The Relevant Disciple

Evolution has been a hot topic for along time. Is it fact or fiction? Can Christianity and science go together? Does God even exist? Yes, God exists and you can see His hand in creation. It is impossible and foolish to believe that the order and complexity of the world came from chaos. I can not and do not believe that. Could God have used the evolutionary theory? Yes, but again I have to belief that God created just as it is written in Genesis. Their is way to much interpretation for me to believe in evolution.

So, what do I believe. I believe that the God of the Universe created what we see in six literal days. I believe that God created the earth with age. Example of this would be Adam and Eve. He did not create them as babies but He created them as adults(Scripture seems to indicate this by the complexity of conversations Adam has with God and his responsibilities). I believe that God created the earth with the appearance of age. Why did He do that? I am not sure. I do not have all of the answers, nor do I care to have all of the answers. So can science and Christianity go together. The answer to that question is not that simple. I believe that Christianity and Science can help each other, but Christianity and scripture must have priority. It is a faith thing. I have faith that what the scripture teaches as truth is really truth. Science can and does provide many things for us but the answers to how we got here, it does not give proof or answers for.

So next time you have a chance to stair up into the heavens, thank God for His creation. Look to scripture and try to understand the things that He wants you to understand. God is the creator of this universe and all that we see and know. To believe in evolution you must have faith just as creation. I will take my chances on creation because God gives His evidence in scripture and that is good enough for me.

What is a call? Is it something you receive on your home phone, cell phone, or other device? Yes, but for the Christian is something much more important. The call is our duty to God. It is the plan and purpose that He has for us. I have become more aware of my calling over the years. My calling is specific to me. That does not mean I am the only one with this calling, it means that God specifically designed me and called me to a duty that only I can fulfill. Each one of us has a calling and it is specific to us. That calling comes from God and if we are willing to walk close to Him and follow that calling, we will be able to reach a generation, a nation, and a world with the gospel.

I have not always wanted this calling. There have been times when I have desired to do many other things, but I continue to go back to that calling because I know it is of God and my desire is to serve Him. I am not always good at my calling, I fall just as everyone else does but God is always there to pick me up and for that I am thankful.

Take time today and examine your calling. Serve God by following your calling and obey Him in your calling and if you will do that, we have the ability to reach this generation, this nation, and this world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Be faithful and follow Him.

As I sit here in my office, thinking about several things, my mind continues to think about Jesus Christ and those who need Him as Lord and Savior. Jesus tell us in John 3:16, that God so loved the world that He gave Hisone and only Son for us and in John 14:6, Jesus says that He is the truth, the way and the life and no man comes to Father except through Him. Sharing our faith is one of the most difficult things to do and even as Pastor I find it difficult to do and my question is why? Are we just scared of the rejection or is it that we do not know what to say? What is the problem?

Personally I think the problem is pride. We are to proud to share our faith. We do not want to be rejected and we feel if Christ is rejected then we are being rejected. The problem with this thought is that we are not the ones being rejected but it is Christ who is being rejected. God calls us and commands us to share our faith. Our churches are empty not because we are hypocrites but because we are cowards. Yeah the church is hypocritical because it is full of sinners. Do you not think that the world is hypocritical?

We need to have the courage to share our faith. Sharing what Christ has done in us and with us is a great and wonderful thing. My desire is to see FBC full of baby Christians (This means that we are reaching our community with the gospel). These baby Christians then need to be mentored and discipled by those of us who are mature in the faith. We have the ability to be a great church for the Lord but we must begin by sharing our faith. That starts with me. My hearts desire is share Christ with others and tell of the good news of His salvation. Take time each day to pray for your lost family members and friends. Share Christ's love with them. Encourage them to get involved in church and if they say I am not going down there with those bunch of hypocrites then tell them to stay home and go nowhere because hypocrites are everywhere. Church take a stand, love your neighbor as yourself. If you want to see great things happen then let it start with you. Praise God that He gives us multiple chances.

My last blog had some interesting discussion and some great comments. It got me to thinking about what it means to live for Christ. Is living for Christ just saying that you are a Christian and going to church or is it deeper than that? James tells us in chapter 2 verses 14 - 26 that faith without works is dead. What does James mean by this. I think it is fairly simple. If we truly have faith in Christ then our lives will be different which means our works will be different. Our motivation will be to serve Christ and he has called us to serve others so through serving Christ we are serving others and through serving others we are serving Christ.
So to live the life that Christ has called us to live we must have a deep understanding of true theology. Theology that is strict to scripture. Throughout history we have seen many condemned as heretical. The good news is that there has always been a small group of people that have stood for Biblical principles and teachings.
We must live for Christ! In doing that we need to understand what it means to live for him. It is more than just having faith. It is living the faith out and understanding the details and depths of the faith. Take time and really study scripture. Do not let your experiences determine what scriptures says, interpret your experiences by truths of scripture. By doing that we will be living for Christ.

I just finished reading an article (http://www.gty.org/resources/articles/10186) about Open Theism and the Emergent Church. Both Open Theism and the Emergent Church are becoming a problem to historical Christianity. They are attacking the heart of who God is and the importance of scripture and preaching it. If you have not come across this thought process, you will. It is spreading like wild fire throughout Evangelical Christianity.
Open theism is a theology that denies the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. "Open theism is a theological movement that has developed within evangelical and post-evangelical Protestant Christianity as a response to certain ideas that are related to the synthesis of Greek philosophy and Christian theology. Several of these ideas within Classical theism (a designation which is not to be taken as inclusive of all of orthodox theism) state that God is immutable, impassible, and timeless. For several versions of classical theism, God fully determines the future; thus, humanity does not have libertarian free will, or, if free, that its freedom must necessarily be compatible with God's determining actions.[1] Open theists argue that these attributes do not belong to the God of the Bible and are at odds with person hood." (From Wikipedia) What does that all mean. It simply means that God is not in control of the future. Your personal actions control the future. Yes God has a plan but that plan can not come into being without the help and free choice of humans. It takes away from the sovereignty of God. The problem is that Open theism is heresy and those who believe it deny the God of the Bible. We must reject this thought process and understanding of God. He is a God of all power, all love, all justice, all holiness, and all knowledge. He is the great and mighty creator.
Those who are involved in the Emergent Church have bought into this idea that preaching is no longer needed. Pulpits are of the past and pastors need to lead conversations, not preach the word of God. "Postmodern people don't trust authority figures. They don't want to hear someone stand up and expound the Word of God. It's unhealthy, he says. It's abusive. Why do I get to speak for 30 minutes and you don't? He asked" (Doug Pagitt) To this idea, I say no thanks. Preaching is needed more today than ever. People are living lives that are immoral and they are absolutely rejecting the teachings of scripture. If we do not open the Word of Life to these people and share the truth then they have no hope. Please pray for strong preaching in the world today. Pray that I would be a strong preacher in a weak world.
God is holy and justice and we are to serve Him with all of our heart and mind.

I am setting here watching TV and all I see is trash. It does not matter what channel you turn too, it is trash. As a Christian my desire is to serve the Lord and it is hard to do that watching television today. Commercials, family oriented shows, sports, news programs, and all other type programs are filled with violence, sex, and other immoral messages. Most commercials today use sexual temptations to sale their products. This trash has to go and it is time to turn off the television and open up books and conversations. We need to spend more time in productive situations. We need to be spending more time developing our spiritual lives and we need to spend more time talking with our family and friends. If Christians start turning off their televisions, then maybe at that point in time we can make a difference in the shows that are shown. The TV is not a baby sister nor education device. It seems with more technology our morals continue to decline. Television has spread immorality more than any other device known to man. My challenge to all of us is to turn off the television and spend more time reading and talking with our family and friends each day.

As I sit here and write it is snowing here in Church Hill, TN. I love the snow! Growing up in Chattanooga, we did not have a lot of snow and because of that as a thirty year old man I get really excited to see the snow now. Matter of fact I am like a little kid. When I look at the snow it reminds that God has washed us white as snow if we are saved. You ask, what in the world does that mean? That means if you are a Christian, Jesus has paid the penalty of your sin and the dirtiness of sin is no longer on you. He (Jesus) has washed your insides, that is your soul made white like the snow. The sin that once covered you is now gone. You are a different person and you are to act different. You are to act as God calls you to act. From that pointon you are to life for Christ the one who saved you until you die. Our lives are different, they have been changed just as water is changed from a liquid to solid when the temperature drops below freezing. We are still the same person physically but our heart and mind are different. Praise God that he has whited out our sin and we now have the opportunity to follow him. Trust in Jesus today and enjoy the greatness of Him just as a child enjoys to play out in the snow. God Bless.

John