Archive for the 'Christianity' Category

Violence Begets Violence–Grace Breaks the Chain

Published on September 27, 2010 in Christianity. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Whatever you sow you will reap.  It is a biblical principle—something even non-Christians understand.  Much of the world refers to this principle as karma.  Many Christians believe that karma is a bad thing—evil as it is associated with eastern religion.  On this matter, I think that Bono, lead singer of U2, has best summed it up when he talks about karma, being broken by grace.  It is grace that breaks the chain of karma. 

We are all born in sin.  Our sin is ultimately what we sow and the wages of sin is death.  That is sowing and reaping, that is karma.  The only thing that changes that is grace.  Through grace we find the actions of Jesus that lead to our salvation.  Grace said that even though we deserved death and hell, Jesus would make the ultimate sacrifice and halt the effects of karma.  Thus, grace gives eternal life. 

So, what does this mean as to how we interact with the world?  Simply we have to find a better way to respond to crisis in the world around us.  It is not enough for us to respond to violence with violence.  We cannot respond to judgment with judgment.  We cannot respond to anger with anger.  We, as children of the most high God, have to break the chain of sowing and reaping.  We have to meet violence with nonviolence.  We have to meet judgment with understanding.  We have to meet anger with love.  We have to lead others the way Jesus lead. 

One of the most amazing things about the life of Jesus is how he responded to those around him.  When he met the women caught in adultery he did not condemn her.  He did not tell her she was evil.  He did not judge her sin.  And he did not excuse it. 

Instead, Jesus told her that as no one was there to condemn her neither would he condemn her.  He did not reinforce the nature of her sin.  Instead, he told her to leave and stop sinning.  He made it plain that she needed to live a better life, but he did it with love and support. 

Where are the followers of Jesus who can respond so well?  I want to be one.

The Difference Between Political Liberalism And The Gospel

Published on September 3, 2010 in Christianity. 1 Comment Tags: , , , .

            I was talking with my son earlier today and was trying to explain why some people are political liberals.  We started with the understanding that many people are liberal because it feels good, and it is good when we help others.  I went on to explain that liberals become conservatives when we personalize the questions.  Brad Pitt is against the death penalty when it comes to using the death penalty to punish criminals who have actually killed other people intentionally.  Yet, recently he has said that he would rethink his position when it comes to dealing with BP.  How absurd that we would be willing to use the death penalty to kill humans who have harmed the earth, but would not use it to punish those who have brutally murdered others.  Can you say hypocrite?  It is actually pronounce, Brad Pitt.  Political liberals want you and me to be better, but they do not have to pay the price—insert any liberal politician here and see how it works in the real world.

            As Christians we are called to be liberals.  To do that we have to understand what it really means.  You see there is a simple difference between political and spiritual liberalism.  Political liberals believe in helping others using the money of others.  They also believe in helping others and, at the same time, creating a dependence that feeds the problem rather than changing their lives so they can become productive people—reuniting with their family and their culture.

            Spiritual liberals believe that we should invest ourselves and our money to help others.  Spiritual liberals, something we are all called to be, means using our money and our time to feed the hungry, help the helpless, and any number of other good deeds such as made up the life of Jesus.

            Jesus did so much good that his leaders killed him for it.  Are you on anyone’s death list?  If not, maybe you are not liberal enough—spiritually speaking of course.

South Africa 2010 Final Report

Published on July 14, 2010 in Christianity, IHRG's Work and Olympics and other Major Sporting Events. 0 Comments
South Africa 2010 Final Report 

David and I met with leaders in April.  Then, we continued to work with leaders during the actual outreach at the World Cup to monitor the situation and step in to help should the situation require our attention.  Fortunately, we were able to monitor only and did not need to intercede directly wtit legal action.
Thank you for your prayers and support!  Because of your faithfulness we were able to be there for these missionaries who were able in turn to share the Gospel message with literally tens of thousands of soccer fans from around the world.
This is some of the important work we are doing at the IHRG.    We helped with copyright and royalty issues.  We helped TUG, the outreach overseers, to protect themselves from liability.  We helped everyone understand the South African law on gatherings in public places and the number restrictions requiring permits.  We helped with the general rules for outreach and public presentations of the Gospel.
Now, we are turning our attention back to Europe and the Middle East.  I am going on a short trip into Lebanon and Syria in October to see what we can do to help believers there.  We have an appeals court hearing in Europe coming up as well.
I will keep you informed.  In the meantime, pleasecontinue to pray for us!

Without your prayers and support we could not have been in South Africa standing with the missionaries who were ministering in public places everyday!  Thank you!  We will have an update on our upcoming work soon.
 

 

 

Whatever Happened To America's Moral Center?

Published on March 18, 2010 in Christianity and The Bigger Picture. 1 Comment Tags: , , , .

            I believe we are in the midst of a crisis of conscience in this country.  What was once considered normal is suddenly considered abnormal.  What was once considered abnormal is suddenly considered normal.  It truly is a world turned upside down.  Matters that seemed unthinkable only a decade ago are suddenly becoming the standard by which we are measured in public.

            The biggest change we have experienced is a loss of our moral center.  Our founding fathers understood the moral center that comes from a biblical world view—even the founding fathers who were not Christians understood this value.  Our grandparents and our parents understood the value of the Ten Commandments.

            Benjamin Franklin summed it up when he said, “I believe in one God, creator of the universe; that He governs it by his providence, that He ought to be worshipped,…As to Jesus of Nazareth,…[I] have some doubts regarding Jesus’ divinity.”

            My point is this; Christianity was so prominent in our founding that even those who did not believe felt that there was a great value in the system of Christianity that allowed the governance through democracy in a republic form of government.

            We no longer have that moral center.  Now, we find ourselves in a culture that not only does not believe, but actually mocks belief in one God.  We have gone from the place where it is okay to make fun of belief in God in limited cases, like a Hollywood movie or a book.  At the same time, it was not okay to make fun of the core beliefs that surrounded the belief in God.

            Now we do not have the mockery limited to Hollywood, it is the core of how our average citizen thinks.  We cannot offer any type of spiritual help to struggling youth because we have no place for God in our schools.  We have nothing to base our moral core on because we suddenly do not believe in moral absolutes.

            Then we wonder out loud why it seems that evil is so much more present in our society.  Why is there a problem with drugs?  Why do we have an increase in out of wedlock pregnancy?  Why are we in a seeming downward spiral?

            I believe it is all tied into the fact that we no longer value the things that God values because we no longer really believe in God.  He was good for our ancestors.  He was okay for children, but we are enlightened and have no need for God.

            Where once we started with the understanding that Christian morals were valuable in the here and now because they were principles that permitted us to get along in society, we now believe that no man or deity has the right to set absolute standards that govern this world.

            Without the eternal value of life that Christianity embraces we find ourselves giving our moral core to meaningless things.  We are more concerned with protecting animals than we are with protecting human live.  We give our life to living “green” and ignore the devaluing of human life at every turn.

            What is the solution?  We, those who still believe in the value of God and His system of morals, must take a greater stand for the issues that matter here and now and the matters that are important for eternity. 

            We must be the leaders in cultural change.  We must be the ones who value individual rights.  It is the Christian who must fight for the right of the nonbeliever to not belief.  After all, who are we to condemn a right that God gave to us.  He has chosen to let us decide for ourselves—I will do no less.

            The church has to regain its moral center and return to doing His work, His way.  We have to be the standard bearers.  It is easy to point out sin.  The challenge is to offer real life solutions to the world’s real life problems—that is what we must be doing.

            While doing that I will also demand more of myself and those around me. I will demand more from a moral standpoint and more for the betterment of the world.

            It is a disgrace that those who have no faith offer more to the betterment of this world than those of us who know the key to understanding and living in eternity.

A Church Defined By What It Is or Getting Away From Check List Christianity

Published on January 17, 2010 in Christianity. 5 Comments Tags: , , , .

            I am tired of hearing Christians define themselves by what they are not or by what they are against.  It has always interested me to see how quickly people are willing to start conversations with the negative points.  I believe it is a mistake to allow ones’ self to be defined by negative moments or negative beliefs.

            Jesus did not spend a lot of time dealing with the things God hates.  He was constantly confronted with people who were sinners and yet, except when He was dealing with the religious leaders who were corrupting the Temple, Jesus always showed mercy to those separated from God.  We never see Jesus on the corner preaching the good news that God is angry with you and you are therefore going to hell.

            Do not get me wrong—I certainly believe in heaven AND hell.  I certainly believe that only those who believe in Jesus are going to be admitted into heaven.  Paul talked about becoming all things to all men.  He was looking at what he knew of the life of Jesus.  Jesus met those who were trapped in their sins by setting them free.  He did not need to spend time telling them what they had done wrong—they certainly knew what their sin was.

            We have been tricked into believing that sinners no longer know they are sinners.  Part of the reason for this is that modern man is so big at flaunting their sin and acting as if God is dead.  What we fail to realize is that man has always been that way.

            God convicts man of his sin.  He speaks in the heart of all men.  We have to remember that God has placed eternity in every man’s heart.  We do not need to convince man of the hole, we have to convince man that only God will fill it.

            We have spent our time being against abortion.  I am not against abortion, we are for life.  We are against homosexuality.  I am not against homosexuality, I am for heterosexual relationships.  We are against Islam.  I am not against Islam, I am for Jesus.  I am not against sickness, I am for health.

            Jesus is not anti-darkness—He is light!  Jesus is not anti-wickedness, he is righteousness!

            I think the reason Jesus never spoke on the issue of homosexuality is that He knew that if men would come into right relationship with God they would not behave in improper ways.  In the presence of God sin flees, not because someone is screaming against sin, but because sin does not exist in the same space as God.

            I think our approach to sin and dwelling on what we are not is the main reason we have a check list Christian culture.  We do not drink, unless we are in Europe where it is acceptable.  We have to wear the right clothes. We have to read the right version.  We have to attend the right services.

            In other words, check list Christianity does not worry so much about what we are as it does about what we look like.  I have known pastors who were adamant that they believed drinking was a sin—at least until we arrived in France and everybody, including the Christians was drinking.

            I am not arguing the finer points of Baptist theology here.  There are many reasons not to drink—but I daresay that no one at the wedding in Canaan was arguing about those finer points.

Separating Culture and Church

Published on December 1, 2009 in Christianity and The Bigger Picture. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

            We live in a culture that sees a benefit in the individual over the group—at least it has been true until recently.  We seem to be going through a cultural shift that wants us to give up our individual approach to life and live for the group.

            We are also a nation that seems to believe that the Age of Enlightenment was a Christian movement.  The Declaration of Independence, that great American founding document, reeks of Enlightenment, yet it is most often used as proof of our Christian founding. 

            Therein lays the problem I see us facing today.  No where does the Bible declare that we have a right to life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness.  In fact, the opposite is true.  The calling of the Christian is to “lay down your life and follow me.”  One down.  Early Christians found themselves in prison, often with a death sentence over them.  Two down.

            As to the pursuit of happiness, that has never been considered a Christian principle—at least not before we got to this modern me first Christian generation.

            Not willing to stop here, I must look deeper into this “Christian” document.  The declaration does talk about ideas such as endowed by our Creator, giving the illusion of a Christian foundation.  Unfortunately, it later clears up the misunderstanding by naming that Creator as “the laws of nature and of Nature’s God.”  This sounds a lot like something more mystical than the God of the Christian Church.

            While we are busy tipping over sacred cows, let’s look at the concept that America has a special place in God’s heart and is inherently good.  This, to me, is the core of what is wrong with the American church.  We are looking to convert the lost to an American understanding of everything, including God.  Yet, God exists outside of time and space.  He is not a citizen of any one country.  He did not design the world on a model of America—in fact, America is late to the game, both our language and our culture.

            It is always a mistake to take our culture and try to fit the Gospel into it.  Our job is to take the Gospel and fit our culture into it.  Anything that does not fit must be discarded as not part of the true Gospel.

            We are not God’s special children, except that all men and women are created in the image of God and that makes us all special.  We are not immune from the problems of the world system—the last year has shown that to be true.  We are in need of God’s grace and love, before and after our conversion to Christianity.

            The only way we will become what we were created and called to be is to move away from the American approach to life and begin to live a truly Jesus centered approach to life.  I am not claiming to be there, I am merely looking at what seems to be obvious to me.  We are not living in a way that Jesus would be approve when we are living for ourselves without a thought to the world around us.

            We are also not living like Jesus would have when we are more loyal to our country than to our God.

The Gospel According To Harley Davidson

Published on November 24, 2009 in Christianity and The Bigger Picture. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

            You might not have been taught the price our Founding Fathers paid to be free.  You might not remember the price paid by the first century church to set the body of Christ into motion in a manner in keeping with the calling God had placed on the body.  That might be because you have been listening to the new Gospel with its new pricing program.

We suddenly live in a place where we do not want to pay a price for anything.  We want it and we want it now.  It would be okay if this were an indictment against the secular side of America.  Unfortunately, it is also an indictment against the spiritual side of America.

            If we were founding America it would look more like Disney World than the country we love—one price gets you into everything, except the food is specially priced just to make sure we got you one more time.

            How do we move forward?  What can stop the slid into meaninglessness?

            There is really only one way—we have to get back to the basics.  We have to realize that we are not special; we are merely some of those called by God to a higher life, a life of giving and sacrifice instead of a life of taking and no pain.

            This also means that we have to quit talking the talk and start walking the walk.  We must find a way to live in the same manner as the Apostle Paul.  He counted all as loss.  The only thing that matter to Paul was the furtherance of the Gospel.  He could live in wealth and he could live in poverty—the moment does not matter, only eternity.

            We have to get past the pettiness of our culture and get back to real life.  That is one of the problems I see with the spiritual state of our world and especially our country.  We spend our time catering to the pettiness, how do we get more people to show up in the Church.  We spend our time trying to figure out how to get more people to raise their hand while nobody is looking. 

            In college we rewrote the lyrics to a famous hymn:  “Raise your hand, raise your hand for Jesus, put it down before anyone looks.  Praise God now you’re saved, your name is in the book.”  That sums up the current Gospel message.

            God wants you to have a Harley; He must because he gave me one.  No, wait, I am more special.

            We need to get back to living our life remembering that one day we will stand in front of God and give account for everything.  God might be love, but love is not syrup on your French Toast; love is justice.  Love is demanding of those to whom it is given.

            That might be a good thing to keep in mind the next time we are in the Harley shop thinking about living the good life.

International Human Rights Group's Tribute To The Life Of Chris Klicka

Published on October 15, 2009 in Christianity and IHRG's Work. 1 Comment

            Long before I met Chris I knew who he was.  Chris has always been a legend in home school circles.  People speak of him with a reverence I have seen given to few people in ministry—other than those who run large ministries with large followings.  Chris lived with a passion.  He had a passion for ministry that is seldom matched.  He worked with home school families because he believed in the human rights issues underlying the idea of a parent teaching their children.  Unlike many in our modern world, Chris practiced what he preached—just as tirelessly as he preached, he practiced.  There was no conflict in Chris.

             I first really spent time with Chris around 2000 in the ACLJ’s offices at Regent University.  Chris was there for the national convention, and he was there to see what could be done to help the home school families of Germany.  At the time those home school families were going from the touch of discrimination to the grip of persecution.  Chris was one of those people who saw the problem long before everyone else did.  He was not one to take a problem sitting down; he was passionately looking for a fight.

             Even then Chris was reluctantly using a wheel chair in the large lobby of the Founders’ Inn.  He insisted on walking to the podium to share his expertise.  He insisted on standing as long as he could.  That was the fight Chris brought to life; that was the fight Chris brought to the home school movement.

             Families in Germany are still home schooling because of the work of Chris.  We miss him, but the ultimate victory there—like the victory in America—will stand as a tribute to the life and work of Chris Klicka.

             We need more leaders like Chris; selfless, pushing beyond human limits, concerned only that they do everything in their power to help the helpless find justice.  That is the testimony of Chris’ life.  It is a testimony that will inspire home school families and those of us working to protect them for generations to come

             Chris’ passion for life will always be there as an inspiration for the IHRG.  We will continue to build on ministry on the same passion—driven by the memory of Chris.  I am better for having known Chris.  The IHRG is stronger because of Chris.  That is part of eternal life; beginning in the present.

             God speed brother, we will do our best to honor your life and your memory.

The Beauty of Christianity

Published on September 19, 2009 in Christianity, Europe and IHRG's Work. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Christine Amanpour has a special that is airing on CNN.  It is about winning the hearts and minds of the next generation of Muslims.  In the special she asks a very interesting question that highlights the difference between Christianity and Islam.  She looks at the parent of a young Muslim being raised in Gaza and asks, “How do you teach them not to hate.”

I haven’t actually seen the program, only the advertisement which CNN International is running ad nausea.  Every time the question is asked I turn to the television and answer—I talk to the television, it relieves a lot of tension and is very fun—“It is easy, you don’t teach them not to hate, you simply don’t teach them to hate.”  This is the core difference between the violence that is being foster by Islam and the love of Christianity.

Mohammed conquered the world with an army and the sword.  Jesus has ruled His world with twelve uneducated souls and love.  When a couple of His uneducated souls wanted to call down fire from heaven Jesus refused permission—His mission was love not control.   When John reported to Jesus that others, who were not follow with the disciples, were casting out demons in Your name, Jesus’ response was simple.  It gives great insight into His thinking and the love with which He approached His mission, “He who is not against us is for us.”

Jesus’ mission was one of inclusion rather than exclusion.  He came to seek and save that which was lost.  He was not seeking to control the world, but show the world the love that God has for His greatest creation, man.

The mission of the Christian Church, Jesus’ body on this earth, is to love people without any strings attached.  Christian Churches start schools, hospitals, even programs to feed and cloth the poor for one reason—to show the lost how much God loves them.

I work with people around the world who show this love without strings.  In Cologne, Germany a Church has set up “stores” to provide the poor with good cheap clothing and furniture.  For one Euro a person can get a full hot meal with a drink.  If you don’t have a Euro, the meal is free.  The whole purpose of the outreach is to provide hope to the hopeless, to minister the love of God in a community that seldom sees love of any kind.

I work with another man in Greece who feeds the refugees coming in from Northern Africa.  They are mostly Muslims and no one, not even their own people are doing anything to reach them.  This man provides free food and fellowship to them.  What is his purpose?  He is personally showing the love of Jesus to a people who desperately need to see that love more than they need to hear about it.

This is exactly what Jesus did when He went about doing good, preaching the Gospel of the Good News to the poor.  Jesus went further than merely preaching the Good News of the Gospel to the poor, however, He also met their needs.  Their needs included healing the sick, the blind, the deaf, the lame, virtually anyone who a need that could be met by love was introduced to love through the preaching of the Gospel and the healing of the sick.

These were not acts of people coming to God, these were acts of God coming to people—meeting them where they were and then giving them hope.

So, to get back to the original thought of how do we teach the children not to hate, that is a question that is not asked in Christian circles.

Fortunately for us, the answer is not complicated.  Hate, just like love, is passed down from generation to generation.  It is not a question of teaching children not to hate—it is a question of not teaching children to hate.

It will take a change of heart.  Just like Martin Luther King, Jr.  and Gandhi, Islam must make a decision that changes comes through love and tolerance, not through continuing to pass hate and anger on from generation to generation.

That is not likely to happen you say, and you are likely right.  That is one of the reasons that Christians have the moral standing order to bring the Gospel of the Good News to the world through missions of love, hope, and compassion.

The world will not change by itself.  Hate will not disappear by itself, there are too many people making too much money nurturing the culture of hate. 

Hate will only disappear when love has come and the Good News of the Gospel is preached and lived throughout the world.

You are the best hope for destroying the legacy of hate.

God Shall Supply All Your Needs?

Published on August 23, 2009 in Christianity. 4 Comments Tags: , , , .

 The pastor sat on his new Harley, smiling at the camera taking his picture.  The stage in his church had been adapted to become a parking lot for a couple of the motorcycles in the church.  With a flourish, he stepped off the bike, his leather chaps and leather riding jacket creaking with the sound of new leather against the wireless microphone that projected his every word across the air to the thousands packing into the church and even onto the televisions across the country.

 “God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory.”  We have all heard this verse quoted ad nausea to justify our being wealthy simply because we are Christians.  In doing so we are making one critical error, an error that is natural to all men.  Our mistake is that when we look at scriptures like this our natural inclination is to evaluate them according to our own cultural prejudices.

 We should first begin with the understanding that God is more concerned with our spiritual needs than He is with our physical needs.  King David declared that our lives are merely a breath.  With that in mind, we can see that our physical needs, in comparison to our spiritual needs, are not as critical to a God who understands the role of eternity in our lives.

 Thus, we should always begin our search with the spiritual value of any scripture before we turn to the physical side of God’s word.

 God does supply all of our needs according to His riches in glory.  He supplies the need of eternal security.  He supplies the need of belonging to the greatest family in history.  He supplies the need of knowing that, whatever comes our way, we are equipped for the ultimate survival.  He supplies the need of knowing that no weapon formed against me shall prosper because no matter what happens I will never be separated from the true God.

 This is a proper evaluation of our needs being met by God.

 The pastor in the example above is confusing his wants with his needs—this is a typical American problem.  We are so prosperous we now see things that are merely wants as needs.  We need to have nicer clothes.  We need to have a new car.  We need to have a bigger house.  We need, we need, we need….

 Unfortunately, these things, while nice and there is nothing inherently wrong with them, are not needs.  Needs are more like food, water, clothing, and shelter.  Everything else in this world is a want.  Now, just because something is a want does not make it wrong.  There is nothing wrong with a pastor wanting a Harley Davidson motorcycle.  There is nothing wrong with that same pastor having the motorcycle of his dreams.

 There is, however, something wrong with any man or woman insisting that our wants are our needs and then declaring that God is going to supply our wants because we consider them needs.

 The problem with such thinking is that it distorts the image of who God is.  This means that nonbelievers look at believers and do not see the eternal God who is seeking them out.  When we confuse our wants with our needs we create God in our own image.

 Creating God in our own image is the sin of the Israelites in the desert while Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the heart of the law from God.  The creation of the Golden Calf was a moment when they created God in their image—we know where that got them.  Why are we so eager to follow them down this path to destruction?

 When we align our understanding of scripture with our spiritual well being we become people who are content with the place where God has placed us rather than constantly fighting to be somewhere different than where God has placed us.  Understanding this scripture in light of our spiritual needs rather than merely seeing our needs as physical is really what God is longing for with His people.