Christianity | The Limitless

Christian Carnival CCXLV

CaseyP| October 8, 2008 10:49 am

Welcome to the Christian Carnival, CCXLV, which a handy Roman numeral converter tells me means 245! Wow, I should learn Roman some day.

Before I get right to the posts, I want to thank you all for the honor of hosting the Christian Carnival here at my little site. I’ve participated, off and on (mostly off), in the Carnival since 2004, but this is my first time hosting. So, today I’m very pleased to present the following submissions, in no particular order:

Always a good read, Free Money Finance presents “The Economic Earthquake of 2008: Implications, Vulnerabilities, and Aftershocks.” This is an interesting read for a brief overview of our nation’s debt crisis. FMF covers words from Crown Ministries on the economic crisis.
Jennifer in OR presents Looking up the Exhaust Pipe posted at Diary of 1.
Minister Mamie L. Pack presents Is he on the roof? posted at The Life I Now Live. I loved this honest and introspective post.
Michael presents The Many Ways We Disobey posted at Chasing the Wind. When God asks us to do something, we don’t always obey. How do we disobey? Look at Saul in 1 Samuel 13-15 to see how he goes through the motions but God knows his heart is not right.
Jeff presents Word of Faith: The Demotion of God posted at ReturningKing.com. “This is part 4 of an ongoing series, “Wolves in Wool: Creeps in The Church”, a study on false teachers and false doctrines which are permeating Christianity today. This study will be updated weekly, so be sure to subscribe for updates.”
ChrisB presents Conservatives and the Least of These posted at Homeward Bound. ” We know the Bible commands us to take care of the “the least of these.” Shouldn’t we, then, support efforts to create federal social programs to provide money and other necessities to the less fortunate? No.”
Tiffany Partin presents The Proof Is In The Pictures posted at Fathom Deep: Sounding the Depths of God.
Sue presents Lead us not into temptation… posted at Abstractions.
Ronnica at Tale of a Kansas Girl presents An Appeal to Sensible Voting. “So many Americans choose to vote based on what is best for themselves. Why not choose whom we vote for based on our ideals?” Amen, Ronnica.
ChristianPF presents Tithing in the new testament posted at Christian Personal Finance Blog.
Lincoln Adams of the Habitation of Justice presents Why Obama Will Win - Hint: It’s Real Wrath of God Type Stuff. A great read, I must say. A scarily realistic prediction.
Claudia presents A Floating Life posted at Standing Straight. What does a leaf floating downstream have to do with “chaos theory”? It is amazing what an astronomical number of seemingly random events and can change or modify not only weather, and biology, but human spiritual outcomes.
Rodney Olsen presents Romancing your spouse posted at RodneyOlsen.net.
Jeremy Pierce presents Blomberg on Plantinga posted at Parableman. This post corrects a misimpression of Christian philosopher Alvin Plantinga’s views on arguments for the existence of God.
Weekend Fisher of Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength presents Whose Sins are the Worst? Weekend Fisher relays something a pastor once taught her that has been a blessing ever since.

And that wraps it up for this week! Some great reads. Unfortunately, a crazy week at work prevented me from submitting my own post this week, and also weighed in on the time it would take to properly categorize the postings. Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy your Christian Carnival!

You can be a Christian for only $12.99!

CaseyP| August 20, 2008 9:39 am

Ever since W.W.J.D. bracelets, it seems that enterprising people have sought to capitalize on naivete of Christendom. What would Jesus do? Probably he wouldn’t wear a bracelet that cost $5 and tauntingly remind people to consider what Jesus would do in any situation.

I recently stumbled across this lovely site on the internets that portrays just how far that rabbit hole goes. Seriously? Is there no limit to what people will make? I suppose though, they wouldn’t make it, if crazy Christians wouldn’t wear it! Since I was…oh…16 or so, I have eschewed all forms of Christian apparel. It’s typically tacky, and mostly self-righteous and condescending. When it’s not those, and strives to just be humorous, it mixes in a good bit of heresy as well. In the case of the image to the right, it also infringes on a trademark.

A few more examples of some of the worst Christian paraphernalia the net has to offer:

Again…copyright infringement seems to be a meaningless phrase to Christians. I wonder how many Christian musicians are pirated on the net. Once I heard a waiter say you can always tell the Christians groups at the restaurant, because they only want to know what they can get for free. Shameful.

A spoof on (RED) the charity that fights against AIDS?! Seriously? Who would wear that? Do they have no shame? I don’t even know what else to say about this disgusting and flagrant self-righteous piece.

I’ve noticed for years and years a disturbing trend in churches to copy and imitate the world in order to feel “relevant.” Did God not give us imaginations? Even if you’re not original enough to come up with something on your own, why must you copy the worldliest things out there? It happens in Christian music all the time, and along the same lines…in Christian retail, it seems they also make tackier and stupid imitations of other worldly things. Worse, here is another example of just stupid theology. “Satan got Punk’d” What does that even mean? He’s still controlling and influencing the world…so it would seem that if anyone got Punk’d, we did.

One of the weirdest and scariest examples of this is the new world of Christian emo. Seriously? How can a Christian be depressed, hate the world, and dress like a tranny? W.W.J.D.? He would not wear black fingernail polish.

In a strange example of Christian greed, www.wearyourfaith.com wouldn’t allow me to use some of their images claiming “Copyright.” Not only do they not own the art on the shirts (they’re available in many other places) some of their art itself is copyrighted.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, and is only indicative of the larger problem of Christianity attempting to become more “worldly” in order to feel like people can relate, when the truth is…”why become a Christian if my life is no different afterward?” Christian skater tv shows (Thank you Alec Baldwin), Christian punk rock, and pastors riding motorcycles around their sanctuary. There is no holiness and sanctification in the body of Christ today. That will draw people. Lifting up Jesus instead of skating or other worldly influences will draw people to God. We have that in writing: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” John 12:32.

Unprofitable Blogging

CaseyP| August 11, 2008 9:45 am

Last week I posed the challenge to witness to one person for every blog post. I happen to know that at least 10 Christian bloggers visited my site, and chose not to respond to that challenge, choosing instead to mindlessly prattle on with their unprofitable theologies and divisive doctrinal debates.

Perhaps some non-evangelicals would dismiss it as the church leader told William Carey: “Young man, when God wants to save the heathen, He will do it without your help or mine.”

Listen… you may not like that Jesus commissioned us to go out and preach to all the world, God knows there are lots of things in the Bible I wish I could just rip right off the page and pretend like it didn’t exist (love your enemies?!), but you can’t ignore it. Sitting at home, feeling so spiritual because the other unprofitable “servants” of God think you’re very intelligent is self-delusional. I present you with a video, and a testimony. God help me be as profitable in life as this man:

Blogging for Jesus Me

CaseyP| August 4, 2008 10:32 am

My wife nonchalantly posed a serious question to me recently, as she looked at some notes for future blog posts, “You have so many good things to say…why do you sit in front of a computer and blog them, instead of going out and sharing them with people who need Jesus?”

I’m always up for some harsh self-examination, so I really pondered how I could answer this, and justify my relatively reclusive lifestyle. I’m not reclusive because I blog, let me get that straight. I don’t sit at home wishing I was elsewhere, but I just have to get this post written. I blog because I find it enjoyable, and I like the web development aspect of it (I’m a geek, what can I say?). And I just happen to be rather introverted. But this got me thinking on how blogging fits in with God’s great commission to go out and win the world.

I believe if harnessed properly, the internet could be a tremendous tool in reaching the world with the Gospel. I have yet to see anyone actually accomplish this, however. Surely our blogs, much of which debate the finer points of religious doctrine, are not effective conduits for the Gospel of Salvation to reach a lost person. On the contrary, I would submit that should a spiritually-curious non-Christian stumble into our blogosphere, they may find so many contradicting statements, arguments, and debates, that they would be turned off to the Gospel. I’m not criticizing any one person here, as I’ve engaged in a few debates myself on the internet, for better or worse. But do these benefit the Kingdom of God? I don’t believe so. At best, it seems like the proverbial “peeing contest,” and at worse is actually a divisive force in the church.

Those criticisms out of the way, I will also admit that there have been several times that I have read a blog and felt personally challenged to better my walk with God. I have been convicted, encouraged, and enlightened on many different kinds of topics in regards to my faith, and living it out in this world. More than once, I can probably even say that my prayer and bible study times have profited from some things I’ve read. And many of us just write to share our thoughts, and experiences, in our Christian walk. If we find something interesting while studying the Bible, we share it with other Christians through our blog . . . and I would even say that is very Biblical. It’s the 21st century version of Acts 2:46.

For some people, I imagine, this online community is the only place they feel like that have that fellowship. But is this a healthy situation for the Christian and the Kingdom of God? I think not. Our highest calling is to fulfill our Great Commission, to go out and win the world. While theoretically possible, I find it highly doubtful that blogging will do that. A Christian, full of love, caring and helping someone in need, and sharing the Gospel with them, will do that, though. I’m not saying don’t blog, but I encourage you to keep it in its place. Instead of debating, let’s all encourage each other to go out and win souls for Jesus! Let’s keep sharing our experiences, encouraging each other, and growing together, but let the fruit of that be evident in our profitability for the Kingdom of God.

I’m very interested to hear your thoughts on this, as I don’t believe myself to be the authority on the effectiveness of blogging as a witnessing tool. But I also want to issue a challenge to every blogger reading this post, which I intend to participiate in with you: Witness to, or share the gospel with 1 person for each blog post you write this week.

I, personally, get very excited when I think about the great things that we can all accomplish together for the Kingdom of God. Let’s make the Christian blogging movement responsible for souls being brought into the Kingdom of God, and not just a lot of interesting articles for other Christians.

If you’re taking the challenge, leave a comment, or trackback here with a story of how it went!

Prosperity and Christianity

CaseyP| August 1, 2008 12:56 pm

I’ve attempted posts on this topic occasionally, generally trying to point out that while many criticisms of the prosperity movement are valid, the teachings are sound.

Cerulean Sanctum has an excellent post up on just that topic.

To sum it up from my point of view, God can and does bless those who follow after him. The problem with many followers of the prosperity message is, they’re following after the not-so-almighty dollar. . . not God. Having been through quite a few hardships (including financial) in my life, I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that I’ve seen God prosper me, and work financial miracles for me (which I will detail soon) that were beyond the scope of natural occurence, or me getting a just reward for hard work. As Dan eloquently points out…that’s scriptural. However, those victories came after I submitted myself to serving God in the midst of terribly trying times, and I was joyful, no matter my situation. Once I had stopped begging God for more money, and quit trying to make things happen for myself, like stressing out all day trying to find a better job, and more ways to provide for my family, and I started submitting my life to prayer, witnessing, and living to serve God, his purposes, and his kingdom, I saw an equally dramatic shift in my financial situation.

Am I rich? Far from it…but my situation today is drastically different than it was even 1 year ago. And as I learn to submit to God in other areas of my life . . . I see God continuing to bless me financially. Perhaps, as I’ve heard a preacher put it, God is seeing that he can “trust” me with his money. Meaning that I don’t hold any back from Him during offerings, or from people in need. Why wouldn’t God prosper you if you were sharing that prosperity with the rest of his people?

We Love Jesus . . . but not You

CaseyP| July 17, 2008 12:00 pm

As a followup to yesterday’s ranting and raving on churches, I’ve stumbled across a great article on Beliefnet called, “Why Christians Suck.” Basically, we’re all a bunch of arrogant, self-absorbed, uncaring dweebs. Great stuff…and it follows right along with what I’ve been going on about. Christians suck…the non sucky Christians (apparently less than 5% of Church-goers, who I personally differentiate from “Christians”) need to help the sucky Christians be less-sucky. If this fails…we should run them from our churches with pitchforks and torches…just like an old-fashioned lynching.
Or we could pray for them…either way.

Churches: Havens for Weary Souls or Spiritual Dr. Kevorkians?

CaseyP| July 16, 2008 3:10 pm

I have a good friend, who, if you have read his blog, doesn’t exactly hold modern churches in high regard. I’ve criticized him, perhaps wrongly, because he chooses to have a service with his family, instead of going to a real church. I’ve defended churches of all types, under the premise that it’s better to go and be a part of a community of believers, to help others, and to occasionally be supported when you go through your own hard times. I, myself, belong to an amazing non-denominational church. While no church is perfect, I feel that mine gets it right on all the major points, and if they’re wrong in an area, they try their hardest to be right. I’ve always made the assumption that most churches were similar…that in their own way, they all just wanted to be right. They may go about it in wrong, or different ways, but that mostly they were trying to help people. Boy, was I wrong.

Recently, a good friend of mine, a youth pastor, discovered his wife was in adultery. They had recently had their first child, and as you can imagine, he was devastated. They separated, and my friend was intent on working things out (a good deal more than I would’ve done, personally). When he told his senior pastor, he was FIRED! Can you imagine? He has a baby, has just lost his wife, now his job, and his church! Apparently his church was concerned that it would make them look bad.

First of all, my friend did nothing wrong… at least to my knowledge. This would’ve been a time for the church, and the ministers of the church, to surround him with support and prayer. Take some time off…sure. This could’ve even been an example to the members of how a Godly person works through horrible situations with help from God. But instead, in his time of greatest need, the people that he had worked for, given his life to, and prayed over brushed him to the side when he was no longer immediately useful for praying for headaches, warts, or meaningless relationship problems. When it came to to repay all that he had given, they threw him out and brought in someone new to use and abuse until there was nothing left in him also.

Is this biblical? I think not. But it happens everyday throughout the country…when self-righteous, arrogant, Pharisaical, self-glorifying, religious dingbats run churches like medieval extremist witch hunters, on the prowl for the weakest Christians to crucify in their times of need. I see it constantly in my wife’s family (her grandmother pastors our church). The church has used up every bit of life in her until her health has failed…and is trying to do the same to her daughter while she fills in for her in the pulpit. I am sick and tired of willfully and woefully idiotic church-goers expecting their pastors to be nothing more than religious slaves, waiting on their beckon call, for whatever ridiculous thing they need that day… “Pastor…my son is running with a bad crowd…can you come witness to him?” How about living saved in front of your son, and not allowing him to participate in things you don’t agree with…cracktard?

We are all called to be ministers. Making our churches the healing centers that God means them to be is a responsibility we share in equal parts with our pastors. It’s our responsibility to go out and bring in sinners…it’s our responsibility to see about other Christians who need help, or who are sick, as much, if not more, than our pastors. STOP USING PASTORS TO BE SPIRITUALLY LAZY! STOP KILLING OFF THE LIFE IN OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN NEED! TAKE CARE OF YOUR PASTORS, INSTEAD OF USING THEM!!!!

How long were my friends in need of someone to turn to, to talk about their problems in their relationship? But no…as youth pastors, they weren’t able to say they needed help…they had to be Superman to their church’s Metropolis. Pastors and Ministers are people too…they go through things, feel the same hurt and heartache we all do. Their families are just like our families…they miss their husbands and fathers when they come out to see about your broken arm at 2am, because you just had to have your pastor there. After he spends all day praying over and tending to the needs of his flock, he is seldom able to devote that same care and concern to his family, because members call all night long. Of course in a true emergency, a pastor would want to come. But I’m not talking about rare occasions, I’m talking about a habitual systemic abuse of clergy, that is not the exception, but the norm, through our country.

Christians…I encourage you to grow up. Take on your biblical responsibility of caring for your brothers and sisters, and set your pastors free to seek God and pray for you and your family, as well as your church and town. Organize hospitality groups in your church for members to visit the sick, elderly, and back-slidden. Build your pastor up with prayer and encouraging words…because he prays and encourages you. Even if you don’t like or agree with your pastor…it is who God has given you today…and that makes them worthy of your respect, prayer, and help, in every way you can give it. Make your church a safe haven for weary souls…not a executioner’s table for the down-trodden.

*Update 8/1/2008: Messy Christian has some very interesting posts on a similar topic (Pastor Worship, which equates to Pastor Abuse, in many cases…besides those self-adulating types who like it) that you may also want to check out.

Is Sickness the Result of Sin?

CaseyP| May 19, 2008 4:27 pm

We’ve all run into our fair share of loony-tune type wackos out there, when it comes to the prosperity / health / happy-go-lucky doctrines. One thing I’ve been working through here is finding the truth in their teachings, without the obvious erroneous extremes to which they’ve flown. I met a man one time who told me that if Christians were sick, it was because of 2 reasons: 1. They were in sin, and therefore out of God’s protection; or 2. They didn’t have enough faith to be well.
This sent my head reeling, as I’m sure yours is after having read that. (Coincidentally, if your head is not reeling, you may, in fact, be a loony-tune wacko) My retort was instant, “What about Paul? He suffered from a physical problem throughout his ministry, despite praying God take it away, and even had to travel with a physician to care for him.”
“Paul obviously didn’t have enough faith to be well.” (He also informed me that Peter, and others who were martyred didn’t have enough faith to live)
I watched his face silently to see if he was having a laugh at my expense, but I saw no such indication. I excused myself shortly thereafter, and saw this same man walking home the next day because he had run out of gas, while driving to town on an empty tank, believing that God would keep it full, like the widow’s jar of oil. It was difficult not to mock him, but instead I just pretended like I didn’t see him and kept driving
Obviously we bring sickness on ourselves many, if not most, of the time. Our lifestyles, even years earlier in life, lead to health problems. Lack of exercise, junk food, etc wreak havoc on our bodies, and this doesn’t even take into account worse things. So…does sin cause sickness? Of course it does, many times. Who can look at an alcoholic and not realize that his sin caused his liver disease? We reap what we sow…even after being saved, however I believe God often alleviates much of this burden for his children. If you lead a wild and promiscuous life as a young person, it’s not unthinkable to believe that you may have physical problems as a result of that later on in life. We also live in a world under the curse of sin, and that is why we have sickness to begin with. So, in some way, we can say all sickness did originate because of sin.
This is, however, a far cry from saying that personal sin makes people sick, as a rule. We are a part of this world, and subject to its curse. I believe in healing, I’ve seen many people healed of all manner of diseases. But why isn’t everyone healed? I don’t know. God has a plan in all things. Perhaps it is because of lack of faith, although I typically don’t believe that is the main reason. Job suffered from sickness and tragedy like no other that I know of. Yet he was a righteous man in every way, and still put all his trust in God. From his (and his friends) Point of View, there was no reason at all for him to go through all of that. He easily could’ve gotten mad at God, saying, “Haven’t I served you? Haven’t I lived righteously for you? And what has it gotten me?!” But while he did ultimately trust God for restoration, and to work his will, he didn’t have the haughtiness of my acquaintance with the empty gas tank. He quietly accepted what God had for him, and stayed true to his faith in God through it all.
Ultimately, this life is a journey…a trying ground. How we respond and react to adversity of any sort shows God who we are, and how devoted to him we are…it also shows Satan and the lost around us the same thing. So…why do the righteous suffer? Why do Christians get sick? Lack of faith? I think not. To prove faith, is what I think.

Why I would vote for Hillary Clinton

CaseyP| April 23, 2008 2:11 pm

I’m a republican, a real one, not a McCain, Bush, Cheney, et al neo-con republican. I’m conservative. I would vote for Hillary Clinton over John McCain, and after this recent comment, I’d vote for Hillary Clinton over many other candidates too.
Read.
I firmly believe that the willingness of our leadership to back Israel is one of the most important topics we need to discern before an election. God said he would bless those who bless Israel, and curse those who curse Israel. This is the kind of backbone I want in a leader. Obama is a pansifist (hat tip to Miss O’hara for that word) of the highest degree, and far to weak and ideological to be the President during this stressful time. We are being held hostage at the pumps by middle-Eastern countries with questionable ties to terrorism. We have to know where we draw the line, how far OPEC can push us. I think Sen. Clinton knows that line, after reading that she will NUKE Iran if they attack Israel. Bravo, Mrs. Clinton. We disagree on many things, but you won me over on what matters most.

Extreme Measures

CaseyP| April 15, 2008 8:45 am

I was reading Jesus’ sermon on the Mount recently, in Matthew 5, and noticed something I had never seen before. We use his words on adultery and lust as an example of why you can’t live by the letter of the law, but by the spirit of it. It also shows us what the Law was originally intended to do: show us our sinful hearts. We can see that if we keep the commandments of God, and live a seemingly holy life, that’s all the matters, but our heart must be changed.
I found it very interesting, then, that as Jesus makes this point, he segues into this:

“And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.”
– Matthew 5:29-30

I don’t think it is a coincidence he says this directly after telling us that lust in your heart is the same as committing adultery through God’s eyes. I actually think the allusion here is as purposeful as it is blunt. Before you get all hot and bothered, I don’t think we’re being instructed by Jesus to actually borrow our neighbor’s hatchet and start whacking away at body parts. I think what we’re being instructed to do here, is to take whatever measures are necessary, no matter how extreme, to prevent ourselves from falling into sin.

This is a bit of a foreign concept, I think, in today’s age. We tend to be told by our friends and churches that many sins are okay, or are understandable, God understands, and as long as you’re giving it your best shot, he’ll save you a spot in heaven. Clearly, Jesus sees sin differently. Not only is it not good enough for you not to sin outwardly, but evil, carnal thoughts in your heart are also enough to condemn you.

Jesus is telling us here that sin is so foul, so destructive, that you must do whatever you can to make sure you don’t sin. I know someone who found it incredibly difficult to keep themselves from looking at pornography on the internet. It was their last resort to maintain their relationship with God, to sign up for XXXChurch.com’s accountability software that emails an accountability partner of your choosing if you go to sexually themed websites. That way he knew he couldn’t sin in secret anymore. As far as I know, this has worked for him.

But each of us have an area in life where we are most easily tempted, and our instructions are equally as clear as Jesus’ teachings on lust: get away from sin in any way possible. Perhaps friends, acquaintances, people we have lunch at work with, TV shows, movies, etc are problems drawing us back into sins we want desperately to be out of. Maybe you can’t stop yourself from drinking when you’re with a certain crowd of people. Maybe you have uncontrollable habits or thoughts because of what you fill your mind with on the internet or TV. No matter the cause, the solution is the same. It may take extreme measures to ensure you stay away from sin. People may think you’re silly, and that it doesn’t take all that to be Christian. I’ve even known Pastors who got on to church members for being too extreme in trying to avoid a sin. I know of a man who came out of gangs, drugs, and prostitution, who, when he found himself tempted to look at a woman lustfully, would actually make himself leave wherever he was at to get away. He was in a mall with some friends, and actually excused himself and left the mall! I know that some of you are chuckling self-righteously right now, and saying things like, “Well, obviously he has a problem he needs help with if he can’t even be in public without lusting.” Obviously he does, Pharisee. Obviously we all do, we just don’t take our sin seriously enough to do something equally as extreme about it. Or maybe we enjoy it too much?

Either way, our calling is clear. Just not murdering someone, or hopping into bed and committing adultery, is not enough. Our hearts must be pure. And if we can’t find a way to keep them pure, and still go to the same places, be with the same friends, or watch the same things, we must take extreme measures.

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