A Tough Decision is Coming

I usually do not spend my time dealing with political issues but today I need to post about an upcoming issue I believe each American Christian will have to deal with in the near-future.

I am sure many of you have heard that today Arizona's Governor has vetoed a bill that would have allowed business owners to refuse service based on religious conviction. This law was written to allow business owners to express their First Amendment rights. This proposed law was bound to be introduced after a Colorado baker would not bake a wedding cake for two homosexual men who came to him to make them a wedding cake. The baker now must make the cake or possibly face jail time.

Never mind that Colorado's constitution defines marriage as between a man and woman.

Never mind that AT MOST 3.5% of the population of our country (roughly the population of New Jersey) who claim to be homosexual are shifting the entire culture to their agenda no matter the cost.
 
Never mind that science seems to point to homosexuality as a choice rather than an inborn trait and, as such, would nullify the claim of homosexuals being a "minority group."

However, these are not the points I want to dedicate this post to today. Instead, I want to challenge the reader with the idea that within, I believe, five years the American Christian will have to choose if they will be American OR Christian. In other words, they will have to choose where their most basic, foundational loyalties lie. This is because I believe within those five years it will impossible to be faithful to both. Well, maybe not impossible, but I am trying to make a point.

My point is that very soon Christian's will not be able to uphold the Laws of the Land. For example, parents homeschooling their children may eventually have to break the law if they teach their children homosexuality is a sin (it has already happened in Canada). Biblically-based churches will possibly lose their tax-exempt status a punishment for their stand on homosexuals. With some new bills about bullying and cyber-bullying just around the bend, posts like this one could end up coming with a fine or punishment. There is a good chance pastors who preach against homosexuality could end up jailed (it has already happened in Sweden). These and more will be serious religious and spiritual issues that the unsuspecting church will have to deal with sooner than they think.

I am not attempting to be an alarmist. This is just the reality we live in today and there will be no turning back this tide. Yes, we should continue to evangelize those who pride has hardened their hearts to the point where God has left them to their own sinful desires (Ezekiel 16:49-50, Ephesians 4:17-19, Romans 1:18-32). Yes, Christ is stronger than any political agenda (1 John 4:4). But the cultural shift has already happened. The question is, "How will the believer respond?"

Nor am I advocating that Christians just "give up." Obviously, the church will not stop doing what it has been commissioned to do by Christ (Matthew 28:18-20). We must continue preach Jesus and salvation He provides any sinner through His blood and we must preach this no matter the cost and without regard to those who tell us to stop (Acts 4:18-20). The Church must remain faithful in spite of the pressure to compromise (Revelation 3:8).

So, with this in mind, the American church will have to come to realization that a converted soul is more important than a conservative vote. Believers must acknowledge that the nation in which they live is not an extension of the church. The Church must come to understand that our politics, which is based in the concept of compromise, do not mix well with our faith, which based in absolute truth.

Christians around the world live in country that is out-right hostile to the Christian faith. This is nothing new. If you are believer reading this, then I just would like you consider the idea that this may be coming sooner than you might imagine. What will your response be?

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I'm Back...I Think...

I have another friend and fellow Baptist that is in the blogisphere now. Check out Don's blog at philetus.blogspot.com. He writes about theological issues and has some original articles also available through his site. Of particular interest is his article on the Dead Sea Scrolls. Done has done much research of the Dead Sea Scrolls over the last couple years and was able to put together an interesting overview of what they are, their history, and their impact for today. I would encourage you to print out his booklet and read through it. If you like, contact him through his blog and let him know how much you liked it.

With Don starting his blog and my friend Mark, continuing to post on his blog, Converging Heritage, I thought, maybe I ought to get in gear and start blogging again. I just have found too many excused to not to.

Things that have kept me from blogging this month:

• Transforming a bedroom into a home office
• Building a website for my friend's business
• Family "stuff"
• "Teaching" an online Philosophy of Religion class for OBU MTI
• Distraction over an up-coming interview at a church
• Laziness
• Company
• Changing the faucet on our kitchen sink
• Church "stuff"
• Games (with the family, on the computer, and online)

Needless to say, I have found a great number of reasons not blog. But, I am going to attempt to get back into the swing of things.

Here is what I plan to blog on in the upcoming weeks (not that I think anyone is greatly anticipating anything I will be blogging on next - this is more for me as a "to-do" list):

• Finish the sermon preparation series
• Post a couple of book reviews
• Random thoughts which have been rolling around in my head during the Philosophy of Religion class.
• Thoughts on bible studies I am going through on my own
• AND, of course, more "the funniest thing I have heard today" - looking for those throughout the day are what keep me sane

"all this and more, coming soon!" That is, unless I find a good excuse to not do it.

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Digging Into the Burial of Sarah

For my final post on the chiasms found in Genesis, I want post more of an assignment rather than just posting information. I would like to challenge you read Genesis 23 and identify the chiasm there and the find the focus of the passage in this section of Scripture.

This chapter records the burial of Sarah by Abraham. It is an interesting story. Spend some time looking at this passage. Attempt to find the chiasm by identifing the word pairs in parallel to each other (they are easily identifable in the English translation). After that, you can read this article, which is a great study of this passage, its structure, and how that impacts interpretation of the story. The article is bit technical but skip over all the Hebrew "stuff" and look at the structure and the exegesis. It is a worthwhile read.

I hope this study of poetry in Genesis has been helpful. I will be posting some other posts dealing with Genesis in the coming day. I pray those will be helpful as well.

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If YOU Build, Will They Come?

In my search for a pastorate, I received numerous questionnaires about my personality and my doctrinal stand. There is one that stands out to me because of the first question on this questionnaire. The first question this church wanted to know about was not "What is your belief in Jesus?" or "What do you hold to concerning the Scriptures" or "What do you believe about salvation?" The first question was not even, "Please give us your testimony." The first question on this pastoral questionnaire was "How would you grow the church?"

My answer was essentially, "I will not grow the church. If the church grows that is God's business. I will teach, disciple and exhort the body to penetrate the world with the gospel. I will provide an example of evangelism. But God will be the one to make the church grow if that is what He desires (1 Cor. 3:7)." While I put it more gracious terms than this, it nevertheless captures what my answer was. They did not call me as their pastor.

In this vein, here is an interesting article which that church may want to read. It is entitled Ten Ways to Grow a Church Without God. Others may have the muscles to this kind of job in their own strength. I sure don't.

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