Tag Archives: Faith

Now I Know Why Many Evangelicals Have Empty Heads

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Evangelical_brain

Mike Ratliff, writing for the Christian Research Network, had this to say about faith:

…Human faith is not the same thing as Genuine (saving) faith, which is a gift from God. The former is based in Human reason and intellect. The latter is supernatural. What passes for faith in many professing believer’s “Christianity” is a belief based in who preaches to or teaches them. This is not Genuine faith because it is not a belief in the Word or in God through the Word. These are “believers” who will eventually fall away. Some may last a lifetime, but as soon as the fires of tribulation come upon them they slide into apostasy because their faith is not of the substance that endures…

In one short paragraph, Ratliff reveals WHY so many Evangelicals have empty heads, why they lack any sort of intellectual acumen.

Why, you ask? Because God has replaced their human faith with genuine faith. According to Ratliff, genuine faith is a gift from God. Human faith is not from God and is based on reason and intellect.

There ya have it…God gives Evangelicals faith and BOOM out goes their reason and intellect. In comes a faith God gives, a faith that leads people to believe things like the Bible is inerrant,the earth was created in six days six thousand years ago, Adam and Eve were real people, and Jesus really, really did walk on water and resurrect from the dead.

This is me being snarky. Smile Ratliff’s post is another reminder of how preachers like him keep people enslaved by telling them that their human intellect and reason should never be trusted. Instead trust the pronouncements of Ratliff, the man of God, God, the Holy Spirit,  and His inerrant, inspired Bible.

Ratliff and others like him know that if people really begin to use their intellect and reason they are likely to exit stage left. Thinking Evangelicals often don’t stay in the Evangelical church. Once they see that they been snookered by their church and pastor, they move on to places where reason and intellect are appreciated.

Notes

The Christian Research Network is owned and operated by the infamous Christian watchdog, Ken Silva.

Local Writer Confuses Ignorance for Faith

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faith

Front Porch Publishing puts out two magazines that are distributed free of charge to local businesses. The magazines, Living Today and Boomers Today, are filled with advertisements and feel-good articles that have a decided Christian bent.

The most recent issue of Living Today had several Easter oriented articles. I thought I would share with readers what passes for Christianity here in rural NW Ohio.

Brenda Young, in an article titled, I Believe He Lives! wrote:

Over the years, I’ve come to my own  understanding of faith, and it goes like  this…I don’t understand electricity.  I’ve seen it light up the storm clouds overhead and felt its static spark at my fingertip. I don’t  understand it, but I have faith that an electrical current will make a light come on when I flip a switch.

I don’t understand chemistry. I read  that it is the study of matter and energy and  the interactions between them. I still don’t  understand it, or even the definition of it; but  I have faith that an antibiotic created by a chemist will make my infection go away and  I’ll feel better.

I don’t understand how my cell phone  works. We can talk channels, frequencies, and transmitters until we’re both blue in the face,  and I still won’t understand it. But I have faith that when I turn it on, (if I remembered to  charge it) I can talk to anyone on this planet. I don’t understand how an elevator works…

…I don’t understand how an airplane can lift  its huge body off the ground and soar above the clouds. But I have faith that it will do just  that and take me to Florida in the winter when I need sunshine.

I don’t understand many things about  nature. I saw the buds on the trees turn to leaves and then change colors and fall off. That’s a mystery to me, but I have faith the cycle will be repeated again this year…

…I don’t understand how Jesus took on the form of man or why He would voluntarily come to earth to die on a cross for  my sins. I didn’t see Him, myself, but I read in God’s Word  that He did. And because He did, I have faith that my sins are  forgiven and my life has been changed.

I don’t understand how a man can die then come back to  life in three days. But I have faith that Jesus is alive and sits at  the right hand of God in heaven today. I don’t understand how anyone can live eternally. But I  believe…because Jesus lives eternally, I will too.

Brenda Young confuses ignorance for faith. Christian faith is about believing without proof. (Hebrews 11:1-6) While there is enough evidence to prove that a man named Jesus lived 2,000 years ago in Palestine, there is no evidence, outside of the Bible , for that Jesus working miracles and resurrecting from the dead. Believing in a supernatural Jesus requires faith since there is no proof for the claims Christians make for Jesus.

However, the faith required to believe in a supernatural Jesus is not the same as the ignorant faith Young uses in her natural world faith illustrations.

Does a person need faith to understand electricity, chemistry, cell phones, airplanes, and the changing of the seasons?  Of course not. Atheist and Christian alike can understand these things through observation, experimentation, and study.   We don’t need faith to explain these things and all that Young is displaying in this article is blissful ignorance.

Young’s claims about Jesus…his death for her sins and his resurrection from the dead are metaphysical claims that have no explanation outside of faith. This is why many of us do not believe. We do not have the requisite faith necessary to believe in a person atoning for our sins and resurrecting from the dead.

Young’s article does not surprise me. Christianity is awash in cheap clichés, shallow metaphors, and blissful ignorance.

For the Christian It’s Not about the Evidence

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There’s one thing that atheists and agnostics need to understand. A person becoming a Christian has never been JUST about the evidence. We mistakenly think that if we just show a Christian the evidence that they will abandon their Christianity and embrace atheism or agnosticism. How’s that working for us?

The truth is Christianity as a belief system is all about faith. Hebrews 11:1-3 says, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
How does a person become a Christian? Ephesians 2:8,9 says For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

The Christian, by faith, decides to believe certain things. He believes the Bible is the word of God and what it says is truth. He believes that the central teachings of Christianity found in the Bible are true regardless of the fact that they contradict what we otherwise know to be true.

The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, that he was born of a woman named Mary who was impregnated by God. It is common knowledge that virgins cannot have a baby. Unless they were impregnated by a man’s sperm there can be no baby forthcoming. The Christian knows this but chooses to disregard it because, by faith, he believes the story in the Bible of the virgin birth of Jesus Christ.

It is also common knowledge that when people die they stay dead. I know of no evidence that suggests that a person lying dead in the grave for three days has any hope or possibility of coming back to life. When you’re dead you are dead. The Christian knows this but chooses to disregard it because, by faith, he believes the story in the Bible of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

The Virgin birth of Jesus Christ and the resurrection of Jesus from the dead are two essential doctrines of the Christian faith. There is absolutely no evidence for these two events outside of the Bible. It requires faith to believe these two cardinal Christian doctrines and the Christian must deny what he otherwise knows to be true.

Christians do a great disservice to Christianity by attempting to argue Christianity on an evidence alone basis. This is an argument that they cannot win and they only hurt their own cause when they attempt to argue faith claims in an evidence arena. Outside of the Bible there is no proof that virgins can have babies and dead people can get out of the grave and live again. These are stubborn facts that can not be refuted.

Does this mean that Christians are stupid or ignorant? Of course not. I recognize that Christianity has never been just about the evidence. Christianity purports to answer what we call the big questions of life. Where did we come from? What is the purpose of life? Is there life after death? The Christian Bible answers these questions and more. For atheists and agnostics the answers to these questions seem empty and of little value but we need to remember not everyone is like us.

Who am I to stand in the way of what helps someone get through the night? It matters not whether or not I think their beliefs are a flight of fancy. All that matters is whether or not their Christian beliefs meet the need they have in their life. We often forget that many people come to the Christian faith in a time of crisis. Let’s face it, atheism doesn’t do a very good job of comforting people when they are hurting, sick or dying. Often all we have to offer is love and compassion wrapped in the reality that life is shitty and hard and everyone dies in the end. Brutal I know, but it is the truth.

Ask yourself, when is the last time you have won over a Christian by argument and evidence? Doesn’t happen much does it? Christianity is much more complex than that and we need to recognize it. It’s not the end of the world if a Christian dies thinking they will go to heaven. At the end of the day who cares? For whatever reason the Christian needs faith to make it through life and they need to think that there is something better awaiting them after they die. I don’t fault them for believing these things.

But as an atheist I cannot believe the things that Christians believe. Why? I don’t have faith. All I have is a Bible that Christians tell me is the truth but I find no persuasive evidence for its truth claim. I know that faith would fix the lack of evidence problem for me but I’m not willing to relegate matters of life and death to such a subjective thing like faith. I wish I could but I can’t.

Know It All Christians

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(my response in italics)

One thing three years of blogging has taught me…

A lot of Christians are know-it-all’s. They have got it figured out. They KNOW they are right and they KNOW I am wrong and they even KNOW why I ended up where I am today.

Take Britta, a commenter on the Welcome post:

Hi Bruce – I think I see how you ended up here. I’ve not read all of your posts, but it seems that your path is similar to a lot of folks: entrenched in some legalistic sect (borderline cults, really), then fleeing from that absurd burden you are comforted by those espousing that “the well is poisoned” (liberals of the old mainline groups), until finally you have to ditch it all. I can’t say I blame you too much – it’s exhausting to be tossed about on every wave.

Britta read all of about 15 posts. She didn’t read one post in the My Journey section. Based on 15 blog posts she came to the conclusions she did. Truly amazing, I must say. Many Christians have a magical gift of being able to pass judgment on most anybody using the slimmest of information. Of course this is directly opposite of what the Bible teaches. A Christian should never make any judgment before hearing (reading) the whole story.

But I don’t believe that you’re an athiest. Sure, you say you don’t believe in the God of the Bible, but you do believe in a god. You. Perfectly reasonable, actually. There is no other choice. I know that know other god is going to show up and pronounce himself as such — and you know it, too, despite your protestations — and so you get to stay god of your world. Tah-dah! (Atheism is really disingenuous.)

Britta evidently thinks that there is no such thing as an atheist. Either a person believes in the Christian God or they are their own God. Atheists need not apply.

No matter how many times Christians like Britta assert there is no such thing as an atheist……..here we are. And our numbers are growing. Pretending something doesn’t exist doesn’t make it so.

If by God, Britta means the person in control, then yes, I am my own God. It is my life, who else would be in control of my life?

Christians are no different. Oh, they “say” God is in control of their lives but they, for the most part, don’t live any differently than the atheist. Christians and atheists alike are….human and act as humans act. Are Christians morally superior than atheists? The evidence suggest they are not. Day in and day out Christians and atheists alike live their lives the best they know how. The Christian is every bit as much the God of his world as the atheist. (contrary to what the Bible says) The Christians speaks about a God who is in control of everything but then turns around and lives as if God is not not in control at all. (except for an occasional winning touchdown or election win)

Maybe I’m being too harsh. Perhaps, despite your own time in the pulpit, you never understood the simplicity of grace. It really is foolishness to the perishing, but life to those being saved, so here ’tis, for good measure:

Britta now gets down to what she really thinks……Despite 50 years in the Christian church, despite 25 years in the pastorate…..I never understood the simplicity of grace.

Of course the unstated point here is that Britta understands what I do not. She proves her point by loosely quoting a Bible verse. It is all foolishness to me because I am perishing. (lost, headed for hell) It is life to her because she is one of the saved. (or one that is being saved)

You (and me and all of us) are not perfect. A God worth worshiping IS perfect. Perfection rightly demands perfection, and since none of us can attain perfection, God offered himself in our place to be that perfection. Nothing we do merits his gift. All we have to do is accept it — that is, bend a knee and admit that we are lost without God and his gift of grace.

Britta and I agree on one thing……none of us are perfect. However, Britta’s comment betrays an arrogance found among many Christians. While they may not be perfect they seem to think their interpretation of the Bible is perfect.

Britta asserts God is perfect. What proof does she have that God is perfect? The Bible? Surely not. God should never have written the Bible. By putting it all down on the printed page he opened himself up to charges that he is far from perfect. In fact, God is quite capricious. He even changes his mind. I would think a perfect being would get it right the first time. God fucked it up from the start. He couldn’t even get creation right.

Evidently Britta has not read James. James seems to contradict Britta’s assertion that salvation is a free gift and that all we have to do is receive it. James says, faith without works is dead. So which is it? Faith alone? Faith plus works?

(and I should add that Britta does a poor job at presenting the Christian gospel. Her presentation is incomplete, to say the least.)

It’s an easy burden — but the crank legalist won’t allow it, neither will an ersatz intellectual grasp it. I’m sorry both camps have been so hard on you. (Really, I am sorry – no snark.) It takes the Spirit of God to discern things of the spirit. I’ll pray that God will open His Word to you.

Britta betrays the true nature of much of modern Christianity. It is nothing more the good, old fashioned Gnosticism. You see, a person can’t discern the Bible, the things of the Spirit, unless the Spirit of God gives them the ability to do so. On one hand people are told they must repent and believe the gospel but on the other hand they are told they can’t even discern what God wants unless God lets them.

Britta thinks she has a special, inside track with God. She is praying that God will open up the Bible to me. What is God going to show me that I haven’t already seen?  Is there some secret message, some secret code that has somehow eluded me all these years? How will I know if God opens up the Bible to me? Will I start speaking Aramaic Greek?

I wish you the best, sir…
Britta

What if “best” is where I am now? Does Britta genuinely wish me the best? Of course not. There is no “best” without Jesus. (or Britta’s version of Jesus)

Next is a comment from Jason who commented on the What Do Christians Really Believe about God, Jesus and the Bible post.

I have no doubt that there are “Christians” that don’t understand a lot. Many of them, as you say, may be inclined to blindly follow. However, I don’t agree that this is true of most or any “real” Christians. Those actively reading God’s word and being involved in church groups would not follow these categories. The “Christians” you are referring to in these statements are the ones who are simply professing Christians.

Right away Jason lets me know that there are two types of Christians, professing Christians and REAL Christians. Of course Jason is a REAL Christian. I find it interesting that every Christian who takes this approach always thinks they are one of the REAL Christians. Calvinists do the same. I have never met a Calvinist who didn’t say they were one of the elects. Seems quite self-serving.

About this statement:

“Christians are confused about what salvation is. Of course this is understandable because the Bible teaches many different plans of salvation.”

I don’t quite understand what you mean by the Bible teaches many different plans of salvation. It says clearly that Jesus is the only way to God the Father in John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through Me’”. The Bible also explains in Romans 5:8 that Jesus did in our place and wiped our sin clean “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” It’s beyond me what other kind of “plan of salvation” could be.

Jason is perplexed by my statement that the Bible teaches many different plans of salvation. I know Jason has been “taught” that there is only one plan of salvation but he might want to read the Good Book again.

In the Old Testament how were people saved? By keeping the law.

In the New Testament how were people saved? Paul said by faith. James said by faith and works. In Acts the early Church concluded that certain works were required for Gentiles to be saved.

There are hundreds of Christian sects. Every sect has their own take on salvation. Is it by faith alone? If it by faith and works? Is it by baptism for the remission of sins? Must a person speak in tongues as evidence of salvation? Must a person persevere to the end to be saved?

Supposedly, the salvation message is so simple that even a child can understand it. If so, why is there so much confusion in Christianity? If, as Britta says above, the Holy Spirit gives discernment, why is there so much confusion? Maybe the Holy Spirit needs to be relieved of his duties. Perhaps God should do away with the Bible and put out a FAQ. In the FAQ God should state very clearly his demands. Use as few words as possible. Surely God wants everyone to know the simple gospel message. Oh wait, no he doesn’t since he created some people so he could damn them and he even makes some people spiritually deaf so they will not hear the gospel. What kind of God says to a deaf man, HEAR?

I understand that you, as a former pastor, may have been faced with many people that fell under the categories listed, but I reassure you that Christians, like myself, who, really in their hearts believe that Jesus is their savior and make that effort to learn more about Him, don’t really fit the description.

Jason wants me to know that he is not like those other Christians. He is a sincere Christian. He is a devoted Christian. He really, really believes in his heart and he makes an effort to know more about Jesus…..not like those other “not real” Christians.

I am sure Jason means well. I have no doubt he is sincere in his belief. That said, my only advice to him is to read as many books as possible that challenge the version of Christianity he thinks is the “way, truth, and life.” Carefully read  the Bible. Forget what you have been taught. What if Paul, Peter, and James really taught three different plans of salvation? What if there really are multiple Gods in the Old Testament? Instead of interpreting everything through a Trinitarian Protestant lens, take a look at the text as written. When the Bible says “Let US make man in our image” don’t assume US means the Trinitarian Protestant God. Maybe it means multiple Gods. Polytheism can be found all over the Old Testament if a person takes off their Trinitarian Protestant blinders.

Every Christian thinks they are right. Their God is the right God. Their plan of salvation is the right plan. Their interpretation of the Bible is the right interpretation. Uncertainty and doubt are the tools of Satan.  Maybe, I am a Satanist after all. If I can get Christians to at least profess a healthy dose of uncertainty and doubt they will be better off and so will everyone else. (Certainty often brings death and destruction) If so, I am indeed doing Satan’s work. (or the Devil, or Lucifer, of Beelzebub, or whatever the heaven his name is)

Is Living By Faith an Excuse for Irresponsibility?

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The Bible commands the Christian  to live by faith. According to the Bible, without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God.

The Christian is saved by faith, through grace. Ephesians 2:8, 9 says:

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.

According to Christian doctrine no human being deserves salvation. God, a gracious, kind, loving and just being, purposes to save some sinners out the mass of sinners called the human race. God doesn’t have to save anyone, but he does. We all deserve judgment and hell, or so goes the Christian gospel.

Those who are saved by the wondrous grace of God become a new creation in Christ Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says:

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Since the Christian is a new creation in Christ, he is commanded to live a life of faith. The Holy Spirit indwells (comes to live inside of)  every Christian, teaching them everything that pertains to life and godliness.  The Christian doesn’t have to go to church to find God, God is with him 24/7.

Romans 1:17 makes it clear that the just (the justified) shall live by faith.

For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Romans 5:1,2 says:

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

The Apostle Paul told the Corinthian Church that we walk by faith, not by sight.

The Christian life is a life of faith, beginning to end. There is no work a Christian can do to gain favor with God.  Note what the Bible says in Galatians 2:16:

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

The Bible is clear that the Christian is called to live a life of faith, a life totally dependent on God.  To live a life according to the flesh, according to the philosophies of this world is to deny that Jesus is your Lord and Savior.

Let me repeat, the Bible makes it clear that without faith it is impossible to please God. IMPOSSIBLE!

How does this life of faith work out in the day to day life of the Christian?

The Christian is taught to tune into God’s radio channel. Through prayer and reading the Scriptures, along with regular attendance at public worship, the Christian can divine the will of God.

God has a perfect will for everyone. Since God  is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent he knows exactly how the Christian should live their life.  The Christian is called on to live a life of self-denial, a life where the only thing that matters is God’s will.

The Christian, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and through prayer and reading the Scriptures, is able to determine exactly what God wants him to do. 

It would seem that, if the premise above is correct,  all Christians would believe the same thing and live their lives in similar fashion.  But, as anyone knows, the Christian Church is hopelessly fractured. Sectarian splits and internecine wars  are quite common as various denominations and churches slug it out to see who has THE truth. It seems that God has a hard time making up his mind about what the “faith once delivered to the saints” is. It seems God is uncertain about how the Christian should live the life of faith. One Christian says X is a sin and another Christian says no it is not.  Both appeal to the Bible as the authority for their belief and practice.

I have sat through countless church business meetings, filled with people who had prayed about the matters that were going to be discussed. One would think that everyone in the business meeting would come to the same conclusion. I have yet to see a business meeting where everyone was in agreement. I’ve seen plenty of business meetings where everyone seemed to be in agreement but two or three weeks later, after the church gossip line has run its course, I found out that there were people not in favor of what we voted to do. It seems that the Holy Spirit changes his mind quite often.

I spent most of my adult life intimately involved with the Christian church. As I’ve said many times before I know what really goes on behind closed doors and I know where the bodies are buried. While Christianity likes to paint itself as a unified body of people who are in love with Jesus and follow him wherever he leads  the truth is there is little or no unity, and quite often, if Jesus is headed one way they are headed in the opposite direction.

Christians who are  serious about their faith work very hard at trying to know what God wants them to do with their life. They listen intently to the pastor’s preaching hoping to hear and feel that little nudge from God. They diligently read their Bible hoping that one of the verses will jump out at them, and with blaring sirens, alert them to what it is God wants them to do. The Christian will spend a significant amount of time in prayer. Prayer is where the Christian communicates with God and hopefully God communicates back with him.

I have heard countless Christians say, and I have said it many times myself, God has laid ____________ on my heart. How does the Christian know that God has laid something on their heart? They just know it. It’s that sense, that feeling that one gets when all is well and everything is at peace. It is not uncommon to hear Christians say “I have peace about this matter. God laid it on my heart.‘’Of course there is no way to know for certain that it’s God. How does the Christian prove  God is laying something on their heart?

Christians themselves realize the danger of living a life solely dictated by faith. They read their Bible, pray, seek the counsel of other people, yet they still have nagging doubts about what God has asked them to do. Sometimes, the Christian cannot bring themselves to do what they believe God wants them to do, and at that moment they become a person that is commonly known in the church as a person “out of the will of God.”

There are two labels that no Christian wants attached to their life. Out of the will of God and backslidden. Preachers spend a significant amount of time preaching to those who are considered out of the will of God, to those who are backslidden. The subpar Christians are blamed for a lot of things. The church would have revival, or the blessing of God, or have their financial or spiritual needs met, if only backslidden Christians would get right with God. It is a tremendous weight to feel that you are not right with God and that you are the blame for all the bad things that are happening.

I spent the first fifty years of my life in the Christian church. I was a devoted follower of Jesus Christ. I was intent on following the lamb (Jesus Christ) wherever he went. I attempted to live my life according to the premise “what would Jesus do?” Every day I purposed to deny myself, and take up my cross, and follow Jesus. Most every day I failed at this impossible standard but I kept trying, trying, trying.

I was taught, and I taught others, that every Christian has a cross to bear. Every Christian has a weight in their life that weighs them down, a burden they must carry. In my life I thought my weight was living in poverty. As an act of self-denial I believed God wanted me to live a life of poverty and he wanted my wife and kids (collateral damage) to do the same.

Of course pastoring poor churches made it a lot easier to live a life of poverty. I spent eleven years in one church where the highest paid man in the church made $21,000 a year. The biggest salary I ever drew from the church was $12,000. Most years my salary was in the $6-$8000 range. This church was not a small church. For several years we ran close to 200 people, but it was a church filled with members who were classified as the working poor.

During the eleven years I spent at this church my family and I never had church provided medical insurance. We took one vacation during our time there. Every week was a financial battle for us. Will the offering be big enough to pay my salary? If it wasn’t how were we going to pay our bills?

We learned a lot about ourselves during this time. We learned to do without and we learned what it really meant to be poor. I am thankful for the experience but I wouldn’t wish it on anyone else.

Every week seemed to be a crisis. We spent a lot of time trying to discern the will of God. What does God want us to do? I knew we had to have faith,we had to trust that God was going to see us through. It’s funny what God will lead you to do during difficult times.

God led us to get food stamps. God led us to sign up for Medicaid insurance. God led us to stand in line at the food bank.(actually my wife stood in line I was too embarrassed to do so)  For two of the eleven years we were at this church God led us to deliver newspapers. The other nine years God made it clear that he wanted us to live by faith, that he wanted us to do without. I rarely doubted God and his wonderful plan for my life. I just considered it all part of the whole living by faith package.

As I look back on this time in our life I realize how foolish it all was. Good intentions perhaps, but nonetheless very foolish. I was so focused on the work of the ministry and getting sinners saved that nothing else mattered. Retirement? I had no plans to retire. I planned to die with my boots on. Savings? Why save money when you can give it away to the church and those in need. Disability insurance? Who needs that? God will protect me and give me the strength that I need.

My children did without, my wife did without, and so did I, so that the work of God could prosper and God would be pleased. Church members found great pleasure in telling other people about how their pastor and his family lived a simple life, unencumbered by material things. Of course these same church members that praised us rarely had any desire to live the same life we were living. While they saved, planned for retirement, bought their home, and had insurance, my family and I lived in poverty.

I’m sure by this point someone is going to suggest that I should have done things differently. Family and financial security come first. I certainly believe that now, but at the time I believed I was doing the will of God living the way I did.  25+ years in the ministry and I only pastored one church that paid me a living wage. ( and this church didn’t provide for medical insurance) Baptist churches are notorious for not paying their pastor’s well.

I now realize that I made a lot of mistakes. My college professors taught me that my wife and family had to come second to the ministry God called me to. If I had to make a choice between family and the church, God wanted me to choose the church. I wrote a post about this a good while ago detailing my love affair with the church.

I now know my family comes first. I now know that the first priority must be to provide for the material well-being of my wife and family. I wish I had come to this revelation while I still had strength of body, but now it is too late. My body is wracked with pain and I have found it quite impossible to find gainful employment. I realize there are no do overs so I must move forward with what I have. Fortunately my wife has a good job, and through careful planning and budgeting we can live a decent life.

Four years ago we bought our first home. We had owned a couple of mobile homes that always sat on someone else’s property. Now we own not only the house but the ground underneath it. It still thrills us knowing that we own our own place.

Last year we bought a new car, the first new car we’ve owned since 1984. Between 1984 and 2010 my wife and I have driven everything from cars bought at Buy Here=Pay Here lots to $300 clunkers. There are some cars in the past, that if I brought them home today, my wife would likely do a reenactment of the Burning Bed.

For the first time in thirty-three years of marriage we have a savings account. It’s not much, but we are committed to putting money in it each week until we have enough money to take care of any emergency needs we might have.

In our living by faith days we often lived by MasterCard and Visa faith. Trust God and charge it. God will make sure the minimum payment is always made. Such thinking led us all way to the bankruptcy court and God never showed up to put a good word in for us. We no longer use credit cards. We came to realize that credit cards are temptations sent from Satan (also known as big banks) sent to wreak havoc on those who can’t afford to have credit cards. If I can’t afford to pay for it today what makes me think I can afford to pay for it tomorrow?

Of course I learned in church that if you can’t pay for something today you can trust God to give you the money to pay for it tomorrow. In many Christian circles they practice what is called faith promise giving. It is where the Christian promises to give an amount of money he does not have, believing, by faith, that God will provide the money for him.

Churches routinely do this with their budget for the future. By faith they believe God is going to increase their numbers, and by increasing their numbers increase their offerings. Sadly, such thinking results in churches strangled by debt. It is not uncommon to hear of churches going bankrupt.

If all else fails, the faith living Christian, can practice a well-known bit of Christian magic. This magic act is called putting out the fleece.

The practice comes from Judges 6:36-38:

And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said. And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.

The way putting out the fleece works is quite simple. If a Christian is uncertain about what God wants him to do he can put the question to God. “God if you want me to have this job then I ask that you have them call me by 5:00 P.M. on Thursday.  If they don’t call I will know that it is not your will for me to have the job.”

I use this method many times when I was faced with making a decision that I was uncertain about. On two occasions I was uncertain about whether or not to accept a job offer. I put out the fleece, setting a deadline for the company to call. In both cases the company did not call by the deadline. Both of them called the day after the deadline. I did not take the  jobs because I was certain that God had shown me his will through putting out the fleece.

Another biblical method is “the casting of lots” also known as drawing straws.  It is similar to “putting out the fleece.” When God’s will is unclear or multiple “will’s of God” are available, casting lots is a sure way to settle a matter. I never liked casting lots, especially if it went against what I thought was God’s will. I am sure I said in mind more than once “two out of three?”

Fortunately my wife and I taught our children far better than we lived. We taught them to save money and avoid debt. We taught them to put their family first and to provide for the future. We do not want any of our children to walk the same path we did. Our children are much farther ahead at their age than we were at that same age.

I have come to the conclusion that faith was an excuse for irresponsibility; that waiting for God to provide was an excuse for doing without. If I had to do it all over again I would have been a bi-vocational pastor. I would’ve worked a secular job. I would’ve made sure that my family was provided for, that we had insurance, that we had money saved, and that we had adequately planned for the future.

As with all things in the past, it is what it is. All anyone can do is learn from their mistakes and hope that the same mistake is never made again.

The faith choices we made in our 20s and 30s forced upon us a different lifestyle than we would like to have today. The die has been set and we just have to live with the consequences of the choices we have made, Being disabled and unable to find meaningful work plagues me mentally. I wish I had concerned myself in my younger years with taking care of what was called the Temple of God, but at that time I thought God would take care of me physically and financially. After all, I had devoted my entire life to him. Now I understand, that it’s up to me. God is not going to rescue me, bless me,meet my needs, or do anything for me. A lot of Christians, including myself, lived under the delusion that God had a wonderful plan for our lives. Yes, burdens and trials will come, but God would  never give us more than we could bear. We just needed to have faith and grind it out for Jesus.

I’ve come to see that God is not in the picture and that life consists of the choices, both good and bad, that we make. We really do have free will, the will to choose, and the will to change our ways. Yes we are influenced by our environment and by outside circumstances, but at the end of the day life is about making choices.

The Bible says to choose this day who you will serve. Joshua 24:15 says:

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

I have made a choice.

Why Evangelical Christians Believe the Bible

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Let it therefore be held as fixed, that those who are inwardly taught by the Holy Spirit acquiesce implicitly in Scripture; that Scripture carrying its own evidence along with it, deigns not to submit to proofs and arguments, but owes the full conviction with which we ought to receive it to the testimony of the Spirit. Enlightened by him, we no longer believe, either on our own judgement or that of others, that the Scriptures are from God; but, in a way superior to human judgement, feel perfectly assured—as much so as if we beheld the divine image visibly impressed on it -that it came to us, by the instrumentality of men, from the very mouth of God. We ask not for proofs or probabilities on which to rest our judgement, but we subject our intellect and judgement to it as too transcendent for us to estimate.  (John Calvin)

I wish Evangelicals would be honest about this instead of trying to “prove” the Bible is true ,reliable, accurate, scientifically accurate, historically precise, etc, etc, etc.

Evangelicals believe the Bible because the Holy Spirit tells them it is truth. This is a matter of faith.

Evangelicals embarrass themselves, and their religion, when they attempt to “prove” that the Bible is the truth.

One either accepts the claims of the Bible as truth or they don’t.

It has always been about faith.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:1-6)

HT: Ken Pulliam

Ultimately, It is About Faith

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Christianity rests on a foundation of faith. For by grace we are saved through faith….without faith it is impossible to please God…the just shall live by faith….therefore being justified by faith….the fruit of the spirit is faith…one faith…through faith we understand the worlds were framed by the word of God…without faith is is impossible to please God..looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…

Christians are called the “household of faith”

The world, non Christians, and some professing Christians are described as…reprobate concerning the faith…those who overthrow the faith of some…having erred concerning the faith…having cast off their first faith….having denied the faith….those who depart from the faith….

The Bible is clear… all men have not faith.

A number of years ago I got into a discussion with a pastor friend of mine over his belief that the King James Bible was the “perfect” word of God. Every word, as written in English, was the words of God. I gave him a list of errors that were found in the King James Bible.  He would have none of this.  He said “even if you could show me that there is an error in the King James Bible I wouldn’t believe it.  By FAITH I believe the King James Bible is the perfect, inspired, inerrant Word of God. “

Checkmate. Discussion over.

Ultimately, regardless of the argument, the Christian  will, dare i say must, resort to faith to claim victory in the argument. I’ve seen educated theologians and hillbillies with an 8th grade education use the faith argument when they could not counter an argument with truth and reason.

Once faith is injected into a discussion the discussion is over. Faith is spiritual, personal, and subjective. It can not be proved or disproved.

I find David Eller’s words to be very poignant on this issue:

Honest theist philosophers have admitted that the “arguments” for god(s) are inconclusive at best and futile at worst. I am talking here about the familiar arguments like the ontological argument or the cosmological argument or the teological (argument from design) and so on. See the first chapter of my “Natural Atheism” book on “The 12 Steps to Atheism” on all of these arguments. Take the definitely non-atheistic philosopher Immanuel Kant, who showed explicitly over 200 years ago that the ontological argument fails because “being” is not a quality but rather the precondition of all qualities. In his “Critique of Pure Reason” he authoritatively demonstrated that all “rational” arguments for religion end in contradiction and deadlock. That is obviously why modern theologians like Swinburne and Plantinga are always trying to come up with new arguments and why theists ultimately fall back on “faith”–since no argument proves their point and they want to hold their point anyhow.