American Christians are just not exactly the same as “Christians.” That’s a sweeping generalization that I know is not true in some cases. There are plenty of exceptions I’m sure. But by in large, Christianity in America is light-years away from the first century church described in the New Testament. Continue reading
Tag Archives: faith
Does anyone know who Jesus is?
I was watching this video on Who Jesus Is and one thought in particular came to mind. It shouldn’t surprise us that many people have no idea who Jesus is, or even that they don’t know exactly what they believe. Ask the typical person on the street about Jesus, and you’ll always get answers like “He was a pretty cool guy,” or “He was a wise teacher, but he’s not my savior,” or maybe even “I don’t believe there was any such person.” Most people believe he existed, but not that he was the Son of God or even that he meant to start Christianity. But like I said, we shouldn’t be surprised by any of these answers. Continue reading
A Scriptural Perspective on Economic Collapse and Financial Bailout
We live in the richest nation on earth. It may be borrowed money, and we may be about to pay the piper for it, but Americans are simply the wealthiest society ever in history. We currently consume over half of the world’s natural resources. The poverty line in the United States is higher than the per capita income of many nations. My dog drinks cleaner water than about half of the world’s children. We spent more money last year on ice cream than NASA spent in the entire space program. That is the beauty of capitalism. The revenues generated go back into fueling the system. Carl Marx predicted capitalism would destroy itself, but you see, greed makes it work. Our greed drives us to work harder, put in more hours, educate ourselves to get higher positions, etc. And what do we do with all of that additional hard-earned cash? WE SPEND IT, creating jobs and providing increasing salaries for our friends and neighbors. So what went wrong? Continue reading
Was Jesus a Radical?
The simple answer is yes. Jesus was radical in his ministry and teachings. He questioned the rulers of the Jewish faith, he threw people out of the temple, he pronounced woe to the scribes and Pharisees, he performed healings and miracles on the Sabbath, his disciples did not fast, and even ate without washing their hands. His whole Sermon on the Mount turned the Jewish traditions and laws seemingly upside down. The simple answer is that Jesus was a radical; however, I don’t believe it’s that simple. Continue reading
The Faith of Satan
We’re studying the Gospel of Mark in our Sunday morning small group, and my wife was fascinated by one of the stories in chapter one. As this person possessed by a demon is approached by Jesus, he identifies Jesus and asks why he is there. Jesus at once commands his silence, then casts out the unclean spirit. This event was early in his ministry, and Jesus didn’t want anyone blabbing out who he really was just yet. On at least one occasion, Jesus will instruct those just healed to tell no one what has happened. The interested thing, though, is that the demonic spirit knew immediately that Jesus was the Holy One of God when he saw him. Many people would listen to the sermons, see the signs and wonders, and still not believe. Jesus would read from the prophets, have long talks with leaders such as Nicodemus, and still people would walk away puzzled not knowing what to believe. But any demon or unclean spirit Jesus encountered at once knew who he was, and often questioned if they were to be punished before the time. We should not be surprised at their apparent knowledge.
Jesus exists from everlasting to everlasting with God. The Nicene Creed describes him as being the eternally begotten Son of God. Before their fall from grace, the angelic beings worshipped God (and his Son) in heaven. Consider also the temptation of Jesus by Satan in the wilderness. The devil can quote scripture, no doubt. And just why was he offering Jesus all this stuff anyway? He knew that by following God’s plan, Jesus could ruin all of his plans. Herod had tried to kill Jesus as an infant, now Satan would attempt to derail his ministry just as it was beginning. Just because someone believes in God or knows scripture doesn’t make them a true believer. This is illustrated by James 2:19 that says “…even the devils believe and shudder.” They know the scripture, the prophesies, and even the God that created them better than we do.
Catholics, Protestants, and 400 denominations
When you meet a person on the street and say that you are a Christian, what you mean by that and what a stranger thinks may be galaxies apart from each other. Bill Maher has commented on how ridiculous it is to believe that a cracker turns into the body of a guy that’s been dead for 2,000 years, and your salvation depends on eating it. That’s one way in which the outside world views Christianity. And when other people hear that, that’s what they think of all Christians. The reference is to the Roman Catholic teaching of transubstantiation, and most Protestants find it ridiculous also; yet they break the bread and take the cup. That’s just one example of thousands where Christians disagree.
I wrote an article in April called Roman Catholic Christians in which I listed several things that Baptists and Catholics agree on, all having to do with the work and divinity of Jesus Christ. Recently there have been some new comments, and I’ve responded to those, but that’s so far back I decided to bring it up again. Continue reading
Aladdin’s Lamp Christianity
There are children starving in Africa. 3-year-olds are raped and then murdered. Millions of people in the world have cancer, HIV, and other diseases for which we have no cure. Gasoline is over $4 a gallon. I can’t believe in a God that would allow all these things to happen in the world.
Have you ever heard an argument like this, or some variation thereof? We live in a screwed up world, there is no argument about that. I believe in working to find a cure for AIDS, feeding the hungry of the world, and any other humanitarian cause you can think of. But none of these problems can be put together in a equation that equals God does not exist. Continue reading
Give us a sign.
The Pharisees ask Jesus for a sign on two separate occasions, in Matthew 12 and again in Matthew 16. Both times Jesus replied that a wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. In the second case, Jesus had just miraculously feed a crowd of 4,000; but if he showed them one more sign, then they would believe. Continue reading
Pearl of Great Value
It is important to remember what we have. There is an old saying that you don’t know what you have ’till it’s gone. I hope that’s not always true. I’ve known people that were getting ready to sell a car, and wanted it to look it’s best to fetch the best price they could get. After vacuuming and cleaning the interior, washing and waxing the finish, ArmorAlling the tires, etc. they decided to keep the car. Sometimes it’s tough to recognize what we are in possession of, but it’s more important for Christians to be able to than anyone else. Continue reading
Ever feel like you’re alone?
Elijah is one of the better known prophets of the Old Testament. Just after defeating the prophets of Baal, however, Elijah does something very strange considering his victory. He hides out in a cave and simply asks God to kill him. 1 Kings chapter 19 is the very well known passage where there is a wind, but God was not in the wind; there was an earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake. Finally he hears the voice of God in a small still voice. I’m sure you’ve at least heard of this story. But twice in this passage Elijah expresses his concern that he is the only true believer left in the world. God basically tells him to get over his pity party, and informs him that there are 7,000 still in Israel that never bowed the knee to Baal. The lesson for us is that we are often not as alone as we think.
In Genesis chapter 14, Abram is the only man of faith we know about. After the flood, the population of the world grew, and very quickly forgot about God. As far as we know, Abram is the only person God is talking to period. Then he meets Melchizadek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High (El Elyon in Hebrew). Melchizadek blesses Abram, and Abram gives the priest a tenth of all he has. What’s weird about all this is the tribe of Levi, from which the Levitical priests are anointed, will not exist for hundreds of years yet. Levi was Abraham’s great-grandson, but not yet, not in Genesis 14. The New Testament book of Hebrews makes a big deal of this, and has a lot to say about the relationship between Abraham the patriarch and this priest not of the Levite order. Simply put, Abram was not alone in his belief of the True and the Living God.
At times, we are placed in tough places to grow. Remember the sunflower story? It can be discouraging, but recall the words of Jesus in Matthew 28: “I am with you always, even until the end of the age.” Just before that he said all authority was given to him in heaven and on earth. Not only are we not alone, who better could we ask be with us?
Here is this sermon in mp3: abraham-and-melchizadek
The Master's Table 