The Pope Is Probably the Antichrist

I’ve said before that the only virtue praised in America today is “judge not, lest you be judged.” This includes people within the church, yet the Bible commands us to help each other in our struggle with sin (see Galatians 6:1-2, James 5:16, Colossians 3:16, Ephesians 4:25, James 5:19-20) and that includes “judging” as many people tend to use that word today.

There was a very interesting article on judging written at the Cripplegate today on the Catholic church and their election of a new pope. He brought up some points that I had never heard before, that Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, and Edwards all condemned the pope as being an antichrist. The article ends by saying:

And if calling the Pope the antichrist seems like a very unchristian thing to do, I assure you that it is not the theology of the thing that has changed in the last 50 years.Today’s reluctance to make that connection says a lot about how far our evangelical culture has drifted, and very little about the Pope.

The whole article is worth reading, and a good check of where we as the church have been and continue to go. How can we continue to hold true to the Gospel of Jesus Christ dying for our sins and raising to life on the third day, now sitting at the right hand of God until he will return to judge the living and the dead in our current culture?

Coy Mathis and Sexual Confusion

Not to far away from where I live in in Cheyenne, is a little boy name Coy Mathis who has grown up acting and thinking he is a girl. The family was originally concerned with this, but as they took him to many doctors, they were told that Coy is simply a female trapped in a males body. He’s 6 years old. Before I get into the theological ideas behind this, what 6 year old knows the difference between the sexes? I don’t remember thinking anything was different until I hit puberty. Boys and girls were simply people that I was friends with. In the case of Coy, he apparently begin displaying feminine characteristics from the time he was 18 months old. He dresses as a girl, plays with girl toys and identifies himself as a girl. The school he’s attending has called his parents to inform them that Coy could no longer use the girl’s bathroom because he is a boy. The parents are now suing the school. What kind of a world are we now living in?

Looking in the Bible beginning in Genesis 1:27 we read, “so God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” This verse has far reaching ramifications for today, far more than most people realize. From the very beginning of creation we see that God created humans as male and female. There are only 2 distinct sexes within creation. So while this is the way God originally intended creation to function, the story does not stop there, and everyone knows the next part of the story in Genesis 3, Adam and Eve chose sin over God. Going on to the New Testament in Romans 1, we see exactly what this sin has done, a few excerpts, starting in verse 18 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth…claiming to be wise, they became fools…therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves…for this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions.” This shows us exactly what the effects of sin are! Instead of using our bodies in the way we should and the way they are intended people instead use their bodies for their own glory and what God has never intended them to be. So a boy is created as a boy and a girl is created as a girl.

We see later on in Romans everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. David says in Psalm 51 “I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” So even the cute little babies who are just born are sinners, just like you and me. There is a fantastic article exploring the original link between sexuality and spirituality. We shouldn’t be surprised that this is the direction our culture is going. Instead it should drive us to the cross and to our knees in prayer both for our culture and for us to have the strength to take a stand.

So what should our response as Christians be to Coy Mathis? Well for one, it shouldn’t surprise us. Our culture will push back to truth and will continue to encourage “expressing” yourself through your sexuality. I think the school made the right choice in not allowing Coy to use the girls bathroom, he is a boy whether he thinks so or not, and should continue to use the bathroom that has been designed for his body.

One Family?

I just read this fantastic article titled ‘One Family Under God‘ at the Ligonier website. The article is challenging the assumption that churches should have a separate children’s church because we are called to be one body. This is something that I have felt at can often struggle with at the church I serve now, especially as I help out with the youth group ministry.

I think the most powerful point in the article is:

A church that ministers effectively to all age groups will keep the gospel alone as the foundation for church life and unity. Believers of all ages must be taught that our union with Christ, regardless of age, is what makes us one body. A tenyear- old Christian has more in common with an eighty-year-old Christian than with ten-year-old unbelievers. Where this is recognized and celebrated, real gospelcentered community thrives.

I’ve said this since I came to this church! We cannot have each different age group spending time only with that age group. I think this has changed the landscape of the church and has contributed to the decline of twenty somethings going to church. We are to be one body for a purpose-not fragmented pieces of a body spread throughout different locations.

What’s Wrong With “The Bible”

I had the opportunity to sit down and watch the first part of the new TV series The Bible last night. After seeing many commercials for it and even reading a tweet from Tim Tebow himself, I thought I better sit down and watch it. To be completely honest, I don’t think too highly of it. I missed the first about 20 minutes of it, and came in when Abraham and Sarai are trying to figure out how to have kids, Sarai finally admits that Abraham should try with her servant, Hagar.

For those of you who know the biblical story, there are many things that happen in the beginning (Genesis). The story felt so rushed as it pointed out the things the filmmakers viewed as important, but it seemed to me to leave many things out.

One of the things I appreciated about the show was that it really made me see things from the humans perspective as it was telling the story. For example, Abraham had tears streaming down his face as he offered his one and only son as a sacrifice to God. It’s really easy to read through these stories and causally pass over the emotional side that the biblical figures had to deal with.

The other thing I noticed was that it actually does a pretty good job of ultimately pointing to God. God wasn’t portrayed as a big bad guy or someone hell-bent on destruction but as the God who continually cares for his people.

Now my hesitations with the show: it seemed like they focused far too much on the human side and how mankind was continually doing good things and missing many of the effects of sin. Sodom and Gomorrah especially felt very off to me. The angels who escorted Lot and his family out of the city strike the men trying to get into Lot’s house with blindness, then run down a street and turn into ninjas with swords single handedly killing 10 men. As I’ve read through Scripture, I don’t see a need to add any violence to it-there’s quite enough in there to fill an R-rated film as it is. Finally, I didn’t understand why they picked the stories they did and spent the amount of time they did. The story of Sodom and Gomorrah was given 10-15 minutes of the 2 hour movie that covered creation through the crossing of the Red Sea. I understand that there’s only so many events they can cover from the Bible in a 10 hours mini series, but it seems that instead of majoring on the major themes, they majored on some of the minor stories to make it more exciting.

Overall, I hope this pushes people to read Scripture for themselves and explore more of the greatest story ever told, but am afraid that it will do the opposite. Why read the book when you can see the movie, after all? So the way I’ve described the movie to a few friends is: it was better than I expected, but not as good as it could have been or I was hoping it would be. It has the potential to be a great conversation starter, but ultimately I think it could do a better job of pointing to the God who has worked all of history to be HIS story.

ADDED:

I just read a great blog here on some more hesitations with this series. I completely agree that the writers missed the great theme of the Bible as a whole and instead focus far too much on the human side, missing the story of GOD redeeming His people for His purpose and His glory.

Blueberry Donuts – Caught Not Taught

I’ve been reading and hearing a lot lately about why students are leaving the church, and even last week wrote a blog on it. Yet as I’ve been doing more reflecting on it, I really think it gets back to the responsibility of the parents. No where in Scripture do I see church leaders being held responsible for what is going on in kids’ lives. Sure, James 3:1 says, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness” but I don’t see the teachers being held accountable for another persons sin, but I do see it being the parents responsibility for their children (Eph 6:1-4, Deut 6:6-9, Titus 2:4, Proverbs 22:6). Now I want to be careful to not cross into legalism here, and I think many times the phrase “it takes a village” to raise a child is very true. We need the church and the support of the people in the church to help raise children-parents need to be willing to admit they can’t do it on their own. Yet what I see throughout Scripture and in my own life is a very important phrase to remember in being a parent. What kids learn is often caught not taught.

This morning I went to the grocery store to buy some more creamer for my coffee. Every time I go to get creamer I grab a donut on my way. This donut it a blueberry donut, which is my favorite donut for one reason – that’s the exact kind of donut my dad always used to get when I was growing up. I remember there was a donut shop in La Crosse, Wisconsin that my dad would take me to (I don’t remember the name of it) and they had a blueberry donut that my dad apparently really liked and would get every time. Because of that, I would also get a blueberry donut, and they continue to be my favorite to this day. So parents: what are you teaching your kids today? Do they see someone who is following Christ with their whole life, or someone who just goes to church because it’s what they are expected to do? Children are a lot more observant than you might think so be careful: your actions speak a whole lot more than your words.

Lenten Reflections

Lent is something I’ve often heard of as I was growing up, but never really took a look at what it was or where it came from. Generally I just heard friends in high school who would give up things during Lent season, but didn’t have any idea that it was anything beyond that. Thanks to a recent post on the Gospel Coalition website, I learned a little more about what it is.

Lent (from the Latin for “fortieth”) begins on Ash Wednesday, 40 days before Easter. In a devotional guide to Lent, Kendal Haug and Will Walker say “Lent, therefore, is about living out of our union with, and identity in, Christ. Lent is first and foremost about the gospel making its way deeper into our lives.” What a great thing to celebrate and practice! Letting the Good News of the Gospel make its way deeper into our lives!

You can access this devotional guide through the Gospel Coalition blog or clicking here. I plan to go through these devotionals myself as I prepare for the celebration of the best news on earth: Jesus Christ dies for my sins, was buried, and on the third day he rose again, and now sits at the right hand of God, interceding on our behalf!

EFCA Theology Conference – My Thoughts

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the EFCA Theology Conference in Denver and was really stretched and encouraged in my thinking on the issue of sexuality. The most powerful session for me was Wesley Hill on his struggle with homosexuality. Never before had I talked to someone who struggles with same sex attraction, yet is willing to submit it at the foot of the cross and call it sin. We live in a broken side world, as evidenced by looking around us. All of us are sinners and have our certain areas where we are more prone to temptation than others, I think it’s safe to admit that for most of us, sexuality is a very hard issue, especially being a single man as I am right now. But what should we, as the church, do to reach out to single people like Wesley and myself?

I’ve talked about this very important issue before (“Where Are All the Young People“) and was reminded of it again this week. The church is called to be a family (see Jesus in Matthew 12), yet so often we don’t treat each other as the family we are supposed to be. As someone who is single, I can so often get overlooked in the ministry of the church, and most churches I’ve been to have a fantastic youth group ministry, a thriving couples-with-small-children ministry and some even have a great college ministry, but what about the single 20-somethings who are trying to figure out how to figure out a schedule, budget, and where best to use their time? We need the encouragement and support of those in the church, and those in the church are primarily those who are older and married. So again, PLEASE just come talk to us, invite us over and invest in our lives! I promise you again that we won’t bite!

Tied in to this is the issue of homosexuality. As it becomes more prevalent, we in the church need to know how to reach out and welcome those who are, as Wesley described himself “gay celibate Christians.” Wesley has written why he uses the term “gay celibate Christian” in a recent blog post that you can read here. The church needs to be a place where even single people can feel loved and as a part of the family. The Gospel should bring us together in the same way that growing up together in a family does. We should be willing to lay down our lives for our friends, just as Christ laid down his life for us. This is an issue in my life as well-I so often focus on myself and my needs instead of the needs of the body. I’ll close with this final thought from 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has past away; behold, the new has come.” May we continue to cling close to the cross as we daily repent, die to ourselves and remember to live in Christ, who will give us the strength we need to not give in to temptation.

You can buy Wesley Hill’s book on Amazon, and read his blog here. I’m grateful I had the opportunity to sit down and talk to him and am incredibly grateful for his faithfulness to God’s word as he attempts to follow His will in his life. Thank you, Wes, for being open and transparant this week with your struggles, you are in my prayers.

EFCA Theology Conference – Session 8

What Can Medical Science Tell Us About Sexual Orientation? – Daniel Beals, MD

Medical Definition of Gender:

Male and Female He created them – Genesis 1:27

Fundamental to self-identity: first question when a child is born, it permeates all of our thinking: blue/pink, different goals in life

Who decides?

How do they decide?
Is a medical definition different from other definitions?

How well has Medicine defined sexual identity in the past?

What can we infer from Sexual Identity to Sexual Orientation?

Medical Definition

Good at defining what is wrong, but not what is normal

Specialist have a narrow perspective on definition

Medical knowledge changes

Gender identity as a definition: first used by Dr. John Money, psychological perspective

Ambiguous Genitalia: Dr. Ladd, Boston Children’s Hospital, Surgical Perspective

Disorders of Sexual Differentiation (> 2000): All inclusive definition of anatomically definable genital disorders

Gender Identity Disorder (Gender Dysphoria): All inclusive definition of distress and discomfort one feels between one’s physical sex and one’s gender

Sexual Orientation: Opposite Sex, Same Sex, Not simple with DSD

What Makes Up Gender Identity?

Genetic: X and Y Chromosomes, the SRY gene

Endocrine: testosterone, estrogen

Phenotype: What do things look like? How do things work?

Environment: Parental role models, assumed gender roles, peer pressure

Spiritual?

What do we Know?

No known genetic link to GD or SO

No known endocrine link to GD but known correlation with SO

No known phenotypic link to SO but known secondary correlation with GD

Known correlation between environmental factors and GD and SO

What do we really NOT know?

Do not have a full understanding of genetics

Do not have a full understanding of endocrine influences

Do not have a good long term follow up of attempted therapies

What does Medicine tell us about Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation?

In cases of DSD, it may be very difficult to have a clear answer

Sexual orientation issues can sometimes be explained by endocrine abnormalities

There is no medical explanation to problems with GD

Environment plays an important role in gender, both normal and abnormal

We must be cautious as medical knowledge is far from complete

EFCA Theology Conference Session 7

The Theology of Sexuality Applied: Teaching/Training of Youth in the Home and the Church – Stan Jones

What are our Objectives in Sex Education and in Parenting?

To prevent immorality?

To equip and empower our children to enter adulthood capable of living godly, wholesome lives

Don’t focus too narrowly and negatively, such as focusing on only preventing sexual immorality and the ravages that illicit and irresponsible sex; this goal is too small, too limited, too narrow. Our most important goal in sex education should be to equip and empower our children to enter adulthood capable of living godly, wholesome, and fulfilled lives as Christen men and women, Christian singles, wives and husbands.

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

A Summary of Key Points in the Theology of Sexuality

We are embodied, we are gendered sexual beings, we are relational, we are made in God’s image, we are broken and twisted, we encounter objective reality when we have sex, we are souls under construction

We are souls under construction

Given/Discovered Constructed?

Given: Evolutionary Psychology Reproduction as an evolutionary impulse in the context of a meaningless universe; sex, like life, is meaningless

Atheist Delusions (David Hart)

The Five-Factor Model of Sexual Character:

Needs – Relatedness and Significance

Values

Beliefs

Skills

Supports

Twelve Principles of Christian Sex Education in the Family and Church

Principle 1: Sex education is the shaping of character

Principle 2: Parents are the principle sex educators

Principle 3: First messages are the most important

Principle 4: Seize those “teachable moments;” become an “askable” parent

Principle 5: Stories are powerful teaching tools

Principle 6: Accurate and explicit messages are best

Principle 7: Positive messages are powerful

Principle 8: “Inoculate” your children against negative beliefs

Principle 9: Repetition is critical; repetition is really, really important

Principle 10: Close, positive parent-child relationships are crucial

Principle 11: Sexuality is not everything; keep your perspective

Principle 12: Our God can forgive, heal, and redeem anything

EFCA Theology Conference Session 5

The Witness of Paul: Apostle to the Gentiles – Robert Gagnon

Romans 1:24-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9, 1 Timothy 1:10

Romans 1:24-27: Opposed to some, or all, forms of same-sex intercourse?

Three main arguments made to discount Romans 1:24-27

  1. The exploitation argument: Paul only knew of exploitative forms of homosexual practice in his culture
  2. The orientation argument: Paul had no concept of a homosexual orientation
  3. The misogyny argument: Paul feared homosexual practice would upset male dominance over women

The plot structure of Romans 1:18-32

Stage 1. God’s power and divinity is manifested in creation

Stage 2. Humans suppress the truth and foolishly exchange

Stage 3. God’s wrath is manifested in giving over humans to self-degrading desires

Stage 4. These sinful deeds merit death

Intertextual echoes to Genesis 1:26-27

References to creation and Creator

Rom 1:23 echoes Genesis 1:26

Romans 1:26-27 echoes Genesis 1:27

The point of these echoes – idolatry and same-sex intercourse together constitute a frontal assault on the work of the Creator in nature, those who suppressed the truth about God visible in creation they went on to suppress the truth about themselves visible in nature

The argument from nature

The truth about God is visible and apparent in material creation (1:19-20)

The truth about God’s will for sex is visible in our gendered bodies (26-27)

Pagans do not have to have Genesis or Leviticus to be held accountable for this knowledge, they are “without excuse”

Innate desires are unreliable guides

The mention of lesbian intercourse in Romans 1:26

The mention of mutual gratification in Romans 1:27

The conception and practice of caring homosexual relationships in antiquity

Absolute nature arguments in the Greco-Roman world

Why Paul is not saying, “Don’t judge homosexual practice”

The one whom you obey, that it your Lord. Don’t say with your mouth that you follow God but then continue to serve sin, that is your Lord

What even scholars supportive of homosexual unions admit

1 Corinthians 6:9 (& 1 Tim 1:10) Opposed to some, or all, forms of male-male intercourse?

Meaning of malakoi “soft men”

Meaning of arsenokoitai “Men who lie with a male”

The Bible’s alleged ignorance of sexual orientation

Grego-Roman theories of a congenital basis for some homoerotic attraction

Differences with contemporary theories and beside this point

Did Paul get “nature” confused?

What even scholars supportive of homosexual unions affirm

The Bible’s Alleged Misogynistic Bias against Homoerotic Unions

Ignoring concerns for structural complementarity in ancient texts

Absoluteness of Bible’s prohibition suggest priority of gender over status

Women’s liberation as a stimulus for opposing all male homosexual unions

An absurd corollary

View of women in the Bible fares well relative to its cultural environment