All Hallow's Eve
10/29/2008 | Author: RCW
I won't tell you guys whether I am dressing up tomorrow on October 31st...actually I am dressing up. [NO, I am NOT going trick-or-treating. Nothing is tackier than a 19+ yr old knocking on your door asking for candy.] I won't tell you what I am going to be though.... Really I am not telling. Why? In a few words, there would be inevitable judgment cast upon me by some of my fellow Christians. There are a handful of Christians I know who have very little idea why someone like myself would dress up...let alone as a certain fictional character very much despised by hyper-conservatives in the Christian community.

At the heart of it, the reason for my decision is actually because I have a different view of the relationship between Christianity and culture than many of my Christian counterparts. Does that makes sense? I hope that it indeed does...If however, it doesn't, then don't fret; for I am going to try to explain some more anyway. So just sit tight, take a deep breath, and read on.

A few books have come out recently that are rehashing this issue (one of which is by a very trusted author named D.A. Carson whom I had the privilege of sitting under at one time...do look his name up on Amazon.com and see if his titles don't interest you!). These new books are simply revisiting the classic text Christ and Culture, which is over 50 years old now. I, being one who likes to honor the Reformers by going straight "to the source," have to confess that I have not read any of the new "revisits," but have only read the original. Having done so, I must say that I firmly believe Christ and Culture is a must read for any minister...and I would add for any growing disciple who really wants to form a solid Christian worldview.

The book outlines and assesses some of the different ways that Christians allow their Christianity to interact (or NOT interact at all!) with the culture around them. The implications of the book are extremely visible in the way that different Christians react to Halloween. Yes, I just said the dirty word banned from all hyper-conservative Christian dictionaries.

Seriously, there is sometimes no better way to pinpoint how a Christian believer understands the relationship between his faith and the world around him than by observing his chosen behaviors on October 31st. There are any number of choices...

  • there are those who allow Halloween to influence their Christianity (seeing absolutely no conflict between the two and really not viewing or celebrating the day any differently than the non-believer down the street);


  • those who choose to ignore the holiday altogether and hide in the darkness of their home (believing that the day and all who observe it in any fashion whatsoever are an evil abomination before God);


  • still other Christians use a "replacement technique" of celebrating the holiday in an entirely different emphasis...such as a Fall Festival, or my own favorite is Reformation Day (since Oct. 31 is the day that Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses to door of the church at Wittenberg).


  • Finally, there are those like myself who believe that somehow, Christianity doesn't have to be always on the defense against "the world." On defense against "Worldliness"? - yes; on defense against "the world"? - no. It grieves me that there are many Christians out there who know that they have been encouraged by the Scriptures to "be in the world but not of it," but they are actually not doing EITHER! Instead, they have chosen to retreat into a small and irrelevant subculture, huddling together and swimming upstream (sometimes just for swimming upstream's sake!). My own opinion is that there is a way in which Jesus Christ can influence and transform the culture around us if we just be authentic Christians--little Christs---engaging the culture, living in the world, being salt and light, like yeast in the dough--spreading Christ's influence throughout all of society in all of our earthly endeavors. I KNOW this truth is paramount for building a healthy Christian worldview. I believe it to not only allow for us to live out our faith in creative and freshly relevant ways, but I also believe it to be THE Biblical choice.



I hope this all sheds some light and perhaps helps you cut to the root of a dilemma that bewilders and divides many Christians...and not just on Halloween.

-RCW
"Makeup Blog"
10/27/2008 | Author: RCW
Okay, so I feel somewhat bad for "blogging" a cartoon. Perhaps it can be turned into a spiritual thought though...

If you clicked on the link to go to the cartoon of "How to Make Church Brilliant," I am sure that you found it quite hilarious (as did I).

I figured that if we were to turn it to a more serious note, I might simply ask the question: What sort of church do you attend?

The question assumes that you are in one (since this website's very purpose is to help Christians grow in their faith, that seems fair I trust). Nearly every Christian attends a church (for those that don't or do not sense the need, we'd need a whole different entry to address the very real dangers that come with such an opinion or practice), BUT what sort of church do you attend? There are certainly tons of denominations to choose from in the Protestant spectrum. I am not so much asking about the denominational affiliation (though that is a big decision and an important one). The question really is just encouraging you to think about a few things:

What is the environment like at your church? Is it super serious or super casual? Is it vibrant or dead? Is it full of people walking with God whom you know and love? Or is it full of hypocrites and backstabbers who are divisive and selfish? Is your church active or passive? Is your church relevant? Is your church modern or traditional? These can seem trivial or superficial, but can really mark a church as a place where you feel comfortable to worship and live out your faith. A spiritually healthy church with be a spiritually healthy environment. An spiritually unhealthy church will be of course a spiritually unhealthy environment. If you were to make some simple observations about your own church, would it seem spiritually healthy or spiritually unhealthy? (By this time, you should be realizing that the "church" has more to do with the people than the building, institution, or events.)

An even more important question for a Christian to ask his or her self goes beyond the environment and cuts to the actual purpose of the church. The major question to ask yourself is if the church is being faithful to the Bible. Is the pastor preaching God's word? Is he drawing meaning out of the Scriptures and showing both what it meant and what it means for us today? Or are the messages simply using the Bible as a tool for preaching an agenda? Interesting discussions abound about what is the best approach to "doing church" these days, but the Bible never says you have to have the latest technology or best music...in my estimation, it simply mandates that the church be devoted to making disciples and to the faithful teaching of the Scriptures. Some people might add some requirements, but I think these are the some of the simplest Biblically-mandated conditions.

Finally, one last thing to ask is: "Do you sense the Holy Spirit at your church?" And by that I do NOT mean, "Does it make your hair stand on end?" I am not for a minute getting into a charismatic or pentecostal endorsement (I really am quite the opposite theologically... In fact, those types of churches that repeatedly have to tell you and proclaim to you that the Holy Spirit is there and that the Holy Spirit is doing this or doing that, saying this or saying that, etc. make themselves immediately suspect in my own mind.) What I really mean by the question is, "Do you see God at work in your church? Does your church push you and encourage you, stir you and compel you, teach you and move you, direct you and correct you, to be more and more like Jesus Christ?" If so, wonderful! If not, you'd better visit a new one!

One Small Disclaimer:
These are just a few questions. There are many many factors that go into choosing a church. These are just some very simplified suggestions. These days, people treat churches like a consumer product...like a shop in the mall that is there to offer a service to the customer. If at any point the service is lacking or product less than pleasing, then it is time to head to the church down the street that "costs less" or "offers a fancier, shinier product". This is far from the type of fickle behavior I am endorsing. Ceaseless "church-hopping" is for the spiritually immature.

Below is a picture of a former church of ours that is still very dear to my wife and me. Taken 1-1-08.

-RCW

Church Cartoons
10/27/2008 | Author: RCW
I suppose I will let a great secret out of the bag.... There are some amazing church-related cartoons out there. Here's one that seemed like a fun posting....

cartoon from www.weblogcartoons.com

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.





Perhaps this one is my favorite....entitled "How to Make Church Brilliant." You gotta see it for yourself.


-RCW
Journey Home
10/25/2008 | Author: RCW
Tomorrow we'll head back from Missouri to Texas. Flying is a wonderful thing. As I was thinking about the trip, I thought I might blog about one of the Biblical themes that is worth remembering....

The Bible teaches that when someone becomes a Christian, God initiates something within them. It is salvation from death. But when does salvation take place according to the Bible? The answer? Well, the Bible teaches that salvation is something that takes place in the past (when the sinner first faiths in Christ...and that God even foreknew who would be saved from eternity past!). The Bible ALSO teaches that salvation is something that will ultimately take place in the future (either on the day of judgment or when the Christian dies an earthly death). Lastly, (and what is seldom remembered) is that the Bible ALSO teaches that salvation is something taking place right now...that God is in the business of making us perfect. God is making us holy even now. In short, the Bible teaches that salvation is something that is a past, present, and future reality.

As Christians, we should remember that God is still at work within us even when we can't see Him at work. We are all on the "long journey home." Hebrews 11:13-16 speaks of the many Old Testament heroes from the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) and says that they looked forward to their heavenly home with earnest expectation. With faith, they recognized that this life is not all there is...that there is a world to come that we are moving toward, waiting for, and to adapt from the words of St. Augustine, that our hearts are restless until we rest in it.

As my wife and I get ready for a long plane ride home, I couldn't help but think of that spiritual reality. That God is preparing His children for a world in which there is no more suffering, no more sorrow, no more pain, no more death! Praise You, Oh God for the victory and the hope that You have given us in You!

-RCW

P.S. * To enjoy a good read about the Christian life as a journey home to "the promised land" and all the ups, downs, struggles, victories, friends, foes, twists and turns along the straight and narrow way that leads to Christ, I recommend John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress (but make sure you read the updated and abridged version). *
Thanatopsis Can Mean Life or Death!
10/22/2008 | Author: RCW
  • Last night I attended a visitation for my wife's grandmother. She was 97.

It was one of the most crowded visitations I have ever seen. About 800 people passed through over a 4 hour period to pay their respects to the family and see the deceased one last time. The funeral home where the visitation was held bore her name, she being its original owner, though even now it (and several others) is still being run by my father-in-law.

This afternoon the services were held at the Funeral Home and I was reminded of the power which resides in a believer. The stories, testimonies, and tributes that were paid to Mrs. Eaton were overwhelming. Her spiritual life left a faith legacy that will endure for many years.

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  • Take a minute right now and think about your own life.

Is there a single passion that drives you? What would people have to say about you when you die? We often don't like to think about our own death, but the truth of the matter is that the Bible seems to encourage it!

Take for example such passages like:

Philippians 2:3-4 : "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."


Ephesians 5:15 : "Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise."

Psalm 139:23-24 : "Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way."

Philippians 3:18-19 : "For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies to the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite and whose glory is in their shame, who set their mind on earthly things..."

This last example is especially useful since it employs one of the most frequently used metaphors that the Bible uses in admonishing us to live the examined life. For you will notice that when it speaks of this manner of living, it is with the metaphor of "walking". For example, in the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament, the expression the writers will use the regular verb of "walk" to speak of "the way in which one lives his or her life." So, for instance, if you go to Biblegateway.com and type in a keyword search for "walk" , you will find that in Deuteronomy 11, both meanings are used nearly side by side:

"Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." -Deut. 11:19

"If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow—to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways and to hold fast to him." -Deut. 11:22

Another good passage to see the Bible encouraging the reader to live an examined life is the rather poetic personification of wisdom in Proverbs 9:1-10, which reads:

"Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out its seven pillars.
She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table.
She has sent out her maids, and she calls from the highest point of the city.
'Let all who are simple come in here!' she says to those who lack judgment.
'Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed.
Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of understanding.'
Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse.
Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you.
Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning.
'The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding...' "

*(The bold-texted areas in the passage above are my own added emphasis and not of course in the original text.)

And these are only a few Biblical examples among many I could choose!

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  • Even so, the Bible is not the only place that we find the encouragement to truly look deeply and intently at our own lives and ask critical questions about ourselves.

Perhaps the most well-known phrase attributed to the founder of Western philosophy, Socrates, is the statement: "The unexamined life is not worth living."

What a gripping statement! As you think for a moment about one of the most central realities to mankind (death and life), ask yourself: "What kind of life am I leading? Is my life lived by impulses or whims? Or am I someone who 'lives on purpose' ? What governs my decisions? Is that governing impulse a worthy one or a selfish one? How can I live a life worth living?" These are questions that should be a part of every believers daily routine. Like inhaling and exhaling, so should the believing Christian inhale (examine) and exhale (implement any necessary changes).

What kind of legacy will YOU leave behind?


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  • Glance back up for a minute at Psalm 139:23-24.

Our own prayer should mimic that prayer : God, may I be obedient to the Bible and make my life one that is worth living. Make me examine my own live every day to see where I need to change. Where my self and where what's right conflict....may I be the one to change. Do this in me, I pray. Amen.

*For those still wondering about the title of this blog entry, the word "THANATOPSIS" means "a meditation upon death." If this definition was unclear to you at the beginning, think about the title of this entry once more. *

-RCW

Been a While
10/21/2008 | Author: RCW
I have not posted in quite a while. Most regrettably due to the fact that I have so many other more pressing and tyrannically urgent priorities. I spoke with someone today that communicated to me that they really feel I should post stuff to this site regularly. We shall see. If that is YOUR desire, let me know with a comment or verbal encouragement, and pray that I can make it part of my daily routine. Currently, I work approximately 60 to 70 hours a week between my two jobs...one at a church, one at a bank.

Perhaps that is the spiritual "thought" for today. We all make deliberate choices. How we spend our time is a reflection not only of who we are, but also of who it is that we desire to be. One of the most important things that a Christian can do is to pray that there would be a transformation. Make your prayer today this: that God would supernaturally orient your own attitudes, thoughts, actions, and your very own desires and priorities and make them fall in line with His will for your life. This makes all the difference in the world.

-RCW