Missional Living

A new word has popped up in our theological vocabulary: missional. Some have claimed this was an invention of the emergent church and is associated with conformity to culture and liberal theology; however, the word missional was coined by Baptist theologian Elmer Towns years ago. What it means is living like a missionary where you are. Missional is an attitude that we are on mission for Christ whether we are going to a foreign country or going across the street. I think this is the kind of attitude that we need as our country takes on a new look and adopts a new culture. Let's face it the country that we grew up with is totally different than what it is today; even the culture has shifted to a post-christian world view, although remarkably 85% of people polled still claim Christianity. As missionaries to our culture, we need to adapt and be flexible in our approaches without compromising the truth of God's Word and the Gospel message. The missional person, family, church will look for new ways to reach people, will be constantly taking on the new norms while adopting the new culture. It sounds impossible but it is not. Missionaries have been doing it for years. "Being in the world but not of the world." When you get out today, think of yourself as a missionary in a foreign land, then see how God can use you as you live missionally.

Why I own an assult rifle.

The tragedy and senseless violence that occurred in Aurora last week has renewed the anti-gun argument. Sen. Dianne Feinstein reiterated the position of an assault rifle ban on Fox News. She asks, "Why should we have military style weapons available to citizens?" She makes the point that assault weapons are not for hunting. Such weapons with multi-round magazines certainly make it easier to do greater damage in the hands of a mad man. These arguments sound sane during a tragedy like this. But I would have you consider: why should we blame the gun instead of the sinful human who used it. Sunday in Texas 23 people were packed into a truck both in the crew cab and bed. It went off the road crashing and killing 14 people and injuring 9. Do we blame the Ford truck? Do we call for a ban on trucks? Our constitution tells us we have the right "to keep and bear arms". The founders were not talking about hunting. They were talking about the citizens right to defend their freedoms, their families, their property and their country. It is the final check in a check and balance system. I have an assault rifle. I keep it well oiled and with several magazines at the ready. I enjoy shooting it, but target shooting is not the reason I own it. I enjoy collecting firearms, but collecting is not the reason I own it. I own it in the case of an emergency. If some disaster happens and there is looting and rioting, my assault rifle is my weapon of choice to defend my family, friends and property. If, God forbid, there was ever a civil war or uprising, my assault rifle is at the ready for the protection of family, friends and property. I hope I never have to use it for such purposes but it is far better that I should have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. The guy who shot those people in the movie theater is a villain. There are villains all around this world doing evil things. The response should not be the control of firearms but the control of self. We need a renewed morality in our country that is based on the Bible. Teaching young people to esteem others better than themselves. This would be a far better remedy for violence than taking away our freedoms.

Okay so you all know those Chuck Norris jokes ie.- When Chuck Norris does a pushup, he doesn't push himself up, he pushes the world down. There's hundreds of them and they are funny. But on a serious note, all of them point to the fact that Chuck Norris is a really impressive guy: six time world karate champion, movie star, television star, author and political adviser. I say all this to share a new Norrisism: Why are all other churches inferior to the Baptists? You got it, Chuck Norris is a Baptist, (my apologies to all the other denominations). Rode to Ruidoso today to help with a food, and clothing drive for all those who lost their homes in the Little Bear Fire. Rode up with the Son's of God MC and were accompanied by three other motorcycle clubs and met another when we got there. The fire was devastating with over 224 homes burned and over 36,000 acres of forest burned. It was great to be a part of the relief effort. Members of our church have already been there with the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief and my son, Jeremy, spent two weeks there with the Army National Guard. It had been a while since I rode with that large a group of bikers. It is pretty fun and sometimes hair-raising to be flying down the highway two-a-breast a couple bike lengths back from one another going ** mph. I'm sure it is the same kind of feeling skydivers get. Well, while I was off chasing the wind (and rain) deacons at our church discovered a huge water leek that flooded the sanctuary. They had to call a cleaning service and there will be no worship in that part of the building tomorrow. In fact we canceled the Saturday night service and the early Sunday morning service and will just have one service in the fellowship hall. Unfortunately, I won't even be there, I am preaching at a friends church in Albuquerque, so our youth pastor will be running the show. However, being in Ruidoso today kept it in perspective. God is good and this too shall pass.

Okay so Mitt Romney seems to be the Republican nominee. What to do? Hopefully he will choose an Evangelical conservative running mate and I can cast my vote for them. If not... well God is in control, Amen. This may sound like a cop out but God really is sovereign. Look at what King Nebuchadnezzar says of God: "For His dominion is an everlasting dominion. And His kingdom is from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, 'what have You done?" Amen!

Presidential Primary Elections

Okay, so Michele Bachmann is out and Rick Perry is out. What is a social conservative to do? At this point I'm shifting my support to Rick Santorum. Not that my support means much, but I probably represent a lot of voters who are pro America, pro life, pro 2nd amendment, pro Christianity and pro Israel. Newt Gingrich is extremely intelligent when it comes to history, politics, foreign policy but he has a lot of personal baggage; however, he freely talks about how Christ has changed his life and is repentant; therefore, he will be my next choice should Santorum drop out. As for Mitt Romny...he is nothing more than Obama Jr.. Please Republicans don't run Romny or many of us will be disenfranchised and wont vote.

Presidential Primary Elections

I am personally endorsing Michele Bachmann for president http://michelebachmann.com.
She has the same values, concerns and faith that I do. If she can handle all those foster kids she had, she ought to be able to handle the brats in congress.

If Mitt Romney wins the primary, I will sit the election out as I feel there would be no difference between Mitt Romney and Barack Hussein Obama. God help us!

Marriage

what a blessing to be able to perform the marriage ceremony for my son Josh and his lovely bride Lucy. Soli Deo Gloria!

Told You So...

Read Friday's blog. Watch Israel and our treatment of that nation. Though Israel is predominately in unbelief, God still has a plan for them as Romans chapter 11:25b,26, states "blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved". God's promise of blessing those who bless Israel and cursing those who curse Israel still holds true, and one day we will all glorify God for Israel's acceptance of the Messiah Jesus, as many Jews are have done and are doing today.

Harold Camping has proven himself over the years to be a presumptuous prophet. The Old Testament warns us not to listen to such. If someone states "thus and so" in the name of God, and "thus and so" does not happen, they are never to be heard or believed. The one good thing to come from his May 21st end of the world prediction was that it got secular people talking to Christians about what we believe. The bad thing is it invited a lot of ridicule and many Christians are ill prepared to give a defense of the Faith.

Finally today I will mention my personal favorite for the 1212 presidential run, Herman Cain. Mr. Cain is a baptist, an evangelical and a capable leader. He is a political outsider who has a passion for seeing the country change for the better. If the republicans try to run Romney, I won't vote, it would be like replacing one antichrist for another. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Pray for the victims of these tragic tornadoes and floods. Pray also for our country to repent of it's godless pursuits.

More Politics...

Well Obama has done it again. He has managed to diss every one of our allies. However, yesterdays speech on Israel is the most serious breach of policy yet. The US made a promise to Israel concerning its boarders; yesterday Obama broke that promise. Mark my words, it will not be long before another catastrophic event happens to us. Every time we diss Israel something terrible happens. Dr. Dave Reagan of Lamb and Lion Ministries, has mapped these events out, it is both frightening and amazing at how God keeps His promise, "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you". Also, I discovered a great evangelist by the name of Usama Dakdok at www.thestraightway.org. Check out what he has to say about our illustrious president.
God save the United States.

Politics

Well it has been eight months since my last post. In that time my father has passed away, my son is about to graduate high school, another of my sons is about to get married, and SBC politics is driving me nuts. Don't get me wrong, I love the Southern Baptist Convention. It is the best missions organization in the world, but it seems it is becoming more and more top heavy. In Baptist polity the local church is autonomous freely associating with associations and conventions. The convention is supposed to work for the local church not the other way around. I feel that some of the things that are taking place are moving the SBC to a more top down denomination. Already, many of the large and mega SBC churches are funding their own missions and giving less to the convention. If the convention begins to alienate the smaller to mid sized churches, which there are far more of than the larger or mega churches, they will find the co-operative program not so co-operative. Let me give you a couple of illustrations, when I was at the convention in San Antonio a few years back, the convention voted that the SBC entities, particularly the IMB and NAMB, not go beyond the Baptist Faith and Message in their qualifications. The entities have totally disregarded that injunction. Now NAMB is facing a restructuring that is going to kill a lot of missions in the western US. Then on top of that The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission led by Richard Land has been on the wrong side of several issues lately like supporting a Mormon candidate for president and sitting down with terrorists to open a dialog between Islam and Christians. Doesn't the Bible say something about fellowship with light and darkness?
Dr. Land should resign, retire or get de-funded. Anyway, I am not going to go to the national convention because the program looks to be about simply rubber stamping the agenda, and I have too much work to do locally. Maybe that is the problem, too many of us don't get involved in the politics, but unless you are the pastor of a mega-church your voice doesn't get heard. Or at least that is the impression many of us have. Politics, even when people are genuinely trying to do what is right, is not much fun, and when it becomes fun ie about winning and power, then it is for the wrong reasons. God save the SBC.

Misplaced Outrage?

I think it is disingenuous the way the media is portraying the crazy pastor in Florida who wants to burn the Koran in protest on 9/11. Yes this guy in Florida is pulling a media stunt, and getting attention; but the fact is that this will be seen as more repulsive by our media and get more attention than the honor killings of the Said sisters by their "moderate" Muslim father in Texas. Since the holy month of Ramadan began there have been 192 terrorist attacks in the name of Allah with over 900 dead. Where is the outrage? The outrage is over some fundamentalist Christian in Florida wanting to burn books. This is a world gone crazy. I’m not trying to defend this guy, I don’t like burning books because after all the Nazis burned books; however, let’s not make burning Korans the moral equivalent of burning 3000 people in the World Trade Center bombings.

Anne Rice leaves Christianity?

I guess I'm behind in the pop news because I just found out Vampire author Anne Rice left Christianity. I guess it was a couple of years ago that Anne Rice was featured in World magazine with an article about her return to Catholicism. During her tenure she wrote a couple of historical fiction books about the life of Christ. I never read them, I believe the first was titled Out of Egypt the second Christ the Lord; however, my wife read them and said they were hard to read as a Baptist because they were so full of Catholic mythology and mysticism. Since my wife is a former Catholic, I suppose she would know. The article from the Los Angeles Times stated that Anne Rice left the Catholic church because of gay rights issues, pro choice and woman's issues, etc. Bottom line is Anne Rice is a religious person who I believe to be lost. There are many people who call themselves Christians who are lost, and as Paul states in Philippians are actually "enemies of the cross". One who is "born again" does not quit Christianity. Christ himself ordained the church. In 1st John 2:19, the Apostle states: "they went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us." We need to pray that Mrs. Rice does not find a new religion but finds a relationship with the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ, not the mystical christ, nor the cultural christ but the real GOD-MAN
who loved us so much that He sacrificed Himself for our sins as a substitute taking God's wrath upon Himself, and is going to come again to judge and make war. Now is the time to receive Him!

Creation Myth?

Spent some time this morning reading articles by Darrell Falk professor of Biology at Point Loma Nazarene College. He is a theistic evolutionist. Theistic evolution is the idea that God created the "world" or at least the building blocks of the world and then allowed the process of Macro-Evolution to produce the results guided of course by the Big Biologist in the Sky aka God. In one article, he was responding to Stephen Meyer, a Cambridge trained philosopher of science. Falk, first of all in syrupy language, talked about how great a philosopher Meyer was, but then slammed him as having no right to critique a biologist. Why is it that people automatically think that just because they have a diploma they are above criticism. I've heard the same arguments from teachers complaining about mothers who home school, or physicians who won't listen to their patients. The attitude is "I've studied; therefore, who are you to tell me anything." Nowhere can this attitude be found with such vigor as in institutions of higher learning. In my field as a theologian and pastor, I would be run out of the church if I took such an attitude. There are smart people who don't have diplomas hanging on the wall but whose faith can move mountains. I believe the attitude of "I know more than you- so shut up" is detrimental not only to fair debate but to the growth of the person with said attitude.
Then Falk went on to quote scripture saying he believed in Romans 8:38-39 and that he was sure Meyer also believed this in order to facilitate common ground. However, here is the real crux of the issue: is the bible true or not. The theistic evolutionist must be selective in what he believes is true in the context of scripture for the fact of the matter is that the first chapters of Genesis have to be myth according to Falk. The Genesis creation narrative must be understood or "explained away" by making it man's account (though a far better account than other creation myths) in which to convey things for a human perspective that at the time where unexplainable. The problem is that the Apostle Paul states that "all scripture", not just the New Testament, is "God breathed" or "inspired by God" (2 Timothy 3:16). Therefore, the Genesis account of creation is not man's explanation but God's revelation. The Genesis account itself claims to be history in chapter 2 verse 4 which means in layman terms: it should be interpreted literally and not figuratively or mythologically. If we say Genesis 1-3 is myth, why not Mathew through John; they too are full of miracles and even resurrection accounts, how can that be any different then interpretationally? No, the creation account of Genesis is not myth any more than the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ; otherwise, our faith would be useless. Theistic evolution is completely incompatible with orthodox Christianity and it undermines the faith of scripture.
The other problem was that Falk intimated a stupidity on the part of Meyer when he said there was biological evidence contrary to Meyer's stated opinion to the contrary. However, it is interesting to point out that where evolutionists see chaos and chance often times creationists see purpose and intention. Ultimately it is a matter of faith not biology. So the Philosopher Meyer is right to criticize the Biologist Falk. As a theologian, my advice to macro-evolutionists is "repent and believe".
If you want to know more see http://biologos.org/blog/on-reading-the-signature-a-response-to-stephen-meyer/

Great Commission Resurgence

Here are some thoughts about the SBC Great Commission Resurgence Task Force proposals. I am all for focusing on the great commission; I believe that often the SBC has fallen to a numbers game that has lost sight of making disciples. I don't think any of the changes proposed will address this issue. I believe that the SBC should be streamlined and maybe even redesigned for a more effective role in the 21st century, but here are some problems:

1. the SBC is being led by Mega church mentality, which doesn't represent the smaller churches or rural areas.
2. the current trend seems to be marginalizing the state conventions and NAMB which will result in the death of a lot of ministry outside the Bible belt.

If we focus more on the IMB, then there are a couple things that can be cut in order to funnel more funds to IMB: the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission-get rid of it! I mean they proved their idiocy by endorsing Mitt Romney, a Mormon who has a track record of being pro-abortion and pro-gay marriage while there was a viable Baptist candidate with conservative values. Bottom line- the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission is incompetent and a waste of money. Another thing we could cut is the support of the SBC Seminaries. Do we really need six Seminaries? Maybe they should sink or swim...just some thoughts.

Philosophy or Phantasy

Over the past couple of years I have been formulating an idea which I call Process Predeterminism. It centers around the phrase "when an event goes in motion/process the outcomes are predetermined". I'd like others to chew on this and spit it back at me (some southern tobacco lingo meaning think about it and let me know what you think). I'm not going to tell the whole development of my thought to see if others intersect or take up a new direction...more later.

Notice the "infidel" hat- thanks to our friends at Ops Gear (www.opsgear.com)

Pastor Bob ready to use the M-4!

Learning the hard way

Last Thursday in my rush and excitement to get some shooting in between my busy schedule, I got to the range, put out my target and blasted three rounds with my M4 carbine (new gas piston version mind you) and lo and behold I forget a very important piece of equipment- ear protection. After about 30 rounds, I realized I had ruptured my ear drum-ouch. You would think after 30+ years of shooting I would remember something that important. Which reminds me of something that we as Christians often forget, and that is applying the armor of God through prayer. We are in a fierce and desperate spiritual battle and God has provided us His armor and His chosen weapon the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:10-18). But how often do we step out into the fray forgetting these very implements that will keep us safe and win for us the battle? I would say more often than not- even those of us who have been walking with the Lord for 20,30,40+ years. Prayer and the Word of God: don't leave home without it! And if your going shooting bring your earplugs.

Bob Larson: the real exorcist?

I used to listen to Bob Larson's radio show back in the 80s. I found it entertaining, and Larson seemed to be knowledgeable and had an uncanny way of reading people. The show degenerated to a constant plea for money and I quit listening. He has also authored some interesting books: Larson's Book of Cults, Satanism, the Seduction of America's Youth, etc. However, his detractors claim these where written by ghost writers; I don't know if this is true. What put him on my mind lately though is a new reality show on the SciFi Chanel called Possessed. Being a student of Biblical Demonology, I was intrigued by the trailer. He claims to be the real exorcist and goes around casting out demons. My problem with many of the deliverance ministries is that they focus on the devil and convince Christians they are possessed, something I don't believe the New Testament teaches. The other thing is they charge outrageous fees for their services- Larson is no exception, his website has a charge for everything. Glamor and Hollywood seem to me inconsistent with a "real exorcist". And a huge red flag popped up for me when I looked at Larson's doctrinal statement on his website, at first, it seemed very orthodox evangelical- that is until I read his statement on the resurrection. He states:"God raised Him from the dead body." What? Is he denying the bodily resurrection of Christ? If this statement stands as read, it does deny this important tenant of Christianity. I could not recommend Bob Larson's ministry on several points, but this takes the cake. Beware the "real exorcist".

Ho hum

I haven't posted in a long time thought it was about time...
My wife has me on a diet -counting calories. Unfortunately this week girl scout cookies were delivered, broke diet, though I do give God the glory for Thin Mints.

Today is a ho hum day. Even though there is lots going on: counseling appointments, visitation, etc., it is just one of those Mondays with the weather overcast and my secretary and the associate pastor out of the office, I feel very unmotivated. How do you turn a ho hum day into an exciting day? Spend time with God. This verse keeps coming to me: "Be still and know that I am God". Prayer, meditation and solitude with God seem to take a backseat with the hectic, busy lives we lead, but days like today remind us that we need to make those Christian disciplines a priority. In doing so, God is glorified and we are blessed, and the ho hum becomes the got something done. Next time don't wait for a day like today but make time alone with God an every day meeting.