Not Done in a Corner

 

        "Things are not done in a corner" is a phrase which derives from the Bible, in Acts 26:26, where the Apostle Paul, while defending his Christian activities to King Agrippa, says, "… none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner.". Nothing about it is secret; there is nothing to hide. It is there to see if you just look.

Dangers to your Christian Life

    Dangers to your Christian Life

     Almost every time I am on one of my country's interstate highways I see someone texting on their cell phone while driving at 70 miles per hour (112.654 kilometers per hour). At that speed, the vehicle will travel the length of a football field in a few seconds WHILE THE DRIVER IS LOOKING AWAY FROM THE ROAD!

    This makes as much sense as turning on a chainsaw while entering a room where a baby is sleeping and throwing the chainsaw into the air. It may end well. I may not.

    Many Christians carelessly involve themselves in activities which are just as dangerous as a chainsaw. You may not agree with this list or may be able to add to it. Every item on this list has the potential to cause serious damage to your Christian life. 

   Practicing Cafeteria Christianity in which you take a little bit from here and little bit from there and reject things which make you uncomfortable. There are some things about Christianity which are difficult. Paul had some strong things to say about accepting any changes to the Gospel.

    Dabbling in astrology, Tarot, Ouija boards, automatic writing, divination, the occult, and other practices. These are not harmless children's games.

    Attempting an exorcism. Real demon possession is probably quite rare but Jesus acknowledged that it is real.

    Ghost hunting. The Bible never teaches the existence of ghosts though some people in the Bible obviously did believe in them. The appearances of dead Old Testament saints may have been the saints  actually being physically present. Ghost phenomena (hauntings, poltergeists, etc) may be evidence of the other supernatural beings mentioned in the Bible. Do you really want to find out?

    Practicing Hatha Yoga. The Sanskrit word "hatha" in English translates as "force" and is a system of physical exercises. From a physical standpoint, this is probably excellent for your health, relaxation, stress reduction, and bodily flexibility. When you practice yoga, from a spiritual standpoint, you are dabbling with Hinduism, a totally different religion from Christianity.

    The word "Yoga" is derived from yug, a Sanskrit word meaning "yoking" or "union." There are numerous types of yoga, all of which are focused on yoking or stilling the mind and achieving an inner stillness which contributes to a oneness with the universe, which is sometimes described as "cosmic consciousness."    

    Aligning oneself with extreme political views, whether conservative or progressive. Politics is not the answer; the Gospel is the answer. "Render unto Caesar" assumes that we should have civic and political involvement but our ultimate allegiance must be to Jesus. Secular political parties are ultimately not motivated by Christian principles but by a desire for political power. Real change can only come by reformed hearts, not by legislation.

     

Elephant Puppets

Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus is shutting down after May 2017 due to a sharp decline in ticket sales.  It, of course, is not the only reason, but the decline corresponded with the removal of live elephants from the shows.  The elephants had become increasingly controversial due to animal rights groups allegations that the animals were mistreated by the circus workers.

The latest version of the show features life-sized elephant puppets named Queenie and Peanut. While the puppets look to be real it is obvious that they are puppets because the human operators are clearly visible. The audiences love them!

As ringmaster David Williamson says, "You can't tell the story of the circus in America without elephants."

Much the same thing is happening in many of America's churches. The true Gospel of Jesus Christ has been replaced by other emphases because some see the Gospel message as imperialistic, ethnocentric, depressing, at odds with their belief in the essential goodness of Man, or exclusivist.  On the contrary, there are strong reasons to believe that a Gospel-less Christianity is not Christian.

United States Tax Code and the Bible

"The tax code in America is ten times the size of the Bible with none of the Good News."
Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence.

Film Comment: Sunday Bloody Sunday

The key to this excellent film is the music, the repeated melodies of Cosi fan tutti (1790), an operatic comedy by Wolfgang Mozart. The phrase translates into English as “They are all like that,” or “Thus do they all.” A literal translation of the phrase into English would be “so does all.” The opera is about an older man showing two young men that their girlfriends are unfaithful to them and then telling them that all women are like that.  In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the opera was considered to be highly vulgar and immoral. Some modern viewers would consider it to be misogynistic.

The lovers in Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971) are a divorced woman in her thirties (Glenda Jackson), an older Jewish homosexual physician (Peter Finch), and Bob (Murray Head), the handsome, shallow, and totally vapid bisexual young man with whom they both have sex. All three are aware of the others but the physician and the divorcee have never met. They each pretend not to care about the other lover.  Everything is kept on the surface, there is no depth to the relationships. The film critic, Roger Ebert, called the situation “psychic amputation.”

The Bloody Sunday reference comes from the fact that on Sunday Bob is leaving for New York City in America to promote his meaningless invention, which will almost certainly be a commercial failure. He is not involved enough with either lover to stay. He would rather pursue a wild and useless whim.

She “loves” Bob and would rather share him than lose him. He “loves” Bob and would rather share him than lose him. Bob does not love, he is too shallow for a real emotion. He simply does not even care. To quote Roger Ebert again, “This is not a movie about the loss of love, but about its absence.”

There are billions of lost people in the world, chasing after sex, love, money, power, pleasure, recognition, relationships, fame, fulfillment, and hundreds of other false gods. It is our responsibility to present them with the good news of the gospel.

Flowers for the Living

Annellies Marie Frank (1929 - 1945), better known as Anne Frank, was only fifteen years old when she died in the Bergen-Belsen Nazi concentration camp in Germany. She and her family were hiding with the help of brave Christians in concealed rooms behind a bookcase in a building where her father worked in Amterdam. After the Jewish family was eventually betrayed and arrested, Miep Gies, one of their protectors, was able to rescue and preserve Anne's diary. The book was published as Het Achterhuis (in English as Diary of a Young Girl.)

The diary contained Anne's thoughts on many subjects such as growing up, sexuality, her hopes to become a meaningful writer, and her present situation. One very thoughtful quotation is, "Dead people receive more flowers than living ones because regret is stronger than gratitude."

Anne understood that we should appreciate the people around us. Christians, especially, should understand this. As I have said before, since Jesus was willing to shed His Blood for our salvation and since His Blood is of infinite value and is freely offered to everyone, this means that each of us is of infinite value. We should be always ready to explain this Good News to anyone who will listen. (1 Peter 3:15)

Also, one of the things which non-believers noticed most strongly about the early Christians was how much they loved each other as Jesus told them to (John 13:34-35). For example, in this quotation from the Roman convert and Christian apologist Marcus Minucius Felix in his book, Octavius. The book is presented as a dialogue between a pagan and a Christian. The pagan is talking in this quotation.

"And now, as wickeder things advance more fruitfully, and abandoned manners creep on day by day, those abominable shrines of an impious assembly are maturing themselves throughout the whole world. Assuredly this confederacy ought to be rooted out and execrated. They know one another by secret marks and insignia, and they love one another almost before they know one another; everywhere also there is mingled among them a certain religion of lust, and they call one another promiscuously brothers and sisters, that even a not unusual debauchery may by the intervention of that sacred name become incestuous: it is thus that their vain and senseless superstition glories in crimes."

From Minucius Felix, Octavius, R. E. Wallis, trans. in The Ante-Nicene Fathers
(Buffalo, N. Y.: The Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1887), Vol. 4, pp. 177-178.

Escapism Has No Place in the Church

Recently, at work, I went to supper expecting to watch the evening news on the break room television.  The television was turned off and everyone in the room was looking down.  No one was talking to anyone.  They were all focused on their personal devices: iPhones, iPads, Kindles, etc.  I did not want to be rude and to disturb them, so I did not turn on the television.  

None of them looked up or acknowledged that I had entered the room; they were each in their own little world, shut off from everything and everyone else around them.  One was reading Facebook posts.  Another was playing a TETRIS-like game in which the falling items were various pieces of candy.

On another night, the other person in the room was already watching a rerun of the comedy series Seinfeld instead of the news.  Seinfeld can be hilarious, but the creators and actors involved with the series have been totally honest in declaring that it is “a television show about nothing.”

There is nothing inherently wrong with games, social media, or funny television programs, but they can become “wrong”when they are used as shelters,  What all of these people had in common was that they were “escaping.”  They were withdrawing into comfortable little corners where the world could not touch them.  None of them was curious at all about what was going on in the outside world.

I had object proof of this one night when I did have the televison set on the evening news.  There was a story about the dedication ceremony of our new hospital building.  One of my co-workers inquired, “Who is that man?”  The man was the governor of the state in which we live.

Christians are not immune to this.  I understand and agree with the separatist impulse among conservative Christians.  Indeed, we are told to be in the world but not of the world and to come out from among them.  We are told to be holy (meaning separated for God) because God is holy. (Leviticus 11:44, 19:2, Isaiah 52:11, James 4:4, 2 Corinthians 6:17, 1 Peter 1:6)

Some Christians make the mistake of carrying this to such extremes that they remove themselves from any meaningful involvement in the outside world.  They use the church and church activities as an escape.  This, in effect, removes them from many opportunities to share the Gospel.   We have been told to go into all the world and to spread the Gospel to all nations.  We are also told to be aware of what is going on around us: to be as wise as serpents but as gentle as doves. (Mark 16:15, Matthew 10:16)

Welcome to Our Church!

A blogger, who identifies himself only as Fanged Teddybear, has spoken of  “ … the strange who feel they cannot go to church for the fear of being judged by the members of that church.”  How painful it is to hear that phrase.

Jesus, who was not a “respecter of persons,” (Acts 10:34) died for every person in the world.  The fat, the thin, the black, the white, the yellow, the red, the rich, the poor, the powerful, the helpless, the Maori, the Slav, the Peruvian, the girl, the boy, the educated, the ignorant, the atheist, the pious, the saint, the drude, the refined, the murderer, the pedophile, the clothes horse, the person with absolutely no fashion sense, the beautiful, the ugly, the deformed, the mutilated, the studious, the airhead.  You get the idea.  

The church must always be open and welcoming to everyone who will listen, even the strange, even those who make us feel uncomfortable.  What we must not ever do is present anything other than the full gospel message.  There must be no dilution of the truth.

Use Any Combination of Coins

On a newspaper vending machine I saw this printed instruction: “Use any combination of coins.  Do not use pennies.”

What?  Although it is obvious that the writer meant “use any combination of coins, except pennies,” that is not what was said.  What was said was a logical inconsistency, an impossibility.

We must make sense in what we say and do.  This applies to Christians especially because “they” ARE watching us and listening to us.  We will be most effective when we are clearly understood, even though that will sometimes bring hostility to us.

When speaking to unbelievers we must talk to them in ways which they will understand.  To begin immediately quoting scripture to them will usually leave them absolutely cold because they do not recognize the authority of scripture.

The first step is to logically and coherently convince the unbeliever that there is a real “problem” in the world.  Many will not readily admit this.  Before we can present the solution which we know to be true, we must convince the unbeliever that everything is not OK as it is.  There can be no real listening without that recognition. We must also convince unbelievers that the solution to what is wrong does not lie with things which are, of themselves,  positive: education, social justice,  benevolent government, the elimination of poverty and hunger, science, the eradication of racism, better hygiene, environmentalism, the curing of diseases, respect for animals, etc.  Luckily for us, we are merely the instruments.  The Holy Spirit does the real work within the unbeliever.

Remember that we must be wise warriors.  Although, our ultimate adversary is, of course, Satan the Accuser, the prince of this world, the individual battles are not with enemies but with potential brothers and sisters. 

All Saints Church, Loose

http://www.allsaintsloose.org.uk/

I found this today.  The church is All Saints Church, Loose in the village of Loose, 2 miles (3 kilometers) south of Maidstone,  County Kent, England.  They are a bible believing evangelical Anglican church.  The population of the village is 3500.  The church is affiliated with the South East Gospel Partnership.

The Saints Unhindered

κηρυσσων την βασιλειαν του θεου και διδασκων τα περι του κυριου ιησου χριστου μετα πασης παρρησιας ακωλυτως. (A very literal translation of this sentence by the Google Translate tool: “preach the kingdom of God and taught the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ after all frankness unhindered access.” Acts 28:31

Saints on the Loose is not personal.  There will be very little information here about me or about my family.  The focus of the blog is about The Lord and His people and the unhindered access we have to further the Kingdom.  Despots, murderers, sarcasm, ridicule, accusations of bigotry and intellectual deficiency,and even vicious persecution with the full force of governments; none  of these have hindered the spread of the Gospel.

I am very aware of the news cycle but will not always speak on current events or controversies unless there is a Christian point to be taken from them.  Other people can and will do that.

This is not a devotional blog and will not necessarily follow the calendar of religious holidays and festivals.  The focus of the blog is intended to be intensely practical and to foster an intellectual and unapologetic presentation of the truth.

This blog is currently indexed on Baptist Top 1000, Bible Top 100, Blog Catalog, Yandex, Bing, and Google Search.  If you would like to index this blog on your search engine, feel free to do so.  Also feel free to suggest blog aggregators and search engines.  You may link to this blog.

Christian Short Film

I am not sure I actually understand what this short film is trying to convey, except that it may be speaking of what C. S. Lewis called “the good infection.”  The film is entitled Stalker and was made in 2007.

(Some videos will not play properly when you click on the triangle.  Instead,  click on the title line in the picture and the video will begin .  When the video is completed, close the You Tube pop-up window to return to this blog.)

 

Whether From False Motives or True, Christ is Preached

Just the other day, while I was at work, one of the other technologists brought me some religious materials from the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries which someone had placed on the windshield of his car.  The people I work with know that I attended seminary and am knowledgeable about other religions and about cult groups.

I told him what I knew about Tony and Susan Alamo.  Tony was born in Missouri (USA) in 1934 as Bernie Lazar Hoffman, Susan Lipowitz. A Jewish convert to Christianity, was born as Edith Opal Horn.  When they first met, they were both already married to other people.  After they each obtained divorces, they married in 1966 and had their names legally changed.  As Tony and Susan Alamo, they established a Christian evangelistic ministry in 1969 and also sold Tony Alamo brand clothing.

Tony Alamo was convicted of tax evasion in 1994 and served a four year prison term.  In 2008, he was arrested for possession of child pornography. In 2009, Alamo was convicted of ten counts of carrying minor girls across state lines for sexual activity.  He was sentenced to 175 years in prison.

The Tony Alamo Christian Ministries are still active, with churches in the United States, India, and Africa.  Those of the ministry’s materials which I have seen appear to be orthodox.

I have no idea of the sincerity, or lack of it, of Pastor Tony Alamo but I would believe that regardless of who or what he is, his converts are truly Christians.  The power of the Gospel to save is not dependent on the worthiness of the one who delivers it.  Listen to Paul. 


“It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.   The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.   The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.  But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.”  Philippians 1:15-18

The Bible warns against being deceived by false teachers.  This would be those who teach doctrines contrary to what is clearly taught in the Bible. (Galatians 1:8)

Unworthy teachers may teach true doctrine for insincere, selfish,  or malicious purposes.  The Gospel is more powerful than they are and, when truly preached, is effective for salvation. 

Statements of Faith

Yesterday, in my post about Christian Translation,  I suggested that you check out their Statement of Faith.  This is an excellent idea for every religious website you visit.  Not every Statement of Faith is equal.  Not everyone who says "Christian" is Christian.  Jesus said so: “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Matthew 7:22-23


What could Jesus have been talking about?  True Christians obey Jesus' teachings.  True Christians stay true to the faith "once delivered."  Jesus is not just talking about false prophets who are like hungry wolves disguised as sheep.  He is talking to each believer.


This is not about the eternal salvational security of the Christian.  This is about who is a Christian.  Jesus is warning us about being deceived by "false Christianities."  There are many "Christianities," not all of which are Christian.


If you read a group's Statement of Faith, or their publications, keep your mind and a discerning eye open for these RED FLAGS!!!!!!  ( I did the RED FLAGS!!!!! on purpose.  I know it is "shouting" and is frowned on on the internet, but the Christian's powers of discernment should begin to tingle when they encounter these non-Christian ideas, especially the subtle ones which seem reasonable on their surfaces.)  Paul said that if anyone, even an angel, even Paul himself, comes to you with a different Gospel, they should be rejected.  Paul said it forcefully in Galatians 1:8-9: ἀνάθεμα (anathema), "accursed."


There is room within the Body of Christ for disagreement and discussion over some matters of doctrine.  Remember the hierarchy of doctrines (convictions, persuasions, and opinions) discussed earlier.  The doctrinal beliefs listed below are, at best, highly suspect.  Some are completely non-Christian even if they are declared by "Christians."  All of them should set off your alarm system.


1.  Any denial of the deity of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, or the Father.
2.  Any denial of the full humanity of Jesus.
3.  The idea that the Gospel is about making you materially rich.
4.  Certain questions about sexuality.
5.  Denial of any cardinal Christian doctrines.
6.  Mention of "secret teachings."
7.  A focus on the leader of a group rather than on Jesus.
8.  Emphasis on social justice at the expense of, or the elimination of, the Gospel.
9.  Mentions of "self-actualization" and discovery of one's "true inner self."
10. Rejection of portions of the scriptures.
11. Any idea of works salvation or self-salvation.
12. Addition of new doctrines for which no clear biblical support exits.
13. New Age ideas, reincarnation, ascended Masters, occultism, UFOs, fairies, elves
14. Hate-based teachings such as racism, extreme nationalism, etc.
15. Ghosts, spiritism, channeling
16. "Our group is the only true Christian church." A denial of the universal Church, the ekklesia.
17. Mixtures of other religions, such as Hinduism, with Christianity.  Numerous churches have "Christian Yoga" classes, seeing Hatha Yoga as secular.  This completely misunderstands that the underlying basis of all types of yoga is Hinduism.


This list could be greatly expanded.


  

Christian Translation

Christian missions and organizations which have international reach often have need of translation services.  Christian-Translation.com is a Christian-run internet translation service which utilizes only Native Speakers, never a computer translation.  They believe that this helps preserve the meaning of their customer's messages.  They see their service as a ministry which helps others spread the Gospel.

The company will translate "writings, books, teaching materials, bible studies, sermons, messages," and other ministry materials.  The list of languages numbers in the hundreds. and "if at certain point you don't find here the language you're looking for, just contact us and we'll get that language translator for you."

The Dominican Republic based company views itself as a ministry and so, keeps its service costs as low as possible.  Their Statement of Faith on their website shows them to be a traditionally orthodox Trinitarian organization.

Common Greek

In yesterday's post I mentioned the Koine or "common"Greek in which the New Testament was written.  The Koine dialect was the one commonly in use in the known world during the Hellenistic and Roman historical periods.  The word is a feminine form of the Greek word "koinos (κοινώς)," translated as "common."  It was the language of the common people and the lingua franca, the language used in common by the entire Mediterranean area, the language everyone understood and spoke even if their primary language was something else, similar to the status of Hindi in modern India.


Classical Greek had several dialects.  The dialect spoken in Athens was called Attic.  The Ionic dialect was spoken in the Greek city states across the Aegean Sea from Athens.  Koine Greek developed from the Attic and Ionic dialects.  Because it was the dialect spoken by Alexander the Great, Koine was spread throughout the known world.  Many Christians believe that this was in preparation for God's presentation of the Gospel to the world.

The Early Spread of the Gospel

Christianity began among a very small group of Jesus' followers, many of whom were related to one another.  By about 30 AD/CE, there were probably about 1000 Christians.  In the next few years, the number rapidly grew into about 10,000 and soon, there were Christians even in the household of the Roman Emperor.  It was not until about the year 40 that they were known as "Christians" and the word was probably used by others as an insult word.

Paul carried the Gospel into Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, and Malta during his missionary journeys and into Italy during his imprisonment.  In 52 AD/CE, Thomas carried the Gospel into India.  Thaddeus evangelized Armenia in 66 AD/CE.  By the year 80 there were Christians in Tunisia and France; by 100 they were in Monaco, Algeria, and Sri Lanka; by 196 they were in Persia; by 300 AD/CE it is estimated that 10% of the world's population was Christian; in 341 the Goths in Romania were evangelized.  A form of Christianity known as Nestorianism arrived in China in 635 and survived for several hundred years.

Today there are about 2.1 billion persons who identify themselves as Christian.

Definition: Megachurch

A megachurch is usually defined as having 2000 or more people in attendance for services each week.  More than 1300 churches in the United States fit this description.  About fifty of these churches have weekly attendance in the range of 10000 to 47000.  Since the megachurch is usually considered to be a Protestant phenomenon, Roman Catholic churches are not usually defined as megachurches though about 3000 US Catholic churches have more than 2000 members.  Five of the largest churches in the world are in South Korea, the only Asian country to be predominantly Christian.  The Yoido Full Gospel Church, a Pentecostal church in Seoul has 830000 members.

Probably the earliest megachurch (19^th Century) was the Baptist Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, led by Charles Spurgeon.

A list of some of the megachurches in the United States follows.  Some are controversial for various reasons.  Inclusion in this list does not indicate that I endorse their policies or doctrines.  Occasionally, the megachurches are accused of being personality cults centered around their founder or current pastor.

Some of the megachurches are criticized as being “big box churches” in which individuals do not matter.  Many are accused of being more interested in entertaining their members than in preaching the Gospel.  Critics also decry the fact that many megachuches are operated along secular business models.

Lakewood Church, in Houston, Texas, is pastored by Joel Osteen.

LifeChurch.tv, in Edmund, Oklahoma, is pastored by Craig Groeschel.

North Point Community Church, in Alpharetta, Georgia, is pastored by Andy Stanley.

Willow Creek Community Church, in South Barrington, Illinois, is pastored by Bill Hybels.

Second Baptist Church, in Houston, Texas, is pastored by Ed Young. 

Fellowship Church, in Grapevine, Texas, is pastored by Ed Young, the son of the pastor mentioned above.

Saddleback Church, in Lake Forest, California, is pastored by Rick Warren.

Southeast Christian Church, in Louisville, Kentucky, is pastored by Dave Stone.

Woodlands Church, in Woodlands, Texas, is pastored by Kerry Shook.

 Calvary Chapel of Fort Lauderdale, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is pastored by Bob Coy.

What They Think of Us: Do We Flaunt Our Christianity for Profit?

The writer of this atheist web page declares that he has grown "tired of remaining silent" and has dedicated himself to attacking "irrational belief," "anti-intellectualism," "Christian extremism," and "anti-Atheist bigotry."  The name of the site is Atheist Revolution.

The writer accuses Christians of flaunting their religion to promote their business interests .   This is a very thinly disguised insult.  Dictionary.com defines "flaunt" as "to parade or display oneself conspicuously, defiantly, or boldly. "  The post writer resents the implication that a Christian business can be assumed to be ethical and trustworthy and that non-Christians cannot.  He also thinks that Christians may have a secret agenda to proselytize their customers.

I have several "OF COURSES" in response.

1.  Assuming that the business owners are not cynical hypocrites who actually are trying to use Christianity as a marketing tool, OF COURSE they wish for prospective clients to know they are a Christian-owned business.  Christians have no reason to hide who they are.  Since making a profit is the basis for being in business, OF COURSE they are trying to make a profit.

2.  OF COURSE Christian-owned businesses should be assumed to be ethical and trustworthy.  If they are not, their owners have some "'splainin' to do."  Non-Christian owned businesses may be ethical and trustworthy; Christians have no monopoly on ethics, and thinking Christians do not make that claim.

3. OF COURSE, Christian business owners would like to share the Gospel with their customers.  That is known as the Great Commission.  It is our primary purpose in life.  It can be furthered by direct evangelism and by the example we present to the world as Christian laypeople.

"Preach the gospel at all times; if necessary, use words." Giovanni Francesco Bernardone (aka: St. Francis of Assisi, 1182-1226)

4. OF COURSE, Christians are just as intellectually proficient as anyone else.  The charge that Christian belief is irrational or anti-intellectual is, itself, bigotry based on hatred.  The charge is based more on emotion, intellectual arrogance, and snobbery than anything else and ignores the overwhelming documentary, philosophical, historical and scientific evidence that the biblical explanation of things is, at the very least, intellectually defensible.

A Russian Christian Song