Last week’s topic was not real popular it seems.  Not many want to share their views about what it takes to be a Christian.  But that violence one sure keeps going on.  Thanks for the discussion to all that have and still are participating.

Today I have decided to only ask one question.  But depending on who you are and what biblical and theological worldview you hold, it has the potential to get a wide range of responses.  And to be fair, I should tell you it is an atheists question, so give it all you got.  Someone’s soul is at stake.

If it was always God’s plan to provide salvation through Jesus, why didn’t he send Jesus from the very beginning, instead of confusing and misleading generations of people by setting up a religion called Judaism which he knew in advance would prove to be inadequate?

Any takers?  I could use your help.

Love you all

Tags: atheist, Christ, Discussion, God, jesus, religion, Theological, town hall, Tuesday, violence

When I first started this blog I wanted to say a few things and hopefully start some discussions about the Kingdom of God and the spiritual warfare that is going on all around us.  There are only two sides in this war.  Gods and Satan’s.  All of us are serving one or the other.  Some might deny this but it is true.  My hopes were that some of the ones serving Satan, whether intentionally or not, would find this site and join in the conversation.

I used to serve Satan even while denying he existed.  A lot of people do.  I was an atheist.  I know how some of them think and the questions and arguments some of them have.  I want them to join in here so a dialogue can be initiated.  So far there have not been any, except possibly one early on, actually post any comments.  But there is a lot of traffic so maybe, some day.

Some of you who  mainly read are wondering why a lot of what is written is so controversial and confrontational.  It is because of something I found out when I became a servant of Jesus.  I found out that we do not all agree and we have many different opinions about a number of theological issues.  Now some of you might think that I should tone this down so that the non-believer will see only unity.  But what are the ramifications of that?

Lets say we all put on some kind of front and someone actually comes to visit one of our churches.  It won’t take long for them to ascertain our subterfuge and feel deceived and betrayed.  We will be exposed as liars.  No, it is better for them to see that we do not agree on all things but we do agree on the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  Jesus is Lord and even though some see that a little differently than others, I believe that all the main contributors here, the ones some of you readers may think agree on nothing, do agree on this fact.  And it is the most important fact of all.

When someone like I used to be stumbles onto this site, they will possibly find that there just might be other answers to some of their problems with our doctrine and beliefs.  This will be beneficial for any who dare take the plunge and dive into the discussions.  I wish I could have found a site like this when I was on the other side.

To sum up; this blog exists for the sole purpose of hopefully reaching a lost soul who has problems, who has skepticism, and who has questions.  I hope they find it.

And it is fun also.

Love you all

Tags: atheist, Belief, blog, Church, Conversation, Discussion, God, Hope, Jesus Christ, Kingdom, Servant, Spiritual Warfare, Theological

In September of 2007 I went from working 70 to 80 hours a week to about that same amount every month.  It has gotten even worse since then.  Back when I was so busy I barely had enough time to read some news, check television schedules and pay my bills while online.  I had heard of bulletin boards, forums, blogs, and other forms of communication on the internet but had never read or participated in them.  When the work schedule changed so drastically, I started reading more but I also started stumbling across blogs and forums and such.  Sometimes I wish I had not.

One of the first things I stumbled across was a site where a lot of ministers in my own denomination hung out.  It was also right before the General Assembly which is when the Church of God votes on change of leadership and other important issues.  I learned way too much.  I read a lot of things that ministers were saying and are saying and it makes me just want to run.  I want out of my denomination, out of my church and sometimes wish I was even out of the Kingdom.  If it truly could just be about me and Jesus, all would be fine.  But it can’t.  It is about relationship, community and the mission.

What I see coming from most Christians though is that it is about them.  Or for some, it is about their denomination.  If I hear another minister say how great a man of God someone is because they have did so much for the Church of God denomination instead of for the Lord of all the Church, I think I may explode.  I love the COG, it has done so much for me, how can you not love this grand old institution; these are a few of the many types of things some, and sadly they are usually the older ministers, say to anyone that questions the corruption that is so evident from the facts.  The corruption I am speaking about is the corruption of the mission.  But there is obviously even more.

I just finished reading Forgotten Ways, The: Reactivating the Missional Church by Alan Hirsch.  He wrote the following statement in it.

“In catering to the religious needs of some (largely the insiders) it has as a consequence failed to respond to the wider spiritual hunger of not-yet-Christians.”

He is referring to the institutional church; the denominations, the buildings, the hierarchy, the dogma, and the self-righteousness of our religion in conservative American Christianity.  We do not seem to want to do much more than token mission anymore.  We do enough to feel good about ourselves and even then, we ask those that need us to come to us instead of us going to them.  My own denominations problems seem to bear Hirsch’s thoughts out exactly.  The leaders at a certain level seem to only care about themselves and the continuance of the institution that caters to their aggrandizement.

This book has opened my eyes to a lot of things that I was already seeing and feeling.  I was just too busy to notice it until about the last year and a half.  The book is about becoming missional again.  The early church was missional but some of the older people in the COG seem to think this is some new spiritual fad or something and that we just need to get back to the old ways.  They don’t know how wrong and how right they are.  They are wrong about missional being a fad and right about needing to get back to the old ways.  But the old ways are much older than they think.  They are pre-Contantinian.  The early, persecuted church had it right.  So that is pretty old ways.

I think all ministers should be required to read this book and see if it does not check their spirit.  It has my own and I am nothing but a layman.  I am just so tired of seeing the people of God the same way I saw them when I was an atheist.  And I am not forgetting that I am one of them now.  I am going to figure out a way to be the person God needs me to be in His Kingdom today.  If it means changes are in store, then that is what will happen.  I wish more would join me in this endeavor to become what God meant for us to be.

One of the first things that I wish would be gotten rid of is this almost idolatrous view of “my” church, “my” denomination, “my” leaders, “my” ministry, and anything else we are so proud of because we see it as “ours”.  All of these things belong to Jesus, if they should really even exist.

I am sorry if anyone takes offense at anything I have written.  I know there may even be repercussions if I keep on saying some of the things I am saying.  But I am more concerned with the eternal repercussions if I keep quiet.

We do seem to have forgotten that it is not about us.  It is not about our comfort, our contentedness, or even our happiness.  Church is not an institution.  Church is a living, breathing, organism that is gasping for the breath of life because that breath, the Holy Spirit, seems to be slowly being pushed away by our inward instead of an outward focus.

Get the book.  Read it.  Come back and let me know if it woke anything in you.  It certainly has in me.  And not everyone will like it.

Love you all

Tags: America, atheist, Blogs, Christian, Christians, Church, Church of God, Conservative, denomination, forum, God, Holy Spirit, Kingdom, Leadership, ministry, mission, Righteousness, Self, spiritual hunger, War

I have been praying and thinking a lot lately.  There are a few decisions that have to be made soon concerning life in general and my placement in the ranks of the army of God.  I have not written very much because I am very concerned about being a stumbling block or an instrument of offense.  Some seem to think I have been the instigator of division in the Body already.  So I have waited, prayed, and pondered.

I thought that I wanted to see my church grow.  I was wrong. What I really want to see is transformed lives.  My true desire is not just to see more people in church, not just to add more to the number of inwardly focused bodies sitting on pews, but to see instead a radical group of servant-soldiers interested in what God is interested in.  And willing to fight for it.

I want to see the arms of the Body of Christ reach out to grab, hug, hold and comfort a dying world.  I want to see the legs of the Body of Christ start running to get to the place where those trapped in service to our enemy are, wherever that may be.  I want to see the eyes of the Body of Christ constantly gazing beyond the walls surrounding our assembly to seek those desperately in need of a new Lord.  I want to see the lips of the Body of Christ speaking the words of love and acceptance that the lost and lonely want and need to hear.  I want to see the heart of the Body of Christ beating passionately for the mission that is being sidetracked by selfishness.  I want to see the tears of the Body of Christ that should flow from our current inability to effect change in the community around us.

I want to see the atheist become a believer, the sinner become a saint, the unchurched become attendees, and the disillusioned become enlightened.  But what I want the most is to see the self-centered become sacrificially concerned with the harvest of souls all around us.  We must stop being so concerned with our own comfort and desire and turn those concerns towards the ones that Jesus is concerned about.

When ‘church growth’ is mentioned anymore it is usually about figuring out how to get people to switch from church A to church B or how to get more people like ourselves in the pews.  We have become a double minded and apathetic church.  Double minded in our wonderful but empty words about growth and apathetic in our solicitude towards the lost.

I feel that I have not been effective in my service to the Kingdom.  As a teacher I believe that there should be a lot more evidence of transformation in the lives of those that have been entrusted to me than I have seen.  I believe it is time for me to re-evaluate my position in the Body to make sure I have not failed too badly and am in the right place.  I hope and pray that I have not caused irreparable damage.  I have no one to blame and am not looking for consoling words.  This is a struggle in me to determine what steps I may need to take next.

I am writing this to let all of you who do care know some of what is going on.  I am saddened but still at peace.  I struggle for answers but I rejoice in God’s grace.  Serving Christ is always sweet but I have to say, it is also sometimes bittersweet.

Pray with me.

Love you all

Tags: army of god, atheist, Body of Christ, Church, Grace, Hope, jesus, Kingdom, mission, Self, Selfishness, Servant, Service, Sinner, Trust, War