Had you heard that we've discovered an 11th Commandment? It's true. Recently some archaeologists were going over the two surviving tablets of the Law and they found an additional commandment concealed in the decorative etching at the bottom. When they translated the Hebrew into English,it said "Thou Shalt Not Offend."
I'm joking about the archeologists! Unfortunately, I'm not joking about the new commandment- at least in the minds of this generation. Take one step back for a bit of perspective and you realize that most of us aren't competing for souls- or even fruit, or holiness, or service. We are competing with everybody else to be liked. It's almost as though we have this pink sheet of paper pinned to our backs, pleading "Like me. Please." We will offer tacit approval of depraved choices, deny Jesus, or abandon a friend to Hell, but we dare not risk offending anybody. If they don't like us, we'll never reach them. Isn't that biblical?
When did the people of God begin worrying about what other people think of us? Good grief! In His inaugural sermon that launched the church, Jesus reassured us "Happy are you when people insult you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you because of me." Jesus didn't care if people liked him. His example said, "It is what it is! This is what God is like, whether you approve or not."
Of course he loved people tirelessly, but he didn't fawn all over them trying to schmooze them. He called some people hypocrites and told others to stop sinning. He drove the money changers out of the temple with a whip. He rebuked Peter's sinful excuses, and called him Satan. He did controversial things. Some people overlooked all this because he had amazing power to help. Others got so mad they wanted to kill Him.
Today, many of Christ's churches are competing for the Miss Congeniality Award. What can we do to make you like us? Can we endorse Global Warming to win your approval? Can we change the subject when the topic of sin comes up? Can we serve you lattes in the winter and ice cream in the summer? Can we make the sermons shorter and talk endlessly about motion pictures and TV shows? Then will you like me?
Hey, can we be finally be honest with ourselves and face the facts? You know this: as hard as we've tried, most people still don't like us. And the ones who do like us are not being transformed by faith. They're simply tolerating our convictions that are apparently so backwards that even we'd rather not talk about them.
Take a look at the US Church today and you quickly see that everything is up for grabs- everything! Some "Bible" churches won't even mention the virgin birth lest intellectuals be offended. Other Christians are asking if one man-one woman is really the biblical standard for marriage. Some churches have banned the word "sin" from their Sunday vocabulary. The world doesn't know God, but they know this: when everything is up for debate, nothing seriously matters.
Simon Peter, Paul the apostle, James the brother of Christ, and Simon Peter were just a few of the First Century saints who died prematurely. They didn't contract cancer or AIDS. They were murdered by the large numbers of people who were offended and didn't like them. But in the short time they lived here, their lives called down so much power from Heaven that they changed their world.
Good News: God loves you. If your ministry pleases Him, you'll win some of your neighbors whether they like you or not. Let's take the stupid signs off our backs and stop acting like a bunch of losers.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
The Energizer Church
The bad news keeps coming and coming and coming from the American Midwest. Rivers are cresting at levels higher than forecast. Levees and dams are being threatened. Homes, schools, and businesses are being inundated and washed away.
But here in the real world, relief agencies say that the rest of us have "donor fatigue." You might not know the term, but you can probably guess the definition: we're weary of giving. When the cyclone struck in Myanmar, it was easy to think "Just yesterday I was giving to Thailand! What's wrong with these people anyway?" Then the massive earthquake leveled schools and cities in China. One could easily say, "That's too bad, but I've already given to another international disaster at the office this week!"
Now the floodwaters are raging in the American heartland, but the milk of human kindness has run dry in the American heart. The Red Cross is out of money. Samaritan's Purse reports that even as the need for relief teams is growing massively, some teams that were scheduled have actually fallen through. There is this overwhelming need for volunteers and money, but the rest of us are completely focused on vacations, the frustrating presidential campaign, the rising price of gasolene.
The Holy Spirit gave me a serious case of conviction this week-end. He called to mind that old familiar scripture, "Do now grow weary in well doing, for in due time you will reap if you faint not." It occurs to me that I'm not really weary. I haven't sacrificed that much for the needs of the world. I'm just comfortable and distracted.
So I've asked the Lord and some of our guys to help me. We're putting together a relief trip to the Midwest ASAP. We're already collecting groceries to be distributed to local folks who have run out of money in recent weeks. We're looking at our next trip to Zimbabwe in the Fall. That's not a lot, but at least it's a start.
Everybody's seen the cool bunny with the drum who keeps going... and going... and going. God is calling churches to outlast that little varmint! Are you down with it?
But here in the real world, relief agencies say that the rest of us have "donor fatigue." You might not know the term, but you can probably guess the definition: we're weary of giving. When the cyclone struck in Myanmar, it was easy to think "Just yesterday I was giving to Thailand! What's wrong with these people anyway?" Then the massive earthquake leveled schools and cities in China. One could easily say, "That's too bad, but I've already given to another international disaster at the office this week!"
Now the floodwaters are raging in the American heartland, but the milk of human kindness has run dry in the American heart. The Red Cross is out of money. Samaritan's Purse reports that even as the need for relief teams is growing massively, some teams that were scheduled have actually fallen through. There is this overwhelming need for volunteers and money, but the rest of us are completely focused on vacations, the frustrating presidential campaign, the rising price of gasolene.
The Holy Spirit gave me a serious case of conviction this week-end. He called to mind that old familiar scripture, "Do now grow weary in well doing, for in due time you will reap if you faint not." It occurs to me that I'm not really weary. I haven't sacrificed that much for the needs of the world. I'm just comfortable and distracted.
So I've asked the Lord and some of our guys to help me. We're putting together a relief trip to the Midwest ASAP. We're already collecting groceries to be distributed to local folks who have run out of money in recent weeks. We're looking at our next trip to Zimbabwe in the Fall. That's not a lot, but at least it's a start.
Everybody's seen the cool bunny with the drum who keeps going... and going... and going. God is calling churches to outlast that little varmint! Are you down with it?
Friday, June 13, 2008
Darwinists in Denial
I always admired the candor of Sir Francis Crick, a legendary scientist who won the Nobel Prize for his breakthrough research in DNA in the 1960's. Afterwards, Crick reached the conclusion that it was absolutely impossible for life to have randomly evolved on this planet. He argued that the complexity of life is such that no amount of time could plausibly account for its miraculous appearance. But since he was a devout atheist, the only logical explanation for him was that life had been seeded here by aliens from outer space!
Crick called his theory panspermia, and he was quickly mocked by the evolutionary community. His idea was outrageous! Every Darwinist worth his salt was sure that if the origins of the earth could be pushed back several billion years, there would be plenty of time for life to have emerged from the infamous slime pools! So the origins of the earth were conveniently pushed back another billion years, but the Eureka moment never came.
To the contrary, when researchers finally cracked the Genome Code, they found that life was infinitely more complex than we'd ever before imagined- even at the microscopic level. The result has been a growing number of researchers who insist this kind of sophisticated design requires a designer. They don't mean Christian Dior!
Recently, I had noticed a change in the tone of the debate. It seemed that there was a new "consensus" building in the scientific community. The voices of Darwinism confessed it was true, they could not explain how the first non-living cell became a living one. But who knows, maybe life was introduced here from afar! If Dr. Crick were still alive, he'd surely be smiling.
Today I smiled when I read the headline, "We May All Be From Outer Space." That's right. You've guessed it. Just at the most convenient moment researchers have taken another look at a meteorite that's been lying around for a while. And they've made a "breakthrough." Two tiny microscopic particles of life which we'd always assumed stuck to the meteorite upon impact are now theorized to have arrived onboard from outer space. Other scientists still insist the particles are earthbound, but who cares what a bunch of dissident scientists say if the community can reach consensus? Right?
Watch for the snowball effect over the next few years as more Darwinists shove the origins of life into the distance and darkness of some other galaxy. The evidence here on Earth is so inflexible that the search must either turn to God or turn to outer space. Since God is out of the question for disciples of Darwin, I expect Sir Francis Crick will soon be awarded his second Nobel Prize- posthumously.
Crick called his theory panspermia, and he was quickly mocked by the evolutionary community. His idea was outrageous! Every Darwinist worth his salt was sure that if the origins of the earth could be pushed back several billion years, there would be plenty of time for life to have emerged from the infamous slime pools! So the origins of the earth were conveniently pushed back another billion years, but the Eureka moment never came.
To the contrary, when researchers finally cracked the Genome Code, they found that life was infinitely more complex than we'd ever before imagined- even at the microscopic level. The result has been a growing number of researchers who insist this kind of sophisticated design requires a designer. They don't mean Christian Dior!
Recently, I had noticed a change in the tone of the debate. It seemed that there was a new "consensus" building in the scientific community. The voices of Darwinism confessed it was true, they could not explain how the first non-living cell became a living one. But who knows, maybe life was introduced here from afar! If Dr. Crick were still alive, he'd surely be smiling.
Today I smiled when I read the headline, "We May All Be From Outer Space." That's right. You've guessed it. Just at the most convenient moment researchers have taken another look at a meteorite that's been lying around for a while. And they've made a "breakthrough." Two tiny microscopic particles of life which we'd always assumed stuck to the meteorite upon impact are now theorized to have arrived onboard from outer space. Other scientists still insist the particles are earthbound, but who cares what a bunch of dissident scientists say if the community can reach consensus? Right?
Watch for the snowball effect over the next few years as more Darwinists shove the origins of life into the distance and darkness of some other galaxy. The evidence here on Earth is so inflexible that the search must either turn to God or turn to outer space. Since God is out of the question for disciples of Darwin, I expect Sir Francis Crick will soon be awarded his second Nobel Prize- posthumously.
Monday, June 9, 2008
When Skeptics Ask
Some people watch too much Oprah and read too much Newsweek. The result is that they pick up on fascinating ideas that they never really think about or examine further. And one day when you or I mention the benefits of faith in Christ, we get this knowing reply: "Sure, but how to you explain all those horrible things done in the name of Christ throughout history?"
Next time it happens, I dare you to smile and ask, "Which atrocity did you have in mind?" Half the time, your pop philosopher friend will have no response at all other than a blank look and silence. But about half the time, neighbors and co-workers will cite one of the Big Three: the Salem Trials, the Spanish Inquisition, or the Crusades. Reasonable Christians can quickly apologize for the Witch Trials and the Inquisition. They were un-Christlike and stood in defiance of everything Jesus died for. (I never apologize for the Crusades, because they were basically a defensive war by ordinary people against Centuries of advance by the armies of Mohammed across the Middle East and into Europe. Islam's Armies were the aggressors.)
But ask your friends if they know when those things happened. The Witch Trials were 300 years ago. The Inquisition fizzled out nearly 200 years ago. And the Crusades, a clearly defensive effort, ended 500 years ago! Do skeptics ever read recent history?
It seems most skeptics are blissfully ignorant of the 70 million people killed by an atheist named Mao between 1930 and 1975. Many of those millions were Christians. And why is it so difficult to remember the 20 million killed by an atheist named Joseph Stalin in the 1940's? We still speak of 6 million Jews who died in the Holocaust, but nobody finishes the sentence to mention that more than 10 million people were ultimately wiped out by that leader- an atheist named Adolph Hitler. Unlike the Spanish Inquisition which took place in a remote time when violence was more widely expected, the atheists I just mentioned killed 100 million people during peace time in a world where their deeds were clearly deemed atrocities.
I shared these ideas in a sermon on Sunday. Afterwards, a friend with ties to China mentioned that he has actually met Christians who endured the reign of terror led by Mao Tse Tung. When he encountered them years ago, they still bore the broken bodies and the scars that were inflicted by Mao's Red Guard. And it was their faith which fueled the amazing revival that had made the underground Church in China the fastest growing and possibly largest church in the world.
Don't let your skeptical friends off the hook. Bring them up to date and let them ponder if they'd rather live in China (with an atheist tradition;) Saudi Arabia (with an Islamic tradition;) or the USA (with our Christian roots.) If they're honest, their answer will close the book.
Next time it happens, I dare you to smile and ask, "Which atrocity did you have in mind?" Half the time, your pop philosopher friend will have no response at all other than a blank look and silence. But about half the time, neighbors and co-workers will cite one of the Big Three: the Salem Trials, the Spanish Inquisition, or the Crusades. Reasonable Christians can quickly apologize for the Witch Trials and the Inquisition. They were un-Christlike and stood in defiance of everything Jesus died for. (I never apologize for the Crusades, because they were basically a defensive war by ordinary people against Centuries of advance by the armies of Mohammed across the Middle East and into Europe. Islam's Armies were the aggressors.)
But ask your friends if they know when those things happened. The Witch Trials were 300 years ago. The Inquisition fizzled out nearly 200 years ago. And the Crusades, a clearly defensive effort, ended 500 years ago! Do skeptics ever read recent history?
It seems most skeptics are blissfully ignorant of the 70 million people killed by an atheist named Mao between 1930 and 1975. Many of those millions were Christians. And why is it so difficult to remember the 20 million killed by an atheist named Joseph Stalin in the 1940's? We still speak of 6 million Jews who died in the Holocaust, but nobody finishes the sentence to mention that more than 10 million people were ultimately wiped out by that leader- an atheist named Adolph Hitler. Unlike the Spanish Inquisition which took place in a remote time when violence was more widely expected, the atheists I just mentioned killed 100 million people during peace time in a world where their deeds were clearly deemed atrocities.
I shared these ideas in a sermon on Sunday. Afterwards, a friend with ties to China mentioned that he has actually met Christians who endured the reign of terror led by Mao Tse Tung. When he encountered them years ago, they still bore the broken bodies and the scars that were inflicted by Mao's Red Guard. And it was their faith which fueled the amazing revival that had made the underground Church in China the fastest growing and possibly largest church in the world.
Don't let your skeptical friends off the hook. Bring them up to date and let them ponder if they'd rather live in China (with an atheist tradition;) Saudi Arabia (with an Islamic tradition;) or the USA (with our Christian roots.) If they're honest, their answer will close the book.
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