the next wave of doctrine

It has come to my attention lately the alarming number of Christians who are being swayed by the latest current fad of doctrine. I swear it's like the latest South Beach diet or iPhone or whatever teenage girls determine is cool (I think they might drive the marketing world). Anywho, Christians will belief anything now, and few know the Scriptures.

The technical term is Universalism. Universalism also has a partner belief called Annihilationism (the belief that those who do not go to heaven will cease to exist).
Universalists believe that everyone will eventually be saved. In other words, that Christ died for all(which is true), but it takes out the human response of faith that the Bible teaches is required for a person to be saved from destruction. Romans is super clear on this issue, but we as humans are always looking for the next theological justification for silencing the Spirit of Truth. This is a direct result of believing that God does not administer justice, or that His justice is only for the purpose of reformation (what Origen taught in 2nd century)

It sweeping through again now through the "emergent church" leaders. Lots of the young, hip, modern, urban hippie, philosophical, social gospel, different is god types like Claiborne, McLaren, Bell...you know the ones. Sad thing is that this very teaching will cause so many to believe that everyone is OK, that sin isn't leading to separation from God, that a Gospel of repentence and faith doesn't need to be preached...and in turn will cause the very people these theologians think they're helping to walk right into judgement. That's why God holds teachers to a higher accountability. People better know if they claim to know, they better be resting on His Word and not their own.

Bottom line...it's not loving. God is love...but God has provided a way with His love and we must follow it...the truth is loving. "Faithful are the wounds of a friend..."

"There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'Thy will be done'". - C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce

cooking out!!

Man, doesn't that look good. Can you see the chopped onion peppering those burgers? Wow.

Really good basketball

Ok, so I can't help it. If you love basketball like I do, then you'll appreciate this clip from the Orlando - Cleveland series the other night. Cleveland is the talk of the NBA this year with Lebron James (arguably) establishing himself as the best player on the planet. He won MVP, was second in the voting for best defensive player, put up insane numbers that nobody has seen since Oscar Robertson averaged a triple double, and is expected to win the title for Cleveland this year. Is he better than Kobe? I don't think so...yet. But this shot put him into the history books...seriously dramatic clutch 3 to win the game and keep Cleveland from going down 2-0 in a series they're supposed to dominate. Legends make these kinds of shots. Enjoy.

The other day I heard a coworker comment about their childhood. The person was speaking of their own well behaved childhood and how it allowed their parents to take them on fun outings. Makes sense. It's hard to take a bratty kid to meet interesting people or enjoy some sort of cultural event. Kids who are fairly good kids get to enjoy more opportunities with parents. That was a good reminder for my adult life with Jesus. He doesn't give us parameters for our frustration, He gives them for our enjoyment. He wants us to experience the joy of laying down our lives for His purpose in ways that we can't even contemplate. This lesson from our childhood applies for us now as children of the King. Now...on to become a man obedient to God, then who knows what kind of adventures await.

"And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ." Luke 2

Shannon's Birthday!

Happy Birthday Babe! Remember how we always have a hard time finding photos that include both of us? So I found a couple - there's actually more than we think. Good times over the last 10 years we've known each other. Now let's get old together. Enjoy the photos.

was the temple fireproof?

Interesting thought we had during our bible study the other night, was the temple in the desert fireproof? Our study was on 1 Corinthians 3 and it says, "Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work."
So...if God were to design a building for Himself to come and dwell, wouldn't it have been fireproof. If you read the descriptions all the materials (acacia wood, cedar, sockets for the boards) were covered in gold or silver. Nothing flammable was exposed in the place where God would come - the Holy of Holies. Interesting the Bible say that they were led by a cloud during the day and a pillar of fire by night. Our God truly is a consuming fire. We, in our humanity, are nothing but ashes before Him...figuratively and literally.

The word of the Cross

"For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."

How do I see the message of the cross? Am I embarrassed by it? Do I cringe at the thought of explaining it? Paul is a huge encouragement to me in my personal life in regards to this. He was the elite. Highly educated in culture, best education had to offer, extremely diligent at learning(not that I'm any of those things, just giving you context). Yet he came to the Corinthians and said that he was determined to know nothing among them except the message of the cross. Why? Because people love to lift up intelligence as the storehouse of wisdom, but God says that the "fear of God is the beginning of wisdom". It's all backwards from what we think. We're sinners, Jesus took the rightful punishment for sin in our place, we follow Him for eternal life. That's the beginning of wisdom. It IS simple. If it were so complex, it wouldn't be for the common man. It tests us to see whether we care more about the truth or more about pleasing people.

The same passage in 1 Corinthians say this..."...Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness."

The point is that we can't skip the step that God has ordained and still learn wisdom. Like a coach that tells his players, "I'll teach you everything there is to know about basketball, but first you have to be at practice on time" That coach is testing their hearts. We can't just skip over the cross and then expect God to dump His wonderful wisdom into our hearts. The cool thing is that all we have to do is come to Him, not ashamed of the Gospel that saves us, and He promises to give us wisdom from Him. The good stuff.