from the book, "Author of Sin"
Theological determinists hold that everything we do is caused by antecedent conditions, ultimately traceable to God.
This is true of most theological determinists, but it is also finally incoherent. I would change this to say that all conditions are "immediately traceable to God."
I affirm the meaningfulness of so-called "second causes" only in the sense that these are the means by which God executes his immutable decrees; however, these second causes are not themselves self-existent, self-determined, self-caused, or self-powered. Rather, all so-called "secondary causes" are themselves immediately caused and controlled by God, and the objects on which these secondary causes supposedly act upon react in ways that are also immediately caused and controlled by God.
We must Deny the unjustified premise, "responsibility presupposes freedom." No, responsibility presupposes God's decree that it is so...because He says so.
That is, if God directly causes you to sin, it does make him the "author" of sin (at least in the sense that people usually use the expression), but the "sinner" or "wrongdoer" is still you. Since sin is the transgression of divine law, for God to be a sinner or wrongdoer in this case, he must decree a moral law that forbids himself to be the author of sin, and then when he acts as the author of sin anyway, he becomes a sinner or wrongdoer.
But unless this happens, for God to be the author of sin does not make him a sinner or wrongdoer. The terms author, sinner, wrongdoer, and tempter are relatively precise – at least precise enough to be distinguished from one another, and for God to be the "author" of sin says nothing about whether he is also a "sinner," "wrongdoer," or a "tempter." And for one not to be a wrongdoer by definition means that he has not done wrong. Therefore, even if God is the author of sin, it does not automatically follow that there is anything wrong with it, or that he is a wrongdoer.
However, this is not to distance God from evil, for to "author" the sin implies far more control over the sinner and the sin than to merely tempt. Whereas the devil (or a person's lust) may be the tempter, and the person might be the sinner, it is God who directly and completely controls both the tempter and the sinner, and the relationship between them. And although God is not himself the tempter, he deliberately and sovereignly sends evil spirits to tempt (1 Kings 22:19–23) and to torment (1 Samuel 16:14–23, 18:10, 19:9). But in all of this, God is righteous by definition.
Contrary to the traditional explanation, God does not say, "Oh, no, I am not the author of sin. Although I am the ultimate cause of all things, I distance myself from directly causing evil by establishing secondary causes and free agents. So although I create and sustain all things, men freely sin by thinking and acting according to their own dispositions. The evil dispositions come from Adam. As for how Adam got his evil dispositions…well, it will just have to remain a mystery for you." If this is the answer, why not jump right to the mystery and save us all some time?
The Bible never responds this way to this type of questions and objections. There are many biblical passages saying that God causes all things, and the metaphysics behind it is explained by God's omnipotence – the same omnipotence that created everything. On the other hand, all the passages that people use to deny that God is the author of sin or to prove compatibilism are always just descriptions of events and motives, without dealing with the metaphysical cause of those events and motives.
And contrary to the typical response, Paul does not say, "Oh, no, you don't understand. Although God determines all things, he causes all things only by having you freely make decisions according to your own nature, which came from Adam, whose nature mysteriously turned from holy to evil, so that God is not the author of sin, but so that you are responsible for your own decisions and actions."
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
The Detergent Church - Part 3
Progress Through Resistance - By Doug Giles
As much as I think a lot of the American "churches" are about as useful to God as a pitch pipe is to Yoko Ono, I'm not completely depressed by this dilemma. Matter of fact, I'm pretty giddy as the emails have started to pour in from readers from around the globe who are sick of bland Nancy churches lead by lame "leaders" who are driven by cash, carnality, convenience and culture rather than Christ. The revolution could be on, ladies and gents, and more than likely, my beloved, it will be televised.
Yes, the natives are getting restless, and it appears that if some pastors, churches and denominations don't cease their dining with el Diablo that the faithful are going to blow out of there and seek greener, more godly and gospel faithful pastures. Be afraid, feckless vicars. Be afraid.
For example, this past week at Brad Stine's "GodMen" event in Nashville I spoke to and met with a couple hundred sharp, solid and smart men who are looking for genuine Christianity that is real, raw and righteous. They are concerned that our culture is headed down the crapper while the church continues to take a nap, eschewing the vital issues that are slaying us while we sleep. This was a nice testosterone shot to my spirit: The warriors are indeed alive and well and asking all the right and wrong questions.
I believe that the adjustments the church must make can no longer be based on what equals temporary crowd growth and cash flow but what equates cultural transformation which could mean, pastor, that you thin your crowd Gideon style.
The deep BS our nation is currently slogging through is no game, folks, and if the church does not wake the heck up and prophetically realign based on holy need, not ecclesiastical greed, then we are screwed and will have no one to blame other than ourselves because, supposedly, we have via the Holy Spirit the power to change things if we get on the same page as God-and yet we twiddle our thumbs. Herein lies the rub: Are we going to continue, for whatever reason, to maintain the business as usual churchy course we're skipping down, or are we going to cowboy up, clear the table and get down to what needs to be done, as Christians, to alter our nation for God?
Well, I for one ain't playing, and herewith is my third installment regarding what I think the church must do in order to be a holy player in our current culture war. Check it out . . .
1. Get men who dig being rowdy back in the pulpit.
2. Could we have some sound doctrine, por favor?
3. Preach scary sermons (at least every fourth one).
4. Get rid of 99.9% of "Christian" TV.
5. Quit trying to be relevant and instead become prophetic contrarians, I'm talking contra mundus, mama!
6. Put a 10-year moratorium on "God wants you rich" sermons (yeah, that's what we need to hear nowadays, you morons, more sermons about money, money, money!).
7. Embrace apologetics and shun shallow faith.
8. Evangelize like it's 1999.
9. Push lazy Christians to get a life or join a Satanic Church.
10. Demand that if a Christian gets involved in the arts that their "craft" must scream excellence and not excrement.
5. Quit trying to be relevant and instead become prophetic contrarians, I'm talking contra mundus, mama!
Y'know, it gets kind of wearying watching choir boys trying to be some holy version of James Dean in a lame attempt to appear cool and thereby sell Christ and Christianity to uninterested postmodern pagans.
Hey Church kid, I appreciate you wanting to look hip and not come off as Urkel, as well as your desire to introduce blasé and/or bellicose unbelievers to Moses and Jesus. To be honest, it's refreshing to see Christians morph in this direction as many Christians look creepy and, truth be told, a lot of them couldn't care less if bad people dropped into hell. Therefore, any stab to wash the unwashed while looking GQ gets major kudos from moi, my brother. Giddy up.
However, the problem I have with these NSYNC Christians is that many of them go too far in trying to be effective and groovy and toss out the very thing that enacts true transformation of both souls and society, namely . . . the truth! In particular, the offensive aspects of the truth. You remember that old stuff don't ‘cha? All the things that rub us the wrong way, slay us at our very core and radically tick us off? Remember that?
Here's my advice to all you "relevant" boys and girls: Make sure when you are overhauling your wardrobe, urbanizing your vocabulary, gelling your hair to new heights, switching from Dunkin Donuts coffee to Starbucks, and praying to Jesus what appendage to pierce next and where to place another tribal tattoo on your white, skinny arm that you don't dispense with the offensive aspects of Christ's credo, for it is here, all you Justin Timberlake believers, that the truth truly sets men free.
A Detergent Church will try to be as timely as possible and look as smart as possible, but you'll never find us sucking up to culture and removing the sting of the truth's tail because the true church and saving truth are forever, contra mundus, and here lies our total commitment, namely not to culture, but to God and Christ. If we want godly changes then we have to realize that righteous realignment comes not through seeking to be relevant, which ironically often leads to irrelevancy, but through righteous prophetic resistance to the ubiquitous bad ideas society is yielding up. Yes, the Detergent Church isn't so much interested in being au courant as it is in being gospel correct.
As far as I'm concerned, the church/Christian that wants to be a profitable asset verses a pain in the arse will not 86 the disturbing truths of the gospel just because our shallow and cheeky culture doesn't dig ‘em. As much as it is a believer's duty to become all things to all people and not be removed freakish monks stuck in an ecclesiastical time warp, it is first and foremost the Christian's duty to stand for God-which means a good chunk of the culture ain't going to like you, more than likely. This isn't a big deal, however, at least to the culture warrior who loves God and this country. Why? Well, for one reason, they're not whiners, and secondly they understand that true progress comes through resistance.
The final installment will be next week …
As much as I think a lot of the American "churches" are about as useful to God as a pitch pipe is to Yoko Ono, I'm not completely depressed by this dilemma. Matter of fact, I'm pretty giddy as the emails have started to pour in from readers from around the globe who are sick of bland Nancy churches lead by lame "leaders" who are driven by cash, carnality, convenience and culture rather than Christ. The revolution could be on, ladies and gents, and more than likely, my beloved, it will be televised.
Yes, the natives are getting restless, and it appears that if some pastors, churches and denominations don't cease their dining with el Diablo that the faithful are going to blow out of there and seek greener, more godly and gospel faithful pastures. Be afraid, feckless vicars. Be afraid.
For example, this past week at Brad Stine's "GodMen" event in Nashville I spoke to and met with a couple hundred sharp, solid and smart men who are looking for genuine Christianity that is real, raw and righteous. They are concerned that our culture is headed down the crapper while the church continues to take a nap, eschewing the vital issues that are slaying us while we sleep. This was a nice testosterone shot to my spirit: The warriors are indeed alive and well and asking all the right and wrong questions.
I believe that the adjustments the church must make can no longer be based on what equals temporary crowd growth and cash flow but what equates cultural transformation which could mean, pastor, that you thin your crowd Gideon style.
The deep BS our nation is currently slogging through is no game, folks, and if the church does not wake the heck up and prophetically realign based on holy need, not ecclesiastical greed, then we are screwed and will have no one to blame other than ourselves because, supposedly, we have via the Holy Spirit the power to change things if we get on the same page as God-and yet we twiddle our thumbs. Herein lies the rub: Are we going to continue, for whatever reason, to maintain the business as usual churchy course we're skipping down, or are we going to cowboy up, clear the table and get down to what needs to be done, as Christians, to alter our nation for God?
Well, I for one ain't playing, and herewith is my third installment regarding what I think the church must do in order to be a holy player in our current culture war. Check it out . . .
1. Get men who dig being rowdy back in the pulpit.
2. Could we have some sound doctrine, por favor?
3. Preach scary sermons (at least every fourth one).
4. Get rid of 99.9% of "Christian" TV.
5. Quit trying to be relevant and instead become prophetic contrarians, I'm talking contra mundus, mama!
6. Put a 10-year moratorium on "God wants you rich" sermons (yeah, that's what we need to hear nowadays, you morons, more sermons about money, money, money!).
7. Embrace apologetics and shun shallow faith.
8. Evangelize like it's 1999.
9. Push lazy Christians to get a life or join a Satanic Church.
10. Demand that if a Christian gets involved in the arts that their "craft" must scream excellence and not excrement.
5. Quit trying to be relevant and instead become prophetic contrarians, I'm talking contra mundus, mama!
Y'know, it gets kind of wearying watching choir boys trying to be some holy version of James Dean in a lame attempt to appear cool and thereby sell Christ and Christianity to uninterested postmodern pagans.
Hey Church kid, I appreciate you wanting to look hip and not come off as Urkel, as well as your desire to introduce blasé and/or bellicose unbelievers to Moses and Jesus. To be honest, it's refreshing to see Christians morph in this direction as many Christians look creepy and, truth be told, a lot of them couldn't care less if bad people dropped into hell. Therefore, any stab to wash the unwashed while looking GQ gets major kudos from moi, my brother. Giddy up.
However, the problem I have with these NSYNC Christians is that many of them go too far in trying to be effective and groovy and toss out the very thing that enacts true transformation of both souls and society, namely . . . the truth! In particular, the offensive aspects of the truth. You remember that old stuff don't ‘cha? All the things that rub us the wrong way, slay us at our very core and radically tick us off? Remember that?
Here's my advice to all you "relevant" boys and girls: Make sure when you are overhauling your wardrobe, urbanizing your vocabulary, gelling your hair to new heights, switching from Dunkin Donuts coffee to Starbucks, and praying to Jesus what appendage to pierce next and where to place another tribal tattoo on your white, skinny arm that you don't dispense with the offensive aspects of Christ's credo, for it is here, all you Justin Timberlake believers, that the truth truly sets men free.
A Detergent Church will try to be as timely as possible and look as smart as possible, but you'll never find us sucking up to culture and removing the sting of the truth's tail because the true church and saving truth are forever, contra mundus, and here lies our total commitment, namely not to culture, but to God and Christ. If we want godly changes then we have to realize that righteous realignment comes not through seeking to be relevant, which ironically often leads to irrelevancy, but through righteous prophetic resistance to the ubiquitous bad ideas society is yielding up. Yes, the Detergent Church isn't so much interested in being au courant as it is in being gospel correct.
As far as I'm concerned, the church/Christian that wants to be a profitable asset verses a pain in the arse will not 86 the disturbing truths of the gospel just because our shallow and cheeky culture doesn't dig ‘em. As much as it is a believer's duty to become all things to all people and not be removed freakish monks stuck in an ecclesiastical time warp, it is first and foremost the Christian's duty to stand for God-which means a good chunk of the culture ain't going to like you, more than likely. This isn't a big deal, however, at least to the culture warrior who loves God and this country. Why? Well, for one reason, they're not whiners, and secondly they understand that true progress comes through resistance.
The final installment will be next week …
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Unless Timothy is Very, Very Old
My friend Johnny posted this on his blog...
You have probably heard about this particular "sign" that we are approaching "the end times," from Paul's epistle to Timothy:
"But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power."
The Problem? Paul's next sentence to Timothy is:
"Avoid such people."
Paul cannot possibly be talking about the days at the end of history.
http://johnnydrums.blogspot.com/2008/06/in-last-days.html
You have probably heard about this particular "sign" that we are approaching "the end times," from Paul's epistle to Timothy:
"But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power."
The Problem? Paul's next sentence to Timothy is:
"Avoid such people."
Paul cannot possibly be talking about the days at the end of history.
http://johnnydrums.blogspot.com/2008/06/in-last-days.html
Friday, June 6, 2008
Culture & Worship
---by Doug Wilson
The evangelical world is still sitting under modernity's table, eager for any crumbs that may fall our way. The big news down here is when some rock star or other intimates that it is possible that, under certain conditions, he might believe in a divine being other than himself. We snatch it up eagerly and feast for weeks. We have our own cycles of celebrity gossip down below table level, but given the nature of crumbs, our fixings are meager. But we make do, and wherewith are content. "Did you hear that..."
We forget that we are Christians, which means we are to confess the Lordship of Jesus Christ over every aspect of life. For some mysterious reason, we have settled for the Lordship of Christ over some precincts of heaven, but everything else belongs to Time Warner or Ted Turner. We have made our peace with our situation. But at least the prodigal son had the good sense to be revolted when the pig food was starting to look good to him -- we in contrast take our hunger as an indication that we will soon be accepted into the best porcine circles, over there on the other side of the pen. We wait patiently for our place at the trough...er, table. We do not cast our pearls before swine; we cast ourselves.
The cultural poverty within the church is considerable. Our idea of the cultural mandate is to ape whatever our disintegrating modern culture comes up with, after a respectable time lag of five to ten years. The only redeeming thing about our worldliness is that we carry it off badly. Anything the world can do, we can do afterwards and, hamstrung by our remaining biblical memories, worse. The faith, to paraphrase Paul Simon, "ain't got no cultcha." When the world comes up with thrasher bands, we want a thrasher band with John 3:16 somewhere in the liner notes.
Vibrant Christianity carries within it the germ of a vibrant culture. If Henry Van Til was correct when he said that culture is religion externalized, then the true religion must necessarily have a profound cultural impact. But this is a situation which we may only apprehend through a study of its previous occurrences in history; we do not see it occurring around us now. Oh we see a religion reflected in our culture alright, but not a scripturally faithful one.
In the meantime, modernity, that once proud heresy, has visibly started to topple. Postmodernists are running around gleefully, just like looters after an earthquake in a great city, but postmodernity's self-confessed parasitic relativism means that it has a cultural staying power which can be measured in weeks. After the looted Ho-Ho's run out, everyone will be hungry again.
The answer, however, is not more highbrow music seminars for Christians, or more visits to the classical sections of our art museums. The answer is to recover a Biblical vision of who Jesus Christ is, and what He requires godly parents to do in the training and equipping of their children. When Paul requires fathers to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6:4), we frequently forget that the word he used for nurture was paideia. This is the word which a first-century Greek would have used to describe what we call education, as well as what we call enculturation. Paul requires Christian fathers to educate their children in the Lord, and to bring them up in a Christian culture. But with our theology being what it is, the resultant "externalization" of our current religion has really only resulted in mountains of cheesy kitsch. The average Christian bookstore, which reflects accurately what we are about, is an abundant cornucopia of nonsense. A moment's reflection should bring us, in humility and tears, to ask what can be done.
The cultural achievements of Christianity were at one time magnificent -- and these accomplishments from centuries past still remain with us. From the cathedral at Chartres to Bach's Mass in B Minor, from Beowulf to the poetry of Donne, from the Dutch realists to Handel's Messiah, the Christian church amply demonstrated that when a lofty view of God occupies the church, a vision for glorifying Him fills and transforms a culture.
To return to our picture, that of Christians sitting under the table eating cultural crumbs, it has begun to dawn on some Christians that the banquet of modernity above us is just about over. We no longer hear the clink of silverware; they have run out of wine, and have very little food left. So why are we content to remain here? The answer is not to put on a cultural affectation, from any century. The point is not to imitate the externals of anything.
Our problem is that we rarely hear our Lord referred to as the Lord Jesus Christ. We gravitate to Jesus, preferably expressed in a sibilant whisper . . . Jeeessusss. This, we think, is intimate worship. Caught up in our subjectivism, we think that we are worshiping Him simply because we feel worshipful. Our inner feelings become the gauge of pure and undefiled religion. Our music in worship is no longer religious; but simply relational. We sing boyfriend/girlfriend music in the Throne Room of God.
But the Lord Jesus Christ is at the right hand of the Father. He is the Lord of all, and He will be recognized as such. When God is pleased to grant doctrinal reformation in the church, the cultural impact will soon follow.
The evangelical world is still sitting under modernity's table, eager for any crumbs that may fall our way. The big news down here is when some rock star or other intimates that it is possible that, under certain conditions, he might believe in a divine being other than himself. We snatch it up eagerly and feast for weeks. We have our own cycles of celebrity gossip down below table level, but given the nature of crumbs, our fixings are meager. But we make do, and wherewith are content. "Did you hear that..."
We forget that we are Christians, which means we are to confess the Lordship of Jesus Christ over every aspect of life. For some mysterious reason, we have settled for the Lordship of Christ over some precincts of heaven, but everything else belongs to Time Warner or Ted Turner. We have made our peace with our situation. But at least the prodigal son had the good sense to be revolted when the pig food was starting to look good to him -- we in contrast take our hunger as an indication that we will soon be accepted into the best porcine circles, over there on the other side of the pen. We wait patiently for our place at the trough...er, table. We do not cast our pearls before swine; we cast ourselves.
The cultural poverty within the church is considerable. Our idea of the cultural mandate is to ape whatever our disintegrating modern culture comes up with, after a respectable time lag of five to ten years. The only redeeming thing about our worldliness is that we carry it off badly. Anything the world can do, we can do afterwards and, hamstrung by our remaining biblical memories, worse. The faith, to paraphrase Paul Simon, "ain't got no cultcha." When the world comes up with thrasher bands, we want a thrasher band with John 3:16 somewhere in the liner notes.
Vibrant Christianity carries within it the germ of a vibrant culture. If Henry Van Til was correct when he said that culture is religion externalized, then the true religion must necessarily have a profound cultural impact. But this is a situation which we may only apprehend through a study of its previous occurrences in history; we do not see it occurring around us now. Oh we see a religion reflected in our culture alright, but not a scripturally faithful one.
In the meantime, modernity, that once proud heresy, has visibly started to topple. Postmodernists are running around gleefully, just like looters after an earthquake in a great city, but postmodernity's self-confessed parasitic relativism means that it has a cultural staying power which can be measured in weeks. After the looted Ho-Ho's run out, everyone will be hungry again.
The answer, however, is not more highbrow music seminars for Christians, or more visits to the classical sections of our art museums. The answer is to recover a Biblical vision of who Jesus Christ is, and what He requires godly parents to do in the training and equipping of their children. When Paul requires fathers to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6:4), we frequently forget that the word he used for nurture was paideia. This is the word which a first-century Greek would have used to describe what we call education, as well as what we call enculturation. Paul requires Christian fathers to educate their children in the Lord, and to bring them up in a Christian culture. But with our theology being what it is, the resultant "externalization" of our current religion has really only resulted in mountains of cheesy kitsch. The average Christian bookstore, which reflects accurately what we are about, is an abundant cornucopia of nonsense. A moment's reflection should bring us, in humility and tears, to ask what can be done.
The cultural achievements of Christianity were at one time magnificent -- and these accomplishments from centuries past still remain with us. From the cathedral at Chartres to Bach's Mass in B Minor, from Beowulf to the poetry of Donne, from the Dutch realists to Handel's Messiah, the Christian church amply demonstrated that when a lofty view of God occupies the church, a vision for glorifying Him fills and transforms a culture.
To return to our picture, that of Christians sitting under the table eating cultural crumbs, it has begun to dawn on some Christians that the banquet of modernity above us is just about over. We no longer hear the clink of silverware; they have run out of wine, and have very little food left. So why are we content to remain here? The answer is not to put on a cultural affectation, from any century. The point is not to imitate the externals of anything.
Our problem is that we rarely hear our Lord referred to as the Lord Jesus Christ. We gravitate to Jesus, preferably expressed in a sibilant whisper . . . Jeeessusss. This, we think, is intimate worship. Caught up in our subjectivism, we think that we are worshiping Him simply because we feel worshipful. Our inner feelings become the gauge of pure and undefiled religion. Our music in worship is no longer religious; but simply relational. We sing boyfriend/girlfriend music in the Throne Room of God.
But the Lord Jesus Christ is at the right hand of the Father. He is the Lord of all, and He will be recognized as such. When God is pleased to grant doctrinal reformation in the church, the cultural impact will soon follow.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
The Problem of Evil
I have posted on the Origin of Sin previously, but found many incomplete and erroneous ideas to confound the issue. Here is Vincent Cheung's take on the subject, which I found to be quite good. A link to his blog, with many other of his articles, can be found in my list of links to the right.
"Although Christians have agonized over this so-called "problem of evil" for centuries, the argument is extremely easy to refute; it is one of the most stupid objections that I have ever seen, and even as a child I thought it was a foolish argument. Many people have trouble with the existence of evil not because it poses any logical challenge to Christianity, but because they are overwhelmed by the emotions that the topic generates, and these strong emotions effectively disable the minimal level of judgment and intelligence that they normally exhibit."
"...we come to the following conclusion. God controls everything that is and everything that happens. There is not one thing that happens that he has not actively decreed – not even a single thought in the mind of man. Since this is true, it follows that God has decreed the existence of evil, he has not merely permitted it, as if anything can originate and happen apart from his will and power. Since we have shown that no creature can make completely independent decisions, evil could never have started without God's active decree, and it cannot continue for one moment longer apart from God's will. God decreed evil ultimately for his own glory, although it is not necessary to know or to state this reason to defend Christianity from the problem of evil."
Read the rest here:
http://www.vincentcheung.com/other/problemevil.pdf
"Although Christians have agonized over this so-called "problem of evil" for centuries, the argument is extremely easy to refute; it is one of the most stupid objections that I have ever seen, and even as a child I thought it was a foolish argument. Many people have trouble with the existence of evil not because it poses any logical challenge to Christianity, but because they are overwhelmed by the emotions that the topic generates, and these strong emotions effectively disable the minimal level of judgment and intelligence that they normally exhibit."
"...we come to the following conclusion. God controls everything that is and everything that happens. There is not one thing that happens that he has not actively decreed – not even a single thought in the mind of man. Since this is true, it follows that God has decreed the existence of evil, he has not merely permitted it, as if anything can originate and happen apart from his will and power. Since we have shown that no creature can make completely independent decisions, evil could never have started without God's active decree, and it cannot continue for one moment longer apart from God's will. God decreed evil ultimately for his own glory, although it is not necessary to know or to state this reason to defend Christianity from the problem of evil."
Read the rest here:
http://www.vincentcheung.com/other/problemevil.pdf
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
No sacrifice for the Gospel is ever wasted!
my friend Frank Hart has a good article at his blog, go read this:
http://ancienttruthmodernsound.com/the-guy-who-went-to-africa-and-wrote-a-journal
there's more good reading in the rest of his blog too:
http://ancienttruthmodernsound.com/category/all-of-franks-articles
http://ancienttruthmodernsound.com/the-guy-who-went-to-africa-and-wrote-a-journal
there's more good reading in the rest of his blog too:
http://ancienttruthmodernsound.com/category/all-of-franks-articles
Monday, June 2, 2008
The Detergent Church - Part 2
The Detergent Church: Salt and Light or Slop and Tripe? ---By Doug Giles
Detergent Church (di-tur-juhnt church) - noun: A church whose sole purpose is to purge the skid marks sin has left on man's soul and our society.
Biblical Christianity (operative word: biblical), lived and worked out in real time, has always been a life-stoking blessing in whatever land it took root (no matter what your long tooth lesbian Marxist professor says).
Historically speaking, when the church was healthy and righteous the nation it was in eventually prospered in muchos ways. However, when the "saints" started getting scripturally cross eyed, converted to the whims of culture and became lax in regard to God's moral maxims, then what used to be a source of salt and light morphed into a font of slop and tripe and officially became a part of God's-and that nation's-problem. In my quasi-humble opinion that's where I think a massive slice of the American church stands (or sits), namely in the way versus leading the way.
In last week's column I tossed out my demented two cents/10 points into the thought fray as to what I think would help the church cease to stink and thus cause our nation to maybe, just maybe, continue to be the great experiment it is. Here's a recap . . .
1. Get men who dig being rowdy back in the pulpit.
2. Could we have some sound doctrine, por favor?
3. Preach scary sermons (at least every fourth one).
4. Get rid of 99.9% of "Christian" TV.
5. Quit trying to be relevant and instead become prophetic contrarians, I'm talking contra mundus, mama!
6. Put a 10-year moratorium on "God wants you rich" sermons (yeah, that's what we need to hear nowadays, you morons, more sermons about money, money, money!).
7. Embrace apologetics and shun shallow faith.
8. Evangelize like it's 1999.
9. Push lazy Christians to get a life or join a Satanic Church.
10. Demand that if a Christian gets involved in the arts that their "craft" must scream excellence and not excrement.
Having covered point one in last week's column, here are three more shots across the shoddy bow of the crippled church:
2. Could we have some sound doctrine, por favor? You won't hear the book of Jude quoted by most postmodern pastors nowadays, but you will hear them discuss the song, "Hey, Jude." Why? Well, because it's cool, baby and the PoMo church is all about being cool! Oh, and of course, feelings. Nothing more than feelings.
So, why is sound doctrine being shunned in "churches" today like Jenna Jameson would be at a Jim Dobson BBQ? Well, it's simple folks: truth divides. Truth will cost a pastor people, possibly his Porsche and . . . and . . . it might leave him . . . (I'm gonna say it) . . . unpopular. Many ministers fear unpopularity more than God.
Yep, for the sake of praise, pacification, and cash a lot of pastors/churches will prostitute their calling and blow off declaring God's whole counsel because on the whole it's costly. Therefore, for the bootlick church, it's bye-bye to the real Christ and his hard sayings, adios muchachos to the acidic aspects of the apostles, and it's "don't let the door hit you in the butt" to the kill joy prophets.
The Detergent Church, however, will preach the truth, side with truth and defend the truth come hell or high water. They understand that their job is to herald what Christ, the apostles and prophets have declared and not take away from it or add to it. They do it with love and humility, when it is convenient and inconvenient, and they do it with unapologetic boldness and simply let the chips fall where they may. The Detergent Church is, in essence, God's UPS men: They just deliver the package.
3. Preach scary sermons (at least every fourth one): Today churches today won't touch any scrap of the Scripture that paints their congregants (clients) as possible recipients of God's wrath. Heck, to the hot tub church, God doesn't even get angry anymore according to these peddlers of pleasantries unless of course one doesn't recycle, or if you drive a SUV, or if you have a high view of Scripture, or if you hunt, or if you're white, or if you're proud to be an American and then, then, Yahweh goes Old Testament.
The biblical doctrines of man's innate depravity, the heinousness of sin in contrast to God's holiness, the commandment for all men everywhere to repent, the justifiable wrath of God upon the impenitent, and subsequent eternal damnation to those who have blown God off will not-I say, will not-get touched with a ten foot pew at Dr. Feelgood's House of Worship. But they will get their due at a Detergent Church.
Yes, a Detergent Church will volley on a regular basis both the kindness and the severity of God. They won't sidestep the fear of the Lord, the reality of hell, or the negative sanctions which come down on people and places because of disobedience. Sure, it's not pleasant to read or declare such things, but the minister who's worth his salt won't run from these truths just because they rub us all the wrong way. The Detergent Church knows that if it sidesteps the stuff that shakes the sinner in their innards they'll end up mothering people God hasn't fathered and spawn a pseudo-saint who thinks God isn't serious when he is.
4. Get rid of 99.9% of "Christian" TV: Very little of what passes for Christian television is either Christian or good TV. What does ecclesia electronica yield up to the general public when they fire up their Sony's? Here's what:
• Weeping pink-haired women with uber large lip implants
• Bizarre TV sets that look like Versace decorated them while tripping on a HGH/LSD combo
• Prophetesses with dragon nails screaming in tongues and prophesying pretty generic, failsafe stuff to poor dupes who just drove six hours to "get a word" from God.
• Rasputin-like healers in white Nehru suits with bad comb-overs and an entourage of yes men that makes Kimora green at the gills.
• Weepy metrosexual and heretical thirtysomething male preachers whose hair is so spikey the TSA won't let them board airplanes.
• 21st century Elmer Gantrys making outrageous claims that if you give them a $100 check (or $1,000, or what the heck $10,000) God will give you a yacht (or its equivalent).
And then . . . then . . . the Wizards of Odd wonder why the "world" rejects them. Are they being persecuted for righteousness' sake? No, Ezekiel, it's because of ridiculousness. It's not that the unwashed cattle aren't into God-they're just not buying most of this smack. Hey Religious Television Nutworks, there's a reason why Carrot Top and Gary Busey don't get much airtime any longer. Do the math and then do us all a favor, por favor, and follow suit.
I believe that the rogue gallery that's regularly propped up by evangelivision, y'know, the ones who make the characters in the Star Wars bar scene look like some of Trump's execs, are part of our cultural problem rather than the solution.
It's sad that the Christian leaders in the Detergent Church who actually have something to say don't get any airtime just because they won't dumb it down, or wear glitter in their hair, or a neckerchief or because they regularly think and blink.
The finale next week . . .
Detergent Church (di-tur-juhnt church) - noun: A church whose sole purpose is to purge the skid marks sin has left on man's soul and our society.
Biblical Christianity (operative word: biblical), lived and worked out in real time, has always been a life-stoking blessing in whatever land it took root (no matter what your long tooth lesbian Marxist professor says).
Historically speaking, when the church was healthy and righteous the nation it was in eventually prospered in muchos ways. However, when the "saints" started getting scripturally cross eyed, converted to the whims of culture and became lax in regard to God's moral maxims, then what used to be a source of salt and light morphed into a font of slop and tripe and officially became a part of God's-and that nation's-problem. In my quasi-humble opinion that's where I think a massive slice of the American church stands (or sits), namely in the way versus leading the way.
In last week's column I tossed out my demented two cents/10 points into the thought fray as to what I think would help the church cease to stink and thus cause our nation to maybe, just maybe, continue to be the great experiment it is. Here's a recap . . .
1. Get men who dig being rowdy back in the pulpit.
2. Could we have some sound doctrine, por favor?
3. Preach scary sermons (at least every fourth one).
4. Get rid of 99.9% of "Christian" TV.
5. Quit trying to be relevant and instead become prophetic contrarians, I'm talking contra mundus, mama!
6. Put a 10-year moratorium on "God wants you rich" sermons (yeah, that's what we need to hear nowadays, you morons, more sermons about money, money, money!).
7. Embrace apologetics and shun shallow faith.
8. Evangelize like it's 1999.
9. Push lazy Christians to get a life or join a Satanic Church.
10. Demand that if a Christian gets involved in the arts that their "craft" must scream excellence and not excrement.
Having covered point one in last week's column, here are three more shots across the shoddy bow of the crippled church:
2. Could we have some sound doctrine, por favor? You won't hear the book of Jude quoted by most postmodern pastors nowadays, but you will hear them discuss the song, "Hey, Jude." Why? Well, because it's cool, baby and the PoMo church is all about being cool! Oh, and of course, feelings. Nothing more than feelings.
So, why is sound doctrine being shunned in "churches" today like Jenna Jameson would be at a Jim Dobson BBQ? Well, it's simple folks: truth divides. Truth will cost a pastor people, possibly his Porsche and . . . and . . . it might leave him . . . (I'm gonna say it) . . . unpopular. Many ministers fear unpopularity more than God.
Yep, for the sake of praise, pacification, and cash a lot of pastors/churches will prostitute their calling and blow off declaring God's whole counsel because on the whole it's costly. Therefore, for the bootlick church, it's bye-bye to the real Christ and his hard sayings, adios muchachos to the acidic aspects of the apostles, and it's "don't let the door hit you in the butt" to the kill joy prophets.
The Detergent Church, however, will preach the truth, side with truth and defend the truth come hell or high water. They understand that their job is to herald what Christ, the apostles and prophets have declared and not take away from it or add to it. They do it with love and humility, when it is convenient and inconvenient, and they do it with unapologetic boldness and simply let the chips fall where they may. The Detergent Church is, in essence, God's UPS men: They just deliver the package.
3. Preach scary sermons (at least every fourth one): Today churches today won't touch any scrap of the Scripture that paints their congregants (clients) as possible recipients of God's wrath. Heck, to the hot tub church, God doesn't even get angry anymore according to these peddlers of pleasantries unless of course one doesn't recycle, or if you drive a SUV, or if you have a high view of Scripture, or if you hunt, or if you're white, or if you're proud to be an American and then, then, Yahweh goes Old Testament.
The biblical doctrines of man's innate depravity, the heinousness of sin in contrast to God's holiness, the commandment for all men everywhere to repent, the justifiable wrath of God upon the impenitent, and subsequent eternal damnation to those who have blown God off will not-I say, will not-get touched with a ten foot pew at Dr. Feelgood's House of Worship. But they will get their due at a Detergent Church.
Yes, a Detergent Church will volley on a regular basis both the kindness and the severity of God. They won't sidestep the fear of the Lord, the reality of hell, or the negative sanctions which come down on people and places because of disobedience. Sure, it's not pleasant to read or declare such things, but the minister who's worth his salt won't run from these truths just because they rub us all the wrong way. The Detergent Church knows that if it sidesteps the stuff that shakes the sinner in their innards they'll end up mothering people God hasn't fathered and spawn a pseudo-saint who thinks God isn't serious when he is.
4. Get rid of 99.9% of "Christian" TV: Very little of what passes for Christian television is either Christian or good TV. What does ecclesia electronica yield up to the general public when they fire up their Sony's? Here's what:
• Weeping pink-haired women with uber large lip implants
• Bizarre TV sets that look like Versace decorated them while tripping on a HGH/LSD combo
• Prophetesses with dragon nails screaming in tongues and prophesying pretty generic, failsafe stuff to poor dupes who just drove six hours to "get a word" from God.
• Rasputin-like healers in white Nehru suits with bad comb-overs and an entourage of yes men that makes Kimora green at the gills.
• Weepy metrosexual and heretical thirtysomething male preachers whose hair is so spikey the TSA won't let them board airplanes.
• 21st century Elmer Gantrys making outrageous claims that if you give them a $100 check (or $1,000, or what the heck $10,000) God will give you a yacht (or its equivalent).
And then . . . then . . . the Wizards of Odd wonder why the "world" rejects them. Are they being persecuted for righteousness' sake? No, Ezekiel, it's because of ridiculousness. It's not that the unwashed cattle aren't into God-they're just not buying most of this smack. Hey Religious Television Nutworks, there's a reason why Carrot Top and Gary Busey don't get much airtime any longer. Do the math and then do us all a favor, por favor, and follow suit.
I believe that the rogue gallery that's regularly propped up by evangelivision, y'know, the ones who make the characters in the Star Wars bar scene look like some of Trump's execs, are part of our cultural problem rather than the solution.
It's sad that the Christian leaders in the Detergent Church who actually have something to say don't get any airtime just because they won't dumb it down, or wear glitter in their hair, or a neckerchief or because they regularly think and blink.
The finale next week . . .
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