When Church Smells Delicious
Yesterday was the first time we gathered as a church for a meal in our building. Previously, while we worshiped in the school, we used a gathering space at the library service center for our meals. It was so much nicer keeping it in house. Worshiping with the smells of home made soups, chili, sweet potato casserole (my wife made that and it was delicious so I want to throw her some props) and Mary Lou’s righteous home made cream puffs can really add some energy into the service. Mainly it was really nice to see our people enjoying time together, celebrating God’s goodness, and laughing together.
Turn down the lights, put on something silky and get out your prayer book
A new prayer book available in England has a prayer for husbands and wives to use before they have sex. I didn’t realize the prayer book was missing one to begin with, but I am glad they corrected the oversight. It really makes sense and is good theology, but our false dichotomy between our sexuality and our spirituality makes it feel strange. I don’t know any couple that regularly prays before sex (I will try and keep this a real reflection and avoid the all to obvious assortment of jokes that I could insert at this point of the conversation) but it makes tremendous sense for a Christian couple. If we are going to honor God in everything that we do that certainly must include our sex lives. Good for whoever came out with this prayer book, way to remind us that in all things we must honor God.
For the Love of Sandwiches
In my sermon yesterday I talked extensively about my intense love of sandwiches. I also began a firestorm of debate as to the best sandwich shops to visit. So here is a quick poll, what is your favorite chain of sandwich shops?
With a geographically diverse voter pool I only included chains. Merritts, Sandwich, and Elizabeths back home in Chapel Hill, and other fine local establishments are being excluded from this conversation for obvious reasons..
Growing Pains and Darwin
Kirk Cameron’s ministry called Living Waters is planning on handing out 100,000 copies of Darwin’s Origin of Species on college campuses. How they will find 100,000 college students to actually read it, I have no idea. But they have added an introduction and commentary on Darwin’s work to expose the false claims of Darwin and the dangerous path that Darwin has lead us down.
What is really interesting or sad about this is how uninformed Kirk Cameron sounds in promoting this work. The Washington Post makes him sound completely uneducated with the claims he makes and the action itself reeks of fighting the wrong battle. Cameron and his group are once again using fear as the motivating factor to get people to act where they live. When will we as Christians get it? Perfect love drives out all fear. If we are motivating people through fear, we are not acting as Christ’s ambassadors. Christ motivated people through love and the truth, not half truths warped to scare people. Anyways here is the promo video for Living Waters Darwin handouts.
September 28, 2009 at 9:56 am
Great assortment of thoughts here. Thanks for posting!
September 28, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Too bad Kirk can’t be creative and come up with something like handing out free sandwiches that taste really good…maybe christians should start handing out fried fish sandwiches…on Friday, of course.
September 28, 2009 at 1:38 pm
How have I as a pastor not developed a scenario where I am handing out sandwiches yet? Actually my church in Denver started that in its college ministry by having people make bag lunches and then going downtown to hand them out to the homeless. It turned into a huge monthly meal that fed 400-500 homeless at a time.
I am going to come out with a line of Holy Sandwiches that have catchy names like The Redeemer, Boanarges, Entirely Sanctified, and Glossalia….
September 29, 2009 at 10:20 am
I want an Epaphroditus with a side of Greek dressing.
September 30, 2009 at 10:08 am
Seems to me that perfect love would disallow anyone from outright siding with a known Washington Post liberal writer against a Christian who, given today’s culture, asks questions that are on many Christians’ minds….and probably should be. Is our culture not waxing worse and worse? What should our response be?
It isn’t fear mongering when incidents of discrimination against student Bible-readers, student Christian prayers and students who mention “Jesus” are still occurring…and they are. We just heard from a Christian law ministry that received 100,000 requests, last year, that related to issues of Christian discrimination.
In the early 90s, in Maryland, Glen Burnie High School, prior to football games, would announce, “There will be no use of tobacco products, no consuming of alcohol and no praying on school property.” There were incidents like these all over the nation. These incidents are what led to the lawsuits that set the precedent and law that Waters references.
Unfortunately, many people (public school teachers) are still ignorant in regard to the rights of Christian public school students and they are driven by their disdain for Christ and their false view of the oft repeated “separation of Church and State”. Thank God that we had a judicial bench that put an end to much of that liberal canard.
Though, in complete disregard to the law, discrimination of this type is still ocurring: A 6th grade boy told that he can’t write a story about Jesus; Students told that they can’t lead a voluntary Christian prayer at graduation; and a girl getting in trouble for reading her Bible during lunch time, etc., etc., etc.
Waters, like a good liberal, only accepts a hollow liberal religious expression. One in which Christian apologetics is only a waste of time. Unfortunately, for Waters and like liberals, Scritpure requires that Christians defend the faith (not just hand out a sandwich). Elders/Pastors are specifically qualified with that ability…They are supposed to be able to effectively put down the false arguments and attacks from the world.
Waters, a panelist at the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association convention in Washington, D.C., apparently had no problem with the hate and contempt mongering that took place at the convention (hate and contempt mongering good, but alleged fear mongering bad?). This is how a journalist from the Culture and Media Institute reported on the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association convention:
After listening to speaker after speaker express hatred and contempt for political and religious conservatives while plotting how to advance the homosexual activist agenda through journalism, I’m left wondering whether Americans know the extent of the media’s bias on homosexual issues. Do they know that the news media have thrown themselves fully behind the gay rights movement?
http://www.cultureandmediainstitute.org/articles/2008/20080827094844.aspx
Waters has also written an article contending that the phrase “under God” should be removed from the Pledge of Allegiance because it is outdated.
What voice should such a person have in regard to the definition of perfect Christian love? Why does Waters have any credibility in this discussion, but Kirk Cameron, apparently, so little?
And…you have, apparently, fallen into Waters false dichotomy trap: that perfect love and fear are mutually exclusive. They are not.
I am betting, though, that Waters would argue (in regard to what perfect love is) with the One who made this statement:
“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matt. 10:28)
September 30, 2009 at 10:27 am
I am not supporting the author of article in anyway other than to agree with many of the comments on the efforts of Living Waters. If there is truth in the article I am not concerned about who wrote it.
There are indeed persecutions all around us, but I think this form of apologetics is completely irrelevant in our culture today. God can work through bad forms of ministry (as a pastor I find great comfort in this) but it doesn’t mean we should embrace them.
I am laughing, however, at this statement. “And…you have, apparently, fallen into Waters false dichotomy trap: that perfect love and fear are mutually exclusive. They are not.”
Actually I have fallen into the trap of the Apostle John who says in 1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
September 30, 2009 at 1:49 pm
You supported the author of the article by contending that Cameron was fear mongering, which he is not. Today’s culture is waxing worse and worse and, like you said, discrimination against Christian students is happening. Most Christians see it and lament the fact.
How could the below-mentioned effort be irrelevant?
“…warning viewers of the mortal and eternal dangers of atheism, secularism and Darwinism.”
Are really saying that this effort is a waste of time?
“I don’t question the sincerity of Cameron’s efforts to rescue us from Darwinism and eternal damnation. But why try to scare people into believing in God? Isn’t fear the opposite of faith?”
Being found in sin and having no saving faith in Jesus Christ IS a scary place to be. Should not the prospect of eternal damnation scare people? One only has fear when there is no faith in Jesus Christ.
I often find that liberals can’t name any apologetic ministry that they find acceptable, productive or effective.
“Couldn’t a group that calls itself “Living Waters” make a stronger case for Christ by handing out free bottles of water or loaves of bread on campus?”
No…not in the absence of the Gospel. And…thanks for the advice Waters: you keep on contending for the ever needed and necessary removing of “under God” from the Pledge and us Christians will keep contending for the Faith.
You see…perfect love can be identified by that fact that Christians love one another and that they testify that God sent His Son as Savior of the world. You and Waters seem to be applying perfect love differently than the text of 1 John 4. First of all, for the unsaved, fear is not eliminated (ever)…they are fearful, and should be fearful (see Matt. 10:28, again), of Christ’s coming judgement. Christians. however, don’t have to be fearful of Christ’s judgement (as indicated in the I John 4 passage). And, most importantly,…all fear, even for Christians, is not removed as we should be working out our salvation in fear and trembling and there should always be a healthy fear of God. (It seems like you may have incorrectly proof-texted here)
See I John 4 below, which is self explanatory and note that there is no complete removal of all fear for Christians and the unsaved under “perfect love”:
11
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another.
12
No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.
13
4 This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us, that he has given us of his Spirit.
14
Moreover, we have seen and testify that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world.
15
Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him and he in God.
16
We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.
17
In this is love brought to perfection among us, that we have confidence on the day of judgment because as he is, so are we in this world.
18
There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love.
19
We love because he first loved us.
20
If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God 5 whom he has not seen.
21
This is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Here are some links to some good commentaries on the perfect love of 1 John 4 (and it ain’t what you and Waters are proposing):
http://www.biblestudytools.com/Commentaries/WesleysExplanatoryNotes/wes.cgi?book=1jo&chapter=4#1Jo4_18
http://www.biblestudytools.com/Commentaries/GillsExpositionoftheBible/gil.cgi?book=1jo&chapter=4&verse=18
If you want to demonstrate perfect love to the unsaved, then share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them and tell them how to have hope and eliminate the fear of the coming judgement (and maybe give them a sandwich and some water). If you want to demonstrate perfect love to a Christian brother/sister, remind them of the hope that they have in Jesus Christ and test the spirits of false teachers, and etc.
I don’t know if I would keep laughing, though.
October 1, 2009 at 8:04 am
And…if fear and faith (concerning the unsaved) are incompatible, how do we explain what happened in Acts 5?
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+5&version=NIV
11Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
12The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 13No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.
October 1, 2009 at 8:34 am
From Romans 3, notice the description of those who have no fear of God:
As it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
11there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
12All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”[c]
13″Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”[d]
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”[e]
14″Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”[f]
15″Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16ruin and misery mark their ways,
17and the way of peace they do not know.”[g]
18″There is no fear of God before their eyes.”[h]
October 1, 2009 at 9:31 am
Paul, we are having different conversations so I am writing a new blog post on the idea of fear to address your comments and the briefly expressed ideas of the earlier blog post.