It's been a while

It has been a long while since posting anything on this weblog.  For thoses few who follow it, sorry.
Life has been very busy, and the many distractions (worthwhile and otherwise) life has.

I will put some thought itno a new post, and I hope to put it up soon.

Blessings.

Another borrowed blog . . . very good stuff.

I have recently found myself increasingly frustrated with the way that the Christian church picks and chooses which sins it will or will not accept.  A popular target for Christians is the homosexual community. And I am not about to defend them.  I agree that Christian doctrine and scripture holds that homosexuality is a sin . . . just as it does lying, drunkenness, divorce, fornication, etc.  So, where does that put us as Christians?  Here is an excellent blog dealing with this issue:

http://michaelpatz.com/2012/08/02/the-morning-after-chick-fil-a-day/

An excerpt: “Church people ask, why won’t our culture repent? My answer: Because repentance is a learned behavior.  Someone has to model it.  I tell parents that it’s silly to expect a child to repent when they have never seen a parent repent.  And it’s futile to wait for a culture to repent when a culture has enver seen the Church repent. . . . Is the real problem with our culture the unrepentant gay community? No.  It’s an unrepentant Church.”

Church, if you want to see revival, it must begin within you!  It will not start outside your walls until it has taken hold inside of them!

Some keen insights, for sure.  Take the time to read it and share it with your Christian friends. Here is an excerpt.

A Borrowed Blog, but it is a good one

This morning, a good friend of mine posted this link on his Facebook profile.  It is a link to a blog by another brother in the Lord whom I don't know.  However, I very much like the blog posting, so I will share the link with you here.  I highly recommend that you check out his post, take time to meditate on it, and then if it applies to you, change your practice, and teacher your brothers and sisters in Jesus to do likewise.

Remember, proof-texting can appear very benign, but in most cases leads to bad doctrine.  "It is popular to believe that God will not place more on us than we can handle. However, there is ample scriptural evidence to suggest otherwise."  Just because something is popular, sounds Biblical, and makes us feel good, does not mean it is from God.  And if it is not from God, then it is of this world, and we should want none of it.

Here is the link: http://rogerupton.wordpress.com/2012/06/22/misused-bible-verses-part-one-god-will-never-put-more-on-you-than-you-can-handle/

And then, once your done ruminating on that blog, give some thought to how notions as this can impact the idea of "worshiping in Spirit and in truth".

I will get you started on that.  Please feel free to share your comments.   . . . . If a song includes questionable lyrics (ie. bad doctrine), should it be sung in churches as is?

Maybe the next post will take this topic on .  . . .

Another New Song Translation from Anacrusis Ministries

Here is another song translation.  This song is quite well known among English speaking evangelicals, but to the best of my knowledge, not sung in Spanish congregations.  I hope that changes with my translation.  Please feel free to print and use these songs in your local congregation, to the Glory of God.

The first song is Robin Mark's "Lion of Judah".  Here it is sung in English:

My translation is here  (por favor, dejame sus comentarios sobre esta traduccion.  Los quiero leer.  DLB): 

A New Song Translation From Anacrusis Ministries

Anacrusis Ministries is the name I created for any works that I might need to provide copyright protection.  I have absolutely no objection to any of these works being used in churches for the edifying of the body.  Please, however, do not use them to make money for yourself.  They are consecrated works, to the glory of God.  From time to time (as in this case) items from Anacrusis Ministries will appear on this blog.

Paul Baloche recently released a new disc.  On that disc is a song called "King of Heaven".  It is so rare to see new songs that actually focus on a member of the God-head.  So many of the new songs sung in churches these days focus not on the worshipped, but on the supposed worshipper.  Those who worship thus do so in vain, their offering is not fragrant but instread as noisome as it is noisy.

The song, "King of Heaven" can be found here:

I think it is a beautiful tune, Christo-centric, and asking for revival (this is another blog for another day).  It is one that once I have it worked out well enough, I will be leading in churches here in Mexico.  My Spanish translation is here (por favor, quiero leer tus comentarios sobre este traducción.):

A blog worth reading . . .

This morning I surfed across a blog by one of my favourite Christian authors.  Frank Viola is a speaker, writer, and proponent of the "Organic Church".  For more on what that means, and on many other worthwhile topics pertaining to the church and to Christian living, I recommend you check out his blog, at: http://frankviola.org/.  Thank you, brother Frank, for sharing your wisdom and insight with us through this medium.  I shall be a regular reader and follower of your blog.


If you haven't yet read it, I highly recommend you read Pagan Christianity, a book co-authored by Frank Viola and Geogre Barna.

Dry Faith, Spiritual Thirst, and Prohibition

I grew up in a non-drinking home, except in cases of illness, where alcohol was used as medicine (to help sleep when very ill, lessen coughs, etc., following the home remedies of both my Grandmothers). There was never wine, cider, beer, or any such item at the table.  The denomination I grew up taught (but did not insist on) abstinence, teaching that while the Bible does not forbid the consumption of alcoholic beverages, it is still something that good Christians avoid.  (In a quick search of the internet, this is the prevailing perspective among most evangelical bloggers.) 

Smoking was strictly forbidden in my home.  As a result, I tried my first cigarettes as an act of rebellion.  I smoked for a few years, but never habitually.  Rather, I used the cigarette as an excuse to take extra breaks at work, but only when the weather was good. I did not really like the flavour and smell of cigarettes, though, so I quit easily, and haven't smoked a cigarette now for 13 years.

As an adult, I became convicted of the legalism I had been raised with, since the prohibition of drinking and smoking is in line with Scripture.  Most who try to justify their prohibition of one or the other with scripture must resort to some tricky and convoluted exegesis.  My position has been and conitunes to be, when referring to non-prophetic books of scripture, to let the text speak for itself, in both its immediate and larger Biblical context.

I am now a moderate drinker (16 years drinking, never once drunk) and an occasional cigar and pipe smoker. Neither of these items has hold over my life. They are not addiction issues for me, and I am free to enjoy them as I believe that God intended for me to.  

My gripe is with those well meaning Christians who take such a prohibitive stance.  I agree, that for people with addictions, they ought to avoid the object of the addiction, until they are healed of it by our Lord.  If they are not relieved of the burden they must not partake, lest they fall.  But to extend this prohibition to all is legalism.  It is the imposition of a law as master.  Christ has freed us from the law.  Such imposition of non-Scriptural rules dare not be done.  This makes us again slaves to the law.  

Galatians 5:1-4 says: "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.  Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace."

In other words, circumcision refers to bowing to law for the sake of the law, not due to personal conviction and leading by the Holy Spirit.  It is bowing to the will of man, not of God.  

Beware the Judaiser!

Open your Bible, and read Matthew 23.  I think, with some reservations, we could replace the words Pharisee and Scribe with Pastor and Assistant Pastor, and have a pretty accurate assesment of the type of morality taught in many Christian churches today.  It is outward morality, driven by the law.  It is slavery. 

 It undoes the work of reformers such as Martin Luther, who sought to free Christians from the tyranny of its priests.  We are saved by our faith alone.  Sola fide.  In James we learn that we must demonstrate our faith through our works, because a faith that does not drive the believer to good works is a dead faith. (James 2).  But it is not the works that saves us.  And the works James talks about are not some holier-than-thou morality, but rather works of love towards our neighbours.

Let me be clear, that I am not in any way advocating for the abuse of either alcohol or tobacco.  Regarding getting drunk, the scriptures are very clear: It is an act of the sinful nature (Galatians 5:21, among many other citations), and must not occur.  

There is no effort to teach self-control. We take an all-or-nothing approach to life, and that is not what God has called us to. One of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control (Galatians 5:23).  

I find it interesting that many church leaders and lay-people rant on about the evils of alcohol or tobacco, yet find no issue with copious consumption of junk food.

Junk food is a different issue. I crave it. It has had a hold over me. I would wager that I am not alone in this.  The rapidly expanding waste-lines in filling the emptying pews in Western churches indicates to me that that this is an issue that needs dealing with.  

Personally, this is an issue of sin, because I surrender my better judgement about what I know is healthy to junk food.  Thankfully, where I now live, restaurants such as McDonald's are few and far between, fresh fruit and veggies are plentiful and cheap, so eating healthier is much easier.  This does not mean that I don't enjoy an hamburger and fries every couple of months, but rather that it is no longer a "necessary" part of my diet.

Gluttony is rightly numbered among the 7 deadly sins.  It will kill certainly kill people, it will certainly lower quality of life.  Occasional and responsible consumption of Alcohol and Tobacco is not nearly the same evil, if it is an evil at all.

More on Self Control

I believe (and have seen this proven in my own life) that our testimony as Christians is strengthened when we exercise self-control. We demonstrate that we are indeed free from slavery to sin, as well as free from slavery to law. Christ has set us free. And yet, sadly, so many Christians seek to impose unnecessary and un-Biblical rules on themselves and others. This Pharisaical approach to Christianity is no better than it was to Judaism, and it is no more glorifying to God.

I find this tendency to legalism and prohibition strongest among Pentecostal denominations, which I find ironic, given their claim to the work of the Spirit. The Word teaches us that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  This either means that the Spirit of the Lord is not in the prohibitive Pentecostal church, or He is being ignored by the law-giving pastors and overseers.

Brothers and sisters, it is time to quit calling things that are not sins, sins, and correctly call that which is a sin, sin. Just as in the days of the Pharisees, excessive and un-Godly laws and rules distracted from Him, today too, they distract from His love and grace.