Who is My Lawyer’s Neighbor?

The definition of any lawyer is one who studies and understands the law, thus becoming an expert in the law. In Jesus’ day there were the same type of men, called scribes, those who studied God’s law.

In a particular and rather popular parable, Jesus was tested by such a lawyer:

"25. And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26. He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27. And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. 28. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29. But he, desiring to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor? " (Luke 10)

Like most scholars, bible teachers, pastors, those that study the Scriptures and have become experts in systematic doctrine, the lawyer answered correctly that you must love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. But, the expert, being a good scribe, understood the law and knew that as long as he specifically defined love as between him and God, he would be safe, self-righteously displacing the action of love to his neighor. In other words, the good, religious expert today could say, ‘I love Jesus, I attend fellowship every Sunday, I am an elder, I am on the worship team, I give tithe and I teach and preach to the church, I help the less fortunate in my church, I even witness to the unbelievers that come to my church."

But, if one asks this christian if he goes out and preaches on the street to his neighbor then his rebuttal most often is a soliloquy of his self-righteous ‘relationship’ to God, as if that was greater than preaching the Gospel:

"I cannot help that man because of my prior ministry obligations, but if he is still alive may God’s love abound, strengthening him enough to crawl to safety. "

Just like the scribe in the verses above, and the ‘loving’ institution he represented, the expert self-righteously said "who is my neighbor?".

The scribe brought in a question to bring confusion, so that he would not have to actually demonstrate this love he that had just expounded upon. He attempted to justify himself as if his question had more validity than the command.

Jesus then specifically defined who was his neighbor; he talked of a certain man, traveling, attacked and robbed by thieves, beaten for good measure and left half-dead.

The term half-dead is interesting; all of us are born into this world with a sin nature and are doomed to die as the wages of sin is death. We are in fact, half-dead, spiritually dead without Christ, awaiting judgment.

The parable continues with a certain priest coming upon the hapless individual, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side of the road; he was priest, going about his priestly duties, but having no compassion upon this man who most certainly was going to die. He instead went to the other side of the road, being fully entrenched in his own ministry.

Jesus then speaks of a Levite coming along. He sees the man, goes and looks, but then passes by like the priest did, on the other side of the road. This man by his position being a priestly assistant in the Temple, debates with his conscience but decides to walk on towards his scheduled event.

These two priestly experts were probably not heading to do evil, but heading to do the routine of the ministry they had been called to. They most likely had immersed themselves in their temple roles, but, still they had no compassion upon the dying man.

The risks in helping the man were great: they might be robbed themselves, losing the temple treasury. They might be beaten or killed. If upon feeling the man’s pulse and finding him dead, they would have to go through many ceremonial washings to purify themselves from touching a dead body, according to the law. If he wasn’t dead then they would be obligated to assist him somehow to a place of salvation, from death. But, because they were continually burdened by the duties of their respective ministries, they chose to let this man die, indeed to forget they saw him, so that they would be free to continue in their ministerial tasks.

Along comes a Samaritan, who is neither priest, priest assistant nor a Jew. He sees the man and has compassion. "And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee."

This man, the Samaritan, Jesus used as an example to rebuke the hypocrisy of the scribes, priests and pharisees, not to rebuke them for being experts in the law, but to rebuke their hypocrisy. On one hand the experts boasted that they loved God with heart, soul, mind and strength, but had no actions to this boast, only self-righteousness and justification why they would not help a man who was dying.

This parable is symbolic of the Gospel: a believer sees the dying man, goes to him, pulling the man from the clutches of certain death by presenting the Gospel. Through the Gospel, which is the power of God to all who believe, he has shown the spiritually dead man love, salvation and eternal life in Christ. The religious hypocrites speak of love but when it comes time for action they bring up questions and end up passing by on their own way.

Many of these religious hypocrites ease their consciences by telling themselves that they preach to those in their churches, or congregations and thus lead them to Christ and membership to their fold; but this parable takes place outside the temple, outside the church building where man and his conscience is pricked, where there is no pat on the back, or any financial or membership gain, but only the opportunity to do what is right and holy in the sight of God. God has commanded, in all four of the gospels, to go and preach the Gospel to the lost, not just in Jerusalem, but in all the world. God has commanded us all to have compassion upon the lost.

We were once lost like the half-dead man, unable to deliver ourselves from eminent death. Christ came and saved us; He pulled us from the snare of death, by the atoning work of the cross, and gave us the promise of eternal life.

Jesus asked the lawyer, an expert in the law, and also asks the Christian: "Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? 37. And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise."

God has called us to have mercy upon the lost, to go and preach the Gospel of Christ to them, and pull them from the snare of death.

It is evil for a man to murder, but how much more wicked is it to be apathetic with the Gospel, simply because it is inconvenient?

Is the risk great when we go out and preach the Gospel on the streets? Absolutely, but Christ, being God and man, risked more. Is there a chance that we, our church or fellowship may be sued and lose everything we own, all that we have built? Absolutely.

May God not hold our apathetic behavior to our account, and may we be led by the Spirit and act in faith, taking advantage when fellow brethren go to present the Gospel to our neighbors; may we not become hypocrites, not finding any gain in it, or that the risk was too great to show compassion to the lost, instead remembering the grace the was bestowed freely upon us by our Lord and savior Christ Jesus, blessed be his name.

Steven Styles   8/31/2006

The Great Commission VS The Great Omission

In Acts the first chapter there is an absoluteness in the instructions that Jesus gave to the apostles -- "ye SHALL receive power, after that the Holy Ghost IS come upon you: And ye SHALL be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and ALL Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the UTTERMOST part of the earth."  Matthew 28:18, " -- All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.  Go ye therefore, and teach ALL nations-- and, "lo, I am with you even unto the end of the world." Mark 16:15 (after scolding them for their unwillingness to believe the report of his resurrection says to them)--"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.", verse 16.

Salvation and damnation WILL accompany their preaching.

Christ told the apostles to wait in Jerusalem for the coming of the Holy Spirit, during which time Peter in discouragement decided to go fishing. The obvious conclusion is that the carrying out of his commands  would not be because of their love, loyalty, steadfastness , devotion, or power. But when the day of Pentecost came, on that particular feast day, someone or more than one was in attendance from every nation under heaven. Therefore, representatively, the whole populated world was there in Jerusalem on that special Pentecost day. When the Holy Spirit came on the little flock, a miracle of speaking and hearing took place, because every person heard and understood the message of the risen Christ in their own language and dialect. Three thousand heard, understood and submitted to the good news of Jesus Christ were saved. Shortly afterward, Peter used the keys of the kingdom to loose the lame man at the gate of the temple, and to bind (in disciplinary death) the couple who lied about their gift.

The important point here is that the very ones to whom Jesus had given those unequivocal commands were the ones that carried them out completely. They were called, they were commissioned, they were empowered, they carried out perfectly and completely his commands. So what is called the great commission was fulfilled by those to whom it was given. It does not stretch out over the next two thousand years to our time, to be the fund raising and heart stimulating call to missions that is so prevalent in evangelical  religion today.  This is not to say a word against anyone who is serving Christ in lonely, dangerous and difficult places because they believe that God has put it on their hearts to minister in those areas.

But it is to say that Matt. 28, Mark 16, and Acts 1, are not the marching orders for the Church which is Christ's Body.  Well--What is? First of all, God has obligated himself to provide every living soul with enough light to lift their hands and hearts to Him to receive cleansing and eternal salvation. Psalm 19, etc. In the gospel of John, chapter 17, Christ prays for unity among his followers and those who would believe on him through them. Real unity is possible only through the work of the Holy Spirit, and the daily practice of self denial, self crucifixion and the prayerful and conscious desire to present Jesus Christ as our Savior and LORD. So real unity is supernatural and argues for a supernatural Head of this unified body. Nothing less than a supernatural, eternal, all powerful Head could accomplish this.

A leader such as this deserves a serious look. The Great Omission therefore is that God's people have, for centuries, given themselves permission to be divided, to "de-nominate" or literally name apart, which frustrated the purpose of the prayer of Christ and the
sad results are evident in the world today. The unsaved do not stand in awe of the Body of Christ. The division, the competitiveness, strife, politics, corruption, scandal, and money grubbing all look just like their organizations, whether political, industrial, financial or fraternal. The mystery of Godliness is apparently no mystery at all.

Lastly, it doesn't take a new nature and the presence and control of the Holy Spirit to organize, fund and participate in a "mission program", pass out tracts door to door, visit the sick, feed the hungry and poor, etc. It does take a new life and the presence and control of the Holy Spirit to bear the fruit of the spirit,"--love, joy, peace, longsuffering, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law."

In my town, the herb Rosemary grows wild everywhere and is easily identified, not just by sight, but a very pungent fragrance. You can walk by a bush of Rosemary and just barely touch it and the perfume is immediately released. There is no question about what is the source of the odor. I am convinced that what God wants is that wherever an unsaved person "brushes" up against on of His own, that they smell the unmistakable fragrance of Christ. Not the fragrance of doctrine, or sectarianism or man following or religious tradition, but the undeniable and unmistakable sweetness of Jesus Christ. This is supernatural. And, wherever it is missing, no matter how religious the person or activity, this is the great and tragic Omission!

- Jim Johnson   8/30/2006

Thou Shalt Not Covet

Almost every Christian in this country, if you ask them, will profess to be generous to a fault, or if not, they used to be until their money ran out. What they don’t know is that they are breaking this commandment of God every minute and yet remain self-justified. 

They say to themselves, “I pretty much keep the law: I do not commit adultery, I do not steal, I do not murder.” It is agreed that avoiding such things is good, and their neighbors appreciate that they do not do such things. But some sins are hidden or not so obvious. Some sins are downright devious. Greed is one of them. Are you greedy? Hardly anyone will admit to this sin. Or conversely, those that admit to greed even see it as a virtue. They twist greed to mean faith, but that is another sermon and won’t be covered here. 

The horrible thing about greed is that it leads to the other sins just mentioned above. The commandment that forbids coveting your neighbor’s wife must have adultery in view, does it not? The commandment against coveting his goods must have thievery in mind, no?And why do people murder? If you look at the root cause, it will be covetousness. You are envious or jealous and murder your neighbor. Or you murder your neighbor because he coveted your wife and stole her heart. All sorts of malice arise from covetousness.  

Maybe your definition of greed and mine do not agree. Let’s look at the American usage for the word “greedy”:  “Wanting or taking all that one can get, with no thought of others’ needs; desiring more than one needs or deserves, covetous.” When I see the average American Christian at his average pursuits, I see greed. He cares little for those that have need, but is in vain pursuit of a new house, a new car, or a new wife. He makes all the claims of Christianity but fulfills only enough to fool himself and others. He pays a tithe, he goes to church regularly, he controls his speech, he does not fornicate, he does not steal, he does not kill, and he even gives a small amount to the poor. But boy, don’t get between him and his possessions! 

One of his virtuous deeds, tithing, is part of his religious function. He has been taught and believes that by tithing, he has fulfilled his obligation to the law that says you must tithe. To him, giving and tithing are synonymous. This tract is not for those. They are already justified in their own eyes and there is no point teaching them anything. Yes, and all of you who feel confident that you are doing enough to fulfill Christ’s commandment to love, stop reading and ask God for mercy. 

The usual church wholeheartedly teaches tithing of some sort and rewards the parishioner for his actions. The more he gives, the more he is rewarded. He obtains power on the church board. He sways the sermons. He has the best parking space. He is in admiration of all. If you think this does not apply to almost every American church, then you are perhaps self-blinded, my friend. They understand that God can be manipulated by giving according to law, so they expect to profit from their covetous intentions. So by the law they break the law, as usual.  

Their testimonials center around their greed. God made them well off because of their generous tithing. It’s funny that they can’t see themselves as the ones who Christ condemned, who practice their alms so they can be seen. It’s funny that we know so much about their generosity. What’s not so funny is that God seems to be going along with their reasoning, at least far enough to let them be deceived by it. 

The religiously correct of Jesus’ day (we call them Pharisees) Jesus himself spoke against, citing covetousness as a hindrance to their belief, or even a prime motivator for their religious hypocrisy. The scribes and Pharisees, who were covetous, hated him for it. After Jesus in a parable had described our wretched condition before God, the Pharisees, “who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him. And He said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.” 

What is it that the Pharisees heard? Jesus told them, and us, to beware of greed. He said that we would either wind up serving and loving money or serving and loving God. The unjust steward in the parable was using not his own money, but his Lord’s.  Jesus says, “Make to yourselves friends of the unrighteous mammon, so that when these fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.”  Those who are greedy hate this verse and claim it has some other interpretation than what it plainly states. 

Let’s say that we give in and admit that the verse plainly states what it states: To buy friends with money. However, these are not fair-weather friends. These are not friends you use to get ahead, or use you. These friends do not dump you when your wealth runs out. Conversely, they receive you into everlasting habitations. How did this unusual thing come about? We lost our covetousness. It was replaced by need. Jesus told us not to do good to those who could repay us, but secretly, as it were, to those in real need. This is something unusual indeed for the average American Christian. 

God praises us when we use the debt owed to Him for His glory. The money was never ours anyway. What? God praises us when we forgive the debt that they owe us, but it is really the debt they owe Him. They owe God for everything; we were merely the stewards of their debt. God does not mind it if we forgive them. “If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?”

Those who are covetous do not see it this way. They think that they deserve more and more stuff. They are never satisfied with food and clothing. They must be seen of men to be “successful.” The poor just get in the way of that. Or, if they feed the poor, they make sure everyone sees them doing it, so as to accomplish the same praise of men. That’s why Jesus says, “that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination to God.” 

This is the situation in the United States of America. We have more stuff than the devil himself could carry to hell, but it is not enough. Our culture consists of buying and selling. Christianity has reduced its people to a piece of bread. They even call themselves “consumers,” for indeed, that is what they are. Everyone looks to his own needs. Even when he helps his neighbor, the Christian is hoping to get the favor in return.

These things ought not to be. As real Christians, we should look toward the needs of others and not to our own. We would be a lot happier, that’s for sure. We would have to live by faith, of course. When we come across that debtor who owes us a few bucks, we would have to forgive him the debt. We owe God for our very lives, so it is not a big thing if someone owes us.

This does not mean that church discipline is thrown out. If a brother (not a ‘sinner’) wrongs you by stealing from you or committing adultery with your wife or the list is monstrously long in America then you are supposed to bring the matter to him privately, then with one or two witnesses if he doesn’t repent, then, you know the rest. But this is not done in the church. Why? It is so they can heap up judgment on themselves for being hypocrites and pretending to love. It is driven by covetousness. However, we ourselves, once the brother has been exposed to the church, must forgive him from our heart.

Many would leave the church if they couldn’t keep up the pretense of loving God every Sunday, while they are committing adultery or worse. This explains why “Christian” husbands and wives attend churches like Calvary Chapel separately while one or both of them is in bed with the person sitting next to them. The pastors pat them on the back and assure them that they are saved no matter what, and they’ll get their money when the couple finally divorces and remarries. Of course, the pastors put up a token resistance, but they don’t really mean it, do they? It’s kind of like the real estate business: The broker can resell the same house many times and make his tidy profit. Also, the newlywed adulterous couples tend to tithe well in compensation for their sin.

- Chris Simonson   8/29/2006

Seminary VS The Scriptures

Introduction: The following is my reply on a theology debate forum, in response to questions on why or why not one should go to Seminary...

"Don't misunderstand me; I am not opposed to a seminary that the focus thereof is on the Scriptures. In fact I have benefited greatly from the ministries of men who have seminary backgrounds, however their focus was never on seminary but on teaching and preaching from the Word of God.

I find it interesting though, that if one was to question our modern methodology, which cannot be found in Scripture as the only method, that one is either found to be 'full of pride', to discredit him, or as one lady said, 'angry and bitter'. These responses are just a type of ‘one-upmanship’, so to speak.

But, this is what the Scripture says: "But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; 15. And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17. That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." 2 Tim. 3:14-17

Timothy was taught the Word of God from infancy; somewhere around the age of nineteen or twenty he began his ministry, ordained of God by Paul. Paul charged him to publicly read aloud the Scriptures daily and to discharge the duties of ministry.

So, the Scriptures say that the Scripture is useful for:

1. Doctrine

2. Reproof

3. Correction

4. INSTRUCTION in righteousness, that the man of God may be THOROUGHLY equipped for every good work.

One, through the work of the Holy Spirit, can be thoroughly equipped for doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction; whether in seminary, or alone in a grass hut in Swaziland one can find the Pearl of Great Price and obtain the hidden treasures of understanding in the Scriptures. God can even bring someone to teach and preach the Gospel to you, to instruct you in the Word; all of this lead by the Spirit of Christ.

Peter, being trained by Christ, being filled with the Holy Spirit, lead 3000 people to the Lord in a single day (probably more than any other man has truly seen) having only three years of "informal" training with the Lord.

If we have the Spirit of God we, too, can have intimate communion with our Lord, through the Scriptures and, out of obedience and submission, can teach others from the Scriptures.

" But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. 28. And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. 29. If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him." 1 John 2:27-29

(emphasis on verse 27, the anointing is the Holy Spirit that teaches a man.)

"But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God; that we might know the things that were freely given to us of God. 13. Which things also we speak, not in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Spirit teacheth; combining spiritual things with spiritual words. 14. Now the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged. 15. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, and he himself is judged of no man. 16. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ." 1 Corinth 2:12-16

The Scripture does warn us of this:

"Be not many of you teachers, my brethren, knowing that we shall receive heavier judgment." James 3:1

Now, we all stumble. For those who would revert to personal attack rather than proper instruction from the Scriptures, it just shows, if there is any validity to their accusations, that I am not a perfect man.

One more Scripture comes to mind:

"Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand." Rom. 14:4

- Steven Styles    8/28/2006

To a King James Only Legalist:  

Many words and phrases have colored meanings due to the perspective of the person's stance concerning other doctrines. The phrase "once saved, always saved" has a lot of color to it. You can see the color of it come up in the face of those who argue about it. Actually, the phrase does not exist in any version of the Bible, King James or no. The phrase does nothing in itself but provoke argument. Then why do people use the phrase? To make belief simpler? This is irrational. Only arguments proceed from such unlearned phrases. Why not rather use the "form of sound words" (2 Timothy 1:13) as taught by the Scriptures themselves? Can these forms stand modern usage and prevalent thought? I think so.

It seems a little absurd to me that someone would cling so tightly to King James wordage and so loosely to what it says. One statement you made is a perfect example of the problem in trying to put the word of God in a box. You said, "The eternal security teaching cannot consistently hold man to be a free moral agent." As I will restate several times: We should be careful not to use words or phrases not appearing in the Bible to back up our arguments. The phrase "eternal security" cannot be found in any version of the Bible; neither does, "free moral agent."  In most cases, these phrases only provoke thoughts not scriptural, much less spiritual.  I say if a thought cannot be made to conform to a doctrine spelled out in Scripture, then it is no spiritual thought but an attempt to sidetrack the thinker into fleshly thoughts. 

  If the phrase "eternal security" cannot be found in any version of the Bible, then why do people love it so?  To be sure, it has a certain ring to it.  It seems scriptural.  But I say, why not let the Bible say what it has to say?  We should mold our thoughts around the scriptures, not a “buzz phrase.”  For instance, we know the verses that speak thusly:  the Father knows His sheep and His sheep hear his voice and no one can take His sheep from His hand.  This is a Biblical thought.  We can get the doctrine of eternal security from this, but we cannot get eternal security itself unless we are the Father’s sheep. Where does the Bible teach that man is a “free moral agent?”  What does a sheep and a free moral agent have in common?  How can a man be free to pick good when he is accustomed to the evil? Jeremiah 13:23.  He thinks he does right, but his choices lead to death. Proverbs 14:12.  Taken together with the rest of the Scriptures, these passages show that man’s salvation is due directly to the sovereignty of God based on God’s election, not man’s abilities.

  Usually, the “once saved, always saved” party does not like to think of salvation as wholly God’s work and not man’s.  That is their problem.  They agree we are saved apart from works, but there is lingering doubt as to what this means. So they twist the scriptures to sound like we’re saved no matter what, once we do our initial part by coming to the Lord. Even though this has the appearance of a faith-based salvation, it leans heavily on the work of man (as small as his part is portrayed). It sounds as though once we fulfill our side of the contract, then God is obligated by our one-time only decision to abide by our contract. This is error of vast proportions.  This free moral agent stuff is at the root of the error. 

  You believe that the “once saved, always saved” crowd is wrong. They are wrong if they buy into you’re saved no matter what.  But you go too far the other way and say that a man can be saved and then lose his salvation, having once been a sheep.  Once again, the “free moral agency” doctrine is at fault here.  It can be shown from experience that free moral agents devour sheep even after they have decided to “accept Jesus into their hearts” (another non-Biblical phrase).  These are merely wolves in sheep's clothing. Yes, they have had a religious experience and believe themselves to be saved.  They talk freely about the love of God.  But they devour sheep nonetheless.  They bring damnable heresies into the fold and practice abominations worthy of death. These are not sheep. They are Christians, to be sure, but they work for the devil.

The thought that we cannot add to or subtract from the finished work of Christ is a Biblical thought. However, the thought that the believer has no obligation to the spirit (or Spirit) in order to be saved, is a devilish thought, no matter how arrived at. The Scripture is quite clear that the mind of the flesh is not subject to the will of God; neither can it be made subject to the will of God. We are obligated to the Spirit. If we are obligated to the flesh, to fulfill its desires, then we are condemned. (Rom. 8:13). If we sow to the flesh we reap corruption. If we sow to the spirit, we reap eternal life (Gal. 6.:8). It really doesn’t matter if a person can quote the King James Bible in its entirety. If he doesn’t get the message, then he will be found wanting on judgment day.

“Eternal security” is not spoken of in the Bible. However, predestination is. Paul does not treat predestination as a side doctrine. It is central to the doctrine of grace. If a person wants to defend something, defend Paul's development of grace in the light of God's predestination. The mind of the flesh cannot certainly attain to this. How are we going to express the eternal foreknowledge and sovereign will of God to the temporal mind of the flesh? It is useless (please read Romans 8:7 and 1 Corinthians 2:14 over and over until you get it). The fleshly mind cannot understand predestination, a Biblical word. So we try for something else more catchy, like “eternal security,” or “once saved, always saved, ”etc., depending on what part of the country you’re from. Let’s stick to the form of sound words as expressed by the apostles and prophets of God, whose citizenship is in heaven.

You talked about the sinner as being dead in trespasses and sins, and you maintain that belief is impossible by a dead man. We might as well add, nothing is possible by a dead man, not even sin.  No point is made there. The so-called dead walking around us are not dead, but very alive. They are alive to experience pain, sorrow and death. They also experience God’s goodness when they eat, drink, and are merry. They, however, despise the grace of God and twist his love to their own lusts. This is what dead in trespasses and sins means. Their future is death and destruction. It would have been better for them never to have been born.  Mark 14:21.

They may be moral agents, whatever that means, but they are not free moral agents. They are certainly dead when it comes to choosing good. The false gospels make men think that by deciding this or that they can be saved. Then they are assured they have eternal security because of something they decided to do. John 1:13 tells us different. Romans 9:16 totally agrees with John. 

The problem arises when a person foolishly asks, “Can a believer lose his salvation at any point?” You would argue that he could, because the Scriptures are loaded with verses warning against disbelief and its consequences, especially to those who knew the way of righteousness and turned from it (1 Peter 2:21).  But the question is foolish. It assumes that there is a salvation based on something else besides belief. A believer believes.  If at some point he stops believing, then he has not obtained that for which he hoped.  He is no longer a believer. According to modern Christianity, making a decision for Christ eternally saved this person, and there is now only certain heaven awaiting him no matter what, even if he stops believing. You are right, this is not found in the Bible. A believer who no longer believes is a concept that belongs to theologians in mental wards.

Do the chosen, the elect, ever disbelieve? Yes. It is called sin and the believer turns from it by the sovereign grace of God. He may believe that his salvation is based on something he did in the past.  He may then do something that goes against that. He may then believe he is eternally damned. This is so common it hurts.  In other words, his belief system is challenged by reality. If he is God’s, he will eventually get it straight and quit trusting in past events and get on with his faith in Christ.  All too often, however, this is not the case and the “believer” stops believing in his only hope and is left desolate.  This only goes to show he was never God’s in the first place, no matter how genuine his belief appeared to be. Something came between him and God, thus proving Romans 8:28 is only for those called according to His purpose.

  I believe that you are trying very hard to be a Christian. I commend you for this. The kingdom of heaven is not given to slackers, but is fought over. The fight is faith. As much as you may think you are outfitted for battle, you can never win against the Goliaths out there. You may tend to think its all up to you whether you believe or don’t. You probably really do not know how much protection God keeps around you regardless of your present faith level, or you wouldn't be so flippant about how it's Him, not you, doing the work; while all the time maintaining your legalistic stance. 

Where then does the will of man come in? If the Bible was not written to work on the will of man, then there is no purpose for it at all.  We are told to obey; we resist and disobey. However, that’s about as far as the will of unregenerate man goes. John 3:13 says the children of God were born “not by the will of man.” 2 Peter 1:21 says that scriptural prophecies cannot be individually interpreted because they came “not by the will of man.” Until a man is born again from above, he has no will to do God’s will. It may seem monstrous to you, but the elect of God were chosen to listen to the gospel, chosen to believe the gospel, chosen to repent. The eternally damned do not care about God and His ways, even though they know more about how to be saved than ten Billy Grahams.  The chosen, however, hear the word and do it. They have been made alive with Christ.

Which brings up grace. As big as you make your box to put God in, His grace will always be so much bigger than that box. It is His preeminence that saves us or destroys us. Who are we to answer against this? He has shut up all in disobedience (Rom. 3:9) that He might show mercy to all (Rom. 11:32). “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!”

So be careful about judging another man's servant just because of some stupid doctrine he holds. I appreciate your willingness to argue for the truth, which is very necessary. But watch this:

According to you, Annanias and Sapphira were doomed to eternal destruction because they lied to the Holy Spirit. I do not presume to know about their whereabouts.  Have you ever lied?  To whom were you lying?  Go ahead and justify yourself by saying that you have never lied to the Holy Spirit - watch it, there. The Holy Spirit is everywhere, listening to your lies and mine. If we say we only lie to man, then to whom were Annanias and Sapphira lying? They assumed that lying to man was O.K. Peter taught us different.

Your treatment of the prodigal son is perfect, if you'll hear it. A man who was dead and lost recovered himself from that death how?  Did he sort through all his available options and pick the best? He had already done that and failed miserably. No, he "came to his senses." I don't know how he did that. Maybe there is some sort of mental vitamin in hog slop. The father is this story does not know the condition of his wandering son. But God knows all about the condition of the dead and lost. He is the One behind the scenes, moving all things for our good. Like the father in the story, God rejoices when one of His children come home, but He also hates to see one envious, jealous and self-absorbed in his own righteous standing. 

I am very glad that my salvation comes from God and not me. I am confident you also believe this. I make choices for and against God all day long. I do not place my faith in my choices or in my performance. Our Father chastens me, as He does you, when He feels like it. I thank Him for it. Only by His sovereign grace I am not an adulterer, a murderer, a homosexual or a drug addict. I may not be a person you would like. Maybe I don't speak with the right accent. Maybe I'm too unrefined. Maybe I don’t shave every day or cut my hair the way you like it. Am I condemned because you don’t like my preaching style? I think not.

Again, let God out of His box. It ain't His box, it’s yours. You put Him there, and if you look real close, He isn't in there anyway. 

- Chris Simonson   8/25/2006

The typical church-certified Christian can be recognized by the statements he/she makes about himself/herself. We are not to question them when they certify they serve Christ from their hearts, willingly and of pure motive, and not for self-centered purposes. Of course, we might ask, “Why are they telling me this?” Doesn’t the proverb tell you not to praise yourself, but let a stranger’s lips testify of your goodness? And doesn’t 1 Corinthians 10:18 agree with this? Then why the need for self-justification so prevalent among typical, bona fide, American Christians? Isn’t it because they have been taught that self-promotion is faith?

According to Jesus, the author of our faith, not the one who says he is going to do something but the one who at first says, No, then turns around and does it anyway, is justified. One of the two did the will of his father: Guess which one? When we read the example Jesus gave to the religious (Matt. 21:31), which category do we fit into? Do we say with our lips that we love Jesus and he is the center of our lives, then turn around and spend 99% of our time serving our own wills? That’s the typical, don’t-question-me, Christian today. As long as he/she can convince us by appropriate smiles and flattery that we are O.K. too, just like them, we figure they must be the genuine article. Some people call this kind of faith (or love) shallow. I call it false.

A false balance is abominable to the Lord, we read in Proverbs 11:1 and 20:23. It not only cheats others out of what's due them, but it puts our hearts into a world skewed out of proportion to where we begin to believe our own testimonials based on the false balance's readout. Instead of turning and coming to the truth that we are corrupt, liars, disobedient, selfish, covetous, etc., we continue to weigh in with our “I love Jesus” sales pitches. We should rather see ourselves as despicable, not worthy to receive mercy or commend our own works (Luke 18:10).

So, when we say, “I don't want to do it,” we’ll see who is justified in the end. Our religious friends may condemn us and admonish us to say something like, “Oh yes, I love Jesus and do whatever he says,” but we had better ignore them, or we will find ourselves imitating their ‘shallow’ Christianity. No, let us rather be honest with at least God Almighty and tell him No, than tell him Yes, when we have no intention of sacrificing our lives even to death to make it happen.

Be honest. Ask God, “Be merciful to me, a sinner,” and he will hear you. Otherwise, you will have to stand the Judgment (of which you say does not exist for the ‘believer’) all on the merit of your well-meaning, but ‘shallow’, commitments.

May God grant us a heart of obedience, even when we don’t want to do it, and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all those who call upon him out of a sincere heart, one that longs to know the truth and do it (or at least knows the truth that he is not doing it).

Chris Simonson  8/24/2006

An old saying goes like this: “Desperate men seek desperate measures.” Another: “Never trust the advice of a desperate man.” In today's technocratically correct culture, we see many desperate lives trying ever so hard to out love their predecessors. One of their philosophers said, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” (Thoreau, possibly speaking for himself). A version of this goes, “The mass of men lead lives of noisy desperation.” Either way, they are desperate.

They are desperately trying to cover up their real intents. They want love, or something like it. They want others to care for them, or do things for them, or go along with them, or make room for them, or bow to them, or to serve them, or make them feel proud or a hundred other self-serving desires. They learned this when they were very little, when every time they screamed someone shoved a bottle in their face, or gave them a piece of candy or a new toy. These are the ones whom society lauds with great honors and book sales. These are the great public speakers, noted authors and child experts. They counsel marriages and countries. They know how to make love and war. These are those whom we hold in great esteem, which is what we are supposed to desire, according to the religion of man.

But Jesus said what man holds in esteem is abomination to God. They have walked away from obedience to God and decided to replace that with another system of religion, pretending to obey God by doing so. They are desperately trying to be nice in order to get to heaven, or get their way, or get votes. They manipulate and are themselves manipulated. They use great high philosophical and scientifically correct phrases to convince themselves and others they are on solid ground, but they are desperate.

“It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things,” said Henry David Thoreau. The Bible says the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. And the wise are not desperate for anything because they have eternal life.

Chris Simonson  8/23/2006

While listening to a popular minister teach about end-time events (‘eschatology,’ for those of us who do not understand simple phrases), I couldn’t help but compare his popular interpretation to a phrase I had read in a Scientific American article about fractals and complexity theory. Someone at the Sante Fe Institute warned against drawing conclusions based upon what is known in the fractal community as “reminiscent syndrome.” Because complex fractals spin out from simple mathematical expressions, and these fractal shapes are reminiscent of complex structures found in nature, we tend to leap at a conclusion that this is how nature evolves. Even godless scientists know this is bunk.

End-time prophesies definitely fall into chaos when we start to examine them real closely against our so-called facts, putting reminiscence away until proven. By saying this, I don't mean that end-time prophecies are incorrect; only that our interpretations of them usually are. Witness the Jehovah's Witnesses and their interpretations that have gone bad time after time (and they have to lie about it of course). Look at the Seventh-Day Adventists with their same problem. The popular preacher bases his stuff on the same end-time stuff those two cults have come up with. I call it Dispensationlism but you could call it anything, and that’s the beauty of ambiguity. One can obtain complexity from chaos at the mere turn of a phrase.

Even as theologians and philosophers can come up with words that explain everything, so do scientists, doctors, psychologists and lawyers. William A. Dembski has come up with another buzz phrase called ‘specified complexity.’ I like it, because it exemplifies the problem I have with preachers and scientist alike. Scientists like to talk about ‘evolutionary algorithms,’ as though by that diffuse term we can wow the stupid masses or at least impress our own confused imaginations. Preachers, on the other hand, like to make dogmatic statements about ‘pre-tribulation rapture,’ or some other permutation thereof (7th ^{day People like to dream of post-tribulation scenarios).}

Quote: “In general, then, evolutionary algorithms generate not true complexity but only the appearance of complexity. And since they cannot generate complexity, they cannot generate specified complexity either.” from ‘Explaining Specified Complexity’ by William A. Dembski. There can only be one meaning for what he said, but I cannot fathom it.

‘Specified complexity’ is a theory or concept or some such made up by Mr. Dembski to explain intelligent design. However, almost everybody thinks his concept is unsound. He pretends, as do most unsound proponents of intelligent design, to be a mathematician expert in probability theory. According to a Harvard professor of mathematics and evolutionary biology (wowie!): “We cannot calculate the probability that an eye came about. We don't have the information to make the calculation.” And there you have it: A top professor debunking a layman by saying “We don’t have the information…” Of course, he has all the information he needs to make that statement.

It’s good that God has chosen the foolish things of this world to save those who are His. It’s good that He has chosen the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe in it. The devil comes as the scientist and the psychiatrist and the lawyer (and the theologian) who teaches men to reject God and His simplistic, effective, message. It’s good that we as laymen can approach Him and understand Him through His word. It’s good that the goodness of God leads us to repentance. Simple. Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved

Chris Simonson   8/22/2006

This is not a time of joy, but a time of mourning. The wicked have taken over the church and the common people love it so. They soft-pedal doctrines that fly in the face of Christian teaching, but these are the very ones who talk of love. On their way to hell, the foolish take no warning but stop their ears from hearing. This has all been foreordained by God, who opened the way to the Gentiles by stopping the ears of the Jews.

Now the Gentiles have turned against their only hope and defiled the name of Jesus Christ by their false doctrines and their behavior. What will God do? He will certainly destroy as he has promised, but he will also turn and heal if we repent. How shall we repent who think we are Christians? We can start by mourning. Sackcloth and ashes will not do. We must humble our flesh by starving it of its accustomed habits. Cut meals out. Stop going to Disneyland. Quit giving the children their way. Don't join this or that fitness club. Stop golfing. I could name about one thousand other American-mores without missing a beat. These are the very things that have taken us away from Christ.

When our marriages go sour, we seek counseling. This leads to false direction because the counseling does not tell us to fast and pray, but to seek psychological, biological, holistic means to succor us in time of wounds. This would be bad enough if the counseling did not rob the name of Jesus Christ and plaster it on their fleshly accomplishments. God must destroy these things and he is getting ready his forces to take down this nation. But, if we will turn and go into the house of mourning, obtaining that sorrow that leads to repentance, we will be spared.

Otherwise, there will be nothing but the sorrow that leads to death.

Chris Simonson  8/21/2006

When Peter wrote (1 Pet. 5:8) that our adversary goes about as a hungry lion seeking someone to devour, was he talking to those outside the church? Of course not. He encourages us to resist the devil by remaining firm in our faith. But maybe we think to ourselves: It is not I who will be devoured by the devil, but my spouse or my neighbor or my gardener, but certainly not me! Then you must tear that page out of your Bible and a hundred others like it. The devil is very close and he may already have you between his teeth.

Do I mean you should fear the devil? No. But you had better get some good fear real quick. The passage we refer to is “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God” (1 Peter 5:6). If we do not see that we must submit to God or the devil will get us, I suggest we read the context over and over again until we get it.

This does not mean we perform some sacrifice or awe-inspiring religious feat, but that we stop trying to fight the devil by our own means. As we submit to the fear of God, wonderfully, we are delivered from our adversary. God will allow us to come close to destruction to scare us a little. Casual Christians want none of this and will invent a new religion every day if necessary to escape the snare of the devil, only to wind up in his jaws in the end.

How powerful is this adversary, the devil? More than we can imagine. And, if we trust to our own intellect or traditions or holy men, we will certainly be taken by his craftiness. There is only one mediator between God and man, for instance, the man named Jesus Christ. If our church has convinced us there are lots of saints in between us and Christ, we are lion food. There are probably thousands of other examples of this kind of dietary horror, but we should know the devil does not care how he takes us, but that he will take us if he can.

Let us therefore seek the things that edify one another, instead of playing Dr. Know-It-All. The passage states that we should subject ourselves to our elders and clothe ourselves with humility towards one another. Most Christians in America today are smart-alecks and need some serious dressing down. I know they will accuse me of the same thing, but that is the way of hypocrites. They can't tell they are in the jaws of the lion, so how can they tell they are mocking Christ? But we are not of those who shrink back into perdition when we are chastened by our loving Father, but we shake off the sins and get up and run the race to win. (Hebrews 10:39, 12:1 et al).

We are going to suffer. Let us join our brotherhood throughout the world in their suffering. And after we have suffered for a while, may the God of grace, who called us to His eternal glory in Christ, perfect us, confirm us, strengthen and establish us. To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Chris Simonson  8/18/2006

A Christian woman has an unsaved niece who is thirty years old. This niece has issues and has been reluctant to come to her Christian aunt for advice in times past (due to her Christian stance on morals?). Recently, however, there has been a breakthrough of sorts. The niece has come to her saved aunt and wants her advice (WWJD?). She met a man over the internet recently and has inquired of her aunt whether she should meet him. He has offered to pay her air fare so she can see him face to face.

The Christian woman takes this as an open door to further relationship with her niece. She decides not to preach to her niece but offer good sound advice like: be careful, don’t let him pick her up at the airport, make sure she has her own hotel room, make sure they meet in public with some friends (bring one along), make sure of this and that, but say nothing, absolutely nothing about not having sex with the man. This would put her niece on the defensive for sure. This Christian woman knows her niece has had "man trouble" all her life, with more than one marriage down the drain and one morbid relationship after another.

But, times have changed. Over the last thirty years the Christian woman has softened up a bit, right along with the culture. She is now "loving" and "caring", as taught by Calvary Chapel et al. Thus, she says nothing about moral issues because she is going to preach the love of God without saying a word about the Word; she says nothing about the dangers of disobeying God, much less warning her about the judgment to come.

All this the Christian woman proudly announces at the home Bible study while the other Christian women applaud (and so must their husbands). Asked about how things turned out, she said that her niece followed her advice and that “things went very well". Knowing looks all around and a few “praise Gods”.

Chris Simonson  8/17/2006

In today's America, it is popular to remain immature, at least when it comes to responsibility. True, we teach pre-adolescents how to be adults, but this is in a sexually perverse way, not according to growing up to be responsible for at least one's own self. Later, when we start to show signs of aging and getting ugly, we try to maintain the look of a twenty-year old even as we approach the grave. But I do not want to rebuke those outside the church because they have their own problem with God, not me.

I speak to those who call themselves Christian. And yes, they have to answer to me and every other real brother and sister. My question: Are you a babe in the Lord? If your answer, after more than a couple of years in the Lord is, Yes, then you need to be weaned. The Lord is going to wean you from the carnal attitudes you now hold. He is going to wean you from the selfishness. He is going to wean you from trying to please your peers. He is going to wean you from various false doctrines you hold, in other words.

He is going to do this the easy way or the hard way. If we will pay attention to his Word, then it will be much easier. (Nothing about getting to heaven is comfortable, but painful, but afterwards the result is contentment, righteousness, peace, joy...). However, if we remain obstinate by clinging to our immature ways, then there is going to be some nest-cleaning and this is going to hurt a lot. Plus, we will miss an eternity of rewards. Not that we lose our salvation by being selfish, short-sighted, cliquish, stubborn, etc. (we all have that inside us to some degree), but our stay here on earth will be miserable and our place in heaven could have been better. If we believe in the Lord Jesus, let us continue on in the faith, breaking away from the pack to win the race.

If we say to ourselves, I want to remain ignorant of the things of God and thus not be responsible for my actions (for we recall that those who know things will be beat with many blows), then we might well reconsider whether we are saved at all.

Either way, you cannot remain a baby.

Chris Simonson  8/16/2006

Front cover of tract. There is a picture of a man and his family with haloes above their heads. Content: Are you going to Heaven? If you think you are, then keep reading.

What makes us sure we are going to Heaven? Did we say the ‘sinner's prayer’ correctly, or did we eat a wafer and drink some wine that had turned into Jesus somehow, or did we give to United Way, or...? The religion of the lost is full of such accomplishments. They think to themselves, even if there is a Hell we're not going there because we are basically good and God knows that. They may be wonderful Christians that go to church a lot, tithe a lot, smile a lot and say the right words when questioned about their salvation, BUT, they think they are basically good people and that's why they are going to Heaven.

These have not trusted in Jesus Christ for their salvation, even though they may pass a lie detector test if questioned on this matter. They have not come to the place of conviction of sin, but only distaste for their many ‘imperfections.’ These are more concerned with their appearance before others than they are about their real condition before a holy and righteous God who will certainly reward the good behavior and punish the bad. After all, they think to themselves, I'm basically good and if anyone is going to Heaven, it’s me.

It is nearly impossible to be saved when a person is in this condition. In America, almost all Christians are in this horrible situation. They claim to be Christian and yet do not believe in Christ. They believe in a convenient Jesus, to be sure, but they do not really believe they must lose their lives in order to gain eternal life. So they go on in their vague assurance that if there is a Heaven, they are going there; if there is a Hell they certainly will not. However, the Bible assures us that unless we repent, we will not be saved. Real repentance comes when we have been convinced of our rottenness, and that we deserve God's wrath. It is then that we cry out to Him for deliverance and He grants it.

Otherwise, if anyone is going to Hell, it’s the religious ones who are apart from Christ.

Chris Simonson  8/15/2006

There's a ‘worship song’ out there that tells God the person singing it has missed the heart of worship and the worshiper realizes that everything doesn’t center around him/her. It's a typical Casual Chapel ditty with the standard mantra-like repetition of “It’s all about You.”

They might as well sing “It’s all about Me”, for the shallowness of it all. This type of song puts us into a hypnotic love-trance and we sway back and forth experiencing the raw emotion of “just letting it all hang out there” for Jesus. But in reality, it's about "What I Want".

What the modern worshiper of God wants to day is a close personal relationship with their Creator based on some psychological, 1960's love-child scenario. There is no repentance involved, only a good feeling about wanting God. It is like a child saying to it's father, “I don't want your blessings; I want you.” This is hippie New Age thinking that puts man into the role of telling God how to do things. This high-minded ego-centered fixation does not result in faith. It only puffs up the practitioner so he/she can demand attention from God whenever and wherever they please. This type of belief system results in shipwreck, because eventually, the self-centered worshiper finds himself not accepting the true blessings of God as delineated in the Bible, but in a ‘love relationship’ that stirs up behavior in opposition to the Bible. Thus we find the rampant adultery, fornication, homosexuality and other indulgences that are touted as ‘love.’

When God Himself steps in to prove their faith, to see if it be in Him or in something else, many will shrink back into perdition because they despise the chastening of the Lord. They don’t see this as His love. They want to sing songs that pretend reverence, but they refuse to fear the God named in the song. This withdrawal from the true faith isn’t something like a sudden flat denial of Christ (although we have seen this happen occasionally); it is usually a substitute Christianity that looks good on the outside and feels like a nice shot of morphine. These drugged practitioners can only smile and say, “I love you,” until they can't take it anymore: then they pull the trigger.

God hates sin. Sin makes us pay attention to what we want, not what He wants. Our sinful nature hates to do God’s will, so it makes up all kinds of substitutes to convince itself it is serving God. Eventually, the conscience burns out and the parishioner can come to church week after week and sing worship songs that lift then into a kind of happy daze, all the while having no intention of repentance or service to God, only warm fuzzies. This is the nature of sin. Only those who see the horror of their hypocrisy can repent; the rest will usually go on demanding that they only want God Himself, even as he provides for every little luxury, so that on judgment day He can say to them, “You got what you wanted, but Lazarus didn’t get anything. Now the tables are turned.”... and, we know the rest.

Chris Simonson  8/14/2006

The Internet is loaded with "Christian forums" and Bible chat rooms; most of the people whom frequent these use handles (some call them knick-names) to describe whom they are. In most cases these handles and the avatars are the only information you'll have on their relationship to Christ.

Some of the these handles have corresponding images of rodents or wizards, elves or demons, or fictional television characters, whom the posters wish to emulate. These Internet names range from rather dark in nature to cute and cuddly, but most of the time those using them do not use their own names. I guess there is a certain boldness that stems from wearing a fantasy face that is not one's own.

Many are the backgrounds of these posters: some are students, some theologians, some housewives and some are office workers (whom are cheating their bosses out of a full day's work). Some log on to ask questions or for spiritual guidance, some merely surf to tell jokes; some are mature while some are just looking for a new husband or wife. Some posters suffer from depression or loneliness and are looking for a little bit of comfort, while others are selfish and spoiled, offering only acrid water from a bitter well.

Some of these masked people whom frequent "Christian" Internet sites, especially the ones speaking vast volumes on love and sentiment, have very little actual contact with the outside world in edifying the Body or preaching the Gospel; they have boasts, but little, real ministry beyond their keyboards. Instead they wander about forums, under the protection of these fake, little, internet-names, hiding behind their screens in their houses, pontificating about how much they love and how cold, callous, hateful and troll-like others are.

But, before the hate-speech replies to this blog begin, let me clarify that not everyone whom posts on "Christian" or Bible forums fit into these categories. Some are genuinely seeking fellowship and answers to honest questions.

We must remember that we are on the Internet, and thusly unable to communicate with people on the level and depth that we can when conversing eye to eye. Therefore the principles and social gratuities applied to normal situations do not always hold water on these forums; for instance, you could be chatting with a 'moderator' whom is actually a convicted drug-pusher sitting in San Quentin, telling you how much he loves Jesus.

The only thing that remains consistent and effective is the Word of God.

- Steven  8/11/2006

Follow-Up Facts: Recently, I posted this same commentary on one of the more popular Christian discussion forums, TheologyWeb (whose slogan is "we debate theology seriously"); the thread lasted about ten minutes, before it was deleted with no explanation or warning whatsoever. Perhaps, it hit a little too close to home.

Upon further inquiry of knowledgeable parties, it was reported to me that this particular car wash was being held by members of Calvary Chapel of Placerville as a fund-raiser for a young man, whom was permanently disabled from the armpits down, who's parents are long-standing members of Calvary Chapel.

To verify this information I contacted Calvary Chapel of Placerville, and spoke with Kathy, whom was reported to be the spokeswoman for Calvary Chapel of Placerville; she did confirm the young man was injured in accident that happened 3 weeks ago, and that his age was 19. She also told me his name, Josiah, and knew the particulars of his injury and how it had occurred; apparently he was at a college party at a friend's house and dove into the the pool, breaking his neck. She stressed that it was several members of the Calvary Chapel that had run the fund-raiser, and that the fund-raiser had raised over ten thousand dollars, but she denied that it was an official Calvary Chapel fund-raiser (though, unofficially, they took credit for it and said that "God's hand has blessed" the car-wash fundraiser).

According to the local paper, which ran the story, Josiah was attending a college party with approximately 25 other people, whom were all diving into the pool when the accident occurred. The paper also reported that this young man loved extreme sports.

Now, I'll admit that the youth experienced a tragic, albeit preventable, accident; I am a father myself and the young man's injury is certainly a pitiable one. But, here is a young man whom rashly dove into a pool and the unofficial, but official church response was to go to the world and beg for donations thorough suspect means, yelling out "free car wash" with $20 donation, all to raise money (though for exactly what purpose remains a mystery).

This is what I call misplaced love: people want to show works, but without obedience; instead of obeying the word of God by preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they run to these false works which are works of iniquity, as evidenced by the complete lack of the preaching of the Gospel, and yet calling it "ministry". That ten-thousand dollars would have been much better spent upon those whom are in need in the Body of Christ and the preaching of the Gospel both here and abroad; I know there are thousands of people whom woke up this morning hungry and will not get a meal today.

Now, I assure you that I am not on any ministry/church payroll; I make my living independent from Christianity. The situation I originally described is not only making gain of the sheep, but the church goers couldn't resist the temptation of raising money off the World, which in turn responds: "Does not that God you believe in provide for your needs? Why come beg to us? Go ask your God for help..."

Is there anywhere in the New Testament, where the apostles, or even Christ, Himself, asks the World to pay for someone's injury? Instead you see giving going to the starving saints in Jerusalem, to the preaching of the Gospel and to families in need. (James 1:27, 1 Corinthians 16:1-4) If you feel the need to donate to the young man then do so quietly; if you are a doctor or physical therapist, donate your time, or if you can take meals to the family, but save your cash and your zeal for those whom are truly in need.

"It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way." Proverbs 19:2

 - Steven  8/10/2006

On Sunday, while driving out of the City, I stopped at a small-town intersection in the lovely California Foothills; waiting for the light to change I was enjoying the sweet aroma of fresh air blowing through the plethora of trees against the majestic mountains in the distance, when I was abruptly distracted by two 'yutes' on a nearby curb, whom eagerly waved signs and called out to me. One of their signs read: "Free Car Wash", the other read: "$20 DONATION".

One ambitious yute yelled, loudly spelling the word "free", as if I had just fallen off the bus from Mexico; he cheerfully demanded that I turn my car around and head to the church car wash in a nearby parking lot. After the light changed, I continued to drive and saw a young girl next to an older woman that appeared to be her mother (whom was distastefully dressed as if she was trying to re-capture her lost youth) yelling like a mad-dog barking after a car; in keeping with the car-wash tradition they repeated the mantra about 'free' and 'donations'. Recovering from this onslaught of misguided humanity, I marveled at this group's cheap tricks.

Free does not mean "expected donation", nor "suggested donation"; the word free, pertaining to monetary things, actually means: "not costing or charging anything." This car wash was not really free, as it was expected that you exchange money for the service, i.e. "donation"... in other word a Lie. Sadly, this seems to be a common thing in modern Christendom, where we offer things as free, but with the qualifier of "suggested donation".

If advertising something as free, then offer it so, with no strings of guilt attached; but, instead, this particular 'christian' group shamefully resorted to a gimmick to entice people to give to their cause, whatever it was, through a lie.

Steven  8/09/2006

On Thursday, August 3rd, 2006, I was listening to the Michael Savage Show; Dr. Savage had Mr. John Hagee (whom is senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas) on as a guest speaker, which I found puzzling since Michael Savage is not a Christian.

Dr. Savage remarked that it was one of the most memorable and meaningful shows he ever did, in light of Israel's current conflict with Hezbollah; he mentioned the possibly of WW3 being triggered as a domino-effect result of this ongoing, justified skirmish. Savage went on to warn in the same conversation that if we didn't take out radical Islam (which I translate to be true Islam, as accurately translated from the Koran.), that they would first attempt to exterminate the Jews, then they would go after the Christians.

Strangely absent, though, from Mr. Hagee's advantageous opportunity (embodied by Savage's 20-million listeners)... was The Gospel, which Michael Savage seemed to have a better command of than Hagee.

All Mr. Hagee's vast ability to extrapolate large amounts of information pertaining to his version of eschatology was unable to even communicate the simple Gospel of Jesus Christ to millions of potential hearers.

So, the lesson here is: we should spend a little less time pontificating on eschatology, spend a little more time paying attention to current events, and a lot more time physically preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Steven  8/08/2006