Wedding Script

My son-in-law and my daughter wanted the Gospel message to be integral to their wedding ceremony, in the hope that the words and vows spoken there would reach any among the guests that might not know the peace, joy, and fulfillment of life as the Bride of Christ.  My sister has asked that I post the transcript of the ceremony to this blog.  Here it is:

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here to witness and to celebrate one of the most wonderful occasions in life, commemorating what is, according to their own testimonies,  the second most important decision, the second most important commitment of Patrick’s and Elisabeth’s lives.  Why the second most important?  Well, we’ll get to that in just a few moments, but I would like to share just a couple of brief paragraphs from the inspired Word of God in which He shares His design for and His thoughts concerning this holy union between a man and a woman that we call “marriage.”

Ephesians 5:22-33

Marriage Like Christ and the Church

²² Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. ²³ For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. ²⁴ But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, ²⁶ so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, ²⁷ that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. ²⁸ So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; ²⁹ for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, ³⁰ because we are members of His body. ³¹ FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. ³² This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. ³³ Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.

In just a few short sentences, the apostle Paul paints one of the most profound pictures of marriage and its purpose that can found anywhere, in any book, movie or any other media.  Listen to what Paul says as he quotes Genesis 2:24 in describing this holy union: For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.  You see, as God indicated almost as far back as the beginning of time, and as Paul understood so very well, the relationship shared between a married man and woman is so close, so intimate, that the two of them can no longer be considered as individuals, but instead become part of a greater whole.  Paul then follows his quote with a startling declaration concerning this very special relationship: This mystery is great, but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.  You see, marriage is a gift to us in many ways and on many levels, but perhaps the single greatest gift this beautiful relationship gives us is a picture of God Himself, and of the closeness He desires with His children.  Paul uses the word mystery here to describe an idea that was only partially revealed to the prophets Old Testament, but that found its fulfillment in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. 

God referred to His chosen people as His bride multiple times throughout the Old Testament, but it was not until the resurrection and ascension of Christ that the full scope of this mystery became clear.  In John 14, 15, and 16 Christ comforted His disciples with the promise that if He left them, He would send the comforter to be with them – a promise that was realized with the gift of the Holy Spirit that dwells in each and every believer.  

So, the mystery is that marriage and the intimacy within marriage are a physical picture of the spiritual intimacy that God desires with us,  and that is available to each of us, if we would only place our faith in His Son as our lord and savior. 

Let us pray.

Our Heavenly Father, we thank You for creating this day and setting it aside for Patrick and for Elisabeth.  Lord, I thank You for the gift of a beautiful daughter and for the 21 wonderful years in which You entrusted her to her mother and me to care for her and to nurture her and to enjoy her company.  I thank you most of all for calling her to yourself and for the assurance that we have of spending eternity with her in Your Kingdom.

I thank you Lord for Patrick; for bringing him into Elisabeth’s life in the nick of time – in Your perfect time, just as she was beginning to despair of finding a righteous man with whom she might share her life.  I thank you Lord for Patrick’s openness and humility, for his devotion to You and Your Ways, and for his caring, gentle, and nurturing spirit.

Lord I thank you for the gift of marriage and for how much it reveals to us of Your loving nature.  I pray that you would bless Patrick and Elisabeth as they stand before You today, that you would stand in their midst today and for all time, and that you would grow and strengthen their faith and their marriage until it shines like a blazing beacon proclaiming the truth and hope of Your Gospel.

Bless us this day and forgive us our sins.

In Christ’s precious name, Amen.

As Paul describes the mystery that is marriage, it becomes apparent that, just as Christ and the believers that make up His bride - His church - each have their own roles, a husband and a wife each have their own roles within marriage.

Elisabeth: as the wife of Patrick, you are not only Patrick’s companion and helper; you represent the glorious body of believers that Christ Himself died to rescue from the bonds to and the penalty for sin.  And just as all in the church are called to subordinate their own will and desires in obedience to the will and commandments of Christ, you are called to set aside your own pride and desires and to live in submission to your husband.  Now I know that words like “obedience” and “submission” have almost become four-letter words in our individualist society, but they are qualities that God holds in very high esteem, as His word plainly indicates to us.  Listen to the picture God’s Word paints of the gentile woman, Ruth, who is held up in Scripture as the ideal wife of Proverbs 31:

Ruth 3:7-9 

⁷ … when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then [Ruth] came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down. ⁸ At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet! ⁹ He said, "Who are you?" And she answered, "I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer."

In placing her life and fate in the hands of Boaz and pledging to be a servant wife to him, Ruth echoed Boaz’s own words back to him.  You see, just weeks before, Boaz, impressed by the humble and caring spirit, and by the faith of a gentile woman, had offered a prayer over Ruth, that she might be blessed by the one true God, under whose wing she had come for shelter.  God, in His turn, arranged for Boaz himself to become the instrument of that blessing.  And just as Ruth trusted completely in God and in the man who would become her husband, you are called to trust in Patrick as your husband, to place yourself in his hands under God and to rely on his care for you to meet your needs within marriage.

Patrick: in this day and age, it can be very difficult for a woman to subordinate her own will to that of her husband, but you can be the one to take that burden from your wife and turn it instead into joy.  As Elisabeth’s husband, you are not only her provider and the head of her household; you are a living representation of Christ, and of His love for His sheep.  You are called, not to lord it over your wife and household as many in our generation tend to do, but to love your wife unselfishly as Christ loved us; seeking not to humiliate or degrade us, but to care for us, protect us and glorify us in the eyes of all the world.  Christ Himself tells us that his yoke is easy and His burden light.  Today, humility and unselfishness are not considered to be concepts that “sell,” but they are character traits that are so valuable to God that He modeled them for us Himself in the person of His Son:

Philippians 2:4-8 

⁴ do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. ⁵ Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. ⁸ Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Patrick, there is an old saying:  “Happy wife – happy life.”  If you would have a wife who can be truly joyful at the prospect of submission to you as her husband, you are called to love my daughter with the love that Christ has for His church, placing her needs before your own and even before your very life, ruling your household with gentleness and humility.

Both of you:  Here we finally come to the reason that this day is the second most important day in your lives, and the vows you are about to take are the second most important promise you have made or ever will make in this life.  Listen to the words of Solomon as he instructs us on the importance of companionship in this life:

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 

⁹ Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. ¹⁰ For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. ¹¹ Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? ¹² And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.

Interestingly, Solomon repeatedly uses the number “two” to describe the importance of human relationships:  Two are better than one.  If two lie down… Two can resist… Then he suddenly says a strange thing:  A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.  Three.  In engineering, when we want to make something strong, we make it out of what?  Out of triangles.  Three.  You see, the writer of Ecclesiastes understood that the strongest of all two-person relationships are really three-person relationships.  The center strand of Solomon’s cord is the Lord.  The apex of the triangle is the Lord.  The third person who is really the first person in the strongest of two-person relationships is the Lord.  And the most important decision you have ever made or ever will make is to put your faith in and trust Christ as Lord.  This may sound counter-intuitive, but the more of yourselves that you give to the Lord, the more of you is left over to give to each other.

And so lastly, and most importantly, Patrick and Elisabeth, I call you and God calls you to love Him first, to keep Him in first place, and to make Him the highest priority in your lives.  God first; each other second; yourselves last.

Do you, Patrick, pledge to live by these things that I have spoken to you, to love Elisabeth sacrificially and to care for her as God has instructed you, and to love God first as His Word has commanded you?

And do you, Elisabeth, pledge to live by these things I have spoken to you, to love and obey Patrick as God has instructed you, and to love God first, as His Word has commanded you?

Then each of you repeat after me:

I, Patrick, take thee, Elisabeth, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part, according to God's holy ordinance; and thereto I pledge thee myself to you.

I, Elisabeth, take thee, Patrick, to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part, according to God's holy ordinance; and thereto I pledge thee myself to you.

Patrick and Elisabeth, the rings you exchange on this day symbolize the eternal love that each of you enjoy as Children of your Heavenly Father and the life-long commitment that you make to each other this day.

Patrick: place Elisabeth’s ring on her finger and repeat after me:

With this ring I thee wed and with it I bestow the treasures of my mind, heart and hands. May this ring forever be to you the symbol of my growing love, and may it serve as a constant reminder that I choose you, Elisabeth above all others, to be my wife, until death do us part.

Elisabeth: place Patrick’s ring on his finger and repeat after me:

With this ring I thee wed and with it I bestow the treasures of my mind, heart and hands. May this ring forever be to you the symbol of my growing love, and may it serve as a constant reminder that I choose you, Patrick above all others, to be my husband, until death do us part.

Patrick and Elisabeth:  By the power vested in me by the State and under God, I now pronounce you man and wife.  What God has joined, let no man put asunder.  Patrick, you may kiss the bride J

In one of the last intimate moments Christ shared with His disciples before going to the cross, Jesus got up from the supper table, wrapped a towel around His own waist and began washing His disciples’ feet.  When He had done so, Christ instructed His disciples that they should do the same for each other.  In token of their unselfish affection for one another, and of their intent to live in service to Christ and to each other, Patrick and Elisabeth would like to begin their marriage by ceremonially washing each other’s feet.

The Science Guy, but not the History Guy

Recently science teacher, comedian, and television personality Bill Nye caused an internet uproar when he released a 2-minute video entitled "Creationism is not appropriate for children."  As of this writing - just a week after the video's release the short film has over 3 million views on YouTube, almost 65,000 "likes," 13,000 "dislikes," and many many more comments.  Now, video defenses of evolutionist or creationist viewpoints are nothing new; in fact, they have become rather common fare over the past few years on video-hosting sites.  Neither is it uncommon for a well-known personality to attempt to appeal to an audience to embrace one side or another in this debate; Carl Sagan proselytized on behalf of Darwinism for most of his adult life, while Christian personalities like Kirk Cameron and Charlton Heston have publicly called for a return to a literal belief in the Scriptural account of our origins.

What was unusual in this instance and what seemed to raise the ire of so many in the creationist camp was Mr. Nye's appeal to parents to stop teaching their children creationism, regardless of their own personal beliefs, for the good of the country: 

“And I say to the grownups, if you want to deny evolution and live in your world, in your world that’s completely inconsistent with everything we observe in the universe, that’s fine.  But don’t make your kids do it because we need them. We need scientifically literate voters and taxpayers for the future. We need people that can – we need engineers that can build stuff, solve problems.”

Now, having participated in a number of online and personal debates over the subject of evolution myself, I knew there was very little chance of convincing anyone in an online forum of the truth of creation as it has been revealed to us in Genesis.  As a member of the science and engineering community who also happens to be a believer, I did, however, take the opportunity to voice my objection to the main theme of Nye's message:  that a belief in a creationist world view and the ability to contribute in a meaningful way to science or to solve engineering problems are somehow mutually exclusive.  As many others - even some within the evolutionist camp, have correctly stated, Mr. Nye's assertions simply don't square up with centuries of history in which virtually the entire world held to some form of a creationist viewpoint, and in which tremendous strides were made in the fields of mathematics, physics, chemistry, medicine, and even biology.  Simply put, Bill Nye may be the science guy, but he evidently isn't the history guy.

I was struck by the outright hostility with which my comments were greeted by those in the evolutionist camp.  Though I did not directly attack the theory of evolution, contenting myself in this instance with a rebuttal of Mr. Nye's flawed assertion that creationists cannot be problem solvers, I was greeted with a volley of critical replies, most of which boiled down to attacks on my intellect.  I was assured that only the ignorant would dismiss evolution today and that if the great scientists of previous generations - Galileo, Newton, et al - were alive now, they would be evolutionists, too.  Even my appeals to freedom of speech and thought and the healthy discourse dissenting viewpoints can bring to the table were summarily rejected.

Simply put, atheistic evolutionists are no longer content with being allowed to express their own views; they have now set their sights on completely eliminating any public expression of "intolerant" Christian viewpoints from our society.  This is grim news indeed for our children and grand-children, but do not despair.  Take heart in the knowledge that the sovereign God who knows all things and who holds all of creation in His hand chose to reveal these things to us from far off, that we might not be dismayed to see them in our generation:

Romans 1:20-23 (New American Standard Bible)

²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. ²¹ For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. ²² Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

Equally striking to me were the large numbers of posters claiming to have resolved their Christian faith with the theory of evolution.  "Why couldn't God have used evolution to populate His creation?" they argued.  "Doesn't the Bible say a thousand years is like one day to Him?"  If you are tempted to give in to this line of reasoning; to try and have it both ways as these posters have done, consider the following passage from Scripture:

Romans 5:12-14 (New American Standard Bible)

¹² Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned— ¹³ for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. ¹⁴ Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.

Now, if you are at all interested in science and have any kind of an aptitude for critical thinking, two things should be just about jumping off the page at you at this moment:

First, the Scriptures indicate that sin entered the world through one man - Adam.  The rest of us inherited a sin nature as a result of being descended from the original sinner.  In the evolutionist view, man is the result of billions of years of progression from protein chains to single-celled organisms to mammals, primates, and finally hominids.  In this view, by the days of Adam, there would not have been one man, but thousands, or even millions all across the earth.  How is it that all those who were not even descended from Adam would have inherited the curse of Adam?

Secondly, the Sriptures teach that death entered the world only after and as a result of sin entering the world.  In the evolutionist view, death is the mechanism by which natural selection operates. The strong survive while the weak perish.  How could there be such a thing as natural selection in a world without death?

As Dr. Henry Morris has said again and again, evolutionists are not wasting any time trying to resolve their views with Christianity; it's time for Christians to stop wasting time trying to harmonize their beliefs with a school of thought that is clearly in opposition to the truth of Scripture.

What ever happened to the Gospel?

Some years ago, Christian author Dave Hunt wrote a book entitled “Whatever Happened to Heaven?” The book was written in response to the disillusionment experienced by many in the Christian community after predictions of an imminent rapture failed to materialize. As the 40th anniversary of the reestablishment of an Israeli state came and went, doubt crept into the church. "Maybe we had it wrong," many thought. "Maybe the Gospel isn't about the afterlife, but about the now life." Dave sought to answer these doubts in 1988 with a book that is still very relevant some 24 years later as we watch the slow and painful demise of faith in “pie in the sky, bye and bye” in favor of a call to usher in the Kingdom of Heaven right here and now – on earth and in our time.

Some two decades after Dave Hunt first published his book, I find myself asking a very similar question. The question I have recently found myself asking almost every day is “Whatever happened to the Gospel?” Week after week, as I read Christian books and study materials, visit Christian blogs and web sites, and listen to Christian music and programs, I find myself subjected to a seemingly unending barrage of exhortations to find my spiritual gift, to find my place in ministry, to get “plugged in,” to find God’s purpose for my life. I go to Christian concerts and retreats where I am entreated to donate to ministries whose primary purpose appears to be easing the suffering of people in the here and now – hopefully with at least some notion attracting people to the Kingdom by meeting their physical needs. Sometimes these events are accompanied by a clear presentation of the Gospel; other times the speakers may refer to the Gospel only in a vague sort of way, or sometimes not at all.

Ask a professional or lay-minister what the biggest problem facing the Church is today, and, chances are, you will get some response about the lack of volunteerism or commitment on the part of the laity. You may hear about how more people than ever attend church, while fewer people than ever can be found to fill teaching roles, or about how attendance has gone up while giving has gone down. I wonder, though, how often you would hear a minister say that we just aren’t getting the truth of the Gospel out often enough or to enough people? I would contend that if we looked back to the times when the Church was at its healthiest and growing at its fastest, we would find that these weren’t the times when were exhorting each other to find our gift, or to be generous with our time and resources, or to get “plugged in,” or to find God’s purpose for our lives. No; I would be willing to bet that if we were to look at those times, we would find a church membership that knew the Gospel backward and forward, that had honed its presentation to razor sharpness, and that had as its refrain, not some vague promise of finding peace and fulfillment in this life, but in the words of Charles Spurgeon:

“If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.”

Do you want to know what God’s purpose for your life is? I can tell you what it is right now. If you are a Christian, God’s purpose for your life is summed up in Matthew 28, verses 19-20:

Matthew 28:19-20 (English Standard Version)

¹⁹ “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Now, you may have other specific tasks or places to which God has called you, but if you are reading this as a born-again Christian, I can tell you that your primary purpose in life is to honor Christ in worship, and by making other Christians. That’s it.

If you are sitting here and you are not a Christian, and you are wondering what God’s will is for you, His desire for you is summed up in 1 Timothy 2:

1 Timothy 2:3-6 (English Standard Version)

³ This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴ who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁵ For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

Now I want to pause here for a moment to pass on a startling fact I read not long ago on the Francis Schaeffer Institute web site: According to the site, a startling 57% of professed evangelical Christians believe that there is more than one way to heaven! The number is even higher for non-evangelical protestants at 82%. If these figures are accurate, that means that at least one out of every two professed Christians has not correctly understood the Gospel. And if they have not understood the Gospel, well, that begs the question of whether they could possibly have received the Gospel. And if they haven’t received the Gospel, then they are still dead in their sins, and will be one of those unfortunate shocked and dismayed people who have dedicated their lives to service and to purpose-driven Christian living, and of whom Christ says in Matthew 7: “I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” So take a good look at the person to your left and to your right the next time you are sitting in that pew. Statistically speaking, there is a good chance that at least one of those people is bound for hell.

So, if you are not saved, God’s desire for you is to know the truth, that you might become saved. In the words of Christ Himself, when asked what to do in order to be doing God’s work, He said "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." (John 6:29). So again the answer is very simple: If you are not a Christian, God’s will for you is to become a Christian.

So, God’s will for non-Christians is to become Christian, and God’s will for Christians is to make non-Christians Christian (try saying that three times fast). Got it? Good. Now you might ask: how can I make anyone a Christian? The answer is: you can’t. That is where the Gospel comes in. Listen to the words of the apostle Paul, concerning the Gospel:

Romans 1:16-17 (English Standard Version)

¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."

So, though we have no power of our own to save anybody, God gives us the power to make Christians, and the power He gives us is in the Gospel. It isn’t in programs or buildings. It isn’t in service or in donations to charity. It isn’t in 12-step or 7-habits courses. It isn’t in music (unless that music somehow involves a presentation of the truth of the Gospel). It isn’t in effective or purpose-driven living. The power of God for salvation is in the Gospel.

The writer of Hebrews says much the same thing in different words:

Hebrews 4:12 (English Standard Version)

¹² For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

So the power is in the Word. The Word reflects our true nature for all to see, it convicts us of our sin, and it offers us redemption in the person of the Living Word, who is Christ.

So what is the Gospel? After all, we cannot offer the Gospel; we cannot take advantage of its power to save; we cannot share the Gospel, if we do not know the Gospel, or if we have forgotten it. Paul comes to our rescue again on this point, summarizing in a few sentences that which we need to know and to hold fast to in order to be saved and to obtain eternal life:

1 Corinthians 15

The Resurrection of Christ

¹ Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, ² and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
³ For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. ⁶ Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. ⁸ Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. ⁹ For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. ¹¹ Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

So the Gospel in a few words is simply this:

• That I am a wretched sinner, wicked to the core, and doomed to eternal punishment, as Paul was before me.
• That Christ came down from above, lived the perfect life I could never live, died in my place in payment for my sins, and rose again to the right hand of the Father, proving He has power over life and death and that He has conquered death for all time.
• That if I repent and turn to Christ as my Lord and Savior, placing my faith in the work He has completed and in His mercy I will be saved and obtain eternal life, because:
• In placing my faith in Christ, I get credit for the life He lived, in exchange for the punishment He took for the life I’ve lived, and like Abraham, I am counted righteous because I believed. (See 2 Corinthians 5:21)

If you are hearing or reading this and you have never understood or received the Gospel, I have laid it out for you as simply as I know how. Won’t you take a few moments to reflect on it and understand it, that you might receive it and be saved? If you are a Christian and have been seeking God’s will for your walk, won’t you consider making the sharing of the Gospel the goal of your purpose-driven life?

CBCSMBS: Genesis 1

CBCSMBS: Genesis 1: "Thoughts on Genesis 1: On the Six Days of Creation: One of the areas where Biblical teaching and modern science squarely butt heads is..."

Republican != Christian

Now, I realize this entry is likely to raise the ire of many who stumble across it, but it needs to be said. In case you don't have a background in computer science or discrete mathematics, the "!=" sign in the title stands for "NOT EQUAL," as in "Republican does not equal Christian." Now, in case you are fearful that I am about to begin bashing the Republican Party, fear not. I simply wanted to get something off my chest that has been weighing on my mind for some time. It is an idea that seems especially pertinant at a time when many fundamentalist Christians look on in horror as the introduction of postmodern philosophy into the Church threatens to completely erase the truth of the Gospel from Christian consciousness. If I may, I'd like to draw your attention to a section of scripture that has really been speaking to me of late:

"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God." (Revelation 2:1-7)

What does this have to do with the subject of this post? In the simplest terms I can find to express it, the biggest problem in late 20th and early 21st century fundamentalist Christianity has been this:

While so many of us (myself included) are prepared to argue for hours on end when presented with a chance to speak out on homosexual marriage, abortion, prayer in schools, or any other controversial social issue, we become strangely tongue-tied, standing around with sheepish looks on our faces when presented with an opportunity to share the simple, yet glorious mystery of a King who would lay down His life for His subjects. We have forsaken our first love, and so we labor at trying to change those around us on the outside, rather than to introduce them to the one that can change them from the inside, forgetting that "the man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14).

Am I saying that Christians should keep silent and embrace the "tolerance" of the liberal when confronted with the opportunity to speak out on the issue of sin in our society? Certainly not, but we need to understand that the prevalence of sin in our communities is merely a symptom of a greater illness, and not the illness itself. Treating symptoms should never have become and must not remain the primary focus of the evangelical church.

You see, you and I as Christians can do nothing out of our own strength to change the hearts of those who are lost in the quagmire of sin. All we can do is to allow God's own words to show them that they are sick, then lovingly introduce them to the Great Physician who can heal the very root of their illness. If we spend all our energy attempting to treat the symptom, rather than the disease, then we are just as guilty of selling an empty social gospel as the postmodernists who have invaded our churches.

30 years ago, my father could not understand how the great apostasy described by Christ and the Apostles could possibly come in his lifetime. Now, for all intents and purposes, it is here. It is the eleventh hour. The time for band-aids is long gone. We need a doctor - and so do those around us.

Is Hell Real? An Answer to the Emerging Church

I recently read an article on emergingchurch.info that should make any Bible-believing Christian's hair stand up on end. The article is entitled "The Problem With Hell" and was written by David Allis, a professed minister of Christ. The article gives a short synopsis of the "traditional doctrine of hell," then goes on to list thirteen reasons why the traditional view of hell should be challenged. The problem is, none of Mr. Allis' reasoning is scripturally-based. Rather, it appears to be the product of wishful thinking and a careful remodeling of our Heavenly Father into something more resembling Santa Claus than the God of the Bible.

Here are a few of the reasons Mr. Allis gives to support the idea that the doctrine of Hell should be reexamined (parentheses represent a paraphrase of the supporting arguments given by Mr Allis):

1. Is Hell compatible with the nature of God? (The idea of hell seems incompatible with a loving God)

You've got it confused, Mr. Allis. Sin is what is incompatible with the nature of God:

The LORD detests the way of the wicked
but he loves those who pursue righteousness. (Proverbs 15:9)

He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. (1 John 3:8)

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

Unrepentant sinners cannot enter into the presence of God, and I know of no one who doesn't somehow fit into the list given in 1 Corinthians 6, myself included. You have it almost right a few paragraphs down in your article: Hell is the place for people who have steadfastly refused to enter into communion with God by placing faith in His Son. Christ Himself explains this in Matthew 13, when He tells us that at the end of the age His angles will "weed out of His kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil." Reading a verse further on we find their fate: They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:42).

Christ lays out God's standard for righteousness clearly in the Sermon on the Mount: It is an impossibly high standard; a standard that none of us can meet, but that has been met on our behalf by the Son of Man.

2. God desires to save everyone (and only 5 - 20% of people throughout history would fall into the category of the "saved" according to Christian understanding).

Mr. Allis correctly cites 1 Peter 3:9 as evidence that God desires that all men be saved, but leaves out the critical context that surrounds it:

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. (2 Peter 3:8-13)

While the view that God desires all men to be saved is definitely scriptural, the supposition that God would compromise His position on sin and judgment simply because the majority of people refuse His voice is not:

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Matthew 7:13-14)

So you see, it isn't news to God or any student of the Scriptures that there may well be more people in hell than in heaven after the judgment.

3 & 4. Will [Christians] know [about their loved ones in hell]? [How can Christians be] having a party while our loved ones suffer?

Mr Allis goes on to ask if the Christ we follow wouldn't "go downstairs (into hell) to do something to help those He loves but are suffering" and even offers to go with Him and help! Here Mr. Allis clearly ignores the teaching of Christ found in Luke 16, which explains that an impassable gulf is fixed between heaven and hell, as well as the teaching of Revelation 21. Those who are in heaven will be in the awesome presence of God. There will be no room for mourning, and all tears will be wiped away. Those in hell will find that they put themselves there and that they had at least some opportunity to avoid their fate. Christians who are worried about this possibility should spend more time witnessing to their loved ones and less time fantasizing about Santa God.

5. Hell is inconsistent with God's salvation efforts to date (That God would send His son to die for us, then suddenly stop His efforts to save us after we die doesn't make sense)

Again, Mr. Allis insists on ignoring the clear teaching of scripture:

Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:27-28)

Scripture is clear on this matter; each of us has one life to live. Along with the many attributes rightly ascribed by Mr. Allis to God (merciful, loving, all-knowing, all-powerful) are a few others: righteous, just, and jealous. God's love and mercy are amply demonstrated by Romans 5:8: But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God's justice will be as amply demonstrated on the day of judgment:

And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. (Revelation 20:12-13)

6. The Scriptures aren't clear (on the matter of hell)

Really? I don't think it gets much clearer than this, Mr. Allis:

And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Revelation 20:10)

Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:14-15)

7. The Problem of Religious Luck (essentially that our character depends on the circumstances in which we are raised and which are outside our control, so only the "lucky" will be able to respond appropriately to the Gospel)

And here we have finally gotten to the root of the problem: Mr. Allis is mistakenly trying to reconcile the truth of Scripture with the lies of humanism. While humanism teaches that people are basically good, or at least neutral from birth, wanting only for nurturing circumstances to become better, Scripture is absolutely clear on the opposite:

The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9)

As it is written:
"There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God. (Romans 3:10-11)

Even from birth the wicked go astray;
from the womb they are wayward and speak lies. (Psalm 58:3)

If Scripture is not somehow enough, the multitude of testimonies from people who have grown up in sexual slavery, from eunuchs, from murderers, from those who have themselves traded in slaves, and even from those who have come out of the church of Satan to become believing Christians and evangelists give the lie to this idea.

Mr. Allis goes on to write that all this teaching about hell seems more damaging than helpful to the cause of the Gospel, that the idea of hell represents a lowering of the standard of God's love to a level less than that of humans and to reiterate that the concept of hell just doesn't seem consistent with a loving and merciful God. It is a sure bet that there are many people out there longing to hear the "good news," as taught by men like Mr. Allis. The scripture warns that us this will be so:

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4:1-4)

Make no mistake, friends: hell is real and awaits all who reject the truth of the Gospel and the call of the Holy Spirit, who testifies about the Son of God (John 15:26). The real good news is here:

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:5-8)

That the Creator and Lord of the universe would love us enough to die for our sins, and that he will confess us before the father, if we confess Him before men is the true good news.

Do You Know This Man?"

My Dad (The Devolutionist) was once discussing matters of faith with my uncle. Now my uncle is a Jehovah's Witness, and like many in that faith, he is aggressive about spreading what he believes to be the good news of the Watchtower. He is passionate about his faith and equally passionate about debating in general. I think if you gave my uncle a choice between a bologna sandwich and a chance to argue religion or a steak dinner with the obligation to engage only in small talk, the steak would be safe from my uncle's teeth. As usual, they went back and forth on a number of issues, concerning heaven, the existence of hell, how a person attains salvation, and so on. As my uncle countered my father's questions and statements with more of his own (in general, most practicing Jehovah's Witnesses know their Bible pretty well - at least the parts they believe to be salient to their faith), it occurred to my Dad to pose one final statement to my uncle, and it is one every Christian should know how to answer for him or herself and, more importantly, for anyone else that asks:

"You can be right about everything else, but the only thing that really matters is who is Jesus, and what are you going to do about Him."

It's a very valid question. You see, there are millions of people around us who are dying, and we are letting them die. They believe they securely strapped in their life-jackets, but the jackets they are wearing are filled with lead plates, rather than buoyant foam. And we stand by on the boat, watching them furiously tread water as their faces sink beneath the waves.

They are dying, because, all too often, our feeble attempts at sharing the Gospel begin and end with asking whether a person believes in Jesus. Very often the answer is "yes." And we let the matter drop, either because we are satisfied with that simple answer, or because we are stymied by it, and don't know where to go from there.

You see, when someone professes to believe in Jesus, we need to ask the next logical question; one that Jesus Himself asked His followers:

"But what about you? Who do you say that I am?" (Matthew 16:15)

You see, many who profess faith in Christ would give very different answers than those taught by the Scriptures. The Watchtower teaches that Christ is an exalted angel, the first of God's creations. Brigham Young taught that Christ was an exalted man, the son of a glorified Adam. Islam teaches that Christ was a prophet. Even many in Christian denominations are confused about the identity of Christ, though the Scriptures spell this out very clearly. In Christ's own words:

"Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades (Revelation 1:17-18)

"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" (John 8:58)

In those two places in Scripture, as well as in others, Jesus takes for Himself titles that are clearly reserved elsewhere for God Himself. In Isaiah 43, the God of Jacob identifies Himself as the First and the Last. In Exodus 3, God identifies Himself to Moses as "I AM," indicating His everlasting and ever-present nature. In the Revelation, we know it is Christ speaking, because the Father never died! In John 8, we know the use of the present tense is a correct translation because of the reaction of the Jews of that day: "At this, they picked up stones to stone him..." (John 8:59) - an appropriate reaction to what they perceived as blasphemy in their misunderstanding of Christ's nature.

There are many other evidences of Christ's identity as God in Scripture. We as Christians should know them by heart, lest we let our loved ones drown clinging to a false Christ that is powerless to save them.