Tourist Trap Christians

So, we were in the Bahamas for a port of call during our recent cruise and decided to play tourist. We left the ship to go shopping in the town and see if we could buy a few souvenirs and gifts for the kids back home. We went into what was called the Straw Village which was lined with row after row of locals selling trinkets and t-shirts and hats. After the third row of probably 20 rows, I began to notice that nothing was much different from the row before. The same hats, the same jewelery, the same shirts, just a different display and a different person sitting there trying to get us to buy their stuff. There was no gap in between tables and only about five feet in between vendors. As we continued to make our way around to the next row and then the next, I began to see something that made me think about Christians.
Let me preface what I am about to say with the note that I never like to lump any group of people together with a blanket statement, even though there are many broad statements that could be said about many groups, including Christians. I am not accusing all Christians of being like what I am about to say, but there are enough that it could apply to a large portion of them.
Each vendor in this place knew that there were cruise ships in port that day. This was a regular stop and a popular place for tourists to shop. Most of the first time tourists like me, were expecting this enthusiastic greeting from all of the locals who they were trying to earn our business. Sadly, it wasn’t so. Instead of a warm welcome, we were greeted with a barrage of the same old lines repeated by each vendor there. “Slow down, look and touch. Great deal today.” This was said over and over by each vendor and was said with no enthusiasm and no meaningful voice inflections. And, because they were seated so close to each other, there was no recognizable difference in one vendor to the next. They were so used to tourists being there that it was not special to them, even though it was our money buying their goods that put food on their plates. They repeated the same lines so many times that it had no impact on them nor us, the tourists.
Christians have become a lot like this. We are free in America to speak the Gospel anytime, anywhere, to anyone. But we have heard it and spoke it so much that there is no meaning to our words anymore to the ones who hear it from us. Those who hear it from us have heard the same old lines repeated time and time again by a less than enthused Christian that it does not convict them to act, but rather compels them to hurry through the market of churches selling Christianity.
Every now and then we came across an individual in the market that had a smile and a belief that what they were selling was really worth you buying and they were willing to put the effort into making the most of their one opportunity to sell you what they had. And strangely, at these rare vendors tables, tourists were flocking and buying and walking away thinking that they had received something special from their visit to the Bahamas.
I know that my salvation, given to me from God through Jesus Christ is special. You can only get it from God and He has authorized me to be a vendor for it. He has put me in a market place that has groves of people walking through, looking for something and someone to convince them to buy it. I can either repeat the same old boring line that you have heard a million times before or I can sell it to you in a way that makes you know that what I have is special. The burden is not on the tourist walking by my table in life, but on me, the vendor, who has been given the wonderful opportunity to sell you something that will make you glad that you came by my table.
Most tourists only get to visit a place like this once or twice in a lifetime. Some will buy a trinket that will end up in the bottom of a suitcase and make a less than dazzling impression on others and may never get a second look after that. Some will remember the person who sold the trinket and tell the story of how wonderful the person who sold it to them was and convince others to try what they just experienced. But never forget that the vendors are the ones who truly make the difference to someone buying from them. They are the ones who make someone walk by in hopes of escaping, or, stop and buy what they are selling.
Christians are not selling to tourists the trinkets of a vacation, but a life changing, eternal hope of having favor with God and being able to show the benefits of knowing Jesus Christ as Savior. Churches are not the place that just happens to put food on the table, but rather are giving food for the soul. Jesus is far better than trinkets and t-shirts and certainly is better than a 5 day vacation in a tropical paradise. It is the hope of an eternal home in the paradise of Heaven with a God who loves us enough to pay our sin debt and allow us to share this awesome hope with others.

Ism’s

If you know me then you know that I love Facebook and that I am a sick man. Anyone who loves Facebook must be sick. But I do and I love to goof off and mess with people, while at the same time, try to remember that I have a responsibility to share my faith with others and to defend my faith as well. But you know what that means…trouble. So I should learn to listen to my dad who said to just walk away from a fight. Unfortunately I didn’t walk away from many physical fights when I was young and I didn’t walk away from a Facebook fight the other day. I thought that I would share what I learned and then add some brilliant commentary.
A good friend of mine is a vegan. No, not an old car made by Chevrolet, a person who doesn’t eat meat. I don’t know why I like someone so silly, but I do. She will occasionally post some stuff letting me know how ignorant I am about animal feelings and I can’t resist telling her that I only see a meal. We joke often, but deep down she knows that I am right and that she really wants a steak. It is because of this that I am considering a vegan converting scheme that will cause her to stock a freezer full of yummy beef products. I am going to start a farm where cows are raised and pampered and groomed and only eventually die of old age, and then butchered while soft, sad music is playing. What vegan could resist this? And before you say it, I know, this is a stroke of genius.
Now back to my original thought. I had a few folks who were determined to convince me that anyone who ate meat was sinning. Even though I presented several verses of scripture that showed otherwise, they were insistent that even the killing of an animal was a sin, which would mean that God was a sinner and everyone who ate the Passover meal was a sinner because they were doing what God said. The discussion went back and forth for a while, longer than I should have had an interest in it, and finally ended as I drew everyone’s attention back to my friend by making jokes at her. (She loves it).
I believe that making a choice to be a vegan, eating only plants and plant products is perfectly fine. I believe that if you make this choice because you have great compassion for animals it is perfectly alright. But as soon as you allow this to pervert what God’s word says, it becomes an “ism”. Here is the definition of an “ism” from the dictionary: (noun)- informal, derogatory, often an unspecified doctrine, system, or practice. This is done with race, socio-economic status, beliefs on evolution (Darwinism) and many others.
We don’t like to think of the world in a purely good and evil sense, but it is. Jesus said if you are not for Him, you are against Him. Satan will use anything to drive a wedge between you and God, even the food we eat. The Apostle Paul spent some time explaining that eating meat that was sacrificed to idols was okay, unless it offends the weaker believer. The Pharisees tried to tell Jesus that His disciples were sinning because they ate without washing their hands. Anything that can cause us doubt about God and His word is dangerous to us and is a result of evil forces working against us.
If you believe that evolution supersedes creation as described in God’s word, you are wrong and are influenced by Darwinism. If you believe that following the ten commandments gets you to heaven when the Bible is clear that Jesus is the only way, you are wrong and are following Legalism. If you believe that your race makes you better than another race, you are wrong and following Racism. If you believe that eating only plants is correct and eating meat in a sin, as it was told to me in the Facebook discussion that the Bible says “Thou shalt not kill”, you are wrong and are following Veganism.
I am proud to be white, but white don’t make me right. I love my race, but hate racism. I want to try to follow the ten commandment, but realize my need for a Savior as a law-breaker. I do not abuse animals and I am perfectly aware of some who do, and they are wrong. But eating meat is perfectly acceptable in the eyes of God. Veganism can be dangerous if it perverts the word of God. Many movements start out with great intent but get twisted by people who are misleading, then they risk becoming “ism’s”.
Being a vegan because you have compassion for God’s creation and you made this choice because of your inner conviction, makes you, well, like my friend, the vegan Christian. She can take the jokes as well as dish them out. She stays true to her convictions, and, although I can’t read her mind, I feel pretty confident that her most important “ism” was her baptism.
Be careful little child what you see, be careful little child what you read, be careful little child what you hear. There’s a Father up above, And He’s looking down in love So, be careful little eyes what you see.

Life Insurance

Rock Hill SC is not tornado alley, but that does not change the fact that a tornado touched down and took the lives of 3 people yesterday. It is hard to imagine that yesterday morning, if you had asked these people, “do you think that you will die in a tornado today?” that they would have done anything other than laugh at you. Yet here we are facing the horrible truth that it happened and they are gone.
As always, I hope that these people knew Jesus as their Savior. I did not know any of them, but that doesn’t change the sorrow I feel because of this tragedy. It does not change that I hope they had eternal security and if that is true, ultimately they are okay now. I pray for the family members that are left to question why this happened and that they will find peace that only comes from God. Again I will continue to pray for them and there are already efforts to reach out and help those who have lost there possessions as well.
Most of us have probably thought about a scenario in which we meet our death. No, I am not being morbid, just blunt. Every time I fly I think about it. Often when I ride my motorcycle on long trips I think about it. But most of the time death is the farthest thing from my mind. And on most days which start off as normal as yesterday did, I don’t think about death at all.
Here is the problem. If we don’t think about death, and most importantly, what happens after we die, we are leaving eternity to chance and that is a chance I had rather not take. Very few people truly think that when you die, that’s it, the switch is off and nothing else happens. But we are confused on what to believe about the many possibilities. Even those who are Christians have some differing thoughts about what happens after death and I find that strange. Maybe we make it too complicated. Here is what the simplicity of the Bible says.
Hebrews 9:27 People die once, and after that they are judged. To be judged, there must be a conscious state after death. To be judged, there must be a standard of judgement. To be judged, there must be a Judge. To be judged, there must be a crime.
The crime, is called sin. An eight year old once gave me this definition of sin and I like it and think it is biblical. Sin is anything that you think, say, or do, that does not please God. The standard of judgement is holiness. God is holy and tells us that we are not. Sins reward is death and death is the vehicle in which we are brought to trial. No one is holy, not among humans. We all sin. One sin means that we are not holy and thus death is imparted. God is our judge, through Jesus Christ as our advocate. If you have accepted the death of Jesus as payment for your sin, He proclaims your penalty paid in full and commutes your death sentence to life in Heaven. If you have not accepted Jesus as your Savior, He says that He does not recognize you as His client and the death penalty is carried out. Not believing in Jesus or God will not stop this trial nor will it get you leniency. Proclaiming that you did not see the speed limit sign does not stop the officer from giving you a ticket.
We are not sure if we will have a tomorrow. Death can sneak up on us in many ways and much too often, when you least expect it. That is why many people carry life insurance, which provides for the family after you are dead. It does not return life to those who die. The only way that can happen is through Jesus Christ. John 14:6 Jesus answered him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one goes to the Father except through me. This is life insurance that helps those who die. It is free and not because of a government mandate. It is free because God loves us and does not want to have to judge us as guilty sinners, but rather forgiven children. To get this insurance all you have to do is ask. Romans 10:13 So then, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

God Said No

Last night I got a call from the church where the ladies of the church were doing their weekly Bible study. I was in the shower and usually don’t get calls, nor do I usually have my phone in the bathroom with me, but, it happened that this time I did. When I saw the number and realized who it was, I had thoughts of possible trouble, that is why I answered, but it turned out that they had a question about something that they were studying.
The study is about women in the Bible and this night they were studying a woman who was assumed to be able to talk to the dead and had been asked by King Saul to call up Samuel from the dead and to her surprise he showed up. The question was; did this woman actually call Samuel from the dead or was it a trick. When you read the text it can be a bit vague.
I do not believe this woman or anyone else had or has the power to talk to dead people. I believe that when you die you go straight to heaven or hell and people on this earth will not talk to you again because of some mystical powers. Now if God decides to let it happen, then I will believe it. But those instances are rare, at best.
God says many times in His word that people who claim to summon the dead and practice soothsaying and conjuring of spirits are evil. I am not talking about childish games and spooky fun, but I do caution people against that. I am talking about so-called mediums who practice this seriously. They are not of God and God does not use them.
I believe in this case, God, who knows everything, knew that these two would have this meeting and He sent Samuel back to mess them up. If you read the story, it did. I do not think nor believe that it had anything to do with her “powers” because there are no such things. If someone does actually talk to “someone” during one of these meetings it is not a person but a demon. Yes, I believe in demons. It was good enough for Jesus, its good enough for me.  God does not tell us to not do something because it is sinful, then change His mind and allow it to happen. When we read the Bible, this is important to remember and will help us to better understand the Bible. Keeping the focus on God’s holiness and His consistency will allow us to think of more logical explanations to scripture that may seen difficult to understand. It is important to know the context of the scripture,  read the whole account, then comparing it with the whole Bible and the facts and doctrines that run throughout it.
I know that there are always skeptics out there who are looking for ways to prove the Bible wrong or look for double standards, and I will admit that there are things that are very difficult to reckon with, but that does not mean that there are those things that these people are looking for. And my point is not to argue with anyone about these things either. I wanted to put it out that when you find yourself, as a Christian, struggling with something that seems to not make sense, those basic rules will help to sort it out.
My parents use to say something that I swore I would never do when I grew up and had kids. They use to tell us when we would ask why, “Because I said so”. I hated it and did not understand it, but I have now done it. Sometimes there does not need to be an explanation, especially when God says “no”.

Dead Dreams

Here goes another blog on a subject that will probably irritate some people and I have to say that the idea was not mine, but that dear friend of mine whom I keep referring too and who I think must like to see me get yelled at, (figuratively). This one is, what I think about people who die and get visions or messages from the other side then come back to tell others what they have seen. She wants MY OPINION, not hard-core facts, unless I have hard-core facts, and I have a few.
My first thought on this is that people want to write a book and get rich. There are a few who have done this and because of the success of a few, others want to follow. But that does not explain that some of these folks may have had something that they think is an out-of-body experience that lead them to heaven or hell during a near death or coma experience. Because I have never had one of these visions, although I have almost died a few times, mostly my stupidity that caused it, I can’t speak from experience. So to say that people did not see something would be a tough one for me to do. But I do not believe that people are really going to heaven or hell. I think that there are two possibilities.
First, people are dreaming. Some would say that these dreams are too similar to be coincidences. But I would say that people have similar dreams all the time and I am talking about people who do not know each other and live nowhere near each other. How about the dreams of falling in your sleep? What about dreams of winning the lottery? What about the dreams of someone chasing you in a dark alley and you can’t scream? All these are dreams that many people have and they are all similar and we can’t explain why, other that our sub-conscience has ways of dealing with things through dreams. Maybe this is a common dream for people who are very sick or near death.
Second, scientists who study the brain will tell you that when someone is near death, certain chemicals are released and can cause hallucinations or the “white light” experience. I got hit in the head really hard one time and was almost knocked out.  When I was hit I briefly saw a bright light. Many people say they see white light when they are about to pass out or even just before “going under” anesthesia. This explains some of the similarities in what is seen, and we don’t know that people who nearly die or in deep comas don’t dream, hear people in their room, or even the TV, when it is left on. All these things could be confused and this might explain the “message” people get from God, or Satan, or Zeus, or whoever they think they heard from.
Biblically I can only refer to these verses to dispute this claim of new words from God. Revelation 22:18-19 18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy in this book: If anyone adds anything to this, God will strike him with the plagues that are written in this book. 19 If anyone takes away any words from this book of prophecy, God will take away his portion of the tree of life and the holy city that are described in this book.
This seems to be clear to me, a Christian, that God is not giving out new words for humanity in general. I do believe that God speaks through people, like pastors and teachers and even regular old Christians who are sensitive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. I have spoken, what I believe are God inspired messages and have had others speak them to me, but this differs from something that would be added to what the Bible teaches. These would only confirm, compliment, or is inspired by scripture.
So that leaves it open to think that it could be possible to hear from God in a dream, I believe I have in the past. This could happen to someone near death or in a coma. But most of what I have read or heard from these books or stories, is often conflicting to what the Bible says or just doesn’t feel right to me. I think that there is a lot of interest in the afterlife and rather than trust the Bible, people want to hear it from people like themselves. And that holds true about many other things. But I will leave you with this last scripture to keep in mind. Proverbs 14:12 s There is a way that seems right to a person, but eventually it ends in death.

A Job Well Done

The other day I talked with someone about why they need to stay on their job. It was hard to believe that they were even considering quitting a job in this economy. They wanted to quit because they did not like anything about the job. The people were difficult to work with, the pay was lousy, the job was difficult, and the hours were unpredictable. That has to be tough, but is there a positive twist you can put on it?
First, from the standpoint of the economy, we could all probably give an account of someone we know that does not have a job and can’t find one. Few places are hiring and those who are have so many applicants that they can be very picky over who they hire. Many people are looking for any job, and that means employers can set the highest of standards. Add to that the number of people who are applying for these few jobs and it is tough. Quitting a job now is a recipe for even harder times if you do not have another job to transfer into.
Second, let me share a biblical point of view. This will be fun, so read on.
God gave you that job. Rejoice and be glad in it. He said that He would meet our needs not our wants. Perhaps God wants us to show faithfulness in the small things before He gives us the big things. The workplace today needs to see what a good work ethic is. It would be a great witness, to those who don’t believe, to see a Christian work hard and honor those in authority. People need to hear and see that our actions match up. They need to see that we believe that good things come from God and a job of any type right now is a good thing.
Sometimes we forget that the strongest witness we can give to others is in our workplace. Another time is when we are going through a struggle. Combine the two and there is a real opportunity to let our faith shine. We live in a world that promotes a victim mind-set. People really believe that life should be fair and I have never found that to be true. The only two things that are fair in life is the fact that we all face judgement, the same judgement, for our sins and God through Jesus Christ forgives us, any of us, if we ask. Other than that, fairness is only equal to the opportunity that is in front of us not the results of it. If fairness is what was important, it would only be fair that a blind man could drive a car on our interstates and I could be a brain surgeon even though I know nothing about it. I mean, it just isn’t fair that I don’t get to do what I want, is it?
I believe that God puts us in various situations to see if we remember to honor Him in all things, not just the stuff we think is good. Difficult work means a chance to test our perseverance. Those people who are so hard to work with may need to see Jesus in you. You may be that only example of Jesus that they will see. Low pay means a chance to practice good stewardship and faith that God will provide. Unpredictable hours mean a chance to be ready to share our faith in season and out of season.
Let me leave you with this example of someone who had a tough job, with tough people to work with, unreasonable hours, and their pay sucked. His name is Jesus.
He was hired to work with fishermen and tax collectors. He left Heaven to work on earth during a tougher time that we know now. He was on call 24/7 and never got the pay that He deserved. No matter how hard He tried, people turned on Him and ended up firing Him from His job in a most cruel way. All the time He never quit, never gave up, and never stopped honoring God. In return, many were saved, He is the example for all to follow, and God said, “A job well done!”

God Does Not Need A Wife

A 6-year-old boy asked his mom, “why God does not have a wife?”. There is a very quick answer: God is smarter that we are. (1 Corinthians 1:25 God’s nonsense is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.) But I cant’ resist having a little fun with this one.
I will start with a little more detail and seriousness to the question.
God does have a wife. Israel is described as God’s wife in the Old Testament. The church is the bride of Christ in the New Testament. Both of these are only used in the sense of helping humans understand the intimacy in which God wants in His relationship with Him and humans and not the physical sense that we think of in marriage.
God does not need help. He gave a wife to Adam as his helper, and we all know where that got him. God chooses Christians to be his help in building the church but we get caught up in stuff that is not important to that cause. But as far as having a wife like Him, God is unique and there are none like Him.
A wife for God would mean the Bible would have to be totally re-written. First, there is no way God would have finished creation in 6 days with a wife. She would not have allowed spiders and other bugs to have been created. She most certainly would not have let Adam and Eve be left naked and a commerce system would have been created before woman was ever formed in order to allow for shopping to be a form of worship.
A wife for God would have meant that the flood of Noah’s day would have never happened. There is no way she would have ever allowed Noah to built a boat, knowing that a boat would eventually lead to fishing. But if she would have allowed the boat to be built, we would not have but a few really cute animals today because most of the stuff would not have been allowed on the same boat with the kids.
A wife for God would have meant that Abraham would have never had children. There is no way that certain thing that makes babies would have happened that late in life.
A wife for God would have meant that Solomon would not have the hundreds of wives that he had. He would not have been given the wisdom to be the wisest man to ever live, that would have been given to every woman equally.
A wife for God would have messed up the plan of salvation too. If God had a wife, she would have insisted that every child be born of a virgin or that man have children and either way, that aint happening
A wife for God would have meant that heaven would be a place for mainly women because it would have ended up decorated by God’s wife and most men wouldn’t be caught dead there.
A wife for God would mean that this verse is wrong: Psalms 93:1, The Lord rules as king! He is clothed with majesty. The Lord has clothed himself; he has armed himself with power. The world was set in place; it cannot be moved. He would not be clothed in majesty because she would not like anything He picked to wear.
The biggest reason God does not have a wife is because God is truth. Even though that would stay the same, He would have to say that He was wrong and say I’m sorry, just to have any peace to give as a spiritual fruit.
God does not need a wife.

No Particular Reason

While waiting for the mail to run, I saw that it was not going to happen. The mail has no legs, and therefore it will not run. But I did see a fly walking and thought to myself that it would be really cool if it never flew again. But it didn’t happen. I needed to call a friend today and when I went to dial the number, I realized that touch phones don’t let that happen. Dials on phones are a thing of the past. Someone complained that it was too hot in the office and asked me to turn up the AC and then got upset that it got hotter because I turned it up to 80 when it was on 75.
Jesus said that you must be born again and it freaked people out because that didn’t make sense. God said be holy because He is holy and that is impossible, all we can do is try. Paul said that when we are weak, God is strong and that we all do things that we know we shouldn’t and don’t do things that we know we should. Jesus said the greatest among us will be the servants and last time I checked, most people want someone else to do it. He told us that the rich would have a hard time getting into heaven and we still want to win the lottery. We hate giving what God tells us to give but we have no problem giving more than a car is worth the day we get it financed. Many hold grudges against people for a long time and expect God to forgive them right away.
Just a few random thoughts for no particular reason.

Should I stay or should I go?

Should I stay or should I go?
Yep, that is the words of a song by The Clash about a guy who needed to know if the girl loved him or not and if so, should he stay or should he go. It is the same question that was asked to me about Christians staying on earth or going to heaven as a blog idea. Isn’t it funny that when I talk to people in my church I start hearing weird songs from the past?
Let me try to set the stage for the discussion. Many people believe that when they become Christians that they should be ready to go to heaven and many even have this desire to go. I am not talking about a death wish, but just the strong desire to go to the place that is promised to be free of all the junk we have to put up with here on earth. Then there is the other part of them that says, what about all my friends and family who don’t know about this forgiveness and eternal life? If I leave, who will tell them? Thus the dilemma, should I stay or should I go?
I can say that it is not wrong to desire to be in heaven. It is wrong to obsess and begin to take steps to get there. God has promised a place for us to live for eternity where there is no pain, no death, no sorrow, no sin. He tells us that this place has beauty beyond our ability to even imagine it and that there is a place prepared specifically for each individual Christian. If you believe this is true, it is tempting to start packing.
But God saves us and forgives us and leaves us here on earth for a reason. We are to be his ambassadors for heaven. We are to represent everything that heaven stands for while we are still on earth. We are God’s hug distributors and salesmen for His love. Think of yourself as a travel agent for heaven. You get to tell people who the best trip you can ever take is the one that you have been promised. Although you have never been there, you do have the book that describes it in detail. You can make the arrangements and set up a reservation for anyone who wants it. And, every time you sell someone on going to heaven, you get a bonus.
But in a more simple term, God saved us from the death and destruction of this world and left us here on a rescue mission. If left to live life without Jesus, people are heading for the death and destruction that sin brings. Only Jesus can save one from this and He has left us here to carry out that mission. We are soldiers of the cross, fully equipped to do battle with an enemy that wants our friends and family to die and never live again.
We are like the Navy Seals of God on a special mission to rescue those held captive and tear down the strongholds of the enemy. But many do not want that part of salvation and only want the heaven part. Yes, I believe that you can be saved and never do anything to help another find the same salvation, but I think that if you are that person, you are a lazy and a worthless soldier, and God, our Commander, will deal with that.
No soldier wants to just wear the uniform. They want the medals and ribbons of honor that the Commander Himself pins on in the day that He tells you, Well done!
So the summation of what I am trying to say is, when you are struggling with the question, should I stay or should I go, remember that Jesus said to stay here and fight the good fight, and go into all the world and preach the gospel. Heaven will be there whenever you are called home so don’t rush it, it will be worth it all.