KDs are designed/developed/inspired/mused/auto-suggested/indigested to make folks think; an especially uncommon experience among Democrats, Republicans, and jingoistic mainline denominationalists who continue to discourage dissent with their ever-threatening thought police.
The two Pauls
were my closest friends in seminary; and I still recall asking
simultaneously with Paul G. Watermulder as we recollected over coffee not
long before co-presiding at Paul E. Swedlund's memorial service at Kansas
City's Colonial Presbyterian Church, "I wonder who will preside at the
next service?"
That was 20 years
ago.
I wrote about it
in the 7/19/14 KD that you can review by going to the right column, clicking
on July, and then clicking on "Paul E. Swedlund."
Anyway, I still
recall how we'd ride together on our iron ponies on Friday afternoons after
Greek to New Hope, Pennsylvania across the Delaware River for a mental bath,
played on the best seminary softball team in history, skipped the second hour
of Dr. Metzger's Christology class with about ten others in our last year
to pick up lunch at Hoagie Haven and then watch coeds from the university
rowing team as we joked if the RSV's author/editor proved the virgin birth by
having children, jumped over the fence with Yukon Jack to swim at the
Windsor Apartments pool in the summer on warm midnights, and...did lots of other
things that would have disqualified us from ever getting ordained if
discovered.
:)
@#$%
My first meeting
with the surviving Paul was...a forecast of things to come in our evolving
ministries and devolving denomination.
He was strolling
along with his oldest then his first, stopped me to say hello as I was walking
my dog in the opposite direction who later peed on him in his
bed when I came over to his apartment to wake him up on the day after
Jimmy Carter was elected for the only time, recalled we were in our first
seminary classes together earlier in the day, and then asked, "So what do
you think about all of that virgin birth stuff?"
We got through
that; though I still don't think he's gotten over the reception for franchise moderator
Lamar when I was in front of him in line to greet the figurehead, shook his
hand, and said, "Dr. Lamar, we're so excited to have you on campus; and my
friend Paul here is really excited to meet you because he wants to become
moderator of our denomination someday and wants to ask you how he can make sure
that happens."
:)
Of course, he's
repaid the favor over the years.
The rest is
fraternity that has survived...lots of other things that would have...
@#$%
I'll never forget
meeting his dad David B. Watermulder, senior pastor of the legendary
Philadelphia's Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church and President of the
Trustees of the even more legendary Princeton Theological Seminary, after
a lecture by Martin E. Marty at his/His church.
I had never seen
a church sooooooo big
that reeked of sooooooo
much...affluence.
Paul referred to
it in his 10/12/14 sermon as "our very high end congregation."
Or as we often
quipped at Princeton, "Somebody's gotta minister to the rich!"
Be that as it was/remains, I
was walking alongside the older Watermulder and blurted, "So where do you
go from here?"
He ignored me.
I deserved it.
I learned from
it.
It was my first
lesson in being cordial by not responding to...fools.
Check out Matthew
7:26 in Greek for more on that.
Confessionally, I
don't think I really fully understood that lesson until October 2011 when God
used time with Eugene to really open up Matthew 15 and 23 for me that is transforming
my whole understanding of undersheperding
faithful to Jesus by the book and only faithful to Jesus by the book.
Maybe that's why I'm so energized for another 20 years...or until I'm
assassinated by a jingoistic mainliner or Muslim.
40+ years.
Symbolic.
And that's the
kinda influence that Paul's dad has continued to have over my life and
ministry.
Annnnnnnd there's one more
lesson that seems appropriate to bring up now; especially as David at the
end of his 94th year begins traveling back home to Jesus.
We were sitting
in Paul's apartment not too long before my dog peed on him and I was going on
and on and on about how awful it is for the government to execute people for
committing crimes that it has assumed warrants capital punishment; thinking I
had been really impressive by saying how sad/wrong it is when we end the
lives of those who confess and repent after the crime and that it would be far
more humane even Christian to let them live the rest of their lives behind
bars.
Concluding this fool needed some
direction, Dr. Watermulder asked rhetorically, "Are you saying someone who
has been born again in prison would be better off in prison for the rest of
their lives than executed for their crimes as
a momentary punishment preceding heaven?"
Whoa.
Sometimes we
forget what this/Church/He is really all about in the end.
@#$%
I was blessed to
have Dr. Watermulder remind me of the most important/essential fact of
Christian faith before I misled people into more of an existential than
eternal relationship with Jesus.
I was blessed to
have Dr. Watermulder help me to avoid the trap that has accelerated the decline
of most of today's far more existentially focused than eternally focused churches.
If I have to
explain that to you, you wouldn't understand anyway.
That's what
happens when you don't spend 99% of your time with Jesus by the book.
Like me - even
more then than now.
I thank God for
Dr. Watermulder who planted that saving seed in my life.
@#$%
Dr. David B.
Watermulder is traveling back home to Jesus.
His son began
that 10/12/14 sermon, "When I spoke with my father last night, he ended
the conversation saying, for the umpteenth time, 'My time has come, I am
finished here. I am ready to die.'"
Paul continued,
"I raise this today because the heart and soul of the Christian faith, the
center of our hope for the future, the engine that drives us to decide to be
people of exceptional character, is the resurrection."
@#$%
Ultimately,
Christianity is about what lasts forever innnnnnnfinitely
more than what happens in time.
Here's a
rhetorical question in tribute to Dr. David B. Watermulder.
If we
concentrated on that/Him, what unites us in
the end, don't you think we wouldn't get sooooooo caught up in and
divided by stuff so fixed in time?
Many years ago
during a meeting of rabbis, pastors, and priests in Cranford, New Jersey, I
learned it's possible to be conciliatory even if you cannot be reconciled.
Etymologists will
claim those words have the same roots and, ergo, same essential definitions.
While I may be
wrong, I disagree.
It doesn't matter
though; so I'm not gonna get into a tinkling contest over it.
As I'm
increasingly prone to say, if you're looking for an argument, get a mirror.
I just learned
people can get along even if they have some very, very, very sharp emotional,
intellectual, and spiritual differences.
And, heaven, if
we don't start learning how to...
Getting back to
the Garden State, the clergy of different persuasions got together to discuss
manger scenes on public property.
Being a lot
younger and bolder, I started right in rather stridently, "Let's admit
it! We have an irreconcilable theological difference here! We
believe Jesus is Lord and Savior and you don't!"
An old rabbi with
a long gray beard in typical attire stood up and spoke softly, "My
young Christian friend is right; and I'll be damned if he's right. But I'm betting my soul that he's
wrong just as much as he's betting his soul that he's right."
We could not
reconcile the theological difference.
We did decide to
place a manger scene and menorah in front of the library.
We were
conciliatory even if not reconciled.
@#$%
@#$%
While I'm
Christological, Pauline, and even Freudian when it comes to sexual
couplings/nuptials, I'm aware of the increasing diversity in our world,
country, and even churches when it comes to that kinda stuff.
My friends on the
right are very mad at me because I just can't make this into a
kingdom-rises-or-falls-on-it thing and my friends on the left are very mad at
me because I just can't make this into a kingdom-rises-or-falls-on-it thing.
While I'm
convinced rather egotistically and condescendingly and narcissistically and
arrogantly that our world, country, and even churches would be sooooooo much better off
if everybody were philosophically, ideologically, and theologically spoon-fed
by me - Even if you don't ever think like that (Yeah, right!), the hard left and hard right
always think like that! - I know there ain't no chance of that ever happening.
Good.
I've learned a
very hard lesson over the years.
I've often been
wrong and had to confess it and repent from it.
While I'm still betting
my soul on Jesus as Lord and Savior with enthusiasm and without equivocation,
I'm not going to bet my soul on many other things.
I'm just not as
egotistical, condescending, narcissistic, and arrogant as the hard left and
hard right.
Whoa.
@#$%
With the
aforementioned in mind, how can we remain faithfully in a denomination
like all the others that's increasingly apostate under current management?
While I may be
wrong, how we approach the same-sex nuptials thing could provide a model
for being conciliatory even if not reconciled.
Soooooooo I asked folks
from differing philosophical, ideological, and theological perspectives for
suggestions on how we can be conciliatory about something like same-sex
nuptials when we know sooooooo
many differences about 'em can never be reconciled apart from
an Acts 1:11b apocalypse.
Then I went to my
ecclesiastical superiors - Executive/General Presbyter who is kinda like a
bishop or DS and Chairwoman of our Committee on Ministry who is kinda like a
referee - for counsel on how to draft something for a vote by Blackhawk
Presbytery - which is kinda like a diocese or conference - on
dealing with the issue in a conciliatory if not reconciled kinda way.
While I learned
something from everyone, no one should be blamed for what I will be suggesting
to Blackhawk Presbytery at its next stated meeting on November 11.
Moreover, because
everybody from every philosophical, ideological, and theological direction has
already made up her or his noodle on it - and if they haven't, they must have
been watching too many re-runs of Breaking
Bad or starring in The
Walking Dead - I'll just move it, hope for a second, suggest a
quick vote without debate, sit down, and never talk about it again.
Here's what I'm
gonna move: "Acknowledging
same-sex nuptials are legal in Illinois and the PCUSA affords
discretion to its teaching elders by the authoritative interpretation
of the 221st General Assembly to preside or not preside at such rituals+ceremonies=rites and
particular churches may host or not host such ordinances upon session approval
subject to the review of higher judicatories, Blackhawk Presbytery will honor
the consciences of teaching elders and particular churches within its bounds;
noting its members are divided among those who embrace the authoritative
interpretation as witness to progressive theology and those who
reject it according to traditional Christianity.
Presiding/participating teaching elders and hosting churches may exercise their
consciences as permitted by the authoritative interpretation. No efforts
to force teaching elders and sessions who decline to preside/participate/host
will be encouraged, enabled, or condoned. Those who embrace and those who
decline do not need to fear ministerial infringements or vocational reprisals
in Blackhawk Presbytery."
Anyone from left,
right, up, or down who doesn't get
why such a motion is necessary in today's secular and
ecclesiastical cultures that are often hard to distinguish from each
other is naive or stoned.
Hello, Kenyon!
Hello, Houston!
Hellooooooo...
@#$%
My guess is this
will ___ off my friends on the right, confuse 'em on the left, and maybe, just
maybe, prayerfully maybe, convince a remnant that it's possible to be
conciliatory even if not reconciled.
Of course, if ya
think this is one of those kingdom-rises-or-falls-on-it litmus tests of
fidelity...
I don't.
I may be wrong.
For me, it's
simple.
I'm praying and
trying to follow Jesus by the book.
Sooooooo what happens if
the government, courts, PCUSA, or any other denomination require its
pastors/sessions/churches to preside/participate/host or lose their
ordinations/credentials/etc.?
Let me be clear,
crisp, concise, and conclusive.
I'll never,
never, never preside/participate at/in the aforementioned because I'm
convinced it's categorically antithetical to two thousand years of
Biblical, confessional, constitutional, historical, traditional, and common
sense Christianity.
I don't care what
the government, courts, or any church rules.
God first, only,
and always as best revealed in Jesus by the book.
"We must
obey God first, foremost, always, and only!"
"As for me
and my house, we will serve the Lord!"
Read 9.03 of C67.
That's where I'm
praying and trying to be because
that's where He and His are!
We have been told
ad nauseum: "Our
best people are on it."
Lies.
Old joke comes to
mind.
How do you know
if DC is lying to us?
Their lips are
moving.
Lies.
Yet, there are
women and men who still love America; running for office against pathological
liars.
I had the
privilege to pray about it last night.
@#$%
Boone County Republican Club
51st Annual "Steak Fry" to Meet Candidates
October 16, 2014
Community Building
Belvidere, Illinois
Proverbs 14:25-27,34
Matthew
11:28
Lord,
Your word
is clearly conclusive even if increasingly not compelling to our world, America,
Illinois, churches, commerce, schools, families, and marriages: “Return to Me
and I will restore you.”
So we
thank and praise You for candidates who do not diss or seek to distance You
from the equation of governance and justice.
Prophetic
voices have warned us for You of this moment in sacred history when the halls
of governance and courts of law will be infiltrated by women and men who do not
esteem You above all, mislead, and abandon the principles of our great
heritage.
For when a
Governor invokes Your verdict in Holy Scripture out of context in celebrating
behaviors absolutely antithetical to a contextual understanding of Your Word
and when a United States Senator slanders our military, we sense we are
perilously close to forfeiting what You have entrusted to us as one nation
under You.
We beg
Your blessings upon these candidates and this assembly as, together, we labor
to call America, Illinois, churches, commerce, schools,
families,
and marriages back to You.
Help us to
be Your faithful remnant; looking up, standing up, speaking up, acting up, and
voting for You by voting for women and men who esteem You.
And as
these candidates and this assembly pledge to honor You through public service,
bless them according to their individual needs through Jesus in whose name we
pray.
PCUSA is hawking
a new hymnbook: Glory to
God: The Presbyterian Hymnal.
While the title
comes off as an oxymoron to remnanters and the parochialism is nauseating in a
John 17 kinda way, it's pretty good apart from being anachronistic upon
publication.
Geez.
Really?
A hardcover book of hymns again right now.
In my short life,
I've gone from the green one to the red one to the blue one to the - drummmmmmm
rolllllll - ya can order your new one in red or purple one.
It just makes me
wanna sing, "Onward Christian Soldiers!"
Oops.
That one didn't
make the cut.
No wonder www.pcusa.org didn't publish the open letter to
you know who in the last edition.
With all of the
technology out there and print going the way of the Smith-Corona and lead pencil,
ya'd think...
@#$%
Stop!
Sooooooo cynical of moi.
Stop!
Can nothing
good come out of...Louisville...or its other
sister-franchise-idolatry-promoting HQs?
Stop!
What's happening
to moi?
Selah.
@#$%
Like all
franchise families or
families of any kind for this matter, there are three ways of
assessing what's going on/wrong/right/whatever.
Naive.
"My family
is pure and perfect in every way!"
Cynical.
"My family
is the worst of all and I've gotta get the heaven out of it asap!"
Mature.
"All
families have problems and need help!"
Selah.
@#$%
Getting back to
the new hymnbook.
While I still
think it's an old wineskin for a new, uh, age, it's not bad.
It's not pure and
perfect.
Heaven, they left
out...
Buuuuuuut if I were into
anachronisms, I'd buy it; while
sure as heaven asking for editions without the idolatrous sub-title.
Selah.
@#$%
I've still gotta
deal with my initial reaction - cynical.
Cumulative
effect, mes amis.
Yeeeeeeet, if I am gonna
try to follow Jesus by the book, I've gotta be a little more mature about these
kinda things.
I just read
something "From the President" in Wake
Forest Magazine that caught my attention (Fall 2014): "There
can be no more important message...than civility...It has to do with who we are
and what our communities are like...a community where people are taken
seriously...In a world increasingly fragmented..., we need to preserve an oasis
of civility."
Like, uh, in
the church.
Professor Katy
Harriger picks up the P's theme on page 81 of the same rag: "Civility
isn't the same as politeness...goes beyond that to showing respect for another
person, even if you disagree...It's about seeing the other person as a valued
human being...Look at television, especially reality shows; the way to become
famous is to be uncivil...Our political system has become so uncivil...If
someone has a different view from you that doesn't make him or her subhuman or
not worthy of respect. We tend to demonize those we disagree with.
It doesn't mean you never disagree...but we can do that in a civil manner...Our
public policy discussions today are so polarizing; it's all or nothing..."
Sounds so much
like, uh, the...
Selah.
@#$%
One of the things
that increasingly impresses me about Jesus by the book is He did not suffer
fools gladly.
He didn't abuse
them either.
He ignored their
ignorances and...told the truth (check out His encounter with Nic in John 3 for
instance) without blinking or blushing.
Psst.
Being the
incarnate God, He not you or me could do that.
Only He not you
or me was/remains pure and perfect in every way from here to eternity.
Selah.
@#$%
Getting back to
the new hymnbook as a metaphor for you know what - and if you don't know what
already, my guess is you're so caught in your ecclesiastical idolatries that...
- I don't think it's the best or worst out there; so I'm not inclined to
lionize or demonize it.
It's O.K.
I didn't expect
it to be pure and perfect in every way.
Come to think of
it, aren't you thankful that God has never expected us to be pure and
perfect in every way?
Annnnnnnd if you don't get
thaaaaaaat, sign
up for the next Christology course asap.
I am writing to you as a
follower of Jesus; meaning I believe He is Lord and Savior and try to behave
accordingly.
Christians regard Jesus as
the perfect personification of God and the Bible as providing the perfect
prescriptions for following Him.
Assuming you are trying to
follow your leader Mohammed according to your sacred literature, I have
increasing concerns about how you participate in civilization.
Surely, “Muslims” are like
“Christians” in diversity of beliefs and behaviors; acknowledging any
connection between some beliefs and behaviors and their founders by their books
are often just coincidental.
I differentiate between
posers and authentics.
Posers follow their
leaders by their books when it’s convenient to their egocentric wants,
feelings, needs, and opinions; as in, “I know that’s what Jesus/Mohammed says, but
I think…”
Authentics follow their
leaders by their books; surrendering the egocentric to the theocentric; as in,
“God said it. I believe it. That settles it.”
While my guess is some of
what I am writing may appeal to posers who are moderately committed to their
leaders – “Yeah, that’s right! I am a
moderate! I’m moderately committed to
Jesus/Mohammed as long as it doesn’t, you know, conflict with my wants,
feelings, needs, and opinions!” – I am hoping this will attract attention from
Muslims who are trying to follow Mohammed by the book.
I have two concerns about
how authentic Muslims participate in civilization.
First, from everything
that I’ve read about Mohammed and observed in Muslims who follow him by the
book, it’s noticeably barbaric from most civilized points of view.
I mean, let’s face
it. Cutting off heads for apostasy,
cutting off other body parts for lesser infidelities, and degrading women in so
many ways just doesn’t seem very, uh, civilized from most, uh, civilized points
of view.
When someone makes fun of
Mohammed in a silly cartoon or sophomoric video, you go apoplectic. You make our snake-handling Pentecostals look
like Emily Post devotees. Are you that
emotionally fragile that you can’t handle people who don’t esteem Mohammed like
you do? Yeah, I know you’ve got this convert-to-us-or-be-killed-by-us
thing going. But think about us! We are a constant source of comic material
for Saturday Night Live, Bill Maher, Kathy Griffin, and so many others who
don’t have to worry about Christians declaring death warrants against them.
And what’s up with the
masks when you do your beheading thing?
You look like America’s old KKK on steroids! It comes off rather cowardly. If you have the courage of your convictions,
man up, name it, and claim it!
Your leaders of your
leader are quick to convince their followers that there are dozens of virgins
awaiting those who get knocked off for your cause. While that sounds like something very
appealing to Cub Scouts in heat, it comes off as rather juvenile to the rest of
us. Really, is that what your heaven is
mostly about? Sex with virgins? Whoa.
Second, if what I just
wrote is really, really, really wrong about Muslims who follow Mohammed by the
book, why don’t you condemn their barbarity and tell everyone that they’re not
following Mohammed by the book?
There’s no such thing as a
silent majority. Everybody knows silence
about bad behaviors emanating from bad beliefs accommodates and enables
them. If they’re wrong about Mohammed by
the book, then you owe it to, uh, Mohammed to tell them about it and convince
us that we’re wrong about thinking Islam is barbaric from civilized points of
view.
Christians who believe in
Jesus by the book have always been quick to criticize the bad behaviors of
people posing as Christians.
Don’t even bring up the
Crusades!
Jesus and people who
really are authentically believing in Jesus by the book would never have
approved of the barbaric behaviors emanating from the bad beliefs of the
Crusaders. They were about as
authentically devoted to Jesus by the book as we are hoping you will tell us
are those barbarians masquerading as Muslims who go around chopping off body
parts, degrading women, and declaring death warrants against anyone who
disagrees with their version of Islam.
You can’t blame Jesus for
“Christians” who need more than just “some” Jesus in their lives as we are
hoping you will tell us about those barbarians who claim to be following
Mohammed so closely.
I guess it does come down
to our leaders.
Would Mohammed do the
things that those murderously marauding “Muslims” are doing in the name of
Allah?
If not, you have to speak
up!
If so, admit it and let
the chips fall where they will!
Would Jesus do the things
that those murderously marauding Crusaders did in the name of God?
Absolutely not!
That means anybody who is
truly following Jesus by the book will not!
Though what I’ve read and
seen from the barbaric “Muslims” and what I haven’t heard or seen from the
other ones doesn’t add up to anything positive or redemptive for the place of
Islam in a civilized world, I confess not being an expert; which is why I’m
waiting for the rest of the Muslims to provide a verdict on the obviously
barbaric ones.
I’m just somebody who
loves Jesus who is trying to follow Him by the book; and the Jesus of the book
is compassionate, merciful, forgiving, and, in short, urging His followers to
love everybody like He loves everybody which includes praying and laboring for
the best for everybody without regard to who, what, where, when, or why with no
need or expectation for response, regard, or reward.
That means Christians who
follow Jesus by the book are willing to co-exist with people who don’t want to
follow Jesus by the book.
That seems so different
from Islam.
Islamists, the loud
barbaric adherents and the silent accommodating and enabling ones, don’t seem
to share such a commitment to co-existence.
Christianity, following
Jesus by the book, can co-exist with everybody else.
Islam, from what I have
read and seen, following Mohammed by the book, cannot co-exist with anybody
else unless everybody else converts to it.
That doesn’t seem to leave
many options for the rest of the civilized world.
I guess, when all is said
and considered, either everybody else will have to go if they don’t convert to
Islam or everybody else will have to team up and you’ll have to…
I hope and pray I’m wrong.
Please speak up and
encourage us that we’re wrong about you.
For unlike what we’ve increasingly
read about and increasingly seen from you, we would like to co-exist.
We’re not asking you to
become like us.
We’re just asking you to be
more conciliatory and recognize the planet has enough space for all of us.
Before everything but
heaven breaks out, please show the world that Mohammed by the book isn’t as
barbaric as we’re reluctantly concluding by the behaviors of so many of those
who claim to follow him.
If you cannot get your
house in order, we will not let you invade ours much longer.
She rushed into
my study about ten minutes before yesterday's first service and
asked/accused, "Are you moving?"
"No," I
replied.
She persisted,
"Are you sure?"
"Well, uh,
yeah," as mind shifted from worship to worry, "I don't even have a
PIF anymore. Besides, I just wrote about that in the last KD ('Remnant Network - 21'). I may be assassinated,
burned at the stake, or get my head chopped off by Islamonutballed fruitcakes buuuuuuut, no, I'm not
interested in leaving and don't feel any nudging away from my call to you and
our family of faith on the corner of Lincoln and Main."
[...You can
review "Remnant Network - 21" by going to the right column and
clicking on "Remnant Network - 21"...]
Candidly, she
reported, "I don't read those."
Parenthetically,
she is not in the minority on that.
"I don't
know what I can say to convince you that I'm not moving and not interested in
moving because I'm called here," I almost pleaded, "and, well, uh, I
think the minority that hates me has not yet become the majority and..."
"I was told
you are moving to Europe," she explained.
"Whoa, now
that's novel...I would have guessed Iowa," I blurted.
We went back and forth
like that for five minutes.
We hugged before
and after the first service and again after Sunday School and I think
she's kinda convinced I'm not leaving unless, uh, you know, I'm assassinated or
burned at the stake or get my...
@#$%
Why would anyone
start that kinda rumor?
Especially in
October.
;)
If you've got any
ideas, let us know and Kathie will post 'em.
@#$%
Some motivations
came to my noodle.
Wishful thinking
on the part of folks who left the church after the authentics started to
outnumber the posers.
Wishful thinking
on the part of people who don't like all of the new people coming into the
church who just love Jesus by the book.
Wishful thinking
on the part of non-believing clergy in town/around and who are threatened
by being exposed as non-believing clergy.
Wishful thinking
on the part of political and ecclesiastical jingoists and idolaters who want to
kill anyone who says their jingoism and idolatry ain't consistent with Jesus by
the book.
Wishful thinking
on the part of people who still like to pretend the emperor has clothes.
Wishful thinking
on the part of people who long for the way things never were or maybe were but
are no more.
Wishful thinking
on the part of people who can't wait for Grandpa Jacob's cancer genes to kick
in or I'm assassinated or burned at the stake or get my...
Don't know.
Those were just
some of the inspirations/indigestions that came to mind as I entered the chapel
for the first service.
@#$%
William told me,
"You can't fix what you won't face."
Sooooooo unlike American
politicians and most clergy and denominational jingoists/idolaters, I
decided to name it in case anyone wants to claim it.
On the fly,
here's what I recall saying, more than less, during
"announcements" before both of yesterday's services and throughout
most of the afternoon:
Please know I have no illusions about
my place in the life and ministry of our family of faith or even our
denomination. If I died today, there'd be ham and cole slaw in Fellowship
Hall on Wednesday and then there'd be people lining up to be on the next Pastor
Search Committee next Sunday so you could get the kinda pastor that you'd
really like. A lot of folks in the PCUSA would be happy because there are
so few of us left in the franchise - a remnant - that still love Jesus by
the book and remember and cherish and want to advance our heritage. Lots
of people don't like me because I'm not afraid to salt; and even though I'll
admit when I'm wrong and confess and repent when corrected, lots of people just
want their pastors and presbyters to say nothing and stand for nothing.
Maybe it's spirits of division that want to plant seeds of division in our
church because we're really starting to move forward with Jesus by the book and
shedding the idolatries of the past. Maybe it's people in town who just
want to hurt us. I don't know. All I know is, and the damage may
already be done because people believe what they wanna believe, I'm not going
anywhere because I'm called to be here with you, like being here with you, and
love you enough not to lie to you about our need to move closer to Jesus by the
book. Of course, I could be assassinated or burned at the stake or get
my...
That's a summary
of most of what I said before both services and throughout the afternoon.
Again, I'm not
sure why someone
or some people have started this rumor; but I don't think it's motivated by
anyone or anything up to any good in our lives.
@#$%
Maybe there's
something providential in what I received from the OGD this morning.
@#$%
The Salt of the Earth
You are the salt of the
earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then
good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
Matt. 5: 13
We have gotten accustomed to the blurred puffs of gray fog that pass for
doctrine in churches and expect nothing better. From some previously
unimpeachable sources are now coming vague statements consisting of a milky
admixture of Scripture, science, and human sentiment that is true to none of
its ingredients because each one works to cancel the others out. Little by
little Christians these days are being brainwashed. One evidence is that
increasing numbers of them are becoming ashamed to be found unequivocally on
the side of truth. They say they believe, but their beliefs have been so diluted
as to be impossible of clear definition. Moral power has always accompanied
definite beliefs. Great saints have always been dogmatic. We need a return to a
gentle dogmatism that smiles while it stands stubborn and firm on the Word of
God that lives and abides forever.
A. W. Tozer
Jesus
has taken His newly chosen disciples up into the hills, away from the crowds,
in order to teach them what this Gospel
is all about. In His introduction, the Beatitudes, He explained the way
to true bliss. Now He is explaining what the responsibilities of a disciple are.
You are the salt of the
earth. . .
There
is no higher compliment that we can pay a person than to say that s/he is the salt of the earth.
Jesus gave us that expression. He told His disciples to be the salt of the earth.
They
would have understood, perhaps better than we, what He meant.
Yesterday,
as I was walking on the treadmill, I watched an old episode of JAG. Harm and Mac were on
a submarine when a generator went out. The captain ordered all the meat
to be packed in salt. With modern refrigeration, we often forget that for
many centuries salt was the most common preservative
in the world. If people wanted to keep things from going bad, they preserved them in salt.
If
Jesus' disciples are the
salt of the earth, He means that it is our responsibility to see
that things don't go bad. We are responsible for maintaining the highest
standards.
We
have become so accustomed to people making excuses for their failure to live up
to their potential, that we assume God will do the same thing. Jesus
says, No; you are to be the
salt of the earth.You
and I are charged with maintaining the highest standards.
. . . but if the salt
loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to
be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
The Theology of
Accommodation
My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Lord of glory, with partiality.
James 2: 1
A friendship founded on business is better than a business founded
on friendship. John D. Rockefeller
Example No. 1:
The Kindly, Committed, Grandfather
Commitment is not enough.
It matters to what one is committed. From all I have heard, C___G___ is a
decent human being. But being a decent and committed human being is not enough.
Similarly, that a gay couple may have a committed and loving relationship in no
way ameliorates the sinful nature of that relationship. Again, it matters to
what one is committed.
My great-grandfather, who
also lived in Georgia, was a man capable of great love and commitment. He loved
his wife and his children. His daughter, my grandmother, loved him and
remembered him as a kind, loving and committed man. He died when I was four
years old, but I fondly recall sitting on my great-granddaddy's lap and tugging
at his long white beard. I remember him wrapping his arms around me and how I
giggled into his snowy beard as he cooed, "snuggle-boy, snuggle-boy."
He also was committed and devoted and served causes in which he believed while
receiving little or no compensation. His devoted and selfless commitment was
rewarded when he was elected Grand Dragon of the Georgia Ku Klux Klan. It
matters to what one is committed.
Dr. Earl Tilford
Example No. 2: The Winsome, Lesbian, Candidate
March 14, 2006
Apocalypse Now
If I told
you that the most conservative evangelical on the PUP [Peace, Unity and Purity] Task force celebrated the decision of Milwaukee
Presbytery to ordain a self avowed practicing lesbian you would be tempted to
call me a liar.
On Saturday March 11 I attended the meeting of Blackhawk
Presbytery held at First Presbyterian Church in Marengo, Illinois. I was there
as a guest in order to be with a friend whose new call was to be approved by
Blackhawk Presbytery during the meeting.
The members of Blackhawk Presbytery are a friendly and hospitable
group. I enjoyed my day of fellowship with them. The meeting was preceded
by a 90 minute prayer service. More presbyteries ought to replicate this
spiritual discipline.
During the meeting Mark Achtemeier, considered by many to be the
most conservative and evangelical scholar on the PUP task force, gave a 1 hour
sales pitch for the PUP report. His report was followed by a 30 minute “Q
and A” dialogue with the commissioners.
During his comments Mark affirmed two statements which I have
heard frequently from other members of the PUP Task force:
That the PUP Report neither advocates nor permits "local
option;”
That
under the PUP Report presbyteries will not have permission to ignore the
ordination standards stated in G.-6.0106b.
Up to this point I was cautiously encouraged by Mark Achtemeier’s
report.
Then he dropped a bomb!
Mark began to tell the story about how Milwaukee Presbytery had
recently approved for ordination a self-avowed practicing lesbian. Not
only did Mark tell the story, but he rejoiced in how Milwaukee Presbytery used
our polity and process to approve her ordination.
I was stunned!
In spite of the fact that the woman violated the standards for
ordination, as set forth in section G-6.0106b of the Book of Order, Mark
Achtemeier rejoiced in how Milwaukee Presbytery made this decision.
Apparently, according to Mark, the woman had such an irresistible and
winsome spirit that Milwaukee Presbytery, including some conservatives, voted
overwhelmingly for her ordination.
Mark Achtemeier thought this was great!
I was stunned and so were a number of other commissioners who
spoke to me after the meeting of Blackhawk Presbytery.
Several commissioners asked me, "How could Mark Achtemeier
support the defiance of our Book of Order?"
According to Mark Achtemeier this is how our process will work
when the PUP Report is approved by General Assembly. He
enthusiastically and unequivocally supports this change!
In defending the process used and the decision reached by
Milwaukee Presbytery, Mark Achtemeier described the candidate's lesbianism as a
simple scruple. Furthermore, he affirmed the presbytery's right to accept
her lesbianism as a scruple.
In light of the biblical mandate and the historic affirmation of
the church, how can anyone lightly dismiss as a simple scruple her rejection of
God's instruction that we are to live either in chastity or in fidelity within
the covenant of marriage between one man and one woman?
Since I was a guest at the meeting of Blackhawk Presbytery, I did
not feel it would have been right for me to ask Mark Achtemeier any questions
from the floor. Furthermore, since he left the meeting before I could
speak to him, I need to ask him these questions:
If
I reject the Lordship of Jesus, is this a scruple or a heresy?
If
I reject the authority of scripture, is this a scruple or heresy?
If
I reject Chapter 8 of the Book of Order, is this a scruple or a heresy?
If
I reject the ordination of women, is this a scruple or heresy?
If
I affirm pedophilia and rape, is this a scruple or heresy?
If
I affirm segregation, as several southern states did under the guise of
states rights (which parallels the PUP Report’s advocacy for presbytery
rights), is this a scruple or heresy?
Or, stated more simply, what is the boundary between a scruple and
a heresy?
Advocating, establishing, and standardizing a process which
permits and celebrates the right of any governing body to ignore our
constitution, our confessions, and God’s Word will destroy not only our
connectional and covenantal relationship, but it will destroy the PC(USA)!
Mark Achtemeier’s presentation at Blackhawk Presbytery made
absolutely clear to me that the PUP Report will not unite us in peace
and purity.
Instead of bring peace, unity, AND purity the PUP Report, if
approved, will bring the exact opposite upon our church. The PUP Report
will not bring:
Peace, because it will
bring upon us the judgment and wrath of God;
Unity,
because it will launch the PC(USA) into schism;
Purity,
because it will allow for the approval of behavior which is disobedient to
God’s call for us to live holy lives.
I charge you therefore before
God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead atHis
appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of
season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according
to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for
themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth,
and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure
afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
II Tim. 4: 1-5
Christians
are called to maintain godly standards. We can't do that if we make
exceptions to accommodate our friends, even if they are winsome.
Christians
are called to promote godly purity. We can't do that if we
compromise our beliefs to accommodate those in our society who are committed to
ungodly causes, even if they are kindly
grandfathers.
I do not pray that You
should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil
one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify
them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I
also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify
Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.
John
17: 15-19
We
are in the world to preserve, promote and exhibit God's standards. We are
sanctified as we do. We do not have the right nor the authority to change God's
standards, to re-interpret them to accommodate our friends or culture, or to
re-image God so that He no longer resembles Himself, rather He becomes the
image of the prevailing cultural standards.
If
we are to be the salt of the
earth, we need to change our culture. We must not allow our
culture to change us. If we do, we become good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled
underfoot by men.
But I have a few things against you, because you have there those
who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block
before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit
sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the
Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and
will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.
Rev. 2: 14-16
Repetition
does not transform a lie into a truth. Franklin D. Roosevelt
The
Nicolaitans were a heretical sect within the church that preached accommodation
with pagan society. They taught that since Christians were freed from the
Law, they were at liberty to practice idolatry and immorality.
Neo-Necolaitans "It can be an act of faithfulness to terminate the life of an unborn
child" OGA-88-109, "The Covenant of Life and The Caring Community",
page 10, adopted by the 195th General Assembly (1983)
"I confess that to love
Jesus means to live in faithful, monogamous covenants of love.
."
Susan Andrews, Moderator of 215th General Assembly
The First Presbyterian Church in Yorktown, NY, was the host of a
"Universal Worship Service" in which the participants offered prayers
to a smorgasbord of gods -- including those who, "whether known or unknown
to the world, have held aloft the light of truth through the darkness of human
ignorance." The service, which the Presbytery of Hudson River promoted by
e-mail to its ministers, included readings from Islam, Buddhism,
Zoroastrianism, the tradition of the "Divine Female," Native Peoples
and Judaism.
Apparently, a new pastor was called to the church
who announced on his very first Sunday that only two Christian services a year
would be held from now on (viz., Christmas and Easter). He planned to
lead "worship" like an imam on Ramadan, rabbi on Hanukkah, and so on;
enabling Buddhist meditations on off Sundays.
MINNEAPOLIS – To the tribal rhythms of bongo drums, about 200 women – plus a
"few good men," as they called them – swayed slowly into the room for
the opening worship of the 10th anniversary (and final) Re-Imaginined god
Gathering.
They came on this cloudless day, June 19, to praise water, tell their stories
and be reminded that, as women, they have creative license to change entirely
what has been an orthodox understanding of the Christian faith. After all, they
say they believe the Bible is a product of a patriarchal mindset that oppressed
women.
"We don't need folks hanging on crosses and blood dripping and weird
stuff."
PHILADELPHIA – When arguing for church acceptance of homosexuality, most
advocates talk about monogamy. But others are bolder.
"I am a strong ally of those in healthy, polyamorous relationships,"
declared Debra Kolodny. She argued that having multiple sexual partners can be
"holy." Kolodyn was leading a workshop at the WOW (Witness Our
Welcome) 2003 convention, an ecumenical gathering for "sexually and gender
inclusive Christians."
H. Richard Niebuhr identifies liberal theology under the Christ of
Culture label and sees liberals as accommodating Christianity to the
prevailing culture. In Niebuhr's view, Christianity and culture are
neither in tension, nor opposed to each other.
"Liberals are open to the truth of other religions," said
Donald E. Miller in The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Theology,
Westminster Press, 1983. "Christianity
is not viewed as the only expression of man's search for God or of God's
revelation to man. . . Liberals tend to assume a broadly ecumenical
attitude."
Whenever we see people compromising
God's standards to accommodate someone with a winsome spirit or a kindly demeanor, we see
that the Nicolaitans are still at work in the Church today.
"The
plain man in the church has difficulty understanding the nature of the
struggle. He does not yet appreciate the real gravity of the issue. He does not
see that it makes very little difference how much or how little of the creeds
of the church the modernist preacher affirms, or how much or how little of the
biblical teaching from which the creeds are derived. This modernist might
affirm every jot and tittle of the Westminster Confession, for example, and yet
be separated by a great gulf from the reformed faith. It is not that part is
denied and the rest is affirmed, but all is denied because all is affirmed
merely as useful or as symbolic, but not as true. A thing that is useful may be
useful for some and not for others, but a thing that is true remains true for
all people and beyond the end of time."
J.
Gresham Machen
There
is the second great lesson: Salt
adds flavor! If we are the
salt of the earth, we must add flavor
to wherever we are.
The
way some Christians live, one would get the idea that Christianity takes all
the fun out life. It shouldn't be that way.
What fruit did you have
then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is
death.
Rom. 6: 21
The first great gift we can bestow on others is a good example. Thomas
Morell
What
the world calls "fun" more often than not leaves one feeling ashamed
afterward. If we are to be the
salt of the earth we need to be showing the world a better way to
live.
There
is a story about Alexander the Great, one of the world’s greatest warriors. His
army conquered most of the known world in its time. Now in Alexander’s army,
there was a young boy who was handsome, strong and skilled at fighting. It
seems that during a fierce battle the boy became frightened and hid himself in
a cave.
When he was found, he was immediately brought
before Alexander for judgment. Alexander, seeing that the boy was terrified and
in fear for his life, took compassion on him and asked him, “Son, what is your
name?” The young man answered back, “Alexander” with a quiet reply. Upon
hearing this Alexander the Great said, “What did you say?” The boy then raised
his voice and strongly shouted out “Alexander”. Once again Alexander the Great
sternly said, “Boy, what is your name? The young lad responded once again with
a sheepish voice and said “Alexander, sir”. Then upon hearing this, the great
conqueror exploded in anger, picked up a sword, raised it over the boy’s head
and said, “Change your ways, or change your name!”
I
think Jesus is saying the same thing to some of us who claim His name.
O Lord of all good life
purify our lives.
Help us to know more of
Thee,
and by the power of Thy
Holy Spirit, use us to show forth Thyself to others.
Make us humble, brave and
loving;
make us ready for
adventure.
We do not ask that Thou
wilt keep us safe,
but that Thou wilt keep us
ever faithful to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
In His name we pray.
Amen
“A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I
saw that God's truth is attacked and yet would remain silent.”
