The Passing of a Witness

Sixteen year old Sid Ortis died on 31 October 2015 after a fifteen month battle with osteosarcoma. 

He has become known around the world for the brave way he lived his life after his diagnosis and for his devoted love of Louisiana State University (LSU) football. Most of the reports also mention his “faith.” The real focus of most of the news reports is actually about the intense relationship which developed between Sid and Les Miles, the coach of The LSU Bengal Tigers football team.

Coach Miles exchanged cell phone numbers with Sid, gave Sid’s family a set of box seat tickets to the football stadium, and told Sid, “Life is not how long you live, but how well you live it.”

The news reports for the most part mentioned Sid’s “faith” without elaborating on what that actually meant. Either they were uncomfortable with it or did not actually understand what “faith” meant. Sid’s parents understand.

Of course, not everyone is impressed. One commenter said that this kind of thing is what drove him to be an atheist. He sarcastically wanted to know what kind of God would seem to ignore prayers and allow such a kind and gentle young man to suffer so much. Sid’s mother responded that her son was transformed into a fearless person by the power of the Lord. 

Sid’s mother, Lynn Ortis, said, “We are so proud of our son for not getting bitter, living life, trusting Jesus until the end.”

Sid’s father, Scott Ortis, knows the effect of his son’s illness, “Dozens and dozens have come back to a spiritual belief because of Sid.” Scott said that Sid told him that he was lucky because, if he lived, he was able to stay with his family and, if he died, he would be with Jesus.

Here is a prayer, one of the last things Sid was able to say before he died, 

"Dear Lord, thank you for everything you've given me and these wonderful friends who have been there with me through the fight. And let them all live prosperous lives once I'm gone, and let everybody stay on the path of righteousness and not get away from You. Amen."

"His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ Matthew 25:23 

"Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®,
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973,
1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)

Look at This!

Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Philippines, displacing at least 600,000 people and killing upwards of 3200 people.  The death toll continues to rise as rescue and recovery efforts continue.  Supplies of food and water are only now beginning to reach many of the victims.   The people need our prayers and support.

In the midst of the death and destruction there are, of course, acts of heroism and nobility, and there is one thing which stands out as truly amazing.  I am a rather concrete, historically based, and non-superstitious Christian.  Images of Jesus on food, or in the shape assumed by a Cheeto, or in a stain on a door, I find to be ridiculous.  I am skeptical of religious relics, signs, and supposed miracles.  I do not deny their existence, I merely realize that we cannot base our faith on them. 

Look at this. 

Update on the Murder of a Birmingham Pastor's Wife

Karen Shahan, the wife of Richard Shahan, Associate Pastor at the First Baptist Church of Birmingham (Alabama, USA) was found murdered on 23 July 2013 in her home.

http://saintsontheloose.blogspot.com/2013/07/pastors-wife-found-murdered.html

There have been almost no updates forthcoming from the police.  The husband, Richard, voluntarily went to the police station to answer questions and was held there for two days for what the police called “investigative purposes.”  Pastor Shahan was released with no charges being filed and without being officially named as a suspect in the killing.  The church has place him on administrative leave “to give him time and space to focus on his family and healing at this time.”

Many of those involved in the situation have become quite frustrated with the apparent lack of progress in the case.  The Senior Pastor, Charles T. Carter, has told his church members that it is acceptable to ask questions and to express doubts and frustrations. “Asking questions is not a lack of faith.”

http://www.al.com/living/index.ssf/2013/08/its_ok_to_ask_questions_interi.html

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2013/08/the_rev_richard_shahan_jailed.html

http://topics.al.com/tag/Karen%20Louise%20Shahan/posts.html

http://www.cbs42.com/2013/08/10/update-pastor-takes-administrative-leave-after-wifes-murder/

Faith on a Staircase

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."  Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968)

Book Comment: The Challenge of Postmodernism

The Challenge of Postmodernism.  An Evangelical Engagement, edited by David S. Dockery, 2001

The modernist philosophy, the prevailing worldview of the 19^th, 20^th , and early 21^st  centuries, holds that there is a truth to be known and that it is knowable by the scientific method.  In its most developed form, it holds that everything which can be known is knowable only from measurable and observable phenomena.  There is an absolute denial of the supernatural and a denigration of knowledge derived in other ways than the scientific.

A new worldview is replacing the scientific/modernist philosophy.  Postmodernism has been building since the early 20^th century.  It rejects the idea of a knowable single absolute truth and stresses the idea of pluralism.  There are many truths.  Community is favored over individualism.  Truth is mediated through social relations, true because it is accepted with a particular community.  In effect, anything can be true because it is accepted by a particular community.  The truth of one community is just as true as the truth of another community, even if the truths are incompatible.  Since there is no absolute truth,  truth becomes subjective and relative to the situation and community in which It is believed.

Meaning is defined by how one feels.  Your truth may not be my truth,  but all truths are equally valid.  Reality becomes a social construct.

To a postmodernist, truth, if it exists at all, is a social relation.  It is what a particular group declares that it is.  To assert truth is to assert domination over other groups that define truth differently.  Absolute truth claims are seen as oppressive and imperialist.  Those who uphold traditional orthodox Christianity are derided.  Pope Benedict XVI has called it “the dictatorship of relativism.”

Postmodernist H. Tristam Engelhardt has said, “Insofar as individual do not share in the consensusof a common religious belief, including the divine roots of state authority, appeals to religious consideration will appear to those without faith or with a different faith as an appeal simply to force in order to support private interests.”

Obviously, then, postmodernism is a direct and hostile challenge to Christianity because Christianity declares that  “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”  Acts 4:12

The point of The Challenge of Postmodernism is that Christians must not be caught unaware.  Postmodernist philosophy is all around us; perhaps you have heard it expressed by someone you know.  Postmodern thought can even be found in many Christian churches, especially those which pride themselves on their inclusiveness and those which accept Christianity as merely one religion among many.  

The Challenge of Postmodernism discusses the background information Which Christians need to know in order to understand postmoderism so that they may counter it intellectually and successfully evangelize the new culture.

I would strongly recommend this book to pastors, theologians, and those others who are not intimidated by a bit of “heavy” reading.  It is good to be aware of the bear before he attempts to eat you.

………………………………………………………………………

I bought a trade paperback copy of The Challenge of Postmodernism at 2^nd and Charles, a used bookstore.  When I got it home, I realized that it was a signed copy.  The inscription reads, “Soli Deo Gloria, David S. Dockery.”

“Soli Deo Gloria” is Latin and translates as “glory only to God” or “glory to God alone.”  Some have translated it as “glory to the only God.”

God Chooses Unlikely People to Accomplish His Purposes

Rahab , a Gentile prostitute in the city of Jericho (Ariha, West Bank), became an honored convert to the Jewish faith and was praised by the writer of Hebrews for her faith.  When the king of Jericho sent his soldiers to catch Israelite spies sent by Joshua, Rahab hid the spies in her house.  For her help, Rahab was promised protection for herself and her family when the Israelites overran the city.

Rahab later became the mother of Boaz, who married Ruth.  Through Ruth, Rahab became the great-grandmother of King David.  She is one of only four women mentioned in the genealogies of Jesus.

Joshua 2:1-20, 6:17

Ruth 4:18-21

Matthew 1:5

Hebrews 11:31

James 2:25

Book Comment: The Baptist Faith and Message

In this book Pastor Herschel H. Hobbs takes each of the points of the Baptist Faith and message and amplifies upon them.

Baptists are non-creedal and, so, there is no "official" statement of what we believe.  Hobbs points out that "in no sense is this work a binding statement of faith and message," but that it "is a statement in agreement with the faith and message of Baptists everywhere."  Following E.Y.Mullins, Hobbs sees the one distinctive Baptist belief as "the competency of the soul in religion."  We believe that each Christian may approach God directly without an intercessor.

The Jesus Vine

I do not for one second believe that this is a divine manifestation, but it is very interesting.  Every time something like this happens people rush to declare it a "sign."  To me it is a sign that people are desperate for "proof."  The problem with "proof" is that knowing is not faith, knowing is not trusting.  The devil and his demons know, and they believe (James 2:19).

A self-described non-believer noticed that a patch of kudzu vine on a telephone pole in Littleton, Colorado resembled Jesus hanging on the cross .  Pause the video at 00:55 and look at the clearly visible face.

The signs are all around us for anyone who has not intentionally shut their eyes and ears.  We don't need to see Jesus in the water stains on a wood door, on the browned portions on a piece of toast , in the shape of a cheese puff , or in a vine hanging on a telephone poll.

"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows his handiwork." Psalm 19:1

Book Comment: The Christian Atheist

Craig Groeschel (pronounced "Grow-shell") is one of those very likable pastors, like Francis Chan, who tell you a story and then stick a knife into you for a little surgery.  The knife they use is the Bible.

In The Christian Atheist: Believing in God but Living As If He Doesn't Exist, Pastor Groescchel explores the sometimes startling disparity between what we say we believe and how we choose to live; acting as if God doesn't really exist, or as if He exists but doesn't really care about us, or as if He exists but doesn't really matter in our day-to-day lives.   This is not a book about knowing "hypocrites," but about people who believe themselves to be Christians and who are crippled in their Christian lives by lies they have believed.  Some of them are pastors.

Pastor Groeschel doesn't spare himself or his family from criticism.  He clearly understands that his life and actions sometimes contradict what he says he knows to be true.  We all fall short, but, wonderfully, we are covered by the Blood of the Lamb.

The book devotes entire chapters to twelve common reasons Christians drift into the uselessness (to God and to themselves) of being Christian Atheists.
1.  They don't know who God really is.
2.  They are ashamed of something they have done in the past and are afraid that it will be exposed.
3.  They know that God loves others but aren't convinced that He could possibly love them.
4.  They don't believe in the power of prayer.  They don't believe He is listening, others feel awkward or silly talking to Him.
5.  Seeing obvious injustices and tragedies in this world, they don't believe that God is fair.
6.  They are unwilling to forgive, preferring to hold onto their hatred.
7.  They don't believe that they are able to change.
8.  They worry about everything.
9.  They think that their personal happiness should be a priority for God.
10. They believe in God but place their real trust in their personal power, position, or money.
11. They are timid or unwilling to witness to others.
12. They don't believe in "organized religion."

What Pastor Groeschel is trying to do in this book is to call us to continually examine ourselves and our lives; to think honestly about our lives and faith; to learn to rid ourselves of hindrances to complete trust and dependence on God.  He doesn't come right out and say it but he is ultimately talking about the process of sanctification.   We don't want to go the other way and to become the "believers" of whom Titus was speaking: "They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate." (Titus 1:16)

How terrible it would be to be that person and not even realize it.

Evangelicals

In the Book Comment I posted on December 11 for the book, Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites ..., I spoke of the religious designation, Evangelicals, and noted that there may be some confusion as to exactly what an Evangelical is.  The definition is not hard and fast and depends partly on who is doing the defining.  The list below is one to which most Evangelicals would agree, though some would add more items to the list:
1. A personal commitment to, and a personal relationship with, Jesus Christ.
2. Usually they are aware of a definite date on which this relationship began.
3. They believe that they are destined for Heaven after their physical deaths because they have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior.
4. Their personal sense of identity is strongly tied up in their faith.
5. They feel that they have a divinely mandated responsibility to share their faith with non-believers.
6. They are convinced that Satan is a real personal entity.
7. They believe that salvation is a gift from God gained through faith alone, not by works.  Works are merely an evidence of faith.
8. Jesus is the only person to have ever lived a sinless life.
9. The Bible is accurate in everything which it teaches.
10. God is the Creator, all-powerful, perfect, and utterly holy.

An anonymous religious maxim

"It wasn't raining when Noah built the arc."

Book Comment: If the Church Were Christian, Chapter 2, Part 3

If you are joining this book review series mid-stream , you can read the comment from the beginning by going to the LABELS section following the last post on this page and clicking on PHILIP GULLEY

Gulley, Philip, If the Church were Christian.  Rediscovering the Values of Jesus (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2010)

CHAPTER 2: Affirming Our Potential Would be More Important Than Condemning Our Brokenness

God sees His people as perfect.  When He sees us, indwelled by the Holy Spirit, He sees Jesus.  We are covered by the Blood of Jesus (Ephesians 1:7), the Lamb of God, just as the Jews were covered by a lamb’s blood on their doors when the Angel of Death passed over Egypt (Exodus 12:12-13).

Washed by the Blood of Jesus, we become white as snow; God doesn’t even remember our sin.  Our forgiveness is total and complete.  We don’t suddenly quit sinning but it does happen over time (1 Corinthians 6:11). 

We are not saved by faith and then saved by our own efforts for subsequent sins.  On the Cross, Jesus said, “It is finished.”  There is nothing we can possibly do to add to that.  We are forgiven.

Those in the Church can and do occasionally sin, but it is not in their new nature to sin habitually or continually.  We are not to live in a perpetual state of guilt.

Philip Gulley says that we shouldn’t leave church feeling spiritually bruised.  I couldn’t agree more.  A church which sends its members out into the world feeling beaten and full of guilt has completely missed the point of the Gospel.  They fail to understand how God views His Christians.  Don’t they know that the angels rejoice over one sinner who repents? (Luke 15:10)

The world is broken, dirty, bruised, confused, hateful, arrogant, spiteful … all those things.  We, who are members of the household of God, are charged with helping the world to see that there is a better way, even if the world doesn’t want to see it.

This is part of a continuing chapter-by- chapter response to this book.  More to come. 

Book Comment: After You Believe

"Keep getting old as long as you can."

Kris Kristofferson (b. 1936, Texas) 

Country music singer, songwriter, 

Golden Gloves boxer, Rhodes Scholar, 

U.S. Army captain

Kristoffer Kristian Kristofferson (yes, that's his real name) expresses the aim of most people for their lives.  Christians have a different perspective but we haven't always ourselves really understood it.  Many still don't.

In his book, After You Believe.  Why Christian Character Matters, N. T. Wright, the former Anglican Bishop of Durham, England, asks the question of what you do after you become a Christian.  Do you just wait to die and go to Heaven?  Does it matter once you are "saved?"  Isn't what we're really concerned with the "sweet by-and-by?"  Wright thinks it matters very much what we do in the "interim," and he clearly shows that Jesus and Paul thought so to.

Wright speaks of two approaches many Christians have adopted: 1. A Rules Mentality,  which in essence places the believer into legalism and ritualism, and 2. Spontaneity, going with what "feels right," since we are no longer under the Law.  This in essence places the believer into antinomianism.

Bishop Wright says neither of these approaches is correct.  Our duty is to develop Christian character and become who are intended to be in Christ.  The Kingdom of God is in the world now, and we are citizens of that Kingdom.  In the next life, in the Kingdom, we are to be kings and priests; since the Kingdom is here now, we are to begin being kings and priests now, fully revealing the image of God.  He call this the development of Christian virtue.

Wright is an Anglican and Anglicans say that they are "protestant, yet catholic."  I am very Protestant and I get a little squirmy when Wright explains things in more "catholic" ways, but what he's really talking about are sanctification and holiness and he is exactly correct.

Under the leading of the Holy Spirit, we are to experience what Paul calls "the renewing of your minds."
Classical pagan virtue found many of the Christian attitudes to be puzzling, especially those involving self-denial and self-sacrifice.  By practicing the Christian virtues (love, faith, hope, charity, self-giving, looking away from oneself, etc) under the leadership of the Holy Spirit (assuming the Mind of Christ) we gradually grow into them so that they become second nature.  Once they become second nature to us, we will not have to stop and decide how to act when the fecal material really hits the spinning blades.  We will know how to act.

Book Comment: If the Church Were Christian, Chapter 1, Part 4

If you are joining this book review series mid-stream , you can read the comments from the beginning by going to the LABELS section following the last post on this page and clicking on PHILIP GULLEY.


If the Church Were Christian. Chapter 1, Part 4; in a chapter by chapter series of posts in response to the book by Pastor Philip Gulley. Chapter One: Jesus Would Be a Model for Living Rather Than an Object of Worship.


The reason Pastor Gulley and others of his persuasion question the divinity of Jesus is that their primary source for interpretation is not scripture, but human reason and the wisdom of Christ is folly to man.


To Pastor Gulley, most Christians spend so much time worshipping Jesus ("believers") that they forget to follow His example ("followers"). This is a valid criticism but the question has already been resolved. James and Paul went round and round about it, coming at it from different angles and arriving at essentially the same conclusion. Both were correct. We are saved by faith ("believers") and not by works; faith without works ("followers") is dead. One without the other is deficient.

What Does It Mean?: Why Jesus Spoke in Parables

"And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand."  Matthew 13:10-13.

Many modern theologians make a major point about the fact that Jesus never came out and simply declared, "I am God."  They speak of the Incarnational Mystery and wonder if Jesus thought of Himself as God.  Two points:

1. The rabbis and religious Jews who heard Jesus speak knew exactly what He was saying but thought that he was speaking blasphemy.  “The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.”  John 10:33

2. Jesus used parables to teach.  The simple stories made His meaning easy to understand for even the most literal of His followers.  The parables also served a second purpose: to conceal.

In Matthew 13:10-13, the disciples asked Jesus about this.  The parables made no sense to those not equipped to understand them.  It is like us being immersed continually in showers of television and radio signals but hearing and seeing nothing because we don't have an internal receiver;  we are not physiologically equipped to perceive the information.

Without the Holy Spirit, the message of the parables makes no sense to those who don't belong to Jesus.  Jesus' motive for this is simple to see:  He wanted followers by faith, not by sight.  “Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”  John 20:29

In Constantine (2005), a secular horror/action film, a cancer-ridden detective named John Constantine is desperately trying to impress God by hunting and killing demons.  He tells the angel Gabriel, "I believe."  The angel replies, "No, you know.  There's a difference."

Show Your Faith

The political race for governor, and numerous other political positions, in Alabama is about to get hot and heavy. In an article in The Birmingham News, Rabbi Jonathan Miller of Temple Emanuel in Birmingham decries the tendency of the local politicians to "out-Jesus" one another. Here in the Bible Belt, that can be important.

Miller's criticism reflects the tension between "talk" and "do." He uses the Christians in Muslim Bangladesh as an example of Christians who are "doing."

"I wish our politicians would act on their Christian faith. Christians are a blessing to the world. ... do what Jesus would do if Jesus were in office. ... Put away the rhetoric. Don't talk for Jesus. Instead, be like Jesus. Serve like Jesus. Show us your faith."

Miller, Jonathan, "Politicians should act like Jesus," The Birmingham News, 8 Aug 2010, pp. 2F, 4F.

Naked and unashamed

     "Naturists" prefer this name rather than the older name, "nudist."  They believe that it is natural to live naked and unashamed as Nature intended.  At least some naturists substitute "our Creator" for "Nature," and at least some specifically claim to be Christian.

     At http://www.naturist-christians.org/modules.php?name=Statement_of_Faith they have published The Naturist-Christians Statement of Faith.  This appears to be a completely orthodox statement of faith, with two controversial additions.  The statement accepts the following doctrines: God is the Creator,  the Trinity, all have sinned, Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, Jesus was sinless, Jesus' death was substitutionary and propitiative, Jesus was dead for three days and rose from death on the third day, Jesus ascended to Heaven and rules with His Father, all who believe on Jesus will be saved, we are called to grow in grace, believers are united as the Church, we are to tell others of Christ, and that the Holy Spirit is our Comforter until Jesus returns.

     The two controversial declarations are these:

"We believe that all people are divinely created in God's own image, and their unclothed forms are covered and blessed in His righteousness."

"We believe that the naked human form is inherently good and wholesome."

     I think that these two statements are true but unnecessary additions to a statement of faith. They are what I think is an overreaction to the squeamishness that many in the Church seem to have to our beautiful God-given animal physical nature. As reasonable and true as they are on the surface, they are certainly not explicitly included in the "faith which was once delivered unto the saints." (Jude 3). They are the opinions of some Christian believers. It may involve a disagreement over what the image of God means.

    These two statements do not rise to the level of being accursed. The statements do not appear to touch on any aspect of salvific doctrines and probably fall into the category of disagreements between believers rather than being anything heretical. God does not care what you wear to church. What you wear to church, or don't wear to church, does not save you. This, however odd it may appear to some, does not amount to a different gospel. A different gospel would involve disputes over the nature of Jesus, linking salvation to any one political system, the nature of salvation, and/or actions or unorthodox beliefs supposedly necessary for salvation.

"But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed."  Galatians 1:8-9.

Brooke Greenberg

     Brooke Greenberg (born 1993), of Reigerstown, Maryland, is a nine month old toddler and she's been a nine month old toddler for her entire sixteen years of life.  She is about 30 inches tall and weighs 16 pounds and, consistent with her body, has the mind of a toddler.  She still has some of her baby teeth.  Her condition is so rare (she may be the only one) that it has no formal name; physicians refer to it as Syndrome X. 

     Brooke's condition has never been explained.  DNA sequencing shows no abnormalities.  It just seems that the various parts of her body function independently and not as unified whole.  Only her hair and fingernails, which are embryologically related, grow.  Her body does not know how to age.  

     We've all looked at our beautiful children and wished that they would never grow up.  In Brooke's case, she never has and we consider it a tragedy.  Her family loves her just as she is and feels that she has outlived physician's predictions (they said five years ... maybe) because God placed her here for a reason.  Her father believes she may help medical researchers better understand aging.

     We should be like children in our faith and trust in God ...

"Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 19:14.

"Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein." Mark 10:15 (also Luke 18:17).

     but, we should not be stunted in our growth, always remaining in a childlike state. 

"When I was a child, I spake as a child. I understood as child.  I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." 1 Corinthians 13:11.

     We are counseled to grow ever more wise in our understanding of spiritual matters, not merely going around in circles repeating the same truisms over and over.

"As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby." 1 Peter 2:2

"I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able." 1 Corinthians 3:2

"For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong milk.  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."  Hebrews 5:12-14.