Why I Dislike Scripture
Before you call me a heretic, or un-Christian, lemme explain, please.
I love the Bible. I love that God has provided us a written word that we can grow from, and learn the truths of His grace, love, and glory.
The fact that a Holy God has provided us a manuscript to know Him greater, is beyond comprehension to me. I can’t fathom it.
Going back to the truth aspect, the thing I like most about Scripture is its relevancy and truth. Those also happen to be the things I dislike most.
From the Dark comes Light.
In the last couple months, I’ve been in a funk; both spiritually and physically. Consequently, my ministry began to suffer, and my leadership of those around, too. I’ve been in a dark place for a good bit of time, and have recently begun to see the Light. I received a kick in the pants(metaphorically) by my good friend Shane, who writes here occasionally as well. My writing here won’t be as good as usual, I’ve not written in sometime. But here we go:
So begins a new journey, and pursuit of life intertwined with Christ.
Over the last few days, excitement and desire to serve Christ has been brewing. I’ve met some new people who are just as excited if not, more excited than I am, about ministry. Something profound that I’ve experienced is the desire to minister, brings opportunity.
Last night was such an opportunity.
I heard about a last minute concert that was featuring a band I’ve only ever dreamt of seeing. So, I asked an awesome gal, whom I met the day previously, to go with me. Can’t go to a concert alone, y’all. It was a lot of fun, and we really, at least in my opinion hit it off pretty well.
After we left, we went into Dallas, and explored. We looked at Christmas lights, and walked around. We decide to run into Downtown, and look at lights there.
Up walks James, a man who is homeless. Now, prior to meeting him, myself and this young lady were talking about ministry and how serving people was important, and about ministry goals in serving the homeless was of value. No more after than 3 minutes after reaching the end of the conversation we’re approached by James.
Now, in this moment, I could do one of two things. Either I could pass him by, which is not hard to do, or I could respond to the call to serve. We chose the later.
James hit us up for a couple bucks, and I said, “I’ll do ya one better, let’s buy you a meal.” James energetically agreed. We walk a bit and talk to him. Turns out he’s a Vietnam War vet, lost his job and was in state jail for something involving alcohol, but from speaking with him and listening to his story, I can tell his life is back on the straight and narrow. Praise God.
We get to the restaurant and order him a meal, and continue to talk with him. Then enters John. Just a random dude, with a “COEXIST” tattoo on his forearm. John says to me, “Y’all are awesome, man. It’s cool to see people with compassion.” I got an opportunity to present the Gospel really briefly with this guy.
I pray that God will speak and work on both gentlemen, both James and John. Interestingly, their names are both Biblical.
All this to say, I feel as though God placed me in a moment to “put my money where my mouth was,” and serve Him through serving James and John. I feel as if I am back and where I need to be, to effectively minister for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It feels good to be home.
Misnomers: To Thine Own Self Be True
Please tell me I’m not alone in hearing this saying attributed to being in scripture, “To thine own self be true.” Wow. Is it a matter of conscience, a matter of identity, or a matter of morals? I’ve heard leaders say it, I’ve heard teachers at Christian colleges say it.
First, I’d like to point out that it’s actually a line from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It is not in the Bible, nor is it a part of Christian theology. Like my previous post, it’s really opposite what Scripture teaches.
Basic Christian theology establishes the Word of God as our basis for thoughts and understanding. That all Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, etc. This is found in 2nd Timothy 3:16.
Understanding that helps to understand why this series I’m working on is important. It’s an effort to help weed out things that ARE NOT part of our scripture. We can get into debates about canonization via email if you want. But you have to, as a Christian, believe that God gave us His Word, as a tool to use for our success in winning the lost and teaching believers; For His glory. That being said, I do believe the word of God, in its canonized state is what God has for us.
Alright, stepping off the soap box, and getting back on track.
Dunk ‘Em Good – Thoughts on Baptism
Baptism seems to be a hot topic in church culture. We know that Jesus has commanded the act of baptism. But I think some people may have a misconception of what baptism is, and what it does. I know a ton of churches have analogies they use to describe what it is.
This post is designed mainly for the non-Christian, or young Christian, but I don’t think those who have been Christians for years and years can’t benefit from it. Clarification, I think it could benefit most everyone.
A little history on me, I was baptized on Easter Sunday, circa 1997. I did it for several reasons. First it thought it was the process of being saved, I didn’t wanna go to hell! Second, I chose to do it, based on recommendation of my grandparents. They always spoke of its importance. I wanted to do things right in their eyes.
Unfortunately, as kids who grow into adults, this is generally the reason, and we see so many people come for salvation and baptism, because, “It didn’t really mean anything then,” or “I didn’t know what I was doing.”
I want to be clear in saying that baptism isn’t required for salvation. “BLASPHEMY!” is what the person who stopped reading at the word ‘required,’ is saying.
Your salvation isn’t based on baptism.
As a follow up to my previous post regarding praying the prayer, and salvation, baptism is a follow up act of obedience.
“Did you pray THE Prayer?”
image from dipity.com
Hello. My name is Jarin and I’m concerned about your soul. Is it going to be in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ? If not, let’s pray THE Prayer. This prayer is the only way you can know for sure if you’re saved. Let’s pray it, come on, let’s pray the prayer. Give your soul to the Lord.
The truth is, I am concerned for your soul. However, I won’t approach you that way. In fact, I won’t ask you to pray the prayer.
“WHAT? YOU WON’T PROMPT WITH THE PRAYER?” is probably what you’re screaming in your head.
The answer is, “no, I won’t.” I’ll show you scripture that lays out how salvation works. In fact, I plan on doing that here.
It’s been almost a couple years since this incident occurred, but I’d like to spell out the story for you.
Church + You = Necessary
image from stock.exchng
Being a student, for a long time at that, I can attest to the necessity of going to class, and participating at a college where attendance is mandatory, and graded. I’ve found myself wanting to skip class often, not because I didn’t want to go, ok ok; definitely because I didn’t want to go. I felt capable of doing my work and turning it in on my own. I work best in online classes where I do my work on my own without going to class. Skipping class didn’t help me, and here I am about to finally graduate college in December. 3 years longer than I wanted to be in college.
Now, you’re wondering, how the heck does that happen? I got lazy. I became apathetic. I developed an attitude of not caring at all, because I didn’t want to work, or go to class. In the long run, I’ve spent probably enough money to pay for a master’s degree, and begin working on a doctorate.
You see, without going to class, I didn’t learn the material. I didn’t meet the requirements to pass the class, and I didn’t gain enough knowledge to be effective in testing and assignments. This translates well into the church world.
In a day where modern church is being shifted into small group settings and less important, the question arises, “Is it necessary to go to church? I can pray to God at home.” People become increasingly disconnected from church.
This disconnect does a few things: it distances you from community, it distances you from fulfilling your calling/role in the church body, and it distances you from those who will keep you accountable.
Heavy. I know.
Funday School
Image from turbophoto.com
I have had some conversations with people in instrumental moments in my life. When my leadership was still developing along with my understanding of faith-based community, the issue of Sunday school came up. The question specifically asked: “is Sunday school necessary?”
At the time I immediately asserted that, “YES! Yes it is.” I had no basis for that answer, just the fact that I’ve always gone and been a part of Sunday school leadership. I stuck to my guns in the debates and discussions. I couldn’t understand church culture WITHOUT Sunday school, or that culture would vary so vastly. Unfortunately, my ability for communication and putting ideas together were poor.
(At this time, I admired greatly a guy named Joab. He was intelligent, creative, and wasn’t afraid of tough questions, or challenging authority. Joab has since been a person who I’ve admired. I learned a lot from him, and his finesse with words has rubbed off on me a little bit. So since the discussions I had regarding Sunday School, I’ve been trying to think like Joab in an effort to answer the question.)
The idea of simply sitting in a main worship service and listening to a preacher for an hour and going home, the main fellowship that special time of handshaking awkwardly for 10 minutes tops, seemed absurd. How do you get to know people? How do you invest in the lives of others?
I have begun to investigate if my stance was correct, and if I could effectively answer the question about Sunday school, either affirming it’s necessity or proving I was wrong in my stance and understanding.
Obviously, there’s not Scripture that says specifically that “Sunday School” must take place. “Thou shalt part-take in Sunday School. 1st Hezekiah 10:30” simply doesn’t exist. So, let’s get into what is actually in scripture.
State of Emergency
Image courtesy of Examiner.com
[It was requested that I post a second post today, so here we go!]
If you’re one for following the news, I’m awful at current events, you’ll most likely know that the city of Dallas, Texas has placed an alert for a state of emergency. This is due to a recent rise in the amount of victims suffering and dying from West Nile Virus. The city is urging citizens to remain indoors and has launched campaigns for hosing the city down with toxins to eradicate mosquitos. Speaking of which, I was bitten today, I hope I get it, so I can beat it and add it my Timeline on Facebook.
It’s gotten me to thinking, why the sudden urgency? Because life is currently at risk? Because someone has to do it? These questions have lead me to my next, “Where is the/my urgency for the Gospel of Jesus Christ?”
The powers of Hell and death are currently and constantly at war for our affections. They want to distract us from recognizing its work in those around us. Our sense of urgency is pinned into West Nile, or maybe a loved one’s sickness, or “insert your idea here.”
So many times in scripture we see the urgency for sharing the message of Jesus. So why do we procrastinate? What’re we waiting for church? I’m talking to you, the member of the church, the believer in Jesus Christ. I’m not talking to the building. I’m not talking only to church staff. I’m talking to you, the layman, I’m talking to myself, I’m talking to you all.
We don’t need to wait until death is creeping up, we need to go now.
a sign of the times
Ya know, I’ve been thinking critically lately, and one thing I don’t like is church signs in places where church signs shouldn’t be. For instance, I have some family that lives in East Texas. On the way back into Dallas from visiting them, there’s an “adult giftshop” on the side of the highway. About 200 feet, or a little more, away from it is a giant billboard with some inspirational church message on it. What is this doing? What is this church expecting to happen?
It’s my opinion that the sign shouldn’t be there, as it is most likely doing more harm than good, and here’s why I believe that. First, I feel it’s a deliberate attempt at showing that shop, “Hey, we know you’re here, but we wanna make sure you know we don’t approve.” Second, I think, paired with the first, it’s a gross misuse of funds and resources. And finally, I think it’s an attempt to guilt the patrons of that store to either not go, or to guilt them to Jesus.
Let’s tackle these issues real quick. The first, as if the shop didn’t already know evangelicals don’t approve of that, “let’s make a giant sign just to prove our point and hopefully they’ll get mad and shut the shop down.” This doesn’t work, and obviously only makes the owners mad, again, putting more and more distance between them and potentially coming to know Christ.