My Vessel & Soul, His Life & Glory

Submitting to Silence

2007-05-22T11:22:00.001-07:00

Authority is a word that we often associate with the government(Rom. 13:1ff), parents(Eph. 6:1), or even those who enforce the law as civil servants. It's a word we think of when combating the error that lies in the trespassing of scripture when studying with others(II Thes. 5:21). For some authority means more limitations on what they can do. However, authority is liberating when approached from a scriptural perspective. For example, by God's authority set out in scripture, we can worship God in song and prayer, have fellowship, and even teach the precious message that we find in the gospel. So God's judgments in certain matters show what he has signed his name to and sometimes what he has forbade.

So what happens when there is an absence of such authority? Has God still signed his name to an act that he hasn't given authority for in scripture(II Pt 1:3)? Should we search elsewhere for that authority(Mt. 28:18; Jn. 6:66ff)? While the answers to these questions may be more obvious to most, it seems we forget them when the choice becomes ours whether to heed the silence of God or to pretend justification for our actions. In the absence of authority through the Bible, there is only limitation in what we're authorized to do.

We see this conflict more often than we might initially recognize. In fact, one of the most common excuses for justification of instrumental music in worship is, “Well, the Bible doesn't say not to use instruments!” This statement appeals, not to the authority of scripture, but the absence of an authoritative reprimand. Using this approach, along with a misunderstanding of the purpose of the New Covenant(Heb. 8:13; Gal. 3:24ff), denominations have continued the practice of vain worship for centuries.

Since its beginning in the first century, the church has been making moves away from the Bible to the left and right, disregarding God's say in things and appealing to emotion instead of scripture. If instrumental Christian music wasn't listed as an acceptable means of worship in the first century, why is it that we're so quick to make an exception for the church today? Though time and culture have changed, God's word has not, and, as far as it goes, instrumental music is not worship.

For those who wish to use such unauthorized practices for entertainment, is it not just as wrong? Why is it that a child can listen to “Christian Rock” though it is in violation of what God asked for(Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16-17)? Because we can't be edified by vain worship, there is no sense in standing by as our fellow brethren pleasure themselves on the sound of the piano, the guitar, or whatever it may be. If we don't expect children to grow up seeking instruments in worship or a coffee and donut fellowship instead of the Lord's Supper, why do we pretend that it's okay outside of the assembly?

Consequences of Compromise

2007-05-22T11:20:00.000-07:00

What is the most dangerous and threatening enemies in the future of the Lord's Church? Many would suggest that the threat is embodied by politics, world chaos and external corruption. I submit to you that this threat lies not in the world but in the potential for internal implosion that we set up through our own spiritual apathy in dealing with those external factors. This carelessness sets in when we forget our own Christian purpose and identity.

When we forsake the original identity of the church that Christ established, we also forsake the salvation he prepared for it (Acts 2:47 & Mt. 5:19). When we live in pretense that we're following Christ while sowing destructive seeds of spiritual compromise for the future, we'll have our reward. However that reward will exist in the limits of the same pretense for which we sought to gain it (Mt. 6:2). When we downplay the value of scriptural knowledge while super-sizing our emotional appeal to the emptiness we've become, we become overzealous, underdeveloped souls of confusion (Rom. 10:2).

The Youth – the flame of the church – is affected just as extremely, if not more, when spiritual compromises such as the mechanical instruments in worship are made based on a lack of identity, knowledge, and true zeal. When we set a low standard for youth while passing them off as insignificant and unhelpful individuals, we'll end up with a dependent, complacent, apathetic group of young people who spend an overwhelming amount of their time making excuses (I Tim. 4:12). Christ's church wasn't built on excuses; it was built on faithfulness (Gal. 5:22).

Respecting the Authority of God

2007-03-23T08:34:00.001-07:00

As I was sitting in one of my classes one morning, I overheard a conversation between my instructor and a fellow classmate having to do with abortion. A comment was made that both surprised and nauseated me:

"I don't believe in abortion, but I'm not going to tell other people how they should live their lives...I mean, I'm a Christian...I think that if you're [the government] not going to take care of the children, that you should just shut up!"

There were so many things about the statement that bugged me that I jotted it down in my notes to study later. Many inconsistencies and misunderstandings of the world are directly related to a depreciation for both the truth and the godhead. Think about what was said...

As I think about the statement, I can't help but notice many things that seem both contradictory and out-right false. First of all, the reason this person doesn't approve of abortion is because of social and/or personal reasons. This indicates a different standard in mind - the individual. If you don't have a biblically-backed opinion regarding biblically-addressable issues, that opinion will be wrong or in vain (Jn. 17:17). Opposing gambling, drinking, and premarital sex is pointless until you realize that those things are wrong because God says they are. Therefore, take care to know exactly what makes things wrong, and don't pretend as if the social, personal, or political reasons somehow override the ones God gave us already. If you do, where have you placed you standard?

Additionally, I see a significant amount of shame in teaching the truth, marked by a fear of confrontation (Rom. 1:16-17). As a "Christian," this person should realize the importance of spreading the truth, but the conversation indicated both a misunderstanding of Christianity itself and of the purpose of a Christian's faith. "The Great Commission" (Matt. 28:18-20) alone gives us the generic authority to teach others the truth, as a direct result of Christ's authority over the earth (v. 18). Never forget to tell what you know of the truth, no matter how a person may perceive you because of it (Gal. 4:16)

Most disturbing, though, was the complete avoidance of the real problems - unpreparedness and a disregard for the value of life. That is usually the reason for an abortion, right? Either a mother is simply not prepared for yet another child, a couple isn't ready for their first baby yet, or a couple of teenagers never prepared for the consequences of their sinful actions together. Why is it that when an issue like this arises, the last thing people consider as a solution is to curb the original problem? Is it the government's fault that thousands of teens have had premarital sex? NO. What ever happened to accepting the consequences of your actions (Gal. 6:4-5)?

Think over the ideas you propose before you throw them unsparingly over your teeth. In public, your speech can cause you to be very influential yet very vulnerable. The hardest part about Christianity is that a majority of people won't agree with what you say in most cases (I Cor. 1:18ff), but it doesn't mean that "Shut[ting] up" is the solution (Acts 5;29 & Prov. 28:1).

Compromise at it's greatest!

2007-03-21T15:05:00.000-07:00

What is it in our schools and universities that seems to invite the most accepting and tolerant yet the most undiscerning and illogical types of instructors? Perhaps it is based in the source of curriculum or the societal demand for our educational compromise. From a Christian perspective, though, one can see that we have been found wanting in several areas of education and have accepted the current state of our knowledge base.

Today, I was talking with a new friend about a class we had together. As we got further into the study, we found out exactly why she'd been having so many problems with our historical geology class.

"I just don't believe it! That's why things have been so hard for me to understand." I thought about what she had said, and it brings up one thought that we should all consider more often.

Why is it that the world wants to shut us up about the Bible when everyone claims to be founded in tolerance for different beliefs? Double standards characterize much of the logical fallacies that are taught as theory and law in our education system. We cannot appeal to the spiritual minds of the Bible, yet scientists can appeal, in a very Argumentum-ad-Verecundiam manner, to their own scientific "oracles" such as Leonardo Divinci, Aristotle, and Plato. Some textbook writers even have the desparation and audacity to appeal to general agreements of other evolutionary or humanistic researchers.

To be honest, I'm not personally surprised with the direction our nation is going. The world constantly works much harder to complicate things than they do to listen to the simple truth. The result is a generation, if not a civilization, ruled in majority by confused students of modern science. Thinking over this situation, I can see why my friend was confused: she's one of the few in the world who sees this blind acceptance as a compromise.

Pretending like there's no problem with this ideology makes one just as guilty as those who preach it from the lecturn(II John 7-13). You don't have to be force fed lies just because you're a student. In fact any student has the responsibility to verify all that the teacher says, no matter the setting (Acts 17:11). Truth can be taught to unbelievers. If it were not so, God would not have created us (Ephesians 2:10).

God's truth allows us to see the compromise into complexity that the world entertains itself with daily. Keep an open mind and a discerning heart (IITimothy 1:7).

Always with the education system...

2007-03-20T23:18:00.000-07:00

As my first post, I'd like to bring up the very topic that motivated me to create this blog. In college, where professor can spurt out virutally anything they deem justifiable, it's especially hard to establish oneself logically and emotionally when everything being taught (or simply thrown out at you, which is another problem) usually follows atleast one of the following trains of thought:

-God either doesn't exist or doesn't care what happens to us anyway Psalm 19:1 & John 3:16).
-The purpose of science is to disprove the Bible, instead of using it as the instructional tool it was designed for (II Timothy 3:16-17).
-Because there is no meaning (based on the other assumptions) we're not accountable to anyone but ourselves(Jeremiah 10:23).

Always be careful as to what ideas, assumptions, or experiences have led you to a particular mindset or belief. God truly knows everything, especially his own creation (Luke 16:15). Also don't be afraid to challenge an idea, no matter who holds it, because the preservation and defense of the truth is what keeps others aware that Christ's Church (the one established at Pentacost in the first century) still lives on today (Romans 1:16-17). Don't let teachers, family members, or your own assumptions blur the clearness of the Bible (Colossians 2:21-23).