A Truth I Need

"If I feel bitterly towards those who condemn me, as it seems to me, unjustly, forgetting that if they knew me as I know myself they would condemn me much more, then I know nothing of Calvary love."  ~ Amy Carmichael

The Problem with Sola Gratia

While watching a documentary on Vince Lombardi I learned that he was a staunch Roman Catholic who at one time thought about joining the priesthood.  Obviously he did not but, according to the documentary, he wanted to invest truth and goodness in people.  He did so by coaching.  His players are his lasting testimony to the good he did in others.

I reasoned that only God could put a desire to do good for others in a person.  Being Roman Catholic it is likely that Lombardi thought his good deeds would earn him God's favor.  Lombardi said as much.  We Protestants "protest" saying that no man can earn God's favor.  It is only by God's grace in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross that can satisfy God's wrath and offer a person forgiveness and eternal life.  I believe that.  But...because it is by God's grace that we are saved I don't have to believe it is by grace alone that I am saved.  Not having a full understanding of the atonement of Jesus cannot get a person damned otherwise a person could be saved by right knowledge (which is a work) and not by grace.

There are plenty of reasons to hold on to the truth of Salvation by Grace Alone.  The first is that to not do so would eventually lead away from the atoning work of Jesus all together and thus not believe in Jesus as Savior.  That will damn a person.

Personally I would never, ever say a person is damned for not understanding correctly the doctrine of grace.  That would be ungracious.  I thank God for people like Vince Lombardi.  May God have mercy on his soul!

Not Quite

The article linked moved me a great deal for I have felt what is described.  I felt it so deeply that I didn't mind the "she" mention. 

When things like this happen the main failure is not loving as Jesus commands Christians to do.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/peter-chin/2015/march/how-to-destroy-your-pastor.html

ISIS, Christian response and political ignorance

After hearing the number two from the state department make the claim that creating jobs will curb terrorists like those who are part of ISIS I need say something.  Our political leaders in the White House obviously don't understand religious people and certainly not fanatical religious people.  When the White House designated ISIS terrorists as "thugs" they placed them in urban categories that do not apply.  But we can see the connection.  Young men join gangs and become thugs because they don't have strong families and not many opportunities to get out of the ghetto.  One answer is to provide jobs for such young men, if that were possible.  And so the comment by the White House to provide jobs to terrorists is connected to how the White House perceives these terrorists.  But they are wrong!  They are woefully wrong!

In an article you can find here http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2015/02/what-isis-really-wants/384980/  author Mr. Wood plainly shows that ISIS really believes the claims of Islam and believes they can usher in a new world where Islam dominates.  They believe they are the righteous hand of their god.  Jobs will not change that belief.  And for a young man to have the opportunity to change the world, well, that is what he believes he was made for.

We are in for a long fight if our government continues to consider these terrorists in social and economic terms instead of as a religious group that is trying to usher into the world Armageddon. 

A Christian response: Oh Lord!  Break thou the power of the ungodly and malicious; search out his ungodliness, until thou find none.  Let them be confounded, and put to shame.  Let them be turned back and brought to confusion.  Break their teeth, O God, in their mouths; smite the jaw-bones of the lions, O Lord.  So that man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous, doubtless there is a God that judgeth the earth! In Jesus Name, Amen

Oh, and pick up arms when needed and kill the enemy where he stands!

Problems in the Church

“Where do wars and fights come from among you?” St. James asked the Church.  “You lust and you do not have.  You murder and covet and cannot obtain.”  Sounds pretty bad, but it is nothing new.

Absalom stood at the gate and tried to be the first to influence the people who came to receive justice from his father King David.  Absalom coveted the power and influence and position of his father and so he resorted to backstabbing.

Jeroboam coveted for power, influence and position as well even after authority was given to him by God.  What he had he wanted to hold onto tightly.  He chose to rely on his own strength to remain in power.  And so he sinned.  He changed the worship of the people so that he they would follow new customs and traditions and even a different identity of God.

The same occurs amongst Christians.  A people who are to love one another have leaders who will covet power, influence and position.  And so such men undermine the authority in place.  They establish their own customs hoping for new traditions to be established so as to lead God’s people away from the truth and properly established authority.  Such influencing needs to be called what it is.  It is cowardly!  Men who act in such a manner need to repent and confess their cowardice.  They need to humble themselves under God and under the authority God has placed over them.  That is the only way they can be restored. 

The Two are One

Another example of the Old Covenant being united with the New Covenant is how we enter into both.  Under the Old Covenant a person was first born into the covenant of Abraham and then marked under the covenant by the act of circumcision.  For Christians we too come into the covenant first by birth (must be born again) and then by being marked which is our baptism, which is a circumcision of the heart (Col. 2). 

Liberal Arts Cont. Quadrivium

Quadrivium

The Greeks lumped the Quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music) together under one titled subject called “mathematics.”  Christians study mathematics because it develops virtue of the mind (not sure what that means).  Perhaps it means what Plato was after, the mind leading toward pure reason and a love of wisdom.  It is the belief that pure reason and love of wisdom leads to objective truth known.  All of this is in opposition to a practical approach to mathematics (“when are we going to use this?”)  The Incarnation grants the Christian freedom to pursue mathematics because of a greater appreciation for the created order.  The authors believe that education should incorporate both  the formative and the practical. The goal for the Christian using mathematics is wonder, work, wisdom and worship.

Arithmetic- What is missing in modern texts is a recognition that numbers are transcendent and can lead to wonder.  The fact that unity and plurality can exist at the same times leads us to truths of the Godhead.

Geometry- Tools such as propositions and proofs in Euclid’s geometry give students the ability of how to think not just what to think.  A base of Euclid’s geometry is deductive proofs.  Geometry should be seen as a next step after arithmetic as it naturally flows and is the starting point of algebra.

Astronomy- Time keeping and navigation were essential parts of living in ancient days.  The stars were thought to reveal patterns to deep mysteries of the universe.  A grasp of geometry was essential to the discipline of astronomy. “The method of astronomy is mathematical empiricism.”  Astronomy helped birth modern science. 

Music- It is the chief are of the Quadrivium.  Music of the world and music of humans.  Rather then explain what music is in the quadirivium the authors get very excited about how it can be found in the other three disciplines.  They also see music as helping the mind comprehend infinitestimals but fail to explain why that is important. 

Brining back these disciplines is believed to foster greater wonder, work and wisdom and worship.