to allow this travesty to continue? After several long minutes of silence the young man finally took his place behind the “sacred desk”. He half-heartedly ran through the announcements and prayer requests before leading them in a prayer. He had barely uttered the text for that night’s sermon when the deacon raised his hand and asked for permission to address the church. The old World War II veteran, survivor of Normandy and many subsequent military campaigns in Europe, slowly made his way to the stage to fire the first round of the night’s battle. The young pastor took his seat on the stage as the group of angry church members began the longest church service of his life.

The pain was indescribable. These were people he loved; widows whom he had visited, done yard work, electrical repair and other tasks for without a thought of recompense or reward. Now they were accusing him of verbal abuse, financial abuse and heretical teaching in their beloved church. One of these spiritual lynchers was a middle aged woman who had hosted the church’s weekly home bible studies over the last year. Now she was accusing the pastor of crimes of negligence and financial impropriety. The deacon standing at the pulpit was the spokesman for the group. He spoke with barely contained anger of the pastor’s mistreatment of the church widows and thinly veiled accusations of financial corruption. The agony of hearing these people angrily accuse him was more than the pastor could stand. He could feel his broken heart hardening with every word they spoke. The final bricks of a psychological wall of self-preservation were being laid with every tick of the clock.

The evening ended with high drama. A hastily called for vote of confidence (which the pastor won) was followed by an ugly mass exit of the group of bitter head hunters who wasted no time in calling the local police to come to the church and investigate charges of abuse of the elderly by this young upstart of a pastor and his followers. The police came and went without much incident due to a church full of witnesses who testified that the only ones guilty of abuse were the ones who had called them. When the police were gone, there was a celebration by those who were left as if a major victory had been won. The only one not celebrating was the pastor. Only he seemed to see what had just happened. No one had won anything and the church was now in shambles.

It wouldn’t take long for those who had supported the pastor that fateful night to see what he saw. Vows of allegiance and faithfulness were quickly and quietly forgotten as the ugly reality of rebuilding a shattered group of people with a damaged reputation in the community into a spiritual powerhouse for God’s kingdom set in. The young pastor was disillusioned, discouraged and frankly, bitterly angry at God and his people…ALL of them. It wasn’t just this heartbreak; it was all the years of watching God’s people in many different churches fight and split over curtain colors or music styles or some other mundane issue that did not matter in light of the eternal kingdom of God. It didn’t take long for the pity party to start in the young pastor’s heart. His dreams and goals of ministerial success had gone out the door with those angry, hard-hearted church members and he felt betrayed, abused and abandoned.

Where was God? Why had God allowed this horrible night to happen? Where was the fire from heaven or the splitting of the earth to swallow these stiff-necked rebels? Where were the legions of angels come to protect the embattled servant of God? Heck, he’d take a fat, lazy guardian angel at this point. God’s silence was deafening and the pastor concluded through his pain that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was either a sadistic liar or did not exist at all. He was stranded on an island of despair with a ragtag group of immature, carnal Christians who were as dependable as a broken clock in terms of rebuilding a church. His faith had been in vain and the God who swore to “never leave or forsake” him had done just that. He had called him to this church, placed him in this pulpit and then left him to be eaten alive by these sharks in sheep’s clothing. The horrifying truth was too much for him to bear and at age 29, after 8 years in full time pastoral ministry in two different churches, the pastor bitterly resigned and vowed he would never stand behind another pulpit in another church for the rest of his natural born life.

Thankfully the story did not end there. Although the young pastor had years of prodigal rebellion and suicidal depression to get through, God was not finished with him; not by a long shot. What this disillusioned young man did not realize was that he had just completed a course at Real Life University (R.L.U.). I wouldn’t say I passed the course with flying colors, but I did learn a few things; in fact, truth told, I’m still learning from that experience.

One of the things I learned is if you are not careful, you will become the very beast you are battling. I am still humbled at how quickly I transformed into a bitterly angry man and how close I came to throwing my life away and becoming exactly like those I was railing against. I will never stop flooding my Refuge and my Strength with praises and eternal gratitude for rescuing me from myself. But, that was not the most important thing I learned from that night.

I had a counselor tell me that there would come a day when I would be thankful for the events of that night. He told me that instead of anger and hate, I would feel pity and godly love for people who wouldn’t have lost an hour’s sleep if they had succeeded in throwing me and my family out on the street that very night. Of course, at the time, I thought he was insane and told him so in as ugly a way as I could think of. But I can confess to you now that the man knew what he was talking about. I am more thankful now than ever for those people and that fateful evening because a funny thing happened to me after the longest church service of my life…

…I met God.

to be concluded...

Back to Beth-el

2008-07-29T12:15:00.002-05:00

"Then God said to Jacob, Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau." - Genesis 35:1

If you're a true believer in Jesus Christ, you've had a Beth-el experience. Beth-el was the place where God introduced himself to Jacob in a very real and personal way. You can read Jacob's experience with God in Genesis 28. After receiving a vision and a promise from the God of his fathers Jacob awoke, built an altar to God and named the place Beth-el which means, "house of God" in Hebrew.

After a lifetime of choices, both good and bad, God spoke to Jacob in Genesis 35:1 instructing him to "go to Beth-el". God's desire was to reintegrate Himself into Jacob's life in order to bring Him into his divine destiny. For that to happen, Jacob had to remove the physical contaminants that had infiltrated his household. In Genesis 35:2, Jacob instructed everyone in his realm of influence to remove the false gods and idols.

What Beth-el represents is a place of holy identification, sanctification and specification. It is place where God orders our steps, gives us our divine identity and equips us to move into His destiny for us.

Far too many of God's people are perpetual wilderness wanderers. The "wilderness" is that spiritual emptiness where our prayers are empty, our bible study is empty, our service is empty. This emptiness in the "inner man/woman" cannot be filled by going through the motions of church attendance or service. To a wilderness wanderer the house of God can become a burden instead of a joy. Attending church becomes a chore, a duty or, in the case of ministers, a job instead of a calling. I know as a pastor I have found myself so busy planning programs and managing ministries that I lose all sense of spirituality. Like Martha, we can become so busy serving that we cannot receive any spiritual renewal.

You throw a lifetime of wilderness wandering at someone and you can easily see why there are so many empty, miserable "Christians" in our churches. I've been to many churches that were filled with miserable Christians. As a young man I puzzled over this phenomenon; how could an experience like true Christianity produce so many unhappy people? After all, the Word of God is supposed to be a beacon of hope, a source of joy and a life-changing message of grace, love and eternal life. How could so many people profess to believe the words in this book only to live in a state of perpetual unhappiness?

Then I found myself in the wilderness. No, scratch that, I actually passed up the wilderness and descended into my own personal hell. As a matter of fact, it has been exactly ten years as of this writing since my life took a horrendous turn for the worst.

Ten years ago, I was one of these miserably redeemed souls. I had no joy, no hope and no future as far as I was concerned. I was depressed beyond words, suicidal to the point of very nearly carrying out my darkest thoughts. The demons of hell had been unleashed to torment me and I found myself immersed in a world of darkness that I thought would never end.

All of this was happening to me while I was serving in the body of Christ. I was preaching and teaching the word of God to others but was not anywhere close to walking or believing any of what I was speaking. I was living a lie. You may be surprised to know there are quite a large number of God's servants living this same lie; unable to reconcile what they have seen and experienced in life with the words they read in this book. If God truly loves us then why...

God instructed Jacob to return to the place where He had introduced Himself to his wandering servant. The context of the initial meeting is summarized for us in Genesis 35:1 with these words: "...who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau." Jacob was on the run because of His own choices and actions. Jacob had no one to blame for his predicament except himself. He had lied, cheated and stolen what was not his to have. He was fleeing the reaping of his personal whirlwind when God showed up. God didn't show up to rescue him from his brother's wrath; God did something better. He gave him a future. He showed him his divine destiny. He gave him hope, faith and peace in the middle of a very difficult storm.

God's done that with most of us. All of us can point to our own Beth-el experience with God. The place where God shared His future for us. The place where God was transformed from an impersonal, faceless deity figure in the spiritual realm to a personal savior ready for a relationship with you.

It is amazing how life can dim the memory of our Beth-el. It's amazing how fast we can forget what God has revealed to us. It is equally amazing how fast we can fall from building altars to Jehovah to filling our lives with false gods and idols.

I had a return to Beth-el experience last week that I want to share with you. God blindsided me with an experience that I'm honestly still processing. So stay tuned true believers; it may be time for you to join me in returning to your own personal Beth-el...

We've got a special guest this week...

2008-07-29T12:09:00.004-05:00

...special musical guest, Dixie Trahan. If you'd like to learn more about Dixie check her out at at her website.

"Here I Am To Sing Karaoke..."

2008-07-16T13:42:00.007-05:00

"Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near [me] with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:" - Isaiah 29:13

We return to the subject of "worship" this weekend with special musical guest "Canopy". If you've been listening to the program since we began in January of this year you know we've touched on this subject. I've not "blogged" on it but we have discussed the controversy in the Body of Christ concerning musical preferences in our worship services. I'll not rehash old thoughts....ah, what the heck, sure I will.

One Sunday night at my second pastorate I was leading the congregation in a rousing rendition of a very popular old hymn, "Victory In Jesus". Right in the middle of the chorus, one of my more opinionated senior saints walked out of the service. I assumed she had become ill and needed to get home so I waited till the next day to visit with her and make sure she was OK. When she met me at the door I knew I was in trouble.

She laid into me because I had changed the tempo of a section of the chorus. I didn't change the words. I didn't change the melody. I changed the tempo in a very minute section of the chorus. She was incensed that I had made a change to one of her favorite hymns. I, of course, became incensed that this woman who was old enough to be my grandmother was throwing a temper tantrum fit for a 5 year old over something this petty.

There's been a musical civil war in the Body of Christ for generations. As a pastor, I've lost more people over music preferences than anything I've done over the last 20 years of pastoring. Most people are very opinionated; especially about music. I've actually taken phone calls from people who are looking for a church to attend and the first question they ask me isn't about doctrines or ministry opportunities, it's about music. I've lost a ton of people who like the preaching, the ministry and the spirit of the church but can't stay because we play contemporary choruses as well as hymns.

In my opinion, this attitude is childishly ridiculous. If you are basing your church attendance choices on something as shallow and petty as music styles you are completely missing the point of church. As a matter of fact, if you are a person who believes the style of music in a worship service is the most important thing to God then you need to read Isaiah 1. Go ahead, I'll wait for you...

Worship isn't about music or rituals or religious practices. Worship is about the focus of our attention. What are you focused on when you sing your favorite hymns or choruses? I know well intentioned people who do not worship God during "worship service". It is amazing to me how many of us has blown through a music service singing our favorite psalms/hymns/spiritual songs without actually focusing our attention on God at all.

I've often suggested we change the words to some of our hymns and choruses to better reflect the attitude of the majority of church attendees in the name of truthfulness and complete honesty. I've got a few suggestions to get the ball rolling: I Surrender Some; Open My Eyes (Because It's Sunday Morning), Lord; Here I Am To Sing Karaoke"; or It Is Well With My Soul So Long As The Church Leaders Do What I Want And Expend All Efforts To Keep Me Happy While I'm At Church just to name a few.

The musical civil war that's been fought in the name of God in countless churches over the generations is a tragedy when you consider the fact that God doesn't care about musical styles as much as he cares about the attitude of our hearts. God's glory isn't limited to your favorite musical genre. I've seen God glorified in hip-hop/rap music as well as Southern Gospel quartet music. I've also seen God's name sullied by the same genres and everything else in between. It isn't about the tempo, it's about the attitude.

God's not looking for the perfect tune, the right rhythm or the right musical talent level. He's got angels who do nothing but sing to him 24/7; do you think he's impressed with our musical talents and abilities? What God is looking for are "true worshipers" (John 4:23). He's seeking for people who are seeking for him. He wants more Davids who are men and women "after my heart". That phrase isn't talking about people who are most like God; it describes people who are chasing after God with everything they have.

I pray this elephant in the auditoriums gets put down once and for all within my lifetime. I'm sick of seeing churches split over music styles. I weary of seeing local bodies divide between contemporary and traditional worship styles. These petty arguments need to end. We are one body worshiping one Lord. May we learn how to worship together in one voice regardless of what the band is playing.

The Real Prosperity Gospel

2008-07-11T13:19:00.003-05:00

"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." - Joshua 1:8

OK, if you've been involved in evangelical Christianity for any amount of time during the last decade or two you've at least heard of the body of doctrines called THE PROSPERITY GOSPEL (PG). It's also been called the "Name It And Claim It" doctrine or any variation on that theme. In the event that you aren't familiar with this teaching, I'll give you the Reader's Digest version:

The PG's basic foundation is built on the reaping and sowing teaching that is actually found in scriptures (Job 4:8; Hosea 8:7; Galatians 6:7). The PG teacher will use this concept and marry it to the tithing and giving scriptures (Matthew 7:11; Luke 6:38; among many others) creating a concept that is very attractive to a materialist driven society like ours. You want to be successful and prosperous? Give and God will reward you 1000-fold. You want to be rich and have nice things? Sow "seed" (ie. money) into [insert your ministry here] and you'll receive your heart's desires. God wants to give you good gifts; He's just waiting for you to name your gift and claim it by planting seeds of prosperity into God's Kingdom.

You need two things in order to separate the lies from the truth in this teaching. Number One: You need a good understanding of God's Word...ALL of God's Word. I find this is a serious deficiency in a majority of churches that needs to be rectified. More on that later.

Number Two: You need to understand how the enemy of our souls operates. Satan LOVES to mix his lies with JUST enough truth to make it palatable to the spiritually undernourished. A primer of Satan's tactics can be found in Genesis 3 with his deception of Eve in the Garden of Eden. The Prosperity Gospel is a textbook example of one of Satan's favorite "wiles".

Somebody smart once said, "only a fool gives money to a rich man". In the case of most of these PG teachers, that is exactly the case. I have a real problem with pastors and churches who "reap" millions of dollars only to spend a fraction of that money on actual ministry needs like what is mentioned in scriptures (Mark 9:41; James 1:27). In other words, what kind of difference would be made in the world if the millions collected by PG churches went to meet needs instead of building the next Christian Taj Majal.

I plan on bringing some unvarnished truth to this debate and get some feedback from you, our listeners. I know there are many who believe whole-heartedly in the concept of reaping and sowing as taught by PG preachers.

Let me say that I believe whole-heartedly in the reaping and sowing doctrines too. What I have a problem with is the selfish motive behind the "name it and claim it" doctrines. Churches that major on teaching this stuff without feeding the sheep the WHOLE counsel of the Word of God are churches filled with immature, self-centered baby Christians (at best) or self-deceived, unsaved charlatans (at worst). This isn't a judgment call on my part. God himself said as much (Revelation 3:14-22).

The Prosperity Gospel has transformed God into the great "sugar daddy in the sky" in the eyes and hearts of many people. The truth of the matter is, God DOES want us to prosper and have good success. The problem is the definition of "prosperous". As with many things, man's definition and God's definition of these words are polar opposites. God wants us to be spiritually and emotionally mature Christ-like saints working and serving to benefit God and His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Man wants to have all of his material, emotional and spiritual needs met to his or her satisfaction while working and serving to benefit ourselves and our little kingdoms on the earth.

God's way is God centered. Man's way is man centered. We want God to work for us. God wants us to serve Him. These are the basic concepts in constant battle with each other. There can be no compromise on this issue. Christ said it: "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." (Matthew 6:24).

If you want GOD' formula for prosperity and success, just read Joshua 1:8. There in plain Queen's English for all the world to see is God's path to prosperity. You'll note there is not one word in that passage that talks about money. What you DO see is God's focus on reading, meditating and doing His Word. In short, Daddy is saying, if you want to be successful in this life, then do what I tell you to do at all times. Pretty basic stuff.

The PG is poison wrapped up in scripture. Churches are filled with carnal saints who are fighting one another to get to the tit of this bloated doctrinal sow. So, into this ginormous elephant in the auditorium we will venture this weekend; to boldly go where many pastors have gone before in trying to bring truth to the lies and half-truths masquerading as "gospel" messages. I hope you have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches this weekend...

To be continued...

The Unsilent Killer: Gossiping Exposed - Part 2

2008-07-04T07:22:00.003-05:00

"Confess [your] faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." - James 5:16

Ever been in a church where the instructions given in this verse was actually possible? Ever seen this verse in action in a modern American church? Ever seen someone get in front of the church to confess a fault or a character flaw and NOT have that action come back to bite them in the backside?

One of the greatest tragedies in modern American Christianity is the loss of trust of our fellow Christians. Because of unbridled tongues and centuries of abuses, the vast majority of us choose to play the "mask game" with one another simply because we don't trust each other.

MURPHYISM #318: The Mask Game - A very common social disorder wherein people put on their "everything's fine" mask (or any variation of that theme) when in reality they are dying inside and are in need of spiritual/emotional healing.

There isn't a whole lot of spiritual/emotional healing going on in churches today because the healing process requires us to share our faults to one another. We don't "confess our faults one to another" as the bible instructs us to do because we can't trust that our faults won't be used against us in a future confrontation with our fellow Christian or that some ignorant "saint" won't broadcast our problems across the city before we get the words out of our mouths.

I believe the loss of trust among Christians is a kingdom-wide tragedy that is preventable and fixable with the right amount of hard truth mixed with accountability. As I indicated in the last blog entry, I don't play around with gossiping in the church I pastor. I've had far too much experience with folks who come in and try to use this time-honored traditional ploy of manipulating people and events in order to control church policy and practices. I'll give you an example of what I'm talking about...

A few years ago I had a fella (we'll call him "Mr. Absolom") and his family come to our church after being "kicked out" of his last church. Now, right away there's a red flag for any pastor. If you have someone come to your church who has been removed from another church it is vital that the pastor investigate the reason for the dismissal. Sometimes people are wrongly removed because of personality problems between pastor and parishioner but more often than not if a church has to take the drastic measure of removing church membership from someone it is for a good reason.

So, I investigated by asking Mr. Absolom about the details of his removal as well as contacting his former pastor and asking his side of the story. Fun stuff, yes? It turns out that my new potential church member had a bad habit of forming insurrections whenever the preacher stepped out of line doctrinally or practically. Of course, Mr Absolom was the one who drew these lines and as the line drawer he held the power of judge, jury and executioner.

Now, when this fella first appeared on the scene he was full of praise for my preaching style as well as the content of my sermons. Oh, I was the greatest thing since air conditioning in his book...at first. Then I started doing things he wasn't too fond of like using praise and worship music instead of hymns or preaching about things that he didn't agree with or preaching about character issues he was having problems with. Well, it didn't take long for the praise to change to "suggestions" which quickly moved to "condemnation and demands".

Of course, I'm not a man-pleaser. I learned the very hard way that if you let people dictate your course of action you cease to be a leader and become a follower; empowering your sheep to be the shepherds. Ever try to follow a sheep anywhere? Anyway, the more Mr. Absolom tried to get his way in the church the more I would tell him "no". That, of course, forced him to move into phase 2 of his modus operandi...form a home bible study.

Whenever someone wants to form a home bible study, I'm instantly suspicious of the motive behind it. It helps if you know your sheep because not everyone in church has a pure motive behind their seemingly innocent ministry requests. That said, I'm obviously not opposed to people hosting home bible studies. What I AM opposed to are those who host a bible study without informing the pastor. 10 out of 10 times these "Bible studies" become underground meetings of church revolutionaries who want to remove the power in the church in favor of someone more to their liking.

Mr. Absolom had moved to phase 2 smoothly and expertly and had succeeded in seducing several of my people to attending these "studies". Truth is, these weren't "bible studies" they were the worst kind of closed door private meetings; gossip sessions with an agenda. By the time I was made aware of this activity it was too late to salvage those who had been attending.

When I confronted Mr. Absolom about his practice I was met with righteous indignation and a ton of scriptures to support his practices. It is amazing how scriptures can be twisted in the hands of master manipulators. Well, I did put an end to this little insurrection attempt but not without a lot of drama and heartache.

I share this anecdote as an example of how insidious this disease is. People don't have to go to the extremes of this example to cause destruction. All it takes is a selfish and immature child with a loose tongue and a heart set on slander and the damage is done. It only takes one experience with someone like this to wipe away all trust for your fellow man. Take trust away from any relationship and see how long that relationship lasts.

Our churches are filled with hurting and dying souls desperately in need of spiritual and emotional healing. I think it is a tragedy that our enemy has succeeded in destroying the trust by using a handful of selfish, unteachable sinful goats in our midst. God's people need to be educated on this social disorder. We need to teach our leaders how to combat this problem quickly and expediently because it is everywhere.

Don't believe me? When is the last time you saw someone receive healing based on the instructions of James 5:16 in your church?

To be concluded...

The Unsilent Killer: Gossiping Exposed - Part 1

2008-06-27T11:39:00.012-05:00

"There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers." - Proverbs 6:16-19

The elephant in the auditorium I plan on addressing this weekend is very near and dear to my heart. In all of my years of church attendance I have never seen anything more destructive to the Body of Christ than someone stirring up "dissension among the brothers"; a.k.a., gossips.

I'm one of the most easy going human beings you will ever run into, normally. I don't wander the earth seeking for reasons to get upset or offended. I accept that we're all sinners, myself definitely included, and as such we are capable of tremendous damage to ourselves and each other. So when I see or hear of church people committing immoral or selfish acts, I don't usually react out of emotion. I'm normally moved to attack immorality with godly love and a desire to bring healing and help instead of judgment and condemnation...except when it comes to the sin of sowing discord among the brethren.

If you want to see me come out of my skin, all you have to do is come to a church I pastor and try to start an insurrection. Just ask those who have tried it in the last 7 years; I don't play. I say this without apology or hyperbole; I detest gossiping with every cell in my body. I know first-hand the damage that has been done to the body of Christ by carnal, short-sighted hypocrites who think it is their right and privilege to spew rumors and tales about their brothers and sisters in Christ. It isn't pretty and it's caused nothing but destruction.

I pull no punches when it comes to this malady. I don't care how old someone is nor how much tenure someone may have at a particular church. I have learned over the years to attack this disease of the soul quickly and expediently. My desire is to remove the cancer, not the patient. That said, if someone proves themselves stubbornly unteachable on this subject and refuses to stop bearing tales, I have absolutely no problem removing them from the congregation as quickly as possible. The damage one gossip can do to a church is incalculable.

You may read this and think I'm getting all worked up about nothing. In my nearly 40 years of church attendance I've seen fist-fights in the church parking lot between deacons, Pastors screaming at church members in the middle of business meetings and vice versa, men cussing each other out at church men's meetings, church splits, church dissolution and worse. All of these fights and splits were directly caused by gossiping; after all, rational people don't just walk up and punch each other without provocation. Some of these explosions came after months of back-biting and rumor spreading. Again, incalculable damage has been done by childish adults who haven't learned the basic premise of Christianity, namely we are to love one another like Christ loves us (John 13:34-35).

Friends, there is absolutely no place in scripture where gossiping is acceptable. You'll never see one syllable of scripture commanding us to run around spreading rumors about each other. As a matter of fact, in the scripture quoted above, there are seven things listed that God "hates". There are several things listed here that are by-products of tale-bearing but just so there's no confusion, God ends the list with the sin of gossiping. God hates it with a passion and I am proud to say I share his hatred for it.

What amazes me is just how many of us are guilty of this sin on a regular basis. I know of great men and women of God who have done great things for God and his Kingdom who have no problem huddling in a corner to talk about a peer, a parishioner or a pastor. I find it almost comical to hear "godly" people gossip about a pastor's perceived false teaching or heresy as if the sin of gossiping isn't as destructive (if not more so) as a preacher teaching some false truth. I agree false doctrine is dangerous but where do false teachers fall in God's list of seven things he hates? Yeah, I don't see them listed either.

I'll let you in on a dirty little secret. I've learned over the years the worst gossips in the church aren't the lonely old widows with nothing to do but talk on the phone; the worst gossips are often times the pastors themselves. I know I've been guilty of this over the years and I'm definitely not alone. I've been to countless pastor's conferences where the bulk of the conversations were gossip sessions about other pastors. It amazes me how many men of God have been victims of this insidious sin yet have no problem spreading half-truths and outright lies about their peers.

It saddens me that one of the most overriding reputations modern American Christianity has is that we eat our own. I've spent a lifetime watching sharks in sheep's clothing devour one another over pointless, petty, childish disagreements better suited for the playground than a church building. This isn't just childish, it is the pinnacle of social stupidity.

You could say I'm passionate about this subject. It will be hard for me to keep myself in check when speaking about this on the radio. Much like Christ whipping the money-changers out of the temple, I have little to no sympathy for professing saints who think nothing of destroying the reputation and lives of their fellow Christians simply because they feel they have a right to express their opinions.

An even greater problem in our churches is the mixture of gossiping with the dreaded "Cliqueitis" disease. This is a common malady in most of our larger churches but certainly not exclusive to them. Smaller churches have cliqueitis too, they just happen to have only one clique and you're usually not welcome in it.

If you don't know what "cliqueitis" is, it's the social disorder wherein human beings form groups or "cliques" who then start beating each other's brains in. Friends and family members can quickly become the Hatfields and McCoys with a breakout of cliqueitis.

Forming a clique isn't inherently bad or dangerous; birds of a feather flock together and nowhere is this more true than in church. Whenever human beings congregate in large numbers it is a natural inclination of man to gravitate to those who look, sound and think like we do; a bonus is if they have the same hobbies and interests.

That's all well and good until someone in the "Hatfield" clique upsets someone in the "McCoy" clique. One such story I have involves a church chili cook-off where chili-preparer "Hatfield" took great offense at Judge "McCoy's" judgment of his family chili recipe and the fight was on. When church cliques start warring and competing with one another is when scriptures like James 4 becomes tragically relevant.

In my opinion, this issue isn't brought up enough in our churches. I don't know if pastors are afraid of upsetting the money, ERRRRRRRR, I mean the church members in their churches or not but this subject doesn't get taught near enough. I believe if it was, enough of God's people would be equipped to combat the sharks in our midst. And that's the key to fixing this problem. Educate God's sheep on how to avoid becoming victims of a shark or, even worse, becoming a shark themselves.

to be continued...

Pastors Who Need Prozac

2008-06-21T08:20:00.005-05:00

According to statistical information from the book Pastors At Greater Risk:

80 percent of pastors say they have insufficient time with spouse and that ministry has a negative effect on their family.
40 percent report a serious conflict with a parishioner once a month.
33 percent say that being in ministry is an outright hazard to their family.
75 percent report they've had a significant stress-related crisis at least once in their ministry.
58 percent of pastors indicate that their spouse needs to work either part time or full time to supplement the family income.
56 percent of pastors' wives say they have no close friends.
45 percent of pastors' wives say the greatest danger to them and family is physical, emotional, mental and spiritual burnout.
21 percent of pastors' wives want more privacy.
Pastors who work fewer than 50 hours a week are 35 percent more likely to be terminated.
40 percent of pastors considered leaving the pastorate in the past three months.

I have attended church for nearly 40 years; 20 of those years as a pastor. Of the nearly two decades of service in the Body of Christ I've seen practically everything that man can throw at a pastor and visa versa. I've been in the trenches of ministry all of my adult life and I've got the scars to prove it. I say this not to brag but to give you, dear reader, some perspective of my vantage point; I want you to know where I'm coming from.

I've come to some conclusions over these last 20 years about church and church people. I've learned the proof of the church's divine origin is in its continued existence after two millenia under man's stewardship. I've learned that God is incredibly creative with an unlimited imagination in spite of man's attempts to box Him in with traditions and dogma. I've learned a great many things over the years but I believe the most important lesson I'm learning as I enter my own "middle-ages" is to put more stock into what God thinks instead of what man thinks.

I know of many pastors who are performance driven, myself included. We want the praise and accolades of men. We want to be recognized for our efforts since so much of what pastors do are unknown by the general public. The sacrifices pastors make for their people are usually unknown even by the people we are sacrificing for. The more dedicated the servant the greater the sacrifice, especially for the servant's family. Family time is cut short by emergencies, attempts to take a break with the family are cut short because of tragedy, and ministry frustrations are usually taken out on the pastor's family by the stressed out pastor.

Statistics bear out the truth. More ministers are leaving the ministry than ever before. I personally know of several churches who have been looking for pastors for literally years with none to be found. (Some churches will never find a pastor because of their reputation but that's another topic). Why are good men dropping out of ministry in record numbers? There are several reasons but one of them is fairly obvious; we are poorly educated at the seminary level for what awaits us in the "real world".

I know young preacher boys who leave seminary with their B.S. in Theology tucked under their arm ready to change the world for Christ only to find themselves disillusioned and wore out after a couple of rounds with "God's wonderful people." Pastors are not equipped to handle the daunting task of making it through a typical budget meeting or deacon board meeting with the power plays and political struggles that fill most of our churches. Young men are often thrown to the wolves and devoured by well intentioned but carnally minded folk who want to run the church themselves and just let the pastor preach. Truth be told, I've been to a number of churches who don't want a pastor, they just want a preacher.

One dream I have is to be used of God to instruct the next generation of pastors at the seminary level. I am a teacher. Hermeneutics and Apologetics are necessary courses but where are the "Real Ministry 101" classes? I believe we are doing our young men and women a huge disservice by arming them with scholarly instruction without also equipping them with godly wisdom on how to use this information as well as how to not let men destroy our passion, our desire and our dreams.

I don't know how old David was when he wrote Psalm 56:4,11. Chances are pretty good David learned this truth by battling it out with God's people over the years. Disillusionment comes when our fantasies about life are shattered by reality. Most people do not deal well with disillusionment. The bars and gutters are filled with people who failed to handle their disillusionment. It may surprise you to know that I've met a few former pastors in the bars and gutters. I was one of them for a while.

I speak not from theory or from the safety of my white pedestal. I speak from experience. I was one of those statistics. I was a pastor who desperately needed Prozac. One of my favorite chapters in the Bible on this subject is Jonah 3, especially the first verse. I can summarize Jonah 3 in two words: "But God...". God is grace, love and forgiveness. God is the God of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, & 1000th chance. God is the God who meets us on the beach to ask us, "Do you love me?" (John 21). God will forever chase us because He loves us and has a destiny for us. The choice is forever ours if we want to quit or keep on fighting. Eventually, all of us, pastor or not, have to learn how to say like David, "The Lord is with me, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" (Psalm 118:6).

Or we can choose to be like Jonah and the elder brother of Luke 15.

Stay Tuned True Believers...

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

2008-06-12T16:27:00.003-05:00

If you watch much television or go to many movies you'd probably come to the conclusion that men are pigs with little to no redeeming value to the human race. We stink, we make rude noises and say rude things and the worst possible time. We're simpletons that can't make it through a morning, much less a day, without the help of our much more intelligent and well mannered wives.

Yep, socially speaking, men have been downgraded from "Father Knows Best" to "Dumb and Dumber" by mainstream Hollywood. Now, we could play the blame game and point the finger at everyone from militant feminists to fundamentalists who abuse the Bible and their submitted spouses but that's not going to solve much, is it? No, I prefer to be pro-active and simply challenge people to honor your fathers this weekend whether you think they deserve it or not.

One of the characteristics of the "last days", according to Paul, was a societal shift in attitude toward our parents (2 Timothy 3:2). Certainly we can see this breakdown in familial relationships all around us. God has placed a rather simple requirement on us that comes with conditions (Exodus 20:12). There aren't any qualifiers to this instruction. The Word doesn't say, "Honor your father and mother unless they..." It simply says to honor them.

Sadly, there are far too many horror stories of abusive parents. You don't have to do much research to see our society is very unhealthy especially at the family level. As a matter of fact, thanks to decades of glorifying dysfunctional families in our entertainment we have generations of people who believe dysfunction is functional. There is no push to strive for excellence in our families. And why should we strive to put an end to family curses or abusive cycles when it is so much easier (and in some cases lucrative) to give in to our basest instincts and just react naturally to whatever life throws at us.

To put an end to these family curses, we need godly men to stand up and do what doesn't come naturally to us; we must obey God. This requires Holy Spirit to empower us to do what we cannot do naturally, namely forgive and honor those to whom honor is not due (in our estimation). So, this weekend, we're going to spend some time honoring our fathers. It is past time to put an end to the abusive reputations of fathers from both Hollywood and our fathers themselves. It is amazing how much easier life can be when we simply obey God instead of the dictates of our hearts.

So, obey your Heaven Father and honor your earthly father. I believe you'll find that your Heavenly Father truly does know best...

Culture Shock: Crosses -vs- X-Boxes

2008-06-03T07:33:00.010-05:00

"...and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel." -Judges 2:10

It isn't a stretch to say we are living in a godless culture. There is no fear of God in the eyes of most of our younger generation. In fact, not only are they fearless toward God, they're getting bolder about denying Him:

The verse I quote from Judges is speaking about the generation following Joshua's generation. The sons and daughters of the generation that conquered the promised land did not know God. The kids of the Jordan river crossing and the Jericho miracle did not know the works that God did for Israel. I'm not talking about Joshua's grandchildren or great-grandchildren. The Bible says Joshua's CHILDREN did not know the Lord nor the works He had done for Israel. How on earth is that possible?

Our godless culture has infiltrated and influenced the children in our churches. I speak not only as a pastor but as a former youth pastor. For years it was my responsibility to minister to, teach and lead the children of our church leaders and members. Needless to say, I and every other youth pastor on the planet can tell you of the generational divide present in our churches. It seems that the more active the adults are in church the less time they have for their kids.

This is true for pastors as well. Generally speaking, we are the worst at including our children in our ministry efforts. Sadly, the most troubled teenagers I had to minister to were the children of our ministers and leaders.

That isn't to say that all Preacher's Kids (PKs) are destined to be hellions. Many have made it through their teenage years fairly drama-free. However, the general reputation of PKs over the generations didn't just come from movies like "Footloose".

The attitude of the average church attendee is to let the church pastors/ministers instruct the children in the ways they should go. While church should be an important part of the process, if mom and dad aren't teaching and (more importantly) displaying the truths of God's word at home...

Children know horse-manure when they hear it. If God's Word isn't real enough to mom and dad why should little Billy and Susie believe it? If church-going dad comes home from a rough day at the office and curses out mom for not having dinner on the table, the only message that sends to the kids is "church and God are only for Sunday". Sadly, there are many "Sunday-only" Christians out there raising a generation of children who do not know God. A 30 minute Bible lesson once a week cannot compete with the cultural barrage our children face 7 days a week.

My question is, is the Body of Christ supposed to be involved with positively affecting and changing our culture or are we to simply watch and pray till the Lord comes? Jesus instructed the church through a parable to "Occupy till I come" (Luke 19:13). Does the word "occupy" mean "to conquer and take dominion" (Genesis 1:26-28) or does it mean "to take up space"? I'm afraid for a majority of God's people, the latter is the preferred definition.

So, while the church slumbers, our culture moves deeper into apostasy. As God's people struggle with everyday life issues, our children grow without a knowledge of God. With more and more people leaving the church in search of greener pastures, our children turn to American culture for guidance. The result is a fulfillment of Judges 2:10 in modern American society. There are whole generations of young people who do not know God nor the works He has done for America. I speak this to our shame.

It is past time to do something about it. How? Stay tuned true believers...

Clash of the Charismaniacs: Part 3

2008-05-28T14:12:00.002-05:00

Does God still heal through the hands of submitted servants? Are all "faith healers" shams and frauds? Certainly there are many false "profits" and prophaliars out there who are making themselves rich off of the hopes and desires of well intentioned but biblically ignorant people. There have always been fakes and frauds (2 Corinthians 11:13) but does the existence of fakes negate or validate the existence of the authentic?

Are scenes like the one depicted in the video above an elaborate hoax perpetrated by countless thousands of deceived saints lead on by their deceiving leaders or is God actually still manifesting Himself supernaturally through the hands of His faithful followers?

I'd love to hear some feedback from you. Leave me a comment. Send me an e-mail (chris@churchquake.net) or tune on this Saturday at 5:30 pm on 100.7 FM or on the web at our "Listen Now" button to the left. Let me know where you come out on this issue and why. Maybe we can learn something about God together and move one step closer to answering Christ's prayer in John 17.

Clash of the Charismaniacs: Part 2

2008-05-22T05:53:00.003-05:00

When I was a kid I remember a dynamic young preacher who caught the eye of several pastors in our denominational circle of churches. For a stretch of about 2 years this guy was everywhere; youth camps, revivals, conferences, etc. You couldn't find a church in the Houston area that didn't know who this guy was and who didn't have anything but high praise for his preaching skills and teaching talents. Everybody seemed to love him equally. The older preachers seemed to look to this young man as the leader of the future generation of preachers; the young people seemed to hang on his every word.

Then he was gone. He just dropped off the face of the earth. As I grew into my own pastoral calling I would ask some of the older pastors what happened to this young firebrand. I got vague answers that really didn't answer the question. Finally, one pastor let me know that the young pastor had been "lost" to heresy. It seems not only was he a charismatic speaker he actually had become a Charismatic speaker. The older pastors shook their head sadly when his name was invoked as if a great blow had been struck to the denominational cause.

It is this mentality that drives me to do what I do. I know of many pastors who I love and respect who are more concerned with establishing and maintaining our denominational distinctives than in actually doing what Christ commanded His Body to do; many brethren believe these two purposes to be identical.

As I stated in my last blog entry, I was raised with a cessationist dogma. What I failed to mention is the penalty among pastoral peers when one of our own "falls away" into doctrinal heresy like believing in the modern existence of the gift of tongues. I've seen many godly, gifted preachers turned away by their peers because of doctrinal differences like this. I've seen struggling missionaries turned away because they got a jot or a tittle wrong on their bible doctrine questionaire.

With this pattern displayed for me from my youth up, you can imagine how difficult my personal journey into these doctrinal waters has been. Every question I ask brings my credibility into question in the eyes of many of my peers. Every step I take brings me that much closer to having the heretic card whipped out on me.

That used to bother me greatly. Now, and I say this with no pride or cockiness whatsoever (he that has ears to hear...), I could not care less what others think of me. I'm not boasting or coming from a bad place when I say this. Oh, believe me, I used to say "I don't care" from the darkest pit of despair and depression that a human being can be in without committing suicide. No, I can now say "I don't care" with the spiritual confidence borne from countless hours of praying, seeking, asking and knocking. I know in whom I have believed and that knowledge grows with each passing day.

Like Job, I grew up with a head knowledge of God but very little relational knowledge (Job 42:5). I was raised with a performance based Christianity. As a pastor I was treated more like the coach of a professional sports team than a spiritual leader of a church of Jesus Christ; win here or you're outta here. I was taught to fear my sheep as they had the power to remove me at a moment's notice if I taught or led them into anything they did not like or agree with doctrinally. I was shown by my pastoral peers that if I didn't toe the company line I'd be relegated to second-class citizen status and my name would be uttered in hushed whispers with melancholy head-wagging at pastor's conferences; "Did you hear what happened to Chris Murphy...?"

I share this with you just so you know where I'm coming from when I bring these topics up. I do not see myself as a rabble-rouser or a trouble-maker. My prayer is to be used of God in whatever capacity He sees fit to use me in His kingdom. It just so happens that He wants to use me to ask some questions of His people. Some see my questioning in the same light as the one asked by the serpent in the garden; "Has God really said...". But, for those who are seeking after God...

Does our supernatural God still move supernaturally on the earth today? Is God the great "I WAS" or the great "I AM"? Is the Bible a history book or a handbook? Does God still manifest Himself through His Holy Spirit in "every man" (1 Corinthians 12:7) or has He changed His methods in these "last days" of the church age? These are just some of the questions I have burning within me.

Stay tuned, true believers...you'd better believe there's more to come.

The Clash of the Charismaniacs

2008-05-13T09:27:00.008-05:00

Does God still manifest Himself supernaturally through "spiritual gifts" today? Do the gifts of tongues, interpretation of tongues, miracles, healings, and more still exist today or have they been "done away" with the completion of the Bible?

I was raised a cessationist. That's a $5 religious label that identifies those who believe the spiritual gifts displayed in Acts and talked about in many of Paul's writings ceased with the completion of the Bible. The primary biblical evidence cessationists use to prove this doctrine is found in 1 Corinthians 13:10 which reads as follows:

"But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away."

The "that which is perfect" of 1 Corinthians 13:10 is universally interpreted as the completed Bible by cessationists; "...that which is in part..." are the spiritual gifts. The larger picture of the cessationist doctrine is the belief that God's use of spiritual gifts like tongues was a temporary proof of His presence and power in the absence of the "perfect" Word of God. With the complete canon in our hands, God's people no longer need tongues and healing miracles; all we need is the Word.

I have preached the cessationist doctrine for decades. I'd meet people who claimed to speak with tongues with skepticism and a cynical "yeah, right" attitude. I viewed those who believed in the contemporary existence of these spiritual gifts as "weird" (at best) or "heretics" (at worst).

Over the years I've seen a lot of ridiculous things performed by people in the name of God that were clearly not of divine origin. I've seen preachers lead an entire congregation in a chaotic march around the auditorium with everyone speaking, screaming and praying in tongues. I've watched a fiddle-playing worship leader "slay" people "in the Spirit" by pointing his instrument at them as he played. The auditorium looked like a Civil War battlefield after he finished the worship service. I've seen in that same service a woman who was "slain in the spirit" raise her hand to receive a door prize that she'd won in a drawing only to lapse right back into her slain state once the prize had been awarded.

If you've been involved in church-life for any length of time, you've seen silliness and foolishness in the name of God.

My question is, does the existence of carnal mimicry prove the cessationist's doctrine? Are these foolish acts proof that God does not use the spiritual manifestations described in Acts and spoken of all over the New Testament? Or, could the existence of these foolish things be a proof that the real deal actually exists? Certainly Satanic mimicry of supernatural manifestations are not unprecedented (Exodus 7:11-12). Is it possible these foolish things are machinations designed to mimic something that actually exists today?

Could it be that the cessationist doctrine is motivated more out of fear of association than of sound Biblical interpretation?

The truth is, I've seen things that I can not explain away. For all of the foolish things that I've seen over the years, I've also seen things that WERE of Divine origin. Things that absolutely obliterated my cessationist doctrine. I've witnessed a woman who was bound with a crippling back problem set free by the healing power of God through the hands of a submitted saint. I've watched men and women who have no hidden agenda or delusions of grandeur perform miraculous acts in the name of Christ and seen with my own eyes the supernatural power of God. I've been in a worship service so powerful that the conclusion of it was heralded by a thunderclap that was heard throughout the entire building on a cloudless day. Just the memory of that brings the tingles.

Could it be that man is guilty of throwing the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to this issue? Could cessationists be guilty of misinterpreting the scriptures because of our fears rather than our desire to "rightly divide the word of truth"? Could it be that God is still empowering submitted saints in supernatural ways?

I'll continue this in the next blog but to conclude this one I'd like to ask one more question in light of Peter's explanation to the question posed to him in Acts 2:12. Peter addresses the courtyard full of curious onlookers who want to know what is going on. Peter's explanation is a not quite verbatim quotation of Joel 2:28-32. Peter's interpretation of Joel 2 is to add the phrase "...in the last days..." (Acts 2:17). His explanation of the events on the Day of Pentecost was the biblical "last days" had arrived and the supernatural manifestations on display that day were the proof.

My question is, if the supernatural manifestations of God were the sign of the last days according to Peter, when did "the last days" end?

Mother's Day Special

2008-05-10T09:38:00.007-05:00

We're honored to have Becky Turner from LifeHouse ministries on the air with us on tonight's show. Tune in at 6PM on 100.7 FM in the Houston area or listen live on the ChurchQuake website. We'll be talking about a much needed ministry in our society; the need to minister to women with unplanned crisis pregnancies. Becky has dedicated her life to ministering to mothers and their unborn children in one of the most difficult times of their lives. So, tune in tonight and see if you can be a blessing as well as receive one.

Also, we're expanding our show time. Our new time slot is from 5:30pm to 7pm starting May 17th.

Stay tuned, true believers...there's more to come.

The Gender Wars: Seeking a "Just Weight"

2008-05-03T08:12:00.003-05:00

I feel the need to express my passions as they relate to this radio program/blog. Before I do I want to make it clear that I am not attempting to elevate my personal passions above anyone else's; we've all got a story, after all. In fact, as with anyone, my passion towards the church stems from my experiences within the Body of Christ more than my studies about the church.

Very few people truly understands what it is to be a pastor. Most people look at it as a job not unlike a school teacher or an assembly line worker. This view is not limited to the "laity"; even pastors can view it as such. But for the truly God-called shepherd, we understand the emotional commitment that is made for every single one of the sheep placed in our care. When we lose a lamb, it is painful. To lose an entire church, as I did, in a cascade of selfish carnality perfectly masqueraded as spiritual outrage, well, there really are no words to describe that level of personal pain. It goes beyond the sense of professional failure. I equate it to losing your entire familial bloodline in one tragic afternoon.

I am not the first pastor to have terrible experiences in the church setting; unfortunately I won't be the last one either. I recognize God's plan for me required me to travel this particular road. Like Job, I was riddled with the most difficult of our spiritual and emotional maladies to self diagnose, pride and self governance. Truth be told, I still wrestle with these insipid diseases of the soul and God, as always, is actively involved in bringing me to my knees on a regular basis. That said, I also recognize the church-tour God has taken me on has also taught me that He is not very happy with the state of the dis-union within His body.

The passions I have are stirred by the hand of my Creator; of this I have no doubt. My passion for His body is not to raise these debatable issues for the purpose of swaying the public to my opinion. My ultimate goal is to shine the spotlight on the division within the body of Christ with the purpose of teaching people how to seek a "just weight" (Proverbs 11:1) between the ditches of extremism that border the narrow road we are to be traveling on (Matthew 7:14).

We are a people of labels. We enter into most doctrinal arguments with really two primary goals; to establish our opinions, educated or otherwise, normally in a defensive posture and to identify those who disagree with our argument and properly label them. In most great debates there is little room for a moderate view. There are either Calvanists or Armenians, Legalists or Liberals, the right side of the road or the left side. I have come to learn that God is not an extremist...at least from His perspective. He is walking down the middle of that "narrow way" and is asking His people to "follow me".

Division occurs when our opinions and beliefs take priority over our leader's. Mutiny never occurs within submitted crewmen. Wars take place when we stop bending the knee and begin trying to bend others to our way of thinking. The Human spirit is a self-willed spirit and the process of bringing that under submission is a long and (usually) painful one. Killing the flesh is hard because the flesh just doesn't want to die. In fact, when our flesh senses its position as the power broker of our soul is in danger of demotion, like a fatally wounded animal it will fight to the death.

This issue of the woman's role in church isn't about putting women in charge of a church or letting a woman preach a sermon. It is truly about submission to God and His will for us. It is about learning how to yield to Him even when doing so flies in the face of our established beliefs and understanding of His doctrine (Proverbs 3:5b). God did not start the church to raise a race of Bible-believing warriors who will fight anyone and everyone (including family members) who dares to contradict "the faith" (Jude 3). His ultimate desire for us is to raise a race of God-believing praying/worshiping warriors who are submitted to the process of being conformed to the image of the Son, ready at a moment's notice to do whatever the Captain of our souls calls us to do even if it will earn us criticism, labels and worse from our enemies to our own family members (Romans 8:27-31).

Many will take offense to these statements and read into what I am saying as an attack against anyone who does not agree with my belief system. I say to you, nothing could be further from the truth. Is it possible for people with differing opinions on issues like a woman's role in the church to work together in harmony and unity for our King? I believe it is more than possible as long as our personal goals aren't to be proven right in our opinions. The division in the church is a result of the war of opinions between self-governed soulish saints. The division will end once God's people recognize their place in the Kingdom and learn how to completely submit to the King.

Probably the worst thing to happen to God's church is the division between laity and clergy. When educated men began to stand upon the rock of their theological doctorates and ceremonial vestments rather than the rock of Jesus Christ. When shepherds began to separate themselves from the flock in an attempt to elevate their status from servant to head. I believe if you study the doctrines of the Nicolaitans (Revelation 2:6) you'll find the clergy/laity separation was a key component of what God hated about them.

When we come to understand that we are all ministers of the gospel of God regardless of gender, race, color or creed, then we can begin the process of ending the division and putting an end to the wars among us. It is past time for God's people to learn the basics of submission to the King. This, above all else, is the purpose behind ChurchQuake. God is shaking up the church in an attempt to remove the things made with hands (man's traditions, protocols, procedures, etc) in order to establish His Kingdom on the earth (Hebrews 12:26-28). My desire is to see God HIGH and LIFTED UP in the earth and to be used of my King to put an end to the fighting among ourselves once and for all...if at all possible. This is my passion and my purpose.

So whether you agree or disagree with me on these issues, the ultimate question is, can we still serve our King together? Can we find the healthy balance and stay out of the ditches of extremism? Can we stop labeling those we disagree with and just walk in obedience to God's word (John 13:34-35)? Can we come together as brethren and stop the wars in our members (James 3)? It's a tall order but I believe it is possible (Luke 1:37)...

The Gender Wars: Is The Church A "He-Man Woman-Hater's Club"? (Part 2)

2008-05-01T10:09:00.022-05:00

Meet Artemis, the Greek goddess of the hunt, wild animals, healing, wilderness, chastity, and childbirth. Lovely lady, isn't she? Unless you are a professor of Greek/Roman Mythology or have a unique addiction to studying religions of the ancient world, you probably won't recognize this idol or know anything about the goddess it represents. I won't bore you with the details, suffice it to say she figures very prominently in the Word of God in Acts 19. (Roman mythology called Artemis by the name of Diana).

It seems that Paul started a near-riot by preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ in the region of Ephesus. People got saved and began burning their books of magic and other religious paraphernalia (Acts 19:19). This activity brought the religious cultists out in droves to protest against Paul and the fledgling Ephesian church. You can read about what happens in the latter verses of Acts 19.

Space doesn't allow me room to detail the religious practices of Artemis/Diana worship, but a quick perusal of the internet on the subject will show you a couple of interesting things.

One, Ephesus was home to the Temple of Artemis; the Mecca of Artemis worshipers.

Two, Women figured very prominently in the religious practices of the Temple of Artemis. The Priestesses of Artemis held a unique and powerful position in Ephesian society. Young girls were schooled in the dances and rituals of Artemis worship as soon as they were old enough to walk and talk. Suffice it to say, women of the Temple of Artemis were a powerful and influential group; an influence that would have tried to attach itself to the young Ephesian churches.

Three, according to 1 Timothy 1:3-4, young Timothy was left in Ephesus with the explicit instructions to "charge some that they teach no other doctrine, neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions..."

It is not difficult to imagine the tough time the Ephesian church had with keeping "other doctrines" out of their midst. It is noteworthy to mention Christ's commendation of the Ephesian church for their hatred of the "Nicolaitans" (Revelation 2:6). For more info on who the Nicolaitans might have been (since there's no clear definition in the Word other than this verse) check out this link

So, when you read Acts 19 and pay attention to the reaction of the Artemis worshiping Ephesians toward the newly converted Christians and you mix that with even the most basic knowledge of Artemis/Diana worship rituals, especially as it pertains to women, is it difficult to imagine why Apostle Paul would write the instructions to Pastor Timothy in 1 Timothy 2:11-15?

Gnosticism, with its "fables and endless geneologies", also plays a role in the religious culture of the time. Again space does not allow me to develop this beyond this statement. Paul's invoking of Adam and Eve may have had more to do with the doctrinal battles of the day than it does in evoking the eternal punishment for womankind that most fundamental Christians interpret into that passage.

My point in bringing all of this up is it is vitally important to understand the cultural, religious and social structure of the cities and regions to which these letters were originally addressed. There are many cultural instructions in the scriptures that simply do not apply to our culture and social structure (for example the head covering instructions in 1 Corinthians 11). In short, it is folly to try to impose ancient (or even modern) Middle Eastern cultural laws onto our Western churches.

I find it interesting that my fundamental Baptist brethren in particular (although they are by no means alone in this) can explain away the clearly taught instructions on speaking in and interpreting the gift of tongues in 1 Corinthians 14 by stating those gifts were for a certain time period and a certain culture while claiming the instructions on women's roles in church from the exact same passage of scripture as timeless and eternal (1 Corinthians 14:34-35).

Of course, one could easily argue that I am guilty of the same action in reverse; namely, I believe tongues are still in effect while arguing the rules for women no longer apply today. As far as the 1 Corinthians 14 passage, I only have to point out the phrase "...as also sayeth the law" in verse 34 and ask the question, which law is Paul referring to, God's or man's? I've found no Old Testament scripture commanding silence and submission to all of womankind so unless someone can produce a passage that I've missed that rules God's law out. That said, can you think of any man-made laws in the Middle Eastern region of the world pertaining to women's roles in society that Paul might have been referring to?

It's not easy to exercise brevity on this topic so I'll wrap this up in the next post. Again, contrary to the opinion of many, I'm really not doing this to sway the masses to my side of the arguments that I bring up. I'm just trying to get the topic out there, invite people to discuss them and hopefully teach God's people how to disagree without being divisive. That said, if the e-mails and calls I've gotten on this topic are any indication, there is a lot of passion and emotion attached to the arguments. That formula normally spells disaster for the unity in the Body of Christ and that is one thing that God can not stand (Revelation 2:6)...

We interrupt this blog...

2008-04-27T23:37:00.003-05:00

You may not be aware of it but, there's a place at the bottom of each blog entry for comments. I'd love to hear from anyone who reads these things to get your feedback. My desire is to have interaction with any and everyone who will take the time to drop me a line.

So, read the blog; leave a comment. Wash, rinse, repeat as necessary.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled surfing already in progress...

The Gender Wars: Is The Church A "He-Man Woman-Hater's Club"? (Part 1)

2008-04-24T18:53:00.016-05:00

Well, here's a topic that should get some discussion going: Can a woman speak, teach, and lead in the Body of Christ?

According to well known scriptures like 1 Corinthians 14:35 and 1 Timothy 2:11-12, the answer is a resounding "no". Amazingly enough, for all of the division that has existed in the Body of Christ since its inception, the issue of women's roles in the church has been nearly unanimously agreed upon until recent times. With clearly written scriptures like the ones mentioned, it really is hard to argue against the conventional interpretation of these scriptures.

Except...I have a few questions that just keep gnawing at me.

For instance, why would the Holy Spirit inspire Paul to forbid all the women in Christiandom from teaching or "usurp[ing] authority over the man, but to be in silence" (1 Timothy 2:12) only to inspire Luke to record Priscilla's (a woman) successful attempts to instruct Apollos (a man) more perfectly in the way of the Lord (Acts 18:26)?

Why would the Holy Spirit, who Christ said would only speak the things "whatsoever he shall hear" (John 16:13), inspire Paul to restrict women to silent observer status in the Body of Christ when the first people instructed to "tell [the] disciples" that Christ had risen from the dead were two women (Matthew 28:7-8)?

Why would Paul repeatedly teach the followers of Jesus Christ we are no longer "under the law" (Romans 6:14; Galatians 5:18) only to tell the women to "...keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but [they are commanded] to be under obedience, as also saith the law." (1 Corinthians 14:34)?

Staying with the whole "law -vs- grace" subject, why would God restrict women to silence and subjection under the New Covenant of grace after repeatedly using women in various leadership and ministry positions under the Old Covenant of law?

Consider for example, Deborah, of whom it is written, "the children of Israel came up to her for judgment." (Judges 4:4-5). Sounds like a pretty authoritative position to me.

How about the wise and resourceful Abigail (1 Samuel 25:33-35) whose intervention caused David to praise God for sending her to prevent him from making a horrible mistake. If God wants women silent and subjected, why send a woman to do a man's job?

Micah 6:4 lists Miriam along with Moses and Aaron as leaders of Israel. Miriam wasn't only a leader she was a "prophetess" (Exodus 15:20) a title also held by Deborah (Judges 4:4), Huldah (2 Kings 22:14), Noadiah (Nehemiah 6:14) and even one in the New Testament, a lady named Anna (Luke 2:36). There are many more Old Testament examples of female leadership, but hopefully you get the point.

There seems to be a rather large contradiction in the Word of God regarding women. How can God instruct an apostle to restrict all women across cultures, eras and creeds to silence and submission when Christ did not restrict the woman at the well from telling every man in Samaria "Come see a man..." (John 4:28-29)?

Now, before some of you fundamental brethren start labeling me a heretic for daring to ask my creator "why have you made me thus", let me establish a very important fact. These questions are not designed to call God's authority or sovereignty into question. These questions are to point out a pretty obvious contradiction between a couple of sentences in the the New Testament and the actions of both God and His followers all over the Bible. In reality, I'm not questioning God, I'm questioning man's interpretation of the scriptures.

Either there is a pretty large contradiction or we've been messing up His word (again). To me the issue is pretty clear. These few verses about a woman's role in the church are either the ramblings of a woman hater or they are just as Holy Spirit inspired as the rest of the scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16).

So the question remains, if 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 and 1 Timothy 2:11-15 are the inspired Word of God (and I believe they are) what do we do with these verses of scripture telling women to basically "sit down and shut up" in the church?

Stay tuned true believers...

Church Wars: Episode 2 - War of the Words

2008-04-18T13:30:00.005-05:00

Of all of the topics I've got on my planner for the show, this is the one I've been waiting for the most. I think the battle over Bible versions is a micro-cosmic example of what is primarily wrong with the Body of Christ at large.

The King James Only (KJO) crowd -vs- the Modern English Translation (MET) crowd has been battling for generations. There's passion and zeal for God's word on both sides of the argument as well as plenty of research and historical information. Opinions and convictions are thrown into the ring as much as the research which makes it difficult to separate fact from fanaticism for your average church attendee. In fact, the average Joe on the street couldn't care less about this fight; they just want to know if/how/when God is going to help them.

One underlying problem I see with this battle is the short-sightedness of the participants. Are we really so focused on our own private little wars that we are failing to see the bigger picture, namely the collateral damage done to the countless souls who have been caught in the crossfire not to mention the damage to the testimony of Jesus Christ in the world? I don't know if you've noticed or not gang, but the world is laughing their collective gluteus maxumuses off at Christianity and for good reason.

A listener e-mailed a story to our show during one of our "Church Stories" segments and they relayed something they saw firsthand at a church. A young unchurched child was chastised by a youth worker for bringing a different version of the Bible to church rather than the "authorized" King James Version. The listener indicated the young child never attended that church again. I can't say I blame him/her.

My purpose for bringing this topic up is not to engage in the battle. My desire is for God's people to S T O P all this pointless bickering and fighting over non-issues. Common sense needs to be re-established into the conversation. People need to learn how to use their God-given brains as well as the Holy Spirit of God's leading when reading the scriptures.

When you read passages of scripture like Isaiah 55:8-11 that speak of God's word not returning to him void, I do not see any addendum or clauses indicating God needs our help in maintaining the integrity of His Word. I fear many of God's soldiers are operating under the same presumption displayed by Israel back in Numbers 14. As I've stated before, too many of God's people are under the assumption their opinions are the same as God's; according to God's Word (Isaiah 55:8) that's rarely (if ever) the case.

I've come to learn God is big enough to keep his word all by himself. Many KJO proponents stress the danger of false doctrines coming up from these new translations. The insinuation is there hasn't ever been any false teachers or false doctrines prior to the NIV, the ASV or "The Message". As long as human beings are involved in the discussion, there is going to be false doctrine being taught; intentional and accidental alike. That isn't the issue. God knows how to protect, prevent and preserve; he's been doing it a long time and He's been doing it without our help.

Are there bad translations of the scriptures out there? Absolutely. Do we need to be careful about what version we read and study? You bet. Should we be dividing the Body of Christ up based on Bible version preferences? Show me the scripture that advocates that action and I'll be the loudest one proclaiming that truth. The fact remains there are plenty of battles to fight without inventing issues and problems. To me, this War of the Words is a non-issue that has escalated to ludicrous proportions.

For those who fall under the KJO banner I'll simply relay this anecdote. As a youth pastor at a church in the Houston area I was asked to "entertain" a young missionary who preached at our church one Sunday night. As I drove him to our dining destination he brought up the subject of Bible versions asking me which version I used. I told him I usually preached out of the KJV simply because that was the pastor's preference but that I studied out of many versions. Well, that set him off on a tirade on the heresy of all other versions except the "authorized" KJV.

After he made his point I asked him which version of the Bible he used at his mission (he was a missionary to a South American country; Peru I believe it was.) He proudly asserted that he used the KJV when he preached at his mission. I asked him if all of his people spoke English. He said "no, they speak various dialects of Spanish".

"So, do these people who do not speak English understand what you are reading when you read the KJV?", I asked him ever so politely.

"No, I use a Spanish translation of the King James Version." He stated and added, somewhat smugly, "My father spent years translating the KJV into Spanish and that's what we use."

"So you're using a translation of the KJV, not the actual KJV of the Bible." I pointed out.

"No, we're using the King James Version of the Bible." I could see his forehead start to furrow a tiny bit.

"Ok, just to be clear, we're talking about a Spanish translation of an English translation of the inspired Word of God that was written in ancient Hebrew/Aramaic/Greek, right?" I emphasized the words translation and inspiration trying desperately to make my point. "You do know the difference between the words 'inspiration' and 'translation' right?"

He was incredulous at my argument, "Are you saying the King James Version is not the inspired word of God?"

"Not at all, I'm saying the King James Version is a translation of the inspired word of God. You don't believe your father's translation attempt is the inspired word of God do you?"

"I believe God led my father to translate the KJV..."

"Yes, but you do know there is a huge difference between being led to do something for God and being inspired to write something FROM God, right?"

He couldn't get out of my car fast enough.

There is a difference between translation and inspiration. There is a difference between opinion and conviction. Not all convictions are universal. If you believe God has convicted you to use one version of the bible above all the rest, praise God and stick to your convictions.

The problem lies with the belief that my convictions should be everyone's convictions on every thing under the sun. Herein lies the greatest complaint the world has with modern Christianity and I share that complaint. We must have Godly wisdom to know what battles to fight and what battles to let go of. We must be sensitive to many nuances when conveying truth to the general population. Far too many of us are a subtle as a 50 kiloton nuke when we convey our convictions to others.

Some things are absolutely worth fighting for; the cross, the blood of Christ, the virgin birth, the empty tomb among many others. Some battles are not worth fighting. The War of the Words is one of them. If we were as concerned about ministering the love of Christ to one another as we are about proving our points, things would be much, much different in the church landscape than they are today...

Church Wars: Episode 1 - Old Tyme Religion -vs- New Wineskins Part Deux

2008-04-17T04:45:00.003-05:00

I'm new to this whole blogger thing. I think I'm reaching the age where "new" technologies don't come as easily to me as it used to. I'm not at the "can't program the clock on the VCR" stage but I have noticed a slight shift in my mentality towards all things "new".

I recognize how hard it is to change our perceptions. As much as I preach about the need to be conformable, I know that as we grow older we just don't bend as easily as we once did. Our muscles don't flex and stretch like they used to; partly due to age but mostly due to lack of use.

The immovability of God's people has done much damage to the Body of Christ. For example, I remember a young couple who started visiting the church I pastored in the mid-90s. These two young souls were typical of the times they were living in; they were living together and had a baby on the way. They were wanting to get married and had chosen our church for the ceremony. When it was known by the powers-that-be in the church that I was planning to marry this couple, I was informed that they needed to "get right with God" before they were to be allowed to use the church building. I recall a speech about our church testimony and the right image and stuff like that.

So, in compliance with these regulations, I introduced the couple to a home-bible study concept and was pleasantly surprised when they agreed to let me come into their home and teach them some Bible lessons. In the course of the lessons, the young couple accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. I, of course, was ecstatic and happily planned for them to be baptized at the next Sunday morning service.

The following Sunday we had a baptism. Now, the tradition of our church was to stand the newly baptized saints in front of the church and have the members line up and welcome them into the family; this was usually accompanied by hugs and words of comfort, encouragement, etc. So, we did that. This young couple stood dripping in the auditorium as their new family members welcomed them into the family of God. It was beautiful.

The next Sunday these new members didn't show up for church. The following week they were absent again. Weeks went by with nary a peep from these two. I called them and got no answer. I went to their house and they were never home (in spite of the fact that their cars were parked out front). Months went by before I finally caught one of them at home. I asked what happened and why they hadn't been back to church since their baptism. The young man hemmed and hawed his way through some weak excuses about new jobs, busy schedules and tired bodies on Sundays but I could tell he was avoiding the real issue.

When he finally got around to telling me what had chased them away my blood boiled. It seems that as these newly converted, freshly baptized babes in Christ were standing in the front of their new church home, several of my well-intentioned but frankly ignorantly stupid saints decided that was the perfect time to instruct them on the church dress codes, moral codes as they pertained to their living conditions, hair styles, codes of conduct and more.

So, instead of being welcomed into the family as newborn babes, they were assaulted by a barrage of rules and regulations that simply did not apply to them at that moment in time. They, naturally, balked at these new restrictions, concluded that Christianity wasn't for them after all and ran for the door as fast as they could. I tried to convince them that what they had seen and heard was not an accurate depiction of God's Word and Christ's church but the damage had been done; I never saw them again.

When I confronted the members who had done this deed the response was a predictable tirade against compromising the Word of God. While I applaud the passion of those who would defend the scriptures, I must point out that there is a wisdom needed by those who would fight for God. Wisdom is knowledge put to proper use. Wisdom knows there is a time to fight and a time to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Wisdom knows when to speak and when to be quiet. Wisdom understands that the time to to bring rebuke to someone is not when they are a brand new baby Christian still dripping wet from their baptism.

When I instructed these folks on the need to change their minds concerning their actions, one brother proudly whipped out Psalm 1 and passionately argued, "What about the scriptures that teach us to be like the tree planted by the waters?" I half expected him to break out into a stirring rendition of "I Shall Not Be Moved". My response to him was to instruct him to keep moving through the Psalms till he got to the tenth one and pay particular attention to verse 6. I also suggested he spend some time with Matthew 15:1-20. I don't think he got the point...

I repeat, the immovable trees in our congregations are not always healthy. People stop studying, stop learning, stop growing and become rooted in place unable to hear from God or see the fresh moves of God in the earth. Many churches have died on the vine because of an unteachable spirit and immovable attitude. I have found that the foundational cause of this mentality of immovability isn't love of God's Word as is commonly touted. The real root of this inflexibility is fear; fear of the unknown, fear of being wrong, fear of being like "those people" across the denominational divide.

I could write/preach on this for the next 1,000 years, but I think the point is obvious. God doesn't change. God's Word doesn't change. God's character doesn't change. God's message doesn't change. God's methods of communicating that message have changed repeatedly over the whole of human history. God's people need wisdom and maturity when tackling issues like this. You can't approach this topic with naked passion and raw zeal; you must have some wisdom and knowledge to go along with those commodities or they will quickly become liabilities (Romans 10:1-2).

As difficult as it may be, we must be willing to flex our muscles and stretch them out lest we become immovable, stagnant and lukewarm towards the move of God. It is very easy to get set in our ways as we grow older. While this malady of immovability is not exclusive to the older generations, far too many of our senior saints have earned the reputation of "old codger/biddy" because of these attitudes and inflexible mentalities. I say this with all the respect due our senior saints; reaching our golden years doesn't give license to become a cranky, inflexible, immmovable grump.

I close this thought with a familiar scripture (Revelation 3:15-16) to remind you that God isn't a big fan of stagnation. Water only becomes stagnant when it stops flowing. The Body of Christ has become stagnant in many ways in our society. For this reason, God is removing candlesticks from His churches (Revelation 2:5) and is shaking things up all across the Body of Christ. It is a very exciting time to be alive as a child of the King. God is moving; if you're not willing to move with Him, you're going to be left on the wrong side of the Jordan river.

If I remember my bible correctly, the only ones who didn't cross the Jordan into the Promised Land were the grumpy ones who would not be moved...

Church Wars: Episode 1 - Old Tyme Religion -vs- New Wineskins

2008-04-12T20:06:00.010-05:00

"CHANGE" is a dirty word in many churches. The concept of changing programs, protocols and procedures in many churches is unthinkable. Far too many of God's people are locked into an immovable mentality because they believe God never changes (Hebrews 13:8).

While it is true that Christ is "the same yesterday, today and forever" it is also true that His methods of reaching people and communicating His message have changed quite frequently over the centuries. It is vital that God's people get this into their spirits; God's Word never changes, God's teachings never change, God's character never changes. The methods by which we minister those things better change or our efforts to reach people will die.

I have been involved in many different churches over the years. All of them were of the Denominational, Evangelical, Autonomous, Fundamental (D.E.A.F.) variety. While it is not true of all, a majority of these D.E.A.F. churches have chosen to lock into an "old wineskin" method of ministry while pining away for that "Old Tyme Religion". The sad fact is many of God's people are guilty of being willingly ignorant of the obvious; many of our methods aren't working like they used to.

For example, one of the first things I changed at the church I currently pastor was to put an end to Sunday evening services. They were scarcely attended when compared to the Sunday morning crowd and the only way I knew how to communicate the need for more attendance was to try to manipulate them to come through shaming tactics (If you don't come to Sunday Night Service, you're a bad Christian).

I remember I was fretting over how to compel more people to come to Sunday night service when a thought hit me; why do we even have Sunday night service? What purpose does it serve? It was basically just another church service, just like the one we had that morning. Different sermon subject but same format, same process, same 'ol, same 'ol. It really served no purpose other than to fulfill some format that had been started back in '40s and '50s (if not sooner) to help facilitate the farming communities of that period.

I quickly started looking at our ministries and using the "is this ministry accomplishing anything" philosophy I began to whittle away at the time honored traditions of our church that weren't doing anything except filling a time slot on the church calendar.

This kind of thinking can be scary. For some, to recognize when ministry methods have run its course is to acknowledge the end of an era in our nation's history that many people wish we could go back to. The older we get the more we romanticize the past. I know many people who wish it was still 1940 or 1950. Sure those were good times in some ways, but it is foolish to believe there weren't morality and sin problems in those days.

Sin has always been around and God is in the business of forgiving sinners and redeeming the lost. He'll use any method that isn't contradictory to His clearly written Word and if a method exists that doesn't do the job, He's got no problem changing it. Don't believe me? Check out Acts 10. Peter had a hard time learning the lesson that God is a God of change.

In our efforts to expose the elephants in our auditoriums, I have found the church's resistance to accepting God's fresh moves on the earth to be one of the foundational problems in our churches today. God's people must learn to discern when God says "Time to move". We must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Our Great Shepherd is not content to let us sit beside the still waters and lay in the green pastures. There is a season for that to be sure but eventually God will compel His children to move. It is heartbreaking to me to watch once great churches slowly whither and die on the vine simply because the people had a mind to sit on their "blessed assurance" instead of having a mind to "Occupy till [He] comes".

We must not be afraid to change...but only when GOD is the author of the change. (to be continued)

Welcome to ChurchQuake

2008-03-14T15:18:00.001-05:00

WELCOME True Believers to ChurchQuake! After 3 months of creating, scrapping and recreating the web design, we’re finally ready to unveil the site. I’d like to thank Joe Dulany for his tireless work on the site as well as my lovely wife, Mica, for helping with the design. I’d also like to thank Al Gore for creating the internet, making this site possible. Thanks Al!!!
We’re very excited about the future of the radio program. It is my prayer that this site will become a vital companion to the show; especially this blog. We’ll be adding more “stuff” to the site as time progresses including an area for people to send their show topic suggestions, a “Church Stories” section where people can give us their church stories and much, much more.
So for the very first blog I thought I’d give just a brief summary of why this radio show and website exists. My passion is the Body of Christ. God has placed me on a very interesting journey through the church landscape over the past 17 years and if I could summarize what I’ve seen, heard and experienced into one word the word would be “fractured”. As badly divided as Judaism was in Jesus’ day, I believe modern Christianity hasn’t just surpassed the Pharisees and Sadducees, we’ve lapped them several times over. In fact, according to one source there are over 20,000 different Christian denominations. A true accounting may never be possible with all of the church splits and arguments over every conceivable doctrinal, political and practical issue usually ending in a new “denomination” being birthed. After all, just how many different kinds of Baptists does God need anyway?
My passion is to see the division within the Body of Christ come to an end. I believe very, very strongly that God is not happy with what has happened to His Body and is very serious about restoring the Church back to potency and proper relevance in the Earth. Jesus did not build His church on the rocks of division and disintegration. He built His Church on Himself, the one true rock and is final prayer recorded for us in John 17 was one of unity among all believers. I am one among many who want to be used of God to bring that prayer to reality.
The critic will cry “heresy” and accuse people like me of trying to move the church into “ecumenicalism”, that is a uniting of ALL religions. Only a fool would try to unite all the world religions under one banner and certainly that is not what Christ was talking about when he prayed for unity. I’m talking to the true believers in Jesus Christ and calling for us to rally together and get back to the scriptural balance that is described for us in scripture. I’m calling for an end of the warring in our members and a return to us working in “one accord”. This is not “ecumenicalism”, it is not fantasy, it is not impossible; it is scriptural and it is the will of our King (John 17:20-21).
The world is crying out for answers; God’s got them. The world needs to see the Savior of mankind; the church is His manifested Body on earth. If you’re a true believer in Jesus Christ, then you’re a representative of the King of Kings. His kingdom is not divided; neither should His Body be. This is the purpose of ChurchQuake and it is my personal passion. It’s time to whittle the 20,000+ denominations back down to one. The denomination? I don’t know, how about we restore what “Christian” truly means and become true “followers of Jesus Christ”? That’s my mission, it’s my goal and it’s what God is trying to establish in His Church. Hence this radio ministry.
So, welcome, true believers, to ChurchQuake. The time for restoration and reformation is once again upon us. Are you ready for what’s to come?