Guns, church, and self defense

Guns are dangerous. My mom taught me from a very early age how to treat guns. I had two guns of my own when I was 9 and recently I purchased a Springfield XD .45 ACP (a hand gun). I shoot on a regular basis with friends (some of them are police officers) and members of the church.

I have usually used guns for hunting. My last purchase is a little different though. I bought this gun for self defense. After reading about a man in South Africa who may have saved countless lives by carrying his gun to church, I wonder if it is time pastors became armed and dangerous with more then a sword. In a world where America is hated and terrorism is a real threat, I can't think of a more logical target for radical Muslim terrorist to attack then an American church. I don't mean to be alarmist, but there becomes a time to be alarmed.

Perhaps the scene in Mel Gibson's movie The Patriot, where the pastor picks up his gun and goes off to fight the British takes on new meaning in today's world.

Certainly I am not suggesting breaking the law. In some states the law provides this very opportunity.

When it becomes available I will be reading, "Shooting Back: The Right and Duty of Self-Defense," written by the man in South Africa who carried his .38 to church.

Christmas is Stupid!!

Call me scrooge, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, or your favorite Christmas villain of all time. I don't care. Christmas just gets in the way most of the time anyway. I have things to do, messages to preach, and money I would rather spend on myself (at least I would get what I wanted that way). bah humbug!!!

What is it with Christmas? Why did I see Christmas lights up before Halloween this year? I can't even have thanksgiving (a truly great holiday) without it being ruined by Christmas music and images of Santa in lights. Going to Target or Walmart only makes things worse with their mass marketing of a holiday that doesn't even resemble the real Christmas story.

I am no longer safe!! I must hibernate until New Years!!

Maybe this seems a little over the top, but why do we have to sing the same songs every year. Isn't there any new Christmas songs we can do? If someone sings Joy to the World one more time I might fall into a great big depression.

Let's be real, Christmas isn't about Jesus anymore, it is about companies mass marketing to kids so they can bug there parents about the latest and greatest toy until mommy and daddy spend the kids college fund in order to get it for them (that makes a lot of sense, "my kid isn't very educated, but she had great toys growing up!!"). If Christmas were about Jesus there wouldn't be all this pressure to buy, buy, buy!!!!!!

I have had enough, I am boycotting (when my wife and kids aren't around) Christmas this year. I am not decorating (until my 7 year old tells me to). I am definitely not going to watch any Christmas movies (really, I won't do that, they can watch without me. Ok, maybe one of the Tim Allen movies because they are sort of funny.) I guess that means I am going to have to stay away from every store on the face of the planet and stop listening to the radio, but I think I can do that (thank BP for pay at the pump).

OK, I need to go drink some coffee before I loose it (I am not putting candy canes or some kind of Christmas spice in it either!!!!!!!!)

Homosexuality in the Church

Many pastors and Christians hear the word homosexual and they immediately cringe. This issue is definitely a controversial issue in American culture, but it is also controversial in many of our churches. How should we deal with it, how should the church approach this topic?

Many of the people in my congregation work with or know in some context people who are gay. At the very least we all probably know people who are at least sympathetic to the cause. Ignoring the issue doesn't seem to be a reasonable course of action. Protesting does not seem to be an effective strategy either, so what should the church do?

This is a significant issue which needs to be addressed not because practicing homosexuality is some kind of unforgivable sin, but because it is not seen as sin for many Christians who attend evangelical, Bible believing churches on Sunday mornings. If you don't think anyone in your congregation believes this, then you are fooling yourself.

We must take this issue on directly. We are not a single issue church, we have other more important things we focus on most of the time. This is however an important issue. The problem for many of us is we think scripture speaks clearly. I agree, it does. Unfortunately educated people have begun to spin this issue and created misunderstanding in dealing with passages like Romans 1, Leviticus 18 & 20, and others. If you want to see what I mean, click here!

It is incumbent upon the church to create clarity for our congregates and to equip them to effectively minister to people for who this is a significant stumbling block. Ignoring this issue will not make it go away. This is a great opportunity to help people see how scripture can be manipulated and why we should all work to show ourselves approved and rightly handle God's word.

It is also incumbent upon the church to clearly express the message of the gospel, the ultimate expression of love towards all sinful people (that means everyone). For more information about responding to this issue click on the title of the blog.

Essential Faith

I am more and more convinced that doctrine must become the center piece of a pastor's preaching. It is amazing to me how many people do not understand the essentials of the Christian faith. I am not talking about preaching the premillenial kingdom dogmatically, but preaching the identity of Christ, the bodily resurrection, the trinity, the sinfulness of man, and the blood of Christ. I am talking about preaching the essentials of the faith.

My mom used to tell me to major on the majors and minor on the minors. I agree with this approach to theology. Far be it from me to argue about the understanding of the millennium! I will die arguing for the trinity, the identity of Christ, and the resurrection. I will die preaching the sinfulness of man and mankind's need to be rescued. I will die preaching One God. I will not compromise on the significance of scripture to inform our worldview and theology. Still I will extend charity when it comes to the sign gifts, our overarching systematic theology, or weather Jesus will return before or after the tribulation.

I am constantly amazed at how few people who have grown up in the church can speak intelligently about essential doctrines of the faith. Pastors and preachers we must do a better job!! We must preach the essentials from the pulpit over and over again. We must show people how to handle scripture by how we do it when we preach. Not everyone needs to be a scholar, but understanding the essentials of the Christian faith is basic and, well, it's essential.

I have coached football, volleyball, and baseball at a variety of levels. One thing that never changes is the need to focus on the basics. It never ceases to amaze me how many times I have seen a professional athlete do something a high school athlete should have been taught not to do. We can not spend enough time on the basics, the essentials. Quit preaching about raising kids and start preaching the gospel and doctrine. Most Sunday school teachers are not capable of teaching solid doctrine with the same effectiveness of a trained preacher. Paul didn't once preach about raising kids or "living your best life now." Paul and Peter preached the doctrine of the gospel. Let's follow their example!!

Bible Based Ministry

This made my day. As a youth pastor for 10 years, the most important lesson I learned was not about cool games, amazing programs, or even how to communicate with parents. The most important lesson I learned was to teach and preach God's word without fail. When I finally figured this out I did not experience explosive growth. There were no parades put on by my pastor or the parents. In reality a few kids ended up leaving our ministry. In the end I did see students become more committed to the faith they claimed and I did see students begin to take evangelism and applying a Christian world view to their life.

According to the Christian Post youth ministries are getting rid of the fluff and starting to see that God's word is more powerful then cool games and fashionable programs. The apostles understood this, it is about time the rest of us caught on.

Click on the title to this post to read the article at the Christian Post.

A Case for Antinomianism

I have been struggling lately with the relationship between the gospel and sanctification. At least for the moment I have settled on the belief that accepting the free gift of salvation does give a person a license to sin. I know this is a very unpopular belief, but it just might be true. If you are wondering about my salvation at this point, hang in there, all doubt will likely be removed one way or the other by the time you are done reading.

I might suggest that this is exactly what Paul teaches in Romans. God's grace is made grear through the sins of man. It is by grace we are saved, works play no part in our salvation, yet as soon as a person accepts the gift of salvation the church immediately places all kinds of expectations on this new believer. It is almost as if God's grace allows you to enter into the kigdom of God, but once you are there you can only stay if you are capable of following all the rules. It seems to me that expecting holiness from people flies in the face of the gospel itself.

Now that I have convinced you that I am traveling down the highway to hell at a rapid pace, let's try to understand what Paul teaches. Progresive sanctification is not something we simply ignore. Instead it is something we honor God with. Sanctification does not happen because Christians are compelled to become holy as part of the gospel message, it happens because Christians realize the love shown them by the gospel and they respond in thanksgiving. We express love to God through obedience. This should clear up any misunderstandings about the great commandment. We are commanded to love God and we do that through obedience. This is what Paul speaks about in Romans 12:1-2 and 8:1. We should not continue to sin because God's grace is shown through it, His grace is shown enough as it is. We should live right; our lives should be a living sacrifice, an offering of thanksgiving.

Perhaps the reason we struggle with sanctification in our churches is because people don't understand the motivation behind it. The motivation for holiness in our lives is nothing other then love for our savior. The goal then is not a certain level of sanctification or holiness, but instead it is to express love and thanksgiving to our savior for the love He has shown us.
Maybe we should just tell people once they become a Christian they have license to sin as much as they want, and in the same breath talk about what it means to love God and express that love to Him. If we love God we will obey Him. (1 John 5:1ff)

Ted Haggard and I

What is a Christian, but a sinner saved by grace? It doesn't matter who it is, every time I hear of a pastor or the leader of a Christian organization resigning because of moral failure I am reminded of the flesh I must fight every day. Pastors should live in fear. Not fear of man but fear of God's judgment. They should also live with great appreciation of God because His wrath was redirected towards His own Son. WOW!

I live in fear of the possibility of sin ruining me. In many ways it already has, I am a sinner in desperate need of a savior. I agree with Paul, who will save me? Christ!!

Ted if by some amazing coincidence you read this my prayers are for you and your family.

Missing The Kill Shot

In Minnesota this year there were an estimated 500,000 deer hunters headed to the woods this week. I was one of them. Deer hunting is a lot like watching the squirrel in your back yard run all over the place looking for food. Most of the time it is pretty boring. The effort put in to sitting perfectly still and remaining completely silent is very tiresome. Combine that with getting up at 5 AM and wondering into the woods in the pitch black and you have a perfect recipe for sleeping no matter how uncomfortable you are. I often find myself struggling to keep my eyes open between squirrel sittings.

The effort and focus required to accomplish the amazing feat of staying awake with freezing toes and fingers can instantly change to heart pounding adrenaline and heavy breathing when a deer wonders by. The toes are no longer cold and all your focus and concentration is directed towards controlling your breathing and thinking clearly so you can take the best shot. You don't want to ruin meat or take a shot that will only wound the deer. Occasionally the deer may see you or smell something and suspect danger. Your heart really pounds when the deer starts pawing the ground and barking out warning signals that sound like a violent intentional sneeze from only 30 yards away. The hardest thing to do is pass up a bad shot. This happened to me on Sunday. This deer knew something was wrong, but couldn't quit figure it out. It put on a show for what seemed like forever. Eventually the deer took off, but I could have shot the one following it. I had it in my scope, all I had to do was pull the trigger. Sure it was left handed and over my right shoulder, but it was there. I passed up the shot. I didn't pull the trigger.

Evangelism can be very similar to deer hunting. You can have someone in your sights ready to pull the trigger, but maybe the shot isn't right. If you take the shot you might end up just wounding the target. When it comes to evangelism too many Christians take bad shots. Sometimes it is as if they just go into the woods and start shooting till the gun is empty hoping they hit something (there are plenty of those kind of hunters in the woods as well). Unfortunately they don't usually hit much and when they do, there is nothing left to salvage.

In deer hunting and evangelism the hunter must spend time in the woods. They need to know where the deer are going to be, where they find food and water, as well as where they find shelter. Hunters don't live in the woods, but they spend enough time there to understand it. They know how to fit in. Deer are used to certain smells, sounds, and movements. If there is anything out of the ordinary they panic. Un-churched people are the same way. Just like hunters go into the woods so evangelist must go into the world. A good hunter will know when to shoot and when to wait. They don't pass up shots because they are scared or nervous, but because they understand there are appropriate times to wait and appropriate times to engage. Inexperienced hunters have difficulty deciphering when it is the right time to do both. The only way to get better is to spend time in the woods, study the deer, and take some shots.

About 45 minutes after passing up an opportunity to take a bad shot I had another opportunity. A better shot presented itself and I took it. The hunting analogy does break down at certain points, but there is a real sense in which we are hunting.

You need to be prepared to go into the woods, but you need to go. Get some experience, take some shots, and learn from your experiences. Be patient and understand that sometimes you can take a good shot and still miss. This happened to me on Monday.