Sound an Alarm!

February 21, 2012 1 comment
Blow a trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of the Lord is coming; Surely it is near… (Joel 2:1).

While preaching to American soldiers in Bataan during World War II, U. S. Army chaplain W. T. Cummings said, “There are no atheists in foxholes.” His point to those young soldiers was that when we are faced with the certainty of dying, then the certainty of God becomes more real.

We are a nation at war. We have enemies in the world that seek our destruction. Also, America is a nation at war with itself. The most basic institutions of our society are being challenged. The scriptures teach us that civil government is ordained of God and its purpose is to establish justice and righteousness within society (Romans 13). However, many believe that our government fails miserably in upholding justice and the concept of righteousness completely eludes our leaders. There is brewing in our nation today much discontent among law abiding citizens. The popular sport of the day is the character assignation of our political leaders. There is a spirit of rebellion in the land.

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The Gospel according to Elvis and Whitney

February 18, 2012 3 comments

My favorite gospel music is that of Elvis Presley. From his majestic rendition of How Great Thou Art to Let Us Pray, the final song of his last movie, I love the hear Elvis sing songs of inspiration and faith. His musical style was born in his Pentecostal faith and married to the Blues music of Memphis. In fact, I enjoy all of his music, from Teddy Bear to In the Ghetto. When Elvis died I mourned his loss, but found myself wondering, “How can a man with his gift to sing sacred music and reared in Pentecostal church live and die like he did?”

Last week as I learned of the death of Whitney Houston, again I found myself grieving the untimely death of a very gifted person who had apparently succumbed to her demons. I didn’t watch her funeral, but I have read many Facebook posts and blog entries trying to reconcile her tragic death with her Christian faith.

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The Bible – A Dangerous Weapon?

February 12, 2012 1 comment
So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God (2 Peter 1:19-21).

In the 1980’s I attended a small Southern Baptist College. This was during the conflict between the conservatives and moderates (liberals?) about the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture. In our “Gospels” class, I remember telling a small group that the future debate would not be about verbal inspiration or inerrancy, but about hermeneutics. Thirty years later, that statement has proved to have been prophetic.

I often tell ministerial candidates that we must know what the Bible says and what it means. Each year in our Ministerial Internship Program I require our candidates to read a Civil War era pro-slavery article written by a southern Presbyterian minister. Then I ask, “Is slavery sinful?” and “Why?” This leads to a prolonged discussion about how to understand the Bible. Last year, during the discussion I polled the candidates by asking, “How many of you believe the Bible justifies slavery?” To my surprise, the majority agreed. They believed that the Bible justifies slavery because they hold to a simplistic literalist hermeneutic: “The Bible says it; I believe it; that settles it!” I have many objections with this way of reading the Bible, not the least of which is that it means that we don’t have to think.

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God’s Mission to the Nations

February 5, 2012 1 comment
Break forth, shout joyfully together, You waste places of Jerusalem; For the Lord has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has bared His holy arm in the sight of all the nations, That all the ends of the earth may see The salvation of our God (Isaiah 52:9-10).

The prophets of ancient Israel declared that Yahweh is the One who fills the earth with the glory of His presence (Isaiah 6:3). The prophets were theologians par excellence and their theological expectations are fulfilled in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Here selected passages are interpreted via a Trinitarian model to demonstrate how the prophetic writings reveal God’s mission to rule all the nations of the earth.

The Universal Dominion of Yahweh

Yahweh is not a parochial deity whose dominion is limited to the geographical borders of national Israel or whose influence is limited to the Temple in Jerusalem. Isaiah’s throne vision of Yahweh (Isaiah 6:1ff) serves as the inauguration of his prophetic ministry and as an introduction to the canonical prophets. In this vision, Yahweh is presented as the Sovereign King of the universe, whose glory fills the earth (Isaiah 6:3; also 40:5). The “glory” of Yahweh speaks of his presence, influence, and power.

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The Priority of Love

January 29, 2012 1 comment
And a lawyer stood up and put [Jesus] to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live” (Luke 10:25-28).

The lawyer’s question is very straightforward – it’s about salvation.

Jesus and the lawyer are in agreement about the requirement to inherit eternal life: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27). Let’s stop here for a moment, because this is more controversial that we may wish to admit. Today, if someone were to ask an evangelical Protestant this same question the most likely response would be, “…confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). That’s because the most basic Protestant creed is “faith alone.” For Protestants, salvation is about faith, and faith is a rational decision about what we believe about Jesus. I certainly do not wish to challenge the requirement of faith in salvation; however in this dialogue between Jesus and the lawyer about inheriting eternal life, the word faith does not occur.

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Athanasius vs. Arius and a Mormon in the Whitehouse?

January 28, 2012 2 comments

A few weeks ago, a dear lady in our church asked me to consider teaching a series on cults. After giving it prayerful consideration I decided instead to teach a series on the development of Christology in early Christianity. I divided the series into four presentations: (1) Early Jewish Developments; (2) Early Greek Developments; (3) Athanasius vs. Arius: The Nicene Controversy; and (4) Chalcedon: Two Whats in One Who. I was surprised by the reception. Everyone was intensely interested in the material.

During the Q&A someone asked, “How can I vote for Mitt Romney if he doesn’t believe like I do?” Let me state that this blog is not about presidential politics. I responded, “Whoever you vote for, you’re not going to vote for pastor of the USA, but for president.” I explained that I don’t want a president to do theology because one thing we learned from the Nicene controversy is that the emperor doesn’t normally make a good theologian. I’m uncomfortable with applying a religious test to politicians because when this happens politicians usually are very adept in using religious faith to promote their political ends.

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Pentecostal Sacraments: A Paradigm

January 21, 2012 No comments

Pentecostalism and sacramentalism are not mutually exclusive. By its very nature Pentecostalism is sacramental. Sacramentalism suggests that God mediates salvific grace through material means. The Pentecostal doctrine of baptism in the Holy Spirit with the initial physical evidence of speaking in other tongues provides the paradigm for Pentecostal sacramentalism. The material/physical aspect of Pentecostal spirituality is evident throughout the Jerusalem Pentecost event (Acts 2). The Holy Spirit descended “from heaven” into this physical world. Believers heard “a noise like a violent rushing wind;” they saw “tongues as of fire.” The Divine Pneuma (wind/Spirit) “filled the whole house;” tongues of fire rested upon the believers and they were “filled with the Holy Spirit.” Believers “began to speak with other tongues” and the crowd heard “them speak . . . in our own language.” Peter explained the advent of the Holy Spirit as the gift of Father and Son “which you both see and hear.” Luke tells us that “those who had received his word were baptized” and that believers devoted themselves to “the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread (taste, nourishment) and to prayer.” The pathos of the Pentecost event was “feeling a sense of awe.” Pentecostal spirituality is not simply spiritual; it is encountering the Holy Spirit with our human senses as the Spirit moves and interacts in our physical world. Pentecostal spirituality is a material/physical spirituality. So, how is this material spirituality reflected in Pentecostal worship?

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The Sounds of Pentecost

January 16, 2012 No comments

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance (Acts 2:1-4).

Sacred sounds are formative because “faith comes by hearing” (Romans 10:17). Sacred sounds transcend the bones of the inner ear and penetrate the soul of the worshiper. My earliest memories of church are sitting in the pews enjoying the songs, listening to an enthusiastic sermon, and watching the altar service with eyes wide open. As a child, I did not understand everything, but church was never boring. The elements of a typical Pentecostal worship service were present. The enthusiasm of worship was expressed in joyful singing, hands raised or being clapped, tongues speech, shouting, and occasionally someone would dance in the Spirit, or be slain in the Spirit. Also, as the saints prayed we could hear groans and weeping – lament – as they expressed the burdens of their souls. Occasionally, we would visit other churches in town for a special event and it was always evident to me that our church was different. Compared to the other (non-Pentecostal) churches our church was noisier, happier, and more animated. Our church sounded different.

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Man-made vs. God-made Religion

January 14, 2012 1 comment

Jesus vs. Religion, Part 2

This post is offered as an answer to many responses to my previous blog – Jesus vs. Religion. Many who are sympathetic to Jefferson Bethke’s poem suggested that his message was a reaction to “man-made” religion. Again, I am sympathetic to the poem, and my brother is undoubtedly a very talented and dedicated believer. But I remain troubled by the poem’s contradictions and naïve theological assumptions. So, let’s discuss the essential nature of the Christian faith.

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Jesus vs. Religion!????

January 13, 2012 11 comments

This video has become “viral” and speaks to the heart of many. While I am somewhat sympathetic to the message, I find it to be uninformed and naive. Before I offer some correction to the message, let me state that this is not an attack upon this young man (Jefferson Bethke), or even a rebuke. Instead, I simply seek to offer some “fatherly counsel.”

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