Because Some Misunderstand

It shouldn't need to be said, but I guess it does. Christianity has members all over the world. It is not a kingdom made up of one people group, one color, or one nation. There are brothers in Christ all over the world. I have Christian brothers who are Chinese, Indian, American Indian (Natives), African, African American, Jordanian, Arab, etc. They come from all the nations. I have brothers and sisters that I know personally from Nigeria, Camaroon, Philippines, Indonesia, Russia, Romania, France, England, Scotland, Australia, China, Korea, Cambodia, Japan, and on and on.

When I write against Islam, it is not bigoted against any race or nation or people. To be a Christian is, and always has been to be "against" the world --contra mundum, as the ancient Christians said, "Against the World."

We believe that Jesus is the only way. We believe that all belief structures have some truth in them, but ultimately are undone if they don't have the truth of Jesus as the Lord of all at the center. I want to be clear, we know this is offensive. But we don't hate anyone. At least we're not supposed to. I know I don't. When I speak ill of Islam, I am speaking of a false belief system. I am not speaking of hating people. I don't want to hurt Muslims. I want to save them. I want to separate them from their false faith and introduce them to Christ.

I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO SAY THIS EITHER, BUT CLEARLY I NEED TO: I don't want to do this by force. If someone tells me they don't agree with me and are offended that I desire that they believe in Jesus, I will not hate them, nor kill them, nor pass laws to force them to change. They are free to do as they please. I will still love them as best I can.


I ALSO SHOULDN'T HAVE TO SAY THIS, BUT I GUESS I NEED TO: geo political comments are about strategies of governments. Such opinions belong to us all. But to prefer one government over another (as I do, and most people do) doesn't mean that I hate the people of any other government or culture.

We serve a Lord who said that people from every "Tribe, tongue, and nation will worship Him." I believe that. I have seen a good bit of that in my life.

Peace.

Islam, In their Own Words

In my last post, I was lambasted by some for implying that Islam, the religion, is problematic. Please, discern the difference between criticizing a belief system and "hating" people. I do the former, not the latter. But, as I know many are ignorant of what life under Islam is like, I thought I'd let some people from that world tell you what they think. Here's one. You can find this at this site.

A Testimony from a Saudi Believer

"Born to a Saudi family, in Saudi Arabia, and living very close to Mecca, I grew up with strict principals and traditions of Islam and the Arab culture. As a teenager I went to the mosque five times a day in obedience to my parents. One night, while I was asleep, I had this horrible dream of me being taken into hell. And what I saw there brought me real fear and these dreams kept coming to me almost every night. At this point I was really wondering as to why I should be seeing hell in this manner. Suddenly one day, Jesus appeared to me and said, "Son, I am the way, the truth and the life. And if you would give your life to Me, and follow Me, I would save you from the hell that you have seen."

This came as a surprise to me, for I did not know who this Jesus was. Of course, He is mentioned in the Koran in the book Surah Mariam. He is stated as one of our prophets, but not as a Savior who could save us from hell. So I started looking out for a Christian who could give me some advise about this Jesus I have seen and possibly get one of the Christian Holy Books, which I now know is the Bible. But it was a difficult task for me to get any Christian to speak to me about Jesus. As you would know, Christianity is totally banned in Saudi Arabia and if a Christian is caught witnessing to a Muslim, he could be almost sure that he would be beheaded.

Then the Lord led me to an Egyptian Christian who was sick. I prayed for this man’s healing and this man gave me a Bible. Then I, by myself, started reading the Bible. By this time Jesus had become a close friend to me. Soon I started witnessing about the experience I had with all my family relations and friends. Soon the authorities were informed that I had converted to Christianity, and I believe this was done by one of my family members. As it states in the Koran, if someone would turn away from Islam, he is a traitor to the faith and he should be executed. So I was taken into custody and tortured. They told me that I would be beheaded if I would not turn back to Islam. But I had already made my decision that I would never turn back. So I told the authorities I’m willing to die for Jesus and that I would never come back to Islam. After much torture and imprisonment, I was sentenced to be beheaded. They gave me a date and a time and I told them, "You go ahead and execute me. I’m going to heaven to see Jesus. But I pray that what you would do to me would stay in your minds and not give you rest until you come to Jesus."

The appointed day and time came for my execution, and I was waiting with much anticipation, yet very much strong in my faith in Jesus. Generally the executions are carried out on the set time and date. But to my amazement, no one turned up. One hour lapsed, two hours went by, then it became three hours, and then the day passed by. And no one turned up. Then two days later, the authorities turned up and opened the doors and told me, "You demon! Get out from this place!" I also noticed that the main person who was determined to get me beheaded was not present when they came to release me. I asked them where this guy was. And with much hesitation they replied that his son had died on the same day they planned to execute me. Although I continue to go through much persecution, one thing I know is that the Lord’s hand is upon me.

A Brother from Saudi Arabia

The Time Is Now for Judgment to Come On Islam

Bhutto has been killed in Pakistan. What is next? Pakistan has a festering problem. It is called fundamentalist Islam --true Islam. True Islam is about politics and conquest. Saudi Arabia has this problem too. Iran has this problem. Indonesia has this problem. Egypt has this problem. Syria has this problem. Israel has this problem. Sudan and Nigeria have this problem. Uganda has this problem. Afghanistan has this problem. Turkey has this problem. Even parts of Europe are beginning to have this problem.

The time is over for saying, "this isn't true Islam, but a radical minority." The disease is too wide-spread for that. It is true Islam. Muhammed was a war-chief. His First Followers were too.

The World is being made increasingly interdependent. Money and communication (the same thing?) are making all nations more intimate with one another. And as the world gets smaller, the problem of Islam gets bigger.

The blood has begun to flow. It won't stop. The time for judgment of the world against Islam (or Islam against the world) has come.

(By the way, as far as I know, only America, in the last 6 years, have constructively and decisively dealt with the issue in at least two nations.)

China Moving Ahead

This Chart is emphasizing that Korea is the "most Christian" of the Asian nations, with 40% claiming Christian affiliation. However, look at China. Although their percentage is only 8%, they have 109 million Christians! An argument could be made that they might be the most Christian nation in the world! How? Because, in a communist country where most Christians are "against the law" you will have very few people claiming a Christian identity unless they really mean it. Where else in the world are there 109 million committed Christians?

Mitt Romney is not a Christian

I don't know how you plan on voting this coming year. That's up to you. But for reasons that are not political, I think I need to point out the obvious: Mitt Romney is not a Christian (He is also not a baseball mitt, but that's another subject).

Mormonism and Christianity are becoming confused in our popular media. Glenn Beck, the popular talk show host is a Mormon. He is not a Christian. Mitt Romney is a Mormon, not a Christian.

Where is the confusion coming in? It comes in here: Glenn Beck and Mitt Romney use the word "Christian" to describe themselves. Now, we can wrangle over the the meaning of the word, I suppose, but it is better to be historical. Historically, Christianity believes certain things about Jesus that Mormons don't believe. Likewise, past ages, who were more familiar with Christianity in general, did not classify Mormonism as Christian.

Mormonism was invented in the 1800's in America by a man named Joseph Smith. He invented scriptures which are filled with plagiarisms from the Bible, and fantastical histories of the North American continent and it's ancient peoples.

Mormonism differs from Christianity in many ways. For example, the definition of God: in Christianity, there is one God, and that God is three persons --Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To the Mormons, there are gods beyond number. All current gods were once men. Men today have the potential to achieve god-status in the world to come. This alone makes Mormonism unlike anything having to do with Christianity in any known historical form.

The other differences are many, but we don't really need to discuss them. If you have God wrong, you have everything wrong.

Mormonism is a strange American folk religion, no more. It is not Christianity.

My Annual Christmas Clarification

I guess the love of truth will always keep me repeating this. Enjoy.

The magi existed. They came from the east. My guess: Babylon area (there is a history of Hebrew lore in Babylon at that time due to Daniel's influence as a magi). But they came a year to two years after the birth.

As for where Jesus was born, the Bible never puts him in a stable. It says he was laid in a manger, no more. A manger is not made of wood. it is a stone feeding trough.

The Bible doesn't say there was a star above the home on Christmas. There was a star later, when the magi arrived. (How many magi? We don't know. The Bible doesn't say. Were they kings? No reason to think so).

The word translated "inn" is better translated "upper room." (Luke, the author of the account uses a Greek word for "Inn" in the same book when speaking of the story of the good Samaritan. It is NOT the same word he uses in the Christmas story. On the contrary, this word should be translated upper room or spare room.)

It is beyond reasonableness that Mary and Joseph traveled alone from Galilee. the Bible does not say this, and the situation of the day shows it was not the custom. it would have been dangerous. such travel in the holy land was more often in groups. Indeed, in Luke's gospel elsewhere, Jesus' parents lost him when he was 12, leaving him behind in Jerusalem as they headed back to Galilee. How did they miss Him? They were in a caravan and he was lost in the crowd.

It is unlikely that Mary would travel when she was nine months pregnant. The ancients were as smart as we were, and they could count to nine. No one travels on such a journey at nine months. The Bible does not say that they arrived in Bethlehem the night the birth happens. It says something different. It says that "the days to give birth were completed" while they were in Bethlehem.

In all likelihood, Jesus was born in a house, with family around. Why? Because they went to their hometown. In that area, the Bible tells us other relatives lived (Elizabeth, Mary's cousin) and in those days, where people were not a transient as today and the populations were much smaller and hospitality was a premium, it is inconceivable that with the many family members around (both Mary and Joseph were from that area), that they would be turned out of hotels and sleeping in barns. Check the Bible. There is no innkeeper, no barn, no animals, etc.

IN ancient near east homes, it was common to NOT have many bedrooms. They were a luxury. Families normally slept all in one room. If a poor family had an upper room or a spare room, and there were many relatives in town --as there certainly were--then they would indeed have slept in that room. Where do we put the pregnant mother (who will need some privacy)?

Well, in those homes there was often an area where animals could come in from the cold. It is easy to conceive that this area was converted to a nursery, and the goat had to sleep outside.

There were shepherds. They were not guided by a star, but by information from Angels. The sign of the baby was that he was lying in a food bowl (manger). When they found the house, saw the baby, they told the people in the house all they saw on the hillside. The Bible says that "all who heard it were amazed" but that "Mary saved the words in her heart." The language of the Bible points to multiple people in the house, as we would expect in a family situation.

There you have it. Check the Bible.

As for December, we don't know when Jesus was born.

But don't think this takes away at all from Christmas. God is still becoming man. In fact, it shows he was less like a spectacle and more like us when he was born. It was still a virgin birth. Shepherds, poor as they were, came to welcome Him. That is appropriate, for He Himself was to be a Shepherd.

Merry Christmas to all.

What is True Preaching?

I was given a book for my birthday called "Heralds of God," by James S Stewart. One or both of the pictures above is the author. He lived from 1896 until 1990, so you can see why both methods of portrait might have been popular in his day!

The book is blowing me away, inspiring me anew. It was written in 1946, but shows that in a sense, nothing has changed in the area of preaching. The controversies are the same. The temptations and pressures are the same.

As a pastor in this age, trust me on this, there is a great deal of pressure to "be" a certain way, and to "preach" a certain way, and to manage your church a certain way. There is the purpose-driven church model, the willow-creek model, the emergent model, the traditional model, the desires of the people, etc, etc, ad nauseum. And all these pressures try to push into the sermon. The sermon must be short, says one. The sermon must meet felt needs said another. The sermon must be topical and relevant to the issues of the day. The sermon should be all stories. The sermon must not alienate. The sermon must be positive. The sermon must coordinate with a drama or the rest of the Sunday service in order to have an impact on the modern mind. The sermon must be delivered in a suit. The sermon should be delivered casually. The sermon must cast and recast the vision statement, mission statement, direction of the church. And on, and on, and on.

It is easy to forget exactly why we preach at all. And then enters this book by Stewart. Ah. It is like cool rain on a sweltering July day.

Allow me to give an excerpt. I INVITE YOUR COMMENTS.

"Do not listen to the foolish talk which suggests that, for the twentieth century, the preaching of the Word is an anachronism, and that the pulpit, having served its purpose, must now be displaced by press or radio, discussion group or Brains Trust, and finally vanish from the scene. As long as God sets His image on the soul, and men are restless till they rest in Him, so long will the preacher's task persist, and his voice be heard through all the clamour of the world."

The Old Rocker Tour that Needs to Be

Led Zeppelin played their first "practiced" concert since 1980. The reviews were great. Jimmy Page, apparently, is a stickler for excellence and did this show only after it was determined that the band could get in adequate practice before the show.

Led Zeppelin needs to have a final world tour. The Rolling Stones have never stopped touring. They should. Aerosmithe? Come on guys. 60 year old dudes in spandex singing about adolescent hormonal issues? Give it up. The Who? Let the past be past. Most old rock and rollers should let well enough alone. But Zep? No. They can pull it off. Time for another tour.

Great Book

I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars. Clarence Thomas is a good writer. The book never gets boring. This is an account of his childhood up to the time of his confirmation on the Supreme court. I would have liked a few more chapters that described his life since going on the court, but I shouldn't get greedy.

read any good books lately?