Although atheism is generally considered an intellectual position, I'm convinced that the requirement for atheism is not intelligence, but intentional blindness to some obvious truths. This is clearly seen in some of the most outspoken atheists, who actively and publicly ridicule Christianity and the idea that there is a God who created the universe. These same atheists, if pressed on the matter, come up with some very peculiar ideas about how things came to be. It becomes clear that they are willing to believe almost anything, as long as it leaves God out of the picture.
I'll start off with a recent example. A few weeks ago I was working with the TV on in the background tuned to the science channel. It caught my attention when an astronomy program came on and started talking about Kepler-78b, a prominent example of a class of planets that baffles astronomers. The problem is that Kepler-78b is too close to its parent star...there's simply no way it should be there. Every model of planet/star formation would suggest that when you extrapolate back to when the planet supposedly formed, it would have been inside the star – an impossibility. Also, Kepler-78b has a fairly stable orbit, so it's not possible that it formed elsewhere and fell into its current position.
Yet, Kepler 78-b is an observed fact. So what was the top suggestion for how it can exist? Aliens put it there. Yup. Not making this up. According to the program, “This sounds far-fetched, but is based on sound science”. Actually, I agree with their logic. Given all the facts it makes the most sense to conclude that the planet was put there by some design. But if it's OK for some scientists to attribute its design to aliens, why would Christians get ridiculed for attributing its design to God? The program certainly didn't mention God as a possibility, and I guarantee that if I had been there to pitch the idea, I'd have been laughed out of the room. This is hypocrisy. They use the same logical steps to make the same types of arguments, but you only get your own TV show if you say “aliens did it”. If you say “God did it”, you get ridiculed.
If you think this is just some random guys on TV, you'd be wrong. Richard Dawkins, arguably the most famous modern atheist and critic of Christianity, holds a similar view. Near the end of the movie 'Expelled', Ben Stein interviews Dawkins and asks him a handful of questions related to God and intelligent design. Dawkins actually admits that he would be OK with intelligent design if you think about it in terms of aliens designing life on Earth. Again, why is it OK to attribute design to aliens, but mock those who attribute design to God? Hypocrite.
Francis Crick is another atheist worth mentioning. He's best known for being a co-discoverer of the structure of DNA. He also openly mocked Christianity. However, his research on DNA put him face-to-face with the overwhelming impossibility of evolution. Crick refused to acknowledge God as creator, and predictably turned to alien life as his savior. He came to the belief that life was so complex that it must have been put there by aliens. He still mocked God. Hypocrite.
Perhaps the most widespread hypocrisy is in the area of biomimicry – copying or drawing heavy inspiration from designs of biological systems to solve problems in engineering. It should be self-evident that it's only useful to copy a design if it was made by someone smarter than you – nobody cheats off the class clown. But biology is interpreted through the lens of evolution, which supposes that all life arose from undirected processes. This philosophy would not lead you to expect beautiful, complex, elegant designs in nature, but merely something cobbled together by random mutation and natural selection. This is certainly not what we find. Even the most “simple” cell is a factory of nanomachines so advanced that it will probably be at least 100 years before we could even begin to duplicate it. Biomimicry only makes sense if you assume an extremely intelligent creator. But hey, if atheists want to think that they're dumber than random processes, who am I to argue?
All of this only supports my previous assertion that commitment to atheism requires the ability to turn a blind eye to the obvious. Any study of the natural world reveals obvious design. Hypocritically, atheists are willing to attribute this design to aliens or other forces while mocking God and marginalizing Christians. If you're an atheist, take off the blinders and look around. Use your God-given brain. It doesn't take much to realize the existence of the Creator, and it's only a few logical steps from there to listen to your conscience, realize your sin, understand God's justice, and know your need for a Savior. To my fellow Christians: don't be intimidated by the pseudo-intellectualism, but be bold in proclaiming the gospel. Help the lost to see their hypocrisy and foolishness, and show them their need to repent and follow Christ.
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Thursday, September 17, 2015
What Makes a Good Bible Version?
There is an ever-growing multitude of Bible versions available these days. I think the fact that all Bibles are not created equal is self-evident to anyone who has read a few different versions. The search for a good Bible is vitally important. After all, if you believe the Bible is the word of God, you should accept no substitute. I'm sure you'd be angry if you found out your pastor was teaching lies and manipulating you for years. How much more would you be shocked to find similar dishonesty in your Bible?
In my experience, people make the Bible version issue a lot more complicated than it really is. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great to study Greek and Hebrew, to do some research on various texts and their histories, and to just generally dig into this interesting topic. But not everyone is a scholar. I submit that the average Joe Christian can know enough to find the right Bible with just a few basic questions.
1) Is the translation faithful to the original text?
This should be obvious, but you'd be surprised. Many modern versions use a process called dynamic equivalence. In short, this process is more concerned with preserving the 'feel' of a passage than creating a formal translation. This means that if you're reading a Bible that was “translated” using dynamic equivalence, you aren't really reading the word of God. Instead, you're reading a paraphrase of God's word through the eyes of another person, with all of their biases and opinions built into the text.
Clearly, this is no good. Average Joe Christian, you can eliminate all Bibles that use dynamic equivalence from your search. This includes the NIV, NLT, and the good news Bible.
2) Does the translation come from the right source material?
To answer this question, we must do a bit more digging. Still, it's not beyond the understanding of Average Joe. Let's start by looking what the Bible has to say about this issue. God's word will be preserved down to the smallest mark until the end of this Earth (Matt. 5:18, Luke 16:17). God will preserve his words in the hands of each generation (Psalms 12:6-7, Psalms 33:11). God promises a severe curse to anyone who would add or take away from Scripture (Rev. 22:18-19).
I want to now draw your attention to the verses that specifically promise that God's word will be in the hands of every generation. This means that God is not necessarily going to preserve his word in jars to be found and re-assembled thousands of years later. While we may find texts that were hidden away, they may or may not be God's preserved words. Again, the Biblical promise is that God's preserved word will be found in the hands of each generation.
Why is this important? Up until recently, Christians used Bibles that were in the family of the “received text”. In the late 1800s, a group of scholars made up of many heretics and unbelievers compiled the “critical text”, which has been used in nearly every modern translation, in whole or in part. The basis of this new text is a small number of new manuscripts which were significantly different from the received text (and each other as well). These new texts were supposedly better because they were younger, but they have been hidden away in jars and bookshelves for thousands of years, and were not used by God's people. Therefore, if we believe God's promises, the critical text should be rejected along with all versions that use it. There are many other reasons to reject the critical text, but I'm keeping this simple for you, Average Joe.
Now that we have eliminated Bible versions that use dynamic equivalency and those that use the critical text, what's left? The field of Bible versions has already been whittled down to one – the KJV. It's the only English Bible that holds water. Now, Average Joe Christian, wasn't that simple?
What's that you say, Average Joe? The KJV is too hard to read? Nonsense. It's very readable. Studies have rated the KJV's prose as “very easy” and suggested that it is written on about an 8th - 10th grade reading level. As for archaic language, if you come across words that you don't know, look them up in a dictionary. You might even learn something! Besides, it's much more important for a translation to be faithful to the original than to be 'easy'. Also consider that there are plenty of resources out there to assist in your Bible reading/study. One of my favorites is blue letter Bible.
So, the search for the right Bible is remarkably straightforward if you ask the right questions. It only requires that you recognize this as an issue worth some study. Should we accept anything less than God's words? I say we ought not to compromise on the slightest jot.
In my experience, people make the Bible version issue a lot more complicated than it really is. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great to study Greek and Hebrew, to do some research on various texts and their histories, and to just generally dig into this interesting topic. But not everyone is a scholar. I submit that the average Joe Christian can know enough to find the right Bible with just a few basic questions.
1) Is the translation faithful to the original text?
This should be obvious, but you'd be surprised. Many modern versions use a process called dynamic equivalence. In short, this process is more concerned with preserving the 'feel' of a passage than creating a formal translation. This means that if you're reading a Bible that was “translated” using dynamic equivalence, you aren't really reading the word of God. Instead, you're reading a paraphrase of God's word through the eyes of another person, with all of their biases and opinions built into the text.
Clearly, this is no good. Average Joe Christian, you can eliminate all Bibles that use dynamic equivalence from your search. This includes the NIV, NLT, and the good news Bible.
2) Does the translation come from the right source material?
To answer this question, we must do a bit more digging. Still, it's not beyond the understanding of Average Joe. Let's start by looking what the Bible has to say about this issue. God's word will be preserved down to the smallest mark until the end of this Earth (Matt. 5:18, Luke 16:17). God will preserve his words in the hands of each generation (Psalms 12:6-7, Psalms 33:11). God promises a severe curse to anyone who would add or take away from Scripture (Rev. 22:18-19).
I want to now draw your attention to the verses that specifically promise that God's word will be in the hands of every generation. This means that God is not necessarily going to preserve his word in jars to be found and re-assembled thousands of years later. While we may find texts that were hidden away, they may or may not be God's preserved words. Again, the Biblical promise is that God's preserved word will be found in the hands of each generation.
Why is this important? Up until recently, Christians used Bibles that were in the family of the “received text”. In the late 1800s, a group of scholars made up of many heretics and unbelievers compiled the “critical text”, which has been used in nearly every modern translation, in whole or in part. The basis of this new text is a small number of new manuscripts which were significantly different from the received text (and each other as well). These new texts were supposedly better because they were younger, but they have been hidden away in jars and bookshelves for thousands of years, and were not used by God's people. Therefore, if we believe God's promises, the critical text should be rejected along with all versions that use it. There are many other reasons to reject the critical text, but I'm keeping this simple for you, Average Joe.
Now that we have eliminated Bible versions that use dynamic equivalency and those that use the critical text, what's left? The field of Bible versions has already been whittled down to one – the KJV. It's the only English Bible that holds water. Now, Average Joe Christian, wasn't that simple?
What's that you say, Average Joe? The KJV is too hard to read? Nonsense. It's very readable. Studies have rated the KJV's prose as “very easy” and suggested that it is written on about an 8th - 10th grade reading level. As for archaic language, if you come across words that you don't know, look them up in a dictionary. You might even learn something! Besides, it's much more important for a translation to be faithful to the original than to be 'easy'. Also consider that there are plenty of resources out there to assist in your Bible reading/study. One of my favorites is blue letter Bible.
So, the search for the right Bible is remarkably straightforward if you ask the right questions. It only requires that you recognize this as an issue worth some study. Should we accept anything less than God's words? I say we ought not to compromise on the slightest jot.
Saturday, August 22, 2015
Studying the Law to Understand Grace
It's my observation that in the realm of Christianity in the U.S., grace is discussed all over the place. It's on the radio, in those 'encouraging daily devotionals', and in sermons both heretical and doctrinally sound. It's not that grace is a bad thing. Indeed, without God's grace toward guilty sinners, we'd all be doomed without hope. Still, I frequently have the overwhelming impression that all the talk about grace is out of balance. Why? The idea of grace is meaningless without an understanding of sin and the law.
To expand on my previous point; if we accept the definition that grace is favor given to the undeserving, then our estimation of the value of grace is determined by the difference between what we get and what we think we deserve. What we get – what God gives us, is essentially a fixed quantity (forgiveness, adoption, heaven, etc.). The variable here is our opinion of what we deserve. If you think that your relation to God is positive or neutral, you will appreciate grace less than someone who understands that our relationship to God is very much in the negative (of course, I'm talking pre-salvation right now). There's a beautiful example of this in Luke 7:36-50. The pharisees gave little regard to Jesus' presence, but this sinner (quite possibly a whore or adulteress given their reactions) showed him love and reverence in the most humble way. The reason for the different attitudes is obvious – the Pharisees had fooled themselves into thinking that they were pretty much OK, but this woman knew that she was a terrible sinner.
This principle holds true for each of us. You won't even begin to appreciate God's grace toward you until you understand the depth of your sin. Of course, this is true of the sinner who needs to repent and be saved, but it is also true for Christians. You see, even though we have a wonderful relationship with God, we have to remember how we got here. It was God who saved us and brought us into this right relationship. While we should rejoice in our new life, we should also never forget the pit that God dragged us out of, because if it weren't for Him, that's where we'd still be. Also consider that your pit is even deeper than you thought, because Christ didn't just die for sins present and past, but also future (as a Christian). In other words, Christ died for you when you were a liar, disobedient, drunkard, cheater, adulterer, etc. But he also died for you when you failed to serve him, when you blasphemed His name by acting in a way inconsistent with your calling, when you failed to love Him with all of your heart, etc.
So how do you gain a better understanding of sin? Romans 3:20 declares, “by the law is the knowledge of sin”. Pretty straightforward, we go to the law. As a side note, we focus on the general moral application of the law, not the sacrificial and governmental aspects. Only the former applies to gentiles (non-Jews). In the law we find that God expects us to love Him with all our heart. We are to love others as we love ourselves. We must not lie, steal, disobey our parents, lust, or covet. A single violation of a single law is enough to condemn you as a sinner (James 2:10). Each and every offense is punishable by hell. Recall, it only took one sin from Adam for God to curse not only mankind, but also the beautiful universe he had just created. I'm guessing you've stored up more than one, or even just a few offenses. It's within reason to estimate the number of sins in an average person's life to be in the hundreds of thousands. Man's justice is so incomplete, but we can still see some parallels. Some of the worst criminals are given multiple life sentences. Can you imagine a criminal who has been convicted of a hundred thousand life sentences? You're a little bit closer to understanding your sin.
Again, I'm not saying we should stay in the past, nor should you re-live your past to the point that you're unnecessarily tempted by old sins. Christian life should be lived in victory, love, and service. However, it does some good to think on where we came from every once in a while. Reflect on God's law, think of every sin that you've committed, try to comprehend the magnitude of your sin, then reflect on the fact that Jesus wiped away every blot with His sacrifice. When you develop a better appreciation for the gospel you will find a greater love for the Lord, a desire to further know Him, and greater motivation to serve.
In conclusion, you must understand sin in order to understand grace. When grace is discussed without also explaining why we need it, the result can only be confusion. An understanding of sin can be found by studying God's law. Occasionally reflecting on our old life of sin can be healthy in order to have a greater appreciation for Christ.
To expand on my previous point; if we accept the definition that grace is favor given to the undeserving, then our estimation of the value of grace is determined by the difference between what we get and what we think we deserve. What we get – what God gives us, is essentially a fixed quantity (forgiveness, adoption, heaven, etc.). The variable here is our opinion of what we deserve. If you think that your relation to God is positive or neutral, you will appreciate grace less than someone who understands that our relationship to God is very much in the negative (of course, I'm talking pre-salvation right now). There's a beautiful example of this in Luke 7:36-50. The pharisees gave little regard to Jesus' presence, but this sinner (quite possibly a whore or adulteress given their reactions) showed him love and reverence in the most humble way. The reason for the different attitudes is obvious – the Pharisees had fooled themselves into thinking that they were pretty much OK, but this woman knew that she was a terrible sinner.
This principle holds true for each of us. You won't even begin to appreciate God's grace toward you until you understand the depth of your sin. Of course, this is true of the sinner who needs to repent and be saved, but it is also true for Christians. You see, even though we have a wonderful relationship with God, we have to remember how we got here. It was God who saved us and brought us into this right relationship. While we should rejoice in our new life, we should also never forget the pit that God dragged us out of, because if it weren't for Him, that's where we'd still be. Also consider that your pit is even deeper than you thought, because Christ didn't just die for sins present and past, but also future (as a Christian). In other words, Christ died for you when you were a liar, disobedient, drunkard, cheater, adulterer, etc. But he also died for you when you failed to serve him, when you blasphemed His name by acting in a way inconsistent with your calling, when you failed to love Him with all of your heart, etc.
So how do you gain a better understanding of sin? Romans 3:20 declares, “by the law is the knowledge of sin”. Pretty straightforward, we go to the law. As a side note, we focus on the general moral application of the law, not the sacrificial and governmental aspects. Only the former applies to gentiles (non-Jews). In the law we find that God expects us to love Him with all our heart. We are to love others as we love ourselves. We must not lie, steal, disobey our parents, lust, or covet. A single violation of a single law is enough to condemn you as a sinner (James 2:10). Each and every offense is punishable by hell. Recall, it only took one sin from Adam for God to curse not only mankind, but also the beautiful universe he had just created. I'm guessing you've stored up more than one, or even just a few offenses. It's within reason to estimate the number of sins in an average person's life to be in the hundreds of thousands. Man's justice is so incomplete, but we can still see some parallels. Some of the worst criminals are given multiple life sentences. Can you imagine a criminal who has been convicted of a hundred thousand life sentences? You're a little bit closer to understanding your sin.
Again, I'm not saying we should stay in the past, nor should you re-live your past to the point that you're unnecessarily tempted by old sins. Christian life should be lived in victory, love, and service. However, it does some good to think on where we came from every once in a while. Reflect on God's law, think of every sin that you've committed, try to comprehend the magnitude of your sin, then reflect on the fact that Jesus wiped away every blot with His sacrifice. When you develop a better appreciation for the gospel you will find a greater love for the Lord, a desire to further know Him, and greater motivation to serve.
In conclusion, you must understand sin in order to understand grace. When grace is discussed without also explaining why we need it, the result can only be confusion. An understanding of sin can be found by studying God's law. Occasionally reflecting on our old life of sin can be healthy in order to have a greater appreciation for Christ.
Monday, July 27, 2015
The Violent Religion of Islam
Given the recent shooting in Chattanooga, people are again talking about Islam and if it promotes violence. I figured I'd throw in my two cents. First, since I'll be talking about radical Islam, it's worth defining what I mean by radical in this context. When I say radical, I mean anyone who participates in violent terrorism, supports terrorists, or believes that terrorism is justified. For a full treatment of the issue, you'd have to expand this definition to include sharia law, the execution of homosexuals, extermination of Jews, etc. For now, I'll focus on the terrorism aspect.
The most straightforward test of Islam's violent nature is the beliefs of its followers. How many radical muslims are there? According to a recent survey, 13% of American muslims said that attacks against civilians can be justified to defend Islam. Using even the most conservative polls, at least 20% of muslims in Islam-dominated nations support terrorist attacks against the U.S. Higher numbers are seen in the Palestinian territories, where at least one third of muslims support terror attacks. Looking at all the polls and numbers, it's probably a safe estimate that about 20% of muslims approve of terrorism. So, when Obama tells you that 99.9% of muslims want peace, he's lying through his teeth. Granted, 20% is not a majority. However it is still a very significant chunk of the religion. To put this in perspective, if we consider all groups that claim to be Christian (catholics, orthodox), and apply the same proportions, it would mean that half of all protestants worldwide would be supportive of terrorism. (of those who claim to be Christian, about 40% are protestant). Proportionallly, the amount of radical muslims is equivalent to several Christian denominations combined. In other words, radical muslims are indeed a minority, but not an insignificant one.
The next logical step in showing that Islam is a violent religion is to look at their texts. If there are so many Muslims in favor of terrorism, surely they're getting it from somewhere, right? Frankly, the verses often used to prove that Islam is violent have debatable context. I don't think Sura 2:191 or Sura 9:5 are the best arguments. So does the Qur'an support aggressive, unprovoked, all-out war against those outside of Islam. At face value, I think the answer is debatable, though many passages could be interpreted that way. However, the destruction of the Jews is clearly taught (Bukhari 52:176-177)
So do I think the Qur'an is non-violent? Not at all. While it's debatable if it teaches unprovoked aggression, It certainly does teach hyper-retaliation. I think that this is the greater problem. Muslims are called to fight when Islam is threatened. The retaliation (specifically defined as physical violence) is many times more severe than the offense. Even worse, the definition of “an attack on Islam” is very open-ended. If I say that Islam is a false religion and Muhammad was a scoundrel, is that an attack on Islam? It could easily be read that way, and the Qur'an teaches that I should be subdued by force (Sura 5:33, Sura 8:12-13, Sura 9:29, Sura 47:4). How can Islam be a 'religion of peace' when the Qur'an teaches muslims to fight anyone who disagrees with them?
Now, what about the verses in the Qur'an that call for mercy and peace? To understand this whole thing, it's important to know that muslims have a doctrine of abrogation. Essentially, if there are two contradictory passages in the Qur'an (such as peace vs violence), the more recent passage overwrites the old one. The earlier passages of the Qur'an, written during the Mecca period, tended to be less violent. There was still plenty of violence (as seen in the Suras above), but it was nothing compared to the later parts of the Qur'an written in the Medina period which gave blessings to caravan raids, etc. According to Islam's doctrine, these more recent (and more violent) passages overwrite anything written before.
The good news is that most muslims simply do not take their religion at face value. Yes, there are many (~80%) non-violent muslims. But when you look at the Qur'an, it's safe to say that these peaceful muslims are not fully obeying their holy texts. Their religion consists of Islamic traditions mixed with beliefs that come from themselves, their teachers, or other religions. In my efforts to preach the gospel, I've come across many of these westernized muslims. More often than not, I know more about their religious traditions than they do. Actually, come to think of it, I don't think I've ever had a muslim quote anything from the Qur'an to me during a discussion, not even a paraphrase. With that being the case, it's hard to imagine that they are taking the Qur'an very seriously.
In conclusion, despite the large number of peaceful muslims, it remains true that Islam is a religion of violence, not peace. While most muslims are peaceful, the number of radicals is significant – more than a small minority. More importantly, the Qur'an plainly teaches and encourages violence against others. Truthfully, these conclusions are obvious to anyone paying attention. For Christians looking to preach the gospel, I think the other take-home message is that 80% of muslims are not deeply indoctrinated in their religion. They have no firm ground for their religion, and I think many of them realize it. Most of them will at least listen to you. So get out there and boldly plant some seed!
The most straightforward test of Islam's violent nature is the beliefs of its followers. How many radical muslims are there? According to a recent survey, 13% of American muslims said that attacks against civilians can be justified to defend Islam. Using even the most conservative polls, at least 20% of muslims in Islam-dominated nations support terrorist attacks against the U.S. Higher numbers are seen in the Palestinian territories, where at least one third of muslims support terror attacks. Looking at all the polls and numbers, it's probably a safe estimate that about 20% of muslims approve of terrorism. So, when Obama tells you that 99.9% of muslims want peace, he's lying through his teeth. Granted, 20% is not a majority. However it is still a very significant chunk of the religion. To put this in perspective, if we consider all groups that claim to be Christian (catholics, orthodox), and apply the same proportions, it would mean that half of all protestants worldwide would be supportive of terrorism. (of those who claim to be Christian, about 40% are protestant). Proportionallly, the amount of radical muslims is equivalent to several Christian denominations combined. In other words, radical muslims are indeed a minority, but not an insignificant one.
The next logical step in showing that Islam is a violent religion is to look at their texts. If there are so many Muslims in favor of terrorism, surely they're getting it from somewhere, right? Frankly, the verses often used to prove that Islam is violent have debatable context. I don't think Sura 2:191 or Sura 9:5 are the best arguments. So does the Qur'an support aggressive, unprovoked, all-out war against those outside of Islam. At face value, I think the answer is debatable, though many passages could be interpreted that way. However, the destruction of the Jews is clearly taught (Bukhari 52:176-177)
So do I think the Qur'an is non-violent? Not at all. While it's debatable if it teaches unprovoked aggression, It certainly does teach hyper-retaliation. I think that this is the greater problem. Muslims are called to fight when Islam is threatened. The retaliation (specifically defined as physical violence) is many times more severe than the offense. Even worse, the definition of “an attack on Islam” is very open-ended. If I say that Islam is a false religion and Muhammad was a scoundrel, is that an attack on Islam? It could easily be read that way, and the Qur'an teaches that I should be subdued by force (Sura 5:33, Sura 8:12-13, Sura 9:29, Sura 47:4). How can Islam be a 'religion of peace' when the Qur'an teaches muslims to fight anyone who disagrees with them?
Now, what about the verses in the Qur'an that call for mercy and peace? To understand this whole thing, it's important to know that muslims have a doctrine of abrogation. Essentially, if there are two contradictory passages in the Qur'an (such as peace vs violence), the more recent passage overwrites the old one. The earlier passages of the Qur'an, written during the Mecca period, tended to be less violent. There was still plenty of violence (as seen in the Suras above), but it was nothing compared to the later parts of the Qur'an written in the Medina period which gave blessings to caravan raids, etc. According to Islam's doctrine, these more recent (and more violent) passages overwrite anything written before.
The good news is that most muslims simply do not take their religion at face value. Yes, there are many (~80%) non-violent muslims. But when you look at the Qur'an, it's safe to say that these peaceful muslims are not fully obeying their holy texts. Their religion consists of Islamic traditions mixed with beliefs that come from themselves, their teachers, or other religions. In my efforts to preach the gospel, I've come across many of these westernized muslims. More often than not, I know more about their religious traditions than they do. Actually, come to think of it, I don't think I've ever had a muslim quote anything from the Qur'an to me during a discussion, not even a paraphrase. With that being the case, it's hard to imagine that they are taking the Qur'an very seriously.
In conclusion, despite the large number of peaceful muslims, it remains true that Islam is a religion of violence, not peace. While most muslims are peaceful, the number of radicals is significant – more than a small minority. More importantly, the Qur'an plainly teaches and encourages violence against others. Truthfully, these conclusions are obvious to anyone paying attention. For Christians looking to preach the gospel, I think the other take-home message is that 80% of muslims are not deeply indoctrinated in their religion. They have no firm ground for their religion, and I think many of them realize it. Most of them will at least listen to you. So get out there and boldly plant some seed!
Saturday, June 27, 2015
What Does it Mean to Love God?
Jesus said that the first and greatest commandment is, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all they soul, and with all thy mind.” It begs the question, what does it mean to love God? In some way, I think we all intuitively know the answer to this question, but there are still a few things to be said.
If you search the Bible for passages related to the love of God, you'll quickly notice a pattern. Our love of God is intimately tied to our obedience and service to Him (Joshua 22:5, Heb. 6:10, 1 John 2:5, 5:2). This is not merely talking about staying away from sin, but also discipling others, helping the needy, preaching the gospel, etc. If you look at Heb. 6:10 it describes ministering to brothers and sisters as a “labor of love toward God”. This is how it should be. Our love for God provokes us to serve Him, to love those that He loves, and to act as his hands and feet wherever He sends us.
But then, how do we grow in love for God? What happens when we just don't feel it? Do we go off and listen to some emotionally manipulative 'worship' songs? Is that how we stir our hearts up for the Lord? I think the answer lies in an examination of the deepest Earthly love – marriage. In Scripture, we see that marriage is intended to be a picture of our love for God and His love for us. It makes sense then that this picture can help us understand something of how we develop our love for God. Let me get practical. Men, what do you do when you wake up and you don't really “feel it” in your marriage anymore? Or what about when you and your wife argue about something and you're frustrated? Sometimes your heart just isn't into it, and in those times more than ever it's important for your head to lead your heart. So, you spend time with your wife, you watch a movie, you play a game, whatever it is that you do. You determine to love her, to be kind to her, and to serve her. Then a funny thing happens, your heart comes around again and you want to do those things. Not only that, you once again love your wife with your whole being.
Our love for God works in a similar way. You can't just manipulate your emotions into a lasting kind of love. Instead, you draw close to God by doing the thing you know that He'd like for you to do. You pray, read Scripture, serve others, etc. Especially when you don't want to. If you determine in your mind to love God and serve Him, it won't take long for your heart to come around.
The real danger that I see is when people let their emotions run them, instead of the other way around. It's as dangerous to your relationship with God as it is to your marriage. In marriage, this can lead to an unhappy home, unfaithfulness, or divorce. Spiritually, it can cause you to be “tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine”, or to be firmly rooted in a place that you shouldn't be just because it feels good.
In conclusion, both the head and the heart are necessary for loving God, but the heart must not be the one to lead. Our love for God is not entirely different from other relationships and is especially similar to the love between a husband and wife. Finally, service and obedience are fantastic ways to draw closer to the Lord.
If you search the Bible for passages related to the love of God, you'll quickly notice a pattern. Our love of God is intimately tied to our obedience and service to Him (Joshua 22:5, Heb. 6:10, 1 John 2:5, 5:2). This is not merely talking about staying away from sin, but also discipling others, helping the needy, preaching the gospel, etc. If you look at Heb. 6:10 it describes ministering to brothers and sisters as a “labor of love toward God”. This is how it should be. Our love for God provokes us to serve Him, to love those that He loves, and to act as his hands and feet wherever He sends us.
But then, how do we grow in love for God? What happens when we just don't feel it? Do we go off and listen to some emotionally manipulative 'worship' songs? Is that how we stir our hearts up for the Lord? I think the answer lies in an examination of the deepest Earthly love – marriage. In Scripture, we see that marriage is intended to be a picture of our love for God and His love for us. It makes sense then that this picture can help us understand something of how we develop our love for God. Let me get practical. Men, what do you do when you wake up and you don't really “feel it” in your marriage anymore? Or what about when you and your wife argue about something and you're frustrated? Sometimes your heart just isn't into it, and in those times more than ever it's important for your head to lead your heart. So, you spend time with your wife, you watch a movie, you play a game, whatever it is that you do. You determine to love her, to be kind to her, and to serve her. Then a funny thing happens, your heart comes around again and you want to do those things. Not only that, you once again love your wife with your whole being.
Our love for God works in a similar way. You can't just manipulate your emotions into a lasting kind of love. Instead, you draw close to God by doing the thing you know that He'd like for you to do. You pray, read Scripture, serve others, etc. Especially when you don't want to. If you determine in your mind to love God and serve Him, it won't take long for your heart to come around.
The real danger that I see is when people let their emotions run them, instead of the other way around. It's as dangerous to your relationship with God as it is to your marriage. In marriage, this can lead to an unhappy home, unfaithfulness, or divorce. Spiritually, it can cause you to be “tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine”, or to be firmly rooted in a place that you shouldn't be just because it feels good.
In conclusion, both the head and the heart are necessary for loving God, but the heart must not be the one to lead. Our love for God is not entirely different from other relationships and is especially similar to the love between a husband and wife. Finally, service and obedience are fantastic ways to draw closer to the Lord.
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Things Necessary for Spiritual Growth
The life of a Christian is one of constant growth and learning as we strive to be more like the Lord Jesus. While this list may sound rudimentary, I firmly believe that many of the problems in churches and individuals could be avoided if people had a firm Biblical foundation. Also, there are far too many old men who should be mature believers, but they still haven't grasped these basics. So, while this list is certainly intended to help new Christians, the principles that I'll be laying out will be of great benefit to anyone.
Reading Scripture / Doctrine
It shouldn't be a surprise that this is top of the list. The Bible is our source of knowledge. Through it, we know what the Lord expects of us, how to please him, and what He is like. Read it like your life depends on it. Pick out key passages and set them to memory. It's worthwhile to stress the importance of getting all of your doctrine straight from the Bible. That means sermons, commentaries, and books are all secondary. I recommend that new believers make every effort to minimize intake of these secondary sources and maximize their Bible reading. Basically, it's much better to rely on the Holy Spirit and learn the Bible at your own pace than to ingest a lot of teaching that may have errors mixed in. It's fine to read outside writings, but you should build up your Biblical discernment first.
There is also an issue of priority for older Christians. I've seen many who claim the Bible as our authority and will affirm that all doctrine should come from the Bible exclusively. Yet, when you press them to discuss an issue, they can only give opinions and quote things they've heard, with no reference to the Bible. This should not be. It is evidence that commentaries, preachers, etc. are being given higher priority than the Bible.
Fellowship
The life of a Christian is constantly full of battles against sin, the world, laziness, and all manner of things. It's not the kind of thing that a man can face alone for very long. This is one of the reasons that the Lord set up the church – that we may love, encourage, exhort, and rebuke one another. To be blunt, you're going to have to work really hard to find good fellowship these days. Most churches are designed for members to simply show up and listen to a sermon. Fellowship dinners and potlucks tend to be simple social gatherings. It's not real fellowship to merely talk about sports. There should be some level of discussing Scripture, sharing burdens, rejoicing in victories, and provoking to good works. It's not enough to be a community, a church must be a Christian community – with every aspect of community life saturated with and informed by Christ and Scripture.
Holiness
If you are truly a Christian, you have been born again, and now have a new heart with new desires, so much so that you are rightly considered a new person (2 Cor. 5:17). Yet, practical holiness is still something that you'll need to strive for. Sin can quickly stunt your growth and cloud your mind, and can quickly make you useless in your service to the Lord. Don't get me wrong, sin can and will be forgiven if you repent, but it also has consequences, even for Christians.
Service
It's impossible to be truly conformed to the image of Christ, having his heart and mind, by merely learning doctrine and being as holy as you can. Jesus had a great focus on others, Christian and non-Christian alike. Likewise, a Christian who wishes to grow to maturity must also have a love for preaching the gospel to the lost and discipling others. Discipleship often happens naturally if fellowship is done right. The Biblical pattern is for older men to teach the younger and likewise the older women to teach young women. Due to the rarity of real maturity, it may be difficult to find an older man to disciple you. Do your best. Remember that no matter what, you have the Holy Spirit and the Lord to guide you.
Preaching the gospel to the lost is a vital part of the Christian life. If you never share the gospel with the lost, you'll never weep for souls in prayer, you'll never understand the struggles of your brothers who are obedient to the great commission, and you'll never have any stories to share. In short, being active in the Lord's work will greatly help you to keep your thoughts and passions aligned with the Lord.
Prayer
Prayer in itself will help keep your heart in tune with the Lord, but don't forget to pray specifically for growth. Ask the Lord to reveal your sin to you, to give you wisdom and understanding of Scripture, to give you opportunity to serve, etc. Pray that you may be more like Christ., but if you pray for growth, don't whine when you are tested and purged.
In the end, whether you are a young or mature Christian, living a life pleasing to God really isn't that complicated. It largely comes down to staying humble, not becoming lazy, and caring for others. Examine your life in light of these things. Figure out your weakness and determine to remove it. As with most things, you'll never stop learning and growing, so just keep at it and stay close to the Lord.
Reading Scripture / Doctrine
It shouldn't be a surprise that this is top of the list. The Bible is our source of knowledge. Through it, we know what the Lord expects of us, how to please him, and what He is like. Read it like your life depends on it. Pick out key passages and set them to memory. It's worthwhile to stress the importance of getting all of your doctrine straight from the Bible. That means sermons, commentaries, and books are all secondary. I recommend that new believers make every effort to minimize intake of these secondary sources and maximize their Bible reading. Basically, it's much better to rely on the Holy Spirit and learn the Bible at your own pace than to ingest a lot of teaching that may have errors mixed in. It's fine to read outside writings, but you should build up your Biblical discernment first.
There is also an issue of priority for older Christians. I've seen many who claim the Bible as our authority and will affirm that all doctrine should come from the Bible exclusively. Yet, when you press them to discuss an issue, they can only give opinions and quote things they've heard, with no reference to the Bible. This should not be. It is evidence that commentaries, preachers, etc. are being given higher priority than the Bible.
Fellowship
The life of a Christian is constantly full of battles against sin, the world, laziness, and all manner of things. It's not the kind of thing that a man can face alone for very long. This is one of the reasons that the Lord set up the church – that we may love, encourage, exhort, and rebuke one another. To be blunt, you're going to have to work really hard to find good fellowship these days. Most churches are designed for members to simply show up and listen to a sermon. Fellowship dinners and potlucks tend to be simple social gatherings. It's not real fellowship to merely talk about sports. There should be some level of discussing Scripture, sharing burdens, rejoicing in victories, and provoking to good works. It's not enough to be a community, a church must be a Christian community – with every aspect of community life saturated with and informed by Christ and Scripture.
Holiness
If you are truly a Christian, you have been born again, and now have a new heart with new desires, so much so that you are rightly considered a new person (2 Cor. 5:17). Yet, practical holiness is still something that you'll need to strive for. Sin can quickly stunt your growth and cloud your mind, and can quickly make you useless in your service to the Lord. Don't get me wrong, sin can and will be forgiven if you repent, but it also has consequences, even for Christians.
Service
It's impossible to be truly conformed to the image of Christ, having his heart and mind, by merely learning doctrine and being as holy as you can. Jesus had a great focus on others, Christian and non-Christian alike. Likewise, a Christian who wishes to grow to maturity must also have a love for preaching the gospel to the lost and discipling others. Discipleship often happens naturally if fellowship is done right. The Biblical pattern is for older men to teach the younger and likewise the older women to teach young women. Due to the rarity of real maturity, it may be difficult to find an older man to disciple you. Do your best. Remember that no matter what, you have the Holy Spirit and the Lord to guide you.
Preaching the gospel to the lost is a vital part of the Christian life. If you never share the gospel with the lost, you'll never weep for souls in prayer, you'll never understand the struggles of your brothers who are obedient to the great commission, and you'll never have any stories to share. In short, being active in the Lord's work will greatly help you to keep your thoughts and passions aligned with the Lord.
Prayer
Prayer in itself will help keep your heart in tune with the Lord, but don't forget to pray specifically for growth. Ask the Lord to reveal your sin to you, to give you wisdom and understanding of Scripture, to give you opportunity to serve, etc. Pray that you may be more like Christ., but if you pray for growth, don't whine when you are tested and purged.
In the end, whether you are a young or mature Christian, living a life pleasing to God really isn't that complicated. It largely comes down to staying humble, not becoming lazy, and caring for others. Examine your life in light of these things. Figure out your weakness and determine to remove it. As with most things, you'll never stop learning and growing, so just keep at it and stay close to the Lord.
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Alternative Medical Treatments: Science or Sorcery?
For decades now, alternative medicine has been gaining steam. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but there are a variety of practices that fall under the umbrella of “alternative medicine” and some of them should be avoided. I'm particularly interested in discussing the spiritual angle. One of the biggest problems that I see with the alternative medicine movement is that Christians with little discernment end up practicing things that are rooted in the occult and demonic realms. There's also a lot to be said about the “quackery” of some of these treatments, but there are plenty of scientific studies and material out there, so I will only briefly touch on that. Let's take a look at the origins and practice of some alternative treatments.
Homeopathy
Homeopathy
Homeopathic medicine often uses herbal remedies diluted to such a degree that there is statistically none of the herb left in the dose. This is because homeopathy is based on the philosophy that plants have a mystical “life force” that can be used to re-balance the life force within a person. Homeopaths attempt to isolate and concentrate life force while minimizing the physical presence of the plant. Therefore, the whole practice is rooted in eastern mysticism. It would not be a stretch at all to categorize this as what the Bible would term sorcery. Obviously, this is something that Christians should completely avoid.
Acupuncture
As with homeopathy, the philosophy of acupuncture is firmly rooted in eastern mysticism. In short, the practitioner attempts to promote health by inserting needles into your body at key points in an attempt to improve your “chi flow” or “spiritual energy”. Again, considering the attempt to manipulate spiritual energy, this is easily classified as sorcery. Some practitioners claim acupuncture as a purely material science, but in reality they are just attempting to distance themselves from the spiritual roots of acupuncture.
Yoga
Yoga is sometimes thought of as simple relaxing exercise, but at its core it is a non-Christian religious practice. There are various schools of yoga associated with buddhism, hinduism, and more, but in each case yoga is a central part of the religion. Yoga supposedly brings one on a path of enlightenment, to become one with the universe. In some forms of these religions, they even believe that they achieve salvation through yoga. This stands in complete opposition to Christianity. Therefore, a Christian doing yoga “for health reasons” is kind of like a group of atheists baptizing each other because it feels good, or Muslims taking communion because it's yummy. If you want to do stretching exercises, that's no problem. But be aware that yoga is a specific religious practice that should be avoided, even if divorced from the religious context.
Chiropractic
Acupuncture
As with homeopathy, the philosophy of acupuncture is firmly rooted in eastern mysticism. In short, the practitioner attempts to promote health by inserting needles into your body at key points in an attempt to improve your “chi flow” or “spiritual energy”. Again, considering the attempt to manipulate spiritual energy, this is easily classified as sorcery. Some practitioners claim acupuncture as a purely material science, but in reality they are just attempting to distance themselves from the spiritual roots of acupuncture.
Yoga
Yoga is sometimes thought of as simple relaxing exercise, but at its core it is a non-Christian religious practice. There are various schools of yoga associated with buddhism, hinduism, and more, but in each case yoga is a central part of the religion. Yoga supposedly brings one on a path of enlightenment, to become one with the universe. In some forms of these religions, they even believe that they achieve salvation through yoga. This stands in complete opposition to Christianity. Therefore, a Christian doing yoga “for health reasons” is kind of like a group of atheists baptizing each other because it feels good, or Muslims taking communion because it's yummy. If you want to do stretching exercises, that's no problem. But be aware that yoga is a specific religious practice that should be avoided, even if divorced from the religious context.
Chiropractic
Getting your back cracked seems innocent enough, right? Believe it or not, Chiropractic is also rooted in a terrifying amount of mysticism. Daniel Palmer, the founder of chiropractic, believed in a concept very similar to “life force”, which he called innate intelligence. He was also a spiritist who claimed he “received chiropractic from the other world” – obviously a demonic spirit. To Palmer, chiropractic was essentially a religion. His 'life force' position used to be standard among chiropractors, but these days most chiropractors reject these ideas and view their practice as a purely material thing.
A Christian absolutely shouldn't be involved in chiropractic based on Palmer's philosophy. As for the purely material view, use your conscience. Personally, I wouldn't play with something that originated from a demonic mind, even though it is trying to distance itself from its origins. Beyond that, I offer a bit of wisdom. Studies on the efficacy of chiropractic treatments show mixed results. There's no conclusive evidence that chiropractic can help anything other than temporary back pain. Also, some data suggests that the treatments which help the acute back pain can actually lead to chronic back pain. This would explain why someone who starts going to a chiropractor usually ends up going regularly. In my experience, it's uncommon for someone to have one or two treatments and then be 'fixed'. For all these reasons, I don't recommend chiropractors.
Vaccines
A Christian absolutely shouldn't be involved in chiropractic based on Palmer's philosophy. As for the purely material view, use your conscience. Personally, I wouldn't play with something that originated from a demonic mind, even though it is trying to distance itself from its origins. Beyond that, I offer a bit of wisdom. Studies on the efficacy of chiropractic treatments show mixed results. There's no conclusive evidence that chiropractic can help anything other than temporary back pain. Also, some data suggests that the treatments which help the acute back pain can actually lead to chronic back pain. This would explain why someone who starts going to a chiropractor usually ends up going regularly. In my experience, it's uncommon for someone to have one or two treatments and then be 'fixed'. For all these reasons, I don't recommend chiropractors.
Vaccines
The anti-vaccine movement seems to have a strong foothold in certain Christian sub-cultures. While this isn't a spiritual issue, it's another area in which Christians need to show some discernment. These days, much of the anti-vaccine movement stems from the belief that the MMR vaccine can cause autism. This has been shown to be false in many studies. Just last month, an ambitious study of nearly 100,000 cases was published, which focused on children at risk for autism. Yet again, it was shown that there is no link between autism and the MMR vaccine.
So how did this start anyway? Back in 1998, Andrew Wakefield published a paper in a major medical journal suggesting a link between MMR vaccines and autism. It took the journal over 10 years to fully retract his paper, after much investigation. It was found that Wakefield was paid a lot of money to “find evidence to use against vaccine manufacturers”. He failed to disclose this conflict of interest, and was found to have manipulated his data. In short, Wakefield was a total fraud. However, the damage was already done. The media had already reported on his study. Thus, the anti-vaccine movement is still alive and well today.
Herbal remedies
So how did this start anyway? Back in 1998, Andrew Wakefield published a paper in a major medical journal suggesting a link between MMR vaccines and autism. It took the journal over 10 years to fully retract his paper, after much investigation. It was found that Wakefield was paid a lot of money to “find evidence to use against vaccine manufacturers”. He failed to disclose this conflict of interest, and was found to have manipulated his data. In short, Wakefield was a total fraud. However, the damage was already done. The media had already reported on his study. Thus, the anti-vaccine movement is still alive and well today.
Herbal remedies
It's becoming increasingly popular to reject modern medicines in favor of herbal remedies. There's generally not a spiritual issue here, but I must recommend caution. Herbal remedies can be good, and sometimes can even work well as a substitute for over the counter drugs. However, there's also a lot of misinformation out there. As a general rule, the bigger the claim, the more skeptical you should be. I've seen books where the author advises cancer patients to stop going to their doctors and to do their 'herbal cleanse' instead. That's tragic, irresponsible, and evil. Is traditional medicine perfect? No. Are traditional doctors and researchers your best bet for treatment? In almost every case, yes. Herbal remedies should not be used as a substitute for your doctor, but they can work together. Most doctors are open to herbal remedies these days and they can give you advice on which remedies are likely to help, which ones probably won't help but are worth trying, and which ones are harmful.
Radical diets
Radical diets
This is another fad that has risen in the last few years. Unless you think you can get closer to God by following dietary laws, there's really not a spiritual issue here. Yet, as with herbal remedies, beware the absurd claims. You're not going to cure cancer by eating a lot of carrots (or other food). There's really no such thing as a detox diet (for a fun experiment, ask them to name a single toxin the diet supposedly removes). And the Daniel diet is not a Biblical weight loss program. The issue in Daniel was his desire to remain obedient to God's law (Jews had dietary laws, gentiles don't). In fact, Daniel gained weight during this time (Dan. 1:15). With all that said, I'm for proper diet. Obesity is a huge problem in America and the increasing attention to diet is probably a good thing. Not to mention that gluttony is in fact a sin. Honestly, most of us could do with a little exercise and a better diet. Just find a balance and don't get sucked in by absurd claims.
In conclusion, there are alternative medical treatments that are worth exploring, but we should exercise wisdom when approaching the topic. Mainly, I hope to draw attention to several popular alternative treatments (homeopathy, acupuncture, yoga, chiropractic) that are rooted in occult practices, which Christians should absolutely avoid. It's one thing to partake unknowingly, but to dabble in sorcery with knowledge is certainly a sin.
In conclusion, there are alternative medical treatments that are worth exploring, but we should exercise wisdom when approaching the topic. Mainly, I hope to draw attention to several popular alternative treatments (homeopathy, acupuncture, yoga, chiropractic) that are rooted in occult practices, which Christians should absolutely avoid. It's one thing to partake unknowingly, but to dabble in sorcery with knowledge is certainly a sin.
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