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 am saddened by what I see going on in the leadership of some of the churches around us.  There are loads of things being done and accepted in the name of relevance, tolerance, sensitivity and freedom.  But the main one at the moment and the focus of this post is about Pastors flaunting their perceived liberties.

I have been following many different discussions about the consumption of alcohol on a bulletin board site that is listed in my links.  It will not be there after I am through writing this because I am tired of seeing people in a leadership capacity in my denomination flaunting their liberties in direct conflict of their vows.  I am not denying the freedom we have in Christ.  I actually believe that the grace of God for the redeemed is probably covering more than we think.  So what is my problem?   

The Bible addresses the issue of alcohol in many places.  It never condemns but does warn of some dangers in its consumption.  Do a search for alcohol and you will find this in many, many scriptures.  Too many to list here.  But again, I emphasize that it does not condemn drinking alcohol.  It does however, not only condemn, but actually commands us to not be drunk. 

So the first question is; what is drunkenness?  Is it falling down and passing out; or is it a certain blood alcohol level; or is it simply the alteration of our normal state of mind, like a “buzz”?  I don’t know.  But I will say that I lived in Germany for three years in a culture where drinking alcohol was just a normal part of the culture.  You could buy beer at McDonalds.  I saw firsthand a culture that drank alcohol with no agenda other than to have something to drink.

But in America, most, note I said most, people drink to achieve at the very least, a change in their state of mind, an altered consciousness.  They want to loosen up or be different than whom they are and if they are like the way I used to be, they are trying to get high or drunk.  And that is going directly against the word of God. 

But there are quite a few people proclaiming that they do drink alcohol, but only in moderation.  So what is the problem?  Well, in other denominations I don’t know if there is one.  But as far as the Church of God goes, we all made a commitment to certain doctrinal precepts and practical commitments when we became members.   This is an excerpt from the practical commitments we agreed to uphold.

One of the primary benefits of our liberty in Christ is freedom from the domination of negative forces (John 8:32, 36; Romans 6:14; 8:2). We are counseled not to put ourselves again under bondage (Galatians 5:1). Therefore, a Christian must totally abstain from all alcoholic beverages and other habit-forming and mood-altering chemical substances and refrain from the use of tobacco in any form, marijuana and all other addictive substances, and further, must refrain from any activity (such as gambling or gluttony) which defiles the body as the temple of God or which dominates and enslaves the spirit that has been made free in Christ (Proverbs 20:1; 23:20-35; Isaiah 28:7; 1 Corinthians 3:17; 5:11; 6:10; 2 Corinthians 7:1; James 1:21).

Now some are arguing about drinking not being a sin and that they will never preach that it is.  That is okay with me.  I see nothing in the preceding statement saying that this must be preached about as sin.  Some are also saying that it is alright to drink moderately since it is not a sin.  And to this I also say okay.  But here is where the problem comes up and why I am saddened and close to angry.

Jas 5:12  But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

Deu 23:23  You shall be careful to do what has passed your lips, for you have voluntarily vowed to the LORD your God what you have promised with your mouth.

As I said, when we became members of this denomination, we actually let it pass from our lips that we would uphold these practical commitments.  Members should search their hearts and see if they are truly honoring God by not letting their “yes” be yes.  But that is between them and our Lord. 

But Pastors and leaders, or those claiming to be, are the ones that upset me.  Why?  Because I want to follow a leader I can TRUST.  If you only follow 99.5 percent of the vow you made, as one pastor boasted, then you might as well not follow the rest.  At least that is the way I see it.  If I can’t totally trust you to have the integrity to adhere to your vows, I can’t trust you at all.  And you have people’s lives in your hands.

I am probably the first one to question beliefs and doctrine in my church.  And as I said, I do not see that the Bible teaches that all alcohol consumption is sin.  There are other things, such as gluttony being sin, which is a whole lot clearer. But there is nothing unclear about James 5:12 or Deu 23:23 in the least. 

If they believe the practical commitments are wrong, outdated, or unbiblical, which I believe some of them could be, there are other options for them.  They can follow the proper procedure to change them or leave the denomination.  If I wanted to drink a beer as bad as some of them evidently do, then I would surrender my membership immediately.  Some of us seem to love ourselves a little too much. 

Pastors and other leaders, instead of flaunting their liberties about the consumption of alcohol,  need to be the first to stand and say that they will honor their vows.  If they do not then they will answer for it someday.  Their liberty about alcohol is overruled by the lack of liberty to lie.  As for me, I would never submit myself to them or sit under their leadership. 

How could I?  I am sorry but, I can’t trust a liar.

Love you all

Tags: America, Belief, Bible, Church, consumption, Culture, denomination, drinking alcohol, drunkenness, gluttony, Grace, Leadership, liberties, Lie, pastors, scriptures, Sin

Here we are again.  I want to say thank you once again for all of the insightful comments last week about the Starbucks issue.  While important, it was also a little less intense than some of what I seem to put forth.  And don’t forget, your comments are not only appreciated but desired on all posts.

As for this week, I thought we would take a look at the election process.  Not politics per se, but just a question about whether we should look for one thing in a presidential candidate or not.  Next week the people of this country will be electing our next president.  Each individual has a certain list of things they will base their choice on.  Some of these things are strictly personal, some are based on political party affiliation, some on economic policy, some on fringe agendas, and the list could go on forever.

But I want to discuss one thing in particular. 

The president of the United States of America is the president of all, I repeat, ALL citizens of this nation.  All ethnic persuasions, all ages and sexes, and all religious groups.  The Christians, the Muslims, the Hindus, the Buddhists, and even the atheists all have to rely on him to do the work he is elected to do for them, whoever they might be and no matter who they worship. 

So the question is this;

Should it matter what faith a candidate subscribes to? 

Additionally, how much does it matter to you, if you believe that it does?

Please remember to be irenic and say what you have to say as if you were discussing it with Jesus. 

What say you?

Love you all.

Tags: Election, Faith, Government, Leadership, Politics, Townhall, Vote

I do not really want to write a lot of political commentary on this blog.  But a thought came to mind that I just have to get out of me. 

The liberal Democrat will let you know in many wonderful words and beautiful sentiments how much they care for everyone.  And at the same time, if they are in politics or entertainment, they simply do not conceal their attitudes of superiority and arrogance. 

The conservative Republican, on the other hand, does not usually portray any concern for the common man.  But their actions sometimes do show they care a little bit.  But they are much better at hiding their condescending thoughts about us.

The thing that seems obvious about both sides is simply that they care mostly only about themselves and will say anything to promote what they care the most about.  I am talking about those on both sides that are in the limelight.  The prominent, important people in our world.

But my real question is, are we any better?

 Rom 3:10  … “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;

Evidently not

Love you all

Tags: Character, Conservative, Government, Identity, Leadership, Liberal, Politics, Republicans, Self, Vote