Becoming Catholic – Where it all began.

For eight years I worked with Youth With A Mission. An international and interdenominational decentralized missions

organization. Started primarily as a way of getting young people who loved Jesus a chance to travel and get their feet wet in missions work, sharing the gospel and getting some discipleship along the way. Its a massive organization now with hundreds of secondary schools for training and development for Christian missions work of all kinds. There are as well many practical ministries associated with the movement.

All eight years I spent in the mission were with one of the secondary schools. I first took the course in 08-09 in Los Angeles. It was a bible course known as the School of Biblical Studies or SBS. Providence had it that I just so happened to sign up for the school in Los Angeles the same year that Cliff Davis had arrived in LA to start the Chronological SBS. Same school as before, but with the books arranged in the Chronological order that they were originally written to the best of their ability, (with some debate as to the exact date of a handful of the books). The one main exception was to place the book of Job in the same time period as the other primary books of the wisdom literature around the time of David and Solomon.

The Chronological version I truly believe was Gods providence for me. I had previously been exposed to the popular Reformed teachings of Calvin and Luther because I had been living near Holland Michigan were there is a large concentration of Reformed Churches and zealous proselytizers. For me it was primary the Calvinistic theology that was troubling me. Complete lack of free will, archaic predestination explanations, faith alone salvation, yet not a faith that you have any part in as God completely controls all things including the thoughts or lack of thoughts in ever human brain. Whether this was the exact belief of people pushing Calvinism on me or this was just the logical extent of the arguments that were driving me mad and further from God or any desire for God. Either way I was in desperate need of a better, more orthodox, healthy, yet still challenging theological formation.

Cliff Davis was an excellent teacher. Or at least he was exactly the kind of teacher and school leader I needed. His strengths were perfect for helping someone like me engage with scripture the way I had really needed to. I got a ton out of the school. After nine months I had an amazing overview of the redemptive work of God throughout biblical history, I understood Jesus in context of the whole biblical narrative, and I also felt like in nine short months I understood Paul in his historical and biblical context better then so many of the people who were just confusing me with theological categories and reformed dogmas detached from historical context. Most of all I was happy that when asked technical questions about doctrines on salvation I could just begin walking through stories or the redemptive work of God. I could do it in order using the language of covenants, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and Jesus. It was incredible. Without even having many verses or their locations memorized I could walk through the biblical narratives pointing out key moments of how God revealed himself.

I was also honored by Cliff to be invited to come staff with him. I committed to a year because at the time that seemed like such a long time. I ended up staying much longer, my fourth year in LA I was honored again with the opportunity to Co-Lead the school with Cliff. This was an amazing experience in leadership and by the end of the fourth year God was opening up doors for us to move to the YWAM base in Tijuana Mexico to start the first CSBS in Mexico.

This was a huge challenge. But our work in starting the school has continued to bear fruit. We worked there for four years before leaving YWAM. I miss working with the CSBS so much. But im just grateful for the opportunity we had. After transitioning back to career life working and buying a home here in Kentucky I realized last year I had made a mistake in not getting active in a church sooner. But as many of my readers know I’m on track now to do that.

I bring up my work in the CSBS because it was really one of the big stepping stones leading me to where I believe I am moving towards now. Studying the bible using the inductive method, and with a large emphasis on historical context is what opened my mind and soul to new revelations in the living word of God. I realized in the last few years in CSBS that I was moving more and more in the direction of the Catholic Theological Tradition. At first this just seemed like, well, ‘I’m just going to be an open minded protestant about doctrine and I will be a eclectic christian adopting the things I like from the various traditions. That might have worked for me in YWAM since it is an interdenominational missions organization. But now that I live and work in a more normal setting I have to have a church that I join and am able to get active with. To me the choice came down to either the Anglican, Orthodox, or the Catholic church. I’m still making the journey but I feel confident that I will soon be confirmed into the Catholic Faith. Which again, is strange and new, yet not strange or new at all. Its the direction I have been moving towards from the moment I accepted the concept of studying scripture with the inductive method. In order to do this I needed to set aside all previous notions of biblical theology or tradition, i did this to the best of my ability cause I was so deeply troubled by certain doctrines of the Reformed, as well as some of the more charismatic or even legalistic variety. This also meant setting aside previous theological prejudices I had from growing up protestant against Catholics. So not only did the inductive method assist me in this but also the pursuit of understanding each book in its biblical and historical context. So in other words not reading Genesis and Galatians as Luther or Calvin would have with 15th century Catholic European worldview. Instead the goal was to understand the book of Genesis as revelation to the people of Israel shortly after their exodus from Egypt. The God who rescued them wanted to make a new covenant with them. Or the church in Galatia as it was in first century Turkey. A church where early Gentile converts were being convinced by Jews who in following Jesus felt that in order to be good followers of the Rabbi Jesus the gentiles needed to go all in and make sure to observe kosher laws as well, to be circumcised, and observe Jewish feasts, etc. Paul of course corrected this behavior not by condemning Jews as legalistic for following the Law of Moses but for encouraging Gentiles to follow the externals of an old covenant that has been broken and rendered ineffective by the more perfect covenant being set up by Jesus the Messiah.

The next major outcome of going through the school year after year with new students was the natural progression into the early church, the writings of the early church fathers, the history of the 1500 years of church history largely ignored by protestants. A book by a very intellectual protestant Vishal Mangalwadi was instrumental in opening my mind and intellect to more of the positive effects of the church throughout history. The book is called “The Book that made your world: How the bible shaped the soul of western civilization”. That book then exposed me to the prolific work of Sociologist Rodney Stark who wrote with even more scholarly authority and less Catholic Prejudice covering even more of the positive history of the Catholic Faith and work in the development of civilization as we know it. I began to see more clearly how both modern critics of the Christianity and protestant critics of Catholics created an unholy alliance that has resulted in so much bad history and opinion about both Christianity and its specific Roman Catholicism. Even in my coming closer to the partaking in the sacraments of the Catholic Church I have set out to expose myself fully to the rot, the scandal, and the crisis that is taking place within the Catholic church. Im not coming into it with a blind fold towards the challenging issues. But this has not deterred me at all. In fact I have been even more encouraged because I believe the Catholic church alone possesses the fullness of the faith, and is the best embodiment of the oneness that Jesus prayed for his followers. I love the presence of the saints both visibly in the icons, statues, feast days, prayers, liturgy, and their invisible and spiritual presence as fellow participants in the pursuits of the churches mission.

Instrumental to me has thus far been the work of the local clergy, both Fr. Fischer and Deacon Bill Wakefield and his wife. Wonderful people who are enthusiastic about new converts. Aside from them I have tapped in to the work of Dr. Taylor Marshal (not schismatic, I am proof), Scott Hahn, Athanasius Schneider, Archbishop Vigano, FSSP resources, Fathers of Mercy here in Kentucky (their homilies on their youtube channel are powerful), Church Militant news, Cardinal Burke, Cardinal Sarah, Fr. Calloway, Fr. Altman, Ralph Martin, and others. Yes I am gravitating towards the more conservative or traditional but I also appreciate some of the others who are a bit more middle of the road. I’m not incapable of appreciating the gifts of people like Bishop Barron and others like him but in my short time growing familiar with the Catholic Church I believe it would be more effective if the church rooted out modernization almost completely. Some English liturgy seems reasonable but there seems to be so many changes instituted after Vatican II that are not necessarily even indicative of what is in the documents from the council. That’s all I’m going to say about that as I am sure in the future I will have whole posts devoted to such issues. IN the mean time I am happy to be moving in this new, yet familiar direction. I guess you could see it is home.

It all started with CSBS in YWAM. Inductive, historical and biblical context lead me to covenant theology and chronological redemptive salvation culmination in the inauguration of the King of Kings the enthroned in the Kingdom of God established by Peter and Apostles through the church in Rome and the birth of Christendom and the ongoing battle with familiar beasts, harlots, demons, fallen angels, and the masses of the deceived and the damned who wage war on the saints of God until the final judgement.

For the past few weeks I have been reengaging with the book of Revelation or the book of The Apocalypse of John. I am seeing this in a fresh new way having been attending mass weekly I feel this book is only cementing me further as a Catholic. Ive been a Catholic for years without coming into full fellowship. The imagery of the great apocalyptic events of the ending of one covenant and the unveiling of the new. It is the wedding of Christ to his church. Not just something predictive for far off future events but what would soon take place. No doubt there was a future event that the book alludes to in the closing of one covenant once and for all with the destruction of the old beautiful temple in Jerusalem. There is a new covenant, with a new temple, one where Christ is the high priest and the people of God from every nation will begin entering in to the marriage covenant. The marriage super of the Lamb. The basic activity of the church in the earliest days was a reenactment of the last supper and what the last supper itself proceeded. The sacrifice of the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. The Mass then is the daily reenactment of the Apocalypse of John. It is as the book describes a great spiritual battle. It is also a vitally practical reminder of Gods affirmation of daily life of the people of God living out his perfect plan for men and women. Covenantal love giving way to life and family, the coming together of people into a covenant with God by way of the special family of God. The church, though it is suffering under persecution by the state, (Babylon & Harlot) are not calling to directly engage with the state but to do battle against the beast that is behind those temporal powers. That by the faithfulness of the church to do what is prescribed, what has in reality already been accomplished in Christ it will be victorious. Christ will reign, he will judge, and he will in the end unveil his true bride. In its proper place the church will take as its inheritance, the dominion of all things with Christ the King. The kingdom of God is not “OF” this world but it is manifesting itself “IN” this world through the visible and mystical church.

Revelation is a great reminder to the church that it also will face the wrath of God if it does not repent of sin. Just as the book warns each of the seven churches to repent otherwise God will remove their “candles” from the alter, -so Jerusalem had been warned over and over about idolatry. For the sins of the church, the turning from the gospel, the immorality, lukewarmness, and the disobedience of the church is no different from the variety of unfaithful behavior by the people of God in the old covenants. The destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, or in reality the entire city. This stands as a crucial contextual compass for the resounding message of the book of Revelation. Historically speaking the seven churches of Revelation have all been destroyed through Islamic conquests. Is God done with the church? Of course not. Revelation stands as a warning. As does the actual history of the churches spoken to by their Bishop John (likely the beloved apostle). Churches come and go. We have seen this. We know how churches typically begin and in general they all end in a similar way. Either by dying, by tolerance of evil, by being influenced by the surrounding cultures, by complacency brought on by great wealth or political influence. There are more reasons but we have all seen churches begin with passion and zeal for God. We have seen them end for these variety of reasons. Sometimes they do end due to hostility and invasions of other demonic forces opposed to the things and people of God.

The message of Revelation is actually pretty easy then to grasp.

LOOK! SEE WHAT I HAVE DONE! SEE WHAT I AM DOING! I HAVE ALREADY OVERCOME THE WORLD! ABIDE IN MY LOVE! REPENT OF TRUSTING IN YOURSELF! REPENT OF FEARING POLITICAL LEADERS AND NOT FEARING ME! YOU ARE MY ROYAL BRIDE!

The prophetic nature of the book is not so much predictive of far of future events but in the more biblical version of prophecy which was intended to convey what God was doing now, and what then the people of God must also be doing now. Jesus in plane language is then perhaps saying, “Look you are my bride, we are starting a family, lets celebrate, lets consummate regularly and make life together now.” Yes, we are facing an enemy that wants to destroy this marriage, but Christ has already done most of the apocalyptic stuff. Satan’s already been defeated, his forces are no match for the Godhead, his Angeles, his Mother, her Offspring and the Saints, -those in heaven and on earth which comprise his unveiled Bride the church.

In the language of Familial Covenant God is establishing his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. By regular consummation in the daily life of the church. Primarily in the Eucharist and the Mass. Each time the people of the Covenant meat they celebrate the marriage supper of the lamb, and by way of the others sacraments of the church the covenant family grows.

These Dry Bones

The book of Ezekiel is a really strange book. Outside of Daniel it may be the weirdest book in the OT. The three main visions of the book that act as the pillars of the book are about the presence or absence of God. In chapter 1-3 it is the introductory vision of the glory of God by the river Chebar in Babylon. In chapter 9-10 Ezekiel sees how the presence of God leaves Jerusalem and why. Then in chapters 40-47 he sees the return of the glory of God to Jerusalem or the new Jerusalem. The question for the exiled community in Babylon is about whether or not God is present with them in exile. Is God still powerful and worth devotion if they have been removed from the land? Mid-way through the book the exiled community in Babylon learns of the fall of Jerusalem. Now they realize for the first time that they really are dead and finished as a nation and a people. The destruction of the temple sends a strong signal that they really are done for. Thus Ezekiel’s most famous vision in chapter thirty-seven affirms the feelings and of the exiled community that they are really really dead. But perhaps the most powerful message not only of Ezekiel but of the entire biblical narrative is that death is not the end.

Sin and death entered the world in Genesis chapter three but that was not the end of the story rather the beginning of the redemptive nature of the entire story. And similarly to chapter three of Genesis Israel needs to look outside of themselves for life. Only one source for life exists. Chapter thirty-seven of Ezekiel is meant to remind us of Genesis two when out of the dust of the earth God makes man, and from his own breathe he gives him life. Ezekiel reminds the OR that it is God who does this and that soon he will restore Israel just as he has sought to use Israel to restore life and breathe into all his children.

If nothing else Ezekiel powerfully affirms two things about God and his plans for humanity as a whole as well as Israel. The death and devastation that Israel is going through is not an indicator of Gods absences. This is what the exiled community felt it was. Instead its meant to remind us of our own sin and guilt, or the simple biblical fact of a world that has been seriously infected by the sin of others. Israel desired no doubt to throw God under the buss, so to speak. We also are tempted to continue doing this. However, the second thing that is clear and powerful in Ezekiel’s message is that death is not the end, pain, and suffering are not signs of the end but signs and reminders of the beginning when sin and suffering entered the world through mans rebellion. It can simultaneously remind us of a bright future in which God will restore life and bring the really dead bones back to life.

The theological term here is resurrection. We can ask how the Jewish community thought about the resurrection of the dead. But really it helps just to know it was a topic of discussion for Jews and when Jesus came he spoke of it, he raised people from the dead, he did it himself, and then his apostles were witnesses of it. Actually the first apostles were women, they were the apostles to the apostles. (Women apostles is a topic for another time). Often enough these passages in Ezekiel are thought of in terms of the restoration of Israel as was part of the intended message. But they have a more far reaching fulfillment. First of when we keep in mind the resurrection and redemption narrative beginning in Genesis, and when we recall the importance of the resurrection Christ. In other words the resurrection of Israel after their exile was part of the picture of how God actually intended to bring resurrection to the whole of creation, a theme stretching back to the garden. And when in Romans 8 Paul talks about the revealing of the sons of God he is not speaking merely of Israel but of the church and all of Gods redeemed. The precursor to full restoration and resurrection of Gods creation is the revealing of the sins of God. Which was the whole point of Israels election. A chosen people for the purpose of turning all peoples to the creator. This is a very key element to grasp, it is a true resurrection of Israel when not just ethnic Israelite’s are preserved in the land of Israel, but when Israel has effectively taken part in the purpose for which they were divinely elected when the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.

Art and Bible: Part 2 (JEWS IN ROME)

In Part 1 I began to mention some important background information about the church in Rome. Something else interesting and unique among Paul’s letters is his personal greeting of twenty six individuals in Rome. Why are so many people mentioned in detail. Most likely it has to do with the disunity that exists among the Christians in Rome. I think it is likely and maybe more helpful that we would consider the church in Rome to be many individuals who perhaps have little to no dealings with each other whatsoever. This could be a merely racial issue. As many of the early Christians in Rome were likely Jews who heard the gospel from those at Pentecost. These Jews being filled with the Spirit and beginning to place their hope in Christ as Messiah probably continued to meet in Synagogues and carry on being Jews in the normal sense. They needed the presence of one of the apostles to bring more clarity about what is happening. Jews without the presence of an apostle in Rome may have continued to hold Gentiles at an arm length even if they professed faith in God and now the messiah. Even though they were being filled with the spirit they may not have been welcomed so readily. No doubt this was part of the issue in Galatia. But how did Paul go about addressing issues in Rome. The other issues as I mentioned in ‘Part 1’ was that Jews had recently been expelled and then brought back to Rome. Gentile Christians in Rome had a chance to be the ‘church’ without ‘pesky’ Jews around telling them what they can and can not eat and so on. Having them back to Rome was not sitting well with some of the Gentile Christians in Rome. What is the responsibility of the apostle in this situation? How is he going to address this and bring unity and truth to the situation. Its clear that there are some potential errors on either side of the racial divide. 

The picture today is interesting to me. After I finished I became aware of how extremely out of place the Jewish man seems with the Colosseum in the backdrop. This is how it must have felt for the Jews. Very out of place. And for Gentile Christians, is this how they saw them. Is this what part of what lead to the judgements and divisions between Jew and Gentile believers in the Messiah.

An interesting dilemma is brought up when we consider the earliest Jewish believers. Was it wrong for them to feel an obligation to maintain the traditions they had learned from youth while wholeheartedly embracing the messiah? I don’t believe it was. Take a look at the section in Romans when Paul addresses the area of practice. Jews maintained practices that set them apart. It is more obvious when you observe the early part of the book to see that Paul is pointing out essential areas of truth about God and what he has done to provide salvation for ‘his people’ (Jews and Gentiles). Then in the end he teaches them to learn to honor each other practices and the convictions they live by. Unity and Diversity. Something the church should always remember well.

For anyone interested by current reading list for the book of Romans is;

Paul and the Faithfulness of God – N.T. Wright

NIV Application Commentary – Douglas J. Moo

Eerdmans Introduction to NT – Joel B. Green, Paul J. Atchtemeier

Commentary on Romans – Ernst Kasemann

Genesis Book Overview

So for the Teaching School (Tutus Project) I am doing a decided to do some Book Overview’s. Starting with Genesis I will be working with some friends producing 20-30 minute book overviews for each book of the bible.

What kind of Christian am I?

Here is something for change. I am being introspective.

As I read, study, and do life with other Christians in Mexico of all places I wonder what Christian category I actually fit into in all of my beliefs. I have been a part of YWAM for the last 8 years. Crazy! I’ve been a part of the CSBS for the past 7 years. So what that means is I have been a bit of a bible nerd for all that time. Over the past 4 years I have begun to really broaden my reading and writing habits. I mean broaden, in that I have been reading more then the bible. But that is perhaps the first observation about myself. Reading the bible so much and studying it in context did something to my brain. I think perhaps seeing the bible as one story, a story that fits into real history, a story that covered centuries of history and exposed me to new kinds of literature and authors. Essentially it was a new education, using an entire library of information presented in poetic form as well as prose. For me this study sparked an interested in adding to that sacred library more and more material. I have taken a strong liking to the kind of extra biblical material that challenges and enriches my understanding of the sacred library. Books about ecology, psychology, history, sociology, worldviews, science, and an ever broadening list of subjects. Of course the list of reading material includes a ton of theology stuff. I still don’t have a large appetite for theological debates. But as I have engaged in new theologies, and old theology I have began to wonder about this question: “What am I”?

I read about Reformed tradition, Anglican, conservative evangelical, charismatic, Catholic, emergent, orthodox, neo-orthodox and on and on. Ive read and engaged with a lot of church history and history of Christian thought and still I’m wondering where someone might fit me. I feel this way in part because I serve in YWAM, an Inter-denominational organization. We have people from all traditions and non-traditions in our tribe of Jesus followers.

I come from the Baptist Tradition. GARBC to be exact. My Father, my grandfather, and my three uncles are pastors with GARBC churches in the state of Michigan. I suppose you could say I have carried my share of disillusionment with the church. But over the past 8 years things have shifted. I have sought to find a clearer head in regards to what my thoughts are about church and about the kingdom of God. I now have a stronger love for the local church then I ever have. She has her problems and people will always line up to point them out. To me this is one of the observations I have been seeing. You know it is the church because people are watching to see inconsistencies with beliefs and actions. The most common accusation of Christians may be that we are hypocritical. I think it is important for the church to recognize its inconsistencies and respond to the critics with candor and sincerity to change.

My own disillusionment with the church lead me to explore some of the “Emergent” authors; McLaren, Bell, Campolo, Rollins, McManus. I have enjoyed to some degree a lot of what these guys do and say. I have not disagreed with them on each and every point. But in the end I’m not what we are calling “Emergent”. I don’t know… I think its just not cool to stay disillusioned forever. Some of the Emergent guys are doing quite well because its sexy to be disillusioned, confused, “broken”, and uncertain. It is not cool to know something for sure, its not cool to be healthy or to want to be healthy, and doctrine/theology/history is not cool at all. Its all just power play and dogmatism. So while a agree with some of the tough criticism that “emergent” writers bring on the established church I don’t in the end wind up an emergent. I’m not emergent in the same way that I would not consider myself a modern, pure materialist, humanist, secularist, blah blah blah. I am of course a person who lives in what many consider a post-christian, post-modern world and I am effected by much of the thinking, and the style of the rest of my generation. But I suspect that In order not to be cast off as a super old school, pre-historic conservative I need to find the right brand for myself. Maybe someone can help give me some insight as to what I am.

My title suggest that I might just fit right in with the Emergent crew. Because I seem to be unsure about what I am. But I’m not really unsure about what a believe. Check out my blog. I have lots of opinions and I am under no illusion that my beliefs are wrong. I believe most of them to be correct. In all humility I hope to correct the existing mistakes. But they are either correct, or they are mistakes. The only in between for me is that I do believe things aught to be looked at from different perspectives. This is actually post-modern more then it is a modern or pre-modern way of thinking. However, it is also an ancient Hebrew way of thinking. So I would not say that this acknowledgement of the need to asses truth from different perspectives is post-modern pollution of Christianity. Its like, why did God provide two accounts of the history of Kings in Judah with Kings and Chronicles? Why are there two accounts of creation? What we end up with is further enrichment of revealed truths. We are not talking about opposing contradictory messages. What we have are two complementary views about reality. Jeremiah paints a portrait of a failing monarchy and a decaying community headed for hard times. Ezra takes the same original model and paints a complementary portrait identifying the particular features that would help the community at a much later date to put things back together. The fact that this is happening in the bible affirms the validity and benefit from seeing things at different angles for a clearer grasp of the truth.

So aside from needing to get new perspectives I feel that I am either bringing truth or stumbling through error. Feel free to read, agree, or disagree. For now Ive have enough self evaluation. Just to wrap up. I love the church. It has issues here and there, but I love the church. Whatever your creed or tribe I love to see the gathering of folks seeking Jesus ans seeking to bring him out into the world initiating a transformation that he completes. God Bless.

The Gospel is also a Comprehensive Worldview

Gospel means good new. The good news of Jesus was that he had come to save humankind from their own destruction. Sin is powerful and it was destroying humanity. Not only humanity but the environment. We are now well aware that humanity is not the only casualty of mans depravity. But the whole environment has suffered deeply and waits for restoration, just as man is looking for a time when he will be put right. The good news of Jesus is salvation has arrived.

One of the major problems with mans theology regarding salvation is that it is influenced by Greek or Platonic thinking. Salvation is nearly synonymous with escape. Salvation has become a way of escaping the destruction of the flesh as all flesh seems to be crumbling with all of nature, all or mans environment. Mans theology regarding God and his environment has been fatalistic. This too has its root in Platonic Greek Dualism.  That God will allow the destruction of the earth until all is completely ravaged.  But the good news of Jesus is that he was the ‘snake crusher’ that was spoken of in the garden before all of this crumbling began. He is here to put right what was put wrong beginning in Genesis chapter three.

The lens by which the Christian views his world is Platonic, or dualistic, or gnostic Christian. We need to remember that the good news is that Jesus coming was in part the commencing of his kingdom. Perhaps not in fullness but in part. That means that not everything had to do with souls being saved for heaven in the sky. But whole people being saved, whole nations being discipled, and the whole earth taking a big sigh of relief. All of creation is one step closer to redemption. Salvation is near not just for the human soul.

Finally, the gospel is not simply a message of salvation; it is a comprehensive worldview. It must not only move around the world, but it must penetrate and transform it.

Jesus, Paul, Peter, John, James and the other apostles did not simply give us a way to do what is narrowly seen today as “theology or doctrine” but they worked in communities to examine the cultural lenses of real people and help them live their lives based on truth that would transform individuals and communities. That is, they did not do “Modern evangelical theology” as we know it but they examined and challenged worldviews. They did this because God’s master plan was being unfolded from Christ, the plan was to redeem ‘whole communities’ starting with ‘whole people’.

The Great commission was to do all of this in the nations. They brought salvation, bot not the Platonic escapism. They brought salvation built on the idea that God had come to earth to transform it and that he came back from the grave to resurrect it. The disciples preached the good news of the resurrection which defied the dualism of the Greek worldview.

Discipling, transforming, and saving humanity begins with a biblical worldview.

Discipling, transforming, and creating communities begins with a biblical worldview.

Stewarding and nurturing nature begins with a biblical worldview.

Jesus’ kingdom coming to earth as laid out in the gospels is only the beginning. But it is the beginning of discipleship, transformation, salvation, of man, his community, and his environment.

What we do now to seek his kingdom will be part of the fullness of the kingdom of God when Jesus completes what he started.

That is part of the idea of the comprehensive nature of the biblical worldview. It has been Gods desire from the beginning to restore humanity, to restore creation, and restore family to its original place. This begins with the first sin, and continues with the coming of Jesus the Messiah, Gods son, initiating the kingdom of God on earth bringing salvation for mankind, for nations, and for all the earth. This will be completed later not with the destruction of the earth and the creation of heaven but with the recreation of heaven and earth.

Thus we begin to think like God about other people, about self, about nature. All of it is valuable and wonderful to God. All of it is in the grand scheme of Gods redemption. So we should treat nature, self, and communities with love and respect because God does.

My examination of western evangelicalism is that we have been very good at spreading the Platonic dualist gospel of Jesus around the world but we have not as often spread the holistic gospel of Jesus’ kingdom on earth as in heaven.

The good news for earth and everyone living on it is that God cares about its groans and pains and will one day restore it.

 

 

 

Biblical Worldview and the Whole Commission

A common buzz word around Christian circles is the “Great Commission”. Many people know of this commission from the words of Jesus in the final chapter of the Gospel of Matthew.

There is perhaps two important elements of this commission that I think people miss. So I want to be direct in talking about it cause if your reading I know how easy it is to lose interest in something you might be reading on an obscure blog.

1. Original Context of the Commission

2. The Commission in today’s context.

The Commission in today’s evangelical western context is 200+ years in the making. Something wonderful has happened according to most evangelicals. That is the evangelical missions movement. The Christianity of the 1800’s until this day have been one of extraordinary growth in the way of numbers, and nations reached with the message of salvation and the establishment of a local church. For many the great commission is a call to continue this great work of church planting and spreading the message of salvation with the nations. Is this Jesus’ Great commission?

When put into its original context and the passage observed carefully, Jesus’ commission has much more to say about the task of the church.

First of all the Book of Matthew was written primarily to a Jewish audience. Other Gospels had Jewish characteristics but not a strictly Jewish audience in mind. Jesus was addressing the commission to his disciplers and followers and the book of Matthew was addressed to a later audience of Jews.

What does that mean? What does it have to do with how we understand the commission?

Well, In order to put it into the right context we need to know what the task of the Jewish people was. How was Jesus expanding their concept of the task given to them in the Old Testament?

Simply put, the people of Israel had a task of living according to the law of God. This is not to be understood as simply a very rigorous moral code. The Law includes their history of the origins of all of humanity and Israel’s place in the family of human kind. Then they learn their own origin as a nation. They learn of the origin of their specific task as a people with the life of Abraham. Their task is to be a blessing to nations. They learn that they will be able to be a blessing because God speaks to them and reveals the way. Nations around them learn to fear God when they see what great laws the people live by and by what wisdom they have had revealed to them. But in the end they fail to maintain that blessing to the nations. Then God in the Incarnation and following his Resurrection gives his commission anew. His commission for his disciples to bless nations by discipling them is really not to different from before, there is simply a new dynamic because Christ has removed the barrier and initiated the kingdom.

In many respects the “Evangelical Modern Commission” falls very short because we see nations becoming more Christian by ratio, and by number of churches, but we see something private, something that has brought little fruit. Rwanda was devastated after the 1900’s brought the percentage of Christians from 0% to 80% in about 80 years only to see 1 million people exterminated and calamities ensue. Christians fought Christians and little changed on the level of Rwanda’s culture.

There are many stories where the “Evangelical Movement” has boasted of its great accomplishments to plant churches and save souls. Little has been accomplished in the last 200 year by the evangelical missions movement that would seem to have touched on the original context of the great commission.

The great commission is really an extension of all of Gods commissions given to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses & Israel, and David. These covenant commissions remind us that Gods goal is not redemption of souls alone but whole people, whole cultures, and the whole of creation.

What we need to know is the whole picture of Gods redemptive plan. It involved discipling nations and bringing the kingdom as well as the king into whatever communities we touch, baptizing them in the name of the father, son, and holy spirit. Our brokenness in the Christian worldview is due to the last 200 years of our Evangelical Christian theology.

It is a theology that has rejected secular studies, or humanities, for fear of being humanistic, or secular, or a social gospel adherent. There is a real lack of knowledge with regard to creating and nurturing culture. The abandonment of the studies of humanities has created a really big problem for the defense of the Christian worldview. Because for the past 200 years there is little evidence to defend it. There is a reason to defend it and reason to live it. There are enough examples of this, there are also wonderful examples of this before this whole western strand of evangelicalism began to plague the church. In fact it is dominantly an American Evangelical disaster. America as a nation made strong efforts to break with its European past. This was seen in the movement of the church as well. What the American Christian needs is a better starting point then American Missions movement. We obviously need the whole picture of scripture, the early church, the middles ages, the reformations, the Renaissance, the enlightenment, and the birth of the modern era which has all become the foundation for the modern day, evangelical, missions movement.

We need a better worldview, our belief systems as Christians have been infected throughout a long history of influence. Gnosticism and Platonism of the early church gave us our dualistic Greek thinking. The “enlightenment” encouraged us to keep looking to Greek dualism and add to it all the ‘isms’ of Modernity; humanism, scientism, materialism, rationalism, empiricism, Marxism, existentialism Darwinism, est. These worldviews have corrupted and contributed to the Christianity that we have inherited today. Truly, the only way to cure this begins with seeking God and his truth through commitment to study of the scriptures, and through steady increase in the knowledge of history and worldviews. Then one day you might be able to hold up on one hand a christian worldview that is unparalleled to that of all other worldviews because it is not something man made but God given.

Incarnation, Death, Resurrection and the End of Christian Gnosticism

I want to begin this blog with a reminder that the bible affirms environmental stewardship and the sanctity of human life. God’s created order in Genesis one and two reveal a God who created man to partner with God in the good care of all forms of life.The rest of the bible makes a strong case that man not God brings harm to the many forms of life. The fate of man is intertwined with the treatment of all other life forms.  So man, not God hurts God’s created order.The other biblical reminder is of Gods Incarnation, Death, and Resurrection. His incarnation initiates the redemptive work in nature and humankind. The idea that the all mighty, powerful, creator putting on human flesh transforms our idea of a distorted humanity. He continues this redemptive work when he is killed, buried and then resurrected. He is reversing what Adam had broken in humanity by taking on death, and overcoming it for all mankind. That he would take on the flesh of a sinful race, die, and be resurrected confirms that God’s creation is still worthy of preservation.We are challenged to be better caretakers of our environment, because God has carried for it, because he created it, because he incarnates it regularly, because he has future plans for its full restoration.His plans for the future restoration includes the present. Right now God’s Word is to be incarnate in our lives. We are to follow the model he sets, the job he gives in creation, the job he gives, “go make disciples of all nations” and again in Acts “to the ends of the earth”. So all nations, all people, all lands, all of nature is to be touched by people of God bringing reconciliation and trans-formative restoration. His holistic approach reminds us when we attempt to evangelize a man that we treat him as a whole man. We make our appeal not simply in mechanical terms of truth but in the spirit of Love. We are not appealing simply to a soul without a mind or a body. Love means physical emotional connections must be made. When appealing to the mind we must bring some facts, some reason, some absolute certainty. Yes, and the third, man is a spirit and not just a mind with a body. Man is a metaphysical creature.Just as our appeal is not only to one part of nature, or one nation of people. It is also to all of creation, all of humanity, and all of what is human. Jesus came to bring back to life all that is dead in his created order.

The Doctrine of the Trinity affirms these many beliefs. That God is in some way inseparable from his creation by the three facts; that it is his creation, that he acted by his word to protect and guide the future redemption of all of creation and that he has taken on flesh and entered into creation. That man is made in God’s image affirms the three parts of man that are to be redeemed. Non Human nature also bears the mark of trinity in Protons, Neutrons and Electrons. These three particles are the building blocks of all physical substances. Protons have a positive charge, electrons are negative and neutrons are neutral. In the same way we have the basic particles made up of Hadrons, Leptons and Bosons.So how is it that we can get the trinity right without getting rid of Christian Gnostic attitudes towards creation. So much negativity has been built up towards the natural order. We are ready to see it all come crashing down. We are ready to see Jesus come back and save it all. But why are we not ready to defend the earth, to defend what God made in humanity.Maybe we need to set our eyes anew on the last book of our sacred library. Maybe Revelation has something to say. For isn’t it this book that many think confirms our fears, that it is all coming down. That when it does then the rescue comes. Why not just hold on until the end, be raptured, be rescued, and forget about trying to make a pathetic effort to fix any of it.Just as Jesus left it to his church to go into all the world and disciple nations. Revelation 21 reveals the climax of this work. That when Jesus’ kingdom comes in full the kings of the nations will bring into the kingdom of God the glory and honor of nations. (verses 24-26). How sad it will be for those who simply held on until the end. There will be no glory and honor being brought into the kingdom of God. There will be no part in bringing in the kingdom of God. Discipling nations to walk in holistic renewal, not just their churches, and the souls of people. But whole people,  whole nations, and the whole of creation. Only this work will be brought into the kingdom of God when it is in its fullness.My friend Ron Smith, says that “The trinity, is a theological hill to die on”. I think I get what this means when I consider that God also has a certain kind of wholeness. We can distort his image to being parts of the trinity. When we do this we are vulnerable further to distorting the parts of man, parts of nature, and the nature of the Christian mission. A single crack in the trinity can wreck the church’s witness.