Retirednavywife's Blog

I have a whole lot of thoughts on the allegedly “christian” celebration of Christmas…as soon as I get this last paper out of the way, I’ll be back.

John 8:58 – “Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I
say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.”

This
statement of Jesus’ was said at the end of a passage that starts with the woman
caught in adultery.  Jesus also states
that “I Am the light of the world” here. The Pharisees heard him and started
getting angry as they heard his words. He says “I AM…” many times, equating himself
with the Father (Exodus 3:14), using the Greek form of the Hebrew words found
in Exodus. In Hebrew, “hayah” and in Greek “ego eimi” are the words used by God
in Exodus 3:14. The Greek form, “ego eimi” is used in John. The Pharisees were
well aware of this.

In
this particular verse (vs.58), Jesus is telling the Pharisees that he existed
before Abraham and goes on to tell them that Abraham rejoiced to see his day. “The
claim to be in existence before Abraham is either delusion or a statement that
the speaker was sovereign over time.” (Morris 1989)
The Pharisees could not understand what Jesus was saying there. They took it to
mean someone who was delusional because, due to their spiritual blindness, they
could not understand that Jesus was the Messiah.

This
verse (John 8:58) is often used as the proof text of Jesus’ deity. The other “I
AM” statements are more metaphor or simile. For example, “I AM the bread of
life”. Jesus is not saying that he is a loaf of bread, but that He is the
source of life. That statement was not a blatant claim of deity, unlike the
claim Jesus makes in verse 58.

John 8:48-59 in context:

Jesus’
Claims About Himself

⁴⁸ The Jews answered him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you
are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?”

⁴⁹ “I am not possessed by a demon,” said Jesus, “but I honor
my Father and you dishonor me. ⁵⁰ I am not seeking glory for myself;
but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. ⁵¹ Very truly I
tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.”

⁵² At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are
demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever
obeys your word will never taste death. ⁵³ Are you greater than our
father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”

⁵⁴ Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means
nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. ⁵⁵
Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar
like you, but I do know him and obey his word. ⁵⁶ Your father
Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”

⁵⁷ “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and
you have seen Abraham!”

⁵⁸ “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham
was born, I am (emphasis added)!” ⁵⁹
At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping
away from the temple grounds.  (NIV)

The Pharisees were questioning
Jesus regarding His statement that Abraham was glad to see His day (vs. 56). Jesus
did not explain to them exactly when Abraham saw his day, so according to
Towns, there are seven possible explanations for this. One is that the Jews
believed that Abraham was living in paradise at the time and could see events
on earth. Another is the theophany that Abraham experienced when Jehovah
appeared to him and warned him of the destruction of Sodom. “Since Christ has
all judgment (John 5:30) and this was a physical appearance of Jehovah (He
ate), then it must have been Christ whom Abraham saw”. (Towns 2002)

The Pharisees went to stone Jesus (vs. 59)
because they understood what Jesus was claiming, and since they were blind to
this, they equated his statement to blasphemy. The punishment for blasphemy was
death by stoning. Jesus was making an explicit claim to deity here and the
Pharisees could not or would not tolerate this. It is the statement that sets
the stage for the rest of Jesus’ persecution by the Pharisees.

Jesus makes quite clear his claim
to deity here. The wording is exactly the same as in the Old Testament. In
Exodus 3:14, God tells Moses that he is the pre-existent deity who has been
around before time. He is the creator of the universe and life. In John 1, the
same claims are made for Jesus. “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was
with God and the Word was God” (John 1:1).  The Pharisees could not see that prophesy had
been fulfilled in Jesus. They were under the mistaken impression he was a
Galilean and immediately discarded the prophesy that the Messiah would be born
in Bethlehem, the City of David (Micah 5:2). They were supposed to be the
“scholars”, like the Talmudic scholars of today, yet they were blinded to the
truth.

In the time that Jesus lived, one
who came in the “name” of another or someone acting as the agent of their
master was considered to be the same as their master. Jesus did this. He
claimed that “I and the Father are one”. This is also a statement that Jesus
was acting as the Father’s agent on earth, able to do the same things, entitled
to the same rights. So, when Jesus claimed that before Abraham was “I AM”, he
was implicitly stating, in line with his other claims that he had come in the
stead of the Father, that they were one in purpose and ability. Jesus had all
the abilities of the father at his disposal to use or not use as he saw fit.

Today there are many religions
that also do not see the truth of this statement. Some of them have altered
their “bibles” to cloud this. For example, The New World Translation used by
the Jehovah’s Witnesses translates this verse as “Jesus said to them: “Most
truly I say to you; Before Abraham came into existence, I have been.” (Society 1984) This is an
intentional slight to cover the reference back to Exodus 3:14, to suit their
particular beliefs as to who Jesus Christ is.

Jesus’ claim to deity is the
cornerstone of faith in Him, even beyond the resurrection. Jesus is the
fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophesies. He is the eternal Word, He is
the Alpha and Omega (Revelation 21:12). Jesus statement that “I AM” in John
8:58 lays out his deity, his mission and his power. He is the same as the
Father, the eternal Word, the only begotten son, the agent of creation. As the
Nicene Creed states “one in being with the Father. Through Him all things were
made”. Jesus’ claims to deity are undeniable. The question then becomes what
mankind is going to do about that statement.

Revelation 20:1-6 (NASB)

¹ Then
I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a
great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old,
who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; ³
and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over
him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand
years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.

⁴
Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I
saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony
of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the
beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on
their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
⁵ The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years
were completed. This is the first resurrection. ⁶ Blessed and holy
is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second
death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will
reign with Him for a thousand years.

Introduction

The “end times” have always
been a source of wonderment, research and contention in Christianity.  It can be shown in the writings of the early
Church Fathers that the early Church was pre-millennial and held to the literal
thousand-year reign of Christ. Justin Martyr, Irenaeus and Augustine (in his
early days) were all believers in a literal 1,000-year reign of Christ after
the Tribulation times. Irenaeus gave evidence he believed in a literal
Tribulation and a literal Millennial reign in his Adversus haereses: “For in as many days as this world was made, in
so many thousand years shall it be concluded…For the day of the Lord is as a
thousand years…” (Irenaeus n.d.) Augustine, in his
work City of God, states “But while
the devil is bound, the saints reign with Christ during the same thousand
years, understood in the same way, that is, of the time of His first coming.” (Augustine
n.d.)
Later, the church divided into three separate camps regarding the thousand-year
reign of Christ.

Three Views of the Millennium

The
three main views of the millennial reign of Christ are known as
pre-millennialism, post-millennialism and amillennialism. Each of the three
claim to have their basis in scripture and support their view with scripture.
However, each one should be evaluated against what is actually written, not
just in Revelation 20:1-6, but in other passages such as 1 Thessalonians
4:13-17, Isaiah 65:17- 25, Zephaniah 3:11-13, and Zechariah 9:9-10, 14:16-21.

Amillennialism

Amillennialism
is the belief that there will not be a literal thousand-year reign of Christ.
This is most popular in the Roman Catholic Church. Amillennialism is the belief
that the world will stay the same and the kingdom of God will never arrive on
earth within human history. Amillennialists do not believe that people should
look for an earthly utopia. They believe that believers should focus on what
Christ has already done and that He is already reigning on earth. There will be
no rapture of believers as described in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17. This view
takes Revelation 20: 1-6 as symbolic.

The book
of Revelation is full of symbolic numbers. Obviously the number “thousand”
which is used here must not be interpreted in a literal sense. Since the number
ten signifies completeness, and since a thousand is ten to the third power, we
may think of the expression “a thousand years” as standing for a complete
period, a very long period of indeterminate length. In agreement with what was
said above about the structure of the book and in the light of verses 7-15 of
this very chapter (which describe Satan’s “little season,” the final battle and
the final judgment), we may conclude that this thousand-year period extends
from Christ’s first coming to just before his Second Coming. (Hoekema n.d.)

Amillennialists believe that Satan
is already bound using Matthew 12:29 as a reference. They believe that Satan is
already hindered from acting in this present age because the Gospel is being
spread throughout the world. They take much of prophesy as symbolic instead of
literal.

This
view comes from the allegorization of scripture interpretation as proposed by
Origen of Alexandria. Augustine was exposed to this through the hermeneutics of
Tyconius. Augustine’s change in eschatology was driven by his change in his
soteriology where he came to understand Matthew 24:13 as meaning that salvation
was not certain and one had to persevere in faith until the end of their
physical life and then hope they would be saved. Amillennialism has been
defined as the official Roman Catholic belief. From the Catechism of the
Catholic Church, paragraph 676:

The Antichrist’s deception already begins to take
shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that
messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological
judgment. The Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of
the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism, especially the
“intrinsically perverse” political form of a secular messianism.

This belief does not speak at all
to the return of Christ. There is no accounting for the role of Israel in the
last days or who will enter into the kingdom. It seems to offer some sort of
universal salvation to all men. It gives no timing for the return of Christ and
seems to ignore other passages in scripture that speak to the rapture (1 Thess
4:13-17) and tribulation times (Daniel 9:24-27) that would precede the
millennium as written in Revelation and other prophetic passages. It ignores
Matthew 24 where Jesus gives the signs of his return. It does not take into
consideration that the seal, trumpet and bowl judgments are literal. All of
Revelation has been spiritualized and symbolized. Amillennialism does not give
any opinions on what the relationship between the Jews and Christians will be
at the end of time, it seems to completely ignore the question. From the
Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraphs 839-841:

839 “Those who have not yet received the Gospel are related to
the People of God in various ways.”³²⁵

The
relationship of the Church with the Jewish People. When she delves into her own mystery,
the Church, the People of God in the New Covenant, discovers her link with the
Jewish People,³²⁶ “the first to hear the Word of God.”³²⁷
The Jewish faith, unlike other non-Christian religions, is already a response
to God’s revelation in the Old Covenant. To the Jews “belong the sonship,
the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises;
to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is
the Christ”,³²⁸ “for the gifts and the call of God are
irrevocable.”³²⁹

840 And when one
considers the future, God’s People of the Old Covenant and the new People of
God tend towards similar goals: expectation of the coming (or the return) of
the Messiah. But one awaits the return of the Messiah who died and rose from
the dead and is recognized as Lord and Son of God; the other awaits the coming
of a Messiah, whose features remain hidden till the end of time; and the latter
waiting is accompanied by the drama of not knowing or of misunderstanding Christ
Jesus.

841 The
Church’s relationship with the Muslims. “The plan of salvation also
includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are
the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us
they adore the one, merciful God, mankind’s judge on the last day.”³³⁰

Postmillennialism

Postmillennialism
is the belief that Christ’s literal return to earth after some period of time,
after Christians have established the kingdom of God on earth. They believe
that the human race will get better and better and by their own efforts they
will usher in the Kingdom Age.

A definition of
postmillennialism is as follows:

Postmillennialism
expects the proclaiming of the Spirit-blessed gospel of Jesus Christ to win the
vast majority of human beings to salvation in the present age. Increasing
gospel success will gradually produce a time in history prior to Christ’s
return in which faith, righteousness, peace, and prosperity will prevail in the
affairs of people and of nations. After an extensive era of such conditions the
Lord will return visibly, bodily, and in great glory, ending history with the
general resurrection and the great judgement of all humankind. (Bock 1999,
13)

Postmillennialism
believes that man can bring about the kingdom of God. The biblical basis for
this belief is based on certain interpretations of passages such as Matthew
13:32-33, 1 Corinthians 15:24, and others which seem to say that the kingdom
will be spread by believers until the whole world has come to faith in Christ,
then the end will come.

Once
again, there is a picking, choosing of scripture passages, taking some
literally and some figuratively, and ignoring others. This position ignores the
descriptions of the end times in Matthew 24, the description of the Rapture in
1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and Daniel’s seventieth week in Daniel 9.

Postmillennialism
gives no answer to the basic questions of the millennial kingdom. Again, there
seems to be a belief that all of mankind will go into the Kingdom, to be sorted
out into the sheep and the goats at the final judgment of Revelation 20:11-15.  It completely ignores or allegorizes the seal,
trumpet and bowl judgments in Revelation 4-19 and the lack of mention of the
church on earth during that time.

Premillennialism

Premillennialism
is the belief in the literal return of Christ to reign and rule for a literal thousand-year
period. This belief takes Revelation 20:1-6 literally. In summary, most premillennialists
believe that at some unknown point in human history, all believers will be
raptured to heaven as described in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and that will usher
in the rise of a literal Anti-Christ and a literal seven year tribulation
period which is also known as Daniel’s Seventieth Week (Daniel 9:24-27) (LaHaye and
Ice, Charting The End Times – A Visual Guide to Understanding Bible Prophesy
2001, 128).

There are other
views as to the timing of the Rapture. One group believes that the rapture will
occur halfway through the tribulation period. Another believes the rapture will
occur before the “great wrath”, that is, before the final defeat of
Anti-Christ. Still others believe that there would be a “partial rapture” of
only those believers who are faithful in the church. There is also the belief
that believers will only be raptured after the tribulation. These views, while
honestly held by some do not make sense when held to Daniel’s seventh week.

After the seven-year
tribulation, as described by John in Revelation 4-19, Christ will return along
with all the believers who were raptured and those who were martyred for their
faith during the tribulation. There will be a remnant of believers who survive
the tribulation who will witness Christ’s return. This belief was held by the
early church that believed that Christ could truly return at any time, taking
his words in Matthew 24:36 literally. Jesus says “But of that day and hour no
one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” (Matt
24:36 NASB). The premillennial position is that Christ can return at any time,
could have returned at any time in human history and there is nothing man can
do to bring about the kingdom. Believers are cautioned throughout the New
Testament to be ready for Christ’s return. Jesus gives this command in Matthew
24:42-44 among other passages.

Premillennial
believers take the plain meaning of the scriptures at their face value. It is
understood that much of Revelation is written symbolically but those symbols
have a certain meaning. Premillennialism has the only biblical answers to the
key questions of Christ’s return. Christ will return visibly as told by the
angel in Acts 1:11. The time of his return is unknown as stated in Matthew
24:36 and Acts 1:6-7. The millennium will be exactly a thousand years as stated
in Revelation 20:2, 3, 5 & 6. At the end of the millennium, Satan will be
released to attempt to turn the believers in the kingdom against Christ as
stated in Revelation 20-7-9. In a careful reading of Revelation chapters 4-19,
the church is never mentioned. This would lead one to believe that the church
will not be on earth during the time of the judgments.

Conclusion

Premillennialism
is the only position that takes all of prophesy into account. This position
explains the “how, why, when, what and where” of Christ’s return. The Pre-Tribulation
Rapture will set the events into motion. That will be at some unknown time.
After the Rapture, there will be a seven-year tribulation period. At the end of
the tribulation period, Christ will return with all the raptured believers and
those who were martyred during the tribulation.

The other two
positions, Amillennialism and Postmillennialism seem to ignore the plain truth
of scripture. It takes a lot of manipulation, allegorizing and substituting
symbols into what can and should be taken literally. The literary styles of
each passage must be taken into account. As it has been said over and over,
“when the plain sense makes sense, look for no other sense”. Also, when
attempting to understand Scripture, the place to start is with other
Scriptures. When one takes the prophesies from Daniel’s seventy weeks, the
statements of Jesus in the Gospels, the writings of Paul and the other
prophesies in Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah as a whole, the premillennial position
is the only one that one can reasonably conclude holds any justification in
scripture.

1997, now X decided he didn’t want to be married to me
anymore. My bio kids and I tossed out of the house literally. Drove down to see
Teri, spent a wonderful week down there. Returned to Indiana to try to figure
out what was going on. Kids and I landed in a homeless shelter (that sucked).
Found a job, rented a little house until divorce was final. Dad was getting
sicker so kids and I moved back to VA in August ’97.

Met my dh in September ’97. Turns out his sister and I used
to hang out together many years ago. Married in October ’98. Dad died in May ’98.
Went back to school in January ’99. Got an AAS in Drafting and design, worked
at large shipyard until November 2010 when I got laid off.

Kids are now grown and gone. Amanda is 28 and is a guest of
the Federal corrections system because she decided that working was for the
little people. Various identity theft charges, mail fraud and drug charges.
Should be released in Feb 2012. Before she got stupid she had 2 little girls
who we had custody of for 4 years until their dad (good guy) got his stuff
together enough to parent the little ones. They’re happily living in Colorado
with their dad, stepmom and half brothers.

Joshua is 24, married and in the Army. He’s stationed at Ft.
Carson, CO. Served 2 tours in Iraq. Probably will get deployed again some time
next summer. His wife is Thai. She’s a real sweetie! They have a dog, Jack. No
kids yet…we’ll see when they decide to have kids. No real rush.

Daniel is 21. Single and loving it! He’s also out in
Colorado, I think he’s living in Boulder.

Dh and I have been through hell in a handbasket, but we’re
still together. Separated for a  while in
2009 while some issues got worked out. Got back together in late 2009. Still
occasionally a little rocky, but much better than it used to be.

Mom had a stroke in 2006. She’s living with us. She’s
totally disabled now and should be in a nursing home but due to some serious
stupidity on her part she can’t get the help she needs. Trying to get it all
fixed but really pissed that this has been dumped in my lap. Still can’t stand
her.

Currently unemployed AGAIN! Working on a bachelor’s in
Religion. Should graduate in 2012.

That’s the last 14 years in a nutshell!

It is often said, as an objection to becoming a Christian that “a loving God would not condemn people to hell”. Throughout scripture, it is not God who condemns, but self. In the Old Testament, God orders the Israelites to wipe out certain peoples. This is seen as a move by a vindictive god who delights in the bloodshed of innocents. However, a more careful reading of the text and understanding of the cultures of that time refutes that view. God, by ordering the Israelites to annihilate a certain people, is ensuring that these people do not turn around and conquer His chosen people. Translating that to the “eternal damnation” warned about in the New Testament, it is not God that chooses to send people, it is the people themselves who choose, knowingly and willingly to reject Christ and eternal life, and accept the punishment in store for them for that rejection.

Some religions, such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, reject this biblical view. They preach a view known as annhiliationism, where existence just ceases. They use Ecclesiastes 9:5 as their proof text that there is no consciousness in the afterlife.  For the ones who are “saved”, they will eventually be restored to a paradise, the rest just are gone. There is no real consequence for rejecting their version of salvation. Others embrace a view called universalism, where eventually, everyone will end up in an afterlife of paradise. This is also unbiblical and flies in the face of many scriptures, such as Matthew 10:28. Roman Catholics embrace a form of universalism with their teaching of “purgatory”, an intermediate place where a soul undergoes purification, usually through prayers being offered by the living for that particular soul.

Sheol, Gehenna and Hades are three names for various forms of the underworld. Sheol is described in the Old Testament as a subterranean region where the dead exist only as shadows. It is mentioned in Genesis 37:35 among other places. People in Sheol are not beyond redemption, as shown in Psalm 18 and in Psalm 86. . Hades as the abode of the underworld was borrowed from the Greeks who believed in an active afterlife and the concept of reward or damnation. In Greek mythology, Hades was the god of the underworld and the name of his abode. Gehenna, as a reference to an eternal punishment in fire, comes from the trash dump outside Jerusalem where the fires burning the refuse never went out. It is also the word translated as hell in some modern translations of the bible. It is seen as the place of eternal punishment for the wicked and unsaved, including the final place of Satan after the day of judgment. To modern Christians, Gehenna or hell is what is normally thought of as the opposite of heaven. It is understood to be the current abode of the devil and his demons.

I believe the bible is clear on the final destination of the unsaved. There are only two choices that man can make in his life regarding his eternal destination, heaven, where he will be with Christ for eternity, basking in Christ’s light and glory, or hell, where the fire never goes out, tortured for eternity with Satan and his demons. In the gospels, hell as a destination of torture is mentioned repeatedly. Matthew and Luke mention hell as the final resting place of the wicked. Matthew 25:46 is the clearest declaration of eternal punishment for unbelievers and the wicked; “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal”. Contrast this with Paul’s statement in Romans that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Rom 10:13).

Believing that the unsaved will end up in hell is not terribly popular in today’s world of “tolerance”. It is seen as quite judgmental and “unchristian”. The only time I have been challenged on my biblical stance was by a member of the family who is a Jehovah’s Witness. That was an “argument” I knew I could not “win” as they are well trained to answer any objection I had and counter any scriptural reference I could give, usually by changing the subject. For non-Christians, being told that their rejection of Christ will lead to their eternal damnation usually upsets and horrifies them, but not to the point where they are willing to change their stance on Christ, they prefer to reject Him as unloving, because “how could such a loving God condemn someone?”. I find it necessary to tell them that it is not God doing the condemning, they are condemning themselves by rejecting Christ’s invitation to eternal life.

Fairness has nothing to do with a person’s eternal destination. Each person makes that decision for themselves. Each person has the opportunity to open their hearts to Christ and embrace the forgiveness and redemption He offers. However, there are those who are hard-hearted, who do not want to give up their lifestyle, who think that becoming a Christian is to embrace intolerance, bigotry, hatred, a bunch of rules and regulations that they just do not want to obey. The unsaved do not understand that once they become Christians, they embrace freedom. Freedom to be who God wants them to be, freedom from sins that are dragging them down.

In today’s culture, the doctrines of hell make it difficult to evangelize, due to reasons listed above. However, once a person comes to understand that fundamentally God does not “send” them to hell, and they have the opportunity to avoid that fate, they will usually embrace the gospel whole-heartedly. I know I did.

There were 3 questions we had to answer…

What are some ways the Christian gospel is perceived in our culture?

The gospel is often seen as restrictive, out of touch with culture, or exclusive. Often Christians are seen as hypocrites, intolerant, judgmental and fake. Some of the well-known televangelists have been exposed as charlatans, hucksters and fakes. This all gives Christianity a bad name and makes it difficult to witness, when the unsaved don’t see any benefit in being identified with such a group.

What are some specific reasons (moral, emotional and intellectual) that people reject the Christian gospel?

People reject the gospel because of many moral reasons such as their sexual preferences, marital status or political beliefs. Christianity demands adherence to a certain moral code that some people believe is outmoded, or intolerant. Christians are seen as judgmental and unwilling to earn the right to be heard because of their attitudes. Many Christians will not willingly dialog with someone who lives a different lifestyle than they do.

Intellectually, Christianity is seen as opposed to any sort of intellectual study. Most of the bible is seen as a fairy tale or mythology, and many people are unwilling to take a hard look at the secular, corroborating evidence for Christ’s life, death and resurrection. Culturally, Christians are seen as unintelligent, believing in something that has no basis in fact.

Emotionally, Christianity can be hard to grasp, especially for those who aren’t able to understand a Father’s unconditional love. That alone can be a huge barrier to the gospel. To understand that there is Someone who loves you more than you’ll ever know is something that is so difficult for so many people (myself included).  However, when a person comes to that understanding, they tend to just totally go all out, all in!

What can Christians do to address these objections and better communicate the Christian gospel?

Christians need to distance themselves from the strident isolationists, the loudly judgmental, the hucksters, the fakes. We need to have our actions speak louder than our words. Like the apostles before us, we need to earn the right to be heard, by being a part of society, by loving those who may still be in sin, like Jesus did. We should endeavor to more closely follow the one we claim as Savior and Lord. Simply condemning people, acting unloving and no better than the lost will not overcome the objections of the world. On one hand, we must keep our witness pure, but not by acting like we are “too good” to be around the rest of the world. We are to be light and salt to a lost and dying world. Like St. Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the gospel at all times, use words if necessary”.

I had the blessing of being able to attend a women’s VBS here where I live. The bible study really hit me hard…the scripture readings seemed to be talking directly to me! The theme for the study came from Psalm 18, verses 1-3.

After the events of the past few years, where there were so many things that were tearing my marriage apart, it seemed as though God reached down and restored everything. But, that restoration didn’t happen until my husband and I both admitted that these issues could not be solved under our own strength. After many tears, prayers (more like just crying out wordlessly), counseling, talking, more tears, we both realized that we were too willing to listen to the world. You know, the voices that tell you that divorce is OK, “alternative lifestyles” are OK…and yes, I did have biblical grounds for divorce. HOWEVER…was divorce really what God wanted for us? Did He really want us to split up and just go further into sin? The answer to that was a resounding NO! So, slowly, and with a HUGE help from the Holy Spirit, we have come back to where we belong.

I stumbled across Psalm 51 the other night…and it hit me right between the eyes. If you’re not familiar with it…please, stop right now and read it. It’s posted on the wall above my desk. It was one of those moments when I feel God saying “STOP…sit down and listen to Me. I have the answer to what’s rolling around in your head and stressing you out. This is for Me to solve, not you…” (and yes, this happens to me quite a bit these days).

I’d been praying for the Lord to open doors for ministry in areas that were near and dear to my heart, and for so long, there didn’t seem to be any doors opening. I prayed over and over for these things, and the answer I always got was “not yet”. And, of course, being the impatient, imperfect human I am, I wanted to know why…now I know why. I needed to be able to be honest with myself, with the Lord and with other people. The things that I’d kept hidden, for fear of shame needed to be brought out into the open.  Once I was able to lay it all out before the Lord in prayer, to stand before Him and be able to say that I had truly messed up…in a HUGE way…and wanted so badly to make it all right before Him, He answered my prayers in so many absolutely fantastic ways! I have no idea where this road is leading, yet I will walk it firmly believing that He is guiding me each step of the way. It’s not going to be especially comfortable in some ways, but it will be right where HE wants me to be…and unlike the rich young ruler, I am willing to give up whatever it is HE wants me to give up to follow Him.

I know there’s been a few people who have read my blog…

Please! Leave me a comment…constructive criticism, “you’re out of your mind”, anything!

Thanks!

I’ve come to believe that not everyone who says the “sinner’s prayer” is automatically saved. It just seems too easy…”here, say this prayer, ask the Lord into your heart, and you’ve just punched your one way ticket to heaven”.

I read John MacArthur’s book Hard To Believe and I really feel that he’s on to something. There’s SO much more to following Christ. Over and over, Christ tells us that we must pick up our crosses to follow Him.

Following this line of thought…I thought of what Paul says in Romans 7:18  (NASB) “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.^[a] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.”  That is, in our sinful, natural selves, we want to do what we want to do, however, if Christ truly lives in us, we do what is the RIGHT thing to do. We don’t have to want to do it, neither do we have to be particularly “joyful” about it, but we DO have to do it.

I was thinking of some folks I know that claim to be Christians, but their lives would not ever prove that out. I’m thinking of an “out” homosexual who still proclaims to be “saved”. How can one be saved when one continues to live an out and out sinful lifestyle? I’m thinking of the person who is in church every time the doors are open, but will lie, cheat, and gossip once they are outside the doors. I’m thinking of the person who spends more time at work “preaching” than giving his employer an honest day’s work.

Unfortunately, it seems that, even in the churches, the COST of following Christ is never really mentioned. Following Christ is neither cheap nor easy. He calls us to a life where we would be willing to give EVERYTHING up for Him. Give up our comfort, our homes, our careers, our money, even our lives if necessary.  I don’t know that this is something that is truly taught in many churches.

It’s not about what kind of music you listen to, it’s not about the clothes you wear, it’s not about whether you smoke, have a drink of alcohol now and then; it’s not about those outward things. It’s about what’s INSIDE…your willingness to truly count the cost and pick up your cross.

There are many scriptures that seem to back this up, rather than the “easy way” of just saying a prayer and being good to go…for example…(all quotations are from the NASB)

Matt 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.”

Matt 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

So, there are many who think they are on the right road, and they might be, to all outward appearances. However, the truth is, they are not.

This is something I struggle with, hoping and praying that I am on the right road, that I will pass through the narrow gate. I know I’m not nearly what I should be, and I struggle often with what I want to do, and what I know to be the right thing to do. I pray that the Lord would cover me in His grace and mercy, and lead me down the road I know I should be on.