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!

She said, “WOW! I’ve gotta stop cussing in front of you…”

I explained to her that I didn’t want her to censor herself in front of me. Then we started talking about “church” life. She and her husband aren’t really church people. They both went to Methodist churches from time-to-time growing up though. Recently her husband expressed interest in going to a local Methodist church. He wants to go somewhere that he can hear the word preached without feeling pressured into anything weird. She said that she wasn’t really into the idea, but wanted to go with her husband anyway.

Up to this point in our conversation, I had already explained that I am a heretic and defined the word for her, as “a professed believer who maintains religious opinions contrary to those accepted by his or her church or rejects doctrines prescribed by that church.” I explained a little bit about my history, what I believe, what I don’t believe, etc. Basically just enough to let her know what I am all about.

Knowing this, and having her recent church experience, she had some questions/concerns for me. This is what they were (in her words).

1) During one songs, they sang about Immanuel… who is Immanuel? I thought they were suppose to worship God?

2) When it was time for prayer, everyone bowed really low with their heads down. Why did they do that?

3) After the community prayer, instead of everyone saying “Amen” they all started to say their own little personal prayers – is that normal?

4) After the service a couple cornered us and asked if we were saved, it was really ackward.

5) The husband of the other couple convinced her husband to fill out a vistor’s card. Then they received a call that afternoon asking if they were going to visit that night.

6) They had “children’s church” during which they took up an offering/tithe. Our little girl felt bad because they were trying to build a new church building and gave 10.00$ to the offering. I feel like that’s wrong, that should be up to the parents, not pressured little kids.

Hearing some of these questions and concerns, I had the feeling that I knew exactly what Paul was saying in 1 Corinthins 14, “Therefore if the whole church assembles together and all speak in tongues, and ungifted men or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are mad?” Granted, this is about “tongues” not about Christian Music, Childrens Church, Prayer Stance, etc. I think it still relates though.

We hang out with unbelievers when they come to our meetings and programs.
Jesus hung out with unbelievers.

We develop programs to attract the world.
Jesus developed relationships with the world.

We raise funds to build buildings and additions.
Jesus didn’t have a place to lay his head.

We believe that true fellowship with God happens once a week.
Jesus expects true fellowship every day.

We make the gospel attractive.
Jesus made the gospel unattractive.

We create religious systems, doctrines, polity, rules, and more; in the name of being right.
Jesus tore down all those; showing that he was right.

We expect non-followers to act like his followers.
Jesus expected his followers to act like his followers.

We believe that classes equates to discipleship.
Jesus walked with his disciples.

We believe that we cannot perform miraculous things.
Jesus told us that we could perform greater miracles than he did.

When I made the decision to not pursue my Masters of Divinity, I had to find alternate employment. As many of my readers know, I went secular (employment wise). I worked for IBM for about a year before moving to Dublin where I started working for a small Network Consulting company called Alterra Networks. When my wife and I decided to pursue our dream of her finishing her degree we had to look at schools in the area. I then landed a job at Athens, which I started working at in the beginning of August. So far I have really enjoyed this job, I have my own office, a nice desk, two big monitors, etc., etc. I also really like the people – they are all very nice and accommodating.

But there is a problem. In fact, there has been a problem ever since I started working in the secular world. The problem is: they all know that I am a Christian, one who went to a conservative school. What does this mean? I means that they often censor themselves and when their internal censoring fails they often apologize. I hate this. I know they are being nice, because they don’t want to offend me. But I don’t understand where this comes from. I haven’t asked them not to say “Fuck”, “Jesus”, “Hell” or any other words. I don’t expect them to change who they are because I have entered the room. I don’t think it is even appropriate for people to change because of me… they should only change because of Jesus.

So this is my plan, whenever someone “apologizes” or I sense they are censoring themselves, I will take them aside and tell them, “I don’t mind if you do whatever it is that you do in front of me. I don’t expect you to censor yourself just because I entered the room. In fact, I’d prefer it if you didn’t. I want to get to know you – not the censored version of you.”

As I think about this, I wonder, how often do we (Christians) censor ourselves in front of our brothers and sisters? Is it appropriate to do so? How does this affect the community of believers?

Golly, I hope I don’t step on any of y’alls toes, but it’s just been on my blasted heart lately.

*Disclaimer: These strikes are not exhaustive, they are based purely on my and another’s memory. Therefore, there may be more strikes given the lack of historical detail on some of these characters .

Charlie will forever remain one of my heroes. There are only a few men in my life who have influenced me the way that Charlie has influenced me. My childhood memory often fails me, but those fond memories I do have usually include Charlie and Rachel. He was a collector, some might even call him a hoarder. Always being afraid to throw something away because of its sentimental value or even its potential use in the future, Charlie’s house was filled with stuff. I think some of this might be an after effect of living in the depression era. I remember once, in his cabin, we found a locked lock, but no key. After going home he opened a tin with at least 100 keys inside. We searched through trying any key that might fit until we eventually found the right one. The sound of the lock popping was reward enough for our time spent. Charlie was also a keen business man. A postman by profession, but also dealt in antiques (along with his collecting). He would spend his weekends at the Flea market, selling and buying, dealing and trading. He also had a few rented tables throughout some local antique shops. His house was filled with wonderful collectables. But they didn’t mind if you picked them up, looked at them, or even played with them.

Some of my favorite memories of Charlie was the weeks that I would spend at his house. They would let me sleep in their big bed. Charlie and I would get up early in the morning and catch the early horror films on TV. We might go to the playground or we would walk the beach to collect sand dollars and unique shells. Of course, the best part for me was that the day usually ended with a trinket or two for me to play with when we got back. Even the hand buzzer that I would wind up and trick Rachel with… I think she saw it coming each time.

These are the memories that I behold, the love that he and Rachel shared with me will never be forgotten. I thank God for their relationship with me. And I thank you, Charlie, for treating me so kindly and loving me like your own.

Until we meet again.

Love,
Lew

If we look in the Bible, we see many examples of Polygamists. I am not saying that these are examples for us to follow. The biggest name I can think of for polygamists would be Abram (Abraham). Although he was not the biggest polygamist (Solomon), being that he was the father of the faith (as some call him), his polygamy cannot go unnoticed. Traditionally, however, Christians believe that Monogamy is the best practice. I think there are probably more scriptural commands that encourage monogamy, than those that encourage polygamy (1 Timothy 3 for example).

Given all of what I have said, and all that you already know, I have a question. If a polygamist family converts to Christianity, what should they do? Divorce? Remain as they are? What are your thoughts?

Here is the email:

Integrity In Ministry: A Word From The President’s Heart

By

Daniel L. Akin

For 30 plus years I have been burdened for the personal integrity of those in the ministry. The reasons are simple. Integrity is a biblical requirement (1 Tim 3:1). And, the respect for those in ministry is at a low ebb, especially in our nation. Of course one major area of importance is how ministers conduct themselves with the opposite sex. I have always challenged fellow pastors to make a rock solid, non-negotiable commitment: “I will never be alone with a woman who is not my wife.” This commitment and conviction has not always been applauded. I have been accused of being a Pharisee, legalist, sexist and Neanderthal. I was once accused of having “psycho-sexual hang-ups in need of therapy!” But praise God and by His grace, I have never been accused of adultery because in almost 30 years of marriage, I have never been alone with a woman other than Charlotte. I have no plans to change this.

Sexual temptation is a powerful reality, and a wise person will never forget that no matter how much you love Jesus, “the wrong person plus the wrong place plus the wrong time will equal the wrong thing happening.” Look no further than to the tragic story of King David, a man the Bible says was after God’s own heart.

Sexual immorality exacts a heavy price tag. It will cause you to dishonor Christ, wound the church, break the heart of your mate and lose forever the respect of your children. That is a price only a fool would pay.

This issue was brought to my mind again in a recent blog by my friend Ed Stetzer. By the way, I am excited to tell you that Dr. Stetzer is going to join our faculty as a visiting research professor. Personally I am thrilled we will get to share him with our friends at LifeWay. In Ed’s blog he referenced the “The Commandments for Saddleback Staff” by Rick Warren. Here is Rick’s list.

1. Thou shalt not go to lunch alone with the opposite sex.*

2. Thou shalt not have the opposite sex pick you up or drive you places when it is just the two of you.*

3. Thou shalt not kiss any attender of the opposite sex or show affection that could be questioned.*

4. Thou shalt not visit the opposite sex alone at home.*

5. Thou shalt not counsel the opposite sex alone at the office, and thou shalt not counsel the opposite sex more than once without that person’s mate. Refer them.

6. Thou shalt not discuss detailed sexual problems with the opposite sex in counseling. Refer them.

7. Thou shalt not discuss your marriage problems with an attender of the opposite sex.

8. Thou shalt be careful in answering emails, instant messages, chatrooms, cards or letters from the opposite sex.

9. Thou shalt make your co-worker your protective ally.

10. Thou shalt pray for the integrity of other staff members.

*The first four do not apply to unmarried staff.

These are wise words for any minister of any sex or age. These are principles that will help us in finishing the race well for King Jesus. Integrity as it relates to your sex life is not optional for the minister of the gospel. It is essential. Take the high road in this area. Be cautious and be careful. Stay close to Jesus and stay close to your mate. End your race with no regrets. It will glorify God, and you will be glad you did. I love you, and thank God for the honor of serving you here at Southeastern Seminary. What a blessed man I am.

This is taken with Alan’s permission from here.

Developing a Biblical Ecclesiology Lecture
This is a lecture that I delivered concerning how my ecclesiology – my understanding of the church – has changed over the last few years.

Click here to download a pdf version of my PowerPoint presentation.

Click here to download the entire file (52 MB). Or, click the play button below to play the file online.

Click here to read Alan’s post regarding his lecture.

The Practice of the Early Church

Session 3 – Elder-Led Congregational Consensus

(Steve Atkerson)

Everyone agrees that Christ is the head of the Church… opinions digress from that point.

Elder-Led Congregational Consensus is a little different than Elder-Rule form of church government.

Who is in charge here? Luke 22:23-27

We are not to be like the Gentiles.

How much authority should church leaders have? The same authority a child has, the same authority a servant has.

Leaders have authority, but it is a different type of authority (one that is unlike the Gentiles).

Who were the letters to churches written to?

Romans 1:7 – To all, not just the leaders

1 Corinthians 1:2 – To all, not just the leaders

2 Corinthians 1:1 – To all, not just the leaders

Galatians 1:1 – To all…

etc., etc., etc.

Philippians 1:1 – To all… “including the overseers and deacons”

etc., etc., etc.

Hebrews 13:7 – To all… and then asks them to “greet all of your leaders and all the saints.”

etc., etc., etc.

1 Peter 5:1-3 – Written to the elders “among you.”

Elders are important, but there is a decided lack of emphasis on Elders. We should appreciate them for their service (1 Thessalonians 5:12).

It appears that the authority that Elders have is the authority to persuade people to the truth.

Authority resides with the church corporately, not with its leaders.

Matthew 16:18-19

Matthew 18:16-17

Church leaders don’t make decisions for the church, the make decisions with the church. Perhaps like the Senate, a group of people can bring what they think should be done (leaders) and but they with the rest of the church decide together.

Doing it this way, means you will have to love each other enough to put up with one-another. You won’t always agree with one-another.

Acts 1:15,23 – Peter recognized a problem, need to fill Judas’ spot, but the 120 put forward two possible people.

Acts 6:3,5 – Recognized a problem of with feeding the widows, but the church picked the seven.

Acts 15 (22-23) – With the whole church…

1 Corinthians 5 – The whole church decides

1 Corinthians 6 – The whole church judges

Consensus is based on unity – Psalm 133:1; 1 Corinthians 1:10; Ephesians 4:3-6; Phillipians 2:2; Colossians 3:15; John 17:11,20-23; 1 Corinthians 10:17; Ephesians 4:11-13;

Hebrews 13:17 – Obey is 13:17 in the Greek is actually more like “allow yourself to be persuaded or convinced by” your leaders or take their advice. Submit in 13:17 is more like “yield or surrender.” This is a process or battle after which one yields (or surrenders). Submission still occurs, but the picture is one of serious discussion and dialog prior to one party giving way.

The authority of “obey” and “submit” is merely that of the gift of persuading one to the truth.

The point of the verse is not to be a blockhead.

Caveat – 1 Peter 5:5 “You younger men, likewise, be subject (hupotasso) to your elders” and this is the word that really means to submit.

James 3:17 – But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.

Conclusion:

There is a surprising lack of emphasis on church leaders in the letters to the churches.

Congregational consensus is the NT norm for church government (not majority rule, not elder rule). Church polity is to be that of consensus, not command. Authority resides in the church as a whole, not its leaders (Mt 18:15-20).

Generally speaking, church leaders have the same authority as children and slaves (Lk 22:24-27). Leaders are to lead by persuasion, example, life-style, influence and teaching (Heb 13:7).

Elders are to be given special consideration in the consensus process (Heb 13:17), especially when dealing with block heads and young Turks!

Churches are to be more elder-led than elder-ruled (1 Pe 5:1-3).

The Practice of the Early Church

Session 2 – Participatory Church Meetings

(Steve Atkerson)

1 Corinthians 14:26 – What do we learn about the NT church from this verse? Diversified, Spontaneous, …

Change “each one” to “only one” which option is today’s church more like?

Is the church you meet with like this?

Acts 13:14-15 – Should the church meeting reflect what the synagogue in the NT looked like?

Acts 14:1 – They allowed audience input from the synagogue meetings.

Acts 17:1-2 – Paul’s custom – reasoned with them

Acts 17:10-11

Acts 17:17

Acts 18:4

Acts 19:8

There seems to assume that there was some sort of audience input in the synagogue meetings.

Singing – 1 Corinthians 14:26, Colossians 3:16, Ephesians 5:19

Teaching – 1 Corinthians 14:26, Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 2:42, Romans 12:6-7, 1 Corinthians 12:28, Ephesians 4:11, 1 Timothy 1:3; 2:11-15, James 3:1

Preaching – Acts 20:7 – Paul preached to the disciples (greek is dialegomai – discussed)

Never preached in a church meeting.

Preaching is a evangelist – outside the church meeting.

Various Charismatic Gifts – 1 Corinthians 14:26

Other gifts to consider:

Acts 2:42 – Prayer

1 Timothy 4:13 – Public reading of scripture

Acts 14:26-27 – Reporting what God is doing through them

How to consider one another (Hebrews)?
Is there a testimony the Lord would have you bring?
- Could you purpose to begin a time of conversational prayer?

Is there a song you like that would edify the church?

- Is there some subject or passage of Scripture to teach on?

What has the Lord shown you this week in your time with Him?

Does your wife spend more time preparing for the meeting (cooking) than you do (considering how to encourage the church)?

A Worship Service – Romans 12:1-2, John 4:21-24

The NT never refers to a church meeting as a worship service.

Tongues – 1 Corinthians 14:26-28

Only a few a week (one at a time), if it is done, it must be with an interpretation.

If there is no interpretation, it must not be done – teaching us that sometimes we can have a legitimate gift from God that he doesn’t want us to use in the meeting.

Prophecy – 1 Corinthians 14:29-33, 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22

Only a few a week (one at a time), if it is done, it has to be tested.

Same teaching about the gifts of God.

1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 – Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.

The Role of Women – 1 Corinthians 14:33b-35

This passage is controversial… you need to study it and decide for yourself.

But this passage does indicate that their meetings were participatory.

Perhaps this verse is showing us more that the men should be leaders. This could be a dynamic silence that sucks the men into leadership.

Two Questions – 1 Corinthians 14:36 – You have no choice but to contact your church meetings anyway than this.

The Lord’s Command – 1 Corinthians 14:37 – Obey the commands of the bible.

Three Imperatives – 1 Corinthians 14:39-40

Desire earnestly to prophecy.

Don’t forbid to speak in tongues.

All things to be done properly and orderly.

Conclusions that can be drawn from 1 Corinthians 14

Participatory

Fitting and Orderly

Edifying

Lord’s Command

I am one of those analytical people… at least I tend to think of myself as one. While I am alone, driving in my car, my mind often wanders. Much of what I write on my blog has to do what what I think about in my car (I drive an hour to work every day – and back). I even carry a pad of paper in my back pocket and a pen in my front pocket to write down any ideas that I think of. I started to do this because I realized that many of the things that I thought about, I also forgot about. I say all of this because over the past few months I have been thinking a lot about consistency. I guess for a long time I have believed that followers of Christ need to be consistent in what they believe or what they claim to believe. But a recent conversation with someone really sparked this idea in me and I have decided to write about it.

Now, consistency in belief, obviously encompasses how we act as Christians, that is, a follower of Jesus will seek to obey him. But this post is not so much about the obvious, but about those little things that we believe and do… but contradict in other areas. An example, the one that sparked this post, is about a recent conversation that I had with one of our brothers (I will call him Hugo).

Hugo and I were talking about the alcohol debate. I told him my position about alcohol not being a sin, and it not being a sin to drink alcohol. He agreed, but felt that it was important not to drink alcohol because it could lead other people to drink and become alcoholics. During our conversation he told me that the main reason why he decided not to drink was because of a scripture that the Holy Spirit laid on his heart. The scripture he was referring to was Luke 1:15 “For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb.” His justification was that John the Baptizer was set apart and so he was to drink no wine or liquor. Which convicted our brother to drink no wine or liquor.

Now, the Holy Spirit is perfectly capable of convicting whomever he wishes of whatever he wishes. But this raises some questions for me. First, John the Baptizer also ate no bread (Luke 7:33), should our brother also cease from eating bread? Second, was his use of this scripture and its justification a valid one? Third, as you read in Luke 7:33, Jesus compared his actions to John the Baptizers actions – John drank no wine and ate no bread, but Jesus did – of the two, which example would the Holy Spirit wish for us to follow most?

This all poses a larger problem for me. I believe that God convict whomever he wishes of whatever he wishes. He may tell me that it is perfectly OK to drink wine and our brother that it is not OK to drink wine. I am just not sure that God uses the Bible to do it. I know that seems extremely… well… extreme. But how can God approve of wine in scripture and then use scripture to convict a believer to abstain from wine? What happens when the believer reads the passages that say it is OK to drink wine? Does he think those passages are wrong? Does he reinterpret them to fit his convictions? It all seems a little fishy to me.

This is what I think happens. We have form beliefs based on what little we know about scripture and God. Then those beliefs lead us to interpret scripture in a certain light. We claim that God made us do it, when in reality, our lack of trust and seeking him made us do it. I am not saying that our brother is wrong for holding to his conviction – but if his conviction comes from the Holy Spirit pointing him to John the Baptizer, then it seems like he must also stop eating bread. If he wants to claim that the Holy Spirit laid it on his heart, apart from any specific scripture, than I am perfectly fine with that. Even if he says that his conviction has nothing to do with what the Holy Spirit has shown him, that is fine with me too.

I just feel that if we are going to claim that God told us to do something or act in a certain way AND we want to use scripture to prove it, then we need to be willing to use all of scripture. Not just a part of it.

What do you all think? Am I completely off the wall?

Frankly I think it is a waste of time to have any equal opportunity clauses, sexual or ethnic or whatever. But if we’re going to live in this country, we’re going to have to deal with the rules. Is homosexuality a sin? Yes. Is a business equal to the church? I am not sure… I mean the church exists in business, but I still talk with all my co-workers, even the ones who claim to be non-Christian. Some of them are pretty decent people too.

When thinking about this Act, I just keep thinking that we should not be unequally yoked and I wonder… are “Christian” businesses unequally yoked with the government? I dunno.

Anyways, the other day I was annoyed with them because of their lame boycott against Ford. So I replied to one of their emails. This is what I wrote (by the way, no one has responded yet and it has been 3 weeks):

Hello,

I have been getting your emails for quite some time. Frankly, I have also been disappointed for quite some time. I do not quite understand this Christian Strong-Arm theme that most of your emails encourage. Why would we want a non-Christian organization to submit to Christian morals? What benefit is it to Ford to stop promoting the Homosexual agenda if they do not first believe the Gospel? Why would we be proud that we are harming lost people by reducing their sales? I just do not get it. This attitude is antithetical to the Gospel.

Christ did not come to condemn people, but to save people. How can we share the gospel with these people if we are boycotting them?

Titus 3:1-7 – “Remind them to be . . . ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men. For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

God’s Glory,
Lew A