It Ain’t My Grandpa’s World!

Last night, the New York Legislature legalized gay marriage. This is probably one of the “hottest potatoes” in today’s Society. People’s opinions are on extreme sides of the issue. There really isn’t much of a middle ground to have footing to stand on. The debate reminds me of many religious and social issues of the past: the roundness of the earth, bullying of Native Americans, women’s rights, racial discrimination, etc. During each of these intense debates, people utilized Scripture to justify fighting the new concepts. As time went by, Scripture did not change. However, understanding of the Scripture did. Many conservative Christians vehemently oppose homosexuality. They present it is both a choice and a sin. I believe more understanding is on the horizon on this topic, as well.

Over the past ten years, I have had the privilege of meeting many gay/lesbian people. I also worked with a transgendered person. At first, I heard all of the traditional well-churched warnings going through my psyche: “They are not born this way; they recruit and will try to convert you to their perverted lifestyle.” “They are sick perverts.” You probably know the drill. I was, undoubtedly, a bigot. However, over time I discovered that some people struggle with their sexuality for years. Same sex attraction was evident and strong long before puberty. People do not wake up one morning and say, “I think I want to be gay. Now, let me go recruit straight people to have sex with.” It is sometimes a long and painful process that people have to go through to come to peace with who they are. I no longer believe sexual orientation is a choice. However, I do believe that how we all behave sexually is a choice.

Now, let’s examine Scripture. Scholars make Scriptural arguments against homosexuality. Scholars also make Scriptural arguments that, as you delve deeper, Scripture does not condemn homosexuality but other issues being dealt with within the text. In the same manner, you can argue Scripturally that women should be silent in church, that women should speak in church, women should not wear slacks, women are free to wear what they want, you should speak in tongues, you should not speak in tongues, you should baptize in water, water baptism is not necessary, you should baptize in “the titles,” you should baptize in “Jesus’ Name,” you can practice polygamy, you should be monogamous, once saved you are always saved, you can lose your salvation, etc. More than ever, I believe there is no grace in law and no law in grace. I do not understand everything. I do know one thing, I love people: red, yellow, black, white, straight, gay, Christian, Muslim, Atheist, Agnostic, etc. That is what I was commanded to do. Oh, so were you.

The truth is we have same sex couples in our society. These couples have children. These families function as families just like straight families function. As a result, I believe they deserve familial rights. Unfortunately, there is still some bigot living inside of me. I do not like the term “gay marriage” for I believe the context of the term “marriage” is a union between a man and a woman. However, I believe that gay and straight families should have equal rights. As a minister, I do not believe that ministers should be forced to marry anyone they do not want to: straight or gay. The New York legislation protects those ministerial rights. Kudos, New York!

So, to my gay and lesbian friends, congratulations on your victory! To all my friends and readers, pray for and love all mankind.

For more information from Yahoo! News: NY Becomes 6th State to Legalize Gay Marriage

People's Hearts Show Today

Last night it was reported that Osama bin Laden had been killed. As an American, I am happy that he is no longer on this earth to cause more devastation to my people and my homeland. It is only natural that there is a myriad of emotions as people process this event. I have not been glued to Facebook, today. However, I have seen a few things posted reflecting attitudes about his death that caught my attention. I suppose this is my forum to share my thoughts:

Attitude 1: "Obama was a soul who died without the Lord Jesus. We shouldn't be rejoicing about someone being lost for eternity." 

Response 1: I have no responsibility over bin Ladin's fate. I never met him. I have clean hands when it comes to his eternity. Frankly, I don't give a clam where he may, or may not be, today. I am just happy he is no longer sucking air.

Attitude 2: "bin Laden is another face in hell."

Response 2: I seem to remember a little quote in the Bible that says not to judge. I don't remember a Scriptural caveat that we are allowed to judge anyone to hell: saint, sinner, Christian, Muslim, hero or terrorist. Is he in Hell? Not my job to decide. It isn't yours, either.

Attitude 3: "The credit of his demise goes to George W. Bush."

Response 3: George W. started the United States' war on terror. However, President Obama is the Commander in Chief who is now in the seat of authority over the military. President Obama is ultimately responsible for the final clearance to take him out. Another nugget: give credit where credit is due.

I suppose that is all I have to say on the matter. Truth is truth. Be balanced, be Christlike and be fair.

Hope and Faith

Hope: to feel that something desired may happen.

Faith: confidence or trust in a person or thing.

Hope and faith are such interesting concepts. The whole of Christianity seem to rest upon their shoulders. I believe that sometimes we get the definition of these two words confused. For instance, if one has a disease and has the confidence that God CAN heal them, they are exercising faith. The feeling that the healing will occur is hope. To simply say, "I don't have the disease for I am healed," is a lie to both yourself and others. To say, "I am sick but I have the faith that God can heal me and the hope that He will," is truth.

My entire life I have been taught that the Bible, all 66 canonized Old and New Testament books, is..."verbally inspired of God and are the revelation of God to man, the infallible, authoritative rule of faith and conduct" (Assemblies of God). And, to validate that point, Scripture contained within the Bible is used as proof. That is a very interesting fact when you take the time to think about it. You pick up the book, read it, the book says itself is the authority and, by faith, you build your hope around it with no supporting collaboration. That is called circular thinking. If it is verbally inspired by God, infallible and authoritative, it will stand up to external scrutiny.

When I was a child, my Mom's relatives were mainly Pentecostal Democrats while my Dad's family were primarily Baptist Republicans. I remember VERY heated debates at both of my grandparent's home over religion and politics. It made me a nervous wreck as a child. I learned early on that most Pentecostals tend to look at the rest of the religious world as though they are living in an existence without total revelation of the Scriptures; there is more to God than what they have had "revealed" to them. Conversely, many of those who are not "Pentecostal" look at the Pentecostals as though they are loony tunes and are trying to recreate something from the past that is not meant for the present. There are many classic debates between religious entities which include eternal security, backsliding, speaking in tongues, word formulation used at baptism, mode of dress, women in the pulpit, and the list goes on.

How can such a vehement division exist in the Body of Christ amongst Believers? These are questions I have been trying to reconcile in my brain over the past couple of years. One of the things I have attempted to do is separate myself from "what I have been taught" and research the Bible, from not only inside itself, but also from outside itself. I have had a very rude awakening. I was always taught that the Bible was perfect and there were no inconsistencies. How can this be when we have so many doctrines? One can be 100% scripturally correct to say that women should be silent in church yet speak in church. One can be 100% scripturally correct to say that speaking in tongues is permitted in public worship yet it should not be done. One can be 100% scripturally correct to say that salvation is free and eternal yet say one can lose it. One can deduct that Judas hung himself to death or that he died by his guts being spilled to the ground. One can follow the separate genealogies of the Gospels leading up to Jesus' birth in the New Testament and see that they clearly do not match. One has to reconcile the fact that it is nearly impossible that the Disciples who walked with Christ actually penned the Gospels; they were penned generations after the events occurred. These are facts I was not taught in church. Yet, it helps me understand why there is such diversity within the global church. It does contain differences.

Does the recognition that the Word is not as cohesive as I once thought make me an unbeliever? Absolutely not! I know my Lord. I know His Spirit. I walk with Him. I talk with Him. He is very, very real and moving in my life! What does this latest revelation do for me? It increases awareness that I must err on the side of grace, not law.  It reinforces that God truly is Spirit and we who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in TRUTH (the whole truth and nothing but the truth). I can no longer condemn others for what I do not understand. That is God's job. I can no longer pass judgment on which doctrines are right or wrong when the Bible clearly teaches both sides of certain fences. What I can do is live my life for Him in peace and through humility of service. I can be a man of integrity, love and acceptance. If God so loved the world, I believe then so should I. It is His job to sift the chaff from the wheat. He is the judge, not me.

I want to extend my apologies to those whom may have been offended as I have very openly processed through my hurt, disappointment and disenchantment. I have certainly pushed the envelope through my quest for truth. Regardless of where you stand on the Spiritual spectrum, it is my desire to extend my love and grace. I thank you for taking the time to read what I write. And, I pray that God richly bless your life through His abundant greatness!

Mike

Holidays

Let me wish everyone a very blessed and happy Easter! Jesus is certainly my King. So, this is a very special day for me. It is also a day for family. This is where I get a little bluesy. Over the past several years I have lost my mother, father, only sibling, mother-in-law and step-father-in-law. I am the only person left from my natural family. When my wife and I married, we had a goal of having four children. However, through seven pregnancies we only had one live birth, our only child. He is a wonderful son and within the past year we added a daughter-in-law, whom we adore, to the family. They live in a different city and have work schedules that sometimes prevent us from spending holidays together. 

So, holidays are now bitter-sweet. I remember the old days where we had seven sets of living parents, grandparents and great-grandparents to try to visit on special days and holidays. It used to get rather frustrating. Everyone seemed to want us at their house at the same time. I used to grumble and get frustrated at the whole mess because it seemed like nobody was ever happy with the time we were able to spend with them. I now look back on those days with fond memories: all of those people, family who loved us, who wanted to be with us. What a blessing it was!

So, love your family. Even though they frustrate you, let it roll off of your back. Enjoy being in demand. Unfortunately, it does not last forever. Treasure every day because it is truly a gift!

Mike

Leadership

This past week I spent three days in a required work intern conference. The conference theme was "Leadership." I will be graduating on May 14, with my Masters in Leadership. So, I spent most of the three days internally rolling my eyes while thinking, "How many times do I have to hear this 'stuff' repeated?" I am old enough to realize you cannot stay in that mindset or you will miss out on the occasional "nugget" that will be tossed for the open mind.

The most enjoyable segments of the conference were the key note speakers. Every morning, an SES greeted the crowd. For those of you who are not familiar with civil service, an SES is the civilian equivalent of a general or admiral. Yesterday, Mr. Jonathan Witter, SES, DFAS-Columbus Site Director, spoke. He discussed the fact that early in a career, one has great control over their environment. You are basically only responsible for yourself. As your career grows, you become responsible for things outside of your direct control. For instance, you may become a supervisor. You have limited control over your staff's performance. However, you have influence.

The example he used was reporting. Our site is responsible for producing high-level reports that float all the way up to the Pentagon. Many other sites and military service branches provide the data that is required for our site to produce the reports. Our site has very little control over other sites and even less over the military service branches. However, we have total control and responsibility for producing accurate and timely reports. Some branches were habitually late sending in their data which was creating lateness in reporting. This was totally outside of our site's control. However, as a leader, Mr. Witter had to influence the branches to get their data in both accurately and on time. So, he commissioned the development of a balanced score card. It showed the accuracy and timeliness of data submission. Amazingly, things became more accurate and timely once the indicator report was available and they saw their name in "red." A good example of having little control over others however, utilizing great leadership influence to get the job done.

As a result of that 30-45 minute session, I am determined to no longer let things outside of my "control" hinder me. I must be creative and "influence" the circumstances to accomplish my mission: personally or professionally. How about you?

Christian La-La Land

I have had a really bad week at work. I have experienced more than my fair share of miscommunication, blame, deflection, raised voices, misunderstandings ... and the list goes on. Friday morning I really would have rather taken a beating than to have gone to work. If you follow me on facebook, you know I am fairly transparent with my feelings. So, I posted, "Would gladly take a beating if it meant I didn't have to go to work today. And before you think I am not grateful for my job, please do not even go there." I put the "grateful" disclaimer because, inevitably, whenever I say anything rather than a positive statement I receive comments like, "At least you have a job," or, "Be careful about the words you speak into existence," or, "You are so blessed you should not complain," etc. Now, do not get me wrong. I am grateful for friends who are encouraging and are looking out for my own good. However, where do you draw the line of what is reality and what is not? 

I know the Evangelical Church, Pentecostalism and Christian ease. I have followed it, led it, served as pastor in it, loved it, hated it, tolerated it, run from it, run to it, lived it and breathed it. Since leaving vocational ministry nearly two years ago, I have backed away from it. I have thought about it, examined it, studied it, prayed about it and conversely ignored it. In taking a step "out of it," I see a lot of things clearly that I never saw while navigating "through it." I have come to grips that there is a sense of denial for most Evangelical Christians.  We tend to pick Scripture we like and ignore those we do not. We hide anything bad that is going on in our lives and only share the good. We sometimes judge and condemn those who are going through terrible situations with a self-righteous air that says, "If you were 'well-behaved,' or 'holy' enough, you wouldn't be going through this," whether directly, or indirectly. We lead people to think that, "If you would just go to church, nothing bad would happen to you." Bull Hockey!

The truth of the matter is the same things in life happen to everyone: Christian, other religion, Atheist, Agnostic, etc. The Christian faith, if not careful, sets people up for failure. We look for perfection in the Bible. And, we look for deliverance from our troubles from Heaven. We examine characters such as David and say, "I wish I had the passion for God that David had." Really, do you know the makeup of this great king? He appears to be a peeping Tom, possibly addicted to the porn of his day in spying on the nude Bathsheba; he was an adulterer; he was a murderer; and, many theologians conclude from scripture that he and Jonathon were possibly more than close friends. I have made the statement before that I would love to have the passion for God that David had. But, that may be a little too much passion for me. For, to have that level of passion for God obviously means that you have a lot of passionate internal battles to contend with.

We proclaim holiness. Let's be honest, the Bible is very specific in saying, even if loosely translated, "Without holiness nobody will see God." Although we need to strive to be Christlike, it is impossible to be perfect. David was not and Paul was not. Both of these Bible greats faced many earthly struggles which are recorded publicly in Christian history. The longer I live, the more I learn to live in Christ's love, mercy and grace. For, I truly believe the only true holiness I will ever achieve is through His blood, not through my behavior.

So, live for Him. But, also remember that bad days happen. It is alright to be honest about them. Bad things happen to good people. It's alright to be honest about it. Those who cast a condemning word at you for "being human" are struggling with things that are just as deep, if not deeper, in their own lives. They are just probably too afraid to show their lack of perfection to let you know about it.

God's Word Says It, I Believe It, That Settles It...Really?

The Great Smokey Mountains

I remember, it must have been 25 years ago, going to Cherokee Village in the Smokey Mountains with my wife and young son. We attended the drama "Unto These Hills," I believe it was called. They were talking about the God that the Cherokee nation worshiped. They did not call him "Jesus," nor the "Holy Father," and not even the "Holy Spirit." But, Donna and I left discussing the fact that their God sounded just like our God. Our minds went to the thought, almost simultaneously, if it just might be possible that God would reveal himself to different cultures in different ways. For instance, the ancient Cherokees probably never had the chance to hear of Jesus. Are we so narrow-minded, self-consumed and think that only the white, Judeo-Christian Western society who could read the King James Bible would warrant a relationship with the true God? I really have grown to doubt it through the years.

Now, I know Jesus. He is MY King. He is MY Lord. However, I cannot judge other people's, especially ancient people's, relationship with God. This brings me to the fact that I have recently been doing a lot of theological study. Not in the traditional sense. But, in the broader sense. I have made the comment which is the title of this blog in the past. I have friends whom I still hear say, or see post, "God's Word says it, I believe it, that settles it!" I have come to cringe when I hear, or read, that statement. I am convinced, more now than ever, that Christians pick and choose what they want to believe out of the Word. So, which part do you believe? Which part is settled? For, there are scriptural incidents that are not easily, if even, reconcilable. Here are a few examples:

• Didn't Jesus provide wine to the wedding at Galilee? Doesn't the Word also lead us to believe that the patrons of the wedding reception were already drunk by the time he provided the miraculous better tasting wine? And, didn't the Apostle instruct us not to get drunk? Hum, perhaps it's OK to provide the booze as long as you don't consume it. Really?
• It is theologically sound to baptize people in water using the words, "Father, Son and Holy Spirit." It is also theologically sound to baptize people in water using the words, "The Name of the Lord Jesus Christ." I hate to break it to my Trinitarian friends. However, every person mentioned between the lids of the Bible was baptized in "Jesus' Name." Also, historical records outside of the Bible support the fact that the early church only baptized in "Jesus' Name." So, unless you are baptizing in Jesus' Name, the "God's Word says it..." statement ain't flyin'!
• Does the Bible forbid women to speak or lead in church? Yes. Does it promote women as leaders in church? Yes.

I could go on and on with these illustrations. These are just a few. Here is the point I am trying to make. It is because of these inconsistencies within the Bible that we have differing doctrines and beliefs within the Body of Christ. Who is to say who is wrong and who is right? 

• Scripturally, is it OK to get drunk? I suppose you could argue so. Scripturally, is it forbidden to drink alcohol? I suppose you could argue so. 
• Scripturally, is it OK to baptize in the titles of Father, Son and Holy Spirit? Yes. Is it OK to baptize in the "Name of Jesus?" Yes.
• Scripturally, is it OK to keep a woman silent in church? Yes. Scripturally, is it OK to let a woman speak and lead in church? Yes.

I personally have decided to err on the side of grace, not law, in dealing with people, issues and the Word. With the menu of options we have to chose from in the Word, I find it somewhat hypocritical to hear, "God's Word said it, I believe it, that settles it." If so, you will have a lot of double-mindedness and bi-polar behavior to work through in your walk with God. So, let's stop judging others, stop fighting over which doctrine is "right" and which doctrine is "wrong," and do what our Savior, my Jesus Christ, told us to do, "Love God and love man."