What Afterlife?

Russell D. Moore is dean of the School of Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  He posted an article concerning the "afterlife" that is discussed among Christianity.

CH Spurgeon

While reading Romans 7 today, I came across an extremely challenging text, especially in verses 21-25.  If you have about half an hour to read this sermon, I encourage you to do so.  I have been pretty down recently over the reality of sin and my own sinful nature.  This sermon brought some very encouraging words to me, and I am thankful.

The Fainting Warrior

On to the Next One

This Sunday began a new exploration of a different church, Aletheia Norfolk.  The church is conveniently located in a campus building about a one minute walking distance from my house.  I planned on attending Calvary Revival, a predominantly black church, but waking up extremely tired can change plans pretty quickly. 

Check out their website

A friend named Graham Miller once told me he doesn't care what denomination a church is or what particular theology they are following, but the most important aspect of a church is whether or not it works and works properly.  I truly felt like Aletheia is a church that works, inside and out.  The pastor was honest and humble.  The people were approachable and cordial.  I almost experienced a culture shock, going from the mystic services the week before to the more well-rounded, biblically based community. 

One particular quote Pastor Jamie said struck me deeply.  "Gifts are tools for the ministry, not measures of maturity." I am insecure about my ability to grow and mature, but I am realizing that I feel this way because I am thinking selfishly about how I can benefit myself from my gifts. 

"The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you,' nor again the head to the feet, 'I have no need of you.' On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do no require." 1 Corinthians 12: 21-24

One week I go from hearing about the Holy Spirit as a flaming bowl of water pouring on the campus of CBN and striking down people with "POWER!" to a calm and confident belief that as a Christian we are already opened to all the wonderful gifts of the Spirit.  I'm looking forward to the next month for sure.

Linsanity and Tebow Time

Here is a solid article found on Religion Dispatches.

I agree with Jay that we can't attribute any direct success to an athlete due to their faith.  That idea is absurd, but what we can view as an audience is how these Christian athletes carry themselves on a daily basis.

Catch the Fire?

This weekend turned out to be very challenging and thought-provoking. A good friend of mine invited me to go with him to a conference entitled "Catch the Fire," which was being held at CBN.  Thankfully, my girlfriend Liz tagged along.  Bill Johnson spoke on Friday, and John Arnott was lined up to preach on Saturday.  I had never heard of Mr. Arnott, but I was curious to see what the hype was all about.  I am not that familiar with Bethel Church, but I knew that most people at my church, New Life Providence, are pretty fond of the movements going on there and also at IHOP.
Now, I will be the first to say that I am young and immature in my faith.  I also try my best to allow different personalities respond to the gospel in different ways, and I believe that is something beautiful about our Savior.  I remember reading something by Bonhoeffer stating that he had witnessed something amazing in Black churches in America when he visited due to their energy.
But, there are some things that I remain very, very skeptical towards within our church. To get an idea of what I am talking about, check this video out.

I am a firm believer in the gifts.  I believe speaking in tongues can be useful in the right situations.  I believe prophesy is important encouragement for the body of Christ.  May we be careful not to forget about the more subtle, humble gifts of the spirit.  The gift of fellowship is essential for the Christian survival.  Communion unifies the body and honors our Savior, and it should not be taken lightly.
This Saturday night, I witnessed women and men hysterically laughing, a ram's horn being blown during prayer, people falling on the ground shaking, a man pretending to knight another young man with an invisible sword, and people chaotically screaming during quiet worship times.
At one point, the facilitator began speaking of a vision she had during worship where she saw the roof of CBN on fire, along with a big bowl of fire water above those flames and the bowl was ready to tip over.  She asked the congregation to grab the bowl and pour its fire water out and into their mouths, and just about everyone did just that.
What I could not help thinking about the entire time I was there was how selfish this ideology was.  For an hour and a half, all I heard were people screaming for "More Holy Spirit! Come! We need more! Overtake us! We want healing! We want You! We want your Holy Spirit more! We can't survive without it! etc."
I don't want to make sweeping generalizations for such a complex and difficult subject, but I do want to say one thing: it is not about you.  Worship is about glorifying our God, not about how his Spirit can make you feel.  The Spirit has become some sort of drug that keeps you going, and each service equates to your fix.
The message of the sermon was, "Why doesn't everyone want this?"

I can tell you why, Mr. Arnott.  People have minds, logic, and rationale.  God created mankind with a conscience and a complex mind unlike any other animal, and we have a right to use it.  In these hyper-sensual moments of "spirituality," countless individuals would rather trade in understanding and contentment with the gospel for an emotional high.
Is the forgiveness of sins or even the thought of prayer not spiritual enough for you?  If prayer is true, we are somehow cosmically and supernaturally talking to a God that loves us despite our rebellious nature.
Not everyone wants "that" because some people understand what it means when God says "blessed are those poor in spirit."  Some people understand that God is not a God of disorder or of chaos.  Some people understand that we are to be content in the Lord, and that the Lord is our prize and possession.  God is not our divine miracle-dispenser.  Pray and have hope, but allow to God to will for his good pleasure.  It is just about us, and it is pure hatred to be the king of our own lives.  


Matthew 7
Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ ²³ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’


Test everything.

Examining John Piper's "Masculine" Christianity

I read a great article by Christian Piatt this morning via RealCealReligion.  Christian examines a few points John Piper made during his "God, Manhood and Ministry: Building Men for the Body of Christ," and he responds with disagreements. 

Not all cultural shifts are bad ones.  The church should be willing to dicuss and re-examine certain issues, especially the issue of women leadership in the church.  Tradition does not always translate to truth, so try to be open to new ideas and beliefs. 

While I was on Real Clear the other day I stumbled upon an article written by a 22 year old Catholic University of America student.

The topic of forced contraceptive funding for Catholics by the government is pretty controversial right now, but I couldn't help but mentally cringe from the ignorance and lack of judgment by the woman in this article.

Being raised Catholic doesn't mean you are a Christian.  If you claim yourself as a Christian, or Catholic, some of the personal "freedoms" need to be reevaluated if you are serious about abiding by biblical doctrine and not by societal or cultural norms.

Feminist Foundations

I finished adding some final touches on my latest Women's Studies paper for Feminist Foundations.  I still chuckle when I remember that I am focusing on Women's Studies in college, and not because I don't know why I doing it or what job I will be able to score, but because I could have never imagined how much this subject would change my life.

If you can and are willing, check it out and please tell me what you think.

Reflection on Foundations pt. 1

     I believe it would be important to state some personal background information so any reader can see where my juxtapositions between denominations derive from.  I did not have a strong religious upbringing.  My parents would take me to church probably once or twice every month, and as a testament to their concern and love, I believe that they wanted to make an effort to instill in me, directly or indirectly, convictions that they did not have.  And I am extremely grateful for them in doing so.  The idea of God never seemed crazy to me, but like any other kid I had better things to worry about, like Starfox 64.  Now that I am trying to revisit my young ideologies, I realize that the reality of God seemed very definite to me, even to the point of me crying out to God angrily because I got killed in Mortal Kombat on the Gameboy.  Weird memory, but I think it helps.  It seems weird to me that nostlagia serves as an important factor in determining ever-changing ideas and beliefs. 
     Anyways.  I bring my best friend, Chad VanNorman, into the picture.  His dad moved here from Michigan to pursue a law degree.  Mr. VanNorman, or Brent, or kitty cat (Kyle Warren), is an ordained pastor and he led a small church in Chesapeake, VA.  There were about 35 people in the church, and Brent helped lead worship most of the week, which was pretty amusing.  Very Amusing.  Chad got his singing skills from his dad: none.  The church was personal and communal, if that makes any sense.  You got to know everyone because it was so small.  This helped me view the church as a place not to simply sit and listen, but to be an active participator.  So often in the church today do we put the pastor on a pedastool when it is clear that every vocation and position in the church serves great importance.  Charisma was nothing crazy at this church, just the simple raising of the hands and the occassional awkward solo from an emotional mother or father.  While the gifts were not suppressed by this particular congregation, it seemed to be a pretty traditional Protestant church.  We attended this church during the middle school years, but in 8th grade we (I speak as if Chad's family was also my family) we checked out a new church, Greenbrier New Life.
     This is where stuff started going down.  People falling out, speaking in tongues, strangers laying hands on me to pray and freaking me out.  As a 9th grade kid in high school, I had no idea what was going on.  It was a much bigger church with about 500 or so members.  The arts were valued highly, so some pretty popular musicians came directly from this church like Adam Cates, Sean Feucht, Jason Upton, and MAE.  Overall, it was just a completely new experience.  It blew my mind.  People danced, jumped, shouted, and occassionally waved banners around.  While all this craziness was happening my life was changing.  My parents, especially my dad, are pretty reserved.  They don't sing in public.  If you visit my house it's a different story.  But what I am saying is that I had no predisposition for this sort of environment.  But it grew on me because people were filled with genuine joy.  This is where my sensitivity towards different personalities grew from.  I am not stating that truth can ever be substituted by strong emotions, but when truth is rooted in deep passion, there was something tangible that flowed from the source.  So that was the beginning of my foundations.  I came from a reserved first baptist background to a charasmatic non-denominational church that celebrated the overtly physical gifts (along with the more internal gifts) and it took a long time to get used to, and it is still something that challenges me.

Baptist pt. 2

     This past Sunday was the second service I attended at Tidewater Baptist.  I apologize if my writing jumps around a bit, but my writing matches my thoughts, it's pretty scattered.  The service began with a prayer by the head pastor Pearson, followed by a traditional hymn titled "Be Thou My Vision."  I've been attending a more modern, charismatic church for so long now I forgot how it feels to hold up a hymnal book while singing.  I actually felt as if I was a part of the choir.  This baptist church had one man lead the worship songs; one hand held the hymnal, the other hand conducting the congregation as if most people actually knew what he was doing.  The pastor also does the announcements.  The head pastor would be considered, by the world's standards, a man's man.  He is masculine, confident, and direct.  He has a deep voice that bellows throughout the room.  One interesting aspect about Tidewater Baptist is how the pastor and the church's congregants would have dialogue in the midst of announcements.  Women and men would raise their hands or voices when something needed to be said in addition to the announcements, and the pastor would respond and reiterate.  The atmosphere is communal with a tight knit group of individuals and families.  

     The sermon was alright.  However, as a disclaimer, it needs to be noted that everything I say is interpreted through a personal lens of experiences that differ from every other individual.  From what I can tell (and know from previous experiences), the pastor holds a reformed theological position.  I don't always respond well to messages from this viewpoint due to its lack of sensitivity in certain aspects of scripture or interpretation.  Next post will be an attempt to expound what is reformed theology.  There were some good ideas presented in his sermon.  He stated early on that giving money to a church or cause does not mean grace has been perfected.  Although this seems obvious, it is surprising to see how many Christians believe that giving will be directly linked to their salvation or prosperity.  A colloquialism that I have been holding close recently is that you can't throw the baby out with the bath water.  Although there are seemingly endless differences within the different denominations, an open mind and a compassionate heart will allow us to see past these non-essentials.

Comment Concerning Hannah's Child

I recently finished a memoir written by Stanley Hauerwas titled Hannah's Child.  A friend, Breanna Jones, recently posted a quote by Marisha Pessl on her blog that exemplifies an ideology that Mr. Hauerwas also holds. Well, at least the first part of the quote. 

I’m learning to tell my own story, and I am also learning to listen and to fall in love with everyone else’s story.
My favorite novel of all time, The Special Topics in Calamity Physics, says it best:

But most critically, sweet, never try to change the narrative structure of someone else’s story, though you will be tempted to, as you watch those poor souls in school, in life, heading unwittingly down dangerous tangents, fatal digressions from which they will unlikely be able to emerge. Resist the temptation. Spend your energies on your story. Reworking it. Making it better. Increasing the scale, the depth of content, the universal themes. And I don’t care what those themes are – they’re yours to uncover and stand behind – so long as, at the very least, there is courage. Guts. Mut, in German. Those around you can have their novellas, sweet, their short stories of cliché and coincidence, occasionally spiced up with tricks of the quirky, the achingly mundane, the grotesque. A few will even cook up a Greek tragedy, those born into misery, destined to die in misery. But you, my bride of quietness, you will craft nothing less than epic with your life. Out of all of them, your story will be the one to last.

I believe Stanley and Marisha understand that all of our lives are intertwined, but there is a necessity of allowing someone else's story to form separately without impressing our own on theirs.