The Rest of the Old Old Story

Actually, this is an answer to a prayer that wasn’t even prayed. Sometimes he answers before we even call on him.

One of the school projects for our Jr. High boys was to build a windmill and learn about power generation and green power in the process. We purchased instructions for building an inexpensive windmill, we got some men with experience in eletrical power to teach them, and they set to work following the building instructions.

When it came time to measure and cut the blades for the windmill, the boys hit a standstill. Justin, the most experienced craftsman of the students, wasn’t sure how to cut it exactly.

As they debated the best process, one of our construction guys drove up. They nabbed him, got his advice, and got the blades cut.

It’s not like our construction guys drive up, during the day, to a school class on a regular basis. This was completely out of the blue and an answer to prayer, even if that prayer was unvocalized.

As my wife sought to struggle through the rest of the project, the next blessing from God was that same construction worker, Ray, volunteering to take over the project.

No, that sort of answer to prayer will never convince an atheist that God is real.

When you live your life like this on an ongoing basis, however, it begins to become obvious that our God, who has always been a God who hides himself, is happy to reveal himself to those whose hearts are his.

I took a little risk and wrote a post on Charles Darwin his 200th “birthday.” Why would I do that?

Darwinism is blamed for turning people away from God. I don’t believe there is any truth to that accusation. In fact, I believe it’s a scapegoat, turning our attention away from what does turn people away from God.

Jesus said that the world would know the Father sent him because of Christian unity. Paul said that people who say “I’m of Paul” and “I’m of Apollos” and “I’m of Peter” and even “I’m of Christ” are carnal and divisive (1 Cor. 1:10-13; 3:3-4).

Despite these clear Biblical statements, it is very difficult to find a Christian who is willing to do anything about the fact that it is normal for us to say “I’m a Baptist,” “I’m a Pentecostal,” etc.

It’s hard to find a Christian who even cares.

Scientific Accuracy of the Bible

Instead, we haggle on about whether on about whether Genesis one is scientifically accurate when it’s obviously not. Unless the sky is a hard dome holding up water and containing the sun, moon, and stars, Genesis one is either not literal or it’s in error scientifically (Gen. 1:7-8, 14-18).

This is just true. You and I can like it or not like it, but it’s just true.

Amazingly enough, while we fight for a literal Genesis, we forget all about fighting for obedience to the teachings of the New Testament.  Where are the people clamoring that Luke 14:33 is literal, so we need to give up all our possessions if we are going to call ourselves Christians?

I’m speaking (writing) a bit harshly, which I don’t want to do because I can’t see my audience. There is a love that is shed abroad in the heart of disciples by the Holy Spirit. That love makes them long to be together.

That love will change the world. By it, the world will know that we are disciples (Jn. 13:34-35), and by the unity it brings, the world will know that Jesus is from God (Jn. 17:20-23).

Two things stop that love.

• “Christians” don’t take Jesus seriously.

Jesus only takes disciples who lay down their lives, take up their cross, obey him, and forsake their possessions and the world (Luk. 9:23; 14:26-33; 1 Jn. 2:3-4, 15-17). If that’s not your attitude in following him, you can’t be his disciple. He won’t give you the Spirit, and you won’t have the love that makes unity in your heart.

• Disciples are deceived into devoting themselves to fellowship with those who are not disciples.

They attend churches consisting mostly of non-disciples, and they give themselves to those churches thinking they’re doing what God wants.

What an awesome success that has been for the devil!

He couldn’t separate the disciples by force in the early days of Christianity, so he released all his children to become Christians en masse. The actual disciples of Jesus were so mixed up in the mass of the devil’s children that their unity dissolved.

That happened when most of the Roman empire became “Christians” during Constantine’s reign.

Despite a few bright, shining group of disciples, Christianity has never recovered.

Doing Something About It

It may seem cold to walk away from non-disciples, but there will never be a testimony to the world until that happens. God wants a city set on a hill to shine to the world, not a bunch of “this little lights of mine” all separated.

When that unity happens, we may still argue and exchange harsh words over Genesis one. Disciples, however, are moved by the Spirit of God to love one another with a love that astounds the world. We’ll agree or disagree on Genesis one as God wills, but either way we’ll be guided by God, we’ll stay together in remarkable love, and the world will notice.

Until that happens, we can fight for a scientifically accurate Bible all we want, but the world will keep reading about the hard as metal sky in Job 37:18 and think we’re stupid.

P.S. A Comment from a Reader

I could have put this in the comment section, but this deserves mentioning. Someone wrote me to point out that the world thinks we’re stupid for laying down our lives for one another, denying ourselves, and all the other things that mark disciples.

Basically, he was saying, “Who cares if the world thinks we’re stupid.”

Valid point.

Okay, I should change what I said above. Let’s not actually be ignorant. (And let’s drop the pejorative word “stupid.” Sorry for bringing it up.)

If the world thinks we’re stupid for obeying Christ, great. However, if the world thinks we’re ignorant because we’re ignoring things the Bible says (like Job 37:18 and 1 Sam. 2:8), twisting the word of scientists (<a href=”http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/patterson.html”>A tale of Two ‘Cites’</a>), and refusing to look at the very nature that God says is a testimony to his majesty–well, then I think we’re  making a big mistake.

I would be remiss not to honor Charles Darwin, whom I believe to be a truly great man, on the 200th anniversary of his birth.

I among those who have actually read On the Origin of Species, his ground-breaking—and breath-taking—work on origins, creation, and evolution. It is simply astounding in its breadth of knowledge, depth of insight, and heights of honesty and humility.

Oh, that more Christians would write with the same honesty!

The Origin of Species 

It is obvious that most people who try to answer Charles Darwin have not read Origin. They assume that he got his ideas from fossils and rocks.

Au contraire, it was his job as a naturalist to catalogue and categorize living things.

The difficulty of that job led to his theory concerning the origin of species.

His book begins by describing his difficult task. He explains that following his training, he would categorize pigeons into three genera and eight distinct species. The problem was, he and everyone else knew that all the domestic pigeons in England were descended from one species, the Rock Pigeon. Nonetheless, pigeons, bred over 2,500 years, differed in such important physical features as even number of vertebrae.

He goes on to explain the difficulty of trying to decide whether a type of pine tree belongs to a different genus, species, subspecies or variety than others.

Varieties were supposed to be related to each other by descent. Seperate species were supposed to have been created separately by God. He had immense difficulty even categorizing these living things, much less deciding which were separately created!

Nonetheless, creationists today try to argue against Darwin by saying–in gross ignorance–that creatures around us categorize easily into species.

They do not!

Darwin Began Thinking . . .

. . . If all those doves descended from the rock pigeon, as was known, then what if the rock pigeon and the birds nearest it descended from a common ancestor. If that could be proven, where would the stopping point be?

You and I would answer, “Who knows?”

You and I are not Charles Darwin.

Darwin was amazing. As I read his book, I wondered if he knew every creature on the earth from the smallest single-celled organism to the largest elephant or giraffe. He knew creatures from the sea, he knew plants, he knew fungi, and he knew the animal kingdom. He could pull examples from any of them.

Every example of evolution that Darwin gave was from living creatures. He didn’t rely on the fossil record. He found the evolution of lungs, the eye, and a crab’s claw in nature; in things currently alive. He found those evolutionary lineages step-by-gradual-step, making it quite clear how a swim bladder could become a lung and a set of light-sensitive cells could become an eye.

He was even able to offer an explanation of the evolution of instinct and behavior.

Believe it or not, I’m a Christian, and . . .

I’m a creationist. I believe God created the earth and man through evolution. I see the hand of God in the largest stars, which use an attribute of iron to result in supernovas that spread carbon-based molecules across the sky.

Every supernova does that.

Carbon-based molecules.

They’re called organic molecules because they’re the dust of life. You and I, we’re made of stardust.

I believe the heavens declare his glory, and the firmament his handiwork. They don’t lie. They proclaim his power and greatness.

Did Darwin Recant on His Deathbed

On the authority of Answers in Genesis–an anti-evolution, pro-creation organization–he did not.

They write:

It therefore appears that Darwin did not recant, and it is a pity that to this day the Lady Hope story occasionally appears in tracts published and given out by well-meaning people.

There was a story, published in his day that a “Lady Hope” had visited him and talked to him about God. That story seems unlikely to be true, and even if it was, she never said that he recanted; only that she talked to him. Darwin’s whole family denied the story, a lot of facts in the story don’t fit, and Darwin’s wife–who was always distressed that he was agnostic–would have been glad to verify the story had it been true.

It didn’t happen.

And if it did, Darwin would have been wrong.

A Little Honesty

I’ve been asked why I don’t take Genesis literally.

Because I’ve studied it. If you studied it, you wouldn’t take it literally, either.

Sorry, but you already don’t believe what it says.

You believe that there are galaxies spread across the universe, filled with hundreds of millions of stars each, millions of light years away.

Genesis says that the sky is a hard dome holding up water and having the sun, moon, and stars in it.

Read it. Look up raqiya (firmament) some time. People deny it, but it means something hard.

The Bible mentions the earth being set on pillars (1 Sam. 2:8; Job 9:6; 26:11; Ps. 75:3; . It says that the sky is as hard as a brass mirror (Job 37:18).

We can talk about why the Bible isn’t literal on scientific things, but we are going to have to face the fact that it isn’t literal on scientific things.

Sometime you should read through the writings of the early Christians and get a taste of the way they were always looking for the spiritual meaning God put in the Bible. That’s certainly how they found the prophecy of the virgin birth in Isaiah 7:14. Read through Isaiah 7, and you will find that Emmanuel had to be a child, born in Judah during the reign of king Ahaz as a sign to him that the kings of Israel and Syria would be overthrown by a certain time.

God never meant for Isaiah 7:14 to just be one prophecy. He always meant for it to be two, and he knew that Matthew would reveal the spiritual meaning of Isaiah 7:14 to the world in his Gospel.

We don’t need to fear for or defend God. God can defend himself. In fact, he can defend us as well. If we will leave off defending God and begin to obey him, we may find that we need him to defend us.

As long as we’re fighting for a literal Genesis while ignoring Jesus’ prayers and Paul’s commands for an obedient people, fully united in love, we won’t have to worry about God defending us. The world will leave us alone. It is the obedient and the loving who are persecuted.

I apologize for the gap between posts. It’s been a busy time at work, and I have six children as well. 

 I started the last blog by talking about the importance of unity. You should look at it and make sure you agree. The road to unity is not an  easy one. Unless you think unity is crucial, you will not make the effort.

In the last blog I recommended not calling yourself by divisive names. Today I want to talk about fellowship with other Christians.

There will never be unity unless we are able to fellowship with people whose doctrine we don’t agree with.

Let me say that again: there will never be unity unless we are able to fellowship with people whose doctrine we don’t agree with.

Pentecostals and Non-Pentecostals: A Story

When I was first told this, I was in an Assembly of God church. A brother said to me, “We can’t keep seeing Baptists as half-Christians. They’re our brothers and sisters in Christ.”

The Assembly of God is a Pentecostal denomination. They believe the baptism in the Holy Spirit is a second experience, accompanied by the evidence of speaking in tongues, that all Christians should experience. Baptists don’t believe this.

Baptists have various ways of viewing the Pentecostal phenomenon of speaking in tongues. Most Pentecostals see Baptists (and other non-tongues-speakers) as second-class Christians. They’re saved, but they don’t have the power of the Holy Spirit.

I read a book once where a Charismatic–they’re also tongues-speakers–said that the faith is like a steak that most Christians keep in the freezer. Charismatics have it in the frying pan.

It doesn’t matter which side of the charismatic issue you’re on. You’re not going to get everyone to agree with you; at least not today. Can there be unity without agreement on these things?

How Much is Christian Unity Worth?

Do you believe that those Charismatics are Christians? If you’re a Charismatic, do you believe those Baptists are Christians?

If so, then they’re your family. They’re your brothers and sisters.

Jesus expects you to lay your life down for them. Our Father believes all of them–all that are really Christian–are his children, and he has told you in the Scriptures to be one heart, one mind, intent on on purpose, and to strive together with them for the faith of the Gospel.

Church Unity vs. Christian Unity

Lots of Christians are willing to devote themselves to unity in their own church. But are we willing to devote ourselves to unity among Christians in general?

Remember, Jesus said that the unity of his disciples would prove to the world that the Father sent him. He requested “perfect unity,” the unity he has with the Father, as proof of who he was.

Are we really giving him that while a Presbyterian church and Baptist church sit on corners of the same intersection?

Call it unity all you want. You’re not  fooling God; you’re not fooling the world; you’re not fooling me; and I hope you’re not fooling yourself.

Doctrine divides the Presbyterian and Baptist churches.

They both admit the other is Christian, but they don’t fellowship. They mind their own business. They live and let live.

That is tolerance, not unity.

It’s certainly not the perfect unity of the Father and Son and Jesus prayed for.

Can We Really Do Anything?

What I’m requesting of you will get harder and harder as the days go by, but you can start with this simple thing. I have seen God bless it with godly Christians over and over.

Personally become blind to denominations!

Last time I asked you to refuse to call yourself by a denomination. Now I’m asking you to ignore them as distinctions between Christians.

For right now you may have to attend a denominational church. We are working towards the day when you won’t. I believe that day can come. Remember, it was Jesus who prayed for it.

Find a different church’s prayer meeting to attend. Find a local Bible study that’s interdenominational or of another denomination. If you move to a new town, attend a new denomination’s church!

That’s asking a lot, I know.

We are ignoring the request of Jesus Christ–supposedly our Master and Lord–that we be perfectly united in one mind and one heart (re: Php. 2:2). It’s asking a lot of him to put up with centuries of our lack of concern about something that was on the forefront of his mind as he went to his death for our sins.

Someone has to do something.

This is the easy stuff. Are you that someone?

Jesus prayed that we would be perfectly one so that the world would know the Father sent him (Jn. 17:22). Paul said that division is a work of the flesh (Gal 5:19-21). Actually he said that denominations are a work of the flesh.

In the KJV, one of the words in the list of works of the flesh is “heresies.” That is a transliteration (a non-translation, in which you simply rewrite the word with an English spelling) of the Greek word haireseis. Most modern translations render it as “factions.”

That word is used five times in the Book of Acts, and each time it refers to one of the sects of Judaism, such as the Sadducees, Pharisees, and even once in reference to “the Way,” which is what the Christians were being called. In other words, haireseis could legitimately be translated “denominations.”

The question is, if Jesus prayed for perfect unity and denominations are a work of the flesh that could keep us out of heaven (Gal. 5:21), how do we change the way things are? Unity isn’t exactly what American Christians are known for. In fact, we’re famous for our division, and we’re busily exporting it to the rest of the world, training them to divide according to doctrine and denomination just the way we do.

How do we get out of this pattern?

First, the word “denomination” literally means “to set apart by name.” You can quit calling yourself a name. “I’m a Baptist”; “I’m Assembly of God”; “I’m a Presbyterian”; “I’m Calvinist”; “I’m an Arminian”; All these names divide us from one another. Paul rebuked the Corinthians for this very thing: “For you are still fleshly . . . While one of you says, ‘I am of Paul,’ and another, ‘I am of Apollos,’ are you not fleshly?”

Friends, the devil is laughing at us. He wants us to believe that it is impossible to obey Christ. He wants us to believe that unity is impossible, and he wants us to believe that we have no choice but live in the works of the flesh: schisms, divisions, denominations. That’s a dangerous place to stay, since those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of heaven.

One small step, clearly taught in Scripture. Stop calling yourself by a name. We’ll talk more about these names later, as we talk about how to come into unity with those from another denomination.

Up the road, I’m going to ask you some really hard things, so you’d better decide here whether it’s Jesus and Paul who are opposed to our divisions and denominations or just me. Look at the Scriptures above and decide whether this matter of unity and division is important because you are not going to follow through if you don’t decide. This first step is easy; some of the others are not. They’ll involve letting go of things your flesh treasures. There’s a reason Paul calls denominations a work of the flesh, you know.