Sad Commentary on Christianity

I stand in utter awe at the venom that flows out of the mouths of those “Christians” who despise the idea that there might be an event called the Rapture ever taking place.  I posted an article on my “secular” blog site daring to call into question the “Global Warming/Climate Change” movement and whether it might be tied into the false prophet and worldwide religion of Revelation 13. 

Within minutes my post was appearing all over the internet on environmental, Al Gore and Christian sites all railing on yet another deceived “Rapture” believer.  Sometimes I tend to forget that the overwhelming majority of “Christians” do not believe in the rapture of the church. 

Herein is the problem.  Rapture terminology is associated with fundamentalist Christians who are hated and despised by not only unbelievers but many other Christians.  The argument against the rapture theory is that it diminishes the importance of this world.  Duh, what is wrong with that? 

Those who want to stay on this earth devoting their lives to saving it instead of the lost people living on it, are becoming the fundamentalist Christian’s biggest enemy.  The battle lines are being drawn even as I write this.  One side firmly believes this world is the center of the universe and thus every effort must be made to save it from man’s pollution, making it too warm etc.  The other side firmly believes that the church is to be taken from this earth to meet the Lord in the air and forever be with Him, and that a few years later Christ will come to rule this earth for one thousand years and then God will create a new heaven and earth wherein only righteousness dwells.

One side lives for the NOW and the other side lives for ETERNITY.  One side devotes all its resources to worshipping “mother earth” and the other side worships and serves God and His Son Jesus Christ.  The sad reality is that the fringe elements of the environmental movement have taken over a movement with many good ideas and has turned it into a religion and demands all bow down and worship it.

Global warming is a scientific myth.  Every true scientist who has not sold his or her soul out to the big money foundations and agencies knows this.  Every scientist who dares speak out against this myth is blackballed and deprived grant money for his or her research which is how they are able to keep going.  The entire Global Warming/Climate Change movement is built upon a lie and the lie is now believed by billions of people worldwide.

Stopping pollution and trying to not destroy the land and water and air of this planet is not the same as the new religion of global warming/climate change.   Although related, one exercises common sense and good stewardship and the other is built on a lie and demands insane things should be done to stop something that doesn’t exist.

If my recent experiences with some of these people are any indication of what is to come; then perhaps my parody of global warming being linked to Revelation 13 better be stripped of its humor and investigated for possible truth.  Whether or not there is any truth in the idea or not, one thing I know for sure.  Any of us who firmly believe in the rapture of the church represent a small percentage of Christianity and a mere fraction of all humanity.  What a truly sad realization this is and what a sad commentary on the state of “Christianity”.

Many Trunks But Still One Tree

In many respects, Christianity is as a huge tree.  The gigantic trunk represents certain basic truths which most Christians believe in.  The pillars of the faith which once made up the trunk of Christianity used to produce a trunk far bigger than the tree above it.  It seems that now, the tree is being turned upside down.  The trunk is getting steadily smaller and the limbs and branches are multiplying above it.

There used to be commonly accepted tenets which formed the trunk of Christianity.  These fairly universally held beliefs consisted of things like; Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.  Jesus came into the world to save sinners and was raised from the dead by God and ascended into heaven where he sits at the right hand of God the Father.  One day He returns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  We are members in particular of His church and of His body.  The Bible is the Word of God, the Holy Spirit is the Comforter and salvation is by grace.  As Christians we should strive to love one another and live righteously. 

There might have been differences of opinion regarding specific elements of these beliefs, but for the most part, Christians agreed on these basic things.  Some form of these things represented the trunk of the Christian faith.  To be quite honest, I really don’t know what is left of that trunk.  In other words, I am not quite sure I know of anything everyone who calls themselves a Christian universally believes to be true.

Over the past few centuries, Christianity has branched into one denomination after another.  Denominations arise, and then split into sub-denominations due to differences of opinion in various doctrinal and practical matters.  Sometimes denominations keep one thing in common (such as Baptists regarding baptism) but other than that have little in common.  A good case in point would be the American Baptists and the Southern Baptists. 

No split among Christianity is any deeper and more radical than that which separates the liberal and conservative sides of the faith.  In many respects, it is almost as if there are two trees.  Being perfectly honest, there is very little common ground between these two branches of the faith.  Although common terminology is used, definition of terms is entirely different in many cases.

It is very interesting that although I am a Protestant, I have far more in common with many of my Catholic friends than those on the liberal side of Protestantism.  That is because the Catholic faith is very conservative.  I certainly have doctrinal issues with these friends, but on ethical, charity and lifestyle issues; we basically agree.  It may appear outwardly that I would agree with some doctrinal issues promoted by liberal Protestantism, and should thus have that in common.  But, upon further review, those similarities usually fade when scrutinized closely.

For many centuries the chasm was between Protestant and Catholic.  Even to the point of war.  I question now that the greater chasm is between the liberal and conservative sides of Protestantism.  Unfortunately, on most issues, there is little chance of reconciliation between the “far left” and the “far right” sides of Protestantism.  In the middle, there is much common ground, but on the fringes there is little, if any. 

What do we do?  Christianity has been split since the days of Martin Luther.  Christianity has gone from either one is Catholic or one is Protestant to thousands of divisions on both sides of the original split.  What was once a magnificent tree with two massive trunks is now a bush with hundreds of trunks and thousands of limbs and branches.  Good bad or otherwise, one thing can be said for the thousand plus years of the Holy Roman Empire; the church was one. 

The days of there being any possible way for Christians to unite ended before the death of Paul, Peter and John in the First Century.  Internal bickering and factions splitting from the main body of believers started even in the book of Acts and went on until around the Fourth Century.  There was a “forced unity” of sorts until Martin Luther.  But, soon after Luther, different great men rose up with differing opinions on theological matters and developed followings.   In time, these followings took on the name of their founder and became major denominations. 

I have attended services at Lutheran churches and masses at Catholic churches.  The difference between them was miniscule.  I have attended services at Methodist churches and I have attended services at Presbyterian churches.  The difference between them was nonexistent.  I have attended services at Assembly of God churches and many non-denominational churches.  I could find no difference between them.   I have attended services at two different churches in the same denomination and found little or nothing in common.

Here is the truth, as I see it from having studied denominationalism and having attended numerous different kinds of services.  It mainly comes down to the local pastor or priest and what he believes and how he chooses to conduct a service.  In other words, I have been to Catholic mass and except for communion thought I was attending a small non-denominational church because the priest was very open minded and independent.  I have also attended some non-denominational churches where I honestly couldn’t figure out what they believed due to all the emphasis placed on the “worship experience”.

The differences between us as Christians are not so much in what the individual governing bodies claim is their statement of faith, but more the individual’s personal beliefs.  Some good friends of ours attend a Southern Baptist church because they lead the worship band.  They are no more Southern Baptists than the Pope.  Yet, they attend church, are blessed and have no serious problems.  Why?  Because they chose to set aside their differences and instead be blessed by what they have in common.

We had a funny looking “tree” outside our front door that we had to have removed because it was too close to the house.  This “tree” must have had 100 trunks.  It was almost as if there were 100 separate trees.  But, when it was dug up, there was only one root system.  I was told earlier by a tree specialist, that if I wanted to, I could tie a heavy cord around all those individual trunks and make the tree look more like a normal tree instead of a huge bush. 

Think about this.  Colossians 3:14 speaks of love being the “bond of perfection”.  This bond is like a cord which binds everything together completely in ideal harmony.  Perhaps during this season when, for a change, Christians agree on many things, we can go out of our way to love one other.  Perhaps we could allow the love of God to act as a giant cord to bind all our thousands of trunks together, so at least for the next ten days, we could look like the majestic tree we once were.  After all, we still do all share the same root system.

 

Listen to Wisdom–Proverbs Chapter Eight

Proverbs 8 is a wonderful example of a poetic device employed to add emphasis to what is being written.  In this chapter, as elsewhere in Proverbs, wisdom is personified.  Instead of being spoken about, it is the one doing the speaking.  A current batch of commercials employs this device where tires and other parts of a car are demanding to be taken to a car dealer to be serviced.  We all know tires can’t talk, but it makes for a better commercial.

Wisdom is not human and thus cannot speak on its own.  Wisdom is personified allows it to speak directly for itself and to the heart of the one listening.  When reading the various sections of Proverbs were wisdom speaks, special attention should be paid for the figure of speech being used designates the section as being “especially noteworthy”.

The wisdom books of the Old Testament were given in the same light as having a person “sage” or wise man.  Wise men were called on to give advice to kings and to instruct the young.  They dealt with practical matters and specifically the book of Proverbs was written to give advice to young people on how to behave in order to live prosperous and happy lives.  Of all the books in the Bible, Proverbs is the one specifically addressed to youth.  Of all the books in the Bible for young people to diligently study and learn, Proverbs would be the best.

The first chapter of Proverbs lays out the reason for the book and benefits of learning what it says.  In Proverbs chapter one it says in verses 1 through 7:

“The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:

To know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding,

To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity;

To give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion—

A wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,

To understand a proverb and an enigma, the words of the wise and their riddles.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

One must always remember that Solomon was told by God he could have anything he wanted and Solomon asked for wisdom.  The wisdom being shared in Proverbs is the very wisdom of God that Solomon requested.  It is not Solomon’s earthly wisdom; it is straight from the very heart of God.  In verse 8 the basic manner of instruction in Proverbs is set forth. 

“My son, hear the instruction of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother.”

The idea of a father instructing his son on how to prepare for life in the world represents the tone of the whole book.  Proverbs is likened unto sitting down at the feet of the wisest parents who ever lived and hearing them share all the things they have learned about life in their many years of living.  For the most part, the tone of Proverbs is set in this manner with the exceptions of those places where wisdom is personified.  Thus, those sections take on significant extra meaning.

The entire eighth chapter of Proverbs is extremely uplifting as it shows all the wonderful elements of wisdom.  I did want to highlight a few verses that are especially meaningful and relevant.  In verses 10 and 11 we see:

“Receive my instruction, and not silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold;

For wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.”

These are very strong words coming from a man who was the wealthiest man on earth.   Knowledge, instruction and wisdom are more to be sought after than silver, gold and rubies.  In fact, wisdom and understanding should be more desired than anything in life.  Solomon could say this for that is exactly what he did when asked by God what he wanted most.

The same basic truth was taught by Jesus when he said to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all else would be added.  David said the same basic thing in Psalms37:4 when he said to “delight yourself in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.”  It is quite clear that when we seek God, the wisdom of God and the things of God; good things will come to pass.  Verse 19 reinforces this truth:

“My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold, and my revenue than choice silver.”

Sometime read verses 20 through 31 for an amazing testimony to the power of and value of wisdom.  Knowledge is invaluable, but wisdom is essential to ever live righteously and walk in a manner which glorifies God.  Verses 32 through 36 act as bridge to close the discussion of wisdom’s merits in chapter 8 and leads to warnings of chapter 9.  I leave you this time with these final five verses of chapter 8:

“Now therefore, listen to me, my children.  For blessed are those who keep my ways.

Hear instruction and be wise, and do not disdain it.

Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.

For whoever finds me finds life, and obtains favor from the Lord.

But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul; all those who hate me love death.”

Wisdom is certainly something to desire, strive for and pray for God to grant us.  Blessed is the person smart enough to listen to the voice of wisdom.  Blessed is the person who is meek enough to listen to the voice of wisdom.  Blessed in the person who listens to wisdom.