A Hybrid Christianity

My thoughts on the Christian church today. I see some Christian churches are a hybrid form, mostly evangelicals. It's a mixture of American nationalism and self-interest, blended with biblical Christianity. It becomes a non-biblical form of Christianity. The statements I hear include: “American is God's country” and some might include other nations that are friendly and supportive to the US like Canada, England, and Israel. Those that are against America are of the devil; like Syria, Iran, Russia and China, maybe others. It is said that these different countries that are against us are also against God. But God loves all people and all nations, not just those who live in or like America. How arrogant we Americans can be. And how arrogant is this “Christianity.” Something else I've heard like when it comes to ministering to same-sex people. Say I have a business where I am a cake decorator. If a same-sex couple comes in and wants me to make a cake for their wedding. Some Christians today will refuse to do that. And then when a lawsuit is threatened they will cry foul for taking away their religious freedom. In America we have laws against discrimination in our business practices. But then to cry foul saying that their religious liberty is being restricted, is a twist of what real religious liberty is. Real religious liberty has to do with the separation of church and state. It is a apart of the First Amendment to the Constitution. The state is not to restrict or coerce any religion. Religious liberty has to do with making a law that you have to go to a certain church or just on a certain day, or restricting worshipers from worshiping on a certain day or place. There are other examples, but laws against discrimination are not a religious liberty issue unless a church is being forced to hire certain employees. I believe that If I was of a biblical Christian mindset, and following Jesus I would bend over backwards to help people like same-sex couples and I would be happy to make the cake for them. And if I thought I shouldn’t take their money then why not just give the cake and say, “It is a wedding present. “ If all Christians did things like that, loving and excepting all people, then many unbelievers would start wondering why Christians are like this. People would see how great Christians are and maybe they would want to check us out. They might even want to come to church. And who knows, maybe God would convict them of their sins. Jesus accepted all and died for everyone, all sinners, all of us. He died for the world because he loves the world. (John 3: 16) No matter what we do He loves us all. That is a great example for the Christian church; loving and accepting all. That doesn’t mean you agree with sin. Remember, we all sin. Sin is sin, we are all guilty. Only through Jesus can anyone be saved. If some “Christians” want to stand up for their so-called rights and refuse to serve people who are a little different than them, they're no different than the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus day. The scribes and Pharisees would not even speak to a Gentile. This is exactly what Jesus had to deal with; Fundamentalists and legalists. It’s hard enough for us to get through life and feel like we're loved and cared for, for us to be pointing fingers at one another and saying that you're sin is worse than mine. But rather Christians can accept all people into their community, loving them, helping them and guiding them, allowing the Holy Spirit to touch their hearts. What could be wrong with this? Why should I treat some people as if they are less than human? They should have the same rights that I have. Sin is sin and it doesn't matter whether it's one flavor or another. It’s still is sin and Jesus died for all sinners. Christians should open their arms and open their church doors to all people because we are all of Adam’s race.

Why do Christians want guns?

Guns have become very prominent in Christian circles. People who claim to be pro-life also talk about the importance of carrying guns. Some congregations even advertise gun safety for their members. I find it difficult to understand. How can one believe in the ultimate importance of life on one hand and then purchase a gun for the sole purpose of harming and killing life? And, how can you be pro-life and also pro-war? The only explanation is, the Christianity that we see popularized today is not the type Jesus preached but it is a Nationalistic Christianity, or one that puts the preeminence of America right up there next to being a Christian. It gives the impression that to be a Christian today means that you will also be a strong, patriotic, gun-toting American. When there is a horrible gun massacre in America we begin hearing some say that America needs stronger gun control laws. So that guns only get into the hands of those people who are mentally stable, noncriminal, and otherwise safe to have them; if it could be safe to have a gun on your person. There are plenty of gun accidents in homes where people get shot and sometimes killed from a supposedly unloaded gun or one that is ‘safely’ kept secured. At the same time gun owners appear to say, “No, we need to go out and get more guns.” The argument I hear is, “this massacre could have been stopped or would have been less horrible if the victims had guns to defend themselves.” If you take this reasoning to its logical conclusion, then every American should have a gun and have it with them all the time. I’m sorry, but that takes us back to the Wild West days. In those days everyone took the law into their own hands. I fall on the side of those who believe we should have better gun control laws in America. And the guns should always be under lock and key when not being used. Once again, when you take the words of Jesus and you put them along side of the American Christian Nationalistic statements, it is hard to make sense of this philosophy. Jesus said in Matthew 26:52, “Those who live by the sword will die by the sword.” The simple truth is that if you have a gun and another person has a gun you are likely to use it and somebody is going to die. Jesus also said in Matthew 5:44, “You are to love your enemies.” These statements of the Son of God should supersede all other arguments of gun-toting American Christian Nationalists. There is one fact that is hard to deny: You cannot love someone while you are killing them.

Why I have trouble attending church

Since retiring from the pastoral ministry I have not attended church regularly. We lived for a few years in Collettsville, NC, which was up in the sticks and the only churches close by were little country churches. I spoke at one of them several times but I did not join that congregation. Not because the people weren't gracious and loving and friendly and inviting us to come, no, it was because of the flavor. I have become quite picky in my choice of worship experience, now that I have a choice where I worship. I guess at times I forget that worship is not about what I get out of it, but what I give. So it makes sense that if I attend church that I don't really want to join and preach there, I am giving. That is why I go to certain churches, I'm invited to speak; Pretty selfish reason. I have found that now, that I am not in full time ministry, where my time was not my own, I am a very selfish person. Today Malia and I are in Portland, OR. We have been in the Northwest for six months and next week we will start heading back east. Our son and his family are in California for a week so we are babysitting their dog and their home while they are gone. In Yakima where we stayed for most of that time, there is a church we attend that is of the flavor we find so pleasing. Yes, I did get to speak there also, but we attend even when I do not speak. When Friday came around I decided to look online to see what churches within an hour’s drive were available. Actually more like a half hour drive. Because of the traffic here it takes time to get anywhere. I saw three or four churches online and of course this coming weekend is Easter weekend. I was hoping for a worship experience that would at least bring up the celebration of Christ resurrecting from the dead and living for us today. I was disappointed. It didn't appear that there would be any church that I could find celebrating the resurrection. Now to be honest they didn't all say what their worship service was going to be, but the few which did say told me that it was something other than the resurrection. That is common in the Adventist Church. It goes back over hundred years ago. It seems very few Adventist churches talk about Easter and the resurrection in the same way as other Christian churches do. When you look back at one of our early founders in the 1850s and 60s, one who was a female, said nothing positive about Easter. To be accurate most of the Easter trappings like the bunnies, the eggs, and even the name itself really do come from paganism. But today I just wanted to hear a rip-roaring sermon on the resurrection of Christ. And it looked like that wasn't possible in my mother domination at this place and at this time. If we were in Collegedale, TN this weekend, the church there has a SONrise service that is magnificent to experience. But on Facebook I can watch the triumphant ending to this play. With tears streaming down my face I witness ‘Jesus’ coming out of the tomb and hugging everyone, including the angels! So Malia and I and some friends are going to a garden, the Japanese Gardens where we can see flowers opening in spring time and think about Jesus coming out of the tomb with light, color and all the brightness of the sunrise itself! Jesus is risen, He is alive!

Could it be wrong to proclaim Jesus. All?

I am a Seventh-day Adventist pastor, retired. And I sometimes have a love/hate connection with my church. No, I was not raised in the church. I was raised Lutheran, then I became a charismatic, Jesus freak in the 60s and 70s. In the mid-70s I joined the Adventist church and later became a pastor. But I have found it increasingly difficult to understand the rhetoric and the position that many Adventist take. Maybe that’s because I was a Jesus freak for quite a while and maybe still am. For the last three years I have attended the One Project. This exciting, spiritually emphasizing, life enhancing experience happens for a weekend in early February. Last one I attended over 1000 people came. At the One Project is organized by Adventist pastor’s and it is a place where Jesus is emphasized, explained, lifted up, taught how to follow, given as an example, shown to be vital to a Christian spiritual life. And yet, many in the Adventist church criticize it as being New Age, immoral, heretical, and dangerous. In order to appreciate this gathering one must be a gospel oriented, Christian Adventist. Unfortunately many Adventists are not gospel oriented. They appear to be last day events oriented, end of the world coming soon oriented, or Revelation 14 oriented. But they seem to forget that Revelation 14:6 talks about an Everlasting Gospel coming to the world. In fact, that’s the first thing that is spoken by the Angels. How can you be an Adventist (Adventist means coming of Christ) and not be a gospel oriented person? Charles Scriven, in the fall issue, 2015 of “Spectrum” mentions that the Adventist Society for religious studies, when recommending to the General Conference about a new study on the doctrine of inspiration, rejected the idea that the centrality of Jesus in the Bible should be stated as important to the process of studying inspiration. If we understand that the Bible is God’s love letter to us and Jesus Christ is the one whom God has uses to show and demonstrate that love, wouldn’t it be important to recognize Scripture in the light of Christology? Apparently it was too controversial to include in the statement. For me, I am thankful for the One Project. I have found it an experience of spiritual refreshment. I intend to continue encouraging people to put Jesus first in their lives every opportunity, pulpit or pen I am given. If we lose the centrality of Jesus in the Bible and in our lives we have lost something that is a focal point of the history of this world and our very destiny.

Consumers?

If you listen to the news for any length of time or read news magazines you will discover that economists have a term for you and I. It is: Consumers. Do you like being known as a consumer? I don’t. It gives me the idea of the old video game, Pack Man. You just go along and your only purpose is to eat things up, consume things. I am not an economist; you will see that pretty quickly. But if I understand them correctly, to say that we are all consumers is to say that we must constantly be purchasing and using up stuff. I realize that eight years ago our country fell into a deep recession and there is still a debate about whether we are completely out of that recession. To the heart of that thought is the way economists refer to the growth of our economy, or lack of it. Usually they say the economy is “sluggish”. The way they defined sluggish is: you and I purchased a certain amount of stuff last month, and now we have purchased the same amount of stuff this month plus a little more. That is a sluggish economy. If we purchased the same amount of stuff as we did last month, plus a lot more stuff then we have a healthy economy. You see, in order for our economy to be healthy, you and I must constantly be buying a lot more stuff and possibly going into debt because of it. Why can’t we be satisfied with the stuff that we have? Why do we constantly have to be buying more stuff? Now I realize that we do need to have food and certain necessities each day. We need to continue purchasing these things. But that’s not what the health economy is based upon. It’s not based upon whether we eat or using certain necessities of life. That’s a given. No, a growing economy means you go out and you buy a lot more stuff, maybe stuff you don’t even need but you just want. Why can’t we be content with what we have? This I think, teaches us not to rely upon Christ in life, not to be content with what we have, to be one of the rats in the rat race of life in our culture. The gospel says something completely different. Rather than acquiring more stuff for ourselves we are to think of our neighbors. Rather than our happiness to be based upon the things that we have, be content with what we have and enjoy life because of the people we are close to, not the stuff we have. The Christ like way is certainly different than our culture.

These five things

When you have to leave your chosen profession early because of your health, there are many challenges that come your way. Your family has a hard time with it, your finances are affected, your self-worth is in crisis, not to mention the issues of your personal well-being. Like anyone who is faced with serious life issues, I was forced to reinvent myself and decide what was most important in my future. Who am I? What would the rest of my days look like? Because of the progression of this illness I constantly have to readjust to a new normal and remain in a positive frame of mind. The illness is not currently life-threatening but it certainly has changed my life and continues to. Through this experience I have learned what is really important to me. I could list them as five areas easily: 1- My daily walk and relationship with God. I will have personal devotions every day and will seek to draw closer to him. I will make myself available to the Holy Spirit. 2- Ministry of some kind, whether large or small. I will be involved in some kind of helping ministry whether spiritual or simply helping the poor & those in need. 3- My family. This includes my loving wife of 40 years, my two sons, their wives and their children. It also includes my extended family and friends. One thing I have learned to do is become a househusband. While my wife is working I take care of the house, make the purchases, cook the food, and do what anyone else at home does. I also seek to build a close relationship with my sons and their wives and their children. I have found this a great joy. The Lord has made it possible for us to live six months out in northwest where we can be closer to one of my sons and his family. This is been a great blessing. Back in the East we are closer to our other son. 4- Art. I love to paint in acrylics and pastels. It is amazing that anybody thinks it's worth looking at or even purchasing but I don't do it for that, I do it because I love it. I would like art to be in some way a ministry but I'm not sure how that would happen. 5- Writing. Now that I am not preparing sermons every week nor devotionals, etc. I want to express myself by writing. Speaking is very different than writing. I want to learn how to write effectively. I know that involves practice and understanding the principles. So I am involved in that on a regular basis. It would do us all good to determine what is most important and pursue that in life. We probably would waste less time on those things that are not very important.

Some Personal Stuff

After almost 3 years of not adding to my blog, I have decided to begin again. During these last years a lot has happened in my life and it has taken me a while to process it. In early 2012 I felt it necessary to leave the pastoral ministry and go on disability for health reasons. I had several major surgeries that year which were supposed to help with my problems. They helped some and hurt some. That is the way it is with surgeries. God created us to be whole and complete and when we are cut into there is often some collateral damage that occurs. When doctors try to solve one problem they sometimes unwittingly create another. We also had to move and sell the home that we were living in because my salary was cut in half by this change in life. We moved into a small country home in North Carolina that I inherited from my father's family. Thankfully, my wife was able to continue working as a home health nurse. Now we are three years down the road and much more educated as to what happened to me and what the future holds. My big problem has always been my spine from my head down to my tail. Having six surgeries and many different kinds of treatment have helped in many ways and hurt in other ways. Because of this I live with daily, constant pain. But I am mindful of the many blessings that I do have in life and am thankful each day for having the opportunity to wake up and be a part of life. I have also learned that drugs that reduce pain don't really help after a while. Narcotics and other drugs are usually not meant to be taken permanently. I think I have tried all of them that are available today. They do help with breakthrough pain and extremely bad days that come but that is not where help comes for the long-term. God has made our bodies magnificent in so many ways and the more we understand our bodies, the more we can deal with the things that happened to us. Pain is governed by the brain and we can learn to deal with pain by doing things with our mind. That's one thing I am learning and I'm thankful for some understanding in that area. Even though I am not a full-time pastor I do have some involvement in ministry. I have opportunity to speak in churches from time to time and get involved in other helping organizations as much as I can. I am thankful that there are a couple of areas where God leads me to be involved and am happy to do it. Jesus Christ is still alive and well and continues to impact my life daily!