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What Football Taught Me about the Mission of the Church

Several years ago I was visited by my friend, Nikolay, who is a pastor in Bulgaria. I wanted him to experience life in the American south, which includes Friday night high school football. This was the first time Nikolay had attended an American football game. As the game progressed I noticed that Nikolay seemed to be somewhat unimpressed, even uninterested. I asked, “What do you think of American football?” He replied, “I guess I could enjoy it if I understood what was happening.”

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Doubt, Faith, and the Grace of God

In my research and writing on Pentecostal sacramentality I have come to appreciate the tension between ex opere operate and ex opere operantis. Please bear with me. The classic Catholic understanding of sacraments is that they convey God’s grace ex opere operate, that is, by virtue of the act. The faith of the recipient is not required. As long as the sacrament is properly administered and grace is not resisted, grace is conveyed. The classic Protestant understanding of sacraments is ex opere operantis, that is, by virtue of the work. Grace is conveyed because of the faith of the recipient and/or the celebrant.

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Judged or Redeemed

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil (John 3:16-19).

 “When we go to Christ’s manger something happens… We are judged or redeemed.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Like it or not, judgment is essential to the Christmas message. Christmas is a celebration of the Incarnation of the eternally begotten Son of God. Yes, God sent the Son… that the world might be saved!  That begs the question, “Saved from what, from whom?” John the evangelist answers, “He who does not believe has been judged already.” Why? “…because men loved the darkness… for their deeds were evil” (John 3:18-19).

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Eros, Mammon, and the Light of the World

Christ has called His church to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15). “Into all the world” includes culture. Culture is language, music, food, architecture, politics, morality, and religion. In fact, culture is the habitation of the gods. Music, architecture, and politics reflect the gods of any given culture.

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Words from a Bearded Man

I have read Phil Robertson’s remarks. I have watched the subsequent responses from A&E and the gay community.

The truth is that crude language about sexuality is common. People tend to refer to themselves in an “earthy” way. Phil talks like my dad and granddad did. My reading of the prophets reveals that even they, under divine inspiration, spoke with crude words to emphasize the depths of Israel’s sin. Too often our proper English translations of the Scriptures rob the inspired words of their intended grit. That is the language which is being suppressed. How dare we speak of one’s sexuality as sinful! How dare Phil Robertson associate homosexuality with bestiality? How dare we define marriage as a civil covenant between one man and one woman?

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