When we read the bible, it’s fascinating to find that something is missing that we probably would not expect. What’s missing? The answer is that when the church gathers together, preaching is missing.

His writing is probably much better, much softer, much more humble than I could write about the same topic. You can tell he has put a lot of thought into this idea. The idea that there is no model for “preaching” when the Church gathers together.

As I do, Eric, rejects the belief that Acts 2-4, 20:7, Timothy 4:2 or even the Old Testament can be used to support our modern tradition.

So, what does this mean? How should we respond to this idea?

According to Merriam-Webster the word “pastor” is defined as…

A spiritual overseer; especially : a clergyman serving a local church or parish

The English word is dated to around 14th century and is used once in the entire Bible (NASB). The Greek word it is translating is ποιμην (poimen). According to BDAG ποιμην means:

1. one who herds sheep, shepherd, sheep-herder
2. one who serves as guardian or leader, shepherd

The Greek word actually occurs 18 times in the New Testament. The majority of those times is in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. In these books the word is used to refer to actual shepherds, sometimes the word is used in a parable spoken by Jesus, and sometimes the word is used to refer to Jesus himself (as the shepherd gathering his sheep).

The word occurs three times outside of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John:

1. And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers… – Ephesians 4:11
2. Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant… – Hebrews 13:20
3. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls. – 1 Peter 2:25

As you can see two of the three times are referring to Jesus (once as the “great” Shepherd).

What do we do with Ephesians 4:11?

I think the word in Ephesians 4:11 would be better translated as “shepherds”. Especially since it is translated as “shepherd” every other place in the New Testament. I find it interesting that Paul mentions a few types of people God has put in our lives to help equip us to serve — Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds (Pastors), and Teachers. Ephesians 4:11 is the only time that we see ποιμην being used to describe a type of Christian. Regardless, we seem to ignore several of these types and focus on the one we know (and understand) the least about — Pastors.

If pastors are the shepherds of Jesus’ church, then they should be the ones who reflect Jesus’ shepherding the most. Jesus was a far cry from the CEO’s of today’s churches.

What do you think a Christian shepherd should look like?

Usually at this point on this series, I would discuss the various mistranslations from the Hebrew or Greek Scriptures or the obvious transliterations. However, I cannot do this for the word “pulpit.” Why? Because there is no word in Scripture, whether old or new, that equates to pulpit. Not a single word, either translated or transliterated, will bring you to our current practice of using a pulpit.

Believe it or not, I have actually heard a “biblical” defense of the pulpit before. There is a single verse in  Scripture, Nehemiah 8:4-8, which reads:

Ezra the scribe stood at a wooden podium which they had made for the purpose. . . . Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. . . . Then Ezra blessed the LORD the great God. And all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” while lifting up their hands; then they bowed low and worshiped the LORD with {their} faces to the ground. . . . They read from the book, from the law of God, translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading.

I do not believe this is a biblical defense for pulpits though… that’s like saying that we should all use nets because in scripture John used a net.

I’m going to ask you; how did a piece of furniture get so highly elevated in our faith that we frown upon people who misuse (or don’t use) it?

Because there are words in our Bibles that are not valid translations, it causes confusion and goes against the very nature of scripture. Our Old Testament scriptures were written in Hebrew (and some Aramaic), the language of the Israelites. Our New Testament scriptures were written in what is called “Common Greek”. In other words, our scriptures were written in the languages of the people. Remove ourselves from those languages, put in 2000 years of mixed up Christian history and you get translations and other doctrine that is full of words and terms written for professionally trained or educated individuals.

So, back to the word “church”. What does it mean? Where does it come from? Well, the English word for ‘church’ actually comes from the German word “Kirche” which is a translation of the Greek word “kuriakon”. Kuriakon means “belonging to the Lord” but was eventually used to designate buildings.

So, what’s the problem? Well, I’m not finished yet. You see, the word “church” in the Bible is never being used to translate the word “Kuriakon”. Instead, it’s being used to translate the Greek word “ekklesia”. The word “ekklesia” does not mean “belonging to the Lord” it means “assembly” or “congregation” — that’s it. You see, King James told the translators to use “church” to translate “ekklesia” instead of using “congregation” or “assembly” which was used by some of the earlier translation. Oh, if anyone tells you “ekklesia” means “called out ones” punch them square in the mouth.

The Facts

1. The word “kuriakon” which again means “belonging to the Lord” occurs twice in the New Testament. It is not translated “church” in either case (1 Corinthians 11:20 & Revelation 1:10).
2. The word “church” occurs 112 times in the NASB. It is never a translation of the word “kuriakon” (from which is it derived).
3. The word “ekklesia” occurs 115 times in the New Testament. It is translated “church” 112 times, “congregation” 2 times, and 1 time it is translated “assembly”.

Conclusion

I hope you see where I am going with this. The word “church” does not actually exist, it is meaningless. In fact, it was originally used as a form of deception! We held onto the word because of tradition (and maybe because of more deception). We have used the word “church” to mean the building, the time, pretty much everything except what the Scriptures actually intended. The rest of this series will be about these nonsensical words. Hopefully we will all to stop using them and replace them with words that actually mean what God intended when he inspired these writings.

What a congregation following Jesus Christ in ministry should look like can be a pretty complicated discussion. We have to realize that even the early church had difficulty with this. Many of the letters in the New Testament are corrective in nature. So we should not be surprised to discover that our modern day practices (which are 2000 years removed) may not be as Scriptural as we think. For the sake of simplicity, in this essay I will refer to the “congregation following Jesus Christ in ministry” as the Assembly of Christ. When I envision the Assembly of Christ, what comes to mind is much different than our current practices.

The passage that I think sums up the Assembling of the Church the most is 1 Corinthians 14:26 “What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.” (ESV) In this letter to the Corinthian Church, Paul is correcting a few misunderstandings that the Corinthians had about their gathering. According to Paul, when the Church assembled they were to have one goal, to build each other up. Paul expected everyone to bring something to the meeting. His non-exhaustive list includes things like, hymns, lessons, revelations, tongues, and interpretations. Today, the Assembly of Christ should also include these same things. Each person in the Assembly should be concerned about building the others up.

In 1 Corinthians 1:12-13, Paul writes, “What I mean is that each one of you says, ‘I follow Paul,’ or ‘I follow Apollos,’ or ‘I follow Cephas,’ or ‘I follow Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” I believe this passage had multiple applications in our world today. As Christ followers, the Assembly of Christ should not be emphatic about their leaders or their specific teachings. I believe there is a multiple threads weaving through this letter. Paul is telling the Corinthian believers that they should be concerned about building one another up more than dividing over different leaders. Today, the Assembly of Christ should not be worried about worldly qualifications for their leaders, they should also not show concern for differing denominations. The Assembly of Christ will love their brother and sisters in Christ, regardless of who their pastor is, what their denomination is, or any other extra-Biblical qualifications. In fact, I would say that any specific pastor or denomination is merely happen-stance to the Assembly of Christ.

This leads me to 1 Timothy 3:1-7, which is normally referred to as the Pastor Qualifications. The Assembly of Christ will realize that this list does not have anything on it at every Christ follower should not be following. Instead of choosing their leaders based on seminary degrees, previous experience, or any other worldly qualifications. The Assembly of Christ will recognize their leaders internally. Those Christ followers who are already meeting these qualifications (or most of them) will be the ones who are recognized as leaders:

• Above reproach
• The husband of one wife
• Sober-minded
• Self-controlled
• Respectable
• Hospitable
• Able to teach
• Not a drunkard
• Not violent but gentle
• Not quarrelsome
• Not a lover of money

Basically the Assembly of Christ’s leaders are those people who are imitating Christ in their daily walk and lives. Those of us who meet these qualifications are people who can be recognized as leaders. But that does not mean that other Christians should not have characteristics on this list. More importantly, the Assembly of Christ will recognize that Jesus is their true pastor or their “senior pastor”. For he is the only one who can completely fulfill these qualifications and only through him are we able to fulfill any of these qualifications.

When it comes to the Assembly of Christ, it is not all about our meetings, our leaders, our denominations, or our qualifications. A big part of the ministry of Christ is reaching out to our neighbors with the Good News. Although I believe Matthew 28:18-20 is often times over-used or even misused. I believe it is appropriate at this juncture of the discussion. In Matthew 28, Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (ESV)

When the Assembly of Christ is about building one another up, not dividing over leaders or denominations, focused on recognizing their own leaders, they will inherently be about fulfilling the Great Commission. In fact, I believe following Jesus’ command here may be like second nature to them. They will see the world through His eyes instead of their own. As the Assembly of Christ, reaching our neighbors will not be based on a program, chant, or weekly exercise… it will be according to Christ’s example. Each member in the assembly will recognize their responsibilities, although different, each one has an extremely important role.

The only thing I might add is that the Assembly of Christ should not be defined by a specific group of people (other than Christ followers) or a specific location. In Matthew 18:20, Jesus said “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” (ESV) I believe that anytime Christians meet in His name, whether it is a weekly meeting or a casual meeting, they are the Assembly of Christ. The Assembly of Christ can morph and grow and shrink as people come and go, but the Assembly of Christ will always remain the same. When two or three are gathered, it is the Assembly of Christ, when 50-60 are gathered, it is still the Assembly of Christ.

Well, I’ve officially reached over 1000 words in this post. I know I could write much, much more and probably could have organized my thoughts a little better.

There were five requirements for this essay:

1. Biblically rooted
2. Historically aware
3. Complete
4. Clear and Concise
5. Overall impression, including appearance, discussion generated, and anything one of the judges wants to include

I believe I at least met the 1st requirement :).

I hope you enjoyed this essay. Let me know what you think.

This I Now Believe:

1. I used to believe it was my job to judge others, but now I believe that I can only judge myself. Jesus spent so much time correcting the thinking of the Jewish Elders. They had a law and used it to condemn one-another, Jesus taught them (and us) that the law was really meant to be used to judge ourselves. Today, we use the New Testament “laws” to judge others… I can’t help but think that maybe Jesus intends for us to use those “laws” to judge ourselves.

2. I used to believe that a pastor was a paid position, but now I believe that there is no Scriptural support for paying a pastor a salary. I have dealt with some of this in previous posts. After studying Scripture, considering context, and reconsidering my previous position, I have come to the opinion that it is more of a hinderance than a help to pay a pastor a salary. I am not saying that people are wrong or sinning by taking part in this activity just that from my studies I do not believe it is a best practice.

3. I used to believe that the SBC was the most Scriptural denomination, but now I believe that the SBC is equal to all other denominations. The SBC has positive traits about it and negative traits about it. Some things the SBC does are more inline with Scripture than other denominations, and others are way off base. Afterall, the SBC is run by men and with men comes error. By the way, it is not my intention to pick on the SBC in this post… but the SBC is the one denomination that I have the closest affiliation with and know the most about.

4. I used to believe that women were not qualified to teach men, but now I believe that women are both qualified and capable of teaching men. Truth be told, I do not have a fully formed opinion about what Scripture (esp. Paul) is teaching us in regards to women and men. I have read compelling arguments on both sides. I currently lean towards the idea that women are not forbidden from teaching men – for at least a couple reasons. First, in Christ there is neither male nor female (Gal 3:28). Second, I have been taught and blessed by many women, especially my wife.

5. I used to believe that it was a sin to drink wine/alcohol, but after reading Scripture I realized that not only is wine/alcohol not forbidden it is condoned and actually encouraged in some instances by the Father and Jesus! (Deut. 14:26, Prov. 31:6, John 2:1-10) The only thing that is ever condemned in scripture regarding alcohol its misuse.

6. I used to believe that God had called me to become a vocational pastor, but now since I believe that is it a hindarence to receive a salary from those people that you lead, I believe that God may have called me to be a pastor, but one who works with his hands – just as Paul gave us as an example. (Acts 20:34-35, 1 Thes. 4:11, 2 Thes., 2 Thes. 3:7-11)

7. I used to believe that Christians go to Heaven when they die, but now I believe that Christians go to Paradise when they die. I believe there is a difference between the two. I have a hard time seeing any place in Scripture that indicates that any Christian goes to Heaven after life. I could be completely wrong, but my studies have led me to believe that when we die we go into a place of Paradise (perhaps a place of non-Paradise for non-Believers)… then at the End of Days we will be judged, the new Earth will be formed, and we will forever abide on the new Earth with Jesus.

8. I used to believe that maturity came from going to all the church services, but now I believe that many Church-goers are very immature in their walk with Christ. Not because they don’t want maturity, but because they are never given an opportunity to grow. Sure we give them programs to join and Bible studies to attend, but real growth comes from following Jesus, by encouraging one-another, edifying one-another, teaching one-another. I see a lack of growth in today’s church structures because there is usually only a few men who are given the opportunity to follow the “one-another” commands in Scripture.

9. I used to believe the Bible was inerrant and infallible, but now I believe that the Bible is neither inerrant nor infallible. I have wrote a series about this in the past. But let me try to sum up my position here. The Bible is a collection of works, scripts, and manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have errors, misprints, different words/layouts, etc. When we look at all of this evidence we are only ~99% sure of the content of the NT and ~95% sure of the content of the OT. Many would say, “Yes but the remaining % does not effect our Theology”. To which I would respond, fine – but it’s still not a perfect document. In order for something to be considered inerrant and infallible, it needs to be perfect. Our Bibles without translation are not perfect and our Bibles with translation are even less perfect. I believe that Scripture is inerrant and infallible – we don’t have the original manuscripts, but we do have the Holy Spirit to help us and guide us. If we stopped relying on an imperfect document and started to rely on a perfect God to teach us, then perhaps we’d be much better off.

10. I used to believe that the SBC believed that the Bible was inerrant and infallible, but now I believe that like many denominations the SBC interprets and translates certain verses to suit their theology. We all do it, we want to believe something so we use the Bible to justify that belief – whether it is in context or not. When we do this though, it goes against any statement of belief about the authority of that document. We are what we eat, in a sense.

11. I used to believe that worship meant singing a few songs about God, but now I believe that worship comes from following and obeying God. We truly worship when we do what he has asked us to do. Don’t worry though, this could be by singing… but it may also be by feeding the homeless, being a good steward, etc.

12. I used to believe that people went to Hell because of their sins, but now I believe that Scripture never once says that people go to Hell for their sins. In fact, there is Scripture that says that Jesus covered the sins of the world. Why then do people go to Hell? The single verse in Scripture that talks about why people go to Hell says that people who are not found in the Lamb’s Book of Life are cast into the Lake of Fire. Is that because of their sin or because of their rejection of Christ as Savior or perhaps something else?

13. I used to believe that Scripture taught us to tithe, but now I see that the tithe was a system for the Jewish nation. They had a class of priests who were not allow to own any possessions. The Jews also had a sin problem. To deal with these two things, the Jews had to make a sacrifice and the priests ate that sacrifice. But Jesus was the final sacrifice and he summoned the Kingdom of Priests (us). It seems rather absurd to me to think that we need to continue the practice of tithing, when the problem of sin has been dealt with and since all believers are Priests.

14. I used to believe that fellowship happened by sitting next to others without any interaction, but now I believe that fellowship happens when we consider one-anothers needs, when we encourage one-another, when we teach one-another, etc. Fellowship is not running around pews for 30 seconds trying to shake as many hands as possible. Fellowship is much deeper and much more meaningful.

15. I used to believe that going to seminary made me a better Christian, but now I believe that going to seminary only made me more knowledgeable (and not necessarily about the ways of Christ). I am very grateful for the education I received from The College at Southeastern. However, it did not make me a better Christian, it did not make me more important than the other Children of God. Although, before I went, I truly believed that it was important and required to be a good Christian. Since then, I have learned that God’s expectations are not often the same as man’s expectations.

So, I hope you enjoyed my two meme’s. If you would like to do your own, I would recommend combinding them into a “This I Used to Believe… This I Now Believe” format. If you decide to to this, then please post a link in my comments so that I may read them. I look forward to hearing from you.

So, this is what I used to believe:

1. I used to believe it was my job to judge other people’s sins.
2. I used to believe that a pastor was a paid position.
3. I used to believe the SBC was the most Scriptural denomination.
4. I used to believe that women were not qualified to teach men.
5. I used to believe it was a sin to drink wine/alcohol.
6. I used to believe that God had called me to become a vocational pastor.
7. I used to believe that Christians go to Heaven when they die.
8. I used to believe that maturity came from going to all the church services.
9. I used to believe the Bible was inerrant and infallible.
10. I used to believe that the SBC believed that the Bible was inerrant and infallible.
11. I used to believe that worship meant singing a few songs about God.
12. I used to believe that people went to Hell because of their sins.
13. I used to believe that Scripture taught us to tithe.
14. I used to believe that fellowship happened by sitting next to others without any interaction.
15. I used to believe that going to seminary made me a better Christian.

Well these are 15 things that I used to believe. So please, if you’re reading this, I’d love to read some of the thing that you used to believe. Post them up on your blog and leave a link in my comments. I hope you enjoyed this list!

In today’s economy, it doesn’t really look like the last servant had done anything really bad. He was afraid that his master would have nothing, so made sure to keep at least one talent for him. It was very pragmatic. It is probably what I would do. But it is not what Jesus would expect of us. There are a number of examples in Scripture where Jesus talks about doing the opposite of what is natural for us. When the government tells you to walk a mile, you walk two. When someone hits you, you turn the other cheek. He sat and spoke with a Samaritan woman, alone. It seems like he did everything that was contrary to our nature. And to top it off, we should reflect his life in our living.

That’s really what Goodman’s series focuses on within our church structures. We have sought after pragmatism, rather than following Jesus’ nature. I highly encourage you to read this series. They are fairly short and precise, to the point, and will surely make you think.

• The Counterintuitive Church – Part 1
• The Counterintuitive Church – Part 2, The Gaps
• The Counterintuitive Church – Part 3, Distribution
• The Counterintuitive Church – Part 4, Let’s Be Clear
• The Counterintuitive Church – Part 5, What’s Wrong With Pragmatism
• The Counterintuitive Church – Part 6, Impractical Worship
• The Counterintuitive Church – Part 7, Impractical Spaces
• The Counterintuitive Church – Part 8, The Impractical Church Among Us

After reading this series, I thought to myself. Maybe instead of asking, “What Would Jesus Do?” and coming up with a practical answer… I should ask, “What Would I Do?” and then do the opposite. That would probably more closely reflect Jesus’ nature – rather than my own.

But what if “going to church” gets in the way of your priorities, your friends, your family, or your obligations? The person I was talking to said something like, “It’s almost like we put church before God.” Of course, what they meant was the act of going to services versus living a life of Worship.

The question is, are we denying the right things when we decide to go to a Church service on Sunday mornings? Perhaps instead of going to a Sunday morning church service, we should go to a food pantry or visit people in the hospital. Instead of going to choir practice, stay home and have relationship-building-fellowship with your neighbors.

I am by no means perfect at putting God first in my life but these are some things I have been thinking of lately.

From October 6th 2008 until December 5th 2008 my top ten searches were:

1. gulshan esther – 21 visits
2. the pursuit – 5
3. jesus talks about money – 3
4. lew ayotte – 3
5. the act of preaching – 3
6. the pursuit blog – 3
7. bible talks about money – 2
8. church covenants – 2
9. compartmentalize thoughts – 2
10. historic church buildings – 2

That represents 5 unique visitors who came to my blog by searching for something to do with money. If you look at all my keywords, there are 16 total visitors who used the keyword “money” to get to this blog.

From January 1st 2009 until February 11th 2009 my top ten searches were:

1. gulshan esther – 42 visits
2. jesus talks about money – 9
3. “gulshan esther” – 4
4. bible talks about money – 4
5. the pursuit – 3
6. the pursuit blog – 3
7. 2350 bible verses on money – 2
8. biblical ecclesiology – 2
9. biography of gulshan esther – 2
10. esther gulshan – 2

That represents 15 unique vistors who searched for (“jesus talks about money”, “bible talks about money”, or “2350 bible verses on money”). For all my keywords that include the word “money”, I have had 54 total visitors more than three times the amount from October-December. For some reason Gulshan Esther is much more popular too!

From October 6th 2008 to December 5th 2009 my top 10 content was:

1. http://lewayotte.com/ – 385 pageviews
2. http://lewayotte.com/2008/03/18/wine-strong-drink-part-3/ – 61
3. http://lewayotte.com/2008/12/03/contract-pastoring/ – 61
4. http://lewayotte.com/2007/06/26/testimony-of-gulshan-esther/ – 47
5. http://lewayotte.com/?p=353&preview=true – 34
6. http://lewayotte.com/about/ – 28
7. http://lewayotte.com/2008/10/10/a-modern-example/ – 27
8. http://lewayotte.com/2006/12/21/the-bible-talks-more-about-money-than-hell/ – 22
9. http://lewayotte.com/2008/10/08/the-pursuit-strip-26/ – 21
10. http://lewayotte.com/2008/02/ – 18

From January 1st 2009 to February 11th 2009 my top 5 content was:

1. http://lewayotte.com/ – 556 pageviews
2. http://lewayotte.com/2006/12/21/the-bible-talks-more-about-money-than-hell/ – 103
   
3. http://lewayotte.com/2007/06/26/testimony-of-gulshan-esther/  – 80
4. http://lewayotte.com/2009/01/26/gods-revelation/ – 78
5. http://lewayotte.com/2009/02/09/sermon-outlines-a-better-idea/ – 51

Five times as many people visited http://lewayotte.com/2006/12/21/the-bible-talks-more-about-money-than-hell/ than they did only a few months ago.

It seems like the church, is starting to ask questions about money. No wonder, given the current recession/depression. We know that church tithing/giving is down. I can only assume preachers are preaching more about tithing/giving. There are probably a number of people who are questioning some of this content, and even questioning whether or not the tithe is biblical for today.

I have written a few posts that touch on the idea of giving and tithing and a few posts that are indirectly related to money among the Church. Here is the list with a brief description:

• The Tithing Pastor – A True Conundrum
  I’ll admit it up front, I don’t think we are called to “tithe”… but many vocational pastors do. And can you blame them, that’s how they make a living, off your tithe. But you have to wonder, is the pastor truly tithing a tenth? This slightly humorous posts looks at the math it would take to make sure your pastor is practicing what he preaches!
• The Bible Talks More About Money Than Hell
  You’ve probably heard this saying, or somethign similar to it. But if you’ve read the bible then you’re probably wondering why you didn’t notice so much financial talk. That’s because it’s not there! The Bible may mention money, but it’s almost always in passing. These statistics about how often the Bible talks about money are tricks and the people who usually use them are just as tricked. Don’t worry, God isn’t going to audit your taxes this year.
• Resources, Conversions, and Priorities…
  Ever wonder where all your money goes, you know, the money you give to the church. Well this survey by LifeWay shows you exactly where it goes. About 5%-23% goes towards ministering to the lost… the rest of it goes to support your building, staff, and vocational pastor(s). I wonder what would happen if we rethought this structure and actually used our resources for reaching the lost.
• Money and the Church: A Fulltime Story
  This post was part of a synchroblog that I took part in. It is intended to question whether or not we should be paying a pastor a salary for the services they render. Since most of their services that we pay for are not biblical, maybe we can cut out the “vocational” part of the vocational pastor and save some money. If we do that, we could use our money, time, and energy towards more noble goals… like actually making disciples.

I know these times are tough for everyone. So if you find that your preacher is telling you that you need to give 10%… just look in the bible, you may be surprised what you find — or — what you don’t find.

Here is an example of what the outline COULD look like:

Sermon Outline Mad Lib

Here is what it would look like filled out (Thanks Alan for unknowingly fill in this mad-lib):

Sermon Outlin Mad Lib (filled)

I think this speaks for itself. You should expect to  see Sermon Outlines in a Mad Lib format in a Church building near you!

Let’s talk about you. You are a “good” Christian. You read your Bible every morning and every evening before bed. Your pray before each meal asking God to bless the food. You talk about Jesus to the lost several times a week and try through Jesus to live a holy and pure life. You attend a regular church meeting a few times a week and even find time to minister and disciple people outside of the walls of the building. Your marriage is in great shape, your spouse loves and supports you. Your children are well discipline, get good grades and are all followers of Christ. You pray with your family daily and have weekly bible studies with them and your neighbors.

One night, you go to bed. Before bed you are burdened to pray. You pray extra long this night, making sure to pray for God’s will in your life. You pray for the health of your family, friends, neighbors, and enemies. You talk to God as if he were in front of you and were responding. As you are praying you fall asleep and have the most amazing and vivid dream. In this dream a man, who you recognize as Jesus (but looks nothing like the pictures) is standing before you. He is talking to you but his lips aren’t moving. You wake up the next morning to your alarm and feel completely rested. You are also overjoyed about your dream. Y try to remember everything that Jesus relayed to you but can only remember one thing – he told you that the book of Revelation is not Scripture.

Do you believe the dream? Why or why not?

The video starts by comparing the U.S. Education system to Nazi Germany (hence the Call to Dunkirk a battle in World War II). The absurdity does not end there, these are my two favorite quotes from this video:

If you ask me, we need to march some more, and the first place we need march is right out the front door of those Christ-dishonoring, academically inferior, soul-killing government indoctrination centers… – Voddie Bauchman

First, referring to public schools as “academically inferior” is opinion at best… many brilliant people have come out of the public school system. Second, referring to public schools as “soul-killing government indoctrination centers” is hardly Chirst-honoring. I went to public school, my soul has not be “killed”. In fact, I was saved while I was in college.

the scripture unambiguously teach that the education of children belongs to the family with the assistance from the church, not government, particularly at the K-12 level… – E. Ray Moore

Moore is completely off on this. The Scriptures do not “unambiguously teach” this doctrine. In fact, the Scriptures never even mention K-12!

If I were to judge, strictly by this video, I would say that these people have a bigger problem with trust in God and Scriptural inerrancy than they do with public school. To me, this video does not portray the Love of Christ. It instills fear into the watcher – which is not from Christ. It is also judgmental and absurd in its logic.

Please share with me your thoughts on this video, whether you agree or disagree. I am not against home-schooling at all. I am against this extremist position that purports lies and fear, instead of love and fairness.

Just my thoughts.

The way I see it there are three types of Christian counselors:

The first counselor blames all of your problems on you. You reap what you sow kind of counseling. Basically, if you have cancer, it is because you do not have enough faith, God is punishing you for something bad you’ve done, or some other weird scenario.

The second counselor tries to convince you that your problems are a test from God. They believe wholeheartedly that what is happening to you will teach you a moral lesson and that you should be happy that God has blessed you with your present misery.

The third counselor will tell you that your problems are not because of a previous sin, or because God is teaching you. Because you are living you deserve to suffer. Ultimately we were all born wicked, and therefore all deserve to suffer for it.

These three types of counselors are very commonplace. I have heard numerous stories about this. I am unsure of where it stems from, but I have a feeling it comes from education and not from love. What I mean is, you can easily learn in a Theology class that everything that happens to us is because we are sinful people… but you cannot learn in a Theology class how to love your brothers and sisters.

I would make a bad counselor because I admit that of these three, I cannot tell someone why they are having problems. What can I say? I can tell them that God loves them, I know that. I can tell them that God desires to strengthen his relationship with them, I know that. I can tell them that God is just and faithful, I know that. But I cannot tell them what I do not know. I do not know why they are in their present situation. I do not know if the situation was a result of their behavior, or is a test, or is a result of the human condition.

I would make a bad counselor because I do not have the answers, I only have faith.

We’ve forgotten that Job’s consolers did not have the answers either.

Check out the interview here: In Conversation with Frank Viola