The Da Vinci Code

I had the great pleasure of watching the Da Vinci Code (Howard, Hanks, et al).  It was not my pleasure because I agreed with Brown's underlying motive.  I enjoyed it because I finally got a chance to see what all the hubbub was about (It's only been, what, four years since it came out). In the final analysis, this is what I realized...

If they are right and my faith is wrong, then they have gained nothing and I have lost nothing - we all just die.  However,  if they are wrong and my faith is right, then they have lost everything and I have gained everything.  I would rather have faith in the foolishness that confounded the wise.

Quote of the day

The world honors success.

God honors faithfulness.

Prophetic Slander

To really honest with you, I am sick of this election season.  I guess the worst part of it is listening to all the Christians, especially some charismatic Christians who have a super-inflated view of their spiritual intuitiveness.

I am rather disappointed in those believers who are so afraid of Barack Obama that they have searched the Scripture, drew up a flimsy case trying to prove that Obama is the Anti-Christ.  I keep getting "prophetic words" in emails about this election and Senator Obama.  My suspicion is that they cannot grasp the possibility of an African-American serving as the next president so they slander him by calling him the Anti-Christ to instill fear in other believers.

The point I want to make is that your fear of a man has clouded your fear of God.  If a believer truly fears the Lord, they won't fear a man.  Listen to what the Apostle Peter said while the churches in Asia Minor were being persecuted by Caesar:  "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men:  Whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish who do wrong and to commend those who do right.  For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.  Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.  Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king (1 Peter 2:13-17)."  In other words, don't slander our leaders.  Submit to them even if you don't like them.  Don't make up stuff and call it a "prophetic word."  Scripture has already made clear what we need to know about this election - submit to authority and honor your leaders.  It's that simple.  We don't need another prophetic word, because God doesn't contradict Himself!  THE CANON IS CLOSED!  True Christians aren't palm readers! 

Oh, and by the way, there is nothing in Scripture supporting the claim that the Anti-Christ will be muslim.

Listen, I will not vote for Obama because I don't like his policy.  But, God is going to put in office who HE wants in office.  God's providence is very real and He is very in control.  Instead of being on your knees praying against Obama, you should be on your knees asking God to forgive you for your lack of faith.

But, what do I know?

Suffering

Throughout my life, I have grown up in the holiness/Pentecostal tradition. It is a godly group of people that love the Lord and believe the word of God in 1 Peter when he calls us to "be holy as I am holy." I have found that one of the mistakes that we in traditional Pentecostal circles make is to get focused on our own actions dictating God's next move. In other words, we sometimes forget about the sovereignty and providence of God. We think that God moves AFTER we move. We think that salvation and success is dependent upon us and forget the power and providence of God. I believe that the Scriptures are pretty clear that God has a plan and purpose. It is by His will and His alone that the church grows or dies (John 15). We are mere servants that should be completely submitted to His will and plan. Unfortunately, we think that periods of trials and testing in our lives is because of a mistake that we have made or the mistake that someone else has made. Sometimes, we think that if one of our brothers or sisters in Christ is going through a crisis, it must be because they have shortcomings that have brought this on. This is the point I want to make: God controls the destiny of the church - not people and certainly not the devil. It is more biblical to say that God often orchestrates trials and testing in the lives of his people to bring glory to Himself, to make his children into who He wants them to be, and to bring judgment on His enemies - those that are opposed to His plans. It is not unlike God to put his children through difficult seasons to break them down and remold them into a useful instrument in God's kingdom. Also, it is important to remember that in 1 Peter it is taught that judgment begins with the house of God. "For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? 'If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?' Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator" (1 Peter 4:17-19). "According to" means that we suffer because it is God's will that we suffer. We should not be surprised at events that occur in our lives and in the life of our church. It his God's hand at work IN EVERYTHING. God is not nervously biting his fingernails wondering if it will all work out alright - hoping that we make the right moves or decisions. HE IS IN TOTAL CONTROL!!!!! And because he is in total control we who obey the gospel of God don't have to be anxious about anything. Stand firm in the faith that you have received!

Who you really are...

I have always said that you will never really know anything about a person until they are really mad and really scared.  Then, you will know what a person is made of.

Quote of the Day

It's not what you know.  It's what you can make people think you know.

Values

I have learned that power of "values" in the lives of people.  They guide us in everything that we do, where we go, with whom we associate, where we go to church.  What one person values may be similar or completely opposite to another.  Also, I have found that people have primary values and secondary values.  Let's say that a group of people adhere to a list of values.  However, one person in that group will value something over all the other values.  This is the same for all the people in the group.  This always leads to conflict.

Values have such power over people's lives that when one person criticizes the values of another person, no matter how wrong that person may be, the latter will become entrenched even further to defend that value.  In fact, people will toss out the Gospel of Jesus Christ altogether to protect what they value.